                                                              1, 1961                                                               N
    VOLUhlE  xxI\(vII                       S                                                                                         UMBER 20
                                                 EPTEMBER                 - GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN

                                                                                        That same picture you find in the specific words of our

11  M E D I T A T I O N   /Imeditation at this time. You will recall the text.
                                                                                        So you see that life in its normalcy is presented here.

                                                                               The picture is rather complete. We see the usual three

           THE CQMIMG  OF THE KING                                             spheres of life : the social home life-two in the bed ; the

                                                                               industrial life: two grinding together; and the agricultural
              "I tell yozt,  in that night these shall be tzuo  wl.m           life: two are in the field. Life went on as usual.
            ,in one bed; the one .&a.11  be taken and the othx
                                                                                        Yes, things shall be very orderly in that wonderful and
           shall 5e left. TWO  zwomen  &all  be grinding to-
                                                                               also dreadful day. The world in all its usual activities shall
           getlam;  the one shall be taken and the other left.
                                                                               show a rather orderly picture to the eye of Jesus when He
           Tzero  `men shall be in the field; the one shall be
                                                                               comes. All according as your station in life shall be, you will
           taken  and tlzc other  left. And they anszuered  apad
                                                                               eat, drink, marry or be given in marriage, you shall buy or
           said mto  Him,  Where, Lord? And He said unto
                                                                               sell, you shall build or plant, you will calmly live your usual
           them,' ~@`h&~~~ever  the body is, thither will t/x
                                                                               life.
           eagles be gathered togsthey  ." - Luke 17 :34-37.

                                                                                        Note, further, that all those things shall be done together,

    Well, I like to tell you of the coming of the Christ in                    that is, the child of God and the child of the devil shall live

His day. He shall come as the King of the Kingdom of                           together. And they shall do things together. Two men are

God, and I would like to say a few-words on how He shall                       in one bed, two women in one mill, two men in one field. And

find the human race; and how He shall separate them; and                      that is correct. Humanity is one organism. You cannot sever

what shall be the main characteristic in that race of men.                    yourselves from man. We are of one blood and of one flesh.

                                                                               And our ways intermingle. Paul would say: you cannot go
    First then the question: How shall he find the human
                                                                               out of this world. No, the Bible certainly does not teach the
race ?
                                                                              life of the monastery and the cloister. They are monstrosities.

    There are some who say that He will find the whole                         And have led to dreadful and abnormal horrors.

world in a dreadful chaos. His day shall be a day of great                              No, they shall be togetner. `I'he  children of God and the
upheavals and revolutions, they say. I do not believe it.                     children of the devil shall work together in one shop, factory,
Holy Scripture does not teach that. To the very contrary.                      home and field. All the activities of mankind are common to
You will remember that Jesus compared His coming to the                       both peoples. That is not their difference.
days of Noah and of Lot. They did eat, they drank, they

married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day                                                     * * * *

that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came and

destroyed them all. Likewise also as in the days of Lot: they                      What then ?
did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they pianted,
                                                                                        Oh, but when Jesus comes, that seeming unity shall be
they builded  ; but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom
                                                                               rudely dissipated. He will make a terrible and absolute
it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed
                                                                               separation. They shall fall apart into the most marked dis-
them all. -
                                                                              tinction. Christ Jesus shall see and penetrate all the dwellers

    Therefore, you see that those days were very normal. The                   of the earth. And He shall see two diametrically opposed

usual things shall. be done when that awful lightning shall                    principles of life and conduct in the hearts of man, of all

strike and men shall see the sign of the Son of Man in the                     men. And according to these life-principles the human race

heavens. It will be a complete surprise.                                       shall  be infallibly split in sunder.


458                                             THESTANDARD  BEAREIZ


         These principles are two, no more. By the one group He                 receive faith and others do not. And if you ask why ? then
will find and recognize the love of God.                                        God answers: it so pleased Me! And who shall answer

         In passing we may state that this is always the case at                against God ?

any moment in the history of the world. It is not always                                And those that are left., because of the black principle in
manifest, but it is nevertheless the real truth. You are either                their heart : it is the principle of sin and corruption. Oh, yes,
a child of God, and then you love Him ; or you are a child                     the others also had that principle of corruption and sin in
of the devil, and then you hate Him. There is no neutrality ;                  their heart by nature, but God redeemed them. Christ died
there are no three ways ; there is just the way to the right                   for them and the Holy Ghost sanctified them and made them
and the way to the left, and that is all. This separation is                   ready for their place in the highest heavens.
an absolute separation.        The difference between these two                         Oh, believe me, the Lord God has everything planned
peoples is as the difference between night and day, up or
                                                                               and He will execute it in all justice and righteousneis  and,
down, white or black, sin or righteousness, heaven or hell,
                                                                               yes, also in all goodness. There shall not be devil or man
God or the devil. There is no middle way.
                                                                               that will be able to accuse God for one moment when He

         That I speak the truth is evidenced by the text: The one              takes the otie and leaves the other. They will all admit: it

shall be taken and the other left.                                             is Divinely right!

         A very nice word is used in the original Greek for the                         And I assure you that if you are honest with yourself,
word "taken." It means to take to one's self, to fold in one's                 you will see the justice of God's doings even now. It is
bosom, therefore. It shows the eagerness with which Christ                     clearly revealed.

shall take His disciples to His bosom. It shall interpret the                           You see, God has told us from time immemorial that
longsuffering of God, He shall have waited long for this                       man is wicked and perverse. And God has proved it. In the
wonderful moment when He shall come in Christ, His Son,                        fulness of time, He sent His sweetest possession into the
to fold His people to His bosom and let them rest in His                       wicked world. And that is Jesus. And, remember, in this
heart of love for evermore.                                                    Jesus of Nazareth, the living God Himself is revealed. Jesus

                                                                               is God, revealed in the flesh  and come into the likeness of the
         The other word is terrible. It sounds rather weak in our
                                                                               flesh; Well, for 33 years thiS  revelation of the living God
translation.      It means literally to send away from one. It
                                                                               walked among the children of men. And His conduct is above
is elsewhere called to reject, or to cast away. Oh, yes, He
                                                                               reproach: He certainly acted the God-head. He healed the
shall also take the others, but it shall be to cast them from
                                                                               sick ; He raised the dead ; and He preached the way of the
Him in outer darkness where there shall be weeping and
                                                                               Kingdom of Heaven.
gnashing of teeth.

                                                                                        And what did man do?
         And you will do well to remember that all this is highest
wisdom and no capriciousness. The deepest ground for this                          This: They took Him, spit upon Him, scourged Him,

taking and leaving is the good-pleasure of God. It pleased                     and nailed Him to the accursed tree. No, no, do not say

Him to elect His people and to make them vessels of His love,                  that those wicked Jews did this: you and I did this. It
so that they might be to His eternal praises and glory for-                    shows how and what we are through sin that dwells. in our

ever and ever. And it also pleased Him to reprobate others                     heart and mind and soul and all our affections. We are
unto everlasting shame and darkness. They are reserved                         wicked from our youth and grow more wicked as the days
r:nto darkness forever. And then in this way that they                         of the years of our life pass on. And the proof is the Cross
h:e not co-ordinate but subordinate. The latter serves the                     of Jesus. As He fared in Jerusalem, so He has fared every-
forl:.er.  Rejection serves election. Such is Holy Scripture. It               where. What will you do with Jesus ? We will trample Him
is no &y  dogma which man found out and taught. It cer-                        underfoot and we will despise Him and His God and His
tainly is contrary to the mind of man to so teach and preach.                  law and promises. There is no room for Jesus in the heart
No, but God has proclaimed on a thousand pages of the Bible                    of natural man. That heart is filled with everything `but
that such is the case: the onr shall be taken and the other                    Jesus.

left.                                                                              And no wonder! Jesus is the Light of the world. He

                                                                               discovers all the darkness, all the evil of our hearts. So He
    Yes, some will say: that is cclrect;  but some are taken
                                                                               did to the Pharisees, and so He does today to all men that
because they believed and the others are left because they
                                                                               read and hear His Word. Jesus is bothersome to the natural
would not believe! And I would say: Amen ! But I would
                                                                               heart. So bothersome that He must be cast away, and cruci-
like to ask a very simple question: Where did they obtain
                                                                               fied.
faith in the blessed Lord ? And then your                    Bible 
                                                    OWE                wili
provide the ans\vcr  : "For by grace are ye saved, through                         Yes, God ;kas proved His judgment. Man is wicked from
faith, and that not oi yourselves                                              his youth and .he is worthy of damnation that is eternal.
                                     I it is the gift of God !" There

is the answer. You find it i.n Eph. j 2 :8.. No, some people                       But some He saves and shall save. And that salvation


                                                 T H E   STANDAR   1 . :   .!<EARER                                                                                                                                                                    459
                                                                                 _---                                                      - -   .---_


is of the Lord exclusively. Christ's name is Saviour. Strange,

that most men never gave it a thought. They scly  : He is my                                             T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R F R

Saviour, but they save themselves. No, no, but God in Christ                       Semi-monthly,  except  monthly during  June, July  and Augvst

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sheep from all eternity, that sent His Son into the world so
                                                                                                                 I?`ditor  - kv. 
that He might take upon Himself all the guilt of His sheep                                                                                        tiXh.MAN  HOEICS~~
                                                                                   Communications relative to contents should be address?<1  to
and deliver them from the wrath to come ; He it is that sent                                          Rev. H. Hoeksema, 1139 t%anklin  St., S. E.,
His Holy Ghost into the heart of all those that are chosen                                                                     Grand Rapids 7, Mich.

and through that Spirit they cry Abba Father! And He it                            All matters relative to subscriptions should be addressed to Mr.
                                                                                                      James Dykstra, 1326 W. Butler Ave., S. E.
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the complete Saviour. The text says : The one shall be taken.

Yes, and as it is in the last day so it was the first day: If                      RENEWAL: Unless a definite request for discontinuance is X-
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                                                                                          Second  Class  postage paid a t   Grand  Rapids, Michigan
    But the others are left. And they carry within them the

ground of their rejection.

                                                                    G.V.                                                            C O N T E N T S


                                                                            MEDITATXON-
                                                                                          The Coming of the King . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 457

                                                                                                    Rev. G. Vos

                        Announcement
                                                                            EDITONAL.S-
    The 1961-`62  term of the Theological School of the                                   B Sad End . . . . . .._..._.._................................................................. 460
                                                                                                     Rev. H. Hoeksema
Protestant Reformed Churches will begin, D.V., on Tuesday,
                                                                                          That "Final Letter" ._.                                  . . . . . . __ __.._. ..__ _.. ,461
September 12. Opening exercises will be held at 9 :00 A. R/T.                                        Rev. H. C. Hoeksema

                                     REV. H:~IIoI&EMA, Rsctor               O U R  DOCTRINE-
                                                                                          The Book of Revelation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .._............  464

                              -          -                                                           Rev. H. Hoeksema


                                                                            A CLOUD OF WITNESSES-
                  Notice for Classis West                                                 Manna              ._ ._ ___ __ ._. ..__. __. . . . . . . . . . . . ._. ___ .._. ..466
                                                                                                    Rev. B. Woudenberg

    Classis  West of the Protestant Reformed Churches will
                                                                            FROM HOLY WRIT -
meet, the Lord willing, in Doon, Iowa, on Wednesday, Sep.-                                Exposition                of I Timothy . . _. .._ __ . . . _... .._ ____ _. . ..468

tember 20, 1961. All matters for this classical agendum must                                         Rev. G. Lubbers

be in the hands of the Stated Clerk not later than thirty                   IN HIS FEAR -

days before the meeting of Classis.                                                       God's           Royal           Priesthood                  (8) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 470
                                                                                                     Rev. J. A. Heys

                                   Rev. H. Veldman, Stated Clerk
                                                                            ComENDINC  FOR THE FAIR -
                                                                                          The Church and the Sacraments.. . .._ __ ___._  ._ . ..472

                              -          -                                                           Rev. H. Veldman


                                                                            THE VOICE OF OUR FATHEXS -
                                                                                          The         Belgic            Confession. . . . . . . . . . . ..__ ___ _...... ..__ __ . 474
                          IN MEMORIAM
                                                                                                     Rev. H. C. Hoeksema

   The Martha Ladies' Aid Society of the Hull Protestant Reformed
                                                                            DECENCY APJJ  ORDER-
Church wishes to express its sincere sympathy to our members,                             The Administration of the Lord's Supper . .__ .476

Mrs. Ted Hoekstra, Mrs. Bert Van Maanen, and Mrs. Harold Van                                         Rev. G. Vanden  Berg

Maanen in the loss of their father, and to Mrs. Ben Bleyenberg in the
                                                                            ALL AROUND Us-
loss of her brother,                                                                      Blue Laws .__. ___ __ __. ______. __. __ _.. . .._. __ _______ ___ ___ ___________ 478

                        EVERT VAN MAANEN                                                  A Dictator                 Church?                 _ _ ._. _. . .._._ _. .._ ___.  . ..478

                                                                                          A Roman Catholic's Description of the Reformation . . . . . . ...473
   May the God of all grace comfort the hearts of the bereaved.
                                                                                                     Rev. H. Hanko
   "Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted."

Matthew S:4.                                                                N             F
                                                                                 E W S         ROM       OUR CHURCHES __ __.                                               . . . . . . ..___ ,480
                                    Rev. J. Kortering, President                                     Mr. J. M. Faber

                                    Mrs. T. Jansma, Secretary


460                                         T    H    E         STANDA-,RD  BEARER


                                                                          This matter was before the Christian Reformed Synod of

                                                                      last June. And the following was decided (I quote from
              E D I T O R I A L S                                     Torch and Tmutzpst)  :

                                                                          "On Wednesday evening of the second week Rev. J. C.

                                                                      Scholten reported on a request of the Protestant Reformed
                           A Sffd End                                 Churches in America (De Wolf group). The Synod of these
       With the above mentioned topic I refer to the end of the       churches had written our Synod requesting that the two
schismatics. To my mind, it is a most miserable ending.               churches unite on the basis of Scripture and the Three Forms
       For their "synod" decided, by a vote of eleven to five, to     of Unity only. To this our Contact Committee formulated a
join the Christian Reformed Church.                                   reply in which the Three Points on Common Grace were

       At first, after their schism in 1953, they maintained that     maintained as historically necessary and presently relevant .Eor
they were Protestant Reformed and intended to remain so.              the rest and peace of the churches."
This was, of course, impossible in view of the fact that they             I am sorry that at present I have no copy of this reply.

supported the statements made by one of them from the pulpit          However, it is evident that the Synod of the Christian Re-
of the First Protestant Reformed Church of Grand Rapids.              formed Church did not want any cbmpromise  but maintained
For it is very evident that both of these statements were not         the Three Points and that if a union would ever take place the
Protestant Reformed but supported the "First Point" adopted           xhismatics  would have to acknowledge that the Three Points
by the Synod of the Christian Reformed Church in 1924. The            were Reformed. And this is exactly what they did in their
first of these statements maintained that the preaching of the        ,last so-called synod by a vote of eleven to five.
gospel is grace for all that hear, while the Protestant Re-               Indeed, a most sad and miserable ending, but an ending
formed always maintained that there is no "common grace"              which was, at-the  same time, inevitable.
but that the preachiqg  of the gospel, according to Scripture,            How many of the churches and their members will follow
is grace only for the elect. The second of these statements           in the wake of this schismatic synod, is still a question, but
taught that conversidn  is a prerequisite to enter the kingdom        I have no doubt that most of them will.
of heaven, while S&pture  and the Confessions teach that                  The Synod of `the Christian Reformed Church also pro-
there are no prerequisites, which man must fulfill in order           posed the following procedure according to which union may
to enter the kingdom of God, but that it is by regeneration           be effected :
that one enters that kingdom, and regeneration is a work of               "1. Each congregation which deems it advisable to con-
sovereign grace. Although, therefore, the schismatics, during         tinue as a separate unit shall consult with the local Christian
the first period of their existence, claimed that they were           Reformed church or churches. If they agree that there is
Protestant Reformed, it was clear from the outset that theJ           room for another Christian Reformed Church in that locality,
could never maintain such a claim. Principally, they oc-              the matter shall be considered settled when approved by
cupied an impossible position.                                        Classis.

 The inevitable result was that they sought contact with                  "2. If in any instance there should be disagreement, the

the Christian Reformed Church. And at that very moment                matter shall be submitted to the Classis  of the Christian Re-

they were lost, not because they contacted them, but because          formed Church in that area and its decision shall be accepted

of the way in which they sought that contact. In 1924-25 the          by the churches involved.

Christian Reformed Church, through what was at that time                  "3. If the Protestant Reformed church has a pastor, he

Classis  East and Classis  West, deposed three faithful ministers     shall'submit to a colloqul:zzvtt  doct7c>tt  at the classical meeting

because they could not subscribe to the Three Points. Did the         which, if satisfactory, shall give him regular standing as a

schismatics, in their seeking contact with the Chri&ian  .Re-         Christian Reformed minister for the whole denomination.

formed Church, bring up this matter first of all and demand               "4. If a Protestant Reformed church disbands, so that

that the, Christian- Reformed confess this sin? Not at aii!           the members may affiliate with nearby Christian Reformed

As far as I know, this was not even mentioned. Instead,               churches, such members shall upon presentation of member-

their committee had so-called "friendly" discussions with the         ship credentials be received into Christian Reformed churches.

committee appointed for the purpose of the Christian Re-                  "5. As soon as the Synod of the Protestant Reformed

formed Church. The "friendly" discussion was, of course,              Churches shall have approved of thk  agreement of reunion,

chiefly about the Three Points and in regard to these the             the minister of a Protestant Reformed church that disbands

schismatics made several concessions.                                 shall be eligible for a call in the Christian Reformed denomi-

       However, at the schismatic "`synod" of 1960, they still        nation. The minister will submit to ia colloquium doctum
tried to save their fats by addressing the Christian Reformed         after receiving a call, but a minister who desires it will be
Synod and proposing that a union with the Christian Re-               granted a colloquium doctum before receiving a call."

formed Church should take place merely on the basis of                    There seems to have been quite a little discussion on the

Scripture and the Three Forms of Unity without the Three              floor of the Synod, not on the matter of procedure, but on

Points.            -.                                                 the question .whether  or not `the Three Points should be
                                                                                                 *


                                           T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                               461


maintained, together with the Three Forms of Unity, as a            their competence ,after  their examination by classis.  Rev. T.

basis for union between the Christian Reformed Church with          Hofman. pointed  out that the necessity of taking the cog,-

the schismatics. .Thus, for instance, the Rev. B. Nederhof          q&m  docfilsa%  did not preclude their being placed on trio at
                                                              of
Classis  Alberta said according to the report in Torch and          once.
Trumpet:      "I regret that I cannot vote for the motion as it          "After a prolonged consideration of the matter, in which

stands, because it includes the item which says that it is still    every effort was made to guarantee the Protestant Reformed

our convictioh that the Three Points ark relevant ;-it is not       brethren a fair deal, the second part concerning procedures

my conviction. The only basis on which Reformed churches            was passed as quoted above."

can unite is the Three Forms of Unity, as the history of the             0, how nice the Synod was to these "Protestant Re-

Reformed churches in the Netherlands in 1869 and 1892 has           formed brethren" !

proved. That does not mean that we should forget these                   And 0, how different they acted .in 1924-25 to those

things -1 too am in agreement with the Three Points of              ministers that were synodically declared to be Reformed even

1924. . . . But thin@ that happened 37 years ago may hot            though it were with a tendency to one-sidedness !

have the same' bearing today.  1. - . . If these brethren do not         0, the damnable, corrupt politics in the Church of OLII-
violate the peace, there is sufficient ground to believe that
                      . ..-                                         L o r d   J e s u s   C h r i s t !
union can be accomplished without the Three Points. . . .                And again, 0 how sorry I am that the Rev. Ophoff and '

Does Christ; the King of the Church, want us to retain any-         I gave those miserable seceders, that now deliberately at-

thing that is not necessary?'                                       tempted to destroy our "Protestant Reformed Churches, a

   And there were others that agreed with the Rev. Neder-           complete theological train@g.

hof.                                                                     For that they had.

   But the outcome was that the Three Points were declared               They were, most of them, without any higher education.

relevant as.a  basis' for union.                                    It is true, as the reporter said at Synod, that many of them

   And how could the Synod do otherwise without condemn-            had no college education. But I may add that many of them

ing the actions of the Christian Reformed Church in 1924-25 ?       did not even have or finish their highschool education. They

Did they not depose faithful Reformed ministers because             were raw material as far as higher education was concerned.

they did not and could not agree with the Three Points?             We, i.e., the Rev. Ophoff and undersigned, instructed them

If, then, now they would set aside the Three Points as a            in Greek and Hebrew and in all the theological branches such

basis for union, would they not,- by implication, condemn           as hermeneutics, homiletics, New and Old Testament history,

what they did in 1924-25 in regard to the deposition of             exegesis, dogmatics, church polity, etc. And once more, I

off icebearers ?                                                    say that I deeply regret that we ever put forth our efforts to

   Even as the matter concerning the union of the schismatics       give them,  i.eI, tl@sG  miserable destroyers of the church, a

with the Christian Reformed Church stands now, it is bad            complete theologGa1 education.

enough. Do not forget that the schismatics voluntarily broke             However, we know that all things are in the hand of the

with the,  Christian Reformed Church just as in 1953 they           Lord ! And we know, too, that the Lord completely frustrated

separated themselves from the Protestant Reformed Churches.         their attempts to destroy our churches. We now have peace

This is (from the viewpoint of the Christian Reformed               and, although we are small, we enjoy a complete church-life.

Church) a grievous sin. Must they not confess this sin? But              May the Lord continue to keep our churches in the way

of this there is no mention made by the -Synod of the Chris-        of the truth!                                            H.H.

tian Reformed Church. The schismatics are simply received

without form of confession or apology !

   Another matter that became a question of discussion on                                       Thaf  "F&d  Letter"
the floor of the Synod concerned the colbq&7+z  docti~~~ (a

conversation about doctrine) to which the schismatic min-                There is a little periodical published by the schismatics

isters would have to submit themselves before they- could be        (I care not to mention its name) which made its appearance

installed as minister in one of the Christian Reformed              a few years ago with the bold, but patently false, claim of

Churches. Some seemed to be of the opinion that this was            guarding truth and justice. When I think of that. paper in

not necessary. 0, how easy they wanted to make it for the           connection with that claim I am invariably reminded of the

schismatics! But let me quote once more from Torch a&               words of Isaiah 59 :14  : "And judgment is turned away back-

Trwnpet:                                                            ward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the

        "With regard to the question of procedures, there was a     street, and equity carnot enter."

good deal of discussion about the question whether or not                This. is emphatically true of an editorial in the issue of

and when a colloquiunz  doctum was to be taken by the Prot-         that periodical of Jtily 25, 1961, entitled "A First and Final

estant Reformed ministers. The reporter argued that this            Letter." This article refers to a letter sent by our Synod of

would give them ecclesiastical standing, since some have not        the Protestant Reformed Churches of 1961 to the  synod of

had a collkge  education; and our people would be assured of        the schismatics, and in the course of the article the letter is

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

quoted in full. The sole reason why this letter was not pub-            1 j The schism had its beginning - and this still remains
lished in our. Acts of Synod or in 7% Standard Bearer pre-           the fundamental nature and root of your entire sinful course
viously is that said letter was treated and adopted:.by  our         - in yqur  departure from the truth which we as Protestant

Synod in executive session in connection with other legai            Reformed Churches have always professed and maintained.

matters. Since, however, there is nothing secretive about that       This departure was concretely embodied in the two heretical

letter, and since it has already been published by those who         statements of the Rev. H. De Wolf, known to and embraced

received it, we reproduce it below for the perusal of our            by you all, namely: "God promises everyone of you that, if

people. It speaks for itself. And indeed it bespeaks "truth          you believe, you shall be saved," and, "Our act of conversion

and justice."                                                        is a prerequisite to enter into the kingdom of God."

       Here follows the letter.                                         2) From a church political point of view, your evil way

                                                                     was begun when the Rev. De Wolf and-his supporting elders

"Synod  of the Protestant Reformed Churches,"                        refused to submit to the discipline of the Consistory of the

To convene July 12, 1961,                                            First Protestant Reformed Church, as advised by Classis

c/o Rev. J. Howerzyl, Stated Clerk,                                  East, but instead rebelliously organized a new congregation.
Redlands, California                                                 It was continued when the churches were propagandized by
                                                                     this schismatic group, when their sympathizers in Classis
Dear Erring Brethren :                                               West joined them and set their official stamp of approval on
       The Synod of the Protestant Reformed Churches, in ses-        this ecclesiastical rebellion, when dissident elements of Classis
sion June 7 to June 13, 1961, at the First Protestant Re-            East did the same, and when you organized a new synod.
formed Church of Grand Rapids, Michigan, has decided to                 Secondly, permit us to point out with fear and trembling
address to you and your membership this last admonition              that God has been your Judge in the subsequent history.
and warning to desist from the evil path you have chosen and         Frequently it was pointed out in the period of struggle prior
have continued to follow ever since your acts of schism in           to the schism that you were abandoning the historic position
1953. Herewith we also reply to and reject the demand made           of the Protestant Reformed Churches and moving in the
in the letter of your synod dated January, 1961.                     direction of the Christian Reformed Churches, which cast us
       First of all, however, before admonishing you, we want        out in 1924. History has borne this out. Let us remind you
to make two things abundantly clear:                                 of the foilowing facts :

       1) You must not consider this letter of admonition in             1) Shortly after you fomented schism in our churches,

any wise as anything else than a solemn warning in the name          you officially rejected that thoroughly Protestant Reformed

of the King of His church against the evils which you have           document, the Declaration of Principles.

perpetrated in the past several years, and  that too, in the            2) Since 1953 many of your number, among them sever11

name of. the Protestant Reformed Churches. We are not in-            of your ministers also, have defected, either individually or

terested in any legalistic jockeying for position ; nor are we       as groups, to the Christian Reformed Churches, and that too,

motivated by any materialistic desire of gain. With us it is         without your dissent.

a matter of our sacred obligation before God to maintain be-             3) Worst of all, while you have not ye! accomplished

fore God and men our God-given name as Protestant Re-                organic union with the Christian Reformed Churches, yon

form.ed  Churches, together with all that this name has meant        have forsaken the "Act of Agreement" of our Protestant

in the past, and of which you have attempted to rob it.              Reformed Churches when you officially decided and publicly

       2) Secondly, we want to assure you that we do not             stated that the Three Points of 1924 were not Arminian and

admonish you in a spirit of pride and superiority, but in all        Pelagian, as well as when you conveniently side-stepped the

humility. That we have been able to continue as Protestant           fact that the Christian Reformed Church was guilty of heresy

Reformed Churches, and to grow and flourish ; that we have           and ignored the sin of hierarchical imposition of discipline

remained faithful to the truth as we always held and confessed       on the part of the Christian Reformed Churches in 1924. A!1

it as Protestant Reformed Churches, even while many de-              this was plainly in conflict with the historic position of our

parted and followed after heresy: that we might continue to          Protestant Reformed Churches as expressed in the "Act of

give forth a clear testimony to the truth among others and           Agreement" and also in our synodical letters of testimony to

even organize new congregations ;-in regard to all these and         the Christian Reformed Synod in the past.

in accord with the truth of God's sovereign grace and cov-               Permit us to quote but the opening expr&sion  of that

enant faithfulness, we confess that all that we are and all          "Act of Agreement" :        "Whereas the Synod of 1924, as-

that we have is of grace only, and that we have absolutely           sembled in Kalamazoo, Mich.,  adopted thy-de  po,ints of d'oc-

nothing of which to boast in ourselves and over against you.         tv-ins wkich,  accord&g  to our most. sacred convict~ion,  are in

       In admonishing you we shall not rehearse in detail all the    direct conflz'ct with OJW  Keformed  Confessions and principles

history of the past eight years. As far as details are con-          . . ." (italics ours). Cf. "The Protestant Reformed Churches

cerned, we refer you to our synodical letters ,pf 1954 and           in. America,," pp. 250, 251.

1959. SuffiFe  it now to mention the following.:                         All this. has taken place in the span  of a few brief years?

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


and is the fruit of the seeds of heresy and rebellion sown           and denied that our Protestant Reformed Churches were the

in 1953.                                                             "Hoeksema  group"  or the "Hoeksema churches." The Rev.

       And from all this it is evident to anyone, and must be        H. -Hoeksema  is with the Protestant Reformed Churches in

evident to you, that your claim to being Protestant Reformed         America, but there are no churches "with" him. 2) The

is false on the very surface of it.                                  letter was received from the Synod of the Protestant Re-

       Now if in all good conscience before God and men you          formed Churches; and sent by the Stated Clerk, the Rev. G.

could no longer agree with the Protestant Reformed Churches          Vanden  Berg.

and remain affiliated with us, we would have no objection.              In the second place, the article claims : "the letter pub-

That would be a matter between you and your God. But then            lished below is the first official correspondence which our

your course of action would have been honest and upright.            Synod has received from said churches since  ou; separation

You would have. left us openly and honestly and peaceably.           in 1953."     This is but a half truth, and therefore a lie. True

Instead, you have committed schism and rebellion ; you have          enough, our Synod has heretofore not addressed the schis-

sought to deprive us-and in some cases succeeded-of name             matic synod as a group. And let me point out that even now

and possessions. And also synodically you have perpetrated all       we do not address them as the Synod of the Protestant Re-

these evils allegedly in the name of the Protestant Reformed         formed Churches, but as the "Synod of the Protestant

Churches, in the meantime seeking to deprive us of the               Reformed Churches," that is, as the claimed, self-proclaimed

denominational name and the possessions which belong with            synod. But what the article ignores is the fact that twice

it.                                                                  before, even as early as 1954, our Synod prepared and sent

       We earnestly call upon you to repent of all these evils,      letters of admonition, similar in content to this one, to the

to desist from them, and, by the grace of God, to return to          schismatic membership individually.

the way of the truth in the only possible way, that of upright          In the third place, the article claims that the schismatic

and open-hearted confession before God and His church.               synod has sent letters to our churches requesting discussion

       In the meantime, we want to impress upon you that by          of doctrinal differences and amicable settlement of property

the grace of God we are resolved to maintain our rights as           disputes already as "early as 1953." This is a downright lie.

Protestant Reformed Churches, both with respect to the name          "As early as 1953" there was no split at the synodical level,

and all synodical possessions. We do not relish further costly       first of all, and therefore there could have been no letters.

and wearisome litigation, but would much rather see these            But above all, the schismatics never addressed any letters to

matters finished outside the civil courts. Nevertheless, we          our Synod. Mind you, not a single one ! They insultingly

are compelled before God to maintain our rightful position           attempted to address us as "the synod gathered in Hudson-

as the Protestant Reformed Churches in America. And,' if             ville" or "the churches with the Rev. H. Hoeksema" or "the

you insist on depriving us of that which is rightfully ours,         eight original delegates of Classis  East." But by the same

we will be compelled, even in legal channels, if necessary, to       token our Synod never officially received letters from them,

claim as Synod the Protestant Reformed name, archives, and           and did not recognize the letters sent by the schismatics. And

the real and personal properties of the Synod of the Prot-           amicably settle property disputes ? Nothing could 6e farther

estant Reformed Churches in America. We have warned you              from the truth! They have done nothing else than blatantly

of this intent in the past; we now reaffirm it, so that there        expropriate property that was not theirs but which happened

may be no miscalculation on your part.                               to be in their physical possession. And properties which were

       Above all, it is still our prayer that the Lord may so im-    not in their physical  possession they have by all manner of

press this word of admonition upon your hearts that you give         false claims and wicked oaths attempted to take from us by

heed, repent, confess, and return to the way of the truth.           legal processes. And discuss doctrinal differences 7 As is

            Synod of the Protestant Reformed Churches,               now evident, they never &&nted  doctrinal discussion. They
                                                                     merely wanted to convert all to Christian Reformed doctrine.
                           REV. G. VANDEN  BERG, Stated Clerk
                                                                     And even while we were still together in one ecclesiastical
Copies to : Delegates and alternates to said synod.
                                                                     fellowship, they would never discuss ; they were always ready

                                                                     to vote as a bloc.
       In regard to this letter, the article mentioned above             The only element of truth in the entire article is that this
makes the following claims, all of which are either false, half      is a "final" letter. Final it`is indeed, because the schismatic
false, or beside the point entirely. In the first place, it          group has now gone out of existence. But their last Synod
designates this letter as received from "the churches with           does not mark the close of the Protestant Reformed denomi-
the Rev. .H. Hoeksema."       This is a lie. For: 1) There are       nation, as the article claims. Indeed not! They never were

no churches with the Rev. H. Hoeksema.              This is the      the Protestant Reformed denomination. But the Protestant

language formerly used by our opponents in Reformed circles.         Reformed Churches continue! And, by God's grace, they

And it simply evinces how thoroughly the schismatics have            flourish !

imbibed the Christian Reformed approach. There was in-                   Finally, let it be noted that with all its false camouflage

$deed  a time when all the schismatic leaders stood with us                                 (Cofltifluecl  on page  469)


464                                                   T H E .S T A N D A:.$ :D      .Ij E A R E R


                                                                             look back upon the vision contained. in verses 1 and 2, but

                                                                             emphasize the truth that God, the sovereign Lord, will cause
        O U R   DCKTROINE                                                    all these things to come to pass. "And he said unto me

                                                                             [Revised Version : `And he saith'], Write : for these words
              THE BOOK OF REVELATION                                         are true and faithful:" These words are probably of the in-

                                    PART, TWO                                terpreting angel, since they contain an injunction for John

                                                                             to write. The words may mean either that John must write

                                  CHAPTER  X X I I                           that these words are true and faithful, or that he must write

                                                                             down these words because they are true and faithful. In
                        God the Alpha and Omega.
                                                                             either case the meaning remains the same. The emphasis is

                                Revelation 215-8                             on the fact that the words just spoken, namely, that God will
                                                                             make all things new, are true, that is, they are in harmony

              5. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I             with reality. In spite of all appearances to the contrary here

              make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for           in this world, all things shall surely be made new. Faithful
             these words are true and faithful.                              these words are, because they coticern  the promise of God.

                                                                             For the renewal of all creation is the ultimate realization qf
              6. And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and
              Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto             the promise of the gospel. They therefore concern God
              him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life       Himself. Hence, they are faithful, dependable. They shall

             freely.                                                         never fail. God will surely fulfill His promise. And there-

                                                                             fore John must immediately write down these words, or he `.
              7. He that overcometh  shall inherit all things; and I                                                                                   ,
              will be'his  God, and he shall be my son.                      must place special emphasis upon the fact that they are true `.
                                                                             and faithfur  "And he said unto me, It is done [or: `they
              S. But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abomin-           are come to pass']. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning
              able, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers,
                                                                             and the end." It is evident from the contents that these words
              and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the
              lake which bumeth with fire and brimstone: which is            are again spoken by God directly: for He alone is the Alpha

              t h e   s e c o n d   d e a t h .                              and 0mega. Cf. Rev. 1 :S. The viewpoint is that bf the

                                                                             vision in verses 1 to 4. There John saw the new creation and .
       First of all, we wish to make some general remarks. In                the new Jerusalem. Here it is stated that they ark come to
these verses we have a solemn confirmation by God Himself                    pass, or that the promise of God is completely realized. In
of the things which John had seen in the vision of verses 1                  the light of these words and from the viewpoint that all
to 4, the passing away of the old world and the formation                    things are accomplished, the rest of the passage must be
of the new creation, and especially the, vision of the new                   understood. It is now become fully evident that God is the
Jerusalem. Throughout this passage, except, perhaps, in verse                Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end of all. things.
S-b, the speaker is God Himself. And the contents are, in                    All. things are of Him, and all things are also unto Him. He
the first place, a statement that God makes all things new.                  must have the glory. He determines the end from the be-
In the second place, there is an injunction for John to write                ginning.    There is nothing that does not serve His purpose.
these words: for they are faithful and true. In the third                        Verses 6-b to 8. We read: "I will give unto him that
place, there is a declaration that it is done, that it is come               is athirst  of the fountain of the water of life freely." This
to pass., that it is all finished, and that God is the Alpha and             is evidently a promise to him that is athirst  now, here ifi this
Omega. Inithe  fourth place, there is the promise that God                   world, but that shall be completely fulfilled when all things
will give the water of life to him that is athirst.  And                     are made new. As to the contents of this promise, we must
finally, there is a declaration that the wicked will be cast                 `state, in the first place, that it promises the water of life as
into eternal desolation.                This we will now explain a little    a free gift of grace. And the meaning is that God will con-
more in detail.                                                              stantly supply all that is necessary to have and to enjoy

       First of all, then, we have verse 5 and the first part of             eternal life: perfect knowledge of Him and perfect fellow-

verse .6 : "And he that sat [or, according to the Revised                    ship with Him. In the second place, it speaks of thk  fountain

,Version: `he that sitteth'] upon the throne said, Behold, I                 of this water. This fount is ultimately God Himself. But

make all things new."                It is God Who is speaking here ; and    that promise He realizes through, Jesus Christ our -Lord.

John hears these words although they are not directly ad-                    From Him we shall drink of the water of iife.  In the third

dressed to him: He is the one that sits on the throne. Cf.                   place, we must not forget  that if is a promise to him that is

Rev. 4 2, 3. And He therefore appears here as the sovereign                  athirst,  -that is, to the spiritual man in Christ, to him that

Lord of all. In these wordi He hei-e speaks and reveals Him-                 longs for God and His;.ri&teousness.  And then we read:

seif as the Savior, the Redeemer of His people, and the' Re-                 "He that dvercometh shall in&r& all things  [Revised Ver-

deemer and .Retiewer  of all creation. All things He will make                sion : `All `these thing?] ; &z I will be" his God, and he

new in heaven and on earth: T.hese  words, we understand,                     %hafl  be itiy soli:"" In' t&&`~~~ords  &ie  ij;ro&ise  Gf verse 3 is


                                                                               T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                                               465


repeated ; but nevertheless there is the following difference.                                                                              11. Having the glory of God: and her light was like
In the first place, the promise is here in the singular. TF                                                                                 unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear
                                                                                                                                     .-
                                                                                                                                            as diystal;
inherit these things is therefore an individual matter. Then,
too, sonship  is here mentioned: he that overcometh will be                                                                                 12. And had a wall great and high, and had twelve
                                                                                                                                            gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names writteil
God's son and heir. Thirdly, the emphasis here is on "he                                                                                    thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of
that overcometh," thus designating the one that will inherit                                                                                the children of Israel:

all things. A battle must be fought against the powers of
                                                                                                                                            13.    On the east three gates; on the north three gates,
darkness in this world. And qnly he, that is faithful and                                                                                   on the south three gates; and on the west three gates.

victorious.in  that battle shall inherit all things. Thkn we read,                                                                          14. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations.
on the contrary: "But the fearfdl, and unbelieving, and the                                                                                 and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the

abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sor-                                                                                       Lamb.

cerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in                                                                              15. And he that talked with me had a golden reed to
the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is                                                                                    measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall
                                                                                                                                            thereof.
the second death." In these words those are designated that

shall not inherit all things, but whose part shall be in the                                                                                16. And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is

lake of fire. Notice that they are classified as fearful, re-                                                                               as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with
                                                                                                                                            the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the
ferring probably to nominal Christians that are afraid to
                                                                                                                                            breadth and the height of it are equal.
fight the battle  and therefore are always inclined to com-
                                                                                                                                            17.    And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and
promise with the world. Secondly, they are professed un-
                                                                                                                                           forty and four cubits, according  to the measure  of a man,
believers, who openly reject the gospel and oppose Christ.                                                                                  that is, of the angel.

And these are, in the third place, abominable, filled with the                                                                              18. And the building of the wall of it was of jasper:,
abominations of the great whore, Rev. 17 :4. &d not only                                                                                    and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass.

are they filled with the abominations of the great whore,
                                                                                                                                            19. And the foundations of the wall of the city were
but, according to the text, they naturally also walk in their
                                                                                                                                            garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first
abominations. For thus we read in verse 8 : "But the fearful,                                                                               foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a
and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and                                                                                     chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald;

whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars,                                                                                  20. The Efth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh,
shall have theii-  part in the lake which burneth with f&e  and                                                                             chrysolite;  the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the

brimstone: which is the second death." In these words it                                                                                    tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth,

is very plain that these abominable men and women walk in                                                                                   an amethyst.

their abominations: for they walk as murderers, whore-                                                                                      21. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every

mongers, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars. And they shall                                                                                several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city
                                                                                                                                            was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.
be cast into the lake of fire, which burneth with fire  and brim-
stone. And this, according to the text, is the second death.                                                                                22. And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God
                                                                                                                                            Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.
The first death is, of course, the death of these unbelievers
and sorcerers and idolaters and liars in the present life, end-                                                                             23. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of
                                                                                                                                            the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten
ing with physical death. Really they are dead now. They                                                                                     it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.
never lived. But that death is finished when they die the
                                                                                                                                            24. And the nations of them which are saved shall
physical death. And, therefore, now they are in the first                                                                                   walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do
death ; but when they shall have been cast into the lake that                                                                               bring their glory and honour into it.

burns with fire and brimstone, they shall be in the second                                                                                  25.    And the gates of it shall not be shut at a11  by day:

d e a t h ,   w h i c h   i s   n o   a n n i h i l a t i o n ,   b u t ,   a c c o r d i n g   t o   a l l   S c r i p -                   for there shall be no night there.

ture, is the death which they experience and which shall                                                                                    26.    And they shall bring the glory and h&our of the
never end.                                                                                                                                  nations into it.


                                           C                                                                                                27.    And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing
                                                H A P T E R  XXIII
                                                                                                                                            that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination,
                                        The  New Jerztsalews                                                                                or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the

                                         Revelation 21:9-27                                                                                 Lamb's book of life.


                      9. And there came unto me one of the seven angels

                      which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues,                                                 All things are to be new in the eternal future of the king-
            ~.       .and  talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew
                                                                                                                             dom of heaven and in the perfect church. We expect a new
                  thee the bride, the Lamb's wife.
                                                                                                                             heaven and a new earth, that is, a new and entirely different
                      id.      And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and                                           state of things. Essentially this new state of things shall con-
                     high mountain, arid shewed me that-great city, the holy
                                                                                                                             sist in this, that God's tabernacle is then with men.                H.H.
                      Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,

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


                                                                        through the camp spreading the flames of rebellion. What

11 A CLOUD OF W.lTNESS,ES 11 were they going to do for food? Soon what they had would
                                                                        be gone, and they would all be left without. This was not

                                                                        what they had been promised. It was not right. It was not

                                Manna                                   fair. Some became outspoken, and united themselves into a
                                                                        crowd. With flushed faces they made their way to Moses
            And when the dezv  that lay zims gone z&p,  behold,         and Aaron. Their voices were angry and loud. "Would to
         upon the face of the zu2derne.u  there lay a small  yourtd     God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of
         thing, a,s small  as ti%e  !zoar  frost om  the ground.
                                                                        Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat
            And when the ci'zildren  of Israel saw it, they said        bread to the full ; for ye have brought us forth into the
         one to another, It is ezanna:  for they z&e not what it
         was. And Moses said unto thegq This is the bread               wilderness, to kill the whole assembly with hunger."
        wlci& the Lord bath.  given you. to ea.t. Exodus 16 : 13, 14       To them Moses and Aaron would not answer. They

                                                                        would not meet anger with anger, heated words with heated
       Marah  laid the pattern for the life of the nation of Israel
                                                                        words. The implication was very clear. They, Moses and
that would obtain throughout the wilderness journey. There
                                                                        Aaron, were being blamed for the fear of the people. The
the people first began to murmur because of the rigor of the
                                                                        people accused them because they were men, and the people
life they were called to lead. There God clearly demonstrated
                                                                        dared not lay the blame to God. Silently Moses and Aaron
that He was-  perfectly able to provide for them in all of their
                                                                        turned to do the only thing they could. They went in prayer
need. There God set forth His statute and ordinance to prove
                                                                        to God. As they prayed, God came to M6ses and spoke.
them, saying, "If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of
                                                                        "Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you ; and the
the Lord thy God, ahd wilt do that which is right in his
                                                                        people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that
sight, and wilt give ea; to his commandments, and keep his
                                                                        I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no."
statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I
                                                                           Meanwhile, as the people waited, a hushed silence fell over
have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that
                                                                        the camp. Tension was drawn to the point of breaking. One
healeth thee."
                                                                        short month had passed since their departure from Egypt,
       From Marah  Israel moved to Elam. There they camped.             and already the third crisis had come. The trouble was in
It was a pleasant place to be with its seventy palm trees and           the route they had been made to take. They never knew
twelve wells bf water. During the stay at Elam the camp                 what was coming next. Every day anew the way ahead
was quiet ; but underneath there was a deepset  division that           looked impossible. It made them uncertain and afraid. Why
had developed. There were those who remembered the                      could they not travel an easier road ? Then they would not
marvelous works of. Jehovah their God and trusted in His                feel so much like rebelling. Still, there were some whose dis-
abiding love. For them the Song of Moses still re-echoed in             cernment went deeper than this. They had an underlying
their hearts. They looked forward in faith, confident in the            awareness of guilt. As yet, they realized, they had never
promises of God. And there were also the others. They too               really been in need. The presence of Jehovah was before
had sung the Song of Moses on the shore of the Red Sea;                 them in the cloud, and He had always provided for them in
but already it was forgotten. They were discovering that the            time. It was just that they had to trust so exclusively in
way of the wilderness was to be hard, and doubts were creep-            Him. There was never anything tangible upon which they
ing in.    They wanted mai-erial  prosperity, and, as long as it        could rely. That made it so hard.
did not come, they would object. Henceforth this division                  Finally Moses and Aaron returned. First they went to
would become ever more evident in the life  of the nation.              the waiting group of leaders. With stern words of reprimand,
The two elements would be Constantly vying together for                 they spoke. "At even, then ye shall know that the Lord hath
control of the nation. The latter group being by far the more           brought you out from the land of Egypt : and in the morning,
numerous, except for the repeated intervention of Jehovah,              then ye shall see the glory of the Lord ; for that he heareth
they would surely overcome.                                             your murmurings against the Lord : and what are we, that ye
       Elam provided a peaceful camp. Under the shade of its            murmur against us? This shall be, when the Lord shall give
palms, the people .found rest. But it could not last. The               you in the evening flesh to ca{,  and in the mor&g  bread to
cloud of Jehovah would lead them onward. Sopn the tents                 the full; for that the Lofd heareth-  y9u.r ?nurmurings  which
were packed, and Israel set forth again to the rigor of the             ye murmur against him : and, what are we ? your murmur-
wilderness way.                                                         ings are not against us, but against the Lord."

       A few days of travel passed, and again the discontents              Next, all df the congregation was called' together. The

had an opportunity to speak. This time it was food. The                 people gathered at the edge of the camp, -and  Aaron stood

supply was getting low, and looking about in the wilderness,            before them. Tensely  the people waited for him to speak;

they saw .none that was to be had. First.. there. were  just            but at the Same  time,  there was an awaren?ss  of the cloud

sullen faces .with mutterings under the breath ; but before long        of' Jehovah that hovered at a distance `in `,the  .wilderness..

there  were ?gimated  and  aflgry  conversations.  Men .circulate.d     A&n"s  pro&&cen&t.  was short.. `Xomg. ne& before the


                                         T H E   STANDAkD   ` B E A R E R                                                      467


Lord: for he hath heard your murmurings," and with that            before the people and explained. "This is the bread which

he pointed them toward the cloud. Before their eyes the            the L&-g. hath .given  you' to eat. This is the thing which the

cloud began to glow. Brighter and brighter it shone until          Lord h&h commanded, Gather of it every man according to

the glory, the beauty, the awful light of God's presence           his eating, an omer for every man, according to the number

blinded their eyes. While the people stood trembling, Moses        of your people ; take ye every man for them which are in

was commanded to speak to them again. "At even ye shall            his tents."

eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be filled with bread:          A feeling of festivity filled the camp as the people hastened

and ye shall know that I' am the Lord your God."                   to find containers. They found this new kind of food excit-

   Slowly the people returned to their tents and waited.           ing. It was a delicious food, and an omer (perhaps about 5

They had seen the glory of Jehovah .and heard the messages         pints), was sufficient for every man's daily need. Soon

ol Aaron and Moses. A leeling  of anxious ant&pat;on  Filed        they discovered that not only could it be eaten raw, but it

the camp. They could try to go about their usual activities,       could be seethed or baked as they chose. The manna was an

but their minds would only re9ect  again on what they had          indisputable testimony that Jehovah their God was fully ca-

seen and heard. They had been told that they would eat             pabIe  of supplying their every need, and He did even when

flesh, but from where ? They had been told that they would         they were unthankful and wicked. But the manna was also

have bread, but how? It all seemed again so utterly impos-         a means by which they were being proved. Some there were

sible; yet they could not dismiss it from their minds. In          who followed Moses' command exactly, gathering only

groups or alone, they waited. And then, there arose an es-         enough for one day. They understood that God would supply

cited cry. A dark cloud had been sighted on the horizon.           more food every morning and believed that it was so. But

For a moment their hearts beat faster. Was it an approach-         there were others who would take no chance. They gathered

ing storm of judgment such as they had seen roll repeatedly        as much manna as they could until under the heat of the sun

over Egypt? They knew that they had displeased Jehovah             it melted away. They wanted to be sure' that they,,would

by their complaining. But no, it .approached  too swiftly for      have food for the morrow regardless of what Moses said. The

that. Closer and closer it came vibrating as though with life      next morning a putrid stench hung over the camp for worms

and with the sound of many thrashing wings. It was a flock         had invaded the pots where this extra manna was kept. With

Ff birds covering the sky, quails without number. The birds        angry words Moses administered to them their reprimands.

came ; they hovered over the camp ; and then they settled             With the sixth day of the week a new command  was given.
down. In sheer amazement t-he people hesitated ; but then          Moses brought it to the people. "This is that which the Lord
they reached out and captured the birds with bare hands, as        hath said, To morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto
many as they wanted.                                               the, Lord : bake that which ye will  bake to day, and seethe
   Countless fires burned brightly that night in the camp of       that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up
Israel. The people had fresh meat to eat. They had thought         for you to be kept until the morning." Again there were
it to be impossible, but Jehovah had brought. it to pass. To       some that obeyed. They trusted the word of the Lord. But
the faithful it was an occasion of greatest joy. They #were        there were others that feared the stench. They preferred to
assured of the faithfulness of their God and of His abiding        gather in the morning even if it were the sabbath. But in
love. Repenting from their murmuring, they had peace in            the morning there was none, and it remained for them to go
their souls. But there were also the others. In their mouths       hungry. Again Moses spoke, "How long refuse ye to keep
the meat was tasteless, and bitter in their stomachs. They         my commandments and my laws ? See, for that the Lord
would have almost preferred not to have seen the quails even       hath given you the sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the
if many had starved. Then they would have been justified           sixth day the bread of two days ; abide ye every man in his
in their complaints. Now they stood condemned.                     place, let no man go out of his pIace on the sabbath day."
   And still there was more to come.                                   Jehovah was teaching Israel a great lesson. They could
   Early the next morning another excited cry went up.             exist as a nation only through complete dependence upon
The earliest risers, awaking in the morning's dawn, found          Him. It was the truth set forth by Moses and later quoted
the ground covered with white like snow. Quickly the               by Jesus, "Man doth not live by bread only, but by every
people turned out to examine this new thing which they             word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man
saw. Small, white kernels, like coriander seeds, covered           live" (Deut. 8 :3). It was as though they heard beforehand
the ground as far aS the eye could see. The people looked          the wofds  of Jesus, "Take no thought for your life, what ye
and cried, "Manna ? (What is it ?) " It was a substance            shall eat, or what ye shall drink ; nor yet for your body what
such as human eyes had never before seen. They stooped             ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body
and sifted it through their fingers. They lifted it to their       more than raiment? . . . But seek ye first the kingdom of
lip?  .a,&gofound  it sweet to the taste like honey. It was a      God, and his righteousness ; and all these things shall be
mi$&~s  substance perfectly adapted for food. It could             added to you" (Matt. 6 :25,  33).
provide all of the nourishment needed by the htiman  body

even amid the rigorous.  life of the wilderness.    Moses stood                                                              B.W.

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


                                                                       the solemn, "I beseech vou first of all that prayers, `inter-
                                                                                                   ,
.I/       F R O M   H O L Y   W R I T   11 cessions, thanksgiving be made for all men." Moreover, it
                                                                       certainly also explains the deep motive of urging prayers

                                                                       for "kings and for all who are in authority." The motive

                    Exposition of I Timothy                            is that the church may walk in a good conscience toward the

                         (I Timothy 2 :l-7)                            ordinance of God's authority and over-all rule in all the
                                                                       world.
                                  b.
                                                                          That this over-all motive is indeed present here in this

        In the former article we took notice of the implication of     passage is evident from the very nature of prayer.

 the concept "all men" here in the writings of Paul. We                   It should be borne in mind that prayer is not simply

  might ascertain that the term "all men" is by no means the           a "means" to obtain what we desire from the Lord ; it is

 same as "every man," every man without exception, nor is              far more than that. Prayer is incense to God. According to

 it equivalent of "every man who in the dispensation of God            the Heidelberg Catechism prayer is the chief part of thank-

 comes under the preaching of the gospel."                             fulness which God requires from us. The other part of

        It is quite evident, we saw, that the term "all men" refers    thankfulness is the keeping of God's commandments out of

  to all hinds of men, to -every kind of men in the station and        faith and unto the glory of God's grace.

 place in life; it makes no difference whether they be male                It is not for nought that Paul enumerates, and that, too,

  or female, lord or servant, rich or poor, Greek or Jew. The          in climactic effect, that the petitions, prayers and intercession

  entire middle-wall of the partition has been removed by the          be with tlzm&sgizhag.  Now certainly thanksgiving is more

  blood of Jesus Christ shed upon the Cross of Calvary. This           than a feeling, mere sentiment. It is a basic attitude toward

  is clear from the text as well as from a kindred passage             God, and a worship with very real and exact spiritual con-

  from Paul's pen in Titus 2:1-11.                                     tent and motivation. For thanksgiving is first of all a matter

        Here in this passage urider  consideration we may be           of strictest +&ice. It is just that God be acknowledged and

  quite certain that Paul has all kinds of men in mind, the            thanked. And it is certainly just that God be acknowledged

  entire human race in the o~~gamic sense of the term, since           and thanked as He who rules over all, the God of the ages,

  Paul explicitly mentions "kings and all who are in authority."       the incorruptib!e  and immortal God. Does God not have

  This definitely points to men in every station of life.              dominion over the very hearts of kings. `!He turneth it                   rl

        Such is, briefly, the matter which we may deem to be           whithersoever he wills." Prov..Zl  :l. It is not so that a man

  established in the former article.                                   deviseth his, way, but Jehovah directeth his steps. A divine

        At this point in our discussion the point should be raised     sentence is in the lips of the kings; his mouth shall not

  as to why Paul so explicitly singles out "kings and all who          transgress in judgment." P -
                                                                                                        IOV.  16 9, 10. Or do we not read :

  are in authority" and even urges Timothy to instruct the             "It is an abomination to kings to commit wickedness, for the

  con@-egation concerning such prayers for all men.                    throne is established by righteousness. Righteous lips are the

        In the first place, Paul insists on this since such is in      delight of kings, and they love him that speaketh right."

  conformity with the very genius of the end of the command-               In view of all this is it not jztst  to thankfully acknowledge

  ment, namely, love out of pure hearts, and a good conscience,        that kings stand by God's appointment and ordinance, and

  and unfeigned faith. Compare chapter 1 :5. It is imperative          that their very heart is in His hands ? However, it also is very

  for the church in the world that they do not suffer shipwreck        tmthful  to thankfully acknowledge that the Lord is God,
  as to the faith. Shall the church be a light on a candle-stick       even over the &&g-s  !

  giving light to all who are in the house, then she shall surely          Such we 20 fundamentally in prayer. We pray to the

  have to walk in the love of God, in a faith which is energized       one true God who has -revealed Himself to us in His Word,

  by love. Only such a faith can guarantee a walk in a good            and we humble ourselves before His majesty in the deep

  conscience, that is, such: a walk in which we judge ourselves        cotisciousness  of our needs, and we trust that God will hear

  in the light of God's law to be in conformity with his will,         us for Christ's sake.

  and acceptable to him. For good works are those which pro-               In view of this rather basic and directive consideration

  ceed from true faith, are performed in accordance with his           concerning the very nature of prayer it is not so difficult to

  law, and are unto the glory of his great grace and mercy!            understand that Paul impressed upon the minds of the

  Such is the key-strin g in the golden harp of God in the             Ephesian `believers the urgency and the need of the complete-

  hearts of His people in the midst of an evil world.                  ness of such prayers. Hence, the ternis : supplications, firayers,

        Such is the spiritual-psychological connection between         intercessions.    Each of these terms indicates an aspect of

  this section in chapter 2 :1-7 and the foregoing chapter.            prayer as the chief part of thankfulness. Suppkatiom  refers

        To walk in good works in an evil world is a,very, very         to prayer from the view-point of the great need of the heart:

  prayerfit  work ; it is consecrated end'eay@-, and it `is the        Here the Christian botis very, ver$  lowly before God, before

  sweet-smelling incense upon the altar of God. Unlkss'  it is         the divine majesty  of God. Applied to "all ni& and to kings"

  that .it is a stench in the holy nostrils of God. This explains      &is. rneansf3lat.  iti iS .a heartfelt .nekd  to .remetiber  -them and


                                            THE,ST,ANDARD   B E A R E R                                                                 469


commit them to God. P+-ayers  refer to the askings, to re-           people and nation. And kings and all in authority too fall

quests directed to God Himself. Intercessions refer to re;           in this class. Think of Cornelius, the centurion in the Italian

member&g  particularly others in our prayers. Each element           Band. Did not Paul preach so that Christ was made known

must be present in a full-orbed prayer life.                         to all the men of the Roman Praetorium ? Well may we,

    So much for the nature and the elements in prayer as             therefore, pray also for kings in their position that they do

here enjoined by Paul.                                               righteousness toward the Church and if it be God's will, bow

    The reader has by this time possibly asked: why must             humbly before God's throne.

such prayers be made for all men, and particularly for kings             Before we end this instalment on this section permit US

and all who are in authority ? To this we answer that the            to remark that it is quite true that Paul is- here writing in

deepest motive is the well-being of the church. It is im-            view of the Ephesian church. Had not Paul written a most

perative that the church "live a quiet and peaceful life, in all     wonderful letter to this Church, called the "Letter To The

godliness and sobriety."         Such well-being is for her, and     Ephesians" ?      In this letter the chief thought is that there is

that, too, for the entire church in all the world. Such well-        one church, one Lord, one faith, one hope, one baptism, one

being depends in large measure upon the decisions of kings           God Who is above all, in all and through all. The unity of

and all who are in authority.                                        the body of Christ; many members yet one body.

    It may not be superfluous to remind ourselves that the               Such is the church in all the world, composed of believers

Scriptures were written to the church in the world, as she           out of every walk of life.

is the church under the Cross. The fundamental presupposi-               If such be the case then too the scope of our prayers must

tion is every where in Scripture that there is a suffering for       be for the entire church of God in the world, as Christ

righteousness' sake. Certainly it is given unto the church           gathers, defends and preserves her. We must not pray simply

to suffer for the sake of Christ. Now this too must be done          for our little family circle, nor for our own congregation. I

because of love from a pure heart. a good conscience and             once heard one remark: our preacher does not pray for the

faith unfeigned., Peter warns the church that it is not              denominational needs ; .it is simply, "me, my congregation

beautiful before God to suffer because of our faults. And cer-       and I."

tainly shall we not do such we must love the brotherhood,                It seems that Paul is counteracting some such evil

fear God and honor' the king. I Peter 2 :17.                         tendency in this Ephesian church. They must fully under-

    Possibly a close reading of the text here in I Timothy           stand and live from the faith that there is one God and

2:1-6.  shows that what Paul has in mind in praying for              Savior! It must be fully understood that there is one Medi-

kings is the well-being of all the "brotherhood" in the world.       ator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus. It is to the

They must live a quiet and peaceful life. One cannot pray            service of this great Savior God that Paul is called and

for the one without the other. Furthermore, let it not be            separated as a teacher and preacher-a teacher to the

overlooked that :                                                    Gentiles.                                                         G.L.,

    1. Paul is speaking of a quiet "life" here not in the

sense of life everlasting, but rather the life of this present                              THAT "FINAL LETTER"
world, the "bios" life, of marriage and giving in marriage,                                (Continued  from  page 463)
family life, life of the community and nation, as this partic-       the article ignores the main thing, namely, the contents of the
uiarly affects the life of the church in the world. They must        ietter  itself. Not a word is said about that letter as such ;
live a life, if possible, without persecution.                       nor is an answer attempted. Nor, although their "admin-
   2. They must live a life in quietness and peace. None             istrative committee" has received directives for a reply, has
need seek the rack, the prison and the death-cell. It is not         our Stated Clerk received a reply to date.
non-Christian to live a quiet life in the land.                          Truth and justice ?
   3. However, it must all be done with sobriety, that is,               "And judgment is turned away backward, and justice
with Christian dignity. And such dignity is first of all a           standeth afar off : for truth is fallen in the street, and equity
walking before God's face. Only he who acknowledges God              cannot enter."                                                 H.C.H.
has true dignity before men. Think of a Daniel in the court

of the Persian king.        .                                                                   I N   MEM0RIA.M

   That is the purpose of these enjoined prayers.                       We, the Consistory of the Hope Prot. Ref. Church, wish to ex-
   It ought to be observed, by all means, that Paul does not         press our sincere sympathy to Mr. and Mrs. J. J. Dykstra and family
                                                                     in the recent death of her mother,
say that we.should pray for the salvation of all men, in the
                                                                                                MRS. J. ZINGER
sense, that ever31  king's salvation is the end in mind in this
                                                                        May the Lord-comfort the hearts of the bereaved.
prayer. Such is not stated in the text nor is such a legitimate         "And God shall wiue  away all tears from their eyes; and there
conclusion from what we read in the verses 4 through 6. No           shall be no more death, neither  sorrow, nor crying, neither shall
                                                                     there be any more. pain: for the former things, are passed away.'
class of yM.evi  in God's church ought to be excluded from           Rev. 21:4.
our prayers.    God has taken them all in His plan unto, salva-                                            Rev. H. Hanko, President
                                                                                                           i3. Meulenberg, Clerk
tion.. He has. redeemed. His .people  out:~of  every to,ngue  and                                  :                        .._
                                                                     Qand Ripid&  Mi'chigan:            : 1' `."

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


                                                                    dam of God and its righteousness ; and all these things shall

                                                                    be added unto you," Matthew 6:33.  And, by the way, this

                                                                    is a very important -text for God's royal priesthood. It is a

                                                                    truth by which he lives. It expresses the very activity of his

                  God's Royal Priesthood                            life and his calling in the world. However, there is a marked
                                                                    difference between a sacrifice and an offering. Abel did
                                (8)                                 come with a sacrifice when he brought an offering to God.

       The son of a prophet in due time may himself be a            And his offering was an act of faith. Cain deceived himself

prophet.                                                            into thinking that he brought an offering ; but because he

       The son of a king, provided he is the oldest son, may        despised the sacrifice that God had ordained and taught to

look forward to having his father's throne.                         Adam and Eve, when He slew a lamb and clothed Adam and

       But the son of a priest knows without having any doubt       Eve with the skin thereof, God rejected his offering. His

to becloud the issue that he will also be priest. In fact every     heart was not right with God, and his offering made that

son born in the tribe of Levi knew that his whole life was          plain.

dedicated to service of God in the tabernacle or temple. H e            This brings us to the truth that, even before Melchizedek,

had no problem to decide what his vocation would be. He             the work of the priest is presented to us in Scripture, even

had no choice in the matter. His work was all cut out for           though the name priest is not used. Cain and Abel functioned

him by God Himself. For God set aside the whole tribe of            in the office of priest. The one was God's royal priest, the

Levi for this work and the house of Aaron for the priesthood.       other was Satan's shameful priest. But here already we do

       However the priesthood of Aaron is not the first of which    see man offering and sacrificing unto God. We can go back

we may read in Holy Writ. The first priest to be designated         one step more and point out that Adam also performed the

as a priest is Melchizedek, who is called priest of the Most        work of a priest and was in Paradise God's royal priest. We

High God in Genesis 14:lS.  There is also reference before          do not refer then to the fact that Adam also must have

the days of Aaron to priests of the gods of the heathen.            sacrificed lambs unto God before Cain's and Abel's offerings

Joseph's wife, according to Genesis 41:50, was Asaneth, the         and must have taught his sons to perform this priestly work

daughter of Potipherah, the priest of On. Although it must          before God. Certainly this matter of sacrificing a lamb unto

be admitted that the word priest here could also mean prince.       God was not an invention of man. Man did not "hit upon"

But in Genesis 47 further mention is made of priests of             a matter that God found pleasing. Abel did not just happen

Egypt. The heathen nations did have priests who offered             to choose a sacrifice that pleased God ; and God did not ac-
                                                             up
sacrifices to their idols long before God set aside the tribe       commodate Himself to a human invention. Do not forget that

of Levi to serve Him in His tabernacle. But the first sug-          Christ in Scripture is called the Lamb slain from before the

gestion in Holy Writ of the work of the office of the priest        foundation of the world. Long before Abel came with his

is found in Genesis 4, where we have the account of Cain's          sacrifice or offering of a slaughtered lamb, yea long before

and Abel's offerings to God.                                        Go'd slew a lamb to clothe Adam and Eve, long before Adam

       That work of the priest which set him aside from all         and Eve fell, even before they were created, in God's counsel

other men and all other offices undoubtedly was that work           Christ was already the Lamb slain on Calvary's brow for

of offering up to God the gifts of the people. We would a,t         our sins. It was for that reason that God slew a lamb to

this time like to point out that this work of offering up           teach Adam and Eve, and through them the whole Church,

gifts is a broader idea than that of sacrificing. We have           that we can approach Him, that our prayers can be heard,

come to the point where we use these words interchangeably.         that there is salvation only through the death of the Son of

I was even tempted a moment ago to say that the priest              God in our flesh. Adam learned this priestly work of sacri-

offered up the sacrifices of the people. That statement is not      ficing a lamb directly from God. And Adam as a faithful

inclusive enough. All the offerings were not sacrifices, even       covenant parent in his prophetic o%ce  taught his children the

though in a sense all sacrifices are offerings. Consider that       work they were to perform in their priestly office. Both of

the word sacrifice means literally a slaughter. It means the        his sons did not by faith embrace that truth. The one de-

offering of that which has life and whose life is taken away        spised it and set his own priestly,rules  and expected God to

by means of a slaughter. Goid and silver can be an offering,        accommodate Himself to man's fleshly choices and thoughts.

a gift unto God, but they can'hardly  be sacrifices. I say, we      The other by faith took hold of the truth in Christ and

use those words interchangeably, and we have gotten to the          sought forgiveness through His blood. And we may cer-

point where by sacrifice we mean giving something up, part-         tainly say that Adam also functioned in that same office and

ing with something. We speak of the sacrifices we make so           sacrificed his lambs to God before the incident recorded of

that our children may have a good education, the sacrifices         Cain and Abel.

we make for the cause of God's kingdom. And we mean that                But we said that Adam in Paradise already performed

we go without things, we give them first to kingdom causes          the work of priest as God's royal priest. That means that

because we know that this is right. "Seek ye first the king-        before"he  fell and before he was driven out of Paradise


                                                  T:Ji..jZ  _$ T:A N Q A:K.p: B.-E A .R-E K                                                                               471
                                                                                                                                                            _.

 Adam was in a royal priesthood. There was a priesthood                      .to go. up - to go up to- .God y and qarab  which. means to

 before sin entered the world. Even as there was a prophetic                 cause to come near or to bring,;near  - once again unto God,

 office and a kingly office in Paradise before the Fall,                     and alsothe Greek word prosphero which means to bear
                                                                       SO
 there surely was also a priestly office. As we have ob-                     towards, and the word doron  which means a gift.

 served, when treating this prophetic office (see S. .B. Vol.                    All the temple service centered around this work of the

 XXXVII, March 15, 1961, pages 277 and 278) the em-                          priest. That which demanded man's attention as soon as

 phasis in Holy Writ is upon the priestly office. Not that                   he came into the outer court of the tabernacle and the temple

 the prophetic and kingly are of less importance, but we                     was the altar of burnt offering or the brazen altar. It stood

 read in I Peter 2 :9 (from which our general theme is bor-                  out in bold relief there before the eyes of those who entered

 rowed) the pointed words, "Ye are a chosen generation,                      the temple, even as today the first thing to demand the atten-

 a royal priesthood,  a holy nation.. . ." Notice that the em-               tion of those who enter the house of God is the Bible

 phasis is upon the priestly office. Surely, then, we may say                on the pulpit. That altar was the Bible of the Old Testament

 that this priestly office likewise was to be found in Paradise              in that it was the Word of God in Christ as the Lamb slain

before the Fall. Man was created with mind, will and                         for the sins of the world. But this altar of burnt offering was

strength. He did not obtain a will after the Fall. But with                  nowhere to be found in Paradise, for no lambs needed to die,

all three in Paradise he stood in a threefold office.                        for the simple reason that death which is the wages of sin

     It is to be understood that after sin entered the world                 did not need. to be paid, since there was yet no sin in God's

the work of the priest, of necessity, underwent a change. That               earthly creation. Instead of an altar upon which lambs died,

is equally true of the prophetic office. After the Fall God's                Adam had a tree of life whose fruit had power to sustain his

prophet'has the calling to oppose the lie, to condemn it in no               earthly life without end. It all goes to show that Adam's

uncertain terms and speak of a Christ Whose coming was                       priesthood was far different.

not necessary until the entrance of sin. We say "not neces-                      We might also point out that Adam lived in the Holy of

sary until the entrance of sin" not because sin imposed some-                Holies of God's temple in Paradise. -He had free access to

thing,upon  God and made it necessary for Him to do some-                    the heart of that temple, for he went daily to the center or

thing He did not intend to do. We mean that apart from                       midst of the garden where the tree of life stood. And there

the sin which He had decreed would come there is even in                     he had fellowship with God without an altar. Sin had raised

His counsel no reason for the decree of a Saviour Who dies                   no barrier in that earthly creation. There was no veil be-

on Calvary's brow as the Lamb of God. And we may say                         tween Holy of Holies  and Holy Place. And from the heart

that after sin entered the world there are sacrifices which                  of Adam there rose a sweet smelling savour of prayers that

the priest must offer up to God. There must now be a lamb                    as yet did not need to include a request for the forgiveness

that is slaughtered. There must be a bloody offering. This                   of sins. But as priest Adam did offer up to God the whole

Adam never did. In fact Adam in Paradise before the Fall                     earthly creation and did utter prayers of praise.

did not even have an altar in the literal sense of the word.                                                                                                           J.A.H.

Yet he was priest, and his prophetic office served that priestly

office, while the kingly office became possible as God's king

of al1 the earthly creation only because of his priestly office.                                            IN MEMORIAM
    But let us first consider this priesthood after the order
                                                                                The Mr. and Mrs. Society of Hope Protestant Reformed Church
of Aaron, for it is better known unto us, and then we can                    wishes to express its sincere sympathy to its fellow members, Mr.
point out the differences between it and Adam's priesthood                   and Mrs. John J. Dykstra, in the loss of her mother
before the Fall. After Mt. Sinai the sphere of labor of the                                                 MRS. J. ZINGER
priest was in the tabernacle-and later in the days after                        May  the God of all grace comfort and sustain the bereaved in
Solomon in the temple. The prophet went. from place to                       their great sorroti.
place and went out to contact the people of God who were                                                                     Rev. H. Hanko, President

walking in sin or needed the comfort of God in their persecu-                                                                Mrs. D. Meulenberg, Secretary
                                                                             Grand Rapids, Michigan
tions, captivities and afflictions. But the priest labored in                                               P_                                                    .

the tabernacle and temple, to which the people came with                                                    IN MEMORIAM

their sacrifices and offerings and to hear the blessing of God                  The Consistory of the Hull Protestant Reformed Church hereby
pronounced upon them. And when we think of the priest in                     expresses sympathy to its fellow elder Mr. Bert Van Maanen in the

his sphere of activity, the tabernacle, we think immediately                 death of his father,

of. sacrifices, and offerings. The reason for this matter of                                         M R .   EVERT  V A N   M A A N E N

sacrifices is, ,as we already'suggested, nothing less -than SIN.                May our covenant -God comfort ,the  bereaved and strengthen

Although Adam ,brought  offerings to God, gifts which- he                    them in the words of II Cor. 5:1, "For we know that if our earthly
                                                                             house' of `this tabernacle ,were  dissolved, we have a building of
presented to. ,G& this was not as a sacrifice ,for sin:, In fact
                                                                             God, an house not made v&h  ha&ls~"eternal~in                    the- heavens."
our ;wor~:.Q$e~_mear?s..literallp,,  to bring unto ;or present:. This
                                                                                                                  R e v .   J .   Korteiing;   P r e s i d e n t
.is-,also$ue of $he.  :He,bre.w  .~vo~d.s~:~la~,-,~~hich.  meads to:cause                :
                                                                              .:. ..,....            :._            Mr. Peter-Hoekstra;.Vice"  President


,    472                                                T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
           -----.-----.                                                      that  God has revealed is in the Bible. The Bible is not in
     II                                                                      itself sufficient. But, what must we do with this word of
                 Contending For The Faith                               II Scripture, as recorded in Revelation 22:18: "For I testify
                                                                             unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of

                   The Church and the Sacraments                             this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall
                                                                             add unto him the plagues that are written in this book"?
                  THE TIME OF THE REFORMATION                                One might object that these words apply only to the Book

                           V I E W S   O N   T H E   C H U R C H             of Revelation. What of it? Has the Roman Catholic Church
                                                                             also added to this book of Revelation in its Tradition ? And,
               INFLUENCE OF THE MAIN PRINCIPLES                              secondly, this answer is pure sophistry and evasive. Rome
                            OF THE REFORMATION                               places equal authority in Tradition besides the Scriptures.

                                                                             But, these traditions are,_to  some extent, based on the mem-
                                       (continued)
                                                                             ory of men who remembered the sayings of Christ and of the

             We were quoting in our preceding article from the book          Apostles. Now it is true that Christ did not dictate any of

     of "Radio Replies" by the Rev. Dr. Leslie Rumble in which               His sayings. It is also true that the faith of the Church in its

     Dr. Rumble sets forth the Roman Catholic position                       New Testament infancy was dependent upon the word of
                                                                       02
     "Tradition." We will now continue with these quotations.                the Apostles, that. they did not have the Gospels as yet. But

             519. It seems to me that Catholics are guided by their          does this mean that these Apostles had to win belief in them-

     Church, and not by the Bible.                                           selves and in their mission before they could win belief in

             Apd the answer of Dr. Rumble to this observation is cls         their Master? Of course not ! Because Christ did not dic-

     follows : "You cannot separate the two like that. It is true            tate His sayings to men He inspired holy men, such as the

     that Catholics are guided by what their Church teaches. It              apostles, to proclaim His word. And the apostles wert fully

     would not be true to say or imagine that they are not guided            aware of this element of Divine inspiration. Because Christ

     by the Bible ; for all that is taught in the Bible is included in       would not leave His word simply to the memory of men He

     the teaching of the Catholic Church. Any notion that there              therefore inspired holy men to write His Word. And this is

     is opposition between the teachings of the Catholic Church              a far cry from the Roman Catholic doctrine of Tradition.

     and the Bible is due to either a wrong idea of Catholic teach-             521. But we do possess the Gospels now, and we cannot

     ing, or of the meaning of the Sacred Scriptures."                       go against them.

             520. To my mind the Bible is a sufficient guide, without           Of course, granted our possession of the New Testament,

     the need of anything else.                                              we must accept all that is written there in the sense intended

             You would not have the Bible save for the Catholic              by God, and nothing which contradicts that sense. But the

     Church. Also, not all that God has revealed is contained in             New Testament contains only part of the Christian message

     the Bible. And yet more, the Bible cannot be a sufficient               to the world. There are doctrines over and above those con-

     guide when it requires another guide to explain its meaning.            tained in the written fragmentary books of the New Testa-

     Remember that the first Christians owed their faith, not to             ment. And for such doctrines we must rely upon the tradi-

     the Gospels, but to the Church. The divine authority of the             tional teachings of the Catholic Church-traditions pre-

     Church was the first fact as far as men were concerned in               served from the very beginning.

     the order of proof. Before a line of the New Testament was                 522. Are words of Christ extant other than found in the

     written it was the Church that preached Christ to the first             New Testament?

     converts. Jesus commanded no writings, but told the Apostles               No. We have no other records of the exact words of

     to preach the truth, saying, "Teach all nations." And He                Christ save those contained in the New Testament. (So, Dr.

     promised them, "He who hears you, hears Me." The Apostles               Rumble acknowledges that there are no other words of Christ

     had t`o win belief in themselves and in their mission before            extant [publicly known] save those found in the New Testa-

     tliey could win belief in their Master. It was on their testi-          ment. The New Testament is the only exact record of the

     mony that the first converts believed in Christ. Had you                words of Christ. - H.V.)

     lived then, and had you gone to one of the Apostles demand-                523.    Does the Catho&  Church recognize any instruments

     ing proof from the written Word, he would have been quite               not found within its Bible, with the degree of solemnity as

     unable to provide proof from Gospels which had not yet been             if they were ?

     written! He would have said to you, "Such is the unanimous                 Besides the Bible, the Catholic Church recognizes the

     teaching of the Apostles as we have received it from Christ."           divinely safeguarded tradition which has been preserved and

     And either you would have accepted the teaching authority               transmitted in the Church. You must remember that Christ

     of the Church represented by the Apostles, or you would                 Himself eStablished  tradition as the main vehicle by which His

     have been without the Christian faith.                                  teachings would be preserved in the Church and commun-

             The above paragraph is the answer of Dr. Rumble. First          icated to men. He did not expressly order any gospels to te

     of all, Dr. Rumble again affirms in this answef  that not all           written. He demanded faith in His doctrines as they weie


                                             T H E   STAN.DARD   B E A R E R                                                         473


preached by word of mouth. Before the New Testament was                    When I say that the New Testament is not the supreme

written, the only rule of faith was the or& teaching of the            authority,~  I am referring to it, not in itself, but as a source

Apostles. Later on, part of the knowledge possessed by the             of doctrine to various individuals. As the Word of God, it

Apostles was committed to writing, but part only. Not all              possesses supreme authority in its` right sense. But as in-

revealed truth was written down. The divine teaching has               dividual readers are quite liable to get the wrong sense, they

been preserved and handed down completely in the Catholic              must be guided by the authority of the teaching Church if

Church, both by that section written in the New Testament,             they desire certainty as to what the New Testament means.

and by that section of revealed truth which. was not com-              The authority of the Church is not above that of Scripture;

mitted to writing, but which is declared by the living voice           but it is above that bf the individual judgment as to what

of the Church. For example, which Books of Scripture are               Scripture means. Since the New Testament is of supreme

canonical, the very inspiration of those Books. the teachings          authority in itself and in its right sense, I am justified in

on infant baptism, or on the matter and form of the Sacra-             using it as proof. Then, too, when I am talking to people

ments, and many other things, are known to us by the tradi-            whb profess to accept Scripture only, I am quite justified in

tional and living voice of the Church only. But, as I have             showing that what they think to be in Scripture is not there ;

pointed out, Christ intended that, for He did not order any-           and also in showing them  that many things are there to which

thing to be written, but established His Church and sent it            they have never adverted. There is a difference between ad-

to teach all nations what He had revealed, and its applica-            mitting that Scripture is the only authority ; and making use

tions in practice. (In connection with this answer of Dr.              of the only authority other people will accept.

Rumble, one might ask the question: why were not all the                  The sentiments of the above paragraph of Dr. Rumble are

teachings of the Apostles written down in the New Testa-               plain. Indeed, the Scriptures possess supreme authority. But

ment? Christ did not order any gospels to be writtek.  So,             it possesses this supreme authority only in its right sense.

what determined the Scriptures, Christ or His Church? -                That is, it possesses this supreme authority only if understood

H.V.)                                                                  rightly. And the Church is the only body (in the final anal-

    524. Why do you rely so much on the testimony of those             ysis the pope) that js able to interpret this Word of God,

whom you call the "Early Fathers" ?                                    and it is the only body that can therefore tell the individual

    Because they were men of undoubted learning and holi-              bZiever  what -that 1Vord teaches and what he may believe.

ness, and lived in times much nearer to the days of the                But this surely does not give due consideration to what we

Apostles than ourselves.     Being men of learning, they knew          read in I John 2 :27  : "But the anointing which ye have re-

the truly Christian outlook prevailing during the years im-            ceived of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man

mediately prior to their own age, and throughout the whole             teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all

Church during their lifetime. Being men of great holiness,             things, and is*truth,  and is no lie, and even as it hath taught

their integrity in setting down the truth is above suspicion.          you, ye shall .abide  in him."

And being in close proximity to the days of the Apostles                   526. Do you ask us to believe in a Church which will

themselves, they were ever so much better fitted than our-             perish rather than in the Word of God which will endure

selves to judge the nature of Christianity as first given to           forever ?

humanity. Above all are the early Fathers worthy of credence               No, we ask you to continue to believe in the Word of

when their independent writings are unanimous in declaring             God, but completely; and therefore to believe in a Church

the teachings and practices of early Christianity. Any later           that will not perish. For, according to the Word of God.

teachings which will not harmonize with their verdict would            Christ said, "I will build My Church, and the gates of he!1

obviously be a corruption of the Christian religion.                   will not prevail against it." You ,must therefore believe in

    The above paragraph of Dr. Rumble is surely not                    that imperishable Church ; and the Catholic Church alone cau

sustained by the facts. It is certainly not to be accepted as          be that Church. (Indeed, that Church will exist forever, and

true that, because these Fathers lived so early in this New            the gates of hell will not prevail against ,it. But, this, Church

Dispensation, they were therefore so thoroughly acquainted             that will last forever is not simply the Romish Church inas-

with the teachings of, the Apostles. They certainly wrote              much as it is founded upon the apostle Peter, to whom then

things which cannot be supported by the Word of God. Be-               have been, given the keys of the Kingdom, but it is that

sides, it is surely not true that the present day dpctrines  of        body of Christ that is founded upon the wonderful confes-

the Roman Catholic Church are completely in accord with                sion that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. -

the writings and sayings of these early Church Fathers.                B.V.)                                                       H.V.

Notice, too,. how these early Fathers, according  to Rome,                                         -   .               .
have equal authority with the Apostles, inasmuch as Tradi-

tion is equal with the Scriptures.                                                   Thy perfect  righteousness, 0 God,
                                                             ! :`.
    525. If the New Testame@,is  pot the supreme,,?ythoriFy                         ,,~ T; heig!t  of heaven exceeds, ;

for Ca`tl+l&s,  w?~ do you use it alone,, on :rn.a%y  qccasio@,  io                     w o is l+e,,to Thee, Who  hast
         :.                                                    .^.                                                          . .
prove your contenti&%?  " " ' "                                             : .        Perfornied  stich &gKtjr  dee&  ?

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


                                                                     Nature, His purpose, and His works, and therefore remains

                                                                     eternally the same in His infinite and constant fulness, above
i         The Voice of Our Fathers                                   all becoming, all change, all increase or decrease. God .is
                                                                     the eternal I AM ! The creature, whb exists in time and
                   The Belgic Confession                             space, can never say, "I am." He is always swept forward

                      ARTICLE I (continued)                          on an indivisible moment of time out of the future into the

                                                                     past, ever changing and becoming. But God zls. And He is
4. God is Imwmtable.                                                 all that He is in perfect Self-consciousness and in the infinite
       The eternal, incomprehensible, invisible God is the Un-       and constant fulness of His divine Being. He does not age.

changeable One. This immutability of God is already implied          He does not increase in virtue and power; He does not

especially in the attributes of God's simplicity and eternity,       grow weaker and decrease in virtue. In His Essence and all

but it may be singled out, on the basis of Scripture, as one         His virtues, in His mind and all His divine thoughts, in His

of the divine perfections. Even as God is perfectly orre  in         will and all His divine purposes, in His infinite life and

all His perfections, and as He is God from eternity to eternity,     divine love, in His works and all His manifold glory, He is

so He is perfectly and eternally the same, not subject to            absolute fulness, the Self-sufficient God.

change. Abundantly the Scriptures reveal this truth. Our                Nor must we conceive of God in any other wise. When

God is J&ozlaah.  And every time the Scriptures employ this          the Scriptures upon occasion make mention of a divine re-

name of God they reveal that He is the Unchangeable One.             penting, this certainly must not be understood as positing a

Thus, when the Holy One reveals Himself to Moses in the              change in God. Nor must we facilely pass this off as an

burning bush as the faithful covenant God, we read, Exodus           "anthropomorphism," a human form of speech concerning the

3 :13-15  : "And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come            Unchangeable One, without  anything further. But we must

unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The            remember that this too is the revelation of the immutable

God of your fathers hath sent me unto you ; and they shail           God. This eternal and immutable God reveals Himself in

say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them ?            time. And what is thus revealed to us in a succession of

And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he                      moments as divine repenting is eternally and unchangeably

said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM          in the mind of God, Who changes not.

hath sent me unto you. And God said moreover unto Moses,                The practical significance of this attribute is rich for our

Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The Lord            faith and assurance. Most often in Scripture this divine im-

God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac,           mutability is presented under the aspect of divine covenant

and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you : this is my             faithfulness. And for God's covenant people in the midst of

name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations."        the world, amid a scene of change and decay all around, and

Through this same Moses it is revealed that "He is the               themselves still imperfect and frequently unfaithful, what

Rock, his work is perfect :`for all his ways are judgment :, a       an unbounden source of assurance it is to know that our  God

God of truth and without `iniquity, just and right is he."           is Jehovah, Who changes not -changes not in His eternal

Deut. 32 :4. Jeremiah declares : "It is of the Lord's mercies        love, in His elective purpose, in His eternal covenant of

that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.          grace, in His unfailing compassions, in His great faithful-

They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness."              ness and abiding mercies.     "We all believe with the heart,

Lam. 3 :22,  23. And again: "Thou, 0 Lord, remainest for             and confess with the mouth, that God is . . . . immutable!"

ever; thy throne from generation to generation."' Lam. 5 :19.        And therefore, in the words of the Baptism Form, "If we

And through Malachi God's immutability is set forth as cov-          sometimes through weakness fall into sin, we must not there-

enant faithfulness as follows : "For I am the Lord, I change         fore despair of God's mercy, nor continue in sin, since bap-

not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed." Mal.              tism is a seal and undoubted testimony that we have an

3 6. In Hebrews 1 :lq-12  we read: "And, Thou, Lord, in              eternal covenant of grace with God."

the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth ; and the
heavens are the works of thine `hands : They shall perish ;          5. God is Infinite.

but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a                God is the Infinite One. He is infinite in all His virtues

garment ; And .as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they        and in His very Essence. And for that very reason frequently

shall be changed : .but thou art the same, and thy years shall       God's infinity is presented in terms of time (God is eternal),

not fail."    And to mention but one more New Testament              and in terms of space (God is omnipresent, or immense). .

passage which plainly teaches this divine attribute, we read         To God's eternity we have already called attention in connec-

in James 1 :17:  "Every good gift and every perfect gift is          tion with this first article. And of God's omnipresence, ac-

from above, and cometh  down from the Father of lights,              cording to which God, as the Immeasurable One, trans-

with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of. turning."           cendent above all space, is yet not only wifh all His power, but

       God's immutability, then, is that divine attribute accord-    also essentially, in all creation and in every creature with

ing to which He is eternally complete in His Being, His              His whole infinite  Being, our Confessfon does not make


                                              T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                 4i5


special mention. It is therefore well in the connection in              another,. and shall declare. thy mighty acts, I will speak of

which we find this term simply to understand God's infinity             the glorious honour of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous

in the broadest sense of the word as that attribute of God              works.-.-And  men shall speak of the might of thy terrible

according to which He is without limits in all His divine               acts : and I will declare thy greatness." Ps. 145 :3-6. In Acts

perfections. Better it might be to avoid the rather mechan-             17 :24  the apostle Paul preaches : "God that made the world

ical term "infinite," and to speak instead of God's "endless            and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and

perfection."                                                            earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands." And in

     Here again, of course, we stand before the naked truth             I Timothy 6 :16  God is described as "dwelling in the light

of God's incomprehensibility. Who can fathom the Un-                    which no man can approach unto."

fathomable ? How shall the finite ever define the infinite ?                From a practical, spiritual point of view this attribute of

That this is true is clear even from the very limited "defini-          God requires, first of all, that I shall look away from my-

tion" given above. It is a negative one. For how shall we say           self and all creatures as an object of adoration and trust, and

anything positive about infinity without dragging it down into          wholly thirst after God, Who is the only and inexhaustible

the sphere of the finite, the limited ? God's perfections are           and overflowing Fountain of all good. And, in the second

end-Less.  They are titkout  2iv&.  More than this we                   place, it implies that in His presence I should humbly feel my
                                                            Cannot
say. And even then we speak in terms of "ends" and "limits."            own insignificance and humbly walk with my God, which is

     Nevertheless, the Scriptures reveal this divine perfection         pleasing to Him.

in many ways and by means' of various terms. First of all,
                                                                        6. God is Almighty,
we may say that the Old Testament name of God that is so

often translated by our usual word for the deity, "God," car-               We must bear in tnind that also this attribute of God,

ries the connotation of God's endless perfection. This is the           sometimes classified as a communicable attribute, that is, as

name Elohitn, which is a plural form, but a form which                  an attribute of which there is a reflection in a creaturely

nevertheless everywhere is followed by a singular verb. And             measure in man, is nevertheless a uniquely divine perfection.

we may undoubtedly seek the explanation of Scripture's use              There is no comparison between the strength of the creature

of this natne along the line that it is a plural of intensity.          and the power of the Almighty. The difference between them

When God reveals Himself through the name Elohim as                     is not one of degree, which after all would place the power

the one God, He teaches us that He is the God of all perfec-            of God within the confines of His own creation ; but it is

tions and excellencies. God is one in all His virtues; but we           an essential difference. And therefore, bearing in mind the

cannot know Him except in the manifold revelation of His                truth of the divine simplicity, we must bear in mind, that

glorious perfections. And the name Elohim reveals God as                already a11  we have confessed previously, as well as all that

the Excellent One, Whose glory we can only know in the                  retnains yet to be confessed concerning God's attributes, is to

revelation of His many wonders. He is the God of endless                be applied to the divine omnipotence. God's might is one,

perfection. But, in the second place, Scripture teaches this            simple, spiritual. It is eternal; incomprehensible, invisible,

attribute of God explicitly in many passages. Let us take note          immutable, infinite. And it is perfectly wise, just, good. Also

of just a few passages. We read in I Kings 5:27:  `<But will            of God"s omnipotence, therefore, the question must be put:

God indeed dwell on the earth ? behold, the heaven and the,             "To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith

heaven of heavens cannot contain thee ; how much less this              the Holy One." Isaiah 40 :25.

house that I have builded  ?" In Psalm 139 are the well-                   When we turn to Holy Writ, we find no difficulty in

known words often cited in connection with God's omni-                  multiplying passages which speak expressly of this divine

presence : "Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither              perfection.

shall I flee from thy presence ? If I ascend up into heaven,               First of all, we may observe that the attribute of God's

thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art              omnipotence is so strongly emphasized in Scripture that it is

there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the             expressed in God's very names. He is named the "Mighty

uttermost parts of the sea ; Even there shall thy hand lead             One of Israel," Isaiah 1 :24. In blessing Joseph, Jacob says :

me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the              "But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands

darkness shall cover me ; even the night shall be light about           were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob ;

`me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night              (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:) Even by

shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike           the God of thy father, who shall help thee ; and by the AI-

to thee . . .' . How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, 0          mighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above,"

God ! how great is the sum of them ! If I should count them,            etc. Genesis 49 ~24,  25. According to Genesis 17:1,  "when

they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I                  Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to

am still with thee." Ps. 139:7-12,  17, 18. And in Psahn  145
.                                                                       Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God ; walk
God's greatnqss  is extolled by the psalmist.as  follows : "Great       before me, and be thou perfect." And frequently we read

is .the .&ord,  and greatly to be praised ; and his greatness. is       simply of the "Almighty" in the book of iJob.

u n s e a r c h a b l e ,One generation shall praise thy worlrs:  to                    (,to  be continued),       _, :,       .$I.C  H.

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


                                                                                  Christ so that Christ is not appropriated physically by the

                                                                                  dommtinicant  but through faith. This is an essential differ-
11  D E C E N C Y   a n d   O.RDER 11 ence which unavoidably also reflects itself in the manner in
                                                                                  which the sacrament is administered. Consistories of Re-
       The Administration of the Lord's, Supper                                   formed Churches must exercise constant vigilance so that

         "Every chwrrlz  shall ad&nis&  the Lord's Supper in                      nothing is introduced into the administration of the sacra-
  such a manner as it slm12  jztdge  WLost  condztcive  to edifica-               ment that would tend to destroy its essential idea. The
  tion; provided, however, that the outward ceremonies as                         ceremony must not be adorned with superficial practices that
  prescribed 2n God's Word be not changed and al!. s%pw-                          tend to superstition. The celebration of the Lord's Supper
  &ion  be avoided, and tha.t at the conclusion of the smmo~~t
  and                                                                             must not be designed so as to appeal to the physical eye but
          the mual prayers, the fo~atti  for ihe  ad&nistrat~on  of
  t h e   L o r d ' s   Suppe+r,  tog&her   w i t h   the praviW,  fov t h a t    rather made attractive to faith. Simplicity is its adornment.
  pwpose,  shall be read:"                        - Article 62, D.K.O.            Our Lord instituted it with simplicity and the closer we can

       Within the jurisdiction of every consistory is the task of                 remain to that original institution the more readily faith can

administering the Lord's Supper in such manner that is most                       apprehend the deeper significance of the holy supper. The

edifying to the congregation. It is not left to the individual                    Supper is designed to nourish faith by bringing to remem-

nor even to the church as a whole to decide which cere-                           brance the death of Christ and arousing in the consciousness

monies are to be observed in celebrating the sacrament, but                       of believers the need and appreciation of its benefits. Friv-

this authority resides in the ruling body of the church. Even                     olous additions appended to the celebration only becloud that

this prerogative of the consistory, however, is not without                       end so that spiritual edification is deterred.

limitation. The Church Order clearly prescribes that the                             Which elements are essential in the celebration of the

consistories shall see to it: (1) that the outward ceremonies                     Lord's Supper and which are optional ? The Church Order

prescribed in God's Word remain unchanged, (2) that all                           states "that the outward ceremonies as prescribed in God's

superstition be avoided and, (3) that the form fey the ad-                        Word be not changed." What the Church Order here fails

ministration of the Lord's Supper, together with the prayer                       to say is what these outward ceremonies are. Our other Con-

for that purpose, shall be read. Consistories are bound to                        fessions supply this information and from them we conclude

retain the essential elements in the administration of the                        the following to be elements that belong to the essence of the

sacrament but apart from these there are other things that                        sacrament :

are optional in each church. Local circumstances and the                             1, The proper elements of the sacrament are byeud  and

condition of each congregation must determine the policy as                       &we.  Though some substitute wafers and grape juice, this

judged by the consistory.                                                         is improper and contrary to the ordinance of Christ. Bread

   Consistories then should not impose changes in this regard                     is the proper symbol of nourishment. Used in. a broacl  sense

upon the congregation merely for the sake of change. Some-                        the term bread denotes that which is necessary for man's

times this is done to the detriment rather than edification of                    existence. Without bread we die. In the sacrament this

the church. All ceremonial change is not necessarily im-                          element denotes that our spiritual life is inseparably con-

provement and before any are to be enacted they should he                         nected with the body of Christ. Without Him we have no life

carefully weighed in the light of possible effects they may have                  in us. That which is indispensable unto eternal life is in .fiim

upon the congregation. We are too often influenced by what                        alone. Wine in Scripture denotes joy, gladness and pros-

other churches do and inclined to conform our practices                           peiity.  As such it expresses a beautiful symbolism when It

whether such conformity is spiritually beneficial or ngt. We                      points to the truth that the believer's joy and prosperity

loathe the insinuation that failure to conform to the popular                     springs from the fountain of Christ's blood. All the blessings

idea makes us old fashioned and narrow minded. To avoid                           of salvation which cause the heart of the believer to be filled

this we are ready to make alterations which at first appear                       with gladness are rooted in the blood that was shed for the

to be quite innocent but eventually pave the way for other                        remission of sins. Most appropriate is it that the wine in

changes that are positively harmful. Consistories must move                       the Lord's Supper is designed to direct our faith to the root

with extreme caution.                                                             of our spiritual prospeyity.

       The authority of the consistory is strictly limited to those                2. The bread must be broken and the wine poztred  out.

things that have to do with the ceremonial aspect of the                          As may be surmised these acts purpose to bring before the

sacrament. No consistory can change the sacrament esseti-                         believing mind the fact that Christ's body was broken and

tidy.  In this respect there is a fundamental difference be-                      His blood shed. This symbolism is essential for without it

tween the Reformed and Roman Catholic conception. The                             the true meaning of the sacrament cannot be ascertained. It

latter holds to the theory of transubstantiation according to                     is therefore improper to break all the bread before the

which the elements of the sacrament are mysteriously but                          ceremony.      If the individual cup is used and for practical

actually changed into the real body and blood of Christ.                          reasons these are filled before the service, one large cup

Reformed Churches maintain the sacramental view which is                          should be retained into which the minister can pour the

that the bread and wine are signs of the body and blood of                        wine and so preserve the symbolism.


                                              T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                     477



    3. The sacrament must be observed in the public gather-            certain part of the congregation comes forward and takes

ing of the church. It is not to be celebrated at any time and          their place at or near the communion table and thus cele-

in any place. This may be in accord with Roman Catholic                brates- the Lord's Supper as a group. Depending on the size

practice but it is not in harmony with Reformed principles.            of the congregation, there  may be several of these administra-

The sacrament belongs to the institute of the church and can           tions and the services become rathir  long and drawn-out.

only be celebrated in an officially instituted gathering of the            Although Monsma and Van Dellen  in Tlze Church  Order

congregation. This is literally stated in Article 64 of the            Comwentwy  favor the abolition of this practice, they do

Church Order and we believe it is also the intent of the               point out certain good features in it which they like to see

statement found in Article 35 of our Confession which reads :          retained. They write on page 260 as follows:

"We receive this holy sacrament in the assembly of the                     "But there was something in this old way which had real

people of God . . ."    It is indeed difficult to explain the prac-    merit. Separate, small group administrations required the

tice of many today who claim to adhere to the Reformed                 believers to arise and to go forward to take their place at

traditions and follow the practice of the Romish Church in             the Lord's Table as a distinct act, before the whole congrega-

this regard administering the sacrament in hospitals, con-             tion. There was a confession in that act. . . . The old way,

valescent homes and perhaps even in private homes.                     moreover, introduced an element of self-expression into the

    There are several other matters connected with the                 service which is worthy of appreciation and which was favor-
celebration of the Lord's Supper which are not of an essential         able in its reaction on the communicants. Consequently we
nature. One of the first practical considerations confronting          think that those churches which have maintained the two or
the churches of the Reformation was the question whether               three distinct administrations for each celebration have done
communicants should stand, sit, kneel or walk when they re-            wisely."
ceived the bread and wine. In the Roman Catholic Church                   Hard and fast rules governing these things cannot be
the communicants knelt and venerated the elements. It was              made.       Neither is this necessary because these matters of
not because there is sin in kneeling but because this could            administration do not have a bearing upon the real signif-
easily lead to an idolatrous practice that it was ruled out in         icance of the sacrament. There are more of these things
the Reformed Churches.                                                 which, D.V., we will have occasion to write about later. For
                                                                       example there is the question of the common or individual
   It seems also that the early practice in Reformed Churches
                                                                       cups, the matter of the communion offering, the question as
of having the communicants walk past the minister to receive
                                                                       to whether there should be silence, music or the reading of
the bread and wine was soon discarded. At least by 1571
                                                                       Scripture during the Communion. We have consistories in
the synod spoke only of standing or sitting while partaking
                                                                       our churches who must decide these things and in each in-
of communion. Three years later the synod judged that
                                                                       stance they must arrange the entire service so that it is
standing was the most appropriate posture at the Lord's
                                                                       "most conducive to edification."                       G.V.d.B.
Table but the very following year this decision was reversed

and it was decided that it made no difference whether com-

municants sat or stood. Today the custom of sitting has
become the accepted one.                                                               dice of Annual  Board Meeting

   In connection with this there are still minor differences              `The Amlual  membership meeting of the Reformed Free.

in the customs of different churches. In some churches the             Publishing Association will be held Thursday evening, Sept.

elements are passed through the entire auditorium.              In     28, at 8:OO  o'clock in the Southwest Protestant Reformed

others a certain part of the church sanctuary is set apart for         Church. The speaker will be Rev. C. Hanko. The board of the

those who take communion. In others, especially in small               R.F.P.A. invites all our Protestant Reformed men to join

churches where the number of communicants is few, chairs               with         in this work of witnessing for the truth and urges
                                                                            us  
are arranged around the communion table and at the time                all members to attend this important meeting.

the sacrament is to be celebrated, the communicants rise and

take their place around the table. Which of these methods

is to be preferred must be decided largely by local circum-

stances. The consistory must select that method that best

serves the needs of the particular church.                                The Acts of the 1961.  Synod of the Protestant Reformed

   Another question which arose in connection with the                 Churches are now available. You can purchase yours for

administration of the sacrament is whether tile communicants           $1.00 from the minister or clerk of your church or send $1.00
should partake of the elements as soon as they are received            to undersigned.

or whether they should wait until everyone has received them              Get your copy today and -keep informed on the important

and then all partake together. The latter method is somewhat           issues decided by. the Synod.

difficult in a large church unless the Holland practice of                                 Stated Clerkof  Synod, ,G. VandenBerg  ..

administering "tafels" is introduced. .This  means that a                                  94Q2  South 5&d Court, Oak.  Lawn, Illinois


     4     7    8                               T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
~
                                                                          first table of the law has always been a sticky question. which

                                                                          has usually aroused considerable controversy. We are in
     I /   A L L   A R O U N D   US jl agreement with the general principle that the government has
                                                                          not only the right but also the calling and obligation to en- .

                                                                          force the first table of the Decalogue. However, two things
     BLUE LAWS                                                            should be borne in mind: 1) this further implies that the

          There are forty-nine states in the union -all but Alaska        government has, in the words of the Belgic Confession, the

     -who have on their statute books what have been called               calling "to promote the true religion." Yet this principle

     "Blue laws." These laws prohibit certain public activities on        runs precisely contrary to the First Amendment. There is

     Sunday on the part of the citizenry. Recently these laws             therefore, obviously, an inconsistency in the laws of the

     came before the United States Supreme.Court  being chal-             government regarding this paint. 2) Althbtigh  the Gwen-
     lenged as to their constitutionality. There were those who           ment has the calling to enforce the first table of the law, this

     maintained that the laws violated the First Amendment to             must necessarily be limited to the proper sphere in which

     the Constitution- the amendment which forbids laws re-               the government functions. That is, the powers that be have

     specting the establishment of.,?ny one particular religion by        no right to enter and enforce such legislation in the home or

     the state. The "blue laws" of Maryland, Pennsylvania and             church. They have the right to enforce their laws only in

     Massachusetts were being challenged.                                 the sphere of the state and of the public domain. They may

          In Maryland the particular question was whether a dis-          prohibit a man from violating the Sabbath on the public

     count store could sell such items as a can of floor wax or a         streets, but they cannot punish him for staying in bed all

     toy submarine on Sunday.      By a vote of 8 to 1 the  highest       day. They may prosecute for profanity in the middle of

     court in the land ruled that they could not.                         downtown ; but they cannot enforce laws against profanity

          In Pennsylvania, the same question arose when an open           in the home.

     discount house attracted a "great volume of traffic" on Sun-             But even then, we will have to admit quite frankly that

     days. The court ruled 8 to 1 that the discount house could           this whole matter of the relation between church and state

     be prosecuted for violating that State's "blue laws."                is very difficult and a question worthy of considerably more

          In Massachusetts and also in another case from Penn-            thought and study than has been given to it in the recent

     sylvania, the question was a little different. Jewish merchants      past..

     in the state, orthodox in their beliefs that Saturday is the
     proper Sabbath, closed their stores on Saturday and opened           A DGCTATOR  CHURCH?
     them on Sunday. The Court ruled that the State of Massa-                 T.he  National Council of Churches has, since the days

     chusetts could keep a Jewish Super Market from selling on            when it succeeded the Federal Council of Churches, been the

     Sunday even though the store did a third of its business on          object  of considerable criticism. The main criticism has usu-

     this day. In Pennsylvania the Court gave the state the               ally `been that the NCC was reaching into areas it had no

     right to prevent Jewish meichants  from selling clothing and         right to enter, was assuming to itself powers which were

     home furnishings. These laws were upheld by a 6 to 3 vote.           practically dictatorial, was trying to become the sole mouth-

          Chief Justice Earl Warren wrote the majority opinion in         piece of all Protestantism. Usually these charges were pooh-

     both cases. He insisted that the "blue laws" did not violate         poohed by the staunch supporters of this organization.

     the First Amendment; and, in noting that the "blue laws"                 Recently, however, it is becoming more and more ap-

     often were religious in origin, he pointed. out that their-          parent that these charges certainly had a basis in fact, and        b

     purpose had changed over the years. They are now used, he            that the NCC constitutes a real threat to the church.

     said, "To set one day apart from all others as a day of rest,            The goals of the NCC were outlined in a speech at a

     repose, recreation and tranquility. People of all religions and      recent meeting of churches by Dr. Douglas. These goals, as

     people with no religion regard Sunday as a time for family           reported in the Torch and Trumpet were 1) the development

     activity, for visiting friends and relatives, for late sleeping."    of a journal which would speak responsibly for the ecumen-

          Apart from the fact that Chief Justice Warren's reasons         ical church ; 2) an effective scheme for organizing congre-

     for upholding the "blue laws" are poor, these laws bring up          gations on an ecumenical basis; and, 3) more effective use

     an interesting question. Obviously they were originally made         of radio and television on behalf of the ecumenical move-

     because there were men who felt, that it was part of the             ment. It was especially this last goal which reveals the in-

     government's business to enforce the observance of the Sab-          tention of the NCC. Dr. Truman roundly condemned certain

     bath. This in turn was based upon the premise that, at least         radio broadcastings for not communicating the Christian

     in limited instances, the governments have the right to en-          gospel but peddling instead denominational wares. He added,

     force the first table of the law of God. Following this same         "The National Council of Churches ought to be encouraged

     pattern, there are several states in the union that have laws        to take a much firmer stand than it does against the misuses

     against profaning God's name as well.                                of time for denominational propaganda." For a long time

          This question of the government's right to enforce the          already the NCC has tried to persuade, som.ctimes with con-


                                                Tl-rE   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R


 siderable success, radio and television stations to keep in-               ing themselves to works of mercy, on the plea that such things are
                                                                           not pleasing to God.
 dependent religious groups from broadcasting unless their
                                                                               Thus-lit  became easier. wherever Protestantism took over, for
 programs were approved by the NCC itself. This means that                 seculi< `$r&ces~  to seize the mcnasteries  and other estates of the

 only the corrupted NCC version of the gospel is to be allowed             Church. Monks and nuns who remained faithful to their VOWS had
                                                                           to emigrate to Catholic countries. Those who preferred to marry
 the right of broadcasting, while our own Reformed Witness                 might live on pensions paid by the new owners of their erstwhile
 Hour will be roundly iondemned.                                           religious houses. The priceless opportunity offered kings, nobles,
                                                                           and communes to confiscate the wealth of the Church was a major
     Rev. P. Y. De Jong writes concerning all this :                       factor in the rapid, violent success of the Reformation . . .

    From all this it ought to be clear to everyone in which direction          In Switzerland, Ulrich  Zwingli, a worldly soldier-priest, blazoned
the Council is moving. Plainly it is the outspoken foe of all denom-       the new ideas among his people. He set the comfortable tone of his
inational distinctiveness. It will exert every possible influence to       "reform" by announcing that the Church's laws on fast and ab-
become the spokesman for all Protestants in the United States.             stinence need not be observed, and that priests and nuns should be
                                                                    Nor
                                                                           urged, even forced, to marry.
does it seem to bother these gentlemen, who prate long and loudly
about our freedoms, that many of their efforts involve a curtailment of        Zwingli seems to have been another of the Reformers whose
our freedoms. Liberalism seems to be tolerant of anyone and any-           religion sprang from strictly personal problems. His life was already
thing except historic Protestantism as embodied in the official creeds     spotted with allegations against his chastity, which charges he never
of the churches. No wonder some of us shake our heads, when oc-            troubled to deny. In 1522, he and ten colleagues had petitioned
casionallv voices are raised urginz  a more active and oositive            their bishop for permission for priests to marry. "Your Honorable
align&t  on our part with this mo;ement. Such suggestions sound            Wisdom," they reminded the bishop, "has witnessed the shameful
strangely like askin,a  us to sell our Reformed heritage for a mess of     life we have hitherto, unfortunately, lived with women, giviug  griev-
ecumenical pottage-                                                        ous scandal to everyone."

    To this we might add that as the trend toward ecumeni-                     Zwingli's  cause, like Luther's, pitched his countrymen against
                                                                           one another in bloody civil war.      Zwingli himself fell on the field
cism gathers momentum and more and more churches are                       of battle in 1531.      -

swallowed up in the yawning mouth of one super denomina-                       Elsewhere in Switzerland, at Geneva, the French layman, John
                                                                           Calvin, set up his Bibliocracy. Geneva became a city governed by
tion, it will become increasingly difficult for the true church            the Bible; but the Bible as only John Calvin interpreted it. In
of Christ to maintain its .position  in the world and sound                religious matters he assumed a degree of infallibility beyond any-
                                                                           thing Catholics ever dreamed of claiming for the pope.
forth the clear call of its witness. There is no room in this
                                                                              Unlike the easy-going Protestantism of Luther and Zwingli, the
organization, nor in others like it, for the church of Jesus               Reformation in Geneva was a regime of fear and repression. AS its
Christ,                                                                    supreme spiritual and political master, Calvin ruled his city with
                                                                           a--rod of iron for 27 years (1437-1464). Those who contradicted his
                                                                           teaching he put to death or e,xiled.  What he considered heresy,
                                                                           blasphemy,    idolatry as well as adultery, were capital offenses.
                                                                           Geneva, with a population of 13,000 during Calvin's reign,  witnessed
                                                                           58 executions and 76 sentences of exile.
    In a recent issue of Our S,Lh&ay Visitor,  a certain Rev.                 Spies circulated constantly among the people. Servants had to
Thaddeus MacVicar  begins a series of articles about the                   report on their masters, and children on their parents. The tbeatre,
                                                                           games of chance, choral singing, lu.xury  in dress, drinking in taverns,
historic Council of Trent which was called by the Romish                   convivial parties at home, were all forbidden under stern penalties.
Church in the sixteenth century to try to stem the tide of the                The soul of Calvin's teaching was his terrible doctrine of
Reformation. In this introductory article, the author describes            predestination, which, m final  analysis, meant that God created a
                                                                           small number of human beings (chiefly Calvinists) for salvation; He
the need for the council by describing what in his opinion                 creates all the rest solely to damn them  to hell.

was the true character of the Reformation and the Reformers.                  Calvin's Protestantism spread the farthest of any type, due
Worse slander of God's servants whom God raised up to                      largely to his carefully worked-out theology, his genius for organiza-
                                                                           tion, and his 7nniversity.  The university, called the Academy, sent
deliver the church from the shackles of Rome is difficult to               forth trained ministers who established bibliocracies wherever Cal-
imagine. He writes in part:                                                vinism could get the political upper-hand, as in parts of France, in
                                                                           England, Scotland, and America (New England).

   Since the fateful year, 1517, when Martin Luther blazed the trail           Such a mixture of half truth and down-right historical
of revolt against the Holy See, millions had abandoned the Church,
or had been snatched from her fold by fraud or violence . . .              inaccuracy is seldom seen on the pages of the religious press.

   This central fact, however, should be noted well: the vas:              No one claims, of course, that all the people who left the
majority of those who repudiated the Catholic Faith, scarcely under-
stood it any longer, and' already lived in opposition to its moral         Romish Church at the time of the Reformation left for purest
teachings.                                                                 reasons ; nor is it true that there were no wicked people who
   History bears out the truth that the first Protestants wereignorant,    joined the Protestant Churches. But the article is neverthe-
or lax, or bad Catholics. Those who shouted loudest against abuses
in the Church were themselves guilty of the abuses. Moreover,              less strangely silent about those hundreds of thousands of
their new religion merely perpetuated the human spirit behind the          courageous saints who, living Godly lives, were willing to
old abuses; the spirit of naturalism, self-gratification and pride. The
rank and file of the first Protestants raised a great uproar over deca-    lay down their lives for the sake of their faith. There is no
dent Catholicism; but what they really feared was the return of            mention of the cruel armies of Rome that bathed the streets
strict Catholicism.
                                                                           of the Netherlands and France with the blood of the sons
   Luther offered them a convenient way to salvation, in fact,
ccmplete  assurance of salvation: by faith alone. There was no longer      of the Reformation. This is blood which the harlot of Rome
need of working out one's salvation "in fear and trembling." Sin           will never be able to wash from her hands.
had become as unimportant as good works. Religion was so much
easier without confession, the Sunday Mass obligation, periods of              For the rest, many of the remarks are so inaccurate that
fast and abstinence, tithes to the Church and alms to the poor.
   Luther's notion that good works are useless for salvation emptied       they can be proved wrong from reliable historical sources
monasteries and convents of the spiritualess,  lax, and even corrupt,      both Protestant and Catholic.
religious, who were so numerous at the time. They now gave u :                                                                         H. Hanko
all pretense at keeping their vows, following a severe  rule,  dedicat-


                                             T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
4x0



                                                                       Counsel Shall Stand," a message treating the Word of God

11 NEWS FROM OUR CHURCHES [I as it is recorded in Isaiah 46 :9, 10 ; the other pamphlet was
                                                                       written by Rev. J. Kortering, explaining 2nd Peter 1 :lO
               `cAll  the saints sdztte  thee . . . ." PHIL. 421
li.                                                                    under the theme, "Making Our Election Sure." Should any
                                                                       of our readers be intere.sted  in receiving the pamphlets pub-
                                            August 20, 1961            lished by this society they may be had upon request. The

       The pre-convention Hymn-Sing was held in Hudsonville            address: The Reformed Witness, Box lS, Doon, Iowa.

Church, Sunday evening, August 13. Chas. Westra, of                       A notice in First's bulletin urges the people to notify

Southeast church conducted the "sing," with Jim Jonker, of             friends and relatives in Europe to tune in the Reformed

First church, at the organ and Mrs. B. Lubbers, of Hudson-             Witness Hour at 9 :30 Brit!sh time every Sunday morning. It

ville, at the piano. Special numbers were  : a medley of hymns         is being received in the Netherlands on the 31 meter band;

arranged for the piano, by Mrs. B. Lubbers, and a tenor solo,          9705 kcs.  The program is also broadcast on the 41 and 49

by Gerald Kuiper, of Hope church, accompanied by Miss                  meter bands simultaneously. This missionary venture is an

Bonnie Bylsma, of First church. Lammert Lubbers, of the                excellent means for our small denomination to preach the

Beacons  Lights staff, gave a good description of the plans            truth to hundreds of thousands of potential listeners-a

for travelling to and from Loveland so the delegates and the           deserving object of our prayers, don't you agree ?

parents might learn those plans first hand. The hymn-sing                 Grand Haven's annual picnic was scheduled to be held

was scheduled for 9:15  so that the Grand Rapids people                August 17 at Tunnel Park on Lake Michigan. This picnic

might attend - with excellent results.                                 was under the auspices of the Sunday School Society.

       The published annual financial report of Adams St.                 The Program Committee of the Reformed Witness Hour

School again revealed "the good hand of our God upon US"               informs us that Rev. A. Mulder, Pastor of the Prot. Ref.

even as upon Nehemiah of old. After a year of anxious                  Church in Kalamazoo, Mich., will, D.V., be the guest speaker

board meetings, and extraordinary expenses ($1200.00 for               during the month of September. The titles of Rev. Mulder's

termite treatment alone) and a twice conducted deficit drive,          four radio messages are four questions found in the Holy

the treasurer balanced out only six dollars short of last year.        Scriptures regarding the salvation of God's people. They are :

"Gf#eat  i.s the Lord and s"/eatatCy  to be praised,"  Psalm 48:la.    "Who' then can be saved ?", "What must I do to be saved?",

       The July 30 services at Edgerton  were re-arranged so           "Are there few that be saved ?", and, "Who,is the greatest in

that Rev. Lubbers might arrive to conduct an evening service           the kingdom of Heaven?'           For printed copies of the radio

there. Elder Gunnink conducted a reading service in the                sermons write to : The Reformed Witness Hour, P.O. Box 8,

morning.      The change necessitated the cancellation of the          Grand Rapids 1, Mich.

evening young people's meeting. Rev. Lubbers also preached                 Evaluating the many church bulletins mailed to us we

in Doon  the first two Sunday afternoons in August, with               note that most of them are written by the minister of each

Rev. Van Baren  preaching for the Missionary in Tripp in               congregation, and, we unwave?ingly  nominate Hudsonville's

the morning and his own pulpit evenings, thereby obviating             as the best in the friendly-letter-frotn-the-pastor division.'

reading services entirely.                                                Oak Lawn's and South Holland's consistories have drawn

       Corresponding with the above paragraph, all the bulletins       up a plan by which the catechism classes of the two churches

reveal that this past summer did not provide real vacations            may be conducted in their own Christian School during the

for our clergy - only vacations from making new sermons,               coming year.

not from preaching them. It seems they all traded pulpits                  A filler in Hull's bulletin was used by Rev. Kortering to

with one another so that reading services were kept at a               bulwark his sermon on Lord's Day 25, and was a quotation

minimum, proving that our ministers are worthy nominees                from a work of H. Veldkamp entitled, "Zondags kinderen,"

to the hvusehold  of Stephanas, I Car: 16:15.                          and the whole quotation was in the Holland language!

       Edgerton  School Society scheduled their annual "clean-            A ,ue&ndgy  : An eager interest in the affairs of the Church

ing bee" on August 17. Because the many hands that made                of Christ. should prompt each family to obtain a copy of the

the work light were also loving hands, the task was also               1961 Acts of Synod. Contact your Clerk or Pastor.

pleasant.                                                                  Thought for the hawest  season  : As we behold the harvest

       Rev. and Mrs. H. Hoeksema left Grand Rapids August              of the fields we may know it is a picture of the heavenly~as

17 to travel to Loveland by train - the Reverend to give               we are also reminded in I Cor. 3 :6, "So then is neither he

the key-note speech at the Young People's Convention -                 that planteth anything, neither he that watereth ; but God

then on to Redlands, Calif.,  combining business with pleas-           that giveth the increase."    May the appreciation of that truth

ure; the business part being a Synodical  Committee assign-            cause us to join Asaph in Psalm 75, "Unto thee 0 God do

ment.                                                                  we give thanks, unto thee do we give thanks: for that thy

       The Prot. Ref. Action Society has published two more            name  is near thy wondrous works declare."

pamphlets : the -one by Rev. B. Woudenberg, entitled, "My                  . . . . see you in church.                             J .M.F.


