    VCLUME  X'XXVHII                     OCTOBER 15, 1961 - GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN                               rk7MmR  3
                                                                                               .
                                                                 Neither is he afraid of appearmg before that great tribunal.

                                                                 He appends his grounds for coming: for I have walked in

                                                                 my integrity. What does that mean? It certainly does not

                                                                 mean that David was sinless. Such is not the meaning of

                                                                 the term.    No, but it stresses the fact that David was a

                                                                 harmless man. To be a man of integrity is the very contrast

                                                                 of being a hypocrite. It stresses the fact that David was

                                                                 without guile in this case, whatever it may have been. He

                                                                 had walked in the honesty, the purity and the righteousness

                                                                 of his regenerated heart. Such people are harmless and it is

   Now that is a foolish thing to do. Whatever or whom-          folly to attack them.

ever you may attack, never attack innocence. You lose before        But here is the point: the main thrust of his life was

you start. Whatever you do to virtue returns upon your head      virtue, goodness, uprightness. His heart was pure, Matt. 5 53.
a million times over. Because virtue is God.

   Yet such was the case with David. David was innocent;                                   * * * :b
still he was attacked. And his attackers lost their case. You

cannot really harm virtue.

                                                                    And David knew all this. He was aware of the fact that
   We do not know the historical background of this gem.
                                                                 his enemies had no case against him. How could they have?
It may have been the time when David had to flee from the
                                                                 He had trusted in God. That means that David had given
face of Absalom, `his son. It would fit this case admirably.
                                                                 himself wholly in God's safekeeping. To trust is to repose
Note the verses 4 and 10. The former verse would then
                                                                 on someone.
paint to .LIS the miserable hypocrites that followed Absalom.
They are then the dissemblers. And in the later verse we            Surely, v&en  that is your life, you may also say with

have a word picture of the princes and rulers of the land        David : "therefore I shall not slide." How could you. Sliding
who fell away from David and for bribes followed Absalom.        here does not merely mean: I shall be sinless. But it means

Moreover, then we can also understand David's expressions        that I shall be free from the great transgression. It means:

in this psalm regarding the house of God. See verses 4-8.        I shall not slide from off the Rock, that is: my God:

He longs for God's house.                                           Thereupon David comes in all the uprightness of his

   But we cannot be absolutely sure of that historical back-     heart to God with the request to make trial of him. And note

ground.                                                          that he does not mention his apparent conduct, his outward

                                                                 behaviour. He does not say: 0 God, prove what I ?ZUZJ~
   The psalm itself is clear. And the theme runs through
                                                                 dam!  No, he asks God to make trial of his inward man.
the whole song. David is innocent,. but is accused by the
                                                                 And he does ZXJ in asking for a threefold trial. Trial  by
evil and godless that are massed around him. But he trusts
                                                                 touch, trial by smell, and trial by fire. For such are the
in God and knows that he will be vindicated.
                                                                 primary meanings of these three verbs, although it must be
   In the very first words of the psalm we have also the         admitted that they are often used interchangeably. It will
theme: Plead my cause, 0 Lord ! For that is the meaning 3f       suffice to note that David, in using these three terms, means
the on" cry: Judge me, 0 Lord!                                   to run the entire gamut of -the trying and proving and

 :. David is accused. There is a case pending against him.       examining eyes of God.

   -And  he brings the case to the highest Judge, his God.          Surely, no hypocrite dares to pray thus before God.

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


      The reins are the deepest core of the emotions and the       botheiecl  by the vile way of the world. We do not know the

heart is the ethical center of man. There man lives in the         heart, but it seems to us that they are of a kind.

deepest sense of the word.                                            And such conduct is damned.

      And of that heart and these reins David says that they
                                                                                               * * * *
have been always' under the controlling and beautifying in-

fluence of God's lovingkindness and His truth. For that is the
                                                                      Ah, beloved, does it not set your heart on fire when you
meaning of to walk. You begin your walk `in the heart.
                                                                   listen to David ?
From it are the issues of life. And if our life is in the truth

of God's Word, we are safe. Oh yes, we will be sinners,               He certainly has solved his social problem.

but here is the difference : such an one wills goodness and           I have not sat with vain persons. A vain person is one
mercy all the day long.          And wherever he departs from      who never utters anything but vanity, wind, nothingness.
such conduct it is in spite of that heart-life of goodness and     Delitzsch  tells us that the idea is : unreal men, not real men.
purity. That which he does in such a case he allows not.           And who does not know them ?
Rom. 7 :15.  Throughout it all he finds that in his heart and
                                                                      Yes, you must try and draw them. But have you ever
reins ha loves the law of God.
                                                                   considered that you may be able to draw them by shaming
      Moreover, David can prove his case by his outward            them, by showing that you detest vanity, by leaving them and
conduct. He states this in various parallel phrases. But they      keeping yourself aloof from all "nothingness," vanity ? Note
all come down to this : Thou knowest  Lord that I have             that David does not say: I have not talked to vain persons,
walked in my integrity, because I hate the company  of the         but I have not mt with them. That means that he never
godless.                                                           voluntarily would seek out their company and sit down at

                                                                   ease with them. You sit in order to enjoy yourself.
                            *    4:    :k *
                                                                      I will not go in with dissemblers. That is worse. A dis-

                                                                   sembler is a hypocrite. They are of all men the most miser-
      Powerful testimony. Anyone can investigate that. The         able. They look one way and they are an other. They carry
life of God's own are as an open book. The whole world             a mask. They are just as worthless and wicked as the vain
may see it that we love the company of God's people and            persons, but they mask all their filth behind a mask.
that we do our best to have as little to do with the wicked
                                                                      David would not go in with them, would not be jointly
as possible. Oh, I know it: we cannot wholly cut ourselves
                                                                   responsible with them for any kind of work or endeavour.
off from intercourse with the men of Belial. We must buy
from them and sell to them ; we work with them sometimes              I have hated the congregation of evildoers. Yes, they are
at the same bench. But as soon as possible -as soon as we          the men who are not satisfied to do evil aslone.  No, they seek
can separate ourselves from them-we do so. We hate their           one another out and band themselves together. And then
congregations.                                                     evil is on the increase.

      David denominates them by four words: vain persons,             Ah, the congregation of evildoers is more evil than a mere
dissemblers, evil doers and wicked.                                evil person. In such gatherings evil is on the increase.

      I hear a question : Must we not love our enemies ? Must         Instead of all that, David has washed his hands.

we not try and save them? Must we not let our light shine             And that was necessary. David also is a sinner from his

unto them if haply  God will use us to snatch them from the        youth.

brink of eternal death ?                                              To wash the hands in innocency  is symbolic language.

      Yes, I have often heard these questions. Sometimes              Innocency  is God. He is all virtue. And that virtue is
they are put to us in a way and in an atmosphere that makes        manifested, proclaimed, revealed. And David had seen it.
us wonder.                                                         And David had wrestled all his life to wash himself in that

      Yes, we must certainly love our enemies. That is a text      virtue of God.

from Jesus' lips. And I agree that you must try and save              When you want to read Psalm 26 in New Testament

the wicked with whom you come in contact. Of course, you           times you will say: I have washed myself in the blood of
are a walking Evangel. Many there are who were drawn to            Jesus. It means that through the battle of faith you are

God by means of your Christian walk.                               striving to walk in purity before God's face. It means that

      But always remember this: you will never be a light          you walk in sanctification, having been redeemed by His
unto the Gentiles by becoming a boon companion with the            blood.

wicked. When I wonder about such questions is when I                  And your purpose is that you may be the correct image

notice that the people that question me thus live on a very        bearer. And that means that you may be to the praise. of

friendly footing with the world. They seem never to be             God's glory.


                                           T H E   STANDA.KD   B E A R E R                                                                                                                                                                 27



    Such we hear from David: That I may publish with the

voice of thankSgiving  and tell all Thy wondrous works.                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

                                                                        Semi-monthly, except monthly during June, July and August
    There is one urge above all in David and all those like
                                                                          Published by the REFORMED FREZ PUBLISHXNG  ASSOCIATION
him : They want to go home. And Home is where God dwells                P. 0. Box 881, Madison Squze Station, Grand  Rapids 7. Mich.
with His people.                                                                                      Editor - EEV.  HERMAX  HOEKSEMA
    Some people you cannot drag to church, it seems. Very               Communications relative to contents should  be addressed to
often they leave their place empty and the consistory wonders.                             Rev. H. Hoeksema, 1139 Franklin St., S. E.,
                                                                                                                   Grand Rapids 7, Mich.
    Something wrong: they do not want to go to heaven, that             AU matters relative to subscriptions should be addressed to Mr.
is, to God.                                                                                James I)ykstra,  I326 W. Butler Ave., S. E.
                                                                                                              Grand Rapids 7, Michigan
     But David has an horror of the place  where all people             Announcements and Obituaries must be mailed to the above
will be gathered who hated God and would not be gathered                address and will be published at a fee of $2.00 for each notice.

in His home. And that place is hell. Oh God, says David,                RENEWAL: Unless a definite request for discontinuance is ye-
                                                                        ceived  it is assumed that the  subscriber wishes the subscription
do not gather my life with sinners.                                            to continue withOut  the formality of a renewal order.

    No, beloved, if you hate the congregation of the wicked                                           Subscription price: $5.00 per year

here, you certainly do not fit in hell.                                         Second Class postage paid at Grand Rapids, Michigan


    David has gathered courage in this prayer. The end is

calm.

    He will continue to walk in the uprightness of his heart.
                                                                                                                        C O N T E N T S
God tried him and exonerated him in this case that was

pending.                                                           MEDITATION-
   David may have had his enemies around him even after                        Innocence                Attacked               ._ . .__._  _____ ___ __, .__ . . . . . . . . . . ..______.____.._  25
                                                                                         Rev. G. Vos
the uttering of this prayer; they may have continued their

insinuations and accusations.                                      EDITORIALS-
                                                                               The Protestant Reformation                                         ._, ___ __. __. ____ _. ..____,  . . . . .._._ __________ 28
    Never fear, David. He- is encouraging his soul. The                        The Hymn Question . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
time will come when he is publicly exonerated.                                            Rev. H. Hoeksema

    In the meantime, as far as his inmost soul is concerned :      OUR  DOCTRINE-
he walks in an even place. That is, he walks on the way of                     The Book of Revelation . . . ..__...........................................~.......                                                                        30
                                                                                         Rev. H. Hoeksema
truth and sincerity of heart, those wonderful gifts of grace.

    And he found the purpose of all flesh: he will bless the       A CLOUD OF~WITNESSES-
L o r d .                                                                      Jethro          . . . .33
                                                                                         Rev. B. Woudenberg
    Do not ask what that means; you know it. It is that we
                                                                   FROM HOLY WRIT -
may tell God how inexpressibly wonderful He is.                                Exposition of I Timothy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
    Incidentally: that is heaven in our souls.                                            Rev. G. Lubbers
                                                           G.V.    IN HIS FEAR -
                                                                                God's Royal Priesthood                                 (11)              . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  37

                                                                                          Rev. J. A. Heys
               CHURCH ORDERS AVAILABLE
    The new edition of the Church Order of the Protestant          CONTENDING FOR THE FATS-
                                                                                The Church and the Sacraments _........................................... 39
Reformed Churches is now available. Copies may be ob-                                     Rev. H. Veldman

tained for $1.50 from undersigned or they may be ordered           THE VOICE OF OUR FATHERS -
through the Consistories. Every home should have this                           The Belgic Confession                                    . . 41

valuable and most useful book. Order your copy now.                                       Rev, H. C. Hoeksema

                     Stated Clerk of Synod                         DECENCY AND ORDER-
                                  Rev. G. Vanden  Berg                          Supervision in the  Lord's Supper  .___...._._................................  43

                                  9402  South 53rd Court                                  Rev. G. Vanden  Berg

                                  Oak Lawn, Illinois               ALL AROUND Us -
                           -        -                                           Breakdown of Respect for the Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
                                                                                What is Sin? ,..._.,.._._......._...................................                                                . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
                     Announcement                                                         Rev. H. Hanko

    Men's Society League Meeting, D.V., to be held Monday,
                                                                   CONTRIBUTIONS -
October 30, at 8 :00 P. M. at our Hope Church. Speaker for                      Reformed Free Publishing Association Meeting .: . . . . .._.........._ 46

the meeting will be the Rev. H. Hanko. The Protestant
                                                                   N E W S FROM OUR CHUIWXES .___....___......___ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..4~
Reformed Men's Chorus will render the musical part of the                                 Mr. J. M. Faber

program.                                   K. EZINGA, Sm-etaq


r

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


                                                                         Unqualified praise and unqualified criticism is not so much
     II              E D I T O R I A L S                                 wrong, as simply foolish. No one is wholly bad or wholly
                                                                         good. Which is only to say that we ought to have humility

                                                                         and the good sense to realize that there was also sin in the

                        The Protestant Reformation                       Reformation. It was not a case of the Reformers doing

                                                                         everything right and the Church doing everything wrong.
           It is over four hundred years ago that Dr. Martin Luther
                                                                         In spite of the fact that the differences between them were
     composed his ninety-five theses and nailed them to the door
                                                                         often such that the Reformers could appeal to the Scriptures
     of the castle of Wittenburg. And although Luther himself
                                                                         to validate their claims, and in spite of the fact that the
     did not realize this on that October morning, this was, never-
                                                                         Reformation was a tragic necessity, we cannot afford to be
     theless the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. This
                                                                         simplistic and make the mistake of comparing the Reformers
     Reformation had its beginning in Luther's heart. It was a
                                                                         at their best and the Church at its worst and then call that
     deeply spiritual question that troubled Luther's heart and
                                                                         the Protestant Reformation. Much less ought we to write
     mind, the question, namely: ho,w can a man be justified be-
                                                                         and preach about it in such a way that we allow it to become
     fore God ? And the answer he found in the epistle of Paul
                                                                         a kind of theological `cops and robbers' in which absolute
     to the Remans  : a man is justified by faith, without the works
                                                                         purity met absolute corruption head on and defeated it once
     of the law. That word of God the Holy Spirit applied to his
                                                                         and for all. This simply did not happen."
     heart and the result was that he found peace and rest for his
                                                                             It is not quite clear to me what Beversluis means. How-
     troubled soul.
                                                                         ever, it seems evident that he considers the Reformation as a
           However, this was not and could not be all.
                                                                         purely relative matter, It is not thus that the truth was all on
           Having understood this Word of God, he at the same
                                                                         one side and the errors were all on the other. On the con-
     time found that the Romish Church had corrupted this
                                                                         trary there were errors with the Romish Church but also
     fundamental truth of Scripture. The same Holy Spirit that
                                                                         with the Reformers. This becomes still more evident from
     had applied the truth concerning justification without works
                                                                         the following :
     and by faith only, also urged him to bear public testimony
                                                                             "The Reformers, although they were men of stature both
     and proclaim this truth to all that could and would hear and
                                                                         as Biblical scholars and as devout human beings, were
     read. And this testimony was the heart of his ninety-five
                                                                         nevertheless still fallen men. An.d, as such they shared in
     theses which he nailed to the door of the castle of Witten-
                                                                         the same depravity as the Church which they attacked an$
     burg.
                                                                         from which they finally withdrew. This does not mean that
           This was the public beginning of the Protestant Reforma-
                                                                         the Reformation was not necessary, but it does mean that
     tion.
                                                                         we who commemorate it should never forget that the differ-
           It may be asked whether the Reformation was strictly
                                                                         ence between the Reformers and the existing Church was,
     necessary. Can it be said that the Romish church at the time
                                                                         generically speaking, a difference of degree rather than of
     of the Reformation was so corrupt that reformation within
                                                                         kind. And we too share in the same depravity, in that same
     the church was impossible ? Would  one dare to say `that the
                                                                         sin . , . .
     Romish church at that time was the false church ? Does it
                                                                             "It, therefore, becomes quite apparent that we cannot
     principally confess the same faith as all true Protestants do?
                                                                         become condescending on Reformation Day or look down on
           From an article I read in the Reformed Joup+&  recently
                                                                         the Roman Catholic Church as if we were essentially different
     I received the impression that the aLlthor,  the Rev. John
                                                                         from it so far as our fallen human condition is concerned.
     Beversluis, is of the opinion that the Roman Catholic Church
                                                                         For we are both, in that sense, in the same predicament.
     is still a true church, although it has many defects. He de-
                                                                         Protestants are just as fallen as Catholics. Although at many
     fends, indeed, the Reformation, but not completely or whole-
                                                                         points we as Protestants, believe that we are more Scriptural
     heartedly. He writes, for instance:
           `<                                                            than they, we should not conclude that we occupy a more
                 . . . . The Reformation would, in that kind of com-
                                                                         favorable position in the sight of God." . . . .
     memoration, have become a black and white matter, a case
                                                                         To me this means only one thing: in spite of what
     of the wrong against the wronged, those in error against
                                                                         Beversluis writes about "the tragic necessity of the Reforma-
     those in the truth, darkness against light, Satan against
                                                                         tion" he condemns it nevertheless.
      Christ.
           "But as soon as we realize that nothing is quite as simple        To be sure, the Reformers and all that followed them in

      as that ;. as soon as we remember that the Reformation was         the Reformation were fallen men just as well as the leaders

     not a depersonalized `movement, that it involved men and            and all the.  members of the Romish church. But what

      women, everything changes. For as soon as you have men             has this to do with a discussion of the Reformation? Ab-

      and women involved, you have left  the realm of truth-in-the-      sol~tely  nothing ! The question is rather whether the Re-

      abstract and error-in-the-abstract; and all neat distinctions      formers, as they inaugurated the Reformation, acted as fallen

      disappear.  You are back in history, and history is complex.       men or as regenerated children of God, According to Bever-


                                            T H E   STAND.ARD   B E A R E R                                                         29


sluis; they acted as fallen men. And because of this, there-        ments advanced by you in the S. B. some years ago, why

fore, he can write as he does. Because they acted as fal'len        the giving, of a bundle of songs to that church in the Old Dis-

men and because this is true also of the leaders and members        pensation, is not good and enough for the Church of the New

of the Romish church, therefore there is no absolute difference     Testament. It seems to me that if something else were

between the Reformers and the church which they attacked.           needed for the church today, the Holy Spirit would have

But this is an untruth. To be sure, as we all know and con-         provided such, and the burden of proof why He did not and

fess, believers are not perfect; neither were the Reformers.        yet permits the church to make its own bundle, lies with

The old nature is still in the children of God in the world,        those that want it. Granted that God's people may sing other

and that old nature was also in the Reformers. But it is            songs unofficially, and to this I have no objections, where is it

not true that they acted from and under the influence of their      indicated in Scripture that there must be such officially ?"

old natm-e,  but from the principle of their regenerated heart          Thus far the Rev. Kuiper.

and of the new life that was instilled in their hearts by the           I would answer as follows:

Holy Spirit. According to that principle and according to               1.    The argument of the Rev. Kuiper appears to be based

that new life, they loved the Church and they loved the truth       on the fundamental proposition that the Church is ONE. It

as it is revealed in the Holy Scriptures. Moreover, in the          runs as follows :

work of Reformation, they were guided by the Holy Spirit,               a. The. Church is one.

the Spirit of Christ. If all this were not true, there could not        b. To that one Church the Holy Spirit gave only one

have been a Reformation or, if there had been, the Reforma-         bundle of songs, the psalms of the Old Testament.

tion itself would have been corrupt. Then the Reformers                c. Hence, it follows that the Church of the New Testa-

should never have departed from the existing Romish church          ment may not sing any other songs.

and have led others with them in that separation. But it is            2. Now we surely believe that the church is one, especially

true, and, therefore, the Reformation was, ultimately, not          in distinction from those who maintain that Israel and the

the work of fallen and sinful men, but of God, through the          Church are two separate peoples. But I fail to see how it

Spirit of Christ and through the instrumentality of the Re-         follows from this that the church of the new dispensation

formers.                                                            may only sing psalms, i.e. the Old Testament psalms. It

   There is more in this article with which I cannot agree.         is true that the Holy Spirit gave the Psalms to the Old

But just pne more quotation will be sufficient:                     Testament Church, but how it follows from this that the

   "A responsible commemoration of the Reformation Day,             New Testament `Church may not sing New Testament songs

therefore, whatever else it should include, would seem to be        that are faithful versifications  of Scripture, I fail to under-

one which penetrates to the real issues and makes some              stand.

r.ather careful distinctions.    Reacting absolutely seems to be       Besides, we do not sing the Psalms in the form in which
out of the question . . . . A better way would seem that of         the Holy Spirit gave them to the Old Testament Church. In
being truly thankful that there was a Reformation, but at           fact, this would be impossible. We must not forget that "the

the same time, because we are primarily Christians and only         early Hebrew poetry has neither rhyme nor metre, both of

secondarily Protestants, to maintain a sense for the im-            which (first rhyme and then afterwards metre) were first

portance of history and for the value of the total Christian        adopted by J'ewish poesy in the seventh century after Christ."

tradition. The enthusiasm of our commemoration, should be           Cf. Delitzsch on the Psalms. Hence, it is impossible for us

tempered by a genuine sorrow that there was such a wide-            to sing the Psalms of the Old Testament in their original

spread corruption during- the Middle Ages, but at the same          form. The best the Church could do, if it had to use the

time we can be thankful that the Church was not all bad:            bundle of Psalms: as it was given to, it by the Holy Spirit,

that it still, in spite of all the obstacles, could and did lead    would be to recite or, at best, to chant the Psalms, and that

men to Christ." . . . .                                             would not be very edifying. Hence, the Church of the New

   This means, of course, that also the Romish church, and          Testament introduced rhyme and metre into the Old Testa-
that, too, as church, was leading men to Christ.                    ment Psalms and, besides, often introduces New Testament
   More about this subject next time, D.V.                          elements into them, as I have already written.
                                                           H.H.        And what, if the Church may only sing the bundle of the
                            --                                      Old Testament Psalms as given by the Holy Spirit to' the
                                                                    Church, must we do with article 69 of the Church Order?

                                                                    There we read: "In the churches only the 150 Psalms of
   The following note on the hymn question I received in            David, the Ten Commandments, the Lord's Prayer, the
a letter from the Rev. H. H. Kuiper of Loveland, Colorado:          Twelve Articles of Faith, the Songs of Mary, Zacharias, and
   "The matter of hymns : (This you can answer in t!ze              Simeon, the Morning and Evening Hymns, and the Hymn
S. B. if you wish.)                                                 of Prayer before the sermon shall be sung:" In this article,
   "We have always been taught, and rightly so? that the            to be sure, the principle that only the Old Testament Psalms
church of all ag:s is ONE. I camlot  see, apart from the argu-
                                                                                         (Continued on page 32)

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


                                                                      we may surely say, "He comes quickly." Things, especially

11  O U R   D O C T R I N E                                      11 in the last twenty-five or fifty years, are developing before
                                                                      our very eyes. We see Him come !


                                                                         Realizing, however, that from our point of view the time
             THE BOOK OF REVELATION                                   may seem long, the Lord assures His church in this applica-

                          PART TWO                                    tion repeatedly that He is actually and surely coming, that
                                                                      all that has been written in the book concerning this coming
                         C H A P T E R  X X V                         is absolutely true. For thus we read in verse 6 : "And he said

                          The Epilogue                                unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord

                                                                      God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his
                      Revelation 22 :6-21
                                                                      servants the things which must shortly be done." These

      Now, however, we have obtained conception ; and we can          words, according to the text, are faithful. They are faithful,

realize the truth that,is  expressed here all the better.             that is, they shall prove to be real. They shall not disap-

      Jesus is coming. He has told us how He would come.              point those that read and believe ; what is written in the book

He would come accompanied by wars and plagues of famine               shall surely be realized. And therefore, they are not only

and pestilence. And the nearer He would come, the more                faithful, but true. They are not mere fiction, a romance;

emphatically the power of opposition would assert itself. VG'e        but they are in harmony with reality. They are a revelation

have learned to see that history is actually carried out              of the counsel of God that can never fail. And there is the
                                                             SO as

to point to the coming of the Lord. And therefore we say,             most complete harmony between that counsel and these words

"He is coming !" Others may be blind to the fact that the             of the book of Revelation. In the second place, this is

Lord is coming, but we say nevertheless, "He is coming ;              solemnly assured by supporting the statement that these

and we see Him come."        Besides, according to the text, He       sayings are faithful and true by the name of the author. He

is coming quickly. Also this we can understand all the better.        is none less than the Lord God of the spirit of the prophets

Nineteen hundred years have passed, and yet He has not                that revealed these things to the churches through the me-

arrived. But we understand that He is coming speedily                 dium of the angel that spoke with John. God controlled the

nevertheless ; He is coming quickly, very rapidly. He is              spirit of the prophets; and He controlled also the spirit of

coming as soon and as quickly as it is possible. If we will           John when he received these visions. God revealed to him

understand how rapidly Jesus is coming, we must take into             the entire truth concerning the coming of the Lord and con-

consideration what must happen before His final coming.               cerning His coming speedily. They were not products of a

Let us use an illustration from the first World War, and,             fanciful imagination, but they were the revelation of the

in fact, also from the recent, the second World War. When             living God. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the

Germany pressed the Allies and pressed them hard, they                last, the beginning and the end. He stands above all time

were for a time in desperate straits. And longingly they              and history, and He is the Unchangeable. He is the cause

looked for the coming of the Americans. The Americans said,           and also the purpose of all history, and He alone absolutely

"We are coming, and we are coming quickly." But weeks                 controls it, even by our Lord Jesus Christ. He, the un-

and months elapsed before they actually did come. To the              changeable and ahnighty  God, is pledge for the truth of the

Allies in their desperate condition it seemed a long time             statement that these things will come to pass, and that they

before they actually came. Yet did not the Americans come             will come to pass soon, so that it is certainly true that the

quickly? Surely, they did ; and they came as fast as it was           Lord will come quickly. Jesus, the Root and Offspring of

possible for them to c0m.e. But think what was implied in             David, the bright and Morning Star, is the chief servant of

their coming. Many, many things had to be prepared before             the Lord. He is the Savior, Who once'shed  His lifeblood

they could come. An army had to be drafted and trained;               for His people, the Root and Offspring of David, Who once

money had to be raised ; the army had to be equipped ; the            came as the realization of Old Testament prophecy. He is

material, clothing and ammunition and other things had to             the bright and Morning Star, Who Himself is therefore the

be manufactured ; ships had to be built. In view of all this,         light of that eternal morning and will surely appear as the

it was absolutely true that they were coming quickly. The             herald of morning, as certainly as the morning star appears

same may be applied to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.           in the heavens. Shall we waver in the sight of such wit-

      From our point of view it may seem a long time. But             nesses ? The wise of the world say, "You  are demented.

look! The children of God must be gathered. The whole                 What you are teaching is absolutely contrary to fact." The

church, gathered from all nations, must be filled: not one of         powerful of the world say, "You are a dreamer." The rich

the elect may be lacking. Besides, the great apostasy must            of the world say, "You are a pessimist." Whatever they say,

take place. Antichrist and all the power of iniquity must             we have the testimony of Jesus, of the almighty, everlasting,

develop. Babylon must be realized. The world-power must               faithful Savior. Shall we exchange world-views ? Never!

be formed. Surely, all these things taken into consideration,         Hence, Jesus is surely coming ; and He is coming quickly.

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


   This truth, that the contents of the book of Revelation          all filth. They are blessed, and they shall enter into the city
are faithful and true, is impressed upon us, first of all, by.      and have a right to come to the tree of life. But without,

the mention of rewards and punishment. It is because of the         in eternal darkness, are those that love iniquity. For thus we

tremendous certainty and significance of the fact that the          read in verse 15 : "For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and

truth of Jesus' coming is impressed very seriously that the         whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever

book must not be sealed, but must be open. This command             loveth and maketh a lie." But there is more.

comes to John in the tenth verse of this chapter: "And he              The contents of the book of Revelation is not only im-

saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this         pressed by the mention of reward and also of punishment.
book: for the time is at hand." The book, therefore, must           But it is also impressed by a threat to those that assume an
not remain closed. The sayings of this book must never be           unbelieving attitude toward the contents of this book. This
sealed. It must be given to the church. And it must be es-          we find in verses 18 and 19: "For I testify unto every man
pounded by the church in the midst of the world. They must          that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any
read it, understand it, and testify of it. And if this is done,     man shall add unto these things, God shall.add  unto him the
the result will be two-fold, as is the case with the entire Word    plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall
of God. Always there are those that are saved and those             take away from the words of the book of this proph-
that are hardened. The Word of God is always a savor of             ecy., God shall take away his part out of the book
life unto life, but also a savor of death  unto death. What is      of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which
true of the Word of God in general is also and emphatically         are written in this book."        Surely, this cannot apply
true of the book of Revelation. And when it is opened, there        to the imperfect understanding of believers. After all, the
will be those that will have nothing of it, that will deny the      words of the book remain a prophecy, with all the difficulties
truth of its contents. As I said before, they will say, "You        contained in it. We realize clearly our own feebleness in
dream. You are beside, yourself. You are a pessimist." It will      understanding perfectly all that is implied in this prophecy.
arouse the opposition of the wicked, of those that have no hope,    But these words refer to a conscious attitude of unbelief.
or, whose hope is vain because it is only a hope in the @resent     They are addressed to him that heareth the words of this
world. It leaves no hope for their vain dreams. Thus, it            prophecy, who therefore becomes acquainted with its con-
will arouse them to greater hostility and opposition, to more       tents. He can change the book so as to suit his own fancy
wickedness. But, on the other hand, it will also strengthen         and his own purpose, so that after all the kingdom of the
the faith and hope of the people of God. This is therefore          world is confused with the kingdom of God in Christ. He
inevitable. Why, then, must this book remain closed ? Cer-          can do that by adding unto the book. or by detracting from
tainly, not because it will arouse the opposition, because it       the book. The book can indeed be so augmented and can
will reveal more wickedness on their part. No, the answer           be so abridged that the light of the truth of this prophecy
is in verse 11 : `<He  that is unjust, let him be unjust still :    is bedimmed, particularly the truth that Jesus is coming. And
and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is     the punishment that is threatened is, negatively, that he shall
righteous, let him be rig-hteous still: and he that is holy, let    be deprived of his part with the tree of life and of his part
him be holy still." Such is therefore the case with regard to       in the holy city. Of course, this must not be interpreted as
those that read the contents of this book. This book will draw      if there were a falling away from grace. All Scripture em-
the lines. It will strengthen and emphasize the great differ-       phasizes very clearly that such a falling away is impossible.
ence between the people of God and the world. It will make          God preserves His people. And through the power of God's
the world more conscious of the great difference between its        preservation they certainly will persevere. Nevertheless, it
ideals and those of the people of God. It will also make the        is possible to go through that experience, to imagine without
children of God more conscious of the same fact. And for            any basis in Scripture that one shall have part with the tree
the latter purpose the book may not remain closed, but must         of life while actually he never had a part with that tree and
be open, so that all can hear and read, even though it will         with the holy city at all. And, of course, in the end he will
have this two-fold effect. Of course, there is also the             find that his name is not written in the book of life and that
responsibility connected with the reading and hearing of the        his part in the holy city was only in his own imagination.
sayings of this book.    It is emphasized that the Lord will        Positively, these verses teach that he shall participate in all

come with His reward, to render to every man according as           the plagues of the wicked, to the very last, in the lake that

his work shall be. Have we been more unrighteous and more           burns with fire and brimstone.

filthy by the revelation of this book? We shall have no part          Finally, we find in this passage a beautiful response to
with the tree of life and shall not enter into the eternal and      the prophecy of this book, and especially to the truth that

glorious city of God. In the New Jerusalem are only those           Jesus is coming. This is expressed as a fact. The text says,

that have their robes washed, those that have by faith washed       in the first place, that the effect of this revelation of the

their robes in the blood of Christ. By that faith they have         coming of the Lord upon the church as a whole is that she

been sanctified and cleansed from all unrighteousness and fro01     responds and eagerly says, "Come, Lord." We find this, in

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


      the first place, in verse 17. There we read: "And the Spirit       That is, have absolutely nothing of yourselves. Have all

      and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come.       things ,only in Christ Jesus. Then indeed, you shall not

      And let him that is athirst  come. And whosoever will, let         only look at the water of life. You shall not only be athirst.

      him take the water of life freely." And again, in verse 20         But then you shall listen to this exhortation, "Let him come

      we read: "He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I         and drink of the water of life freely !"

      come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus." In verse
                                                                             Finally, we have at the close of the book a testimony OE
      `17, therefore,, we read that the Spirit and the bride say,
                                                                         John, first of all, in verse 8: "And I John saw these things,
      "Come." And we understand, of course, that they are not to
                                                                         and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell
      be taken separately, as if the Spirit of Christ and the bride
                                                                         down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed
      separately express this longing for the coming of the Lord.
                                                                         me these things. Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not:
      This is impossible. The Spirit is the Spirit of the Bride-
                                                                         for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets,
      groom. That Spirit of the Bridegroom dwells in the bride,
                                                                         and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship
      that is, in the church. Hence, it is through the Spirit that
                                                                         God." John evidently is so overwhelmed by the visions he
      the bride says, "Come." Under the influence of this revela-
                                                                         had received, and especially by the vision of the New Jeru-
      tion the bride says, through the Spirit, "Come, Lord Jesus."
                                                                         salem, that he falls down to worship. Surely, that worship
      Naturally, the bride receives a picture of the glory of the
                                                                         was mistaken, as is explained by the angel. And the angel
      Bridegroom and of the time when she shall always be with
                                                                         corrects him. But the impression is indeed comprehensible.
      the Bridegroom. She is conscious all the more through the
                                                                         He is overwhelmed, and he accepted all that he saw and
      prophecy of this book of her present misery, of her tribula-
                                                                         heard by faith. And finally, John himself says, in verse 20,
      tion, which she must and does suffer in the midst of the
                                                                         "Even so, come, Lord Jesus." If that may be the result of
      world. She is conscious of her present separation. She is
                                                                         our discussion of the book of Revelatiqn,  the result that we
      conscious of her sinfulness. And when she looks through
                                                                         have grown in the knowledge of the glory of the coming of
      the words of the book of this prophecy at the glory that
                                                                         our Lord Jesus Christ, grown in the faith and in the hope
      shall be revealed to her, she calls out, under the influence of
                                                                         and longing and in the strength to renounce the world, to
      the Spirit of the Bridegroom, "Come, yea, come, Lord Jesus."
                                                                         wash our robes, and to walk in the midst of the world in

            This general response comes from the bride as a whole.       that hope eternal, and therefore also in sanctification of life,

      The church organically in principle always longs for the com-      it will be sufficient. And at the very close of the chapter the

      ing of the Bridegroom even though she may not always be            apostle pronounces the blessing upon the church : "The grace

      equally conscious of this longing for the coming of the Lord.      of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen."
                                                                                 I
      But also individually believers do not always partake in this                                                                H.H.

      sigh of longing. Hence, to him comes the admonition, or

      exhortation,    "And let him that heareth say, Come." And

      again: "And let him that is athirst  come." And once more:

      "And whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely."

      This is at the same time a test for us as a church and as

      individual believers. The question is : do we participate in                                 EDITORIALS
      this response ? More or less, as the book was explained to us,
      did we say sometimes,       "Come, Lord Jesus; yea, come                               (Continued from page 29)
      quickly .
               " ? But in the first place, as these words are an ex-     may be sung by the churches is completely abandoned. 1 t
      hortation, we &ust turn away from the world and its lusts.         does not even maintain, as we proposed, that only such hymns
      We must look forward in hope to the blessed day that the           as are faithful versifications of Scripture and are approved
      Lord shall come. And it is only in that hope, which certainly      by the Synod, shall be sung. For this is not true of the
      can never fail, that we are able to say, "Come, Lord Jesus."       Twelve Articles of Faith nor of the Morning and Evening
      And finally, to that individual child of God comes the glad        Hymns or of the Hymn of Prayer before the sermon. Hence,
      evangel, "Take of the water of life freely." This water of         the Church Order in article 69 certainly maintains in prin-
      life, as it flows forevermore in the New Jerusalem, is prom-       ciple that other hymns, besides the Psalms of the Old
      ised to us. It is for him that is athirst.  There may be among     Testament, may be sung.
      God's people those that fear and doubt, and wonder whether
                                                                            And, therefore, I still maintain that such hymns as are
      they shall partake of the blessedness and the glory of the
                                                                         faithful versifications of Scripture and are approved by Synod
      New Jerusalem. 0, they are indeed thirsty. They long for
                                                                         may be sung in the churches.
      the perfection which shall be revealed to us in the day of our

      T,ord  Jesus Christ. Nevertheless, they have nothing to bring,         However, I wish to thank the Rev. Kuiper  for his coc-

      absolutely nothing. And therefore the exhortation is very          tribution.

      significant : "Come, ancl  take of the water of life freely."                                                                H.H.


_.

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


                                                                         considered it nothing more than self-centeredness on Moses'

                                                                         part to consider his own family and tribe to be especially

                                                                         precious in the sight of God. This difference of opinion be-

                                                                         tween them eventually developed into a great breach. Espe-

                                                                         cially when Moses returned from Horeb with the conviction
                                 Jethro
                                                                         that he should go to Egypt because the time of Israel's salva-

              And Jethro, Moses' fathey in law, ca?%@  tit72 Iris        tion was drawing near, they found it hard to consider it as
           sons and his wife unto Moses i&o  the wilderness, where       anything more than the working of his own imagination.
           he encamped at the ,moMnt  of God: . . .                      First Zipporah intended to go with him; but when she was
              And Moses tofd  his father in law  all that the Lord       forced to circumcise her son, it was more than she could take.
           had done amto Pharaoh and to the Egyphms  for Ismel's
                                                                         Wisdom dictated that it would be best for her to return to
           sake, a.nd  all the t~razmil  that had come upon them b:v
                                                                         her father with the children while Moses went on alone.
           the wa,y,  and how the Loyd  delivered them
              And Jetho rejoiced  for a,11 the goodness which the           But Moses' return to Egypt had been an act of faith, and
           Lord had done to Israel, whom he had delivered out oj         the true basis for its hope soon was completely manifested.
           the lmtd of the Egyptia.m.             Exodus 18:5>  8, 9
                                                                         Israel was precious unto God, and a great and glorious sal-
        Many months had passed by since Moses had made his               vation from bondage was realized for them. God poured forth
     departure from the home of his father-in-law, Jethro, in the        upon them blessings such as the world had never before
     wilderness of Midian.  So many events had taken place that          seen. It became perfectly clear to all that the Lord of heaven
     it seemed like years. First there had been the daring ap-           and earth was their God. This was established beyond dis-
     proach to Pharaoh with the demand that he should let the            pute. The reports of this did ,not  take long in returning to
     children of Israel go to serve Jehovah in the wilderness.           Jethro and Zipporah. At first they were quite amazed, for
     When Pharaoh had emphatically refused, there were the               this they had not anticipated. But soon they began to realize
     judgments of the plagues proving that Jehovah was God and           that Moses had been right after all. Being children of God
     that He did have the right and authority to demand of               they did not continue futilely to defend their original convic-
     Pharaoh what He did. But Pharaoh, before these plagues,             tion. They acknowledged their error, and in the works &at
     had only hardened his heart the more until they reached             God wrought through Moses they found occasion to give
     their culmination in the pestilence of death upon the firstborn     glory to God.
     of the land at the very time when Israel was partaking of
     the paschal feast-in preparation for their promised departure.         Finally, it was heard by Jethro that Moses and the chil-
     With a high hand Israel left the land, and by a miracle of          dren of Israel had come to Horeb, not a great distance from
     salvation they passed through the depths of the Red Sea             where he was making his home. He took with him Zipporah
     while the Egyptians attempting to follow them were drowned.         and Moses' two sons and made the journey to the camp of
     Now for several months, the Israelites had been making their        Israel. It was an occasion of great joy. A messenger was
     way through the wilderness still experiencing again and again       sent ahead to Moses with the announcement, "I thy father-in-
     the gracious and miraculous powers of their God in the re-          law Jethro am come unto thee, and thy wife, and her two
     peated wonders that supplied their food and drink. All of           sons with her." With due oriental formality Moses went out
     these things had so completely occupied the time and attention      to meet them. First he bowed before Jethro, and then he
     of Moses that he hardly had opportunity to dwell on the             arose to kiss him. He asked of their welfare, and then
     absence of his wife and children.                                   brought them into his tent.

        For forty years Moses had lived in the house of Jethro.             With a new basis of understanding, there was much for

     God graciously had brought him there, for Jethro was a              them to discuss. Carefully Moses recounted all that had

     God-fearing man. He was of the sons of Abraham through              transpired in the months gone by. The events in themselves

     Iieturah  ancl  had carried on the faith as a prophet and'priest    were wonderful, defying the human imagination, and Moses

     in his family. With him Moses had experienced the com-              possessed a spiritual understanding of their real significance

     munion of saints ; and of his daughters, Moses had taken            far surpassing that of any other. There was enthusiasm in

     Zipporah to wife. Two sons were born to them, Gershom               Moses' voice; there was richness in his description. Moses

     and Eliezer.                                                        clearly loved the `truth of that which he expressed. Siowly

        In one thing, however, Moses' communion with Jethro              he unfolded the account of all that had taken place, not just

     fell short. Neither Jethro nor Zipporah could appreciate the        as amazing events, but as revelations of the greatness of

     predominant position which the children of Israel held in the       Jehovah in His infinite love for His people. Attentively

     covenant of God. After all, the Israelites were nothing more        Jethro listened. He was already an old man, full of years

     than slaves to the Egyptians while they were free men. Why          and experience, but he listened with the attention of a learn-

     should the children of Jacob hold a more important position         ing child. He was the pupil being instructed by the prophet

     in the covenant than that which was held by them ? They             of God. He felt a new depth of understanding flooding his





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


heart, a new warmth of feeling overwhelming his soul. In             unto my Goice, 1 will give thee counsel, and God shall be

all that had transpired, the truth of the Gospel was contained       with thee; be thou for the people Godward,  that thou mayest

in Old Testament type and shadow. All of this was un-                bring the causes unto God: and thou shalt teach them or-

doubtedly expounded by Moses until Jethro broke forth in             d,inances  and laws, and shalt shew them the way wherein

the joyful expression, "Blessed be the Lord, who hath de-            they must walk, and the work that they must do. Moreover

livered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the         thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as

hand of Pharaoh, who hath delivered the people from under            fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness ; and place such
the hand of the Egyptians. Now I know that the Lord is               over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds,

greater than all gods: for in the thing wherein they dealt           rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. And let them judge the

proudly he was above them." Solemnly they went forth from            people at all seasons : and it shall be, that every great matter

the tent. Aaron and all of the elders of Israel were sum-            they shall bring unto thee, but every small matter they shall

moned to a great feast af which Jethro, a priest in his own          judge: so shall it be easier for thyself, and they shall bear the

right, offered a sacrifice of burnt offerings unto the Lord.         burden, with thee. If thou shalt do this thing, and God

                                                                     command thee so, then thou shalt be able to endure, and all
      On the days that followed, Jethro went throughout the
                                                                     this people shall also go to their place in peace."
camp of Israel to make his acquaintance with the people and

with their situation in the wilderness. Immediately he saw              There was a very great amount of wisdom in what Jethro

with what complete dedication Moses was giving his life to           said. Moses was a prophet of God. He was to be to the

those whom he led. He was the authority in almost every-             people Godward,  that is, his primary purpose was to bring

thing that took place in the camp. He had to instruct the            the Word of God to them and to set before them the will of

people. He had to give instructions for all of the affairs of        the Most High. In              application of these principles to in-
                                                                                           the  


the nation.    He had to judge the people in every disagree-         dividual life, there were, of course, numerous problems that

ment that arose, both big and small. It was especially this          arose. These too were spiritual problems. However, Moses

latter which consumed his time. From morning to evening              was making the mistake of taking over these problems fol

people were  coming to him for the purpose of airing all of          the people. In this, he had not only taken on an impossible

their grievances. Many of these troubles were petty; yet             task, but he was preventing the people from learning to

they took time to relate and immeasurable wisdom to settle.          handle their problems themselves. He was actually hindering

Patiently Moses had to explain to each party the way of              their spiritual development.           This is a lesson that every

Godly life in which they should walk with their individual           spiritual leader must learn.          The children of God must be

problems. Day after day this went on without end, for in a           encouraged to understand and apply the Word of God to

nation that large there were always countless occasions for          their own lives as much as possible by themselves.

trouble. For a time Jethro stood by watching and listening              But there was also another side to Jethro's advice that
to all that was taking place. He could hardly help but admire        was good, for there do arise problems in life that one can not
Moses' dedication and concern. For a man who had been so             settle by himself. Thus various wise and spiritual men were
impetuous in his youth, such patience was marvelous. There           to be appointed over different groups of families in an as-
was love in the patience with which he listened. There was           cending order of tens, fifties, hundreds, and thousands. The
gentleness even in his rebukes. Moses was a shepherd, willing        problems of life could be passed along according to their im-
to do all for the welfare of his sheep. Still, Jethro was dis-       portance, and only the greatest of them would have to be
pleased.                                                             heard by Moses. In this way the children of Israel would

      Finally he spoke. "What is this thing that thou doest to       learn to share each other's burdens.

the people ? why sittest  thou thyself alone, and all the people        Moses wisely went with this matter to God, and he was
stand by thee from morning unto even ?"                              commanded to do as Jethro said. Soon capable men were

      To Moses the answer was perfectly evident. He answered,        appointed, and Israel was organized into a body able to live

"Because the people come unto me to inquire of God: when             in the practice of Godly love.

they have a matter, they come unto me ; and I judge between             We may be sure that there was sorrow in the camp of
one and another, and I do make them know the statutes of             Israel and especially in the heart of Moses when the time
God, and his law."                                                   came for Jethro to depart. With him Moses had experienced

                                                                     a spiritual communion in the love of God. As true commun-
      But Jethro was a man of experience, and the answer of
Moses did not satisfy him. He knew the limitations of a              ion should always be, it had been mutually beneficial to
man who would serve as a leader and a ruler among men.               both. With a prayer of thanksgiving Moses and his father-
Carefully he answered again, "The thing that thou doest is           in-law parted, never .on this earth to meet again, but with
not good. Thou wilt surely wear away, both thou, and this            the assurance of a final reunion that would endure forever-
people that is with thee ; for this thing is too heavy for thee ;    more.

thou art not able to perform it thyself alone. Hearken now                                                                          B.W.


                                                  T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                               35


                                                                       just simply a little advice based upon utilitarian motives and

  11 FROM  H O L Y   W R I T   11 objectives, but it is most assuredly the eternal word of God
                                                                       for women as rooted in creation, augmented by the fall, and

                                                                       as they, as women, now have their own peculiar place in the

                 Exposition of I Timothy                               dispensation of redemption and grace. We must, therefore,
                                                                       not follow the opinion of those who hold that Paul was

                           (I Timothy 2 :B-15)                         simply writing for his day and culture, but that this is not a
                                                                       word which has validity in this enlightened age of the twen-

                                   b.                                  tieth century, characterized by woman suffrage, the emanci-

                                                                       pated woman. The free woman in Christ is a far cry from
     We now turn our attention to what Paul writes concern-            the emancipated woman of this twentieth century. We must
 ing what is proper and becomin,0 for women in the congrega-           not ascribe the "emancipation" of the woman to the applica-
 tion.                                                                 tion of the Biblical principle of the freedom in Christ. For

     I believe that we should keep in mind three things in             freedom and licentiousness are not the same. Let it be re-

 connection with Paul's address to the women. It is important          membered! And, therefore, we hold that this word of God

 that this be kept in mind lest we forget the extremely spirit-        here is the r& of faith for the woman in the church.

 ual nature of these exhortations.                                         Space will not allow us to reflect upon all of the verses

     In the first place, it should be remembered that Paul is          9 through 15. We shall limit ourselves to the verses 9-10.

 here addressing women "professing godliness." They do                 We read here : "`IS. like manner, that wofmen  ado%  themselws
                                                                not
 simply profess to be religious ; they do not simply "belong"          ,in modest apparel, with slaawefa.st~ness  and sobriety; not with

 to the church, and nothing more ; they are not simply "ladies"        braided  haS, and gold OY pea&  or costly &went, but (z&i&
 in distinction from `cgentIemen."  On the contrary they are           becow~eth  zwomen  profess&g  godliness) through good works."

 those who profess that they know what "godliness" is. God-               I do not believe that the Bible speaks of men adorning

 liness is profound reverence before God. It means that we             themselves. When one studies the Scriptures on this point

 keep His commandments, and that we would glorify and                  it soon becomes evident that it is the woman who not only

 praise God in our whole life, and that as much as we love             adorns herself, but who is also the one who Yheeds  adorn-
 our life we would do nothing contrary to His will in the              ment. A man puts on his apparel ; a woman puts on her

 church, the home and in all of our life in the world. It means        adornment. And what adorns a woman, degrades a man,

for the Christian: working out our salvation with fear anil            should he wear it. A man may lose his hair in part and

trembling ! Hence, Paul is not addressing a group of world-            remain manly, but let a woman lose her hair and all her

 ly-minded Jezebels, but he is speaking to women who fall in           beauty, her physical attractiveness is gone. Such is the teach-

 the class of a Sarah of old who called her husband "my lord,"         ing of nature. For a man is the image and the glory of God,

 When we think of women professing godliness we think of               but a woman is the glory of the man. I Cor. 11 :7.

 women of renown as Rebekah,  Leah, Miriam, Jochebed,                     The Hebrew term for adornment is "Adah."  It was the

 Ruth, Hannah, Huldah, Elizabeth, Mary, Eunice and Lois,               name of one of the ,wives of Lamech, born from Cain. The

 the mother of Timothy. Holy women, the most holy of                   term in the Greek for adornment is "kosmion." This is the

 whom had but a small beginning of the new obedience, yet              word employed by Paul here ,in the text. It means : well-

 so, that they began to live not only according to some but            arranged, becoming. It is the term which we recognize in

 according to all of God's commandments. Sz~k  are women               the English coswietics,  which is often mistaken for true

 professing godliness !                                                beauty. This mistaken notion concerning "cosmetics" as it is

     In the second place, Paul is speaking to women in the             known and `practiced today (often even in the church !) is

 church, as she is the fellowship of saints. Such women are            evident from what the Bible teaches concerning adornment

 one in Christ with their husbands and with all the believers          in various passages.

 in the Lord. For in Christ is neither man nor woman, male                I refer, first of all, to Titus 2 :lO : "Exhort servants to be

 nor female, bond nor free. For as many as have put on Christ          in subjection to their masters, and to be well-pleasing to

 are the children of Abraham, and heirs of the promise. These          them in all things ; not gainsaying, not purloining, but show-

 are therefore the women, who, when they are mothers, are              ing all good fidelity ; that they may adorn the doctrine of God

 clothed with authority together with the fathers over the             our Saviour in all things." It is fitting for a servant to obey.

 children, as it is written: "Honor thy father and thy mother          That is the beauty of a- servant. It is really the beauty of

 that it may go well with thee and that thou mayest  live              grace revealed in a servant. Thus an obedient servant adov?Ls

 long upon the earth."                                                 the doctrine in a walk of thankfulness. He is a Chrti&

     In the third place, it should be remembered that Paul             servant. He works out his salvation! That is his a.dormw&
 here addresses the women as they are women, according to              now. Such is a well-arranged life, a truly becoming walk!

 the ordinance of creation from the beginning. This is not                In I Peter 3 :4 adornment is also spoken of. It is "the

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


hidden man of the heart, in the incorruptible (apparel) of a           as rooted in a delicate spiritual sensitiveness and sanctified

meek and quiet spirit., which is in the sight of God of great          Christian conscience. Paris and Hollywood do not under-

price."    Not simply the apparel from the outside. It is not          stand. They wallow in their own obscene godlessness. But

simply the matter of the body, the physical, the external, but         Paul is speaking to women professing god&ess. And godly

it is something which deals with the "hidden man of the                women have a spiritual understanding! What has Paul to do

heart." As the heart is thus is man. If he has an evil heart           with those who are without; he speaks to the women in the

he will reveal this evil heart in a haughty spirit; he will            church. And such women, it must be said, are sober women.

not humble himself and thus be lifted up by the Lord in due            Hence, they are enjoined to dress in "sobriety." This is

time. And of this true beauty a woman such as Sarah, and               really spiritual self-control over the passions of the flesh,

all the holy women, had a small beginning !                            worldly pride. One has aptly defined this virtue of "sobriety"

      In Rev. 21:2  we read: "And I saw the holy city, new             as "that habitual inner selfgovernment, with its constant

Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made                    reign over all the passions and desires, which would hinder

ready as a bride adorned for her husband." This must needs             the temptation from arising, or at all events from arising in

be the true adommtwt  of the church of the living God,                 such strength, as should overbear the checks and barriers

adorned in the spotless railgents,  the righteousness of the           which `shamefastness' opposed to it." NEW  Testament Syn-

saints. Here is the church without spot or wrinkle or any              O~Z~WW,  Archbishop Trench.

such thing which Christ has cleansed for himself. ,Of this                 Such is the inner strength of a woman professing godli-
church the woman, as a bride, is an earthly picture. The               ness.
beauty of an earthly bride is not so much her beautif.ul  attire           It is ever the harlotous woman who adorns herself not to
as her radiant joy to meet her husband ! The imier  joy mani-          meet her husband but to attract attention of men, to be seen
fest is the adornment.                                                 and observed. She is interested in braiding of hair, jewels,
      From the foregoing we may possibly draw the following            pearls, costly raiment ; she looks for adornment which is
inferences :                                                           from without. It is cheap, external adornment, revealing lack

      1. That adornment is something-not to be frowned upon.           of inner adornment of the hidden woman which is precious

No misuse of any creature can ever be urged against its                before God.

proper and God-intended use. Adornment is in itself not evil.              Certainly our Christian girls should be more than "ladies."

      2. That there is a distinct difference between sinful, carnal    And that they are too. It ill befits our girls to pluck their

adornment and the sanctified, holy adornment. The carnal               eyebrows, replace them with a pencil on the wrong place, go

adornment is rooted in sinful pride, must needs always be              all out for the latest fads which "cosmetic" sellers trump up.

out of good taste, and emphasizes the mere creaturely rather           I recently saw a young lady who looked more like the coal

than the Creator. True adornment is always the manifesta-              miner who couldn't get all the coal dust out of his eyes by

tion of the beauty of holiness  and is worship of the Lord.            washing, than one who was adorned. Yet this perverted

      3. This is ever true in the adormnent of a woman. She            notion of adornment had evidently so enamored her that

is ever in need of adornment naturally, as we saw above. And           she became its victim. However, I believe that she herself

this natural adornment must be a true reflection of the inner          felt uncomfortable. She did not only lack shamefastness to-

adormnent of the hidden woman, which is of great price                 ward others, but even toward herself.

before God.                                                                These things ought not so to be!

      4. Only thus shall she be a picture of the "mystery" of              A rule of do's and don't's ?

Christ and His Church. He' that findeth such a woman                       Paul does not ever do that in the church. He does not say
findeth a good thing and obtained grace from the Lord.                 how the women are to adorn themselves. He does not buy

      Such women Paul enjoins the Ephesian women to be.                them their dresses and their  perfumes and other cosmetics.

      Also here Paul really says "I will," that is, upon solid,        He gives the principle. He says: you are women professing

theological considerations, I will that women adorn them-              godliness. Now work out your own salvation. You have

selves with shamefastness and sobriety.                                spiritual understanding concerning what is becoming and

      What is Paul referring to when he says "with shamefast-          what is fitting for one who goes to church to worship God,
ness" ?    It means that there be a studied attempt to so dress        meet with the saints, give alms to the poor, and in this life
as not to ewz.bawass  otlzws!  It is rooted in the feeling that        cease all the days from sin, and thus begin the eternal Sab-
you would not make others feel uncomfortable because of your           bath in this life.

dress. This is certainly a spiritual art which the Parisian                Let your inner adormnent be seen in your outward ap-

stylers of women's clothing do not understand, 2nd are not             parel.

able to practice. Not embarrass others ! ! The calloused indif-            Be true daughters of Sarah, so that your names be among

ference on this score is appalling.  And in the church it often        those who are holy women !

reflects an utter lack of understanding the things that differ,                                                                  G.L.

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


                                                                     not have left after seeking the pleasure of my flesh; but I
            I N   HllS  F E A R                                      pray for grace to adjust myself to what may be left after I
                                                                     have rendered unto Him that which is already His and which

                                                                     I have received as a steward and priest. I make sure that

                 God's Royal Priesthood                              the fire on my altar, as His priest, does not go out, but that

                                                                     it burns brightly every day, and that a sweet odor of praise
                              (111                                   and thanksgiving ascends to Him through my gift. Not He

                                                                     it is who takes the back seat. I do. It is not my earthly
    "I would like to give more, but . . . ."
                                                                     needs even that I seek first. I seek His kingdom in the
    But what?
                                                                     confidence that these other things will be added to me.
    Ah, to that question there may be a multitude of answers
depending upon the person to whom you address the ques-                  Is it not true, as one of the members of one of my con-
tion. There may, indeed, be those as the widow who cast in           gregations once said to me, that to those who want to give
her last two mites. In sincere gratitude to God she would            towards the cause of God's kingdom, to the cause of His
have cast in more than those two mites as a thankoffering.           Church, the Christian Schools, the institutions of mercy and
But she had no more. She gave all the money she had. There-          the like, God always gives something to give ? Indeed, but
fore she gave more than those who gave a larger sum and              not because He does not give means to the others. Those
had a mite left for other purposes. And she w&s  a widow             who desire to give always find there is something to give-
who had no income as the laboring man. She gave all that             sometimes their last two mites-because Go.d gives them
she had even though she had no assurance of receiving other          grace in their hearts to know themselves as His priests over
in the immediate future for her earthly need. Did we say             all that which they have. And it is usually those who can
that she was a widow? Indeed, but she was far more. She              best afford to give that answer your request with, "I would
was one of God's royal priesthood. And she not only knew             like to give more, but . . . ." And then the full answer is,
her calling as priest to be dedicated unto God with all which        "I would like to give more, but the demands of my flesh,
she had, but also she was living according to it. It was not         my pleasure, my name and lust are so great that I cannot
simply that external gift, those pieces of coin that she offered.    see God. Maybe I am His priest, but I am a business man, a
She offered her heart and its love unto God as a sweet               father who must support a family, a citizen with social
smelling savour of thanksgiving.                                     obligations : and I need this and that and a few hundred
   How few such priests we see today.                                other things."

   All too often we hear that expression, "I would like to               Shame on us, I say again, that we so behave !

give more, but . . . ." And after that "but . . . ." there are          The royal priesthood of God lives by the principle that

so many silly and wicked things added. They all fall into            he seeks first, last and always the kingdom of God and its

this category, however, that they are the ambitions of one           righteousness, resting confidently in God's promise to add to

who does not recognize the fact that the earth is the Lord's         him all these other things that He needs in order to seek

and the fulness thereof. He divorces God from Hi:; own               God's, kingdom. For what other purpose does he live on

creation. He refuses to be God's royal priesthood but insists        this earth ? The priest of God, because he is also God's

on living in God's world and using His goods.                        prophet, knows that his only calling on this earth is to serve

   Shame on us that we so behave!                                    the living God in Whose creation he lives. It is indeed an

   God gave to Israel a fundamental principle when He                age-old sin that we seek first, not our actual needs and the

demanded that they bring to the priest the firstfruits of their      actual necessities of life without which we could not live, but

land. Before the Israelites touched any of the fruit that God        the satisfaction of our sinful lusts and ambitions before we

caused to grow upon their fields, they had to bring to Him           think even of God's cause and of its earthly needs. The

the first ripe grain from off these fields. God IS first, and        prophet Haggai had to rebuke Israel for building their beau-

His royal priesthood does not simply give lip-service to this        tiful ceiled houses while the temple of God lay in ruin. 0,

truth, it lives according to that principle. That royal priest-      there was gold and silver and plenty of beautiful woods for

hood does not look at the end of the week, month or year to          these houses of man. Far beyond the limits'of what w9.s actu-

see whether there is something left for God and His king-            ally needed as a place of shelter, men could spend thousands

dom. That royal priesthood says, God IS and always WAS               and thousands of dollars even in that day for a beautiEu1  home

first. Before I touch for my own use that which He gives me,         with a beautiful ceiling. But when the call was there every day

I set aside that which is necessary for the maintenance of           for funds to restore the temple, the answer was there, "I

His cause here below. He does not get what is or might be            would like to give more money and of my time, but. . .`.' J13ut

left after I have satisfied my flesh ; but I take what is 1ei:t      what? I have no interest, or at least, not enough interest in

after I have offered up to Him my firstfruit of my paycheck,         God's cause, not as much interest in God's cause as I have

my income and material wealth. I do not tell Him to try t:~          for my own cause. I do not find any joy in being His priest.

get along and adjust Himself to the pennies I might or might         It costs too much."


38                                        T H E   ST.ANDARD   B E A R E R


      Do we say that too today ?                                   has so freely given us ? Are we with all that which He has

      Does it cost too much for us to be children of God? Is it    given to US dedicated unto Him ? Or are we consecrated to

too hard a task and too unpleasant a task for us to be His         the idols of lust, pleasure and vanity ?

priests ? How we contribute to the cause of His kingdom will           You know, we really do not need all that which we say

surely reveal how much we enjoy the fact of being His royal        that we need. You know as well as I do that when we say

priesthood. What we put first will show what we love the           that we would like to give more, but we cannot afford it, that

most. Where our treasure is, there will our heart be also.         much of what we do buy with our money is luxury rather

Where, then, is our heart? Do we seek the kingdom of God           than need. What we need is that without which life is im-

first and wait for these other things to be added ? Or do we       possible. What we do need is that upon which life depends.

first seek these things and hope that others will add up           But life does not depend upon two suits of clothes or two

enough to take care of the needs of God's Church and cause         dresses. It does not depend upon a ?zew  suit of clothes or a

here below ?                                                       `ylew dress. It does not depend upon the choicest cuts of meat

      How often is it true that we can say in regard to the        and the fanciest dishes. It does not depend upon the latest

things of God's kingdom, "I would like to give more, but I         style of house with all the modern conveniences, labor sav-

do not have it"? Yea, how often is it true even that we can        ing ( ?)    devices ; filled with all the costliest carpeting and

say, "I would Z&s to give more"? Is not all that which             furniture, television set with the biggest screen, hi-fi or stereo

follows our "but" simply a denial of the fact that we would        set with the largest speakers, largest (or for that matter any

like to give more ?                                                size) deep freeze, automatic electric oven; and what more

      There is, indeed, a limit to what we can give. The widow     shall we add that we are constantly adding to our homes and

could surely say also after she gave her two mites, "I would       listing as neecls?  Hear the Word of the Lord, "Is it a time

like to give more, but I do not have it." Not everyone has         for you, 0 ye, to dwell in your ceiled houses, and this house

the same amount to give, even though everyone is called to         lie waste ?" Haggai 1:4.  No, we have beautiful church build-

be a priest of God. Nor does God say that we should give           ings and usually keep them in good repair. But when we so

all that which He gives unto us as an offering the next            glibly speak of our needs and our inability to contribute to
Sabbath. Jesus did not say of the widow that only she had          the cause of God's kingdom in whatever form it is presented
performed her priestly duty and that all those who gave but        to us, and say that we "would like to give more, but . . . .,"
                                                                                                                                   ._
a' fraction of what they had performed a sin. No, He `said         does this text not apply to us ?
that they gave of their abundance, while she of her                    In many of our churches families do pay $300 to $400
penury gave all the living she had. Luke 21 :2. And when           in the church budget per year, another $100 in free collec-
Ananias and Sapphira sold a piece of land and brought only         tions for works of charity, $400 to $1400 in Christian School
part to the apostle's feet, Peter did not rebuke him for           tuition, and another $100 to $200 in building fund drives and
bringing only a part. He charged him with lying against the        the like for such Kingdom causes. This is a sizeable  amount
Holy Ghost. And he declared unto him, "Whiles it remained,         of that weekly pay check. But if they are truly God's royal
was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in         priesthood, this is no burden. It is a freewill offering they
thine own power ?" Acts 5 :4.                                      put on the altar while declaring in their hearts, "Lord, the
      But when we so freely spend so much of what we have          rest that I do not bring is also Thine. Help me to use it also
received for the satisfaction of the flesh, and we have so         in my daily Iife to express true thankfulness unto Thee and
little left to give grudgingly unto the cause of God's kingdom,    to serve Thee therewith."
we had better be careful that we do not lie against the Holy           And he will understand and be ready to confess that his
Ghost when we say, "I would like to give more. but . . . ."        greatest need is not food and drink, clothing and shelter, but
Do we really desire to give more than we do give ? Do we           the grace of God to be able to be His priest in thought, word
husband our money as much for having a goodly sum to give          and deed.                                                 J.A.H.

to the support of the cause of God's kingdom, ax3 we husband

that pay check to be able to buy this and that at some future                              Announcement

time ?                                                                 The Hope Protestant Reformed Christian School ,lt

      So much MUST be put aside every week or month for            Grand Rapids, Mich.,  will be in need  of a teacher for the

that payment on the ceiled house, that late model car, that        fifth grade the latter half of the 1961-62  school year. All

vacation we intend to take next summer, that Christmas sav-        those available and interested in this position are requested

ings account so that we may buy Christmas presents, that           to send their name, credits and/or degree, and experience if

insurance policy, the premiums of which are constantly soar-       any to Mr. Richard Bloem, 4630 Riverbend Dr., S.W., Grand

ing - and so my weekly contribution to the cause of God's          Rapids 4, Mich.

kingdom will have to be smaller. How much really do we                                      Hope Prot. Reformed Christian

FIRST seek the kingdom of God ? How much are we really                                      School Board (Education Committee j

at the altar as God's priests to offer up to Him that which He                              R. L. Bloem, Secretary

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


                                                                     is able to attain eternal happiness. But man's destiny is i.n
II Contending For The Faith II his own keeping. If he goes to hell, it will be due to a
                                                                     choice of evil which he is not compelled to make, for which

                                                                     he is fully responsible, which God forbids, and of which he

         The Church and the Sacraments                               does not repent before death. A man cannot be said to be
                                                                     doomed to a disaster he need never encounter. Likewix,

         THE TIME OF THE REFORMATION                                 even granted that those who do choose to lose their souls are
                                                                     not compelled to do so, the Catholic Church has no teaching
                VIEWS ON THE CHURCH                                  as to the number of men who will do so. She teaches that

                                                                     man is endowed with free will ; that God gives to every man
               THE ROMAN CATHOLIC VIEW
                                                                     sufficient grace for salvation ; that man is capable of resisting

   The significance of the Church is an extremely im-                that grace and of losing his soul ; that if he does lose his
portant and significant question. The Roman Catholic view            soul he will justly reap the fruit of his own evil choice by

of the Church is most clearly and ably set forth by Robert           eternal suffering in hell. How many will make that final evil
Bellarmin, the famous Roman Catholic controversialist.               choice is known only to God. But since the choice can be

According to him the church is a company of men externally           made, it is each man's duty to avoid making it, repenting of

bound together by the profession of the same Christian faith,        past sins, and endeavoring to comply with the requirements

united in the communion of the same sacraments, under and            of virtue. And so the Church contents herself with the ad-

subject to the government of legitimate pastors, especially          vice to each man which God gave when He said, `What does
the pope. What does this imply? This implies that Rome               it profit a man to gain the whole world, if he suffers the loss
excludes from the Church all heretics and infidels, all the          of his soul ? Seek first the Kingdom of God and His justice'."
unbaptized,    all whq are not subject to bishops having             Question 668 reads as follows: "Pardon my insistence on
canonical succession and, of course, who do not recognize the        this subject, but it seems to me to be of paramount im-
pope. And Rome includes all others, whether they be godly            portance."    And the Roman Catholic answer to this is: "It

or ungodly, reprobate or elect. Bellarmin made no distinc-           is, precisely because human beings are endowed with free

tion, therefore, between the Church visible and invisible. And       will, and can, therefore, decide for themselves what shail

according to him the pope is infallible in matters pertaining        be their eternal destiny. But if there be no such thing as free

to faith and life. Fundamentally, therefore, the Church is           will, then the problem is of comparatively little importance;
simply a group or company of men who recognize the pope              for it's a waste of time to worry about the inevitable. How-
as their infallible guide and leader in all matters pertaining       ever, the matter is important; and for that reason I have
to faith and life. This definition of the Church is also verified    given such lengthy treatment to your letter. I can only hope

by what we read in "Radio Replies by Fathers Rumble and              that my treatment of it has clarified some aspects of the ques-
Carty,"  Volume II, question and answer 280, which reads:            tion even if it has not yet removed all your difficulties. I

"When you speak of the Catholic Church, in what sense clo            would be rather astonished if it did remove all your clifficul-
you use the word `Church' "? "I intend that organized                ties for I haven't succeeded yet in removing all my own.
religious society of all Catholics throughout the world under        But I know that free will is a fact despite all the residual

the Pope as their one visible head on earth."                        problems it leaves for the human mind, even as I know that

   In the foregoing paragraph we remarked that Rome's                wireless transmission is a fact though it teems with mysteries.

definition of the Church, as set forth by Bellarmin, implies         But ten thousand difficulties concerning a fact do not make

that Rome includes all others in the Church, whether they            us doubt the fact. It is a fact that God is just. It is a fact

be godly or ungodly, reprobate or elect. In this connection          that men have free will. If we cannot reconcile those two

we must bear in mind that Rome's conception of reprobation           facts to our entire satisfaction, the only reasonable thing to
is not the same as what we believe to be Scripture's presenta-       do is accept the limitations of the human mind, and not
tion of this truth. Rome is Arminian in its conception of this       begin tampering with the facts in order to get an answer we

truth, and really denies reprobation. This is clearly set            like, whether it be true or not."

forth in the "Radio Replies by Fathers Rumble and Carty,"

Vol. III, questions G67 and 668. We will quote them. Ques-              As one may expect, also the Roman Catholic Church has

tion 667 reads as follows: "You teach that, for millions of          officially declared itself on the subject of the Church. The

human beings, it would have been better never to have been           Vatican Council, 1870, has expressed itself on the Church

born, because they are doomed to eternal suffering in hell !"        of Christ. We have quoted three of these four chapters in the

And to this the Roman Catholic answer is as follows: "I do           past, but, inasmuch as we are now discussing the subject of

not teach that. The Catholic Church condemns as heresy               the Church as set forth by Rome, it may be well to quote

the doctrine that any single soul is doomed to eternal suffer-       them again, and this entire decree as published in the Fourth

ing. The only destiny human souls are meant by God to                Session of this Council, as set forth by Pope Pius, for an

attain is a destiny of eternal happiness ; and every single soul     everlasting remembrance. This decree of the Vatican Council,


                                          T H E   STAND.ARD   B E A R E R


set forth by Pope Pius, with the approval of the sacred             of chief pastor and ruler-over all his fold in the words: `Feed

council, is introduced as follows: "The eternal Pa,stor  and        my lambs ; feed my sheep.' At open variance with this clear

Bishop of our souls, in order to continue for all time the life-    doctrine of Holy Scripture as it has been ever understood by

giving work of his Redemption, determined to build up the           the Catholic Church are the perverse opinions of those who,

holy Church, wherein, as in the house of the living God, all        while they distort the form of government established by

who believe might be united in the bond of one faith and            Christ the Lord in his Church, deny that Peter in his single

one charity. Wherefore, before he entered into his glory, he        person, preferably to all the other Apostles, whether taken

prayed unto the Father, .not  for the Apostles only, but for        separately or together, was endowed by Christ with a true

those also who through their preaching should come to be-           and proper primacy of jurisdiction ; or of those who assert

lieve in him, that all might be one even as he the Son and          that the same primacy was not bestowed immediately and

the Father are one. As then he sent the Apostles whom he            directly upon blessed Peter himself, but upon the Church,

had chosen to himself from the world, as he himself had been        and through the Church on Peter as her minister. If anyone,

sent by the Father: so he willed that there should ever be          therefore, shall -say  that blessed Peter the Apostle was not

pastors and teachers in his Church to the end of the world.         appointed the Prince of all the Apostles and the visible Head

And in order that the Episcopate also might be one and              of the whole Church Militant; or that the same directly and

undivided, and that by means of a closely united priesthood         immediately received from the same our Lord Jesus Christ

the multitude of the faithful might be kept secure in the otie-     a primacy of honor only, and not of true and proper jurisdic-

ness of faith and communion, he set blessed Peter over the          tion: let him be anathema."

rest of the Apostles, and fixed in him the abiding principle
                                                                       Chapter II, treating the Perpetuity of the Primacy of
of this twofold unity, and its visible foundation, in the
                                                                    blessed Peter in the Roman Pontiffs, sets this Catholic dogma
strength of which the everlasting temple should  arise, and
                                                                    forth as follows: "That which the Prince of Shepherds and
the Church in the firmness of that faith should lift her ma-
                                                                    great Shepherd of the sheep, Jesus Christ our Lord, estab-
jestic front to Heaven. ,4nd seeing that the gates of hell,
                                                                    lished in the person of the blessed Apostle Peter to secure
with daily increase of hatred, are gathering their strength
                                                                    the perpetual welfare and lasting good of the Church, must,
on every side to upheave  the foundation laid by God's hand,
                                                                    by the same institution, necessarily remain unceasingly in the
and so, if that might be, to overthrow the Church: we, there-
                                                                    Church ; which, being founded upon the Rock, will stand
fore, for the presel:vation,  safe-keeping, and increase of the
                                                                    firm to the end of the world. For none can doubt, and it is
Catholic flock, with the approval of the sacred Council, do
                                                                    known to all ages, that the holy and blessed Peter, the Prince
judge it to be necessary to propose to the belief and accept-
                                                                    and Chief of the .4postles,  the pillar of the faith and founda-
ance of all the faithful, in accordance with the ancient and
                                                                    tion of the Catholic Church, received the keys of the king-
constant faith of the universal Church, the doctrine touching
                                                                    dom from our Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour and Redeemer
the institution, perpetuity, and nature of the sacred Primacy,
                                                                    of mankind, and lives, presides, and judges, to this day and
in which is found the strength and solidity of the entire
                                                                    always, in his successors the Bishops of the Holy See of
Church,' and at the same time to proscribe and condemn the
                                                                    Rome, which was founded by him, and consecrated by his
contrary errors, so hurtful to the flbck  of Christ."
                                                                    blood. Whence, whosoever succeeds to Peter in this See,

   Chapter 1, treating the Institution of the Apostolic             does by the institution of Christ himself obtain the Primacy

Primacy in blessed Peter, reads as follows: "We therefore           cf Peter over the whole Church. The disposition made by

teach and declare that, according to the testimony of the           Incarnate Truth therefore remains, and blessed Peter, abiding

Gospel, the primacy of jurisdiction over the universal Church       through the strength of the Rock in the power that he re-

of God was immediately and directly promised and given to           ceived, has not abandoned the direction of the Church.

blessed Peter the Apostle by Christ the Lord. For it was            Wherefore it has at all times been necessary that every par-

to Simon alone, fo whom he had already said: `Thou shalt            ticular Church-that is to say, the faithful throughout the

be called Cephas,' that the Lord after the confession made          world -- should agree with the Roman Church, on account

by him, saying, `Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living         of the greater authority of the princedom which this has

God,' addressed these solemn words : `Blessed art thou, Simon       received; that all being associated in the unity of that See

Bar-Jona,  because flesh and blood have not revealed it to          whence the rights of communion spread to all, might grow

thee, but my Father who is in heaven. And I say to thee             together as members of one Head in the compact unity of

that thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my             the body. If, then, any should deny that it is by the institu-

Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And     tion of Christ the Lord, or by divine right, that blessed

I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And          Peter should have a perpetual line of successors in the Pri-

whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth,. it shall be bound also        macy over the universal Church, or that the Roman Porltifi  is

in heaven ; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, it shall      the successor of blessed Peter in this primacy: let him be

be loosed also in heaven.' And it was upon Simon alone              anathema."

that Jesus after His resurrection bestowed the jurisdiction                                                                   H.V.


                                                1`1-11:   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                       41


                                                                            revelation and His entire knowledge, that is to say, to all of
11 The Voice of Our Fathers .!I                                             Christian truth, even as it all belongs fundamentally to the
II-                                                                         knowledge of God. This doctrine of revelation, and once
                                                                            more, particularly the doctrine of Holy Scripture, is the very
                      The Belgic Confession
                                                                            foundation of the church's confession. Take it away, and the
                                ARTICLE II
                                                                            whole structure of the Reformed believer's confession, the
                   We know him by two means: East,  by the creation,
              preservation and government of the universe; which is         whole structure of the truth, totters and crumbles. Then the
              before our eyes as a most elegant book, wherein all           God Whom we claim to know and Whom we confess is not.
              creatures, great and small, are as so many characters
              leading us to contemplate the invisible things of God,        Then there is no creation, no providence, no fall, no sin, no
              namely, his power and divinity, as the apostle Paul saith,    Christ, no redemption, no salvation, no church, no preaching,
              Rom. 130.  All which things are sufficient to convince
              men,    and Ieave them without excuse. Secondly, he           no sacraments, no discipline, no second coming, no jud,oment,
              makes himself more clearly and fully known to us by           no heaven, no hell. In this light too, it becomes all-important
              his holy and divine Word, that is to say, as far as is
              necessary for us to know ti this life, to his glory and       to make confession concerning the authorship, the canon, the
              our salvation.                                                dignity and authority, and the sufficiency of the Holy Scrip-
In troduc t,ion
                                                                            tures.
    This article of our creed introduces a subject which,

judging from the large place and the detailed treatment ac-                     And as to the apparent disproportion in our Confession

corded it, is evidently one of crucial importance for the                   in the treatment of the two means, we may make the follow-

Reformed faith. No less than six articles are devoted to this               ing observations. In the first place, this disproportion is to

subject, a fact which we may take as indicating that our                    be explained from history. The important subject for Re-

fathers considered the truth of revelation and inspiration, and             formed believers in the Reformation era in which our creed

especially the truth concerning Holy Scripture (to which                    was drawn up was that of the Scriptures. It was those
five of these six articles are devoted), to be a doctrine of                Scriptures that were under attack. It was the Scrip-

foundational importance.         The article presently under con-           tures that the church was in danger of losing, yea, to a large

sideration introduces this subject, setting forth the two means             extent had been deprived of for many years prior to the

by which we know God, namely, that of His revelation in the                 Reformation. With those Scriptures had been placed on a

universe and that of His revelation in Scripture. From this                 par the writings of saints, tradition, the utterances and inter-

point on the Confession says no more about the first means,                 pretations and decrees of the pope and of councils. And there-

but devotes five articles to the setting forth and explanation              fore it was necessary, over against the evils of that day, to

of the Reformed faith with respect to the second means, Holy                defend and to maintain the Scriptures. That God revealed

Scripture.                                                                  Himself in the universe was not under attack at the time ;

    While we might from a certain viewpoint judge that our                  and therefore this doctrine needed no extensive treatment.

confessional statement concerning God's revelation in the                   In the second place, we must not forget that this dispropor-

universe is rather scanty, it is nevertheless not difficult to              tionate treatment is not nearly so disproportionate as it ap-

see why our creed devotes such an important and primary                     pears.    These two means `of revelation are not equally im-

place to the truth of God's revelation, and particularly His                portant, and therefore they must not have equal treatment.

revelation in Scripture. In the first place, the Confession                 We shall have further opportunity to see this a bit later. But

itself indicates the prime importance of this doctrine by its               even now we may note that our Confession itself remarks

introductory statement, "We know him by two means." The                     upon this difference : "He makes himself ~,OYB cZsa;uZy  apzd

question is therefore one concerning an adequate knowledge                  f&y knows  to us by his holy and divine. Word, that is to

of God, and one concerning the meaezs  of such an adequate                  say, as far as is necessary for us to know in this life, to his

knowledge of God. And this is obviously a crucial question.                 gl@Ipy  and o,Lcr  salzlat-ion."    Besides, our Confession elevates

Either the means here mentioned are the means whereby God                   Holy Scripture to the position of the sole criterion of faith

is known, or they are not. If they are indeed the means, then               and practice, which means that God's revelation in. the uni-

we know God by these means. But if they are not the means                   verse must be read and interpreted in the light of Scripture.

whereby God is known, then we must not speak of a partial or                And, in the third place, we may add that our creedal  state-

inadequate knowledge of God ; and we may not speak of an in-                ment concerning God's revelation in the universe, the first

correct or inaccurate knowledge of God. No, if these are not                means mentioned in this article, is quite adequate when read

the means, then we do not know God. What we know may be                     in the light of the rest of our confession and in the light espe-

an idol, some deity of our own construction, a mere figment of              cially of what our Belgic Confession says concerning Scrip-

our imagination. But we do not know God, Who is really                      ture. It is not difficult, yea, not even questionable, to say what

God ! If the church - be it Romish or any other - or inner                  a Reformed believer of the twentieth century - let us jay,  of

light, or philosophy, rather than the means here set forth, are             the "age of science" - must believe concerning God's rev-

the means whereby God is known, then we do not know God.                    elation in the universe, and what his approach to and his

Moreover, what is said here is applicable to God's entire                   interpretation of that revelation must be, and how it must


42                                          T H E   S T A N D A R D   BE'ARER

                                                                          -.
take place. Also this we hope to make clear in our subse7            and naively concluding that in Article II we have an official

quent discussion.                                                    creedal  doctrine of revelation. The second elementary fact,

                                                                     tilso negative, is that this article certainly does not mention
7$7e  Knozv  Him By Two Means.
                                                                     "general" or "special" revelation. In fact, it does not even
      There are certain doctrinal formulations and explanations      speak of the means whereby "men" or "all men" know God.
which through long and repeated use come to be accepted,             The only statement concerning men in general which you find
almost automatically, as being Reformed and confessional, so         in this article is the one which avers that all these things,
-that we do not even challenge them and think them through           i.e., of that elegant book of the creation, preservation, and
any more.      Such is the case, I fear, in regard to this second    government of the universe, are sufficient to convince me?z
article of our Confession. Rather traditionally we regard this       and leave them without excuse. This again ought to caution
article as speaking of God's "general revelation" and His            us against simply assuming that this "general-and-special"
"special revelation." The former is His revelation in nature         formula is a confessional one.
and in history, creation and providence ; the latter is His             In the second place, looking at the positive side of the
revelation in Christ Jesus, and thus in Scripture. The former        ledger, we may observe the following:
is a revelation to all men; the latter is a revelation to only a
                                                                         1) Notice that the article says : "WE know him." This
part of men. The former is a revelation which by itself can
                                                                     at once limits all that the article has to say. The subject is
never be unto salvation ; the latter is a revelation unto salva-
                                                                     not "men" or "mankind" or "all men." The article does not
tion. And, according to some, the former, even as it is a
                                                                     even speak objectively concerning "the means whereby God
general revelation, is a matter of common grace ; the latter
                                                                     may be known."      But this is a confession of faith. And the
is a matter of "special" grace. You will find some such es-
                                                                     subject of that confession is "we." And that "we" is the
planation as above in many a treatment of the doctrine of
                                                                     church, believers aid  their seed, speaking organically. In the
revelation, as also in commentaries on this second article of
                                                                     light of this fact, namely, that this "we" is the same as the
the Con&&o Belgica. And I dare say that even in Prot-
                                                                     "we" of Article I, who "all believe with the heart, and con-
estant Reformed circles -apart now from that one char-
                                                                     fess with the mouth," all the rest of the article must be read
acterization of revelation as being a matter of common or of
                                                                     and interpreted. That "we" know God by the first means as
special grace, so-called - these same traditional distinctions
                                                                     well as by the second. It is before "our" eyes, that is, the eyes
and terms are not infrequently used. That is one of the
                                                                     of faith, that the creation, preservation, and government' of
dangers of traditionalism, that we fall into certain ruts of
                                                                     the universe are as a "most elegant book." And "we" itIe Icd
doctrinal terminology and usage uncritically, without ever
                                                                     by the characters in that book to contemplate the invisible
making a thorough study and without even challenging terms
                                                                     things of God, namely, His power and divinity. And, more-
and ideas, until finally we simply accept something as being
                                                                     over, He makes Himself more clearly and fully known to us,
Reformed.
                                                                     that is, to the church, believers and their seed, by His holy
      But what happens when we carefully analyze the teach-
                                                                     and divine Word.
ings of Article II of our Confession and when we put these
traditional views to the test of this second article ?                  2) It is in this same spirit that the term "know" must be
      I make bold to say that we discover that these traditional     taken here. This is none other than the knowledge of faith,
views concerning "general" and "special" revelation have, in         saving faith. Not a mere intellectual knowledge concerning
fact, no foundation in our-Confession. They are not confes-          God is meant; nor does the article distinguish between two
sional distinctions. Whether they be good or bad is not -it          different kinds of knowledge of God here. But one knowledge
present under discussion. Whether those terms are usable or          of God, the knowledge of faith, the knowledge which is life
not is an altogether different question. I merely want to em-        eternal, the true knowledge of God, the knowledge which is
phasize that we must not in an off-hand manner say that the          limited to the church, the elect, is plainly the subject of dis-
second article of our Confession teaches general and special         cussion in this article. And that one knowledge is attained
revelation.                                                          through two means.

      First of all, let me draw -your attention to some very            3) Finally, take note of the object of this knowledge:

elementary facts concerning this article. The first of these is      "him." But then remember that this pronoun "him" takes

that the article does not so much as mention "revelation,"           us back to the preceding article. And the preceding article

much less give us a doctrine of revelation or a definition of        does not merely speak in general of God, but of the God of

revelation.    This is indeed significant. Do not misunder-          our salvation, Whom we believe with the heart and confess

stand: I do not mean to say, or even to imply, that what is          with the mouth. For it is God BS the overflowing fountain

.+tated in this and subsequent articles has nothing to do with       of all good that is there confessed. And again, you must re-

the doctrine of divine revelation. I merely assert that this         member that this limitation applies to the entire article. Both

article does not literally mention revelation, nor define it,        of the means .mentioned  here are means whereby we know

nor set forth a dogma of revelation. Apd I further maintain          HIM, the overflowing fountain of all good.

that this should at least put us on our guard against facilely                             (to be continued)                  H.C.H.


                                                  T H E   S T A N D A R D   BEA.RER                                                         43


                                                                             desire to discontinue them, this shall not be done without the

          D E C E N C Y   a n d   0                                          judgment of Classis."
                                                                                 This original article refers to a pre-Reformation practice

                                                                             in the Roman Catholic church which continued to be held in

                  Supervision in the Lord's  Supper                          vogue in the churches of the Reformation after the break
                                                                             with Rome. Late in the afternoon of each day the doors of
         "The adwrinisfimtion  of he Lads  Sz@fer shall take place           the churches were opened for the daily vesper service. It
     only there  zvlw-e there is supcrvisio~~  of ehi?ers,  acco9ding  to    was a brief period of meditation. Songs were sung, prayers
     the eccbesiastZca1  or&v  and in a; public gather-iutg of the con-      offered and a portion of the Bible briefly expounded. In
     gregation." - Article 64, D.K.O.                                        time objections began to be raised against this custom and

         In many Reformed circles today the provision of the sixty-          in 1574 the Synod of Dort ruled that they should not be
     fourth article of our Church Order either has already or                introduced in churches which until then had not observed
                                                                       is
     fast becoming an obsolete thing.      The spirit of individualism,      them and in places where they were in use, they should be
     so prevalent in this age in the world, seems to reflect itself          discontinued as soon as possible. The reasons the synod gave
     more and more in the church as she repels various forms of              for its decision were three:

     authority and ecclesiastical supervision. Old traditions are                1) In order that the regular Sunday services might be

     discarded or conveniently ignored and substituted with the              attended more diligently ;

     more modern approach. With application to .the Lord's                      2) In order that family worship might be maintained

     Supper this means that the sacrament is no longer regarded              more diligently ;

     as a sacred feast which the Lord Himself ordained only for                 3) In order that the common prayers held on days of

     the faithful and which, therefore, demands supervision by the           fasting might be used more diligently and zealously.

     elders of the church, but it is considered a common party to               A tradition of such long standing, however, was neither

     which all who happen to be present at the time it is held are           easily nor immediately eradicated from the churches. The

     invited and concerning which the individual is at liberty to            synod of 1581 reiterated the position of the synod of 1574,

     take or abstain without scruples as to confession and life. Add         adding the new element that these services should be dis-

     to this the element of superstitious sentiment and you have             continued in the churches that maintained them without the

     the ingredients of the feast as observed in many churches to-           consent of the Classis.  In spite of this it was not until the

     day. Regulations concerning spiritual supervision and desig-            seventeenth century that this practice disappeared from the

     nating of special times and places where this holy supper is to         scene.

     be commemorated are regarded as things antiquated.                         It was in 1905 that the churches of the Netherlands

         Current revisions of the Church Order will naturally be             adopted a new redaction of the Church Order in which they

     formulated to conform to this modern practice rather than               elided this article and inserted in its place the present Article

     to adhere to the principles and traditions of the past. The             64. In 1914 the Christian Reformed Church in this country

     closest allusion to the content of Article 64 in the proposed           adopted the same and this is the Church Order which we

     Church Order revision of the Christian Reformed Church is               have today.

     found in the general statement appearing in the sixty-second               Our present article mentions two important matters in
     article :    "The administration of the sacraments shall take           connection with the administration of the Lord's Supper.
     place only upon the authority of the consistory, with the use           First of all, .there  must be supervision by the elders. Sec-
     of the ecclesiastical forms, and in a public gathering of be-           ondly, this administration can take place only in the public
     lievers."     What is conspicuously absent in this revision is the      gathering of the congregation.
     provision that demands "supervision by the elders" in the                  Monsma and Van Dellen  in "The Church Order Com-
     celebration of the Lord's Supper. The sacrament may well                mentary" point out that the first of these means that "in
     be administered by the authority of the consistory, the proper          general believers must be first organized into a church before
     forms may be read, and the congregation may be assembled                Holy Communion can be celebrated." It should not be for-
     publicly but if there is no supervision over the participants           gotten that in the post-Reformation days there were often a
     and celebration the whole thing may also be desecrated as               few believers in various localities who had broken with the
     it unquestionably is where the power of discipline is                   church of Rome but were numerically too few to organize
     neglected.                                                              into a regular congregation. Jansen tells us that Calvin

         Originally, in the Church Order of Dordrecht, Article 64            judged that in such places the services should be limited

     did not appear in the present form. This is of a much later             to the reading and explaining of God's Word and that the

     date. Formerly the present article read':                               sacraments should not be administered there inasmuch as a

         "Inasmuch as the Evening Prayers are found to be very               definite church organization was lacking and supervision and

     fruitful in many places, each church in maintaining these               discipline could not be exercised. Later synods concurred in

     will conduct them as is most edifying. When there is a                  this judgment of Calvin. Today where such a situation pre-





L

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


vails the custom is to incorporate such groups into neigh-         Now it may be argued that it does not follow that this neces-

boring churches and form a "branch congregation? Under             sarily means that this gathering is to be held in the church

the supervision of the consistory the sacraments are then          building. This is certainly true. The church, either in its

administered as needed in these places. To do this effectively     entirety or representatively, can gather in other places as

it would be mandatory that there be a representation of the        well. Perhaps in mid-winter the heating plant .breaks  down

elders `at such. times as the sacraments are administered.         and so the consistory designates another building as the place

      With this we concur and also readily admit that when         of meeting for a couple weeks while repairs are being made.
Article 64 was composed it was this supervision that the           This does not make the services held in this new place less
authors had in mind. However, it is not saying too much            official than if they were held in the church building.
when we add that when the Church Order speaks of the                   And so it is argued that the consistory can take a few

supervision of the eiders over the administration of the           iileii+bcfs  6f the congregat;on  to the hosp&al  or home of the
Lord's Supper, this supervision may be extended to include         sick and institute an official service so that the bed-ridden
also that work of the elders whereby they see to it that un-       may receive the Lord's Supper. We question whether this
worthy persons are kept from the table of the Lord and             can be classified as a "public gathering" but our greater ob-
admonished to repent. The table of the Lord must be kept           jection to this practice is that it appears to us to be an act
pure inasfar as that is possible. Hypocrites God will judge        instigated in plain defiance of the revealed will of God. We
but those who in their confession and life reveal themselves       must not forget that when the Lord places us upon a sick
as disobedient to the Word of God must be forbidden the            bed or makes us an invalid, He does this in His providence

rights and privileges of members of the church.                    for reasons we cannot always discern. He knows that while
                                                                   we are in that condition we cannot go to His house to receive
      The article also stipulates that the Supper of the Lord
                                                                   the sacraments. Yet He has so ordered our way. In His
may be served only in a public gathering of the congregation.
                                                                   Word He does not tell us to contrive other ways to obtain
Concerning this the Rev. Ophoff writes : "Also the admin-
                                                                   these means of grace but He enjoins us to submit ourselves
istration of the Lord's Supper and the official preaching of
                                                                   without murmuring ; to trust in Him alone, casting our`cares
the gospel by teaching ministry instituted by Christ are in-
                                                                   upon Him ; to be patient in our afflictions that the glory of
separable, and this for two reasons. As baptism, so the
                                                                   His grace may be manifest in us. Those children of God
Lord's Supper, it is a dead symbol and therefore by itself
                                                                   who through such providential acts of God are deprived of
mute. It only speaks with the gospel as preached imposed
                                                                   the means of grace in the church either for a time or for years
upon it. Secondly, Christ instituted in his church the teach-
                                                                   on end do not manifest possession of a lesser grace. As a rule
ing ministry for the edification of His people, the establish-
                                                                   the very opposite is true.
ing of his covenant among them and the gathering of His                                            "Affliction hath been for my
                                                                   profit."    God is faithful to provide all our needs in all cir-
church. Now the gospel as officially preached and the ad-
                                                                   cumstances and, therefore, where all things are normal He
ministration of the Lord's Supper are the divinely ordained
                                                                   dispenses His
instruments for the achievement of this purpose. Hence, the                         grace through the instituted means and where,
                                                                   for His own reasons, He deprives His children of those
two belong together and are inseparable. Therefore if the
                                                                   means, He remembers them in His mercy and always "His
official preaching of the gospel must take place on the meet-
                                                                   grace is sufficient."
ings for public worship, then also the official administration                                                               G.V.d.B.

of the Lord's Supper. The Reformed fathers permitted the

administration of the Lord's Supper in the homes of those

who had been ill for many years, provided the congregation

and the consistory be present. Administration of the Lord's
                                                                       The Eastern Ladies' League will hold its fall meeting
Supper in the home by a common member with the con-
                                                                   October 26 at Hope Protestant Reformed Church at S
gregation absent is forbidden. This is the Reformed position.
                                                                   o'clock. Our speaker will be Rev. Richard Veldman. Come
That this position is Biblical is proven by the lone fact that
                                                                   and enjoy an evening of Christian fellowship with us.
Christ-we read it in the scriptures, the epistle of Paul .-
gave pastors and teachers for the work of the ministry, for                                       Ruth H. Bylsma, Vice-Secretary

the upbuilding of the church."

      This matter which Rev. Ophoff mentions concerning the                                 IN MEMORIAM

administering of the sacraments to the shut-ins has always            We, the Board of the Hope Protestant Reformed Christian
                                                                   School herewith espress our sincere sympathy to our fellow Board
been a very interesting subject. Although there may be room        member, Mr. Harry Zwak, in the death of his brother,
for some differences of opinion about it, it must be main-                            MR. JOHN WILLIAM ZWAK
tained that the position of the Reformed Churches as ex-           May our triune God give him and his family consolation in this
pressed officially in the Confessions is clear. Both the Church    time of sorrow and comfort tl-+em  by His Word and Spirit.

Order and the Confessions expressly state that the Lord's                                                   D. Encelsma. President
Supper must be served in a public gathering of the church.                                                  R. Bloim, S&retary
                                                                   Grand; Rapid;, Michigan.

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


                                                                    ity." This has even, on occasion, been used as an excuse to

                                                                    set free an evident criminal when he resisted arrest and had

                                                                    to be forced to accompany police to his cell. These same

                                                                    courts have been extremely lenient with criminals - espe-

BREAKB?OWN  OF  RESPECT FQF!  THE LAW                               cially juveniles -when no "brutality" could be proved. The
                                                                    result has been a growing disrespect for law because people
   There have been serious and growing problems recently
                                                                    are aware of the fact that no punishment will be meted out
in this country in law-enforcement. Articles have appeared in
                                                                    to them. There is a great deal of pressure put upon courts
the daily papers telling of the opposition of other-wise "law-
                                                                    by organizations of starry-eyed do-gooders, crackpots and
abiding" citizens to the efforts of police to enforce the law
                                                                    pressure groups who. see and hear no evil and who usually
of the land. Up until recently, law-enforcement agencies and
                                                                    side with "persecuted youth" and "man-handled innocents"
police forces of cities and communities have been able to con-
                                                                    and look upon police as a sort of Gestapo. Besides, there
centrate their attention on fighting crime and violence. They
                                                                    have been more than ,the usual amount of scandals among
could expect for themselves a relative immunity from harm,
                                                                    the police themselves, so that they too must partly take the
for it was considered extremely dangerous to attack or harm
                                                                    blame for lack of respect for their organizations. These
or kill a police officer in`the pursuit of his duty. But this is
                                                                    scandals often involve not only crimes among policemen
rapidly changing. According to a recent rather lengthy article
                                                                    themselves, but also the seeming immunity of organized
in the U.S. News and Wof*ld  Report, the police are no longer
                                                                    crime which escapes again and again the clutches of the law.
safe. In U.S. cities and communities 48 policemen have been
                                                                    Men like HoEa  and other under-world leaders go free while
killed and 9,261 have been injured - some permanently.
                                                                    the petty criminal is apprehended.
   The opposition to police takes many forms. In the past,
                                                                       Yet, surprisingly enough, listed also among the causes is
if an officer was making an arrest and needed assistance, he
                                                                    an admission that there is in this country "a general break-
could expect the help of nearby citizens who would hasten
                                                                    down of respect for the law, starting with lack of discipline
to his aid and help him when he could not handle the
                                                                    in the home."
situation alone. This is no longer the case. Increasingly,
policemen report that they are left to their own work while            Pondering these things, one wonders how there can yet
citizens stand idly watching. Nor is this all. Sometimes, and       be so much pious talk of improvement in the world, of giant

more and more as a rule, near-standing citizens are siding          strides towards making this world a wonderful place to live

with the arrested criminal and giving him support either by         in, of progress towards causing the influence of Christianity

their words and shouts or by their actions. Bricks, clubs,          to be felt in every sphere of life. One wonders how people

knives, glass, bottles -anything handy have been turned             can cling to these ideas when they are mocked by the hollow
into weapons against officers. Besides, there is a sharp in-        laughter of upsurges in crime and violence that mark so many
crease in mob attacks on policemen. The result is that police       cities in this country. Rather than making progress toward
run the risk of frantic violence and fierce attacks when they       Christianizing the world, there seem to be some startling
try to enforce the law, quell troubles and stop potential riots.    set-backs and retreats for those ivho would have the kingdom
When once the presence of police was a sure way to disperse         of Christ here below.

mobs and break up rioting and mob-action, now the presence             And, no doubt it is true that, while much of the blame
of officers of the law is often an occasion for the gathering       can be laid at the feet of law-enforcing agencies-police
of mobs which release the furious passions of hatred and            forces that are corrupt and lenient courts -nevertheless the
disrespect. Instead of assistance from people, police have          most basic fault still lies in the home. The home is the basic
come to expect and to fear the chants of by-standers who            unit of society. Society stands or falls with the home. But
shout in unison, "Police brutality; police brutality." The          in America the fri@tening  disruption of the home goes on
result is that much time and energy must be spent in defense        and, in fact, gathers momentum. Divorce is only one part
of law officers and in fighting of5 harassment while criminals      of the picture. Mothers who either work out or leave their
and law-flaunters and violators go free.                            children with others so that they may enjoy "social life" is

   Those who have given time to an investigation of this            another part. Lack of proper relationships between husband

growing problem come up with several reasons. There is the          and wife reflects itself in a loss of authority and obe-

usual charge of communist agitation - which charge seems            dience between parents and children. The rapid progress of

to be supported somewhat by the fact that communist liter-          a social gospel which sees nothing but good in children so

ature has been flooding the country in which instructions are       that they will develop properly and fully to good citizens if

given on methods of paralyzing law-enforcement agencies by          left alone without the restraining hand of discipline to guide

rioting and opposition. There is also, according to author-         and correct them is yet another. If there is no lesson taught

ities, a certain amount of blame that must be laid at the feet      in the home of the fundamental relationships of the authority

of the courts who so often react kindly toward criminals if         of Christ conferred upon parents to be exercised over chil-

there is any evidence, no matter how slim, of "police brutal-       dren, ,if obedience is not demanded for God's sake, then what

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


else can be expected but that this same scorn for authority                         commit, but also for our corrupt nature against which we

will manifest itself in other spheres of life - especially the                      must constantly fight. For example, in Lord's Day XXI, 56,

state ?                                                                             the question is asked : "What `believest thou concerning `the

                                                                                    forgiveness of sins ?'    That God, for the sake of Christ's
      How essential it becomes for believers to resist and op-
                                                                                    satisfaction, will no more remember my sins, 
pose these mighty forces that would sweep our world into                                                                                 neither  NZ>~
                                                                                    corrupt nature agakf  which I have to stmggle all YPLY Ef;fe
chaos and anarchy. How important it becomes that the seed
                                                                                    long; but will graciously impute to me the righteousness of
of the covenant be taught to "honor, love and obey their
                                                                                    Christ, that I niay never be condemned before the tribunal
parents," be subject to higher authorities for God's sake and
                                                                                    of God."
honor the king.
                                                                               .       This certainly implies that all the evil and corruption

                                                                                    that arises in my mind and heart and that comes to concrete

                                                                                    expression in my life is evil in the sight of God-evil which
WHAT IS SIN?                                                                        must be punished or forgiven through the blood of the cross
      In two recent issues of Oztr  S`anday  Trisit~u,  rather in-                  of Christ. This is true not only of involuntary thoughts or
teresting remarks appeared concerning the question of what                          unpremeditated actions ; it is also true of all that we do
is sinful and what is not. These remarks were made in an-                           habitually without ever giving any thought to it at all and
swers to specific questions that were submitted by the readers.                     without even being conscious of the fact that we have done
There is a column in this paper in which readers submit                             it. Certainly with these things also God is displeased. We
questions with regard to doctrine or their personal life, a                         are admonished to love the Lord our God with all our heart
sort of a spiritual `iAnn Landers" column. One question had                         and mind and will and strength all the time and in every
to do with the rightness or wrong of evil thoughts which                            thing we do. In as much as we do not, we sin.
come into the consciousness unbidden ; the other with pro-                             For that matter, it is no doubt true that there is no one
fane language which an individual was periodically making                           single action of our life either inward or outward, either in
use of when, e.g., he would hit his thumb with a hammer                             thought or desire or action or deed, either conscious or un-
while pounding a nail.                                                              conscious, which is not preceded by an act of our wills. Even
      The answers to these questions were quite startling. In                       that which is done habitually and unconsciously must be
answer to the question about wicked thoughts, this counsellor                       preceded by an act of our wills which are, apart from re-
said that a thought was only wicked when one thinks                                 generation, held in the chains of sin. David prays in Psalm

        about a sinful action with approval of what is sinful. Thoughts             19:lZ: "Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me
           are sinful when they express wilful  approval of evil . . .              from secret faults." And Moses in Psalm 90 prays: "Thou
           Wilful  approval of evil is quite different from the involuntary
        sense of approval or desire that comes upon almost any one . . .            hast set our iniquities before thee, our secret sins in the light
        A tempting thought, when quietly put aside for love of God,                 of thy countenance."
        is not sinful, no matter how long it endures, but is an occasion
        of merit . . .    The evil thoughts you mention were not sinful                The Roman Catholic Church takes a very superficial view
        because you did not want them.                                              of the depravity of man and of the horror of sin. The result
      In answer to a~question  of the use of profane language,                      is that they also take a very light and superficial and heretical
the counsellor replied : "What you said when that hammer                            view of the cross of Christ.
hit your thumb was not a sin either, because you did not                                                                                  H. Hanko
have time to think."

      Obviously, this individual takes the position that only

premeditated and deliberate and presumptuous thoughts and

actions are `sinful. Anything else is not sin at all, but is to be

excused because it comes unaided and uncalled into the con-

sciousness of our thoughts and into our actions.

      ,This  brings LIP the interesting question of the account-
ability we sustain before God for the sins which we constantly
                                                                                    Reformed Free Publishing Association Meeting
commit habitually and unconsciously.               Certainly Scripture

teaches that all our sins proceed.from our corrupt and de-                             At the annual membership meeting of the Reformed

praved nature. This evidently the Catholic priest who an-                           Free Publishing Association held September 28, 1961, at the

swered these questions denies. In his denial he becomes guilty                      Southwest Protestant Reformed Church, Messrs. J. Kals-

of Pelagianism - that each man is naturally and morally                             beck, D. Meulenberg, G. Pipe were elected to serve on the

clean and pure, and learns sin only by imitation and habit.                         Board for three years and Mr. R. Bos w.as  elected to fill the

He sins only when he deliberately pursues the path of sin                           unexpired term of Mr. G. E. Rylsma.

in the full awareness that it is wrong.                                                It was also decided at this meeting that the Secretary's
      Besides this. Scripture and our Confessions teach that                        and Treasurer's annual reports be printed in Tlze  StmdwtJ

we are not only accountable for the sins which we actually                          Bearer. They follow as reported.

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


                        Secretary's Refiort                         formtwo  such articles a year. If you or some one..you  know

   Society members and friends of the Reformed Free Pub-            could use these pamphlets to good advantage please,be  sure
lishing nssociation.                                                to get in touch with the RFPA Board.
                                                                          In connection with our subscriptions we would like to pass
Dear Brethren :
                                                                    on a couple of interesting statistics. Our Lynden congrega-
   The Board of the R.F.P.A. comes before you to bring              tion has an enviable status amongst our churches. One hun-
you up to date on the activities of your board during the past      dred per cent of their membership are subscribers to Tlze
year. It has been a busy year for the Board and one in which        StQndard  Besrre~.  This gives the rest of our churches an
we feel the Lord has abundantly blessed us in our labors.           accomplishment to strive for inasmuch as 23% of our mem-
   Working through three standing committees, namely, the           bership do not now subscribe to The Sta.ndard Bewer. What-
Inlormation  and Education committee, the Finance commit-           ever help any of us can give to help reduce this figure will be
tee and the Book committee, the work was distributed among          appreciated. It is wonderful that God has blessed us with
the members, resulting in the smooth operation of the Board         His Truth, but we must not hide it. Rather, let us spread it
as a whole. With the mailing of the September 15 issue,             to the far ends of the earth.
volume 37 of TIze Stan.dard  Bearer has been published. This               Mr. James Dykstra, our business manager, was reap-
volume closed with a total distribution of 1067 copies. 877         pointed by your Board for another year beginning last Janu-
copies were mailed to paid subscribers and free subscriptions.      ary 1; 1961.                      We are pleased with the competence and
The Protestant Reformed Extension Committee of Oaklawn-             efficiency of Mr. Dykstra, as evidenced by the fact that our
South Holland paid for an, additional 150 through the August        accounts receivable are low throughout the year.
1, 1961 issue, but for the present they are discontinuing this            As we stand on the threshold of another publishing year,
aspect of their local missionary effort. Rev. George Lubbers        the Board urges all our brethren to continue with us in our
is receiving 60 copies for use in his missionary efforts.           zeal for this work of publishing the glorious truths of His
These latter copies are paid for by the Mission Committee of        Word and to join us in prayer to our Covenant God for
the Protestant Reformed Churches of America. New sub-               His blessing upon us as we look to Him to prosper the way.
scriptions totalled  47 and cancelations were 45. While these                Respectfully submitted,
statistics do not appear encouraging, it should be borne in                           Board of the Reformed Free Publishing Association
mind that many of those who cancelled were those who have                              Charles E. Kregel,  Secretary.
left us. Our business manager has been very active in keep-
ing our accounts receivable current and as a result many of                    ANNUAL TREASURERS REPORT OF THE R.F.P.A.

those who cancelled had not paid their subscription fee any-                                                Ending August 31, 1961

way. From now on we feel that our cancelations will be              Balance August 31, 1960 . . . . . . .._.__........................................                              $ 3,397.SS

low. In this connection each of us as a member of this society                                                             RECEIPTS
                                                                    Subscriptions              .__,..,.....,..,.............         . . . . . .._____.  _____.......................... $ 3,904.60
has a responsibility to do what he can individually to secure       Membership               ____ .__ ._, __, ._ ___                  .__ ___ ___ __. __ ____ __. __ ___ ._. ___ __.      133.03
new subscriptions for our Standard Bearm.                           Advertisement              __. __ .__.  _. _.. ___.  _, .._ _. __ _._.  __. _. _.                                     148.00
                                                                    Boti30d      Volumes              ._. ,.. __. ___.   _ _ _   __.  _ _ _   __.  _ _   _. .___.                         328.00
   During the year it was necessary for one of our Board                                                           .                                                                    2,839.SA
members, Mr. G. E. Bylsma, to submit his resignation be-            Sale of back issues of S.B. ..,.__..____._._____...,............................                                      116.20
                                                                    Sale of 1000 index cards                            ____.____._.  ,_ ,__.._  .__. ._.. .                                 1.3.5
cause of his work schedule. For that reason, you will notice        Coffee Collection __.__,._,,._  _,._____________,__,..,.................................                               22.60

that this evening we will be electing a fourth Board member
                                                                             TOTAL           RECEIPTS                   ..._.,_._      _____,_....  . . . . . . .._.__._______.......... $10,89l.-L7
to fill out Mr. Bylsma's unexpired term.
                                                                                                                  DISBURSEMENTS
   As some of you may recall from our meeting last year,            Wobbema             Printing           . . . . . . ..__________._........................................ $ 7335:
the Board took positive action on a proposal made by the            Misc. (stamps, box rent, etc.) ___ _________...._.__.__.......................
                                                                    Holland Book Binder _.._........_____ _... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .           252:X?
Rev. Bernard Woudenberg at our meeting two years ago in             James Dykstra (Gift) ._.__......_________..........................................                                   250.00
                                                                                                                                                                                  _-----
regard to printing in pamphlet form, certain articles written
                                                                             TOTAL DISBURSEMENTS                                             ................................... $ 7,923.60
for this express purpose, dealing with the pertinent doctrines      BALANCE ON HAND, SEPT. 1, 1961 ..............................                                                       2,965.81

of the Protestant Reformed Churches.                                                                                            GIFTS

   Working closely with the editorial staff, the first article      First       ._ ..__,  ,,_____,.........  $      970.33                Ebenezer (Forbes)                                28.60
                                                                    Hudsonville                 _,                  530.00                Edgerton                                         23.04
to be used for pamphlet purposes appeared in the April 15,          South       Holland                             150.23                Kalamazoo                _. _. _. ._             16.15
1961 issue. These pamphlets will be distributed through our         Hope             ........................       120.07                Prot. Ref. Extension
                                                                    Southwest            ....................       117.31                    Committee                                   225.60
various consistories to use as they feel will be most effective.    Hull              .......................            91.61             Ladies' -4id First
For your information we have sent the first pamphlet to these       Redlands           ......................            67.60                Church                   __ ._               25.fl-'
                                                                    Randolph            .....................            62.60            Hope Ladies' Aid                                 25.00
churches who requested them : Southwest 1300, Creston  275,         Holland          ....................                56.56            Hope Choral Society                              52.3;
South Holland-Oaklawn 500, Hope-Isabel 75, First 500,               Doon         ...........................             53.93            Men's League _._____.__....                      50.00
                                                                    Creston        .........................             5                Individuals                                      52.0?
Protestant Reformed Action Committee 1600, Loveland 35,                                                                  r9
                                                                    Southeast           ......................
Kalamazoo 50, Redlands  100.                                        Oak Lawn ....................                        34.5q                TOTAL GIFTS r.... $2,839.S$
                                                                    Grand Haven ................                         32.07
   At the present time, the Board plans to print in pamphlet                                                                                Henry Velthouse, Treasurer

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


                                                                               Messrs. Roland Petersen, Cornelius Doezema and Frank

                                                                               Block; that the Board expects to operate at a deficit for the

                                                                               present fiscal year of an estimated $14,265.00.  The News

                                                                               Sheet ends with the following: "Remember, our school rloes

                                                                               not belong to the Board, but it belongs to all of us and it is
      Report of Classis  West held in Doon,  Iowa, Sept. 20,                   our duty and responsibility before God to maintain and
1961:                                                                          `support it. Right now we ask you to support it with con-
      Rev. B. Woudenberg presided at this meeting which was                    tributions so that we can operate this school in a manner
adjourned at 8:45 P. R/I.  This meeting was again one in                       you want it operated. We ask that you prayerfully consider
which harmony and unity prevailed. Various matters were                        these things, and receive these brethren who will call on you
discussed and decided in executive meeting, including pro-                     in the spirit of Christ."
tests and matters of discipline, and the decisions were unan-
                                                                                  Sept. 19 was the scheduled date for the annual meeting
imous in all instances. Our Missionary, Rev. G. Lubbers,
                                                                               of the Reformed Action Society with the Rev. J. Kortering
was present and was given advisory vote.                    The brother        slated for a speech entitled, "Propulsion or Compulsion,
spoke a few appropriate words to the Classis  and the                          Which Way For Reformed A.ction  ?" Four new board mem-
president of Classis  responded very fittingly. Let us re-
                                                                               bers were elected from an octette presented to the society.
member our brother in our prayers in his difficult labors.
                                                                                  The Lord willing, our Reformed Witness Hour will soon
Classical appointments were given to the congregations of
                                                                               broadcast its 1,OOOth radio program. Since Oct. 12, 1941,
Pella,  Isabel-Forbes, and Randolph. In the case of Randolph
                                                                               these distinctively reformed radio broadcasts have been heard
the classis decided, once more, to ask Classis  East to provide
                                                                               over various stations in the U.S., and since Oct. of 1960,
for Randolph's pulpit supply. The following appointments
                                                                               throughout other parts of the world by means of Trans
were made: Isabel-Forbes- Oct. 15, 22, 29, G. Van Baren;
                                                                               .World  Radio and Radio Hoyer (Netherlands West Indies).
Nov. 5, 12, 19, H. H. Kuiper ; Dec. 3, i0, 17, B. Wouden-
                                                                               A special program commemorating this happy event is
berg; Jan. 7, 14, 21, J. Kortering; Feb. 4, 11, 18, J. Heys;
                                                                               tentatively scheduled for Jan. 25, 1962, and will take place
Feb. 25, Mar. 4, G. Vanden  Berg ; Mar. 11, 18, R. Harbach ;
                                                                               in First Church iu Grand Rapids. The l,OOOth broadcast will,
Mar. 25, April 1, H. Veldman.  Pcllcc~ Oct., B. Wouden-
                                                                               D.V., be aired March 11. More details concerning this
berg ; Nov., J. Kortering ; Dec., J. Heys; Jan., G. Vanden
                                                                               special program and broadcast will be published in this
Berg; Feb., G. Van Baren ; Mar., H. H. Kuiper. From
                                                                               column during the intervening weeks. The Radio Commit-
Loveland the Classis  entertained a request that the Classiv
                                                                               tee sincerely hopes that many cf our readers and many of
conduct Church Visitation by the way of correspondence, by
                                                                               those who hear our radio broadcasts will make plans to
means of a questionnaire,. Classis  decided that this involved
                                                                               attend the celebration of this joyous occasion.
an article of the Church Order and that therefore it was a
synodical  matter. The matter was therefore referred back                         Oct. 3 was the date of the Office Bearers' Conference
to the Loveland consistory. From our Edgerton  Church a                        held in Southwest Chuych.  Rev. M. Schipper addressed the
legal matter was received in connection with Edgerton's                        conference, discussing Article 70 of our Church Order, under
effort to regain its church property.              Classis  answered a         the theme, "Confirmation of M'arriage  in the Church." The
questionnaire which applied t? the schismatic members of the                   speaker examined that confirmation, as to its custom, as to
consistory at the time of the split in 1953, and which also                    its propriety, as to its procedure.     The Reverend ably
applied to the faithful members of the consistory at that                      supported the Church Order in its claim that it is PYO/XY
time. Upon Randolph's request Classis  decided, the Lord                       that the marriage state be confirmed in the church at a
willing, to hold its next meeting in Randolph the third Wed-                   public worship service, restin g upon the Scriptural concept
nesday in March of' 1962. Elder Regnerus closed the meet-                      that God realizes His' covenant in the line of continued
i n g   w i t h   p r a y e r .    REV.  H. V                                  generations ; and that it is proper that the church pronounces
                                                 E L D M A N ,  Stnted Cl&k

      It seems good again to see our church bulletins filled                   the blessing of God upon the husband and wife that they
with announcements concerning the activities of the various                    may bring forth the seed that is to be the continuation of
societies, and catechism assignments. From First's bulletin                    the Church of Christ an earth. The speaker bemoaned the

we learn that Adams St. School has decided to solicit finan-                   fact that we have departed from the Church Order, follow-
cial aid by direct contact in this year's Deficit Drive. Last                  ing the world in their weddings of frills and fancies ; and
year's plan of contact-by-mail proved to be deficient -in satis-               suggesting that we either delete article 70 from our Church

fying the need.                                                                Order or adhere to it strictly-. advocating the latter. In
      The News Sheet of Adams St. School acquaints us of                       the question and answer period after recess Rev. Schipper

the fact that 222 pupils have been enrolled from 97 families;                  again stressed the need that we reemphasize the "Holy" in

that, Miss Hulda Kuiper left for duties-in the new South                       "Holy Wedlock."

Holland-Oak Lawn school, and that three new teachers are:                               we you in 
                                                                                  . . .             chiirch.                          1 .M.F.


