      V O L U M E   X~xvIII                      DECEMBER 1, 1.961  - GRAND RAPIDS, ~@XIGAN                                  i%MBER5


                                                                                   No, you must do one thing, and that is : call upon the

            MEDIITATION                                                        Name !
                                                                                                                              d
                                                                                  Of that I like to write a few things.       F

                                                                                                           F    *    x Q
                       AISE YE TJ3E  LORD!

                                                                                  The deepest note of thanksgiving is the word. And there-
        " W'h~a~t  s~hnll  I ,vevl.deqr  wto the Lord for a.11 His benefits
                                                                               fore it is no incidental thing. It is fundamental.
         tozuurd  me? I zuill taka  the cup of salvatiort,  and call
         upon  the ~name  of the Lord !"             Psalm 116:12, 13             Read the Word of God. It is full of songs of praise.

                                                                                  In Israel's religion we find  bundles of songs of praise of
     Pure materialism is often at the root of much of our

                                                                               God.
Thanksgiving.

     In the world they eat and drink! Look at the pictures,                       In the first Paradise Adam and Eve stood in the midst
listen to .th,e Iradio, read the editorials !                                  of the riches of the first creation, and their religion con-
                                                                               sisted in just one thing: they said, looking up to the blue
     The .$piritual  meaning of Thanksgiving is lost.
                                                                               firmament : Oh, my God ! It was Thanksgiving Day every
: 1 Neither is it the world only that fails in this point.
.                                                                              day in the garden of Eden.

     We followed them in many ways.                                               Yes, they wept much after sin came into the world. But

     Thanksgiving, collections are a success.                                  in the "midst of their sorrows they rejoiced." God had

                                                                               promised a Seed, and that was everything. Adam and Eve,
     I have nothing against large Thanksgiving Day collec-
                                                                               hand in hand, found their weary way in the wilderness of
tions. But they are a trend.
                                                                               thorns and thistles, and they sang. Their voices broke as they
                               * *     ::: *                                   sang, but they sang.    And what did they sing ? They sang

                                                                               the praises of the Lord.

     What is thanksgiving ?                                                       And the church has sung ever since.

     It is charistia. That is Greek.                                              God saved His people. And the result was ever that they

     It means that you are full of the grace of God, so full                   sang.

that the grace overflows from your mouth. It is Praise of                         When -Moses took the people of God from Egypt, and
the Almighty ! That is .thanksgiving.                                          when the flower of Egypt went down in the watery grave,

     Let .LIS be led by the Word of God: "What shall I                         the people of God sang, They sang-the song of Moses.

render unto the Lord' for all His benefits toward me ? I                          I do not know; I was not there; it is so long ago, but I
will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the                  think that Jesus when He stood on the other side of the
Lord !" Or : "I will render praises unto Thee !"                               awful shore of eternal death, sang the song of Moses _ . _

     There is our cue.                                                         and the Lamb! It was in the garden of Joseph.

     What shall I render unto Thee ? Well, I had a good                           And thus it is with true religion in every land, among

crop ; I make rather good money.' Let us remember the Lord,                    every people, in every church and chapel. While the ages

and pay a goodly sum.                                                          are circling around there are people that are saved, that have

                                                                               come through the death of the old man, and they sing, they
     But, oh dear, what can I give to the Lord? He has every-
                                                                               sing praises unto God.
thing already: all the gold and silver in. the world, and the

cattle on a thousand hills !                                                    Oh dear, askme what is the difference between the man


98 `-                                       T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R


that fears Jehovah, and the man that fears Him not, and                 True religion in Paradise, in the weary journey of the

I will tell you.                                                    church through the wilderness of sin,. on the Cross of Gol-

    The man that fears Jehovah is that man who looks up in          gotha,  in the prisons, the jails, the holes and caves of the earth,

darkest night and his lips are moving. Listen, he sings : "I        in the heaven of heavens of the new commonwealth, true

will sing of my Redeemer !"                                         religion is the mouth opened, the throat in motion, the whole

    The man that fears Him not is the man that ever has             man breathing the praises of God.

his eye on the earth, on earthly things, and there is a grievous

silence anent God. He never sings to God. He never utters
                                                                        Believe me, dear reader, that is the truth.
the NAME! That.&,  except in cursing.
                                                                        Worship, aanbidding, songs of praise of the Almighty:
    Yes, sometimes he imagines that he prays. Sometimes he that is true religion.
says : I thank Thee, 0 God ! Are you listening ? He is cele-

brating Thanksgiving Day! I thank Thee, God! But now lis-               It is invaluable, it is precious, it is more precious than

ten to the rest, and tell me if he really thanks. I thank Thee      all the gold and silver of the world.

that I am not as other men are: extortioners, unjust, adul-            Look to yourselves, ye children of God, Search, test your-

terers, or even as this publican  !                                 selves.

    I tell you, God hung up on him: I think God never lifted            Once upon a time I heard a spiritual, I think. I am not

the receiver when the phone rang in heaven.                         sure. At any rate it was a song which we do not hear often

    No, there is a terrible silence throughout all the ages as      in the Reformed churches. And there was one line that
far as the world is concerned.                                      stayed with me. It was this: "I had a little talk with the
                                                                    Lord !"
    What is so beautiful about Paul and Silas ?
                                                                        It stayed with me, and I pondered on that.
    It is this: when they were made fast in the stocks, when
they had been scourged with cruel stripes, and when they                Now search! How often do you have little talks with
were cast in the dungeon! they prayed and sang p?-aises  unto       the Lord ? It is the most precious thing in your lives. And
God!                                                                I am not talking about your talks with God and with Jesus
                                                                    when others are listening to you. Because at such times,  it
   What is so beautiful about Christians ? Come with me,            is almost impossible to divorce yourself from their presence.
and I will show        Christians who have shed the body of
                    you 
their death, and are now in heaven. Listen to them. "And               But I mean when you are alone with God. How often
.after these things I heard a great voice of much people in         do you have your little talks with Jehovah ? And jkow  long
heaven, saying, Alleluia ; Salvation, and glory, and honor.,        do you extend these talks with Him ? Have you ever talked,
and power, unto the Lord our God! And again they said,              cried to Him all the night? David says: I made my bed
Alleluia. And her smoke rose up for ever and ever. And              to swim. Did you do that too?

the four and twenty elders and the beasts fell down and wor-           They are the most wonderful moments of your life. They

shipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Alleluia. And a         are more precious than all your other endeavours. They are

voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God! And           the pearls of the Christian's life.

I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the          I mean when you begin, and say : "Oh, my God ! Oh, my
voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunder-           Father ! Oh, Jehovah, incline Thine ear !"
ings, saying, Alleluia : for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth !
                                                                       That is worship. That is true religion. That is the
Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to Him: for the
                                                                    thermometer of your spiritual life. They determine whether
.marriage  of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made
                                                                    you fear the Lord, or whether you fear Him not.
herself ready."
    .
                                                                       I know : when        read this, Thanksgiving Day will have
   Talk is cheap, says the world.                                                        you 
                                                                    passed already. I ought to have had this meditation two
   That's true, that is, in the world. They are liars. But          weeks ago. W-hen I write this it is still before this day.
do not say that of the church of God.                               But true Thanksgiving is exactly that: Lord, I lift my soul
   The Holy Spirit gives witness to the truth of the matter.        to Thee!

Listen to Him : "In the night His song shall be with me !"              Only in the measure that a congregation can lift its soul
    Do you know what heaven is?                                     to the heavens and to heaven's God, have you Thanksgiving.

    Heaven is this : Worship of God ! We have a better word            The measure of your Christian life is not in the collections
in the Dutch : Aanbidding !                                         you take or in the donations you give to God. He has every-

   Talk, words, words in motion, in meter, in harmony,              thing. But in the measure that you find His heart in wor-

with melody is the true religion, is true thanksgiving, even        ship and prayer.

today.                                                                                           *    :k * *


                                                       T H E   STANDARD:BE.AR%R                                                                                                                                                   9?


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                                                                                                            THE  STANDARD  BEARER
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                                                                                                                  Editor - I!Ev.  K~MAN  HOEK~EMYA
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rounded by a beautiful House of God. And all thesemillions                                                 Rev. H. Hoeksema, 1139 Franklin St., S. E.,
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shall be of Thee in the great congregation!                                                                                                                                                                             =


     Because He is the Face of God. He is the Mediator of                                                                      C O N T E N T S
God and men. He laid the foundation of all this praise in                              MEDITATION  -
                                                                                                   Praise Ye the Lord!. .__ . . ..___.. ..~~~~~~~~~  ___.....  _.._.... _____._.._  ___ . ..__...._ 97
His blood.                                                                                                Rev. G. Vos

     It's too late for this Thanksgiving. Let it be in your                            EDITORIALS -
mind, in your heart in the Post-Thanksgiving Day. Let it be                                        The Protestant Reformation .,._.__.__  . . . . . . . . . . ..__...__.....................  1001

in your mind and in your heart every day and every night of                                               Rev. H. Hoeksema

your life. Let it be in your visions and in your dreams :                              OUR  DOCTNNE-
What shall I render unto the .Lord ? I will praise the                                             Regeneration                    _. . . . .__ __. _. ___ . . . . . . . ..102
                                                                                                          Rev. H. Hoeksema
NAME !

                                                                        G.V.           A CLOUD OF WITNESSES -
                                                                                                   The Golden           Calf .________..__........,..       . . . . . .._... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

                                                                                                          Rev. B. Woudenberg

                                                                                       F
                                       ANNIVERSARY                                       ROM HOLY WRIT -
                                                                                                   Exposition of I Timothy _,_._...________________________________................                                           106
    On November 23, 1961, our dear parents                                                                Rev. G. Lubbers

                    MR. AND MRS. MENKO FLIKKEMA                                        IN HIS FEAR -

celebrated their 45th wedding anniversary.                                                         God's Royal Priesthood ( 14) . . . ..__.._____._____............................  108

    We are thankful to our Heavenly Father, who has graciously                                            Rev. J. A. Heys
seen fit to spare them for us and for each other these many years.                     CONTENDING FOR THE FAITH  -
It is our prayer that God may continue to bless them in their re-
maining years together.                                                                            The Church and the Sacraments. ___ _.. ._ _.. . .110
                                             Mr. and Mrs. John Flikkema                                   Rev. H. Veldman
                                            Mr. and Mrs. George Flikkema
                                            Mr. and Mrs. Pierre Hoekema                SPECIAL ARTICLE -
                                            Mr. and Mrs. Peter Kimm                                That "Horrible"             Decree       ___ .___  ._ _. _...__  __ ._. ___ _. ____ ._ _.._.  ._ ._._.  ,112;
                                            Mr. and Mrs. Albert Flikkema                                  Rev. G. J. Van Baren
                                            Mr. and Mrs. Garret Flikkema
                                            Mr. and Mrs. David Hoekema                 DECENCY AND ORDER -
                                             Mr. and Mrs. Phillip  Fhkkema                         Observance of Special Days ..,_  ___.__.  _.__ ____..........._................  114
                                            Mr. and Mrs. Jake Dyksterhouse                                Rev. G. Vanden Berg
                                            31 Grandchildren

M a n h a t t a n ,   M o n t a n a                                                    ALL AROUND Us -

                                                                                                   Ecumenical          Groups       __ _. _. _. _. _. 116

                                                                                                          Rev. H. Hanko

                                       IN MEMORIAM                                     CONTRDXJTIONS  -

     The Congregation of the Lynden Protestant Reformed Church,                                    Rev. Henry H. Kuiper Called Home _____._........____................  118
Lynden, Washington, expresses heartfelt sympathy to the.  members                                         Rev. C. Hanko
of the family and to the Congregation of Loveland, Colorado, in                                    The "Hymn Question" ___ __ _____ .._. __ ______ __._  . .._ __ ______ .lI 8
the death of their pastor,                                                                                Mr. Gerhart  Broekhouse
                            REV. HENRY H. KUIPER                                                   Report of the Western Ladies' League _..........._____._....  119;
                                                                                                          Mrs. Peter Roy Westra
     May His grace which is sufficient sustain you ah and comfort
us all with the reality that to be absent from the body is to be
present with the Lord.                                                                 Nsws  FROM  OUR  &URCEIES . .._..  _____....__  _.___...._______.............................                                           120
                                          Rev. Robert C. Harbach, President                               Mr. J. M. Faber
                                          Elder Albert Van Den Top, Clerk


 100                                        T H E   STANDARD.BEARER                                                                    .-


                                                                      taught that the Lord's Supper must be celebrated under

              E D I T 0 R I A `L S                                    both the species of bread and wine, the "holy Fathers
                                                                      and Doctors" of the Council of Trent declared that this was

                                                                      not necessary.


                 The Protestant Reformation                               But the "holy Fathers and Doctors" of the past, never-

                                                                      theless, weie  correct, and the "holy Fathers and Doctors"

        At the close of my former article under the above head-       of the Council of Trent were mistaken.

ing, I asked the question whether the Heidelberg Catechism
                                                                          Why ?
did not use too strong language when it called the popish

mass an accursed idolatry. And my answer was that it did                  In the first place, even if the- Lord's Supper were in-

not.                                                                  directly referred to in John 6, the Lord, nevertheless, emphat-

                                                                      ically spoke of eating His flesh and of drinking His .blood.
   This I now wish to prove with a few quotations from the
                                                                      That the Lord spoke of His flesh and His being the Bread
Confession which the Romish church formulated at the
                                                                      of Life was because of the feeding of the five thousand on
Council of Trent.
                                                                      the preceding day. And, indeed, this miracle revealed that
    But before I refer to the mass proper, I must call atten-         He is the bread of life. But He could never become the
tion to the Romish doctrine that, at the Lord's Supper, it is         bread of life except by first shedding His lifeblood on the
not necessary that the partakers receive both bread and               accursed tree. This is the reason why the Lord emphasizes
wine, but that it is quite sufficient to take and eat the bread       in the same chapter that men, in order to have eternal life,
alone. This in spite of the fact that the Lord, in the night          must not only eat His flesh, but also must drink His blood.
when He was betrayed, instituted the Lord's Supper under              That is the reason why, when the Jews strove among them-
both species. How, then, does the Romish Church argue to              selves and asked the unbelieving question: "How can this
prove that the celebration of the Lordfs Supper under one             man give us his flesh to eat," the Lord answers by pointing
species, that of the bread alone, is quite proper and sufficient I    to the cross.               ask the question," the Lord says as it
                                                                                        "You 
Let us quote from the above mentioned Confession:                     were, "how, in what way, 1 can give you my flesh to eat? I

   "Wherefore, this holy Synod, instructed by the Holy                will tell you how this is possible. Verily, verily, I say unto

Spirit, who is the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the            you. Except ye eat the flesh. of the Son of Man, and drink

Spirit of counsel and of godliness, and following the judg-           his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso  eateth my flesh and

ment and usage of the Church itseif, declares and teaches,            drinketh my blood, hath eternal life ; and I will raise him up
that laymen and clerics when not consecrating, are not                at the ldst day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood

obliged, by any divine precept, to receive the sacrament of           is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my

the Eucharist under both species ; and that neither can it by         blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. This, is my answer to

any means be doubted, without injury to faith, that com-              your question how it is possible that I can give you my flesh

munion under either species is sufficient for them unto salva-        to eat. Surely,        cannot eat my flesh unless you also drink
                                                                                          you 

tion. For, although Christ, the Lord, in the Last Supper,             my blood."       And, therefore, if this may be applied to the

instituted and delivered to the apostles, this venerable sacra-       Lord's Supper, it means that the Lord says to the Romisb

ment under the species of bread and wine; not therefore do            church: "If you give to your members only the bread, and

that institution and delivery tend thereunto, that all the            not the wine, you deprive them of the blood of the cross;

faithful of the Church be bound, by the institution of the            and I say unto you anathema,             are accursed."
                                                                                                            you 

Lord, to receive both species. But neither is it rightly                 Secondly, as the "holy Fathers and Doctors" rightly em-
gathered, from that discourse which is in the sixth of John-          phasized, the very institution of the Lord's Supper teaches
however according to the various interpretations of holy              all that will understand (which the .Romish  church will not)
Fathers and Doctors it be understood, that the communion              that it must be celebrated under both species. For thus we
of both species was enjoined by the Lord: for he who said,            read in Matt. 26:26-29:           "And as they were eating, Jesus
Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his              took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the
blood, you shall not have life in you (vs. 54). also said, He         disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took
that eateth this bread shall live forever (vs. 59) ; and he           the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink
who said, He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood               ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament, which
hath everlasting life (vs. 55), also said, The bread that I           is shed for many for the remission of sins." Notice that the
will give is my flesh for the life of the world (vs. 52) ; and!       Lord not only gave the bread to His disciples, but He first
in fine, he who said, He that eateth my flesh and drinketh            broke it as a sign of His broken body. And His body could
my blood, abideth in me and I in him (vs. 57), said, never-           not be broken except through the shedding of His blood.
theless, He that eateth this bread shall live forever."               Again I say that the Romish church deprives its members

   Although, therefore, the "holy Fathers  and Doctors"               of the blood of the cross by giving them only the bread and


                                          T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                    101
                                                              .~    _ ~.                   .~

not the wine. Ngtice, secondly, that the Lord emphatically             Lord J&us instituted this sacrament under both species,
says to His disciples and, therefore, to the whole Church and          bread and wine, the Church has the authority to change this :

all its members : "Drink ye oil of it."      But, according to the          "It moreover declares, that although,- as has been already
Romish church, its members do not have to drink. It is                 said, our Redeemer, in that last supper, instituted, and de-
sufficient that the priest drinks it and says "haec est pro            livered to the apostles, this sacrament under two species, yet
omnibus," this is for you all!                                         is to be acknowledged, that Christ whole and entire and a

    Thirdly, the apostle Paul received the knowledge of the            true sacrament are received under either species alone, and

institution of the Lord's Supper by a special revelation em-           that, therefore, as regards the fruit thereof, they, who receive

phasizing the importance of this sacrament, and that, too,             one species alone are not defrauded of any grace necessary

under both species. This is found in the well-known passage            unto salvation."

of I Cor. 11:23-29  : rCFor'  I have received of the Lord that              0, to be sure, the "Holy Mother Church" knows better
which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus the               than the Lord Jesus Himself!
same night in which he was betrayed took bread : And when

he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is              And the Romish Church does not hesitate to call anyone

my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance               accursed that believes that the Lord's Supper must be cele-

of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when                brated under both species, bread and wine. For, thus the

he had supped, sayin,,
                          m This cup is the new testament in my        Council of Trent declared:

blood: this do ye, as often as ye drink it, in remembrance                  "Canon I - If any one saith, that, by the precept of
of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup,          God, or by necessity of salvation, all and each of the faithful
ye do shew the Lord's death till he come. Wherefore who-               of Christ ought to receive both species of the most holy
soever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord            sacrament of the Eucharist : let him be anathema."
unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.
But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that                   And, to make one more quotation :

bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh               "Canon III - If any one denieth, that Christ whole ancE

unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not              entire, the fountain and author of all graces, is received un-

discerning the Lord's body." Surely, also this passage of              der one species of bread ; because that as some falsely assert,

the Word of God very clearly and emphatically teaches that             he is not received, according to the institution of Christ

the Lord's Supper must be celebrated under both species,               himself, under both species: let him be anathema."

bread and wine.                                                             The question is now: what has all this to do with the

    Yet, the Romish Church claims the authority and power              mass ?

to change the Lord's Supper into whatsoever form they con-                  XiIy answer is that the doctrine of the mass is inseparably
c.:dx           and  prolxr, For, according to chapter II under the
      IJCS                                                             connected with both the error of transubstantiation and thar_
heading "Doctrine Concerning Communion," they decided :                of celebrating the Lord's Supper under one species. If these

    "It furthermore declares, that this power has ever been            two errors were no> accepted as the truth by the Romish
in the Church, that in the dispensation of the sacraments,             Church, the mass could never exist.

their substance being untouched, it may ordain or change,                   We must not forget, in the first place, that, according to>

what things soever  it may judge most expedient, for the               the Romish Church, the table of communion is the altar on

profit of those who receive, or for the veneration of the              which Christ sacrifices Himself daily or as often as the mass

said sacraments, according to the difference of circumstances,         is celebrated, for the remission of our sins, and that without

times, and places . . . Wherefore, holy Mother Church, know-           that daily sacrifice of Christ by the officiating priest, our

ing this her authority in the administration of the sacra-             sins cannot be forgiven. The signs in the Lord's Supper,.

ments, although the use of both species has, from the be-              therefore, are changed into the very body and blood of the

ginning of the Christian religion, not been unfrequent, yet,           Lord. Moreover, seeing that the signs of the Lord's Supper

in progress of time, that custom has been already very widely          are changed into the very body and blood of the Lord, the

changed, she, induced by weighty and just reasons, has ap-             Christ, as He lies upon the altar, i.e., the table of communion,

proved of this custom of communicating under one species,              is also worshiped by the celebrating members of the Church.

and decreed that it was to be held as a law; which it is not           This is why the Romish Church invented the error of tran-

lawful to reprobate, or to change at pleasure, without the             substantiation. And this is also the reason why the Heidel-

authority of the Church itself."                                       berg Catechism characterizes the mass as an accursed idol-

    In other words, the Church is exalted above the clear              atry.

testimony of Holy Writ!                                                     For proof of this I must once more turn to the Decrees

    And, finally, in chapter III under the same heading., they         and Canons of the Council of Trent.
state that, in spite of the fact that they admit that the                                                                        H.H-


102                                        THE  S,T'ANDAIiD   B E A R E R


                                                                     Word of God. As we have emphasized repsatedly,  in the first

         O U R   D O C T R I N E                                     part of this description of regeneration the apostle views the
                                                                     rebirth in the narrowest sense of the word. Then we are

                                                                     regenerated out of incorruptible seed, which God through the

                      REGENERATION                                   Spirit of Christ plants into the heart of the sinner. But in
                                                                     the second part of the same text he views regeneration as the

   -We  can speak, as I already mentioned, first of all, of          sprouting of the seed in the consciousness of the sinner. And

regeneration in the deepest and narrowest sense of the word.         this part of the work of regeneration is throukh the-  Word of

In this sense it is the saving act of the Triune God whereby         God that is being proclaimed among us. Thus also we read

He takes hold of the elect, who is in himself dead in sin and        in James 1:18  that God begat us through the Word of truth.

trespasses. For this I refer you to my definition, which I           And this Word undoubtedly refers to the conscious birth of

gave in the preceding issue of The Standard Beafer.                  the new life that is always connected with the preaching of

   However, we can also speak of regeneration in a wider             the gospel. We may compare the first implanting of the seed

sense. And that concerns the relation between  regeneration          of regeneration to natural generation and conception, and

and the calling. What is the relation between the calling            the first manifestation of the principle of the new life in the

and regeneration ? In a certain sense it may be said indeed          consciousness of the sinner to the birth of 3 child. And, of

that even this regeneration in the narrower sense of the word,       course, if we conceive of regeneration in this sense, in the

conceived of as the implanting of the new life, is the fruit of      sense, namely, in which James 1 :lS speaks of it, as the

the calling of God. But then it is necessary that we carefully       manifestation of the rebirth in the consciousness and life of

define the notion of the calling. There is, of course, an im-        the sinner, it is preceded by the calling, the latter always

mediate calling of God which precedes all the being of the           conceived as the efficacious calling of God through the

creature and through which the creature comes into existence.        preaching of the gospel.

Thus it is in creation. When God says, "Let there be light,"

light comes into existence through the efficacious and al-              This is not the place to elaborate on the idea of the

mighty calling of God, Who calls the things that are not             calling. For this we must explain in the next chapter. But

as if they were. Rom. 4:17. And thus it is also in regard            even now we must remember that the calling through which

to recreation, or, in respect to, the work of salvation that is      the life of regeneration sprouts forth in the consciousness of

called regeneration. When reference is made to this almighty         the sinner is distinguished as the internal and external call-

calling of God in the work of regeneration, we have no ob-           ing. Also this calling is not simply a human persuasion, but

jection to saying that the calling precedes regeneration. How-       is the work of the Holy Spirit. Also this calling is efficacious,

ever, usually the reference is to another calling, to the calling    and an irresistible operation of God through the Spirit of

through the preaching of the Word. And when one refers               Christ, whereby the regenerated sinner is also as far as his

to this calling of the preaching, which is usually distinguished     consciousness is concerned translated out of darkness into

as inward and outward calling, it cannot be applied to the           the marvellous light of God. However, in any case there is

work of regeneration in the narrowest sense of the word.             really no need of a controversy about this question. If we

Hence, when we speak of regeneration in this last sense,             conceive of regeneration in the broadest sense of the word,

namely, as the work of God through which the very first.             as also the Netherland Confession does in Article 24, it is

principle of life is wrought in the heart of the sinner through      preceded by the calling and is connected with the preaching

the Spirit of Christ, it precedes every work of salvation, and       of the gospel. And if, besides, we also are mindful of the

it also precedes the calling.                                        fact that our fathers, as is evident from Article 24 of the

       This, however, does not alter the fact that on the basis      above-mentioned Confession, spoke of regeneration in a still

of Scripture we may also speak of regeneration in the broader        broader sense of the word, including the continued process

sense of the word, as including the sprouting out of the seed        of sanctification, which arises out of faith and is being re-

of the new life and as the first revelation of that new life in      alized by the Word and the Spirit, it ought to be evident and

the consciousness of the sinner. With the apostle Paul both          clear that a careful distinction is necessary whenever we dis-

of these conceptions of regeneration are included in tl:e                 this question, the question, namely, of the relation be-
                                                                     cuss 
Scriptural term "calling." Of regeneration as such he speaks         tween regeneration and calling, and that the difference be-

literally only. once, as we have already mentioned. Usually          tween Reformed theologians on this point, as well as the

Paul speaks of the calling. And through that calling of God          heated controversy in regard to this, was often the result of

the whole of regeneration in its narrowest and wider sense of        confusion of terms and of conceptions. Whatever may be

the word, as it also comes to manifestation in the conscious-        said about this question, all Reformed theologians are agreed

ness of the sinner, is accomplished. Of this, as we have al-         in this, that the application of the work of salvation is en-

ready said before, also the apostle Peter speaks in I Peter          tirely a work of God and is wrought only through the sov-

1 :23, wheti  he says that we are regenerated not of corruptible,    ereign and almighty grace of the Most High in Christ Jesus

but of incorruptible seed, through the living and abiding            our Lord and through the Holy Spirit.


                                                  T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                         103

                            C H A P T E R  I I                       calls His people efficaciously from darkness into His mar-

                                                                     vellous light, iti order that  they might declare His virtues-
                            The Calling                              I Peter 2 :9. And again, according to the epistle to ' the

    The calling is that work of the Triune God whereby He,           Romans, S :30,  those whom He knew before and predestinated

through. the Spirit of Christ, addresses the elect, regener-         He also called. And again, the hour now is that the dead

ated sinner through the Word of the gospel and so en-                shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and live. John 5 :25..

lightens him that he is capable of understanding spiritual           That is, of course, the saving calling.

things spiritually. And the result of this calling through the           We must remember that man is fallen, and through the

Spirit of Christ and through the preaching of the gospel is          Spirit of Christ He calls from darkness into the marvellous.

that he is translated from darkness into the marvellous light        light of God. When man fell, God still maintains His LOV-

of God.                                                              enant  and causes His calling to man to go. forth through the:

    We may say that God is a calling God. He calls the               incarnated Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. For thus we read:

things that are not as if they were. "By the word of the             "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." It is

Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by              through that Word that came in the flesh, Immanuel, the

the breath of his mouth." Ps. 33 5. And again: "For he               power and the wisdom of God, that the Lord calls unto salva-

spake,. and it was done ; he commanded, and it stood fast."          tion -a calling the record of which we have in the Holy

Ps. 33 :9. He says, "Let there be light," and there. is light.       Scriptures. In the entire Scripture it is the Christ that

He calls the firmament, and the blue expanse of the heavens          calls. It is God that calls through Immanuel unto a world.

stretches itself over the earth. He calls to the waters, and         that lies in darkness.    It is true that Christ came only in

they are gathered together into one place, so that the dry           the fulness of time. And only by His entering into the world,.

land appears. He calls to the earth, and it brings forth grass,      His death, and His resurrection is the gospel fulfilled. But

the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after      the saving calling comes to fallen man even from the very

his kind. He calls the lights in the firmament to divide the         beginning of history. For the fact that Christ came only in

day from the night, the. sun to rule the day and the moon            the fulness of time does not alter the fact that from the

to rule the night, and the stars to twinkle in the firmament         very beginning of the world the holy gospel has been

of the heavens. When He calls to the waters, they bring forth        proclaimed. It is revealed in paradise, proclaimed by patri-

abundantly the moving creature that has life and the fowl            archs and prophets, foreshadowed in the ceremonial law,,

that fly above the earth in the open firmament of the heavens.       and finally fulfilled in the Son that became flesh. ,And the

When He calls to the earth, it brings forth the living creature      same Word is carried into the world by tlie  apostles and

after his kind-cattle and creeping things and the beasts             evangelists. Essentially it is always the very same calling

of the earth after their kind. For "In the beginning was             and the. very same holy gospel that is proclaimed, whether

the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was                by prophets and apdstles  or by Christ Himself. For the

God. All things were made by him: and without him was                Spirit of Christ spoke in and through the prophets and led

not anything made that was made." John 1 :l, 3. Unbelief             the apostles into all the truth. This calling of God through

does not understand the things that are of the Spirit of God,        Christ proclaims unto us the full Christ in all the riches of

and for that reason can never find the origin of things. It          His salvation, as He has become to us the God of our salva-

judges all things in the light of and according to the standard      tion, the God of wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and

of human wisdom. And according to that standard, things              redemption. I Cor. 1 :30. It proclaims unto us the full

can be called only after they exist ; and the former can never       revelation of the God that saves us. It proclaims satisfaction

precede the latter.    It must naturally proceed from the prin-      and reconciliation in the blood of atonement. It proclaims

ciple that things that are seen also proceed from things that        the complete forgiveness of all our transgressions, the fulness

are seen and that do appear. But faith, that clings to God,          of grace in eternal life, to everyone that believeth. For

the Creator of all things, understands that things which are         whosoever believeth in the Son hath eternal life. John 3 :36.

seen are not made of things that do appear. For the world               Now when this calling comes to the natural man and is

is framed by the Word of God, Who calls the things that              not accompanied by a gracious operation of the Holy Spirit

are not as if they were.                                             by which the heart of man is changed and his mind is illumin-

   In the definition, however, we speak of the saving calling,       ated and his will is turned to God, it can never bear any

which is often menti.oned  in the Word of God. "But now              other fruit than that the sinner is placed before God without

thus saith the Lord that created thee, 0 Jacob, and he that          excuse. It maintains in him his rational, moral nature, holcls,

formed thee, 0 Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee.,          him responsible before God, and is a means to bring sin to

I have  called thee by thy name ; thou art mine." Isaiah 43 :l.      greater manifestation and to aggravate his judgment. This

He calls His servant by name from the womb, and from the             is true already in regard to the calling that proceeds through

bowels of his mother he hath made mention of his name.               the things that are made. This is very evident from Romans

Isaiah 49 :l. He not only calls the things that are not as if        1 :lS, ff., and also from John 1 :4, 5, 9, and 10.

they were, but He also quickens the dead. Romans 4:17. He                                                                     H.H-


 104                                               T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                  -.


                                                                            God so filled his life that he felt no need for these earthly

                                                                            things, and a miracle of God sustained the life of his body

                                                                            through this period. It anticipated the time when Elijah

                                                                            would live for the same period of time without food and

                               The Golden Calf                              drink, and when Jesus would do the same. By actual ex-
                                                                            perience they came to know what it meant that "man doth

          And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and gat               not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out

                   into the momt: and Moses was &a  the ,mount              of the mouth of the Lord."
        lzk up 
        forty days a.?id forty nights . . . .                                  The purpose for which God had called Moses into the

          And when the people saw that Moses delayed to coyx                mountain followed naturally from the ratification of the cov-

        down  ou,t of the mdunt,  the people gathered themselves            enant that had just taken place. God had determined to give

        together unto Aaron, and said ,unto k&t, Up, make US                unto Israel a visible symbol of covenant life for their in-

        gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses,              struction. Symbolically He would come to dwell among .them

        the'man  that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we            by placing His tent or tabernacle in the midst of the camp.

        wot not w1zati is become of him . . _ .                             During the forty days and nights upon the mountain, Moses

          And the Lord said unto Moses,, Go, get thee down;                 was given explicit instructions for the making of thh?a tent.
        for tCLy people, which thou broughtest  out of the lmad of          From the inmost sanctuary in which the ark of the covenant
        Egypt, holue  corrupted themselves :                                was set, to the Holy Place in which was placed the table of
                                                                            show bread and the golden candle sticks and the altar of in-
          Th.ey              turned aside quickly o.ut of the way wh*ich
                   lmve                                                     cense representing the bread of life, the light of life, and the
        I comvnartded  them:  they lmve mado them a molten calj,            prayers of the saints, to the outer court in which  was the
        and           worshippad it.          Exodus 24:18; 32:1,  7, 8
             have                                                           laver of cleansing and the altar of burnt offerings through

 !    For six days the glory of the Lord abode upon the peaks               which God's people might approach unto Him, all was
 of Mt. Sinai. The cloud of God's presence covered the moun-                described in detail to Moses. The priesthood, its dress, and
 tain, and it was as a devouring fire to the eyes of the people.            its utensils of service were all planned by God and revealed
 This marked the consummation of the beautiful and impressive               unto Moses. The tabernacle in all of its details was impor-
 ceremony by which Jehovah had ratified His covenant of                     tant as a type and symbol of the richness of spiritual life
 grace with His chosen people. As Israel watched, Moses had                 which is imparted unto them who dwell in communion and
 built an altar and surrounded it with twelve pillars of stone,             fellowship with Jehovah.    He dwells in their midst and they
 representing the various tribes of their nation. Upon the                  are blessed.

 altar, Moses had offered burnt offerings and peace offerings                  Meanwhile, in the camp at the foot of the mountain, the
 unto Jehovah, and one half of the blood of the sacrificial                 children of Israel were beginning to relax after their days of
 victims he had sprinkled upon the altar, keeping the other                 intensive spiritual instruction. For a time the awe of all they
 half in basins. To the people, he read the book of the cov-                had beheld continued to hang over the camp, but gradually
 enant, and, when they responded, "All that the Lord bath                   their thoughts began to return to more earthly concerns.
 said will we do, and be obedient," he sprinkled the blood from             Now that Moses was absent from them, they no longer felt
 the basins on the congregation. Thereby it was symbolized                  the closeness of God's presence even though the cloud of His
 that God was united with His people through the blood of                   presence still hung low over the near-by mountain peaks.
 the sacrifice which Moses had offered, as Moses said, "Behold              In fact, there was a certain group of men in the camp who
 the blood of the covenant which the Lord bath  made with you               were overjoyed with the fact that Moses was gone even if it
 concerning all these words." While the people watched,                     would be for only a little while. They formed a hardened
 seventy of their elders with Moses and Aaron and Aaron's                   core of reprobate men who had been dissatisfied with the
 two sons went up unto the mountain where God WC&.  There                   leadership of Moses from the beginning. They had never
 they beheld the glory of God and were not consumed. There                  been pleased with the way in which Moses led them and had
 they ate of a meal prepared by God and were filled. While'                 never neglected an opportunity to reveal their displeasure.
 Aaron and the elders tarried behind, Moses and Joshua went                 Whenever the way had become difficult,  they had led the
 farther into the mountain. It was then that the glory of God               people to murmur and complain, at the Red Sea, at Marah,
 was revealed for six days upon Silllai's  peaks.                           in the wilderness of Sin, and at Rephidim.  But always Moses

      On the seventh day, God called Moses to come up into the              had been there with the power of God to show that the way

 midst of the cloud that covered the mountain. Joshua was                   in which they were going was right and blessed by God.

 left on the side of the mountain to wait for Moses' return                 Each time their attempt at rebellion had failed, they had be-

 while Moses met for forty days and forty nights with God.                  come more dissident in their hearts. These were wicked men

 During this time he had neither food to eat nor water to                   who loved the pleasures of sin and hated the way of the Lord.

drink; nor does it seem that he slept. His communion with                   They hated Moses becailse  they hated the cause for which he





                                                                                                                                                -


                                            T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                105


stood. Now that he was gone, they felt free to act as never         sooner was the image finished than the people began to shout.
before.                                                             "These be thy gods, 0 Israel, which brought thee up out of
                                                                    the land of Egypt."     A spiritual rebellion of the greatest
    It was not long after Moses left that these men began to        magnitude was taking form.
spread their seeds of dissension. As usual, they first made

their attack on the person of Moses. Days and weeks were               Still Aaron, although he had not the courage to oppose

passing by and Moses did not return from the mountain.              the people outright, thought that something might be gained

How did they know what had become of him. Maybe he had              by working a compromise. Before the image he built an altar

been consumed by the fire of God upon the mountain. Maybe           such as was used in the service of Jehovah. If the people=

he had deserted them never to return again. Throughout the          must have an image, he could still urge that they use the

camp the dissenters circulated, spreading their venomous            image for the service of Jehovah. To the people he made a

poison.    Within the relaxed inactivity of the camp the seed       solemn proclamation, "To morrow is a feast to the Lord."'

of discontent caught on fast and soon began to grow.                For the moment it appeared to him that Israel's idolatry

    Underneath this all, however, there was a deeper and            would not be quite so serious if only the name of Jehovah
more vicious motive. The Israelites had grown up amid the           was remembered. And the people were in no mood to haggle
wickedlless  of E,gypt. Many of them had watched the Egyp-          over a name. It made little difference to them by what name
tians in thk service of their idol gods and some had, perhaps,      their god was called as long as they could serve him in the
even taken part. In Egypt, as in almost all of the heathell         way they chose.

nations, the service of idols was used .as an occasion fo?             It was on the morning of the fortieth day after Moses had
licentious, sensual pleasures.    It was accompanied by fornicai    gone up into the mountain that the camp of Israel arose t@
tions of the most gbominable  sort. To those who were carnal        engage in their new adventure. The festivities began solemn-
in Israel, these things had afforded much pleasure. They ha4        ly enough. Quietly the people gathered as burnt offerings.
enjoyed the ways of sin to the full. But now, since they had        and peace offerings were offered to their newly formed idoL
been following Moses, it had become evident that such pleas-        in the name of Jehovah. Once they were finished, all the
ures would never be condoned by Israel's God, and that madk         rich food and wine that could be found in the camp was.
them seem sweeter than ever before. The uncompromising              brought out, and the people sat down to eat and to drink..
proclamations of God's law was to them an occasion for              Finally, when their stomachs were filled with rich, food and
offenSe.  It only increased their lust for the pleasures of sin.    the strong drink had gone to their heads, they rose up again
As soon as Moses was gone and the opportunity had availed           to play and to dance. Erotic dances they were, those which
itself, they began to plot how they might have their wicked         had been learned from the Egyptians. Giving themselves over
pleasures after all.                                                to concupiscence and lust, they cast aside their outer gar-

   A delegation of the people soon presented themselves be-         ments until their limbs were sensually exposed. The camp of

fore Aaron.     Y3p, make us gods, which shall go before us,`!      God's chosen people, Israel, echoed with the orgies of the

they demanded; "for as for this Moses, the man that brought         wicked.

us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of
                                                                       On the mountain, God had completed His revelation of
h i m . "
                                                                    the tabernacle to Moses. Thereupon, He turned to Moses
   Aaron, without Moses to strengthen him, was at a loss. Of-       and said, "Go, get thee down ; for thy people which thou
ten Aaron appeared to be much more capable than his brother ;       broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted them-
he could talk much better. But he lacked Moses' spiritual           selves: they have turned aside quickly out of the way which
courage and discretion. So now, he thought to fall back             I commanded them : they have made them a molten calf, ancL
craftily upon his own power of persuasion. He answered the          have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said,.
men by saying, "Break off the golden earrings, which are in         These be thy gods, 0 Israel, which have brought thee up
the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters,        out of the land of Egypt. I have seen this people, and, behold,
and bring them to me," perhaps expecting that this price            it is a stiffnecked people: now therefore let me alone,, that my-
would be more than they would be willing to pay. In this he         wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume
underestimated the strength of their desires. Soon there had        them : and I will make of thee a great nation."
been brought to him more than enough gold for the making
of an image.                                                           Israel  had sinned a great sin. They had proved them-
                                                                    selves worthy of destruction. Only one thing prevented the
   Upon the receipt of the required gold, Aaron was com-            judgment of God from striking out and consuming them:
mitted to proceed according to the desires of the people. Ac-       Moses the mediator, the type of Jesus Christ, stood between
cordingly the gold was melted, formed and graven into an            them and their judgmept.  If he would stand aside and fail t>
image of a golden heifer like unto the god Apis, which the          plead for them, Israel would be no more.
Egyptians worshipped.      Aaron's only `hope was that Moses

might return before the deed was done; but it was vain. No                                                                     B.W,

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


                                                                             desireth a good work. That saying (it might be a Jzzuvlznn

11  F R O M   H O L Y   WRIT                                             11 saying, as o+ae reading of the text has it j is a true saying; it
                                                                             is a faithful word answering to all that is taught us in the

                                                                             Scriptures as the rule of faith and life in Christ Jesus. The

                                                                             saying is very, very orthodox, and merits our highest regard
                  Exposition of I Timothy                                    and interest in the church. We must not take that "saying"

                                                                             lightly.
                                                               ,
                        (I Timothy 3 :l-7)                                     This puts us upon our q& z&e!
                                                                    i
                                                                                 It should excite us to spiritual and intellectual attention.

                                 a.                                              What Paul will here say is a weighty word!

                                                                                 Writes he: "he that seeketh the office  of an overseer de-
       Paul had spoken in the foregoing Chapter concerning a                 sireth a good work."
certain aspect of the proper conducting of the affairs of                        The term in the Greek, which is rendered in the King
,Christ  in the Church ; he spoke both of the prayers of the                 James Version by "office of a bishop" really literally means :
saints in general, and who was to offer these in the church.                 inspection, visitation, like the German: Besichtigu~zg.  It is
He also, as we have noticed, pointed out the proper conduct                  a word used of an activity of God. When God visits His
of women in their dress and appearance, as well as their deep-               people and the world "he looks into and searches out the
est attitude toward their husbands and toward men in the                     ways, deeds, character of men, in order to adjudge them their
church. We noticed that, although in Christ man and wife                     lot accordingly, whether joyous or sad." It is something like
.are equals in the faith, each has his own God-ordained place                our term "inspection," investigation. It reminds us of Christ
to work out his salvation with fear and trembling.                           "walking" between the seven candlesticks, the seven Churches

       Now Paul will take up another aspect of what is proper                of Asia Minor. Rev. 2, 3.

in the church of Christ. Writes he in verse 15 : "But if I                       "Overseership"    is an office. They who stand in it are
tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou ought to behave                   those who must "give account." Heb. 13 :17. They have the
thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living               care of the souls of the sheep. In this office of "overseership"
God, the pillar and ground of the truth" - I write these                     none can stand but they who have been placed there by the
things unto thee! And "these things" evidently refers to the                 Holy Ghost. Thus we read in Acts 20 :2S : "Take heed there-
`qualification which must be present in both the "overseers"                 fore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over which the
.and  in the deacons in the church.                                          Holy Ghost has made you overseers, to feed the church of

       We will now limit ourselves to the former of wl&h Paul                God which he hath purchased with his own blood." Here we

speaks in the verses l-7 of this third chapter of First; Tim-                are reminded of those weighty and solemn questions ad-

othy. The text reads in full as follows in the K. J. Version:                dressed to office-bearers in the church at the time of their

-"This  is a two mying,  If a szan desire the office of a bishop,            installation (ordination) : "Whether you do feel in your

he d&r&. a good work. `4 bishop tjzen mztst be blameless,                    hearts that ye are lawfully called of God's Church, and con-

the lmsba.nd  of one zuif~~ diligen,t,  sober, of good beRavior,             sequently of God l&~e2f, to these your respective holy of-

given to lzospita.lity,  a.pt to teach; pzot  g&en  to win.e,  `no           fices ?"

&key., not greedy of filthy  Lucre;  but pafiient,  not a brawler,               Holy ofice?
rzot covetous; one tlzaf  rarleUz  well!  his own home, lmving  his              The term "office" must not be confused with a "job." One
children *in subjection witi%  all gravity; (fog  if a mavt know             does not obtain a job in the church when he is chosen to be
xo t how fo rule his own hue,  how shall he fake CWB  of th                  either minister or elder. One is clothed with the mantle of a
cka~clz of God?) Not a novice, lest being Lifted ,zhp  with pride            holy office by God. One then has official business to transact
he fall innto the condepltnation>  of the devil. Moreover he vmzut           in the nn.+~e of Christ in the church. One thus stands in
have a good repoTt  of them  which  are wifhouf;  lest he fall               authority.
-into  reproadz  and the snare  of the devil."                                   Paul here speaks of a "good work." He does not here

       We do well to attempt to understand this exhortation to               refer to "work"  in the subjective sense of the term. He
`Timothy concerning the exalted nature of the office of the                  means: a work, a task which is assigned, a duty to perform.
"`bishop" (Opzienersambt) and the personal qualifications                    That he calls this work such a task "good" means that it is

-which must be the portion of an office-bearer in a rich and                 beautiful before God. God takes delight in it; it serves the

.distinguishing  manner.                                                     purpose of God in Christ in the edification of the body of

       First of all then what Paul teaches us concerning the                 Christ. The German translation here is noteworthy: kiist-

.office.of  the "overseership" in the church.                                lich  ! It is a very pvs&~zs  work in the sight of God, answer-

       It should be noticed that Paul prefaced what he says con--            ing to the precious blood of the Son of God in the flesh,
cerning  the "overseership" with  the implied notice that it                 whereby the church was redeemed from sin and from all the
was the accepted saying that one who aspires to this oflice                  power of the devil. The Holland translates the term: voor-


                                               - T H E   S T A N D A R D   .BE.ARElR                                                   107
                   -.


 trejfehijk  we+k.  It is a work which stands in the front ranks.           term in Greek, which we gave at the beginning of this.

 It is second to none ! No office in all the world is equal to it !         paragraph. The term in Greek translated "blameless" is.

 Really the "office of a bishop" is in a class all by itself.               &ze%ptos. Christ is alone "blameless"; that can be said of

                                                                            no .&her  man. This wotild mean that one who is to be an
       Now it is a wonderful thing under the sun to see a man
                                                                            elder or minister in the church should be able to say: who of
 "reach out" for such an exalted office. The Greek text pre-
                                                                            you convicts me of sin. If such were the meaning of Paul:
 supposes that there are such men who do this very thing ;
                                                                            there simply could be no office-bearers in the church of
 they set their entire mind upon this office. They prepare for
                                                                            Christ.
 it? study toward it. And in so doing they reach high. Their
                                                                               Hence, we look in another direction, pointed out by
 star is not low on the horizon. However, let this "reaching
                                                                            Trench, as corroborated by the simple meaning of the term
 out" be more than mere human ambition of personal ag-
                                                                           written by Paul in the Greek. The term anep,Jeempros  is pos-
 grandiz&ent.
                                                                            sibly best rendered in English: irreprehensible, more like the

       It takes a very good examination to enter into any high             Dutch: onb&s#elijk,  and the German: zmstr&fZ~ch.  It means

 profession. The higher the calling the more exacting are the               that our walk, conduct, is such that it affords the adversary

 qualifications. Not anyone and everyone can be a minister or              nothing to take hold of, on which he might ground a charge..

 elder,-a.."bishop"  in the church. We take it that when Paul.                 It reminds us of the very solemn and meaningful intro-

 here writes of the "overseership" he has in mind not the                  duction to the "Form For Ordination Of Elders and Dea-

 office of a bishop in distinction from an elder. The term "bish-          cons" which reads: "Beloved Christians, you know that we

        in Scripture evidently does not refer to the overseer-             have several times published unto you the names of our
 Of
 ship of a certain bishop over other office-bearers, but of the            brethren here present, who are chosen to the office of elders

 "overseership" of the elders over the congregation. We do                 and deacons in this Church, to the end that we might know

 not have here any exegetical justification for the "Bishopric"            whether any person had aught to allege, why they should

 form of church government, which finds its final expression               not be ordained in their respective offices ; and whereas ncl

 in the Papal authority of the Pope, as we have this in the                one hath appeared before us, who hath alleged anything

 Romish church. Rather we have here simply the office of                   lawful against them, we shall therefore at present, in the

 the "elder" spoken of by Paul, only from the view-point of                name of the Lord, proceed to their ordination."

 its being the office in which Christ                 the church by His        Our fathers speaking here of "lawful" evidently do not
                                          visits  
 Word and Spirit. And then there are two kinds of elders, the              necessarily restrict their inquiry to the c&2 law.  In these

 tea,clzing elder, the minister of the gospel, and the ~atlilag            days when we as church have been in and out of the Civil

 elder, known in Reformed (Presbyterial) form of govern-                   Courts, and had to "show cause" concerning the propriety oE

 ment ,as the elders.                                                      our claims, we rather "grew accustomed" to speak in terms

     There are very high requisites here prescribed for an                 of what is "legal"! However, we should stop in our tracks.,
                                                                           and consider the dangers of such terminology and thinking..
overseer, one who is placed by the Holy Ghost to have the
                                                                           "Lawful" must surely here mean what Paul refers to when
 oversight of the flock which Christ (God) has bought with
                                                                           he speaks of what is a proper conduct in the "house of God" I:
his own blood!
                                                                           It is true this house of God is in the midst of the world?
     In this instalment  we shall limit ourselves to the first and         and has relevancy in the world, where the believer works out
general requisite here stated by Paul ; it is that which the               his salvation with fear and trembling, but this does not im-
King James Version calls to be "blameless."                                ply that "lawful" means what is simply the legality of the

     It is interesting to observe that the term which Paul uses            Civil Courts.

is in the Greek: arteppileel@os!  This term occurs but three                   "Lawful" must mean in the language of the "Form OE

times in the New Testament, and then only here in I Timo-                  Installation" what is compatible with the "requisites" laid

thy, a pastoral letter. It is worthy of notice that in the Ring            down in God's Word for office-bearers. And this "lawful'P

James Version it is translated twice "blameless" (3 :2 ; 5 :7)             has a deeply spi&tal meaning ; it requires that the man in

and once       "unrebukable"    (6 :14). We believe that what              the office be: irrepmhensible!  The enemies within and with-

Trench (iVe=r  Testament Synorzyms)  points out is very                    out the church must not be able to get j&old  018 the chz~clt.

worthy of being noticed. He points out that this translation               in the fact that the office-bearer does not stand forth as

by the King James Version is not happy. The Holland                        being : unchm-geable.

translation is : onbe?dspeLijk.    It gives the term "onberispe-              In these days when we go through the "routine" of choos-

lijk" in each instance here in I Timothy as pointed out above.             ing office-bearers in the church we do well to consider what

The German is not consistent. It translates here in this pas-              Paul says here concerning the requisites of one who is ta

sage "unstrMich,"  while in the other two instances it trans-              shepherd the church.

lates "untadelich"  (~lLnp~~:n.is!~~,ble  and irrep+oacka.ble,  respec-       What this implies in the particulars we hope to point OLE
tively)  .    Besides, Trench points out that the translation              in our next instalment, D.V.

"blamele&"  is hardly the term `which gives the sense of the                                                                        G.LL,


I
                                                                                                                                           I

     108                                       T H E   Sl!,ANDARD   B E A R E R


                                                                         soul that is a clean slate. You can write on it what you

                  I N   H I S   F E A R                                  please. The child sins only by imitation. If you only give
                                                                         him good examples, keep all evil from his eyes and ears,

                                                                         and thus out of his soul, he will never walk in these evils.

                                                                         Always approach him~  with the positive command. Do not
                      God's Royal Priesthood                             tell him that he should not and may not do this. Always

                                                                         tell him what he must do. Be careful that you do not
                                   (14)                                  stand in his way when he wants to do something. Stand

                                                                         rather at his side and steer him away. But even then be
            We have a kingdom, and over it we must rule in God's         sure that you are only advising him as to what is good for
     name.                                                               him. Do not nudge him, not even ever so gently. He must

         As we wrote last time, to that kingdom belong our hands         not be told what to do. He must not be forced from his

     and feet, our eyes and ears, our mouth and tongue. And              evil way. Just suggest to him how much good there is, if
                                                                  to
     that kingdom belong all the faculties of thinking, willing and      he will only go in the right way. And so on and so on . . .

     acting.
                                                                            The child sins by imitation ? And from whom did Cain
         But there is more to that kingdom.                              learn to commit murder? Where had he seen man ~159  man

         Every father and mother in God's kingdom has children           before ? And who taught him the added deviltry of hiding

     over which God has placed them as kings and queens. And             his brother's body under the sand ? Where had he heard man

     as long as these childien  are under your roof, you are to          talk so disrespectfully to the living God : "Am I my brother's

     rule them in God's name. Sad to say it is so bften  the other       keeper ?' Surely he never heard Adam and Eve say such

     way around. One visiting dignitary from European soil once          things. They had fallen into sin. Indeed. But they were

     said, and that in truth, that what he found in America was          also after that regenerated children of God who did not be-

     that the parents obeyed their children so well. Shame on            have as reprobates. Adam exactly taught him that he must
                                                                  US,
     but there certainly is a great measure of truth in that state-      seek God's face with a lamb. Cain did not imitate anyone

     ment. The violation of the fifth commandment is by no               when he came with the fruits of the field in place of that

     means limited to the child. It is not a sin that we outgrow         lamb.

     ,or from which we graduate as soon as we have children of              And the living God who created the soul of man, is He
     .our own. Not at all. Even in its very literal form, parents        not the Psychologist of all psychologists ? Does he not under-
     break that commandment almost as frequently as the children         stand the soul of man ; and does He not in unquestionable
     .do. Parents ascribe to their children the honor of being the       wisdom approach man in His law with nine "thou shalt not"
     ruling faction in the family. Parents wait and listen for the       statements over against one positive command, "Honor thy
     wishes of the children and honor them with the right to rule        father and thy mother . . ."? Was He not before these wise-
     the home. That is not keeping the fifth commandment. It is          in-their-own-eyes psychologists of today ? Was it a revela-
     violating it. And need we say ? that in this you surely have        tion of His ignorance and lack of understanding of the souls
     no manifestation of God's royal priesthood. It is exactly the       of the men whom He created when He said, "He that
     very opposite. It is dedication unto the children rather than       spareth  the rod hateth his son"? Proverbs 13 24. Was it the
     -unto  God ; and there is nothing royal about the matter, it        wrong psychological approach when He slew the Israelites
     is slavery and subjection.                                          by the thousands in the wilderness and later sent the whole

         Many a father and mother takes off the crown am-1               nation into captivity? Nay, but let us learn a few lessons

     plants it upon the head of their child. Instead of adherence        from Him. He is the all-wise God Whose mind determines

     to and rejoicing in a royal priesthood of God, many covenant        what is wise and what is foolish. The child sins not by

     parents subscribe and run after the philosophies of so-called       imitation, although he certainly can pick up a lot of new

     child psycholo@sts.  Instead of studying the Word of God            forms of sin by what he observes and by the encouragement

     .and living from the principle that the fear of the Lord is the     which even his parents give him; but he sins because he is

     beginning of wisdom, they bow before the altar of unregen-          conceived and born in sin, because he comes into this world

     .erated,  worldly minded dreamers. Psychology has its place.        with a depraved nature. If only two very small children

     And there surely is a child psychology as well as an adult          would survive the devastation of nuclear warfare an-d begin

     psychology. The soul of the child has its own peculiar ways ;       to repopulate the whole earth, or if two little children could

     .and one would be foolish indeed to treat a child the way           be isolated upon an island and cared for without ever seeing

     :an adult must be treated. Jesus tells us that we must become       another human being and the sins of mankind, you would

     like children, or there is no entrance into the kingdom of          soon, from this pair and the children they would bring forth

     heaven for us. Not that the child is inherently good. That          upon that island, have a generation of thieves and murderers

     is one of the corruptions of so much of modern child psychol-       and fornicators. For even as the leopard cannot  change its

     .ogy. It is maintained that he comes into this world with a         spots, they cannot change their depraved hearts and do that


),                                        .THE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E K                                                              109


which is right in God's sight by the life with which they            his child in the love of God it will most assuredly use that
come into this world.                                                Word df God in connection with that rod.

      And where has it ever produced the desired effect when             In that same connection the author of the epistle to the
nothing but a positive teaching has been presented and no            H.ebrews  not only speaks of God chastising in His love as a
prohibitions have been expressed ? The parent who shies              father to His children, but he adds, "Furthermore, we have
away from declaring prohibitions to his child soon finds that        had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them
he has fallen into all kinds of prohibitions that his child hurls    reverence : shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the
at him. The parent that does not want to be led by his child         Father of spirits and live ? For they verily for a few days
-and, as we said, the parent who honors his child instead            chastened us after their own pleasure ; but He for our profit,
of insisting that his child honor him, also breaks the fifth         that we might be partakers of His holiness." How truly that

commandment - that parent had better lead his child. The             fits in with the truth of God's royal priesthood. For in that

king on the throne, who does not want to have his people             passage of I Peter 2 :9 where Peter speaks of this royal

rule him, had better take a firm grip upon his rod and rule          priesthood, he speaks also of their holiness. "But ye are,"

them. And God's royal priesthood had better take up its              so he writes, "a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an
rod and rule these citizens of the kingdom over which God            holy nation, a peculiar people . . . ." God's purpose is to

has placed them.                                                     make us partaker's of His holiness. For that reason He made
                                                                     us to be His royal priesthood. Therefore He chose us from
      And' that means, certainly, that they do not quickly rush
                                                                     eternity. Therefore He bought us by the blood of His Son.
to the defense of their children when they commit sin. It
                                                                     His purpose is our  holiness. And that holiness in our chil-
means that they do not encourage their children in such by
                                                                     dren must be our purpose also in ruling them with an iron
such a defense of their evil actions. But that they punish
                                                                     hand. Indeed, we said with an @on hand. Holiness is not
the evil for God's sake and condemn it in no uncertain terms
                                                                     something relative. Holiness is complete separation from
is their calling before God. Once again, when the Heidelberg
                                                                     sin. And that means that not one single sin in the lives of
Catechism says that implied in our name Christim  is the
                                                                     our children may we condone. For none of them may we
idea that we "with a good conscience fight against sin and
                                                                     seek an excuse and say, 0 well, they are only children.
Satan," it means that we fight against thjs wherever and
                                                                     They were children who called Elisha a bald head and com-
whenever it manifests itself in our families.
                                                                     manded him to go up. But with them God was wroth, and
      And the weapons wherewith we must fight these in dur           He sent two she-bears to slay forty and two of them. If we
children are the rod and the Word. It is not a matter of             are dedicated unto this God as His priests, we will always
fighting with the rod or the Word. Always it must be with            be concerned with His glory. And then we will in love rule
the Word," for it is the sword of the Spirit which God has           our kingdom with an iron hand. It must be love to God, or
supplied for that very purpose. At times it is sufficient to         else we are not HIS royal priesthood. Fleshly love serves
use it alone. At times it is the only weapon we may use. But         the flesh. Only when our fleshly, parental love is sanctified
never may we use only the rod. Never is it sufficient to use         by God's Spirit will we rule our kingdom in that way which
that rod alone. And the royal priesthood qf God that knows           is a foretaste of the rule we will have in the new creation.
Him as His prophet and is dedicated to His cause and to                                                                             J.A.H.
His glory will most assuredly apply that rod in the love of

God. He will do that because he loves God and because

he loves his child for God's sake. "Whom the Lord loveth                                         IN MEMORIAM

He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He re-                      On November 14, 1961, the Lord took unto Himself our beloved
ceiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as            husband, father, and grandfather,

sons ; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not ?                                REV. HENRY H. KUIPER
But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers,        at the age .of 56 years.
then are ye bastards and not sons." Hebrews 12 :6-S.                    May the God of all grace comfort us through His Word and
                                                                     Spirit, and place this confession in our hearts: "All things work
                                                                     together for good unto them that love God and are called according
      That is strong language !                                      to His purpose." Remans  8:28.

      But does it not clearly indicate not only that we must use                                           Mrs. H. H. Kuiper
                                                                                                           Miss Hulda  Kuiper
the rod as God's royal priesthood and rule our children with                                               Mr. and Mrs. Henry W. Kuiper
it, but also that such use is not an evidence of hatred or                                                 Dale H. Kuiper
                                                                                                           Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Feenstra
cruelty but rather of love ? God loves His children, and                                                   Ruth KuiDer
therefore He chastises them. And the chastisements which                                                   Harlow  &per
                                                                                                           and 6 grandchildren
we receive are an evidence of sonship  and not of rejecti               Further, the fanlily  takes this opportunity to thank the many
from sonship.  If you are His royal priesthood, you will also        friends who expressed words of comfort in our time of sorrow by
rule your children with that rod and authority which He              sending cards, letters, and gifts.
                                                                                                            In His fear,
gives unto you. And because God's royal priesthood loves                                                           DALE H. KUIPER


                                                                     fears vanish. But, secondly, if you did receive the gift of
 II Contetding For The Faith                                         Catholic Faith in all its fulness and certainty, yet after be-
                                                                     coming a Catholic you were to lose that Faith through your

                                                                     own fault, you would be under no physical compulsion to con-

                                                                     tinue to profess the Catholic religion and fulfill its duties.
            The Church and the Sacraments                            You could walk off, declare you had left the Catholic Church,

                                                                     tell your friends that you had become a Christadelphian, or
            THE TIME OF TiIE REFORMATION                             anything else you might wish ; and nothing wou!d be done

                V I E W S   O N   T H E   C H U R C H                to restrain you. The only thing that really prevents Catholics.
                                                                     from abandoning their Church is their own interior convic-
             THE ROMAN CATHOLIC VIEW                                 tion of its truth, and of their personal obligation to remain.

                                                                     loyal to conscience and to God. Whilst they have that con-
    Quoting from "Radio Replies by Fathers Rumble and
                                                                     viction, they themselves do not feel at liberty to leave the
 Carty,"  Volume III, paragraphs 285298, setting forth the
                                                                     Church. Should they lose that conviction, they would fee.1
 Romish conception of the Church, we were quoting Answer
                                                                     at liberty to do as they pleased. But, if ever you receive th.e
 294 which is an answer to the question whether there are any
                                                                     gift of Catholic Faith, I can assure you that you won't be
 references in the Old and New Testaments to any definite
                                                                     afraid lest you cannot get away from it ; you will rather dread
 religion of Christ. And we had quoted that part of the
                                                                     lest anybody or anything should get it away from you. For
 answer which referred to Isaiah 2 :2-4. We will now con-
                                                                     you will find that, instead of robbing you of your liberty,
tinue with this quotation: "The correct sense of that passage
                                                                     it has given to you the liberty of the children, of God ; liberty
 (Is. 2 :2-4 -H.V.)  is as follows : When the Christ shall
                                                                     from error, and weakness, and sin ; and the liberty to use
 come, He will solidly establish the religion of God in a
                                                                     wonderful means of divine grace, thus to progress in virtue
 visible form which all men will be able to recognize. As op-
                                                                     and holiness of life before God and man. (Notice what this.
 posed to the one chosen people of the Jews, all nations will
                                                                     answer calls a person who declares that he has left the
 be represented amongst its members. And they will learn
                                                                     Romish Church. He is called a Christadelphian, or anything
 from it the ways of God ; and will walk in His paths under
                                                                     else he might wish to be called. A Christadelphian was a
its guidance. This promised religion will originate in Jerusa-
                                                                     member of a small religious sect founded in the United States
 lem. Now, if we turn to the New Testament, we find Christ
                                                                     about 1833 by John Thomas, M.D., and later extended to,
carefully fulfilling this prophecy of the Old Testament. He
                                                                     England and other countries. They reject the Trinity, deny
 says in Matt. XVI, IS, `I will build my Church.' He pre-
                                                                     infant baptism, etc.)
scribed its doctrine and commissioned it to go forth from

Jerusalem teaching men, as He says in Matt. XXVIII, 20,
                                                                             296. What does your Church teach concerning the fate
 `To observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.'
                                                                     of a man who was brought up as a Catholic, but who leaves
 In Matt. XVIII, 18, He gives this Church His authority.
                                                                     the Church, and dies still rejecting the Catholic Faith?
`Amen, I say to you, whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall
be bound also in heaven.' In the preceding verse He gives                    The Catholic Church has no teaching concerning the ul-
the Church judicial power.        `If a man will not hear the        timate fate of any individual soul. She leaves that to. God.
 Church, let him be as the heathen.' And He sends that               But she does teach that no Catholic who has been brought up
Church no longer to the Jews only, but to the Gentiles also.         as such can ever have a sufficient reason to justify his aban-
`In Matt.  XXVIII, 19, `Going, therefore,' He says, `Teach           doning it. If, therefore, a Catholic should lose his faith and
all nations.' His Church must remain one Church, for it is           abandon the Church he has certainly been guilty of sin; and
to be `one fold under one shepherd.' It is to last with the          if he dies in that state without repenting of his sin he will
constitution He gave it all days till the end of the world. `The     lose his soul. Whether any particular soul goes from this
gates of hell shall not prevail against it.' And again, `Behold,     world without interior repentance God alone, of course, can
I am with you always even to the consummation of the                 say.

world.' All this obviously indicates a very definite religion,          297. What if a man reasoned himself out of his faith?
and a very definite Church."
                                                                        In such a case the man would have misused his reasoning
    295. If I were to embrace Catholicism, would I, if at any        powers. No instructed Catholic can renounce the Catholic
time I was not satisfied, be at liberty to leave the Catholic        Faith without a grave fault on his part. Always he has a
Church ?                                                             grave duty to adhere to his faith, and always he has reason-

    Firstly, so long as you think it even possible that you          able grounds for doing so. If he abandons it, he does so by a

would want to leave the Church in the future, you have not           wrong and guilty choice as well as by an unreasonable choice..

-attained an absolute conviction of its truth. And you cannot        If any reading awakens or fosters doubt in the mind of a.

become a Catholic with lingering doubts in your mind. When           Catholic, he knows at once that he must cease reading things.

a person has really attained to the gift of Faith, all such vague    which endanger his faith. If he goes on reading such things,


                                           T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                    111


he does so at the price of violating his conscience. Then,          would believe as firmly as ,the Bxeton  peasant's wife.
                                                                                                                               -"  T h e

too, when some difficulty presents itself, he behaves most un-      man you suggest for consideration would be guilty of pride

reasonably in thinking that because he can't solve it, there-       in setting up his judgment against the authority of the

fore there is no solution of it. Ordinary prudence dictates         Church established by God to teach mankind the truths of

that he seek advice from some competent guide. Certainly, if        religion ; guilty of imprudence in not seeking counsel; and

such a Catholic did end by losing his faith, it would involve       guilty of presumption in not seeking light from God by

the resistance of grace, the neglect of prayer, the refusal of      prayer. If he lost the faith, he would be responsible for

,ordinary  prudent consultation, and the guilty following of        doing so ; and if he died without repenting of his sin, he

an evil will.                                                       would lose his soul.

                                                                       We hereby conclude our quotations from "Radio Replies
   298. Supposing that he carefully studies the Catholic
                                                                    by Fathers Rumble and Carty." According to Rome the
religion in the light of science, and finds it untrue?
                                                                    Church is a company of men externally bound together by
   As God is the Author of the Catholic Faith, and also the         the profession of the same Christian faith, united in the com-
Author of all natural truth, there can never be any real con-       munion of the same sacraments, under and subject to the
flict between the authoritative teachings of the Catholic           govermnent  of legitimate pastors, especially the pope. This
religion?, and the true findings of science. Any man who            implies that Rome excludes from the Church all heretics and
thinks that science proves the Catholic religion to be untrue,      infidels, all the unbaptized, all who are not subject to bish-
either does not know the Catholic religion, or has wrong            ops having canonical succession and, of course, do not rec-
ideas of science. And a man who has but an inadequate               ognize the pope. There is no salvation outside of the Romish
knowledge of Catholicism, and who is quite untrained in             Church, and whoever leaves that Church, and does not really
science, should know that he is simply incompetent to form          repent of his sin before he dies, cannot possibly be saved,
such a judgment as you indicate unless he is sublimely un-          and must lose his soul.
conscious of his limitations. He has not the elements of

humility, and a sin of pride and presumption at least has                          T H E   P R O T E S T A N T   V I E W
preceded his fall. (Apart, now, from the question in re the
                                                                       The Protestant view of the Church is expressed in the
claims of the Romish Church with respect to its infallibility,
                                                                    Protestant Symbols, such as the Reformed Symbols (the
etc., there is considerable truth in these remarks. It is a sure
                                                                    Heidelberg Catechism and the Confession of Faith or the
thing that anyone who elevates Science above the Bible is
                                                                    Netherlands Confession), the Westminster Confession, and
characterized by sinful pride and arrogance. - H.V.) Most
                                                                    also the Second Helvetic  Confession. Inasmuch as not much
men have a general instinctive knowledge of what they must
                                                                    space is allotted me in this article, we will conclude this
do to safeguard their bodily health. But if any serious
                                                                    article by quoting from the Heidelberg Catechism, Question
trouble threatens, they are sensible enough not to rely upon        and Answer 54. Question 54 reads: "What believest thou
such inadequate knowledge of physiology or medical in-
                                                                    concerning the `holy catholic church' of Christ?" And this
formation which they have picked up by their own reading.
                                                                    is the beautiful answer :    "That the Son of God from the
They seek advice from one who has received definite medical
                                                                    beginning to the end of the world, gathers, defends, and
training in a qualified university. So, too, the average man
                                                                    preserves to himself by his Spirit and word, out of the whole
has a sufficient working knowledge of the law for ordinary
                                                                    human race, a churdh chosen to everlasting life, agreeing in
purposes. But if he finds himself in a legal tangle, he
                                                                    true faith ; and that I am and for ever shall remain, a living
rightly distrusts his own knowledge and capacity, and con-
                                                                    member thereof."     Later, in this series of articles we will
sults one whose very business it is to be trained in legal
                                                                    also quote from the Thirty-Seven Articles. But it is well to
matters. Yet, when not his bodily health, and not his tem-
                                                                    bear in mind that, when we would understand the Protestant
poral affairs, but his eternal destiny is at stake, this same
                                                                    and, particularly, the Reformed conception of the church, we
man will consider himself fully competent to decide the
                                                                    do not neglect to quote also from the Heidelberg Catechism,
gravest issues for himself. He chooses to throw to the winds
                                                                    Question and Answer 54. 1
a prudence he would never dream of abandoning in lesser
                                                                                                                                 H.V.
matters.    And the choice is a guilty violation of reason and

conscience. The ordinary Catholic has sufficient working

knowledge to save his soul. But where special religious
                                                                                               IN MEMORIAM
difficulties occur, he is obliged to consult those qualified to
advise him. Ignorance alone can conclude that science con-             The Men's Society  of the First Protestant Reformed Church of
                                                                    Grand Rapids herewith expresses our sincere sympathy to one of
flicts with Catholicism,    as that famous scientist, Louis         our members, Mr. R. Harkema, in the death of his sister

Pasteur, ever maintained. When people marveled that so                                  MRS. R. VANDER PLOEG

great a scientist should have such fervent faith ,in the               May the brother be comforted by the Word of God in Rev. 14:14,
Catholic religion, he would reply, "I believe as firmly as          "Blessed are the dead, which die in the Lord."
                                                                                                     Prof. H. C: Hoeksema, President
the Breton peasant; and, if I had a little more knowledge, I                                         P. By!<erk,  Secretary


112                                       T H E   S T A N D A R D   BEARE.R

                THAT "HORRIBLE" DECREE                              are dead in sin (Rom. 5 :12). That plainly means that every

                                                                    man born into this world is wholly irLcapa.bte  of doing any
       There is something concerning God's eternal decree of        good and is inclined to all the evil (see also Romans 3)..
predestination, and particularly the decree of reprobation,         There is not even the remotest possibility that good works,.
which seems immediately to arouse the ire of man. Mention           well-pleasing to our God, could ever proceed from the dead
election or reprobation, and man closes his ears. Send to           sinner. Can a physically dead person eat or drink ? Far less
him material on such a subject, and  he will return it with         could the dead sinner ever perform good deeds. Let none
the acid comment, "I don't want such stuff in my mailbox."          dare charge us, or any true Calvinist, with teaching the iie
Even John Calvin, that noted Reformer and champion of the           that a reprobate could love and serve God faithfully all he
truth of predestination, is reported to have called reproba-        would -but will nevertheless be cast into hell. Such never
tion "that horrible decree"    (a deliberately poor translation     happens. Be not deceived! God's grace is not given to the
of his statements).    Why such opposition ? Is it possible         reprobate ; they are not in Jesus Christ ; and therefore they
that the reason is that this Scriptural truth particularly          can do nothing pleasing to God.
exalts God as Sovereign alone and teaches that man is but a

mere creature? It `puts lnan  in his proper place. Is this              Secondly, I would call to your attention that the repro--

why man so strongly objects ?                                       bate are always damned to eternal hell becaztse  of their owrt
       Is there such a thing as reprobation? That usually is        sin. It is true that God determined what thei?  final end

denied. But, will you be willing to make a careful study of         would be - and He did so before they were ever born (again

Scriptural passages on this point? The teaching of Scripture        I ask you :, in what other way could one possibly interpret

must stand - it is the Word of God.                                 the passages quoted above without denying the plain mean-

    I would define reprobation as that eternal will, good           ing contained in those texts ?). But the wicked are definitely
pleasure, or purpose of God according to which He deter-            cast into the torments of eternal hell for their own evil acts.

mined that some of His moral-rational creatures would be            hever  can they point the finger at God, declaring, "Thou

cast into hell forever on account of their sins, and that this      hast forced me to do that which was contrary to Thy will;

fact would serve the cause of Christ and redound to God's           therefore I am not worthy of any punishment." The repro-

glory alone.                                                        bate, the wicked, consciously and willingly sin, and for that

                                                                    sin they shall surely be cast into eternal desolation. One of
    Now wait a moment before condemning that idea of
reprobation out of hand. First, let us view several pertinent       the many Scriptural passages which shows this is Luke
Scriptural passages which speak of this subject. Possibly the       11 :49-51, "Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will
most clear statements concerning reprobation can be found           send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall
in Romans 9. Before they were ever born or had done any             slay and persecute: that the blood of all the prophets, which
good or evil, God had said, "Jacob have I loved, but Esau           was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required
have I hated (vs. 13)."    Of Pharaoh, whose heart God had          of this generation ; from the blood of Abel unto the blood of
hardened so that he would not let Israel go from E,ypt,  we         Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple r
read, "Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up that        verily I say unto you, It &a11  be required of this generation."'

I might show my power in thee, and tliat my name might be              But is not God then ~urtjzut?  Is it not terribly unfair on

declared throughout the earth" (vs. 17). Romans 9 men-              God's part to determine that any should perish ? What-

tions also that "whom He will, He hardeneth"  (vs. 18). and         kind of God is He ? Stop with those charges, brother-

it speaks of "vessels of wrath fitted unto destructdod'  (vs.       Who do you think that God is? Thinkest thou that He

22). What else can we say of passages such as these but             must conform to your puny reasoning 7 Since when does the

that they plainly teach reprobation of some to hell because         Almighty God owe to any man life? Why should1  the Sov-

of their sin ? Other passages are equally lucid. In I Peter         ereign of heaven and earth be ~,eqzri~-ed  to bestow His grace

2 :8 we read, ". . . a rock of offence,  even to them which         upon crtl? Must He bring every moral-rational creature into.
stumble at the word, being disobedient: whtveunto  a&-o they        heaven? Nay, but 0 man, who art thou that repliest against
.zveYe appointed." Not only then does Scripture teach that it       God ? (Rom. 9 :20). The potter has power over the clay to,

is God Who determines the end or final destiny of all men,          make of the same lump one vessel unto honor, and another

but also that such determination is from all eternity. (Other       unto dishonor (Rom. 9:21).       Is God unjust when He does

passages which might profitably be examined are : Dan. 4 :34  ;     with His own as He sees iit? I confess that I can not pene-

I Sam. 2 :25  ; Matt. 11 :25-27 ; Jn. 8 :43  ; Rom. 11:7-8  ; II    trate into the depths of the wisdom of God and explain why-

Sam. 1G:lO;  II Sam. 17:14;  Jn. 10:26;  Rev. 17:17, and            such a one would be reprobated, and another elected. All

many others.)                                                       we can say, with Scripture, is that God does all things to:

   Does this mean that the reprobate, no m,a*tter ze1ha.t  he       His own good pleasure to the glory of His own Name.

does, is damned to hell? God forbid that such should be the            But, you ask, why (if God determines all this) should:

case, or that we should ever teach that. This question is           there even be reprobate wicked? Why should God, from

deliberately deceiving. Consider first that all men in Adam         before the foundations of the world, also determine that some


        __ _`-`.    .~ -.-                T H E .Sq-`AN DA:R-D -B.-E.A.RE-R                                                       113


-should  Be-  cast into- h&because of the sins they perform ?        worked all things (creation- and also this decree of reproba-

 If God- truly directs all things, could not He indeed have          tion) to serve election (so that in time on this earth all

prevented sin, and rather -determined -that a-11-~  -men. should -. God!s-  people-.- are gathered and fmally  brought to glory

enjoy the blessings of eternal life ? I will try to posit several    through the work of Christ on the cross). Again I confess

 reasons for this act of God. I do not pretend to be able to         that I can not penetrate into all of the wonder and wisdom of

search out the eternal counsel of God, but, on the basis of          God which is here revealed; But this I must say, and you

Scripture, several reasons can definitely be given.                  must confess, that God has indeed so revealed Himself in

    1. The decree of reprobation must serve the glory of God.         Scripture. Also this truth of reprobation then must be for

God directs all things that His glory might the more fully be        my comfort and assurance in the midst of this world.

revealed. Do not the twenty-four elders of Revelation 4 cry              Can or must this decree of reprobation be preached by

 out, "Thou art worthy,                                              the ministers of the Word ? Would not- such -a truth serve
                              0 Lord, to receive all glory and
honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and fm            rather to discourage the church and turn away those outside

tlzy @~ztra  they are and were created" (vs. 11) ? But how,          of the church ? How can one go forth in missionary labors -

you ask, can reprobation serve to reveal the glory of God in         and teach such a decree of reprobation ? Granted that this

the best possible way ?       Through the decree of reprobation      decree is true, would it not be the part of wisdom to be

God reveals His eternal hatred and wrath against sin and the         silent about it?

sinner. His own purity becomes manifest in His utter con-                1. Of course, there would be something wrong if every

demnation and punishment of the workers of iniquity. Apart           minister every Sunday would preach sermons on reprobation.

from God's decree of reprobation this would never have been          Christ, His cross, and His church are the center of all the

so clearly revealed. Do you object? Does not the Potter              Word. And these truths must be clearly taught by the min-

have power over the clay also to fashion vessels of dishonor         ister of the Word. He may not simply emphasize one point

to serve His own pleasure and to reveal His own glory and            to the exclusion of others. But neither can the true minister

goodness ?                                                           of Christ's Word avoid teaching the truth of reprobation.

    2. But there is more. In Holy Scripture it becomes               God's Word does not ignore it-how then can the preacher

very evident that the heart or center of all of the counsel          of the Word ignore this truth ? It is a truth which may not

or plan of God is Christ -and in Christ, the church. God             be hid.

would reveal Himself in the highest possible way by gather-              2. In preaching, the minister of the Word is called to

ing a particular people in Jesus Christ His only begotten            preach the whole Word of God. And when he preaches, he

Son. Is it not this truth of which we read in Ephesians              addresses particularly the chu~rci"z  of Christ (notice that the

1 :4-6, "According as He hath chosen us in Him (Christ)              epistles are also addressed in this way). No minister can

before the foundation of the world, . . . having predestinated       properly preach first for the elect, then include a word for

us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself          the reprobate; but always he addresses the 0~-ch  of Christ.

according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of         The minister is not called to distinguish and point out which

the glory of His grace . . ."                                        individuals are elect and which are reprobate. God deter-

                                                                     mines that-not man. And it is God, through the Holy
   The wonder. of God is revealed in this that the gathering
                                                                     Spirit, Who so applies the preaching of the Word that it
of this Church in Christ is served by all things which take
                                                                     finds a ready entrance into the heart of the elect and bears
place (Rom. 8 5%). The same is true concerning those whom
                                                                     fruit, but in the heart of the reprobate that same preached
God has reprobated, and who shall be cast into hell because
                                                                     Word arouses greater and greater opposition and hatred.
of their sins. These too must serve the purpose of God in
gathering and defending the church of Christ. And the                   3. Certainly this truth of God's decree of reprobation is
evil deeds in which these wicked ones seek to oppose God             meant to strike terror into the hearts of the wicked. When
and destroy His church, can and do work rather to the bene-          this truth is properly preached, the wicked have the sure testi-
fit of the Church. The wicked, according to God's deter-             mony of God that He will reward them according to their
mination (Acts 4 137, 28) crucified the Christ-which was             works.

the only way of redemption for the church. The wicked may               4. Finally, does this truth not discourage the church?

seek to oppress the church and try to cause that church to           Would not a Christian begin to think,, "Maybe, after all, I'm

defect, but this only drives the child of God deeper into the        a reprobate" ? God forbid. One who is truly concerned with

arms of the Comforting Rock. Thus God uses these very                his own spiritual welfare, who sees and acknowledges sin-

reprobate to prepare and equip His people for their future           cerely before God the greatness of his sin; such a one sees in

abode in glory.                                                      himself not the fruits of reprobation, but of election. Then

   We see then that reprobation is not a "horrible" decree           the Christian is not frightened by reprobation as far as his

`on an equal par with the wonder of election. God did not            own person is concerned. Rather, this doctrine gives him un-

arbitrarily declare : "I want to cast some people in hell, and       speakable comfort and assurance. Despite all that the wicked

I want to bring some to heaven." God forbid! But God
                                                                                         (Contintced  on pnge   1 1 5 )


 114                                            THE.S,TANDARD   B E A R E R

                                                                          :-    A concise evaluation of this practice we find in ,the Rev-

11 DECEN-CY and ORDER 11 G. Ophoff's  "Church Right." On page 149 he writes: "Cer-
                                                                          tainly, there can be no objection to Christian holidays if only

                                                                          they, be rightly. kept. The Old Testament Church had her
                  Observance of Special Days                              religious holidays on which the people of Israel concentrated

        "The                                                              on the `great sa1utar.y  works of God that had taken place-
                 chwc1~e.s  shall observe, in addition  to the Sunday,
 also Christmas, Good Friday,  ~EEastm,  Ascems2on  Day, Pmte-            on those days. Such was Jehovah's will. The Old Testa-
 cost, the Day of Pg:aym, the National Thnksgivhag  Day.,                 ment holydays  were His institutions. The Old Testament
 amI  Old a& New Year's Day."                  - Article 67, D.K.O.       holydays  waxed old and vanished away with the law. The

        `<Let no mnn the?-efore  judg!se  you &L meat, or & drink,        realities of the kingdom are now before us in the Scriptures.
 or in respeci  of cuz holyday,  OY of the new ~OO~L,  OY  of t15e        For God has sent His Son in the flesh and through Him
 sabbath days; whick  we a. shadow of things to come; but the             wrought salvation. Christ suffered and died for the sins of
 body is of Christ."                          - Colossians 2 :16,  1.7
                                                                          His people, was raised unto their justification and they with
        Shortly after the Reformation of the sixteenth century,           Him were set in heaven and blessed with all spiritual bless-
 the Reformed Churches adopted the position that all the                  ings. These works of God took place in time, were wrought
 special so-called holy days, sanctioned and revered by the               on certain days of twenty-four hours and with these days they

 Roman Catholic Church, should be abolished. It was not                   are associated in the mind of the church, associated with

 that the Reformed fathers felt that the celebration of these             dates, points of time, in the year. And though there is no

 days was in itself wrong but they favored setting them aside             express command, yet certainly there can be no objection to
 for these reasons:        (1) These days are institutions of men         God's people repairing to God's house at the annual return

 but not God. There is no injunction in the Word of God                   of the dates or days of those events to be occupied in their

 requiring the church to observe them. (2) These days tend                minds with those events. The idea is not certainly that

 to force aside the Sabbath and cause it to lose some of its              Christian people have before their mind these events only at

 significance. It is more important that the proper commem-               the annual return of the day on which they took place. We
 oration of the Sabbath be retained than anything else. lf                must have God's works before our mind always, for then

 these special days detract from it in any way it is better that          only do we have God before our mind-the God and Father

 they be abolished. (3) These days tend toward looseness of               of Christ - for through His works God revealed Himself. It

 morals and heathen modes of feasting. If the truth of this               is only in these works that we see Him and through these

t argument is questioned, one has but to look around a bit                works that we know Him."

 today at the celebrations of the members of the church in                      In general we can concur with the views expressed in this.
 connection with many of these days and you will be con-                  quotation although we will add a few comments about this.
 vinced that our fathers were correct.
                                                                          matter. It is certainly true that for the New Testament church
        Zwingli and Calvin both encouraged the rejection of all           the celebration of these special days is not mandatory. For
 ecclesiastical festive days. Even before Calvin arrived in               us it has become mandatory by rule of our Church Order
 Geneva these practices had been discontinued under the                   but there is no command in Scripture to this effect. Some
 leadership of Fare1  and Viret. Knox, too, the Scottish Re-              have reasoned that this lack of a direct command is equal to
 former, shared these convictions and succeeded in getting the            a prohibition and, therefore, it is wrong for the church to
 Scottish Churches to ban the Romish sacred days.                         celebrate these days, but this is an entirely erroneous deduc-
        In spite of this strong influence of leading Reformers,           tion. Celebration of special days is proper if these days are
 however, this practice did not continue long in the churches             rightly kept. This must be emphasized because it is better
 in the Netherlands. The situation there was somewhat dif-                not to commemorate these special days at all than to do sot
 ferent. First of all the church and government were very
                                                                          improperly. Rev. Ophoff correctly points             to the purpose
 closely knit together and the latter favored the celebration                                                          LIS 
                                                                          of these celebrations. It must be to direct us into a deeper,
 of these days since they were popular with the people. The               spiritual contemplation of the great and wonderful works of
 synod of the Reformed churches there then made concessions
                                                                          our God. The day (not just a single hour of it) is set aside
 to the government and allowed a limited number of these                  to praise and glorify the God of our salvation. Doing this the
 special days in the churches. At first just Christmas, Easter.           celebration of these special days becotnes spiritually profit-
 New Year's and Ascension were celebrated. But gradually
                                                                          able.
 ,other days were added until we have the list that is mentioned

 in our Church Order today.                                                     We are bold to say that although the statement of Article

        We must face the question whether or not this concession          67 of the Church Order is ideally correct, it is in need of

 by the church was wrong ? Also in this connection whether                complete revision when it comes to the practical application

 there is or is not any merit or value for the church in com-             of it in our day. What we mean is that for the present gen-

 memorating these special days in addition to her weekly                  eration it is not adequate to state that "The churches shall:

 sabbath ?                                                                observe . . ." but we need a concise but complete definition


                                              THE.STANDARD   B E A R E R                                                              115


  as to how this observance of special days is to be enacte$            ceremonial and a moral element.

   Some of us seem to think ,that the mere calling of a special            "2. The reit on the seventh day after the creation, and

  church-service on these days constitutes a fulfillment of our         the strict observance of this day  with which the Jewish

  ,obligation  here, while others are evidently satisfied with even     people were charged particularly, was ceremonial.

  less since these services are generally very poorly attended.            ."3. That a definite and appointed day has been set aside

  Many are too preoccupied with other things on these days to           to the service of God, and that for this purpose as much rest

  find time to observe them in the house of God. Christmas has          is required as is necessary for the service of God and for

  become so thoroughly paganized and commercialized that the            hallowed contemplation, this element is moral.

  ,celebration  of the birth 0 Christ is made a public mockery.            "4. The sabbath of the Jews having been set aside, Chris-

  Easter is the annual occasion to display the latest styles in         tians are in duty bound to hallow the day of the Lord

  wearing apparel and this takes precedence over any sober              solemnly.

  thinking about the wonder of the resurrection. Thanksgiving              "5. This day has always been kept in the early church

  is made an occasion of festive banqueting that echoes the             since the time of the apostles.

  worldly slogan, "Eat, drink and be merry." Old Year and                  "6. This day must be so consecrated unto the ser"vice  of

  New Year Days are marked as times of revelry, hilarity and            God that upon it men rest from all servile labors, except

  pleasure- without consideration of the truth that heaven and          those required by charity and present necessities, and likewise

  earth are passing away and the Lord is at hand to make all            from all such recreations as prevent the service of God."

  things new. Pentecost and Ascension Days are nearly for-                 These six points were adopted by the synod of the Chris-

  gotten and this undoubtedly because the world has not capit-          tian Reformed Church in 1881  and then in 1926 the synod

   alized upon them as it has upon the other holy days for its          expressed that they must be considered doctrinal in their

. own profit. With regard  to the observance of these days by           nature and hence binding and also in full accord with -the

  the church, the Word of God must ever resound, "Be not                fundamental principles expressed in Lord's Day 38 of the

  conformed to the world but be transformed in the renewing             Catechism, to the effect that the fourth commandment also

  of your minds" (Rom. 12 :2 j. But the fear is very real that          applies to the New Testament Church in its observance of the

  if it were possible to purify the celebration of these days of all    day of rest and worship.       The synod also declared that these

  that is pagan and carnal, there would be little left for the          points are an official interpretation of the confession and not

  church to observe and to observe that exclusively is undesir-         an addition to the Three Forms of Unity.

  able in this age of materialism. The church seems willing to             It is to be lamented that in the decline of the church the

  give note to the spiritual significance of these days as a sort       force of such decrees is lost. There is considerable evidence

  of subsidiary to the carnal and material but to sound that            today that this doctrinal position is maintained only in the

 spiritual note alone is considered evidence of a cultural              archives. Were it enforced there would be occasion for much

  deficiency. Nevertheless, God still demands, "that ye may             disciplinary labor.
                                                                                                  .
  prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of             Special days, including the sabbath, are nedgssary.  Though

   God" (Ram. 12 :2 j.                                                  the day itself is nothing and although there is not spedial

      We do not plead the abolition of these celebrations be-           merit or reward earned by. keeping it, the observance of

  cause current practice and custom do not meet the required            these days is spiritually uplifting to the child of God who

   standards of God's Word. If such would be the argument               uses them aright  in his seeking the Kingdom of God and its
   the same could and would have to be applied to our obse&-            righteousness.                                          G.V.d.B.

  ante  of the sabbath. The sabbath is frequently desecrated.

  The lack of zealous devotion and whole hearted consecration

  to the things of God is present in all of us. Now it might be
                                                                                          THAT "HORRIl3LE"  DECREE
   argued that the true parallelism is not found here because
                                                                                               (ConNnued  from page 113)
  sabbath observance is directly. enjoined in Scripture and this,
                                                                        .seek  to do to God's church, the Christian knows that God
  as we have seen, is not the case with the celebration of special
                                                                        has still absolufe  government and control. That government
 i days. Hence, the former could not be abolished while the
                                                                        is also over all the wicked. They too can only serve His
  latter could without violating the Word of God. But the
                                                                        eternal purpose. And the finai end of the wicked God has
   church never reasons that because the practice of a certain
                                                                        determined for the vindication of His own Name. Should
  thing becomes wrong it must be done away with. Rather the
                                                                        not the church constantly be assured of this  glorious fact in
   thing itself may certainly be retained, but the evil practice
                                                                        the preaching of the Word ?
  must be removed.
                                                                           Oh, wonder of the greatness of our glorious God! Un-
      This the Synod of Dort in 1618-19  decreed when it                speakable are His ways, and His judgments past finding
  adopted the following six points regarding sabbath  observ-           out! May He also grant that we may never be ashamed to
   ance.                                                                maintain this His Word even as He has revealed it to us.

      `Y. In the fourth commandment of God's Law there is a                                                                     G. J.V.B.

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

,                                                                                                                     United      Pentecostal          Church         ........................................       160,000
                                                                                                                      Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Church ..................                                       342,993,
:--ii-LL  A R O U N D   USI                                                                                           Religious bodies with less than 100,000 members ...... 2,247,120.
                                                                                                                                Total .................................................................... 22,161,953.

                                                                                                                 Member Denominations of N.A.E. (The .N.A.E. is not a
ECUMENICAL GROUPS                                                                                                centralized organization, but claims a service constituency of

     In the latest issue of C'hKstianity  Today there appeared                                                   10,000,000  through. its affiliated agencies) :

a rather lengthy description of all the large ecumenical                                                              Anchor Bay Evangelistic Association ........................                                     3,500
groups in America.                     This was given in connection with a                                            Assemblies of God                 ......................................................       505,703
                                                                                                                      Association of Fundamental Ministers and Churches                                                1,000
discussion of the meeting of the World Council Of Churches                                                            Brethren in Christ                ....................................................           6,698
(W.C.C. j which began its meetings November 18 and con-                                                               Christian Church of North America ............................                                  20,000
                                                                                                                      Church b y the Side o f the Road ................................                                2,000
tinues meeting until December G in New Delhi, India. Some                                                             Church of God ................................ .............................                   162,794
of the figures and descriptions are of considerable interest.                                                         Church of the United Brethren in Christ.. ....................                                  20,896
                                                                                                                       Churches of Christ in Christian                        Union ....................              11,500
       First of all there is a breakdown of all the religious bodies                                                  Conservative Congregational Christian Conference ....                                            5,000
in the United States.                                                                                                 Elim Missionary Assemblies                       .......................................         5,000
                                                                                                                      Evangelical Free Church ............................................                            31,192
         Protestant ................................................. .53.1%                       60,263,352         Evangelical Mennonite Brethren Church ..................                                         `2,536
         Roman Catholic ...................................... ..36.1%                             40,871,302         Evangelical Mennonite                   Church .................................. -              2,303.
         Jewish ........................................................        4.9%                5,500,000         Evangelical Methodist Church ....................................                                5,779
         (&hers ........................................................        5.9%                9,973,099         Evangel Church ............................................................                      2,000'
                                                                                                                      Free Methodist Church ................................................                          55,568
     The "Others" in the above list include such groups as                                                            Full Gospel Church Association ....................................                              l,OO@
the Christian Scientists, the Mormons, the Jehovah Wit-                                                               Grace Gospel Evangelistic Association ........................                                   1,000
                                                                                                                      Holiness Methodist Church ........................................                               1,000
nesses, the Unitarians, etc.                                                                                          International Church of the Foursquare Gospel ........                                          79,012
       As far as the ecumenical line-up of the Protestant                                                             International Pentecostal Assemblies ..........................                                  5,000
                                                                                                                      Mennonite Brethren Church ........................................                              13,160,
Churches is concerned, it is interesting to note that the Na-                                                         Missionary Church Association ....................................                               7,577
tional Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. (N.C.C.)                                                           National Association of Free Will Baptists ..............                                      200,000-
                                                                                                                      New England Evangelical Baptist Fellowship ..........                                            2.000.
has 62.5% of all Protestants within its organization. This                                                            Ohio Yearly Meeting of Friends ..................................                                61540
totals 39,702,101  members. All other ecumenical bodies have                                                          Open Bible Standard Churches ..................................                                 25,000
                                                                                                                      Oregon Yearly Meeting of Friends ............................                                    5,398.
37.5% or 23,865,952  members. The main groups within the                                                              Pentecostal Church of Christ ......................................                              1,199
                                                                                                                      Pentecostal Church of God ........................................
N.C.C. are Baptists, Church of the Brethren, Disciples                                                                                                                                                               103,500
                                                                                                          Of          Pentecostal Holiness Church ....                          ..............................        51.688.
Christ, Eastern Churches, Evangelical United Brethren                                                                 Primitive Methodist Church ........................................                             14,613.
Church, Friends, Lutheran Churches, Methodist Churches,                                                               Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America ......                                             6,214
                                                                                                                      Rocky Mountain Yearly Meeting of Friends ..............                                          1.300,
Moravian Churches, Polish National Catholic Church of                                                                 United Fundamentalist Church ..................................                                  1;ooo
                                                                                                                      LJnited Missionary Church                      .........................................
America, Presbyterian Churches (including the Presbyterian                                                                                                                                                            10,357
                                                                                                                      Wesleyan Methodist                 Church ......................................                43,392
Church in the U.S. and the United Presbyterian Church in                                                              Other Conventions .......... .............................................                      26,200.
                                                                                                                      Membership of Individually Affiliated Churches ......
the U.S.A. j, Protestant Episcopal Church in the United                                                                                                                                                              150,000~

States of America, Reformed Churches (including the Hun-                                                                          Total: 38 denominations .___..........................  1,599,619'

garian Reformed Church in America and the Reformed                                                               Member Churches and Individuals of A.C.C.C. :

Church in America), the United Church of Christ.                                                                      Bible Presbyterian Church Association ___.....__._..........                                     6,056
     The other ecumenical organizations are the National As-                                                          Bible Protestant            Church ._. ._.___...  __. .                                          2,535
                                                                                                                      Congregational Methodist Church ..__  _. . __...                                                14,272.
sociation of Evangelicals  (N.A.E. j , and the American Coun-                                                         Evangelical Methodist Church of America __..______........                                      25,614,
cil of Christian Churches (A.C.C.C.). There are several                                                               General Association of Regular Baptist Churches ..,.                                           126,080
                                                                                                                      Independent Churches, mated ._ ___ __ .___... ._. ..: ..____                                    14,100,
groups of Churches that have no membership in any ecumen-                                                             Methodist Protestant Church .________   _ _ _   _....  _ _   ._                                  2,678.
ical organization. A list of these churches that belong to                                                            Militant Fundamental Bible Churches _. ___ ..__,  _.... ._.__                                    1,268
                                                                                                                      Southern Methodist Church .._ ___.  __. .__ _._ _..
these groups is interesting.                                                                                                                                                                                           y;g-
                                                                                                                      Tioga River Christian                Conference _. .__.  _. ._._  .____  ..____
                                                                                                                      United Christian Church _. _. ___ ._. _.. .______                                                $50.
     Membership of Non-Aligned Religious Bodies :                                                                     World Baptist Fellowship                        _. . _.                                         68,000>
                                                                                                                      Independent Baptist Bible Mission __._.,..__..__.___........                                     5,510
        Adventists _. __. _. _. . .._. . __ _.. . .                                                  348,470          Fundamental Methodist Church                           __ ___.  ___.  __ __. __. __ _..          1,073,
        American Baptist Association .__._.__...._,_....................... 647,800                                   Membership of Individually Affiliated Churches ..____                                         738,265
        American Lutheran Church __. _, ._, ___,  ___,  ._ _. __. __. __. __ ___ ___ 2,194,505                        Members AAiliated  as Individuals ._. ___ _. __ ____.  _...                                    145,000~
         Christian Reformed Church                     __. .._. _. .._. ._. _. _.                    ~$,~~~
         Church of God _.__...  .._ ._.______.._.__.,___............................                                            Total .__...______._......................................................         1,163,845:
         Church of God in Christ . . . . .._...._..............................                      ~3~:~~~
         Church of the Nazarene .___.........._...............................                                      Reading over the' list and the total membership figures,,
         Churches of Christ __._                                    _.__.__    ..____.......__.    2,007:650     one is amazed at the amount of small sects, splinter groups,.
         Conservative Baptist Association of America .._..__.___._                                   275;OOO
        Eastern Church bodies __._..........  ..____._.__.......................                     409,962     minor assemblies that dot the church map. Nor can it be
     Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod _.,____.._,.,,...,_..,.,,.  2,304,962                                      said that any of these religious bodies truly represent the
         North America Baptist Association .__..,,....___...._...........                            330,265
         Salvation Army _._.  .____._._......................,.........................              253,061     church of Jesus Christ. Many of these groups have departed
         Southern Baptist Association                          .                                   9,485.276     so far from th.2 main-stream of the truth and the history &
         United Free Will Baptist Church _,..__........................                              100,000


                                            T H-E. S.-T-A  N D--A  R D- B.% A R E R                                                      117


the Church. that it is inconceivable that- the Church interested     were invited from the Roma-fi  Catholic Church. The Vatican

in doctrinal purity -could be a part of. any of them. At one         accepted the invitation and sent five authorized observers. It

time the Christian.. Reformed. Church-.was a member of the           was .hoped  that .-this would be a first step in more cordial

N.A.E., but withdrew several years ago. At the Synod of              relations with Rome, especially since it is possible that Rome

the Christian Reformed Church in 1961 there were several             will return the favor and invite observers from the W.C.C.

overtures which petitioned Synod to join once again the              to next year's Vatican Council.

N.A.E., but Synod wisely rejected them and chose to remain               Even among evangelical people there were many doubts

independent.                                                         expressed about the worth of the meeting in New Delhi --

   Turning now to the World Council of Churches: this                worth as far as the true cause of Jesus Christ is concerned.

group meeting in New Delhi is composed of church groups              It was noted that the American delegation of 160 members

from all over the world. The American Churches, however,             is dominated by liberals who deny the fundamental truths

are represented in the W.C.C. mostly through the National            of Scripture, while the few conservative delegates are some-

Council of Churches.                                                 what scorned, or at least looked. upon with condescension.

   This meeting of the W.C.C. is the third meeting. of the           Others were concerned about the fact that several important
organization and is made up of 625 official delegates and            meetings of the Council were closed to the public and to the
about 375 advisers, consultants, observers, fraternal delegates      press. Many wondered `<how  Christian leaders presuming to
and special guests.     Some important items appearing on the        plot the course of church history dare to lock out their con-
agenda are :                                                         stituents from knowing how they arrive at their conclusions."
                                                                         Surely, upon reading all the material available relating
  ~ 1) Adoption of the theme which is "Jesus Christ, the Light
                                                                     to these ecumenical movements, one must.face  the question,
of the World," with sub-themes of "Witness," "Service," and
                                                                     What is the significance of all this for the Church of Jesus
"Unity."
                                                                     Christ? The answer can only be that it has no positive sig-
   2) The proposal to integrate with the W.C.C. the Inter-           nificance whatsoever. For the most part, if not entirely, the
national Missionary Council, to form the Commission on               Church of Christ is entirely out of the picture. Even should
World Mission and  Evangelism. Before the assembly even              some people of God be represented in the churches who send
met plans were already being made for the new group to hold          delegates to the council, their voice is stilled by the liberalism
its first meeting two days after the W.C.C. assembly ad-             of their leaders. You can't find Christ or His cause in any of
journs.     Evidently the leaders are confident of passage.          these bodies. The significance is negative. The church world
   3) A proposed change in the W.C.C.`s basis for member-            is apostatizing  and ecumenicism is a large step toward greater
ship. Previously this read : "The World Council of Churches          apostasy. It is but a matter of time when a "super-church"
is a fellowship of churches who accept Jesus Christ as God           will indeed be formed including all but the saints of God. But
and Saviour."      If the proposed amendment were adopted,           this "super-church" will no doubt be the right arm of the
this basis would read: "The World Council of Churches is a           Anti-Christ.
fellowship of Churches which confess the Lord Jesus Christ               Yet, and perhaps for this very reason, it is important
as God and Saviour, according to the Scriptures, and there-          that we who must redeem the times, watch closely the devel-
fore seek to fulfill their common calling to the glory of the        opments in the church world of today.                      H. Hanko
one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit." Evangelicals,  on the

whole, are strongly in favor of this proposed revision on the
grounds that it is more explicit ; others do liot want it because                                 IN MEMORIAM
                                                                        The Martha Society of the Protestant Reformed Church of Doon,
it "could indicate a move toward creed making."                      Iowa, hereby wishes to elyress  its heartfelt sympathy to two of our
                                                                     members, Mrs. Henry Kuiper, Sr., and Mrs. C. Klein in the loss of
   4) An application for membership from the Russian Or-             their step-son and brother,
thodox Church. There are sixteen observers present at the                                        REV. H. H. KUIPER
meeting; they will be seated with full voting rights should             May the Lord comfort &em in their bereavement by the assur-
                                                                     ance that he has gone to the house of many mansions, there to be
their application be accepted. There are many who favor              with his Lord and Saviour.
their admission, and in fact, it is claimed that already there                                           The Martha Society
                                                                                                         G. Van Baren, President
are enough votes to assure their acceptance. There is how-                                               Mrs. H. J. Blankespoor, Secretary
ever one problem: there is also a Russian Orthodox Church

in America. This church has in it many members that have                                         I N   A4EMORIAM
escaped from Communism. They are very  suspicious of the                The Men's Society of the Oak Lawn Protestant Reformed Church
                                                                     e.xpresses  its deep sympathy to its fellow-member, Henry W. Kuiper,
Russian Orthodox Church, claiming that it is a tool of the           and family in the sorrow e`uperienced  in the departure of their father,

Communist leaders, that it is pretty much in line with Cotn-                              THE REV. H. H. KUIPER
munist propaganda, and that the Red leaders intend to use               Jehovah is our comfort. He is the Rock in 1Vhom  we trust and
                                                                     Who gives grace that we may confess: "As for me, I will behold Thy
the W.C.C., if membership should be granted, as a forum              face in righteousness, I shall be satisfied when I awake with Thy
for the Communist line.                                              likeness." Psalm 17: 15.
                                                                                                         Rev. G. Vanden  Berg, President
   Another interesting fact of the meeti.ng  is that observers                                           M. De Vries, Secretary

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


                                                                   yet he:also  experienced the riches of grace whereby he might

   C O N T R I B U T I O N S                                       serve God's purpose in God's Church. When the call came
                                                                   to serve in the church in glory, he was not reluctant to take-

                                                                   his place there.

          Rev. Henry H. Kuiper Called Home                            Funeral services, conducted by the Rev. Herman Veldman
                                                                   of Redlands, California, were held in Loveland on Thursday,
       On the 14th of November, 1961, the Rev&end  Henry H.        November 16. Services were also held, accompanying the
Kuiper departed at Loveland, Colorado, to take his place           burial, at Doon,  Iowa, with the Rev. John Heys officiating.
among the s&nts in Glory with the Lord. All of our min-
                                                                      Rev. Kuiper was especially known and loved among US:
isters arid churches, as well as the congregation of Loveland
                                                                   for his exuberant enthusiasm and faithfulness to the cause of
and his family keenly feel the loss of our departed brother,
                                                                   Jesus Christ. The young people of all our churches still re-
but we can rejoice together in the fact that he has fought
                                                                   member his zeal and enthusiasm at the recent convention held
the good fight,..finished  the course, and has gone to receive
                                                                   in Loveland. The congregation at Loveland sincerely ap-
the crown of glory which Christ has prepared for him and
                                                                   preciated his devoted ministry. May our God soon replace
for all who are awaiting Christ's appearing.
                                                                   this servant with `another man of His choice, and ,may  the

       Rev. Ruiper was born in the neighborhood of Corsica,        congregation at Loveland taste the riches of God's grace also,

South Dakota, on July 4, 1905. He spent his early years in         in this experience. Likewise, may the Comforter bestow His.

Doon,  Iowa, where his parents were charter members of our         comforting peace upon the hearts of the bereaved family.

Protestant Reformed Church, and where his father served                                                         _ Rev. C. Ha+oO
in the capacity of eld,er for many years. Upon completion of

his training, he taught in the Christian School of Princeburg,

Minnesota. There he met his wife, Winnie De Vries, to

whom he was joined in marriage on June 23, 1927. Besides                               The "Hymn Question"

triplets, which died in early infancy, Rev. and Mrs. Kuiper
                                                                   Dear Rev. Hoeksema:
received six children, three of whom are at present engaged

in teaching in our schools, one, a daughter, is living in Red-        There has been considerable discussion amongst our

lands, California, and two are still at home, attending school.    members and comment in our Standard Bearer concerning

                                                                   the "Hymn Question."
       In -1934,  after studying in our Seminary, Rev. Kuiper
became pastor of the Orange City Protestant Reformed                  We have been taught  by the church fathers and also by
Church, which he served for five years. Ill health compelled       our present church leaders that hymns may not be sung
him to give up his work in the ministry for some time, part        during formal worship services. We have the Belgic Confes-
of which was spent in Minnesota, part in Iowa, and part in         sions, the Articles of Christian Faith, our catechism, and
Michigan. He never lost the desire to serve in the ministry,       our various forms for Lord's Supper, baptism, etc., written
so that when his health warranted it, he again sought to be        by our esteemed fathers and we would ask: were these
made eligible fo.r a call. The Lord opened the way for him,        fathers, who gave us these masterpieces and who we believe
and in 1951 he. took up his ministerial labors in the church       were led by the Holy Spirit, in error when they taught us.
at Randolph, Wisconsin, and served there until 1954. The           the danger of introducing hymns into the church?- `TV
                                                                                                                        L-`""
nest four years were spent in shepherdizing the congregation          Our Synod should be legislative only to the extent that

at Redlands, California. In the fall of 1958, he received a        it may make rules governing the carrying out of our doctrines.

-call from the newly organized church at Loveland, Colorado,       and principles and the business of the church. Matters con-

where he took up the ministry in the first part of December        cerning the change of these doctrines and principles should
and served for three years.                                        be strictly out of order and no consideration should be given

                                                                   them.
       Rev. Kuiper's  last illness was comparatively brief. Al-

though'he  must have had cancer for some time, he was not             Is it sin that we do not sing hymns and other versifica-

incapacitated until about six weeks before his departure.          tions of Scripture? If our present stand in opposition to,

A brain tumor prevented him from preaching and performing          hymns is not sin why should we take that questionable stand

his ministerial duties during those six weeks. But he felt         permitting such hymns as should be approved by Synod and

fairly well much of the time.     He was informed of his con-      which over the years could and, from the experience of

dition and was able to surrender his way to the Lord, Who          other denominations, would become a continuous process of'

says to this servant "go" and he goes, and to that one "come"      revising our hymn book and which would make our church

and he comes. He expressed his gratitude for having been           and its doctrine completely unstable ? Our leaders know that

privileged  to serve in the ministry those last eleven years.      the history of other denominations shows that the introduc-

They were in many ways the happiest years of his life. He          tion of hymns weakens the foundation of that church in sue-h

realized that he was an unworthy servant as to his own merit,      a way that other weakening changes are sure to follow.


   We are reminded of the manna which was given to the                We who confess a membership in the church of God

children of Israel and which was a complete, a perfect, and        must walk in that confession being diligent to God's Word.

a delicious food. But God's chosen people tired of it and          In our text Moses is speaking of the Law of God. He called

sinned in clamoring for a "change." For years our leaders          Israel to diligence to that law, the Ten Commandments. Here

have taught us that the Psalms were complete and that they         is revealed a righteous God Who requires righteousness.

were sufficient (we would refer you to the Historical and          The text is addressed to us, "Keep thy soul diligent." We

Explanatory Introduction by Henry Beets, S.C., in the 1927         must walk in righteousness being diligent to God's Word,

edition of our Psalter), and now our people clamor for a           for it is the revelation of God, of his promise to us of

change because suddenly they have tired of this manna given        deliverance through Christ. We must keep our soul diligent

of God and it is no longer considered complete and sufficient.     through the study of God's Word.

   Our ministers and more especially our seminary profes-             How must we be diligent in the home ? By opposing all

sors bear a great responsibility and because they are inciting     evil in harmony with God's Word. We may have no other

the people as to the insufficiency of the Psalms and the neces-    gods before us, no graven images. The world seeks to enter

sity of additional hymns, it leads us to believe that our          our home through every means. We must diligently take

church is crumbling from the top much as it did just a few         heed that our entertainment too is to the              of God.
                                                                                                                glory 
years ago when a number of our people became followers of             We must hold fast to God's Word, to the cross, and
a heretic who also came out of the upper ranks.                    have a spiritual diligence which we reveal in our homes. We

   Certainly this question is bringing about a division            must teach our sons and sons' sons. Israel saw at the Red

amongst our members and it is creating unrest, and lack of         Sea but they forgot and served the calf. We have seen the

confidence in our leaders and in the stability of our doctrines    wonders of God, the cross, the resurrection, for God through

and teachings ;    and therefore I would have those leaders        His Son has lifted me. We still have our sinful flesh, but

answer to that part of the form for the Lord's Supper which        have been raised to light. We cannot seek the world and

states that "those who are given to r&e discord, sects and         the Word of God. Take heed and keep thy soul diligent.

mutiny in the church" should "keep - themselves from the              We must teach our covenant children, for diligence and
table of the Lord" and we should "declare to them that they        instruction go together. We must lead and guide them in
have no part in the kingdom of Christ."                            the promise of God's Word, teaching them God's law as it
                     Very truly yours in Christ,                   points to the cross and the wonder of deliverance. We

                                                                   must testify of God through example, prayer, and throug'n
                                        Gerhart Broekhouse
                                                                   instruction as our hearts have seen being diligent in every

   The above contribution is the first expression concerning       respect according to God's Word. We fall short of diligence
the hymn question I have received thus far. Let us have            in our homes but by grace, through the Spirit we instruct
more, either pro or con.                                 H.H.      as we have seen, experiencing a blessing through diligence.
                                                                   Through the Spirit, God preserves the church until Christ's

                                                                   return. God grant that we may be diligent to ourselves and

                                                                   our sons' sons.

                                                                      After the speech we were favored with a musical. number
     Report of the Western Ladies' League                          from Hull. Rev. Woudenberg answered three questions sent

   The Western Ladies' League met at Doon, Iowa, on                in from each of our societies. How do we answer those who
October 13, 1961, with Doon  as our hostess.                       maintain a long period of creation day ? A question concern-
                                                                   ing Job's wife and a question from Isaiah 38:1-5.  Does :
   The meeting was opened by our president, Mrs. Wm. I(.
                                                                   prayer change things ? Edgerton  gave us an organ-piano duct. .
Kooiker.  We sang Psalter No. 298, our theme song, and
                                                                   Our president gave a few closing remarks, thanked those
No. 42. Rev. Kortering  opened with prayer and Deut. 4 :l-1.3
                                                                   who took part, and our hostess. Our meeting was closed
was read.
                                                                   with singing No. 405 and prayer by our president.
   A short business meeting was held. Mrs. D. Bleyenberg                                    Mrs. Peter Roy Westra, Reportrr
read the minutes and Mrs. C. Sleen gave the treasurer report.

During the singing of Psalter No. 281 and 359 a collection

was taken for Edgerton  Christian school.       Our president                                                               x..`

then introduced our speaker, Rev. Van Baren,  who spoke on                      My transgressions I confess,

the topic, "Diligence In The Home," taken from the text                         Grief and guilt my soul oppress ;'

in Deut. 4:9.    "Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul                  I have sinned against Thy grace

diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have                   And provoked Thee to Thy face ;

seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy                   I confess Thy judgment just,

life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons."                             Speechless, I Thy mercy trust.

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


                                                                   question, "What we as young people*,should  do to promote

       NEWS FROM OUR CHURCHES                                      mission work locally."    The essayist gave  different views of
                                                                   what is considered "mission work," and suggested various.
                "All the saints salztte  thee . . J' PHIL. 4:21    ways of accomplishing it. The essay provoked considerable

                                                                   discussion, enough to be continued in the next meeting.

                                                  Nov. 20, 1961       The Reformed Action Society in the Menno-Tiipp  Mis-

       Rev. A. Mulder,  of Kalamazoo, has declined the call he     sion Field has decided to meet Monday evenings for the

received from the churches in Isabel and Forbes; he is still       purpose of studying the "Church Order" of the Reformed

considering ? call from our church iti Randolph, Wisconsin.        churches in the light of the Heidelberg Catechism and the

                                                                   Scriptures. Invitations have gone out to men and women,
       Rev. H. H. I<uiperz  from Loveland, heeded a call last
                                                                   members or non-members, to avail themselves of that oppor-
week of a highly different nature - the kind that comes to
                                                                   tunity to become acquainted with the basic principles of
each of us but once, and cannot be declined. All of our bul-
                                                                   Church Order in the Scriptures, and also to learn of the
letins carried the news.; we quote from one: "Last Tuesday
                                                                   Church Orders which depart from the principle of Scriptural,
afternoon, the Lord called into the Church Triumphant His
                                                                   Reformed Church Polity.
faithful servant, Rey. H. 1-I. Kuiper,  at the age of 56 years.

The family and the congregation keenly feel the loss of his           A/ dwance  Notice :    The Hope Choral Society has an-

departure, yet they rejoice in the fact that he is delivered       nounced its Christmas program date td be Sunday evening,

from further suffering and, according to his own confession,       Dec. 24. ANd, The Prot. Ref. Men's Chorus will render an

is now with the Lord in glory. May the comfort of the Holy         inspirational program on Sunday evening, Dec. 31, at 9 pm-

Spirit sustain the widow and family in their bereavement, and      at First Church.

may the congregation also rest in the confidence that the             A Reformation Day program was held in Hull the eve-
Lord, Who does all things well, will provide for them."            ning of Nov. 5. Hull's Young People-`s  Society sponsored that

       Co&&ution  : Beginning December 3, Rev. H. Hoeksema         event and secured Rev. B. Woudenberg, of Edgerton, as.

will again be the speaker for the Reformed Witness Hour.           speaker. The society invited Doon's and Edgerton's young

The Lord willing, Rev. Hoeksema will continue our radio            people to attend the meeting "so that we may commemoraie

ministry through April 20, 1962. Among the radio sermons           the wonder of God in the Reformation in which He preserved

to be heard are a special Christmas message, an appropriate        His own Church and Truth over against the lie which was.

sermon commemorating the 1,OOOth  broadcast of The Re-             prevalent."

formed Witness Hour, a series of Lenten sermons, and con-
                                                                      Our Missionary's Thanksgiving D,ay sermon was entitled,.
cluding with an inspiring message regarding the glorious
                                                                   "The Good Giving and Gifts of the Father of Lights." The-
.resurrection  of our Lord Jesus Christ. The pastor, in his
                                                                   sermon was an exposition of James 1:17,  18.
first sermon, will explain "The Glorious Inheritance" prom-

ised to God's people,in  I Peter 1 verse 4, to be followed with       Under the announcement regarding the Wednesday eve:
-a message entitled, `Kept in the Power of God" (vs. 5)) and       ning Adult Bible class in Lynden's bulletin Rev. Harbach
sn Dec. 17, under the theme, "Rejoicing Through Manifold           gave the challenge: "Russellites study the Bible avidly, why
.Temptations"  the sixth verse of this chapter will be treated.    shouldn't we ?"
A sermon, celebrating the birth of our Lord, will be heard

Dec. 24, entitled, "The Virgin Birth." Are you among the              The first (Nov. 12) hint of Christmas was noted in

many listeners of this distinctively reformed radio program?       Doon's bulletin which asked the catechumens to stay after

Printed copies of these messages may be obtained by writing        the morning service to practice a number for the Christmas.

`to The Reformed Witness Hour, P.O. Box 8, Grand Rapids            Program.

1, Michigan.
                                                                      Hudsonville's Mr. and Mrs. Society sponsored a Coffee
       The bulletins reveal that many and varied Sciipture por-    in the church basement Nov. S. The proceeds were used to,

.tions are being studied in the societies. The Books include,      augment the church kitchen furnishings.
Genesis, Luke, Acts, Remans  and - emblematical of the
nearness of the Parousia - the Book of Revelation. Take               Yo.z&ng nzcn:  The denomination's loss of Rev. Kuiper  has:
note, non-society members, you are missing a golden oppor-         increased the already critical need for ministers.      May it
tunity to heed the injunction recorded in II Peter 3 :lS, "But     please the Lord to give you grace to respond as did Isaiah.
.grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus              as it is recorded for us in Isaiah 6 :8, "Also I heard the voice
Christ."                                                           of the Lord, saying, `Whom shall I send, and who.$$  go]
                                                                   for us ?' Then said I, `Here cm I, send me'."              I!..:  -..
       At a recent Young People's Society meeting in First                                                                 :.
Church Miss Clarice Newhof gave a paper answering the                 . . . . see you in church.                           J.M.F-


