   VOLUME XXXVIII                                              AUGUST 1. 1962 - GRAND RAPIDS,  MICHIGAN                                          NUDER 19


                                                                                               .`.sowing.    The seed is the Word of Jesus, as we have seen.
         `i/l E & I T&T I 0 N                                                                   This brings up the interesting question. of the word of the
                                                                                                preacher. Attend to this, dear reader: every word which the

                                                                                                human preachers utter is not the Word of Christ. Oh no,

                                                                                                there.is  much contraband in this respect, and you must always
         THE PARABLE  OF T$lE SqWER                                                             check the sermons you hear with the infallible record which

               "Behold, a sower zvent  forth to sow;  and whert                                 Jesus has left us in the Holy Bible.
           he sowed,  Sony seeds fell by tly way side, and the                                      And the third matter is the field.
           fowls came and dcvowed  them up:  some fell upon
                                                                                                    The field is not the world. I agree that ultimately this will
           stony places, where they hd not ~wch  e.arth:  and
           forf;lawitll   t h e y   spmng up,  b e c a m e                                      become the field, but as long as there are large tracts on this
                                                                          they  h a d   n o
           deepness of ca+tlz:  and when the sun was .up,  they                                 sorry earth where the Gospel has not been preached as yet,
           zvere scorched; and because they had no gyoot,  they                                 so long you cannot say that the field is the world'. The field
           wifhered  away. And some fell among tlzoms;-mtd                                      is the place where the preacher brings the Word of Christ.
           the tlwrns spmng .u.p, and choked them: bwt  othevs                                  And therefore it is the sphere of the Kingdom of God on
           fell &to good ground, and brought forth mf~uit,
           sohe an kund~edfold,  SOWI+  sixty fold,. some th&y-                                 earth. It is the realm of the church of Jesus Christ in the
           f o l d .   What  loath  ea.ys   t o   h e a r ,   l e t   i&x  h e a r . "          broadest sense of the word.
                                                                - Matth.-  13 :3b-9                 So there you have the fitting introduction to the process

                                                                                                of the sowing of the Word of God. and its fruit, or lack of
   The sower is Jesus Christ. That is, in the strict sense of                                   fruit. Jesus Christ sows the Word of God through His
the word. iMark.4:13,  where Jesus explains this parable, tells                                 servants in the church at large. And in as far as the human
us that, "The sower soweth the Word !" We must em-                                              preachers bring that Word they preach He either applies it
phasize that last word of this quotation : The Word ! And                                       to the hearts of His elect children, or He hardens the rep-
that Word is the voice of Jesus Himself. At another occa-                                       robates unto their eternal condemnation. `Such is the picture
sion He said : My sheep hear My voice, and they follow Me!                                      we see.
And that Word of -Jesus is recorded for us in,the  Holy Bible.                                                             :t * * *
And even today it is really Jesus and Jesus alone who is

able to sow the seed of His own Word in the hearts of the                                           There are three kinds of people which are portrayed here
people of God.                                                                                  in this parable.
   Oh, I agree that in the instrumental sense of the word,                                          There are first those who are likened unto seed which is
also men are used by Him to sow the Word of God, but we                                         sown by the way side.
must remember that they are mere instruments' in the hand                                           Let me ,call your attention first to the fact that in the
of Christ Jesus.      First, the preachers who are real preachers                               instance of this parable, we have the explanation by Jesus
are chosen by Jesus and called by Him; second, it is Jesus                                     Himself.  And we will, of course, follow His exegesis of the
Who determines their audience- third, it is Jesus Who gives                                    .-parable.
them the message they must speak ; and, finally, it is Jesus                                        And here is what Jesus says about the people that are
Who preaches to the hearts while His servants stand on the                                      likened to the seed which falls by the wayside, and I quote:
pulpit. He,it  is that goeth from ear to ear:and  from heart to                                 "When anyone heareth the Word of the Kingdom, and
heart, and `He "preaches to His people in the full and real                                     understandeth it not then cometh  the wicked one, and catcheth
sense of the word.                                                                              away that which was sown in his heart."

    This brings us to the second idea under the subhead of                                         These .are the hardhearted people which. also. come to
                                                                                                                                                :-_i

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


church and which also hear the `preaching of the Word of             shout hallelujah. But it is not easy to live the life of the
Christ. It even comes into their heart, that is, they do con-        Kingdom in self-denial and self-sacrifice. It is very difficult

.sider.  it. to some extent. Intellectually they know what you       to sing the hallelujah's of the kingdom while they hate you

are talking about. But the last words of the human preacher          and persecute and say all manner of things against you falsely
have hardly died away, and they are the prey of Satan, who           for Jesus' sake. It is oh so difficult to crucify your own

comes and takes away the Word that was preached. The                 nature and do the things that are against you. It is difficult
Word of God went in one ear and out the other, and they              to serve Jesus in the heat of the day, when hatred and malice
are not changed for the good one whit. Notice, the seed is           are your daily portion.

taken away by Satan, so it is entirely proper to infer that             Remember, if you desire to walk with Jesus, you must
they let go of the Word of God with wicked deliberation, such        bear the reproach of Jesus. And we reproach a thing when
as: Well, why should we worry? The sun is shining and all            we abhor it, and throw it from us. And that is the way in
is well. It will be time a-plenty to think of these things when      which the real Christians are treated. For the sake of the
I am old and grey. Let's enjoy the world ; let us eat and drink      fact that Jesus is in their heart, their walk and conversation,
and be merry, for tomorrow we die! And they continue on              they are killed all the day long, they are accounted as sheep
their foolish pathway.                                               for the slaughter.

       Of course, there is no, fruit. That is, there is no praise       In order to stand the heat of day, you must have deepness
and honor of God in their heart or in their mouth.                   of earth.

       The second kind of people are pictured in the seed which         In order to walk with Jesus in the midst of an hostile
fell in stony places where it had no deepness of earth.              world, you must have the seed of Jesus' Word down deep

       They are the superficial people.                              within your inner heart and soul.
                                                                                                * * * *
       Of them J.esus  said, and I quote: But he that received

the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the             The third kind of people are those that are sown in

word, and anon with joy receiveth it; yet hath he not root           thorny places. Jesus says of them: He also that received
in himself, but dureth for a while ; for when tribulation or         seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word: and the

persecution ariseth because of the Word, by and by he is             care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the
                                                       I
offended.                                                            word, and he becometh unfruitful.

       You see the picture.                                             Can you not see them ?

       The seed fell into a slender layer of soil. Underneath,          They are the nominal Christians who love themselves
the ground is as hard as the rock. The sun ariseth, and              rather than God. They are the people who are very deliber-
because of the excessive warmth, the seed sprouts at once and        ate. They do not jump before they look. They weig.h  Jesus,
there you have the rich foliage. But no, we rejoiced too             God, and the eternal salvation very carefully overagainst the
easily. When the heat of midday comes and burns upon                 things of this world, the pleasures and the treasures which
this foliage, it is withered and dies away.                          this world can give them. They like a good time now, rather
                                                                     than presently in heaven.
       And so it is with superficial people. They hear the Word
of the Kingdom of God and at once they are moved in the                 Oh yes, they have gone to church. They gave Jesus a
superficial and shallow region of their feelings. They shout         hearing. And they went into the matter rather thoroughly.
for joy: Hallelujah! I have received the Word.                       They are deeper people than the first two categories. But
                                                                     while they are considering the Word of God, the thorns and
       But wait! Persecution and tribulation because of the          the thistles of the other things which I mentioned also grow
Word comes. You see, the Word of Jesus Christ is entirely            up. That is, they will consider the things of Jesus Christ in-
contrary to the thoughts, the imagination, the purposes and          deed, but they will also consider the-things and the pleasures
the enjoyments of the flesh, and of the world. So naturally,         of this world.
when you harbour the Christ and live the Christ, you run
                                                                        And the inevitable result is that they say: It is nice to
counter to the whole world of man ,and of flesh, of the sinful
                                                                     go to heaven, but it is nicer to have a good `time now. There-
and corrupt practice of the children of the world.
                                                                     fore, come on: we are going to enjoy the kingdom of men
       And in such a fight the superficial singer of the songs of    which is round about us and within us while we may. I like
Jesus' Gospel of the Kingdom cannot stand. He is at once             to have a thrill and enjoy myself. The parable of the rich
offended, and dies away. He falls back into his former life,         fool is a wondrous commentary on these kind of people.
and there is no fruit unto the praises of the name of God.              But there is no fruit unto the praising of the name of

       I am afraid that there are many sown in stony places          God.
today. It is oh so easy to attend a revival meeting and to                                      * * * *


                                              T H E   S T A N D A R D   BE.ARER                                                                                                                                                           435


   Finally there is the sowing with fruit, abundant fruit.

   And of those people the Lord said: But he that received                                    T H E  STAI~DARD B E A R E R
                                                                           Semi'-monthly,  except monthly &wing June, July' and August
into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and under-                 Published by the REFORMED  FREE PUBLISHING ASSOCXATION
standeth it ; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some           P. 0. Box 881, Madison Square Station, Grand Rapids 7, Mich.
                                                                                                           Editor - REV. HERMAN HOEKSEMA
an hundredfold, some sixtyfold and some thirtyfold. I also like             Communications relative to contents should be addressed to
to call your attention to Luke where we find the same par-                  Rev. H. Hoeksema, 1139 Franklin St., S. E., Grand Rapids 7,
                                                                            Mich. Contributions will be limited to 300 words and must be
able. There Jesus says of these people: But that on the good                                                     neatly written or typewritten.

ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having                 All church news items should be addressed to Mr. J. M. Faber,
                                                                                               1123 Cooper, S. E., Grand Rapids 7, Mich.
heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.                Announcements and Obituaries with the $2.60 fee included
                                                                           must be mailed 8 days prior to issue date, to the address below:
   Those people are very blessed. Their heart is called good                 All matters relative to subscriptions should be addressed to
and honest. It is likened unto soil that is well cultivated, soft                          Mr. James Dykstra, 1326 W. Butler Ave., S. E.
                                                                                                                      Grand Rapids 7, Michigan
and ready for the seed.
                                                                                RENEWAL: Unless a definite  request for discontinuance is
                                                                           received it is assumed that the subscriber wishes the subscrip-
   You will note that the whole parable turns on the ques-                     tion to continue without the formality of a renewal order.
tion: what sort of heart have you got?                                                                     Subscription price: $5.00 per year
                                                                                   Second Class  postage pa-id at Grand Rapids, Michigan

   These people have a good heart. It is a heart which is

made fit to hear the Word of God and to receive it in the

depths of that heart so that they understand it. Oh no, they

do not at once joyfully accept it. Far from it. When the                                                                        C O N T E N T S

Word of God in all its sharpness of condemnation of sin                 MEDITATION-
                                                                                 The Parable of the Sower .__.________._______....................................  433
comes to them, they are first of a11 sorry. They weep in the                                 Rev. G. Vos
very depths of them, and they turn to God for redemption.               EDITORIALS -
Then they are led to the cross of Jesus, and in that Jesus and                   Election and Reprobation According to Barth __________.............. 436
in that cross they see all the medicine for their ills, all the                  Exit, the Rev. R. Veldman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 437
                                                                                 "Christians" or Schismatics...  ..____  ___.._  __...._ ___ . . . . . .._.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 438
redemption for their load of sin and guilt, all the means for                                Rev. H. Hoeksema
a happy life and a blessed eternity. They see in that Jesus
                                                                        OUR DOCTIUNE-
the only way to the Father in heaven. He is the Mouth                            Of Justification                           ._.....  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 439
through which they can praise and glorify God in heaven, and                                 Rev. H. Hoeksema

this last is the very purpose of creation.
                                                                        A CLOUD OF WITNESSES -

    Oh yes, it is a question of the utmost importance: with                      Aaron's Budding Rod . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 442

what kind of a heart do I listen to the Word of God!                                         Rev. B. Woudenberg

    And they bring forth fruit.       Some more than others, but        FROM HOLY WRIT -
                                                                                 Exposition of I Timothy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 444
those which by the grace of God through regeneration and
                                                                                             Rev. G. Lubbers
conversion, have received a new heart, they all bring forth
fruit. And this fruit is the praising of the name of God, in            INHISFEAR-
                                                                                 A Sinful Separation. . .._.  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 446
their heart, their mouth, and their life! That is the life that                              Rev. J. A. Heys
counts !
                                                                        CONTENDING  FOR THE FAITH-
                                                               G.V.              The Church land  the Sacraments _.._....____....____........................                                                                               448

                                                                                             Rev. H. Veldman


                                                                        THE VOICE OF OUR FATHERS  -
                                                                                 The Belgic Confession _.............................................................  450

                               IN MEMORIAM                                                   Rev. H. C. Hoeksema


                                                                        DECENCY AND ORDER -
   The Protestant Reformed Men's Chorus hereby wishes to express
                                                                                 The Hymn Matter __._.  .__......._.  .._. . .._. ._. .__.  . .._. . . .452
its heartfelt sympathy to one of its members, Mr. Edward Ophoff                  Holy Matrimony                                 _         _             __.
                                                                                                                                                        .._ .___  _.. ..452
in the death of his father,                                                                  Rev. G. Vanden Berg

                   REV. GEORGE M. OPHOFF
                                                                        ALLAROUNDUS-

May the bereaved family find  comfort and assurance in the follow-               Hoeksema Memorial Library ___ ..__  __ ..: ._.._.  .._ . ..454
ing: "And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write,                      Christ for All? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 454
                                                                                 Freedom to Pray? ________. ____.  __ ..__. ___ .._ ___ .__.  _. ._. ._... . . . . . 454
Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea,
                                                                                             Rev. H. Hanko
saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; and their

works do follow them." Rev. 14:13.                                      NEWS  FROM OUR CHL~~CHES..............................................................~~~
                                        -Mr. J. Sjoerdsma, President                          Mr. J. M. Faber
                                         Mr. S. Beiboer, Secretary


436                                        T H E   ST.ANDARD   B E A R E R
                                                                      -i .                      --~-

                                                                     and rose again on the third day and was exalted in the highest
              E D I T O R I A L S                                    heavens on the right hand of the Most High.

                                                                         Hence, this we all believe.

                                                                        But, as for the rest of this paragraph, I cannot agree with
Election and Reprobation According to Barth
                                                                     Barth, not  only, but I must again accuse him of arbitrarily
       We now will, first of all, present a brief summary or         giving  a different content to terms that have always had a
outline of what Barth has to say about election and reproba-         definite meaning in Reformed theolo,T.  He speaks, namely,
tion. This outline covers pages 175 to 563.                          of double predestination. He himself mentions that in Re-

       On pages 175 to 214 he writes about "the eternal will of      formed theology predestination has two sides, is "zweifacher,"

God in the election of Jesus Christ" (Die ewige Wille Gottes         and that the eternal fore-ordination of God is a double fore-

in die Erwghling  Jesu Christi). This is rather important as         ordination.

we hope to see presently.                                               Now, in Reformed theology, this refers, of course, to the

       In the next paragraph, pages 215 to 336, he discusses the     decree of election and the decree of reprobation. By the
election of the Church (Die ErwUung  der Gemeine). Un-               former, the decree of election, is meant, according to the
der this he speaks about:                                            Canons, I, 7: "the unchangeable purpose of God, whereby,

                                                                     before the foundation of the world, he hath out of mere grace,
       1. Israel and the Church.
                                                                     according to the sovereign good pleasure of his own will,
       2. The Judgment and the mercy of God.                         chosen, from the whole human race, which had fallen, through

       3. The heard  and believed promise of God.                    their own fault, from their primitive state of rectitude into

                                                                     sin and destruction, a certain number  of persons to redemp-
       4. The passing away and the coming man.
                                                                     tion in Christ, whom he from eternity appointed the Medi-
       In paragraph 35, pages 336 to 563, he writes about the        ator and Head of the elect, and the foundation of salvation."
election of individuals ; and under this he discusses :                 In the same Canons, I, 6, election and reprobation are
       1. Jesus Christ, the promise and its receiver.                mentioned together : "That some receive the gift of faith from

       2. The elect and the reprobate.                               God and others do not receive it proceeds from God's eternal
                                                                     decree . . . . And herein is especially displayed the profound,
       3. The destination (bestimmung)  of the elect.
                                                                     the merciful, and at the same time the righteous discrimina-
   4. The destination (best&mung)  of the reprobate.                 tion between men equally involved in ruin ; or that decree of

                                                                     election and reprobation, revealed in the Word of God, which
                             * *    A *
                                    I
                                                                     though men of perverse, impure and unstable minds wrest to
       First of all, then, what does Barth mean when he speaks       their own destruction, yet to holy and.pious  souls affords un-
of the eternal will of God in the election of Jesus Christ? He       speakable consolation."
briefly defines this as meaning that God delivered Himself in
favor of man who was created by Him and who fell away                   And as to reprobation, of it the Canons speak in I, 15, to
from Him. This it is what was realized in the incarnation            which I already referred in a former article and which,
of the Son of God, in His suffering and death, and His resur-        therefore, I will not repeat here.

rection from the dead. This it is what we must understand               But let us note here, in the first place, that according to

by the eternal foreordination of God. The gracious .election         Reformed theology and the Reformed Confessions, as well as

of God as the beginning of all things is God's Self-deliverance      according to Scripture (for which I could quote many pas-

in His eternal counsel. God's Self-deliverance: for God gave         sages), predestination is personal. By this I do not mean

indeed His only begotten. And this is not first realized in time,    that, especially election, is individualistic, for this is not the

but this is the eternal foreordination of God. By  this He has       case: election is organic, it concerns the body of Christ. But

given Himself over, abandoned Himself, and that not for              I do mean that predestination, both election and reprobation,

nothing, but in favor of man, created by Him and fallen away         concerns some definite persons. Certain persons are chosen

from Him. That is the eternal will of God. Dogmafiik,  II, 2,        to everlasting life and glory; others are ordained to everlast-

p. 175, 176.                                                         ing damnation : the former, not because of, but in the way of

       Wit.h  this we can all agree, provided we understand that     faith; the latter, not because of, but in the way of sin.

this refers, not to God as such, not as God in the divine               Secondly, we may also note that predestination, both

nature, but to the incarnated Son of God. It was, indeed,            election and reprobation, is absolutely sovereign, which means

God that suffered and died and rose again the third day, but,        that the reason of election and reprobation and their ground

of course, not in the divine, but in the human nature, which         is not to be found in man but in God alone. God in His

the Son of God assumed from the virgin Mary. In that nature          sovereign good pleasure has determined from all eternity who

God came in the flesh, in that nature God suffered and died          shall be saved and who shall be damned.


                                         THE STANDARD  BEARER                                                                   437


   Thirdly, this also implies that the decree of predestinatioii            : `_  :    Exit, the -Rev.  R. Veldman
is an absolute and, therefore, also an unchangeable decree.
                                                                        And now the Rev. R. Veldman apostatized from the
Barth repeatedly emphasizes that predestination must not be
                                                                    Protestant Reformed truth, left our churches, joined the
viewed as an absolute decree. But, according to the Word of
                                                                    Christian Reformed Church, expressed himself in agreement
God and the Reformed Confessions it certainly is: once an
                                                                    with the "Three Points" of 1924, and justified the deposition
elect is always and eternally an elect; once a reprobate is
                                                                    of faithful ministers of the Word of God by what at that time
always and eternally a reprobate.
                                                                    were Classes East and West of the Christian Reformed
    Now, what does Barth, who pretends to believe in the            Church in Grand Rapids. He did all this without the knowl-
Reformed doctrine of predestination, have to say about this ?       edge of his consistory, while he was still chairman of that

   This we find in "Die Kirchliche  Dogmatik," page 176 ff.         consistory and while he was still preaching from the pulpit
I will not quote him in German for this would not be very           of the Southeast Protestant Reformed Church of Grand
edifying for the general reader, nor will I translate him           Rapids, Mich.

literally, but I will paraphrase what he writes on this subject         How is it all possible ?
as faithfully as possible. Hence, I call your attention to the          How is it possible from a spiritual viewpoint?
following :
                                                                        Does the Rev. Veldman pray ? I suppose he does. But
    1. What, according to Barth, is meant by double predes-         did he and does he ever pray, not in general terms, but
tination? I confess that his answer to this question is some-       specifically ?
what difficult to understand and that not because his language
is not clear, but because he gives an entirely different content        Does he ever say to the Lord: Thou knowest, Lord, and
to the term "double predestination" than we find in Reformed        I believe with all my heart, that the First Point of 1924 is
theology. If you ask any Reformed theologian or, if you             in harmony with Thy Word and in conformity with the Re-
please, any somewhat advanced catechumen  what is meant by          formed Confessions ? Thou knowest, Lord, and I believe with
the term "double predestination," he will answer that this          all my heart, that, in the preaching of the gospel, Thou art
refers to the fact that, according to His eternal counsel, He       gracious to all that hear? This is what, in essence, he said
chose some to everlasting life and glory and rejected others.       in the gathering of the classis  of the Christian Reformed
Not so Barth. According to him there are two sides to               Church that examined him and that met in Ada, Mich.  Thou,
predestination. The one is that "God chose, God decided and         Lord, Who knowest my heart, also knowest that I am sin-
determined above all over Himself. God determined to give           cerely sorry that I ever remained so long in the Protestant
His Son. God determined, to speak His Word. With Him-               Reformed Churches, and that from now on I intend to preach
self is that beginning, in which the Son became obedient unto       the truth of common grace.

the Father." Such is, first of all, the election of Christ. The         Does he ever say to the Lord, as he did in the above
whole Being of God, all His freedom and all His love become         mentioned gathering of classis,  according to reliable reports,
identical with this decree, with the election of Jesus Christ.      that God restrains sin so that sin does not develop as fast as
This is the one side of double predestination. But the other        it would apart from that restraint? Does he in his prayers
is Man, tlz,e Man, Jesus Christ. Because of this God was no         confess that, in all the years he was minister in the Protestant
more alone. Thus predestination does not only mean that             Reformed Churches, he was in error or he was a hypocrite in
God determined something concerning Himself, but also that          not preaching that God restrains sin, but that now he will
He determined something about Man. And this is the second           faithfully preach it ?
side of predestination. The one side is that God decreed to
                                                                        Does he ever, in his prayers say to the Lord that the
determine for Himself  to enter into communion with man ; the
                                                                    natural man in virtue of God's restraint of sin can do good
other side is that God determines for man to enter into that
                                                                    and perform civic righteousness ?
communion.

                                                                        And does he ever, in his prayers, ask the Lord to cause
   Briefly, therefore : God chose Himself.
                                                                    me to repent for my sin of refusing to sign the "Three
 He chose the man Jesus Christ.                                     Points," because of which I was deposed from the ministry

   He chose fallen man.                                             of the Word in the Christian Reformed Church. For, as I

                                                                    understand from reliable sources, he also said, in his examina-
   Again, I ask: what right has Barth to use the Reformed
                                                                    tion before the classis,  that, in 1924. Classes Grand Rapids
term "double predestination" in a sense that is completely
                                                                    East and West were justified in deposing Revs. Danhof,
different from the only meaning the term has in Reformed
                                                                    Ophoff and undersigned from the ministry.
theology and dogmatics ?

                                                                       Again I ask: how is this possible?
   More about this next time, D.V.

                                                          H.H.          But I can now understand the speech which the Rev.


438                                            T H E   $?ANDARD   B E A R E R


R. Veldman delivered at Syndd and which is included in the                               "Christians" or Schismatics             -

report of the Synodical  Committee which was appointed for                    It appears that the Rev. Jerome De Jong is bound to have
this matter and which reads as follows:                                   a controversy with me in the Mzk&zar/y  Monthly.  Although
       "That the Synod adopt the following expression in re               that magazine is hardly the proper place for such a con-
the remarks :                                                             troversy, yet the Rev. De Jong uses it for that purpose. In
       "Synod with sorrow records in its minutes that in its              its number of June 1962 appears a rather fiery article, the
session of Wednesday morning, June 13, the Rev. R. Veld-                  chief contents of which concerns a quotation from one of my
man, pastor of the Southeast Church of Grand Rapids :                     editorials in Tlze Staxdavd Benrer of April 15, 1962. The

       "1. Declared himself in basic disagreement with our                quotation, as the Rev. De Jong has it reads as follows:

churches :                                                                    "May we not call those, who in 1953 left Classis  East in
       "a. In regard to the decisions of Classis East in re the           order they might form another church by their proper name :
two literally heretical statements of Rev. H. De Wolf.                    schismatics ? May we call them Christians ? God forbid !

       "b. In regard to the suspension of Rev. H. De Wolf and             This certainly is not according to the Bible. Just listen to

the deposition of his supportin,
                                      m elders, and related actions of    what our Lord Jesus Christ calls them in Matthew 23."

consistory and classis.                                                       The above is the quotatizn  which is the occasion of the

       "c. In regard to the procedure in Classis West in 1953-`54         article written by the Rev. Jerome De Jong. According to

in connection with the schism and the reorganization of                   him: `Yhe  Spirit has laid it upon my heart to write this

classis-proceedings which were approved by Synod in                       article."    And I believe that he thinks this, but I do not

March 1954.                                                               believe that it is true. If this were the work of the Holy

       "2. That he declared to Synod, among other things :                Spirit, the same Spirit would have laid it upon the heart of
       "                                                                  De Jong to qudte  me correctly and in proper context. And
            a.    That he `has reached the point of no return' with
                                                                          this he does not do. Note:
respect to his own position of disagreement in regard to the

decisions of our churches concerning the schism of 1953.                      1. In the first place, I refer to the fact that I put the

       "b. That as a consequence of the stand of our churches in          name "Christians" in quotation marks but De Jong does not
re the schism of 1953, our churches are spiritually bankrupt.             do this. He omits one of these quotation marks. This is very
                                                                          important. For :
       "c. That if our churches adopt this stand (referring to the

stand in the Creston-Southeast case) they are sectarian.                      a. This means that the term "Christians" is not mine

       "3. That he himself admitted that he did not walk the              but is used by those who prefer the term "Christians" in-
orderly way of protest and appeal set forth in Article 31 of              stead of the term "schismatics."

the Church Order. This statement he qualified by declaring:                  b.    This is evident from the context, where I wrote : "This
       `Ca. That he thought it useless, especially at that time, to       is really always the case when one commits the error of not

protest against the stand of our churches.                                calling anything by its right name. But this is emphatically

       "b. That he tried to see the position of our churches for          the case when the dhurch  of our Lord Jesus Christ is con-

a long time."                                                             cerned. First we say that the name `schismatic&  should not

       This speech, I say, I can now understand, because at that          be used. Then we criticize the use of that name and claim
time he had already applied for admittance to the Christian               that we had better simply call them Christians. Lastly, we
Reformed Church.                                                          act upon this view and contention, especially also as pastors
                                                                          and consistories and gladly receive these `Christians' in our
       But this whole procedure on the part of Rev. R. Veldman
                                                                          midst without demanding that they make confession of their
I consider wicked. In the first place, how can anyone' for
                                                                          sin of schism before the consistory and congregation."
years preach the Protestant Reformed truth, as his elders
testify, while, as is now evident, he does not believe a word                 c. You see, therefore, that the term "Christians" is not
of it? And, in the second place, why must he create trouble               mine but is used by those that want to employ the term in
in our churches in this way rather than follow the orderly                distinction from using the term schismatics.

church-political way? Why not inform his consistory and                       d. And as for myself I would use the term "schismatic

also Classis East that he is no longer in agreement with the              Christians",by  which I mean that I hope that as "Christians"

Protestant Reformed truth and that, therefore, he can and                 they will make confession of their sin of "schism." If they

will no longer preach in Southeast Church or in any of our                persist to walk in that sin, after being repeatedly admonished

churches ?                                                                they are to us as "a heathen and a publican." This is Scrip-

       And thus we could continue.                                        ture, Matt. 18 :15-17.

       And, therefore, I must consider this entire procedure                  2. The.Rev.  De Jong also misquotes me when he writes:

wicked.                                                         H.H.      "May we call them `Christians' ?" I did not write "May"


                                                    T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                       439


       but nzz~t  we call them "Christians"? In the light of "d"
       above, it will be clear to Rev. De Jong what is the difference                O U R   D O C T R I N E
       between the two verbs, We may,  indeed, call the schismatics

       Christians as long as there is hope of repentance, but after

       that hope is gone we cannot and must not call them Chris-                                         CHAPTER IV
       tians anymore.
                                                                                                  OF JUSTIFICATION i
            I could `write much more about the article of De Jong, but
                                                                                                                                  .: '
       let this be sufficient.                                                                            (Continued)                     `i

           The fundamental trouble with De Jong is that, principally,              It is evident, therefore, that the righteousness of Christ,
       he agrees with the schismatics as is also evident from the               a righteousness which is of God, prepared by Him for us, is
       article. He is not Protestant Reformed. That is his privilege.           the ground of our justification.
                                                                      H.H.
                                                                                   We may say indeed that Christ is the Justified One par

                                                                                excellence, and His justification is the justification of all the

                                                                                elect and of all that believe on His name.

                         Notice for Classis  West                                  To understand this, we must above all remember that

            Classis  West of the Protestant Reformed Churches will              Christ is the Son of God, the only begotten God, that is in
       meet, the Lord willing, in Edgerton, Minnesota, on Wednes-               the bosom of the Father. On this confession rests the whole
       day, September 19, 1962.          All matters for the classical          of the truth concerning all our salvation, and particularly,
       agendum must be in the hands of the Stated Clerk not later               concerning our justification. If Christ is not very God, if He
       than thirty days before the meeting of Classis.                          is not the God of our salvation Himself, and the very founda-
                                                                                tion of our salvation, the truth concerning justification must
                                     REV. H. VELDMAN,  Shted  Clerk             be without any ground at all. But He is God. He is God

                                                                                of God, co-eternal with the Father and with the Holy Ghost.

                                                                                And He came into our flesh, into our human nature. In fact,

                    FORTIETH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY                                in the likeness of sinful flesh He, the Lord, Who is above the

           The Con&tory  of the Hudsonville Protestant Reformed Church          law, came under the law. He came in the place of men, He
       takes great pleasure to herewith congratulate its Vice President and     became a sinner, and must function as a sinner. He, the Son

       his wife,                                                                of God in human nature, came to obey God perfectly. Even

                       MR. AND MRS. JOHN BOELEMA                                that was an act of His own. He freely performed that act.

                                                                                He was not of necessity born as a son of Adam ; he freely as-
       on the occasion of their 49th  wedding anniversary.
                                                                                sumed our flesh and blood. What is more, coming under the
           It is with thanks to our Covenant God that ive remember this
                                                                                law, He entered into the state of sinners. He was not a
       date, and accompany it with our prayer that our Father in heaven
       bless them abundantly, and continue to cause them to be a blessing       sinner. The guilt of Adam could not possibly be imputed to
       for the Consistory, our congregation, and the Churches where they        Him for the reason that He was personally the Son of God.
       and we have a name and place.                                            He was not a human person, but in His Person He was the

           In closing we would like to give you a text on this memorable        Son of God. And to the Person of the Son of God the guilt
       date: "Thou shalt guide me with Thy counsel, and afterwards re-          of Adam could not possibly be imputed. The corruption of
       ceive me to glory!" Psalm 73:24.                                         the human nature could not touch Him either. For He was
                    . The Consistor.y  of the Hudsonville Prot. Ref. Church:    conceived by the Holy Ghost. He was holy and righteous in
                                             Rev. Gerrit Vos, President
                                                                                His human nature. He knew no sin. But He entered into the
                                             Mr. Harry Zwak, Secretary
       The date: August 16, 1962                                                state of sinners. He took the legal position before God of .a
                                                                                sinner. He assumed the responsibility for sin. In that state

                                                                                it became His obligation to pay the penalty for sin. He must
                                   IN MEMORIAM                                  not merely suffer the punishment for sin, which is death. He

           The M,artha  Society of the Protestant Reformed Church of Doon       must actively pa4y  for sin. He must cancel the debt of sin,
       wishes to express its heartfelt sympathy to two of its members, Mrs.     if, in the state in which He voluntarily entered, He was to be
,:I
       Henry Kuiper, and Mrs. C. Klein in the loss of their daughter and        justified. And to cancel that debt He must satisfy the right-
       sister,                                                                  eousness of God. This satisfaction could only consist in an
                                  MRS. PETER LEMS                               act of love. For man must love God with all his heart and
       "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide       mind and soul  and strength: That is the demand of the law,
       under the shadow of the almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my       cf the law of God. And that demand remains unalterable.
       refuge and my fortress: my God; in Him will I trust." Ps. 91:1-2.
                                                                                Hence, when Christ, the Son of God, assumed the form of a
                                         Rev. G. Van Baren,  President
                                                                                servant and entered into the state of man, He was obliged to
                                         Mrs. H. J. Blankespoor, Secretary


440                                           THESTANDA~D  BEARER
                                                                      _

keep that law of love. And when, as the Servant of God, He            ners, but as justified sinners, and therefore as perfectly right-
entered into the state of sinners, it was His calling to love         eous, as redeemed and justified in Christ. Thus also we read

the Lord His God even in His wrath, even when in the hour             in Numbers 23 :21: "He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob,

of judgment God poured all the vials of His wrath and in-             neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel." See also Romans

dignation over His head. This is. what Christ did. He did so          8 :29, 30, where we read the well-known words : "For whom

all His life on earth. In the state of a servant, and that too,       he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to

in the state of sinners, He functioned before the face of God         the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among

in perfect righteousness and holiness and in perfect obedience.       many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them

He never faltered. Step by step, as the shadows of death and          he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified :
of the wrath of God deepened, He remained obedient. And               and whom he justified, them he also glorified." This means,

finally, He entered into deepest death and desolation and be-         of course, that in the counsel of God from all eternity the

came obedient even unto the death of the cross. Even into             people whom God gave to Christ were partakers. of eternal
the depth of hell all the righteousness of God against sin He         salvation. The Con&.s~on-s  of Utrecht,  1905, settled this
perfectly fulfilled. He satisfied for sin.                            matter as follows: "Concerning the second point, the eternal

                                                                      justification, Synod declares that this expression itself does
       It is evident, therefore, that the resurrection of our Lord
                                                                      not occur in olur  Confession, but that on that account it may
Jesus Christ is God's own Word concerning His justification,
                                                                      not be disapproved any more than the expression covenant of
and, therefore, our justification.    For that resurrection from
                                                                      works,  and such like, which are simply theological terms ; that
the dead of the Son of God in the flesh is God's sentence that
                                                                      it is incorrect to say that our Confessions know only of a
His Servant is justified, and that we are therefore justified
                                                                      justification out of and through faith, seeing that both the
in Him. This is the meaning of Scripture in Romans 4 :2.5 :
                                                                      Word of God in Romans 4 ~25  and our Confession in Article
"Who was delivered for our transgressions, and was raised
                                                                      20 emphatically speak of an objective justification sealed in
again for our justification."    Christ went into death, not for
                                                                      the resurrection of Christ, which, in order of time, precedes
His own, but for and with our sin. He knew no sin, but
                                                                      subjective justification; and further, as concerns the case it-
He was made sin for us. Never could He have been raised
                                                                      self, all our churches heartily believe and confess that Christ
from the dead if He had not fully atoned for the sin and
                                                                      in the counsel of peace has given Himself from eternity as
transgressions of His own, of whom He was the legal head.
                                                                      surety for His people, and has taken their guilt upon Himself,
He would have been swallowed up by death. But God, by
                                                                      even as He thereupon, through His suffering and death on
raising Him from the dead, gave Him testimony that as the
                                                                      Calvary gave Himself a ransom for us and reconciled us with
head of His people He was perfectly righteous. Hence, we
                                                                      God, while we were still enemies, but that it must be main-
are righteous in Him. And therefore, the resurrection of our
                                                                      tained just as definitely, on the basis of the Word of God
Lord Jesus Christ is the Word concerning our justifica-
                                                                      and of the Confession, that we personally become partakers
tion. See also Rom. 10:9: "If thou shalt confess with thy
                                                                      of this benefit only by a true faith: reason why the Synod
mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that
                                                                      earnestly warns against every presentation of the matter
God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved."
                                                                      which either denies the eternal su.rety  of Christ for His elect
       As therefore we consider the whole concept of justifica-       or the demand of a true faith to become justified before God
tion, which has its meritorious ground in the obedience and           in the tribunal of the conscience." This, therefore, is what we
death of Christ and has its divine testimony in the resurrec-         mean by justification from eternity.
tion of Christ, we may note the following steps in the idea
                                                                           Secondly, this justification is realized in time and his-
and concept of justification.
                                                                      torically grounded in the death of Christ. Christ died for all
       First of all, we certainly may speak of our justification      the elect. He atoned, once and forever, for all the sins of those
from eternity. We certainly are justified in the decree of            whom the Father has given Him from before the foundation
election from before the foundation of the world. About this          of the world. Hence, in the hour of judgment on the cross
truth there was at one time a dispute in Reformed churches.           they all are justified objectively forever. Their sins can never
Some, evidently afraid of overemphasizing the counsel of              be imputed to them any more. And they have a right to
God, maintained that we could speak only of justification by          eternal life. On the cross, more than nineteen centuries ago,
faith, and, therefore, of justification in time. They denied          the debt of the sins of all the elect was paid ; and they are
eternal justification. But it is very clear that this `cannot         righteous before God.
possibly be correct. It certainly is true that in His eternal

counsel God has ordained Christ as Mediator and as the head                In the third place, in the resurrection of Christ the elect

of all the elect. And therefore, it must be true that God knew        have God's own assurance of justification. For even in His

the elect in Christ as justified from all eternity. The elect do      glorious resurrection they are all in Him ; and with Him

not become righteous before God in time by faith, but they            they have been raised, and therefore justified. This is plain

are righteous in the tribunal of God from before the founda-          from passages like Ephesians 2 :4-6 : "But God, who is rich in

tion of the world. God beholds them in eternity not as sin-           mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when


                                          THE:  STAND.P;RD  BEARER'                                                                  441


we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ,        calls eternal life and which could be attained only through

(by grace ye are saved ;) And hath raised us up together, and        the death of the Son of God. And not only was it impossible

made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus."            for Adam to have attained to that higher glory in the heavenly

   Fourthly, this justification is declared in the gospel. For       tabernacle, but it was even equally impossible for him to
the gospel is the declaration of the righteousness of God for        merit it. But Christ only is worthy of the resurrection, is
all the elect, so that in the gospel we have our legal citizen's     worthy of life eternal.
papers in the eternal kingdom of God.                                                                                               H.H.

   In the fifth place, we receive this righteousness by faith

only; not indeed as if faith were another ground for our

justification, and not indeed as if faith were a condition which,
on our part, we must fulfill in order to be justified, but simply    News From  Our Churches:

as the means whereby we are ingrafted into Christ, and there-           The Lynden Tribune, in one of its June issues', contained
fore become partakers of all His benefits, also of the benefit       an article submitted by Rev. R. C. Harbach for its column,
of justification. Of this we must presently say more.                "The Voice of the Church," and was entitled, "HOW to
   In the sixth place, finally we shall be justified publicly,       Discern that Voice (of the church) ."

before all the world, in the revelation of the righteous judg-
                                                                        Seminarian Dave Engelsma is currently preaching in our
ment of God, when our righteousness in Christ shall be uni-
                                                                     Western Churches. June found him in Tripp, and July and
versally revealed and recognized and our public adoption unto
                                                                     August he was scheduled to preach in Hull and Doon.
children and heirs shall take place.. This we have in Scrip-

ture, as, for instance, in Rom. 8 123  : "And not only they, but

ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even

we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adop-

tion, to wit, the redemption of our body."                                                      IN MEMORIAM

   When God therefore realizes the justification of the un-             The Sr. Mr. and Mrs. Society of the First Protestant Reformed

godly, He appears both as a righteous and just Judge, in as          Church e.xpresses  sincere sympathy to two of our members, Mr. and
far as He certainly renders a perfectly just verdict, but also       Mrs. Kenneth Bylsma, in the death of Mrs. Bylsma's  father,

as a gracious God and Father, in as far as He realizes every-                            MR. ROY JURGENS, SR.

thing that is necessary to the rendering of this just judg-          May the God of all grace comfort the hearts of the bereaved family.

ment in favor of His elect children.                                                                  Rev. C. Hanko,  President

                                                                                                      Mrs. Wm. Corson, Vice Secretary
   As to the content of this justification, we must remark the       Grand Rapids, Michigan
following. In the first place, justification implies the com-

plete forgiveness of sins. In justification we are perfectly

acquitted in the judgment of God from all guilt and sin and

death. For thus we read in the Scriptures: "In whom we                       CONSCIOUS DEPENDENCE ON GOD
have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins,
                                                                                 Unless the Lord the house shall build,
according to the riches of his grace." Eph. 1:7. In the second
                                                                                   The weary builders toil in vain ;
place, justification implies the adoption unto children, in-
cluding the granting of all the rights of children, also the                     Unless the Lord the city shield,
right to the eternal inheritance. For thus we read in Galatians                    The guards a useless watch maintain.

4 :4-6 : "But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent                    In vain you rise ere morning-break,
forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To                             And late your nightly vigils keep,
redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive                      And of the bread of toil partake;
the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God bath  sent                      God gives to His beloved sleep.
forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba,

Father."    And finally, justification implies an eternal right-                Lo, children are a great reward,

eousness, a righteousness that can never be lost and that                          A gift from God in very truth ;

gives us the right to eternal life. In this the excellency of                   With arrows is his quiver stored

this righteousness is evident, even in distinction .from  the                    . Who joys in children of his youth.

righteousness of Adam in the state of rectitude. Adam
too was righteous, that is, he was without sin ; and therefore,                 And blest the man whose age is cheered
he too was worthy of life. He did live. And in the way of                          By stalwart sons and daughters fair;
obedience he would no doubt have continued to live. Never-                      No enemies by him are feared,
theless, his life was earthy, not heavenly. Never could he                         No lack of love, no want of care.

have been found worthy of that higher state which the Bible                                                              Psalm 127


442                                        THE~~~NDA~DEIEAI~ER


                                                                      eventually be overcome. They had appeared to be affected by
11 A CLOUD OF W.lTNESSES 11 the works of God and subject to Moses' instruction. How-
                                                                      ever, as time went on. matters were becoming worse instead
B                                                                I
                                                                      of better. The works of God were becoming ever greater,

                  Aaron's Budding Rod                                 the instruction of Moses was becoming more pointed, but the
                                                                      people were less and less responsive. The more apparent it
         And Moses laid u.p  the rods before the LORD in he           became that the true blessing of God was spiritual for the
       tabernacle of witness.                                         heart, the less the people wanted of it. They became ever
         And it came to pass, that cm the wsowow  Moses went          more bold in the way of rebellion ; and this in spite of the
       &to  t1Le tabernacle  of ruitness;  and, behold, the rod of
                                                                      fact that God's judgments were coming ever closer with
       Aaron fw the house of Levi was budded, and brought
       forth buds, ma!  bloomed ELOSSONW,  and yielded a.lvvtomds.    greater destruction. It was an evil generation that Moses
         And. Moses brought out all the rods fro-m  before the        led. A very large percentage of them were of reprobate heart.
       LORD ztnto all the children of Israel: and they Booked,        The clearer the Word of God became to them the less they
       and took every rmm  his <rod.            Numbers 17 :7-9       wanted of it. There was but one end to which they could

                                                                      come, to fall under the judgment of Jehovah's just wrath.
     Before the very eyes of Israel the earth had opened up.
                                                                      They had no true part in Jacob, and the judgment of God
its mouth and in one moment swallowed up Korah, Dathan,
                                                                      struck out again and again to cut them off. And so now once
and Abiram with their families because of their rebellion
                                                                      again the anger of the Lord was kindled, and he spoke to
against Moses and Aaron. Struck with fear, the people had
                                                                      Moses saying, "Get you up from among this congregation,
turned and fled lest they too should be swallowed alive. Nor
                                                                      that I may consume them as in a moment."
was that the extent of God's judgment. As the people fled,

the iire  of God had fallen from heaven and consumed the two             But the fact remained that Israel was the people of God.

hundred and fifty men who had joined cause in Korah's                 As a nation they were the typical participants in God's cov-

rebellion. Finally, at the command of God the two hundred             enant.    God had promised to keep that covenant unto all

and fifty golden censers  which the men had carried were              generations. This Moses knew. If Israel were destroyed the

gathered tbgether and beaten into covers for the altar to serve       covenant of God would have proved to be of none effect and

as a memorial to the people of this great and terrible judg-          the name of Jehovah who had established that covenant

ment that had taken place. It was to serve as a testimony to          would forever be discredited. In spite of the unworthiness  of

anyone besides the priests who might presume to offer in-             the Qehple,  the honor of Jehovah had to be maintained. Even

cense before the Lord.                                                more Moses realized that although so many in Israel were

                                                                      rebellious of heart, there were a few, a small remnant accord-
     However, Korah, Dathan, and Abiram had held a very
                                                                      ing to election that still feared God from the heart. These
fond place in the hearts of the people. There had been a very
                                                                      he could not forsake. Neither could he forget the children of
special appeal in the cause they had sought to defend. They
                                                                      the next generation that had not yet join&d themselves to the
had claimed that Moses and Aaron did not have any more
                                                                      sins of their fathers. For all these reasons Moses could not
rights to leadership than did any of the people because all of
                                                                      stand aside unto the destruction of the nation. With Aaron
the congregation was holy before the Lord. This the people
                                                                      he fell on his face before God in intercession.
had liked. It had a certain religious sound and yet was much

easier for them to receive than Moses' repeated admonitions              But the anger of God was kindled, and already judgment

accusing them of sin. For the moment the people were                  stalked the camp. Already at Marah  God had said, "If thou

silenced by the judgments that fell on the rebels before their        wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God,

very eyes ; but they were still not ready to leave the ideas          and wilt do that which is right in his sight and wilt give ear

of Korah and his company go. By morning their courage had             to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put

returned, and they were ready to believe that it was some             none of these diseases upon thee which I have brought upon

magical power of Moses' and not really the wrath of God               the Egyptians : for I am the LORD that healeth thee." In

which had done away with those men. The more they talked              this the people had notedly failed, and now the plague from

it over among themselves, the more the thought appealed to            God was felt upon their bodies. It was a terrible disease

them, until at last they gained sufficient boldness to stand          spreading throughout the camp and carrying death on every

before Moses and Aaron and accuse them to their faces, riYe           side. There was no doubt, The people knew. The judgment

have killed the people of the LORD.:'                                 of God was upon them.

     Progressively the wickedness of Israel was becoming more            But even in the judgment of God there is mercy. He uses

and more apparent. It had been evident, of course, from the           His revelations of wrath to bring forth the Gospel unto them

very beginning of the exodus that they were a sinful people,          that are able to receive it. So was it here in the wilderness.

for they had always murmured and complained at the way OF             Many hardened men were falling under the plague by the

the Lord. Still, for a long time it had seemed to be nothing          hand of God's wrath. The whole nation seemed to stand on

more than a weakness on the part of the people that would             the brink of destruction. But the scene was set for a wonder-


                                           THE  STANDARD  BEARER                                                                $43
                                                                              ___i__-  - I_ -

ful, typical revelation of the Gospel. The rights of the High         of God, because he functioned as the High Priest of the

Priest's o&e had been questioned. Now as death swept over             nation before God, and because his right to that office had

the camp God would make it perfectly clear that Aaron's               been a matter of dispute, Aaron's name was written upon

position in the office was not only right, it was absolutely          that rod instead of Levi's. Finally these rods were laid to-
necessary.     He was the priest appointed by God, and only he        gether over night in the tabernacle before the sanctuary of

could save the people from the death that they deserved.              God.

Moses sent Aaron immediately to take his holy tenser and to              The next morning the leaders of Israel were again sum-
fill it with burning incense. By this incense the prayers of the      moned to stand before the tabernacle. As they watched,
high priest in behalf of the people were typified. With it            Moses entered the tabernacle and brought forth the rods that
Aaron went forth into the camp, passing between those who             had lain all night in the sanctuary. All of the rods were the
had been smitten by the plague and those who had not, be-             same as they had been the day before except for the rod of
tween the living and the dead. As he did so the plague was            Aaron. From Aaron's rod there had sprouted forth branches
stopped. It brought to the people an indisputable proof of the        of fresh growth, bearing buds, blossoms, and even almonds.
fact that only the typical office of the high priest stood between    From a dead branch there had come forth new life.
them and destruction. Israel's salvation existed only in the
                                                                         To the children of Israel the implications of this sign
perfect atonement to be made by the true High Priest which
                                                                      were disconcerting. They had held strongly to the teaching
was to come.
                                                                      of Korali that the whole congregation was holy before God.
    Once again a rebellion of the people was silenced. 14,700         This holiness they had considered to be an innate character-
people besides Korah, Dathan and Abiram and their 250 fol-            istic of their nation which gave to them all a right to stand
lowers had died by the fierce wrath of God's judgment. By             in the presence of God. Even after Korah had died in judg-
indisputable signs it had been established that Moses and             ment they had held to them. Now through the signs of the
Aaron functioned in their offices by authoritative appointment        rods God had revealed to them what they were in his pres-
from God. Israel was indeed a holy nation, but only because           ence-nothing but dead wood as was represented in their rods.
of the typical offices of Moses and Aaron, and the promised           There was only one evidence of life in all of Israel, that was
redeemer whom they typified. But God was not ready to                 in Aaron and the priesthood. To him God had given life, and
leave it at that. There was yet one more sign that He would           apart from him all of Israel was dead. Troubled by the sign,
give  to the people.                                                  the people cried out unto Moses in fear, "Behold, we die, we
    Summoning Moses to Him, God gave to him careful in-               perish, we all perish. Whosoever cometh  anything near unto
structions.    "Speak unto the children of Israel, and take of        the tabernacle of the LORD shall die: shall we be consumed
every one of them a rod according to the house of their               with dying?" The people had caught the full implication. As
fathers, of all their princes according to the house of their         they were they were not holy and had no right to- draw nigh
fathers twelve rods: write thou every man's name upon his             unto the presence of God. Under His justice they could only.
rod. And thou shalt write Aaron's name upon the rod of                taste death.
Levi: for one rod shall be for the head of the house of the&             The reai trouble in Israel, however, was that they found
fathers. And thou shalt lay them up in the tabernacle of the          no comfort in this sign. They could not identify themselves
congregation before the testimony, where I will meet with             with the life of the priest. They were so determined to stand
you. And it shall come to pass, that the man's rod, whom I            on their own pride, that when God gave a testimony of life
shall choose, shall blossam  : and I will make to cease from me       through their priesthood they felt it to be unto their con-
the murmurings of the children of `Israel, whereby they               demnation rather than unto their salvation. Only the few
murmur against you."                                                  who were true believers in Israel felt themselves to be one
    It was a solemn meeting that brought the children of              with the priest that God had given them. In his life they had
Israel together once again. They had stood on the brink of            life, and through him they were united to the perfect priest
death, and only by the official priestly functions of Aaron           who was yet to come.
had they been saved. They were no longer in any position to                                                                   B.W-
challenge his rights, and would perhaps have preferred to let

the matter rest. But God had called them to receive one more

sign. With troubled conscience they listened as the sign was

set forth.                                                                            When Thou dost search my life,

    It was a simple sign that was given. From the head of                                May all my thoughts within
each tribe of Israel there was .taken  a rod. Each rod was, to                        And all the words I speak
stand as a symbol of the tribe from which it was taken, and                              Thy full approval win.
upon each rod was written the name of the father of the
                                                                                      0 Lord, Thou art a rock to me,
tribe. The only -exception  tb. this was the rod of. Leyi."  Be:
cause Aaron was head of that tribe by special appointment                             And my Redeemer Thou shalt be.


444                                         T    H    E         S.TANDARD  BEARER


                                                                       structs those "Who burn" to remarry, and such remarriage
11  F R O M   H O L Y   WRIT 11 is not sinful (I Cor. 7:9), yet those who do not have the
                                                                       power of continence will remarry. Such must not be allowed

                                                                       to be "enrolled" into the number of those who are busy in

                   Exposition of I Timothy                             practical love and mercy in the church. Hence, a candidate
                                                                       must be (have been) the wife of one husband. She shows
                        (I Timothy 5 :9-14)                            strength of character, loyalty of love, is not frivolous and

                                                                       fickle. She is a widow "indeed" who bears her solitude in
                                 (4                                    patience, and labors in love in view of that day when she
       After having spoken of the care for widows, who are             can remove her veil of sadness for gladness. She is strong
widows indeed, and the primary duty of the children to care            enough to walk alone with God. She needs no husband upon
for the aged parents, lest they be worse than infidels, Paul           whom to lean, and, therefore, can be a tower of strength in
now turns his attention to the matter of .the proper choice            the life of those whom she succors.

and admittance of widows for the work of mercy and prac-                   However, the mere fact that she has been the wife of 6ne
tical care for the sick and needy in the church.                       man, still must be complemented by other virtues. She must

       We are not too familiar with the exact state of affairs and     have good testimony of having been engaged in honorable

customs of Paul's day as they existed at Ephesus.  It seems            works, which are of such nature that a heathen as well as a

that there was a group of women in the church, a class by              Christian would speak well of her. Paul enumerates them

itself, who made it their special business to be busy in the           here.

work of a "deaconess." That became their "office and calling."             On the foreground he places that she must have "nour-
They, as it were, gave their word of honor and the assurance           ished children."       She must, therefore, have been a woman
that they felt called by God and impelled by the Holy Spirit           who understands that a woman is saved through child-bear-
unto this task.                                                        ing. She must understand her basic position towards her

       Due to the weakness of human nature and the ever present        husband and toward the kingdom of God, the gathering of
sin which so easily besets us, Paul limits the eligible women,         the church, and the innumerable hosts of the elect in glory.
widows, for this work. The mere fact that one is a "widow"             Without this basic attitude she cannot qualify as a widow,
does not P&Y se indicate that one has the qualities required           be she past the age of sixty. This is not some "Dear Abby"
for this work. In the first place this calling entailed work,          advice !

initiative. Besides, this task entailed rather difficult work,             She must not have been the woman who was so narrow

involving much self-denial, plus a goodly amount of "human-            in her sympathies that she was unwilling to have her sched-

relations." One must be fortified with a good deal of spiritual        ule and routine "interrupted" by the way-faring stranger that

wisdom, love and mercy.        Let not every widow think that          came to lodge at her door. She must be a true daughter of

she has these qualities. This is not joining the "lonely hearts        Sarah, an Abigail, who is wise when even her husband is a

club" !                                                                "nabal,"  a fool! The woman that scowls and "pulls her hus-

                                                                       band apart" for inviting in the stranger, is a too self-centered
       Writes Paul concerning the widows who are eligible for
                                                                       and sinful egoist for candidacy to the work of a deaconess,
this task:
                                                                       which exactly calls for qualities where one is interested not in
       `Zed not a widow  be taken .&to  the nzwher  under tlwee-       self but in others.
score years old, having been the w-ife  of one man., well re-
                                                                           Furthermore, the apostie states that the candidate for
ported of for good wpvks; if she have brought U/J children, if
                                                                       deaconess must be one who has washed the feet of the saints.
she have lodged stl*amgers,  df she ha&S  washed the  saints' feet,
if                                                                     Now "washing" of feet was the work of a slave in the house.
   she h&z  relieved the ajjlicted,  if she hth  diligently fol-
                                                                       A "saint" is one for whom Christ died. One who will wash the
lowed every good work." Verses 9, 10.                                  feet of saints, having performed the meanest of tasks in the
       In the first place Paul will guard against permitting un-       communion of saints, is certainly willing to do any other
desirable widows to enter the ranks by placing the age-limit           mean task in the church in behalf of the saints.
from sixty years and upward. That is to exclude the younger                When "affliction" becomes the lot of God's people she
widows who definitely should not be permitted to do this work.         shall not be found negligent. When poverty becomes the
That he sets the age limit at sixty is because, generally speak-       saints' lot she will have "put her hand to the distaff" and she
ing, beyond the age of sixty the "desire to thy husband"               shall "have taken hold of the `spindle." Is she not the woman
spoken by God to Eve has died out. She then has reached                that "girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her
the age of which Sarah speaks, "after  I am waxed old shall            arms," so that "she stretcheth out her hands to the poor;
I have pleasure ?" Gen. 18 :12. (More of this later.)                  yea . . . reacheth forth her hands to the poor"? To the poor

       It seems to be an axiom with the apostle Paul that to have      she "openeth  her mouth with wisdom: in her tongue is the

been "the wife of one husband" is a virtue. Although he in-            law of kindness" !


                                          T H E   S T A N D A R D   ;B~EA.RER                                                        4-45
                                                                     2 I

    Thus an aspirant to the work of a deaconess, must in one                That the text speaks of waxing "wanton against Christ."

word be, as Paul sums it up "if she hath diligently followed          Now this must not be gderstood in the absolute sense ; it

in every good work."     Hers must have been the works of             does not mean that when such remarry'they have fallen from

faith, according to God's law, and unto God's glory.                  the faith in Christ into everlasting perdition. In the light of

    Only such must be admitted !                                      the former paragraph is "merely" means, or what is possibly
                                                                      better to say is: it is true only from the viewpoint of the
    Others do not qualify even though .they  have attained to         "faith" they have expressed, their assertion of p,urpose  to, be
sixty years or more !                                                 fully busy in the work of Christ in th,e service of mercy in

   Therefore Paul continues :                                         the church. When the occasion arises and the "young

                                                                     widow" remarries she has shifted from her avowedly intended
    "73u.t  the younger Women refuse: for when they have be-
                                                                      course, and in that sense she has waxed "wanton against
gun to wan-  wanton a,gainsC  Chrh, they will .mar~y: havh,g
damnation,                                                            Christ."    Such was and is the lesson of experience !
            because they have c,ast off their first faith. And

w&a2  tjzey  2eaTpn  to be idle, wande&zg  about from.  house  to           And thus she receives "judgment." The King James

home; a.nd  not only idle, but tattlers also and busy-bodies,         Version has "damnation." That term is too strong. It is

speaking things  which they ought not. I wi16  therefore that         more in keeping with the meaning of the term "krima"  to

the you.nger  WOWIW~  marry, bear children, guide the ho*use,        translate it: judgment! The judgment that one has is that

give none occa.sion  to the advermry  to speak 1-eproachf&~.          one did not keep her word. She is marked as one who turned

For some  are already hrned  after Satan."                           away from the work. Thus she is stigmatized by the con-

                                                                      gregation. And that should be avoided not only for the
   Paul tells Timothy to "refuse" the younger widows. This
                                                                      sake of the young widow but for the sake of all concerned.
must be done in a firm and courteous way. The verb in the

Greek is `paraitou,"  that is: to beg off ! The hardships, the              There is only one place where such young widows fit !

qualifications should be impressed upon their minds. They                   They are meant for a place in the home. After due con-
should be taught to see that it would only be foolhardiness           sideration of all the facts in the case, it is Paul's "will" that
for them to make the promise of life-long labor in the church.       such marry. Then they will have no regrets. They will be
They are too young. God has made woman thus that "her                where the Lord has appointed them as daughters of Eve.
desire is to her husband." And that is a fact, a hard fact of        That is their environment.
life, which must not be ignored; for it will certainly assert
                                                                            Hence, they should marry.
itself when occasion arises. Hence, the younger widows must

be "begged off."                                                            There is still another motive why young widows should
                                                                     not be busy in the work of a deaconess. While their heart
   It is a remarkable thing that Paul is as sober as a judge in
                                                                     could not be in the work they would yearn for a place in the
these matters that pertain to the good ruling of the church ;
                                                                     family. Going from house to house they would not be of
the Bible always is just and kind. The Lord knows our frame.
                                                                     service, but would use this position for selfish and sinful
We should not tempt the Lord nor ourselves by trying to
                                                                     purposes.
walk a road and way which is not for us. That can only lead

to "judgment," or as the King. James version has it: to                     They would "learn to be idle," lazy. Instead of serving

"damnation."                                                         the needs they would be tattlers and busy-bodies. They.would

                                                                     be doing everything except what was their calling. Thus the
   And the apostle cites some "specifics" on this score.
                                                                     institution of the "deaconess" would degenerate into an evil

   The younger widows will "wax wanton and marry."                   in the church. And Satan would have his day.

There is a certain delicacy here in the translation which is                Hence, refuse the younger widows.
understandable. `However, this very vagueness shrouds the
matter, indeed, so that the exact point is obscured. What the               This is not simply a case of expediency, but it is a matter
apostle means with "wax wanton" is not at all a lascivious           of the principle that the woman'splace  is fundamentally in
life in general, which would make one shameful before even           the family, and only, after  she have finished that, can she
unbelieving society. He has in mind the legitimate and in-           spend her remaining years as a deaconess.
created sexual urge, which will assert itself in those "under                                                                     G.L.

sixty years." And the result is that they will seek the honor-

able marriage state. Otherwise, pray why would we read in

one breath, "wax wanton and marry" ! Such widows would                              0 send the day of joy and light,

hardly be initiated into the work or they would be out of it.                       For long has been our sorrow's night;

Something like the phenomenon of the girl who goes to col-                          Afflicted through the weary years,

lege to prepare for a teaching career,, only to not finish the                      We wait until Thy help appears ;

race because she enters the marriage state. Instead of an                             With us and with our sons abide,

"AB" degree she arrives at a "Mrs." degree!                                           In us let-God be glorified.


                                         THE,  S,T.AND&D  BEARER


                                                                    Supreme Court in its ruling that offering prayers in public

                                                                    schools is unconstitutional. The Supreme Court was not in

                                                                    any way motivated by this age long contention of the Roman

                                                                    Catholic Church. And we will certainly insist that the State

                                                                    should not rule the Church ; nor should the Church rule the
                        A Sinful Separation                         State. The offices in each are distinct and each must be kept

    Only that which is done in His fear carries, with it no         as a separate domain, the one ruling in the spiritual affairs
fear of His holy wrath.                                             of man's life and the other in the natural spheres of man's
                                                                    existence.
    Whatever is done apart from His fear will surely bring
down God's holy wrath. For what is not done in His fear                This does not mean that the State has absolutely nothing
is done in hatred of the living God. It is for that reason that     to say about the Church as an institute. You see, that al-
Paul writes that "whatsoever is not of faith is sin." Romans        though all the members of the Church are citizens of the
14:23b.  That is not an oversimplification of the matter. That      State, all the citizens of the State are not members of the
is the fundamental truth. That area where works are per-            Church. And the State has authority over these members of
formed that are not acts of faith is an area where sin is com-      the Church in as far as they are also citizens of the State.
mitted. And sin always is an act of hatred toward the holy,         The State certainly has a right to draw up certain building
sovereign God. No man yet sinned because he loved God.              codes and insist that the churches in the land of that State
No man can sin out of love to God. "To obey is better than          observe them to the letter. The Church has even declared in
sacrifice and to hearken than the fat of rams," Samuel told         Article 71 of the Church Order of Dordrecht, "As Christian
King  Saul after his sinful deed of sacrificing. The very desire    Discipline is of a spiritual nature, and exempts no one from
to rule God out of any area is already an act of sin and one        Civil trial or punishment by the Authorities, so also besides
of hatred towards God. One does not in love bar Him from            Civil punishment there is need of Ecclesiastical Censures, to
any area or project. Love draws and does not repel. Love            reconcile the sinner with the Church and his neighbour and
seeks and does not ignore.                                          to remove the offense out of the Church of Christ." A church
                                                                    that would refuse to give its members up to the State for trial
    Love desires no separation but constant and intimate            and punishment for a breaking of the second table of the Law
fellowship.                                                         would certainly be guilty of sin herself. Jesus did not object

    Undoubtedly we have heard enough about the Supreme              to Caesar's taxation of the Jews. And He expressly told

Court ruling that prayer in public schools was unconstitu-          Peter to catch a fish in which he would find a piece of money.
tional. Pages upon pages have been written for and against          This he was to pay as tax for himself and for Jesus. If we

this ruling. We do' not care to add to the words and pages          understand correctly, the churches in Canada are assessed tax
written against that ruling as such. Although all the above         on their properties. The church that refuses does violate the

certainly applies. Love to God does not take Him out of             Fifth Commandment, no question about that. Church and

the school classroom. Faith does not demand such action.            State are not completely separated so that they have no con-

But hatred does. Instruction and supervision of the class-          nection with one another at all.

room that is not done in faith is sin ! And we have come a             The State steeds  the Church. A nation without the Church
long way on the road of antichristianity when it is against
                                                                    is not only a pagan, heathen nation, it is an accursed nation.
the Constitution to perform an act of faith and quite con-
                                                                    The psalmist declares, "Blessed is the nation whose God is
stitutional to sin !                                                the Lord ; and the people whom He hath chosen for His own
    What interests us at the moment is one of the arguments         inheritance."    Psalm 33 :12. A State that tries to get away
in favour of this ruling of the Supreme Court. It is that this      from the Church, despises her influence, forbids her prayers
is the only way to separate Church and State and keep them          from being uttered is a ruined nation, an accursed and not a
separate. This argument itself is a ruling on what the sep-         biessed people! And when we have come to the point where
aration of Church and State means. It is to be understood           the authorities forbid and declare unlawful the prayers of the
that with the Roman Catholic Church obtaining more and              members of the Church, then the name "Christian Nation"
more members in congress and as governors of States and             no longer is correct.
with a Roman Catholic president at the helm of our gov-                The argument is raised that the State does not do that.
ernment, there is a certain feeling of satisfaction with this       It merely through its Supreme Court has ruled that offering
ruling. For it is the expressed opinion of the Roman Cath-          prayers in public schools is illegal. We still have on our
olic Church that Church and State be not separated but              coins, "In God we trust." We still demand an oath in the
rather that the Roman Catholic Church rule the State. This          name of God and upon His Word. We still have chaplains in
ruling of the Supreme Court seems as a counter-check against        our military camps. The very Supreme Court and all our
such a union of Church and State in our land.                       courts have Bibles in their chambers. But surely the State is

   That, however, is not the error or correct stand of the          going beyond its sphere of authority when it forbids the


                                               T H E ' S T A N D A R D   B.EARER                                                  4.47


members of the Church to pray no matter where they may be.           religion do not mix is nothing less than an attempt to run an

    Fundamentally the possibility of such a tragic situation         antichristian State. It is one of the signs of the times.

and ruling is the fact that the whole public school system is            Right or wrong this ruling- of the Supreme Court is in-

wrong and based upon a wrong principle. I am not thinking            dicative of the kind of education America's youth is receiving.

at the moment of that which is taught in this public school          Perhaps the interpretation is the only proper one from a

system. Because it is not in His fear it must be antichristian.      legal point of view. That is for legal minds to deter-

But that is not the point now. The point is that Scripture           mine. Perhaps in its calling to protect all of its citizens

itself indicates that the school is the extension of the home        the State must make a ruling that does not do injustice

and not of either the Church or the State. Church schools are        to one faith and favour another. And so to declare all

wrong. State schools are wrong. It is the duty of the parent         praying unconstitutional is     the only way to mete OLIN.
to train, instruct and teach his own child. And the school           justice. But the fact remains that America's youth - except
must be the extension of the home as parents, who are incap-         where parents know their God-given obligation-and band to-

able of this training, band together, form their school so-          gether to establish and maintain schools where their children

cieties, hire their teachers and supervise the education given       may be instructed in His fear- is going to receive a thor-

to their children.                                                   oughly antichristian education. God and His Christ must be

                                                                     ruled'out. The children therefore may not be instructed in
    If that were the case, there would be no problem here or
                                                                     his calling before God, he may not be reminded in every sub-
ruling of the Supreme Court that offering of prayers before
                                                                     ject taught him that he is God's priest; although he may be
the children in such parent-controlled schools was unconsti-
                                                                     taught that there is no God and that things just evolved from
tutional.
                                                                     a cell or gaseous vapor whose existence and origin cannot
    What compounds the problem now is that we have so                be explained.
many "faiths" in our land of freedom of religion. And the
                                                                         But surely youth that receive such an education will not
State seems to consider it the calling to protect the one faith
                                                                     grow up into a nation that can say that God is its Lord.
from the other. Therefore no prayers may be offered, lest the
                                                                     Neither can it rejoice and prosper as the psalmist declares,
children of parents of one faith have their children taught
                                                                     "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord." We are on
another faith by men hired by the State ! But if we take the
                                                                     the road to producing the antichrist. Step by step we are rul-
position of Scripture that the child is the direct responsibility
                                                                     ing Christ out of every sphere of our life. Various heresies
of the parent, and parents of the like faith band together to
                                                                     have crept into the Church that already rule Him even out
form their schools, the problem disappears. Now however,
                                                                     of the Church.
it has been decided that Evolutionism, which directly opposes

the faith of countless thousands, if not millions in America,           Let God's people then continue to instruct their children

may be taught, in fact has to be taught because no doctrine of       in His fear. Let them not count the cost or the hardship but

God may be taught in a State controlled and operated school.         rejoice in the privilege of seeing their children speak the

But prayers to God may not be offered. There may be? and             language of faith, confess that Jehovah is their God ; have the

it is determined there must be freedom frovtz  religion in the       joy of which John speaks, to hear and see that their children

public school, but there may not be freedom c$ religion.             walk in the truth ; to see God's covenant promises realized

                                                                     before their eyes that He gathers His children out of 
   It is but one of the signs of the times.                                                                                       OUT
                                                                     children.
   It ought never to be lost out of sight that the State re-                                                                 J.A.H:
ceives its authority from the King  of the Church. Church and

State are separate domains and they may not interfere with

each other's internal affairs. They may not lord it over each

other. They may not dictate each other's policies. But they
                                                                       Look down, behold and visit this Thy vine
do have one King. "The powers that be are ordained of God,"
                                                                          Which Thou hast planted with Thy own right hand,
Paul writes in Romans 13 :l. And surely that Eternal King
                                                                       The branch Thou madest strong and owned it Thine,
does not give to the State power to deny the Church her
                                                                          For it is burned with tire, no more to stand ;
power. He is a God of order and not of confusion. And the
                                                                       Thy people perish in Thy anger sore
State that does not recognize Him, forbids praying to Him,
                                                                          Because Thy face now shines on them no more.
certainly is not faithful to the calling it has received from

Him. Although Church and State are separate entities and               0 let Thy hand Thy chosen one sustain,

have their own spheres of authority it is not true that State             The son of man Thou madest strong to be ;

and religion do not mix. We have heard the old slogan that             So we shall faithful to Thy cause remain;

business and religion do not mix. This is nothing more than               Revive Thou us, and we will call on Thee.

an attempt to cover up `wicked business practices for filthy           Jehovah, God of Hosts, again restore ;

lucre's sake. And to take the position that the State and                We shall be saved when shines Thy face once more.

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


                                                                  this because the Protestant Reformation would maintain the
          Contending -For The Faith                               truth of the Word of God, that we are justified solely by
                                                             I    faith, and this because of the Lord's sovereign grace.

                                                                      Positively, how much richer is the Protestant view of the
            The Church and the Sacraments                         catholicity of the church! Rome's view is superficial, seeks

                                                                  the meaning of this attribute only in external numbers and
           THE TIME OF THE REFORMATION                            membership. To be sure, the catholicity of the church refers

                                                                  to the truth that the Body of our Lord Jesus Christ is called
                 VIEWS ON THE CHURCH                              out of all nations, lands, peoples and tongues. It certainly

                                                                  means that the Church of God is constituted of a multitude
                 THE PROTESTANT VIEW
                                                                  as great as the sand along the seashore, the dust upon the

       In our preceding article we had begun to call attention    ground, the stars in the sky. It means that the Church of

to the fact that the Roman Catholic conception of the cath-       God embraces all peoples, is catholic, universal, includes all

olicity of the Church of God is superficial and contrary to       nations, nationalities and races. It includes among its mem-

the Word of God. And we noted, among other things, that           bers every color : white and black and red and yellow. How-

Rome would maintain its catholicity by calling attention to       ever, it is exactly because of this that the catholicity of the

the fact that the church, wherever it exists, must count a        church is such a tremendous thought. It, therefore, also em-

multitude of members among all the peoples of the earth           phasizes the truth that the Church of God in Christ is of such

which is striking to the eye.    Rome, therefore, must be the     a nature that it is able to embrace and include in its member-

true church because it is greater than any sect in particular,    ship all the peoples of the earth. Where do you find an or-

probably greater than the total membership of all "sects"         ganization of this nature in the midst of the world ? We will

combined.                                                         have occasion to point to this in connection with the multi-

   We understand, of course, that when Rome here speaks of        formity of the church. But we may say now that the cath-
sects it'refers primarily to the Protestant churches. But, how    olicity of the church means that the Church, because of what
contrary is this presentation of Rome ! Dr. Bavinck mentions      it is, is able to transcend all boundaries and lines of demarca-
a total of 264 million Roman Catholics. The Church of Rome        tion, and unite in its fellowship all peoples, races, languages
has been expanding throughout the ages. How great will that       and color.
church be when Christ returns upon the clouds of heaven ? !           When we speak of the catholicity of the church, we must
But the Scriptures inform us that, "When the Son of Man           also include in our discussion two other very important as-
comes, shall He find faith upon the earth?' This is surely        pects or phases of this attribute: the church's gathering by
the teaching of the Word of God that the church, the true         the Son of God and its multiformity. The church is gathered
church of God, will become ever smaller as we approach the        by the Son of God by His Spirit and Word. This follows,
end of the ages. And do we not read in the Scriptures of a        must follow from the Protestant conception of the Church.
remnant, of seven thousand that had not bowed the knee be-        This is literally held before us in our Confessions, Lord's Day
fore Baal? Does not the Word of God speak of the Church           21, Answer 54, and we quote: "That the Son of God from
as a "little flock," and also that "many are called, but few      the beginning to the end of the world, gathers, defends, and
are chosen" ?    Besides, in this connection, Rome denounces      preserves to Himself by His Spirit and word, out of the
the Protestant churches because they are segments that have       whole human race, a church chosen to everlasting life, agree-
seceded from Rome. Is this a mark of the true church that         ing in true faith ; and that I am and for ever shall remain a
we do not break with existing churches, and is this a mark of     living member thereof." This can hardly be applied to Rome,
the false church that we once belonged to an existing church      how Rome gathered the Church. Rome certainly did not
and are now no longer connected with it? What, then, must         view the gathering of the Church as taking place by the Son
be Rome's appraisal of the ten tribes of Israel in the Old        of God. Rome  gathered its church. It did not gather, the
Dispensation when they seceded from the kingdom of Judah          Church by the Spirit and Word, but by the sword and with
and from the throne of David? These ten tribes surely con-        the threat of violence should the heathen refuse to embrace
stituted a much greater number than the single tribe of Judah.    Rome's "gospel." And, in this connection, it must be gathered
What must Rome say of the fact that, immediately before the       that this policy of force in the gathering of the church was
flood, only 8 persons served the Lord and were saved in the       also advocated by Augustine who quoted that text of Scrip-
ark and by the flood ? Were these eight persons the true          ture of Luke 1423, and we underscore: "And the lord said
church in that day? The mark of the true church never must        unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, ana!
be sought in numerical. greatness. In fact, numerical great-                  them  t'o co?%e  in, that my house may be filled." Prot-
                                                                  cnw~pd  

ness and strength is exactly the mark of the false church.        estantism, however, maintains the gathering of the Church as
Besides, the Protestant Reformation, as in 1517, did not          solely the work of the Son of God.

secede from Rome, but was cast out by Rome, and Rome did             Indeed, the Church of God is gathered by the Son of God.


                                          T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                449


To be sure, it is gathered by the Son of God also as the            God. This is the language of our Confessions.
Christ. In fact, this Church can be gathered by the Son of             However, the catholicity  of- the Church also includes what
God only as the Christ. He must be the Christ, the Anointed         we call the multiformity of the Church. The multiformity of
Servant of Jehovah, like unto us in all things sin excepted         the Church of God refers to its many forms. Some would ex-
He must suffer and die for us. The gathering of the Church          plain this multiformity of the Church to the many churches of
can never take place except in the way of His death and             Protestantism : the Protestant Reformed, Christian Reformed,
atonement, in the way of the full and complete satisfaction of      Reformed, Presbyterian, etc. .Each  church, then, is develop-
the righteousness of God. But, even so, only the Son of God         ing the truth of God as it sees the truth, and when finally
can gather the Church. Fact is, on the one hand, only the           each has done so to the best of its ability, they will all one
eternal Son of God could become the Christ, could satisfy           day meet in the unity of the faith, of the knowledge of the
fully and completely the righteousness of God. And, God             Son of God, unto a perfect man.
alone can gather His Church. Man cannot gather the Church              But this view is surely impossible. 0, it is true that we
of God. In the erection of this building of God's eternal           all know only in part. But this does not imply that each
mercies man cannot add one stone in its erection. And we            church represents the truth of God's Word in its own way.
may also add that no creature in heaven or on earth can ever        Fact is, all the churches do not represent various aspects of
frustrate its being built, ,can  ever prevent that these stones     the truth, converging upon a future and central point of con-
are placed in position, even to the very last. God alone gathers    tact. This, however, is true: their views are opposite, are
the Church, also as far as the preaching of the gospel is con-      developing into different directions, are causing a constantly
cerned. It is, of course, true that the Church may and must         greater and wider divergence.
preach the Word. Even so, however, the Church can only                 What, then, is the multiformity of the church ? Now we
bear the Divine Word, hold it forth. It may sound pious to          read that the Son of God gathers His own out of the whole
win souls for Jesus, and we may read of revivalists who con-        human race. Elsewhere we read that it is gathered out of all
verted thousands of souls. But if God speak not His Word,           nations, lands, peoples and tongues. This, however, does not
and if the Son of God gather not the Church, if we must win         necessarily explain the multiformity of the church. We cer-
souls, no soul- will ever be won.                                   tainly believe that in eternity all differences of color and
                                                                    language and race will certainly fall away. Yet, then the
   That the Son of God must gather the Church of God lies           multiformity of the church will certainly attain unto its most
in the very nature of the case. On the one hand, a definite         perfect expression. The multiformity of the Church of God
number must be gathered. Scripture teaches the doctrine of          certainly means that, among all the millions of elect, all will
predestination, election and reprobation. The Church of God         be different. No two will be alike. Each child of God will
is a building. And this building is composed of exactly so          have his own particular talent and character. Not all the
many stones. Hence, it is not true that merely some individ-        members of the Body of Christ will be "hands, feet, toes,
uals must be gathered, but a Church must be saved, a build-         mouth, eye, ear," etc. Each one, in his own way, will receive
ing must be set LIP,  a temple must be built; and this empha-       of the measure of the gift of Christ. Hence, the multiformity
sizes the doctrine of election. Besides, each stone occupies its    of the Church is the church, characterized by a most amazing
ownplace  in this building. And this is not all. To understand      unity, yet revealing that unity in a most amazing multiple of
that only the Son of God can gather the Church, one must            forms: a tremendous variation, each blending perfectly and
also bear in mind who are gathered. Souls must be saved who         culminating in the one glory of the glorified Son of Man, our
are lost in sin, dead in trespasses. People must be gathered        Lord Jesus Christ. And, in this life, the amazing Church is
who cannot hear or see the things of God or of the Kingdom          one and able to transcend all boundary lines of color and race,
of God. Sheep must be gathered who have gone astray, each           uniting them in the faith of the one Son of God. No other or-
his own way, and who can never find the way home. Indeed,           ganization in the midst of the world can claim this amazing
this Church must be called out of darkness into. light, out of      feature of the Church of God in Christ. How wonderful is
death into life. The blind must be made to see, the deaf to         the multiformity of the Church of God! What a mighty
hear, the lame to walk, the dumb to speak, and all these elect      chorus is this elect Body of our Lord Jesus Christ, all blend-
must be lifted up and translated into heavenly life and im-         ing together in the one song of Moses and of the Lamb !
mortality. This will explain why the gathering of the Church                                                                 H.V.
is solely the work of the Son of God, of the living God Him-

self. If creation be the work of God, and it is, then it surely

must be true that this work of re-creation is also the work of                  So let there be on us bestowed

God, inasmuch as the work of re-creation surely appears to                      The beauty of the Lord our God ;

us to be a greater work of God than that of creation. To                       The work accomplished by our hand

create an eye is wonderful. But to re-create an eye that lies                   Establish Thou, and make it stand ;

shattered in a thousand and one pieces is surely more wonder-                     Yea, let our hopeful labor be

ful. Indeed, the Church is gathered by the eternal Son of                         Established evermore by Thee.


 450                                          T H E   S~TANDARD   B E A R E R


                                                                         meaning of this, and the question whether this is proper and

              The Voice of Our Fathers                                   in harmony with the teachings of the Reformation, we shall
                                                                         discuss later.

                                                                            2. The Holy Ghost witnesseth in our hearts that these

                                                                         books are from God. This seems to have the emphasis in our
                      The Belgic Confession
                                                                         Confession: for in connection with this ground the article

                        A                                                uses the expression, "more especially because . . ." This is
                         RTICLE V (continued)
                                                                         usually referred to as the subjective ground.
 Why Do We Acknozvledge  Scripture's Authority?
                                                                            3. The evidence of Scripture itself. This is usually re-
   The major portion of Article 5 is devoted to a setting forth          ferred to as the objective ground. And in connection with
 of the reasons why the Reformed believer acknowledges the               this objective ground the striking statement is made: "For
 authority of Scripture. The article states: "We receive all             the very blind are able to perceive that the things foretold in
 these books . . . not so much because the Church receives and           them are fulfilling." But the question arises whether this last
approves them as such, but more especially because the Holy              statement is intended to emphasize how strong and clear that
 Ghost witnesseth in our hearts, that they are from God,                 evidence of Scripture itself is, or whether it is intended to
 whereof they carry the evidence in themselves. For the very             emphasize how .necessary  the testimony of the Spirit in our
 blind are able to perceive that the things foretold in them are         hearts is. To this also we must attend presently, therefore.
 fulfilling."                                                                Now in connection with the above, our first question is:

        The subject treated in this part of the article is a very        what is the sense and intent of this statement of the grounds

 interesting one, and receives a good deal of attention and              of our receiving Holy Scripture as authoritative ?

 attempted explanation on the part of those who comment on                   Our answer is that, in general, we must remember that
 and expound our Confession, as well as on the part of those             these are the grounds of faith. That this is true can hardly
 who deal with the subject of the authority of Scripture in              be questioned. For in this article you have a confession of
 general. I am afraid, however, that there is also a good deal           fai6h1:  we,  that is, the believers, and the believing church or-
 of misunderstanding not only as to the meaning of the various           ganically, receive all these books as holy and canonical, be-
 reasons mentioned in this article, but also as to the relation          lieving, without any doubt, all things contained therein. And
 between the three reasons, or grounds, given. And there is              it is therefore f&t%  which sets forth its reasons here.
 also misunderstanding in regard to the sense and intention of
 these grounds-a failure to see that these are uniquely the                  And this makes a vast difference. What you have in this
 grounds of                                                              article is not faith trying to convince itself or someone else,
                  fdth.  For, certainly, if one would expect to con-
 vince a man logically, rationally (or should I say rationalis-          but faith giving account of itself. And the order is not thus,
 tically ? j, of the supreme authority of Scripture on the               that first a number of cogent reasons must be given for ac-
 grounds given in this article, he is certain to be disappointed.        cepting the authority of Scripture, and that then the conclu-
                                                                         sion is reached that it is proper and necessary to believe that
        Let me explain, therefore, first of all, the sense and intent    Scripture is authoritative. Faith does not originate thus, that
 of this statement of our Confession. Secondly, let us pay               a man says : "This is true, and this is true, and this is true :
 attention to the three grounds mentioned here, and try to               therefore I believe."    And once begun, faith does not even
 understand their meaning and relationship. And let us, at               assure itself thus. Nor can faith ever convince the unbeliever
 the same time, note some of the errors and misunderstandings            of its validity by using the reasons adduced in this article.
 connected with the truths set forth here. Before we do this,            Unbelief exactly scorns and despises these reasons. It will
 let us distinguish the various elements in the grounds men-             undoubtedly reply that the church was altogether wrong in
 tioned by this article. They are the following:                         receiving and approving these books. It will certainly hold

        1.    The Church receives and approves these books as holy       up to scorn the very idea that the witness of the Spirit in

 and canonical. It is sometimes claimed that this is not a               your heart.is  a ground of your faith concerning the authority

 proper ground ; and the explanations of our Confession some-            of Scripture. After all, that testimony of the Spirit is a sub-

 times'virtually  ignore or deny this ground as being out of             jective thing. And the unbeliever might in broadminded

 harmony with the spirit of the Reformation and as being too             tolerance concede you the right to believe that you have such

 Romish. Without going into this at the moment, let us never-            a testimony, but he will insist that it cannot be proved and

 theless note that our Confession presents this as a ground,             that it camlot  constitute a proof for the authority of Scripture

 even though somewhat negatively and, so to speak, "left-                to him. And the same is true of the evidence of Scripture

 handedly." It does not say, "not at all," but, "not so much."           itself. Unbelief will reply that such evidence is "self-serving."

 And the implication of this "not so much" is certainly that             When the Lord Jesus testified of Himself, His enemies re-

 it is partly because the Church receives and approves these             plied, "Thou bearest witness of thyself : thy witness is (by

 books that we also receive them as holy and canonical. The              that very fact, therefore) not true." And so unbelief replies


                                           T H E   S T A N D A R D   B.EARER                                                      451


against Scripture's claim to be the Word of God. And it will          to the conclusion that the Bible is true and authoritative. Not
array all its evidence over against the truth of Scripture, in        at all. He believes that Bible and accepts its authority al-
order to prove that Scripture is not inerrant  and not reliable.      ready when he is a little child. He canuot  yet explain why
                                                                      he does so. He simply does so in an altogether naive and
   No, we must understand that the whole issue is not a               unreasoning way. If you ask him, "How do you know the

mere intellectual one, but a spiritual one. This is plain too         Bible is the Word of God and that it is true ?' he simply
from the fact that while the very blind are able to perceive          states flatly, "I just know it." A little later in life he will

that the things foretold by Scripture are being fulfilled, they       probably, in that same naive way, state, "I know it because

nevertheless do not believe. Thus it is always with faith and         the Bible itself says so." If at that stage you inquire further
unbelief. What faith believes is undoubtedly the objective            and ask, "But how do you know that what the Bible says
truth, but subjectively it is true only to faith, not to unbelief.    about itself is true ?" he will reply again, "I simply know it
And faith itself accepts this objective truth and the testimony       and believe it." And you will not sway him from that simple
of that truth not because of cold logic, but because it has           faith- even though at a still later stage you may be able
spiritual eyes to see and ears to hear. The natural man               to plant some seeds of doubt in his soul, and even though as
receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God. He is blind.           a youth that same child may pass for a while through a des-
He cannot receive these things because they are only spirit-          perate struggle and period of temptation in regard to the
ually perceived. Thus it is with all the things of the kingdom        Scriptures. And it is as a rule only when that little child
of God. Except a man be born again, he cannot see the king-           has reached a mature faith, has overcome the wicked one, is
dom of heaven. And thus it is also with the Word of the               strong, and has the Word of God abiding in him, that he can
kingdom.                                                              give a full account of his faith that Scripture is the sole,

                                                                      authoritative Word of God. Then he realizes that the spon-
   No, faith in its act of believing is completely spontaneous,
                                                                      taneous faith in the Word of God which he always had was
not mechanical, not logical, not reasoning. And even as all
                                                                      the fruit of the inward testimony of the Spirit in connection
assurance of faith is not a matter of a syllogism, so it is with
                                                                      with the objective testimony of the Scriptures and in connec-
this particular aspect of faith's assurance. Faith simply says,
                                                                      tion with that same Spirit-produced testimony in the church
"I believe." And after it believes -nay, in the very power
                                                                      of all ages.
of that belief, it will give account of itself. Faith perceives

spontaneously that the authority of Scripture is that of God             This brings us rather naturally to the question concerning

Himself.. It perceives that there is nothing to do but to bow         the relationship between the three grounds mentioned here.

before that authority: and it gladly bows. It perceives that          As we indicated, there is a good deal of misunderstanding on

Scripture does not approach a man as its equal, to persuade,          this question. On the one hand, there is a tendency to shy

to reason, to convince the mere mind, to discuss and talk             away from the first ground mentioned here - a tendency

things over. Faith experiences that the Word demands, that            that is motivated by a dread fear of Romanism. And, on the

it insists, that it approaches the heart, that it has authority       other hand, there is always a good deal of discussion con-

without first attempting to convince. And faith renders its           cerning the question which of the other two grounds is pri-

obedience - gladly, willingly, freely, unreservedly. And if           mary, the subjective testimony of the Spirit in our hearts or

then such faith is called upon to give account of itself and to       the objective testimony of Scripture itself. And in connection

explain why it holds the Scriptures to be authoritative, it           with both of these items an appeal is made to the position

"explains," knowing full well that unbelief will never accept         of the Reformers of the sixteenth century. It is frequently

that explanation : "I know that the Bible is the Word of              claimed that with the Reformers the weight of emphasis was

God. The Bible tells me so. And the Spirit testifies in my            upon the second ground mentioned here, namely, the witness

heart that the Bible is true. And the testimony of the believ-        of the Spirit in the hearts of believers. And it is also claimed

ing church throughout the ages sustains me in this assurance,         that the Reformers put no stock whatsoever in the ground

for the Spirit has always wrought that same testimony in the          that the church receives and approves these books as canon-

hearts of believers."                                                 ical and authoritative.

                                                                          Now it cannot be denied that our Confession makes no
    Such is the assurance of faith.
                                                                      effort to explain these things and that it says nothing as to

   Unbelief shakes its head in dismay at such "foolishness."          the relationship between the various grounds mentioned. Nor

But faith remains undaunted, and insists that the Word of             can it be denied that in Article 5 our Confession makes a

the cross always is and always has been foolishness to the            rather negative formulation of that first ground, and seems,

world, and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.                therefore, to deprecate it somewhat. We shall therefore

                                                                      examine this matter carefully, and try to come to a better
    And this is the life of faith too, is it not? The Christian       understanding of it.
life is not thus, that as a child grows up, he passes through a
long process of persuasion and reasoning, and finally comes                                                                   H.C.H.

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


                                                                   may have been abstentions), it cannot be said that all voted
1 DE,CENCY  a n d                           O.RDER~                as they did for the same reason. If the matter comes up
                                                                   again, as we expect it will, we hope our future synods will

                                                                   recognize and sustain the decisions taken in 1949 and 1962

                      The Hymn Matter                              but that then the matter is approached positively so that a
                                                                   definite stand is taken and a clear expression given as to the

                           (Concluded)                             songs to be used in the churches. As it is now our churches

                                                                   have twice synodically said that we do not want hymns or
       It is evident from what we have written in the last two
                                                                   versifications or other songs than those stipulated in Article
issues of The Standard Beay,er  that in 1953 the sentiment of      69 but they have not answered the question, "Why not?' By
the churches in the east was, in the main, adverse to the use
                                                                   implication we have twice said that we want to remain a
of other songs than those permitted by the Church Order in
                                                                   Psalm singing church but we have failed to express the basis
our consistorially sponsored radio programs. With this senti-
                                                                   of this stand.
ment we agree because it is our position that these programs,

officially sponsored by the church, in which the Word is

ministered as a mission endeavor, should also be regulated

by the rules of the Church ;Order.  Consistency demands this.
                                                                                           Holy Matrimony
A simple illustration can make this clear. Suppose that our

missionary would go out into the field where he finds an in-           "since it b proper that  the whiwonial  state be confiwned

terested audience. To them he preaches the Word and in-            in the presencti of Christ's chwch,  accosdkg  to the form for

structs them in the truth of the Confessions as maintained         tr"zat  pzbypoSe,  the con&stories  &a22  attend to it."

by our churches. During this time he uses the Psalter                                                   -Article 70, Church Order
Hymnal, leaving the impression of course that these are the
songs our churches use.     When they are ready to organize            The above article of the Church Order treats the subject
into a Protestant Reformed Church he must tell them that           of church weddings. In discussing this subject we observe,
Article 69 of the Church Order will then apply to their sing-      first of all, the change in this article as found in the proposed
ing as a congregation although for some time he has left           revision of the Christian Reformed Church. There we find
the impression with them that both Psalms and Hymns were           the following article :

permissible. Isn't this misleading? Isn't it plainly wrong?            "Consistories shall instruct and admonish those under

       Yet, this is what we do in our radio witness. This, do      their spiritual care to marry only in the Lord. Christian mar-
not forget, is the o#i&l witness of the church. In it we           riages should be solemnized with appropriate admonitions,
leave the impression upon the unseen audience that the Prot-       promises, and prayers, as provided for in the official Form.
estant Reformed Churches, sponsors of this witness, are both       Marriages may be solemnized either in a worship service or
Psalm and, Hymn singing churches. But, if in response to           in private gatherings of relatives and friends. Ministers shall
that witness the church is gathered, we must tell them that        not solemnize marriages which would be in conflict with the
they cannot use the songs which we ourselves use in our            Word of God."

official witness into the church because Article 69 must be            Comparing this article with the one appearing in our

maintained ,im the chztrclz. This duplicity does not strengthen    Church Order, we find several striking differences. Ours
our distinctive witness but weakens it.                            speaks of the "proper" way in which marriage is to be con-

       In conclusion yet on the hymn matter it may be noted        firmed ; theirs mentions several possible ways that are proper.
that the synod of 1962 voted down the motion to revise             Ours mentions that marriage shall take place in the presence
Article 69 of the Church Order. This was consistent with the       of the church and with the consistories attending ; theirs states
decision of the 1949 synod so that this is now the second          that the "consistories shall instruct . . ." and the church need
time that the request was before our synod to make room            not be witness to the marriage. Ours makes the use of the
in our churches for songs, other than the Psalms, that are         Marriage Form mandatory while theirs states that "marriage
literal versifications of Scripture. And this is the second        should be solemnized with appropriate admonitions, promises,
time that the broadest gatherin,                                   and prayers, as provided in the official Form." Ours is based
                                 m of the churches has refused
this request. In both instances the synod acted negatively,        on customs existent in the seventeenth century; theirs is
that is, they simply voted the matter down. Had synod              more in harmony with present day practices. Which of these
adopted a positive position, we would undoubtedly also have        is correct is again another question.

specific grounds or reasons for the stand taken. As it is now         Regarding church weddings we would like to quote a bit
we do not have'this. It is not only conceivable but even quite     from the Chzt~xh  Ovdw Co,mmentaly  of Monsma and Van
likely that the delegates of the last synod voted this down for    Dellen  who describe the past and present usage in the Nether-
various reasons. Although the vote was unanimous (there            lands. They  write :


                                           T H E   S T A N D A R D   B'.`E'Ati.I?I?                                                   453


    "The Roman Church holds. that marriage  is a Sacramerit.          state. Ixi Church weddings he solemnizes the marriage for

Prior to the Reformation the Ch&ch  `had full control over            the state, and confirms the,  same for the Church."

marriages. The government did not concern itself with this               This is all very interesting.and  raises many questions with

important institution. After the Reformation the solemniza-           regard to the matter of marriage as relating to the church. IS

tion of marriages continued as a function of the Ministers and        marriage a civil matter, an ecclesiastical matter or both ? If

the Churches. But it was soon felt that the government                the latter, the question of "church and state" becomes in-

should have something to say regarding this all important             volved here ? Does the minister in performing marriage

matter. The first Synod (Emden,  1571) already declared               function as an agent of the state, an agent of the church or "

that marriage is in part an ecclesiastical interest and in part       both ? What can be said about the distinction between "sol-

a civil interest. The Churches urged the adoption of uniform,         emnizing" and "confirming" the marriage ? Is the "engage-

Scriptural marriage laws. But the government seemed loath             ment" a part of the marriage or how is it related to the mar-

--io  do its part. For a long time the state held itself aloof and    riage proper? What is a "church wedding" in distinction

left the matter of marriages almost entirely to the Churches.         from a "private wedding" or a "wedding in church"? W!at

Even those who heldan connection with any Church sought               is the function of the consistory in a church wedding? Are

marriage by Ministers. For this reason the Synod of Dort,             they simply witnesses ? What "Form" is to be used at

1618-19, decided that marriages of those who stood outside            weddings ? Does the kind of wedding make a difference as

of the Church should not be solemnized publicly and with the          to the "Form" that is to be used ? In this connection we

solemn blessing in the Church. The ministers were permitted           might also make an inquiry into comparing the old marriagF

to unite such parties in marriage privately. Jews and others          form found in our Psalters and the new Christian Reformed
were married by government appointees from the close of the           marriage form in the Psalter Hymnals. And, finally, why do
16th century on.                                                      we have an article of this nature in our Church Order when,
                                                                      to all practical intents and purposes, it has no purpose? The
    "Not until after the French Revolution of 1789 did the            marriage today that is consummated according to the provi-
governments solemnize all marriages, taking this right away           sions of this article is almost the exception to the rule. Should
from the Churches. And not until 1848 did the Dutch gov-              we discard it and propose something that is in harmony with
ernment annex this right to itself. From then on the Church           current customs ? Or, does this article have merit and should
could and did `confirm' the marriages of its members, but the         we as churches enforce its provisions ?

actual solemnization, valid before the law, was performed by             Space does not permit us to go into these matters now.
government officials.                                                 However, we purpose to continue this in the next issues of

    "In one of the oldest editions of our Church Order, 1586,         The Standard Bearer and write at length about the institu-
we therefore find that the Churches are urged to abide .by            tion of Chriltian  marriage.
                                                                                                                                 G.v.d.B.
usages regarding marriage ceremonies then prevalent, until

the government should have taken action. The Synod of Dort,

1618-19, virtually adopted the same reading, and stressed

that uniformity was highly  desirable and that the govern-                  R E L I A N C E   A N D   S U P P L I C A T I O N
ment should be asked as soon as possible to take action. In
                                                                                When morning lights the eastern skies,
190.5 the Churches of Holland rewrote this antiquated 70th
                                                                                  0 Lord, Thy mercy show;
article of the Church Order, as it is also found in our Church
                                                                                On Thee alone my hope relies,
Order since 1914.
                                                                                  Let me Thy kindness know.

    "At present the marriage proper takes place before a civil                  Teach me the way that I should go;
magistrate. The Church no longer has the right to solemnize                       I lift my soul to Thee ;
marriages.    Consequently, Christian marriages are confirmed                   For refuge from my cruel foe
in the Church, upon authorization of the Consistory con-                          To Thee, 0 Lord, I flee.
cerned, immediately after the marriage as a civil institution
has been consummated at the court house. For this reason                        Thou art my God, to Thee I pray,
                                                                                  Teach me Thy will to heed ;
the Holland Form speaks of confirmation of marriages and
not of their solemnization. We copied the Dutch wording in                      And in the right and perfkct way
1914, but this is a mistake, since our weddings are the actual                    May Thy goo$  Spirit lead:                                 _'

solemnization of marriages. Our new Form has reckoned                          For Thy Name's  sake, 0 gracious Lord,                  - '

with these facts and it is very correctly called: Fowz for the                    Revive my.Soul  and bless,

Solmrznization  of Man-inge. With us solemnization for the                      And in Thy faithfulness and love

state and confirmation by the Church coincide. In private                         Redeem me from distress.

weAdings  the Minister only solemnizes the marriage for the                                                                 Psalm 143


 454                                                                    THE  STANDARD  BEAR&R


                                                                                                                                                  God that hath mercy . . . So then he hath mercy on whom

 I/ALL  A R O U N D   US/l he will, and whom he will he hardeneth." Besides the reader
                                                                                                                                                  glso quoted question and answer 20 from the Heidelberg
 v-                                                                                                                                         JI
                                                                                                                                                  Catechism: "Are all men, then saved by Christ as they per-
 HOEKSEMA MEMORIAL LIBRARY                                                                                                                        ished through Adam ?"                  "No, but only those who by a true

        Our readers will recall that some two years ago at an                                                                                     faith are ingrafted into Him and receive all His benefits." He

 anniversary celebration a fund was started for a "Hoeksema                                                                                       then added the comment of his own, "And faith is a gift of

  Memorial Library." This fund was given to the Theological                                                                                       God."

  School Committee which appointed a sub-committee to ad-                                                                                            To this pointed letter, Rev. Veenstra replied:

  minister the fund. The purpose of the fund is to set up,                                                                                                Those of us who contribute to the Banner are grateful for
                                                                                                                                                          readers like Mr. . . . . who remind us of the Bereans
  within the present library of the Theological School, another                                                                                           of yesteryear, searching the Scriptures carefully to check th_e
library in memory of Rev. H. Hoeksema who labored for                                                                                                     truth of what they read and hear. Such people are the heart
                                                                                                                                                          o f   t h e   c h u r c h .
 many years as professor in New Testament and Theology.                                                                                                   I regret that I am unable to reconcile the verses that Mr.
        This fund has gradually been building up itself. None of                                                                                                                quotes with such others as Luke 6~35: "Love
                                                                                                                                                          your enemies . . . and ye shall be SOQS  of the Most High: for
 the money has as yet been spent, although the Theological                                                                                                he is kind toward the unthankful and evil." Essentiallv our
  School Committee has approved of the idea of limiting this                                                                                              "quarrel" is the age-old problem of predestination versus h;man
                                                                                                                                                          responsibility, and no one has ever solved that paradox. There
  library for the time being, to works on "Dogmatics" since                                                                                                are-  many p&sages in Scripture that b&e  my understanding
  this was the main interest of Rev. Hoeksema.                                                                                                            such as Jesus' lament, "How often would I have gathered thy
                                                                                                                                                           children together . . . and ye would not!"' (Matt. 23:37).  But
        The following proceeds have been received :                                                                                                       we are duty-bound. to preach the whole counsel of God,
          Hull Protestant                                                                                                                                  whether it seems to do violence to our particular theology or
                                    Reformed Church .................................... $ 23.00
         Kalamazoo Protestant Reformed Church ........................                                                            18.90                   not.
                                                                                                                                                     The answer of Rev. Veenstra is evasive. It is true that
         Creston  Societies . .._._____.....__._,.....,......,........................,....  16.07
          First Protestant Reformed Church ___ _. _. .__ __. __ 121.12                                                                            people who uphold the truth of Scripture are the "heart of
          Ladies' Aid, Hudsonville ._._._.,..._____,..,,.....,,..,.......,,.,........  35.00
         PelIa Protestant Reformed Church ..,._.__.......,___.....,.........                                                                      the church."           But it is equally true that people who deny
                                                                                                                                  10.00
          Loveland Protestant Reformed Churcl~ ._. _.                                                                             14.57           that truth are the cancer of the Church. The texts referred
          Hudsonville Protestant Reformed Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . .._.__...                                              68.95           to are not relevant. They may have problems of their own
          Grand Haven Protestant  Reformed Church ,........,__,,.,..                                                                 9.10
          Two individuals outside our Churches . . . . . ..___........__........                                                  15.00           as far as exegesis is concerned ; but they have nothing to do
          Interest on savings account . . . . . ..__._....._.............................                                         12.07           with the question of whether Christ died for all men. Nor

                                                                                                                                                  is this really the "problem of predestination versus human
                       Total ._ _. ___.  ._.              . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $343.78
        This; plus the money collected at the anniversary picnic                                                                                  responsibility." It is true that the problem of God's sovereign
  brings'the total to $588.60.                                                                                                                    will and inan's  accountability before God is difficult and, in
                                                                                                                                                  fact, impossible of solution while we live here upon earth. But
        Besides, an individual contributed to the &nd  a set of
  bound volumes of                                                                                                                                this has nothing to do with the question of whether God
                                The Standard Bewer. This set was given
                                                                                                                                                  loves all men.
  to the Memorial Library with two conditions : 1) that the
                                                                                                                                                     Besides, as the reader pointed out in his letter, this is
  donor would remain anonymous ; 2) that if the Committee
                                                                                                                                                  a creedal  matter. Our confessions settle the issue of whether
  should decide to sell them, they be sold for not less than
                                                                                                                                                  God loves all men or not, and whether Christ died for all men
  $200.00. Since a bound set of The S&ndiafrd  Bearer is al-
                                                                                                                                                  or not. This is pure evasion on the part of Rev. Veenstra,
  ready included in the library of the Theological School, the
                                                                                                                                                  and an attempt to justify his Arminian views of universal
  Committee decided to offer this bound set for sale. It is com-
                                                                                                                                                  atonement by refusing to answer the thoroughly Scriptural
  plete except that Volumes 1 and 2 are combined because a
                                                                                                                                                  and Confessional arguments that were raised.
  few issues are missing. If anyone is interested in these books,
                                                                                                                                                     This is also irresponsible.
  they should contact Prof. H. C. Hoeksema, 1218 Griggs, S.E.,

  Grand Rapids, Michigan.                                                                                                                         FREEDOM TO PRAY?

                                                                                                                                                     Our readers will recall that this column reported some
  CHRIST FOR ALL?                                                                                                                                 time ago on a case pending with the Supreme Court that
        In a Bamer  article dated January 19, 1962, Rev. Rolf  L.                                                                                 dealt with prayers in the public schools. The New York
  Veenstra wrote in his column "Word A Week" : "We do not                                                                                         State Board of Regents  recommended the following prayer
  hesitate to say to an unbeliever `Christ died for you,' for                                                                                     for recital by public school classes at the start of each school
  Christ is in a real sense the Savior of all men." This state-                                                                                   day:

  ment was challenged by a reader from Orange City, Iowa,                                                                                                         Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon
  who wondered how it was possible to harmonize a statement                                                                                                Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parents, our
                                                                                                                                                           teachers and our country.
  of this sort with the truths of divine election and limited                                                                                        Parents of ten pupiis in New Hyde, New York, protested

  atonement. The reader quoted from Romans 9: `<As  it is                                                                                         that this prayer was unconstitutional even though the pupils

  written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau I hated . . . So then it                                                                                  did not have to participate in its recitation if they chose

  is not of him that willeth, nor ol him that runneth, but of                                                                                     not to. Their reason was the First Amendment of the Con-


                                             THE  STANDARD  BSARER                                                                    455


stitution, the well-known Bill of Rights, the relevant part of            which our country repeatedly finds itself. There is a certain

which reads :                                                             logic to the Court's arguments. Certainly the First Amend-

         Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of        ment means that the government of the country or of any
     religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof . . .             state may not promote any type of religion. And then it

   The Supreme Court, by a majority of five to one, ruled                 follows that a prayer which, however vaguely, recognizes the

in favor of the parents and concluded that this official prayer           existence of God, is necessarily forbidden. The trouble is,

was indeed unconstitutional even though the prayer was non-               and this is the dilemma, that then the Court whether inten-

denominational in character and participation was not re-                 tionally or not promotes the denial of God ; for to refuse to

quired by the students. They argued that such an official                 mention the name of God is the same as to deny Him. But
prayer was surely an attempt to violate the First Amendment,              this too is a religion however false. And so the Courts pro-

and should not therefore be introduced into the schools.                  mote religion after all - only now a false religion. They claim

   Justice Hugo L. Black, who wrote the majority opinion,                 to be assuming a position of neutrality ; but there is no such

added a footnote :                                                        thing as neutrality when one speaks of God. One confesses

         There is of course nothing in the decision reached here          Him or denies Him; there is no third alternative.
     that is inconsistent with the fact that school children and
      others are officially encouraged to express love for our country                              * * * *
      by reciting historical documents such as the Declaration of
      Independence which contain references to the Deity . . . or            This same dilemma was vividly demonstrated in a speech
     with the fact that there are many manifestations in our public       which Justice Hugo Black made several weeks ago. This
      life of belief in God. Such patriotic or ceremonial occasions
     bear no true resemblance to the unquestioned religious exercise      Justice Black is the same one who wrote the majority opinion
     that the State of New York has sponsored in this instance.           referred to above. He spoke on another part of the First

   The result of this decision is that there is all kinds of con-         Amendment which deals with freedom of speech. "Congress,"

fusion. Some of the questions that are being asked are: Are               the amendment reads, "shall make no law . . . abridging the

Americans now to be barred from any kind of religious ob-                 freedom of speech, or of the press."

servance in schools and other public institutions ? Does this                Among other things, Justice Black said in this speech and

affect the aid which the government is now giving to Church               in an answer to his questioners: "I have no doubt myself

schools or colieges ? May not Congress any longer open with               that the provision intended that there should be no libel
prayer, as has been its custom ? May not the court crier of               or defamation law in the United States Government, just

the United States Supreme Court begin each session..with                  absolutely none."    "My view is, without deviation, without

the traditional cry : "God save the United States and this                exception, without any ifs, buts or whereases, that freedom
Honorable ComY  ? Must any references to God be stricken                  of speech means that you shall not do something to people

from our national anthem ? from the Pledge of Allegiance ?                either for the views they have or the views they express or

from the oath of office that elected government officials make 7          the words they speak or write."
Is the motto "In God We Trust" unconstitutional ?                            Usually the courts have maintained the position that free-

   Some of the congressmen have already introduced bills                  dom of speech is limited by the Government's right to protect

into both House and the Senate to add an amendment to the                 itself and the individual's right to claim and collect damages

Constitution in an attempt to overrule this latest decision of            from a slanderous or libelous attack. But this is not the

the' Supreme Court. Some of the remarks made by Congress-                 position of Justice Black. He would maintain that a pub-.

men and other national leaders are interesting :                          lisher may peddle filth through the mails ; a Communist may

         The Court has again by judicial fiat amended our Consti-         advocate publicly the violent overthrow of the U.S. Govern-
     tution.                                                              ment; a federal employee may babble security secrets; a
         The upshot (of the Court's decisions) seems to be: Ob-           newspaper may recommend hanging for a man that has not
     scenity, yes; craver, no.
         I -suggest  if- something is wrong it is wrong with the          yet been tried. This is surely freedom of speech. There is
     Supreme Court. On the same day that the Court struck down            a certain logic to this position. But under that freedom a
     this simple prayer, it asserted the rights of sex-offenders to
     receive magazines about their common interests through the           man can sin as much as he pleases.
     mails, saying such magazines were not patently offensive.               But this freedom has to be circumscribed. How shall it
         If the Supreme Court were openly in league with the cause
     of Communism, they could scarcely advance it more.                   be circumscribed ? The courts have said, It is to be circum-
         They put the Negroes in the schools, and now they&               scribed by what is good for the country and for the indi-
     driven God out.                                                      vidual. If a person tries to destroy the country or the in-
         I always thought this nation was essentially a religious
     one. - Eisenhower.                                                   dividual, he is abusing his freedom and must be punished.
         This is another step toward the secularization of the United     But who is to decide what is good for the country and what
      States. . . . The framers of the Constitution meant we were
     to have freedom of religion- not freedom from religion. -            is good for the individual ? To make any sense at all, one
     Billy Graham.                                                        would have to answer: What is in harmony with the law
         I am shocked and frightened that the Supreme Court has
      declared unconstitutional a simple and voluntary declaration        of God, for it is the law of God which limits freedom. But
      of belief in God by public-school children. - Francis Cardinal      this brings us back to the question of freedom of religion, for
      Spellman.                                                           there are those who say that there is no law of God that
   Once again this issue brings to the fore the dilemma in                demands conformity to itself. There is no real solution.


456 : '


      Except thk solution of `Scripture. True freedom is to be            formed by the delegates of Southeast Church ihat Rev. Veld-
found .only in the keeping of God's la&. Freedom of speech                man was. unseated as president of the consistory on the
is speech in conformity to that law. Freedom of religion, in              ground of his having submitted his resignation as minister of
like manner, is the religion of the trut&.of  Scripture: All else         Southeast Church. The consistory of Southeast Church also
is'+. worst form of bondage, for it is the bondage of sin.                presented to Classis  its reply to the decisions of Classis  in
                                                        H. Hanko          April. A committee was tippointed,  to advise Classis  on these
                                                                          matters, and Classis  adjourned until 7 p. m. when it con-
                                                                          tinued its meeting in Hudsonville.

      NEWS F.ROM  OURCHURCHES                                                Class& adopted the advice of the committee with two
                                                                          minor ameridments.  The advice in brief was': 1. That South-
II             "All the saints salt&e  thee... . ." PHIL.`~:~~    : II    east Church in conjunction with the nearest neighboring con-
                                                                          sistory proceed with the suspension of Rev. R. Veldman, that
                                               July 20, 1962.             it make this known to the congregation and sister churches,

      Our Loveland congregation called Rev. C. Hanko from                 and the Classical Committee is empowered to assist South-
a trio which included the,Revs.  J. A. Heys and B. Wouden-                east Church if that church needs it, and to call a special
berg.                                                                     Classis  if need be. 2. To grant Southeast Church the clas-
                                                                          sical apfiointments  they requested. 3. To vote for a member
      Isabel-Forbes called Rev. R. C. Harbach from a trio
                                                                          to the Classical Committee fo fill the unexpired term of Rev.
which included the Revs. M. Schipper and B. Woudenberg.
                                                                          R. Veldman.  4. That Classis  abide by the decisions of the
      Rev. M. Schipper declined the call which came to him                April Classis  and not accede to the request of Southeast
from our Doon  congregation ; their new trio ipcludes  : Revs.            Church  to rescind its actions. 5. Advise Southeast Church
G. Lanting, G. Vandenberg, H. Veldman.                                    to go the church-orderly way with its grievances.

      Southeast's pastor hzis forsaken his congregation after                The Church Visit&-s  gave their report which revealed
having publicly renounced his stand concerning the error of               that the conditions in our churches are as good as can be ex-
Common Grace, and has been ,declared  eligible for call in the            pected.
Ch?.  Ref. Church. This defection adds another of our con-                   Rev. M. Schipper was appointed moderator for South-
gregations to the list of vacant churches.             _=                 east Church upon their request for a moderator. Rev. C.
                                                                          Hanko was chosen member of the Classical Committee to fill
      Rev. G. Van Baren's  new address is: 233 Second St.,                the unexpired term of Rev. R. Veldman.
Randolph, Wis.                                                               Questions of Article 41 of the Church Order were asked

                                                                          a,nd answered satisfactorily.
      Report of Classis  East held in Hope Church, July 11, `62.
                                                                              Classis decided to meet next time on Oct. 3, 1962 at our
      Rev. G. Lanting, president of the April Classis,  led in
                                                                          Hudsonville Church.
opening devotions, and declared the Classis  properly con-
                                                                             After the chairman made some closing remarks expressing
stituted when the credentials had been accepted. Creston  and
                                                                          appreciation for the cooperation given him, the Rev. G. Vos
Grand Haven were represented by one delegate each.
                                                                          gave thanks to God in closing prayer.
      Rev. A. Mulder, following the order of rotation, presided

over this meeting, while Req.  Lanting recorded the minutes.                                       REV. M. SCHIPPER, Stated Clerk
      The first part of our meeting kept the Classis  busy with              The Lord willing, Rev. H. Hanko, pastor of the Hope
routine matters.     The minutes of the April meeting were                Protestant Ref. Church will be the radig speaker for the
read and adopted. The Stated Clerk reported on his cor-                   Reformed Witness Hour during the month of August. Rev.
respondence, and the Classical Committee tendered its report.             Hanko has taken as subjects of his four radio broadcasts the
      Requests for classical appointmenti  were presented by              following : Aug. 5 - "The Certainty of Prayer's Answer" ;
Grand Haven, Creston  and Southeast churches. The report                  Aug. 12-"In What Life Consists"; Aug.-19-"The Sover- _
of the committee to prepare a schedule of appointments was                eign Purpose of God's Forbearance"; Aug. 26-"The  Seek- I'
adopted as follows : Grand Haven : Aug. 12 - M. Schipper,                 ing Shepherd." Printed copies of the radio messages may be
Aug. l?- G. Vos, Sept. 16-A. Mulder, Sept. 23 -H.                         obtained by writing to The Reformed Witness Hour, P.O.
Hanko, Sept. 30 - G. Lanting, Oct. 7 - C. Hanko. Creston  :               Box 8, Grand Rapids 1, Mich.
July 15 - G. Lanting, Aug. 5 -A. Mulder, Aug. 26 - C.
                                                                              Friday evening, July 20, was the scheduled date of Rev.
Hanko, Sept. 2 - G. Vos, Sept. 23 -M. Schipper, Oct. 14
                                                                          G. Van Baren's  installation as pastor of the flock at Ran-
-H. Hanko. South~aast  : July 15 -C. Hanko, July 22 -
                                                                          dolph, Wisconsin. Probably only a church which has ex-
A. Mulder, Aug. 5 -G. Lanting, Aug. 26-H. Hanko,
                                                                          perienced such a long period of vacancy can appreciate Ran-
Sept. 30 - G. Vos, Oct. 14 - M. Schipper.
                                                                          dolph's joy at that occasion.
      Classis  also treated material sent to it by the Stated Clerk

of Synod relative to the Rev. R. Veldman. Classis  was in-                 . . . . see you in church.                             J.M.F.


