                                                                       15,                                                                   N
   VOLUME ,=xX                                        N                        1962 - G
                                                           OVEMBER                         RAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN                               UMBER 4


                                                                                               That's th.e wrath of God !
! M'E D f TAT I6 N                                                                             Go to the hospitals, the homes for the aged and visit their
                                                                                           sickrooms, listen to the death-throbs of the dying.

                                                                                               Be preser?  at earthquakes, riots, revolutions, rebellions,
                      WRATH REVEALED                                                       and look up06  the faces of the warring factions, listen-to the

           "For  the zwrath   o f   G o d   i s   r e v e a l e d   from  heave?&          sickening thud of blow upon blow.

     nga.inst  a.11 mgodhess  ar1.d  zinriglzteoztsness  of prier,  ~110                       I wish I could gather all the pains and aches and torment
     hold  the ~rutla  in zrlzrigkteo,~~tmc7lf.~."                      Rom. 1:18
                                                                                           of plagues and sickly visitations in homes, hospitals, rest-
           "CNevel-tbtetess  He left not Hiqself  zwithout  z&Less,
                                                                                           homes, or clinics. Do you realize that while I write these
     in that He d,id  good, a:lzd gave acs  ratin  from  heazreq  and
     f&tfu.l season.s,  filldng  OWF hearts with food asd ,$a&                             lines there are millions of cries, groaris,  and bitter weepings?
     ness."                                                            Acts 14:17             All of it is the revelation of the wrath of God from heaven
           "The same  shall drink of the zuine: of the wmth  of                            while BUSINESS IS AS USUAL !
     God, wl&h  <is poured out  without ~mixtz~t.~~e  &to the ctcp

     of H,is  indigmtion;  and he shall be tormented with jiue                                But last week was UNUSUAL !
     a.nd brimstolze ix the presence of the holy angels, an,d ,in
     the p9Fesetice  of the Lamb."                                      Rev. 14:lO             God underscored a text!

                                                                                               Oh, He has done so before.
   Well, we breathe easier now, don't we ?

                                                                                               He did so September 1, 1939.
   From Monday evening to Sunday morning the world

spent a rather restless, uneasy, fearful time.                                                 He did this again at Pearl Harbor.

   And not only the world, oh no, many there were in the                                     _' Millions upon millions of human beings bled and died

Church of Jesus Christ who also feared and were afraid!                                    amid horrible tortures. I buried one of them.

Especially those who linow  a little more than the common                                      God did so when the last animal entered the ark, and
crowd. Especially those with a vivid imagination.                                          the door was shut.

   But why?                                                                                    And the rains came!

   Well, God Almighty underscored a text from the Holy                                         At `that tinie  the `whole world of miserable reprobat&
Scriptures : Romans 1 :18.                                                                 died in the flood.

   You see, God always speaks that text to us, to the world.                                   And the eight ascended higher and higher on the turbu-

And it is always true. That is, if you have eyes to see and                                lent  waters of the flood.
                                                                                                        

hearts to observe.                                                                             Yes, God sometimes underscores the text.

   Let us stay with the present day world. And let us point                                    A' few years ago He did when Hudsonville was ravaged
out that wrath of God which is every day revealed from                                     by a tornado.
heaven.
                                                                                               The next Sunday everybody went to church.
    Go with me to India, and let                   visit that border .dispute
                                            us 
between Soviet China and India. Listen to the sound of bul-                                                              + * * *

lets and cannon, to the cry of the wounded arid the dying, to
the wailing of peasants who are ruthlessly torn from their                                     Attend to this : whether God speaks. the text of Romans
homesteads, farms and acres. See the thousands of dead                                      1 :18 with His ordinary voice,  or whether He lifts up His
bodies, .smell  the stench of decomposition.                                                voice and shouts ; whether God kills His thousands or His

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


millions, there. is wrath revealed from heaven against ail                And we trembled, all trembled. I heard a commentator

ungodliness and unrighteousness of men !                              say: We came very close to the destruction of our present

      No, it is not like the wrath of God that shall burn when        civilization.

man descends in the pool of fire and sulphur which is pre-                Most people do not even realize the potentiality of -atomic,

pared for the devil and his angels. Of that wrath of God              hydrogen, and cobalt warfare. They do not realize that if and

Jesus said: There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.             when the two buttons are pushed, one in Russia and one in

And: The smoke of their torment ascends for ever and ever.            Washington, D.C., the resulting holocaust would destroy

      I cannot conceive of such wrath.                                our whole present civilization.

      But I positively know that it is coming.                            And we came close.

      And the.horror of it is that this wrath of.God is u.ft?&xgd.        God peeked  around  the corner and showed His face in
That is the second death.                                             terrible wrath.

      I hear you ask me a question.                                       But Stevenson said : It is that wicked Russia ! And Zorin
                                                                      (Russia) said: It is the arch-aggressor America! And
      What'is the difference between the wrath of God that is         Cuba's Castro spewed out a lot of nonsense.
now revealed from heaven, and the wrath of God which shall
be poured out on the reprobate unmixed in hell ?                          And everyone (almost) took sides.

      Here is the answer: The wrath of God which the wicked               But how many saw God peeking around the corner?

experience now is mixed with "God doing good, and gave                    And how many knew that it seemed as though God would

us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts         again kill His many millions?

with food and gladness."          (That's one of the texts which I        And how many said: Lord, thou art coming in Thy ter-
wrote above this meditation.)                                         rible wrath, and it seems as though Thou art late in coming?

      Some poor misguided, erroneous theologians call it com-             Late in coming? Yes.
mon grace.
                                                                          How many pity God? His law is trampled under foot. His
      But that is a sad mistake. Grace is reserved for the elect      good gifts are misused and abused and used contrary to
alone.                                                                God's intent.

,     No, but God mixes His wrath with the good gifts He                  God wants us to use all those good gifts unto the praising
bestows on every man.                                                 and unto the glory of His precious and beautiful and attrac-

      ,Grace  ?                                                       tive NAME!

      Let me tell you that every reprobate shall say in hell: I           And all that ungodliness and unrighteousness goes on and

wish I never had seen all those good gifts of Jehovah !               on and on.

      Never forget the beginning of that text. Listen: "Never-            Is it a wonder that God came peeking around the corner

theless  God left not Himself without witness in that He did          in order to make every man tremble ?

good, etc." (Acts 14 :17)
                                                                                                 * * * *
      Attend to this: the sum total of all those good gifts from

heaven are the truth revealed from heaven!                                But God withdrew Himself again.

      And what do the wicked with that truth?                             You know what that means ? He gave lengthening of

                                                                      days. He continues, even at this late and godless day, to give
      Go back to our first text: they hold that truth in unright-
                                                                      good things, rich seasons, bread and gladness. Mothers con-
.eousness  !
                                                                      tinue now to fondle their sweet darlings ; fathers continue
      What does that mean ? It means this : The wicked choke          to gather their crops, children sing and dance and play.
that testimony of God. Let God show Himself in all His
                                                                          One Detroit newspaper had this headline: NICK
goodness in the midst of the whole world, to all nations and
                                                                      KNUCKLES UNDER. When I read it, my heart began to
in all the ages of history, and the result is that no one man
                                                                      weep. It's an insult to heaven's God.
falls on his knees to thank God or to praise and glorify Him

for all His goodness.      That is the truth held under by the            The headline should have read : GOD GAVE LENGTH-

wicked.                                                               ENING   O F   D A Y S !

      Let God show the most beautiful and good Gift of all,               That is the truth.

Jesus, and they crucify Him.                                              How long we do not know, for His underscoring is bound

                             *     b * 6                              to come.

      Yes, God underscored a text last week.                              I hear the rumbling of a mighty thunder, and it is God.


                                               T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                                                                                                               75

He comes and will not silent be. He spoke sweetly and

wondrously even in the things of nature and providence.                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
                                                                               Semi-monthly, except monthly &king  June, July and August
And the intent is that He wants to give us a TESTIMONY.                         Published by the REFORMED FREE  PUBLISHING ASSOCIATION
And that testimony, speaking in every crop, in every minute
                                                                                                       Editor  - REV. HERMAN HOEKSEMA
of your life that is extended, in every bite of bread and sip                  Communications relative to contents should be addressed to
                                                                               Rev. H. Hoeksema, 1139 Franklin St., S. E., Grand Rapids 7,
of water is this : My creature! It is I, the Covenant God                      Mich. Contributions will be limited to 300 words and must be
that gives all these good things! My heaven above you with                                                   neatly written or typewritten.

the beneficial sun and moon and stars, and the fertile earth                   All church news items should be. addressed to Mr. J. M. Faber,
                                                                                             1123 Cooper, S. E., Grand Rapids 7, Mich.
beneath your feet is a message to you. And it says: Thank                       Announcements and Obituaries with the $2.00 fee included
and serve Me in love an.d fear !                                               must be mailed 8 days prior to issue date, to the address below:
                                                                                All matters relative to subscriptions should be addressed to
   And what is the constant answer of all the ungodly? This :                             Mr. James Dykstra,  1326 W. Butler Ave., S. E.
                                                                                                                  Grand Rapids 7, Michigan
Depart from me ; I would not have Thee to be King over
me ! I have no pleasure in Thy ways !                                             RENEWAL: Unless a detite  request for discontinuance is
                                                                               received it is assumed that the subscriber wishes the subscrip-
                                                                                 tion to continue without the formality of a renewal order.
   But God continues to rain and to command His sun to                                                 Subscription price: $5.00 per year
disperse its beauteous rays of sunshine. He continues to give                       Second Class  postage paid at Grand Rapids, Michigan

life and bread and gladness. And the children of the godless

Play.
                                                                                                                           C O N T E N T S
    And all the while the godless world holds this truth and
                                                                         MEDITATION-
testimony under in unrighteousness.                                               Wrath           Revealed                   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

                                                                                           Rev. G. Vos
    God reminds them forcibly of this testimony when He

comes peeking around the corner such as in 1941, and count-              EDITORIALS-
                                                                                   Election and Reprobation According to Barth . .._......._..._........  76
less times when the world has buried her millions. But no
                                                                                   A National Prayer Day for Peace? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
one listens and obeys.                                                                      Rev. H. Hoeksema

    And God will continue to do this. Periods of plenty and              O U R   D O C T R I N E -

peace, gladness and fulness.       Periods of the stepping up of                   Of      Sanctification                     . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .78
                                                                                            Rev. H. Hoeksema
His wrath, but still mixed with many good things:

                                                                         A 
    Until He is utterly weary with all this hardness and un-                CLOUD OF WITNESSES-
                                                                                   Balaam's Final Plot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
godliness and unrighteousness. Until He will answer the                                     Rev. B. Woudenberg

prayers of all saints finally.                                           F R O M  H O L Y  WRIT -

    Then His Kingdom will come, and there will be terrible                         Exposition of I Timothy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
                                                                                            Rev. G. Lubbers
times upon the face of the earth. And then will come

W R A T H   U N M I X E D   I N   H E L L !                              IN HIS FEAR -
                                                                                   Righteous              Wrath               . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
    Little flock! Trust and obey! He remembers His own!                                     Rev. J. A. Heys

Amen.
                                                                 G.V.    CONTENDING FOR THE FAZTH-
                                                                                   The Church and the Sacraments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

                                                                                             Rev. H. Veldman


                                                                         THE VOICE OF OUR FATHERS -
                                                                                   The        Belgic           Confession                    . . . . . . . . . . . . ...' . . . . . . . . ._..........__..  89
                  RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
                                                                                             Rev. H. C. Hoeksema

    The Board of the Protestant Reformed Christian School mourns
the loss of one of its members and treasurer,                            DECENCY AND ORDER-
                                                                                   Ecclesiastical                 Censures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..__.......... 91
                     MR. JOHN VAN BAREN,  Sti.
                                                                                             Rev. G. Vanden  Berg
who, at the age of 53 years, entered his eternal rest on Monday,

October 15, 1962.                                                        cONTRIBUTIONS  -
                                                                                   Report of Eastern Ladies' League . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
    We also express our deep sympathy to his loved ones and commit                           Mrs. P. Koole, Reporter
their needs to the God of all grace.

    "But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto His eternal       zkLLxb.OIJNDUS-
                                                                                   A Strange Inconsistency ____........ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you               The Union Shop . . .._....  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .._........__  95
perfect, stab&h,  strengthen, settle you; to Him be glory and domi-                The Church Goes to its Congregation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
nion forever and ever." - II Peter 5:lO.                                                     Rev. H. Hanko
             The Board of the Protestant Reformed Christian School
                                                                         NEWS      FROM          OUR CHtJlKXIES  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
                                  G. A. Van Baren,  President
                                                                                             Mr. J. M. Faber
                                  G. Vanden  Berg, Secretary

 South Holland, Illinois

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


                                                                      reprobation. He teaches that there is only one election, that
              E D I T O R I A L S                                     this election is unto salvation and that all men are elect.
                                                                      Again I say that this is worse than Arminianism, because he

                                                                      teaches that, although all men are elect, it depends on the

Election  and' Reprobation According to Barth                         free will and choice of man whether he will be elect or rep-

                                                                      robate.
      In my last article on the subject :of Barth's conception of
                                                                         The fathers of Dordt also answer this doctrine of the
election and reprobation I stated that his view is Arminian.
                                                                      Remonstrants as follows : "For this is a fancy of men's minds,
      This is true, but in a way Barth's view is worse just be-
                                                                      invented regardless of the Scriptures, whereby the doctrine
cause he does not believe in reprobation. In that sense he is
                                                                      of election is corrupted, and this golden chain of salvation is
a universalist for, as far as God is concerned, all men are
                                                                      broken : `And whom he foreordained, them he also called ;
chosen unto eternal life. As we wrote in our former article
                                                                      and whom he called, them he also justified ; and whom he
on this subject, reprobation can only be the choice of the
                                                                      justified, them he also glorified.' Rom. 8:30."
individual man. Also, in Barth's definition of the election
                                                                                                                                H.H.
of the individual man, he states that the individual man from

all eternity belongs to Jesus Christ, and that therefore he is

not a reprobate, but is elected by God. No one is a reprobate

because reprobation is borne and removed by Christ.                               A National Prayer Day for Peace?
      This is Arminianism in its worst form.

      Arminianism teaches, according to the Canons of Dord-              There are especially two reasons why the answer to the

gecht:  "That the will of God to save those who would be-             above-mentioned question must be negative.

lieve and would persevere in faith and in the obedience of                1. The first is that the nation as such cannot pray. Only

faith, is the whole and entire decree of election unto salva-         the Church and only the believer in Christ Jesus can pray.

tion, and that nothing else concerning this decree has been              2. The second reason is that even the Church and the

revealed in God's Word." I, B, 1.                                     individual believer cannot pray for peace.

      It is evident that this makes election dependent on the            To many this may sound rather impious, but it never-

free will of man ; and this is not only true of election, but also    theless is the simple truth. And the truth must always

of reprobation. The same is true of Barth's view, but with this       prevail.

,difference,  that, according to him, there is no reprobation;           In a recent radio broadcast the very opposite of what is

for Christ has removed reprobation by His death on the cross.         expressed in the above two reasons why we cannot have a

This is why I said that Barth's view is worse than Ar-                national prayer day for peace, was emphasized. President

minianism.                                                            Kennedy was criticized because he either forgot or did not

      The fathers of Dordt condemn this view of Arminianism           care to proclaim such a national prayer day on time; and

in the following words :                                              even when it was proclaimed, only a few churches or people

      "For these deceive the simple [as Barth does also, H.H.]        heeded the proclamation. As an example that a national

and plainly contradict the Scriptures, which declare that God         prayer day for peace was proper and pleasing to the Lord,

will not only save those who will believe, but that he also has       the prayer of Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, was quoted.

from eternity chosen some particular persons to whom above            The prayer is recorded in II Chronicles 20. The occasion for

others he in time will grant both faith in Christ and persever-       the prayer was that someone reported to the king that a great

.ance ; as it is written . . . ."                                     multitude came against him and against his people. They

      Of this Barth must have nothing. Instead he teaches that        were of the Moabites and the Ammonites and others with

all men are chosen in Christ and the Church must proclaim             them. And in that connection we read: "And Jehoshaphat

this as gospel-truth.                                                 feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a

      If this is not Arminianism and, in fact, universalism, then     fast throughout all Judah. And Judah gathered themselves

I know not what it is.                                                together, to ask .help  of the Lord : even out of all the cities

      According to the Canons the Remonstrants also taught:           of Judah they came to seek the Lord."

."`That  there are various kinds of election of God unto eternal          It was on that occasion that Jehoshaphat, standing in the

life: the one general and indefinite, the other particular and        midst of the people, uttered the following beautiful prayer:

.definite  ; and that the latter in turn is either incomplete,            "0 Lord God of our fathers, art not thou ,God in heaven ?

irevocable, non-decisive and conditional, or complete, irrevoc-       and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the-heathen ?

jable,  decisive and absolute. Likewise: that there is one            and in thy hand is there not power and might, so that none

election unto faith, and another unto salvation,;.so  that elec-      is able to withstand thee? Art not thou our God, who didst

tion can be unto justifying faith, without being a decisive elec-     drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people IS-
                                        :
tion unto salvation."                                                 rael, and gavest it tothe  seed of Abraham thy friend for

      This, of course, Barth would not teach because he denies        ever? And they dwelt therein and have built thee a sanctuary


                                          T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                  77


therein for thy name, saying, If, when evil cometh upon us,         that He knows better than we what we really need, and that

as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand          He sends US all things in order to prepare us for His eternal

before this house, and in thy presence (for thy name is in          kingdom, and we change our prayer into a petition for grace

this house), and cry unto thee in our affliction, then thou wilt    to will His will. Perhaps, we thought as Asaph, that we

hear and help. And now, behold, the children of Ammon and           had reason to murmur, and tot criticize the ways of the Al-

Moab and mount Seir, whom thou wouldest not let Israel              mighty, because we see the wicked prosper, while our punish-

invade, when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they           ment is there every morning ; but in the sanctuary of God

turned from them, and destroyed them not; Behold, I say,            we see all things in the light of the end, and shamefaced

how they reward us, to come and cast us out of thy posses-          because of our murmuring spirit, we now confess that it is

sion, which thou hast given us to inherit. 0 our God, wilt          good for us to be near unto God. Perhaps, there is war in

thou not judge them? for we have no might against this              the world, destruction and madness, devastation and death,

great company that cometh against us ; neither know we what         and our sons are called to battle. And quite thoughtlessly,

to do : but our eyes are upon thee."                                even considering it an act of piety, we hastened to the throne

   This is, indeed, a beautiful and God-fearing prayer.             of the Almighty, and earnestly meant to beseech Him to stop

   There is, however, one fundamental error in applying this        the war at once and to restore peace. But as soon as we are

prayer to a national prayer day. Even apart from the fact           really and consciously in the presence of His majesty, we hear

that the American nation as such or the majority of the             Him say: `I the Lord am He that doeth all these things ! I

American people would never take this prayer upon their             make peace, but I also cause war to come! And all these

lips; and apart also from the fact that this prayer of the          things are subservient to the realization of My counsel and

king and of Judah with him is not a prayer for peace but            to the coming of My kingdom.' And with fear and trembling

for the destruction of the hordes that came against them ;          we choke back our intended petition for peace, and say : `Thy

the mistake is that, while Israel of the old dispensation was1      will be done.'    Oh, it is easy in our prayers to ask the ques-

the Church, the American nation is not. Nor can this be said        tions of anxiety and earthly-mindedness: `What shall we

of the United Nations that are also involved in the present         eat ? And what shall we drink ? And wherewithal shall we

threat of war.                                                      be clothed ?' as long as we really pray to. the idol ; as soon

   What'is applicable to Israel and to Judah is by no means         as prayers become petitions to the living and only true God,

applicable to the American nation. Yet this was done in the         all these carnal petitions die on our lips, and we begin to

radio broadcast mentioned before.                                   seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, con-

    My second reason why a national day of prayer for peace         fident that all other things shall be added unto us."

is not proper and in harmony with the will of God is that              Perhaps, you say that in our prayer for peace we must
we cannot and may not pray for peace.                               and do always add: "Thy will be done." And this certainly

    I will quote a few lines from my own book In. the Sanc-         is true and proper in cases where we do not know' what the

&ally  in which I discuss the proper contents of our prayers.       will of the Lord is.

There I write the .following  :                                        But, in the first place, we must be quite sure that we
    "But still more follows from this one principle that in         mean what we say when we add this to our prayers. It
our prayers we consciously address the living God as He             means that when the will of the Lord is that He will not
has revealed Himself in His Word. In this consciousness the         grant us what we pray for, that we are perfectly satisfied
sense of our real need is quite different from what we usually,     with the way in which the Lord leads us.
in our earthly mindedness and carnality, conceive it to be.
                                                                       But, and this is of more importance, we know that the
For, as we present ourselves before the face of the living God,
                                                                    will of the Lord is not to grant us our petition for peace in
we are impressed and overwhelmed with a sense of His holi-
                                                                    the world. We know  that it is the purpose of God to bring
ness. And in that sense many of our imagined needs begin to
                                                                    His kingdom in the way of wars and rumors of war. For
appear as the product of our sinful desires. Perhaps, we had
                                                                    thus the Lord instructed His people in Matt. 24 :4-g,  in an-       I
it in our heart to pray for prosperity, for meat and drink, for
                                                                    swer to a question of His disciples concerning the end of the
abundance of earthly things, for health and joy, for peace and
                                                                    world :
happiness for ourselves and for our children. But as we stand

face to face with the Holy One of Israel, we deeply realize            "And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that

that all these desires are carnal and sinful, that they represent o no man deceive you.         For many shall come in my name,

the things after which the Gentiles seek, and our intended          saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. And ye shall

petitions die on our lips.    Perhaps, there is sickness in our     hear of wars and rumors of war : see that ye be not troubled :

home, and we are not satisfied with God's way ; and we ap-          for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not

preach  the throne of grace, firmly determined to beseech the       yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against

Lord of all to remove the sickness and to restore to health.        kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and

But as we stand in the presence of the Most High, we realize                                (Continued on page 93)

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


                                                                      why must we still do good works ?" And the answer is as
  11 O       U     R            DOCTRINE 11 follows : "Because Christ, having redeemed and delivered us
                                                                      by his blood, also renews us by his Holy Spirit, after his own

                                                                      image ; that so we may testify, by the whole of our conduct,

                                                                      our gratitude to God for his biessings, and that he may be
                               CHAPTER V                              praised by us ; also, that every one may be assured in him-
                  OF SANCTIFICATION                                   self of his faith, by the fruits thereof; and that, by our godly

                                                                      conversation, others may be gained to Christ." And Lord's
                               (Confinued)                            Day 33 speaks of the true conversion of man, of the mortifica-

      Holiness in God is that divine virtue whereby He is com-        tion of the old and the quickening of the new man, and of
pletely consecrated to Himself. For let us remember: God              good works. We quote :

is the highest good. And as such He seeks and finds Himself.             "Q. Of how many parts doth the true conversion of

He reveals Himself in all the works of His hands as the Holy          man consist ?

One. Sin does not have and cannot have any place in God ;                "A.     Of two parts; of the mortification of the old, and

He is absolutely separated from sin. He is a light, and there         the quickening of the new man.

is no darkness whatsoever in God. Over against sin He is a               "Q.     What is the mortification of-the old man ?
consuming fire. Holiness with God, therefore, as we have                 "A.     It is a sincere sorrow of heart, that we have pro-
said, is principally His eternal, perfect Self-consecration. It       voked God by our sins ; and more and more to hate and flee
follows from this that His people also must be holy. God.             from them.
called them as the Holy One. Their calling can never be
                                                                         "Q.     What is the quickening of the new man ?
anything else than the calling out of darkness into light. Their
                                                                         "A.     It is a sincere joy of heart in God, through Christ,
calling, therefore, is a calling to holiness. And just as holi-
                                                                      and with love and delight to live according to the will of God
ness in God is principally His Self-consecration, or His con-
                                                                      in all good works.
secration to. Self, so holiness in God's people can never be
anything else than consecration not to self, but to God. The              "Q.    But what are good works?

people of God are called to be of His party, are called to               "A. Only those which proceed from a true faith, are

stand in covenant communion with Him, are called to taste             performed according to the law of God, and to his glory;

His friendship, and eternally to dwell with Him in His house.         and not such as are founded on our imaginations, or the

And this is impossible without sanctification. Without sanc-          institutions of men."

tification no one can ever see the Lord. Only the pure in                Also the Netherland, or Belgic, Confession speaks of

heart are blessed: for they, and they only, can see God. In           man's sanctification and good works, as follows:

I John 1:5-7 we read: "This then is the message which we                  "We believe that this true faith being wrought in man

have heard of him, and declare unto you, that ,God is light,          by the hearing .of the Word of God, and the operation of the

and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have              Holy Ghost, doth regenerate and make him a new man, caus-

`fellowship, with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do           ing him to live a new life, and freeing him from the bondage

not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the           of sin.    Therefore it is so far from being true, that this

light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of          justifying faith makes men remiss in a pious and holy life,

Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." Even as              that on the contrary without it they would never do anything

holiness in God is that virtue whereby His entire being and           out of love to God, but only out of self-love or fear of damna-

<divine life is consecrated only to Himself, and whereby He           tion. Therefore it is impossible that this holy faith can be

seeks Himself, so sanctification is that act of God in us             unfruitful in man: for we do not speak of a vain faith, but of

whereby we are delivered from the power'of sin and corrup-            such a faith, which is called in Scripture, a faith that worketh

tion, so that with heart and soul, with mind and will and             by love, which excites man to the practice of those works,

all our powers, we are consecrated to God, seek Him, and              which God has commanded in his Word. Which works, as

keep His commandments, to do them. And by this positive               they proceed from the good root of faith, are good and ac-

act of God's grace we are also separated from sin and the             ceptable in the sight of God, forasmuch as they are all sanc-

world, and stand in antithetical relationship over against the        tified by his grace: howbeit they are of no account  towards

powers of darkness.                                                   our justification. For it is by faith in Christ that we are

      Also the confessions speak of sanctification, although they'    justified, even before we do good works ; otherwise they could

often do not use the term, but rather speak of regeneration in        not be good works, any more than the fruit of a tree can be

the wider sense of the word, of conversion and good works.            good, before the tree itself is good. Therefore we do good

Thus, for instance, in the Heidelberg Catechism, Lord's Day           works, but not to merit by them (for what can we merit ?),

32, we read: "Since then we are delivered from our misery,            nay, we are beholden to God for the good works we do, and

 merely of grac.e,  through Christ, without any merit of ours,        not he to us, since it is he that worketh in us both to will and


                                          T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                    79


to do of his good pleasure. Let us therefore attend to what          of God is sanctified in principle, that God also continues to

is written: when ye shall have done all those things which           sanctify him, and that he is called to strive after sanctifica-

are commanded you, say, we are unprofitable servants; we             tion with all that is in him. For, as we said before, and as

have done that which was our duty to do. In the meantime,            the Bible teaches rather emphatically, the believer is dead

we do not deny that God rewards our good works, but it is            unto sin. And because of this, it is impossible for the Chris-

through his grace that he crowns his gifts. Moreover, though         tian to live in sin. For thus we read in Romans 6,:1,  ff. :

we do good works, we do not found our salvation upon them ;          "What shall we say then ? Shall we continue in sin, that

for we do no work but what is polluted by our flesh, and also        grace may aboulid ? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead

punishable ; and although we could perform such works, still         to sin, live any longer therein ? Know ye not, that so many

the remembrance of one sin is sufficient to make God reject          of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into

them. Thus then we would always be in doubt, tossed to and           his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism

fro, without any certainty, and our poor consciences con-            into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead

tinually vexed, if they relied not on the merits of the suffer-      by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in

ing and death of our Savior" (Article XXIV).                         newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the

   Also the Canons of Dordrecht speak of this sanctification,        likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his

although they do not use the term. In Canons III, IV, Ar-            resurrection : Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with

ticle 11, we read :                                                  him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth

   "But when God accomplishes his good pleasure in the               we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from
elect, or works in them true conversion, he not only causes          sin."

the gospel to be externally preached to them, and powerfully             This does not mean that sin is dead in us. For the very
illuminates their minds by his Holy Spirit, that they may            opposite is true. But it does mean that a radical change was
rightly understand and discern the things of the Spirit of           effected in believers, and that exactly in respect to their rela-
God ; but by the efficacy of the same regenerating Spirit,           tion and attitude to sirl. Formerly they lived in sin, loved
pervades the inmost recesses of the man ; he opens the closed,       sin, and agreed with sin ; but no&  they are dead to sin, so
and softens the hardened heart, and circumcises that which           that they no longer yield their members servants to uncleaii-
was uncircumcised, infuses new qualities into the will, which        ness and iniquity unto iniquity, but yield their members
though heretofore dead, he quickens ; from being evil, dis-          servants to righteousness unto holiness. For they are buried
obedient, and refractory, he renders it good, obedient, and          with Christ by baptism into death, as we read a moment ago,
pliable ; actuates and strengthens it, that like a good tree,        that even as He was raised up from the dead by the glory of
it may bring forth the fruits of good actions."                      the Father, so also they should walk iti newness of life. More-

    And in Article 12 of the same chapter of the Canons we           over, according to Scripture, their old man is crucified with

read :                                                               Christ, that the body of sin might be destroyed. And there-

    "And this is the regeneration so highly celebrated in            fore they do not serve sin. Hence,`they  are made free frop

Scripture, and denominated a new creation: a resurrection            sin, and become servants of God, and have their fruit unto

from the dead, a making alive, which God works in us with-           holiness, and the end everlasting life. They are liberated from

out our aid. ,But  this is in no wise effected merely by the         the law of sin and death by the law of the Spirit of life.

external preaching of the gospel, by moral suasion, or such          Before their conversion and before their sanctification, they

a mode of operation, that after God has performed his part,          were indeed fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, thieves, cov-

it still remains in the power of man to be regenerated or not,       etous, drunkards, revilers, and extortioners. But now they

to be converted or to continue unconverted ; but it is evidently     are washed, sanctified, and justified in the tiame of the Lord

a supernatural work, most powerful, and at the same time             Jesus by the Spirit of God. .I Cor. 6:9-11. Chrisi  died for

most delightful, astonishing, mysterious, and ineffable; not         them, in order that they should henceforth not live unto

inferior in efficticy  to creation, or the `resurrection from the    themselves, but unto Him which died for %hem  and rose

dead, as the Scripture inspired by the author of this work           again.    And therefore, if any man is in Christ, he is a new

declares ;    so that all in whose heart God works' in this          creature. Old things are passed away ; behold, all things are

marvelous manner, are certainly, infallibly, and effectually         become, new. II Cor. 5 :15,  17. And according to Gal. 5 :24,

regenerated, and do actuilly believe. - Whereupon the will           they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affek-

thus'renetied,  is not only actuated and influenced by God, but      `tions  and lusts. And according to Col. 3 :9, 10, they have put

in consequence of this influence, becomes itself active. Where-      off the old man with its works, and put on the new man,,

fore also, `man is himself rightly said to believe and repent,       which is being renewed unto knowledge according to the

by virtue of that grace received."                                   image of Him that created him. Or, in other words, accord-

    Such is the language of Scripture.                               ing to I John 3 :9, they are born of God. And everyone that

    And such is. the language of our confessions.                    is born of God doth not commit sin. Me cannot sin because

 .Moreover,  Scripture teaches emphatically that the child           he is born of God, and His seed remaineth in him.

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

      It is, therefore, true, according to Scripture and the con-      monished in the whole of Scripture. They are called to

fessions, that the believer is sanctified in principle. He is          present their bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto

liberated from the dominion of sin. But the Word of God                God, which is their reasonable service. They must not be

also teaches us that believers are, and must be, continually           conformed unto this world, but transformed by the renewing

sanctified by the Spirit of God. For we read in Phil. 2 :12,  13 :     of their mind, in order that they may prove what is that good

L`Wherefore,  my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as             and holy and acceptable will of God. Rom. 12:1,  2. They

in my presence only, but now much more in my absence,                  must not only spiritually be separated from the unbelievers

work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For               and ungodly, but they must not put on another yoke with

it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his           them. Righteousness has no fellowship with unrighteous-

good pleasure."     Believers do not and cannot live and are           ness ; light has no communion with darkness ; Christ has no

not sanctified apart from Christ. They are branches of the             concord with Belial; and the believer has no part with the

true vine, Christ, and therefore do not and cannot live in-            infidel. The people of God are the temple of the living God,

dependently from Him, but only through Him and out of                  and they have the promise that God will dwell in them.

Him. They must abide in Him. For even as the branch cannot             Therefore it is their calling to separate themselves and to go

bear-fruit, except it abide in the vine, so also believers cannot      out from the midst of them and not to touch that which is

bear fruit unless they abide in Him ; and without Him they             unclean. Cf. II Cor. 6:14-17.  They have great and very rich

can do absolutely nothin g. Cf. John 15 :4, 5. It is only because      and glorious promises ; and therefore it is their calling to

they are in the Spirit, and the Spirit of Christ dwells in             cleanse themselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit,

them, that they can please God. Rom. S:S-10. ,Only through             perfecting holiness in the fear of God. II Cor. 7 :l. In Ephe-

the Spirit can they escape the lusts of the flesh. For the flesh       sians 4 :20-24  we read : "But ye have not so learned Christ;

lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh. And        If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him,

these two stand opposite over against each other. And they             as the truth is in Jesus : That ye put off concerning the former

are led by the Spirit of God as God's children. For that               conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the

reason the apostle does not cease to give thanks and to pray           deceitful lusts ; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind ;

for the church, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the             And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created

Father of glory, may give unto her the Spirit of wisdom and            m righteousness and true holiness." And what this all means,

revelation in the knowledge of Him, that the eyes of their             that is, what is meant in the practical sense of the word by

understanding may be enlightened and that they may know                putting off the old man and putting on the new man, the

what is the hope of their calling, and what the riches of his          apostle describes in the verses that follow, namely, Ephesians

inheritance in the saints. All this is taught in Ephesians             4 :25,  ff. They must put off lying, and speak every

1:16-18. And in Ephesians 3 :14-19 we read : `rFor this cause          man truth with his neighbor. We must be angry, and

I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,               sin not.    We must never give place to the devil. If

:Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,                anyone ever stole, let him steal no more ; but rather let him

`That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory,        labor. No corrupt communication must proceed out of their

to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner,man  ;        mouth, but only that which is good and,  what is edifying. We

.That  Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith ; that ye, being       must not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, for by Him we are

rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend                 sealed unto the day of redemption. Bitterness and wrath and

with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and        anger and clamor and evil-speaking we must put away from

height ; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowl-          ourselves, with all malice,; and we must be kind to one an-

edge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness  of God."           other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another. And the apostle

And the apostle is confident that He which has begun a good            even continues this in Chapter 5. They must be followers of

work in them will also perfect it unto the day of Christ. Phil.        God, and must walk in love, as Christ also hath loved them,

1 :6. The apostle glories in that he is crucified with Christ.         and hath given Himself for them an offering and  a sacrifice

For that he writes in Galatians 2 :20 : "I am crucified with           to God for a sweetsmelling savour. Fornication and all un-

Christ : nevertheless I live ; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me :    cleanness and covetousness, filthiness, foolish talking, jest-

and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith         ing - all this they must put off. And they must walk as

<of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."            children of light. For thus the apostle admonishes them,

                                                                       Eph. 5 :S-11 : "For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are
      Scripture, however, also teaches that the people of God
                                                                       ye light in the Lord : walk as children of light : For the fruit
are in duty bound, or called, to strive after sanctification of
                                                                       of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth ;
life and to walk worthy of the calling wherewith they are
                                                                       Proving what is acceptable unto the Lordgi,And  have no
called. For while it is God that worketh in them both to will
                                                                       fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather
and to do according to His good pleasure, they are never-
                                                                       reprove them."
theless called to walk in obedience and to work out their

own salvation with fear and trembling. Thus they are ad-                                                                          H.H.


                                              T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                         81


-----                                                                     he rode-his mind went back through all his old experiences
11 A CLOUD i3F WITNESSES 11 in this line when suddenly there came to him a significant
                                                                          realization.' All those nations which were cursed of ,God had

                                                                          been so cursed because they had given themselves to iniquity,

                     Balsam's  Final Plot                                 idolatry and fornication. Yet in trying to curse Israel he had
                                                                          ignored the integrity of Israel's religious life completely. All

           And Israel abode in Slzktin~,  atid  th.e  people began to     at once his mind was alive with things which he should have
     commit whovedom  z&h  the daughters of Moab.                         done. But maybe it was not too late, and he could recoup

           And they called the people ztnto  the sacr$ces  of theiir/     his losses still. Quickly he turned his beast about to return.
     gods: a.nd  the people did eat, and bowed dozen  to the@             But he did not go to Balak in Moab. The Moabites would
     gods.                                         Numbers 25 :l, 2
                                                                          not have the full confidence in him anymore that would be

           And the  Lord spahe mto Moses, saying,                         needed. Rather he turned to the-  wild; roving tribes of the

           Azjmge  the clzildren  of Israel of the 2VIidiunites  . . .    Mid&rites.  Although they had little to lose to Israel, they
           And they slew the kings of Midian,  . . . Balmm'also           hated the Israelites with a zeal., In addition, they were
         the son of Beor they slew! z&11 the swol$d.                      morally indifferent enough to cooperate in this new plan and
                                                Numbers 31 :l, 2, S       would be able to convince the Moabites to lend their coopera-

                                                                          tion too.
   Balak had hired Balsam  the' prophet to come from Aram
                                                                              Soon he had returned to the princes of Midian  and laid
in the East to curse the children of Israel encamped on the                                                                            _
                                                                          before them his plan. They in turn went with him to the
borders of his land. The attempt had been made and had
                                                                          princes of Moab to gain also their cooperation. The plan was
failed utterly. Three times Balsam  had fallen into prophetic
                                                                          very ,simple.  Before they had-tried to purchase the favor of
ecstasy, and each time he had pronounced richest blessings
                                                                          Jehovah for themselves by the means of sacrifices and burnt
upon Israel in the name of God. At first Balak was dis-
                                                                          offerings. That had, failed. It had not dimmed Jehovah's
mayed, but finally he became infuriated. Beating his hands
                                                                          favor in Israel. Now they would work to turn Israel away
together-in fury he cried out, "I called thee to curse mine
                                                                          from Jehovah. If His people would -be unfaithful to Him and
enemies, and, behold, thou hast altogether blessed them these
                                                                          His commandments, then surely God would curse them.
three times. Therefore now flee thou to thy place: I thought

to promote thee unto great honor; but, lo, the LORD hat11

kept thee back from honour."

   Balaam too was disappointed. He wanted the promised                       To the children of Israel it was a strangely new, and dif-

reward of Balak very badly. Lamely he could only reply,                   ferent experience that suddenly began to take place. Ever-

"Spale I not also to thy messengers which thou sentest unto               since their beginning as a nation they had been hated by

me, saying, If Balak would give me his house full of-silver               everyone they met. The Egyptians had hated them, and
                                                                                                . .
and gold, I cannot go beyond the commandment of the                       when they lefty  Egypt the new nations they met hated them

LORD, to do either good or bad of mine own mind ; but                     just the same. They had become used to it and expected it

what the LORD saith,  that will I speak ?"                                wherever they went. It was, therefore, quite an unexpected              ,

   But that was not all. Before they realized it, Balaam was              surprise when one day a group of. young women of the

once again caught up in prophetic' ecstasy, and he continued              Moabites and Midianites appeared at their camp with ges-

to speak, "And now, behold, I go unto my people : come                    tures of friendship and kindness. They came and mingled

therefore, and I will advertise thee what this people shall               freely with the girls of Israel. It seemed,almost  too good to

do to thy people in the latter days." There followed what                 be true. The young women of Israel had never experienced

was by far the most remarkable prophecy of all. In it he                  such open friendliness from daughters of strangers. Day after

foretold the coming of the Messiah as "a Star out of Jacob"               day they-came until the friendships became very firm. Soon

and "a Sceptre . . . out of Israel." But even more it foretold            it was not only the young women but also the young men of

that the coming of this Messiah would be to the judgment                  Israel who were entering into these friendships with the

not only of Moab, Edom, Amalek, and other nations, but to                 daughters of Moab and Midian.  It was then that the situa-

the judgment of the future kingdom of Ashur (Assyria) and                 tion took on a much more serious aspect-.

in fact the kingdom of the Antichrist. Israel through its king                Before long the young women of Moab and Midian  were

would dominate the history of the world until its end. When               inviting the young men of Israel to their homes. There they

this prophecy was finished there was nothing more to be said.             were treated with the utmost hospitality even to the point of

Balaam arose and went his way.                                            being invited to take part in their religious ceremonies and

    Balsam's  mind, would not allow him any peace over the                festivities. This was for the men of Israel a new and entirely

whole matter, however. He was not used to failure, and this               different experience. The religious worship of these nations

failure had been so utterly complete. Even as he left Balak               had little resemblance to the, solemn ceremonies of Israel

his mind was trying to figure out why he did not succeed. As              which were used in the worship of Jehovah. They were m.ore


 82                                     TIH,E.  STAN-D:AR-D  .BEARER
                                                                                                                     -.

 pageants of sheer pleasure, dedicated to the heathen god.Baal-     could take an example. -In  recognition of it God caused that
 peor. In them carnal lust knew no bounds even to the.point         the plague of destruction should be immediately stopped with-

 where the women openly prostituted themselves in the name          in the nation. -Even  more He established with Phinehas .an

 of Baalpeor. This all could- only have shocked the moral           everlasting covenant of peace. His seed would inherit the
 senses of the Israelites. But they had gone .too far in their      covenant of an everlasting priesthood.
 friendships to draw back.. Soon many of them were engaging             But the matter of this sin was still not settled. Also the
 in these heathenish ceremonies with carnal abandonment.            Midianites who had instigated the whole affair under the

       It seemed that Balaam had at last calculated correctly.      leadership of Balaam had to be punished. The following in-

 Through friendship Israel  had been beguiled into such sin         structions. were issued to Moses by God, "Vex the Midian-

 as was abhorrent to its God. The people had made them-             ites, and smite them: for they vex you with their wiles,

 selves unsavory in His sight until His fierce anger was            wherewith they have beguiled you in the matter of Peor, and

 kindled against them. Suddenly there was sweeping through          in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of a prince of Midian,

 the camp a great plague, threatening to destroy the nation.        their sister, which was slain in the day of the plague for

It was the righteous anger of God expressing itself against         Peor's sake."

 Israel's sin.                                                          The .preparations  for obeying this command were neces-

       For Moses and the people the whole situation had devel-      sarily slow and difficult. Israel had never before stood before
 oped quite without their realization. They had hardly seen         the need of engaging offensively in battle. First a numbering
 the .danger  in the proffered friendship of the girls of Midian    of -the people had to be taken and it had to be determined
 and. Moab. Before they were aware of it many of their men          which of the men were able to go out into battle. When
 had fallen deeply into sin and the wrath of God was kindled        this was finally accomplished, God commanded Moses to take
 against them. Only after the killing plague was upon them          one thousand men from each tribe to fight against the army
 did they stop to take notice of what was being done, and then      of Midian:  It must have seemed like a hopelessly small force ;
 they hardly knew what to do, about it. It was God who              but this would only serve to establish the better that the
 finally came to Moses and told him how Israel might yet be         strength of Israel was in its God.
 saved from destruction. -" Take all the heads- of the people,          Into the battle came the armies of Midian  with five kings
 and hang them up before-the LORD against the sun, that the         at their head. Also with them they took Balaam the son of
 fierce anger of the L.ORD  may be turned away from Israel."        Beor.  We may well imagine that it was not by choice on his
                                                                    part; but the Midianitish kings were still of the feeling that
       With a heavy heart Moses called together the heads of the
                                                                    Balaam had within him the power to bless their every effort.
 people and passed on the command which God had given him,
                                                                    By forcing him to take part in the `battle, they thought to in-
 "Slay ye every one his men that were joined unto Baalpeor."
                                                                    sure his blessing upon them and their fighting.
 `The command came as a shock. It seemed almost too much.
                                                                        What Balaam had forgotten was the vision of the angel
 `Those who had sinned were many, and they came from al-
                                                                    that accompanied him from Aram. It had warned him that
 most every, family in the nation. Could they turn their own
                                                                    in all that he did God's angel would be there to judge him
 swords against their own flesh? And not only that, once
                                                                    with righteous judgment.
 slain the bodies had to be hung up before the sun as a sign                                              As long as he had not r&s-
                                                                    represented Cod's word to Balak he had remained untouched.
 that they were considered accursed. In shocked silence the
                                                                    But what he had not taken into consideration was when he
 people stood around in groups without courage to proceed.
                                                                    had plotted to beguile Israel into sin, God's judgment would
       It was then that the extent to which sin had permeated
                                                                    fall not only upon those who sinned but also upon the one
 :Israel  suddenly came to light. At the very time when the
                                                                    who led them that way. He had succeeded in bringing God's
 plague of judgment was devastating the nation because of its
                                                                    wrath upon Israel, -or at least upon the sinners in Israel ; but
 sin, Zimri, a young prince of. the tribe of Simeon, entered
                                                                    at the same time he made himself guilty and ripe for judg-
 the camp; and with him he had a young Midianitish woman
                                                                    ment. Without-his own choice he' was carried into battle,
 named Cozbi. His intentions were very evidently immoral.
                                                                    and with the five kings of Midian  he perished. It was the
 He made no secret'of it. It was as though he openly was
                                                                    angel of judgment workingrighteousness over the wicked.
-challenging the validity of God's law and its moral standards.
                                                                                                                                   B.W.
 While all the people looked on he led the heathen woman into

 the chambers of his own tent.

       It was Phinehas the grandson of Aaron who was shocked
                                                                                       Rl$SOLUTION   O F   S Y M P A T H Y
 into action. With such audacious sins being practiced openly
                                                                    The Con&tory  of the Randolph Protestant Reformed 
 in the.camp,  it was no time to hesitate.fort  lack of courage.                                                                  Church
                                                                    wishes to express its heartfelt sylnpathy  `to our Pastor, Rev. G. Van
 In righteous indignation he took a javelin and followed the        Baren,  in the loss of his father,

couple into the tent. Without mercy he struck them both                                    MR. JOHN VAN BAREN

 through with the javelin so that they died.                           "?he  Lord gave, the Lord bath taken away, blessed be the name
                                                                    of the Lord." Job 1:21.
       This was the sort of righteous courage from which Israel                                                     Wm. Huizenga,  Clerk


                                                  THE--STAN'DmAR.D.  BE'ARE'R                                                             83

                                                                            and-survey of the current usage of the phrase shows that it

                                                                            was a rite or usage which was taken over by the New Testa-

                                                                            ment church from the .Old  Testament hy Jewish Christians.

                                                                               Sometimes the Lord instructs the church to "lay their

                           Exposition of I Timothy                          hands" on those who are to be placed into office. Thus  Moses
                                                                            is instructed to appoint Joshua, the son of Nun. We read in

                               (I Timothy 5 :22-25)                         Numbers 27 :18  : "And the L~~~`said  unto Moses, Take thee
                                                                            Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and ray

     Paul is giving directions to Timothy how the affairs ought             t%se hand upon l&z.,  and set him before Eleazar the priest,
to be conducted in the house of God till he comes. -We should               and before all the congregation and give him a charge in
bear in mind for a proper understanding of this letter that                 their sight." And we read in- verse 23 of said chapter : "and
Paul is not writing an orderly, doctrinal thesis ; he is writing            he laid his hands capon  l&m, and gave him a charge, .as the
a letter to his son Timothy, a youthful minister in the church,             LORD commanded by the hand of Moses." (Emphasis sup-
as he stands in the midst of the hard facts of life, the,problems           plied.) In Deut. 34 this act of Moses upon God's command
that are perennial to every minister; in the throbbing stress               is again referred to. Already in Gen. 48:14 we read of this
and strain of one who must stand in the ~office  and bear great             custom and rite at the occasion of. Jacob's blessing the two
responsibilities.                                                           sons of Joseph when he wittingly crossed his hands.

     There is a certain gullibleness in judging of people which                However, the custom is also used as a symbolic act when

Timothy must avoid as a dangerous pitfall; Timothy must by                  the- priests placed their hands upon the sacrificial victim.

all means not act from the motive of sinful suspicion, nor                  Lev. 3:2, 8, 13; 4:4, 15, 24, 33; 8:14,  18, 22; 16:21.  When

must he be a naive "babe in the woods" who gets the wool                    no sacrificial victim is substituted for guilt then the people,

pulled over his eyes by evil men, who would get him com-                    in a given case, must place their ,hands upon the sinner who

mitted to their sinful purpose and plans. He must use much                  must die, as in the case of the Egyptian's son who cursed the

wisdom and spiritual discretion. He must not get involved,                  NAME of the Lord. Lev. 24:14.

but. keep himself pure.                                                        In the- New Testament we read of Christ's laying His

     But let            listen to Paul himself as he writes : "Lay hands    hands upon the heads of infant children (Matt. 19:13 ff.),
                 us 

suddenly on no mai?L,  neither be parta.ker.s  of other ??%en's  s&s:       and also of the church's laying their hands upon the deacons.

keep thyself pm-e.  -D&k no longs  water, bu,t use a little                 in Jerusalem at the-time of their appointment to office (Acts.

wine for thy  stovtzach's  sake #and  thine  offen ~W&WL&S.  SOSW           6:6), and of Paul's laying his hands upon certain disciples at

men's  sins aye open bejove-hand,  going befotie  to judgvmnt:              Ephesus after he had instructed them- in the baptism of

a n d   some  m e n   thy follozu c$er. Likewise  also the good             Christ (Acts 13 :3).
works  of some are wta&fest  before lawtd:  amnd they that are                 The phrase "laying on of hands" does not refer to the
otlz~rwhe  cannot be hid" (verses.22-2.5).                                  actual impartation of spiritual powers, but was a symbolic

     At first glance one would be inclined to' interpret the                rite, showing that those upon whom the hands were laid were'

phrase "lay hands suddenly on no man" as referring to the                   (1) appointed and (2) charged with certain duties in God's

laying on of hands which was a symbolic rite used for placing               c h u r c h .

men into office in the church-a\  rite of consecration accom-                  Timothy must, therefore, not easily adjudge men worthy
panied by a definite injunction and charge. Contextually it                 of a place in the ofices in. the church, nor worthy of respon-
would refer to the putting in office of elders. And then Paul               sibilities generally. He must not easily and "hastily" give his
would say: be sure that you do not actually place evil men                  sanction to any man. There is no exception to this rule. Not
i n t o   o f f i c e .                                                     all are "well-born," true sons of the gospel, genuine chil- _

     However, Paul has given definite instructions for this                 dren of the light. There is chaff amidstthe corn and the two

already in I Tim. 3:1-13. Besides, there is something quite                 must not wittingly be mistaken. Hence, this .precaution  is

general about this warning against "suddenly" placing hands                 urged. by Paul:

upon `anyone.              The fact that Paul does not say, "lay hands         The inevitable result will be, that, if hands are "hastily"
suddenly upon no one" who `will be a bishop, but leaves it                  laid on anyone and everyone, those responsible. for placing
general ("no man") shows that Paul evidently had in mind                    such men in office or according them their expressed con-
that he should not give full confidence to any man hastily                  fidence will be guilty of the "sins  of others." He that.joineth
as one worthy of any position of influence or membership in                 himself to a harlot is one flesh with her. One cannot, in this
the church.                                                                 connection, but feel saddened by the wholesale acceptance

     The phrase "laying on of hands" must have had a rather                 of ministers from another denomination, as was done recently

definite meaning and application in the days of Paul. A study               by the Christian Reformed Church. Time will tell whether


            84                                          T H E   S T A N D A R D   .BEARER


            they will be so blessed and happy in this gullible transaction ;     are not yet revealed clearly in that capacity. These will

            whether they have accepted a-goodly number of opportunists           come to manifestation in due time.

            or not ! In my labors as Home Missionary I have had ample               This maxim of Paul is practical, it is a workable direc-
            opportunity to be reminded of this rule of Paul to Timothy           tive; it will insure that Timothy will not wittingly endorse

            his son. We don't need a few "Trojan horses" in our midst.           evil men in the church.

            Timothy must not be tempted to advocate an insane growth                It is true, God only knows the hearts. But Jesus tells
            in number in the church.                                             us: by their fruits ye shall know them.

                  It requires great `(purity"  of heart and mind to take this       We should also say just a word about Paul's instruction

            stand ; to dare to say "no" at the right `time, whatever the         to Timothy to "drink a little wine." This verse seems to

            pressures may be. He must keep -himself  "pure" ; he must            be somewhat of an enigma to interpreters. It seems to be

            be able, in his public life and ministry, to point to the record     ."stuck in" between two verses which speak of such earnest

            and the minute book of the consistory, and feelthat  he has          and serious matters as the proper endorsement in the church

            performed the Lord's work as a good steward, and that he             of worthy members. What has this to do with Timothy's

            is not to be blamed for giving his confidence to the wrong           menu on the table: drinking a little -wine! Does Paul sud-

           `. people, nor that he has given them a public badge of being         denly become a doctor, a therapeutist?

          trustworthy when they were not.                                           It seems to me that even though there is no logical  con-

                  For there is a very general rule which Paul cites here ;       nection to be observed here, there must be a very factual

            it is a maxim which ever-y minister and elder may write in           connection. As every minister of the gospel knows and all

            his notebook. The basic principle underlying this maxim              who bear responsible positions among men, it requires a

            is that in the church of Jesus Christ on earth men and               good, strong, healthy body to perform the difficult tasks of

            women are fundamentally- of two kinds : those of whom it             life. See what happened to a Calvin and his stomach by his

            is said that the gospel is for them a savor out of death to          constant privations of food and rest. It has been said jovial-

            death, and those for whom the gospel is a savor out of life          ly (many a true word has been spoken in jest !) that a

            u n t o   l i f e .                                                  man has a "preacher's stomach," meaning that he has ulcers
                                                                     _-
                  This is a sobering thought!                                    and lack of appetite.      Timothy apparently was not a man
                                                                                 of robust health, a man' with an iron constitution, as Paul
                  Did not the aged Simeon say to the parents of Jesus,
                                                                                 evidently was. He had "often" to complain of illness.
            when he held the infant Savior in his longing- arms, "This
                                                                                    Possibly the stress and strain of being a minister aggra-
            child iS: set-for a fall and rising of many in Israel and unto
                                                                                 vated his condition. Timothy needed a bit of wine to stimu-
            a sign of contradiction . . . that the -thoughts of many hearts
            be revealed"? The thoughts, the deepest intents and aspira-          late his appetite. He must not "drink water," that is, be an
                                                                                 exclusive "water-drinker" as the word in the Greek has it.
            tions of' the heart, must be uncovered and placed in the
            searching light of God's judgment in its naked truth.                Certainly he. must drink water. Who doesn't need water !
                                                                                 If Timothy could drink but, a "little wine" and no water -
                  Hence, when Christ was on earth and had performed              pray what therapeutic advice would that be? ! Sapient; sai;!
            many "signs"           and many believed, the Lord did not trust        Perhaps Timothy had also come under the influence of
            them. He did not need to be told what was in them, for He
                                                                                 those who insisted that marriage was sinful-and- that meats
            knows what is in -man (anthropos) ! He knows that the
                                                                                 must be abstained from. There are those teetotalers even to-
            heart is deep. It is true we do not know this as He knew
                                                                                 day. They would not even think of drinking wine at the
            it; yet, we too are not "hastily" to trust anyone, not even
                                                                                 Lord's table ; it must be grape juice. Christ made wine ; it
            one's own son! Shall not they be one's greatest enemies
                                                                                 was the best according to the connoisseur (the sampler of
            betimes  ?
                                                                                 wines) at the wedding feast in- Cana  of Galilee. These false
                  In the time of the foregoing principle Paul enunciates the     teachers did not understand that God made all things
            maxim (,a brief statement of a practical principle), which           "good"  and nothing is to be rejected being received with
            we here state briefly:                                               thanksgiving, since it is sanctified by the Word of God and

                  1. There are evil men. (a) Revealed already as evil            prayer. Timothy may not have desired to offend these.

            men. With these one has no d'ifficulty  ; one will not be                Paul says : do it not ! Let "wine serve you ;" drink a

            tempted to "place hands upon" such. (b) Not yet revealed             little. It is good medicine, a good tonic for your stomach.

            in their being evil. But it will surely come. Hence, do not          Do not deprive, it of its needs, but be of good health in body

     _      place hands upon "hastily."                                          and soul, and perform the work of an evangelist with vigor. -
                                      _-
                  2. There are men with "good works." (a) When                   It is not that which entereth into the mouth that defiles the
I
            such are present we have no difficulty. In these we may              man, but that which proceedeth from it. Keep thyself pure.

            believe that they are trustworthy. These speak for them-                 Thus be `a good workman in the house of God.

            selves. .(b) But there are others who are good men, but who                                                                    G.L.


                                             .THE   ` S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                      85


                                                                           wrath are not the opposite of love. Hatred is the opposite
                    I       N             HIS FEA.R                        of love. And therefore it is quite possible to be angry with
                                                                           someone whom you love. God is-angry with the wicked in

                                                                           His intense and eternal hatred of them. But it is quite pos-

                                                                           sible for a father to be angry with his child whom he loves.
                              Righteous Wrath                              In fact he can be angry exactly because he loves that child.

                                                                               Webster, tells us that anger is a strong passion or emo-
          Not all anger is sin.                                      _     tion of displeasure. Wrath he calls violent anger, a deep and
          Not all wrath is to, be condemned.                               determined indignation, vehement -exasperation, fierce in-

          Neither is all hatred to be considered to be of the devil.       dignation:  While hatred he calls a feeling of great aversion

         Paul tells the church at Ephesus, "Be angry and sin not."         for and an exceedingly great dislike of a person. In that
      Ephesians 4 :26:  Surely that means that it is possible to' be       hatred one can be angry, for he can be greatly displeased and
                                                                           have fierce indignation for that person as well. But a father
      angry without sinning. Besides, of Jesus we read in Mark
      3 :5, when the pharisees were watching to see whether He             who loves his child can be sorely displeased because of the
                                                                           actions of his child. Solomon declares that he that spareth
      would heal on the Sabbath, that `!He looked round about
      upon them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of              the rod hateth his son. It follows then that one can in love
      their hearts."      In Deuteronomy 1 :37 Moses says, "Also the       apply that rod, when one is displeased with the sinful walk of
      Lord was angry with me for your sakes, saying, Thou shalt            his son. In fact in Proverbs 13 :24 he says, "He that spar-
                                                                           eth his rod hateth his son : but he that ioveth him chasteneth
      pot go in thither." And in Deuteronomy 9 :20 he says, "And
      the Lord was very angry with Aaron to have destroyed him,            him betimes." .He loves his child ; and he loves God. He
      and I prayed for Aaron also the same time." God is angry             desires to see his child walk in God's ways. And when that
      with the wicked every day, according to Psalm 7:ll. Moses            child goes the way of sin, father is righteously displeased
      was filled. with wrath when some of the people disobeyed             and chastizes  his child to correct him and bring him back
      and gathered more manna than enough for the day. For                 to the way of God's law. Many a father, on the other hand,
      we read in Exodus 16 :20,  "Notwithstanding they' hearkened          reveals his hatred to God and his son by allowing him to
      not. unto Moses ; but some of them left of it until the morn-        continue to walk in the way of evil.

      ing, and it bred worms, and stank: and Moses was wroth                  0, fathers are human and by nature totally depraved.-

      with them."        God declares Himself in Isaiah, 47:6  to Baby-    They can then in a fit of temper beat their children and

      lon, "I was wroth with my people, I have polluted mine in-           injure them severely. It may well be the hate of the flesh

      heritance,  and given them into thine hand: thou didst show          and not the love of a covenant parent. Always we.must  be

      them no mercy ; upon the ancient hast thou very heavily laid         on our guard against such punishment of the child. It does

      thy yoke."     Elisha, we read in II Kings 13 :19 was- wroth         not teach him to walk in God's ways. It only brings out the

      with Joash,  King of Israel when he smote the ground three           evil in his sinful nature. Scripture is aware of this fact.

      times. We read, "And the man of God was wrath  with hini,            And therefore we read in Ephesians 6:4, "And ye fathers,

      and said, Thou shouldest have smitten five or six times ; then       provoke not your .children  to wrath: but bring them up in

      hadst thou smitten Syria till thou hadst consumed it:                the nurture and admonition of the Lord." We may note the
.-    whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but thrice."                      contrast here. Provoking our children to wrath is not bring-

                                                                           ing them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. It
         And ,as to hatred, the psalmist says in Psalm 139 :21,  22,
                                                                           may be training them to walk OUR way but not God's way.
      "Do not 1 hate them; 0 Lord; that hate Thee ? and am not
                                                                           It may be showing them the evil of father's .or mother's
      I grieved with those that rise up against Thee? I hate them
                                                                           heart, the vengeance of a sinful man, the cruelty of the flesh;
      with perfect hatred: I count them my enemies." And when
                                                                           the hot temper of a fallen parent; but it does not bring up
      we are told by John in I John 2:15  not to love the world,
                                                                           the child in the -nurture and admonition of the Lord. In
      surely the positive admonition is to hate the world and the
                                                                           fact, in the epistle to the Hebrews these things are spelled out
      things in the world. :                                               when we' read in Hebrews 12:6-10,  "For whom the Lord
         And so from all this it ought to be-plain that there is a         loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He
      place in the life of the regenerated child of #God  for anger,       receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as
      but also for wrath and even for hatred. There is a righteous         with sons ; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth
      wrath which does not deny his sanctification but rather gives        not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are
      clear evidence of it. `Take, for example, that verse again in        partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore,
      Psalm 139:21,  22. The psalmist hates God's enemies. He              we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we
      is grieved with- those that rise up against; Him. And can a          gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in sub-
      child of God who loves God do anything else?
                                                      _ . .    :'          jection unto the Father of Spirits, and live ? For they verily

         One thing we do well to bear in `mind is that anger and           for ~a few days chastened us after their own pleasure ; but He


r86` '                                       T~;&,TAN~,DARD                       B E A R E R
                                                                             .
    2 _ . _. - _.                     i i           _ -. .i- ._.

   for our profit, that we might be partakers of His holiness."         of hating sinners as well as their sins. It is not true that IGod               -

   Indeed, often. we do chastize  our children for our pleasure         bites. the sin but not the sinner. Psalm 7:ll  plainly declares

   rather than for their profit. WE are irritated! They have            that He is angry with the wicke'd  and not with their wicked-

   displeased us. And we are not concerned with the fact that           ness alone. In Romans 9:13 we read that "it is written,

   they sinned against God., It is WE who have been hurt by             Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated." And the word

   their inattention, by their words and actions. It is not then,       hated here does not mean "loved less" but is'the same word

   to. train them and bring them up in the nurture and admoni-          used in Revelation 2 :6 and 17 :16.  In the former passage it

   tion of the Lord that we give a stinging blow, but for our own       is stated that the church at Ephesus hated the deeds of the

   pleasure, or rather because we personally have been dis-             Nicolaitans, which God also hates. And in the latter passage

   pleaseId  by their actions.-                                         it is stated that the ten kings, who gave their thrones to the

                                                                        antichrist, shall later on hate the whore and make her deso-
   :.-Nevertheless,  a covenant parent can and by God's grace

                                                                        late and naked and eat her flesh and burn her with fire. Those
   is- angry,  often sorely displeased, indignant and exasperated

                                                                        are not acts of loving less. They reveal a total lack of love.
   by the evil perpetrated by his child because this parent sees

                                                                        God HATES the sinner; and His people hate the sinners as
   it as sin against God. Who would say that there is no

                                                                        God's enemies. If God simply hated the sin, why does He
   room for this ? Go through the Scriptures, and you will

                                                                        presently cast the sinner into hell ? Is He a changeable God
   find it time and again. And you will also find those Elis who

   see the sins of their children and probably- say, "Boys, boys,       Who today can love and tomorrow can hate ? He tells us in

   do not do such evil things," but never get excited enough            Malachi 3 :6, "For I am the Lord, I change not ; therefore are

                                                                        ye sons of Jacob not consumed." No, God ~does not hate
   or bothered en.ough to train them up in- the nurture of the'

   Lord by teaching them `that sin must be punished, and the            today and love tomorrow. God does not love today and hate

   child must .be  brought to sorrow for his sin. Even though           tomorrow. He loves eternally and He hates eternally: There

   he may .become  furious at his neighbor's children's sins.           is. no moment in time when He begins to love or when He

   0, we see such a spirit of indifference today in this respect.       begins to hate. He is not a changeable ,God.

   Present day child- psychology has room for the child to                  Righteous wrath, holy indignation- then we surely may
   get .exasperated  with .his parents to show and express all his      have against the sinner and his sin. You simply cannot
   displeasure at the rulings and authority of his parents, but         separate the sinner from his sin. You cannot say that you
   condemns all display of the displeasure of .the parents at the       hate his sin but love him. It simply is not true. For what
   sinfulness of their children. Modern child psychology turns          is sin ? It is the act of man as he violates the law of God.
   the law of God around and says, "Parents, `honor your chil-          Sin is, not an abstract; theoretical entity. Sin is an act of a
   dren that it may be well with you." Shame-on us. Surely              thinking-willing being. No more than you can truthfully say,
   this is not the language of Scripture. Soon we shall-and             I hate the fruit of that tree but I love the tree, can you say, I
   indeed, it is al-ready upon us - reap what we have sown ;            hate the sin of that man but I love the man. For you cannot
   and. it will be a whirlwind which we reap.                           say that you love God and also love fii.s enemies.

       But, as we said, Scripture shows the child of God indig-            The law says that we must love OUR enemies ? Of course,
   nant, highly displeased with sin, filled' with righteous wrath       and we plan to say something about that next time, the Lord
   against evil works, false doctrines, bold enemies of the cross       willing.    But this is no contradiction if we note that it is
   of Christ. So.much  so that the psalmist says, as we pointed         GOD'S enemies that we must hate.
   out, that he hates God's enemies with a perfect hatred. Was                                                                              J.A.H.
   this~not the very prediction of God Himself to the devil and

   the. promise `of God to His Church ? Were not the very                                      A N N I V E R S A R Y
   first words of, encouragement that .God spoke after the fall
                                                                           The Lord willing, on November 15, 1962, our dear  parents,
   of man exactly that He would put e-m&y  between seed and                                   MR. AND MRS. R. ROODA
   seed 7 Does `that not belong to the very essence of our sal-                                                                                              c
                                                                        will celebrate their fiftieth anniversary..

   vation that we hate sin in every form, become angry and                We give thanks to our- heavenly Father, who has spared them
                                                                        for us and each other these many years. Our earnest prayer is that
   are filled with wrath at every display of sin? The alternative       He may further bless them in the way which lies ahead.
   is that we are not ,bothered  by it, that we can tolerate it, yea                   "Ere into~being  I was brought
   that we enjoy it. It is either . . . . or. No, we do not hate                        Thy eye did see, and-in Thy thought
                                                                                        My life in all its'perfect  plan
   them as .OUR enemies, therefore we lay no finger upon them.                        Was ordered ere'my  days began." Ps. 139

   We take away none of their, possessions: We bear no                                                           Their grateful children
                                                                                                                 Mr. and Mrs. Martin Hoekstra
   false witness against them or even covet their possessions..                                                  Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Rooda
   But as GOD'S enemies we are filled  with righteous wrath.                                                     Mr. and Mrs. Earnest Sporleder
                                                                                                                 Mr. and Mrs. Theodore Rooda
   We have by the regenerating grace of God the hatred that                                                      Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Broza
   God has for sin and sinners in our $earts.                                                                               and eleven grandchildren
                                                                        5225 93rd Street
      We may note, too, that Psalm 139.speaks  of hating men,           Oak Lawn, Illinois


                                            )ir H E S i- A N.:9  .A-R D' B E A.R  j3.R __ _ ,_ . . . . _. :. _ .__ i.-. g7
- _

                                                                       Question 66, speaking of the sacraments. in general, defines

 11 mm-~ Contending For The Faith                                      them- as "holy, visible signs and-seals, appointed of God for
                                                                 II    this end, that by the use thereof, he may more fully declare

                                                                       and seal to us the promise of the gospel~?iamely,  that he

                                                                       grants us freely the remission of sin, and life eternal, for the
             The Church and the Sacraments                             sake of that one'  sacrifice of Christ, accomplished ori'the

                                                         `ION
             THE TIME OF THE REFORMAT                                  cross."    And Article 33 of our Belgic Confession';describes
                                                                       and defines' the sacraments as follows : "We believe, that our
                V I E W S   O N   T H E   C H U R C H                  gracious God, on account of our weakness and infirmities

              I  T H E   P R O T E S T A N T   VIEW-                   hath ordained the sacraments for us, thereby to seal unto US
                                                                       his promises, and to be pledges of the good will and grace of

     We- concluded our preceding article with a few quota-'            God toward us, and also to nourish and strengthen our faith :

 tions from the Canons and Do,matic  Decrees of the Council            which he hath joined to the Word of the g-ospel,  the better to

 of Trent, even as these articles set forth the Roman Catholic         present. to our senses, both that which he signifies to us by

 position on the nature and significance of the sacraments, In         his Word, and that which. he works inwardly in our hearts,

 these canons which we quoted it is evident that .the  Roman           thereby assuring and confirming in us the salvation which he

 Catholic conception of the sacraments is that the sacraments          imparts to us. For they are visible signs and seals of an

 contain the grace which they signify, that the grace of God is        inward and invisible thing, by means whereof God worketh

 inseparably connected with the outward sign of the sacrament,         in us by the power of the Holy `Ghost. Therefore the signs

 and that such grace is conveyed through the external opera-           are not in vain or insignificant, so as to deceive us. For Jesus

 tion of the sacrament. Rome denies that the sacraments are            Christ is the true object presented by them, without whom

 merely outward signs of grace or justice received through             they would be of no moment. Moreover, we are satisfied with _

 faith. And it insists that the grace of God is inseparably con-       the number of sacraments which Christ our Lord hath in-

 nected with the outward sign, as, ,for example, the regenerat-        stituted, which are two only, namely, the sacrament of hap:

 ing grace of God is inseparably connected with the water of           tism, and the holy supper of our Lord Jesus Christ."

 baptism.                                                                  Concerning this thirty-third article of our Belgic Confes-

     In support of this position of Rome, we wish to quote two         sion and Question 66 of our Heidelberg Catechism, Rev.

 additional canons as they were adopted by this Council of             Hoeksema, in -his Dogmatics, writes as follows : "In both
 Trent. Canon VII reads: "If any one saith, that grace, as             these descriptions of the sacraments we may find the follow-

 afar as God's part is concerned, is not given through the said        ing elements : 1) Sacraments are instituted to strengthen the
 sacraments, always, and to all men, even though they receive          faith of the believer, and therefore they presuppose faith. 2)
 them rightly, but (only) sometimes, and to some persons:              They are visible signs and seals of an inward and invisible
 let him be anathema." In this canon Rome declares that the            thing, a,nd  God hath joined them to the Word, that is, to the
 grace of God is given to all men who receive the sacraments           preaching of the gospel, `the better to present to our senses,
 rightly (and this means that they receive these sacraments            both that which he signifies to us by his Word, and that
 simply in accordance with Roman custom), simply because               which he works inwardly in our hearts, thereby assuring and
 the grace of God is inseparably connected with the outward            confirming in us the salvation which he imparts to us.' 3)
_ sacrament. And in Canon VIII we read: "If any one saith,             They are ordained and instituted by God. There are many
 that by the said sacraments of the New Law [the New Testa-            signs, and there may be many seals.. But in order to be sacra-
 ment, H.V.] grace is not conferred through the act per-               ments, signs and seals must be definitely and especially
formed, but that faith alone in the divine promise suffices for.       ordained and appointed by the God of our salvation. 4) That
the obtaining of grace: let him be anathema." `Notice, please,         which the sacraments signify and seal unto us is the promise
 that in this canon Rome declares that grace is conferred              of the gospel, namely, that He grants us freely the remission
  through the act performed.                                           of sin and life eternal for the sake of that one sacrifice of

     From these canons and decrees of the Council of Trent             Christ accomplished on the cross." - end of quote from Rev.

  it is evident that the distinctive doctrine of the Romish            Hoeksema's .Dogmatics,  Ecclesiology;  page 140.

 -Church  on the subject of the sacraments is that they contain            In the French or Gallican Confession of Faith, 1559, Ar-
' the grace which they signify, and that such grace is conveyed        ticle 34, we read the following on the sacraments in general:
  through the external oper,ation.                                     "We believe that the sacraments are added to the Word for

                                                                       more ample confirmation, that #they  may be to us pledges and
             TH.E PROTESTANT CONCEPTION.                               seals of the grace of God and by this means aid and comfort

     In-our Reformed Confessions the subject of the Sacra-             our faith, because of the infirmity which is in us, and that

  ments is treated in Question 66 of our Heidelberg Catechism          they are outward signs through which God operates by His

  and in Article 33 of the Belgic or Netherland Confession.            Spirit, so that he `may not signify any thing to us in vain.
                                                                                          _a


                                                  T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
      88
     - =< .=. .-

      ( Yet we ;ho&l that thdir,,substance  and truth is in Jesus Christ,      of Christian men's profession, but rather they be certain sure

      and that of themselves they are only smoke and shadow.                   witnesses, and effectual signs of grace, and God's good will

      Concerning this article Rev. Hoeksema, again in his Dog-                 towards us, by the which he doth work invisibly in us, .and

      matics on Ecclesiology, comments as follows: "According to               doth not only quicken, -but also strengthen and confirm our

      this article, therefore: 1) The Word of God is always the                faith in him." Notice, please, that also in this article mention

      main means of grace, and the sacraments are added to the                 is made of the fact that the sacraments serve to strengthen

      Word for more ample confirmation. 2) The sacraments are                  our faith ,in God and in Christ. Art. 27,speaks  of the sacra-

      pledges and seals of the grace of God. 3) The sacraments are             ment of Baptism as followst' "Baptism is not only a sign of

      an aid and comfort to our faith, so that -also  here faith is            profession, and mark of difference, whereby Christian men

      presupposed. 4) The sacraments are outward signs, through                are discerned from others that be not christened, but it is also

      which God operates by His Spirit. 5) The sacraments of                   a sign of Regeneration or New-Birth, whereby, as by an in-

      themselves, that is, as mere signs, are nothing, but only smoke          strument, they that receive Baptism rightly are grafted into

      and shadow ; and their substance and truth is in Christ. And             the Church ; the promises of the forgiveness of sin, and of

      in Art. 37 of the same confession it is emphasized that in the           our adoption to be the sons of God by the Holy Ghost, are

      sacrament the sign and the thing signified belong together.:             visibly signed- and sealed.; Faith is confirmed, and Grace in-

      "We believe, as had been said, that in `the Lord's ,S.upper,             creased by virtue of prayer unto, God. The Baptism of young

      as .well  as in baptism, God gives us really and in fact that            children is in any wise to be retained in the Church, as most

      which He there sets forth to us; and that consequently with              agreeable with the institution of Christ." And in Art. 28 of

      these signs is given the true possession and enjoyment of that           the same confession we read concerning the Lord's Supper

      which they present to us." - end of quote from Rev. Hoek-                as follows : "The Supper of the Lord is not only a sign of the

      sema.                                                                    love that Christians ought to have among themselves one to

            Also the Scotch Confession of Faith,  1560, calls attention        another; but rather it is a Sacrament of our Redemption by
      to the significance of the sacraments. Again `quoting Rev.               Christ's death: insomuch that to such as rightly, worthily,
                                                                               and with faith, receive the same, the Bread which we break
~     Hoeksema's Dogmatics, he writes on- this article ,as follows :
     "Also the Scotch Confession of Faith, ,1560,  Art. 21, em-                is a partaking of the Body of Christ; and likewise the Cup of
      phasizes that the sacraments are instituted for the confirma-            Blessing is a partaking of the Blood of Christ. Transubstan-
      tion and strengthening of the faith of believers, to seal unto           tiation (or the change of the substance of Bread and Wine) in
      them the assurance of the promise of God and the most blessed            the Supper of the Lord, can not be proved by Holy Writ; but
      `communion which the elect have with the Head, Christ Jesus.             is repugnant to the plain words of Scripture, overthroweth
      They are not bare and naked signs, but they are so efficacious           the nature of a Sacrament, and bath  given occasion to `many
      that by baptism we are ingrafted in Christ Jesus, to be made             superstitions. The Body of Christ is given, taken, and eaten,
      partakers of His righteousness and of the forgiveness of sins,           in the Supper, only after an heavenly and spiritual manner.

      and by the Lord's Supper Christ is so joined with             that He    And the means whereby the Body of Christ is received and
                                                             us 
      becomes. our very nourishment and food for our souls. All                eaten in the Supper, is Faith." According to this confession
      this, however, is effected through the sacraments by the                 also faith is presupposed in the administration and the use of

      power of the Holy Spirit, `Who by a true faith carries us                sacraments. Without faith no one can really or essentially
      above all things that are visible, carnal, `and earthly, and             receive the sacrament properly. Thus in Art. 29 of the same
      makes us .to feed upon the body and blood of Christ Jesus,               confession we read: "The Wicked, and such as be void of a
      which once was -broken and shed.  for us, which now is in                lively faith, although they do carnally and visibly press with

      heaven, and appears in the presence of His Father for us.'               their teeth (as Saint Augustine saith) the Sacrament of the

      Moreover, the article teaches that the sacraments are effectual          Body and Blood of Christ; yet in no wise are they partakers
      not only at the moment when they are administered or when                of Christ : but rather, to their condemnation, do eat and drink

      the believers partake of them, but that `they shall bring forth          the sign or Sacrament of so great a thing." In this article it

      fruit afterwards, as a lively seed sown in good ground, For              is clearly stated that the wicked, who are devoid of. true

      the Holy Spirit, who never can be separated from the right               faith, although eating and drinking .outwardly  of the Body

      institution of the Lord Jesus, will not frustrate the.faithful           and Blood of Christ, are not. partakers of Christ, so that it is

      of the fruit of that mystical action.' And once more, it is em-          clearly stated that true participation in the sacraments is pos-

      phasized in the article that `all this.comes of'true faith, which        sible only through a true and lively faith.                H.V:

      apprehends Christ Jesus, who only makes the sacrament

      effectual unto us." - end of quote.

            The sacraments are also discussed in the Thirty-Nine                          And in the Church, among Thy saints,

      Articles of the Church of England, 1563,-in  the articles 25-                       Redeemed by Thee, I stand secure

      29. Art. 25, speaking of the sacraments in general, reads :                           In peace and happiness ;

      "Sacraments ordained of Christ be not only badges or tokens                           Jehovah I will bless.


                                           T    H    E         ST:ANDARD  BiE:ARER                                                  89


                                                                          With respect to'lthe  contents of the Scriptures as such,

       The Voice of Our Fathers                                        the article makes the statement, first. of all, that the Scrip-
                                                                       tures "fully contain the will of God." This expression, again,

                                                                       must be taken in its broadest sense. The will of God is not

                The Belgic Confession                                  only what is often referred to as His ethical will, that is, the

                                                                       will of God concerning the faith and walk of the believers.
                        ARTICLE VII                                    This, to be sure, is included in the expression. But by "the
                         (continued)                                   will of God" the article also refers to what is called the will

                                                                       of God's decree, that is, the counsel of God. And that counsel
Perfect .&d  Complete In All Reipects  (continued)
                                                                       of God is all-comprehensive. It is His eternal plan and
   In the second place, this entire notion is based on some            purpose with respect to all things. It spans the whole of his-
kind of false antithesis between religion and life, between            tory, the history of all things created, from the alpha of
grace and nature, and it attempts to confine our religion and          creation to the omega of the second coming of Christ. That
morals to a very narrow and isolated portion of the whole of           whole  counsel of God, as it has its purpose and its central
our life. This is an altogether unrealistic and untenable view.        significance in the revelation of the glory of God through the
For, first of all, the categories faith-and-life, doctrine-and-        realization of His everlasting covenant and kingdom in Christ
practice, or, religion-and-morals, apply to the whole of               Jesus, is fully contained in the Scriptures. In the second
our life and to every sphere of our life. And it is                    place, the article states that "whatsoever man ought to be-
a very unscriptural and un-Reformed view that would                    lieve, unto salvation, is sufficiently taught therein." The
make a separation, and would exclude some part, some                   Scriptures set forth the full revelation of the gospel, there-
sphere, of life from faith-and-morals. Untenable this view             fore - the counsel of God concerning salvation in Christ -
is because you cannot begin to determine where the lines               and that too, both in its objective and its subjective aspects.
must be drawn. What this really means is that from part of             That is, all of the work of the God of our salvation in Christ
your life you would exclude God and the work of God and                for us, but also all of the work of the God of our salvation
your faith in God and your calling to walk in the light of             in Christ in the subjective application of salvation through
God's revelation. And I ask : what part of your life and what          faith, the work of salvation in us, is sufficiently taught. What
part of your beliefs can you exclude? Where will you draw              must be believed unto salvation is fully contained in the
the line? What part., what aspect, what sphere of your life            Scriptures. Nothing more is required. Nothing can be, and
does not come under the all-comprehensive and absolutely               nothing need be added thereto. The complete and perfect
authoritative claim of the Word of God Himself ? And, third-           revelation of the object of saving faith is set forth by Holy
ly, the Scriptures themselves do not draw any such line.               Scripture. If you would know the gospel, the good tidings,
Nowhere does Scripture approach you with the limited claim :           if the church is to set forth the gospel in its confessions, and
this is stated in the Word of God, but you do not have to              proclaim the gospel from the pulpit, the Scriptures, and the
believe it. Nowhere, for example, does Scripture allow you             Scriptures alone, must be consulted. And no man has either
to exclude the wonder of the standing still of the sun from            the need or the right to add to or take away anything from
the category of faith-and-morals. The only way in which                the Scriptures. In the third place, the article states that "the
you can possibly make a distinction in Scripture in this               whole manner of worship, which God requires of us, is writ-
regard is to approach it with your own preconceived notions            ten in them at large." Without a doubt there is reference
as to what is credible and what is not.                                here again to the errors of Rome. Rome departed from the
    In the third place, we must remember that to deny the              Scriptures in its manner of worship in many respects. Con-
historical accuracy of Scripture's account of events and of            cretely speaking, this expression of our Confession has in
persons, to deny the historical factuality of what Scripture           view, for example, the fact that Rome introduced the wor-
recounts concerning various events and persons -these are              ship of saints and images, that it multiplied the sacraments
tantamount to denying their reality. And if you deny the               and became guilty of sacramentalism, that it developed an
reality of these events and persons, you simply deny the truth.        elaborate. a$ ,miscriptural  liturgy, and that it set up an
What, for example, does the truth of the resurrection or as-           hierarchical form  of church government, altogether foreign
cension of Christ mean without their historical factuality and         to the Scriptures. And the position of our Reformed faith
reality ? What does the truth of creation mean without its             on these, `matters  is not that the whole manner of worship
historical factuality ? What do any of the wonders of Scrip-
                                                                       must be literally and directly prescribed in Scripture, but that
ture mean without their having actually taken place exactly as
                                                                       this whole manner of worship must be consistent with the
they are recorded in Holy Writ? You cannot separate the
                                                                       truths and principles set forth in Scripture at large, and that
truth from the historical events and the account of those
                                                                ::.    Rome was guilty of introducing all kinds of elements in the
events.
    And so we shall have to maintain in its all-comprehensive          worship of the church that were foreign to the Scriptures.

character the perfection and completeness of Scripture.                But this expression, "the whole manner of worship which


90                                                      THE,STANDARD  BE.ARER


 God requires of us," has a broader sweep. It does not only                                possible, of course, in view of the organic unity of Holy

refer to our liturgy, to our public worship of God in the                                  Scripture. Principally it is impossible to add u?nto  or take

midst of the congregation, but to `our entire service of God                               away from the things written in the book of Revelation with-

in all our life. If we would know how God wills to be served                               out adding unto or taking away from the whole of Scripture.

in all our life and in every sphere of our life, then this is                              It is therefore very proper too that the Bible should close

made known to us in the Scriptures.                                                        with the solemn warning of this last part of the book of

                                                                                           Revelation. But let us notice that again the implication of
      Finally, we may notice that our Confession makes refer-
                                                                                           this solemn warning is that "it doth thereby evidently appear
ence to two Scriptural passages which serve as proof for this
                                                                                           that the doctrine thereof is most perfect and complete in all
truth of the sufficiency of Holy Writ. The first reference is
                                                                                           respects."
to Galatians 16-9,  where we read as follows : "I marvel that

ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the

grace of Christ unto another gospel : Which is not another;

but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the
                                                                                               The truth of the perspicuity of Scripture is not directly
gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven,
                                                                                           taught in this article, nor anywhere in our Confession. But
preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have
                                                                                           it is certainly implied in the doctrine of the sufficiency of
preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before,
                                                                                           Scripture. And it is presupposed and implied in this entire
so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto
                                                                                           article of our creed. This term, 
you than that ye have received, let him be accursed." The                                                                     per.spz&ty,  is derived from
                                                                                           a Latin word which means "to see through" something ; and
apostle is combatting the false teachers in this epistle who
                                                                                           it denotes the idea that, the Bible is clear, lucid, intelligible,
came with the "gospel" of circumcision and of the law. That
                                                                                           able to be understood, and that too, by any believing child
"gospel" is not a gospel at all, but a perversion of the gospel
                                                                                           of God.
of. Christ. For <there  is but one gospel, the gospel which the
apostle preached. And the apostle is so certain of and so                                      That this truth belongs to that of the sufficiency of Scrip-
insistent upon the fact that the gospel proclaimed by the                                  ture is not difficult to see. The simple fact is that if the Word
apostolic word is the only authoritative and sufficient gospel,                            of God were not perspicuous, that is, perfectly' clear in its
than which there can be no other, that he maintains that even                              teachings, it could not properly be said that "whatsoever man
an angel from heaven could not bring another gospel, that is,                              ought to believe unto salvation is sufficiently taught therein."
another genuine gospel. And if an angel from heaven should                                 In that case it would have to be admitted that it is only in-
bring    a n y   o t h e r   ,gospel t.han  t h a t   w h i c h   t h e   a p o s t l e    sufficiently taught, and that to the Scriptures must be added
proclaimed, then that would not be the genuine gospel,                                     an interpreting and elucidating word of man, of a man or a
and the angel would have to be accursed. The whole im-                                     group of men that has more light, that stands on a higher
plication therefore is that the gospel preached by the apostle                             level, and that is able to shed the necessary light on the mean-
is such that "whatsoever man ought to believe, unto salvation,                             ing of Scripture. Hence, to the perfection and completeness
is sufficiently taught therein." The same is true of the second                            of Scripture belongs the fact that the Word of God is so
passage referred to in this seventh article, Revelation 22:18                              clear and so simple that any child of God can read and under-
and 19 : "For I testify unto every man that heareth the words                              stand and learn from the Scriptures the wiil  of God, what
of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these                              must be believed unto salvation, and the manner in which
things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written                                God ought to be worshipped.

in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words                                   This does not mean that there are no difficult passages

of the book of .this prophecy, God shall take away his part                                in Holy Writ, and that any child of God can immediately

out of the book of life, and out &, the holy city, and from                                explain all that is written in Scripture. It does not mean that

the things which' & written in this `book." Here we find                                   every child of God sees at once all the riches that are implied

a dreadfully solemn .warning  against the perversion of the                                in a given passage. But it does indeed mean that the central

Word of God by either adding to or taking away therefrom.                                  message and import of the Word of God is plain, so clear and

Again this whole matter is presented as being one of life and                              simple that from the Bible any child of God, simple and un-

death. One who adds to the Word of God shall have added                                    learned though he may be, can grasp it, discern it, believe it,

to him the plagues written in the book of Revelation ; .and one                            and even judge whether or not a given doctrine is in harmony

who takes away therefrom shall `have taken away from him                                   with the Word of God. It does mean that all the people  of

any part in the book of life and the hdj;  city. In a word,                                God may use the Scriptures, read them, study them, learn

therefore, such an one shall have his part. with the damned !                              from them and enjoy them. And this truth implies, subjective-

So serious this matter is. And while. it is, indeed true that                              ly, that the gift of the Holy Spirit and ,of the anointing of

this solemn warning is attached in the first .instance  to the                             Christ is not limited to a certain class of men in distinction

book of Revelation in particular, it is nevertheless correctly                             from "laymen," but that all the children of God have "an unc-

applied to the whole of Scripture by our Confession. This is
                                                                                                                 (Continued on page 93)     _


                                                T - H E   STA%DARD   B E A R E R                                                     91


                                                                      the practice of the Church. We are exhorted! to preach the
11     D E C E N C Y   a n d   O R D E R   11 Gospel urgently to the lost outside the church, to be greatly
                                                                      burdened for souls, to be instant in season and out of season ;

                                                                      yet when we have those souls inside our four walls we can

                  Ecclesiastical Censures                             apparently neglect them or exercise no constraining influence
                                                                      over them. They may embrace every wind of heresy and
      The content of Article 71 of our Church Order is con-
                                                                      blasphemy, harbour every shadow of false idea, but we are
tained in two separate articles in the 19586  proposed revision
                                                                     totally unconcerned with their spiritual state, because we
of the Church Order by the Christian Reformed Church.
                                                                     refuse to employ discipline.     There is no real thought that
These articles read:
                                                                     those who have been brought in should grow in the truth,
      "Art. 71 - Christian discipline is spiritual discipline and
                                                                     and that they should be shepherded and guarded. And it is
exempts no one from civil trial and punishment; nor does
                                                                     strange that those most insistent in this attitude are loudest
action by the civil authorities exempt one from discipline
                                                                     in the protestations of their adherence to the Word of God.
by the church.
                                                                     It is sad that those who today want to be known as evan-
      "Art.  72 - The purpose of Christian discipline is the
                                                                     gelicals all too often decry or shrink from exercising dis-
maintenance of God's honor, the restoration of the sinner,
                                                                     cipline. Yet there is very little variation in this attitude from
and the removal of offence  from the church of Christ."
                                                                     the modernists who act no differently when they reject a
      Substantially these two articles are the same as Articie
                                                                     chapter here and a verse there to suit themselves. If Christ
71 of our Church Order. In the first of the above articles
                                                                     has given to the church a government-and this implies
the words "by the authorities" have been omitted after the
                                                                     discipline - then it is our duty to execute that government;
word "punishment" and the statement that action by civil
                                                                     and if further He has explicitly instituted discipline, we must
authorities does not exempt one from the discipline of the
                                                                     undertake this solemn task. The modernist in days past had
church has been added. In Article 72 above there is added as
                                                                     no love of discipline when it might be used against him to
the purpose of discipline the maintenance of God's honor. The
                                                                     restrict his baleful influence and preserve the orthodox posi-
essence of this article, therefore, is left unchanged.
                                                                     tion of the church. It is tragic in these days that numerous
      The right to exercise Christian discipline is inherent in
                                                                     evangelicals  have similarly deserted censures, articulating a
the government of the church. Christ has given this author-
                                                                     sentimental love in the face of the unequivocal teaching of
ity to His church when He instituted the offices of the church
                                                                     Scripture. They have gone further even than the most ex-
"for the perfecting of the saints and the edification of the
                                                                     treme Erastians, who at least allowed some discipline to be
body of Christ" (Eph.. 4 :12). This government of the church
                                                                     exerted in ecclesiastical affairs, even though by the civil
is not revolutionistic  toward the government of the state.
                                                                     magistrate,
The latter, too, is instituted by God for the punishment of

evil. doers and the protection of them that do well. Although            "It is interesting to observe that the Erastian heresy

these two governments may function over the same subjects,           started over this very matter of church censures. According

there is no conflict between them because they are, as to their      to Gillespie the heresy seems to have arisen in 1568 in a

very institution, different in character. The one is set up by       public debate at Heidelberg upon certain theses concerning,the

God to function in things natural and civil. To it is given the      necessity of, church government and the power of the pres-

sword-power, i.e., the right and power to inflict physical           byteries to excommunicate. The theses had been exhibited

punishment upon offenders. The other is strictly spiritual in        by George Withers who had left England because of the

character and functions only in the sphere of the church. It         ceremonies. Erastus had once believed that excommunication

has no sword power but is vested by God with a spiritual             was commanded by the Word of God, but had changed.

authority to discipline its members. Essentially this is the         While, `quite inconsistently, he never became entirely opposed

power of the Word.                                                   to excommunication in all circumstances, at the time of the

      The opening words of Article 71 which state that "Chris-       debate with George Withers, he desired to take the power of

tian discipline is of a spiritual nature" enunciate a principle      excommunication from the presbyteries and vest it finally in

which the Reformed Churches have always been eager to                the civil magistrate. It was Gillespie who gave the term a

maintain. They did not believe that the church should dom-           wider connotation, applying it to all who opposed the distinct

inate the state as Rome taught. Neither did they hold that           and sovereign government of the church, for he realized that

the state should rule the church as the Erastian and original        in essence Esastianism was nothing but an attack on a separ-

Lutheran error maintained. With Calvin they vigorously               ate church government and that if the church gave away its

contended for the independence of the church in its own              right to. censures, it surrendered all its rights to spiritual in-

sphere. The church is a spiritual body with a spiritual gov-         dependence under the Lord Jesus Christ as Mediator."

ernment and exercising a spiritual discipline.                          A modern version of this Erastian error has infiltrated

      Concerning this R. D. Eagleson  says :                         into many churches today. The church has abrogated its

      "There is a strange perversion in these modern days in         right to determine what constitutes sin in its members. Ec-

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

clesiastical discipline or censure is not applied any more today    code is maintained and any violation of it is punishable accord-

except in a few instances in which a member has committed           ing to established regulations. The church has no penal code

a crime punishable by law. Regardless of walk and confes-           and does not aim to administer external punishment. It re-

sion, one's membership in the church is not jeopardized un-         quires its members to conform in confession and walk to the

less he commits an offense for which he will be prosecuted          standard of God's Word as expressed in the Confession of the

under law. This in effect is leaving the determination of           church and any disciplinary measures taken are designed as

what constitutes censurable sin to the judgment of the civil        corrective measures. Each instance of discipline must there-

authorities. If a man commits murder or theft he will be            fore be dealt with according to its peculiar circumstances.

censured by the church because the civil law also regards           Dr. Rutgers said, "No penal code can be constructed for ec-

these as heinous offenses. However, a man can join himself          clesiastical discipline.    The purpose of discipline demands a

unto the world, divorce his wife, violate sacred vows and           maximum of variability in its application, not a set of rules

promises, etc. and still be regarded as a good member of the        for constant application. Just so the principles are established,

church and given access to the sacraments because the civil         and just so these are applied in every particular case, for

law does not regard these things as punishable sins.                only then will ecclesiastical discipline function correctly."

      This attitude on the part of the church is not only very          If we keep this in mind we will also see that there may

wrong but it is a sad reflection upon her spiritual condition.      be instances in which the letter of the law is coerced to give

She has a fo'~+$z  of government but lacks the power  thereof.      way to spiritual principle. In Numbers 9 we have a record

She lacks the spiritual strength to enforce upon her mem-           of the complaint of certain members of Israel who had become

bers the rules of Christian living as expressed in her con-         defiled by the dead body of a man so that they could not

fessions and the Word of God. Her conduct betrays her               partake of the Passover, and yet were desirous of eating

professed agreement with the truth expressed by Eagleson            and, on ,God's  admission, were in their hearts worthy of being

who said, "The church has the right and duty not only to            admitted. These men approached Moses with their com-

declare the whole counsel and will of God with respect to           plaint, and when he enquired of the Lord, God decreed that

the Gospel, but also to pronounce whether a man is living           such men should be allowed to keep the Passover on the

according to that will and that Gospel. The `keys of the king-      fourteenth day of the second month. Spiritual principle has

dom' comprehend both these ideas of doctrine and of cor-            greater weight than legal ceremony and this must be kept in

rective discipline against individual members."                     mind if the discipline of the church is to retain its spiritual

      Now the church cannot afford to disregard or ignore the       character.                                                          G.v.cl.B.

lessons of Scripture on this point. We refer particularly to

Revelation 2. Here we have Christ instructing and setting

the government of His church in order. The church at Ephe-                            RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY

sus receives praise and commendation for it had exercised              The Society of the Isabel Prot. Ref. Church hereby wishes to
                                                                    express its sincere sympathy to one of our Sister church members,
discipline (vs. 2) ; but Pergamos and Thyatira came under           Mr. Enoch Hauck, in the loss of his wife,
His rebuke for they had neglected this duty. We should pay                                E L L A   E M E L I A   D I E D E
particular attention to the warning which attends this failure,     May our God comfort the bereaved in their sorrow.
lest we also incur the wrath of our Lord. The strength of the                                                        Isabel Adult Bible Society
church is not determined by the number of people that can                                                               J. J. Reichert, Pres.
                                                                                                                        Art Reichert,  Sec'y.
be retained within a certain organization but rather by her

ability to enforce the spiritual discipline of Christ and to                          RESOLUTTON OF SYMPATHY

cast out of her fellowship those who refuse to walk according          The Martha Ladies' Aid Society of the Hull Protestant Reformed
to the plain declaration and ordinances of God's Word.              Church wishes to e.xpress  its heartfelt sympathy to three of its
                                                                    members, Mrs. John Brummel, Mrs. Gerrit  Brummd, and Mrs. Ralph
      In connection with this last statement it must be borne in    Brummel, in the recent death of their mother-in-law,

mind that the purpose of this spiritual censure is not to                              MRS. ANDREW BRUMMEL

destroy but to save. It does not aim to rid the church of              "And we know that all things work together for good to them
                                                                    that love God." Roman.5  8:28.
her members but to bring them into conformity to the will of
                                                                                                  Rev. J. Kortering, President
Christ so that the blessing of God can rest upon the church                                       Mrs. Thomas De Jong, Vice-Secretary

and be enjoyed in the consciousness and experience of her

members. The latter is impossible if these are permitted to                           RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY

walk in the way of sin in the church without correction.               The Consistorjr  of the Hull Protestant Reformed Church ex-
                                                                    presses its sympathy to our fellow office bearer, Ralph Brummel in
      Our Church Order does not prescribe in detail the many        the death of his mother,

things that are involved in the processes of spiritual dis-                            MRS. ANDREW BRUMMEL
                                                                       Though sorrow may be our portion, yet we sorrow not as those
cipline. It simply sets forth certain principles by which the       that have no hope, for Jesus said, "Let not your heart be troubled
church is to be guided in the performance of this duty. This        . . . I will come again and receive you unto myself."
                                                                                                              Rev. J. Kortering, President
is different than in the state or civil sphere. There a penal                                                 Mr. Peter Jansma, Clerk


                                              T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                  93


                                                                        The meeting was closed with Psalter No; 257 and prayer

                                                                    by our new president, Mrs. J. Kuiper.

                                                                        Refreshments were served and a social hour was enjoyed

                                                                    by all.

             Report of Eastern Ladies' League                                                              Mrs. P. Koole, Reporter

        Our fall meeting of the Ladies' League of the Protestant

Reformed Churches was held in our Hudsonville church on

the evening of October 18, 1962.

        We began our meeting with singing from Psalter NO.                                     E D I T O R I A L S
374 and a Dutch Psalm, No. 43 verse 3. Mrs. D. Jonker,                                  (Continued from page 77)

President of the League, then read from Etc. 2:1-11  and            earthquakes in diverse places. All these things are the bc-
Rev. 13 :ll-18 and opened with prayer to our covenant God.          ginning of sorrows." Cf. Mark 13 :7, 8; Luke 21:9-11.
        A double trio from the Priscilla Society of First Church
                                                                        It is evident that all these things must come to pass, be-
sang for us No. 60 from the Psalter.
                                                                    fore the coming of the Lord in glory and before the perfect-
        Mrs. Jonker then introduced the speaker for the evening,
                                                                    ing of His kingdom. When, therefore, we pray for the
Rev. J. Heys. He spoke on the subject "The Number of
                                                                    coming of God's kingdom, we pray also that wars and rumors
Man."       He divided his speech into three parts :
                                                                    of war may come to pass. Hence, the prayer for world peace
           1. The idea of that number
                                                                    can have no place in the prayers of the Church or of the
           2. The tragedy of that number
                                                                    people of God.
           3. Victory over that number 666
                                                                       There are other reasons why a national day of prayer is
        He explained that the number 6 is a symbolic number. It
                                                                    impossible and unscriptural.
is the natural man apart from God. The number 6 of man
                                                                       But let this be sufficient.
can never reach the number 7, which is a covenant number,
                                                                                                                                 H.H.
apart from God's grace. By God's grace it becomes the num-

ber 6 plus the number 1 - man entering into the rest of

God.

        The tragedy is that man is a hopeless failure. He is an
image-bearer without the image. God poured into man all                               THE VOICE OF OUR FATHERS
His virtues, but after the fall, man uses his whole being for                            (Continued from page 90)

deviltry. He is now dedicated to himself. He takes all creation     tion from the Holy One, and know all things." I John 2 :20,

and presses it into sin.                                            21. No officer or class of officers, no priest or bishop, no insti-

        There are many beautiful things in this world- music,       tute, no classis,  no synod, has been appointed by Christ to

art, literature, and so forth-but they only add up to num-          make a binding interpretation of the Scriptures which the

ber 666 and shall all go up'.into smoke. God will destroy it        people of ,God must blindly follow and to whose final author-

all.                                                                ity they must submit. No man and no ecclesiastical body with

        Man pictures one who must jump over a wide chasm, but       any fancied authority may interpose themselves and their in-

can only reach 6 feet, even 666 feet and then - destruction.        terpretations between my Christian conscience and the Word

        But there is victory for God's people. Not by man in        of God. As a child of God I am free to read and to understand

himself, but in being carried safely across by God in Jesus         and to interpret the Scriptures for myself. This is not anarchy

Christ and His glorious cross. Faith is the victory whereby         and individualism. It does not mean that the child of God

we are ingrafted into Christ. Rev. 14:13 : "Blessed are the         flouts the church and pays no heed to the faith of the church

dead which die in the Lord from henceforth . . . and their          and to the preaching of Christ-appointed pastors and teachers.

works do follow them." These are good works done by God's           But it simply means that the sole authority in the church that

grace and not by the vanity of men.                                 has power to bind the conscience is the Word of God. It

        While singing Psalter No. 260, a collection was taken       means that those who are appointed of Christ to teach and

for The Society of Secondary Education and the scholarship          .to rule in His church are themselves bound by the word of

fund.                                                               the Scriptures, so that their word must stand and can stand

        The double trio again favored us with a number, "Hiding     in the service of the living and powerful Word of Christ only

in Thee."      Mrs. P. Zandstra from our Hope Ladies' Society       as it is according to the Scriptures, and so that only. in so

gave an essay entitled "The Reformer, John Huss."             L.    far is it authoritative. And this very precious truth of. the

        A short business meeting followed. The minutes of the       perspicuity of the Scriptures, along with the twin truth of

previous League Meetin,(+ were read and the treasurer's re-         individual Christian judgment, guarantees to the believer the

port was given. The retiring board members were thanked             calling and the right of reformation in the church.

for their faithful services. "                   ' /    :.                                                                     H.C.H.


, 94                                           T H E   S T A N D A R D   BEAR.ER


                                                                                 I am inclined to believe that the natural scientists there
  [ A L L   A R O U N D   USI                                                 are `guilty of starting these suspicions and of presenting fun-
                                                                              damentalism as a bugbear.  I surmise that to such authors as
                                                                              Dr. J. Lever, as well as to others, the traditional Reformed
                                                                             approach to Scripture (hermeneutics ) was an obstacle. If
                                                                             this Reformed approach was maintained, they would not be
  A STRANGE INCONSISTENCY                                                     able to reconcile their theories or hypotheses with Scripture.
        In two articles that appeared in the latest issue of Torch           So they were led to change their approach to and evaluation
  and                                                                        of Scripture and to adapt them to their hypotheses. The tradi-
          Trwzpet,  attention is called to serious troubles that are
                                                                             tional Reformed hermeneutics, therefore, became a bugbear
  developing in the Gereformeerde Kerken in the Netherlands.                  and was labeled "fundamentalism." This accounts for the fact
  This denomination is the Reformed Church of the Nether-                    that Lever, for instance, labors hard, though apodictically,
                                                                              that is, as if his views are indisputable, to square his views
  lands, formed by Dr. A. Kuyper who brought the Afschei-                     and interpretations of Scripture with his "scientific theories."
  dende                                                                       From the beginning Lever thus designates the traditional
              Kerken and the Dolerende Kerken together, split in the
                                                                              Reformed approach  to and evahation of Scripture as fun-
  1940's when Dr. K. `Schilder was put out, sister churches of                damentalistic.  I do not imply that he and others have selected
  the Christian Reformed Church of this country. In a brief                   a label with ulterior motives in mind. But I am suggesting
                                                                             that they needed a label and recklessly selected Yundamental-
  article of Editorial Comment, attention is called to some dis-             ism."

  turbances that are deeply stirring this historically Reformed            That there is truth to the contention of the author-that

  denomination.                                                         many members of the Gereformeerde Kerken have departed

        There is first of all what the author calls a "definite         far from Scripture with their scientific theories is clear from

  avowed tendency to break with the past, even the recent past."        another article in the same issue of To&  and Tpx*zpet.

  He tells of information he received to the effect that such           Written by Rev. H. J. Kuiper, this article is entitled "Doc-

  theologians as Kuyper and Bavinck are seldom consulted any-           trinal Disturbance in a Sister Church," and in it various

  more by the people, or even by the seminary students. There           illustrations are given of how the "scientists" in this denom-

  is a growing feeling that the theologians of the past were too        ination and in the Free University have all but forsaken parts

  exclusive and doctrinally narrow for the tastes of the twen-          of Scripture.

  tieth cefitury.                                                          Dr. J. Lever, a biologist from the Free University has

        This, if true, corresponds with equally strong tendencies       published a new book significantly titled "Creation And

  in our own country, ironically even in the Christian Reformed         [not: or] Evolution" in which he claims that "it is entirely

  Church - tendencies to break with the past, especially with           possible that man has ape-like ancestors."

  our Confessional heritage. It is easy to criticize our brethren          In a long article in the magazine Be&n&g  several min-

  beyond the seas - and nb doubt, they deserve this criticism ;         isters and professors collaborate together to deny many his-

 .-but the fact is sad but true that  the Reformed Churches in          torically Reformed truths. The authors question the literal

  America are little better. One hears endless pleas to make the        creation of Adam and Eve, speaking of them not as the first

  truth relevant to our times-as if the truth is not God's              human beings but as the first couple that were fully human.

  truth relevant to all times. One wearies of the blatant and           They make suspect the entire first eleven chapters of Genesis.

  continual mockery of the creeds, of open denial  of the truth         They doubt that Jhere was only one language that all men

  of the creeds, of deliberate ignoring of confessional stand-          spoke prior to Babel. They speak of some floods that may

  ards, of appalling ignorance among the people of the con-             have come in Mesopotamia at one time ; but floods that

  tents of the creeds. But this is serious business. The Church         covered the whole Mesopotamian Plain, much less the whole

  that ignores her creeds and consigns them to the dusty archives       world, are impossible. They do not believe that it is true

  of the denomination despises the. work of the Holy Spirit.            that Noah and his family and the animals were saved in an

  This Spirit is the Spirit of Truth ,which  has led and still          ark. Nor can it be proved, in their opinion that men lived

  leads the Church into the knowledge of the truth of Scripture.        hundreds of years before the flood, that either Paradise or

  Our confessions can be compared with anchors that keep the            the serpent as Scripture describes it were real.

  Church safe in the harbor of the truth. Cut off these anchors            Of course, such denials eventually involve other problems.

  and the Church will drift into the stormy seas of history swept       And one of these is surely the problem'of original guilt --

  -by every wind of doctrine - and will soon be shipwrecked             the guilt that God imputed to the whole human race through

  on the shoals of error.                                               the sin of Adam who stood as the representative head of all

        Secondly, the author calls attention to an almost un-           mankind. So this doctrine too falls by the way-side, even

  natural fear of "fundamentalism" in the churches of the               though it is taught expressly in many parts of Scripture,

  Netherlands. He is of the opinion, evidently correctly, that          especially in Romans 5 :12-21.  The next step, although the

  the churches across the sea are using their so-called "fear           authors do not take it-yet, .is to deny that the rightepus-

  of fundamentalism" as a cover to get rid of true Biblical             ness of Christ is imputed to the elect on the basis of His

  theolo,T. They not only do not want fundamentalism ; ,fhey            perfect atonement on the cross. From there it is but a sigh

  use this. war against fundamentalism as an excuse to throw            and a gasp to a denial of the atonement altogether and a

  away what has always been historically Reformed. He                   denial of the divinity of Christ.

  writes :                                                                 Rev. Kuiper who writes of this, is deeply disturbed, as


                                         T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                 9 . 5


well we all should be. He writes that this article and others      pressures for a union shop. First of all, the President went

like it "make us wonder whether the principles of church           outside the Taft-Hartley Act to name a special board to ad-

correspondence adopted by our synods do not require that           vise recommendations for settlement. If a committee had been

we give official expression to deep concern." He also speaks       appointed under the Taft-Hartley Act, they would have been,

of the fact that in years gone by the Christian Reformed           by law, prevented from making recommendations for settle-

Church was eager to send her sons to the Free University to        ment terms. But this committee immediately recommended

study. Now Rev. Kuiper writes, he would much prefer to             that the companies accept the union shop if a two-thirds

see them go to Westminster Seminary to do post-graduate            majority of workers approved. The company rejected this

work, for this is still a bulwark of orthodoxy.                    recommendation.

    The alarm of Rev. Kuiper and his deep concern is the              At a news conference, President Kennedy began to apply

alarm and concern of us all. What remains a mystery is why         public pressure. He said that the union shop was an accepted

this alarm should be caused only by our Dutch brethren             fact in American industry and that the unions had accepted

across the sea when an identical tragedy is being enacted in       the proposals of the panel he had appointed to make recom-

Rev. Kuiper's  denomination. Perhaps it has not developed          mendations; now the companies should follow suit. If a

quite as far, but the principles are there, are developing, are    strike developed because the companies refused, the President

swiftly carrying the schools and churches down the same            warned the companies that they must bear the responsibility.

road. Is what is so evident to us on the outside, invisible to        As it was, one company did give in and permitted its

them? Cannot they see the mote in their own eye for concern        employees to vote. While the union gained a majority of the

about the beam in their brother's eye ? Is the evolutionism        votes, they did not secure the necessary two-thirds which the

of the Free University any different from the evolutionism         committee had recommended.

of Calvin College 7 Is the false science of Amsterdam worse           But the point is that our President is encouraging the

than the Scripture-less science of Grand Rapids ? Is a denial      strengthening of already much too powerful labor unions. The

of Genesis l-11 different from a denial of Genesis 1 ? The         result will be that more and more our economy will fall under

Church in the Netherlands may be. losing its battles against       the control of these organizations while our freedoms of which

false religion ; but the churches in this country are on the       we boast so loudly will gradually be eroded. The trouble is

very brink of stunning defeat before these same evils of           that even many who oppose the unions do so for selfish

scientism.                                                         reasons and for personal gain without any principle being

    May God send men to these churches that are willing and        involved. Then, when the question becomes one of daily

able to fight for the truth of God's Word with courage and         bread, they forget their antipathies and make common cause

conviction. And if that is not God's will, may God grant that      with these evil organizations. For those who object prin-

those who still love the truth may rally together about the        cipally, there is no room any more in the world.

high-flung banner of the final authority of an infallibly in-

spired Scripture !                                                 THE CHURCH GOES TO ITS CONGRE,GATION
                                                                      Ministers of the Methodist Church recently met in con-

THE UNION SHOP                                                     ference. The main problem up for discussion was the prob-

    Many of our people who have to work in the shop for            lems created by church members who more and more tend to

their daily bread run into union troubles and sometimes lose       spend weekends during the summer away from home, and

their jobs because a shop becomes a "union shop."                  therefore, away from the churches. The result is empty

    Anyone who has closely watched developments in politics        churches during the summer months while the congregation

since a Democratic Administration has come to power could          are away at lakes, cottages, camping areas enjo,ying  them-

not help but notice that sentiment in government is very           selves with fishing, swimming and boating.

strongly pro-union. The executive branch of government                Part of the solution seemed to be to discontinue summer

especially is out to gain the favor of unions at almost any        services, although that did not seem to be just right. The

cost.                                                              conclusion was that the Church has a calling to follow their

    A recent example of this is to be found in the aerospace       congregations wherever they might go.

industry. Plane and missile manufacturers have traditionally          This led to some strange practices. One minister brought

been opposed to union shops. (A union shop is one where            his service to a shopping center. First the service did not

workers must join a union within thirty days after being           fare well and not many shoppers were attracted. But when

hired and must pay dues regularly to keep their jobs.) In          the quartet that accompanied him switched to singing "barber-

the words of a company spokesman: `<Our opposition to the          shop" type songs, and the minister limited his address to

union shop is long-standing and is a key part of our com-          "what Jesus means to me," attendance began to pick up.
pany's basic business philosophy."                                 Another minister followed his congregation right to camp

    Nevertheless, when recently a dispute arose between a          sites and began holding services adjacent to the camping

company and the union, President Kennedy began to apply            areas.    This was also considered to be effective missionary


                                                                     _---_~__  _- ~._ ._ - -

9              6                                    - T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A ' R E - R


work. Still another held services at the county fair, and                        at the Fall Mass Meeting of the Mr. and Mrs. Societies at

prayer services each night on the fair groupds. In one place                     Southwest Church ; Rev. J. A. Heys, "The Number of Man"

a drive-in theatre became a drive-in church with Sunday                          at the Eastern Ladies' League. Have you noticed the char-

School lessons in a near-by `picnic area.                                        acter of those speeches? In this day of superficial religiosity

      This may be America's religion. But God's Church still                     it is heartening to know that many people come out to hear

sings :                                                                          lectures on serious subjects as the above. Surely, there are

                     With  joy I heard my fFignds  en-&&                         always the seven thousand who do not bow the knee to Baal.

                       %owze,  ket  us in God's temple meet.                        Southeast Church is now using bulletin covers like those

                     Witlzh  thy ga.tes 0 Zios blessed                           of Loveland's which feature beautiful lithographed scenes

                       .$/la11  eve7  stand OZL~  zvilling  feet!                depicting beauty spots of God's marvelous ci-eation.

                                                                     H. Hanko       Bulletin  quote (Randolph's) : "&-ace cannot be severed

                                                                                 from its fruits. If God gives you St. Paul's faith, you will

       NEWS FROM OUR CHURCHES                                                    soon have St. James' works." Toplady. We wonder if that
                                                                                 author was thinking of the true mark of discipleship so suc-
                     "All the saints  Sal&e  thee . . ." PHIL. 421               cinctly set forth by our Lord when He said, "By this shall

                                                                                 all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love for
                                                           Nov. 5, 1962          one another." John 13 :35.

      Rev.  H. Veldman, of Redlands, declined the call which                         Oak Lawn's Oct. 7 bulletin carried this paragraph : "Fol-

came to him from the church at Doon, Iowa.                                       lowing this afternoon's service we will begin our Bible Story
        , :.>.` ;
      Loveland's new trio includes the Revs. H. Hanko, J. A.                     Class for pre-school children. We will again follow the
Heys  %d. B. Woudenberg.                                                         stories of our Sztnday  S&o01 Guide." Is this unique in our

     Rev:  M. Schipper preached his farewell sermon in South-                    denomination ?

west Church, O&t.  28 ; the theme of which was the Word of                           Hull's Ladies' society, in a recent after recess session, dis-

God recorded in Acts 20 :32.  The previous Thursday evening                      cussed the subject, "Is Integration Biblical?`, which was in-

the entire congregation came  together for a farewell program                    troduced by Mrs. B. Bieyenberg and Mrs. F. Vogel ; apzd the

arranged to bid -Rev. Schipper God-speed in his new pastor-                      Sr. Y. P. Society of First Church also discussed a paper by

ate. Representatives of each society spoke of their apprecia-                    Miss Karlene Oomkes on the same subject. Here we see two

tion of Rev. Schipper's ministry in their midst. A parting                       geographically separated societies joining in the contebpla-

gift of furniture- a kitchen set and a clock for the fire-                       tion of the breach (segregation) made by God at Babel,

place-were appreciated by Rev. and Mrs. Schippei-.  The                          healed (integration) by His Son in principle (Gal. 3 :25),

installation service in Southeast Church was conducted by                        and in final `perfection, when all nations. shall walk in the

Rev. C. Hanko, of First Church. An inform21 reception was                        Light of the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:24):

held in the church parlors after the service. Rev. Schipper's                        Sunday, Oct. 14, Randolph's congregation welcomed a
inaugural sermon was scheduled for Nov. 4.                                       returning  serviceman, Ted DeVries,  and bade farewell to two
       Seminarian Dave Engels=+ spoke at the meeting of the                      others, Henry and Maurice DeVries.  The afternoon sermon
League of Men's Societies which met in Hudsonville Mon-                          on "Gideon%  Might" was chosen particularly for the benefit
day, Oct. 29. His topic, "Philip &Ielanchthon,"  proved very                     of the latter two, as well as the congregation, during the years
interesting to the ninety men present who expressed their                        of separation.
satisfaction by asking the speaker to publish his speech, if                        From one of Lynden's bulletins we lift a part of a challeng-
possible. Mr. Engelsma was scheduled to repeat his lecture                       ing paragraph which each one of us may read as directed to
at the Fall Mass Meeting of the Young People's Societies                         us personally: "What are you doing when you join the con-
meeting at Hope Church, Nov. 6.. Philip Melanchthon, it                          gregation at worship in the recitation of the Apostles' Creed ?
was learned, was very active in the Reformation and the                          Are ydu really doing it? Confession of faith as part of our
results of his activity bear fruit in the churches of the Ref-                   worship should be the outpouring of a heart overwhelmed,
ormation today ; those results being the errors of ,humanism                     with the joy of salvation. I ask you, do you experience that
and synergism, no doubt due to his sympathy for the teach-                       kind of joy when you take part in this confession of faith?
ings of the Greek philosophers with their man-elevating doc-                     It is well to watch ourselves, to study our reactions when
trines. The speaker carefully worded the theme of his lecture :                  we are called upon to declare: `I believe in God . . .`."
"The Reformation, in Spite of Melanchthon."
                                                                                     "Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which
      Other recent speakers and their topics : Rev. J. Kortering,
                                                                                 we have wrought,. but that we receive a full reward."
"Contentment and Godliness" at the Western Ladies' League ;
                                                                                                                                        II John 8
Rev. H. Hoeksema, "Perseverance ,of the Saints" in Oak-

lawn ; Rev. G. Vanden  Berg, "The Threat of Communism"                               * . . . see you in church.                             J.M.F.


