    VOLUME  XL                                      OCTOBER 15. 1963 - GRAND RAPIDS, MIC~U.GAN                                    NUMBER  2

                                                                               suaded of them, embraced them, and confessed that they
              IV-E ID' I TAT IO N                                              were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
                                                                                   Imagine; Abraham, Isaac and Jacob never owned a
                                                                               house, a home, a dwellingplace, but dwelled in tents all
                     A MOTHER IN ISRAEL                                        their long lives.
                                                                                  Yes, yes, but we are inclined to forget the wives, the
     <`
           .  .  . until tha.t  I Deborah arose, that I- a.rose  a. ,mother
     ,&I Israel."                                           Judges 5:7b        Sarahs, R.ebeccas and the Leahs.
                                                                                  What is the life of the nomads, the wanderers on the
     <` . . . and Abraham came to .m.oorn for Sarah, a.nd to face of the earth? And what of their wives?
     `weep for her."                                      Genesis 23:2b           They shared with the heroes of faith all the depriva-
                                                                               tions of their pilgrim existence.
   Many are the heroes` of faith!                                                 They shared the reproach of Christ!
   They appear everywhere in the Word of God. Some-                               They were the mothers in Israel!
times they are catalogued  as, for instance, in Hebrews 11.                       A name of  .distinction,  a name of glory, a name of
   By faith the elders . . .                                                   honor before Jehovah.
   And later, by faith Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac,                         They were the fore-ordained to be the comforters, the
Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthae,                         helpers, the helpmeets for God's servants.
`David, Samuel, and the prophets!                                                 And as the representative of all these we find the
   But, brethren, let us never forget that also women are                      name of Sarah among the catalog in Hebrews 11: "By
among the heroes of faith.                                                     faith Sarah!"                                 0       "i
   Think of Deborah, the mother in Israel!                                                                0  n  SC  *
   Yes, Deborah arose, and'in a time when the cause of
God was at a low ebb: `the highways were unoccupied,                              Deborah, the mother in Israel, ran the course of her
and the travelers walked through byways. The inhabitants                       life, and she is now in glory.
of the villages ceased, they ceased in Israel. They chose
new gods; then was war in the gates: was there a shield                           She is waiting for you and for me in heaven above.
or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel?"                                  : And of Sarah we read that she died in Kirjath-arba,
   At a low ebb, so low that the angel of the Lord man-                        the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan.
dates the church to "Curse Meroz, curse ye bitterly the                           And when she died she had reached the age of  "an
inhabitants thereof; because they came not to the help of                      hundred and seven and twenty years."
the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty."                            I think she could have echoed the sentiments of Jacob
   Oh yes, Deborah was among the heroes of faith, Deb-                         later: "The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an
orah a mother in Israel.                                                       hundred and seven and twenty years: few and evil have .
   And so was Sarah, the wife of Abraham.                                      the days of the years of my life been . .  ."
   We have heard sermons about the father of all be-                              Few -in the face of eternity.
lievers, of Abraham the arch-patriarch,,  sind these sermons                      Evil -in the face of the devil, the evil world, and the
were listened to eagerly.                                                      power of sin.
   No, he and his son Isaac, with Jacob, did not receive                          Sarah, a mother in Israel,, in the midst of the reproach
the promises, but having seen them afar off were per-                          of Christ all her life.


                                                                      :.
  26                                       T H E   S T A N D A R D   BEARE,R

        Deborah, a mother in Israel, very actually warring the              For a great mother in Israel had passed on  tom her
  wars of Jehovah; also in the midst of the reproach of               reward.
  Christ.                  ..                                                Be still now, be very still. Do not disturb the tears
        But they died!                                                and the bitter suffering of the saint.
        There came an end to the suffering of this present                   As for the body of this mother in Israel: sleepin Jesus
  @me, which Paul calls  "our light affliction, which is but          until He returns. Take your rest now until the atoms of
  for a moment, but which worketh for us a far more ex-               that body are gathered by the Holy Spirit of Christ, and
  ceeding weight of glory."                                           renewed with heavenly splendour.
        The mothers in Israel serve their time and the purpose              Then you will not be the wife of Abraham anymore,
  which God has  `.for them, and then they die.                       but you will be like an angel of God.
        And enter their reward.                                              "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His
        It will not be so long and you and I will also die            saints."
  and go to heaven.                                                          "Blessed are the dead which die in  th.e- Lord from
        And then you will see these mothers in-Israel, and then       henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from
  you will be able to measure the rewards" of grace they              their labors; and their works do follow them."
  received.                                                                  Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord!
        Yes, Abraham has a lofty station in the palaces of the               And so Sarah, Deborah, Rahab (she is also included
  King, but do not forget that also Sarah, Deborah, and all           in the heroes of faith in Hebrews ll), Mary and Dorcas,
  the others will have their glorious reward.                         and all the others, are blessed, blessed unto all eternity.
                                                                             With their men, they shared the reproach of Christ,
                                                                      wept with them, suffered with them, and often strength-
        Sarah went to heaven, but Abraham tarried for a while.        ened them as helpmeets.
        Mourn for her, Abraham!                                              I've heard it said that behind every great man there
                                                                      stands a woman. And I can well believe it.
        Weep for her, thou father of all believers!
                                    -_                                                           0  *  0  It
        And he did.
        Standing at the bier of Sarah there rushed through                   Many are the mothers in Israel.
                                                               his
  heart and soul and spirit all the years of their pilgrimage                God. points with His finger and you see your wife, your
                                                                                                       .-.  _
  which they had shared together! All the sweet and the               helpmeet.
  bitter, all the laughter and the tears, all the good -and the              You are joined together and you become as one.
  .evi.l they shared, for they were in truth ONE FLESH!                      This union of two souls is one of the most beautiful
  And more than one flesh, they were one in spirit. They              things on earth.
  loved the same Jehovah, they hated the same devil, they                    Therefore small wonder that the husband, bereaved of
  .abhorred  the same evil, and loved the same righteousness.         his wife, weeps and mourns for her.
        Yes, when such union is broken, you go and stand be-                 Abraham was not the first to do this, nor was he the
  fore the sons of Heth, and you say: "I am a stranger                last.
   and a sojourner with you: give me a possession of a                       It happens every day, every hour of the day.
  .buryingplace  with you, that I may bury my dead out of                    But the tears are gathered in God's bottles.
  my sight."                                                                 Because they are precious in God's sight.
        "And after this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the
  cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre: the same is
   Hebron in the land of Canaan. And the field, and the                      A mother in Israel died among us.
  cave that is therein, were made sure unto Abraham for a                    I know it, I know it, we are called by the name of
  possession of a buryingplace by the sons of  .Heth."                 a man, and the sound of that name has not lost its beau-
        And with bowed head, and weeping soul, Abraham                teous melody. You better remember that the same Jehovah
  continued his pilgrimage.                                           who called Abraham from the Ur of the Chaldees, called
        There comes a time when the hearts of men are turned          him.
.' inside out when you shall know and hear and see the                       And the circumstances around Deborah prevail in our
  thoughts of the heart of Abraham, mourning and weep-                 day.
   ing for Sarah.                                                            Many are  the- thousands who refuse to come to the
        We can read in Genesis 23 that Abraham mourned for             help of God. The church of our day rather comes to the
   Sarah, and wept for her!                                            help of man, and of the world.


                                                THE  ST'ANDARD   B E A R E R                                                                                                                                                                           27

   But he stood. And the length of his stand you may
now measure in decades.                                                                               T H E   S T A N D A R D   BEARER-
   And during all these decades he was laden with mock-                           Semi-monthly, except monthly during June, July ad August
                                                                                   Published by the  REFORL   FREE   PUBLIS~~~NG  ASSOCIATION
ery, reproach, and dishonor. It is the simple truth that he                                                        Editor - REV. Hm HOEKSEMA
was despised and they esteemed him not.                                           Communications relative to contents should be addressed to
                                                                                  Rev. H. Hoeksema, 1139 Franklin St.,  S. E., Grand Rapids 7,
   For that he should rejoice. It is the reproach of Christ.                      Mich.  Contributions will be limited to 300 words and must be
   But that is not the point I wish to make.                                                                             neatly written or typewritten.
                                                                                  All church news items should be addressed to Mr. J. M. Faber,
   It is this: behind him stood a mother in Israel, and                                                1123 Cooper, S. E., Grand Rapids 7,  Mich.
she stood there as a rock. She partook of the Rock, and                               Announcements and Obituaries with  .the $2.00 fee included
                                                                                  must be mailed 8 days prior to issue date, to the address below:
this Rock is Christ.                                                                  All matters relative to subscriptions should be addressed to
    She has fulfilled her time, her task, her privilegei'and                                       Mr. James Dykstra, 1326 W. Butler Ave., S. E.
                                                                                                                              Grand Rapids 7, Michigan
the Lord said unto her: It is enough! Come up hither!                                  RENF.~AL:  Unless a definite request for discontinuance is
    But we mourn and weep, not so much that she is gone,                          received it is assumed that the subscriber wishes the subscrip-
                                                                                       tion to continue without the formality of a renewal order.
as that we cannot go too. Which is far better.                                                                     Subscription price: $5.00 per year
   And so we will return from the cave where rests a                                       Second  Claw postage paid at Grand  RapidP, Michigan
mother in Israel and continue our pilgrimage, with our
eye of faith towards the city that hath foundations!                                                                                    C O N T E N T S
    Sleep sweetly, my sister!                                                 MEDITATION -
                                                                      G.V.              A Mother In Israel. . . . . . .  .__._  _.  .__  ____.   __.  ____..   ._... .  .25
                                                                                                    Rev. G. Vos                                             .

                  RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                                      EDITORIALS-
                                                                                        Single Or Double Track Theology? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
   The Ladies' Aid Society of the First Protestant Reformed Church                                   Rev. H. Hoeksema
of Grand Rapids, Michigan, mourns the loss of a faithful member,
who has also served the society well as our Bible leader for many             OUR DOCTRINE -
ye=,                                                                                    The Doctrine of the Church . . . . . . . . . .  30
                   MRS. HERMAN HOEKSEMA                                                              Rev. H. Hoeksema
We share the loss with the family and express to them our heartfelt           A  CLOUD OF WITNESSES  -
sympathy. But at the same time we rejoice with them in the con-                         The Song of Deborah . . . . . . . . . 34
fidence that our Lord is gathering His Church unto Himself. about                                    Rev. B. Woudenberg
the throne, so that her departure has brought us that much  closer
to our  &ml perfection with Him. For to be with the Lord is far               INHISFEAR-
better for her and for us.                                                              Integration or Segregation? . . . . . . . . . . . . .  ..__....  __....   .36
                     The Ladies' Aid of the First Prot. Ref. Church                                 Rev. J. A. Heys
                              Mrs.  J. Vander Wal, President                  CONTENDING FOR THE  FILTH-
                              Mrs. C. Hanko, Secretary                                  The Church and. the Sacraments ____.._______.....__..........................  38
                                                                                                     Rev. H.  Veldman
                  RESCXLUTION  OF SYMPATHY                                    THE  VOICE OF  OUR  FATHERS -
                                                                                        The Belgic C o n f e s s i o n   .   ._  .._.____  __.  _ _ _   __.....  _._  ______.......  40
   The Board of the R.F.P.A. expresses its sympathy to Rev. H.
Hoeksema and Prof. H. C. Hoeksema, editors of the Standard Bearer,                                  Rev. H. C. Hoeksema
in the death of their wife and mother,                                        DECENCY   AND ORDER -
                MRS. HERMAN HOEKSEMA, SR.                                               Hierarchy or Independentism?.  _.  _.  _. . . .  _. . . . . . .  .42
                                                                                                    Rev. G.  Vanden Berg
"We  all shall not sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment,           ALL .houND  us -
in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall
sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible." I Cor.  15:51-52.                   Los Angeles Crusade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
                                                                                        Wedding Marches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  _.  .44
                                        The Board of the R.F.P.A.                       Roman Catholic Decline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                             ._...........  44
                                              J. Kalsbeek, President                    A Bible for All . . . . . . . . . . . . .  .._.._._   _.. . . . . . . . ..44
                                               R. Bos, Secretary                        Getting Ready for Unity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..____  . . . . . . .._. 45
                                                                                        Another Edition of the Bible.. . . . . . ..45
                                                                                        New Bus Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
                                                                                        Vatican Council ( Con't) .__._.........._......................................,.....                                                                          45
                  RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                                                            Rev. H. Hanko
   The Senior Mr. and Mrs. Society of the First Protestant Reformed           CONTBIBUTIONS  -
Church extends its sympathy to fellow members, Mr. and Mrs. Charles                     SecreMa'sRzral Report to the R.F.P.A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Kregel, in the loss of their mother,                                                                         . .
                                                                                        Standard Bearer Treasurer Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
                    MRS. NELLIE HOEKSEMA                                                             Mr. D. Knoper
   May the God of grace comfort the hearts of the bereaved.                   NEWS FROM OUR CHURCHES ____.__._.._.....  ..__ ___.......  . . . . . . ..__._____...  .47
                                        George Yonker, Jr., President                               Mr. J. M. Faber
                                        Mrs. K. Bylsma,  Secretary            7 --


  28                                          T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
                                                                         -
                                                                         it is absurd to say that God hates the just, for He loves
                 EDIT-ORIALS                                             them. It is also absurd to say that God changes, now lov-
                                                                         ing the just and the unjust, and manifesting this love in
                                                                         rain and sunshine, now hating them and revealing His
               Single Or Double Track Theology?                          hatred in upheavals and destruction. Hence, the inter-
        There are still some texts which Prof. Kuiper quotes             pretation that leads to this evident absurdity is itself ab-
  in his article which I must briefly discuss.                           surd.
        The first of these is Matthew 5:43-45.  On this Kuiper                "Besides, it must not be overlooked that the text does
  writes  :                                                              not at all state that God is gracious to the just and to
        "To state the matter briefly, they taught that God loves         the unjust, but He sends rain and causes His sun to shine
  only the elect and, proceeding ,from that basic tenet, they            on all.
  made several denials. In spite of such B passage, among                     "How then must the text be interpreted?
  others, as Matthew 5:43-45,  where citizens of -the kingdom            .`. `We must take our startingpoint from vs. 44. The
  are commanded to love their enemies in order that they                 Lord admonishes His people that they shall love their
  may prove themselves' children of the heavenly Father,                 enemies. Now, love is not a sentimental feeling or affec-
  who does that very thing, they denied that there is in                 tion. It is, according to Scripture, the bond of perfect-
  God an attitude of favor toward the non-elect."                        ness. It is, therefore, the bond between two parties or
        Now, the Christian Reformed.Synod  of 1924 also quoted           persons that are ethically perfect, that seek each other
+,the  text as a proof that God is gracious to the wicked as             and find delight in each other because of their ethical
 well as to the righteous. It is too bad that the Synod merely           perfection, and that, in the sphere of ethical perfection
  quotes without even attempting to explain it. And the                  seek each other's good. It is in this true sense that God
  reader may find an interpretation in my book  The  Prot-               is love.
  &ant Reformed Churches.  In view of the fact, however,                      "However, it stands to reason that, in the case of lov-
  that many of our readers do not have this book, I will                 ing our enemies, that despitefully use us, curse us and
  quote from it here.                                                    persecute us, love must needs be onesided. There cannot
        I wrote as follows:                                              be a bond of fellowship between the wicked and the per-
        "If the Synod's interpretation of this text were the cor-        fect in Christ. To love our enemy, therefore, is not to
  rect one, it would prove far too much and, besides, it                 flatter him, to have fellowship with him, to play games
 would lead to absurdity. It is deplorable that the Synod                with him and to speak sweetly to him; but rather to re-
 merely quoted without even an attempt at explanation;                   buke him, to demand that he leave his wicked way and
 otherwise it would soon have discovered how untenable                   thus to bless him and to pray for him. It is to bestow
 this position is that in these verses we have a proof that              good things upon him, walk in the light and thus to have
 God is gracious to all men.  Thqrinterpretation  which,                 fellowship with him. If he heed our love, which will be
  evidently, Synod would offer,-  .runs:%s   follbws:                    the case if he be of God's elect, and receive grace, he
        "a. We must love our enemies.  !  "                              will turn from darkness into light and our love assumes
        `b. If we do, we will be children of God and  reI%ect            the nature of a bond of perfectness. If he despises our
 His love, for He loves all His enemies, as well as the                  love, our very act of love will be to his greater damnation.
 ,good, .in this present life.                  ,                        But the cursing and persecution of the wicked may never
                                                         6,;.  `i  3.
        "c. This love of God is manifested. in the.  rain and            tempt the child of God to live and act from the principle
 .sunshine on all without distinction., ,,                               of hatred, to reward evil for evil, an eye for an eye and
        "Of this interpretation we assert that, first, it proves         a tooth for a tooth.
 too much, and, secondly, that it leads to absurdity and is                   "As a single illustration from actual life and experience,
 untenable. It proves too much, for all the Scriptures                   the Lord points to the fact, that God rains and causes
 witness that God does not love but hates His enemies                    His sun to shine upon the just and upon the unjust alike,
 and purposes to destroy them, except them that He chose                 thus bestowing good things upon them all, demanding that
 in Christ Jesus, and not as His enemies, but as His re-                 they shall employ them as means to walk in righteousness
  deemed people, justified and sanctified in Christ. God                 and light. For with God is delight in perfection in the
 ,doe.s,  indeed love His enemies, but not as such, but  .as             highest sense of the word. If now the wicked receive
  His children in Christ. And it leads to absurdity, for if              grace with rain and sunshine, they will walk in the light
 rain and sunshine were a manifestation of God's love to                 and have fellowship with God. If they do not receive
 all men, the just and the unjust, what are floods and                   grace they will employ the rain and sunshine in the ser-
 droughts, pestilences and earthquakes, and all destructive              vice of sin and receive the greater damnation.
 forces and evils sent to all through nature, but manifesta-                  "But rain and sunshine is never grace, and Matthew
 tions of His hatred for all, the just and the unjust? But               5:44,  4S does not prove the contention of the first point."


                                          T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                           29

    This was my interpretation of this passage several          They do not do good to all their fellowmen. In other
years ago, and in the main, I still agree with this explana-    words, their doing good is pure  se&hness.  They do no
tion.                                                           good before God. They do not good to please God. They
    Prof. Kuiper also mentions the text in Luke  6:33: "If      do not even good in the natural sense of the word. The
ye do good to them that do good to you, what thank              so-called good they do they do not even do to help or
have ye? for also sinners do even the same." This passage       to please their fellowmen. They seek and please them-
is quoted, not so much to prove that God loves all men,         selves. This is corroborated in the entire context. Sinners,
but to show that natural men are able to do good works          natural men, love those that love them, vs. 32. They lend
through the power of common grace, something which,             to those from whom they receive again, vs. 34. They do
ever since 1924 and even before that, we deny.                  not love the Lord Jesus Christ, nor those that belong to
    But let us see.                                             Him and walk in His ways. On the contrary, they hate
    Of course, it stands to reason, as I remarked before        them, they curse them, they despitefully use them, they
and more than once, we may never quote a single passage         smite them on the cheek, they take  away_  their goods,
from Scripture all by itself, for then we can make Scrip-       vss. 25-30.
ture prove almost anything. Always we must quote and                Now, would you say that the text in Luke 6:33 means
explain a certain text in its immediate context as well as      that sinners do good? 0, it is true that the Lord Jesus
in the context of the whole Bible.                              literally says they do good,  butt do not forget the Lord
    NOW, the main question in this connection is whether        adds that they do good only to those that do good to
sinners or natural men do good. And this brings up the          them.
further question: what is good?                                    Also this text was quoted by the Synod of Kalamazoo,
    The immediate context reads as follows: "But woe            1924, as a would-be proof for the Third Point, and also
unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consola-      this text I explained in my book The Protestant Reformed
tion. Woe unto you. that are full! for ye shall hunger.         Clwrchcs.   There I wrote as follows:
Woe unto you that laugh! for ye shall mourn and weep.              "`But does not the text from Luke  6:33 plainly state
Woe unto you when all men shall speak well of you!' for         that sinners do good?
so did their fathers to the false prophets. But I say unto         "On the contrary, it plainly states that they do no
you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them              good. That Synod could quote passages such as this only
which hate you. Bless them which curse you, and pray            proves how desperately hard  presse'd  they were for even
for them which despitefully use you. And unto him that          a semblance of evidence for the truth of the third point.
smites thee on the one cheek, offer also the other; and         It appears that in quoting this text the learned committee
him that taketh away thy  cloke forbid not to take away         that presented their report to the Synod on this matter
thy coat also. Give to every man that asketh of thee; and       were led astray by the mere sound of the word good, and
of him that taketh thy goods ask them not again. And            without even seriously reading the text, they concluded
as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to            that here they had, indeed, found indubitable proof for
them likewise. For if ye love them that love you, what          the theory that the wicked can do good. What does the
thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them.      text teach? That sinners can do good? That there is an
And if ye do good to them that do good to you, what             influence of the Holy Spirit upon them by which they. are
thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same. And           somewhat improved? To be sure there is not the slightest
if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what             reference for these gross errors in the text. The Lord
thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive     does not declare that sinners do good. It does not even
as much again. But love ye your enemies, and do good,           state that they do good to man. Still more, He does not
and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall       assert that they do good to one another. What it does
be great, and you,shall  be children of the highest, for he     state is that they do good to them that will reward them
is kind to the unthankful and evil. Be ye therefore merci-      with good, that they love those that love them. And what
ful, as your Father is also merciful."                          is this? Is it good? No, it is mere selfishness of the sin-
    Now the question which we must answer is: What is           ful man. And the Lord uses their examples to warn His
good and what good do sinners, that is, the wicked and          disciples not to do good in like manner. I suppose that
ungodly reprobate do?                                           the more earnest minded of the synodical delegates, looking
    These questions I would answer as follows:                  back upon 1924, are ashamed of themselves that they
    1. Negatively, the text does not say that the wicked        could be led astray by the mere sound of words!"
or sinners, natural men do good. I am referring now,                The positive idea implied in the text of Luke 6:33, taken
first of all, to vs. 33, the text that is quoted by Prof.       in its entire context, I must discuss in our next editorial,
Kuiper. The very contrary is true. For the text plainly         D. V.
states that sinners do good to those that do good to them.                                                              H.H.

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

                                                                   apostles and prophets. The pure preaching of the Word
       O U R   D-OCTR-INE                                          is the all-important mark whereby you may distinguish
                                                                   the true church in the world. We may also put it suc-
                                                                   cinctly in this -form: the church is where Christ is, and
          THE DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH                               Christ is where the Word is preached and maintained in
                                                                   all -its purity. Hence, it is the calling of all true believers
                         CHAPTER  111                              to join themselves to that purest manifestation of the body
                                                                   of Christ in the world, a manifestation that may be known
  THE ATTRIBUTES AND MARKS OF THE CHURCH                           by the marks of the true church, namely, the pure preaching
                         (Continued)                               of the Word, the administration of the sacraments, and the
                                                                   exercise of Christian discipline. And of these three, the
      They are subservient to the preaching. In the sacra-         preaching of the Word is the very heart, and a&important.
ments - holy baptism and the Lord's Supper - the Word
of God is, as it were, presented in visible and tangible                                   CHAPTER  Iv
form. And the very power of true Christian discipline is the       THE POWER AND GOVERNMENT OF THE CHURCH
Word of Christ and its preaching. Besides, where the Word
of God is purely preached in all its fulness and significance,        It is certainly advisable not only, but also fundamentally
there the sacraments are not likely to be profaned, while          important, that the local congregations as much as possible
such preaching is already in itself exercise of Christian          unite themselves in a denominational organization on the
discipline. Hence, we may say that the one, all-important          basis of their common confession. However, this denomina-
distinguishing mark of the true church is the pure preaching       tional unity cannot and may not be imposed upon the local
of the Word of God. Where the Word of God is preached              churches from above, but must arise spontaneously and
and heard and maintained, there is the church of Christ.           organically from the local congregations themselves. The
Where that Word is not preached and is not maintained in           church is not a worldly association, that has its different
all its purity and significance, there the church is not           branches in different places. On the contrary, the local
present. And where that Word is adulterated, ,the church           church itself is a manifestation of the body of Christ.
must either repent or die.                                         It is autonomous. This autonomy of the local church she
      Why is the pure preaching of the Word of God the             must never deny or surrender; for if she does, the result
chief distinguishing mark of the true church? This question        will be that she soon will be under the yoke of an hierar-
is not difficult to answer. For, according to Scripture, the       chical power. That the local church is autonomous is evi-
church is built  upon the foundation of the apostles and           dent from Scripture, especially from the book of Acts. The
prophets, of which Jesus Christ is the chief cornerstone.          church in Jerusalem was not an association that established
And that foundation is precisely the Word of God as con-           various subdivisions in different places  - in Antioch, in
tained in the Holy Scriptures and as preached  .by the             Asia Minor, and finally in Greece and Rome. On the con-
church. Whoever, though he occupy the place of a minister          trary, the apostles established local congregations, origi-
(of the Word, proclaims another gospel, the word of mere           nally even without any formal or outward connection with
man, does not build upon that one foundation. And what-            one another. These local congregations had their own
ever he builds, or tries to build, is not, and cannot be,          office-bearers, maintained their own government, had their
the true church of Jesus Christ. Besides, it is very em-           own ministry of the Word and of the sacraments, exercised
phatically taught in Scripture that it pleased Christ to           their own discipline, and took care of their own poor. These
call, preserve, and build His church through the preaching         churches were, therefore, completely autonomous. But it is
,of the Word. We do not say that the Scriptures as such            in the nature of the case and according to the principle of
.are the distinguishing mark of the true church; but we say        their spiritual unity in Christ, that. these various churches
that the  pmnc7zing  of that Word is the chief mark of the         sought to establish communion with one another. Thus
true church. Christ gave to His church in the world                arises denominational unity.
apostles, prophets, evangelists, and also pastors and teachers,       Such unity and fellowship of the autonomous churches
for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry,    with one another has its origin principally, of course, in
for the edifying of the body  of. Christ. Cf. Eph.  4:ll.          the fact that they have a common life-root, and therefore,
iOnly where the Word of God is preached according to the           a common root in Christ their Lord. Secondly, they seek
Holy Scriptures, there is heard the voice of the Good              such fellowship and unity because they are always being
Shepherd, calling His sheep by name. There the sheep               attacked by the common enemy, the world, over against
follow Him. And there He gives unto them eternal life.             whom they have to defend themselves in life and doctrine,
Where the Word is not preached, there Christ does not              and because of whom they are participants in a common
speak His Word of salvation, and there the church is not           tribulation in the world. Always  .they are persecuted by
gathered and built upon the foundation of Christ and His           the world. Always they are in tribulation, imposed upon

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

them by the world. And finally, this seeking of fellowship         really an absolute hierarchy  - we might almost say, an
and unity of the local congregations is motivated also by          absolute monarchy  - ruled by an infallible pope. The
the practical need they have of one another. Thus, they            laity have, of course, absolutely no voice in the appointment,
need one another to establish a theological seminary for           or calling, of their own officebearers. It is true that not all
the training of ministers of the Word, for the development         Roman Catholic divines are entirely in agreement on this
of their common confession, and for the fulfillment of their       question. Some favor what is called the papal system,
mandate in regard to the work of missions. It stands to            -according to which the pope is the sole bishop by divine
reason that these autonomous churches seek and establish           right, and all other bishops exist only through him and
communion with one another on the basis of their common            derive their superiority to the lower clergy only from the
confession.                                                        pope. On the other hand, there are those that maintain
   This is not the place to develop the principles of church       what is called the episcopal system, which claims an inde-
polity. And therefore we must be very brief.                       pendent divine right on the part of each bishop. This view
                                                                   holds that the bishops are rightful governors of the church,
   There are indeed different systems of church govern-            superior to the lower clergy by divine appointment, and
ment. Thus, for instance, Erastus regarded the church as           maintains that the pope is indeed first, first in relation to
a society which owes its existence and form to regulations         other bishops. But principally this makes no difference.
enacted by the state. What is known as Erastianism main-           Besides, the former view is prevalent throughout  almost
tains as the leading principle the authority of the civil          the entire Roman world. This view of the government of
magistrates and their control of all ecclesiastical bodies, and    the church, however, cannot be maintained, either on the
that too, both in doctrine and discipline. And therefore,          basis of Scripture or in the light of history. As far as the
Erastians are commonly known as those who teach that it            latter is concerned, there is no iota of proof that the pope
belongs to the function of the state to govern the church,         is a direct successor of Peter and of the apostles. And 
to exercise discipline, and to excommunicate, so that church-                                                                   as
                                                                   far as Scripture is concerned, the Bible certainly recognizes
censures are really civil punishments, though the applica-         that the church has a voice in the calling of its officebearers.
tion may be entrusted to the legal office-bearers of the
church. It stands to reason that thus conceived,  Eras-               Thirdly, we must briefly discuss the Episcopalian sys-
tianism is a denial of the Kingship of Christ over His             tem of church government,  which indeed has much in
church, and that it does not maintain the proper separation        common with the conception of the Roman Catholics, but
between church and state.                                          which nevertheless also differs in some respects. The Epis-
   Secondly, there is the system of the Roman Catholic             copalians, both in England and in our own country, hold
Church. It is the episcopal system, with its theory of apos-       that there are three orders of officebearers in the church  -
tolic succession and the distinction in higher and lower           bishops, priests, and deacons. There is indeed some dif-
clergy, culminating in the pope. The theory of the epis-           ference in this respect between the high church and the low
copacy, according to Roman Catholic writers, -is based upon        church of England. The former maintains that the epis-
the Romish doctrine of a visible church. This visible church       copacy is absolutely essential unto the existence of the
needs a visible sacrifice, according to the Roman Catholics.       church, while the low church denies this. The latter holds
And this visible sacrifice needs a priest, as stands to reason.    that there is nothing in the confessions of the church that
And further, a priest needs special, divine consecration to        makes the episcopacy essential to the church. Neverthe-
his office. He is supposed to receive the internal consecra-       less, the general doctrine of the Episcopal Church is that
tion from God through the external consecration by the             there is in the church a, superior order of officebearers
church. That is to say, the priest receives the Holy Spirit        which are the successors of the apostles, and that they
by the imposition of hands., Hence, the very establishment         possess in their own persons the right of ordination and
of the visible church, according to Roman Catholicism, re-         jurisdiction. These superior officebearers  are the bishops,
quires an ecclesiastical ordination directly originating with .and are -the overseers not only of the members of the
Christ and perpetuated in uninterrupted succession, so that        church, but also of the inferior  oficebearers,  priests and
as the apostles were appointed by Christ, so the bishops, in       deacons. These receive their ordination from the bishops,
turn, were ordained by the apostles. These bishops, in turn,       and power to preach and to administer the sacraments.
have appointed their successors until the present day. The         They have no right to ordain others to the sacred office.
real successor of the apostles, however, is the person of the      And although they are set over the people, they are them-
pope, who is supposed to be infallible when he officiates          selves under the government of the bishop. It is evident
as the Roman pontiff. For if the bishops are supposed to be a      that with the exception of the fact that the Episcopal
perpetual corporation, they need a center, or head, that is        Church recognizes no pope, yet the Episcopalian system is
authorized to exercise jurisdiction over them. Hence, the          much similar to that of the Roman Catholics. Also the
episcopacy of the Roman Catholic Church finds its culmi-           Episcopalian system makes of the officebearers a separate
nation in the pope. Thus the Roman Catholic Church is              class, in regard to whose calling and ordination the church

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

has no voice whatsoever. And all this is contrary to Scrip-        by the consistory to the congregation. The classis,  which is
ture.                                                              not a permanent body, but is constituted and dismissed at
      Then there is the congregational system of government,       each gathering, consists of -two delegates, usually the pastor
which is characterized by independentism. According to             and'an  elder from each congregation. The general synod,
this system, the local congregation is independent from any        which also is no standing body, although it is assembled at
other churches, and is complete in itself. The government          regular, stated times, consists of delegates from each classis.
is strictly democratic. It gives the right to vote to all adult    In the Church Order of Dordrecht, which is the general
male members, and there is no power of veto in the clergy.         basis of church government in the Reformed churches,
By the vote of the congregation members are admitted or            there are some articles that refer to the relation between
dismissed, and by the same vote censures are passed. The           the local church and the broader gatherings. One of these
permanent officebearers are the pastor and the deacons, of         articles is Article 30: "In these assemblies ecclesiastical
which the former is an ordained minister, chosen by the            matters only shall be transacted, and that in an ecclesias-
church and subject -to dismissal by the church, that is, by        tical manner. In major assemblies only such matters shall
the local congregation. As far as communion with other             be dealt with as could not be  ilnished in minor assemblies,
churches is concerned, the local churches stand in sisterly        or such as pertain to the churches of the major assembly in
relation to other congregational churches. There are no            common." The question is whether this last clause may be
standing higher, or broader, gatherings, although on occa-         so interpreted that the major assembly may itself initiate
sion such a broader gathering may be called to settle cer-         matters that belong to the major assembly in common, or
tain matters pertaining to the general welfare of the              whether these assemblies are strictly limited to their own
churches. The decisions of such broader ecclesiastical gath-       program, or agenda. Another article that is a serious source
erings, however, are never binding, but only declarative.          of difference of opinion in the Reformed churches is
Also this system is really derogatory to the  headship  of         Article 31: "If anyone complain that he has been wronged
Christ-as King over His church, since they make the office-        by the decision of a minor assembly, he shall have the
bearers entirely dependent on the will of the congregation.        right to appeal to a major ecclesiastical assembly, and
                                                                   whatever may be agreed upon by a majoriv vote shall be
      The Reformed system of church government is probably         considered settled and binding, unless it be proved to
most difficult to understand, and even to maintain. On the         conflict with the Word of God or with the articles of the
one hand, it maintains the autonomy of the local congrega-         Church Order, as long as they are not changed by a general
tion. In this respect, we may say indeed that the local con-       synod." The last clause especially has been the subject of
gregation is independent. However, on the other hand, it           controversy, that is:  ". . . unless it be proved to  conflict
attributes a certain power to the broader gatherings, classis      with the Word of God or with the articles of the Church
and synod. There always has been, and still is, a difference       Order." The question is whether this means that the mat-
of opinion with regard to the' relation of the local congre-       ter in dispute must be proved to the major assembly, or
gation and the broader gatherings, classis  and synod. Ac-         whether the person disagreeing with the decision of the
cording to some, in these broader gatherings the delegates         major assembly may consider it as proved in conflict with
are assembled in virtue of their office as pastors and elders.     the Word of God or with th'e Church Order before his own
According to others, however, the officebearers can function       conscience. Another cause of frequent dispute is Article
as such only in their local congregation, and are appointed        36: "The classis has the same jurisdiction over the consis-
to the broader gatherings merely as delegates, not as office-      tory as the particular synod has over the classis,  and the
bearers. According to some, the broader gatherings have            general synod over the particular." However, it is rather
judicatory authority, that is, they have authority in cases        generally granted that this article cannot .mean and does
of doctrine and of discipline. According to others, they           not state that the major assemblies, such as  classis  and
have merely advisory power. This dispute concerned espe-           synod, have the same jurisdiction over the minor assemblies
cially the question whether the broader gatherings can             as the consistory has over the congregation. However, those
,depose officebearers - ministers, elders, and deacons. Ac-        that hold that the major assemblies have judicatory power
cording to- some, these broader gatherings have such power,        appeal to this article, which plainly states that the classis
while according to others, that power is only vested in the        has jurisdiction over the consistory. It certainly would be
consistory and in the local congregation. Accordingly, the         expedient if some of these matters that pertain to the gov-
various assemblies in the Reformed system of church gov-           ernment of the churches would be definitely settled. But
ernment are the consistory, classis,  and synod. In the Neth-      it does not belong to our discussion of the church to settle,
erlands they also have particular synods between the classes       or try to settle, these questions.
and general synod. The consistories consist of ministers
and elders, to which in small congregations the deacons               The main principle that must always be remembered
are  add.ed  as a church council. These officebearers are usu-     and maintained in Reformed church polity is that Christ is
ally voted by the congregation from a nomination presented         the head and the King over His church, and that He Himself

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

rules His church by His Spirit and Word. Christ is King            some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For
supreme over all things. For thus we find in Matthew               the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry,
28313 : "All power is given unto me in heaven and in               for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come
earth." I Corinthians 15:27  states this : "For he hath put        in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son
all things under his feet. But when he saith, All things           of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature
are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted which        of the fulness of Christ." In Romans  12:6  -  8 we, read:
did put all things under him." In Ephesians 1:21 we read :         "Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is
`Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from               given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according
the dead, and set him at his own right hand in heavenly            to the proportion of faith; Or ministry, let us wait on OUT
places, Far above all principality, and power, and might,          ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching; Or he that
and dominion, and every name that is named, not only               exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it
in this world, but also in that which is to come." And             with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that
in Philippians  3:9- 11 we read: "Wherefore God hath               sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness." And in I Timothy 3:
also highly exalted him, and given him a name which is             2 - 5 : "A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of
above every name: That in the name of Jesus every knee             one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hos-
should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and          pitality, apt to teach; Not given to wine, no striker, not
things under the earth; And that every tongue should con-          greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not
fess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the            covetous; One that ruleth well his own house, having his
Father." This, of course, refers to the power of Christ in         children in subjection with all gravity; (For if a man
general. But He is also more specifically called the head          know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take
and Lord and King over His church. Thus, in Psalm  2:6             care of the church of God?  )" Likewise, we have instruc-
we read: `Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of              tions in the same chapter concerning the deacons: "Like-
Zion." _4nd in Ephesians 1:22: "And hath put all things            wise must the deacons be grave, not doubletongued, not
under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all               given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre; Holding
things to the church." Christ, therefore, has power over all       the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. And let
things in heaven and on earth. And in a specific sense He          these also first be proved; then let them use the office
is the King over His church, which He rules by His grace           of a deacon, being found blameless."
and Spirit and Word. The relation between this power                  It is evident from Scripture that some elders devoted
over all things and His sovereignty over His church is             themselves more particularly to the work of the ministry
such, that He employs the former to the preservation and           of the Word of God. Thus we read in I Timothy  517:
salvation of the latter. From this principle of the  head-         "Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double
ship or kingship of Christ over His church, it follows             honor, especially they who labor in the word and doctrine."
that no church, or group of churches, may ever subject             In Revelation 2 and 3 we receive the same impression.
themselves under any other yoke than that of Christ,               It is evident that the angel of the church to whom each
whether it be the yoke of the state.or  the yoke of the pope.      letter is addressed must be the elder that labored in the
Only the Word of Christ is law in the church.                      Word and doctrine, that is, in the ministry of the Word.
                                                                                                                         H.H.
   Nevertheless, Christ maintains and executes His power
and authority over His church through the instrumentality
of men, that is, of the officebearers. He Himself appointed
in His church officebearers. These regular and abiding
officebearers in the Reformed churches are the ministers,
elders, and deacons. The elders, together with the ministers,                         Announcement
have the calling to feed and care for the flock, as well as           The Hope Protestant Reformed Christian School has a
to rule over them and keep watch over the flock by word            limited supply of the Principles of Education available.
and deed. They have the power, therefore, also of dis-
cipline. In Acts 20:28  we read: "Take heed therefore unto         These principles, written by Rev. H. Hanko, have been
yourselves, and to all the flock, over which the Holy Ghost.       adopted as directives for teaching by the board. Copies
hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which          may be purchased from the undersigned for the cost of
he hath purchased with his own blood." And in I Cor-               $1.00 each plus 30 cents postage. Please enclose $1.30 for
inthians I2:28 we read: "And God hath set some in the              each copy ordered and make checks payable to the school.
church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers,
after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, govem-                                Don Lotterman, Board Secretary
me&, diversities of tongues." .Ephesians  4:ll - 13 states:                               I239 Joosten St., S. W.
`And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and                                      Wyoming, Michigan

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

                                                                                But Barak was a man of his age. It was a day in which
             A-CLOUD OF  WlTNES$ES  / discretion was rated above courage or faith, and it did
                                                                           not look very possible for Israel to throw off the yoke of
~                                                                          Jabin.  He hesitated and halted and finally said to Deborah,
                          The Song of Deborah                              "If thou wilt go with me, then I will go: but if thou
                                                                           wilt not go with me, then I will not go." It is very likely
                Then sang Deborah  a.nd Barak the son of Abinoam           that he thought this would be a sure way to get out of
                on that day, saying . . .                  Judges 51       going to battle himself. In that day when there was hardly
            "Awake, awake, Deborah.:                                       a man ready to go out to battle, it must have seemed all
             Awake, awake, r&es a song:                                    but impossible that a woman would be ready to go.
             Arise  Bara.k,  and lead thy captivity captive, thou  ,son         But Deborah was a prophetess of God and a woman of
                  of Abinoam  ."                                           faith. Quickly she answered, "I will surely go with thee:
                                                                           notwithstanding the journey that thou takest shall not be
            With these words Deborah and Barak memorialized the            for thine honour; for the LORD shall sell Sisera into the
      first awakening of opposition to the Canaanites who for              hand of a woman." It would stand to the disgrace of the
      twenty years had oppressed them in their own land. Those             men of Israel forever that because of their lack of courage
      were hard years and the people suffered greatly; but                 this battle would begin and end through the agency of
      spiritual life flowed at a low ebb, and there was not a              women.
      man found in Israel with courage to stand in the name of
      God against this enemy. Dumb with unbelief, the people                    But nevertheless Barak was committed. Soon the call
      suffered in silence, until at last a small voice began to be         went out for those who would come to battle from Naphtali,
      heard. It was the voice of a woman. Deborah, sitting                 from Zebulun, and from all of Israel. There took place
      under an oak between  Ramah  and Bethel, was judging                 what was described by Deborah in the next stanza of her
      the people. She spoke to the people concerning the Word              song.
      of God and His law as it reproved them for the sins of                    "Then came  dour a remnant  of  the  ,nobles and the
      their lives. And it was not long before she spoke out also                          people:
      on the great issue of Canaanitish oppression that weighed                  Jehovah came down  for  me against the mighty.  *
      upon the land. She told the people without wavering                        Out  of  Ephraim was there a root  of  them against
      that the hand of the Lord had caused this because of their                          Amalek;
      sin. She urged them unto repentance, until they turned                     -4fter  thee, Benjamin, among thy people;
      to their God in prayer, crying for forgiveness. It was then                Ozrt  of  Machir came down  govern.ors,
      that the voice of God came as it were to say, "Awake                       And  out  of  Zebubcn they that handle the pen  of  the
      Deborah . . . Awake Barak . . . Lead thy captivity captive!"                        writer.
            But it was not as though this awakening came easily.                 And the princes  of  Issachar were with Deborah;
      The spiritual torpor of the people had been very great                     Even Issachar, and also Barak;
      and they were not very readily aroused from it. Even                       He  wa.s  sent on  foot  .into  the valley."
     those who maintained spiritual sensitivity did so in silence
      and had not the`courage  to speak out for their God. Only                 So the people of Israel were gathered once again for
      .a woman dared to speak and to remind the people of their            battle. From many different tribes they came to stand
      heritage.  Oh,.the people listened. Their suffering had been         behind Deborah.
      too great to ignore the words of Deborah. They even                       But still it was only a remnant which came. The nation
      turned in repentance to cry to the Lord for deliverance.             was weak, and for everyone who came there were others
      But still there was no one who dared to stand up in op-              who remained behind. This too Deborah pointed out in
      position to Jabin  the king of Canaan.                               her song.
            It was finally Deborah who acted. She called to her                 "For the divisions  of  Reuben there were  great  thoughts
      Barak the son of Abinoam out of Kadesh-naphtali. Deborah                            of  heart.
      called him because he was known to be a man of outstand-                   Why abodest thou among the sheepfolds,
      ing faith, and to him she said, "Hath not the LORD God                     To hear the bleatings  of  the flocks?
      ,of Israel commanded, saying, Go and draw toward mount                     For the divisions  of  Reuben there were great search-
      `Tabor,  and take with thee ten thousand men of the chil-                           ings of heart.
      .&en of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulon? And
      I will draw unto thee to the river Kishon Sisera, the cap-                 Gilead   a.bode  beyond Jordan:           `.
      tain of Jabin's  army, with his chariots and his multitude;          -    -    -
      and I will deliver him into thhe hand."                              `The translation of this verse we take from the R. V.

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

     And why did Dan remain in ships?                             strengthened Israel were not done with them.. The streams
    Asher continued on the sea shore,                             of the valley, now swollen by the -storm,- took hold of
    and abode in his breaches."                                   them as they tried to cross. By Kishon thousands were
In all of Israel but two tribes stood out as exceptions.          drowned. Meanwhile the forces of Israel remained un-
Of these too Deborah sang.                                        touched. Victoriously they pursued their enemies.
                                                                      But still one important phase of the battle remained.
   "Zebulun  and  Naphtali  were a people that  ieoparded         Sisera, the captain of the Canaanitish army, soon felt the
           their lives                                            battle turn against him. Leaving his chariot he turned to
     Unto the death in the high places  of  the field."           flee upon foot. As long as he was not taken, the victory
   Thus at last a force of fighting men were gathered             of Israel could not be considered completed. It was not
behind Deborah and Barak. They were actually not many,            long before he had left the battle site behind and was ap-
about ten thousand men, while  Jabin  had in his army             proaching the safety of his home land. But God guided
almost a thousand chariots of iron besides his host of            his feet that he came past the tent of  Jael, the wife of
regular soldiers. It must have appeared almost absurd as          Heber the Kenite. The Kenites were a wandering people,
the two forces took positions over against each other upon        and Jabin had never oppressed them, so that to Sisera this
the great battlefield of Megiddo.  Jabin's  army under Sisera     seemed a safe place to rest. What he did not realize was
was large, trained, and well armed, while Israel under            that the Kenites were also descendants of Abraham through
Barak was but a crude group of common men. All of the             Keturah, and that Jael was bound-to the Israelites with the
old fears began to creep up on the men of Israel again            strongest of all bonds; she believed in Israel's God. This
as they stood silently waiting. Once more it was Deborah          led up to the well-known event concerning which Deborah
who had to supply the spark of courage as she cried out           sang in the closing verses of her song.
to Barak, "Up; for this is the day in which the LORD                 "Blessed above women. shall Jael the wife of Heber the
hath delivered Sisera into thine hand: is not the LORD                       Kenite  be,
gone out before thee?"                                                Blessed shall she be above women in the tent.
   With that Israel advanced and the battle was joined.               He asked water, and she gave him milk;
It was a great and amazing battle, not because of the valor            She brought forth butter  i.n a lordly dish.
of men, but because God came and added His forces.                    She put her hand to the nail,
Listen to Deborah's description.                                      And her right hand to the workman's hammer;
                                                                      And  with the hammer she smote Sisera, she smote
   "The  kin.gs came and  fough.t,                                            of his head,
    Then fought the kings  of  Cancan                                 When she had pierced and stricken through his temple.
    In Taanuch  by the waters  of  Megiddo;                           At her  feet  he bowed,  h,e fell, he lay down:
    They took no gain  of  money.                                     At her  feet  he  bo,wed,  he fell:
    They fought from heaven;                                          Where  lae bowed, there he fell down dead.
    The stars in. their courses fought against Sisera.                The  naother  of  Sisera looked out at a window,
    The river of Kishon swept them away,                              And cried through the lattice,
     That ancient river, the river Kishon.                            Why is his chariot so long in, com&ag?
    0 my soul, thou hast trodden down strength.                       Why tarry the wheels of his chariots?
    Then were the horsehoofs  broken  by the means  of                Her wise ladies answered her,
           pransing,                                                  Yea, she returned answer to herself,
    Th,e pransing  of  their mighty ones.                             Have they  no( sped? have they not divided the prey;
    Curse ye  Meroz,  said the angel of the LORD,                     To every man a damsel or two;
    Curse ye bitterly the  inhabitairzts  thereof;                    To Sisera a prey of divers colours,
    Because  thett   ca.me  not to the  h,elp   of  the LORD,'        A prey of divers colours of needlework,
    To the help  of  the LORD against the mighty."                    Of divers colours of needlework on both sides,
                                                                      Meet  for  the necks of them. that take the spoil?
Here was a battle worthy of note. The men of Israel                   So let all  th,ine enemies perish, 0 LORD:
fought, but it was not they who turned the tide. The very             But let them that love him be as the sun
elements of nature descended upon Sisera and his host.                When he goeth forth in his might."
Thunder, lightning and rain beat upon them mercilessly.
It appears that the very stars of heaven, meteorites, bom-        As God had said, it was into the hands of a woman that
barded them. Against such forces even their chariots of           the final victory was given.
iron were of no avail. In but a short time the Canaanites            `And-  the land had rest forty years."
were scattered and put to flight. But still the powers that                                                              B.W.


36                                            T H E   S,TANDARD   B E A R E R

                                                                 4    top of each other today. We breathe down each other's
             I N   H I S   F E A R                       `1 necks, step on each other's toes, and get in each other's way.
                                                                          From Babel men spread out and left each other alone
                                                                      until greed moved them to try to take each other's land.
              Integration or Segregation?                             Shipping and commerce made it possible also to steal the
      The race riots of today are a shame.                            negroes from their home in Africa and sell them as slaves
      ,That there is and has been abuse is not to be denied.          to America. But today the world has become so small that
But riot and abuse are not matters that are to be found only          the nations are back where they were when God confused
amid the races. In fact Scripture indicates an increase of            man's speech. The language barrier has to some extent
tension and bitterness among men as we approach the end               been broken. But the internal likes and dislikes, thoughts
of time. One of the signs of the return of Christ is "wars            and ambitions of the races remain strongly opposed to each
and rumors of wars." And by way of explanation Jesus                  other. The only common ground on which ALL the races
adds, "Nation shall rise up against nation, and kingdom               can stand is on the truth of (God's  Word, and that by regen-
against kingdom." This is by no means then to be limited              eration. There will be no negro in heaven. That is abso-
to the white and black races. Nor has that been the pre-              lutely correct. And then you will be able to live with him
dominant history of the world. White nation rose up                   and love him and have most intimate fellowship with him.
against white nation in the two world wars which have                 But not only because he is no longer a negro. It will be
afflicted the world in the twentieth century. Those in the            due also to the fact that you will not be a white man. Both
white race have hatred in their hearts against white fellow-          of you will be saints, re-created children of God, with new
men. The color line does not define the line of hatred. Riot          spiritual bodies that are neither white, yellow, red, nor
and revolt does not always find two races involved. And               black.
what has happened in the South of our country and in                     Intermarriage does not solve the problem but only cre-
some northern cities is still an overtone of the confusion of         ates new ones. For through- it you get a third factor, and
tongues at the tower of Babel. White and black are not                that only complicates rather than unifies. ,The expediency
alike and no man or group of men is going to make them                of Gog and Magog joining the antichristian world power in
alike. God can and will do that through regeneration, but             the latter days likewise will not heal that wound of the
no work of man shall ever change that color line. And it is           tower of Babel. It will only prepare the way for a more
not the business of the church to try to change it either.            dreadful con&t and release a fury of pent up emotions and
Let the church preach the gospel, and God will, as He is              desire for mastery. We are in for some "rough times," and
pleased, regenerate and make brothers in Christ.                      we better not delude ourselves into speaking of peace when
      We have no sympathy with instigators of riot. We con-           there is no peace. Better is it to look to the Prince of Peace
demn in no uncertain terms abuse of men of any race and               Who by His Spirit unites all the elect of God from every
color. Scripture teaches us to do unto others as we would             nation, tongue and tribe, not in any earthly kingdom but
have them do unto us. And we believe that this must be                in the Kingdom of Heaven and in the new Jerusalem. And
carried out regardless of race or color. The negro is a human         where regeneration has already been accomplished, black
being. It is a sad state of affairs- that this truth has even         and white and white and black can sit down together in
to be mentioned. But there are those who can be so in-                sweet communion in the sphere of the spiritual matters.
human that they fail to see that the negro is human. And              They can know each other as brother and sister in Christ,
each and every human being should be dealt with in the                have a common joy and goal, a common Lord and King,
same courtesy and decency. The law of God says that we                one baptism and one faith. But where these are not to be
must love the negro neighbour as well as the white neigh-             found, there white cannot have sweet communion with
bour, and it makes no distinction whatsoever.                         white, and black may soon find himself enemy of black. An
      But as we said, the negro problem is an overtone of the         integration by the Spirit of Christ is a true and lasting in-
confusion. of tongues which God brought into being at                 tegration. Any integration realized by law and fear is only
Babel. They may speak our language as far as the words                a false veneer that will fall away sooner or later and reveal
.and their pronunciation are concerned; but even as there are         an awful division and enmity in the heart.
.among the descendants of Shem and Japheth nations with                  With God it is not the color of the skin but of the heart.
,contrasting ways of thinking and clashing views, there is to         We are reminded of God's speech to Samuel, when he went
be expected that the negro race in its thinking disagrees             to anoint a king from among the sons of Jesse. Samuel saw
with the white man. And thus even as the nations had to               Eliab the eldest son of Jesse and was ready to anoint him
separate from each other at Babel, there still remains an             as king. But God said, "Look not on his countenance, or
area in which the white and black races will never find a             on the height of his stature; because I have refused him:
common ground. And what has accentuated the complex                   for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on
problem today is the shrinking of our world. We live on               the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the


                                          T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                       37
                                                                                                                                  -
heart." And by the power of regeneration, when we are              nitely is whether and when and where to integrate and to
born with the life of Christ, we look as He does. And it is        segregate. A false ecumenical movement is a tremendous
not a matter of color, that is, not a matter of the color of       danger to the Church and the Church should study the
the face and skin, but of the heart. Once again, as Solomon        situation with its eyes wide open. Any church that seeks
says in the Song of Solomon, "I am black, but comely, 0 ye         to merge with another ought to ask whether the Word of
daughters of Jerusalem." And surely the color of the skin          God prescribes the integration or demands a continued
is not a serious problem, surely not the most serious prob-        segregation. There conceivably is much room for integra-
lem. We are far too much concerned about it and so un-             tion today of churches that are separated on trivialities and
concerned about the color of the heart. We are too much            find that on occasion they can unite in this or that  en-
concerned about physical blackness and unable even to              deavour, can invite each other's ministers to their pulpits,
detect spiritual blackness. We call it white. Eating of the        for the same doctrine will be taught, in fact a better doc-
forbidden fruit has not given us the ability to know good          trine might even be taught by that guest minister. That
and evil but instead afflicted us with that color blindness        many denominations and groups of churches today are
according to which we see spiritual black as white and             seeking union and closer contact with churches whose doc-
spiritual white as black.                                          trinal standards and policies of discipline are on a level
     And that is the matter concerning which we purposed to        below theirs is common knowledge and to be observed by
write at.  thi.s.time. The social problem of integration or        any who have the interest to look around and see for them-
segregation is on the foreground at present in our country.        selves.
But it is not the most serious problem of integration and             The big and burning issue of the day is whether Roman
segregation. We have in our land  - and it is actually a           Catholicism and Protestantism shall integrate or continue
universal phenomenon - religions and doctrines of every            their segregated existence. You hear no one in Roman
color of the rainbow. In the book of Revelation we see             Catholicism advocating a change of doctrine and practice
Truth riding forth on a white horse. See Revelation 6:2 and        that actually amounts to anything, but many in Protestant-
19:11-13.  And that is not a dirty white, a "tattle-tale grey" ism are quite ready to abandon this truth and that practice
but a pure white horse. But men have departed from that            to further an unholy alliance between darkness and light.
truth to a greater or lesser degree. They have mixed with          Many who fight even physically and with violence the in-
it and substituted for it the philosophies that originate in       tegration of the negro with the white man and demand
their own sin-darkened minds. And you can find them from           strict segregation are so ready to cross the spiritual color
off-color white all the way to pitch black atheism. At the         line and call all in Protestantism, who still spiritually see
same time, of necessity, you find people who tenaciously           white as white and black as black, obstructionists and faith-
hold on to and spread their philosophies and theories with         less servants of Christ, who do not with Him pray "that
vehement insistence that they teach the truth of the Word          they all may be one." But we better be on our toes as the
of God. Others show an utter unconcern in regard to the            movement builds up its steam to integrate where segrega-
color of the doctrine  maintained and preached. They be-           tion is demanded by the very Word of God.
lieve in tolerance. That is, they believe in tolerance to a           It is not a mere matter of continued existence. It cer-
point. And they believe in tolerance from one direction,           tainly is not that in the first place. It is not either a mere
and in one direction only. From the level of false doctrine        matter of negating the whole Reformation and branding
to which they are fallen, they will tolerate and even invite       Luther and Calvin as misguided but wellmeaning souls who
anything below them, no matter how far-into error and evil         actually troubled instead of benefited the Church. It is a
practices a group has fallen. But they will not tolerate any       question of the glory of God: Who is insulted by all false
introduction of that which is purer in doctrine and walk of        doctrines. And it is a matter of walking in His fear.
life than they. They are willing to be so broadminded to-                                                                      J.A.H.
wards the erring, but so narrowminded in regard to fellow-
ship and contact with anyone who presents a purer doctrine
than theirs. They believe in integration of all isms and sects,
but they practice definite segregation in respect to those                          RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
who hew to the line, speak the language of Scripture and              The  Consistory of the First Prot. Ref. Church of Grand Rapids,
maintain that God actually is God. For these they have the         Michigan, wishes to express its heartfelt sympathy with the Rev.
sneering names of "Old fashioned," "Narrow-minded,"                Hoeksema in the loss of his faithful wife, and to the family in the
                                                                   loss  of their devoted mother, who has meant so much to them
"Super Calvinists," `bigots," and a host of variations of          throughout the years that the Lord has spared her for them. May
these. That is a far more serious problem because it deals         our God sustain them in the abiding assurance that death actually
with spiritual matters, matters of life and death, matters of      has no sting and the grave has no victory for those whose hope is
the glory of God and the praise of His Name.                       fixed upon our risen Lord.
                                                                                                          Rev. C. Hanko, President
-    The question in the church world of today very defi-                                                ;Mr. P. Decker, Secretary

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

                                                                   in which all the differences between Romanists and Prot-
II Contending For The. Faith                                       estants converge. On the view taken of this doctrine de-
                                                             II pends the question whether the Christian Church has a
                                                                   true living `cultus' or not. With him the Church, of course,
                                                                   is the body, which, professing the true religion, is united
            The Church and the Sacraments                          in the reception of the same sacraments, in subjection to
                                                                   bishops canonically consecrated, and especially to the pope
            THE TIME OF THE REFORMATION                            of Rome. For him, and all Romanists, this Church is
                                                                   Christ. He dwells in it; animates it, operates through it
 VIEWS ON THE SACRAMENTS (LORD'S SUPPER)                           exclusively in the salvation of men. The teaching of the
                                                                   Church is his teaching; its commands are his commands;
                     THE ROMISH VIEW                               He regenerates only through its sacrament of baptism; He
                                                                   remits sin only through the sacrament of penance; He
      We now coriclude our quotation from Hodge as he re-          streugthens in confirmation; He nourishes his people with
futes the Romish view of the Lord's Supper in his System-          his body and blood in the eucharist; and in the ordination
atic Theology, Vol. III, 688-692:  "5. The doctrine of the         of priests He appoints the organs through which all this
sacrificial character of the eucharist, is an integral part of     is done by his ceaseless activity. `The church,' says Moehler,
the great system or error, which must stand or fall as a           is vicariously Christ manifested and working through all
whole. Romanism is another gospel. It proposes a different         time. The Redeemer did not merely live eighteen hundred
method of salvation from that presented in the word of             years ago, and then disappear, to be remembered only as a
God. It teaches that no one can be saved who is out of the         historical person as any other of the departed; on the con-
pale of that visible society of which the pope of Rome is          trary He is ever living in the Church.' Romanists, therefore,
the head;  and that all are saved who die within that pale.        practically take away Christ, and give us the Church in his
It teaches that no one can be regenerated who is not bap-          stead. It is to be remembered that by the Church they do
tized; and that there is no forgiveness for post-baptismal         not mean the body consisting of true believers, but the ex-
sins, except by the sacraments of penance and absolution           ternal, organized body of which the pope is the head.
at the hands of the priest. It teaches that no one can have        It is this body represented in history by the Hildebrands,
the benefit of the Lord's Supper, who does not receive it          the Borgias, and the Leos, which Romanism puts in the
at the hands of a properly ordained officer of the Church          place of Christ, clothing it with his prerogatives, and claim-
of Rome. It teaches that there is no valid ministry, and           ing for it the obedience, the reverence, and the donfidence
that there are no valid ordinances except in the line of           due to God alone. It is against this theory, which practically
the apostolic succession as recognized by the pope. It             puts man in the place of God, that the most fearful de-
follows men beyond the grave. It teaches that the souls            nunciations of the Scriptures are pronounced."
in purgatory are still under the power of the keys; that                           THE ZWINGLIAN VIEW
their stay in that place or state of torment, can be pro-
longed or shortened at the will of the Church. The pope               Huldreich or Ulrich Zwingli was born January 1, 1484,
assumes,  and has often pretended to exercise, the power of        seven weeks after Luther, in a lowly Shepherd's cottage at
granting indulgences for even a thousand years. This whole         Wildhaus  in the country of Toggenburg, now belonging to
theory hangs together. If one assumption be false, the             the Canton St. Gall.
whole is false. And if the theory in its primary principle            He was descended from the leading family in this re-
of a perpetual apostleship, infallible in teaching and of          tired village. His father, like his grandfather, was the chief
plenary power in government and discipline, be false, then         magistrate; his mother, the sister of a priest; his uncle, on
every particular doctrine involving that principle must be         the father's side, dean of the chapter at Wesen on the wild
false. (How true is this `remark of Hodge! Rome believes           lake of Wallenstadt. He had seven brothers (he being the
in the infallibility of the pope. This surely means that           third son) and two sisters.
whenever the  pope.`.speaks  officially he is inspired, and           Zwingli was educated in the Catholic (Roman) religion
could therefore not make  a mistake. If, then, it is proven        by his Godfearing parents, and by his uqcle, the dean of
&at the pope has made a mistake in the past, then the              Wesen, who favored the new humanistic learning. He grew
whole theory of his infallibility falls to the ground, lies        up a healthy, vigorous boy, had at a very early age a
crumbled in the dust. And it is not difficult to show that         tender sense of veracity.
he has erred in the past. - H.V. )                                    Comparing Zwingli and Luther, Philip  Schaff. writes as
      ' "Moehler, whose philosophical and mitigated Romanism,      follows : "The training of Zwingli foi his life-work differs
has called down upon him no little censure from his stricter       considerably from that of Luther. This difference affected
brethren, rTy:esents  &e doctrine of the eucharist as the point    their future work, and accounts in part for the+ collision


                                                T H E   S T A N D A R D   BEAR:ER                                                            39

       when they met as antagonists in writing, and on one oc;           archist, kept aloof from politics and war, and concentrated
       casion (at  Marburg) face to face, in a debate on the real        his force upon the reformation of faith and doctrine.. Zwingli
       presence (of Christ in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper.        was equal to Luther in clearness and acuteness of. intellect
       - H.V.). Comparisons are odious when partisan or sec-             and courage of conviction, superior in courtesy, modera-
       tarian feeling is involved, but necessary and useful if im-       tion, and tolerance, but inferior in originality, depth, and
       partial.                                                          force. Zwingli's work. and fame were provincial; Luther's,
          "Both Reformers were of humble origin, but with this           world-wide. Luther is the creator of the modem  high-
       difference: Luther descended from the peasantry, and had          German book language, and gave to his people a vernac-
       a hard and rough schooling, which left its impress upon his       ular Bible of enduring vitality. Zwingli had to use the
       style of polemics, and enhanced his power over the common         Latin, or to struggle with an uncouth dialect; and the
       people; while Zwingli was the son of a magistrate, the            Swiss Version of the Bible by his faithful friend Leo  Judae
       nephew of a dean and an abbot, and educated under the in-         remained confined to German Switzerland, but is more ac-
       fluence of the humanists, who favored urbanity of manners.        curate, and kept pace in subsequent revisions with the prog-
       Both were brought up by pious parents and teachers in the         ress of exegesis. Zwingli can never inspire, even among
'      Catholic faith; but Luther was far more deeply rooted in          his own countrymen, the same enthusiasm as Luther among
       it than Zwingli, and adhered to some of its doctrines, es-        the Germans, Luther is the chief hero of the Reformation,
       pecially on the sacraments, with great tenacity to the end.       standing in the front of the battle-field before the Church
       He also retained a goodly portion of Romish  exclusivism          and the world, defying the papal bull and imperial ban,
       and intolerance. He refused to acknowledge Zwingli as a           and leading the people of God out of the Babylonian captiv-
       brother, and abhorred his view of the salvation of unbap-         ity under the gospel banner of freedom.
       tized children and pious heathen.                                    "Each was the right man in the right place; neither
                                                                         could have done the work of the other. Luther was fore-
          "Zwingli was trained in the school of Erasmus, and             ordained for Germany, Zwingli for Switzerland. Zwingli was
       passed from the heathen classics directly to the New Tes-         cut down in the prime of life, fifteen years before Luther;
       tament. He represents more than any other Reformer, ex-           but, even if he had outlived him, he could not have reached
       cept Melanchthon, the spirit of the Renaissance in harmony        the eminence which belongs to Luther alone. The Lutheran
       with the Reformation. He was a forerunner of modern               Church in Germany and the Reformed Church of Switzer-
       liberal theology. Luther struggled through the mystic             land stand to this day the best vindication of their dis-
       school of Tauler and Staupitz, and the severe moral dis-          tinct, yet equally evangelical Christian work and character."
       cipline of monasticism, till he found peace and comfort
       in the doctrine of justification by faith. Both loved poetry         Zwingli himself died on the battle-field, in the prime
       and music next to theology, but Luther made better use            of manhood, aged forty-seven years, nine months, and eleven
       of them for public worship, and composed hymns and tunes          days, and with him his brother-in-law, his step-son, his son-
       which are sung to this day.                                       in-law, and his best friends. He made no use of his weap-
                                                                         ons, but contented himself with cheering the soldiers. When
          "Both were men of providence, and became, innocently,          he had been wounded, and after receiving several other
      reformers of the Church by the irresistible logic of events.       blows, he lifted up his head, and exclaimed: "What matters
       Both drew their strength and authority from the Word of           this misfortune? They may kill the body, but they cannot
       God. Both labored independently for the same cause of             kill the soul." These were his last words. When two of the
       evangelical truth, the one on a smaller, the other on a           enemy came upon him, and asked him to confess to a priest,
       much larger field. Luther owed nothing to Zwingli, and            or to call upon the dear saints for their intercessions, he
       Zwingli owed little or nothing to Luther. Both were good          shook his head twice, and kept his eyes still fixed on the
       scholars, great divines, popular preachers, heroic characters.    heavens above. Thereupon a captain of the opposing forces,
          "Zwingli broke easily and rapidly with the papal system,       against whom the Reformer had so often lifted his voice,
      but Luther only step, by step, and after a severe struggle         recognized him by the torch-light, and killed him with the
      of conscience. Zwingli was more radical than Luther, but           sword, exclaiming, "Die, obstinate heretic." His body was
       always within the limits of law and order, and without a          burned for heresy, his ashes were mingled with the .ashes
      taint of fanaticism; Luther was  more'conservative,  and yet       of swine, and scattered to the four winds of heaven. Such
      .the chief champion of freedom in Christ. Zwingli leaned           was the end of Zwingh's  life, the Swiss Reformer.
       to rationalism, Luther to mysticism; yet both bowed to the                                                                          H.V.
       supreme authority of the Scriptures. Zwingli had better
      manners and.more  self-control in controversy; Luther sur-                      When God from distant lands
     passed him in richness and congeniality of nature. Zwingli                       His exiled ones shall bring,              .
       was a republican, and aimed at a political and social, as                      His people shall exultant be,
      well  ,as an ecclesiastical reformation; Luther was a mon-                      And gladly they shall sing.




                                                                                                                           I




                                                                                                                                     *.
                                                                                                    i

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

II                                                                   Article X we confess that Jesus Christ is true and eternal
          The Voice of Our Fathers                              II God. In Article XI we confess that the Holy Spirit is true
                                                                     and eternal God. But in Article X it is made very clear that
                                                                     it is our Lord Jesus Christ according to His divine nature.
                   The Belgic Confession                             We must, therefore, distinguish between the only begotten
                    ARTICLE XI ( continued )                         Son as such, the eternal Son, the Second Person of the
                                                                     Trinity, and the Son incarnate, Who assumes the human
The  Ho&  Ghost as the Spirit  of  Christ                            nature and tabernacles with men in the human nature.--
                                                                     In a somewhat similar way we may distinguish between
      Before making a few observations as to the significance        the Holy Ghost and the Spirit of Christ. They are the
of the doctrine of the &ly Ghost, it is necessary to give            same Person. But just as the Second Person was revealed
our attention to one more key element of this doctrine,              in the  fuhress  of time as our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son
namely, that the Holy Ghost, as the Spirit of Christ, is             of God incarnate, so the Third Person was revealed on the
bestowed upon the church in the new dispensation to                  day of Pentecost as the Spirit of Christ. Just as the Second
dwell in and abide with the church forever. As we men-               Person was ordained from all eternity to be the Mediator
tioned in the beginning of our discussion of Article XI,             of our salvation, so the Holy Ghost is in God's eternal
this is not expressly taught in the article. But as we pointed       counsel promised to Christ, the Head of the Church, in
out then, so we emphasi-@  now: our Confession neverthe-             order that He may be the Spirit of holiness and sanctifica-
less mentions more than once the operations of the Holy              tion as He dwells in the church and may make us par-
Ghost as the Spirit of Christ. And we would not hesitate             takers of all the benefits of salvation that are in Christ.
to say that it is with a view to those operations of the
Spirit of Christ in the church and in the believers that our             We must, of course, be careful with the above com-
Confession already in Article XI teaches the real Godhead            parison, because it applies only up to a certain point. The
and distinct personality of the Holy Ghost.                          Second Person became incarnate, assumed the human
      And we must remember, too, that exactly in this truth,         nature. The Third Person does not assume another nature.
that the Holy Ghost was given to Christ at His exaltation            But He is given to Christ as the exalted head of His
and bestowed by Christ upon His church on the day of                 church, and as the Spirit of Christ takes up his abode in
Pentecost, is the key to all the practical, spiritual signifi-       the church and in the hearts of believers.
cance of the doctrine of the Holy Ghost. Without this                    This is the great benefit of Pentecost. A major change
fact the Holy Ghost remains a Holy Ghost far removed                 took place at that time, a change which must have been
from us, of no living significance for us; and the doctrine          very noticeable also to God's people who lived at the time
of the Holy Ghost becomes a matter of rather abstract                of the transition from the old to the new dispensation. Be-
?heology.  Hence, it is of the utmost importance that we             fore that time the Spirit of God indeed operated unto salva-
consider briefly this final link in the Scriptural tr&h con-         tion in the church. But He always operated in and through
cerning the.Spirit of God. Our Confession tacitly assumes            the law and the shadows of the old dispensation. Just as
this truth, our Catechism expressly mentions it, and our             there was no Word made flesh in the old dispensation,
Canons lay great stress upon the irresistible work of the            so there was no Spirit of Christ in the old dispensation.
Spirit in the application of the benefits of Christ to the elect.    Just as, however, there was a shadow-Christ in the old dis-
      It sometimes seems a bit difficult. to understand the dis-     pensation, so there was a shadow-Spirit in the old dispensa-
tinction that is made between the Holy Ghost as such, as             tion. Or, if you will, just as there was a promised Christ,
the Third Person of the Holy Trinity, and the Holy Ghost             a Christ-that-was-to-come, in the old dispensation, so there
as the Spirit of Christ.                                             was a Spirit-of-Christ-that-was-to-come in the old dispensa-
      Perhaps we can best begin by stressing the fact that           tion.
while we make such a distinction, we must take care not                  In this light we can understand the striking statement
to make separation, but to maintain the personal indentifica-. of John 7:39 (in its literal rendering): ", . . for the Holy
tion between the Holy Ghost and the Spirit of Christ. For            Ghost was not yet; because that Jesus was not yet glorified."
it is exactly herein that the beauty and the power of this           This can never refer to a non-existence of the Holy Ghost
truth lies. The Holy Ghost  B the Spirit of Christ; and              before Jesus' glorification. It cannot even mean that there
the Spirit of Christ .is the Holy Ghost, of one and the same         were no operations of the Holy Ghost unto salvation prior
essence, majesty, and glory with the Father, and the Son,            to Jesus' glorification; for this would be contrary to fact.
true and eternal God!                                                But it plainly refers to the Holy Ghost as the Spirit of the
      In the second place, while there is this personal identi-      exalted Christ, Who makes us partakers of all the salva-
fication, there is a distinction as to revelation and opera-         tion that is in Christ. He was not yet, could not possibly
tion. We can point this out by means, of a comparison be-            be yet, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
tween the Second and Third Persons of the Trinity. In                   And the several passages which we have quoted  es-


                                          T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                 41

pecially from John 14 to 16 also become clear if we keep           washing away of our sins and the daily renewing of our
the above in mind. Take, for example, the well-known               lives, till we shall *finally be presented without spot or
words of John  15:26: "But when the Comforter is come,             wrinkle among the assembly of the elect in life ~eternal."
whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the                (Baptism Form) Even as He is in Himself the`:tioly  Spirit,
Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall        so His work in the believers is always a sanctifying work.
testify of me." Here: 1) It is Christ speaking, promising          He never dwells in them and operates unto salvation in
to send the Comforter, the Spirit of truth, from the Father.       them, except in the way of holiness, i.e., consecration to the
2) It is evident, therefore, that Christ Himself shall  first      living God and separation from sin. Hence, the calling of
receive this Spirit. And He, the Mediator, having Himself          the church and of the individual believer, in the conscious-
received this Spirit at His exaltation, shall send Him unto        ness of this indwelling of the Holy Spirit, is ever a calling to
His disciples, His church. 3) He shall come as the Spirit          holiness. "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not in-
of truth. Now if we remember that Christ Himself, ac-              herit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither forni-
cording to Scripture, is the way  the truth,  and the life,        cators, nor idolaters, not adulterers, nor effeminate, nor
it is perfectly evident that Christ is saying in effect that       abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor cov-
this Spirit is the Spirit of Christ. Moreover, if we remember      etous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall in-
that  the tmth stands over against not only the lie, but also      herit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but
over against the shadows, as  the reality of God, the God of       ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in
our salvation, we can understand still more what Christ is         the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. . .
saying here. "For the law was given by Moses, but grace            What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the
and truth came by Jesus Christ." John 1:17. Hence, only            Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye
when the Word made flesh, full of grace and truth, is              are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: there-
fully revealed through the process of His death and exal-          fore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are
tation as being `full of grace and truth." - only then, when       God's." I Cor.  6:9-l& 19, 20.
all the reality of salvation, has been accomplished, can the          In the third place, this doctrine of the Holy Ghost as
Spirit of reality, the Spirit of truth, the Spirit of Christ,      `true and eternal God" is the deathblow to all Arminian
come.                                                              free-willism, whether on the part of the preacher or the
The Significance  of  This Doctrine                                hearer. Arminianism always makes salvation dependent on
    From all that we have discussed in connection with this        the sinner's acceptance of Christ. Asccording to-the Armin-
article of our Confession, certain observations concerning         ian's pseudo-gospel, if the sinner will only believe and ac-
the significance of our faith in the Holy Ghost ought to be        cept Christ, then the Spirit will come into his heart and
clear.                                                             give him the re-birth. But the Holy Spirit is God! And as
    In the first place, there is the centrally significant fact    God He is absolutely sovereign and free in His operations.
that through the Spirit, and that too, as the Spirit of Christ,    Moreover, His entrance into the heart of the elect sinner,
our covenant fellowship with God is become a reality. It           as well as all His saving operations, are efficacious  .and ir-
is in the Holy Spirit that the cycle of the covenant life of       resistible. Even as the Word, Christ, is the  zontents of
God Himself is eternally and infinitely perfect and com-           God's revelation as the God of our salvation, so the Spirit
plete. Of the Father, through the Son, and in the Holy             is the living energy and dynamic of that revelation. Through
Spirit, the three Persons of the Trinity live their eternal        the Spirit of Christ the Word becomes a savor of life unto
life of divine friendship in infinite perfection. And thus         life, or a savor of death unto death. No preacher c'an ever
God is a covenant God in Himself. It is through the Son,           through the power of logic or moral suasion cause his word
our Lord Jesus Christ, that our covenant God adopts  us            to be unto salvation or unto damnation. All a preacher
as His sons and daughters, and reveals Himself as "a Father        can do is proclaim. the Word (and let him be very certain
unto you." And when the Holy Spirit, as the Spirit of              that he proclaims the whole counsel of God!  ); but it is
Christ, is sent into our hearts and makes His abode with           Christ Himself through His Spirit Who makes His Word
us, we also have  ectual  covenant-fellowship with God.            powerful unto the salvation of the elect and the damnation
God Himself takes up His abode with us in the Spirit.              of the reprobate. True faith will acknowledge this too, and
Our  sonship in Christ becomes a reality. And having the           confess that salvation, from beginning to end, is of the Lord!
Spirit of His Son in our hearts, we know our  sonship by              Finally, let us not forget that the theological implica-
experience, know and acknowledge the God of our salvation          tions of the Second and Third Points of 1924 are such that
as our Father, and respond with the cry, "`Abba, Father."          they not only teach a resistible operation of the Holy Spirit,
   In the second place, the indwelling of the Spirit in our        but also impugn His holiness. For the implications of these
hearts is always emphatically the indwelling of the Holy           points are that the "good work" of the natural man is the
Spirit. Hence, He sanctifies us to be members of Christ,           good work of the Holy Spirit without its being the work of
"applying unto us that which we have in Christ, namely, the                            (Continued on page  48)

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

                                                                   bearer should rule over another office-bearer. Biblical
      D E C E N C Y   anti O R D E R   11 equality was to be maintained. Every tendency to hierarch-
                                                                   ism was to be avoided."

                                                                         Clearly, too, the eighty-fourth article of the Church
           Hierarchy or Independent&m?                             Order is intended to maintain the principle of the autono-
                                                                   my of the local church. This is the positive significance of
 Clearly the eighty-fourth article of the Church Order is          the article. And it is just this principle that makes Article
designed to counter the many and serious evils of the              84 inseparably related to many other articles of the Church
hierarchical or collegialistic forms of church government.         Order; and, in fact, the idea of the article is interwoven
According to this system, a federation of churches is not          throughout the entire Church Order. This principle affects
considered to be a union of several self-governing churches;       all the rulings of the Church Order that concern ministers,
but each church is regarded as a sub-division of a big super-      elders, deacons, consistories, classes, synods as well as the
church that is ruled from the top down. At the `Wp is the          inter-relation of the office bearers and the ecclesiastical
Pope whose word is law. At the bottom is the lb&l chui5h           assemblies to each other.
which is coerced into submission to the iill of the Pope.
Between the Pope and the individual church is a series of                The principle of the autonomy of the church means, in
office bearers of different rank and position, each one            the words of the late Rev. G. Ophoff,  that "every church in
being subject to, the authority of the rank immediately            every place is a complete manifestation of the body of
above him. In our Reformed system this means that the              Christ, and thus a complete and autonomous spiritual en-
Classis  and Synod are regarded as higher judiciaries than         tity." Each particular church is an individual and com-
the consistories. .These  higher bodies then have the right        plete manifestation of the body of Christ. The essence of
to intervene in the affairs of the individual churches and         the church of Christ is found in every congregation. Each
the authority of the consistories is abnegated. One church         church is a communion of saints with properly instituted
lords it over other churches, one office bearer over other         offices and with the Divinely given means of grace for the
office bearers.                                                    etication of the saints and the perfecting of the body of
      Against the evils of this system the fathers of the          Christ. Consequently all churches are essentially on a par.
Reformation stood strongly opposed. This was especially            One is not above another. One may not lord it over an-
true in the Netherlands. They had seen the corruptions             other or look down upon the other as is sometimes the case
that had ensued from this system and they were deter-              because one church is numerically larger or materially
mined to safeguard the churches of the Reformation against         more prosperous. Such conditions may not be tolerated.
a repetition of these things. Monsma and Van Dellen in-            Such practices are sinful and in conflict with the prin-
form us that, "the churches of 1571 formulated Article 84          ciples of the Reformed Churches. The same holds true for
because they desired to take a definite stand against Rome         all office bearers. All churches and all office bearers are
with its hierarchical system. Just because one church was          co-ordinate as to their authority and all churches and office
permitted to rule over another, and one office-bearer was          bearers are equally subordinate under Christ alone. An
permitted to rule over another office-bearer, the hierarch-        elder in a small church is just as much an elder as one in
ical system of Rome had become possible. Thus corruption           a big church. A deacon in a large church where thousands
had received a mighty, tyrannic weapon. Because the early          of dollars are received and disbursed is no more a deacon
Christian Churches had yielded their God-given authority           than one in a small church who counts pennies. .The rights
and individuality and had been transformed into local sub-         of each office bearer and of each church may not be in-
ordinate sub-divisions of a great super-church, general cor-       fringed upon by others, but each church and office bearer
ruption and domination had become possible. The Ref-               in the church must exercise those rights freely in obedience
ormation Churches desired no duplication of this error.            to Christ; and she must guard this her autonomy at all
Neither did they favor the appointment of Superintendents.         costs.
Certain English and German Churches (Episcopalian and                    However, a warning must be issued in this connection.
Lutheran) had appointed Superintendents. The Reformed
Churches of these countries were urged by their govern-                  Autonomy is not synonymous with independentism!
ments to accept some system of superintendency. And these                If the only principle on which Reformed Church gov-
Reformed Churches in England and Germany had yielded               ernment is based were that of autonomy, the eighty-fourth
to some extent. The Reformed Churches in Holland dis-              article of the Church Order could be properly construed to
approved of this. They desired that every church should            mean that in the framework of Reformed Churches each
retain its individuality and that no church should be ele-         church is an independent entity. But this is not the case.
vated as to authority above the other churches. And so also        Then the Church Order would not speak of other ecclesi-
the Reformed Churches in Holland insisted that no office-          astical assemblies than that of the consistory. But it does.


                                         T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                     43
                                                                                                                  .__        ._
It also speaks of the Classis  and the Synod; and Article 84     not finish- by themselves, and matters which concern the
must be understood, not simply as an article by itself, but      particular churches in common."
in connection with the entire Church Order. If this is              We note here tha; this .is quite. d&ferent than a. union
remembered, we will see that it stands as much opposed to        of churches in which the individual churches are dissolved
the independentistic system as it does to the hierarchical       into one super-church. Also that such a voluntary union is
system.                                                          very real and does not leave the individual churches
   Dr. F. L. Rutgers tells us that "although Article 84 gives    maintaining an independent existence. Then again:
expression to one of the fundamental principles of Reformed        "It should be well understood that each local church affil-
Church government, it is not the only church governmental        iating itself with the confederacy or denomination by that
principle which governs our denominational cooperation.          very act agrees to acknowledge the authority of the united
In and by itself Article  54 might be used to plead the          churches as functioning through classes or synods. So far
cause of Independentism. But Article 84 may not be iso-          the particular churches have subordinated their own in-
lated from other articles of our Church Order regarding          herent authority to the authority of all the churches fun-
our major assemblies, discipline, etc. Such an erroneous         tioning through major assemblies, The particular churches
isolation of Article 84 might easily lead one to conclude        have agreed beforehand to submit themselves to the opinion
that in the Reformed system Classes and Synod can only           of the majority, except when they are convinced before
advise and that these bodies cannot take authoritative deci-     God that the conclusion of the majority is contrary to the
sions. Nothing could, however, be further from the truth         Scriptures, or contrary to the rules of government agreed
(Cf. Art. 36)."                                                  upon (Church Order). Except for this voluntary, self-im-
                                                                 posed limitation, denominational unity and cooperation
   With this Rev. Ophoff agreed when he wrote: "The              does not infringe upon the freedom and individuality of
above cited principle (that of autonomy) is fundamental          the local churches, And only inasfar as the Church Order
with the Reformed. But, to be sure, it is not the only prin-     agreed upon limits the local churches in the exercise of
ciple in which their church government is rooted. Such a         their native rights are the local churches limited in this
view would needs lead to Independentism. For in this latter      respect. Their individuality in no wise and in no sense of
system the major assemblies, Classes and Synod, make no          the word is cancelled."
decisions binding upon the local churches, if they cannot
be proved to be in conflict with the Word of God. Thus              Anyone can see  that it is not easy to comprehend speci-
Article 84 may not be treated as though it stood by itself;      fically the proper relationship of churches within the frame-
it must be explained only in connection with all the other       work of Reformed Church government. On the one hand,
basic articles contained in the Church Order. If Article 84      we must guard against the centralization of judicial power
were the only principle, the Church Order would contain          in the br.oader ecclesiastical assemblies by which the auton-
no chapter on ecclesiastical assemblies; but it would make       omy of the individual church is lost. But on the other hand,
mention of but one ecclesiastical assembly, and that one         we must be careful that we do not strip the assemblies of
the consistory. For in the system of the Independentists,        the church of all authority and so be left with nothing but
the church assembles in conferences, but not in Classes          a number of independent churches that are really not at all
and Synod. The major assemblies of the Independentists           authoritatively bound together. Rather we must remember
are not Classes, they are not Synods, but conferences in-        that the federative union of churches in a denomination is
deed. Thus, in this system each church stands by itself.         a voluntary thing in which the autonomous churches agree
But according to the Reformed principle, the local churches      to mutually recognize and respect each other's autonomy
may not live alone. They are in duty bound to organize           and the decisions which are mutually reached in the prop-
themselves on the basis of right principle into Classes and      erly constituted assemblies. In this way no church lords it
Synod and to allow themselves to be bound by the deci-           over other churches.
sions of these major assemblies, if they are satisfied that
they do not militate against the Word of God. The local             Likewise, within each consistory the office bearers are
churches are in duty bound to seek with all true churches        to mutually respect one another in their individual offices.
precisely this type of fellowship and cooperation."              *Though the offices of minister of the Word, elders and
                                                                 deacons certainly differ in character, one is not superior
   This is also the view, of the Church Order Commentary,        to the other. Consequently the minister may not lord it
quoting the  Katie  Ver7i7a&g  of  ]ansen:  "The particular      over the elders; the elders may not lord it over the deacons,
churches have voluntarily confederated themselves in order       etc. Each must tend to the duties of his respective office
that they might work together in Classes and Synods. For         with mutual respect for each other, and  submitting~ all
which purpose? To assist each other and to cooperate regard-     things to the rule of Christ, the King and Head of the
ing two things:. Matters which the particular churches can-      church.                                                  G.v.d..B.

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

                                                                     -The same minister also objects strenuously to the
[[ALL  A R O U N D   US/l "hesitating, pausing-between-steps wedding march (of the
                                                                  bride) - as though .the girl is reluctant to meet her man."
                                                                  He prefers instead a "low, dignified, unhesitating march
LOS ANGELES CRUSADE                                               toward the expectant bridegroom."
      It was the biggest crusade ever held in this country;          Although the latter point is of little  significance,  the
after three weeks it is all over. To those of the "Billy          former objection to this popular and often-used wedding
Graham team" who worked for it, the crusade was a rousing         march is certainly valid. Why employ music of the world
success. It drew no less than 930,340 people. It succeeded        in a spiritual ceremony in the Church in which the people
in persuading at least  40,000 to make decisions for Christ.      of God are called to witness a picture of the relation be-
The first week of the crusade telecast five of its meetings       tween Christ and His Church? It is wholly out of place and
over two hundred stations in this country; each night's           ought to be abandoned also by us. Much more appropriate
telecast cost $125,000. No other crusade in this country,         music can surely be found.
and only one crusade in a foreign country, drew more              ROMAN CATHOLIC DECLINE
people and recorded more conversions. A five thousand                Some Roman authorities are becoming alarmed by the
voice choir supplied the music each night.                        fact that the Roman Catholic Church is losing ground in
      I heard and saw one  of'the meetings over television. It    this country. One authority from that church speaks of the
was awful. Billy preached on the signs of the return of           fact that "there are cold figures that point to disaster unless
Christ. He failed to mention the signs that did not fit into      the present trend is reversed." These figures show that the
his scheme of things - apostasy from the faith, wars and          number of converts to Catholicism fell from 151,000 in 1955
rumors of wars, increase in iniquity, etc.; he lightly skipped    to 146,000 in 1958 and to 125,000 in 1962. Living adults
over other signs making no attempt to explain them at all         who drop out of the rolls of the Church each year for one
- signs such as Antichrist, persecution of the Church, etc.;      reason or another almost equal the number of converts.
he revealed himself as a thorough-going premillennialist             But throughout the world, Roman Catholicism is grow-
who spoke of the rapture and of a future state of bliss for       ing. It now numbers almost one-fourth of the world's pop-
Israel that had already begun in Canaan; he told a few            ulation. And the Church should not have too much reason
jokes and made a plea for decisions for Christ before it is       for alarm: if they are willing to wait but a few more years,
all too late.                                                     many, if not most, Protestants will be back with them
      From a purely formal point of view, it is a mystery to      again.
this writer how in the world he can persuade so many
people to crowd the center of the amphitheater when the           A BIBLE FOR ALL
time for decisions comes. Surely he does not tell enough             While the cries for a union between Protestants and
                                                                  Catholics grow louder, there are some men that are making
about `the gospel even to give people an idea of what it
is about. And the message is so brief (fifteen minutes or so)     preparations for that day. There are many leaders in both
that no one canbe converted in such a short time.                 Romish and Protestant churches that are working towards
      But it is all also terrible blasphemy, for the glorious     a translation of the Bible that will be accepted by all. The
name of Christ is mocked by the lie. If this crusade with         King James Version of the Bible is still most popular among
its decisions is any kind of a barometer of the religious         Protestants  - although many recent (and very poor)  trans-
state of affairs in this country, it is far worse than we         lations have come into use. The Catholics are bound to use
imagine. And yet Reformed people support this sort of a           the Douay Version which is an English translation of the
thing. They should know that they support the most                Latin Vulgate written by St. Jerome way back in the 4th
dangerous form of false religion, that has nothing to do at       Century.
all with the truth of the gospel.                                    There are two possible plans being suggested. One is a
                                                                  plan to take the present New English Bible or the Revised
WEDDING MARCHES                                                   Standard Version and revise it or alter certain texts so that
      A minister in the United Church of Canada is rejoicing      an agreeable translation will result. The other plan is to
that the Church of which he is a member has abandoned             make an entire new translation acceptable to both branches
the old and traditional wedding march of Lohengrin. He            of the Church.
claims (and correctly) that this is a pure example of secular        Although leaders in the church conceive of the possibil-
music that has nothing to do with the songs of the                ity of getting a translation agreeable to all, they will still
Church and fits more properly in Hollywood. He is in              have to face differences of interpretation. Their plan is to
favor of using some familiar hymn which the Church itself         include these in footnotes. For example, the Catholics are
sings or which is written as Church music. This, in his           already insisting that some explanation be given of Luke
opinion would be much more fitting for church weddings.
                             -                                    2:7: `And she brought forth her first-born, son, . . ." They
                 i^

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

are troubled by the possibility that the impression may be        ANOTHER EDITION OF THE BIBLE
left by such a translation that Mary had other children be-           The American Bible Society is concerned that there are
sides Jesus, which is repugnant to them.                          too many people who never read Scripture. They are of the
    But other problems remain.                                    opinion that this is because Scripture is not very attractive
    For one thing, Roman Catholic canon law insists that          to most people. So they have taken the Phillips translation
all difficult passages be explained in footnotes. Protestants     of the Gospel of John, set it up in modern format, published
dislike this idea because it will put Romish doctrine in the      it in paperback, and illustrated it with all kinds of photo-
Bible and it will take from the people their individual right     graphs taken from modern city life. There is a picture of
to interpret Scripture. For another thing, Roman Catholics        a blind man poking along with his cane in a crowd, a
maintain the canonicity of the apocryphal books  -  Tobias,       wedding party coming out of the church door, a group of
Judith, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus,  Baruch,  and First and Sec-      shadowy figures of a teen-age gang slipping along a dark-
ond Maccabees. Protestants have never gone along with             ened alley.
this.                                                                 Unholy, abusive, mocking, lacking in the fear of God,
    No doubt the project will be successful and this Bible        blasphemous - this is the church of today,
will serve to hasten the inevitable union between the two
branches of the church world.                                     NEW BUS LAW
    Yet, it is well to remember that the church .of today is
in no spiritual condition to translate- Scripture. There is          Last summer, Governor George Romney, from the-state
too much heresy, too much doctrinal indifference, too much        of Michigan, signed a new law which broadens the program
worldliness and hatred of things holy. It takes a strong          of tax-paid school bus transportation for parochial and
Church deeply committed to the truth with a strong spirit-        private schools in that state.
ual life to translate the infallible Word of God. A transla-          The old law, made in 1955, did not require public
tion is much like a confession. A weak church cannot write        schools to do this, leaving it up to the individual school
a confession.                                                     districts whether they wanted to offer this help or not. Be-
                                                                  sides, the old law required that a child had to live at least
                                                                  one and one-half miles from the school to be eligible. The
    In spite of the many new translations that have ap-           new law requires all public school districts who operate
peared in recent years, the King James Version is still the       buses to transport private school children as well as public
best seller. Although the New English Bible has sold no           school pupils. There is one other stipulation: if a private -
less than  2,OOO,OOO copies in the United States alone since      school pupil lives within one and one-half miles of the
its publication, the King James Version still outsells all        public school in his district, he can insist only that he be
other versions combined by a margin of four to one.               carried by public bus transportation from the public school
    It would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to        to his own private school; and he will be required to pro-
produce a translation equal in beauty and dignity to this         vide his own transportation from his home to the public
beloved translation of the Church.                                school.
                                                                     The old law was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme
GETTING READY `FOR UNITY                                          Court last year.                                          i
    A Methodist Church in Memphis, Tennessee, is very
concerned lest it be left behind in all the mergers and           VATICAN  COUNCK (Con't)
unions going on today. In its new church building, recently          The Vatican Council, called together by the late Pope
dedicated, it has made provision for any eventuality. An          John and recessed shortly before his death, is beginning its
altar stands at the front which can easily be converted into      new session. Many of the same questions are coming up:
a communion' table. And this altar is removable so that           greater participation of the laity in the affairs of the Church;
it can be put aside for baptsim. When it is removed, room         the Church's position over against ecumenical movements;
is made for steps that lead down into a tank (usually called      the authority of Scripture vs. tradition; marriage rules; etc.
a baptistry) where baptism by immersion can take place.           At the last session reports on these questions- were sub-
And if there are others present who object to immersion,          mitted which were too conservative for the liberal members
there is, off to the side, a font that can be used for sprink-    of the Romish Church.
ling.                                                                Ah-eady leaders in the Church are predicting another
    Here is one Church that is well-prepared. No matter           session of this same council in 1964.
what unions may take place and no matter what doctrinal              It is well that we, who are called to `redeem the time,"
positions this church may be forced to accept, they are           keep our eyes on these important events. They point to the
already adapted to it. How foolish this all is. But the name      return of our Savior.
of Christ is ignored.                                                                                               , H.  Hank0

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

                                                                      for individual copies of our publication. Sixty-four bound
                                                                      copies of Volume 38 have been sent out. These bound
                                                                      volumes offer access to a unique commentary founded on
I'                                                              JI    the Reformed Faith.
       Secretary's Annual Report to the R.F.P.A.*                          At the present time, the total number of the Standard
       Members and Friends of the Reformed Free Publishing            Bearer  printed for each issue stands at 1,074, compared to
Association,                                                          1,083 a year ago. Of this total, 874 are being mailed out
                                                                      as paid subscriptions and complimentary copies, 60 going to
Dear Brethren,                                                        our missionary, the Rev. G. Lubbers, 110 are for bound
       The Board of the R.F.P.A. has been active during the           volumes and stock, and 50 are reserved for mailing margin.
past year performing the duties given us. We are thank-                     A word of commendation is due our Business Manager,
ful to our God that we can report that we have completed              Mr. James Dykstra, who has very capably handled the
one more year of the publishing of the  Standard Bearer,              business affairs of our publication. The effort put forth
a faithful witness to the truth as given to us through the            in this department results in an efficient operation, which
Word of God.                                                          is important in this responsible phase of the publication.
       The Board held eleven regular meetings and one special               As we go on in the future, we express ourselves in
meeting during the past year. These meetings were har-                gratitude for this privilege of taking part in this worthy
monious and the duties were faithfully performed. Our                 cause of faithfully revealing and witnessing the Truth of
activities were channeled through the three standing com-             the Scriptures. It is our prayer that the editors of the
mittees: the Information and Education, the Finance, and              Standard Bearer  may receive abundant grace that this
the Book Committees.                                                  paper may continue to serve to the upbuilding of the
       The efforts of the I and E Committee are devoted main-         Church.
ly to the printing of pamphlets which have first appeared                                                                              Respectfully submitted,  '
as articles in the  Standard  BeaTer and then are given to                                                                                                   The Board of the R.F.P.A.
the pamphlet committees of our churches, who in turn                                                                                                         R. Bos, Secretary
distribute them at their discretion. The pamphlet that
was sent out this year was taken from the speech given at             *Delivered at the annual meeting on September 26, 1963.
the last League Meeting of Protestant Reformed Men's
Societies by Prof. H. C. Hoeksema, the title of which was
"The Atonement of Christ According to Dordrecht." Seven-                                Standard Bearer Financial Report
ty-five hundred copies of this pamphlet were printed  -               Balance on hand, August 31, 1 9 6 2   ~.___............____.............  $ 1,626.80
fifteen hundred more than the last one-of which jive                  Receipts
hundred were sent to Christian Reformed Ministers and                    Subscriptions                      . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .._................................ $3,613.17
                                                                         Memberships                         . .  .__ __  _..  .._  __I_..  .._ ___                                           132.00
Professors by the Southeast Church Action Committee.                    Gifts ..~. .                                                               .__.                            __. 3,420.34
This was done at the request of the Men's League. The                   Advertisements .                                                                                             ._       136.00
                                                                        Bound volumes . . . . . . .  ._.  __.                                                                                 279.00
I and E Committee is now studying ways and means to                                                                                                                                   - - - - -
increase the number of subscribers and to promote the                                                                                                                                      $7,580.51
Standurd  Bearer.  The committee has started working on                 Annual receipts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,580.51
this by inserting in the next issue (the October 1 issue)               Total receipts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  $9,207.31
an addressed card with spaces for names to whom the                   Disbursements
sub scriber would like us to send a free copy of the                    Wobbema Printing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  $7,545.45
Standard  Bearer. This is to acquaint non-readers with our              Miscellaneous                        . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  .__ ___                                             111.22
                                                                        Holland Bookbinding . . . .  .._  ..t...... . .                                                                       199.50
publication and to stimulate interest.                                  Mr. Dykstra, Gift . . .                                                      .__         __.....          .___        300.00
       The Finance Committee, aware of diminish@ funds,                 Yakes Office Supply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .._ ___ .                                          90.00
                                                                                                                                                                                      - - - - -
made a survey of our financial means; and finding a definite                                                                                                                               $8,246.17
downward trend in receiving of gifts in the past three                  Total Disbursements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  .$8,246.17
years, recommended that the Board inform our people of                  BALANCE ON HAND, AUGUST 31, 1963 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 961.14
our need. A form letter was sent to our churches request-             Gifts
ing financial aid, and thus far we have had some response.               1st Prot. Ref. Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  $1,139.18
We would like to remind our people once more of our                     Hudsonville Prot. Ref. Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                             500.00
                                                                        Hope Prot. Ref. Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                 165.77
constant need. It is important that gifts continue to come              Hull Prot. Ref. Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .               85.10
in.                                                                      So. Holland Prot. Ref. Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                            218.76
                                                                        Southwest Prot. Ref. Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                        155.12
       The work of the Book Committee has mainly to do                   Oaklawn Prot. Ref. Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                           46.05
with the binding and sending out of the bound volumes                   Redlands Prot. Ref. Church . . . . . .                                                                                       ._.        .._          69.00
of the                                                                  Edgerton Prot. Ref. Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                            13.55
           Standard Bearer,  but also with the filling of requests       Holland Prot. Ref. Church- . . .                                                                                                     .___            80.05


                                                                                                           -_  T H E   STANDA-RD   $EARER                                                                                         47
I  `; Doon Prot. Ref. Church ....................... ...............................                                                             78.71            ports` that most of the ministers had submitted the two
       Randolph Prot. Ref. Church......................... . ......................                                                              53.40
       Kalamazoo Prot. Ref. Church ..............................................                                                                30.50            sermons requested. Classis  decided' once again to request
      `Southeast Prot. Ref. Church ................................................                                                              24.50            each of the ministers of,Classis West to prepare two more
       Loveland Prot. Ref. Church ................................................                                                                    10.53
       Pella Prot. Ref. Church ........................................................                                                                           reading sermons during the next six months. For the past
       Creston  Prot. Ref. Church ....................................................                                                           Kz               several years the ministers of Classis  West have written a
       Grand Haven Prot. Ref. Church ........................................                                                                   1yE:i.l           minimum of four reading sermons each year for use in the
       Individuals ............................................................................
       First Church Ladies' Aid                                                                                                                 l$~~              vacant churches in Classis  West (and in the East in several
       Holland Men's Society ............................................................................................................                         instances).
       Oaklawn  Men's Society ........................................................                                                           25:00
       Southwest Men's Society ....................................................                                                              25.00               The church visitors report that because of conflict in
       Isabel P. R. Church ...............................................................                                                       26.41            classical appointment schedules, vacation plans, etc., they
       Redlands Men's Society .................... ....................................                                                               15.00
       P. R. Men's League ......................................................... .....                                                        82.60            were unable to complete their work. Classis  granted them
       Hope Men's Society ............................................................                                                           35.00            the right to finish the visitations during the next six months.
       Redlands MaryMartha ........................................................                                                              25.00
                                                                                                                                                      - -   ^^
       Isabel Adult Bible Class ......................................................                                                           25.00              . The Classical Committee of Classis  West reported that
       Holland Ladies' Aid ............................................................                                                               17.36       Rev. H. Hanko had been appointed moderator of Redlands,
                                                                                                                                             $3,420.34            Rev. B. Woudenberg for Lynden, and that as soon as
    N O T E :                                                                                                                                                     Candidate Engelsma is ordained and installed in Loveland,
          In 1962, our disbursements were  $1,339.00 more than our re-                                                                                            he would replace Rev. H. Hanko as moderator for Redlands.
    ceipts; but due to a $500.00 increase in gifts in 1963 over against                                                                                           They asked approval of the changing of the date of this
    1962, our bank balance only dropped $665.00 in 1963. In other
    words, our disbursements in 1963 were only $665.00 more than                                                                                                  Classis  so that it would meet one week later than usual.
    our receipts. We must increase our income during 1964 by at least                                                                                             Classis  approved their actions.
    $700.00 or our next annual report will show a zero balance. We
    urge each of you to do what you oan to help us financially. And                                                                                                  The classical appointment committee presents a sched-
    we  uraentlv   rearrest  our various consistories to remember us reg-                                                                                         ule for appointments for the ministers of Classis  West and
   ularly  uwith   specjal  collections.
                                                                                                      D. KNOPER, Treasurer
    r----____..~~~~~ ~~                                                                                                                                           suggests that Classis  West request Classis  East to help us
                                                                                                                                                                  if possible according to the recommendations of the com-
                                                                                                                                                                  mittee. The following schedule was adopted (the appoint-
       NEWS  FR$JVLOUR~CHURCHES                                                                                                                                   ments of the ministers of Classis  East are subject, of course,
                                    "AR the  sai&s  salzcte thee  . .  .." P                                                                                      to the approval and/or revisions. of  Classis  Eastj:
                                                                                                                                        HIL:  4:21                   Redlands: Oct. 13, 20, 27 - J. Kortering;.Nov.  10, 17 -
                                                                                                                                                                  C. Hanko; Dec. 1, 8, 15 -D. Engelsma; Jan. 5, 12, 19 - B.
                                                              `",                                                           Oct. 5, 1963                          Woudenberg; Feb. 2, 9, 16 - G. Van Baren; Mar. 1, 8, 15 -
                                                                                                                                                                  J. A. Heys.                                               -_
          Rev. B. Woudenberg has received the  call from our con-
   gregation in Lynden, Wash.                                                                                                                                        Lynden: Oct. 20, 27, Nov. 3 - H. Hanko; Nov. 24, Dec.
                                                                                                                                                                  1 - C. Hanko; Dec. 22,29 LStudent R. Decker; Jan. 12, 19,
          Rev. J. Kortering, of Hull, Iowa, has received the call                                                                                                 26 - H. Veldman; Feb. 9, 16, 23 -D. Engelsma; Mar. 8, 15,
   from Redlands,  Calif.                                                                                                                                         22 - R. C. Harbach.
                Report of Classis West, September 25-26, 1963                                                                                                        Isabel-Forbes: Oct. 20, 27, Nov. 3 -B. Woudenberg;
                                                 at South Holland, Illinois                                                                                       Nov. 17, 24 - G. Van Baren; Dec. 8, 15 - G. Vanden Berg;
          The Rev. J. Kortering, chairman of the last meeting of                                                                                                  Jan. 5, 12, 19 -J. Kortering; Feb. 9, 16,  23.- H. Hanko;
    Classis,  led in opening devotions. The Rev. G. Van Baren                                                                                                     Mar. 8, 15, 22 - M. Schipper.
   then took his turn as chairman of this classical meeting.                                                                                                         Pella: (one Sunday in each of the. following months):              .
   Rev. J. Kortering transcribed the minutes and Rev, G.                                                                                                          Oct. - G. Vanden Berg; Nov., Dec., Jan. - J. A. Heys; Feb.,
   Vanden  Berg was vice-chairman.                                                                                                                                Mar. - G. Vanden Berg.
    . All the churches of  Classis  West were represented at                                                                                                         Southwest Church of Grand Rapids sends a request to
   the meeting, although three of them by only one delegate                                                                                                       Classis  West asking permission to place ministers of -the
    (Forbes, Redlands, and Lynden). The chairman greets the                                                                                                       West on trio though they have been called less than one
   delegates and reads the agendum.                                                                                                                               year before. The motion made to grant their request is
          Because of the funeral service for Mrs. H. Hoeksema                                                                                                     ruled out-of order on the ground that the church order only
   scheduled for this same Wednesday afternoon, the delegates                                                                                                     requires approval of the local  classis  for such a request
   ad examina from Classis  East had requested that the exami-                                                                                                    (Church Order, Art. 6, note 2). Southwest Church was
   nation of Candidate  D; Engelsma be postponed till Thurs-                                                                                                      requested to see to it that the Stated Clerk officially inform
    day morning.  Classis  decided to do  so.:Classis  approved the                                                                                               Classis  West of the action taken by  Classis  East on their
   proposed examination schedule presented by the Classical                                                                                                       request so that all of the consistories of Classis  West mi*.. . .
   Committee.                                                                                                                                                     be aware of the decision.
         ,The reading-sermon committee (Edgerton consistory) re-                                                                                                     A letter was read from Rev. H. Veldman who bid Classis


                                                 - ~--..-                             __~______  ~- __-
 48                                         TH.E  S T A N D A R D   BE-A.l$ER   ~.`-
                                                            -        -        -
 West a fond  farewell.  He left the  Classis  after residing             our Sovereign God who saves His people, not dependent
 under its jurisdiction for almost ten years.                             upon the will, or conditioned by an act of man. Soli Des
       The fact that the church on earth remains imperfect                Ghoria!t
became evident again when Classis  approved the requests                      . . . . See you in church. '                            -     J.M.F..
 of two-con%stories:  one to erase two baptized members, an-
 other to increase to the second step of censure. Classis  also
 dealt with a protest concerning the last item.                                              THE, VOICE OF OUR FATHERS
       Classis  decided that the chairman-of Classis  express to                                 (Continued  from  page  41)
                                                                          the natural man at all. The Spirit of God so influences the
 Rev. H. Hoeksema, who planned to be present during the                   corrupt nature of the unregenerate that the evil tree brings
 examination of the Candidate, our sympathy in the passing                forth good fruit. But mind you: the Holy Spirit does not
 of his wife. This was done on Thursday morning.                          renew the heart of the unregenerate! The heart of the nat-
       On Thursday morning the delegates ad examina of Clas-              ural man remains corrupt. It is filled with enmity against
 sis East were present (Revs. H. Hoeksema, G. Lanting, and                God. Yet the Holy Spirit so influences the nature of the
 C. Hanko). The examination of the Candidate  begati  when                natural man that with a heart full of hatred against God he
 he preached part of a sermon on Col. 3:1-3. After this ser-              performs that which is pleasing in the sight of God. How
' mon was approved by the sermon critics of Classis  West as              utterly contrary to the holiness of the Holy Spirit!
 well  as by the delegates ad examina of  Classis  East, the                  In the light of all this, the exhortation is not out of place
 Classis  proceeded witi the rest of the examination. For one             that we must hold fast to this docrine of the Holy Ghost  by
hour he was examined in dogmatics, 15 minutes in the
                                                                          a living faith. Let it not be a dead letter in our creed. Let
 kno:vIedge  of the confessions, 15 minutes in the knowledge              it not be an abstract theory. But let it be a living article
 of Scripture,  15 minutes in controversy, and  15 minutes in
                                                                          of our faith and 01 our confession!                               H.C.H.
 prtictica. With the concurring advice of the delegates of
 Classis  East, the Classis  voted unanimously by ballot to ap-
 prove of the examination and to instruct Loveland to pro-                                   Ladies'. League Meeting
 ceed with installation and ordination. After the Candidate
 returned, the chairman informed- him of  the decision of                     The Eastern Ladies' League will hoid its Fall Meeting
 Classis,  and wished him the richest blessings `of God in                on Thursday evening, October 24, at 8:00 P. M., at the
 his future ministry. After Classis  sang the doxology, Prof.             South East Protestant  Refoqed  Church. Our speaker will
 H. C. Hoeksema led in a prayer of thanksgiving to God.                   be the Rev. H. Veldman, who will speak on "A Sign of the
 The delegates of Classis  and tie visitors. were very much               Second Coming of Christ."
 jmgressed by the examination of the candidate. Our prayer                    We are sure all the ladies will enjoy hearing this timely
 could only be that our gracious' God would send and call                 speech, also the Christian fellowsing to meet with  on6 an-
 many more'such  men to our seminary, and the Lord willing,               other.
 into the ministry within our churches.                                                                   Heler,  Newhof, Vice Secretary
       Rev. G. Van Baren is~elected  as stated cleric of Classis
 m7est to fill the unexpired term of Rev. H. Veldman. Rev.                                   RES'OLUTION OF SYMPATHY
 H. Hanko is elected as assistant stated clerk in the place                  The Board of Trustees of the Protestant Reform&d Seminary ex-
 of Rev. G. Van Baren.                                                    tends to  the Rev. Herman Hoeksema and Prof. Homer C. Hoeksema,
       Classis  decides to -hold the March meeting of Classis  at         instructors in the Seminary, its sincerest sympathy in  the loss of
 Edgerton, Minn. After the qutistions  of Article 41 are asked            their dear one,
 and satisfactorily answered, the chairman speaks a few con-                                    MRS. HERMAN HOEKSEMA
 cluding words, and Rev. C. Hanko closes our sessions after                  May they  6nd consolation in  the  tmth that the Lord of glory
 Classis  decided to adjourn.                                             so governs  that in due  time  He takes all His dear ones to Himself
                          Rev. G. Van  Baren, Stated Clerk                and His own glory.
                                                                                                                  Rev. G. Vos, President
       This month marks the beginning of the 22nd year of                                                         Rev. M.  Schipper,  Secretary
 radio broadcasting by our churches. Oct. 12, 1941 we initi-
 ated our radio ministry under the original insignia, "The                             R E S O L U T I O N   O F   S Y M P A T H Y
 Protestant Reformed Hour," emanating from Station W.L.                      The Martha Ladies' Aid of Hull Protestant Reformed Church
 A.V. in Grand Rapids, and sponsored by the Young Men's                   express their sincere sympathy to Mrs. John Boer in the passing of
 Society of First Church. The speaker on the first broadcast her brother,
 was Rev.  H: Hpeksema and the sermon was entitled, "God                                          REV.  ARIE TE PASKE
 is God." .By the grace of our Covenant God we are still                     May the God of grace comfort  the,hearts  of the bereaved family.
 privileged to proclaim the glorious truth that God is indeed                                                 Rev.  J. Kortering, President
                                                                                                              Mrs. Ed Van Maanen, Secretary


