All Articles For Hoeksema, H.C.

In this article we shall continue our discussion of the scriptural-revelational meaning and implication of the terms: “holy place”, “the veil”, and “his flesh”. We will seek to understand what it implies to have “boldness” to enter into the Holy Place “through the veil, that is, His flesh”. Vs. 20. It has become evident in our former article, that the Holy Place is really the throne of God as it is the throne of mercy to all who approach it by a living faith by the way of the altar in the outer court. The symbolism of the temple (tabernacle)...

In our last article we called attention to the work of the gathering of the church. Just to establish the connection we remind you that we emphasized the following fundamental truths concerning this gathering of the church. In the first place, this act of gathering the Church is the great wonderwork of God in history, so that the church and its establishment is strictly a divine work, not merely a human organization or society or even a mere “religious movement”. In the second place, we emphasized that the church is the gathering of those who are called to be saints,...

We have begun to call attention to the practical import of the truth that the Son of God gathers His church by His Word and Spirit from the beginning to the end of the world out of the whole human race. And last time we mentioned specifically the practical significance of the truth that this gathering takes place in the line of continued generations. It still remains, therefore, to call attention to the importance for church membership in the fear of the Lord of the truth that the church is a gathering out of the whole human race, and that...

My title in this case is not my subject. I am not going to write about “an interlude”, but rather my article is an interlude in the series with which I was busy. I want to interrupt my series on “Church Membership” to write about the controversial discussion which is being carried on between our churches and the Liberated, and which has also been transferred into our own circles and is becoming an intra-church controversy. But I want to write about it from the viewpoint of “In His Fear”. The occasion of this writing is a matter of personal experience...

As we pointed out in our last article, it is our intention in these present articles to underscore the fact that the present controversy, as it has now rather centered about the Declaration of Principles, must be viewed and treated in the fear of the Lord. In that connection we called attention in the last issue to certain “pseudo-arguments” which are used and of which as people of God we must beware as we take a stand and maintain the position that we take. In the present article we will call attention to some dangerous attitudes which are assumed or...

With the present issue we turn, once again to the subject which last had our attention in the December 1 Standard Bearer. The reader may recall that in that article we concluded that “there can be no doubt about it that the church is actually and concretely manifest in gatherings of specific congregations at certain places and at stated times/’ Hence, we drew the conclusion that “the believer will not think lightly of his membership in the church in the world,” and that “he knows. . . . that it is therefore his obligation before God to belong to that...

Last time we told the sad, sad story of the oncer, depicting the historical and logical end of himself and of the church which is the victim of him and his kind. And we tried to bring the story closer home by emphasizing that the story whose end is so pathetic has its beginning in the sometimes apparently innocent and oft unheeded error of oncerism, which is a manifestation not absent in our own circles. This time let us investigate oncerism a little more closely, that we may know what it really is and what is the attitude behind it,...

We do well to remind ourselves once again of our purpose in this discussion. We are busy with the practical implications of our church membership, or with the activity of our membership. And it stands to reason, that when we discuss this matter we must needs call attention to various errors and weaknesses which creep into our lives as church members. It is thus that we find ourselves discussing the deviation which we have called oncerism. And it is necessary that we receive these remarks in the proper attitude first of all. That means that we do not read them...

In the March 15 issue of the Standard Bearer the Rev. Hofman, writing about the Declaration of Principles, makes the following statement: “But apart from this it may even be granted that the Declaration is Church-politically proper before our Churches. Technically, perhaps, it is true that no rule of our Church Order has been violated. But certainly the procedure is highly irregular.” And a little further he writes: “Therefore, even though it may be granted that the Declaration is Church-politically proper, it can hardly be said that the way it came was regular, but, on the contrary, quite irregular.” This...

Introduction In this article we begin our discussion of a new question under our main theme of “Church Membership in His Fear”. Thus far we have discussed the implications of church membership as such, emphasizing the calling of the believer with regard to the church to which he belongs. We have not mentioned directly the matter of to what church he belongs. We might, perhaps, have discussed this latter question first quite properly, although for various reasons we have left it until now. For underlying all our previous discussions has been the supposition that we did belong to some certain...