The Church in The Netherlands (2)

The ancient Church Order of Dordrecht of 1618 and 1619 was set aside and a general ordinance for the government of the Church was substituted. Permanent Boards were established. The members of Synod were appointed by the King. A Synod was convoked by the government. Christ was dethroned; the Word of God was rejected—and the Church ceased to be the Church of Christ —it became a society with a constitution imposed upon it from without. It has become evident to you what a dismal aspect the Church of God exhibited in the first part of the nineteenth century. Christ had been deposed as Head of the Church, truth was denounced, the landmarks, the “old landmarks,” had as it were been removed and the Church in its visible revelation resembled more a synagogue of Satan than the Church of Christ. The Word and Law of God were forsaken; human institutions had been introduced and recognized. Still, the eyes of God were open in behalf of His Church and He was again to show that He pleads the cause of His people.

Christ the great King of His Church has never been without subjects. Scarcely was the Church of God planted upon the earth when one of its members, of whom there were only a few, was destroyed. Cain murdered his brother Abel. Did God permit the Church to become extinct? O no! Seth was born who took the place of his brother Abel.

Pharaoh had determined to annihilate Israel. The great river Nile was to be the grave of God’s Church; but notice that God preserved His people, for in those perilous times Moses was born, who was to be used as an instrument in the hands of God to deliver the Church at the appointed time.

In the days of Elijah it was also dark upon the earth. This prophet, in a moment of discouragement, took upon him to estimate the number of members of which the church was still composed. To what conclusion did he come? He was the only one remaining and they, viz. wicked Jezebel and her accomplices, were seeking his soul. What a humiliating and at the same time what an encouraging answer God gave to him! “I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed to Baal.” How extremely dark it was when Christ was born! There was no prophet left. The offices in the sanctuary were occupied by the greatest enemies of the true Church of God. Pharisees, Sadducees and Essenes had the reins in their hands, and they oppressed the church. Were there no others then? None at all? O yes! There were still Joseph and Mary, Zacharias and Elizabeth; there were shepherds at Jerusalem and also Simeon and Anna who cried: “O that Thou wouldst rend the heavens, that Thou wouldst come down.”

This is also true of the dark medieval ages. There were here and there still some of the true people of God. The devil has never been able to remove the true Church from off the earth.

This is also true of the times of which we are now writing.

There were at that time men, though few in number, despised, not men of prominence, impotent in themselves, who were stirred up by God to put the trumpet to their mouths to call for a returning to the law and the testimonies.

In the beginning of the nineteenth century a religious revival took place in the different nations of Europe which was known as the “Reveille.” It began in England, after which it appeared in Scotland; thereafter it caused its influence to be felt in Switzerland, the land of Calvin. The necessity of the new birth and of faith were preached.

This movement also appeared in the Netherlands. Bilderdyk may be called the father of the Reveille in the old country. Da Costa, a Jew who had come to the acknowledgment of Christ, soon came to his support. Different persons of high rank joined him. Still, the Reveille was not an ecclesiastical movement, but considered in its purest aspect, a general Christian movement. People from several persuasions joined themselves to it, so that not much benefit was derived from it conducive to essential reformation for the Church as it existed at that time. This, however, was quite different in the years which immediately followed. Rev. H. De Cock of Ulrum had become inwardly persuaded of the truth by the Spirit of God. No wonder that this became apparent in his preaching. Life and death, law and gospel were expounded by him. From everywhere the people came in throngs to hear him. Very often his little church could not accommodate the crowds, so that repeatedly the services were conducted outdoors. The people journeyed for hours to hear the doctrines of salvation.

Not only in Ulrum, but also in other places where preachers who were sound appeared, the people pressed in crowds to hear the truth. The greater part of the erroneous preachers were speaking to seats and benches but it was different with the ministers who were sound in doctrine. The crowds were impulsive and the people clamored to get into the churches. Ladders and improvised scaffolds were placed against the outside of the buildings so that the people might catch the words of the speakers through the shattered windows. Sometimes preaching services were conducted in the cemeteries. Later on, when the churches had been ordered closed by the government for the so-called seceders, the people assembled in barns, attics and cellars.

In those days the truth was precious, on week days as well as on Sundays. Those were days in which much enmity was apparent on the one hand, but much love for the truth on the other hand. The times in which we now live are so much different.

The world concerns itself very little with the Church. We have on one side the stream of those who do not bother themselves with God and His laws and on the other, a church which in general is satisfied with a dead confession and which complacently depends upon it for eternity. O that the Lord would give a true concern in the hearts of the young and the old, the small and the great. We are all journeying to a great and all-decisive eternity. What panting there is for the things of this world and the vanities of life!

Men and women! Do appreciate the truth. You and your children should take advantage of every opportunity offered you, as well the midweek services as those on the Lord’s day. Boys and girls, please do not leave your places vacant. The world allures and sin entices. The truth is valued by many at a low rate. May the Lord be pleased still to work mightily and irresistibly. The automobiles would then be kept at home much more and the roaming about here and there would cease. Then a hunger would come not for bread, and a thirst, not for water, but for the words of the living God.

My dear friends! my soul is longing for the time that God may work in your hearts, and that you may take up a place in the back of the temple, as the publican in Luke 18 who smote upon his breast and cried, “O God be merciful to me a sinner.” Then, yes, then you would actually experience that Christ has come to save sinners.

Rev. W.C. Lamain (1904–1984) pastored the Netherlands Reformed Congregation of Leiden (1929–1932), Rotterdam-South (1932–1943), Rijssen-Wal (1943–1947), and Grand Rapids, Michigan (1947–1984).

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