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

                                      The Standard Bearer ic, L (`1,                                                                                                                           E D I T O R I A L S
                 Semi-Monthly, except Monthly  in July and  &gust.,                                                                                                        I')
                                                         P u b l i s h e d   B y                                                                          *I, i,
                            The  &formed Free Publishing Association
                                                      1463 Azdmore St., S. E.                                                                                                                       Clear Language
                                          `EDITOR: - Rev. H. Hoeksema.
     Contributing Editors: - Rev. G. M. Ophoff, Rev. G. Vos, Rev.                                                                                                                      From one  of the ministers in the Old  `Country   I
     R. Veldman, Rev. H. Veldman, Rev. H. De Wolf, Rev. B. Kok,                                                                                                                     received a letter, which was `not meant for publication,
     Rev. J. D. De Jong, Rev. A. Petter, Rev. C. Hanko, Rev. L.                                                                                                                     but which, because of its importance, I will publish in
     Vermeer,  Rev. G. Lubbers, Rev. M. Gritters, Rev. J. A. Heys,                                                                                                                  part, at least, nevertheless., `There is nothing personal
     Rev. W.  Bofman.                                                                                                                                                               in the letter ; its contents concern all our churches and
          Communications relative to contents should be addressed to                                                                                                                are very important, and its language is very clear.
     REV. GERRIT VOS,  Hudsonville,  Michigan.
          Communications relative to subscription should be. addressed                                                                                                                 Here follows a partial translation of the letter,
     to MR. GERRIT PIPE, 1463 A&more  St., S. E., Grand Rapids,                                                                                                                     which originally, of course, was written in Dutch.
     Mich.  Announcements and, Obituaries must be mailed to the                                                                                                                        ,"Esteemed  colleague :
     above address and will be published at a fee of $1.00 for each                                                                                                                    "`Through various circumstances, as is well known
     notice.                                                                                                                                                                        to you, we  ,gradually  came more into contact with the
                                       (Subscription Price $2.50 per  year1                                                                                                         Protestant Reformed, Churches of America.
     Entered as Second  Class  Mail at  Grand  Rapids, Michigan.                                                                                                                       "Formerly we also knew, indeed, of their existence;
.                                                                                                                                                                                   but we were not so `well informed about them as we `are
                                                                                                                                                                                    now."The reason for this was, among others, that they
                                                                                                                                                                                    were hardly mentioned in our church papers nor in the
                                                            C O N T E N T S                                                                                                         papers we received from America.
     MEDITATION-                                                                                                                                                                       `We only knew that Rev.  8. `Hoeksema denied
               ,Het Gebed Eens Boetvaardigen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1                                              common grace, and that was about all ; and if you
                        Rev. G. Vos                                                                                                                                                 talked  occasionahy  with one who could know more
                                                                                                                                                                                    about it, then it was alleged that Rev. Hoeksema was
     EDITORIALS-                                                                                                                                                                    something like `intractable', in spite of the great  `long-
                Clear Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . n . .._......................4                         suffering of Synod'. Thus  I. heard even recently from
                       Rev. H. Hoeksema
                Currection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  ..-..............G    someone who attend:  i the procedure.
                        Rev. G. Vos                                                                                                                                                    "Through Prof. Schilder closer attention was called
                                                                                                                                                                                    to your churches. Already after his first visit  to.
     THE TRIPLE  KNOWLEDGE-                                                                                                                                                         America, he wrote about them.
                An Exposition of the Heidelberg Catechism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
                        Rev. H. Hoeksema                                                                                                                                               "As far as  I am concerned, I always was interested
                                                                                                                                                                                    in the American churches; and I still am. Family
     OUR  DOCTRINE-                                                                                                                                                                 relations have even increased this: my wife spent 8
                God's Covenant and The Promire * . . . . ..*......................... . . . . . . . 10                                                                              years in America  (1916-1924))  and., three brothers of
                        R e v .   H.-Veldman                                                                                                                                        hers are still living there. From them I regularly
     THE DAY OF SHADOWS-                                                                                                                                                            receive De Wachter.
           ,  The Transaction At  Endor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..13                                   "Through the fact that Prof. Schilder ,visited you
                        Rev. G. M. Opboff                                                                                                                                           last year, and that your churches were willing to re-
                                                                                                                                                                                    ceive him, the latter have come into closer contact with
     STO.N'S   ZANGEN-
                Israel's Liefdevolle Heiland                                                                                                                                        us and share more in our interest.
                                                                                               . ..*.*................................. * . . . . . . . . . . 17
                        Rev. G. Vos                                                                                                                                                    "For th&t reason I, too, have tried to .learn more
                                                                                                                                                                                    about them. Thus, when I learned that a brochure
     IN HIS  FEAR-                                                                                                                                                                  entitl,ed,  "De Geloovigen en Hun Zaad",  could be pro-
                A Unified Living . . . . . . . . . . * .*.............................. 1 *........................ .19                                                             cured, I secured it.
                        Rev. M. Gritters                                                                                                                                               "Moreover, my personal interest in your churches
     FROM HOLY  WRIT-                                                                                                                                                               has also been strengthened in connection with'fhe fact
                Tbe Mouth of the Lord . . . . . * . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..*..................... 21                                           that members of our congregation are living in Canada,
                        Rev. C. Hanko                                                                                                                                               and voices are heard here in favor of their seeking
     PERLSCOPE-                                                                                                                                                                     contact with your churches.
                Universal Military Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23                                     "For this reason I went to investigate the matter,-
                         Rev. J.  Houwerzyl                                                                                                                                         also in connection with the fact that voices are heard
                                                                                                                                                                                    here in favor of mutual correspondence of our churches.

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

      "And by this investigation objections have arisen       sion of his views and his attitude toward our churches.
with me.                                                         The brother does not have.to fear that I will feel
      "These objections concern especially your view of       offended at his frankness, even though he suggests that
the covenant, as you develop it in your brochure. I am        I might have been deposed on the grounds of my  supra-
going to oppose that view, my colleague, because I am         lapsarianism.    I am, on the contrary, very glad for
of,the opinion that this view is untenable on the basis       his outspokenness: it clears the air. I am an enemy
of the I;tord  of God and the accepted Confession (Cate-      of all camouflage and. compromise when it concerns
chtim, !.fz. and ans. 6, and the Canons of Dordt, III,        the truth of the Word of God. And I am by no m*eans
IV,  8). You call us, I2emonstran.k  because we accept        "intractable", as that "long-suffering Synod" suggests
the doctrine of Prof. Heyns. (There may be:a differ-          in order to' have an excuse for their iniquity.
ent conception here and  tkene;  in the main, all our            And I will answer just as frankly.
,ministers  are thinking in that direction.)     You want        First of all,- I want to deny that I ever directly
to see only one line in Scripture, and there are ten called the people and the leaders of the Liberated
times as many texts that draw another line, repudiated        Churches Remonstrants, although I would not hesitate
by you. (I underscore, H.H.).                                 to maintain that the view of Heyns is Remonstrantism
      "Your doctrinal conception in regard to the cove- and Pelagianism applied to the covenant and that his
nant is essentially the?same as that of the "Synod' in theory of the two wills in God looks, very much like
this country, even though you construe it somewhat the view of Saumur.
differently.                                                     In the second piace,  I want to remind you that you
      "I therefore believe that we must fully express our- have never satisfactorily answered  youx accusers, when
selves about this matter before  w.e can fully recognize they indict you of Remonstrantism, as Liberated Chur-
each other as sister churches.. In that direction our         ches. I would very much like to see a clear answer in
church directed, therefore, a letter to our synod.            this respect. If the promise is for all the children that
,,    "Now you must not misunderstand this letter.            are.under  the covenant and are baptized, and they have
"     "This is not written out of antipathy ; much rather all a God-given right to all the blessings of salvation,
the opposite is true.                                         how come they do not all receive them?
      "I stand sympathetically overagainst your churches,        You are acquainted with  Heyns's  answer to this
but we must first of all discuss this matter and reach question. He makes, first of all, separation between
an agreement.                                                 the Three Persons of the Trinity as they are repre-
      "Also in regard to the advice which, for instance,      sented in the Baptism Form. God the Father makes
~1 must give to our members in Canada.                '       an eternal covenant of grace with us and adopts us for
      "For the rest, I can only sympathize with your          his children and heirs, will provide us with every good
churches as far as their aim and endeavor is concerned.       thing, and avert all evil. God the Son seals unto us
I mean that from a church-political viewpoint we are          that he doth wash us in His blood from all our sins,
entirely in agreement with each other, as well as in          incorporating us into the fellowship of His death and
regard to various endeavors and aims in our time. I           resurrection, so that we are free from all our sins and
know, in as far as I read something about it, that your       accounted righteous before God. But the Spirit, in
churches do indeed want to liveaccording to the Word baptism seals only that he WZX do so. He will dwell in
of God in all things, more than the Christian Reformed        us. He will sanctify us to be members of IChrist and
Church that is becoming superficial, `broad', as it is        apply unto us that which we have in Christ, namely,
called in our day, but without depth.                         the washing away of our sins and the daily renewing
      "Also the grounds on which you are suspended and        of our lives, till we shall finally be presented without
"deposed are not valid. Insubordination ! That word           spot or wrinkle among the assembly of the elect in life
points in the sphere of the church directly to hierarchy.     eternal. But that "will" of the Holy Spirit is, accord-
But I ask myself the question (you must not take this         ing to Heyns, very evidentIy  contingent upon and de-
evil of me ; I want to discuss and call the things honest-    pendent on the will of man.  ,Only if man accepts
ly) whether there was no reason to depose you on              the obligations of the covenant does the Holy Spirit
other grounds than that on which you were indicted.           fulfill the promise. That is the reason why Heyns
`You are radically supra-lapsarian, and I deem that           invents the theory that all the children of the covenant
untenable.                                                    receive sufficient grace to accept or to reject the prom-
      "But I believe that (I mean especially as  churchesj    ise and the covenant. Now, that, to me, is Pelagianism,
we can discuss this with one another."                        pure and simple, applied to the covenant.
      Thus far the quotation from the letter.                     But if that is not your answer to the question, and
                         -                                    t.he answer of the Liberated Churches, how do you meet
      I first of all want to express my hearty thanks to the indictment of Remonstrantism? And, if you be-
the brother for the very clear and outspoken expres-          lieve with me that the promise includes the application

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

     by the Holy Spirit, so that God promises uncondition-            drew. Moreover, if the first member of the phrase
     ally regeneration and faith, how can the promise be              was meant to include all Reformed denominations, then
     for all?                                                         it also included the Christian Reformed Churches, and
          That question you, brother, and the Liberated Chur- there was no point in separating them from other Re-
     ches, must answer very clearly and concisely.                    formed churches, as was done in the advertisement.
          In the third place, let me assure you very emphatic-             It was not my intention to provoke or to aggravate
     ally that the matter of advising your members in                 existing grievances. I love the Church of God, and
     Canada whether or not they ought to join our churches            have proved it.
     is not up to you only, but also up to us. owe do not                  Therefore, I withdraw the editorial, and express my
     want Heynsians in our churches, still less, to organize          sorrow that I wrote it.
     Heynsian churches in Canada. If your members are                      However, I would maintain that the advertisement
     really Heynsians, they must either become thoroughly is grammatically and logically in error. And through
     Reformed, or they better join the Christian Reformed             these errors I received what is sometimes called "a bum
     Churches. In them there is plenty of room. Or, better steer".                                           *.
     still, they could organize churches of their own, and                                                 I' I    G. Vos.
     call their own ministers from the Old Country. But
     Heynsianism,  we. simply detest !
          This, too, must be clearly understood.            I
          In the fourth place, as far as our becoming sister          I
     churches is concerned, let me say: 1) That our Synod
     requested your Synod not to decide immediately upon                   THE TRIPLE  KNoWLEDGE
     our becoming sister churches, but to appoint a com-
     mittee to talk the matter over with our committee of
.    correspondence, and then advise their respective synods.         An Exposition Of The Heidelbekg
     2) It seems to me that if we are all agreed that we
     really want to stand on the basis of the Word of God as                               C a t e c h i s m
     interpreted by our `Three Forms of Unity, that we
     could certainly find some basis of correspondence, re-                                 PART TWO                          f     '
     gardless of some minor differences.                                                                                _,
          Finally, I will see to it that you receive the Standard'                        LORD'S DAY 24
     Bearer regularly, as you request. I gladly receive the
     "Gereformeerd Kerkblad voor Gelderland en Overijsel"                                         3.
     in exchange.                                                            The Impossibility of a Careless Christian.
          In the meantime, I am, with brotherly regards,                   In the last question and answer of Lord's Day 24
                                                  H. Hoeksema.        the Heidelberg Catechism intercepts a practical ob-
                              -    -    -    -                        jection that may' be, and often is, .raised  against the
                                                                      truth of justification by faith without works.
                           Ckection                                        The objection runs `somewhat as follows.
                                                                           You insist that you are righteous before  *God with-
                                                                      out any works on your part at all, that, your works
          Regarding my recent editorial : ,ONE  TWENTIETH, have no merit in any sense, that your good works can
     RATHER THAN FOUR-FIFTHS, the following:                          never add to your righteousness in Christ, and that
          One of the Board members of the Illiana High                your sins cannot possibly in any wise detract from it.
     School wrote me that their advertisement meant to                But this is a positively immoral doctrine ; for if this
     ,fnclude the Protestant Reformed, Church.             But my is true, it matters not what man does: he is free to sin
     mformant agreed that, to quote him: "I grant that the as much as helikes,  for he is righteous before God any-
     mere wording of the advertisement would seem to indi- way. Whether he walks in sin, or performs works of
     cate your criticism."                                            righteousness, he is certain of. eternal life., No matter
          That is indeed true. Read the advertisement again,          how much iniquity he commits, he is certainly headed
     if you wish, and you will see that *it definitely excludes       for everlasting  glory- He is in a position to enjoy
     the Protestant Reformed Church. It says:  member of freely all the pleasures of the world. He can afford to
     Reformed or Christian Reformed  ~clncrch. If the term be perfectly careless. In fact, it would seem to be
     Reformed was meant to include. all the different Re- better for the Christian not even `to make the attempt
     formed denominations, the conjunction or is not in to walk in all good works, for the old man is corrupt
     place, for that conjunction as used in the above phrase          anyway and will perish in death. To walk in sin has
     leaves but room for one conclusion, namely, the one I            at any rate the advantage to show forth the greater


                                    T H E   STANDAR.D   B E A R E R                                                   7

glory of the grace of God. Let us, therefore, sin that all do not want the truth, that they hate it and rave
grace may abound, ,The doctrine of free, justification against it. They claim that by the doctrine of sover-
makes men careless and profane.                               eign election and reprobation you `make God. a cruel
   Thus the opponent of this truth argues to show the tyrant instead of a loving God and  &ather.   `I'hey  -
utter absurdity of it and. the immoral consequences of accuse you of making  *God the author of sin and  of.,
salvation by free grace without the works of the law.         denying man's responsibility. And thus they show
   Now, let us in the first  blace  carefully note the        tnat they do not want the truth of ticripture that God
nature of this argument.                                      is.soverergn  and that the matter of salvation is not of
   The one that raises this objection does not base           him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but  -of God.
it on Scripture, but ,draws  a conclusion .from his own that showeth mercy.
sinful human reason. `He wants to maintain by all                in a similar way those argue against the doctrine '
means the false doctrine of justification by works. He of justification by faith without the works of the law
insists that the whole or part of our works can be our        that raise the objection that it makes men careless and
righteousness before God and that our good works are profane.
surely meritorious. Hence, he must have nothing of               What shall we say about this?
the truth of free justification. He really hates it with         It certainly cannot be denied that if the-argument
all his heart. He .does not hesitate to call him accursed' of our opponents against justification by faith were
that teaches it. Yet, he. cannot deny that the Bible. correct and their conclusion true, if it were the ten-
plainly teaches the truth that the sinner is .justified by    dency  of this truth to render men secure in their sin,
faith in Jesus <Christ only, without the works of the         to make them careless and profane, the truth of free:
law.  " And being well aware that he can do nothing justincation  could no longer be a  cause of glorying.
with Scripture to gainsay this . ..truth. he resorts to       In that case it would indeed be a dangerous doctrine.
human reason and argues from his own sinful human             But they that thus oppose the truth only speak in their
mind. He concludes that the truth of justification by         ignorance.
faith only, without the works of the law, is absurd,             They have not experienced, neither do they  under-
for it leads ,to the conclusion that sin is a virtue and      stand the marvelous mystery of justification by faith.
that to sin is to glorify the grace of God. It is an             For rather than causing men to rest secure in their
immoral doctrine that makes men careless and profane. sin so that they become careless and profane in their
   It is well for us to note the unbiblical  character of walk and conversation, the power, of justification has
this, argument. Similar arguments are `often used by -the effect that it causes men deeply to abhor sin, to
carnal men against other parts of the truth of. Scrip- . repent in dust and ashes, and to walk as children of
ture.              s                                          light in the midst of this world.
   Take, for example, the truth of divine predestina-            A careless and profane Christian is an impossibility.
tion, the truth that God from all eternity ordained              This is also the answer of the Heidelberg Catechism.
His people in Christ Jesus unto eternal life and salva-       In answer to the question, "But doth not this doctrine
tion, while in sovereign righteousness  He; destined make men careless and profane?" it instructs us, "By
others to eternal  dezsolation.    `This.. truth is clearly no. means, for it is impossible that those, who are
taught in Scripture, and men `cannot possibly deny it.        implanted into Christ by a true faith, should not bring
Yet carnal men contradict and oppose this truth. They forth fruits of thankfulness."
usually do so by appealing to Scripture first of all.            To speak. of a careless and profane Christian is to
They adduce certain texts that apparently teach that be guilty of a  cbntradiction  in terms. He that is truly
.God loves all men, that Christ shed His life-blood for       and freely justified before God cannot possibly walk in
everyone without distinction, and that now salvation          sin, cannot have a delight in iniquity; and, on the other
or damnation is up to the choice of the free will of hand, he that delights in sin or walks carelessly has
man. But when you have explained to them that the never tasted the grace of justification.
passages of Scripture to which they appeal  dohot have           This is the language of the Christian's experience.
the meaning they ascribe to them; that they do not Even though he may not be able to'explain why he that
teach the universal love' of God, general atonement, and      is justified cannot abide in sin, he knows that he is'
the free will of man in regard to' salvation, and when        justified, and he knows, too, that he is not careless and.
you have proved very clearly that the matter of salva- profane but has a delight in the precepts of his God.'
tion is not up to the will of man but determined by To verify this, just ask, not the enemies of the cross
God's sovereign grace alone,-in short, `when every of Christ, but those that have experienced the power
Biblical argument is exhausted by them and they still         of the blood of Jesus unto their free justification and
do not- admit the truth of sovereign predestination,: that know what it means to be justified by `faith. Ask
they usually have recourse to arguments derived from them if they have any confidence in their own works
the carnal mind of man. They reveal that they after as a ground of their righteousness before God; and,


8                                       T H E `   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

they will assure you that all their boasting is in the           raised is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with
cross of Christ and in the atoning power of His blood.           Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him`:
To them all other ground is sinking sand. They utterly           Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth
repudiate it. They know that their best works are                no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For
defiled with sin and that they cannot be the whole or            in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he
part of their righteousness before God. But ask them             liveth, he liveth unto  God. Likewise reckon ye also
again whether this exclusive confidence in the cross             yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto
as the ground of their righteousness has the effect              God through Jesus #Christ  our Lord. Let not sin there-
upon them that now they become careless and profane,             fore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it
induces them to draw the conclusion that it is profit-           in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members
able to continue in sin that grace. may abound; and              as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield
they will reply with holy indignation and abhorrence,            yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the
"God forbid  !" `They will assure you that the power of          dead, and your members as instruments of righteous-
the cross as they experienced it bore the very opposite          ness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over
fruit, that the grace of their justification caused them         you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
to abhor sin, to eschew it, to flee from it, to fight it         What then? shall we sin, because we are not under
with all their' might. Enemies of all sin they have the law, but under grace? God forbid. Know ye not,
become, and for nothing they long more fervently than            that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his
to be delivered from the defilement of sin finally and           servants ye are to whom ye obey ; whether of sin unto
completely. Whether or not they are able to explain              death, or of obedience unto righteousness? But God
the mystery of justification by faith through grace,             be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye
the voice of their spiritual experience tells them that          have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which
it certainly cannot make men careless and profane.               was delivered unto you. Being then made free from
        But the Christian who is instructed in the mystery sin, ye became the servants of righteousness." The
of justification is able, too, to explain the reason why         grace of justification does not mean an indulgence for
it is impossible that he should ever abide and walk              life to sin, but liberty: the right to perfect freedom
i,n sin.                                                         from the slavery of sin, the right to serve God in
        That reason is principally Christ!                       Christ.
        Be is justified subjectively only by a true and             But there is more.
living faith, and that means that he is implanted into              By a true and living faith the Christian is  ,not
Christ. Apart from Christ he has nothing ; in Christ             only forensically but also organically in Christ. He
he has all. To Christ he belongs with body and soul,             lives out of Christ. This organic union with His Lord
for time and eternity. He is one with his Lord both              is inseparable from the faith whereby he is justified.
judicially and organically.                                      And that means that in Christ he does not only have
        That means, first of all, that in Christ he has the      the right to be delivered from sin but also that he is in
right to be delivered from the dominion of sin. In               principle liberated from the dominion of sin through
fact, this right to be delivered is included in his justifi-     the Spirit of `Christ that dwellet$ in him. Thus the
cation : for in IChrist  the right of sin to have dominion       apostle teaches us in Rom. 8 :2: "For the, law of the
over us and to reign in our flesh has been destroyed.            Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from
"For what the law could not do, in that it was weak              the law of sin and death."
through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the like-             The justified Christian is dead to sin.
ness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in                 The apostle teaches in Rom. 6 : 1, 2 : "What shall we
the flesh." Rom.  3:3. We are, therefore, judicially             say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may
and principally dead to sin.          As the same apostle        abound7 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to
teaches in Romans 6:2, ff.: "How shall we, that are              sin, live any longer therein?"
dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not,                  : We should observe carefully here that the Bible
that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ            does not say that sin is dead in the believer but, on the
were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried            contrary, that he is dead to sin. The difference is
with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ              evident: it would be indeed a grievous error to change
was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father,          this expression or to understand it as meaning the
even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if           same as the statement that as long as the believer is in
we have been planted together in the likeness of his             this world sin is dead in him. For this error would
     death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrec-    certainly create confusion in the mind and heart of
tion: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with           the sincere Christian. Fact is, that when we are in-
     him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that          grafted into Christ and the power of the cross is real-
     henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is          ized in us and we are justified by faith, sin is not dead


                    .I-*     *_,_.    T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                             9

but remains very much alive. In this life we  .never          in him. He is actually,, spiritually liberated from the
have more than a small beginning of the newobedience.         bondage of-sin. His fetters are broken. Grace instead
Even the very holiest of the saints, he that is farthest      of sin, the law of the Spirit of life rather than the
advanced on the way of grace and sanctification, still        law of sin and death is enthroned in his heart and
has only a principle of the new life in Christ. Our old has dominion over him. His mind is enlightened, his
nature, earthly and carnal, remains with us till the          will is turned about, his heart is renewed, and from
grave. Not until we breathe our last are we delivered that renewed heart all the issues of his life move in
from sin. And in that old nature are the motions of           the direction opposite to that of sin. The result is that
sin, and they are very active. In fact, it seems that, he beholds and judges sin in a new light, the light of
according as we grow in grace and in the knowledge of         the love of God. Formerly he agreed with the dominion
Jesus Christ, the motions of sin in our members also          of sin ; now he radically disagrees with it. Formeriy
increase their activity, always attempting to bring us he always said, "Yes", when sin said  "Yes", and "No",
again into bondage. We must, therefore, till the day when sin said "No"; now he opposes sin's "No" with
of our death heed the exhortation of the Word of God          his own "Yes", and sin's "Yes" with his own "No".
to put off the old man and to put on the new;                 When he was alive unto sin, he loved the works of
   No, the apostle does not teach us in this passage          darkness ; now he is dead unto sin, he hates them with
that sin is dead in the Christian but, on the contrary,       all his heart. While in his bondage to sin he yielded
that he is dead to sin.                                       his members to the service of unrighteousness, he now
   The difference is plain.                                   `strenuously opposes that service. He is dead unto sin.
   The natural man, the sinner apart from Christ, is             0, sin is still present with him, and it operates in
alive unto sin. Sin is his lord. The power of sin is his members. Ever it attempts to gain its former lord-
enthroned in his heart. It is his rightful lord. It ship over him, but all that is within him according to
has the right to exercise dominion over him, and he is his inner man hates and abhors the service of iniquity.
its legal slave. God's sentence is that the sinner shall Sin is not dead, but he is dead to sin., His entire atti-
die. To this death belongs the spiritual darkness of tude overagainst his former lord has radically changed.
mind, the perversion of will, the pollution of the desires    He is converted. (And for the sin that still operates in
and inclinations that make the sinner a slave of sin. his members and ever attempts to divert the vehicle of
From this slavery he does not even have the right to be his life and walk into the old ruts of unrighteousness
delivered unless atonement be made for his sin. Sin he humbles himself before God daily, repents in dust
!.herefore  has dominion over  h@. This dominion of and ashes, and confessing his sins before God he has
sin, however, is not contrary to the will and desire of no rest till he has found forgiveness anew in the blood
the sinner so that he ever longs to be delivered from         of the Lamb.
its bondage. On the contrary, he agrees with it. He              This, then,' is our answer to those who would allege
is well-pleased with the reign of sin. He delights in         that the doctrine of justification by faith without works
the service of his evil lord. He is a willing servant;        makes men careless and profane.
he loves the darkness rather than the light; he yields           This is utterly impossible.
his members to the service of unrighteousness ; he is .in         For we' are justified by a true and living faith in
bondage. Yet because the service of sin is sweet unto         Christ, and in Christ we have both our justification
his corrupt taste, he does not -feel the oppression of his    and our sanctification in inseparable connection with
slavery. I-Ie takes sin to his bosom. Quite willingly         each other.
he follows her. To the service of sin he willingly de-           And therefore a careless and profane Christian is
votes his body and his. soul, his mind and will, all his      an utter impossibility.
desires and inclinations. For sin he lives ; with sin he          It is a contradiction in terms.
agrees ; the paths of sin are his delight. He is alive                                                H. Hoeksema.
unto. sin.
   To be dead unto sin is the direct opposite of this.
   It is the state in which we are no longer under the
legal dominion of sin. Sin is no longer our Lord. It                              - NOTICE -
has no longer the right to reign over us. `Just as a            The  Ministers'  Conference of  Classis East will be
slave for whom the price is paid or that has been de-
clared free by law, he is no longer legally bound to          held on Tuesday, October 5, at 9  :30 A.M., at the First
                                                                                                                .
serve his former master, so that he is dead to sin, is        Prot. Ref. Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Rev.
liberated from the legal dominion of sin by God's own         C. Hanko will deliver a paper at this Conference. This
verdict of liberation. Sin shall not have dominion over
him because he is not under the law but under grace.          is the first and only notice you will receive. Don't
Moreover, this sentence of liberation is also realized        forget the date.                  J. D. De Jong, Pres.

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

                                                            such an alliance smacks of dualism. All things are
                OUR DOCTRINE                                ours. The Lord causes all things to work together for
                                                            our good. The devil, too, and all his host are instru-
                                                            ments in His hand and must serve the realization of
      God's Covenant and The Promise                        His eternal covenant and Kingdom in heavenly glory
                                                            and perfection.
                                                               We also called attention to the unilateral character
        The Dispensation  of  the Covenant Follows          of this covenant of God with man. God's covenant is
       the Line of the Generations of the Believers.        not bilateral or dipleuric (two-sided), but unilateral
      In our series of articles on the Covenant thus far, or monopleuric (one-sided). And, the realization of
we have discussed several aspects  ,of this thoroughly God's covenant is unilateral throughout, from the be- .
Scriptural concept.     We began by calling attention ginning even unto the end. That we must live a new
to the idea of the covenant. God's covenant with man, and a godly life is not because the realization of God's
e.g., is not a promise. That the Lord establishes His       covenant is in any sense dependent upon our action,
covenant with men does not merely imply that He             but only because the nature of the operation of the
promises them eternal life. This, we noted, can be          grace of God is such that it calls us out of darkness
interpreted in a Reformed sense.       However, it also     into His marvellous light. This is the repeated teach-
lends itself aptly to Arminianism. The promise, then, ing of the Word of God.
is confused with a general offer of salvation. The             And, finally, in several articles we have attempted
Lord offers to all His salvation.. And in that general to establish the Scriptural truth of the particular char-
offer of salvation the essence of God's covenant of acter of the promise or promises of God. Passages
grace must be sought. This is the interpretation of such as Rom. 9, Heb. 6:17-l& 2 Cor. 120, ,Gal. 3, and
the covenant as taught by the late Professor W. Heyns       Hebrews 11 speak for themselves.
in the Christian Reformed Churches for some thirty                 *  :
years.                                                                     . . A Pertinent Question.
      Neither must  ,the covenant be explained as an           The question finally confronts us with respect to
agreement or a contract, with mutual obligations and        the dispensation of the Covenant as it follows the line
stipulations. God, then, agrees to save us upon the         of the generations of the believers. This is a pertinent
condition of our faith and fighting of the good fight       question. Who are in the Covenant of God? What
of faith. It is true that we must believe and fight the does it mean to be a Xovenant  Child"? Is `the cove-
good fight of faith." This is required of us, not as a      nant established only with the elect? IAnd if the cove-
condition of the covenant, however, but as fruit of the
           -                                                nant is established only with the elect why are all the
operation of the grace of God in our hearts. Because        children of the believers baptized? Why, then, should
the Lord makes us His covenant people and enables us all receive the sign of a covenant which is established
by His  spirit to believe and fight the good fight of       only with the elect? How, then, could Esau be a
faith we are obliged, as the people and party of the        covenant-breaker? How can anyone be "cut off" if he
living God, to. lay aside our old nature and walk in all    were never "in"' the covenant? Do not Heb.  11:17
the precepts of Jehovah.                                    (the olive-tree)* and John 15:1-Z  (the vine) speak of
      Others would explain the covenant as a way of sal- the cutting off  ~of these branches? In what sense are
,vation.  The Lord establishes His covenant with us,        all in the covenant and why, in the dispensation of the
`makes known unto us the way of salvation. This way covenant, do the- blessings of the Covenant (sacra-
of salvation is faith in Jesus <Christ our Lord. This, ments, preaching, catechetical instruction) come to all
then, is the significance of the covenant of God with without distinction? Are all the children (including
man. We objected, however, that, if the covenant of         the reprobate children) baptized and do they all re-
God with man be merely an agreement .to save or a ceive the preaching of the gospel because the Lord,
way of salvation, it is merely temporary, has been after all, would save all and therefore have all come to
concluded as soon as its goal, the salvation of the sin- the knowledge of the truth? This is a fundamental
ner, has been reached. But, the Scriptures tell us that ,question.  It reveals to what extent we are reformed.
God establishes with us and our children an  everlasting That which reveals our reformed identity is not so
covenant of grace.                                          much the question with respect to the baptism of the
      Neither must the essence.of  the covenant be sought elect. That the Lord loves him and would save and
in an alliance between the Lord and man against the actually does save him everybody understands. But
devil and his hosts, , Such is the interpretation of the why are the others baptized and must they be brought
late Dr. A. Kuyper. In the first place, the Lord does       up in the sphere of the covenant? To these questions
not enter into covenant fellowship with man in general. we will attempt to give an answer as we conclude our
And, secondly, that. the covenant of God with man in series of articles on "The Covenant".


                                     T H E   ` S T A N D A R D B E A R E R                                          11

        It is surely Scriptural that the Covenant              ren serve the Lord, as in the following passages : Deut.
  Follows the Line of the Generations of the Believers.        6:2: "That thou mightest fear the Lord thy God, to
   This truth  stands.as  a rock, first of all historically. keep all His statutes and His commandments, which I
It is simply an historical fact that the development of command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son's son, all
CGod's  covenant occurs in the line of continued genera- the days of thy life ; and that thy days may be pro;
tions. In the Old Dispensation. this development runs longed" ; 30 :2 : "And shalt return unto the Lord. thy
in the line of: Adam-Seth-Noah-Shem-Terah-Abraham-             God, and shalt obey His voice according to all that I
Isaac-Jacob-Israel, and it is confined to the Old Testa- command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all
ment nation of the Jews. In the New Testament one thine heart, and with all thy soul" ; 31:12,  13 : "Gather
can trace the progress of the church or the covenant           the people together, men, and women, and children,
with one's finger on the world's map :  Jerusalem-             and thy stranger that is within thy gates, that they
Antioch-Macedonia-Greece-Rome . . . . `And this de- may hear, and that they may learn, and fear the Lord
velopment of God's covenant takes place according to your God, and observe to do all the words of this law
the Lord's sovereign good-pleasure. When the apostle, . . . . And that their children, which have not known
Paul, would travel eastward to proclaim the gospel he any thing may hear, and learn to fear the Lord your
is prevented from doing so when having come to Troas,          God,`as long as ye live in the land whither ye go over
and, receiving an urgent appeal from a man in Mace- Jordan to possess it" ; Joshua 24  :15 : `"And if it seem
donia in  a vision, proceeds to Macedonia. The Lord            evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day
determines the course of His gospel.                           whom ye will serve ; whether the gods which your
  . Also textually the truth is everywhere taught in fathers served that were on the other side of the flood,
the Word of God that the development of the ,Lord's            or  the gods of the Amorites, in *whose land ye dwell :
covenant with His people occurs in the line of the             but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord";
generations of the believers. This is true, first of all, Jer. 32 :29 : "And I will give them one heart, and one
of the Old Testament. . Notice how the Scriptures way, that they may fear Me for ever, for the good of
speak continually of the parents with .their  children. them, and of their children after them" ; Ezek. 37 :25 :
In Ps.  12'7:3  the children are called an heritage of the "And they shall dwell in the land that I have given
L o r d - "Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and       unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have
the fruit of the womb is His reward." They are al- dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and
ways reckoned with the parents, and it goes well with their children, and their children's children for ever:
both, parents and children, as in the following pas- and My servant David shall be their prince forever";
sages : Ex. 20 :6 : "And  shewing mercy unto thousands Zech.  10 :9 : `$And I will sow them among the people:
of them that love Me, and keep My commandments";               and they shall remember Me in far countries ; and they
Deut.  1:36, 39: "Save Caleb .the son of Jephunneh ; shall live with their children, and turn again." The
he shall see it, and to him'will I give the land that he acts and ordinances of the Lord must be delivered by
hath trodden upon, and to his children, because he hath the parents to the children, as in the following pas-
wholly followed the Lord `; .' : . Moreover your little sages: Ex.  10:2: "And that thou mayest tell in the
ones, which we said should be a prey, and your child- ears of thy son, and of thy son's son, the things I
ren, which in that day had no knowledge between good ,have wrought in Egypt, and My signs which, I have
and evil, they shall gc in thither, and unto them will done among them ; that ye may know how that I am
I give it, and they shall possess it."; 4 :40 : "Thou shalt    the Lord" ; 12  :24: "And ye shall observe this thing
keep therefore His statutes, and His commandments,             for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons for ever";
which I command thee this day, that it may go well             12:26: "And it shall come to pass, when your children
with thee, and with thy children after thee, and that          shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service?";
thou mayest prolong thy days upon the earth, which             Deut. 4:9 ,19 40: "Only take heed to thyself, and keep
the Lord thy God giveth thee, for ever"; 5  :29 : "0 that      thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which
there were such an heart in them, that they would fear thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy
Me, and `keep all My commandments always, that it              heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons,
might be `well with them, and with their children for          and thy sons' sons . . . . Specially the day that thou
`ever" ; `12 :25; 28 : "Thau  shalt not eat it; that it may stoodest before the Lord thy `God in Horeb, when the
go `well with thee, and with- thy children after thee,         Lord said unto me, Gather Me the people together, and
when thou shalt do that which is right in the sight of I will make them hear My words, that they may learn
the Lord . . . .    Observe and hear  ail  these words to fear Me all the days that they shall live upon the
which `I command thee, that it may go well with thee, earth, and that they may teach their children . . . .
and with thy children after thee for ever, when thou Thou shalt keep therefore His statutes, and His com-
 doest that which is good and right in the sight of the mandments, which I command thee this day; that it
 Lord thy God." Together, the parents and their child- may go well with thee and with  .thy children after

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

thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days  upon  the tions by an ordinance for ever"; 16:32: "And Moses
earth, which the Lord thy God giveth thee, for ever"; said, This is the thing which the Lord commandeth,
6:7: "And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy Fill an Omer of it to be kept for your generations ;
children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in that they may see the bread  wherewith I have fed you
thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and in the wilderness, when 1 brought you forth from the
when thou  .liest  down, and when thou risest up";          land of Egypt" ; Deut. 7  :9 : "Know therefore that the
11:29 : "And it shall come to pass, when the Lord thy       Lord thy God, He is God, the faithful God, which keep-
God hath brought thee in unto the land whither thou &h covenant and mercy with them that love `Him and
goest to possess it, that thou shalt put the blessing keep His commandments to a thousand generations";
upon mount Gerizim, and the curse upon mount Ebal";         Ps. 105 :8 : "He hath remembered His covenant for
29 :29 : "The secret things belong unto the Lord our        ever, the word which He commanded to a thousand
God: but those things which are revealed belong unto generations".                                              /'
us and to our children for ever, that we may do all            This truth, that the Covenant follows the line of the
the words of this law"; Joshua  4:6, 21: "That this generations of the believers, is also taught throughout
may be a sign among you, that when your children the New Testament. Jesus continues to view the child-
ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean        ren as children oft the covenant, as in the following
yr by these stones? . . . . And he spake unto' the          passages:  Matt.  18:2 ff.: "And Jesus called a little
children of Israel, saying, When your children shall        child unto Him, and set him in the midst of them, etc.";
ask their fathers in time to come, saying What mean         19:13 ff.: "Then were there brought unto Him little
these stones?" ; 22 :24-27 : "And if we have not rather     children, that He should put His hands on them, and
done it for fear of this thing, saying, In time to come     pray: and the disciples rebuked them, etc.";  21:15  ff.:
your children might speak unto our children, saying,        "And when the chief priests and scribes saw the won-
What have ye to do with the Lord God of Israel? For derful things that He did,. and the children crying in
the Lord hath made Jordan a border between us and the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the son of David ;
you, ye children of Reuben and children of Gad; ye they were sore displeased, etc."; Mark 10 :13 ff. ; Luke
have no part in the Lord :, so shall your children make     9:48: "And said unto them Whosoever shall receive
our children cease from fearing the Lord. Therefore this chiid in My name receiveth Me: and whosoever
we said, Let us now prepare to build us an altar, not       shall receive Me receiveth Him that sent Me: for he
for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice: But that it may that is least among you all, the same shall be  .great";
be a witness between us and you, and our generations        18 : 15 ff. ; these passages clearly teach us that the Lord
after us, that we might do the  service  of the Lord calls the children unto Himself, embraces them, lays
before Him with our burnt offerings, and with our           His hands upon them, blesses them, declares to them
sacrifices,. and with our  i>eace  offerings; that your that their's is the Kingdom of Heaven, presents them
children may not say to our children in time to come,       to the adults as examples, warns not to offend them,
Ye have no part in the Lord." Finally, the  Old Testa- declares that their angels watch over them, and sees
ment Scriptures teach us that the covenant of the           in their cry of Hosanna a fulfillment of prophecy.
Lord, with its blessings, develohs  from child to child,    We also read that entire families are added to the
and from generation to generation, as in the following Church: Luke  10:5: "And into whatsoever house ye
passages : Gen. 9 :12 : "And God said, This is the token    enter, first say, Peace be to this house"; 19:9: "And
of the covenant which I make between Me and you and Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this
,every living creature that is with you, for perpetual      house, forasmuch as he also is a son of Abraham";
generations" ; 17 :7, 9: "And I will establish My cove- Acts 5 :42 : "And daily in the temple and in every house,
nant between Me and thee and thy seed after thee in         they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ";
their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a 20 :20 : "And how I kept back nothing that was profit-
God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee . . . . And       able unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught
,God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep My covenant you publicly, and from house to house" ; al:14 : "Who
therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their genera- shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house
tions" ; Ex. 3 :15 : "And God said moreover unto Moses,     shall be saved"; 16 :31: "And they said, Believe on the
Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The        Lord Jesus Christ, ,and thou shalt be saved, and thy
Lord God of your fathers, the God of IAbraham,  the house"; 16 :34 : `"And when he had brought them into
God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto       his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, be-
you : This is My name for ever, and this is My memor-       lieving in God with all his house" ; 1 Cor. 1:16 : "And
,ial unto all generations" ; 12 : 17 : "And ye shall observe I baptized also  .the household of Stephanas : besides,
the feast of unleavened bread ; for in this selfsame  day I know not whether I baptized any other". The prom-
have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt:        ise of the'covenant,  that God will be our <God, we read,
therefore shall you observe this day in your genera-        for the believers and their children, Acts 2 :39 : "For


                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                           13
 the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to        P
 all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our                  TIXE DAY OF SHADOWS
 God shall call." Hence, the children of believers are
 admonished, as Christian children, in the Lord: Acts
 26  :22 : "Having therefore obtained help of God, I  eon-
 tinue unto this day, witnessing both to small and great,             The Transaction At Endor
 saying none other things than those which the prophets
 and Moses did say should come" ; Eph. 6  :1-3 : "Child-           Let us now concentrate on the transaction at Endor
 ren, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.       as such and allow the sacred text to tell us just what
 Honour thy father and thy mother, which is the first took place there. The first question with which we go
 commandment with promise ; That it may be well with to the text concerns the message as such, what Saul
 thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth"; Col.          was made'io hear, the doleful discourse addressed to
 3 :20 : `Children, obey your parents, in all things : for    his ears. Was it the word of God, that had its origin
 this is well pleasing unto the Lord" ; 1 John 2  :13 :       in His  .mind, thus a `message of which He was the
 "I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known            author, or was it the word of man, definitely of the
 Him that is from the beginning. I write unto you,            witch, her recollections, conjectures, and speculations,
 young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one.          and by reason thereof a lying or at best an uncertain
 1 write unto you, little children, because ye have known     prophecy of a false'prophetess not sent of God yet pre-
 the  F'ather"  ; 2 Tim. 3  :15 : "And that from a child      tending to be speaking in His name by identifying her-
 thou hast known the Holy Scriptures, which are able self with Samuel. This is the view even of conserva-
 to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which tive commentators ,such as Erdmann. He argues the
 is in Christ Jesus." These passages from the Old             point that "what the woman said of Saul (and to Saul)
 Testament, we understand, can easily be multiplied.          in the name of Samuel was partly nothing but what
    To this we would add the following.. There is an          Samuel had repeatedly said, partly nothing beyond the
 organism in the midst of the world, the Church of God,       reach of natural conjecture and inference; for-he
 which is called in the Scriptures Israel, Vine, Olive goes on to say-after the universally  known  divine
 Tree, and these various names are addressed to the           rejection of Saul, after the sad line of experience
 entire organism. The entire Church is addressed in which showed that God had forsaken him (he having
The New Testament epistles in various ways: elect,            forsaken  ,God), and especially after the fact, which
 believers, saved in Christ Jesus, saints in Christ Jesus,    the woman learned from Saul herself (5 :15)  that in
 beloved  of, God, called of God, etc. And also these the presence of the Philistine army he had inquired
 expressions are addressed to the entire Church. More- of the Lord in vain, the fateful issue of the war could
 over, they are not suppositions, so that we. presume         not be doubtful.`"
 regeneration with respect to all ; they are statements            The point to this excerpt from Erdmann's pen is
 of fact. To this thought we will return in due time.         precisely that what Saul was made to hear forms a
The Scriptures, therefore, abundantly speak of an discourse oft which the woman was the author. And
 organism in' the .midst  of the world, consisting of a he accounts for the sacred writer's affirmation that
 two-fold seed, elect and reprobates, beloved and hated Samuel really appeared and for the statement occurring
 of God and that sovereignly, blessed and cursed of the in his narrative that "Samuel said to Saul" on the
 Lord, which is called Israel, Church, etc. It is surely ground that the woman psychologically identified her-
 Biblical, therefore, that the covenant of the Lord, in       self with the deceased prophet, so that the, narrator
 its development in the midst of the world, follows the might represent her discourse and her personation
 line of the generations of the believers. But, then the of him as his personal word and appearance. But this
question will also assert itself: How must we under- is not exegesis but baseless conjecture and as: such
 stand these things? Are all in the covenant of the           a distortion of the text. The rationalist commentators,
 Lord? If so, in what sense are all covenant children? admitting this but yet unwilling to be bound by the
 In what sense are all within the Church saints of God plain statements of the text, maintain that the sacred
 and of Christ Jesus, beloved of God, elect of God ac-        writer shared the superstitions of his day and believed
 cording to the foreknowledge of God, called of God,          that the conjurations of the witch really had power
 etc.? Are all essentially in the covenant? Is the pro-       over the dead.
 mise of Jehovah, which comes without distinction to               That Erdmann's view-the view that the discourse
 all, also meant for all? Does the Lord purpose or in- of Samuel had as its author the woman-is false, is
 tend to bless all but man turns this blessing into a already proved on the one hand by the content and
 curse? To these questions we will attempt to give an         character of the discourse and on the other hand by
 answer in our following article.                             the aim of all false prophets, of the diviners, dreamers,
                                     H. Veldman.              sorcerers  and.  necromancers in Israel on the other


 14                                     T H E .   S.TA'NDARD   B E A R E R

hand. Their aim was to please; for they prophesied
                                                I.            word. It bespeaks the same zeal, consecration to God
 to hire.  L  '  *                                            and unflinching devotion to His cause that had always
       As to the discourse, what Saul was madeto hear, it characterized Samuel.  ' It  fortells  Saul's doom.
 was stern and in its .final  section so dreadful as to              For a11 these-reasons the view according to ,which
 move Saul to the core; it crushed his spirit and so          we here deal with a discourse originated and uttered by
 debilitated him that he fell straightway all along the that godless witch is not only untenable ; it is absurd.
 earth. Saul had not gone to the witch for that purpose. But how could. the departed seer utter an audible
 He yearned for a word-a promise of victory-that he speech ? I There is but one answer. The Lord endowed
 could seize on to reassure his trembling heart. Of this him with a voice.for the task of that moment. This is
 the woman was fully aware. Hence, had she not- been not the-' only instance recorded in the Scriptures of
 restrained from following her own sinful impulses disembodied' spirits of men returning to our world for
 she would have prophesied victory for Saul and Israel.       the moment as invested with a corporal body and as
8 For she was a necromancer, a lying prophetess. Also gifted with the power of audible speech. There is the
 her aim was to please. Hence, like all prophets of her appearance of Moses and Elijah at the transfiguration
 class she customarily prophesied falsely, lies; `false of Christ (Matt. 17; Luke $3)) though, of course, the
  visions, and dreams in the name of the Lord. She            apparition of Samuel, summoned by God from the
 prophesied, in the language of the Scriptures, of "corn      realm of the dead, is a different thing from the appear-
 and strong drink". She, too, was of those who cried,         ance of `Moses and Elijah, because the latter appeared
  "Peace, peace", when there was no peace. But the dis- in heavenly refuIgence  and glory. Yet this phenomenon
  course was not a lie ; it was true. All came ,to pass.      is not in that degree unanalogous  as to forbid its being
  Israel was delivered into the hands of the  Philistines.    cited in support of our interpretations.
  Saul and his sons did die on the battlefield. As God               Herewith has been answered the questions whether
  only knows the end from the beginning, the discourse        Samuel really appeared. The text contains a clause
  must have had Him as its author.         How could the twice occurring and necessarily' impIying  that Samuel
  woman have had, the courage to conjecture for Saul          did actually appear,-the'clause, "And when the woman
  and to speak in his ears predictions that dreadful.?        saw Samuel". The statement is true beyond the shadow
       If the author of the discourse was the Lord, there of a doubt. For it was made by the sacred narrator
  next is the question through what human or creatural himself and is not the recording of what the woman
  agency He communicated this word to Saul. We may said she saw. We  thus,have the narrator's own word
  suppose that the Spirit of God could have seized .on for it that she saw Samuel. And therefore she must
  the woman for that purpose, despite her being a necro:      be taken to be speaking the truth when in reply to -
  mancer.  Baalim is one example in the  &&ptures  of         Saul's question, "What form is, he of", she answers,
  the Lord speaking His word through an enemy. But            "An old  .man  cometh up and he is covered with a
  such was not the case here. For the statement  oc$urs,      mantle."
  "And Samuel said to Saul . . .  ." Now, certainly, it       1      Let us now consider the objections that through
  cannot be supposed that the spirit of the deceased          the years of the past have been raised against these
  prophet, laying hold on the woman and making itself views by rationalist and conservative commentators
  master of her speech organs, delivered the divine ,com-     alike.
  munication through her agency, so that after all she               The view that the discourse had God as its author
  was the speaker. The text states that  Sbmuel- said.        and was communicated to Saul through the agency of
  The implication is that the deceased seer spake by in- Samuel has been pronounced too unlikely for adoption,
  fallible inspiration of God's' Spirit the word of ,God      and this on the following grounds.
that the Spirit communicated to his spirit. How could                 1.) In the language of Erdmann, Saul had already
  the sacred narrator affirm that Samuel s&d, were it vainly used all ordained means for learning God's will,
  true that the seer uttered his revelation through the       and might thence conclude that his obstinate impeni-
  person and speech organs of the woman? Can it be tence had rendered him unworthy of answer. In other
  supposed that the woman was possessed for the mo-           words, since .the Lord refused to answer Saul by the
  ment of Samuel's spirit in much the same way that           Urim and the prophets, it is hard to see why he should
  men were possessed of evil spirits from the abyss in        have revealed His will to Saul by the deceased Samuel.
  the times of Christ?                                                2.) The appearance and word of Samuel could no
  That God here spake through Samuel is clearly longer have any religious-ethical end, because the
  discernible from the discourse as such. It proves means of rousing Saul to repentance were exhausted.
  Samuel's calling as -a prophet. It sets before Saul the          For this recourse to a witch showed a mind thoroughly
  very sin on account of which the Lord by the mouth               alienated from God and seeking help elsewhere, a dis-
  of the prophet had rejected him. It sets forth Saul's            position in respect to which even such a miraculous
  woes as a punishment of that sin according to Samuel's           appearance and speaking of the prophet would be with-


                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                         15

 out effect, as in fact in Samuel's words there is no          whichSaul now put to Samuel. In harmony with His
 exhortation to repentance, and there is no trace after- previous silence and Saul's impenitence and climactic
 wards of any change for the better in Saul.                   wickedness, He now revealed to Saul his. impending
    3.) The appearance and word of Samuel could have doom and this through the deceased Samuel .and not
 no  theocrutic  end, because Saul's rejection as king had through a prophet then still living. The idea of the
 already been repeatedly announced, and the sending Lord's doing is plain. He revealed to Saul his im-
 of Samuel would have been superfluous for the an- pending doom through the very prophet. whose calling
 nouncement of Saul's impending fall, which; without a Saul always had denied and accordingly whose words
 miracle, might have reached Saul's ear and made his he  .`persistently  had spurned and rejected. But this
 heart tremble. Let us understand this statement. What time the Lord sent Samuel's words--the prophecy of
 is meant by the miracle is God's recalling Samuel from Saul's fall-on Saul's heart; "and he was sore afraid,
`the realm of the dead to reveal to Saul his impending because of the words of Samuel." As paralyzed by
 fall. And the point that is here being argued is that         fear, he fell straightway all along on the earth at
 this miracle would have been superfluous, seeing. that Samuel's feet. There he lay in the dust before the seer
 anyone, aoquainted  with the facts of Saul's life, could      as smitten by his' word, and with his tongue silently
 conjecture his fall, as was actually done by the woman. confessing that  ~Samuel was God's prophet  indee-d.
 This argument has already been met. We may add Thus there was purpose to ,God's recalling Samuel from
 this; The sacred text states. that "Saul was sore the realm of the dead to speak to Saul once again and
 afraid", mark you, not because of the words of the for the last time the word of God. The Lord wanted
 witch, but "because of the `words of Samuel'.`. Cer-          His servant vindicated even by the wicked Saul `before
 tainly, the Lord does not terrify the wicked by the           all Israel to the glory .of God. Do we not deal here-
 conjectures of unbelieving and godless persons such, as with a preindication of the humiliation of all the wicked
 that witch but by His own infallible word as pro- at the appearing of Christ who was raised from the
 claimed by His servants and 8s sent .upon the hearts
                                                        ,      dead and seated in the highest heavens? Then every
 of the wicked by His Spirit.                         ,;j..    wicked tongue shall confess that Jesus is the Lord
     In reply to the arguments under  1) and 2) there  1s to the glory of the Father. Saul had asked the woman
 this to say. All such criticisms are due, to .a lack.,of      to bring him up Samuel, yet not truly Samuel but an
 understanding of the purpose of the event. First to-be        ethica carricature  of the seer. But the Lord sent to
, considered in setting forth the purpose of that trans- him Samuel:
 action at Endor is the Lord's silence. The Lord ans-             It is plain that the objection that the Lord could
 wered Saul not, "neither by dreams, nor by the  Urim,         not have been the answerer through Samuel in that
 nor by the prophets" then living. . There plainly was         it `is expressly said in verse 6 that God answered Saul
 this purpose to the Lord's silence:  Throu,gh  the speech no more-this objection, it is clear, is without founda-
 that rose from that silence-the  speech;'  "Thou shalt tion. First, the text does not state that God answered
 repent, and repenting thou wilt be heard of: Me and `Saul no more but that "He answered'him  not." As was
 be saved-the Lord hardened Saul's heart, so that, explained, the notice has exclusive reference to Saul's
 rather than be saved of God in the way of repentance,         request that the Lord counsel him in the present crisis
 Saul did a thing of climactic wickedness., Turning his by. showing him what he should do. This request the
 back on God,  he.asked  "counsel of the necromancer at Lord answers not, the reason being Saul's .obduracy.
 Endor.  So. God willed it. For  it: had to appear that -The Lord's silence therefore, implying as it did Saul's
 He was wholly right in destroying Saul. "Saul died `unwillingness to repent, calls for his destruction. Ac-
 for his transgressions," says the Chronicler (I Chron.        cordingly, the Lord tells him through Samuel not what
 10 :13, 14)) "Which he committed against the Lord, he shall do but that he will die in the impending battle.
 even against the. word of the Lord, which he kept not, "The trouble with this class of critics is that they con-
 and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar        strue the statement, "And the Lord answered him
 spirit, to enquire of it; and enquired not of the Lord ,--Saul-not,"  $s though it read, "And the Lord spake
  (meaning,' inquired. not of the Lord in ,the way of re- to Saul po more."
 pentance, and therefore did not  ,truly enquire of Him) ;        And as the-objection that the appearance and word
 therefore he slew him." It is plain that the Lord's of Samuel `could no longer have any religious-ethical
 silence was necessary. It drove Saul as hardened by end, because the `means of rousing Saul to repentance
 the Lord to the witch, and thus it broughtout  inhim were exhausted, it rises from the mistaken notion
 a wickedness that was climactic  in  order,:,that  God that the purpose' of God in revealing to Saul his im-
 might be justified in making an end of him.                   pending fall was,`or rather, would needs have been, to
   Saul having committed that great wickedness,. the bring him: to repentance. Certainly, had that'been  the
 Lord now spake. But He persisted in turning a deaf            Lord's purpose,' Saul would have repented. In the
 ear to Saul's request, "Show me what I shall do,"             point of view  of- God's power to save the means of

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

rousing Saul to repentance were not yet exhausted.          doubtless she was not really able by her witchcraft to
.But such was not the Lord's purpose, but rather to recall from Hades departed spirits of men. She de-
cast Saul in the dust before Samuel and to harden him       scribed the apparition of Samuel to Saul at his re-
further.                                                    quest  ; and thereupon she retreated into the background
      Thus far we have been occupied more exclusively and was silent while the seer spake to Saul the word
with the objections raised against the view that the        of .God. As terrified by the apparition of Samuel and.
silence of God was followed by. one more revelation         by; her recognizing the king, she was only too willing
to Saul through the deceased Samuel. We have yet to to withdraw. and leave Saul alone with Samuel and
consider  rnolv  in particular i-the objections raised      God.
against the  \ieTv that that Samuel really appeared.           Now these are no idle speculations but views that
      1). If Samuel actually appeared, why, it is asked,    have a firm basis in the text. Let us again take notice.
was he seen by the woman only. Now it is  -true that of the statements, "And when the woman saw Samuel'*
the apparition was not visible to  Saul.. Such un-          (verse 12). "And Samuel said to Saul" (verse 15).
questionably is the implication of the text at verse 14,    "Then said  ,$amuel" (verse 16). "And Saul . . . .
"And he said unto her, What form is he of? And she was sore afraid because of the words of Samuel" (verse
said, An old man cometh up ; and he is covered with a 20). . And let us in addition take notice of the woman's
mantel. And Saul perceived that it was Samuel." reaction to Saul's falling straight forward all along the
These words imply that Saul recognized the form seen earth in mortal dread of Samuel's word. "And the
by the woman to be Samuel from her description. It woman came unto Saul",. and talked with him, imply-
indeed raises the question why Samuel, if he actually       icg, certainly, that she had been keeping  herself at a
appeared, was not seen also by Saul. There is the distance, `perhaps in another room, and that therefore
solution of the rationalist critics that the appearing of the prophecy had been uttered neither by her as identi- .
Samuel was a hallucination, a perception of the woman       fied with Samuel nor by SamueI as speaking through
with no objective reality and arising from temporary her, but by Samuel directly. That the woman, too,
disorder of her nervous system. To illustrate, there is heard the voice of SamueI is not likely. She saw the
no objective reality to the snakes seen by the drunkard apparition but did not hear the voice. Saul, on the
ill his violent deliriums. But this solution may not be other hand, heard the voice but did not see the appari-
ours as it does violence to the sacred text, which too tion. This, to& has its analogies in Holy Writ.
plainly asserts that Samuel did appear and prophesy.           2.) Still other objections have been raised against
      The apparition of Samuel reqpired an opened eye the view that Samuel  reaIIy appeared. They come, dc
in order to be seen. SauI was not given that eye. For       these objections, from the fathers, reformers, and
he had no need of seeing Samuel but only of hearing early Christian theologians, who, with few exceptions,
the voice of the seer prophesying his doom. Hence,          held that there was no real appearance of  Sa,muel.
the apparition was not rendered visible to the king.        "It is certain", says Calvin, "that it was not really
      The event has its analogies in Holy Writ. The Lord Samuel, for ,God would never have allowed his prophet
had to open Baalim's eyes in order that he, too, as well    to be subjected to such diabolical conjuring. For here
a~ the beast on which he rode, might see the angel of       is a sorceress calling up the dead from the grave. Does
the Lord who stood in the way for an adversary to           anyone imagine that God wished his prophet  td be ex-
him. Elisha saw the horses and chariots of fire sur- posed to such ignominy ; as if the devil had power over
rounding him and filling the mountains. And it was the bodies and souls of saints which are in His keep-
not unti1 the Lord opened the eyes of the servant of ing?" To this we can reply, Assuredly not, but must
the prophet that he, too, saw.                              hasten to add that Calvin's objection strikes only at
      It is not difficult to discern the reason back of the his own wrong assumption that Samuel was recalled
Lord's opening the eyes of the woman only. The Lord from Hades through the demoniacal arts of the woman
wanted that woman with her magic and vain speakin,gs        while the fact of the matter is that the seer was evoked
out of the way. For' He still had a thing to say to and given real appearance solely by a miracle of ,God
Saul through Samuel. And Saul also must be made apart from the woman's conjurations. This is proved
to perceive that he had to do with God and His prophet by her great terror at seeing Samuel and in addition
and that the prediction of his fall was God's very own by the way the text reads at verses 11 and 12. "Then
word, and not an idle conjecture of the sorceress. The said the woman, JVhom shall I bring up unto thee?
means that the Lord employed for eliminating the *And he said,  Bring me up Samuel. And when the
woman were precisely His rendering Samuel's appear- woman saw Samuel, she cried with a Ioud voice." Let
ance visible to her by opening her eyes. Seeing Samuel us take notice of the silence of the text regarding the
 she was amazed and terrified ; and she cried with a woman's operations or formulas of  conjuratibns which
loud voice. For what she saw she did not anticipate.        it was her custom to employ. It indicates that no
 It was her first and only experience of its kind. For sooner had she begun these operations, if she was al-


                                            T H E   S T A . N D A R D   BEA.RER                                              17

lowed to begin them at all, than the apparition of
Samuel appeared to her eye.                                                           S I O N ' S   Z A N G E N   -
   On the ground of the wrong assumption that the
woman evoked Samuel by her witchcraft, Calvin con-
cluded that it was not the real Samuel but a spectre
and Luther, that it was the devil's ghost. Tertullian                         Israel's Lief devolle H&land
regarded it as "a rivalry of truth to represent the soul
of Samuel when Saul enquired of the dead. Far be it                                      (Psalm 105; Vierde Deel)
from us to believe that the soul of any saint, much less                    Het laaste  vers, dat we behandelden de vorige maal,
a prophet, can be drawn forth by a demon." But,                         toen  we stilstonden bij dezen psalm, ging over het
certainly, the text by all that it says plainly excludes                vreemdelingzijn van Israel en dus ook van de kerke
the witch and the devil.                                                Christi  aller eeuwen. Ze waren  weinige menschen in
   The assumption that what the woman saw was a                         getale, en vreemdelingen in het Kansan  hetwelk .God
spectre effected by her devilish arts goes hand in hand                 hun beloofd had.
with the view that the revealer of the prophecy was                         Nu gaan we verder :
the devil. So Calvin, who remarks, "God sometimes
gives to devils the power of revealing secrets to us,                      "En wandelden van volk tot volk, van het B&e  konin-
which they have learned from God."                                      krijk tot een ander volk."
   3.) Finally, there is the objection that, in the                        In die weinige woorden hebt ge; eerst, de geschiede-
language of Luther "the raising of Samuel by a sooth-                   nis der aartsvaderen, Abraham, Izaak en Jakob. Zij
sayer or witch was certainly merely a spectre of the                    ervoeren dit letterlijk.      Nergens mochten zij thuis
devil . .  :  . because it was evidently in opposition to gevoelen. Steeds verder, steeds verder. Van Mesepo-
the command of God that Saul and the woman inquired tamie tot Haran,  van Haran  naar Egypte en dan weer
of the dead". But, in the language of Keil, "The pro- terug naar KanaHn. Voor Jakob werd het bang. Van
hibition of witchcraft does not preclude the possibility                Kansan tot Egypte en daar  -kwam  hij in  groote  be-
of God having, for His own special reasons, caused nauwdheid.en  vreeze. Maar God  dacht  aan Zijn  ver-
Samuel to appear." And the appearance of Samuel bond en redde hem met wonderteekenen. Hij voerde
itself and the seer's prophesying Saul's doom, showed hem uit door de Schelfzee en leidde hem door een hui-
to the witch and the king that the Lord's prohibitions lende wildernis. En  bracht hem uiteindelijk in het
cannot be trampled with impunity.                                       beloofde land.  Doch ook dat  Kansan  was het  eigen-
                                               G. M. Ophoff.            lijke, het wezenlijke Kanaln nog niet. Want men zon-
                                                                        digde en men verdierf het ook daar voor God. Er was
                                       .                          .,    veel gemengd volk in  .die bedeeling. Het aardsche
                                                                        Kanaln  leidde op door Woord en Geest naar het hemel-
                        I N   MEMGRIAM                                  sche  Kantin. En het ware  volk, heeft altijd David's,
                                                                        psalm gezongen. En dat hijgende volk dacht dan aan
    The  Roard of the Hope Prot. Ref. Christian School  hereby          het hemelsche  Kansan.  _
wishes to express its sympathy to our fellow board member,                  En zoo is het met U.
Mr. D. Kooienga, in the lass of his mother.                                 En zoo is het met allen  die de eeuwige liefde Gods
                    MRS. WM.  KOOIENGA                                  in `t harte hebben.
    May the Lord comfort the bereaved in the assurance of the               Die zeggen, die zingen,  die klagen en die juichen:
coming of Christ and the glory that follows.                            0 God, mijn God, God des eeuwigen Verbonds: wan-
                                       R. Newhouse, Pres.
                                                ^  -.                   neer zal  ik ingaan en voor Uw aangezicht  verschij-
                                       E. Howerzyl,  Sec'y.             nen?En ,Gods antwoord is dat Hlj hen opneemt in heer-
                                                                        lijkheid !
    The  ,Consistory  of the Hope Protestant Reformed Church                "Hij liet geen mensch toe hen te onderdrukken, ook'
of Grand Rapids, Michigan, wishes hereby to express its sym-            bestrafte Hij Koningen om hunnentwil, zeggend.e  : Tast
pathy to our fellow elder, D. Kooienga, ln the loss of his mother,      Mijn gezalfden niet  aan, en doet Mijnen Profeten geen'
                    MRS. WM.  KOOIENGA                                  kwaad."
whom we may believe the Lord took unto Himself.                             Dit vers klinkt vreemd.
                                                                         Hij liet geen mensch toe om hen te onderdrukken?
    May our Covenant Father comfort the bereaved with the               Wat moeten  we dan denken  van den schrijver aan de
truth of His Word, "Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord."        Hebr&n,  die van ditzelfde volk zegt : "en anderen
                            The Consistory .                            hebben bespottingen en geeselingen geleden,  en ook
                                    Rev. John  A.  Heys, Pres.          banden en gevangenis ; zijn gesteenigd geworden, in
                                    Mr. I. Korhorn, Secretary.          atukken gezaagd, verzocht, door het zwaard ter dood


                                     T H E   STANDARD   .BEARER                                                                  19

   Zonder die staf des broods val ik om, en geef den           -----
geest.                                                                               I N   H I S   F E A R ,
   Het brood is z&5 hoognoodfg  voor mijj: dat het als
een staf is die mij omhoog houdt, mij ondersteunt,,  en
verder doet wandelen op deze aarde.        8.`:                                       A Unified Living
    Doch, o wee, als  ,God   aan  `t  roepen  :gaat om den     `, .i
honger. Hij is het die de' dingen  die niet `zijn ro+t                  `"This one thing (I do)  "  s'ays Paul in Phil. 3  :13,
alsof ze  waren.  Er was geen honger. De zon  kocs-            "towards  the'goal,  I pursuefor the prize".                      :.
terde, de aarde was vochtig en rijk van stoffen tot den                 "One thing I'know" says the man born blind," that
groei van het zaad. Er waren, dag en, nacht die $5 whereas I was blind, now I see."                                  .
steeds openbaarden om mee te helpen , om brood ' &                      "One thing have I desired of the Lord" says the
mogen hebben. Er was wijsheid  om  telzaaien  en  te           psalmist in Ps. 27:4, "that will I seek after,+that  I may
oSgsten.  Maar God  Wilde het niet.  Hij;  greep   ergens      dwell  in,' the house of the Lord all the days of my
in ;.het  maakt weinig verschil waar. Soms+ bet zaad,          life".  .", .  '
soms in den regen of zonneschijn. Hij  dsod  bet  zaad                  Many a person's life is like a stream that divides
verrotten van te veel regen of verbrandenvan te' veel          itself into thousands of little currents, spreads itself
hitte. Soms  kwamen'  er groote watervloeden dic'zelfs
                                                          I    over the marsh and ends in,becoming  a filthy pool. r ,No
het land meenamen.                                             .unified  living; no unity in thinking and willing and
    Het is zelfs gebeurd, dat er graan was en te over,         striving.                                                   s'
doch dat es evenwel millioenen .van menschen war en                     I wonder how much the communion of  sain@ is
die door den van God  geroepenhonger   omkwamen.               practised  when the congregation goes home,, from
Het is gebeurd, dat er hongersnood was in China, en            church and on Monday the members go each to his
dat de menschen stierven, alhoewel er genoeg  graan            work?. + `I wonder how much, in all their labors and
vnor hen was in andere'deelen van de aarde. Er ken             striving; and toiling and sweating they are UNITED
uitgerekend  worden  hoeveel honderd-duizenden in&- in seeking ONE thing?
ten sterven, en waarom? Er was geen middel van ver-                     In Ps.' 86  :ll there is the prayer : "Unite my heart
voer, dat toereikend was om genoeg `graan  bij  :de            to fear Thy Name."
hongerigen te  brengen..    En we hebben  *de  plaatjes                 Unite my heart.
gexien van uitgeteerde kinderkens die  langs de  wcgen                  Then there is unified living in your personal life.
lagen in China. In de onmetelijke achterhoeken  `van                    Then life becomes: ONE thing I do, ONE thing
China en van 1ndK zijn geen spoorwegen die ijlings             I know,,ONE  thing I desire.
de graan-rijkdom zouden vervoeren.
    God kan overal  ingrijpen op den weg waarlangs het                       t  I           Confusion.                                 `>
brood naar Uw maag komt. En dan  roe@ Hij een                     ' Confusion characterizes many lives. It character-
honger in het land.                                            izes also much of our life. Instead of a God-and-life
    In dit vers is het de honger geweest in, Egypte.           view that unites life, we either live aimlessly or we
Als kind hebben .we gehoord van de vette en schrale            divide life into various ambitions and we wear out our
koeien en aren in den droom van Farao.                         lives attempting to realize our various ambitions. Per-
    Maar God  Wilde een groot volk  ,in het leven  be-         haps life is divided so that part of the time we do one
houden.    Daar was Israel-Jakob. En die zijn Zijn thing, then we do another, then still another and there
volk. En in hunne lendenen is Christus, voor zoo veel is no unity in the whole of our doing.
het vleesch aangaat. Zij  moeten gered  worden..  En                     Some people live aimlessly. They have  no' one
de honger die God riep, mitsgaders de uitredding door ambition. in life, nor any ONE goal, but they simply
Zijn knecht Jozef,  zal .zijn om het volk te toonen hoe live as live will. They go from one day to the other
liefdevol hun Heiland is. Is dat niet het hoofdthema without having any definite aim in life.
van dezen psalm?                                                         Some people live carnally. They most surely have
                               3                   G. Vos.     an ambition, but their ambition comes within the
                                                               vicious and hopeless circle of which Solomon speaks
                                                               in his Ecclesiastes. In their lives there is one thing
                                                               they do, one thing they know and one thing they desire,
                                                               but the tragedy is that the unifying principle of their
                                                    `"
                  CLASSIS  E A S T                             life is the spirit of the antichrist. After all, thenatural
                                                               man always in one way or the other is living. out of
will meet  in  regular session Wednesday, October 6, at and unto this antichrist. In antichrist they will finally
9 o'clock A. M., at the First Prot Ref. Church of Grand        %lnd their organization.
Rapids.                      D. Jonker, Stated Clerk.                    Some people live divided lives, that is, you may call


i0                                           T H E   tSTANDARD   B E A R E R

them one-day-in-the-week Christians. They imagine                 some other aim. God says: ALL, nothing less than
that Sunday (in that sense) is different from all the             all.
other days, consequently they presume that they ought                     And where was there one who came with his ALL?
to do entirely different things on-  Smday than on                Not among men. Scripture repeatedly pictures to us
Monday. On Sunday they presume to do one thing,                   the life history of saints, who served well as far as it
on Monday they are engaged in something entirely                  went, but failed in coming to a unified life. Look
different. Besides, their day is divided into a pursuit           across the life of an Abraham, dn Isaac, a Jacob, a
of various goals.  Or perhaps they attempt to serve               Moses, a David, and you discover that sin has marred
two masters. And thus we get divided living.                      the unity.
          A little ways down the road of this ,divided  living            Who but Jesus Christ the perfect Servant of God,
lies also hypocrisy.                                    \         lived a unified life? None. Never` did He do anything
          In Luke 16 93. Jesus tells us "the sons of this age     but this ONE thing: serving, obeying, humbling Him-
are in their generation more prudent than the sons of             self before God. The birds of the air might have time
light". "I"he children of this world are prudent. They            to sit on nests, the foxes of the field have time to creep
do not lead divided and confused lives. `They prudently in their holes and rest, but the Son of God hath no time
put everything into use so that they attain their pur-            to rest. He loved God with ALL His heart and mind
pose. They set themselves a goal and then press every-            and soul and strength, every day, every moment.
thing into service to reach that goal. Take for instance                  Jesus Christ is not merely our example, as Modern-
the matter of entertainment. Time was when the                    ism would present it. Christ is our Saviour  Who re-
carnal man had to go to a theatre to see a movie. To-             deems us from the vanity of sin, from the curse of
day there are these mighty open air theatres where                judgment.        Through His Spirit He renews us, He
you can leisurely drive your car into the parking lot,            anoints us, we became Christians. . . .prophets,  priests
remain in your automobile and enjoy the screen. Or                and kings unto God.
they have. television for you, so you can remain at                       These pray "Unite my heart to the fear of Thy
home and with a single turn of the button indulge in              Name".
in the Hollywood corruption. The children of this                         Unite our living. May it be organized, its issues,
world are prudent. They set themselves a goal and                 its inclinations, its ambitions, may they be integrated.
then they keep their eyes fixed on that goal and ever                     God and His service becomes the `unifying element
move in the direction of it.                                      in `our oft' times so divided living. Serve God, obey
                                                                  God, discern His will in whatsoever you do, resist evil,
          How much communion of saints is there after the
congregation goes home from church? How much are flee from wickedness.
they a "union" in that they seek the things which are                     The difficult and practical problem remains of how
                                                                  you shall serve this -ONE purpose in the particular
above and serve  the. Lord as prophets, priests and
kings?, How much is there on Sunday nights, after                 work which you  `are doing at present. Your work
: 17.P                                                            must be a legitimate one, one of which God can ap-
           service ends, how much on Mondays, how much
during the rest of the week? How much do the saints               prove. You must do your work honestly. But even
.worship God .and, serve1 him when one is in the hay-             then the ever present danger is there that you lose
field, another in the factory, another driving a truck,           sight of the service of God, and become perhaps what
                                                                  the natural man next to you is, a mere toiler. God has
another teaching school? How much, in other words,
are we all doing ONE thing, seeking a goal?                       by His grace raised us up to the high position of ser-
                                                                  pice, let us be aware of it, and engage in it, no-matter
          Apply this also to our personal lives. We  &al1         what our particular work may be. Some are giving
have to bewail our sins before the Face of Him Who                eye-service ; others are pleasers of men,, others toil
sees the whole of our life. Sin has brought about                 for the things which pass away. May we know our-
confusion, division, transgression. There is present              selves raised into, the glory state of the service of
the "I would" of Romans 7 but there is also the lament                                                               .-
                                                                  God.
"what I would I do not."                                                  But then we must pursue this service all along the
                          - Organization.                         lines of our different octiupations.  Are you a lawyer,
                                                                  a doctor, a minister, a factory worker, a chimney
          The Law comes and says: thou shalt love the Lord        sweep, the grace of God has redeemed us from vanity
thy Cod with all thy heart, all thy soul, all thy strength        and given us a position in His service. Let us practise
and all, thy mind; Notice that expression ALL thy that service.
heart, ALL thy soul, ALL thy mind and ALL thy                             When God looks down from heaven, how much
strength.         God requires unified living. He disdains        does He see the" saints everywhere, doing this ONE
the attempt to serve two masters. He curses them thing?
who attempt to give God "part time" and the rest to                                                          M. Gritters.


                                     TH.E  S T A N D A R D   .BEARER                                                          21:

                                                         I    passes and sins. Even that is possible.with  God. He
               FROM HOLY WRIT -^                              speaks, implanting new life in the heart of the. dead
                                                              sinner. This is regeneration in the. narrower. sense.
                                                              But He also speaks through His Word, converting the
             The Mouth Of The Lord                            heart, so that  the:life~of  regeneration manifests itself.
                                                              in repentance, confession of sin and  .a sorrowing after
 * In this brief essay we can only hope to sketch             God. In fact, the voice  .of God through the means  bf
                                                              the preaching of. the Word always remains a power
 briefly the wide and varied implications' of the rich
concept "the mouth of the Lord". We are dealing               unto  saIvation to all believers.  Dem.  8:3. And even
 once more with an anthropomorphism, just as when as God raised <Christ  from the dead. by, the, word of
 we speak of God's face or eyes. God is a Spirit and          His power, so He shall also raise our mortal bodies
                                                              into the likeness of Christ's glorious body in the day
 is not made up of substance as we are, yet. our earthly                                                                *I
 substance carries a reflection of His -divine perfec- of His coming.                                                 I  i     . .
 tions, so that we can know what it means that God               3. The mouth of the Lord is therefore powerful,
 sees, hears and speaks. Again we must, remember efficacious, doing  all His good pleasure. Is. 55 : 10, 11,
 that God's mouth is divine, even as His face and His "For as the rain  cometh down and the snow from,
 eyes.      God's mouth is divinely sovereign, almighty,      heaven,  and returneth not thither, but watereth the
 eternal, immutable, filled with knowledge and wisdom, earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may
 holiness and righteousness grace and truth. And most give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: so shall
 intimately related to the mouth of the Lord is the My word be that goeth forth out of My mouth : it shall
 voice  that proceeds from it, and the word that is not return unto Me void but it shall accomplish that
 spoken.                                                      which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing where-
                                                              to I sent it."                                    I,
 "And  God said . . . ."                                      "And they heard the voice 
    A. We note, first of all, that the mouth of the                                       of the Lord God . . . ."
 Lord is a channel of power, from which the almighty,            B. The second main thought that we should note is,
 efficacious word of the Lord proceeds.                       that God's mouth is the channel of revelation.
    1. It is of more than passing significance that God          1.  `All the works of providence are God's voice
 created ail things by the word of His mouth. Not, for speaking to us continually. This could not possibly be
 example, simply by His `hands', but by His spoken expressed more beautifully than is done in Ps. 29  :25;
 word; Gen.  1:3, "And God said, Let there be light;          `7-9, "Give unto the Lord the glory due unto His name:
 and there was light". And again, Ps.  33:6, "By the worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. The,voice
 ,word  of the Lord were the heavens made ; and all the       of the Lord is upon the waters: for the *God of glory
 host of them by the breath of His mouth."                    thundereth : The voice of the Lord is powerful ;" the
    In this connection it is sufficient to merely mention voice of the Lord is full of majesty. The voice `of the
 that creation is an act of the triune God, involving all Lord breaketh the cedars ; yea,. the Lord breaketh the
 three persons of. the holy trinity. For creation is by cedars of Lebanon . . . . The voice of the Lord  divid-*
 the Son, the Logos, the Word. John  l:l, 3, "In the          eth the flames of fire. The voice of the Lord shaketh
 beginning was the Word, and the Word with with God, the wilderness of `Kadesh. The voice of the Lord  mak-
 and the Word was God. . . .  .A11 things were made           eth the hinds to calve, and discovereth the forests: and
 by Him ; and without Him was not anything made that          in His temple doth every one speak of His glory."'  `!`s:"
 was made." Likewise, creation is the work of the Holy           2. God also reveals Himself in grace to His people
 Spirit, the Breath of God's mouth, for "the Spirit of by the word of His mouth. He spoke directly to Adam.
 God moved upon the face of the waters." Gen. 1:2.            As we read particularly after the fall, Gen. 3:8-10,
    2. Moreover, recreation is also by the almighty,          "And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking
 efficacious word of God. John  5:25,  "Verily, verily,       in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and
 I say unto you, the hour is coming, and now is when his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord
 the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and         God amongst the trees of the garden. And the Lord
 they that hear shall live." It is true, that the `Son of God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art
 God' in this passage is the Christ, the Servant of God,      thou? And he said, I heard Thy voice in the garden,
 Who is given power to quicken the dead because of His        and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid
 meritorious suffering and death on the cross. Yet myself ." In the same manner God spoke to Noah;
 the Christ is called the Son of Cod, just exactly be-        Gen. 6 :13, to Abraham, Gen.' 15 :l, to Jacob, Gen.  31:3;
 cause He is endued with divine power. His voice has to Moses, Numbers  7:89, and also to Israel from Sinai
 the power to create, to raise Lazarus from the dead,         at the giving of the law, Deut. 4 :12. Especially this
 but also to quicken the sinner who is dead in  tres-         last passage is significant because in the context Moses

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

assures Israel that there is no God like unto their God,      lows upon it. aGod's commandments are often called
and there is no nation that is so great upon all the          "His judgments". Ps.  119:12, 13. No man can sin
earth as that people that hears the voice of their God.       against the voice of the Lord God with impunity. No
Verse 12, "And the Lord spake unto you out of the             more than any one can take a dose of poison without
midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words,           suffering the dire consequences.      Obedience always
but saw no similitude; only a voice." And verse 33            carries away the divine approval, while disobedience
adds, "Did ever people hear the voice of God speaking         carries death and desolation in its wake. And that
out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, and         without exception ! Therefore no man, except those
live?" We shall have occasion to refer to this passage who are redeemed by the blood of the cross, can ever
again in this essay.                               i -, 9     hear the voice of God and live. God's law always
      God also spoke through the prophets. They' `were        curses them. We need but be reminded once more of
as His mouth to the people. Jer. 15                           that passage in Deut.  4:33, "Did ever people hear the
                                        :19. And in these
last days God has spoken to us through His Son, Jesus         voice of ,God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as
Christ, from heaven, Whose Spirit filled the apostles.        thou hast heard, and live?" Therefore, "the Lord shall
Heb. 1  :l, 2, "God, Who at sundry times and in divers        roar out of Zion; and utter His voice from Jerusalem ;
manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the            and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the
prophets, hath in these last days spoken `unto us by Lord will be the hope of His people, and the strength
His Son, Whom He hath appointed heir of all things,           of the children of Israel." See also Heb. 12 :26-28.
by Whom also He made the world." Note here that "The mouth of the Lord  hath spoken it."
this speaking through the Son is brought in connection           Finally' we should notice that God's mouth is the
with the creation of the world by the word of God's           channel of promise for His people.
power. Therefore also this speaking is powerful, effi-
cacious.                                                         There is a very interesting passage in the prayer
                                                              of Solomon at the dedication of the temple in Jeru-
      3. In this connection it is important to note, that     salem, 1 Kings 8 :23,24, where he utters, "Lord God of
God reveals Himself as the sovereign God, Whose Word          Israel, there is no God like Thee, in heaven above, or
is His law, which must certainly be obeyed.                   on earth beneath Who keepeth covenant and mercy
      Ps.  103:20, "Bless the Lord, ye His angels, that       with Thy servants that walk before Thee with all their
excel in strength, that do His conunandments,  hearken- heart: who  h&t kept with Thy servant David my                           .
ing unto the voice of His Word." It need. har@?,:,.:b,e       father that Thou promisedst him: Thou spakest also
said, that we have here a Hebrew parallelism, where with Thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with Thine hand,
the last part of the sentence interprets the foregoing,       as it is this day."
The expression `hearkening to the voice of His word'             l.:+This passage speaks particularly of God's prom-
expresses what it means to `do His comman~ntd,,               ise to His servant David, spoken with His mouth. In
He who keeps God's commandments hearkens  ; to  His           a broader sense, #God's  promises hold for all His people
voice in obedience. This same idea is found& ,Exodus,         in Christ. Unconditionally God promises all the bless-
.15  :26, "And (the Lord) said, If thou wilt  .diligently,    ings of  ,His covenant upon that people. As for example
hearken to the voice of the Lord  .thy God, and: wilt  :do    in Is. ,58 :14, "Then shalt thou delight thyself in the
that which is right in His sight,:~and wilt give ear to Lord ; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places
His commandments, and keep His statutes, I will put of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob
none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought        thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it."
upon the Egyptians: For I am the Lord that healeth            Or again, as in Mic. 4 :4, "But they shall sit every man
thee."                                               A        under his vine and under his fig tree ; and none shall
      We should pause here a moment to notice the pas- make them afraid: for the mouth of the Lord of hosts
sage in Ps. 95 :7, "For He is our God : and we are the        hath spoken it."                                              .
people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand.                ;2. Notice also that this is the final court of appeal,
Today if ye will hear His voice, harden not your heart,       the end of all dispute, that the mouth of the Lord hath
as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation spoken it. God's word is as sure as His oath, for He
in the f ilderness." It should be beyond dispute that         is the sovereign, immutable, ever faithful God, Who
`His voice' here as elsewhere cannot possibly mean ?a         keeps covenant forever. His promise can never fail.
voice of divine entreaty, as if God offers His salvation         That is the firm conviction of the believer in the
promiscuously to all men, but is the voice of  HQzom-         midst of all the confusion and unrest in a world of
mand. Today that voice must be obeyed, or today  .we darkness and the lie. Isaiah 40 :5, "And the glory of
stand guilty of transgression.                                the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it
      There is also a strong affinity between God's:law       together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it."
and His verdict of approval or condemnation that fol:                                                    C. Hanko.


                                      T H E - S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                         23

                                                            Lord's Supper, where we read: "Therefore, we also,
                   P E R I S C O P E                        according to the command of Christ and the Apostle
                                                            Paul, admonish all those who are defiled with the fol-
?                                                   .       lowing sins, to keep themselves from  ,the table of the
I/niversal Military  T,raining.                             Lord, and declare to them that they have no part in the
                                                            kingdom of Christ; such as all idolaters, . . . . all those
     From a daily newspaper we quote the ,following  :      who are given to raise discord, sects and mutiny in
     "Three hundred Protestant ministers and leaders        Church or State . . . ." Certainly to refuse to hear
urged the youth of America Tuesday to refuse to             the voice of the government in such instances as regis-
register for the draft and if already in the armed          tering for the draft is an act of rebellion, and to give
services to resign.                                         this advice and counsel to countless numbers of our
     "The statement was issued under the address of young men who face this situation must fall under the
the Fellowship of Reconciliation, which binds its mem- same heading and is to be condemned. The Consistory
bers to refuse to participate in any war.,                  of the Second Reformed  <Church  of Kalamazoo, Michi-
     "As the early Christian refused to offer a pinch gan should place Rev. Dame under censure and refuse
of `incense to Caesar's image, so we believe Christian him admittance unto the table of the Lord until he
youth in the United States should-refuse to grant even, repents of' this action. '
                                                             ., 0
the token recognition of registration to this contempor-    W h e r e   N o w ?
ary evil, which means disaster for their country and
their church," the statement said.                                   "In the ,Grace Church (formerly the First Protest-
     "Among signers were Henry H. Crane, Central            ing Christian Reformed. Church of Kalamazoo,  Michi-
                                                            gan-J.H.) the Rev. George Gritter carries on in the
Methodist Church, Detroit . . . . Also `signing were
Rev. C. P. Dane,  Second  Reformed Church of  Kalu-         midst of difficmties  brought about by a small group.
                                                            We regret to report that all efforts on the part of the
ma200 . . .  ."                                             consistory and the special committee appointed by
     As we read this we were filled with amazement!         Classisto bring about a peaceful solution have failed.
Certainly we expect such statements from members of On;Suhday, July 25, the membership of the eighteen
the Society of Friends (Quakers), Jehovah's Witnesses protestants who appealed to Synod was declared term-
etc. ,One could' reasonably expect something like this      inated as decided by Synod." From  Th,e  Banwr  of
in modern church circles where the brotherhood of           September 1'7, Kalamazoo and Vicinity, by Edward
man has been substituted for the atoning death of B. Pekelder.
*Christ as the heart of the church's instruction. But                If we understand this correctly it must mean that
how anyone .who claims to be Reformed can take the          Rev.  H. Danhof and the few families who with him
stand outlined is beyond our understanding in view of appealed to the last Synod of the Christian Reformed
such texts as Romans 13 : l-7, of which we shall quote      Churches have been cut off from the Grace Christian
only the first two and the last verses: "Let every soul     Reformed Church of Kalamazoo.
be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no                   We placed the title "Where Now" above this article
power but of God ; the powers that be are ordained of as a serious question. Unsatisfied with independent
God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power,  re-          existence, unable to live in the communion of the
sisteth the ordinance of God; and they that resist shall    Christian Reformed Churches, where now? Perhaps
receive to themselves damnation . . . . Render there--      it is time for Rev. Danhof and his followers to face
fore to all their dues; tribute to whom tribute'is due,     once again the possibility of reunion with the Pro-
custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour testant Reformed IChurches, but then, of course, in the
to whom honour." Or to quote the words of Christ            proper way.
from Matthew 22  :21: "Render,therefore  unto Caesar
the things which are Caesar,`s ;&nd unto God the things "Qrthodox  Presbyterian Statistics".
which are God's. Or in the light of the instruction                  "According' to information from the General Secre-
of John the Baptist as we find it in Luke 3 : 14 : "And     tary of the Committee on Home Missions, statistics for
the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And          the year ending March 31, 1948, show that the mem-
what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence bership of The Orthodox Presbyterian Church has for
to no man, neither accuse any falsely ; and be content      the first time passed the eight thousand mark. Total
with your wages."                                           membership reported was 8,006, of which 5,922 are
     However, from a practical point of view this is not communicants, and the rest baptized children. The
yet the most serious. We' realize, .of course, that Rev.    total increase was 434,. a gain of nearly six percent
Dame would probably attempt to interpret the above over the previous year.                       .a.
texts  differently.than  we do. We would therefore call              "Contributions for both general fund and benevol-
his attention to the Form for the Administration of the ences increased by about 9 percent over the previous


       24                                       !  .THE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

      year, while contributions for building funds  decreaskd              of their like, not to mention the Hollywood movies
      by about 15 percent. Total  cdntributions  amounted which are an offspring of the same family.
       to $450,000, and the average contribution per corn-                        ". . . . We are `old fogies' and reactionarie's  if we
      municant member was $76.76.                                          r&St this particular snare of the evil one. I earnestly
             "The denomination has `72 organized churches and rcqucst those who think they must  haye plays to busy
       a number. of -groups in the process of organization.                themselves  in some worth-while activity in God's  king-
       Only one church has over 500 members, while three                   clam. There is; for instance, a crying need for  en-
      others have over 400. Two Sunday Schools have 400                    Chusiasm in all our church society-life.  Let us build
       members each. Total Sunday School enrollment is something worth-while  on our existing foundations
     7,309."~From  the,  Presbyterian   Guardtilt,   Aug. 1945.            before  we, adopt other foundations and institutions of
                                                                           dubious value."                                                       ,
       "The Danger of Complacency."                                                                                             J. Howerzyl.
             "A Christian is on dangerous ground when he be-                                                          -
      `comes complacent, for complacency is a form of. pride.
       This  htilds true for institutions and organizations.                                              IN MEMORIAM
             "Risking the danger of the, displeasure of some,                     It pleased our heavenly Father to take from us unto Himself
       we are however constrained to say that in our judg- on September 7, 1948 our beloved wife, mother, grandmother,
       ment this is one of the greatest weaknesses of some                 great-grandmother and sister,
      .of our work. . . I.
             "We believe that Christians face a constant warfare                               MRS. WM. KOOIENGA (nee Visser)
       and.,no  soldier can safely become indifferent to his at the age of 68 years and 8 months.
       .enemy.  So the maintaining  ..dfQXristian life and                                                      Mr. William Kooienga
       standards, requires an ever constant infilling with                                                      Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Kooienga
      sl$ritual food and power.                :       i                                                        Mr. and Mrs. Henry Kooi&ga
             "To that end we individual. Christians, Christian                                                  Mr. and Mrs. Dick Kooienga
       Schools and Christian organizations, need this refresh-                                                  Mr. and Mrs. Edward Kooienga
       ing from above., Without it our witness becomes                                                          Mr. and Mrs. Arie Ponstein
       stiperficial, stereotyped and devoid of spiritual power.                                                 Mr. and Mrs. Martin Wustman
       :A,form of godlin&&  may persist but,without  spiritual                                                  Mr. and Mrs. John Lanning
       reality.                                                                                                 Mr. and Mrs. Wilbur Kooienga
             "Humility will banish  cdmplacency  and turn us                                                    Brothers: William and Peter Visser
       ,b&k to the heart-searching before God which brings                                                        29 Grandchildren
       ,revival  and blessing."-From the August 2nd number Grand Rapids, Michigan.                                l. Great-Grandchild.
       of, The Southern Presbyter&  Journal.

       "Drainatic   ` F e v e r " - 2 .   .
             From "Voices in the Church" in  The Banner  of                             CONSISTORIES  - ATTENTION
       August 6, we take over part of an article signed by D.              l      I have sent the Acts of the Synod of 1948 to all our
             "It is not at all surprising that our circles  .are           consistories . If you have received an extra copy,
       ,breaking out with a "rash" of plays or theatricals of              please sell it and send the money to the undersigned.
       late. "ro.me it seems just another manifestation of the                    And may I urge every consistory to appoint one of
       yearning for forbidden fruit.                 `Oh yes,' we piously its members as agent to sell the Acts and Yearbook of
       prate, `our young people must have some fun too.'                   1948. I am sure every one of our families would like
       Has it come to the point where our entertainment must               to:have  a copy. Price $1.00. There are also a-number
       be for fun only and that we must imitate the world                  of Church Orders left which sell for $1.00. '
       ,in these, matters?                                                                           I
             "Then Ed hear some one say; `Must we not use our                                                   D. Jonker, ,Stated  Clerk
       talents for our mutual benefit and edification, and to                                                   1210 Wealthy St., S. .&.
       `the honor:  .and glory of God?! By all means ! Our                                                      Grand Rapids 6, Mic&an.
                                                                                                                                          17.
       .greatest  .mnsical  compositions, our great masterpieces                                           -               -               L
       pf art were produced by men who expressed their deep-                                    :
       est. religious feelings. Can-. tpe same be -said of the             When one thinks of the similarity between the world
       field of plays or  theatricals  ? . . . .  1. do not think          and the church it is necessary to remember that the
                                                                           world has not become more Christian ; - Christians
       anyone' will be so naive as to try and defend the                   have become more worldly.-Vance  Havner';  quoted
       present-day crop of dramatists, playwrights, and others                  in The Banner.                                            ,.
                                                                                         -.
I


                                                                                                            .--
                                                                                                           ICI-P
VOLUME XXV                              October -15,1948  - Grand Rapids, Mich.                            NUMBER 2
                                                                tongue. That is our conviction, even though not once
                                                                the-name of the devil or of Satan is used in these
      MEDITA.T,ION*                                             chapters.
                                                         _.        The Holy Bible says: Now the serpent was more
 Enmity l3etwee.n Seed and Seed subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God
                                                                had made. And in subsequent texts where mention is
                                                                made of the history of the temptation and the fall of
          "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman,    man, not once is the name of the devil mentioned. It
          and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise    is the serpent who spoke and tempted, and it is to the
          thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."            serpent that the words of the above text is addressed.
                                              Genesis  3:15.
                                                        _.         And still we, know that the serpent was the devil's
   And God saw everything that He had made, and,                mouthpiece.
behold, it was very good !                                         Read Revelation  12:9 and  20:2. Especially the
   Oh yes, it was very good ! Everything that He had former text is illuminating. There we read: And the
made was very good! What a most wondrously har- great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the
monious picture that must have been ! Man in the Devil, `and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world. . . .
midst of' the things which God had made, walking with              There we learn that the actual, created serpent
his God, knowing Him in the cool of the day !                   which really spoke within the hearing of Eve, was
   The world sings today that "there is a song in my nothing but an instrument in the hand of the devil, to
heart !" Do not believe it! There is no. song in, his tempt man, and to make him fall away from the living
heart today. ,There  is the dirge and the melancholy            God: We say this not as though the spoken word of
wail in his heart. But in that day when the Lord had God does not find fulfilment,  to a degree, ,in the serpent
made the heavens and the earth, yes, then there was,a           who was used by the devil for his awful work of temp-
song in his heart and, he was supremely happy.                  tation, for the contrary is true. God did address the
   God was his great Friend, and he was a friend of serpent first of all. *That is  plain from the foregoing ,
God. He loved Him with all his heart and mind and               verse where the Lord sentenced the serpent to a per- '
soul and strength. All that Adam and Eve did in                 petual curse "above all cattle, and above every beast of
Paradise was an expression of that love.                        the field." Moreover, we read in the same verse that
 And with him, the whole creation shared in the                 the curse of God found expression in this, that he would
great jubilation., The animals were also happy. The             have to go "upon his belly, eating  dust all the days of,
whole animal world found there calling  In, serving man,        his life." And this curse was consummated and is con-
so that he in his turn might serve God. The trees and summated continually in. the history of the world.
the flowers and the grass, with all  ,created things                The same is true of the enmity which God has put
around them, were as many servants of man so that between the serpent and the woman. with her seed.
he might be the better equipped to serve his God.               There is an universal hatred against all snakes.
   Qh yes, .man in the midst of a beautiful creation               ..And,  finaily, the text also emphasizes that the end
was supremely happy.                                            of the serpent shall be that the seed of  the woman shall
                        *  9  *  *                              crush his head. And that is fulfilled also. The snake
   But a dark shadow crept out of hell and covered will always try, and `in many cases succeed,, to crush
this picture of light and of joy with a melancholy pall, the heel of the woman and her seed. The-stealthy at-
blotting out all joy and gladness in the whole earth.           tack of the snake in the grass has become proverbial. ~
    The devil came into Paradise to wag his lying But the seed always crushes the head of the serpent

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

     in the most literal way. It is the only correct way to is Eve, our first mother.  And@ to hate the devil is
     deal with the whole race of snakes.                           principally to love God. You cannot love  "God  and not
              But that is not all.                                 hate the devil, and conversely, you cannot hate the
              The snake and the serpent and the old dragon are devil and not love God. The one- postulates the other.
     the devil and Satan. And the woman with her seed The service of God is antithetical.
     hate that devil. And that hatred, that enmity is divine-         And if you ask me how the Lord put enmity in the
     ljr             put.             ;.:                          heart  of'Eve against the devil, then the answer is easy':
              There is a. perpetual enmity between the woman       God put the love of God  ,in her heart through `His Word
     and her seed on the one hand, and the devil and his           and His Holy Spirit.
     seed on the other.                                               And that results in two things.
       :".                       * *  rit  *                          First, if you have the love of God in your heart,
              "And 1 will put enmity between thee and the wo- you will hate all that is evil. And, remember, that is
     man, and between thy seed and her seed !"                     so in the absolute sense of the word: atl evil. There is
             That, beloved reader, is the everlasting Gospel of no evil which a man loves who has the love of God in
     our Covenant God ! Look at the picture of the erstwhile his heart. And the reason is clear. ,God  hates all evil,
     harmonious Paradise, after the devil has done his hell- and so His child hates all evil. There is no exception
     ish work  !- Man, created in God's image and likeness,        to the rule that God hates evil, is there? At once your
     placed into covenant communion of friendship and love heart and mind answers : No! The same holds true
     with his God, is fallen away from Him, who is the             of the child of God who has the love of God spread
*    Source of heavenly glee and jubilation.                       abroad in his heart through the Holy Ghost that is
           Neither is he neutral with respect to God. He has given unto him or her. And, incidentally, that is the
     made a very careful covenant with hell and the devil.         reason why John says that whosoever is born of God
     His slave he is and will be after the successful tempta- sinneth not, for he cannot sin;
     tion. He is an enemy of God, and his seed will be the            Second, if you have the love of God in your heart,
     same. And we note the enmity at once. When God                the devil will hate you. .And the reason is clear: the
     comes to him in His*great  mercy, and says : Where art        devil hates goodness. And also here, there are no ex-
     thou? he crawls away into the underbrush and hides            ceptions to the rule. Are you a child of God? Then
     himself from the light and the love of God. When God the devil hates you with a cruel hatred. And he hates
     takes him to task for his disobedience, he accuses God:       you, not so much because you are you, but only because
     the woman whom Thou guvest to be with me! When he smells God in you, he tastes God in you, he hears
     the woman is addressed and accused of her evil, she           and sees and feels God in you. And *God he hates, and
     says : .The serpent beguiled me ! There is no honesty God he would like to murder, and God he will murder
     or uprightness left in their inmost heart. Instead, on the cruel cross in the fulness of time.
     they should have said : We have sinned against Thee !            Hence, to have enmity put in your heart by God
     We are guilty and we have deserved nothing but to be          is the most blessed Gospel of God. I am glad I hate
     cast away forever from Thy love and from Thy grace !          the devil, and that he hates me. For it is proof that I
              But they are filled with enmity against God.         have the love of God in my heart, and that I hate evil,
              They are of the party of the evil, and have become even the devil, .who is the very embodiment of evil.
     his spiritual children. And from-that time on, all they          Oh the boon of having enmity against the devil
     can do is, produce offspring of the same kind, with this      divineIy  put into one's heart!
     difference that they will make it worse from year to                                  4 `*  *  *
     year and from generation to generation, until the                "And between thy seed and her seed  !"
     wholly logical seed will be produced in the end of the           Thy seed refers to the children' of the devil.
     ages: the Antichrist! The foul seed of sin which our             You ask: how can the devil have offspring? Well,
     first parents sowed calls for the fouler fruit of the         he cannot have real, natural offspring, for he is a
     Man of sin who will sit in the temple of God in the end spirit, and spirits do not marry and have sexual life.
     of the ages, proudly proclaiming that he is God!                 But the Lord God here speaks of spiritual children.
              Indeed, there is enmity in the heart of man, but it And Jesus affirms it. Said He: "You are of your
     is enmity against  ,God!                                      father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do.
                                 * * *  *                          He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not
              But God said: "And I will put enmity between thee in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When
     and the woman !                                               he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a
              That means that Eve went to. heaven. If you ever liar and the father of it." This Scripture is very
     are required to produce proof for the contention that illuminating with respect to the subject matter at hand.
     Eve is saved, you will find it here. God placed enmity If you are a natural son or daughter of Eve, you are
     against the devil in the heart of the woman, and that conceived of the devil, and the sphere of that concep-


                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                       .
               .^"                                                                                     a                 27

tion is the sphere of the lie. So that the product,is  the ity. He wanted to unite all things in Christ, the Seed
foul product of the lie.                                      of all seeds.
   And that is true of all of us, as we are by nature.            And so the Lord God placed enmity in Jesus' heart
Can anyone produce the clean out of the unclean? No,          against the devil like in no other. And how He hated
not one. We are all children of the devil by nature,          the devil. Wherever He smelled him; Jesus said: Get
and therefore we are all liars from our birth.  And. thee behind me, Satan !                 -
the principal lie is this : God is no God ! There is no           Blessed enmity against the devil. It spells the love
God. But to the contrary: I am God and there. is no           of God. In Christ Jesus the Lord !
other God besides me. But the seed of the woman re-                                   *  * *  *
ceive the love of God in their heart, become regener-             "It shall bruise thy head!"                      `t
ated and converted, receive the image of the heavenly             Yes, that means historically first of all that we
in their heart and mind and soul, become in a sense hate the whole ,race of snakes and that we crush their
Godlike, certainly the sons of God! There is all the          heads. We said as much a while ago. But its fulfil-
difference.                                                   ment came in the fulness of time. Hatred against the
    Incidentally, note that the seed of the woman re-         devil was never revealed as when Jesus took the devil
ceive the enmity against the evil in their heart, put         and crushed his head on. Calvary.
there of God! Later, people would quarrel about what              The head is representative of the mind, the counsel,
the seed receive. Some say: God offers to put the en-         the planning brain. And the plan of the devil is known
mity there. Others say: God promises to put the               to us. He would remove God from His Throne and
enmity there. Still others: you may put it there your-        put himself in His place. And, consequently, he would
self. But the text says : And 1 will put enmity between       destroy God's kingdom on earth; he would replace God
. . . . thy seed and her seed ! Here is the only war- as the King of His created people, and become in His
ranted conclusion: if you want to put content into the stead the Prince of this world.
phrase: the seed of the woman, you will have to say:             But Jesus breaks this head, crushes this counsel of
those that are or will be regenerated, in other `words,       the devil, and brings it to nought. First, He restores
the elect. I am curious to know what could ever be said and exalts the revealed covenant communion. between
against this. God simply says: I will put enmity be-          God and man to heavenly heights. He does so by tak-
tween thy seed, that is, the devil's children, and her ing the sin of Adam and of the seed of the woman on
seed, that is, God's children who receive the love of God His own head and pays for it. And further He fulfills
in their heart. God does not say : I will put that blessed the law of God, and does it so intensively that they'for
enmity against the devil in your heart, provided you whom He labored are ,brought very closely to the .heart
believe on Me or on Christ! But He says: I will put of God.
enmity in your heart, and therefore you believe ! Be-             Second, He earns the right of the judgment of the
lieving on God in Christ is the proof that the enmity is      devil and of all his seed. The Lord God told Him this:
put there. Wonderfully comfortable doctrine !                 Sit Thou at My right hand, until I shall make Thy
                         * *  *  *                            enemies Thy footstool. Oh yes, the head of the Serpent
   ". . . . . and her seed".                                  is crushed. ,           *  *  *  *
    Yes, that is the offspring of God throughout all the          ". . . . and thou shalt bruise his heel."
ages. That is the Church of God, the number of the                And how the devil has bruised us  !' Principally, this
elect unto eternal life. But they have a core, a center,      refers to all the anguish and pain and horror .which
a common origin in the one Seed of all seeds of God.          Jesus suffered of man and of devils. But it also refers
Principally, the seed here is Christ Jesus the Lord.          to the suffering which the seed of the woman received
    Paul is our instructor here. Said he in Gal. 3 :16 :      from `man inspired by the devil and devils, as well as
 "Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises               the suffering which we endured immediately from the
made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many ; but as         hand of the'devil and his demons. There is temptation
 of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ."                   .and doubt which he always will try to sow in our hearts.
    Oh yes; Christ is the Seed of God. He has the love And he sometimes, no, often succeeds. But we have
 of God and therefore the enmity against the devil in the victory.
 His heart as no other son or daughter of IAdam. He               The bruising of our heel is only a "light affliction
 is the beginning of the creation of God, the Firstborn       which is but for a moment", and here is the joy in the
 of all the creatures. He is the Firstbegotten of the         midst of the tribulations of the devil : they work an ex-
 dead and the Image of the invisible God. It all turns ceeding weight of glory.
 around Him. It was not God's purpose to unite Him-               Blessed enmity !     Blessed love of God which is
 self with all created things unto the everlasting joys of    spread abroad in our hearts, through the Holy Ghost
 His covenant through Adam and Eve and their poster-          which is given unto us!                          G .   V o s .


 28                                              a                                                                 T,HE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                                                        _.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           i
                                      The StandardBearer                                                                                                                                                      E D I T O R I A L S
                 Semi-Monthly, except Monthly in July  and August
                                                         P u b l i s h e d   B y
                            The Reformed Free Publishing Association
                                                      1463 Axxlmore  St., .S. E.                                                                                                                   A Tendency Toward Individualism
                                           EDITOR: - Rev. H. Hoeksema.
 Contributing Editors:  - Rev. G. M. Ophoff,, Rev. G. Vos, Rev.                                                                                                                                       In the past, as anjrone  will be able to verify when
 R. Veldman, Rev. H. Veldman, Rev. H. De Wolf, Rev. B. Kok,                                                                                                                                        he peruses the volumes of the Standard Bearer, we
 Rev. J. D. De Jong, Rev. A. Petter, Rev. C. Hanko, Rev. L.
 Vermeer, Rev. G. Lubbers, Rev. M. Gritters, Rev. J. A. Heys,                                                                                                                                      have been accustomed to direct our criticism to others,,
 Rev. W. Hofman.                                                                                                                                                                                   rather than to ourselves.
   Communications relative to contents should be addressed to                                                                                                                                         The object of our criticism was often the Christian
 REV. GERRIT VOS, Hudsonville, Michigan.                                                                                                                                                           Reformed Church and its publications ; especially the ,
   Communications relative to subscription should be addressed
 to MR. GERRIT PIPE, 1463 Ardmore St., S. E., Grand Rapids,                                                                                                                                        Three Points and anything that was connected with
 Mich.  Announcements and Obituaries must be mailed to the                                                                                                                                         their pernicious doctrine was the. object of our attack
 above address and will be published at a fee of $1.00 for  each- frequently. Yet, we did not confine ourselves to this.
 notice.                                                                                                                                                                                           If we peruse the volumes of our Standard Be?rer in the
                                       (Subscription Price $2.50 per.  year)                                                                                                                       past, we will notice that our criticism, both positive
 Entered as Second Class Mail  bat Grand Rapids, Michigan.                                                                                                                                         and negative, was rather wide and varied. It included
                                                                                                                                                                                       .           also, and especially, a judgment and evaluation of many
                                                                                                                                                                                                   controversies in the Old Country-particularly; of
                                                                                                                                                                                                   course, in the Reformed Churches there.
                                                                                                                                                                                                      Now, it was but natural that in our early history
                                                             C O N T . E N T S                                                                                                                     our critical attention should be directed to others,
 MEDITATION-                                                                                                                                                                                       rather than to ourselves. This must not  .be attributed
                 Enmity Between Seed and Seed . . . . , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25                                                                    to the fact that we were, or thought ourselves as
            :           Rev. G. Vos                                                                                                                                                                churches, perfect, and that there was nothing to criti-
                                                                                                                                                                                                   cize within them. But we were in our first love;
 EDITORIALS-                                                                                                                                                                                       and, in that first love, we were apt to overlook our
                 A Tendency Toward Individualism                                                                                                                                       98
                                                                                                                     . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  I    own faults, Besides, as newly established churches,
                 Divine Worship With Best Men and Bridesmaids? . . . . . ...30
                        Rev. H. Hoeksema                                                                                                                                                           cast out by the Christian Reformed Church connection,
                                                                                                                                                                                                   we had been so maltreated and suffered so much in-.
  I'HE  TRIPLE KNOWLEDGE-                                                                                               ,                                                                          justice, that we felt very much inclined to concentrate
                 Exposition, of The Heidelberg Catechism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30                                                                                        all our attention upon those that had inflicted this in-
                        Rev. H. Hoeksema                                                                                                                                                           justice upon us. Nor may our attitude, especially over
                 Van Boeken . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 against the Christian Reformed Churches, ever be
                 * Rev. H. Hoeksema                                                                                                                                                                different than critical as long as they do not `officially
                                                                                                    i                                                                                              repent of their evil works, and as long as they do not
  OUR DOCTRINE,                                                                                                                                                                                    retract the dangerous and pernicious doctrine embodied
       .         God's Covenant and The Promise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..*......... .34
                         Rev. H. Veldman                                                                                                                                                           in the Three Points. We are not of those that are
                                                                                                                                                                                                   inclined to forget the past; still less do we condone
  THE DAY OF  SHADOWS-                                                                                                                                                                             the attitude of those. that for any reason can leave our
                 Saul's End . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ,.. . . ...!...  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I......... 38                 churches and join the Christian Reformed Churches.
                         Rev. G. M. Ophoff                                                                                                                                                         What was for us the truth in 1924 is still the truth
j  STON'S   ZANGEN-                                                                                                                                                                                today: never may we compromise; always we must be
                 Israel's Liefdevolle Hdland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41                                                watchful and militant.
                     , Rev. G. Vos                                                                                                                                                                     Now, however, since we have passed the age of our
                                                                                                                                                                                                   . first youth, and, the Lord willing, will celebrate the
  IN HIS  FEAIG-                                                                                                                                                                                   twenty-fifth anniversary of our churches next year, it
                 Training For Life's Calling . . . . . . . . ..* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44
                         Rev. J. A. Heys                                                                                                                                                           may be well and salutary to cast ,a look at ourselves.
                                                                                                                                                                                                   No doubt, we are old and experienced enough by this
  PERISCOPE-                                                                                                                                                                                       time to stand a little well-meant, brotherly, and up-
                 Dramatic Fever-4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 building criticism. And how could criticism passed
                          Rev. J. Houwerzyl                                                                                                                                                        by the Standard Bearer upon our own churches ever
                                                                                                                                                                                                   be anything but brotherly and well-meant, and positive


                                     T H E   STA.,NDAR.D   B E A R E R                                            29 .:
" and upbuilding criticism. Moreover, if the critical  re: and work which was accomplished by the committee,
marks, of the' Stan&m-d  Bearer should ,be judged to be it would have been but proper to submit the new system 1
out of place and unfair, `anyone can  set himself to to consistory, classis, and synod before it was intro-
write a well-fouqded  - and.  well-motivated "contradic-     duced into our churches by private and individual
tion.                                                        initiative.                                  .'           ,.
 `. `And' then I want to subsume my remarks under'the           Besides, the new system is based on a mistaken
heading placed above this article; "A `l'endency  Toward notion of proper catechetical instruction and of in-
Individualism".                                              struction in Biblical History. I appreciate the fact,
    By this I mean a tendency to go one's own indi- of, course, that the writers of those new catechism
vidual way rather than to work in unison as churches. books, as well as those that are in favor of introducing
A tendency, moreover, to ignore or to forget  the de- them, are motivated by the desire to instruct our child-
cisions of the churches ins general, reached in their        ren and our youth thoroughly. in the Protestant Re-
major assemblies; a tendency that is often rooted in         formed truth; and for this I will give them credit. I
lack of historical knowledge and a certain disrespect nevertheless think that it is a serious mistake ; and, as
for historical precedent. This evinces no evil inten- I said, it is an illustration of individualism, when some-
tions on our part; on the contrary, we are all equally thing so radically new is introduced into our churches
zealous for the cause which our churches represent, `without the advice of our major assemblies.
and certainly seek their welfare. But that this ten-            Why did the Lord give us such a large part of His
dency exists, nevertheless is true ; and, it cannot  .but    revelation in the form of history, if it was not His  '
be harmful to our churches in the long run.. As a de-        purpose to instruct our children, the children of the
nomination we are very small, and we need to unite covenant, thoroughly in the works which He has ac-
all our efforts and all our resources to become strong complished for our salvation in the past? Moreover,
and to accomplish effective work. As an illustration and in close connection with this, all the main doctrines
of what I mean, I may point first of all to the new of the church,- as reveaied in the Bible, are historical
system of catechetical instruction that has been intro- and should be thoroughly taught in their historical
duced in some of our congregations.. Thus I read in form, in order, before we teach our own system `of
the bulletin of my own congregation, the First Prot. doctrine. What else are we taught in so-called Biblical
Ref. Church of Grand Rapids ; "For some classes the          History but the truths of creation and the fall, the
lesson material has been changed. We have planned truth of the covenant, the covenant with Noah, Abra-
to begin teaching doctrine at an earlier age." The ham, Israel ; the giving of the law, the apostacy  of the-
proposed change israther important. .' It .seems  that old covenant people, and their rejection in the end?
our children will  ,be  ' taught the Biblical History only What else are we taught than the great doctr&ne  of
during the ages of 6 to 9 years; while from the age of predestination as manifest in the line of Seth and Cain,
10 until the time that they make confession of faith         the line of Shem and Ham, the line of Abraham and
they will be taught nothing but doctrine.                    the nations, in the line of Jacob and Esau, in the line
   Now, it is my purpose to point out first of all that      of the children of the promise and the children of the
this is an illustration of what I call a-tendency toward flesh? Besides, are not all the great truths concern-
individualism in our churches. It ignores entirely the       ing our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ taught in the
decision of a major assembly, I think it was by the          historical form in Scripture? I mean such truths as
general  classis, before our churches organized as synod,    the incarnation and. the cross and the atonement, the
that a committee was appointed to compose catechism resurrection and the exaltation, the truths of the -out-
books on Biblical history. The committee consisted           pouring of the Spirit on Pentecost and the establish-.
of the Reverend 3. De Jong, the Reverend P. De Boer,         ment of the Church of the new dispensation: all these
and myself. The proposed schedule of the new system truths are revealed in Scripture, not in the form of a
of catechetical instruction,. ignores this decision  com-
             L _"                                            dogmatics system, but in the form of historical facts,
pletely,. and also ignores the work of the committee,        revealing to us how God established His covenant and
especially of Reverend P. De Boer, particularly as far       kingdom in the ages of the past. Besides, are we `to
as his books on Sacred History for ,Seniors  are con-        omit and to ignore such important- parts of Scripture
cerned. The `result is, too, that hundreds of dollars        as the miracles and the parables of Jesus and the dis-.
worth of catechism books are put out of use ; and this       courses of our Lord and of the apostles? On the con-
money was supplied by a private fund, which the under-       trary ; especially the older children ,should  be taught
signed happened to have, and which was given to him          all these things and become acquainted with the riches
for the. special purpose of books for instruction in our     of Scripture as the living Word of God, rather than
churches.                                                    with the dead intellectualism of cold dogmatic system.
   In view of this, and in view of the former decision          Nor should it be said that we can safely leave the


 30                                    T H E   S T A N D A R D   "BEARER

 instruction in Biblical History to the Christian School.
For apart from the fact that, many of .our Christian               THE TFUPLE KNOWLEDGE
 School teachers are not competent to teach Biblical
 History in a proper way, the children of our own -Pro-
testant Reformed Churches should be instructed by
the, church.                                      _  ,--An-Exposition Of The *Heidelberg
       Looking over the new system and the proposed           .                             Catechism
 books for catechetical instruction, I venture to predict,
 in the first place, that during the ten years of proposed                                  PART TWO              :     <
 doctrinal instruction our catechumens will find so m&h
 repetition of the same thin& that in the end they will                                 LORD'S'  bAY 25  `,
                                                                        .                         ?
get weary of that instruction. And, in the second                                                      1     .
 place, I predict that by the new system we make little
dead intellectualists and dogmaticians, rather than be-                              The Means Of Grace.
 lievers that live from the Bible as the living Word of
 God.  I.  .^                                                                  Q. 65. Since then we are made partakef?s of Christ
                                               X I .   H.                    and all his  benefits by faith only, whence doth this
                                                                             faith proc_eed  ?
                                                                               A. From the Holy Ghost, who works faith in our
                                                                             hea&  by the preaching of the gospel, and confirms
                                                                             it by the use of the sacraments.
                                                                               Q. 66. What are the sacraments ?              .
                                                                             A. The sacraments are holy visible signs and seals,
                                                                             appointed of God for this end, that by the use there-
   Divine Worship With Best Men                                              of, he may the mom,  fully declare and seal to us the
                 ,.                                                          promise  of the gospel, viz., "that he grants us freely
                 and Bridesmaids?                       "                    the remission of sin, and life eternal, for the sake of
                                                                             that one sacrifice of Christ, accomplished on the cross.
                                                                               Q. 67. Are  6th word and sacraments, then, ordain-"
 , ' From, Mrs. J. W. of E., Minnesota, I `received .the                     ed and appointed fox this end, that they may direct
following question :                                                         our faith to the sa&rif?ce  of Jesus Christ on the cross,
                                                                             as the only ground of our salvation ?
       ""Does the consistory have the right, according to                      A. Yes, indeed: for the Holy Ghost  t&hes  us in
the Word of God and the Church Order, to refuse div@e                        the gospel, and assures us by the sacraments, that
 worship to two members at the occasion of their mar-                        the whole of our salvation depends upon that one
                                                                             sacrifice of. Christ which he offered for us on the
 riage, because they'are  attended by a bridesmaid and a .                   c r o s s .
 best man ?"                                                                   Q. 68. How many sacraments has Christ instituted
                                                                             in the new covenant, or testament?
       A n s w e r :                                                           A. Two:  "nanieli,  holy baptism, and the holy supper.

       1. I  dd not find anything in Scripture or in the           The next seven chapters, or Lord's Days, of the
 Church Order to that effect. On the contrary, I do find Heidelberg Catechism bear the heading "The Bacra-
evidence in the Bible of silent approval of rather elabor- ments".
ate wedding parties.                                               This heading, however, does not cover  .. all the
       2. If the consistory should object to too much         material that is treated under it. The sacraments do,
worldly-show in weddings, they should object to' this         indeed, receive the lion's  share of the attention of the
at all weddings, and not only at those tliat are solemn-      Catechism in this connection. In Lord's Day 25 we
ized in divine worship.                                       find the definition  of the sacraments, the explanation
  1 3. It seems to me, therefore, that the burden of          of their general' significance, and the mention of the
proof in this case rests with the con&tory. Perhaps number of the sacraments `that are instituted. Id the
they can show why it is contrary to Scripture or to           twenty-sixth  Lord's Day the general significance of
the. Church Order to conduct divine worihip at wed-           baptism is explained, and the Scriptural basis. for its
dings attended by bridesmaids and best men. If so,            institution is mentioned. Lord's Day 27 explai% the
 I. am very glad to give' them ample room and opportun-       sign of baptism in reiation  to its meaning as the wash-
 ity in the  Stundurd   Bharer.                               ing of regeneration and  the,washing  away of sins, and
                                                              adds a question and answer on the important doctrine
                                               H. H.          of infant baptism. Next there follow three very long


                                     TH'E'  S T A N ' D ' A R D   B E A R E R                                         31:

chapters on the Lord's Supper: on its significance and        Rome,-a controversy in which the question of the
institution ; on the relation between the sign and the        sacraments occupied the center  *of attention.
thing obsignated, refuting the error of transsubstantia-        Now, we  c'ertainly must not make  .the mistake of
tion ; on the difference between the popish mass and          minimizing the importance of this question of the
the Lord's Supper ; and finally, on the proper par-           sacraments. In the first place, we. must not overlook
takers of this sacrament. Yet, it must be observed            the fact that the Romish Church is still  powerful<  and
that in Lord's Day 25 also the preaching of the Word          influential, and that our controversy with her, is a           ,
is at least mentioned and presented as the main means         perpetual ' one. Secondly, we have a very real and
of grace. And under the same heading, "The Sacra-             present controversy with many outside of the  `Re-
ments", the keys of the kingdom of heaven are ex-             formed faith. Many there. are in our day that deny
plained in Lord's Day 31.                   1                 the Scriptural basis for infant baptism, while others
    That in the time when the Catechism'was  composed contemptuously speak of  water  baptism, as over against
all the emphasis was indeed placed on the question of         the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and  ,despise  the sacra-
the sacraments, and these stood in'the center of at- ments in general as a means of grace. In the third
tention is also plain from "Het Schatboek", the well-         place, even  .in Reformed churches the sacraments are
known commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism writ- repeatedly occupying a place of central importance in
ten by Ursinus himself. To the preaching.of  the Word the discussion and interest of theologians. Witness
and the sacraments together he devotes only two:little        the recent controversy and schism in the Reformed
paragraphs, as follows :                         ..           Churches in the Netherlands. Questions that concern
    "This Question points out the connection which the covenant of grace, the parts or parties of that
holds between the doctrine of faith and the sacraments.       covenant, the `members of that covenant, the question
The Holy Ghost ordinarily produces faith (concerning of presumptive regeneration, as well as the question
which we have spoken) in us by the ecclesiastical  .minis-    what is sealed by the sacraments and to whom is it
try, which consists of two parts, the word  nnd  the sealed ;-all these are intimately related to the prob-
sacraments. The Holy Ghost works faith in our hearts          lem of the sacraments.      We should, therefore, not
by the preaching of the gospel ; and cherishes, con-          assume the attitude of those that would rather quickly
firms, and seals it by the use of the sacraments. The         pass over the next six Lord's Days and, perhaps, even
word is a. charter to which the sacraments are attached       combine more than one chapter of the catechism in the
as signs. The charter is the gospel itself, to-which the same sermon ; for this  :-would simply reveal ignorance
sacraments are affixed as the seals of the divine will.       in regard to the fundamental questions involved.
                                                                                                           ._
Whatever the word promises. conkerning  our salvation            `However, it is true that the preaching of the Word
through Christ, that the sacraments, as signs;  and. is not given the proper place and attention in the`cate-
seals annexed thereto, confirm unto us more and more chism. A more proper heading for the material treated
for the purpose of helping our infirmity. It is proper,       in the next seven chapters would undoubtedly be "The
therefore, that we should now speak of the sacraments,        Distinguishing Marks of the True Church."  - But it is
the seals of faith, appended to the gospel.                   more in harmony with the subjective character. of the
    "Obj. But it-is said that the Holy Ghost and the          Catechism as a book of comfort to treat the material "
word produce faith. in us, and that the sacraments            under the general subject of "The Means of Grace."
strengthen it. In what, therefore, do these three differ      This therefore, we propose to do.
from each other? Ans. They differ very much.                     Several questions must, be asked here, and answered:
,l. The Holy SGhost works and confirms faith in us as         in this connection. What are means, and, what ,are
the efficient cause, whilst the word and sacraments ,do the means of grace? How is the preaching of the
this as instrumental causes. 2. The Holy Ghost &an            Word a means of grace? Why is preaching,' together
also work faith independent of the word and the sacra-        with the sacraments and the keys of the kingdom of
ments, whilst these, on the other hand, can effect&h-         heaven, the distinguishing mark of ,the true Church?
ing independent of the Holy Ghost. 3.  The~Holy  Ghost These and other questions are involved in the  subje&
works effectually in whomsoever he dwells, which can- of the means of grace.
not be said of the word and sacraments."                        First of all, then, what are means of grace?:`, ;:
    One-half page, therefore, is devoted to the discus-          As to  means'in  general,.we may remark that they
sion of the preaching of the Word as a means of grace ;       are elements taken from the world of our expe'rience,
and, `in comparison with this, the next one h-undred          from the outside world in' which we live, and that are
pages of his commentary Ursinus devotes to the dis-           adapted to our human existence and nature. Food and
cussion of the sacraments. This emphasis must, of             drink, for instance, are such elements from the world
course, be explained from the controversy which our           in which we live, and that are so-adapted to our nature
fathers, at the time of the Reformation, had `with            that they can nourish and sustain our bodies. We call

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

them means because God must use them for the purpose ful and beautiful. The same meaning occurs in Ps.
to which they are adapted. Things are nothing in               45~2: "Thou art fairer than the children of men:
themselves, but exist and are sustained by the almighty        grace is poured into thy lips: therefore God hath
and .omnipresent  power of God which we call provi-            blessed thee for ever.LL Also here it is evident that
dence. But it pleases, God to use these means always grace is used in the sense of beauty and attractiveness
in the same way and for the same purpose. Bread `that is rooted in ethical goodness. In Proverbs 31:30
always sustains and nourishes our bodies. God never the word grace is even employed for the outward grace-
uses bread to poison us, and because we have this              fulness of bodily form, of which it is, then, asserted
confidence in God, we also are able to  use, the means.        that in itself it is deceitful and vain. This is also in
If God would use .bread  one day to poison us and an- harmony with the root meaning of the Hebrew word,
other day to nourish us, it would be impossible for us         which signifies to incline gracefully toward one, to be
to use those means, of course. Means, therefore, are           pleasant towurd  someone, and thus to favor that one.
elements taken from the world in which we live, the            The word that is used in the New Testament for grace
world of our experience, which are always used by God          is derived from a verb that signifies to be pleasant,
in th,e same way, and which, for that very reason, we          and thus to afford joy, even as a thing of beauty is a
can&so use.                                                    joy forever. And so,, also the New  Testament'word
      Now, we speak in this connection of means of for grace has the fundamental notion of charm, grace-
grace. The idea of means of grace is certainly implied         fulness, attractiveness, beauty. We read of the Lord
in  Questian and Answer  `65 of the Heidelberg Cate- that all bear Him witness and wondered at the gracious
chism : "Since then we are made partakers of Christ words which proceeded out of His mouth; by which
and all his benefits by faith only, whence doth this           undoubtedly is meant that the speech of  the Lord was
faith proceed? From the Holy ,Ghost,  who works faith remarkably pleasant and in the true sense of the word
in our hearts, by the preaching of the gospel, and con-        beautiful, graceful. The Lord was a charming speaker.
' firms it by the use of the sacraments." The Catechism Luke  4:22. The same significance of the word we
therefore teaches that the Holy Ghost works faith in           find in Col.  4:6, where the apostle admonishes the
our'hearts, but that this faith is wrought by means of Christians that their speech must always be with
the preaching of the Word and of the holy sacraments.          grace, seasoned with salt', in order that they may know
It is true that the Catechism really speaks of the             how they ought to answer every man. Their conversa-
`preaching of the Word and the sacraments as a means           tion, in other words, must always be characterized by
of faith, rather than as means of grace ; but since faith      the beauty of ethical purity. `Perhaps the same mean-
is the bond of union with Christ, and it is therefore          ing may be found in Eph. 4 29 : "Let no corrupt com-
through faith and by faith that we receive all the bless-      munication proceed out of your mouth, but that  .which
ings of grace, it is perfectly proper for us to use the        is good, to the use.,  of. edifying, .that it may minister
term which the church has always used in this connec-          grace unto the hearers" where speech that giveth  grace,
tion: means of grace.                                          or that is truly pleasant, stands over against corrupt
                                                               communication. And the apostle Peter writes in I Pet.
      What do we understand by grace?                          2:20: "For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted
      The word grace, as it occurs `in Scripture, appears      for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when
to have many different connotations, although we  be-          ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this
`lieve that they all refer to some underlying idea. Per- is acceptable with God." Here the word for accqtable
haps the most general and basic notion from which all          is grace in the original, so that the meaning is : patience
other connotations can. be most readily explained is           in suffering for the sake of righteousness is beautiful
`that of  pleasan&&,  a&rac&eness,   beauty,  grueeful-        ir. the eyes of God. ,So that, on the basis of Scripture,
.ness.    In this sense the word occurs both in the Old        we come first of all to the conclusion that objectively
and in the New Testament. Thus, we read in Proverbs            grace denotes the attribute, virtue, or quality of beauty
                                                                                                 .-
22 :lI : "He that loveth pureness of heart, for the grace      or pleasantness or charm ; more especially of that
 of his lips the king shall be his friend." Here the word ethical beauty or charm that is rooted in true goodness
evidently has the signification  of  pbasanty.ess,  beauty.    and purity, and that is the expression of true perfec-
 A man'speaks'pl&&ant'and  agreeable words ; his speech        tion: for only what is truly good is truly beautiful,
. is graceful, -so that for the sake of. it the king is his                   `.
                                                               while all that IS corrupt and imperfect must be con-
,friend. The pleasantness and grace of his speech, how-        demned as ugly and repulsive. It is only in the world
 ever, is not superficiali  it is'not the vain beauty that     of- sin that the ethically corrupt can be considered
' characterizes the speech of the flatterer or boaster ; * charming and attractive. In the sight of God, and
but it is the beauty that expresses pureness of heart.         according to the judgment of Scripture, it is never so
`.Grace  has an ethical meaning : it is rooted in goodness.    p r e s e n t e d .
It is an ethically pure speech that is considered  grace-          In this general and fundamental sense of the word


                                    T H E   S-TANDARD  .BEARER                                                                   33

grace is, first of all, an attribute of God. God is loveliness. All that is in God is charming and pleasant
gracious in ,Himself,  absolutely, ,that is, without any and graceful.
relation to the creature. Thus it is, of course, with all        As such, as the perfectly lovely and beautiful One,
the. attributes of the Most High : God is love in Him-       God knows Himself. He eternally beholds Himself as
self; He does not depend on the existence of a creature beautiful. He has an eternal delight in His own beauty.
that can be the recipient of His love in order to possess For, He is the triune God, Father, Son; and Holy Ghost.
or be this virtue actively, but He is love in Himself.       The Son is the Word,,and in Him the Father expresses
So  ,God is merciful, righteous, holy, true, and faithful, all the goodness and beauty of His image. And in the
the God of peace in. the absolute. sense of the word. If Spirit the Son returns to the Father, and the Father
this  were~nqt so, He would not be God,. seeing He would
"--7 -                                                       contemplates Himself as the perfection of beauty.
n&be self-existent and independent. The same is true Hence, God knows Himself -as gracious ; He has a de-
of the attribute of Grace. C,od is eternally and in Him- light in the beauty of His perfection. So that we may
self the God  of- all grace, even apart from any relation come. to the conclusion that grace, as it is in God in
to' the creature. He is all grace. Graciousness is an the absolute sense of the word, is that virtue of- the
attribute of His very Being, even though there never divine Being according to which He is the perfection
were .a creature to whom this grace of <God Were re- of beauty in Himself and contemplates Himself as such
vealed. Grace belongs to the name of God. Thus He with infinite delight. The absolutely gracious God is
proclaimed His. holy name to Moses on the mount,             graciously inclined toward Himself and rejoices in
according to Ex. 34 :6 : "And the Lord passed by before Himself with perfect joy.
him, and.proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord God, merciful            Hence, in the' second place, we find that the word
and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in -goodness gra,ce in Scripture-denotes the attitude of graciousness
and truth.`.' Again, thus the Psalmist addresses Him or pleasantness, the gracious disposition of God to the
in.Ps.:86:i5:.  "But thou, 0 Lord, art a God full of creature. This is, no doubt, the meaning of the fre-
compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous quently occurring phrase "to find grace" in the eyes
in, mercy and truth." Thus he sings in Ps.  103:3:           of God. Thus also it occurs in Luke 1:30, where we
`,:The.,Lord  is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and read that the angel addresses the prospective mother
plenteo,us,i.n,,.mercy." IAnd, in Ps. 116:5: "Gracious is of our Lord, "Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found
the-Lord,,gnd  righteous; yea, our God is merciful."         favor (grace)  with  <God."  The meaning is evidently
    This.,impl&s  with respect to God in the absolute that God is favorably inclined, is graciously disposed
sense of the word, that He is the perfection of all          toward .her. In the same sense Stephen employs the
beauty, because He is the implication of an eternal,         word of David, concerning whom he declares that he
infinite perfection of all goodness. God is good in the found favor (grace) before God, and desired to raise
ethical sense of the word. Goodness is His very Being; a tabernacle for the God of Jacob. And once more, in
He is a light, and there'is na darkness in Him at all.       A c t s   14:26:
                                                                                 "And thence sailed to Antioch, from
His very Being is righteousness  ,and holiness and truth. whence they had been recommended to the grace of
He is peace and love and life. In Him there is no            God for the work which they fulfilled."
unrighteousness, no corruption, no lie; no war, and no                                                                   H.H.
envy and hatred. He is very goodness, ethical per-
fection in `His very Being. For that reason God is                                        -
also gracious in the sense of beautiful and charming,
attractive and pleasant in His whole Being; for true                                     IN MEMORIAM
goodness is true beauty. And these are in God in the             On Tuesday, the fifth of October, our dear husband, father
supreme, in the absolute and infinite sense of the word,     and grandfather,
so that we may conclude-that God is indeed the perfec-                                  GERARD PASTOORI
tion of beauty. Even as the ethically evil is ugly; so       passed away in the Lord. Our great  coxfort  and rich assurance
the.ethicaliy  perfect is beautiful and charming.  ,Grace    in our loss is this; that he now beholds His face  in'dghteoua-
in God is, therefore, the perfection of His ethical          ness.,  (Psalm  17:15).
beauty. For that reason we read in Ps. 27:4  : "One                                        Mrs. Alberdina  Wierenga Pastoor
thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after;                                  Mr. and Mrs. Wm. G. Pastoor
thatI may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days                                      Mr. and Mrs. Donald 0 Pastoor
of my life, to behold the beauty of the *Lord,  and to                                     Mr and Mrs. Clarence Pastoor
enquire in his temple.? And in Ps. 16  :11 : "In thy                                       Mr and Mrs. John G. Pastoor
presenceis fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are                                     Mr. and Mrs. Peter Pastoor
pleasures for evermore." And once more, in Ps. 50 :2 :                                     Mr. and Mrs. Robert G. Pastoor         I
"Out of Zion,- the perfection of beauty,  <God  hath                                           and 12 grandchildren.
shined."  `. God is altogether lovely. He` is absolute       Grand Rapids, Mich.


34                                        T H E   S T A N D A R D   BEARERS-'

                  ' Van Boeken                                        gansch in het algemeen verklaard  worden   ale  beeld
                                                                      van  Christus  en de gemeente, maar de  typische   be-
                                                                      teekenis is, in,dat gtval ver gezocht.               ."
                                                    .
Cuonflicri Met  i?owbe, Dr. G.  C.Berkhouwer                              .Maar de lezer oordeele zelf. Taal en stijl zijn glas-
                                   J. H. Kok, Kampen,                 g e l d e r .
                                   The Netherlands. .                                                                            H. H.
      Ieder, die belang  stelt in "hetgesprek met Rome",
schaffe  zich dit boek aan. Dit geldt in  ,de eerste plaats
we1 onze predikanten, maar ook de rest van  onxe lezers,
voorzoover ze nog tameli jk gemakkelijk Hollandsch
kunnen lezen, kunnen met vrucht dit boek bestudeeren,                                  OUR DOCTRINE
ofschoon de stijl soms we1 .een beetje zwaar en inge-
wikkeld is.
      Het boek is een zeer grondig stuk werk. Dr. Berk-
houwer kenmerkt  zich er  doorals  iemand, die door en                 God's Covenant and The Promise
door op de  hoogte  is met het onderwerp, waarover hij
schrijft, en hij spant zich in, "slooft  zich uit'" had ik                    The Dispensation  of  the Covenant. Follows
                                                                                `.
bijna gezegd, om Rome recht te doen,  en haar geen'ver-                      the L,me of the Generations of the Believe-f.
keerde voorstellingen toe  "te dichten. Sommige lezers,                   `In our previous article we called attention to the
vooral hier in Amerika, zullen dit misschien een zwak Scriptural truth that the development of God's cove-
achten, en  hadden liever iets meer gehoord van de nant runs along the line of the continued generations
"vervloekte afgoderij", waarvan onze Heidelberger of the believers. This we proved from the Scriptures,
spreekt.                                                              historically and textually. In this article we are con-
      Maar men leze en oordeele zelf.                                 .fronted  with the question: How must we understand
                                                         H. H.  `.    this organical development of God's covenant with His
                                                                      people? In what sense are all within the covenant and
                                                                      what, according to ,the Holy Scriptures, is the Divine
                                                                      purpose with respect to this two-fold seed, the carnal
N e t   Hooglied,   D r . G . C . A a l d e r s .   \"`,I             a n d   s p i r i t u a l   I s r a e l ?   .   ,
                         J. `H. Kok, Kampen,
                         T h e   N e t h e r l a n d s .                   We `nave already called attention in this series of
      Dit boekje van zestig bladzijden is niet zoozeer een articles on "The .Covenant" to the fact that the question
commentaar  als  we1 een inleiding op het boek, Het has been much discussed among Reformed theologians :
Hooglied.                                                             With whom does.  ,the Lord establish His covenant:
      De  schrijver  verwerpt, m.i. met recht de allegorische Does the *Lord  .establish  this. covenant with Christ?
verklaring van dit Bijbelboek, ook door de Kantteeke-                 And if He does establish His-covenant with <Christ,  is
ningen aanvaard, een meent, dat we in Het Hooglied it with-Christ as Head or as Mediator `or as Surety?
allereerst moeten zien een lied der reine liefde tusschen             Or, does . the Lord establish His covenant with the
man en vrouw,,en  we1 tusschen Salomo en een Sulam-                   elect? Again, the  .question  is asked whether  God,
mietische. Ook wijst hij af de mogelijkheid, dat er in establishes His covenant with the elect sinner in Christ,
Het Hooglied en derde persoon  wordt genoemd, een or with the- believers. and their seed, and, then, with
herder :aan wie .?le Sulammietische eerst verbonden alltheseed?                                    :.I            "
was, welke laatste door Salomo naar het  paleis  ge-                       It must be dear that `God's covenant is certainly
bracht werd, maar wier liefde voor den herder over- estdblished with Christ. This. is the undeniable testi-
won. Naar de opvatting van Dr. Aalders  is Het Hoog-                  mony of Holy Writ. In Galatians 3  `we are told that
lied niet van Salomo, maar van iemand anders ver-                     "to .-Abraham and his  .seed , were the promises made
vaardigd  op Salomo.
          II                                                          and-this seed is Christ" and :also,  `tiAnd if ye be Christ's,
      Eindelijk wijst de schrijver op de hoogere en  ty- then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to
pische  beteekenis  van Het Hooglied, als doelende op de the promise." And in. Ps. 89 : .l-3 : "I will sing of the
betrekking tusschen  Christus  en de gemeente. En hier mercies. of the Lord for ever: with my mouth will I
is  m.i., des schrijvers betoog het zwakst. Want als make known Thy faithfulness to all- generations. For
Ret Hooglied wezenlijk niets anders is dan een minne-' I have said, Mercy-shall be+built up for ever: Thy faith-
lied, kunnen de twee hoofdpersoonen misschien we1                     fulness shalt Thou  establisk  in the very heavens.  1


                                                       l

                                      T H E :   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                           .36
                                                            .-
have made a covenant  ,with my Chosen, .I have sworn isnot the same as to offer something. And,  accorTng
unto David My serva&.", That God shauld establish to the Word of God, the promises of God are Yea and
His covenant with Christ lies in the very nature of the Amen in Christ Jesus ; besides, *according to Romans 9
case. God's covenant, we have noted in preceding the Word (or promise) of God has not become of none
articles, is that relationship of living friendship with effect, exactly because not all are Israel who are called
His people, whereby the Lord and His people are  united           Israel and in Isaac shall the seed be called. Moreover,
ia the-ibond,  of perfect love, a relationship of love in how can, e.g., the sacraments speak of an offer of sal-
which God blesses us as our Sovereign. Friend  .and we vation to all without distinction when -they symbolize
bless and praise the Lord as His friend-servants. the sacrifice of the Lamb of God .Who laid. down His
Christ, alone, is the Servant of Jehovah. Apart from life only for His sheep, for those whom the Father
Him there is no fellowship * between God and man.                 gave Him from before the. foundation of the world?
For. we all have departed. from the living God and                Furthermore, this "arminian"  interpretation of Acts
corrupt the glory of the Lord. In Christ, and in Christ. %:39 is also impossible in the light of the context. Do
alone, the law of God is fulfilled and completely satis-          we not read in the concluding verse of this chapter,
fied. In Him and alone in Him is everlasting life.                "And the Lord added to the church daily such as should
God's covenant of living friendship has therefore been .be saved"? Must verse 39 not be explained in con-
established in Christ, rests  in" Christ, is possible only nection with verse 47? And do we not read later in
in and through our Lord. Jesus Christ. He is surely this book of Acts, chapter 13, verse 48 : "And when the
the Head and Mediator of God's covenant with His Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the
people.                .            `-                            word of the Lord : and as. many as were ordained to
                                                                  eternal life believed."? Hence, the calling of. Acts
   God's Covenant Established With  The Believers                 2 :39 must be understood in the saving, efficacious sense
                   And Their Saed.                                of the word. Permit me to quote but one passage,
                                                                  Rom. 8 :29-30 : "For whom He did foreknow, He also
   On the other hand, the covenant of God with man                did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His
is established with the believers and their seed. This            Son,  ,that He  ,might  be the first-born among many
is surely Scriptural. We read in Gen. 9 :12, 17 : 7, 9 :          brethren. Moreover, whom He did predestinate, them
"And God said, This is the token of the covenant which He also called : and whom He called, them He also justi-
I. make between Me and you and every living creature              fied: and whom He justified, them He also glori-
that is with you, for perpetual generations: . . . .              fied."
And I will establish My covenant between Me and thee                  What is the implication of the truth that the cove-
and thy seed after thee in their generations for an nant of God is established. with the believers and their
everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy           seed? On the one hand, this cannot mean that  aEl
seed after thee. . . . And God said unto Abraham, the seed of Abraham, or that all the seed -of the. be-
Thou shalt keep My covenant therefore, thou, and thy lievers are essentially in the covenant, that all are
seed after thee  in. their generations.`" And in Acts covenant-children in the same, equal sense of the word,
2  :39 we read the well-known words already quoted :              that all have equally a right to the promises of the
"For the promise is unto you, and to your .children,              Lord, that that which distinguishes them does not lie
and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord therefore in God but in the fact that some believe and
our God shall..call." In connection with this last pas- others reject the one, well-meaning offer of salvation.
sage we note. the `following. Firstly, the implication This, we maintain with all the powers. at `our corn:
of the text is certainly such that we may read: "For . mand, is impossible.                Fact is, according to 1  C.or;
the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to             10 :l-5, the Lord was not well pleased with many, of
all that are afar off, and their children."- Secondly,            the Israelites, and we quote: "Moreover, brethren, I
the  ,calling  whereof the text speaks must surely be would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our
understood in the saving efficacious sense of the word. fathers were under the cloud, and  ,a11 passed through
We are aware of the fact' that some would interpret the sea ; And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud
this  calling as an invitation. The implication, then,            and in the sea ; And did all eat the same spiritual
would be that the Lord extends the promise of eternal             meat; (And did all drink the same spiritual drink;
life to all, together with their children, to whom the for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed
gospel is proclaimed. The Lord invites all unto eternal them: and that Rock was Christ. But with many of
life, the promise is Divinely meant for all who come them God was not well pleased: for they were over-
within range of the preaching of the gospel: However, thrown in the wilderness." Please notice, in this pas-
this interpretation of the text in Acts 2 is impossible. sage, that externally all the Israelites had everything
Firstly, it is not Scriptural to confuse the promise with "in common., They .were  all under the cloud and all
an offer. Even in our daily life, to promise something passed through the sea ; all were baptized unto  Moses-


3 6                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

       *>F
and in the sea ; all ate the same spiritual meat and all tinctiveness  of our church, who would emphasize that
drank the same spiritual drink. One thing, however, too much emphasis is being laidupon the truth,<  and
distinguished the one. group of Israelites from the who would therefore maintain' that the all-important
other: the Lord was not well pleased with many of question does not concern the knowledge and profes-
them.' And it is clear from the apostle's epistle to the sion of the truth but our personal salvation. We.must
Romans, in chapter 9, that the Lord's good pleasure not be deceived in this respect. Of course, we deplore
towards some of them and not towards others is not            any intellectual maintaining of the truth when it .is
based upon the good of some and the evil of others,           not accompanied by a conviction of the heart. Never-
but only upon the sovereign good pleasure of Jehovah.         theless, the purpose of salvation is the. glory of God.
It is simply not true that all have an equal right to the     We have been called out of darkness into the light  .to
promises of God and eternal life, that all therefore          proclaim the virtues of the alone blessed, God: And it
stand equally before the Lord. How could this be              is an undeniable fact that the love for and maintaining
possible? God elected some and sovereignly repro- of the word and truth of God constitutes eternal `life
bated others ; He does not love all but only the people       itself-to know the Triune God, through Jesus Christ,
of Ris eternal love. Christ did not die for all but only i:; eternal life. Then we also understand why the Lord
for His sheep. How can the sacraments speak of a establishes His fellowship and communion in the sphere
`promise which is Divinely `meant for all the seed of         of the truth and from generation to generation. His
the believers, when they symbolize a sacrifice which is       Word wust be preserved  ; His truth  must,be  maintained
atoning and particular and speak of a blood which and confessed ; the knowledge of  the. Scriptures must
flowed only for some? God's covenant fellowship and be passed on from'generation to generation; the pur-
communion applies, therefore, only to some of the seed pose of our salvation, the glory of God's Name, is pos-
of the believers and not to all the children of the people    sible only in the sphere of the truth and-the :develop-
of God. And neither does the Lord make the attempt ment of that truth. It is also for this same reason that
to save all the seed of the covenant; to the contrary,        God usually regenerates His people in infancy and
He causes the gospel to be preached with the Divine           provides for their instruction from  infancyon. This
intention that only some shall be saved whereas it is         truth has been maintained by the Reformed fathers
also His divine good pleasure that the same gospel shall throughout the ages. They even regarded Baptism as
be a savor of death unto death. We conclude and main- a sign and seal of this regeneration, not because they
tain, therefore, that although the covenant *is estab- assumed the regeneration of every baptized child but
lished with the believers and their seed, this can never because it was their conviction that, although we may
mean that all the seed of Abraham, or all the seed of not limit the work of Divine grace and determine when
the believers are essentially and equally in this cove- it takes place, the Lord usually calls His own out !of
nant of God. And yet, on the other hand, it is also           darkness into the light in their earliest infancy. This
true that all are Israelites, that Esau was a  covenant-      was not a supposition on the part of the fathers  but,a
breaker, that all receive the sacrament of Circum-            conviction.  * Hence, the stream of God's election follows
cision or Baptism, that all are, therefore, covenant the river-bed of the continued generations of the be-
children.                                                     l i e v e r s .
       To understand this Scriptural truth we must bear          Secondly, inasmuch as the elect people of God follow
in mind the following. In the first place, the stream the river-bed of the original development in the genera-
of God's election follows the river-bed of the continued tions of the believers, also the carnal. seed, organically
generations of the believers and that in such a way' one with the spiritual seed, stand in close connection
that this river-bed is dug out and prepared for this. with this covenant of Divine friendship with His own.
stream. This river-bed is the seed of Abraham, the            The Scriptures emphasize this truth when they employ
seed of Abraham, if you will, according to the flesh.         the common and well-known figure of the vine and the
The Jewish nation, in the Old Dispensation, was the           olive-tree. Or, let us use the  figu?e' of the. tomato
river-bed in which the stream of the elect people of God plant. A tomato plant  has. two kinds of  .branches,
flowed. .Also,  it pleases the Lord to' develop His cove- fruit-bearing and non fruit-bearing. Both branches
nant, essentially and spiritually, from generation to are very much alive. Both grow. Only the one bears
generation, or, if you will, God calls His elect people       fruit and the other does not. Nevertheless, the entire
out of sin and darkness into His blessed covenant fel-        plant is called `tomato plant'. And this is due to the
lowship from generation to generation. -Fact is, the fact that both branches constitute a' single organism
glory of God's Name is  the  purpose of salvation. God which bears the name of what it essentially is : a tomato
saves us, not for our sake but for  Bis own Name's            plant. This also applies, spiritually, to the organism,
sake.         The fundamental question is not, therefore, church, in the midst of the world. There is a people,
"Are you saved?" We hear this often. nowadays, `an organism, called "Church, Israel", in the midst of
especially from those who would minimize the  dis- the world. This organism is composed .of a two-fold


                                    T H E   STANDAR D   B E A R E R                                                    37

seed. Moreover, even as the tomato plant bears the          Divine grace and mercy. This does mean, however,
name of what it essentially is, so also this organism       that the promises come to all in the historical dispen-
bears the name of its elect kernel, and is called sation of the covenant of God. All are baptized. Ail
"church". That this organism bears. the name of its receive the gospel, in the preaching of the word ar,d
elect essence or kernel, is for various reasons. On the . in catechetical instruction. All are subject to the same
one hand, God's covenant is established `with the be- discipline.. All are commanded to repent ; all come into
lievers and their seed. The reprobate shell comes forth contact with  ,Christ as the only Way of salvation; and
out of the elect not V.V. This is simply an historical      are exhorted to believe in the way of repentance. .And
fact. Branches that depart from the ways of the liv- therefore  .a11 stand-t before, the responsibility to serve
ing God and reveal their reprobate mind in their re- the Lord with all their heart and mind and soul and
jection of the gospel are cut off, also historically, from, strength. None has the right to choose the way of sin
the line of the covenant, and the covenant of the Lord      and reject the gospel because they love the larkness
continues with His people and their children. More-         rather than the light.
over, the entire organism, the entire  churchis  treated       And what may be the purpose of  Go-d with respect
according to its elect kernel. This also applies to a       to this? What the Lord's purpose is with respect to the
tomato  plant. If the whole plant were composed of          elect we all understand. And the reprobate? That he
"suckers", branches that do not bear fruit, no atten-       has a name and place in the midst of the church is
tion would be paid to that particular plant. Now, how- surely not a token of Divine grace unto him. God
ever the entire plant is treated according to its es-       loved Jacob and hated Esau before either had done good
sential character. This is also true spiritually. The       or evil. The Divine purpose of the two-fold seed in the
entire organism receives. the same spiritual treatment. - sphere of the covenant is surely that the Lord's eternal
Thirdly. the entire organism grows out of Christ. Also      purpose according to both, election and reprobation,
this applies to the natural figure of the tomato plant.     may stand and be sovereignly realized. God seeks and
The "suckers" grow as well as the fruit-bearing realizes the salvation of the elect and the eternal ruin
branches. Only, the one bears fruit whereas the other       of the reprobates, and that according to His eternal
does not. The church, too, the whole church grows out good pleasure.                                         .L .~.
of Christ. The preaching of the Word, the catechetical
instruction, all the spiritual labor which is bestowed            The Reprobate.9 Trample God's Covenant
upon all the members of the church, influences all the                        -' Under Foot.
members. All are affected. All respond to the same
spiritual treatment. The difference is, of course, that        Of Esau we read that he was a covenant-breaker.
the. one `responds positively and the other negatively. To be a covenant-breaker or trample the covenant
The one bends the knee in humility and contrition under foot. does not necessarily imply that we belong
whereas the other hardens himself and progresses in         essentially to the covenant of God's fellowship and
the  way  of sin and evil. And this growth of both seeds, friendship. To reject the promise of the gospel does
elements within the church of God,-is effected through not necessarily mean that that promise is offered unto
the same  mc.ans  and by the  .same Spirit of God and of    us. All who know the way but refuse to walk therein,
.Christ Jesus. It is He Who causes the same gospel to       who have been born and raised within the sphere of
be:a  savor of life unto some and a savor of death unto     the church but choose the things below rather than the
others.                                                     things above are covenant-breakers. This `expression
                                                            refers to a conscious act on the part of these wicked
    In The Realization Of God's Covenant All The            for which they are and will be held responsible. Our
    Seed Comes Into Contact With The Blessings              calling.and obligation is to serve the Lord with all our
                                                            heart and mind and soul and strength. However, we
    Of  The  Lprd.                                          refuse to serve the Living God. We refuse the things
   Hence, in this dispensation of the covenant of God, ,,above:in preference to the things below. We refuse to
the Lord's realization of His eternal covenant in Christ forsake the way of sin and corruption and walk in
with His people, all come into contact with the prom- the way of God's statutes and commandments. We
ises of God, yea, all the blessings of the -Lord. This      thereby show by our every action that we are profane,
does not mean that this is in itself grace for all          love the earthy rather than the heavenly,  the.fellowship
-the children of the covenant. To this we have already      of the world rather than the fellowship of God, the
called attention in this article. The Divine promise is glories of Egypt and of this world rather than the
simply not extended unto, meant for all. All do not         afflictions of the people of God and to be called an
share the favour and love of God. All do not hare           heir of the world to come. We.are covenant+reakers.
equally a chance to be saved. To be historically and        The idea, of course, is not that we can break what the
externally in the-covenant is not in itself a token of      Lord has once begun. The viewpoint is that `of the


      . 38                                   T H E   S T A N D A R D   :B:.EARER

        wicked. We trample the covenant of the Lord under                Samuel's words in his heart. His. distress is great.
        foot. We reveal our  scorh  and disdain for the fellow- Words cannot utter it.  I
        ship of the living God. We reject the Christ and turn               The woman comes to'him. She sees that he is sore
        our backs upon the gospel because faith in Christ must           troubled. His distress touches her heart. Though a
        be accompanied by a forsaking of the ways of sin, and sorceress, she is not devoid of human sympathy. But
        we, love sin and the things of this world and refuse to          being a godless person, her tenderest mercies are cruel.
        forsake them for the affairs of God's church and cove- Saul suffers the agonies of the doomed, in hell. The
        nant.                                                            only remedy for  ,such  .distress is heartfelt repentance.
              This also seals the condemnation of the wicked.            She should be admonishing him to humble himself
        They are held responsible. Responsibility does not under God's mighty hand. Actually, all she does is to
      . imply freedom of action in the sense that we are sover-          insist that he rise from the earth and eat. ,"Behold,"
        eignly free, are able of ourselves to choose either the          says she to him, "thine handmaid hath obeyed thy
        good or the evil, and that the Lord's attitude toward us         voice, and I have put my life in thine  hand and have
        is therefore determined by our attitude toward Him.              hearkened unto  .thy. words, which thou. spakest unto
        Responsibility, however, does imply that we are morally me. Now, therefore, I pray thee, hearken thou also
        free, Spiritually and subjectively we sin `because we unto- the voice of thine.  handmaid, and let me set a
        choose sin, never because we are driven unto sin. Our morsal of bread before thee; and eat, that thou mayest
        walking in paths of evil is always characterized by a have strength, when thou  .goest on thy way." The
        voluntary choice on our part whereby we wilfully                 point that she argues is that he does her a favor, if he
        choose the world and reject the things of God's kingdom eat, and that she, by hearkening unto his voice, put
        and covenant. For this we are held responsible and L him under a kind of obligation.. But Saul refuses.
        accountable. But the Lord fulfills all His counsel, also         "I will not eat," he tells her. It is not a wonder, con-
        with respect to the reprobate wicked. We cannot  ex^             sidering his anguish of spirit. He is aware of the
_'      plain this phenomenon of: the responsibility of man              Lord's waiting.to destroy him yonder in mount Gilbqa.
        and the sovereignty of God. Both are true and must bc Rather than face that judgment, he chooses to carry
        maintained, not as at conflict with one another but              through his fast and die where he lies. If the woman
        in the light of each other. The elect, on the other hand,        would only lay off. But she is insistent. Her  per-
        are saved to the uttermost. In them the Lord fulfills tinacity  is of the Lord. For Saul must eat, that he may
        His promises which are Yea in Christ. And they are have strength, when he goes on his way to his ever-"
        enabled to stand by the grace of the Lord as the party           lasting doom. Accordingly, his two companions come "
        of the living God.                                               to the woman's aid. By their joint effort they `break
                                               H. Veldman.               down his resistance. He rises from the earth and
                                                                         sits on his bed, as having yielded to, their entreaties
                                                                         to take food.
                                                                            The woman has a fat calf in her house, which she
                                                                         hastens to kill.: She take flour, kneeds it, and makes
                                                                    ,    unleavened bread thereof. She sets before Saul and
                 THEi DAY OF S&WS                                        his servants. And Saul, too, eats. His spirit comes
                                                                         again .to him. Having eaten, he rises, he and his ser-
                                                                         vants. On the strength of that bread he goes away
                                                                         this same night, and rejoins his army there in mount
                              Saul's End                                 Gilboa, a man under the ban of God and thus doomed
                                                                         to extinction.
              The deceased  Bamuel, speaking for God, reveals to             As was explained, the Philistines are pitched in
        Saul the doom that awaits him and the armies of Israel           Shunem, on the western declivity of the little Herman.
        on the marrow. The Lord' will deliver all Israel into, The Hebrews are encamped in Gilboa,  that is, on the
        the hands of the Philistines. Saul and his sons will mountain range in the territory of Issacher, which
        die on the battle field.                                         traverses the south-eastern part of the plain of Jezreel.
              Hearing, Saul is moved` to the core, and falls `l?lie two armies are thus encamped on two groups of
        straightway all along"the  ground, or, in the language mountains, separated by a distance of only four miles
        of the original text, "Saul made haste and fell with and enclosing the broad plain of Jezreel toward the
        the fullness of his stature." The shock of the seer's            east.
        dreadful message is too great. With his body'weakened               -Morning has come. It is high time that Saul go
        from lack of nourishment - the text states that he out before his army .against the Philistines, who al-
        has eaten no bread all the day nor all the night -               ready swarm the plain. But the doomed and trembling.
        Saul suffers a physical collapse. For the Lord speaks king takes thought of but one thing, namely, how he


                                   T ' H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                        39

may escape the sword of the Philistines and thus save occupied  solely with his own honour. He refuses to die
himself out of the hand of God. Accordingly, he refuses by the hand of those uncircumcised Philistines. He
to  ,bestir himself, so that the Philistines are compelled is determined to spare himself that disgrace. So he
to carry the war to him in the mount. (This is strictly commands his armour-bearer, "Draw thy sword, and
according to the text, which reveals that the scene of thrust me through therewith ; lest' these uncircumcised
battle ,was not ,the plain but the &mount.    At verse 1 acme and thrust me through and mock me." But his
of chapter 31 the statement accurs  that the men of         armour-bearer will not; for he  ,is sore afraid. It is
Israel, fleeing before the Philistines, fell down slain the Lord's anointed whom he would be slaying. Saul
in  Gilboa).  The Philistines continue to advance. They now takes a sword and falls upon it as imagining, per-
ascend the mountain,. and the conflict is on. And haps, that in dying by his own hand he still prevents
Saul? He stands afar off, surrounded by his body-           God from having His way -with .him by slaying him
guard. He takes no part in the conflict. Mindful of with the sword of the Philistines. But Samuel's pro-
the words of Samuel, he goes not to the battle. This phecy did not exclude suicide. These were his words,
doubtless,. is the implication of the text at verse 2,      "And to morrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me,"
"And the battle went hard to Saul," implying that namely in Sheol, the realm of the dead. All that the
Saul went not to the battle, appeared not on the scene      seer had spoken is come to pass. Saul and his three
of conflict to give leadership to his forces, it being sons are dead. The host of Israel is in the hands of
that he was bent on escaping the  ,sword  of the adver- the Philistines.
sary. We are not allowed to read "against" instead             The rout of the armies of Israel is complete. The
of  "to". For the Hebrew preposition here employed tidings of the disaster is spread far and wide by the
is "el", (written with the aleph) ; it is not "al" (writ- fleeing remnant. The men of Israel that dwell beyond
ten with the ayin). The phrase describes the move-' the plain and even those that dwell beyond the Jordan
ment of the battle toward Saul.                             near its bank forsake their. cities and flee to safer re-
   It all goes to show that even in this dreadful hour gions. So great is the panic. The evacuated cities
Saul hardens his heart, first, by his unwillingness to are taken over by the Philistines, who dwell in them.
repent, and,, second by his denying that he was actual-        On the morrow the Philistines come to strip the
ly made to hear the word of God conkerning  his end         slain. They find Saul and his three sons fallen in
there in  Endor.  The voice that he heard must have Mt. Gilboa. They cut off Saul's h.ead and strip off his
originated  in.his own disordered nervous system. Hence armour,  which they send into their land round about
he will not, die but live, he tells, himself, if only he    to publish the good news to their idols, and among
takes the necessary precautions. But his heart tells their people. They put his  armour in  the, house of
him that he will die ; and so he will, for the Lord has     Ashtaroth. His body they fasten to the wall of Beth-
said. Accordingly, the battle goes hard to-Saul. The        sham, four miles west of the Jordan. According to the
hard-fighting and conquering Philistines are being Chronicler, they fastened his head on the temple of
directed by the unseen hand of God to the place of          Dagon. IAccording  to verse, 12 they deal in the same
Saul's retreat.    Doubtless+ his whole army, all the way with the corpses of Saul's sons.
Hebrews,, have already taken recourse, to flight; and
Saul flees with them with the adversary in hot pur-            When the men of Jabesh-Gilead heard what the
suit. "And the Philistines followed hard upon Saul          Philistines had done to Saul, they thought of what
and upon his sons", (ver. 2). But the Philistines, it Saul once had done for them. Under the cover of the
seems, are not aware that they pursue the king. For night they go to Bethsham, and from its walls take the
the text at verse 8 states that, on the marrow, when        body of Saul and the body of his three sons and burn
the',Philistines  came to strip the slain, they found Saul them there. The bones they bury under a tree.
and his three sons fallen in Mt: Gilboa:                       The Lord brought Saul to a terrible end on account
   As by chance and perhaps without recognizing him,        of his rebellions and impenitence. His destruction was
"the shooters and the men of the bow find him-Saul-         sudden. He was'cut off from God's country-the land
and he is sore afraid of the.archers."'  (this is the cor- of the spiritually living-in the midst of his days, in
rect rendering of the- text at this place,-  and not, "And the prime of life. His head was made a public gazing-
the archers  &it him ; and he was sore  wounded of  the stock there in the temple of Dagon. His decapitated
archers: That Saul was sore  zoounded.  is disproved body was suspended between heaven and earth by its
by the fact of his being .able to lean on a sword in the being fastened to the walls of Bethshan, and finally
act of taking his  own'life):  `Saul perceives that all     it was burned. These ignominies were signs of the
his efforts to nullify the prophecy of Samuel by saving Lord's hot displeasure, of the anger of His hatred of
his life come to nought. He will die, as God has said. Saul. So they were regarded in that day and rightly
With most- of his body-guard fallen down slain, it is       so. And they were given, were these signs, that all
clear that his hour has struck. But even now he is Israel might know that Saul was wicked, and that


40                                   T H E   S T A N D A R D   BEAR"ER

David was righteous.                                        Saul was not wounded at all; btit utterly.exhausted  and.
      "And it came to pass after the death of Saul? (II     that he was leaning on his spear to Wld him,&lf  up
Som.  1:l).     This clause connects the first book of      in a standing position. They suppose,, further,. tliat,
Samuel with the second. It refers directly to I Sam. 31,    in consequence of his excitement and exertions, he was
thus continuing the narrative after- the account there seized by a cramp so that, finding himself in a bodily
given of the death of Saul. The narrator continues,         condition in which he could not defend  himself,.&be-
"And David was returned from the. slaughter of the          sought  the Amalekite to  sIay him. And the  AmaIekite
Amalekites, and David abode two days in Ziklag."            consented, seeing that Saul could not live after his fall,
On the third day a man comes out of the camp from that is, as this class of interpreters have it, after the
Saul and brings David the news of Saul's death. The defeat of his army and with the chariot-warriors so
coming of the messenger at this time indicates that         near. But this interpretation is too unlikely).
the battle of Gilboa  took place on the previous day of         There is conflict between the account of the A.&ale-
David's return to Z&lag.  The messenger comes with kite and I Sam.  3:l. According to the latter, Saul
rent clothes and earth upon his head, the signs of          killed himself by his own sword, that is, died as the
grief. He falls down and does obeisance in  recoki-         result of a mortal and self-inflicted wound. According
tion of David as future king. David asks him from to the former, the Amalekite dealt him the stroke that
whence he is engaged in cbming.  He returns anstier,'       ended his life. But there is no point to the attempt ,at
"Out of the camp of Israel am I escaped." David's           harmonizing the two accounts f6r example by sayifig
heart trembles because of those words of the man. He that Saul only wounded himself severely by falling on
fears that the worst has happened to .Saul and Jona- his own sword, and received the death-stroke from the
than his son and the people of the Lord and the house       Amalekite. For the conflict is not between two personal.
of Israel. "What is the  matter? I pray thee, tell me." accounts of the sacred writer, but between the personal
The man does as requested. He completes his report          account of the latter and the personal report of the
in these words, "The people ale fled from the battle;       Amalekite to David concerning the same event.
moreover many of the people are fallen and dead  ; and
moreover Saul and Jonathan are dead," That  last               "rhe conflict implies of course not that the sac&d
statement about Saul and Jonathan causes David to           writer was in error  - writing as he did under
wonder at the man. He doein't  like the tohe of voice the infallible guidance of the Holy Spirit, he could not
in which the man uttered those words. He looks at the       err-but that the AmaIekite lied. Yet, his lying eqm-
r&an again and this time his gaze is searching as `is the munication to -David is still the infallible. word of God,
question that he puts to him, "How knowest thou that        but of course only in the sense that what he said to
Saul and Jonathan his son is-  dead?`."  The young man      David forms a  part  of the book of Samuel and  that
welcomes the question. Little does he anticipate David's the sacred writer's narration of what he said is infal-
reactions to his fabricated answer. This is his &tory.      libly true ; thus only in the sense that he actually sajcl
He happened by chance upon Mount Gilboa, and saw to David what he is reported to have said to hi,m by
 ?aul leaning upon his spear.     This cannot well be the sacred writer. And therefore we  need  not attempt
understood of Saul's attempt to kill himself (according to harmonize the two accounts in question, as if the
to Sam.. 31:4). Perhaps we must suppose that Saul, Amalekite's  lying involves the word of God in a con-
badly wounded, was leaning on his spear (which was          flict. Such is not the case, certainly; and therefore the
 fixed in the ground) in order to hold himself up in a      matter that has.sig$ficance here is not whether or. no
sitting position. While he was sitting there, "Lo, the      the report of th,e...Amalekite  can be harmonized wjth
chariot-warriors and the horsemen followed hard after the narrative of the sacred writer (if; can9;pf,,course,tby
him," came so near that soon they must have reached         baseless conjecture), but what the man  reported to
him. But according to I Sam.  31:4 the pursuers were        David, namely that, finding Saul xnortally  wounded. he,
 the men of the bow, thus footmen. Looking behind           at Saul's, request, delivered the. ,stroke that ended the
him, Saul saw this young man who in, reply to Saul's        kipg's Iif e.
question, "who art thou," said that he was the son of           Let us take a closer view at this Amalekito.  The
an Amalekite stranger. Saul implores the man to man is, a study in masked wickedness. To David's
 slay him, giving as his reason that anguish was come question, "Whence art thou," he  ,replies,  "I am  thB son
 upon him, because his life was  stilI whole in him.        of an Amalekite stranger, that' is, of an AmalekiW'who
 Being certain that Saul could not live after his fall,     had settled in Israel. The law of Moses often heals on
the man, complying, dealt Saul the stroke that ended        the stranger. If he let himself and all the  ma&% of
 his life.    Taking the diadem that was upon Saul's        his house be circumcised, he was allowed to keep the
 head, and the bracelet that was upon his arm, he           passover  to the Lord ; and would be as one born in the
brought them to David.                                      land, Ex, 12 :48 ; .Num. 9 : 14. These circumcised strang-
      (Some suppose that, according to this narrative,      ers, incorporated through: their  cirsum&ion5  into the
                                                   .

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

 commonwealth of Israel, the people of Israel were Perhaps the ,man denies his deed and his denial is
 commanded to love ; they had to refrain from vexing rightly disregarded. Telling the man that his blood is
 them. "And if a stranger sojourn with thee in the             upon his own head, in that his mouth testified against
 land," so read the law, "ye shall not vex him. But            him, David orders him slain.
 the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you                                               G. M. Ophoff.
 as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as
 thyself ; for ye were strangers in the land `of Egypt"
 (Lev. 19 :33, 34).
    Whether the youn man of our narrative belonged to
 this class of strangers the text does not reveal. But
 he must have already resided in Israel for a long time.                S I O N ' S   ZANGEN
 For his knowledge of David seems to be considerable.
 He is confident that David is to rule in Saul's stead.
 For he brings to David the symbols of royal  digmty-
 the crown and the bracelet-that he had taken from                  Israel's Liefdevolle Heiland
 Saul's corpse. But David had made no attempt to hurl                         (Psalm 105 ; Vijfde Deel)
 Saul from his throne; abiding the Lord's time, he
 patiently bore Saul's persecutions. For David is not             De vorige  maal kwamen `we tot  aan het vers in
 of the violent men of the earth ; he does not live by         dezen psalm, dat gewaagde van den honger die door
. his sword. He is of the meek of the earth. He loves          God `"geroepen" werd ; en wanneer God roept, dan is
 God and his people. He loves Saul, too, as his enemy. er ook gehoorzaming : de honger kwam en drukte zwaar
 Of this, too, the young man seems to be more or less in het land van Egypte. En ook de'omliggende  volke-
 aware. And therefore he thinks it prudent to pretend ren leden  van dien honger, want we lezen, dat Jakob
 that he is heart-broken by the events that he reports to      en zijn  kinderen  vanwege dezen hongersnood naar
 David.  So he rushes into David's presence  witl, his Egypte reisden  om  koren te koopen.
 clothes rent and earth upon his head.                            Nu gaan weeverder.
    Yet the man does not really know and understand               "Hij zond een man voor hun aangezicht  henen   ;
 David. For he imagines that he ingratiates himself Jozef werd verkocht tot een slaaf."
 with David by being able to report to him that Saul is           Ik heb we1 eens hooren praten van de Goddelijke
 actually dead. What is worse, it seems not to occur en de menschelijke factoren. Er was  ,wat gebeurd.
`to the man that David will decry his having dealt Saul En het gebeurde, zoo zeide men, was resultaat van een
 the stroke that ended his life. The man himself sees doen  van God en het  doen van den mensch.
 nc wrong in what he did. Saul was in his death-agony.            Nu kan dat wel, doch it zou ,U willen verzoeken om
 Besides,, he slew Saul in accordance with his own re- die twee factoren niet naast elkaar te zetten. Zij  zijn
quest, because he saw that he could not survive his niet coardinaat,  maar de eene is subordinaat aan de
 wounds. Saul would have died anyway. Doubtless, andere. Zij zijn niet nevengeschikt, maar de eene is
 the whole story is a lie. The reason that the man             ondergeschikt  aan de andere.
 invented it  .is that he wanted to be able to tell David         Leest nu den tekst nog eens. God zond een man
 that Saul was actually dead. He knew that the. king voor het aangezicht van de patriarchen. Dat is de
 was dead, he meant to say, because he had slain him hoofdgedachte.
 with his own hand.* Besides, he brought from Saul's              En hoe heeft God dat gedaan? Door middel van
 corpse the royal crown to confirm his words.                  het zondige doen  der patriarchen die hem als slaaf ver-
    Having heard the young man out, David takes hold kochten  naar Egypte.
 of his clothes, and rends them ; and likewise all the            Dit is een heel vreeselijke waarheid.  Oak heeft
 men that were with him. And they mourn and weep, Jozef het uitgevonden. Later, veel later, heeft hij er
 and fasted until even. David's heart is heavy with van getuigd, zeggende : `%ijlieden wel, gij hebt het
 grief for Saul, and Jonathan his son, and for the people kwaad tegen mij gedacht, doch `God heeft dat ten goede
 of the Lord, and for the house of Israel ; "because they gedacht, opdat Hij deed gelijk het is te dezen dage,
 were fallen by the sword."                                    om een groot volk in het leven te behouden."
    The young man may have anticipated this  exnres-              Hier komen te pas:de'  sbuvereiniteit  van God en de
 sion of grief on the part of David and his men. The verantwoordelijkheid des menschen.
 man had rent his own garments. But he had not artici-            En, nog eens, het is een heel vreeselijke waarheid.
 pated the question that David now puts to him, "How              Gods  voIk heeft altijd die vreeselijkheid  gezien."  Ik
 wast  thou not afraid to stretch forth thine hand to zal U drie voorbeelden geven, en het laatste is het
 destroy the Lord's anointed?" David can hold him vreeselijkste.
 fully responsible because of his long residence in Israel.       Het eerste voorbeeld: Isak veegt zijn  lippen af.

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

 machtiger dan zijne tegenpartijders."-                                 Israel in Egypte zijn Uw broeders en Uw zusters.
             Wat mij hier telkens treft  is, dat de Heere alles En zij hebben vooruit  geleden wat wij  elken dag lijden
 doet. In weinige woorden wordt dat hier telkens  ver-               van de wereld, van het vervloekte Egypte van van-
, haald. :God deed hen wassen : zij braken uit ter rechter           daag.
 en ter linkerhand. Bij de uittocht uit Egypte waren                    En het hart van al dat lijden is de smaadheid van
 er twee millioen volks.            En  toen  zij er in kwamen  Christusdragen.
 telden zij slechts een zeventig personen. God deed hen                 Gelukkige lijders ! Het gaat  daor lijden tot  ver-
 wassen. Hij is het die ook in het natuurlijke,  vleesche-           blijden, tot de blijdschap van het ingaan in het Hemel-
 lijke leven den wasdom geeft. Hoe groot is God !                    sche Kansan !      *
             Tegenpartijders !                                                                                    G. Vos.
             Dat zijn de Satans van Gods volk. De  wereld,  ook
 Egypte van Jozef's dagen, is de Satan, dat is, de tegen-                                    -    -    -    -
 partijder van Israel-Jakob. Zij waren  vreemdelingen
 in het land van Cham. Wilt ge meer daar van  weten,
 moet ge maar de Egyptologie bestudeeren. Die Egypto-
 logic is gebouwd naar haar stof uit de feiten die men                            IN HIS FEAR
 vergaderde uit de graven der pyramiden. En alles wat
 men daar vond getuigde van grooten afgodendienst.
             "Hij keerde hun hart om, dat zij Zijn volk haatten,              Training For Life's Calling
 dat zij met Zijne knechten listiglijk handelden."
             Wat een vers !                                             When this department which bears the title "In
             Eerst, God keerde hun hart om !                         His Fear" was inaugurated some two ore three years
             Laat het  valsche*IsraeI  van vandaag daar hun tan-     ago, it was presented as one set aside for the treat-
 den stomp op  bijten  !                                             ment of educational subjects, subjects that have to do
             God keert het hart om van den mensch: dat hart is with the field of education in home, school and church.
 in Zijn hand als waterbeken. Hij wendt die harten                   The phrase, "In His Fear" also suggests that one might
naar Zijn wil.                                                       treat matters that have to do with practical Christian-
 1_          0 ja, ik weet wel, dat dit gaat door middel van veel    ity. Our purpose at this time is to use this department
 en velerlei. Maar let er op, dat als God de hoofdsomma              for a time to treat educational matters.
 geven wil, Hij zegt : Ik keerde hunlieder hart om,  op-                The thing we wish to treat for a few issues of the
 dat zij Mijn volk haatten zouden. Zware theologie !                 Standard Bearer is Christian instruction in the school
             Pk weet ook, dat Egypte in hun  haten  en in hun        room whereby our children are trained for their life's
 listigheden  voor God verantwoordelijk zijn, maar die-              calling. That is what we should be doing for them
.per dan hun verantwoordelijkheid ligt de raad en werkt              when we send them to school. Our goal must not be
 de hand van God. Later, veel later,  zegt de  Shrift                worldly wisdom f.or worldly gain. Our children must
 tcgen Farao: Hiertoe heb Ik U verwekt! Zware  theo-                 be trained to live as the royal priesthood that they are
 Iogie ! Zwaar, want Goddelijk.                                      by God's grace. That is their life's calling, and that
             Tweedens, let er op, dat God geen apologie maakt        calling requires training. The purpose of these articles '
 voor Zijn daden.  Ik heb dat a1 gedaan: hierboven heb               is not to prove that our children should attend Chris-
 ik getracht om God te verdedigen. God trekt zich niets              tian schools, we leave that a foregone conclusion and
 aan van al Zijn beschuldigers. God zegt hier  een-                  consider it an undeniable fact. But our purpose is to
 voudig : Ik keerde hun hart om, want Ik Wilde hebben,               focus our attention on the fact that the duty of the
 dat Mijn volk voor tijd en wijle gehaat zou  worden!                Christian school is to provide the child with a  Christinn
 Dat dient Mijn raad en voornemen tegenover Mijn                     education  that it may be trained for calling in this life
 teeder bemind;  volk. Ik ben een smeltkroes van ellende             which it has from God.
 aan `t bouwen voor Mijn volk. Ik  wil hen doorlouteren,                We wish to present something positive along the
 en, tweedens, lk wil straks  Mijn liefste Naam open-                line of education and not destructively criticize the
. baren.          En gij, Egypte, met Uw  Farao,  zijn Mijn          efforts and work of others. To do this we will present
 instrument. Ziet het tech : Ik. keer Uw hart om ! Gij               and discuss in this department a set of principles of
 zult Mijn  volk  haten,  en  straks  zulIen zij  klagelijk          practical Christian instruction which we have at hand.
 weenen. En tot Mij  roepen.                                            These principles were originally drawn up by the
             Zware theologie! Maar theologie die God tot Zijn        Educational Committee of the Christian School of
 eer doe;  komen.              '                                     Sioux Center, Iowa, and unless we are greatly mis-
             Listige  handelingen  der  haat van Egypte. Leest informed they are chiefly the work of our own Rev.
 het historieblad, en weent!                                         Gritters who now serves one of our congregations at
             Hebt ge dat nooit gedaan?                               Oak Lawn, Ill. These principles later were adopted


                                                             f
                                    T H E   S T A N D A R D   BE.ARER                                                 45:

by the Christian schools of Pella and Peoria, Iowa,                    power by God (Dan. 5  :18). They live out of
and last year were also adopted by the Hope Protestant                 the principle of sin (Dan. 5  :20) attain many-
Reformed School for Christian Instruction.                             sided developments and come to great riches as
   We present these principles for various reasons. In                 for example Babylon and Greece and the  Anti-
the first place, we believe that our readers, whether                  Christian kingdom of Rev. 18:10-17. Through
they,have children of school age or not, will benefit by               all these God also sets forth and forward trie-
following these principles with us and will understand                 cause of His Church in this world, but along,
more fully the calling of the Christian School. Many                   that way comes also the fulfilled power of the
of our readers have never seen these principles, and we                Antichristian kingdom.
believe that even those who have seen a copy would                  c. In and through it all is God's providence (Rom.
appreciate having them  .printed again. In the second                   8 :28, Prov. 21:1, and Psalm 121) appointing all
place, being greatly interested in Christian instruction,               events as the Belgic Confession declares in Art.
we would like by these lines to do our little to encour-                13 and protecting and nourishing the Church
age those who are preparing for a teaching career.                      (Heidelberg Catechism question and answer 54
Especially in light of the fact that those of  .our young               and Revelation  12:14). Thus He ripens the
men and women who are preparing for a teaching                          harvest, good as well as evil (Rev. 14 :14-20).
career have organized a club to discuss matters such                    Until the King of kings shall appear and His
as those to be treated in this department, we would                     giorious  Kingdom shall crush all the kingdoms
like to print these principles and pen down a few                       that be; like the- rolling stone of Daniel 2:44,
thoughts in connection with them. If these articles                     God's providence shall appoint all events in the
invoke a discussion. either in this paper `or amongst                 history of this world. Then the great Building
the teachers and prospective teachers, if they are in-                  which is the Church (Eph.  2:Zl) shall be re-
strumental in bringing about a more definite  and richer                vealed in all its glory, in the great unveiling
presentative of the calling of the `Christian school, we                ceremony Christ shall be all in all while all the
will be satisfied that they have been worthwhile.                       wicked shall be punished for.their sinister plans
    We begin by presenting in this issue that which we                  to destroy the Church, God's Great Building.
find in these principles under the heading of "History".           . d. If therefore the Church is God's Bride, His
In the following article we hope to say a few things                    Building, the dove and also apple of His eye;
about history and these principles of instruction in                    and if His eye is ever upon that Church, we too
that branch of the curriculum.                                          shall look at all history in the  -light of that
                                                                        Church and shall judge the nations according  -
                        HISTORY                                         to the position they have taken toward that
    1. History is the study of and the observation of                   Church and the truth she preaches.
God's eternal plan and purposes in regard to the earth's             3. But in the third  place,  Scripture teaches and
peoples,-as  these purposes have been and throughout the Confessions teach that in all these works which the
"the ages are  beiug carried'out. See for example Eph. Lord doeth, God is intent upon showing or revealing
1:ll; Psalm  33:11,  12; Isaiah.  46:lO; Psalm  46:6-g,           HIMSELF. Thus, for example, we read in Ezekiel
`and also the Belgic Confession, articles 2 and 13.          24-27 the statement that occurs  25 times: "And they
    2. That plan of God was also made known to us. It shall know that I Em the Lord." See also Romans I : 19 ;
`is  principly  to bring His Church into the final glory of Ezekiel 36 :21-22 ; Psalm 19 :3 ; Romans 9 :17 ; Calvin's
His perfected Kingdom, and all events in history are              Institutes I, 5, 1; Belgic Confession Art. 2, and the
`subservient to that Plan. (See for example Eph. l:ll;            Heidelberg Catechism the answer to question 122.
Psalm `40 :5. Consider also the history of Israel en-
route to Canaan and in Canaan ; Rev. 20 and Dan. 4 :34               a. In Romans 4 :19,20  God calls us to see in history
where we see it finally perfected)`.                                   His power and His Godhead together with His
                                                                        majesty.
    a. The Church passes through the deep way of sin
       and grace (Genesis 3  :15). Everywhere -we see                b. The catechism sums all this up so beautifully in
        the development of sin, all of it gradually and                 the answer to Question 122 when it states that
        funally culminating in the Antichrist. (See Rev.                in history we are to see:
        13 : 17, questions and answers 52 and 123 of the              I (1) God's POWER (In Pharaoh,  Nebuchad-
        Heidelberg Catechism and Art. 37 of the Belgic                       nezar, Cyrus, Dan. 4:35).
        Confession.)                                                     (2) God's WISDOM (Eph. 3  :lO; I Cor. 3  :lO,
    2. Nations are born, they rise up, develop and fall                      wisdom wherein God is able to attain to
       at the Word of God's power. They are given                            His purpose.)


                                                          4     *

46                                     T H E '   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

         (3) God's GOODNESS (Romans  11:22 ; Cal-
             vin's Institutes. "Goedheid en  Gestreng-                               P E R I S C O P E
             heid". He showeth Himself good before the
             eyes of all men, but His goodness is over               ,
              them that fear Him, Ps. 103 :17).                      Dramatic Fever-4.
         (4) God's JUSTICE (judgments over the na-                               As Entering Wedge!
              tions, punishment of evil-doers and calling
             for the Day of Justice: Heidelberg Cate-                     . "The Netherlands Reformed Weekly, Trouw, in
             chism, the answer to the 11th question.)                the issue of. July 20, contains an item of interest to us
                                                                     in our constant concern over the movie problem.
         (5) God's MERCY and His TRUTH (showing
              Himself to be reliable and unchangeable,               Twenty Protestant leaders, among whom are such
                                                                     familiar Reformed figures as Prof. G. C. Berkhouwer
             true to His covenant promises which He
             has made to His people and His promise and Prof. H. Doorijeweerd, have published a signifi-
             which in short is: "Fear not little flock, it           cant comment on the subject of the public movie. They
              is your Father's good pleasure to give you are impressed by the fact that the Protestant Churches
             the kingdom." Luke  12:32.                              have not solved the serious problem of the evil in-
                                                                     fluence of movie-attendance by the prevailingly nega-
      c. Conclusion: Hence then as Calvin also says, the tive and all-too-general approach to the issue, especially
         final purpose of looking into history must be to            ir. view of the fact that more than half of the members
         lead us to contemplate, not to worship, not the of the Protestant Churches in Amsterdam attend' the
         achievements of man, but the infinite great- movie-houses without the benefit of any dependable
         ness of God ; and to worship, not men or coun-              Christian guidance in the matter," (Does this figure
         tries, but to worship our God. Therefore the                also include members of Reformed Churches? One
         teachers and pupils must love God and know would almost receive this impression if one considers
         Him from the Scriptures as He there reveals                 the fact that Reformed leaders were included in this
         Himself as the true God. And as the Church                  group and their report was published in Trouw.-JH)
         preaches Him and the Scriptures teach Him,                         "While recognizing that most films are highly
         `He must become the God of then school-room objectionable both from a cultural and Christian point
         through the instruction given in this important of view, and that serious warning against the dangers
         sub,ject  of history.                                       of movie-attendance is always in place, especially for
                                          J. A. Heys.                the spiritually immature, these leaders believe that it
                                                                     is neither necessary nor desirable to declare all movies,
                                                                     without further qualification, contraband, since such
                                  .                                  a policy often  simpIy ignores the. principle of the
      It is simply absurd to say you believe, or even                Christian's individual responsibility. They suggest,
want to believe, in Him, if you do not do anything as a more positive and effectual approach to `the prob-
He tells you; - George MacDonald, quoted ,in Calvin lem, the formation of local boards of experts, made up
Forum.                                                               of Protestants who understand the needs of the Pro-
                                                                     testant  constituentiy,  which will serve as censorship
                                                                     bodies, and publish in the daily papers a list of their
      Men nowadays cheerfully. give up the substance, `selection of those movies that are suitable for the enter-
but never the name of Christianity - B. B. Warfield,                 tainment `of the Protestant Church folk. The propon-
quoted  in Blue Banner Faith and Life.                               ents  ofthis suggestion are convinced that  such.a  policy
                                                                     would have the effect of encouraging' greater  spiritua1
                                                                     and moral discernment in the use of movies and other
      The sermon will be better if you listen as a Chris- forms of entertainment by church members.
tian rather than as a critic. - from the Banner.                            "This proposal will sound a littIe revolutionary in
                                                                     our circles. But it must be admitted that' `among us
                                                                     too, the negative approach has been and is unsuccessful,
      Whoso  seeks from God any other reward but God,                a.nd that, within the limits of the Christian Reformed
and for it would serve God, esteems what he wishes                   Church, the movie problem has not been solved. It
to receive, more than Him from whom he would re-                     is high time for some fresh and courageous thinking
ceive it. What then? hath God no reward? None,                       on the subject, not with a view to taking a more easy-
save Himself. The reward of God is God Himself.                      going attitude toward the moral and spiritual perils
-Augustine.                                                          present in the majority of popular screen  presenta-


                                    T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R '                                       47

tions but with a view to furnishing the kind of confi- ' married with the daughters of men. What was the
dence-inspiring guidance that will cultivate sound indi-    Lord's answer ? "My-Spirit shall not always strive
vidual judgment in these matters. Whether the pro- with man." God put an end to it by means of the
posal of the Dutch leaders is the answer is subject to      Deluge and spared and delivered only Noah and his
debate. That some new answer must be found is not."         family.
Quoted from  The  Banner  of `Sept.  24-0ther  Churches        "Rebekah had much grief because  of  the daughters
in the News, by Rev. Peter Van Tuinen.*                     of H&h, because her son Esau married women outside
    We wrote above "An Entering Wedge?" and would,          of the pale of God's Church. Indeed, these strange
in this connection, also issue a warning. For the his- wives were a grief of mind unto Isaac and to Rebekah.
tory of various churches overagainst certain ethical        (Gen. 26 :35).
questions, particularly those involving amusements  is,        "We read of Ezra that he mourned because many
always the same. First the church  constitutency   be-      of the people that returned, the holy seed, intermarried
Comes  superficial, carnal, worldly-minded and pleasure-    with the people of the lands. At the command of Ezra
mad. Then the leaders in Zion dare no longer raise          the strange wives were sent away, and the people, those
their voices against the present evil for fear `of the      who  w.ere guilty of transgressing God's law, made
results. This in both the ministry and in the exercise sacrifice unto the Lord. See Ezra 9 and 10.
of discipline soon becomes evident. (By this order we          "But what about marrying outside of our own
do not mean to suggest that the other is never the ease,    church? Are such marriages always evil? Dare we
i.e. that the corrupt preacher is- the false prophet lead- assert that all marriages of people in one and the same
ing astray the people of God. `This also happens of         denomination or confession are always happy ones?
course.)    Then, that which can only be saved in the Alas, there are instances among them, too, which are
way of a complete reformation is attempted in the           deplorable and upon which a judgment clearly rests.
way of compromise-censorship committees, together There certainly are happy marriages with people out-
with implied approval, ending inevitably in the way side of our own denomination, are there not? I should
of a complete capitulation to the carnally-minded ele- not like to dispute this. It may be difficult at times
ment in the church .involved  and the eventual loss of      to find someone in one's own congregation. Parents
her light on the candlestick.                               are indeed obliged to act with discretion in circum-
    And if the time has come also  in. the Christian Re- stances of this kind. We cannot manufacture love and
formed (and in the Protestant Reformed?) Churches           . . . .there must be love !                     .
for some "fresh and courageous thinking on the sub-            "But what I mean is this, let us never forsake our
ject" let it (by all means be in the direction of a prin- confession for the sake of marriage. If it should hap-
cipal rejection of all acting together with a renewed pen that a person meets someone outside of his own
emphasis on 0-u' spiritual separation in this world.        `church, and the young man or young lady is willing to I
                                                            go along, then that is another thing.' On, the other
Mixed Marriages.                                            hand, it should not be this-way, either, that one  comes
    "If there is one thing in our life regarding which to church for the sake of a boy or for the sake of a
                                                            girl. Let the boy or girl do everything possible to
we should  seek counsel from God it certainly is in. the convince the other of the purity of our doctrine so
matter of seeking a wife (or  husband-JH)  . Similar-       that the other's heart may be won over, as far as it lies
ly, how "important it is for a girl to ask herself the in our power to do so. To go to church, and later on
question : "Can I go through life with that boy who join the church, solely for the sake of a boy or a girl,
is proposing to me?                                         but to continue to cling to a wrong doctrine, results in
    "Not that we can evade trouble and sorrows in our       serious danger to the church, and in many instances
wedded life: indeed not. The  path  which God has will avenge itself.
marked out for us we shall have to tread. But that is        . "In some cases it turns out for good, but we may
a different matter.                                         not and cannot act in accordance with this. We do not
    "God's Word forbids us to be unequally" yoked to- take the stand. that we alone are The ,Church. . . .
gether with.. unbelievers. Neither may we take the          However, we should adopt a definite position regarding
position, "Let  us- do evil that good may  come".  The      the church. Never deny the truth. If we should,
secret counsel of God is unknown to us and therefore sooner  Or later we shall regret it." From Banier  der
we are to give heed to the revealed will of God.            Waurheid,  August, 1948.
    "We  may not join in affinity with the enemies of
the Truth and of the Church of God. Just think of           LLN~  Substitute for the Word".
those examples given us in the Word of God as a warn-        "The Church has nothing worth preaching and
ir,g. We read in ,Genesis 6 that the sons of God inter-     teaching except the Word of God. Take that away and


        `48                                       T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
                                                                                                                                  r...
        she has no mission. There are many things worth                                 ANNOUNCEMENT
        lecturing about, holding classes upon, writing on, and          You may still subscribe to the R. B. Serie.  This
        debating about; but preaching and teaching are not Book Series includes four books, which will be seut you
        lecturilrg and debating. Unless the Church gives forth direct from the Netherlands, during the next few
        the Word in its simplicity and purity through its months. .The first book `fOm Woord en Kerk" by the
        preaching and teaching force, there is. no reason for         Dr. K.  Schiider,  has already been mailed. You can
        these high offices to exist as distinct from the lecturer still get this first book by subscribing to the R. B. Serie
        who seeks the improvement of the moral, social, and           PLOW. The second book to be sent is "Van Kust Tot
        financial condition of the people.         Man has a far Kust", by Mr. K. C. Van Spronsen (Rudolf Van Reest) .
        deeper needs than these, which cannot be met except           This book contains, the experiences and the impres-
        by the Word of God.                                           sions Mr. Van Spronsen received on his trip to America.
               Yn insisting on the supremacy of the Bible in the      It will also contain several photos taken on his Ameri-
        Church, it is not to be inferred that it is to be treated can tour. The third and fourth books of this series con-
        as a charm or talisman, the mere presence of which            sist of sermons on the Heidelberg Catechism by Ds. J.
        insures the desired results. Far from that. The'Word          W. Tunderman, who died a martyr's death in the con-
        of God is "living and operative",  as  th$  apostIe de-       centration camp of  Dachau. All these four books may
      % clares, but only as it is read and expounded under the        be had for the nominal sum of five dollars. Just send
        guidance of the Holy Spirit. . . .                            $5.00 (money order, or check) to the Rev. B. Kok,
               "One of the most subtle temptations besetting the      105 W. 19th St., Holland, Hichigan, together with your
        preacher and teacher is to devote his time and energy name and address, and the books will be mailed to you
       lecturing  ubout  the Bible instead of preaching and           directly from the Netherlands. Do it today.
        teaching it. . . .                   .                          Those who would prefer just the book "Van Kust
               "When the Church ceases to -offer a stone for bread    Tot Kust" can subscribe just for this one book at the
        and gives herself fully and faithfully to the preaching price of $2.50. Send your subscription to the Rev. B.
        and teaching of the unadulterated Word of God, she Kok, Holland, Michigan.
        will again have that authority and power which so               If you wish to subscribe to the Reformatie, or if your
       a many say she has lost. It cannot -be emphasized too          subscription has expired, you may  aIso send this to
        strongly that there is no substitute for the faithful,        the Rev. B. Kok, 105 W. 19th St., Holland, Michigan.
        Spirit-directed preaching and  teachingeof the divinely The subscription price is $4.00 per year.
        inspired Word. To meet the need of the hour nothing              *  .
       less will  suffice, and nothing more is needed. Its  ef-                                       -
        fectiveness  ,is guaranteed by God HimseIf  in the famil-
        iar but little relied upon promise: "So shall my word
        be that goeth forth out of my mouth ; it shall not return                CONSISTORIES  - ATTENTION
         unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I                I have sent the Acts of the Synod of 1948 to all our
         please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereunto I        consistories.    If- you have received an extra copy,
         sent. it." From  Southern  Presbytetin Journal,  Sept.       please sell it and send the money to the undersigned.
         15, 1948.
                                                   J. Howerzyl.           And may I urge every cons&tory  to appoint one of
`<                                                                    its members as agent to sell the Acts and Yearbook of
                                                                      1948. I am sure every one of our families would like
                                                                      to have a copy. Price $1.00. There are also a number
                                                                      of Church Orders left which sell for $1.00.
               We are God's ; therefore let His wisdom and will                                 D. Jonker, Stated Clerk
         preside in all our actions. We are God's ; towards                                     1210 Wealthy St., S. E.
         Him, therefore as our only legitimate end, let every                                   Grand Rapids 6, Michigan.
         part of our lives be .directed.  - Cralvin.



               When one thinks of the similarity between the               A man must not choose his neighbour  ; he must take
         world and the church it is necessary to remember that the neighbour that God sends him. . . the neighbour
         the world has not become more Christian ; Christians is just the man who is next to you at the moment,
         have simply become more worldly.  -, Vance Havner,           the man with whom any business has brought `you into
         quoted in The Banner.                                        contact---George MacDonald,  quoted in Calvin  Forum.


