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                                                           fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ
                 SOVEREIGN GRACE                           came, who is over all, God blessed forever, Amen. Not
   The proposition to the defense of which  the apostle as though the word of God hath taken none effect."
arises in the above-cited section reads, "Therefore hath This entire reasoning is meaningless if dissociated
He mercy on whom He will have mercy, and whom He from the propisiton that these kinsmen belong to that
will He hardeneth" This is the apostle's way of say- unhappy portion of humanity reprobated and fitted to
ing that the Lord in deciding on whom He would have destruction.
mercy and whom He should harden, took account of              The Jews, then, constituted a nation with peculiar
absolutely nothing or no one but Himself; that when national advantages. They were Israelites, the off-
the selection was made, His will only entered in as the spring of a prince with God, whose piety and faith had
determining factor. Let us trace the path of the been of a type that had secured for him a place in that
apostle's reasoning.                                       cloud of witnesses by which we are compassed about.
   With the eighth chapter the exposition of the doc- With this prince as the father of believers the Lord
trine of justification by faith ends. The next matter had instituted his covenant to be unto him and his
the apostle takes up is the rejection of the Jews and seed a God. Hence to them pertained the adoption or
the calling of the gentiles. He shows in the first place sonship.   E x .   4:22, "Thou  shalt say unto Pharaoh,
that the Lord in rejecting his kinsmen according to Israel is my son, even my first-born" ; Deut. 14 : 1, "Ye
the flesh does not involve Himself in an act incon- are the children of the Lord your God"; Jer. 31:9, "I
gruous with His veracity as the covenants are the chil- am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my first-born.`"
dren of the promises only ; and in the second place'that Ati the glory. What in all likelihood is meant is the
to  have mercy on whom  He will have mercy and to glory of tti Lord, so that this statement must be made
harden whom He will, is His divine prerogative as He to apply to the symbolical manifestation of the Lord in
is sovereign God.                                          the inmost compartment of the tabernacle -the holiest
   The apostle sets out with declaring that his breth- of all. Ex.  40:34,  "A cloud covered the tent of the
ren according to the flesh are cast'off  by the Lord. The congregation ; and the glory of the Lord filled the
announcement is made, however, under cover, by im- tabernacle" ; Ex.  29:43,  "There will I meet with the
plication ; and is veiled in a speech wet with the dew of children of Israel, and the tabernacle shall be sancti-
tears. "I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my con-, fied by my glory"; Lev. 16  ~2, "I will appear in the
science also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, that cloud on the mercy seat" ; I Kings 8 :ll, "The glory of
I have heaviness and continued sorrow in my heart. the Lord had.. fIlled the house of the Lord"; II Chron.
For I could wish that myself were accursed from 5:14, "So that the priests could not stand to minister
Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had
flesh." As one whose habitation, whose sphere of life, filled the house of God." Isa. 6 :4, "The whole earth is
of thought, of volition and of desire, is Christ, Paul full of His glory." These kinsmen, then, together with
now speak. Hence I lie not but speak the truth, for I the holy seed had constituted a people in whose midst
am in Him. My word is His word, the  e_xhibition  of Jehovah had dwelt in the sign of His gracious pres-
His decrees. What is more, the voice of my conscience, ence.
of my inmost heart, trained as it is by the Holy Ghost,       The covenants.  Paul's brethren according to the
confirms, verifies, my saying.                             flesh conceived of as a part of the organical whole -
   My brother, can you, dare you, afEx to your speech, the Israelitish nation - were the covenant people of
your witness, your testimony these introductory words Jehovah. The giving  of the law. To Israel in distinc-
of the apostle, "I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my tion from all other nations, Jehovah had promulgated
conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost"? His will. The  service signifies the entire ritual of the
If not you had better keep silence and reconsider. Of tabernacle - the law of God which when practiced
course, as one being in Christ, Paul spoke the truth as exhibited the spiritual blessings of the kingdom of
an organ of revelation. You do not. Yet thou  canst        Christ. This law was at once prophetic or typical of a
and shalt say the truth in Christ.                         grace to be brought near in the dispensation of the
   What the apostle would now have  his brethren re- Gospel - a grace hidden with Christ in God and con-
ceive from his as truth is that he has great heaviness     stituting the contents of the promiSes,  and therefore
and continual sorrow in his heart for his kinsmen ac- the object of the hope of the church of the Old Testa-
cording to the flesh. What his great sorrow is, he does ment. The great and worth-while inheritance of the
not directly say. His manner of speech, however, will saints is comprised of the things typified by the Iaw,
not permit us to escape the conviction that his great to-wit, Christ  and the fulness that dwells in Him. Even
grief has as its source the knowledge that the Lord cast these kinsmen, so the apostle affirms, had received the
off his kinsmen. "Who are Israelites," so he con- promise of these things.
tinues, "to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the             The apostle concludes with saying that these breth-
glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and ren were the fathers. They were the offspring of
the service of God, and the promises ; whose the ,4braham,  Isaac and Jacob - men highly favored of


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                                                                                                                                      b
                                             T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                       345  iI
          God, His friends. Finally, of them (the Israelites), as he knew and firmly believed, is no unrighteousness. ;
          concerning the flesh, He, who is over all, God blessed    Yet aware of the terrible doom in which it involved !
          forever, came.                                            those privileged brethren of his, he had continual sor-
             These kinsmen, then, were a highly privileged row.
          group, distinquished by many advantages. Yet they            absolom had perished as an inaugurator of a fierce
          were hated by the Lord and were therefore destined to rebellion against the Lord and `His anointed; and
          come to eternal grief. The source of the apostle's David had continual sorrow. He, too, could wish that
          grief, we say it again, was the knowledge of the fate he could have died for his wicked son. And Moses like-
          of the destiny of his kinsmen. It was his great love wise could wish himself blotted out of the book the
          for them that restrained him from making any direct Lord had written, for his kinsmen against whom the '
          statement. What he did was to incorporate in  b.is anger of the Lord had waxed hot for their having  i
          epistle the kind of data that when contemplated yields worsbipped  the golden calf. And if you or I can con- j
          the conclusion that their fate is what he suggested it to template the eternal doom of our kinsmen according to  1
          be. He even went to the length of saying that he t.he flesh without our hearts growing heavy, let us then  1
          could wish himself accursed from Christ, that is, set feel assured that the mind of Christ is not in us.               i
          apart for destruction, regarded and treated as ana-          Paul could wish himself accursed from Christ for 1
          thema, for his brethren. The utterance, of course, is     his brethren. The psalmist prayed,  "0 my God, make  :
          conditional. As far as his love for his brethren is con- them (Israel's enemies) like a wheel ; as the stubble
          cerned, Paul could wish himself accursed from Christ. before the wind., As the fire burneth a wood, and as
          But whereas the state of being accursed cannot be en- the flames setteth the mountains on fire  ; so persecuteth
          tered upon except in the capacity of a perpetual hater them with thy tempest, and make them afraid with
          of God - such only the Lord curses - he could not thy storm. Fill their faces with shame; that they may
          entertain the wish. It must not be supposed, then, seek thy name, 0 Lord. Let them be confounded and  ,I
          that the apostle could wish to do evil that good may troubled forever; yea, let them be put to shame and
          come, that he loves his brethren so much that he could    perish; . . . (Ps. 83). David here prays for the de-
          wish to hate God, that he was so good that he could struction of Israel's enemies. Are not the sentiments i
          wish to be bad. What he would have his readers know coming to the surface in this psalm, contrary to those
          is that it was not an improper and forbidden love for circulating through the prayer of Paul? It cannot be,
          self and a lack of pity or a positive carnal hatred for for in the first instance the whole of Scripture has but
          his brethren that was making it impossible for him to one author, namely, God. Fact is that the above-cited
          cherish the desire to perish for them. It was rather a prayer for the destruction of the wicked, was uttered
          keen love for God and a great dread for sin.              under the impulse, not of a sinful malice and its other
             From Paul's speech, it is unmistakably clear that side,  - a carnal self love, but of holy indignation.
          Christ's  mind was in him. This mind of Christ as we Hence there is no conflict. The saint of Scripture prays
          learn to know it from Scripture showed not the            for the destruction of the very sinner for whom he
          slightest trace of malice or sinful vindictiveness. "He could wish to be accursed, as often as that sinner rises
          was with the rich in his death because He had done no before his eye as a mocker of God and as the perse-
          violence, neither was guile found in His mouth. When cutor of the righteous. This same Paul who could wish
          He was reviled, He reviled not again. When He suf- himself accursed from Christ for his brethren, could
          fered, He threatened not." His was a sinless wrath also declare, "But though we or an angel from heaven
          and a great pure love, under the impulse of which he preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have
          made intercession for sinners and could lay down His received, let him be accursed" (Gal.  1:18). A holy
          life for His sheep. And as a man, He  bad continual wrath and a sinful malice do not go together; but an
          sorrow even for those whose eternal doom He had to        unselfish love and a righteous indignation do.
          predict.    Would He not have gathered Jerusalem's           To believe in the doctrine of an absolute reproba-
          children - Jerusalem that killed the prophets and tion  - a reprobation of which the sovereign, free will
          stoned them sent unto it - together, even as a hen of God is the determining factor, and sin the  good-
          gathereth her chickens under wings, had these children enough reason - is to endorse the plain teachings of
,         but willed?                                               Holy Writ. The saint wills the destruction of the (rep-
             Paul, too, mourns for those the Lord had cast off. robate) wicked because of the sovereign decree of the
          Their destiny he could not contemplate without a heavy sovereign God. .He (the saint) rejoices in the prospect
          heart. For them he could even wish to perish, were it of the destruction of the godless because they taunt
          right and proper.                                         God, persecute the righteous, and corrupt the earth;
             It must not be supposed, however, that God's way because, finally, their destruction means the triumph
          with his kinsmen had  filled his soul with deep resent- of God over the forces of darkness, of Christ over
          ment so that, had it been in his power, he would have satan, and of righteousness over evil. But he who can '
          reversed the divine decree. To the contrary, he was take a fiendish delight in the eternal exilement of the
          at one with this decree for it was God's and with Him,    reprobated godless should know that he is as fit for hell

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

as those in whose destruction he glories. And if you, theirs. The rain meant for the wheat pertaineth to
my brother, wish to know whether you are disposed to- the chaff, in that the two comprise the one body; but
ward these unhappy ones as you ought to be, search the chaff as such is fit fodder for the flames.
your soul and inspect your conduct for the evidence            Today, as ever, there are  brethren according to the
that you detest and loath self insofar as you are carnal flesh  to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory,
as well as the wicked in whom you would see destroyed. and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the
And if this evidence  - the crucif-lxion  of earthly mem- service and the promise, who perish in that, though out
bers  - is there, it is well. But if you find yourself at of Israel, they are not Israel. Td be the offspring of
one with the sinful impulse of your carnal' self, you parents whose outstanding feature is their godliness,
may conclude that your hatred for the wicked is carnal to  beIong  to that redeemed brotherhood, the church of
and therefore cursed by heaven.                            the living God, to whom pertaineth the promises, is as
                                                           such no guarantee of personal salvation. We must be
                                                           Israel, children of the promise, with the evidence in our
                                                           lives that what was promised has been given to us.
    As was before said, the apostle describes his kins-       It seems to me that the seventh verse represents a
men according to the flesh as highly privileged. `Who slight turn in the course of the apostle's reasoning.
are Israelites . . . to whom pertaineth' the promises The preceding section ended with a statement (they are
. . . . and of whom concerning the flesh, Christ came, not all Israel that  are,of Israel) explaining how it can
who is over all, God blessed forever, Amen." The be that those to whom pertaineth the promise can per-
apostle continues, "Not as though the word of God hath ish. A causal clause - neither because they are the
taken no effect." There is a noticeable gap here. Had seed of Abraham - marks the beginning of a section
the apostle completed the thought, he would have writ- in which the apostle arises to the defense of the propo-
ten, "Who are Israelites . . . to whom pertaineth the sition that "He hath mercy on whom He will have
adoption and the promises," and who nevertheless per- mercy, and whom He will He hardeneth." Here the
ish, cast off by the Lord. As was before said, the apostle salvation of the one and the hardening, destruction,
out of  ccnsideration  for his kinsmen, refrains from of another is linked up with a will - the will of God
making any direct statement respecting their doleful - defined as absolutely supreme, as a sole determining
destiny. He rather suggests what their destiny is.         factor. In hardening the one and in showing mercy on
   The apostle reaiized that in saying the Lord had the other, the Lord keeps `Himself to a decision made
cast off his. brethren, he apparently pitched himself before the world's foundation. And the answer to the
against his previous statement that to these same question what may have moved Him to decide to harden
brethren pertaineth the promises. On the one band, the one and to show mercy on the other, again is: a
the promises pertain to these kinsmen ; on the other cause or reason of which His own mind was the seat.
hand, they perish, - reprobated. How can this be?             In establishing this  .truth the apostle sets out with
Do not the promises insure salvation? Does not the         a negative proposition. "Neither, because they are the
Lord do as he says? Does His word take no effect? seed of Abraham, are they all children . . .  " The
And the answer of the apostle is ready: "Not as though apostate Jews of Paul's day said that, whereas they
the word of God bath taken zone effect." 1 have said were the seed of Abraham, they were children, and thus
nothing either in conflict with the promise or from in their willful ignorance alExed the divine will to their
which it can be concluded that the promise of God lineage as the determining, controlling and moving
fails. What then must be added that will relieve Paul's factor. God. in selecting His children was compelled
discourse from its apparent incongruity? This: "For to confine Himself to their race, so they reasoned, and
they are not all Israel, which are of Israel. This is the to save every member of it for the sole reason that this
reason why God's rejection of the Jews involved Him in race was the offspring of Abraham The apostle, on
no failure to keep his promises. These kinsmen are not the other hand, insists that all are not children because
Israel  ; hence, the promises do not  pwtain  to them. they are of Abraham, but that "in Isaak shall thy seed
Such, manifestly, is the implication. But how is this      be called. That is, they which are the children of the
to be harmonized with the previous statement that the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the chil-
promises do peri%&  to them. What is now the data, dren of the promise are counted for the seed." He
which, when supplied, will relieve the reasoning  of called by God is one regarded and selected by Him to
Paul from its contradiction? This: The promises per- be constituted the recipient of what is promised. To
tained to a single organism - the Israelitish nation - Isaac and to the elect seed to come forth out of his
of which these cast-of?  kinsmen constituted an organ-     bowels will the promised good be brought near.
ical part and the elect seed the nucleus. In as much          The expressions  children  of  the flesh  and  children of
and in so far as these kinsmen belonged to that race Ub~e promise are opposed to each other., What these es-
of which Abraham was the progenitor, the promises pressions mean is evident from the immediate sequence,
were indeed theirs. As disengaged from this nucleus        "For this is the word of promise, At this time will I
and as set off by themselves, the promises were not        come and Sarah shall have a son." Sarah's age had


                                     T.HE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                         347  ;

carried her far beyond the season of child-bearing.          blessed of the Lord for the mere reason that they could
Says the apostle elsewhere, "Through faith Sarah her- refer to Abraham as their father. This reasoning is
self also received strength to conceive seed, and was still with us. Because they are the offspring of believ-
delivered of a child when  she was passed age, because ing parents, children, it is said, who die young must
she judged Him faithful  w/w had promised." The be considered to be with Christ.                  I would be the last
Lord kept His word ; He came, and Isaac appeared. to deny that such  are  the kingdom of heaven. The view,
The cause, then, of his conception and delivery was the however, that such are with Christ in their death be-
divine promise and its subsequent fulfilment,  to-wit, cause of their having been born of believing parents is
the Lord's coming. Isaac's birth was thus a divine a view in flagrant contradiction with the plain teach-
work partaking of the character of the miraculous. Of ing of the apostle. "Neither because they are the seed :
this work, the expression I will come is the significa- of Abraham, are they all children."
tion. So we conclude that the saying, "child of prom-           Further, to belong to that brotherhood, to which
ise" is the denotation of the fact that Isaac was a won- pertaineth the adoption, and the promise, and the
der-child with a miraculous birth whose appearance service and the law, and the word  ; to be baptized ; to
was due to a special divine interposition. Sarah, as far have an outward interest the covenant will avail us
as her capacities for child-bearing was concerned, be- nothing. You must be a  child of the promise. The
ing dead. He (Isaac), was one reclaimed, as it were, Lord must enter our lives with His grace so that we
from death. In the light of what was given, the ex- show the fruits of repentance. Thereby we know that
pression,  children of the  flesh  must signify those born we are Israel and are being counted for the seed and
after the ordinary course of nature. Such a one was that the promises pertain to us in such a way that of
Ishmael.                                                     these promises we are the heirs.
   "These which are the children of the flesh, these
are not the children of God, but the children of the
promise . . .  " That the children of the promise are
identified with the children of God goes to show that           ",4nd not only this; but when Rebecca also had  r
the above-cited events  have a higher significance. conceived by one even by our father Isaac ; for the chil- i
Isaac's miraculous birth, it is plain, was the emblem of dren being not yet born, neither having done any good
his own spiritual quickening and of the spiritual quick- or evil, that the purpose of God according to election
ening of such counted as the seed  - the elect of God.       might stand, not of works but of him that calleth; it
Scripture describes this seed as by nature dead in tres- was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.
passes and sin. Hence that they live must mean that,         As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I
as Isaac in a lower sense, so they in a higher sense have    hated."
been reclaimed from death. They live because the                The apostle has proved that the divine will is not
Lord promised and came and will continue to come             afIlxed  to and controlled by lineage. He now precedes
until all who arose with Christ have been quickened to show that the choice is neither made on the grounds
by His Spirit.                                               of man's works. Such is the view of the Arminian,
   The Lord promised He would come. He came in the who athrms  that the determining cause of the divine
cross of our Saviour and subsequently in His spirit on choice lies outside of God in man. The will of man has
the day of Pentecost. And  He comes in the life of the priority. If the sinner chooses to persists in his
every individual believer when He sets up His king- unbelief, God can do nothing about it except choose to
dom in his heart.                                            harden him. On those who choose to mend their ways,
   He comes because He promised. This promise was God has mercy. It is plain that in this case, God is
first published unto the mother of us all - the church subordinate to His rational creatures.
of the living God  - in Paradise. "I will set enmity";          In the above-cited section, however, the apostle
incorporated in the types and symbols of the old dis- af&ms  that neither the virtue of Jacob nor the rep-
pensation, expounded by the prophets and realized, as robate mind of Esau could have possibly entered in as
was before said by our Saviour in the lives of those         a determining factor.     For  God's hatred for Esau
given Him by the Father. So it appears that every be- preceded his birth, likewise His love for Jacob. The
liever is a child of promise.                                choice had been made before any good or evil had been
   These children of the promise are counted for the done, "that the purpose of God according to election
seed. To them alone the promise pertaineth; and they might stand, not of works but of him that calleth,"
receive the promised boon, to-wit, the fulness that is that is, in order that the free sovereign will of God
in Christ. Hence, the word of God taketh effect in-          respecting the choice made might be in evidence, not  of
deed. It is plain that though verse seven represents a works but of him that calleth. .The ,choice does not
slight turn in the course of the apostle's reasoning, it depend on works but on God who calleth, so that the
is nevertheless closely related to what precedes.            sole source of the choice is God.
   Let us make a few observations. Paul's kinsmen               Here, then, the apostle teaches as plain as words
according to the flesh insisted that they were the can express it, that God is sovereignly  free.

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

        The above-described freedom is peculiar to God sin, is justified by Holy Writ. And the answer is ready:
 only. Man, too, does as he wills, decides. However,           Indeed it is. Of the Egyptians it is asserted that  God
 when deciding what shall be done, he keeps before his turned their heart to hate His  people, to deal subtilely'
 eye his limitations. His decisions, his plans, bear the with His servants, Ps. 105 25. God hardens whom He
 earmarks of finiteness. They are shaped, largely, by wills, Rom. 9 :18. That the assertion to the effect that
 a countless number of phenomena to which deliberat- God hardens justifies the use of the term cause is
 ing man must bow and submit,  - phenomena consti- evident from the apostle's response to the objection
 tuting the determining cause of the course of action raised by the Pelagian whom he had before his mind.
 contemplated. God's soIe volitional sphere, on the other This adversary replied that if God hardens, He cannot
 hand, is His very own infinite self. He does the thing possibly find fault as in this case no one can resist His
 He wills. He is His sole determining factor. Such are will. The apostle does not rebuke the adversary for
 the plain teachings of Scripture. Mountains, rivers, reasserting that no one can resist His will, but for
 seas, floods and draught, life and death, heaven and concluding that He (God) cannot find fault. That the
 hell, sin, Satan and the wicked are not so many bars          rebuke is directed against this conclusion is evident
 checking the progress of the  AImighty. They do not           from the apostle's imagery. Wheras no one can re-
 constitute the boundaries of a territory shutting Him sist His will, man is but clay in the hands of the Al-
 in, a region within whose limits the will of God must mighty. Being clay, it behooves him to. hush up in-
 keep if it would function. The aforesaid phenomena stead of starting an argument with God. For hath not
 are all His servants. If the mountain interferes with the potter power over the clay of the same lump to
 His plans, He removes it. The sea He rebuked and it make one vessel unto honor, and another unto dis-
 was dried up. He turned the heart of the Egyptian to honor ? Shall the thing formed say unto him that
 hate His people, and to deal subtilely with His serv- formed it, why hast thou made me thus ? If the above-
 ants. He sent darkness and made it dark. He turned cited argument of the apostle does not justify the use
 the waters into blood, and slew their fish. Their land of the term  cau.se, words have no meaning. There are
 brought forth frogs in abundance, in the chambers of yet other scriptures to which can be appealed. "I
 their kings. He spake and their came divers sorts of          (God) make peace, and  create evil"  (Isa. 45  :7).  "0
flies in all their coasts. He gave them hail for rain,         Lord," complaints the prophet, "why hast thou ,made
 and flaming fire in their land . . . Ps. 105.                 zcs  to  err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from
    The Arminian, though he may concede that phy- thy fear" (Isa. 63  :17). And He (the Lord)  moved
 sical phenomena are not operative as the determining David against them to say, Go, number Israel and
 factor of the counsel of God, subordinates, neverthe- Judah, II Sam. 24 :l.
 less, this counsel to all ethical-spiritual phenomena en-        Though the cause, God is not the author of sin.
 countered by the Almighty, - such phenomena as sin, He remains the absolutely holy God.
 grace, faith and its reverse, unbelief. God, it is said,                                                   G.  M'. 0.
 saves such of whom He foresaw that they would be-
 lieve. Those who persist in their unbelief He decided
 to cast off. This doctrine shifts the determining factor
 from God to man, and constitutes a denial of the Scrip-                HAVE THINE OWN WAY, LORD
 ture which says that God hath mercy upon whom He
will, and whom He will, He hardeneth. To shift the              Have Thine own way, Lord, have Thine own way,
 above-cited factor from God to man, is to dethrone the         Thou art the potter, I am the clay,
former and to enthrone the latter; is to assign God to          Mold me and make me after Thy will,
a place beneath man, and man to a place above God.              While I am waiting, yielded and still.
    The sovereignty of the counsel .is implied in its free-
dom. The term sovereignty signifies a relation of su-           Have Thine own way, Lord, have Thine own way,
premacy and subordination. God's counsel is absolutely          Search me and try me, Master, today,
supreme. The question arises, what renders this counsel         Whither than snow, Lord, wash me just now.
supreme? And the answer is ready: The fact that it              As in Thy presence humbly I bow.
constitutes the determining cause of all things, and all
phenomenon, sin included. The fact that all things,             Have Thine own way, Lord, have Thine own way,
God excepted, have a cause outside of them permits              Wounded and weary, help me I pray,
of but two possibilities. The thing is either caused or         Power, all power, surely is Thine,
is its own cause. If the latter be true it sustains to          Touch me and heal me, Saviour divine.
God a relation of supremacy and God to it a relation
of subordination. God, then, must be the cause of sin           Have Thine own way, Lord, have Thine own way,
and of all things in order not to be subordinate to             Hold o'er my being absolute sway,
these things. The question arises whether the use of            Fill with Thy spirit till all shall see,
the term cause to signify the relation He sustains to           Christ only always, living in me.


                                         T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                            351

   Maar zoo is het de weg niet.                             18 overbodig  maken en het karakter van de kerkelijke
   En op dat heilloos spoor is het einde ook nog niet tuchtoefening verkrachten, niet  moeten  voortgaan.
in `t zicht. Nu reeds kan men zien, waar het  Bdne be-          De  vraag  is, hoe komen we het best uit deze  moei-
sluit der Classis aangaande de Labor Unions ons heeft lijkheid?
gebracht.                                                       Misschien, dat anderen raad weten.
   De weg is, dat de tucht begint bij Mattheus 18 en            Anders zal de Standard Bearer dan  een  paging
dat heel de gemeente  zich verantwoordelijk weet voor wagen.
de tuchtoefening, als ze straks door den Kerkeraad ge-                                                           H. H.
schied. Ook op het iaatste mag ik  we1 even wijzen,
tusschen twee haakjes. Als de regel naar Mattheus 18                                           -
is gehandhaafd en de weg is bewandeld, en de tucht
wordt verder geoefend door den Kerkeraad, en de zaak                  LOOK OUT, KITTY ! STILL HOT !
wordt straks in de gemeente afgekondigd, dan is ook
heel de gemeente verantwoordelijk. Heeft men dan               The ingenious drawing which appeared in De Wach-
grondige bezwaren tegen het oordeel des Kerkeraads in ter a few years ago of -Kitty  and the Hot Soup, con-
zeker geval, dan brengt men die op de vergadering des ceived by the witty and original mind of the  editor-in-
Kerkeraads. Men  loopt  er  niet mee rond. Nog veel chief of that time, flashed before my imagination again,
minder sterkt men de behandelde er mede in zijne when I read the editorial Order or  Chaos  in  The Eanner
zonde. Maar men gaat naar den Kerkeraad. Doet men of April 4, written by the Rev. H. J. Kuiper.
dit niet, dan is stilzwijgen zeker toestemmen en dan            I could enjoy that  ,picture  all over again.
bezondigt men  zich zeker door  tech buiten den  Kerke-         How eager kitty was to have the soup! How it
raad om den behandelde te sterken in zijne zonde en hesitated to venture its sensitive little tongue into it,
den Kerkeraad te veroordeelen. Ook dit wordt  ge-           lest it would hurt itself 1
woonlijk niet verstaan, althans niet zelden overtreden,       How it made one feel urged to sound the warning to
en is  tech van het grootste gewicht voor het leven der kitty : look out, kitty ! wait a while ! soup is still hot !
gemeente.                                                      And the same urge swept over me, when I perused
   Doch  dit tusschen twee haakjes.                         that editorial.
   Wat we met nadruk wilden  zeggen is, dat de tucht           The subject is, of course, the important New Order
niet begint bij de Classis,  maar bij den regel van Mat- of worship.
theus 18 en voorts bij den Kerkeraad.                          In the editorial the writer could not entirely refrain
   En er is hoegenaamd geen bezwaar in, om dezen            from referring to me, even though it is only in passing
regel ook toe te passen ten opzichte van de Unions.         and without mentioning my name. But though he does
   Komt dan zulk een zaak in den weg der tuchtoefe-         not mention my name, he does condescend to call me
ning voor de vergadering der Classis,  goed, dan doet names. At least he takes time to say "one of the min-
de  Classis  uitspraak  in een concreet geval. En het       isters that is no longer in our Church . . . with his
volgende geval begint weer op dezelfde wijze.               Congregationalistic views." He bases this judgment on
   Het motief is liefde.                                    the fact, that this "minister who is no longer in our
   En het  doe1 is niet uitbanning, maar behoudenis der Church . . . . with his Congregationalistic views . . .
broederen.                                                  wrote some time ago that major assemblies can only
   Maar enkele breede Classicale  regels leiden ons give advice to consistories."
juist in tegenovergestelde  richting.                           Now, I do not think that a bit nice of the editor.
   Daarom spijt het ons, dat het besluit aangaande de           I mean, that he calls me such names  without
Labor Unions ooit werd genomen.                             adducing my proof of my guilt whatsoever. The mere
   Aan den eenen kant zijn we  we1 overtuigd, dat het assertion that the view which allows only advisory
besluit  niets heeft uitgesproken, dat niet waar is. power to major assemblies. and, therefore, emphasizes
Want, zoover wij de Labor Unions kennen, haar begin-        the thoroughly Reformed principle of the autonomy of
se1 en doe1 en methoden, kan een Christen er zeker the local congregation, is Congregationalistic, has no
geen lid van zijn. En laat ons hier maar aan toevoe-        weight with us, and should have no weight  with  him,
gen, dat we ook  we1 gaarne gelooven, dat dit van vele nor with any of his rationally minded readers. Neither
andere vereenigingen en corporaties, van werkgevers ought he, in a general way, appeal to what he calls
zoowel als van werknemers, geldt. Daarom zouden we Presbyterianism to corroborate his statements. He
door het herroepen van zulk een eenmaal genomen be- must turn to the only document that can really,  dedde
sluit niet gaarne den indruk iaten,  dat we als kerken this matter: our Church Order.
van standpunt  waren  veranderd inzake de Labor                 All the worse this appears, when one considers that
unions.                                                     I characterized some of his statements, made in a
    Maar aan den anderen kant zijn we evenzeer over-        former editorial, as Collegialistic, and  de&itely  proved
tuigd, dat we op dien heilloozen weg van Classicale be- it from the Church Order. The statements conxrned
sluiten, die  bet bewandelen van den weg naar Mattheus      the question, whether consistories should ask  permw-


x52                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

sion to proceed in discipline or whether they should            not desire to make use of the new forms, lest the prin-
seek the advice of  Classis. Kuiper maintained the ciple of uniformity in public worship should be violated.
former position. I proved to him that this was Col- Any churches desiring to make any changes in their
legialistic,  or at least, contrary to the Church Order of worship without adopting the new Order in its entirety
the Reformed Churches. Kuiper called the latter posi- would not be permitted to introduce any elements not
tion Independentistic. I think that I dare say I con-           found in this new Order. The advantage of this plan
vinced him (for Kuiper is a rational man) that he would be that the peace of those churches which are
characterized the very language of the Church Order as not ready to introduce the new Order would not be
Independentistic, which is, of course, absurd. To this          disturbed, while those which have already made the
Kuiper does not reply. He prefers to simply take a change would not be put in an unpleasant mood. This
stab at me in passing.                                          course would not be the most ideal one, but, we believe,
       I frankly detest, not Kuiper (rather like him), but      in the present circumstances Synod could hardly do
such methods.                                                   better."
       But let me return to the subject of the kitty and the       No, that is not the most ideal course of action ; I
hot soup.                                                       admit that too.
       Summarizing the case briefly, the matter is as fol-         For it is not based on any principle of Church Gov-
lows.                                                           ernment at all. It is neither Congregationalistic, nor
       The Christian Reformed Churches have in 1928 Independentistic, nor Reformed, nor Presbyterian. It
adopted a new Order of Worship, including the now is purely Utilitarian.
famous Absolution. And they  dezided,  or rather,                  According to Kuiper's scheme, Synod would re-
Synod did, that all the congregations should use that linquish her claim of supreme authority. For she re-
New Order.                                                      tracts a certain decision because the Churches did not
       The Churches,  let us say ninety-five per cent of wish to adopt it.
them, declined to heed the order of Synod.                         Kuiper's new scheme is against Kuiper's principle
       Now it is Kuiper's view that Synod has the power of the supremacy of Synod.
and authority to insist that the different congregations           But it is also against my conception of the power of
shall introduce the New Order. So did Dr. Volbeda,              Synod. For Kuiper advises Synod to say to those
too, express himself, employing the figure of the barrel Churches that prefer to keep the old Order: you  &all
and the staves, united by three hoops. Now, the ques- keep it if you do not want to adopt the new Order!
tion is : what to do in this matter?                               Such a decision would be directly contrary to my
       Strictly speaking, if Synod would act according to Reformed way of thinking in Church-political matters.
Kuiper's views of Church Polity, it ought to sound a               For it is conceivable that the Churches (ninety-five
last warning to the unwilling Churches, urge them to per cent of them) would insist on a uniform Order of
bow before the authority of Synod, introduce the New Worship  zvithout  the absolution. In fact, that is exactly
Order, or and if they remain stubborn and rebellious, what I would urge, were 1 still in those Churches.
they should be disciplined, all their ministers, elders            It is evident, that the scheme of Kuiper is against
and deacons should be deposed from  office and the  all- his own principles ; it is also against my principles.
powerful Synod, the Supreme Court of the Christian                 Neither is it practical.
Reformed Churches, would defend its dignity and                    Kuiper writes : "lest the principle of uniformity in
maintain its authority.                                         public worship should be violated."
       It will be perfectly evident, that we are not exagge-       Mirabele dictu !
rating the matter, but that such line of action follows            Some churches, according to Kuiper's scheme will
from such a conception of Church Polity.                        have the new Order of Worship ; others will have the
       But that soup is too hot for kitty!                      old Order; others will keep their old Order and intro-
       For that would imply that Synod would ultimately duce some elements of the new Order; and besides, no
stand almost alone with her authority, like a king with- one knows what the old Order exactly contains, for
out a country, a ruler without subjects.                        there is no official order of worship at all. Where, then,
       Kitty found it a "delicate situation" and wished is the principle of uniformity? It rather looks like the
there was a "way out."                                          application of the principle of pluriformity.
   And so the Rev. H.  J. Kuiper some time ago wrote               Kuiper writes, that the practical advantage of this
an editorial on that subject: A Delicate Situation und scheme is, that the Churches who prefer not to intro-
a Way 0u.t.                                                     duce the new Order, will have no disturbance of their
   And he found a way out! It is outlined in the fol- peace ! I think Kuiper need not worry about this at all.
`lowing paragraph :                                             Those Churches are not concerned about it at all. Their
   "We suggested that Synod should revise its decision peace is not disturbed. Even if Synod again would
of 1928 to the extent of making the new Order of decide to enforce the new Order of Worship their peace
Worship  optional. To  this we added that the old Order would not be disturbed Bt ail. They know too weil, that
should be made obligatory for those churches, which do Synod would not have the courage of its conviction


          /                                                                                                                                I
          I                                                                                                                                c
                                                        T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                      353  1

                 anymore than Kuiper has. Synod may sit pretty and               All this we believe, because it hath been taught us
                 look dignified and decree new orders. But it would from our infancy according to the Holy Scriptures.
                 never dare to even attempt enforcement. And the                . And we hold, too, that these truths are neoessary
                 Churches know this too well.
          ,                                       And Kuiper knows it too. to believe for our salvation.
                    Besides, it is dangerous to say to the dissenting            For the Lord our Saviour must needs be Immanuel,
                 Churches : you shall keep the old Order!                     God with us, very God and man in unity of divine Per-
                    And, therefore, the Standard Bearer advises Synod son, in order to deliver His people from the greatest
                 not  to act according to Kuiper's scheme, but to try an- evil, sin and death, and make them partakers of the
                 other Form of Worship, without the Absolution ; then highest good, righteousness and eternal life in the
                 to advise (not to order) all the congregations to use it. blessed heavenly fellowship of God's covenant.
                    You will  find that the scheme of the Standard               And, although it required the labor and  strcggie  I
                 Bearer is sounder in principle and will have better of a few centuries on the part of the Church to formu-
                 practical results.                                           late this doctrine of the person of our blessed Savioar
                    Even after Kuiper has allowed his cooling breath to fully and definitely, this truth of Jesus Christ was
                 pass over the soup, it is still too hot for the Synodical    known and believed by the Church, in substance that is,
                 Kitty.                                                       almost from the very dawn of the present dispensation.
                    And I feel constrained to sound the warning note:            Thus the apostles and evangelists had preached the
                    Look out, Kitty! Still hot!                               Christ.
                                                                 H.  W.  '       And in their epistles the apostles had developed His
                                                                              picture along the same fundamental lines of His divin-
                                                                              ity and perfect humanity.
                                                                                 The early fathers built on their foundation and
                                                                              taught that Jesus Christ is both very God and perfect
                             SKETCHES ON THE HISTORY OF                       man.
                                        DOCTRINE
     I                                                                           Then, in course of the fourth century appeared
                                                                              Apollinaris, with a new conception, deviating from the  i
                           APOLLINARIS ON THE  PERSON OF  CHRIST              orthodox view of the Church, of the person of the [
                                                                              Lord.
                    We believe, of course, that the Lord Jesus Christ is         Apollinaris was bishop of the Church of Laodicea
                 truly man and very God. He is from eternity to eternity in Syria in the latter part of the fourth century. He
                 the only begotten Son of the Father in the blessed was a very learned man and accomplished scholar.
               _ Trinity and subsists in the divine nature equally with Many are the works he wrote and manifold were the
                 the Father and the Holy Spirit. All the divine at- subjects he treated in them. He composed an apologetic
                 tributes belong to Him as well as to the Father and the work, a defense of Christianity, another defense of the
                 Holy Ghost. He is before the world was, God blessed Nicene Creed, in which was established the doctrine
                 forever. But He is also man, truly and completely, of the Trinity. And he also wrote commentaries on
                 having assumed in the fulness of time our flesh and different parts of the Bible. It must be remembered,
                 blood from the virgin Mary through the conception of however, that most of these works are lost, though we
                 the Holy Spirit. And we believe that He became like. know that he wrote them, because parts of them are
                 unto us in all respects, only sin excepted.                  preserved in the writings of others. He was a man of
                    For the Lord had no sin. He came in the likeness great influence in the Church, very talented and highly
                 of sinful flesh, but not in sinful flesh.                    respected. The date of his death is given as 390.
                    Moreover, we believe, that these two natures are             As he tried to form a conception of the truth con-
                 eternally distinct in Him. They never mix, they never cerning the Person of the Saviour, objections arose in
                 blend into one nature. The divine nature always re- his mind against the established, or at least, generally
                 mains divine, never partakes of the human ; the human accepted view. One of his objections was that two
                 nature forever remains human, is never made divine.          complete and different substances could never combine
                    And yet, though we believe that these two natures into one and form a unity. If Jesus were complete man
I                of the Lord Jesus Christ never amalgamate, but always and complete God He could never be one person. And,
                 remain distinct, yet we also maintain, that they are therefore, according to him, the accepted doctrine was
                 never separated from each other in the Lord, for they impossible. Another objection he raised was, that on
                 have their unity in His divine Person.                       the basis of the orthodox view of the person of the
                    For the Lord, thus we believe, is not two persons, Saviour the atonement became impossible. For in the
                 though He possesses two natures. On the contrary, He first place, according to Apollinaris, complete humanity
                 is one person, the Person of the Son of God. And we implies the idea of sinfulness. If the Lord were truly
                 say, that this Person of the Son of God assumed the          and fully man, He must have been sinful. But if He
                 essential and complete, but impersonal human nature were not free from sin, He could not have atoned, for
                 from the blessed virgin.                                     he that is himself a sinner cannot satisfy for others.

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

And what is of more importance still, if the view of 1 theism,  that sin necessarily belongs to the complete
the Church were correct, the two natures of Christ              human nature, but such was not the doctrine of the
must needs be separated from each other, according to Church, neither the truth as revealed in Scrinture.  The
Apollinaris. And if the human nature were separated Church, on the basis of Scripture, plainly taught that
from the divine in the suffering of the Lord, mere man the human nature of Christ was a sinless nature,
died on the cross and the suffering cannot be of infinite though in all other respects like ours.
value so as to atone for the sins of many. If we are to            And, though `it is true, that the suffering of Christ
maintain that the suffering of the Lord is sufficient to would not be suflicient to atone for the sin of manv,
purge the sins of many, it mnst be possible for LX tz           were they the sufferings of mere man ; and though it is
say, that God died on the cross.                                equally true, that the Church maintained that the I,ord
       Thus Apollinaris objected to the view that was  a:- suffered only in His human nature: nevertheless it is
cepted by the Church.                                           true also that it was the Person of the Son of God that
       And he offered a different conception of the  P,erson    so suffered in our body and soul, and that because of
of  Christ.                                                     the infinite worth of His Person His sufferings are also
       He made a threefold distinction in the human of infinite value.
nature. Man, according to him, consists of body, soul              And the view Apollinaris offered instead of the ac-
and spirit or mind. By soul he meant little more than cepted doctrine of the Church of his time, was rightly
the life of the body, the mere life-principle in man.           condemned.
The spirit of man is the highest in him. It is the mind,           For, first of all it is evident that he denied the
the reason. Now the Son of God, the eternal Word or perfect humanity of the Saviour. The Son of God
Logos did not take upon Himself a complete human assumed no complete human nature, but only part of it.
nature, but only a partial. He took the place of the               Secondly, it is also plain, that he denies the per-
spirit in the human nature. Christ did not assume the sonal unity of the two natures of the Lord, and instead
human spirit, but only the human body and soul, the offers a Pantheistic melting of the divine nature into
vacancy being  filled by the divine Word. Hence, Jesus the human, a shading of the divine Logos into the
was not completely human.                                       human animal-soul and body.
       It can easily be understood that the publication of         And lastly, it must be apparent, that in this way
these views in the Church caused a great sensation, the Apollinaris destroys the possibility of atonement. For
more so because Apollinaris was a man of high stand- if Christ did not assume our whole human nature He
ing and influence in the Church, who had been a did not suffer our death, and we cannot be healed by
staunch defender of the orthodox doctrine of the His stripes.
Trinity. The first one to oppose his views on the Per-            Over against Apollinaris we must maintain that
son of Christ was Athanasius, whose name stands fore- Christ was complete man as well as very God.
most because of the part he took to defend the truth                                                          H. H.
that God is Triune. This Church-father was person-
ally acquainted and befriended with the bishop of
Laodicea, and while he attacked his views on the Per-
son of Christ, he did not mention his name. But Apol-                         MY JESUS AS THOU WILT
linaris did not change his mind on the subject, not even
after Athanasius had made an attempt to enlighten                          My Jesus as Thou wilt,
him. His doctrine was condemned by the council of                          Oh may my will be Thine,
Alexandria, though even there his name was not men-                        Into Thy hand of love,
tioned. In 375 Apollinaris left the Church and became                      I would my all resign.
the founder of a sect. In 381 his views were finally                       Through sorrow and through joy,
condemned by the Council of Constantinople.
   When one reads of the objections Apollinaris raised                     Conduct me as Thy own,
against the orthodox view of the Person of Christ one                      And help me still to say,
is struck by two facts: in the first place, that his ob-                   My Lord, - Thy will be done.
jections are not derived from the Word of God, but
are purely philosophical ; and secondly that the objec-                    My Jesus as Thou wilt,
tions plainly reveal that the objector misunderstood                       Oh may my will be Thine,
the Church's doctrine of the Person of Christ.                             Let not my star of hope,
   It certainly was not the conception of the Church,                      Grew dim or disappear.
that the two substances of the divine and the human
nature of Christ melted into one. They are united in                       Since Thou on earth hath wept,
the person of the Christ, but remain two natures                           And sorrowed oft alone,
nevertheless. The objection of Apollinaris was unreal.                     If I must weep with Thee,
   .Again, it may have been the conception of Mani-                        My Lord, - Thy will be done.


                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                        357

             OUR `BROTHER'S KEEPERS                          pay for. But you will say that :I man ought to know
                                                             enough not to buy these things. You will say that
    The following is an extract from an address de- people must protect themselves. You will say that you
livered at a banquet of the Michigan Manufacturers' cannot help it if a man is foolish enough to buy bc-
Association in Detroit by James Couzens, millionaire yond his means to pay. But I submit, gentlemen, that
Senator and philanthropist speaking on the inter- you are tlne ones who have forced upon them these
mittent employment that scotches the manufacturing articles of luxury which people cannot afford. You,
centers of our country:                                      through your high pressure salesmanship and your
    "What about it then? Whose the responsibility? We ambition and desire to keep up production to the sky,
give everybody the opportunity for such criticism (here have forced upon millions of people in this country
the senator remarks on the Bolshevist criticism of our articles which they can never pay for.
capitalistic system) so long as we neglect the human             "I wonder if you really thought that this pyramid-
factors that live by our capitalistic system. Those who ing of instalment  sales up into the billions of dollars
profit by it, those who make money out of the eiforts        could keep up. Did you really think there was no stop
of human beings, have an obligation to these human be- to it? Did you really think that people would go on
ings. We are our brothers' keepers."                         buying on the instalment plan forever and ever? You'
   The senator continues  :                                  had a temporary glory, and you got some temporary
   "I do not charge you men with being inhuman. I benefit from it, but you are paying the price now. You
charge you men with being careless, with being will continue to pay the price every time you disobey
thoughtless of the results of your failure to solve this sound economic laws ; and 1 submit that it is unsound
problem, and I have a right to charge it, because ten and uneconomic to force upon people by the millions
years ago I had the honor of being your Mayor when luxuries which you know they cannot afford  to pay
.150,000 men were laid off in a day by the snap of a for.
finger at the command of industry and we, your city             "Gentlemen, we do not follow through. We are all
servants, were left to grapple with the situation; we        taught when we play golf to follow through, but we
were left to find a way to buy shoes and milk tickets,       are never taught to follow through on some of our
pay rent, and send children to school.                       economic policies. We are too anxious" to grab the
   "You passed it off like the water on a duck's back.       dollar of the day, and let posterity take care of itself;
Government came to the relief. But you paid for it, but we are overtaken by posterity before we get
however. You paid for it. You paid for it through the through. There isn't any answer to that; you know
nose, through taxation, and you will continue to pay it, that you are to blame for not having taken cogniz-
for it; believe me, you will pay for it, and you will pay ance of the fact; that is the reason we are in this state
for it in the most expensive way; you will pay for it of affairs today.
through government, which is the most expensive way.            "I do not care how much prop8,ganda  is sent o-.;t,
   "You can prevent high taxes; you can prevent how many statements are issued that business is sotmd  ;
bureaucrats from interfering with the progress and           I do not care how many brilliant college professors and
the development of business; you can prevent officials captains-of industry issue statements that business  i3
from sending out forms by the bushel for you to fill orrt    normal. I am here to try, if I can, from my experience
and return, if you will solve these problems for your- and observations to instil upon you men the  ne:cssity
selves. Government does not interfere with business for recognizing sound economic principles and adhering
until business itself has created the necessity.             to them; for stabilizing the income of the workers 83
   "Does it mean anything to you that  3,000,OOO  men that they can consume, for by that means only can yoa
with perhaps 15,000,OOO  people to support are out of stabilize business and have good business.
work in the United States?. Do you realize that the de-         "It would be more human, and American emy,loycrs
creased purchasing power and the decreased  consum-          would have an easier conscience, if they took enough
in'g power of these people means anything to American earnings out of fat years to stabilize the income of the
business? Did it not accentuate the difficulty? Who workers during the lean years. If every industry we;`e
ever heard of a person having a fever doing things to to pay its men by the year instead of by the hour 01
make the temperature go higher? Yet that is what the day, industry would find a way to stabilize its pro-
American business has been doing. So long as we fail duction so that it got its money's worth.
to stabilize production and employment, we are walking          "Competent management find a way to go through
into trouble such as we have been in this winter.            periods of depression, and it can find a way to help its
   "This unemployment situation that enters into this workers through them.
winter's depression is your fault; no one's but yours.          "Men are unthinking ; they are careless, they are
YOU could have prevented it.    You could have refrained thoughtless about the resylts  of their acts, but they
from your high pressure salesmanship; your forcing are not heartless, and it is my hope, in presenting this
luxuries upon people who are unable to buy them, matter as I have, that others will present it in such a
which you in your sane moments know they can never way as will really wake up our consciences."

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

       h offering our comment, we set out with the re- ma. Zoo vervallen  wij, in het Dualisme. Zoo mogen
mark that the above-cited selection contains some              we  we1 een machtigen God bezitten, maar de  Almach-
suggestions, criticisms and admissions of a kind that tige God verdwijnt voor onze oogen. Zoo heeft het
ought to have the effect to make one sit up and take kind des Heeren geen troost  voor de toekomst, en is het
notice especially on the wrong side of the :fence, but onmogeIijk te zingen,  "In de grootste smarten, blijven
from and by a former captain of industry, a milIionaire        onze harten in den Heer gerust," maar gaan we met
statesman, and thus a close observer and in all likeli- vrees en angst de toekomst tegemoet.
hood a capable student of economic conditions,  - one             Wij nemen ons standpunt voor Gods plan der  eeu-
who knows, therefore. In commenting upon and ap- wen, in hetgeen Gods Woord ens leert in Ef. 13, 10.
praising what he presented, we keep before our eye,            Daar wordt ons geleerd, dat het Gods welbehagen was,
of course, that our social structure is a most intricate eerst we1 verborgen maar nu geopenbaard, om in de
and complex affair; that at any one time a country and bedeeling van de volheid des tijds  aIle dingen bijeen te
the world at large for that matter is being ruled by vergaderen, niet in Adam, maar onder het hoofd Chris-
an exceedingly small group of individuals in the power-        tus, zoodat Hij  straks het middenpunt en hoofd der-
behind-the-throne sense  ; that, except to this group, a schepping Gods mag zijn, en wij in en door Hem uit
panic or industrial depression may turn out to be and genade in Gods eeuwige tente mogen wonen en,over  alle
usually is a most  bafning  phenomenon. Brilliant pro- schepselen mogen regeeren.
fessors of economics may delineate upon its causes;               Dien raad  voert God uit. Tot de volvoering van
but "just why a panic.7" is a question not at all easy dien raad, waardoor alle dingen  verheerlijkt worden
to answer. So it is with the question, "Just why the met hemelschen glans, moeten  alle dingen  medewerken ;
present financial and industrial depression?' Where ook zonde en  alle goddeloosheid, duivel en alle  godde-
would we come out if we could trace its cause to its loozen. Dan behoeven we niet bij den zondeval gaan
source? But let us direct our attention to the contents staan, zooals Ds. Hylkema, om uit te roepen, "alas !",
of the above-quoted selection.                                 alsof er een breuke geslagen  wordt in Gods handen-
                     (To be continued)                         werk waarbij God onmachtig bij staat. Dan  worden
                                              C. M.  0.        Satan en zonde geen  machten naast God waartegen
                                                               God heeft te worstelen, maar wordt de zonde Zijn
                                                               dienstmaagd en de duivel Zijn knecht. Zoo werken alle
                                                               dingen  mede om het  schip der schepping Gods  heen te
         KEISTEENTJES   ULT DE ROTS  VALLEI                    drijven naar de haven van. de voleinding aller dingen
                                                               over den  oceaan  des tijds. En  aan het  roer van dat
       Zoo stelde Ds. Hylkema het dan ook precies voor. schip staat God. Hij roept de dingen  overeenkomstig
Nu maakte hij in het bespreken van de krachtdadigheid Zijn eeuwigen raad om als dienstknechten te dienen tot
van Gods genade, van welke hij weinig of niets zeide,          volvoering van Zijn heiligen wil, zooals dat ens is ge-
we1 geen onderscheid tusschen algemeene  en bijzondere openbaard in Ef. 1 :lO. God bestuurt den gang aller
genade zooals Kuyper dat doet. Dat schijnt  tegen-             dingen  en Hij alleen. Dan wordt de zonde geen groot
woordig tech mode te zijn om daarover  te cwijgen en ongeluk waarbij God onmachtig staat te kijken, en
het onder stoelen en  banken te  stoppen. Maar zal Ds. waarbij wij staan te  roepen,  "alas  !" Dan maakt Satan
Hylkema goed  Chr. Geref. blijven en consequent wezen, geen welgeslaagde  aanval, waardoor een scheur  komt in
dan moet hij ook daarin met Dr. Kuyper meegaan.                de werken Gods, en die God nut tracht te herstellen.
       Op het standpunt van Kuyper, stelt Ds. Hylkema Dan wordt de geschiedenis der eeuwen geen soort
dan ook Satan en zonde voor als twee naast God be- schaakspel tusschen  God en Satan, waarin Satan nu
staande machten  waarmede God de Heere heeft te wor- eens God een man ontneemt of neervelt, en God de
stelen zooals een zeeman heeft te kampen met woeste Heere op Zijn beurt  weer een of meer van Satans  dap-
baren  en sterke tegenwinden. Zoo voorgesteld,  moeten         pere helden doet sneuvelen  op het slagveld  der eeuwen.
we  dan.ook  met Ds. Hylkema in betrekking tot de zonde Dan verkrijgen we ook geen God, die in geen zes dui-
uitroepen, "alas  !", .want dan is de zonde een groot onge-    zend jaren  den duivel kan overtuigen, dat Hij alleen
luk, waarbij  God onmachtig stond te kijken. Zoo voor- souverein  is. Maar dan komen Satan en zonde overeen-
gesteld heeft de duivel een welgeslaagde aanval  ge- komstig Gods raad en worden  door Hem in hun ont-
daan, waardoor er een scheur komt in de werken Gods, wikkelingskracht met vaste hand bestuurd. Dan krij-
die God nu  tracht te herstellen. Zoo wordt God de gen we een God voor wien de duivelen sidderen, zooals
Heere door deze twee  machten  overweldigd en ontkomt de apostel Jakobus ons dat  leert. Dan hebben we niet
Hij eindelijk, na meer dan zes duizend jaren tijds, hun een God die Zijn verbond, vanwege de aanvallen des
geweld.                                                        Satans, zoo nu en dan laat verloopen in de  lijn der
   Kan men op zulke gronden ooit God als een  souve-           wereld, zooals Ds. Hylkema dat voorstelde. Maar dan
reine God, die over  alles en alles regeert, voorstellen? hebben  wij een God die door den diepen weg van zonde
Beslist niet! Dan  zullen  al onze pogingen een misluk- en genade Zijn verbond handhaaft en straks opvoert
king wezen. En ook dat was het geval met Ds. Hylke-            ter hoogste heerlijkheid. Dan kan Gods volk in iedere


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Vol. VI, No. 16                                                     MAY 15, 1930                                                  Subscription Price, $2.50

                                                                                  fixion had been too real. The death of the Lord had
           M E D I T A T I O N                                                    left too deep an impression upon their minds. And
                                                                                  they were not prepared to receive the news of the
                                                                                  Lord's resurrection, for little did they expect it. Many
      OUGHT  NOT  THE CHRIST TO HAVE                                              rumours  filled the air. Some spoke of a vision of angels
                                                                                  they had seen or about which they had heard the
                      SUFFERED?                                                  women report; others claimed that the Lord in person
                     Then he said unto them, 0 fools and slow                    had already appeared to some of them and that Mary
                   of heart to  beJ.ieve  all that the prophets
                   have spoken. Ought not the Christ to have                     Magdalene had met the Lord; then there was the report
                   suffered these things, and to enter into his                  of the soldiers, that the body had been stolen . . . .
                   glory? ,And beginning at Moses and  aI1 the
                   prophets, he expounded unto them in all the                         Now it was afternoon . . . .
                   scriptures the things concerning himself.                           Two travelers left the city, where probably they had
                                                   -Luke  24:25-27.              waited at  first for further developments, to take their
   The Lord had risen, indeed !                                                  way to Emmaus, a place approximately six or seven
   Early in the morning of that blessed day, when the miles distant from Jerusalem. Perhaps, they had now
Lord issued forth from the grave, the two Mary's, given up hope of receiving further light in the matter,
Salome and Johanna, together with some other women, that occupied their every thought, that was of such
not mentioned by name, had proceeded, probably in two profound interest to them. But, though they did not
groups and from two different points of the Holy City, expect to receive further illumination on the subject,
to the grave.                                                                    they could not refrain from making it the topic of their
   The stone they had found rolled away from the busy conversation. Jesus and He crucified ! What a
sepulchre, the watch had disappeared, and instead of subject! It seems inexhaustible. And how it cap-
the dead body of their Lord they found living messen- tivates them! So deeply are they interested in the sub-
gers from heaven in the tomb, who also told them, that ject of their  discussion, that they do not even notice
the Lord had risen from the dead and that He went whence the stranger came that approached them and
before them into Galilee! And with joy mixed with now joins their conversation. Nor do they recognize
amazement the women had departed from the tomb of Him, though He is the subject of their lively discus-
Joseph to tell the disciples.                                                    sion . . . .
   And as the angels had told the women, so it was.                                    Kindly and with a manifestation of personal interest
   With the first glimmer of dawn, for the Lord of life He asked them about the subject of their communica-
could not be held of Hades a moment over the appointed tions.
time, an earthquake had shaken the sepulchre, an angel                                 Sympathetically He had added : and why are ye sad?
had descended to roll away the stone from its entrance,                                But the answer He received was a partial rebuke:
the frightened watch had fled in haste, presently to be Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem? Who does not
bribed into telling the story that the disciples had stolen know the only subject that is worth discussing? And
the body of Jesus, while they slept! And the Lord of what would we be talking about anyway, if not about
life and death, the Victor in the battle against all the the only subject, that is of any interest to anyone that
powers of darkness had issued forth in glory !                                   is not a total stranger in Jerusalem? . . . .
   Jerusalem was idled with rumours  that day !                                        Yet, the Lord urges them on: What things?
   Not immediately did the joy of the resurrection  f?ll                               He knew their trouble. He understood their diffi-
the hearts and minds of  the disciples. They could not culty. These men had a problem they could not possibly
at once appropriate this new gospel. The'terrible cruci- solve. They communicated and argued, they looked at

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

their problem from every conceivable angle. They were The way to glory for the Redeemer lay necessarily
anxious to have it solved. And the Lord knows that it through His suffering and death. There was no other
would be helpful to them to clearly state their problem way for Him.
and express their difficulty. They dealt with a puzzle.           But why?
And they tried to fit the different pieces of their puzzle        In deepest sense all necessity is divine. There is no
together. And somehow they always struck the same other must than that which  has its reason in God Him-
difficulty. There was just one thing that did not seem self. The necessity of all things proceeds in deepest
to fit, and without its being put in its proper place the sense from God,  fray His Being, from His divine
whole thing remained an inscrutable mystery. And Nature, from the nature of His virtues. Because God
Jesus, knowing how helpful it is for their struggling is such as He is, and because His eternal counsel with
minds at least clearly to state their problem, gently respect to all things could not be in conflict with His
urges them on and asks : what things ?                        Being, therefore things are and become and take place
       And the answer comes readily enough.                   and are realized with an unchangeable necessity. It is no
       The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth.               necessity that is imposed on the Most High, but one that
       Oh, He was a man mighty in word and in deed ! . . . flows from Him; no constraint upon His Being, but
       And we surely had hoped that He was the one that one whose sole cause He is; no determination of Him,
should redeem Israel, the Messiah, the King on David's but a determination of all things by Him. And because
throne . . . .                                                God is such as He is, and because His eternal purpose
       But our leaders killed Him ! He died ! Yes, that is and counsel must be in harmony with His divine nature,
the problem ; He should not have died ! For why should therefore, also, there was no other way for Jesus to
the redeemer, on whom our hope was tixed, die? . . . .        enter into His glory than through suffering, through
   Yes, there are different rumours  in Jerusalem . . . the suffering of exactly those things through whicn He
women have seen a vision of angels . . . and it is also       had just passed. Ought not the Christ to have suf-
the third day . . . .                                         fered these things and to enter into His glory? . . . .
       But, he died ! And that is our problem ! If the
problem of that cross were solved, if someone would               And we can understand a little of this necessity.
explain to us how the death of our Messiah can properly           For the highest purpose of all God's counsel is the
belong to His appearance, then perhaps . . . .                glory of His own perfect,  infinite,  adorable Being ; the
       For were there not also remours  that the angels had highest possible, the greatest conceivable glory. Other
announced His resurrection from the dead ?                    purpose there could not be, this purpose there tiust be.
   That He had risen, indeed ?              I                 For He is the Highest Good. And, therefore, it was
                                                              His purpose to glorify Himself in the highest revela-
                                                              tion of His own covenant-life ; to do this in a people of
                                                              whom His Son is the Head, to realize this in the way of
   0, ye fools!                                               sin and grace: through grace His people must be de-
   No, the Lord does not mean to imply that these men livered from the power of sin and death ; must be de-
were fools in the sense in which Scripture uses that          livered through the power of His Son, sent into the
word so often, with application, namely, to the ungodly.      likeness of sinful flesh. But if thus the glory of God's
   These men were no wicked fools, they were not fools covenant must be revealed, if thus the Son in the flesh
in the spiritual-ethical sense of the word. They were must be the Redeemer of His people, it follows, that
not ungodly. Neither were they unbelievers in the             He must suffer in order to enter into His glory ! God's
sense, that they would not accept what was too deep a unchangeable justice demanded this deep and awful
mystery for them to fathom.                                   way of the death of His Son. For Him there was no
   Yet, they were slow to understand ; and slow to be- glory except through the way of death! . . . .
lieve all that the prophets had spoken ! Now that they            Ought not the Christ to have suffered these
have stated their problem and revealed their  difficulty,     things? . .  ;  .
the Teacher intimates that the solution is very simple            He could not avoid the way of death !
and that it is due only to their stupidity and slowness           Nor could He have entered into glory from the
to believe, that they have not found it!                      mount of transfiguration. He could not enter alone, be-
       Just one thing they must see: the Christ  must cause He stood at the Head of His people, inseparable
suffer!                                                       from them. And with them He could not be exalted to
       The necessity of the cross in order to the glory of glory unless He first die, because they were guilty and
the Redeemer, that it is, which all the prophets taught, He must atone.
which they must see and which they had failed to                  Yes, He ought to suffer!
understand.                                                       And this necessity of His suffering the sojourners
       Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things on the way to Emmaus  must understand.
and to enter into His glory?                                      Not to understand it  pias the stumblingblock of all
       That is the point of the lesson, they must learn. their reasoning in the way.


                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                         363

   Because they could not understand the cross, they          A sermon with unity of theme: the Christ must
could not reach the Risen Lord.                            suffer ? A sermon with unity of always advancing
   Oh, the Lord might have opened their eyes im- thought: from Moses and the prophets through all the
mediately and revealed Himself to them. And for a Scriptures ! A sermon with unity of purpose: to remove
brief moment they would probably rejoice and their from the hearts and minds of the eager audience every
hearts would burn at sight of Him. But it was not obstacle why they could not reach to the faith in the
what they needed, and it would not have benefited Risen Lord !
them, nor helped them out of their dilemna. Would             What a sermon!
not presently the Lord vanish again out of their sight?       For it was purely expository in character. He
And would they not again commence to reason about expounded to them in all the Scriptures! Here was no
that cross ? And would they not find the same difficulty wild sentimentalism, no foolish urge to accept Jesus
in His cruel death : He should not have died ? And not without any ground, no human philosophy, no play on
understanding the cross, would they not draw the con- the imagination, no sickening arousing of empty emo-
clusion, perhaps, that they had been. subject to an tionalism. It was that, which alone is able to found and
hallucination, when they imagined that they saw Him nourish, to establish and make strong the faith of the
intheway?. .  .`.                                          people of God: an exposition in all the Scriptures con-
   No, their greatest need was not to see Him for a cerning Jesus and the necessity of His suffering in
moment; but to understand His cross!                       order to enter into His glory!
   Then He will appear to them. And they will be-             What a sermon  !.
lieve. And no longer will they be fools and slow to           For it was He that expounded to them the Scrip-
understand.                                                tures ! The Preacher and His subject were identical!
   For the Lord is risen, indeed !                         He, that could preach as no other ever spoke ! He that
                                                           could expound the Scriptures as no man ever could ex- ,
                                                           plain them ! Clear, powerful, convincing . . . .
                                                              Oh, how we can understand the two listeners, when
   Ought He not to have suffered?                          they exclaim that their hearts were burning, when He
   Such was the theme of one of the most marvelous talked with them in the way!
sermons ever preached to a small, but most profoundly         And how we could wish to have been present and to
interested audience on the way from Jerusalem to be among the audience, that was privileged to listen to
Emmaus.                                                    such a sermon !
   And the material for the sermon was drawn from             But no! . . . .
the Scriptures ! For those Scriptures contained the           We have the sermon and more !
counsel of God, and therefore, the revelation and ex-         For He expounded unto the Church in all the Scrip-
planation of the divine  must !                            tures again, and on the same theme: ought not the
   They contained, too, the things concerning Jesus. Christ to have suffered these things ?
And particularly they revealed that the Christ, when          We have His own Word, through the apostles and
He should have come, must suffer these things in order prophets ! And possessing it we may search it. And
to enter into His glory. They contained the divine         searching it we may believe.
program which had been a guide to the Servant of              And believing we may rejoice!
Jehovah in all His work and suffering and which He            The Lord is risen, indeed !
had followed to the finish,  step by step . . . .                                                         Ii. H.
   From these Scriptures the Lord expounded to them
on His theme: ought not the Christ to have suffered
thus ?
   From all the Scriptures He preached. For He began                               GOD EERST
from Moses and from all the prophets ! He could point                   Begin den dag met God ;
to the very dawn of prophecy, when it was announced,                  Zoek `t eerst Zijn aangezicht.
that the seed of the woman would crush the head of                  Hij slechts gaat veilig en gewis,
the seed of the serpent, but not without having His                   Die wandelt in Gods licht.
own heel bruised in the eonfiict. And from it, as the
mother of all prophecies, He could continue through all                 Laat God uw gastheer zijn:
of .Moses and through all of the prophets, pointing to                Als ge aan den disch u zet;
the t,ypes  and shadows, to priests and sacrifices ; He             Van Hem is `t aardsch en `t hemelsch brood ;
could dwell with Isaiah under the very shadow of His                  Vraag beiden in `t gebed.
own cross, and always it would be the same central                      Laat, bij al `t geen gij doet,
theme: ought not the Christ to have suffered thus and                 God op den voorgrond staan:
to enter into His glory? . . . .                                    Zoo  zal uw dag gezegend zijn,
   What a sermon!                                                     En `t werk voorspoedig gaan.


                                                                                                                 t
  868                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

                                                                    thought that with Him all things are possible to take
                     SAEAI  AND HAGAR                               hold of her, she would have found herself capable of
                        Now Sarai Abram's wife bare him no chil-    abiding His time. Trusting, she would have seen that
                      dren: and she had a handmaid, an Egyptian,    the Lord, in deferring the fulf?.lment of the promise,
                      whose name was Hagar  . . .  -And  Hagar
                      bare Abram a son: and Abram called his        was educating her. Seeing this, she would have begun
                      son's name, which Hagar bare, Ishmael.        to study His ways and to look below the surface to the
                                               -Gen   16:1-16.      hidden meaning. That  this meaning was there is cer-
         The happenings recorded in this chapter are in a tain. The promised heir was to be a child not of nature
  sense the outgrowth of past events. According to the but of grace. His birth of one who wm past u.ge was
  sacred record, it was some ten years ago that Abraham to stand, down through the succeeding centuries, as the
  had taken up his residence in Canaan, with the prom- unmistakable sign of the complete triumph of faith over
  ise stored away in his soul that of him the Lord would sin and death. What the Lord had contemplated doing
  make a great nation. This promise had been repeatedly was to provide men with an exhibition of the infmite-
  renewed  and  amplified in the years that followed. It            ness of His power, and to bring into relief that the
  is to be noticed, however, that neither the original redeemed are such who have been reclaimed from
  promise nor its amplifications contains a single state- death.
  ment asserting that Sarah was to be the mother of the                Sarai,  then, failed to imagine the meaning and the
  promised seed. Not until after the birth of Ishmael purpose of her temporary barrenness. She seems to
  did the Lord say unto Abraham, "As for  Sarai  thy have regarded it as a sign that the Lord had decided to
  wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah pass her by. So she surrenders to Abraham her hand-
  shall her name be, and I will bless her, and give thee a maid. She did so, to be sure, because she believed not.
  son also of her; and she shall be a mother of nations;               It must not be supposed, however, that the step
  kings of people shall be of her." Up to the time of this was taken under the impulse of a purely carnal urge.
  announcement the divine oracles had maintained a pro- Fact is, that Sarah was one of God's saints with a faith
  found silence respecting the place Sarah was to occupy of a kind that secured for her a place in the cloud of
  in the scheme of redemption. Add to this that her wisnesses by which we are compassed about. She, too,
  age had carried her far beyond the season of child- sought a heavenly country, and was sensible of the fact
  bearing and it will be seen how easily the idea may that somehow her salvation was bound up with the ap-
  have taken root in her soul that the promised heir was pearance of the promised heir; that his birth was to
  not to be of her. The thought was most painful to her. signify that the country sought would be found ; that to
  And under the impulse of a crave to nevertheless serve God for whom also her soul thirsted she would be
  the redemptive purpose of God in the capacity of a joined for evermore. What impelled her then to sur-
  channel of grace, she made room for her handmaid.                 render her rights to her handmaid was her anxiety
  To be sure, the promise that could yield the conclusion that the word of the Lord might take none effect at
' that she was excluded, was wanting. Fact is, that least in respect to herself. Her anxiety, however, was
  God's ways with her should have put her altogether at the outgrowth of a deep concern about her soul's salva-
  ease. Had not the Lord attached her to Abraham as tion, and of a desire to appear before the face of Him
  his lawful wife? As one included in, and represented for whom also her soul was yearning. So she would
  -by him, the promise was also hers. Besides, on more almost compel the Lord to keep His promise and to give
  than one occasion the Lord had furnished her with un- her a place in His scheme of redemption. Her specific
  mistakable evidence that He was taking a very special sin was that she thought Him incapable to work out
  interest in her affairs and was watching over her with His redemptive schemes without her coming to His
  a paternal care. The king of Egypt, who had taken aid. As old age had stealthily crept over her, the idea
  her into his harem, had been ordered to set her free had simultaneously taken root in her soul that she had
  under penalty of death. Kings had been rebuked also outgrown her serviceableness as heaven's agent; that,
  for her sake. However, an unbelieving anxiety had therefore, it was no longer possible for the Lord to
  rendered her incapable of sensing aright the speech carry out His resolution in His originally contemplated
  of the Lord's signs - the speech, namely, that she too way. So she came to the fore with a scheme of her
  was to serve in some special way the purposes of OWIl.
' heaven.                                                              But what a despisable scheme it was ! She herself
         True, from the point of view of nature, her unbe-          must make room for her handmaid. From the very
lief rested upon solid ground. As was before said, thought of doing so her soul must have revolted. Hagar
  she was past age. However, the word of the Lord, in is to permit herself to be used as a mere machine. The
  conjunction with the signs of Heaven's special interest child to which her soul shall cleave with all the power
  in her, had rendered nature altogether worthless as a of a mother's devotion, she must disallow, place in the
  legitimate point of view so that her ,unbelief  should arms of her mistress, forget that it is hers, and spend
  have loomed up before her eye as a &d-provoking her remaining years suppressing the maternal instincts
  frame of mind and heart. Had she permitted the that were awakened by the feel of the child to which


                                                                                                                      !

                                    T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                     369  /I
she had given birth. Finally, after having permitted she saw tit. So he says to her: "Behold, thy maid is '
herself to be elevated momentarily to the status of the in thy hand, do to her as it pleaseth  thee." `Think not !
wife of her lord, she must when they have done with that I shall interfere, for thy maid is nothing to me but '
her again allow herself to be ruthlessly thrust back into a slave.
the position of a slave.                                      Sarah is satisfied that her husband is not at fault.
   However, the criticism brought to bear on Sarah So she next takes hold of her maid. In the attempt to I
must not be unduly severe. In contemplating appro- cast her back again into the position of a slave, she :
priating Hagar's offspring, she shows herself up as deals hardly with her. But the maid refused to be
a child of her day. So we read of the maid Bildah bear- humbled, and finally fled from her face.
ing upon the knees of her mistress Rachel, and of             What shall be our appraisal of Hagar's stubborn  :
Leah's maid Zilpah bearing her (Leah) two sons. It is refusal to descend to her former status? We have the j
not hard to see that the practice might turn out to be Lord's word for it that she did wrong. For, as was be- j
ruinous to the peace of a home. At least, Sarah's fore said, the Lord orders her to return to her mistress. ;
troubles began when she  gave  her handmaid to Abra- Yet her conduct can easily be explained. Her comet- .i
ham to be his wife. For when the handmaid saw that tions with Abraham had actually elevated her to the I
she had conceived, she despised her mistress. Her position of Abraham's wife. `If his wife, why,' so she
fruitfulness turned her head so that she lost all sense reasoned, `should I consent to slave for her whose
of propriety. She exalted herself and held her barren equal I now am. The relation which I sustain to my
mistress in visible contempt. Her very person seemed lord and to the heir to which I am about to give birth,
to radiate pride. She became unruly and insolent in cannot be broken by being denied. I remain, irrespec-
manner and in speech. She was now as impudent as tive of what they may say or do, the mother of my ,
she had been submissive and unobtrusive. It was child, and the wife of my lord.' So .Hagar in all likeli-
evident to Sarah that this maid of hers was serving hood reasoned and, as we shall have occasion to see,.
her notice that she had been emancipated by her recent the word of the Lord that came to her, shows that her
connections with Abraham, was now the rival, yea reasonings at least in part were correct.
the favorite wife, and was therefore ready to take            Wearied from her flight, Hagar sat down by a
orders from no one but her lord. What she did then fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in
was to throw Sarah's yoke, convinced in her mind the way to Shur. Here the angel of the Lord found her
that this yoke no longer applied to her. That this was and said to her, "Hagar,  Sarai's  maid, whence camest
her frame of mind is evident from the word of the thou ?" The very name (Sarai's  maid) by which the
Lord : "Submit thyself under the hand of thy mistress." Lord addresses her signifies that her flight meets with
   As can be expected, Hagar's conduct grieved and His disapproval. `Thou Hagar art  Sarai's  maid. Know
greatly exasperated Sarah. It is to be noticed that well that thou camest from her who is still thy mistress.
before the latter attempts to humble her maid, she Thou hast therefore set out upon a sinful course and in !
voices her complaint to Abraham.       Said she: "My going whither thou wilt, thou dost make for a for-  j
wrong be upon thee ; I have given my maid unto they bidden place. For thou art  Sarai's  maid.' As for  j
bosom; and when she saw that she had conceived, I Hagar, she emphatically asserts that she flees from
was despised in her eyes." Sarah here accused Abra- her mistress. Her manner of reply may be taken as
ham of being at fault for Hagar's conduct. "My an index to her mental state and disposition. `Yes,
wrong," says she, "be upon thee." `1 hold thee re- Lord, I flee from my mistress Sarai  by whom I have
sponsible for what I now suffer at the hands of my been outraged.' The Lord, in replying bids her to re-
maid. It is thy fault.' Sarah, it is plain, suspicions turn to her mistress, and to submit herself under her
her husband. She thought, so her speech plainly shows, hands. Her relation to Sarah, then, was not broken by
that he, delighted with the prospect of clasping to his her connections with Abraham. Though his  wife,  she
bosom a child of his own, had behaved toward her maid is still the slave.
in such a manner as to give her reasons to believe that       The Lord, however, has more to say to her. "I will
she had taken her mistress' place in his thoughts and multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be
effections ; that therefore she dared to flaunt her to numbered for multitude. Behold, thou art with child,
her face.'                                                 and shalt bear a son, and shall call his name Ishmael;
   In this Sarah was mistaken. Yet, as was before said, because the Lord hath heard thy affliction."
it is most likely true, that Hagar, now that she had          "I will multiply thy seed exceedingly." Hagar is
conceived, imagined that Abraham would permit her assured that she shall become the mother of a prod-
to take her place next to Sarah.                           igious posterity. Her child she shall not surrender to
   Abraham will convince Sarah that she may not hold her mistress although the status of the child will be
him responsible for the conduct of her maid ; that that of a bond in the house of Abraham.
Sarah was still the beloved and cherished wife ; that         His name shall be called Ishmael, - a name which :
Hagar continued in his thoughts as the slave with should commemorate God's remembrance of her  afEc-
whom Sarah, without his interference, might deal as tion. "And  shall call his name Ixhmael for the Lord

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

hath heard thy affliction." Cries of anguish had been I return to thee as thy handmaid, prepared to humble
uttered by this bondsmaid in the house of her mistress, myself under thy hands ; but I return also as the law-
whose hand had been heavy upon her. She had groaned ful wife of thy lord. For I, so He  that  seest me said,
when crossing the dready wilderness ; when, spent with shall bear a son, in whose possession I shall continue.
her flight, she halted by the fountain. She had groaned For thus saith He who seeth me. `I will multiply thy
when -overwhelmed by the desolation about her and as seed.'
often as she would imagine the possible outcome of               That such was  i?z  subsEance  Hagar's message to
her mad fight. However, it is evident from the speech Sarah is evident from this that when the man-child is
of the Lord that her greatest source of grief was the born, Abraham calls his name Ishmuel, in obedience
prospect of being compelled, in the event she returned, to the voice of Heaven that had come to him by the
to place her child in the arms of her mistress and to         mouth of this handmaid.
subsequently erase from her memory the thought that              The sacred record, then, explicitly states that Hagar
she had travailed. Said the Lord to her : "Behold, thou bore not Sarah, but Abraham a son.
art with a child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his       The message borne to Sarah by this slave must
name Ishmael, for the Lord  bath  heard thy  affliction."     have greatly increased her anxiety. More than ever
That she was with child, she knew; but that it was a it must have seemed to her that the Lord had passed
manchild  to which she was to give birth, and that this her by, that thus not she but her handmaid was now to
son was to be a living sign unto her that the Lord had be the mother of the promised heir. For, as was before
and would continue to hear her aflliction, she now knew said, so far the divine oracles had maintained a silence
for the first, and rejoiced. For there was to be a con- respecting Sarah's place in the scheme of redemption.
nection between her aflliction and the birth of her son          Let us now notice the destiny of this son Ishmael.
so close as would render it altogether improper and "And he will be a wild man ; his hand will be against
forbidden for Sarah to appropriate the child. The every man, and every man's hand against him ; and he
son to be born was to remain Hagar's.                         shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren."
       The Lord had heard her aflliction. Also according         "He will be a wild man," literally, "a wild ass
to His judgment, then, her woe had been occasioned among men." Job describes the wild ass thus : "Whose
by unfair and unjust treatment. It is also pIain  from house I have made the wilderness, and the barren land
the Lord's manner of speech  that this maid had directed his dwelling. He scorneth the multitude of the city,
her cries to Him, and He responds, draws nigh to her neither regardeth he the crying of the driver. The
by the well with words of rebuke, but also with words range of the mountains is his pasture, and he searcheth
of comfort. Hagar was both delighted and surprised after every green  th.ingt"
that He should deign to take so keen an interest in her.         This prediction regarding Ishmael has been  strick-
So she calls the well, "Thou God seest me," to which she ingly fulfilled in his generations. In the words of an
added, "I looked not after Him that seest me."                authoritative writer : "Like the zebra that cannot be
       She seems not to have kept before her eye as domesticated, the Arab or Ishmaelite stock scorns the
she cried and fled that the Lord is one who  knew comforts of civilized life, and adheres to the primitive
her down-sitting and her up-rising, understood dress, food, and mode of life, delighting in the sensa-
her thoughts afar off, compassed her path and her lying tion of freedom, scouring the deserts, sufl!icient with his
down, was acquainted with all her ways;  telled her horse and spear for every emergency. His hand also
wandering, put her tears in his bottle ; and kept them is against every man, looking on all as his natural ene-
in his book. This she knew now. "Thou God seest me." mies or as his natural prey ; in continued feud of tribe
       Strengthened by the knowledge stored away in her against tribe and of the whole race against all of dif-
soul that the Lord will continue to fur His eye upon her ferent blood and different customs, and yet he `dwells
in paternal care, she fearlessly returns to her mistress in the presence of his brethren'; though so warlike
ready to humble herself under her hands.                      a temper would bode his destruction and has certainly
       Thus the slave returns. Sarah had put her in her destroyed other races, this Ishmaelite stock, continues
place and had demanded of her an unquestioning, in its own land with an uninterrupted history." And
mechanical obedience, even when forcing her down in the words of another writer: "They have raved like
again to her former level. She discovered, however, the moving sands of their desert; but their race has
that a slave may have a heart capable of feelings akin been rooted while the individual wandered. That race
to her own and that therefore her scheme was likely has neither been dissipated by conquest, nor lost by
to end in disma1  failure. So she attempted to rid her- migration, nor confounded with the blood of other
self of its consequences by compelling this slave to flee. countries. They have continued to dwell in the pres-
       The slave, however, comes back and that with a ence of all their brethren, a distinct nation, wearing
fresh message from Heaven for the mistress and the upon the whole the same features and aspects which
master. `My mistress,' I can imagine her saying, `the prophesy first impressed upon them."
Lord  .- He who seeth me - heard my affliction and               Hagar, then, returned to her mistress with child,
appeared to me by the well. In response to His voice who, in his generation was to be a wild man, with a


                                       T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                         371

hand against every man. Let it not escape our atten- grijpen waren,  is het te verklaren, dat ze zelfs  in ge-
tion that this son was to be a man disposed toward breke  bleef,  die gronden uit  te spreken.
~~11  men,  as Hagar during the period of  her  pregnancy,       We willen thans eerst een antwoord zoeken op de
had been disposed toward Sarah. During this period vraag, of de  Classis in dit gevoelen recht stond, ja dan
Hagar's heart had been aflame with fierce spite and re- neen.
sentment. A mind with like attitudes and dispositions            Later gaan we op een tweede vraag in, op de vraag
was to be in that son to which she would give birth. namelijk, of ze  kerkrechte1ij.k  zuiver gehandeld heeft.
And in his generations, his hand would be against the            Thans willen we eerst handelen over de vraag, of de
very seed of her who had wronged his mother. and in inhoud van het besluit, voorzoover als het de Unions
Sarah's generations her hand would continue to be veroordeelde, of liever het lidmaatschap der Unions
against Hagar in her generations. So it appears then voor een Christen onbetamelijk achtte, te handhaven
that when Sarah in her unbelief gave her maid to is of met.
Abraham and thereupon dealt hardly with her, she
began a rivalry, a contest which continued also in her           Met andere woorden: kan een Christen lid zijn van,
offspring and in the offspring of her rival.                  kan hij zich homogeen verklaren, zooals hij doet, als
   So the Lord visited the sin of Sarah and the sin of hij lid wordt, met de Unions, zooals ze in ons land een
her handmaid. Sarah's sin, in that He caused to ap- lichaam vormen (op enkele uitzonderingen na) `van de
pear a race of men that would continue the rivalry American Federation of Labor?
which she, in her unbelief had begun ; Hagar's sin in            De Commissie, die eerder door de  Classis werd  be-
that He gave her a son whose offspring would con- noemd, om haar eens genomen besluit met gronden en
tinue to radiate her defiant and rebellious spirit.           bewijzen te staven, heeft enkele gronden voor het Clas-
   And the Arabs or Ishmaelite tribes continue as a sicale besluit aangevoerd.
sign that the Lord hears the  alhictions of an outraged          Ze heeft eerst geredeneerd over het beginsel.
slave who directs his cry unto Him.                              Toen heeft ze uit sommige stukken officieele bewij-
                                             G. M. 0.         zen aangevoerd, om aan te toonen, dat een Christen
                                                              geen lid kan zijn van de Union.
                                                                 De S. B. zal op die gronden niet verder ingaan.
                                                                 Hij zal er echter we1 aan toevoegen.
                                                                 Wat is het beginsel der Unions? Welke zijn hare
         DE UNION-KWESTIE ONDER ONS                           doeleinden? En welke midden gebruikt ze om die doel-
   De vraag mag worden  gedaan: hoe kwam de Clas- einden te gebruiken? Mag een Christen verantwoorde-
sis er toe, om haar besluit aangaande het lidmaatschap lijk zijn voor hare wijze van werken?
der Unions zoo zonder eenige moeite, zonder veel  be-            Samuel Gompers, toen hij president was van de
spreking te nemen ?                                           American Federation of Labor sprak eens uit:  "Ik zou
   En in nauw verband hiermede de andere vraag : mij wel willen wenden  tot den duivel en zijn schoon-
hoe kwam ze er toe, om dat besluit te passeeren zonder moeder, indien de arbeider daardoor gebaat kon  wor-
aangifte  van de noodige gronden?                             den.", (1)
   ,Geheel  opzichzelf genomen schijnt deze actie we1            Bij een andere gelegenheid  echter sprak hij gansch
heel naief.                                                   anders.       Toen zeide hij: "Arbeiders-vereenigingen
   Doch wie even over de zaak nadenkt, zal moeten             staan op een even hoog en eerbaar standpunt van zede-
toestemmen, dat de actie der  Classis  tech niet zoo lijkheid en  recht, van eerlijk handelen en gelijkheid,
dwaas was, als ze op het eerste gezicht  we1 mag schij-       als eenige andere  instituties  in de wereld, en dat zonder
nen. De zaak stond tech ongetwijfeld zoo, dat de Clas- eenige uitzondering." (2)
sis gevoelde, dat ze het hier met eene zaak te  doen  had,       Over  deze  uitspraak  heeft Joseph A. Vance, zelf
waarover niet veel  debat kon  worden  gevoerd. Het geen vijand van de Unions als zoodanig, het volgende
stond in 1927 voor haar als een  paal boven water, dat te zeggen:
de Unions te veroordeelen zijn, en dat lidmaatschap van          "Deze  verklaring  (van Samuel Gompers) is zoover
de Unions niet bestaanbaar is met de  roeping van een van de waarheid,  dat  ze een onvergelijkelijke domheid
Christen in de wereld. Er was reeds zoo dikwijls over of  een professioneele leugenachtigheid verraadt. Men
de Unions gesproken. Er was reeds zooveel  over ge-           behoeft maar enkele voorbeelden aan te halen om dit
schreven. Ook toen we nog in de Chr. Geref. kerken scherpe oordeel te rechtvaardigen. Mr. George Mul-
een plaats hadden,  was er over die kwestie zoo dikwijls berry, Derde Vice President van de Internationaie
gedelibereerd, dat de Classis  gevoelde, dat ze zonder Machinisten Union, sluit zijn December rapport in de
gevaar  het besluit kon passeeren, dat ze nam. Daaruit Journal van Jan. 1903, met de volgende bete.ekenisvolle
is het ongetwijfeld alleen  te verklaren, dat er zoo  wei- woorden  betreffende  hunne staking tegen de Union
nig over de kwestie gedelibereerd werd. En juist uit Pacific Railway :
het feit, dat ze zoo sterk stand in de overtuiging, dat er       " `Ik wensch  te verklaren, dat dit klimaat niet erg
genoegzame gronden voor zulk een besluit voor het goed  is  voor de gezondheid van den onderkruiper, daar


                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                          375

                                                                  Let us now prove our contentions. We said that
         THE FIXED PRINCIPLE OF THE BOOK CPF                  the fixed principle of the author was the theocracy in
                        CHRONICLES                            the narrower sense.      Proof: (a) The author takes
                                                              great delight in giving in full the following genealogical
   The Chronicles as to its purpose and its  fixed prin- lines : (1) That of the patriarchs from Adam to Jacob  ;
ciple circulating through it, is ane of t,he books of the     (2) That of the sons of Jacob ; (3) Of David ; (4) Of
Bible least understood by students of Scripture. Most the Levites ; (5) Of the inhabitants of Jerusalem to the
of them are agreed that the author of Chronicles gath-        period of the kings. On the other hand, the generations
ered and collected his materials, abbreviated and added of the antediluvian personages belonging to the  gro:q
without any fixed principle. The fact is, however, that known as the children of men, were omitted.
nothing is further from the truth. That fixed prin-               (b) The genealogies of the northern tribes:
ciple is there and comes to the surface on every page         although given, are very brief and incomplete, and
of the book and circulates through the entire composi- finally recede into the background. The tribes of Dan
tion, serving the author as the guiding star of every and ZebuIon are not even mentioned. Why this brevity
abbreviation and addition made.                               and complete omission? It is because the northern
   Most scholars maintain that the Chronicles were tribes broke away from Judah and the house of David.
written from a priestly point of view and denominate This act is plainly regarded by the author as a break-
the book accordingly priestly. Chronicles, then, is ing away from and a rebellion against God. These
alleged to be priestly in distinction from Kings and tribes showed themselves up as fleshly seed, therefore
from the books of Samuel, which are called prophetical. they are omitted. These tribes were,  finally,  deported
Although this is in a sense true, still it is not all the and never heard of again. This also accounts for the
truth.                                                        great prominence given to the genealogies of such
   In replying, we call attention to the fact that this saintly personages as Adam, Abraham and David.
book is a commentary on Rom. 9 :6-8 and Gen. 12:3.            These persons  clave unto God and thus showed them-
"For they are not all Israel which are of Israel : neither    selves up as the true seed.
because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all chil-          (cj The history of the kingdom of David and
dren ; but in Isaac shall thy seed be called" (Rom. 9 :       Solomon was given a large place in this book ; while
6-8).     "And I will bless them that bless thee, and         the history of the kings of the ten tribes is omitted.
curse him that  curseth  thee" (Gen. 12  2%). In other Even the reign of Saul and Ishboseth receive scant at-
words, the Chronicles were written from the point of tention.
view of the real Israel, the true seed of Abraham, the            (d)    The author though he completely omits the
children of God, the children of the promise, versus the history  of  the northern tribes, incorporated in his his-
fleshly Israel, the children of the flesh. The  book  treats tory the history of Judah to the exile.
of the line of the covenant, therefore. In the supreme            (e)    Though incorporating the history of the kings
sense they may be called the books of the eternal of Judah, he nevertheless shows a visible inclination to
friendship-covenant of God. Hence, it is incorrect to dwell on the glorious periods of the theocracy and of the
call them priestly books for they were not written from theocratic worship. Hence, the reign of the God-fear-
the priestly point of view. To be sure, the priest and ing kings of Judah, viz., David, Solomon, Jehoshaphat,
the temple are given a prominent place in the books. Joash, Hezekiah, and Josiah are depicted with peculiar
However, they contain an abundance of materiai which delight, while the last days of Solomon and the rule;
is not priestly, e. g., the genealogical lines, the deeds of Ahaziah and Attaliah, and the days of the last kings
and exploits of the kings of Jmdah. Hence, we could are dispatched with brevity or completely ignored.
with as much propriety maintain that the books  were             Herewith we have adduced sufficient proof for  our
written from a genealogical and kingly point of view as first contention.
to say that they were written from a priestly point of           Our second contention was that the author aims to
view. The point is, then, that our fixed principle must prove that those who bless Abraham are blessed and
be one which can be used to account for the selection of that those who curse Abraham are cursed. Proof:
all the various kinds of materials of which the books            The material already presented proves this, as also
are constituted. That  princijle  is certainly then the the author's insertion of the long list of brave men
covenant, the kingdom of God on earth, the  theodrazy         from all tribes, who joined David during the persecu-
in the narrow sense.                                          tion of Saul, and of the warriors who made David
   This book, further, is meant to bring into bold relief king at Hebron.
the proposition-that all who bless Abraham and David,            As was said, in the period from Solomon to the
i.e., the people of God, will be blessed  ; that all those    exile, the author omits the entire history of the ten
who curse the people of God shall be cursed by God.           tribes, with the sole exception of the friendly or hostile
There is still another truth which the author wishes to       relations which they sustained to the kingdom of Judah
elucidate, the truth, namely, that the righteous will be and David. The position and status of such outstand-
blessed, and that the wicked come to grief.                   ing personages of the 0. T. as Abraham and David,

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

was in a sense similar to that of Christ in the N. T.            priests and Levites. That all this material is found in
dispensation.      With these persons God entered into this book follows from the very nature of the case.
covenant negotiations. Of this covenant they are the The temple and the priests constituted the center from
heads. The promises of this covenant blessings were which the grace of God radiated. Because God dwelled
made to all of them. Hence, they were held up in that temple, it was the presence and the maintenance
before the 0. T. church `as men, for whose sakes God of this center that constituted the safeguard of Israel's
blessed His people and delivered them from the enemy well-being. However, this gives us no right to con-
after periods of  apostacy. The phrase "for Abraham's clude that the fixed principle was merely priestly.
and for David's sake" occurs time and `again. The                    A word about the long list of genealogies occurring
0. T. church was bidden to look away from itself to              in this book: The question arises, Why did the Holy
Abraham and David as the channels of blessings. In Spirit insert all these names? Who can remember
the N. T. dispensation Christ took their place. It is them? No one!. They were not inserted to be com-
no more for Abraham's or for David's but for Christ's mitted to memory, but for the purpose of providing
sake. As the 0. T. church looked to David, so we look the book with such data as would render it a work that
away from ourselves to Christ.           However,  i whereas would impress the believer as being true and real his-
Abraham and David were also sinful persons the pious tory. The names accomplished this very thing. They
Jew well understood that they could not possibly con- give to these books and to Scripture in general an at-
stitute the meritorial cause of the blessings bestowed, mosphere of reliability, so that the believer feels at
so that the 0. T. saint would look beyond Abraham and once that he deals with reliable history.
David to the promised seed to come, viz., Christ.                                                                      G. M. 0.
Whereas then, Abraham and David were channels of
blessing, no one could hate David without coming to
grief, no more than the world today can hate Christ
without encountering the wrath of God. Hence, any                   Den 9den  Mei herdachten we met onze  geliefde ouders,
individual or group of individuals loving David, was a
friend of God ; those opposing him and seeking his ruin                                 H. VERMEER
came to grief. During the time of David, persons from                                 A.  VER&R-Boer,
the Gentile world learned to love David and attached
themselves to his person. Doing so they were saved. dat zij 35 jaren  door den band des huwebjks  vereenigd zijn ge-
                                                                 wee&.
This accounts for the fact that in so many psalms
mention is made by the poet of the future bringing in               Dat de Heere, die hen tot hiertoe geleid heeft, hen ook ver-
                                                                 der op  bun  levensweg moge leiden, is de  wensch en bede van
of the Gentiles into the fold of the church. It was a hunne dankbare kinderen,
movement already begun on a small scale in that  egoch.                                       Mr. en Mrs. H. Bastiaanse,
       The author shows further that the fear of the Lord                                     Rev. en Mrs. C. Garvin,
and prosperity go hand in hand. He who fears the                                              Mr. en Mrs. H. J. Vermeer,
Lord prospers. It should be borne in mind that in the                                         Mr. en Mrs. A. Vermeer,
0.                                                                                            Rev. en Mrs. L. Vermeer,
       T.  dispensation, material prosperity was a sign and                                   1Mr.  en Mrs. M. Raymond,
symbol of spiritual prosperity. Not so today. Neverthe-                                       Sabrina Vermeer,
less, in time to come they shall inherit the earth. In                                        Gertrude Vermeer,
the 0. T. dispensation the nation prospered materially                                        Mr. en Mrs. D. Zandberg,
if it walked in the ways of the Lord. In this way the                                         Adolph Vermeer,
Lord brought out the intimate connection between                                              Alice Vermeer,
                                                                                                         en 12 kleinkinderen.
righteousness and well-being. One of the aims of the
Chronicler was to prove this principle. The author
delights in elaborately depicting the glorious periods of
the theocracy.       He very plainly exalts the Davidic
sovereignty as the brightest point of the history of                On May 17, 1930, the Lord willing, our beloved parents,
God's people before the exile ; and in relating the his-                               ISAAC KORHORN
tory of the kings after Solomon, he dwells at length                                            en
upon the careers of the godfearing kings. The careers                          HENRIETTA KORHORN-Zylema,
of the wicked kings is treated with great brevity. hope to commemorate their 25th wedding anniversary. May
Practically all that he mentions of them is that they the Lord spare them many years to come for each other and
were ungodly and therefore came to grief.                        for us, is the wish and prayer of their grateful children,
       Finally, it is a fact, of course, that the author gave                                            Alice,
a prominent place to the priests and the temple service.                                                 Gerald,
.Ae incorporated in his book, further, long descriptions                                                 Bert Isaac,
of David's preparations for the building of the temple.                                                  Cornelia Elizabeth,
                                                                                                         Henrietta,
He further gave a full statistical description of the                                                    Elizabeth Florence

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

               THE CHURCH AND POLITICS                           "Should preacher or layman be condemned and pun-
                                                              ished for taking sides, and by inlluence and vote defeat-
       In The Methodist Quarterly Review, Dr. Charles  0. ing the undesirable candidate? It is right to rise from
Jones placed an article in which he arises to the defense local to State and national questions and to apply the
of the proposition that churchmanship cannot be sep- same law. If I, a minister of the Gospel, should not
arated from citizenship. As he sees it:                       vote for a justice of the peace because  I believe he will
       "You cannot separate the citizen from church mem- not enforce the law in his jurisdiction, should I vote for
bership, nor the church member from citizenship.              a Presidential candidate who announces in advance
       "Everything that effects the citizen effects the that he does not believe in Prohibition, and that he will
church member.                                                do what he can to repeal the Eighteenth Amendment?
       "The church community is inevitably a large part of I do not deny him the right to his opinion ; but he must
the social order. In citizenship and church member- not deny me the right to vote against him because of
ship there can be no Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.                 his opinion. I cannot escape the conviction that, even
       "Another fact is this: all civics is partially or en- with good intentions, the candidate, if elected, can not,
tirely political in one meaning of the term.                  psychologically, put his heart in the enforcement of
       "Civics must be administered by officers, and offi- the law which he does not approve and desires to mod-
cers must be elected by church members choosing the ify or repeal. Even if he could leap the barriers of his
candidates, and this immediately carries the church own convictions, his example as an official would in-
member and by implication, the church into politics. fluence all his underlings, and thus immeasurably
Therefore, the citizen-church-member must abdicate weaken the law.
his citizenship or be more or less in politics. He must          "No politician or party has the right to imprison a
take no interest by voice and vote in ordinary matters, freeman's mind and will and conscience.
must be altogether otherworldly, or be condemned by              "Such professionals, largely for their own benefit,
those on the other political side.                            hurl confetti thunder at bolters, but its reverberations
       "The Christian citizen must keep his feet on the are too weak to shake a patriot preacher or layman out
ground, even though his head and heart are in heaven. of his determination to `do the right as God gives him
Otherwise as Paul suggests, `he must needs go out of to see the right.' "
the world.'                                                      In the same number of the same periodical, Dr.
       "This necessity is inevitable.                         Rombert G. Smith, of Washington, Georgia, appeals to
       "As soon as a community is formed, civics, which the clergy of today "to keep out of politics and bestir
means.political  rights and duties, demands action, and themselves rather in the spiritual domain in which no
every citizen must bear his part in these or be recreant one gainsays  them a voice."
to himself, his home, and country. If twenty, or one
hundred, or five hundred members of a church shall               Says he: "It is conceivable that there may some-
oppose any candidate or policy, it may properly be times be a government on this earth which will deserve
affirmed that said church is mixing politics with its         the approbation of the church of God ; but such a gov-
religion.                                                     ernment has never yet existed, and its emergence is not
       "Who shall answer the public cry  - the profes- to be expected at any time in the near future.
sional politician or the patriotic citizen?                      "The church must be careful when she seeks to
       "Shall laborers dig sewers, and merchants open secure the votes of lawmakers in favor of the reform
stores, on Sunday?                                            which she favors.
       "Shall persons with smallpox walk the streets?            "The appeals must be made only to the conscience
       "Shall chauffeurs drive cars over the red light?      and the judgment of the officer' of the state, and no
       "Shall crooks in the council graft on municipal ap- representative of the Church dare appeal to the low
propriations ?                                               motives of selfish political expediency or self-preserva-
       "Shall a bootlegger be elected to the legislature, or tion.
a corrupt and immoral man be elevated to a judge-                "If a lawmaker is conscientiously opposed to Pro-
ship?                                                        hibition, the Church must counsel him, as he prizes his
       "The answer to every one of these questions is em-    integrity and courage, not to vote for it.
bedded in politics and in morals.                                "The Church of God must be careful when she calls
       "These questions must be decided by representa- on the state to enforce laws. The state depends upon
tives of the community, and these representatives must force, but the Church uses only moral weapons.
be elected by votes of the people ; and this carries us          "Behind every ballot there is a bullet, but behind
into politics.                                               every sermon there is a prayer, and the church that
       "NO preacher can indorse such candidates. No continually cries out to the State to enforce laws may
Church member can vote for such without blindfolding .flnally become substantially a source of police power,
his conscience and selling his citizenship to party and Bishops and Church leaders will be super-sheriffs
loyalty.                                                     instead of chief shepherds.


                                    T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                      351

   "Shall officers of the Church of God be more severe which church and state are one. The Israel of the old
than the servants of Caesar?                                dispensation constituted a theocratic state. In the old
   "Shall preachers be fiercer than the Fascisti?           dispensation the church had no independent form of
   "If it is the duty of the church to carry the Gospel,    its own. In the period from Adam to Moses it was
even to criminals, seeking to bring them to repentance projected, so to say, into a form of manifestation
and reformation, caring more for the  rescut  of one known as patriarchal. The church and the family
lawbreaker by the Gospel than to see ninety and nine were one. Hence the father, in virtue of his being the
put in jail.                                                spiritual leader of his family, was at once a shepherd
   "But unless certain tendencies are arrested, the in the church. However, after the Exodus the body of
visage of the Church will be marred, and, instead of the church was made to project itself into a new mold,
the sweet solicitude of shepherdly compassion in her namely, that of the theocratic state. Church and state
face, there will be the stern austerity of legalism. were merged into one. The citizen of the former was
Preachers and even Bishops, may before long be more at once a member of the latter. Those from without
like Javert than the Bishop in Vivtor Hugo's immortal joining themselves to the church of that day, did so by
novel."                                                     permitting themselves to be taken up into the  Israel-
   The above articles are a mixture of truth and un- itish commonwealth. The magistrate in that day was
truth. They give evidence that neither debater was the ruler in the church, and the affairs of the church
master of his subject. Their chief fault seems to be were at once those of the state. The king builded  the
that they fail to make the proper distinctions. Let us temple (Solomon) and officiated on the occasion of its
analyze their reasonings and simultaneously present dedication. The criminal apprehended and punished
the correct view of the matter with which they dealt.       by the state was at once being disciplined by the
   The  affirmative   - Dr. Charles Jones  - asserts church, so that, when the culprit was made to atone for
that "you cannot separate the citizen from church his sin with his life, church censure was seen to con-
membership." What the author of this phrase meant sist in capital punishment. David vouched to early de-
to say is that he who is a citizen cannot, when func- stroy all the wicked from the land ; and to cut oiI all
tioning in the capacity of citizen, undo himseIf  of his    wicked doers from the city of the Lord. Doing so, he
church membership but of necessity projects it into the was at once engaged in the exercise of church disci-
affairs of the state; or, in other words, that the citizen, pline. Whereas the magistrate bears the sword, it
when engaged in attending to the affairs of the state,      follows  that as soon as the church was made to dis-
at once functions in the capacity of a member of engage itself from the state to assert itself as an inde-
church. This, one feels, is palpably incorrect. For if pendent organization, ecclesiastical censure become
it were true that citizenship cannot be separated from solely a matter of spiritual-moral rebuke.
church membership, one could not be a citizen without          To return to Dr. Jones, what he should have said is
being a member of church, and a member of church that the one person may be a citizen of some country
without being a citizen. Fact is, that either is quite and at once a member of that organization known as
possible. It is equally erroneous to say that he who is the church ; and in both of these capacities he func-
a member of church functions as church member when tions. There are numerous and various kinds of insti-
attending to civic matters. The duties accruing from tutions and organizations in this land of ours. What
church membership are altogether distinct from those folly to say that by joining any one of them, a body
devolving upon me in virtue of my being a citizen. As joins them all. So Dr. Jones reasons.
member of  the' church as institute I engage in the
election of elders and deacons ; place myself on the           The truth of the matter is that what cannot be
Sabbath under the preaching of the word; engage in separated and divided asunder is the man who is at
songs of praise ; and contribute to the cause of the king- once the citizen and the member of church. The two
dom of God. As a citizen, I go to the ~011 and cast my      offices are not united in but held by, the one person,
vote ; and in time of war, take up arms for my country. so that when this person functions as citizen, the same
These are two distinct classes of duties. While attend- k&d of a man comes to the fore, that comes to the fore
ing to the one class, I cannot attend to the other. -4 when this person functions in his capacity of member
body cannot, to illustrate, engage in the election of of church. From an ethical-spiritual point of view, he
elders and deacons and at once cast his vote as a citizen exhibits the same mind, the same dispositions, the
of the land. To function as citizen, then, is to desist same qualities that he e-xhibits as member of church.
for the time being from functioning as member of That is to say, both as citizen and as member of church,
church. Church membership and citizenship are two he will act out of the principle of regeneration, and
terms signifying two distinct and disparate states and swing his conduct in line with the Word, if a child of
relations. To say that citizenship and church member- light.
ship cannot be separated is to aver that church and            As a citizen he will decide in conjunction with his
state are one.                                              fellows to have confined to their homes persons with
    The term theocracy stands for a state of affairs in smallpox. He will as a chauffeur heed the red light.


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As a citizen he will refrain from casting his vote for of Jehovah but would be compelled to  iight the battles
the crook.                                                    of the various earthly monarchs to which each division
       It is beside the truth, then, to say that when a respectively joined itself. Those patriots, who especially
Christian engages in the election of civic officers, he by in time of war, would drape the wall of their church
implication, carries into politics the church as insti- edifice with the flag, might take this matter to heart.
tute. What he carries into politics is his light, his Joined to a particular state, the church would of neces-
Christian principles. To say that when a citizen en- sity be taking resource to force in order to inculcate its
gages in the election of church officers, he by implica- doctrine, or reform, or creed, upon the masses. And as
tion carries into politics the church, is as foolish as to Dr. Smith correctly remarks, the church uses only
say that the president of a bank, who is at once a moral weapons.
father of a family, carries that family of his into the          The question remains how the church can avoid be-
affairs of his bank as often as he goes to his office to coming .involved  in politics, if it denounces the croo'k in
attend to the duties. It is folly to say, then, that if office. To be sure, the pulpit must set itself against the
twenty or a hundred or five hundred members of a corruption rife in its community and in the world at
church shall oppose any candidate or policy, it may large. It does so, however, not as an instrument of re-
properly be affirmed that said church as an institute is form that makes it a point to spy on the crook in
mixing politics with religion. What happens is that office with a view of exposing his corruption inorder to
five hundred persons in their capacity; not of church work his defeat; but as a divine institution whose sole
members, but of citizens mix their religion with their duty it is to preach the word - the entire counse1  of
politics.     In functioning  ask citizens they permit or God. It is by the Word, lived and preached and leav-
should permit their religion to assert itself as a force ing the pulpit as a living testimony, that the world,
in their lives.                                               including the crook in office, is condemned. So behaving,
    Dr. Jones asks further, "Should a preacher or lay- the church keeps herself out of politics in the unde-
man (the common member of the institute, G. M. 0.)            sirable sense and out of the affairs of the state. To
be condemned and punished for taking sides, for de- make our meaning still clearer, it would not do for the
feating the undesirable candidate?" We answer, He minister of the gospel to choose as his subject let us
should if he imagines that he takes sides not in his say The political corruption wder the administraztion
capacity of citizen but in his capacity of member of of  the late President Harding. The Word must be
the (church) institute. The same must be made to preached. It is this word, we say it again, by which
apply to his remaining statements.                            corruption in high places is condemned.
    As to Dr. Smith, his reasonings are  principly  as           "Behind every ballot," so Smith continues, "is a
erroneous as those of his opponent. It is plain that in bullet, but behind every sermon there is a prayer . . "
the last instance he is addicted to his opponent's views. But what should have been added.is  that behind every
The church, so he contends, may take her stand back of sermon stands One to be feared even more than the
the state, only she must be careful, - careful when bullet,  - stands an almighty God who casts into hell
she seeks to secure the votes of lawmakers in favor of both body and soul when no repentance is shown. The
the reform which she favors ; careful when she calls on word comes with a glorious message to them who be-
the state to enforce laws. The state depends upon lieve; but respecting such as persist in their unbelief,
force, but the church uses only moral weapons. It is the same word and consequently the church officers
conceivable, says he, that there may sometimes be a who bring it are more severe than the servants of
government on this earth which will deserve the ap- Caesar could possibly be. However, the severity of the
probation of the church of God ; but such a government word is just and a blessing to the broken of heart. The
has never yet existed, and its emergency is not to be severity of Caesar, on the other hand, often is unjust
expected at any time in the near future. We may add, and as cruel as the grave.
such a government will emerge neither in the near or             We heartily agree with Smith when he says that
in the far future. It will not emerge until the taber- "unless certain tendencies are arrested, the visage of
nacle of God will be among men. The state, though a the church will be marred."
divine institution has always, with few exceptions,              Finally, the church, says Smith, that continuahy
allied itself with the prince of darkness. Such being cries out to the state to enforce its laws may finally
the state of affairs, there is and will continue to be a become substantially a source of police power . . . .
sharp rivalry between the various kingdoms of the Our reply is that the church may not cry out to the
earth, until that world-state of which Scripture makes state to enforce its laws in the way it is being done
mention appears.  ~ If, therefore, the various particular this day. The church has degenerated, as was before
divisions of the church universal should join themselves said, into a instrument of reform with moral lessons
to the respective states in whose realm each resides,         and instruction diversed  from her supreme law-giver
the church at that very juncture would cease to be uni- Christ. The church, faithful to her calling, preaches
versal and would resemble a house divided against it- the word. Also that word which asserts that the
self. Each division could then no longer fight the battles    magistrate as God's servant, bears the sword which he


                                             T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                       383

shall unsheath as often as the laws of Heaven are
violated. When the word is preached the magistrate                                      V R A G E N
hears that God's laws must be enforced. The super-                    A. P. te L., Ill., schrijft ons:
sheriff is the word of God.                                           Gaarne zag ik de volgende vraag beantwoord in
    So, then, as a distinct organization the church lets
shine her light, and by that light condemns the word,              onze S. B.
                                                                      In Hand. 7:22 lezen wij, dat Mozes een man was
including corrupt politics; but draws out of darkness machtig in woorden en in werken, terwijl wij in Ex.
into her light, those foreknown before the world's 4 :lO lezen, dat Mozes tot den Heere zeide, dat hij geen.
foundation. In the right sense, then, the church enters man was ter tale, noch van gisteren noch van eergiste-
politics.                                                          ren, maar zwaar van mond en zwaar van tong. Hoe
                                                       G. M. 0.    zijn deze teksten overeen te brengen?
                                                                      Antwoord :
                                                                      Ik zou liefst deze teksten, wat hun verschil betreft,
                             TE HUIS                               zoo  willen verklaren, dat hun schijnbare tegenstrijdig-
                                                                   heid wordt opgeheven, als we in aanmerking nemen,
     Te Huis, in `t ver, maar heerlijk oord !                      dat Mozes zijn bezwaar indiende bij gelegenheid van
     Te Huis,  - hoe liefijk klinkt dat woord !                    zijne roeping,  dus voor de vervulling van zijn groote
          Naar Boven trekt mijn hart steeds  heen,                 levenstaak, waartoe de Heere hem had verkoren ; ter-
          Het Vaderhuis is niet beneen !                           wijl Stefanus natuurlijk het oog heeft op den man
                                                                   Mozes, zooals hij zich reeds had geopenbaard in de ver-
     Hier, op `t verganklijk wereldrond,                           vulling van die roeping.
     Klinkt rouw en klaagtoon elken  stond,                           Met andere woorden, het is zeker  we1  aan te nemen,
          Ontzinkt ons zelfs het dierst kleinood,                  dat Mozes de, waarheid sprak, toen  hij klaagde over
          En stort in d' afgrond van den dood.                     zijn gebrek in de taal. Maar tevens is het een feit, dat
                                                                   als hij, door den Heere daartoe bekwaamd, zijn levens-
     Hoe lang nog zwalkt op d' oceaan                              taak heeft vervuld, hij in de  S&rift voor ons staat als
     Mijn scheepje, dreigend te vergaan?                           een man krachtig in woorden en in werken.
          0, Hij, die wind en golf ontboeit,                          Daarbij komt natuurlijk .ook nog het feit, dat Mozes
          Helpt,  als de stormwind dreigt en loeit.                &dr vervulling van zijn levenstaak over  sichxelven
                                                                   spreckt;  terwijl we in Hand. 7:22 het oordeel hebben
     Naar `s Vaders huis mijn oog gericht!                         van em under, na de vervulling van Mozes' roeping.
     `k Schouw daar Gods vriend'lijk aangezicht;
          Daar, waar men kommer kent  noch pijn,                      J. I(. te Riverbend, Mich., schrijft ons:
          Zal  `t zalig, eind'loos heerlijk zijn  1                   Vriendelijk zou ik u  willen verzoeken mij in de
                                                                   S. B. kortelijk op het volgende te willen antwoorden.
                                                                      In I Cor. 15:45 lezen wij : De eerste mensch Adam
    De rechtvaardige zal in eeuwigheid niet bewogen is geworden tot een levende ziel, de laatste  -4dam  tot
worden,  maar de goddeloozen zullen de aarde niet  be-             een Ievendmakenden geest. Zou die verhouding ook
wonen.                                                             zoo zijn geworden in den staat der rechtheid? Vs. 46 :
                                                                   Eerst natuurlijk, dan geestelijk. Vs. 47 : Eerst aardsch,
                                                                   dan hemelsch. Hoe zou Adam nu tot een geestelijken,
                                                                   hemelschen staat zijn gekomen? Want vs. 48 zegt, dat
                                                                   beide geslachten het merk der hoedanigheid hunner  af-
                    PELGRJMS  NACHTLIED                            komst vertoonen : de aardschen zijn  als de aardsche ; de
  Vader der lichten, verlicht  mij het duister,                    hemelschen zijn als de hemelsche. I-Ioe zou Adam nu
     Dat ik U schouw' in den tastbaren nacht;                      van het aardsche zijn verlost, bijaldien hij niet ware
  Ster der vertroosting, omstraal gij mijn wegen,                  gevallen?
     Wijs mij het einddoel, dat wenkend mij  wacht!                   In Col. 1:19 lees ik (nadat de apostel de heerlijk-
  Ziel van mijn zang, doe mij lofliederen zingen,                  heid en macht  van onzen  Heer heeft opgesomd) : Want
     Zingende zweven door doodsche woestijn.                       het is des Vaders welbehagen geweest, dat in Hem al
  Dat zoo de stilt, eenen wee&lank  deed klinken                   de volheid wonen  zou. Was er in de "Volheid" ook nog
     `t Heilige Hallel zijn grondtoon zou zijn.                    iets, waardoor Adam, in den staat der rechtheid vol-
  Vader, de  pelgrim  is moede, zoo moede,                         hardend,  het eeuwige leven zou zijn deelachtig  gewor-
     Vurig veriangen,  bevreugel mijn voet,                        den? verhoogd zou zijn geworden?
  Veer mij omhoog naar de heilige heuv'len,.                          Antwoord :
     Voorhof der zaligheid, zeeg'nend begroet !                       1. In de eerste plaats moeten  we bij bet behande-


