I EDITORIAL STAFF                                                                                          Communications relative to sub-
                                                                                                           scriptions should be addressed
      H. Danhof                                 ""TORMED
                                                hlx                           MONTHLY to G. Vos, 707 Thomas St., S.E.,
I H. Hoeksema                                                                                              Grand  Rapids,  Mich.
                                                                                                           Communications relative to con-
1             G. M. Ophoff                    PUBLIS----
                                                        HEU  B Y   T H E   R E F O R M E D   F R E E
I                                                                                                          tents of Magazine  should be
                   B. 3. Danhof          I             PTJBLISHING ASSOCIATION                             addressed to Rev. H. Hoeksema,
                                                                                                           524 Eastern  Ave.,  S.E., Grand
                          G. Van Beek                                                                      Rapids, Mich.
                                         I                GRAND RAPIDS, MICH.

`Vol. I. No.  5                                                 FEBRUARY, 1925                                   Subscrintion  Price $1.50

                                                                             anticipation of the hour of darkness, and crawling in the
                   MEDITATION                                                dust of  Gethsemane's garden expresses all the burden of
                                                                             his grief  in  that one significant sentence: "My  soul  is
                                                                             exceedingly sorrowful even unto death."  -4nd thus it is
                       NOTHING STRANGE                                       with  the individual child of God.  :%nd thus it is fre-
                            Eeloved,  think it nut strange concerning quently in the history of the church. There are periods
                          the fiery trial which is to try you as though      when the fiery trial is not yet but is impending and
                          some  strange  thing   happened  to  you.
                                                          1  Peter  4:12.    espected.    Moments of oppressive stillness before the
        There is in nature sometimes an hour  of breathless,                 breaking of the storm of persecution and tribulation. And
     awful expectancy.                                                       such an hour it was for the church when the apostle Peter
        Q-hen in the late afternoon of a sultry summer-day wrote these words to them : "Beloved, think it not strange
     the gentle zephyr  even  holds its breath and ceases to stir concerning the  fiery  trial which is to try you."
     csen the sensitive leaf of the poplar; when blue-black                     And in general, though not always in that specific
     clouds thickly pack on the horizon and the distant rumble sense in which the Church of Peter's day  saw'the  signs
     of thunder announces the approach of a storm,-then all of approaching tribulation, such an hour it is always for
     nature stands in awe, fearful and still, expectantly, till the people of God in the world. For the enemy is always
     presently the storm breaks loose.  the wild wind howls and there. And He whose Lordship over us is our only com-
     lashes the trees, lightning sets the heavens ablaze, stroke fort is always hated. And the servant is never greater
     upon stroke, and the roaring thunder r e v e r b e r a t e s than his Lord. And the word of that Lord is always with
     through the air. peal upon peal . . . . .                               us:  `(In the world ye shall  hal-e  tribulation."
        So  there is, in the history of the church  betimes  an                 Relovedl  think it not strange . . . . . .
     hour of oppressing stillness.                                                                              I_
        When  the enemies of the Church are seated in high                      Strange  they might deem such fiery trials indeed!
     places of authority and power and latent hatred of God
     and His Christ and His people begins to manifest itself:                   For why should they have to suffer and be oppressed
     when slanderers of the righteous and accusers of  the so terribly? In fact, why should the children of God have
     brethren are bestirring themselves to report evil things to suffer at all? Did not their Lord bear all their griefs?
     about the children of light and there are signs of secret Did He not fully atone for all the guilt of all their sin
     conspiracies and plottings against the Church, the people and iniquity and are not their transgressions blotted out
     of God stand in fearful anticipation of  the things that arc in the blood of their Redeemer? Do they not walk about
     at hand, till soon the storm of persecution  breaks  loose, clothed with the garments of righteousness? And if their
     prison doors are opened  unto them, scaffold and stake arc sins are actually forgiven and forgotten, blotted out  in
     erected, and their blood is shed for righteousness' boundless grace, is it not strange then, that they still
     sake . . . . .                                                          must suffer and pass through fiery trials?
        Such an hour of approaching woe and suffering is                        Still more.
     dreadful, worse frequently than the actual tribulation                     Are they not beloved children of the living God?
     when it is once present. Imagination, creating a picture Surely, He loved them with fathomless love from before
     of the impending woe, brings the hour of actual tribula- the foundation of the world, with a love that is measured
     tion to our mind in all its horror and fearful apprehen- only by the sacrifice of His only begotten Son. They are
     sion fills the soul with oppressing grief. Thus the suffer- dear to Him as the apple of His eye.  ,4nd `His watchful
     ing Servant of Jehovah is overwhelmed with  the awful eye is continually over them in love, for the Keeper of


2                                           T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
-_---ll___- ----..__             ____..._-  l__ll_l^.-".."l-  ..-- __ "-^.l____-  _-.. --.                      --..._.".

Israel never slumbereth and never sleepeth. Besides, He and so they did with the Church. Wherever and when-
most surely is powerful above all gods, yea, besides Him               ever there are righteous in the world there they must
there is no God. nil things, all the raving enemies                    endure fiery trials.
included are constantly in His power, and without His                      Beloved, think it not strange, when men falsely accuse
will they cannot and do not stir. How then, can God you and speak evil of you. Or even, marvel not, when
tolerate the enemy to rave in furious enmity against His               they who call themselves your brethren but are not, plot
beloved and permit the power of darkness to triumph over               and conspire against you and cast you out of their
them? Is it not strange that our Father in heaven should               synagogues . . . .
permit His beloved children, for whom He sacrificed the
life of His Son to pass through these fiery trials and trib-               Historically, you are in good company. For so they
ulations  ? . . . .                                                    have persecuted the prophets that were before you . . . .
     Neither is this  $1.                                                  And strange it would be were it otherwise. Think it
                                                                       strange when all men speak well of you. But when they
     Strange they might think this approaching fiery trial             hate and rave and plot and conspire and commit their
from a human point of view. For why should men hate                    works of darkness and unrighteousness against you and
them? They are no evil-doers. They do not murder or                    cause you to pass through fiery trials  ? . . . .
steal, they are no busybodies in other men's matters, they
are no dangerous element of a country's population, nor a                  Nothing strange !
sore upon society. They do well and walk as children of
light. They do the will of their Father in heaven . . . .                  Nor is the thing strange principally.
     How strange, then, that upon these children of the                    Is it a marvel that darkness and light are mutually
living God, walking as children of light, tribulation should           exclusive? Do you think it strange that the lie persecutes
come and they should have to pass through fiery trials!               the truth? Is it so uncommon that Belial hates Christ?
                                                                       Is it at all unusual that he whose proper name is Diabolos
     Yet, beloved, think it not strange.                              slanders God? . . . .
     For there is nothing strange in it.
     This suffering for righteousness' sake is not strange                 And would you deem it strange that all thru history
from an historical point of view. "For so they have per-               the children of the Devil hate and rave against the chil-
secuted the prophets that were before you I" Astonishing               dren of God?
tribulation would be for the Church at any particular                      Surely, there is nothing strange in it.
period of history, if in the general course of history the                 The Church is Christ's Body. And Him the world
righteous prospered and were esteemed while the wicked                hated. For in Him is the Father. `He is the Light that
sui'fered and the evil-doer met with general condemnation.            should come into the world. And, doing in  all things the
If the children of God, the men of old that walked with will of the Father, He caused the light to shine. But the
God, the prophets of the Lord had been men of high                    world loves the darkness rather than Iight and it keenly
esteem, honored by all, while the workers of iniquity they            resented the clear and bright rays of light emanating from
upbraided in their messages from God were locked behind               Him who is the Light, for it condemned the world and
prison doors or led to the scaffold,-surely, then some                exposed the evil of its works. Therefore the world hated
suffering child of God might think so uncommon a thing                 Him more than it hated all the prophets that were before
as  sutiering for righteousness' sake strange and marvel-             Him. And all the bitter gall of their hatred they poured
ous. But this is not the case. The Church in fiery trial              forth upon Him to extinguish the light penetrating the
is in good company. Always the righteous suffered. Ever darkness until there was neither name nor place left for
since the blood of righteous Abel was poured out near                 Him in the world. And still they hate Him. Still their
the gate of First Paradise, the righteous suffered for                fury is not abated. Still they rejoice in His suffering.
righteousness' sake. They were hated, reviled, dragged                But He is no more in the world. To glory He went, and
before courts civil and ecclesiastical, condemned as evil-            for the suffering He endured He received a name which
doers, deprived of property, honor, name, position, liberty,          is above all names, with power in heaven and on earth.
life; sunk in dungeons and miry holes, chased over the                Him they cannot touch anymore. But He is in the
earth, mocked, spit upon, burnt at the stake, cruelly sawn            Church and through the Church He becomes manifest in
asunder. Thus was done to the Captain of our salvation,               the world. Still the light shines in the world. For the
who knew no sin neither was guilt found in His mouth.                 risen Redeemer dwells in His people and these are in the
On Him they fulfilled all their wicked pleasure, till He              world. They do His will in the flesh. Therefore, the
was crushed and broken. Of all  the righteous none was world hates them as they hated Him, for His Name and
righteous as He; of all the despised none was hated as                His Light is in them. And the world is in power. The
He; of all that passed through fiery trials none was tried            wicked are strong in number, influence, wealth, position,
as He. And as they did with the prophets that were                    authority .  s . . .
before Him, and with the Servant of the Lord of Whom                       Therefore, the people of Christ in the world are par-
all those prophets spoke, so they did with the apostles               takers of His sufferings. And they pass through fiery


                       8          _    "THE",STAti'DhRD   ;`BE-ARER                                 1       -     -                       3
                                                                                       .

trials. If. they are but faithful the world will surely hate        when the wolves are around, so God's'people feel them-
them. And the more they are faithful, in walk and con-              selves united as never before and seek the communion of
versation, and the more they allow their light, His light, saints when the enemy threatens. Besides, how faith and
to shine into the darkness, the more they will experience           trust in Him who is Lord alone are confirmed in times
that the servant is not greater than his Lord, and that of tribulation! How the eye is'drawn away from and the
even as they have hated and do hate Him, so they will               heart is weaned from the things that are below and the  ~e
and do hate them . . . .                                            mind is fixed steadfastly on the eternal inheritance when
   Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery               around us the enemy raves and we must pass through
trial . . .                                                         fiery trials! What a sweet peace, more precious than all                   -.
   There is nothing astonishing in it.                              the world, fills the soul in the assurance that we may be  :
                                                                    `partakers of His sufferings ! Surely, the powers of dark-
                                                                    ness are but instruments for the confirmation of  God's
    Lastly, deem it not strange that God should allow His people and their preparation for the inheritance with the                                  -
beloved to pass through these fiery trials.                         L o r d !
   For they are trials.' There is joy and hope in the                  Beloved, think it not strange! But rather rejoice!
words used in the text to indicate the suffering of God's           For we are more than victors even our enemies being our
people in the world. Even as gold is  tried,in the refiner's        servants! And, presently, after but a little while we shall
furnace, so God tries His people!                                   rejoice with exceeding great gladness, for as we have
   There is joy in this thought. For it implies that God,           suffered with Him, so shall  we,also  be glorified together.
not the enemy, is in control of the situation. It often * Then it shall become manifest that the sufferings of this
appears  so different! It seems so frequently, that                 present time are not worthy to be compared with the
                                                           God's
people are the helpless victims in the hands of those that glory.that  shall be revealed in us. And we shall under-
hate them. Thus it appeared with the Suffering Servant stand that these fiery trials, instigated by the devil and
on the accursed tree. Thus it would seem to be with the his host, were but means to keep up in the way and to
faithful all through history. The enemy would appear to             prepare us for eternal joy.
be.~ supreme. But more than mere appearance this is                    Therefore, beloved, when clouds of evil lower  ,and the
never. Behind and above the hateful world and the Lpower            thunder of affliction rumbles in the distance, when suffer-
of darkness stands the Lord of  His Church. He is the               ing and tribulation seem at hand and the enemy raves in
Great Shepherd of His flock and He employs the devil `drunken triumph,-be not afraid, neither think it strange,
and all his servants as His dogs, They  are mere  instru- but rather rejoice!
ments in His hands and nothing more. If it were not  SO                The enemy is but your servant.
the sufferings and tribulations of the Church in the world             The bearing of the cross is but to fit you for the
could never be trials. The devil does not intend to try, crown !
but to destroy the people of God. But God's thoughts                                                                       H. II.
are higher and His counsel shall stand. The devil's  per--
secutions  are  God's trials. Ultimately the Church is not
a victim of the enemy, but even in suffering the Beloved
of the Lord.                                                                     LIED  VAN  GUSTAAF   ADOLF   II
    Think it not strange! By these trials the Church is                                     1594  - 1632
purified. How many are they who in times of peace and                        Wees  niet vervaard, gij kleine stoet!                  .
prosperity affiliate themselves with the Church for vari-                    Hoe luid des vijands overmoed
ous worldly reasons. There are those whose membership                            Zijn zegelied doet klinken;
in the Church is a mere matter of  cus-tom  or heritage.                     Hij rekend'  otj uw ondergang,
Others call themselves brethren for business purposes, or                    Maar voedt dien ijd'len waan niet lang,
for  a  good name and personal honor,  or  because it is                          Laat gij den moed niet zinken !
hardly civilized to have no church-connections. These                      . `t Is Codes  zaak,  waarvoor gij strijdt:
are wolves in  sheeps'  clothing, enemies. of the truth; 6                   Op Hem gehoopt, vertrouwd  altijd;
dangerous  e?fement in the midst of Christ's  frock in the                        Laat rustig God regeeren.
world. But by fiery trials this foreign element is elim-                     Zijn  liefd' in  Christus eind'loos groot,
inated, while always the remnant, according to the elec-                     Zal, daar Hij hulp beschikt in nood,
tion,  is  preserved. The devil and his subjects are                              Zijn  Woord   doen triomfeeren.
employed to purify the Church!                       *'                      Ons heeft de Heiland vergewist,
    Beloved, think it not strange that the Lord should                       Dat aller  boozen   `macht en list
work thus.  For His Name is wonderful!                                            Miet ons, maar hen  zal krenken,
    By these trials the Church is strengthened. How&e                        "Hun roem verkeert in  hoon en spot,
tie of love in  &he Lord is strengthened in the Church by                    God is met  ens en wij met God,
means of these fiery trials. For, as sheep liuddle'together                       Hij zal de zeeg' ons schenken.
                                               v     "     `:.,.                              .              *


6-
                                                 `a.
                 THE DAWN  OF GRACE                                    never have been reached had sin never' entered. But
                      And  the Lord God called unto Adam  and          from before the foundation of the world Christ was made
                    said unto hi& Where art thou?-Gem. 3%              heir of all things, -ordained as Prophet, Priest and Ring.
      God's counsel shall stand and He shall do all His good And to Him was given a people, that should be made
pleasure. And this counsel of God with respect to all like unto the image of the Son, that He might be  the
things was not finished when He had created the world                  First-born among- many brethren. By the wondrous
and all- things therein and saw that they were very good.              power of His grace this people is to be redeemed and
First -paradise is an image of Paradise eternal, things                delivered from sin and ultimately to be clothed with a
earthy offer a picture of things heavenly and the first man glory as never  .became manifest in the first man Adam.
Adam is a figure of Him that was to come. But the But since not all that are of the first Adam are given to
things earthy are not the final things and they do not                 the Second the operation of this grace causes a division
mark the realization of the counsel of Him unto whom                   in the organism of the human race along the antithetical
are known all His works from everlasting. Neither is lines of election and reprobation, according to God's
it His determined will and counsel that all things should              soSereign, gracious and always righteous counsel,
reach their completion along a straight and undisturbed                   Bearing in mind these general truths we will be able
line of development from the first Adam. For he was of                 to obtain some conception of the development of things
the earth earthy and we, being of him, bear the image immediately after the fall of our first parents in paradise,
of the earthy. But the second Adam is the  J,ord from without having recourse to the-explanation offered in the
heaven. And as we have borne the image of the earthy                   theory of a so-called common grace. For, as is well
so shall we also bear the image of the heavenly. And known, it is our conviction, that if  w,e are ever to attain
as all things in this first heaven and earth are adapted to            to a clear and Scriptural conception of God's work in the  f
and in harmony with the earthy image of the First Adam,                earth, we must not spend our time attempting to solve
so shall, when the counsel of the Almighty shall have                  the many problems created by this theory of common
been completely realized in the new heavens and the new                grace, but we must discard the entire theory as neither
earth, all things be the harmonious abode of the Lord                  in accord with the  1Vord  of God nor with our Reformed
of heaven and those that are of Him, perfectly in accord               Confessions. The danger of proceeding along the line
with His heavenly image. And thus we expect, not a                     indicated by this theory is not only apparent in a practical
return of paradise lost, neither a gradual perfecting of way, since it blots out the line of demarcation between the
earthy things, according to the evolutionary conceptron,               Church and the-world, between Christ and Belial; but it
but we expect new heavens and a new earth, the final                   also became evident in a doctrinal way in the decisions
fulfilment of the  figure.manifested  in creation as it first          of the last Synod. For, in her desperate attempt to save
came forth from the hands of the Creator. On the                       the theory of common grace the Synod of 1924 expressed
seventh day God surely enters into His rest to rejoice in              in the first of the now famous  "three.points"  by implica-
the works of His hands, but also this rest is not final ; it           tion a principle which is, to say the least, semi-pelagian.
is a shadow of the ultimate Sabbath that remaineth, when               According to the conception offered by this theory, there
God shall be all in all and we shall know as we are known.             was, immediately after the fall a manifestation and opera-
      This final state of things is not to be attained along           tion of a grate common to all, regardless of election and
the line of gradual development, but through the deeper reprobation. The operation of this "common grace" pre-
way of sin and grace. For it was the mystery of God's ceded in order of time the working of saving grace in
will, according to the good pleasure which he purposed                 Christ. And this was necessary, according  ta this theory,
in Himself, that in the dispensation  of the fullness of for without it  saving grace would have had no room and
times He would gather together in one all things in                    no basis for operation. It is not entirely clear  ta the
Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth,               advocates of this interpretation what would have become
even in Him; in whom we have obtained an inheritance, of Adam and Eve and of the entire earth, had this "com-
being predestinated according to the purpose of Him who mon grace" failed to intervene immediately after the fall.
worketh all things according to the counsel of His own `Sometimes it is stated that Adam and Eve would have.
will,  Eph:  1:9-11. It is, therefore, thus that according             become corpses there and then, sometimes the impression
to this determinate counsel of God, the Second Adam                    is given that they would have been cast into -eternal
stands behind the first, and that the latter must be                   destruction immediately and that the world would have
replaced by the former. Neither can there be any doubt been changed into hell,, sometimes it is alleged that all
that God's counsel stands when Adam falls, and that,                   things would have been destroyed but for the immediate'
though the first servant became rebellious against God by              entrance and operation of common grace. The fruits of
an act  ~ of his own free  wiJl and voluntarily subjected              this-common grace are many. That Adam and Eve did
himself a slave to the devil, God employs this fall of the             not die the temporal death, that they were not cast into
first man Adam as a means for the furtherance of His                   hell and that, therefore, the human race still exists and
own counsel, to pave the way for the entrance of  dim                  develops; that man did not turn into a devil and did not
who was to lead all things to a state of glory as could                immediately break forth-into every conceivable form of
                                                                                    e.  J
                                      L                          `,


                                       T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                               7

actual iniquity (it would be more to the point to state         grace operative immediately after the fall.
here: that he did not become fully corrupt) ; that he still        But there is a more fundamental error still to which
receives his talents, powers, gifts and all that is con-        must be called attention. It is alleged that the present
nected with his earthy existence;  that he would be             temporal existence of the human race and of all things
allowed to labor and to eat of the toil of his hands ; that     in the world is the fruit of the common grace of God.
the earth was not immediately destroyed or changed into         It is further maintained that in this way common grace
hell, and still brings forth, even though together with the     constitutes the basis for saving grace to operate, so that
thorn and the thistle, herbs and grass, food for man and        the Iatter presupposes the former as its indispensable con-
beast,-all these and so many more undeniable bounties           dition. If God had not by His common grace to all men
are the fruits of this common grace. And thus, by com-          spared the world there would have been no room for His
mon grace an indispensable basis is created for the real-       saving grace to work.      The human race would have
ization of election arid the  cbperation  of saving grace in    perished in paradise and the elect would never have been
Christ Jesus.                                                   born. .4nd all this sounds very plausible and acceptable,
   How strange and mechanical this conception of things         as long as no attention is called to reprobation and wrath.
is! Many are, indeed, the objections, based on Scripture        But it most not be forgotten, that by this so-called com-
and our Confessions both, that may be raised against it.        mon grace the stage is set not only for election and sav-
Such a view, maintaining, that God assumes a gracious           ing grace to operate, but also for the realization of repro-
attitude and actually imparts some sort of grace to the         bation and wrath. It is true, if Adam had died imme-
reprobate militates against all Scripture teaches concern-      diately, or had been sent to hell the moment he ate of the
ing God's attitude towards the ungodly.          It stands forbidden fruit., the elect would never have been born.
opposed to all the Word of God reveals to us about the          But it is equally true that the reprobate and ungodly
depraved condition of natural man, whom it presents to          Fould have had no being either. Adam's sin would have
us  as very really dead, so that only regenerating grace        been nipped in the bud. It is exactly because the ungodly
can again quicken him and that this  death gained control receives being and God endows him with mind and will,
from the day our first parents ate of the tree of knowledge     gifts and talents and extends unto him all His good gifts,
of good and evil. Man's corruption is total and utter and that he is able to be and to develop as a sinner and
is in no way lessened or improved by any power or become ripe for destruction. The very things that are
influence except that of regenerating grace.       Besides,     presented as the fruits of common grace become means
what an unscriptural conception of God's relation to  the       for him whereby he grows in sin and is fitted unto
world lies at the basis of the theory that God restrains destruction.           For  he can only sin.  And he sins with
the operation and effect of corruption and death! It pro- body and soul, with mind and will, gift and talent, wife
ceeds evidently from the belief that corruption and death       and child, wealth and possessions, name and position,
are operating somehow by a power of their own, inde-            power and authority and all things he receives. This
pendently from God. And their power is such, that they "common grace" then, provides the basis not only for
tend to destroy and debase all things at once. Unless           the operation of saving grace and the realization of elec-
some greater power holds them in restraint they cannot tion, but also for the realization of God's counsel of repro-
be satisfied till all things have been wasted and spoiled,      bation and eternal damnation. But how absurd a con-
vitiated and defiled. This consuming and destructive ception you thus obtain! Grace is presented as a basis
power of death and corruption was set in operation by           for wrath and destruction. Grace provides the reprobate
Adam's fall. And God enters upon the scene to save His          with the stage on which they may display their wicked-
handiwork and protect it against this destructive power,        ness unto eternal damnation! What sort of grace: love,
permitting it to perform its work to an extent but goodness, favor or mercy, or whatever other name you
restraining it from finishing its corruption. But, surely,      may prefer, is this, whereby God permits the ungodly to
there lies a fundamental error at the basis of this inter-      exist and develop for a brief duration  bf time, in order
pretation. For there is no power of death and no opera-         that he may be fitted as a vessel of wrath for eternal
tion of corruption except from God. God gives life,, but        destruction?    Had it not been gracious rather to the
He alone also kills. God creates and sustains, but God          reprobate had Adam fallen a corpse before the tree of
alone  *also corrupts and wastes by His cursing wrath. knowledge of good and evil? Surely, if according to the
The curse and, therefore, also the power of death proceed       Scriptural and Reformed conception of things we wish to
from Him alone, They do not operate and they operate            maintain the doctrine of reprobation as well as that of
in no degree except by God!s own will. How. then, would election, this theory of common grace appears in a very
God restrain that which He does Himself? There is no peculiar light. Plausible it may seem to state that a sort
such thing. Death and destruction,, sin and corruption          of general grace to all men constitutes the basis for a
are not restrained by Him, but by His very power they           more special or particular grace. But that grace can
operate, exactly according to His counsel, developing           also provide a basis for damnation, that God spares a
organically together with all things. All these objections      man graciously for a few years to make him ripe for
may be and must be raised against this theory of common         destruction, that  I maintain,  is  the absurdest contention


                                       THE  S T A N D A R D             BEARER

w-e  ever met. And we maintain that it implies the most         over His covenant-people, His favor and friendship,  ope'r-
monstrous conception of God one might conceive.                 sting  after the fall only in Christ Jesus. Earthly exist-
   Fact is, however: that Scripture nor Confessions speak ence ("which is nothing but a continual death"), gifts
of such an element of common grace and that it need not         and talents, possessions and wealth,, name and fame..
enter at all as a necessary factor in  explaining what hap-     power and authority, - a l l these are not grace in them-
pened immediately after  the fall or in understanding           selves, but merely means, employed by God and man
God's dealing with the world in this present time, between      both and through which God fulfills all His counsel. To
the fall of man and the final consumption of all things.        them who with these means also receive grace from God
What we need is the factors of God's sustaining and  all-       all things are good, rain and drought, fruitful but also
governing providence, of grace in Christ, wrath  over.the       barren years, prosperity but also adversity, joy but also
ungodly and temporarily the curse over the creature in          sorrow, health and sickness, riches but also poverty,
bondage, and all is plain. After the fall things are not suffering and persecution , - a l l things are grace and work
annihilated. God did not destroy the works of His hands.        together for good to them that love God, to them that
Man is not changed into a devil and the earth is not            are called according to His purpose. But the reverse is
turned into hell and all the world is not cast into chaotic     true to them that love not God, to the ungodly workers
darkness and confusion. If this was to be done there            of iniquity. God puts them on slippery places and hurls
was but One who possessed the power to do so, namely them down to destruction, through these very means of
God. But this was not His purpose. Sin enters accord-           His providence. When all the workers of iniquity do
ing to His determinate counsel and to do His will and           flourish, it is that they may be destroyed forever. For by
serve as a means to further His purpose.  -Ynd this pur-        these same means they grow in sin and become fitted as
pose was by  no,means  to destroy all things or to change       vessels of wrath  unto destruction. On the common stage
them into hell, but to lead them on to greater glory in         of God's providence over all, the Lord realizes all His
Christ Jesus. Hence, God in the first place continues to        counsel along the antithetical line of sin and grace.
uphold and sustain, to preserve and govern the world               The dawn of this grace in Christ glimmers from all
after the fall for Christ His Son's sake. God preserves         that is related in Gen. III. It is evident from what we
man and the human race. He continues to endow him               read of Adam and Eve. For "the eyes of them both were
with gifts of body and soul, of intellect and will,  clothes    opened and they knew that they  were naked." There is
him with power and authority. He still causes the human         a sense of guilt and nakedness expressed in these words
race to multiply and to fill the earth and provides for the     which is to be explained only from the immediate opera-
race all that is necessary for man's earthly existence. `He     tion of regenerating grace in their hearts. Their eyes
causes the sun to shine and the rain to fall and the earth      were opened, not by sin, for sin is blinding and harden-
to bring forth herbs and grass and fruit, corn and wine         ing, but by the power of God's own grace in Christ. The
and oil, food for man and beast and he fills man's heart        tie of God's covenant in Christ becomes effective at once.
with gladness. All this is surely common to the right-          ilnd they knew that they  were naked not  before each
eous and the wicked. `But  all this is no grace. It is          other, but before the eyes of God. Such is  c\-idcntlg the
nothing but God's sustaining and  go\-erning  providence.       meaning  of the text. For in the first place, we read in
It is through this  pro\%dence of God that the history of       us.  S that Adam and Eve hide themselves amongst the
the world does not close with Gen. 3  :6, that Adam and         trees of the gardkn from the presence of `the Lord. In
F,ve do not become corpses and the world is not destroy-ed,     their nakedness they are afraid to meet God. In the  scc-
that the woman shall receive strength to bring forth            and place, this interpretation is entirely in accord with
children and the man shall labor and eat of the fruit of        Adam%  answer to God's question: "I heard thy voice in
his labor. MI this is subject to God's curse. In himself        the garden and I was afraid because I was naked  ; and I
man is dead in sin and misery, alienated from God, and hid  in>-self." They are naked  before-God,   they are pos-
the children he will bring forth are children of wrath. In      sessed of a sense of guilt and shame because of their sin,
pain and travail the woman shall serve her purpose and And in the third place, we read in VS. 21 that God Himself
bring forth her children. In the sweat of his brow man          provides a covering for their nakedness with coats of
shall labor and eat his bread. And the earth will bring skins, thus teaching them that fig-leaves and a  hiding-
forth thorns and thistles and creation shall be subject to      place amongst the trees of the garden will not suffice,
the bondage of corruption and vanity. Man's excellent           that these cannot provide them with peace in His pres-
gifts are marred and his power is greatly curtailed. But        ence, but that they need a covering furnished by the
God does uphold and govern the sinful world and does sacrifice of Him who was to come. This dawn of grace
not send final destruction. His counsel must stand, both        glimmers in all we read of God's dealing with sinful man
with regard to the elect and reprobate.  -And it is this        immediately after the fall. For God comes to seek  Ibis
providence of God that provides the basis? or rather the        own : "And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said
stage upon which this counsel of God with respect to            unto him, `Where art thou?" In Adam He seeks His
all things is to be realized. Providence, in its operation elect in covenant-grace. For Adam is not only personally
and fruits, is common. But this is not the case with            elect, but he also is to  be  the natural father of al1 God's
regard to God's grace. Grace is  God's loving kindness chosen  1~01~1~.  Besides,  as  already mentioned, God  grn-


k%usly  replaces  man's  own  covering for his  nakcdncss  by                   SENT BY A FRIEND
a covering which must  have taught man to bring bloody                                Not Knowing
and atoning sacrifices and pointed him to the great  Seed
of the woman already promised. And above  all,  thcrc                  I know not what will befall me!
                                                                          God hangs a mist o'er my eyes;
is the dawn  OS  grace in that  mother  of all  promises   anti
prophecy : "I will put enmity  between  thee and  the                  And o'er each step  of my onward path
woman and bctwecn  thy seed  and her seed, it shall bruise                TIC makes new scenes arise,
they head and thou shalt bruise its heel," Ckn. 3 :15. (kd             And every joy he sends me comes,
will maintain His covenant  and                                        As a sweet and glad surprise.
                                         save  His own.  He will
do so by the power of grace that is in Him who is to                   I see not a step before me,
come as the Seed of the woman. But this  grace will                       As I tread the days of the year,
xssume the form of enmity against that other seed which                 But the past is still in God's keeping,
will also be in the earth and that shall be called the chil-              The future His mercy shall clear,
                                                                        And what looks  (lark  in the distance
dren of their father the devil. On  the  general stage main-
tained and  set by God's preserving  and governing  provi-                May brighten as I draw near.
                                                                        For perhaps the dreaded future,
tlcncc  God's  counsel shall henceforth be  realized  and  His
Kingdom will come, along the  lines   of sin and  grace and               Has less bitterness than I think
l)y means of the terrible  struggle  between the seed of the           The Lord may sweeten  the water,
devil  and the  srcil  of the woman.                                      `Before  1  stoql  to  drink;
                                                         H.  H.         Or, if the  Marah must  be  Marah,
                          _..--."-_I-                                     IIe will stand besides its brink.
                                                                        .lt may be there is waiting
                  DE XXIII HARPZANG                                       For the coming of  my feet,
                           (`i'sal   2 3 )                              Some  .gift  of such  rare blessedness
                      Dominus regit me.                                   Some joy so strangely sweet,
  11' Almaghtige is  rnyn herder, en  geleidc,                          That my lips can only tremble
   Wat is  `r  c.lat  mc  schurt?                                         With the thanks I cannot speak.
  Hy  weit my,  31s  zyn  scharp, in  \-ette  weicle?                   Ofi restful, blissful ignorance !
     Daer  gras  nuch  green  \-crclvrt.                                  `T is blessed not to know,
  Fly  drenckt  myn  zivl in  kvelc  Irrcinnc  t-11  becckC             It keeps me quiet in those arms
     Indien  myn geest  x-erstroy'                                        Which will not let me go,
  En  afdwael'   ~:rn de  kudcle,   cln  rechte streecke,               And hushes my soul to rest              _
     Hy brengt  zc  wccr te key.                                          On the bosom which loves me so.
  Hy brengt  my  (~1) de  hcirbaan  van  qn  wetten                     So I go on not knowing !
     En  `t  goddelyckr  rocht.                                           I would not if I might,
  Om  zynen   narln cn  eci- in top  te  z&ten,                         I'd rather walk in the dark with God
     Door  `1  lot'  van  zynen   knecht.                                 Then go alone in the light,
  Al  zwerf ick  onl in  naere  cn  donckre daelen,                     I would rather walk with Christ by faith
       Beschaduwt  xxn de  dor)t,                                         Than walk along by sight.
  Noch  vreest mvn hart geen  ongeluck,  noch yuaelen                   My heart shrinks back from trials
     Hy staet  me by in noot.                                             Which the future may disclose,
  Ick magh me vast  011  zynen  staf  verlaeten,                        Yet I never had a sorrow
     En trouwen herders stock.                                            But what the dear Lord chose;
  Hy  deckt voC)r my, ten schimp van die my ha&en                       So I send the coming tears back,
     Met  onvrrzoenbren   wrack,                                          \Wth the whispered "He knows."
  Een'  vollen   tlisch,   gelaen  met  lrckcrnyen.
     `Hij zalft  myn hair en  ho{-Iit
  Met oligeur,  urn  `t  aenschyn te  verblyen                                      BEMOEDIGING
     Door  <glans,  die  druck   \rrrdooft.                           Ueins niet terug  voor  moeitc en smarte,
  Wat wort  aen my  een'  schoonen kelck gegeven                        Die  u de strijd des  levens  biedt.
     Vol  wyns!   God stort zijn hart                                 T>ie  niet de stormkaap  cjm durft zeilcn,
  Genadigh uit ten  bestc  van mijn  leven,                             Outdekt de nieuwe wereld niet.
     En troost van  alle smart.                                       Maar   die, gcsteund door d'arm des Heeren
  Ick  zal  Godts huis  en  zcgenrycken  tempel                         .Volstandig   uoortgaat in zijn  loop,
     l3ewoonen   tlagh en  nacht.                                     Diet in  `t verschiet de nieuwe  wereld,
  E n   nimmermeer  serlaeten   Arons  drempel                          En spreekt niet meer van `t land der stormen,
     Maer  sterven  q  myn  -wacht.                                   Maar  we1 van `t land der goede hoop.
                                               J. v.  rl.  Vondel.                                         Dr.  E. Laurillard.


                 TOTAL DEPRAVITY                                   handel  cn  wandel,  dat  persoonlijk  optreden,  die  verschij-
                         (Continued)                               ning  in hct  midden  van  andcre menschen  meet  ecu  aan-
According to Kuyper Natural Man, Dead in Trespasses                beveling zijn,  nict van uzelven,  maar  een  aanbeveling te
                   and Sin, Glorifies God                          middcn  dicr wercld  van den  God! dien  ge belijdt.  .De
   In the preceding articles we accused Dr. Kuyper of              we&d   rtaat   tegen dien God gekant.              Maar u ziende. ge-
teaching in his  ,,De  Grmeene Gratie" that natural man            lijk ge in de wereld optreedt, en gelijk  ge  u  aangenaam
performs real genuine positive good works.  Those sec-             rnaakt bij de conscientiin der menschcn, K-an ze de erken-
tions of Kuyper's,  ,.De Gemeene Gratie," inserted in the          tcnis dan niet terughouclen, dat die God tech aangenamc,
foregoing article clearly indicate that the above accusa-          cxrlijke,  Binke   mannen  en vrouwen in zijn dienst heeft.
tion is true. We pointed out how that the above propo-             (De Gemeene Gratie, vol.  11, p. 334.) And again:  ,,Ver-
sition, is one of the axioms, one of the basic principles          warring van begrippen is hier  alzoo   ondenkbaar.                Er is
underlying Kuyper's theory of common grace.                        volstrekt  niet bedoeld, dat ge zoetsappig en  laf  u naar de
    l:t was also made clear, how that the above proposi-           wereld voegen of om haar gunst bedelen zoudt. Jntegen-
tion militates against God's word and the confessional             deei,  dat zou de wereld niet in  u prijzen. Duidelijk  meet
standards.  We analyzed those particular scriptural and            het veeleer in u uitkomen, dat ge niet van de wereld zijt,
confessional passages which Kuyper  adcluces  to prove             en niet haar. maar  Christus als uw Koning  eert,  cn dat
his  unscriptura.1  and unconfessional proposition,  aud we        ge als ingelijfd bij zijn heirscharen den strijd tegen  die
saw how that these particular passages teach the very  op-         wereld hebt aangebonden."              (De Gemeene Gratie, vol. II,
positc from what Kuyper attempts to  make  them teach.             p. 335.)
God's Word abundantly asserts that man is totally                      Plain, is it not, that in the  above quotations the two
                                                            de-
praved and is capable of sinning only.                             Wrms ,,menschen" and "ungodly world" are identical in
   Thereupon we pointed out how that Kuypcr's unscrip-             meaning. The ,,menschen" are the "wicked world" in the
                                                                   above argumentation of Kuyper.
tural proposition implies of necessity a denial of man's
total depravity. If man is capable of performing real                  Now according to Kuyper the wicked, the ungodly,
                                                                   beholding the good works of the children of light.  glorif?
genuine positive good works it must follow that he is not
totally depraved. The above proposition and the doctrine           God. In  ,,De Gemeene Gratie" one meets with assertions
of man's total depravity are                                       such as these: ,,Behooren  nu de geestelijke  dingen,  die
                                 Of  necessity mutually  es-
elusive.                                                           rcchtstreeks product van particuliere genade  zijn?   naar
                                                                   allen  erkennen:  tot het  koninkrijk  Gods, zoo  .volgt  hicruit
    .1nd finally Kuyper's psychological solution  i-jf  the        r-echtstreeks,   dat met het  later1  schijnen van ons licht \  WH
xbove  anti-scriptural and anti-confessional proposition to        de wereld, zoodat de wereld het kan zien, niet kan bcdoeltl
the  etlect that natural man performs real positive good           zijn het geestelijk leven in het  koninkrijk  Gods.  %ullcn
works turned out to be when analyzed a piece of psycho-            de menschen het zien kunnen,  en zullen zij, omdat zrj het
logical nonsense. Kuyper, in a word, failed miserably in           in  u  zien,  God in den  hemel verheerlijken,  clan  meet hier
furnishing the necessary scriptural and confessional proof         sprake zijn van dingen  die onder hun bereik vallen." And
for the above axiom. He did not succeed in placing his             again : ,,,De tucht moet in die heirschare \-an den Christus
proposition on  3  fxm scriptural basis. He also failed            zoo uitstekend en zoo  overvloedig zijn in  vruchtea,  tlat
lamentably in justifying his proposition  before the bar  of       de  wereld  bij al den  haat dien  ze God en den  Christus
reason.                                                            toedraagt,  tech onder de bekoring van zijn leger komt,  en
    In this essay we wish to place before our readers              haar ondanks  zich genoodzaakt ziet de  uitnemendheid
how that Kuyper even went so far as to maintain that the           van  dezen   koning   te  1zc^ren."    And once more : ,,Wat Jezus
depraved sinner. capable of sinning only,, glorifies God our       u vermaant : ,,Laat uw licht schijnen voor de menschen,
Father who is in heaven. Common grace enables him to               opdat zij uw licht zien, en uwen Vader in de hemelen
do this. Listen to Kuyper:  ,$En dit laatste nu vindt ge           verheerlijken mogen,  slaat dus  en  Gel-  e7~ menschkundig
(Ian eerst, als ge van deze zelfreiniging zorgvuldig  af-          geheel  op  d e   wereld  cooals   ze  i s . "    And finally:  ,,Dat is
snijdt elk motief om er  zelf zalig door te  worden,  en zoo       uw licht laten schijnen in de zaken des levens en  op  een
ge stoutweg het aandurft, dat ge hiermee uitsluitend  be-          terrein dat de wereld beoordeelen kan. Op dat  terrein
doeld het verkondigen van de deugden van hern die u                moet ge haar eerbied afdwingen. En gestadig, rusteloos
riep, d. i.. het schijnen van het licht, dat in  u is, opdat de    moet de drang in u zijn, om op dit breede terrein van uw
menschen het zouden zien en uwen Vader, die in de                  leven zoo uit te komen, dat ge den naam van uwen Heer
hemelen is, verheerlijken mogen.  Zeg dus nooit, waar              geen smaadheid aandoct,  maar   onwillekeurig de wereld
het uw zelfreiniging betreft dat ge  u niet stoort  aan de         dwingt,  om uw God en  uw  Heiland te verheerlijken?
menschen. Christus zelf tech zegt u, dat ge juist daarom           (De Gemeene Gratie, vol.  IIF p.  337;s.)
het  doen zult. En eerst  als de menschen het zien, kan er             The scriptural passage which, according to  Kuyper,
LIW  Vader, die in de hemelen is, om verheerlijkt  worden.         asserts that the wicked, the ungodly, glorify God, is
(De Gemeene Gratie, vol. II. p. 333.) Uij the term  ,,men-         Matt.  5  :14.  1.5, 16, Ye are the light of the -world. A city
s&en"  Kuyper means the wicked world, i.  I"., the un-             that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light
godly. This appears from the following quotation:  ,,Die           a candle and put it under a  bushel,  but on a candlestick;

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

and it giveth light unto ail that are in the house.  `Let . common  grace. However, -when one studies the  three
your light so shine  before  men that they may see your           parables in  the light of the entire organism of truth con-
good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven.            tained in God's  Word? one discovers that the three par-
      According to Kuyper Jesus was speaking of common            ables are not so many discourses on common grace. 12cn
grace when he uttered these words. The ungodly see the            it becomes at once evident, that the parable of the  cancllc
light and glorify God. According to Kuyper, at least              stick may not be quoted in support of the theory.
three of the parables which  Jesus uttered group them-               We shall not now analyse Kuyper's exegeses of  tllc
selves around  the  subject common grace. They are the            parable of the mustard seed and that of the salt, but con-
parable of the candlestick, the mustard seed and that             fine  ourself to his exposition of the parable of  the candle
parable in which Jesus compares the church to the salt            stick, which `was regarded as a scriptural proof  for the
of the earth. Kuyper actually reproves the ministers  of          proposition that the ,wicked,  the ungodly, seeing the light.
the gospel for not  cletecting that these three parables are      i. e. seeing the good works of  the godly,  giorify God.
so many sermons on common grace. He actually deplores                Kuyper"s  exegeses of this particular  parable  is a strik-
the fact that ministers of the word have thus far failed to       ing example of how the  theory of common grace closes
distinguish between those parables which group them-              one's eyes to the truth of scripture. The theory of  cum-
selves around the  subject  special grace and those in            mon grace impaired   Kuyper"s  spiritual and mental vision
which the Savior is applying himself to the subject com-          to that extent that what hc gives  LIS  on  the parable in
mon grace. Sap Dr.  Ruyper:  ,.Zelfs mag  gezegd,  dat            question is nothing  s'nort  of a  cleplorablc  distortion of
de meesten het  yerschil  van tic  twee  heelden,  die Jezus      scripture.
ten  deze   brzigdc. dnt  \-an hct uitschijnend licht en van         Ruyper's   fundamental  mistake in  esplaining  the par-
den zuurdeesem. niet inzien.        (According to Kuyper,         able in question was that he failed to  adhcrc to that most
Jesus in  de parable  of the ..zuurdecscm" is devoting him-       fundamental and most important exegetical  rule. which
self to the subject  of special grace.)     001~ de prediking     says  &at scripture must  he explained in  the light  of
verzuimt bijna  altoos  beitle  te onderscheiden, grlijk het      scripture.  Howe\-er,  the  lrarnecl  in our midst  do assert
een gerneen  gcbrck  is dat juist  o\.er  de grondgedachten       now that the Bible is actually in conflict with itself. The
door  Jezus in de  Evangeli&   uitgesproken, zoo zelden           leaders in the Christian Reformed Church maintain, that
diepingaande  gepredikt  worclt." On the three parables           God's  Word contains contradictions.      Let tne say in pas-
which are supposed to  imbody  the idea of common grace           sing that when our leaders begin to speak of  contratlic-
Kuyper comments as follows:  ,,Als het  koninkrijk  der           tions in God's Word the end is in sight.
hemelen   vergclcken  wordt bij een mosterdzaad en straks
allerlei  gevogelte  nestelt in  zijnc  t&ken! blijven al die        Let us now view  Kuyper's proposition in the light  c,i
vogelen   sreemd  aan de natuur van den opgeschoten               scripture and analyze his exegeses of  the parable  cif  the
boom. Het contact is bloot uitwendig (common grace).              candlestick.
Ret zout doet niets anders dan de  bedervende   ontwikke-            The  ungodly  glorify God when they  see the light
ling stuiten <common grace). En zoo  nu ook is het met            ,which God's people radiate, so Kuyper maintains. But
bet uitschijnend, en in de wereld inschijnend licht. Daar-        we  ask immediately: Can this be true? Do the  ungodl?
van heet  het.in Matth.  5:14, 15 en 16:  ,,Gij zijt het licht    and the wicked actually glorify God? Let us see.
der wereld. Eene stad boven op eene berg liggende, kan               The saints and the angels do glorify God, for God  ir
niet verborgen zijn. Noch steekt men eene kaars  aan, en          glorious. In His power, might, wisdom, knowledge, wrath,
zet die onder  eene korenmaat, maar  op eene kandelaar, en        hatred, and anger in his justice, love and mercy He our
zij schijnt  allen  die in het huis zijn. Laat uw licht  alzoo    God is  glor%*uus  and of infinite perfection.  God is good.
schijnen  \-oor  de menschen dat zij uwe goede werken mo-         That God is glorified implies that those glorifying Him
gen  zien,  en uwen Vader die in de hemelen is  verheer-          are willing and do recognize God to be what He is, a
lijken," Ajlzoo de wereld klimt niet op tot de stad, en de        being of infinite perfection. Now to recognize that God
stad  daalt niet naar de wereld af. Reide blijren  onder-         is what He is means to hold Him in high esteem, to
scheiden en gescheiden, maar het licht uit de stad schijnt        revere and adore `Him. The heart of him who glorifies
in de wereld in. De kaars en zij die in huis zija blijven         God is filled with love and adoration for God and that
twee, maar degenen die in huis zijn, vangen op het net-. one knows of an irrepressible desire and longing to de-
vlies van hun oog het licht op. En zoo oak de geloovigen          clare and to sing  of  God"s  virtues. And so he does.
stralen licht uit voor de menschen, maar ook zoo  tech               But do the wicked recognize God to be what He is?
hlijven de  geloovigen die het licht uitstralen, en de  men-      Are they willing to do that? Do the ungodly hold  God
schen die het opvangen, twee onderscheiden soorten van            in high esteem? Do they revere and adore  FIim?   L`Yo
personen. De  onderscheiding die we stelden blijkt  alzoo         they love God? Do they know of that longing to declare
niet willekeurig genomen te zijn, maar in de Schrift  zelve       God's virtues? Do they sing of His glory?
te zijn gegrond." (De  Gemeene   Gratie, vol. II, p. 677-8.)         Listen what scripture says of the ungodly: The kings
      The above quotations indicate that Kuyper regarded          of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take  CcJUITISd
the three parables, that of the mustard seed, that of the         together! against the  I..or(l  and against his anointed, say-
salt and that of the candlestick as three discourses on           ing, Let us brake their bands asunder, and cast  away


                                         T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R  ~                                             2.3

their cords from us, Ps.  2:2, 3. For the imagination of           righteousness and holiness. But man sinned and discon-
man's heart is evil from his youth, Gen.  S:21. The Lord           nected from God, he became darkness. Being wise he
looked down from heaven upon the children of men to                became a fool. The original beauty, holiness and perfec-
see if there were any that did understand and seek God.            tion with which the Father of lights had  cldthed  him,
They are ail gone aside. They are altogether become                vanished and in their stead came death, decay and pollu-
stinking. There is none that doeth good, no not one,  I%.          tion of  soul  and body.
1.4: 2, 3. The wicked are estranged from the womb:                    However, the fall of man was no frustration  of  God's
thev go astrav as soon as they are born,  Ps.  58:4.  The          plans. Man fell because God determined that  he  sho~~ltl.
fooi hath saih in his heart there is no God, Ps.  14:l.            The fall of man forms an integral part of God's eternal
Therefore they say unto God depart from us for we desire           counsel. In the silence of eternity God decreed to gather,
not the knowledge of thy ways, Job  21:14. Because when            defend and preserve to himself out of the whole human
they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither              race a church, which He chose to everlasting life agree-
were thankful, Rom.  1:21. But natural man receivefh not           ing in true faith. I-Ience,  among the fallen race there are
the things of the Spirit of God. for they are foolishness          those whom God did foreknow, whom He did predes-
unto him, neither can he know them, because they are               tinate to be conformed to the image of His Son. These
spiritually discerned, 1 Cor.  2:14.     Having the under-         God now is calling, these the Lord God is transporting
standing darkened. being alienated from the life of  God           out of the kingdom of Satan into the kingdom of His dear
through the ignorance that is in them, because of the              Son. .This having been accomplished they arc light,
blindness of their heart, Eph.  4%. Because the carnal             they are children of the light and children of the day.
mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the              Such  Jesus  is addressing when He said, "Ye are the
law of God, neither can it be, Rom.  8:4.          Who (the        light of the world." The Lord God having kindled within
wicked,) have said, "with our tongues will we prevail, our         them light they are now  themselves light  antI being light
lips are our own ; who is Lord over us  ?' Ps. 12  :4.             they are the light of the  worId.
For they proceed from evil to evil and they know not me,              The children of God are not the source  I.I~  that light
saith the Lord, Jer.  9:3. Wherefore  c:loth the wicked            burning within them, but Christ. With Him  haye  the>
condemn God? he hath said in his heart, Thou wilt not              been placed in a vital contact, therefore  they  tlicmsclvcs
require it, Ps.  10:13.                                            are light.
    May anyone maintain in the presence of the above                  In this parable Christ makes mention of two distinct
scriptural passages that the wicked glorify God and love,          groups, which should not be confused. The  ~orlcl is  not
honor and adore Him, and declare His virtues? Yet                  the children of light and the children of light are not  the
Kuyper maintains that the wicked do this very thing.               world.
The true meaning and import of the parable having been                The expression "light of the world" is indicative  of  :l
established it will at once have become evident that               relation. Nay more, it denotes bcqueathment. The  Aa-
.Kuyper's  explaination is untenable. Let  us  proceed to          tion which the people of God sustain to the  world is that
this.                                                              of light.
    Jesus is addressing his followers, his people, and                What is the meaning and import  of the term world?
assures them. that they are the light of the world, which          The term world in scripture has at least four meanings.
implies that the people of God are themselves light. And           The term signifies creation, not as  a chaos, which it is
it could not be otherwise for they are the children of             not, but as a harmonious whole, as a cosmos, with man as
God, and God is light, in Hem there is no darkness.                its crown. This is the meaning  of the term world in
    The term light is a figurative expression indicating           Hebr. 2 :3 where we read : "Through faith we understand
what God is and what His people are according to the               that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that
new man. More precisely, the term light is a figure of             things which are seen were not made of things which do
the wisdom, knowledge and holiness of God and His                  appear.`"
people. The sinner dead in trespasses and sin, is the very            Further the term world is used to signify the  wo;ld of
opposite of light. His understanding is darkness. He is            men. Rom. 3 :19 reads: ".  ) . . . that every mouth may be
alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that          stopped, and all the world may become guilty before
is in him, because of the blindness of his heart. His heart        God."
is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked and              The term world has still another meaning in scrip-
out of his heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulte-           ture. It is often used to denominate  the ungodly and
ries,  fornications,  thefts, false witness, blasphemies, Matt.    wicked people, conceived of an organic whole and stand-
15  :19. Natural man has gone aside and become stinkinkg.          ing in opposition to God and His people. The word has
Ps. 14.2, 3.                                                       this meaning in 1 John 3  :I! Therefore the  wr-)rld   knoweth
    The term light stands for knowledge, wisdom, holi-             LIS  not because it knew not Him.
ness and perfection and stands opposed to the ignorance,               And finally the term world is often used to denote
blindness, corruption and pollution of the natural man.            chosen humanity,, the predestinated one's, foreknown  b\-
    When man left God's hands he was light. For God                God and which Kuyper in His  ,,Uit het  Woord"  calls  .,dc
had created man after his image in the true knowledge,             inncrlijke kern, die verborgen kern, die verborgen  kiem


                             ,-
,.'    .24                                 '     .THE-`:.STAN_-D-.AR-D                    ,-BE$RER                   `.*     "     -

       die tot  eene  nieuwe wereld  zal opgebouwd  worden,  die              himself said: Behold I  ;God) lay in Sion a stumbling
       eens glanzen  zal in al de pracht des  goddelijken levens." `stone and a rock of offense.
       The term world has this meaning in John  4:42,. . . . For                 Only in respect to the chosen ones did God determine
       .we have  l'leard Him ourselves, and know that this indeed             that Christ should be'a light. Only for them is Christ
       is the Christ, the Savior of the world. j1nd  again in John            meant to be a light. And so it is in reality. Christ the
       3:lh. For God so loved the world that He gave Wis  onIy                light is the property of the chosen race only. Only to
       begotten Son, that whosoever bclieveth in' Him should                  the predestinated ones did God give Christ as a light.
       not perish but have everlasting life.                                     To be sure, the cause of Christ being to the reprobate
              What now is the meaning  c:)f the term world in the             world `darkness and death lies not in Christ. Christ is
       utterance "Thou art the light of the world." According                 light and in Him there is no darkness. The cause lies in
       to Kuyper, the author of  ,,De Gemeene Gratie,"' the term              the reprobate, in the moral depravedness of his nature.
       denotes the world of ungodly people, the reprobate as                  To a sick man the odors of delicious food are nauseating.
       well as the elect. This is evident from the following:                 He must have nothing  of  it:
       ,,Alzoo de  wrreld  klimt niet op  tot de stad, en de, stad               Since Christ the light is the property of the chosen
       daalt niet naar de wereld  af.  B&de  blijven onderscheiden            race only it follows that the church, the people of God,
       en gescheiden, maar het  licht uit de stad  schijnt in de `are that and nothing more. For the church is light in
       wereld in.,, (De Gemeene Gratie,  vol  Ii,  p. 677). Ac-               Christ. He is the source of its light. The fire which  ,He
       cording to Kuyper, the author of  ,,Uit het Woord," the                kindled in the hearts of His people He, Christ, maintains
       term world denotes ,,de innerlijke kern, de  dgenlijke                 and feeds.  i?low if Christ as light  iyas given unto the
       kiem der wereld, die tot  een nieuwe  wcreld wordt  op-                chosen race only it must follow that the same is true of
       gebouwd." WC again have occasion to see how that the                   the church, of the people of God. It must be that the
       two  Kuypers  are at variance with each  other..The author             church as light was given by God to the predestinated
       of ,,Uit het .Woord" gives tn the term "world' `of the par-            ones only. It cannot be otherwise but that the church is
       able of the candlestick a correct meaning. The author of               meant to be a light unto the chosen ones only, i. e., unto
       ,,De Gemeene Gratie," whose vision was impaired by a                   those who are still groping about in darkness. The
       theory gave  a  meanin,m to the term "world" which it does             Bible plainly teaches that this is true. Paul speaking of
       not have in the parable.                                               himself and of the church says : To the one we are a savor
              The term world in the parable of the candlestick                of  Iife unto life, to the other a savor of death unto death.
       (leenotes,  as the author of  ,,Uit het Woord" expresses it. To the reprobate world the church is and remains  as
       ,,de inntrlijke kern, de eigenlijke  l&m der wereld." (T_Jit &ensive  as Christ Himself.
       het Woord, vol. I, p.  409-10.)   De, eigenlijke kern der                 In the light of the  preceeding it is plain that the
       wereld, i. e., chosen humanity, the predestinated ones,                term "world" in the parable of the candlestick, denotes
       those whom God did foreknow.                          . . .            chosen humanity only and not the reprobate world.  >To
              That the term world has this meaning in the parable             the chosen world still groping about in darkness, the
       of the candlestick is evident from the following: Jesus                church is meant to be and eventually does become the
       speaking of Wimself said,  "I am the light of the world." light. The church as light is the property of that world
       The phrase "of the world,' denotes a relation, nay-more,               only, as is Christ Himself.  _
       possession. The Father gave His son  a light unto the                     Kuyper therefore is in flagrant conflict with scripture
       world. In respect to Christ the term "light" is syno-                  when he maintains in his  ,,Gemeene Gratie', that Christ
       nymous to the term "life." For we read: In Him was                     and his church is the light of the reprobate world.
       life and the life was the light of men, John  1:3. Now                    Someone may object that we approached the above
       Christ is not the light and life of the reprobate world.               phrase  with its term "world,' with a mind biased by  pre-
       Of that world Christ is not the property. I am now                     possessions. True, but our prepossessions are taken
       speaking of the Christ not of the "`Logos." God did not from scripture and are of such a nature that if we had
       give His Son a light unto the reprobate world. In respect              failed to take  -account  of them we would have placed
       to that world God determined and wills that Christ shall               scripture in conflict-with itself in explaining the above
       be unto it darkness and death. We read: And the angel                  parable.
       of God (which was Christ) which-went before the camp                      In the above parable,  `we repeat, the church is the
       of Israel, removed and went behind them; and it came                   light of the chosen world. The people of God  must, let
       between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of                      their light shine in order that the predestinated ones,
       Israel : and it was a cloud and darkness,unto  them ; but it           living in darkness may be drawn of darkness into the
       gave light by night to these, Ex.  14:19, 20. And again:               light and glorify God.
       Behold I (God) lay in Sion a stumbling stone and a rock                . In the following number we shall complete our expo-
       of offense, Rom. 9:23. And once more : To the one we are               sition of the parable of the candlestick. Having done  SO
       a savor of death unto death, 2 Cor.  2:l.S.                            it will have become plain to all that Ruyper  in his attempt
              It is plain that to the reprobate world Christ is dark          to force the parable  to prove his proposition' made him-
       ness,  an offense, a savor of death unto death. And the                self guilty of a sickening distortion of scripture.
       Lord  ,God determined that it should be `thus. For  God.                                                               G.  M. OPHOFF.
                *                                                                         \  ~
                                   ..                                   #'                                      _


