                -

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

                     BABEL AND BABYLON                         velopment, in that form sin will reveal itself and that
                                                               sphere will immediately be invaded by the power of sin..
       We have attempted to interpret the history of Shinar's Even as a cancerous growth does not gradually disappear,.
valley as revealed to us in the Word of God. The build-        neither is checked, by the counteracting influence of the
ing of the tower of Babel, or the attempt to build it,         physical organism in which it develops, but grows with
was not only an endeavor on the part of the human race         that organism and feeds upon it, so sin grows with the
to remain together and to frustrate the very purpose of        organic development of the race and feeds upon that
God to fill all the earth. Surely, it also was all of that,    organism. And no more than the cancer is gradually
but it was much more and its real motive lay deeper. It overcome by means of physical development of the organ-
was in its real nature an attempt to establish a powerful      ism of the body,  bur requires the powerful operation of
kingdom of universal scope, embracing all men, all the the surgical knife to remove it, no more will the power
tribes of the earth. The intention was to unite and to         of sin ultimately be conquered by a change in the devel-
develop human power and greatness by means of an opment of the human race, but it requires the regener-
hitherto unknown bond of union. The purpose was to             ating operation of the Spirit of grace to uproot it from
establish a world-empire and to create world-power. the heart of  m-an. If the attempt to establish a  world-
And the spiritual principle of the kingdom proposed was kingdom in the valley of Shinar had been crowned with
opposition to God and His people, a defiance of the Most       success, the result would have been that the power of
High. It was an early manifestation of humanism. And           sin would have followed the channel of this new form
humanism is the attempt on the part of sinful men to of development, and would have subjected that proposed
show the Lord that they can save themselves, that they world-kingdom to itself. It would only have been a pre-
can exist and develop and be great, and make the world mature of the kingdom of Antichrist as it will ultimately
a good world to live in, without Him, and without His appear in the world.
Christ and the blood of atonement. It is the persistent           I am well aware that this view stands diametrically
endeavor, so generally to be observed in the world of our opposed to the prevailing and dominating conception of
own time, of sinful humanity to maintain itself in oppo- our own age. But just because it is so prevailing and
sition to the living God.                                      yet so false and dangerous, I feel all the more constrained
   That this would have been the spiritual character of to expose its fallacy and oppose it. The view I am refer-
the proposed world-kingdom in the valley of Shinar, had        ring to is that of modern postmillennarianism, which:,
it been accomplished and realized, stands to reason and        though it be far from us to subscribe to the main tenets
lies in the very nature of the case, apart from the fact,      of premillennarianism, we consider so dangerous, that we
that God looked down with ill-favor from heaven upon do not hesitate to say, that it would rebuild ancient Babel
the attempt and frustrated it. For sin always develops         and convert it into a modern Babylon, which it would
according to the very form life assumes in the world, as       call the kingdom of God. A fair representation of this
it develops through the course of history. We must not view we find in a book that, some years ago, was heartily
deceive ourselves or be deceived by the theory, that any       recommended by Dr. H. Beets. I mean Dr. James  II.
change in the course of human history, or any progress,        Snowden's "The Coming of the Lord." The main line
of whatever nature it may be and whatever form it may of his conception the author  briefly states in the preface
assume, will act as a check upon the development of sin.       to the book, when he writes: "Amidst all the complica-
Such a theory is not only in direct contradiction with the     tions and ramifications of our subject the one central
?&Jord of God and with all experience and every lesson         point this book holds in view and contends for is that
of history, but it also is dangerous, seeing that it closes    the kingdom of God is now being established and will
our eyes to the present trend of development of the world reach its full development in the world under the present
and causes us to laud the very world which God con-            ministration of the gospel and the agency of the Holy
demns. It cannot be repeated too often, thar the develop-      Spirit. and will be followed by the final advent of Christ
ment of sin in the world is never restrained, that it can-     and the eternal state  ; and the view it opposes reverses
not be restrained, but that it simply follows the course       this order and holds that Christ must first come in judg-
of the organic development of the race and assumes the ment and power before this work can be achieved." In
form life assumes. As long as life was simple and the other words, the author holds, and many with him, that
human race was represented by only a few individuals, the kingdom of God will come and be perfected before
the development and manifestation of sin were also still       the Lord returns, along lines of gradual development and
limited and its sphere was narrow. It could not possibly *betterment of the world. What this conception implies
reveal itself in all the hideousness of its later develop- with regard to such important truths as the Lord's final
ment.      Relationships among men were still few, and coming, final judgment and rhe last resurrection may be
only within the limited spheres of primitive life could        gathered from the following: "As to the coming of
sin reveal its nature. But the more human life develops,       Christ in the clouds so that every eye could see Him,
the more sin will show its real character and power.           would not this be a physical impossibility? For one
And whenever human life assumes a new form, and                thing, does Christ now have a physical body which can
whenever human existence creates a new sphere of de-           be seen by our physical eyes? Does He not now have


                                          T H E   S T A N D A R D   E E X R E R                                                   45
"ll_~----. .."     __"               - - . ~~..                                                --- . . ..___-_-. - .._ - ..___.. --111
that `spiritual body' which is not `flesh and blood'? And          enable  US  to skip over land and sea and take to the air
for another thing, if he were up in the clouds, could he           as birds. Every year brings forth some new wonder,
be seen from every side of the earth? The Bible never              and the future will produce magic machines of which we
requires us in our faith to contradict our senses and the          have not even dreamed.. . . The hours of work are
laws of nature, and it does contradict both to suppose             growing fewer, the work itself lighter and rhe comforts
that from every side of the opaque earth a body could              and refinements of life more abundant. And thus human
be seen up in the air" (p. 149). With regard  ro the resur-        life on its material side is growing increasingly com-
rection of the body Dr.  Snowden argues: "As to the                fortable and enjoyable . . . . These material goods are a
resurrection of the body, Paul flatly denies that. it is a         part of the human welfare, and as such they belong to the
physical body of flesh and  bIood.  `Flesh and blood,' he          kingdom of God" {pp. 252, 253). We may remark here
says, `cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither  dorh            that in the old predeluvian world Lamech and his three
corruption inherit incorruption'. Nor only so, but he illustrious sons,  Jabal, Jubal and Tubal Cain. might have
expressly argues this point and combats the view that              written the very same lines. Also at that time the world
the physical body is raised out of the grave in this great         was progressing materially, and Lamach's family became
chapter on the resurrection (I Cor. 15) . . . . This argu-         the pioneers of progress in many spheres of development.
ment stands squarely against rhose who would make The world before the flood was growing increasingly
the resurrection a raising of our bodies out of the grave          comfortable and enjoyable. But he, whom Dr.  Snowden
as a physical organism,' (pp. 151, 152). And with regard           would have called a pessimist had he lived at the time,
to the final judgment the author has the following to              Enoch, stood in rhe midst of that world and condemned
say : "We cannot conceive of a general judgment as tak-            it. He did not call it the kingdom of God but the king-
ing place in a physical location with physical books               dom of the devil. and that, not because these things as
(sic  !) opened out of which each one's record would be            such are evil, but because they become the means for a
read, and a corresponding reward or retribution would              wicked world to grow in iniquity. Thus Enoch viewed
then be pronounced upon him. The world would not                   that illustrious world, and the Lord corroborated his
contain the books and the process would consume ages.              judgment and sent the flood to destroy them all.
It has been shown that if only fifty times the present                But Dr.  Snowden, a true representative of thousands
population of the world were to pass in review in such             in our day, has more to say on  {he progress of rhe world
a judgment it would take two thousand years to complete            and the coming of the kingdom of God in it. "Next we
it, allowing one second to each soul. Such a view reduces          look in the direction of intellectual progress and see
the sublime conception of a final judgment to a cheap astonishing results. Since the revival of learning in the
and childish spectacular display" (p. 152). Of course,             fifteenth century the human intellect has pur forth its
the author does not allow Scripture to speak but his own powers as never before. A hundred sciences have been
rationalism, and tries to apply his  iiscience" to the things      born and grown into giant power. The old childish
heavenly and the wonders of the grace of God.                      notions of nature have been exploded, and it is now
   But we are not now especially interested in these viewed as one grand system of law and order. Not only
fundamental errors of Dr.  Snowden. We rather would                has physical science leaped forward, but so also have the
like to discover  .how he conceives of the kingdom of psychological and ethical and the political and social
God and its coming in the world to final perfection.               sciences.    Every department of knowledge has been
And a very characteristic answer he furnishes in the last reorganized and irs frontiers enormously expanded . . . .
chapter of his book under the heading: "Is the World               And knowledge is not now, as it once was, the exclusive
Growing Better?" to which question the author is glad privilege of a few, but it is being popularized and diffused
to  find an affirmative answer, in spite of all Scripture          through cheap books and newspapers and' common
may teach to the contrary. The world progresses mate- schools until it is now almost as universal and free as
rially, intellectually, ethically and socially and religiously,    air. Wisdom cries in the streets . . . . All this, also,
according to the writer's conception. Let us quote him             marks progress in human welfare. For knowledge is
once more. On the material progress of the world the power. Science secretes civilization. Out of the soul of
author writes as follows: "We see at a glance how the knowledge grows every good and beautiful thing. And
minute hand of invention and material progress has shot            knowledge has its place in rhe kingdom of God,, (pp.
forward on the clock of time. Go back ten years, and               254, 255). We remark that this is partly true, as far as
there was no airship ; twenty-five years. and there was no         it goes. Only, rhe wisdom that cries in the streets and
telephone and no electric light; fifty years, no photo-            to which Dr.  Snowden  refers, is not the wisdom that is
graph; sixty years, no sewing machine; seventy-five                from above, but the wisdom that, is from below, that is
years, no telegraph; one hundred years, no railway and             natural. earthy, devilish. Why does not Dr.  Snowden
no steamships  ; one hundred and twenty-five years, no             remind us that this wisdom, which is becoming the com-
steam engine; two hundred years, no post office  ; three           mon property of thousands, of all, that were better with-
hundred years, no newspaper. . . . We live in rhe golden out this wisdom, has furnished us with the godless theory
age of invention and mastery of nature.           Steam and of evolution and with higher criticism of Holy Scrip-
electricity have given us feet and hands and wings that            ture? Wisdom and knowledge are power, true, but if


438                                     T H E   STXNDARD   B E A R E R
                                                            "-_- ^ ".             ---^ . . . L-. ."...____ ..___ "- ~ ...-."~ I_-.._
they are not from above they, are a power for evil and           into modern Babylon. Small wonder that it discards
serve to make the world ripe for judgment. And the               such fundamental conception as a liberal and visible re-
present development in knowledge and science has turn of the Lord in the clouds of heaven, a final judg-
surely nothing to do with the coming of the kingdom of           ment, a resurrection of the body, the final catastrophe by
God. It is simply another element in modern Babylon.             which the very elements of this present  norld shall burn
Dr.  Snowden must himself admit this in part, for he and the creation of a new heaven and a new earth. With
writes : "The loftiest and purest things are subject to the these the view does not know what  ro do. It has only a
deepest abasement, and the very light that is in us may kingdom of man.. It must expect everything from human
become darkness. But  this,is not the fault of the things progress or the kingdom will never come. Through man
themselves. The evil is not in them, but in the men that         the kingdom will be completed and if Christ is to return
use them." Perfectly correct. And to this should be at all, it will be to find the kingdom all prepared for Him.
added, that the very light that is in us by nature  is  dark-    It is humanism in the cloak of Christianity, nothing more.
ness, and that for that very reason the progress of the          Against this we must arm ourselves. For it would lead
world  is,. without Christ, a progress to destruction.           us right into the midst of the world, and cause us to
   But Dr.  Snowden has still more to say on this sub- mistake even the things  *of this world for the things of
ject. He also discovers ethical and social progress in our the kingdom of heaven. And we must understand, that
day. "There are certain great moral ideas that are now           the progress of the world as such has nothing to do with
wrought into the structure of our civilization that were         the kingdom of God. As the world progresses it does not
not there twenty or ten years ago. One of these is the grow better, but, without the grace of God, it only devel-
right of human liberty. Over the whole ancient world ops in sin. Sin may appear under new forms. It may
lay the deep `pall of human slavery. . . . But  .how wide develop along different channels. rr remains sin just the
the contrast today.       This barbarism has been almost same. An educated natural man is only an educated
swept from the globe and no slave now crouches beneath           sinner, more godless because of his education. A civil-
any civilized flag. The world has found out the natural ized world without Christ and His grace, remains a sin-
worth of a man ; and the right of every man to himself ful world just the same. Besides, the things of this world
is woven into the very texture of its civilization. Still will never constitute an inherent part of the kingdom of
deeper and more powerful is the doctrine of human                God. The former are earthy, rhe latter is heavenly. All
brotherhood. The idea was as completely unknown to               these things must needs pass away, and we must not
the ancient world as the American continent.. . . The seek them, neither love them. For not alone the line of
unity of the human race involving universal brotherhood gradual development of the things of this world, but by
is now one of the dominant thoughts of men.. . Broader the washing of the blood of Christ Jesus and the regener-
and more hopeful still, there is developing a world con- ating power of His Spirit does His kingdom enter into
sciousness and a world conscience." The author goes on our hearts. And as far as the completion of it is con-
to describe this progress of the world consciousness and cerned, it certainly cannot possibly come by human
finally concludes : "All this is the coming of Jesus Christ efforts and human progress, but only by that coming of
into the world and the development of the kingdom"               the Lord, by which all things shall be renewed. Let us
(.pp.  258-262).  Again we remark that human liberty is far not love the world, neither the things that are in the
from the liberty of the Spirit  - which is the liberty of the    world, but  ,His appearance.
kingdom of God  - and is victorious over sin and death.                                                                 II.  H.-
Further, that the doctrine of human brotherhood fails to
take into account the tremendously significant factor of
sin, which makes us by nature children of our father the                     HIJ GEEFT MEER GENADE
devil, as well `as the other factor of regenerating grace,
through which only we are again children of the living Hij geeft meer genade,  als zwaarder de last drukt,
God. Because of these factors the doctrine of the uni-           Hij zendt ons meer kracht, naar meer de arbeid vermoeit.
versal fatherhood of God is a lie and that of universal          Bij nad'rende droefheid  voegt Hij  Zijn vertroosting  :
brotherhood a dream. By nature we are hateful and Bij zorgen, die wassen, Zijn  vrede,  die groeit.
hating one-another. Only the grace of Christ makes  US           Als  WIJ hebben uitgeput al  onzen  voorraad
love one-another, indeed. And while it is no doubt true, Van kracht en geduld,  eer de dag is gedaald,
that a certain world consciousness is developing in our Dan schenkt onze Vader uit eeuwige bronnen,
day, the consciousness of sin and righteousness, and of ZIJK kracht,  ZIJN genade, die nimmermeer  faalt.
the absolute need of the atoning blood of Jesus Christ, is
astonishingly lacking.                                           Geen grens  aan Zijn goedheid, geen  maat  voor Zijn  gun-
   Thus, then, is the conception that is gaining ground                                                                  sten ;
in our day and finds many adherents even among those             Zijn  macht neemt geen einde, Zijn rijkdom geen keer.
that would call themselves reformed. Its kingdom of Gena voor genade geeft Hij ons in Christus.
God is really nothing hut a kingdom of this world, a             Hij geeft ons, en geeft ons, en geeft altijd weer.
kingdom of man, ancient Babel completed and converted                                       E.  V. 0.  -  IJit  "Timotl~eus"


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                                                           T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                  443
      .                                 ..-_. -  .._.  -._-ll.^...--   .._.....-                                -____----
      doorstaan.        Onze godsvrucht  rqpet eerst in vastheid en                                T H E   T Y P E S   O F   S C R I P T U R E
      nederigheid uitblinken; en  ooze dienst, onze eerlijke,
      ijvervolle, trouwe dienst moet juist in  verband met  011s                                    Man  Clothed by the Lord God
      beginsel vast blijken, soms  na smaad en dreiging van de
      zijde der menschen, of  na aanwijzing onzerzijds van het                                               Unto Adam, and also to his wife, did the
      lokaas der verleiding.`. . . .                                                                       Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed
                                                                                                           them.  - Gen.  321.
              Wie niet weet vernederd te  worden,  zal nooit  waar-
      lijk hoog  worden   gesteld door echte waardeering der                           The symbol to which our attention was directed in
     menschen; zulk een wint de  consciexitie,  de  achting, den                    our former article was the cherubim and the flaming
      eerbied der menschen niet.                                                    sword. An examination of the notices of Scripture hav-
              lMaar  hen, die nederig en vast God vreezen, en de                    ing a bearing on' the matter brought to light that the
      menschen eerlijk en  trouw naar hun  roeping en taak cherubim must be regarded as the guardians of the holi-
      eeren en  dienq hun geeft de Heere genade, ook in de ness of God. This explains, so it was pointed out, their
      oogen der menschen.. . . .                                                    position in the garden of Eden, in the near vicinity of the
                          Uit:  "Wagen Israels en zijne Ruiteren,"                  tree of life, the way of which they were ordered to keep.
                          door Ds. J. C. Sikkel                                     The tree of life, according. to Scripture, constituted the
                                                                                    inner' sanctuary of the garden. It was here that God
                            "Alles is van Christus"                                 dwelt.    Here man entered the presence of His. Maker.
              Te  zeggen  c`alles` is van Christus," dus moet alles, en             llan sinned, however, and is no longer.permitted  to dwell
      derhalve ook de kunst, voor Jezus heroverd  worden, is with God in  His house. He is sent forth from the garden
      in dien absoluten zin volstrekt  onwaar.                       Wie dit zegt, of Eden. Cherubim with a flaming sword showing itself
      rekent buiten de voleinding der  dingen,  die er niet  nu is,                 to turn every way, are now made to inhabit the sacred
      maar eerst in het nieuwe Jeruzalem komt.                                      regions from which man was expelled. Their presence in
              Laat men er eerlijk en rond vooruitkomen, dat het                     the garden is a warning to man that he must not set his
      schermen met "Christelijke kunst" op  gereformeerd, ja foot upon the path which leadeth to the tree of life. This
      01) protestantsch terrein een "hors d'oeuvre" is.                             tree is no longer  accessibIe to him. This particular ave-
                                        Dr. A. Kuyper, Febr.  1881                  nue of approach to God no longer exists for  Man. The
                                                                                    cherubim are there to block man's progress in case he
                                                                                    should cross the borders of the garden, and press on to
                                                                                    the tree and to God. The cherubim, then, are the keep-
               IK  GA,  HEER . . . . MAAR HIJ GING NIET !                           ers of the sanctuary of the garden, and the guardians of
                                                                                    Him who dwelt there. The spectacle of the  cherubim
              Er zijn ook  nu nog  we1 ijveraars voor den Naam  {es                 with the flaming sword, so we concluded, served to  instil
      Heeren. die misschien een leidende plaats innemen, een in man right thoughts of God. The cherubim, finally,
      stipte rechtzinnigheid voorstaan, en voor een zuivere  be- taught man to contemplate the promised seed as the
      lijdenis strijden,  doch wier innerlijk  wezen ongevoelig is channel of the love of God.
      voor den teederen invloed der genade.                         Woordenrijke       The Lord God, however, though He expelled man
      Iieden zonder geestelijk leven. Toonaangevende  mannen,                       from the garden, did not put him out of His heart. God
      doch die zich strak zetten onder de boetprediking van een                     continues to love that creature of His, be it he smote
      Johannes  6n  onder  de genadige verkondiging van  Chris-                     Him, God, in the  fate and trampled upon His heart.
      tus.                                                                          Man had become the victim of the wiles of the' devil and
           Zij beamen alles wat Gods Woord aan de wereld bood-                      God pities him and treats  hi.m kindly. The transactions
      schapt, maar  worden  er persoonlijk in het minst niet door which follow exhibit the heart  bf God  - His marvelous
      ontroerd.                                                                     capacities for loving, but also His matchless sense of
           Zijn niet  alle menschen van nature verloren?. . . . . justice. God condescends to be the friend of  fallen man.
      ja, Heere!                                                                    Indeed, but there is the seed of the woman whose heel
           Is er geen schuldbesef en verbrijzeling noodig om  be- shall be bruised. Further, the head of the serpent shall
      houden te morden?.  . . . ja, Heere!                                          be crushed.
           Is Jezus  Christus niet in de wereld gekomen om  zon-                       In this essay we wish to direct your attention to'the
      daren zalig  tk  maken? . .  _ . ja, Heere !                                  boundless ocean of divine grace which `the event of man
           Maar intusschen stelt hun ziel er een krachtig  "neen'"                  being clothed by God exhibited.
      tegenover; zij storten geen traan over hun val, voelen                           Man became as  G-ad to know good and evil. He
      geen droefheid over hun  zonde,  en knielen niet voor usurped God's place to do what the Lord God alone can
      Christus als hun Middelaar neder,  - zij zeggen met de and may do, viz.: give to good and evil a content. Man
      lippen:  "Ik  ga,  beer," maar `t geldt ook van hen: "En hij decided that God is not capable of knowing and de-
      gin-g niet !,'                                                                termining what constitutes good and evil. Having re-
                                 J. J.  Snap  Czn., Gelijkenissen des flected upon the speech of the serpent he concludes that
                                   Heeren, III, pag. 74.                            good consists in eating the forbidden fruit. Thus man


444                                                  T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
""  _-....-  ..-         ___.."_"  -.............  _I__-...-- _._....... --_                         .-           --.-l_--l_l-l_
becomes his own instructor, a law unto  himseif. The                            him to be his wife; witnessing thereby that he doth yet
sinful deliberations of his heart are finally incorporated                      as with his hand bring unto every man his wife. For
in the deed. Man did eat. The act amounts to a declara-                         this reason the Lord Jesus Christ did also highly honor
tion on his part that he has done with God. The counsel                         it with His presence, gifts and miracles in  Cana  of Gal-
of the devil is prized by man above that of God, He                             ilee, to show thereby that this holy state ought to be
had declared the statement of God to be a lie. His                              kept honorably by all, and that he will aid and protect
advice to man was that he assert himself and tell God to                        married persons, even when they are least deserving it."
mind His. business. And man did so.                                             Further, Scripture likens the God-fearing woman, bear-
       Immediately thereupon man becomes painfully aware                        ing children, unto a fruitful vine, blessed by God. And
of his nakedness. It is recorded that the eyes of them                          then this Scripture : "So God created man in His own
both were opened and that they knew that they were                              image, in the image of God created He him; male and
naked.         What God had predicted,  haphened.  Man is female created He them." In the following verse it is
now a spiritual corpse  - wicked, rebellious, obdurate in asserted that God blessed them and enjoined them to be
heart and  will7 and impure in his affections. The asser-                       fruitful and to replenish the earth. Finally, the sanctified,
tion that man's eyes were opened can only mean that conjugal relation is a reflection of God and an image of
he became aware of his depravity in that the conscious-                         the unity between  Chqist  and His church.
ness of his nakedness destroyed his peace of mind. Man's                           It is plain that marriage must be held to have been
nudeness greatly distresses him. He knows now that he instituted before the fall. The conjugal tie was there be-
is naked. That is. to say his nudeness causes him un-                           fore sin had  made its appearance. Even though man had
easiness. He becomes painfully aware that he is without not fallen, there would nevertheless have been an
clothing. That man now knows he is naked does not awakening of the sexual man. Man fell, however. He
mean then that heretofore he had failed to observe him- became impure in  all his  aeections. The term, "total
self as being without a covering. He had, for we read                           depravity," must be applied to every affection of the
that they were both naked, the man and his wife, and                            soul, also to conjugal love. The children which come are
were not ashamed. That man now knows he is naked conceived and born in sin. children of wrath are they, in-
must mean then that his lack of clothing arrests his atten- somuch that they cannot enter the kingdom of heaven
tion and greatly embarrasses him. If man is not ashamed except they are born again.  .Unless sanctified by the Holy
because of his  physica  nakedness why should he sew Spirit, the conjugal relation is as loathsome and repulsive
fig leaves together and make himself aprons? For what                           in the sight of God as depraved man himself is.  Oh-
other reason than that his lack of a garment filled his serving the conduct of the man and rhe woman in the
soul with dread ? If such is not the case man's conduct garden, the conviction cannot be escaped that the cor-
is without meaning.                                                             ruption of man's nature was indeed extended to  rhe  con-
       But the question arises why `man's nakedness disturbs jugal affections.  3fan's eyes were opened and he knew
his peace of mind. And the answer is ready: for the rea- `that he was naked. And he sews fig leaves together and
son that his body registers  the impure thoughts and                            makes himself an apron.
emotions of the inner man. And that body of his, as it                             The exponents of the theory of common grace do sub-
exhibits the deep-seated corruption of the soul. is exposed scribe to the doctrine of the total depravity of man. An
to the eye of God. Hence, man's evil heart is being exception is made, however, of certain affections of the
exposed. Consequently the man and the woman feel ill heart such as the love between  (upregenerated)  man and
at ease in each other's presence. They make themselves wife, children and parents, friend and friend. Says  Berk-
aprons, and when they hear the voice of God walking in hof: "Tndien wij de werking van Gods algemeene genade
the garden in the cool of the day,, they hide themselves loochenen, dan  moeten wij noodwendig tot de  conclusie
from the presence of  the L&d God amongst the trees komen.  dat de mensch dat  qitwendig  goed uit zichzelf
of the garden. It is plain that the attempt on the part of verricht, en dan  loopen  we zeer zeker  gevaar, dat wij de
man to cover his body is at once an attempt to cover his                        totale bedorvenheid des menschen loochenen. Immers,
filthy soul. Man's heart is naked and he  knoxvs  it.                           dat goede is er; het kan niet  worden  ontkend . . . . We
       It must not be supposed. however, that the marital vinden menigmaal onder de onwedergeborenen  vriende-
affections are  as such evil  : that they can be thepropertyof lijke, liefhebbende en welwillende menschen, die groote
a siriful nature only,and that they were altogether unknown gehechtheid betoonen  aan  h;lnne gezinnen, een geest van
to  man in the state of integrity. If such were the case huplvaardigheid openbaren ten opzichte van'hunne  naas-
it should have to be maintained that marriage is an in- ten, overvloedig zijn in werken van liefdadigheid, en ijve-
stitution of the devil, which it is not. Fact is, that the ren voor reine zeden en burgerlijke gerechtigheid"
Lord made the woman and brought her unto the man.                               (Brochure, p. 52). According to Berkhof many of the
Therefore, to quote from the "Form for the Confirmation affections of the  rotally depraved heart are not totally
of Marriage,-"Therefore it shall not be doubted but that depraved.                          For he avers that he who denies common
the marriage state is pleasing to the Lord, since he made grace cannot maintain that man is totally depraved.  It
unto Adam his wife, brought and gave her Himself to must be then that the affections enumerated by the pro-

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

fessor are not totally depraved. Berkhof's  view is shared.           KET VERHAAL VAN EEN GEVAARLIJK
necessarily so, by every exponent of common grace. Con-                                      MENSCH
jugal love, too, is singled out and glorified, it being
purged, so it is claimed, by the Spirit of common grace.                          (Vervolg van  bladz.   406)
It shall be proven, in the sequence, that he who has not
the spirit merited by the life and death of Christ is a              Een dusgenaamd antwoord op dit schrijven  kwam
loathsome creature in the sight of God, also in respect to        daarop bij ondergeteekende in van den volgenden  in-
his marital affections.                                           houd :
   Let us now attend, more in particular, to the behavior
of fallen man. He sews fig leaves together and makes                                  Kalamazoo,  hlich., 19  &Iaart 1927
himself an apron, for that body of his, let it be repeated, is    Mr. G. Van Beek,
exhibiting the sinful affections of hi8 soul. He feels the          1616 So. Rose street,
need of a garment. He will cover his diseased heart with            Kalamazoo,  Mich.
an apron made of fig leaves. Calvin's comment on fallen           Geachte broeder Van Beek!
manSs behavior, reads as follows: "What I (Calvin)                   In antwoord op  LIW  schrijven, gedateerd  25 Febr.
lately said, that they had not been brought either by true        1927  deelt  de kerkeraad. u mede, dat het volgende door
shame or by serious fear to repentance, is  tiow more             hem is besloten:
manifest. They sew  logether  for themselves girdles of              "Overwegende, dat aan den grondslag, waarop de pro-
leaves. For what end? That they may keep God at a                 testant Reformed  Chwches  zich hebben vereenigd,  feite-
distance, as by an invincible barrier. Their sense of evil, lijk elke verbijzonderende  beIijning en preciseerende  om-
therefore, was only confused, and combined with dull- schrijving ontbreekt, welke  tech vereischt  worden door
ness, as is wont to be the case in unquiet sleep." `<There        onze  speciale  positie en onderscheidene  roeping;   - en
is none of us who does not smile at their folly," so Cal-         verder oordeelende, mede in `t  licht van verscheidene fei-
vin continues," since, certainly, it was ridiculous to place      ten, omstandigheden en opgedane ervaringen, dat  `eene
such a covering before the eyes of God.  .2dam  and his           nader bepalende en aanvullende,  voor ons bevredigende
wife were yet ignorant of their own vileness, since with  a       herziening daarvan, voor het tegenwoordige althans, niet
covering so light they attempted to hide themselves from door gemeenschappelijke  actie te verkrijgen is;  .- zoo
the presence of God." Concerning the event of man be- besluit de kerkeraad,, om zelf een basis voor kerkelijke
ing clothed by God with coats of skin, Calvin presents            gemeenschap te ontwerpen, in aansluiting met de  nu  ver-
the following: "The reason why God clothed them with ouderde `Xcte van Overeenkomst,'  synodale beslissingen
garments of skins appears to me to be this: because gar-          inzake de door ons ingediende protesten, en naar eisch
ments formed of this material would have a more de-               van eigen geschiedenis, verhoudingen, en de daarin  lig-
grading appearance than those made of linen or woolen.            gende bepalingen van onze  plaats en eigenlijke taak;  -
God, therefore, designed that our first parents should, in        alsmede, om hiervan mededeeling te  doen  aan de  ge-
such a dress. behold their own vileness,  - just as they          meente."
before had seen  It in their nudity,  - and should thus be           Tevens besloot de kerkeraad, om voor dit werk eene
reminded of their sin. In the meantime it is not to be            commissie te benoemen, bestaande uit Ouderling C. Van
denied, that He would propose to us an example, by der Roest en de leeraar.
which he would accustom us to a frugal and inexpen-                  En eindelijk werd nog besloten, om e.k. rustdag  drie-
sive mode of dress."                                              maal van den kansel van bovenstaande mededeeling  te"
   We cannot subscribe to Calvin's interpretation of the          doen  aan de gemeente.
conduct of fallen man. According to Calvin Adam and                           Namens den kerkeraad der Prot. Eerste Chr.
Eve are still at this juncture, thoroughly ungodly. It is                       Geref. Gemeente,
evident, however, from their conduct that the (special)                                       (w. g.) E. Brondyke,  Scriba
grace of Christ is already operative in their hearts. For
man is deeply conscious of the vileness of his nature.               Deze ingewikkeld-opgestelde en tamelijk zwaartalige
He dreads to have the thoughts and affection of his heart verklaring werd dan ook door Ds. Danhof, Zondag,  30
exposed. He knows they are defiled. Hence, the attempt Maart 1927, voorgelezen in de godsdienstoefeningen, des
to fabricate a garment. The confession of his lips is,  "I        voormiddags mkt de toevoeging van de benoemde  con12
was afraid, for I am naked."                                      missie voor het opmaken van die nadere en  preciese,  ge-
                                                 G. M. 0.         meenschappelijke basis ; en des namiddags en des avonds
                                                                  rronder die appendix, daar inmiddels broeder C. Van der
                    (To be Continued)                             Koest  aan den leeraar had medegedeeld, dat hij, die zon-
                                                                  der zijn medeweten voor dezen dienst was benoemd, van
                                                                  zulk een commissie geen  deeI  Wilde uitmaken.
                                                                     Hoe het  zij, ondergeteekende, verbaasd over den  in-
        DON'T FORGET THE FIELD DAY!                               houd van het kerkeraads-antwoord hem toegezonden op
                        COME ALL!                                 zijn vragen, meende verplicht te zijn om met betrekking


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Vol. III, No. 20                                                         JULY 15, 1927                                              Subscription Price, $2.50

                                                                                    this world but of the world to come, not of darkness but
           M E D I T A T I O N                                                      of the light, not of the earth but of heaven. The opera-
                                                                                    tion and power of that new principle of life within his
                                                                                    bosom makes him look and strive upward,  8causes him
                                                                                    to be out of harmony with the  worl,d round about him
               R E J O I C I N G   I N   H E A V I N E S S                          as it seeks the things below and walks in darkness. He
                          Whereas ye greatly rejoice, though now                    is in the world but not of the world and the world knows
                       for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness
                       through manifold temptations. That the                       him not . . . . .
                       trial of your faith, being much more precious                     This sojourner is often in heaviness.
                       than of gold that perisheth, though it be
                       tried with fire, might be found unto praise                       In heaviness because of manifold temptations.
                       and honor and glory at the appearing of
                       Jesus  Christ.-1  Pet.  16,   7.                                  For the Lord leads His pilgrim-children through
                                                                                    many a dark and dreary night to the city of everlasting
    Ye rejoice, though in heaviness!                                                light. There is the suffering that characterizes the pres-
    Such seems, putting it very briefly, the contents of ent time in general. A goodly portion of it the Lord
 these verses from the first epistle of the Apostle Peter. allotted to His own children. Pain and anguish accord-
    Apparently a very strange paradox, indeed! Is it  pas-                          ing to the body, or sorrow and grief of soul are often
 sible that two such contradictory states of mind  exist their lot. Waters of a full cup are wrung out to them.
 side by side, at the same time. in the soul of the same                            And who knows not the heaviness of which the apostle
 individual? Can one be burdened with oppression, yet speaks, when every morning the sun rises to find us
 also leap with joy at the same moment? Can one weep                                struggling and moaning in the valley of affliction, and
 and laugh, grieve and rejoice, groan and sing, all at every night spreads its shadows over us, only to hide
 once? . . . . .                                                                    for a while our grief under its dark cover, and to swallow
    Yet, it is only one of a multitude of similar paradox-                          up our groaning in its black stillness ? Resides, there is
 ical statements, frequently applied to the Christian, as the suffering. that is inevitably his lot who walks the
 he advances on his pilgrim journey through this world. path where Jesus trod and who, according to God's
 He dies every day, yet he lives and shall never die; he gracious election, is placed  ,as a pilgrim of light in the
 is full of troubles and afflictions. yet he walks in heaven;                       midst of the darkness of this world. For the world does
 he is persecuted and made a spectacle, so that all the                             not know these strangers and cannot tolerate them in
world triumphs over him, yet he has the victory; he is their midst. Could they but sing and dance and seek
poor and in want, yet he possesses all things; he is the things below with the world, the world would know
 saint and sinner, prince and pauper.                                               them and recognize them as their own. But they can-
    And so he smiles through his tears . . . .                                      not. And in their pilgrim life, advancing from strength
   Even as nature does, when it displays on the dark                                to strength, till they may appear in Zion before God,
background of departing clouds the bow of God's faithful                            they condemn the world and the ways of the world.
covenant.                                                                           And, therefore, the world hates them, even as they hated
    The Christian as the  -4postle Peter pictures him is a Him, through whose resurrection they are begotten again
pilgrim and sojourner in this world, all the way to glory.                          unto a living hope. Hence, they must needs be in mani-
    He is a stranger elect.                                                         fold temptations, in trials and tribulations, in the midst
    He is such because of th.e fact, that he was born of reproaches and persecutions. And often they are led
again, born from above, born again through the resur-                               as sheep to the slaughter all the day long.
rection of Jesus Christ our Lord. He walks with the                                     Thus it was with the church of Peter's day. Thus it
beginning of a new life in his heart, a life that is not of                         frequently is. Thus it is in principle always. Thus it

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

 must needs be till the appearing of Jesus Christ our Lord.      the power of God, through faith, and that there is no
        Surely, the Christian individually, the church as a reason to fear or be dismayed. And, thus, though in
 whole, may, for a time hide the light  J the pilgrim may        heaviness, the pilgrim-Christian rejoices in many things,
 put off his stranger-garb and appear in the many-colored        sings though he suffers, smiles through his tears, 1
                                                                                                                            a -
 robes of the world. Then the hatred of the world may ways advancing with the hope eternal in his bosom.
 seem to change into good-will and the fire of the trials           Then, the heaviness is only "if need  b,e" . . . . .
 may apparently be extinguished . . . .                             It is not more severe than strictly necessary, it does
        But the faithful pilgrim must needs suffer. And the not last when there is no more need of it.
 more he lets his light shine, the more he will experience          Of this we may be assured. There is a loving Father
 that his way is one of manifold trials . . . . .                in heaven ; there is in the sanctuary a merciful High
        He walks his way in heaviness. Fear and anguish.         Priest: who loves His brethren, and who can have sym-
 poverty and oppression are often his lot.                       pathy with all our afflictions and tribulations, because He
        Yet. though he be in heaviness he also rejoices!         was tempted in all things even as we are, though without
        Rejoices greatly !                                       sin. And, though it may seem to us sometimes that the
                                                                 way is controlled by the enemy, yet, the way in which
        In heaviness rejoice  I                                  we travel is our Father's way and is constantly under
        Wonderful paradox ! Strange contradiction !              the all-powerful direction of our merciful High Priest.
        It is expressed still more emphatically by the staunch And hence, we may be certain, that we are nor led in
 and very profound James, when he was inspired to                manifold trials because our Father loves to see us suffer.
 write : "My brethren, count it all joy, when ye fall into He, and the merciful High Priest before His throne, long
 divers temptations" . . . . .                                   to deliver us as soon as possible . . . . .
        Strange, yet how real in the life of the  pilgrim-          Suffering only for a season, with the firm hope that
 Christian in the midst of this world!                           the most glorious morning will dawn upon us, that an
        Not, indeed, as if he loves the trials and sufferings unspeakably rich inheritance is waiting for us and will
 for their own sake. He does not deceive himself intp            be revealed to us, as soon as the dark night is passed . . .
 believing that sufferings are to be desired in themselves.         And in tribulation, only because it must needs be . . .
 Neither is he a stoic, practicing to compel his earthly            The paradox may seem very strange, yet it is very
 frame to bear the keenest pain and deepest grief without real :
 apparent emotion. On the contrary, when  ,he is op-
 pressed he is in heaviness and he reveals it; when he is           We greatly rejoice, though in heaviness!
 in pain he cries and groans; when sorrow  overwheIms
 the soul he weeps bitter tears. He is afraid in danger;            Ye greatly rejoice !
 fear creeps into his soul in the darkness of the night; he         Rejoice in your spiritual and heavenly possessions I
 dreads the coming storm, he  trembIes when the enemy               Even though ye must be in heaviness for a season, if
 kindles the fires of persecution . . . .                        need be, because of your manifold temptations.
        Deeply and keenly he feels the suffering.                   And if the manifold trials be necessary, necessary
        And. according to the flesh, it is no reason to him with a view to our everlasting glory, and our entering
 t o   r e j o i c e .                                           into the possession of the inheritance incorruptible, we
        He longs to be delivered.                                will count it even all joy, thar we may fall in them.
        Yet, while he must thus suffer according to the flesh       For, then we begin to understand somewhat the dark-
 and be in manifold trials and in heaviness of soul, there ness of the way in which the Father leads and from the
 are for him abundant reasons to rejoice according to the which He will not deliver us till all is finished. Often,
 spirit, according to that other, that new, that heavenly        `tis true, we do not comprehend our Father's ways in
 life, he received through the grace of his Lord . . . . .       detail. His thoughts are higher, and so are His ways,
        For, first, the tribulation is but for a season. The than ours. Wondrous and often unfathomable are they.
 sufferings of the present time do not last forever, do not We cannot account for every curve in the road, we do
* last long. They are but for a little while. The pilgrim's      not understand the reason for every cloud of evil that
 journey is short. Soon all the weary night is past. And lowers upon us, we cannot see the necessity of every
 assured of this flitting and passing character of the suf- billow of affliction and all the fire of trial. But we begin
 fering of the present, we rejoice on the way in many to understand the general reason and necessity for these
 things we possess in principle, and will possess in per- manifold temptations . .  `.  .
 fection as soon as the brief way is finished. We rejoice           They are for our faith what fire is to the gold in the
 in the possession of the new life, begotten through the refiner's pot . . . . .
 resurrection of the Lord; we rejoice in a blessed inher-           That fire must serve to test, to assay, to purify  and
 itance incorruptible and kept in the heavens for us  ; we refine the gold, to separate from  ir all the foreign ele-
 rejoice in a sense of safety and security, for however dark ments, to bring out the riches of its yellow gleam, the
 the way may be and strong the enemy and fiery the trials, beauty of its lustre. So must the fire of manifold tempta-
 we know that we are kept for that blessed inheritance by        tions serve to reveal the beauty of faith, by putting it to


                                             T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
                                                                         -I___.^  -._.-                                            459
                                                                                                                        -._._--

      the test, by refining and purifying it unto the appearing is not of Christ and henceforth to lean only on Him and
 of Jesus Christ.                                                     give Him all the praise and glory.
         Nothing is more precious than our faith. It is the              Let faith be cast into the fire of temptation, there is
      living bond of fellowship with Christ, rhe tie that binds no danger that it will perish.  Ir stands the test. Storms
 us to Him, the spiritual power whereby we draw  our                  may rage, billows may roll; when all is past, faith still
 life, our all from Him. It is, for that very reason, in  us          stands. Fires of tribulation may be kindled for it; when
 the root of our whole life, for by faith we live and fight the fires have burnt out, and have consumed everything
      the battle, by faith we are righteous and rhru faith we         else, all that was not of faith and, therefore, not of Christ,
      hope and purify ourselves even as He is pure. Faith is          faith will still prevail.
      the power through which God preserves us, and keeps                And through these trials faith will increase its power
      us unto the inheritance incorruptible. By faith are we and its beauty will be enhanced. Hateful though he may
      saved through grace. And it is the gift of God. It is be, the devil must serve to polish Christ's work in us.
      all His work in us. To live by faith is  ro live not of our- Dreadful though they be, the trials of this present time
      selves but of Christ through the grace of God who chose         must work for our salvation, and the praise and honor
      us unto glory . . . . .                                         and glory of the Lord at His appearing . . . .
         The wonderful power and beauty of that work of God              And, therefore, we rejoice even though for a season,
      in us must be revealed. In the day of Christ Jesus our if need be, we must rejoice weeping.
      Lord it must appear in all its lustre and splendor, unto           Rejoice because of what we now possess, which no fire
      praise and honor and glory, that rhe Author of it all may of trials can possibly destroy.
      receive  the praise and honor of all his wonderful work.           Rejoice because of what is coming in the future, when
      and we also may enter into everlasting glory.                   all the weary night is past.
         For this it must be tried.                                      Rejoice, too, because these very trials must serve our
                                                                      salvation and the glory of the Lord.
         For even as tested gold is beautiful gold, so faith,            And behold, He shall quickly appear!
      refined  ap'd tried by the fire of temptations manifold, is
l                                                                        And His reward is with Him!
 beautiful.                                                              The inheritance incorruptible.
         Here, and especially when all is bright and smooth              Everlasting joy !
      according to the  .flesh,  the beauty of that work of God in                                                        H. H.
      us, whereby we are ingrafted into and live from Jesus
      Christ our Lord, is often hid under sin and imperfec-
      tion. Many foreign elements are still mixed with the                                    FAINT NOT
      gold of our faith.
         Qence,  it must be tested, refined, purified and ap-                  Faint not beneath the loving Hand
      proved.                                                                     That wisely chastens thee,
         The manifold trials are the fires that serve this                     Jesus will make thee understand
      purpose.                                                                    Why this sharp stroke must be.
                  Thru them the genuine is separated from the
      counterfeit. So often we are inclined  ro intermix that                  And if thy pains are long drawn out,
. which is of ourselves, of our own power and wisdom                              Oh weary not, be strong,
      and righteousness with the work of God and the opera-                    Suffer in patience, Jesus' love
      tion of Christ in us and would have some of self and                        Can do thy soul no wrong.
      some of Him. We attempt to put our trust partly in
      self, even while confessing, that all our confidence is in               Honor the pangs that come from Him,
                                                                                  Give thanks for pain and smart..
      Him only. We boast of our own work, while we are                         Thy groans and sighs have echoes found
      speaking of His ; we rely on our own righteousness while                    Within His sacred heart.
      professing to lean on His; we divide the glory and praise
      between His work and our own. And as it is with the                      Oh lonely Sufferer! Oh Lord,
      individual Christian, so it is with the church of Christ                    What agonies were Thine!
      as a whole in the world. The tares grow with the                         Give us, Thy followers, fellowship
      wheat, the work of man would force itself  ro the fore-                     In sorrows so divine.
      ground often, even though the church confesses that it                   From Thine own bitter cup, let all
      is all grace, the grace of the Lord Jesus. But now, let                     Thy faithful children drink.
      the trials come, let the battle rage, let suffering and                  Start me not back like  co&ard souls,
      affliction be our portion, let the enemy rage, the devil                    Nor from Thy chastening shrink.
      and the world persecute and kindle the fires of tempta-
      tion for the pilgrim-Christian, for rhe sojourning church,               We love Thee,  chobse Thee, give to us
      and see if they all do not serve one and the same pur-                      What first was given to Thee  ;
 pose, to test the true faith, to separate it from all that                    So shall we in Thy likeness grow
 is of man., to cause the child of God  ro cast away all' that                    And one in heart with Thee.


                                              T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                              46.5
     --II-  ____l-----                                       - -
     schijnkerk  zich altijd weer aansluit, zal ook  deze  ver-                      THE TYPES OF SCRIPTURE
     drukking banger  worden.       Het  bleed zal weer vloeien
     en de  kinderen van het wezcnlijke Jeruzalem zullen  weer               The conduct of the fallen man in the garden must be
     worden verjaagd in  holen en spelonken, en hun aardsche              regarded as the earmark of spiritual life. The dispositions
     leven  moeten derven. Want Jeruzalem zal van de  heide-              of his soul are foreign to the carnal man. This one, to
     nen  worden  vertreden. Zoo is het woord Gods in  mijn               express ourselves in the words of the apostle, deems
     tekst, en  alleen  her overblijfsel  zal behouden  worden            himself rich and increased in `goods. He is in the need
        Daarom  willen we dan ook eindigen met  driegrlei.          In    of nothing. He knoweth not that he is wretched and
     de eerste plaats dienen we we1 te bedenken, dat ons niets            miserable and poor and blind and naked (Rev. 3  :I?`).
     vreemds is overkomen: Men heeft ons kunnen  vervol-                  Such ,a one is want to pray  to himself (not to God) as did
     gen, wezenlijk door geen andere macht, dan doordat het               the Pharisee and say, "God I thank thee that I am not
     valsche Jeruzalem de macht in  handen  had en Jeruzalem              like other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers or
     vertrad. Zoo heeft men ons kunnen verbannen en heeft even as this publican. I fast twice a week. `I give tithes
     er scheiding plaats gegrepen. Men heeft ons de middelen of all that I possess." The spiritual man, on the other
     ontnomen, de aardsche middelen, de plaats waar we den                hand, having been brought under the conviction of sin,
     Heere plachten te dienen en ons genoodzaakt een ander                stands afar off as did the publican. He will not so much
     heenkomen te zoeken. In dit  alles is er niets vrkemds               as lift up his eyes unto heaven, but will smite upon his
     geschied. In de tweede plaats  moeten we  we1 bedenken.              breast, saying, "God be merciful to me a sinner" (Luke
     dat in beginsel in eigen  midden,  ook al zijn we gezuiverd          18:12, 13). Seeing the Lord of hosts he says with the
     de  toestand niet anders is dan voorheen. Er is  ruimte              prophet, "Woe is me ! for I am undone ; because I am a
     gekomen en we beginnen weer met nieuwen moed. We                     man of unclean lips" (Isaiah  65).
     zijn Gode dankbaar, dat Hij ons tot hiertoe geholpen                    The conduct of the fallen man in the garden signifies
     heeft en dat we weer een plaats ter woning hebben als                a similar disposition. The confession of his lips is, I am
     gemeente des Heeren. Maar vergeet het niet, het  hemel- naked. He, too, stands afar off. Being aware that the
     sche  J.eruzalem  is nog niet. De tijd komt, zoo de Heere            evil `affections of his vile heart are being exposed, he
.    nog  watt vertoeft te komen,  dat ook dit gebouw  u  als  kin-       trembles and hides himself amongst the trees of the gar-
     deren Gods weer zal worden  ontnomen, en dat Iangs  den-             den. He makes himself an apron for he feels the need
     zelfden weg, waarop het eerste gebouw  u ontnomen of a covering. The publican, likewise, has not the cour-
     werd. Want Jeruzalem op aarde wordt van de heidenen age to raise his eyes toward heaven.
     vertreden naar den woorde Gods. En eindelijk, want zoo                 There is one noteworthy difference, however. The
     kan ik  u niet verlaten: de Heere  Iegt Zijn scepter op publican seeks God. We find him in the temple, though
     Sion, den berg Zijner heiligheid. Men  zal het ware  hei-            it be he stands afar off. Adam, on the other hand, at-
     ligdom niet kunnen vertreden. Hij gedenkt  Zijns  ver-               tempts to avoid God. Further, both Adam and the  pub-
     bonds en Hij heeft Zijn volk een stad  bereid. We  moe- lican are aware of the  viIeness of their nature. The  pub-
     ten  leeren niet te  hangen  aan het aardsche. want dan is           lican, however, prays for mercy. Not so the sinner in the
     teleurstelling op teleurstelling ons deel. Maar we  moe-             garden. Can it be, then, that the behavior of Adam is
     ten het oog vestigen op den oppersten Potentaat der that of a sinner revived by the Spirit of regeneration?
     potentaten en op het  hemelsche Jeruzalem. Die stad                  Would such a one flee from the presence of his Maker
     komt zeker. En daar zal geen  nacht meer zijn, ook geen and place between himself and the eye of God a garment
     voorhof of tempel. Daar zal God het  licht  wezen  en het made of fig leaves? Our answer is ready: The  publican
     Lam de kaars. En daar zal nooit een poort meer  geslo-               in the temple was surrounded by the numerous significa-
     ten  worden,  omdat aldaar geen  nacht is!                           tions of Jehovah's mercy. This much cannot be said of
                                                                          Adam at the time when he trembled at the sound of the
                                               Ik heb gezegd.             voice of God. He was deeply conscious of his defilement.
                            -                                             He realized that the God with whom he had to do was
                                                                          a being of matchless purity whose sense of justice did
                     CHRISTELI JK  LEVEN                                  not permit him to trifle with sin. He knew the divine
                                                                          threat, The day rhou eatest thereof thou shalt surely
                   Die behouden wil, zal derven;                          die. However, as yet not a single symbol of divine
                     Maar die geven wil, behoudt,                         mercy had been unveiled  ; the promise of a seed which
                     Ja, vermeerdert honderdvoud.                         should triumph over the malice of the devil had as yet
                   Om te  Ieven  moet men sterven  ;                      not been given. Small wonder that this sinner in the
                   Waar een kroon hangt. rijst een kruis;                 garden trembles at the sound of God's voice, flees from
                     Elke dood is weergeboorte;                           His presence, and looks about for a garment to cover his
                     De uitgangsdeur een ingangspoorte  ;                 vile person? The gospel of peace had nor yet been
                   `t' Graf, portaal van `t Vaderhuis!                    proclamated. Could Adam surmise then that the holy
                                                                          and just God, in whose face he had shaken his dirty fist,
                                           ) J.  J. L. Ten Kate.          had come to feed his soul with mercy? The idea of a


r 466                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
             ..l_l___-  ---_ _ -._..-.-                                                                              __-
   holy God, lovingly embracing the sinner without defiling        sinner. Thereupon the Lord God proclaims to him the
   Himself or lowering His standard of justice, is an idea         Christ and clothes him with a coat of skin  - the emblem
   which cannot enter the heart of man. These are matters of the Spirit of regeneration merited by Christ. Adam is
   which must be revealed unto him. Says the Apostle Paul : comforted. It is the message of redemption which calms
   "But we speak the wisdom of God in  a  mystery, even            his fears. Jesus Christ is the only basis for friendship
   the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world          between God and man.
   unto our glory. . . . But as it is written, Eye hath not           The positive proof that man had been brought under
   seen, nor ear heard,  neither  bve entered into the heart of    rhe benign influence of the (special) grace of God is the
   man,  the things which God hath prepared for them that          fact that his eyes were opened to the vileness of the
   love Him. But God  lurth  revealed them unto us by His          entire man. He feels the need of a covering for his
   Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep      entire person. His behavior is not that of a spiritually
   rhings of God" (I Cor. 11: 7, 9, 10). Thus, in view of          dead sinner. Such a one does not feel the need of
   the fact that Adam is ignorant of the things which  God         a covering. For he knoweth not that he is miser-
   hath prepared for those who love Him, it must be ex- able, poor. blind and naked. True it is that the
   pected that he will hide when he hears God calling. This        Pharisee devoured widows' houses, and for a pretense
   action no wise militates against the idea rhat this man,        made long prayers. But his prayer was not prompted
   even at this early moment, has already been revived.            by distress. He prayed in order to make possible the
   He knows not otherwise but that he is the object of             continuation of a secret life of sin. Christ likens him
   God's wrath. Had Adam stood his ground, or gone for-            unto a whitened sepulchre, outwardly beautiful, but
   ward to meet God as if nothing had happened he would            within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.
   have been exhibiting a boldness arising out of contempt But that filth within did not disturb his peace of mind.
   or displaying studied ignorance of the character of  God He failed to cleanse  rhat which was within. The inner
   peculiar to the spiritually dead sinner. It is true, how- man was a territory where he never came for the Pharisee
   ever, that every sinner, not covered by the blood  of lived on the surface and gloried in his virtue. The sinner
   Christ, greatly dreads meeting God when summoned by of paradise, on the other hand, is painfully aware of the
   the latter to appear before the divine tribunal. In his filthy contents of the sepulchre.
   vision the Apostle John sees wicked persons from every             There is still another noteworthy difference  btetween
   station of life hide themselves in the dens and the rocks the behavior of Adam and rhat of the Pharisee. The sin-
   of the mountains. They say to the mountains and rocks. ner in the garden would cover not only the inner but the
   "Fall on us  .and hide us from rhe face of Him that sitteth     outer man as well,  - the entire man, body and soul. For
   on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. For he realizes that the outer man wirh his works is
   the great day of wrath is come, and who shall  .be able to      but an exhibition and extension of the inner. He
   stand?" It is only those sinners coming by a new and            realized rhat the body is the soul's organ of self-expres-
   living way, which He hath consecrated for us, through sion. His apron, therefore, is not the outer self but fig
   the veil, that is to say His flesh, who are encouraged and      leaves sewed together. It is plain that Adam was no
   permitted to enter the holiest to obtain mercy. And exponent of the theory of common grace. According to
   this way was not yet known to Adam.                             this theory there is a qualitative difference between the
         The great objection to the theory of common grace is      inner and the outer man. The issues of man's heart, so
   that it  instils in men's minds wrong thoughts of God. it is maintained, are corrupt at their source but pure at
   rZccording  to this theory God is the friend of all men; the circumference of man's being, or as some have it,
   and all men, consequently, should know that they may be fundamentally corrupt and non-fundamentally good
   friendly with Him. Reprobate and elect, the Christless whatever that may mean. The adherents of common
   as well as those having Christ, should know that they are grace distinguish between outward good and inner cor-
   the friends of God, beloved and blessed by Him. Hence. ruption. The deeds of the dead sinner may be outwardly
   the reprobates who remain godless and Christless need good while inwardly corrupt. "Het is," says Berkhof.
   not, while on this side of the grave, be afraid of  Gqd.        "slechts een  uitwendig  goed,  afgesneden van den wortel
   They may enter the holiest and obtain mercy at least for        der liefde tot God. Het vertegenwoordigt geen  inner-
   this life. And according to Rev. H. J. Kuiper  they do          lijke gehoorzaamheid  aan de wet des Heeren,  doch is
   obtain mercy, experience God's love and  taste  His grace. wat de zaak zelf aangaat,  goed,  omdat het in  overeen-
   Says he : "You will never be able to say! I have not tasted     stemming is met de letter der wet, en beantwoordt  aan
   God's goodness and grace ; I have never experienced His         een  doe1 dat Gods goedkeuring wegdraagt. Het richt
   love" (Brochure, p. 16). The events of paradise after zich nier op het geestelijke en eeuwige, doelt niet op de
   the fall should be sufficient to convince rhe exponents of      verheerlijking van God, maar heeft  alleen betrekking op
   this view that they  .err. Adam confesses to God that het natuurlijk  Ieven,  vooral in zijn  sociale  verhoudin-
   he was afraid. The Lord God does not put him at ease gel-l. . . . Het uitwendig  goed der onwedergeborenen gaat
   and assure him of His love and friendship. Nor is Adam          niet gepaard met een innerlijke gehoorzaamheid. is niet
   told that his fright was uncalled for. He is asked why          in overeenstemming met den geestelijken standaard der
   he is afraid. Adam confesses that he is naked  - a vile .wet, en richt  zich niet op het hoogste einde,  - de eere


                                            T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                              467
               ..- ---_--                    -                            -..                                       -.."_"._----_-
     Gods. Terzelfder tijd is het in betrekkelijken zin  goed"      been assigned the task of bruising the head of the serpent.
     (Brochure, p. 53).                                                But the Christ is not only proclaimed unto the sinner
        It is true that Christ also speaks of the outward beau-     by means of the spoken word but also by means of the
     tiful appearance of the Pharisee and the secret filth of       symbol. The contrite sinner is clothed with a coat of
     his heart. Christ, however, maintains that the Pharisee        skin. "Unto Adam, also and to his wife, did the Lord
     is outwardly righteous unto  men, meaning that in the          make coats of skins and clothed them." It is evident that
     holy eyes of God the righteousness of the Pharisee is a blood has flown. For it is the skin of an animal with
     loathsome spectacle  - an abomination. The exponents           which Jehovah clothes man's frame.        Here, then, we
     of the theory of common grace, on the other hand, insist have rhe record of the institution of expiatory sacrifice.
     that the outward good of the carnal man is good, indeed, PLnd the institutor is Jehovah. At the very dawn of
     - the fruit of the Holy Spirit which he causes to appear history man is taught that without the shedding of blood
     on trees which are bad. This fruit then is so very good there can be no forgiveness of sin. And the blood which
     that the. doctrine of common grace  - a fabrication of is made to flow exhibits to Adam and his wife rhe bruis-
     man  - is needed to maintain the doctrine of the total         ing of the heel of the seed of the woman in the fulness
     depravity of man. The adherents of the theory of com-          of time. Thus by means of word and symbol the gospel
     mon grace do indeed maintain a qualitative difference of redemption is proclaimed into the distressed and con-
     between the inner and outer man. Common grace, be- trite sinner of the garden.
     sides being violently in conflict with Scripture is a mon-        Man is clothed with the skin of rhe sacrificial victim.
     strosity from a psychological point of view.                   It is the emblem of Christ taking the vile but elect sinner
        Now it is a fact that the carnal man will cover up a        into his loving and almighty arms and pressing him
     secret, sinful life by deeds which appear righteous unto       close to His bosom.      And the trembling sinner has
     men but which, in reality, are as repulsive as the hidden      peace, for he is being held close by Him who is his justi-
     filth. But this, however, is a trick of the Pharisee but fication and sanctification.
     not of that sinner in Paradise. This man had a pro-               Where now can anyone fir in the theory of common
     found knowledge of his misery. And he realized rhat the grace? Nowhere. Every transaction and every symbol
     various organs of the body are but so many instruments of Paradise testifies against the theory. The cherubim
     by means of which the soul projects itself. Adam ad- with the flaming sword, keeping the way of the tree of
     mitted that the quality of the fruit which the tree grows life, will smite to the earth the sinner pressing on upon
     is identical to the quality of the tree itself. He sees the    the way leading to rhat tree. It means. we repeat, that
     absurdity of covering the inner man by the outer as            the original avenue of approach to God no longer exists
     both, being organically one, are equally vicious. Hence, for man: that the sinner who refuses to enter in
     he feels the need of a covering of his entire person. And,     through Christ, the door, will perish.      It means that
     for the want of something better, he covers himself with Christ is now the channel of divine grace, and of every
     fig leaves sewed together. It is, we repeat, a hopeful conceivable blessing bestowed upon the sinner. Cannot
     sign. Adam's behavior, it appears, must not be presented the exponents of the theory of common grace read the
     as a brilliant example of the vicious hypocrisy of the         message of the cherubim with the flaming sword? There
     godless man. He is no Pharisee, but a dejected sinner          is, so it appears, but one grace  - the grace of Christ,
     deeply conscious of his misery, prepared and empowered who in turn is the gift of God. Who are the recipients
     by the Spirit of regeneration to embrace the Christ about of the one (special) grace? The broken of heart, rhose
     to be proclaimed to him by Jehovah.                            who realize that they are altogether vile, and who there-
        The first message of peace and redemption was deliv-        fore feel the need of a covering. Such a one was Adam.
     ered by Jehovah directly. "And I will put enmity between       Him Christ takes into His arms. For he is a penitent
     thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed;         sinner, an elect of God, whose heart was broken by the
     it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise its heel."     Spirit  pf Christ. This one grace then is bestowed upon
     Here is the promise of one who shall come to destroy           such as he - the elect of God, the church, the body of
     the works of the devil. And in him shall those fore- Christ Jesus. Common grace, it is plain, is a piece  of
     known by God triumph over the forces of unrighteous- fiction.
     ness. Mention is made of two kinds of seed. And it is the         Let us now in this connection direct our attention to
     plain teaching of Scripture that the term seed in both         the matter of dress. Man has ever been wont to devote
     cases signifies an organism. Each organism, further, has considerable thought and care to the garment which he
     its principle. In each case must the term  seed be made        wraps about his person.       He has made it express
     to apply first of all  ro this head. Christ is the principal his calling, his profession and the joys and griefs of his
     of the seed of the woman. "Now to Abraham and his heart. Commenting on man's attire Biesterveld so fit-
     seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to tingly says : "Naast voedsel is ons het kleed het meest
     seeds. as to many  ; but as of one, And to thy seed, which     nooclig om te kunnen leven. Het heeft een plaats der
     is Christ" (Gal.  3315).  Christ has a body, which is the      ecre ontvangen, en is een deel van  onzen  persoon, van
*    church, and of which He is the life. He and the church ons leven geworden, in  symbolische  taal teekenend wat
     is the seed. The latter prevails in Him to  \vhom has er in dat leven omgaat.


4433                                       T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
                                             -..-_---

        De moeder maakt met veel zorg het kleed gereed             With as much propriety may and should we speak of a
voor het  kindeke,  dat zij straks  hoopt te wiegen op haar good or bad style of dress. For the style is the man.
schoot. Hoeveel liefde en teederheid weeft zij niet in                Keeping these matters in our eye  ler us now institute
het bereiden van al die kleine stukskens van menschelijk           an inquiry into the moral status of modern styles of
gewaad. Haar zijn die kleertjes de  symbolen van haar dress. It is a fact that the modern garment is designed
moederweelde, en de verbeeldingskracht doet haar  re,eds           by  goclless  artists. The city of Paris is the home of the
de voetjes zien en de handekens aanschouwen, de  oogs-             beauty shops of the civilized world as far as dress is
kens kussen van het kind, dat zij zal  baren in smarte, en         concerned. Hence, modern fashions of attire are in and
dat haar zal  doen juichen in ongekende vreugde.                   out of the world. They are the products of the imagina-
        Straks wordt het  kindeke grooter en het is feest  als tion of the wicked. Now the Apostle John asserts: "All
het kinderkleed wordt gewisseld voor het kleed, dat de             that is in the world, the lusts of the flesh, and the lust
jongeling en de jonkvrouwe  teekent  als in te gaan in of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father
het volwassen leven.                                               but is of the world" (John 2  :16). Hence, your modern
        We  legt  niet in zijn kleed eenig symbool als er eene     styles (especially those designed for women) must be
feestelijke ure is aangebroken, die de ziel doet overvloeien       condemned as being out of the devil. The Christian may
van lof en van dank.  Zelfs teekenen we den dag der not love the world, neither the things that are in the
ruste als een die een dag is van  fees% en van verheuging,         world (including styles of dress). For if any man love
door  aan te  trekken  het zondagskleed, als de  noodigirrg        the world the love of the Father is not in him (John
tot `s Heeren publieken dienst uitgaat.  I<omt  de  hoogtij-       2:15).
dag in het leven der vrouw, haar bruidstooi spreekt van               What may be wrong with modern styles of feminine
wat zij in die ure ziet. Wien trekt niet  aan de witte dress? Attend once more to John's words: "For all that
plooi van zulk een kleed, de ure teekenend, waarin het is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lusts of the
menschelijk leven verhoogd wordt tot een beeld van de eyes, and the pride of life . . .  ." The apostle speaks of
vereeniging van  Christus en zijne gemeente?                       the pride of life. The ungodly man is proud. What is
        Wie een ambt bekleedt onder de menschen, waarin ge-        pride? What is the principle out of which the proud man
zag en hoogheid schuilt waardoor hij van anderen wordt lives? It is this: I am God. The antichrist is one who
onderscheiden, ontvangt gewoonlijk  een kleed, dat hem lives rhis lie to the uttermost. Of him it is said that he
in dit ambt doet kennen.                                           exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is.
        Het koninklijk purper en hermelijn duet breed  uit- worshipped ; so that he as God  sitteth in the temple of
golvend kennen den vorst in zijn  macht.  Toen er nog God, showing himself that he is God (2 Thess.  2:4).
hoogepriesters en priesters  waren, die stonden tusschen True it is,  - so we wrote in a former article of ours  -
God en het volk, sprak hun ambtskleedij van hun werk true it is that the average wicked one is not always
en van hun plaats in het  midden  van het volk. Borstlap conscious of the lie which he lives. That lie may not be
en gouden voorhoofdplaat, linnen rok en onderkleed  tee-           there in his mind in the form of a well defined and care-
kenden hen in Israel als Gods plaatsvervangers en de fully formulated principle. Nevertheless he lives the lie
vertegenwoordigers van het volk in her werk der  ver-              and he lives it with all his heart, with his whole soul and
zoening.                                                           with all his strength. This lie the natural man thinks,
        Elia's profetenmantel daalde op Eliza neer, die in zijn    loves and lives. He acts and speaks as though he  ia
plaats zou optreden bij Israels troon.                             God. The proud sinner exalts himself. Self-exaltation
    Nog  teekent het ambtskleed den raadsman der kroon             with all the attending evils is pride as it affects the will
den regeerder en den vertegenwoordiger van het volk, of the sinner. That self is exalted mightily far above
den hoogleeraar en den  rechter,  den drager van hooge all that is creatural; far above all that is called God. The
onderscheidingen, en ook  allen die tot publieken dienst proud man wants to be seen and heard and known.
afgezonderd zijn, van den  generaal in het leger tot den              The apostle also speaks of the lusts of the eyes and
eenvoudigen bode en den bewaarder der orde . . . .                 of rhe lusts of the flesh. In a word the natural man is
        Ook den  doode dekt het kleed nog. als hij in de  plan-    sensual. He is a fornicator, he is unclean, his affections
ken  .woning wordt gelegd. De aarde dekt hem in het are inordinate . . . . (Col. 3  :5). His God is his belly,
graf . . . .  ."                                                   his glory is his shame (Phil. 3  :19). He says with Freud :
    Thus man's garment, it is plain, cannot be dissociated "In den beginne was de Sexualiteit. En de sexualiteit
from his person and life. The garment is an ejection, a            was God. Door haar zijn alle  dingen  gemaakt, en in
tangible exhibition of the man, of his mind and of the             haar alleen is het leven en het  licht der menschen."
affections and the dispositions of his heart. Here again,             The natural man, then, is proud and sensual. And
the style is the man. In that the garment is so closely            his garment is so designed as to symbolize and exhibit
related to man's person and soul, it lies within the circle the pride of his heart and the sensualness of his carnal
of the moral as well as the man himself. Style and fash-           nature. What then is wrong with the style of dress
ion is a matter of  erhics. Such terms as  good and bad            designed by the carnal artist? These extreme styles are
are terms which must be made to  apply  &.o  to  man's             vain, conspicuous and sensual. They are so designed that
attire. We speak of a good or bad deed, thought, desire. as large a part of the body remains exposed as the law


                                              T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                        469
- - -                          _.-...._ _-^ __.-llll_ll.. ~_ ---..-. -"                                                                    -
permits. These styles are suggestive. They bring into                                AREN VAN ANDERE AKKERS
sharp relief the lines of the female figure, and are  SO                                (Opgelezen door G. Van Beek)
made as to incite, when worn, the lusts of the flesh.                                    Synthese en  Eenheidsdwang
         We repeat, the God of the world to-day is man's belly.
His religion consists in gratifying the lusts of the flesh.                   Aan niets beters kan een geesteskind der Hervorming
Nature is his god. Her forces and powers carnal man                        de zuiverheid van zijn beginsel toetsen dan  aan de  diep-
worships. The present day religion, which the garment                      insnijdende vraag, of hij met heel zijn hart, of hij in der
is made to reflect, is a revival of the ancient worship of daad en waarheid niet slechts tijdelijk, maar  `voor immer,
Baa1 and Astaroth. That some women, of today, dress                        zijn eenheidsidealen verplaatst heeft van hier  beneden
as they do, is a sign of the times.                                        naar het jeruzalem, dat boven is, om den troon van het
  Scripture has it that man shall humble himself. The                      Lam.
carnal man, however, wishes to be seen and heard and                               Dr. A. Kuyper, in "Publiek Vermaak," Dec. 1880
known and honored. For he thinks himself to be a God,
noble and good. Further, according to Scripture, the                                          Tweei+rlei  Beginsel
lusts of the flesh must be crucified. But the carnal man                      Twee&lei beginsel, onverzoenlijk,  ,werkt  in deze
does not wish to die. He wills to live. He aims to feed                    wereld; en de vereeniging, de samenvloeiing daarvan is
his soul. He would gratify the lusts of the flesh.  Small- e&n hellegedachte . . . .
wonder that the Bible is a book which most men hate.                          Het is of tegen het echte, waarachtige, levende INoord,
For the carnal man will not admit that he is a creature - en dan mag er nog zooveel samenstemming zijn en  een-
small, insignificant, culpable, condemnable, a filthy noth- heid, en dan mogen er  feesten gehouden  worden,  en  can-
ingness. Brought under the conviction of sin, however, tates voor gedicht, en dan mogen alle  muziekinstrumen-
he is quite willing to subscribe to the verdict of the ten en  schoone.  muziek en zang er voor samenstemmen,
prophet: "From the sole of the foot even unto the head en alle  tongen er voor  roepen  en jubelen, en daar mogen
there is no soundness in it; but wounds and bruises and alle booze gedachten uir opkomen van nijd en verachting,
putrefying sores: they have not been closed, neither tnaar die samenstemming zal te schande  worden.
bound up, neither mollified with ointment" (Isaiah  1:6).                     God komt om gericht te houden en om op te  vorde-
This one begins to feel the need of a different kind of  r~                ren Zijn Heilige Waarheid, en het echte,  PCne  geloof in
garment than the one with which he was wont to adorn                       den Zoon van God.
his person. Brought under the conviction of sin the                           Of uw beginsel werkt  v&or het echte ! Ja, dan zijn
confession of his lips is: "I am afraid, for I am naked."                  wij  kinderen Gods!
He is now in the need of that garment of which the                                                                    Ds. J.  C. Sikkel
coat of skin with which God clothed Adam, is a symbol.
He will feel the need of Christ as his justification and                            De Roede van het Woord des Heeren
sanctification.       Clothed in this garment he becomes  a
partaker of the holiness of Christ. The adorning of such                      Zoo vaak is het leven op den aardbodem vergaan
a one will not be, then,  rhat outward adorning of plaiting onder de roede van het Woord des Heeren. De  vromen
the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of van het oordeel Gods kunnen daarbij verschillen, maar
apparel. But the hidden man of the heart, in that which de twist des Heeren met het menschenleven op  aarde
is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and keert telkens weer, waar het Woord Gods, dat tot volken
quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of a great  prier:              en overheden sprak, is versmaad en versmeten voor den
(Peter  3  :4, 5).                                                         dienst van de verzinningen en de lusten des vleesches.
                                                                              Valsche religie en ijdele dweperij komen dan op in
         Of the holiness of the new man the garment will be
a tangible exhibition.                                                     allerlei eigendunkelijke vormen van eeredienst en  vlee-
                                                                           schelijken godsdienst, van menschenwijsheid en  ver-
                                                        G. M. 0.           beelding. De vlammen slaan dan op tegen de  waarach-
                                                                           tige vreeze Gods, en de getrouwen kwijnen weg.  On-
                                                                           trouw en trouweloosheid hreken dan door; de  banden
                      CHRISTUS  IS ALLES                                   van zeden en van levenskracht laten  10s. En het lever!
                                                                           wordt geslagen met vele slagen van ellende, van kommer
In  Christus  is de bron en `t middelpunt der kennis;                      en nood. Wie zoekt er dan geen  genezing tier breuken
    God kennen wij door Hem; door Hem, ons eigen hart. - op het lichtst?
En wijsheid buiten Hem is enkel heiligschennis,                               Honger, levenshonger dreigt in verdeeldheid bij
    En arbeid. die den geest in  `s duivels strik verwart.                 arbeid, in' armoede ondanks kapitaalschatten, in  machti-
Geen waarheid dan in Hem ; alle and're glans verduistert, ge beweging zonder uitkomst. in geldnood en  werkeloos-
Zijn kennis is `t alleen, die ons de ziel ontkluistert;                    heid, in een vreugdeloos  Ieven en bitterheid der spijze.
    En zonder Hem is niets, dan wrevel, wroeging, smart. en eindelijk in de doorwerking van den vloed der aarde.
                                                                                           Uit:  "Wagen  Israels en Zijne Ruiteren,"
                                                 W. Bilderdijk.                                 door Ds. J. C. Sikkel

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

hoorde. Het Westen zou gaan scheiden ! En bet, Westen 3  Mei,  in mijn bezit kreeg (op Zaterdag, 1  Mei,  hoorde
heeft daaraan nimmer gedacht !                                      ik er voor het eerst van), was niet onderteekend.
       Den daaropvolgenden dag hoorde ik van de bekende                Dat dit stuk denzelfden geest ademde als het gesprek
studentenzaak. De lezer moet  goed  verstaan, dat er  nim- van B.  J.  D. ten huize van H. P. en mijn daaropvolgende
mer iets op school was voorgevallen, dat ik meende, dat ervaring met hem, was mij volkomen duidelijk. Ik  begon
de lucht zoo helder was,  als men het maar kon wenschen.            toen te beseffen, dat er iets broeide en dar er onweer  aan
Nimmer had ik eenige klacht vernomen van de studenten. de lucht was. Het stuk was klaarblijkelijk gericht tegen
En daar komt zoo op eens de  %tudenten-zaak"  uit de Ds. Ophoff en mij en  we1 voornamelijk tegen mij.  Dee
lucht  vallen. Een paar studenten gingen rond met een               Maandags had ik school. Tijd voor een vergadering van
document, dat ze gaarne door alle studenten  ondertee-              de faculteit was  ei niet.  Ik besloot voorloopig tucht uit
kend  wilden  zien, en waarin  allerlei leelijke  dingen   ston-    te oefenen in mijn eigen klas. Een onderzoek  bracht  aan'
den en onze zaak maar hachelijk werd voorgesteld in de              het  licht, dat Mellema, die niet eens als student  was
allersterkste  termen. We Iaten het hier volgen:                    opgenomen  doch die eerst in Februari van hetzelfde jaar
"The Curatorium of the Theological Seminary of the de klassen was komen bijwonen,  zich aanmeldde als de
       Prot. Chr. Ref. Church.                                      ontwerper van dit stuk. Bewijs voor den inhoud er van
"Brethren :                                                         had hij niet, kon hij ook  niet. hebben. Belijdenis  doen
       "We the undersigned, students of the above men- van zijne zonde  Wilde  hij op dat oogenblik niet. Ik heb
tioned institution deem it necessary to bring the follow- hem  toen verboden mijn klassen verder bij te  wonen.
ing to the attention of your honorable' body.                          Doch waar ik  we1 vermoedde, dat hier veel meer
   "I) It is clearly noticeable that there is division              broeide en de zaak werkelijk het  belang van de school
among the student body, which should not be.                        betrof werd door mij op de vergadering der  gecombi-
   "2) Towards late the situation has become so intense, neerde kerkeraden, die den volgenden dag, 4  Mei, plaats
that it is unbearable, unless something is being done.              had, het verzoek ingediend, om een onderzoek in te  stel-
       "3) The causes for this situation are primarily not to len.        Dit werd ook gedaan.        Eene commissie werd
be found among the student body proper but must be staande de vergadering benoemd om een  onderzoek  in te
sought elsewhere.                                                   stellen en nog dienzelfden avond te rapporteeren. Uit
       "4)  Causes :                                                dat onderzoek bleek :
           "a) Disharmony among our faculty members,                   1. Dat, nadat de commissie alle studenten  onder-
           namely Revs. Hoeksema and Ophoff on the one vraagd had in betrekking tot den  toestand op school,  nie-
           hand, and Rev. H.  Danhoff on the other.                 mand iets kon noemen, dat aanleiding kon geven tot het
           "b) From all evidences it is apparent that  Rev: opstellen van her bewuste stuk. Er was nooit tweedracht
           Hoeksema and Rev. Ophoff do not give impartial onder de studenten tot openbaring gekomen.  ,Men  kou
           treatment to all students alike.                         niet  CCn ding noemen, waaruit kon blijken, dat Dss. Op
              "(1) Rev. Ophoff shows partiality in class.           hoff en H. H. partijdigheid openbaarden in betrekking
              "(2) Rev. Hoeksema seems to have a few pets           tot sommige studenten. Het was alles booze leugen.
              whom he favors in order to gain his own ends.            2. Dat Mellema en Kuivenhoven de raddraaiers  ge-
       "5) Unless counter action is taken, before long we           weest  waren  in deze beweging, waarom de commissie
will have an autocracy established in our own circles, adviseerde, hen aanstonds van de school te verwijderen.
`which cannot but be destructive for our cause and should              3. Dat B. J. D. de studenten met  advies  gediend had,
not be tolerated.                                                   en in  &en geval althans (naar het getuigenis van De Vries
   "6) We therefore wish to conclude urging your op de vergadering der kerkeraden) zelfs tot  onderteeke-
honorable body to investigate this matter and to take ning van dit stuk geperst had!
action accordingly.                                                    Na een lange en onaangename discussie besloot de
       "7) It is our firm conviction that unless drastic vergadering om de zaak der beide studenten, die de  lei-
action is taken in this matter, our cause. speaking from            ding in deze zaak  hadden  gehad, in de  handen   re laten
a human standpoint, will suffer loss and God's name will der faculteit.
be blasphemed for our sakes.                                           Op dezelfde vergadering der kerkeraden  bracht  de
   "8) This must not be taken as if this springs up from            kerkeraad van Eastern Ave. zijn bezwaren in tegen het
antipathy or other unworthy motives, neither is it our handhaven van candidaat R. Danhof en zijn optreden in
intent  ro  tear apart, but it is our sincere wish and prayer de gemeenten. Ook anderen  hadden  bezwaar en  open-
to save, and that the disharmony may be removed. and                baarden dit op de vergadering. Besloten werd een  com-
make place for peace, mutual love and fellowship, and               missie te benoemen, die de zaak zou onderzoeken, om
unity in Christ Jesus our Lord and Master, and that His dan op eene volgende vergadering te rapporteeren. De
kingdom may  come.also  through our instrumentality and commissie bestond uit drie  leden van den kerkeraad van
God may be glorified.                                               Kalamazoo, twee van den kerkeraad van Hope. en twee
                                   "Yours for the cause."           van den kerkeraad van Byron, Center.
                                                                       Op de eerste vergadering der faculteit werd de zaak
   Het afschrift van dit sruk, dat ik eerst  op Maandag,            Mellema en  Kuivenhoven besproken. Ds. Ophoff en  on-


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                                             T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                            475
                                   ---..-..-  .-.- ~                    -_--._
     De commissie, benoemd om de "onderlinge geschillen"                              FOUNDATION TRUTHS
     uit den weg te ruimen, rapporteerde. Op haar  advies
     sprak de vergadering uit, dat het,  zoolang Ds. Danhof                Our assertion to the effect that every symbol, trans-
     niet van houding veranderde, niet mogelijk was en ook             action and speech of Paradise militates against the theory
     niet wenschelijk, om verder met hem  samen te werken.             of common grace, may draw forth from the opponent a
     En een  afschrift*hiervan  werd verzonden  aan den  kerke-        silent rebuke. He may complain that we made ourselves
     raad van Kalamazoo.                                               guilty of misinterpreting and misrepresenting matters in
                                                                       the interests of our views. To this we would reply that
        Hier kunnen we deze onverkwikkelijke geschiedenis              nothing is further from the truth. Our exegesis is in
     we1  becindigen. Nog eenmaal spreken we uit, dat we               harmony with the foundation truths of Scripture. What
     gaarne  correctie   willen ontvangen van wie ook en in ons        we regarded to be the truth symbolized by the cherubim
     blad publiceeren. Wij hebben naar ons beste  weten de             with the flaming sword and the coats of skin, constitutes
     volle waarheid geschreven.  Doch meent Ds. Danhof of the great themes of Holy Writ. The message of these
     iemand anders, dar dit niet het geval is, hij schrijve            symbols is, so it was pointed out, that  the. holiest of
     slechts. Gaarne nemen wij het op in de Standard Bearer.           all  - God's house  - is accessible only to him willing to
        Doch men onthoude  zich voorts van spreken  achter             enter in through the door, Jesus Christ. Those who
     iemands rug.                                                      climb over the wall, to express ourselves in the terms of
        Dat is uit den'booze.                                          the parable, are thieves and robbers. They come to grief.
                                                         H. H.         The sinner must recognize Christ as the channel of the
                                                                       grace and the blessings of God, or he perish. He who
                                                                       side-steps Christ and thereupon ascends the holy hill of
                                                                       God is consumed. This truth was brought to the atten-
                  VERKLARING DER WAARHEID                              tion of the saints of the old dispensation time and again.
                                                                       Abraham is called and receives a revelation. He is told
        Ondergeteekende  srelt er prijs op,  aan zijne broeders        that in him all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
     en zusters en vrienden te  doen  weten hierdoor, evenals The pronoun thee must be made to apply to that organ-
     verder  aan  allen die er  belang in mochten stellen, dat het ism of which Christ is head. The families of the  earth!
     praatje, sedert Vrijdag, 1 Juli  1. I., rondgaande, alsof  hij    then, are blessed because of their being in Christ. Fur-
     geheel zijn  actie tegen Ds. H. Danhof en zijn kerkeraad ther, the truth signified by the flaming sword was most
     heeft ingetrokken en schuldbelijdenis heeft gedaan  aau           expressively exhibited by the rite of expiatory sacrifice
     den kerkeraad van de  zich noemende Protesteerende and the attending transactions. Upon rhe occasion of the
     Eerste Chr. Ger. gemeente te Kalamazoo,  Mich., ten ratification of the covenant the assembly was sprinkled
     overstaan van eene commissie, bestaande uit Ds. H.  Dan-          with the blood which had flown. In the blood was the
     hof en ouderling Poortenga van Comstock, die hem en               covenant confirmed. Again, the altar was the meeting
     zijn echtegenoote Woensdagavond, 29 Juni  1. I., heeft  be-       place between God and rhe one who  sacrificead.  At  this
     zocht, niets dan een  Lagen  is.                                  place Jehovah pardoned and blessed the sinner not, how-
        Volgens mededeeling ondergeteekende  heden  gedaan ever, until after the victim had been slain and its blood
     zou ouderling Poortenga de  persoon zijn geweest die had been put upon the horns of the altar. On the great
     zich zou hebben schuldig gemaakt, niet alleen  aan het day of atonement the high priest was permitted to enter
     "rondbazuinen" onder het p'ubliek van kerkeraadszaken             the holiest of all, but, with blood. And not until he had
     - zulk een groot kwaad volgens den kerkeraad van Ds.              sprinkled the blood upon the mercy-seat did he leave to
     Danhof  - maar ook  aan het vertellen van bovengemelde            bless, in the name of Jehovah, the waiting assembly.
     onwaarheid. En hij alleen, met Ds. Danhof, kon  tech Then, there is the event of God's presence on Mt. Sinai.
     slechts  weten  wat ondergeteekende  aan den avond van Moses is enjoined to set bounds unto the people round
     29 Juni 1. 1. tot hem heeft gezegd.                               about. They are warned to take heed to themselves that
                                                                       they go not up into the mount or touch the border of it,
        Ondergeteekende heeft  toen slechts ten opzichte van for whosoever touches this mount shall surely be put to
     het  formeel onhoudbare van een enkel punt van het  pro- death. He who even as much as touches this mountain
     rest  oak namens hem ingediend bij den kerkeraad (en shall surely be stoned or shot through. Whether it be
     dat  formeele- speelt zulk een "gewichtige" rol in de "kerk-      beast or man it shall not live. He,-breaking through unto
     rechtelijke" behandeling door Ds. Danhof van onze zaken the Lord to gaze, shall perish (Exodus 19). It was the
     als protesteerenden en verzoekenden) een erkentenis ten event to which rhe prophet alluded when he prayed,
     gunste van den kerkeraad niet kunnen onthouden. Welke             "Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall
     erkentenis  evenwel   aan de feitelijkheid en de waarheid         stand in His holy place? He that hath clean hands, and
     van onze gronden *en bezwaren niet het minst  kracht              a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity,
     ontzegde.                                                         nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive the blessing
                                             G. VAN BEEK.              from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his
        Kalamazoo,  Mich., 2 Juli, 1927.                               salvation" (Ps. 24  :3, 4). It is plain that only he whose
                                   .


476                                     T H E   S T A N D
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heart is pure shall stand in the holy place and receive        place, then, the people could not come and live for the
the blessing. According to Scripture all are under sin.        sprinkling of blood was not there. But, someone may
"For," says the apostle, "we have before proved both           interpolate, the sanctuary of the tabernacle was also
Jews and gentiles to be under sin: as it is written, There     closed to the people. And in this inclosure was found
is none righteous, no not one. There is none that  under- the sprinkling of blood. Very true. However, the sanc-
standeth, there is none that seeketh after God" (Rom. 3 9,     tuary of the tabernacle was closed to the people  bur for
10, 11). Who then shall ascend unto the holy hill of the a season. The veil will be rent in twain when the priest
Lord? The Man from heaven, Christ Jesus. For His of good things to come-Christ Jesus--shall have entered
heart is pure and His hands are clean. Not once did He the holy place-the.tabernacle not made with hands-by
lift up His soul to vanity. He then stands in the holy His own blood. And not only this priest but also those
place having entered it, not by the blood of goats and         for whom He obtained redemption shall enter this sanc-
calves, but by his own blood did He enter and obtained tuary of God. For here is the blood of sprinkling. The
eternal redemption for us. In the old dispensation it earthly tabernacle, it is true, was inaccessible to the
was Moses the mediator of the old covenant who as- people and that for the reason that the blood brought
cended the holy hill of God. He did so, however, not as into this inclosure was but the blood of goats and calves.
a pure of heart, but as a type of the Man from heaven.         It is the blood of Christ which enters the sinner into the
Moses, then, was but a part of that elaborate symbolical presence of God. Hence, Mt. Sinai, to express ourselves
apparatus made to appear for the purpose of exhibiting in the words of rhe apostle; answereth to Jerusalem (or
the labors and privileges of Christ.                           to Mt. Zion) which now is, and is in bondage wirh her
   It appears that Mt. Sinai  aswell as the tree of life, children. But Jerusalem which is above is free and is the
was inaccessible to the sinner, for the sinner is impure mother of us all (Gal.  4:25,26). Christ ascended neither
of heart. But there is yet another reason why the sum-         Mt. Sinai nor Mt. Zion, but the Jerusalem which is above.
mit of Mt. Sinai and the inner sanctuary of the garden         However? of the two, not the former, but the latter
of Eden were places where man might not come. This             is a type of Jerusalem which is above. Mt. Sinai
reason may be extracted from a passage found in the            served as an emblem of the holiness and the vindic-
letter to the Hebrews. "For ye are not come unto the           ative righteousness of God,         Upon this mountain
mount that might be touched, and that burned with tire,        was not found a sanctuary with an altar and a mercy
nor unto blackness, and darkness and tempest, and the seat. From its summit God reveals Himself as a being of
sound of a trumpet, and the -voice of words; which voice matchless purity unable for that  reason to admit man,
they that heard entreated that the word should not be whose nature is vile, unto His near presence. From their
spoken to them any more: For they could not endure that        position at the base of this mountain the people see God
which was commanded, and if so much as a beast touch as a fire impelled by the native holiness of His being to
the mountain, it shall be stoned or thrust through with        consume rhe transgressor of His law.
a dart: And so terrible was the sight that Moses said,            With this people God institutes His covenant. Unto
I exceedingly fear and quake: But ye are come unto             this people He published His laws. And he who should
mount Zion, unto the city of the living God. the heavenly      fail to confirm all the words of rhis law to do them will
Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to be cursed. Will not this covenant, then, mean the total
the genera1 assembly and the church of the first born. eclipse of the people with whom it  ,is instituted? For
which are written in heaven, and to God the judge of all, Jehovah is very exacting. Nothing but a perfect obedi-
and to the spirits of just men made perfect. And to Jesus ence satisfies Him. To this we reply that it is the cove-
the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of nant of grace. For the law provides for a sacrifice. And
sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel" the book of the covenant as well as the people arz
(Heb.  12:18-24).                                              sprinkled with blood. The curse shall be borne by Him of
   In this passage mention is made of the two mountains whom the animal slain was a type. This people will be
-Zion and Sinai. The summit of Mt. Sinai is a forbid-          satisfied with the mercy of Jehovah. They must know,
den region. If so much as a beast touch the mountain           however, that the God who pardons and blesses remains,
it shall be stoned or thrust through with a dart. Mt.          for all that, holy and just. The fire, rhe smoke, the black-
Zion, on the other hand, is inhabited by an innumerable        ness and the tempest taken together was an impressive
company of angels, by the general assembly, the church display of the awful wrath of God as it is revealed from
of the first born which are written in heaven, and by  the heaven over all unrighteousness of men. The people of
Lord God, the judge of all. Here also is the dwelling God may know now that the only possible meeting place
place of Christ Jesus: the mediator of the new covenant.       between God and rhe sinner is the altar. They will not
In this place, then, is found the blood of sprinkling.         attempt to ascend the holy mountain of God.
   On the summit of Mt. Sinai is God but not the blood            The flaming sword seen toward the east of the garden
of sprinkling. Here were seen the emblems of God's corresponds to the blackness and the tempest of Mt.
holiness and of His avenging justice-blackness, dark- Sinai. The former as well as' the latter was an emblem
ness, tempest and the voice of words. From the summit of the vindicative righteousness of God.
of this mountain Moses returns with the law. In this              Thus it appears that the truths symbolized by the
                                                                                             l


                                             T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                          477
              -     -                                                                                                      - - .
     flaming sword and the coats of skin constitute the out-         145 :19). For the froward is abomination to the Lord . . .
     standing  trurhs of Scripture. The holy and righteous The curse of the Lord is in the house of the wicked . . .
     God arises to scatter his enemies. Those who hate Him Surely He scorneth the scorners . . . shame shall be the
     flee. As smoke is driven away so he drives them away.           promotion of fools (Prov. 3 :32-35). The  fear of the
     As wax melteth before the fire, so the wicked perish            wicked ir shall come upon him . . . . As the whirlwind
     before the presence of God. However, there is a sanctu- passeth so is the wicked no more . . .           The years of the
     ary wherein is found an altar and a mercy seat and a            wicked shall be shortened . . . . the expectation of the
     serving priest.     The God of grace, mercy and peace wicked shall perish . . . The wicked shall not inhabit the
     dwells there. Let the broken hearted rejoice. These             earth . . . the froward tongue shall be cut out (Prov.
     truths constitute the very heart of the message of the 10:27, 3.1). The wicked shall be filled with mischief
     prophets of the old dispensation. We present the fol-           (Prov.  12:21). The  `way of the wicked is an abomination
     lowing selections. "The Lord is in His holy temple, the unto rhe Lord (Prov.  12:9). The Lord  is  far from the
     Lord's throne is in heaven: His eyes behold, His eyelids wicked (Prov. 15  :29). Every one that is proud in heart
     try the children of men . . . . The wicked and him that is an abomination to the Lord (Prov.  16:5).  But the
     loveth violence his soul hateth. Upon the wicked he wicked are like  tjle troubled sea, when it cannot rest,
     shall rain snares, fire and brimstone and a horrible tem-       whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace
     pest: this shall be the portion of their cup (Ps.  11:5, 6).    sayeth my God to the wicked (Isaiah  57:20, 21). God
     Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after an-         is jealous, and rhe Lord revengeth; and is furious; the
     other God (Ps.  16:4).  Thine hand shall find out all Thy       Lord will take vengeance on His adversaries, and He  re-
     enemies: thy right hand shall find out those that hate          serveth wrath for his enemies (Nahum  1:2). He that  be-
     thee. Thou shalt make them as a fiery oven in the time          lieveth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of
     of Thine anger: the Lord shall swallow them up in His           God abideth on him (John 3  :36). For the wrath of God
     wrath, and the fire shall devour them. Their fruit shalt is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and un-
     Thou destroy from the earth, and their seed from among righteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteous-
     the children of men. For they intended evil against ness (Rom.  1:18). If any man love not the Lord Jesus
     Thee: they imagined a mischievous device, which they            Christ, let him be cursed, the Lord  cometh (I Cor.
     are not able to perform. Therefore shalt thou make them         16:22). God resisteth rhe proud (I Pet. 5  :5).
     turn their back, when Thou shalt make ready Thine ar-              The Scriptures, then, most emphatically do assert
     rows upon Thy strings in the face of them (Ps.  21:9-12).       thar the (reprobate) wicked one is no friend, no associate
     Eecause  they regard not the works of the Lord, nor the of God. Such a one must keep his distance. What is
     operations of His hands. He shall destroy them and not          more, the curse of God is in his house. The face of the
     build them up (Ps. 28  :5). Many sorrows shall be to the        Lord is against him. His sorrows shall be many. He
     wicked (Ps.  32:lO).    The face of the Lord is against         shall be swallowed up in the Lord's wrath. His re-
     them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them           membrance shall be cut off from the face of the earth.
     from the face of the earth (Ps.  34:16). But Thou, 0 God, for he regards not the work of the Lord nor the opera-
     shaIt bring them down into the pit of destruction: bloody tion of His hand. He  believe&  not in the Son. There-
     and deceitful men shall not live out half their days . . . .    fore the wrath of God abideth on him.
.    (Ps. 55  :23). But thou 0 Lord shalt laugh  ar them, thou          However, Holy Writ also makes mention of those
     shalt have all the heathen in derision (Ps.  59:8). But         foreknown by  God? the elect, predestinated to be con-
     God shall shoot at them with an arrow; suddenly shall           formed unto the image of his Son (Rom.  8:29). With
     they be wounded (Ps.  64:T).  But God shall wound the           these predestinated ones the Lord God instituted a cove-
     head of his enemies, and the hairy scalp of such a one          nant and confirmed it in rhe blood of Christ. By nature
     as goeth on still in his trespasses (Ps.  68:21).  How are      they are dead in trespasses and sins, children of wrath.
     they brought  iriro desolation, as in a moment; they are        However, they are empowered by the Almighty to meet
     utterly consumed with terrors. As a dream when one Him at the altar, where rhey are pardoned and cleansed.
     awakeneth; so, 0 Lord, when Thou awakest shalt Thou             Being cleansed they exhibit the image of God's Son. God
     despise their image (Ps. 73  :19, 20). Shall the throne loves them. Their souls He satisfies with mercy. For
     of iniquity have fellowship with Thee, which frameth            they are children in the kingdom of heaven.  saving
     mischief by a law? . . . And He shall bring upon them been humbled by the grace of God they are willing to
     their own iniquity and shall cut them off in their own          be sprinkled by the blood. -%nd Jehovah blesses them.
     wickedness; yea, the Lord our God shall cut them off            Such are the plain teachings of Scripture. His (the
     (Ps.  9420,  23). Clouds and darkness are round about           Lord's) secret is with the righteous. He blesseth the
     Him: righteousness and judgment are the habitation of habitation of the just. He giveth grace unto the lowly.
     His throne. A fire goeth before Him, and burneth up His The wise shall inherit glory (see Prov. 3  :32-3.5).  The
     enemies round about . . . . Confounded be all they that Lord will not suffer the soul of the righteous to famish.
     serve graven images, that boast themselves of idols . . .       Blessings are upon the head of the just. The memory of
     (Ps.  97: 2, 3, 7). Surely Thou wilt slay the wicked, 0         the just is blessed. The desire of the righteous shall be.
     Lord  (Ps.  l39:19).  All the wicked will He destroy (Ps. granted.        The righteous is an everlasting foundation.


478                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
                                          -..-_-- _-----.-   ..--.-                               _--.- ._.-.. ---        - .--.-
The hope of the righteous shall be gladness. The                 historical or scientific. Belief in such occurrences is
way of the Lord  is  strength to the upright.  The               synonymous with belief in miracle, and such belief has
righteous shall never be removed (selected from Prov.            received its death knell" Miracles, p.  8.5).        Comment is
IQ).      There shall no evil happen to the just (Prov.          unnecessary. The author's extreme hatred for the God
1221).  H e   ( G o d )   1oveth him that followeth after of Scripture is evident from the following selection, found
righteousness (Prov. 15  :9>. This, then, is the grand           on page seventy of his book. "Were these miracles true
truth signified by the event of the merciful God clothing        and the incidents associated with them, just consider
the sinner in paradise with a coat of skin.                      what a picture they paint of God ! Moses and Aaron are
       Thus it appears that the truths signified by the flam-    told `according to the commandments of the Lord' de-
ing sword and the coat of skin runs through the entire           liberately to falsify. They are told to request of Pharaoh
Scripture. Permit them to be restated. Christ is the             a `three days journey in the wilderness, that we may
truth, the way, the life, no one  cometh unto the Father sacrifice to the Lord our God,' when the real purpose is
but by Him. Wrath and death is the portion of every to leave the land of Egypt forever. They are told to rob
one despising the Christ as the channel of divine grace          from their masters and `spoil the Egyptians.' God is
and mercy. In a word, God is a  consyming  fire unto the represented, not only as bringing the succession of
reprobate wicked. These truths constitute the very core plagues upon Egypt, but also as `hardening the heart' of
of divine revelation. Eliminate them from Holy Writ and Pharaoh so that each time, through the deliberate act
that which remains is but an empty shell. To deny them of God, he is made to break his promise to Moses. And
means to slander the Most High.                                  we are asked to believe that the God of the universe was
       God can be a friend of him only who, fearful of the       once such a being!" (Miracles, p. 70). A God whose code
storm, looks to Christ for shelter. This is the matter of ethics, so one may read on page 273, was no higher
which God began to impress upon the mind of the than that of a barbarian was once the conception of rhe
Church at the very dawn of grace. The flaming sword              most highly developed religious race (the Jews) of the
and the coat of skin, the fire, the blackness and the tem-       earth.
pest, the blood which flowed and the priest -all these              The Scriptural doctrine of God seems to have become
taken together constituted one grand symbol signifying disdainful also to certain leaders in the Christian Re-
that the way to God's heart is the way of the cross and          formed Church. "Does God," so one of their number
that all other ways are ways of wrath, sorrow and death          asks, "Does God show any favor to the reprobate?  IS
leading to hell. Such are the plain teachings of Scripture. he in any way or manner graciously inclined toward
       To most men the God of Scripture or, more specific-       them? Those who deny common grace say that He is
ally, the God of the Old Testament seems an obnoxious not. God's attitude toward them is solely one of wrath
being. In the second century of the Chrisrian era it  was        and hatred. He does not love them. He is not kindly
the gnostic  Marcion who insisted that the God of the disposed toward them. Therefore,, when He sends them
Old Testament should be rejected. This God, so he blessings, these do not flow from His goodness but rather
taught, is a just God in the sense of  "an eye for an eye from His wrath. Their purpose is simply to render them
and a tooth for a tooth." He created the world and gave without excuse in the day of judgment, to fatten them
the Jewish law. Christ who was a Docetic manifestation. for the day of slaughter. . . . . This view is in conflict
revealed the heretofore unknown good God of mercy. with Scripture . . . . Our God, so the author continues,
The God of the Old Testament opposed Him; but in is a just God but not a cruel God. He has no pleasure
Christ the authority of the Jewish law was done away,            in the misery of any of His creatures. He sends the
and  t-he just God became unjust because of this unwar-          wicked earthly blessings as the fruits of His kindness, in
ranted hostility to the revealer of the good God. The Old order to convince them of His sincere willingness  to
Testament and its God are therefore to be rejected by bestow upon them the greater gift of salvation in Christ.
Christians. (quoted from Walker's "A  History of the             God is just and stern, bur He is not harsh and cruel. He
Christian Church").  And the manner in which Floyd L.            is not a God who reveals to a large part of humanity
Darrow of our own day brawls at the God of Scripture is nothing but His wrath. Even the reprobates are His
characteristic of our times. We quote from his latest creatures, the works of His hands; and in His goodness
work entitled  Miracles  d  Modmn  View.  The reader should and grace He lavishes blessings upon them as long as
know where to place this man Darrow. Attend to the they live, even though they perish in their sins" (Rev. H.
following selection. "In the foregoing, I make use of the J. Kuiper, "The Three Points of Synod", p. 15). Here
expression `revelation of the Divine Imminence.'          BY again the charge is repeated that the God of Scripture is
that I mean, as applied to man, the unfolding of  the            somewhat of a barbarian for the reason rhat the innate
divine in him in the natural process of his evolutionary holiness of His Being prevents Him from loving and
development, and not a definite and concrete revelation blessing in any way or manner those whom He refuses
of God in any specific act. Concretely revealed truth or to regard in Christ.
direct intervention in the orderly procedure of this uni-           It is plain that according to this writer God would be
verse, as interpreted by the early church and by the somewhat of a barbarian if He were loving and blessing
fundamentalists even today, have no basis in fact, either only those whom He regards  .in Christ. The God of the


                                            T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                               479
_-..-_____   ..-.-____--"  -.._ II_ ._-.               ......II__                     -           - _-- - __..._-
                                      .
exponents of common grace loves, blesses and would of its outstanding tenets is that the reprobate sinner is
save every one.  It  is evident that these men refuse  to blessed notwithstanding the fact that in respect to him
perceive the truth signified by the flaming sword, by the            Christ refused to blot out the handwriting of ordinances
blackness and the tempest, by the coat of skin, by the               that was against him-refused to take it out of the midst
priest and the blood. In the attempt to make it seem                 and nail it to the cross. The sponsors of this doctrine
plausible that God can be engaged in militating against              insist that such a one is blessed. And the proof advanced
Himself they reason thus: "In the counsel of redemption              is that the gifts of special grace are offered unto the
the Son was appointed surety and consigned to the elect              reprobate sinner. On page 145 of the  Acta  Synodi 1924
of God. Christ is the righteousness of the elect. Hence, oue may read this:  "Aangaande her eerste punt, rakende
God gave His Son unto such who, in themselves are alto-              de gunstige gezindheid Gods jegens de menschheid in het
gether condemnable.  IJnto the ill-deserving sinner He algemeen, en niet alleen jegens de uitverkorenen, spreekt
gave the greatest of all gracious gifts  - the Christ. Why de synode uit dat volgens  Schrift en confessie het  vast-
can He not then bestow upon the reprobate sinner tem-                staat, dat er, behalve de zaligmakende genade Gods bewe:
poral blessings without being accused of dealing un-                 zen alleen  aan de uitverkorenen ten eeuwigen leven,  oak
righteously.                                                         een zekere gunst of genade Gods is, die Hij betoont  aan
   The above reasoning is the product of Prof. Berkhof.              zijn schepselen in her algemeen. Dat blijkt uit de  aange-
It appeared in one of the numbers of  The Witness.  "En              haalde schriftuurplaatsen en uit de Dordtsche  Leerre-
daarbij  scheen het ons toe," so he wrote, "dat de vraag gels.11, 5 en III en IV, 8 en  9, waar  gehandeld wordt van
of God den onbekeerde in dit leven gunst bewijst,  eeti              de algemeene aanbieding des  Evangelies  . . .  ."
der  mee& fundamenteele is. Dit wordt door de broeders                  This last proposition, to the effect that the gracious
ontkend. Zij zijn zelfs van oordeel dat dit  zich niet               gifts merited by the life and death of the Saviour are
denken  laat. Het  zou voor God zedelijk onmogelijk zijn.            offered to the reprobate wicked, is as vicious as the
i\`u   moeren we met eene bewering als laatstgenoemde  al-           doctrine which it is made to sustain. In the first place
tijd zeer voorzichtig zijn. Het valt voor ons moeilijk               God does not offer His gifts to a single sinner not even
uit  te  maken  in bijzonderheden wat in dien zin voor God           to the elect. We invite the sponsors of the doctrine of
mogelijk en wat onmogelijk is. Uit het oogpunt van Common Grace  ro point us to a single scripture or clause
Gods rechtvaardigheid zou men kunnen vragen hoe het                  in our Confession containing the term  ogler. The term is
mogelijk is, dat God een enkelen zondaar genade bewijst.             not  applicabIe  to God at all. The dictionary defines the
Op die vraag kan men natuurlijk  we1 antwoorden dat Hij              word  ogler thus: To exhibit something that may  be  re-
dit  doen kan en ook doet op grond van de gerechtigheid              ceived or rejected. The term  offer implies. it is plain,  the
van Christus. Doch dit helpt ons niet uit de moeilijkheid. right  to reject the gracious gifrs of Christ. If the sinner
aangezien  Christus ook zelf een gave van Gods genade                should have this  right?  however, it could not be main-
aan den zondaar is. Christus is niet de verdienende  oor-            tained that God is sovereign and holy. The term offer
zaak van onze verkiezing. maar is ook zelf voorwerp van              means- further (consult the dictionary) to declare a will-
onze verkiezing" ("The Witness," vol. II, No. 12, p. 180).           ingness, to make an attempt. Now it is not true that
The Prof. reasons thus: Whereas Christ is not the  mer-              God is willing that he who is destined to perish should
itorial cause of our election and whereas Christ Himself             have the gifts merited by Christ. Nor may it be said
is a gift of God's grace  unto  the ill-deserving sinner, it         that the  -4lmighty attempts  ro place these gifts in the
follows that the grace which God bestows upon the possession of such a one. If such were the case sinners
reprobate sinner is in the need neither of  a juridical basis        would be making it impossible for the Almighty to
nor a meritorial cause. How strange and unwarranted                  achieve His aims. And finally, such a view would imply
this conclusion. denounced by the very name Christ.                  that Christ died for all. For the benefit which God is
   True enough, the gift of Christ would have required               attempting to bestow upon the sinner is eternal life  -  a
a meritorial cause other than Himself if Christ were not             benefit derived from the death of Christ. It may not be
a propitiation for the sins of His people. The professor             said that God offers His gracious gifts unto His rational
failed to bear in mind two things viz., that Christ satis-           creatures.    Neither the Scripture nor the confession
fied the justice of God in behalf of those to whom He                assert that He does so. God presents, promises and  com-
was given, and further that Christ merited Himself for `mands,  invites and exhorts but does not offer. He com-
his sheep. He was unto Himself a juridical basis. Hence              mands  all those to whom the gospel is brought to believe
no other meritorial cause was needed.  Xt is the conten-             and come to Christ and be saved. This does not mean,
tion of Berkhof that the gift of Christ required a  merito-          however, that God wills that all those unto whom  the
rial cause other than Himself.                                       mandate is published shall believe and be saved. Fact is
   The theory of common grace is deficient in that it that back of a divine command is not always a divine will
provides no  meritorial cause for the blessings which God and purpose that the mandate be executed.
is supposed to be showering upon those whom He refuses                  Attend to God's dealing with Pharaoh of the exodus.
to regard in Christ. Surely the sum total of these bless-            The Lord said unto Moses. "And Aaron, thy brother,
ings is no propitiation for the sins of the reprobate.               shall speak unto Pharaoh that he send the children of
   The doctrine of common grace is a false doctrine. One             Israel  ,out of his land. And I will harden Pharaoh's


                                              THE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
-............ ".        --_..l--l-           -~_.""ll
                                                                                              l

heart. . . .         But Pharaoh shall not hearken unto  YOU                         I N G E Z O N D E N
that I may lay My hand upon Egypt and bring forth My
armies and My people out of the land of Egypt by great                Geachte Redactie  :-
judgments and the Egyptians shall know that I am the                     Ondergeteekende verzoekt  u om een plaatsje in  rrns
Lord" (Exodus  7  :1-S).                                              blad, de Standard Bearer, daar ik verontwaardigd ben
           God commands Pharaoh that he send the children of          (volgens het schrijven van C. Lemmers te Kalamazoo)
Israel out of the land. It is not His purpose, however, over de onbehoorlijke  ui:drukking  van Ds. Danhof,  ge-
that the king executes the mandate. The very contrary l .
                                                                      urt in tegenwoordigheid van velen:  "Het is te Grand
is true. It is God's will that Pharaoh resist. God shall              Rapids een goddelooze rommel!" Dit  ziet natuurlijk  op
 harden his heart. The king does so. The command is Ds. Hoeksema en zijne volgelingen, namelijk, de  leden
but the means by which the Lord realizes His purposes der gemeente; de kerkeraad vooral niet  buitenges1ote.n.
 with Pharaoh.                                                        Ik verzoek Ds. Danhof om ons in `t publiek eens mede
           Likewise God commands all those unto whom the te deelen,  met wat geest hij bezield was  toen die woorden
 gospel is preached that they believe and come to Christ. over zijne Iippen vloeiden: met den Geest van  Christus
 It is God's will that the reprobate wicked resist and dis-           of met den geest van den  anti-Christ. Dan,  "de  inhoud
 obey. They do so. The command is the means by which                  van die  goddeloozen,  waar ziet dat op  ? Ds. Danhof
 the heart of such are hardened. They are commanded heeft,`bijna twee  jaren  geleden,  gepredikt over den tekst
 to obey in order that they may disobey: The divine uit Ezechiel  33:lO' 11. Hier heeft Ds. Danhof  uiteenge-
 mandate is the means by which the Lord realizes His zet,  dat daar  tweeerlei goddeloozen  worden  bedoeld:  aan
 purposes with the reprobate to whom is presented the de eene partij, die de zonden  op  zichzelven  toepasten en
 Christ. It is God's will that the  elect hearken and come            God rechtvaardigden  in, Zijn  doen, had God lust, en
 to Christ and be saved. They do so. The divine in- geen lust  aan hunnen dood, maar hierin, dat de zondaar
 junction is the means by which God realizes His counsel ieve en  zich bekeere ; en de andere partij goddeloozen
 of redemption in respect to the elect. Unto these and vernederden  zich niet, verhieven zichzelven, en zochten
 unto none other, does He promise (not offer) life eternal, de  schuld   aan Gods zijde. Deze laatsten  Wilde  God niet
 namely, unto such who confess that they are afraid be-               en moest daar ook niet verstaan worden, dat God lust aan
 cause they are naked  - the weary and heavy laden, the had of  Wilde dat die  zich  .bekeerden. Nu vraag ik Ds.
 broken of heart, those who do hunger and thirst after Danhof: verklaar  tech in  `t openbaar, bij  welke  partij
 righteousness. Unto such is the promise of eternal life. die rommel van Grand Rapids moet  worden  opgenomen.
 Such are the plain teachings of Scripture. "Unto Adam                Is het bij de eerste, dan kan ik Ds. Danhof verstaan,
 also and to his wife did the Lord God make co&ts of skins            wat den inhoud bet&t. Niet dat ik de uitdrukking ooit
 and  clothed\  them" (Gen. 3  21). Ho. every one that verstaan of rechtvaardigen kan en vooral niet van Ds.
  thirsteth, come ye to the waters,  ,and he that hath no Danhof,, begaafd met zooveel kennis. Maar ziet het op
 money, come ye buy, and eat; yea come buy wine and                   de tweede partij, dan ziet het er voor ons  niet best uit
 milk without money and without price (Isaiah 51  :I). als wij door God in `t gericht  worden gesteld, want dan
  Come unto Me all ye that are weary and heavy laden, and             zijn wij zonder God in de wereld en hebben dan ook
  I will give you rest. Blessed are the poor in spirit: for geen borg voor onze schulden, die wij dan dagelijks
  their's is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that grooter  maken.
  mourn: for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the                    Ds. Danhof overtreft de geheele  Chr. Ref. Church
  meek: for they `shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they met zijn taal. Die hebben gedaan wat ze gedaan  heb-
  who do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they hen als kerk, maar zulke taal heb ik nog nooit in `t  open-
  shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful: for they shall baar gelezen.  We1  heb ik van  personen veel  onbetame-
  obtain mercy. . . . (Matthew 5).                                    lijks gehoord, maar dat  waren dan ook personen, die
            Such, then, are assured that eternal life is their por- eigenlijk niet toerekenbaar  waren.      Maar die gedachte
  tion.                                                               mag ik  tech zeker niet van Ds. Danhof koesteren?
            It appears that our exegesis of the flaming sword and        Ik zal Ds. Danhof  zeIf eene  copie  sturen van dit  nom-
  the coats of skin is quite in harmony with the founda-              mer, dan kan hij mij van antwoord dienen.
  tion truths of Scripture.                                              U, geachte Redactie,  dankend  voor de opname,
                                                      G. M.  0.                  Lid van de gemeente waarvan Ds. Hoeksema
                                                                                     leeraar is,
                                                                                                              B. WYCHERS
                                                                         Grand Rapids,  Mich.

                               INZENDERS
                                                                               The life that counts is linked with God  ;
             Wegens gebrek  aan  plaatsruimte  konden de  ingezon-             And turns not from the cross, the rod;         .
  den stukken in dit nummer  niet worden  geplaatst.                           But walks with joy where Jesus  trod-
                                             DE REDACTIE                           That is the life that counts.


