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

                         THE LITTLE HORN                .          main element in the revelation to which all the rest is
                                                                   subservient. In the preceding vision it was the fourth
             The interest of the vision recorded in the eighth beast that demanded our special attention; in this
      chapter of the prophecies of Daniel is chiefly of a his- revelation the whole scene of the vision concentrates
      torical nature, because the  fulfmnent  of its predictions about the appearance and development of the little
      lies in the old dispensation, in the first half of the       horn. Hence, taking this as our theme, we ask your
      second century before Christ. The time of the vision attention a while as we speak on:
      itself, Daniel  informs~ us, was the third year of the                        THE LITTLE HORN,
      reign of Belshazzar, while, therefore, the Babylonian
      empire was still in power. Two or three years before and consider
      this the prophet had also had a vision, some of the               I The Vision and Its Interpretation,
      main features of which are so similar to those of this           II. Its Historical Realization,        .
      second revelation, that there is an unmistakable con-           III. Its Typical Significance.
      nection between the two, while some interpreters even           I. First of all, then, let us attempt to reconstrue
      maintain that the little horn of the former must be the main lines of the vision in our own mind and try
      identical with that mentioned in the latter vision. You to see approximately what the prophet saw. For this
      remember that in chapter  7 it is recorded that Daniel purpose we must imagine that we take our stand with
      saw four great beasts, rising up out of the sea, the the seer on the east bank of the river Ulai, for he tells
      first three being like unto a lion, a leopard and a bear us, that he was by that river and that he saw how
      respectively, while the fourth beast was an undescrib- "before the river" there stood a ram. It is most natural
      able monster. It was especially this fourth beast that to assume, seeing the he-goat of which he presently
      drew the attention of the prophet and of which he speaks comes from the West against the ram, that
      asked an explanation, and more particularly still, it Daniel himself in the vision stood on the eastern bank
L     was a little horn that grew up among the ten horns of of the river, while the ram stood before him and be-
     the marvelous beast and gained power after it had fore the river from his viewpoint, that is, therefore,
      broken three of the ten horns away, that was of in- on the western bank of the same stream. He describes
      terest. And we found then, that the fourth beast rep- the ram as having two horns, both very high, but the
      resents the  final world-power, as from the standpoint one higher than the other. As he watches the ram he
      of the prophecy it commenced with the dominion of the pushes into three directions, westward and northward
      mighty Roman empire, but further developed through and southward. He proved more powerful than any
      the entire new dispensation in a fulness of royal power other beast, so that none could stand before him as he
      and dominion according to the counsel of God, till, at advanced, and became very great. But another element
      last, it shall give birth to the Antichrist. However, the enters in@ the vision. A he-goat came from the West.
      vision also revealed how thrones were set and judg- And peculiar about the he-goat was that he had one
      ment was given, the beast was destroyed and the king- notable horn between his eyes. He ran over the face
      dom was given to the One like unto a Son of Man, of if the whole earth and was very swift, for he did not
      whose dominion there shall be no end.                        touch the ground. However, although he does not come
         In the chapter that is now before our consideration in a straight course, but rather moves over the face of
      the prophet speaks distinctly of a vision that appeared the whole earth, his main advance is against the ram
      unto him. It was, therefore, no dream. There is a and with astounding rapidity and furious power he
      difference between a vision and  a  dream. While in runs against him. He comes upon him with great
      receiving revelations through the medium of a dream anger and the ram proved to possess no power against
      the prophet was asleep, during the appearance of a him. The he-goat overcomes him, casts him down to
      vision he was awake. Besides, while in a dream there the ground and in the fury of his anger he stamped
      was nothing objective, the dream simply being woven upon him with his feet. And thereupon Daniel saw
      upon the unconscious mind of the sleeper, inthe vision how the he-goat waxed exceedingly great.
      something appeared, was shown to the eyes of the seer,          Again the vision changes. The one notable horn
      though one not "in the spirit" would not be able to be- of the he-goat is broken and instead there arise four
      hold what the prophet saw. The prophet tells us that in horns, toward the four winds of heaven. And out of
      the vision he was translated to Shushan, the capital of one of these four horns there arises one little horn,
      the kingdom of Media and Persia. The prophet, then, and becomes great toward the south, toward the east
      was not actually transported to that city, for the king- and toward the pleasant land, by which last is meant
      dom of Babylonia was still in power and Daniel was in the land of Canaan. And he exalts himself against the
      Babylon. But in the vision he was translated to that host of heaven and casts some of the host down to the
      city. Hence, this is the viewpoint of the vision. The ground and some of the stars, stamping upon them with
      prophet stands near the city of Shushan and from there his feet. We may say right here, that by the host of
      he is given to behold what the vision reveals to him.        heaven is meant neither the stars nor the angels, but
      And as we read what appeared to Daniel in this second the ,,hosts of the kingdom of God in the old dispensa-
      tision  it soon becomes evident that also here there is a    tion, `that is the people of Israel, and that by the stars


                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                     533

I understand, in harmony with the vision in the first therefore, is that a powerful king of Greece shall.rise
chapter of the book of Revelation, the leaders of Israel. to world-power, extend his dominion swiftly over the
H.e exalts himself still more and rises even against the whole earth, and come against the kingdom of Persia
Prince of that host, that is, against the Most High Him- with great force, breaking its world-power and subject-
self. He fumes against the daily sacrifice in Jerusalem ing it unto himself.
and takes it away, causes it to cease, and in the vision       The breaking of the notable horn of the he-goat is
Daniel is given to see that he had power against it by the death of this first and powerful king of Greece,
reason of the transgression. He even casts the truth after he had risen to world-power, And the four horns
to the ground. And while he practices all these ungodly that rise in its stead are interpreted to signify four
things the little horn prospers and is powerful.            kings, successors of the one great king. But they are
   Then Daniel hears two saints speaking. These two not to be compared in power to the first king. And as
saints, I take it, are not angels, but representatives of far as the little horn is concerned, it represents a king
the true Church of those days, two of the remnant that shall arise from one of these four. He shall be a
according to the election, who naturally shall have to king of fierce countenance, that is warlike, brutal and
suffer as this little horn accomplishes his wicked work, cruel and, therefore, striking terror into the hearts of
and whose hearts shall especially be grieved because men, particularly into the hearts of the people of God.
of the taking away of the daily sacrifice from the tem- He shall be a king that understands dark sentences, a
ple in Jerusalem. And the one inquires of the other statement that may refer to his political craft, or to his
concerning this part of the vision and particularly con- ability to interpret omens and make use of them in his
cerning the time of the transgression of desolation favor, but certainly leaves the impression that he is
when the sanctuary shall be trodden under foot. And connected with the prince and the powers of darkness.
the answer of the other saint comes, and to Daniel, There is something horribly cunning, something devil-
who, no doubt, had already had the very same question ish about him. The angel explains that he shall be of
in his heart and was grieved in the vision because of great might, but that his might shall not be of himself,
the very same element of the revelation, it is as if the which may mean, that he shall receive his power from
saint speaks to him, and informs him that the time of some other world-ruler to whom he is subject, but
this vision is twenty-three hundred evening-mornings, which we rather understand as referring to the fact,
or days.                                                    that the people of God may be comforted, seeing his
   As Daniel is anxious to know the meaning of the power is given him by the God of Israel. He may exalt
vision, he hears a man's voice speaking to the angel himself in his pride, he may wax great and commit
Gabriel and commanding him to interpret the vision to much wickedness and cause the host of God to suffer
the prophet. Daniel is fallen into a deep sleep now and and groan. But God's people may bear in mind, that
lies with his face to the ground, but the angel touches he has no power against them of himself, and that
him, sets him upright and explains the vision to him. therefore, he can do nought else than what the Most
   Following the interpretation by the angel Gabriel High has decreed he should accomplish. He must serve
and comparing this vision with the preceding we find the purpose of Him Who gave him his power and when
the following. The ram as such is the Persian world- that purpose is accomplished he must be broken. In
power, that Will succeed the Babylonian. And while close connection with this latter interpretation stands
the ram as a whole represents the Persian world- the statement of the angel, that he will arise when the
dominion, its two horns are representative of its two transgressors are come to the full. By this we under-
main constituent powers, that of Persia and Media. stand, that the measure of iniquity must be filled by
That the one horn is higher than the other compares the transgressors among the people of Israel. The
with a feature in the vision of the bear in the preced- time of the dominion of this king of a fierce counten-
ing chapter, who represented the Persian kingdom in ance, who will afllict  the host of Jehovah, will be a time
the vision there and who was raised up on one side. of great  apostacy  from the covenant-God. He `will,
The meaning evidently is, that in the dual empire of then, come upon the. covenant-people as a scourge of
Media and Persia the latter rose to supremacy and God and thus serve the purpose of the Almighty. But
greater power. In that vision, too, we found the bear even so he shall be terrible in. his work. For he shall
with three ribs in his mouth, referring we conjectured destroy many, not only of the mighty of the world,
to the conquests of Lybia,  BabyIonia  and Egypt. This but also of the holy people. Many of the children of
conjecture is corroborated here, because we are now God shall suffer and perish under his cruel hand. But
told more directly, that the ram pushes towards three even this is not the worst, for them that love the Lord
sides and makes conquests in three directions, towards in those days. For this king of a fierce countenance
the west, the south and the north. The he-goat, the shall also exalt himself against the living God Himself.
angel explains, is the kingdom of Greece. He corres- He shall not be satisfied to persecute and afflict Israel,
ponds, therefore, to the leopard of the preceding chap- his attack shall particularly be directed against the
ter. And the notable horn Daniel saw between his eyes Lord of heaven and earth, against the God of Israel.
is explained as meaning the first thing of this Grecian Therefore he shall come against the temple of God in
world-power. The significance of this part of the vision, Jerusalem and destroy it. And for twenty-three  hun-


534                                   T H E   STAND-ARD   B E A R E R

dred days he shall cause the daily sacrifice to cease,       death and soon manifested this spirit of the  world-
so that the people of God shall not be able to serve and power, that could be satisfied with nothing less than
worship their covenant-God. Hence, the little horn is the dominion over the whole world. It was he who
interpreted to refer to a powerful and mighty king,          came against the ram in the fury of his power and
wicked and godless and filled with furious hatred trampIed  him under feet. For the first time he met
against God and His people, who shall persecute the          the Persian power on the banks of the river Granicus,
people of God as such and just because they serve the and although the Persian king had command of a much
living God according to His precepts. For a time he Iarger army than Alexander, the latter inflicted upon
shall prevail `and prosper in his wicked work. But he him an overwhelming defeat. This was in  33`1 B. C.
shall be broken without hands, that is, the living God Through its victory Alexander gained dominion over all
Himself shall destroy him.                                   of Asia Minor, where later the Churches were founded
       II. Now, it is evident, that the first and prin- to which the Lord addresses His seven letters through
cipal, though not the ultimate  fuKlment  of this vision His servant John. He followed up his success and met
must be looked for in the time of the old dispensation, the Persian army of 600,000 men for the second time
before the coming of Christ. For although in the pre- in the battle of Issus, at the north-eastern corner of
ceding chapter there also was mention of a little horn, the Meditteranean sea. Again he crushed the Persian
and although we then interpreted that it represented forces ; the ram could not stand before the he-goat.
the power of Antichrist in the latter days, a comparison The king of the Persians escaped and fled to Shushan
of that vision with the one in this chapter will  revea1,    to raise another army. But Alexander did not imme-
that the little horn here is not identical to the one men- diateIy push onward into the heart of Persia. Instead
tioned there. It is plain, that the two chapters run he turned southward, subjugated Phoenicia and Egypt,
parallel to an extent, but also that the seventh chapter returned through Syria, victorious wherever he went
extends to the end of time, while the eighth deals with and finally met the Persian forces again in the battle
the history before the coming of the Lord. The bear of Arbela, not far from Nineveh, in 331 B. C. It is
of chapter 7 is the ram of this chapter and both refer said, that the Persian king,.  Darius,  this time had
to the kingdom of Persia without a doubt. The leopard raised an army of at least a million, but again he suf-
of the former chapter is the he-goat of the latter, and fered a crushing defeat. By a great slaughter the Per-
both represent the kingdom of Greece  in'the height of sian army was utterly routed and practically anihilated.
its power under Alexander the Great. But here the Darius fled, but soon after was killed by an attendant.
parallel ceases. It cannot be drawn further. For the Thus the ram was crushed and trampied under foot by
fourth beast in chapter 7, the terrible monster with its the he-goat and the latter possessed the world-power
ten horns is not mentioned in chapter 8. Instead we          and waxed exceedingly great.
find that a further development of the power of the             But Alexander did not enjoy his gIory of his con-
leopard or he-goat is predicted and described in the quests very long. He died soon after his march to the
vision now before us. Also from it, long before the capital of Persia at Babylon in an attack of malaria
coming to power of the fourth beast and before the fever, aggravated by the results of insane excesses and
final appearance of the little horn, there shall arise immoral life. The notable horn was broken. But who
another little horn, similar in nature and purpose to the was to take his place ? Power and might are not of
ultimate power of wickedness, yet more limited in its men, but of Him Who alone sets up thrones and casts
field of operation. It is evident, therefore, that the them down. Alexander had served the Lord's purpose
realization of this littIe horn must be sought before the in the history of the world and fulfilled prophecy,
the rising of the fourth beast of chapter 7 and, there- though he did neither know nor intend to serve this
fore, before the coming of Christ in the flesh. And the purpose. And it was not in the Lord's counsel to raise
history of this  fulfilment  we will now bring to your up a second man, like him in power, that could be
attention.                                                   a worthy successor on the throne of Alexander's em-
       Nor is it difficult to trace this history along the pire. No man could take his place and reign over the
lines indicated by the vision and its interpretation so vast empire he had created. A period of wars and
clearly, that there can remain no shadow of doubt as wranglings followed, in which we are not interested
to its correctness. First of all, it is plain beyond doubt, because it is omitted in the prophecy of our chapter.
that the notable horn between the eyes of the he-goat But after this period the kingdom of Alexander was
is Alexander the Great, for he is the king of Greece,        divided into four main kingdoms. Instead of the one.
that ran conquering over the whole earth and sub- notable horn there arose four, the kings of Macedonia,
jected the world unto himself by a few bold and almost Thrace,  Syria and Egypt. The Syrian kings were
unbelievably swift movements and battles. He was the called the Seleucidae. And it is from one of these,
son of Philip of Macedon. Already in his boyhood he that the little horn arose, the fultient of this vision
complained, we are told, that his father would leave of Daniel, in the person of Antioehus Epiphanes, mock-
nothing great for him and his boy-companions to do. ingly called Epimanes, because of the madness of his
The spirit of conquest, the spirit of the world-power vainglory. And if we briefly relate the history of his
was in him. He ascended the throne after his father's mad ravings against the people of Israel, you  will


                                       T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                     535

agree, that there can be no mistake about his identity warlike expeditions he made into Egypt. On one of
with the little horn of our vision.                         these the rumor was spread that he had died and when
   First of all, it is important $0 note, that he arose the rumor reached Jerusalem there was great rejoicing
against Israel, when the transgressors were come to in the Holy City. Antiochus was furious when he
the full. The text emphasizes that he had an host heard of this and determined upon a severe punishment
against the daily sacrifice by reason of the transgres- for this attack upon his vainglory. He took the city
sion and that he would accomplish his wickedness at a by storm, killed forty thousand of its inhabitants, car-
time when the transgressors are come to the full. As ried away as slaves as many more, despoiled the temple
I said, the reference of the prophecy is to the trans- of its treasures, entered into the holy of holies,  offered
gressions of Israel. And, certainly it may be said of in wanton wickedness a swine on the altar of burnt
the time, when Antiochus rose to power and oppressed offering and sprinkled the broth all over the sanctuary.
Israel, that it was characterized by apostacy from the At another expedition into Egypt his plans of conquest
covenant-God on the part of the Jewish nation. Of were blocked and prevented by the Romans, who for-
this we read in the First Book of the Maccabees, ch. 1, bade him to carry them out. He was mad with rage
vs. 23, ff. The writer of the book there describes relig- and Jerusalem had to suffer the consequences of his
ious conditions among Israel in the following words: mad fury. He detached Appolonius, his general, with
"In those days there went out of Israel wicked men, an army of twenty thousand men, ordering him to de-
who persuaded many saying, Let us go and make a stroy the Holy City, kill all the male inhabitants, and
covenant with the heathen that are round about us, for carry away the women and children as slaves. Rigor-
since we departed from them we have much sorrow. ously the command was executed. On a sabbath day,
So this device pleased them well. Then certain of the when the people gathered in the sanctuary for wor-
people were so forward therein, that they went to the ship, the city was set on fire at different places, many
king who gave them license to do after the ordinances were killed, the houses and walls were torn down and
of the heathen. Whereupon they built a place of exer- with the ruins a strong fortress was built on the height
cise in Jerusalem, according to the custom of the overlooking the temple and a garrison stationed there
heathen.    And made themselves uncircumcised, and was under orders to kill all who might enter the sanc-
forsook the holy covenant and joined themselves to the tuary to worship Jehovah. Neither was this all. Still
heathen, and were sold to do misschief." And the more literally the prophecy of our vision was realized
writer continues to narrate about the wickedness and by Antiochus Epiphanes. For he finally issued a com-
oppression of king Antiochus Epiphanes. It was, there- mand that all peoples under his dominion would have
fore, a very peculiar kind of apostacy, that was pre-       to conform to the religion of the Greeks. To Jerusalem
valent among Israel at that time. The Jews became he sent one Athenaeus to initiate the Jews in the new
worldly, introduced the customs of the Greeks, were religious rites. All who refused were punished severely
ashamed of the religion of the fathers, forsook God's and the blood of the saints flowed in the streets of the
holy covenant and, as they in their physical  excercises    Holy City, while many fled into caves and mountains.
in the Greek gymnasium they had established in Jeru- The daily sacrifice, the morning and evening offerings
salem became exposed, they tried to obliterate by some were actually made to cease, all religious observances
device the sign of circumcision. And it was in those demanded by the law were suppressed. Circumcision,
days of apostacy that the little horn was realized in the sign of the covenant, was strictly forbidden. Every
the person of Antiochus.                                    copy of the law he could find was burnt, thus  fulfilling
    He arose, indeed, from one of the four horns that the vision of our chapter where it speaks of his casting
had appeared on the he-goat after the notable horn the truth to the ground. The temple was rendered
had been broken. For some time after the division of unfit for the worship of Jehovah. He dedicated the
the kingdom of Alexander the Great the land of Canaan sanctuary to the heathen god Jupiter Olympius and
was the thoroughfare for the battling kings and their erected a statue of himself on the altar of burnt offer-
armies of Egypt in the South and Syria in the North, ing. And  all that attempted to act contrary to his de-
the, Ptolemies and the Seleucidae. Now Israel was crees were killed by his cruel and wicked sword.
tributary to the one, now to the other of these two            This terrible and bloody oppression of the people of
nations. Under Antiochus the Great, who died in 187 God lasted till the Lord sent deliverance through the
B. C. Palestine had become a province of Syria. His son, Maccabees and under Judas Maccabeus Israel once
Seleucus Philopater was his successor to the throne more had its own ruler. The temple was cleansed and
and when he died in 176 B. C. his brother, youngest re-dedicated to the service of Jehovah. Attempts have
son of Antiochus the Great, who had been in Rome as been made to identify exactly the 2300 days, or as it
a hostage, succeeded to ascend the throne by craft. is denoted in the origina "evening-mornings," but it
This was Antiochus Epiphanes, unmistakably the little appears quite impossible to point out a period in this
horn of our text. He was a madman and crafty, a history of oppression and the ceasing of the daily sacri-
king of a fierce countenance, indeed, and understanding fice that corresponds literally to the period thus indi-
dark sentences, furious in his madness against the cated in the vision. But approximately the time of the
people of God and the worship of Jehovah. Several vision covers the period from the day that the daily

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

sacrifice was made to cease till the cleansing of the        this apostacy of the Church of Christ in the world that
temple by Judas Maccabeus. As frequently is the case Antichrist will be prepared, but also by reason of it,
in Scripture, the prophecy expresses the time in round on account of it, that the Lord will let him come and
numbers, because the number ten expresses a measure, raise him up, in order that he may do the Lord's will,
a fulness of the measure of anything according to the though he know it not and the Church may be chast-
will of God. God is supreme and He reigns also over ised and purified for the last time. And if we consider
the most wicked designs of the enemies of His people.        this feature of the 0. T. Antichrist and look about us,
Though they do not so intend it, they serve `His pur-        it cannot but draw our attention, that the Church is
pose, receive their power from Him and the time for becoming prepared for this very last apostacy. In its
the execution of their wicked plans is fixed by the Most very nature the apostacy of the Church of today resem-
High. Hence, the number ten in the indication of this bles that of ,the times referred to in our vision. There.
period in the vision. But there can remain no doubt were wicked men among Israel in those days, we are
that Antiochus Epiphanes is the historical realization told in the First Book of the Maccabees, that deceived
of the little horn, the king of a fierce countenance and many. And what was the nature of their wickedness?
understanding dark sentences, who cast down some of Did they commit all kinds of iniquity in the eyes of the
the host of heaven and the stars, exalted himself world? No, they were the refined and civilized among
against the  Brince  of the host, took away the daily the nation of Israel, the so-called Hellenistic party.
sacrifice and cast down the sanctuary, who cast down They were broad-minded. They followed after the
the truth to the ground, who in all this practiced and fashions of the world, particularly after the wisdom
prospered. But he died without hand, for the Lord and customs of the Greeks. They looked with disdain
judged him. Still full of fury and  fllled with madness upon the narrow-minded folk that insisted upon cir-
against Jerusalem, he was struck down with an incur- cumcision and the law of God and the keeping of His
able disease and died in severe agony in the year covenant. And they led Israel astray and accomplished
164 B. C.                                                    a union with the big world about them. They were
       III. Briefly we must point to the typical signifi- ashamed of God's covenant and its sign and trod it
cance of Antiochus Epiphanes as the little horn of the under foot. Refined enemies of Jehovah and His cove-
oId dispensation. That Antiochus is, indeed, a type of nant they were. Is it not true, that this is exactly the
Antichrist as he will appear in the latter days, is gen- great transgression of our day ? The Church looks at
erally acknowledged and can hardly be doubted. Scrip- the world and is ashamed to be a separate people, pecu-
ture itself gives us reason to take this view. For also liar to God, a manifestation of His grace. She says:
in chapter 7 there is mention of a little horn, repre- Let ,us join hands with the world, for since we sep-
sentative of a mad king, coming out among the ten arated ourselves we have much grief and sorrow. Join
horns on the head of the fourth beast. It is said of hands for the sake of name and fame, for gold and
him that he speaks great words against the Most High silver, for pleasure and amusement, with the workers
and that he wears out the saints of God. And yet,            of iniquity. The philosophy of the world takes the
although the two visions of the little horn are so sim- place of the truth of God's Word. The service of the
ilar, they are not the same, for the one develops out world replaced the cross of the Redeemer. And the
of the fourth beast, while the other develops at a time lust of the flesh, though it be under a cloak of refine-
when the fourth beast is not yet. This similarity with- ment and religion, reigns supreme.           These are un-
out identity can be explained only in one way, the ear- deniable facts. It can also easily be seen, that through
lier little horn is a type of the later, Antiochus Epi- this development the times of Antichrist are being pre-
phanes is an old testament type of the man of sin, the pared. And presently judgment will come and begin
son of perdition that is still to come. They are one in from the house of God, from the visible Church. Many
principal and also in general appearance and work, but shall then openly fall away as hypocrites and the
they are different with respect to time and develop- righteous shall scarcely be saved. History is repeating
ment. And, therefore, we may learn from the type             itself before our very eyes. Let us watch and pray
that has become history, a few things with respect to that we may not fall into temptation.
the appearance of the antitype, that is still to be real-       In the second place, we may safely draw the con-
ized in the future.                                          clusion, that the Antichrist of the latter days shall
       In the first place we may safely infer that the Anti- resemble -4ntiochus  Epiphanes in his chief natural and
christ of the latter days will resemble its type in this spiritual characteristics. I know not, whether Scrip-
respect, that he will come by reason of the transgres- ture warrants the conclusion, that he shall actually be a
sion and when the transgressors are come to the full, single person at the head of an ungodly nation or feder-
that is, in a time of great apostacy. Scripture teaches ation of nations, though this is not at all impossible.
this plainly, also in the New Testament. A time is pre- But safely we may say, that he shall be the head of a
dicted in the Scriptures when  peaple  will depart from mighty political power, and that he will use his  sword-
the truth, have a certain outward show of godliness but power to gain his iniquitous ends. It is especially from
lack the essence of the thing and will choose for them- the viewpoint of its political might that our vision pic-
selves teachers after their own heart. And it is through tures the power of Antichrist. And the oppression by


                                           T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                             537
n
him in the latter days will certainly assume the form                 .
of persecution by the sword, by prison and death. Be-                                 MISREPRESENTATION
sides, also in his spiritual character and motives                         In a resent issue of The Banner (July 19) .Rev. H.
Antiochus is type of the Antichrist that is to co..ne.                6.  Kuiper sees fit to expose the erroneous  ten&s of
He shall principally be furious against the Lord our Fundamentalism.                       The article, however, contains a
covenant-God, and therefore, strike against all that paragraph which must be challenged, since it lodges
reminds him of that God. Thus it was with Antiochus. an unfair charge against those who deny the doctrine
He exalted himself against the Prince of princes, he                  of common grace. One of two, Rev. Kuiper is either
was mad against God. And because he could not strike grossly ignorant of the views and dispositions of the
at God directly, he struck at all, that revealed Him aforesaid deniers, or, if well informed, purposely set
and that was of Him in the world. Hence, he destroyed himself to instilling wrong thoughts in the hearts of
the temple, made His worship impossible, forbade all his readers about them.
religious observances, introduced the religion of the                      The paragraph in question reads: "The typical
heathen, forbade the maintenance of the covenant in fundamentalist is an Anabaptist in his attitude toward
its very sign and wantonly offered swine's flesh on the the world. He is over-spiritual in his conception of
altar of God. The same will be true of Antichrist in the Christian's life and task, believing that our only
the latter days. Not against them, that have only a obligation toward the world is to save sinners out of it
show of religion, that will embrace the religion of by witnessing for Christ. A recent issure of a Funda-
the world, of the false Church, that will accept the mentalist organ made this statement explicitly and
sign of the beast, will he rave, but he will be infbriated            bluntly declared that since the world is hopelessly cor-
against the Lord of heaven and earth. He will cer- rupt anyway the Christian who tries to exert a good
tainly forbid His worship and make it impossible to influence in politics is wasting his strength. Leaving
serve the Lord. He will demand that  all accept the it to the dead to bury the dead he should spend all his
sign of the beast and worship him, and he will per- spare time in saving sinners out of the world. This is
secute and kill all, that will refuse to receive the mark the Anabaptist principle of `world-flight' pure and
of the beast on their foreheads and right hand. We simple. It z's the result on the one hand of the denial
must not sleep but watch, for the time is at hand.                    of common grace and of the other of the denial of the
     And lastly, we may also infer that the power of Kingship of Christ. If it be true that the Holy Spirit
Antichrist will be like that of Antiochus in that he was does not operate in the ungodly to restrain them from
no power of himself, but received it from the Most sin and to enable them to do things which are out-
High. He can do nought but what the Lord against wardly and morally good, and if it be true that Satan,
Whom he exalts himself has purposed him to do. He not Christ, is the ruler of the world, the Christian has
must  fill the measure of iniquity and the mask of out- no other calling as regards the world than to save
ward piety must be cast away and he must serve as sinners out of it." So far Kuiper.
the scourge of the Lord upon an ungodly Church. And                        The outstanding feature of the above-cited para-
because he receives his power from the Most High his graph is its deceptiveness. Among other things, it
time is also limited and fixed. The number ten is an asserts that to deny that the natural man is be&g em-
element in the limitation of the time of his operation.               powered  by the Spirit  of  God to perform works which
It is fured by the will and decree of God. Hence, the are outwardly and morn& good is to affirm with the
days, those terrible days shall be shortened for the Anabaptist that man is hopelessly (mark you, hope-
elects' sake. When it will seem as if he shall almost Iessly not totally) corrupt. The denier of  colmmon
be supreme so that no flesh shall be saved from his grace, then, is seen to be an Anabaptist. So Kuiper
wanton persecution, he shall be broken down without reasons. Let us now expose  the fraudulent character
hands. Upon the scene of his most terrible ravings the of this man's (Kuiper's) cogitations. To begin with,
Lord Himself shall descend with a shout and judge he unjustly identifies the Reformed doctrine of total
him. Then the temple shall be cleansed forever and                    depravity with the Anabaptistic doctrine of hopeless
the eternal tabernacle of God shall be with men in the depravity. Yet, as we shall see, the two have nothing
City, the gates of which shall never be shut, because in common. Further, the paragraph gives its readers
there shall be no night there!                                        to understand that he denying the theory of common
                                                       H. H.          grace, the theory, namely, that, to express ourselves in
                                                                      the words of Kuiper, the Holy Spirit operates in the
                  CURATOREN VERGADERING                               hearts of the ungodly to restrain them from sin and
     Aan den avond van Dinsdag?  1'7 Sept., om 7:45 hocpt, D. V.,
het Curatorium te vergaderen m de Fuller Ave. Kerk te Grand           to enable them to do things which are outwardly and
Rapids,  Mich.                                                        morally good,  is  automatically taking to his bosom the
     Er zal op die vergadering  geIegenheid  zijn om  zich  aan te
melden  als student aan onze Theologische School om opgeleid te       thought-structure of the Anabaptistic philosopher;
worden  tot Bedienaar des Woords.                                     that the denial of the three points renders one an Ana-
     Men sij in het bezit van:
     a. Bewijs van lidmaatschap van een onzer kerken.                 baptist ; that, conversely, the affirmation of these points
     b. Aanbeveling van zijn kerkeraad.                               is an unmistakable sign that the leaven of Anabaptism
                     Namens het Curatorium,
                                  S. G. SCHAAFSMA, Secretaris.        is not lurking in one's bosom. Trace with me the path

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

of  Kuiper's. reasoning. Kuiper informs his readers that differing not merely  moral& but  substantially as  well
a recent issue of a Fundamentalist organ (mark you,           from the one mortified. It is this mode of thought that
he does not reveal the name of this organ which he            constitutes the minor premise of a syllogism, the con-
should have done would he escape the charge of deal- clusion of which is, magi is hopelessly corrupt. What
ing dishonestly with the Fundamentalist) stated that is meant is that the corrupt organism cannot be re-
since the world is hopelessly corrupt anyway the Chris- vivified, healed, cleansed, restored and is therefore de-
tian who tries to exert a good influence in politics is       stroyed, that is, annihilated.
wasting his strength. He should, according to this               The Reformed Bible student, on the other hand,
organ, spend all his spare time in saving sinners out places not nature but sin in juxtaposition with grace
of the world. This, so Kuiper maintains, is the Ana- and insists that the corrupt organism is not anni-
baptistic principle of "world-flight." The pronoun hilated but quickened, sanctified and restored ; that
this, according to the rules of composition, must be the crucifixion of earthy members is a cleansing pro-
made to apply to the preceding statements. He living cess ; that the term new crenture signifies an organism
the principle of "world-flight," then, leaves the worId to regenerated and healed  - an organism,  .then, not dif-
the dead to be buried. Why does the Anabaptist insist, fering substantially, but morally from the old man of
so Kuiper thereupon asked, that such a world must be sin ; that, fmally, man is not hopelessly but totally cor-
outrun? And the answer: Because he denies that the            rupt, that is, incapable of performing morally good
Spirit operates in the ungodly to restrain them from works. With this the deniers of common grace are in
sin and to enable them to do things which are out-            fuI1 agreement.
wardly and morally good. Kuiper, then, links up the              We now invite Rev. H. J. Kuiper to make plain to
principle of "world-flight" with the Anabaptistic doc- us in the next issue of this magazine what the Re-
trine of hopeless depravity and with the denial of com-       formed doctrine of man's total depravity and the  Ana-
mon grace. He declares, then, be it by implication, baptistic doctrine of man's hopeless depravity might
that the Anabaptistic doctrine of Jzopeless  depravity,       have in common; what there is about the proposition
and the Reformed doctrine of total depravity (the to the effect that, to express ourselves in the words of
other side of the denial of common grace is an insist- the Catechism, natural man is so corrupt that he is
ence on the doctrine of total depravity) are identical        wholly incapable of doing any good, and inclined to all
modes of thought; that the two yield the same errone- wickedness unless regenerated by the Spirit of God,
ous principle, to-wit, that of world-flight; that the         that drives him affirming it (this proposition) in the
denier of common grace is an Anabaptist. These and camp of the Anabaptist. The doctrine of hopeless de-
similar charges they have been flinging in our teeth pravity, once more,  tirms  that the sinful organism is
from the very beginning. Fact is that these charges are destroyed.         The doctrine of total depravity, on the
cruelly unjust. This we shall now prove. To do so other hand, maintains that this organism instead is
we need not reproduce in this  articIe the Anabaptistic quickened and healed. The doctrine of hopeless cor-
thought-structure in its entirety. All that needs to be ruption insists that nature cannot be restored, and is
done is to project the Anabaptistic modes of thought therefore annihilated. The doctrine of total depravity
clustering about such terms as  nature,  grace and sin. avers, on the other hand, that man, though altogether
This can be done by defining and explaining the doc- corrupt can be and is revivified and purged if he be
trine of hopeless depravity. The materials from which an elect. The doctrine of hopeIess  depravity defines
this definition is to be constructed are contained in the the operations of grace as a process destructive of sub-
following selection :                                         stance. The doctrine of total depravity defines these
       "Maar terwijl het Socianisme de genade prijsgeeft operations as a process, consisting in the restoration of
voor de natuur, offert het Anabaptisme de natuur op substance and the removal of a sinful quality. Pray,
aan de genade. Adam was aardsch uit de aarde ; de             what do the two doctrines have in common? Abso-
schepping en heel de natuur is van een lagere orde, lutely nothing.
stoffelijk, lichamelijk, vleeschelijk. onrein.    Christus       H. J. Kuiper may aver that the doctrine of hope-
brengt echter  uit den hemel  een andere, hoogere men-        less depravity agrees with that of total depravity as
schelijke natuur mede, stort in de wedergeboorte eene defined not by the Reformed theologian but as inter-
nieuwe  ,cubstantie  in de menschen in, en bewerkt dear- preted by the deniers of common grace. True enough,
door, dat zij andere menschen zijn, die met de onge-          Kuiper and other do distinguish between  ubsolute   and
loovigen, de wereld, de staat, enz., hoegenaamd geen total  corruption. Man, though totally, is not absolutely
gemeenschap meer mogen onderhouden" (Dr. H. Ba- Kuiper and other do distinguish between absolute and
vinck, Gereformeerde Dogwuxtiek,  deel 1, p. 182).            total corruption. Man, though totally, is not absolutely
       The Anabaptist, then, identifies sin and nature,       depraved, it is said. The distinction, however, is not
holds sin to be a substance instead of a quality, places      well made. Is it ever said of one in the state of death
nature and grace in juxtaposition, and insists that the       that he is but  relativeIy  and not absolutely dead? Do
former is annihilated by the latter, that grace removes       men speak of a relative corpse? Would Kuiper dare
the substance of the sinful organism so that the term to publicly declare that man by nature is not absolutely
new creature is held to be the signification of a body        spiritually dead?    Doing so he would soon be  uni-


                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                       539

versally known as a Pelagian. Absolute (spiritual)           verzwakt en ten kwade geneigd ; er is een strijd in
death is a term which must be retained. It signifies         hem  ontstaan  tusschen vleesch en gee&,  die het  onmo-
one  absolutely  incapable of  pIeasing  God. Now it so gelijk maakt dat er een mensch zonder zonde leeft,
happens that the  two  terms  absolute (spiritual) death maar hij kan tech ook het goede willen,  en als hij dit
and total depravity or corruption signify the same ,wil, komt de genade in het volbrengen hem ter hulp.
state viewed from two different angles. This Kuiper Op dit standpunt  heeft  de Grieksche kerk  zich  ge-
will not dare to deny. Well, then, it must follow that plaatst;  en ofschoon in het  Westen Augustinus veel  in-
there is no such thing as a relative corruption if man vloed had, de kerk dwaalde hoe langer hoe verder naar
by nature is absolutely spiritually dead. Deny that het semi-pelagianisme af, en leerde te Trente,  dat de
man is absolutely corrupt and you at once deny that wilsvrijheid  we1 verzwakt, maar niet vernietigd, en
he is absolutely spiritually dead. Be this as it may, dat de concupiscentia op zichzelve geen zonde is. Ge-
we invite Kuiper to indicate the points of convergences      heel in overeenstemming hiermede is het  gevoelen van
between the Anabaptistic doctrine of hopeless deprav- de  Anabaptisten  . . .  " (Dr. H. Bavinck,  Gerefor-
ity and that of the absolute depravity of man. He may meerde Dogmutiek,  deel III, p. 77).
reply that the doctrine of absolute depravity renders           Let us grasp  the situation. The Anabaptist denies
man incapable of being saved so that, whereas the            that "by one man sin came into the world and death
Anabaptistic doctrine of  hopeless depravity also defines by sine and that death passed unto all men, for that all
man as a being way beyond redemption, Anabaptism have sinned." What man reaped as a result of Adam's
and our conception of man's depravity fully agree. We        sowing is merely a certain moral illness and a weak-
shall prove, presently, that the Anabaptist, though ened will inclined to evil. Man is not so desperately
maintaining that man is hopelessly depraved, does not sick that he cannot will to do good. This is a plain
aver that he is either totally or absolutely so. Further,    denial of his total depravity. We have made a rather
whereas the two terms  absolute death and  absolute de- remarkable discovery. The Anabaptist in common, not
pravity signify the same state viewed from different with the deniers, but with the exponents of the theory
angles, it follows that the aversion to the effect that of common grace maintain that man though depraved
the absolutely depraved sinner cannot be saved is equal is nevertheless capable of doing things outwardly and
to the aversion that the absolutely dead sinner is like- morally good. Fact is, then, that not the doctrine of
wise beyond redemption. Let H. J. Kuiper publicly absolute depravity but common grace is the theory
declare that a sinner absolutely dead in trespasses and that is seen to be in line with Anabaptistic philosophy.
sin cannot be saved. Again, the doctrine that man is We are ready to admit, of course, that while the Ana-
by nature absolutely and totally depraved does not baptist conceives of corrupt man's fruit-bearing capaci-
necessitate the conclusion that as to his conscious life ties as innate, the exponents of common grace define
he is as wicked as can be. As with a corpse, absolutely this good fruit as the esclusive  product of the Spirit.
dead, so with the spiritual corpse man, we may dis- However, it has more than once been pointed out that
tinguish between different stages of decomposition. this latter view involves those holding it in difficulties
Finally, the. doctrine of hopeless depravity does not from which they have thus far not been able to extri-
necessitate the view that man is for that reason abso- cate themselves. We know that the Holy Spirit is the
lutely and totally depraved. My eye may be suffering workman of the good works done by believers. O f
from an incurable disease. If so it is hopelessly ill. these deeds, nevertheless, the believer is the thinking
However, not until the disease destroyes my vision can and willing subject who acts, when made to bear fruit,
it be said of this organ of mine that it is absolutely ill in agreement with his sanctified character and with the
or depraved. Fact is, that the Anabaptist, though in- deepest longings of his being. Not so the natural
sisting that man is hopelessly depraved, denies never- man brought under the influence of common grace.
theless that he is so absolutely and totally. Attend to The exponents of the  latter theory are  compelIed to
the following selection :                                    define the good works of the depraved sinner as so
   "Het Pelagianisme werd door de Christelijke  kerk much fruit g-rowing on bad trees, It cannot be ad-
veroordeeld. Van den beginne  aan namen de  kerk-            mitted that of these works this sinner is the willing
vaders een zeker verband aan tusschen Adams zonde and thinking subject, who in his productive moments
en die van zijn  geslacht.  Al werd dit  verband nog acts in accordance with his nature and with the deepest
niet ingedacht, Adams overtreding  bracht  tech eene desires of his depraved being. The exponents of com-
groote zedelijke verandering teweeg bij  hemzelf  en bij mon grace know right well that a concession of this
al zijne nakomelingen. De aard dier zedelijke veran- kind is altogether inconsistent with the doctrine of
dering werd echter  zeer verschillend opgevat. Volgens       total depravity. But is it, then, not up to them to
het semi-pelagianisme bestonden de gevolgen van explain how anyone not permitted to act in agreement
Adams val voor hem en voor zijne nakomelingen be- with his true self can be said to be morally free, how
halve in den dood, vooral in verzwakking der zedelijke any moral value can be attached to the good works of
kracht. Eene eigenlijke erfzonde, die schuld ware, is such a one ; how that it can be maintained, finally, that
er we1 niet, maar er is tech een Erbubel: door Adams works which do not reflect the true character and
va1 is de mensch zedelijk krank geworden; zijn wil is nature of the performer can be anything else than an


549                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   BEAREI-

abomination in the sight of God? Kuiper may say that, far as we are concerned, he owns us a public apology.
whereas it is not maintained that the good works done If he refuses us, will he then absorb this little lesson
by sinners are spiritual, these difficulties do not exist. in logic? For an editor of a church paper  to blunder
However, if any one should ask him whether he is pre- as he did, looks bad.
pared to label these works sin, his answer would be an p         There is still another statement Kuiper makes
unmistakable no. Well, then, what may be the differ- upon which we feel constrained to comment. Kuiper
ence between sinless works and spiritual good. Can writes  : "It is be true that the Holy Spirit does not
Kuiper tell? What is more, the aforesaid works are operate in the ungodly to restrain them from sin and
said to be the exclusive product of the Spirit. It would, to enable them to do thiugs  which are outwardly and
therefore, be nothing short of blasphemy to denomin- morally good . . . the Christian has no other calling
ate them sin. What is more, whereas of these works as regards the world than to save sinners out of it."
the Spirit is said to be tlle workman, they deserve to Here again Kuiper blunders in a manner described
be called spiritual. For spiritual is that which is above. From the minor premise (a premise which he
worked by the Spirit. Be this as it may, will Kuiper claims and rightfully so that we affirm) to the elTect
condescend to tell us, say in the following issue of this that the world is totally corrupt (in the sense, of
publication, what the doctrine of total or absolute de- course, that it cannot do things which are outwardly
pravity may have in common with Anabaptistic phi- and morally good) he concludes that therefore we are
losophy?                                                     compelled to conclude that the only duty in which this
       There is still another matter or two to which atten- world involves the Christian is the  ,duty of saving sin-
tion should be directed. Kuiper states by implication ners out of it. Now the saving of sinners out of the
that our doctrine of total or absolute depravity yields world (a task the other side of which is the task of
the erroneous principle of "world-flight." Fact is, that letting our Iight shine) is, indeed, if properly inter-
nothing is further from the truth. The question cannot preted, the believer's supreme task of life. The Ana-
be suppressed whether, when Kuiper was at Calvin, baptist's conception of this task, however, is faulty.
they were not giving courses in logic. It seems not. For the latter places his duty in juxtaposition with the
The situation is this. The proposition to the effect that ordinary, earthly tasks of life - especially with the
the world is totally corrupt constitutes but a minor task of functioning as civil magistrate and of bearing
premise.      Hence from it alone no conclusion can be the sword  - and shunes and despises all but the one
drawn. Only a major and a minor premise will yield supreme task. Kuiper would have his readers believe
a conclusion. What tells us that the proposition to the that such, too, is the stand taken by the deniers of com-
effect that the world is totally corrupt constitutes a mon grace. In this Anabaptistic sense, we, according
minor premise? The article the which is definite and to Kuiper, maintain that the believer's only task in
therefore signifies a  certain world.                        life is to save sinners out of the world. And our denial
       The truth of the matter is, then, that from our in- of the theory of common grace is, so Kuiper has it, re-
sistence upon the total depravity of the world, Kuiper sponsible for the stand we are supposed to be taking.
has absolutely no right to conclude that we are for According to Kuiper, then, the proposition to the effect
leaving the world. A conclusion of this kind or, better that the world is totally or absolutely corrupt, yields
still, any conclusion requires two premises, a major the conclusion to the effect that this world involves the
and a minor. Let us now reveal the major premise,            Christian in but one task, the task, namely, of saving
which, together with the aforesaid minor premise sinners out of it. Here again Kuiper blunders in a
yields the conclusion that the world must forsaken.          manner which incites the question whether the term
       Major premise: Any world totally or absolutely de- Eosic has no place in his vocabulary. The proposition to
praved must be forsaken.           "                         the effect that the world is absolutely depraved con-
       Minor premise : The world (that is our world) is stitutes in the syllogism the minor premise. As was
totally corrupt.                                             before said, according to the rules of common sense, no
       Conclusion: The world must be forsaken.               conclusion can be drawn from a lone minor premise.
       Now I challenge H. J. Kuiper to point to a single Let us reveal in this case the unexpressed major pre-
written statement of ours asserting that a totally cor- mise and thus complete the syllogism.
rupt world must be forsaken. It cannot be done. Fact            Major premise: Any world absolutely corrupt in-
is, that the proposition has no place in our entire volves the Christian in but one task, the task, namely,
thought-structure. True, we do insist upon a spiritual of saving sinners out of it.
separation. However, the principle of world-flight is           Minor premise: This world is  absoluteiy  corrupt
not ours. It is the Anabaptist who avers that a              (that is to say, of course, the reprobate world and the
world hopelessly corrupt should be left to the dead to unregenerated elect).
be buried. Now whereas, according to the rudiments               Conclusion: It, therefore, involves the Christian in
of logic, from a minor premise alone no conclusion can but one task, the one, namely, stipulated above.
be drawn, and whereas H. .I. Kuiper, nevertheless, did          Again we invite Kuiper to prove from our writings
the forbidden thing, we should think that, whereas that we are addicted to the view incorporated in the
the conclusion he drew was a very damaging one as major premise of the above-cited syllogism. We assure


                                    T H E S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                       541

him that any such attempt on his part will end in          performed as they should be, render the Christian a
dismal failure. Well, then, what right had he to light upon the candle stick? They are too numerous to
associate us with the view embodied in the above-cited mention. Let me, nevertheless, name some of them:
conclusion. It certainly cannot be implied in the minor Building houses, cultivating farms, rearing  families,
premise. That is to say, it does not follow logically teaching school, preaching the world, functioning as a
from our views. What is more, Kuiper  could have magistrate in the state, bearing the sword, etc.
learned from our writings that this view is no more           A word about the task of functioning as magistrate
ours than his. Ignoring what we have written, he in the state. Kuiper would again have his readers be-
unlawfully concludes from our insistence upon the lieve that our views necessitate the conclusion that a
total depravity of man that we in common with the          Christian cannot hold office in the state ; that, to be
Anabaptist despise as being out of the devil such tasks    consistent, we must keep ourselves to the one task.
as functioning as a civil magistrate, that we have no      the task, namely, of saving sinners out of the world.
other duty toward the world than to save sinners out       The premises which he thinks compel us to draw the
of `it. From the point of view of both ethics and com- above-cited conclusion are,  The  world  is absolutely cor-
mon sense he again did the forbidden thing. He             rupt, and, The u;orld cannot be infEuenced to the good.
slandered his neighbor and trampled under foot God's Both these propositions we  affirm,  providing the term
laws of correct thinking.                                  zoorld  may be taken as the signification of the world
   However, to avoid all misunderstanding I want to lying in sin. We hasten to add, however, that the
say that, if correctly interpreted, the proposition to the above-cited propositions  cannot  yield the conclusion
effect that'the Christian has but one supreme duty in that, for these reasons, the Christian may hold no office
life is true. Let shine your light,  said our Saviour. in that world. These propositions again constitute the
The Christian does so. It pleases the Lord to use our minor premises of syllogisms. As was before said,
light to draw out of darkness into His marvelous light,    from a lone minor premise no conclusion can be drawn.
the elect: Now this emitted light is the believer, the     Nevertheless Kuiper again did so and thereby again
man, made by God's grace to project himself in his trampled under foot the rudiments of logic. Fact is,
works. This light, then, is at once the fruit which the that the Christian lnny function as magistrate in the
good tree bears; the sum-total of tasks constituting world. The task of bearing the sword and maintain-
life. These tasks, done out of the principle of faith,     ing God's laws was assigned, as we saw in a previous
according to the divine law and the glory of God, con- essay, to believing Noah and in Noah to the people of
stitute at once the light emitted. And where no task of    God of all ages. We insist that the state is a Divine
life may be performed out of any other principle and       institution and that the duty of vindicating God's laws
.according  to no other standard, and to no other pur-     devolves upon the Christian.       These Anabaptistic
pose, our only and supreme task of life is to let shine    tenets cannot be deduced from our views without milit-
our light in order that men (God's people, the elect)      ating against God's logic.
seeing our light may glorify our father in heaven. It         The question is then in order, why is not the
is plain, then, that this one supreme task cannot          Christian at Washington and Lansing? The answer is
be placed in juxtaposition with the earthly duties in not far to seek. Whereas the children of the world
which life involves us.      The performance of the        constitute the great majority, it is the element that
latter  makes it possible for us to quit ourselves of the seats you in high places. However, whereas "God calls
former. It is the Anabaptist who places this supreme       us His sons, the world does not know us, because it
task side by side with the ordinary duties of life. So, knows not Him" (I John 3  :l) . H. J. Kuiper reads
too, H. J. Kuiper. Attend once more to the following:      this Scripture thus: "God calls us His sons, hence the
"If it be true that the Holy Spirit does not operate in    world would not know us and the Father, if it were not
the ungodly to restrain them from sin . . . the Chris-     for common grace. But whereas the ungodly are
tian has no other calling as regards the world than to brought under the benign influence of common grace,
save' sinners out of it." What Kuiper means to say is they do know us and the Father, - know us, that is,
that the Christian has other duties beside the one         love and desire us. Hence, the Christian is able to
supreme task of letting shine our light. He places, as exert a good influence in politics, that is to say, in-
does the Anabaptist, this one supreme task in juxtapo- fluence the spiritually dead world to the good. How-
sition with the ordinary duties in which life involves us. ever, we have one great conclusive proof that  .H.  J.
This, for reasons given above, cannot be done. To do Kuiper mutilates this Scripture. Fact is, that the
so is to separate, as does the Anabaptist, grace from world knew not Christ, but hated Him and finally
nature, to divorce religion from life and its ordinary affixed Him to the cross. It did so because He emitted
persuits, to advocate going to church on Sunday, and       the pure light from heaven while among us. Now, then,
living like a child of the devil the remaining six days    will H. J. Kuiper explain to us why the world would
of the week. I am afraid that if I continue I shall        crusify Christ and not us if we let shine our light?
have shown up H. J. Kuiper and his fellows as full-        Fact is, that Christ predicted that His people shall, if
fledged Anabaptists.                                       walking as children of the light, receive from the world
    What may be these ordinary tasks of life which, if     a treatment identical to His. I repeat, Kuiper mutilates

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

I John 3 :I. Such is our answer to the question, why ia  not the outstanding fool thought-structure of the
the Christian is not of that group selected to run the twentieth century..
machinery of government.                                        I end with notifying H. J. Kuiper that henceforth
       Again, Kuiper informs his readers that another he must be careful what he writes about us as I am a
false tenet entering into the make-up of the principle faithful reader of The Banner.
of world-flight is: "Satan not Christ is the ruler of the                                                       G. M. 0.
world." That Satan and not Christ is the ruler in the
world is a tenet found in the thought-structure of the                   CLASSICALE HIERARCHIE
Anabaptist. We confess, however, (and Kuiper does            (Rede, gehouden in  verband  met het onrecht gepleegd door
not, respecting this particular matter, inform his                       Classis  Grand Rapids Oost in 1924)
readers otherwise) that Christ is king of His church.           De zaak waarvoor ik in dezen avond uwe welwil-
He sets up His kingdom in the hearts of His people. lende aandacht vraag is we1 met de zaak der waarheid,
Being brought under the benign influence of His grace, althans niet directelijk, schoon ze er ten nauwste mede
they render Him a loving obedience. Not so the wicked in betrokken is, doch de zaak des rechts in Christus'
world. Yet Christ reigns in this dark realm also. The        kerke,  doch niemand uwer meene daarom, dat  xe van
wicked are His slaves, though they realize it not. The minder belang  is en mijne inspanning en uwe aandacht
entire life of the sinner, in all its dark and sinful de- niet dubbel waardig is. Wie zoo zou meenen tech ver-
tails, is the realization of the Divine counsel which giste  zich deerlijk. De feiten tech zijn eenvoudig deze:
Christ is engaged in executing. Christ, then, reigns In het late  naj.aar  van 1924 en het allereerste begin van
in the realm of darkness. Unto Him was given all 1925 zijn door de classes ter onzer stede drie  kerkera-
power so that there is no power not His. Hence, noth- den met hunne leeraren, zooals het heet uit het ambt
ing can befall us but by His will; all creatures are so hunner respective bedieningen gezet. En deze kerke-
kept under His power that not a hair of  .our head can raden, met hunne leeraren, ongeveer een vijftig ambts-
fall to the ground without His will. The devil and all dragers in getal, hebben geweigerd gevolg te geven aan
our enemies are so restrained that without His perniis-      deze kerkelijke handeling en zijn hun ambt, in weerwil
sion they cannot hurt us. For all power is His. In- van alle kerkelijke rechtspraak, blijven bedienen tot op
deed, Christ reigns in the world. Therefore He can den huidigen dag. Voorts hebben zich, op denzelfden
accomplish, through the instrumentality of His sheep basis als zij, en dus onder denzelfden kerkelij ken ban,
which He stations in this world, His eternal designs. drie andere kerkeraden  gevormd, die in even zoovele
Because He reigns, he is capable of saving His elect gemeenten thans ook hunne ambten bedienen, zoodat
out of this world.                                           er op dit oogenblik reeds een zeventig  B vijf en  zeven-"
       No one, I dare say, will want to maintain that the tig ambtsdragers zijn, die naar het oordeel van zekere
foregoing line of thought is not strictly Reformed. Yet classes hun ambt onwettiglijk dragen en bedienen.
Kuiper informs his readers that only in the event               Den ernst dezer zaak vatte men diep.
Christ does not so reign in the world can He through            Wat tech beteekent, uit het oogpunt der Classis,  de
the instrumentality of His people save sinners out of afzetting uit het ambt van leeraar, ouderling en dia-
the world. Read again with care the following: "If it ken? Niets minder, dan dat het ons in den Naam des
be true that not Christ is the ruler of the world, the Heeren ernstiglijk verboden is het Woord Gods te  pre-
Christian. has no other calling as regards the world diken,  `de sacramenten van Doop en Avondmaal te  be-
than to save sinners out of it." In other words, if it dienen  in het midden  der gemeente, de kerkelijke tucht
be true that Christ is not king in the world, the Chris- uit te oefenen  en in het algemeen, om opzicht te heb-
tian has the one calling of saving sinners out of the ben over de gemeente Gods, die Hij  gekocht  heeft met
world.      Astounding !    When it comes to saving Zijn eigen bloed. Indien tech de Classes het recht aan
sinners out of the world, the Christian can dis- hare zijde hebben, dan moet naar het eigen Woord des
pense with Christ. Only as a citizen of the world, Heilands in den hemel gebonden zijn, wat op aarde ge-
when following the ordinary peisuits  of life, does he bonden is. Dan staat het voor den Koning der Kerk
need Christ.                                                 en voor de engelen in den hemel  thans alzoo,  dat wij
       Herewith we have said our say for the present. A niet meer geroepen zijn tot de bediening des  Goddelij-
remark or two by way of conclusion. Strange how it ken Woords en der Sacramenten en tot handhaving der
turned out that if anything not we but  H. J. Kuiper is goede orde en het opzicht over leven en leer der  leden
contaminated with the contagion of Anabaptism. The van het lichaam  Christi. Dan zijn  wij geworden in
principle of "world-flight" is not ours nor can it be het oog van den Heere uit den  hemel  ontrouwe dienst-
gotten out of our views. True, in an ethical-spiritual knechten, die Zijn Woord verkrachten, de tucht mis-
sense, the Christian lives alone, but as a lone one, holds kennen  en met voeten treden en de kudde Gods aan
high the banner of his Christ in that particular place onze zorge toevertrouwd op doolpaden leidden of anders
in life and in tha world where God places him. We  are verwaarloosden. En dan beginnen deze ambtsdragers
not quite as sickly as our slanderers would have us. nog grooter zonde, door in het kwaad te volharden en
To the contrary, no one yet had been able to prove that inplaats zich naar hunne eigene belofte te onderwer-
we are in error and that the theory of common grace pen aan de van Christus' wege toegepaste kerkelijke


                           A   R E F O R M E D   S E M I - M O N T H L Y   M A G A Z I N E
                      PUBLKSHED   BY  THE REFORMED FREE PUBLISHING ASSOCIATION, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN


                                                                                                       Communications relative to con-
  should he addrwsed  to F.  Prins,                                                                    tents should he  addressed  to Rev.
pI:q                                                                                                   E l%oe$;;wR$~~;zx~n  St.,



Vol. V, No. 24                                     SEPTEMBER 15, 1929                                        Subscription Price, $2.50

                                                                     * far more blessed rest than Adam ever hnew  or could
             MEDITATION'                                               have attained, fruit of  a  wondrous work that would be
                                                      :                a revelation of God's amazing power and unfathomable
                                                           T-P         wisdom.
                                                                           For  He had chosen unto Himself a people.
                  LABOR FOR THE REST                                       And a City and Country He had prepared.them,  a
                       Let us labor therefore to enter into that       Land of everlasting rest, in the which He would always
                    rest, lest any man fall  afzHeE4   Flrne
                    example nf unbelief.                   .    :     . - be,their God and they would forever be His people ;
                                                                       where He would continuously spread His tabernacle
   Labor for rest!                                                     over them and they would incessantly dwell in His
   For that  rest, the rest, the final rest!                           `presence. `And He, their own God, would labor to lead
   For, though there were several days of rest in the them into that rest !-                            '
past, there still remaineth a rest for the,people  of God.                 He visited His. people as they groaned under the
   In the first Paradise stood, the first-man Adam, fan yoke" of bondage, in Egypt. He revealed the glory of
image of Him that was to come, called to labor that he                 His name and His `marvelous power, when He delivered
might enter into God's rest. Six days and one marked them out of the cruel hand of Pharaoh, when He safely
the period of God's perfected creation,  - the Most guided them throughthe Red-Sea, destroying the ene-
High had labored to enter into His rest; the same                      mies that still pursued them. He led them as a Shep-
sequence of six days and one, of labor and rest, was                    herd through the terrible `desert, feeding them from
ordained for the creature that was made after His own heaven, satisfying their thirst  f,rom  the flinty rock,
image. Always a rest loomed before him, the rest of filling the hearts of their enemies' with fear, inflicting
God, the blessedness of His everlasting fellowship . . . terrible defeat upon all that opposed them.. He divided
    Yet, it was not the final rest, for the which the the swelling waters of Jordan `before them and opened
first man might labor. Even as himself was an image the gate for them into the Promised Rest,, drove out
of Him that was to come, so the rest, which by his the nations and fulfilled His promises made unto the
labor he might attain, was but a picture of a better fathers. He established His own house on Mt. Zion
and more blessed rest, God had prepared for them that and dwelled among them, ruling over them as their
love Him.                                                               King,  :loving  them as a Father, blessing them with
    Nor did Adam enter into the rest that was set be- covenant-blessingx from heaven. He had led His peo-
f o r e   h i m .                                                       `pie into the rest! . . . .
    He failed through unbelief.                                             Yet, even this rest was not final.
    Instead of laboring for the rest that loomed before                     It was only a shadow of the rest that was to come.
him, he rather chose the rebellion of sin and the slavery Jerusalem on earth was not an abiding city and Canaan
of the devil and thus became a weary toiler, without was itself a promise of better things to come.
prospect of ever entering into rest, a drudge whom sin                      And still God worked. Still He spoke of another
bore' down with loads of grief and sorrow and suffer- day, indicating that the ultimate realization of the
ing, a slave .of the Prince of darkness with nought to Sabbath still Ioomed in the future. Toward that Rest
anticipate but darkness and death and everlasting pointed  all the ceremonies, of it spoke all the prophets
desolation. For the wages of sin is death. And be- that declared the will of God. That Rest was to be
cause of the `sin of one man the rest seemed hopelessly prepared by the labor and toil of God's own Son, Who,
lost, was, indeed, irretrievable for sinful man.                        for that purpose, assumed the form of a servant. He
    But our covenant-God continued to work.                             came and in Him God visited His people once more, as
    He spoke of another day, of a better sabbath, of a they groaned under the yoke of sin and the law. With


 554                                  T H E   STANDARTi   B E A R E R

a mighty hand and in wondrous love He labored to               It could not be otherwise . . . .
remove that burden, to destroy the enemies that held           For, as we enter into His rest by faith and partake
them in bondage. He toiled and struggled till the          of His liberty, we become estranged from the world,
bloody sweat was pressed on His brow and His soul have ceased from its evil works and are children of
was exceedingly sorrowful even unto death. He con- light. These things are inseparably connected. No
tinued the battle, till He entered into the deepest depth one is able to profess that he entered into His rest,
and darkness of the prison of death, shedding His own unless he aIso is actually translated out of darkness
lifeblood and leaving His earthly form on the battle- into His marvelous light and begins to shew forth the
field, that He might lead His brethren into the Rest. praises of Him that called him. For no one can serve
And He battled unto victory. He labored until the end. two masters, God and Mammon. And no one can con-
And on the day of His resurrection He entered into His sistently seek two cities, the earthly and the heavenly.
glorious rest and all His brethren with Him. At that If, then, we have become partakers of the rest of  God
open grave, whence He issued in glory, Victor over the in Christ Jesus and have been made citizens of the
bondage of sin and death, He stands and calls: "Come heavenly city, we have also become strangers in the
unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I world and condemn its evil works. But for that very
will give you rest." It was the ."other  day," of which reason the Prince of this world and all his host arc
God had spoken. And on that day of His resurrection opposed to us. They will impede our progress to the
all His &ethren  rejoice and celebrate, that God hath heavenly  city. They will `attempt to seduce us from
prepared them a Sabbath ! . . . .                          the way. And they are powerful. And they are
    Into His perfected work they enter.                    masters of many means. Now. they sow doubt and un-
    And by faith -entering into that perfected work, belief by vain philosophy; now they blind the eyes and
they are liberated from the law of sin and death and' captivate the hearts by the glitter ef treasures and the
enter into the Rest of God's covenant.                     attraction of pleasures; now they intimidate by threats
    Yet, even so, there still remaineth a Rest for the and menaces of sufferings and persecutions . . . .
people of God !                                               And a powerful ally they have in our own evil
    In principle they have entered into the Rest. But heart, so easily induced to believe the lie, to seek the
the perfection of that Rest looms in the future, in the pleasures and avoid the sufferings and persecutions of
heavenly City, God prepared for them.                      the world !
    Then, when the earthly house of this tabernacle           Let us labor, therefore, to enter into that Rest !
shall be dissolved and they shall have an house with          Let us diligently endeavor, let us put forth all our
God, not made with hands, eternal in the heavens . . . effort, let us faithfully struggle, that we may attain
    Then, when all the battle is over, and the Rest-giver to the heavenly City!
shall come again, in all the power of His appearance,         How necessary is the admonition ?
to destroy the last enemy, to glorify all His brethren,       How needful that we hide it in our hearts, con-
to create new heavens and a new earth in which righte- stantly have it before the light of our consciousness:
ousness shall dwell . . . .                                Let us therefore labor to enter into that Rest!
    Then, when all the weary night is past and there          How well we do to make it our daily prayer: Lord,
shall be no more night, when God shall spread His grant me grace to labor, day by day, that I may enter
glorious tabernacle over all forever . . . .               into the Rest!
    Then, the Rest shall have been perfected !                `For, to labor for the rest implies, first of ail that
    Labor to enter into that Rest!                         we have our mind set on it, fixed on  the. things above
                                                           with undivided attention and interest. It signifies that
                                                           we seek the heavenly things exclusively, not the things
   Yea, let us labor!                                      that are on the earth. It means that it is the supreme,
    Oh, to be sure, the realization of that Rest is cer- the sole object of our hope, for the which we actually
tain and depends, .not on our labor, but solely on the count  all other things but dross and dung. Our heart
amazing toil of the Rest-giver, Who shed His life-blood and mind cannot be divided. We cannot love the things
for us. Do never vainly and proudly imagine that your above and the things of the world at the same time.
labor adds at all to His merit and to the infinite value We will not labor to enter into the Rest while we labor
of His toil.                                               to gather the treasures of the world. Our mind and
   But hath it not been given us in the cause of Christ, heart cannot be fured on the untold bliss of the ever-
not only to believe in Him, but also to battle and to lasting pleasures of heaven while they are craving
suffer with Him?                                           after the lusts of the flesh and the pride of life. And,
   Is it not His own good-pleasure that, for a short oh, who does not know, how his sinful mind is inclined
time, we should be in the world to the praise of His to be captivated by the things of the world and forget
glory?                                                     the things that are above? . . . .
   The way to the final rest, for all the children of         Let us labor, therefore !
God, must needs be a way of struggle and labor, of toil       It implies that we make all  earthIy  things sub-
even unto death.                                           servient to the heavenly. No, it does not mean that we


                                     T H E .   STANDARD.`BEA-RER                                                     555

neglect our earthly calling and haughtily despise the           With the people of God they had been delivered out
things of this present time. Shall the pilgrim disdain of the bondage of Egypt, with them they all passed
the tent, be it ever so humble, in which he finds shelter    through the Red Sea and were baptized into Moses,
on the way?.  Rut the tent remains to him a means to         with them they were witnesses of His mighty deeds,
an end, though he faithfully cares for it and carries  it    they ate of the manna and drank out of the rock. But
with him from day to day. No solid foundations he            they had no faith, they did not cling to the unseen
builds under it, but pitches it by the roadside, ready to God, their eyes were not  fixed on the Land of Rest but
roll it up in the morning and continue the journey. on the pleasures of Egypt, they could not endure the
The tent is for him a means to reach the desired goal.       hardships of the journey, neither had they courage to
And thus the Christian stranger lives in a tent. With fight the battles of Jehovah with the giants of the land.
it he must labor to enter into the final rest. He must The terrible displeasures of God, as fierce as His grace
not seek his abiding dwellingplace in it, neither must is sweet, cast them down in the wilderness. They did
he so adorn it, that he would not gladly exchange the        not enter in!
tent for the heavenly building. The tent must not be-           These things were written to be ensamples unto us !
come an obstacle for him to enter into his rest. . Tem-         Lest we fall into the same example of unbelief!
poral things must be subservient to eternal, the things         Not, indeed, as if God's saints could perish in the
below to the things above. And again, who, is "hot desert. By His grace they were called, by His grace
ready to confess that his soul cleaveth unto the dust,       they shall persevere until the end. And by His grace
that the tent frequently becomes a hindrance rather they shall surely enter in !
than a means to enter into the final rest? . . . .              But by that grace they must travel a way of battle
   Let us, therefore, labor!                                 and toil!
   Negatively, it implies, too, that we are always will-        And on that way of labor and battle the Most High
ing to sacrifice all things else for the attainment of that cheers them on and admonishes them, encourages them
final rest. When confronted with the choice: the Rest and warns them from ways of wickedness, urges them
or the World, the Christian sojourner may not hesitate. to be faithful unto death, that no one take their crown!
Name and fame, honour and position, wealth and pos-             He does so by word and example !
session, father and mother, brother and sister, wife            Positively they have before them the example of a
and husband, son and daughter, home and earthly hap- veritable cloud of witnesses, that trod the same pil-
piness, liberty and earthly life,  `- all must be ac- grim's way as they, that lived in the same faith, that
counted dross and dung in comparison with the glory fought the same battle, that bore the same cross, that
and blessedness of the final Rest. He must be willing passed through the same sufferings inflicted on them
to deny himself and bear the cross of Christ, rather by the same enemies, that were supported by the same
than the crown of the world. For the cross of the Lord grace and that gained the victory of the Rest in the
yields a crown in the final Rest; the crown of the world end. Negatively they have before them the fearful
,yields everlasting desolation. And, oh, who does not example of unbelief, warning them from ways of
realize what a struggle it costs even the firmest of wickedness and disobedience, reminding them of the
Christians, constantly to make that choice? . . . .          weakness of the flesh and the waywardness of their
   Let us, therefore, labor to enter into that Rest!         sinful heart . . . .
   And do not forget continually to watch in prayer!            That cheerfully they' might follow the one; and
   Your own power is nought and the enemy is humbly they might fear the other!
mighty. Battling on in your own strength you would              Let us labor, therefore, to enter in !
soon succumb. In the battle you are utterly dependent           Humbly labor !
on the very grace by which you were translated a                                                                 H. H.
stranger in the world.
    Watch and pray, that ye may not fall into tempta-
tion !Yea, labor for the Rest!
                                                                                  AAN U, 0 HEER!
                                                                          Juist zoo als ik Uw beeld, o Heer !
    Humbly labor to enter in!                                                 In `t Evangelie vind,
    Working out your own salvation with fear and                          Zij t gij de God dien ik begeer,
trembling.                                                                    Uw zwak en zondig kind.
    And do not proudly and vainly imagine that you
are beyond the stage in which such admonitions are                        Hoe dankbaar  juich ik  elken dag,
needed, lest you fall!
    A terrible example of unbelief' you have before you                       Dat Gij niet anders zijt,
in those that could not and did not enter on account of                   Dat ik U zoo erkennen  mag,
their unbelief!                                                               En zoo me in U verblijd  !

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

                     TRUE LIBERTY                            is thy victory. The sting of death is sin and the
                                                             strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which
       Liberty or freedom has been variously defined as      giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ"
follows : (1) Freedom from restraint; (2) exemption          (I Cor. 15:55,  56, 57).
from the power and the control of another; (3) the              The conclusion, then, is warranted that the term
power of acting as one thinks fit ; (4) a state of exemp- liberty is synonymous to the term salvation, and signi-
tion from positive law. Some of the above-cited defini- fies a saving from the greatest possible evil and the
tion are not of a kind that should be endorsed. For, bringing into closest proximity with the highest pos-
when analyzed, they turn out to be the gateway to a sible good. Strictly speaking, the substantive libera-
positively unchristian thought-structure. The saint of tion denotes the actual saving process and the term
old who sang, "0 how love I thy law. It is my medita- 5berty  the possession and enjoyment of the good be-
tion all the day . . . . I understand more than the stowed, to-wit, that state of spiritual and physical well-
ancient, because I keep thy precepts . . .  ," was           being, of peace, joy and blessedness peculiar to one who
superbly free. Liberty and independence are not syno- takes upon him Christ's yoke and permits himself to
nymous terms.                                                be reconciled with God ; who, having been reclaimed
       So, too, do men distinguish between various kinds from death, and cleansed from sin, beholds with purged
of liberty, such as,  (I) natural liberty,  - consisting in and glorified sense organs, God's face, enjoys His
the power of acting as one thinks fit without any con- blessed friendship, and is satisfied by His glorious
straint except from the laws of nature; (2) Civil lib-       image. This is the true state of liberty. To be truly
erty, - the liberty of men in a state of society so far free is to truly live, thrive, develop and to be truly
only restrained as is necessary for the safety and           happy. Bliss,  then, is one of the elements entering into
interest of the society  ; (3) Religious liberty, - the the make-up of true freedom.
freedom and right of adopting and enjoying opinions             Further, he truly free is morally free. Such a one
on religious subjects, and of worshipping the Supreme acts in accordance with character and in agreement
Being according to the dictate of conscience ; (4) Moral with the deepest longings of his being. His deed is the
liberty,  - the exemption from compulsion or restraint fruit of a plant rooted in the sub-soil of his heart. It
in willing; (5) Liberty, in metaphysics, is defined as exhibits traits of character, agrees with nature and is
the power of an agent to do are to forbear any partic- the crystallization of thought and volition. There-
ular action according to the determination of thought. fore the tree is known by the fruit it bears. No one
   Whereas the elements entering into the make-up of is not free in this last-cited sense. Determinism should
true freedom may be derived from Holy Writ, let us have to signify a psychical state in which the subject
pass by for the present the materials presented above acts, yet is not the subject of the action  ; a state in
and turn to this Book. Scripture denominates true lib- which the deed done is without a psychical root, with-
erty glorious, associates it with the Spirit and declares, out motive and purpose and the support of volition and
further, that the believer is one made free by Christ.       thought, a deed, therefore, which neither exhibits
"If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be traits of character nor agrees with the nature of the
free indeed" (John'  5:36). "Stand fast therefore in doer. Fact is, however, that there are no such deeds.
the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free . . . ."      Even one active in sleep or while under the influence
(Gal. 5:l). "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is of some powerful drug exhibits the hidden man. Even
liberty" (II Cor.  3:17). "Because the creature itself a slave performing the assigned task because threat-
also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption ened by the lash, is morally free. True, the `impulse
into the  ylol-ious liberty of the children of God" (Rom. here is not love but fear. However, the fear is the
8:21).                                                       man, and the service rendered a matter of thought
   The negative side of true liberty is, according to and volition. The slave thhks it best to will to labor
Scripture, an exemption from all cruel restraint, a de- instead of taking the lash. He so decides. If man,
liverance from the devastating wrath of God together when acting under the impulse of fear, is not morally;
with its agents such as sin, Satan and the world, the free, neither is he responsible. In this case one deny-
grave, death and hell. "Being then made free from ing the name of Christ when persecution threatens, is
sin . . .  " (Rom.  6:18).      "Christ hath redeemed without sin. Fact is, however, that the deed is the
(secured our freedom with the price of His blood) from man, though this man be the actor on the stage, and
the curse of the law . . . " (Gal. 3:13). "And to wait       the part played, murder. True, this actor is not the
for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the subject of the crime he plays but of his playing of the
dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath crime and is therefore being held responsible for the
to come" (I Thess.  1:lO). "Deliver us from the evil profession he chose. Determinism, in the above de-
one," so Christ taught His followers to pray. And the scribed sense, is a nonentity. It does not exist except
devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire in the mind of the philosopher.  So, too, the theory
and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet of common grace. For its exponents cannot afford to
are . . .  " (Rev.  2O:lO).    The apostle  jubila&y  ex-    style the good works sinners do the outgrowth of the
clahs : "0 death, where is thy sting ? 0 grave, where bad tree.  A concession of this kind would amount,


                                  T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                        56 I.

they feel, to a denial of the doctrine of the total dc-     ness only in the event the law is the law of sin, To
pravity of man. The good deed done, so it is said, is live in conformity with what God  deems  right  ald
not the man but the Spirit. If so, this deed is without proper is to be superbly free.
human impulse and design, is not the crystallization           Let us elucidate some of these matters. That i;le
of human thought and volition, and partakes not of the despicable reverse of true liberty is a life and conduct
character of the nature of the human agent. Yet it is at odds with law and God is a stern truth first verified
called a good work. It is a work, however, that exists by the hard experiences of the first parents of the
only in the mind of these philosophers.                     human race. To man God said: "Of every tree of the
   However this may be, true freedom implies moral garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the
freedom. `However, the moral freedom of the saint is knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of
of a unique type. The saint acts in agreement with a it . . . .  " (Gen. 2 :16, 1'7). The reasoning of the ser-
new nature, and exhibits, when in action, the traits of pent was fitted to make it appear as if God was dealing
one quickened by the Spirit of Christ and cleansed in deceptively with His creature by blocking his way to
the blood of the lamb. The impulse, here, is not fear the attainment of some higher good and that for the
but love ; and the good deed is supported by thought        purpose of safeguarding His {God's) interests. Said
and volition constituted of the indwelling word and of the serpent : "Thou shalt not surely die: for God doth
a program of life Christ drafted for His followers.         know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes
   Herewith we have suggested what, in conjunction shall be opened, and ye shall be as God knowing good
with the high type of the believer's freedom, consti- and evil" (Gen.  3:s).        "0 Man, cast off God's yoke,
tutes the secret of true liberty. To be truly free is to set up thine own standards of conduct and become as
live in conformity with divine law fitted for a being God. To come to your own, so the devil had succeeded
reconciled to God. Such a one possesses the blessed in making man believe, is to cut lose from God and to
friendship of the Most High, walks and talks with God, assert thyself as one capable of being a law unto him-
is enveloped by His love and embraced by His Almighty self." "Giving ear to the words of the devil, man
arms. The believer, being one whose pride has been transgressed the commandment of life which he had
thawed out by God's grace is one who needs and craves       received, and by sin separated himself from God, who
the law as the hart panteth after the water brooks.         was his true life, having corrupted his whole nature,
The commandment he loves more than pure gold ; and whereby he made himself liable to corporal and spirit-
it makes him wiser than all his enemies; it is the lamp ual death" (Confession, Art. 14).
unto his feet and the light upon his path. Law is the          This spiritually dead sinner is described in Scrip-
element in which he lives and flourishes. The fish cast ture as "a servant of sin" (Rom. 6:18), as "a servant
upon dry land is no longer free. Having been taken out of corruption, overcome by sin and therefore in bondage
of its element it perishes. What the water is to the        of sin" (II Pet.  2:19). This servitude is described,
inhabitants of the sea, law is to the saint. It consti- further, as a thraldom involving fallen man in unspeak-
tutes the living water with which he feeds his soul, the able misery, and defined as constituting the horrible
air he breathes, the light in which he moves and thrives    reverse of that blessed boone called liberty. It is not
and attains to that high-point of bliss known in Scrip- the view of Scripture, however, that man's misery con-
ture as life eternal. The term law as we now use it sists in his being servant. If so, the saint's plight
is not the signification'of a mere precept but of a word .would be as sorry as that of the sinner, as both are
- the word of God, that directs itself to the sanctified servants, the former of Christ and of righteousness,
will and intelligence of the believer. It is a word that the latter of sin. "What then?" asks the apostle, "shall
reflects the wisdom and glory of God. Hence, to be          we sin because we are not under the law, but under
nourished with this word, is to be fed with the mercy grace? God forbid. Know ye not that to whom ye
of the Lord ; and to walk in its light is to abide in the yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are
light of God's countenance so that the atmosphere in to whom ye obey  ; whether of sin unto death, or of
which the saints live and prosper is in the final in- obedience unto righteousness? But God be thanked
stance one of Divine love. True freedom, then, con- that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed
sists in being pure in heart. For such a one is like God from the heart that form of doctrine which was de-
and is therefore capable of appreciating God and see- livered to you. Being then made free from sin, ye be-
ing His face.                                               came the servants of righteousness" (Rom. 6 :14-19).
    We are now ready to make a few observations. Man, then, is either a servant of God or of the devil,
 (1) True freedom is more than mere moral freedom.          of sin or of righteousness. Not to serve and still be
The wicked one is morally free yet not truly free. free one must needs be God. Of the urge to worship
 (2) Such terms as liberty, independency and lawless- man cannot undo himself, for it is interwoven with the
ness are not synonymous terms. True freedom is in-          very texture of his soul. In fact, it is the man. If
dependency only in the event man is loosed from the         God be not the hero sought and enshrined, it is the
powers of iniquity. But a life apart (ethically and creature,  - a Lindbergh, a Napoleon, that "man of sin,
spiritually) from God is death so that to cleave to the the son of perdition: who opposeth and exalteth him-
Almighty is life and liberty. True freedom is lawless- self above all that is called God . . . ", Satan. That


562                                   T H E   S T A N D A R D   EEARER

freedom consists in doing without a master is one of must be put OK Must these morally good deeds be put
the illusions of sin. Likewise that one can serve sin       off? To be consistent Kuiper  should have to remove
and not come to grief. Wherein, once more, does the         the above-cited passage (and very many more) from
woe of the spiritual serf consist? In this that he is the the page of his Bible and place in its room some such
servant of sin. This is the matter to which attention sentence as : "That ye put off +z prtrt concerning the
must now be directed. In doing so, let it be said by        former conversation the old man, which  would bc
way of introduction that the holy writers often draw totally and absolutely corrupt if it were not for the
away with their minds sin from the thing which has it       izealing  influences  of co~mmon  grace."
(the sinner) and speak of it as something apart, as a           It should not be supposed, however, that Scripture
thing endowed with personality, intelligence and voli- in any wise favors the view that salvation is a process
tion setting itself up in man as his lord. This perfectly consisting in the destruction instead of the restoration
legitimate mental action, enabled the aforesaid writers of substance and the removal of the sinful quality.
to bring man face to face with all the cruel and grue-      Such terms as regeneration, and sanctification, together
some aspects of his sin and misery. Fact is, however, with the many passages in Holy Writ that depict the
that sin is the quality of the man and has, therefore,      elect human as one cleansed, prove conclusively that
no independent existence. Only in the mind can it `be the corrupt organism is not annihilated but  q'uickened,
thought of as something apart. The ordinances of cleansed, restored and differs, consequently, not sub-
cleansing,  the institution of circumcision, the ordinance stantially but qualitatively from the old. The crucifix-
of baptism, the scriptures designating man a spiritual ion of the unhallowed members is a cleansing process
corpse or a filthy organism needing to be purged, all and constitutes the other side of a bringing into relief
concur in substantiating the view that sin is a quality, of a man whose dispositions differ so radically from the
a corruption of the whole nature of man. If so, man's one made to disappear as to justify the use of such
spiritual serfdom is so absolutely fixed +s to necessi- phraseology as  mortification  of  the old man  of  sin.  The
tate an almighty deliverer. For the revivification of sinner viewed from the point of view of his absolute
the dead and the changing of a nature are tasks to inability to please God in any conceivable respect is
which no mere human is equal. Whereas nature does said to be dead in sin. But whereas death is decay,
not change, so it is universally admitted, and whereas corruption, the salvation of the sinner is at once a
the dead cannot, have never been known, to reclaim cleansing process.
themselves, man must remain what he is forever unless           That the holy writers would sometimes conceive of
overshadowed by the grace of the Almighty God.              sin as a thing apart, setting up its dominion in man's
   Sin, then, is a quality. The man is sinful  - a sin- bosom, has a reason. Especially by those wholly given
ner. Such (scriptural) phraseology as the old Man of over a life of vice and sin, the unclean lusts of the
sin, the body of sin and the body of this d&h signify heart are felt as a great urge, an innate necessity,
that the entire organism is contaminated -- the mind,       called by Paul the Enw of sin, driving the subject on
the will and the heart as to  all its hidden recesses.      along a path leading to ruin. . These lusts, awakened by
Hence, when this organism, this body  - man  - wills what may be seen and heard, crave constant satisfac-
and thinks, it sins. And the crystallization of the tion so that the subject is ill at ease unless engaged in
thought and volition - the deed - is likewise thor- appeasing the cravings of a carnal nature. This urge,
oughly corrupt so that this entire body must be put off constituted of the lusts of the heart, is part and parcel
and all its members crucified, - the deed, and the          of a man alive to sin, glorying in his shame, delighting
desire, the thought, and the volition of which this in the prostitution of his powers,  facinated  by the evil
deed is the outgrowth and the tangible exhibition,          bent of his mind, offering, therefore, no resistance to
together with the corrupt soil in which the plant is        the man sold under sin, but altogether willing that the
rooted and thrives, to-wit, the human heart. Says the ill-begotten power of the monster raging in his breast
Lord through the mouth of the prophet: "And I will should be perpetuated forever. It means that man,
take away the stony heart out of their flesh, and will      throughout the entire process of the development of
give them a heart of flesh: that they may walk in my        sin, remains a free moral agent. The wicked of the
statutes and keep my ordinances and do them . . . . "       first chapter of Romans are said to have dishonored
(Ezek.  11:19). And Paul: "If so be that ye have heard their bodies between themselves. Their shameful con-
him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in duct represents an attempt on their part to satisfy
Jesus : that ye p& C@ concerning  the former cmvema-        lust incited by what the sinful eye loves to feed, and
tion  the  old man,  which is corrupt according to the      the carnal mind loves to dwell upon. Hence, it is said
deceitful lusts ; . . . .  "  (Eph.  421, 22). Let H. J. that God gave them up to uncleanness  through  the:
Kuiper, if be can, swing his philosophy to the effect       lusts of their awn hearts.
that this old man (the exponents of common grace                That sin is felt as an urge in man's bosom follows
would as yet not dare to publicly deny that the  ungen-     from his being a creature endowed with a rational will.
erated  sinner is anything but old  ?tzznn,)  performs deeds The will is correctly defined as the striving of the soul
which are morally good, in line with the apostle's teach- after the thing regarded as constituting the highest
ing to the effect that this same man, being corrupt, good.          Intelligent striving, then, is the earmark  of

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

rationality.    Adam, in the state of integrity knew it. being prevented from acting upon the holy impulses
Likewise the saint who strives to enter the narrow of the new man by the unhallowed urge of his being.
gate, and who seeks the things above, and the urge           It is plain that the apostle is one whose eyes were
of whose being drives him on along a path leading to opened to the true character of man's spiritual serf-
the Father's house.      Sin is not responsible for the dom, and therefore was ready to admit that man by
motion of the machinery of man's soul but for its            nature ccL1L'Ylot zvill to do the right, he being carnal sold
reverse action, and therefore must  mage  its presence under sin ; that, as to his carnal self, he is in full agree-
felt as a striving, as an urge - an urge, however, that ment with the master that set up his kingdom in his
pitches the sinner against God and all things holy and members. "For that which I do, I allow not." Blessed
sends him on along a path leading into the regions of is he who begins to show signs of being at odds with
eternal night. However, natural man loves the sinful the sinful urge of his carnal self. Such a one is already
urge of his depraved nature, the lusts of his foul heart,    essentially made free. For to be in the power of a
and the yearnings of the body of this death. He and master working the destruction of his victims is one
the master served are at one, agreed, and rush on arm thing. But to love this master, to go along with him
in arm to hell. This carnal urge, therefore, does not arm in arm, to will that he sets the pace, to delight in
present itself to his consciousness as a law, that is, as the fact that the reigns of government are in his hands,
an innate necessity "`that (in the words of Paul) when to not will to be delivered, is quite another thing. Such
he would do good, evil is present with him." Not until nevertheless is the state and disposition of the natural
man is reclaimed from death by the Almighty, not man.
until he has been quickened by the Spirit, does he feel         It must not be supposed that the path of  s@ along
the need of pitching himself over against the aforesaid which man is being driven on by the unclean urge of
master, of resisting the carnal urge of his depraved his soul, is invariably a path of the grossest kind OE
self. Doing so, he for the first time in his sinful career, vice and intemperance. To the contrary, it may be
discovers that he is carnal, sold under sin, and com- and often is, as in the case of Paul before his con-
plaints, as did the apostle, "For that which I do, I allow version, a path of strict respectability and Pharisaic
not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate        righteousness. In this case, the crave for vice may be
that I do . . . . Now then it is no more I that do it, dormant or if alive, denied. The predominant crave of
but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me such a one is a crave for a kind of righteousness such
(that is in my flesh), dwelleth no good thing: for to will as man in his foolishness attempts to establish, a
is present with me ; but how to perform that which is        righteousness, which when analyzed, turns out to be
-good I find not. For the good that I would, I do n&t:       stinking pride. But whether the path be one of re-
but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do spectability or vice, both paths lead to hell, 2nd the
that I would not, it is no more 1 that do it, but sin that one urge is as sinful, yea perhaps more so, than the
dwelleth in tie. I find than a law that when I would other.
do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the          Man, then, in the sense just explained, is a servant
law of God after the inward man: But I see another of sin in contrast to the believer who is a servant of
law in my members, warring against the law of my righteousness.
mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin           Enough has not been said, however. To be held cap-
which is in my members" (Rom. 7 : 15-22).                    tive by the corrupt impulses of nature or the law of sin
    The apostle was one having been brought under the implies the transgression, which should be  defined  as
quickening influence of the Spirit of God. The new prin- the lie, loved, absorbed and lived. The lived lie being
ciple of life presents itself to his consciousness as a law at once the reverse of the truth, constitutes a violation
of the mind, that is, as a hallowed intelligent urge or of the Divine precept. How are the lie, the transgres-
compulsion, capable of delighting in and craving the sion and the foul heart of man related? And the an-
law of God. However, the unhallowed urge of his be- swer is ready: The heart is the soil, the lie the seed
ing, he discovers, is still very much alive. It success- and the transgression the plant or fruit. This imagery
fully launches an attack upon the sanctified law of his is sanctioned by Scripture. In the parable of the sower
mind, and brings him into captivity of the law of sin. the sown seed is an emblem of the truth preached.
This is his great grief: "0 wretched man that I am," The stony ground, the beaten path, the field of thorns
says he, "who will deliver me from the body of this and the good earth are so many descriptions of cor-
death?" It must not be supposed that the above-cited responding states or conditions of the human heart.
scripture can be quoted in support of the view that the The seed falling in good earth bears fruit, which in
regenerated and sanctified one is not responsible for turn presupposes the plant. Attending to the inter-
the sins of his carnal self. He is that indeed. For that pretation of the parable, we discover  that in the mind
which the apostle allows not, he nevertheless does. Of of Christ the earth images the heart, the seed the truth
the thing not allowed, then,  he  is the thinking and will- and the fruit together with the plant the deed which is
ing subject. True, he does say, "Now if  I do that I the man. Let it be observed that seed not sown yields
would not, it is no more  I that do it, but sin that no fruit, nor earth devoid of seed. Fruit, then, is the
dwelleth in me." What is meant, however, is that he is outgrowth of soil and seed. So, too, do the good works

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

of the saint constitute a mixture so to say of the truth - the darkness in which man walks and thrives in his
and the man. Truth, therefore, is indispensable to capacity of sinner. Paul, so we wrote in a former ar-
the very appearance of the believer. So, too, the de- ticle, in depicting the plight of the carnal man, corn-
praved sinner. His transgressions constitute a mix- pares him to one asleep, drunken with wine. "There-
ture of the lie and the man. The lie is as indispensable fore, let us not sleep as do others; but let us watch
to his appearance and to his fruit bearing as the truth and be sober. For they that sleep, sleep in the night,
is to the appearance of the saint. As the seed feeds         and they that be drunken are drunken in the night"
upon the soil, so the lie feeds upon the depraved man.       (I Thess.  5 :l-7). The term sobriety of this passage
And as the soil is absorbed by the seed, so the natural signifies the spiritual alertness of the child of the light,
man is absorbed by the lie and converted into a tree respecting the things of the Spirit.           He is one keenly
bearing evil fruit -- the transgression. The point is aware of the approach of the day of the Lord. 5'01
that sin as transgression can never be accounted for such a one this day does not come as a thief in the
by a mere appeal to corrupt nature.                          night in that it is expected. The term drunkenness, on
       Scripture also links up the transgression with the the other hand, is the signification of a carnal state of
law. Necessarily so, for the lie lived is transgression mind characterized by an indifference to things that
of law. Scripture even goes a step further and insists shall soon come to pass. Strong drink, if taken in suf-
that the law occasions in man's bosom all manner of ficient quantities, stupifies man's sensibilities. While
fierce opposition to law. Says the apostle,  "Nay  I had in this state he is dull of mind so that the most start-
not known sin but by the law: for I had not known ling disclosures fail to impress him. He hears and sees
lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet, but yet fails to understand. So, too, does either the mes-
sin taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in sage of bliss or doom fail to arouse the spiritually dis-
.me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law eased soul. The carnal man is dead to the things of the
sin was dead. But when the commandment came sin Spirit, and incapable of sensing and appreciating  theit
revived and I died. And the commandment which was value. To what may his lethargy be due? To a deep-
ordained unto life, I found to be unto death. For sin seated hatred for all things holy. Hence, he stands
taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me and with his back turned toward heaven, which as far as
by it slew me" (Rom. 7 :7-12).                               he is concerned does not exist.
       Paul, unaware of inert sin, reposing in his bosom,       Further, carnal man, having lost all contact with
thought himself alive and, according to his own testi- reality, is said to be asleep and to be walking in dark-
mony, was wont to glory much in his self-established         ness, that is, the lie. The pure light from heaven is an
righteousness. The law came and the slumbering mon- eye-sore to him. Shutting God out of the world and -
ster, awakened by its thunderings, bestired  itself. Paul, himself in it, he kindles a fire, compasses himself about
aware now of its presence, pronounces himself one with sparks, and walks in the light of his own fire and
dead and his self-established righteousness refuse. in the sparks he kindled. Isa. 50 :ll. The wicked one's
Should an infallible testimony of this kind not prove light is the truth of God changed into a lie. Rom. 1325.
sufficient to silence those philosophers in our midst The emanation of his own diseased heart and mind, it
who insist that the keeping of the law by the carnal         is the vehicle of a false, grotesque, distorted and in-
man constitutes a morality deserving to be called good? congruous image of actual existence, fact, truth, real-
Though he may be living in some respects in outward ity; a misrepresentation of God, of heaven and hell,
agreement with the law, the depraved sinner as to the of things earthy, of Christ and the cross, of man and
inward man is aflame with carnal indignation because his nature, origin, purpose and destiny, in short of all
of his being told by his Maker what shall be done.           things. Yet the wicked one loves these fantastic im-
       By the law, then, is the knowledge of sin, and the ages. Their sum total constitute the lie in which he
transgression is the lie which, having taken root in revels, in which he lives and moves, which he clasps
man's foul heart, is loved and lived. Man is enticed to his bosom and loves, and lives and in and by which
by his own lusts in conjunction with lie. The lie, how- he is made ripe for the day of judgment.
ever, is not only the seed that draws into itself, so to        The term sin, then, in the expression servunt of sin
speak, the entire man and converts him into a tree is an abstract designation of the appeasing of the car-
bearing evil fruit, but the lie, according to, Scripture nal impulses, of the loving and living of the lie, and of
is in addition the very element in which this tree lives the transgression of Divine law and truth so that to
and thrives. The term lie we now use as the significa- serve sin is `to satisfy the cravings of debased self, to
tion of that false thought-structure  the nucleus of embrace and do the lie and to militate against law,
which was hatched out by the devil and whispered by truth and God. He doing so is a servant of sin and
him in man's ear. Eat and be as God, said he. Man            unrighteousness. As was already pointed out, carnal
has been doing this very thing from the day of his fall.     man cannot will to do  an-tihing  else than to engage in
Setting aside the wisdom of God, man sets up his own this service.
standards of conduct, hatches out a world and life              If true freedom consists in abiding in one's ele-.
view according to his own liking and in coniiict  with ment  - law, truth and God  - the sinner is not free.
the reality depicted in Holy Writ and therefore a lie        For the element in which he moves and abides is not


                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                               ,565

light but darkness, not God and law and truth, but the        and to serve the cause of truth, and righteousness and
lie. Now man cannot abide in the lie and prosper or be God. What then is true liberty? True liberty is to
truly free. For it (the lie) defileth  the whole body, it abide in the light, to dwell in God's temple and behold,
kills, it setteth on fire the whole course of nature and      with purged and glorified sense organs God's blessed
is set on fire by hell. Loved and lived, it pitches one       face; to have Him as a friend, and the great'void of
headlong against law, truth, fact, reality, God, so that      one%  being filled by the streams of grace flowing from
he living the lie isclosed in on, completely shut in, yea     His throne. The liberation of the sinner is Christ's
permeated by an angry God and His curse ; hedged in work. He only can save us from all our sins; delivex
on every side by law and divine wrath encountered at us from the forces of iniquity and place in our posses-
every juncture of the way, at every turn of the road. sion that pearl of priceless value, that undefiled in-
To live at enmity with the law is to be smitten by law. heritance preserved for us in heaven. If the Son hath
Not to have the law written on the tables of our heart. made us free, we are truly free.
is to experience its curse operative in our members.             The secret of true liberty is not known by the  car-
Man must serve truth or be persecuted, smitten and            tial man. To him freedom spells lawlessness, independ-
cast into hell by truth. The unhallowed lust clasping ency, or he associates it with a certain form of govern-
to its bosom the lie, bringeth forth sin; and sin when ment-such as democracy and imagines that all is well
it is finished bringeth forth death. Now to die is not        when the earthly tyrant has been made to abdicate. He
to be separated from God but from the God of love             forgets, however, that the same leaven responsible  fog
and mercy, to be brought in closest proximity with the appearance of this tyrant is lurking in his own
the God of wrath, the operations of which are de-             bosom and in the bosom of that majority to whom he
scribed in Scripture as a constant and perpetual giving must submit. The secret, then, of all true liberty - in-
up to greater uncleanness and vile effections through         dividual, social, religious, political, and ecclesiastical  -
the lusts of the wicked one's own heart, so that God is       is godliness, purity of heart, so that that great family
seen to punish sin by sin. Divine wrath, then, necessi- born of God will be free in every conceiveable respect.
tates more sin, and sin, being transgression of the  I::w,    There is no tyrant in heaven bent,on  enslaving his vic-
necessitates more wrath and death so that wrath and tims. Christ, who loved unto death those given Him
sin constitute the whirlpool by which man is drawn by the Father, will lead his sheep forever. There will
down ever deeper into the endless abyss of eternal            be social liberty in heaven in that heaven's doors re-
death, into that region of eternal night where men            main closed forever to him bent on the destruction of
weep and wail only. Further, the henchmen of sin are his neighbor. There will be religious liberty in heaven,
fear for God, and a great dissatisfaction. For the            for there the knowledge of the Lord covers the earth
appeasing of the carnal lusts of nature leave an ever .as the waters cover the bottom of the sea. In a word,
greater void in the soul of man, so that the sinner,          the Father's house is a home of true liberty.
serving the flesh, becomes, finally, the very personifica-                                                    G. M. 0.
.tion  of emptiness, incapable of being filled. As chaff
caught up by the wind, he cannot come to rest for he
refuses to rest in God. With lusts craving satisfac-
tion, with his whole nature aflame, he disappears into De opening Uwer  woorden geeft licht, de eenvoudigen
hell where he will be begging forever, but in vain, fol           verstandig makende.-Ps. 119 : 130.
a drop of water to cool his parched tongue. These dark          Mijn hart was ledig, vreugdeloos en somber:
regions he will forever roam, with the terror of God in         Geen  zacht  gevoel ontgloeide in mijn gemoed,
his heart, condemned by the voice of conscience, and,           Tot `s Heeren stem mijn wekte en kwam verkonden
as a companion of Satan, cursing the Almighty for the           "Ik heb u lief ! Ik schenk u `t hoogste goed !"
woe which is his just portion, and forevermore receiv-
ing in an ever greater degree the  recompence  of his f                              -    -    -    -
sins in his being. Such is the terrible state opposed
30 that blessed reality known in Scripture as eternal             ZCXJ dikwijls gij  uw, vertrouwen op God vestigt,
life and called the glorious liberty of the children of vindt gij Hem getrouw, maar telkens wanneer gij op
God.                                                          urn eigen hart vertrouwt, zult gij bedrogen  worden.
    What then is it to be made free? To be made free
is to be delivered from sin, curse, wrath, Satan, the             "t Zijn droeve, donkere wegen, waarlangs God den
world, death; grave and hell; and to be brought in            zondaar leidt, maar niet om hem in die diepten te laten
closest contact with Divine  Iove and mercy. It is to         omkomen.
be drawn by grace from darkness to light ; to be trans-
,port,ed  from the kingdom of Satan into the kingdom of           Wie met Christus  gestorven is, zal ook met Hem
God's dear Son. To be made free is to be taken from leven.
under the yoke of the devil, and to be harnassed
with the soft; life giving and life preserving yoke of            Vrede  onder  ens  kruis is  alleen te verkrijgen bij
Christ. To be free,  tially, is to have done with sin,        het kruis.

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

                  LIGHT AND DARKNESS                                law unto itself. To mention one thing: the sabbath
                                                                    today is openly being desecrated as never before. On
    The following statement is found in the  dpening                this day you find the world at the resort, at parks, on
paragraph of Rev. Ghysel's meditation in The Eunner                 the highways, equipped with fishing tackle instead of
of July 19. He writes: "In our first meditation on this worshipping. The world openly flouts the Almighty.
parable we wrote about Final Separation. in this world Has the Rev. Ghysels no eye for all this? Does it not
the reprobate and the elect mingle together (Very grieve his soul? Does this wicked conduct make no
true in a sense, of course. G. M. 0.). Sometimes it is impression on him whatsoever?
hard to tell them apart (Most true. G. M. 0.) ." So far,               It seems not. What, we would like to know, is his
then, so good. But attend to the following: "The &et                conception of ungodliness. How must the world be  nct-
huve so mnny faults and the rep?wbate  so many virtues              ing to be showing itself up as carnal?
that they  ewe not easy to distinguish." So far  Ghysels.                                                          G. M. 0.
Let us offer our comment. Light in Scripture is the
figurative term for  /L'irtue,  darkness for evil. Accord-
ing to Ghysels the Christian is one with an exceedingly                 "UWE STERKTE ZAL ZIJN  GELIJK  UWE
dark aspect for he has many faults. The reprobate,
on the other hand, is the luminary in this world. Yet,                                     DAGEN"
says Ghysels, you cannot tell them apart. Mark you,                                (Deuteronomium 33  :25)
hard to tell this luminary apart from the black Chris-
tian. Is it not simply a matter of distinguishing be-                            "Zooals uw dagen zijn,
tween white and black, darkness and light? But why                                  zoo zal uw sterkte  wezen."
should it be                                                                     Mijn trouwe God en  Heey!
                 SO  difficult  to tell this luminary apart from
the black Christian? Because, so Ghysels has it, they                               wat heb ik dan te vreezen ?
look so much alike. This, then, is the situation. Light                          Ten dage van de smart
and darkness, black and white, look so much alike that                              deelt Gij vertroosting mee.
you cannot tell them apart. Amazing ! Let no one                                 Ten dage van den strijd
think that Ghysels misspoke himself. This tomfoolery                                vervult Gij `t hart met vre$
is a part and parcel of the theory of common grace.                              Omringt verzoeking mi j ,
Not, of course, that light and darkness cannot be dis-                              Gij wilt haar krachten breken.
tinguished between because of identity of aspect.                                En is mijn ziel versaagd,
(This, by the way, is  ,a kind of philosophy which                                  van Uw genade spreken.
Ghysels, as far as his fellows are concerned, I am sure,                         De dagen komen, gaan
may have the honor of having hatched out all alone)                                in bonte wisseling . . . .
but that the reprobate is light, and, therefore, cannot                          Wat nood waar ik Uw woord:
be distinguished from the saint. I know that in their                              "Ik ben uw heil" ontving?
great love for the reprobate and in their hatred for                             Ik neig dan stil mijn oor;
God's people, they go so far as to say that the .rep-                              wil naar Uw woorden luist'ren  ;
robate so far outshines the child of God, that the                               Aanbiddend buig ik `t hoofd,
latter compared with the former is darkness. Such                                  wil  zacht  mijn "Amen"  fluist'ren;
views, however, cannot be gotten out of the theory as                            Al wat Gij doet, is goed;
such, as far as I can see. Be this as it may, the out-                             van `t kwaad wilt Gij genezen  ; -
standing tenet of common grace is that the reprobate                             Grootmoedig Heer en God,
is light, yet this luminary is put in hell. Try and swing                          1Jw naam zij steeds geprezen!
this view in line with the doctrine of the sanctity of
God's being and the restitude  of His dealing with the
children of men.                                                     Als hier al `t werk voor den Heer is volbracht,
   As to the above-cited verdict of Rev. Ghysels, if                 Voeren mij d' Eng'len tot Hem, Die mij wacht ;
Ghysels had stated that the aspect of carnal man is so               `k Zal Hem dan zien, die aan `t kruis voor mij stierf,
very bright as to hide his true identity and that the be-            En door Zijn dood mij den hemel verwierf.
liever often renders himself unrecognizable by placing
his light under a bushel; or if he had wrote that                    Als `k daar  zal zijn in mijn hemelsch Tehuis,
whereas the `Lbspect of the church and the world are so              Zal `k eerst beseffen de groothuis van `t kruis;
nearly alike, the two cannot be told apart, he would                 Dan eerst naar waarde Hem hulde daar bi8n ;
not, at least, involved himself in sheer nonsense.                   Als ik mijn Heer in Zijn glorie zal zien.
   But aside from this, is it true that the exterior of
the world is clean and bright? Far from it. Man by                   `k Vind daar mijn dierb'ren in Jezus dan weer,
nature is carnal and acts the part. The world today as               Juub'lend den lof van hun Redder en Heer ;
ever openly shakes its fist in God's face, openly mocks              Maar bovenal is de vreugd, die mij wacht :
with  all things holy; defies God and insists on being a             Eeuwig met Jezus, Die  `t al heeft  volbracht.            i
                                                                                                                         ,-


                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                      571

                                                             God writes and in His writing reveals Himself, He does
        GOD'S HANDWRITING IN NATURE                          so entirely according to His will. It is all voluntary.
   It is a well-known fact, that a man reveals himself It is to the handwriting of God in nature that we wish
in his handwriting. There are in our day even special- to call your attention in this lecture. I think that we
ties along this line who make it their business to read have a subject here which is at the same time much
a man's character from his personal manuscript and neglected and little understood but also doubly worthy
there are thousands of people who evince so' little of our attention if we listen to the testimony of Scrip-
knowledge of self that they turn to these would-be           ture regarding it. Hence, we speak on:
psychologists and character-readers to learn from them              GOD'S HANDWRITING IN NATURE,
about their own psychological fibre and makeup and
spiritual stamina. But although we would condemn and call your attention to:
such efforts to make of this revelation of a man's                I. Its Idea,
personality in his own handwriting an exact science           ' II. Its Message or Contents,
this does not alter the fact, that the fact as such is          HI. Its Reading or `Understanding.
well-established.    In what a man writes he reveals
himself as is evident to all, but he also manifests His         I. Its Idea.
own makeup to a certain extent in the style of his              A. Revelation as such.
handwriting. The first part of this statement is per-           What do we mean when we speak of God's revela-
fectly self-evident. In writing a man expresses in a tion? What is it, and how does God accomplish it? It
soundless, voiceless, silent but permanent way what          is simply God's speech concerning Himself, a mani-
lives in his inmost soul, his thoughts, his feelings, his festation of His glorious nature and virtures, His
joy and his sorrow, a part of himself. But also the          wonders and praises, that we may know Him and have
second part of the assertion is undoubtedly true. In-        communion with Him. It implies first of all that He
voluntarily each man writes his own style of hand-           embodies in some creaturely symbol, little it matter at
writing, and in this form of his writing he tells us to      this moment of what kind, some knowledge of Himself,
an extent who he is. If a man writes a very small hand       that somehow, outside of Himself He speaks words con-
und leaves a tiny margin, you may depend that there          cerning Himself. He reflects Himself in a creature out-
is something small in his makeup; if he  ,&rites   a side of His own Being. The perfect and infinite revela-
straight and lofty style, the h's and l's and b's and f's    tion of the Father is the Son, the Word, the express
and k's reaching to heaven, there is usually a similar image of God. And within the divine life of the Trin-
trait in his phychological  and spiritual makeup. They ity, the Father knows Himself in the Son. But even as
say that a bold cross through the t reveals strength of the Son within the divine Being and Nature is the per-
will and mind and that the presence of all the dots over fect and inflinite reflection of God, so revelation implies
the i's witness of a neat and punctual and painstaking that God also produced outside of Himself an image, a
soul. If a man writes his letters almost or entirely per- reflection of His glories in creaturely form. Neither is
pendicularly, those who may know assure us, that it          this all. Had God done no more, there would indeed be
reveals a person that is not easily bent or swayed from a creaturely mirror of the divine wonders and God
his purpose. But if his letters are written with a strong might glorify Himself in that creaturely mirror, but no
decline, so that they almost fall flat you are dealing one outside of Himself would know Him from that re-
with a person that is easily persuaded. I admit that         flection. And, therefore, revelation as we speak of it,
these things cannot be put down as so many axiomata implies still another element. It also implies that the
with mathematical certainty. Not easily will a human same God, who reflected in creaturely forms His infinite
soul be bound by certain definite rules and laws. Be- glories and wonders, created a being who could see this
sides, one may err in his interpretation of another revelation of God and know Him. This He did in the
man's soul from the writing of his hand. But the fact creation of man after His own image. He made in man
as such may well be regarded as established ; also in        a being that was adapted to know God from His revela-
the style of his writing does a man reveal himself.          tion and living in communion of friendship with Him to
    Now, we know that God also left us a handwrit- declare His praises. It is in this sense that we speak
ing of Himself in which He revealed Himself and by of revelation in this lecture. In Himself God is incom-
the which we may know Him. He did so in the Holy prehensible. We shall never be able to comprehend the
Scriptures in the which He speaks to us with human Infinite God. Neither would we be able to comprehend
voice and in mundane language. But He also did SO a language that was in every sense divine. But revela-
in all the works of His hands which we generally com-        tion means that God created a creature in His own
prehend under that one term: nature. We must, re-            image that is able to know Him in a creaturely manner
member, however, that what we found to be a fact             and in a creaturely measure, and that He came down
with regard to the handwriting of man is not true of         to the level of that creature's understanding and spoke
God's handwriting. There is nothing involuntary, noth- of Himself in a language which also that creature was
ing accidental in the revelation of God. This is not able to understand. His finite  speech of His infinite
true of nature anymore than it is of Scripture. When Self to finite man, that is God's revelation to us.


572                                 THE  S T A N D A R D   BEARER

   Now we are speaking particularly of God's hand- is perceived by us also through the lower senses of
writing in nature, His revelation in the works of His taste and touch and smell, so that it impresses us as
hand. Ey the term nature, which is of wide and vari- sweet and bitter, as hard and soft or smooth and rough,
ous significance we here mean creation from our as sweetly fragrant or unpleasantly odourous. In a
earthly point of view, the world as we see it and per-     word, a world He made in which all thing speak of Him
ceive it and are impressed by it. It includes the so-      and a creature He formed endowed with the power to
called inanimate creation, the high mountains and the know  Eim and with a five-fold contact with the world
proud rocks, the green hills and the fertile valleys, the He formed.                   /
wide ocean and the beautiful lake, the rushing river          I do not have to take pains in order to prove that
and the rippling brook. It implies the world of vegeta- in all this manifold and wide universe as we perceive
tion, the strong oak and the tall cedar and the slender it and stand in contact with it in this five-fold way, God
palm tree, the rose and the thorn, the thistle and the speaks to us. That creation is God's speech is already
myrtle, the lily of the valley and the rose of Sharon,     expressed in the very term creation. Were we to ac-
the seed-bearing and foodyielding herb and the rich cept the evolutionistic conception of the origin and
and deep olive-tree. It includes the animal world, the existence of all things, this could not be. For it makes
roaring lion and the springing panther, the cattle of no difference what form of the evolutinn theory you
the meadow and the chirping bird, the sweet night- accept, on its basis you have no revelation of God in
ingale and the proudly ascending eagle, four-footed the universe. There cannot be an Infinite Intelligence
beasts and creeping things and winged fowls and the that conceived of all things and formed them according
swarming fish of the seas and lakes and rivers. It to His will on the basis of the evolutionistic conception
finally, as far as the earthly creation is concerned in- of life and the world. But the moment you accept by
cludes man, the image-bearer of God, the king of the       faith the Scriptural presentation of the universe, and
earth, the small kosmos in the midst of the wide ex-       believe that God called the things that were not as if
panse of all creation. It includes the heavens as we       they  were,  the world is His speech and every creature
see them and all they contain and yield. The golden is a word conveying just a part of the grand thought
sun which proceeds from her chambers as a rejoicing of God expressed in creation. For whence did God call
bridegroom and the pale and silvery moon, the queen these things that were not as if they were? From
of the night, silently reflecting the glory of the king Himself. qrom His own mind. From His everlasting
of day. The stars that stud the heaven's deep canopy counsel. For thus is the presentation of the Word that
like diamonds each sparkling with a glory all its own, all things are known unto God from eternity. He con-
the clouds that yield the rain and snow and shield the ceived of them before the world was. In His counsel
earth against the burning rays of the sun. All this He had all things with Him. They were in His divine
wide creation we mean when we speak of nature, and mind and He rejoiced in them. And when He creates
we now conceive of all creatures as so many characters He simply calls, speaks into being outside of Himself
together spelling the name of the Lord and revealing the very things He had with Him in His counsel. This
to us in silent speech the glories of our God. When God    is aIso the truth of the creation-narrative. We read
made the world He wrote as with His finger a speech        that God spoke. And when God speaks creatively it
concerning Himself, and every creature adds to this means nothing else than that every time He expresses
symbol-language declaring unto us the beauty and wis- a Word He brings one of His eternal thoughts outside
dom of the Most High.                                      of Himself and embodies it in a creature that can be
   And in the midst of that world of nature He placed seen and heard and touched. Thus it follows from the
man, His image-bearer, with a mind able to know God, very idea of creation, that it is speech of God. And
and heart adapted to love Him and a mouth fitted to        that it is such is the continual thought expressed in
spell His Name and declare His glorious praises, And the Scriptures. We only remind you of two passages
we must here notice, that we read this handwriting of in order to prove this. First of all, I point you to that
our God in a five-fold way, because God so created us, well-known and beautiful passage of Ps. 19  :l, 2 : "The
that this world impresses us and we perceive it in a heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament
five-fold manner. The Lord gave us eyes to see and sheweth His handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech
thus there is for us that grand and manifold world and night unto night showeth knowledge." There we
of sight, of form and shape and movement in rich have clearly expressed that all creation is one continual
variety, of color in endless shades of beauty, of number speech pouring into your ears the wonderful thoughts
in manifold mysteries of combination. The Creator of God. And the other passage to which I would call
endowed us with the sense of hearing and hence that your attention is the equally significant one in Ram.
world impresses itself  up.on us in the sound of rushing 1:20: "For the invisible things of him from the crea-
winds and soft breezes, of clapping thunder and roar- tion of the world are clearly seen, being understood
ing waves of the ocean, of the rippling of the brook and by the things that are made, even his eternal power
the music of a thousand creatures singing and rejoic- and Godhead, so that they are without excuse." There
ing, wailing and moaning and groaning, each in its own you have the same idea from a different viewpoint.
tune and note. The Lord so made us, that this world God's things are in themselves invisible. Yet in the


                                       TTIE  S T A N D A R D   BtiARER                                               578

things that arc made, in all creation they are clearly         immutable counsel. That cannot be denied. It is the
seen and understood, no matter what the creature that very least we can say. I do not care to argue at this
is adapted to understand them does with them or what time, because for my subject it makes very little dif-
attitude he assumes over against them. For by the ference if any, the question whether we ought to say,
Word He made all things and all things are His speech.         that God according to His counsel willed sin, or
   II. Its Message or Contents.                                whether He merely willingly allowed sin.  I say, for
                                                               the subject under discussion this makes very little dif-
   A, General Idea.                                            ference. The undeniable fact is that all the Scriptures
   If we remember all this we are also ready to give           teach, and that it is essential to the Reformed Confes-
an answer to the next question: What is the message sion, be it Supra or Infra-lapsarian to maintain, that
that comes to us from God's handwriting in nature ?            sin is there according to the determinate counsel of
What did God write? You know how this question has God, though He is never guilty of sin and is not its
frequently been answered. Often it was alleged, that Author. Now, it is plain what this implies. Negatively
the revelation in nature is essentially different from it means that we do wrong and are bound to err as
that in Scripture as far as the contents are concerned. soon as we make the supposition and build anything on
In nature there is, then, a certain general revelation of it: if sin had not come. The whole argumentation that
God. It speaks of His power and wisdom and goodness would separate the reveIation  of God in nature from
and glory. But it does not say anything about the that in Scripture is based on this erroneous presuppo-
Christ, grace, salvation and heavenly things. The sition. It falls with its erroneous basis. And positively
revelation in nature is first and does in no way pre- it implies, that known unto God are all things from the
suppose sin. Never had the special revelation in Scrip- beginning, and that the beginning is already adapted
ture become necessary had sin not come. In that case to the end. The unity of God's counsel demands this,
there would have been no need of it. For, then, man In other words, when God formed every creature in
would have known his God simply from the works of the beginning, He did so with the end in view, namely,
God in the world and there would have been no need that He was to reunite all things in Christ Jesus thru
of the manifestation of grace, there being no sin. But the way of sin and grace. Creation is from the begin-
now it is different. Sin came and with it the necessity ning adapted to salvation, nature is formed with a view
of a revelation of grace and of the God of our salvation.      to grace. Eut if this is true, it must also be a fact,
And since there is no such thing in nature, it became that God's handwriting in nature is somehow related to
necessary to have the special revelation in Scripture.         His revelation in Scripture, the so-called general revela-
It is plain, that in this way the result is a certain dual-    tion is one with His revelation in the special sense, the
ism. There are really two revelations, quite apart from symbol language in nature is related to the speech in
each ot,her. The one would have been sufficient had sin human language as we possess it in the Word of God.
not come, but since sin is a fact it is insufficient and       We are not now dealing with the other question as to
at the same time quite useless. The other is sufficient how we must read this revelation of God neither as to
to bring us.to  salvation. The one still reveals God in who are the proper recipients and readers of this hand-
certain of His attributes and is for that reason sufi- writing. The fact stands, that there is a relation, and
cient  to leave the heathen without excuse. The other          that the revelation of God in nature and that in Scrip=
reveals God in the flesh and the glory of His grace and ture are essentially one. And then, I think, we may
is sufficient to lead us on to the City that hath Founda- also state from the outset that the relation between
tions whose builder and maker is God. On this basis it the two is such that the handwriting in nature declares
is small wonder, that the revelation in nature was little in earthly symbols what the revelation of God in Scrip-
searched and investigated and that God's handwriting ture expresses in plain human language. The earthy is
in nature was not given proper attention. And it cannot an image of the heavenly, first Paradise is a picture
escape our attention that there is in actual fact quite of Paradise the perfect, the first man Adam is an im-
a  diffierence  between the life and consciousness of our age of the second Adam which is the Lord from heaven.
people and there own Confession, when they declare in In language of shape and form and number and color
Art. II of the NetherlGnd Confession: "We know Him and sound and even taste and smell the Lord wrot,e
by two means: by the creation, preservation and gov- also in nature of things heavenly and spiritual, of His
ernment of the universe which is before our eyes as a covenant and kingdom, of the Christ and His power
most elegant book, wherein all creatures, great and and glory.
small, are as so many characters leading us to contem-            Only in this light can we understand the Word ot'
plate the invisible things of God."                            God in Scripture. In the first place, we should remem-
    Now, we do not like this entire process of reason-         ber that it is historically untrue, that special revelation
ing, for the simple consideration, that it is not in har- commenced after sin entered into the world. God spoke
mony with the fundamental thought of Holy Writ. For, to Adam in Paradise even before the fall. He explained
in the first place, it must be remembered that it is a his position in the world and gave him dominion over
simple and undeniable fact, that sin and all it means is       all things and He revealed his relation to the tree of
there. And what is more, it is there according to God's life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He


574                                  T H E S T A N D A R D   GEARER

brought  the animals to him to see how he would name on the earth. The lion, though in its accursed exist-
them. All of which disproves the statement that ~pc- ence  a symbol of him that seeks whom he may devour,
cial revelation begins historically after the fall. But is as a creature of God in his royal power a picture of
in the second place, the language of Scripture does not the victorious Lion of Judah's tribe. The lamb is God's
warrant  the  assertion that only come general wisdom language in nature of the Lamb of God that taketh
and power and goodness is revealed in the works of away the sin of the world. And similar language you
God's hands. On the contrary, also His handwriting find interpreted in the Word of God with regard to all
in nature speaks  of  His mercy that endureth forever the animals. The panther and the bear, the calf and
over His people of His grace and lovingkindness and         the ox, the, eagle and the sparrow on the housetop,  -
the wonders of His salvation. Especially the psalms all speak in their own language, Thus it is no less
are strong in this respect. He made the heavens by when we turn to the world of plants and flowers and
wisdom, and stretched out the earth above the waters,       trees. The vine in nature'is but a shadow of the true
and made the great lights, the sun to rule by  da,y and vine, and together with its branches it  is the  picture
the moon and the stars to rule by night, all because        of the Church in organic relation with her Head. The
his mercy endureth forever. Ps. 136. The floods clap olive tree is the people of God as they are in this
their  h.ands and the hills sing for the salvation He world, and branches are cut off and ingrafted according
brings unto His people. Ps. 96, 98. The Lord is graci-      to God's will and counsel. The palm tree as well as
ous. and full of compassion and His tender mercies are the cedars of Lebanon are pictures of the righteous.
over all His works. But bes'ides, all creation also groans The mustard tree is a picture of the marvelous growth
and looks in bondage forvyard  to the time when it shall    of the kingdom of God. The seed itself, falling into
be delivered and participate in the glorious liberty of the earth and sprouting and growing and bearing fruit,
the children of God. In general we, therefore, con- speaks in God's own language of the wonderful work
clude that in the earthy we have the image of the of God's grace in the heart of God's people when they
heavenly, and that also in nature the Lord of our salva-    are renewed by the eternal and imperishable seed of
tion wrote a symbol language which points to the com- the eternal Word of God. Thus the lily of the valley
pletion of His covenant and kingdom in Christ Jesus.        and the rose of Sharon, the thorn and the thistle and
       B. Concrete illustrations.                           the wheat and the tares, all speak their own words to
                                                            complete the speech of God in nature. That man's
       Time would fail should we attempt to give a com-     own life is full of symbol language will he sufficiently
plete sketch of all  the wonderful language that is plain if I remind you of the relation of man and wife
poured into the believing heart from this handwriting as the mystery to which Paul calls attention as well
of God in nature. But we must give a few illustrations as the prophets of the Old Testament as the picture
in order to at least obtain a glimpse of these riches.      and shadow of the eternal relation between Christ and
There can be no question in our mind that all creation the Church, God and His people; not to mention that
speaks  of  the grand theme of the antithesis, that fun- other relation of father and child or mother and babe.
damental thought of God's counsel. It does so in the        You can turn to the world of colors in creation with
contrast between the heights of the mountains that the same results. Who can forget that white is the
rise heavenward in proud forms and the depths of the color of eternal holiness and victory in the New Jeru-
valleys and precipices at their feet. It does so in the     salem, blue the color of God's everlasting faithfulness,
antithesis between the sea and the dry land, between stretching itself over us in the heavens as a testimony,
the wild storm and the still breeze, between the rose black the color of the night and sin and death, red the
and the thorn, and above all by the always appearing color of God's anger and wrath, of blood and destruc-
contrast of light and darkness. The light is symbol of tion? And is it different with the marvelous mysteries
the light of God, the eternal light, the heavenly light:    of the number relations? Three is the number of God,
the darkness  of the  horror of sin and death and hell. four of the world, seven of His perfected covenant and
Every evening the setting sun reminds us of the kingdom, ten of His complete will and counsel, twelve
shadow of sin and death that fell over us when our of His people in their fulness on earth. These numbers
first parents fell in the garden of Eden; every night you find everywhere. You cannot believingly look at
the silvery moon is a sign that the sun of righteous- the starry heavens without admitting that intention-
ness is still there and shall appear again with new ally the Lord speaks from them in the numbers three
splendor at the proper time ; every dawn is speech and four and seven. There are six days in the week
poured consolingly into the hearts of the children of plus one, there are seven notes in an octave plainly
God that the eternal morning shall arise when night arranged in groups of three and four, there are seven
shall be nevermore, I do not have to remind you of the colors, all present in the rainbow. There are four winds,
fact, that according to Scripture the sun in the heavens and four seasons, you carry the number ten with you
is a symbol of the great Sun of righteousness, the on your hands and feet. These few examples could
multitude of the stars of the multitude that shall once easily be multiplied and undoubtedly we would find,
surround the throne `in glory forever. You find the that indeed, with wisdom God has made the heavens
same language if you turn to the creatures that dwell and the earth and that in such a way, that the earthy


  -,                                    T H E   S T A N D A R D   BEARI$R                                                    575

is an image of the'heavenly, the natural of the spirit- ture. And they also lack the spiritual light of the
ual, and that also God's revelation in  nature points grace of God in their hearts. They are without excuse
to the final consummation of all things in the day of for they may know God, all things revealing Him in
our Lord Jesus Christ.                                          His eternal power and Godhead and proclaiming that
        III. Its Reading.                                       Re must be feared and glorified. At the same time,
                                                                they possess natural light, the innate knowledge of
        A. Two requirements.                                    God without which God leaves no man. The fool may
        But we cannot stop here. The clue&ion  must also say in his heart -that there is no God, but God leaves
be answered: If this is so, how can we understand this no man without testimony concerning Himself. Hence,
reveIation of God and read His handwrting in nature ?           they may know Him. Rut knowing Him in their
Do we not arrive at the conclusion, that in this way            wicked unbelief they do not want to serve and thank
we may give our support to the view that insists on a and glorify Him as God. Hence, they will be judged
certain natural religion in distinction from and con- according to the light that shone upon them and in
trast to a so-called book religion ? Thus many have them and they are without excuse in the ,day when
spoken in the past and still speak in the present. We God shall judge all according to truth and righteous-
must not have a dead letter, they said. God never ness. The unbeliever in the midst of the Christian
meant that our religion should be based on a book.              world, really is surrounded by the light of both, that
What we must have is nature and nothing else and the in nature and in the gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord.
voice of our own conscience and heart to .interpret  it. Hence, his sin is the greater, for also he, not possessing
And since God speaks so fully and plainly in the works the light of the Spirit clearly shows, that he does not
of His hands, we can do away with Scripture alto- will to do the will of Him Who thus reveals Himself
gether and let nature speak and determine our religion.         to him. He will have the greater condemnation. And
But the inevitable result has always been a loss of the         finally, there is the spiritual child of God, with the
Christian religion and a relapse into a sort of Chris-          light of grace clarifying his eyes so that he may sco
tianized paganism. The question, therefore, is: How things spiritual, and the light of the Word shining
must we read that handwriting of God in nature?                 upon his pathway, so that he may walk in it. To him
        And then, I answer with a twofold response. First all things are of God in Christ. He looks for the city
of all, we must have the light of Scripture in order to that hath foundations and for the perfect realization
understand also the other handwriting of the Lord in of God's covenant. Of that realization speaks to him
al1 the works of His hands. Scripture is the direct the Word of God in the Holy Scriptures. And when
revelation of God with a view to our salvation and the with that light he then. turns to the handwriting of
consummation of His covenant and Kingdom. It is God in nature, he  finds that there also God speaks the
the revelation of God in the flesh, Immanuel, God with same language. All things point to his salvation. All
us. It is and remains in this dispensation our chief things point to the heavenly City. For that reason
light. It we must have first. Its light must be caught          the sight of these things and the spiritual understand-
first. And in its light we must see the light. It must          ing of this symbolic handwrting of God in all the works
fall on all the works of God and it must be the only of His hands, strengthens his faith, fills him with
light in which we read God's handwriting in nature. hope, makes him the- more refrain from seeking the
In other words: God must interpret for us His own things that are upon earth, knowing that they are but
handwriting. Then we are safe. For the same reason, shadows and that all these shadows shall pass away,
we must also make this other statement, that the only           to give place to the eternal reality of the heavenly
true reader of the handwriting of God in nature is the city. There shall be no night there, but perfect and
child of' God, renewed by God's grace. The natural everlasting light. In that light we shall see the light
man does not understand the things of the Spirit for forever !
they are spiritual and must be spiritually discerned.                                                     I have said.
He may be able to see beautiful things in nature. He                                                              H. E-I.
also may discern the wisdom and the power of God.
He will not see in them a symbol of the heavenly and
spiritual, for these are foolishness to him. But when
God through His grace gives us eyes to see and ears to
hear, so that we understand the things of the Spirit                     Sterk `t gdoove,  Zoon des Vaders  !
as children of His covenant and look for the city of                       Dat Gij onze Heiland zijt ;
God in the eternal Kingdom of our Lord, then we will                     En uw Geest hebt G' ons gegeven,
also acknowledge that the things in nature speak of                        Want wij voelen zijnen strijd.
the things in grace, the earthy of the heavenly, and                     Maar verdubbel uwe gaven,
that also in this respect light is sown for the righteous.
        Thus we conclude, that even in this respect there is               Ja, schenk dubble geesteskracht,
no general or common grace. The heathen have the                         Dat wij hebben in `t geloove,       j
revelation of God in nature without the light of  Scrip-                   Sieraad zijn van ons geslacht.


 576
 ---                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   BEARET.

                 CONQUERING FOR CHRIST                                            CURATOREN VERGADERING
                                                                   Aan den avond van IXnsdag, 17 Sept., om 7745 hoopt, D. V.,
        They tell  us  th'at the presence of Christ in  the     bet  Curatorium  te  vwgaderen   in de Fuller Ave.  Kerk te Grand
 world -- His reign in the realm of darkness -- signifies       Rapids,  Mich.
 that the Christian, too, should receive the world as his          Er za1 np die vergadering gelegenheid  zijn om zich aan te
                                                                   b.  Aanbeveling  van zijn kcrkeraad.
 plain of action and attempt to conquer every field of          melden   als student  aan onzc Thenlogische  School om opgeleid  te
 endeavor for Christ. Such are some of the sentiments           worden tot Bedienaar des Woords.
 circulating through the PRO REGE of Dr. A. Kuyper,                Men zij in het  bczit  van:
 The question arises, how he, the Christian, should have           a. Hewijs van lidmaatschap van een onzer  kerken.
 to go about it. Let me shed some light upon my ques-                                 Namens het Curatorium,
                                                                                                        S. G. SCHAAFSMA, Secretaris.
 tion. The literary geniuses of the world are, with few
 exceptions, ungodly men, who, to express ourselves in
 the words of the poet, "imagine vain things" and in-
 corporate these things in their productions. How is                          OPROEP TOT CLASSISYERGADERING
 the Christian expected to bring under the sway of                 D. V. hoopt de Classis  te vergaderen op Woensdag, 18 Sept.,
 Christ this particular department of life  ? Shall he          in de kerk aan Fuller Ave.  te Grand Rapids, Mich.
 institute a persecution against the aforesaid authors             Op verzoek en in overleg  met de Classicale Commissic za1 de
                                                                vergadering beginnen om 1 uur  `s namiddags,
 and burn their books ? Or is it expected of him that he                                                                  I n   d e   avond-
                                                                zitting,  te heginnen  om 7 uur, zullen  de Candidaten die een roe-
 strive to influence the legislature to pass a law for-         ping aannamen,  worden  ge-examineerd.
 bidding the writing and publication of such sentiments            Stukken voor het Agendum gelieve  men zoo spoedig mogelijk
 as clash with Christian thought? Such tactics would            op te sturen   aan  den Stated Clerk.
 not meet with the approval of Christ. To compel men,              Brenge  de  Heere ons op den bepaalden tijd in Zijne gunst
                                                                te  samen.
 at the point of the sword, to be conformed to the truth                                          S. G. SCHAAFSMA, Stated Clerk.
 as it is in Christ Jesus, is forbidden. The sole duty of
the magistrate is to protect the one member of society
 against the other; to apprehend and punish one vio-
 lating the second table of the law. Well,  t.hen, the                                          ATTENTIE
                                                                   De volgende regeling is gcmaakt voor  de Classicala  examens:
 onIy  thing left for the Christian to do is to raise  a           Ds. H. Hoeksema, Dogmatick; Ds. G. M. Ophoff,  Controverse;
 voice of protest against the blasphemous speech of the         Ds. W. Verhil, Belijdenisschriften; Ds. G. Vos,  Ken& der  Hei-
 wicked, defend and bless the name of his God and, if           Iige  Schrift.  Oud. S. Bijlsma,  Practica.
 able, produce a literature measuring up to the stand-             Ook zal er bij deze gelegenheid door elk der bcroepene broe-
 ards of the true and the good as well as of the benu-          ders eene predikatie geleverd worden als voigt:
                                                                   J. De Jong, Joh.  11:25,  26;  A.  Cammenga,  Hebr.  12:1, 2;
 tiful. In other words, in his capacity of artist, the          C. Hanko, Hcbr. 119,  10; B. Rok, I Joh. 32; L. Vcrmeer, I Joh.
 Christian shall live out of the principle of regeneration      3:l; R.  Veldman,  I Petr.  1%
 and let shine his light. Doing so he does all he can,
 all he is expected to do. Let us again hear the con-                                      -      -      -    -
 clusion of the whole matter. Let shine your light, or
 to espress ourselves in the words of the poet: "Fear                                    IN MEMORIAM
 God, keep his commandments, for this is the  zn?hoZr  -           Op den 3den Augustus behaagde het den Heere uit ons mid-
 mark you, ~~holc: - man" (Eccl. 11:13). If the term, den weg te nemen onze dierbare Echtgenoote en der kinderen
 FRO REGE was meant to stand for a program of life zorgdragendc Moedcr, Dochter en Zuster,
 differing from that presented above, it is a term of a
 most doubtful signification. Pray, might our Christian                             MRS. F. BEIBOER-Meyer,                  !
 program be so modified as to differ csscnti& from the in den ouderdom van 39 jaar en 14 dagen.
 one drafted and lived by our spiritual antecedents?               Hoewel   deze  wonde ons diep  hceft  getroffen, treuren wij
                                                                niet als degcnen die geen hope hebben, maar  wij mogen geloo-
                                                G. M. 0.        ven en vertrouwen, dat zij is ingegaan in de zaligc  gcwcsten der
                                                                eeuwige  ruste, die  God  voor Zijn  volk   heeft   weggclegd.

                                                                                                       F. Beibocr en kinderen
                                                                                                       Mr. en Mrs. C. Meyer
        The Choral Society of the Fuller Ave. Protestant                                               Mr. en Mrs. Herman Meyer
 Reformed Church will render a miscellaneous program.                                                  Mr. en Mrs. Henry Knot
        Time: September 25, 7  :45.                                                                    Mr. en Mrs. J. Beiboer
        Place: Fuller Ave. Church.                                 Grand Rapids,  Mich.
        A collection will be taken for The Standard  Eearer.


                                                                    Als we onze zonden nien in het licht van Gods hei-
        Christus, de Gekruisigde, maakt  light bet kruis van ligheid, onthult datzelfde licht ons Gods ,verg&ende
 den Christen.                                                  liefde.


