                                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                           103

                    En dat dezen we niet. Wij zijn bezig  den strijd op grace and thus into that place which  he, according to
                te geven; We zullen  worden  overwonnen, zoo God het the design of God, should eventually occupy. At least
                niet verhoede.                                              one of the purposes of the call, then, was to bring into
                    Broeders, het mag zoo niet !                            relief the faith and piety that had been implanted in
                    Wij  moeten ook in dezen pal staan  vo6r'  het  b&      his bosom and to send him on along a path that
                ginsel.                                                     could serve as heaven's means for  deTieloping  that
                    Ook in dezen strijd moeten wij schouder aan schou-      faith. The task begun in our previous article and one
                der staan.                                                  which tie again engage in, is the task of marking the
                    Wij  moeten het hierover eens blijven, dat het zaad various stages of the development of this faith. The
                des Verbonds door ons nimmer mag  worden   toever-          very first exhibition of it on record, was made
                trouwd aan de wereld. Zijn we het hierover eens,' dan in Ur. Here it happened that Abraham, in response
                is hierdoor vanzelf onze gedragslijn bepaald.               to a call directed to him by the Lord God, resolved to
                    Want dan zullen wij blijven strijden voor het ideaa     surrender his seen world for things unseen  - an un-
                der Vrije Christelijke School, het koste wat het wil!       known land, a great name, a prodigious posterity.
                    Dan  zenden we onze  kinderen  naar de Christelijke Carrying out his resolution, he set out. On the basis
                Scholen,  die bestaan, zoolang het kan. En zoolang  zul-    of a testimony-of God that the promised grace would
                len'we ook onze krachten inspannen, om die  scholen zoo     be brought near, he entered a desert.
                dicht mogelijk bij het ideaal te brengen  en te houden.         However, as was before said (see former article)
                Zoolang.er  geen oorzaak is. voor yersplintering van        the faith required to lay hold on the original. promise
                krachten zullen wij er de oorzaak niet van worden.          was not as great as the faith required to embrace its
                    En als dit  nu'niet  meer kan?                          latter additions. Abraham did not know at the outset
                   Als het werkelijk eens zoo zou worden,  dat men het      that the land the Lord would show him was already`
                ons onmogelijk maakt om onzen  invloed te doen  gelden      occupied. Nor was it at first revealed to him that the
                op de bestaande scholen ? Als wij werkelijk tot de mother of the .promised  seed was to be one even at that
                overtuiging  moeten komen, dat ook op die scholen het time far past age.
                onderwijs niet meer is naar den zuiveren eisch van              The first, test of faith occurred when the  L&d told
                Gods Woord, Wat dan? Dan  ma& de toevlucht  ge-             Abraham that to his seed He would give the land whose
                zocht in de Publieke School?                                borders he (Abraham) had entered. It is worthy of
                    Neen, broeders, dien weg moet het niet. Dien weg note that the original promise was devoid of any such
                kunnen we niet op.                                          information. Abraham was merely bidden to get him
                Dan legt het beginsel ons eenvoudig een nieuwe              into a land to be shown him by the Lord. Not until this
                taak op. de schouderen. Dan zullen  we onszelven er land had been entered, was it announced to him that
                ook toe geven met al onie krachten om die taak te ver- in  his generc&ions  he was to receive it as a permanent
                richtefi.   pan is de nood ons  opgelegd,  om weer van possession. It is not difficult to see that this announce-
                voren af aan te beginnen, eigen scholen te stichten, met ment together with the discovery $0 the effect that the
1..~_ _-_-- .-.eigen krachten--te  arbeiden. aan de .verwerkelijking-van.. -promis-edland.  was already-occ.upied,.  put his faith ,to-a . .._
                het  ideaal, zoolang  de .Heere ons krachten en middelen severe test  - a test which, if survived, would show
                geeft.                                                      him up more than ever as a man of genuine piety. For,
                   De hand aan den ploeg, breeders!                         to begin with, the occupancy of the land by the Canaan-
           '        En bovenal pal staan voor het beginsel!                 ites was a matter that, from the point of view of
                    God geve ons genade !                                   nature, rendered the fulfilment  of the promise highly
                                                               H; H.        improbable, if not impossible.. Though becoming
                                                                            aware of the fact that the land he had entered was
                                                                            already taken, Abraham, instead of halting in his path
                                                                            and returning to the land of his nativity, presses on to
                                      ABRAHM                                the plain of Moreh. Doing so he exhibits a faith able
                   As the channel of blessing, as the father of the to cleave to the promise of God, even when that prom-
                faithful, as the representative personage with whom ise seems .to be in conflict with the testimony of out-
                Jehovah instituted, in a formal sense, His covenant of ward circumstances.
                grace, Abraham occupies a unique place in, t&e Divine           Further, not this patriarch himself but his seed
                scheme of redemption.. The matter upon which we shall receive, according to the promise of God, the land
                began to dwell in our previous essay is that for this       of Cantin as a possession. From this it follows that
                place Abraham was prepared, fitted, by the environ- he must be content to dwell in this land as a
                ment in which he was inducted as well as by all the sojourner, a guest, a stranger. The sacred writer of
                experiences and events entering into the make-up of the epistle to the Hebrews makes special mention of the
                his sojourn in Canaan. The faith that had so nobly fact that such was indeed his legal status in
                responded to the voice of heaven, continued to make         Canaan  - a status in which he voluntarily acquiesced.
                new triumphs, so that Abraham was seen to grow in "By faith he (Abraham) sojourned in the land of

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

                promise, as in a strange country,  dwelling  in tents yielded to the wiles of this prince, - the loss, namely,
                with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same of the friendship of God. The patriarchs had to live
                promi$e . .  ; These all died in faith, not having re- alone, be separate and thus retain their distinctiveness.
                ceived the promises, but having seen them afar off, and It was with their seed that the Lord .had promised to
                were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and con- establish His covenant. So, too, must they refrain
                fessed that they were strangers and pilg?ims on the from appropriating the land of Canaan by force. For
                earth" (Heb. 11: 9-13) . The reverse state of the one the Lord had made it plain that He zoo&d give this
                cited above, to-wit, is that of a proprietor, settled land land to their posterity. Likewise would they have been
                owner and `thus of a host. It is the only status that doing the forbidden thing, had they sought to  re-e;tab-
                appeals to nature. Hence, the carnally minded are lish themselves in the land whence they had come.
                invariable seen to seek the things below, and to sink Would they then gain God, there was but one thing for
                their heels deep in this earth, to add house to house them to do, to-wit, look away from name and place in
                and land to land, to lay hold, in a word, on as much of this world, from land and settled possessions and re-
               this world's goods as time, energy and opportunity solve to dwell in Canaan as in a strange land. So they
               permit. It is the way of the carnally minded to shut did. For not land and wealth and glory constitnted
                themselves up in this world as in a house that will for them the priceless pearl, but the friendship of God,
               stand forever and to deem themselves its masters, the eternal city that hath foundations. And their
               proprietors, owners,. which indeed they are. What faith  it was ,that lent unto this eternal yet invisible
                Christ once promised to the meek, to-wit, this earth good, form and substance so that of its existence they
               together with all its resources  and fulness is as yel; were as convinced as of the existence of the things that
               the possession of the Canaanites. Be this as it may, lie within the range of physical sight. It was this un-
               had the above-described mind been in Abraham, he seen good, the vaIue of which they had been empowered
               would' not have been content to dwell in the land of by grace to sense, that constituted for them the treas-
               promise as in a strange country but would have re-, ures sought - treasures for the sake of which they
               turned to his native land with its opportunities for looked away from things earthly when bid by God to                         _
               self-advancement, or attached himself to one or the            do so. Once more, then, "By faith he (Abraham, the
               other of the many feudal lords or city kings of Canaan, patriarch) sojourned in the land of  promise,  as in a
               or perhaps have mobilized an army, driven the original strange  coutitry,  dwelling in tents with Isaac and
               inh3bitants  beyond Canaan's borders, and thus set him- Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: for he
               self up as lord, master and proprietor of the land he looked for a city that hath foundations, whose builder
               had entefed. That Abraham, had he chosen to do so,             and maker is God . . . . These all died in faith, not
               could have put an end to his status of sojourner by having received the promises, but `having seen them
               allowing himself to be assimilated by one or the               afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embrazed
               other social units of Canaan is evident from the over- them, and confessed that they were strangers and pil-
               tures of Hamor  the Hevite, the prince of the country. grims on the earth. For they that say such things  de-
-__-         -- -It-was--he--and.-his.-son--that--suggested-to-  -the--men of--elare-plai-nly .that--$hey-seekL.a  .country.----And--.truly--h -
               their city that, whereas Jacob and his sons were peace- they had been mindful of that country from whence
               able with them, they should let them dwell in the land, they came out, they might have had opportunity to
               and trade therein: "ifor,"  so they said, "the land, be- have returned. But now they desire a better country,
        .      hold, it `is large enough for them ; let us take their         fhat is a heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to
               daughters to us for wives, and let us give them our be called their God: for He hath prepared for them a
               daughters . . . Only herein will the men consent unto city"  (Heb. 11);
               us for to dwell with us, to be one people, if every male          The sojourn of the patriarchs continued, during
               among us be circumcised, as they are circumcised. their entire pilgrimage, to be one of faith. For "they
               Shall not their cattle and their substance and every received not the promise." The secret of their stead-
               beast of theirs be ours? Only let us consent unto them,        fastness was faith in a promise to the effect that the
               and they will dwell with us" (Gen. 34  :20-23).  Had gesired  boon would  be'brought  near. From this it fol-
               any of .the patriarchs yielded to any such proposals, lows that  what they hoped for was not, in the last
               their statns in the land of Canaan would have im- instance, an earthly Canaan but that of which this
               mediately changed from that of stranger, sojourner, .Canaan  was an emblem, to-wit, new heavens and a new
               and guest to that of citizen, proprietor,  and. land earth wherein righteousness dwelleth, a hallowed and
               owner. For what this Hevite had in view was the glorified region where the redeemed walk with God,
               amalgamation of Israel and the people he, Hamor, rep- and behold with glorified sense organs His blessed face.
               resented ; and the making common of the property  - We remark in passing that, in opposition to the views
               catt1.e  and land - of each of the parties concerned.         of the Premillennialists,  the implication of the above-
               Apparently, then, Jacob would have been greatly bene- cited scripture is that the earthly Canaan was indeed
               fited by the compact. However, this apparent gain is a type of heavenly regions. The Lord had promised to
               not to be compared with the loss sustained had he give Abraham in his generations an earthly Canaan.---
                                                      I


                                           T H E   S T A N D A R D   BEAR.ER                                                 105

   What this patriarch expected was an eternal city, so            as an earthly  commonwealth either in Canaan or else-
   that the conviction cannot be escaped that in his mind          where. For, they being lovers of God, it was the eternal
   these two  -  th6 earthly and the heavenly Canaan  -            city, the society of the redeemed, that had captivated
   were related as shadow snd body. The Premillennial-             their heart.
   i&s may interpolate that the term hieqnnal city is the              We ar,e now ready to set forth the tri:e character of
   signification not of heavenly regions but of the restored Abraham's mode of existence in Canaan. That he led
   earthly Palestine replenished by a restored Israel'. To the life of a sojourner and dwelt in the land of Canaan
   this we reply that the sixteenth  verse asserts that what       as in a strange land cannot be held to imply that he
   Abraham hoped for  was a heavenly  country.                     was not on speaking terms with the men in whose land
       The patriarchs, once more, expected a heavenly he had taken up his abode, that, in other words, he re-
   country, so the sacred writer asserts. They set their mained a total stranger to the feudal lords of Canaan,
   heart on a heavenly treasure.  It was because they and avoided all contact with them. The record of Abra-
   were so  cotistituted that they were ready to renounce,         ham's life in Canaan is interspersed with notices with
   in obedience to the, mandate of the Lord, all earthly which the aforesaid view of the relation this patriarch
   countries. And the sacrifice made and the mode of sustained to the princes of Canaan, is in conflict.
  living willingly adopted showed them up as men of Ia was in conjunction with Eshcol and Aner the m-
   deep piety. However, let their be no misunderstand-             orites as his confederates, that Abraham brought back
   `ing. Earthly land and wealth as such constitute no. his brother Lot, Gen. 14 : 13. Co-operation of this kind
   evil. Abraham, though dwelling in the land of Canaan necessarily presupposes a lively acquaintance between
   as a stranger, was nevertheless rich, made so by the            the consolidated parties.' Abimelech, the Philistine
   L&d. What is more, the very country he was bidden lord, and Abraham were likewise, old time acquaint-
   to renounce, was given to his posterity which could not         ances, as is evident from the words that passed be-
   have. happened if the possession of land as such is in tween them on the occasion of their meeting at  Beer-
   conflict with what the Lord deems right and proper.             sheba. This lord had observed that God  was.with  the
   The meek  shall inherit the earth. Nevertheless, the            Hebrew having entered his borders, and therefore has
   holding of land  may constitute a great sin in the sight        him (Abraham) swear that he will not deal falsely
   of heaven. In Abraham's case it would have, for the with him, nor with his son, nor with his son's son, but
   very reason that, according to t,he purpose of God, he          shall do &to him according to the kindness that he
   had. to acquiesce, and he willingly did So, in the state . (Abimelech) had done  untp Abraham, Gen.  21:23.  The
   of a stranger and sojourner in Canaan. It was this reason, then, this chieftain advances for the proposed
   Divinely appointed state that rendered it a crime for covenant is the generous treatment afforded Abraham
   him to .devise  ways and means for establishing himself `in the past. Abraham's +ransactions  with the sons of
   either in the aforesaid land or in any other country Heth may also be cited as positively proving that the
   ofi the face of the earth.         -                            wall of literal estrangement between Abraham and the
       Further, "the city having foundations" - the city chiefs of the tribes of Canaan had been broken down.
. _ the patriarchs .expect.ed,..  stoo_d_ ..opposed  _t_o->be.  social The.meei&x   bctve~en   mAk42xz   .and JWhiz_eZlek.points__
   units on earth of that age, either of Canaan or of the          in the same direction. The view, then, that Abraham
   country quitted. For the term city, surely, is not first held himself completely aloof from, and held no inter-
   of all the signification of  houses and paved streets but       course whatever with the people among whom he had
  of a  numbe?  of humans so organized as to `constitute a taken up his  abode;is  seen to be untenable. To remain
   distinct commonwealth. The other side of the Divine             in a literal sense a total stranger to a next door neigh-
   tiandate  to immigrate to new regions was the com-              bor is altogether impossible. If Abraham's loyalty to
   mand to renounce that particular social unit or city God depended upon a literal estrangement of the  afore-
   of which Abraham had. constituted an integral part in said kind, it would have been of short duration. Yet
   Ur - a social group designated .in the book of Genesis `such seems to be the prevailing view.
   by the terms  country, kindred, father's house.  And                What, then, may have been  the character of Abra-
   the fact that the patriarchs in `their generations were ham's pilgrimage in Canaan? The answer, already
   bidden by the Lord to receive from His hand Canaan given in substance, we now elucidate. In doing so we
   as a gift, amounted to a Divine declaration to the              again set out with the observation that the record of
   effect that their personal status in this land was to be Abraham's life' is interspersed with notices necessitat-
   that of a stranger and sojourner, that, therefore, they ing the view that the type of religion this man of God
   might neither attach themselves to any of the social            encountered in Canaan was of a dark aspect. Appar-
   units of Canaan. Doing so, they would have lost, as             ently some of these notices can be appealed to in sup-
   was before said, their identity and as a consequence port of the opposite view - the view, namely, that at
   the friendship of God. From any and all of the social least many of the chieftains of Canaan were kings of
   units on earth, constituting, as they did, centers of           righteousness and lovers of .God  and His anointed. The
   idolatry, the patriarchs persistently turned away. In manner in which these chiefs behave toward Abraham,
   addition. they refrained from establishing  themselves their seemingly broad tolerance, their knowledge of


 106                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   BEARER

 God, the replies they made to God in response to His been demonstrated unto them that the Lord would
 rebukes, the sentiments  circulatifig through these re- surely make good His threat in the event His orders
 plies, seem to constitute a mass of evidence that can be were ignored. "The Lord had fast  closed up all the
 appealed to in  ,support  of the view that among the wombs of the house of.Abimelech, because of Sarah
 lords of Canaan could be found many a personage of Abraham's wife" (Gen. 20  :18). The sacred writer
 true piety. Pharaoh "entreated Abraham well for her records that when Abimelech told his men that God in
  (Sarah's) sake  ; and he had sheep, and oxen, and he had a dream had threatened him and all his with death in
 asses, and men servants, and maid servants, and the event Sarah was not restored, they - these men
 asses and camels" given him by Pharaoh. True, this - were sore afraid, Gen.  20~8. Fact is, then, that
 Egyptian Monarch had appropriated Abraham's wife. those lords did Abraham no harm because the terror of
 He did so, however, on.the basis of a false report cir- God had tal;en hold of them. So we read in Ps. 105
 culated by the very woman he had taken into his house. that "He (the Lord) suffered nq man to do them (the
 He rightfully, therefore, may appear to his innocence three patriarchs) wrong: yea, He reproved kings for
 when plagued by God. Discovering his mistake, he im- theil" sakes ; saying, Touch not mine anointed and do
 mediately ieleases Sarah, and administers to Abraham my prophets no harm." What we are to think of here
 a rather stern rebuke for having deceived him.                is a special interposition. on the part of the Lord in
        Then there is the case of Eshcol and Aner the  Am-     behalf of His prophets. That this apparent generous
 orites who set out with Abraham on his military ex- t?e.atment  these aforesaid lords afforded Abraham was
 pedition against the captors.of  Lot. And of Abimelech motivated by a pious love is contradicted by the record.
 the Philistine chief's testimdny to the effect that he had of Abimelech's conduct at a latter period. It is ex-
 dealt kindly with Abraham was not contradicted by plicitly stated that Isaac's prosperity incited the envy
 the latter. The previous behaviour  of. this king is of the Philistines. Undey the impulse'of their jealous
 equally remarkable. Abraham, while sojourning in rage they stop all the wells Abraham his father had
 Gerar, again  poses as the brother `of Sarah, with the        digged, and finally ordered him to quit their land for,
 result that she is sent for by this king. In responding ,said they, "thou art much mightier thah we" (Gen.
 to the  &vine threat, he first of all makes an appeal to 26 :13).
 the rectitude of the God reproving him .and asks,                It can be easily proven from the book of Genesis
 "Wilt thou slay also a righteous nation?" and there- that these Canaanitish chieftains, though refraining
 upon declares that he had been deceived by the woman from molesting the patriarchs, were nevertheless god-
 he had taken, that, therefore, he had acted in the~in-        less men both at heart and as to their outward mani-.
 tegrity of his heart and innocency  of his hands. The festations. It is certain that Abraham entered Canaan
 Lord, after conceding his integrity orders him "to re- with the `tied idea that these native lords were men
 store the man his wife." Failing to do so, he shall die. for whom no crime  was to great, so that should any of
 "Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said unto him, their number feel himself attracted to Sarah, nothing
 What hast thou  dolie unto us? and what have I offended but the interposition of the Almighty would prevent
- thee
  - -2  that. 
          _.-_ - $&.~_,h&Jr,ought  .onme-  and on. my-king- .su& -a- one-&em -carrying-her- -off- by -unlawful-forctz----' -
 doin a great sin? thou hast done deeds unto me that after having disposed of him. It shows  th&t these lords
 ought not to be done . . . What sawest thou, that thou were universally known as men  qf violence, who were
 hast done this thing? . . . And Abimelech took sheep, wont to stop short at nothing ; that the lawless spirit
 and oxen, and men servants, and tioman servants, and against which Abraham sought to protect himself by
 gave them unto Abraham, and restored him Sarah his hi.4  subterfuge, was indeed rife in the land he  tintered.
 wife. And Abimelech said, Behold, my land is' before          Fearing for his life, he bids Sarah to say of `him in
 thee: dwell where it  pleaseth  thee." There is, then, on every place whither they should come, He is my
 the part of these chieftains, a quick response to Divine brother. And the fact that this deceit is repeatedly
 threats and visitation, a marked readiness to obey practiced both by Abraham and his son, warrants the
 Divine orders, a willingness to make amends for wrong conclusion that the violence they dreaded had become
 done. These chiefs seem to possess a keen sense of prevalent. True enough, the cup of iniquity was being
 propriety and exhibit what  appears'to  be a generosity filled even in Abraham's day. The Amorites were mak-
 .and good will toward the prophets of the'Lord  sojourn- ing themselves ripe for judgment to come. To this must
 ing in their country that commands attention, so that b'e added, however, that the Philistines and the Egyp-
 the question cannot be quelled whether God had not tians were no Canaanites, did not belong therefore to
 implanted `in  their  bosom pious regard for His name. those tribes cursed by the Lord. It is therefore ques-
 Our answer must be a negative one, for the reason that tionable whether the profane and lawless spirit was as
 these pagan lords were continually acting' under the rife in the land of Philistia and of Egypt as in the
 impulse of a great dread for the judgments of the God, borders of those regions occupied by the Canaanites;
 whom, they knew, had taken Abraham under His pro- whether the spiritual and moral deterioration had
 tection. They'had been ordered under penalty of death worm-eaten its way as deeply in the societies of the
 to keep hands off the Hebrew in their midst. It had           former, as in the  s.ocieties of the latter tribes. The


                                                 T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                         107

great anxiety voiced by Abimelech upon his discovery Zooals Melchizedek optreedt,  is hij een priester, die
of  the true relation Isaac sustained to  R,ebecca',  seems zijn priesterschap lijnrecht uit het Paradijs afleidt uit
to indicate that tl-@ voice of conscience of this chief and          de algemeene genade  ; bij wien van verzoening of offer-
his people still spoke in a most audible tone. However, ande geen sprake is  ; wiens priesterlijke bediening volle
the notices of scripture having to do with-this phase of realiteit bezit  ;. ze is  we1 onzuiver (want hoe  zou de  ge-
our subject are to scant to allow a precise delineation vallen mensch het priesterschap voortzetten?) van  bin-
of .the moral and spiritual condition of the tribes dwell- nen uitgehold, van geestelijk leven ontbloot - maar
ing in Canaan. To say with certaihty  to what extent to& een  laatste gloor van het priesterschap door God
these families had already corrupted their ways before in. heI Paradijs ingesteld."
the Lord is quite impossible. However, that these                          The view coming to the surface in the above-cited
races were fast deteriorating in all their branches is a quotation is, when placed alongside of Scripture, turns
view reposing on solid ground. The Amorites, Scrip- out to be a sheer invention. According to Kuyper, the
ture asserts, were engaged in filling the cup of iniquity.           priesthood of the aforesaid priest and hence this very
That the tribes of Canaan even at that early date were priest was impure, hollow and devoid of spiritual life.
steeped in idolatry is evident from the fact that the Harmonize, if you can, this characterization of Melchis-
three patriarchs  builded, in agreement with their call- edec with the scripture declaring him to be a priest
ing,. an altar to the Lord in every important district of the most high God, a king of righteousness and of
where they would temporarily settle. They must have peace.. It cannot be done.
d&e so, surely, with a view of furnishing the lapd                         The difference, *hen, between the highpriests of the
with the glorious reverse of its dark and hideous idol- Levitical priesthood and Melchisedec  v&s that the
atry.  *                                                             former were priests by law, the latter by the unction
   Thus did heathenism gather gradually, as a general of the spirit, which implies +hat the sacred truths of
twilight, through which glimmered the men of God, as which the expiatory sacrifice which he, of course, also
individual stars., One of these stars was Melchisedec.               brought, dwelt in his own SOUI. This in opposition to
To whit, is said- of this personage we hope to do full Kuyper that Melchisedec brought no expiatory sacri-
justice in another connection. However, to take no                   fices. There is no reason why he should not. Nor can
notice qf him at all now, would not do. It is the epistle it be proven that he did not.
to the Hebrews that asserts: "For this Melchisedec,                        Let us permit Scripture to instruct us respecting
lying of Salem, pri& of the most high God, who met                   the matter at hand. What may be the design of the
Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings,                   apostle in focusing the attention of his readers upon
and blessed him ; to whom Abraham also gave a. tenth the aforesaid personage ? His purpose is to draw their
part of all; first being by interpretation king of right- minds away from the Levitical priesthood and to direct
eousness, and after that also king of Salem, which is, them to that of Christ. He sets out with proving that
king.of  peace; without father, without'mother, without perfection was not by the Levitical priesthood, for Levi
descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of in Abraham paid tithes to Melchisedec by whom he was
life ; but n&de like unto the Son of God * abideth a
        - _ ..- ._.. - ._._, _-. _..__..._ -;...-----.. . ..___'     also blessed.
                                                                    -.---  .--  .-..       It was need,  t&&;,-  that  an@&  -priest
                                                                                        ._-._I   - - .
z&& continually. Now consider, -how great-tjnis.`&%                  should  rise after the order of Melchisedec,  .one Jesus,
was, unto whom-even the patriarch Abraham  gave  the springing not out of Levi or Aaron but out of Judah.
tpnth of the spoils . . . . " (Hebrews 7 :i-5).                      Hence, with the appearance of Christ, the priesthood
    Before atteinpting.  to get & the truth about Mel-               changed, that is, shifted from Levi to Judah. In the
chisedec, let us attend briefly  .to the view of  this mys- sequence, the apostle labors to prove that, whereas
terious personage circulating through  the following this priestly office was transferred from one tribe to
selections taken from the Dictatsn  Dogmatiek of Dr.                 another, it must be of another kind than that previ-
A. Kuyper. "In het Paradijs is de priesterlijke func- ously instituted. It was of a kind, so the apostle
tie gestuit; nog een nawerking vi&en wij bij M$chi-                  affirms, that did not involve Him vested with it in
zedek ; maar dit was reeds niet  meer het eigenlijke en duties consisting in giving attendance to the altar.
volle; slechts een tak, die van den boom vie1 en grden               Necessarily so, as He, rising after the order of  Melchi-
ziet . . . Zijn priesterschap is niet een priesterschap sede'c,  is of a tribe of whom no man gave attendance
ter verzoening,  - maar evenals zijn koningschap, een to ,tne altar. The sacred service and the worship which
uiting van h+ natuurlijk leven in het Paradijs ingezet.              the law required were confined  untg the Levitical
    "Voorts komt dit priesterschap van Melcbizedek priesthood, so that their service could not be per-
niet op uit een bizondere roeping of openbaring Gods ; .             formed by one not of their family.
dij treedt or, niet als een `geroepene uit zijn volk en                    Thereupon the tipostle goes on to say that it is far
land' maar als een .gewoon  volkshoofd  der Kanaanie-                more apparent. However, whereas he does not com-
ten . . . Wij hebben dus hier met een priesterschap plete this thought, the question arises, What is far
te  doen  niet uit het rijk.der genade maar  door natuur-            more evident? And the answer : That the imperfec-
lijken voortgang uit het rijk der schepping opgekomen. tions inherent in the Levitical priesthood were of a
    "Nemen wij dit saam dan krijgen wij dit Teshltaat :              kind that rendered it a failure  $nd necessitated its  re-


108                                  T H E   S T A N D A R D   BEARER

moval; that, further, the priesthood of Christ, com-         even of despising sometimes as did the sons of Eli, the
pared with- that of Levi, was one of surpassing ex- sacred duties belonging to their office,  - men, there-
cellence. For He that arose after the similitude of fore, not holy, harmless, undefiled, but thoroughly
Melchised&  is not made after the carnal command- profane and profligate characters, yet priests  because
ment, as `was Levi, but after the power, that is, right, made so after the law of a carnal commandment. The
of an endless iife. What is manifestly meant is that word of oath, however, which was after the law,
the priesthood of Levi was of a kind  imposed  upon maketh the son, - a holy priest who is consecrated
those who bore it by law. Whether the serving priest forever.
was spiritually qualified, whether the law he served              In casting about for one who properly exhibited  in
constituted the mold into which he could freely and the capacity of a type, the above-cited peculiar proper-
spontaneously project his inward self, whether he was ties of the priest, Christ, the Holy Spirit directs the
a lover of the name of God,, coinciding as to the inward attention of the apostle to Melchisedec. For it was he
man with the mode of thought circulating through the who had been constituted by the Lord the typical
transactions in which he engaged, was not inquired replica of those features of Christ's priesthood, which
into. Being a son of  Aaron,..he was compelled to the Levitical priesthood, because of its imperfections
acquiesde  in his induction into office. In a word, he and peculiar purposes, failed to foreshadow.                With
was made priest after the law of a carnal command- these features ,in our eye, it ought not to be dii"ncult
ment. So it happened that many of these sons were to interpret correctly what is asserted by l!&oses and
godless men, hating and desecrating the very services the apostle of Melchisedec, to lay hold on the peculiar
to which they were attached "For the law maketh men features of his priesthood, and to understand correctly
highpriests which have infirmity." Yet being sons of his person and appearance.
Aaron they were compelled to serve. Christ, on the                And then we set out with the assertion that the
other hand, was a priest after the power of a holy life, view to the effect that Melchisedec, though having been
by a fitness inhering in both bis natures, and therefore, brought, according to Kuyper, under the influence of
eminently capable of performing the service. A priest common grace, was nevertheless devoid of spiritual life
was He, then, because of his capacities to be priest  - - a wicked, reprobate person, then, after all  - is in
capacities which He alone possessed. For, being the violent conflict with what constitutes the very nucleus
incarnate Word, He is the eternal and creative source of the apostle's argument. For the very purpose of the
of life reposing in His human nature ; and as to this       apostle is to show that Melchisedec typified the Christ
nature, the eternal recipient of a grace and power that in a manner in which the, Levitical highpriest could
constituted Him the lamb of God without spot or blem- not in that he was made after the law of a carnal com-
ish and afterward the One in whom  all the fulness mandment. Christ, on the other hand, was a priest in
dwells. His having been made priest after the power whom inherit an indestructible life rendering him in-
or right of an endless life, implies, of course, a moral    herently fit for His office. Melchisedec, could he `serve
fitness as well, so that the duties in which His office     as a more excellent emblem of Christ than the sons of
involved Him constituted the holy ebullitions of a heart Levi must likewise..be a p&&n~t.                   deyoid  of priestly
                                                            .-  _  .L                                     _.. _            _
upon whose- tab&s  these &ti& &a been written. Be- capacities,-   but'  `likewise inwardly qualified for the
ing what He was and `is, He saves to the uttermost.         office in which he functioned, the office, namely, of
   Further, the Levicital priesthood was one of suc- priest-king. To say that a grace, which, according to
cession, transferred from father. to son; necessarily the concession of the exponents of the theory we op-
so for the high priests were not suffered to con- pose, leaves a man totally depraved in the sight of God,
tinue by reason of death. But, Jesus in that He could haye qualified Melchisedez  for the aforesaid office,
continueth forever, hath an unchangeable, that is, an is as ridiculous as it is untrue. The truth of the mat-
abiding, eternal priesthood. Thereupon the apostle ter is, then, that  he.was  a priest-king by the  right and
draws the conclusion : "Therefore He (Jesus) is able power of a life implanted in his bosom by the Spirit of
to  save:to  the uttermost that come unto God by Hi.m,      regeneration and sanctification.     In his bosom, too,
seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them." there  repos.ed an indestructible life. If devoid of this
The apostle concludes by saying that we needed just life, if impure, he must be termed priest-king, not of
this kind of a priest - one whose priestly functions the most high God, but of the devil. The aversion that
could constitute, as  was before said, the ebullitions of such a one could serve as  a more excellent type of
an inward holy life, or, as the apostle expresses it, one Christ is one  which we would dread to have placed at
who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sin- our account. That Melchisedec possessed this inward
ners, and made higher than the heavens. One who fitness the apostle expresses by saying that he was
needeth not daily, as the typical highpriest, to offer king of righteousness and of peace. As one in whom
up sacrifice first for his own sins, and then for the the  oflice of priest-king resides in the very being of
People's. : For this He did once, when He offered up        the bearer, Melchisedec, blesses Abraham and praises
Himself. For the law maketh men highpriests  which his God.
have infirmity . . . men who are sinful, to the point            What was it, then, that constituted him, in distinc-


                                        T H E   S;rANDARD   B E A R E R                                             iO3

tion from Aaron and his sons, a more worthy type of              NAM3 DE  ORDENHNG  VAN  IMELCMPZEDEK
Christ? Positively, his inward fitness for his office ;
negatively his "being without father, without mother,            Tot. het  ambt van den Heiland behoort ook het
without descent, having neither beginning of days  .or priesterambt. En Hij is priester in der eeuwigheid
end of life." The key to the correct understanding of naar de ordening van Melchizedek. Want ,David zegt
this scripture is the word descent. Its Greek equivalent van Hem: "De Heere heeft tot mijnen Heere gespro-
signifies a generation not described or recorded, or in ken: Zit aan Mijne rechterhand, totdat Ik uwe vijan-
the express  words of the apostle, "not counted." Mel- den gezet zal hebben tot eene voetbank  ,uwer voeten.
chisedec, ,then, in his capacity of priest is the record of De Heere zal den scepter uwer sterkte zenden uit Sion,
one whose parentage, generation, birth and decease            zeggende: Heersch in  hit  midden uwer vijanden. Uw
was `not entered by the Holy Spirit in Scripture, evi- volk zal zeer gewillig zijn op den dag uwer heirkracht,
dently for the reason that his priesthood did not de- in heilig sieraad  ; uit de baarmoeder des dageraads zal
pend on any  such descent or genealogy. Being the kind U de dauw Uwer jeugd zijn. De Heere heeft gezwo-
of priest he was  - one inwardly fit, because the  .pos-      ren en het zal Hem niet berouwen: Gij zijt Priester in
sessor of an indestructible life - he, as Christ, abideth eeuwigheid naar de ordening' van Melchizedek" (Ps.
a priest continually. And as a more  excellent type of 110 :l-4).         En. zoo getuigt ook de scbrijver van den
Christ,, he  biess.es Abraham and praises his God, and brief aan de Hebre&n door het Woord Gods : "Want alle
Abraham ,gave him the tenth` of his spoils.                   hoogepriester uit de menschen genomen, wordt gesteld
    So, then, as a solitary figure, disconnected from his voor de menschen in de zaken,  die bij God te  doen  zijn,
lineage, ~Melchisedec comes forth out of the unknown opdat Hij `off ere gaven en slachtofferen voor de zon-
for one brief act, showing him up as a true child of den; die  behocrlijk  medelijden kan hebben  tiet de on-.
God. This performed he again retreats into an eternal wetenden en dwalenden, overmits hij ook zelf met
silence.                                                      zwakheid omvangen is. En om dekzelver  zwakheid wil
   The question arises whether there were many more moet hij, gelijk voor het volk, alzoo ook voor zichzel-
like him in the regions where he reigns as a political ven,  offeren  voor de zonden. En niemand  neemt zich-
king. We think not. For `Christ, too, whom this king. zelven die eer aan, maar die van God geroepen is, ge-
fore-showed also appeared in  fan age characterized by lijkerwijs als Aaron.  Alzoo .heeft ook  Christus   Zich-
spiritual barrenness, an age of which the wilderness zelven niet verheerlijkt om Hoogepriester te worden,
in. which the Baptist cried, was an emblem. The ap- maar Die tot Hem gesproken heeft.:  Gij zijt Mijn Zoon,
pearance of Melchisedec, then, strengthens us in the heden heb Ik U gegenereerd. Gelijk  "gij ook in een
conviction that, as a whole, -the land of Canaan in andere  piaats zegt : Gij zijt Priester in der eeuwigheid,
whose borders the patriarchs sojourned, was a `dark           naar de ordening van Melchizedek" (Hebr. 5 :l-5) ; En
and sin-stricken region.                                      wederom: "En is van God genaamd een Hoogepriester,
   H&i& determined the spiritual and moral condi- naar de ordening van Melchizedek" (Hebr. 5  :10). Ifij
tion of the poptilace of Canaan, we are ready now to is als onze Voorlooper ingegaan in het binnenste van
define  the. character of Abraham's pilgrimage in het Voorhangsel, namelijk Jezus, .naar de ordening van
                                                                                                      -.  ---.-:
Canaan. We shall do so in a following essay.`.                Melchizedek, eefi Hoog%prie&`&  geworden  zljndk in' der- -
   A final remark, Abraham  zay$  tithes to Melchisedec eeuwigheid, Hebr. 6 :2Q. Want. de volkomenheid was
as the representative of all the believers. He did so niet door het Levietisch  priesterschap.          Dan ware hei
after having gained  & signal victory over the invading niet noodig geweest dat een ander priester zou opstaan
host, representative of the forces of iniquity. Abra- naar de ordening van Melchizedek en niet na& de ord&
ham paying tithes to Melchisedec and the latter provid- ning van Aaron. En het is openbaar, dat onze Heere
ing the former with food and drink and in addition uit, Juda gesproten is, op welken stam Mozes niets  ge-
blessing him - constitutes the'kmblem of the company sproken  heeft van het priesterschap. En de Heiland is
of redeemed, blessed and nourished by Christ, in whom geen priester geworden naar de wet eens vleeschelijken
they  triumph and to whom, therefore, they do homage. gebods, maar naar de wet des onvergankelijken levens.
                                                  G. M. 0.    Want Hij getuigt : Gij zijt Priester in der eeuwigheid
                                                              naar de ordening van Melchizedek, Hebr. 7  :11, 13, 14,
                                                              16, 17. Het is dan ook openbaar, dat er verandering
                                                              van wet is gekomen met dit priesterschap van Jezus.
            Al den weg leidt mij mijn Heiland ;               `Het  voorgaande gebod, dat betrekking had op het
              Wat vraagt gij, mijn ziel, dan meer?            priesterschap van Aaron uit den stam van Levi, is ver-
            Zou ik aan Zijn liefde twijf'len?                 nietigd geworden om deszelfs zwakheid en  onprofijte-
              Is Hij niet mijn trouwe Heer?                   lijkheid wil. Want de wet heeft geen ding vblmaakt.
            Hemelrust en zielevreugde,                        Zij iS de aanleiding van een betere hoop, door welke
              Schenkt Zijn teed're liefde mij,                wij tot God genaken, Hebr. 7 :18,19.. Daarom  is Jezus
            ,Wat mij hier ook overkome,                       dan ook va,n een zooveel beter verbond Borg geworden,
              `k Weet, in alles .zegent  Hij.                 en ontving Hij Zijn priesterschap .niet zonde?  eedzwe-


                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                       115

komt dan zoo nu en dan ook weer eens de gemeene              elect. So that, according to Calvin, there is in these
gratie ter sprake, als een der oorzaken hiervan.             words nothing that is in conflict with the doctrine of
   Alleen maar, men wil het altijd weer schuiven op eternal predestination; There is no general offer here
een misbruik dier leer.                                      at all. God does not say, that He is willing or earnestly
   Dat die leer zelf niet deugt, dat ze niet waar is en      desirous. to save all men. And there is no mystery
dat ze zelf de oorzaak is van de verwereldlijking en den whatever. The whole truth is perfectly clear to Calvin's
achteruitgang, - dat ziet men niet of wil men niet zoo mind.
hebben.                                                          Now, it stands to reason that this difference be-
   En tech is dat de waarheid.                               tween Berkhof and Kuiper on the one hand and Calvin
   Er is geen gemeene gratie. En de leer der gemeene on the other, is of more than mere exegetical interest.
gratie is juist  we1 de verdediging van  wereldgelijkvor-        The mere fact, that the former two should differ
migheid. Hierover hopen we, in'verband met de arti-          from the latter on a pure question of interpretation,
kelen in  De  Reformdie  ten  Golgende  keer meer te would not prove at all, that they are not in essential
schrijven.                                                   agreement doctrinally.
   Intusschen verblijden we ens' er tech over, dat de            But that is not the point.
kwestie weer voor de aandacht van verschillende Gere-            This instance of difference in their interpretation
formeerden komt te staan ook in Nederland.                   of a certain text reveals a difference. in tendency, in
   Het doet in ons de hope herleven.                         principle, in doctrine. Calvin believes only in the truth
                                                 H. H.       that grace is particular, that the grace of the gospel is
                                                             meant only for the elect, even.though its preaching is
                                                             general. Hence, when the opponent presents a text
                                                             that apparently contradicts the doctrine of God's elec-
     CALVIN, BERKHOF AND H. J. KUPER                         tion and sovereign grace, he ponders and searches the
                                                             Word of God, till he found the harmony of the truth.
                     A  COMPARISON                           He explains those texts that are apparently in favor of
                            IV                               general grace and freewill in the light of the whole of
                                                             Scripture. But Berkhof and Kuiper actually find the
   On the text from Ezek. 18 and 33, we found, Berk-         Arminian doctrine in such texts, that God earnestly
hof and Kuiper do not agree with Calvin.                     wills the salvation of all that hear the Word preached
   They agree with Pighius, the Pelagian in their and that the preaching of that Word is a manifestation
exegesis of this passage of the Word of God.                 of the grace of God to all. The latter elicit from Scrip-
   Berkhof explained that in this passage we have a ture the Arminian doctrine of. general grace on the part
clear manifestation of the love of God to `all sinners       of God ; the former adheres to the truth of particular
and not only to the elect. In this passage, according to redemption as the fruit of election and sovereign grace.
him, we have a clear illustration of the general and             The difference is one of doctrine, of principle, not
weli-meant offer of salvation on the part of God to  ..all_-.merely..of.exegesis.      .__,     _
men. God earnestly invites them all to come to Him               This difference between these men will become still
and have eternal life.                                       more evident if we consider the meaning of another
   And this is the implied' exegesis of this text as         quotation from Calvin, the quotation we placed at the
quoted by the Synod of the Christian Reformed head .of our previous article on this subject. Let me
Churches in 1924. For by Synod the text is quoted as bring the entire passage from Cc&in's  Calvinism be-
a proof of the general grace of God to  ,a11 men as          fore the attention of our readers:
manifested in the preaching of the gospel.                       "It is quite certain that men do not turn from their
   Hence, we may safely assert that such is also the         evil ways to the Lord of their own accord, nor by any
explanation H. J. Kuiper would give. For he must instinct of nature. Equally certain-is it that the gift
abide by synodical  decisions and Synod decided that of conversion' is not common to all men ; because this
this is the meaning of the text we were discussing.          is that one of the two covenants which God promises
   Calvin, on the other hand, does not agree with this that He will not make with any but His own children
interpretation. It is the explanation of Pighius the         and His own elect people, concerning whom He has
Pelagian and Calvin opposes him with all his might. recorded this promise that `He will write His law in
And Calvin explains, that the two members of the text their hearts' (Jer. 31:33). Now a man must be utterly
must not be separated ; that God, if the text is taken beside himself to assert that this promise is made to
as a whole, promises life only to them that turn from all men generally and indiscriminately. God says ex-
their wicked way; that, therefore, the contents of this pressly by Paul who refers to the prophet Jeremiah,
gospel is conditional and particular; that, moreover,        `For this is the covenant that I will make with them.
the condition can never be fulfilled by natural man, but     Not according to the covenant that I made with their
only by those to whom God gives grace of repentance ;        fathers: but I will put My laws into their mind, and
and that God gives this grace of repentance only to the      write them in their hearts' (Heb. 8  :9, 10). Surely, to


           116                                       `,dE   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

           apply this promise to those who were worthy of this these blessings of grace belong to the promise of the
           new covenant, or to such as had prepared themselves gosnei?
                                                                                c      Surely, the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ
           by their own merits or endeavors to receive it, must does not come with a mere message that He  will save
           be worse. than the grossest ignorance and folly; and us (of what avail would it be for us, poor, dead, mis-
           the more so as the Lord is speaking by  tk;e prophet to          erable sinners?) but with the very positive glad tiding,
          -those  who had before `stony hearts'. .A11 this is Plainly that He did save us and does save us even' unto the
           stated also and fully explained by the prophet Ezekiel end.
           (chap. 36 :26).                                                     Now, I ask, do Berkhof and Kuiper include all this,
                  Now this passage is .extremely  interesting for our when they speak of the general preaching of the gos-
           present purpose, for more than one reason.                       pel ? Do they mean by the gospel the glad tidings of a
               In the first. place, because it raises the question:         Christ, not that will, but that does save to the full, that
           what do Berkhof and Kuiper mean, when they claim really atoned for sin, for the sin of all the elect; that
           that in the promise of the gospel, as presented in the           really gives new hearts to them all ; that effectually
           external calling, God earnestly reveals -His willingness calls them to faith and repentance ; that actually justi-
           to save all nlen  ?                                              fies and sanctifies them and holds them in His power
               What is the contents of their gospel, which they say so that they persevere even unto the end?
           is for all ?                                                        I take it, they do.
              Kuiper proclaimed  loddly:  the gospel I preach is a             If they do not, they do not preach the gospel. What
           gospel for sinners, for  CLZZ sinners!                          would  a gospel message mean `that did not imply the
               The question cannot be repressed : what gospel does promise of all the  grace of Christ Jesus in the fulness
           he preach? Does he mean  by the gospel merely the               of His riches?
           proclamation that Christ has died for sinners and                   But, consider, what this means.
           arose again; and that now they are invited earnestly                The gospel they preach is a gospel for nil sinners.
           by God to come to Him, to believe and repent? Does              On this they both agree.
           he, in the preaching of the gospel merely present to                But this implies, that they preach, that God prom-
          his hearers the work which Christ did objectively ac- ises new hearts, repentance, faith, adoption, forgive-
          complish for us ? Even if he should speak thus, he is ness, justification, conversion, sanctification and  per-
          presenting to his `hearers only a half truth, which is           seve~rance  `to all that hear the gospel ! For all this is
          more  clangei-ous  often than a plain lie. For it is not         surely implied in the gospel.
          the entire truth, it is not the truth fully and correctly            Now,  it is plain, that also in this respect they
          stated, if Kuiper should say, that Christ died for sin- depart from  CBlvin.  The great  Genevan  Reformer does
          ners. He certainly will at all times .have to say, that          not agree with them. And he expresses his disagree-
          He died and arose only for  the elect sinner and for ment in the strongest terms. He does not hesitate to
          none other.                                                      assert that a man  must be utterly beside himself to
              Even so it is quite unintellegible,  how Kuiper can claim, that God promises these blessings of grace to all
. .--.    ..say, -that-the-gospel he -preaches -is for all sinneTs. For,-- men ,generally-  and indiscriminately ! -- __ __.____  -- .-
          mark, that he did not say that he was preaching ihe                  Berkhof and Kuiper c$n draw their .own conclusion.
          gospel to all sinners that heard him, but that the very How do they feel, I am wondering, about this judgment
          gospel he preached is a gospel for all sinners.                  of  Calvin.about  people who claim that the gospel is for
              And, surely, in this Berkhof agrees with him.                all sinners, that God offers salvation in grace to all.
              But let us turn our attention to the question men, earnestly desiring that all may have eternal life?
          brought before us by the quotation from Calvin.                  And note,. too, that Calvin writes,. this in connection
              Does not the gospel contain much more than the               with the Pelagian interpretation of Ezek. 18  :23  ;
          preaching of what the Lord did for us?                           33 :11.
              And does it not also imply the preaching of the                  Neither is Calvin's language too strong. The folly
          riches of His grace, whereby He applies this salvation of maintaining that God promises a new heart to every-
          to all His elect? Does this grace of the Lord Jesus body, is easily discovered. For why, pray, if God
          Christ not  belong.to  the promise of the gospel? I am offers the blessing of a new heart to all, if the prom-
          now thinking of the grace of regeneration, whereby we ises of grace are actually for all men indiscriminately,
          become partakers of the life of the risen Lord in prin- why does He not fulfil His promise?  Sul;ely,  a new
          ciple  ; of the  grace of effectual calling, whereby we are heart is entirely the work of God. Man can do nothing
          translated from darkness into light; of the grace of towards receiving it. He cannot make himself worthy
          faith, wher,eby  we know that we are justified before of it. He cannot get himself into a state of receptivity
          God and have peace with Him through our Lord Jesus for it. He cannot even make himself will to receive it.
          Christ; of the grace. of conversion and sanctification, He is incapable to induce himself to even pray for it.
          the mortification of the old man and the quickening of This is true of all men by nature, of all indiscrimin-
          the new man ; of the grace of perseverance, so that no ately. A new heart is God's work, His gift only, abso-
          one can pluck us out of Christ's hand. 1 say, do not all lutely. Man cannot work for it if God does not bestow


                                                                      T H E   STANOARD   B E A R E R                                         117

                          the blessing on him ; neither can any man ri:sist the       quoted by protagonists of corm-non grace in recent
                          operation of God whereby He renews the heart, if it years.
                          pleases the Almighty to give him a heart of flesh in-          But what has Calvin to say on it?
                          stead of the stony heart. Now, please, if the promise          Fortunately, the text was also quoted by other
                          of the gospel concerning this new heart (not is            Pelagians, long ago. I say fortunately, for were it not
                          preached to all that'hear, this is self-evident) is given so, we probably would have no comment of Calvin
                          by God to- all men without distinction, why does He not    directly on this passage. Now it is different. TiGr, do
                          fulfil His promise?                                        not only have Calvin's explanation, but also that of
                              Because some do not will to  reieive  it? That is      Augustine, for it is he whom Calvin quotes on page
                          Arminianism.        And even then a man must be utterly 105 of Cal&z's  Calvinism, as' follows :
                          beside himself to speak thus, for no one is willing to        "What Augustine replied to them in many parts of
                          receive a new heart before he possesses it.                his works, I think it unnecessary to bring forward on
                             More mysteries, perhaps ? `I fear me, that Kuiper the present occasion. I will only adduce one passage,
                          will answer thus. But we say with Calvin: nay, but which clearly and briefly proves how unconcernedly he
                          more nonsense ! A man must be utterly beside himself despised their objection now in question. `When our.
                          to assert that this promise of the gospel concerning a Lord complains (says he) that though He wished to
                          new heart is made by God to all men generally and in-      gather the children of Jerusalem as a hen gathereth
                          discriminately !                                           her chickens under her wings but she would not, are
                                                                                     we to consider that the will of God was overpowered
                             But again: if God promises this blessing, which He by. a number of weak men, so that He who was
                          alone can bestow and bestows unconditional&, to all Almighty could not do what He wished or willed to do?
                          men, and does not fulfil the promise where is God's If so, what.is to become of that omnipotence by which
                          truth? Is the promise of God brought to nought? Has He did whatsoever pleased Him in heaven and on
                          His Word become of none effect? God forbid! Nay,           earth? Moreover who will be found so profanely mad
                          but the promise was never made 50 all by Him, but as to say that God cannot convert the evil wills of men,
                          only to the elect. And Kuiper has no right and no which He pleases, when He pleases, and as He pleases,
                          calling to present it differently !                        to good? Now,  when He does this, He does it in mercy;
                             And finally, if God promises this blessing to all, but and when He doeth it not in judgment He doeth it
                          does not bestow it upon all, where is the general grace not'."
                          in the preaching of the gospel?                               Again, striking it is, as all will admit, that even in
                             It is certain that Calvin is .right. A man must be Augustine's time Pelagians had discovered this text
                          utterly beside himself to maintain all this!               and discovered a proof in it for their freewill theory.
                             But it will be more evident now ,than before, that         But it is equally evident, that Augustine's explana-
                          Berkhof  ,and Kuiper cannot appeal to John Calvin for tion, quoted. by Calvin and adopted by him, differs
                          their views on this point. There is a wide' difference,    radically from that of Berkhof.
                          too, between Calvin and the Synod of Kalamazoo in             For the interpretation we quoted above proceeds
                          1924.  -     -- -.- -    -  .._  --__  __-.  ._    .       from- the-truth, that the .divine- will- is -stronger?  than
                             Anyone, that is not utterly beside  hi&elf  with the evil will of man. It follows,, that the text in Matt.
                          prejudice will feel himself `constrained to admit this.    23 cannot mean to oppose this human will of wicked
                             But we have not finished.                               men to the divine will of the Son of God, for then it
::.          ..     ."
      .:.                    The reader will remember that'Berkhof  also quoted would, indeed, teach that in the case of Jerusalem the
             ..:
                          Matt. 23:37 as another proof that God earnestly de- will of men had proved mightier than the will of God.
                          sires the salvation of all and would. have this pro-       It follows, too, that according to Augustine's inter-
                          claimed by His ministers. There we read the  well-         pretation it is not the divine, but the human will of
                          known words : "0 Jerusalem, Jerusalem,  ihou that Jesus, to which the text makes reference.
                          .killest the prophets and stonest them which are sent         And thus, again, the interpretation of Calvin and
                          unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy chil- of Augustine agrees with ours, not with Berkhof's.
                          dren together, even as a heti  gathereth her chickens         We always contended, that Jesus, lamenting over
                          under her wings, `and ye would not."                       Jerusalem, is speaking according to His human  nature.
       :
,.i.  :._  :  3
      :.                     Also of this text Berkhof wrote that it points in          It is plain from the very words, that He speaks as
1                   I

                          the same direction as his explanation of the texts in the culmination of all the prophets. And through these
                          Ezekiel. It shows, therefore, that God has no pleasure prophets, as well as personally, He had often called
                          in the death of any wicked. It witnesses  of His great the wayward children of Jerusalem, and would have
                          love for all sinners, not only the elect.                  gathered them as a  heti gathereth her chickens under
                             And we do not doubt, that Kuiper agrees with him,       her wings. But they would not!
                          though we do not have his written word for the state-         Had, then, the will of men triumphed over the  will
                          ment.                                                      of  God?
                             The readers will remember how often this text  was          God forbid ! For they were not all Israel that were

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

 of Israel. In Isaac shall thy seed be called. The ehil-                   THE WAY THEY WORK
 dren of the promise, not the children of the flesh are
 the children according to the election. Them God had           On the last night of my catechetical labors in Hope,
 willed to gather and them He actually did gather unto River Bend, it happened that as  I approached the
 salvation.                                                  school house, were we were wont to assemble, I dis-
     But the will of the prophets, the desire of those covered a goodly number of my catechumens grouped
 that preached the Word of God had always been to about Rev. Vande Kieft (the pastor of that portion of
 gather all the children of their people. And according my flock, who, at the time of the rupture continued  ai
 to Jesus' human nature it was no different. Certainly,      the Hope Christian Reformed church at River Bend)
 there is  paihos  in the words, but the pathos is not       iti conversation. Having been notified of my arrival,
 divine but human!                                           the gathering broke up, and the `aforesaid catechumens
         However this may be, it will be evident, that thus came to class. After the hour of instruction, they told
 far  Berkhof  and Kuiper receive no support from John me that Vande Kieft, in view of the fact that -I was
  Calvin.                                                    about to leave, had sought to induce them to attend his
         He condemns their doctrine and agrees with us.      catechism class. His argument was that they would
                                                  H. H.      be much benefited, as our instruction had been faulty,
                                                             deficient, in that our thought-structure was of a kind
                                                             from which the doctrine of human responsibility had
                                                             been nearly crowded out by the doctrine of the council
                          UIT HULL                           of God. By means of this outrageous' piece of slander,
                                                             Vande  Kieft sought to destroy  my catechumen's con-
     Zondag, den Xden  September, was voor de gbmeen-        fidence in my instruction. Of course, they knew better
 te van Hull een dag die tot droefheid stemde. Want and told him so, adding that, whereas he was addicted
  het was op dien dag dat onze leeraar, Ds. W. Verhil,       to the theory of  copmon grace, they would have noth-
 voor de laatste  maal de gemeente zou voorgaan als haar ing of him as a catechism instructor.
 herder. Er waren  in de twee jaren  van zijn. bediening        Of course, the above-cited fiery dart cannot be one
 alhier  banden  gelegd, welke nu moesten verbroken fabricated by Vande Kieft.
 worden.  De afscheids-predikatie werd in dien namid-           The point is that the argument by which he sought
  dag uitgesproken  en we1 naar aanleiding `van II Tim. to slay us, is an invention of those higher up,-the H.
 2:19; waarna de gemeente den  vertrekkendeti  leeraar J. Kuipers, the Berkhofs and the G. Hoeksema's and
 en gezin staande toezong Ps. 121:4. En hiermede was the like. VandeKieft  was merely repeating what he had.
 zijne bediening onder ons begindigd.                        heard, and thus acting the part of a sort of parrot. Be
     Evenwel had de kerkeraad Ds. Verhil verzocht om this as it may, when my catechumens let him know
  den beroepen candidaat, C. Hanko, in zijn ambt in de that, whereas the theory of common grace is also his,
 gekneente  te bevestigen.                                   they would  not be able to receive his instruction, Vande
         Dit had plaats op Ditisdagavond,  den 24sten Sep- Kieft, wonderful to say, assured them that in their
 tember en w@ +L. dehandvan_r.-Coy.Z  123,. 24, waar-
-.-_-.~                                                                      _.. -_
                                                             pr&enee.  he would X-%%ver refrain from %%uch as'---
 na Ds. G. Vos, het formulier ter bevestiging van den        broaching the hated subject.
  Candidaat las. Na deze plechtigheid werd den beves-           My readers, let this spectacle capture your imagin-
 tigden leeraar toegezongen : "Dat `s Heeren zegen op u      ation. To begiti with, the contempla$ed  scheme was as
  daal!" waarna deze den zegen over zijne  gem,eente   uit- dark as the night under whose cover it was being
 sprak.                                                      executed. The appeal was made, further, behind the
     Den daaropvolgenden Zondag, `den 29sten Septem- back of the shepherd whose flock was being assailed.
  ber, deed Ds. C. Hanko zijn intree-predikatie en we1       The shepherd was being stabbed in the back, and the
volgens Ps. 122  :9, "Om des huizes des Heeren  onzes        weapon used, a piece of slander hatched out under the
  Gods wil zal ik het goede voor u zoeken."                  impulse of a powerful grudge. In his zeal to attach to
     Zoo zijn wij dan blijde, weder zoo spoedig in  bet' his person the coveted sheep, Vande Kieft did not re-
 bezit van een eigen leeraar te mogen zijn. Onze bede coil from denying the very doctrine which he is duty
 is, dat de Heere voorts met gemeente en leeraar mag bound to publicly defend. Such are his methods. Such
 zij'n, zooels Hij dat geweest is in het verleden.           the methods of his fellows higher in the scale. If a
           warnens  den kerkeraad van Hull's gemeente.       member of any of the Christian Reformed churches
                                    -                        complains that he is not at one with the three points of.
                                                             Synod, he is assured that he will not be troubled. I f
     Hoe `strenger men neen kan zeggen tegen zichzelf, the H. J. Kuipers desire proof, let them  ndtify us, and
 hoe beter men ja kan zeggen tegen anderen.                  the proof will be forthcoming.
                                                                Having heard what had happened, I resolved to pay
     De liefde van Christus is een afgrond dien niemand Vande Kieft a visit immediately. I did so, taking with
 peilen kan.!A                                               me my catechumens. We knocked at Vande Kieft's


                                                T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                         119

           door and were admitted, I called his attention  to the                              EMOTIONS
          charges he had lodged against us. He admitted that
          these charges had been made. Thereupon I offered to             In a recent issue of Grace ccnd Glory Dr. De Haan
           debate with him the issues at stake in the presence of comments on religious emotionalism as follows:
          my catechumens. He refused, saying that `I was no                 "Can there be an unemotional evangelism of the
          gentleman. My insistence that his conduct of the night true kind? Is there ever a conversion that excludes
          out of doors had been that of a crook, had offended him. the emotions? (To be sure, there is not, G. M. 0.) Is
          Thereupon we left, after assuring him that our one not an emotional conversion better by far than an un-
          source of comfort in the present situation is the knowl- emotional damnation? These are questions that cam
          edge of the approach of the judgment day, that, fur-          be answered only in one way by the man and the
          ther, we would dread to be standing in his shoes, then, woman who considers them without prejudice. Instead
          and in the shoes of that clique responsible for our de-       of this ignorant slur on evangelism that it is too
          position.                                                     emotional there .ought  to go `up a prayer from every
              Was not Vande Kieft, from the point of view of the heart that there might be more emotionalism of the
          Christian Reformed churches, doing' his duty when he right kind and more of true feelings for the souls of
          went out into the darkness of the night to warn my men and women slipping into eternal hell. Too much
         sheep against our teachings? To this we reply : let            of this lack of emotionalism in the business of the
          them do so with all the energy at their disposal. Let         church is at heart nothing more or less than a basic
          them cry their grievances from the housetops. To de- unbelief in the Bible teaching of the terribleness of sin
          fend the doctrine they took to their bosom, to overturn and its consequences. If men really believe what they
          the arguments of the opponent, to warn the world profess in regard to the judgment of God and the fact
          against the perils ( ?) of the denial of common grace, is,    of the reality of hell and nature of punishment there
          to be sure, their solemn duty. But let them bo about would be more of an interest and enthusiasm in the
          their business like honest men. To studiously avoid the business of saving souls . . . .
          shepherd and attack the sheep,  linder the cover of the          "Wisdom is justified by her children and evangel-
          blackness  of. the night, to slander the shepherd behind      ism by its fruits. The test of all evangelism is not  - is
          his back, to start an argument with the sheep in his it unemotional and homiletically correct  -  .but is the
          absence and thereupon refuse to  continue  the argu- Lord Jesus Christ being exalted and are souls being
          ment when invited to do so by the shepherd assailed,          saved.
          is a kind of method showing up those who employ it as            "The question arises whether there ever h& been
          crooks. Yet such is the method in  vogu'e  among the          an unemotional conversion. Conversion is ever asso-
          clergy of the Christian Reformed Churches. In the             ciated with  the preaching of the cross, and. live there
          evening of our deposition, my consistory was invited to souls so dead that they can look upon that cross with-
          meet a committee of the classis. The invitation was out emotion ?
          accepted. The meeting took place. I, however, was                "At the ball game see those Christians there as
          barred. Until three o'clock in the morning that com-          they stand up and stamp their feet and  `Ye1  their
.__.      .mittee was -at -work-with- members -of -my co-m&tory-in heads off' and throw their-hats- &the-a&--  Yet-that is-- - ~.-
          the attempt to induce them to attach their signiture to       only a ball game . . . How much more ought we to
        . the new doctrine. According to their own admission,           get excited about religion." So far Dr. De Haan.
          their policy is one they term dood-zwijgen. In their             Let us offer our comment. We do say by classifying
          private assemblies, behind the closed door, they are and defining an emotion. In general an emotion is a
          most bold. In public, however, they maintain a pro- moving or motion of the soul. From the point of view
          found silence., The objective has been gained. He             of their duration emotions are of two kinds: Last-
          whom they hated ---the Rev. H. Hoeksema, was gotten ing and transitory. We may, further, distinguish
          rid of.                                                       between superficial and profound, weak and, intense
             Why do we place this article? Because our experi- emotion. When merely the surface of the soul is agi-
          ences with Vande Kieft have become the talk of many, tated, the emotion is said to be superficial. When the
          Let such know what actually happened. Because, in the soul is stirred to its very depth, the ,emotion  is said
          second place, Vande Kieft's methods are typical of that  ' to be profound. The external cause of an emotion is
          group to which he belongs.                                    the object presented to the n$nd.
                                                       G. M. 0.            What we are interested now is what we. may call
                                                                        the religious emofions.    To be sure, we believe in. the
                                                                        religious emotion of the right kind which  tie define as
                                                                        an abiding moving of the entire soul of man in a
             Die zich van God laat uitkleeden, wordt ook van direction away from the world, sin and the devil to-
          Hem opnieuw bekleed.                                          ward Christ and all that He stands for. So defined,
                                                                        the religious emotion is identical to true conversion
             Verwacht niet van anderen wat ge zelf kunt doen.           which the Catechism defines as the mortificati.qn  of the

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

                  old and the quickening of the new man. The mortifica- a,ars  van naburige gemeenten  hadden wij vele malen
                  tion of the old man is further defined as a sincere sor- het genoegen het Woord Gods in alle zuiverheid te hoo-
                  row of heart, that we have provoked God by our sins  ; ren verkondigen.
                  and more and more to flee from the world. The quick-                     Vooral past ons een woord van dank. aan onze wak-
                  ening of the new man is said to be, and, of course, cor-               kere en ijverige Consulent,' Ds. W. Verhil, die ons
                  rectly so, a sincere joy of heart in God, through Christ, steeds terzijde heeft gestaan in  voorkomende   moeilijk-
                  and  with love and delight to live according to the will heden, want ook daaraa,ri  zijn we niet ontkomen. We
                  of God in 211 good works. This abiding motion  pf the zijn immers nog in de strijdende kerk. En ook  aan
                  regenerated soul in the direction toward God has vari- Ds. G. Vos, welke ook geen onbekenhe  in ons midden
                  ous aspect. Viewed from  one aspect, it is seen to be a was. De kerken in het  Westen   hebbeti  naast God dan
                  deep and abiding love for God and the brother; viewed ook veel  te  danken  aan deze twee broeders, die  he&
                  from still another aspect it is seen as hope or faith.                 moeilijke van het pioneerswerk hier hebben  doorge-
                  This new man is in motion as to his entire soul.                       maakt.
                  Hence, with his mind he meditates upon the things                          Maar op den avond van den 23sten Sept. werd dan
                  above, and engages in the praise of God his redeemer.                  onze  eerste leeraar in ons midden bevestigd door Ds.
                  With his will he seeks the things above as they con-                   G. Vos, nadat vooraf uit Jes. 40 :l-2 door Ds. W. Verhil
                  stitute for him the highest good. So we `could con-                    een deugdelijke predikatie werd uitgesproken.                  Den
                  tinue. This is the kind of emotion I believe in.                       25sten Sept. kwam de gemeente. andermaal saam om
                      We will continue this discussion in a following                    kennis te maken met Ds. De Jong en zijne gade.
                  article.                                                                   Gezellig waren we dien avond bijeen en blijde en
                                                               G .   It/l.  0 .          goedsmoeds gingen we huiswaarts. aen daaropvolgen-
                                                                                         den Zondagmorgen,  27 Sept., deed Ds. De Jong zijn in-
                                                                                         trede naar aanleiding van' Rom. 12:4, 5, wijzende op
                                                                                         de eenheid van het lichaam van Christus.
                                                                                            Geve de Opperste Herder dat die eenheid meer en
                                    CORWESPONDENTPE UIT DOON                       ._    meer gezien moge worden.
                         Dat gebeurt niet veel. En daartoe  wAren  in het                   Ep nu mogen wij met' dank aan onzen God voor het
                  verleden ook geen red&en zoo zeer, want alles ging goede bij ons gedaan in het verleden terugzien en met
                  hier zoo'n beetje z'n ouden gang, zouden. we zeggen;  en moed de toekomst tegengaan, vertrouwende dat Hij
                  zoodoende geen belangrijk tiieutis.                                    verder voor ons zal zorgen. Want als gemeente heb-
                         Maar onlangs hebben we `een dag mogen beleven,                  ben wij de bel.ofte  dat zelfs de poorte'n  der he1 zijn Sion
                  dit voor ons als gemeente  we1 terdege nieuw was, nl.,                 niet zullen overweldigen.
                  dat we de belofte Gods in ons midden  bestendigd moch-                     Geve de Heere die genade  aan leeraar, kerkeraad en
                  ten zien, "Uwe oogen zullen uwe leeraars zien."                        gemeente, dat we met elkander als broeders en zusteri;
                      Dat  tech was een dag waarnaar de gemeente ruim van hetzelfde huisgezin mogen opworstelen naar Sions
                  drie en een half jaar verlangend naar uitgezien had.                   top. Stelle Hij Ds. De Jong tot een rijken zegen  voor
                                         . _..- .__. ^                                                                                                             .--
                                                                           -
           -~~Ookw%iti-`t begm van het jaar 1926, toen we als ge-
                                                                                   --.---. -de.gemeente  van Do-on-en voor de kerk in.`t algemeen
                  meente werden georganiseerd, onze  toekomst  niet zoo                  wqarin Hij ons heeft geplaatst.
                  heel rooskleurig, want men profeteerde:  Nu ja,  dat                       De Heere heeft groote dingen  bij ons gedcx,n,  dies
                  amechtige  hoopje  duurt op zijn langst eenige maanden zijn wij verblijd.
                  en hare gedachtenis is vergaan. Hadden  we dan ook                                             Namens den Kerkeraad,
                  onze  vertiachting  gehad van menschen of van allerlei                                                              H. KUIPER, Scriba
                  omstandigheden  om ons  heen dan natuurlijk  hadden
                  wij deze hetigelijke  dag niet mogen begroeten. Maay
I                 omdat onze hulpe is in den naam des Heeren daarom :
           mogen wij met dank  aan het verleden  denken.  Met                               On November  28th, Thanksgiving Day, thirty years ago, in
                  dank aan I&n-.die-alles  ten beste heeft willen keeren.                Paterson, New Jersey, our beloved parents,
                  Evenwel hebben we in het verleden dikwijls donkere                                                 THOMAS   RHODA
                  dagen doorleefd en kunnen we slechts met smart en                                I .                     and
                  droefheid daaraan  denken.  Want nauwelijks  wayen                                             JENNIE RHODA-Vandertill
                  vire georganiseerd als gemeente of een hevig onweer were united in marriage. That the Lord may spare and bless
                  brandde 10s eenige  mijlen ten zuidoosten en aan hare them in the future as He has done in the past, is the sincere
                  verwoesting (want dat was het we1 terdege) ontkwaJ wish and prayer of thei.r  grateful children.
                  men we als gemeente niet g&eel en al. En in al dien                                                     Mr. and Mrs. Albert Rhoda
                  tijd,   dacht  het de Koning zijner Kerke  goed  voor  otis                                             Mathilde
                                                                                            .A
                  herderloqs  te zijn.                                                                                    Donald
                                                                                            I                             Alfred
                      Maa$ook hebben wij mogen ondervinden, dat Hij                                       3.:             And three, grandchildren:
           _`, voor  oni zorgde. `. Door middel der studenten en leer-                                                      Tom, Bobbie and Eleanor.        ,-_
                                                                                                                                                           _-
     ~'    :.'                _.


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                                                                                                    " angel;.  whether it was Gabriel as is n& improbable,,
                                                                                               ;_  i, seeing' it was he, who carried the  .tidings  of the  ex-
                                                                                          :.I  -. 
                                                                                                   : peeted birth  .of the Christ and His forerunner to
                                                                                                    ' Zacharias and Mary, or whether it was another of
                                                                                                   ..-
                                                                                          y. ' ' the .heavenly  Spirits, came from the very presence of
                                    CHRISTMAS JOY  .:  ,,                                         . ., the Lord. From heaven he hailed, where the angels
                                          And the angei said  u&o the&, Fear  I&;                          always see the face of our Father which is in heaven.
                          I        for, behold, I bring  YOU  good -tidings.  $f  And dwelling in God's heavenly  prgsence,  the heavenly
                                   great joy, which shall be to all  ppople.   j                    " glory of the Lord is reflected in their appearance. Even
                                                                     -..  - L u k e   2:lO.         `. as the face of Moses, the Mediator of the  aid  dispensa-
                 Fear not!                                                                 ,..             tion shone with a similar reflectiofi  of the glory of the
                 Tidings of great joy, `inde!d,  I bring !                                                 Lord when he came down from the Mount of God, so
                 Was it Gabriel, the angel that standeth before God, this ahgel suddenly radiated into the darkness of the
             who so suddenly burst forth in the darkness of the night an effulgence of divine glory. Where he stood
             night from heaven's star-studded canopy, and  a@ there beamed forth the glory of the Lord! It was a
             peared  upon the peaceful scene of the shepherds. keep-. reflection  of. that glory which, beaming forth from
             ing watch over their flock?                                                                   God's presence, is the radiatiod  of the p&e beauty .of
                 We know not.                                                                              all. His virtues, of His holiness and, righteousness, of
                 But the shepherds, we know, instead of expecting His perfect goodness, righteousness and justice. Some-
             & message of gladness and salvation, instead' of rejoic- how the heavenly -light that shone in the darkness
             ing  at th&  $?$e$?ance  of one of  the: heavenly spirits when `the angel  @peared unto the shepherds  wa,s
             that are sent for the service of .the elect, were filled vibrant with the very presence of the Lord in glory . .
             with dismay.  A great  fear filled their  hearts:  ThejT                                         00 we wonder that the shepherds were sore afraid?
             were sore afraid. The sudden appearance of  tl&                                                  What else was this fear but the awful dread sinful'
             heavenly messenger wrought within them a dreadful men must  eiperience  when suddenly they are brought
             apprehension of some great evil impending . . . .                                            1 face to face with the Holy One, Whose eyes are too
                 They feared with a great fear. Generally  ,it was pure to behold sin? Is it not this fear that caused our
             believed by the people that when one  ,saw  .an angel it first father, having become wantonly disobedient, to
             meant death for him, a belief that may be regarded; as make the vain attempt to hide from before the face  .of
           scarcely more than. a popular superstition. But here Him Whose presence he perceived `in the garden? Did
             was more  than the mere fear of death. It  was the not the people tremble at the  @ght of the faint reflec-
             fea? which sinful mortals experience .when  they are tion of this same glory of &h&Lord  as it shone from
             brought, face to face with the glory of the Most High.                                        the face of Moses, so that the .man of God "must needs,
                Thus the text explains it.                                                               cover.  his face before  the  eyes of the  -fearLstricken
                When the angels of the Lord appeared  and stood people? Did not the king among the prophets, when it
            Y with them in dazzling splendor of heaveply  light, tk;e was granted him to see the holiness bf the, Lord ,as it
            -"glory  of the Lord shone round about t,he shepherds. fills His heavenly temple, cry out in sore amazement:
             The halo of glory the -heavenly  messknger brought Woe unto me, for I am undone ! ? . . . .
             with him from on high, the brilliant` light that with                                            The glory of the Lord always judges us!
            him pierced the darkness of the night in the fields of                                            It lays us bare in His sight and that in such wise,
             Ephratah, was a reflection of the inexpressible  -glory                                      that we becqme deeply consciousness of our nakeclness.
             that radiates fro-m the very face of the Lord. For this It exposes us. It reveals to us in awful contrasts what
I    i.


                                                                                      I .

     i 122                                         T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

      we must be and are not; what we are and must not be.            Strange and most significant are the circumstances of
       It causks us to feel that we are an open book before His birth. The Lord of glory born in a stable, because
       Him. It opens up before our own experience the deep there was no place for them in the inn,  - a world that
     ' and dark recesses of our heart, where there are hidden is not at all prepared to allow Him a place in their
      a thousand sins and corruptions that loudly cry outfor midst. The Son of God Almighty lying in a manger, a
       our condemnation !                                             picture of poverty and rejection,  - representing a
          It causes a sudden, keen, prbfound consciousness of people that are dead in misery because of sin. The
      `sin, convinces us of our condemnation, gives us an  ap-        eternal God Himself wrapped in swaddling-clothes ! . .
      prehknsioti  of final  judgmerit  . . . .                           And angels coming down from heaven, announcing
        Such was the fear of the shepherds in the presence to meditating shepherds, no doubt, looking for the
      of' the glory of the Lord that beamed forth from thi Hope of Israel, that unto them is born that day, a
     .angel into the darkness of the  night and into the dark-        Saviour, which is Christ, the Lord !
      ness of their sinful hearts . . . .                                 Oh, but such is the joy of Christmas, indeed!
          And it is to remove that fear, that the angel speaks :          The world may change the joy of the day, the heav-
      Fear not!                                                       enly joy, thht unto us is born a Saviour, that is able
          It is to replace that fear of the sinner, in the pres- to remove the fear of sin and death and fill our hearts
      ence qf the Lord, that he brings them tidings of joy ! with the gladness of God's covenant-friendship, into a
          Great joy, instead of great fear!                           rejoicing in the things of the earth. Let them hide
          In God':; presence.!                                        the great Gift of God to His people under veritable piles
                                                                      of earthly presents. Or, again, let unbelief never so
                                                                      sweetly speak of the darling little baby Jesus, who was
                                                                      destined to develop into the best man that ever lived on
~         Good tidings of great joy !                                 the face `of the earth, wh6 would teach us how to be
         Joy for the fear that must strike sinful men in the and to do good and fill the world with unselfishness and
      presence of the Holy One!                                       love. Its joy cannot remove the fear in the presence of
          For unto you is born this day in the city of' David,        the angel that is radiating with the glory of the Lord,
     a Saviour, which is Christ, the Lord!                            because it does not cleanse the heart from sin and de-
I         Such was the brief but tremendously significant liver the soul from death and liberate the conscience
      gospel, the  goQd  tidings that must remove the fear from the oppressing sense of guilt and conden&ation.
      and instill joy instead into the hearts of the shepherds, Its joy is not the joy of the gospel ; . . .
      into the hearts of all the people that realize the misery         No, but the staccato notes of the angels in the field
      of their sin before the Lord. A mere account of what of Bethlehem express  thti exerlasting gospel!
      had happened in that night,`of what God had done for                Unto you is born a Saviour !
      the  salyation  of His people,  brief yet complete, lasting         There is the gospel of Christmas joy!
      but a mom&t yet carrying with it eternal joy ! Such                 What is a Saviour? It is one who is able to deliver
      was the' first Christmas 
                      .__-- _--- gpspel to theshepkerds  abiding .us from. the greatest .evil.;  ~-one--who- -is-- not only fully  - . -~ --
      i%?$e fields of Bethlehem and keeping watch over their able, but who also surely shall deliver His people from
      flock at night . . . .                                          all their misery. And what is that greatest evil? It
          And what a night it was !                                   is that which  causes our hearts to tremble with miser-
          All the world seems astir to realize the  l%omise  of able fear of condemnation and damnation in the pres-
      Jehovah that  the Saviour is to be born in Bethlehem,           ence of the glory of the Lord. It is our guilt and our
      the City of David, though they realize not at all that sin, our corruption and our death, our hatred and
      such is God's purpose. The mighty emperor of the enmity against the Most High, our darkness and fool-
      Roman emperor had issued an order that the whole ishness, our being in the power of the devil and in the
     world should be taxed. To Ithis dominion.of.  the world- slavery of unrighteousness. It is one who, while deliv-
      ruler also belonged Herod's  kingdom. And although ering us from that greatest of all evils, will make us
      .Roman law would allow every one to register in the partakers of the highest good. And what is that highest
      city of his birth, the families of the Jews certainly good? It is all  th& lies at the root of that great joy
      would turn .to the cities of their ancestry. And thus of which the angel speaks, `of. that joy which we may
      it is, that Joseph and Mary leave Nazareth and com- experience in the presence of the Lord. It is to be
      mence the difficult journey, difficult especially for cleansed from sin and clothed with righteousness, to
      `Mary, to Bethlehem, the City of David. There they be delivered from the power of the devil and to be
      `arrive too late to find lodging in the inn. And, the subjects of Him that purchased us with the precious
      little city being overcrowded, they seek shelter in a price of His blood. It is righteousness  and holiness,
      stable, one of  the caves, perhaps, on the outskirts of the lO;ve,  life, light and eternal glory. It is to taste that
      `city. And then  the  ,Lord fulfils the Promise of all the Lord is gracious and to dwell in the fellowship of
      promises and the Son of God, sent into the likeness of. His covenant-communion, to know Him as we are
      sinful flesh, is, born of a woman,  born under the law. known, to love Him because He loved us, to see Him


 face to face and behold His beauty., It is to be heirs of in His precious...blodd.:  *Them  Be delivers from the
 the heavenly kingdom . . . .                                                                                   power' of sin and death . . . .
    Such is the. j oy of Christmas !                                                                                            A Saviour unto all the people!
     Unto you is born a Saviour !                                                                                               For  .you and `for me?
     Christ,. the Lord !                                                                                                        Oh, yes, we may know!
     He, Who is ordained from eternity,. by God the                                                                             And in' that knowledge the. joy of Christmas may
                                                                                                                                                                                         .                                         `.
 Father; Who does not come on the authority of men, `.l& `ours!                                                                                                                                                                                                                           ' . .
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         ;
 neither in the. strength of. mere : man;" but who `is                                                                        `Ear `whom He did f&&now, t,hem He also did pre-                                                                                                           " f '
 anointed and sent by the Father. The Lord Himself! `destinate  i and',`whom  He'did  :$rkdestinate them He also
 Son of God, very God Himself, Immanuel, Who is'fully' dalled,  ,called  ,by the ef$cacious  calling of His gracious
                                                                                                                                                                                                          a:.                      ,.
 able. to bear on His mighty shoulders the burden .of                                                                       Spirit: . . . . . t.                                              ,.
 our sin- and guilt and bear it away; Who Can fight the'                                                                       `.C,alled according. to'%& $&&xe  !                                                                            ..       .
 battle `for us to the end and conquer all the powers of,                                                                       And'wlien  Be Calls the` glory,of the Lord appears to
 darkness  ; Who is able to give us life and give it to us our heart and shines'rodnd`about  us. And in this halo
 more abundantly . . . .                                                                                               of. brilliant glory we. fear tas ., we consider ourselves,                                                                             .,'  j,,;--
     .The Lord, Whom all must obey, and,`Whom none miserable, corrupt?, defiled with sin as we are by nature.                                                                                                                                                 - :_ . . .
 can resist!.                                                                                 " .' "                        When He tialls'we behold' our guilt in the light of God's                                                                         : " `. I'-'
     Our mighty Redeemer!                                                                                                   righteousness, our corr&tion in the light of His holi-
                                                                                                                                                                                              :..i  .:>
     He is .born  ! Good tidings of great joy !                                                                             ness,,. our lie in the' light. of His truth, our darkness in
  Halleiujah!                                               ."  .                           .:.-                            the`glory  `of His iight,. our death in contrast t&%$Ylife. '
                                                              ' . .                                             `.
                                           :                .,  _."`. . . . .                                               And'by  Eis falling we learn to .Cry ,out : woe unto me,
                                                                                                                      ,_
                               `..                             `.,  .:                                                for I `am' un&ne ! `U&lean  E. , God be merciful unto me,
                                                                      ,`..,':                                               ~`&n&r~`.  ~ .  i"'                                                          `*  _,  ,.  ,
                                                                          .
                     i                           _.                                                                         `Called by' the:power  ..of `Bis .irresistible  grace !
     Joy to all the,people!                      1  ": .  '  `:                                                             `1':; `And`when  He, thus .tialls,,il%e  does not leave us in
     Joy also for.you? For me?                        _        X4                '                       -!.                our .death"`and  misery, in: :our.  fear and condemnation. ,.-:4   :;
 "Does the brief  gospel-announcemeiy.of  the angel  ,. -For out of 
                                                                                                                                           `I'             the `halo oflight,. `reflecting the glory of . .I  .:
 in  the fields of Ephratah kindle within: our  hearts'the the  Lord,  in .our $,earts,  ..brostrating  us because of our
 response of grateful joy, because we know that unto. us "darkness  .`and, corr.uptio&.  .also sounds the Christmas-
was born that night a Saviour,.  Christ, the ,Lord?                                                      :'                 gospel,, the glad, evangel
                                                                                                                                ,,                                                                                  of. `,redemption  and deliver-
     Oh, surely, He was born for ,a11 the `people  ! "`, '                                                            .tin..d,.  ' . .  ;,  !  *I ..i
     In distinction. from the shepherds `only, who.  were, `. Unto'  youi  `ibwijr  `and  c+ontrite, that have become
 privileged  ,to receive a personal  .and direc!t'message ' &s&us by the: `ijower `of `.His .grace of the darkness
 .from heaven about His' coming .into the' world;' .I% is a.`.  `of'. your  .sature.`~~d:rthe~:h~rror  of your sin and the
 Saviour f&r all Israel; But, it `is for the Israel  of God: `r&&y of `being `-bo"iind'  in~cliains. of death ; unto you,
 And not all are. Israel,' that are of Israel. There are. who are .$.l$$  with holy fear :in the presence. of the - 1;' `ii ;,.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        :: j ..-:::
 children of the promise.. There are also children of the, Lord, and His `glory ; unto you, that are heavy laden and                                                                                                                                                    :. ., `.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        . . -.:
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        . . .._
 flesh. And this Saviour, Who is born in the `City `ef                                                                      we&yY  b&hi&`qf bu&lkn$W$  iin . . . . .                                                                                                          :
 David,. which is Christ, the Lord, will  .also be set to a                                                                  1' .Unto you a, .Saviour  is. `barn,  which is Christ, the                                                                                       `:
 falling, as well as to a rising again of. many in, Israel, ;,`I$$`! ' :,                                                                                                                           ,                . . . . .                                          `.,  :
     He is a Saviour to-all the people.                               .'  .'                                                   ~~`~e~~~q~t!"                                                  :.'  ::,.,  :  ,
     `But He is also a Stone of stumbling and:,a Rock ,of ". " "'Let'"@  `even, the glory  of'.the,Lord  fill your hearts
 offense  !.                                                                          8.                                    with  horYor:and`fear-of  dondemnatioi  in judgnient!                                                                             j
     And. many will be dashed to pieces ; when;'  `they                                                                      `.  l&ff bring you  glad.:t$ngs%f  great joy!
 stumble over `Him and because of His birth `rush into "                                                                                                                                                                                                                `,  1:.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        .::,
 deeper .destruction'!                          :.            ,.  `.  (,'                      ..:                               Go, then, `to,, Bethlehem! the. `Eity of David, and see
                                                                                                                            `this `wonder of God, .th&$as.  first announced to a sin:                                                                                         . . y
     A Saviour to all the people is He.'                      1                ."                   "                       st&ken   :world  by, `a~ngel'S"mouthl.  And seeing let us                                                                                              I
     But it is the elect people of God, the  Israel  of  Go6 `believe.. And  believing':je~:~~~~:.worship  . . . .
 of the old dispensation and God's chosen ones `from all " ,_. .And .give grais&to  the `God.,of  our stilvation  !                                                                                                                                           i                           :.-
 the nations and tongues and tribes of the earth in the                                                                               '                 '  Ii"  1:'  .'  :'  ,.  :;                                                                 H. H.
                                                                                                                               !.y!.~.            I       ,;                  `:
 new `dispensation, unto whom. in that night of nights                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   .::
                                                                                                                             .a.,  `,,,  ,,  :  :,,  :_I  :                                         :.
 a Saviour is born; which is Christ, the Lord. Them                                                                                                                                                                                                          ,.
                                                                                                                                                                                    :                         ;              .s
                                                                                                                                                                                         .~.`                       `....
 God loved. Them He predestinated to glory. Them                                                                                Indien ge:niet  komt waar"ge  wenscht, dan is bet,                                                                            i
 He will save from their sins; Them He gave to. Christ,, omdat. God u gebruiken wil, waar:ge zijt.
 His Son. For them He sent Him into the world. In                                                                                                                       :,                               "
                                                                                                                                                                                               `.`..
 their behalf. and in their. stead He came under the. "  " "                                                                                 `.                  :'                           a                       :                  .
 law, though.He is Lord of all. `Their sin&He  p`resently                                                                       De  Heere   last de  ziel. des rechtvaardigen niet hon-                                                                            :  :
s bears on the accursed tree and `drowns them `forever geren,  maar de have der goddeloozen stoot Hij weg.                                                                                                                                                         j


                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                        129

                      ABRAHAM                                the mandate of God, was as to its character, spirltual-
                                                             ethical and as a consequence and for reasons cited
    Having noticed the spiritual and moral condition of above, social-political.
 the  inhabjtants  of the land of' Canaan, we are now           It can be readily.  seefi that Abraham's  stators in
 ready to delineate upon the character of Abrahaln's         Canaan was, from the point of view of nature, frought
 sojourn in .the land-of Canaan. To begin with, his pil- with danger  to. himself.          His spiritual aloofness
 grimage was not of a kind that rendered him a total amounted to a public disdain and a stern denunciation
 stranger to the tribes and their rulers surrounding of the entire scheme of life. he encountered, together
 him.' There is sufficient evidence in Scripture to over- with the religious and moral tenets upon which this
 turn every argument with which anyone may attempt life reposed and of which it was an expression. Abra-
.to bolster up this View. According to the sacred record, ham's life. of spiritual seclusion, therefore, must have
Abraham was repeatedly thrown, in contact with his           greatly exasperated the'inhabitants of Canaan. What
 neighbors. He  .even deemed it expedient to solicit the is more, from the point of view of these inhabitants he
 support of two of the princes of the land f6r his mili- was an imposter. This, together with his refusal to
tary campaign against the foreigners having carried establish himself in the land by permitting himself  to
 away captive his nephew. The truth of the matter is be assimilated by the native tribes concurred in ren-
then that Abraham's pilgrimage was, in the first- in-        dering him an object of extreme suspicion. That never-
stance, spiritual-ethical, and thus did not differ essen- theless no one did him harm can only. be explained by
tially from the status of the believers of any other era.    an appeal to a special interposition of the Almighty in
What this patriarch refused to do is to descend to the his behalf.
spiritual-moral level of the races the borders of whose         The fact, then, that Abraham wai bidden to quit
land he had entered. Being a friend of' God, he chose the society of men of Ur plainly implied that he, in
to live a life of spiritual seclusion. What else could agreement with the will of God, had to refrain from
he do, would he retain the  goqd  will of God? For the joining himself either to the society quitted or to the
men of Canaan were unrighteous, darkness, infidels, society of the country in which he took up his `resi-
and, in the words of the apostle, what fellowship hath dence. He, then, had to live alone. So he did, and
righteousness with unrighteousness ? And what com-           therefore it is that we encounter him upon the pages
munion hath light with darkness? And what. concord of Holy Writ, a nomad, a spiritual, social and political
hath Christ with Belial ? or what part hath he that be-      recluse, or, in the words of the sacred narrator, a
. lieveth with an infidel, and what agreement hath the guest of the Canaanites,  tithout  `a square foot of
temple of God with idols? And  such was Abraham in ground that he could call his own ; a stranger and as
distinction from his neighbors,  $o-wit, a temple of the such an object of fear and scorn; exposed to a thousand
living.  G.od. To him God belonged. In him He dwelt          dangers, yet dwelling safely because, abiding in the
and  walked. From Abraham's insistence upon a life           shadow of the Almighty.  Releasidg  by the grace of
of spiritual seclusion, it followed that he'had  to look     God his hold upon earthly treasures - for, let it be re-
away-from settled possession  in Canaan or in any other- seated that the kind of -,life i+p,osed--upon  _ him by.
region of the earth. For the status of a settled land heaven was one involving him in the necessity of. re-
owner, had he sought to gain it, would have involved fraining from establishing himself on earth ai a settled
him in the necessity of attaching himself to one or the      land owner - he was seen to run with patience.  the
other of the social units of either the land of promise race that was set before him, keeping in his eye tha?;
or of the home land, and of making common  cause with city having foundations whose maker and builder is
the members of the society joined. Doing so, Abraham God.
would have renounced his calling-the calling, namely,           It would not do to pass on without instituting `an
of projecting himself as the walking altar of Jehovah inquiry into what the above-described mode of life may
in the promised land. For in that day, life was so con- have to say to  us. That Abraham was meant to be
stituted, religion and citizenship so inseparately bound taken as an ensample by believers in general, is cer-
up together, that no society would have tolerat,ed  Abra- tain. For in the epistle to the Hebrews he reappears
ham in the capacity of one of its members, without           as one, belonging to the great cloud of witnesses by
him showing a willingness to become one in spirit with whibh  we are compassed about. His career, so the
and to be assimilated by the society joined. Would he, aforesaid author has it, is a testimony to the effect that
then, gain God, Abraham must refrain from establish- the believer is one  ,who seeks a heavenly country and
ing himself on the earth, that is, must be content to therefore, as Abraham, confesses that he is a Pilgrim
dwell in the land of promise us  .a stranger,  as's guest and stranger upon the earth. Not receiving the prom-
.of the men among whom he moved. And a guest and ises, but yet seeing them afar off, and persuaded of
stranger he was and remained. For the land, though them, he lives, as did this patriarch, in faith, and runs
his by virtue of the promise, he received in his genera- with patience the race that is set before him. Only he
tions four hundred years later. In fine, the life of having the courage to withdraw from the society pf
separation Abraham willingly.  ado$ed in response to the world to live alone and, in a .s~~&~al  sczLse, to %e

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

       separate is worthy to be called a child of Abraham. and imprisonment: they were stoned, they were sawn
       For he was a spiritual recluse and as such the walking         asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword:
       altar of God, the city of light upon the hill in .that dark    thky wandered about in sheepskin and goatskin  ; being
     and sin-stricken region where  `he had taken up his              destitute, afflicted; tormented; (of whom the world
       residence. Abraham; as was said, had not a square was not worthy) they wandered in deserts, and in
       foot of ground he could call his own. That  is, he mountains, arid in dens and caves of the earth . . . .
       showed a willingness to renounce this earth and its Heb. 11:36-38.
       treasures in order to gain God, so  thit the conclusion            Again. No more than Abraham could have gained
       is warranted that he who says he takes him as his  en-         land and at once gained God, no more can a believer,
       saniple must be one who had learned to set his affec- this day, increase riches and  remain.on  friendly terms
       tions on things above. The record of Abraham's career with heaven. For the land wherein Abraham dwelt as
       is one- powerful argument against the theory of com- -a sojourner, was in the possession of the Canaanites.
       mon grace - the theory that, in defiance of Scripture,         So it ever is.. The world possesses the earth and con-
       denominates the unbeliever, believer,  - unrighteous- trols its resources. Consequently the heaping up of
       ness, righteous,  - the darkness, light, and therefore wealth necessarily will involve the believer in divers
       maintains that the world is a fit companion to be yoked acts that cannot meet with the approval of heaven. To
       up with.                                                       begin with, he who would amass a fortune must, for
              Well do we realize, .of course, -that Abraham is a the above-cited reason, `court the friendship of the
       type, and must be dealt with as such. However, the world by showing a willingness to become one in-spirit
       features of the, type must reappear in the visage of with the world. It stands to reason that the world to-
       the antitype  (in this case the church of the new dis- gether with its principles, morals and entire scheme of
       pensation) . To be sure, Abraham's departure from life. must be received and approved of by you, ere it
       the land of his birth, his nomadic life, his dwelling in will give  jrou a lift, elevate you to high places and
       tents, his refusdl to establish himself as a land owner lavish upon you its wealth and honor for services ren-
       in Canaan or elsewhere, are acts and events which need dered. If you let shine your light, that world will set
       not be repeated in a literal sense by one bent on. ren- you in a corner and trample you under foot; for that
       dering himself pleasing to the Lord.. However, this light of yours, if not placed under a bushel, constitutes
       emigration from the land of his nitivity was at once           you a walking altar of Jehovah. And it so happens
       an act by which he broke with the world of that dis-           that the world despises God's altars. If you would then
       trict. So, too, was his failure to enter the society of be a child of Abraham you must be content to dwell in'
       the men of Canaan a declaration  .I)o the effect that he       this world as one, having no portion in it, that is, as a
       had resolved to set up no spiritual contact with the guest of the wicked. You must, when placed before the
       wicked world of the land to which he had immigrated.           choice of God or land, choose God. For such was Abra-
       As one'who refused to be uneqnally yoked up with un- ham's status, and such was his choice. Abraham let it
       believers, as one having been set in motidn by a Divine be noticed, did not attempt to silence the voice of his
.- -. ---command and a--word-- of promise-stored away in his          conscience by saying that the ideal c-i-reulating-through-.-  --
       Seoul, as one. able to renounce seen for things unseen,        the mandate of God was  a glorious one but, because of
       as one fearing God and therefore fearing no man, he is its impracticability, could not be lived. Nor did he
       our example.                                                   say when ordered to get him out of his country, and
          Once more, that Abraham refrained from estab- from his kindred, and from his father's house unto a
       lishing himself. as a settled lan'd owner in Canaan can- land  thati  God would show him, "I will remain where I
       not mean that the believer of this day may .own no             am until the Lord pulls me out."
       land. It does mean, however, that earthly goods may                The believer should know that the earth in which
       not be gained by unlawful methods, that, when placed he now dwells as a guest and a stranger is neverthe-
       before the  ,choice of land or God, we choose the latter       less his by virtue of the promise that the meek shall
       and renounce the former. It was because Abraham inherit the earth. However, the earth to which the
       had been placed before this choice, ,that he resolved to believer falls heir is one purged and glorified and thus
       own no land. Rather than deny his faith, rather than converted into a fit abode for God and His redeemed.
       `disobey his God, he dwelt in Canaan as a guest  df its        It is this earth, called by the author of the epistle to
       inhabitants. What he refused to do is to be unequally the Hebrews the eternal city, to which Abraham and
       yoked up with the unbeliever, that is, join himself to         all believers feel themselves attracted and for which
       any of the wicked social units of Canaan, or, to express       they are  wil,ling to renounce this present world  - the
       ourself  in more modern language, join a labor union or city of Satan. In the last instance, then, the choice is
       the lodge or any other worldly organization, in order between this present earth - one of which the Canaan
       to swell his bankroll.. Doing so, he would have lost of Abraham's day was an emblem - and the eternal
       his God. So he chose to live in a tent. and do without         city.
       l%nd. Others, because of a similar  choice, had trial of           The patriarchs, it is true, were rich, even to the
       cruel mockitigs  and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds        extent of exciting the envy of the natives. Of Isaac


                                             T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                           1 3 1

    it is  reported  tnat he sowed in that land, and received to wander about in sheepskins and goatskins, - af-
    in the same year a hundredfold: and the Lord blessed flicted, destitute and tormented, settled possessions
    him. "And the man waxed great, and went forward shall have to be parted with if one would find his soul
   and grew until he became very great : for he had pos- and God.
    session of flocks, and possession of herds, and a great
    store of servants . . .  " (Gen. 38 : 13-14). Abraham's
    increase, however, was a gift of God, and thus not rep-
    resentative of the proceeds of a kind of big business                We now come to an incident in Abraham's career
    the success of which seems  to depend upon an ability demonstrative of a faltering faith. Having arrived,
    to weaken and even destroy the competitor, exploit in his wandering, in the territory of the Egyptians, and
    labor in the interest of personal gain and advancement, having settled in the near vicinity  of Pharaoh's court,
    and bleed and hoodwink the public. To say that a for; Abraham, fearful of his life, circulated the report that
    tune so made is a gracious gift of the Almighty is equal Sarah was his sister. This subterfuge, here practiced
    to the contention tnat the God of matchless purity and for the first shows that Sarah, in spite of her years
    rectitude walks in the counsel of the' ungodly, stands was, to use an expression of Scripture, "a fair woman
    `upon  the way of sinners and is seated in the seat of to look upon." That the truth should so be subverted
    scorners. What is more, Abraham was made rich after by this man of God, is, as was before said, a serious
    having renounced, by his withdrawal from the regions reflection upon the men in whose territory he had tem-
    of his birth, this present world with its settled  pbsses- porarily settled. They' must have Inad. a reputation for
    sions and opportunities for self-advancement,  - after lawlessness. It has recently `been proven that Abra-
    having made it altogether plain, therefore, that what ham's fears were not groundless. An old papyrus,.
    he  soilght  was an eternal city, so that his increase must recently deciphered tells of one of the Pharaohs sent
    be termed a token and pledge of the favor of heaven              armed men to capture a beautiful woman and  make
    and of those higher`blessings of the kingdom of light            away with her husband. That Abraham was well aware
    after which his soul yearned. And only when this of the danger to which he would expose himself and
    present world is given up by us, does the Lord by His wife is evident from the fact that he had persuaded
    Spirit work in our hearts the conviction that we please her to conceal the true state of affairs while yet  inqthe
    Him and that we have indeed a sure claim, in Him                 land of his nativity. It was because of the famine in
    who, loved us unto death,. upon the grace that is to the land that he went down into Egypt. But what
    brought  neal to such as love God. At least one of the thought he to accomplish by his subterfuge? The an-
    reasons, then, why the Holy Spirit incorporated in swer is contained in the following scriptural notice:
    Scripture the record of Abraham's life was to furnish "Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians
    us with a concrete exhibition of the dispositions and shall see thee that they shall say, This is his wife ; and
    asperations of such who have been set in heaven with they will kill me, but they will have thee alive. Say I
    Christ.                                                          pray thee that thou art my sister: that it may be well
        To assume toward this world and to the eternal with me for thy sake ; and my soul shall live because of
- -realities- depicted- to-us--upon  the  .pages-  of --Holy- W&+- -thee" (Gen. 12  :1.3) .-  - The-object to--be. gained, then, is..-
    an attitude identical to that of Abraham, is to give the saving of his life? But  wou1.d  Abraham, so one in-
    unmistakable evidence of. having been endowed with voluntarily interpolates, see Sarah appropriated by this
    that wisdom of which the fear of the Lord is the be-             Egyptian monarch or by any other lord to whom she
    ginning. Upon such a one will be showered the tress-            might appeal, in order to have his  .life? With her lost
    ures of heaven. "Then Peter said, Lo, we have left all, to him, did he not sense that he might as well be dead?
    and followed thee. And He said unto them, Verily I It must by all means be held that he did, that he had
    say unto you, there is no man that has left house, or            no intentions whatever of surrendering his wife to any
    parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the king- of these lords. Fact is that what he thought to accom-
    dom of God's sake, who shall not receive manifold plish by means of his falsehood - and a falsehood it
    more in this present time, and in the world to come life was, for Sarah, though his sister, was at once his
  everlasting" (Luke 18  :28).                                       wife - failed to materialize, and that what he had
        As was before said, and we say it now again, Abra- either failed or refused to contemplate-the appropria-
    ham was but a type. To quit one's native land, to dwell tion of Sarah by Pharaoh - actually happened. How,
    in a tent, to avoid the city, to renounce our earthy then, had Abraham imagined the outcome? The most
    possessions may not as yet be required of  us. Never- likely answer is that he saw these lords one after the
    theless the believer possesses as not possessing. He other parleying with him for Sarah and being held at
    sells all to gain God. And when finally "no man may bay by the enormous gift which he wduld ask for her,
    buy or sell, sdve he that hath the mark or the name of long enough for him to replenish his store and to get
    the beast, or the number of his name" (Rev. 13 :1'7) ;           him thereupon out of the land.
    when once more they (the lovers of God's name) will                  However this may be, that he had nd intention of
    be stoned, tempted, slain with the sword, be compelled parting with his wife is evident from his statement


                      132                                           THiZ  S T A - N D A R D   B E A R E R

                      that it might go well with him for her sake. Had he                         help themselves and in coming to the aid of self, he
                      contemplated giving her up, pray, what would  this life                     exhibits that same treat of character reappearing in
                      and prosperity avail her.                                                   his grandson Jacob, the trait, namely, of attempting to
                             Another solution of Abraham's conduct, and one direct the course of events into divinely ordained chan-
                      which must be wholeheartedly rejected, is that the sole nels, to guide the destinies of his life  an@ thus to come
                      or at least the chief purpose of the denial of the marital to God's aid, when it appeared as if His cause was in
                      tie was  the. enlargement of a material estate. In sub- jeopardy, by a subvertion of the truth. The episode
                      verting the truth, Abraham, so it is held by the spon- in Egypt taught him, however, that it was better by
                      sors of this view, was acting under the influence of ti                     far to let the Lord tend to his own affairs, that his
                      powerful crave for the large gifts which he expected future and the future of the .world lay not with him but
                      to receive in exchange for his wife. However, one                           with the Lord, that the latter is able to save to the
                      feels immediately that to associate his conduct  with so tittermost, that one goes safe, therefore, when  sub*mit-
                    sordid a motive is to drag him down to ,a moral plain                         ting himself to His care. Abraham, then, must have
                     much to low for one whose deep piety secured for him left Egypt a humiliated man, with. an added respect
                      such titles as Father of believers  and, hero, of faith. for the sanctitiy and the matchless faithfulness of God,
                     Abraham, let it be remembered, had been empowered for His power to save, and for His willingness to come
                     by sate to renounce this world in order to gain .God.                        to the rescue of his foolish children even when they are
                     Would such a one simultaneously contemplate selling l e a s t   d e s e r v i n g .
                     his wife for cattle and herds? Swing, if you can, this                                                                                  G. M. 0.
                     view in line with his refusal.to accept as much as a
                     shoe-latch from the king he had rescued because he
                     feared that in doing so he might furnish this king                                                      SLECHTS   EEN
                     with a pretext for appropriating what belonged to his                                   Doorkerf   6&n draad:  uw  parelslloer
                     God, to-wit, the reputation .of making him (Abraham)                                    Strooit al zijn  rijkdom  langs den vloer;
                     rich. However, his'disguising of his true relation to                                   Ontstem   &n snaar, uw harp moet zwijgen;
                     Sarah was unjustifiable. Instead of safeguarding his                                    Verwrik  66n  Steen,  de boog verzet;
                     .interest, he humanly speaking, exposed to loss or in-                                         E&l stootje in de alarmtrompet  -
                     jury the promise and the purposes of God. For what                                             En duizend zwarte zorgen stijgen !
                     happened is that Sarah was taken into Pharaoh's                                                E6n donk're wolk verbergt de zon  ;
                     house.       With the mother of the proniised  seed in a                                       E6n dwaasheid opent u een bron
                     harem, he must have gone about feeling like a fool a;ld                                 Van, leed, dat zich geen hart verbeeldde  ;
                     wishing himself back among the hills of Bethel. What                                    Edn vonk oI&steekt  wat niemand bluscht ;
                     he had done is to walk into a self-prepared snare from                                  E6n wensch  verstoort de gansche rust;
                     which the Almighty only could extricate him. He had                                     EQn, 64n herin'ring elke weelde ;
I                    so complicated matters as to render necessary a special                                 EBn smet bederft geheel een kleed ;
     I               Merposition  Of  IiC?2VeZ   kc1  his.behalf. So i.t happened                            EBn wroeging  we&, ,wat niemand weeta
                                                                                                 -.  _-       __ _-..-_                 _  _  _ __  .-  _  _  _. , -.-. - -... -- -- - --
     L`. - ---that the Lord- pls, L.-L
                                         .0+1n,j   Pha,rao&  2nd  ---.   :s--ho;~se,   yiM-,"              . EBn oogenblik baart eeuw'ge smarte ;
                     great plague because of Sarah, Abraham's  wi-fe. And                                    E&n spaak gebroken, breekt het wiel;
          i          Pharaoh called Abraham and said, What is this that                                      E6n. enkel denkbeeld doodt de. ziel ;
                    thou hast done unto me? Why didst thou not tell me                                       E4n enk'le wond verscheurt een harte.
                     that she was thy wife? Why saidst thou, .She is my
                     sister? so I might have taken her to me for wife? Be-
                     cause of the quick response of this chieftain to Divine
                    judgment, one would be tempted to conclude that he                               Op den loden fiovember  onMiep zacht en kalm in den Heere
                     was one who feared and served the Lord. It is certain, onze zorgdragende Echtgenoote, Moeder, Groot- en Overgroot-
                     however, that it would not have been necessary to move moeder,
                     him by a plague to return to Abraham his wife, had.                                              AALTJE VAN  ELLEN-Jai&man,
                     this fear been his. As to Abraham, also this experi-                        in den ouderdom van 79 jaren,  4 maanden en 13 dagen.
                    j  ence must have been made to work to his good. To                              Hpewel liet  verlies  ons smart, past bet  `ens  Gc.de  te zwijgen,
                    / begin with, he  w$s made to see that the Lord delights Die h&ar spaarde tot den ouderdom van een der sterksten. Hem
                    : in fair dealing and cannot be served by a lie. For it zij de lof en dank  voor   bet goede, dat we door Hem in  `haar
                                                                                                 mochten genieten.
                     was not accidental that he was made to listen to strong                                                       W. Van Ellen
                     words of rebuke coming from the mouth of this  Egyp-                                                          Mr. en Mrs. F. Wierenga
                    tian chief. Further, he was made to see that for him                                                           Mr. en Mrs. J. Schildhuis
                     to give vent to the impulse of relieving a difficult situa-                                                   Miss J. Van Ellen
                     tion by taking matters in his own hand and out of the                                                         Mr. en  Mrs.  0. Van Ellen
                                                                                                                                   Mr. en Mrs. B. Van Ellen
                     hand of the Lord was to invite disaster. Abraham                                                            13 kleinkinderen en 6  achterklein-
               I     seetied  to have thought that the Lord  helps  those who                                  _                     kinderen.


                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                      137

                                                              He must be divine - for who but One could claim such
        JESUS THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD                          a Prerogative and power?" They listen only to find
   Jesus `was in the treasury. It stood at the north something to object to, and grasping greedily at what
side of one of those large inclosures called the Court lay upon the very surface of the sayings, they say to
of the Women, which lay outside the temple properly Him, "Thou bearest record of thyself; thy record is not
so called, and in which on all the great annual festivals, true." Perhaps they had our Lord's own words on the
crowds were wont daily to assemble. In the center of occasion of the former visit to Jerusalem on their
the court, at the feast of the Tabernacles, two tall memory, "If I bear  witness of Myself, My witness is
starids were placed, each supporting four large branch- not true." He was speaking then  Of a solitary unsup-
ing candelabra. As at, the time of morning sacrifice ported testimony, - a testimony imagined to be borne
the procession wound its way up from the fountain of by Himself, to Himself, and for Himself, as one seek-
Siloam, and the water was poured out from  the golden ing to advance His own interests, promote His own
pitcher to remind the people of the supply of water glory. Such a testimony had He borne it, he had then
that had been made for their forefathers during the said would b$ altogether untrustworthy. His answer
desert wanderings ; so after the evening `sacrifices all now to those who would tamit him at once with egotism
the lights in those candelabra were kindled, the flame and  inconsistancy  is, "Though I bear record of myself,
broad and brilliant enough to illuminate the whole city, y&t my record is true, for I know whence I came, an&
to remind the people of the pillar of light by which whither I go." Had I not known that I came forth
their marchings through the wilderness were guided. from the Father, am going back to the Father, that
And still freer and heartier than the morning jubila- I am here only as His representative and revealer,  -
tions which attended on the libation of the water, were did the consciousness of full, clear, constant union with
the evening ones which accompanied the kindling of' Him not  fill my spirit, - I would not, could not speak
the lights. It was with allusion, to the one cer?tiony        as I do now. But I know the Father even as I am known
that Jesus said, "If any man thirst  iet him come unto by Him ; He works and I work with Him ; whatsoever
Me and drink." It was with allusion to the other, of things He doeth, I do likewise. It is out of the depth
which both He and those around Him were reminded of the consciousness of my union with Him that I
by the stately chandeliers which `stood at the time be- speak, and what man knoweth the things of a man save
fore their eyes, that He said, "I am the light of the         the spirit of man that is in him, and however else are
world, he that followeth  Me shall not walk in darkness, you to know what can alone be known by my revealing
but shall have the light of life." In uttering both these it if I do not speak of myself, or do not speak as he
sayings, Jesus placed Himself in a singular and only can who stands in the relationship in which I do to
elevated relationship to the whole human family. In the Father ?
the one He  in'vited  the entire  ,multitude  of  human          "But ye cannot tell whither I come and whence I
`thirst&s to come to Him to have their thirst assuaged. go." You never gave yourselves any trouble to  fmd it
In the other He claimed to be the one central source out. You  never opened mind or heart to the evidence
of light and life to the whole world. Is it surprising
            .  -.                                             that I laid before you. What early alienated you from
                                                                                                      ._......   _- ___---
thtit as .th%y lookX%t  Him, tiiia h&ard HiriiQ%akifig`iti    -MjIe  %as that I came not accre&tZX%s  you wouId have
this way, and thought of who and what, according to desired, submitted no proofs of my heavenly calling to,
their reckoning, He was, the Jews should have seen you for your approval, made no obeisance to you for
egotism and arrogance in His words? There was in entering upon My career, came not up here to seek in-
truth the very utmost pitch of such arrogance and struction at your hands, asked not from you any lib-
egotism in them, had the speaker been such as they erty to act as a scribe - a teacher of the law - instead
deemed Him, a man like themselves. .But orie of His           of this, claimed at once this temple as My Father's
very objects in speaking so was to convince them and house, condemned the .way in which were, suffering its
us that He was not such - that He stood toward the sacred precincts to be defiled, and have ever since, in
human family in quite other relationship from that in all that I have said and done, been lifting up a con-
which any single member of it could stand ta all the `stant, loud, and strenuous protest against you and your
rest - that besides His connection with it He had an- virays. You sit now in judgment upon Me - you con-
other and higher connection, that with His Father in demn Me. You say that I am bearing record of Myself,
heaven, which entitled Him to speak and to act in a and that My record is not true, "but ye judge after the
way peculiar to Himself. By word and deed,`again  and flesh." You have allowed human prejudice, human
again repeated, Jesus had sought in vain to convey passion, to fashion your judgment. I so judge no man.
into the mind of these Jews an idea of how singular           It was not to judge that I came into this world. I come
that connection was. He tries now' once again, and            not to condemn but to save it. And yet if I judge, as
once again He fails. Instead of their asking, "Who is in one sense I must, and am even now about to do, My
this that offers to qu.ench all human thirst, and who         judgment is true, for I am not alone, but I and the
proclaim? Himself to be the light of the world?" saying Father that sent Me judge, as We do everything to-
to themselves in reply, "He must be more than human,          gether. Your own very law declares, "that the testi-


1       3        8                                         T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

mony of two men is true." I am one that bear witness ness and show unto you that eternal life which was
 of Myself, and the Father that, sent Me heareth wit- with the Father, and was manifested unto us." `"This
ness of Me.                                                                       is the true Go;d  and eternal life." .Such is the descrip-
      As if they wished this' second witness to be pro- tion John has left us of Him who spiritually is the sun
duced, they say to Him contemptuously, "Where is thy of this dark world, the central source of all its light
Father ?" Jesus answered, "Ye neither know Me nor and life. The life and light of the soul lie in the love
my `Father." You think that you know. Me, you pride of the Creator,  - in likeness to Him, communion with
yourselves in not being deceived in Me, as the poor Him, - in free, glad service rendered, the joy of His
ignorant multitude is - My earthly pedigree - as be- approval felt. Freshly,. fully was life and light en-
lieved in  .by you as to My character and claims. You joyed by man in the days of his  innocense,  - the light
can scarcely after all that has been said, have failed to of God's gracious presence shown upon his soul and
perceive whom I meant when I was ,speaking  of My gladdened all his heart. Made in his Maker's image,
Father. Him, too, you think you know; you pride your- he walked confidingly, rejoicingly,' in, the iight of his
selves on your superior acquaintance with Him ; you countenance, reflecting in his own peaceful, loving, .
present  you?selves  to the people as the wisest and best holy, happy spiri-t as much as such mirror could of the
expounders of  *His will and law.' But ye neither know glory of his Creator.  `He disobeyed and died; the light
me nor my Father; "for to know the one is to know the                             went out; at one stride  came the dark. But the gloom
other - to remain ignorant of the one is to remain of that darkness, the stillness of that death, were  not
ignorant of the other. It is your want of all true knowl- suffered to prevail. From the beginning life and light,
edge of Me that keeps you from knowing God. It is have gone forth from Christ; all the spiritual anima-
the want of `all true knowledge of God that keeps you tion this world anywhere has witnessed, all the
from knowing- Me. Had you known Me, you should spiritual light by which its darkness has been allevi-
have known Him ; had you known Him, you should ated, spring from him. The `great `Sun of Righteous-
have known Me."                                                                   ness, indeed, seemed long of  l"ising. It was a time of
     So -fared it with the Lord's declaration that HB was                         moon and stars and morning twilight, till He came.
the light of the world as it was at first spoken in the                           But at last He arose with healing in His beams. And
temple ; so ended the first brief colloquy to the Jews                            now it is by coming unto Him that death is turned into
to which its utterance gave birth. There was one, light. He that hath Him hath life, he that follow.eth
however, of its first hearers upon whom it made a very Him  tialketh  not in darkness, but has the  !ight of life.
different impression from that it made upon the rulers                                The short colloquy betwixt Christ and the Phari-
of the Jews, who treasured it up in his heart, who saw sees, consequent upon His announcement of Himself
ever as his  lVIaster's  life evolved  itself  before him,. as the light of the world, ended with their lips being
more and more evidence of its truth whose spirit was for the moment closed. The silence that ensued was
afterwards enlightened to take in a truer, larger idea speedily broken by our Lord's repeating  what He had
of the place and function of his Lord in the spiritual said before about His going away 2 going where they
kingdom than has ever perhaps been given to  another. cc&d.   np_t follow.  The._spee~.h-.had_~~merlg..  excited---.,,
     ,:_ .^__         -  -. _ ..-__ L-.--..  _ _ 1_. -.-- _ _ _~ -. . - ..-. -
o? the chiidren  of men, who, on this accourit  was chosen only wonder, and they had said among  themselves,
of the Lord to set them forth in his gospel and in his                            "Will He go unto the dispersed among the gentiles  ?"
epistles, and who has given to us this explanation of Now their passion against Him has so risen that it
the words of his Master: "In the beginning was the excites contempt, and they say openly, not indeed to
Word, and the -Word was with God; and the Word was' Him, but of Him, "Will He kill Himself? That would
God, The same was in the beginning with God. All. indeed be to go where we could not foIlqw.  Perhaps
things were made by Him ; and without Him was not that may be what He means." The drawing of such
anything made that was made. . In Him was life; and distinction among themnselves and him gives to Jesus
the life was the light `of men. And the light sbineth the opportunity of setting `forth the seal and radical
in the darkness; and' the darkness Comprehended it difference that there was between them. The por-
not." Jphn "came for a witness, to bear witness of traiture of their character and' pedigree which, with
the light, that all men through .him might believe. He truthful and unsparing hand, He preceded to fill up,
was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that amid many rude breaks and scornful interruptions on
Light. That was the true light that lighteth every their part, we shall not minutely  scruti+e. One or  J
man that cometh in the world." "And the Word was two things only  Bbout our Lord's manner of treatment
made flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld His of His adversaries in this world-battle with them, let
glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the,Father)  ,                        us note.
full of grace and truth." "That which was from the                                   He does not `say explicitly that He is the Christ.
beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen His questioners were well aware what kind of person
with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our                                 their Messiah was generally expected- to be, how dif-
hands have handled, of the Word of life (for the life ferent from all' that Jesus was. They would provoke
was manifested) and we have seen it, and bear wit-                                Him to make a claim which they knew would be gen-


                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                          139

 erally  disallowed. He will not do it. When they  say,       slaves  - slaves  .to sin and Satan. In one sense they
 "Who art thou  ?" He contents Himself by saying, "I were in God's house, numbered outwardly as members
 am essentially or rjdically that which I speak, my say- of His. household ; but being actually such slaves, in
 ings reveal myself, and tell who and what I am." In that house they could not abide forever. But if He Who
 this,`Ls  in so many &her instances of His dealing with was not a servant in the  h&se of another, but an heir
 those opposed to Him at Jerusalem, His sayings were in His own house - His Father's house - if He made
 confined to assertions or revelations, not of His Mes- His followers free, then were they free indeed. And
 siahship, but of His unity of nature, will, and purpose unto what a glorious liberty they should thus be in-
 with the Father. This was the great stumbling-block troduced, - freedom from the law, its curse and con-
 that the  Jeffs ever and anon flung down before them. demnation ; free from the yoke of Jewish and all other
 That in all which Jesus was and said and did He was to ceremonialism; freedom from the fear of guilt and the
 be taken as snevealing  the character and expressing the bondage of corruption ; freedom to serve God willingly
 will of God, was what they  never  could allow, and the and lovingly.
more that the idea of connection between Him and God                                                                    G. M. 0.
 approaching to  absolute  identification was pressed
 upon them, the more they resented and rejected it. But
 why? Jesus Himself told them; Their unbelief, He                               VBOR HEN, DIE  BELEDEN   '
 constantly asserted, sprung from a morally impure
source ; from an unwillingness to come into such living                                       (Joh. 6 :67 en 68)
 contact with the Father; from their dislike to the                          Zij zijn zoo schuchter opgegaan,
 purity, the benevolence, the godliness that were in Him                     Ze hebben wachtend, stil gestaan . . .
 as in tile Father. When driven from:the`  position they
 first assumed as children of Abraham, they claimed a                        Want ziet; hun Jezus kwam voorbij
 still higher `lxternity, atid said, "We have one Father                     met der geloov'gen blijde rij..
 even (hd." Our I*ord's reply .was, "If. God were your
 Father, ye would love Me, for I proceeded forth and                   ~ Toen  heeft hij even stil g&faan
 came from God; neither came I.,Myself,  but Hi -sent                        en zag hen even vragend aan . . . .
Me. Why do ye not understand  .My speech? Even be-
 cause ye cannot hear My word.`?                )                            Hij lei Zijn hand zacht  op hun hoofd,
    They wore a mask ; behind that mask +hey hid a                           toen hebben ze hem trouw beloofd,
malicious disposition, and so long as deceitfulness and
malignity ruled their spirit. and regulated their. lives,                    toen hebben ze Zijn kleed gekust
children of Abraham, children qf GOdj they were not,                         en in hun ziel zonk reine rust . . . .
could not be. They might boast what other parentage
they pleased, but their works proclaimed that they                           Hoog zong hun zang bij `t medegaan :
were none other than the children` of him who was a                          "Tot wien, Heer, zullen  we anders gaan !"
                                                               .----  . -        ..__     ._ _      _      
                                                                                                            _.  ..__
your `father the devili and. the lxsts of -your- father ye
wili do." Very plain langtlage,  and very severe - not                                           STEiVtiING
language for man to use.. to man  -L suitable alone for De kerk is vol van wonderstralend licht,
Him who knew what was, in man, who catie  as its light de kleuren der in lood gevatte ruiten
 into the world and discharged one of His offices ,as         temp'ren den gloed yan  felle zonglans buiten,
such in laying bare the hidden-corruption with which die binnen als in teederheid  verdicht.                            .
 He came in contact, for "all things that are reproved
are manifest by the light, for wliatever doth make Devotie zweeft langs  har,e bankenrijen,
- manifest is light."         .:       ,.                     waar menig hart qich stil naar boven richt
    "But as He spake these words many believed on en bidt om licht van `t godd'lijk aangezicht,
Him," and for them, and ami& all.His  rebukes of His opdat het in Gods heil  zich moog' verblijen.
enemies, this was His  word of-encouragement, that if
they continued in His word, if the?. but .followed  faith- Wet orgel  trilt in heilige accoorden
fully the light that shone in Him, .they should know Gods gunst, of dreunt den donder van Gods toorn,  -
the truth, know Him who .was the truth, and in Him dat ruischt de liefde van Gods Eengeboorn,
 and by that truth, they should be.made  free. These en' zingt `t geloovig volk gewijde woorden.
Jews imagined that simply as the children .of Abraham
they were free. So fondly did they cling to this idea En hij die spreekt,  als dienstknecht van zijn Heer,
that often  is the yoke of the stranger had been on them tracht  `t edelst  goud aan d'arme taal t' ontwringen,
they were. ready proudly to say; "We were never in en worstelt om `t de zielen in te dringen:
bondage to any man." Notwithstanding this they were "In Jezus vindt g'  alleen  bet Leven weer !"


  1


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

                 CALVIN, BERKHOF AND H. J. KUIPER.                        again. `I am adducing a passage from Calvin's Calvin-
                                                                          ism, pp.  81,82:
                               A COMPARISON                                        "Now let us listen to the Evanielist  John. He will'
                                       V                                  be no ambiguous interpreter of this same passage of
                                                                          the prophet Isaiah.         `But thougli (says John) Jesus
               We must bear in mind the point of the comparison had done so many miracles before them, yet they be-
        we are &tempting. to  mak.e between the views  of Cal- lieved not on Him,that the saying of Esaias the prophet
        vin, Berkhof and Kuiper.                                          might be fulfilled which spake, Lord, who hath be-
               The great. questjon  among us is not whether the lieved our report? and to whom hath the arm df the
        gospel is preached to all those to whom God sends it,             Lord been revealed? Therefore they could not believe,,
        according to His  good  pleasure. On this we are all because that Esaias said again, He hath blinded their
        agreed. The preaching of the gospel by men is prom-               eyes and hardened their hearts,' etc. Now most cer-
        iscuous, according to the will of God.                            tainly John does not her6 give us $0 understand that
               Even when  that gospel invites those that are the Jews were prevented from believing by their sin-
        hungry and thirsty, those that are weary and heavy fulness. For though this be quite true in one sense,
        laden, the sound of that invitation reaches reprobates yet the cause  6f their not believing must be traced to
        as well as' elect.                                  I             a far higher source. The  seer&  and eternal purpose
               But the great question is : does God  htive that gos-      and  counsel.  of God must be viewed as the original
        pel preached to the reprobate wicked in  l!?;is grace? cause of their blindness and unbelief. It perplexed in
        And do the reprobate actually receive a certain general no small degree the ignorant and the weak when they
       grace of God, when the gospel is preached to them?                 heard that there was no place for Christ among the
               We say: no,. the preaching of the gosijel  is grace people of God (for the Jews were such). John explains
        only to the elect.                                                the reason by showing that none believe save those to
               Berkhof and Kuiper say: yes, the gospel is a graci- whom it is given, and that there are few to whom God
        ous  tind well-meaning offer of salvation on the part of reveals His arm. This other prophecy concerning `the.
        God to all men. It is grace also to the reprotiate.               arm of the Lord', the Evangelist weaves into his argu-
               And they claim, that their view is Reformed, that it ment tq prove the same great truth. And his words
        is- Calvinistic.                                                  have a momentous weight. He says: `Therefore, they
               This is the reason why we are investigating what could not  believe'. Wherefore, let men  -torture them-
       may be .Calvin's  views on this fundamental question.              selves as long as they will with reasoning, the cause
               More than  once we already concluded on good of the difference made - why God does not reveal His
        gyounds,  quoting from  Calvitis~ Calvinism, that the arm equally to all - lies hidden in His own eternal de-
        Genevan R,eformer  does not agree with Berkhof and                cree. The whole of the Evangelist's argument amounts
        Kuiper, that. he refuses to be called their spiritual evidently to  this : that faith is a special gift, and that
        father. He did not agree with their interpretation of the wisdom of Christ is too high and too deep to come
        the well-known passages from Ezekiel ; -nqr with- their within the compass  of-~a_n's~undelrstanding.                     The un- __ ___
                                                                 --:-- --..-. .
--`a.  -~`liiit&$&Zi%ti   of.  3e&&   &&cry.  &e? apostate  Jerusa-      belief-of the world,  th%refore,.  `oukht
                                                                                                                -      not to astdnish us.I
        lem ; and he emphasized, that a mari must be beside if even the wisest and most acute of men fail to believe.
        himself to maintain that the promises of a new heart Hence, unless we would elude the plain and confessed.
        are meant for all  men,promiscuously.  The preaching meaning of the Evangelist, that few, receive the Gospel,
        of the gospel is, indeed, general, according. to John we must fully conclude that the cause is the will of
        Calvin ; btit the grace in the gospel is particular in the       God; and that the outward sound of the Gospel strikes
        strictest sense of the word. There is no gracious offer the ear in vain until God is pleased to touch by it the
        of salvation on the part of God to all men.                      heart within."
            But we are not through quoting Ca!vin on this sub-                Also this passage is significant.
        ject.                                                                      First of all, because it speaks of the preaching of
            He is very outspoken and defiriite on this matter. the gospel to men promiscuously. It concerns, there-
        There need be left no doubt in our minds as to Calvin's fore, the question that is in dispute among us. Isaiah
        tiews. All our readers will have to admit this, when had been preaching the gospel and only few believed,
        we have finished; Even Berkhof and Kuiper them- so few that he complains : who hath believed our report
        selves, we are perfectly confident, will admit that they and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? Christ
        do .not agree with Calvin on this' point. I do not know preached the gospel. And His preaching was enforced
        whether they  .will  expr'ess this admission in public. by the performance of many miracles, right before the
        But whether they do or not, I am confident that they eyes of the people. Yet, also when He prgached,  and
        can read  and understand and draw the conclusion be- though He performed so many miracles, there were but
        fore their own mind and heart, that they departed few that believed. So the minister of today preaches
        from the views of the great Reformer.                            the gospel, and the result is always the same. Though
            Let me, therefore, to convince all, quote Calvin he cry ever so loudly, that the gospel he preaches is the


                                       T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                             141

gospel for ali sinners, yet the result will not be dif- vation,  but just as  well a hardening operation of God's
ferent. Only a  certain.number  will believe his gospel, wrath, so that He does not reveal His arm to all.
as long as he does not .corrupt  it. In the latter case, if       And this excludes grace for all in the'preaching  bf
he does not plreach the pure and true gospel of God In the gospel.  I
Christ, he may see different results and gather thou-                                                           H. H.
sands upon thousands. Only, the trouble with such is,
that God did  noi gather them. They are called and con-
verted not by God, but by man.
    Secondly, this quotation of Calvin is  signigcant,               EEN STEM UIT HUDSQNVILLE, MICH.
because it mentions the cause of this unbelief of the
multitude and their leaders. How does Calvin explain?             Dinsdag, den lsten October, was een blijde dag voor
Does he say: the gospel Isaiah preached and the gospel. de gemeente te Hudsonville. Om die blijdschap eenigs-
Christ @reached, together with the miracles He per- zins te beschrijven  zullen we eerst een blik in het  ver-
formed, constituted a well-meaning offer of God to leden slaan en zien hoe de gemeente tot stand kwam.
save `them all? Does he say, that it  reve,?led  the grace        Het was in den zomer van 1924 dat Ds. H. Hoekse-
and Iovingkindness of God to  all that heard? Does, he ma verzocht werd door het Schoolbestuur  der Christe-
.present  the matter as if the preaching of Isaiah and of lijke School alhier om een Schoolrede te houden, het-
the Lord revealed the earnest desire on the part of            welk hij  aatinam  en ter bestemder tijd sprak Zijn
God-to save all? And does he' leave the explanation of Eerwaarde in de "Jamestown Woods" over bet onder-
their unbelief entirely with man and his sinfulness?           werp : "De  %rijd  aller Eeuwen." Ds. aohne,  die des-
  ' Far from it!                                               tijds onze geachte leeraar was, zeide aan het einde van
                                                               deze rede: "Wiens  hart door deze rede niet verteederd
   He could not very well explain the  matter thus, for wierd, moet  wei een hart van  Steen hebben!" waar-
the simple reason that he was bound to the Word of mede wij dan ook instemden. Maar "`t kan  verkee-
God, and that Word, by the Evangelist John pointed to          ren," zei Brederode.
%n entirely different cause.                                      En, waar Ds. H. Hoeksema destijds eenige  oneenig-
    They could not believe!                                    heden had met drie zijner gemeenteleden,  duurde het
   And why could they not beIieve?                             niet lang of hij en zijn kerkeraad werden afgezet. Dit
   Because of their sinfulness? Yes, Calvin says, I gaf aanleiding dat sommige broeders en zusters van
grant you that their sinfulness is a factor. But it is Hudsonville bij Ds. Hoeksema gingeti  kerken en weldra
not  the cause.  The cause `is in the will of God. He          werd hij geroepen om de drie bewuste punten,  opge-
blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts. And, steld gedurende en door de Synode van 1924 te Kala-
therefore,  they could not  Eelieve.  That few receive mazoo, te verklaren in Hudsonville. Dit gaf wederom
the  Gosqel is a fact. And  this.fact,  that so few receive aanleiding, dat sommige broeders en zusters ongewaar-
the gospel, Calvin concludes, finds its cause in the will schuw4 het Avondmaal des Heeren werden ontzegd.
of God. God wills not that all that hear the Gospel in Zoo begon  de strijd in Hudsonville. Sommige der broe-
its outward  sound, shall  believe;  That  is why they ders.`en zusters  lick-`fi~~tzittend--aan  -de-kerk;-werd-toch-  --.--.
believe not.                                                   beslot& door ongeveer een  zevental  huisgezinntin om
   Such is Calvin's answer.                                    hunne papieren op te vragen en sloten zij zich aan bij
   But if this is the case, there is nothing left of a         de gemeente van Ds. H. Hoeksema. Al spoedig.  werd
well-meaning and gracious offer on the part of God in er, eenmaal in de week, dienst gehouden in de "barn"
the preaching of the Gospel. For, while the Gospel is van wijlen broeder C. Spoelman. Het duurde echter
preached God blinds the eyes and hardens the hearts of niet lang of wij hadden  tweemaal  dienst des Woords
some, while He opens the eyes and softens the hearts           op den dag des Heeren en eindelijk werd er op den
of others unto repentance. Now, Kuiper may talk of 26sten Augustus 1926 een Prot. Ger. kerk geboren in
mysteries as long as he wishes, but he cannot. (I say de "barn" van broeder C. Spoelman. Al heel spoedig
not : solve, but) accept this as a my3,ery,  that He wouId     begon  onze gemeente te bouwen en den &ten  Mei 1927
harden the hearts and blind the eyes of those, whom werd onze nieuwe kerk plechtig ingewijd. En, door
He graciously offers the gospel and seriously desires to Gods genade, hopen wij het nimmer te vergeten. Dank
save.                                                          aan. Hem, die ons heeft willen gedenken, die ons niet
   Or, if he would still maintain that this is his honest      heeft willen  doen  naar onze zonden, maar die ons heeft
conviction, and that he can really accept such foolish-        willen  zegenen. Ook dit kerkgebouw hebben wij van
ness as mysteries of God, we will let  him have his own onzen God ontvangen, waar wij als gemeente van onzen
notions.                                                       H.eere Jezus  Christus  in liefde mochten vergaderen
   But he cannot appeal to Calvin.                             en van Sabbat tot Sabbat het Woord Gods mochten
   Calvin believed and expressed it without comprom-           hooren verkondigen.
ise, that in and under the preaching of the gospel, there         Maar ook de gemeente van Hudsonville moest  on-
is not only a gracious operation of the Spirit unto sal-       dervitiden,  dat wij hier geen blijvende stad hebben,

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

      want pas'was het n&&we  kerkgebduw in gebruik geno-            Ophoff ons was voorgegaan in den dienst des Woords,
      men of wij moesten'het stoffelijk overschot  van &en           naar aanleiding van Hebr. 13 :l7. En Zondag, den 6en
      Ouderling, broeder C.. Spaelman, tiitdragen,  terwijl hij      October, verbond onze leeraar zich aan de gemeente
      juichte voor Gods  troqn.                                      met  eene predikatie naar aanleiding van II Cor. 2  :15,
             Door Gods genade mock;t de gemeente voortgaan           16. Dien dag trad onze leeraar driemaal voor ons op,
      van kracht tot kracht. Aan arbeiders in het .Woord  en         des namiddags in de. taal des lands.
      de Sacramenten heeft het ons nooit ontbroken. Wij                 Wij gaan de toekomst  blijde tegemoet, biddende dat
      hadden elken Zondag bediening van leeraars of studen-          God  onzen  leeraar tot een rijken zegen stelle. En nu
      ten. Evenwel, daar was altijd een plaats ledig; een            spijt het ons  we1 dat onze leeraar nog verder zijne
      eigen herder en leeraar werd gemist. We1  werd een studi& aan onze Theologische school moet voltooien,
      beroep uitgebracht op den (destijds) Candidaat Wil- maar beter een halve leeraar die wil, dan een heele die
      lem Verhil, maar God riep hem naar  .het Westen. En niet wil.
      Hudsonville's gemeente worstelde verder in de kracht              Onze gemeente heeft een jeugd van 65 zielen die
      van  onzen  God die ook onze gemeente nimmer  vergat.          catechetisch onderwijs genieten, dus er is w&k genoeg.
             Wa&r wi  j. wederom een poging aanwendden, liet de En  des Zondagsavonds  mogen een  30-tal . jongelieden
     Heere  `t niet ongezegend. Den 24sten Juni werd weder-          met den leeraar  zich verlustigen in de bespreking van
      om een b.eroep  uitgebracht op Ds. G. Vos en een we&k          Gods Woord en oefent zieh het jonge volk in het  reci-
      later mochten  wij de blijde woorden lezen: Ik ga uw teeren van  godsd(ienstige  onderwerpen en opstellen en
      b&bep opvoiyen.                                                zingen  der liederen Sions.
             En ~0.0 mochten  wij aan den avond van den .lsten          Bij dezen bedanken wij alle leeraars en studenten
      October het voorr.eeehi,  genieten  om onzen  leeraar, Ds. die in het verleden ons zoo trouw hebben gediend.  Stelle
      G. Vos, met de zijnen te verwelkomen als gemeente. God hen tot een rijken zegen in hunne gemeenten, op-
      Gewis, een blijde dag voor ons als gemeente, In vreug-         dat wij tezamen mogen opwassen in de kennis van
      de werd den avond doorgebracht.  Men kon de blijd-             onzen Heere en `Heiland, in Hem die toekomt alle eere,
      schap op ecn ieders gelaat lezen. Puderling Laarman lof en aanbidding, die eens zijne gemeente zal  verlos-
      leidde  deze  vergaderirig  : opende met het lezen van sen en  reinigen, wanneer zij zal juichen voor Gods
      I Joh. het ee;-ate hoofdstuk, zingen  Psalm 89 :7 en ge- troon om Hem eeuwig te danken.
      bed. Daarna richtte hij  zich tot de gemeente met een             Namens den Kerkeraad der Prot. Geref. kerk te
      kleine toespraak en daarna  tot den leeraar en de zijnen                Hudsonville, Mich.,
      en sprak hun een hartelijk welkomstwoord,toe.        Daar-                                     H. KUIPER, Scriba
      na sprak Ds. Vos een  woord van waardeering voor de
      hartelijkheid waarmede hij ontvangen was; verheugde
      .zich  dat er zulk een groot  getal  jongelieden  waren   ;
      hoopte.  dat de Heere hem tot rijken iegen mocht  stel-
     . len te  midden der gemeente, maar sprak tevens uit, dat                             EMO.TION~
      hij met .droefheid  vervuld was geweest van!vege-  ds ge-         The true religious em&ion_we  -defined aa.an_+biding ._
      meente:  `te Sioux C&ieE  -en"~~--`d~~"gemeente  hem na moving of the entire soul of man, in a direeticn  away
      aan het hart lag. Evenwel, de Heere leidde- hem en from the world, sin and the devil to Christ an:! all He
      gewillig Wilde hij volgen. Ook had de Heere weer voor-         stands for. So defined, the true emotion is i;lentical
      zien door hem onze gemeente te schenken.           Ja, wij to conversion, to the mortification of the old and the
      hadden gaarne gezien dat ook Sioux Center een leer-            quickening of the new man. The former the Catechism.
      aar had gekregen,  maar  de weg des Heeren was anders. defines as a sincere sorrow of heart that we have pro-
      En wij hopen dat Sioux Center's gemeente hierin moge voked God by our sins, and a desire to more and more
      berusten. Daarna ging Ds. Vos voor in dankgebed flee from the world. The quickening of the new man is
      voor de blijdschap en vreugde genoten in het avonduur a sincere joy of heart in God through Christ,  -  a
      en voor de gave die de Heere hem gaf iti deze zijne ge- great love and delight to live according to the will of
      meente.                                                        God in all good works. Such is the true religious emo-
             Daarna verblijdde de jeugd ons met een  flink pro- tion.
      gram van zangstukken en  recitaties  en werd eindelijk            This emotion must be. placed in a class'by itself and
      de vergadering gesloten door breeder  Jan Schut met thus set off from all unhallowed, that is natural stir-
      dank  aan God na het  zingen   van,  Ps.  119:lO en 11.. rings and agitations of the unregenerate. Such agita-
     Daarna wachtten ons de vrouwen in het basement, tion, especially religious as to their character, is often
      waar zij .ons eenige ververschingen deden genieten  en of a kind that seems to compel the conclusion that the
      zoo keerde een iegelijk welgemoed en blijde huiswaarts. agitated soul was actually made. to experience the
      Vobrwaar,  die dag was een blijde dag voor de gemeente quickening influence of the S$rit of regeneration. We
      te Hudsonville.                                                happen upon a remarkable and' at once a disquieting
             Op Donderdagavond, den  3den. October, werd onze passage in Heb. 6. It reads: "For it is impossible for
      leeraar door Ds. W. Verhil  bevestigd,  nadat Ds. G. M.        those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of
I       :


                                     T H E   ST.ANDARD  B E A R E R                                                143

the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy tiion, is the possessor of a true saving faith. For  .to
Ghost,  and have tasted  the' good word of God, and the such a one the predicted future has become a reality,
powers of the world to come, if they shall fall away,       as well as the Christ in whom the sinner must trans-
to renew them again unto repentance, seeing they cru- port himself if he would not perish when the predicted
cify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him future has become the present. Hence, when Christ
to an open shame." According to this passage it is pos- says to these weeping women: "Daughters of Jerusa-
sible for one to be endowed with such powers and gifts lem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for
that when operative give to one an apparently genuine your. children. For, behold, the days are coming in
religious aspect, and yet be in an unregenerate state. the which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and
The kind of subject to which the above-cited Scripture the wombs that never bore . . . . ", He was admon-
must be made to apply is one whose soul was stirred ishing them  -to' repent, to believe and be saved,
by the preaching of the Word, by the realities pre- to exhibit, then, a sorrow of an altogether different
 sented to us  in Scripture. For the holy writer very character than their present sorrow, to-wit, a sorrow
plainly distinguishes between two periods of such per- for sin, a sorrow that urges a man to embrace Christ
sons` lives : a period of upparent  adhesion to the gospel as the one sent by God into the world to be a propitia-
 (which their unregenerated hearts, empowered by the tion for the sin of the elect. This kind of sorrow these
Holy Spirit, .are able. to understand and taste) and women were not showing.
a person of bold and outspoken apostacy,  - a period           The point that we were making is that it is possible
in which they openly break with the Christ and put to stand in the shadow of the cross, be moved to tears
Him to open shame. I repeat, in this first period, the by the spectacle of a crucified Christ and still be in an
souls of such persons are agitated, stirred, moved by unregenerated state. Such was evidently the case with
the gospel message. When attending gospel meetings these women of Jerusalem.
they are liable to be of that. number voicing their            So we'see that a great religious psychical agitation
assent to the truth proclaimed by boisterous amens and is not necessarily that the Spirit has been and is opera-
hallelujahs. Eventually, however, they tire and sicken tive in the particular agitated soul. The preacher of
of the truth and return to their vomit. The question the gospel must be aware of this. Out of a genuine
ai-ises how we may distinguish between the above-de- concern for his hearers he should analyze and expose
scribed conversion and the genuine conversion. The in their presence what we may conveniently call the
former is devdid of true sol*row for sin and the dis- false religious emotion. Let me tell you that the
position to go in the dust before God, to come under the preacher that will  let,his  audience carry away the im-
cross and yoke of Christ. To suffer and die if need be pression that they are regenerated and converted
for His cause. Here  then' is a case of emotion without merely because their souls have been agitated by his
true conversion and regeneration.                           bamboozling is a cruel man and commits a great sin
   Christ in one of His parables also speaks of men in before God.
whom the word, having been received By them with               Just because of the existence and deceptiveness of
joy, can take no root, as their hearts are still as hard
                                     ._---   _              the false religious emotion, the preacher; actually con-
_ as stone. So ii hippens  that in time of temptation  they &%&d about  the welfare of' his' flocK or he$Eers will
fall away. It is even possible then for a heart of stone refrain from  exessive  emotionalism and sensational
to experience joy when, hearing the word.                   preaching. A true, sober, yet terribly sincere preach-
    There is yet another kind of religious agitation to ing of the gospel is far to be preferred. It is the busi-
which we must call .attention.    Weeping women were ness of the `preachey  not to get himi? on a soap-box (in
following Christ to His place of crucifixion. Christ's the words of Dr. De  Haan) and shout Hallelujah until
sorry aspect, coupled with the thought that this good he is as hoarse as an African squawker (pray, who
man was about to be afXxed  to the cross by malice, benefits by such physical exertions? Not the speaker  fo>
moved' them to tears.. It was then the sorry plight of he yells himself hoarse, nor the auclience) but to edify
Christ that brought these tears to their eyes. It was a and build up the people of God ; to give a kind of ex-
grief which any man may experience for the underdog. position of the Word that can be used by the Spirit
Hence, these women wept. It was a grief sustaining to  accompliSh  His will. He shall not`handle the Word
no relation whatever to the regenerating grace of God. in such .a way that his audience takes their stand in
When the tragic future ,m+tich  they are approaching the shadow of the cross and shed tears similar to those
will finally have become the present, these women will shed by the women of Jerusalem. How is this done?
be weeping for themselves. Their tears will then be of         By shifting the determining  factor of man's salva-
a kind identical to those to which the sight `of Christ tion from God to man.. Let the preacher declare that
now moved them. Not, however, if they would begin           Christ, under the impulse of a,great  love for all men,
to weep before this future was upon them. Such tears did all that could be done to make salvation possible
would be the evidence of these women actually having for all  - assumed our flesh and blood; bore the wrath
been brought under the influence of Christ's regenerat- of' God from the beginning of His incarnation to the
ing grace. For he, set to wailing by a Divine predic-       end of His life upon earth; fulfilled all obedience to the.


                                                                                ,.
                                                                                      ,'
 divine law,  and' righteousness ; let this, preacher; MO&-       It is the  vie6 that Christ is powerless to  save that
 over, aver that `the weight of our sins and the wrath         lies at the basis' df the following selection : "Inst&d of
 of God pressed out of Him the bloody sweat in  the. this ignorant slur on evangelism that it is too emotional
 garden, that the  fiaviour permitted  Himself  to be `there ought to go up a prayer from every heart that
 bound, and afterward suffered, -innumerable  rei there might be more emotionalism of the right kind
 proaches, was innocently condemned td death, suffered and more of a  true feeling for the SOL& of men and
.$s body to be nailed on the cross,.humbled Himself to women slipping into eternal hell. Too, much of this
 the deepest reproach and pains of hell, both in body lack of emotionalism in the business of the church is at
 an,d in soul, .on the tree of the cross, shed finally His     heart nothing more or less than a basic unbelief in the
 blood; let this preacher, `finally; delineate upon the de- Bible teachings of the terribleness of sin and its con-
 tails of Christ's sufferings, and then let him. (this sequences.           If men really believe what they profess
 preacher) depict the Christ as one begging man to in regard to the jud-&ent  of God and the fact of the
 accept Him and the benefit accruing from His suffer- reality of hell and future punishment there would be
 ing and death, as one standing with outstretched arins        more of an interest and enthusiasm in this  busiliess of
 ready. to clasp all men to His bosom, `yet 8ltogether saving souls" (Grace' aid Glory, Vol. I, No. 9, p. 7).
 unable,to work by His Spirit in any one @n the will              The view circulating through the above selection
 to take refuge to Him, - and the result may' be that is that the church should show more enthusiasm for
 the hearers will be  moved,  -  moved  even to  .tears.       so&s of inen  `and woken slipping into .helL One slip-
 The te&rs shed, hoyever', are likely to be identical to ping into hell is one reprobated. The elect of God,
 those shed by the women of Jerusalem; and the interest surely do not slip  into `hell. The above-cited selection
 which the weeping one takes in Christ, the issue of a has it, then, that it would have been possible to save
 merely humanitarian sympathy aroused by the  spect-           one  .now slipping into hell.  L If so, it follows that a
 acle of a pleading and impotent God.                          man's eternal destiny is. not a matter decided upon by
    The preacher who identifies these tears, this sym- the Almighty before the world foundation. `Whether
 pathy and this interest with  true conversion, deceives a man is saved or perish& depends upon the ability of
 both himself and the weepers, and inplants' in -*heir         an enthusiastic evangelist  to. `induce him to accept
 souls a vain hope.                                            Christ. qnd' the latter stands helpless by while men.
    The Chr+t of Scripture is no impotent Christ. He slip into hell. The refusal to believe in this kind of a
 is King Almighty for He is God. As `a King He suf-            Christ  is equal to a. denial of the reality  of hell and
 fered, as a King He died. .Being the kind of a King           eternal punishment. Such is the view  circulating
 He is, He sets up .His kingdom in the hearts of tliose        through the above-cited selection. Try and swing this
 set in heaven with Him. The will to come, He works, view in l&e with Scripture. `It cannot  be. done. Never-
 as well as'the power to do. He is' the author and the theless it is this impotent Christ that is being preached
 finisher 2 faith, the captain qf salvation; No one can by  an. ever increasing number of so-called enthusiastic
resist when He  c&lls ; no one can come less He draws.         Evangelists of this day. We will continue this discus-
 He is the true vine, and thus the source of,$hai  life and
           . . .~ . -.                                         sion in t$e next issue of this magazine.                      _.~.-
pdwer a man exhibits  who'&nspori%  himself by faith,                                                       G: 1.1. 0.
 in Him. He. closes  and. no man opens and opens and
 no man closes. Such is the  Christ  I find in Scripture.
It is the spectacle of this kind of a Christ that &uses'                                    .NOTICE
men to weap  not for Him but for themselves. Woe
 unto `that preacher who strips Him of His power `in              D. V. vergadert de Classis  onzer kerken te Grand
 order to make it possible for himself to appear before Rapids,  Mich., in de Fuller Ave. kerk, den eersten
his audience with a strong emotional appeal, in order Wcensdag in Februari, des morgens om 9 uur.
to render the  Sa;viour  acceptable to the carnally               Stukken voor het agendum dienen in handen te zijn
minded.                                                        van den Stated Clerk  v66r den lsten Januari 1930.
    Why should an impotent Christ appeal to the                                                 S. G. SCHAAFSMA,
natural man?  ' Because  it is peculiar to this man that                                                   Stated Clerk.
he insists on holding the reins of government, on. sit-
ting in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is
 God,, on having the name of determining his destiny.
Tell this man that\ by his accepting Christ, very God                            NEW ADDRESSES.
becomes indebted to him, and he will be likely to listen          Clerk of. Oskaloosa Church : Mr. Teunis Kelderman,
to your message. Woe unto the preacher, however, who           R. R. 1, Given, Iowa.
caters  to the godless whims of this man, and who de-             Clerk of Pella Church : Mr. T. Idema, c/o Home for
ceives himself into believing that he Wins a soul for the Aged, Pella',  Iowa.
-Christ as often .as he succeeds in moving by his mes-            Pastor of both churches: Rev. L. Vermeer, 515
sage of an impotent Christ, this man to tears.                 Third Ave., E., Oskaloosa, Iowa.


