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

               Dat is onze innige  wensch.                                        We take  fr.om  The Digest  the following declaration
                Geschiedt dit niet, dan hebben we voor het Gerefor- adopted by the Seminar: "That sincere conviction as
            meerde leven in Nederland geen hoop.                               to the absolute truth of one's own faith, and as a corol-
                En daarom vonden we het reeds een verblijdend lary, the error or inadequacy of all religions, involves
            teeken,  dat er althans weer eens de aandacht aan die no question of the spiritual sincerity of those  who.
            leer werd geschonken, en dat er ook reeds een enkele differ, and who hold firmly to the tenets of their own
            stem opging, die in die leer zelf de oorzaak der verach- faith, their inalienable right to the practice of their
            tering en verwereldlijking vond.                                   own religion, or as to their eternal reward.
                Immers, er zijn in Nederland we1 mannen, die de                   That such sincere differences are matters of con-,
            Gereformeerde waarheid liefhebben, die ook helder science between the individual soul .and its Creator,
            kunnen denken,  die ook zich we1 een conceptie van de `and, therefore, are entitled."
            dingen  kunnen vormen.                                                The Troy  Times  is quoted as commending the con-
                En het is onze overtuiging, dat indien een Gerefor- ference's declaration as follows.: "To all right-feeling
            meerde  zich de  dingen  helder voorstelt en grondig  in- and  right-thinking.men  and woman its appeal must be
            denkt, dan moet hij tot de slotsom komen, dat heel de strong. Already there is marked and growing depart-
            theorie der gemeene gratie niet deugt. Zij past niet in ure from the intolerance of former days. It should be
            het Gereformeerde denksysteem.                                     hastened for the ,gocd of humanity." And the Columbus
                En zij vindt zeker geen steun in de Heilige Schrift.           Ohio St&e Journcd  observes : "It is vital to the nation's
               Daarom vonden we het een verblijdend  teeken,  dat welfare, therefore, that there shall be respect for the
            de aandacht van mannen,  die denken  kunnen en Gere-               convictions for others, belief in their sincerity and
            formeerd willen denken,  weer op het leerstuk der ge-              good-will."
            meene gratie werd gevestigd.                                          And finally. the following from the Boston Trcw-
                Maar "Je Amerikaansche vriend" deed laf werk.                  script as cited by  The Digest: "Beneath the friendly
                                                            H. H.              proceedings that acknowledge an equally sincere inten-
                                                                               tion on the part of ancient enemies, one sees looming
                                                                               up, in the place of the old hostile idea, the notion of
                                                                               .heaven  as a palace having various doors, in different
                                                                               forms and marked with different names, but all open-
                        THE MIRACLE  OF THE YEAR(?)                            ing into the same  beatifc  interior.    `Fellowship' in
                What is described as the miracle of the year (past), faith is incompatible with rigid  exclusivism.  First
           happened at the Fogg Museum at Harvard University enters here the spokesman of the oldest communion of
            in the month of December of the bygone year. At this all - the faith of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, implying
            place some five hundred representative Protestants, by his presence not only his expectation but his willing-
            Roman Catholics, and Jews assembled to discuss, in ness to sit in Paradise with Christians. Next comes
            the words of the Litercvry Digest `misrepresentations of the Catholic, with the similar implication that those
            religious beliefs and practices, talk over the vocational who have departed from the path which he follows not
-.          problems~reated.  by religious prejudices, and the
                                                         -__I-   vari-
                                                               -I..            only may find. their way to heaven, but may be greeted
                                                                                                                         _ - . . -.  ..-  _  ..-.. .  _
            ous questions which lead to conflicts within communi- as full brothers as theyz'along. And last .comes the
            ties as a result. of misunderstanding and tolerance." Protestant, plainly abjuring the old notion that Rome
            They ended, the same magazine informs us, by agree- is Babylon and the Pope Antichrist."
           . ing to respect each other's beliefs and to join in fight-            In proffering our comment we set out with. fixing
            ing intolerance.` We are informed "that the conference our attention upon what the various spokesmen, quoted,
            is said to be the first of its kind in New England ; that. are pretty well agreed upon, to-wit, the removal of re-
            it was held under the auspices of the Calvert Round ligious prejudice and the fostering of respect for each
            Table, which grew out of the movement against the other's convictions. The question arises whether this
            religious intolerance manifested so bitterly during the would be psychologically possible. And the answer must
            last Presidential campaign."                                       be an unmistakable no if each hnsconvictions  and if the
                Patrick A. O'Connell, president of the assembly, is convictions of the one stand opposed to and are exclu-
            quoted by The Digest: as announcing as its object, "the sive of' those of the other. The great creeds `of Christen-
            upholding of the freedom of worship guaranteed by the dom, to illustrate, define Christ as one "whom God sent
            Constitution ; the removal of religious prejudice, and into the world, at the time appointed by Him, his own,
            the fostering among all our people  .of respect for each only begotten Son, who took. upon him the form of a
            other's sincere convictions, mutual confidence and good- servant, and became like unto man, really assuming
            will essential  .to the perpetuation of the Republic ; the the true human nature, with all its infirmities, sin ex-
            encouragement of the younger men to identify them- cepted, being conceived in the womb of' the blessed
            selves more intimately with their fellow citizens of virgin Mary, by the power of the Holy Ghost, without
            other religions in civic movements designed for ,the means of.man, and did not only assume human nature,
            general good."                                                     as to the body, but also a true human soul, that he
                   .                                                      .
      /

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

 might be `a real man; that by this conception, the per- buried in the same earth, and he might have added,
 son of the Son is inseparably united and connected with serve the same idols, crucify the same Christ, oppose
 the human nature ; so that there are not two Sons of the same God and finally go down into the same hell.
 God, nor two' persons, but two natures united into one This Rabbi continued as follows: "It is not religion to
 single person: yet that each, nature retains its own talk Fatherhood of God and brotherhood of man, and
 -distinct properties."                                                then hate. It malces  a big difference in' a democracy..'
        If such is your and' my conviction would it not be Prejudice stands iti the way  of progress. Economically,
. quite..impossible  for either of us to respect the opposite prejudice reduces productive cupucity."
.i'..conaiction  that Christ is a mere, man conceived in the                  This last sentence contains the answer to the  qces-
 womb of `the' blessed ,vir& Mary, not by the- power `of tion why .the world of this day attempts to close the
 the Holy .Ghost  but by means of ..man? And do .these                 gaps in its ranks. It is done with a view to progress.
 `men. of good-will suppose that the' Jew to whom. the and greater productive capacity. Mankind, so it is held,
 Christian doctrine of Christ is most loathsome, and to has a glorious future, which becomes the present only
 `whom His cross is `an offence,  could be taught to never-            as fast as civilization can progress. Such is also the
theless respect this  creed crystallized in the heart of gospel of the exponents of the theory of common grace,
 the Christian into a tionviction?  ;Preposterous  f            `.-    as we shall pro+! in another article `to appear in the
        Our convictions are ,a part and parcel of us, inter- next issue of this magazine. Progress, then, is the
.woven,  so to say, with the very. texture ,of our souls.              great objective. Whereas prejudice stands in the way
 Men.`die  for. their convictions. Rather then deny his of progress, it must be quelled.
 convictions,  the. saint permits himself to affixed to the                   The question arises what `may be the signification
 stake. For a group of representative men `of opposite of the term prejudice as used' by this Rabbi. and his
 .convictions  to come together and express' not feigned fellows? And the answer is ready: A living faith (a
 but genuine .est.eein  for each other's convictions is no faith that does not keep silence but witnesses for the'
 miracle but a psychological impossibility. It simply truth and confesses His name) in the God and the
 .did  ,not  :happen.  These ebullitions of good-will and Christ of Scripture. In a. word,, in the eyes of the
 esteem were feigned.. `If not `feigned but genuine, they world you are a bigot if you insist with the Apostle
 are to be taken as a sign that old corivi&ionir  are weak- John, "Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ
 ening; that the Protestant, and the Roman Catholic are is come in the .flesh, is of God ; .and every spirit that
 loosing or have lost their hold  ,on the old faiths. It is confesses not that Jesus Christ is come into the flesh
 only because the old beiiefs'are'  being stored away in is not of God': `and this is the spirit of the antichrist,
some  .forsaken,  and forgotten region. `of the soul, that whereof ye have heard that it should come ; and even'
 the Protestant of today `can have fellowship with the now already is in the world. Ye are of God, little  chil-
 Jew, and. respect him and his convictions. ,That the `dren, and have overcome them: because greater is he
 Christian creed has become a dead letter `in the bosom that is in you, than he that is in the world. They are
 of the. very group in which it originated, that an ever of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and
 increasing number of this group are done with the old the world heareth them. We are of God : he that know-
 tenets of the Christian religion,-~.h.a~-th.e.  church. is be--
-.  ..-.--  -. _ __ . _ - .I .-.- _                                    .eth-.God  .heareth  -us-;-- he that is-not &God -heareth-us---  --
 ing swept by a greatwave of apostacy,`  is a matter of not. . Hereby know we the spirit of truth." The world
 common knowledge. It. is `exactly this state of affairs. will .lay upon yen the stigma. of bigotry if you carry
 that made possible the assembling of the  jive  hun@ed out into life the message of Christ that there is but one
 representative Protestants, Roman Catholics and Jews gate and one way, that  tlne wrath of God abides on him
 at the Fogg Museum.  .The   .good-will  and  respe&                   rejecting the testimony of the Son, or that the doctrine
 radiated by the  .members  of the one group upon those of the inherent goodness of man is a bold lie. To live '
 of the other `was nothing more or less then the other' the convictions implanted in your bosom by the Spirit
 side' of a disbelief in and a hatred for the God and
                                             .,           ..           of God, that to show yourself intolerant of such opin-
`Christ of the Christian  ,creed.  '  .__  ,'             ~  r         ions as stand opposed to these, is bigotry in the opinion
     The aforesaid assembly is indicative' of the fact of the aforesaid assembly, is very plain from one of the
 that the divided ranks of the'vast army. of the prince abovelcited  selections which reads in part,' "Beneath
                                                                       . .
 of darkness are surely drawing closer together; that the friendly proceedings that acknowledge an equally
 Satan is engaged in mobilizing his forces. For what sincere intention on the part of ancient enemies, one
 purpose? The answer  isI. contained in the following sees looming up, in'the place of the old hostile idea, the
 selection : "The tragedy of the. whole situation; as notion of heaven as a palace having various doors, in
Rabbi Harry Levi of Temple Israel; `Boston, sees it, is different forms and marked with different names, but
that `we have so much in common.' " He pointed out all opening into the same beatific interior."
that we. are born in the, same way, live and grow phy-                        You see now what is expected of you and me. In-
 sically in the same way, have essentially the same in- stead of praying in the public assembly, "Lord, would
terests, desires, and asperations, the same virtues and I not hate such as. hate Thee," your prayer must be,
 vices, feelings, weaknesses and ailments, and are "Lord, those hating thee, I love, they are my friends."


                                      T H E   STAND'ARD   .BEARER                                                        199     1
Instead of denouncing the Christless creed of the Jew                              VERSdHiL IN  CONCiWTIE
.as a lie, you .assure him that his creed is of a kind that
commands you respect. Your creed should contain no                    Dat het verschil tusschen ons en hen, die, de Ge-
negatives, no phrases constituting a rejection of the meene Gratie verdedigen, niet slechts over een naam
opposing view. What. you wish to believe in .private               loopt,  niet slechts betrekking heeft op eene wijze van
is your affair. .However,  in the interest of. world prog- uitdrukking, maar we1 degelijk' de conceptie  der dmgen
ress and greater productivity, pat him whose convic- raakt, blijkt oak nog weer uit hetgeen in  De  Refo?=
tions differ from yours on the back. Refusing,  you"are            m&e van 20 Dec. `29 Ds. K. Schilder schrijft onder het
a bigot. Comfort yourself, however, with. the thought opschrift : "Christus, de Doorbraak van den Vicieuzen
that if it is bigotry to carry forth your faith in the C i r k e l . "
word' as the opposite of the lie,, - the prophets, the                Het artikel is  geschreven.  in  verband  met  Kerst-
apostles, yea, Christ Himself was a bigot.                         feest en de herdenking van de Vleeschwording des
    The world; however, has no patience with the. W o o r d s .
bigotry of Christ and of you if. you are a follower of                De beteekenis van de Vleeschwbrding  wordt  in dit
Christ.. For  .you are a hindrance to progress, and, artikel beschouwd in  verband met de. voorstelling, die
further, your bigotry is of a kind that constitutes a ons in het boek Prediker lgegeven wordt door Gods
denunciation of the purposes, asperations, . and entire Woord van het puur aards+e, tijdelijke leven, 10s van
scheme of life of the world, with the inclusion of the
                                           \                       het eeuwige en. hemelsche gedacht. Het gewoel, de
world itself.                                       .     :        ijdele rondgang van dit aardsche leven noemt de schrij-
   The assembling of the five hundred at Fogg Museum ver "den  vicieuzen   cirkel.",  Het boek Prediker, zoo
tells us that, as was said, the divided ranks of the world is het des schrijvers,  overtuiging, is niet geschreven
.a drawing .closer together. Soon this assembly will be door Salomo, maar door. iemand, die leefde ten tijde !
devicing ways and' means for ridding the world of van `t vertrapt worden  van Israels  glo,rie door vreemde
bigots such as you and I. This will mean persecution tirannen, na de Babylonische ballingschap. En. volgens
for these bigots.                                                  Ds. K., Schilder beschreit`  Gods Woord hier de armoede
                                                G .   M .   0 .    en de ongenoegzaamheid der gemeene gratie. Het is
                                                                   eigenlijk een stervenskreet van  .het oude verbond, dat
                                                                   den dood in  moet'.om  de armoede  der algemeene  open-
                                                                   baring. `.Want in dat licht der algemeene openbaring
                      MY  FRTENIi                                  is het leven, geheel het wereldleven niets anders dan
                                                                   een rondgang in een vicieuzen cirkel. Het eene komt
        I have a Friend who seeth me                               en het andere gaat, om straks weer,  plaats ,te maken
          As down life's thorny path I tread                       voor hetgeen reeds geweest is. Zoo is het in de natuur
        Thru dangers all He  watcheth  me                          en zoo is het in geheel het menschelijk leven. Het leven
          And sheltereth my defenseless  .head.                    aan zichzelven overgelaten, is een  ,mallemolen,   zegt de
        In journeys oft, in tempests wild                          schrijver.  ' Maar met de komst van  Christus  gaat er
        Mid wicked men all sin-defiled                             over dat arme leven, over die vicieuzen ' rondgang van
        I know, I know I am His child                              het aardsche, een nieuw'licht  op. Er ,slaat een rechte
          And e'er His .eye is watc.hing me.                       ,lijn van boven af, uit den hemel, in de kromme lijn van
                                                                   .den vicieuzen cirkel in, als  Christus. in het vleesch
        I have a Friend who guideth me                             komt. Daardoor  wordt  die booze rondgang  dkr  dingen
          When pitfalls oft beset my way                           opgeheven'en komen de dingen  in rechte  lijn te staan;
        In burden's hour He helpeth me                             ze draaien nu niet meer. om en om, zonder eenige be-
          And bids me all on Him to lay                            stemming te bereiken, maar alles ontwikkelt  zich nu
        When called His bounties given to share                    recht naar boven, naar den hemel, of recht naar bene-
       `When called `the woes of men to bear         .             den, naar de he1 toe, als vrueht van de Vleeschwording
        I know, I know that He is there                            .des Woords.
          And His own hand is guiding me.                             Zoo ongeveer is de gedachte in het artikel van Ds.
                                                                   Schilder.
                                                                      En we halen voorts.nog  het volgende letterlijk aan:
        I have a Friend who loveth me                                 "Want immers, de cirkellijn, de kromme lijn,  waar-
          Tho' checkered oft my life hath been                     over de Prediker zoo paak en zoo aanhoudend, spreekt,
        Before the throne'He pleads for me                         heeft een dubbele beteekenis.
          And  thru His blood removes my sin.                         "Eenerzijds zien wij daarin de geme,ene gratie,  an-
     .Then  day by day, yes, hour  .by hour                        derzijds het `gemeene oordeel' in de wereld mogelijk
        Forgiving grace and Spirit's power                         worden.  Eenerzijds wordt de vloek, die om der zonde
        Are poured upon me more and more                           wil over de wereld komen moest, er door geremd; maar
          And this dear Friend receiveth me.                       anderzijds 66k de zege(n?), die door de genade inge-


                                            TH.E'   S T A N D A R D   &EAR.ER                                     2.3:,

    Nu hebben we deze vraag reeds eerder gedaan-  in
een ander verband,  maar we. willen het ook nog aan                             THE MAN LOT
Ds. -Schilder  doen':  waar is de genade voor de verwor-        In our former essay we asserted that Lot, though
penen  in dit tegenwoordige leven, als het naar den be-      swayed by the vile lusts of his carnal self, was never-
paalden raad Gods alleen dient, om het oordeel  te ver-      theless one of God's righteous ones. The Apostle Peter
zwaren?                                                      speaks of his soul as being righteous. That Lot, irre-,
    Zoo  moeten  we  tech, als Gereformeerden, spreken, spective of his grave faults, was as to the heart of his
niet waar?                                                   thoughts and dispositions, a true believer is evident
    De zaligheid is geen kansspel. De vloek komt te from the manner in which he responds to the predic-
zijner tijd over al degenen, die naar den bepaalden tion of the Lord concerning Sodom. Though he had to
raad en wil Gods verworpen zijn. Nu is, naar de voor-        be brought forth, he hurries on to the pi&e  of safety
stelling der gemeene gratie dit leven met zijn' cirkel-      of his own accord. What moved him was faith in a
loop tech genade. Maar het kan alleen dienen, om den Divine prediction. Not until he  had. reached Zoar did
vloek nog te verzwaren. Is een leven van zestig, zeven- the @structive elements begin to make .their  appear-
tig of tachtig jaren  genade voor iemand, wien het moet      ance, so t.hat all during his flight he was without the
dienen, om hem eeuwiglijk  in `t velderf te storten?         slightest tangible proof that he had set out upon a wise
    En tech, dit laatste is niet te sterk gesproken.         course. To be moved by an unseen disaster, the ap-
    De  gemeene  gratie leert, dat  bet` "invoegen" van de proach of which has become to us a matter of certainty
geschiedenis genade is, o6k voor de verworpenen. Ware because `theLord hath spoken, is .tb give unmistakable
er geen gemeene gratie gekomen, dan zou bij den val evidence of being the possessor of a kind of faith that
des menschen alles gedaan zijn geweest. Doch  dan had was  ,counted  unto Abraham for righteousness. It w'as
de zaak zoo gestaan, dat er geen mensch buiten Adam because Lot was the possessor of this faith that he quit
in de he1 gekomen  was. ZoU `dat niet veel grootere ge-      Sodom for the mountains, and thus exhibited a kind of
nade geweest zijn voor`degenen, die verloren gaan? Of implicit trust in the Almighty that can be received as
is h+ niet waar, dat het beter voor een menseh is, niet      constituting the evidence that after all he was a child
geboren te worden,  dan voor eeuwig in de he1 gestort te of God, capacitated by grace to count all things dung
worden?                                                      in order that the friendship of the Most High may be
    Ds. Schilder heeft dit misschien we1 gevoeld,  toen      gained and retained.
hij de `laatst aangehaalde woorden neerpende.                   As to, Lot's wife, the fact that she had failed to
    Daarom' heeft hij slechts kunnen schrijven:  wie progress beyond the reach of the destructive elements,
rich dun niet bekeert.                                       shows her up as a woman devoid of this  .faith. True,
    schrijf in de plaats  daarvan:  de verworpenen.          she had permitted herself tt, be dragged to a point out-
    En ge weet geen weg meer met de voorstelling van side of Sodom. She failed, however, to progress be-
de  gemeene  gratie.                                         yond this point on her own initiative. With the" out-
    Doch er is ,verschil  in conceptie, in beschouwing  der ward pressure removed she came to a halt, turned her
dingen,   tusschen  hen, die de  gembene gratie  willen      about and began contemplating her forsaken treasures,
-handhaven-en-ens;--     - -     -    _      _.              and thus showed-herself up as .a woman. with whom the .
    En over dit verschil  wil,den  we gaarne van gedach-     word of the Lord had no weight. The predicted doom,
ten wisselen, vooral met een man als Ds. Schilder.           as yet unseen, failed to crystallize' in her mind into an
    Kan dat niet ?                                           announcement about to be realize'd. She was altogether
                                                    H. H.    devoid of the implicit  trugt in God, common to every be-
                                                             liever. Without any visible sign that what had been
                                                             for&old would soon come to pass, she feels perfectly
                                                             at ease as she stands there with her  gaze  turned toward
                           NOTICE                            Sodom, unable to make up her mind whether to return
    Classis-vergadering staat, D. V., te  worden   gehou-    or to take after her husband and thus continue the fool
den Woensdag, 5 Februari, 1930, om 9 uur, in de Fuller flight. TheLord will decide the matter for her. While
Ave. Kerk. Denk s. v. p. om het veranderde uur:              she lingers, the heavens belch forth fire and brimstone
9 uur `s morgens.                                            upon the cursed cities of the plain, and thus it is
                        S. G.  SCHAAFSMA,  Stated Clerk demonstrated unto her that the Lord's word is not to
                                                             be trifled with., She is now in the possession of the
                                                             kind of evidence without which the ungodly refuse to
                                                             attach any significance to Divine predictions, the kind
                           NOTICE                            of evidence, namely, that can be approached by the
    Het  Curatorium  vergadert, D. V., Dinsdagavond,;  4 physical sense organs - the ear, the &ye and the hand.
Febr., om kwart voor 8 in het kerkgebouw.  aan Fuller She will now continue the flight, but finds herself iti
Ave. en Franklin St., Grand Rapids, Mich.                    the grip of a great terror, inspired by the changed
                                S. G. SCHAAFSMA, Seer.       aspect of her environs, so that she cannot move. Para-

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

      lysed with fear, her life passes from, her, and her he had joined, though aware that in doing so he, would
      corpse remains fixed to the ground to be incrusted with lose his entire substance ; as one who when made to
      salt.                                                       chdose between the society of the ungodly and  tile
          Lot's wife is the type of a class of meti known as caves of the earth, chose by faith the latter, - he is
      backsliders.    Devoid of grace, they only run under our example.
      pressure of some kind or other. They permit them-               My reader, you continue in Sodom, though you have
      selves to be dragged out of Sodom into the church but the Lord's word for it that you tarry in a doomed city?
      refuse to carry oh of their dwn accord. They are the If so, you are not a man with the faith of Lot. For
      kind of people who need constant watching, who need being warned he fled. It was his  .godless wife who
      to be perpetually urged to keep to the narrow way, to lingered in the region marked for destruction. Once
      continue on the course set out upon. Left to themselves, niore, you refuse to have your entangling alliadces  with
      they begin to lag, soon come to a halt, turn .them  about the world dissolved because it would involve J+OU  in tlie
      and begin to debate with themselves whether, in view necessity of doing with a little less? Then you are not
      of the fact that to continue will involve them in serious a man with the faith of Lot. For being warned, he
      loses, it would not be just as well for them to break quit his wicked environs though in doing so he lost
      away from the  company.  of refugees `and return to all he. had.
      Sodom though they have the Lord's word for it that              Lot had his faults indeed. Yet we must take care
      Sodom will be destroyed. They cannot deny that the hot to place him in a wrong light. As a refugee, mak-
      cities of the plain are centers of wickedness, yet to ing for the place of safety in response to a Divine pre-
      jutitify  their stand they insist that `the company of diction still to be realized when the flight was  under-.
      refugees to which they permitted themselves to be taken, Lot, and let us not forget it, shows himself up
      joined, and whom, they  leairned  to know from many as one empowered by grace to attach to the. word of
      years of personal contact, are no better than the  Sod- the Lord the proper significance. With a view  to the
      omites. Are they  - these refugees, not of Sodom? Lot who continued his career in the dens and caves of
      Did they not make their money in Sodom by parleying the earth, because the Lord had spoken, our prayer is,
      with wicked men? To what length have they not gone, Lord, give us more men with the faith of Lot.
     I what were they not willing to concede in order that           We say it again, we need not at this juncture quit
      they might continue undisturbed in the plain? Why the city for `the dens of the earth. The Christian's
      should I be dwelling more safely if joined to the one career of spiritual and moral seclusion, is as yet not
      group than to the other? Such may be the reasoning necessitating a mode of existence of this kind. How-
      responsible for the  r&olution  to  cofile to a halt and ever, place in the room of the word  city the term
      reconsider. It is the reasoning of willing ignorance zvorldl~  o?*gcLnixution  and the example Lot set when he
     that Sodom is about to be destroyed; and of the desire quit Sodom  shall have to be literally followed by us.
     to continue walking in the lust of the flesh. While they        My brother, as a result of your having joined your-
     linger and contemplate the' .loss of their wealth, dis- self to the society of the men of Sodom you have
     aster overtakes them. So they come by their just re-         prospered. Allow me to say in .passing that, though
     --war& - For-- though:-they --permitted---themselves--to-be- -you ma-y-not-be -a  -members of a--lab&-union or some-----.-
     seized by the hand and to be brought forth, their hearts other worldly organization, you are nevertheless resid-
     remained in Sodom because their treasures were there. ing in Sodom, if in your -capacity of employer or em-
         As for &ot;the question arises what the record of ploye, or in any other capacity, you swing yourself in
     3s career may have to say to Us? What did he do that line with the world and conform yourself to its scheme.
     no one may do? In what respect and to what extent If you defraud your neighbor, if your hands are full
     was he set before us as an example to be followed? of blood, if you keep back by fraud the hire of the
     Well do wo realize that .Lot as well as Abraham is ,a laborers who have reaped down your fields: if you have
     type and must be dealt with as such. The knowledge this world's good, and see your brother have  need,  and
     that the. men of our presetit world. are exceedingly i shut up your bowels of compassion from him, - you
     wicked before the Lord, that the world and all that is dwell in Sodom, though you reside in an cor+munity of
     out of the world shali pass away, the command to come angels. Well, then,  ,have you, in consequence of your
     out from among them, do not involve us in the duty having taken up your residence in Sodom, prospered?
     of retreating from the city and thus from the compass You are rich? And if you' can boast of a surplus of
     of the world into the dens and caves of the earth in this    fifty dollars you had" better count yourself rich instead
     literal sense. The question what Lot did that we may of passing by self and applying what I now let follow
     not do,, has already been answered. In coming under to the man with larger means. Oh, how concerned iye
     a yokk with the world, in joining himself to the society. can `be about that mote in  the rich man's eye. How-
     of the wicked for the sake of better pastures; in placing' ever, if you or I were him, our interest in that mote
     his light under a bushel  .in order to render himself in- would be apt to be slight. Don't you know that a paltry
     offensive to the ungodly, Lot set an evil example. How- sum of fifty dollars can constitute the treasure of your
     ever, as one who being warned broke with the world heart as well as the five or fifty thousand; that you
I


                                                T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                        205

            may be working as hard and p'erhaps  much hajrder to zame streek hebben doen opslaan; als regel zou hebben
            gain the second fifty as the rich man toils to add to his gegolden, dat hij zich zoo weinig mogelijk met de om-
            greater substance ; that the smaller sum may be shut- wonende stammen  mocht  inlaten ; en  `sleehts een weg
            ting off your view of heaven as well as the greater van aanraking zou open zijn gebleven, te weten,  dat
            wealth the v.iew  of the rich man? What, then, is the alleen wie onder Abraham wilde komen en  zich in zijn
            sense of singling out the man with much means and geslacht had willen  inlijven, welkom zou geweest zijn
            making him the butt of our attack. What astounding binnen zijn tente. Maar overigens zou Abraham zich
            hypocrisy ! What I mean to say, once more, is that the hebben moeten afsluiten van wat om hem heen woonde.
            record of the events, of Lot's life, tell me that both the Hij moest uit Ur weg, om niet besmet te worden met
            man with small and the man with larger means shall de in Chaldea heerschende afgoderij. En dus sprak
            have to enter upon the final lapse of their careers bet vanzelf, dat hij ook in Kanaan iich te sl;enen  had
            absolutely poor, men even in the literal sense, if that aan wat in Ur oorzaak van zijn val had kunnen worden.
            wealth of theirs was made  iq Sodom. For how much Naar deze onderstelling zou Abrahams ievenshistorie
            of your substance would remain to you if you would alzoo in volkomen  isoZem@?zt  hebben  moeten verloopen.
            return to him you defrauded what is coming to him, if Hij had temidden van de Kanaanietische stanmen  moe-
            ye would pay out to the laborer the hire you kept back ten omzwerven, gelijk een oliedrop op de wateren  op
            by fraud? Would you deny with the career of Lot and en neer glijdt. Er door gedragen,  er  door omgeven,
            the fate of his wife before your eye, that especially maar zonder ander dan afstootend contact.
            you must enter the kingdom a poor man? This                             "Slaat men nu daarentegen de veertien  hoofdstuk-
            woman perished because she could not detach herself ken  iii Genesis op, waarin ons kortelijk  Abrahams
            from riches begotten in Sodom.                                     levenshistorie wordt meegedeeld, dan vinden  .me van
                                                              G. iI. 0.        zulk een strenge afzondering, van zulk een scherp isole-
                _  ~                                                           ment, letterlijk niets, en staan we veeleer.voor  het feit,
                                                                               dat deze historie zeker niet uitsluitend, maar tech voor
                                                                               &en zeer aanmerkelijk deel juist bestaat uit verhalen
                                                                               omtrent allerlei ontmoeting  en bemoeii'ng, die Abraham
                        ABRAHAM AND  COlWiMON  GRACE                           had met wat buiten zijn geslacht lag of raakte.
               Before passing on we must fix our attention upon a                   "Het loont ons dan ook de moeite, eenigszins  nauw-
           view of Abraham's career - a view hatched out and keuriger na te gaan, wat. daaromtrent vermeld staat,
            developed by the late Dr. A. Kuyper - in conflict with opdat de verkeerde indruk,  die valsch doctrinarisme
           the one broached by  us.. What we have been stressing gaf, moge wijken voor den juisten indruk, dien het
           is that Abraham lived alone ;  th& the state of existence verhaal op ons maken wil. En dan  .blijft   ontwijfel-
           he willingly adopted was that of monad, a spiritunl-                baar, dat niet alleen in het woord van Abrahams roe-
           moral and socinl+oliticnl  recluse, or, in the words 6f ping op de zegening cler Golkeren  als einddoel nadruk
           the sacred narrator, that of a guest of the Canaanites, werd gelegd, maar dat feitelijk heel zijn uitgaan naar
            of a stranger in the earth,  withoilt  a square foot of en zijn optreden in Kanaan, en zijn leven als  herders-
-..  ._.----.---gxou.nd..  that. he-could-call. his.. -own,-exp.osed  to a thou, _v_orst -te- middende~,  andere.  uorsten  vanJ?alestina,.  _eer--.
            sand dangers, the object.of fear and scorn, yet dwelling een zoeken van contact, een a&legging  vati  allerlei
            safely because abiding in  the shadow of the Almighty. verbinding, een  doen ontstaan van allerlei verhouding
            Kuyper, on the other hand, delineated (in his De Ge- en betrekking was, dan dat er sprake  ken zijn van een
            meene  Gratie)  upon Abraham's seclusion in such a zich opsluiten en afzonderen.  - Dit is zoo waar, dat
            manner as to strip it of all significance. The matter zelfs de geheele voorstelling,  alsof de verplaatsing uit
            he  stress~ed   is that Abraham set up divers connections Ur der Chaldegn  naar Kanaan vooral die afzondering
            with'the tribes dwelling in Canaan, and thus linked up. beoogde, ook met het oog op de in Egypte en Babylo-
            forever special ,with common grace. We present the n% gevonden schriftelijke overblijfselen, gewijzigd zal
          following selections from De Gemeene Grcdie :                         dienen te worden. We zijn thans  tech in het bezit van
                "De geschiedenis van Abraham, en van de beide deels zelfs zeer uitvoerige schrifturen nit de eeuw
            Groot-patriarchen na hem, verliep geheel anders dan waarin Abraham leefde . . . .  "
            de gewone opvatting omtrent zijn  roeping  zou  doen                    The thought circulating _ through the above selec-
            vermoeden. Naar de  gangbare opvatting  tech werd tion is : "The history of Abraham and of the.two  grand-
            Abraham uit Ur der  ChaldeZn  weggeroepen, opdat hij patriarchs differs from that which  !h& popular view
            in Kanaan, temidden van hem gansch vreemde  staIm-                 would surmise. This view has it that Abraham's call-
            men, op zichzelf leven zou, en door vermijding van alle ing involved him in the task of retreating into some
            aanraking met andere geslachten, het overblijfsel van remote, unknown and uninhabited section of Canaan,
        de ware Godskennisse onvervalseht en onvermengd, als where he could live quite alone and unnoticed for the
            heilige erfenis, aan zijn nageslacht zou overleveren. purpose of transmitting as a pure and unadulterated
            Had het dan ook aan ons gestaan, om `Abrahams leven heritage the true knowledge of God to his posterity.
            te bestellen, we zouden hem zijn tente liefst in een een- Should ours have been the task ,of arranging  Abra-

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

 ham's life, we would have had him pitch his tent in                 Abraham  naar  het land dat de Heere hem  wijzen zou,
 some secluded district, and adhere to the rule of setting           strekt  dan ook veel meer om het terrein der openba-
 up a connection  with such only who desired to be joined ring (dat eerst in het hart van  Azig was te zoeken,
 to the social unit of which he was chief. For the rest, overmits in het hart van  Azig, de oorsprong en  baker-
 Abraham had to hold himself aloof from his environs. mat van ons menschelijk geslacht had gelegen) alsnu
 He had to quit Ur in order to escape the conttigion of te verplaatsen naar de kust van de I@ddellandsche  zee,
 the prevailing idolatry of Chaldea. It follows, then, that          of wil men, wat men gewoonlijk de Levant noemt."
 he should keep his distance from everything in Canaan                  Translated, this selection reads : "From this fairly'
 that could work his ruin. According to this view, lengthy collections we learn with rather great certainty,
 Abraham had to live a life of seclusion. He had to that he quitting Ur for Canajn  did not escape the in-
 rove about among the native tribes a$ an oildrop  glides fluence of idolatry prevailing in Chaldea for the reason
 up and down on the surface. of the water  ;, borne and that this Babylonian idolatry and tone of life had
 beset by  the. water, yet without contact except re- spread to the plains of Mamre long before. Abraham's
 pelling.                                                            arrival there. What is  more, there existed between
        "A hasty perusal of the record of Abraham's life,. Egypt and Babylonia a lively intercourse. Most every-
 however, brings to light that Abraham's career in thing that Abraham left behind in Ur, he found. again
 Canaan was not one of seclusion. Fact is that this in Canaan. We do not deny that his breaking with his
record tells of divers meeting  bettieen  him and all kinsmen  and his taking up his  .residence  among tribes
 that lay outside the boundaries of his clan. It tells strange to him exerted a separatory influence upon
 that he had much to do, with the world. at large and him. The fact that Isaac's  `wife was taken from a
 with all that had a bearing upon his generation. It is region outside of Canaan is  .proof  to the contrary.
 well worth our while to  attend closely to what the What we merely wish to emphasize is that in immi-
 sacred record asserts concerning the matter at hand. grating to Canaan, Abraham came not into a world
 Doing so,  it appears that the ultimate purpose of the              altogether strange to him, and that in this world he
 call was the blessing of `all nations'; that, further, moved not about as a recluse. His immigration had
 Abraham's immigration to `and his appearance in for its purpose the-shifting of the field or the domain
 Canaan, his life as a pastoral prince in the' midst of of revelation (found until then in the heart of Asia,
 other princes of Canaan, must be viewed as an attempt in as much as the cradle of humanity lay in the heart
 on his part to establish new relations, set up divers          of Asia) to the coast of the Mediterranean sea." So
 connections,  and to seek various points of contact far Kuyper.
 rather than an effort to outrun the world. With a view                 We are ai one with much of what the above-cited
 to newly discovered Babylonian and Egyptian tablets, selections set forth. We, too, reject the view that
 this view shall have to be modified. We are at present Canaan constit&ed  the asylum in which the Lord shut
in the possession of lengthy writings of the century of up Abraham in order that  all contact between him and
 Abraham." So far Kuyper.                                       the world might cease. "When placed in the light of
    Before  coinmenting  on the above- selections, we let the facts," so we wrote in one of qur former articles,
_follow_ano~her3-urn-.the  same-work.- .It. reads.2`Uit         `this -view-is 
                                                               _.                  .seen- -to be- a&&her-untenable; - Folio-A -- - ---
 deze  -tamelijk  uitgebreide  verzame!ing  nu  weten we begin with, the type of religion and morality of the
 thans met vrij groote zekerheid, dat wie destijds uit men with whom Abraham  was.  thrown in contact in
 Ur der Chaldegn  naar Kanaan trok, volstrekt niet  ont-        the new country, is known to be inferior to that of the
 kwam  aan den invloed der in Chaldea heerschende  af-          c&nrnunity he was bidden to leave. The Canaanites
 goderij, want dat uit Babylon de da&r'  heerschencle           were idolators, - a doomed race, engaged in filling
levenstoon en de daar inheemsche  afgoderij reeds lang, the iniquitous' cup. The cities of this country were
 eer Abraham bij Mamre aankwam, naar Kanaan was centers of ungodliness. Some of their number  - the
overgebracht. Er bestond, gelijk ontwistbaar blijkt, cities of the plain  - had become  eden then proverbial
een zeer levendig verkeer zoowel met `Egypte zuid-, als for their wickedness. On the other hand, the region
met Egypte en Babylon oostwaarts. Schier  alles wat . Abraham was bidden to leave constituted the cradle
Abraham in Ur der Chalde6n achter  zich liet, vend.  hij        of the antediluvian humanity and thus the locality
dus bijna  evenzoo  in Kanaan terug. We ontkennen where the sacred traditions of Noah and the knowledge
 daarom volstrekt niet, dat het breken met zijn,f&milie,        of the service of the true God were being preserved.
en het gaan wonen  ond.er hem nietiverwante  stammen, The aforesaid region constituted the center from which
niet een scheidende invloed geoefend heeft. Het zoe-           the fathers of the races encountered by Abraham in
ken van een vrouw voor Izak buiten de Kanaanieten               Canaan had emigrated. And knowledge of God was
bewijst het tegendeel. Waar we slechts tegen opkomen dim, and profanity gross in the degree that the dis-
is de voorstelling, alsof Abraham,  eenmaal  in Kanaan tance  between  the new settlements and the homeland
aangekomen, opeens temidden van een hem vreemde was wide,  ,so that the conviction cannot be escaped
wereld stond, en van alle aanraking met die nieuwe that, had it beeli the purpose of God to place Abraham
om hem heen  was afgesneden.. Het doen  uitgaan van beyond the reach of the demoralizing influence of idol-


                                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                       207

                atry,  he could have  don& no better than to permit him zig houdt, en  alzoo eerst op den Pinksterdag de  volke-
                to remain where he was." So we wrote in a former ren weer uit deze vergetelheid  worden  opgeroepen.
                article.                                                    Naar die voorstelling  tech zou in Gods bestel over
                    W,e are also at one with the statement found in the Abraham alles hebben  moeten  strekken, om hem af te
                selection from De  Genzeane  Gratie that Abraham in- zonderen van de nati&, af te scheiden van zijn omge-
                stead  of. retreating into some remote and uninhabited ving, en af te sluiten van het leven der volkeren . . . "
                section of Canaan, where he could live alone and un-           We translate : "That with the call of Abraham, God
                noticed, kept himself before the eye of the Canaanites ; for the time being took leave of the nations to be occu-
                that the wall of literal estrangement between  him and      pied exclusively with Israel  ; that not until the day `of
                the natives was of necessity soon broken, down. Allow Pentecost were the nations again brought forth  o& of
                me to quote from a former article. "That he (Abra- the silence into which  they.had  been made to disappear,
                ham) led the life of a sojourner and dwelt in the land is a view untenable and false. According to this con-
                of Canaan as in a &range land, cannot be held to imply ception the Divine arrangement of Abraham's life
                that he was not tin .speaking  terms with the men in should have tended to exclude him from the life of the
                whose land he had taken up his residence ; that, in nations, to separate him from these nations, and to
                other words, he remained a total stranger to the feudal shut him off from his environs . . . "
                lords of Canaan, and  studidusly avoided all contact           We are at one with the thought circulating through
                with them. The record of .Abraham's life in Canaan is the above selection.  (In a former, article we wrote:
                interspersed with notices with which the aforesaid "The exponents of the above view in addition to re-
     (          view of the relation this patriarch sustained to the        garding the land of Canaan as a sort of monastery
                princes of Canaan, is in conflict. It was in conjunction into which Abraham was ordered to retreat, to close
                with Eshcol and Aner the Amorites as his confederates, the door forever upon a forsaken world, maintain that
                that Abraham brought back his brother Lot. Co-oper- the family of Abraham constituted in turn the asylum
                ation of this kind necessarily presupposes a lively into which the Lord retreated in order to preserve the
                acquaintance between the consolidated parties.  Abimc-      knowledge of His name." We concluded with averring
                lech the Philistine lord and Abraham were likewise that the entire view that God was compelled to retreat
                old-time acquaintances, as is evident from the words with Abraham into monastery is a thought-structure
                that passed between them on the occasion of their reposirig `on a basis constituted of Pelagian and Ana-
                meetilig  at Beersheba. This lord had observed that baptistic tenets. It is the outgrowth, further, of an
                God was with the Hebrew h$ving entered his territory, extremely superficial conception of Abraham's mode of
              and therefore had him (Abraham) swear that he will life . . . .  "
                not deal falsely with him, nor with his son, nor with          So, then, we go along with Kuyper in respect to
                his son's son, but shall do unto him according to the his insistence upon the fact that Abraham instead of
                kindness that he had done unto Abraham. The reason retreating from the world into some remote and for-
                then this chieftain advances for the  propoced  covenant gotten section of Canaan where he could live alone and
                is  the generous treatment afforded Abraham in the forgotten, took up his residence in the very presence
     __ .-._.-._ . . pa&. Abraham5  .dealiEgs_-w%-&..  so_n:...@  _H~t&-~-n_ay pf the lords of  Can_aan.  To deny this is to defy the
                                                                              -  _.  _~  .-                                        7-
                also be cited as positively proving -that the wall of       plain testimony of the record  of Abr'aham's  career m
                literal estrangement between Abraham and the chiefs Canaan. Kuyper, however, gave to this particular
                of the tribes of Canaan had been broken down. The           state of existence .of Abraham a wrong construction.
                meeting between Abraham and  Melchizedeck  points in According to Kuyper's view, Abraham made it a point
                the same direction. The view, then, that Abraham to keep himself in evidence in Canaan in order to set
                held himself completely aloof from, and entered in up a connection between particular and common grace,
               `no connection whatsoever with the people in whose and to lay the foundation for a higher.cultural develop-
I               midst he dwelt, is proven to be untenable. To remain ment destined to embrace all of life and the entire
                in a literal sense a stranger to a next door neighbor is world. Wrote Kuyper : "De apostelen sluiten zelden
                altogethei  impossible. If Abraham's loyalty to God de- aan Mozes, maar gedurig aan Abraham aan, om juist
                pended  upan a literal estrangement of this kind, it' in Abraham's  roeping,  in het karakter van zijn geloof,
                would have been a thing of short duration." So we en in de leiding Gods met hem duidelijk den onverbre-
                wrote.                                                     kelijken band tusschen de particuliere genade in Israel
                    There are still other. statements found in that en de gemeene gratie onder de volken te doen  uitko-
                particular chapter of Dr. Kuyper's work from which men." We translate : "The apostles very rarely take as
                we quote,, with which we are at one. Wrote Kuyper : their point of procedure Moses but nearly always
               "Onhoudbaar en valsch bleek alzoo  de echt-Joodsche, Abraham. They do so to show in the calling of Abra-
                helaas, ook onder sommige Christenen nog altoos gang- ham, and in the character of his faith, the indissoluble
                bare voorstelling, alsof God de Heere met Abraham's connection between the particular grace in Israel and
                roeping  voorloopig afscheid nam' van de volken ; zich      common grace." And again:  " . . .  tech treedt ook
                van nu'af eeuweniang  schier uitsluitend met Israel be- dat geheel tijdelijk nationale isolement niet in, dan na-

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

dat in de historie der patriarchen, en zeer bijzonderlijk church of Christ is the city  on the hill which by its
in het leven van Abraham, de breede  fundamentell  go-       light condemns the world and draws out the world
legd zijn voor een hoogere dntwikkeling, die alle vol- those foreknown by God before the world's foundation.
ken omyatten  en heel bet leven de? wereld in zich shii-     This being Abraham's calling in Canaan, it follows
ten zal." We translate : "Israel's temporaiy  national from the very nature of the case that' he might not
isolation does not begin until after the broad founda- retreat into some isolated, forsaken and forgotten
tions have been laid, in the history of the patriarchs region of the land. But aside `from this, it is most
and especially in the life  df Abraham, for a higher de-     questionable whether Abraham could have found such
velopment fhat will embrace all of life an'd the whole a secluded spot. The land may have been sparsely
world." By this 1zi.gh&- clevelopnzent  is meant the cul- settled, yet not so sparsely as to permit a pastoral
ture of common grace. There is then according to prince with herds and flocks and a large retinue to  re-
Kuyper an  unbre`akable  connection between particular treat into oblivion.
and common grace. And the setting up of this connec-            Kuyper in that particular section of the volume of
tion and the laying of thisfoundation consisted, accord- the work from which we quoted (Volume I, p. 320-340)
ing to Kuyper, in Abraham's keeping himself much in is in conflict with himself. In this section he gives  his.
evidence in Canaan, and in his entering into contact readers to understand that the idolatry of Chaldea had
occasionally with the tribes surrounding him.      Pre- spread to Palestine. Thereupon he strives to prove
posterous ! According to Kuyper, Abraham set up these the proposition that as  a'whole  the Canaanites were a
connections and kept himself before the eye of the people dwelling on a high enough moral and spiritual
lords of Canaan for the very purpose of laying this          plain to permit Abraham to dwell with them on a com-
foundation and of linking up the two kinds of grace. mon footing. `We do not deny that traces of piety still
Can it be, however, that he took up his residence before remained, that in Canaan could be found individu'als
the face of the princes of Canaan for the aforesaid and groups of individuals who still feared and revered
purpose? If not, what may have been the purpose ? the name of God. However, that the Canaanites as a
The answer is found in a former article of ours. It whole were a fit people to be a%liated  with is in con-
reads : "For one thing to dwell in this dark and sin- I flict with the notices of the book of Genesis. That
stricken region as the walking altar of Jehovah, as the      Kuyper, on the other hand, insists that the seed of
?riend-servant  of the Most High, as one  etiitting in corruption had not even begun to germinate when
tlhis dark area the pure light from heaven, as the Abraham.entered  the country, must be explained froti
espouser, finally, of the cause of God." That such was the fact that he uses  these tribes as the -connecting link
indeed one of the purposes of Abraham's sojourn in between special and conimdn grace..
Canaan is evident from the notices. respecting his con-          We will continue this discussion in the next issue.
duet in  tlhis land. As was before said, Abraham, in                                                     G. M. 0.
agreement with his calling,  builded  an altar to the
Lord in every important district of the land where he
would temporarily settle. This building  of altars and
call&&&on  the..n.ame-of  the .Lord were-acts constitut--                      IHOD_ EN  EEVEN ---  -          - -  - - - -
                                                              _  _.._-.
ing a public worship and amounted on the part of `k Ben jong geweest, `k werd oud, maar ben van ster-
Abraham to a confession of the name of Jehovah  be-               ven vrij.
fore a race of men who, also according to the admis- Ik leef, doch niet meer ik, maar Christus leeft in mij.
sion of Kuyper, (Kuyper appeals to  .the Babylonian Ik ben met Hem gekruist, gestorven en begraven,
tablets in support of the proposition that the idolatry En ook weer opgewekt; en nu zie ik de haven
df Chaldea had spread to Canaan, see the above-cited Der eeuwigheid  aan gindsche kust mij  naderen.
selections) had made a beginning of corrupting their
ways before the Lord; Abraham's task was clear. In En woelt de dood dan niet nog in mijn aderen?
Canaan   he, as well as God's church of any period, was 0 neen, sinds hem zijn prikkel werd  ontnotien
made to encounter the wiles of the devil, and to wrestle Heb ik van hem het kwade niet te schromen.
against principalities, against powers, against the Al w?t hij nd nog doet is mij. losmaken tian                     .
rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual Wat met mij niet den heniel ingaan kan,
wickedness of high places. His was the task therefore En straks, als ik genoeg op aarde heb geleefd
of taking to himself the whole armour of God, "that Draagt hij, waarvoor ik vroeger heb  gebekfd,
he might be able to stand in the evil day, and having Mij, als de knecht van God, in Abrams schoot,
done all to stand.", Abraham resided in Canaan as a Dat is mijn leven, en dat is nu ook mijn dood.
sheep among the wolves and as a sheep had to fight the                                                                    _'
`batties  of the Lord. Such was at least one of the pur-
poses (there were of course other purposes which we              Waar men het Woord openlijk vervolgt, daar wil
shall treat in other connection). of the call. If not,       het zijn; en waar het vrij openlijk is, daar wil men het
Abraham is the one exception to the rule that the niet hebben.                                         -Luther.


                                         T H E   .STANDARD   B E A R E R                                            213

           CALVIN AND STRONG EXPRESSIONS                  conception of God, the secret providenbe  of God espe-
                                                          cially with relation to sin and evil, His absolute sover-
     One is naturally tempted, when he reads in  %he      eignty even over the will and acts  of. His moral crea-
 kcta of the Christian Reformed Synod of `1924, that tures, the responsibility of these moral creatures and
 the brethren H. Danhof and H. Hoeksema used some the doctrine of reprobation. Both Calvin's accusers
 strong expressions, that could hardly endure the light and ours were troubled by some strong expressions
 of Scripture and of the Confessions and especially of that were made on these Bubjects.
 the Conclusions of Utrecht, to investigate anew what         And secondly we found that both, Calvin's enemies
 exactly these expressions were.                          and our opponents made  a desperate attempt to con-
     Synod does. not quote them, does not even refer to strue monstrosities, especially with regard to the con-
 them and point out where they may be found.              ception of God, out of these so-called strong expres-
     The delegates to Synod, that voted affirmatively on sions. They resemble each other in this respect, that
 the question, whether these things were so, could not they represent the Calvinistic faith as believing in a
 have told you what expressions were  meant.              cruel, merciless, arbitrary God, Who is the Author  of.
     The majority of them would have had to confess sin, Who blames man for the evil He Himself in-
that they never read our publication and were not stigates, Who takes a keen delight in sending the great
 aware of any strong expressions or, for that matter, of majority of men to eternal damnation, Who is really
 any weak expressions, on our part.                       nothing but a wicked and tyrannical Tyrant.
     And so Synod leaves us entirely in the dark. It          Let me  quot,e.
 simply expresses that we used some strong expres-           First of all I quote from the protest Mr. Vander
 sions.                                                   Mey sent to my consistory at the time, apd by way of
    Yet we may fitid the `expressions to which Synod so appeal to  Classis and Synod. He is a strong defender
blindly referred.                                         of the faith in common grace and in the well-meant,
    And to discover them we naturally turn to the pam- gracious offer of salvation on the part of God to all
phlets that were writteh by our opponents, that accused men indiscriminately, even though he is supposed to be
us before Synod. And not being able to `resist the a Reformed minister. And I am, indeed, sorry to say,
temptation we hunted up these pamphlets of our ac- that all my teaching and preaching (Mr. Vander Mey
cusers once more, especially encouraged to do so by the was, at the time, a member of my congregation at
appearance of C&uin,s Calvinism. For he certainly Eastern Ave.) did not cure him of these, errors. In
employs some expressions that'would have made the his protest he writes as follows:
Synod of 1924 stand aghast  with horror, had they been       "My first and chief objection concerns the pastor's
read on its floor.                                        WRONG CONCEPTION OF GOD. According to him
    B.ut there is more.                                   God assumes an attitude of mere hatred, wrath a;ld
    Calvin in his day also had his accusers, that bitterly punishment over against the world of the non-elect.
opposed him and busily wagged their slanderous Even the gifts they receive from God serve unto their
tongues against him. Their vile calumnies have been
                             . . ..-.                     punishment, and .are given then1  for_ that .pgrp_ose.
preserved and some of t&m were published;~t@eXher  -
with Calvin's reply to them in the second part of            "Pl?OOF.  In  Tlze  Banner of April 17, 1919  Rev. --
Calvin's  Calvinism. Now, very naturally, we were  ex-    H. Hoeksema wrote:
tremely interested to know how these enemies of  Cal-        " `We deny that in any way or to any extent, fo..
.vin calumniated his name and his doctrine, exactly of time or eternity, God assumes an attitude of positive
what they accused him, how they distorted his teach- favor or grace over against the reprobate. The seed
ing, and on which points of doctrine they were so bit- of the serpent are the object of His wrath.'
terly opposed to him. I. say, we were very much in-          "Yun Zonde en Genade, p. 194:
terested in this question, for we were wondering             " `Simultaneous with and similar to the saving
whether p&-haps there were not some points of sim- blessed operation of the electing grace of God, whereb,
ilarity between the objections of these calumniators of He exalts us into the fellowship of His friendship
Calvin's doctrine and the accusations our opponents at there is also a seperating, repelling, rejecting and
the time brought before the Synod of 1924.                prostrating action of God's displeasure, hatred, wrath
    And being so deeply interested we naturally in- and great anger with respect to the non-elect along the
vestigated. And the fruit of our investigation may,       line of reprobation. Also the latter takes place accord-
indeed, be called very striking.                          ing to the, inimutability of the will of God. This must
    We will offer it to our readers, so they may judge be emphasized.'
of the matter.                                               "In : Niet Doopersch, Maw Gereformeerd, p. 56 :
    We discovered first of all, that the enemies that        " `Peace and prosperity are never blessings for the
slandered Calvin's name and distorted his teaching, ungodly and are not such according to God's intention
stumbled and fell over the very same points of doctrine They are no proof that God looks down on them ir
as did our accusers. These doctrines concerned the tender mercy and will bless th&m in His favor. On tilti


I    :

          21.4                                     ,THE  S T A N D A R D .   B E A R E R

          contrary:  `SurelgT  thou didst set them in slippery of Mr. Vatider  Mey's  protest and that of Servetus of
          places ; thou castedst them down into destruction.'           his friend is the same: A FALSE' CONCEPTION 0%'
                  "Page 55 :                                            GOD. Fund&mentally the %wo also agree in carica-
            " `The Word of God would have us understand that turing the conception of God they so utterly despise
          God enriches the ungodly with earthly blessing, in and fiqd abominable: THE GOD THAT IS SLOW TO
          order that they may be destroyed forever.' "                  MERCY AND SWIFT TO ANGER. A GOD WHO IS:
             The above are the strong `expressions Mr. Vander NOTHING BUT A GOD OF WRATH. And the sim-
          Mey'quotes from our publications. And now note his ilarity also holds when we inquire into the reason, why
          own conclusions as to the conception of God there is they so detest the Calvinistic conception of God:
          evident in these quotations :                                 FUNDAMENTALLY IT IS IN `BOTH CASES THE
              "h my estimation (writes he)  this js  an ubomin-         HATED DOCTRINE OF REPROBATION.
          able doctrine. I detest such a conception  of  God. I            And let us also notice what, over against Calvin's
          wish this to be known, as also thut I will always wit- alleged false conception of God, is, according to his
          ness  against  it. Such  cc God of hatred is not my calumniator, the true conception :
          God . . , . .  "  p.p.  2: 3.                     .              "But that God which nature, reason; and the Holy
              And a little farther down the page- (4) he gives his      Scriptures teatih,  is plainly the contrary to this God
          own conception, which He claims is the Reformed, and of Calvin, for He is inclined to  ,mercy  and slow to
          is, according to him, also Calvin's conception of God:        anger. And He created the first man from whom all-.
              "The glad evangel- is preached unto them, Christ is men arose `in His own image, that He might place him
          offered.  unto them (he means the ungodly reprobate, in Paradise and bestow upon him eternal  life. This
          H. H.). This offer DOES NOT COME TO THEM IN                   God wills that all men should be saved, and that no
          WRATH, no, on the part of God the  offer  is  zuell-          man should perish. And for this very end He sent His
          meant, serious. It is plea&g to God that they come. Son into the world, that His righteousness might
          And of all the gifts of God's favor and grace in which abound wherever the sin of man had abounded. The
          He is gracious to the world, His well-meant offer of light of this righteousness `lightens every man that
          salvation in Christ is undoubtedly the greatest. A cometh itit0  the world' and this Son of God, Sadour of
          serious calling  thro:Zgh the Gospel could  .riot  be, if the world, calls aloud to all, `Come unto Me, all ye that
          God were merely a God of wrath and vengeance (the labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
          writer means: td the ungodly reprobate, H. H.) ."             This God suggests good affections and honorouble, and.
              It is evident, therefore, that Mr. Vander Mey took delivers men from the necessity of sinning (into which
          offense at our teaching a conception of God Who is            they precipitate themselves by their disobedience) ; and
          filled with wrath against the ungodly reprobate and He heals all manner of sickness and all manner of dis-
          Who Himself works out His reprobation,                        ease among the people. Nay, so merciful is He, that
             Similar objections, which we will not now quote, He never denies and help to anyone that .prays Him for
          you may find in the protests of Rev.  Jan  Karel  van them. In fact,  this true God comes for the very end.
          Baalen,  Rev. M. M. Schans and in that of three laymen that He might destroy the works of that God of C&in, _
                                                                                                          _----
          o f   t h e   .Eastern   Ave;-Church.   -  :--                and-thu'ust  him out of d5oX" (Idem,  p. 336, 337).
             Now  let us investigate, whether, they ever accused           The reader will notice the similarity.
          Calvin of  such a horrible  conceptioti  of God. I find,         Calvin had taught, that  God. not only predestinated
          that Calvin's calumniator, either a friend of Servetus &to eternal salvation whosoever H!e willed, but t&t
          or himself, did slander as follows:                           He also predestinated `unto damnation the vessels of.
              "The false God is slow to mercy and swift to anger; wrath, fitted unto destruction. He taught, moreover,
          Who has created the greatest part of the world to that God executes His own counsel, efficaciously leading
          perdition, and has predestinated them not only to His elect people unto their foreordained glory and sov-
          damnation, but also to the' cause of  th&r damnation ; ereignly leading the reprobate unto  their  predestined
          and has therefore, decreed from all eternity, and wills destruction. And  the same  doctrine  was maintained
          and causes their sins, which sins are consequently of by us, khough  it was further developed with respect to
          necessity; so that neither thefts, nor adulteries, nor the things of this present time. We denied that salva-
          murders are committed but by His will and instigation. tion  is.a matter of offer on the part of God to all men,
          For He suggests in men depraved and evil affections, that the reprobate had any part in it, and we claimed
          not only permissively, but effectively, and hardens           that all things, the preaching of the Word included, but
          men's hearts.         Wherefore, while men are living also the means of this present earthly life, work to-
          wickedly, they are rather doing the work of God than gether, under God's all overruling Providence unto
          their own work, and cannot do otherwise. This God salvation of the elect and unto the destruction of the
          makes Satan a liar; so that Satan is not the cause of ungodly reprobate.
          his own lies, but Calvin's God is."  (Calvin's  Cnlvinism,       Such was Calvin's doctrine.
          p. 336).                                                         And such was always the contents of our teaching
             The reader will notice the similarity. The subject and preaching.


                                                                                                        .

                                        `>    T H E   ` S T ' A N ' D A R D   `B'EARER                                       215
                                       .;



          At this the enemy  bf Calvin's time barked and               And in the course of these articles it will become
      howled like a pack of hungry wolves. They caricatured increasingly evident, that Calvin would  .have  been
      Calvinrs conception of God, so pictured Him, that He much too, strong for the Synod of 1924.
      became a monster of cruelty and wickedness, yea, that                                                         H. H.
      He became the very `heGil himself!
          And over dgainst what  they termed j, falsk-conbep-`
      tion.  of God; `they co&trued  their  owti notibns. TBeji
      pictured God as being merciful and gracious to all lien         .FORCED  $0 CONFESS THE  IiBRQR OF THE
      without `distinct+, as standing  with  oiitstretched  arms                           CHURCH?
      to rec&e the `wicked, calling to `him; offkring  him His
      salvatibn  in the Lord Jesus Christ;  invitirig him to           W.e were very much impressed with  a,recent state-
      come  "iit? Him, earnestly at&sting  that He. would', be ment, found in the November 15th.issue of The Banner,
      glad to  save him, praying ahd beseeching  hiin, but made by Rev. Dolphin. The Rev. is writing abouc.his
      always powerless to rule sovereignly over the wills  of experiences during a recent trip through the Nether-
      men !                                                         lands. Spending a day in the city of Dordt, he codld
          Is it different with Mr. Vander Mey's objections to, not refrain from visiting the church, wherein our Re-
      our doctrine?                                     .           formed fathers met, over three hundred years ago, in
          He'ljarks at our conception of God !                      the famous Synod of Dordt. `As the Rev: stood on the
          Though we quoted from `the Holy Scriptures (Ps. platform, on which also the great Gomarus stood when
     73,  92) to prove that God sets the reprqbate wicked on debating Arminius, he began meditating on the history
      slippery places, that He casts them down into  destruc; of the R.eformed Churches in general. His meditations
      tion, that  He  causes  them to flourish like the grass in took him from  161%`19  until the present time.  .The
      order that, they may be destroyed ?orever,  yet 3Ir. Van following was the result of his meditations, as given in
      der Mey is not ashamed openly to declare, that to him his own words : "We tried  to visualize the scene of that
      such a God is abominable, that such a God of hatred           day, when the first great concourse gathered to debate
      against the ungodly reprobate, is not his God. His            the questions that had arisen between Gomarus and
      soul evidently  loaths the God Who is sovereign to            Arminius. The former won out at the Synod, but to
      hard& whom He wills.                                          judge by what one sees and hears in our own country,
         And over against our teaching he presents God as           even in our own circles today,. we would  .almost think
      offering His sal+ation in Christ, Jesus to all &en ! God that the latter was the winner and the former the
      seriously seeks the salvation' of all. He offers it to loser."
      them. He means well with them. He would be pleased             When reading such a confession, a Prot. Reformed
'     that they should come to Hini. In other words, he re- nzan hardly knows what to say. For surely that is CL
      jects the conception of God which teaches that God is         confession. But even if we hardly know what to say
      rich in mercy to His people -and filled with. holy and        the question naturally comes up in our soul: Is this a
      righteous wrath against the reprobate, and instead,  h& forced  confession of  ,error   on  the part of the Chr. Ref.
      offerg `Xl%+'  coneeptioti-  of a God th& is merciful to all. Church? We tire inclined to answer-in the affirmative. .--
      without distinction.                                          For'it was just that same view of things on the part of
         Is not the similarity `striking?                           the leaders of the Prot. Ref. Church, which was the
         `Yet, remember, that on the basis of such accusa- occasion for their excommunication and condemnation
      tions as were made by Mr.  Vanaer  Mey, the Synod of' by the Chr. Ref. Church. And today the difference is . '
      1924 condemned'us, the Christian Reformed Churches            so marked and distinct between the two denominations,
      judged' that there was no room for us in their fellow- that even from the lips of a Chr. Ref. minister we hear
      ship.                                                         the forced confession that Arminius is the victor, in
         Remember, that the expressions,  sutih as Mr.'  Van        the Netherlands not only but also in the Reverend's
      der Mey quoted in his protest, were characterized by own circles, namely in America. Thtis we would like
      Synod  ?s strong expressions, that could not very well to see a few more of those. confessions from the side of
      be harmoniied  with,Scripture.and   the Confessions.          the church which does no longer care to carry. us in
         Is not the conclusion warranted that these sanie           her bosom. Because then the line of demarcation can
      men would have condemned Calvin, for the same  rea- be. seen clearly. The issues' dividing the  Chr. Ref. de-
      sons and on the same grounds, and that, in company nomination and the  Prot.  Ref. denomination are  clear-
      with Servetus and his friends they would have accused ,cut and stated. Not because we as Prot. Ref. people
      him of a false conception of God?                             do not clearly see the difference, but so that those many
         I I believe it is.                                         sheep in the Chr. Ref. Church who see really no differ-
         Nor is this belief founded exclusively on what `I ence, because they do not investigate, may also learn to
     wrote in this article.                                         discern us from them. And the reason we say this is
          There is a good deal .more to be said about .th&e         because we also began meditating when Rev. Dolphin's
      strong expressions of Calvin.                                 medidation lay before  us. But we did not meditate far


                                &T*
                                y.
216                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
                                                           '
into the past, but we meditated on the present day.
condition in Pella and surrounding churches. For we                                    EEN'  VRAAG
                                                                        \
have discovered the following.-A very. learned preacher                `Geachte Redacteur !
preaches fairly Reformed when preaching in the Hol-
land language ; when therefore preaching to the old                   Mag ik u verzoeken om een vraag te plaatsen in
Holland element in his church. But when he preaches de S. B. en wat meer licht te verschaffen over Jes. 6 _
to the English element, he is not even fairly Reformed, in verband met Ps..99  :1 : De Heere regeert ; dat de vol-
but as Arminian as any one. And' we are safe to' say ken beven ; Hij zit tusschen de cherubim ; de aarde be-
that he himself knows that he is practising  this deceit, wege zich?
; because he used to preach in the  Prot.  Ref. Churches.             Ik heb eene predikatie daarover gehoord, die naar
Therefore we. say, let us hear more of these confessions, mijn bevatting  goed  uitgewerkt was en waarin de
for thus every one can see and discern the fundamental waarheid helder voor de gemeente werd gesteld, vooral
difference between Gomarus and Arminius, between in betrekking tot die Cherubims, wat plaats ze  beklee-
the Prot. Ref. Church and Chr. Ref. Church. ,Let us den, wat werk ze verrichten, hoe ze zich vertoonden en
so let the light of God's truth shine that, even though. it als dienstknechten Gods hun taak volvoerden.
be unwillingly and unknowingly (?) every one must                    Mu heb ik altijd gemeend, aat die Cherubim engelen
`confess that Arminius is victor.in  the Chr. Ref. Church waren,  maar als ik het goed verstaan heb, dan heeft die
of today.                                                       prediker gezegd, dat het geen engelen  waren.
                                                                ,     En nu vraag ik mijzelven af: wat zijn het dan?
                                          L.  VERMEER           Mijn opvatting was, dat het engelen waren  van zekeren
                                                                rang of staat, door God zelf begiftigd met hun namen,
                                                                zooals er ook nog andere rangen  van engelen worden
                          NOTICE                                genoemd.
       A  .Board meeting of the Reformed Free Publishing              U  dankend  in afwachting,
Association will be held Tuesday, February 4, in the                                                                B. W.
basement of the First ,Protestant  Reformed Church.                   Grand Rapids, Mieh. -
Please be there.
                                             The Board.              Ik ben blij, dat er weer eens een vraag komt. In
                                                                den laatsten tijd kreeg men den indruk, dat onie lezers
                                                                zoowat uitgevraagd  waren.  Maar  breeder  W. begint
                     BUPG  MIJN  WIL                            weer. En  als er eerst weer een schaapje over de  brug
                                                                i.s, volgen er gewoonlijk we1 meer.
              Buig mijn wil naar Uwen wil,                            Zoo zullen we het maar hopen.
                Breek mijn tegenstand, o Heer !                       Wat nu de vraag zelf betreft, het komt mij  voor,
              Speen mijn hart en maak het stil                  dat we het best doen met haar antwoord eerst ecs~
                Tot het niets dan U begeer,                     over te laten aan die prediker, wie hij o& geliifeest . -..
               L' a&en en  U geheel,                            De vrager- heeft mij niet op-bet .oog, want?iiX&..  .:.---`:-  `-- .-
              -_ U voor `eeuwig tot mijn deel.                  eens over Jes. 6;. `maar nooit over Ps. 99 :1 geprcc!`.`,.
                                                                voorzoover ik mij kan herinneren. Het moet dus co:-
              Breek Gij door mijn doofheid heen,                ander zijn geweest. Ook zal het we1 iemand  l:it I: .::e
                `Open  d' ooren voor Uw Woord,                  kring geweest zijn, want broeder W. is een zeer g;>
              .Gij kunt spreken, Gij alleen,                    trouw bezoeker van de Prot. Geref.  `Kerk.  Nu is de
                Dat de doode zelfs U hoort,                     kring van onze predikers zeer klein en het zal niet
              En zich opricht naar `t geluid                    moeilijk zijn den  persoon  te  vinden, die over dezen
                Van Uw levenswoord : Kom uit !                  tekst gepreekt heeft. Ook zal hij we1 een lezer zijn van
                                                                The  Standard  Bearer,  want anders zou hij geen  predi-
              -Lreek Gij met  Uw hemelsch licht                 ker zijn, die naam waard, in onzen  kring.
                Door de blindheid. mijner ziel,                       En ik zou zeggen, dat hij zelf we1 het meeste licht'
              0, dat van Uw aangezicht                          kan verspreiden over iijn.eigen preek en over de vraag
                Mij een straal in d' oogen viel,                van breeder  W.
              Cm de neev'len, dicht en zwart,                         Wij verzoeken hem hierbij dit te  doen.
                Weg te drijvenvan  mijn hart.                                                                        H .   H .
              Breek mijn stug en koud gemoed,
                Dat. het voor U open ga ;
              Koester mij met zonnegloed,         -:
                Tot ik dorst naar Uw gena,                            Gods Woord moet niet de geringste,  maar  de  aller-
              En met volle teug geniet                          machtigste vijanden hebben, bij welken het eer kan in-
                `t Levend water, dat Gij biedt.                 leggen, naar deszelfs groot vermogen.- Luther.


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          Vol. VI,  No.  10                                            FEBRUARY  15,193O                                         Subscription Price, $2.50
                                                                 `.  : indeed, dead in sin and misery, bouqd with chains of
               /I           ME..DIT.WTloN                                               .' II death, incapable of doing any good, inclined to all evil,
                                                                                             without freedom' except to sin, to serve .the `devil and
                                                                                             to pursue the psith to hell ! We must, indeed, be de-
                                                                                             livered from hll iniquity, for in the power of all iniquity
                            REDEEMED UNTO GOOD  WORlfPS                                      are we . . . .
                                      Who gave himself for us, that he might                     Bk you cannot begin the gospel with the testimony
                                    redeem us frcjrn .a11 iniquity, and purify  unto         of regeneration ; you must needs  start with redemp-
                       \
          _                         h&m$.f a pecuhar people, zealous. of good
                                            .                       -Titus 2  :14.           tion.And redemption points to a deeper misery still .than
                      We are redeemed !                                                      there is symbolized in chains of sin and shackles of
                      What riches of blessings. the people of God  ap                        iniquity !
               propriate unto themselves when. they make this  glori-                          I It investigates into the reason  fpr those chains by
          .' ous profession !                                                                which we are bound, it poi@s'to  the cause of our being
                     .  Atid how deeply do they humble themselves before shackled to death, it discovers the ground of our im-.
                God by implication in this glad confession of.  their                        prisonment in the penitentiary of sin.
               faith concerning their redemption !                                               Redemption digs to the very bottom of our misery
                      For it is the word redemptioti'that  above all reflects and there finds OUU; guilt!
               back  -upon the real nature of their misery, apart from                          .For redemption is more than mere.deliverance,  it is
               the  grace'df the God of tlieir salvation.                      . . .         deliverance according to justice. It. is the paying of
                      That misery is not a certain weakness of ch&racter,                    the ransom-price. It  implie? that by the  ptiyment of
                so that it  must be strengthened merely  Lnd guided in this price for our ransom the legal right was secured
                the proper direction of development. Were this true to deliver us from the power-of sin and, death. And
          salvation might, indeed, be merely  atiother  word for thus it  poi.nts  to the cause and-ground of our spiritual
                cliaractei-building.   BLxt   why, then, speak any  more woe and misery, of our death and corruption, of our im-
                of redemption? . . `.  .                                                     prisonment and slavery. We are not merely prisoners,
                      It, our misery as we are by nature, is `liot mere` but we are convicts ! The shackles with  which we are
                ignoraiice  of that which is `good and right and true.                       chained to sin and death are the  griti represetitatives.
                Were such the case we might be in sore need of, educa-                       of justice. They sire the execution of a sentence, which
                tion and of an Educator as our Saviour. But education is Upon. us as we are children of "our first father. For.
          `. without anything more simply  resuIts  in educated  ,sin-                       dur misery is in first and deep&t sense a question of
:               ners, never in justified and purified'people of God. And guilt. We have  Finned. Sinned we have in our first
                if salvation were `,a -matter  of education, &hat sense                      father. Sinned we have in  .daiiy consenting  ti, his
                would there be in speaking of redemption? . . . .                            offense. Sinned we have in following in his way and
     ,                Our misery  is not eveti merely a question 6f deliver- bearing the fruit of his sin. And sin incurs guilt. And
                ance from the power of sin and death. Surely, we must guilt is a  moral.  debt to the justice of `God. And a
                be regenerated `and sanctified. The chains of sin must moral debt can only be expiated by bearing the punish-
               . be cut, the shackles of sin must be loosened, the `doors ment. And it belongs to our punishment that we ire
                of sin's prison must be unlocke`d and ope?ed  before us                      iti the power of sin and death, servants of &e devil,
          and we must be liberated from the law of  iin  and death children of iniquity. We have, of ourselves no right to
               by the law of the Spirit of life, led out into  th&`&rious be delivered out of $e prison of sin. Those shackles
                sunlight of spiritual freedom  !. For `by nature we are,                     may not be cut. The chgins may not. be loosened. They


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                                                                                                                               -----..   `Z
.



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

                     represent. justice, the justice of the Most High. They `only by the giving of Himself could He redeem unto.
                     are our sentence . . . .                                   Himself a people, to purify them and make them zeal-
                         And before you can speak of deliverance, before you    ous of good works.
     j have the right to preach regeneration and purification                      For mark the wonder  of redemption': One died for
     1 from sin and all iniquity, you must needs speak of re-                   others !
     i demption.
     ,                                                                             But how is this possible? Is it, then, according to
     1                   Thus it is in the text.                                justice that moral guilt be  transferr.ed  from the sinner
                         He gave Himself for us, that he might redeem us        to the innocent? Can He, that knew no sin, be made
     I first, redeem us from'all iniquity; a@ then purify us                    sin for the ungodly? 1s it, then, not true that the soul
                     as a peculiar people unto himself!                         that sinneth it shall die? Or, again, how were it pos-
                         We are redeemed ! Yes, He redeemed'us ! And this sible -that the death of the One could be the ransom-
                     redemption implies that He paid the price, that was price for the redemption of the many that had deserved
     ! suffidient to blot out our debt, to satisfy the justice of death? Shall it be considered in harmony with the
     i God, the price of ransom, that secured for Him the justice of` God that One die and many go free? And
                     inalienable right to deliver us from the bonds of sin once. more, had. we -not all deserved nothing less .than
     ? and death . . `. .                                                       eternal death? Was not our sin committed against the
                         We are redeemed ! The guilt of sin is removed ! SJlost High Majesty of God, and could  anything  but
          ! Righteous we are before God because of His redeeming' eternal death be the just punishment for' our trans-
          ;. work! Redeemed we are from all iniquity.! The work gression? But He, the One,  tiho died for the many and
          : of redemption is-accomplished and it is perfect. No paid the price of their redemption, did He not suffer for
          ; iniquity can  be held  agai'rist us anymore. From all a little while, in order then to be glorified with the
          1 iniquity weare free, from-original and actual, fromdsins            Father? How, then, could the suffering of the One,
          j past, present and future. Accomplished was our re- and that for a short time, be the price of redemption
          j demption once for all, when the price was paid . . . . for the many to free them from `the power of death
                      Not when we believed; still less because we be-           eternal?.. . . .
          : lieved; neither on condition of our belief.                         Here is the answer: He gave Himself!              ,
                      - But absolutely, unconditionally, freely we were re-        .Ang Himself was, fist of all, not simply another,
          ; deemed, once `and forever, when the price was paid and but He was the Head of all the elect, whom God in sov-
          His blood was shed on Golgotha.
          i                                                                     ereign grace had given unto Him from before founda-
          I              And now we are free ! No longer are we legal slaves tion of the world. A mere other man could not have
          ! of sin ! No longer has the devil any dominion over' us!             redeemed us. For, the soul that sinneth, it shall die !
                         We have the right to be delivered, to be born again, But He was no other, no stranger, no man next to man,
          ' to be sanctified and perfected. The right to live !                 but the God-appointed Head, the divinely  appoitited
                      : Redeemed! Oh, precious truth!                           Mediator of all His people. He represented them. He
                                                                                stood for them, He took their place because. He was
                                                                                responsible for them by reason of God's decree. His
                                                                                redeeming death was nbt for strangers. Nor did He
                         Redeetied  from all iniquity !                         merit a mere  chance of redemption for those that might
                         What wondrous manifestation of free and sovereign chdose to accept His substitution. If such were true,
                     love !                                                     the cross were no ransom at all, it would be  .powerless
                         For note, that in order to redeem us, He must give to redeem. No, but a people was given Him by God's
          i Himself for us!                                                     irrevocable'decree, the people of God's covenant. Their
                         None other than Himself could have accokplished        Head He  was.  `With them He was inseparably con-
               j the wonder of redemp`tion. Nothing less. than the gift, nected. And for them He shed His lifeblood and re-
          ; the most complete surrender of Himself could have deemed them from all iniquity!
                     served as the price of our redemption.                        He gave Himself!
                        .Self-redemption  was impossible. How could we,            The price was priceless!
          1  sinf$,creatures, who, besides owe our all to the living               For Himself was also the Son of God, whose blood                          .
          j. God, who would still be `called unprofitable servants was infinitely precious, Who was able to taste death
          1 had we always obeyed, `never transgressed, ever pay for all, because He was able to enter into the agony of
          i the price that would blot out the guilt of our sin: against death  & no man could. And by giving Himself He
          : the. Highest Maje@y ? Nothing, indeed, w6 had to pay, paid the price that was fully able to blot out the guilt
               ! nought to satisfy the justice of God. We only could of our sin.
          : increase our guilt daily and heap up treasures of wrath:               Himself He gave !
          1 Nor was there in all God's creation a creature that                    Priest and sacrifice are one in Him, and the sacri-
               i could bring a sacrifice sufficiently precious to be our fice was that of the Lamb of God, without spot and
          1 ransom-price.                                                       blemish, pleasing to God !
               i No, only Himself could perform this wonder. And                   Oh, wondrous love 6f God Triune !
               I.                                                                           0
               I


                                        T H E   S T A N D A R D `   B E A R E R                                         219

    He gave Himself, even as the Father had given                  For they are, by nature servants  of sin and of all
Him from before the foundation .of the world. It  iS iniquity. And in the service of sin their garments have
 the gift of God's  elcernal  covena,ni  wherein Father, Son become soiled. Leprous they are, morally add spirit-
 and Holy Ghost eternally willed the redemption of the ually defiled, polluted and corrupted. T$4r mind is
 elect. But even as He gave Himself in eternity,. so darkness and their will perverse. Their heart is wicked,
 He gave Himself in  .$ime. For the Father sent Him and desperately wicked more than anything.  knd they
 He came; the Father laid on Him the iniquity of us all         cannot bear fruit unto righteousness. The fruit they
 and He assumed it; the Father called Him to a task of bear by nature is as they are, corrupt. They are not
 absolute obedience in the way of suffering `and humilia- merely under  the sentence of death, but already they
 tion and He accomplished it; the Father gave His  only         are dead because of sins and trespasses. And, there-
 begotten Son, giving Him over even into death, and foPe, they must not merely `be redeemed and legally
He gave Himself . . . .                                         liberated from guilt and from the service pf pnright-
    F     o    r         u    s    !                            eousness, but they must also actually be delivered. They
    Sinners, yet beloved because of sovereign election ! must be justified, indeed; but they must also be sancti-
    Fbr us ! In behalf of us, for the everlasting salva- fied and cleansed from the stains of sin and dorruption.
 tion of us, for the redemption of us from all iniquity.           Neither is the work of purification their own.
    And, therefore, gave Himself in our stead!                     It could not be.
    .And Himself, \qith all He was and had, His precious           For even though they were redeemed by the preci-
 lifeblood, shid on the accursed tree is the sacrifice that ous blood of their Lord, even though the message were
 removed forever the handwritiihg  of sin against us.           delivered unto -them, that they were liberated  Iegally
    We are redeemed by the act of unfathomable love! from all iniquity and that sin has lost the- rigl$  to'be
    From all eternity!                                          enthroned in their hearts, yet `they would be both in-
                                                                capable and unwilling to leave the prison of their sin,
                                                                if it were not for the fact, that the almighty grace of
                                                                their redeemer also delivered them and led them out to
    Redeemed, a people unto Him!,                               liberty. Incapable are they, for they are hopelessly __
    For He gave Himself for us, that He might redeem bound with chains of corruption and death. And un-.
us from all iniquity, and, having paid the price of our willing  they  are, because they do. not even know and
redemption, and thus having secured unto.Himself  the &knowledge their misery and are satisfied with their
right of our deliverance, that He might also purify us,         very bonds. They would resent the attempt to dethrone
a people peculiar unto Himself . . . .                          sin because they are its willing slaves. Oh, if it were
    And having purified us, that He might make us               true, that redemption is, indeed, the accomplished work
`sincerely willing and zealous to adorn His doctrine and of the Lord `Jesus Christ, but that the effectiveness and.
walk in-all good works !                                        fruit  ,of it depended upon the sinner,. never would  be.
    There is the remoter purpose, the end of His re- forsake the bondage of corruptiqn  .and.be cleansed from
deeming work. For redemption is the beginning. It               the stains of sin !                                  - ..-..   _
is the. indispensible condition for all -the other tiol"k of    Nor is such the trukh.
 salvation. It is the basis upon which Christ has the              No, thanks be to God, Who loved us, and to Jesus
right to proceed. It is the groundwork for all the rest. Christ, Who gave Himself for us, He  dpes not leave us
But redemption is not the end, the final purpose.               to ourselves, nor is the perfect deliverance of His people
    It is the purification of a people unto Himself, zeal- at  any moment dependent upon their choice.
ous of good  works.                                                He gave Himself for us.
  A people He purifies unto Himself.                               And how could that precious sacrifice ever be made
    For those  whom  the Father gave  .Him are not dependent for its fruit upon the good pleasure' of sinful
merely a number of individuals without relation to and man ?
connection with one another. They are a people, an                 He gave Himself that He might redeem  us ; redemp-
organic whole, the fulness of the Body of Christ, re- tion is an accomplished fact, the redemption of all His
lated to Him and related to one another as the body is          chosen people.
related to the head and the members are mutually con-              And He redeemed us, that He might also purify us ;
nected., And their purpose is, that the grace of Christ our purification is as certain as our redemptidn.
might become manifest in them and thus the glory of                And having been redeemed  tie are zealous of good
the Most High might shine forth. The fulness of the works !
Head m&t dwell in the body. He must be&r fruit in                  All glory to His grace!
them. And each of them must bear fruit  .according  to                                                         H. H.
the measure of the grace that is given unto him., And
herein is  the Father glorified that they bear much
fruit.                                                          The Cantata "The Holy City" will be rendered by our
    And for this pin-pose  the people must be purified.                 Choral Society Febr. 27. Don't forget.


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I                                                                                                                                   g;
                                             T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                         223 i

     geduriglijk van den Vader als de Eenige Fontein  aller
     goeden,  alles afsmeekt, wat Hij  aan Zijne  gemeente  zal             ABRAHAM AND COiMM6N  GRACE
                                                                                                                                  `.
     schenken.                                                        In this article we continue to fix our attention upon $
        .En op dat gebed, op dat openen van het Middelaars-        a view of Abraham's career - a view, as was before f
     hart  voor alle zegeningen  der genade, ontvangt Hij  als said hatched outit and developed  by the late Dr. A. Kuy- f
     Middglaar  de gaven van den buit, dien Hij voor Zich per  - in conflict with the  one,eirculating  through our
     en de Zijnen gewonnen heeft, om ze dan mede te deelen         articles. .What we have been stressing is that Abra- I
     onder`de  menschetikinderen.                                  ham lived alone ; that the state of existence in. which :
        ZOO wordt dit gebed volle werkelijkheid.                   his calling involved him was that of a nomad, a spirit- i
         Het is een volmaakt gebed. Er kleeft aan dat ge-          ual-ethical and social-political recluse, or, in the words  )
     bed niets van het gebrekkige dat aan onie gebeden of the sacred narrator, that of a guest of the Canaan- :
     kleeft,  beid?  uit oorzake der zonde en uit oorzake van ites, a stranger in the earth. Kuyper, on the other  j.
     het f&it, dat wij niet weten,  wat wij bidden zullen gelijk hand, delineated. (in his  De  Gemeene   Grutie)   upon  /
     het behoort. De Heiland weet, wat de Zijnen van noode         Abraham's' seclusion in such a manner as to strip ,it j
     hebben, want immers ook als wij niet weten,  wat wij          of all significance. We quoted rather extensively from  i
     bidden zullen, bidt Zijn Geest voor ons met  onuitspre-       the aforesaid work to show that the matter he made 1
     kelijke zuchtingen.                                           much of is that Abraham set up various connections i
         Ook is het een  gedurig gebed. Het bestaat niet with the tribes dwelling in Canaan.                    According to
     daarin, dat de.Heere  Christus  zoo nu en dan, bij tijden Kuyper, the immigration was  the first step in the exe-
     cn oogenblikken, eens in het heiligdom verschijnt, om cution of a stiheme to establish new relations and to `.
     voor ons te bidden. Neen, het is een bidden zonder op- seek divers points of contact with the world encount-  :i
     houden, een altoos  Zich openstellen, een altoos  openen      ered in Canaan.,                                            :-
     van Zijn Middelaarshart, om den stroom van het  leven.           Before we precede to show that  `the above-cited  1
     Gods voor  Fijne gemeente te ontvangen van den Vader.         view shows up as false when viewed in the light of `i
         Het is een gebed, dat gegrond is op het heiligst          Scripture, we again wish to say that we are at `one !
     recht, gehandhaafd in Zijne volkomene  gehoorzaam-            with much of what the selections from De Gemeene i
     heid.                                                         Gratie   assert. We, too, reject the view that Canaan  1
        En zoo wotidt deze altoos levende en biddende Hoo-         constituted the asylum in which the Lord shut up  Abra-  '
     gel&ester ook een gedurige Bron van alle heil en ham in order to put  an end to all contact between him
     zegent Hij ons met alle geestelijke zegeningen uit den and the world. With Kuyper we maintain that to aver :.
     hemel.                                                        that Abraham retreated to some remote and uninhab-  i
        En eerst als we dit verstaan, zullen we ook de wer- ited section of Canaan, where he could live alone and I
     kelijkheid inzien van ons gaan tot God &lee%  door,Hem.       unnoticed, is to completely ignore the testimony of the  `i
                                                      H. H.        written record of Abraham's career as found in the j:
                                                                   book of Genesis. According to this record, Abraham 1:
                                                                   kept himself very much in evidence in Canaan, took up il
                                                                   his residence in the near vicinity of the Canaanitish !
        Getrouwd door Ds. L. Vermeer:                              lords so that the wall of literal  estrapgement  was soon !
                         . CONRAD DE VRIES                         broken down. It is. also 2 -matter of sacred history :.
                                       en                          that Abraham, as Kuyper shows, was related by ties of L
                           ANNA ANDRINGA                           blood to. several of the nations springing up in the near  fi
        Pella, Iowa, 2 F&br.  1930.                    ,           vicinity of Palestine. Wrote Kuyper (we translate) : i
                                                                   "It ought to be remarked at the outset that in quitting !
                                                                   Chaldea and in setting out for Canaan, Abraham was,  i
                     THE CHORAL SOCIETY                            joined `by  his nephew Lot. Whether this move on  the'!.
     of the Fuller Ave. Prot.  Reformed Church will render part of Lot met with the favor of God or whether it ;:
     the Cantata. "The Holy .City" on. Thursday evening, should be denounced' as the outconie of an unlawful `!
     Feb. 27, 1930, in the church auditorium.                      concession on the part of Abraham, is a matter we let  ;
         All are cordially invited.                                rest. pact is, that Lot went along, and that as a result .i
       Proceeds for The Standard Bearer.                           of `his going along two new nations sprang dp in the i
                                                                   immediate vicinity of PaleTtine,  the Moabites and the.
                                                                   Ammonites, two idolatrous nations that never merged  i
         Zij, die Jezus zoeken, zulleli  Hem vinden ; zij, die with Israel, and thus must be placed in a class with the 1
     Hem in waarheid zien, zullen Hem aanbidden. Zij, die nations  to which Israel was. joined by ties of blood by  :
     Hem aanbidden, zullen, hetgeen zij bezitten, Hem  toe- the Moabites and the Ammonites. The very reverse,
     wijden. Het  goud en de specerijen  worden  gebracht then, of a  particularistic   isolbt.ion  . . .  ,.
     niet aan'Maria,  tiaar aan Jezus. (Matth 2 :11) .                 "%%at happened to Ishmael speaks still  1oi;der.  j:
                                                  Spurgcon.        Magar  was an Egyptian bondwoman, in all likelihood  :;


224                                    TJ@  - S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
                                 ii
not of the generation of Shem but that of Ham. This Eshcol and  Aner. It was in conjunction with` these
woman nev&theless  was taken up into `the family of chiefs that Abraham set out in  persuit  of  Chedor-
Abraham. She was not. a slave in the base sense of the     laomer, king of  Elam, who having come from the
word, but Sarah's confidante. And wlien the child of direction of Babylon against the Canaanitish  princes,
promise failed to appear,  and Sarah' remained barren, had departed with Lot as his captive and with Lot's
the latter reached an agreement  with'Abraham  to place substance as his booty. Abraham had  contriloated
in her room not otie. of her own family, but this. woman three hundred men ; Mamre, Eshcol and Aner perhaps
of strange blood. -As far as can be known, Abraham a like number, so that the joint military force' n..m-
raised no objection nor  insist&d  updn another sub- bered  thirteen hundred men. By this company Chec!or-
stitute. To  the contrary, it was with this woman that laomer was defeated. True, this is recorded in Scrip-
he entered into a conjugal relation with the result that .ture as a`side issue. It is given, however, for the pur-
she conceived and bore him Ishmael, tihom  he calls God pose of showing that  Abraham  did not isolate  himself.
has heard and thus received him as the child of prom- He formed alliances, sought communion, and  conmmn-.
ise. In having hearkened unto his wife, Abraha,m  no ion is the reverse of isolation. What is more, this con-
doubt had been swayed by .unbelief. For ,this act ! 0th federacy had been previously formed. Very plainly,
were made to saffer. Nevertheless.it  `goes to show that then, Abraham from the outset took .a stand in the
neither Abraham nor Sarah placed on their separation midst of the political relations- of that day. With a
from the nations a  .particularistic  construction .  .' . . view to this stand, he maintained a standing army that
   "Ail this is opposed to the view that it was the pI& may seem small to us but fbr that d&y was rather large.
pose of God to cut off Abraham from the nations and From this it should be concluded that he as a power in
to shut him up -in his own generation. In this case        Canaan'kept abreast of his day. The aforesaid episode
previously existing ties would have been severed and in his career furnishes us with an altogether different
no new contacts set up.. Indeed  .we find that new ties view of the character of his mode of  existelice  in
were formed in that both the Moabites and the`Ammon-       Canaan, than we would liave imagined.  We are so
&es and likewise the Ishmaelites came forth out of the easily inclined to conceive of Abraham and Sarah as
circle of Abraham's  fatily as new generations related' two tramps,  having nothing to do with the surrounding
to that of his own. This also applies to the Edomites tribes, and the facts show that Abraham represented a
who descended through Esau from the second grand- .@rttiin power in Canaan; and with this power inter-
patriarch. Esau's descend'  from,  Isaac; the Edomites, wove himself into the political relations of Canaan.
descent from Esau, together with their being related          "What is further related respecting his appearance
to Israel, is  presedted  in  Scriptui-e as a  matter  of in Egypt, at Gerar, among the Hittites, especially at
divine sovereignty. Te the father of all the children Salem, corroborates the aforesaid modified view in
of men, ordered this in the womb of Rebekah and thus every respect. I$e immigrated to Egypt because of a
by. a deed, altogether independent of human caprice, lack of grain in Canaan. To so small ,a degree did he
set up a  cdnnection  between Israel and Edom by a tie make himself inconspicuous in Egypt that he came in
the after-effect of which was still seen in the day of co&act with the court functionaries, who, thinking
Christ  tihom  Her&d ordered the Son of  David  to be      Sarah  to be Abraham's sister, and a woman of royal
brought intd his court.                                    lineage, brought her into the palace of the -king. And
   "Selecting this fact as your point of departure and upon his  dep&rture  from Egypt, `Abraham did not
regarding in  %s light  .the happening with Ishmael, in recoil from accepting from the haids of Pharaoh  rich
connection with God's revelation to: Hagar, and  withy gifts of cattle and beasts of burden. Even more re-
the circumcision of Ishmael, and returning thereupon markable was his experience at Gerar with Abimelech,
from this point to Moab and Amon, ybu may with all         a pastpral  prince as he. The view that even at that
propriety conclude that the degree of God was, not to time the idolatry of the Cahaanites had incretised'to
cut off his people from the coherence. with humanity, such an extent that all knowledge of -the true God was
but to weave deliberate ties by which the nations  wduld wanting, is contradicted by the narrative respecting
have. ,communion and `kins&.ip  with Abraham.              Abimelech. This even went so far. that for the moment
   "But this is not`all. In Abraham's history ties were    it appeared as if Abraham less than' Abimelech was
formed not only between the people that were destined wont to inquire after the revealed will of God. By
to come forth out of his loins and o$her nations des- subterfuge Abraham had endeavored to shield himself
tined to emerge from  his. own generations as new and it was Abimelech who  fLYed his, Abraham's, mind
nations, but also' with the nations. encountered in upon the sin in which his conduct had involved him.
Canaan did Abraham hold communion. Abraham, so The Lord even  appea'red'to  Abimelech in a dream and
we read in Gen.  14:13,  had confederates. This, of to this  revelatiori   .he immediately responded. Sarah
course, means that he as a pastoral prince allied him- was  ,sent back to Abraham's tent and rich gifts accom-
self with other pastoral princes  +f Canaan  of equal panied her, not only of cattle but  -eqen of silver. Abra-
rank, for the purpose of mutual support. Their names ham appears as a prophet before the face of Abim-
are even given.. There were three brothers: Mamre, elech and they part, the one not as an idolator and the


                                                .THE"STANDARD   B E A R E R                                                    225

              other as a servant of God but both as personages bow- still walking in darkness) are fit companions for the
              ing before the God of heaven and earth.                     children of God. Those known in Scripture as the cl.-&
                  "The sale of Machpelah's cave gives a like  imp&-       dren of the .light can hold commu&oq  and have fellow-
              sionJ To be sure, Abraham was  .a  stranger  und guest ship with such as Holy Writ terms chitildren  of dg,r:`;-
              in Canaan, that is to say, he had no territory .of `his ness.      Such indeed, the reader will have observed, is
              own. Even before'his arrival, the land was already in the view circulating through the above-cited extraction
              the possession of others. These were the  settle'd  land from De Gemeene Gru&e. Attend.once  more to the fol-
              owners and he a nomadic prince, that is, a roaming pat- lowing: "He (Abraham) formed alliances, sought  com-
              riarch always able to find pastures for his flocks, the mtinion;  and communion is the reverse of isolation."
              land being sparsely settled. He had no abiding.dwell-       Such; then, was the proposition Kuyper labored to
              ing place but lived, as the Bedouin of this day, in tents. prove by his appeal to Abraham's state of existence in
              For the rest, po little did he live by himself, that he, as Palestine.  He did so notwithstanding the. fact that
              is also evident from the event of the S&Z of Mach-' God's Word ass&s  that righteousness can have no`fel-
              pelah's cave, clwelt with the princes of the land on an lowship  with unrighteousness ; that light hath no com-
              excelient  footing. Said he, `I am a stranger in  y&r       munion' with darkness;' that Christ hath no concord
              midst and your guest,' to which the Hittitg  princes with Belial ; that the believer bath no part with the
             , responded, `Thou art a prince in the tiidst  of us.' Yea, infidel, II Cor. 6 :14. Let us get the proper hold on this
              by way of proof that Efron was not' facing Abraham matter. The question is not whether Abraham re-
              the servant of the Most .High, as a reckless idolator, treated into some remote and  for'saken  region of
              he adds, "Thou art a prince of God in our midst.' The Canaan where he could live alone and unnoticed. We
              entire further meeting and deliberation does not in the agree`, he kept himself very much in evidence in Pale-
              least partake of the character  of. hostility and a         stine. The doctrine of world-flight is no more ours that
              teqdency  to separate self, but Abraham speaks as with the exponents of the theory of co-on grace. What
           . his equals, was favorably regarded, found Sympathy we insist upon is that the children of the light, though
              in his sorrow, and a whole-hearted readiness to yield in this world, should so behave as to give unmistakable
              *to  .him Machpelah's cave. They even insist on giving evidence that they are not of the warld. One of the
              him the cave. Because of Abraham's insistence, did tenets of common grace is that the believers are both
            they accept three hundred shekels for the sale.              in and to a degree of the  wqrld  as well ; that `the two
                "Even aside from the much more impotiant  meets, groups can take their, stand on a common  ethical-
              ing between  Abraham  and  tielchizedek,  it appears spiritual ground and lock arms. Further; the question
              from what was already presented that (a)  Abrahan?s        is not whether. Abraham  .w%s thrown  ,in contact with
              natural seed was not confined under God's providence the lords of Canaan. Fact is, he was and it could not
              to the people of Israel, but also weaved ties between very well be otherwise as he made it a poirit to keep
              him  and  the nations  ; that (b) Abraham  di.d not reside himself. much in evidence,  ili Canaan. Again, the  ques-
              in Canaan as an isolated tiamp;  but dwelt with  the       tioli is not whether Abraham became the father of a
              tribes  in whose midst he moved, on a footing of con-      carnal,  reprobate  seed: Fact is he did. The question
              fidential communion ; and that (c) Abraham  in Cana& is not once more whether by this seed he was linked up
              was  not the lone servant of God in the midst of sheer in his generations with the nutiorii.'  He was. In order
              wicked idolatry,. btit that he found alsd with these       to establish in the minds of his readers a relation be-
              tribes, hel'e and there, a knowledge of the true God, yet tween Abraham and humanity at large, it was not at
              that God even held  with Abimelech revelation-commun- all necessary for Kuyper to fix the attentioh of his
              ion."                                                      readers upon such personages as Esau and Ishmael.
                So far Kuyper. The above-cited selections may be This  r$ation he tiould  have established  8s well by' and
              found in De Gemeene, GraAe, Vol. I, p. 324-327.            appeal to the fact that Abraham was a descendent of
                 We have quoted Kuyper rather extensively in order Adam .and Eve. In fine, the sole question is whether
              to make it plain what his view was and in %rder to         Abraham as an inhabitant of Canaan had spiritual fel-
              furnish the reader not reading the Holland. language lowship with that portion of the Canaanites the Lord
              with a means of determining for himself whether we had reprobated and resolved to exterminate,' whether
              correctly reproduce this view.                             to `state `the matter in more general terms, they who
      t          VJ?hat then was Kuyper's'view? In answering this are believers, can and may have fellowship .with in-
              question we set out with the necessary remark that  it. fidels. The essence of spiritual fellowship is the having
              should be borne in mind that Kuyp&`s  appeal to Abra- of and the rejoicing and the glorying in the same God.
              ham's career in  Canaan represents an attempt on his To say, then, with Kuyper and the exponents of com-
              part to furnish the theory he had hatched out - the mon grace in general that the believer hath fellowship
              theory of common grace - with a solid b,asis. Accord- with the infidel; that Abraham held communion  wi%h
              ing to this theory the  children of  diiobadience  (a  term the godless and reprobated element of Palestine is
              %ve now use to signify that unhappy portion of human- equal. to saying that the ungodly Iove and rejoice in
:             ity known as reprobates together with the elect of God God. We shall now prove from  De  Gemeene   Gratie
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I

; 226  _                                 T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R  -

that such was indeed Kuyper's view. Attend to the meene Gratie, Vol. 1% p. 677,' 675). In other words,
following : "There are here four spheres between those receiving  the light are not the believers but the
! which tie should distinguish. There is, to begin with, men of the world - non-believers - who remain what
i the sphere of common grace that does not as yet under- they are and thus never turn believers. That such is
/ `go the influence of common grace. There is in the sec- indeed `the import of Kuyper's words is evident from
1' ond place the sphere of'the  organized  church, that the preceding that reads : "When the kingdom  .of
! comes  up altogether and almost exclusively out of heaven is  comp.ared  to a mustardseed, and eventually
1 particular'grace. There is in the third place the  sphere various kinds of birds. come to roost  ationg `its
i of  common grace, illuminated by the light of the  candle- branches, these birds remain strange  $0 the nature of
j stick of paw%ular  grace. There is in- the fourth place, the' tree. On the other hand the lump penetrated by
; the sphere of partictilar  grace that utilizes the data of the leaven  is changed as to its nature. Salt, on the
i  common   g r a c e . "                                       other hand, does nothing more than retard a sinful
         Only the first of the four above-cited spheres - the development; So, too, the light emitted  i&o the world.
i sphere that does not as y&t undergo the influences of The light (the  church,  G. M. 0.) and  th& world remain
: common grace  - does Kuyper identify with the world           separate." It is plain, then, that' the author insists
     lying in sin. Says he: "Of the first sphere does Scrip- thai the thought of the parable of the candlestick in
ture say, `that the world lies in sin.' ". Kuyper has `it, distinction from the parable of the leaven is tha't the
     .then, tha(t the other three spheres, including the sphere non-beIievers  of the  sphere  of common `grace never
I of common grace, illuminated by the light of the turn believers ; that  th&y do not suffer a change as to
     candlestick of particular grace, do not lie in sin. Where- their natures. According to Christ the men enlight-
!  as the sphere of common grace  i,s placed by the author ened by the light of the city, glorify God. To identify,
i we quote in juxtaposition with the sphere of the organ- as does Kuyper, the group glorifying the Father in
: ized,church  and that of particular grace, it follows that heaven, with the non-believers of the province of com-
: this sphere (that of common grace) signifies, in the mon  gruce,  is to proclaim with Kuyper that the un-
1 work from which'we quote, the world of. non-believers regenerate glorify God. -Such, then; is indeed the plain
i. brought in contact, with the light of special revelation. teaching of De Gemeene Gratie. However, if the infidel
, This sphere` of common grace, this world of non-believ- glorifies God,. it cannot possibly be maintained that as
     ers, does not lie in sin, so we are informed. If some- to the heart of his thought and dispositions he is an
; one may interpolate that we misrepresent Kuyper by infidel. What has always been the contention of The
I letting the expression lie.& sin apply to a world of men Stundard Bearer - .the contention,. namely, that the.
f instead of merely to a sphere, we reply that sin is an doctrine of common grace involves its exponents in a
     ethical term and therefore must be made to apply in        denial of. the doctrine of the total depravity of man,
; the  !ast instance, to rational-moral creatures. A is indeed true.
j sphere devoid of humans cannot be said to either lie or            So, too, the reprobate and godless men of Palestine.
not lie in sin. That this sphere of common grace signi- According  to.the  plain teachings of De Gemeene Gratie
; fies  in  De Gemeene Gratie a  world  of non-believers, these men possessed a kind of grace that rendered
(. brought in contact with the light of special revelation them lovers of God and therefore fit conipanions of the
: and, as a result glorifying God, is evident' from the patriarchs. With these men therefore Abraham can
     following selection : "And thus it is with the light hold communion and dwell on a common footing. So
/ which the saints let shine in the world (the sphere of Kuyper has it. Such is the  propositicm he thought to
1 common grace illuminated by the lig@t of special re- prove by an appeal to Abraham's  caree; in Palestine.
i velation, G. M. 0.). Of this light (the light of special We in turn appeal to the good sense of our-readers and
' revelation, G. `M. 0.). we read in Matt. 5 :14,15 and 16 :    ask whether Abraham's experiences and conversation           .
i `Ye are the light of the world.. A city that is set on a      with the Egyptian king, who carried away his wife ;
, hill cannot be .hid. Neither do men Iight a candle and whether his experiences with AbiEelech,  or his nego-
put it under a bushel, but on ,a candlestick; and it            tiations with the sons of Heth, or the fact thzit he be-
; giveth light .unto all that are in the &o&e. Let your came the .father  of Ishmael by a woman of strange
j liiht so shine before men, that they may see your good blood, and the grandfather of a reprobate son, can be
; works, and glorify your father which is in heaven.'           adduced in support of the view that he held spiritual
/ The world, then" so Kuyper continues, "does not ascend communion with the wicked and dwelt with them on a
! to the city, and  the city does not descend to the world. common footing. Preposterous !
i Both remain separate, but the light  .from the city           '    Abraham, as w&s said, had taken up his rksidence
, shines into the world. The candle and those in the in an strange land, the chiefs of which he would en-
1 house remain  two,  but those in the house receive upon counter in his wanderings. Most every meeting be-
I: the retina of the eye the light emitted. So, too, do the tween him and these chiefs on record was necessitated
/, believers emit light  for; the `benefit of men, yet the be- by an emergency. Pharaoh must return to Abraham
     lievers emitting light and the men receiving light, re- his wife. Likewise Abimelech who sees fit to chide'*
     main two distinct groups of persons. . . . . " (De Ge- Abraham for his failure to reveal to him that Sarah

/                .


                                         T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                 2 2 7

  was his wife, When this Philistine chief again ap- was already made plain in previous articles, that Abra-
  proaches Abraham it was to extract from him the ham's mode of `existence was that of a political and
  promise that he would not deal falsely with him nor social recluse so that wkiat he  .refused  to do was to
  with his generations. The meeting between  AbYaham join himself to any one of the social units or cities df
  `and the  $ons of Heth was occasioned by the. death of Canaan and to place himself under the jurisdiction of
Sarah. Abraham must have a burying place. Such its king. It was pointed out and explained that this
  meetings, such negotiations, such conferences; Kuyper peculiar mode of existence was typical of a spiritual-
  identified with `spiritual fellowship or communion, car- moral seclusion. Abraham, then, constituted a distinct
  ried on with a class of rn& representative of the world.         and separate political, social and spiritual unit in
  By these meetings a connection was set up between Canaan. Contrary to Kuyper, i$ was this seclusion that
  common and  speciai grace. It shall have to be ad-               constituted the remarkable and important feature. of
  mitted, however, that  ipiritual  fellowship implies some- his career. This is evident from the fact that he, re-
  thing more than bargaining for a piece of land ; or re-          appears in the letter to the Hebrews as belonging to
. storing; under the pressure of a Divine threat, to. a the cloud of witnesses by which we are encompassed
  man his wife.                                                    about. And what was it that secured him a piace in
     We do not deny, of.course,  that there were person- this company? His very willingness to adopt as his
ages and even communities of men with whom the                     mode of existence that of a stranger and .pilgrim  in
  patriarchs could have spiritual fellowship. Such a the earth; that of a social-political and spiritual
  personage was Melchizedek. -Such a community was recluse ; his very willingness,. once more; to live alone
  the one whose king he was. Melchizedek, as we have and be separate. Why did Kuyper fail  tq bring this
  shown in a previous article, was one having been out? Doing so, he would have showed up his theory
  brought under the influence of regenerating grace. of common grace as a vain piece of human philosophy  -
  Hence, he bles,ses Abraham. With such this patriarch closing one's eye to the great object lesson of Abra-
could hold communion. The three confederates Aner, ham's career, the lesson, namely, that God's people live
  Mamre  and Eshcol, with whom Abraham set out in alone.
 persuit of the four kings, may  likevise have to be                  According to Kuyper, then, the outstanding feature
 placed in a class with Melchizedek, so that the fact that of Abraham's career was alliance co-operation tiith  the.
  Abraham allied himself with these three, Canaanitish world. According to the Holy Spirit, on the other
  princes cannot,be adduced in support of the view that hand, it  tias.  separatipn  from  *the world. It  was at
  in `Abraham the church is seen't.0 ally itself with the least in part this willingness to live  alone that secured
  world, and common .with special grace.                           for Abraham the title of  father of believers.
     Kuyper we know regards Melchizedkk  and his kind                 We will continue this discussion in the following
  as  the product of  co-on  grace.  Meichizedek,  how- article.
ever, blesses Abraham. He was therefore a true lover                                                                    G. M. 0.
  of the God tihom this patriarch served.
     Kuyper dwells lat great length upon these meetings
  between Abraham and the chiefs -of Palestine. To him
  they comprise the bridge between the church and the                                      STIL ZIJN
  world, common and special grace.           They constitute            .      Leer  mij stil zijn, stille, stille,
  therefore the outstanding and by far the  .most  iti-                        On$er  alles wat Uw wille
  portant feature of Abraham's career. Kuyper,  `ho-w-                         Me oplegt op de levensbaan !
  ever, dared not altogether  igi?,ore  the fact that the state                Heilig zij me, o Heer, uw wille  ;
  of existence Abraham in response to; the will of God                         `t Zij mij  .zoet  om stille, stille,
  choose, was that of a spiritual-moral and  political-                        `t Nog zoo doornig pad te gaan !
  social recluse. But his comment is of a kind IeFving
  the impression that this mode of existence was  a` mat-
  ter of trifling importance. Says he: "Of course, Abra-
 ham was a guest `and stranger in Palestine. That is,                                      B E D E
  he had no territory of his own; The land had already
  been taken in  .possession  by others before his arrival.                  Geef dat, o' H&land, trouwe  Vrlnd!
  These were the settled land owners. Abraham was a                          Mijn hart in U zijn alles vjndt!
  nomadic prince, a roaming patriarch.. . . He had no,                       Dat ik U minne in vreugd en pijn,
  abiding, dwelling place in Canaan,  b,ut dwelt in tents"                   En `k eens omhoog bij U moog zijn! '
  (De Gemeene  G&die,  Vdl. I,, p. 326): What Kuyper
  says here is true. However, what he neglected to do                        Het pad daarheen is kv.w  en smal,
  is, to explain to his readers what it meant that  Abra-                    En  gaat. door menig duister dal.
 ham dwelt in tents and refused to adopt .as his state                       Maar als Gij houdt gevat mijn hand
  of existence that of a settled land owner. It meant `as                    Dan kom ik tech in `t Vaderland.'

              ,


2 3 2                                        T H E   S T A N D A R D   BEAR&R

  de vraag gedaan of het ook mogelijk w&`om een oogen- windelen;  dan moeten,  dan willen  we dat licht ook laten
  blik met de menschen te spreken over het  heil hunnsr          schijnen en van het  licht getuigen.
  zielen. Dat werkt daar zeer  goed  en droeg  vrucht;              Laat -ens maar eerst belijden, met schaamte des
  voorzoover  als wij konden oordeelen. En wij dachten, aangezichts, dat we reeds lauw werden.
  dat het l$er ook we1 zou kunqen.                                  En -dan in het gebed voor den Heere, opdat Hij ons
         Het zou ons tot groote vrehgde wezen, als de com- genade en ijver, verstand en wijsheid geve en ons  ge-
  missie, die door de  Classis werd benoemd in deze zaak bruike in Zijnen-dienst.
  der zending,  pogingen in het werk Wilde stellen om met           Zijns-is  de arbeid. Zijns is ook de zegen!
  dit belangrijk werk te beginnen.                                                                            H .   H .
         U, mijnheer.  de Redacteur, dankend  voor de opname
  van deze regelen, verblijf.ik uw broeder in Christus,
                                               W. KOSTER
         1108 Kalamazoo- Ave.                                              MORE TROUBLE FROM JONAH
                                                                    So reads the caption of an article appearing in The
         Note.    We  zijn broeder Koster dankbaar voor zijne Digest, telling of the dismissal of Prof. Horace Calvin
  belangstelling en voor den brief dien hij opzond.              Day from  soward College, a Baptist institution in
         Ook ontvingen we reeds meer blijken  .van in&em- Birmingham, for assailing the sacred record of Jonah
  ming met hetzelfde artikel. Zelfs werd `er. reeds ge-          and the whale, and Noah and the Ark. He is quoted as
  handeld. Een broeder b.v.  Wilde  betalen  voor twee saying that he is unable to swallow either  story whole
  abonnementen op ons blad. En een ander vroeg, wat and as advising his. students not to place "too literal
  het hem zou kosten als hij vijftig exemplaren ontving an interpretation upon the Bible." After his  lecture
  voor een half jaar, 0" ze te verspreiden.                      of the day, he was requested to resign by President
         Broeder Koster spreekt van een  vereeniging.  Dit John C. Dawson. Prof. Day is said to have addressed
  kan ook. Op zulk eene vereeniging zou men b.v. onze his' students as follows:
  geschiedenis, onze beginselen en de beste methode van             "I thought I  was ignorant then (referring to his.
  werken kunnen bespreken. En zoo kon men dari be- undergraduate days at Stanford University) and I was,
   slagen op het ijs komen en voorbereid zijn, om met but I find some today far more ignorant.. There are
  moeder te  twisten;  Want daar moet het eerst  heen.           some people so ignorant they still believe that Noah
  Onze  roeping ligt allereerst in de kerken, die ons  heb:      crowded two of e&h species of an&nals into the ark
  ben uitgeworpen. Zij zijn afgeweken. Zij wierpen ons during the flood. How could he have got all these
  uit. Maar .dat laatste ontslaat ons van o.nze  roeping         animals into the ark?-
  niet. Men kon eerst we1 eens aankloppen bij de predi-             "There are others who think that Jonah was  &tui
  kantenvan  die  kerken..  Als die ons niet ontvangen bij ally swallowed by the whale. During my years of
  de menschen. Er zijn tech zeker;  nog veel menschen, biologic&l experience, I have studied two kinds of
  die de Gereformeerde waarheid  liefhebben  en die ook whale, and found that it is impossible  for either of
  we1 zien,  .dat het verkeerd gaat.                             them to swallow a man whole, and anyway, no man
         Ja, ook het verspreiden van traktaatjes lijkt mij       could live inside a whale."
  niet zoo verkeerd toe. Ook deze zouden natuurlijk een             Dr. Day, so  The Digest  reports, was taken to task
  helder en zuiver geluid moeten  geven,  en van niets an-       by a twenty-one-year-old ministerial student, who told
  ders getuigen dan de. souvereine genade Gods.                  the professor "that Howard College  was built upon
         Dan kan er allerlei andere literatuur worden  ver- the Bible, and that if he did not except the Bible, he
  spreid, beide in het Engelsch en in het Hollandsch.            should not use it as a reference. I hope," so this youth
         Maar ik wil hierop `thans niet ingaan.                  is quoted as saying, "God will. bless you and show you
         Ik hoord$g&rne  nog iets meer van onze menschen your mistake. You do not realize the thorns that you
  .over deze zaak. Broeder Koster zegt, dat de bal aan are planting in the class of Howard students." It is
  het rollen is. Maar zal hij aan het rollen blijven, dan reported that the young student ."then  led @is fellow
  moeten  `we blijven duwen.            s                        ministerial' students to the Ministerial building, where
         Ook vooral  hoorde  ik  gaarne eens van de broeders they knelt for an hour in prayer for Dr. Day and How-
  in het  Westen.  Ik weet, dat ook daar nog  ze& veel ard College."
  menschen zijn,. die onze zaakj neen, die de zaak des              In offering our comment we may s&t out with the
  Heeren zijn toegedaan en die de Gereformeerde  waar- remark that .the above-cited report shows that also
  heid liefhebben. Ret spijt mij soms, dat ik er niet'zoo this land  of  ours has its  sevin  thousand   not having
  nu en dan heen  kan, om hen te helpen.           Er moet een prostrater  themselves before Baa1 (science). Te reply
  dpwekking komen in den goeden  zin van het wooed.              and conduct of the twenty-one-year-old ministerial stu-
         Komt, broeders, wat kunt g& van deze zaak zegg,en?      dent is touching. What firm faith, pious reserve, and
         Het is  zooals broeder Koster schrijft, als we er van genuine concern for the well-being of  hik erring in-
  overtuigd zijn, dat wij door Gods genade in het licht structor and of his school ! &is speech though bold and


`1.           ~'                                     ,

                         `._               T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                     233

        firm, betokens a lad of true Christian modesty, who whether `a man will ordinarily live inside this belly,
        knows his place but: who was nevertheless constrained By careful measurements science can learn the size of
        to open his mouth by an esteem for the Divine record. a whale's  tlroat. What it cannot do, however, is to
           As to' Prof. Day he, of course, makes himself ridi- examine God, measure His power, fathom His wisdom.
        culous by averring that ignorance is responsible for our For the great and eternal God lies outside of the grasp
        swallowing whole the story.- of- Jonah and the whale, and range of man's mind and physical vision. He who
        and the story of Noah and the Ark. As if we do not would know the Almighty must receive  Nti self-reve-
        know  -that  orc~5nuriZy a man does not live inside a lation. When science says to God, in opposition. to His
        whale ; that you cannot fit a square peg into a round testimony, that no man can live inside a great fish, it
        hole ; that a bed four feet. long will not accommodate a sets aside God's revelation of self (for He kept Jonah
        man seven feet tall; that  I-ca.nnot  wear the clothes of alive in that fish) and behaves as if it can examine,
        my seven-year-old son. We.know  these things and we measure and experiment .with God as with the dead
        knew them long before we ever saw the inside of a carcase  of some whale, and thus of itself and by tlle
        college. Not so Dr. Day. He informs us that he did `aforesaid method arrive at conclusions respecting God.
        not get wise until after he had left Stanford university. 0 ! the wanton pretentions of the ungodly !
        Remarkable. Though we long ago knew these things             Science, I said, must not. set itself up as God, but
        we nevertheless believe that Jonah .lived three days place itself at His feet and learn;- receive from'God
        inside a big fish (the word whale is not found in the its working hypothesis. Doing so it would refrain from
        original) because God sues so and because we know Concluding that there is no God, that matter is eternal,
        that .a11 things are possible with Him. Whether you and that man is the offspring of an ape.
        swallow the story of Jonah and the whale whole is not.       As to the whale and Jonah, and as to the ark, the
        a matter of knowledge (knowledge in the sense of  in- truth of the  matteris that we are not  asked:to  believe
        formation( but a matter of faith in the testimony and that Jonah was swallowed whole by c1 whale, and that
        power of God.                                             the grqup  of animals housed by the ark was so large
           We likened science with Bagl, - a false deity men as to require a compartment let us  say a thousand times
        of old placed in the roo'm of the true God. The com- larger than the ark of Genesis. Scripture has it that
        parison holds as often as science, as did Satan in Job's Jonah was swallowed up not by a whnle but by a great
        day, presents itself before the Lord and becomes loud- fish,  some great sea monster,  ,now perhaps extinct.
        mouthed by contradicting the Lord to His face. Satan As to the number of .animals sheltered by the ark, it is
        did so. The Lord bade Satan to consider Job, that certain that the variations in the animal world were
        there was none like him in the `earth, a perfect and not as .numerous  then as now. That men like Prof. Day
        upright man, one that feared God and eschewed' evil. insist on speaking of Jonah and the .zr;hnZe instead of
        Said Satan, "No God, it is not as thou  sayest.  `Job Jonah and the great  fish  is representative of an attempt
        fear&h  God for what there is in it for him - for the on their part to shew up Scripture as a record to be
        hedge that thou hast made about him, and ,about his placed in a class with fabulous and mythical literature.
        house,  ,for the increase of his substance. But put          The deposition of Prof. Day attracted, as can be
        forth thy hand now and take all that be h&h, and he       expected, wide .attention,  and provoked many a corn-
        will curse thee to thy face."                             ment. The Birmingham News declares it to be a
                                                                                                        .
           So, too, does unbelieving science dare to pick an tragedy for Howard College. This periodical is quoted
        argument with the Lord. God says that Jonah,  was by The @g&t as saying that, "The point made by him
        swallowed whole by a big fish and lived three days        (Prof. Day) has long been enforced by teachers com-
        inside its belly. Science says, "No, Lord, it cannot be. petent to instruct undisciplined.minds.  It has readily
        During my years of biological experience,- I have been accepted by thousands, of students inclined, or
        studied two kinds of whale, an.d found that it is im- able to think straight." What this News should have
        possible for either of .them  to swallow a man whole, said is that the point made by Prof. Day has long been
        and anyway, Lord, no man could live inside a whale." enforced by teachers, not competent, but incompetent
        Science telling the great and mighty God ,what can to instruct undisciplined minds because of their wanton
        happen and what cannot happen, what He can do and unbelief and disrespect for a Divine testimony.
        .what not do ! Preposterous !                                This same News continues as follows: "What has
           Let science  ltnow its place and  .keep  within its come to pass is a tragedy for Howard .College,  for in-
        province and we have no quarrel with science, Where is tellectual standards of the deep South, for the cause of
        its place? Not on God's throne, in His room, but at truth and virtue wherever either is respected."
        His feet. What is the legitimate province of natural         We ask, Can this be? And the answer is ready:  _
        science, the field where it can operate? Not the un- Not at all. What it is that prompts utterances such as
        seen, but the seen world. The world that can  .be these is the sorded belief that not the declarations of  `an
        directly approached by man's physical sense organs  - infallible God, but the findings of science constitute
        the ear, the. hand, the eye. Science can examine  .the the authoritative standards of  .trdth. Hence to bid
        belly of a whale and by experimentation determine science to hush up when its conclusions militate against

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

  the plain declarations of God is to place in jeopardy                         NHEUWS  UHT ROCK VALLEY
  the cause of truth and virtue. So they reason. It ap-
  pears then, that the issue, correctly stated, reads,  "who            De lezers van ons blad zijn niet getvoon  om veel van
  shall we receive as an authority, God br science?"                ons te hooren. Dat vindt zijn oorzaak ook al mede hier-
         "Dr. Dawson," so the Birmingham News continues, in, dat we niet vele schrijvers in ons midden hebben en
  ,"who failed to. sustain Dr. Day, should know that we gevoelen, dat wanneer er iets op papier wordt gezet
  neither the whale-Jonah story nor the ark's cargo story het  tech zoo'n beetje  goed  opgesteld dient te zijn. We
  even remotely effects even one. prime principle or fun- zullen dan ook met een enkel woord u iets meedeelen
  damental doctrine, either of Judaism or of Christian- omtrent onze gemeente alhier.
  ity.'?  . .                                                           Ons allereerste begin dateert terug tot in het  voor-
     To this must be .replied  that the whale-Jonah story jaar van 1929. We hadden  eigenlijk alreeds een zeven-
  raises the question whether the miracles of. Scripture of achttal  families die nit het oogpunt der waarheid
  can be received as events in history. To deny the op denzelfden grondslag stonden van onze Prot.. Geref.
  Jonah-whale story is to deny the miracle. To kerken. Ds. Hoeksema, evenals Ds. Danhof en Ds. Op-
  do the latter is `to .close  the -door to the doctrine of hoff waren  ons geen onbekenden. De eerstgenoemde
  the incarnate Word. Further, Christ Himself  corrq-               heeft dan ook verscheidene keeren, nog  aleer we  geor-
  berates  the Jonah-whale story. Hence, he discrediting ganiseerd  waren,  voor ons gesproken. En ook de wer-
  this story ,necessarily involves himself in a denial of ken der  "leiders"  destijds uitgegeven alsmede onze
  the veracity of Christ .as a, teacher. To deny the Jonah-         Stun&&  Bearer waren  als zoovele middelen om ons in
  whale story is to declare Christ as imposter.                     en voor te  lichten  aangaande de waarheid, die men in
     The Birmingham News interprets the dicharge'  of 1924 verdraaid heeft. Om verschillende redenen kwam
 .Prof. Day as a curb upon freedom of speech and het echter  in dien eersten tijd niet tot organiseeren.
  opinion. Therein, says he, lies the real tragedy. The We meenden in ons groepje niemand te hebben die in
  truth of the matter is, however, that the issue at stake staat zou zijn om als ambtsdrager te kunnen dierien.
  was not that of freedom of speech and opinion. Prof. Vervolgens ging het kort daarop oogenschijnlijk ook
  Day can believe as he likes, and broadcast his views verkeerd in de pas gestichte gemeente te Hull. Echter
over the length and breadth of this land. The question langer wachten durfden we niet en konden we ook met.
  raised by the .Day-dismissal  is whether an institution We kerkten in den tusschentijd te Doon,  ook we1 in
  of learning must permit anyone to polute its atmos- Hull en Sioux Center.
  phere by the propogation of such views of God and                    Doch in het voorjaar van 1929 trokken,we  de stoute
  Scripture deemed blasphemous by this institution.                 schoenen aan en begonnen geregeld des Zondagsavonds
                   ,                                   G. M. 0.     dienst te houden in een daartoe gehuurd oud huis. De
                                                                    beide Dss. Vos en Verhil traden bij beurte op. Lang
                                                                    zijn we daar echter  niet geweest want al spoedig waren
                                                                    we in de gelegenheid iets  beters te kunnen  huren; een
                             BEDE                                   oude "garage" waar we dan ook tot dat onze kerk klaar
                                                                    was geweest zijn. Van  toen af kwamen ook de  stu-
           0 Heiland, die U zelf verzaaktet,                        denten bij beurte uithelpen ,en zoodoende hadden we
              Toen  Gij den weg uws lijdens koost,                  niet alleen des avonds,  doch ook des morgens geregeld
         Opdat Gij zondaars zalig maaktet,                          dienst. In den zomer van 1928  bracht Ds. H. Hoek-
              Schenk mij altijd dien liefdetroost.                  sema met de*zijnen  zijn vacantie. door in het , Westen.
           Dat allen,  die zichzelf  mistrouwen,                    De commissie die zijn optreden geregeld had was ons
           En slechts op uwe genade bouwen,                         in dezen ter wille en Ds. H. H. preekte voor ons ken
             Bestand  zijn tegen alle kwaad ;                       drietal Zondag  avonden. De garage, zoo meenden we,
           Ook tegen elke pijl des Boozen,                          was te klein en zoo huurden we een zaal, die anders
          Die tot ons zielsverdriet gekozen,                        voor "show" gebruikt werd.  We1 een  schrille tegen-
              In `t hart zoo diepe wonden  slaat.                   stelling anders ! Dit vergaderlokaal was "up stairs"
                                                                    en boven de buitendeur die we door moesten om de
           Leer ons met vreugd Uw naam belijden ;                   trappen   o,p te gaan stond op een zwart bord met  witte
              Schenk ons den  waren Christenmoed,                   letters geschreven het onstichtelijke: "The show is up
           Opdat de boosheid  onzer  tijden                         stairs." Nu ja, het was ook maar voor drie Zondag
              Aan onze ziel geen schade  doet.                      avonden.  Er was in. die zaal een electrische meter
           Dat wij alom ons mogen toonen,                 .         waar, zou het licht branden,  telkens een kwartje in ge-
           Als uit uw gunst geboren zonen                           daan moest worden. En waar we dit niet wisten daar
              En docht'ren, die `uw Heilandsnaam               '    gebeurde het op een'zondagavond  dat Ds. H. H. preek-
           Verheffen boven  alle namen                              te dat .plotseling  het licht uitging en we in de donker-
           Die ooit op onze  lippen kwamen,       '                 heid zittende de, rest der predikatie aanhoorden, iets
              En maak ohs tot uw dienst bekwaam.                    wat ons daarna niet meer overkwam.


                                       T H E .   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R   .                                    2x

   Toen brak  *bet oogenblik  aan, in den zomer van rijken zegen. We hooren de aloude waarheid van Zon-
1928, dat we ons `als huisgezinnen  tot gemeente organi- dag tot Zondag. We kunnen onze kinderen  toevertrou-
seerden. ,In de ruime kerk te Hull vond dit plaats. Ds. wen aan onzen leeraar, die hen in die waarheid,  die ons
H. H. sprak een predikatie uit, waarna een.  10tal  hun lief is, onderwijst. We houden des Zondagsmorgens en
namen opgaven en we georganiseerd werden. We kozen             `s namiddags dienst, terwijl het jonge volk `s avonds
uit ons midden  twee ouderlingen en een diaken, die vergadert met  onzen Ds. Van deze gelegenheid wordt
denzelfden avond door Ds. Verhil bevestigd werden. gretig,gebruik gemaakt, zelfs door jongelui die niet tot
W.e.zijn  kort daarop begonnen om plannen te beramen de gemeente behooren. Dat de Heere verder onzen  leer-
voor een eigen kerkje. En na ons ingespannen te heb-           aar tot een rijken  zegein.  moge stellen, is ons aller
ben'zagen we diee arbeid in Feb. 192,9,  we hadden toen        wensch.
ook Classisvergadering in Hull, bekroond. Bij het in              We bedanken bij dezen de Faculteit der school die
gebruik nemen spraken de beide leeraren, Ophoff des ons zoo goed  van.studenten  voorzag. Tevens Ds. Vos
mid.dags  en Hoeksema des avonds, eene predikatie uit. en onze  Consulent.  (destijds) Ds. Verhil, `die ons in
We  waren blijde. Eerst in het oude huis, toen naar de dezen met raad en daad hebben bijgestaan.
garage  en  eindelijk in ons eigen, zij het dan klein,  ge-       Maar bovenal  een, ootmoedig  danken gericht tot
riefelijk en net .zoowel  als doelmatig kerkgebouw.            Hem van Wien we alles hebben ontvangen en die ons
                                                               ook niet beschaamd heeft.          ;
                                                                              Namens den Kerkeraad,
                                                                                                .BAS LEMS, Scriba.



                                                                    CALVIN AND  S!i'RQNG EXPRESSIONS
                                                                                          II

                                                                  In our previous article we discovered the striking
                                                               fact, that the enemies of John Calvin stumbled' over the
                                                               same points of his teaching as did our opponents in
                                                               1924 with respect to  oilr doctrine. It was chiefly Cal-
                                                               vin's .conception  of God that constituted the point of
                                                               attack; particularly when the Reformer emphasized the
                                                               most absolute sovereignty of the Almighty with re-
                                                               spect to sin and all the works of darkness and in rela-
                                                               tion to the damnation of those that are lost. And so,
                                                               we found, our enemies attacked us from all sides espe-
                                                               cially on this point of doctrine and with one accord
          Kerkgebozw  van de Prot. Geref. gemeente             they insinuated that we .presented  God as if He were
                    te  Rock Valley, Ia.     _                 the Author of sin. His sovereignty over sin and all the
                                                               works of the devil was the stumblingblock. True, they
   In Juni 1929 werden een zestal  onzer jonge mannen          feigned to be zealous for the glory of God and to be
candidaat gesteld en tevens beroepbaar gesteld. We filled with horror at the very suggestion that the Holy
dachten eerst dat we we1 met Ben der naburige gemeen-          One might be the Author of sin. But in deepest sense.
ten. samen konden beroepen, doch na wijs beraad en their motive was rebellion against the strict main-
overleg  kwamen we met elkander tot de overtuiging,            tenance of the sovereignty of the Potentate of poten-.
dat als het eenigszins kon, het beter is om een ,eigen         tates.                                           .
leeraar en herder te ,hebben dan om zijn diensten en               But the' possibility must be conceded, that while
arbeid te verdeelen  .over twee gemeenten. De gemeente the enemies of Calvin were wrong, our opponents were
kwam dan ook te iamen, nadat de kerkeraad een ge-. right. It is, of course, conceivable, that although Cal-
steld drietal tweemaal had  doen  aflezen;  bestaande uit vin's enemies and ours show agreement in as far as
de Candd. Kok, Hanko, Camminga, en koos uit deze the mere formal side of their attack is converned,  mate-
drie Candidaat A.  Cammenga.                                   rially they differ. Perhaps we did employ extreme
    Den 25sten September sprak Ds. G. Vos een predi- expressions, which gave our enemies occasion for their
katie uit waarna onze Consulent Ds. Wm. Verhil onze attack; perhaps the Synod of 1924 was right when it
leeraar bevestigde. Wat waren we blij. Nog pas aan called attention to, these strong. expressions and de-
den gang  ,en nu een eigen kerkje en een eigen leeraar' clared that they could not very well be harmonized
(en natuurlijk ook juffrouw). `De Heere heeft alles with what Scripture and the Confessions teach! And
rijkelijk  we1 gemaakt. Ook nu zijn we dankbaar met Calvin probably never expressed.himself  as boldly and
onze Ds. Stelle de Heere hem met de juffrouw tot een           rashly as  we: did, especially when it concerned the  ques-


 236                                     ` T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

 tion of God's relation to sin and evil. Did not Prof.            of the organic development of the life of created  things,
 Berkhof precisely call attention to this particular fea- that will reveal  that God does all His good pleasure"
 ture of Cnlvin's Calvinism, when he wrote his review              (quoted.from  p. 172, Van Zonds en Genads).
 of the book in The Banner? Did he not emphasize that                 The objector  cit'es a few more passages, all relating
 the great Reformer was always careful not to enter               to the same subject,, t& heart -of which is this; that
 curiously into the deep  things- of God?                         God does all His good pleasure also in the manifesta-
    We will, therefore, in order to sustain our point,            tion and development of the power of sin.
that there `is a striking `similarity between Calvin's                Now, what is his objection to these statemelits? He
 enemies  and our opponents,' have to quote, not from expresses it in the following words :
*what Calvin's calumniators wrote against his doctrine,               "The serious question which arises with us as we
but from his own writings.                                        read these `statements, is whe*her  the. dominion of
    Let me, however,  btifore I quote Calvin, make one darkness is not  beine co-ordinated too mueh with the
more  cit&tion from the objections of' our opponents              dominion of light; whether both are  not being pre-
against our extreme doctrine, in order that it may be sented as if they are institutions. of God, ordered ac-
perfectly evident that *we do them no injustice but cording to  .His will, so that the ungodly, when He sins
presetit  their view of the matter fairly and completely.         lives according to God's good pleasure just as well as
    This time  1 will quote  frbm  the pamphlet, written the child of God jn ,his' piety. Another, question that
by R.ev. $!I. M. Schans, and falsely bearing the name urges itself upon us,  is whether these' expressions
Overture from the,  Cons&tory  of the Christian  Re- reckon  sufficien*ly  with the disturbing,  dest&tive
formid  Church  of Kellogsville,  Mich.,  pp. 12,. 13  :- character of sin, against which  the holy and righteous
 (I translate freely but correctly)                               God fights, rather than seeing in sin an accomplish-
    "With regard to the providence of  God  and govern- ment of God's good pleasure."
ment of all things,  the`brethren  Danhof and Hoeksema                Such are  the objections of Rev.`&hans. Of course,
present us with their conception of the organic devel-. this is not the place to criticize him, for it .is not the
opment  of all things in the following terms (Van Zon-            purpose of this essay., Otherwise, one `would not be
de en Genade, p. 86) : `The historical development of able to  resist the  .temptation  of showing that Mr.
the created things, in their mutual relationship, their Schans ahad not even begun to think clearly on the sub-
variation and spiritual alienation, takes place entirely ject, when he tried to train his guns upon us. If you
and exclusively according to the will and counsel of will excuse the platitude, he evidently did not know
God's providence in Christ Jesus'."                               what he was talking about.  How,  bray, could any'
    The reader will understand that .we simply express thinking theologian speak about  too  mu&  co-ordination
in the above quotation that all things, as they now               of the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of- light,
develop through sin and grace, are so determined by as if they could be co-ordinated at all? How, forsooth,
the  ccunsel  of God. There  are. no accidents to God.            could any Reformed theologian raise a question about
Nothing occurs that -was not determined in, the all- the truth, that also the wicked accomplish God's good
comprehensive counsel of the Most High. God always pleasure, just as well as the righteous, if he had learned
did execute and still  egecutes  and will execute His at all to distinguish properly in his own mind  thk
counsel and nothing ever thwatied  or thwarts or will             ethic&l  will of God from the will of His decree? It is
thwart Him in the accomplishment ok `His sovereign plain to any common mind, that Rev.  Sehans  confused
purpose. In this we included (and still include) also these things when he  wrote his pretended overture of
`sin and all the works of the devil. Neither would it be the consistory of Kellogsville.
difficult at all to q@ote- Scripture in defense of this              ,But, as I say, this is not to the point for our present
statement, were such our purpose at present. But it is purpose.
not to the point just now. We want to know what our                  We must compare;
opponents thought of these statements and then com-                  If only it has become plain to our `readers, that the
pare them with similar. statements by Calvin.                     quotations which Rev. Schans mad& from our book,
   From the same book of ours  (Van Zonde en  Giz-                briefly expressed, teach nothing else than that God de-
%&de, p. 156) Schans quotes the followiqg  :                      creed all things and that the  wi&ed as well as  the
   "The case is simply  thus, that every creature re- righteous must accomplish His good pleasure, cannot
ceives gifts,  .talents   and.. opportunities form the do anything' else, so . that. God is sovereign. And,
Creator,  in order to act with these in his own place and, further, that to this Rev. Schans objects, being of the
out of his own life's principles' by ngture  from the prin- opinion that thus the kingdom of darkness becomes an
ciple of sin, and in the regenerated in Christ from the institution of God, in which He takes pleasure.
principle of grace.. And thus originates the organic                 Now let us quote from Calvin. -
develdpment of the living organism. of mankind in con-              The passages in Calvin's Calvin&m,  that reveal the
nection  with.the  whole  qf created things.".                    Reformer's view on this subject, are so numerous, that
   And again:                                                     we could almost quote at `random. We shall, however,
   `"It is exactly the spiritual ethical, antithetical  ,fruit    attempt to select and limit ourselves to the most im-
                      /


                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                           237
                                _
 portant.  Thus he writes (against Pigb.$s)  -on  p. 87 :      human being accusing himself of his own gbilt.  -.But
 -    "Pighius contends that men were so immediately the remote Cause even of the Fall of man,  according.to
 created unto salvation that no counsel of God concern- Calvin is not man, `but God. He had before ordained
 ing the contrary event, namely, his destruction pre- that man should fall, in order that He might glorify
 ceded his creation. .As if the Lord ,did not foresee be- His name and realize His predestinating p&pose  of
 fore man was created what his future condition would election and reprobation.
 be! And as. if He did not afore time what it was His will         There is a good deal more to be quoted on this sub;
 should be done! Man, that he might be the image of ject. But in  this issue we have no more `room.
 God, was adorned from' thk first with the light of rea-           Yet, even at this stage we are warranted in asking
 son. Therefore (as our opponent would reason), God the question: Did not Rev.  Schans  really object to Cal-
 being  (to. speak reverently) blind, foresaw  not  all vin's doctrine, when he raised the questions  tie quoted
 events, but waited in doubt and suspense .for the issue above?-   /                                   1
 of those evknts ! Such is Pighius' theological reason-           And would not the Synod of 1924 have  i&eluded
 ing! Such are the antecedents and  consequents  of his these quotations  frond  Calvin's  Ccdvinism  in its list of
 logic ! Hence, he boldly concludes from his view of the strong expressions, which they deemed hardly recon-
 end of man's creation, that God so disposed the crea-' cilable with Scripture and.  the Confessions,. and  esp&
 tion of all men, that they  should all at their creation cially with the Three Points?
 be made (without distinction,  dilTerence  or discrimina-        Indeed, with the Three Pqints they are hardly in
 tion) partakers of His goodness and blessedness; But harmony.
 godly minds  can  by no means whatever be brought to             But the reason is, that these latter  depart from Cal-
 recoticile God's  election and.reprobation  of nien thus. vin, and from the Word of God, and from. the Confes-
They cannot harmonize by such carnal. reasoning the sions !
.voIuntary  sin of inan and the eternal purpose of God.                                                          H. H:
 They cannot see with these human eyes, how it was
 that man should be pl'aced in that condition when first
 created, that he himself, falling by his own'will, should           AN!CWOORD  OP DE VRAAG VAN B. W.
 be the cause of his own destruction  ; and yet that it was      Gaarne  vpldoe ik aan het verzoek van den redacteur
 so ordained  by the secret and eternal purpose of God om'de  vraag  van broeder B.  W. te beantwoorden. Te
-that this voluntary destruction to the human race, and meer omdat het in een zeker opzicht   ga,at over een
to all the posterity of Adam; should be a  cause for the stichtelijk  woord gesproken door sehrijver dezes over
 saints humbling themselves before God, and  worship-          Psalm  99 :l.                                '
 ping His eternal purpose in the whole . . . . "                  De  breeder  zegt, dat als hij goed  verstaan h$eft, de
      Here, mark y?U,  Calvin  ridicbles  the idea' of `his    spreker  in verbancl met dit v&s gezegd heeft, dat de
 opponent;  that+he  fall of man was not  sd ordained by cherubim geen  epgelen zijn. Rersounlijk  kan de spre-
 God. The ppponent reasoned that God's original pur- ker niet zeggen of hij dit we1 gezegd heeft, ja dan neel.
 pose  was to. make all men blessed in Adam ! For that Weliswaar  is het volgende gezegd; "Drie soorten die-
pur.pose  He had created him and placed him in Para- naren heeft dien God, die  -regeert  : engelen, cherubim.
 dise;` And now He was awaiting the issue and `ivatched        en seraphim. De engelen, cherubim' en seraphim heb-
 what man should do! No, Calvin says, thus we cannot ben dit gemeen, dat ze allen dienaren  Gods zijn. De
 reconcile things with the secret purpose of God !             engelen voeren Gods wil uit op aarde. De cherubim
 Though we may not be able $0 solve the problem of the zijn dienaren des gerichts. De. seraphim staan rond
 origin of sin, and though our human eyes cannot see Zijn troon, en .roepen  altijd uit `Heilig, heilig, heilig.'
 how man could. voluntctrily  fall,. yet in harmony' with Deze cherubim  en seraphim bestaan- ook inderdaad.
 the  predestinating  purposes of God, this last  be;main-     De seraphim openbaren zich niet, omdat ze:rond  den
 tained nevertheless. -4dam fell according to the `pre- troon blijven, maar de cherubim openbaren zich aan
 ordained counsel of God!                                      ons in den vorm  Tin schepselen." (Dit is letterlijk nit
      Still more clearly the Reformer expresses this same. de uitgeschreven preek genomen.)           Hieruit dan kon
truth in the following sentence:                               de broeder misschien zijne conclusie  getrokken hebben.
      "`If, then, nothing can prevent a man from acknowl- Hoe dat ook &j, als. de spre%er uitdrukkelijk gezegd
 edging that the first origin pf his ruin was from Adam, heeft dat  ,de cherubim geen engelen zijn, dan heeft hij
and if each man finds the proximate cause of. his ruin niet letterlijk gezegd  wat hij neergepend had. .En dat
in himself, what can prevent. o& faith from acknowl-           is zeer we1 mogelijk. Dan is dit hem ontglipt. Dat aan
edging afar off, with all sobriety, and adoring with  all      d&n eenen kant.
humilitf,  that remote secret counsel of God by which           Aan den anderen kant, moet  tech erkend  worden
the Fall of man zqas thus pre-ordained?" p. 91.                dat het we1 voor het bewustzijn van den &hrijver leeft,
      Calvin. makes the distinction repeatedly between dat de cherubim geen engelen zijn. Daar  wilde hij
the remote and proximate cause, of sin. The proximate echter niet op. ingaan, wijl dit te veel tijd zou eischen.
 cause we find in ourselves, the conscience of every           De cherubim zijn terdege, in zekeren zin, geen engelen.


 I

                                            T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                          239

          Dit is de. beschouwing die ten grondslag van de            and strengthened, their eyes growing  more blinded,
      preek over Ps. 99:l lag; De spreker heeft daarmede their hearts more hardened against Christ. This con-
, in  verband  Jes. 6 gelezen. Dat deed hij in de  aller-            trast appears to have struck the mind of our Lord him-
: eerste plaats om het oog der gemeegte  op de troongees-            self. It was in the ,temple,  .the. only place w'here he
ten Gods te vestigen. In de tweede plaats omdat het could meet his fellow men, while under the ban of the
zeer   we1 mogelijk is, dat de seraphim te vereenzelvigen Sanhedrin, that the healed man met Jesus. They may
      zijn  me`t de cherubim, alhoewel het  waar  is, dat de have been alone or nearly so, when Christ put the ques-
      Schrift  hiertoe geen aanleiding geeft. Persoonlijk  wil- tion, "Dost thou believe on the Son of God?" and
      len we ze niet vereenzelvigen, ma& somrnigen  doen  het having got the ansprer which shewed what readiness
tech. In de derde plaats lazen we dit voor omdat we ,there  was to receive further light, made  the great dis-
daar de  schoone   ternaar,  nl., "Heilig, heilig, heilig" closure of His divinity. Soon, however, a number of
I vinden. En van die heiligheid Gods wordt  oak tot Pharisees approach, attracted by the interview. As he
1 driemaal tqe gesproken in Ps. 99, en dat we1 in vs. 3, vs.         sees, compared, contrasts the two  - the man and them
      5 en vs. 9. En dan kwam hier nog  idij, dat er drie - He says, "For judgment am I come into this world,
;  psalmen  zijn in het derde gedeelte van het boek der that they which see not" (as the poor bIind beggar)
; `psalmen  (d. i., van Psalm 90 tot aan Psalm. 107) die "may see, and that they which see? (the Pharisees)
      ingeleid.  worden  met de woorden  "De Heere regeert."         "might be made blind."      The Pharisees  are not so
      Zoo was er liieti tot driemaal toe sprake van de  hei.lig-    blind as not to perceive the drift and bearing of t,his.
      heid des Heeren van wien drie keer gezegd  was dat Hij        speech. They mockingly inquire, "Are we blind also ?"
      regeerde'.  Nu in Jes. 6 werd de heiligheid des Heeren        "If ye were blind," is our Lord's reply' - utterly  blind,
      door .de seraphijnen den Heere toegezongen. Wij  stel-        hkd no power or faculty, of vision, "ye should have no
len het ons voor, dat de seraphijnen  eeuwiglijlr  voor sin: but now ye say, we see." "You think you see.
      Gods aangezicht staan, en Hem toezingen, "Heilig,             You pride yourselves and .seeing  so. much more and
      heilig, heilig." Daarom hebben we in Psalm 99 mis- better than others. Unconscious of your existing blind-
, schien een aardsche echo van dat gezang, gezongen .ness, you will not come to me to have your eyes opened ;
      door de kerk op aarde. Zoo kwam dit alles ons voor.           will not submit to: the humbling operations of  My
      En dit alles. diende ter inleiding van bet. thema "De         hands: therefore your sin remaineth, abides, apd ac-
      Heere regeert." In het verdere van de preek werd er cumulates upon you. Here was a poor stricken sheep,
      niets gezegd, dat aanleiding zou kunnen geven, zoover whom you, claiming to be the shepherds of the flock,
      we wet&,  om de gedachte te vekwekken  dat de preek has cast out from your fold, whom I have sought and
      alszoodanig in verband stond met Jes. 6. Tech  schijnt        found. Let' me tell you who and what a gopd shep-
      het mij  we1 toe dat de broeder dezen indruk gekregen herd of God's flock is. He is one that enters by the
      heeft.. Het had beter geweest als ik mijzelven meer           door into the sheepfold, to whom the porters opens
      nauwketirig  had uitgedrukt.                                  readily the door, whose voice the sheep are quick to
         De vraag van den broeder is nu  .volledig   beant-         recognize, who calleth his sheep by name, going before'
      woord, hopen we. Is dit niet zoo, dan zegge hij het them and leading them out. He is a stranger, a thief,
      maar, of he'eft hij no& iets te vragen, dan doe hij dat.      and a robber, and no true shepherd of the sheep, who
      Anders laten we het hierbij.                                  will not enter by the door, but climbeth up some other
                                              P.  DE  BOER          way." Acute enough to perceive that this was said
                                                                    concerning: human shepherds generally, leaders or
                   ,                                                `pastors, of the people ; intended to distinguish the true
                                                                    amorig  such from the false, and that same aliusion to
                                                                    themselves was intended, Christ's hearers were yet at
                        THE GOOD SHEPHERD                           a loss to know what the door could be of which he was
         The blind beggar of Jerusalem was healed. How speaking, and who the thieves and robbers were. Drop-
      different the impression and the  effect of this healing ping, therefore, all generality and all ambiguity, Jesus
      upon the man himself, on the one side, and the Phari-         adds, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door df
      sees, his excommunicators, on. the other. He a poor the sheep." I have been, I am, I ever shall be, the one
      educated, yet simple minded, simple, hearted man,             and only door of exit and of entrance, both for shep-
      grasping with so firm .a hold, and `turning to such a herds and for sheep. All that ever came before me,
      good account, the knowledge that he had, and eager to without acknowledging me, independently of me, set-
      have more ; reaping as the fruit of Christ's act of ting me aside, yet pretending to be shepherds of the
      mercy met in such a spirit, the unfolding by our Lord sheep - they are the thieves and the robbers. I am
      himself of His  .highest  character and office ; they, the the door. By me if any man` enter in, whether he
      guides and leaders of the people, so well taught and          claims to be a shepherd, or numbers himself merely as
      so wise, unable to .discredit  the miracle, yet seizing one of the flock - those who are shepherds as to others
      upon the circunist&e  that. it was done on the, Sabbath,      being still sheep as to me - if any man so enter in, he
      aI@ turning this into a reproach, their prejudices fed shall be saved and shall go; in and out and find pasture.

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

   This much being said of the door, the one way of           movement, minute or momentous, by which its prog-
entrance `into  God's. fold, the image of the door is ress is advanced or retarded,. watching each and all
dwrcd,      and without circumlocution or reserve,            with a solicitude as special and particular as if it were
Christ announces himself as the good.  shepherd, and upon it that the exclusive regards of his loving heart"
proceeds to describe his character and work'  as$uch:   : were fixed.
I am the good shepherd, not simply  a'kind and loving            It  was no-vague, indefinite,. indiscriminate good-will
shepherd, as opposed to such as are unkind and harsh to all mankind that Jesus showed when here on earth.
in their treatment of their flock, but I am the one and A large part of the narrative of his life and labors is
the only one in whom all the qualities needful to con-        occupied with the details of his intercourse with in-
stitute the true. and faithful shepherd, meet and cul- dividuals, intended to set forth the special, personal
minate in full and harmonious perfection.                     interest in each,,of  them that he took. Philip brings
   I am the good shepherd, who has already done, who          Nathanael to him. Jesus says, "Before that Philip
waits still to do, that for the, sheep which none other called ,thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw
ever did or could do. On one or two of the qualities thee." ~`Go call thy husband and come hither." "I
or characteristics which Christ here claims for him- have no husband," the woman of Samaria.  answers.
self, as wearing and executing the office, let us now Jesus says, `"Thou hast well said thou hast no husband,
fix our thoughts.                                             for thod hast had five. husbands, and he whom thou
   He sets before us the minute personal interest that now  hast is not thy husband; in that sayest thou truly."
he takes in each individual member of his flock. "He A lone afllicted  woman'creeps  furtively near him, that
calleth his own sheep by name and leadeth them out." she may touch but-the hem of his garment; she is
The allusion here is to the fact that the Eastern shep- healed but must not go away imagining that she  was
herds did give a separate name to each separate sheep,. unseen, unrecognized. Zaccheus climbs up into the
.who came in time to know .it, and, on hearing it, to         sycamore, expecting simply to get a sight of him as he
follow at the shepherd's call. It is thus that, when passes by. Christ comes up, stops before the tree, looks
Isaiah would set forth the relation which the great LIP,  and says, "Zaccheus, make hast and come down, for
Creator. stands to the starry hosts, he represents Him today I must abide at thy house."  "Cur friend Lazarus
as leading them out at night as a shepherd leadeth out sleepeth." "Simon, Simon, Satan bath desired to have
his sheep. "Lift up your eyes, and behold who bath, you, that he may sift you as wheat, but I have prayed
created these things ; that bringeth out their hosts by' for thee, that thy faith fail not." Too numerous to go
number: he calleth them all by names." It is mere on quoting thus, were the manifestations of personal
general knowledge  .-- general care  - that the great and particular regard shown by Jesus before his
Creator possesseth and exercises. Tllere'is  not a single death. And when he rose from the sepulcbre,  he rose
star in all that starry hosts unnoticed, unguided, un- with the same heart in him for special aBections. It-
named The eye that seeth all, sees each as distinctly was the risen Saviour who put the-message into the .
as if it alone were before it. The hand that guideth all, angel's lips,  f`Go,tell  the disciples and Peter that he is
guides each as carefully as if it alone had to be directed    risen from the dead." And when he aseended up to
by it. So it is with Jesus and with the great multitude heaven, he carried the same heart with him to the
of redeemed. Singling each out of that vast company, throne. "Saul, Saul, why persecuteth thou me?" There
"I have redeemed thee: I have called thee by name,            was not one of those, his little ones, whom Saul was
thou art mine." ."I have graven thou name on the persecuting, that he did not identify with himself. No
palms of my hands, to be ever there  .before  mine eye. vague, indefinite, indiscriminate super-intendence, is
To him that overcometh will I give a white stone, and that which the Good Shepherd still exercises  .over  his
on the stone a new name written, which no man flock, but a care that particularizes each separate mem-
knoweth  saveth he that receiveth it." Individual names ber of it, and descends to the minutest incidents of
are given to mark off individual objects, to separate their history.
each, visibly and'distinctly, from all others of the same                                                  G. M:O.
kind. A.`new  island. is discovered,' its discoverer gives
to it its new name. In that island as distinguished
from all other islands, its discoverer takes ever after-.
wards a special interest.. In that instrument, as dif-                               NOTICE
ferent from all others, a like special interest is taken         A special meeting of the Reformed Free Publishing
by its inventor. Another human spirit is redeemed to Association is to be held Monday, Feb. 17, in the base?
God: its Redeemer gives to it its new name, and for-
ever afterwards in that Spirit he takes a living, per- ment of the First Protestant Reformed Church of
sonal, peculiar interest: bending over it  continuahy         Grand Rapids. This is very important, so be sure and
with infinite tenderness, watching each doubt, each come.
fear, each trial, each temptation, each fall, each rising                     By order of the Board,
again, each conflict, each victory, each defeat,  every                                             Per Secretary.


