8                                                       T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
         -"  -..............,..   ^ .-_^-_    "     -_^  -...^  _^^~-_---                  - -_- _-.- ~
                                                                             fraught with meaning and most rich in instruction.
        Jacob at Ephrath and Edar                                               As has already been pointed out, Bethel was the
     Jacob and his company came to Bethel, the house                         one place on earth Jacsb  had been taught to regard
of God. Here in keeping with his vow he built  an                            as the house of God where men dwell in the very pres-
altar, and called the place El-beth-el: "because' there                      ence of the Almighty. Here he had seen that for him
God appeared unto him, when he fled from the face                            heaven and earth is joined by a stairway peopled with
of his brother."                                                             angels. `Here as was said, the Lord had assured his
                                                                             troubled soul that He would  be with him, would keep
     Here at Bethel, after the vow had been  payed and                       him in all places whether h.e would go, and would bring
the household had been ordered to put away the                               him again into this land. Having awakened out of
strange gods, to be clean, and to change its garments,                       his sleep, Jacob had said, "Surely this is the house of
God appeared unto Jacob again and said, "Thy name                            God, and this is the gate of heaven." Before leaving,
is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more                              he had vowed a vow, saying, "If God will be with me
Jacob, but Israel shall be  t,hy name: and he called his                     and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give
name Israel." And the Lord continued, "I am God                              me bread to eat and raiment to put on, so that I come
Almighty: be fruitful and  qultiply ; a nation and a                         again to my father's house in peace; then shall the
company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall                         Lord be my God: and this stone which I have set for
come out of thy loins; and the land which I gave                             a pillar, shall be God's house : and of all that thou
Abraham arid Isaac, to thee will I give it, and to thy                       shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee."
seed after thee will I give the land."                                          In the deep sense, the house of God is Christ and
     The blessing bestowed upon Jacob now is as to                           the community of believers in whom God dwells by
its essence the original theocratic blessing. No new                         His spirit, so that, rightly considered, the stone could
elements were added.                          However, the phraseology of    do service only as the signification of that particular
which the Lord now avails Himself, differs somewhat                          place in Canaan where man could be with God. From
from the phraseology He had used when blessing                               this it follows that Jacob's statement, "this stone shall
Jacob some twenty years ago at this same place.  Then                        be God's house" was equal to the promise that upon
the Lord had said, "And thy seed shall be as the dust                        his return he would'press on to Bethel to be with God
of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the weLt,                      and to erect at this place the outward symbol of com-
and to the east, and to the north, and to the south:                         munion with God, to wit, the altar.
and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of                           Jacob has come again to the land of his nativity ;
the earth be blessed."                         Now Jacob heard the Lord      but instead of pressing on to Bethel to pay his vow,
say, "a nation and an assembly of nations shall be of                        he tarries for some  eieGen   years. at Shechem. That
thee,  and~.kings  shall come out of thy loins." This                        this prolonged residence at Shechem met with the
latter wording, as compared with the former, is                              Lord's disapproval is evident enough from the abduc-
majestic and magnificent. The seed that shall be as                          tion of Dinah, from the resultant inauguration of the
the dust of the earth and shall spread in all  directions                    wholesale slaughter of the Shechemites by the enraged
until it covers the entire face of the earth, will be an                     brothers, and finally from the silence of the God who
assembly of nations constituted of kings, or in tire                         blesses - a silence that was not broken until Jacob
words of the apostle, a chosen generation, a royal                           had paid his vow.     It was especially this reticence
priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people to show                        that proves so conclusively that Jacob did evil in the
forth the praises of Him by whom this people is called                       sight of the Lord by his postponement of the paying
out of darkness into His marvelous light.                                    of the vow. Not until the members of Jacob's house-
     There is still another difference to be noticed.                        hold had put away their strange gods and had changed
Jacob for the first time hears the self-applied title of                     their garments, not until Jacob had arrived at Bethel
God, "I am God Almighty." It was a title or name                             and built there an altar unto the Lord, did the Lord
that gendered the faith that He is a God capable of                          bless him anew, as He had  never blessed him before.
great things, capable of fulfilling promises that, as                           How great the mercies of the Lord ! For eleven
viewed from the point OS view of nature, seems im-                           years Jacob had put off coming in the  dust before the
possible of  fulfilment.  In agreement with the prom-                        Lord  +n  His house  and praising Him in His sanctuary
ise of the Almighty, Sarah at the age of ninety had                          for past favors, put off, in a word, appearing before
given birth to a son. And in agreement with the                              the face of God at Bethel to say unto him, "Thou art
promise of the Almighty, Jacob shall be fruitful and                         my God." When, after a season of spiritual lethargy,
multiply, an assembly of nations, a royal priesthood,                        his revived soul does say this at the appointed  place,
shall come forth-out of his loins.                                           his God is at hand to forgive, to bless, and to comfort
     The question arises why it was that at El-beth-el                       him for His name's sake. Jacob's negligence was of a
Jacob received this more magnificent revelation of the kind that had called for the rod. And the L&d had
purposes of God. The answer to this question will                            not spared him. How could He? Jacob was a son,
bring out that Jacob's return to Bethel is  zn event loved and therefore chastened. This chastening he


                                       T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                          9
- ." ..--. ""-"l.""..-    _-_-                                   ., ,_ ^^--                                     ..-  - -
endured. Under the hand of the Almighty, he humbled            she rather be than with the son of her deceased
himself and thus showed himself up as a son indeed.            mistress? And what would she rather be doing than
In response to the voice of God, he orders his house-          be talking about the one woman whom she loved as
hold purged. Soon he is in Bethel, where he prostrates         her very own soul? Rebekah was one of God's just
himself before the Lord. How evident that the Lord             ones ; and the memory of the just is blessed.
had wrought wonderfully in him.                                    How long Deborah lived after having joined her-
                                                               self to Jacob's household, is not, stated. However, in
                                                               these years of whatever number she seems to have
                                                               endeared herself to every member of this household ;
        Shortly after the arrival of the patriachal  family for when she died there was weeping. Therefore the
at Bethel, two of its members were overtaken by death :        name of the oak under which she was buried, was
Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, and Rachel.                          called the oak of weeping.
       "But Deborah Rebekah's nurse died, and she was              Jacob the master, weeping beside the. grave of a
buried beneath Bethel under an oak: and the name  .,f          servant, yea, a slave! This after all, Deborah was, a
it was called  the oak of weeping."                            slave.
        Deborah was Rebekah's nurse, and Rebekah was               Especially in our modern age, social reformers
the wife of Isaac. This nurse, then, with the consent          have arisen who denounced slavery as the bane of
of the aged Isaac, surely, had left Isaac, who was still       society. They were believed. The result was that at
alive and residing at Mamre, to be with Jacob. The             least in our land, slavery as a system, as an institu-
change of residence of this servant shows that her             tion, was abolished. What men, especially in our day,
mistress, Rebekah, had died. It also shows that her            ought to see, however, is that the `fault lies not with
attachment for Jacob was great. Though now an old              the system, but with the men and women in whom the
man, he was still her darling trust. She had held him system takes on flesh and blood. At the root of all
in her arms, when he was a babe. She had been a our social ills lies sin. When both the slave and the
second mother to him, when he was a lad. As a grown-           slaveholder fear God, as did Jacob and this nurse, the
up son in the house of his father, she had been a              slave is a brother to his master and the master is a
comrad  to him, as well as his mother. He was in all           brother to his slave. When the employer  is a  child of
likelihood the product of the joint godly training of          the devil, the employee is the real slave. He is free
her and his mother. In the season of his childhood             in name only. Deborah, and this holds true of all the
she with patience had listened to his chatter, had shared      servants of these patriarchs, was very well off as a
his griefs, had rebuked him when ill-deserving quite slave of Isaac and of Jacob, much better off than the
as well perhaps as his mother. And in the season of            workman of today who must starve in the shadow of
his manhood, she had stood by him with her counsel             the mansion of the employer living sumptuously. Is
in his moments of perplexity, had spoken according to          not the spectacle of Jacob, weeping beside the grave of
his heart, in his moments of despondency. When from this nurse, a testimony to the fact that most any
the res;ults  of his sin he was compelled to flee TV Haran,    system would do, if man  h&d the fear of `God in his
she, too, was sad and with impatience had awaited              heart.     How utterly senseless then to pass by the
his return. Years had gone by, his mother perhaps              heart of man and bend every effort to have the system
had long ago died, and still he tarried. Would she             changed in the firm belief that the change will bring
ever see him again? She feared for she was old. Then           relief.
it happened one day that tiding was brought to her
that Jacob had come back and was residing at Shechem.
She was glad.                                                      Having  payed his vow, Jacob journeyed from
        As for Jacob, once in Canaan his thoughts had          Bethel to Ephrath which is Bethlehem. It was at this
turned to this old nurse. He was eager to have her             new place of residence, that Rachel, who was with
with him; so he sent for her and thus she became a child, travailed. Her labour  was hard. Yet from the
member of his family.                                          assuring word of the midwife, "Fear not, for thou
        Jacob loved this old nurse, and therefore took her     shalt have this child also" it seems that in her great
to him. Besides, his mother had lived the final lapse          anguish she could still be tortured by the thought that
of her life during his absence. In the events of this          her child would die ere it could be delivered. The
life, no matter how unimportant they might be, Jacob           child, however, was born, and was named by the
was deeply interested. What had she been doing all             mother, as her soul was departing, Benomi, meaning,
the years of his exile? What had she been saying?              son of my grief.
What had she talked about most? How had she borne                  Rachel's fear that the child in her womb was
up under the loss of her son? Had the prospect of              doomed to death, shows that her desire for seed had
never seeing her again on this side of  t,he grave,            been intense. Her desire was deeply religious as it
taken the joy out of her life? Who could tell him              was frought with the pious hope she cherished of be-
better than this old nurse? And with whom would                coming the  ancestress of the Redeemer.

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

      Some hundreds of years later the Chaldean con-         aran. Thus Jacob returned home to his father laden
queror assembled at  Rama  the last band of Israelites       with the blessings of the covenant.
for deportation to Babylon. The true people of God              There were twelve sons. This number often re-
weep, for they think that the church is doomed to a occurs in Scripture. There were twelve sons, twelve
hopeless exile. Their sorrow as to its nature is the         tribes, twelve apostles, and twelve fundamental forms
sorrow of Rachel their ancestral mother. Therefore           of the New Testament Church. Twelve is the number
it is that she rises before the eye of the prophet as        of completeness consecrated unto God.
breaking forth into disconsolate grief at seeing her            Now follows the notice of Isaac's death. "And the
offspring tore ruthlessly from her side, and banished        days of Isaac were an hundred and fourscore years.
from God's land and thus, so she thought, from God.          And Isaac gave up the ghost, and died, and was  gath-
In her spiritual kin at Rama she weeps, and she weeps        ei-ed unto his people, being old and full of days ; and
as often as the oppressed church in seasons of his sons Jacob and Esau buried him."
despondency is tortured by the thought that her chil-           "And his sons Jacob and Esau buried him." This
dren are not. Thus saith the Lord: A voice was heard does not mean that Esau was now a changed man; that
in  Rama, lamentations and bitter weeping; Rachel            in the true sense he had become reconciled with his
weeping for her children refused to be comforted for         brother and thus with God; that the covenant he had
"her children because they were not." Though she             first despised, he now accepts. Nay, in his bosom still
weeps, Rachel has cause for rejoicing, for her children lurked the old hostility to things holy. What hap-
shall come again from the land of the enemy. There-          pened is that the tidings of the death of his father had
fore, "Thus said the Lord: Refrain thy voice from stirred his natural filial affection. It was in response
weeping and  thine eyes from tears . . . .  " (Jer.          to the promptings of this love that he had set out for
X:16).                                                       Hebron to bury his father. This done, he takes his
      It is remarkable that she who in her great vexation leave and resolves to be done forever with Jacob, the
had said, "Give me children or else I die" is parted by      priest and prophet of the most high God. He leaves
death from the desired child, Then, too, it was a            and retreats to his stronghold in Seir, to the earthly,
death in the very presence of the temporary rest so          foundationless kingdom, he by his sword had estab-
long desired - the rest at Mamre, which is Hebron,           lished. At heart Esau was an adversary to Jacob from
"where Isaac and Abraham sojourned."           So Jacob the very beginning. And an adversary he remained
came to his father with Leah only. The wife he had           through the ages in his generations. There was to be
loved his father never saw. Leah, the wife who truly sure a tie of natural. love that  binded him to his
loved him, but to whose love he. had never responded         brother; but this tie, being weak, snapped under the
as he ought, - Leah was with him when he came unto strain of a vile spiritual animosity, so that Esau was
Isaac his father.                                            seen to go his way to dwell alone in Seir far from the
      Rachel had died. Her grave could be found in the sacred symbols of the  .true religion of his brother. He
way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem ; for upon this           could not do otherwise ; for he was the very personifi-
grave Jacob had set  4 pillar. Having thus marked the cation of darkness, as Jacob, in respect to the `heart
very spot where she lay, he had passed on with his           of his dispositions, was a child of light. Whereas light
head sunk just a little lower than heretofore. But he hath no communion with darkness, this separation had
possessed her child, the child of her pain, Benomi. The to come.
name was not to his liking. As often as he would take           Yet the ostensibIe  reason for this separation was
it upon his lips, the wife he had to leave behind would      the size of their respective herds. We read, "And
rise before his mind in all her sorrow of those final,       Esau took his wives and his sons, and his daughters,
fatal hours. So he called him Benjamin, meaning, son and all the persons of his house, and his cattle and all
of my right hand, for, as one writer suggests, he  filled    his beasts, and all his substance, which he had got in
up the quiver of the twelve mighty sons.                     the land of Canaan; and went into the country from
      Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth the face of his brother Jacob. For their riches were
every son whom he received. And Jacob received stroke        more than that they might  dwel1 together; and the
upon stroke. While he perhaps was in Hebron, Reuben,         land wherein they were strangers could not bear them
the eldest son, became guilty of incest; of a lustful        because of their cattle. Thus dwelt Esau in mount
deed of impiety. And Israel heard of it. Whether he          Seir." The sacred narrator adds, "Esau is Edom."
reproved this wicked son, is not stated. Perhaps he          Edom the profane, who sold the birthright he despised
kept silence for the time being. If so, it was the           for a pot of food. It is plain, that the addition, Esau
silence of grief. Reubens crime occasioned the loss of is Edom sets forth the real reason for his going into
his birthright.                                              the country from the face of his brother Jacob.
      The sacred narrator now enumerates the sons of            Esau lives alone and through the ages stands in
Jacob by name after their several mothers, as if in          the relation of a malicious brother of Jacob.      He is
presenting them to Isaac their grandfather. With the         thus the type of the Antichrist. His hatred, though at
exception of Renjamin, they were all born in Padan-          times. subsiding, as when he  fell weeping on his


                                          T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                           11

     brother's neck on the occasion of the return of the            these passages do teach is that Edom shall be brought
     latter to his native land, became permanently actual           to utter ruin, and that as an overthrown common-
     as time wore on.  It reached its full limits and ex-           wealth he shall do service as the token of the fierce
     panded to its full development in the assault of  Herod        indignation of the Almighty.
*    upon the life of Jesus.                                           Edom  the reprobated people ! But was not Edom
        Esau in his generations was a people against whom           at the outset of his career blessed by the Lord? some-
     the Lord hath indignation for ever. Saith the Lord:            one may ask. He had wives, and sons and daughters.
     Yet I loved Jacob, and I hated Esau, and laid his              There were many persons in his house. He had cattle
     mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of            and beasts and substance great at the time of his going
     the wilderness. Whereas Edom saith, We are impover-            into the country from the face of his brother Jacob.
     ished, but we will return and build the desolate places ; We answer: Edom was not blessed but, like Pharaoh,
     thus saith the Lord of hosts, They shall build, but 1          raised up that he might be cast down.
     will throw down; and they shall call them the borders             Edom though a reprobate was and is indispensable
     of wickedness, and, The people against whom the                to  .Israel,  to the kingdom of God in the sense that the
     Lord hath indignation for ever."                               scaffold is indispensable to the builders. Edom was
        "And they shall call them the borders of wicked-            indispensable to the development of this kingdom in
     ness . . .  " This statement is significant. The wicked-       the same sense that the chaff is indispensable to the
     ness of Esau's posterity assumed such huge propor-             growth and development of the wheat. The people
     tions as to have become proverbial. His stronghold in          the Lord loveth He scourgeth, and Edom is that
     Seir gained for itself ttie reputation of being a veritable    scourge  - in the hand of God. For this reason the
     cesspool of corruption and profanity.                          sacred narrator, prompted by the Spirit, incorporated
        As a nation, Edom appears in Scripture as the               in his record the tables of the geneology of Esau and
     type and representative of that unhappy portion of             of the Horites  with whom Esau blended so as to form
     humanity, reprobated by the Lord. Some deny this               one people. These tables (chapter 35 of the book of
     and maintain that also in this people was concealed an         Genesis) may be divided into five sections.
     elect nucleus, that therefore Edom, too, had the prom-            The first section is an enumeration of Esau's wives
     ise of salvation. However, the scriptures upon which           and children, and a record of his emigration to and
     this view is made to repose, teach the very opposite.          settlement upon, the mountains of Seir. From this
     The first of these, Isa. 11:14,  reads, "But they shall        section we learn that Esau had three wives:  Adah,
     fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the           Aholibamah, and Bashemath. The first two named
     west; they shall spoil them of the east together: they         were Canaanitish women. The last named, according
     shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab ; and the ,to the table of chapter 36, was the daughter of Ishmael.
     children of Ammon shall obey them."                            These wives jointly bore him five sons: Eliphaz,
        The other passage (Jer. 49  :17) reads, "Also Edom          Jerush, Jaalam, Korah,  Reuel. Esau had grandsons
     shall be desolate; every one that goeth by it shall be         to the number of ten. If there were more their- names
     astonished, and shail `hiss at all tl% pIagues  thereof.       were not given.
     As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and the
     neighbour cities thereof, saith the Lord, no man shall             The second section gives Esau's sons and grandsons
     abide there, neither shall a son of man dwell in it. Be-       as ancestors of tribes. We learn that three of Esau's
     hold he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of         sons and the ten grandsons attained to the distinction
     Jordan against the habitation of the strong; but I will        of heads of tribes.
     suddenly make him run away from her: and who is                    The third section includes the verses  15-19,  and
     a chosen man that I may appoint over her? for who is           gives the names of the Edomitic tribe princes of which
     like me? who will appoint me the time'? and who is             there were thirteen in number. The fourth section
     that shepherd that will stand before me? Therefore,            is a geneology of the  Horites,  the original inhabitants
     hear' the counsel of the Lord, that he hath taken              of the land. The reason for its appearance in the
     against the inhabitants of Teman: Surely the least             above-cited chapter is that, as was said, the Edomites
     of the flock shall draw them out: surely he shall make         were blended with this people. In the book of Job
      their habitations desolate with them. The earth is            the  Horites  appear as a people with a wretched man-
     moved at the noise of their fall, at the cry the noise         ner of living and with evil courses: "For want and
     thereof was heard in the Red sea. Behold, he shall             famine they were solitary; fleeing into the wilderness
     come up and fly as the eagle, and spread his wings             in former times desolate and waste.         who cut up
     over Bozrah: and at that day shall the heart of the            mallows by the bushes, and juniper roots for their
     mighty men of Edom be as the heart of a woman in               meet (they were driven forth from among men, they
     her pangs."                                                    cried after them as after a thief) ; to dwell in the
         A single glance at these passages is sufficient to         cliffs of the valleys, in caves of the earth and in the
      convince one that in them can be found not as much             rocks.    rlmong the bushes they brayed  ; under the
     as a trace of a promise of salvation for Edom. What             nettles they were gathered together. They w&e chil-


12                                   T H E   ST.ANDA'RD   B E A R E R
                                    -._l_____l_"..."^   ^  __II---                --"-._.
dren of fools, yea, children of base men ; they were
viler than the earth" (Job 30 2-8).                                                          Na  Z&en Jaar
      This Horite  table first enumerates seven princes,                       (DE  ~AARVERGADERING   DER  R. F. P. A.)
then their sons and daughters. One of these sons,
Anah by name, is said to have discovered warm springs                    Wat gaat een jaar tech gauw voorbij !
in the desert. Those of the princes who gave their                       Het is, zoo komt het mij voor, nog maar enkele
names to tribes and districts are named once more.                    weken  geleden, dat ondergeteekende een artikel schreef
      The fifth section mentions the kings of the land of over "Ons Zesjarig Bestaan."
Edom. The two opposing Edomite and  Horite  races                        Of is het slechts verbeelding?
merged into one united kingdom. From the fact that                       Zou het ook kunnen zijn, dat ik misschien in al
the kings of the land were, without a single exception,               dien tijd niet genoegzaam lette op den tijd die voor-
Edomites, must follow that the Edomitic element pre-                  bijging, en het daarom aan mij ligt, dat de tijd zoo
dominated.                                                            kort scheen?
      Attending to the tables of these kings, the dis-                   Of, heb ik  miss&en   tech gelijk, en is mijn  ver-
covery is made that in no case does the son succeed                   beelding eene weergave van den indruk dien de werke-
to the father's throne. This in all likelihood indicates              lijkheid op mij maakte, zoodat die beiden identisch
that each king stood in the relation of a usurper of his              zijn?
predecessor, that is, attained to power by violence.                     Laat mij het aan u vragen, geachte lezer: Is dat
      That these kings, as their common ancestor  ESXJ,               ook uw ervaring? Ik hoor alreeds het antwoord: Pre-
were men of violence is also evident from the names of                ties zoo en niet anders.
the cities each selected as the seat of his rule. Thus                   De tijd gaat snel voorbij vodr wie oplet en alles is
king Bela of the city of Dinhaba, meaning, plunder.                   er  schier  op aangelegd om ons dit te verkondigen.
And the name of Jabbab, a name borne by the second                    Goed om ei even bij stil te staan.
king, one who with the howling of the desert breaks                      Mozes, de man Gods, terugziend op zijn wegvlie-
forth from his fatness. Husham seems to have come                     dend leven, stond er bij stil en getuigde: " . . . . En
to power by springing a surprise attack upon his pre- wij vliegen daarheen" (Ps. 90).
decessor. Hadad  was a man of violence, and Samlah                       Vliegen daarheen, niet omdat ons dat toeschijnt,
a political fraud.                                               maar omdat het de werkelijkheid is. En het is alleen
      The godless kingdom of Edom, so it appears, was                 de struisvogel, die  zich verbeeldt door zelfbedrog ook
at once, and how could it be otherwise, a kingdom of             anderen te kunnen misleiden.
internal strife and political convulsions. It thus shows                 Vliegen daarheen blijft het getuigenis van alle
itself up as a kingdom of this earth and therefore as            menschenkinderen, maar vooral van hen wier deel het
the dark reverse of the kingdom of heaven of which               is, den hoogen leeftijd der sterken, zeventig, of die der
the kingdom of Israel in its golden age was the tyre.            zeer sterken, tachtig  jaren, te mogen bereiken.
      All these kings reigned before there reigned any                   Doch dat is nog niet alles.
king over the children of  -Esrael.   Hadad, the fourth                  Op het vliegen daarheen, volgt even snelvliegend - . _
king, must have been a contemporary of Moses since               het einde. Gelijk alles met razende snelheid naar het
he is said to have smitten Midian  in the field of Moab.         einde jaagt, zoo ook, even snel wordt het naar het
                                             G. M. 0.            einde gejaagde  leven,  gevolgd door dat einde zelf. We
                                                                 vliegen naar het einde, ons leven wordt afgesneden -
                                                                 we zagen het einde naderen en  tech . . . . die achter
                                                                 bleven getuigen aanstonds, dat het alles voorbij is
                         NOTICE                                  kunnen we niet gelooven.
      The Sunday School has a second edition printed of                  Zoo verging het Mozes.
the pamphlet "Biblical Grounds for Infant Baptism"                       Wat was het een korte tijd geweest, waarin de
by Rev. H. Hoeksema.                                             wederwaardigheden des levens als golfslagen hem pver
      If there are any among our own people, who have            het hoofd waren  gerold, een tijd die, uit het oogpunt
not been able to secure one of these pamphlets, they             van het begin, hem veel te lang moet hebben toege-
may send in their request by mail to Mr. C. Haveman,             schenen.
1045 Niagara Ave., S. E., Grand Rapids, Mich.                            Maar zoo vergaat het ook ons, een eeuwige jeugd,
      The Sunday School intends to issue other pamphlets         als van arenden wier wiekslag krachtig blijft, is niet
of the same nature, quarterly. We appreciate your co- het beeld van den sterveling wiens naam mensch is.
operation. You can do  so by mailing to us, at the               Het  loopen en niet moede worden  werd ons in deze
above mentioned address, the names and addresses of              bedeeling niet beloofd.
those not connected with our churches, but who are                       We gaan naar het einde of we het willen of niet.
nevertheless interested in the material treated in the           Op deze  dingen geduriglijk te  letten  en er elkander op
pamphlets.                                                       te wijzen, ook in  verband  met onzen  gemeenschappe-
                                 The Sunday School               lijken arbeid, is zeker op zijn plaats.


 16                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
 -"---.-^-..                                                  -__._-_  .__-. -__-^--._
                                                        .
  A Catechism on the History of the                           Synod 1924, p. 114: `Protest against  Classis  Grand
                                                              Rapist East and appeal to Synod by three members of
        Protestant Reformed Churches                          the congregation of Eastern Ave., H. Vander Vennen,
                                                              J. De  Hoog,  and W. Hoeksema,  in  ye their protest
          XII. CONSISTORY'S  ANSWER TO  CLASSIS               against their pastor and Consistory, which protest was
                         (Continued)                          referred back to the Consistory of Eastern Ave. by
                                                              Classis Grand Rapids East, M&y 21.' This protest and
       4. What was the purpose of the answer of the           appeal was. declared to be legally before Synod and
 Consistory of the Eastern Ave. Christian Reformed            accepted by that body as is evident from the following:
 Church, as far as you have quoted it now?                    (Cf. Acts`of Synod, 1924, pp. 116, 117)
       Twofold :                                                  " `The Committee advises to maintain this protest.
       a. To show CIassis that it went beyond its juris-      Grounds :
 diction when it entered into a discussion of the over-           " ` ( 1)    The Consistory has had sufficient time to
 tures from Dennis Ave. and  Creston.  And this the           make a beginning with the treatment of this protest
 Consistory abundantly proved in various arguments.           of these ,brethren  against their pastor, which it did
       b. To convince Classis of the fact, that the Synod     not do.
 of 1924 had before it the entire case connected with             "  ` (2)  Classis Grand Rapids East should have
 the Common Grace Controversy, not only from its doc-         acted.upon  this protest in her session of May 21, on the
 trinal but also .from  its Church-political aspect; that     above mentioned ground.
 Synod, therefore, was certainly called upon to decide             " ` (3)    The case has now reached such a stage that
 whether or no discipline had to be applied to the two        with a view to the well-being of the Church  Synodical
 indicted pastors ; that Synod had not decided that the       treatment is demanded.'
 two accused brethren were to be disciplined in any                "This advice of the Committee was adopted by
 way, had even rejected a motion of its committee             Synod, as is evident from the Acts of Synod, 1924,
 advising to diciplinary  measures ; and, therefore, that     p. 138:
 the case was a closed one and Classis had no right to             "Now from said protest, legally acted upon by
' exercise or demand discipline whatsoever.                   Synod, we quote the following:
       5. Did the Consistory of Eastern Ave. also prove            "From p. 4:
 these last contentions?                                                 " `Esteemed Brethren :-
       CertainIy; it first of  all proceeded to prove to           " `Undersigned, members of the Eastern Ave.
 Classis, that not only the doctrinal *aspect  of the con-    Christian Reformed Church, consider themselves
 troversy but also the disciplinary side of the case was      obliged, though very  Ioath to do so, to protest against
 properly before Synod.                                       the doctrine of our pastor, Rev. H. Hoeksema'.
       6. Can you quote that part of the Consistory's an-          "From pp. 11, 12:
 swer in which this proof is offered?                              " `Whereas he, however, assured us, that he would
       Yes ; it reads as follows :                            never change  his standpoint and gave evidence of this
       "B. Proof of Consistory's  .Contention:                in sermon and speech, we offer you herewith our pro-
       "1. That the matters which were properly before        test, kindly but  urgentIy  requesting you to accept this
 Synod 1924 and upon which said Synod was in duty             protest as your own and to  atttipt  to  convince  our
 bound to act and did act were not only the doctrinal         pastor of his errors,  .in,  ordq  that,  if  it  might be,  he
 issues involved in the Common Grace Controversy, but         my  ret,ra.ct   t h e m ,   a n d   t h a t   god  otherwiss   may  f o l l o w
 definite complaints Iodged against the teachings of          the procedure prescribed to you.'
 Rev. H. Hoeksema, requests that he be required to                 "From this it is evident, that Synod did not deal
  retract and that he should be disciplined even to sus-      with abstract doctrinal issues but with definite com-
 pension from office and to deposition in case he  shouId     pIaints  Iodged against the teachings of Rev. H. Hoek-
 refuse to submit. I                                          sema, and with requests that the latter  shouid be
       "Proof :                                               treated and disciplined.
       "a. Before Synod was a protest signed by J. De              "b. Before Synod was a Protest (Bezwaarschrift)
  Hoog, W. Hoeksema and H. Vander Vennen, entitled            addressed to the Consistories of the Christian Re-
 `To the  Classis Grand Rapids East of the Christian          formed Churches Kalamazoo I and Eastern Ave.,
 Reformed Church, assembled May 21, 1924' and in the          Grand Rapids,  Mich., signed by the Rev. Jan  KareI
 form of a printed pamphlet. This protest was before          Van  Baalen  and in the form of a printed pamphlet.
 Synod on the basis of an appeal made from the Con-           Said protest of the Rev. Jan  Karel  Van  Baalen was
 sistory of the Eastern Ave. Christian Reformed               before Synod in the way of appeal from the Con-
  Church to CIassis  Grand Rapids East, and from Classis      &story of the Eastern Ave. Christian Reformed
  to Synod 1924.      Said protest was duly received by       Church, to Classis Grand Rapids East, and from Classis
  Synod 1924, as is evident from the report of the Synod-      to Synod 1924.
  ical Committee  a&! hoc, to be found in the Acts of              "Said protest was duly received by Synod as is

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

evident from the report of the Synodical Committee              bur God to treat this case in the proper church-political
ad  hoe, to be found in the Acts of Synod, 1924, p. 114:        way.'
`Protest against  Classis  Grand Rapids East and appeal              "From page 2:
to Synod by Rev. J. K. Van  Baalen in re his protest                 " `We have to do here with open sins of  offlce-
against the doctrine of Rev. II. Hoeksema, which pro-           bearers, with a violation of what is promised by them
test was referred back to the Con&tory  of Eastern              in the Formula of Subscription of Ministers.'
Ave. by  Classis  Grand Rapids East, assembled May                   "From page 16 :
21'.                                                                 " `Esteemed brethren ! Undersigned hopes and
        "This protest was declared legally before Synod         prays that you may succeed to convince your pastors
and accepted by that body, as is evident from Acts of           and to bring them to retract their unwarranted indict-
Synod 1924, p. 117, III:                                        ments against our churches, as well as their proposi-
        " `Formally this protest is legally before Synod,       tion indicted above.'
since the double demand for such cases was complied                  "It is evident that the Rev. Van  Baalen did not
with.                                                           bring an abstract question concerning doctrinal issues
        " `Your committee advises Synod to maintain this        before Synod, but a very concrete case against Rev.
protest. Grounds :                                              H. Hoeksema, even alleging that the latter committed
                                                                an open sin ; that he demands retkaction or discipline ;
        " ` (1)    The Consistory of Eastern Ave. unjustly      and that Synod accepted a.11 this as legally before it.
demanded of Rev. J. K. Van  Baalen, that he first con-               "c. The same is true of an overture sent to Synod
fer with the pastor, in order then to appear before a           by Classis  Grand Rapids East and which was an ex-
combined  Gonsistory  meeting of Eastern Ave. and               tract of the protest of the Rev. M. M.  Schans. Also
Kalamazoo I, since:                                             this overture did not ask for the settlement of mere
        " `(a) The case in question falls under Art. 74         doctrinal issues, but for an investigation of the teach-
of the Church Order and Matthew 18 is not applicable.           ings of the Rev. H. Hoeksema. And no less is this
        " ` (b)    The proposed combined consistory meeting     true of the protest of the Rev. J. Vander Mey. All
could not be a legal consistory meeting.                        these documents were before Synod, legally accepted
        " ` (2)    Classis  Grand Rapids East admitted the      by that body and acted upon.        Abundant evidence of
injustice of these demands and could have acted upon            the truth of the proposition of the Consistory ex-
the material of this protest in her session of May 21.          pressed under I."
        " ` (3)    The case has now reached such a stage             7. W'hat else did the Consistory prove regarding
that the well-being of the Churches demands Synodical           this point?
treatment.                                                           That the Synod of 1924 did not consider the case as
        "This advice of the Committee was adopted by            involving merely doctrinal questions, but was fully
Synod. Cf. Acts of Synod, p. 138.                               aware of the fact, that it had before it a case of disci-
        "Now from said protest we quote the following:          pline.
        "From p. i:                                                  8. How did the Consistory prove this?
                                                                l
            " `Esteemed brethren :-                                  In the following part of its answer to  Classis   :
        " `When officebearers in the Christian Reformed              "2. That Synod was well aware of the fact that
Church openly propagate a doctrine which is in con-             these matters regarding  disciplinary  procedure in the
flict with the Confession of our Church and the plain           case of the Rev. IX. Hoeksema were properly before
expressions of the Word of God, it is the sad but seri-         its body since they had been appealed from Consistory
ous calling of their fellow-officebearers to refute them        to Classis and from Classis  to Synod, and, therefore,
by pointing out to them as well as to the Churches in           could be dealt with  .in full conformity with  Srt. 30
whose midst they propagate their false doctrine and             of the Church Order. Proof:
the unreformed character of their views . . . .                      "a. The committee appointed for the case in ques-
        " `If, however, a written and open refutation of        tion while Synod was in session conceived of the matter
the written and openly propagated erroneous views,              in this light. This is evident from the following ex-
together with a call to retract is of no avail, it be-          tract of their full report, which for some reason un-
comes the no less sad yet no less serious calling to            known to us was not even printed in what is alleged
make the case pending with the consistories that have           to be a full report of that committee in the Acts of
supervision over the doctrine and walk of those  office-        Synod 1924 :
bearers, with the urgent request that they will employ               " `If Synod accepts the above points, the question
every available means to bring their  fellow-office-            arises immediately whet&r Synod must make a cttse
bearers back from their error.                                  of discipline of the matter by turning with the
        " `Thus it is, alas, the case with the Revs. H. Dan-    grievances against the pastors, H. Danhof and H.
hof and H. Hoeksema.                                            Hoeksema to their respective consistories. Your com-
        " `Therefore, the undersigned thinks it necessary to    mittee judges that this would be less desirable:
turn to you, requesting you in the name of the `Lord                 " `a. `Because the brethren, according to their


18                                        T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
._  .._...-  ""."  ---.                                                                 -
own repeated declarations do not want and purpose while it cannot be denied that they are Reformed in
anything but to teach and maintain the Reformed doc-              the fundamental truths as formulated in our Confes-
trine, the doctrine of the Holy Scriptures and of the             sions, even though it be with an inclination to one-
Confessions, and we gladly accept of them that they sidedness.' Acts of Synod, p. 147, II.
erred in good faith; and                                             "In the above paragraph Synod does not express
      " `b. Because it cannot be denied that in the               itself merely on doctrinal issues, but renders a con-
fundamental truths as they are formulated in our Con- crete decision with regard to the complaints that had
fessions they are Reformed, even though it be with an             been lodged with her against the teachings of the Revs.
inclination to onesidedness.                                      1~. Danhof ,and H. Hoeksema.
      " `However, your committee advises Synod that                  "Synod even  excercised  a certain form of disci-
thru its president:                                               pline, though it is admittedly a very peculiar form,
      " ` (1)        It seriously admonish the brethren with a    and that not only over the brethren Danhof and  Hoek-
view to their deviations and to ask of them the promise           sema, but over the entire Church. She did so in the
that in the future they will adhere to what Synod ex-             following declaration :
pressed in the three points mentioned above ;                        " `With a view to the deviating views of the pastors
      `I ` (2)       It urges the brethren H. Danhof and H.       H. Danhof and H. Hoeksema in ye the three points
Hoeksema in all seriousness to refrain from all at-               mentioned above, and with a view to the controversy
tempts to propagate their deviating views with regard             raging in our churches regarding the doctrine of Corn-
to the three points in the Church;                                mon Grace, Synod admonishes the two brethren that
      " ` (3)        It point out to the two brethren, that in    they keep themselves in preaching and writing to the
case, either now or in the near future it should become           three points discussed, and at the same time Synod
evident, that they will not adhere to the decisions of            admonishes the brethren and the churches in general
Synod, this body will be obliged, though very loath to            that they watch against all onesidedness in the present-
do so, to make the case pending with the consistories.            ation of the truth and to express themselves carefully,
      " `Should the brethren refuse to live up to these           soberly and with modesty.' Acts of Synod 1924, p. 147.
proposed conditions the Synod would then have to ap-                 "From all this it is very evident that Synod did not
point a committee.             Your committee would in that       conceive of the case before her as involving merely
case make the suggestion that this committee consist              doctrinal issues, but as a very concrete demand for
of the officers of the Synod,' pp. 12, 13, Typewritten            disciplinary action as expressed in the protests that
report.                                                           were brought to Synod's attention."
      "It must be remembered that this advice of the                 9. What other point did the Consistory prove in
committee was not adopted by Synod. It is only quoted             its answer to Classis?
in order- to show, that the committee was well con-                  That Synod had not sustained the protests lodged
vinced that Synod had before her a question of disci-             with her against the teachings of the Rev. H. Hoek-
pline and that Synod was not only justified but also in, sema, as far as their doctrinal objections were con-
duty bound to act in the matter.                                  cerned.
      "b. Synod also conceived of the case in the same               10. What part of the Consistory's answer offers
light. It is not true that Synod merely expressed itself          this proof?
with regard to the doctrinal issues involved in the                  "3. That Synod did not sustain the protests
Common Grace Controversy, as Classis  presents the                against the teachings of the Rev. H. Hoeksema &a re
matter. She also rendered a decision with regard to               the three points, neither with regard to the material
the view of the Revs. H. Danhof and H. Hoeksema, as               and doctrinal contents of these protests, nor with re-
follows :                                                         gard to the demand for disciplinary action contained
      " `Synod declares that several expressions in the           in these protests.
writings of the Revs. H. Danhof and H. Hoeksema can                  "Proof:
hardly be harmonized with what Scripture and the _ "a. The first point in all the protests objected
Confessions teach us concerning the three points men-             against the teaching of Rev. H. Hoeksema that God is
tioned above. Besides, Synod judges that said pastors             not graciously inclined, gives no grace to the reprobate.
in their writings use a few strong expressions that                  "This is evident from the following quotations:
show that presentation of the truth they do not suffi-               " `Rev. H. Hoeksema teaches that God never in any
ciently reckon with the manner in which our Con-                  way shows favor to the reprobate or is graciously in-
fessional Standards express themselves and especially             clined toward them . . . . According to our holiest
not with Point I of the Conclusions of Utrecht.                   conviction this is in conflict with Scripture and the
      "On the other hand, Synod expresses that said               Confession'    (The printed protest of I$. Vander Ven-
pastors in their writings, according to their own re-             nen, J. De Hoog, W. Hoeksema).
peated declarations do not want and intend anything                  " `My first and greatest objection concerns the
else than to teach and maintain the Reformed truth,               pastor's wrong conception of God. According to him
the truth of the Word of God and of our Confessions,              God stands over against the world of the none-elect


                                                   THE  STANDARD   BtiARER                                                                      19

  simply and only in an attitude of hatred, wrath and                                Rev. H. Hoeksema, pastor of the Eastern Christian
  punishment' (The protest of the Rev. J. Vander Mey,                                Reformed Church, as publicly and openly set forth in
  printed copy, p. 2).                                                               his writings. We refer to his `Langs Zuivere Banen,'
       " `Our first grievance concerns the assertion of the                          p. 11, where the pastor wrote before Synod convened:
  Revs. I-I. Danhof and H. Hoeksema that God is never                                `First of all one ought to see clearly that it is not the
  graciously, favorably or mercifully inclined toward the question whether also now God loves all his creatures.
  reprobate' (Protest J. IL Van Baalen, p. 2).                                       On this we agree . . . . The question is simply and
       "Besides, the Rev. J. Vander Mey expressed in his                             purely, whether both elect and reprobate in this life
  protest that the truth the pastor denied .`belongs  to                             in and with all the things these have in common, with
  the very foundations of Calvinism', p. 1.                                          the elect, receive also grace from God' . . . .
       "This point of the protest is admittedly the most                                "The former proposition, that God also shows grace
  important of the three. Yet, Synod did not dare to and love to all His creatures, Synod. accepted; the
  sustain it in the three points. expressed by it. (*) Inten-                        latter, that He shows grace to the reprobate Synod
  tionally Synod avoided the declaration that God is                                 intentionally avoided. Not the protestants were sus-
  graciously inclined toward the reprobate. The  Synod-                              tained in their first point, but the pastor, Rev. H.
  ical Committee ud hoe reported on this matter as fol-                              Hoeksema, was.
  lows :                                                                                "And over against the assertion of the Rev. J.
       " `There are, however, three points concerning                                Vander Mey, that the Rev. II. Hoeksema denied a
  which Synod, according to the judgment of the com-                                 truth which belongs to the very fundamentals of Cal-
  mittee, must express itself more particularly, namely:                             vinism, Synod declared: `While it cannot be denied
  1.. The favorable inclination of God toward all men and                            that they are Reformed in the fundamental truths as
  not only toward the elect. The committee deems this formulated in the Confessions, even though it be with
  point of central importance in the question that causes                            an inclination toward onesidedness'. Acts of Synod,
  so much unrest at present in our churches. The two                                 1924, p. 147."
  following points stand in most intimate relation to                                                                                 IT. H.
  this first point, are even more or less implied in it'.                                               (To be continued)
  Acts of Synod, p. 124.
       " `Did Synod accept this point and thus sustain the
  most important objection of the protests? It did not.
  Instead it accepted a substitute motion in which the                                                   Niet Eerlijk
  words reprobate, all men and humanity were carefully                                  Het doe1 heiligt de middelen niet, is een waarheid
  avoided, as follows : `Regarding the first point concern-                          die voor Gods kind zoo vast staat als een paal boven
  ing the favorable attitude of God toward humanity in                               water. Daarom stuit het den Christen tegen de borst
  general and not only toward the elect, Synod  declnres                             wanneer hij anderen middelen ziet gebruiken, waarvan
  that  according to  Scripture and the Confession it is                             hij weet dat zij geoordeeld staan. Er is_ patuurlijk ver-
  established, that besides the saving grace shown only                              schil. Men kan ter goeder trouw dwalen. Het  ge-
  to the elect, there  is also a certain favor or grace                              beurt b.v. we1 in de prediking, dat er een beroep wordt
  ILchich He shows to His creatures in general,' Acts of gedaan op dezen of genen schrijver, die dan dienst
  Synod, 1924, pp. 145, 146.                                                         moet  doen,  om een zekere  stelling,  die men zijn gehoor
       "The Consistory calls attention to the fact, that                             voorhield, afdoende te bewijzen.        Terwijl  tech van
  this first declaration does not sustain the protests,                              achteren blijkt, dat het aangehaalde niet de weergave
  which claimed a grace of God for the reprobate. On                                 was van wat men meende gevonden te hebben. Eerlijk
  the other hand, in this first point, taking literally what de fout herstellen is dan de eenige weg die open blijft.
  Synod expressed, it sustained the teachings of the                                 Aan de andere zijde geve men  echter, wanneer men
                                                                                     niet zeker is van hetgeen men meende te hooren, iedere
      *)  This  part  of  the  Consistory's   contention   probably   need:          spreker "the benefit of the doubt."
  a word of explanation.       It must be remembered,  that the danger-                 Eenigszins anders staat het met het geschreven
  ous and erroneous  part of the "First  Point"  is not  in the declara-
  tion  itself,   but  in  the  proof  adduced   to  sustain   it. The   declara-    woord. Althans, wanneer de schrijver in woordenkeus
  tion  proper   contains   nothing   but  the  statement,   that  God  is           en zinsbouw duidelijk en ondubbelzinnig zich uitdrukt.
  graciously   inclined   toward   all  His  creatures.   No  one  could
  possibly   have  any  objection   against   this   statement.   But  to            Daarom dient hij zich te vergewissen of hetgeen hij
  prove  this  statement   the  Synod   refers  to  the  general   offer   of        schrijft werkelijk eene weergave is van hetgeen hij
  salvation   in  the  preaching   of  the  gospel.  And  subsequent   his-
  tory  has  shown,   that  Synod   intended   to  emphasize   this   grievous       bedoelt te zeggen. "He must challenge his own state-
  error.  Although,   therefore,   the  declaration   proper   of  the  "First       ments and make sure that there is no ambiguity in his
,  Point"   does   not   teach  anything   else  than  that  God  is  gracious
  to  all  His  creatures,   the  declaration   together   with  ,its  proof         writings !" Maar voor alle dingen  moet hij zuaur zijn.
  certainly   maintains   that  there  is  a  grace   of  God  to  all  that         Waur  in betrekking tot eigen overtuiging  ed ook  waar
  hear   in  the  preaching   of  the  gospel.
      The   Consistory,   therefore,   could   justly  call   attention   to  the    in `t geen hij den tegenstander laat zeggen. Mit dit  laat-
  declaration   proper,   without   its  proof,  and  maintain,   that   Synod       ste bedoelen we, dat hij, voor zoover dit in zijn vermo-
  had  intentionally   avoided   the  statement,   that  God  is  gracious
  to  the  reprobate.                                                                gen  ligt, den tegenstander reproduceert of aanhaalt in


i
              z                                  T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                      2;1
     -"                          . . ..___...                             ..-.     -          -..___--. .-___-_____l_lll_ll".."..."."  ..." .._
     gen al spoedig naar het standpunt van den  tegenstan-           aldus : We nemen dit artikel (van Dr. Impeta)  over en
     der en  worden  al heel gauw gewaar, dat men trachtte           voegen het volgende er aan toe : Wat hier gezegd wordt
     hem iets op de mouw te spelden.                                 is `eigenlijk nooit een punt van strijd geweest in onze
           En ten slotte geeft Dr. De Jong het doe1 aan waar-        kringen. Daarom is er ook haast nooit over gespro-
     om hij dit stukje overnam, als hij de paragraaf aldus           ken noch geschreven. Daarom is er van een herhalen
     bebindigt  : De eenige reden dat we ,dit stukje overne-        geen sprake. Een andere reden waarom we dit stuk
     men, dat de lezers  zich eens kunnen vergewissen, hoe          overnemen is dat we over het eigenlijke punt  geen  dis-
     men in Nederland over dit punt denkt en  zich  uit-            cussie wenschen, omdat we tot dusver nog niet ge-
     spreekt.      Hier is natuurlijk hetzelfde punt bedoeld `slaagd zijn aan te toonen waarin de genade of gunst
     gelijk we boven reeds aanhaalden, namelijk, het punt           bestaat waarover het eerste punt spreekt, aangenomen
     waarover het juist  hniet  gaat. Hierbij komt, dat er op de Synode van 1924. Vervolgens  willen we  we1 een
     ook anderen zijn die  zich nog niet uitspraken, iets dat       samenspreking over  dingen die we op genoemde Synocle
     ons niet moet verwonderen daar slechts een enkele der          inderhaast hebben aangenomen. Want er is een groep
     theologen  aan de overzijde iets toegezonden werd, en          die zich Prot. Geref. noemt en nu al zeven jaar ons
     de schrijver in het Drentsche en Overijselsche Kerk-           toeroept, dat we van het pad zijn, miss&en  kunnen
     blad de zaak uit de tweede hand overnam.                       zij ons weer op het  rechte spoor brengen. De  reden
           Hoe men overigens in Nederland over dezelfde             waarom we het stukje uit het Gereformeerd Kerkblad
     zaak denkt, tech dienen ook de Wachter-lezers  te we-          voor Drente em Overijssel  cvernemen is, om den Wach-
     ten, opdat den indruk, door Dr. De Jong gegeven, hen           tar-lezer  duidelijk te  maken,  dat voorlichting in  Ne-
     niet te ver van het rechte spoor leidde. Waar we het           derland gebiedend noodzakelijk blijkt. Dit te meer
     oog op hebben is de  recensie in het  Gereformeerd omdat m&n zich in Nederland over een punt uitlaat
     Theologisch  Tijdschrift van de hand van  Prof. Dr. S.         dat met onze kwestie bijna niets te  maken  heeft.
     Greijdanus. Het in zijn geheel weer te geven kan ik                Gelijk het nu in de  Wachter  voorkomt veroorzaakt
     niet, daar mij de noodige plaatsruimte ontbreekt. Ge           het verwarring en laat een verkeerden indruk  achter.
     kunt het in zijn geheel weervinden in het boek, Een                En waar de schrijver dit weet is opheldering nood-
     Kracht Gods tot ZaZigheid; dat opnieuw is uitgegeven zakelijk en terwille van de waarheid ook profijtelijk.
     en verkrijgbaar  is  bij broeder F. Prins, 2145 Lake               Zooals het er  nzc.  staat is het  niet  eerlijk.
     Drive, S. E., Grand Rapids. De Prof., dien we in het                                                                        w. v.
     kort weergeven, zegt, omtrent de onder ons bekende
     brandende kwestie, het volgende :                                                     .----A.-
           1. Bespreking van de geheele  hTestie zou een
     gansch boekdeel vorderen.                                            Reply to Rev. J. Vader Mey
           2. De uitdrukking "aanbod van genade" moet  lei-
     den tot de vraag of het niet beter is, hem niet te ge-             In the Standard Bearer of August 15, I placed an
     bruiken, en althans tot een hernieuwd onderzoek, of            article bearing the title, One Example. The opening
     hij wel goed  en schriftuurlijk is.                            paragraph of  th.is writing reads: "The Standard
           3. Gaarne zou ik willen, dat de broeders in Ame-         Bearer all along maintained that the world- and  life-
     rika, nu in verband  met dit punt gescheiden, nog eens view concealed in the three points of Synod is not out
     samen welwillend het tot op den grond behandelen.              of God but out of man, a view thoroughly  unscrip-
           4. En hij eindigt de laatste zinsnede met deze           tural, antichristian, modernistic.              Those who still
     woorden: De dingen  zijn hier niet zoo eenvoudig.              doubt this should read with caution the following
           Dat is gansch andere taal dan die door Dr. De Jong       excerpt from the protest of Rev. J. Vander Mey against
     gebruikt wordt. Hoe men er in Nederland over denkt,            the preaching of Rev. H. Hoeksema."
     daarvoor kan men ook dezen recensent aanhalen, even                The reverend sent me notice that I distorted his
     goed  als Dr. Impeta. Dat hang-t maar af van de vraag          written statements. This I deny. All I did was to  cou-
     met wien men zijn voordeel wil  doen. Feit blijft  na-         vert negative statements into positive statements  and
     tuurlijk, dat ge in Prof. Dr. Greijdanus een autoriteit        to place in the room of the term world, appearing in
     vindt, aan wiens bekwaamheid om een oordeel te vellen          his excerpt, the term reprobntc ?oorld. I did so with
     over deze zaak, niemand twijfelt. Voeg hier nog bij,           the purpose of bringing into sharp relief the pernicious
     dat de  Prof.  (G.) maar niet iets overnam uit een  kerk-      vein of thought that runs through his writing. Surely,
     blad (zooals Dr. I. deed) doch het boek van Ds. H. H.          to convert a negative statement into a positive state-
     zelf las en behandelde, dan staat het zeker vast dat           ment is to leave the sense unaltered. Is not the state-
     van hem en niet van Dr. I. gezegd kan worden,  dat de          ment,  the streets are dry, equal to the statement,  the
     weergave van hetgeen Greijdanus schreef middel kan             streets are not wet? And is not the debated issue, God
     zijn om het den  wachter-lezer  duidelijk te  doen  zien       shows favor to the reprobate world?
     dat met een paar "sweeping statements" de zaak niet                I shall now place the changed writing alongside of
     klaar is.                                                      the same writing in its original form, and let the
           De bewuste paragraaf van Dr, De song leze men readers  judge.


22                                                             T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
I  --......... I_-_- ..-....._ "- --. ..I__ __,...._l..ll.......,.........l___..."          --_.-."..                --.__^ ..._" --........  II__ _-__ "_,
      The writing in question in its original form reads:                                "Het goede in de wereld moet worden  gewaardeerd
"Ons wordt gezegd dat God de wereld  haat, dat  aan de en hooggeacht. Het is niet alleen Gods volk dat barm-
wereld geen genade bewezen wordt, dat de zonde in                                     hartigheid bewijzen kan. Ook de verworpene wereld
haar loop niet wordt gestuit, dat de wereld door de                                   Icent  .en beoefent barmhartigheid, dat werkelijk  barm-
zegeningen Gods nog slechter en zondiger wordt.                                       hartigheid is. Men moet aldoor in de prediking de ver-
      "(a) Nooit wordt met een woord van  waardee-                                    worpene wereld  loven. Dit niet te  doen leidt tot  Fari-
ring gesproken over wat de wereld doet en wat door                                    zeisme.
Gods genade door die wereld nog voor goeds tot stand                                     "Wet kwaad, de zonde, der wereld moet niet breed
komt. Er is werkelijk in de wereld, buiten de kerk,                                   worden  uitgemeten. De verworpene goddeloozen zijn
nog veel goeds en schoons en lofwaardigs. In deugd                                    geen haters Gods en des naasten. Aan de zijde der
en rechtschapenheid, in barmhartigheid en hulpbetoon,                                 wereld is niet  alles rot, zonde en boosheid. De wereld
in feederheid  des gewetens, in sierlijkheid van karak-                               leeft  niet enkel uit het beginsel der zonde; de verwor-
ter, zouden vele van onze  Christenen een voorbeeld                                   pene wereld is niet door en door slecht. Er moet niet
kunnen nemen aan velen die van de wereld zijn, want op de slechtheid in de wereld gezinspeeld  worden.
hunne gerechtigheid is vaak overvloediger dan van                                        "De wereld staat niet vijandig tegenover de kerk.
vele christenbelijders.                                                               De wereld is ons genegen. De wereld  heeft  Gods volk
      "(b)         Niet alleen wordt het goede der wereld niet lief. Christenen behoeven in de wereld niet te lijden."
gewaardeerd, maar beslist  aldoor geminacht.  Spre-                                      We invite Rev. Vander Mey to show at what points
kende over Matth. 53 heeft onze leeraar gezegd dat                                    his altered writing as to the thought circulating
alleen Gods volk barmhartigheid bewijzen  kan. De                                     through it, does not coincide with his view of the
wereld kent  noch beoefent barmhartigheid. Wat bij de                                 world and of life that comes to the surface in his
wereld barmhartigheid schijnt,  .is niets anders dan                                  original written criticism.
schijn en zonde. Deze verachting der wereld hoort ge                                     .If, to illustrate, Vander Mey holds it against a min-
aldoor in de prediking, en waartoe anders kan het  lei-                               ister of the Word that in his sermons "Het kwaad, de
 den dan tot farizeisme, tot hooghartige verhouding                                   zonde der wereld breed uitgemeten wordt" and that
 tegenover de wereld ?                                                                "Allen," that is,  "Alle onwedergeborenen haters Gods
       " (c)        Het kwaad, de zonde der wereld wordt breed                        en des naasten zijn" it must follow that according to
 uitgemeten.              Allen zijn' haters Gods en des naasten.                     Vander Mey's conviction, Het kwaad de zonde der
 Aan de zijde der wereld is alles rot, ja alles zonde en                              wereld niet breed moet  worden  uitgemeten en dat alle
 boosheid. De wereld leeft enkel en alleen uit het be-                                onwedergeborenen  geen haters  doch liefhebbers Gods
 ginsel der zonde ; daarom moet die wereld door en door en des naasten zijn. And so we could continue.
 slecht zijn, en wordt  op die slechtheid der wereld niet                                 Fact is that Rev. Vander Mey recoils from his own
 weinig gezinspeeld.                                                                  doctrine when placed before him in all its hideousness.
       "Omdat de wereld zoo slecht is staat ze ook zoo                                He and his fellows ought to recoil from this doctrine
 vijandig tegenover de kerk. De wereld heeft tegenover for it comes up out of the abyss.
 ons besliste positie gekozen. De wereld staat als. in                                    But let me single out another objection Rev. Van
 slagorden.  gereed tegenover  ons. De Christenen moe-                                der Mey raises against the preaching of Rev. H. Hoek-
 ten veel lijden en op de marteIaarsgestalte  wordt voor-                             sema : "Niet alleen wordt (in de prediking van Ds.
 al aangedrongen."                                                                    Hoeksema, G. M. 0.) het goede der wereld niet ge-
       So far Vander Mey. I have quoted him literally.                                waardeerd, maar beslist  aldoor  geminacht. Sprekende
       Bear in mind that the above is criticism Rev. Van                              over Matth.  5:7 heeft onze leeraar gezegd dat alleen
 der Mey brought to bear upon Rev. Hoeksema's preach-                                 Gods volk barmhartigheid bewijzen kan. De wereld
 ing, so that Vander Mey'a view is:                                                   kent  noch  beoefent barmhartigheid. Wat bij de wereld
       "God  heeft de  verworpene wereld lief.  Aan  deze                             barmhartigheid schijnt, is niets anders dan schijn en
 wereld bewijst God genade. De zonde wordt daarom                                     zonde."
 in haar loop gestuit. De verworpene wereld wordt                                         Vander Mey should know that about the year 1920
 door de zegeningen Gods  al beter.                                                   all the divines of the Christian Reformed denomination
       "Er moet met een woord van waardeering  gespro-                                were teaching this very. thing; the very thing Rev.
 ken worden  over wat de verworpene wereld doet en                                    Van der Mey now decries as a perversion of the truth ;
 al wat door Gods genade door die wereld nog voor                                     the very thing that led this divine and his colleagues to
 goeds tot stand komt. Er is werkelijk in de wereld,                                  clamor for our deposition. As late as the year 1920
 buiten de kerk, nog  veel goeds en schoons en lofwaar-                               the ministers in t.he above-cited denomination were
digs. In deugd en rechtschapenheid, in barmhartig-                                    teaching that "de wereld barmhartigheid kent noch
 heid en hulpbetoon, in teederheid des gewetens, in beoefent, dat wat bij de wereld barmhartigheid schijnt,
 sierlijkheid van karakter, zouden vele van  onze   Chris-                            niets  anders dan schijn en zonde is."
 tenen  een voorbeeld kunnen nemen  aan velen die van                                     Let me prove this by quoting from a written copy
 de wereld zijn, want hunne gerechtigheid is  overvloe-                               of an address delivered by Rev. R. B.  Kuiper,  (the
 diger dan van vele christenbelijders.                                                present president of Calvin College) before the Asso-


                                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                                      23
-.._-                  -........... ^^..^- -................~..._    - -...                 ..""       .- ..-. .-................             _.                 li
cintion of the Christian Psychopathic Hospital, con-                      the foundation of Calvinism.                               "Maar wanneer een
vened in the month of September of the year 1920. We                      waarheid," he wrote, "die naar mijn heiligste  overtui-
quote : "Now observe the folly of certain men ! They                      ging Bijbelsch en Gereformeerd is en tot de fundamen-
say: we are not concerned about the forms of religion,                    ten van het Calvinisme behoort voor ongereformeerd
but only about charity.  R,ut  fact is that these very wordt verklaard en wij die deze waarheid omhelzen nu
men cannot possibly love mercy For they are spirit-                       ook voor ongereformeerd worden  gekwalificeerd, dan
ually dead, cr.nd no unregenerated person can be churi't-                 mag waarlijk de kerkeraad het mij niet ten kwade dui-
abbe in the full  ,sevase of the word, can do works of                    den dat ik daartegen mijn stem verhef." Well, Kuiper
cha.rity worthy of the time.                                              does this very thing. By maintaining that the charity
   "My last statement may seem to you to be altogether                    of the natural man is sin, he, according to Vander Mey,
too sweeping.      You point to charitable institutions                   denies one of the foundation truths of the Christian
many and large supported by children of the world.                        religion and brands all those who differ with him un-
You call attention to such an organization as the Red                     reformed. Please, do something, Rev. Vander Mey !
cross, controlled largely by the irreligious. You re-                           However, the reverend need do nothing. For R. B.
mind me that the children of the light are often put                      Kuiper has long ago cast  far, from him what he
to shame in point of doing deeds of mercy by the so-                      formally held to be one of the fundamentals of our
called children of darkness.                                              faith, namely, the doctrine that the charity of the
    "I reply that when two men are doing the same                         natural man is sin. A single quotation from Kuiper's,
thing, they are not doing the same thing . . . . Now                      "As to Being Reformed" to prove this : "Just how good
we'll say a poor widow has two neighbors, the one a or bad is man? The doctrine of common grace gives
C.hristian,  the other not a Christian; the one regen-                    a definite answer to this question.                            It tells us that
erated, the other not. On the same day each of these                      natural man is totally depraved and incapable of doing
neighbors present the widow a $10 bill. They have                         any good whatsoever of himself. Undeniable fact is,
done the same thing, yet they have not. The Christian                     however, that he does a great deal of good. Just think
was prompted by the new man, by the man of God to                         of the civic virtues and the noble morality that often
this act of kindness. The non-Christian had no such                       adorn him. This good, says our doctrine, is the fruit
prompter; in his case it was just a natural, unregen-                     of the working of common grace in him.,'
erated man who did the deed.                                                    Note well that in the year 1920 R. B. Kuiper taught
    "An outward act as such amounts to nothing. It                        that the charity of natural man is sin, that their tender
is the person behind the act that puts the real content                   mercies are cruel. He taught, then, that man is totally
to it.                                                                    depraved  and therefore  can do no good. So they all
    "And we believe, do we not, that man as he is by                      taught. But today Kuiper holds that natural man is
nature, is totally depraved and therefore unable to do                    totally depraved and yet does good; that the tender
a really good thing? That is one of the very funda-                       mercies of the natural man are not cruel, are not glit-
mentals of our faith.                                                     tering sins, but mercies indeed.
    "How, then, can unregenerated man do a work of                              R. B. Kuiper, Prof. Berkhof, Prof. Volbeda, H. J.
charity deserving the name? Only the Christian can                        Kuiper et al, why don't you exonerate us by publicly
do that. Christian charity and the charity of the                         admitting before God and man that not we but that
world are essentially different. I wonder if that may                     you slid from the foundation of Reformed truth. For
not have been in Solomon's mind when he said: `The                        the doctrine that the charity of the wicked is sin, is
tender mercies of the wicked are cruel'  " (Prov. 12:                     indeed one of the very fundamentals of our faith.
10). So far R. B. Kuiper.                                                                                                                     G. M. 0.
    Here it is stated in unmistakable language that the
charity,  baytihartigheid,   of the world, the unregen-
erated, is sin.
    Now let Rev. Vander Mey show that he was acting                                                      IN MEMORIAM
under the impulse of a good motive when he clamored                            Maandag,   den  3lsten  Augustus   1931,  behaagde   het  den
for our deposition for teaching that the charity of the Heere  om  plotseling   uit  ons  midden   weg  te  nemen   onzen   gelief-
natural  .man is sin, by starting a procedure against den  Echtgenoot,   Vader   en  Grootvader,
Rev. R. B. Kuiper. Let him in the presence of wit-                                                  HEINE   VANDER   WAL,
nesses point out to Kuiper his error. In the event the in  den  ouderdom  van  79  jaren  en  10  maanden.
brother will not listen, let him submit his grievances                         In  dit   verlies   is  onze   troost,   dat  hij  in  Jezus   ontslapen   is.
to Curatorium and insist that this body take action.                                                    Namens   de  familie,
By all means let him do something! He must, for it
is his conviction that R. B. Kuiper denies a truth -                                                        Mrs.  Heine   Vander  Wal
                                                                                                            Mr.  en  Mrs.  J.  Velthuis-Vander   Wal
the truth, namely, that the charity of the natural man                                                      Mr.  en  Mrs.   J.  H.  Vander  Wal
is indeed charity and not sin - that is Biblical, Re-                                                             En  vier  kleinkinderen.
formed, a truth that enters into the very structure of                         Grand'   Rapids,  Mich.


                          A   R e f o r m e d   S e m i - M o n t h l y   M a g a z i n e
              PUBLISHED   BY  THE   REFORMED   FREE   PUBLISHING   ASSOCIATION,   GRAND   RAPIDS,.   MICH.





                                                Entered as second class  maii  matter   at Grand Rapids.  Mich.


Vol. VIII, MO. 2                                                   OCTOBER 15, 1931                                Subscription Price, $2.50
                              - _-..... _ .._-- -.-___--_^                  "-
rip-  -7I and toil, that of a world without it we can no more
             M E D I T A T I O N                                                  conceive.        T.here  is the sorrow  %hat is caused by
                                                                                  physical pain and agony, by corruption eating into our
                                                                                  flesh and consuming our bones. There is the sorrow
                     Godly Sorrow                                                 that  fills our heart when the Grim Reaper mercilessly
                                                                                  mows away those that are dearer to us than life ; there
                      For  godly  sorrow   worketh   repentance   to              is the sorrow caused by the consciousness of things
                    saIvation   not  to  be  repented   of;  but  the             done that should never have been done and that cannot
                    sorrow   of  the  world  worketh   death.                     be undone. There is the sorrow of remorse, the sor-
                                                              II  Cor.   7:lO.    row of disappointment, the sorrow of despair. There
    Blessed state of mind and heart,  - godly sorrow!                             is the sorrow of the individual, the sorrow of the
    Thrice blessed, because it springs from the very                              nation, the sorrow of the world ! Sorrow cries from
love of God's heart, because it returns to Him and                                sick-chambers and death-beds, from hospitals and
causes eternal. fountains of forgiving mercy to flow asylums, from the battlefields of the world. Its groan-
to  usward, and because it creates within us a firm ing is heard in the city and in the country. It brings
resolution to walk in the way that leadeth to life                                the darkness of the shadow of death in.palace  and hut.
eternal !                                                                         It knows of no discrimination. It is no respecter of
    Godly sorrow, - what is it?                                                   persons. What word expresses a more common human
   Are you, am I acquainted with it by experience?                                experience than sorrow? . . . .
Is it a reality in my life? Do I know it, not because I                               Yes, sorrow I know, you know! . . . .
am able intellectually to conceive of it, dogmatically to                             But godly sorrow? What may it be?
explain it: logically to define it and to distinguish it                               It is, according to the original of the text, a sorrow
from all other sorrow, but because it has gripped my after, a sorrow according to God.
heart and oppressed my soul with an overpowering                                      It is, first of all, sorrow that is caused by sin; it is
grief, that leaves me no rest till I find it at the foot sorrow over sin. That the apostle has in mind this
of the cross from which drips the blood that  clean-                              sorrow over and because of sin is evident from the
seth us from all sin? . . . .                                                     text and from the context both. For he is addressing
    Sorrow I know, - and,who does not in this vale of                             primarily the congregation of Corinth.* And that con-
tears ?                                                                           gregation was marred by many sins and evils. A spirit
    What word is there in all human language more of partisanship had caused strife and contention and
coIITIzlon,  more familiar to the understanding, less in                          division, even so that Christ Himself had been degraded
need of elucidation, than sorrow? It expresses what to the head of a party. Adultery and fornication was
is a common e%perience  in all human hearts ; it denotes                          permitted to corrupt the temple of the Holy Spirit and
what characterizes all the toil and  labour  of the three they that were bought with a price to deliver them from
score and ten or fourscore years that measure the                                 sin surrendered themselves to lewdness. And heresy
length of human life; it points to the dark shadow that                           began to confuse the minds of some, depriving them
has been cast over all human history ever since Para-                             of the hope of the resurrection of the dead. And the.
dise had to be abandoned by our first parents. Sorrow apostle had rebuked them by letter, sharply, vehemently
is found in every home, oppresses every heart, draws                              at times, and admonished them to depart from their
its lines upon every human face. So inseparably is                                evil way. For a time, after the letter had been sent,
sorrow united with  all human existence, life, labour the author had been in trouble and fear, that his

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

 rebuke had fallen upon dead ears and had aggravated            us once more the peace that passeth all understand-
the evil rather than improved the condition of the ing . . . .
church. But now he had been comforted by the report                Such is sorrow after God!
of Titus, that the epistle had been well received and              Rooted in the love of God and springing from it,
had caused groanings and sorrow and repentance, a godly sorrow is in harmony with Him, according to
godly sorrow, a sorrow according to God that worketh            Him and has His approval.
 repentance unto salvation. Of the sorrow, of a pain               It judges of sin in the light of His countenance and
and grief over sin, the text is speaking.                       before His throne.
    But even so enough is not said.                                It is the pain of a yearning after God in the midst
    Even sorrow over sin is not necessarily a godly             of the darkness of separation.
sorrow. There is a sorrow caused by sin, that is of                It cries for mercy and forgiveness!
the world, that worketh death. And there is another                Blessed experience!
 sorrow over sin, that is according to God, that worketh                                 -    -    -
 repentance unto salvation never to be repented of.
    The latter only is godly sorrow.                               Sorrow after God !
    It is a sorrow, first of all, of which God Himself             Where is it to be found?
is the criterion, the standard of judgment, a sorrow               Surely, not in the world. The apostle intimates
that looks at sin, fhat judges of sin, that feels about         this clearly, when he draws the distinction between
sin, as He does. He is absolutely righteous, the spot-          godly sorrow and the sorrow of the world. The im-
 lessly holy, the unchangeably true God. He is a light,         plication is that the sorrow according to God and the
 and there is no darkness in Him. He is the Highest             sorrow of the world form a sharp antithesis; in the
 Good, the sole criterion of all that is called good. And       world one would look in vain for a `trace of this sorrow
 He loves Himself as the Highest Good and the over-             after God.
 flowing Fount of all good, with an infinitely perfect,            For the world lives in the flesh. And, the flesh
 divine love. He is perfect love. And in that perfect           produces nothing but the carnal mind. And the carnal
 love He hates all darkness, all evil, all iniquity and sin,    mind is enmity against God. It is death. It minds
 all corruption and impurity. He abhors it. He can              the things of death. And minding the things of death,
 have no fellowship with it. He condemns it. He                 and being motivated only by enmity against God, it
 curses it into death and hell ! Godly sorrow is a reflec- loves darkness and yearns after carnal things. It has
 tion of that divine love of God and hatred of sin in our       a delight in the works of iniquity and it is pleased with
 hearts. Even as the divine abhorrence of sin is rooted them that do evil. The service of sin, the accomplish-
 in His love of self, so godly sorrow springs from the          ment of the lusts of the flesh is the proper sphere of
 love of God. Even as God abhors sin, because it is in the world.
 conflict with His righteous and holy Being, so godly              How, then, could the  scrrow  after God ever spring
 sorrow detests it for His Name's sake. Even as God             from the heart of the world, from our evil flesh? . . .
 cannot have fellowship with sin, so the sorrow accord-            There is, indeed, a sorrow of the world, a sorrow
 ing to God would eschew it as leprosy. Even as God             even over sin.
 condemns sin and the worker of iniquity to hell and               For the wages of sin is death, and these wages sin
 damnation, so does he, whose heart is  filled with sorrow      begins to pay to her faithful servants even in this
 after God, sign his own condemnation before the great          present time. And when these wages are paid, there
 White Throne. It is a sorrow over sin for God's                is in the heart of the. sinner often a bitter resentment,
 Name's sake ! . . . .                                          not against self, but against sin for paying such a
    But it is more!                                             cruel wage ; a keen remorse, gnawing and eating pain-
    It is also a sorrow over sin, that keenly feels the         fully into his heart, because the way of sin has been
 pain of separation from God, that yearns after Him.            traveled to the bitter end ; the sorrow of despair, be-
    For, where there is sorrow after God there is the           cause the things done are irrevocable and the bitter
 love of God in our hearts. That love of God is its             fruit cannot be refused . . . .
 deepest root. From it godly sorrow springs. And in                The embezzler fraudulently appropriates his
 that love of God we seek Him with all our might,               master's possessions entrusted to his care, till discovery
 yearn after Him, hunger after His fellowship, thirst           brings degradation, loss of position and reputation,
wafter  the waters of His grace and lovingkindness. Yet,        and in prison he bemoans the folly of his ways. He
 sin causes separation. There is no fellowship in dark- loved his sinful way and indulged in his greed, until
 ness. No tasting of the blessed grace of our God. In           he was discovered. He bemoans the bitter fruit, not
. the darkness we cannot find Him. And godly sorrow is the sinful way. The murderer, convicted, faces the
 conscious of the pain of separation. It stretches itself gallows, and is filled with terror, being sorrowful, not
 in longing after God. It cannot rest till the darkness         because of his sin, but because of its bitter end. The
 is removed and the fellowship restored and the blessed gambler stakes his all and loses, ruining his life and
 experience of God's forgiving grace has created within the life of his family ; and is so filled with bitter dis-


                                    T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                27
- - - - ..- --..." ..-. - -.._    ".-  ".- .._ - - ..- --I-. . ..- ---. _^         "...       -- .._.... -__- -. -        -
may, that he ends it all, as he imagines, by shooting           Sorrow according to God!
himself through the head. The profligate, having in-            Is it a matter of your, of my experience? Is your,
dulged to the full of dissolution, at last receives the     is my life filled, in principle, with this blessed sorrow?
due reward of his dissipation and bewails .his condition        How shall I know?          And how shall I discern
in the pain and agony of the evil disease gnawing away      whether my sorrow is of godly character, the fruit of
at his flesh and bones. And thus we may, no doubt,          the Spirit within me? How shall I be assured that my
multiply illustrations, even from our own life, when sorrow is not like that of the world? . . .
our evil heart seduced us to be sorry for sin with the         By its fruit I shall know!
sorrow of the world . . . .                                    For godly sorrow yields its fruit. It worketh re-
    It is not a sorrow after God; it is no godly, but a     pentance unto salvation, not to be repented of.
godless sorrow.                                                Truly, the sorrow of the world also has its fruit,
    God is not in all the thoughts of the wicked ; not      for it worketh death.
even in his thoughts of sorrow over sin.                       This is inevitable. The fruit is like the tree and
    Not because sin is an attack upon the living God,       the tree is like its root and like the seed whence it
but because it attacks him, his life, position, name        sprang.     Fruit unto repentance the sorrow of the
and honour, the wicked is filled with resentment, when      world could not possibly bring forth. For it is the
the wages of sin are paid out to him.                       sorrow of the world, the sorrow of the flesh, the sorrow
    The sorrow of the world is, in principle, the re-       that is rooted in the enmity against God, the sorrow
morse of hell! . . . .                                      that still loves sin, even though it resents its wages,
    It is a sorrow, that finds no response of pity and      the sorrow that will pass away with the first bitter
mercy and forgiving grace in the heart of God, even         taste of sin's evil fruit in order to turn with new vigor
as it does not have His divine approval and is not          to the service of sin and unrighteousness, add sin to
according to Him; a sorrow, that, even as all the works     sin, heap up treasures of wrath, guilt upon guilt,
of darkness, evokes His fierce anger . . . .                death upon death, till eternal remorse in outer dark-
    Godly sorrow,  - where is it found?                     ness is the ultimate result. The sorrow of the world
    Only in the sphere of God's own grace. It has its springs from death and works death! . . . :
root in the eternal love of God to-usward. For herein          Not so with the sorrow after God!
is love, not that we love God, but that He loved us, and       Its fruit is easily distinguished from that of the
that Iie gave His only begotten Son to be a propitia-       sorrow of the world.
tion for our sins. That love He spreads abroad in our          For it worketh repentance !
hearts. That love He causes us to taste. And when              He that is truly sorry over sin, according to God's
He causes the life of that love to vibrate in our own       own criterion, loves God, loves the light, loves right-
hearts, they respond in love to Him. And in the light eousness and holiness, loves all that is of God ; hates
and experience of that love we behold and judge of our and abhors all that is of the devil, of darkness, of un-
sins, are filled with an unspeakable sorrow and cry         righteousness and corruption, of the pollution and
out : God be merciful to me, a sinner! . . . .              defilement of sin. In that love of God and abhorrence
    It is not of him that willeth, nor of him that run-     of darkness he is sorry and cries for mercy and for-
neth . . . .                                                giving grace. But in the power of that same love of
    But of God that sheweth mercy.                          God he now also turns about, away from sin and to-
    It flows from the fount of God's gracious election,     ward the living God and His light.
over the accursed tree of Calvary, through the opera-          And this repentance is never repented of. He that
tion of the Spirit of grace into our hearts, thence to      truly repents and turns to God never returns to the
return to God as a sweet-smelling savor of repentance,      bondage of sin.
pleasing to Him . . . .                                        It is a repentance unto salvation, eternal glory and
    And it'is one of the most indispensible marks of        perfection !
the child of God, of saving grace!                             Sorrow changed to everlasting joy !
    Oh, it is true, even in God's child there is also in                                                        H. H,
this respect only a beginning of the new obedience.
Sin cleaves to him. The sorrow of the world frequently
becomes manifest in his life.
    And there  dare times of lukewarmness, of cold-                    Houd u met verstandig harte
heartedness, of darkness, when the prayer of true                           Biddende  aan uws Heeren Woord !
sorrow will not rise from the heart . . . .                            Onder `s werelds smaad en smarte
    But in principle that sorrow is there, always there,               Biedt  het u een toevluclitsoord.
as long as he is not delivered from the body of this                   Schuil in Zijn beloftenissen
death.                                                                      Met een stillen kindersin!
    Precious gift of grace !                                           `t Zal uw krank geloof verfrisschen,
                                                                            `t Start u Licht en Leven in!


-2 `J",                                   T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
-..........-..   -  .                    -_---.......                 ".."--".."l~".--.."  ..__...-__._._.__  -    ----_-..^_-..."  --_., ^_._ ..-
                                                                   liberty in the leashes of non-violence forever. If Eng-
                                                                   land is wise she will weigh carefully the present
                         EDITORIALS                                strength and potentiality of the nationalist movement
                                                                   and harkento the appeal of that vast sub-continent for
                                                                   independence. She should not deny others the gift
                         An Interesting Figure                     which she cherishes most herself."
                                                                      Instead of India's subjection to the British Govern-
           Is Mahatma Gandhi in London, England.                   ment he suggests a partnership between the two coun-
           He, is delegated by the All-India Nationalist Con-      tries. At the Round Table Conference in St. James'
gress to represent its interests with the British Gov- Palace, London, he said:
ernment.                                                              "If I want freedom for India it is for India as a
           `Interesting he is to tho Londoners,  because of his    valued partner of Great Britain, not held by force but
very appearance.               Although, according to some         by the silken cord of love."
writers, he holds the fate of half of the population of                Small wonder, then, that this little man, so un-
 the world in his hand, and, at all events, must be con-           ostentatious, yet so powerful and influential among
 sidered a man of tremendous importance in the sphere              his own people, is regarded with very serious interest
 of world-politics, he arrived in the capital of Great             by British statesmen. His appearance is a sure sign
 Britain rather unostentatiously ; yet this very  ,fact            that Great Britain will not be able very much longer
 caused him an enthousiastic  reception. We can well to hold in subjection this great and valuable part of
 imagine that all London was curious to see the little             her empire.
 man from India, living chiefly on nuts and goat'smilk,                Interesting, too, is Gandhi and the cause he repre-
 garbed simply in loin clot.h, blanket and shawl, who              sents in England at present, as a sign of the times.
 prefers his ascetic mode of living to all the allurements             We are living in times of tremendous importance
 of modern luxury he might enjoy in the big city.                  and significance.
            Far more interesting, however, he is to the British        No, we need not surrender ourselves to vain specu-
  Government. As he occupies his place in the meetings lations as to the day and the hour of our Saviour's
 of the India Round Table Conference, occasionally                 return. Such idle contemplations and baseless predic-
  sipping goat's milk from a vacuum bottle, England's tions are not salutary and. smack of religious fanati-
  statesmen regard him with due seriousness.                       cism. On the other hand, we may not forget that Scrip-
            For Gandhi is authorized by the All-India Nation-      ture itself points us to certain signs of the Lord's
  alists to explain to the British Government their min-           coming, and would have us heed them, that we may lift
  imum demand. And this is nothing less than  self-                up our heads in hope and not be found swallowed up
  government for India.                                            by the things of this present world. And in our own
            He demands independence or nothing for India.          day there are many events and situations, many devel-
            He grants the contention that Great Britain may        opments and world-happenings, that appear to remind
  be sufficiently powerful to keep the millions of India           us:. "The end of all things is near;..&? ye, therefore,
  in subjection by force of arms ; at least, he will grant         sober and watch unto prayer !"
  the  ,possibility,  that is, for the present. But he does             One of these signs, in my opinion not one of the
  not consider it wise, for Great Britain, to refuse his           least in significance, is the awakening of the Orient.
  demand for India's self-government and independence.                  Scripture teaches us in Rev. 20, that the devil shall
  In a statement he made on landing in England to the have to remain bound with respect to the nations that
  Associated Press he said:                                        live on the four corners of the earth, that is, with
            "The British Government is faced with such stag- reference to those nations, that live outside of the
   gering domestic problems that it is not likely to refuse pale of history, so that he will not be able to deceive
   India's demand for self-government. Refusal would               these nations and gather them for the battle against
   mean the renewal of the civil disobedience campaign,            Jerusalem of the new dispensation.
   and the boycott of British goods on a scale greater than             But it also teaches, that when the thousand years
   ever before. I would not take such a step until every are ended, that is, the time appointed for this bound
   possibility for arbitration had been exhausted."                condition of satan by God's own decree, he must be
            Gandhi even suggested the possibility of a bloody loosed for a little while, that he may deceive the nations
   revolution in case the British Government should that live on the four corners of the earth, and gather
   choose to refuse his demand. For in the same state-              Gog and Magog for battle.
   ment to the Press he remarked:                                       Millions upon millions of people, of heathen people,
            "If the fight should be renewed, which God forbid,      have apparently been asleep for centuries, subjected
   the consequences will be indefinitely more terrible than         by various nations of the Occident.
   the last struggle. It will mean, I fear, that not only               Three hundhed and sixty million in India alone
    Indians would be shot down but Britishers will be               were under British rule? content to be considered Brit-
    killed. You cannot hold  SgO,O~O,OQO people without             ish subjects,


                                             THE  S T A N D A R D   BEARER                                           ___ _.._.............-....  ."-i _
                                                                                                                                                 23
- .._.l_._ll_..  ____ ._-...."  -.... ".    ---.- .___-_. -" _"                                   -..-- ...l___l_
     Now the Orient is waking up.                                  verlost, en  aan de goddeloosheid dezer tegenwoordige
     The nations, that never played a considerable part wereld.
in the history of the world, are now clamoring for                    Doch  zie, hoe de schrijver aanstonds uit den hock
independence.             They resent the yoke that was  Iaid      komt met zijn goocheltoeren. In de allereerste para-
upon their shoulders. They rise in rebellion against               graaf schrijft hij reeds:
the nations that subjected them, the nominally Chris-                 "Er zijn maar weinige Schriftwoorden, aan welke
tian peoples. And as they wake up, they still are                  de natuurlijke mensch zich 266 ergert, als dit. En ook
heathen nations, Gog and Magog ; they have not em-                 wijzelve, die de eerstelingen des Geestes hebben, wij
braced the gospel.                                                 ook zelve  verstaan het niet, zoo wij niet het mensche-
     And all this happens at a time, when Christianity             lijk leven zien in het  licht van Gods gemeene gratie."
is fast apostatizing from the truth and Jerusalem be-                 Let hierop !
comes Sodom and Gomorrha, Christendom turns into                      De schrijver begint hier aanstonds zalf, gemeenc-
Anti-Christendom.                                                  gratie zalf over den tekst te strijken.
     Should it not be for us a sign of the times?                     Want ge gevoelt tech,  dat hij hier niet over den
     The end of all things is near! Behold, I come                 tekst schrijft. Hij laat Gods Woord hier niet spreken.
quickly ! Children, it is the last hour. Be ye, therefore,         Er is met geen letter van gemeene gratie sprake in
sober !                                                            den tekst. De tekst spreekt van precies het tegenover-
     Indeed, an interesting figure is Gandhi !                     gestelde. Ge kunt niet alleen geen gemeene gratie uit
                                                        H. IT.     den tekst  halen, ge kunt ze er ook met geen mogelijk-
                                                                   heid bij aanpassen.
                                                                      Sterker nog.
                                                                      De schrijver begint in deze eerste paragraaf aan-
       Het Zalfje Van  Gemewe  Gratie                              stonds met zijn tekst tegen te spreken.                  Want, alle
                                                                   vroom gepraat over gemeene gratie nu een oogenblik
     Wordt in het Friesch  Dagblad van Zondag 4 Juli daargelaten, bedoelt de schrijver tech maar te zeggen:
zoo dik gestreken over Ps. 142, 3, dat het geweldig Zooals dat Woord der Scbrift hier staat, in al zijn
getuigenis van Gods Woord, dat ons zonder dit zalfje               vreeselijke veroordeeling des natuurlijken menschen,
uit deze tekstwoorden moest tegenklinken, er niet  door-           is het niet waar, past het niet op de werkelijkheid ; zoo
heen  kan dringen.                                                 kan het niet bedoeld zijn !
     We kunnen niet nalaten hierop de aandacht te ves-              Zoo redeneeren de  modernen  ook de  Schrift weg!
tigen,  omdat het ons een schoon  voorbeeld levert van             . Maar er is in deze eerste paragraaf nog een andere
de wijze, waarop men tot zijn Gemeene  Gratie-philoso-             Ieugen. De schrijver beweert hier stoutweg, dat zij,
fie komt.                                                          die de eerstelingen des Geestes  ,hebben, ook het  getui-
     Men komt daartoe, niet doordat men eerlijk Gods               genis der  S&rift  niet  verstaan,  als ze ons zegt, dat
Woord laat spreken, maar doordat men brutaalweg de allen  stinkende zijn geworden en dat er niemand is,
sterkste en helderste uitspraken in de Shrift  omtoo-              die  goed  doet, tenzij dan in het licht der gemeene gra-
vert in precies het tegenovergestelde van hetgeen ze               t i e !
ons zeggen.                                                            En dit is zeker niet waar. Dit is zeker niet in over-
     Men zegt : hocus pocus ! en als de S&rift zegt : "er          eenstemming met de ervaring van Gods kind. De
is niemand, die  goed doet, ook niet  &n" beteekent dit            schrijver heeft dit zeker niet neergepend onder den
woord plotseling, dat heel de wereld vol is van nobele             invloed van de eerstelingen des Geestes. Hij heeft het
menschen, die vele goede werken verrichten !                       getuigenis van die eerstelingen des Geestes zeker het
     De lezer oordeele of ik te sterk spreek.                      zwijgen opgelegd,  toen  hij die woorden neerpende.
     In genoemd blad komt een artikel voor, dat bedoeld            Want Gods kind verstaat die woorden der S&rift juist
is als stichtelijke lectuur voor den Zondag. Het handelt           heel  goed. De eerstelingen des Geestes hebben de  waar-
over Ps. 14:2,3: "De Heere heeft uit den hemel  neder-             heid en de werkelijkheid dier woorden in al hun  vree-
gezien op de menschenkinderen, om te zien of iemand                selijke beteekenis juist  voor zijn zielsoog ontdekt. Hij
verstandig ware, die God zocht. Ze zijn  allen   afge-             heeft I juist heelemaal geen behoefte aan een beetje
weken,  tezamen zijn zij stinkende geworden ; er is  nie-          schijnsel  van de walmende en stinkende  gemeene-
mand, die goed  doet, ook niet e&i."                               gratie-lamp, om dit te verstaan. Hij wil er juist in
     En het opschrift der meditatie luidt:  "Oo,%   niet het geheel geen zalfje over strijken. Hij heeft geen
een!"                                                              kritiek op dit getuigenis der  S&rift. Hij heeft zich-
     Dat klinkt dus  goed.                                         zelven door genade  leeren kennen. En hoe ouder hij
     We verwachten natuurlijk een artikel, waarin dit              wordt, en hoe meer hij onder den invloed wordt ge-
mensch-veroordeelende getuigenis wordt uitgedragen bracht van de eerstelingen des Geestes, hoe meer hij
en waarin Gods volk met cadruk nog eens wordt  her-                verstaat, dat er in hem, dat is in zijn vleesch geen goed
innert aan de boosheid van eigen vleesch, aan de diepte            woont, dat ook de allerbeste werken des vleesches niets
des doods en der eliende,  waaruit het door genade werd anders zijn clan stinkende vruchten  en dat er metter-


6 ii
3 L                                1~................    .^._.--._                                                            -~  .._.-

                                                                                   understood well enough that this state, even at its
                           Joseph                                                  best, had been but a failure. Its kings, even the best
        Having observed that Jacob dwelt "in the land                              of them, had turned out to be failures; and its citizens
wherein his father was a stranger"  - the land of                                  had not walked in the judgments and the statutes of
Canaan - the sacred narrator proceeds- to give the                                 the Lord. Yet irrespective of, and we may say, even
details of Joseph's history. Before attending to these                             because of the impeffections  that clave to this thing
details, a few remarks of a general nature are in order.                           that was first, it was the sign, token, or type, of the
        The history of Joseph shows itself up as having                            true kingdom of Christ. This is evident from the fact,
typical significance when measured by the rule or that in the prophetic descriptions of this kingdom, the
principle of interpret&ion manifestly employed by the                              pattern of this earlier thing, reappears. The elect
sacred writers in their selection of typical materials.                            that God will take from among the nations, the prophet
        The principle to which we now refer is the prin-                           calls the children of  3srae1,  which indeed they are.
ciple of inner agreement between the two events,                                   They will be brought to the land of Canaan and be
transactions, institutions or personages that sustain                              made one nation upon the mountains of Israel. David
to each relation of type and antitype. Such pairs of                               the Lord's servant, will be king over them. In a purely
events embody the same truths with this difference, of                             formal sense, the new creation is to be a reduplication
course, that the type elrhibits  the truth on an earthly                           of the old only on a grander scale. Both appear in
and thus lower scale.                                                              Scripture as the city of God. The king of the one as
        A few illustrations. Adam appears in Scripture                             well as the king of the  ot.her  is the vicegerent of
as a type of Christ. "Nevertheless, death reigned                                  Jehovah. A land of Canaan with a sanctuary is com-
from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not                                    mon to both communities. However, the one is but a
sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgressiop,                               shadow; the other the reality - the true kingdom of
who is the figure of him that was to come."'                                       God, whose citizens neither  defile themselves with their
        Christ is the head of the redeemed - Adam was                              idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with their
the head of the human race, and as such the figure                                 transgressions. It is to be a kingdom with a king
of Christ. Here the inner agreement is the headship.                               whom Jehovah will uphold, in whom His soul will de-
However, by Adam's  offence  death reigned ; but by                                light, and upon whom He will put His Spirit. As a
Jesus Christ they which receive abundance of grase                                 consequence, this king will bring forth judgment even
and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life.                              to the gentiles. He shall not cry nor lift up, nor cause
        Melchizedek prefigured the Christ.                            "For that    his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed he
afterthe similitude of Melchizedek there arises another shall not break, and the smoking flax shall he not
priest, who is made, not after the law of a carnal com-                            quench. He' shall bring forth judgment unto truth.
mandment, but after the power of an endless life."                                 He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set
        Christ is typified in this personage, the priest,                          judgment in the earth; and the isles shall wait for his
without father, without mother, without descent,                                   law.
having neither beginning of days, nor end of life, the                                The capital of this ideal kingdom is  the, new Jeru-
priest of the Most High God, king of righteousness and                             salem; its realm is the earth as purged. from the race
of Salem, which is peace.                                                          of men that now corrupt it and as peopled by the
        However, in distinction from Melchizedek, Christ saints made perfect. Here again the inner agreement
is the great Highpriest that was once offered to bear                              and disagreement between the type and- the  antitype
the sins of many ; and unto them that look for Him is in evidence.
shall He appear the second time without sin unto salva-                               One more example. Said the apostle, "Now we,
tion.                                                                              brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.
        Let us consider another case. Said the prophet,                            But as then, he that was born after the flesh perse-
"And David my servant, shall be king over them ; and                               cuted him that was born after the spirit, even so it is
they all shall have one shepherd ; they shall also w&k                             now. Nevertheless what saith the Scripture? Cast
in my judgments and observe my statutes and do them.                               out the bondwoman and her son ; for the son of the
And they shall dwell in the land that I have given bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the free
unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have                                   woman. So then, brethren, we are  not children of the
dwelt, and they shall dwell therein, even they and their                           bondwoman but of the free."
children, and their children's children forever; and my                               Ishmael here appears as a type of the Jiorld,  the
servant David shall be their prince forever" (Ezek.                                point of contact being his manner of behavior toward
3'7 : 24,226).                                                                     Isaac, the child of promise and the type of the church.
        It is evident that the above scripture is a restate-                          If the earmark of a type is the inner agreement
ment of the promise of the appearance of an ideal                                  between it and the event, transaction, personage, or
commonwealth. That this promise had not received                                   life, to which it stands in the relation of type, Christ
its fulf!ilment  with the appearance of the old theocratic                         is typified in Joseph. If the life of the one be placed
state  was evident to every saint. At least the prophet                            alongside of the life of the other, the discavery is made


                                    T H E   S T A N D A R D   BEARER                                                                                          33
                                      ." ..- -- -..._........  -._-- __... "--- ^..... .._- ---  __......._   -""  ..__  II_ _-_.__..  ^ "._^. "."ll..l    ._ I _ _
that both lives enunciated the same principles of truth                  have been in placing before the eye of the church this
and were weighed down by griefs that had much in                         type. And the answer is ready: the primary reason
common. As Christ so Joseph, he was the beloved of was to provide His people with some concrete instruc-
his father, sent by his father to his brethren who                       tion respecting His great power and wisdom, and by
received him not, but, under the impulse of a fierce                     this instruction, to gender in them the faith they
spite, in a fit of jealous rage that partook of the char-                needed to cleave unto Him as the God of their salva-
acter of the satanic, sold the innocent one to the tion when all was lost. Such a time was now at hand
heathen for twenty pieces of silver. As Christ so                        for the true people of God. Joseph's history is at once
Joseph, he became the lord and saviour of those who                      the history of the beginning of the Israelitish people
had reviled and despised and had sought to destroy                       in Egypt. But before He wills that the oppressor lay
him. The exalted Joseph, as Christ, feeds those who                      hold on His people, He will provide it with a most re-
had ill-treated him. He only had bread, and Christ is                    markable exhibition of what He does and is capable
the bread of life. To Him men must turn, would they of doing.
live. As Joseph, so He, too, stood between his brethren                    The history of Joseph, as the history of no other
and death. As the vicegerent of Pharaoh, he fed the                      single individual (Christ excepted) teaches that man
world ; as the vicegerent of God, Christ feeds his people proposes but that God disposes ; it teaches that only in
unto eternal life.                                                       an ethical sense do the wicked oppose God and His
   The two lives which we now consider coincide at still                 people; that in what we may call a metaphysical sense,
other points. Christ is typified in Joseph's exaltation                 they together with their opposition are the issues of
to the highest possible seat of honor in the kingdom of                 His will and the products of His providence and thus
Egypt, in his reception of a name above every name,                     His servants, He can and does utilize for the promotion
the name of Pharaoh excepted. Further, through the                      of His cause, for the attainment of His eternal de-
policy of Joseph, all the land of Egypt together with crees, and thus for the salvation of His people, so that
its inhabitants became the personal property of                         all things must work together for good to them that
Pharaoh. "Then Joseph said unto the people, Behold,                     love God, to them who are the called according to His
I have bought you this day and your land for                            purpose because God is for them. It is as Joseph said
Pharaoh . . . .  " "And God in Christ was reconciling to his brethren, "Ye thought evil against me, but God
the world with himself." The redeemed belong to Him meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day,
with body and  souI and with all they do possess. The                   to save much people alive."
earth and the fulniss thereof are His. We are His and                         Then, too, what the church had need of ere Egypt
all we have is His gracious gift. Pascal would have                     should become for it a house of bondage is  a.vivid and
us consider further, Joseph, the innocent'one, in prison striking exemplification of the fundamental law of
with two malefactors - Jesus on the cross with two                      God in guiding the elect from suffering to joy, from
thieves; Joseph predicts favorably to the one, but                      humiliation to exaltation. Of this law the life of Joseph
death to the other; Jesus saves the one, while he leaves                was the first outstanding type in sacred history. It
the other in condemnation.                                              was especially the operation of this law in his career
    If Joseph is no type, it is impossible to say on what               that constituted this career the first outstanding
valid grounds such personages as Adam, Melchizedek,                     medium of a most comforting instruction to the op-
Sarah, Hagar, Ishmael and Isaac, and by implication                     pressed church of that epoch. And as the medium of
Abraham, Moses, Jonah, David, Solomon, Zerubbabel                       this instruction, this life was the type of the life of
and Joshua were types. True, Joseph is nowhere re-                      Christ, and therefore partook of the character of a
ferred to as a type. But to maintain that for this rea- prophecy:
son he is no type, is to stand committed to the errone-                       The question of the immediate purpose of the ap-
ous view that the selection made by the inspired sacred                 pearance of Joseph will be dealt with in a following
writers marks the boundaries of the typical province.                   article.
    It is hopeless to argue with anyone who, with this                                                                                          G. M. 0.
remarkable inner agreement between the two lives
under consideration before his eye, will still deny the
typical significance of the history of Joseph. The
question to which this denier can find no answer is:                                    I have a friend, whose faithful love
why this remarkable agreement  ? Unless he would an-                                        Is more than al1 the world to me,
swer, to no purpose whatever, he shall have to keep                                     `Tis higher than the heights above,
silence.                                                                                   And deeper than the soundless sea :
    So then, it cannot be gainsaid  that the career of
Joseph is in many respects one of the most remarkable                                                  So old, so new,
tokens, signs, let us say, portrayals of the career of                                                 So strong, so true ;
Christ.                                                                                 Before the earth received its frame
    The question arises what the purpose of God may                                     He loved me. - Blessed be His name!


                                     T H E STANDARD   B E A R E R

           The Status of the Deacon                           Church Order, Art.  30.     The article reads in part:
                                                              "In all churches there shall be a consistory composed
   The question we are engaged in answering is:               of the ministers of the word and the elders, who at
What is the position of the deacon in relation to the         least in larger congregations, shall as a rule, meet once
consistory? It was pointed out that the nucleus of the a week." This article affirms, be it by implication,
matter with which we deal is whether the deacon may that the deacons do not belong to the structure of the
function as an elder. It was affirmed he may not.             body of elders, therefore do not function as elders.
   That such is indeed the will of Christ is evident             It is commonly thought, and this is the matter
from the following:                                           among others we take up in this article, that the afore-
    (a)    Each office has its own name, expressive of said view, namely, that the deacon may not function
the duties belonging to the of7ice  signified by the name.    as an elder and therefore does not belong to the struc-
    (b) Each  ofhce,  therefore, is constituted of dis-       ture of the body of elders, is at variance with Art. 30
tinct tasks  - tasks differing from those belonging of our Confession. Rightly considered, however, the
to the other office.                                          Confession teaches nothing derogatory to this view.
   This in conjunction with the fact that Scripture           True, the Confession (Art. 30) does declare that the
does not as much as intimate that the tasks of the one        elders and deacons and pastors form the council of
office are common to the two or to the three, compels         the church. This article does  root assert however that
the conviction that each officebearer should keep him-        the deacon is an elder and belongs to the structure of
self to the tasks belonging to his office ; that therefore    the body of eiders for the regulation of matters of
the deacon may not set himself up as elder in the             discipline and doctrine.    It merely affirms that the
church of Christ, nor the elder as the deacon. This           deacons as well as the elders and the pastors form the
happens, however, whenever the deacons are permitted          council. So then, respecting the matter of the relation
to convene with the elders for the regulation of mat-         the deacon sustains to the body of elders, there is no
ters of discipline and doctrine, or when the elders are       conflict between the Church Order and the Confession.
permitted to convene with the deacons for the regula-            However, respecting the question whether or no
tion of matters of Christian philanthropy. To regulate        the body of deacons as well as the body of elders form
means to adjust by rule, to iix the end of, to bring to       the council of the church there seems to be conflict
an issue or conclusion by vote.                               between the Church Order and the Confession. Accord-
   The deacon fures the end of a matter of discipline         ing to the Church Order the body of elders or& form
and thus functions as an elder when a ballot is placed        the council ; according to the Confession, the body of
in his hand by which he registers his vote.                   deacons as well is a council and constitutes together
   We t,hen,  took up the matter whether the deacon           with the body of elders, the one council of the church.
belongs to the structure of the consistory. This ques- Rightly considered, however, conflict here, too, is more
tion is not identical to the question whether the deacon      apparent than real.     If we compare Art. 3'7 of. the
may function as an elder. The latter question can be          Church Order with Arts. 25 and 40 of the Church
unreservedly answered. And this answer should be              Order,  it. becomes plain that the composers of
an emphatic no. However, what answer is given to              Article 37 meant not to declare that the body
the former question depends upon the construction             of deacons constitutes no council.          The aforesaid
placed upon the word  consistory  or council  of the          articles (Arts. 25 and  40) read respectively: "The
church. If the consistory be defined as a body of elders office peculiar to the deacons is diligently to collect
convened for the purpose of regulating matters of dis-        alms and other contributions of charity, and after
cipline and doctrine, it follows that the deacons do          mutual counsel, faithfully and diligently to distribute
not belong to the structure of the consistory. HOW-           the same to the poor as the needs may require it; to
ever, if the body of deacons convened for the regula-         visit and comfort the distressed and to exercise care
tion of matters of Christian philanthropy, is also the        that the alms are not misused; of which they shall
council of the church, the deacon belongs to the              render an account in consistory, and also (if anyone
structure of the council. The term council, then, may         desires to present) to the congregation, at such times
,be used as the signification of both bodies, the body of     as the consistory may see fit. The deacons shall meet,
elders and the body of deacons. If the two bodies             wherever necessary, every week to transact the busi-
constitute the council, the deacon belongs to the coun-       ness pertaining to their office, calling upon the name
cil. If the body of elders only is the council of the         of Cod  ; whereunto the ministers shall take good heed
church, the deacon does not belong to the council.            and if necessary they shall be present."
   Our conviction is that the council of the church is           These two articles, taken together, plainly teach
constituted of both bodies. If the body of deacons is         that the body of deacons is indeed an assembly of per-
no council, the office of deacon is inferior to that of       sons met in consultation, and vested with the right to
elder, which it is not.                                       regulate, fix, bring to an issue, by themselves, inde-
    The view, so it was pointed out, that the deacon          pendent of the body of elders, matters of Christian
mav not function as an elder is also the view of our          philanthropy. The deacons do reason together, jointly


c-                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   F E A R E R                                                          45
                                                    111    - -   -
                                                                   _..... ^ ^ ___ - "..."ll."-  -- -........  ""---- _I__    .~  -.---..-
reach decisions respecting matters pertaining to their          cons do not belong to the structure of the. body of
office, so that the plain teachings of our Church Order         elders, is contested by Prof. Heyns. In his rebuttal he
is that the body of deacons is indeed a council (raad) .        sets out with the statement that our Reformed church
        However, although the Church Order very plainly         fathers deemed it not principly wrong that the deacons
speaks of the body of deacons as a council, it at. once         take part in the government of the church.
affirms that the council of the church is composed of               The professor reasons thus: "indien zij er werke-
ministers and elders only.                                      lijk principieel bezwaar in hadden,  dat de Diakenen
        Is there conflict then between Art. 37 and Arts. 25     deelnemen c~ctn rlc rcgce&~~  der kerk, dan zouden zij
and 40 of the Church Order? Not at all, if the term             het in bijzondere gevallen niet hebben kunnen toestaan,
council or consistory as a component part of Article            niet wanneer het  getal ouderlingen  zeer klein was, en
37 be given a particular meaning and be taken as the            nog minder wanneer dit groot was, maar er zaken te
signification of the body of elders convened for the            behandelen  waren  van bijzonder gewicht."
regulation of Christian doctrine and discipline, and if             True it is that the last half of Art. 3'7 of the Church
the term council, when used in connection with Arts..           Order reads : "Whenever the number of elders is small,
25 and 40 of the Church Order be taken merely as the            the deacons may be added to the consistory by local
signification of a body of officebearers convened for the       regulation; this shall invariably be the rule where the
regulation and fixation of matters of that local brother-       number is less than three." As was said, however,
hood to which the body stands in the relation of coun-          when this rule is followed, it is manifestly the desire
cil.                                                            of the Church Order t,hat the deacons be admitted not
        So then, in this general sense of the term, the body    as a body that belongs to the structure of the body of
of deacons together with the body of elders constitute          elders, but merely as an addition to this body, an addi-
the council of the church, as the one body as  well as the      tion with an advisory vote. Even when this rule is
other is convened for the regulation of matters pertain-        fullowed the body of elders remains the council proper,
ing to the localized kingdom of God on earth. How-              the o&y body in the church vested with the right to
ever, whereas the assembly of elders, as compared with          regulate, to fix by vote, matters of discipline and doc-
the assembly of deacons, is pre-eminently a ruling              trine. The deacons may advise, may take part in the
body, a body in which the kingship of Christ takes on           deliberations, but the right to  fix, to bring to an issue,
a marked prominence, it, this assembly, is in a very            matters of discipline and doctrine belongs to the body
particular sense, the council, consistory of the church.        of elders only. If the meaning and import of the last
Rightly considered, then, conflict between the above-           half of Art. 37 of the Church Order is that the deacons
cited articles of the Church Order is out of the ques-          too, have this right, and thus belong to the structure
tion.                                                           of the body of elders, this article destroys itself; for
        The same applies to the supposed conflict between       the  first section emphatically states that the elders only
the  "Church  Order and Art. 30 of our Confession.              have this right as they constitute the consistory. It is
Rightly considered, there is no conflict here, if the           hard to believe that our fathers even within the com-
term council, as a component part of this article {of pass of ;L single article would reason in two opposing
our Confession) be given this general meaning and in            directions.         What Prof. Heyns must prove is that,
agreement with this meaning be taken as the significa-          according to the article in question, the deacons in the
tion of the assembly of officebearers of the church             capacity of rldcrs may be added to the existing body
(elders, pastors and deacons) convened for the regula-          of elders, and be allowed to function, together with the
tion and fixation of matters pertaining to their re-            elders, as the rulers proper of the church.
spective offices; and if the same term (the term coun-             Having affirmed that according to our Church
cil) when used in connection with Article 3'7 of the            Order, the deacon as a component part of the  cc;uncil
Church Order, be given a particular sense, and in               of the church, is an e!cl.er and may function as one, the
agreement with this sense, be taken as the signification        professor goes in to say that in *the beginning of the
of that body, the body of elders, vested with the right         history of the Reformed churches, this was the fast
to  rule the church.                                            rule. Later on, for some unknown reason, the church
        So then, Art. 30 of the Confession asserts that the     set this rule aside and began defining the con&story
deacons as well as the elders and pastors, constitute,          as a body constituted of elders only. "In haar eerste
in distinction from the common members, the body                redactie," wrote the professor, "die van Emden 1571,
vested with the right to regulate and to fix matters            diet de  Kerkenorde   zich nog anders hooren. Art. 6
pertaining to the church. Article 37 of the Church              luidt: `in iedere kerk zal men samenkomsten of con-
Order affirms that the elders only in distinction from sistories hebben der Dienaren des woords, ouderlingen
the deacons constitute the body vested with the power           en diakenen. Dit komt dus nog overeen met de Con-
to regulate and  fur matters of doctrine and discipline.        fessie, die van 1561 dagteekent."
Rightly considered, there is no clash here whatsoever.             So far Heyns.
        The view or doctrine that the deacon is no elder           According to the professor, then, the synods of
and should not function as one; that therefore the  dea-        Emden and Dordrccht declared that the ruling body


 `Hi                                  T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
__llll----. .."             -.____                                            .._  -.
of the church, the consistory, is composed of deacons            dat de diakenen niet tot deelneming aan de kerkregee-
as well as of the ministers and elders. This declara-            ring bevoegd zouden zijn. Veeleer wordt hun bevoegd-
tion, this professor has it, is expressive of the view of heid daartoe vastgehouden, en worden  zij slechts  dan
the early Reformed church fathers in that it also                van deelneming daaraan ontslagen, wanneer zij veilig
agrees with the Confession.                                      gemist kunnen  worden,  en zij hun tijd voor diakonale
        The professor seems to have been ignorant of the         zaken noodig hebben."
* fact  that as a component part of the declaration of the          The strange view coming to the surface in the
two aforesaid synods, the term  comistorie  or  council selection is : The deacon in virtue of his office (the
is used as the signification, not of the body of elders,         office of deacon) is at once an elder, vested with the
but of the sum total of officebearers of the church (dea-        right and power to take part in the government of the
 cons, elders and pastors) who convene for the regula-           church, that is, to attend to duties belonging to the
 tion and furation of matters pertaining to the church.          office of elder. However, only in the event the number
 This is evident from the synod of Dordrecht's reply             of elders is small, may and does he exercise his right,
to the question of  classis Zierikzee: "Zoo zullen de            does he function in his capacity of elder.
 dienaars des Woords, ouderlingen en diakenen, de  con-             Let someone point to a single scripture through
 sistorie maken."  Yet, "Alzoo,  dat de dienaren en ouder-       which circulates the slightest proof for such a concep-
 lingen alleen onder hen verzamelen  zullen, ook de  dia-        tion, or view.  .There  is no such scripture. Yet to this
 kenen bijzonder . . . .  " So then, whereas the dea- view the Reformed fathers, all of them, are supposed
 cons do belong to the consistory, and whereas, though           to have held to. Having asserted that the fathers of
 belonging to the consistory, they do not meet with the          Emden  and Dordrecht declared that the consistory is
 elders, it must be that in the above-cited declaration          composed of deacons, ministers and elders, the pro-
 the term consistory appears as the signification, not           fessor goes on to say, "maar van Middelburg 1581 af
 of the body of elders, but of the whole body of office-         heet het: `bestaande (namely, the consistory) uit de
 bearers. It is plain, then, that the view of the early          dienaren des Woords en de ouderlingen.' Derhalve de
 Reformed church fathers was that, though the  con-              eerste redactie der Kerkenorde stemt met de belijdenis
 sistory is composed of deacons, elders, and pastors, in         overeen, en later heeft men dit veranderd."
 a particular sense the body of elders only constitute               In his zeal to make plain that the deacon has a
 the council of the church. And the final clause of the share in the government  of  the church, the professor
 declaration of the synod of Dordrecht, "doch  in plaat-         goes far. He even makes bold to say that it is prin-
 sen waar weinig ouderlingen zijn zullen de diakenen             ciply wrong for the elders to transact their business
 toegelaten mogen worden  na de begeerte der consis-             independent from the deacons, and for the deacons to
 torie" contains nothing derogatory to this view. It is          transact their business independent from the. elders.
 to be noticed, however, that according to the first             All the affairs of the church, those belonging to the
 clause of the above-cited declaration, the consistory is        office of deacon and those belonging to the  oflice of
 composed of deacons as well as of the ministers and             eider, should be dealt with by the deacons and elders
 elders; and that according to the last clause of the            jointly.                                            --~-.~  -
 declaration, the deacons may he admitted to the                     Such, says the professor, should be the arrange-
 assembly of the consistory,  if  the  comistory  so desires.    ment ; for, each office has something in it of the other ;
 The question arises, If the consistory is composed of           and the three offices are one in Christ.
 deacons as well as of ministers and elders, would it not           No one, of course, will deny this. Indeed, the three
 follow from the very nature of things that whenever offices are one in Christ. They are essentially one.
 the consistory meets the deacons must be on hand?               From this it follows that the one office has in it some-
 There is a difficulty here which vanishes if the term           thing of the other. To illustrate: the deacon is pre-
 consistory of the last clause be taken as the significa-        eminently the priest of the congregation. However,
 tion of the body of. elders only. The clause then de- the king and the prophet is  aIso in evidence in all his
 clares that in the event the number of elders is small,         priestly engagements.      To quote the Form: "The
 the deacons may be admitted as an advisory body to              second part of their, office (the ofice of deacon) con-
 the assembly of the body of elders - the council of the sists in distribution, wherein are not  onIy  required
 church in the particular sense  - if this body so desires.      discretion and prudence to bestow the alms only on
 So the Reformed church fathers have decreed. Iiow- objects of charity, but also cheerfulness and simplicity
 ever, among their declarations, one looks in vain for a to assist the poor with compassion and hearty affec-
 statement to the effect that the deacons may transact tion: as the apostle requires, Rom. chap. 12 and II
 the business belonging to the office of elder, and that         Cor. chap. 9. For which end it is very beneficial, that
 the elder may transact the business belonging to the            they do not  only administer relief to the poor and
 office of deacon.                                               indigent with external gifts, but also with comfortable
        How unlikely, yea preposterous, this view is may         words from Scripture."
 be gathered from the  folIowing  excerpt from Prof.                 To lay words of comfort on the hearts of the ob-
 Heyns'  delineation on the matter: "Geen gedachte dus jects of mercy is to function as prophet and king. As


                                     TH'E  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                            47
                                      --.- ----  .._  ^  -.-.---  _...  ".-."  --"--  ..^..  "."  ..-." ..."  -....  ^         -_-.__._
to the minister of the Word, the assembly to whom he                        heid der ambten; zij zijn een in Christus; zelfs zooals
expounds the Word of God, he is also called upon to                         zij in de kerk bestaan, waren  zij een in het Apostolaat.
bless. To bless is to functicn  as priest. And the exer-                    Die eenheid mag niet uit het oog  worden  verloren, en
cise of the right of rule, involves the elder in engage-                    komt juist dan uit, als de drie in een raad te zamen
ments of a priestly and prophetic nature. For the                           komen tot gezamelijke hehartiging van de helangen
objects of his rule, he prays and serves with advice                         der gemeente."
and consolation.                                                                  True, the three offices are one in Christ. And this
   If matters stand thus, why may not the deacon                            unity may not be lost sight of. It is equally true, how-
take part in the government proper of the church,                           ever, that this unity may not be brought out in a for-
and why may not the elders assemble with the deacons                        bidden manner, namely, by uniting the three offices in
for the regulation and fixation of matters of Christian                     one person in the church.
philanthropy?                                                                     "Het onderscheid der ambten," to quote the pro-
   In answering this question we set out with the                           fessor once more, "meet   vastgehouden   worden   in  de
observation that Christ is the prophet-priest-king of uitoefming;  dan is de dienst des Woords en der Sacra-
God. In His person the three offices do indeed meet                         menten  aan de dienaren des Woords en aan hen alleen  ;
and unite so as to constitute the one, single, undivided, en het werk der barmhartigheid aan de diakenen al-
entity. It is a threefold office with which the Person                      leen ; maar het hestuur is een."
of the Son is vested. The prophet in His engagements                              It is hard to see why the difference between the
can easily be distinguished from the priest and the                         offices need be maintained in the execution of a deci-
king, as the tasks belonging to the one office differ                       sion respecting matters pertaining to the office of elder,
from those belonging to the other.                                          and not in the regulation and fixation of these matters.
   However, the three offices that meet and unite in                        Fact is that he who ties a matter holds the reigns and
the person of Christ, fall apart, so to say, in the church                  that he who executes the decision is nothing more than
and are borne respectively by three individuals. The                        the agent or instrument of the decider. The body of
church has its deacon, its elder, and its minister. As                      elders properly rule only in the event they be allowed
was said, the deacon is pre-eminently the priest; the                       to make the decision they execute, so that, whenever
elder, the ruler; and the minister the teacher in the                       the deacons in conjunction with the minority of the
church. Consider further, what it is that renders the                       elders are able to set at naught the voice of the major-
deacon preeminently a priest, the elder the ruler, and                      ity of the elders, the latter sink to the level of a mere
the minister the teacher, namely, a specific set of                         agent or instrument of the former, and the former (the
duties, so that the question whether the deacon may                         deacons) then constitute the body that rule - rule
have a share in the government of the church devolves                       respecting matters that do not pertain to their office.
into the question whether the one officebearer may                          It is certain, however, that not the deacons but that the
unite in his person the three offices by attending to                       elders are properly the rulers of the church so that
the tasks peculiar to each. And the answer is ready:                        the latter may not permit themselves to be supplanted
If he may there can be no good reason why in His                            by the former. Such is -also the conviction of the pro-----
church Christ set each office by itself as an office to                     fessor.        The final paragraph of his defense of the
be borne by a distinct individual. To unite what Christ                     proposition that the deacons have a share in the gov-
has separated is equally as wrong as to separate what                       ernment of the church, reads: "Daarbij  zou dan echter
Christ has joined together.                                                 dit onderscheid in orde zijn, dat in zaken van dienst
   As was said, the three offices are to an extent                          en tucht aan de stem der ouderhngen,  en in zaken der
united in the one officebearer.     Absolute separation                     barmhartigheid aan die der diakenen het meeste ge-
is quite impossible here. The question is, however,                         wicht werd gehecht." So then, respecting matters of
whether in the one office the element predominant in                        discipline and service, the voice of the elders may `not
the other shall be allowed to take on a prominence so                       be overruled by the voice of the deacons. Here the
marked that the lines of demarcation between the                            professor completely overturns his own view. If the
sphere of activities of the three officebearers fade into                   deacons, according to the ordinance of Christ, have a
oblivion.  This  is both forbidden and unnecessary.                         share in the government of the church, it follows that
   It is not necessary. The deacon can very well ad-                        there can be no reason in the world why in matters
minister relief to the poor without fixing  matters of of discipline and doctrine their voice may not overrule
discipline ; but he cannot be of real benefit to the poor                   the voice of the majority of elders.
without also administering with comfortable words of                              So then, by averring that the deacons may not
Scripture. So then, the answer to the question when silence the voice of the majority of elders respecting
and in how far should the deacon prophesy must be:                          matters pertaining to their office, the professor unwit-
whenever and insofar as the proper execution of the                         tingly arose to the defense of the view we now eham-
tasks belonging to the office of deacon demand it of                        pion   - the view, namely, that the deacons, when ad-
him.                                                                        mitted to the assembly of elders, function as an ad-
   The professor continues : "Er is een organ&he  een-                      visory body only, when the assembly deals with  mat-


 426                                    THE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
 _ _ _         _"_                .______   ---. __I LI^-."  -........ ^,__--
 ters pertaining to the office of elder; and on the other                                    GODS KRACHT
  hand that the elders functicn  as an advisory body when
 the assembly deals with matters pertaining to the                               God schiep het licht uit duisternis,
  office of deacon.                                                              Hij geeft niet dan waar armoe is,
        So then, the view of the defense of which we here                          De. rijken  laat Hij ledig;
 arise is that each officebearer is duty bound to keep                           Zijne eer is Zijn uitsluitend doel,
  himself within the boundaries of the sphere of action                          En al Zijn hulp is aan `t gevoel
  that pertain to his office; for as was said, the three                           Van onmacht evenredig.
  offices, though they meet and unite in the person of
  Christ, exists as three distinct entities in the church.                       Waar God Zijn Woord zal  doen  verstaan,
        If this view were lived in all its implications, some                    Daar dient de nood vooraf te gaan,
  practices of consistories would be discontinued. To                              God komt slechts om te troosten ;
  quote the Form, "It is the duty of the elder to have                           Rijst niet de zon alleen uit nacht,       '
  regard unto the doctrine and conversation of the- min-                         Met dageraad en morgenpracht !
  isters of the Word, to the end that all things may be                            Van uit het nev'lig Oosten?
  directed to the edification of the church . . . .  "
  Hence, the duty of petitioning the throne of grace for                         God, Die Zijn gave een plaats bereidt,
  a blessing upon the preaching (on the meeting of                               Geef ons vooraf ontvank'lijkheid,
  the cons&tory  convened before the service) ; and the                            Hij is een God van orde.
  duty of affirming the contents of the delivered sermon                         De Geest dreef over `t watervlak,
  by the customary clasping of hands, belongs properly                           V66r  God de scheppingswoorden sprak :
  to the office of elder. Yet as a rule, the deacon, too, in                       "`t Zij licht ! de wereld worde !"
  his turn offers this prayer and is permitted to show
this special regard to the doctrine preached. Strictly,                          Zoolang nog Abram's eigen kracht
  this is a mixing of things that should be kept apart.                          Uit  Sarai een zoon verwacht
        I feel confident that our deacons can hear the truth                       Moet hij nog vrucht'loos wachten ;
  about the special office. This tendency on the part of                         Maar  toen zijn eigen kracht verdween,
  the church to permit the `deacons to overstep,  their                          Toen was het dat de Heer verscheen,
  bounds and appropriate to themselves the tasks be-                              . En met Hem wonderkrachten.
  longing to the office of elder must be explained from
  the fact that in the hearts of many the thought has                            Toen Jacob in zijns vaders huis
  taken root that the office of deacon is inferior to that                       Nog niets verstond van `t lieve kruis,
  of the elder. The Church Order, it seems to me, is                               Toen  had hij niet te hopen ;
  somewhat to blame for this. It applies the word  con-                          Maar  toen  hij op den kouden grond
  sistory to the body of elders only. As was said, the                           Niets dan een Steen tot peluw vond,
  body ofdeacons  is a council with the right and -power                  , -       Ging hem Gods hemel  open.
  to regulate and ,px matters that lie within the range
  of activities  belc$ging  to the office of deacon.                        0 Geest, die d' onmacht krachten geeft,
        The office of, deacon is an office as worthy as that                     Die enke1 over `t ledig zweeft,
  of the elder. This is evident from the demands with                               Opdat Uw almacht spreke;
  which Scripture comes to the deacon. These demands                             Maak mij een vat ter Uwer eer,
 ,, are exceedingly high. Said the apostles to the  multi-                       En neem al `t mijne, o God en Heer !
~. tude, "Therefore brethren, look ye out among' you                                Opdat mij niets ontbreke.
  seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and
  wisdom" (Acts  6  2).                                     ."
        The body of deacons and the body of elders con-
  stitute the consistory of the church. In small congre-                         SPOEDIG ZAL DE ZON ONDERGAAN
  gations the two bodies may be joined together, and the                  Twee lieve kinderen Gods uit den eersten tijd der
  one body be made to stand in relation to the other in               Christelijke jaartelling  hadden  eens op een morgen
  the capacity of advisor. In large congregations each een Meinen twist.
   body must meet by itself as the business pertaining to                 Toen echter  de avond viel, klopte het booze gewe-
   each office is large.                                              ten van den eenen zeer, en hij zond de volgende  bood-
                                                    G. M. 0.          schap  aan zijn vriend : "De zon zal spoedig  onder-
                                                                      gaan."
                                                                           De andere begreep de beteekenis en kwam gauw
          Als we onze zonden zien in het licht van Gods  hei-         aangeloopen en  vie1 zijn broeder om den hals.
   ligheid, onthult datzelfde licht ons Gods vergevende                    De zon ging niet onder over hun toornigheid, en
   liefde.                                                            over deze verzoening verblijdden zich de engelen Gods.


