  :-/
                                                        des Heeren allereerst; dat we dien lof helder `voor ons Scripture  be brought i&o practice, so that it is not a
  i*-                                                                                                                                     mer.e theory,, but becomes a matter of actual. life and
  :  ;  1-                                             bewustzijn hebben, dat we verstaan, helder inzien, van
     . + ._
  .`,S.y  ^  ,. - harte gelcoven, dat alle wegen, die de Heere met Zijn experience? We believe that the Bible is perspicuous
  I-I  .
  i-;.. ,:  - volk houdt, Zij,e wegen zijn en dat al.Zijn doen recht- in the sense that all the people of God are able. to
  i -:. 7,; .:
  / .,>:, .,_
  ,;.-:c  ,,                                           .&reeks voortvloeit  uit de eeuwige  goedertiereaeid en understand it unto their salvation. . But this does' not
  :-._  I..:, :. : .barmhartigheid,  die Hem eeuwiglijk dringt  om Zijn imply that the Word of God is easily and without effort
  `.,
  ,.-i"                                           -volk te zaligcn.
  .:_  :`.                                                                                 En dit helder voor ons bewustzijn heb-         interpreted  and understood. It does not read like a
                                             bend, spreken.  we dari van di& lof ; vertellen we' Zijne story. Its significance- does not appear on the surface.
                                                       .w&deren.;  gewagen we van Zijne groote goedigheid in One cannot nod over Scripture and expect that he will
                                             r dankbaar gebed voor Zijn aangezicht ; voor elkander, receiv.e  the Word  of. God. There  are many parts of
                                                       voor het volk des Heeren in het midden der gemeente ;                              ScriptuGe that are profound, so profound that they are
 :.;F:.,               .".                              en voor heel de were!d  !                                                         never fully fathomed. This is especially true of the
  L  ",T;   :  .:
  p27-.--,.                                  -
  p..  i_.i  .'                                              - Zoo wordt Gods doe1 door Zijne genade in ons ge- words of Christ Himself. There are  .other  passages
  y$.:;:;                                         --realiseerd  en wordi; Hij verheerlijkt !                                              that are involved, as some of the writings of "our be-
  I.  _-.  -7.                                         .'
   .  ..-.,...   _
  1.:. . . T                                                    En zoo is er blijdschap in de ziel, ook temidden van loved  b&her  Paul" which  unstable souls wrest and
                    ._
  ; +-: , Isi                                           druk en lijden!
 :_  *  .-                                                                                                                                 distort to their own destruction. There  tire also  proph-
  +  ..:                                                -       Want Zijne goedertierenheid, waarop we  hopen,                            etic. and apocalyptic parts that are mysterious  `and
   :  -;---t
  .~..~~.`..   `. duurt `in der eeuwigheid !                                                            -
  ).`:I  *                                                                                                                                 dark, *the meaning of which.is  ndt easily grasped. And  1.
    `.  ..; --
  `,J  ._:..
 : ..:-T _                                                      Hopende'op Zijne `groote goedigheid zingen we psal-                       above ali, the Bible is the Word of God and must be
 . ,. _. .`.                                            men ook in den nacht !
  : _,\.I                                                                                                                                 read and received as such and not as the word of man.
_, -7': `_
;&  1.7  -:-                                                    Ik zal den vedvoudigen lof des Heeren  vermelden!
  :..y:  _.                                                                                                                                                  $`he question, then, `is to the point and. practicali
  i. :..i- -. .-                                                Halleltijja!                                                              hoti should the Bible be read?, .
j  .ds,.                                                        .                              :
  I... . . : I                                                                                                            H. H.
                                        '                                                                                                               By far the easiest.method  seems to be, whether we
  ! i,- .;
  I.:`:. ,_                                                                                                                               &ad the Bible at home h our family. worship, or for
                  .)  .-
  :-.  .-                                                                                                                                  our personal edification,  or to study it in preparation
  ,: :y--.
             _                                                                                                                            for Catechism and Society, that w.e s'elect  a good and
    `.- `-.<
  p  .,;.;I.  :,-                                                                                                                         trustworthy. commentary and always have it at our
                                                                                                                                           elbow, `in order to find the proper interpretation of
                                                                                           Onzi3   Candidaten                             many passages.
                                                                                                                                                             Yet this easiest method, this way of least resist-
                                                                Den. vijfden Juni 1.1. mochten  w.e weer het genoegen ance, is not the most feasible and beneficial. In that
                                                        hebben twee onzer studenten  te zien promoveeren,  na-                             case we would have to advise the general read& of the.
                                                        dat ze ook door het  Ctiratbrium  onzer Theologische Bible to return to such,Bibles  as the Scofield Bible that
                                                        School  waren ondeyzoeht,  een welgeslaagd examen had- offers the interpretation between the lines of the Bible-
                                                  den afgelegd en tot candidaten  voor de bediening des text and on the margin.
                                                  Woords  in onze Merken gesteld waren.                                                                      But this is lnot our advice.
                                                                Zegene de Heere .ook deze jonge mannen  en geve                                              After all, a  commefitary  is the' word of man con-
                                                        Hij hun genade om in den waren zin des woords  bedie-                             cerning the Bible. We may certainly value cpmment-
                                                        nadrs des Goddelijkeh  Woords te zijn en nooit iets  ati-                         aries, good commentaries, very highly  and_ respect the
                                                  de& te willen zijn ! ;                                                                  labors of .other  people of God.' We may, undoubtedly,
                                                                     Gaarae sehreef  i& iets meer over  deze gelegenheid, consult them in their proper place. But they majr no!
                                                  - doch ik wacht hiermee  liever totdat ik de broeders ook take  the place of Scripture. They may not be allowed
                                                        door hun beeltenis  in'ons blad kan voorstellen  aab onze to intrude between Scripture and ourselves.  Neyer
                                                        lezers.                                                                           must they be given such a place that the commeritators
                                                                -Mag ik daarom de beide broeders langs dezen weg habitually read the Bible and interpret it.for us. They
                                                        Vriendelijk  verzoeken  &j een photographie toe te- zen-                          must, therefore,.never  occupy the first place. We must
                                                             d-eti,  die geschikt is  om in ons blad  te.  worden   afge-                 not read the word of man concerning the Bible, but the'
                                                        drukt ?                                                                            Word: of God itgelf.  And by always consulting com-
                                                                     De photograaf wil hun hierin we1 van. dienste zijn. mentaries and helps, as soon as at first glance the right
                                                                                                                          H. H.            interpretation does not suggest itself to  ourniinds,  we
    ;2  i_-                                                                                                                              `gradually develop the bad habit of listening to merr
  ;.`-.-                    `.;
           1..
  1. .-..s-                                                                                                                                rather than to Scripture and finally assume the fixed
          .T,=:".:
   ,,..               _            i                                                                                                      -and false -attitude that without the help of man the
  ,..`
    -1.  _:_   -  _,                                                                                                                       Word of God is to us a closed book.
         .r...                                                       On Bibles  :and Bible Reading
     :. I 7.'  _-                                                                                                                                            And, therefore, I would advise, first of all,  that  .we
         : .,., ;I` -
    -:;`,.-                                                     How should the Bible be read?
   i  _                                                                                                                                    read the Bible cor$&&ly.
             .,-,,                                .
         . ..,                                                `How should the  principle-qf  the perspicuity of Holy                                         Y6y understand, of course, that by this I do not at
  :  -.  ::...
   ,L.i7'  ::,                                                                '  :                             _.'  .I                                                               -
   ;...:,-`:                                      .-`... .                 `;;,:`,                                         ._-     `-                                                                                                              :..
         :.y; . .  `:.  `i:  .i<.~.`"-.  -'                                           1                           __'              .
                                                                                               _; :  _  _  .i  _  .__ .  .l_  _                                 _--
                                                                                                                                                                       .._                        :     I    -..       .     :
                                                                                                                                         ?.?     ,     :     .:..     .'      -     .-I.    .y                 _.            jl      _.      I     :.;     ,-`_    ..-     -


    all mean that we must  &dy Scripture in  tin attitude of interprited  in the N. T. and these should be read in
    self-confidence. We must ;not approach the Bible with. connection  &it4 one-another. Failure to do this leads
    an air of conceit, of confidence  in our own wisdom and us easily  into,`the erroneous way of premillennialism.
    keenness  :of intellect. But I do mean, that we must The careful and attentive reader of Scripture will  find
    have  the confidence of fqith, confidence in the Bible as                abundant help to interpret the Bible in the Word of
 the Word of God, `so  thqt we certainly believe that -God itself,  wit,hout   resoling to  .commentayies.  And
    through the Scriptures God .@I1 `speak to- us.- Con- this method of  reading Scripture bears the additional
    fidence we must have in,the promise that the Spirit of. fruit,that  we become  gradually familiar with the Bible.
    truth will guide us through the means of the Bib!e in As we proceed  accorcling  to this method  it will become
   `all the truth. This confidence will, of course, be the                   mdre easy for us to read, Scripture' and understand it.
    result of a prayerful attitude. In th% attitude we will
   not proceed from the false gssumption  that through the                                                                                H .   H .
  - `mere reading of Scrip&e  we will not be- able to under- _                                                               .
    stand its true meaning ; n&r will we easily give up and
    abandon the very  eEo?t  th `grasp its meaning when a
    certain portion does not `seem to yield any significance                                                      LI&T  EN LEVEN
   `to us at %rst or Secolid reading. Rather will we jread
    and read' again, and read, twenty-five times,' i!f neces-                                       Wie zou Uw gena niet prijzen,
    sary. And we will turn to ,commentaries  as a help only                                         God van leven, God van licht!
   as a last resort or to, compare our own interpretation                                           NU weer van Uw liefde `t aardrijk
   with those of others.                                                                          * ,.`t Stempel draagt op `t aangtizieht  I
      - When in this  connejion I speak of reading the
   Bible, I mean, of course; that we should read it c&c-                                            NV de blijde zonnestralen
 ,  f&y and attentively. Bible reading with us may be-                                              Tintelen in woud en veld,
I ..i come such. a habit that, we really do: not read at all                                        En de warme  lintezonne
   anymore, even while we beem to read.  This is especially                                         Gveral  Uw liefde meldt.                                ,*
   tr'ue of our Bible reading as families, in our homes, at
   .th& close of our meals:It,iti,  indeed, a very.good  custom,                                    Nu alom op wei en akker
  a custom that should  ne+@r  be abandoned, that two or                                            Weer het  green  te voorschijn  tr:edt,
   three times a day we habitually read the Scriptures                                              En de blijde bloemen  melden,
   tihen as families we gather  arbund  our  tables.  But                                           Dat Gij `t aardrijk niet vergeet.
  .,the danger of any custom, and also of this particular
   one, is that it  .may become a mere habit. Not infre-'                                           Nn he vogelen  weer  zingen
   quently our reading of .S&ipture  at .the table means                                           XJit de volheid va;n hun vreugd,
   very little more than a `mere f&mality,  the formaY.ty                                           En hun tonen luid vertolken
   of  closing:our  meals. We read, but we pay. little  or no                      -                `t Levenl  dat hun ha-rt verhgugt.                            .--L--
   `attention. Such' reading  is  fruil$ess..  It is better,'  2
   `necessary, to read a litye less than a chapter, if on13                                         Wie zou Uw gena niet prijien          _
   we read attentively `and devote a  few minutes to.  Cal)                                         Cod van levenp God van lcht!
    one-another's attention `to- the sigirificance  of the  par-                             ,      Cat Gij in Uw Zoon de zonde
   tion that is read. However this m&y be, whether at the                                           Hebt geoordeeld, hebt  gerieht!
   table or otherwise, We should read carefully and  attent-                                 j
   ively. And wherever po$sible we should read the Bible                                            Wle U ken'nen, Heer ! zij zingen
   .in its own light and compare Scripture with Scripture.                                          U een dankbaar lofgedicht  ;
    Thus, for instance, if we read a text like John 3 9.6 :                                         D;l'c Ge in Hem hur hebt geschonken                -
    "For God so loved the woild", and if a question should                                          cnverganklijk,  eeuwig licht !
    arise  conceining  the  pioper   ,denotation  of the term
    "world" in that text, it is very fruitful to consult. other
   passages of the Bible in phich the sar&.~word  occ&                                              `fain g;e the hopes the sons of rneE/
    in order that we may coppare these different p&sages                                            .  On their own works have built:
    and in that way arrive at ;the proper understanding of                                          Their hearts by nature  -are unclean:
    the word in the passage we were reading. A careful                                                And all their actions guilt.
    readirig  of the Bible also implies that we try to under-
    stand its ,figures, symbois;  visions, etc., and that in the                                    T_,et  Jew and Gentile stop their mouths,
   very light of Scripture as:a whole. It signifies, too,  oi                                       Without a  murm'ring word,
    course, that we read  th& 0. T. in the light of the IF. v.                                      `And the whole race of Adam stand
    There are many passages iof the 0. T. that' aye directly                                           Guilty before the Lord.
                                                                                                                       :
                                                                                                            .-
                 -     .     -    -.     :/     /              ,~     .:     r          :
                                                I


                                                                                                                                                                                                                   ",     1,     .,..            ,.           -.                                    .  .:.,.   ,.:   _  L,.
                                               .-..                 -                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   :      .     .
        1..
        i    ..,  _
                                     __,_,                    ,:.          i      ,:      -._.        .,     :     :     `,          ,.      _     ._,,     `1:     ,`.       _,:     `;-,-._.`:.,;.,~.,`_::,i~           ,;_.             ;            :           .`.~             ;..     ,.       ..           ,_          :.,      .`.

                                                                                          I,.                                                                      .-.__               ,
        /                                                                                                                                                   THE             .STAtiD:ARD                                                    .BEARER                                                   '                    :
                                                                         438


                   .'                                                                                                                                                                               came not near the other all that night."
                                                                            The Passage  .Through the  Rid Sea
                   .z :                                                                                                                                                                                     Darkness to the Egyptians  - the' Cloud. The
                           .'                                                    The children of Israel are sore afraid, when, lefting                                                              spectacle here witnessed is symbolical. In the realm
        ,- . .
        !.                                                   ,... up their eyes, they behold the Egyptians marching of the pirely spiritual Christ is darkness to the wicked,
                                                                         after them. Their fear  -can be explained. To  the                                                                         a saviour of death unto death to them that perish. But
             . .  : west -and south rise forboding mountains. To the east the fault is theirs. Their eye is evil and the vail is upon
                                                                    lies the sea. From the north the Egyptians bear down `their heart. Therefore is the light that is in them
                                                                                                                                                                                                    darkness, the wisdom of -God foolishness and His glory
1  !;:_.I                                                           .upon them. From the point of view of nature, their
                                                                         doom is tied. So they reason. In their great fear                                                                          corruption. And they see not the kingdom  of. heaven..
1                                              `1;                  they cry unto the Lord and chide Moses. Though the                                                                              And though its citizens are reproached for the name
             `_                                                          cloud goes before them and-leads to the sea, Moses, too,                                                                   of Christ and partake of His sufferings, the world
             :                                                           it seems is unable to visualize a road of escape. So he,                                                                   cannot come near them all $he,night  to do them actual
             L,                                                          too, `cries unto the Lord. And the Lord says unto him,                                                                     harm. The one comes not near the other, as between
             `.                                                          Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the chil-                                                                        the two there is no concord, no communion, agreement.
             :.'  : `.dren  of Israel, that they go forward: but lift thou up                                                                                                                       Hence, each remains separated from the other. But
                         `,
             ,.  .'                                                 thy rod; and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and                                                                           to the one, the host of the Lord, Christ gives light by
                                               . . . divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry night. For the righteous the light is sown on their`
                         .."*  :, -ground through the midst of the sea ; . . . ?' `Moses path through the sea.
                                          . .                            is reassured. Returning to the people, he says to them,                                                                            The sacred record sets the history that the Lord
             `..                                                         "Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation  ,of the                                                                  now makes before our eye as to its general features
                           i
             ;  `,  ., Lord, which He will shew to you today: for the `Egypt- only. Yet we need not resort to conjecture in supplying
              -.                                                         ians whom ye have seen to-day, ye shall see'them again the details.
                                          .'                             no more for ever. The Lord shall. fight for you, and ye                                                                            Moses stretches out his hand over the sea. And
              :  _                                           shall hold your peace." The people keep silence.
                     .-  ,.                                                                                                                                                                         the Lord causes the sea to go by a strong east wind
                               *  ,"                                       When'the Egyptians overtake the children of Israel,
                    ,-:                                                                                                                                                                             all that night. The floor of the sea becomes dry land.
              i  .,,/.                                                   the day draws to a close. Spying their prey yonder, Thus are the waters divided.. The Lord does not take
                                                                         they resolve to strike without delay, it must be,. and                                                                     all night for sweeping clear a path for His people
                    I . .
                         .                                               thus `press on. But what. is that? Above the mass of                                                                      through the sea. The work is accomplished long before
              ,:                                                         humans before them, a wall of impenetrable blackness                                                                       the dawn. For when the'lord looks upon the host of
                                                                         raises itself heavenward.
              :                                                                                                                             It moves toward them ; and the .Egyptians  through the pillar of eioud,  they are in
 i                                                                       as it proceeds, it snatches from their view the coveted
                    . . ,                                                                                                                                                                          the midst of the sea and the time of the night is the'
      ~  :.  :'                                                          prey. Swiftly the gloom of the falling night so deep-                                                                     morrling'watch.                                            And the sea returns to its strength at
      1'  .>. ens, that they can no longer advance in safety and thus dawn. But the waters, after having been driven back,
                                                              come to-an ..abrupt  halt. The pillar of clouds has gone                                                                             must be held in place and the path be kept clear. This
                                                                         from  before the face of the children of Israel and now the Lord does by continuing the gale all the night and
                                                             .I -stands behind them, between their camp and that of
                                     a                                                                                                                                                              thus by keeping up the pressure that holds at bay the
                                                                                                                                                                     .
                                          .                  the Egyptians.                                                                                                                         waters:s;`Sb  is the road-cleared, the furrow through the
                                                                                 The cloud, as has already been remarked, is the                                                                    sea made, long before the morning.
                           ,
                   `_                                 . .                symbol of the presence of the triune Jehovah in the                                                                                And the children of Israel go into the midst of
                                                      : `camp of Israel and at once the visible form which the the sea upon the dry ground : and the waters are a wall
                                          `.                   __ Son of God (called in the Exodus record the Angel of                                                                              unto them on their right hand and on their left. The
                                                                         the Lord) assumes in this period under consideration.                                                                      repeated attempt in the past to give to the event under
                                          ,                              Thus the cloud is Christ. And He stands throughout consideration a commonness that would render it ac-
                               ,'                                        all time behind His church  a+s the protecting Angel  -                                                                    ceptable to the  seeptic, has ended each time in failure.
                                                                         the church, which He also leads through the wilderness At the' head of the gulf, where the Israelites were sup-
                               .'                                        to` Canaan. It is. needful that He stationed Himself                                                                       posed to have crossed, ebb and flood tide, it was said,
                                          :                  -`behind  it. For the plight of the church on the Red                                                                                  are effected greatly by the wind prevailing at any
                                                                         sea' is permanent. It is ever being pursued. In the                                                                       given time: When it blows strongly from the north-
                                                 .F
                               .' ._                                     world, said Christ, ye shall have tribulations. And the east, the waters are driven south, into the west bay,
                                                                         word of St. Peter to the strangers scattered abroad leaving four small islands, stretching in a line north
                                                . .
                               _  i                                      reads, "Beloved, think it not strange concerning the from Suez. Near these the sea is so -shallow that it
                           `. , I, fiery trial  which  is to try you, as though some strange can be passed on foot at the lowest ebb, by those well
                                                       thing happened to .you."  It is among wolves that Christ acquainted with the ground. The violent north-east
                                                                         sends-His  servants as sheep. Yet there is no danger,                                                                     gale, which blew all night, drove the waters before it,
                                                             as' He.stands  also between the two camps and "so re- at ebb tide, into the south-west bay, till the floor of the
                                                                    strains the devil and all our enemies, that without His shallow sea was laid bare. Thus the shore waters be-
                                                       ,will and permission they `cannot hurt  us. The one                                                                                         came a wall, or protedion, to the Hebrews, on the
                           `:                                 -.
                                .I                                  -
                           <.:y (                                   _'                           .                             .1                                                                    , -                                                ::                  . . .


                                     T H E   S.TANDARD   B E A R E R                                            439

  right, and those of the open sea, on tlne left hand. The Lord cannot be gotten from what has been recorded.
  storm prolonging the ebb, delayed the flood tide, and Respecting such matters as the exact time when the
 thus before morning the  : whole of the Hebrews were crossing was made, the length and width of the road
  able to reach the east shore, so it has been said.         through the sea, the exact spot where the dividing wcas
    What the author of the view, presented above, fails made and the depth of the sea at this spot,  tile sacred
 to explain is how a wind or gale, blewing with and thus record says nothing. It was not deemed necessary
 hastening the flow of the ,incoming tide, would at once that we know.
  delay that flow by prolonging the ebb. What is more,          It is upon other features of this doing of God, that
it cannot be <ascertained at what spot. Jehovah led the Scripture concentrates. The Exodus record suggests
  Israelites safely over. Finally, the depth of the sea and the Psalmist plainly states that the night is filled
 at the spot referred to above  ,was much greater at the with terror. In the words of the .poet  (Ps. 7?:16-20)
 time of the Exodus than  ,at present. Wrote Niebuhr, Jehovah redeems his people, the sons of Jacob and
  "It would be a great mistake to imagine, that the          Joseph. The waters (of the Red sea) see God, and
 passage of such a great caravan (as the Israelites)         they are afraid. The depths are troubled., The clouds
 could have been eRected  by purely natural means. No pour out water. The skies sent out a sound. God's
 caravans go  this way nowadays, at least from Cairo to arrows  go abroad. The  voice  of His thunder is in the
  Sinai, though it would be a great saving of distance heaven. The lightnings lighten the world. The earth
 if they could. But it was even less possible for the trembles and shakes. These notices set before our eye
 children of Israel to cross thus, thousands of years the deep into which Israel and the Egyptians enter as
ago, for the water was then apparently much broader; a valley of judgment and revelations of divine wrath.
  and, besides reaching farther to the north, was far But in this deep the children of Israel live, not be-
  deeper. The water seems not only to have retreated cause they are less ill-deserving than the Egyptians  "
since, but the bottom of: this shallow point seems to who perish, but because they are covered by the blood.
 have been raised by the sand blown in for ages from Paul would not have  his brethren be ignorant that
 the desert." That the sea at the spot where the Israel- their fathers were under a cloud and all passed
 ites crossed was far deeper than the sceptic is willing through the sea and were all baptized unto Moses (the
 to allow, appears from the notice that the waters were Mediator of the old dispensation and as such the type
 a wall unto them  - and  .thus not merely a protection of Christ) in the cloud and in the sea. Brought were
 - - on their right hand and on their left. This is cor- they into a connection with him and thus separated             .
 roborrated by a scripture found in. Ps. `78 that reads,     decisively and permanently from Pharaoh and from
 "He divided the sea, and caused them to pass through ; the bondage of Egypt (Satan and the bondage of
 and he made the waters to stand as a heap." There is sin). Thus did they live and ascend with Moses out
" something most unusual also about this doing of `ihe       of the deep, rise with him from the dead.
  Lord, that secures for it a place among the wonders of        The Church in this world is always on a road tha'
 His hand. An unheard-of thing occurs. By the same leads through the deep. But in this deep, too, the
,, wind, He piles up the waters of the sea into two dis- remnant is Christ's and must therefore live and not
  tinct and  `p?olonged  heaps.  a&t thus opens for His perish. For Christ, too, wasin-the deep, where all the
  people a road of escape in a sea that never before has     billows of God's wrath passed over Him. But he lived,
  been so divided.                                           for in Him is eternity. From tne abyss He arose and
     That the Egyptians are not prevented from advanc- was set with His own in heaven. Therefore, "now  thus
  ing until the morning appears again from the notice saith the Lord that created thee, 0 Jacob, and he that
  that in the morning watCh  when the Lord looked upon formed thee, 0 Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed
  the Egyptians they were in the midst of the sea. As tha    thee, I have called thee by thy name ; thou art mine.
  children of Israel progress toward the strand and enter When thou passest through the waters, I will be with
  upon the road in the sea, the pillar of cloud moves with thee ; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow
  them. So it must be imagined. The Egyptians, too, ad- thee ; and when thou walkest through the fire, thou
  vance with the progressing wall of blackness - the shalt not be burned ; neither shall the flame kindle upon
  cloud  ; when the shore is reached and the discovery is thee . .  ." (Isa. 43 :1, 2).
  made that the  Israelit&  go into the sea upon dry            But in this same-deep the Egyptians perish. In the
  ground and thus escape;  the Egyptian host, as hard- morning watch the Lord looks upon their host through
  ened by the Lord, pursues and goes in after them, at a the pillar of fire and of the cloud. The fire in the cloud,
  great enough distance, in the midst of the sea. Thus it must be, now appears unto the Egyptians not as a
  do they follow the pillar of cloud to their doom. light nor as a radiant splendour but as a flaming burn-
  Jehovah leads His adversaries to a watery grave. It ing fire, expressive of the attitude of fierce wrath that
  must be that when the whole host is in the sea, most the Lord assumes toward His adversaries and of His
  of the children of Israel: have safely reached the east- resolve to now dip His foot in their blood. And the
  ern shore. A detailed conception of this work of the       speech that rises from the flame in the cloud is again


                                .                          .  .  :

440                                  THE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

laid upon the heart of Pharaoh and upon the hearts of consumed them as a stubble. And with the blast of
all the pursuing Egyptians. Their host is troubled. thy nostrils the waters were gathered together, the
The old fear again asserts itself and becomes mighty floods stood, upright as an heap, and the depths were
in them. There is a voice in Pharaoh's heart that again       congealed in the heart of the sea. The enemy said, I
says, "Truly, Jehovah is God in the midst of the will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil ; tiy
earth." And He fights for Israel. So does the Lord lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword,
again get Him honour upon Pharaoh and upon his my hand shall destroy them. Thou didst blow with thy
horsemen. Before He lays them low in the abyss, wind, the sea covered them: they sank as lead in the
they are again made to confess that He is God and             mighty waters. Who is like  .&to  thee, 0 Lord, among
the speech that rises from the cloud is confirmed by the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful
the' fate that now overtakes the chariots. The Lord in praise, doing wonders ? Thou  stretchest  out thy
takes off their wheels and drives them heavily. The `right hand. The earth swallowed them . . . ; "
wheels sink into the sand, it must be.  .The axles bend               The marvellous work of which this Song is the me-
and snap. Advance is hopeless. What will Pharaoh. morial is to Moses and the faithful pledge that the
now do? Again call upon Moses to intercede for him? Lord will bring to pass all that he  has spoken. For
But he has no excess to this man of God. The cloud the closing lines of this song read : "Thou in thy mercy
stands between the two camps. As seized by a mortal hast lead. for the people which thou hast redeemed :
terror, the pursuers say, "Let us flee from the face of thou hast guided tlze'm in thy strength unto thy holy
Israel, for the Lord  fight&h  for them against  the          habitation. The people shall hear and be afraid: sor-
Egyptians." But the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch row shall take hold on the inhabitants of Palestina.
out thine hand over the sea, that the waters may cqme         Then the dukes of Edom shall be amazed; the mighty
again unto' the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and' men of Moab, trembling shall take hold upon them; all
upon their  horsemen. And Moses stretched forth his the inhabitants of Canaan shall melt away. Fear and
hand over $he sea . . . " This action of his is a prayer dread shall fall upon them ; by the greatness of thine
for the destruction of the adversary. And the prayer arm they shall be as still as a stone ; till thy people
is. heard as it is the expression of the resolve of the pass over, 0 Lord, till thy people pass over, which thou
Almighty. The sea returns to his strength when the hast purchased. Thou shalt bring them in, and plant
morning appears. The Egyptians. flee against the re- them in the mountain of thine inheritance, in the place,
turning waters and are drowned. So does the Lord 0 Lord, which thou hast made for thee to dwell in, in
shake off the Egyptians in the midst of `the sea. "And the sanctuary, 0 Lord, which thy hands have estab-
the  water-s  returned and covered  the'chariots,  and the lished. The Lord shall reign forever and ever. For
horsemen, and all the hosts of Pharaoh that came into the horse of Pharaoh went in with his chariots and
the sea after them ; there remained not so much as one        with his horsemen into the  se& and the Lord brought
of them.. But the children of Israel walked upon dry again the waters of the sea upon them; but the children
land in the midst of the sea; and the waters were a of Israel went upon dry land in the midst of the sea."
wall unto them on their right hand and on their left,                 The Lord will reign forever and ever . . . The re-
Thus  t_he Lord saved Israel that day. .out. of the hand-. demption which this song commemorates is, at on@`
of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead the shadow therefore of the final triumph of the vic-
upon the shore." So was Israel made to see that great torious judgment of God at the end of time, of the vic-
work which the Lord did upon the Egyptians. And tory over the beast, and over his image, and over his
the people feared the Lord, and believed the Lord and mark an.d over the ntlmber of his name. In his vision,
His servant Moses. Presently the eastern shore of the John on Patmos sees them who will `get this victory,
Red sea resounded with the song of Moses, "I will sing standing on the sea of glass, mingled with fire, having
unto the Lord, for He hath triumphed gloriously: the the harps of God and in anticipati.on  of the judgments
horse and his rider hath He thrown into the sea. The to be wrought and the victory to be gained, singing
Lord is my strength and song, and He is become my             the song of %Ioees the servant of God and the song of
salvation: He is my Gdd, and I will prepare Him a the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are  thy works,
habitation ; my father's God and I will exalt Him;"          Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou
   "The Lord is a man of war: the Lord is his name.          King of saints. Who shall fear thee, 0 Lord, and
Pharaoh's chariots and his host has he cast into the         glorify thy name ? For thou only art holy: for all
sea: his chosen captains also are drowned in the Red nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy
sea. The depths have covered them': they sank into judgments are made manifest."
the bottom as a stone. Thy right hand, 0 Lord, is be-                 Beneath that sea, calm as glgss and charged with
come glorious in power: thy right hand, 0 Lord, hat& divine wrath and retribution, the adversary will lie
dashed in pieces the enemy. And in the greatness of buried forever and those who have been led by Him
thifie excellency  ha& thou overthrown them that rose through fire and through water into His habitation,
up against thee: thou sentest forth thine wrath, which will eternally sing His praises.                     G. M. 0.


                slachten ons voor oogen stelt en r&t de individu&n  ob
                den voorgrond schuift.                                                                  Firstf               rtits
                    Of we het clan aan zoudeti  durven, om de ouders  te            Children are very curious, inquisitive.  '
                wijzen op het onzekere der verkiezing en zaligheid der              And it shall be that when your children shall ask
                jong-gestorven kinderen? In geenen deele ! !                    of you, What meaneth this? Then ye shall let your
                    We zouden dit punt zoo weinig mogelijk  0~  den children know, saying, Israel came over `this Jordan
                voorgr&&  willen schuiven. Dat er uitverkor`en  kinde-          on dry land.
                ren zijn, die de Heere  v$oegtijdig  wegneemt staat  we1            You will find this question with -its answer four
                boven  allen twijfel verheven. Wie- zij  echter, hoofd times in the Bible. The form differs; so that at one
                voor hoofd, zijn  weten  wij niet en daarnaar zullen we time reference is made to  ,.the  firstlings that are sanc-
                dan ook niet ctirieuselijk  onderzoeken.                        tified unt,o Jehovah ; at another the testimonies, sta-
                                                                                tutes and judgments of God ; at still another the stones
I`                                                                              by river Jordan : basically it is the same query and the
                 Maar zal iemand, dii lezende, zeggen, zoo blijft,  er same answer.
                eene schrale troost `over wanneer wij bij het doodsbedje
                staan van onze  kleinen.  Hoe zult ge  dgn die  oud'ers
                troosten, wanneer ge geroepen `wordt, ambtelijk of
                doordat ge in nauwe relatie tot hen staat ? We willen
           `daarop   +  tweegrlei   antwoord  geven.        Ten eerste,  dat
                meestal in zulke gevalle?,  w&t aangaat de zaligheid der
                jong-gestorven kinderen, het ens toeschijnt, dat men
                eer een welgemeende en  Lrome   wensch uitspreekt, dan,
                met de vaste overtuiging in de ziel, komt met het
                Woord des Heeren, dat i$ hun bepaale  geval, de ouders
                volkomen zekerheid  hebben.  Goed  en wel, maar  x66
                staat het niet in de belijdenis, werpi ge tegen. Dat is
           waar, maar als er dat nice staat, dan geeft het ook al
                nie$, om te sbreken van niet te twijfelen. Wilt ge niet,
                dat ik zal twijfelen, geef mij dan volkomen zekerheid
                en troost, dan ~66, dat het `Set twijfelen" werkelijk
                beteekent  "vast geloove$`.
                   In de tweede plaats,  brengt de betrekking waarin
                een godzalig ouderpaar tot den Heere staat mee, dat zij
                nooit angstvallig  zich afvragen, of de Heere niet  recht
                is in nbZijh werk. Ook met hen. Zeker; daar kan een
                oogenblik  zijn van opstarid, zelfs bij het verstgevorderd
                kind Gods. Maar da;t behoort tot de uitzonderingen.
                Zelfs dan, wanneer het  hart bloedt en het stormt in zijn
                ziel, heeft hij maar behsefte  aan B&n ding: .Zijn God.
                Zich verzoend te weten met den wil des Heeren, is alles
                wat er noodig is. &.xe is juist zijn worsteling telkens
                weer en in  alle  omstan&gheden.  En  schoon  we een
           weinig buiten ons bestek gaan,  willen  we er  tech even
                op wijzen, dat tien  in zylke gevallen we1 do&, om die
                ouders de eerste dagen alleen te laten. Laat ze  alleen
                zijn in hun droefheid, opdat zij in de gelegenheid  wor-
                den gesteld voor `s Heeren  aangezicht hun droefenis            Standing, from left to right: Ruth  Bouma,  Abel Vander Veen,
           bloot te legg& V te' zamen en ieder afzonderlijk.                    Hi1d.a  Kimm,  Henrietta Boss; seated: Principal, P. R. Zuidema
                Meestal rooven we hen j van die gelegenheid en Ver-
           moeien hen met ons, voor.  hen niets beteekenend, goord, .   We,find  in  i t   t h r e e   t h i n g s .
      .

           hoe goed, het ook bedoeld' nioge wezen.                                 Firstly, the child will notice separation..
                   Zie,  266 gaan dan  &dzalige ouders niet twijfelen              For hundreds of years Israel had dwelled in the
:
           aan de tialigheid  en verkiezing hunner jong-gestorven midst  .of the godless. And their lot  .was,  hard. Cry
           kinderen,  maar  zij laten ,hen in de hand&n des Heeren              unto God they did, but it did not seem to help. And
           uit. Wiens hand zij  wer+n  ontvangen, vast verzekerd their groanings increased by reason of the taskmasters.
           van Zijn wijsheid en  onveranderlijke  liefde.                       They ,grew  black with bondage.
                                                                  w. v.
           I                                                                       But the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob  remem-
                                                                                                          ,


       .bered His .&ternal covenant and, sent Moses the man of Jacob are at the  pres`ent  time of writing with all the
       God. Then Israel was separated  and.-came  with won- spiritual Israel in the heaven of heavens and sing for
       ders and signs on this side of the Red Sea.                   joy.
        And this separation was instituted by God ih their               They crucified the old man with his divers lusts and
       generations : "Sanctify unto Me all the firstborn, what- pleasures ; they would forego, the .world. and every
       soever open&h  the womb among the children of Israel, former friend for the sake ofthe Lord their God. They
      ' .both of man and of beast: iti is N&e".                      kept His testimonies, statutes and judgmgnts  which
 I         Jehovah had bought His people.                            He commanded them unto their eternal preservation.
           What a prick.                                             I t   p a i d .
          Because attend unto this: "And it shall be when the            In the third place, the, children will notice the
       Lord shall bring thee into the land . . . . that thou stones at the river Jordan. And they said: "What
       .shalt keep this. service in this month." That is the mean these stones?" "Then ye shall let your children
      feast of the Passover. That is Golgotha, the bleeding know, saying, Israel came over Jordan on dry land.
Lamb of God.                                                         For the Lord your God dried up the waters of Jordan
._        And it shall'be that. when thy children shall see the      from before you, until ye were passed over, as the Lor$
       separation that is wrought by the Passover, when they your God did to the Red Sea, which He dried up from
       shall see the  .bl&eding  Lamb of their solitude among the before us, until we were gone over: That all the people
      heathen, and ask : What meaneth this ? That then shall         of the earth might know the hatid of the Lord, that it is
       be your answer.: The Lord God has bought us all with a mighty: that ye might fear the  Li>rd your God for-
       p&e.  We are His. Because the Lord said: "it is- ever."
       Mine", Exodus 13  :?b.                                            W'hat mean these stones?
          ,Secondl;ti;  the child will notice the continuation of        Well, my dear children, it is a memorial unto the
       the separation in the.countless  "do not do this" and the     Lord. And unto us. It is a testimony that God con-
       numerous "be sure and do this" from its early infancy.        quered our Death. He has dried up the waves and the
          Arid they will ask: "What mean the testimonies, billows of eternal death for us in His beloved Son. All
       and the statutes, and .the judgments, which the Lord these billows are gone over the head of Jesus. Jesus,
       our God hath commanded you?" Deut. 6 :ZOb.                    that is, Jehovah Salvation, has dried up the Jordan of
          All these comma@ments  will be strange unto their Death for us.
       nature. And. they will not fit into the `common order of          Children, will you not hear? Jehovah has separated
       things in the world where they will dwell; They will. you from Egypt and from Phtiraoh, that is, the Devil.
       see on every side that people will do as the? pleas& And He did it through Golgotha. . Jehovah's will it  .is
      . They will serve divers lusts and pleasures. The sweet- that you shall live this life of separation by the keep-
      "est thing to do will be to follomi the instincts of their ing of His testimonies, statutes and judgmgnts.  And
      . own hearts-and  minds. But they may not. For Jehovah         He did it through Golgotha. For the Spirit of Jesus,
      prohibits on every side and the continual call is: "You Who always loved to do His will, dTjvelled  in the elect
       must love Me above all. And if,your hearts and minds
               .~           .-.-.-                                   children..  Jehovah led Israel through Jordan on dry
       would desire other thmgs' you must deny yourselves            ground.. And He did it through  Golg&ha. He led you
       and follow Me!"                                               to heaven, through Jordan, by Joshua, and that is
          What mean  all these commandments, father?                 Jesus.
          And  .your answer shall be: "We were Pharaoh's                 4nd that is the.reason  for the Christian School.
       bondmen  in  Emt;  atid  the Lord  brotight  `us out  af          And that is the reason for the  `First Reformed
       Egypt with.a mighty hand : And the Lord shewed signs Christian  SchoOl  of Redlands.
       and wonders, great and sore, upon Egypt, upon Phar-              And when your children shall say : eat meaneth
       aoh, and upon ,a11 his household, before pur eyes : And this separate school from  the schools of the world?
      . He brought us out from thence, that He might bring Your answer `shall be.: God bought us with a -price:
       `us in, to give us the land which He sware unto our For also our Passover is killed, that is Jesus. Children,
       fathers. And the Lord cqmmanded  us to do all these you shall be separated from Egypt, that is the world ;
       statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good alway:, and ye shall be separated from Pharaoh, that is the
       that He might preserve us alive, as it- is at this day.       devil. For you belong  unto'pur God in Christ.
       And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do            And when your children shall say: Why can we not
       all these co&andments before the Lord our God, as go to the movies and the dance? Why must we always
       He hath commanded us."                                        eat of that Manna? Why is it, father, that wlien we
          And they did.                                        *.    would have a feast with the merry worldlings  sp that
          The spiritual Israel lived its separation throughout we might be merry with our fellows, that  .you always
       the ages and loved and feared the Lord their God. And grumble and dissent?  why is  il?, that on every side
       they were preserved. alive. They live the life eternal we hear %he solemn refrain  of "Thus sayeth the Lord
       in the heavens until this day. Abriham and Isaac and our God ?" Then you shall make -answer and say: The


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          452                                      THE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

          testimonies and the statutes  and the judgments of the
          Lord are the expression of the love and the .fear  of our                      The Election of Elders
          God. It is good to sing His praises and to chant of His                 The Elders shall be chosen by the judgment of the
          goodness. Love Him in all your ways. Be is so worthy                  Consistory and the Deacons according to the regula-
          of it. Therefore we send you to the Christian School                  tions for that purpose,established  by the Consistory. In
          so that you may be trained in these many testimonies,                 pursuance of these regulations, every church shall be at
          statutes and judgments.                                               liberty, according to its circumstances, to give the
                  And when they persist and say: What mean                      members an opportunity to direct attention to suitable
                                                                                persons, in order  that the Consistory may thereupon
          these stones? Why is it Father, that be always go in                  either present to the congregation for election, as many
          opposite direction from the children of the world?                    elders as are needed, that they may, after they are
          Then you shall make answer and say: We go to the                      approved by it, unless any obstacle arise, be installed
         heavens, we go through the Jordan of death and "bij                    with public prayers and stipulations; or present a
          `t naderen  van den dood, zal Hij volkomen uitkomst                   double number .to ,the congregation and thereupon in-
          geven." Our death is the death of Jesus. And His                      stall the one-half chosen by it, in the aforesaid manner,
                                                                                agreeably to the Form for this purpose. `Art. 22.
          death is our resurrection. Children, it may `sound
          strange to you, but attend: The way to heaven lies                   Whkreas  the matter of the election to the  of&e has  -
         throngh the portals of the Christian Schools. They are already received a full treatment in connection with
         the testimony of the twelve stones of Israel by river
     -._  -  -                                                              Article 4 and 5, we can be brief in the treatment of the
          Jordan.                                                           election of Elders.
                  But why on earth this picture of the first class of          By whom should the elders be chosen? The answer
          graduates of the first Reformed Christian School of of the Belgic Confession reads (Art. 31) : "We believe
         Redlands  in our Standard Bearer?                                  that the ministers of God's word, and the elders and
                  And our answer shall be: Because we are Protest-          deacons, ought to be chosen to  their respective offices
         ant Reformed.                                                      by a lawful election by the church . . . . "
                  At the root of our quarrels was this : We.shall  never       Holy. Writ requires that the name church in `ihe
         let your Protestant Reformed teachers in our school.               above article be allowed to signify not merely the
         And by concerted action we s&all endeavour to ,keep                consistory nor the congregation only but both the  con-
         the majority of Christian Reformed members in the                  sistory and the congregation. The .election  to the office
         Board. In order that you never vote your teachers in.              by the church must be an action comprised of the joint
                  This is no fiction. Literally it has been said.           choice  of the two aforesaid bodies. Scripture plainly
                  But why no Protestant Reformed teachers for the teaches this. We turn first to Acts 6, the first six verses
         School of Jehovah's.  memorials ?                                  of this chapter being a record of the election of seven
                  Ah, but there you have the fundamental question! deacons : "And in those days, when the number of
                  It is because Mr. P. R. Zuidema teaches that Israel disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of
         shall dwell in safety alone. And the Common Grace the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their
         Schools teach that there  is  eopnrnon,  ground to walk widows were neglected in the daily ministration. Then
         with the world. See the principles ,if Christian lnstru&           the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto
         tions by Mr. Fakkema, which in turn were reviewed them, and said, . . . Wherefore, brethren, look ye out
         and criticized by Rev. Hoeksema.                                   among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy
                  We are g-fateful to God for our School which we           Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this
         endeavour to  make Christian. And we are grateful business . . . And the saying pleased the whole mul-
         that God by His eternal love made us do it and keep                titude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith
         it and support it.                                                 and the Holy Ghost and Nicanor, and  Timon,  etc.,
                  And we are grateful to God for our teacher and this whom they set before the apostles : and when they had
         first class of graduates. May they all be a memorial prayed they laid -their hands on them."
         unto Jehovah.                                                         There are still other scriptures. To Titus the apostle
                  Separate from the world. Separate in life and wrote: "For this cause I left thee in Crete, that thou
         living the testimonies. And by God's grace -through shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and
         Jordan,  to be separate in heaven around His throne ordain elders in every city; as I had appointed thee . . "
         forever !                                                          (Ti. 1:5). The same tipostle's  admonition to Timothy
                                                             .G. Y.         reads : "Lay hands suddenly on no man" (I Tim. 5 i22).
                                                                            A final notice found in the Acts of the Apostles : "And
                                                                            when they (Paul and Barnabas) had ordained them
                                                                            elders in every church, and had prayed With fsisting,
                                      NOTICE                                they commended them to the Lord. . . " (Acts 14 :23).
                  During the months of July and August only one                So it appears that the seven deacons were chosen
         issLze per month of our S. g. shall appear. - Ed.                  by the congregation and ordained, appointed (thus


                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                               453

chosen.    The appointing was a  -.choosing)  , by the        against their choice and tyrannically impose his choice
apostles. Titus was told to ordain elders and  the. ad- upon the flock against the latter's will.
monition that came to Timothy irnplies that he had               Principle 3. Christ ,rules His church through the
received a similar charge.                                    agency not of the civil magistrate but of persons vested
    These are the only  ,scriptures  that have a bearing with offices instituted by Him in His church.
on the matter. But they clearly indicate what forms ,a           Principle 4. The elders of the church have the rule
lawful calling of elders and deacons, to wit, election by a right received not from the congregation but from
by the congregation and appointment (election) by the Christ, which rule they exercise &so by placing the
shepherds  of the church. The act of appointing by the office beyond the reach of unworthy men.
shepherds 0% the persons elected by the flock is `cer-           This principle is tiolated  by the Consistory when,
tainly not a compulsory acquiescing in the choice of the      to keep peace, it sustains the corrupt choice of the
congregation, but an expression of approval. It is an flock and when it refuses to consider weighty objec-
act that implies the right and duty to disapprove of tions raised against iti selections by the members of
and  tq reject the persons chosen if deemed unfit. The the corigregation.          The flock violates  -this principle if,
elders, shepherds, are the leaders, rulers, governors,        for no justifiable reasons it refuses to accept the  con-
supervisors (so they are called. by Scripture) of the         sistory's nominees and thus acquiesce  in'its judgment.
church.' And it is their duty to assert themselves as         The flock should consider that the consistory has the
such tilso respecting the matter of the calling of elders rule and thus the right and duty to govern the election
and deacons to the office. But the flock must also be         of office-bearers in the church.
allowed to exercise its choice and thus -to co-operate           After the passing of the apostles the common mem-
with the shepherds in the task of calling to the office.      bers in the church eventually were deprived of their
It has a right to vdice objections to any selection of the right 40 co-operate with their shepherds in the electing
consistory and to insist that these objections, if of suf-    office-bearers. In  the eleventh century this right was
ficient. weight and well-grounded, be sustained. If the made to devolve exclusively upon the clergy. The mem-
consistory. cannot yield and if. the flock likewise re- bers, as deprived of their prerbgatives,  became the sub-
mains adament, the case is appealed to classis.  The          jects of the pope and his. bishops.       And the latter
advice of this body settles the dispute.                      brought themselves forward as the successors of Peter
    That the calling to the office should be done by a and the apostles and as the vicegerents of Christ in
joint action of the consistory and the flock is a prin- ?iis kingdom on earth. But the Reformers of the
ciple that finds expression in every article that treats sixteenth century declared that the church is.a.brother-
of the calling. .Article 4 stipulates that the calling of hood of believers with the right to elect its own pastors
those who have not been previously in office shall con- and teachers. It was Calvin who in distinction from
sists : first in the election `by the Consistory and the Luther and Zwingli insisted  that-  the right of electing
deacons . . . and thirdly, in the approbation by the to the office belonged to the congregation. Luther was
members of the congregation." Article 5 reads, "Min- induced by turn of events to place the rule in and over
isters already in the Mlnis$~y. of the. Word,  who are the  church.in  the hands of the  princes,-   --So,  too,
called to another congregation, shall likewise be called Zwingli.
in the aforesaid manner by the consistory and the dea-           In harmony with the conception of Calvin, the
cons . . . with the approval of. the members of the Belgic Confession requires that elders and deacons be
calling congregation." Article 22 requires  this same chosen by the church and the Fprm for the Installation
co-operation between  the flock and consistory. And of Elders and Deacons contains a question that reads,
Article -24 reads, "The deacons shall be chosen, ap-          "whether you do not feel in your hearts, that ye are
proved and installed in the same manner as was stated latifully  called of God's church, and consequently of
concerning the `elders."                                      God himself,  ti these your respective holy offices  ?"
    The proposition that the calling to the office must          The question may now be raised how this co-opera-
be done by a joint action of flock and consistory reposes tion between the congre.zation  and the consistory in
on four principles of truth that cannot be ignored with the.matter  of electing to the office may be had.
impunity. Let me once more cite them. Principle 1.               1. By adopting the method prescribed by the
The.  Ne;w Testament church has the anointing and is          article under consideration. The consistory gives to
thus a spiritual major. All its members' know. The            the members opportunity to direct attention to suitable
flock therefore may not be dealt with as if it  were  an      persons. The congregation is first invited to make a
immature child.                                               nomination roll. From this roll, the consistory selects
    PrincipIe  2. The soIe king of the church is- Christ.     as many names as there are vacancies to be  fiIled and
His word only is law. The office-bearers there.fore  may thereupon presents its nominees to the congregation
not set themselves up over the heritage of God as lords       for approval. If no obstacles arise, the persons chosen.
to impose upon the flock their very own rule. They are installed with public prayers and stipulations; or
may not ruthlessly override the objections of the flock the consistory selects a double number of names from


                                                                          .
i    .'      .`-     .



              454                                        T H E   STA.NDARD   B E A R E R '

             the. aforesaid roll, calls upon the  members to vote for members. What is more, the members are in duty
             half of the number of persons presented and thereupon bound to desire the persons  pres,ented  by the  con-
             installs the one-half chosen.                                     sistory, if against these persons nothing can be alleged
                          It must not be supposed'that the consistory' in why they  shduld not be ordained to their offices if
             making its nomination is compelled to keep itself to              chosen.
             the persons whose names appear upon the roll made                     The method known among us as vrije stemming is
             by the congregation. If  nec&sary, it must propose for to be denounced as unbiblical. It is an overturning of
             the office persons whose names do not appear upon this the principle under 4. This method requires that the
             roll. This the members are to bear in mind. And let               choice of the congregation be the sole, supreme and
             them believe, if there be no evidence  to the contrary,           final choice. The consistory as the ruling  bod;b in the
             that the shepherds in rejecting their choice, acted un-           church is not allowed to govern the election of -office-
             der the impulse of love for the church.                           bearers by the members. Its reigns are in the hands
                          2. There is still another method that can be fol- `of the common members. Its presents to the congrega-
             lowed. Without giving to the members opportunity to tion no persons for the office. The congregation
             first direct attention to suitable persons, the consistory chooses, where this method is followed, and the con-
             presents to the congregation  ,for approval  a$ many sistory is not allowed even to appraise this choice and
             elde!s  as are needed, that they may, after they are ap- reject the person or persons whom it deems unfit. It
             proved by it, unless any' obstacle arise, be installed `is  .thus required  to.. accept uncritically whatever per-
             with public prayers and stipulations. If this method sons the members present. Thus where this method is
            ,be followed, the members receive no opportunity even the rule, the members occupy the seats of the shep-
             of voting from a double number. Yet the method is herds, and in respect to the matter of the election of
             essentiaily sound. It still allows and requires that the office-bearers, the latter divest them&es of their
             members co-operate with the consistory in the electing office. We will continue this discussion in a following
             of ,office-bearers,  though it be true that the co-opera-         article.
            tion allowed merely consists in the members approving                                                                  G. M. 0.
             the selections of the consistory. But this approving,
             it is to be considered`is not, a mere formality, as it also
             carries with it the right to disapprove of  *he.  con-
             sistory's selections and to insist that other persons be
             presented for the office.                                             Het `Curatorium  der Theologische School onzer Pro-
                          3. There is still a third,method  to be followed. The testantsche Gereformeerde Kerken maakt aan onze ge-
             consistory simply presents a double number to the con- meenten b.ekend, dat de Stndenten 5. Kooistra en A.
             gregation and thereupon installs the one-half chosen Petter, op de laatstgehouden vergadering, 4 Juni 1935,
             by it. This method is followed by all our churches, by            gegxamineerd  en gepromoveerd zijn, en dus als eandi-
             the Christian Reformed' churches in North America daten worden gerecommendeerd aan pnze.kerken.                                                     .
             and  by  most of the'  Gereformeerde  churches of the              -. Y%l&ens een eerder  genomen besluit, mag men deze
             Netherlands. The popularity of this method can per- breeders  beroepen vier weken  na hunne promoveering.
             haps be explained from its workableness. It seems
             that few members will avail themselves of the  oppor-*                                                    L.  Yermeei,  Seer.
             tunity of making known to the consistory the prefer-
             ences before the election.
                          The method under number 1 is corisidered  by some
             to be most ideal as it enables, so it is said, the con-                                      I N   M E M O R I A M
             sistory to ascertain what persons the members would                  On May 27th it pleased the Lord to `take unto Himself one
             have it present for the office and thus reduces the               of our members,
             danger consisting in the consistory unwittingly pre-                                  MRS. D. KLOMPARENS,
            I senting persons not preferred by the  menibers to a              at the age of 80 years.
             minimum. It may be doubted, however, whether this                    She left in peace, and in the assurance that Christ is her
             result is achieved by this  .method.  Experience has              Savior. Her meekness of spirit and love will long be remem-
             proven that too many menibers neglect to  &ail. them- bered, although her absence is keenly felt. She was an active
             selves of the  opporttinity  of directing attention to suit- member up to the last of her life; and we feel assured that in .~
                                                                               Fany ways she has been a blessing to our society.
             able persons. And where all the members co-operate                                                                                             1
                                                                                  May God comfort the bereaved family.
             in the manner required by this method; the nomination
             roll is too- large and the vote too scattered to serve as                      In name of  th,e Ladies' Aid Society,
             an indicator of the preferences of the members. But                                                 `Mrs. M. Gritters, Pres.             `d
             aside from this, it is to be considered that the shep-                                               Mrs. H. A.  Van  Putten,  Sec'g.
             herds know all the members of a flock better than the              Holland,  Mich,


                                                   T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                            455
                                            --                                                                                       -
                                                                             stated a historical fact. As for the Chr. Ref. Synod,
                                                                             they too thought it of paramount importance. The
                     Editor of The Standard Bearer:-                         point I was trying to make was simply this: that re-
                  It is evident from the tenor of A. D.`s reply that he      gardless of the action taken in 1924 by both the Chr.
               has missed completely the point I was attempting to           Ref. and what is now the Prot. Ref. and irrespective of
               make. For that reason he failed in his reply to attack who was right or wrong, Philpot did not think that the
               the main argument of my article and assailed what he offer  of salvation affected the fundamental doctrines of
               imagined to be the main argument.                             the gospel or involved vital truth. Philpot  taught the
                  I objected to A.  D.`s article chiefly for two reasons.    opposite of what A. D. thought he did.
               In the first place, because the writers quoted by him             While we are considering Philpot's teaching, I would
               were not even treating the offer of salvation from the like to prove that the invitation of the gospel was not
               same point of view as the  Prot. Ref. churches. These foreign to Philpot's preaching. I quote from his "Re-
               English writers were condemning preachers who                 concilliation,  and Salvation," p. 18 : "And now having
               claimed to have the authority to offer grace to `the gone up on high, and sent his Spirit into the heart of
              people. They denied that it was the duty, or even the his servants to preach the gospel of his grace,. he
               right, of a preacher to offer Christ and salvation. The speaks by them encouraging words to poor sinners that
              Prot. Ref. view, which A. D. thought these men were they might come to him and find in him rest and peace ;
               defending, or at least were in harmony with, is not still saying `come unto me, all ye that labor and are
               whether or not a preacher should or may make offers heavy laden and I will give you rest.' The gospel comes
               to the people but that the gospel  +n itsdf is not an with these declarations, promises and invitations, that
               offer of salvation to anyone, not even the elect. The there is salvation through Christ and no other". To be
               Prot. Ref. churches deny that Christ's grace or salva- sure  .Philpot condemns preachers for inviting sinners
               tion is offered in the gospel which is a positive mes- as if they had authority but clearly taught that the
               sage to a particular people although preached in the          gospel is an invitation or at least that it extends an in-
              hearing of all regardless of spiritual status. That is vitation to sinners. And that is denied by the Prot.
              the difference between the two views. What these Ref. churches. A. D. cannot appeal to Philpot  as a man
              English writers objected to almost anyone will object who "had conceptions similar to ours".
              to, even they who teach that the gospel is or contains a         How completely A. D. ignored my remarks regard-
              well-meaning offer of salvation. I thought this was ing his quoting Hawker. Hawker wrote, "the preachers
               clearly stated in my previous article in the words, of the gospel find no authority whatever to make offers
               "Their point of view was different from that df the           or invitations in an indiscriminate manner to sinners
              Prot. Ref. churches regarding this subject."                   in general ; neither do the scriptures furnish a single
                  Realizing, however, that A.  D.- thought that these instance,where  Christ and his apostles have ever made
              writers were treating the same offer of grace or salva- offers but to the people of God". I tried to point out
              tion now denied by the Prot. Ref. churches, I tried to that .Hawker  not only did not help A. D. one particle
              point out that even if they had been treating it from but  t.aught  as  ,opposite  to his view as did  Philpot.
                                                                                                               _ _. .  _
              the viewpoint A. D. thought they were, they taught             Hawker in these words very clearly teaches that  aitho
              exactly the opposite of what he supposed they did and preachers. have no authority to make offers indiscrim-
              denied just that what A. D. tried to make them say.            inately, nevertheless Christ and his apostles made
              This was the second reason for my objection.                   offers to the people of God. A. D. should know that the
                 How completely A. D. missed the point of my crit- Prot. Ref. teaching is that grace is not offered at all,
              icism relative to his quoting Philpot., Somehow he not even to the elect. Hawker's "conception was not
              thought I was trying to fix the blame, or something to         similar to ours".
              that  effect, for what happened in 1924.  Philpot was             But A. D. brings new "material" into play. He ap-
              reviewing the Erskine brothers' book saying: "But as peals to Parks' "Calvinism: Why Unpopular ?" to set
              this defect in their ministry (offer of salvation) . . . . aside what he imagined was my chief objection, viz.,
              did not affect the grand fundamental doctrines of the that men of all persuasions cannot be called Calvinists.
              gospel, or the experience of the saints, . . . . . and do Among the believers and defenders of Calvinism, ac-
              not involve vital truth, he can pass them by . . . . "         cording to Parks, we have Augustine, Zanchurs, Wit-
             -What I attempted to point out concerning this of Phil- sius, Usher, Knox,  Toplady,  Gill, Hawker (of whom
' :*`I pot was that he, certainly did not agree with what is Irons was a disciple) Owen and many lesser lights. To
      :.      now the Prot. Ref. view and I referred to history to           this list of defenders of Calvinism mentioned by Parks,
            ' substantiate my claim: "In 1924," so I wrote, "it so           A. D. "fearlessly" adds the name of the Congregation-
              affected the fundamental doctrines and so involved vital       alist, Jonathan Edwards. He also reminds of the fact
I'           ,.truth  that it was impossible to pass them by and it          that England's delegates to the Synod of Dordt were
              was judged impossible to enjoy fellowship with any             Episcopalian.
              church-group promulgating this doctrine." I simply                I am not so fortunate as to possess works of all


:r                 ;      :
r  .;. . :.-,v  -                   these -men. However, I have of some of them and refer to his findings as a meager reward: 
t --                                                                                                                                                                                             `And A.  D;
             ,I                '
:  -1  - whereas they-- all,` defended Calvinism surely one or two ' will search in vain. in the two pamphlets by Rev. Hoek-
:_l_.  .-
?r: . .                                     of them can speak- for all.
i  -_                                                                                                                                      sema,, "Een Kracht Gods tot Zaligheid', and `.`Het Evan-
y.::>  `.
r                                                      These -men. w.ere defenders of Calvinism. What is gelie" to find one word in support of the teachings of
".I.
            .i-2.  ~.  -. Calvi-nism  in this connection? I quoted Calvin in my _ Philpot, Hawker, Jonathan Edwards, etc.
                                            first article as follows: "Therefore this is the real                                             In conclusion I would like to set A. D. right on one
                                            knowledge of Christ that we accept Him as he is point. & D. said that the men he quoted `are sound
                                            oRered and presented to us by the Father, namely,                                              Calvinists and that I should prove them .otherwise.
                                            clothed by his gospel",. Institute 111-Z-6. That must Whether I think that the menhe quoted are sound Cal-
                                            be Calvinism;                                                                                  vinists or .not is: entirely irrelevant. Whether I agree
                                                The first, defender of Calvinism, named by Parks, is with them is an other matter. The reason A. D. chal-
                                            Augustine. Calvin summarizes the teaching of August- lenged me to prove that they are not Calvinists is be-
                                            ine as follows: "Now we have` stated thru the mouth cause of the question I asked in my first article: "In his
                                                                                                                                           ten-year-search did not A. D..  come into contact with
`-  " 
;;-:' `.  ;' .,,(
lz=y                           *            of Augustine thtit which we primarily sought to ob-
;:::;  .,                            tain, namely, that grace is offered by the Lord not to                                                any writers who were unquestionable Calvinistic ?I'
     i I..
c.  .Lm  _z..
     . .                                    be either accepted or. refused by anyone, but thatlit  .is That he termed  my chief objection. That was no ob-
                                            the'grace  itself which creates the'choise and the will". jection. It was a suggestion. And again I suggest
                                            Inst. II-3-13. (The quotations were translated from that whereas A. D. `is defending what he believes to be
                                            the Holland.)  :                                                                               a Calvinistic teaching and all the writers whom he ad-
                                                       Hawker is, according to Parks, also a defender of mits are sound Calvinists turn against him, that he
                                            Calvinism. It has been shown that Hawker clearly seek for material  ,from other sources, Calvinistic
                                            taught an offer, to the people of God. His disciple, `Irons,                                   sources, unquestionably. Calvinistic sources.
                                      `surely must have followed in the  .footsteps  of his                                                                                                             M. n/r.
                                            master, and also taught. an offer to the -people of God.
                                       .               A. D. fears not to include Jonathan Edwards as a                                       We expect, of course, one more-answer from A. D.
                                            defender of Calvinism. I `quote from Jonathan Edwards' After that we shall consider the debate between M. M.
                                            "Jesus Christ, the same Yesterday, Today and For- and him closed. - H. H.                                                         .
                                            ever," p.  25-1, "How  Ch-rist has invited you to come to
                                            him, with promises that he will accept  of you, if you
                                            do so. Christ in his word often invites those that are
                                            iti your circu-mstances  ; whether we consider your cir-                                                                   .NOTICE
                                            $umstances  as a lost sinner,, or as a sinner under anx-                                          Our annual Field Day will again be held July 4,
                                       iety and, concern about your condition. If we consider
                                       .your circumstances merely as a lost sinner, Christ `in- 1935, at Johnson Park, near' Grandville, Mich.                                                                      .a.
                                            vites you ; for he is often inviting and calling on sin-                                          Let us all attend and be there early.'
                      .'  -                 nirs to come to him . . . . ._ .Or if we consider your cir-                                       Good speakers both  .in the morning .and in the. after- .
                                            cumstances as a sinner burdened in your soul with  cdn- noon.
                                      -tern about your condition, such are especially invited                                                 Lunches and coffee, cigars, candy, soft drinks, will
                                            by Christ . . . .  "             .                                                             be sold at the canteen..
                                                       And what about the delegates from England to the
                                      ,Synod  of Dordt ? Their sentiments were undoubtedly                                                    Bring your own coffee containers.
                                            expressed in the decisions and' findings of that  .Synod.                                                                         Field Day Committee
                                     In my first article I quoted from~  the Canons of Dordt
                                            in  *the forming of which these Episcopalian delegates
                                            of England also took an active part. and in- which they
                                            PS well as, the other delegates expressed their opinions.
                                            I quote again from the third and fourth heads of doc-                                                .Geachte Redacteur  :-
                                            trine, Art 9 : "It is not the fault of the gospel, nor' of
                                      Christ offered therein, nor of Go&, `who calls men by the                                               Op hare laatste jaarvergadering heeft onze plaatse-
                                       gospel, and confers upon them various gifts, that those- lijke  onderafd,eehng  der R. F. P. A. van Sioux en Lyons
                                       who are called by the ministry of the Word; refuse to County met algemeene stemmen besloten zich uit te`-:
                                            come and be converted; the fault lies in themselves  ;" spreken als beslist tegen die radicale verandering in de 4r
             .`.L'.                         etc.                                                                                           Standard Bearer zooals werd voorgesteld in "The Pro-  '
            ;.
            i  :..:.                                                                                                                                                                                         _.,
             -,..:-                                    I think it is proved that the writers A.. D. quoted posed Plan".                                          -'
            . .-:.'                    for, support have not supported him in the least. .The
            ;.:                                                                                                                                               .Broedergroetend,                                      A&
            i;a.,.                          men he named as defenders of Calvinism did not de-
                   . _                                                                                                                                                             N. Buyert,  Se&                         '
            .:.: : `..
            5,  ..:
            ;,-:.:                    fend his claims. That certainly gives me the right to                                                   Sioux Center, Iowa
                                                                       .
                  ._-
            ;::  ;;  .               .  .  I                                                                        :                                                    ,
            x.;;-.-.,..              :,         ..j.jl.i
            &..:".y-.   -                                      .:
                                             ,,.. _            ,.     :     `.    7  .  .    >,'     -,..    .'          .     .     :.                                            .,     .-       _


                                                        A   Refortied  S e m i - M o n t h l y   M a g a z i n e ,
 &iG   .,
 fmT~,>.,..,                         PUBLISHED BY THE REFORMED FREE PUBLI&NG  ASSOCPATHON, GRAND RAPIDS, MICti.
 ii   .,

                                                                                           EDITORIAL STAFF
                                                                             Editors-&v.  R.  Hoeksima,  Rev. G.  &I.  Orhoff,
                                                                                       Rev. Wm. Verhil, Rev. G. Vos
                         All money matter8  should be addressed           Associate Editor-Rev.  A.  Cammenga, Rev.  P. De
                         to R.  Schaafsma.  524 Henry Ave., S.E.,            Boer, Rev.  M. Gritters, Rev. C.  Elanko,  Rev. B.
                         Grand Rapids,  Mich.                                Kok,  Rev. G. Lubbers, Rev. J. Vander Breggen,
                                                                             Rev. R.  Veldman.

                                                  Entered as second class mail                 AUGUST 1, 1935                         Subscription Price, $2.50
                                                 matter   nt  Grand  Rapids;  Mich.


                                                                                                           Mount of God's  cover&t, from  .whose dreadful
                                                                                                        darkness the people of God would, throughout the old
                                                                                                        dispensation, look forward to the everlasting light of
                                                                                                        Mount Zion !
                                                                                                           There a stiffneckid and rebellious people in prin-
                                                      The Name                                          ciple violated the covenant of God `and, in the sight of
   _-                                                                                                   the snidking and quaking Mount and the terrible dark-
                                                    And-the Lord pass&d  by before him, and
                                                 proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God,  merei-            ness, when the echo of that dreadful Voice they begged
                                                                                                        to be speaking to them no more had hardly died away
   :                                             ,ful and gracious, longsuffering and  abund-
                                             ant in goodness and truth, keeping  `mercy                 in the stillness of the wilderness, they stripped them-
                                                 for thousands, forgiving iniquity and trans-           selves gladly of their gold in order to make a god of
  . . .                                          gressibn  and sin, and that will by no means
   :                                                                                                    their own imagination, danced around the golden calf
                                                 clear the guilty . . . .              Ex. 34:6,  7.    in drunken abandonment. In the very presence of the
                          Awful Sinai !                                                                 living God they chose the vanity of the heathen; to the
                          Mount that might be touched, yet might not on awful God of the terrible Voice they preferred a god
   (                  penalty of death for man or beast !                                               upon whom they could impose their own will ; definitely
        1  ,`.            Mount that rumbled with the voice of judgment, and ultimately they violated the covenant. The awful
         '             that  bdrned  with fire and was enveloped in blackness Mount would pursue them, destroy them in the desert,
                       and darkness and  .around  whose rugged peak the ter- -harass them in the Promised Land, c&se,  them @`Co. _ _ ,_ __
                       rible tempest raged !                                                            captivity, seal their damnation `when they would
                          Mount, of the ever blessed God, revealing Himself crucify the Lord of glory, scatter them among the
  .'                   in all the majesty of His Godhead to a sinful, stiff-                            nations,  asign  them their place in lowest hell. For, the
                       necked people, that  fez a while stood trembling at the                          God they would not  .will  by- no means clear the
                       mountain's base, hearing the sound of the trumpet and guilty! . . . .
                       the voice of words, intreating that the word should be                              breadful Mount Sinai !
                     ' spoken to them no more!                                                             There Moses, the servant of the Lord, than who
                          Mount of Jehovah !
  1                                                                                                     the& never was meeker man on the face of the earth,
                          There the mediator of the old dispensation stood in yet, who lacked sufficient -meekness to lead the people
                       the presence.. of the Eternal Glory, the reflection of of God into the promised inheritance, thus pointing to
                       Which+z$itte&d  with dreadful beauty in his face,`with-                          and waiting for the Meeker than the meek, pleaded
 ., .                  out,  howe$er,..  seeing Him that is invisible ; there  th'e with the Lord of Sinai not to execute  Hi% atiul threat
                    `,' Most High, God Who is God indeed, spoke mouth to
              .,                                                                                        to destroy this rebellious people,. beseeched Him rather
                    ,' ,a mouth with His servant, who mediated for his  peopIe .to blot out his name from the book of life, pleaded on
 _ "; in the palley, as the law was imposed upon the Promise
   : .  -.                                                                                              the basis of Jehovah's immutable covenant and un-
                    .J ._ and the covenant was clothed in the form of precepts changeable glory! . . . .
.cji:,:.- every title and iota must needs be fulfilled before free-
2,.  ;                                                                                                     And there Jehovah, the I Am, the immutable Rock,
:..
.$  .                  d&i, the freedom of faith .and justification could come. repented!  `. . . . .
  , :~_, .,,! There,. before Moses' wondering eyes Jehovah Himself-
  2,                                                                                                        There the faithful covenant God renewed His prom-
         - :. *. engraved upon rock-tablets the Ten Words that were to
   i I                                                                                                  ise that He would send His Angel before them and
  .-,..;, be hid in the ark of the covenant and covered by the that He would, indeed, realize His every promise to
  :+ .I . mercy-seat !                                                                                  His people Israel ; but there He also taught His servant


                    .      ,'                                   ,--        _    ,,  ;:.:  ".`.j  -:r-.,  ;.-  .  ...;-.;.,;;  ,...  ;;-...:  :  ,,  ;"zr  -...,  -_.  _
                                                                                                                         ,:-;`      -.-     -.          ,,_       .         ,  -

458                                      THE     ST'AN'DARD  BEARER                                                1               -.             _                    -

to understand that He would shew mercy ,to whom He                     And to bless them with Himself, His presence
would shew mercy and would be gracious to  whbm He and fellowship, with life eternal, is His everlasting
is gracious !                                                 purpose.
   There the servant of Jehovah and mediator of the                    For, He is merciful. And mercy is the will to bless,
old covenant, hardly knowing what he asked for, the eternal Will to lead His people onto the highest
uttered, in the presence of the Invisible, the awful possible glory in His tabernacle. Also in relation  `;o
prayer : Shew me now thy, glory !                             Himself He is  mer.ciful,  for He is the ever blessed God
   And there the Lord heard even this prayer !                and wills to be blessed as the Highest Good. And it is
       There He hid him in the cleft of the rock and passed. His eternal purpose to reveal Himself, to make Himself
by His servant, hiding him with His own hand, that known,to cause Himself to be experienced and acknowl-
seeing God he might not perish . . . .                        edged by His people as the only and ever blessed God
   And there He announced His Name!                           in Whose presence and communion there is fulness of
   Dreadful Mount Sinai!                                      joy. Hence, He longs with an eternal long to lift His
                           -        -                         people from their present misery and sin and death,
                                                              into the everlasting glory of heavenly perfection. In
  The Name!                                                   His mercy He is tenderly effected toward them and
   The Lord, the Lord God !                                   gently cares for them till they shall be perfectly de-
       Merciful and gracious, longsuffering and abundant livered.
in goodness and truth!                                                 And He is longsuffering over them.
       Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity                 Slow to anger!
and transgression and sin !                                            When they sin He does not immediately strike them
       And that will by no means clear the guilty !           down in wrath, but He remembers His mercy which
   The Name of the ever blessed God, full of hope n&l         He eternally purposed to reveal in our Lord Jesus
blessing, yet apparently hopeless ; announcing ile';er        Christ.           Patiently He bears  iirith  them. When He
failing forgiveness, yet threatening with never bending       chastises them He does so in His love, as a  fathex
justice; forgiving yet imputing sin; opening vista's of       chastises His children, that they may be  corrected  and
life yet shutting them off by the very darkness of            when they shall have been exercised reap the fruit of
death  ; taking a sinful people into the everlasting          righteousness. And when they suffer, He is long of
glories of heaven, yet casting them down to lowest            passion and, rather than take them out of this present
hell ; forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin . . .     misery and woe, patiently waits until all things shall
yet that will by no means clear the guilty!                   have been fully prepared.
   Blessed Name, glorious Name of the Lord, the Lord              .For, abundant in goodness is He.
God !                                                                  Zealous He is over His people to do them good. He
   Awful Name, dreadful Name of the Wholly  Other!            loves them with all the love of His infinite Being, con- '
   Paradoxical Name, that iwnediately causes us to            stantly, eternally; and' He burns with zeal to bestow
_loo&  for still another Name under heaven, by which          upon them all the blessedness of His covenant friend-
the paradox may be solved !                                   ship.' --
   T h e   N a m e !                                                   Nor can His mercy ever fail.
                                                                       For, He is also abundant in truth. He is the Amen !
                                                              The Rock! He is as He is immutably. Everlastingly !
       Blessed Name !                                         And He reveals Himself as He is. His `promises are
       IXerciful  and gracious !                              yea and amen!
       Gracious is the Lord for He is in Himself the per-              This God is bur God, `forever and ever !
fection of beauty and in His right hand there are                      He'shall be our Guide even unto death !
pleasures  forevermore. All that is in Him is pleasant                 The Lord, the Lord God!
to bchol$,  to know, to experience,!0  taste. He is graci-             Blessed name!
ous absolutely,  in Himself, apart from any relation to
His creature and as the Triune God He knows and con-
templates Himself eternally in all the beauty and at-                  Amazing paradox !
traction of His infinite perfection. He delights in Him-               Keeping mercy to thousands, forgiving iniquity,
self with divine pleasure. And He is gracious to His yet never and in no wise clearing the guilty !                                                                                 ,.)
people and looks with everlasting favor upon Zion, the                 He keeps mercy. He never forgets His mercy over :.
perfection of beauty and causes His people to have            His people. Neither does He ever fail to show, to re-                                                                        !
their delight in Him, to taste His grace and to acknowl- veal His mercy to them. His mercy is not spasmodic,
edge that His lovingkindness is better than life. In          nor is thereveIation  of His mercy periodical. It is con--
the knowledge of Him, in the experience of His favor          stant, for it is everlasting. He keeps it to thousands,
and lovingkindness they blessed in His fellowship that is, from generation to generation, even until the
f o r e v e r !                                               end !                                                                                    . `


                   !.  .-Y
                   1." `? ..`And in His mercy He forgives !                                     the law upon the promise,., righteousness, upon grace,
                   :. ,: ._ .
                   j:-           For, His people commit iniquity and transgression- justice upon goodness, wrath  .upon  mercy, until He
                   $f:. &d.`sin.
                   p,'                                                                          should come that would do, `what the children of the
                   I:;`:"        By nature they are perverse, a rebellious people,' promise themselves could never do : . fulfill the law,
                   k:..!:inclined  to oppose God's Yes by their foolish and satisfy righteousness, bear the wrath of God an:! li::
     : i, ..:w&ked  No. And upon their own No, in opposition and                                Sinai that gendereth to bondage from the top of Zion                                                                         .
 !.C denial of God's Yes, they are inclined to act and they that is free, death from life and liberate Zion's children
                  i:. transgress His commandment and violate His holy law. forever !
                          :- And thus they sin. They`miss the mark, God's purpose
                                                                                -  -                          Marvellous grace .and mercy!
     ,: i-"' and trample under foot the holiness of His glorious                                              Perfect righteousness and justice!
     . . ., ,< Name. And they become worthy of His wrath and ever-                                            No, He never cleared the guilty, yet He mercifully
:1 ' ! -. lasting damnation in themselves. But He forgives ! He
      : :                                                                                       forgives all our transgressions !
                  ( .:`dismisses their iniquity, their transgression and their                                For, not this is  the.mercy  of God that He winks at                                                      r
                  c sin from His mind and heart, so that He never  re-                          sin and allows His Word to be set ,aside  and His law to -
                  1, -`members them as sin anymore, so that they never pro- be violated and His glory to be trampled under foot;
                  . voke Him to anger and displeasure with regard to them. not this  .is the- wonder of God's everlasting goodness
5.  :                      He does not impute sin unto them, so that He does not and grace, that He loves the ungodly as such to bless
1                          execute His wrath upon them, yea, rather than cast                   him and make him the object of His favor; but this,
              ' them. down into lowest perdition, as they are worthy,                          that from before the foundation of the world He ap-
     1 .' i:               lifts them' up into the heavenly glory and crowns them
;;::I                                                                                          pointed unto Zion a mighty captain of salvation, Who
                           with blessed and eternal'life !                                     would be able to bear all Zion's sin and to bear it away
._,.:  _.
       L                         Oh, the blessedness of the man, to whom the Lord forever on the accursed tree!.
             i             does not impute iniquity!                                                   Himself bore our sin, in His own body on the tree,
             :.                  Yet, He never clears the guilty!                             .that by His stripes we might be healed!
              i                  Fior, righteousness and justice are the very found-                     He does not clear, but justify the ungodly in the
              :  ation  of His throne!                                                         blood of His Son!,
                                 If any-man sin, He will never pronounce Him guilt-                      Jesus, Immanuel, God with us!
             '             less ; if a man  tra,nsgress  His `commandment, He will                       Golgotha, union of everlasting mercy and immut-
          i.               never justify Him in his transgression  ; if a man able justice !
          i .misses the mark and fall short of  tl-l-e glory of God,                                     Sweet harmony !
:;:I  ., never will He forget or forgive; never will He excuse
          i . . Him that tramples. His glory under foot.
          i                      For, He will not give His glory to another!            '              : The Name !
         t!                   He will `demand the last farthing  !                                       The Lord ! The Lord God!  .-
                                 He forgives, yet never clears the gnilty  !                             Oh, blessed is that people, whose God is the Lord;
                                 Astounding paradox !                                         that trust in His holy Name!
                                                                                                         For, He is God! The mighty One! He is strong
         !.L                                                                                   to save and`to accomplish  ,a11 His  merc'iful purpose for
                                                                                             them that love Him ! His grace and mercy, His' long-
         1 .:                    Adorable -mystery !                                           suffering and abundant goodness are not weak and im-
::,f-                            He that never clears the guilty forgives all our  in- potent desires, of the heart, incapable or even doubtful
l[                         iquities, our transgressions and our sins  !.                       of realization. He is not a man, that His- purposes
        a                        Paradox that is solved in the profound mystery of might be frustrated ; that His arm might be shortened ;
        [ the cross, in the moment when awful Sinai and blessed that His power might fail . . . . .
        i                  Zion meet on Golgotha ! When the righteousness and                            God is He ! And if God be .for us, who shall be
        k                  mercy, the justice and the grace, the terror and the against us ?
       k                   blessedness, the death and the life,. the hell and the                        It is God that justifieth ! Who shall lay anything.
@ . heaven of The Name, the awful name of the blessed-. to the charge of His elect?
     ,f: God, meet in sweetest harmony in the only Name that                                             And He is Jehovah ! The Lord ! The Self-existent !
       .L
f,-$                       `is given under heaven, whereby men may be saved!                   The unchangeable I  AMY  ! The Wholly Independent !
.\$
 .fi?                            Jesus !
     ";                                                                                        He that is of Himself, by Himself, for Himself! In-
      1..  j                     The Lord ! The Lord God!
       ::.                                                                                     dependent in  His,mercy and grace, with respect to their
     !$ /                        Immanuel! God with us forever and ever !
     1._.,                                                                                     origin, with regard to their objects, with regard to
      l'i,.x  <;
       i+,, : .-                 The Lord, merciful and gracious, yet righteous and their realization. Immutable mercies !
     $2  \ just; forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, yet
     <-,s  _                                                                                           Let my Lord, we pray thee, go among us !                                                            -
     4:,;' by `no means clearing the guilty !                                                            Thou overflowing Fount of good !
     &,'
     .$j,                     _ For, such is .Golgotha  I                                       - Hallelujah ! Amen !
     $-'                         Mt.. Sinai must need `be superimposed upon -Zion,                                                                                                    :                  B. H.
                                                                                                                                                                        .-..

                                                                                                                                                     . .
                                                                                             .T..       .-      _  .r:   _.  .  .  `.  :,-",    :           .     .             .     .,.      -.-.       :       _'


         $$qdr  Zijne dienstknechten, die geroepen wordentom  het
         j$$t&bedienen.              En altijd keert dat Woord in lof en prij-s                       The Wilderness
         $<jjj~  Hem .w&r. Want de glorie Zijns  Naahs is en                            Having crossed the Red Sea, the children of Israel
         gT$:@jft  eeuwiglijk het doe1 aller dingen.
         &.f'                                                                       find themselves in the desert of Sinai. A consideration
      :`"*i.?;.:.  . Nadat we den candidaten  Ps. 134:3, hadden toege-              of the geography and nattiral  features of the desert
    $$$&gen,  sloot Ds. G. M. .Ophoff deze vergadering met will result in a greater appreciation of the insmmount-
   ~?&$~  aan den Heere, Die ons zoo rijkelijk,en  kennelijk able difficulties (insurmountable  from the point of  \
   ,$;;heeft  gezegend.
              1'.                                                                   view of nature) besetting the wanderings of God's
    ip;;.:                 Hoe rijkelijk zegen;de  ons de Heere onze God!
      .:--  :  .:                                                                   people. Knowing these difficulties, it will be seen with
      il. ,.; .L i ; Hoe ruime dankensstof en reden tot blijdschap  en clkarer vision that the sole reason -this journey was
      %&op voor de toekomst hebben we, $1~ we bed&ken, dat made is that Jehovah continue&to  do ivonders  and thus
      ggjin- weerwil van allerlei tegenstand en strijd, gedurende prolonged the exercise of His power in a manner  that
         <$:;den  korten  tijd van ons bestaan als kerken,, mochten elicits from every believer the confession that it was
         $~+itgroeien  tot twintig gemeenten met zestien leeraars He. who led, His people forth by the right way and
         $$$ifi twee candid&en  !                                                   brought them to a city of habitation.                  s
         gs!,. Fegene  de Heere bnze twe^e ctindidaten  en moge het                    The southern half of this wilderness, forms a wedge
         $.2&m behagen Zijn Goddelijk Woord te spreken tot in between the Red Sea ,(the gulf of Suez) on the west
         `??
         .,I  lengte van dagen ook door hunne bediening!'                           and the gulf of Akaba on the east. Its northren half is            c
                                                                          H. H.  - .bordered by the land of Goshen  on the west, by Canaan
                                                                                    .on the e&t,  and by the Mediterranean Sea on the north.
                                                                                    This wilderness further  has a length (north and
                                                                                    south) 250 `miles. Its longest width  on` the north is
                                                                                    175 miles. Its shortest width`along  the coast line of the
         ..::              The annual meeting of the R. F. P. A. will be  hkld,     Me`diterranean  is approximately 75 miles. This then
         :x..:.`the  Lord willing, on. Tuesday, Sept. 10, at 7:45 o'clock. would have been the distance traversed by the Israel-
      ;... . .             Three boardmembers must be elected from the  fol- ites, had the Lord led them along the shortest possible
              -`: `lowirig  nomination  :                                           route to Canaan., The route actually taken was  ?pT
         ,.  -.                                                                     proximately 240` miles. It led south Along  the eastern
      `_'.-                                  H. Bastiaanse                           shore of the Red Sea (the gulf of Suez) to the plain
      .;:                                    Rev. B. Kok
         ..;                                                                         before Mt. Sinai and from thence to Kadesh gatinea,
               I                        W .   K o s t e r                            described in Nu. 20  :16 as "a  city.,in the uttermost
    `,:,,. 1`                                F. Pipe                                 border" of Edom. The land of Canaan thus lies east
         +                                   R. Schaafsma                           and northeast of Goshen.
                                             R. Timmer                               The wilderness through which Israel passed in-
   *.                      Other important matters will come up for discus- eludes five separate regions. The largest of .these,  on
                     sion,  such`  as, the proposed plan of our Standard Bearer. the north, is the wilderness of Shur, an elevated, broad,
   ! The agents will be present at  7:45  o'dock  $0 receive flat country, bordering the Mediterganean  and shelving                              '
  i  mcmbersgip  or subscription fees.
                    . .                                                             gently toward the Philistine plains. In this direction
  :                                                                The Board
  f-                                                                                several mountains occur but none of these `appears to
  5:                                                                                raise its peak more than 4,000 fket above the-sea. On
 i.                                                                                 the south the ascent of this table' land is of a wall-like
 g.:t                                                                                steepness and overlooks the shore plains of the  R&d Sea
 t                                    MAN'S DELIVERANCE
 $,.                                                                                toward the west and the broad valley- near Edom
 $7 .
 .i."                          E:nslav'd  by sin,, and bound in chains               toward tho east. Near-the center of this region, water
 5,: L                           Be::eath  its dreadful tyrant sway,                 is found ; but, as a whole it is waterless, having few
 gi;                           And'doom'd to everlasting pains,
.g                                                                                   springs. It was not across this region (the wilderness
g                                We wretched guilty captives lay.                  of Shur) that Israel was led by the Lord to the prom-
  -  _
rg                                              c                                    ised land of his abode. This route led merely through
&  ;-                          Norcanourarm procureourpeace;                         a small strip of this desert on its extreme western
$I -
`;g;                             Nor will the world's collected store                boundary. After crossing the Red Sea, so' we read
ig I- ,`
P  :                           SufIice to purchase our release;                      (Ex. 15 :4,22) Israel entered the desert of Shur, which
;g.
:+ _                             A thousand worlds were all too poor.                extended southward a distance of three days' journey.
$:, 1
g .:'                                                                                   Below the precipitous face of the ridge of this north
`>g..  ,_                      A Savior, Man, and mighty God,                        table land, is another region called "the Sandy tract",
&
-_
2:.                              A glorious ransom must procure ;                    twenty miles across at its widest. To the south of this
:.yi ::                       .Justice  divine demands his blood, -'
;$..`J-  ,*  '                                                                       tract and extending to the apex of the desert, is a third
.++-_.  - ._
                     __
2.. .,,__ ., :-                  And nothing less can life insure.                   region that includes the wilderness of Sin and of Sinai.


                                          ,-.,     "-'     ;                                             .-
         ._,      `._.`/-           -.                                :.    ,:.y  .  .  .  .      y.           .     `,         :
                               :                                                                                                     ,'  .:    -.     .




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

  and that. consists of a granite chain of mountains historical truth of the statements, found- in the  Pent-
  which rises to 8,550 feet above the sea and some 6,000                                        ateuch (the first five books of the Oid Testament)  re-
  feet above its valleys. Parts of this region are fairly specting the numerical strength of the' Israelitish host
  well watered during certain seasons. "Here and there,                                         during its sojourn in the desert. According to Ex.
  where either a living spring rises, or the torrent has                                        12 :37, the army, at the time it left Egypt, consisted in
  left its marks, or where the hand of man is at work, round numbers of 600,000 on' foot, - men besides
  cultivated patches, fair and fruitful, are found; palm children and women and thus with women and chil-
  trees springs up ; even gardens and fields and pasture dren, so we may compute, about two million. The lob-
  ground.         But, generally, the rocky mountain sides jections  raised to the historical truth of this state-
  are bare of vegetation . . .  ." In this region, to the ment on the ground of the unfitness of the wilderness
  extreme south, lies Mt. Sinai. The entire chain s,hines                                       to support a mass of humanity of- the aforesaid size,
  with the glare of its white chalk. But at Sinai "the has led conservative scholars to contend for the view
  glory of Jehovah was like devouring fire on the top of that the vegetation in' this wilderness was far more
  the mount in the eyes of the .children  of Israel" (Ex.                                       abundant in former times than at present. This former
  24 : 17). And the glory of the Lord still dyes, it is said abundance of vegetation, so it is maintained, is
  "the crags of this mountain with fiery red, reflected                                         authenticated by historical monuments, mines, villages,
  from its red granite and pink gneiss rocks, long after masonry, garden, field and fountain-work. We are told
  the shadows, have fallen on' the plain beneath." The                                          that "there are abundant traces of large colonies of
  name Sinai occurs in 35 passages of the Old Testament E,gyptians miners, whose slag heaps and smelting
  as the designation of a desert and of a mountain. In furnaces are yet to be seen in many parts of the Penin-
  17 passages, this desert and mountain are called  Horeb                                       sula. These must have destroyed many miles of forest
  or  the  waste. Sinai is described (Ex.  5:3) as being `in order to procure the fuel necessary for carrying on
  distant from Egypt three days' journey into the wil- their operations ; nay, more, the children of Israel
  derness, the actual route being 117 miles, which Israel could not have p,assed through without consuming vast
  accomplished in ten journeys.                                                                 quantities of fuel too. But. if forest after forest dis-
    ' To the northeast of this mountain chain, between appeared in this way, if population dwindled down to a
  the gulf of Akabah and the Dead sea, is found a fourth few non-agricultural tribes, and cultivation were
  region, called Arabah  or broad. valley, 10 miles wide .neglected,  then the rain that falls so seldom would no
 and with a total length of 120 .miles. Of the.four dis- longer stay to fertilize the land, but in an unimpeded
  tricts, this region is the best watered. It has springs torrent woud find its way down to the sea ; a burning
 at the foot of the mountains on either side and is thus                                   summer sun would soon corhplete  the work, and a' few
the best pastoral country of the entire wilderness.                                        ages would make the Peninsula of Sinai what we see
     Finally there is the wilderness of Paran (the fifth                                   it now." Palmer, Desert of the Exodus, pp. 34, 35.
  region)  ; "occupying the northern part of the Sinaitic                                          We remark that the' conclusions at which the author
  peninsula, between the so-called Araba on the east, of the observation, above cited, arrives are too uncer-
.. and the wilderness ofShur--on  the west. It may be tain to. .be. .of much value.. Other scholars have felt
  described "as open plains of sand. and gravel, broken this and thus maintain that "there is no reason to think
  by few valleys, nearly waterless, with the exception of a that the conditions at the time of the Exodus differed
  few springs, situated in the larger wadies, which how- materially from those of the present time."
  ever yield an admixture of sand and water. The ground                                            How even some of the most conservative Bible
  is for the most part hard and unyielding, and is covered students permitted themselves to be influenced by the
  in many places with a carpet of small flints, which are conjectures of those who sought by their reasonings to
  so worn and polished as to resemble pieces of black disarm the sceptics, may be seen from the following
  glass.' In spring there are scanty  herbage  even here."                                 excerpt from the work of Edersheim, "It were a mis-
     This is the country through which. Israel `passed take to suppose that the' wilderness offered no means
  on its march from the house of bondage to the promised of support to those who inhabited it. Even now it
  land, - a region' of `deserts, waterless tablelands, bar- sustains a not inconsiderable population (not so con-
  ren mountain chains and valleys (torrent-bends called siderable according to some. I But 7,000 souls) and
  wadies `and forming the highway through the wilder- there is abundant evidence that, before neglect and
  ness) `where streams run dry, a. tractless waste, a wil- .ravages  had brought it to its present state, it could, and
 `derness  with but few districts of any considerable                                     did, support a very much larger number of people.
  vegetation, thus a land capable of supporting but a There were always Egyptian colonies engaged in work-
  small mass of humans. Recent travelers estimate the ing its large copper, iron and turguoise mines,and  these
 present population at only seven thousand souls and settlers would have looked well to its springs and cul-
  express the opinion that the land could never have been tivated spots." And again, "It is also quite certain
  fit for the support of a popuation of over 50,000 souls.                                that, at that period (the period of the 38 years in the
  Unbelieving scholars therefore are wont to deny the wilderness of Paran) the district in which the wander-


                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                          463

ings of Israel lay was capable of supporting such a land were reached. Such is the' witness of these scrip-
nomadic population with their flocks and herds. In- tures to every one who will allow them to speak, who
deed, the presence of water, if turned into account, will read them with a mind unbiased by conjectures.
would always transform any part of that wilderness                The manna was not merely the important or chief
into a fruitful garden."                                       article of diet so that if need be it could have been
   The contention that the great and terrible wilder- omitted from the daily menu, but it came pretty near
ness through which Israel passed or even that any one to being the only food in the period of the wanderings,
of  th.e districts of this wilderness, was capable of sup- This is evident from what the people, when their soul
porting a population of the size of the Israelitish host was much discouraged because of the way, say to God
is contradicted by the testimony of Scripture  respec<--       and Moses, "Wherefore have ye brought us up out of
ing the manner in which the Lord provided for His              Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread,
people in the period of their wanderings and residence neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this
in this wilderness. He fed them with manna - a food, light bread (the manna)  ." Of the manna they had
especially prepared and therefore not for reasons to be eaten so regularly and exclusively that they thought
clisclosed  later to be  identifi.ed `with the so-called they could justly say that they had come to dislike it
natural  mcbn'ner,  exuded by the  tamarist  of the desert.    even to the point of loathing. At Taberah they wept
It appeared for the first time already on the fifteenth and said, "We remember the fish, which we did eat in
day of the second month after the departing out'of the Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and. the
land of Egypt, Ex. 16:l. And until this time the chil- leeks, and the onions, and the garlick; but now our
dren of Israel had lived not on what the wilderness was soul is dried away;  there is nothing at all besides this
able to yield them but on the stores of wheat, flour and mmna,  Before our eyes," Nu. 11:5,  6.
food of various kinds, brought from Egypt. As these               The conjecture, made. by some, that the numerous
stores now failed them, the Lord rained "bread from herds and flocks of the Israelites supplied them with
heaven" for them, Ex. 10 :4."                                  meat is also to be rejected. In  responce  to the cry of
   Now some, while admitting the miraculous manner the people for meat, the Lord said that they would eat
in which the twelve tribes were supported, advance the meat for a whole month. But Moses, unable to visu-
view that in all cases where no special miraculous pro- alize the source of supply, said to the Lord, "The people
vision is recorded, the manua for the time being ceased among whom I am are six hundred thousand footman;
and that Israel was then made to avail itseif of the           and thou hast said, I will give them flesh, that they may
natural resources of the particular district in which it eat a whole month. Shall the flocks and herds be slain
tarried. But this conjecture, too, militates against the for them, to suffice. them?" Ex.  11:21,  22. It is plain
testimony of- Scripture. According to Holy Writ, "the from this retort that, though these flocks and herds
children of Israel did eat the manna forty years, until m.ay have been numerous, their total number, as com-
they came . . . . unto the borders of the land of pared with the magnitude of the braelitish host, was
Canaan" (Ex. 16 :35). Ma1m.a  they` ate not now and small, so that, should they have all been killed, the re-
then when as it is said the  resources  of the wilderness
                                                       -_      sultant supply of meat would have sufficed but for
failed them, but, as no district of- the~desert at any thirty days. What is `more, the intense-craving `of the
time would yield them food. every day. Such indeed is people for meat, plainly shows that, as an article of
the testimony of all the scriptures that speak of              diet it was a rare luxury among them and that thus
this miraculous provision of the Lord. It is stated they were not accustomed to turning to their flocks
that they gathered it every morning, every man accord- and herds for food in the form of meat. Evidently, the
ing to his eating, Ex. 16 :21. Six days they gathered it.; number of mouths to be satisfied was so great that,
but on the Sabbath day there was non (verse 26). So had they. done so, their flocks and herds would soon
on the sixth day, they gathered twice  Las much bread, have been consumed. But from this it need not be con-
two omers for one man (verse 22). They were ordered cluded that now and then an Israelite would not
to fill an omer of it to be kept for their generations;        butcher a cow or that he drank not of the milk of his
that they might see the bread "wherewith I have fed herd. But according to scripture the quantity of food
you in the wildermess,  when I brought you forth from which the Israelites might have derived from common
the land of Egypt." Even the very day upon which the sources such as flocks and herds, was too negligible to
manna ceased is specified. On the morrow after they allow us to have regard to it, when answering the
had eaten of the old corn of the land. Jos. 5  :12. And question how two or three million people could exist
the last section of this verse (Jos. 5 :XZb)`, "neither had for forty years in a barren wilderness. What accord-
the children of Israel manna any more ; but they did ing to scripture must then be regarded is not the
eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan. that year," is         manna and some other food but the manna only. The
tantamount to the saying that the wilderness yielded testimony of scripture is that Israel lived and did not
no fruit and that therefore the manna.from heaven fol- perish in the period of his wanderings in the wilder-
lowed them every day until the border,s  of the promised ness because the Lord fed him with manna from


gg$;, _ h'
                            eaven and with water from the rock that followed that flows from the rock and feeds them with manna
&<-l.k.  :
+;.:. : : him. - And both the rock and the manna signify Christ.
:,,s: y.:: (                                                                             from heaven. And the rock and the manna are Christ.
,z:;y.
L>.:+                           Why now should it be insisted upon that the `sole        So do they all eat the same spiritual meat and all drink
$+;..~   .
@.?.::.  :                  reason why the children of Israel in the period of the the same spiritual drink. And they therefore live.
-?.-  .,
y$.<..
;.-.. *.`.                                                                               For in the words -of our Saviour, this is the bread that
                      _     wanderings in the desert lived and perished not is that
    :
;;..v, .+
&:.                        the Lord fed them with Manna from heaven? Israel's            cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof
qi--:- `.
g+J..::                     history, as well as his institutions, the events and  cx-    and not die. -And He is that living bread which came
A.2 ^,. _ .,
r.; ..=,..
$>s+  -:                                                                                 down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he
!:&*,t.jt\.                 `periences  that enter into the make-up of this -history,
.?;i
.:i:.  ,.                   isprophesy, a prophetic image of the heavenly. It is shall live forever. And the bread that He gives is His
     . . 1
;-;><.                                                                                   flesh, which He gives for the life of the world.
&:;'                        this because it is the product of a wonder, of an un-
    :* -'
`._ . . . . .
::I+ `-.                    `common and great doing of the Lord. Hence, to reason            The food and drink that Christ  suplplies  to His peo-
 :;*:, ;z - .I ;:
y-~<; i                     away the typical wonder, to minimize it, to deprive ple in this wilderness,is  not from below but from above.
.,:.; _,~
  =-`-I,"  - ..'.- it of its necessity, is to deny the prophetic character of
i :`" .- :.                                                                              It is a thing not on earth but in heaven and therefore
 7;:;::  :...
 -,..3.  _. Israel% history and is thus to rob this history of its
               . .                                                                       heavenly. The stream of grace from which His peo-
>! ,.`.
  >....                     sacredness and reduce it a narrative of profane  events
 ::-`.F                                                                                  ple drink issues from the throne established in the
 :.. . . ..y._. `I .. to which no more significance is to be attached than sanctuary above and occupied by the exalted Cl&t
  `-. .(' :;
,:.:y.                      to the events that enter into the make-up of the life of     as seated at the right hand `of the Father. It is a
IF-.:
g;.:.,-, Y.'                any nation on the face of the earth. Thus to deny the
I:+-= :                                                                                  stream of which Christ is the channel and also the
f&:;{  ;I  _ wonder is to destroy the prophetic character of. Israel's seat; for in Him all the fulness bodily dwells. And
il.-. ..`:
; WC... :'                  history, is thus to slay the promise and the. very prom- the water and the manna that .He gives is our sole
,.,  *.:.:: - ised salvation of our, God.
,. .)..:.-;                                                                              article of diet in this wilderness. There is no other
 . . . . .  . .:             As the land of Canaan, with Israel established in food. The meat of the world is husks and its drink
                            it and with its sanctuary at Jerusalem where' the priest is poison. Yet for that which is not  brehd,  men spend
                            performed the service before the face of Jehovah, was money and their labour for that which satisfieth not.
                            an emblem, a shadow, of the new earth to be inherited But they that thirst and have no money, come to the
                            by the- meek, so the wilderness through which Israel waters. .They  come, buy and eat wine and milk with-
                            was .led, is likewise the type of the state of things  on out money and without price and let their soul delight
                            this earth - this earth, the land where the stream of itself in fatness even in the wilderness. For the Lord
                            grace that Aowed from the throne of God in the garden in the words of the prophet (Isa. 43  :19) did a new
                            of Eden ran dry; the region of spiritual drought, where thing. He made a way in the wilderness, and rivers in
                            the ( law as "transgressed curses ; thus the land of the desert to give drink to His people,, His chosen, the
                            the shadow of death, the habitation of men dead in sin people He formed for Himself to show forth His praise.
                            over whose unrighteousness the wrath of God is being In the phraseology of Jeremiah, He brings them up
                            revealed from heaven continually  .,,and where the out of the land of Egypt, and leads them. through the
                            creature, made subject to vanity and waiting for the wilderness, through a land of deserts and pits, through
                            manifestation of the sons of God, groaneth and tra-          a land of drought, and.of the shadow of death, through-. -.-.
                            vaileth in pain. Such a region is this earth  - the a land that no man passes through, and where no man
                            borders of the  exeoution  of a divine sentence, pro-        dwells and brings them into a plentiful country . . . .
                            nounced when. mankind in its first .parents  gave ear to     (Jer. 2:6).
                            the words of the devil, transgressed the commandment            Of this -doing of the Lord, Israel's preservation in
                            of. life and by sin separated itself from God, who was the wilderness of Sinai is, as was said, the prophetic
                            its true life. Such a land is this earth, as the abode-of type, and therefore also a new thing, a wonder, consist-
                            and as organically connected with, the wicked race of ing not in the Lord's prolonging the innate furtility of
                            men who corrupt it.                                          a desert capable, if cultivated, of supporting a host of
                              . Through this wilderness of curse and death Christ 3,000,OOO  souls (such a wilderness would deserve to be
                            leads His people - the church, chosen unto everlast- called a garden of delight and not a wilderness) nor in
                            ing life, redeemed and thus freed from the curse by His converting the desert into a land flowing with milk
                            the  Sqn and brought up by Him `out of the land `of - and `honey, but in His raining manna from:heaven  *and
                            Egypt, out of the house of spiritual bondage. Here, in His opening the rock .and causing water to gush out
                            too, the question arises how His people can exist in this    and to run in dry places like a river.     .
                            barren wilderness. And the reason is not that' `ihere,        To say that the desert in which the wanderings l.ay
                            flows  ,from Eden a river of spiritual blessing that was because of an innate furtility capable `of support-
                            waters this earth and converts this world into a garden ing a nomadic population of. the size of the Israelitish
                            of spiritual delight with still waters and green host is like saying that, because of the spiritual re-
                            pastures of which all men drink and into which all are sources of this world, Christ, the true manna of life,
                           `led (common grace) ,but the reason is that Christ leads is dispensable to us. But how can this world for which
                            His people (and His people only) -by the river of grace Christ prays not be the receptacle of food for the


        ) .;..,--
        rj  `.~....   ,  '                             T H E   S-TAN,DA.RD   .BEARER                                                          : .-465 . .
        1.
        ;hgngry  .soul if, because of Adam's transgression, it
        .:-must  lie  `in darkness and be a realm where the curse                                Jeruzalem  `s Vrede
        ,`of-God  stalks? What may these resources that reach                      - (Rede  ,gehouden   op  den  laatsten   Velddag  de;` Prot.
        i.man through a channel other than Christ be, what may                      Geref.  Kerken  in Johnson Park,  Mich.,  4 Juli 1935.)
.be their source and meritorial cause, if it be true that
        &very conceivable blessing must and does reach us
 :.;                                                                               De goddeloozen zijn als een voortgedrevene zee,
        );through  Christ, the channel and  Meritor of all the want die kan niet rusten en hare wateren  werpen slijk
        `blessings that God bestows ? What food, what refresh-. en modder op. De goddeloozen, zegt mijn God, hebben
        ,ment, what blessings, is there to be gotten in this world geen vrede ! Aan dit meer dan eens herhaalde refrein
      apart from Christ, if Christ be the true bread of life? uit de profetie van Jesaja wordt met nadruk herinnerd
`-            ,.
:...  The.
              -.       speech that rises from the doing of God con- de Christen-belijder, die in onze tijden rondblikt in de
: sisting in.His raining manna from heaven for His peo- wereld. Vrede zoekt men, schoon niet den v.rede;  naar'
        ,nle. in the wilderness of Sinai, is manifold. It, `this vreCre  jaagt men, schoon men verre is van den vrede,
        doing, tells us that salvation is not from below from die alle verstand te boven gaat; vrede tracht men op
        above and therefore a wonder, a new thing or work of allerlei wijze te bewerkstelligen in den boezem  der vol-
: ;the Lord, a work not earthy but heavenly. It tells us" keren en tusschen `de  natien  onderling,  op  kerkelijk,
        that our only hope is. the. God and Father of our Lord. zoowel als op  politick.  en maatschappelijk gebied,
        Jesus Christ, that Christ is the Lord from heaven and schoon. men den vrede, die zijn bron heeft in den God
      ..`that  thus the recipients of His grace are new creatures,          des vredes, niet kent. Men vereenigt zich tot vrede,
ij,:: citizens of a kingdom not earthly but heavenly. It tells men sluit verdragen en overeenkomsten, men vormt X
.._ <`us, finally, that the  fulness  in Christ is for His people een verbond van volkeren  en de wijzen der wereld  zit-
        I only (Israel only ate of the manna), for those redeemed ten rondom de vredestafel. En'intusschen is er mis-
        from all their sins and set with Him in heavenly places. schien nimmer een tijd geweest, waarin al, deze pogin-
         But the rock - the rock Christ  - from which gen ijdel blijken  en waarin de geest des tijds een ge-
        ,&shed forth waters that ran in the dry places of the               vreesde, maar desniettemin een gedurig dreigende,
        `desert  and caused it to bloom, has a meaning also for rondwarende oorlogsgeest schijnt te wezen. In Europa
        .the desert. From these gushing watersrises a speech. leven de nati&t  in bange oorlogsverwachting. Duitsch-
        The earth-now possessed and corrupted by the wicked, land toont, dat het nog geen twintig jaren  geleden we1
        will in the day of Christ be freed from the curse and gedwongen is geworden  seen vredesverdrag te sluiten,
. ..-.$rom  the race of men that now corrupt it, and be turned maar daarom niet overwonnen was en werpt he& schier
`. .' `:intd a garden of delight. Such is the promise. The ondragelijke juk van den vrede van Versailles zich van
        :wilderness  and the sobtary  place shall be glad for them de schouderen. Frankrijk is, niet zonder reden, met
        and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom  as the rose. vrees vervuld voor het nieuwe kracht ontwikkelende
        It shall  blossem  abundantly, and rejoice even with a joy Duitschland, en tracht steeds de hulp van andere vol-
        of singing : the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it,           ken, met name van Engeland in te roepen,  om zijn ge-
        I the- excellency of Carmel  and Sharon, they shall see the vreesden nabuur zooveel en zoolang  mogelijk onder het
        `.glory of the Lord and the excellency of our God dwangjuk van Versailles gebukt te  doen  gaan.' M,usso-
        : (`Isa. 35 :l) . For the Lord shall comfort Zion :. He will lini zoekt ruimte voor zijne Italianen in het verre  Ethi-
        ;:comfort  all her waste places ; and He will make her opie. `In de Orient. zoekt de zich van kracht bev%ste
::.-<`wilderness  like Eden, and her desert like the garden of ,Japanees . uitbreiding van zijn grensgebied,  ten `k&to
 .:..i the Lord; joy and gladness shall be found therein, ,van den nog half slapendeh Chinees~  en'hij s@ot "met
        cthanksgiving,  and the voice of melody (Isa.  51:3). een machteloozen bond van  natien.   Het is  mette&aad
      `,This  will be the new earth on which righteousness shall een tijd van oorlogen en geruchten van oorlogen,.  ter-
      ,;-dweI1. But let it be considel-ed  that the rivers of bless- wijl men  tech vrede zoekt en naar vrede jaagt!, De
      zings by which the desert is to `be changed into the goddeloozen zijn als  een.voortgedrevene  zee, want die
      ;garden  of the Lord, gush forth from the rock. And the kan niet  rusten!                               `-.`,  '              ,, __  ._  ,
      $ock is Christ.                   -
 r.                                                                                Ook op breed kerkelijk.terrein  me&t men hetzelfde
                                                                G. M. 6.    op. Allerwege mag er  .met reden.  geklaagd over'  ver-
                                                                            wereldlijking en geestelijke verwildering. De afval
                                                                            van den levenden God neemt hand over hand toe. So-
                                                                            vietisme.  vindt in den godsdienst de oorzaak  aller
                                                                            ellende en spant zich in om zelfs  de herinnering  aan '
                                                                            den God der goden  uit te roeien. Nazi?sme  zoekt. heil
                              Wiez& Uw gena niet prijzen,                   in een terugkeer tot het heidendo'm en meent de  red-
                              God va$ leven, God van licht !                ding der wereld te bewerkstelligen door het  bleed, van
                              Nu weer van Uw liefde `t aardrijk             den Duitscher  te stellen in. de plaats van hetofferbloed
                              `t Stempel draagt  -op `t aangezicht !        des kruises.  Maar. ook waar men het  recht op den

                                                                                        .,                          `.      `I       ..-.'
                                                                            .."


        .-                                                T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R   .                                                469
                                       -
                de hielen van het vrouwenzaad. Zelfs gaat  Christus
               naar bet vleesch ten onder, als Hij den valschen  vrede                               Our  &mm and  His Mind
                der wereld veroordeelt om den vrede van Jeruzalem te                         Let this mind be in you,  which was also in Christ
                zoeken. Dat kan niet anders, want de wereld is naar                        Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not
                het vleesch de machtigste en bovendien, wij hebben den                     robbery to be equal with God: But made Himself of
                strijd niet tegen vleesch en bloed, noch ook strijden we                   no reputation, and  took'upon Him the form of a serv-
                                                                                           ant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being
                met wapenen, die door vleesch en bloed kunnen worden                       found in fashion as a  ma& He humbled Himself, and
                gehanteerd, maar we hebben een geestelijken strijd en                      became obedient unto death, even the death of the
                strijden dien met geestelijke wapenen. Daarom  moeten                      cross.                              Phillipp. 2:5-8.
               we geen glorieuze resultaten verwachten naar de maat-                       In the first chapter of this epistle, the apostle
                staf der wereld. Op `csuccessJ'  moeten we niet bedacht Paul warns the congregation at Philippy for many
                zijn. Noch ook moeten we ons ooit laten verleiden ons things. While writing this letter he must have heard
                heil te zoeken in vleeschelijke  wapenen om  tech uiter-                that false teachers were trying to draw the attention
               _ l.ijk succes te behalen..  Veeleer moeten we het oog hou- or mind of the congregation away from the truth.
                den op den oversten Leidsman en Voleinder  onzes  ge- There were those who preached Christ, but they them-
                loofs, die om de heerlijkheid, die Hem voorgesteld was, selves did not have the love of Christ in their hearts.
                het kruis heeft verdragen en schande veracht en thans                   For the sake of vain glory, they called themselves the
                .gezeten  is  aan de rechterhand des troons Gods. We ambassadors of Christ trying to break down the work
               moeten verstaan, dat  bet ons uit genade gegeven is, in of the apostle, for the sole purpose of adding affliction
                de zaak van Christus, niet alleen in Hem  te  gelooven,                 unto his bonds., Paul is at this moment a prisoner at
                maar ook met Hem te lijden.                                             Rome, and being in the power of the mighty emperor,
                      Doch ofschoon we er, in het zoeken van den vrede he knew that his end would soon, come. He knows
                van Jeruzalem, naar het uiterlijke zeker ondergaan, we therefore, that to return tu Philippy was out of the
                hebben nochtans de overwinning en de vrede Gods, question, wherefore by means of a letter he may once
                door Christus  ens geschonken zal eeuwig bestaan. Dat more instruct if necessary admonish. For says he,
                is reeds waar in beginsel temidden van den strijd in as in regard to myself, I am assured that to die is
                deze wereld. Immers ook temidden van den strijd heb-                    gain, because to live was Christ. And when our lives
                 ben we vrede. Hij heeft het beloofd en zal het altoos are characterized by a godly walk, when in other words
                blijven vervullen : Vrede geef Ik  u ; Mijnen vrede  last               Christ lives in our lifes, death must needs be nothing
                 Ik u; niet gelijkerwijs de wereld hem geeft, geef Ik less than gain. Yet, for the sake of the congregation,
                hem u. Uw hart w&de niet ontroerd en zijt niet ver- ir it be the will of the Lord, to abide in the flesh is more
                saagd. In de wereld zult gij we1 verdrukking hebben, needful for them. Knowing on the one hand, that a
                maar nooit onvrede. Nooit zal het de wereld geluk-                      return to them was impossible, and on the other hand
                ken, om u van den vrede van Gods verbond te beroo-                      that they were in need of further instruction he points
                 ven. En zelfs is het zoo, dat hoemeer strijd ge .kent,                 to the enemies within first. To the enemies without in
                 hoemeer de vrede Gods in uwe  harten  wordt  uitge- the second place. They must not be terrified by their
                 stort.                                                      In .den
         .._.-._ I-. --    E-n straks_l<omt  de zekere  over.winning  !                 adversaries;:-for--their hatred--is--an evident token of--
                 dag van Christus zullen alle machten  des oorlogs voor                 perdition and to them, the congregation, a token of
                 eeuwig  teniet   worden gedaan. Dan zullen de vrede- their salvation.. Through their attitude it became very
                 makers alles beerven- in dat Koninkrijk,' waarin geen plain that the congregation is dealing with reprobates
                 rouw noch gekrijt meer zijn zal, waarin het nooit meer whom God. will punish in due time. For, says the
                 nacht zal  wezen, waarin de eeuwige harmonie van het
 .   .                                                                                  apostle, Lmto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not
                 verbond des vredes, dat vtin geen  wankelen weet onge-                 only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for His sake.
                 stoord zal  heerschen,.  omdat de tabernakel Gods bij de Two proofs that they, received the grace of the Lord,
                 menschen zijn zal. Dan zal God zijn alles en in allen!                 namely, first to' believe and secondly, to  suffer.
 . .                                                                   H .   H .           In the words our text preceding, the apostle con-
                                                                                        tinues his admonitions by asking the congregation to
                                            IN  MEMORIAM                                fulfil his joy. Pointing to the adversaries both from
 ._
                     Daar het den Heere  behaagde van ons en tot Zich te nemen,         without and within, he now points to an enemy, who is
`1. 1            en dat  we1 in den vroegen leeftijd van 1 jaar, 5 maanden en           more dangerous than all the others combined. You
;.i;             13 dagen,                                                              have and are suffering from those who do not belong
                                         FANER MILTON,                                  to the flock of Jesus Christ, but remember ,there  is one
                 zoo berusten we in dit Zijn doen, in de kalme  verzekering, dat more enemy, and he is a very dangerous one, with
                 Hij die  alleen  God is, ook onze God is; en  temidden van onze        whom you must never be at peace. An enemy who will
                 droefheid  weten  we  tech dat al wat Hij doet is welgedaan. Vulle
                 Hij dan de ledige  plaats in van onze vroeggestorven  lieveling.       never leave YOLZ  alone and who works more destruc-
                                                    Mr. en Mrs. R. Brunsting            tion than the devil and his host. This enemy is your
                                                     en negen kinderen.                 own sinful nature, the old man of corruption. Who


                                            seeks self, vain glory. Look out the apostle means to reason whatsoever to explain these words in any other
                                            say, for if not on your guard he will overcome and sit way. No good grounds can be advanced that the Lord
                                            on the throne, and at the same time the congregation-. as the expressed image of the Father, was to defend
                                            becomes a spectacle unto the world. And you become His divinity over against anyone. On the other hand it
                                            a stumbling block  ,instead  of a helping hand unto the is very plain that the Son of God did not cleave unto
                                            brother and sister.                                          the divine existence as a robber. In the first place not
                                                Therefore the admonition in the text as we find it because the plan of redemption was also willed by the
                                            in the verses 5-8.                                           Son. And this plan He knew. Knew that for the sake
                                                                                                         of many brethren it was necessary to make Himself of
                                                                                                         no reputation. This impiied the necessity of the in-
                                                                                                         carnation, the state of humiliation, the suffering for
                                                Who humiliated Himself?                                  sin and the full atonement for sin. And He also knew
                                                There is all through the ages the question raised that the way, the only way to accomplish this task was
                                            whether or no Jesus Christ is God. Many a heretic. by the. terrible way of the cross, the suffering of the
                                            has used this text to prove that after all Christ was a terrible wrath of God, tasting of eternal death and hi;;
                                            man like all other man in all respects. He may be burial in the grave.
                                            called a good man, perhaps the best amongst men,                In the second place, whereas the determined council
                                            `but that is the best we can say of him. And therefore of God it was decreed that the guilty shall bear the
                                            the so-called blood-theology must be an invention of punishment of sin, it was also decided that in order to
                                      `, deceased minds, who being besides themselves have realize this plan of redemption the Son was to descend
                                            made a god out of him. This they will say is sheer in- into. the state of the guilty. It is true that the Son of'
                                            vention of a group of fanatics and to let them prate is      God as the eternal God could not suffer unless He be-
                                            about the best medicine to offset this fallacy. No, at the came flesh, it is also true that He knew while being in
                                       best Christ is an example, a hero or man of principle, the likeness of God, that the terrible way of suffering
                                            it is true, but he is'no god. Moreover, so they say, we and death is to be the only way to fulfill the demand
                                            can easily  prove.our  contention from Philippians 2  :5, with the price of His blood. In the third place, in
                                            :6, for even there it is selfevident that the writer does order to take upon Himself the other nature He must
                                            not say, he is God, nay, but, that he had a form, a like- of necessity put aside all the divine beauty, and become
                                            ness, as we also have, of God. .                             like unto us. This implied selfdenial, in conformity
                                                Therefore it is necessary to make plain, first of all with the plan of redemption. No, He did not put aside
                                            what is meant by the likeness and form an,d in the           His divine nature and all that is inherent to it, yet in
                                            second place what is the relation between the form and as far as  He- was to execute the eternal plan He could
                                            the being. And then first of all it is very clear from not make use of it. It was a very small matter to
       I                                    Scripture that as to His being the Lord Jesus Christ is      command help in the dark hour, to take away the suf-
                                            as to His being equal with the Father and the Holy fering, to destroy the enemies. One word would suffice
                                            Spirit. This we say, not as a matter of apologetics for
--.                                                                        _-.        .-  .-  .-)---_    to annihilate all those who set themselves against Him.
                                            the above citied heresies.- We know very well, that to .BiitXot~by  divine power, although He possesses it, not
                                            prove our statement it must be admitted that unbelief by the way of least resistance, but by the way of
              :                             is not satisfied with the clear and- convincing state-       denial of self, by doing the will of the Father would it
                                            ments of Scripture. Yet, Holy Writ teaches very be possible to satisfy the demand of God Triune. Once
                                            plainly that Christ is God. That, is the testimony of more, it would have been a very. small matter to appear
              -.                            Christ Himself, of the Father and of the  .Holy `Ghost,      in the beauty of holiness and thus destroy the enemief;,
                                            both,in the Word and also in the heart of the believer. `all power was His, and no one was able to resist Him.
                                            God of God, even God Himself was the .being of the           But not in that way, but in and through the way of suf-
                                            Son.. That was and is essentially the person of the Son fering of making Himself of no reputation would it be
                                      of God. The expression, being in the form of God                   possible to realize that plan of salvation, satisfying the
                                            refers back to the time before His incarnation. And          righteousness of God and  leading,many  sons to glory.
        :.                                  the apostle immediately adds to it that before the in-          The mystery of this plan of God's counsel of peace
        * ;                                 carnation He, Jesus, thought it not robbery to be equal cannot be comprehended. But the Lord in these words
                                            -unto God. The thought is either or, Christ did not con- lifts the veil and makes us somewhat to see by faith
        .;'                                 sider it to be robbery to be equal with God, so that He what it cost to save us from our eternal death. God
             . .                            : knew and considered it as something that rightfully
        .                                                                                                of God must descend from the place of glory, must and
                                            belonged. to Him, or, while it belonged to Him to be         does remain very God, yet puts aside although He is-
                                            equal with God, nevertheless He did not cleave to the God that likeness which rightfully belongs to Him.
       `.                                   heavenly, still better divine form of existence as a            And putting it aside there was not a moment where-
                    i                       robber does cling to that which he had stolen.
             <..                                                                                         in He hesitated, He did not cling to His divine ,glory,
             _I_ +-.  -                         The latter is the right explanation. There is no         although being in the form of God, thought it not  rob-

              .,._-
        .                .<-
        ::,.,:=                 -     .,


   .
  _ bery to be equal with God. The question is : How did claiming that will, doing that will, for it was His meat
          He manifest it?                                              and drink to do His Father's will. Yes, but the world
                                                                       found in it the occasion to make Him suffer. That
                                                                       world  wra,s not afraid of Him, rather mocked Him,
             How Christ humiliated Himself.                            dared Him and called Him the.vilest  names. This was
             The aposile  expresses himself in a very `peculiar        His lot from the very beginning.. Herod  Seeks His life.
.-  w a y . "And took upon Himself the form of a  s$rv&t."             He came to His own and they received Him not. While
  ,This is an explanation of the. clause and made Himself -He seeks that which is lost, they called Him a friend
          of no reputation, or as the Holland has it `Hij heeft of sinners, a  winebib%er,  one who blasphemed God. He
          Zichzelven, verqietigd.' Must of course not make of suffered according ,to the Heidelberg Catechism all the
         this that Cl&st annihilated Himself by doing away days of His life upon earth. He lived in a world that
         with that' what He really was, but that in His appear- caused Him pain not only once in a while bat all the
         ance as a servant, He remained Lord and became  &r- time. His life was one continual suffering, increasing
          vant. In His appearance however,  He became a ser-           from moment  td moment.and  finding its climax on the
         : vant in such a way that with the natural eye it was `cross. The Lord of Heaven in the form of a servant,
          impossible to see in Him the Lord of glory. The incar- under the law in order that He may be one of us in all
          nation first of all presupposes the  likeneis   ,of the  ser- things, sin excepted.
        _ vant. Through it He become like Unto  us, sin excepted.         Behold, the' depth of grace. All heavenly beauty
        .- He was` and remained God and He became man. And was His and rightly so. That beauty He puts aside,
         by taking upon Himself our form, He as it were,  emp-        not because any one pressed Him to do so, but by His
        tied Himself. The birth of our Savior surely did not own will. The nature created by Him, corrupted by
         reveal the beauty, He possessed `with the Father -and us and therefore weakened He takes upon Himself to
         the Holy Spirit. There is no splendor in Bethlehem becoine the object of God's wrath and the object of
         .&hen  He iS born. For the. eyes of those who beheld mockery being despised both of men and of devils.
         Him in the' inn, there is a child like other children.       And giving Himself God's own verdict must needs be,
         We do well to warn our children  for the false picture       that in harmony with His righteousness He `is placed
         that represents the babe of Bethlehem with a circle of on a par with the transgressors. Christ became a curse
  light around its head. That is not the form, or like-               for us, for He must be wounded for our transgressions
         ness of the new born king. The incarnation is charac- and bruised for our iniquities. Therefore the humilia-
         terized according to our t&xt by just the opp&$te,  no tion was necessary, it could not be otherwise.
         form, no beauty,  no comeliness. True it is, as to `His          The motive and the reason  for$his lowly state are
        : Being He remained Who He was from before the                given in the following,words,  that as far as the motive
         foundation of the world, but true it is, that ihe like- is concerned H.e became  obedient, for the ultimate pur-
         ness of the Son of Man is that of the Servant. Being pose to be obedient even unto death. The apostle means
         the creator He became creature and although in itself to say He was obedient in all the way `unto the very
  ^  .. this must-not  --be. considered  .to be humiliation, but in end and that end was the death.of the  c&s.  _. That way
         our flesh'as servant, for reasons to be explained  tivith was God's way. His righteousness. demanded the full
         a view to redemption, He became one of us. And our pavent and must be maintained. That way He chose
         form was, on account  of. sin, not beautiful. He re- therefore, for God's way was His. And in that way
         mained, it is true the Son of God, His being as such was the redemption possible, in none other.
         was not changed, but the majesty of that  selfsame               Obedient therefore even unto the death of the cross.
         being was hid and did not reveal itself.                     Even when reviled and all the world adding mpre suf-
             He took upon Himself the form of a servant.  It was fering to the servant  of Jehovah, He opened not `His
         first of all an act of His own will. We do not say           mouth. With our sins upon Him and for the sake of
         enough when we say Christ became flesh. No, but in our sins, God's wrath, He remains the silent, obedient
         becoming flesh He takes upon Himself our $form. Not servant, Who in the agony of hell cries out: "My God,
         of an angel, but in the form of the brethren, that is of My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me!"
         a servant.                                                       why?
             Still more, the apostle continues, He humbled Hi&            Because He loved the Father.
         self, He was found in the likeness or fashion of a man.          Because He loved us.
        This is not simply an addition but a further oxplana-             Because through the way of selfdenial He m&y save
         tion of His humiliation.  Is it an act of His will to        His own and pave the way for them into the inner
         take upon Himself the form of a servant by making sanctua-ry,  the new and  livini way, the way. of His
         Himself  pf no reputation  - here we have by implica- blood. %`hroUgh  that way He receives as our Mediator.
         tion the verdict of the world as it found Him. In `ihat all the beauty and splendor which He had before the
         world He was found, that could not be otherwise. For world was.
         in that world He was to dd the will of the Father. Pro-          Therefore He suffers and died,


`.`--L.
  .`.                             `.                         .         .'        ,:.        .     ..:       .`,



         472                                  T H E   S T A N D A R D   BEARER                                                                    -
                Therefore He put, for the time being the glory also. For God's sake, for the brother's sake, for if not
   aside which was His.                                                      manifesting it, you become barren and will miss the joy
             Therefore He humiliated Himself and became obe- that is the absolute proof of it. In the second place,
         dient even unto the end.                                            yours is the principle of that love and it will, in fight-
            But also therefore He received a Name which is ing and crucifying the old man increase gradually.
         above every name and hath God also highly exalted                   Christ did not love us because He found in us the rea-
         Him. That at the Name of Jesus every knee should son and incentive, but because He loved His Father
         bow, of `things in heaven and things on earth and and us for His Father's sake.
         things under the earth; that every tongue should con-                   This is only possible if there is a relation of love
         fess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the between us and Him. Do we love Him? That is, do
         Father.                                                                                  `.
                                                                             we love the Savior in His State of Humiliation? In
                                                                             other words has He become the one and all in our lives?
                                                                             That is  the. first and deciding question, not what have
                                                                             I done for  .Thee,  but what hast Thou done for me?
            And' now the Example.                                            And if in principle we can confess, He is mine, and
            Let  this mind be in you. In who?                                although I must condemn myself, yet I know by a true
            There are many pulpits even today from which this and living faith that I belong to Him, then He is our
         is also preached. Yes, they say, Jesus is  a. fine ex- example. Humble yourselves., Remain small. Fight
         ample, a good man to follow. Look at such a man of con- against all that is not in harmony with that life of love.
         viction. For the sake of it He was nailed to the cross. And the final outcome shall be a new name, a name
         He came to set an. example of how sve. ought to live. written upon a white stone, and that through Him who
         and do good and if we now will do the same thing, we loved us even unto death. For by doing so our peace
         also have fulfilled the golden rule. Let us be, His fol- shall greatly increase and we will grow to the full
         lowers. Let LIS have conviction and we will make this measure of the new man in Christ Jesus our Lord.
         world better. Doing this we are preparing the King-                     Let this mind be in you !
         dom and shall be well received by Him after our de-
         parture.                                                                                                                      w. v.
            If that is the case, then the apostle means to `say :
         Please do as Jesus did. And that is impossible. Paul
         does not mean that at all. He does not try to persuade                                            IN MEMORIAM
         but it is a command. If you please a fervent prayer.                   Whereas it has pleased our Heavenly Father to take away by
         That excludes of  cou'cse the possibility of working our death one of our Associate Members,
         own salvation in the sense of earning it. Christ Jesus                                           MRS. D. MENDELS;
         our Lord did it,dl. He established a perfect work and                  We, the Ladies' Aid Society of the First Prot. Ref. Church
         we cannot add anything to it for that would be a hereby express our sympathy to our fellow-member, Mrs. J. Van
         denial of His work.                                                 der Wall and family, in their bereavement.
            3n- that sense--the Lord~cannotbe-our-example:--  -H-e - That the God of all grace comfort. the -bereavement through--------
         is an example for the congregation because He is first His sustaining grace and that the affliction be sanctified to the
         of all her Redeemer. His Selfdenial is the cause of her hearts of us .all, knowing that all things work together for the
         salvation and it must become our guide upon life's good of those that are called according to His purpose of grace.
         pathway. The living congregation is bought through                         The Ladies' Aid of the First Prot. Ref. Church,
         the blood `of her Savior and received as the first fruit                                                  Mrs. F. Bergman, President
         the new life of His resurrection, and in it the firstlings                                                Mrs. J. Verhil, Secretary
         of all He merited for her. But the firstlings are not tile
         fulness, the complete salvation. It can reach that  ful-
         ness only in the way of fighting the good fight of faith.              Het behaagde den Heere, den  6den  Juli,  een onzer trouwe
         The road that leads home is the way of selfdenial. All leden door den dood tot Zich te nemen,
         that was in Christ was made subservient to the will of                                            MRS. D. MENDELS.
         God Triune. He never asked  anxything  for Himself.                    Zij  mocht  den gezegenden ouderdom bereiken van 80 jaar.
         Looked at from the point of view of salvation He be- De Heere nam haar tot Zich in het Vaderhuis met de vele wo-
                                                                             ningen, waar Hij een plaats  bereid  voor zijne kinderen, die in
         came obedient even unto death in order that He may Hem gelooven als hun Borg en Verlosser.
         bring many sons to glory. But also our salvation was                De Heere trooste de bedroefde familie. Geve de Heere'door
         and is but one of the means for the highest purpose, Zijne genade ook ons de zalige wetenschap dat wij Zijne kinde-
         namely, the honor and glory of God the Father. The ren zijn en dat we straks met elkander zullen vereenigd worden,
         love of Christ is shed abroad in the hearts of His peo- in de morgen der opstanding.
                                                                                Namens de  Hall.  Vrouwenvereeniging "Weest een Zegen"
         ple. His love is unique, ours is derived from His. van de First Prot. Ref. Church,
    `Therefore, the apostle means to say, whereas of that                                                            Ds. D. Jonker, President:
         love you received let it become manifest in your lives                                                      Mrs. J. Cammenga, Seer.


                         mag zijn. Maar  het gewicht en de moeilijkheid van .
                        -die  task moeten ook elk we1 dringen tot de vraag : wie                       The Task of the Minister
                        is' tot deze dingen  bekwaam? In ons zelven zeker nie-,                            As  A.n Exegete
                        mand onzer. Daarom moet geduriglijk onze bede zijn,
                         hetzij bij den aanvang of bij den voortduur, dat Hij                Our topic implies in itself two things.
                        Die  ens geroepen heeft ons  Zijn bekwaammakende                     It implies that the minister is first of all a minister
                        Geest in ruime mate wil schenken, opdat wij ook ten. and.it implies further that as such he is also an exegete.
                         opzichte van den veeleischenden arbeid als bedienaren               And it is an undeniable truth, abundantly proved by
                         des Woords mogen wandelen waardiglijk de roeping                 history, that the  clmrch thrives and is safe only when
                         waarmede Hij ons geroepen heeft.                                 her clergy administers the Word of God and does so on
                                                                   J. G. Kooistra         .the basis of sound and continued exegesis. Whenever
                                                                                          the church surrenders this principle she is fast on the
                                                                                          way` to decay. And when we make this statement we
                                                                                          are inclined to think most of the modern liberal min-
                                                                                          ister, who really denies any Word of God in the sense
                                                                                          in which we understand it an does not think of delvina
                                                                                          into its contents. Such a church is evidently on the
                              Am  Mijne Bekende en Ombekende Vrienden                     way to decay. Nevertheless it is equally true that this
                                                   in Amerika                             principle will bear its fruit in every ministry that be-
                                                                                          gins in any way to neglect its basic investigation of
                                Waarde vrienden !                                         Scrpture.
                            Al is onbekend ook onbemind, zoo is het bij  mij                 It is true of the entire orthodox church which lays
                        tech anders. Hoewel ik Amerika nimmer heb gezien,                 undue emphasis on the solutions of present day poli-
                        tech bemin ik het in het diepst mijner ziel. Ik mocht tical, social and economic problems, and so relaxes in
                         dan ook mede het middel zijn, dat Ds. Hoeksema's  moe-           its study of the fundamental truth of God's Word. And
                         der en gezin naar  Amerika zijn vertrokken. Dit was it will not avail her to pursuade her membership to
                        voor mij en voor hen de bijzondere leiding Gods. Maar study the Scriptures, or to say occasionally, "we must
                         nu lig ik op mijn krankbed, bijna vijf en tachtig jaren          bind ourself  anew to the Word." If she does not really
                         oud. Uw zoozeer beminde Standard Bearer lezende en do so, decay is inevitable.
                         ziende hoezeer gij dit blad onveranderd wenscht te  be-             It is true no less of the church that in time of stress
                         houden, waarmee ik hartelijk instem,  roep ik u met na- or decline, seizes in exasperation on some one doctrine
                         druk toe : Verandert het blad tech niet !                        of Scripture and places an extreme emphasis on it. She
                            Sla                                                           is no less losing her way of safety.
                                    LIW  Bijbel op en lees eens Neh.  2:20  en pas dat
                         dan toe, eerst op uw blad en zijne uitgave en dan het               It is, even true of the church and the ministry in a
                         laatste gecleelte,  op Sanbllat en Tobia met bus gansche time of confessionalism when the doctrines of a pre-
                         samenrotting. Het zal wel' bet beste' zijn,.:d&gij  naar         vious-. generation are all carefully and systematically __ I _
                         uwe beloften en plicht  zelf voor uwe kinderen  zorgt en repeated and reasserted. It is not living on the basis
                         ze onderwijst in de vreeze en de vermaning des Heeren.           of the Word of God and decay is the only possible re-
                         Vertrouwt dat  maar   aan geen ander tijdschrift toe, en sult.
                        vooral niet  aan de familie Sanballat en Tobia tot  welk             And yet this only safe way for the ministry and the
                        voornaam gezelschap zij ook mogen behooren. Timo-                 church is unquestionably a hard way. It is contrary to
                        theus had van zijne moeder en grootmoeder ook we1                 our very nature to submit to the uncompromising
                         iets geleerd, dat ik u ook gaarne aanbeveel. En laat Word of God ; moreover it places the church in the
                         de S. B. maar rusten, al is het ook, dat er soms zorg-           strongest possible contrast to the world and calls forth
                         volle Chr. Geref. menschen zijn, die op dit punt  u met its strongest opposition, and finally it has by no means
                         me'delij  den aanzien.                                           a never-failing safeguard against the decay that -always
                                                                                          threatens even in her unyielding vigilance when we
                            Weest  maar niet bevreesd. Dat ben  ik ook niet,              consider the church as to her outward numerical mani-
                         vooral niet voor het rot Tobia en Sanballat.                     festation. This is evident in the time of the prophets
                            Gij moogt het elkander we1 vertellen, dat Ds. Hoek-           and of Christ Himself. And especially because of this
                         sema's moeder mijne zuster was en dat ik die familie last fact, because, namely, the purest biblical teaching
                  gaarne met dank afsta  aan Amerika.                                     fails to save the church, we are readily inclined to seek
                                                                                          some other method of -causing  her to show new life.
       `.                      Met beleefde broedergroeten dan u allen,                      Pietism arises to bring the church to vivid mani-
       i:.                                                                                festation in the world, or Arminian mission-zeal, causes
      8:'                                                             L .   Bakema        the church to think she now has a good reason for ex-
,i                          Oldekerk,  Nederland, 5 Juni 1935.                            isting, or she may be betrayed by the criticism of the
      `2.          -
      .:.  ,..
      >..../.                                                                                                                      .


4 7 6                                 T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R  -

world to engage in social  improvtiment  and so has the            Now this transformation, this being renewed after
satisfaction that she is at last doing something of value the image of God is realized by a two-fold operation.
to vindicate the right of her existence.                       There is in the first place an immediate, direct imper-
    Yet how utterly foolish for the church in the time ceptible operation in our inner being by the  ,Hoiy
of stress to abandon her only standard by which she Spirit as the Spirit of the exalted Savior. This opera-
may test her purity and strength, the only way she can tion has no content but is formal. It is as it were pure
become formed and be pleasing to God, and take re- power, pure energy. By it we are like the child that
course to some purely arbitrary and deceptive standard :has the power to speak but that needs to learn a lan-
such as external works, mission-zeal or  spontaneitjjr of guage from its teachers. That power is like an electric
tiitnessing.                                                   current which will have one effect, namely, light when
    For although it is true that a people or race can it passes over a filament; heat when  it passes over a
outline its fruitfulness, and be near to be cut out and heating element; and again motion when it passes
burned, yet Holy Scripture always calls us back to it- through a motor.
self and surely if we do not according to the Word,                So it is with the Christian. The Holy Spirit  cm-
there shall be no morning for us.                              powers him to live in knowledge, righteousness, and
    It is the minister who has the first responsibility holiness. Yet he must gain the contents from without.
kith respect to that  FJord  and as such he must be            He needs a pattern according to which the Spirit forms
above all an exegete.                                          him. That pattern is Christ. He is in the uni,que  sense
    We can discuss that exegetical task as to it's pur- the image of God, being that essentially by virtue of
pose, its method, and its special application.                 His Sonship. He is the only means by which we &an
    The purpose of the ministry of the  VSTord is plainly know God, (although His power akd divinity are per-
expressed in Eph. 4 :11-X3 where we read, `"And $Ie            ceived from His creation). In Christ as He stands
gave some, apostles ; and some, prophets ; and some, before us in His Word we see God and He is the image
evangelists ; and some, pastors and teachers ; for the for the renewal of the redeemed church.
perfecting of the saints; for the work of the ministry,           However, that type is not offered to us merely in
for the edifying of the body of Christ: till we all come the four gospels where we see Him as He walks a while
in the utiity  of the faith, and of the knowledge of `ihe      in Galilee but Christ appears to us in every word of
Son of God, unto a perfect man unto the measure of the Scripture-Old and' New Testament-and as such He
stature of the  fulness of Christ". This building and is the adequate revelation of the Triune God. In that
perfecting of the body of Christ may well be regarded way every narrative, every commandment, every doc-
the primary purpose. of Scripture. Furthermore  that trine contributes its part to the lines of the image of the
purpose is attained alone through the knpwledge of invisible God.
God, ?or so the Apostle Peter expresses it in his second          It is by that image that the Church becomes formed
Epistle: "Grace and peace be multiplied unto you a spiritual body manifesting for .a. time in this world
through the knowledge of God," II  :l, 2, and  ,again vs. the virtues of God in righteousness, holiness, love,
3, "according as His divine power hath given us all peace, and covenant feilowship and becomes the eternal
                                                                         _
things  that pertain to life and Gbdliness  through'%&         reflection of God to  statid-b&fore  His face holy and-tin-
knowledge of Him who called us" . . . . .                      reproachable.
  To be sure'it  seems strange that knowledge should              The Apostle Paul speaks of this transformation in
be the means by which we receive all things from God; II Cor. 3. He there compares his ministry of the Spirit,
namely, all the things that pertain to our spirit.ual life,    with the ministry of the letter by Moses. Even the
and still the apostle goes on to say that through it we ministry of the letter was so glorious, he says, that
become partakers of the Divine nature. This of course when Moses came to the people they were  not able to
must not be construed to mean that we become par- look upon that transitory radiance, wherefore Moses
takers of His being, for His being is wholly other-' put a veil upon his face so that they should not behold
He is Creator and we are creatures ; nor does it mean the glory of Christ who was the end and purpose of
that we become partakers of His person, for He is the that Old Testament ministry: But, say he, their minds
eternal infinite personality and we are creaturely re- were blinded, and to this day the same veil lies upon
flections of Him ; but it means that we partake of the their reading of the old covenant. Yet for believing
spiritual operation of His being. Our nature, - our Israel the day has come that it does not look upon
functions of our being  become  as His. We think               Moses' face or his writing with a veil which hides the
spiritually as He does, we will spiritually as He does,        glory of Christ therein, but by the Spirit the Israel of
in the words of Scripture we become holy  a? He is,            God looks full into the face of Christ.
I Peter 1:1'7 ; as He is in the sphere of love, I John 4 :        We all with unveiled face, beholding the glory of
17 ; perfect as He is perfect, Matt. 5 ~48.                    the Lord as in a mirror are changed into the same
   This change of our nature Scripture calls being image from glory to glory as by the Spirit of the Lord.
rene!ved  after the image of. God.                                Now if that Word presents to us the image of God

                .  -                              -


 _. according to which we are transformed, hoti  are we to      truth, "God is not the God of the dead but of the liv-
  discern the features of that image? It is the task first ing", he leaves  .the inevitable conclusion to them.
  of all of the minister to discern those features and it is       So again in Matt. 22  ~42-44 He draws a conclusive
  his task as an exegete.                                       argument  for His Messiahship from three words in
      His method is both determined by the manner in            Ps. 110. The rulers are always offended,in  Him be-
  which God speaks of Himself, and it is prescribed :io         cause He does not prove to be the kingly son of David,
  him in Scripture.                                             whom they expect.  Th& they refuse to conceive of
      As to the manner in which God spoke concerning that king in the form in which Christ claims to be King
  Himself, Scripture teaches that He first spoke in Christ is plainly due to blindness for David himself called
Who is the Word (John  1  :l-2) eternally spoken by             Him Lord saying, "The Lord said unto my Lord." And
F God. Thus when God revealed Himself, He formed                nd man was able to answer Him a word.
  creation through the Word and all creatures are so.              Secondly, notice the importance He attaches to his-
  many `reflections and manifold differentiations of torical circumstances. For example, Matt. 19 :8. The .
  Christ the Word. Further it is from these many crea-          Pharasees thought to have license to adultery in the
  tures, both tangible objects and time, space and rela- laws of Moses. But Christ shows them that it is sheer
  tions that we are able to forti a language of spoken misapplication of the text, it is a quotation  `<op den  X
  and written word-symbols. These word-symbols Christ, klank af." He interprets in the light of the facts that
  ,Who made every creature, uses to speak to us about Mose+s  "suffered you" because of the hardness of their
  God.                                                          hearts. And Moses commanded to give the abandoned
      Th& is why He causes His messengers to rise out wife the protection of a proper certificate of release
  of the midst of the brethren, organically related to          -(Deut. 24  :l) to save the land from defilement (vs. 4).
 them in pl'ace  and generation and He speaks His word Observe likewise the profound lesson he draws,  ia
  thru them to the brethren in their form,  th&r language,      the light of the  hi.storical  circumstances,  fro,m Elijah's
  their dialect. In short He speaks to them in an earthly       visit to the heathen widow, and his healing of the alien
  material language, and nevertheless that speech is an .Na+man.            From it. He teaches Israel's proneness. to
  adequate revelation  bf Himself, the invisible spiritual hate God's messengers, and-that, for him who will see
 God.                                                           it, God had already long ago begun to turn to the
      Now this surely does not mean that He is in His           Gentiles. The final rejection of the greatest of the
  revelation, limited and retarded by the development of prophets and His turning to the Gentiles is on the  eve
  His people, but on the contrary, according to the law of its fulfilling, Luke 4  :24 ff.
  that the nature must serve the spiritual, He forms each          And finally Christ in His interpretation. of Scrin-
 gene?ation  and each prophet for each specifi.2 phase of ture plainlv observed a third factor, namely, the sBirit-
  His revelation.                                               ual. This is necessary because it is the  ,sanie Spirit
      Because of this manner of Self-revel&ion by which in all of Scripture, who is engaged in giving a spiritual
   He comes into our domain to speak of Himself in  oi?r revelation of God, the invisible  one, in `Christ.  Un-
  language, we do -not. belieye  our method should b'e al- .doubtedly  of the three factors  -this. last one is in               ..-
  leiyorical  or mystical as though we need to decipher a Christ's teaching  mo$ evident. A striki?g example we
   cryptogram or penetrate a thick veil of obscuration,         have in the Sermon on the Mount, wherein He shows
   but have simply to read it as spoken and, written in  our that the precepts of the Old Testament must be under-
   own language.                                                stood much more spiritually than popular opinion
   , Wh&n  we now' ask where the exegete shall learn  the would conceive of them.
   proper method of exegesis we can surely do no  better*           The same is true of the ceremonial  laws which He
   than to go to Scripture itself. The method there used so often interpreted to the Pharasees, as emphasizing
   is the grammatical--historical-spiritual method.             one thing, "I will have mercy and not sacrifice" or
      Christ of course is the greatest of all interpreters of "love the Lord your God".
   Scripture. "No one has seen God at any time", but             The same principle again appears when He speaks
   "He has declared Him" (exeegeesato) John  1:18. In of the division He will bring on earth. He quotes from
   Hiti use of the Old Testament which He Himself wrote Micah  7:6, A man shall be divided against his father,
   by. His Spirit (I Peter 1:ll) these. three.factors  are the daughter against her mother, etc. Yet while Micah
   clearly discernible. Grammatically He gives close at- `characterises  the lawless life of the Northern Kingdom
   tention to the legitimate meaning of the words and Christ plainly  Applies it in a more spiritual sense, Matt.
   phrases, drawing from thelm  pointed arguments. For 10 :35.
   example, in Matt.  22 :31-32 He answers the Sadducees            And so we could continue until we see Him walking
   who, not knowing the Scriptures or the power of God, with the disciples' at Em-maus and there He rebukes
   deny the resurrection of the `dead. He quotes Ex. 3 :6, them for not seeing in  nil the Scriptures the Divine
   "I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac, and "must,' of His cross as a way to glory.
   the God of Jacob" then adding the abundantly testified           These same rules are observed by the apostles and


i.,,          ;.                                             .          .     ,.           .".     ,,     _;      __,_:_.      -*,      :     .-     ,"     .a       ..     1'                               .
f..:;                ..-`."     ,.'     `...     .`-
                                                                                     `-                           ,_./:                                     ._.                      -
:  -i.  ,I                                                         :
                                                 :      -
                                                                                     ..
,,-
                    478                                                       T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

                    prophets who are next to Christ our  niodels.  Paul tration, or he may be pressing his teaching by appeal-
                    draws an argument from the singular  g~c~~~matical ing to the fact that what is true with respect to the
                    number of the noun "seed", Gal. 3 :16. The masterful                                                           oxen is surely true with respect to man, on the basis of
                    historical review of Stephen in Acts 7 gives a beautiful an underlying spiritual principle which prescribes  ow
                    model of the effective use of historical circumstances in treatment of both man and beast. However that may
                    interpreting the meaning of Scripture. And of observ- be "he saith it altogether for our sakes" and the apostle
                    ing the spiritual factor we have a most beautiful ex-                                                          Paul is not resorting to a rabbinical trick, neither is he
                    ample in Jeremiah 722, 23: "I spake not unto your                                                              giving us an example of allegorising, but is pointing
                    fathers nor commanded them in the day that I brought out the spiritual meaning which the words plainly have
                    them out `of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offer- in the light of the context.
                    ings and sacrifices; but this thing  cqmmanded  I them,                                                                                        (To be concluded in the next issue)
                    saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye                                                                                                                             A. Petter
                    shall be My people."
                        Now we must not make the mistake of saying that
                    the inspired interpreters read spiritual truths `into                                                                                                         TOCH  WE%  LEVEN
                    Scripture, or elicited by a convenient "turn", another                                                                    Men hoort soms smalend vragen : is er nog leven in
                    meaning which might suggest itself as convenient for de Prot. Geref. kerken, of zal de doodklok welhaast lui-
                    their immediate purpose. On the contrary they read den over het aanmechtig hoopken,  dat zoo moedig is
                    o'ut of Scripture what  was plainly expressed therein in begonnen, niettegenstaande veel en velerlei  tegenwer-
                    principle. It is plain, for example, that when the Jews king? Nu, last ons deze bezorgde of onbezorgde vra-
                    who returned from captivity murmur against the mod- gers gerust stellen. Er'is voorwaar nog leven, en nu
                    est-looking corner-stone which God's prophet lays for en dan ziet men zeer kennelijk en  oogopvallend-duide-
                    tk;e restoration temple (Ezra 3:12; Zech. 4:6-10) they lijk, dat God, die dit werk in ons en met ons is  begon-
                    do not merely furnish a  covenient   illustrccltio~  by nen, ons doet blijven voortbestaan ; en wat voor ons
                    which Christ will later speak of His rejection and ex- van het grootste belang  is, .dat we mogen  deelen  in
                    altation (Matt. 2X:42)  no, it is in both old and new Zijne gunst.
                    dispensation in principle the same natural wicked                                                                         We ontveinzen onszelven echter  niet het feit te we-
                    Israel, always  criticising   and.rejecting   the same word ten, dat we in vergelijking met andere kerken zeer
                    and work of `God, and being uncircumcized  in heart and klein zijn, en naar deze maatstaf gemeten, is onze ver-
                    ears always tries to build  its own protid  temple for the                                                    dwijning  nabij..
                    Most High who dwelleth not in temples made with                                                                           In den  breeden  omvang der kerken-wereld rondom
                    man's hands (Acts 7 :48-51)  and is always put to shame ons, is van een krachtige wereld- en Godsbeschouwing
                    by `the work of His grace (Ps. 118 :23 ; Zech, 4 :6, 7 ;                                                      geen sprake meer, doch het hoogste ideaal is een God
                    I Peter 2 :6:8). Again we are inclined  to view, for ex- die  zich  .moet  schikken en plooien naar een nietig
                    ample, the narrative concerning Sarah and Hagar as mensch.
                    the report of a family quarrel, ,and then to `add that                                                                    Zullen wij als kerken blijven voortbestaan, dan
                    the apostle Paul on an occasion -places a spiritual mean- moet er nieteen trachten zijn- om de wereld-  te bekeeren
                    ing in it. Yet the fact is that he does not place it on en zieltjes voor Jezus te winnen,  doch Gods Woord  mo&
                    the text at all, but says ii is in the text. "These things op eenvoudige wijze onder ons  worden   verk;ndigd,  en
                    have another meaning", he says. And by Divine illum- hetgeen van den mensch is, men zwijge er van.
                    ination he shows us the meaning. The passage shows                                                                        Zedepreekjes beluistert men onder ons dan ook niet,
                    that where -God's election  and. His covenant come to en om wereldproblemen op te lossgn,  daarmede ho&en
                    manifestation, there arises a struggle of flesh and we ons niet bezig. Wanneer de wereld een Father on
                    spirit, and persticution,  but God will maintain His cove- een Mother's day voorschrijft, en dit met de prediking
                    nant and east out the flesh. That is a lixed spiritual des Woords wil verbinden, dan  doen  wij  .als kerken
                    principle. As  .it was then, even so it is now. And even daaraan niet mee. 0-m andere wereld-toestanden in bet
                    the apparently strange use which the apostle makes of .leven te  roepen  ligt niet op den weg van  de. Kerke
                    the passage in Deut. 25 :4 to show that "the labourer is                                                       Gods, want deze heeft als zoodanig geen gemeenschap
                    tiorthy  of his hire," I Cor. 9 :4-12 need not cause us to met de wereld. Wanneer de gemeente bidt:  Uw ko-
                    pronounce his method allegorical, or  ,to `sneer at it as ninkrijk kome ; dan houdt dit ook in : dat het  konink-
                    "rabbinical". We have only to observe that Moses in rijk. der wereld worde verbroken. Hij die dan ook een
                    inculcating the principle of just reward in mercy and koninkrijk in het midden  der wereld wil oprichten bui-
                    the duty of brotherly love. Now it were very strange ten het koninkrijk der hemelen, deze kan het  dlervol-
                    of, Moses to..break  og, his teaching on justice in judg- maakste gebed niet vromelijk op de  lippen  nemen.
                    ment in order to say a few words about .the care of                                                                       We tellen  op het oogenblik 21 gemeenten, die be-
                    oxen only to return at once to the previous subject of dient  worden  door 17 leeraars. Twee  onzer studenten
                    brotherly love.  &loses may well be using some well-                                                           zijn gereed om uitgestooten te worden in `s Heeren
                    known precept concerning the oxen, purely as an illus- wijngaard.  Onze  Theologische  school  brengt nog  ge-


                                                                                          ._     -.                                         .I
                                                                                          -$f&ern&@ `and ev@&~ &I2 thii -@~9?-- `This &ll &able
                                                                                          as -many  ai possible to atten& .Wk trust tbis iequest .._ `;-:
:.c      =.>.       -G,i."'     `.,T,                    -     _     .-
.&.s.:..%Y
        c;::<  `.:: .:..-.-ne+d&-  uii Gods" ee.utiige  raad: H'et stukj van v&kie-       will not be regarded as too bold, %ecau`se' in the tweoty- ..'
"_:sz2~~~;~:.~`~~n~   en  ve;w&pi.ng,   naar  dren  eeiwigen  raad  Gods,
7~*-da . . . . ii. ._                                                                     fiTie yeafs of our existence, it is the first time. that we
;g$+-  7
&, . ..~ ~
@.;g~:.  _ <, kwam ter  @rake. De eene redeneerde  uit .de S&rift:                        make it.
~~~&,.:`-
i-g  &-  I               God  heeft alleigewrocht om Zijns Zelfs wil, en Hij, de                 May we also request consistories  *ho, as yet, have              _
-$&**f.  ,c-+:,  `.
`Tr.;-, . . Eeuwige, k&n `door nietige +aardwormen  niet aan ban-
~~~..+i ,  -                                                                              not taken up an all-day Sunday collection  .for our
$;$;*f:;;;   _
,;-;`-,;   .,
9.. .p.<. (.             den  worden  gelegd.  Hij"zag in dien raad  allen  ver-+ Jubilee building to arrange for this on' a S&day dur- .
*`,`,":
,I".%>.   .iy
 ST>>  zp.: _ -- doemelijk voor Hem, verkoor en verwierp, niet omdat ing July or .August  ? - It will be highly appreciated.                                      `,
         `-"
 !a&;:* : .;-
 +~~`..t  ;  - de. eene mensch beter was dan..de andere,  want ioo is                            Those who have received envelopes for a weekly  `:
 :.a.-   ,,
 jg  i..                 `t n&t, ga uw eigen lepen  maar na, `t. was alles souve-
 g+`l+..*                                                                                 -contribution for the Jubilee .Building are kindly .re-
 CT".. c..<e `;
 3;g(.cy..           7; rein! -En Jakob heb Ik liefgehad en Ezau heb Ik g?- minded to mail contents of  th& envelopes during the
 .,-+r~:;:   -
 +.x.>.-`,e.  :.
 : ;2:. :e :?            haat,  omdat ?k.tiij dat-zelven~  zoo heb pitgedacht. De last' week of August. Any one' still  .in need of an
 &k-v 7 P,
 .+:;:;+c.
 ,*w:.r.-..         - Pottebakker heeftiivolkomen-yccht  om bet leem  te vor- envelope, please address Christian  Ps+hopathic*  Hos-
 *:y.;;..< . .
 .7.:;, , F              men in  .een Momp,  waarin `Zijn Naam op `t hoogste
 vs:x-..'  `.                                                                             pital, Grand Papids,  Michigan, R. R. 1, and envelope.
 5, ::.y:.; ..           w&dt verheerlijkt, en  Zijn-. eer op  duizendvoudig&             will be forwarded at once.
                                                                                                 Regarding admission to  the.evening meeting in the
                         wat Hij alleen het heeft te zeggen, en dat het ook in C_ivic  Auditoriirm,  the following has  b&n  decided:
                         verkiezing en verwerping  o& God alleen en  nie't om den                Admission will be by ticket. .A11 tickets are f&e. '
                         mefisch  g a a t .                                               On  .August 15th, the tickets  =will be ready'for distribu-
                                  De andere broeder, die niet uit de S&rift redeneer-     tion. For Grand Rapids and the immediate vicinity,
                         de, sprak het uit : .deze God is niet de mijne, dit is een tickets can be obtained from at least ten members of
                         wreede,  hard@, goddelooze  taal, dit is een monster-god.        each of the seven Ladies' Circles. who will look jfter
                         .Hij, sprak het uit dat er nieniand was die in .zoo ten ttie distribiltion  of the tickets. Besides, this, tickets,
                         .God   geloofde.  Het tegenovergestelde bleek echter de. can be obtained from  `# the Board members of the
                         waarheid te zijn. Er ging hier en daar een stem op die Hospital Association  arkd ""from our financial agents.'
                         `juist  deze Goede, Heilige God als hun hoogste goed ver-               If it is impossible for you to get in touch with any
                         e&de,  want dit is de God der Schriften..                        one of the Ladies' Circles, the  firiancial.  agents, or, the
                                   Wanneer er zijn die op `t stuk van deze waarheid       Board members you can mail a card to the clerk of the
                          niet met ons meegaan, w;aarom  dan tech te blijven. Dit Hospital and immediately. your request will be takin
                          scbept wanorde, `t is oneerlijk, het werkt  verdeeldheid,       care of. .
                          en `t is niet tot Gods eer.                                            You  c&n obtain as  mahy  tickets as you need ; how-
                                   Wanneer men God  niet meer wil  als de  alleen-Sou;    ever, one condition is. attached to receiving tickets,
                          vereine, clan wordt de mensch souverein en men  ver-            namely, that those who obtain them  intend,to  be pres-
                          liest Hem .de alleen Wijze; goede Verbonds-God van-. ent. In case you are not able to meet with us, you are
                         ,Zijn uitverkoren kinderen, door Hem eeuwig  -geliefd;           expected to present your ticket to some one who can
                          Dan. komt men tech weer uit bij -een God die we1 heeft take your place. This  .condition is necessary because
                          verkoren, doch niet verworpen. Een God die we1 wil              we will distribute only as  many tickets as  ?ve have
                         zaligen, maar niet kan, omdat de mensch niet wil. Dan seats available. Hence, in order not to disappoint any'
                          hebt ge weer de vrije wil des menschen.                         one,' we must know. that the holder of a ticket, or a
                                   Dat is de waarheid der S&ift; welgegronde,  Prot: substitute, will be present.                -*
                         `Geref. waarheid, een  waarhejd  die door  .een  Calvijn                A'ticket entitles you to a seat, but not40 a,ny specific               ~
                          altijd is geleerd, en  elken  sabbath van  onze  kansels seat... You have your choice of any unoccupied seat  `--
                          woriit  gepredikt, en Gode'welaangenaam. - S. P V.              when you enter the Auditorium. Those who arrive
                                                                                          +st have first choice, etc. Plenty of ushers. will be on
                                                                                          hand to guide you to the section where you wish to sit..
                                            CUTLERVl[k%E'S  JUBILEE                       The evening meeting will: commence at 8 o'clock and
                                   Contrary to our fixed custom to ke6p all.p?opaganda    the doors tiill be open at 7 o'clobk. During,the meeting
                          contributions out of our  papek9  we publish the follow- one collection will be taken and two deacons from each
                          ing article, IX a?z exception to thl rule. The reason is congregation will be requested to take 1 care of this.
                          that our people  ought  to be informed .of this meeting.               The aft&noon meet&g  will be held in one of the
                                                                            Editor         s&taller  meeting places of the  Auditdrium.           At this
                                   The date of the Jubilee meetings has been fixed on meeting  annual reports  will be given. Please make
                          Thursday, September  26.  May we'kindly request our it a point to attend both meetings, th& afternoon ai
                          ministers  and other leaders of societies or gatherings well,as~the.even~n~   m e e t i n g .  -
                                                                                                        :_                  -,@t name -pf the b?a$i,         .
                                                                                                              . . ,                    c


