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i  `:I

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                     436          .`.
       j                                                     THI;-  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

                      i-1.                                                                 Always, the Lord provided men whose desire it was
                                  E D I- T  0 R  I'..&  1;.  S                          to `serve in the ministry `of the gospel ; and always He
                       :I provided a place, ,for them in one of our churches.,.
                                                                                           May also these new candidates soon be `gladdened with
                                         Minister  Verbi  `Dei                          a call!
                        Again three young men graduated from our theological               And yet our experience was not one of unmixed joy
                      school, and were declared candidates for the ministry of          when we witnessed' the graduation of our students.'
                      the Word of God in our churches.                                     .There  was also a feeling of fear and trembling.
                             The graduation exercises, were held in the Protestant      We are accustomed to speak of the ministry of the
                      Reformed Church building at South Holland,- Illinois.             Word of God as glorious calling, as, the highest calling
                      They were impressive and marked by simplicity. The                to which a. man may aspire.. And we do not `wish to be
                      rector, the Rev. G. M. `Ophoff, spoke on the preaching  of. an' exception to this custom. What higher and more
                      the Word of God, or .the gospel; as the key of the king-          exalted position would, in this world,. be conceivable than
                      dom of heaven. The reader will have. noticed, that this           that of serving the Word of God?  ,In fact, I would em-
                      well worked out speech appeared in the last number of             phasize that the ministry is not merely a ,&J&Y  calling
                      our Standard Bearer. One of the candidates, E. Borst,             than any other `in this world, but that it is incowzparably
                      delivered a speech on "The Salvation of the World."               high, that it is quite  ~4+tr:c. And blessed is he, indeed;
;:             I      There was some singing by the audience and two special            that may truly be a m%i&er Verbi Dei; a servant of the
                      selections were offered by a duo of ladies from South             Word of God!
1.:                   Holland. And the meeting was properly opened and                     Yet, does not in this very. calling lie also the cause of
                      closed.                                                           `fear' and trembling ?. The older I become and the longer
                       . I, know not, whether the simplicity of the exercises           I serve in the ministry of the Word `of God, the more I
                      reflected the spirit `of our `churches, or whether it must realize this reason for fear. and trembling there is .in this
                      merely be explained from the fact that we are still young         humanly impossible service.
                      and small ; but I do. sincerely hope that it may `character-         For, who is sufficient unto these things?
                      ize all our commencement exercises in the future.'                   For, true it is, that the minister of the Word. must, be
                        It was with .a mixed feeling that I witnessed the grad-         many things. He must possess many human virtues. He
                      uation of these candidates for the ministry;               `.     must be learned in many subjects. He must have an
       .  .
 `._                    pn the one hand, I surely experienced a keen sense of           understanding of. his "age". and of the world in which
                      joy and gratitude in the  r.ealization  that it pleased the       he lives..  .He must be versed in the Scriptures. He must
                      Lbrd to give. and prepare for our churches these new              have a knowledge of human. nature. He must be an ex-
                      laborers iI< His vineyard. We have need of them. Es-              ample unto the congregation, sober, not  .given to wine
                      pecially: if ,we remember that we were compelled to start .or filthy. lucre, kind, sympathetic, patient. He must be
                      from the. very bottom, with only. a few men to lead our           strong, `physicaliy  and mentally, firm and courageous, a
                      churches and to serve in the ministry of the Word, and            leader of men. He  .must  be able to meet young and old,
                      all others, of: whom we had hoped  w.ith good reason that         rich and poor,, sound and sick: He must feast with those
                      they would join and help us, forsaking us `in the hour            that are feasting and mourn with the sorrowing, some-
                      of need; if we recall now, how often they that hated us           tim%% the same hour. He must be able to bear evil men.
 :                    without a'cause  predicted that the cause of the Protestant       He must have  .ability  to teach, to win souls, to admonish
                      Reformed Churches: had no future and that  it.would  die          and warn to rebuke and to advise,. He must be able
               !_     with the two, ministers'that were called to +e their ieaders ;    to pray and sing, to laugh and to weep, to be mild and to
               I      if we consider, that still we are small in number, though         be sharp, as occasion demands. He must: be all things
                      the Lord did abundantly. bless us, there is a reason for          to all men,
                      joy.@3 thanksgiving when the .Lord  blesses `us. with .new          And yet, in all `this there is nothing unique. Many `of
                      and young laborers that with usmay  serve in the ministry. these characteristics are required in other leaders of men,
                      of the  .Word of God.                                             be they politicians, instiuctors,  doctors, lawy`f;rs.
 ,: :                  To us it is a &n. tha? the, Lord is with us, and that it           But the preacher must b&minister of the Word of God !
 :.                   is His good pleasure to `establish our churches.                    That makes his calling incomparable, unique, super-
                        ,The time, is coming when the two first leaders may             human! He must deny'himself, men, the world, the wis-.
                      safely recede into the background  ; and already the time         dom of men, all that, is of the world, its conventions, its
                      is there w\hen it may be stated without fear or contradic-        customs, its self-will, its lie,' its  .deceitfulness;  also its
                      tion that it does not please the Lord to let the cause of         wisdom, goodness, nobility, righteousness, philanthropy,
                      the Protestant Reformed Churches perish with  the. death          charity, glory, ambition, success, power ; its aims and
                      of those two first ministers of the gospel.                       aspirations ; he must listen only to the Word of. God, that
                        .And that creates a feeling of peace in our hearts.             impossible Word, which no man will hear nor even can


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                                                                                                              I
                                            T H E   STANDARD  B E A R E R                                          '         ,'      437
                  .
         will to hear; which is hear!, not at all in the world, but           For, not only vagueness but  a1s.o impoliteness, lack of
         only in the. sphere of grace an'd by grace, and which yet good manners it `evinbes, when the Rev. H. J. Kuiper
         men preterid  to hear when they do npt hear it; and having          ref.ers  to T,%e Standard Bimer, with which he is well ac-
         listened to ~that Word of God, only listened, wit$out con-         quainted, `as a "certain religious magazine".  There is an
         tiidiction,  .and having filled his soul with that Word, and        evident `attempt to reveal a certain contempt for our
         only after he is quite sure that his soul is filled with noth-. .paper;,  which, if the editor is:acquainted  with our maga-
         i.ng but that Word, he must speak! .' . . .                         zine (as,, evidently, he `is) he cannot possibly feel. I be-
            ,. And iI1 !th&f `is mere Man, within'him  and without, will     lieve that in his heart he will, upon candid introspection,
         oppose  hiti, both in hearing and in speaking!            '        find considerable respect -for T1e Sta&ard  Beaver. But,
            , His path is `beset with temptations to "corrupt the `at any rate, whether  he is abl& or not to appreciate the -
         Word of God,`, to mix that Word with the word of men,              contents of our publication, we feel that it is .sufficiently
         in order that he may please mere Man !                             worthy of respect to  Ee  mentioned.by  name, whenever: it
             Who is sufficient unto these things?                           `pleases any editor to introduce it to his readers. And the
             And who, that serves in the ministry of the Word+ of            Rev. .H. J. Kuiper's small&&  .tempted  him iti this case
          God, Joes not realize that he is man of unclean lips?             : to forget good manners..
            He that has never feared and tr'embled  at .this ministry          And how about "friendliness" ?
         has never fully realized the "awful glory" of that calling!           I be&i&e'  that the Rev. H. J. Kuiper is quite mistaken
             May  the blessing of the God of Grace, then, be with about .my being unfriendly to his church (es). It will be
         our candidates!                                                     difficult for him to find proof for his' statement, unless
            And with all of us that serve in the ministry of the' his statkment is based on the wrong notion, that `a `man
          %rord of God!                                        H.H.         .`is unfriendly, when he tells you the truth, even though
                                                                             it hurts. True, I do not assume an attitude of friendliness
                       The Banner's, Friendliness                           over against the errors `ana corruptions of the Christian
                                                                             Reformed Churches. But it will be hard fdr the Rev. i
             In an article on the "Chicago `Situation",  appearing in        H. J. Kuiper, to find one that has ,always  been more
         .The Bunner.of May 22, l936, the editor, the `Rev. H: J.           .friendly  to ,,those churches than the undersigned.  This
         Ktiiper, inserted a remark to which several of our readers          holds no less for the period that elapsed since the Chris-
          called my attention, because they were of the opinion that tian .Reformed  Churches were so unfriendly a$ to throw
          it. was meant for our S~npzdard Bearer  and .for me per -          us but, than for the time that I s'erved.  as minister of the
          ;onal!y.                                                           go,$pel within the f&owship  of- those churches.
             W          e      quo!e:                                          But I do thi?k it is unfriendly, irery unfriendly, of the
              "If we, or the editor of De `FVa&er, had done *hat             editor of  The Banner;  when he introduces  The  Stamilztrd
          the editor of another religious magazine, who -is not at all       Bearer to his readers .wit@ut .me&ionitig  its name, and
          friendly to our Church, has done-if we had forthwith               its editor as one "who is not at all friendly to our
          Coridemned'Qr.  Wezeman 0; the str+gt$  of Dr. ,K>liper's          Church." The editor of T& B'anner: will l&.ve to &h-nit
          pamphlet, without waiting for his defense, there would             that he had a very unfriendly feeling in his heart, when
          have be&just cause"for criticism. But we have not d&e              he wrote down those remarks,.
         .this, even  though we had. access to the Bible notes of Dii          And, then,, the editor of The B'anner  ought to adhere
          Weze&a&  and even .though  a preliminai-y.  answer to the          strictly to the whole truth, when .he writes about us.` To
          `Blue Book',was  pubiished in both of our church  papers."         slander is not {riendliness,  to be sure.
              Of course,  we, cannot be quite sure, whether "another           And t&e whole truth is not, t&t. the "ed;tor  of another
          religious niagazine" is The Standa&  Becwer,  nor whether          religious magazine" forthwith-condemned. Dr. Wezeman
          that `editor "who is not at all friendly to our Church" is         on the strength of Dr. Kuiper's pamphlet, but-that he
          the undersigned. The .editor is vague, not s&cifi&.  He            carefully perused seven volumes  df Dr. Wezeman's notes
          mentions no.names. But `it may be admitted that, `looking          .(let the Rev. H. J.. Kuiper, please, note, that I did not
         at the Banner's editor's remarks from his own viewpoint             merely "have access"' to those notes- `as he, very carefully,
            (I can believe that he imagines that I ati net ai all friend-' declares that he had, but that I very carefully studied
          ly to the Christian Reformed Cl&irch)  they strongly point, them), then formed an opinion and wrote extensively  on
          in our directioti,  so strongly, in fact`, that although the       the entire Chicago Situation.
          shoe does riot at all fit, I venture t6 write this article on        And i ciaim that -I had .suffic%nt material to express
          the supposition that the Rev. Henry J. Kuiper, pastor `o`f         a true and unbiassed judgment. .
          the Neland Ave. Christian Reformed Church and editor                 The reply of Dr. Wezeman and  -the Board does not
          of Tt%e Banner, mistakenly tried to force this shoe onto           change my opinion one whit.
          my foot.. After all, if I am mistaken in' tig suwosition,            A.nd the "holier, than thou" attitude  of the Rev. .H. J.
          he has only his own. vagueness and impoliteness to bllame.         K&per  is altogether without basis in fact.


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          43s        x      *                               T.HE*STANDARD   B E A R E R                               .

             Nor was the Rev. H. J. Ruiper  always so careful. Let
          him remember the Dr. Janssen-case. If jn 1936 he is                          De Gebeden  .AlJer Heiligen
          biecome so super-just, that he dare not judge of a man's                                             II          .:
          instruction when he is in possession of `that., man's per-
          sonal notes, he should have prefaced his remark, at least,              (wat i,s bet thema  van dat gebedskoor allei heiligen?
          by a confession that he did dare to judge in the case of              Wat is de inhoud van dat gebed van Gods vslk aller
          Dr. Janssen, when he was only ifi possession of sonze of              eeuwen ? Als we al die elementen uit de .ongetwij feld on-
          the stz&&-notes  of that professor !                                  voiiaakte  gebeden der geloovigen op aarde uitschakelen,,
                                                                  ,    H.H..    die yoortkomen uit hunne nog .zondige natuur en  `dus
                                                                                vleeschelijk zijn, zoowel als die,` welke daaruit  moeiefi
                                                                                worden  verklaard, daf wij niet wefen, wat we bidden zul-
                                                                                len gelijk het behoort, wat blij it er dati over `als de eigen-
             "Fizzle" is  colloqial,  but it is  a.nice& word.                  lijke inhoud  van die gebeden 7 Wat is de beteekenis-  van
             1~ expresses the idea of a ridiculous failure after a ylery        die  Tierheven   gebeds-melodic,  die in den rook van het
          serious and tremendous effort. "Fizzle" means that you                retikweyk  opstijgt tot Hem, Die op den troon zit, die Hem
          expect a tremendotis  explosion and that you hear nothing             welbehagelijk is en door Hem zekerlijk wordt verhoord,
          but a hissing sound.                                                  veel  zekerder,  dan wij in ons hart gevoelen, dat wij
             "Fizzle" I think -is `the word that must `be `used lo              zulks  van Hem .begeeren  ?
          express the. outcome that is am1 the outcome that will be               We mogen hi& zeker allereer_st  opm:rken,  dat het waar-
          of the Chicago Situation.                                             achtig gebed der heilig& zich altijd bewe@ om den wille
          ~ And I believe that the Rev. H. J,- Kuiper's articles .in            Gods en naar dien wil  iich schikt.  De grondtoon van alle
          Thi Bamwr,  due to his over-carefulness, if they purpose              gebed is zonder twijfel  :: "Uw  wil. geschiede, gelijk in
          to' be of jnfluence atid to serve with advice in the matter           den  hemel  alzoo  ook op de aarde!" Dit volgt reeds  hier-
          .of the "Chicago Situation" will prove to be-belated.  As             uit, dat alleen wat in overeenstetiniing  `is met den wille
          the Dutch say it : "Hij komt met het z&t, als l&t ei op is".          Gods Hem welbehagelijk zijn kan. En' in de tweede
                                                                                p!aats is het de grondbegeerte iran de heiligem  m Christus
            Before  the last meeting of Classis  Illinois there 9as. a Jezus, dat die wil mag geschieden. Buiten dien wil heb-
          lengthy report by a learned committee, of which also the              hen zij,  .in den  diepen  grond der zaak, gekn begeerten.
          ReG.   G. Hoeksema was a  memb'e'r',  on the Bible-notes of           Het gebed der heiligen,  we1  verre van ooit te bedoelen
          Dr. F. Wezeman.  .' I have not only "acct;ss,"  to &at .-e-           om  onzen wil  ain den  Allerhoogste op te dringen, is
          poyt, but read it from beginning to end. ,And I am n,)t
     I                                                                          allereerst  uitdrukking .van algeheele  onderwerping aan
          officially informed, -but rather sure that hi's report was            .den wil des Heeren en van de begeeyte,  dat die wil ge-
          adopted`b$   ihe  .classis.   _                                       realizeerd mag worden. Wie niet geleerd heeft om te
             I will, quote what the report has to say on the "new               willen, wat God wil, heeft nog nimmer geleerd om te bid-
          notes" of Dr. Wezeman, the set of notes we criticized in              den. En dit geldt zoowel van den wil van Gods  welbe-
          our articles under "Stoym in the Windy City".                         .hagen, of van den. raad des Heeren, als van den wil .des
           S a y s   the1  r e p o r t :                                        bevels. Dat dit metterdaad geldt van  den wil des bevels,
          "The new notes (a) contain very little objectionable                  zal geen tegenspraak ontmoeten. Als de gebeden der heili-
          material,  (b) there are many passages that  sstate very gen uitdrukking  zijti van geheiligdc  begeerten,l  door, God
          satisfactorily and emphatically our Reformed standpoint,. Zelf gewerkt in het wedergeboi-en ha&,  dan is daarmede
          (c) on the whole`; the  new notes are soundly Reformed".              r&e&  .gezegd,  dat alle zondige voorwerpen buiten  gesloten
             From which quotation the leader will  riotice  two facts.          zijn. Daarover behoeft verder' geen woord te worden
            First of all, that the Rev. G.  Hoeksema  must'have had             verspild. Anders  staat het echter  ten opzichte van bet
          another change of heart. For in the "Blue Book" (en-                  standpunt, dat de gebeden der heiligen ook in  overeen-
          dorsed  .by his, name) he states that' even in the "new               stemming zijn met Gods raad. Wie dat zegt, loopt  ge-
                                                                                               .
          notes" there `are &aces                                               vaar  op allerlel tegenstand te stuiten. De beschouwing,
                                            of qn;odernisz%  (p. 94, 95, and
.         .several  other places) ; while in his report he states, that         dat oAze gebeden werkelijk den raad des Heeren .zpuden
          "bn the whole, the new notes are soundly Reformed" !                  kunnelil beinvloeden en veranderen, zullen we bier nu
                                                                                maar buiten bespreking la&. En ook kunnen we vol-
             Or must I draw the  cdticlusion that "traces of modern-            staan met slechts te herinneren  aa% de voorstelling van  1
          ism" in the opinion  of the Rev. G. Hoeksema are very                 wijlen Prof. W. Heyns, dat er in Gods raad ruimte was
          well compatible with
.                                     "oz;:r  `(Christian Reformed)  Re-        overgelaten voor vele  dingen, die dan eerst door de  ge-
          formed standpoint"  ?                                                 beden  der heilig&  zouden worden  beslist. Gods raad be-
            And secondly, that the Chicago Situation turns dut to               slist over alle dingen en staat bnveranderlijk  vast. Geen
          be a "fizzle?.                                                        gebed verandert aan dien raad ook maar het minst. Maar
             As I predicted,                                     H.H."          de gedachte wordt meermalen  geop$erd,  dat wij  t&h den
                                               I


                                                         .
 442                                   _  T'HE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                          -
 den en niet vertragen. I& als Gods  oordeelen  komen in                     of their apostacy,  he sees the calf and the dancing as
 antwoord op ons `gebed,  laat ons niet verbaasd $aan,  maar                 soon as he corn& near unto the camp. Yet, though his
 gelooven, dat de da, 
                        m baenaakt  ! De,Heere  zal Israel ver- .mind has been prepared for this very scene, his ar;lgcr
 loss& uit al zi jne benauwdheden !                                H.H.      now for the first time waxes hot. This can be expected.
                                                                             He is npw fade to face with the reality of their deflection.
                                                                             It therefore stands out before  his mind in all its terrible
          Moses Destroys the Idol                                            significance. Besides, their daring must surpass his ex-
                                                                             pectations. With the sound of, Jehovah's voice still ring-
    In the plain that  st,retches  itself out from the base of               ing in their ears, with His .words still fresh. .in their
 Mount Sinai, the pe@e of Israel play before a golden                        memory, in the-very shadow of His throne, flanked  .with
calf. A great sin is being committed here. To understand. the visiblk tokens of His awful majesty, as a people w&
 this, regard gust be ha`d to what has recently taken hlace.                 have but recently cried out,, "All that the Lord has, spbken
 Jehovah has officially taken the nation to Himself  in.the.                 we will do," and upon whom the blood of the covenant
 blood .of the  *sac?ifice  and Israel has become His wife.                  has been sprinkled and whose elders have been with Je-
 And `this wife now commits spiritual whoredom. She                          hovah in the mountain,-they whirl in mad. circles about
 turns her back to Jehovah her husband, and embraces the                     a golden calf as they shout, "These be thy gods, 0 Israel,
 idol., This is Israel's' great sin. And the<Lord,  in who&                  which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.." What
 eyes all things are naked and opened, sees and  .hears al!.                 shameless apdacity ! How they flout Jehovah in His very
 Turning to,His  servant Moses, He says to hi&, "Go get                      face !
 thee down ; for thy people whicli thou brotightest  out of                    What will .Moses  do? Will he reason with them. Will
' the rand of E,aypt,  have corru$ed  themselves ; they have                 he plead with them to put `away their i'dol and returil to
 turned' aside quickly out' of the way which I commanded                     the Lord? It occurs to him that.this  is no time for words
 them : they have made them a molten calf, and have wor-                     but that what is  .needed  in this drisis is quick and de-
 shipped.it,  and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These                 cisive a&ion. So with a soul aflame with  aq indignation
 be thy gods, 0  .Israel,  ivhich have brought'thee  out of                  that at bottom is love of God and zeal for His house, he
 the land of Egypt." The Lord continues, `(1 have seen                       makes straight for the calf that they have made. Un-
 this people,.  and, behold, it is a .stiffnedked  pedple.           Now     hesitantly,, with no thought of the danger in which his
 let me, alone, `that my wrath may wax hot against them,                     action might involve him, he lays hold on that calf, and
 and that I may consume them : and I. will make of thee                      burns it in the fire. By this process, the wooden center is
 a &-eat nation."                                             .              calcined and the golden coating melted. What is left, he
   This utterance of the Lord together with the interces-                    crushes between stones, till it is fine dust. This dust .he
 sory pra$&-`of  Moses that it called forth has already beeri                ihrows  into the brook that flows down from the moun-
 explained.                                                                  tain and makes the children of Israel drink of it.
   Moses turns and goes down from the mountain. The                            Some  time-the greater  p&-t of a day,  perhaps-
 two.  tables of the testimony are in his hands. `At some                    elapses, before the last of, this series of acts-the casting
 distance .from  the cloud, he is joirikd bv tli: you& man                   of the dust into the brook-has been completed. The
 Joshua. who, it  seeins, had also ascended the mountain                     apostates have ample time therefore to prevent by force
, of the Lord. but to who&  it had not heen given to. enter                  the destruction of their idol. Yet"they`do  nothing. Too
' the cloud where the meetin.c  between Moses and the .Lord                  awed are they by Moses' sudden appearance in ttieir  midst
 had taken plack, and who therefore' awaited Moses' re:                      and by the flame  of'his zeal. Before this flame any de-
.turn at some distance frorh the mountain's su&mit. That termined resistance  they may be contemplating, melts as
.durine  Moses'  absence he had abid.ed solitarv in the mdun-                w&x before the fire. Tlie rebels stand back and one by
 ta.in, .is evident from his imorance  of the vile doing  of                 one or in small groups creep away as if ashamed into
 the appstates  in the plain: for. hearing. the noise  of the                the avenues of the encampment while' the defaming df
 neoi>le. he concludes that there is war in the `camn. The                   their idol runs its course. The suddenness of Moses' ap-
 thoupht  that they mi&t ha+ corrupted themselves                            pearance, the boldness of his strokes, his decision, the
                                                                    WOLIM
 not occur to him. How could he be exoected to imatine                       fire of his magnificent zeal, .the voice of their accusing
 thkm ca.Dable  of a sin sp heinous? So.he  says to Moses.                   conscience,  all these concur to cow them into submission;
 "There' is a nbise of war in the camo."  But to Moses,                      How irresistable the'power of the holy wrath of a  righte-
havin&  been informed bv the Lord. and kndwinq there-                        ,ous man, of a man who. knows that God stands back
 fore what. to exnect. it is not the sound of the answerin=                  of him!
 of `Dower.  no+ the sound of answering. of weakness, that                     Wrath then no more than flaming love is in itself a vice.
 he hears. but the sound of resDonsive  sonps, He incrensen                  To maihtain  thjs is equivalent to saying that God is B
 h.is vace. it mav be suDosed. Mindful of what the Lord                      vicious. deity.    Scripture  certainly  nowhere denounces
 has tol,d him, and thus on the alert f&r the visible-tokens                 wrath and its expression as being in itself as a vice, but
                                                    *


                                                              T H E   S.TANDARD   B E A R E R                                                       413

                        comes to us with the ,admonition  that we be angry and            to petition the Lord to turn from His fierce wrath, and
                        sin not. Whether wrath is a vice depends upon  its char- to repent "of this evil against thy people."                 As  these
                       acter,  upon the principle from which it spri&gs .ands upan        tables stand for the covenant and represent its enactment,
           1           the reason of its being kindled. If  the principle be sin,         it follows that Moses through breaking them, gives  ex-
                        wrath is a vice; if the principle be the Spirit, wrath            prdssion to sentiments that they be paraphrased thus, "Of
                       is a virtue. But in this hypocritical age godliness is  SL&P       what use are these tables?. The people have disallowed
                        posed to `consist in a man. concealing his wrath by a. their God? `Thus the covenant has been annulled. Let
                       heavenly smile. This is called self control.           And to      it so be."
                       knife the adversary with a  dagger  of gold wielded by a             But is this action of Moses not in line with what the
                        hand gloved in silk, is cultui-e.  And the highpoint of           Lord has said to him, to wit, "Now therefore let me
                       piety is reached, it is said, when a man has. schooled him-        alone, that my wrath. may wax hot against them that I
                        self to remain cool and unruffled even when  broIig14i  face      rniy consume them . . . " This utterance of God has
                .,     to face with the most hidioiis  exhibitions of sin. And this       already been explained. The reason that.the  Lord spake
                       parades under the name of mapners. But these mtiers                as He did was, so I wrote, to induce Moses to intercede
                       and this culture were  ilot Moses', nor the prophets'. and         for his ill-deserving people. So far from truth it is that
                       the apostles' nor Christ's.                                        as inflamed by a vindictive wrath, the Lord contemplates
                          Yet, what is `said of the good works  of the holiest of         destroying His people, that He utters a speech designed
                       men, applies with `equal force to their w&h : this wrath           to stir up Moses  tq declare that, where He is God, He
                        is always polluted by the issues of the flesh, as .well as all    must and will spare them. Moses'. ?,ctjon  then does not
                        the other emotions or powers,  of `the regenerated  "soul,        conform with the aforesaid utterance  qf the Lord. In-
                       such as' faith, love atid hope, What is so. ready to. spring       stead of calling this action justifiable, it is better to re-
                        from the flesh to' pollute tht wrath' of the best of the          gard it -as the evidence that the' doer of it though  the
                       saints, is excessive violence,' rudeness of language, "carnal      meekest of rneq was devoid of that prefect love and pa-
                       unreasonableness, malice, implacableness,  vindictiv&ess.-         tience that graced the heart of. the Saviour, and that in
                       These are the' ingredients of carnal wrath, which is mur-          Moses therefore we encounter a man who was but the
                        der.  But the holy wrath of the new man is precious in            shadow of the true Mediator of God and man, Christ
                        the sight of the Lprd,  it being.the other side of true love      Jesus.        Who can imagine Christ, while sojourneying
                        of  G o d .   ,.                                                  among us, casting the book of thq law to the ground or
           .              As to, the wrath of Moses, however holy as to its nu-           tearing it into threads, -because vexed by the persistent
                        cleus it may be, it must not  be supposed that it i's  `un-       opposition offered Him by His own, who received him
                       taint&d by the admixture of the flesh. There  was only             not and who in their fierce antipathy to His person and
      i                 one who could, be angry and sin not and that one is not           teaching finally nailed His body to the cr'oss. But what
                ,.Moses  but. Christ.  Do.es  not Moses in the heat of his                we could imagine Christ doing, had He stood  ,in Moses'
                       anger cast'b:eneath  .the mount the tables out of his hands        place, is burning the calf in the fire, grinding it to powder,
                       with such violence that they break?, M&k you, `the tables          and strewing it tipon  the. water, that the apostates might ,
                        of the testimony,  w?itten on both their sides, thus the          drink of it.' Did `He not, when finding His' Father's
                      perfect  express`ion  of the will of God to  .which nothing         house converted into a den of thieves by the traders,
                        can be added and. from which nothing can be 3.&tracted            drive out their cattle, pour out the, money (the .idol  of
                       -the tables, of which it is explicitly stated that they.are .the traders), and overturn without warning the tables?
`.                    `thk very work of God, and that their writing is the writ-            Yet, though -`the tables of the testimony should have
                       ,;ng of God. These tables do not as by accident glide out          been spared, the breakin,0` of then~~has great significance
                        of his arms, but are deliberately b?oken  by hi& This             for the people. It symbolizes, certainly, their breaking
                        action cann& be justified on the ground that it is no-            of the covenant and serves to betoken its interruption on
                        where rebuked. Fact is, that it is rebuked. &d this               account of their monstrous  ab.omination,  and to suggest
                        rebuke may  be discerned in what- the Lord afterward              to them that, if .God should forever turn His back upon
                       said to him, "Hew thee two tables of stone Ii&e unto. the
"                                                                                         them, He would afford them the kind of treatment they
                       fiist, &?&z thou ,&r&e&  . , , " `One cannot help but feel,        deserve.
                       upon reading this, that what the Lord would have Moses               The people are made to devour their idol, that  `they
                        understand is that his breaking of  -the tables was  dn  un-      may have a lively sense  .of its nothingness and also that
                       called for and rash act, the responsibility of which rests         they may know that they shall have to bear their sin and
                       squarely upon him.                                                 suffer for it. So are they prepared for a sentence that'
                          In breaking the tables,. he seems, in the words of Cal-         is soon to be executed.
                      vin, to have foi-gotten himself. The feelings of *which               Having ordered the destruction of the idol, Moses now
                       this action  is the expi-ession,  differ radictilly from those     turns to Aaron to  demarid  of him that he give account
                      feelings that prompted him but  a' few moments previous-            of himself. Moses can justly do so.  .as before his de-
                                                                      )
                                            :


hi4                .-.  -l.-           T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R   L
                                       .-
parture he entrusted the people to his brother's care and          should have set his face as flint against their demand,
placed them under his supervision. The question Moses              even at the cost of his own life. Yet, for want of a,
puts to him is designed to cut to the quick. The ques-             better reply, he prefers  the retort, "Let not the anger
tion is sharp as a two-edged sword, "What did this peo-            of my Lord wax hot: thou knowest the people, that the;,
ple unto thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon          are set on mischief. For they said unto me, Make us
them ?" The meaning of -this is not, cannot be, "The               gods, which shall go before us: for as for this Moses,
people, I know or surmise, have compelled thee, through            the man that brought us up out of the.land of Egypt, we
violence to bring against thy will this great sin `upon            wot not what is become of him. And I said unto them,
them. Tell me Aaron, what was the nature of that vio-              Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off . . So they
lence ?"    With Moses" question, so construed, Aaron's            gave it me: then I cast it into the fire, and there came
reply, "Let not the anger of my Lord wax hot: thou                 out this calf."
knowest this people that they are wickedness," does not              From this reply animates weakness of character. It
very well agree. Besides the question, so explained, would         would have been better, had Aaron held his peace al-
imply, that. Moses deliberately .proceeds from the a%              together than to have uttered this nauseating subterfuge.
sumption that the people have compelled Aaron by some' The fault lies not with him but with the people. They
act of great violence and that what he. wants to know              said, "make us gods . . . " That the people had re-en-
is' what this violence'was. But if this is Moses' assump;          forced their demands for an idol by threats of violence,
tion and concern, we are driven to the view that he seeks          Aaron does not say. In all likelihood, they had not, as
an excuse for Aaron and is thus of a mind to let the               Aaron had immediately shown himself willing to do as
blame rest solely `and squarely upon the people..           The    they requested. It means that he had put forth not the
people by their violence compelled him. Hence, the fault slightest `attempt to dissuade them. Well might he be
lies not with Aaron but with them.                                 charged ~therefore  with bringing "so great a sin upon
  However, it .cannot be that Moses'. question repre-              them." Yet he is far from confessing this. He even
sents an attempt on his part to clear Aaron. The ques-             would have Moses believe that his casting their gold into
tion therefore must be  GraFhrased  thus, "Aaron, thou             the fire was not done with the intention of providing
didst a great injury to this people, through thy' bringing         them with the idol they clamored for but was done with
upon them this great sin. As much as in thee lies, thou' the intention of destroying the very materials for that
broughtest destruction upon them. Thou didst thus be-              idol. But contrary to his design, the fire had produced
have toward this people, as if thou art its most bitter ene-       the, golden calf. So does he attempt to absolve himself
my. Tell me, has this people in the past injured thee in           from all blame. But the Lord holds him guilty and was
some way or committed against thee some great un-                  very angry with him to destroy him. But Moses prayed
pardonable offense  ?    And is this doing of thine the            also for him and his life was spared. Deut. 9  20.
crystallization of a desire, long, cherished, to avenge              The procedure that now follows-the slaying of the
thyself for what they did.to thee??                                idolaters-has perplexed many a Bible student.          Some
  With Moses the question is not whether or no Aaron               cannot believe Moses to have made such a bloody corn-
must be held responsible'for the deflection of the people.         mand. Others call it a dreadful retribution, whi&indeed
The stand that he takes is that the fault lies solely with         it was, and aver that it is folly to apply to it the ideas of
Aaron and that the blame rests squarely  upon  him. The            this Christian century. The implication of an aversion
proof of this is that he charges Aaron with having                 of this kind is, that Moses' command was un-Christian.
.brought a great sin upon the people. What Moses would             We need not be afraid to admit, it is said, that there has
have Aaron explain to him is how he could ever allow               been a development of morality. Thus the explanation
himself to so injure the poor people. This Moses, being            of the stern retribution of Moses, is that lower moral
the man he is, cannot understand. To him, Aaron is a plane upon which he dwelt. But this reasoning will not
conundrum. He had actually dealt with this people as               do at all. The standard of morality of the Old Testa-
if it were `his bitterest foe, whose complete ruin he there-       ment is the. same as that of `the New Testament Scrip
fore had. thought it expedient to work.              . .           tures.  .And this standard is the will of God as revealed in
  It is evident that Moses has learned, from whatever              Hislaw. And this law Moses possessed. So the statement
source, all that had taken place during his absence, that          that there has been a development of .morality must mean
he therefore knows. also that Aaron made them the. idol            one of two : either that God improved,morally  or that MO-
upon their request and that he must have yielded under             ses as compared with Christian people of this day and age '
the impulse of fear, inspired perhaps by their threats.            was not nearly as good, or otherwise said, that upon
That even as armed with this knowledge, he nevertheless            .Christian  people,, of today more of heaven is stamped
accuses Aaron of having brought "so great a sin upon               than upon him. This, I suppose, is the meaning of the
them" is a warning that he will regard any excuse that             contention that there has been a development of morality
Aaron might bring forward as altogether worthless. He              since Moses' day, a development in .this sense then that


                                     T H E   STAN.DAiD  %l?AkEk                                                          445

Christian people of this day understand better than'Moses      tempt or obstinacy; but by shame ; and that they were
what the Lord requires of man in -His law, understand ' all inspired "with so much alarm, that they waited in
that punishing idolaters meets with the disaproval of          astonishment to see what Moses was about, and how he
God, that thus it is His will that the transgressors of the    would proceed." This may b:e the case with some. `We
first table of the law go, tmpunished.  `But is this His       know not. Scripture answers no questions here. Some
will? Why should men be jailed when they steal and be          also opine that two of the three reasons why the sons of
allowed to desecrate the Sabbath and to blaspheme the          Levi only betake themselves to Moses is' that they are
name of God with impunity?                                     called by name and that they in distinction from the
   Let us turn to the slaying of idolaters,. Why was the       others have a peculiar regard for Moses, who belonged
command given ? And the answer: Moses saw that the             to their tribe: But the chief reason for their coming
people were naked; for Aaron, had made them,naked  unto        must be held to be that in their hearts they were on the
their shame among their enemies (Ex. 3.2 25). What             Lord's side. .A peculiar religious energy seems to have
can this mean?      The word found in the original for         characterized this tribe. But the question arises whether
naked may also be translated, to mbride,  to let loose.        the Levites, since they  betake  themselves to Moses, have
This. translation is the acceptable one. The meaning `of       not involved themselves in the crime. Were they alto-
the notice then is that Aaron, through his complying with      gether free from g$lt? Their sin may have consisted
their demand, had lifted the restraints of God's law and       solely  iI+ this that they failed to raise their voice in pro-
thus, .unbridled  them. -Thus loosened, they had run to        test.      Or it may be that they had yielded under the
their idol and given free reign to their lusts in pagan        pressure of fear. However this-may be, -when Moses calls,
song and dance. Suddenly Moses appeared. He, destroys          they, through their response, declare themselves to be on
the golden calf. `This the apostates also permit, but with     the side of the Lord,
hear.ts that burn with resentment. They creep, away into          The faith of the sons of Levi is now put to a severe
the avenues of their encampment perhaps, but instead           test. Turning to them, Moses addresses them as fol-
of retiring to their tents in silence and with bowed heads,    lows; "Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Put every man
congregate in the gates of the camp and voice, how Scrip-      his sword by his side, and go in and out from'gate  to
ture does not state, their extreme displeasure with what       gate througout the camp, and slay every man his brother,
Moses has done. Thus instead of humbling themselves,           and every man his companion, and every man his  neigh-
they so carry on that Moses perceives that the apostates       1,li)ur. Fill your hand to-day for Jehovah; for every one
have no intention of again permitting themselves to be         against his son and against his brother, anti to bring a
bound by the restraints of God's law. Moses then saw           blessing upon you to-day." The thought plainly is this,
the people broken loose, rebellious, unruly, defiant, and      "Provide yourselves to-day with a gift for the Lord,
unrepentent. How amazingly stiffnecked they are! How           consecrate  yoursel\,es  to-day for the service of the Lord
they deserve to be consumed! It is evident to Moses            by not knowing either son or brother in his service, and
that the rebellion has not been stamped out by what he         thus gain for yourself a Messing."
has done. The whole camp is in insurrection.                     And the sons of Levi do according to the word of
  Moses sees that it is again time for sternest action. So,    Moses. Do they make any distinction or do `they slay
taking his stand in the gate of the camp, he says, "Who        anyone they came upon. It has been suggested that they
is on the Lord's side? Let him come unto me."                  know who are the leaders of the rebellion by .whose  in-
  Amazing proclamation ! In voicing it, Moses, the             stigation the others were. led astray, that thus. the ven-
destoyer of the idol, brings himself forward.as  the soldier. geance is executed judicially on the three thousand. For,
of God; so that every one, coming to him, declares there-      "there, fell of the people that day about `three thousand'
by that he is for Jehovah, and against the idol. The           men."                                           I
proclamation therefore .is the statement of the real issue,      A terrible restribution! Indeed. But no more terrible
"Jehovah' and not .the idol is God,`, and. thus places the' than the sin by which it was called forth.  .He who avers'
people under the necessity of openly declaring whom they that it betokens a standard of morality on  the.part  of the
are for, Jehovah or the golden. calf. They .who refuse         retributer lower  than.:that  we encounter in the teachings
to come to Moses, declare through their action that they       of Christ is unmindful of the fact that the retributer was
are for the idol and by this declaration justify the judg-     not Moses but Jehovah Himself and shows further that
me& that is about to overtake them.                            he has never familiarized himself with the teachings of
  And all the sons  -of Levi gathered themeslves together      Christ.
unto him. Do none of the other tribes come to Moses?             The retributer was Jehovah himself. Consider the word
If so, Scripture makes no mention of it. Is the whole          of Moses to the Levites who had come to him in response.
nation then with the exception of the tribe of Levi re-        to his call, "Thus said the Lord God of Israel, Put every
belling against Jehovah and Moses? Or is it true what          man his sword by his side . . . " And did Christ not say,
Calvin says that the others were held back not by con-         "Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I


             `446                                   THE  STANf?l.ARD   B E A R E R

              come not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to                derings, and lightnings, and an earthquake." Consider
              set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter- 1 then that the judgments come  whefi the prayers of all
              in-law against her mother-in-law. And a man's foes shall             saints are cast upon the earth. What else can this meali
              be they of his own household . . . . He that loveth. father          than that all saints pray for these judgmknts ?
              or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he                     What horrible folly then to look at that doing of
            ' that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy               .,Mo$es, of the Loyd,  consisting in the slaying of rebels
              of me." And in the gospel of Luke we come  upon  the                 who, after dancing about a golden calf, openly declared
              same sentimetit  expressed even stronger, "If, any mati              that they loved not God  but this calf, who thus openly
              come to me and hate not his father aild `mother, and wife,           continued, after being called to  repentence,  to flout God
              and children, a brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own              to His face, - I say, what horrible folly to look at the
              life'also he cannot be my disciple."                                 slayirig of such apostates and say, with th: record of
                These relatives must be hated and forgaken when they               Jesus' teaching and John's vision in one's possession.
              interpose themselves between Christ and us or when-they              "Surely, there has been since the day of Moses a develop-'
                                                                                                  .
              pit themselves against Christ and thus bring theniselves             ment  Of  morallty."
              forward iti our .lives.as  children of disobedience, as de- . Now there may have been a development of morality.
              votees of the idol. Then the friendship of our relatives             But, certainly, the morality that  .underwent  this develop-
              is enmity against God. Then to cleave unto them is to                ment cannot be the morality of God and  of'Moses, but
              hate the Lord.                                                       the morality of the prince of darkness.        G. M. 0.
Ii              The children of Israel with the exception of the sons
              of Levi, opdnly chose, through their unwillingness -to  be-                         Annud Field Day
              take themselves to Moses, the idol and thus publicly `de-              Our 12th Annual Field Day will be held July 4 at the
              clared that -they willed not to be of  Go;l's party. Thus  CL1tlerville  Grove   Park
              they justified by their conduct their destruction. And .it             An interesting progam will be provided.
              was Christ Himself Who slew them. But He did so                        Speakers this year will be Rev.  .M. Gritter in English;
              through His servants, Moses and the sons of Levi. Such               Rev. G. M. Ophoff in Holland; Rev. H. Hoeksema in
              was the severity of Christ in that day. Such was the                 .English   ; Rev. De Boer in Holland.
              severity of His servants. Such is still the severity of                Lunches and coffee will be sold at canteen; also ice
              Christ. Such will be His severity when He comes in
              judgment. It is Christ, set by God upon His holy hill of cream. 1011~ pops, soft dr?nks, candies and cigars.
                                                                                     The chapel will be at our convenience in case of rain.
             `Zion, whom the Psalmist addressed, when he said, "Thou
      ,                                                                              There will be games, swings and other amusements for
              shalt break them with a rod of iron ; thou shalt dash
              them in pieces like a potter's vessel.", Who will He. the youngsters.
              break ? And the answer, "The kings and the judges of
              the  earth (and every one) who refuse to be instructed, to                                   MOLY lz&Ewrs
              serve the Lord. with fear, to rejoice with trembling a&d                     Slowly fashioned, link by link,
              to kiss the son. Ps: 2. Therefore he exhorts the kings                          Slowly waxing strong,
              and the judges' (&d all men) to be  i&tructed,  `to serve                    Till the spirit never shrink,
            .: the Lord with fear, to rejoice with trembling and to kiss                      Save from tourch  or wrong.
              tlie -Son, .lest he be angry, and they perish from the way,                  Holy habits are thy wealth,
              when His wrath is kindled'b,ut `a little. Arid in his vision                    Golden pleasant chains ;
             John on Patnios, saw this same Christ overtaking the                          Passing earth's prime blessing-health
              wicked with terrible judgment: What  woes come upon                             Endless, priceless gains.
           the godless, when. the seals are broken, the trumpets                           Holy habits give thee place
            sounded and the vials poured out! And as to the servants                          With the noblest, best,
             of Christ,, in this same vision of.. John, they actually ab-                  All most god-like, of thy race,
              pear as praying for these judgments! And there  ~ came                          An'd with seraphs blest.
              another angel, says John, and stood & .the altar, having a
              golden censerj  and there was given unto him much in-                        Holy habits are thy joy,,
              cerise,  that `he should offer it with the-prayers of all. saints               Wisdom's pleasant ways,  -
              uppri the golden altar which was before the thronk. And                      Yielding good  wi&put  alloy,
            the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers                             Lengthening, tpo, thy days.
              of the saints, ascended  up before God out of the angel's                    Seek them, Christian, night and morn,
              hand. And the angel took the tenser (filled with the pray-                      Seek them'noon  and even;
              ers of all saints) and filled it with fire of the altar, alld                Seek them .till thy soul be born
              cast it upon th,e .earth: and there were voices, and thun-                      Without stains-in Heaven.               T. Davis.


                                       .THE  S T A N D A R D   E E A R E R                                               447

                         .,. Prophesy                            he had called forth. What had happened is that the Lord.
                                                                 in response to. his prayer, had come in judgment and.
                          ( C o n c l u d e d )                  avenged himself on the wicked. For three years it had
   The period from Moses to  Hosea. In the  periocl  of          not rained. This drought the prophet thought would have
 the  juclges prophets occasionally appear.     It. is to be     the effect of bringing the apostate nation in the dust be-
noticed that they speak but once. After  r,elieving  them-       fore the Lbrd. In this conviction he was` strengthened
selves of their burden they returned to silence and are          when  the people seeing his sacrifice devoured by fire from
not heard of again. In this period the Word of  God              heaven fell on their faces and said; "The'Gord,  he is 6od."
was &xrce.      Not the  .prophet but the deliverers  called     Soon;:,after  however, he received notice of the wicked
judges occupy the stage. `It was a time of action rather         queen Jezebel that he would  be killed. This meant that
`than of lofty revelation.                                       she has not been rebuked and curtailed in her movements,
   The first g&at prophet of this period was Samuel. He          that therefore the shout "Jehovah  i,s God" was a shout
originated  .the prophetic schools of the old Testament.         of mere astonishment instead of the outcry of a people
However, only a small part of Samuel's utterances were           that had truly repented. The prophet perceived that his
predictive, had to do with particular events  a&l revolved       method, that  th? judgments he had called forth, had `not
about particular persons.      Such a predictive prophecy        borne the cotitemplated  results. He flees .to Mt. Horeh,.
was the one about Eli's house. This was followed by              Here he is b:idden  to stand on the MO&t before the Lord.
others of a like character from time to time. .Prophe-           A great and strong wind rent the mount,  and broke it-c
ties that turned on particular points in connection with         pieces the rocks. After the wind  came an earthquake,
the demand of the people for a king--the  elevation of           and after the  earthquake  a fire. In none of these was
Saul to the throne, his  apostacy,  the selection of David       the Lord. After the fire came a still small voice. It
and the rending of the kingdom.                                  was the voice of God that revealed to the prophet the
  Yet  oiily a small part of Samuel's utterances were pre-       secrets of the Aimighfy.
dictive iri the narrow &e&e.  His prophetic labors had to do       What is the. lesson the prophet must learn? It is that
with the p&sent. This is the bne point of codvergence  be-,     Jehovah  cloes not come in the operations the p&phet  had
ttieen  his labor and that of Moses.' In .distinction  from     prayed for to regenerate, to convert, to clear&e  from sin
Mos&,  who was a builder, Samuel' was a revivalist and and thus to befriend and as a friend to comfort and
spent his energies in directing the life of the nation thru     cheer and calm man, but to wreak vengean!ce,  to execute
proper theocratic channels  ,and in supervising the execu-      jud,oment,  to destroy.. The prophet had prayed not for
tion of imposed duties. To search and reveal the hidd:n         a revelation of divine mercy but for a display of divine
mysteries was not his task but rather to champion interest      wrath. The results' which Elijah had contemplated are
for `the principles circulating through the revelations al-     not produced by fire and earthquake. The.god  of fire and
ready given. This activity  S$muel  organized and per-           storm comes to destroy, not to show mercy. It is the
petuated through regular institutions called schools of         God of the  &ill small voice that comes to commune. God
prophets. The age in which Samuel lived called `for a'          speaks to the hearts of his friends, not in thunderous
piopbetic  activity pf this,. kind. Samuel then was a watch-    tones that frighten, but in' a still small voice that com-
man on the walls of Jerusalem. His business was  .to i forts arid cheers and to this small voice the hearts of
supervise the behavior of his people with a view to en-         God's people are atuned.
couraging piety and detecting and reproving the ten-               It is worthy of n'ote that it was `Moses and Elijah who
dencies of apostatiy.                                           appeared on the Mount of transfiguration. Moses ap-
 The greatest prophet of this  time was Elijah. He              beared'as  the lawgiver, the builder of the Old Testament
was pre-eminently a man not of profound thought  an'cl `house of God-the typical theocracy. Thd house which
lofty speech but of heroic  action. His words were` few,        Moses had built. lay in ruins because Israel, not b$ng the
but they were surcharged with power spoken ai from              true people of God, had broken the.covenant,  corrupted its
the secret place of thunder and seemed more like decrees        way before the Lord- and thus had made itself,, ripe for
coming direct from the presence of the Eternal than the         judgment. Of this Christ was reminded by thk appear-
uttefances of one of like passions as we.                       ance of Moses and Elijah. He therefore descended the
  Alone he came forth as a champion of righteousness            mount into hell and the grave. As the given Christ through
in tiine of unprecedented corruption in higher places.          the still small voice reverbrating through the hearts of his
He appears not as a pleader for but as an avenger of            elect builds a house that will stand forever.
righteousness, and as an executor of divine judgment.
Upon his prayer divine wrath smote the earth and tor-           The Dnvidic  Cycle of P.roph.ecies  :
mented those corrupting it.       .                               There is no essential difference between this type of
  It seems however, as though this prophet understood           prophecy and that of which Samuel and Elijah were the
not the purpose and character of the divine operations          outstanding representatives.  It aimed to impress a pious


I'  :                  &                       __             THG           S~~N\jjb~kb                   BEARER                               .
                       spirit on the nation, to instill and infuse life into the, the malice of the seprent brood had gained the  ascenden-
                       Mosaic institutions, to inspire the devotee .of the Jehovah     Cy, that the race corrupting the house of God had gained
                       religion to serve him in spirit and in truth. It  incorpb-      the mastery, as they saw the clouds of diirine judgment
                      rated in lofty and infallibly inspired speech, the pious         gather. Left to themselires they would have concluded
                      and `divinely in-wrobght  response of the spiritually quick-     that all there was left for the Lord to do was to destroy
                      ened soul to the glories of Jehovah as exhibited in his          his inheritance from the face of the earth. Left to theti-
                      salutary works.                                                  selves thk .saints of this period could never have known
                         `From the very nature of things it follows that the one       the following: The Lord was about  to cor&ruct a new
         :            point upon which this lofty prophecy revolved  `wti the          series of. types, priphetic  of the new economy to appear
                      glorious salvation of Jehovah. Of this the agent of this         with Christ and to be seen in all its glory on the new
                      type of prophecy sang; in it he gloried. The. past `and          earth. Consequently the Israelitish nation as to its  fo&n
                      prospective redemption of Zion with judgment' and  right-        of manifestation had to be made over. The thegcratic
                      eousness was the great theme. In this type of prophecy           state must disappear, broken down and destroyed. This
                      the saint is not spoken to but is the speaker, and his song would  happen  when the Lord came in judgment. First,
                      breathing forth the spiritual essense of th,e solemnities of     however, the nation must ripen for judgment. Israel  &I1
              -       Zion  as in-wrought with the feelings of a.profound  per-        go info exile and the old order  of things will disappear.
                      spnal experience, `issued direct from -the secret place  of:       The Lord still had his remnarit  which in, Babylon will
                      the heart whose strings were set to vibrating by the Spirit      lament after God. This remnant will retuin and rebuild
                   o f   G o d .                                                       the temple. Compared with the temple of Solomon this
                         In .brief the first point of divergence -between the Eli-     new structure will be a despicable spectacle so that at the
                      jah and Davidic prophetic cycle is that in the  iormer the       sights of it, those with the beauty of ,the former temple `.
                      church is spoken to, in the latter the church is the speaker.    fresh in their memory will weep. They will weep be-
                      The second point of difference is that only in the one was       cause they have no understanding of the progressive char-
                      in-wrought the experiences of the pophetic;  viz., the .acter of revelation. They understood not that the old
                      Davidic cycle. Further the Davidic, prophet spoke in             economy must give way for better things. Further, in
                      lofty poetic strains, but not so the Elijah prophets. Final-     the holiest of all will be no  ark ; Israel will lose its  na-
                      ly the  Davidit prophecies  b:ore~ a  judicial character and     tional independence, the remnant will return without a
                      reached the church through the channel. of constituted king to be ruled by vicegerents of foreign powers. Only
                      government and was enforced by the sword. of the Fag-is-         the priest will return as an' instructor of the law. In
                      trate.        The poet David, e.q., was  in  d&tin&on  from brief the  Lord.tvill  deface the house of Moses, mar the
                      Elijah a theorcratic king; who not only sang of the glories ,, entire typical-symbolical apparatus of the Old Testament
                      of his God but purged out evil from his kingdom by the           dispensation,, very nearly beyond' yecognition. This  must
                      sword.                                                           be because the Lord must break down  the. type and bring
                         The Fiml Period  of Prophecy,  &z., that period covered       to the fore the realities typified. Herice the spiritual seed
                      by the major and  minor pophets.                                 must be separated from its carnal  shell, it must be brought
                         These sixteen (16) prophets are the futuristic prophets into relief and `to behave in such a way that the conclu-
                      of Scripture, and .form a distinct+@oup.                         sion that the .state church was a creation  which the Lord
                         Even long before this period the house built by Moses, was about  to do away with would follow.
                      the typical Old. Testament theocracy lay in ruins,,. the           As was  s$d the remnant had no king, set out on no
                      altars of God cast down, and the flame of holy zeal and          military expeditions, engaged in no extirpation of the
                      devotion had nearly expired. It had become evident to            wicked   bY'  t?  sword. This sword the Lord will take
                      tlie pious.  in Israel that the tide' of corruption could not    away from  his people for good. There is however a mar-
                      be stemmed by, such methods as inaugurated by such `velous  display of purely spiritual power. The remnant
                      prophets of the type of Samuel and Elijah,. and by the returned to Canaan withoht an army to protect it, they
                      more judicial line of operations. As time wore on, the           trust in Jehovah. When the foreign powers agree
                    `. pious perceived that the old ,economy  was `broken down         to send with the remnant an  armi  for  protec-
                      beyond repair and  ,.was therefore destined to disappear.        tier+ they are, told that they need no such protection for
                      As may be imagined a great gloom settled down  tipon             their  6elp standeth ;n the name of the Lord. There  was
                      the `people of God. The thought took root in their ,soul         also a strict adherence to the law of Jehovah, .an unwil-
                      that the old foundations would never again be brought            liness to amalgamate with the natives of Canaan-they
                      back. Left to themselves they could  not escape the con-         even refused to avail themselvks  of the proferred help.
                      elusion that evil had triumphed over good, that the Lord           The Lord's methods also differ from that of the  pre-
                      had been unabde to keep and set in order his own house,          ceding period. The remnant is delivered wit$out blood-.
                      maintain the building he had erected,. In other words,           shed, without  the immediate destruction of' the nations
                      the saints left to themselves might have concluded that          which despoiled the inheritance of Go& C;od'py his SpiTi
                                                                                                          _ I.._ _. . ._, . . _ _._ .-.J _.


                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   '  kl?ARER                                                 449

simply moved the foreign powers to let his people return,         face of the earth. That' Zion was to be redeemed with
peacably. They even help them by furnishing provisions.           judgment meant first of all, that the nations who had
   These things the Lord had to bring to  pass. However'          despoiled God's people were to be destroyed. God's own
it is of great importance to see that the spiritual essence       righteousness demanded it. Hence these futuristic proph-
 (the people of God). which the Lord was about to bring           ets also predicted. the' destruction of the nations with the
to the fore, together with all its Spiritual operations such .exception'  of the .elect remnant hidden in the bosom of
as the return from Babylon under peaceful conditions, its `each people. Many of their prophetic utterances were
great faith, the rebuilding of the temple, etc.; were in turn     woes pronounced  up& the nations which had tormented
meant to be the types of operations of God lying in the           Israd. It should be borne in mind that the destruction
distant, future, i.e.,. in .a time future to the happenings of    of these nations was in turn  prophetic'&  the destruction,
                                                                  of the' reprobated world at large, that corrupts the earth
..the aforesaid events.                                 ,         and persecutes the church. Of this larger exhibition of
   What were these .operations  of God typified by this           wrath from heaven, these  pr.hets  also spoke.
new cycle of types to be : (1) The gathering of the elect                                                           G. M. O.,
 from the four corners o$ the earth in the gospel period,
 (2) The expansion of the Old Testament church into
 the church universal. This latter divine operation is
known in Scripture as the rebuilding of the house of
David, or the erection by Christ of the new house over
`which he was to be set.                                                            FALSE  PROPHE%`S
   Of these various divine operations the saints of  the
period under consideration could have no  ,knowledge of                  Think not there is no condemnation !
themselves. Perceiving what was happening they would                        False prophets around  you. remain,
without light from heaven have become the victims of                    With- heresies for contemplation,
despair. This the Lord could not allow. Hence he raises                     Denying the Lamb. that was slain.
up prophets, let us call them futuristic prophets-to tell
his people what he was about to do and to shed the nec-                   And many shall follow  .their pathway,
essary light on his new line of operations, and by this in-                 By reason of evil they speak ;
struction to comfort his people and thus to prevent them                ' They covet the soul that's immortal,
from drawing wrong conclusions.                    _                        Tho' clad as'the lowly and meek.
   From the very nature of things the utterances of the
prophets appearing in this period have largely to do with
the future. It may easily  b,e surmised in the light of what             God's judgments are righteous and perfect  ;
was said upon what points their prophecies turned, of
what they would be ordered to speak. -They foretold the                     He spared not the angels  that fell,
exile and the return of the remnant. As the return of                    But cast them away from His presence,
the remnant out of exile together .with  the attending                      In regions of darkness to.dwell;
events were again in turn types of a future larger good'                 He' spared not the world that rejected  r
the prophets in question. spoke these better things. lying
in the distant future.                                                      His message thro' Noah, of old;
 They spoke of the m-gathering of the nations, of the                    While Sodom and wicked Gomorrah
rebuilding of the house of David. They predicted the                        Condemned to destruction, behold !
coming of. Christ, his  suffeiings. They foretold that he
was to be set up an ensign of the nations. They depicted
the future glory of Christ's kingdom.         '                          The Lord knoweth how to deliver _
   This is not all: The 27th verse of Isaiah reads : "Zion                 .The godly from regions of harm-
shall  b:e redeemed with judgment and her converts -with
righteousness". The -meaning of this verse is clear.. The                1Dividing temptations asunder.
Israel of the Old Testament  .had been persecuted, out-                     And giving them righteous alarm.
raged by the surrounding nations. The Lord had used                      Beware of the evils around you!
them to scourge his people. Though so used, these na-                       Pass over and out of their way;
tions were held responsible for the treatment they had
afforded God's heritage. Fired on by hatred for God                      Be deaf to their wily entreaty-
they had endeavored to' destroy his heritage from the                      Who seek but to lead you astray.


                                                                                                                        /
  4.56                                                ~THE  S T A - N D A R D   BEARER

                                         ..                                              The Law is the walk of love. It means the expression
      :  '    The Flesh and. the' Spilrit                                           of God's own life of love and' friendship. It tells me
     `The expression "`in the flesh" need not `necessarily                          from God's own mouth how I should walk. It  whispers
  mean  the,  silzful flesh. Because the flesh is often referred                    in my soul: Reach out unto Me in love and seek Me the
  to in God's Word where emphasis falls on our mere earth-                          life-long day! Love your God and hate the -devil; love
  ly existence. So .Paul                                                            your neighbor and promote his welfare; Walk in love
                             co~zld   speak even of a  knowledge
  of Christ after the flesh. For Christ partook of our flesh                        and goodness. Your sphere of life be, from the heart-
,an:d dwelled in the flesh.         '                                               and tmind, .the loving kindness of' God.
    The flesh means  theref,ore,  first of all our merely                                And natural man is' not subject to it. He refuses to
 ' earthly existence. As we are created in Adam.                                    attend to this injunction o.f the Almighty. When placed
    But there is. another use of the .phrase "in the flesh"- before the precepts he rebels and says: Who art Thou
  or -"after  the flesh". .And the ,other  use refers to some;                      to rule over me! And they smite Him in the face ! How
  thing horrible. It is the existence of man on earth as he                         horrible.
  wallows in all the filth of sin. It is the.state  and condition                        .Hence to be carnally, that is, fleshly minded is death.
; of his life where, he produces : Adultery,' fornication,                          And they cannot please God. And that is hell. Hell now.
                                                                          LW
  cleanness, lasciviousness `,idolatry,  witchcraft, hatred,vari-                   in principle, because you cannot live under the curse of
  an&,  emulations,' wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,  en-                       God and of His law and at the same time be happy. The
  vyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such. like.                         sinner experiences the displeasure  o'f God now. And
  One versed in the Bible has recognized this list as being                         principally that is hell. And the future is painted in the
  copied literally from Holy. Scripture. And the caption, strange colors of. fire and brimstone. The  sulphurous
  found above this list .is : "Now the works of..the flesh are                      hues in the place where demons gather.
  manifest."                                                                             How different when we become spiritually minded;
    The `flesh in .that sense is the full and complete nature                       when we walk after the Spirit, when we are in the Spirit.
  of man, that is, body and  soul, as  he is under the con-                              It  xmeans that the Holy Spirit of God, as He is given
  stant dominion of, the devil. .It".is  called the walk after                      to .Christ, and as He dwells in the Church, becomes our
  the. flesh or to mind the things of the flesh: It is also                         sphere of life. That  ,Spirit regenerates and converts,
 translated : "to be carnally minded". See Rom. 8 :1-S.                      . .    draws and purifies, testifies and grieves hallows and
    Such is' the state and condition of all natural men. It                         glorifies.          '          .
  is possible that the above list of the works of the flesh                              It is thru this Spirit that we become gladly subject
  does not come to open manifestation in some. But  ac-                             to the law of God. We may walk in love and we gladly
  cording to the Word of God there are but two kinds of                             do it. And when thru the remnants of the sinful flesh we
  people :  ,the carnally minded and the spiritually minded.                        fall into sin then love shows rne the way to humbleness
  50 if some unregenerated people do not show the works                             of'mind  and confession of them in contriteness of heart.
 .of the flesh so openly, we know that  .a11 these works are                         But our life-long day we may walk in love. .We love
 nevertheless in-his heart and mind. Moreover, we know                              our God and His Christ for they have loved us first.' We
. that even if some of `these gross sins do not come to                             search for Him and .pray to Him, we walk with Him
 "manifestation in the so-called noble .and sweet worldlinos
                                                                          "  '      and talk. with Him.
 other sins equally -grievous they do rnanifest. All are  m                              That is the Life and Peace of the Christian. It is the.
  the sinful fresh, all are after the flesh and all mind the                        Life-sphere of God Triune. It is the Life of the Covenant.
  flesh. That is. the testimony of Him whose Name. is                                And the product, the works of the Spirit in the Church,
 Truth.                                                                             in our heart and mind are.enumerated  in Scripture : Love,
    Now all these `dwellers in the flesh are in a `terrible                         joy, peace' longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
  state in that the flesh is,  cal1e.d  "enmity: against God"., meekness, temperance.
  That is `terrible beyond description. Notice, we are not                            ,It may be. a small principle, I know ; I am ashamed
 only by nature enemies of God, but our very `nature,`.our                          that it is So small. Buta our prayer is therefore, Knowing
 very life itself is ennmity  o&h~st God. It reveals our total                      that all these lovely fruits are fruits of the Holy Spirit :
 depravity and utter inability to do or to be good.                                 Oh God ! take not Thy Holy Spirit from. us !
    Very naturally therefore it follows that this awful                                  Because it is life to see Thy. Face! In the walk of the
 flesh is not subject to the law of God and that it is wholly                       Christian, in the, sphere of the life that is according to
 impotent thereto.                                              ,    \              the law of God there. is joy unspeakable.'
    Go to now,                                                                           It is the thrill of God's Covenant life to love God and
                     you .who see good' in natural man! How
 on earth is it possible where God states. that he is not                           m       a      n          .              >
 subject to-His law and impotent thereto?  -,                                            And..God  shows His good pleasure, His beaming coun-
    Reflect: Not subject to the law of God 1 What is its. tenance in.our`,Lord  shall raise your and my song to the
 import ?                                      I .                                  praises of His Name.                              G .   V .

                3                                          :


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                                                                                      the ice and snow to melt, when woods and fields are
                                                                                      garded  in new garments of green, when the birds rejoice
                                                                                      and sing and mate and build their nests. He covers the
                L e t   T h y   W o r k   A p p e a r                                 .heavens with clouds and satisfies, the thirsty land with
                                                                                      rain; He sends the swift' lightning on its flashing -path
   :                       Lit Thy work  appear unto Thy  servants,  q&               and causes the thunder to roll through the heavens . i . .
                        Thy glory  z&o  their children. And let the  ,&eat!  fy         How  tiarvellous are Thy  w&k!,  o Lord!  ,With wis-
                        of  the  Lord our God  be  `upon  us; and  establzsh
                         Thou  fhe work  of  our  hands  @on   21s;. yea,  the        dom' Thou hast made them all!
                        work  of  ow hands establish  Thou it.                          The whole earth is full of His glory!
                                                         Ps. 9036,  17.                 Everywhere, in the heavens and on the earth, in the
  Song in the night!                                                                  east and in the west,' in the north and in the- south, His
  And, apparently, also of the night!                                                 work appears !
  Yet, sung by. the children -of the day, with, at least,.                              Why? then, this prayer tha! His work niay become.
the imperishable hope of `dawn, of the. Dawn,. in their manifest to His servants?
breasts, a hope that has respect to and evermore &rigs                                  Or is it not also His work that appears in all' the af-
to the Promise . .' . .                                                               fairs of men? Does not He govern the mind and heart,
 Such is this mournful song of the desert.                                            the work and the way of  every'  rational creature? Is it         -
  Groan of hope!                                                                      not the Lord that reigns o&r t&e just and over the un-
                                                                                      just, so that no creature  mo& contrary to His decree?
  Thy work!                                                                           And does He not send the evil as well as the good, the -
 - Let it appear unto Thy servants!                                                   bitter as tie11 as the sweet, sorrow as, well as joy,' poverty
  Yet, is not all that appears the work of the Most High.?                            as well.& riches, adversity as well as prosperit);,  Sicgess
Did He not call. ,the things that were not ,as if they were,                          as weI1 as health, war as well as peace ;`the song of `joy
`and were not. the things that are se& `divinely and mys-                             but also .the cry of anguish, life -btit also death? . . . .
teriouslf  formed where things did not appear? And does                                 Where,' then, could you turn without beholding the
hot He sustain and m&e and control and govern all                                     work of the. Lord?.
things that are in the heavens and that are in. the earth?                              And yet, there is, in the midst of all these zero&s, mani-
-. Why, then, this prayer? . . . .                                                    fold in their riches of power and tiisddni divine, one
 `It .is He, Whose work .appears  when every morning work, for the appearing of which the servants of Jehovah
the sun rises in the east, driving away, the night and tong and sigh and pray, which ,they long to see and the
flooding the earth-with its golden light; it is He that sends                         hope whose realization fills the hearts with gladness
her on her way rejoicing through the heavens, that bids                               in the present night of sin and .death. It is the work
To hasten to. her setting, causitig the shadows. td grbw                              which He performs throughout the ages, the work to
longer and, presently, the night to spread its dark wings which all His works in heaven and on earth are subseti-
over a toil-weary world ; it is He that  .studs the firma- vient? the perfecting of which they must serve ; it is the
ment with myriads of twinkling beauties, scattering them work for His servants, the work of salvation, the  realiza-
lavishly and with apparent carelessness as if td display                              tiofi of His eternal Kingdom  2nd.  l&-fected covenant in
`His inexhaustible riches, yet -determining with minutest                             Christ Jesus, our Lord. Of this work of Jehovah His
exactitude for each one of them its time and place and                                servants know, not through the things that  do.  appear
knowjng and consta&ly calling them all by name. He it                                 and, are seen,' but through the Promise of the  Gospel,
is, Whose work `appears, when soft spring zephyrs. cause                              delivered unto His servants from the very beginning of
                                                                                                                                          -


4%  .._  _                  '      : T       -        H        E           S-TAN.DARD-.BEARER   -  .,  ::  :.;  -.  .:-...-,
                                                                                                                                 s
the world, and ever since repeated b;r' the Word  df God       cerned,  ,in the' way of a struggle with potiers  &d,ene.mies
through dream and vision,  throuih `type -and shadow,          that .threaten  to frustrate' His purpose and!: to,,dest;oy
thl'ough  the words of the. prophets in whom -was `the         His work ; biut even through the &eans  2if. these' `powers
Spirit of Christ. It  is the work that was centrally real-     of darkness and through the agency  of His enemies.
ized in the fulness .of time, when the' Word became flesh      Neither does His  w&k consist in this that He repairs
and God tabernacled with Man, when He descended into           what the enemy niarre`d, for never there .was an enemy.
the lower parts of the earth and through Him God was that interfered .with  His marvellous  `work. - Constantly,
reconciling the world  unto Himself, when He raised Him        uninterruptedly, irresistibly, He advances and perfects
from the dead and gave Him glory and power, exalting           His work, from the first dawn of light' upon a. chaotic,
Him at His right hand, and when He gave -Him power             world until  the eternal brightness of the coming day . . .
to shed forth of His Spirit upon all flesh, sending us the           Jehovah works His  w&k throughout the  ages of  his-
Comforter that &ill abide with us forever! . . . .             torjr,  pressing every creature &l' every power intb His
  It is for the appearance of that work that the servants      service for the perfecting of it.
pray in the song of Moses, the man of God!                           Through men and angels, tl&ou&h,'  the righte&s  $&
  It is for the appearance of that work that the Church through the wicked, &rough: indi;idtials.  and thr&g$
of God in the world longs and prays throughout the ages:       the nations of the world; in the palace of the mighty:
For, even in the new dispensation that work 1 has not          rulers of this iydrld tind;  in the- hdvel 6f the for$ofteti'.
fully appeared. It appeared for a moment, in the  full&s       poor, through prosperity and  throtigb;  adversity, through
of time,. in .the incarnation, ihe cross; the resurrection,    peace and through war, through righteousness and
only to disappear again in the heavens. And'it must yet through unrighteousness, through earthquakes  atid pesti-
appear, when He shall  come again and shali be `mani-          lences, the Most High advances to complete -and perfect
fested in all the power and glory the Father gave Him His work.
and His.                                                             And all. creatures, rational or `brute, willingly or in
  That  ,is  the  .z~ork,, the one, mighty, inarvellous work spite of. themselves, are His servants.
of Jehovah !                                                         But this work of Jehovah does not always appear
  And all His separate works in time concentrate around' tmto  His servants!
that one work and must be conducive to its realization!             And it does not perfectly appear until all is. finished,
  When that work appears the beauty of the Lord God            in. the Day of the Lord!
is upon us, and His glory is upon the generations of our             The footprints  06 Jehovah, as He advances, through
children. For, His glory is .the radiation of His divine the ages of history, cannot always be traced, and fi-e--
majesty. He is infinitely great in power and wisdom;           quently are lost` out of sight. Often He is a God that
He is the mighty Sovereign that has dominion over all          hideth Himself. And times there are when it would
and performeth all His good pleasure in order to finish        seem as if Jehovah abandoned the work of His hand,
His work. And the beauty of Jehovah is the' loveliness         had, forgotten His Promise unto His servants and re-
of His perfect goodness, revealed in  .His grace unto. linquished His purpose ; times when the plowers of dark-
His servants. .                                                ness seem to triumph and the cause of God's covenant
  And when  th.e  work of God appears unto His servants,       suffers defeat; when the Church well-nigh perishes and
He reveals to them His glory and He makes them re-             the forces' of' iniquity swallow her up; times, when the
flections of His beauty.                                       beauty of Jehovah does not appear upon His. servants,.
  Then they may rejoice in His power and dominion,             and when the glory of the Lord is lifted upon from the
whereby He causes all things to work together for the          generations of their children , . . .
perfecting of His' covenant  ,and Kingdom eternal;                   Times to groan in hope that is  not seen at all!
  Then they taste that Jehovah is good and that the                  0 Lord, let Thy work appear!
beauty of His lovingkindness is upon them!                           Thus it was with the Church, 2n the desert as it sang
  Then His lovingkindness is, more to them than life!          this mournful song of hope in. the night !
  0 Lord, let Thy work appear!                                       0, indeed, there was the Promise! Had not Jehovah
                                                               established His covenant with Abraham, Isaac and
 Let it  apPecW!                                               Jacob, for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto
  Always that work is `there, whether it appears or not.       them apd to their children in their generations forever?
  Uninterruptedly it continues, and nothing ever hap- Had not His work appeared unto their fathers and had
pens in heaven or in earth or' in the darkness cif the pit,    He not saved them out of all their troubles. And had He
that thwarts or interferes with that work of the Lord.         not promised them an everlasting p'ossession  in the land
For, the Worker of that work is Jehovah!                       flowing with milk and honey? Had they themselves. not
  It does`not advance by leaps and bounds, but steadily,       seen His work, when He delivered them upon their cry
constantly. It is  not wrought, as far as Jehovah is  con-          from the house of bondage and led them out with a


                     D                        T  ,H..E S  T A  N.,D A R  De B E A R E R               -  '             '                           459
                               /

m&&y  hand?. 0, how his glory had been ilpon them,                         They groan in hope !                                      ..<`
and how the b?auty of the J&d had been reflected in                         Thus' it. was on. darkest Golgotha,  when- floods of
them! Had, they not heard His voice at the Mount and .d'Ivine wrath swallowed up  the Servant of Jehovah and
had  -tie. not confirmed His covenant with them at Sinai? `the gldry and beauty of Jehovah was hid .behind  the dark-
Bad, they  riot seen His glory in thd Rock th,a.t  yielded               ness of  the accursed tree. There was resurrection-hope
water to quench their thirst and that "followed, them" ;                 even in that awfullest of all outcries ever heard in this'
and had they  not.been  nourished with the bread that fell               world,: "My God, my  Gsd, why hast thou forsaken
doyn from heaven ?. . . . .                                              me?`! . . . . .
' Had He not guide;  them by the cloudy pillar by day                      And thus it is always!
and by fire through the night?                                              Hence, the prayer of Jehovah's servants, their  song
 0; the beauty of the Lord. their God had been  upon                     in the night, +heir groan of hop!'
them !                                                                    .'  Return,  0 Lord, how long? Let it repent thee con-
      His glory upon them and their children had been  wit-              cerning  thy servants !. O-satisfy tis early with %y mercy;
tiessed  by all the nations!                                             that we may rejoice, and be glad all our. days. ---%!6&e
      Thk C@u-ch  had tasted that the Lord is good!                      us glad according to the days wherein thou  hasf afflicted
      A    n    d         n         o    w    ?    .    .    .    .      us and the years wherein  we have se& evil . . . . `. '
      They `perished in the desert  I `Destruction and wrath Let  thy  w,ork   appear!
&r&d  them away as with a. flood ! This is what they                       `Let it be manifest unto thy servants. Give u;. g;ace
saw of the work of Jehovah upon them; His skrvants: aways to <behold thy work, on us.and on our children, in
"Thou tui-n&t  man to destruction and iaye&,  Return, ye                 $1. our .@&ent  way, d@-k aid dreary  `though it may be.
children of men: For a thousand years are in thy sight                   For, therein is our soul sati$ied.  Therein do tie. rejoice,
but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the whatever betides. If only we  may,behoid  the beauty of
night. Thou tarriest them away as with & `flood;.  they the Lord upon  us,  all is well !
are as a sleep;. in  the morning'they are like grass which  -               And let it appear in its final reaiizationl                                 _
groweth up. In +e morning it flourisheth and groweth                        Let it be done, for us and  for our .children, from age;
up; in the evening it is cut down and. withereth. For
we are consumed by thine anger and by thy wrath are                      to age,' whatever the way  9:. its realization may .be.
we troubled. Thou hast set our iniquities before thee,                      Until it shall be .perfected.
our secret sins in the light. of thy ,countenaixe.  For all                , And  appear  in eternal glory!      -.
our days are passed  a'way in thy wrath ; we spend our                                                                                       -:
years as -a tale that is told. The days of our years. are                  Then may also our work be established!  :  ,
threescore and ten.; and if by reason of strength they are                  And then there is reason for the prayer : and  establish
fourscore years, .yet is their strength labor and sorrow, `thou the work of our hands  `upon  us ; ye&, the work of
for it, is soon cut  off  and we fly away. Who knoweth our hands establish thou it!
the power of thine anger? even  according to thy fear,                      For, when the. beauty of the .Lord  :is upon us and His
so is thy wrath!" . . . .                                                glory is upon our children, when His work anears,  His
      Where, then; was the work of God? . . . . .                        work throughout the ages, the one workof the rbaliza-
 :                                                                       tion of His eternal covenant;' and when,.  in that work
      It was  compl`etely  covered by the thick clouds  of .&Gil which He perfects,' we may call ourselves His servants '
that had lowered upon Jehdirah's  servants!                              by His grace, the work of our hands is the work ~7%. the
 . lii[ow could the eternal glory .and beauv of the Lord                 &ov~,  the work  which  He works through us, so that  -
appear iti these few days of threescore arid ten dr four-                we may be His colaborers,  His willing servants and our
score years, that  ,were.  spent in God's wrath? How could work may be in the service of the cause of His `Son! . ; .
the work of Jehovah become manifest through  all this                       Outside  of that' work  nothing shall be established!  .:  .
                                                                                                                            . . .
consuming wrath and hot anger?. . . . .                                     And -there is neither ,rpoin nor regson  for the pyayer
i The work o$ `God w&s' hid,' and,dftek  is hid from. His that -the` work of our hands may be established, when it
skivan& `ii the tibrld i                                               _ is merely work of 0%~ sinful  handsj  donceived and .ac-
 ' And ye;; the& is the. promise!                                        complished in enmity against God. The wdrld pas$eth
      And: in the darkness of the awful night, when forces               away and the lust thereof. And all that' is not 0-f the
                                                                         Father. but of the  world,  all the lust of the flesh --and
of iniquity seem to swallow up the people of God, `when
God's own wrath appears to consume the Church of His                     pride. of `life'and lust of the e)es; shall perish !                      *
love, when it seems that deliverance is impossible, that                    But they that do the will of God abide, forever !
God hath forgotten to be kind, His. servants cling to                       And their work shall  bi established !
that promise . . . ,.                                                       Forever and ever! :                                              H.H.


                                 Is .T,hefe. Christian Phildsophy?                            aesthetics as special &iences. To all these special inquiries
                       ,                                                                      he  p:efixed  the investigation of the ultimate nature of
                                         I f   So,  W h a t   I s   I t ?                     existence. This investigation Aristotle called First PhiZos-
                                                                                              a&y. In time, this investigation  acquired- the name of
                       : The task of answering the  .above  questions may be                  met&!hysics.
I                           performed by developing the following scheme.-:                   Philosophy, however, was net restricted by Aristotle
                  I
            :                  1. Definition of the term  Philosophy.  Here the ques-         to the disciplines just enumerated. He included under the
                                   tion must be answered, What is pliilosophy in the          title mathematics arid all the physical inquiries.
      .,                           accepted sense:  ?                                            c. Third stage. It gradually came about that the name
      .1
     ._  .e                    2. True  philosophy defined.
                       .  :                                                                   ~&losoplzy   ceased to be applied to, inquiries concerned
1,  j                                  a. Its relation to emperical science.                  with the particulars as such. The details .of physics, for
                                     b. Its basic principle.                                  example, were abanddned to the scientific specialist,
                               T& term philosophy has no fixed `signification. It is a        known today as the emperical scientist; and philosophy
                  j         term whose meaning and scope have varied considerab,ly            restricted its&X in this department to the question of *the
                  I
     :I   :
-_-  :                      according  to the usage of diRerefit authors and different        relation of the physical universe to the ultimate ground
                            ages ; and it would,hardly  be possible to so define and di-
      .i                                                                                      of things.
                            vide the subject in such a way as to command the adhesion           By gradual shifting out of the special sciences, philo;-
                            of all the philosophic schools. Let us state generally            ophy  thus came to embrace primarily the inquiries grouped
                            what thinkers. iri general have considered the essential          as  metaphisics or  First Philosophy.  These  would em-
                            nature  ,of  philosophyi. as distinguished  fron? special         brace psychology, cosmology, and theology.
                            science, to be, and to indicate the main division into which        Accordingly we may say that, philosophy has been un-
                       its treatment has fallen.                                              derstood during the &reate.r  part  o$ its -history, to  ,be a
                               Tke historical ti& of the term. Let us' `first briefly sur-    general term covering `the- various disciplines just enum-,
                            vey the steps by which  philosobhy  differentiated itself         erated.  It has frequently tended to be used as especially
                            in the history of Greek thought from the idea of knowl- convertable  with the narrower term, Metaphysics.  Meta-
                            edge and culture in general.                                      physics, it will be recalled, restricts itself to  the! question
                               a. A specific sense of the. word first meets one in            of `the relation -of the physical universe to the ultimate
                            Pi&, who defined' the philosopher as oile who appre- ground. of things. It has a bearing on the one central
                            hends the essence of reality of things in `opposition to          question of the ultimate nature of e'xistence.  In this only
                            the man who dwells in appearances and&e show of sense.            the philosopher (I am now speaking the language of the
                            The philosophers,, he says; "are those who are able to world), is, - interested. The so-called empirical sciences
                            grasp the eternal and the immutable." They are  tFpse             are nothing to him. He therefore hands them over to the
                            "who set their affections on that which in each case really special investigators, that is, to the empirical scientists.
                            e x i s t s . "                 .,.                                 d.  The  laast  stacje of  deve1ojvp.M.  Philosophy  proper,
                               Let me remark in passing that in a purely formal sense         07  gene&  philosophy  in distinction from what Plato
                            this is matielous  speech. It comes so Close to. what Jesus       called  First Philosophy.  What, according to modern.
                            said, "Set your affections on the .unshakable  realities,         thinkers is general philosophy, philosophy proper ? Philos-
                            that is, 0% th,e th&gs  ablozre:" l!Iow&er,  to Plato these .op!ly proper is the science of the whole, it ,is said today.
                            realities were not in the central setise God but a mass. of But this raises the question: if we get the knowledge .of
                 .I         abominable abstractions adorned by him with such names            the parts from the different  science3,   tihat is there left
                            as goodness.                                  ,                   for this so-czlld Gmeral  Pkilom~hy.  To this the answer
                               It is to be born in mind, that Plato used the term             is given that the synthesis of the parts is something more
                            philosophy in an ethical arid religious direction. Logic,         than that detailed  kndtiledge  of the parts in .separation
                            ethics and .physics, ,psychology,  theory of knowledge, and       which' is gained by the!, man of science. It is with the
                            metaphysics;. are  :a11 fused together by him in a  semi- ultimate synthesis that philosophy, `worthy of the name,
                            religiotis synthesis.        . . .       :                        it is said, must be concerned. It has to show that the
                               b. The  ea;iier   ,. philosophers had occupied themselves `subject-matter which we  are all dealing with in detail
                            chiefly with  cosmologY.  `The one question that covered is a whdle;  consisting of articulate members. Evidently,
                            everything with them is that of the underlying substance therefore, the relation existing between philosphy proper
                            of the world ar'ound  them. In Socrates and Plato, on             and the sciences will be to some extent  one;of reciprocal
                            the other hand, a start is made from a consideration of influence. The sciences may be said to furnish. philosophy
                            man's moral and `intellectual activity. But, as was said, wit%  its mater, but philosophidal  criticism reacts upon
                            they fused everything `together. Aristotle, however, sep- the matter thus furnished, and transforms it. A pure
                            arated the different aspects here confounded. Thus he             specialist, if such a being  wele possible, would be merely
                            b:e&me  the founder of Logic, psychology, ethics, and             an instrument, whose results had to be co-ordinated and


                        _-            T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                    46,
                                                                                                                                `..
used by others. flow, it is said, though ai pure specialist        And. this from the pen of Kuyper, "Haar taak is, niet
may be an abstraction of the mind, the tendency of spec-         het lichaam zelf der wetenschap te leveren, maar in dit
ialists in any department is  ,to lose sight of the whole        lichaam den organischen samenhang aan te wijzen, te
in attention to the particular categories ; and in propor-       verklaren,: en  bij misstand weer in het lid te zetten.  Zij
tion as this is the case, it becomes necessary for their         bouwt het lichaam der .wetenschap  niet, noch reproduceert
theories to be coordinated with the, result of other in-         dit, maar begint met dit lichaam der wetenschap ak
quiries, and set, as it were, in the light of the whole.         gegeven te aanschouwen  ; en haar taak is slechts  aan te
This task of co-ordination in the broadest sense, is un-         toonen, dat het een lichaam is, en hoe het als lichaam be-
dertaken by philosophy proper; for, it is said, the philos-      staat . . . . Resultaat van het ingestelde  %onderzoek  is
opher is essentially the man, who insists. on seeing things      derhalve, dat onder Encyclopaedie te verstaan zij die
together. In short, the aim of philosophy proper  (Gen-          wijsgeerige wetenschap, die in het geheel van den schat
eral Philosophy) is to exhibit `the universe as a rational       onzer dusver verworven wetenschappeli j ke kennis het
system in the harmony of all its parts ; and accordingly,        organisch bestaan van de wetenschap en haar onderi
the philosopher refuses to  consider;the  parts out of their     schiedene  dkelen  hloot leg-t en verklaart." Encyclopaedie
relation to the whole, whose parts they are. Philosophy Dee1  I, p. 44, 45.
corrects in this way, the abistractions  which are inevitably
made by the scientific specialist, and may claim, there-           It will be observed that the conception of philosophy
fore, to be the only concrete science, that is to say, the       one comes upon in the above excerpts is essentially identi-
only -science, that takes account of all the elements in the     cal to that of the early Greek philosophers. The task.
problem, and the only science whose results, can be              of philosophy, said these (Greek) philosophers, is. to
claimed to be true in more than the provisional sense: penetrate, by one's  own. experience and observation, that
For it is evident, it is said, that the way in which we          is, by emperie (emperical  sciences are those founded on
commonly speak of facts is calculated to convey a false          ones own observation and experience and tradition), to
impression. The world is not a collection, of facts, exist-      the ultimate nature of things. Compare this conception
ing side by side, and capable of being known separately.         with the view contained in the following from Bavinck's
A fact is nothing except in relation to other facts; and         pen,  !`Met deze emperische  kennis,  welke de menschheid
as these relations' are multiplied in the progress of .knowl-    langzamerhand door waarneming, ervaring en  overlever-
edge, the nature of the so-called fact is modified. More-        ing zich verworven heeft . : . . stelt zij zich echter  niet
over, every statement of `fact involves certain general          tevreden.  Als er een zekere hoogte van beschaving  be-
notions  .and theories, so that the facts of the separate        reikt is, als er een stand opkomt, die niet meer behoeft
sciences cannot be stated except in  ,terms  of the. concep-     te arbeiden voor het dagelijks brood, als de zintuigen
tions or hypothesis which are assumed by the particular          genoegzaam geoefend en opmerkzaamheid en  belangstel-
sciences. But it is the office of philosophy proper to  sub+     ling in .voldoende  mate gewekt zijn ; dan onstaat bij den
mit such conceptions. to a critical analysis, with a- view       mensch. allengs  de behoefte,. om zich rekenschap te geven
to discovering how far they can be brought out, or how' van de verschijnselen, die zich aan hem voordoen. Hij
far, when this. is done,' they refute themselves, and  .&I       heeft  aan de emperische, dikwijls oppervlakkige en  ge-
for a different form of statement of the ultimate nature         brekkige kennis niet genoeg,  maar zet er zich toe, om
of the real.  b                                                  de dingen methodisch en planmatig te .onderzoeken  ; hij
  Today then philosophy is the science of the whole and          gaat er belang in stellen, niet aleen. om te weten  d& iets
is held `to signify an office consisting in apprehending the     is, maar oak, ZNZXZYO'WE  het is en zoo is als het is ; hij speurt
relations between the ultimate nature of every distinct          de verschijnselen na, . . . . enkel en alleen om ze te kennen,  .
science. It will be observed that this modern (and pagan)        om ze in hun oorzaak; en doel, in hun wezen en verband
conception is but an expansion of what the early Greek           te doorzien. Zoodra de mensch zich nu hiertoe verheft,
philosophers held the office of philosophy to be.. Philos-       en het weten  zelf een goed  gaat vinden;  zoodra hij aan
ophy proper, according to this conception, is empirical          de werkelijkheid niet langer genoeg heeft maar de  waar-
science at its base.                                             heid  leert  waardeeren  als een  schat,  voor welke  ver-
  Now this conception  was: adopted also by the late Drs.        werving geen  inspanning te groat en geen opoffering te
A, Kuyper and H. Bavinck.  .Wrote  Bavinck (in his               zwaar is, wordt in eigenlijken zin de wetenschap ge-
Chjvistelijk'e   ~eto?i&&p,   p. 58,  519) "Wetenschap, in       b o r e n . "
het algemeen en naar hare idee beschouwd,  heeft dus den
ganschen  kosmos)  tot object en de gesystematiseerde ken-         Mark the phrase, "Hi j (man) qbewt & verschijklen
nis daarvan ten doel. Zij zou dan eerst compleet zijn en         na . . . . om zen in hun oorzaak en  doel, in hunwezen en
haar .ideaal hebben bereikt, wanneer wij het geheel der          verband te doorzien." In other words, the office of phil-
dingen  kenden  in zijn laatste oorzaak en doel, in zijn         osophy is (also according to Bavinck) to penetrate
innerlijk wezen en verband. De wetenschap  loopt  uit op         by observation to the t%zl.se,  purpose, and essence of
philosophic."                                                    things.


     446                                       T H E   STANbARD  -B.EARER

           Further. Philosophy, according to the more modern                           Dankbetuiging
     conception is, as was shown, the science of the whole.
     This, too, was Bavinck's conception (and Kuyper's),              Mede  namens eenige vrienden ter  plaatse zijner  in-
     "Zij (philosophie)  ZOLI  `dan eerst compleet zijn en haar      woning brengt ondergeteekende  hi&door   aan de  Regel-
     ideaal berijkt hebben, wanneer wij het geheel der dingen        ingscommissie voor de "`Annual Field Day" van de Pro-
     kenden  in zijn .laatste  oorzaak endoel, ,in zijn innerlijk ,testantsche Gereformeerden van Grand Rapids en om-
     wezen em verband."                                             geving gaarne dank voor de  -goede zorgen'door haar  be-
                                                                    steed voor het welslagen  van den laatst gehouden  Veld-
           What now is to be our appraisal of this `conception dag in het boschje bij Cutlerville hospitaal stichtingen.
     of pholosophy ? And the answer : there is nothing spkcific-
     ally Christian abouti it. It is a conception that at bottom       De plaats was `jcgelukkig"  gekozen, rusting, verre van
     is sheer rationalism, the  concepion,  namely, that man by      "kermisgewoel" en ander "wereldsch gewemel" ; op een
     emperie, can penetrate to the cause, purpose and ultimate      mooie plek van Gods schoone  schepping en door Zijne
     nature or essense of thi,n.gs.                     G. M. 0.    voorzienige hand  bereid.
                                                                      .De zon stak ons niet, en van stof had'men geen hinder.
                            (to be continued)                       Terwijl vliegen  noch  wespen ons voedsel  infecteeren
                                    -SC                             konden, of ons eten en drinken tot een last maken.
                        MORE  AJ3UNDANTLY                              Mocht  de  nabijheid.  van een aantal bijzondere  ge-
     There's a message that comes to the soul in its need,          bouwen, die tot verblijfsplaats en verzorgingsoord dien-
     "Tis a  ,wonderful  message, and all the world may read.       den van ongelukkige en beklagenswaardige  medemen-
     `Twas spoken for him whosoe'er will give it heed-              achen en hunne verplegers en helpers ons herinneren  aan
     "I am come that they might have life more abundantly.`.,       onzen zondeval en de ellende daaruit voortgekomen, aan
                                                                    de andere zijde kon ook dank gebracht worden  aan den.
     `Tis a message that tells of an infinite love,                 God aller genade, dat om Christus' wil  barmhartigheid
     That could bring, One to earth from His throne of light werd en wordt geoefend door de Gemeente des Heeren
                                                                    om deze geesteskranken liefderijk hulp te bieden, een
I           above
     To save us from sin, and His wondrousgrace to prove-           liefde, die door de stidhting en het onderhoud van de
     "I am come that they  ,might have life more abundantly."       Cutlerville inrichtingen openbaar is. Ook de' sprekers in
                                                                    de bijeenkomst hebberi ons door hunne "fmidament.eele",
     `Tis a message of gladness the world cannot give,              onderwi jzende, waarschuwende en opwekkende woorden
     And its fullness of. meaning we freely may receive ;           verkwikt en versterkt.
     `Twas  `given for, him who on Jesus will believe-                Terwijl wij evenzeer den leider der samenkomst  kr-
     "I am come that they might have life more abundantly."         kentelijk zijn voor de .bekivaamheid  wiarmede  hij deze
                                                                    "open air meeting" in de  rechte  sporen hield,  zoo'dat  het
                                                          I         "samenkomen"   geen "collision" werd, of de ontmoeting
                                STILLE !                            der "luchtgolven"  tot atmosfeer verstoring leidde.
             Verleent  Ge m'  uw' hulpe, o Heer,                      Alles kwam fijn ."op de voetjes terecht" en spoedde
               In `twerken door dit  leven,                         "op rolletjes"  verder.
           Op U gesteund, en wicht te meer,                           En van alles hebben de Drieeenige  God de eere!
               Hoe `t storme, en zal ik beven.                        .Hem-  zij heel ens hart en leven gewijd te allen tijde!
                                                                                                                 G. Van Beek.
            Ze  `n  kunnen, die mij. tegenstaan,                      Kalamazoo,  Mich., 6 Juli, 1936.
               Maar schelden tech, en schermen ;
           `k  Zie. schimpend, ik, hun' ruwheid  aan,                                                   . . .
               Gerust in uw ontfermen.                                                   IN  MEMORIAM
                                                                      The Consistory of the First Protestant Reformed
            "Dat God be&art -is we1 bewaard"                        Church  pf Grand Rapids,  .hereby wishes to express its
              Zoo leerddt Gij mij  spreken,                         sympathy to our Brother Elder, Dennis Langland, and
            0' Heere ; en, of Ge in slape  waart,                   his family, in the loss of their father, -
               Mijn schipke `n zal niet breken.                                     HENRY LANGLAND.
                                                                    May the.Lord  of all Grace comfort and strengthen them
            Zegt : "Stille!"  en, zoo `t  weleer,  dit woord,       in this their bereavement.  :
     I'       Hiet wind en weder zwijgen,                                         The Consistory of the First Protestant
            Zoo zal `t mij:,  hebbe ik U aan boord,                                    Reformed Church.
              Doen `s Hemels haven kri jgen.                                                     D. Jonker, Vice Pres.
                                             Guido Gezelle.                                          G. Stonehouse, Clerk.


!





                                               THE STANDARD BEARER.-                                                   _,     ___,     471 _,
                                                                                    _
                                               .-
                     Christian Dkcipline  '                              language signify: to impart to others, to draw. out, to
                                                                         produce, etc. Hence, education means to impart to others  '
       In treating this topic I wish to take the liberty in ,ihe         facts and to!. cause the others to be productive as to these
     introduction to call your attention to some furidamental. facts,  or ideas. There is nothing specifically` Christian
     notions which in my humble opinion are `derogatory tb               about this conception of education. However, man is a
     the basic concept of Christian Discipline.'                         spiritual being  ai well as a social and moral creature.
                                                                         -This means that  when we impart or instruct we must
       The tendencies or new education is obviously  ,p&posed            consider the whole human being and not one or two-
     to subvert all' traditional fundamental notions of educa- thirds of him as in new education.
     tion and  d'iscipline.  Education, instead of centering
     about the reality that the child has to be trained and edu-           It is -therefore true that even though new .education
     cated by the teacher, has assumed the notion that the               aim& to educate or to instruct it fails to. do such work
     child instead  of the teacher, is the paramount figure. In          inasmuch as it takes no cognizance of this truth. More-
     other words as Dr. H. Horne puts it, "`All the new con-             over, the purpose of education is to train the whole
     tempory educational tendencies are paido-centric, that is' human being. This is a Divine prerogative. -New edu-
     child-centered. A. little child is' leading the, education and      cation nor any other system of education except  Chiis-
     teachers of our day." (1). It is no mofe  that parents              tian can in any measure or .degre:e.  tiinswp  to this pur-
     and teachers are the determining factors in  e&&ion,                pose. Nor can  yqu expect the modern'educational  .world
     but the child is catered. to. All  bqic conceptions in present      to take note of. this  imyartant   factor.  A person who
     dajr `education are leading in that direction..                     has not God. in his thought cannot be expected to do
                                                                         justice to this Divine command.  ' And -since it cannot
       Besides this, new education has refused to look upon' answer to thi? purpose, new education misses the mark.
     the human being as a. spiritual being. He (the human                For of a truth as -a spiritual  being, man has a right to be
     being) is by the very nature of the case a mere nidral              so instructed and educated. Says Dr. H. Bavinck, "Want
     and social being. Not that psychology has been argued
     out of the lime-light,  bui such that in the education and het doe1 van alle opvoeding bestaat paar bet, schoone
     the training of ihe child  the spiritual. is for the church woord van den Apostle Paulus daarin, dat de mensch (3)
     to worry about. The child's character is trained in har-            Gods volrqaakt`  zy, tot alle goed werk volmaaktelyk  toe-
     mony with this notion. It appears that the .child's mind gerust." II Tim. 3 :17. Hence, we may safely g+y.>hat
     is a compound concoction of various  ,distinct compart-             in the real sense  OX the term the, modern educational
     ments. He is no longer held as a m&al, spiritual, and world is not even doing justice to the general  .definitiqn
     social being. But the fact  js that these three are to  `be `of education. For trtle piety and;godliness  must be the
     discriminated between but not to be separated. I cannot basis of education. Not in  the sense as if we' are to
     train the  .child socially without teaching or influencing s&rmonize, but rather in the sense that it forms a basis
     his spiritual life, nor,am  I able to train his morals with-        fdr  real howledge and genuine culture. Says Dr. H.
     out `influencing his spiritual life. Every' human being as          Bavinck, "Waarachtige godsvrucht (  (meet) A.C.B.)
     he enters this world,. is `a social, moral, and a religious-        organisch met degelijke kennis en echte beschtiving  ver-
     spiritual being. He is  sudh whether I care to acknowledge . bonden. Zoo vormen wij qenschen  Gods ; tot alle, goed
     it `or not. New or modern education has no longer a,n `werk volmaaktelijk toegerust." (4).
     eye for the reality of this truth. "By the same token,"               Inasmuch then as. the new education fails to answer
     says Dr. H.  Hq-ne;  "the new education, while  :it is              the purpose of real education, it fails to educate. Chris-
     strongly mor`al and social, is but slightly spiritual, mean'-       tian education ought to in some degree measure up to
     itig bly this man's sense of .relationship  to God as larg& :the real  purpbse of education.. Christian education takes
     than and inclusive in his .sense  of relationship to'man"           into coesideration  the. whole of man and takes note of
     . . . f'Here,  . . . . , is a great and neglected `opportunity."    every sphere of. life. In this se,nse the Christian alone is
     "It is still true," Qr. Horne continues, "as it has always          able and ought to give a wholesome education.
     been, that `the earth is the Lordfs  and the fulness thereof',       With this established  wei. can at once take up our sub-
     but with the overflowing increase of fulness  dtie'to  man's        ject for consideration: We shall `endeavor  to develop
     knowledge, industry, and  social enterprises, there is a our line of thought according .to the following outline :
     growing emphasis that the eai-th is man's  and man's  i7 first, the definition of the term discipline. Under this
     the fblness thereof' the short time he lives." (2) .This caption we will consider; q general definition ; the notion
     important factor will cause me to make some outstand-               of new education as propagated by John Dewey and
     ing clainis for ,Christian  education and disciplitie.              others ; the Christian conception. In the second place,
       What is  edudtition  ? ,In -general we may say  that the we consider the implication of the reformed conception
     term in Latin "educere" and "didasko"  in the Greek                 as basic to the truths  o'f good,  ev'il, moral concept, and
       (1)  This New l&cation, p. 58.                                      (3) Paedagogishe Begimelen, p. 30.
       (2)  This   New  BducatioB,   p. 71,                                (4)  Paedagogishe   Beghtselen,   p. 38.


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,472                                             T H E   S T A N D A R D   B'EA'RER

 the doctrine of the covenant. Finally, we will, discuss                    idea from  4 the point of view of the human race
 the general characteristics of Christian Discipline.                       without God. It is but  naturai  that this should be
          Before defining' the term `Discipline' we'.take `note of          agitated. It is following the impulses and desires of
 the fact that our subject reads `Christian Discipline.'                    licentiousness. To follow the dictates of one's caprices
 It is  obvibus  therefore that there is a discipline that is               without any restraint is entirely in harmony with na-
 not Christian  & if you will Anti-Christian.. This, indeed,                turalistic philosophy.      ,This theory of free discipline
 is a' very important factor worthy of our consideration.                   is advocated in nearly all Teacher -Training Colleges.
 I am certain that there is no one in our midst that would Dr. John Dewey is the exponent of  .this riotion of disci-
 challenge this fact. It is the same truth as in the matter pline. Dewey's philosophy is practically worshipped. He
 of eductition.  All that which is not Christian is of neces-               is the prophet for new education. He in turn pays hom-
 sity anti-Christian. We  prate about public education                      age and adoration to Rosseau. Is it not Dr. Dewey
 being neutral in character. However we are all con-                        who agitates Rousseau's godless notiori to discipline? Dr.
 scious of the fact that in reality there is no  sucfi                      John Dewey, the leading  figu.re   of  t&e new education, be-
 thing as neutral education. Hence, we conclude that gins his "Schools of Tomorrow" New York, 1915, with
 there. is no such thing  as.discipline  based upon a neutral               quotations from the Emile, and says that Rousseau"
 standpdint. All this talk that the public school may have                  sounded the keynote of all modern effort for educational
 a pretty sound conception of discipline is philosophical                   prdgress." In one of his less impassioned passages Rous-
 humbug. I will endeavor to prove my contention. Be-                        seau writes : "The spirit of these  ru!es is to grant to
 sides, all this clamoring in neti  education for character                 children more real liberty and less domination, to leave
 training is a statement with little content. Modern edu- them more to do on their own accounf,  and to exact`less
 cation has no character training which in `the final an-                   from others." It is just this naturalistic philosophy'which
 alysis is worthy of the dignity of its implications.                       is causing our schools-and our educational institutions in
                                                                            general to develop into breeding places of crime and immor-
          In defining the term ,discipline we may state in general          ality and what not. Take the word .of God or if you will
 that by it we mean the "guidance we give to the child                      religion  ant of education and the inevitable consequence
 of his desires." (5) There is nothing specifically Christian is a distorted conception of Society, Church, and State.
 about this definition, but it will suffice for the present.                The youth of the nation must go rampant when education
 It is evident that the child's appetites,. aspirations, vol-               and discipline find its bases in naturalistic philosophy.
 itions, and will are the object of discipline. These char-                 Now, say not that at present ,there  seems' to be a general
 acteri&cs  are to be trained that the child will be able                   te`ndency  to return to the older and more conserva_tive
 to conduct  himself as is becoming him. Even tho' peda-                    notions of discipline. Facts are that this not the case,
 go,gy  has to consider the power of the will, it has no                    but should this be the case you cannot expect the world
 definite or concrete  formul&ions  based upon research., to turn Christian and adopt our notions or ideals. Dewey's
 which will help much  in developing potent rules. Peda-                    conception of discipline is putting  cthings  topsy turvy.
gogy  in general lives in abstraction. " . . . . school disci-              He has subverted the ,entire notion of discipline. He
 pline,' like other-phases of social control  can never  .be re-            has, given us a notion which must .inevitably lead to in-
 duced to an exact science." (6) However, the, situation- difference, licentiousness, and disrespect for law and or-
 is not entirely hopeless. Christian pedagogy has some                      der. Dr. H. Horne states specifically in his "This New
 fundamental rules which are basic to discipline.                           Education" that  .our present day crime wave certainly
          Before entering upon a discussion of Christian disci-             finds its stimulation in this new fangled  notion of disci-
 pline in distinction from the other, we will touch upon                    pline.    He says moreover that, f'Free discipline is .ad-
 the modern notion prevalent. We purpose this to show mirable to, the extent that it works. It is usually, how-
 more clearly that Christian discipline alone is. discipline                ever, a goal to be reached rather than a starting point.
 and all other notions of it are a  mis-namer.                              Children pass from discipline to freedom rather than
                                                                            from freedom to discipline. The latter is the slow,
          The entire notion of discipline, by advoc&es  of the              painful way of the race  ; the former is the shorter and
 new education, has been that it should be "frke." This                     less painful way of education. The goal is the' formation
 means that there should be no coercion `or but little.                     of a disposition to do' right, which, of course, requires
 "A child'-, says ,DT. H. Horne, "should not ordinarily                     no coercion. But in the process of .forming  such a dis-
 be made to do what he should do, then the teacher                          position most children require some coercion from a
 or parent should so handle the situation or move his                       gentle, though firm, authority  .which  they respect and
 impulses that he will come to want to do what he should                    obey. `Never coerce' is riot przictical  n!)r desirable under
 do."         (7). There is nothing strange  absout this                    circumstances of human life. Authority  begins  by being
 (5)  ~nKooy,  T.,  Distirtctive   Features  of  tie Christian  ScJzool,    external; it is sufficient if it ends, throu.gh  habit forma-
     (6)  D'r.  Smith,  W.-R.,   Constructive School Discipline,  p 36.       (7) This New Edwation,  p. 63.


                                                                                                                                                        . .
                                                                                                                                                 _.'
                                                     `iTHE:  S'f`ANDA.RD   BEARER                                                               473
-_ ._ _..  _  _.  ._  _ .  _  ^         _
tion and self control, in becoming internal. As  Herbart                 development is more important. But character is beyond
said we  .pass from Regiering to Zucht, from being gov- intelligence ; it is intelligence applied to the useful work
erned to. self government." (8) We may` not agree in of the world." (12). This we .would amplify by saying
detail with this criticism of Dr. Horne; yet he states                   that character training consists in not only cultivating.
some. astonishing truths which would be advisable to                     the intelligence but also the moral and spiritual aspect
follow.                                                                  of the child.
   I personally wonder how many of our Christian School                    In considering discipline from a positive Christian
teachers, have not imbibed and appropriated this notion point of view we must know the character of the will of
of Dr. Dewey and are putting it into practice. Are we                    the child. .
positive that some are ,not identifying it with the Chris-                 We realize that we are confronted in our analysis by
tian conception of Discipline ?                                          the problem of good and evil. Personally of course I
   The only aim that modern education has in discipline                  do not  advocate"a  dualistic conception of good. The con-  '
 is for mere social res&., Modern or if you will Neti                    cept of relative good is in myr humble conEeption  `a con-
 Education  ii swamped with social stimuli. The only tradictio interminis'. I would rather maintain and adv&
thing necessary to prepare men and women is to make                      cate the idea of good in th4 absolute sense. Considering.
them worthy members of society. Says Dr. John Dewey,                     God as the sole criterion, He alone is good. Hence, every-
`Y&duct (or discipline) may be looked upon as  .expres-                  thing in life which does not answer to this standard. of -
sing the attitudes and dispositions of an individual, as good is to be shunned. In this light alone would I main-
&ell as realizing social results and maintaining the social tain the concepts of the aesthetic and  tie truth. Relative
 fabric."  (9), This attitude is the very repudiation of truth. is an untruth. Relative beauty is sheer subjectivism.
human existance. It is a breaking, down or an annihila-                  Bravery, heroism, and honesty are worthy traits which
tion of that which is .most sacred to man. New discipline                should  b6 cultivated. But cuteness, cleverness, and brav-
fails to answer its purpose, because it refuses to consider ery are not to be glorified when they are considered to be
that. after all .man is not only a moral and social being the result of "getting away with things." This is the
-,but also a religious-spiritual being. The chaotic state of Nietchean. notion. He maintains that these character-
,discipline in public education is indicative of, or rather              istics are to be encouraged at  ,the expense of truthful-
should be an admission of, it being thoroughly un-Chris-                 ness, honesty and nobility of. character. Once more the
tian and;permit me to say semi-pagan.                                    good should always be in harmony with God.
   Discipline, if it should answer its purpose should con-                 In respect to evil from the Reformed .point of view,
sider the whole of man. The, child's character should be we should consider it as sin, missing the mark, that which
so trained that he "may be perfect, thoroughly `furnished is not answering the criterion  of  gdod. We are born in
unto all `good works." .If discipline is discipline at all it sin and ipiquity. This is a stated trtith which `among
should  ieSpond- to this Divine mandate. In this respect `Reformed believers is not eiren'  debatable. But evil is
discipline  may!. be takdn to be sinominous  with character rebellion  against God and such we are by nature iricapable
training. In so far as discipline fails in this, it is not of doing any good. Hence, the Reformed believer main-
worthy of the; name discipline. Discipline from a Chris- tains and upholds the doctrines of Total Depravity. To
 tian `point of view. is, at least it should be, discipline in- claim that ihere is `still much good left in man is vir-
d e e d .                                                                tually a denial of this basic doctrine of D,epravity.  These
   Discipline has its negative and positive aspects. Its concepts or if you will doctirnes of Reformed thinking
negative  aspect consists herein that "specific corrections,             are basic to a wholesome Christian pedagogy.
 rebukes, and punishments will . . . . be inevitable under                 This of course is not and cannot be the bases for a
the most favorable conceived circumstances."  (10). Be- pedagogy suitable for modern public instruction. Here
sides, "the other consideration with reference to negative again Rousseau's theory comes  to. the foreground. En
 discipline is, that all rebukes and punishments should be vironmerit is responsible for the wickedness of human
 used with a specific educative purpose. ( 11). Education niture. Says Dr. H. Horne, "No man is born with a had
 is discipline too. You cannot. conceive of discipline and ch$racter ; he' acquires it." (13). It is altogether reason-
 at the same time know that it is educative in purpose.                  able that modern education fails to see the true problems
On the other hand, "Constructive (or positive) discipline of discipline. I admit readily and unhesitatingly that en-
 consists in the effective use of classroom management, vironment does -play an important part in the character
 study periods, interim and leisure time,  a.nd extra-curi-              training of a child. Yet, I fail to see that when a chris-
cular activities for inculcating wholesome ideals and cul- tian school teacher (with emphasis on the words chris-
 tivating desirable habits . . . . " However, "character                 tian and teacher) does all that which is in his or her
                                                                         power to cause the child to go into the right direction,
   ( 8 )   T h i s   New   Edncatiox,   p.  8 9 .
   (9)  &fog-al   Primigles  in  Edwatioy,   p.  47.
   (10)  Smith, Dr. W. R.,  Constrwtzve  School Discipline,  p.  42.       (12)  Smith, Dr. W. R.,  Constrzrctive  School Discipline, p. 44.
   (11) Smith, Dr. W. R., Constructive  School  Discifiline,  p.  43.      (13)  This New  Edwatiow, p.  178.

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

that he or she should be held responsible when a child           The covenant youth unless they are regenerated be-
,of the covenant desires to walk in the opposite direction.    long to the same category as those who `do not desire
This to my mind would be a denial of the doctrines of          to do the good.' How shall we as Christian Teachers and
election- and reprobation.                                     Principals conceive of the covenant youth which are in-
   The cause of a bad character in the sphere of mod-          trusted to our care? Shall we suppose them to be regen-
ern ,or .new education is to be sought in the fact that        erated and act in harmony as such 2 Shall we suppose them
there is an ignorance toward the right direction.              all to be.unregenerated  and consider them as not being dif-
It is the old, old story that `knowledge is virtue.' As        ferent from the children instructed in the public school?
far as I am concerned this .is sheer nonsense. It is true      Neither `of the two concepts are, really acceptable. Person-
that education -from a Christian point of view ought to ally, I have strong tendencies toward holding the first. And
make the believer more virtuous. -But it does not always       yet this is not to my personal satisfaction. I would rather
do it. `The.  moment some education has been attained the      advocate this attitude that I have before me boys and girls
Christian ,believer  most generally begins to boast. In-       which are considered to be in the covenant, but all of
stead. of  givin,0` God the glory we are still sufficiently which are not regenerated nor ever will be. I realize it
sinful to be arrogant. There no doubt are .exceptions.         is  .not for me to determine which are regenerated and
"Ignorance," says Dr. H. Horne, "sheer ignorance of            which are going to be such and which are not. I am no
the right is a sure cause of a bad character; . . . . in the searcher of hearts (I speak with all reverence). But it
sense of knowing no better and so acting, stumbling in         is a fact, it is a reality the truth of which is not even de-
the dark." (14). Evil in the Scriptural sense of the term batable. I will endeavour to lead the covenant youth
is no ignorance; it is rebellion. Romans  1:2O leaves no       along those lines and will constantly hold before them
room for such a notion. There is no excuse in ignor- that in all their walk they should consider their covenant
ance for anyone.                                               responsibility.
  From the point of view of modern,education  the moral          The prerequisites of a Christian school teacher disci-
concept is not basic to religion. A child can -be trained plining the child are both negative and positive. At times
morally through social activities and studies is the boast- you have still School Boards going to two extremes which
ful claim. Again this is a  -basic concept of .discipline      must be avoided in the selection of the teacher. You
which misses the mark. There is no moral concept pos-          have those that stress the intellectual side at the expense
sible, from a Christian point of view. and I would ven-        of- the. spiritual, considering the spiritual of some im-
ture to say even from a philosophical and logical point        portance although very little. On the other hand, you
of view, without religion. Leave God  `and religion out have those that consider a teacher only well qualified then
of moral considerations and you have a shame morality          when he or she. is known to be a, pious being who is always
which is closely akin to immorality. A guarantee for a conscious of God's presence, but then at the expense of
wholesome, clean moral training can alone be cultivated the intellectual ability which is considered as inferior.
through and based upon religion and spiritual life.            Those two extremes must be avoided for by themselves
  We are fully aware of the fact that spiritual life is        they do not make for a Christian school teacher.
wholly dependent and. contingent .upon the implanting ,of        The Christian school teacher should be .one who always
the new life by the Testimonium Spiritus  Sancti. The          lives in the conscious presence of the Eternal Source of
covenant youth too are subject to .the implanting of this ,grace  and love. If this contact is missing, the party in-
new `life. You cannot expect a sense of moral stability volved will fail utterly in his task." I cannot give posi-
without regeneration. We. have no direct reference now tively Christian education if I myself have no contact with
to the possibility of knowin,m in general something about the Fountain of Life. Secondly, .the Christian school
the right and wrong as guided by the conscience. But           teacher should be one who has received the best  intelleci
even then natural man sees even that warning of the tual and cultural training. This is a Divine prerogative.
conscience. Our `implication,  .however, is this, there is `In everything which I do I must serve and glorify Him.
no such a possibility of moral control without spiritual But how shall I do such if intellectually and culturally I
life, for even then it is a struggle. Does not Paul say in     am, unable to cope with the general revelation of God.
Remans  8 :19, 20, "For the good that I would ,I do not :      We insist upon the highest type of intelligence as basic
but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if 1, do        for a Christian school. teacher that he'or she may be fully
that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin dwel-    equipped to foster the most noble and highest ideals also
leth in me." Facts are that the regenerated soul has a         from an intellectual point of view, but then sanctified.
struggle throughout life. If this is the case ,with chris-     Thirdly, a Christian school teacher should be consecrated
tian people, what can. we expect of those that do not          and devoted to the calling to which he is called. One, who
only do the good, but `do not by the very nature of the finds it a source of inspiration every day again to be
case desire to do the good.                                    privileged to instruct the youth and to mold their minds
  (14)  This  New Education,  p. 179.                          and caprices so that ,they  will lead the youngsters to the


                                                        T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                      47.5.

                   `Fountain. of Life. The "brook never runs dry" in the life A child is an image bearer >f God, and should be held
                   of a Christian school teacher. If it does, it is because as such.
                   the party involved is no Christian school teacher, but one        Besides, a teacher should always be prepared with his
                   who has a job. A Christian school teacher is one who is
                   thrilled at the very thought of training characters in be- task, otherwise he will be the cause `of his own discipline
                   coming perfect men and women in God. The person problems.
                   who makes Christian education a stepping stone for some           I do not maintain to have exhausted the basic concepts
                   other vocation, should be eliminated from the  .profession.     of discipline and especially Christian discipline.
                   For such a being is not consecrated and devoted ,to the
                   cause of Christian education, and therefore is not worthy         In resume we may be brief. Modern education is
                   of the name of Christian School Teacher.                        .based upon naturalistic philosophy. `It fails to answer its
                                                                                   purpose  beca.use  it does not consider the whole- human
                    The Christian school teacher with such prerequisites being. As a consequence its notions of discipline are in-
                   is to instruct and discipline the child. Hence the child sufficient and inadequate. Christian education alone
                   should be conceived of as not being `in an atmosphere of ought to give real education, because it. considers the
                   his.own choice. The child bears the sign and seal of the
                   covenant and as such bears the insignia of the -King of whole human being, and it impels genuine scholarship.
                   Kings. The teacher who is so consecrated to his cause Christian discipline alone will solve the problem. in. char-
                   will find himself confronted with a complex of mysteries.       acter training since it requires Christian devoted and con-
                   He can but plant and water but God must give the in- secrated teachers. The basic, concepts of Christian Dis-
                   crease. This planting and watering implies not only the cipline is prayer and love.
                   giving of instruction,. correction, exhortation, threat,                                         I have said.              _
                   punishment and the rod, but also character training. With                                        I thank you.
                   the knowledge of psychology and pedagogy, we are at                                                    Al C. Boerkoel.
                   least able to formulate some fundamental measures in
                   discipline which are distinctively ,christian  and some of
                   which are not.                                                                   C H R I S T ' S   G U I D A N C E
                      As a Christian teacher is a praying `being, prayer is                          Jesus, still lead on,
                   a definite source of strength. The teacher will approach                          Till our rest be won;
                   the Throne. of Grace with his boys and girls and when                      And although the  way be cheerless,
                   he is. alone in their behalf. Love is the fundamental char-                We will follow,. calm and fearless:
                   acter of christian discipline. Love not in the sense of                           Guide us by Thy hand
                   natural  : affection, or likeness of character, but love                          To our Fatherland.
                   which far surpasses the understanding of the teacher in
                   the Public School. A love  ,for the child because he is a                         If the way be drear,
                   covenant youth destined for eternity. This will cause                             If the foe be near, .
                   the teacher: of the Christian School to do things for the                  Let not faithless fears  o'ertake  us,
                   child `which must have a wholesome effect.                                 Let not faith and hope forsake us ;
                      The teacher -must by all means be natural, and this I                          For through many a foe,
                   take it, is an emanation of Christian love. Honesty in                            To auf home we go.
                   character is needed. To assume the attitude of arrogancy
                   or superiority based upon authority is-detrimental. `Be                           When wc seek relief.
                   yourself', this demands and commands respect.                                     From a long-felt grief,
                                                                                              When temptations come alluring,                      .
             I-       Besides, cheerfulness is necessary to a pleasant  ,chris-
                   tian environment. It is not genuine Christianity to clothe                 Make us patient and enduring;
                   oneself with a sense of continual unpleasantness, severity,                        Show us that bright shore
 :  i                                                                                                Where we weep no more.
       .,          or unwholesome piety. Love implies cheerfulness.
`_.
                      There is also needed a firm kindness. A christian                              Jesus, still leads on,         -
                   .teacher  should never go into extremes, but should hold                          Till our rest be won ;
                   his equilib~rium  in case -of firmness and kindness. NO                    Heavenly Leader, still direct us,          .
                   teacher should be always talking. Less talk and more                       Still. support, console, protect us,
                   ,action  demands respect not only, but will aid one to SUC-                       Till we safely stand
                   teed in carrying out his task. There should be no more                            In our Fatherland.
                   subjection than highly necessary. A child is not a slave
                   who has to listen to the whims and fancies of a teacher.                                               Zinzendorf.


