                                                   T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                13
             - ..__......__          _--.-                 - ______-._  ---"." ._----....-  -                             _l...A.----
de werking van den band  aan  Christus  &n alles wat
met het geestelijk-hemelsch leven der Kerk in verband                                       The  Truth  And  The  Life
staat kan als zoodanig in het  natuurlijk-aardsche  niet                                                               John. 14% b.
tot openbaring komen, noch ook door het natuurlijk-
aardsche  worden  gezien. Dit alles zou waar blijven,                               Christ is the way.
ook al zoudt ge  willen uitgaan van de gedachte, zooals                             That was his answer to the question raised by
sommigen hebben gemeend, dat de Kerk op aarde  lou- Thomas in the upper-chamber at Jerusalem. As was
ter uit ware wedergeborenen en geloovigen mag be- pointed out in a former article the meaning of Christ
staan. Wezenlijk  wordt de Kerk op aarde no&t zicht-                            being the way may not be substiituted. In our day this
baar. Maar  we1 wil de Heere, dat zij ook op aarde                              truth is presented in suclh a way that the :text reads:
tot zichtbare uiting komt, dat ze als Kerk in het  aard-                        I show you the way or I advise you to walk in that way.
sche zichtbaar zal  worden.  Daarom vergadert Hij haar Instead of  cl.!inging  to the unadulterated Word, the
door Zijn Woord. Door dat Woord  w,ordt zij de  ver-                            foolish imagination  od man's mind has made of it:
gadering der ware geloovigen, die dat  Wo#ord  bewaren,                         Christ is a way.  Evid'ently,   %he Son of God is not a
dat  Wourd verkondigen, den naam van  Christus  belij- complete Savior. He needs the co-operation of man.
den en in hun wandel dat Woord ook gehoorzamen.                                 Salvation as such is prepared for whosoever wills
En in die vergadering der geloovigen, die  samen Gods and accepts f&e same. In this sense the realization oi
Woord bewaren, Zijn naam belijden en in hun wandel the prepared salvation awaits the approval of man.
op aarde het leven der wedergeboorte openbaren, wordt His willingness, decides  I&e issue. There are after all
de Kerk op aarde zichtbaar. Bovendien heeft de Heere two  parties  who must make salvation a grand pos-
aan die vergadering der geloovigen een vasten vorm sibility and offers thereby a glorious opportunity. That
gegeven in het instituut. Hij heeft de ambten ingesteld                         j, Christ. But that is all. The second party, for whom
waardoor Hij wil, dat de Kerk op aarde zal fungeeren, salvation is made possible and to whom it is also
waardoor Hij Z,elf in; de gemeente werkt, Zijn Woord gracioasly  offered, must show his  willinwss  to ac-
spreekt en de sacramenten van kracht doet zijn. Op cept. This party is of .equal import shall salvation take
deze beteekenis der ambten en van het instituut hopen effedt.  That is man. Man as he is by nature unable
we later nog de aandacht te vestigen. Maar ook in en and not willing must change himself and make use of
dour  deze  ambten, met name door de  bediening  des this chance. You  *do  not need  it.0 bother about the
Goddelijken Woords komt de Kerk op aarde tot  open-                             fundamental Spiritual (doctrine of  elec'tion and  repro-
baring, zoodat ze met den vinger is  aan te wijzen. b&on, they  someho*w  do not enter in the preaching
Want waar Gods Woord verkondigt wordt, daar is                                  (called evangelical and sometimes social gospel preach-
de Kerk en waar de Kerk is, daar wordt Gods Woord ing) and are after all of minor importance. Man is
verkondigt !                                                                    raised to tie level of the Savior, in fact he is his own
                                                                 H. H.          Savior in so far he wills `to accept. Gone is the Gospel
                                                                                and the Church as the body  af Jesus Christ.
                                              -                                     No wonder that the present day p,reacher  invents
                                                                                all kinds of ways and means to make this salvation-
                                                                                offer acceptable. His ingenuity knows no bounds. He
                                                                                starts sometimes  wilth hot dogs and coffee and is able
                                IN  MEMORIAM                                    to make quite a pure man out of a miserable and un-
                                                                                done sinner. He has grace, t%at same sinner in the
    Het  behaagde  den Heere,  heden  van ons  w.eg  te  `nemen,                realm of the natural, performs a great number of good
onzen   geliefden  broeder ouderling:                                           works, and if he wills can by means of his willingness
                                                                                lay hold of salvation. Why? Well, simply because
                               EGBERT GRITTERS                                  salvation is meant for all and  therefore   `the preacher's
                                                                                ambition is that salvation be  ,&ken hold of by all men.
    VeIe  jaren mocht hij trouw de gemeente des Heeren dienen.                  Yea, there are many o,bstacles. For instance, there are
In vrede mocht  hij zijn eeuwige rust ingaan. Trooste  de Heere                 after all only twenty four hours in one day. Besides,
de weduwe m kinderen met Zijn Geest en Woord.                                   he knows  %h& the span of his  life does  nott extend be-
                                                                                yond the three score years ,and ten. Situations make
                                                   De  Kerkeraad  der           it impossible to do real justice to his one aim, namely to
                                                                                reach all, and therefore as to his ideal ends in dismal
                                       Prot.  Geref.  Geme.ente  te Hull        failure. He  rnighh  have saved a considerable number,
                                                   IL. Vermeer, Pres.           but he cannot possibly save all. From this point of
                                                   R.  Kooiker,   Scriba.       view, if he is consistent, there is after all something
     Hull, Iowa.                                                                wrong with  h/is  Savior. He knows man is bound by


 14                                   T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
            __".-          _--.-.           --._.I___                ---.             -........          -.^        -
time, space and various circumstances over which the he entered the depth of our guilt and shame and death.
preacher has no  con\trol. And the worst  cf it is, that Thus,  stan,ding  only at arm's-length from the cross as
the Christ without limitation leaves his work in the the great communicator of the truth, being the truth
hands of limited man. Why does he not reach all or at himseIf  he can say: "I am the way, the truth  - no
least  &ose that cannot be  (taken  care of by his  co-       man  cometh unto the Father, but by Me."
wo,rkers ? The Savior seems not so much concerned                What a world of difference to preach that Christ
aboat  this fact as his disciple-pneachers. If it were is a way or may be a way ; that Christ is the truth or
left to the discretion of these men they would save all, only preaches the  truth - or to confess I em the way
but now  &hey fail because of the above mentioned rea- and the truth for you and that from beginning to
sons. If Christ was only as willing as they, how many end.
more would be saved.                                            St31 mo're. He is the way Eor his people, because he
       Strange indeed, that the true  diciples at Jeruslem is  4he truth for them. Objectively the bruth  is through
did not kno.w  the way. And strange also that the Lord and in him, but also subjectively he makes his own
nowhere in his  discourse tells them I am the way and partakers of the truth and knowledge concerning the
you  mu& walk in the way. To the contrary he said Father. God is the most dreadful being for man as he
 I am the way (and not a  pa'rt of it) and `that is the       is be nature. It is net true that natural man can love
absolute sense of the word.                                   God. `He is afraid. of Him and tries to hide himself
       The reason for this fact, that he is the way, is now frc,m the God of the Scriptures. Unless the God  and
further explaine,d  in what follows. Says he, I am the the Christ of the Scriptures are corrupted unless in the
 way because I am the truth and the life. I am the            preaching God and Christ are presented as being like
way and the truth and  tihe life must  not  beccnfueed  to unto mere man, the s,inner will turn away  fro,m them,
mean, on t,he one hand I am the way and besides I am for God and His Christ are terrible to behold. That
the truth and I am also the life. Present day preaching after  all is the experience of all those who bring the
makes of it, Christ preached the truth. But he d,ces not Word in conformity with God's will, and never based
say I preach, but th,at I;;e i:: the truth. The question is, their preaching upon the foolish imiginations  of men.
of what is he the truth? And! the answer is simply, For it pleased the Lord to set His people frets  by th*e
he is (the truth concerning the Fa'ther  and therefore truth and  ,after  they become partakers of Christ, `they
the way to  Yhe Father for those that are given him. By will seek God through Christ. Never before.
way cf antithesis, we know not God and reveal that we            We have furthermore in what follows an oxplana-
 are in darkness and live the  lie of the life of the devil. tion why Christ is the way. He is the life. And also
' Therefore, we cannot dwell or ever hope *to be in the       here  we must not change t,his meaning in I testify or
 house of our Faather.                                        preach about life, nay, not even I give life first of all,
                                                                                                   _I
       To know Him is only possible when He is revealed to    but I  nm the life.
 us. Without that revelation man shall remain in dark-           It is difficult to say what life really is. We never
 ness and live thie life of the lie. And it is cf this revela- possess it to the full on this side of the grave. AllI we
 tion concerning the Father  that Jesus said I ccllz the know is that we are dead in ourselves. As such we are
 truth. Also here present day preaching errs when ccnceived and bcrn and we live the life of death. It
 Jesus is represented as a 1,oving Saviour and God some- is our very exist~zce. For death dces not mean and is
 what as a tirant. It shows how little is known of the not a certain non-existence, but t'o live apart from God.
 relation between Father and Son, beftween  t,he triune Our very nature was created in such a way that we
 Gold and the Mediator. There are no opposites in the were adapted to live in close communion with our God.
 Divine family. How could it ha otherwise? Eternally Also here the modern preacher errs when he pictures
 he was with the Father, he `knows Him, knows Him in the hereafter as a life cf death and makes of the pre-
 His very Being and Couns;el  and in all His attributes. sent something different. Whether  here or in eternity,
 For He is *the image of the invisibl,e God. And He is in khcth cases it is true tha.t to live apart from God is
 that also in the human nature both as the Son of Gad death. To `have life and Do enjoy life we must not have
 and the Son of Man.                                          things God created but the fellowship of the Triune
       He is &he truth. Not simply because he speaks the God Himself. When our life longs for Him then alone
 truth, but Christ reveals God both in what he is and in the fear disappears and never before. To know as well
 what he does. Therefore, God reveals Himself in and as to love and to appreciate Him was in the state of
 through Jesus Christ. And the Medliator alone is able righteousness the very heart-be& of our existence.
 to challenge men, who of yoa can accuse me of the            And the difference of this must not be sought in the
 lie?                                                         difference between time and, eternity, but in the dif-
       The way he is because he is rthe truth. He entered ference  be!tween  the wrong and the right relation.
 oun race that he may make his own like unto Himself. Therfore,  to he with Him, to dwell in His presence, to
 And from the point ,of view of the eternal good pleasure live `His life. all is well and we are and shall be satisfied


                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                               15
                          -.- ..___--                      -lll-l_----l--                                                -
 while without Him there is and shall be want. Al-
ways.                                                             Divine  Nearness   A  Proof  Of  Grace*
   Life, t&e opposite of death, is to live out of Him,             Mr. Chairman, members of the board and friends
with Him and $or Him.                                           of the  locoal Christian School: From a certain point of
   Our life is Christ.                                          view the anticipated opening of the School for another
   No, he does not say 1 give life, although this is also season is nothing new. The history of the school, as far
true, but he ~6s life. All the life we need is in him aione.    as my recollections serve, proves that the annual be-
For that reason he became one of us. He suffered and ginning of the season of instruction is not a novelty.
died and thus paid with  his life for our sins on the Long before the first day of Christian Instruction in
bloody tree. The only way to redeem us from death was my "home  town?' in the neighboring county, now some
to enter death, eternal d,eath as the payment for our           twenty years ago, your school was already an
sins. Life had tc be brought to us by way  uf death.            established institution. And since then it has gone on
Thus  w,e understand the necessity  of his  resurreet.ion.      thru a history of opening and closing its doors in suc-
For in and through  that way he is our life.                    cessive years. Therefore the opening dsy of the season
   Hence he is the way.                                         the beginning of another school-year is nothing new;
   He `earned  the life for his people given him by the         we have before us but the repetition of an oft ex-
Father. He took away sin, its curse, the just punish- perienced fact.
ment and  ,th*e wrath of God. And as the life he sends             And still we believe that in a sense there is a great
his Spirit into the hearts of his own, breaking the difference. Looking back in retrospect we might judge
power of sin, renewing the heart, will and mind. Fill- the beginnings as  monotc,nous  repetitions; but looking
ing  khem  with his life  matinually.  Bnd by faith, as forward, we are sure that this year is different than
cne of the fruits of that ,life they go to the Father.          all the  preceeding  ones. And that difference lies in
   Thus Christ is  the uiny. A life-giving way  to those the point of view. To use a figure, the past is all alike
in whose hearts he enters.                                      in light of realized  and1 known data, while this year is
   He entering first. Through His Spirit He opens the still hidden behind the impenetrable veil of the future
eye for His W*ord. And the life-imparting Spirit calls - ail on the road of the history of this institution.
them through the Word to the Father. Yes, first to                 It is with a view to this present milestone, beyond
Christ but su, thab through him *hey have fellowship which no mortal can see, and therefore with a view to
with the Father, that is with God Triune.                       uncertainties beyond it, that we wish to attend to the
   And the result subjectiv,ely is, that their wisdom, words of Moses, who also found himself, .with Israel
righteousness, their good works and their strength did cf old at a crcssroad in the journey, facing the unseen,
not bring this about.      Listen a moment when they uncertain future. These words are found in Exodus
speak of self and when they qeak concerning Christ. 33 : 16 and read : "For wherein shall it be known here
Of self all is undone. They confess that their ways that I and Thy people have found grace in Thy sight?
are those of destruction, nc% having any value for time Is it not in that Thou golest with us? So shall W-Z be
or eternity. On the other hand, Christ  IS the way for separated,  I and Thy people, from all the people that
6hem for He is the trut,h  and the life.                        are upon the face  cf the earth." Let us briefly attend
   Moreover, one will never hear of such Feople that to the thought:
they came  to the Father. Nor that  they  came to                    "Divine Ncn~~ess  n Proof of 
                                                                                               .      GTUC~"  and see
Christ. We confess it was my Father who &as mindful
of me, it was Christ who died for me. It is the Spirit                   I. Wherein that nearness consists.
of Christ that entered and renew-ed  me and made m::                    II. Whereof that nearness is a proof.
sincerely willing and ready, henceforth, to live u&o                   III. What that nearness brings abr?ut.
him. And that not only  for'this life but also for the             When we speak of the Divine nearness it should
life to come.                                                   first of all be clearly understood that this cannot in
   The reason for it all it to be found in the one fact this connection refer to the attribute of God's omni-
that Christ is the way from beginning to end. No, not.          presence. To that attribute we do not refer in the
because it depends  upon man. The child of God is theme cf our discourse and to it Moses does not refer
always ready to confess, my Savior as the only Savior, in his  prayejr. That Moses refers to something dif-
without the help of men. And whereas he desires that ferent  ,than  God's omnipresence must be evident from
&SUS Christ be t:he only complete Savior, it is impos- the fact that it is here  .cxpressed  in the form of a
sible for him  ;to listen to anything departing from that petition.        Moses asks, the Church  ccntinually  prays
truth for his *Jesus said, "I am the Way, the Truth and         for God's attendance. But the fact that it is a sought
the Life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me." for and prayed for objective presuupptses the  ~os-
                                                 w.  v.         sibility of not materializing. This cannot be true of


 I6                                    T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
 _I-               ""~.-_l_ll ________-.-  .-.. ".-._                                            _-.
 God's attributes in general and therefore not of His sure Pilot must journey with us. Journey with us
omnipresence. Objectively God cannot go away nor be must He as the exalted and hcnored  One. H.e shall
absent. Subjectively, before the  ccnsciousness  of the          then lead and direct by His Word and Spirit.  ,4nd
 believer there never is a doubt about  &d's perfection so He, not we, shah bring aboat  the blessed positive
whereby He  continualiy  and completely fills the whole fruits of Christion Instruction, also in this  yeaT.
 universe with His Being as well as His strength and,               For none can deny that when He s:o attends there
 power. Thus it is plain that the content of true prayer are inevitable results not only, but His very presence is
 can never be that any of  Go,d's  attributes shall con-         proof of grace. Graciousness is not only a requisite for
 tinue. That would be anaiogous  to praying that God attendance, but also on the other  hand grace is proved
 will remain God, which is blasphemous to even to exist by the fact of God's nearness.
 momentarily entertain in one's mind. That this attri-              To understand this it must be clear that we speak
 bute in question cannot be referred to in our theme is          of grace not as an aftrtribute  of God, but a manifestation
 furthermore plain from the fact that this presence is of it. Moses says in question form that by God's at-
 inseparably linked up with grace according to the text. tendance it shall be manifest that he and Israel "have
 To link up grace with the cmnipresence  of God is tanta-        found grace in the sight of God." This refers to a very
 mount to saying that His grace is general. And the              specific occasion in  Dhe journey of Israel. At the foot
 latter is as impossible and `heretical as the assumption of the Mount they had sinned "a great sin" and had
 that one may pray foe the continuance of God's                  "made them gods of gold". The Lord had spoken  to
Being.                                                           Moses in tones indicative of anger, of threatening de-
       The idea we wish to express by NEARNESS of God struction. Moses had interceded. The Lord promised
 is that of attendance, traveling in fellowship with, ac- to send His Angel with them and commanded Moses to
 companying one. Such was the prayer cf Moses for lead Israel on. Moses, not satisfied and assured that
 himself and Israel. His desire was that God would go God  w.ould  safely attend, asks His presence to go with
 with  t,hem  on the journey from Mount Sinai, and that them, in order that it become clear that they had found
 in an attitude of love, in a relation of friendship. Any grace in His sigh%. That is the same as to say that
 other nearness of God would consume them in the way. tihe sin had1 been taken away, for to find grace in the
 Therefore his prayer amounted to  askin-g  for gracious eyes of the Lord, to be truly beautiful before Him, to
 attendance, and in order to manifest that graciousness, be an object of His love, can only become reality then
 to make possible the essence of Divine fellowship, it           when all sin is gene. Moses' prayer is : Lord attend us
 meant that God should take the  pIace of honor, should so we may have a proof of the faot that Thou  hast
 lead and so casually, safely bring them to the promised taken away our sin.
 land.                                                               Spiritudly for the Church on its journey in her
       Spiritually for the Church this is never different. very aspect of life it is ever so. Presupposed and un-
 Her desire is that God shall accompany,  ,journ.ey  with derstood must be a hearty confession of sins; the
 her. For t.he Church is spiritually  on a journey as was realization of her damnworthiness;  yet the assurance
 Israel typically. On that journey she must be guarded that destruction is not to materialize. This also holds
 against the danger of destruction.        Safeguarded she in regard to our school. We know, or ought to .know,
 must be against the devastating power of sin  frcm that there is much amiss. If nothing more, there is
 without and within, for sin culminates in its own ever that sin of laxity to such an extent  that.,  realizing
 wages  - death! But also must she be saved from the it, we cannot but conclude that God would be just and
 wrath of God, which is the power, the realizing force of righteous in bringing to an end these  intitutions. To
 death. So for the Church God's co-journeying means see that He nevertheless continues to uphold and lead
 protection against all power of destruction. Its realiza- on is "finding  grace?'  before God.
 tion is manifest in the fact that HE directs and every              That finding of grace is made apparent by God's
 step of the way mercifully saves and redeems. Because nearness. Moses uses the words "made known" which
 He is the ever-acting One, His gracious fellowship as- may be translated "clearly seen". For Israel, the
 sures of reaching the goal of the jcurney, eternal salva- Church and the school this evid*ent manifestation of
 tion in His blessed nearness.                                   grace is "cleary   beheld?' by friend and foe. For  the
       And, because the lif,e of ,the believer is really one,    believer this knowledge comes thru faith and exists in
 notwithstanding its many aspects, we may also apply experiencing the "blessing of the Lord God upon us."
 t:his meaning of Divine Nearness to the School year From the side of the camp of the enemy this knowIedge
 :&out  to begin. There is also, if all is right, for  c.ur      is evident in the forced tho reluctant admission that
 school a goal to be reached, an objective to  be attained.      Moses and Israel, organically, safely enter Canaan ;
 And that goal is to instruct our children in the fear that the Church is saved in the sure way toward salva-
 of the Lord Go,d. But to attain this goal is impossible tion; that the school  reacheis  its objective and goal.
 if we as a local society insist  o'n journ.eying  alone! Our This "seeing" and  thorough  knowledge  has its  culmina-


                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
                                                                  .-~~                                                             14
                                                                                                                         ~-.--
tion ait the (end of all journeying when the believers           Calvary at  its very axe! Then isolation is certain.
receive the final justification and enter the perfect That  isol&ion  safeguards us ; it  comfor%s as to the
bliss of the eternal goal.                                       reality of His nearness ; and,  stho it increases present
   And let it be understood that iin regard to these troubles and suffering, that  .isolation  results in ultimate
`truths there need be no ,doubtful  misgivings and specu- and  thenefore  thru  faiith in continual  vi&ory for:
lations as to the right way, for that goal is reached in "Israel then shall dwell in SAFETY, alone". Let that,
the way of Di,vine atitendance  not only, but that Divine be our theme-song.
Nearness also bears fruit, brings about distinguishing                                                    I have said,
nedits, while still on the journey.                                                                                 II. H.  `K.
    Let us net draw false conclusi80ns  by imagining that            *Speech formerly intended to be given before the
these results will be prosperity according to the rule of Christian School Society of Soo Center, Iowa.
the world. F.rom #hat point of view the result is, in
the way of consistant  abed!ience  exactly the opposite.
Israel's  journq led them thru the heart of a tortuous
desert  !a& serpent-infested  area; the Church is sent
"into  the midst of wolves"; our schools are and will                                     IN MEMORIAM
remain - the most serious and conscientious sacri-                   Op maandag, 33 Augustus, 193'7, behangde het den Heere
fices notwithstanding  - small struggling institu- om tot  zich te nemen  onze geliefde echtgenoot,  Vader   en
tions.                                                           grootvader,
    But the characterizing result, a result which is                                      MARTIN FABER  "
inevitable in the nearness of Jehovah, is  tiolatio~.  Isola-
tion Moses speaks of when he says: "so shall we be in den ouderdom  van 70 jaren. Na een gelukkig en gezegend
separabed - from Iall & people khat ,are upon the face huwelijksleven van 45  jaren is de band nu verbroken.  We1
of the earth". Thiis isolation is, of co,urse,  only to be is er bij ons droefheid over het  gemis, maar ook is er in ons
und,erstood  in a spiritual sense.      Monasticism, local hart vreugde  dewijl   wij mogen gelooven dat hij is ingegaan
isolai&n,  never has been &he teaching of Scripture and in .de rust die er overblijft voor het volk van God.
is not brought  ab0u.t by God's gracious association.                                     Namens de familie:
Israel finds a place in the very center of the known
world, at the crossroads of civilization. They are not                                         Mrs. Martin Faber
OF the world, but most realistically IN it.                                                    Mr. en Mrs. Andrew Dreijer
    Nay, but Spiritual isolation is the result, the sign                                       Mrs. Benjamin Ten Brink
by which the way may be  ,ascertained.  Israel, Zion,                                          Mrs. Christine Daining
our  scho;ol,  thereby lives the life of sharpest  anh%hesis                                   Mr. Mrs. Clarence Faber
in the midst of the world, condemning  the way of the                                          Mr. en Mrs. Joe Faber
world in her every manifestation. Israel                                                       Mr. en Mrs. John Faber
                                                     "dwells
alone" according to prophetic words. The Church as .                                           Mr. en Mrs. Gerrit Helmus
                                                                  Byron Center,  Mich.
`&!e body  of Christ  neoessanily  hives the life  o,f her                                       en  1X kleinkinderen
exaltid  Head as a  4xxtimony  against the powers of
darkness. Our Christian School stands and should con-
tinue  to stand as a monument of our faith and there-
fore as a  condemnati.o+n  of all the enemies . . . . be                        HE GIVETH MORE GRACE
that the enemy within the sphere of the Church
or openly  of the world. There can be NO  co.m-                  He giveth more grace when the  buridens  grow greater,
promise.                                                         He sendeth more strength when the labors increase ;
    And this all is necessarily the result o'f God's at -             To added afflictioin  He addeth His mercies,
tlendance.  Not because Israel was such a miserable                   To multiplied trials His multiplied peace.
nation, but because Jesovah dwelt among them and He
was the  .object of  thx?  haitred  of  tthe enemy, did the When we have exhausted our store of endurance,
enemies despise  l&em then, do they  dispise and  perse-         When our strength has faiIed ere the days is half done
cute the Church now, do they ridicule %he manifesta-                  When we reach the end of our honrded resources,
tion of the life of obedience  in regard to instruotioa  as           Our  F'ather"s  full giving is only begun.
it comes to the foreground in true Christian instruc-
tion. Let us remember that the foolishness of the cross His love has no limit, His grace has no measure,
hm no place in  the sphere of instruction from the His `power no. boundary known unto men ;
tiewpoint  of the world an.d that from our point of view              For out of His infinite riches in Jesus
instructiion  can never be given but with th&t Cross of               He giveth and giveth and  gireth  again.


 18                                    T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
                              -..                                -_-  .._.. ."-- _--._____.         - -_.. _- -..-.. --
                          Suicide                              sophicai religions, and has been practised  by some of
                                                               `the most noted men of authority.
       Since the World War and especially since the post-          "May the poor wretch to whom life is loathsome,
 war depression period the attention of the world has          but death full of terrors, calmly, without anger  or
time  land again been focused  cm the subject of suicide. joy, but with the utmost indifference, cast off the bur-
Statistics show a marked increase in the number of den of existence."
suicid'es  during the past decades, especially in the midst        End quote.
of the so-called Christian nations. One reason for this            What wickedness, brazen effrontery this man re-
increase is undoubtedly that during the past few de-           veals !
cades these nations have made themselves  donbly                   The author of this quotation I know nothing more
unworthy of the name, Christian nations, and are be- of ~except  that his name is Baron Harden Hickey,  and
coming more ancd more wicked and outspoken in their that he is very clearly an opponent of God and His
wickedness.      This  spirit&'  degeneration has changed ,oause and a son of perdition. The last  statemen%,  that
the common opinion of suicide. Where once common the writer ,of this excerpt is an opponent of God and
opinion in the Christian nations deemed suicide dis- His cause and a son of perdition, is not one whit too
honorable  ,and wicked:, it is now looked upon more strong. As a matter of fact it is not nearly strong
favorably, as hardly dishonorable, and up to the in- enough to describe) this despiser of God and His Christ,
dividual's own free choice. Another reason for this this son of  B&al. Notice that he calls Christ, the
marked increase is certainly the politic-economic stress foundation of the church, and His suffering and death
of the post-war period. After a period  o,f glorious `a legend. And a lelgencd  is an old story often to:ld,, but
( ?) prosperity, a period of fearful ( ?) adversity  fo,l-     without any basis in fact whatsoever. So he says;
lowed. It is but natural that many who sought the but Peter said, "For we `have not followed cunningly
food that perishes, seeing  alI1 their savings and posses- devised fables, when we made known unto you the
sions slip away to leave poverty in its wake, having power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were
banished God from all their thoughts, chose death,             eye-witnesses of His majesty." Again he makes the
rather than life. But however these things may be,             bold assertion that *`we have no authentic recorid  of
th.e fact is that suicide ,h!as been on the increase and a God performing any act whatsoever".                     In so far
has reached a new all-time ,high, that it is especially he is correct, w*e have no record of man-made idols
preval,ent  in the so-called Christian nations, and that       performing any act whatsoever, for they have ears but
the wave of suicide became the occasion for articles hear not, eyes have they but see not, hands but feel
on the subject in many magazines.          Solme of these not, feet but walk not. But certainly the Scriptures
a,rticles justify suicide, others condemn it; and the are full  o,f the acts of God, and the Scriptures are the
discussion still goes on.                                      W.ord of God: "All Scripture is given by inspiration
                                                               of God, and is profitable for dootrine, for reproof, for
              A VERY HEINOUS POSITION                          correction, for instruction in righteousness." And does
                                                               it  not make one shudder to hear this son of Belial calm-
       In connection with this, in  The Digest  (the new ly say, "May the po,or  wretch to whum  life is Ioakhsome,
periodical that is  t.he result of the merger of the but death full of terrors, calmly, without anger or joy,
Literary  Dig&  and the  Review  of  Reviews)  of Sept- but with the utmost indifference, cast off the burden
18, under the department Pro and Con, devo.ted  this           of existence."
time 60 the right and wrong of suicide, I came upon               Indeed, "the fool says in his heart, There is no God.
the following quotation :                                      They are corrupt, they have done <abominable works,
                                                               there is none that doeth good." Their feet are swift
       "To the Christian, suicide appears as an heinous to shed blood; whose mouth is full of cursing and
crime; the followers of Christ seem to, have forgotten bitterness. There is no fear of God before their eyes.
that if  the legend on which their religion was founded Condemning the good an'd magnifying the evil.
w,ere true, Christ would occupy a very prominent place                                                                     But it
                                                               is as it is written, "They that forsake the law praise
in the annals of suicide. Plienty  of men have cut the the wicked; bu,t such as keep the law contend with
thread of their life, but we have no authentic record          them." Prov. 28 :4.
of any God having done so; it may also be added !llat
we have no authentic record of a God performing any                              HOW ABOUT SUICIDE?
act whatsoever. At all events, if God do exist, being
eternal and immortal, they cannot commit suicide, but             How about suicide? The child of God that adhere.;
a God being almighty, if he cannot commit suicide he to the Word of God, testifying, "Thy Word is a light
is no more a God; and, on the other hand, if he can            upon my  p&h, and a lamp unto my feet", need not
commit suicide, he is evidently no lon'ger  a God.             hesitate even a moment. Scripture does not leave  the
  "Suicide has been universally approved by  all  philo-       slightest room to  approv,e  or condone suicide. Every-


                                    T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                             x9
--.._-.                              __... ^-.-l-_-."          -_-___-                                                -2
thing stands as a testimony against Ft. Saul and                  It must be admitted,  howlever, that there is an
Ahithophel are warnings; not to speak of Judas, who apparent similarity between the death of a suicide and
went out and hanged .himself, and of whom we read the death of Christ as spoken of in Scripture. For
that he went "tv his own place". Job's wife tempted surely Scripture does not picture the Saviour as moder-
him in  *his affliction to curse God and die, but Job's        nists like to do as one who did not come into the world
answer was     "Thou speakest as one of the foolish `GO die, but to live. According to them Christ's death
women speaketh". Samson's dying act in  th.e deliver- is only the sad and meaningless end of a very eventful
ance of Israel  frum Philistine  appression  in which and highly significant life. For we must remember
he pulled down the idol temple upon the enemy and that death was exactly not forced upon the Saviour,
died himself in the act of deliverance was no suicide. that he deliberately chose to suff,er and to die; yes, that
He died in the battle against Israel's enemies, fighting H,e came into the world, not to live, but to die. Scrip-
the battles. of God. Besides, the commandment "Thou ture emphasizes that He set His face to go to Jeru-
shalt not kill" applies not only to others but also to         salem that He would not be dissuaded to depart from
self. Gen. 9 :6a gives as the reason why the murderer the way of suffering, that He gave Himself up into
must be put to death that man was made in the image the hands of the enemy, commanding them to take
of God. If another may not be killed because he was Him, although He made very clear that they could
made in the image of God, then it follows that no one not take Him unless He permitted it, that He was
may lay his hand upon his own  life: Elijah prayed silent and w'ould. not speak in self-defence,  but that He
that h,e might die, but certainly did not take his own was led as a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep that
life. Everywhere Scripture emphasizes the sanctity is dumb, that He' permitted himself ,to be nailed to
of life, of human life, and rises up  to. its  defence. But the cross and would not come down to save himself
do we need to prove it?                                        although He had power to do so.          And, moreover,
   More in harmony with Scripture is the testimony Scripture makes plain that His life could not be taken
of another quotation found in the same Digest, under from Him, that He must lay it down John 10:17,18,
the Con's. It's auth0.r  is Samuel Miller, who although "Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay
perhaps modernistic, certainly speaks more according down my life, that I might take it, again. No man
to the teaching of Scripture.                                  taketh it from me, but I lay it down myself. I have
   I quote. "To. destroy our own .lives  is a sin against power to lay it down, and I have power to take it
God. That God is the author of our existence ; that again." The very last moment .of his life, as well as
He sent us into this  worrld ; and that our time and tal- what precedes it, is an attestation to this. After the
ents, as well as our persons, are his pro,perty,  are self-    intense suffering of the cross Christ did not die be-
evident propositions, which none but an atheist will cause His strength was gone, neither must His death
,deny.  To suppose that rational and moral creatures, be attributed to heart failure or some "natural" cause
endowed with such capacities and formed for  snch              (as many have done, trying to find an explanation for
activity, could have come into existence by accident, the fact that Christ died! so soon after being crucified),
or without any specific destination, is to,o unreasonable but He  .once more makes plain that His life cannot be
for credulity itself to admit. But if there be a God `taken from Him, that He must give it. He cried with
who made us, who  ,has a right to our services, and a loud voice,  ,not with the  voi,ce  of one "lived-out",
whose providence extends to  a11 His creatures and all not with a dying whisper but with a loud voice, and
their actions, there .ia an end for which we were made, then He gave up the ghost. Notice, Christ did not
a task which we are bound to accomplish, a term of simply die, but He by an act of His will yave  up the
service which it is our duty to fulfill, and of course, Be g h o s t .
alone who placed us here has a right to decide when               From the viewpoint that Christ set His face to go
this task is done, to judge when this term of service to Jerusalem, that He by a voluntary act. died, there
ought to close, and, in a word, to dispose of the life and is an apparent similarity between Christ's death and
the talents which His power has bestowed."                     that of the suicide. Also the suicide sets his  face
    God gives life and He only may take it away.               to die; also the suicide dies by an act o.f *his own will.
                                                               If that were all that Scripture said, then indaeed Christ
         DID CHRIST COMMIT SUICIDE?                            would occupy a very prominent place in the  armals  of
                                                               suicide.
    If the Christian religion were true, so the author            But appearances lie. Similarities are not identities.
of the quotation given in the first paragraph claims, It is true, Christ`s death was a voluntary act, but we
then "Christ  would  occupy a very prominent place must never forget that it was a voluntary act of obedi-
in the annals of suicide."                                     ence,  not  of disobedience.  Although other points of
    Did Christ commit  suicid,e?  The very thought is difference might be noticed between the death of  Ch,rist
repulsive,  and as a Christian your only answer can and that of a suicide, this one is od fundamental im-
be an emphatic no,                                             portance. J,ob.n  10 : 1%~ specifically emphasizes, "This


20                                          T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
                 -
              __.-.-_               -
                      ~- -...... -^ - ____-..."  --.....- -_---...--l_lll_-_^---  -... _I__ .--. ..l___.--..,lll_  _..-._
commandment have I received of my Father", and in                                                    I"
the context this refers to the duty to freely lay down                                           Our  Offerings
His life for His sheep. Whether an act is right or
wrong always depends upon the question of obedience                           In my previous article I  sholwed that so far we
or `disobedience. God's commandment is the crux of ought to be from militating against  tihe teaching to
it all. The suicide dies in  defiance  of it; the Christ                 the effect that the amount each member is in duty
in  obedience to  it. It is in this case exactly  a$ it is                bound to pay into tlhe Church for the maintenance of
with all murder. Murder  dloes not consist in the bare the service is a sum  resultintg from the division of the
fact of killing another. If such were the case the state total sum needed by the number of members, - so
executioner who has received commandment of God far ought  we to be from militating against ,this teach-
to kill the murderer would himself by that very fact                      ing that we ought to affirm it with all the emphasis
commit murder.             But he does not; he obeys  C&l's               that we can muster. The member (with sufficient
command, and does what is right. On the other hand means} s who pays into the church 5Oc when the budget
the murderer takes the lif,e of his fellow man in de- per family amounts to the sum of $1.50 is weekly
fiance of the law, "Thou shalt not kill", and because stealing from the Lord and from his brethren exactly
he transgresses God's command he is guilty and worthy $1.00. So let us, who are people with sufficient means,
.of death, while t,he state executioner does well. The                    pay into the Church  that full  amoant.  For  thi,eves,
same applies here. The suicide has no commandment certainly  do, not enter  %he kingdom of heaven. Why
to take his life, he has the very opposite commandment then should this teaching of mine be maintained, whoe-
to live and let live. Therefore he is disobedient and heartedly  accepted and acted upon?.And the answer : to
worthy of death. But Christ, and He alone of all men, avoid exposing ourselves to the danger of falling into
as the Saviour of His people, had received the com- the sin of thievery. And before we say that we are too
mandment to lay down His life. His life was not sim- poor  (to pay the full amount, let each one of us attend
ply taken from Him, He guzrr it. The reason and the oarefully  to how he is spending ,his income, what things
only reason that He died was God's commandment.                           he has been purchasing that must be classified with
When His human nature cried for life He in the ccmveniences and even luxuries, how much money he
garden of Gethseman'e  in complete submission to God                      has invested in his car, how many unnecessary trips
exclaimed, "Not my will, but thy will". On the cross ti!th  that ear of his he has been making, how much
He endured the agonies of God's wrath in obedience money he spends for tobacco. Don't misunderstand me
to God, and in perfect love bore the curse of death.                      My contention is not that we may not smolke a cigar
His death was a death of the highest, of perfect and                      and  make a trip to the beach, that unless we do with-
divine obedience.                                                         out fthe conveniences of life we sin. But I do maintain
      Also the Christian must learn and dues learn by trhat if I am compelled to choose between that pleasure
God's grace to give His life in obedience to God. Death trip and paying the ful! budget, I sin if I do not cancel
may not simply take him, he too must learn to lay it that trip and pay my budget, as well as I sin when, if
d'own. But this o,bedience,  and something wholly other placed before the  ohoice of cancelling  ithat pleasure
than the disobedience of suicide.                                         trip and paying my grocery bill, I choose not to pay
      Christ's death, thanks be to God, was no  rebehion                  the merchant whose food I consumed in order that
against God and His dispensations, but the perfect there may  & money in my purse for that trip. Let
response of love, the voluntary act of obedience in suf- me state  t,he matter thus: if I am compelled to choose
fering and death whereby the wrath of God against between that pleasure trip or that  convemence  or the
the sins of the world have been borne and borne away, luxuries of whatever character and paying my ful
and atonement  fcrever accomplished.                                      bud$get and I choose not to pay my budget in order that
      Cursed be the sons1 of Belial that reject the com- those pleasures, conveniences and luxuries may be mine
mandments of God, setting up the commandments of I give clear evidence that my love for the pleasures and
men in their stead, and that mock with the Holy One conveniences of life, that my Ilove for this earthy, is
of God to contort His death into a wicked defence  for grater  than my love for the kingdom,  for God, for the
their hellish wickedness. As the rich man, persisting heavenly. Now what did Cihrist  say, He said, "He that
in this way, they will open their eyes. . . . in hell!                    lov&h father or mother (and we may add, houses and
                                                      P. D. B.            lands, pleasure-trips, conveniences and luxuries) more
                                                                          than me is not worthy  o,f me".
                                                                               Finally, I pointed! out also that the view to the
                                                                          effect thatt B is in duty bound to pay into the Church
          He leads me where the waters glide,                             more than A for the solIe reason that B's material re-
              The waters soft and still;                                  causes  are larger than those of A is as thoroughly
          And homeward He will gently guide,                              wrong as the view to the effect that B because he has
              My wandering heart and will.                                 more money than A is for this reason obliged to pay


                                   T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                            21

one half of A's living expenses. I branded this view tions as members of the Church. And this the rich
(this wrong view) socialistic, which indeed it is. Now
                                                       .     must also be willing ito do. Doing so, they, the rich,
irt is this wrong view `that the brother in his  commum-     pay alms to (the poor to #the amount that their contri-
catio,n  to me ,espouses. To quoit;e! him once more: "But butio,ns exceed the sum tM oonstitutes the full budget
the members must give as  the Lord has prospered             for the family, so that, if this sum is $1.00 for the week
them." And again, "Therefore the teaching must be and the rich member pays weekly into the church the
plainly sett forth, tha+ ithose  in the congregat'on,  who sum of $5.00, ,he gives alms to the amount of $4.00.
have more  trhan others must assume a greater responsi- This $4.00 is alms ,indeed. It is therefore a sum that
bility toward the expenses  -t?han those that have less." that the rich memer pays directly not to the church
Of course, ithe brother did not willingly and knowingly to  itrhe  consistoTy (the  consis'tory is  nolt the object of
err. Being a lover of right thinking, he will, after charity) {but to t;he po.or and wfhich  he (the well-to-d,0
having read my articles, immediiately  admit that he member) pays into  lthe Church for the poor. And the
was mistaken. I know he will, as in his communica- poor receive alms to the amount th& &he contributions
tion I come upon this stateme&  "Yet in a brotherly of  tlhe rich exceed. the sum that they pay into the
wkay I stand t.o be corrected, and have the. welfare of Church for  thaelves. From this it follows that a
the Churches at heati. It is through argument and dis- well-to-do member who pays into  the Church  t;he sum
cussion that the  truth must come forth. And you will of 50~ when  the sum that coastitutes  the full budget
ndrt: find me unwilling to learn." This, Iet me remark, for  the family is $1.00, receives  alms to the amount of
is a fine attitude ito hake.                                 50~. What a situaY3on  this wuuld be! A rich man living
   Now let us take up the matter of the poor in the on the bounty of others! When ~a poor man refuses
congregation and attend to  &he scripture  (fro,m Paul's dms he sins;  but how great  bhe sin' of a rich man
pen) "Give as  ttlhe Lord  has  bIessed you." Let us see secretly living on the bounty of his brethren  whu per-
how this scripture is to be harmonized with the teach- haps have less money than he !
ing I bring forward in these articles. There is cer-            Someone may say, "Can you show us that yoar rea-
tainly no problem (or problems) here, except  ik be one soning is  correst  and true? Assuredly yes. Are not,
of our ,own creation. Let me construct a sitwa+ion  tha't    according  itr, scripture, the rich in duty bound to come
will allow me to bring home the truth concerning the tal  %he aid of  t,he poor? They are. This  setiles the
matter  ;wt hand. Let us  set before  our mind then a matter. And yet one time and again  encoun'ters  the
congregation of fifty members with sufficient means very reasoning contained in the brother's  commutica-
(whose incomes range from  I& us say  $2,000  to tion. Attend to this reasoning, "I cannot see  ho,w   a
$10,000 annually) and of fifty poor members (mem- consistory has the right to go to a rioh IandowneT  cf,
bers who are c~cturtlly poor and who therefore are living I& us say, a ;tihousa.nd acres witih big crops to lead him
on the bounties of the members w&h  means sufficient).       into the truth  respect,ing  the blessedness, of giving,
The -first matter to be affirmed is that it is the duty if he be told, that the bu&et is a dollar or a dollar and
of ithe poor as well as of the well&o-do members of the a half for the family. I  canntrt  see  holw the consistory
Church  t;o pay the full budget, that is, to contribute *has the right to ask of this rich landowner that he give
as well as `the others that sum that resulits from the more than this dollar. And the rich, too, will not feel
division ,of the total sum needled by a number equal to themselves obliged to contribute one cent more than
to the total number of members. Let us set  ;t;his  sum this sum  (*tihe  one dollar). And as the  pcor cannot
- the total sum needed at $10,000 for the year. Then pay this sum, tlhe result is that the congregation is
ithe sum resulting from the aforesaid division is $100 short of funds and thus finds itself under the necessity
for the year or 502 for the week for each family. Now of applying to  classis for financial aid. And where
tihe poor, too, are under the obligation of contrib,uting    does the fault lie? And the answer: in the doing of the
this sum. It is a duty of theirs as w,ell as of the others consistory that co.nsists in its announcing to the con-
that roots in  tcheir membership and from which no in- gregation  &hat the budget for the family calls for a
ability to pay can possibly release.                         weekly payment  of a dollar, and with the failure of the
    Let me ask, would the duty of the  fa;ther of a rich to realize that, whereas $their poor brethren cann&
family to work  $or his dependents cease should he pay, they, the rich, are in duty bound to give more than
be totally disabled by sickness? Indeed  not. The truth <the sum that constitutes `the weekly budget for t.he
that I atiempt  to drive home here is that duties are family." So- far the brother. This is his reasoning
stubborn things that abide even  af?ter the power to         in substance. This reasoning is thoroughly fallacious.
perform them is lost. Ilt is the Pelagian that ma%tains      The false promise from which it proceeds is that when
the contrary.                                                th,e colntistory  announces the sum that cooastitutes  the
    However, whereas the pooz in the Church canno& weekly budget for the family, it by this very doing
pay, `they find themselves under the mubra necessity forbids the rich in the Church to come to #he aid of the
cf petitioning and allowing t'he rich to provide them poor. `Let us understand  tl-& when the  consistory
with the ready money they need to meek their obliga-         publishes this sum (the sum that constitutes the  weekly


22                                    T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
                  _---                 --..         --....      -
budget fcr the family) it forbids  not the rich  `to enable what sense free? Free in the sense that we may also
tjhe  pcor  to  me& their responsibility as  mem.bers of choose not tc bring them? But ccnsider that I may no
the Church,  but simply makes known what that sum is more choose not to pay my budget, not to pay for my
that each member Is i'n duty bound to pay into the share of the coal that was consumed that I might be
Church  j'or  himseV. The brcther and we all should ccmfcrtably  warm in Church, than I may choose not to
see this. The brother should  see that his contentioln  tc pay for the food that I bought. I am  no% at liberty to
the effect that the rich, through their payin~g `their own pay or not  tc pay my budget. I  must pay; but if the
budget, relieve  thwelves  of the duty and deprive love of God is in my heart, I love to do what I must do
themselves of the right to aid the poor (and `this is and in this case duties become privileges and the doing
indeed the force of `his reasoning) is equivalent to the of duties a delight. If SC, I am superbly free under the
ccntenticn  that the rich,  as  a result of their paying yoke of Christ. Let me say, finally, that the practice
`th$eir :cwn grocery bills, render ilt unlawful  fcr them cf contributing to the support of the service in en-
selves to provide the poor with the ready cash they velopes was  not introduced that the consistcry might
need  tc buy bread for themselves  and their dependents, have knowledge of what each member gives. The
NOW the former contention certainly is as erroneous           purpose  ,cf the introduction of this practice was to
as the latter. Yet it is this former  ccntenticn  that make it possible for the members  to stipulate  whfat par-
h-m  one of the chief objections that have and are ticular treasury or treasuries the contribution is for.
being raised against the so-called budget system of But I cannot refrain from asking once more why we
giving.                                                       should be so opposed to !having  the ccnsistcry  know
      Another main objection  again&  th,e aforesaid          that we are doing cur part. DC  X object to men, to
system of giving is `that it discovers to the consistory      the whcle world, knowing that I am paying my grocery
what each memb,er gives and places the congregation bills and light bills and meat bills? Of course not.
under constraint with the result that  its contributions Why then slmuld  I be so cppcsed  to the use cf the en-
cease to partake of the character of free-will cfferin,gs.    velopes? Is the reason perhaps that I am shirking
But this objecticn  concerns more specifically the re-        my duty and wish net the consistcry  to know? But God
quirement consisting in each member  cffering  his  ecn- knows. And if I, a member with sufficient means, am
tributicn in sealed envelopes bearing his number. Why guilty of this, it will be that if I wish to die in peace,
anyone should be  .oppcsed  to having the consistcry 1 shall have to be able to- truly bemoan the fact that
knew  that he contributes his full share toward the de- I stale from the Lord and the bretbrea.
fraying of  expenses   incured  by the operation of the          Let me show ,hcw necessary it is that the members
heating plant of the Church  - s plant that was, in of t.he Church know  what that sum is that results from
cperaticn  also for his comfort - is hard to understand. the division of the total sum needed by the number
When I pay the gro,cer for the foad that I bought of equal to  the total number of members. If the rich
him, I want him to knew  that the money I turn over know not whist tbt sum is hew will they know what
tc him is from me and closes my account with him. If they are to pay into the Church  for themselves  an.d
I in my thoughtlessness should fail to disclmose  to him how much of  what they contribute is alms  fcr the poor?
that I am the remitter, my account would needs have How can any member give, if he has no knowledge of
to remain open. Aware .cf this my disgust with self           what is needed? But, the brother may say that no
would perhaps  knew no bounds and mindful of my cne needs to know. Let each give all he can, as the
error  I would feel much disposed to give myself a Lord has blessed him. But this will not dc at all. The
swift kick. In a word, when I pay my bills, I want the eon&tory  must estimate the sum needed. The estima-
rnerch~ants to know that I am the remitter. Why then tion must be approved by the congregation. And each
should I be  SC cppcsed to having the consistcry know member must give with a knowledge of what sum
that I have paid for my share of the coal that was constitutes the  we&y budget  fcr the family. This
cc,nsamed  that I, tee, might sit comfortably warm in sum each member must pay into the Church for,  him-
Church and for  +lhe light that was flashed  cn  alsu self. And if there be no peer  in the congregaticn,  he
for my benefit? I can't understand. Perhaps  scme-            must not contribute  mere than this sum as he then is
bad&y  can make this plain. But let no one come with making it possible for his well-to-do brethen to live
that utterance of Christ, "Take heed that ye do not on  ,his bounty.
your alms before men . . . . But when thou  dcest                Let us now deal with the question how the teaching
alms, let not thy left hand know what  t.hy right hand that the first duty of every  member of the Church is
d:o,eth: that thy alms may be in secret . . ." As was to contribute the sum that results from the division of
said (in the preceding article), the secrecy here en- the sum needed by the number equal to the number
joined by the Savicr concerns the doing of alms only.         of members, - let us now deal with the question how
Helping to. support the minister who preaches to us this teaching is to be harmonized with the scripture tc
the  wcrd is certainly doing no aims. But the offering the effect that each must give  `as the Lord has blessed
in the Church must be free, some may say. 1  ask) in him. The scripture is from Paul and is found in the


                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D  BEARZk
   .  _-.        - -                              _.                                                                  23
second verse of the  sixtefenth  chap%% of  .his second from the operat,ion  of the heating plant in the Church?
epistle to the Coninthians.    Iet me qucote the passage Let me ask, do we say of ourselves that we make a gift
to which this scripture belongs, "Now concern,ing  the when we pay for the food that we consume? No we do
co&&ion for the sainti, as I have given order to the not. But we do say of ourselves that we make a -gift
Churches   of Galatia, even so do ye. Upon the first when we ado alms. But attend to what Paul says, "I
day of the week let every one of you ltay by him in store beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God,
as God has prcsperod  h!im, that there be no gatherings that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy,  ac-
when I come. And when I come, whomsoever ye shall ceptab!e  unto God, which is your reasoriable  service."
approve by your letters, them will I send to bring your He who  ou,t of the principle of regeneration
liberali'ty  unt'o Jerusalem." The  collectio'n  enjoined d,oes this very thing always, thus  alsu when he bsys and
&here was Bar the destitute Church at Jerusalem, which sells, pays for what  Ihe has purchased, pays his budget
means that the "liberality unto Jerusalem"  w&s alms. and does alms. Living, acting from faith and to His
Thus it was in respect to the doing o,f alms, that the glory we do nothing else than give to the Lord whnt
apostl'e said to) the Corinthians, "Let every one of you i.3 His, namely o,urselves,  our talent, our money, our all.
lay by him in storer, as God has prospered him . . .  ."           In fine, let us understand that the poor cannot be
it is to the doing of alms only that the efiortation  can freed from the duty of paying the budget, as this duty
be made to apply. It thus can no more be made to roots in their Church membership, and as a duty does
apply to the paying of the weekly budget for the family not cease when t.he ability to perform it is lost. The
by the members of the Church than. to the paying of pcclr therefore must be supplied with means sufficient
grocery and meat bills. And no more than I may say to enable them to pay their  budget.~  To maintain that
to the grocer from whom I bought food to, the amcunt            poverty frees from the obligation to contribute to the
cd!, let us say, $25.00, "Sir, I will pay as the Lord has       support of the service is equibalent  to maintaining that
blamed  me. Be satisfied and continue to sell me food," ,the poor have not this duty. If this is true the contri-
no more may I say to the rulers in the church who re-           bution of the rich member that exceeds the sum of
quire of me that I pay my full share of the coal bill of the weekly budget gor the family is not alms at all but
the Church, "Brethren, I will pay as the Lord has a sum that must be regarded as being paid into the
blessed me." The obligation to pay the full share of Church by the rich member not for the poor but in
this bill is as binding on me as the olbl?gation  to pay the    his own behalf. In other words, say that each must
full price for the food I have purchased. And if I contribute to the support of the service as the Lord has
cannot  pay this share, I am under  the.moral  necessity blessed him and you say that nothing of what the rich
of  rcceivjng  alms as well as I am under the moral pay into the Church for the support of the service is
necessity of allcwing my brethren to come t,o my aid for the poor, is to say, finally, that the more *money
if I have no money wherewith to buy foc.d for mys4.f            a member has  `the more he is in duty bound to contri-
and my <dependents. In fine, the mandate of Paul, "give bute  in his own behalf.  No,w  t:o say the latter is to
as the Lord has blessed you," .can only apply to the giveexpression to a socialistic idea. ., Let us understand
doing of alms. . Only when the offering is  $c.r the poor then8  ,that the saying of Paul that each give as the
in my own Church or in the sis'ter Churches, do the             Lord has blessed,  him may indeed be made toapply  to
w&l-to-do  members give as the Lord has blessed them. the doing or giving of alms only.
   I once wrote in the Standard  Bearer  this,  "Ac-               I gather from the communication of the brother,
co,rding   Yo the Catechism  bhe offerings for the poor that the brotherhood to which he belongs is acting ac-
should constitute  an, integral part  *of the Sabbath ser- cording to this socialistic idea without being aware of
vice, but nit so, the offerings for the maintenance of it, of course. Wrote the brother, "The consistory pro-
the ministry of the gospel and of the schools." The ceeds from the viewpoint of scripture. The weekly
brother wrote me that this statement of mine lift a budget for the  family calls for a contribution of $1.50.
wrong  impassion on the members of  eh,is Church.               Every member with this sum befo,re  his mind is giving
It, the aforesaid statement, made them say that what as the Lord has blessed him." What  Dhe brother means
members of the Church contribute to the support of is  not that every member is giving  alms  but is contri-
Y:he service cannot rightly be considered called a gift buting  to1 the service as the Lord has blessed him. The
but partake of the nature of an assessment or tax that view that it xmains also the duty of the moor  ,to con-
all must pay.     And they were strengthened in this tribute the sum that constitutes  th,e weekly budget for
view by what I wrotre  concerning the budget system, the family and that it  sho.uld  be made possible for  the
especially by the statement  t.o the effect that the sum poor to meet his obligation did not seem right to the
that each mtember  is in duty bound to pay is the,sum           brother and hisl fellow members. Wrote the brother,
resulting from the division of the total sum  n,eeded by "The deacons in distributing alms to the poor would
the number equal to  th.e total number of members. .            not have a  righ,t  to bind the conscience of the poor by
   So the qu,esticn is whether I make a gift when I telling them how much of the alms received they had
contribute to the defraying of the  expence  resulting to again  pa$y into the Church." Also this objection


24                                       T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
i- ._._ -.-.----11_. ."                                               __- -..--"       .c              -....._ -..^_ "---.---_l_
is one of the hrother's own creation. The poor must            If one says that a member in thechurch must pay o&y
be so aided that they can wholly meet all their  obliga-       if  able,  one gives utterance to a statement equivalent to
tion.                                                          the statement that inability o perform a duty frees
      In,,his last communication to me the brother calls       from that duty.
my attention to what I wrote him, namly this,  "It is                                                           G. M. 0.
true that my writings in the Standard Bearer may have
left a wrong impression. To offset this  1 will again
write an article on the subject, fully explaining my-
self." 1 have now fulfilled this promise and,  I hope,                                 IN  MEMORIAM
to the satisfaction of the brother. .                              On August 30 it pleased the Lord to calI Home our dear
      One final remark. The rich in the church aid the         mother and grandmother,
poor, also in the matter concerning the budget, through
the deaconage. It means that the well-to-do member                             ALICE BOUWMAN, APPLEHOF
whe pays into the church $4.00 when the weekly bud-            at the age of 59 years, 11 months, and 19 .days. We are thank-
get for the family' calls  for's  contribution of $1.00,       ful for the assurance that according to-her own testimony she
gives $3.00 directly not to the poor but to the deacons was "Washed in His Blood".
for the poor. The  distribution of alms in the church              In our sorrow we derive our only comfort from the Word
is done not by the members directly but by the mem-            of God for  w,e read in  Rornans   5:5, "And hope maketh not
bers through the deacons. The  rich in the church ashamed because the  love of God is shed abroad in our hearts
at Jerusalem  laicl  their gifts for the poor at the feet      by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us".
of the apostles. It means that the poor in the church                                      Mr.  and  Mrs: John Boelema
apply to the deacons for the ready cash they need to                                                            nee Bouwman
pay their budget.                                                                          Miss Effie Bouwman
      To the views set  forth in these articles some may                                   Mr. and Mrs John Bouwman
have objections. If they have, let  them voice them                                        Mr. and Mrs. Hqry Applehof
to me in this magazine  and, I  will try and remove                                       Mr. and Mrs. Cornelius Kikkert
them. If any of the brethren can show that the views                                                            nee Applehof
1 presented are wrong,  let them do so, by all means,           Grand Rapids, Mich.          and four grandchildren
I, too, am willing to learn. But let us come then with
calm  an,d cogent argument.      Let  us not  come with
railing.
      Let  *me bring forward the propositions on which my                     JESUS NEVER FORSAKES
entire reasoning turns.
      1. The member-of the church is under the legal                   Deep in my heart, like a river,
necessity  .cf contributing to the support of the service.                    %lows  the assurance divine
That is to say, the contribu,tions made for the support                That Jesus, the Saviour of sinners,
,of the service  are no free-will  off,erings,  that may or                   Is now forever mine.
may not be made as one chooses. We have to do here
with a duty.                                                           Tho' I may often forget Him,
      2. Each member should contribute the full sum                           Often be selfish and blind,
that the weekly budget for the family calls for. Other-                He never will leave me to perish,
wise said, B does not contribute more than A (who is                          So patient is He, and kind.
also a member with sufficient means) for the mere
reason that the material resources of B are larger                     Friends I  caIl dearest may fail me,
than those of A. It is the socialist who would maintain                       Yet He is ever t,he same ;
this.                                                                  He comes to my rescue whenever
      3. Inability to perform a duty, does not free from                      I call on His blessed name.
that dmuty. The opposite view is Pelagian. Hence, the
inability of the poor to contribute to the support of                  Why should I fear for the morrow,
the service does not free them of the obligation to con-                      When He is mindful of me,                             i
tribute. Thus the obligation remains. The poor, there-                 Or why should I tremble at sorrow,
fore, may not say, "because I cannot I need not". If                          With such defense as He.
so, it follows w&h  unrelenting logic that the rich in the
church must enable the poor to pay their budget.                       Jesus will never, never forsake me,
      These are the three propositions on which my view                       My trials and strength He knows;
reposes. If they must be affirmed, my reasoning holds,                 Safely, He'll guide me, securely will hide me,
and any other view must be set sside as untenable.                            From even the least of foes.


                              A  Reformed   Semi-Monthly  Magazine
             PUBLISHED BY THE REFORMED FREE PUBLISHING ASSOCIATION, GRAND RAPIDS, MICH.





Vol. XIV, No. 2. Entered   as  second   class  mail
                         matter  at  Grand   Rauidr.   Mich.     OCTOBER 15, 1937                        Subscription Price, $2.00

                                                                           And again in this section.
           M E D I T A T I O N                                             Wle shall live ! For, we are led by the Spirit of
                                                                        God, and they that are so led are children of God, and
                                                                        children of God shall never die ; heirs. are they of God
   `The Suffering Of This Present Time                                  and joint-heirs with Christ  a& with `Him we shall
                                                                        be glorified forever. . . . if so be! . . . .
                                                                           Yet, t,his apparently discordant note cannot  be mis-
                    . . . . . if so  be that  we  sufler  with          sed in this song of salvation and victory, as long as it
                    h:im that  we  .may  abo  bo glorified to- is sung in the Church on earth.
                    gether. For I i-e&on. that tha sufferings              Assurance is a matter of the individual!
                    of  this  prrrrmt   time  WC not worthy to             Let every one examine himself!
                    hi  aompcuwi  with,  the  glory  ihad  shall           For, if any man hath not the Spirit of Christ he
                    bc  ~r~wcclcd  in us.                               is none of His !
                                                     Rom. 8:17b, 18.       And if any man should refuse to suffer with Him,
    If so he that we suf&r !                                            let him not take this song of victory and glorification
    Occasionally the even  flow of the language and upon his lips. For, he shall not be glorified with Him!
argumentation of Romans 8, which is like a mighty                          Here you must needs choose !
stream, increasing in force as it rushes on, carrying                      If so be!
us irresistibly forward on its current to the ocean of
God's eternal and unchangeable love in Christ Jesus,
seems interrupted, checked. . . .
    Ifsobe!. . . .
    The same warning  ncte was sounded before in the                       To sufXer with Christ!
chapter: but ye are not in the flesh but in the Spirit,                    Awful way, yet blessed privilege !
i f s o b e ! . . . .                                                      Of the suffering of t.his present time the Word of
    And it would seem as if this note of doubt were                     God speaks here.
in conflict with the basic conception of the whole, as                     And suffering does, indeed, characterize this pre-
if the words introduce a discordant note in this grand sent time, is inseparably connected with it, so that no
song of assurance, lolf positive hope and certainty of man passes through the present time without becoming
victory. There is no condemnation for them that are                     subject to this suffering.
in Christ Jesus; the law of the Spirit of life hath made                   Th.is is tru,e of all men.
me free from the law of sin and death; God condemned                       For, this present time is the time of sin and death,
sin in the &sh, in order that tche righteousness of the of wrath and the curse of God; the wrath of God
law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the                     is revealed from heaven upon all unrighteousness and
flesh but after the Spirit; ye are not in the flesh, but                ungodliness of men, and causes them to suffer. What
in the Spirit; and though the body be still dead be- pain and agony, what sorrow and grief, what tor-
cause of sin, the Spirit is life  beraise  of righteousness, ments of death are endured in soul and, body by all,
and the  Qirit of Him that raised Jesus from the dead men and women, old and young, from the moment they
shall also quicken our mortal bodies by His  Spiri't join the unhappy throng of Adam's children, doomed
that dwelleth in us; blessing upon blessing, glory upon to death, until the moment they sink into the sleep
glory. . . . if so be! . . . .                                          of death! Who shall adequately describe the agonies


2%                                       T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
                         - --._.__  -          ___ __.._-  - ___ "--.              .-             _II-..-                    -."-._
of sickrooms and deathbeds, in homes, in hospitals and led Him captive like an evil-doer, spit upon Him,
asylums, the sufferings of the dying writhing with buffeted and scourged Him, preferred a murderer
pain,   gasqing  for breath, desperately struggling to above Him, nailed Him to the accursed tree. . . .
::laintain  their hold on life; of bleeding hearts, silently                He suffered of evil men, for righteousness' sake.
grieving in hopeless bereavement, that cannot be healed                     And to suffer with Him is to su%er in  felbowship
and will not be comforted?           The shadow of death with Him. For, that wicked world still hates Christ.
darkens the way of all that travel through this present And if Christ be in us and through His Spirit dwell
time ; the fear of death pursues them all their life ; in us, I-Ie must needs become manifest in our walk
the despair of death blasts their every hope; death is in the midst of the world, manifest in our confession
actually in every moment of this present time! . . . . of His name, manifest, too in all our life and conversa-
      Suffering is universal; it is the lot of all.                      tion. And the word of Christ will be fulfilled in us,
      How could one successfully refuse to share in the that even as they hated Him so they will hate us for
suffering of this present time? Where, then, is a way His name's sake. The suffering of Christ, which He
of escape? And how, then, can the apostle present suffered personally from t.he world while He was in
this -suffering  as if it were a matter of our free choice, the world must be  filleti. Its measure was being itlIed
whether or no we shall take our share and bear OUI                       by the saints of the old dispensation, that d,ied in faith,
cross and travel the `way of suffering and death? How not having received the promise; it was filled centraily
can he say: if so be? . . . .                                            by Himself in the fuln.ess  of time; it must be filled by
      It is not, indeed, of this universal world-agony that the saints of the new dispensation. . . -`the suffering
he is speaking.                                                          of Christ in and throu'gh  His Church in the world!
      Fo?-,  he speaks of suffering with Him! with Christ.                  It is a suffering like unto His suffering.
      An'd to suffer with Him implies that we share in                      For, if we suffer with Him we suffer not as evil-
the very special and altogether unique agony which He doers but for welldoing and for righteousness' sake.
endured! It means that we partake of His suffering, And also now that suffering assumes the form of
that we suffer even as He did!                                           reproach of shame. It involves the loss of name ancl
      Not to be sure, as if we could share in or add t3                  position in the world, of honor of men, of possessions
the agonies of  scul and body He endured when He and liberty, yea, of our very life!
became obedient unto death, yea, unto the death of                          Thus the saints of Rome were acquainted with the
the cross; when He bore the wrath of God instead of suffering of this present time.
and in behalf of His own; when God was in Him re-                           They were placed before the choice of. denying
conciling the wo!rl,d unto Himself, net imputing their Christ and bending the knee before the gods cf Rome
trespasses unto them, causing all our iniquities to be and before Rome's Caesar or losing all. And they
loaded upon His head; when He tasted death as only chose rather to suffer with Christ. They endure,d  the
t,he Son of God was able to taste it in human flesh; and forfeiture of their possessions, they were deprived of
when He fully atoned for all  ou,c sin. That suffering their liberty, put into holes and dungeons, they were
is forever unique. It must remain forever alone. We subjected to cruel tortures, were beheaded, burnt as
cannot share it with Him. Neither is it necessary that torches in Nero's garden, thrown before the wild beasts
this suffering of the Lord should be repeated in us UI                   for the entertainment of the world that hated them. . .
perfected by us. It is finished! And it alone will for-                     And we? . . . .
ever be the ground upon which we shaI1 be glorified                         The world changed not. Still the word of the Lord
with Him!                                                                is true : they have hated me, they shall also hate you !
      Yet, to suffer with Him signifies somehow to suffer                   Are you willing rather to endure all than to deny
as He did.                                                               Him? . . . .
      E&e suffered in the world.                                            We shall be glorified together with Him !
      That  world hated Him, because it is  frc,m below                     Ifsobe!. . . .
while He is from above ; it is in darkness and He is the
light; it loves darkness rather than light and He  came                                         -
to radiate the light; it is of its father the devil, while
He is the One sent by the Father to do His will; e&ey
have their delight in the lust of the flesh and the pride                   Unavoi,dable  suffering!
of  life, while He found it His meat to do  th.e  will  of                  That is: unavoidable t:his suffering with Christ is
the Father; in short, He came from God tg speak of as the only way to glory with Him !
God and. to represent His cause in the midst of a world                     Anot,her  way there is not!
that is motivated by enmity against the most High.                          For such is, evidently, the implication of the con-
Therefore, the world hated Him, despised Him, perse- ditional limitation: if so be! . . . .
cuted Him, left Him no room, performled  all their will                      We are children and heirs of God, joint-heirs with
upon Him, contradicted Him, filled Him withcontempt,                     Christ, to be sure. Our inheritance is the incorruptible


3                                                                                                                                 I


                                          THR  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                27
     ---~-                                                                      _.- -_---- - . .._    - -_-.- __. - --..-
     and  undefiiable glory that never fadeth away.  Joy               And if you are a friend of the world,, you shall be
     unspeakable is awaiting us in the day of the revelation accounted an enemy of God !
     of Jesus Christ. Yes, but, remember: if so be that                If you deny Him, persist in denying Him and thus
     we suffer with Him, in order that we may also be glori- avoid the suffering of this present time, you are none
     fied together !                                                of His, the Spirit of Christ does not dwell in you, you
        To be sure, this implies irrevccably,  that we shall        are no chil&en  of God, no heirs of His, no joint-heirs
     never be glorified with Him, that all this glorious con-       with Christ and never shall you be glorified with Him!
     fession of being children of God and His heirs and                Ifsobe!. . . .
     jointdh.eirs  with Christ is cancelled, if we are not found       Unavoidable suffering!
     willing to suffer with Him!
        There is but an only way, and do not imagine an-
     ether,  to the glory  wit,h Christ: the way of suffering
     with Him!
         No, this dues not mean that our suffering with Him            Be not dismayed !
     may or ,can ever constitute the ground of our glorifica-          And hesitate  noit to choose the way of suffering with
     tion. For it our hope is in Christ. All other ground Christ!
     is sinking sand, indeed. N& your or my works, not                 For, the suffering  of this present time is not
     our piety or religion, not our confession of the name worthy to be comparedi with the glory that shall be
     of Christ, not our  suRering  can make us worthy of revealed in us !
     that glory. Thuugh you wculd give all your goods to               You may reckon  !
     the poor and though you would give your body to be                And your reckoning may comfort you in all your
     burned, it would avail you literally nothing with re- tribulation !
     spect to your part in the glory that shall be revealed            For, the very Word of God gives us the example of
     in the children of God. Only the death of the Son of such reckoning, reckons for us. The  tw are com-
     God could merit such !glory for them that are lost in pared, carefully weighed in the balance: the glory
     sin and dead through trespasses.        And His perfect and the suffering. On the one hand the glory that
     obedrience  is wholly sufficient. We shall be glorified shall be revealed in us is evaluated. It is a glory that
     together  with  Him, as belonging to Him, as being is all prepared. For, God prepared it from before the
     one plant with Him through the grace of God both in foundation of the world for them that love Him ; and it
     EIis death and in His resurrection! . . . .                    was made ready in Christ, His resurrection, His exalta-
         Nay, still more must be said.                              tion at the right hand of God. It is about to be re-
         For, the matter, quite contrary to the notion that vealed. For, still it is hid. Hid because of the image
     our suffering with Christ should have meritorious of the earthly  we still bear; hid, too in al1 our sin and
     value with a view tot the glory we shall inherit, stands imperfectness and suffering. But it is to be revealed in
     thus, that the suffering is a gift cf God's grace to us!       the day  04 Christ. Revealed, not merely as a  glory
     It is only because of the grace of Christ that we may          round about us, but in us. For it is God's eternal
     suffer with Him, it is solely through the power of that purpose that we shall be made like unto the image of
     grace that we are able and willin,g to suffer, and it          His Son!
     is a glorious privilege of grace that we dot suffer with          And on the other hand the weight of suffering is
     our Lord.       For, notice, that we suffer with Him in        estimated. All the agony of Christ and His saints in
     order  thnt  we may be glorified together !                    the world, all the pain suffered, all the blood shed,  all
         God's  pl!rpose is attained ! And His purpose it is the cries raised to heaven. Terrible, indeed, when con-
     tcj lead  11s  throu,gh  the suffering with Christ to  un- sidered by itself. . . .
     speaka,ble  joy of glory !                                        Yet, of no account, when compared with the glory
         Yet, the limitation remains: if so be! . . . .             that shall be revealed in us!
         The way of suffering  is unavoidable!                         So unspeakably great is the glory to come!
         Unavoi,dable  as a way to glory ! For, indeed, in             The suffering is temporal, it is but for a little
     anoth*er sense  you may avoid it. Fcs, this suffering 3s while  ; the glory is eternal.           The suffering is very
     your vo'untary choice. There is a way  out, the way l.imited,  the glory is measured by the capacity of our
     of friendship with the world  that crucified your Lord! heavenly natures, made like unto the resurrected Lord;
     You  may, indeed, avoid the way of suffering with the suffering involved but the lost of perishable things,
     Christ, ycu may save your name, your honor among within the scope of your perishable existence ; the
     men,  yo.`r prssessions and your position in the world, glory consists of incorruptible treasures. . . .
     ybu may save your life. . . .                                     Not to be compared!
         Bot only In the way of denying the Lord that                  Fear,  not, little flock !
     bought you !                                                      More than victors are we !
        Only by becoming a friend of the world!                                                                    H. H.


     den gegeven" (Acta van Amsterdam, 1936,                  to talk in a strain that reveals an inclination so to
     Bijlage XXVa, Art. 122).                                 yield and there is reason to believe these reports.
        De synode van Amsterdam nam hierover                     Yet, these same brethren  d" not appear to realize
     het vclgende besluit :                                   at all that by so doing they have put themselves into
   "Belangende  een eventueele oecumenische synode the position with what has always been the official
de e.k. generale  synode van advies te dienen (de depu-       stand of our Protestant Reformed Churches. Perhaps
taten voor correspondent&e  met buitenlandsche kerken, they never knew, perhaps  t,hey  have forgotten, or per-
namelijk, H.H.) over db volgende  punten :                    haps they simply  igno're  the fact that as far as our
   a. Wie zal zulk eene synode samearoepen  en op wel-        churches are concerned it cannot be : church and union  ;
ke wijze;                                                     it is: church or union.
   b. w&e kerken moeten  worden  uitgenoodigd ;                  Principally, membership of our churches and mem-
                                                              bership of the worldly union is an alternative.
   c. hoe behoort de afvaardiging plaats  te hebben ;            It is this one point which I would like to bring
   na daarover  overleg gepleegd te hebben met die            to the attention of our readers in this article.
buitenlandsche kerken die haar  instemming  met zulk
een synde betuigden".                                            It is not now my purpose to set forth the r,easons
   Ik meende,  dat een vruchtbare bespreking van deze w'hy mSembership  of the worldly unions is incompatib!e
kwestie  van correspond'entie  met de Gereformeerde  kerr-    with the confession of a Christian. This was done
ken in Nederland eischte, dat wij eerst eenigszins op         often enough in the past. And,  besi,des,  if after the
de  hoogte kwamen met den stand  dezer kwestie in             more recent manifestation of the character of these
het oude vaderland. Daarom gaven  we.dit  overzicht.          unions, particularly in  Mi.chigan,  there should still be
                                               II.  H .       those who defend the proposition that a Christian can
                                                              join himself to them, the case may well be regarded
                                                              as hopeless.
                         -     -    -                            Nor is it my intention to stress the obligation of
                                                              members and consistories of our churches to watch and
                                                              admonish and exercise discipline if necessary.
                  Church  Or  Union                              I would emphasize now this one point ,that if any
                                                              of the  m~embers  of our churches decide to  join the
                                                              worldly union, they place themselves in a certain po-
   Church or Union,-that is, as far as the Protestant sition with respect to the church of which they are a
Reformed Churches are concerned, an alternative.              member, and in that position they also have a certain
   One must choose either one or the other, he cannot obligation.
retain both, and by choosing the one he breaks with              For, it is simply a fact..&&  the o,fficial  stand, of our
the other.                                                    Protestant Reformed Churches is opposed to the
    Thus the matter stands between us and the worldly         unions.
and- ungodly unions.                                             As early as 1927 it was decided by the  classis that
    And it is probably not superfluous to remind one-         no member of the union can be member of one of our
another of this fact.                                         Protestant Reformed Church. And this decision has,
    There is reason to fear that some of us either have as to its principle, never been revoked or changed.
forgotten that this is actually the stand of our Fro-             With some the opinion seems to prevail that by
testant  Reformed Churches or were never aware of it.         a later gathering of the classis the officiel  position of
    We know *how lately the different worldly unions t.he churches with respect to union m.embership  was
agitate and  put forth every effort to increase their         changed. The  folrmer  action was rescinded. At pre-
membership and to organize all the workers of the             sent our churches take no united stand in this matter.
land under their constitutions.                               It is left to the individual congregations and  con-
    Both the A.F.L. and C.I.O. work very hard to ob-          sistories to determine whether or no membership in
tain majorities in every  shop and factory in order the union is compatible with membership of the church.
that under the Wagner Act they may be the sole                    But this opinion is mistaken.
bangaining agency for all the workers. And usually                It is true that a  !ater classis  decided that it. was a
they strive for the "closed shop" that they may place mistake simply to make a general  declaraticn  without
the workingman before the alternative: join the union a concrete occasion for such declaration, and to declare
or go jobless!                                                some general rules Iimiting  the membership in our
    Occasionally one hears that also  solme  of the mem- churches. The classis saw that the determinat;on  that
bers of our churches yield to the pressure thus exerted anyone for any reason cannot  b-ccome or  cannoit   be
and join the union rather than loose their job, or begin any longer a member of one of our churches is a matter


                                        T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                               31

of discipline; that discipline is a concern of the local
congregation and consistory and must begin there and                        Een  Wonderlijk  Geleerd  Gebed
not at the classis;  and that, therefore, a elass'ical  de-           In 
cision must wait until a concrete case of discipline were                    The  C~-cLz&z   F'orunz  publiceerde Dr. C.  Bouma
                                                                  een gebed, dat hij opsteEde loijkbaar  met het doe1 om
brought to its attention by one of the local consistories.        op Labor Day gebeden te  worden.
And with a view to these matters it decided to rescind                                                        Ik weet  niet of
                                                                  het zijn  doe1 is om dit gebed op de lippen te leggen
its fcTmer  action.                                               van Gods volk alleen of van heel d,e wereld. Beide is
       l&t it. never revoked the principle involved.              metterdaad  we1 mogelijk, want er is  hoer voor "elk
       On the contrary, it was very definitely expressed wat wils".
by the same gathering of classis,  that the Protestant               Om cok ons Hollandsch lezend publiek in kennis
Reformed Churches still maintain  Ohe princi& that te stellen met den inhoud van dit model-gebed, heb ik
membership of the union is incompatible with mem- de moeite genomen om het uit het Engelsch te ver-
bership of the Protestant  R,eformed  Churches.                   talen.
       That, therefore, is the official stand of our churches        Hier volgt het:
today.                                                                       "0, Gij, die den mensch gemaakt hebt en
       And, of course, the consistories are und,er obKgation           hem de opdracht  gegeven hebt om*de  aarde ie
to act accordingly.                                                    bouwen en om de krachten verborgen in Uwe
       This stand of our churches, moreover, was sealed                schepping  te ontwikkelen, wij  danken  U, dat
by the action of the classis  of June 1937, when they                  Gij ons arbeid gegeven hebt voor onze han-
advised a local consistory to proceed with discipline of               den. Na eene periode van  werkloosheid   er-
a member who had joined the union and refused to                       kennen wij TJwe onverdiende provisie in de
resign that membership.                                                welvaart, die thans tot onze natie  weder-
       Now, what follows from this for those brethren                  keert. We danken  U voor den oogst van 1937.
that join the union?                                                   We  danken  U voor de herleving  van  handel
       In the first plaee, that -principally they have as-             en nijverheid.
sumed a position that places them in conflict with the                       0, Heere! we buigen onze  hoofden  met
&lYicial  posit,ion of our churches. This is plain and in-             schaamte wanneer we onze zonden  als eene
controvertible. In principle they have broken connec-                  natie gedenken.        Daar  zijn de  zonden van
tion with the church to which they belong. They chose                  ondankbaarheid van ijdel en snoevend zelf-
for the union as  ccn  nltern&ive.  They chose against                 vertrouwen. Wij bidden U  voor een  terug-
the church as an alternative. And sooner or later this                 keer van den geest, die de vroegste neder-
break in principle, if maintained> must lead to a break                zetters in Massachusetts bewoog om hunne
in actual fact.                                                        onwaardigheid te erkennen, hunne  afhanke-
       In the second place, it follows from the official stand         Iijkheid van U, en om hunne dankbaarheid
our churches take with regard to union-membership                      te uiten voor de onverdiende zegeningen in
vs. membership of our churches, that they are under                    de spheer van het natuurlijke, zoowel als van
the obligation to do one of three possible things:                     het geestelijke.
                                                                             En nu onze natie groot en sterk is geworden
       1. They must openly declare that they have pre-                 op economisch gebied, leer ons onze roeping
ferred and ,do prefer the union to membership of our                   tegenover U te verstaan. Wij bidSden  u in het
churches ; or :                                                        bijzonder voor recht en gerechtigheid in in-
       2. They must file their objection to the principle              dustrieele betrekkingen. Dat werkgevers en
and official stand our churches adopted in! this manner                werknemers hunne  plichten mogen erkennen
by sending their consistory a well motivated protest;                  inplaats van nadruk te leggen,  op hunne rech-
or:                                                                    ten, en dat ze  acht  mogen geven op Uwe
       3. They must change their position and break wit,h              heilige ordinantign  voor de regeling van de
the union.                                                             betrekkingen in bet mensche1ijk.e samenleven.
       I sincerely hope, of course, that the last may be               Bewaar ons voor de verwarring van  een  bin-
the result, when the brethren realize their obligation                 nenlandschen  ooklog.        Mogen we bewaard .
in this matter.                                                        blijven voor alle onnoodige botsing van mach-
       But as far as the principle of the matter is con-               ten en  voorr  Moedvergieting.  Mogen we  be-
cerned, the official stand of our churches is still:                   waard blijven voor alle onverantwoordelijk
Church or Union.                                                       radikalisme  aan den eenen kant, en voor  alle
       It is an alternative.                                           onlrecht en verdrukking van den zwakke door
       And every one must choose.                                      den sterke aan den anderen kant.
                                                   H. H.                    Zegen een ieder, die de verantwoordelijkheid


                                                  T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                    41
                                                                     -I_-
                                                                     the church as the body of Christ, not of a Christ yet
                           Comunication                              in the flesh, but of a Christ glorified in the heavens,
                                                                     sitting upon the throne of God, and His ministers not
          Mr. J. H. Hcekstra sent to the undersigned the             sunk in materialism, but night and day busy in the
      following communication.                                       spiritual things pertaining to God's spiritual kingdom.
      Rev. G. M. Ophoff.                                                Another reason why the  .writer disapproves of the
      Dear Sir and Brother:-                                         budget is that it has to do with  figures,  that' in a
          In the Standard Bearer for October 1, 1937, you measure gamble with the future, while the  church
      brought forward the three propositions (points) on even  .in the midst of materialism should conduct the
     _  which  your reasoning concerning the matter of  our          Rings business in pure faith.
      offerings, turns, to wit:                                         Another reason why the writer is of the conviction
          1. The member of the church is under the legal             that the worldly budg&  is #out of place in God's king-
             necessity of contributing to the support of the         dom on earth, is that it proves itself tyrannical. It
             service..                                               dare call him a thief, whom the Lord makes poor,
          2. Each member should contribute the full sum              if, he complies not with a set of rules a superfluous
             that the weekly budget for the family calls consistory makes.
             for.                                                       It is, I think, still a matter for dispute if  eon-
          3. Inability to perform a duty does not free from sistories have the power,from  God to judge the congre-
             that duty.                                              gation, the power, right, to exact from each member
          In the same issue the Rev. Ophoff makes this honor- a stipulated sum, that pays for service, heat, seats,
      able announcement that if any one of the brethren etc.
       can show that the views presented by him are wrong,              The budget, no matter how piously arranged or
       let him ,do so by all means. The Rev. also wrote that, deftly clothed and elaborately framed, must needs de-
       "to the views set forth in this article some may have         stroy love: for when dema,md  is.made, love is outwitted.
       objeeti.ons.  If so, then let them voice them in this         The budget is tyrannical, unbrotherly, unchristian, un-
       magazine and I will try and remove them"                      worthy and unbiblical.
          This is very gentlemanly and shows him well en-               I have much ,more to say, but I dare not take any
       trenched in his views and convinced of victory in his more room in the  S. B., and I will appreciate your ef-
       debate with any one who raises objections to his views. forts to annul my arguments.
:         Notwithstanding this assertion, I will attempt to             Wishing you a clear insight into the things of God's
       show the Rev. Ophoff that his position is wrung.              kingdom. I am sincerely yours,,
          Before I begin arguing, let me state my conviction,                                         J. Hoekstra.
       that no one will be able to show that Rev. Ophoff is             Let me then reply to the statements of the brother.
       wrong, if he should argue from the point of view of              Firstly.. The brother did not reproduce correctly
       the church budget system.                                     the three propositions on which my reasoning concern-
          Every reason honestly advanced by Rev. Ophoff ing the matter of offering turns.
       regardin,g  a budget is correct, even the strong assertion       Proposition 1 as it came from my pen reads :
       that he who is unable to contribute to the budget, steals        The member of the church is under the legal neces-
       from the Lord and his brethren.                               sity of contributing to the support of the.service. That
          Certainly, the Rev. Ophoff is correct in calling him is to say, the contributions mlade for the support of
       a thief who gives his entire possession, but fails to give the services are no free-will offerings, that may or
       the full amount, called for by the budget.                    may not be made as one chooses. We have to do here
          According to the budget system of giving, Jesus            with a duty.
       should have called the poor widow who gave all she                Question 1. Is this true or not?
       had when she contributed her mite, a thief, if the                Proposition 2. Each member should contribute the
       budget had been set for two mites.                            full sum I that the weekly budget for the family calls
          And this, it seems to me, shows that the budget for. Otherwise said, B does not contribute more than
       is wrong, out of place, and not to be tolerated in the A (who is also a member with sufficient means, that is,
       sanctuary of our Lord                                         `a member well-to-do), *for the mere reason that the
          Another reason which, in my estimation, proves material rewurces of B are larger than those of A. To
       the budget wrong is found in the Rev's comparing the maintain the contrary  (is to give utterance to a social-
       activities within the house of God to a well-conducted istic .sentiment."
       grocery store.                                                    Question  2. Is.this true or not true?
           The writer in his 72 years of membership in the               Proposition 3. Inability to perform a duty does not
       church has never viewed the church as a mere business free from that duty. The opposite view is Pelagian.
       institution, and its ministers as grocery clerks. No, Hence, the inability of the poor to contribute to the
       he always saw them, the ministers, holy. He viewed support of the service does not free them of the obli-


42                                   T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
                                                                         --  _..__   -.-."___---.-   ".""-^   ..--  __I
g&ion  to contribute. Thus  ,the obligation remains.        because I wrote that the duty of a member to pay into
The poor, therefore, should not say, `%ecause  I cannot,    the church the sum required by the budget is as certain
I need not". If so, it follows that the rich in the church and binding as his duty to pay fcr the food that he
must through the deaccnage enable the poor to pay consumes.              I cannot see anything wrong with this
their budget.                                               stand. Consider that the church as institution is an
      Question 3. Is this true or not?                      organization and that this organization in functioning
      May  I kindly ask the brother to examine  ihese incurs expenses.          Though no business institution, it
three propositions. And I would appreciate it very daes, must do business, even with the world sometimes.
much if, in the event he finds them false, he would         The electricity it uses is furnished by the world. Now
show me the reasoning that led to his conclusion. I certainly the duty of this organizati,on  to pay for the
assure him that I am not so deeply entrenched in my fue: that it consumes and for the electricity that it uses
views that  I am altogether incapable of examining an is as binding as the duty of an individual to pay for
opponent's argument to discover its worth and to as- the food that he has bought. Paul says, "Owe no
certain whether I after all may not be in error. And man anything," and, "let your conversation be honest
I would also like to have the brother believe me when among the gentiles." This certainly also applies to
I say that 1 am, or at least ought to be, interested in     the church as organization. Well now, if it is the
truth and not in gaining a victory over an opponent. solemn duty of this organization to pay its bills, it
Will the brother then reply to these three questions must certainly be the duty cf every member to make
with a yes or no and give me the reasons for his reply.     ,this possible. If the duty of this organization to pay
      The brother wrote ,"Sure,  the Rev. Ophoff  is correct for what it purchases is as binding  as,my duty to pay
in calling him a thief who gives his entire possession, for the food that I Consume (and who will deny this)
but cannot contribute the full amount demanded by it must be that the duty of the members of this organi-
the budget." But did I call such a one a thief in my zation to contribute toward the defraying of the ex-
article? No, I did not. What I actually wrote is this.      penses it makes in functioning, is also as urgent as
"The member with suff&nt mec~`)iw,  (mark you, with their duty to pay their own individual bills.
sr.fficient  means, that is, the rich member) who pays         Again let me ask: is this reasoning true or not.
into the church  50~ when the budget per family  :x-        I wish the brother would also examine this bit of
mounts to the sum of $1.50 is weekly stealing from the      reasoning and if he discovers in it any flaws, I would
Lord and from his brethren exactly $1.00."                  be glad if he would pcint  them out to me.
      Question 4. Is this true or not true?                    The brother is opposed to the budget. It is un-
      Must we take the stand that the rich member in        christian, says he. Let us see if it is. What is the
the church who rolls his share of the burden upon budget? Simply this: the consistory appears before
the shoulders of his brethren who perhaps are not as        the congregation with its finantial estimates for the
well-to-do as he, - must we take the stand that. such month or for the year. That is, the consistory says to
a member does well ? Or' must we say of him that the congregation, "According to the estimation of the
he sins. I wish the brother  wouId  reply with a  ges consistory so much will be needed for light, so much
or 12.0 to this question and again be so good as to give for fuel, so much for salaries, so much for repairs, etc."
his reason for his reply.                                   Now this is the budget, the financial statement or esti-'
      But  d.oes it not follow from my premises that mate. The acceptance of this estimation by the con-
a member who pays only half of the sum that the gregation is the acceptance of the budget. Now why
budget for the family calls for, because he honestly        is the budget unchristian.  Why is it sin for a  con-
can pay no more, is stealing? I will admit that this sistory to say to the congregation, "so much is needed
follows from these two premises of mine that the            for salaries and so much for some necessary repairs
duty to contribute to the service roots in church mem- that must be made." The brother says, that the bud-
bership and that inability to perform a duty does not get is sin because it deals with figures. Of course it
free from that duty, that thus the poor who cannot does. But is it sin for the church to deal with figures?
pay should allow the rich to aid them through the How oan the church avoid dealing with figures? But
deaconage.       Now if these two premises are wrong, these figures, says the brother, gamble with the future,
it need not be maintained that it is the duty also of therefore the budget is wrong.
the poor to contribute to the service. So then, would          The church should live by faith. What the brother
the brother kindly concentrate also on these two pre- means, most likely, is that the budget is a certain
mises and show me that they are wrong, if he finds          guarantee that what is needed will also be forthcoming
them so. I for myself recoil from saying that inability in that the budget is an instrument for compelling the
to perform a duty frees from that duty. To my mind members to contribute. But how can it be. How
this is an unbiblioal stand to take.                        can this making known what will be needed guarantee
      The brother further maintains that in my writing, that what is needed will be forthcoming? And how
I lower the church to a mere business institution,          can this making known of what is needed, compel  the


                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                            4:3
        ~---_lll_-                     _-                                     ..--_.-_I_  ..__......_
members to contribute what is needed?              I do not
understand.                                                                         The  Miracles
   The brother ended with a wish, namely, that I
attempt to annul his arguments.        Why should  I do           `IJnder the caption "The Works of the Egyptian
this? I am not interested in annulling arguments just Magicians" appears in "The Banner" for August  26
now. What I desire is light. Will the brother now be           an article (from the pen of Prof. L. Berkhof) that
so kind as to furnish me with this desired light by reads, "The question is raised by a Banner reader,,
please concentrating on these three propositions and .whether the works performed by the Egyptians ma-
on these two premises that I brought forward and in gicians in imitation of Moses were genuine miracles.
case he finds them false by disclosing to me the reason- A miracle in the real sense of the word is a  super-
ing that led him to his conclusion. Will the brother naturai work of God, a work in which He operates im-
furnish me with Ii,ght by please answering all the ques- mediately, and not through the secondary causes that
tions that I put in this writing, with an unequivocal are always operative in nature. The perfcrmance  of
yes or z,o and by giving me the reasons for his replies. such works is a divine prerogative. The Bible teaches
If h.e does this, I will be grateful. For again I say, I us that God only performs miracles. Miracles are
desire light and I have no need of annulling arguments. called signs, because they are indications of the pre-
The brother says he has much more to say. Will he sence of God and of His divine power. They serve the
please comply with my wish, before he says more. I purpose of  atfesting  God's revelation, that is, of prov-
beg for light. And I now humbly place myself at the ing it genuine, which they would not do, if others
feet of the brother as his pupil. The brother is now could also perform them. When the children of Israel
the teacher. Certainly, the teacher ought to be kind had passed through the Red sea, they sang a beautiful
enough to lead his pupil into the light by answering song, containing these words: `Who is like unto thee,
the questions that the pupil puts to him. Will the             0 Jehovah, among the gods? Who is like unto thee,
brother then be so kind as to refrain from avoiding            glorious in holiness, fearful in praise, doing wonders?"
the questions put; the three propositions and the two Ex'15 :11. Let us also listen to a few words from the
premises brought forward. Will he be so kind as to Psalms. In Psalm 72 :18 we read : `Blessed be Jehovah
concentrate on these propositions and premises and to God, the God of Israel, Who only doeth wondrous
answer these questions with a yes or  Rio,, and give things," The p,oet  of Psalm 72 sings in the verses 13,
reasons for his replies and also give the reasonings           14. `Who is a great God like unto God? Thou art  the.
that led him to his conclusions. Will he do this and           God that doest wonders.' And in the 136th Psalm we
greatly oblige his pupil.                                      are enjoined to give thanks unto Jehovah, `to him who
   No, I did not mean to say that the church as organi- alone doeth great wonders.' verse 4.
zation is identical as to kind to a grocery store. The            "However, Scripture also speaks of `lying wonders,'
church as an institution is the manifestation on earth and ascribes these to the devil and his agents. They
of the kingdom ,of light, and the church is also seen LIS      may be superhuman, may be the result of a superior
a kingdom of light  ,when it owes no man anything, knowledge of the forces of natur!, or may represent
when it pays its bills and when the well-to-do members         mere trickery. They may be called `wonders' or `mira-
in it are, as  constrained by love, generous toward the        cles' if the term be used in a rather loose sense to in-
poor and through the deaconage aid the poor also in            dicate works which appears to be supernatural, and
a material sense, even in the matter  of the budget.           therefore cause amazement; but they are no genuine
   And now also this question. Is this reasoning of            miracles."
mine wrong  or right? Will the brother reply and give             I wonder if the author of the above answer has
reason for his reply. It is again the pupil asking.            actually succeeded in making plain what the miracle
                                                G. M. 0.       really is and whether what he says of the miracle is
                                                               true? Can it be said in truth that a miracle is a work
                                                               in which God operates immediately, and not through
               SUBSCRIBERS :        Notice !                   the secondary causes that are always operative in
   The Treasurer has no more funds, so if you can,             nature? It cannot. The view here expressed is op-
please pay ,up your subscription at your earliest con-         posed to the testimony of Holy Writ concerning the
venience.                                                      plagues of Egypt.          In working these plagues (and
                   R. Schaafsma, 524 Henry Ave., S. E.         these plagues were miracles) Jehovah employed means,
                                        Treasurer.             agents. There occured  a miraculous multiplication of
                       1_1--                                   frogs through the agency, certainly, of the frogs. The
                                                               wind brought the locusts. It was  by a strong east
                      Correction                               wind that the  Lord caused  t,he Red sea to go back "all
  Printers error  *.- In the memoriam notice on page that night land made the sea dry land." Ex. 14:2& The
48, H. Harkema  should read H. Hoeksema, Pres.                 greatest of  .a11  miracles - the virgin birth (4f Christ -


44                                    T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
                                - . - .                                       _ _   --_--                       -
was worked through the agency of the virgin Mary. and of Ps. 104. There are, of course, many other pas-
One of the articles of our creed therefore reads, "Born sa,ges of Scripture that deal with these works, which
of the virgin Mary."                                        in distinction of that new work of the Lord may be
      The wonder, it should be understood, utilizes the oalled old and first. There are then works of the Lord
earthy. The Lord in visiting Egypt did not strike           that are  f+r& and  o%d and works that are  rzew and
down into nature from outside with a power super-           sxond.    It is this  neul  *work (these new works) to
ceding its familiar  forces  ; to the contrary, these which Scripture gives a name. (or names) of which
forces, (the so-called secondary forces of which our words  wonder or miracle is the translation. Won-
He is the Creator), He utilized and caused to ders are they, marvels, that attract and astonish, and
mount to unimagined heights. He assailed Phar- that, as they have "not been in all the earth,`" are new
aoh from earth, sky, and water in things least indeed.
and in things greatest and thus brought Himself for-           The question is now in order: what is that new
ward as the God who is everywhere present in creation work (works) of the Lord and why, for what purpose,
and controls its wheels. This Pharaoh denied. The           is it wrought? We read of these new works in Ps. `78 :
plagues ran parallel with and imaged the common "Marvel.ous things did He. . . .He divided the sea,
troubles of Egypt. . They therefore did not follow each and caused them to pass through; and He made the
other with such speed  Ias to be completed within a few waters to stand as on a heap. In the daytime He also
weeks. They ranged over a period of about six months. led them with a cloud, and all the night with a light
      The writing I now examine asserts further that of fire. . . . He  clave the rocks in the wilderness,
the miracles are signs. True, some miracles are this, and gave them drink as out of the great depths. . . ."
but likewise the works of God that are not miracles.           From this Psalm it is plain that the new work
Turning to Gen.  I:14 we read, "And God said, let           (works) of the Lord, the wonder, the miracle proper,
there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to           consisted in the Lord's delivering His people through
divide the day from the night;  ati  let the-m be  .fm-     His out-stretched arm and in bringing them to the
sY.gm. . . . And God made two great lights ; the greater promised land of their abode. The miracle then spells
light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the     redemption and, to use a borrowed expression, betokens
night; he made the stars also."            Now the greater the breaking through of grace. But the redemption
light (the sun) and the lesser light (the moon) and from Egyptian bondage, the conquest of Canaan, God's
the stars are properly no miracles; yet are they signs entering  with His pecple into Canaan's rest, the rest
- of things heavenly.                                       of Canaan, were but shadows, the body of which is the
      Miracles, the writing under consideration asserts, heavenly (in the central sense Christ) again brought
are indications of the presence of God and of His           `?to being by the miracle. In the final instance then,
divine power. True enough, but to say this is not to the miracle is a new work of the God and Father of our
explain what the miracle is in distinction from the Lord Jesus Christ consisting in His redeeming and
other works of God, as all His works are indications        freeing this earthy, in the central sense His people
of His presence and power. It means that we have not from the bondage of corruption an'd in clothing it with
to do here with a mark for identification of' the           heave&y,  (not earthy) salvation and glory.
mira.cle.                                                      The miracle then spells redemption. It make all
      Let us inquire after the marks of the wonders and things new and thus brings into being the heavenly.
after the purpose of their being wrought.                   Thus to deny the miracle is to deny that God through
      Turning to the Scriptures, we come upon numerous      Christ, the incarnate word (the mirade) saves His
passages that tell God's works. These passages are of people from all their sins and prepares for them a
two kinds. The one kind concerns the works of God           heavenly kingdom, whose final appearance in glory will
that in these Scriptures are called  niew,   unccommon,     spell the destruction of the wicked and the passing
unheard  of,  *wonder-&it&g.  Let us quote some of away of this world. The wicked, the mockers of all
these texts. Exodus  XXXIII:lO:  "And he said, Be- ages, deny the miracle. They say, "where is the pro-
hold I make a covenant: before all thy people I will        mise of His coming? For, since the fathers fell asleep,
do marvels, such as have not been done in all the earth,    all things continue as they were from the beginning
nor in any nation: and all the people among which of creation."
thou  art shall see the work of the Lord: for it is a          Miracles were not all of the same kind The typi-
terrible thing that I will do with thee." Read further cal miracles of the Old Dispensation (such as the ten
Ps.  78  :12; I Sam.  3:ll. Isa. 43  :9 reads: "Behold,     plagues of Egypt) brought into being, not the reality
I will do a new thing; now  it shall spring forth." Be- as such (the true heavenly kingdom) but its shadow.
sides these new works of the Lord, holy writ makes           (The Israelitish commonwealth was but a type, a
mention of divine works that it does not call new, to shadow) . The typical miracles were thus prophetic of
wit, the works of creation and providence.           These better things to come. Such miracles performed by
works form the theme of the first chapter of Genesis         Christ as the making whole of the impotent man at


                                        T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                  45
                                          - --_..-_-  ___. - -....                .-.--- .._.............  -____1-.--..  --
the pool of Bethesda should be called symbolical as                   The revelation of the counsels of redemption, let
they effected merely a physical healing and were thus it be considered, shows development. This revelaticn
signs, pictures and seals of the true healing consisting grew; and in its growth the gospel that it sets forth -
in Christ's making whole the spiritually impotent sin- the gospel both in promise and in fulfilment  - unfolds,
ner. It is then not the typical nor the symbolical, but until  finally  in the New Testament scriptures it stands
what must be called the  true miracle (the incarnation, out before the mind of the church as a flower in full
the cross of Christ and its fruitage, to wit, the re- bloom, as a flower that in this bloom wondrously shows
generation of His elect, their spiritual healing, the re- forth the wisdom, mercy and goodness of God. Now
generation of all things) that brings in the heavenly           it is the will of God that we know His gospel also
reality.                                                        in the successive stages.of its unfolding. The proof of
                                           G. M. 0.             this is again that He placed in our hands a revelation
                                                                in which all these stages are seen. Now whereas of
                                                                this process of development of the truth, the law -
                                                                and especially those commands in the law that brought
                                                                into being the typical institutions and service of the
                                                                people of Israel- constitutes an initial stage, it follows
              I  Am  Jehovah  Thy  God                          that this law, too, ought to be known.
                                                                      But did not the typical things of the law - the
     In this article the undersigned makes a commence- tabernacle (temple) and the service connected with it
ment of t"ne study and exposition of the Mosiac legis- wax old and vanish away? Was not  .the writing of
lation  - that mass of legal material promulgated by the epistle to the Hebrews occasioned by the circum-
Jehovah, penned down by His servant Moses and con- stance that the Christians for which this epistle was
tained in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers written were still trusting in these things after the
and Deuteronomy. I think it will be generally con- "dis-annulment of the commandment" and was it not
ceded that this material receives scant attention from the purpose of the author  t,o enlighten his readers
the average reader of the Bible. This statement will that they might understand that the tabernacle and
apply even to ministers of the guspel.  The ten com- the priests that went into it to accomplish the service
mandments, to be sure, are regularly read and preached were but figures "for the time then present" and that
from our pulpits. But t.he treatment in the pulpit of what they therefore had to do is to set their affections
the civil laws of the peopIe  of Israel is an unheard of        upon the heavenly realities of which these figures were
thing.      (Can it be that these materials were not in-        the prophetic types? So it is. The error of the people
corporated  .by the Spirit in the Cannon of the Old             for whom the book of Hebrews was originally written,
Testament Bible for this purpose?) And as to the is that they mistook the type, the picture for the reali-
commands responsible for the founding of Israel's ty. It is against this error that the argument of the
typical institutions and for the inauguration of its            Hebrews is directed. How anyone who has followed
temple service, rare are the sermons on, and rare this argumentation can still be a premillenarian is
also are the Mens', (Ladies', Young Mens'j Societies            indeed a  connundrum.
that will spend a season in the earnest study of these                Well then, if these typical things have indeed
commands, institutions and service.       It means that vanished away, why should we trouble ourselves about
the legal materials of the Pentateuch are little known. them? Let me say a word about this. The sentiment
    The question is whether these materials are not from which this reasoning springs is the same as is
worthy of more attention. The conclusion that they responsible for the contention that -the psalms of David,
are is certainly unescapable. Consider that also the because of their typical dress, are unsuitable as instru-
books of the Bible that contain the Mosaic code of laws ments for the expression of the faith of New Testament
were placed in our hands by the Lord our God and that believers.
therefore it must be His will that also these laws be                 As was said, the worldly tabernacle and the service
made the subject of careful and earnest study. Was              connected with it were pictures of heavenly things.
it not to Timothy that Paul wrote that all Scripture            However, as Christ is the end of the law, these pictures
and that thus also the legal materials contained in vanished away, never again to reappear on earth as
the Pentateuch, is given by inspiration of God, and is concrete, historical phenomena. The sacrifices perma-
profitable for doctrine, for  reproofz for correction,          nently ceased and the temple was reduced to ruins
for instruction in righteousness? This being true, nev.er  again to be rebuilt by the command of God. But
the study of the law must result in our being led by            as the picture (the tabernacle, temple, sacrifice) was
the Spirit deeper into all the truth of Holy Writ, in destined to disappear, the Lord saw to it that its pat-
the widening and strengthening of our mental grasp              tern was  preserved  in the law for the purpose, cer-
upon the purposes of God and in the quickening of our tainly, that New Testament believers might have op-
spiritual life.                                                 portunity for contemplating the things heavenly as


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     46'                             T H E   S T A N D A R D   R E A R E R
                                      ."--_lll.-"..".-_     -          -----."-~  .--_  __              -..,.....  --.._ll
     r;cen   not  only through  the glass of the New Testament lished customs, which were the forerunners of ,the law.
     scriptures but also in the face of their typical patterns.       The conquest of Canaan, by alliance  and- inter-
     And this they do. God wills it, wills to work faith in marriage with the native population as well as by the
     th.e hearts of His people and to strengthen this faith sword, marks the important transition to the second,
     through a preaching of the gospel in which these typi- the agricultural stage, in which the Hebrews became
     cal patterns have a place, through a preaching that           a settled people with  .a permanent place of abode,
     avails itself of God's very own figures of the heavenly where they were able to crystalize  into an independent
     things and that thus strives to reach the souls of nation. Under the  radi,cally changed conditions, earlier
     men by the avenue of the ear but also of the eye. The laws were cast aside or else modified. Powerful in-
     proof of this is the very circumstance that the pat- fluences from without and active forces from within
     terns of these heavenly things were preserved for us hastened the growth of  politcal and social institutions.
     in the law. The church cf this epoch is therefore in `It is said that it was during this period of marked
     the possession of the instrument it needs for recon- national development, which continued until the Baby-
     structing in its mind the typical picture. And before lonian exile, that most of Israel's penal and civil laws
     this picture the church takes its stand not to embrace attained their final form.
     it as the reality, but to behold in this picture the             Finally, the exile and the succeeding centuries,
     beauties of the Lord and the glory of the heavenly.           which brought to the Jews no deliverance from bon-
            Man-made figures have a place - and often too dage, checked the development of secular and  ac-
     large a place - in present day preaching. It shows ceIerated  the growth of religious institutions.                The
     how well ministers of the word realize the necessity third stage in Israel's history is therefore held to be
     of addressing themseIves  in their sermons to the eye in many ways unique. The nation, it is said, was
     as well as to the ear of t.heir  hearers. But why, in bound hand and foot. As a result its attention was
     so  dcing, should they ignore God's very own figures of intently  fixed upon the past and the future, both of
     the things heavenly? What better pictures of heaven- which it idealized. Its energy was consequently de-
     ly things can be desired than those given by the Lord voted to expanding the ritual and ceremonial laws,
     God Himself. Who can give us true figures of the              whereby it sought to win Jehovah's favor and to se-
     heavenly but He? No one.                                      cure the realization of its ideals. And so highly, it is
            In the light of the above observations, it ought to    said, were the ceremonial institutions and the laws
     be plain that it is of the utmost importance that there of this later period esteemed that they were thought
     be knowledge and an understanding of the law. The             of as ever-existent and therefore supported by the
     law sets forth the  &wspeI  in promise so that the gospel authcrity  of the founder of the nation, Moses, whom
     in fulfillment will be appreciated the more, if there be      later generations came to regard, but erroneously so,
     a knowIedge  of the law. It is in the law in conjunction as the father of all Israelitish law. The law of Moses
     with his discourses, that Moses stands out as the father is th.erefore  said to have come into being not during
     of all the prophets and books of the holy scriptures.         his lifetime but centuries after and to have been writ-
     The history, proverbs, prophesy and pa&y of Israel ten by Jeremiah and Ezekial and by other prophets
     is grounded upon the law and exists in it. All the of that age.
     historical writings of the  Old Testament Bible  pre-            We will say no more about this view than that it
     supose the law of Moses as a book.                            is altogether derogatory to the testimony of Holy Writ
            The statement was just made that the gospel of and thus stands for a wisdom - the wisdom of the
     God both in promise and  fulfilment  expanded, unfolded, world  - that is foolishness with God. As was said
     and that of this process of expansion the law was one         (in & previous arti,cle) the position of faith is that the
     of the initial stages. This view has absolutely nothing Pentateuchal codes, the law of Moses, are  cf God, the
     in common with the view of the higher critics respect- product of divine revelation (according to the view
     ing the scriptures in general and the Mosaic legislation of the higher critic the Mosiac system of laws are from
     in particular.      Firstly,, according to this view (so below, proceeded not from the mind of God but from
     I pointed out in a previous article) Israels's laws and the mind of Israel's chiefs and represent their en-
     sacred institutions are the  final outcome of a long deavors to meet through legislation the emergencies
     process of growth of many centuries duration. Three that will arise in the transition periods of a nations'
     distinct stages of development are postulated. The life) made to Moses indeed, and thus form one great
     first  ia the nomadic, during which the Israelites lived system of legislation, complete from the first, thus
     a life and followed the customs of the tribes which still a body of laws that by itself forms one organic whole.
     range with their flocks and herds up and down the                At first flush, however, this view of the higher
     deserts of the east and south of Palestine. Their primi- critic concerning the law may appear to have some-
     tive mode of existence demanded and maae possible thing, if not much, in common with the assertion of
     only the simplest institutions. Their tribal organiza- mine that the revelation of God grew, developed and
     tions insured the observation of the few firmly estab- that the gospel in it expanded, unfolded. The higher


                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                        -17
 IT_I. -__-- - --.. _.-    --.. ^_l___l-"---l__l-.-."--~~  .__...._ -                          I    --__.-..I_._I-__^  _.._ -" -I---.
critic also says in reference to the Mosaic code of ning and the source, according to this view is, must
law, "first the blade, then the ear, then the full corn necessarily be, not the truth but the lie.                      For the
in the ear." In this figure, it is to bs r&iced,  the law source in this view is the imperfect, the primitive,
of Moses plainly stands out as a thing that grew, de- the barbaric and the fruit spells perfection. Thus
veloped. However, the growth of the law that this the  fruitage of the development of the lie is the truth.
figure was meant to indicate, is not true growth at all This is indeed the theory of evolution as applied to
but evolution. Now evolution in the biological sense scripture, to  t.he Mosiac code. And this is also the ab-
is the view that the fulness of the earth was not  fixed .ject foolishness of this theorie.
and established once and for all by a  creative   act of       The law of Moses is not the  fruitage  of such  a
God, but is in a state of perpetual development that process of evolvement. But this law does show growth
proceeds by various stages from the lowest to the           in the true, scriptural sense.          We do find in this
highest kind or species. Thus, according to this theory, law a system, an intended adjustment of part to part,
the species ape developed into the  species man. It and of each part to the whole, a ,gradual  process and
means that the term evolution has come to signify advance from the more fundamental and simple to the
growth or develcpment  through a process of e~~sen;tial more complex and specific detail, thus an increase from
and fundamentul  chrcnges,  thus, through a process in the seed or germ to full growth. Thus in this organic
which the developing entity at each stage of its de-        mass of  legislaticn,  the laws first given were not
velopment comes into being as a thing that differs so       forsaken  as  useless,  to be replaced by a higher  and
fundamentally and radically from what it was at the more perfect type of laws but were retained, amplified
stage preceeding as to form a new and different kind and expanded to render, as so expanded, the Mosiac
or species. So at each stage in the process a new law an organism fully matured. The law then in its
species or kind appears, -- a species of surpassing  cx- completed form was thus the fruitage of the develop-
cellence as compared with its antecedents. Thus the ment net of the lie but of the truth. Of this expansion
species or kinds were not separately created and  tied of the law' by the Lord through Moses ,His servant,
but evolved, the one from the other. Now  t.his is several examples were given in previous articles.
evolution, while growth, development, in the scriptural        Now what is here said of the law, must also be said
sense is the gradual increase of an organism  - plant, of the gospel, it grows, increases, from seed (the pro-
animal or man  - from a root, seed or germ to full mise as first proclaimed by Jehovah immediately after
size or maturity. Here the organism in its maturity the fall, - the promise, "I will set enmity" . . . .) to
is not a new species but the very seed as to kind, the      full maturity in the New Testament scriptures. And
unfolding of the seed through a process not -of essential the gospel as fully developed is not a new species of
changes but of normal growth, so that in the organism truth but the unfolding, the increase of the gospel in
full grown the seed is before us as to all it; potentiali- promise as first proclaimed in paradise, so that in the
ties and full content.                                      gospel as full grown, so to say, the original promise is
    It is plain that the application of this history of before us as to all its implications and full content.
evolution to the Mosiac cede of Iaws must and also             So then, it is plain that there is a vast and essential
does yield the view that also this code evolved through difference between true development and the develop-
a process of c~~.s~&`al chnnges,  thus thrcugh  a process ment of which the evolutionist prates. And the state-
in which this code at each new stage of its evolvement ment to the effect that the law and the gospel show
was actually brought into being as a thing that differed trztc  development will be understood.
so radically from what it was at the preceding stage
of its development as to form a new, different and more
perfect kind or species of legislation. This is actuaIly
the view. The law is held to be the  fruitage of a
process of growth through  sssmltl;nl  changes in it,          Let us now take up the explanation of the law as
changes for the better - and thus represents a passing such. An introduction to the entire law (the moral,
from a low to a higher type of morality and religion the ceremonial and the civil) has already been given
on the part of the people of Israel. Accordingly, at in a series of articles appearing in previous numbers
each stage in the process the laws previously given were of this magazine.
cast aside as having outgrown their usefulness, thus           First in order is the law of the ten commandments.
cast aside as worthless, to make room for a new and My pu.rpose  is not to write lengthy treatises on this
radically different and even contradictory kind .of code. law but simply to briefly dwell on what is essential
The  Iegal material found in the  Bentateuch  is thus the in each commandment. The reason for this is that
flower of the final and highest stage in the religious      1 wish to hastily come to the ceremonial and civil laws
development of Israel. Thus the perfect and the ab- of the people cf Israel and as soon as possible be ready
solute, stand not at the beginning as the source, but at fcr the treatment of this legislation.
the end as the fruit of development. Thus the bcgin-           Coming now to the decalogue, we notice first the


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                  48                                                            THE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
                  7A        _.." ...........I...I  "-.--.    II_______- --.. ^^^.^  --.... 1.._._           _.___^^                               --..
                  superscription above it, "I am Jehovah, thy God, which as a people saved and thus  capabIe  of telling His
                  have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the                             praises.
                  house of bondage."                                                                     Nowhere in scripture does the Lord say to Satan
                        *Jehovah  is He, the 1 c&m.,  the unchangeable One, ltnd the  reprob,ated  wicked as such (they, too,
                  wit.h Whom is no variableness, nor shadow of turning, are His creatures), "I am thy God," or "I am Jehovah
                        I  rem means something more than  I  exist.  Man thy God." The expression thy God appears in scrip-
                  exists; yet is he no I u,rn. He is a child of time with ture solely as a designation .of the relation that the
                  beginning and end. There is to him a past and a fu- Almighty One sustains to His people and they to Him.
                  ture ; and his pesent is a speck of time that moves That the covenant God should call Himself Jehovah, the
                  steadily, on and with it man moves, hastens on to                                  I'  ctm,  in the audience of His people, that in this name
                  his eternal destiny. Change, therefore, is written over especially He stands before the mind of His people
                  t.he entire span of man's earthy life. Man's days are as the God Who establishes with them an eternal cove-
                  a handbreadth; his age is as nothing; his best state nant, finds its explanation in the circumstance that this
                  is altogether vanity. He is carried away as with a flood.                          name signifies in God those virtues from which the
                  He  is as a sleep. In the morning he flourishes and                                eternity of His covenant springs,  namdy,  His immuta-
                  groweth up; in  th.e evening he is cut down and bility and faithfulness. Because He is the I nm, His
                  withereth.                                                                         attitude towards His people cannot change, nor can
                        But as to the Lord, before the mountains were He forget His promise. Being the  I  nlm, He is the
                  brought forth, or ever He had formed the earth and eternal fountain of grace for His people in Christ.
                  the world, even from everlasting to everlasting He is                                                      To be continued..
                  God. He is the  I  am. In Self He lives and moves.                                                                                      G. M. 0.
                  The fountain of His life springs from His very own
                  being as its only source. The flame of His existence is                                                                 -
                  fed by the infinite resources of His eternal self and
      ^ .:,...    within this' Self the law of His existence and the foun-                                                    IN MEMORIAM
             .~ dation of His being are found. Thus He is the un-
                  caused One and the cause of all that is.                                               The  consistory   of the First Protestant Reformed Church
           `.
       ^ . . .                                                                                       of  ,Grand  Rapids hereby wishes to express its sympathy to
       `~  ."           And He is the God, Almighty, just, wise and good.                            i)ur  brother consistory member, Deacon John Bouwman in the
       ji,, z God is He and none else. He is Jehovah "thy God" loss of his mother,
                  and thus also thy Jehovah. Had He, when about to
                  speak to them "all these words" said, "I am Jehovah                                                       MRS. J. APPLEHOF
                  God", and had not said,  "I am Jehovah thy God," the                                   May the Lord comfort him and his family in their sorrow,
                  lot of the people of Israel would have been one of                                 in that they have the assurance that she has gone to her
                  ternal  doom.                                                                      Heavenly Home.
                        True it is that in the name Jehovah the Eternal                                                            The  Con&tory  of  the
                  One brings Himself forward as the covenant God of                                                        First Prot. Ref. Church of Grand Rapids,
                  IsraeI. Yet it cannot be that this name is the signifi-                                                                      H. Harkema,  Pre,s.
                  cation of the Eternal One in His disposition to forgive                                                                   G. Stonehouse, Cle,rk.
                  and to spare and that the name God denotes the same
                  being in His disposition to hold sin and to destroy., If                                                      -
                  God is a consuming fire, so, too, Jehovah. If Jehovah
                  is in Christ the Father of His people, so too, God.                                                         ALL IS WELL.
                  .What He is as Jehovah, He is as God ; and what He is
                  as God, He is as Jehovah. Nor can it me that the                                           In the center of the circle
                  Eternal One lrrecame Jehovah as a result of His resolve                                              Of the will of God we stand;
                  to redeem a pee-pie in Christ. The I am is He in and                                     I There can come no second causes,
                  by Himself apart from the creature.                                                                  All must come from His dar hand :
                        What then spells salvation for the people of Israel                                  All is well! for  `tis the Father
                  is that the I am, the immutable, eternal, almighty,                                                  Who our life hath planned.
                  alwise, just and good God st.ands to His people in the
                  relation of "Jehovah thy God", that thus He is their                                       Shall we pass through waves of sorrow?
                  Jehovah and  their God in Christ, and they His people.                                               Then we know it will be best;
                  which in turn means that He Who is the I cGm,  Who                                       . Though we cannot tell  the reason,
                  is God and none else, is and wills to be possessed by                                                We can trust and so are blest:
                  His people as their Saviour and Redeemer as to all                                         God is love, and God is faithful,
                  He in and by Himself is and thus wills to possess them                                               So in perfect peace we rest.


