           "._._     _                 T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R   ^                                 105
                            "'  "he_,-
                          Of  Grace                        evidently has the signification of pleasantness, beauty.
                                                           A man speaks pleasant and agreeable words, his speech
    The term g'mce denotes a subject that always oc- is graceful, so that for the sake of it the king is his
cupied an important place of interest in the mind of friend.        The pleasantness and grace of his speech,
the C&u&i  of the new dispensation from  the very be- however, is not superficial ; it is not the vain beauty
ginning of its history; If is  also a  term that  &Curs    that characterizes the speech of the flatterer or boaster,
very frequently in the Word of (%%i. The word gro.cc!      but  it  is the beauty that expresses pureness of heart.
one meets with everywhere, in the Old Testament  Hs It has  an ethical basis. It  is rooted in goodness. It
wel.1  as in t,he New. It is one of the key-words of the is  ail: ethically pure speech that is considered graceful
Bible. Without understanding its denotation and con- and beautiful. Thus it also occurs in Ps. 45:3: Thou-
notations one cannot understand Scripture. The more art fairer than the children of men; grace is poured
fully and clearly one understands the meaning of this out into thy lips, therefore, God hath blessed thee
tBrM, the better he will tinderstand Holy Writ. Take forever. Also here it is evident, that grace is used
thlts   word  out of  &rip&e  and you have taken the in the sense of beauty and attractiveness that is rooted
very heart out of the Word of God. It is becguse &-?       in ethical goodness. In Prov.  31:30 the word grace
Bible is the revelation of the grace of God that bringeth is even emp!oyed  for the outward gracefulness of bodily
salvation, that it is dear to the heart of the child of    form, of which  it is, then, asserted that in itself is
God. By the contents and significance of that word         deceitful and vain. This is also in harmony with the
the child of God lives and dies, without it he could root-meaning of the Hebrew word, which signifies to
neither live nor die. It expresses in one word all the incline gracefully toward anyone, to be pleasant to-
objective  biessings  of salvation on which the Christian ward someone and thus to favor that one. The word
has faundd his hope; and at the same time it  also de- that is used in the New Testament for "grace" is de-
notes the subjective pawer, the power in him, by which rived from a verb that signifies to be pleasant and                    _
.he is lib&&d  and deliver&  from sin  and death and       thus to afford joy, even as a thing of beauty is a joy
made partaker ,of eterndi  iife. By grace he is saved;     forever. And so, also the New Testament word for
by grace he lives; by grace he believes, hopes, loves.     grace  has the fundamental notion of charm, graceful-
By grace he is justified and sanctified, quickened and ness, attractiveness, beauty. We read of the Lord,
glorified; by grace he is a partaker of the sufferings that all bear Him witness and wondered at the gracious
of Christ, fights the good fight of  fait.h,  is patient, words (in the original : words of grace) which pro-
yea, glories in tribulation; by grace he hopes to the ceeded out of His mouth, by which undoubtedly is
end for the salvation that is to be revealed in the last meant, that the speech of the Lord was remarkably
time. Grace is the  key-wo,rd  in the explanation of the p?easant  and in the true sense of the word beautiful,
mystery of-salvation, and without grace you cannot graceful. The Lord was a charming speaker. Luke
explain the Christian.                                     4:22.  The same significance of the word we find in
    Small wonder, then, that the Churc,h  always felt Col. 4 :6, where the apostle admonishes the Christians,
the importance of maintaining the proper and true, that their speech must always be with grace, seasoned
the Scriptural conception of the grace of God over with salt, in order that they may know how they ought
against all human philosophy. And small wonder that to answer every man. Their conversation, in other
many important controversies were carried on about words, must always be characterized by the beauty                     .
the meaning of this important element in the Chris- of ethical purity. Perhaps the same meaning may be
tian's confession. It was the desire to maintain the found in Eph. 4  :29 : Let no corrupt communication pro-
truth concerning the grace of God over against the         ceed out of your mouth, but that which is good, to the
false philosophy that would make it common, that gave use of edifying, that it may give grace to the hearers,
rise to our Protestant Rleformed  Churches. It is not where "speech that  giveth grace" or that is truly
superfluous, therefore, always to be reminded of pleasant, stands over against corrupt communications.
the teaching of Scripture on this part of our Confes- And the apostle Peter writes, I Peter 2:20: For what
sion.                                                      glory is it, if when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye
    The Word grace, as it occurs in Scripture, appears shall take it patiently? But if, when ye do well, and
to have many different connotations, although we be- suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable
lieve that they all refer to some underlying idea. Per- with God. Here the word for "acceptable" is "grace"
haps the most general and basic notion, from which in the original ; so that the meaning is : patience in
all other connotations can be most readily explained, suffering for the sake of righteousness is beautiful
is that of gracefulness, pleasantness, attractiveness, in the eyes of God. So that, on the basis of Scripture
beauty. In this sense the word occurs both in the'0ld we come  first of  all to the conclusion that, objectively,                  -
and the New Testament. Thus we read in Prov. 22 :11:       grace denotes the attribute, virtue or quality of beauty
"He that loveth pureness of heart, for the grace of or pleasantness or charm ; more especially of that ethi-
his lips the king shall & his friend". Here the word cal beauty or charm that ,is rooted in true goodness.

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

and purity, that is the expression of true perfection.        earner does not receive a token of the gracious dispo-
For, only what is truly good is truly beautiful; while sition of his employer when he receives his wages.
a&l that is corrupt and imperfect must be condemned           But we are being justified freely by his grace through
as ugly and repulsive. it is only in the world of sin the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, Rom. 3 :24.
that the ethically corrupt can be considered charming         In our justification we have a manifestation of  the
and attractive ; in the sight of God and according to         free, gracious and friendly  dispositicn  of God to  us-
the judgment of Scripture it is never so presented !          ward. Hence, if it is by grace, it is no more of works,
       Hence, in the second place, we find the word grace otherwise grace is no more grace ; but if it be of works,
in Scripture denoting subjectively an attitude of grace- it is no more of grace, otherwise work is no more
fulness or pleasantness, a gracious disposition, a friend- work, Rom.  115. But we have redemption through
ly willingness or inclination of the heart one may            the blood of Christ, the forgiveness of sins, not accord-
assume over against or with reference to another.             ing to works, which would be impossible, but according
This is, no doubt, the meaning of the word in the fre-        to the riches of His grace, Eph. 1:7. Grace, then, is
quently occurring phrase: to find grace in the eyes of such a friendly disposition, such a favorable attitude
someone. One who finds grace in the eyes of another of God toward His peop'le,  as makes it possible even
reads in the latter's eyes that he is graciously di,sposed    for those that are entirely undeservant, yea, that have
toward him, that he  looks  upon him with favor. Thus         wholly forfeited His kindness and favor, to receive
also it is used in Luke 1 :RO, where we read that the         it.
angel addresses the prospective mother of our Lord:                  Hence, in the fourth place, the word grace is used
Fear not, Mary, for thou  ha& found favor (grace)             in Scripture, to denote the operation of God, in this
with God. The meaning is evidently, that God is favor- attitude of favor and friendly willingness, with respect
ably inclined, is graciously  dispcsed toward her. In to its objects; as well as the implication of all the
the same sense Stephen employs the word of David,             spiritual blessings that by this operation of God are
concerning whom he declares that he found favor bestowed on them. Important in this connection is
(grace) before God and desired to raise a tabernacle          the all-comprehensive sense in which the term is em-
for the God of Jacob. And once more in Acts 11:26:            ployed in I Peter  5:lO: "the God of  alI1 grace". This
And thence sailed to Antioch, from whence they had            implies, in the first place, that God is gracious in Him-
been recommended to the grace of God for the work self; He is an all-gracious God; in the second place,
which they fulfilled. And also in Rom. 5  :15 the word that He is the Author of all grace, wherever you find
grace has the meaning of gracious disposition, where grace, it is the grace of God; and in the third place,
we read: much more the grace of God, and the gift that He is the sole Author of grace; apart from Him
by grace, which is by one man Jesus Christ, hath              there is no grace; He causes it, works it, bestows it
abounded unto many.                                           as a manifestation of His  cwn gracefulness. Thus
       It will be readily seen, how from this, the meaning we take it, is the meaning of the word grace in the
of the word grace is derived that is most generally           apostolic greetings and benedictions at the beginning
and vividly in the mind of the Church, that, namely,          and at the close of the epistles to the churches. "Grace
of undeserved and forfeited favor.        Essentially this be to you", "the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be
is the same signification as the one we just called to        with you" etc. can only signify, that God in His grace
your attention, only the free and undeserved character through Christ may work in and upon the Church and
of it is now emphasized and emphatically revealed.            that He bestow grace, i. e.  all1 the blessings of salvation,
Still the word has the meaning of friendly or gracious upon her. For, when God is graciously  inciined He
disposition, the gracious attitude of God toward His blesses and the contents of that blessing is grace; even
people, but now the freedom and sovereignty of this a.s, when He is unfavorably disposed He curses and
grace is emphasized by the state and condition of  *the       the contents of that cursing is wrath and misery. And
subjects that receive and experience this grace of thus we naturally find the word very frequentIy  em-
God. Grace is always free. It always has its basis            ployed in the Scriptures, in fact, too often to quote all
only in God. But the freedom and  independance  of the passages in which it occurs with this signification.
this favorable disposition of God is brought out more aust two passages for the purpose of illustrating the
clearly and vividly, when the recipient is himself a idea may suffice. The apostle writes in I Cor. 15:lO:
sinner, who forfeited every claim to the favor of God By the grace of God I am that I am, evidently meaning
and deserved, in fact, only His wrath and disfavor.           that the power of God's grace has made him what he
Hence, the Word of God uses the term grace as stand- is. And in I Peter 1:13 we read: `Hope to the end for
ing opposed to debt or eobligation ; opposed also to work. the grace that is brought unto you at the revelation
When anything is out of works, or according to work,          of Jesus Christ, which we understand as referring to
 it is not out or according to grace and vice versa. Thus aV the blessings of grace that shall be showered  uuon
 we read in Rom. 4 :4: Now to him that worketh the re- the Church when  Jesus  Christ shall be revealed in
 ward  8s not reckoned of grace, but of debt. The wage- glory.


                                    T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                        3.07
--.----1                        --.-.-                                                                           -
   So then, finally, it can be understood that the word and holiness and truth, He is peace and love and Iife ;
grace also occurs in the sense of thanks. When we in Him there is no unrighteousness, no corruption,
read, Born. 6 :17: But God be thanked that ye were no lie, no war and no envy and hatred. He is very
the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart Goodness, ethical perfection in His very Being. For
that form of doctrine which was delivered unto you, that reason God is also gra,cious  in the sense of beauti-
the original reads: But grace be to God. And when ful and charming, attractive and pleasant in His whole
the apostle exclaims in Born. 725,: l thank Gad thru being. For true  gcodness  is true `beauty. And these
Jesus Christ our Lord, according to the Greek he liter- are in God in the supreme, absolute and infinite sense
ally says: Grace be to God. And in the well-known of the word. So that we may conclude, that God is,
doxology of I Cor. 15  :57, the apostle rejoices according indeed, the perfection of beauty. Even as the ethically
to the original: Grace be to God, who giveth us the           evil is ugly, so the ethically perfect is beautiful and
victory. The same expression you may find in many charming. Grace in God is, therefore, the perfection
other places, as II Cor. 2: 14 ; 9 : 1.5 ; II Tim. 1% And of His ethical beauty. For that reason we read in Ps.
the meaning is probably : grace be ascribed to God ; 27:4: One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will
let us attribute all the blessings of salvation only to       I seek after; that  T may dwell in the house of the
the grace of our God in Jesus Christ our Lord and             Lord all the days of my life to behold the beauty of
thus render praise unto His holy Name !                       the Lord and to enquire in His temple. And in Ps.
   In order, then, to arrive at the Scriptural concep- 16 :ll : In thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right
tion denoted by the term grace, we must proceed from hand there are pleasures forevermore. And once more
the fundamental truth that God is gracious, that He,          in Ps. 502: Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty C';od
as it is expressed in I Peter 5 :lO, is the God of all        hath shined. God is altogether lovely. He is absolute
grace. All things are first in God, and are manifested loveliness. All that is in God is charming!
in the creature only as a reflection of the divine perfec-       But this is not  all.    God is not only lovely and
tions. They are in God absolutely, that is, without any beautiful, so that the knowledge and contemplation of
relation to the creature. Thus it is with all the attri- Him is a delight, but He also knows and contemplates
butes of the Most High. God is love in Himself.- He Himself as beautiful. He knows Himseif and eternally
does not depend on the existence of a creature that beholds Himself as beautiful. He has an eternal de-
can be the recipient of this love in order to possess or light in His own beauty. For, He is the triune God,
be this virtue actively, but He is Iove in Himself. So        Father, Son and Holy Ghost. The Son is the Word
God is merciful, righteous, holy, true and faithful, a and in Him the Father expresses all the goodness and
God of peace in the absolute sense of the word. It            beauty of His image. And in the Spirit the Son re-
this were not so, He would not be God, seeing He              turns to the Father and the Father contemplates Him-
would not be self-existent and independent. The same self as the perfection of beauty. Hence, God knows
is true of the attribute of grace. God is eternally a Himself as gracious. He has a delight in the beauty
God of all grace. He is all grace. Graciousness is of His perfection. So that we may come to the con-
an attribute of His very being, even though there clusion, that grace, as it is in God in the absolute sense
never were a creature to whom this grace of God were          of the word, is that virtue of the divine Being ac-
revealed.    Grace belongs to God's Name. Thus He cording to which He is the perfection of beauty in Him-
procaimed  His holy Name to Moses on the mount, ac- self and contemplates Himself as such with infinite
cording to Ex. 33:6: And the Lord passed by before delight.             The absolutely gracious God is graciously
him, and proclaimed, The Lord God, the Lord God, inclined toward Himself and rejoices in Himself with
merciful and gracious, longsuffering and abundant in perfect joy!
goodness and truth.      Again, thus the psalmist ad-            This gracious God, then, has willed to reveal Him-
dresses Him in Ps. 86 :15 : But Thou, 0 Lord, art a self in all the beauty of His divine Being and life.
God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering For this purpose He eternally conceived of a people,
and plenteous in mercy and truth. Thus he sings in in His sovereign counsel, that would be a reflection of
Ps.  103:8: The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow His own divine grace, a people in whom all the fu!ness
to anger and plenteous in mercy. And an Ps. 116 :I :          of His beauty should be reflected in a creaturely way.
Gracious is the Lord and righteous, yea, the Lord is          To reach this purpose God conceived of His people as
merciful.                                                     made like unto the image of His Son. For as the ful-
   Now, with respect to God in the absolute sense             ness of the Father dwells in the Son, as He is the ex-
of the word, this, no doubt, implies, that God is the         press image of the Father in the infinite sense, the
perfection of all beauty, because He is the implication very effulgence of His glory, so the fulness of the
and eternal, infinite perfection of all goodness. God Son must dwell in the Church, in such a way, that
is good in the  ethica sense of the word. Goodness through all the multitude of them that are saved the
is His very being. He is a light and there is no dark- glcry and beauty may shine forth and be reflected.
ness in Him at all. His very being is righteousness           In His eternal counsel, therefore, God conceived of a

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

people that would be the reflection of His grace, in his sin the object of his enmity. They hate Him.
order that in them as His own workmanship He might The carnal mind is enmity against God. They do not
have His delight. But this is not all. God did not seek Him but flee from Him. All the light that is in
merely purpose to reflect His grace and beauty, but them is darkness. Thus they are born. Members of
to reveal it. This people must know Him. They must a race that is repulsive to God, and to whom God is
receive in their hearts and minds the knowledge that repulsive.        But God loves them, for He has  chcsen
God is good, the perfection of all goodness and as them and ordained them to be made like unto the image
such the implication of  all beauty and charm. They of His Son. And from that depth of misery He saves
must taste Him. And tasting Him they must acknow- them, because He is graciously inclined toward them,
ledge that He is to be desired above all things, that      until they  shah have reached the height of glory in
His lovingkindness is better than life, that His grace     His eternal tabernacle, in which they shall taste and
is more than meat and drink. A people they are, as         forevermore acknowledge that the Lord is good and
God conceived them in His counsel, that are beautiful the perfection of beauty, that at His right hand there
as He is beautiful, because He made them such, and         are pleasures forevermore.
m whom, for that reason He has His delight for His            Objectively He reveals and realizes this grace to-
own Name's sake ; a people, that know and  adore the ward His people in Christ Jesus. He does so, when He
beauty of the Lord their God and glorify His adorable sends His only begotten Son in the likeness of sinful
name. Thus they are in the counsel of God from eter- flesh. He becomes like unto His brethren in all things.
nity. United in Christ, the Son of God, the effulgence He enters into their night. He stands as their repre-
of His glory,  as.their  Head; in Christ  all the fulness of sentative. He takes upon Himself  thair sin and guilt.
the divine glory and grace dwelling bodily ; and through He dies their death, to satisfy the unchangeable justice
Christ all the Church as His body filled with the divine of God. For, Zion must be redeemed by justice. He
grace, holy as He is holy, righteous  *as He is righteous, enters  int*o the depth of their shame and humiliation.
knowing as they are known, contemplating God and           He tastes death for them all. He could, for He was
loving Him, even as they are the objects of His love       their Head, according to God's counsel. .He could for
and grace. To that people, as God has them eternally He was the Son of God, Who could taste death as no
with Him, before Him in His eternal, counsel, He is man could. He could, for He could taste death as an
graciously inclined. Them He loves. Them He beauti- act, as an act of perfect love, and in the tasting of
fies in the highest possible sense for His Name's sake.    death He freely and perfectly acknowledged that God
For whom He has foreknown, them He also did pre- is good and the perfection of all beauty. He could,
destinate to be conformed according to the image of for as the Son of God He had life in Himself. He could
His Son; and whom He did predestinate them He die and live again. He  coul,d die and kill death in the
also called ; and whom He called, them He also justified dying. He could die through death into the glory of
and whom He justified them He also glorified. And the resurrection. And so God reveals His grace to
that people, as He has them perfected in His counsel,      Him and realizes it in His resurrection. For, the
forever and ever say: Grace be to God! That is their resurrection is not a return to the present and earthly
thanksgiving! The acknowledgement that God is good life, but a raising to the higher level of the glorious
and beautiful !                                            heavenly life of God's tabernacle. He is glorified.
   Hence, all history concentrates around the forma- And being glorified He is received up into heaven,
tion and glorification of that people, the beautiful placed at the very pinnacle of all created things, at
people, that is the reflection of the grace of God, in the right hand of God! Christ Jesus, the Head of the
Christ Jesus, their Lord. They are formed and led          Church, glorified at the right hand of God, is the
to that highest glory and perfection of heavenly beauty central realization of the grace ,of God, the firstfruits
thruugh the deep way of sin and death. There was of the glory that shall be reveaIed  in the day of His
no other way. An image of this beauty He creates in coming.
the first man Adam. But his was not the highest reali-        Hence, God's elect receive the grace of God only
zation of the perfection of beauty to which God had throulgh  Him. The grace of God is the same as the
destined His people. The  fYirst man is of the earth grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, only the distinction
earthy.    He is not the Lord from heaven. But he implies that we receive this grace of God only through
carries the glorious Church, the perfection of God's Him. For, when He was made glorious, He received
grace in his loins. When he falls in the darkness of the Spirit as the Head of the Church, and became the
sin and death, they fall. in and with him. And as they Life-giving Spirit. The first man was made a living
are, in their sin and death, they are not the objects      soul, the last Adam is become a Life-giving Spirit.
of God's lovingkindness, but of His wrath and hatred. He imparts Himself to His brethren, given Him by the
Neither do they taste and acknowledge that the Lord Father. He gives them grace. Grace is the `power
is good. God is not lovable and charming to the sin- whereby they are saved.             By grace  ,are ye saved,
ner. The highest good is to him, in the foolishness of through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift


                                    T H E   S T A N D A R D  BE.ARER                                             109

of God.    For, we are His workmanship, created  in gathered and drawn unto Christ. Then the power of
Christ Jesus unto good works, which He  afore ordained the grace of God in Christ Jesus our Lord, shall also
that we shoul,d  walk in them. By the power of that           deliver their bodies and make them like unto the glori-
grace, they are made like unto Him. Through that ous, heavenly and spiritual body/of their Lord. And
grace they are regenerated and receive the beginning grace shall operate through all the wide creation. By
of His resurrection life. For, blessed be the God and the power of the grace of God in Christ, new heavens
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who according to His and a new earth shall be created for beauteous Zion to
abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively dwell in. Then God shall be all in all and all things shall
hope, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from be the highest reflection of the beauty of the Lord  0~11
the dead, I Peter 1:3. By grace they are called, through      God, manifested in Christ Jesus !
the Word of God, from death into life, from  dar!i-              If in this Scriptural light we conceive of the grace
ness into light, from the sphere of enmity into that of God, it will be evident, that, with respect to its
of the love of God. And when they are so called they object, it is not general, neither is it  common,  but
have a different spiritual conception and evaluation what we might call organically particular.
of things, above all of God. For, positively, they now           First of all, it is not general, by which we mean
see  an'd taste that the Lord is good and gracious, that      that it does not include within its scope every man,
He is the perfection of all beauty and, therefore, the        head for. head and soul for soul. This is the implica-
supreme attraction for their heart.       They long for tion of the doctrine of general grace. We can, indeed,.
Him. T'hey thirst after Him more than a hart panteth distinguish between the doctrine of general and that
after waterbrooks. They long for `His favor and His           of common grace, between what is designated in the
lovingkindness is more for them than life. And nega- Dutch language by "algemeene" and what is called
tively, they see the horror of their sin, they do feel "gemeene genade". And for the sake of clarity it is
the load of their guilt, and the life of sin is become re-    better that we maintain this distinction, though the
pulsive to them. They long to be delivered from the two were hopelessly confused at the Synod of 192$.
guilt and the power of their sin, that they may have          The former is the doctrine that denies God's sovereign
fell,owship  with God. And by gra.ce  they receive faith, e!ect,ion  and reprobation, and, therefore, teaches that
faith in the blood and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. the saving grace of God pertains to every man. Christ
They behold that God is gracious toward them, and atoned for all. God is graciously inclined to all. But
I,oved them while they were yet sinners. They appre- the latter maintains that God from eternity made
hend by faith, that God has washed all the guilt of a distinction between elect and reprobate, and that
their sin away and was reconciling them unto Himself this distinction is realized on earth in the righteous and
on the cross. They perceive that He justified  theni in the wicked. Only while it would maintain this dis-
the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. And tinction, it woul,d  hold also, that God's grace is common
they lay hold on Him by the power of grace. They is this present life in the  worl,d, that is, that God
know Him and they know themselves by faith as be- is gracious to the righteous and the evil alike. Elect
1,onging  to that corporation of the elect of which Jesus and reprobate, the righteous and the wicked are, as
Christ is the head. They believe that their sins are such, the objects of God's grace.
forgiven, that they are justified ; and they have peace          Now, maintaining this distinction and bearing it
with God. In Him they have died and risen again.              in mind, we assert first of all, that the grace of God
Died unto the world, died unto sin; risen unto a new          is not general. I will take no time now to quote parti-
life, the life of the risen Lord. Henceforth their walk cular texts from Scripture to show that, the Word of
is in heaven, from which they look for the Saviour.           God stands opposed to this theory of general grace.
By grace they, therefore, are justified, out of faith.        But I do wish to point out, that in the light of the
And by grace they are sanctified through Jesus Christ, Scriptural conception of the grace of God, this theory
their `Lord.    For,  stil.1 they are in the body of this is untenable, unless we w&l also hold, that all men are
death. Still the old man of sin is in them. And it            really saved. And this no one has the courage to main-
is by grace that they put off the old man and put on          tain or teach. Not only is all the plain teaching of
the new man, renewed after God in righteousness and Scripture opposed to such a  universal'istic  view of sal-
holiness. By grace they seek the things that are above, vation, but also in reality condemns it. It is simply
are kept in the power of God, unto the inheritance a fact, that all men are not saved, that, as far as we
incorruptible, that is reserved in heaven for them. can see, the majority of men are lost. But, if this is
And, knowing that it is all by the power o.f grace that true, general grace becomes an absurdity. It always
they are saved and sanctified and gl,orified, they fall amounts to this, that God is graciously, favorably in-
down in adoration and say: Thanks be to God! Let clined to the sinner, that He pities him and is willing
grace be ascribed to God forevermore!                         to save him, if  ,the sinner only consents to be  :tn
   Still the end is not reached. And that end cannot object of this grace of God. But this is impossible,
be reached- until all the elect shall have been born and for it is evident, that God' is the God of all grace,


110                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
                                         ---.-..-.-                - -                   --"---_.
and that His grace is surely free and sovereign. It               the unity and beauty of the idea; so also the elect
cannot, therefore,  ,depend  on the will of the sinner,           Church of God is not an arbitrary number of saved
wh,ether he shall receive grace or not. And on the persons, snatched from the human race and from the
ether hand, if God is gracious1.y  inclined toward any- rest of creation, but one organic whole, expressing the
one, He surely causes His grace to operate in the                 one idea of the beauty of the Lord in Christ Jesus, and
heart of that sinner, as surely as Christ died and rose           every member serves the one purpose to cause the
for him. Grace, in other words, is always first. And beauty of the Lord to shine forth, each in His own
because it is first, it surely is always effective upon its way. And again, that organic whole of the elect and
objects; and because it is always effective, either of glorified Church of Christ does not stand alone, but
two things must be true: all men are surely saved or in the new creation, the new heavens and the new
the g-race of God is not general. And since all men are earth,  wh,ich shall be beautified by the power of God's
not saved, the grace of God surely cannot be general,             grace, to fit the beauty of Christ and His Church.
including all. men head for head individually.                    And all shall be to the praise and glory of Him, Who
   In the second place, this grace of God cannot be               is the perfection of goodness and, therefore, the highest
common. It cannot have the righteous and the wicked perfection of beauty: the God of all grace!
for its object. Also in regard to this we shall not                                                                     H. H.
now quote the innumerable passages of Scripture that
plainly prove the proposition that the grace of God is
specific and not common. What I wish to point out is
the fact, that it lies in the very nature of the grace
of God that it cannot be common. For, if grace in God                               BEKENDMAKING
is the virtue, according to which He  is beautiful in
His very being as the perfection of ethical goodness                 Classis-vergadering der Protestantsche  Gerefor-
and according to which He has a delight in Himself mezrde  Kerken staat D. V. te  worden  gehouden Wcens-
as the ethically good and beautiful, it is evident that dag January 12, 1938 om negen uur in den voormid-
in deepest sense His grace can never have for its object dag in de Eerste Protestantsche Gereformeerde Kerk
what is wicked and evil. If it is objected, that He is, te Grand Rapids, Mich.
nevertheless, gracious to His people, and that they                                                  M. Vander Vennen, S. C.
also are by nature wicked and sinful, I reply, that God
beholds them, not as they are in themselves, but as they
are in Christ Jesus from eternity. And then they are
not wicked and evil, but righteous and holy. God be-                                            NOTICE
holmds no sin in Jacob and no iniquity in Israel; but His
people are precious and beautiful in His sight. It is                 The  league  of Mens' Societies will hold a Member-
true that their sin and iniquity as they are by nature ship meeting on Thursday, December 16, in the Creston
is repulsive to Him, reason why He removes it and                 Protestant Reformed Church. Rev. H. Veldman will
washes and cleanses and sanctifies them by the  pcwel             speak to us on the Topic: "What Should be our Atti-
of His grace. But they themselves are the object of tude as Protestant Reformed People toward the Chris-
His eternal delight in Christ Jesus, their Lord. But tian Labor Association"? All members are urged to
the grace of God is not and  cannct  be common. His               be present at  S:OO sharp, so we can start on time.
face is against the wicked and He hates them every This will allow more time. for discussion after  se-
day !                                                             cess.
       But this grace of God, as to its object, is organically                                                 G. Borduin, Sec'y.
particular. It concerns, indeed, only the elect, those
whom God has ordained from eternity to be made like
unto the image of His Son. But it does not concern                                         -              -
these elect merely as an arbitrary number of indi-
viduals and apart from the rest of creation. On the                                  ATTENTION ! ! !
contrary, the elect are conceived  as an organism, as
one organic whole, as one body, the body of Christ,                   The Protestant Reformed Society for high school
as a beautiful temple or building, expressing one idea.           education will hold their next meeting D. V., Thurs-
As a body is not merely a number of members, but dlay, December 9, at  7:45 P. M. n the basement of the
an organic whole, in which all the members, each one First Protestant Reformed Church of Grand Rapids.
in its own place, serve the purpose of the whole; or, As many men as are able are urged to attend to help
as a  build:ing  is not a pile of brick and stone and             decide the various important matters to he brought
wood, but a well-planned whole, in which an idea is               before the Society.
expressed and in which every part serves to bring out                          Prot. Ref. Society for High &ho&f  Edu;


                                    T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                             113
            --".-                  --..---                    ^--              _-""..-  ._-.
                                              t
korenen tot eene vervloeking laten; maar Zijne  knech-
ten zullen juichen, zoodat wie  zich zal zegenen op aarde,                            Contribution
zich zal zegenen in den God der waarheid, en wie zal
zweren op aarde, zal zweren bij den God der waarheid,                Esteemed Editor
omdat de vorige benauwdheden zullen vergeten  zijn.                  of the Standard Bearer:-
en omdat ze voor Zijne oogen zullen verborgen zijn.                  I would like to have a small space for a few lines in
Want ziet, Hij schept nieuwe hemelen en eene nieuwe cur Standard Bearer.
aarde ; en de vorige dingen  zull;en  niet meer gedacht              The Rev. J. De Jong of Hu,dsonville  spoke Thursday
worden,  en zullen in het hart niet opkomen. Dan zal           evening, October 21, in the parlors of the First Pro-
Jeruzalem eene verheuging zijn en haar volk eene  vrco-        testant Reformed Church, on the subject: "To What
iijkheid. Jes. 65 :15-19. Want in den dag des Heeren Extent are Employers' and Employees' Organizations
zullen de hemelen met een gedruisch voorbijgaan; en and Business Associations Justifiable?"
de aarde en de werken, die daarin zijn zullen verbran-               The gathering was well attended, and in general
den. Er zal in dien dag dan ook niets van de zoogenaam-        the speech of the Rev. was well liked. From the very
de werken  der "gemeene gratie" overblijven ; want de beginning the speaker made plain that to his knowledge
hemelen, door vuur ontstoken zijnde, zullen vergaan, the Unions and the Associations are one in prinicple.
en de elementen zullen brandende versmelten. Maar              They both have in mind the things of this life, and
wij verwachten, naar Zijne belofte, nieuwe hemelen God is not in all their thoughts. Consequently they
en eene nieuwe aarde, in dewelke gerechti.gheid  woont. are in principle materialistic, anti-christian.              They
11 Pet. 3:10-13.     En juist omdat in die nieuwe schep-       never can be defended from a Biblical `point of view.
ping gerechtigheid wonen zal, daarom zal ook het schep-              The child of God is duty bound to fight a spiritual
se1 vrijgemaakt zijn van .de dienstbaarheid der ver- battle. If he cannot fight that spiritual warfare in
derfelijkheid,der  kinderen  Gods. En zoo* is, ten slotte, Union or Association, he must seperate himself and
ook het  bee1.d der toekomst, dat  aan Johannes op  Pat- stand alone. It is always better to have little or no
mos wordt getoond. Hij zag  tech nieuwe hemebn en bread with the people of God, than to have  ,plenty
eene nieuwe aarde ; want de eerste hemel en de eerste with the chil,dren of this world, and a true Christian is
aarde was voorbijgegaan en de zee was niet meer. Dan better satisfied in that way.
zal de tabernakel Gods bij de menschen zijn; en God                  After recess a few questions were answered, al-
zal  alle tranen van de oogen afwisschen ; en de dood zal though three of these were not fully discussed, and it
niet meer zijn, noch rouw, noch gekrijt, noch moeite was the desire of the gathering to have mere light
zal meer zijn; want de eerste dingen  zijn weggegaan. shed upon them. I will try and write a few words
En Die op den troon zat zeide: Ziet,  Ik maak alle  din-       about them.
gen nieuw ! Openb. %1:1-5.                                           Question 1. How must the capitalist put his ste-
    Hier kunnen natuurlijk vele vragen gedaan worden,          wardship into effect?
die wij niet kunnen beantwoorden. Wij kunnen ons van                 Let us look at this question from a worldly point
de eeuwige  dingen in bijzonderheden geen vocrstelling of view. This man is known as one possesing great
vormen hier in den tijd; wij kunnen in concrete geen sums of money, or a millionaire. Speaking in general :
beeld ontwerpen van de bijzonderheden der hemelsche he has a keen mind; and, with other businessmen he
dingen,   zoolang  wij verkeeren in het aardsche huis          is able to rule the world financially. It is also his aim
dezes tabernakels. Zeker is  echter naar de  Schrift,          in life to gather as much money as possible, and to
dat er in die nieuwe schepping een vertegenwoordiging those who work for him he pays only small wages. He
zijn zal van het gansche schepsel. En zeker is ook,             is st.eward, and the question is: how must he put his
dat de verlossing van het schepsel uit de dienstbaar-          stewardship into effect?
heid der  verderfelijkhei,d  in onafscheidelijk  verband             First of all he is duty bound to pay fair wages. The
staat met de openbaring d,er kinderen Gods. Die heer-           reader might  ask; what are fair wages? The answer
lijkheid zal  onze  stoutste verwachtingen verre over- is: fair wages are wages in accordance with the stan-
treifen.    Daarom  moeten wij niet vertragen, maar dard of living. The millionaire can easily figure this
de Iankmoedigheid onzes Gods zaligheid achten. En out with his keen and well educate,d  mind; and if he
we moeten het ons genade rekenen in de zaak van Chris-          is not able to comprehend this let him pay wages in
tus, niet alleen in Hem te ge'rooven, maar ook met Hem accordance with his own mode of living.
te lijden, opdat we ook met Rem verheerlijkt mogen                   In the second place he should let his employees work
worden.  Want het lijden  dezes tegenwoordigen tijds on a bonus basis, which means: the more he makes,
is niet te waardeeren tegen de heerlijkheid, die in the more his employer makes. After this is done, he
ons zal geopenbaard  worden.  Wees dan  getrouw  tot can look things over and I assure him the results will
den dood, en Hij zal  u geven de kroon des  levens!            be satisfactory. Of course, the word millionaire could
                                                   H. H.       then be wiped out in Webster's Dictionary.


114                                   T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
-^.._l--__I__Ic- _ -........-..   -  "-_ -_-                                                    - -.-.. -- __...__....... -__-  __._.  -
    Question II : Is it his duty to give or create jobs           What is your  opmion reader? Can the  ungod!y
for the `working man?                                         employer with the godly be together in one Associa-
   I think we all agree to it that this capitalist has a tion ?
duty to fulfill in this world, namely, to give work to            Is it possible for a Christian Iaborer to belong to
the laboring man, who is in need of it. He has the            a worldly Union? Let us also try t.o answer this ques-
money, also the work, and he can easily create jobs. tion.
The laboring man, however, lacks everything. We all               The Union does not figure with God and His Christ,
feel the responsibility of this capitalist. He may not        is humanistic, ungodly to the core. He tramples under
take  away that which he is in duty bound to give. foot all God's ordinances and precepts.
He may not withdraw himself from doing all in his                 All the Unions are connected with the A. F. L. or
power to help those in need, and who daily look  $0           the C. I. O., and in its banner is written: No Church,
him for support in their earthly needs.                       No God!
   Question III: Is the steward over all he possesses;            The Christian laborer walks humbly before his God,
does he owe the laborer a living?                             he never strikes, he obeys those who are placed in
   He surely does! He may not lend a helping hand authority above him. He does not curse his boss, but
to plunge a nation into poverty ; to let families go a-       blesses him and prays for him.
stray, and children cry for bread. In one wor,d  ; the            What is your opinion, dear reader? Can a Christian
capitalist is the saviour of the world.                       laborer belong to a worldly Union?
   The Word of God however does not  fcrbid any one                                                                  S. D. V.
to be rich. There is no sin in merely being rich, al-
though we read in Mark 10 24, 25 : Children, how hard
is it for them that trust in riches to enter the kingdom
of God ! It  .is easier for a camel to go through the                              IN MEMORIAM.
eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the             On  Sunday, November 14, 1937, it pleased the Lord to
kingdom of God.                                               take unto Himself our beloved mother, grandmother and great-
   The Christian employer must however beware of grandmother,
the fact in what way he becomes rich. He must be-
come rich only in Gosd's way.                                                  MRS. MATTHEW VERHIL
   The ri.ch men of this world confederate and asso-          at the age of 70 years.
ciate together and their aim ,in life is the dollar. They         Her testimony of going to the Home with many mansions
do not call upon the Name of God, but seek refuge in is our comfort.
their own ingenuity. They care not for the cry of the                                     Rev. and Mrs. Wm. Verhil and family
poor and needy. They do not care, that Go,d speaks                                                                    Oskaloosa
unto them in His Word ; James 5 :14 : Your riches are                                     Mr. and Mrs. Theo. De Vries and family
corrupted, your gold and silver is cankered; and the                                      Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Verhil and family
rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall                                    Mr. and Mrs. Harry Verhil and family
eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasures          Grand Rapids,  Mich.
up for yourself, you have cut wages of the laborers,
you have kept back the money by fraud.                                                               -
   You ask: what is the duty of the people of God?
The answer is, never to rebel, but be patient, as James                                     GEBED.
5:9 has it: Grudge not one against another, lest ye
be condemned. Tell your employer his duty toward                      Wat houdt het  Ieven niet omhuld
you in the Name of God.                                                  Aan vreugde en verdriet?
                                                                      Heer, zoo Gij `t met U troost vervult,
   That is the picture of the worldly employer.
Gloomy indeed !                                                          Dan sterft de hope niet.
   It is different with the Christian employer. He is                 Heer,  als de levensscheem'ring  daalt,
a child of God and knows his calling. He knows that                      En wij naar huis toe gaan;
he must give account of himself to God. Rom. 14 : 12.                 Zijt Gij bet, die ons wacht  en haalt
He is liberal in paying wages, for he knows the  monev                   En  aan Uw zij doet staan.
IS not his own. He does not deal falsely with anyone
in his business. To be sure, he does business  ,with the              Ret leven zij dan ruw en kil,
ungodly, for he is not an Ana-baptist.     The fear of God               D,e stormwind nog zoo bang ;
predominates his entire life, also in dealings with                   Eens  zwijgt het al,  Heer, op Uw  wil
the ungodly.                                                             Voor eeuw'gen jubelzang!


                                   T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                        115
                              ~-                               - -                --._-       .-__--- -
                                                             nor any other Israelite thought of rejecting Jehovah
  Thou Shalt Not Make Unto Thyself                           and of introducing a kind of Baal-worship. Nay, they
              Any  Graven Image                              assuredly purposed to honor Jehovah. Only they willed
                                                             to serve Him by a symbol. That calf had to represent
                 ( Second Commandment)                       a young bull. The calf was then the emblem of the
   The answer of the C,atechism  to its question, "What awe-inspiring force in nature. And so they saw in
                                                             that young bull, shining before them in gold, a certain
does God require in the second commandment" reads, form of the living God, as expressive of His immeasur-
"that we in no wise represent God by images, nor wor- able operation in nature." So far Kuyper.
ship Him in any other way than He has commanded
in His Word."                                                   This, to say the least, is a careless reasoning. If
                                                             it be true that not  t.he second but that the first
   There is no fault to find with this answer. It is, to command only forbids the worshiping of the other,
be sure, the correct one. Yet it is to be observed that the no-gods, the conclusion is unavoidable that the
the second commandment reads not, "Thou shalt in graven image with which the second command is con-
no wise represent the Lord thy God by images," but           cerned is not a false, a not-god, an (afgod) and that
reads, "Thou shalt not make unto thyself any graven the devotee of the graven ,image in distinction from the
image nor the likeness of anything that is Cn hemem          worshiper of the other gods of the first comand, at-
above or  in. the  earth   bmenth  or in the water  amder    tempts by the aid of the image to lay hold cn the true
the mrth." What the commandment  literally  forbids, Gtd. At these conclusions the writer, whom I quoted,
is not that God, but that the creature be represented        actually arrived. In the above excerpt the statement
by images. What may the path of reasoning be that            occurs that the graven image of the second command is
leads from what is literally prohibited to the construc- no false god (afgod) and that the worshiper of this
tion that the catechism places upon this conmmand?           image meant to honor the true God.
This path must be known and also traveled if this com-
mand is to speak to us as it should, if the truth con-          Now this view certainly cannot be gotten  frcm
tained in it is to stand out before our mind in all Scripture. Holy Writ over and over denominates these
its  significarme.  Otherwise said, in explaining this graven images, that golden calf, false deities, not-gods,
command, our point of procedure must be not that             (afgoden).    False gods they are indeed, as well as
answer of the catechism but the very command, what the other gods of the first commandment. They are
it literally prohibits. Not to concentrate on what Je- this of necessity, as will be made plain in the se-
hovah actually said is to expose  ourself to the danger quence.        The graven image of the second command-
of minimizing the sin with which the second command ment is nothing else than the projection in wood or
is concerned. ,4nd this has been done. It has been stone of the other god of the first command.
maintained that the transgressor of the second corn-             The statement was just made that in Holy Writ
mandment in distinction from the transgressor of the these graven images bear the name of  other  .qod.s.
first (who is indeed prostrated in his heart before the      One scripture to prove this. In the 28th chapter of
other gost'  and thus has his back turned to Jehovah)        the book of Deuteronomy one comes upon a passage
still reaches out for the living God as the true object       (verse 36) that reads, "The Lord shall bring thee,
of love and devotion, and that in making to himself and thy king which thou shalt set over thee, unto a
that graven image he means not to reject God but to          nation which neither thou nor thy fathers have known;
bring God closer t,o him. So the late Dr. A. Kuyper and there thou shalt serve other gods, wood and stone."
in his E. Vote.  His reasoning was in substance this:        The graven images of wood and stone are here called
`<In the first commandment the matter of false or other oth'her ,qods.
gods (afgoden) and of other images (afbeelden) is                And as to the apostate Jews of Moses' day, can it
brought to a conclusion. The second commandment, be true that their request that Aaron make for them
is another chapter in the law and tells you that it is       a golden calf sprang not from a desire to be done
not sufficient to refrain from worshiping other, that with Jehovah, so that the hearts of these Jews mm-e
is, the not-gods and to cleave to the true God only,         right with God, went out to Him in love, even while
but that there is danger of worshiping the true God          they whirled in mad circles around their idol? Can
in a totally sinful manner whereby all that you have it be that the idol was meant to be merely a stepping
gained through the observance of the first command- stone to God, an  a5d to the contemplation o,f His glories,
ment is again lost to you and your worship of the true       the representative of an attempt to actually visualize
God still becomes to you a curse.                            God and to make Him more real, so that, rightly con-
    "What the second commandment forbids is what sidered, the request for the idol sprang not from hatred
Aaron did in the desert and what Jeroboam,  the son but from a genuine love of God and was as to its moral
of Nebat, did after him. The golden calf in the desert worth actually equivalent to the request of Moses that
was no other God, no not-god (afgod) . Neither Aaron God shew him His glory? I ask, can this be true?

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

And the answer: It is most untrue. It can be shown lOOSC?. This translation is the acceptible  one. Aaron,
from Scripture that the cry for the idol sprang from through his complying with ,their demand, had lifted
hatred of the true God,  tfhat the turnmg to the idol        the restraints of God's law and had thus unbridled
was very actually  a  turning away from and thus a them; Thus lcosened they had run to their idol and
,deliberate  rejection of Jehovah. Attend to Ps.  106:19- given free reign to their lusts in pagan song and dance.
2 1. "They made a calf in Horeb, and worshiped the It is to be considered that their "play" in the presence
molten image. Thus they changed their glory, {that of their idol, is indeed the  licentious  play of paganism.
is, God's glory) into the similitude of an ox that eateth And the very circumstance that they gave themselves
grass.      They forgot God, their Saviour, which had        up to the wild license with which the worship of Apis
done great things in Egypt." Here it is taught that          had been associated in Egypt, must be taken as forming
the making o.f the calf in Horeb was at once a changing so much more evidence that when they turned to this
of the glory of God into a likeness of an ox and a for-      idol the deity to which their heart went cut was not
getting (thus, a rejecting, a hating) of Jehovah, the        the holy God of Israel but the very devil-god for which
Saviour, Who had done such great things in Egypt. they had clamored. But there is more to say. These
In the prohpesy of Ezekiel  (Eze.   14:5)  the house of apostate Jews even openly declared through their doing
lsrael  is brought forward as being "all estranged from that not Jehovah but that the molten calf was the god
me  through  the&-  idols." Also that golden calf was and that to this god they would also cleave. Consider
instrumental in estranging Israel from Jehovah, neces- the following. Moses destroys the golden calf. This
sarily so, as according to the psalmist, the glory of the apostates a!so permit, but with hearts that burn
this calf was the truth of God changed into a lie. An with resentment.           They retreat from the scene of
identical teaching is contained in Eze.  6:9, "And they their pagan play into the avenues of their en.oampment  ;
that escape of you shall remember me among the na- but instead of retiring to their tents in silence and in
tions wither they shah be carried captive, because I am shame, they congregate in the gates of their camp
broken with their whorish heart, which hath departed and voice their displeasure with what Moses has done.
from me, and with their eyes, which go a  .whoring           Thus Mcses perceives that the apostates have no in-
after their idols. . .  ."    Here it is again stated in tention of again permitting themselves to be bound
unmistakable speech that to go a whoring after the           by the restraints of God's law. It means that he sees
idol is to depart from God.                                  the people as rebellious, defiant and unrepentant. The
    Whereas, according to the psalmist, the golden calf whole camp is in a state of insurrection. So taking
was a not-god, the service of this idol was of necessity his stand in the gate of the camp, he says, "Who is
hatred, rejection of, Jehovah. So far from the truth on the Lord's side" `and (such is the implication)
it is that the apostate Israelites in turning to the idol against the idol', "let him  ccme unto me." This pro-
(the golden calf) were actually seeking after God that clamation is the statement of the real issue. Jehovah is
they commited  a sin so great as to merit the immediate God and not the idol and thus places the apostates under
destruction of the nation and as to set Moses to wonder- the necessity of openly choosing between Jehovah and
ing how the sin could ever be forgiven. And con- th,e idol. And they refuse to come to Mcses and
sider  ho,w  Jehovah reacted to Israel's doing. We read, through their refusal arrange themselves on the side
"And the Lord said unto Moses, I have seen this people, of their pseudo-deity.
and, behold, it is a stiff-necked peopl'e:  now therefore       But the most conclusive proof that in turning to
let me alone, that my wrath may not wax hot against the idol they deliberately, knowingly and willingly
them, and that I may consume them: and I will make           turned away from Jehovah is that statement of the
of thee a great nation."                                     psalmist to t,he effect that in worshiping the molten
    Wherein did the great sin of the people consist? image they changed the glory of Jehovah into a like-
To say that it consisted  ,in the rejection of Jehovah is    ness of an ox, and certain statements of Paul setting
not saying enough, is not to bring the sin into relief forth the reason of their doing. These statements
in all its frightfulness and in all its hideous impli- read, "Because that when they knew God, they glori-
cations.     In the sequence of this writing,  rn.0r.e  will fied Him not as God, neither were thankful.`" "And
be  saEd of this sin,  - the sin of the service of the       even as they did not like to retain God in their know-
idol and of the graven image. What must  first be ledge. . .  ." Rom. 1:21-28.  As a result they changed,
established is that the people of Israel in turning to says the apostle, the glory of God into an image made
the idol were not seeking after but were deliberately like to corruptible man. Rom.  1:2X But did the
despising  t'heir God. There is more proof of this.  I apostle write this  w,ith the apostate Jews of the desert
quote now from a former arti,cle of mine, bearing on before his mind? He may not have. It makes little
the slaying of the idolaters. Aaron, so we read (Ex. difference. If he had not, it would simply mean that
52:25) had made the people naked unto their shame Paul unwittingly described also the vile doing and the
among their enemies. The word found in the original reasons and motives of this doing of these apostate
for naked may also be translated, to  ~nnbvidle,  to let Jews. They turned to the idol in the desert because,


                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                       1 1 7

when they knew Jehovah, they glorified Him not as            God and that the  idcl upon which they have their
God, neither were thankful; because they did not like effections set is the proper image of the true God.
to retain God in their knowledge. If this be true, hew       In the incipient stages of apostacy,  the devotees of the
then can it be maintained that in clamoring for the idol without fail are willingly ignorant of the fact,
idol they did not mean to be done with God.                  that, despite all their pious ostentations, they never-
   Changing the  giory of God into an image made theless serve at the shrine of a false deity. It is
like unto corruptible man and beast can be a doing not the way of men, when they first turn away from
of cnly such men who know God. It is thus a doing the knowledge of the true God to immediately bring
not of Hottentots and Kaffers but of the heathen hu- themselves forward as avowed atheists. This takes
man families when these families were still seeing God time. Avowed atheism is the final state. Before this
through the glass of special revelation. It is thus not      state is reached, the apostate may continue to in-
a doing of heathendom but a doing of which heathen-          sist that he brings his peace-offerings and burnt-offer-
dom is the fruitage.                                         ings not to a devil-god but t.o Jehovah indeed, and hc
                                                             will dance around his golden calf with the name of
   In the light of 6he  abcve observations and scrip- Jehovah upon his lips. So did the apostates at Sinai.
tures, it must .indeed  be maintained that the idol of But if the question were put to these apostates, "Whom
the second command is another god, a god to be identi-       do you serve," they would say, "Jehovah, our God".
bed with the other gods of the first command. Main- But let us not believe them. Let us .believe ..Jehovah,
tained it must be, further, that the Jews of the desert.     who knew the thoughts and intents of their heart and
when they cried for the golden calf,  xtually meant who said of them that,, ,when they knew God, they
to worship not Jehovah in the form of a familiar glorified Him not as God, they were not thankful, that
Idol but that very idol only. To maintain the contrary they did not like to retain God in their knowledge,
is to be pitted against the plain teaching and instruc- and that therefore they changed His glory into an
tions of Holy Writ and to give evidence further of image made like to an ox.
having failed to penetrate to the true meaning of the           But now we have also this scripture (Deut. 4 :16-
f'rst two commands. It is certainly true `that what 20). "Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves;
induced the pecple of Israel at Sinai to say to Aaron,       for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that
"Up, make us gods to go before us" is the very cir- the Lord spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst
cumstance that the god desired had to be one of their of the fire: lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you
own making, thus an idol that could be taken up, car- a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the like-
ried about, set down again and stay put as its devotees ness of male or female, the likeness of any beast that
choose, a god therefore helpless and impotent and as is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that
debased morally as his worshipers, thus a god before flieth in the air, the likeness of anything that creepeth
whom they could dance and play and in whose  t-smple         on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the
they would be  allow-ed  to serve the lusts of the flesh.    waters beneath the earth; and lest thou lift up thine
   But did not the apostates, on beholding their idol. eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the ,sun, and
declare that these were the gods that had brought them the moon, and the stars, even all the hosts of heaven,
out of the land of Egypt; an,d did not Aaron after hav- shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them,
ing brought the idol into being proclaim that on the         which the Lord thy God hath divided unto all nations
morrow there would be a feast to Jehovah? Should             under the whole heaven. But the Lord hath taken
it be said in the light of this declaration and this you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace,
promise that in turing to their idol the apostates           even out of Egypt, to be unto Him a people of in-
actually turned and meant to turn away from Jehovah?         heritance, as ye are this day."
This must. be said, as according to Holy Writ the very          It is plain that this scripture is to be taken as the
reason of their doing was their refusal to glorify Je- commentary on the second command. The clause, "for
hovah (Ps.  106 already quoted). This testimony of ye saw no manner of similitude on the dav that the
Scripture must be the end of all argument. What must Lord spake unto you," as joined to what follows, t&s
now be  ,done is not to continue to challenge the state-     us that the making of the graven image was indeed
ment (from Scripture) that the apostates in turning representative of an attempt to visualize the invisible
to the idol (the golden calf) turned away from  .T+ Jehovah, to represent Him by an image, by a proper
hovah but to show how this testimony of Scripture is form and that to the apostates the idol was this form.
to be harmonized with the above-cited declaration of Thus the answer of the catechism to the question.
the  apcstates  and with the proclamation of  .4aron.        "What does God forbid in the second commandment."
This can easily be shown. Consider that when men the  Ca,techism's  answer to this question. that we in
who  k-nou; God first begin to move away from Him no wise renresent God by images, is correct and must
in their thinking and willing, they continue to insist be said to be taken directly from scripture. For read-
when exposed that their hearts are still right with ing the above-cited scripture with care, it is plain


 118                                              `j?H8  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
 Itl.l^____-,  __ll__--_-.-"   ......_I..._......._....  --_II__...  -.--~-                -       --..-..--  --..----. "      -..--.zz
that what it in substance declares is, "On the day be no doubt that the answer to be supplied is, of Je-
that the Lord spake unto you in Horeb, He shewed,                              hovah thy God thou saw no form. . .  ."  Yet there
gave you no manner of form of Himself. Do not were to be seen certain symbols of Jehovah's presence,
you therefore make of Him any manner of form. Now                              creatural agents of the revelation of His glory and
the plain implication of this prohibition (contained in magesty. There was to be seen lightnings, and a thick
the book of Deuteronomy) is that the making of the                             cloud upon the mount and the smoke and the fire in
golden calf by the apostates at Sinai was very actually which the Lord ascended on the mount. Then, too,
represent,ative  of an attempt on their part to repre- there was to be seen from the time of the exodus on
sent Jehovah by an image. If so, is then not the con- the pillar of cloud. This cloud was th,e visible token
tention that these apostates, when they turned to their of the redeeming and saving presence of the Triune
idol at least did not at all mean to reject Jehovah,                           dehovah.    It was through this cloud that the Lord
after all true. And the answer: Though it be true,                             looked unto the host of the Egyptians and troubled
that the making of the idol was an attempt to represent it. From out of this cloud the `Lord communicated
Jehovah by an image, it nevertheless remains true with Moses His servant. The voice of the ten words
that the making of the idol was at once a deliberate                           (commandments) had  come to the people of  Israel
and conscious rejection of Jehovah.                     This must be           from out of this pillar of cloud. Of this pillar of
maintained again in the light of the testimony of cloud we read over and  o,ver  that its radiant glory filled
scripture that the reason of this vile doing was the                           the tent of meeting, and its glory, so we read, was
unwillingness on the part of the apostates to retain the glory of Jehovah. By this cloud, the  people of
God in their knowledge. The fact is this: The  %?ry                            Israel were lead. By this cloud, spreading itself over
doing of representing Jehovah by a graven image was                            their heads, they were shielded against the burning
basest ingratitude and expressive of an indisposition heat of the desert sun. But there is more to say.
to glorify God and to retain Him in their knowledge.                           The sequence of the above scripture (Deut. 4:16-20)
If this be not understood and admitted, idolatry, this                         reads, "Lest you  .corrupt  yourselves and make  you
serving the creature and its graven image, will be                             a graven image of male or female (man or woman)
looked upon by us not as a terrible vice but rather the likeness of any beast that is upon the earth. . . .
as a near virtue.           That this representation of God And lest thou Iift up thine eyes unto heaven, ,when
by an image is not friendship but very actually enmity                         thou see&  the sun, and the moon and the stars, and
of God is the very reasoning of the apostle Paul in                            shouldest be driven to warship them."         The plain
Remans. What the apostle wrote is not, "Because that, meaning of this prohibition is, "Thou shalt not regard
when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God. . . these creatures as the very form, "gestalte" of Jehovah
and therefore changed His glory into an image made                             t.hy God and worship them by prostrating thyself be-
like unto corruptib!e  man. . . ." but what he wrote is, fore their graven images." But we may ask, was not
"Because that, when they knew God,  th~ey glorified                            man created in the image of God  ; and do  net the
Him not as God. . . .but became vain in their imagina- heavens - the sun, moon and stars - declare the
tions. . . .and changed the glory of the incorruptible glory of God? Does not the firmament  shew forth
God. . .  ." Here it is said that to change His glory. . . His handiwork? Does not day unto day utter speech
to represent Him, God, by an image, is deliberately and night unto night shew knowledge? Assuredly, yes.
(mark you, deliberately. For they knew God) not *LCI                           How then could the Lord say  t.o Israel, "Thou hast
glorify Him as God.                                                            not seen and seest not a form, a likeness of Me any-
    Having made these observations, let us now hare                            where." I reply: the clause, "Thou shalt not worship
regard to the following matters: The meaning and                               them and serve them (not worship the graven images
import  of the second command. How it differs from                             of these creatures; thus not worship these very crea-
the first. Why it is that to represent God by an image                         tures)" make it plain that the meaning of the declara-
is to reject `Him. Why men hate God will  neverthe-                            tion of the Lord, "Thou hast seen no form of Me,
IZLS  represent Him by an image to serve Him under its                         Jehovah thy God," is "Thou hast seen no form of Me
likeness.                                                                      anywhere to which thou  canst point and say, "That  is
    The second command, its mean'ng and import. As                             God." What now would it mean, should there be
was said, the second command must be studied in  the                           such a visible and thus material, physical form, ap-
light of Deut. 4 :15-20.            Let us concentrate on this                 pearance,  t.o which man could point and say, "Behold
scripture. Said the Lord, "For ye saw no manner of the God to be worshiped and served." It would mean
similitude un the day that the Lord spoke unto YOU                             that such a form, appearance, ZLYTC God, belonged to
in Horeb out of the midst of the fire. . . ." The text                         His very divine essence, being, so that of God, it
in the original reads, "ye saw no similitude on the                            would have to be said that as to His divine nature,
day. . .  ."     And the word translated by  simiLi6ude                        He is also a physical being, essence. There is no
means likeness, image, also form, appearance, gestnlte."                       such physical form, appearance, of which it may be
Thou saw no  form?  trq&&$`,   Of  W!WII?   There can                          said that it is divine essence. This may not be said


                                   T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                         xl.9

even of the human nature of Christ. But do we not forming with his own hand an image of God? This
worsh,ip the Christ as God? True. But what we wor- is no willfulness on the part of the sinner. His na-
ship is not the man, the human nature as such, but          ture constrains him. It would not be thus, were man
the divine person that joined Himself in personal union not created after the image of God. . . .
with this nature. Thus, though the creature be the             "Yet man's yielding to this urge is nothing but new
agent through which the Triune God reveals Himself, sin; an adding of sin to sin. True it is that this thirst
His glories, that creature is not God, divine essence,      after the image of God, that also remained in fallen
to be worshiped as God. And this is precisely the man, is to be regarded as a holy and undying trait of
implication of the sin. of the worship of the graven his human being, but the satisfaction of this human
image. The idolater identifies God w,ith His creature need, God had reserved for Himself. He would send
and the creature with God. It means that he reduces His Son, and in this Son, Who for this purpose, as-
God to the level of whatever creature he likens God sumed our human nature, would the image of God be
to, through divesting God of all His glories. The given back. In Christ the image of God has indeed
idolator, in a word,  annihiliates  God.    Having de- again appeared; not in His divine but in His human
stroyed God, he raises the creature to the level of nature ; for in the human nature was this image again
God through attributing to his idol such attributes of restored, that was lost in the fall of Adam." So far
God as are useful to him, and thus commits himself Kuyper. ,
to the very doing descr,ibed by the psalmist and by the
apostle.    He changes the glory of the incorruptible          So the sin cf idolatry, of the worship of the graven
God into an angel made like unto corruptible man, and image, is here explained from the undying yearning
to birds. . . .                                             of the fallen, spiritually dead and thus totally depraved
                                                            sinner after the image of God. Astounding! Consider
   So then, so far from the truth it is that the idolator that what man lost, when he lost this image, is his
reaches out for the living God, when knelt before the holiness. Consider further that the image was in a
shrine of his idol, that his conscious purpose is to de- creatural way  th-e reflection of Goad's own conception
stroy God, which he indeed does in his heart. This cf Himself (the writer calls our attention to  `ihis),
must be maintained in opposition to the following thus a creatural reflection of the glories of God, of
assertion again found in the E. Veto. I quote, "To shed His righteousness, holiness, wisdom, power. . . . Thus
I!ght upon  this strange  phenomencn  (the worship of what according to this writer, man in his depraved
images) we can ado no better than to have regard to state, continued to thirst for is indeed  ho'iness,  right-
what scripture teaches concerning the image of God. eousness, the liv,ing God, His Self-revelaticn,  and thus
The second command in its radical form prohibits di- what man, dead in sin, unconsciously looked forward
rectly the making of an image of God. . . . The doc- to is the appearance of God in Christ. At such con-
trine of the image of God must furnish the needed clusions one will necessarily arrive, if he insists that
light here. Respecting this matter, Holy Writ plainly the apostate dews in the desert, were actualy reaching
teaches that there must indeed be an image of God. out after Go.d, when they whirled about the golden
Consider that the image of God is nothing else than calf. So I say, with all the emphasis that I can muster,
the conception that God in His consciousness has of rid yourself of this nction. Let us not preach it from
Himself. . . . Now according to this image God, th.e our pulpits. It is heresy of the purest woo!.
Triune God, created man. Not the world outside of
man was created, according to the image of God, but            What would follow, if it were true that man af-
man and man only. . . .      Consequently it must be ter the fall, continued to yearn after the image? This
that there resides in the depth of man's being an in- that t.here remained in man after the fall a remnant
destructible urge, inclination, to have with this image of his original righteousness and holiness.          To say
most intimate communion. Man cannot d.isengage  him- that the apostate Jews were actually seeking Jehovah
self from this image of God, and also, where he lest        under the forms of a familiar idol, to try and expIain
it, must this yearning after the image of God, be it idolatry from man's thirst after God, is to again em-
unconscious and unnoticed, continue to prompt him. brace, be it unwittingly, the very theory of which
This follows from his creation, from his being as man. we purged ourselves, the theory of common grace.
An unutterable feeling of emptiness must  reveal  itself       If man continued to yearn after God after the
in his being. He no longer corresponds to the image fall, he did not fall and is not by nature spiritually
of God.     He no longer possesses it. And yet his dead. The statement actually occurs in the above ex-
nature restlessly urges him to have the image of cerpt that this thirst after the image of God is to
God. Hence, it follows from the nature of things, that be regarded as a  holy  trait of the  b&g of fallen
he risks an attempt to make to himself the image of man.
God that he lost. He has it not; but he must have              Is it true that man, the man spiritually dead b.y
it. How then can he refrain from helping himself by         nature, continued to yearn after God and looked fQr-


120                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
~-                          --zzz- _. "..""" ..--- - ..." ..-..-... -.".-.-               ._I__~ ..__ ^.-                                 _.-
ward with a joyful expectation to the appearance in                            thee as I have revealed Myself and not as depraved
the fulness of time of God's Son. The conclusive proof man conceives of Me."
that he did not  ,is that when the Son finally appeared,                          Thus though the seccnd  command as well as .l;he
humanity,, Jew and Gentile, nailed His blessed body                            first has to do of necessity with the other gods (the
to the cross.     This last statement  sets the sin  cf                        idol is another God), the two commandments do differ.
Idolatry before our mind in all its hideousness. That                          What t.he first enjoins .is that God only shall be served,
cry of the apostate Jews of the desert for the idol                            !oved,  obeyed and trusted, that thus there shall be
sprang from a hatred of the Holy One that finally,                             in man's life no other gods. What the second com-
when there was opportunity, crucified Jehovah as seen                          mand requires is that we honor God's revelation of
in the  :face of Christ. Thus idolatry, the worship of Self and shall not, spurning this revelation, say of
the graven image, is to be explained, not from faIlen                          ourselves Who  Go.d is. To do the latter is to bring
man's yearning after but from His fierce aversion                              into being the other God, the idol.
to God.                                                                           In the above excerpt (from the E. Voto) the
                                                                               statement occurs that there must be an image of
       But now further. In the above excerpt, idolatry                         God. This is true, of course, if what is meant is that
is explained not merely from fallen man's yearning there must be a revelation of God's glories in the
after the archetypical image of God, (God's concep- face of Christ and in the face of His body, the church.
tion of His divine Self), but from a thirsting for ills                        Such was the eternal purpose of  Gtd. But this is
revelation of this image as lost. This is the  conclu-                         not the issue here. The question is whether the crea-
sicn to which the view here broached drives. State-
ments occur to the effect that the image after which                           ture, the image-bearer of God, is God and may thus
                                                                               be worshiped as God.
man yearned was lost and that thus this yearning                                  The answer to the question, why to serve the idol
was not satisfied until God again stood before man is to reject Jehovah, (I speak now of men who know
in Christ. Thus the conclusion is unavoidable, that                            God in Christ) is that the graven image is the likeness
throughout the Old Dispensation there was no revela- of a creature to whose 1eveI the idolator reduces God
tion and thus no knowledge cf this image. Now this                             and with which he identities God. The question why
is net true. True it is that the revelation of this arche- men, who hate God will pretend to be serving Him
typical image disappeared in man's nature when he                              under an idol has been answered.
lost h,is holiness, but it continued even on a grander                            A final question is whether only such men who
scale through the agency of the word of  Go,d, of the literally kneel before images of stone and wood merit
typical-symbolical institutions of the people of Israel the name of idolators. And the answer: Assuredly
and of the miracles, (special revelations) and through not. Consider that the graven image is but the ex-
the agency of creation (general revelation). So then pression in wood and stone of man's corrupt concep-
in the church, this revelation continued through the tion of God. Hence every man, be he gentile or chris-
agency of all those shadows of which Christ is the tian, who harbors in his soul a wrong conception of
body. Thus the church, Israel, saw God as the heathen God, who cleaves to that conception and is knelt be-
d,id  net; it saw God in the face of the symbol, the                           fore it in his heart is in truth an idolator, essentially
type and the miracle. It therefore saw Him as re- a worshiper of a graven image. To get away from
deemer-God. Thus tho.se apostates of the desert that                           idolatry is thus to know and love God in Bis very own
cried for the golden calf had knowledge of Jehovah.                            Self-revelation.
They had seen all His works. They saw Him in the                                                   To be continued.
face of the law, of the tire in which He ascended upon                                                                      G.  M.  0.
the mount, and of the cloud. And their cry for the
idcl, what was it? A crying in the final instance
after Jehovah? Nay, but it was a spurning of the
revelation of God in the face of Christ, a despising
of the knowledge of Jehovah, and a placing in the
room of this revelation, their own corrupt notion of                                     Not ail the words of all mankind,
what they wanted Him to be.             Such is the reality.                                However great and wise ;
This was their doing and their great sin. Scripture                                      Can lift a sinner from the dust
plainly tells us this, "When they knew God, they glori-
fied Him not as God. . . .                                                                  And place him in the skies.
       What then does the second command prohibit?
This : "Thou shalt not shun, despise My revelation                                       Then let Thy Word, 0 Son of God,
of Self to place in its room thine own corrupt notion                                       Suffice this heart of mine ;
of what thy depraved self would have Me be." This                                         And let me count no word as true
can be expressed positively thus,             "Set Me before                               If it conflicts with Thine.

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

                                              Editors-Rev. H. Hoeksema, Rev. G. M. Ophoff.

                                              Boer, Rev. M.  Grit'terq  Rev. C. Hanko, Rev.  8.
                                                Kok, Rev.  G. Lubbers, Rev. R.  Veldman.


Vol. XIV, No. 6. Enten  as second  class mail
                    matter at Grand Rapids.  Mich.      DECEMBER 15, 1937                          Subscription Price, $2.00
~.~----

                                                                      For, she wrapped him in swaddling-clothes and laid
11  M E D I T A T I O N                                               him in the manger, because there was no room for
                                                                      them in the inn. In fact, this is the only sign given to
(\---AI indicate that  Go,d is come in the flesh, that a Saviour
                    The Firstborn                                     is born in the city of David:  "ye shall find the babe
                                                                      mapped in swaddling-clothes and lying in a man-
                       And she  bmu~ht  forth  her  first- ger"! . . . .
                 bo?%   soTl. .  1  .                 Luke 2:7a.          Where, then, is the glory of this wonder, that will
    Wonderful Christmas-story  f                                      cause all the world to tremble because God is come
    How utterly simple; yet how beautifully proper !                  doswn to us?
    For, simplicity, extreme simplicity  and  sobriety                    How utterly simple !
c]nsracterizes  the Biblical account of the greatest of                   And yet, how could it be different?
al1 wonders, from which all other wonders derive their                    To be sure, in Bethlehem is God revealed in the
true significance, the incarnation of the Son of God!                 flesh ; but, mark you, in the flesh, and that in the
    There was a decree of Caesar Augustus, that the likeness of sinful flesh! What else would you `expect
whole world should be taxed; Joseph and Mary travel than that in that likeness of sinful flesh God is hid
frem Nazareth t.o Bethlehem, the city of David; they from before  QOUT searching eyes? When the Lord
arrive to find the little town overcrowded with guests, becomes a `servant, what  else would you find in Bethle-
so that there is no room for them in the inn; they hem than the  form of a servant? There is in Him ng
find shelter in a stable; the days are fulfilled that form nor comeliness according to the criterion of the
Mary should be delivered. ~ . .and she brought forth world  ; there is on Him no beauty that we should
her firstborn son !                                                   desire Him ; if you went to Bethlehem to see divine         I
    How common !                                                      glory you must needs be disappointed: there is not
    Ilow unlike  &lie+ wonders? These are signs in even the traditional halo of light around the head  `&f
themselves ; they  draw the attention because of this babe. The flesh, your flesh atid blood, the likeness
their distinction from the common course of things in of sinful flesh is the level of this revelation of ad.
this  world; waters respectfully separate and make God is most fully revealed in Bethlehem, where `He
room for God's people to pass through; the walls of is most completely hid ! . . . .
a city collapse without an apparent cause ; the sun stops                 What  else, than, could be said than this: "and s.&
in its  cours,e;  the dead rise from their place of corrup- brought forth her firstborn son?"
tion ; marvelous things are these, the  treport  of which                 That this babe is God in the flesh,, Mary ,&new,
fills the nations with awe before the God of Israel. . . . Anna and  Simeon knew, the shepherds and the magi.
   But who will pay atte&ion  to the realization of the kpew, and all that looked for the hope of  Lsrael  in
Promise, God come in the flesh? Had it not been re- Jerusalem knew; and we know. . . .
ported millions of times before and would it not be                       But only by the Word of God concerning this child !
said times without number afterwards:                   "and she          Th.e Word of God that was spoken to Mary, to Jo-
brought forth her firstborn son?" In Bethlehem every- seph, to the shepherds. . . .
thing appears quite ordinary, except that the circum-                     The Wosd of God spoken by Himself, the Word that
stances  o,f the birth  o,f this particular  firstborn  son was sealed by those marvellous  works, in which the
are somewhat below the common level of everyday life. divine  power and  gIory  flashed through the  1ikeF-F  of


122                                    T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
                        _l--"...-l              __I.
sinful flesh and that sometimes caused those who saw preeminence over his brethren. He had the rule over
to cry out: "Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sin-            them.
ful man?"                                                        And the double portion of the inheritance, the
       The Word of God that was heard in the Holy             special covenant blessing was his.
Mount : This is my beloved Son !                                 And she brought forth her firstborn son !
   The Word of the Cross, and of the resurrec-                   Even as Mary's firstborn, He was the preparer of
tion! . . . .                                                 the way for His brethren according to the flesh in an
   But a wicked and adulterous generation receiveth altogether unique sense of the word.
no sign. Not even in Bethlehem!                                  For, He was born, yet not begotten.
       She brought forth her firstborn son !                     Firstborn 09 Mary, of her flesh and blood, yet not
   How properly sober!                                        by the will of man.
                                                                 As the eternal Son of God He prepared His own
                                                              way in the womb of the virgin-mother and through
   Her Firstborn !                                            her womb into the world.
       It must needs be so, not only because the sign of         He took upon Himself the flesh and blood of the
Immanuel is His virgin birth, a sign that must be children.
unique and could not be repeated, but also because in            He assumed the form of a servant.
every sense He is the true Firstborn, of which all other         And thus He became like unto His brethren !
firstborn are but types and shadows.                             Her firstborn!
   And hardly could He be without brethren, even as
the Firstborn of Mary.
       A much beloved view it is with some, that this            The Firstborn!
firstborn Son of Mary was also her only Son. She                 How proper it is that He  shoul~d be the firstborn of
that had been overshadowed by the power of the Holy Mary with respect to His brethren according to the
Ghost and had become the mother of the Sun of God flesh.
in the flesh, could never know man, must forever re-             For this firstborn of Mary is, indeed, the Firstborn !
main a pure and holy virgin.                                     Is He not the firstborn of every creature?
       Yet, how contrary is this theory to all that Scrip-       For, He, Who is the image of the invisible God, is
ture reveals to us about Jesus which is the Christ!           the firstborn of every creature ; for by Him were all
Did He not become like unto His brethren in all things, things created that are in heaven and that are in the
sin excepted? Did He not enter into the fulness of earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones,
our human life in every possible relationship? Does or dominions, or principalities or powers; all things
not Scripture inform us  ,repeatedly  of His brethren are created by Him and for Him ; and He is before all
and sisters, even mentioning them by name? Indeed, things and by Him all things consist. And He is the
He is the only begotten of the Father as the eternal          head of the body, the Church. . . . .
Son of God, not born but begotten ; yet He is the First-         He, that is born in Bethlehem, that babe in the
born of Mary, not begotten but born. And what would manger, is the Firstborn of every creature !
be the sense of this first-birth, if He had no brethren          Glorious revelation of deepest mystery !
according to the flesh, whose way He prepared in the             For, mark you, not as the eternal Son of God could
womb of Mary? . . . . .                                       He be called the firstborn of every creature. For, as
       For, the firstborn was the preparer of the way.        the Son of God He is God of God, very God Himself,
       Frequently Scripture speaks of the firstborn of coequal with the Father and the Holy Ghost, infinite in
man and beast.         Among Israel the firstborn were glory and power. As such He is not born, but begotten,
holy unto the Lord, Jehovah's peculiar possession,            generated from eternity to eternity by the Father. As
symbolic of the fact that all Israel was holy unto            such He cannot be numbered with the creature, not
Jehovah and His peculiar people, chosen and formed even as the firstborn, who prepares the way for all the
in order that they should proclaim His praise. Israel         rest of creation, and has the rule over all. Not the
was God's firstborn son ; and the firstborn among eternal Son of God, but the Christ, God in the flesh,
Israel had to be redeemed. For, as far as the temple          is the firstborn of every creature. He is such in God's
service was concerned Israel was represented by their eternal counsel.             For, the Christ of God is not  aa
firstborn sons; and when instead of them the sons of          afterthought of the Most High, by whom the broken
Levi were tak,en,  these firstborn had to be presented works of God must be repaired and healed, but the very
unto the Lord and redeemed.                                   first divine conception. In God's eternal good pleasure
   The peculiar significance of the firstborn was that        Christ stands as the firstborn of all creatures, that has
he prepared the way for his brethren. Usually, fhere- the  pre&ninence  over all, that prepares the way of all
fore, he is designated as the one that openeth the womb.      in the womb of God's counsel, unto whom all created
   Hence, he was also first in rank and had the               things, in all their being and development and history,


                                       T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                                            123
1- ..___._  -.._-                    ^ _-.._-..___.....  ^ _.. - "." .._......_...........  -_. ."--...- --... -"llll.    l._______ll._..  ".-    ^^ ..-....--
in heaven and on earth, from the beginning to the very                                               For, He must have the preEminence!
end of time, are adapted. They are conceived after                                                   Thus it was ordained from before the foundation
Him ; they are adapted to Him ; they are concentrated of t.he world, and thus it is declared in the Holy Scrip-
around Him ; they are  mad,e subservient to Him; they tures.
are subject under Him. . . . .                                                                       For thus the church of old was divinely taught to
     The Firstborn of all creation!                                                          sing of Him: "Yet have I set my king upon my holy
     The firstborn of Mary!                                                                  hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the Lord hath
     And He is the Firstborn of every creature, not as said unto me, Thou art my Son, this day have I be-
you see Him there in the manger, `in the likeness of gotten thee. Ask of me and I shall give thee the heathen
sinful flesh, encompassed by death ready to swallow for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the
Him up ; but as the First-born of the dead ! For, He earth for thy inheritance." Ps. 2 :6-8. And again : "Also
is the head of the body, the Church, in that same coun- I will make Him my firstborn, higher than the kings
sel of the Most High; He is the beginning, the firstborn of the earth. "Ps. 89 :27.
from the dead, that in all things He might have the                                                  And again, it was said of Him: "Thee shall thy
preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in Him brethren praise ; the sceptre shall not depart from
should all the fulness dwell, and having made peace Judah till Shiloh come. . . . ." and with Shiloh that
thro.ugh  the blood of the cross, by Him to reconcile all                                    sceptre shall remain forever ! Gen. 49  :8, lz. And:
things unto Himself; by Him, whether they be things "Thou Bethlehem-Ephrathah. . . . . out of thee shall
on earth or things in heaven. (Col.  1:15-20).  Not as come forth unto me one that is to be a ruler in Israel,"
the helpless babe in the manger, in the likeness of Micah 5 :l.
sinful flesh, without form or comeliness or beauty that                                              Thus the angel had announced His coming to the
we should desire Him, but as the glorious Lord of life                                       virgin that would be His mother: He shall sit on the
and death, the first-born from the dead He stands in throne of David forever! !
the eternal counsel as the firstborn of every creature,                                              And thus the Christmas-gospel was first preached
with all the rest of creation adapted to Him. Fur, to the shepherds in the  fie1.d of Ephrathah: A  Saviour,
there in the' manger He lies in the midst of death, who is Christ, the Lord !
having come to deliver the children that were subject                                                 Lord of all!
to him that has the power of death; but according to                                                 Lord over all according to God's eternal  good-
that counsel He will battle His way through death, by pleasure. For, it is the mystery of God's will, that in
His cross and in the resurrection, and thus open the ,the dispensation of the fulness of time He might
womb of death for all whom the Father gave Him ! . .                                         gather together in one all things in Christ, both which
      The Firstborn 09 every.creature.  . . . .                                              are in heaven and which are on earth. And this good
      The Firstborn from the dead. . . .                                                     pleasure of the Lord will be realized in that babe that
      The Firstborn of Mary. . . . .                                                         lies in the manger, Who made His entrance into the
      And thus God's counsel will be realized in Him, world by standing on its very edge, for Whom there
that He should be the Firstborn among many brethren ! was no room in the inn ; He will battle His w,ay  into
For, whom He did foreknow He also did predestinate His Kingdom, facing  all the powers of darkness as the
to be conformed according to the image of His Servant of the Lord, His strong Arm, through the
Son, that He might be the firstborn among many death of the accursed tree into the glorious life of His
brethren. . . . .                                                                             resurrection, and through the resurrection to His posi-
      For these brethren He prepares the way, through tion at the pinnacle of all created things at the right
the cross and through the resurrection  ; the way from hand of God where He shall have a name which is above
sin into righteousness, from death into life, from every name, that every knee may bow before Him and
mortality into immortality, from shame into glory.                                            every tongue may confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to
from the likeness of the sinful flesh into the glory of the glory of God the Father. And already these things
the heavenly image, from hell  int.0 heaven. . . . .                                          are realized. For we see Jesus, who was made a littIe
      Through the deep way of sin, grace, death, life. . .                                    lower than the angels, for  t.he suffering of death
      The Firstborn of every creature. . . . .                                                crowned with glory and honor? . . . .
      The Firstborn from the dead. . . .                                                              Lord over all His brethren for whom He prepared
      The Firstborn among many brethren. . . .                                                the way! . . . .
      And she brought forth her firstborn son!                                                        With the Lordship of Iovn f
      How proper He should be Mary's firstborn !                                                      For, He purchased them with the price of love, His
      The Firstborn of  all!                                                                  own precious blood  ; and He drew them with cords of
                                                                                              love  ; and he established, His throne in their hearts by
                                                                                              the irresistible power of His love, , , . .
      Firstborn. . . . . Lord of all!                                                                 The Firstborn of all !
      The Christ of God forever!                                                                       Jesus, my Lord?                            H. H,


136                                  T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
--..-.--_-.-._.  ___                      - -
t-lit Koninkrijk zal zoeken terwijl hij zich te midden .l3ihlica~l   tmtth of  repedance   wnd  of  the preaching  of
der wereld bevind. Hij  `zeif draagt die wereld in zich.     the same,  amorlzig  a.11 the truths  of  Holy Writ.  Our
Zijn eigen zondig hart trekt juist naar die dingen heen,     second consideration was the  prolper point of  departure,
welke  hij niet mag zoeken. Welnu, alle  dingen  prijs in ascertaining this perspective. We observed, how
te geven ten  koste  van het eene zoeken en  jagen, kost Scripture teaches that God is the Author of all things.
hem zelfverloochening  en zelfopoffering. Hij moet zijn That He is the Preacher of repentance in the absolute
ouden mensch kruisigen en strijden tegen alles wat sense. He is our Sovereign Maker. "Thus saith the
hinderlijk en schadelijk is. Nu wordt hem beloofd, Lord" is the fundamental keynote resounding through-
dat hij zal ontvangen  tot het zoeken van het Konink- out the Scriptures. And this preaching of repentance
rijk der hemelen, wat hij daartoe van  noode  hseft.         is always  and o&u an activity of God in Christ Jesus,
Noodig daartoe is dan  we1 ailereerst, genade am  te         our Lord.    It is never done outside of Christ, the
zoeken en genade om te strijden. De  kracht  der ge-         Word-Incarnate.     Always through Christ, the Head
nade is wat hij behoeft. Heeft hij dan daartce  wel- of the Church.
licht ook andere dingen  noodig, zooals voedsel  en dek-        In passing I wish to call your attention to the
se1 en nog we1 andere dingen? Zeer zeker ! Hij staat fact (a fact which many have already taken note of)
niet buiten de wereld, doch er midden  in. Het manna that what I am trying to make clear is not new. It
regent niet uit den hemel, doch komt hem toe op de           is the plain teaching of Scripture, which has been
door den Heere verordineerde wijze.  Doch,  hij zal          crmfessed   b,y all who were of  reformed~  persuasion
zich daarover niet bezorgd  maken.      Zijn God voegt throughout the ages. But it is a truth which is being
hem toe, wat Hij naar Zijn wijsheid weet  wai Zijn hushed in our day. . . . even among those who call
kind van noode heeft.                                        themselves reformed. It is a truth which during the
   Het is die  Goddehjke  wijsheid, die hier  bepaalt.       past decade has been preached among our Protestant
Het is de Goddelijke almacht die zorgt. Het is de Reformed churches with renewed vigor. Constantly
Vaderlijke liefde, die hem toeschikt, wat Zijn  wijs- it has been brought to the attention of our people in
heid bepaalde.    Neen, niet  altijd gelijk ge het  we1      the preaching, catechism-instruction and in the written
ganrne  zoadt   willen en wenschen.  Doch  we1  altijd       productions of our leaders.
zoo, dat wat gij van noode hebt, terwijl gij het Konink-         What we wish to show in this discussion of the
rijk der  h*emelen  zoekt,  u zal  worden  toegeschikt. Hij proper perspective is, that only by understanding these
schenkt genade, Hij opent den weg en  geeft  u het things, will we be able to understand how Scripture
ncodige en aldus  doet geen ijdele zorg u van het heils-     preaches repentance.
spoor dwalen.                                                    This time we wish to show that God never preaches
                                                 w. v.       repentance outside of the Cross of Calvary. Repentance
                                                             preaching is rooted in the love of God revealed in
                                                             Christ and is always directed to the Church. Repen-
                                                             tance preachtng  is, therefore, in the scriptural sense
                                                             done on the mere basis in which God stands to man
  Repentance Preaching In Holy Writ                          by virtue of creation.
                                                                 Let us try to elucidate this point.
                           III.                                  God speaks to man, to Adam in the first paradise.
            THE PROPER PERSPECTIVE.                          And that through His Word, the Logos in creation. In
                                                             this speach of God there is no caI1 unto repentance.
    Due to my collective activities of Schocl-work, Catc-    God's Word in creation presupposes a state of rectitude
chism, Preaching, etc., it  lxcame  ne,oessar.y  for  :ne on the part of m,an, and not the state of guilt and damn-
to postpone the writing of this third  artic1.c  cn the worthiness. Presupposes that man created according
a,bove-captioned  subject, until this time. We now again to His likeness also really lives from the principle of
see our way `clear to continue to write on this series. true knowledge, righteousness and holiness. There is
If possible we will try to write  one article each month.    not preaching of repentance on the basis of God's
It is imperative that these essays appear in continua- revelation of Himself in creation  - the speech of God
tion. Necessary for me to present the material  pro- concerning Himself commonly designated as "God's
per.`y and for the readers to follow the thought.            general revelation"
                                                                                     in distinction from His "special
    Considerable time has elapsed since the appearance revelation".
of the former two articles in the Standard Bearer.               What does God tell us concerning Himself in crea-
Permit me, therefore, to briefly recall to  memcry  what     tion, His own handiwork? Does He tell us that He
we thus far have attempted to state. First, we at-           would have us repent from evil and  areturn to worship
tempted to make plain what we understand by the              Him at the foot of the cross? Of course not! He does
"Proper Perspective" of repentance-preaching in Scrip- not tell us of the foregiveness of sins, the life of the
ture.    This we saw was  the  proper  setting of  i'he       Spirit of sanctification;  lif? which has sprung from


                                               T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                     I.37
                                 ..-...-  ^
the grave of corruption.          He does not show us the          from. Are they then to be held without excuse, when
new and living way that leads us unto the holy place,              they have not heard the preaching of repemance?  !
in the Logos of creation.                                             `~`his latter seeming difiicuity  virtually amounts :io
        True, all the earthly points toward the heavenly.          the question which the Heidelberg catechism puts  to
The sun, moon and stars are set for signs. The sun us m the Lord's Day VI, Question 9. We quote: -uoes
is the earthly picture of the Son of righteousness. The not God, then, wrong man by requiring  cf him in His
day-star is the promise of the coming day. And bread law, that which he cannot perform?" and the answer
is the sign of the Bread of Life. You will say, does IS : `-No, for God so made man that he could perform it,
then not in a general way,  God, speak of Christ in the but man, through the instigation of the devil, by wilful
Logos of creation? Certainly! But only do we see disc.bedience  deprived himself and all his posterity of
these things now that we stand  ,in the light of the this power". `l'he ground of man's responsibility is
wonder of God's grace ; now that the Logos has become not to be sought in his hearing the preaching of re-
flesh and has dwelt among us, and now that we se&                  pentance. The latter has nothing to do with man's
His glory revealed in the Scriptures; which things we              responsibility as to its possible ground. The ground
apprehend by faith. But the Logos in creation us such,             of man's responsibility is that God created him  m His
does not tell us of the Christ to come, and of repentance own image, in righteousness and hcliness of heart.
preached in His Name.                                                 This latter is also the plain teaching of Scripture.
                                                                   Man certainly is responsible for his o,wn  wilful dis-
         The heavens and the earth are Gtid's  handiwork. obedience. The fall was not caused by any urge of
As such, the heavens declare the glory of God, and the God upon the will of man, but was sheer wanton dis-
firmament showeth His handiwork. Day unto day cbedience  on the part of man. Therefore the heathen
uttereth speach and night unto night showeth know- who never hear the Gospel, and die in their sins, are
 ledge. Ps.  19:1,  2.                                             held responsible for this their wickedness before the
         This speech of God, by the things made, has re- I-iighest Tribunal.
sounded through the heavens and earth from the begin-                 Neither is it necessary that God comes with  so-
ning of creation. For we read in Rom.  130, that:                  called  Common Grace, to make man responsible, as
 "the unseen things of Him (i.e. God, G. L.) from Rev. D. Zwier wrote in "De Wachter" almost a year
the creation of the world, being understood by the ago. And that because of God's Common Grace man
 things made, are clearly seen, even His eternal power is now without excuse.
 and divinity". What we have here we can state as                     What does Scripture teach concerning the  Gntile
follows.        Firstly, that God has revealed the unseen world, as they stand in the speech of God in creation?
 things of Himself.         (ta aorata autou). These unseen idothing less, than that "the wrath of God is revealed
things are His own #glorious virtues. In this case the from heaven upon all ungodliness and righteousness
 virtues of His eternal  po,wer.  For it is through this of men who keep the truth under, in unrighteousness",
 eternal power of God, that all the creation of God was l2o.m. 1:X This the apostle explains. The reason for
 called into being. Secondly that this power God causes this uncovering of God's holy displeasure is that "that
 to proceed from Himself as eternal. It is a power                 which is known of God is manifest to them".            The
      which is not limited by time, and the laws of the crea-      Gentiles stand in the midst of the "things made".
 ture. And therefore it is not an earthly, creaturely,             These "things made" loudly proc!aim,  and tha,t *`from
      temporal, limited power that upholds the heavens and the creation of the world" that God is God. That He
      the earth ; and that causes the heavens to declare God's     alo8ne is praiseworthy. They see by the "things made"
      glory. It is a power that speaks of God, and tells us        God's eternal power and divinity ; +not merely vagueiy,
      that the creature is not self-existing, but that he is but very clearly these unseen things of God t.hey see.
      maintained and called into being by One Who is above             God's purpose in thus revealing Himself clearly
      it, and is not in any sense to be compared with it.          unto man, is that He shall forevermore be without ex-
      This pawer-almighty speaks of the glory of the in- cuse. This, the apostle tells us in Rom.  1:20b, "in
      corruptible God. And therefore of Divinity ! This order that they be without excuse". It is important
      divinity and power of God, God has  &arly  revealed in       to notice that this clause is a purpose clause, and not
      the "things made".                                           that of ~result. It was the very clear and evident q&z-
         NOW  we ask, does the Logos of God in creation,            temtion of God to so reveal Himself, that no one should
      that speaks of His eternal power and divinity in sny ever be able to say: I didn't know who Gcd was.
      way preach repentance? And our answer is,  th,at it              But m.an, says the apostle, knowing God did not
      does not. But, you may ask, how then can the Gentiles glorify or thank Him as God. Man fell, and was
      who   have not heard the call of repentance in the Gospel    made vain in his reasoning. And this being ,mde vain
      of God in Christ, be held responsible for guing  lost.        in reasoning is the tangible  manifest.ation  of God's
      No repentance is preached outside of the Logos in wrath from heaven. Man in the wrath  o,f God from
 the flesh! And the Logos in the flesh they do not hear heaven became darkened in the understanding of his
".


 138                                  T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
                        ._- -... --- -_          -                                          - _. -_.ll_---_l
heart, and says by virtue of this darkening: "there is which was written the figures that represented what
uo God" ! Thinking to be wise, he became a fool, and the consistory estimated would be needed for salary
changed the glory of God's divinity and power into and fuel, etc. These figures having been explained,
Lne likeness of corruptible man, to that of birds,  four-    the pastor, who presided, asked if there were any who
footed animals and snakes. Man sank by virtue of had questions to ask or objections to raise. As  1
the manifestation of God's wrath into the mire of noticed that the proposed budget called for no offering
iniquity.                                                    for the Christian School, I asked if mother intended to
   That the heathen have sunken so low, is only the forget her child the  school The pastor smiled and
responsibility of themselves. God they would not, and said, "No, the school will be taken care of out of the
therefore now they are in the way of God's abiding free-will offerings. A year went by. The congrega-
wrath.                                                       tion was again assembled. Now I had learned that
   Outside of the Word in the flesh, the Lamb of God what the congregation had contributed in the envelopes
on the accursed tree, no preaching of repentance. Only for the support of the pastor was a few hundred dollars
the manifestation of God's wrath, in God's revelation less than what the congregation had agreed at the
111 the things of creation!                                  beginning of the fiscal year when the budget was
   Repentance-preaching is only an activity of God adopted that the pastor should have. So J asked the
;tl Christ, in loving kindness and tender mercy!             presiding elder (the pastor had accepted a call to
                                                 G. L.       another congregation) if the departed pastor had not
                                                             received his full salary `and if the ministers who were
                                                             supplying our pulpits were receiving no remuneration.
                                                             To this I received the reply, that  the  funds needed to
  Communication From H. 3. Hoekstra                          make up the deficiency in the salary of the pastor had
                                                             been brought up by free-will offerings and that from
                                                             these same offerings the funds had been taken that
   1) I read carefully Rev.  Ophoff's  reply to my  cb-      was needed to pay the pulpit supplies. Then I asked
jections  as published in our Standard Bearer for Nov. how much the school received from this source of
15, 193'7.  I thank the Rev. Ophoff  fo.r his honesty income, and at once reminded the brethren that a year
sincerty  and brotherly inclinations. I do not consider ago the promise had been made `to give from this
myself mistaken, when I imagine that the Rev.  Ophoff        source to the school. Neither the presiding elder nor
expects a few statements from me concerning his re- anyone else of the consistory seemed to be able to
ply relative to the delicate budget question.                answer my question. Then I spoke up. I said, "Being
   2) Let me then observe f?rstly,  that I fully agree the treasurer of the school, I am able to report that our
with the reverend that he who is able to contribute the church gave nothing for the support of its child - the
entire sum that the budget per family calls for ,steals      school".    The consistory and even the congregation
from the point of view of  t$he  budget but from the showed me no kindness for my being observant, critical
When I said, "This is true from the viewpoint of the and true. And this showed me that there was not
budget, but this is not my viewpoint", I imagined that much difference between the budget as it is in use in
the reverend would understand that what I meant is           the world and as it is in use in the church. Both
that the member guilty of this does wrong not only gamble with and juggle. figures. Is it not a wonder
  om the point of view of the budget but from the that I brand the budget tyrannical? It makes pro-
point of view of Scripture as well. Certainly, to kno,w      vision for the support of the pastor at the expence  of
whether a doing is right or wrong, that doing must be the education of the youth. it has come to my notice
viewed in the light of God's Word. The sole question that sins of this nature are common in churches that
is "What do the  Scritures  say".                            have the budget. The Rev. Ophoff is honest and there-
   3.) I will agree that on account of my attempt to         fore I feel assured that doings of this character are
say much with a few words, I made myself not any not tolerated by him.
to plain in my second communication.  1 think the               5) Thirdly, the reverend Ophoff set my thoughts
good reverend understands me better now.                     upon something - a trip to the Netherlands - that
   4) Secondly, as the reverend well reported, taxing, would afford me much pleasure, when he asked me
assessing and collecting, I declared to be tyrannical.       whether I would say of myself that  I would not be
I am sure the Rev. Ophof? will grant me the space I living by faith, should I resolve to visit a friend in the
need to explain why the  bud(get  within the walls of Netherlands,  z%e  Lord  willing. This too, says the Rev.
God's temple is an object of fear to me. It is many Ophoff, the congregation must say when it agrees to
years ago now that the pastor of the Third Christian contribute the sums of money that the budget, as ap-
Ref. Church introduced the budget  intu his church.          proved by the  congregaton,  calls for. It must say, "If
I as a member attended the congregational meeting on the Lord is willing, if He continues to supply us with
which this was done.      There was a blackboard on the means, these amounts will be contributed." NOW


                                    T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                                               139
                                              -.._-- ._..- - ..- _._.- -....... ".         ""  .--.-  - - -                   .__ ^..__^l..-_-._-..^
I never yet heard a congregation say this, when approv-                     get and systematize aur offerings. Now 1 fail to see
ing the budget. But 1 agree that this prayer, earnestly                     how the law that condemns can improve on grace that
made, would keep the congregation from gambling with                        saves. In other words, what I fail to understand is
and juggling figures.                                                       how law, system, can work love in hearts devoid of love
   6)  Forthly. When I said that the budget is a child and thus convert an unwilling and loveless into a will-
of the war, the last world war, of course, I had in mind                    ing and loving giver. Is the gift the only thing to be
the doing of synods and consistories consisting in their considered by the church? Does not the Bible say that
declaring the perfidy, murder, robbery and insanity the purpose of Gad 1s that we know the love of Christ,
of the godless world frig&ous. This doing indicated                          which passeth understanding, that we may be filled
an unpardonable lack of faith on the part of the with all the fulness of God and does this fulness not
churches and brought them forward as sunk in and as also include the material things?
idolizing materialism.                                                                10) I must end. Our good brother Ophoff tells  us
   `7) Our good friend, the Rev. Ophoff, says t.hat I                       that the budget goes back to Moses. May I place him
am mistaken when i say that the budget is a child of a moment before the gates of lost paradise. Behold
the last world war. The budget, (systematic giving Cain and Abel. Consider their respective offerings.
says he, goes back to Moses and was introduced into                          The sacrifice of the God-fearing Abel is a lamb, its
the church by the Lord Himself. But consider this :                          soul, its  blocd, which he offers as constrained by pure
the people of Israel had little knowledge of Jehovah                         love. His offering is accepted by the Lord. Consider
the God of their fathers. Now if there be no knowledge now ,Cain's oRering. He offers with a cold heart, under
there can be no love. Jehovah, leading Israel through compulsion, systematically, budget-like. And to his
the wilderness (world) showed Moses huw to educate                          offering the Lord had no respect. This remarkable
Israel so that it would,  know the Lord and luve Him.                       story expresses in detail my view respecting offerings
The Old T.estament  stood in the sign of law and love,                       made from the principle of love and offerngs brought
or systematic, compulsory giving, that produced (a according to law, under a system. I insist that a
better word would be awakened or worked  G.M.O.)                            church that budgets its contribution sins, it makes no
love. The New Testament stands in the sign of grace                          difference what name that church may be bearing.
and love, or giving freely out of love.                                               II.) I also believe in a system, but in a system ris-
   8) Fifthly.  Systematic, compulsory giving, that is, ing from and applied by the giver and thus not first
giving according to the demand, outwits love. So  11                         and last by the authority.
wrote. And now the Rev. Ophoff replies that, if this                                  Thanking the brother Ophoff for allowing me to ex-
were true, the ten commandments should be dispensed
with. My first and second communication should have press myself in full regarding this phase of our service,
                                                                             1 remain most sincerely his.
made it plain to him that what I had before my mind                                                       Semper Fidelis, J. H. Hoekstra
was the case of that poor widow, who, in giving her
mite, gave all she had. This poor woman stood on the                                                           REPLY.
brink of the New Testament dispensation. Jesus places
her before us as an example. She gave out of love all                                  Under Arabic two, the brother writes that he fully
she possessed.    Jesus, knowing this, praised her in agrees with my contention to the effect that Scripture
public, and in praising her voiced also the mind of the                      itself compels us to take the stand that the member
Father. Had the Pharisees or any churchly authority with sufficient means, who refrains from contributing
demanded, compelled her, to give, had systematized the full sum that  t.he budget per family calls for,
her giving, Jesus could have had no reason for praising actually steals from the Lord and his brethren. The
her, for had she given under compulsion, she would                           brother is of the conviction that the very Scriptures
not have given out of love but as constrained by a calls such a doing sin. This is a most important  con-
sense of duty. Pressure, compulsion, outwits love.                           cesson. In saying this, the brother actually declares,
    9) Sixthly. Being such who believe themselves to "The budget is, according to my conviction, thoro,ughly
be the spiritual Israel, being such who have their                            Scriptural," and thus with a single utterance sweeps
affections set upon a spiritual kingdom, and who long into oblivion all his objections to the budget. This
for the appearance of Christ, we should be ready to                          is plain enough, isn't it? Consider this: if it be true
give so liberally that the servants of the Lord could that in the light of God's Word the member  with  suf-
receive what they require, and the material means that ficie&  means who fails to contrbute  the full sum that
is needed for the carrying on of the work in the king-                       the budget per family calls for sins, how then can it be
dom would always be on hand. Recall the prayer said of the bud'get that it is an institution that is ty-
of Dr. Clarence Bouwma. Because of this we as carnal                          rannical, cruel, unchristian, a system that was con-
Israel have lost our freedom, and are therefore now trived by the flesh. The point is this: If the budget
compelled to give according to law and under the con- is all that the brother says it is, the member with
trol  of a churchly authority ; compelled are we to  bud-                    sutllcient  means, who refuses to pay his budget, sins


 140                                            T H E   S T A N D A R D   BEARER
 -            .-_I-..-      _..-......_ "."-                  ..-..                                     _-....____ ~.__
not, but does well, as through his doing he militates             when it adopts the budget,  ar if some unforeseen
against a wrong and unchristian way of giving in the need arises, what is there to hinder the congregation
church. If on the other hand, the doing is actually from later on supplying what is lacking? Nothing.
sinful, it must follow that the budget is .a good and             Thus the actual reason for that shortage of which the
thoroughly Scriptural institution. Well, the brother brother speaks was not that the congregation had a-
dencminates  this doing, the failure to pay the full              dopted a budgert, but the reason was that it was either
budget, sinful from the point of view of Scripture.               unwilling or unable to contribute what was actually
He thus frees the budget from all the maledicticns  that needed. The brother certainly must see this. Thus
he has heaped upon it. The brother should on his                 the reason that the congregaticn  juggled figures was
standpoint have said this, "Whereas the consistory sins not that it had adopted a budget, but the reason was,
that estimates what will be needed to make it possible           that it failed to contribute the needed sum of money.
for the congregation to properly function, the member                  Speaking of the school, Iet me say to avoid mis-
with  sticient means, who in contributing to the sup- understanding, that though the school is a creation not
port of the service, refuses to take account of these of the church but cf the parents, it is not wrong fol
estimates and consequently gives less than what he, the church to collect occasionally for the school on
according to these estimates shou-d  give, does spiendid-        the meetings for public worship. And if there be
ly. But the brother actually said the very opposite.             parents too poor to  pay tuition, they may apply  ,to the
It means that in spite of himself he pronounces this             deaccns  for aid as they do when there is lacking  ilo
doing of the consistory thoroughly right, - right ac- them the money they need to buy food and clothing.
cording to Scripture and his own convictions even.
Having pronounced this doing of the consistory right,                  Let us now pass on to the brother's reasoning :mdel
the brother, of course, should have further refrained Arabic five. The brother says that never yet has he
from militating in this last communication of his a- heard a congregation say on the occasion of its  adept-
gainst the budget. But he does not. Though he actual- ing the budget, "If the Lord be willing, ,the sums of
ly declares by implication that also according to his money corresponding to the estimates of the consistory
very own conviction the budget is a Scriptural and will be contributed by us". The brother  shculd con-
thus lawful institution, he at once continu,es to raise sider that the true believer always hangs to the will
objections to it. This is anything but consistant.               of the Lord and subordinates to this will, counsel, all
      Let us examine some of the reasonings in this last         his plans, purposes and resolutions. It means that
communication of the brother. Let us attend to the when he plans and proposes, there is a voice in his
reasoning under Arabic four. The fallacious proposi-             heart that says, "If the Lor,d be willing". This voice
ticn upon which this reasoning reposes is that the               does  net always project itself in audible speech. It
Christian School is a child of the Church, that thus does not with the brother and with no believer. Yet
the Christian School is a church-school and must there- it is there in the believer's heart, in the heart of a +:on-
fore also be supported by the church. Fact is, however, gregation that resolves as before the face of the Lord
that the Christian School is a child of the parents. The to maintain by its offerings the ministry of the Word.
duty therefore of maintaining this school is not that The brother must have heard this voice in the prayer
of the church but that of the parents. If so, how then of his pastor at the close of the meeting.
can it be said of that congregaton  to which the brother               Let us now examine the brother's reasoning under
refers in his writing, that it robbed the school (and           Arabic six. When the brother said that the budget is
this is the point of his argument) when it took frcm a child of the last world war, he had in mind the doing
the free offering  what was needed to pay the pastor of synods and  consistories  consisting in their declaring
what the congregation  ha,d decided he should have.             the rcbbery  of the godless world righteous. But now I
How can a congregation doing this be accused of jug- ask, what may be the connection between the doing of
glmg figures? I don't understand. But supposing now a congregation consisting in its estimating at the be-
that the ccngregation  had paid a part of the salary of ginning of the year what will be needed for the main-
the pastor out of the free offerings made for and also          tenance of the ministry and the doing of synods ?on-
promised to the school,  wou!d  this not have been stating in their declaring the robbery of the  gcdless
wrong?      Let us say that it would have. But the              world righteous. I can see no connection.
brother's reasoning is that this wrong doing, would                    As to the brother's reasoning under Arabic seven
constitute so much evidence that the action on the part and eight, there is conflict in this reasoning. The rea-
of the congregation consisting in its resolving at the soning therefore destroys itself. The Old Testament,
beginning of the fiscal year to  contrib,ute,  the Lord says the brother,  stco,d  in the sign of law, of systematic,
willing, what according to its own estimates will be compulsory giving, that produced, that is, worked,
needed for the maintenance of the service, is an un-            awakened, love. But in this New Dispensation, law,
scriptural, and thus wrong, sinful, carnal, doing. Now systematic giving, outwits, that is, defeats love. But
I cannot see this. If the congregation miscalculates            how can law now outwit and  ,d.efeat  love, if in the


                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                              131

Oid Testament Dispensation it produced, worked, love?               Fact two. The members of the congregation use
This certainly cannot be.                                       or do not use the envelcpes,  as they choose. The failure
   The brother now teils me that when he wrote  .Lhat to use the envelopes is not held to be a gross sin for
the demand outwits love, he had before his mind the             which a member can be excommunicated. `Hence, they
case of the poor  wi.dow  in the temple, who, in offering who use the envelopes, do so of their own will, - of
her mite, cflered all she had as constrained by love.           a will unfettered by outside pressure exerted by the
But had the Pharisees demanded her to give, and had             churchly authority.     For this reason, too, it cannot
they systematized her giving, she would not have given possibiy be maintained that through the budget the
out of love, for law, system, outwits love. The brother         flock is being compelled  an,d constrained in its giving.
should consider that also this poor widow, giving as            The brother should consider that as often as he says
she di.d, at a time when the law that had been impcsed          this, he is pitted against plain facts. He should also
upon the promise had not yet vanished away and was              und,erstand  that a reasoning that is opposed to facts is
thus still in force, gave her mite under this law, thus of necessity devoid of an atom of validity and that a
under a system inaugurated  net by the Pharisees, to be debater who ccntinues  to cleave to such a reasoning
sure, but by Jehovah Himself through Moses His  ser-            gives evidence of having lost the argument.
sant when the people of Israel  were at Sinai. Thr:s                Further. The brother fails to understand how the
she gave under Jehovah's very own budget  system.               law that condemns can improve on grace  that saves.
And yet, as the brother also tells us, she gave as  xn-         I answer: the law, the Word of God, too, saves when
strained by love. Her case therefore proves conclusive- written by the Lord on the table of  cwr  &arts.  But
ly that law, system, does not outwit lcve. Being a true then the law itself is grace.
lover of Jehovah, she loved also this system of giving.             The brother asks, Ys the gift theeonly thing to be
   The nucleus of the brother's reasoning under Arabic considered by the church?" And my rep!y : indeed not.
nine is that because we today are so extremely carnal,          The thing is not the gift but the fruit. And what
we must be compelled, driven, to give by a system, by should be desired by the shepherds and the  ccingrega-
a carnal commandment and a churchly authority. And ticn alike is "fruit that may abound to your account."
being carnal, the only way me can be made to give, is           Phil. 4 : 17.
by being compelled to systematize cur  offerin*gs.  Now             In the reasoning under Arabic ten, the brother
the view upon which this reasoning reposes is that places us  "befcre the lost gates of Paradise". The
under a budget system the members of the church hrother misjudges Cain. It is not true that Cain offer-
necessarily and from the nature of matters give not ed under a compulsion foreign to his being. Cain, be-
spontaneous'y as constrained by love, but unwillingly, ing a profane man, despised the atcning  blcod of J3-
as compelled by a system, by a law, and by a churchly           hovah's sacrifice. He therefore brow-gh!  not a aheep
authority (he means the consistory) . This is th-s old          and the fat thereof, but `of the fruit of the ground an
charge that the brother here repeats for the third time. offering to the Lord. Thus what he offered  he v-hose
It forms the main if not  t,he sole objection of  the           to offer of his own corrupt self and as prompted by
brother to the budget. In defending the budget against the carnality of his own being. In this doing tlnerefore,
this charge, I can only repeat  xx-hat I have said before, he was superbly free and  la2ukw. Abel, on the ether
This I wiII do and for the last time. Let the brcther           hand, chose to be bound by ths restraints of Jehovah's
then once more have regard to the plain facts in this law. So in agreement with the ordinance of God (by
matter.                                                         Him the sacrifice had already been instituted) he
   Fact 1. The valid and official budget of the congre- `brought of the firstlings  of.his  flock. For, realizing his
gation is comprised of estimates that were proposed by          moral plight and having been humbled by graze,  he
the consistory and that the congregation without being had need of the vicarious atonement of Christ. And
constrained or compelled by an  il'egitimate  force  01 in connection with his typical  sacrifice,  he also received
pressure brought to bear upon it by the churchly testiniony that he was righteous. Must it now be said
authority (the consistory does not terrify the  flxk into of Abel that he offered under compulsion because in
adopting its exact estimates by giving it to understand his offerings he chose to be instructed and bound by
that in the event it shows itself unwilling, it will be         the word, the law, the ordinance of God? Assuredly
placed under t-.he ban. This is Rome's method) freely not. He loved and therefore he was free. So, of the
chose to approve and adopt. Let me now ask : how ran            two, I would say that not the lawless and carnal Cain,
it be rightfully maintained that the budget compells,           b!lt that the God-fearing Abel  offered   "Budg,-t-5lre".
that to give with an eye singled to the estimates of the            Finally. Under Arabic II we have this statement
budget is to give not willingly but as constrained by a from the brother's pen, "I also believe in system, but
system, if what is given by the flock corresponds to            in a system devised and set in operation by the giver
estimates that the fleck by itself frcd?~ ckosr? to ccpprove    lthe congregaticn)  and not first and last by the church-
rrnd ncZopt? It cannot be rightfully maintained, Can- ly authority (consistory)  ." Well I declare! So the
not the brother see this?                                       brother then after all believes in system! He b+eves


142                                        T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
-_.I__.               ----" ..__. -.zz. .--- -.-_--..."l.-.~~                                              .-.-.--
in system despite the fact that in his communications you wrote on the subject,  "Our Offerings". I also
the statement Occurs over and over that system o,utwits          wholeheartedly favor the budget-system. Let me come
love and is therefore destructive of faith. This state- back, however, on %he three propositions you put forth
ment of the brother makes me wonder just where he                and which can be found in the Standard B,earer  on
may be standing. Does he or does he not believe in               page 24 of Oct. 1, 193'7. You stated there that your
system. He says that he does and that he does not. I entire reasoning turns on these three propositions. I
have a feeling that he does, despite the fact that he have no objection against proposition one. To my way
wrote over and over that system outwits love. But if of thinking proposition two does not at all follow from
he believes in system, he is, must be, in favor of the           one. I look upon the budget amount per family as an
budget. For the budget spells system, no tyranny, but average, "een  gemiddelde". If he can not bring up the
solely system and order. And the brother believes in             average, he is free, that is to say, he  only contributes
system. 1 felt all along that he did., that thus he too, as much as he can. If one can do more he is duty bound
is of the conviction that a budget is a most desirable           to make up for those who are financially unable to
institution.     But wh'at the brother is opposed to is 3        bring up the average amount. As a rule, all members
budget, a system, imposed upon the flock highhandedly with sufficient means should contribute more than the
by a hierarchical consistory ; opposed is he to a doing weekly budget per family calls for. And this has noth-
of the consistory that consists in its setting itself up         ing to do with Socialism, as you stated in a former
as lord and master over Christ's heritage. To such a issue of the Standard Bearer. In" Israel they  `had the
doing, T, too, am bitterly opposed. But I, as does the           tithes. One who had much income contributed much,
b&her, love the system.                                          one who had little income contributed little for the ser-
       Well, I see no reason now why our debate should be        vice of the Lord, but each had to bring up according
prolonged.       The closing statement of the brother's          to ability. It is different now? I fail to see it. If
last communication asserts that he has been allowed the budget calls for $1.50 per family, per week, and
to express himself  `in  f&S  regarding the budget. He there is a family which can not bring up more than
thus has no more to say. Neither have I. And it is $0.25, then that is all; inability frees him from bring-
evident that neither of us has anything more to say,             ing up the average of $1.50. If your reasoning is cor-
because all we did in these last wrtiings of ours is to re- rect you must be consequent and say `If a person can
peat ourselves. Besides, how can we continue to de- give only $0.25, while the budget calls for $1.50, such
bate together, now that it has appeared that we both a person is a thief if he gives no more than the $0.25
helicve  in system and are both opposed to hierarchy? he can spare. I do not believe at all that one has to
This  debat,e,  therefore, has of necessity come  t::  nn go to the deacons for money if he cannot pay Lhe
end. I herewith take my leave of the brother in the              average budget. (See your former article).  DEd one
%andard  Bearer respecting the matter of the Budget. who could not pay the average tithe (for naturally,
                       Semper  Fidelis.                          there also was an average) go to the Levites for help?
                                                                 I should say not. Die niet kan is vrij. Much rather
                                                G. M. 0.         would I. call him a thief (and he is one too) who can
                                                                 and should pay more than the average but does not do
                                                                 it, pays less or thinks he is doing his share when he
                                                                 pays that $1.50. And I think the conception I have
                                                                 set forth here is the conception of most of our people,
           Communication From J. D. Of                           and I also believe it is thorotighly  sound and Scriptural.
                  Hudsonville, M ich.                               It seems to me we could change that third proposi-
                                                                 tion of yours and make it read: "One who can pay the
       Dear Brother Ophoff  :-                                   full amount the budget calls for is free, it is his duty
                                                                 to pay as much as he can ; but those who can do more
       Of late we have heard much about "Our Offerin,gs"         are duty bound before God to make up for the ones
in the Standard Bearer.           I have read your  articles     that cannot pay the average. The poor can say, `be-
rather carefully. I have also read the communications cause I cannot I need not'. The rich can say `because
of  scme other brethren. I  di,d not agree with  cvery-          T can I must do more, I have to make up for my poor
thmg you wrote, but hoped that some of the brethren              brother".
might come with objections which I had in mind. If                  See, brother  OphoE,  this changes the situation quite
they had done so the discussion of this subject wou!d            a little. Perhaps I am wrong, but then you better
not have been drawn out any longer as far as I am con.-          show me wherein. Thus Xar you have not been able
cerned. Seeing they did not mention objections which to prove to me from Scripture that your reasoning as
I had in mind, I feel constrained to tell you about my           set forth in propositiun  2 and 3 is correct. In the Old
convictions on this subject.                                     Testament they a& brought tithes, but one contributed
       Let me say first of all? I can agree with many things     much more than the other, presently we a.ZZ pay budget


                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                           143
-         -          ..--.  - ___. ----        .--____   I I _ -                                             ___" ..-__._ _
(the tithing system has disappeared) but one contri- he had, the rich much and the poor litt!e in compari-
butes much more than the other, although, then and son. What more proof is needed for the correctness of
nou: God's people pay for the service (see Prop. 1) as the brother's views. How evident that the opposite
the Lord prospers them.                                      view (my view) is thoroughly false. Indeed!
                 Respectfully yours in Christ, J. D.            However, the brother should consider that if the
                                                             sacred dues of the tithes constitute the proof for the
         REPLY TO J. D. OF HUDSONVILLE                       correctness of his view, it must be shown from Scrip-
     In the above writing, J. D. of Hudsonville voices ture that these dues were introduced for the very and
his disagreement with certain  propositiun,  three in express purpose of inaugurating a system of giving
number, to the defence of which I arose in an article        purposely designed to cause the burden of the need
found in the Standard Bearer for Oct. 1, 1937. The           to take on weight for the individual member of the
three propositions read :                                    theocracy  recording   as he  m, otherwise said, designed
     1. The member of the church is under the legal to place the rich under the necessity of contributing
necessity of contributing to the support of the service. much and to allow the  .man with small possessions  `io
That is to say, the contributions made for the support contibute  little in comparison. The question is whether
of the service are no free-will offerings in the sense this can be shown. And the answer: it. cannot be
that they may or may not be made as one chooses.             shown. Fact is, that it can be shown that the sacred
     2. Each member should contribute the full sum dues of the tithes were not introduced for this pur-
that the weekly budget for the family calls for. Other- pose. The facts in this case are fouml in the instruc-
wise said, B does not contribute more than A, who is         tion for the division of the land. Let us quote these
also a member of sufllcient means, for the mere rcascn       Scriptures and thereupon read them with, painstaking
that the material resources of B are larger than those care. Numbers 26 :52-56. "And the Lord spake unto
of A. It is the socialist who would maintain this.           Moses saying, Unto these (the groups of families men-
     3. Inability to perform a duty, does not free from tioned in the preceding verses. G.M.O.) the land shall
that duty. The opposite view is Pelagian. Hence, the be divided for an inheritance according to the number
inability of the poor to contribute to the support of the of names. To many thou  sha!t give the more inherit-
service does not free them of the obligation to contri- ance; and to few thou shalt give the less inheritance:
bute. Thus the obligation remains. The poor therefore to every one shall his inheritance be given according to
may not say, "because I cannot I need not". If so, it those that were numbered with him. Nothwithstand-
follows with unrelenting logic that the rich in the          ing the land shall be divided by lot: according to the
church must enable the poor to pay their budget.             names of the tribes of their fathers shall thev inherit.
     The brother J. D. states that he has no ob.iection      According to the lot shall the  possessicn  thereof be
to the proposition under Arabic 1. He goes on to say divided between many and few." Numbers 33 ~54, "And
that to his way of thinking, the reasoning of the second ye shall divide the land by lot for an inheritance
proposition dces not at all follow from the reasoning among your families : and to the more ye shall give the
of the first.  I reply: nowhere in my writings do I          more inheritance, and to the fewer ye shall give the
maintain that it does. To be sure, there is absolutely less inheritance: every man's inheritance shall be in
no connection whatever between the two. They do not the place where his lot falleth : according to the tribes
sustain to each other the relation of premise and con- of your fathers ye shall inherit." Joshua  18:2-10,  is
clusion nor were they meant to. The second proposi- a passage comprised of instruction for the division of
tion therefore may be false and the first true. It means the remainder of the land. In the section that follows
that the second proposition must be explained  bv itself.    this  passage  it is stated of the  st?ven  tribes that the
J. D. should therefore have written simply. "I agree lot of each came up according to their families.
with proposition under 1, but to my way of thinking,             What is to be noticed first of all is that the allot-
the propositions under 2 and 3 are false.                    ments were not onlv to the tribes as a whole, but to
     Let us now attend to the brother's reasoning. He the families of each tribe. This is  exnressly  stated.
deems the propositions under 2 and 3 false. His view "This is the inheritance of the tribes bv their familes,"
is that each member must contribute to the support of and, "FZX~~/   `man's  ~nhwitnnce  shall be in the place
the service according as he has and that, if a member where his lot falleth."
be without means of his own, he need contribute noth-            What may be  Iearned  next from the  ,above-cited
ing; for, inability to perform a duty, frees from that       scriptures,  is  that  Iand was  pretty  well  eonallv divided
duty. He deems it preposterous  tha't the deacons should among  the families of Israel so that in general the  POS-
through their generosity to the `poor, make it nossible session of the one family was  eauivaknt in size to the
for the latter to contribute to the service. The brother possession of the other. Statements occur that call for
is convinced that this view of his rests upon he solid       precisely this view. The instruction was. "The land
,qound of God's Word. The people of Israel were re- shall be divided for an inheritance  ccccordin.~   to  th.p
quired to give the tenths. Thus each gave according as ,number  of nytm~s,  To many families thou shalt  -give


143                                     T H E   S T A N D
            --...--...        -...-                   _.__I_- A R D   R E A R E R
t,he more inheritance, and to the few (families) thou helped the poor not through the Levites but directly.
sha.t give t-he  less inheritance." Thus in general each It therefore does have meaning to ask whether the
tribe received a territory whose limits were proportion- common Israelites helped the poor to pay at least some
ate to the number of families belonging to it. And thus of their sacred dues. If so, we have to do here with
to each family was  alloted a possession that compared            a doing that can be appealed to in favor of my view.
well with the possession  alloted to the other. This a&              Evidently  5. D. does not understand his own  Gew.
counts for it that those inequalities in possessions and          For he wrote that "the rich must make up for the
wealth that characterized the Israelitish commonwealth poor'?. Not on the basis of J. D.`s view the rich do not
in the days of Amos and Micah were not known in make up, pay fop the poor. And this for the simple
Israel in this  first period of its residence in Canaan.          reason, that according to brother J. D. the poor, being
    I now ask, how can it be maintained that the dues             unable, legally owes nothing, are under obligation to
cf the tithes were introduced for the purpose of bring-           pay  rtothing.      How can one pay for another if that
ing into being a system of giving designed to ease other owes nothing? How can someone pay my d.ebt,
the burden of taxation for the man of small possessions if I have no debt?
by rolling the bulk of this burden upon the shoulders                 D. J. asked me to shed more light on my views.
of the man with great possessions, if  ct.s  ct result of  the    But the brother should consider that in his writing he
;1~ist,ribution  of the land by Jehovah there were no men         comes to me shouting, "You err! You err!" Now one
of great possessions along side of men with small pos-            who utters such cries, is net in the need of light at all.
sessions. It simply cannot be maintained.                         Such a one knows. Such a one is acking  to teach, to
    But can it perhaps be that the sacred dues of the             fead the other of whom he is so certain that he errs,
tithes was introduced not with a view to  th.e (relative- back to the path of truth and right thinking. But be-
ly) ideal conditions that prevailed in the first periods fore brother J. D. again attempts this, let him  first read
of Israel's national existence, but with a view to the            my articles and weigh my reasoning not mther care-
glaring inequality of possessions that was the bane               fully, as he said he did, but with pct~n&nking  care. Let
of the Israelitish commonwealth at the time of the                him then open his mouth to teach and I will listen. Let
prophets Micah and Amos and that was the fruitage                 him kindly make plain to me the following:
of the violence of the wicked? This, of course, cannot                1. That the view opposed to the one cont'ained  in
be. But  asi,de from this, let J. D. consider that paying the second proposition is not in line with socialistic
the tenths is not representative of a system of giving phylosophy.
that results in easing for the poor or the near-poor the              2. That the view to the effect that inability to
burden of need (that is, of what is needed for the main- perform a duty frees from that duty is not a pelagial-
tenance of the divine services). Isn't it true that               istic reasoning.
when a Tich man pays t,he tenths he gives of his abun-               3. That though the poor do well when they apply
dance an,d that when the poor or the near-poor pay the to the deacons for the money they need to buy food
tenth of what they have, they may be taking the bread and clothing and to pay tuition, they do wrong should
out  o,f their mouths and out of the mouths cf their they apply to the deacons for money to contribute to
own? Isn't it true that the rich man can better pay the support of the divine ministry.
the fiftieths than that the poor man can pay the tenths?              TJntil I hear from J. D. I will be waiting and long-
So it appears that J. D. cannot appeal to the sacred              ing for the light.
dues of the tithes in support of his view.                           J. D. understands not his own view nor mine. My
   J. D. put the questicn,  whether the Israelite, unable view is not that the rich should not pay more than what
to pay the average tenths, applied to the Levites for the budget per family calls for They should, if there
help. And his answer: "I should say he did not." be poor brethren in the church. But t.he question is
I reply, "Well said, 3. D. This is also my answer. To             whether in paying more they pay for the `poor or for
be sure he did not." But I am not at one with what themselves. J. D. should say, "for themselves", I say,
J. D. imagines that follows from this to wit, that, "Wie          "for the poor".                             G. M. 0.
niet kan is vrij". 3. D. is evidently unmindful of the
fact that the Levites were no deacons, that their task
was not to distribute among the poor in the land the
a!ms of the rich, but that their task was to assist the                             NOTICE CURATORIUM.
priests to war (I now quote scripture) the warfare of                The Curatorium of our Theological School will meet
Jehovah at the tabernacle. It therefore is sheer folly D. V., Thursday afternoon, January II, 1938, in the
to ask, "Did the Israelite who could not pay the average          basement of the Fuller Ave., Church building at  2:OO
tenths apply to the Levites," and then to answer, "I              instead of at 8  :OO. Remember the change. The meet-
should say he did not," and then finally to conclude,             ing will begin promptly at  2:OO  in the afternoon.
Therefore, "wie niet kan is vrij". As. J. D. also well                                              The curatorium,
knows, in the Old Testament church, the well-to-do,                                             Rev. L. Vermeer, Sec'y.


