                                  T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                                253
                                                          -__1_1111_1."                                                      -."-.l_____.
               The League Is Dead                              by the honesty of the League of Nations, is allowed to
                                                               spread its deadly doctrine of communism throughout
                                                               the entire  world.
    Under this heading our esteemed Dr. Clarence                      America is so far saved from sitting--among such
Bouma of Calvin College, lamented the death of the Honest members of the League of Nations.
League of Nations,  <by him buried under hot tears.                   Now it is plain, that upon the goodness, the honesty
His lamentation appeared in the Standard Bulletin of of a godless world, the learned Do&r has raised up
February 4, 1938. &4 word from one of them called~             his  defence  of such an instrument of war and dis-
by him Unchristian in defence of the stand taken by honesty as the League in its twenty years of existence
such an one, must be agreeable to such a sincere man has proved to be.
as Dr. Bouma.                                                         If the writer should follow the doctrine as ex-
   Among other things Dr. Bouma said : "To the realis- pounded by the Doctor in his lamentations on the
tic, the biblicti  Christian the League of Nations was League, he would hurriedly join any one of the three
an honest attempt  of the nations of the wlorld  to co.me movements-Communism of Stalin, Fascism of Mus-
to such an understanding and to enter into such an solini, and Nazism of Hitler-and burn his Bible, for,
agreement that effective measures might be taken joint- after it is the Bible which informs the writer of the
ly to prevent war wheresoever possible.                        dishonesty  oC his heart, being inclined to evil from
    "And because the League of Nations was that, there youth, unable to perform any good. The writer, believ-
is deep  so8rrow in the heart of every thoughtful Chris- ing the Scriptures, wonders how deep the world of
tian citizen at the thought that the League is dead." God-hating, men-murdering soul-destroying humanity
    An honest attempt, the Doctor said. Let us, who is falling, led to its destruction by the prince of dark-
with Dr. Bouma have watched the activities  and con- ness. But his wonder turns to utter perplexity at find-
struction of the League, study these nations in their ing a Calvin College professor `bragging about the
honest attempt.                                               honesty of the godless. I thank God that I do not  b
    There is England. The honesty of England with long in the class of Dr. Bouma.
ten votes in the League speaks volumes in her covenant                                                              J. H. Hoekstra.
breaking with the United States concerning finances
borrowed.  England% honesty shines  ,brilliant  as the
sun in the heavens in her support of the rebellious
states when this young Republic stood upon the brink
of destruction in .its Civil War. England's honesty is
so grand that it made war with China to make her                                       WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
produce opium in order that England's war-chest might
be filled!.                                                                On February 26, our beloved parents,
    There is France. Another dishonest  faithbreaker
with the United States, refusing with England to pay                                         JOHN BROEK
its honest debts. I am also sure that the good Doctor                                              and
is aware of the  ,fact that France sometime ago in-                               ELSIE ELIZABETH BROEK-Wassink
formed God in heaven that she had extinguished the commemorated their 25th Wedding  ,Anniversary.
lights in heaven
    There is Germany. 4 breaker of her covenant with                       We are thankful to God for the blessings He has given
the (other members of the League, today strenuously us in them, and pray that they may be spared for each
engaged in jailing its Godfearing ministers, and un- other and for us:
justly driving the Jews out of Germany.                                                           Their grateful children,
     There is Italy. A member of the League in perfect                                                    David
dishonesty with the other members, making war in                                                          Arend
time of peace to enrich herself, dishonestly stealing a                                                   Mrs.  Arend  Broek-Jansen
country.                                                                                                  Margaret
     There is Spain. As a member allowed to commit                                                        Nellie
suicide, sustained in dishonesty by members in both                                                       Mat&Ida
factions-supported in war by the League of Nations.                                                       Bertha
     There is Russia. Its godless head of its godless                                                     William
organization of the  god!less  is a chief factor in the                                                   Cornie
League. Russia with the honest intentions of the                                                          John
League is allowed to slaughter its citizens, to murder                                                    Elsie Elizabeth
them who fear God. Stalin, the second Alva, killing                                                       Christine Evelyn
every one who refuses to accept Communism. Russia,                         Sioux Center, Iowa.                                 m
                                                                                3


254                                   T H E   S.TANDARD   B E A R E R
 -----.-.-...                                      __-...  "_-_l__-                       -....~
                                                              door swings inward, and must be opened not by Jesus,
            At The Door Of His Church                         but by the sinner.
                                           Rev. 3 :3%             Thus, according to the interpretation, we find the
                                                              exalted and glorified Saviour pleading with the wretch-
       This letter is the seventh written to the church, as ed sinner. The Saviour offers  the sinner His grace,
we  find her pictured in the Bock cf Revelation. F.rom and if the miserable sinner lomy knows what is good
the viewpoint of their  individual characteristics, it is fcr him, he should accept the  profr'ered  salvation.
plain, that the warnings are not stereo,typed,  for the What a beautiful manifestation of  iwe  toward the
needs of these churches are so di&rent, and not one sinner, any sinner. And thus presented, the Lord-
congregation is a reduplication of the other. Hence, is saying,  from my si&s all things. are ready, are you
when the last l,ettzr to Laodicia  is written, the contents also  read.y  to accept them? And whereas the sinner
differ from the letters written to the other  eongre-         refuses the entering into his heart therefore there is
gations.                                                      no hope. It has been said, that Jesus beseeched us
       The message to this church is a warning based upon tn.at we be blessed by Him, and therefore exchanged
facts, and give us the true  a.ppraisal of existing condi- His place with us. Do we not read: knock, and I shall
tions:  the picture of a floundering ship without a defi- open? but now He says: I knock, why don't you open
nite course. The church without an aim  1.`:~ incentive, your heart for me? The well-meaning Saviour, the
perfectly  iatisfied  with herself, in spite of the existing very Son of God, is refused by the unappreciative and
conditions.. She was not `for' nor `against', aomewhat ungrateful sinner.
neutral in regard to t.aking a positive stand-a miser-                 The question must be answered, can that possibly
able go-between. Her condition is that of spiritual dor- be the correct interpretation? In order to answser this
mancy and decay, forgetting its, Eormer glory, while question woe ask first, what is this door? The Armin-
being the body of Christ.                                     .&a.ns and all the free-willers, make it their hobby to
       Naturally, when such a spiritual condition is pre- identify the door with the heart of man. In fact, the
valent, the church reveals the aspect of the "middle- door here is man's heart. But does Scripture ever use
man", she is neither friend nor foe. Hence, this severe the image of this door to denote the heart? Does it
message. Not one of pleading alone, but pointing out ever? Our answer is most emphatically NO! ! Their
the deceit and deception, her  lu.kewarm  condition and imagination is stretched beyond every conceivable pos-
her vain bcasting  of spiritual things she did not pos- sibility, and miscalculated elasticity. Surely, if we
sess. The Lord co,mes to her with the chastizing words : approach the Word of God with our presupposed no-
"Ye are blind and naked, wretched and poor even when          ticns, also this text becomes the object of the vain
ye say, I am  ri,ch, and increased with goods". With ph.ibo%ophy  of man, which is foreign to Scripture. We
the final warning: UI will spew thee out of My mouth". then carry our own ideas into the Word of God, and
       This word of admonition, calling to repentance, make our Word His word. That saves a theory con-
came to the children of God. When we read the im- tradictory to the fundamental scriptural teachings of
mediate context, the purpose of the admonition is God's sovereign grace, and His eternal decree of  elec-
given in the words: "As many as I love, I rebuke and tic,n and reprobation.
chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent". That, after                Yet another question presents itself. When  this
all, is always the positive fruit when the church is re-      door is to be the heart, the question is: what is meant
buked. The people of God must be awakened from                by the heart? After reading some of the foremost com-
their spiritual slumber. The Lord comes  to. them, with mentators, this door is the heart and the heart is
-the  final warning : "Behold, I stand at the door and after  all the mind. Here again we object to the arbi-
knock".      I am speaking to you, open the door, I will trary manner of exchanging one word for  another.
come in, and will sup with him, and he with Me !              Man's heart in Scripture is never the  wuivalent  of his
       This text is used to defend the theory of the well soul, his mind or his will. That is, Scripture never uses
meant offer of salvation to all, providing the invited these names prolmiscuously.  Therefore, if the door is
opens the door, and  lets the  Saviuur  do His work.          the heart, this will make it impossible te explain the
That is the usual explanation. Thus we find it in the knocking on the door, asking for entrance into that
pictures on the walls of the homes of many who con- heart. First af all, the heart is pinaccessable for us.
fess the name of the Lord. The well-known picture Know my heart, is the prayer of the Psalmist, for who
of the knocking Jesus patiently waiting that the  door         shall know it? Who is able to apen  the centrum  of his
be cgened, so that He can enter. The Lord is trying innermost being, the deepest seat of his very existence ?
hard to gain entrance and oh, if  the: ones inside would The heart we cannot  control, because we do not have
only let Him in salvation would be theirs. The reason, such power. And the context  surely does not present
according to the picture and the preaching about the           to us any material, that points in that direction. Nor
door, lies in the fact that this door is 1Ecked. Lncked        does the telrt convey the idea of the heart being like
from within, and even the knob is missing, and the unto a door. In returning to the context, we will find


                                     TIlE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                   2%
                                                       -..- l_l_ -_" _--.. ".. ._-.....__ -^.         - .-.-.. l...ll_ll- ..- --
the material to enable us to interpret the text cor- i&ividuals.  Looking closely at the context we read:
rectly.                                                        "As  many as  I love, I  s~buke and  chasten".  Hence, it
    The Lord is speaking to the church at Laodicea.            cannot possibly refer to each and  ev,ery  individual
We may make a mental note, that He speaks to her al- member of that church. That interpretaticm does not
ways, because the church is His body, His Bride.               read `<as many as I &e", but reads, "because I love
Therefore, these words were not spoken to any indi- you all, I rebuk'e and chasten" 1 Which actually means :
vidual but to the Church as she is visible. And the            aE1 of you are mine, because you were given to me by
Lord  pcints out her  apostacy,  being neither hot nor the Father. And they will add, we must not let pre-
ocld. She is upbraided for her insticiency, her arro- destination. and reprobation guide us in our interpre-
gance, deceit and pride, Thus the church  spoBen  to tation. That is the sum and substance of the preaching
is the church that departed from the Truth, and the            of every Arminian, full blooded and otherw%e,  when
Word comes to her, that the Lord will disown her. they approa,ch  the text, unwilling to let the text and the
What was her main <and outstanding sin? Our answer context decide the interpretation-. No,, but when we
is, that she placed the Lord outside of the church.            read : "As many as I love I rebuke  and chasten" the
When HIS Word is no longer obeyed, she thereby dcen            Lord means to say: Iraq many as are Mine!  Can the
no  lcager acknowledge her King, but cast Him out text be explained  t.0 thus do justice  to every detail? It
and in principle crucifies Him anew. And at the door surely can ! Keep in mind that the living and the dead
of THAT Church, departed from the truth, He stands members constituted that one Church visible to which
kn.ocking  and speaking to warn and call her, to re- the let.ter  is writtzzn. Now the livin,g and the dead do
turn to the Eormer  days, when she serve& Him.                 not belong together, but they must be separated. Se-
                                                               parated because the two have nothing in common, nor
    How is this knocking to be explained? Knocking do thley commune with one another. The clead, perhaps
aad calling here are both closely connected, as is evi- t,he greater element, had made their influence felt in
dent from the text. Th*e messages, as John received the congregation and that to such extent that the truth
 them, were to be sent to the different congregations no longer was prcclaimed  and the life of t,he congrega-
and must be read to them by the angel (minister) of t:on has become worldly - no longer hot nor cold --
the  lccal church. That was after all his work, namely, when it came to spiritual things. What.ever  can be the
 bringing God's Word to the congregation. And in this          result when the warm truth is exchanged for the prat-
 case, to bring unto the Church the message, that she ing and babblin,g  of men, they can never set ,a Church
 is self-centered. That is the main idea. The church a$re, or fan the flame of love 5cr God and His Christ.
 was self-centered and not Christ-centered. And this Never mind the superficia1  and man-made niceties and
 l-a,d to be brought home to the members of this congre- the  socalled refined culture, for, it is bombastic, while
 gation  anId that, the  pEeaching  consisted in the knock- it makes a show that is n,ot even skin deep and ha5
 ing on the door. In the preaching and in the walk and nothing to do with thee true spirituality of the Body of
 t-alk she had to be told that she was self-center.ed  and     Christ. Even the  ChiEd of God living in such an  at-
 not Christ-centered. Once more. At the door of this           mos&ere is abcnt to choke and surelv is not built up
 Church He knocks and to her He spea*ks, for the Church        in faith, hone and love. The result always is and was
 is His property.. He bought her with the price cf Hi,?        %en verachtcren in de genade". That was the true
 blood.    Notice that the Lord does two things. He sitrlaticn at Laodicea. Therefore the Lord knocks and
 both rebukes and chastens : `He brings to light her sin as    calls and demands of those that hear His voice to se-
 He actually sees it, an'd He points  to the apostate con- parate themselves and have nothing to do with this
 dition. And this rebuking and chastening are not the &ad e!ement in (the church and their deadening in-
 offer  Iof a  weIl-meant  grace, are they? No, but with a fluence. The first step always is, to demand  Dure
 view to purge;  buiM and strengthen the! Church. Even preaching and to make use of the Christian. discinline
 then, when it appears as if He will have nothing to  drr throilgh  the  Christ-orda.ined   ofl?ces. The keys  cf the
 with her anymore, is that Eis pm-pose.                        kingdcm of heaven  v;ust fi.e used. This is equivalent
     Therefore. the knocking and calling. He  speaks           to saying that Christ is again recognised  as the-Head
 to her and He awakens her. He makes known  `His               of the Church to be the eole ruler. `the  only One with
 demands, so that they, namely who belong to her, authority. Whose Word alone is able to make warm for
 understand His speech.                                        His cal'se and enable the congregation to fight the goold
     And this knocking at the door, th,e question comes        fight of faith.
I up : Who does He call? No, th,e question is no,t iyhether        An'd if they hear not. because thev will not hear
 or  not the message was not read to all. For at all           Wis Word. and will not listen to His knockina.  then it
 times, even today,  the Word must be ureached to all be-omes  imnerative to ,separa,te. That i,s the true cnen-
 who bear the name of Christ and  belon*g  to the  ehllrch     hw of  the  doo.r. Let them, the Lord  m:%ns  to sav. no
 visible. Nevertheless, while the prea&.in,g is general.       longer detain yuu and rob you of my presence. Doing
 the contents are particular and therefore for particular      so you repent and become zealous and then I will come


256                                       T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
-..l.-_l- l__l__-..-l-..-..-l__-_--.
to you and you shall have the experience of my blessed
fEUo8wship.                                                               The Forth Commandment
       Thus He will enter, coming into any one church
thus hearing His voice and He will sup with him and                                Remember the sabbath day to keep
he with the Lord. There is no other way. The way of                              it hoily.
humiliatic,n  is always the result of God's own, when                              Six days shalt thou labor and do all
He knocks and calls them, as well as rebukes and chas-                           t.hy work.
tises them. They hear the word and repent, for they                                But the seventh day is the sabbath
have the firstfruits of the Spiri$t. Secondly they also                          of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not
become active, and realize that they can no longer feel                          do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy
at one  with the dead element and with the dead preach-                          daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maid-
ing. And history proves time and again that they                                 servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger
broke the ecclesiastical tie, because the Word of God                            that is within thy gates:
results always in oc'ntirmal reformation.                                          For in six days the Lord made heaven
                                                   Thus they                     and earth, ,the sea and all that in them
return to the Word and again listen to their Saviour.
They are then prepared by Him to be a separate peoplce,                          is, and rested the seventh day: where-
                                                                                 fore the Lord blessed the sabbath day
dedicated unto Him alone. Only those, who are pre-
pared by Him,                                                                    and halliowed  it.
                    hear  that Word and repent and ex-
perience His presence. "I will come in and sup with                The word sabbath is a transliteration of the Hebrew
him and he with me". Note how the so-called repent- word rest. The requirement of this command is then
ance preaching of our own day dces not understand               that the people of Israel remember and sanctify the
that the bread must be given to the children  and not r&-day. As this had to consist in resting on this
to the dogs. The purpose of all such preaching is to day, regard must  *b,e had to this resting. What entered
convert thec world, to remedy the ills of th.e world and into. its constituency, may be known from the many
that in the name of the so-called `social' gospel.              scriptures that bear on the sabbath. This resting con-
       The Lord comes to His church and to her repent-          sisted negatively in doing no work. "In it (the sab-
an.ce  is preached. Sh,e hears and will return and with bath) thou shalt not do any work." (The second com-
her he dwells. And in that way she again becomes His mand) . "Six days may work be dfone, but the s:eventh
guest. He will sup with her and she with Him. Com-              is the sabbath of rest: whoso doeth any work in the
ing to her means that consciously they rejoice in his           sabbath day, he shall surely be put to  d.eath. . .  ."
presence.      Needless to say the `sup' does not refer to      (Ex.  31:15).    "Six days shall work be done, but on
the Lord's supper alcne, but to the fact that he is both the seventh day there shall be to you a holy day, a
the host and the guest. He brings to us the riches of sabbath of rest to the Lord. Whosoever  dceth  work
His grace which we taste. He loves us first and to therein shall be put to d.eath". (Ex. 35 : 1, 2).
Him we return that love. He gave Himself for us, we                These are but a few of the reiterations of that
dedicate ourselves to Him. But at all times and in all clause contained in the fourth commandment forbid-
things, He is first. When He sups with us, we share ding the doing of work on the sabbath.  What kind
in the  mcst intimate and blissful intercourse. We are of wcork  it was that had to be laid. down is indicated
His friends, and friend,s seek each other and delight           by the expression "thy work" in the clause, "Six days
in each uther's presence. Hence, through and with shalt thou do all thy worJc." It was all the work, both
Him we have the fellowship of the covenant with God pysical and mental, that formed the earthy pursuits of
Triune.                                                         life,- pursuits that were followe,d  in each of the six
                                                  w. v.         days. So insistent was the Lord that His peo'ple dis-
                                                                continue following these pursuits on the sabbath, that
                                                                the  disobedsent  were ordered by Him to be put  50
                                                                death. Thus the negative side of the sabbath was this
       D                                                        resting from all labor.  All field work, even in seasons
                         NOTICE !                               of ploughing and harvesting had to be discontinued.
                                                                The law reads, "six adays thou shalt work but on the
   The first pamphlet of the series of  s,ermons on seventh day thou shalt rest: In earing time and in
the book of Romans, chapters 9-10-11, to be written harvest thou shalt rest". f Ex. 34 21). The Israelites
by  th.e Rev. H. Hoeksema, are now ready  m be dis- were forbidden to gather wood on the sabbath, to pre-
                                                                pare food and kindle a fire in their dwelling.
tributed and mailed.                                                                                              The law
                           Please send your subscription reads, "and the Lord said to Moses, the man (found
to Mr. F. Pipe, 946 Sigsbee St., S. E., Grand Rapids,           gathering sticks on the sabbath) shalt surely be put
Michigan.                                                       to death. (Num. 15  :35). And he said unto them, this
                                        Publ. Committee.        is that which the Lord hath said, tomorrow is the rest


                                    T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                           257
-- ___-__ -.               ."                                      II-." .___" ......_._I.._...._" .--..._-._^  -."..--.._---..-
of the holy sabbath unto the Lord: bake that which ye worshipping assemblies? The scriptures give no direct
will bake today, and seethe  4&at which ye will seethe: answ$er, but neither is this necessary, as ,the noltice  to
and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be the effect that these meetings were holy  aonvocaez'ons,
k.ept until the morning. (Ex. 16  :23). Six days shall thus meetings for the worship of  Gcd, is a notice that
work be done., but on the seventh day. . . .a sabbath says as much as words can say. Worshipping God
ofresttotheLord:.  . . .ye shall kindle no fire thru- consisted then as well as now in giving thanks unto
out your habitations upon the sabbath day". (Ex. the Lord, in calling upon His name, in making known
35: 2, 3).                                                    His deeds, in singing psalms unto Him, talking of all
    Finally there was this word of the Lord, a word His wondrous works, glorying in His holy name, seek-
that relates to the disobedience of some that consisted ing the Lord and His strength, seeking His face ever-
in their leaving the  camp on the sabbath  to  gat,her        more, remembering His marvelous works that he hath
manna that was not, "Abide ye every ma,n  in his place, done, His wondas and the judgments of His mouth.
let no man go out of his plaoe  on the seventh day". It consisted, this worship, in the seed of Abraham de-
(Ex. 16  :29b). This place, as the expression  his place claring that "The Lord is our God, that His judgments
plainly  indi&es, was the vicinity of  each Israelites are in all  the earth, that He hath remembered His cove-
tent or booth.                                                nant forever, the word which H'e commanded to a thou-
    Such being the appointments of the law, the bearing sand generations. . . ." It consisted in a word in the
of burdens, Jer. 17 :21, and trading, Amos 8 :5sq., were worshipping assembly having fellowship with the cfo.ve-
declared to be incompatible with  khe sabbath. And nant Jehovah.
Nehemiah appears in scripture as ordering a barring              That such had to be and also wera $,he engagem*ents
of the gates, Neh.  13:15,  19, to prevent the trading in of the true people of Gcd on the sabbath, is evi*dent
which some of the carnal Jews engaged.                        from various notices contained in the Pentateuch, in
    Yet ilt must not be supposed that the rest of the the Psalms and in the discourses of the prophets. The
sabbath was purely rmgative,  that it might be made fourth commandment as reiterated and amplifi'ed  by
to consist in physical and mental inaction. As to his Moses at the close of his career reads, "Six days thou
mind ti least, man is never inactive. He cannot be. shalt labor, and da all thy work. . . . ,and remember
In moments of physical repose, he still thinks. The that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that
sabbath therefore could not have been kept at all, if the Lord thy God ,brought  thee out thence through a
the  r.equirements  had been that the people of Israel, mighty hand and a stretched out arm: therefore the
spend the time of the sabbath in a state of inertia or Lord God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day.
listlessness!. In a word, the sabbath had a positive side.    (Deut.  5 :15). Should the people of Israel forget that
This is plain from the frequent reference to its rest the Lord had brought them out thence, should the
as a holy convocation. So in Lev.  23:3, "Six days memory of this doing of God be lost, the sabbath would
shall work be done, but the seventh day is, the sabbath no longer be kept. Th,ey are thus to remember. But
or rest, an holy cowvocation:  Ye shall do no work there- how else  could the memory of this  deliveranoe  be kept
in : It is the sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings". alive than through the people  *of God having regard to
Naw the Hebrew word translated by comocation  sig- and speaking of it in the audience of one another and
nifies a calling together, assembly,  meding.                 of their children especially on the sabbath day, when,
    What was this me:efting ? What was its character as a result from their refraining from all worldly labor,
and purpose? Where was it held and who presided there was abundant opportunity for this.
over it? The answer to most of these question are                That this should be one of the sacred occupations
found in the scripture last quoted. This meeting was of the people of Israel on the seventh day, (sabbath)
a gathering of God's people in the dwelling of one of is especially clear from the  ins%ructions concerning the
the assembled,. This the verse (cited! above) asserts sabbatical year, given in Lev. 25 :l-7 and in Deut.
literally, "an holy convocation. . .  .It (the convoca- 15:1-8. There it is enjoined that when the people of
tion) is the sabbath of the Lord in your dwellings." Israel come into the possession of th,e land of Canaan,
Further, that the assembly is called holy and that it they shall allow to it every seventh year a season of
was called on the sabbath, says as plainly as words can rest. Six years they *shall sow their field and prune
that it was a meeting for the worship of Jehovah. And their vineyard and gather in the fruit thereof, but the
as comparatively few persons could be assembled in a seventh year they shall neither sow their field nor
dwelling, the number of such distinct groups of wo.r- prune their vineyard. Their wants will be  provideid
shippers was large.                                           for by the extraordinary productiveness of the land
    Thus the weekly sabbath was ,kept  at home, in each in the sixth year and by what will'grow  of its own
town and village and hamlet. This single verse affords accord in the sabbatical year. How the time thus
an interesting  prospeot  of the unwritten history of freed from its usual employment was to be spent, is
Israel's rural piety.                                         indicated by the law  on this subject given in  Deut.
    What now may have been the engagements of these 31:10,  11. Here it is commanded that at the close of


 258                                                           T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
 1-1 _.-._ "^ -__._  ^"...^^^-.l-  -.--........  -            - --...... "--    __  ".--^^  ""  -.,..                                     - - -
this sabbatical year at  the feast of  `the tabernacles by  the way, when thou  3iest down, and when thou
the l&w shall <be read before all Israel, men, w.omen,                               risest up. And thou shalt write them upon the &or
and children, and even the stranger within the gates, posts  of; thine house, `and upon thine gates: that your
that they may hear, and that they may learn and learn- days may be multiplied, and the days of your children,
ing may fear the Lord and observe to do all the words                                in the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers to
of 4he law. This provision shows tha't the leisure of give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth".
the sabbatical year was to be used in acquiring know.                                \ eieut. 11:18-21). That the priest  and the Levites had
ledge of the law and in meditating upon th.e law, to                                 it as their particular charge, "to teach the children of
be used therefore in spiritual occupdtion,  in the exer- Israel ail the statutes which the Lord had spoken to
cises of devotion. For this very purpose, all the sab- them by the hand of Moses," ldid not free the people
baths  w.ere given.                                                                  from the task of teaching their children the words of
      This is equally as plain from the description of the J(ehovah. It means that even after the calling of Levi
well-spent sabbath by the prophet Isaiah, "If thou to the service the people of Israel were still a kingdom
shalt turn away thy foot from the sabbath (that is:, if of priests.
thuu do  net tread  upon its holy ground with a foot                                      But these were not the only works that belonged
occupied with its  everyday work) from doing thy to the posirt;ive  side of the sabbath. There were others,
pleasure on my holy day: and call  t.he sabkath a de- namely, the  w,ork!s  of mercy and judgment. In the
light, the  hoay of the Lord, honorable: and shalt honor sabbat+al  year 811 debts would have to be cancelled and
him, not doing thy own ways, nor find,iw  thine own every Hebrew bond set free and likewise in the year
pleasure, nor speaking thin@ own words ; then shalt of Jubilee. In this year, in additsion-a  year in which
thou delight thyself in the Lord: and I will cause thee the sabbatical  idea  reached its  consumation-every
to ride upon the high plaoes of the earth and feed thee                              man should be returned to his possession-a possession
with the inheritance of Jacob thy father: for the mouth that by dint of adverse circumstances had been lost to
of the Lord hath spo,ken  it". (Isaiah 58 :13, 14).                                  him. Turning to the gospels we find  Christ in har-
      "NC& speaking thine own words", but " speaking mony with  &is conception, healing the sick on the
the words of Jehovah thy God". These words were sabbath. And to. the Pharisees who accused Him of
the law, the precepts and statutes of the Lord. Spak- desecrating the sabbath because of this practice of
ing z%e words  of Jehovlnh  must be made to signify cer- ' His, He replied, "What man shall there be among you,
%ainly a doing that consisted in the believer and in that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on
particular the father of this family reading and ex- the sabbath day, will not lay hold on it and lift it
plaining the law also on the seventh-d,ay  sabbath, in out? How much then is a man better than a sheep?
his making known on this day the Lord's deeds and in Wherefore it is lawful to do well onthe sabbath day".
calling upon the Lord's name and in the  entire assembly                             (Matth. 12 :lO, 11).
sir&ging the songs of Zion. Josephus  states that "M1oses                                 But beside the worship described above- a wor-
commanded not that they should hear the law once or ship that may be called the true religion of the heart,
Itwice, or frequently, but that ,every week they should a serving God in spirit and in truth (essentially, of
Ieave their work and assemble to hear the law and                                    course)--there was also a special  wVorsh.ip  that con-
to learn it accurately".                              Under the  inspirat,ion  and sisted in the typical-symbolical transaction appointed
guidance of the Holy Spirit psalms were writien  es- the law and `that formed the service at the tabernacle
pecially for these meetings on the sabbath. In the col-                              (temple) . That in the Old. Testament Dispensation
1,ection  of psalms contained in the Old Testament Bible this service also is to be regarded  as belonging to the
is also found one (psalm 92) with the superscription,                                positive side of the  rest of the sabbath is evident from
"A psalm or song for the sabbath," and in which the                                  this that all of it was commenced by a sabbath (not
prophet exhorts to praise God, for His great works,                                  necessarily the s,eventh-day  sabbath. There were, as
far His judgments upon the wicked, and for His good- will be noticed, several  other  sabbaths besides this one.
ness to the Godly.                                                                   T*he sabbatical year and the year of  jubil,w,  which,
      That these  weekly  meetings were conducted  and as was just said, was an intensification of the  s&-
presi&ed  over by the parents  and the elders in Israel batical year, hav,e  already been mentioned) : some of
follows from the circumstanoe  that the law called every it was necessarily performed on the seventh-day sab-
parent and in particular every elsder  in Israel to be a bath and mu,ch of it was ended by a sabbath.
teacher of  ,its  trubhs  and precepts. It was to the                                     On the seventh-day `sabbath, the morning and even-
parents that Moses was speaking when he said, "There- ing  burnt-oEerings  of one lamb was doubled with a
fore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and corresponding increase in the meat-offering.
in your soul, and biml'them  for a sign upon your hand,                                   How far from the tru'th it is that the rest of the
that they may be as frontlets  between your eyes. And sabbath  consisted merely in refraining from worldly
ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them occupations is seen when regard be had to the  typical-
when thou  sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest symbolical solemnities of Israel's great feasts of which


                                    T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                         259
                                                                             -
there were three ; the feasts of the Passover, of weeks the sacred transaction that consisted in their repre-
or Pentecost, and of the tabernacles. In each of these sentative, the highpriest, making a%onement  for all  the
feasts the  solemnities  commenced with a sabbath and sins of the whole nation by  ms being permitted  io
in two of them also--the  passover  and  tabernacles- sprinkle the mercy-seat with the  blcod of the  sacrliice.
they ended with a sabbath after completing a week               The observances of the fiftieth day commenced the
of sacred observances.                                       feast of tabernacles, a feast of seven days duration, the
   Thus the first day of the feast of the passover- iirst and last of which were sabbaths. In Ex. 28 :X6 and
calEed the feast of unleavened bread as well-was a in  L)eut. 16  :13 it is called "the feast of ingatherings
sabbath. It was therefore on a sabbath that the  pass- in  `the end of the year when thou hast gathered  m
over lamb was eaten by the families in Israel,-eaten thy  labours  out of the field:" For it took place im-
at  Ihe sanctuary (tabernacle, temple) .                     mediately before the winter months and after  ihe
   The  passover  week, was, rightly considered, a sab- labour  of the harvest and of  Ithe vintage and of  the
bath of seven consecutive days. It was of the month fruit season generally w.ere past. During the process
Abib (meaning lit.e.rally, ear-month, when the corn was of this feast, the people, again in obedience to the com-
in the ear), the month that was first in the Jewish mand, dwelt in booths. Such a booth was a slight,
cdendar and that corresponded with the time inter- temporary dwelling, easily constructed and as easily
vening between the  tist and middle of  our April. On taken down again. Thus it formed a contrast to the
ea.ch  of the  seven  days of this week there was pre-       firm and comfortabl,e  house. The reason assigned for
sented, in addition to the daily offerings for the congre- this ordinance is, "that ycur generations may know
gation, a goat for a sin-offering, and two bullocks, one that I made the children of lsrael  to dwell in booths,
r-am and seven lambs for a ~burnt-offering,  with meat-      when I brought them out of the land of Egypt."
and drink-offerings. And finally, on the second day,            What now was the worth of this typical  service,
the  tirst  rip barley sheaf was presented to the Lord.      of the typical-symbolical enactments of Israel's cere-
   Then there was the feast of weeks. It was a feast monial law? It served first of all to perpetuate the
of one day duration and was appointed 40 be held on memory of Israel% typical redemption from Egyptian
the day immediately following seven complete weeks bondage.             It symbolized further the redemption of
frcm the second day of the week  vf Passover. In ad- Christ as to its subjective side and  typified redemption
dition to being called the "feast of weeks", this feast as to its objective side, and thus at once formed the
also bears two other names. In Ex. 25 :13 it is called glass through which Israel beheld the glories of God.
the "feast of harvest", because it was kept at the close        This being true, it follows that performing this
of  the whole harvest,-wheat as well as  barl,ey.      In service was an engagement through which the true
this same passage and also in Num. 28  :26 it is  :called    believers gave expression to their faith, to the truth
the "feast  af the  firstfruits"  in that one of its solemni- that dwelt in them, to their implicit confidence in and
ties consisted inI the Israelites in obedience  to the com- love of their redeemer-God, and thus an engagement
mand presenting to Go,d the first-fruits of their crop, through which they in turn received witness that they
as now harvested and laid up for use. In ad.dition the were righteous. This service in its entirety was there-
law required that on the  ocassion of this feast the         fore a sign and seal given by Jehovah for this end that
people also bring into, the sanctuary the first of all       by its use he might the more fully declare and seal
the fruits of the earth. In the New Testament this to the true believers, who in a true faith participated
feast was given/the name ,of Pen&cost, this being the in this service, the promise of the gospel, nam,ely,  that
Greek word fo'r fifty.                                       he granted them freely the remission of sins and life
    Now this feast, as was said, was held on the day eternal. The truth of these observations appears from
immediately  follolwing a seventh-day sabbath, was what is  saild of Abel and his sacrifice in the Hebrews,
therefore commenced by it and also received from it          (chap.  12), "By faith Abel offered unto God a more
its distinctive character.                                   excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained wit-
    The seventh ,month  of the Jewish calendar was, ness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts."
rightly considered, a sabbath month.        Its first day, .The plain meaning of this scripture is that Abel by,
though not a seventh-day sabbath, was nevertheless a that is, through and in connection with that  action of
day of sacred rest and holy convocation, .and a day his consisting in his offwiny  in faith  received, the testi-
that had its peculiar characteristic from the blowing mony in his heart that he was righteous.
of the trumpets, louder and longer, it must be, than             The question what the positive side of Israel's rest
on the new moons.                                            consisted in can now be fully answered. From the
    The tenth of this seven4th. (month) was the great side of man, it consisted in the true believers walking
day of atonement.  Tho,ugh  no seventh-day sabbath, in the way of Jehovah's covenant and thus in walking
it too, like the first was nevertheless a sabbath. On with, having fellowship with God and delighting only
it the people rested from their worldly occupation and in Him.
assembled at the sanctuary, this time  to participate in         However, because this rest of the believers of the


260                                               T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
            -...- .._--. -.____  .._... -" .._                             -~ ..__ -.._.. ".                 - .______...._  -"--
old covenant, this true worship of the heart, could
not otherwise be expressed than through the instru-                             The Atoning Sacrifices Of
mentality of a typical-symbolicai service, the sabbath                                 The Old Covenant
of Israel could be and also was a sign-a sign between
God and His people. The scripture on this subject is                     The subject here announced we purpose to treat
a passage found in Exodus (chap. 31 :lO-18))  that reads             under the following subtitles. The Sacrifices ; Their
"speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying,                Origin ; Their Fundamental idea ; Their Efficacy ; Their
verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign be-               Number or Kind.
tw$een  me and you throughout your generations ; that ye
may know that I am the Lord that doth sancify you.                                       THEIR ORIGIN.
Ye shall keep he sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto
you: every one that defileth  it shall surely be put to                  First a preliminary remark. In view of the fact
death: For whosoever doeth any work therein, that that the believers  cf the Old Covenant had not Christ
soul shall be cut off from among his people. Six days as the direct object of his vision, the quesion is some-
may work be done; but in the seventh day is the sab-                 times asked, How could they then be saved? That the
bath of rest, holy to the Lord: whosoever doeth any                  saints of the old covenant saw not Christ as the church
work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to                   is now privileged  to, behold Him, thru the glass  elf the
death. Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the word, is certain. In giving expression to their faith,
sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their gene- the believers cf the Old Covenant  did not declare, "we
rations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between believe that we have excess unto  ,God alone, but only
me and the child,ren  of Israel forever: for in six days             through  th,e only Mediator and Advocate,  J,esus Christ
the Lord made heaven and earth, and* on the seventh the righteous, who therefore became man, having u-
day he rested and was refreshed".                                    nited in one person  the divine and human natures,
    Of what now was Israel's sabbath a sign? Of the that we might have access to the divine majesty which
very spiritual and heavenly realities symbolized and access would otherwise be barred against us. . .  ."
typified by Israel's service. It was thus a sign of or, "my only comfort in life and death is that I with
Jehovahs  redeeming and sanctifying love and of his body and soul, both in life and death am not my own,
.mercy  that endureth forever. So, not to keep the sab- but belong to my faithful Saviour, Jesus Christ, who
bath, to do worldly work therein, was to efface this with His own precious blood, hath fully satisfied for
sign, was to hold in contempt and despise all that the all my sins. . .  *"
sabbath betokened, to wit, the covenant of Jehovah and                  One finds no such language in the Old Testament
all its blessings and glory, the glory of God, His love,             scriptures. We now, of course, have regard to the form
mercy and truth, in a word the heavenly, the fulness of the words of `this confession and not to the essence
that dwelling in Christ, the eternal rest that remaineth of the truth of which it is the formulation. The truth as
for the people of God.                                               to its essence, the  ,church possessed from the beginning.
                    (To be continued)                                But not until it passed from under the yoke of the
                                                       G. M. 0.      law, was it privileged to behold Christ as He is seen in
                                                                     the above-cited creed. To the question, "How art thou
                                                                     saved," the answer of Old Testament believers was
                                                                    simply, "Through faith in Jehovah my Redeemer. But
               THE MATCHLESS ONE                                    they saw not Christ directly. They were at a loss to
                                                                    explain how God justified the ungodly without doing
          I love to lie at night and muse                           violence to Himself as the righteous and holy One.
            Upo,n His perfect Bovliness;                            Yet they received testimony that they were the posses-
       No words describe, though I enthuse,                         sors of an imputed righteousness and thus the beloved
               The Matchless One.                                    of Jehovah.      How could God so testify with their
                                                                    spirits without fixing their gaze directly on Christ?
          I call Him Sovereign, God and King,                       The answer is the typical-symbolical sacrifice--the sac-
            Redeemer, Ruller, Saviour,  Lord :                       rifice by blood. But the fact that this blood was but .a
          His praises thus I love to sing -                          sign raises the question how the believers could be
               The Matchless One.                                    saved by it, or if they could not, what may then have
                                                                     been its actual worth?
       Yet feeble tongue cannot reveal                                  Let us with these questions in mind turn to our
            My adoration and my love ;                              subject.
          Accept the h!am.age  that I feel,                             The first sacrifice, recorded in Scripture, was that
               Thou Matchless One.                                   brought by Cain and Abel. That Adam and Eve had
                                          E.  w.  Ccwlisle.         previously been seeking God through this channel of


                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                          261
_l_l___^~  ^ .---              .._"  .   - - - - -                                 __--_._  --^" ._ -       ..._..." -.-.
communion is certain. But Cain's and Abel's sacrifices were opened and they attained to a developed self-con-
are the first recorded. That these early sacrifices were sciousness, as a result of the moral deterioration of
brought in obedience to a divine command, is nowhere the inward man. Their spirit had died and become
stated. This has given rise to the view that the sacri- flesh. Their natural and pure desires had deteriorated
fice was of human origin. It is said that,  the ancient into corrupt and inordinate lusts. And their body was
worshippers (including the first believers of Scripture)       now the organ of a defiled spirit and soul and thus
conceived of God as a deity whose favor had to be won          shared: in and exposed to view its corruption. The re-
and whose friendship solicited by some appeasing do- flection upon `their nackedness became now-n as the
ing on the part of man. What, according to the primi- first form of the entering consciousness of guilt. And
tive conception, made this possible is that the deity in that part of the body, the feeling of nackedness,
d,iffers but relatively from His worshippers, is of the        nakedness of the inward man as well as of the body,
same stock as man, with like dispositions, passions            manifested Ii&elf in a sense of exposure that needed
and appetites, is thus in the need of food and is pleased,     covering. Their saying, "we are naked," was thus
as an earthy chief would be, with a gift and is well equivolent to the cry, "we are corrupt, impure, defiled.
disposed 6cward those thoughtful of him. Aware of We dare not therefore expose ourselves to the holy eye
this and eager to ingratiate himself with the deity,           of God". And in their fear and great embarrassment
primitive man b.rought  Him gifts. And this gift was they made themselves aprons of fig-leaves. But leaves
the sacrifice,                                                 are a poor covering for sin, for a corrupt -and defiled
   Such is the reasoning. And it is true, but of Cain and sinner. But  God came to the rescue. Having pro-
his spiritual kin only. In sa,crificing,  Cain was prcmpted    claimed to them the gospel, he made for them coats of
by just such a motive, For he was a man, vain in his skin to clothe them with. Now clothing so obtained,
imaginations, and who therefore changed the glory necessitated the giving up of life on the part of an
of the incorruptible God into an image made like unto          inferior yet innocent creature. It was, must have been,
corruptible man. . . . Thus, though Cain knew  Csd,            in connect& with this doing of His that God gave to
he would not glorify Him as  God. The proof of this them the testimony in their hearts that their sins were
is that he despised the vicarious atonement of Chrst. covered and forgiven, and caused them at once to
Yet he briought his gift in the hope of inducing God understand that without shedding of blood there can
to walk with him in the way of sin. Disappointed in be no forgiveness  of sin.
this and unwilling to repent, he was wroth-with God.              Thus the first to officiate as priest in the history of
and his countenance was fallen.        For he would not mankind and  <of the church was Jehovah Himself. And
do well and vowed in his heart that he had done with of the sacrifice brought, the offering of Cain was a cor-
God. So, after murdering the righteous Abed, he went ruption. In a material sense, the two had nothing in
out from God's presence.                                       common.
   Scripture teaches that the way in which fallen man             Of the offering appointed by the  Lor,d  in paradise,
insists on thinking of God agrees in the main with the the ceremonial service of the people of Israel was but
description of the the deity given above. Having made an expansion. Thus it  ,is not  tru.e what Prof. R. B.
himself an idol by changing the truth of God into a l&riper  once wrote in his "As To Being Reformed", "I
lie, man calls God the unknowable one and forthwith am afraid. . . .that some well-meaning Christian tea-
dismisses Him from his mind. Yet unable to free his chers and students, in their debate with critics, have
soul from the belief. that God is, he is afraid and in         been overshooting the mark. . . .
this fear erects an altar to the unknown God.                     "I mean this : `In their anxiety to prove the unique-
   But Abel was a believer. Having been brought                ness of Israel's religion they have been ready to deny
under the conviction of sin, he had need of the witness        obvious resemblances between it and other religions.
tha% he was righteous. So he brought the sacrifice In  &her  words-and now we hitch up with our subject
appointed by the Lord. But nowhere is it stated of -they have too largely ignored the plain fact that
Abel or of the believers before the  flo,cd that in bring- God, in the establishment of the covenant of special
ing this sacrifice, they followed the instructions of God. grace, took his starting point in common grace. Israel's
Yet the Lord must have instructed them. And so He              religion was built on the broad foundation of the
did through  a. doing of His recorded in the second            original religion of humanity in the family of Adam
chapter of Genesis. There we read, "And unto Adam and Noah, in the races of Seth and Shem" So far the
also, and to his wife, did t+he Lord God make coats professor.
of skin, and clothed them". Our first parents had eaten           This is a strange statement, to say the least. If its
of the forbidden tree, and their eyes were opened, meaning is not that God, in  `the establishment of His
and they knew that they were naked. AnId they sewed special covenant of grace, took his starting point in
fig-leaves together and made themselves aprons. The the religion of which Cain's offering was the expr.ss-
promise of the temptor  became half fulfilled, though in sion, it, this statement, is meaningless.
a different sense than `they had supposed. Their eyes             What was the gospel, the truth of which the true


 262                                         T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
 - ..-.. ~____._  I__ -....- -- -...-        - .-....._ - ..._-" -.-......-.  ^."            1111-                          -.-  l__-_".
 sacrifice was the sign? This truth: That the Lord God 16:11,  "And Aaron shall bring the bullock of the sin-
 is merciful and gracious, longsuffering and abundant off*ering which is for himself and make an atonement,
 in gcsdness  and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, that is, covering, for himself and for his house and
 forgiving iniquity, transgression and sin but by no                            shall kill the bullock for the sin-offering which is for
 means clearing the guilty but laying the iniquity, of himself". The object covered was the man who offered,
 them  all (of His people) on Christ: and visiting the                          his soul, his guilt. And the advantage of being so
 iniquity of the fathers upon the children. . . .of them covered is stated in Lev. 4:10,  "And the priest shall
 thati hate Him.                                                                make an atonement for them and it, the sin, shall be
        And what may be the faith in which the believers                        forgiven them.
 offered? The faith that says, "I am guilty and un-                                  One question still remains: Why was sin covered by
 clean before God". The faith that c.raves for pardon,                          the life-blood of the slain beast forgiven? The answer
 thirsts for  righteousness,   Icngs for God. The faith of some is to t,he following effect. "When man has erre3
 that confesses that the only way of approach to God                            t,hrough  weakness without any contempt of a  covenant
 is the way that  leadeth through the veil, the flesh and                       statute, then the sinner has to make satisfaction as
 blood of the lamb. As to the religion of Cain and the has been provided for in the covenant itself. This satis-
 development of it in heathen&m, how could God tGake                            faction is a sin-offering which is a ransom, a rzdemp-
 His starting point in it? The conceptions that per-                            tion. Hence the root idea of the propitiary sacrifice is
 meate it, is the  tiuth of God changed into a li,e. "Pri- that the sinner acknowledges his sin, seeks reconcilia-
 titive  monotheism", says one who has made a study                             tion, and gives actual expression of his repentance by
 of this, "Religion of humanity", appears as a distorted                        his surrender of property (the animal sacrifice). It
 ,form,   scmetimes  as a mockery of the worship of the                         is an acknowledgment that God ,is right and the sinner
 one God, as far back as authentic hi&n-y sheds light                           wrong. It gives  50 the offended majesty of the divine
 upon it.                                                                       claim a satisfaction which it is t.rue is only of value
        "Animism  ,is a religion of fear instead of love.                       because God  ,accepts it and because he is willing to be
 Taoism is of the earth, earthy. Confucianism is bar- reconciled."
 ren of spiritual attitudes.             Fellowship with God is                      According to this conception, the offerer was for-
 not even an ideal. Buddism is a poverty-striken  re-                           given for the reason that he had satisfied the  offended
 Iigicn. Iti God is a mere empty spirituality."                                 majesty of God by his having acknowledged his sin,
        Let us now attend to the fundamental idea of the                        and by his willingness to be reconciled. And his sacri-
 typical sacrifice by blood. Here again Scripture is our ficing was merely an act on his part through which
 only guide. The first instrection  on this subjecti  to be he gave expression to his repentance. Other signifi-
 noticed' is, "and without shedding of blood there can cance it had not. Now this conception, certainly, will
 be no remission of sin". This scripture associates                             not do. It renders the sacrifice altogether superfluous.
 the shedding of blood with remission of sin but sheds                          To say that to confess guilt is to satisfy for it is
 no light on the question how the two were related.                             to deny the necessity of the vicarious atonement of
~ But there are other scriptures. Lev.  17:1, which reads                       Christ.
 "For the soul of the flesh is in the blcod  and I have                              The reason why the sin of him, covered by the
 given it :to you upon the alt.ar to atone for your souls                       blood of the sacrificial victim was forgiven is that for
 for the blood atones for the soul."                                            this sin satisfaction had been made  - a satisfaction
                                                                                that consisted in the death of the sacrificial victim.
    The correct import of this passage is to the following Such is the plain teaching of all instructions contained
 effect, "You must not eat the blood because God has                            in the penteteuch  that concerns this subject. And of
 appointed it as a means of atonement for sins. But it this instruction that which perhaps speaks the loudest
 is the means of atonement, as the bearer of the soul.                          is contained in Lev. 4:1-7  and in Lev. 16 :23.-30. The
 It is not therefore the matter of the  blaod  that atones, former of these passages reads, "If th:e soul sin thru
 but the soul or l'ife that resides in it: so that the soul ignorance against any of the commandments, of the
 of the offered victim atones for the soul of the man                           Lord, then let him bring for his sins a young bullock
 who offers it." This passage provides an answer to without blemish unto the Lord for a sin-offering. He
 two questions: why they were forbidden to eat flesh shall bring the bullock to t,he door of the tabernacle
 with the blood? viz., because the  bl,ood was anpointed                        of the congregation before the Lord and shall lay his
 bv God for making an atonement. And why the blood hands upon the bullock's head and kill the bullock be-
 shmould  have been anpointed for this purnose  is because                      fore the Lord, and the priests shall take up the bul-
 the soul or life is there, and hence is a suitable substi- lock's blood and bring it  to the tabernacle and the
 tute for the soul or the life of man forfeited by sin. priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle of
        Regard must now be ha$d to the word, atone. The the blood seven times before the Lord before the veil
 sense of the word found in the original is to  coz~r. of the sanctuary, and the priest shah put some of the
 The substantive  covering is also used. So in Lev. blood upon  the Jyrns  of the altar before the Lord. . , .


                                            T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                      263
l_llll._"  -.--- ..--.          -l-"-l..-_"."  .-... "_ ^ ^              -.-^ .._ ^ ..-._  ----_____.-  _-- .-._. -...- . - __...  _-__--._
and shall pour all the  blood at the bottom of the                      holy Triune dehovah  consisting in His satisfying His
altar of the burnt-offering. . . and (vs. 20) the priest majesty, offended by sin, through the agency of an
shall make atonement for them and it (the sin) shall innocent victim dying in the ill-deserving and con-
be forgiven them."                                                      demnable offender's stead' and for his sins and covering
   And the passage last mentioned reads in part, "and                   his sins by its shed life-blcod presented to God upon
Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the the altar by the officiating priest.
live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the                   But this raises the question whether the blood of
children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all                 bulls and goats actually tcok away sin. The implicit
their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, teaching of the New Tsestament  scriptures is that it
and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man did not; "For the law", so we read (Heb. 10) "having
in the wilderness: and the goat shall bear upon him a shadow of good things `to come, and net the very
all the iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he image of the things, can never with those sacrifices
shall let go the goat in the wilderness." And finally                   which they offered year by year  continually  make the
this scripture (contained in the same chapter) for comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not
on that day (the great day of atonement) shall the cease to have been offered? because that the  worship-
priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that                  pers once purged should have no more conscience of
ye may be clean from all your sins."                                    sins. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance
    There  are  five statements  foun,d  in these scriptures again made  of  sins every year.  For it is impossible
that must be singled out and examined. They are:                        that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away
(1.) H,e (the one who had sinned) shall lay his hands sins. Wherefore when he  cometh into  tmhe  world, he
upon the bullock's head and (2.) kill (the offender                     saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a
thus not the officiating priest killed the victim) the body thou hast prepared me: In burnt-offerings and
bullock before the Lord (3.) and the priest shall put sacrifices for sin thou hiast had no pleasure. Then said
. . . .the blood. . . before the Lord and (4.) it (the I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written
sin) shall be forgiven them. (5) "Th,a priest shall make of me,) to do thy will, o God.
atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean                     "Above when he said", the sacred writer continues,
from all your sin"                                                      "Sacrifice and offering and burnt-offerings and offer-
    If the teaching contained in the aggregate cf  thes,s               ing for sin `thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure
statements is not that the sin (sins) of the offender therein  ; which are offered by the law ; Then said he,
(the individual Israelites, as on the great day c4 atone- Lo, I came to do thy will, o God. He taketh away the
ment, the aggregate of sins of the entire congregation)                 first that he may establish the second. By the which
was forgiven by reason of the fact `that this sin had will we are sanctified through the offering of the body
been atoned for by the death of the innocent victim, of Christ once for all.
had thus been satisfied for by this vidtim pouring out                      "And every priest standeth daily ministering and
its life-blood before the  Lor,d,-if  t,his is not the teach- offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never
ing contained in the abov,e+cited  scriptures, words have take away sin: But this man, after he ha-d offered one
no meaning.         Consider that the offender  Iaid his sacrifice for sins, fcr ever sat down on `the right hand
hands upon the victim ,that, further, this impcsi'tion of God; From henceforth expecting till his enemies
of hands signified a transference of the guilt of the be made his footstooi. For by one offering he hath
offender to  Y,he victim. So it is literally afhrmed, "And perfected forever them that are sanctified.."
all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them                    Here it is afhrmed  that in sacrifices God had no
upon the h.ead  c*f the goat. . . .and t,he goat s'hall bear pleasure that  burnt-oserings  for sin He would not,
upon him  ~11 the  iniquiEies.  . .  ."               Consider further that these offerings could not take away sin, that this
that the victim, after having been laden down with was impossible, that thus by one offering-that of
the sins cf Yhe offender, was killed, that thereupon Ch.rist- all God's people, the elect of the old as well
its life-blood was presented  to the Lord as a as of the new dispenss,tion,  were perfected forever.
covering for this sin by the priest,  .that the of-                         An,d yet, the law o-f Moses affirms just as explicitly
fender might be clean from all his sins. So it is liter- and emphatically that those bulls and goats did bear
ally affirmed. It is significant that those who oppose                   iniquity of the offender, that the blood of these crea-
this view, deny that the imposition, cf hands signified tures did  ccfver sin, that the priest did make atonement
the transference of guilt from the offender to the sacri- for them, that "it (the sin) was forgiven them, that,
ficial victim. And thus also  `deny  that it atoned for finally this atonemcint  was made to cleanse you,
the offender's sin by its d,eath.                                        that ye may be clean from all your sins."
    What was then the fundamental idea of the sacrifice                     In their attempt to harmonize these ccppctrently  con-
by blood? What was the speech of God that came to flicting sentiments, students of scripture have come
man through this sacrifice? This : The forgiveness with various explanations.                                                         .
of sin is the  fruitage  of the doing of the righteous and                  According `to one view, the Old Testament sacri-


 2ti4                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
~-                        -..._I_  ..."           -...--_                                               -
{ices availed only for ceremonial transgressions and
uncleanness, for theocratic sins, for breaches of legal                                    SALVATION
ord,er  and ceremonial etiquette, involving no moral
guilt at all, and therefore simply rectifying the war-                     Salvation is God's own design
shipper's relation in an outward aspect, and securing                         To save the poor fallen man;
for him external privileges. According to this view,                       It is a wondrous gift Divine,
then, the sacrifices of the Old Covenant had no bearing                      A gracious heavenly plan.
at all on the conscience wounded by sin, and thus upon
the sinner's spiritual relation  tot God and therefore                     Salvation is the wQrk  of God
were in no sense instrumental in restoring  ,h.im to                          Thnough  His  bel&ved  Son  ;
fellowship with Jehovah. Thus according to this view,                      Who came on earth and shed His blood ;
these sacrifices concerned ceremonial, typical, sins only,                   By Him the work was  d'une.
sins `that in the sight of Gcrl were actually no sins.                     Salvation is by blood alone,,
    What is to be our appraisal of this view? It is to                       None can approach to God
be set aside as thoroughly wrong. Firstly, it is not                       Except in Jesus Christ, and  own
`true that these sacrifices concerned only the breaches                       `Tis through the poured-out blocd.
of t,he ceremonial law, but the breaches  of the mclral
law. (the Yen  commandme,nts)  , as well. They, these                      Salvation is a work of grace
sacrifices concerned any infringements  upcn any and all                      Which God done  begins ;
of Israel's laws. One scripture to prove this. "And if                     Through Him Who took the, sinner's place,
a soul sin, and hear the voice of swearing, and is a                          When host and dead in sins.
witness, whether he hath seen or known of it, if he
do not utter it,  t,hen he shall bear his iniquity. . . .                  Salvation is for ever  tcco,-
and he shall bring his trespass offering unto the Lord                       All those redeemed by blood
for his sin which he bath sinned".           (Lev. 5 : 1, 6a).             Are in Christ Jesus, made new,
The sin here spoken of consisted in the transgress&                           Fosr ever near to God.
not of any one of the ceremonial laws., but of Israel's                    Salvation is for sinners lost!
moral law. But aside from this, how could it possibly                         The broken hearted  may
be that a breach cd the ceremonial law involved the                        Qome now to Him;  - great was the cost
transgressors in no actual guilt in the sight of God. Of                      To open such a way.
the sons of Eli it is stated that `that their sins were very
great before the Lord, namely the sins consisting also                     Salvation is for those  who> see
in their kicking at "my sacrifices and at my offerings,                       And know their lost estate,
which  I have commanded in my habitation," and in                         That Jesus Christ is all their plea
making "yourselves fat with the  chiefest   od all the                       Themselves  they loathe and hate.
offerings of Israel my people. . . ." (I Sam. 2 :17,29).                                                        Selected.
And these sons by reason of their sins, "in one day
they shall die, both of them". This view certainly is
no way out cb the difficulty with which we here have
to do.                                                                                    IN MEMORIAM
                                                 G. M. 0.             De Hollandsche Mannen Vereeniging van de Fuller ,4ve.,
                                                                  `Vrot.  Geref.  Kerk   betreurt  het  vex-lies van  een harer  ge-
                                                                  trouwe leden,  door het overIijden  van
                         NOTICE                                                        M R .   A .   DOKTER

    Will members who are and have been in arrears for                 VoIgens   zijn  getuigenis, mogen we  gelooven  dat hij is
some time with subscription dues, kindly take care of ingegaan in het hemelsche Jeruzalem,  waar plaats voor hem
same in the near future or  nctify the treasurer of was  bereid  door zijn Heiland dien hij in zijn leven beleed.
their inability to pay at this time.                                  We  hopen,  dat de God van  alle genade, de bedroefde
                                                                  .familie wil nabij zijn en Hij hun dit in het hart  wi1  leggen
                                                                  "dat  alle   dingen  mede werken ten goede  voor degenen die
    Teeken in cp de (Vaandeldrager) Standard Bearer God  vreczen"
                                                                           , .
Abonements prijs $2.00 per jaar. Te verkrijgen bij                    Grand Rapids, Mich.
R. Schaafsma, 524 Henry Ave., S. E., Grand Rapids,                                               Namens de Vereeniging.
Mich.                                                                                                          G. Koster,  Pres.
                                             T H E   Born..                                              F. Vander Laan, Seer.

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

                                                 Editor+Rev. H. Hoeksema, Rev. G. M. Ophoff,
                                                                 Rev.  Wm.  Verb& Rev. G. Vos
                                             Associate F.&tore  Rev. A. Cammenga, Rev P. De
                                                 Boer, Rev. M. Gritters, Rev. C. Hanko,  Rev. B.
                                                   Kok, Rev. G. Lubbers, Rev. R. Veldwan.

               .-.-__                                                                                                                         1
Vol. XIV, No.  12. Entered  aa  second  class  mail
                         matter   at  Grand   Eapids.   Mich.        MARCH,  15,1933                        Subscription Price, $2.00
-ly_

                                                                                  He is Subject, even though He is also Object!
         M E D I T A T I O N                                                      He is Subject even when also the world, when also
                                                                              the principalities and powers are, in a secondary sense,
                                                                              subject!
           The Cross God's Triumph                                                And, though they know it not, He is the Subject
                                                                              supreme even  *of the act whereby He becomes Object,
                    And having spoiled principalities and                     object of their evil intentions, their revilings  and scorn,
                  powers, he made a shew of them  opf?dy,,                    their wicked hands wherewith they nail Him to the
                  triumphing  over them  ,i-n it.                             cross ! For, voluntarily He came do;wn to us in the
                                                        Cal.  1:15.           likeness of sinful flesh; and voluntarily He walked
   On Golgotha God is the Subject supreme !                                   among us, condemning the world because its works are
   The Cross is His !                                                         evil ; and voluntarily He delivered! Himself into the
   His Self-vindication !                                                     hands of sinners, without sword, without  pc;mTer,  help-
   His Theodicee !                                                            less,  impoteent, though He might invoke the auxiliaries
   His triumph !                                                              of legions of heavenly hosts ; and voluntarily He sub-
   His glory !                                                                mitted Himself to their judgment, their condemnation,
                                                                              their buffetings and their stripes; and voluntarily He
                                                                              walked the way of the cross, allowed Himself to be
   It appears so different!                                                   nailed to the tree, endured their jibes and refused to
   For, is not the world subject  #of the crucifixion?                        come down  ; and voluntarily He gave up the ghost
   Are not the principalities and powers in control of and laid down His life. . . .
things on Golgotha?                                                               He was Subject in becoming the Object!
   Is not GoId the aobject, when they take the Lord of                            And they knew it not!
glory, bind Him with fetters, lead Him captive trium-                             And they understood not that the Cross they erected
phantly, accuse Him, condemn Him, spit upon Him was God's judgment-seat and their own condemnation!
and revile Him, lead Him down to death, nail Him to                               And they believed it not that the Subject supreme
the accursed tree, numbering Him with malefactors,                            in becoming the Object was casting out the Prince of
gloat over Him,  j*eer at Him, challenge Him to escape                        this world !
out of their power and to come d,own from the cross,                              And they imagined not that even on Golgotha they
cast Him into the pit of death? . . . .                                       would hear the thunder of His wrath and of their own
   D,o'es not Satan vindicate himself and justify his                         damnation !
word: "Ye shall not surely die". . . . .God shall die ! ?                         The terrible theodicee they fail to see in the blind-
   Is not the cross the k&s+6 with the Prince of this                         ness of their hardened hearts. . . .
world as judge and C*od as the oondemned?
   The devil's justification?
   His triumph?                                                                   And yet, they do see!
                                                                                  And they hear His terrible thunder!
   His glory? . . . .                                                             For, as "the hour", God%  hour, advances, the aspect
                                                                              of the awful  cross changes! It becomes manifest to
                                                                              them, that this cross, which they erected, of which
   On Golgotha God is Subject supreme !                                        they imagined  t,hemselves to be the sole subject, is

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

more  than they intended, passes out of their power, is smaller scope. But in our text the terms, evidently,
no longer under their control, has yet another Subject! refer  to the wicked  multitulde of rebellious spirits.
For, behold, darkness descends and deepens! God's And also these are well ordered. Among them are
darkness ! And with the darkness  comes amazement ! principalities and powers, and among them are those
Silence ! Dreadful silence! The voice of the scoffer that are in subjection. And over them all rules Dia-
is heard no more. The jeers and jibes have died on the bolos, the liar, the murderer from the beginning, the
lips  ,of the mockers. Even the Crucified One is silent, prince of this world ! . . . .
still hanging on the tree, now almost hid from hostile           For, these principalities and powers stand in a
eyes by the veil  of darkness, God's veil !       And the definite relation to "this  w30rld".
silen.ce becomes unbearable ! Will, then, not someone            This relation is tacitly assumed in the text, is pre-
speak? Yes, lo ! He speaks, the Crucified One : Eli,         supposed. For, how else could they have been spoiled
Eli,  lama sabbachtani? Does He call for  Elias?  Will through the cross? Through that cross God made an
someone hasten to His aid? No, for presently He cries open show of them. But the cross belongs to our
out again, with a voice amazing in its power, and gives      world. It deals with men. But these principalities
up the ghost. And the veil of the temple is rent. And and powers were the rulers of this world. Not in the
the rocks split. And the graves are opened. Their sense that they had sovereign rights and power did
cross is n,ow  God's cross. His judgment. His triumph.       they exercise dominion, but in the spiritual-ethical
And they that had come to scoff returned in silence,         meaning of the term they ruled. In the world of
terror-struck. . . .                                         man and through that w80rlld  they execute their will
   "And all the people that came together to that and seek to realize their evil purpose. For, through
sight, beholding the things which were done, smote his fall man became the ally of the devil. And the
their breasts and returned! . . . .                          murderer from the beginning is man's lord; through
                                                             man the prince of this world seeks to establish and
                                                             maintain his dominion, and to oppose the living God.
                                                             Neither is he alone in this rebellious purpose and oppo-
   And thus God is the  subj,ect  in the text.              sition to the Most High. For with him are a host of
   God raised Him from the dead.                             principalities, whose chief he is. And it is as prince of
                                                            the devils and through these that he is also prince of
   God hath quickened us tcgether with Him.                 this world and enlists the ungodly in his wicked service,
   God hath forgiven all our trespasses, blotting out ethically rules over fallen men ?
the handwriting of ordinances that was against us.               Through ungodly men as their agents the devil and
   God took that handwriting, that was contrary to his principalities and powers seek to realize their pur-
us, out of the way, nsiling  it to His cross.                pose.
   God spoiled the principalities and powers; made an            In the deeds of wicked men the purpose and char-
<open  show of them ; triumphed over them.                  acter of these principalities and powers become mani-
   All through the cross!                                    fest.
   His Cross !                                                  And at the cross they were well represented.
                                                                "The world" was t.here at its best!
                                                                 Far, there was the "religious" world, the pious,
                                                            the "righteous", the keepers of the law, the leaders
   How well these principalities and powers were of the Church, the guardians of holy things, the San-
represented on Golgotha !                                   hedrin, the chief priests and scribes and elders of the
                                                            people, under the influence of, in allegiance with, in
   Host of fallen angels !                                   ethical subjection to the devil and his principalities
   For, to them, evidently, the words principalities and powers, ready to do the will of their spiritual
and powers refer in the text. Always in Scripture the father. There were the multitude of Jews, whose were
terms point to the angel-world. Sometimes they de- the covenants, and the promises, and the giving of the
note the multitude of heavenly host that had no part Iaw, prepared to follow their wicked leaders. There
in the rebellion of Satan and his host, as, for instance, was Judas, the disciple, of whose heart the prince of
when it is said, that Christ is exalted in heavenly this world himself took possession ! In these the prin-
places, far above all principality and, power and might cipalities a.nd powers appeared as angels of light, in
and dominion, Eph. 1:21; or even in the sixteenth verse cloaks of righteo.usness  and zeal for the law and the
of the first chapter of Colossians, where things in house of God, watchers over the well-being of the
heaven are thrones and dominions, principalities and people, whitewashed sepulchres! . . . .
powers. They picture the angelic multitude as a well             And, then, there was the world of "common grace",
ordered host, with spirits that have authority to rule representced by the Roman governor, occupying the
and spirits that obey, with dominions of larger and seat of highest worldly justice and righteousness,


                                 T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                               267

    And Herod,  "that fox" !                                 them without form or comeliness, without power and
    Worthy representatives of hell !                         maj,esty,  all His divine glory completely  hid) behind
                                                             the form of a weak and helpless man! And in Jesus
                                                             He confronts them, from the throne of His judgment,
                                                             one and all with this one question: If I, your God,
    God spoiled them !                                       stand before you without My majesty and power,
    And He made a show of them openly !                      what will ye do with Me? . ; . .
    He stripped them bare; as the Dutch has it: "de             Judas, who hast been in intimate contact with My
ocverheden  .en machten  uitgetogen  hebbende".              revelation in the Son, what wilt thou do with Me? . . .
    They stood t.here  in cloaks of religion and piety,         Esteemed Sanhedrists, what will ye do with the
of self- righteousness and zeal for the law, of pretended living God?
virtue of "natural light,' and "civil righteousness", of        Scribes, learned in the Scriptures ; priests, that
goodness and love of justice,. so beautiful and apparent- serve in My holy place ; pious Pharisees; self-righteous
ly real that even people of God are tempted to mistake Jews ; Herod,  you fox?
them for divinely spun garments of "common grace"!              Pilate, representative of worldly justice and virtue
And God spoiled them, stripped them naked, tore off and power?
all these man-made clcaks lof goodness and exposed              All ye, principalities and powers !
them in their real character of wickedness and ungodli-         Answer : what will ye do with the living God !
ness and rebellion against the Most High!                       And the answer came in unison: if we can get a
    For, that "world", and these principalities and hold of God without fear of being consumed by His
powers must be condemned !                                   glory. . . .we will kill Him !
    They must be damned!                                        For we love darkness and hate the light!
    Into everlasting desolation they must be sent.              We love iniquity and hate righteousness !
    But how could they be sent to hell wearing these            We love the 13e and hate the truth!
beautiful robes of religion and piety, these garments of        Crucify Him ! Crucify Him !
virtue and "common grace", and the justice and right-           It was the ,Qri&.s!
eousness of God be revealed?
    Before they are damned they must be stripped !
    And, stripped to  .the skin, these principalities and
pcwers,  embodied in and represented by "the world",            God's triumph is the cross !
by Sanhedrin and Roman governor, by priest and scribe           For in it, by means of the cross He triumphed over
and Pharisee, must be exposed in all their lying vanity the principalities and powers !
and ungodliness, in all their wickedness and corrup-            No longer is the devil the prince of the world;
tion !                                                       no longer have his principalities and powers their
    Through the cross God made an open shew of them !        dominion over us.
    To all that are able to pass a moral judgment these         For the strength and basis of their dominion is the
principalities now stand exposed in their true moral guilt of sin, of the sin of the world ; and the sole
character, to angels and men, to the righteous and to sphere of their power and rule is the sphere of death,
the wicked alike, of all ages! For this open show still the corruption  o.f the human nature. Remove the
stands and will stand forever! Would you kno,w what guilt and deliver the human nature from the fetters of
is the real character of "this world", of the angels corruption and death, and the dominion of the devil
and principalities, of natural men in their apparent and his power is broken forever.
virtue and righteousness, their seeming piety and good-         And God broke the power of sin through the cross !
ness? Then turn your eyes toward the cross of the               For what the law coulfd not do, in that it was weak
Son of God ! There you may behold them, stripped through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the
to their -bodies, exposed in  a.11 their ungodly rebellion likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned sin in
against Go.d* and His righteousness !                        the flesh, that the righteousness of the law might be
    For, mark you well, that cross is God's cross!           fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but after
    in "the hour" God sits on the throne to judge the the Spirit ! He nailed the handwriting that was against
world !                                                      us, the bill of complaint that was contrary to US, to
           And He summons "the world", the principalities the cross of Jesus, and thus removed it. For, Christ
and powers before His judgment-seat!                         fulfilled all its demands, obeying, bearing God's wrath
   And when they are all  prwent  He places them all,        in love, blotting out the handwriting that cursed  US. . .
one by one, befo.re  the supreme quesaion:  What will           And we are free ! Free from the power of dark-
ye do with Me? With My truth? With My righteous- ness !
ness? He oomes to them in Jesus, Immanuel, Who had              Thro,ugh the cross of Jesus?
revealed the Father in word and work, Me comes to               God's triumph!                              H, H.


I

\

                                                T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                         277
                  .._-                                      _.-.,-               -..--._                            ---^
        Er is hier nog een ander misverstand in `t spel.
     Mijn zonden zijn vergeven, waarom  zou ik er dan  nag                       Jesus Bearing Our Sicknesses
     om bidden? Het is waar, dat onze zonden zijn uitge-
     delgd, dat onze schuld VU~VTXO&, beta&d  is. We kun-                  The "Passion" seasoxris  again at hand. It is custom-
     nen dan ook niet bidlden  in de dagen der nieuwe bedee-           ary in our churches, and a good custom it is, to devote
     ling :  verzom   onze   s&z&.  Dat is eenmaal  aan het the six Sundays preceding Easter  to! the suffering and
     kruis geschied. Maar dat is immers geheel  iets anders death of our Saviour. No truth is of greater signifi-
     dan dat ik nu ook de  g-de der verge&&g,  ontvang,                cance for the church of God `than the suffering of
     dat God aan mij alzoo die verzoening, die uitdelging the Lamb of God Who came to take away the sin i;f
     van mijn schuld toepast, dat ik mij in het volle bewust- the world. No1 truth imparts greater joy. The Word of
     zijn dier genade der vergeving mag verheugen. De the cross, God's almighty, creative Word producing
     vergeving der zonden kan ik alleen bezitten en smaken             the cross, is indeed the power  ro.f God unto salvation.
     door een voortdurende genadewerking des Gee&es. De It is noteworthy that we are exhorted by our Lord to
     in mij inwonende Geest van  Christus werkt in mij die remember His death till He come. We do not read this
     genade, niet maar eens en voor altijd  maar altijd weer concerning His birth and resurrection. Only His death
     en geduriglijk. En God schenkt ons Zijn Geest en ge- we must remember. And this remembrance takes
     nade in den weg van en  0.p ons gebed. En daarom past place when the church celebrates the sacrament of the
     het den Christen, die altijd weer behoefte heeft aan die `Lord's Supper. Of c@urse, we must not  unlderestima'te
     genade,  zooals  hij dagelijks weer  beho,efte heeft  aan Bethlehem or the resurrection  of the Saviour. Hcw-
     brood, om geduriglijk te bidden: vergeef  o,ns onze ever, without Calvary Bethlehem would be meaningless
     schulden of zonden!                                               and the resurrection  imposs!ible.  Jesus became flesh
                                                           H. H.       to realize Calvary. And the resurrection is the seal
                                                                       of God upon the finished  wlork  of the cross. May we,
                                                                       as people of God, ever understand that the death of
                                                                       Christ Jesus is our salvation. The work of regenera-
                                                                       tion and sanctification is its fruit, was made possible
                                                                       by it. Upon the cross  lour debt was paid, our guilt
                                OPEN LETTER                            blotted out. Then death was Ideprived of its right `to
                                                                       reign in us, and eternal life was merited. Upon the
        An Open Letter to all the leading Ministers, and accursed tree of  Golgotha  Jesus took upon Himself
     also Theological Professors of the Christian Reformed our infirmities, and bore tour sicknesses. Therefore,
     Churches.                                                         because the cross is the blotting out of all our guilt,
                                                                       the reccaciliation  of the world with God, the basis o,f
     Esteemed and Worthy Brethren:-                                    our salvation, we must remember Christ's death till
                                                                       He aome.
        Whereas you in your synodical  assembly of 1924                   Matt.  8  : 17 : "Himself took our infirmities, and bore
     have accepted three points which were not only contra-            our sicknesses", is a quotation from the prophecy of
     confessional but also anti-scriptural,                            Isaiah. Matthew quotes this prophetic word in connec-
        And whereas you have e/&?-own  out of your churches tion with `the many miracles which Jesus performed in
     those that maintained the Reformed truth of Sovereign Capernaum at the beginning of His first Galilean minis-
     and particular grace over against those that advocated try. A more vivid description of the Great Physician
     common grace, those that maintained the Reformed we may read in the verses 29-34 of the first chapter
     truth of total depravity over against those that would of the gospel of Mark,
     ascribe to the natural man to do good.                                Our Lord had spent a busy sabbath in the syna-
        And whereas Rev. H. Hoeksema will be at Edgerton, gogue at Capernaum. Shortly before He had been re-
     Minn., from April 5 to April 13, to inform the people jected by His "home-town", Nazareth, because His  ;`x-
     of R,eformed persuasion about these greatly to be re-             planation of Isaiah 53  :5 and  61:2 was such that they,
     gretted facts, both in spe'ech and personal contact, and Israel, are prisoners and blind, and He was the Liber-
     whereas we are accused of misleading the simple and ator and Healer in a sense they were unwilling to re-
     trusting souls of your church concerning these facts,             ceive.    Thereupon He had evidently established His
        Therefore, the ablest one among you is hereby residence in Capernaum, laboring there in the region
     urgently requested to be present on any of these dates about the sea of Galilee. It is in Capernaum that the
     and openly to refute in public debate the truth of these busy sabbath cccurs.  In the synagogue the Lord, be-
     charges.                                                          sides proclaiming the Scriptures, had healed a de-
                                                                       moniac. After the services He entered with His dis-
                          Yours for the cause of truth and justice,    ciples into the house of Simon and Andrew, where
                                                      B. Kok.          Simon Peter's wife's mother lay sick with a burning


     278                                         T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
                                     _.._II__                -_____"  -..- I_ -.......                        _~..^^  _.
     fever. The Lord is besought for her. He rebukes the Galilean city is repeated so often during the Saviour's
.    fever, takes her by the hand, and lifts her up ; anfd im- walk upon earth.
     mediately the fever left her, and she ministered unto                 What does all this mean? How must we explain
     them.                                                            the Lord's activity that evening in Capernaum, yea, all
        It is now evening. The sabbath is past. All that His wonderful miracles? Just what does Isaiah refer
     day it had been told from home to home what had to, and why does Matthew quote this prophecy at this
     occurred in the synagogue; it had also been whispered time? Is He a "Wonder-doctor" whose  magi,c will cure
     about what had taken place in the house of their neigh- us from all physical affliction? Was our Lord, mloved
     bour, Simon. This one conviction had been borne in by the principle of human compassion, troubled only
     upon them all, that He speaks with "authority", that because of the physical misery which, as it were, was
     He with authority and power had uommanded even the borne in upon Him? Did He have but one desire, to
     evil spirits and they had obeyed. What a scene is now heal as many as possible from the ravages of physical
     presented to us in the verses 32-34 of the first chapter distress ? And did He seek His Father's face in prayer
     of Mark ! There must have been many homes of sor- that night, according to Mark 1:35, because He was
     row, of care, of sickness there, and in the popu$o,us            utterly fatigued? If in this light we must understand
     neighbourhood around. The conviction cannot escape that evening in Capernaum, what a strange  "Woader-
     us that there was an unusually large number of sick doctor" our Lord is ! If we could imagme  a man of
     at the time of Jesus' walk upon earth. To them the great power coming into a.ur city ho-day, with ability to
     door  of hope had now been opened. Surely, so they b minister health and restoration to sick  anti broken
     lieve there is no disease too desperate, or this wonder- bodies, we should assume that he would exercise that
     ful  physicSan  will be able to heal-even the demons ministry to all who came, that he would regard that as
     acknowledged the authority of His rebuke. From all a great privilege and iopportunity, and that to the very
     parts of the country round about these sick are w.w limit of his physical power He would receive all who
     brought to the Lord.      In true Judaistic fashion, they came.  Net Jesus, however. According to the Scripture;
     wait until the sabbath has passed. Then, mothers, He would retreat to desert places. And He would go
     widows, wives, fathers,  husrbancds, children-their loved to the neighbouring  tiowns to preach the gospel of the
     ones, the treasures they ,had already despaired of; yea, Kingdom of Heaven.                That our Saviour was  nctt  a
     the whole city throngs  Tao Him, a hushed, solemnized, modern "Wonlder-doctor"  is plain. Why did He not
     overawed multitude, expectant, waiting at the door of then conceive of His ministry as that  [of bodily healing?
     Simon's dwelling. We cannot picture this marvelous Why did He not bring  heaIth and restoration to all
     scene to ourselves too vividly. There they laid them, within His reach, as evidently He brought it to some?
     along the street up to the marketplace. We read, do Wehy  #did He urge  s.ome whom He healed  no,t  tlo tell
     we not, that all the city was gathered together at the others about their cure, whereas modern faith-healers
                                                                      are seeking the evident publicity? Is it not because
     Idoor. The blind, the deaf, the dumb, the halt, even
     those who were possessed with devils : all were brought these persons whom the Lord forbade to tell others
                                                                      about their healing uonceived  of Him as such a  "Won-
     to the Christ. The fame of Him, also of His wbnderful lder-doctor"?  Jesus' miracles can only be understood
     works in Jerusalem whereof we read in the second and in the light of His significance as the Saviour.
     third chapters of John, had reached these  Galileans-
     yea, many themselves had seen this CXrist "in action",                I think it beyond every  rdcubt that, although Mat-
                                                                      thew quotes the word of Isaiah in connection with Jesus
     And truly, He had been wonderful in Galilee too. In miraculous activity in Capernaum, Isaiah in his  53rd
     Nazareth they would have killed Him, but He passed
     through their  mild&-Luke  4:16-30.  He had healed chapter refers to the Man of Sorrows, particularly as
                                                                       He suRers the wrath of God upon Calvary's accursed
     the demoniac this very sabbath-day in the synagogue, tree. A careful reading of Isa. 53 should convince us of
     and the mother of Peter's wife in the house of Simon
     Peter.                                                            this fact. We read that as a l,amb  He was brought to the
                All day long the people had waited for the slaughter. He was cut off out of the land of the living,
     sun to set. Finally, when the evening had set in, they for the transgressions of God's people were upon Him.
     crowd in upon Him.                                                Therefore upon the cross of Calvary the Lord bore all
            What a scene! What a picture of the suffering, the our grief and sorrow, our infirmities and s,icknesses.
     misery, the need  lof `this present time that evening in He gave H,is life to deliver us out of all death. Death,
     Capernaum presents unto us ! What a picture of the in all its phases, in the physical-spiritual-eternal sense,
     Christ, the Great Physician,  the only Consoler in the is the operation of the wrath of God upon sin. The
     world's manifold woe! He healed many that were sick justice of God demands this extreme penalty. That
     of divers diseases, and cast uut many devils. What a God is life and none ,other,  the sinner must experience
     fulfillment of the prophetic word' of Isaiah! `Uo be sure in the way of tasting death, not ,only  in the physical
     the word of Isaiah is being realized in the very streets sense, but also spiritually and eternally. Now Jesus
     of Capernaum. And what takes place in this proud gave His life to save us from death. This refers not


                                    T H E   S T A N D A R D  BEAREIR                                                    279
- -_ -__- ---I_                                                                             __II.--  -..- - .--._ _-" .---- -
only to our physical, bodily misery, but also to spiritual saving His people from ,death. Jesus' miracles were but
death, sin and darkness within us, and eternal death,         another step in the direction of Calvary, symbolizing
the wrath of Gosd.  Jesus satisfied the justice of God,       His work of redemption, but also wilfully assuming
 aid for all our sins, bore the wrath of Cad, meriteld        the responsibility of it.
for us everlasting life. He deprived sin of its right to         Understanding these things we can somewhat grasp
reign in us, but He also realized for us the blessed life     the meaning of the gospels when we read of the Lord
of Jehovah's everlasting covenant.       Because of the       retreating into a sditary place, there to pray to His
cross the grave  #is now a portal to life eternal. Hence,     Father. This He d'id that very night. How our Saviour
s  %rist indeed bore  all our sorrows upon the cross          needed prayer after that evening! H*ow the misery of
of  Golgotha.                                                 the city must have spoken to Him of the misery of His
   Now it is noteworthy that Matthew  quc.tes  this           people. How that misery must have forcibly reminded
word of Isaiah in connection with the  miracies  in Him of the tremendous task which He had wilfully
Capernaum. Of course, this does not mean that the taken upon Himself! How His suffering, the awful
Saviour is a modern "Wonder-doctor". Neither does             cross of Calvary must have loomed before Him ! And
Scripture mean to convey the thought in the sense             as the perfect Servant of Jehovah, Who came to do His
He actually, in the literal,  mat.erial sense of the word,    Father's will and walk in that way of His God, the
bore our sicknesses. We understand that He bore our           way of the cross, He needed strength, as the Son of
sorrows upon tlze cross, and that in the sense that He Man, from the God of His salvation. For He came to
bore our guilt which is the basis for all our misery.         bear our sicknesses and sorrows even unto the end.
To understand this quotation of Matthew we must bare                                                           H. V.
in mind that Jesus, as we see Him that evening in the
Galilean city, is a tremendous sign. He came to heal
us from all physical woe. This is plain. But He came
to save us also from all spiritual corruption. Now there
was an unusually large number bof sick people while                Common Grace At The Christian
Jesus was upc,n  earth, not only of the common, ordi-                       Teachers  ' Convention
nary kind, but also those who were afflicted in a special
sense. Many were blind, deaf, dumb, leprous, possess-            In the "Annual Convention Paper" for 133'7-1938,
ed with devils. And anyone who carefully reads the published by the National Union of Christian Schools
Scriptures knows that blindness, deafness, dumbness,          (10119 Lafayette Ave., Chicago, Ill.) there appears
leprousy are symbols of the spiritual power of sin and among  ethers a paper by Mr. H. Evenhuis, Teacher of
darkness. We are spiritually unable to see  or hear or Bible at the Chicago Christian High School, which
speak of the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven. We again shows the urgency of a thorough discussion of
are leprous, full of corruption and death. Therefore. the question of Common Grace.
because the Lord came to deliver us also from spiritual          Mr. Evenhuis discusses in general two points, name-
corruption, these special diseases abounded. Now we
can easily understand Matthew's quotation from Isaiah. ly, (1) the teacher's source of authori,ty  for interpre-
The Lord h'ealing  the many in Capernaum and thru- tation, (2) his source of authority in the field of
out His entire life upon earth, gives us a mighty sign method.
of the wondrous work of salvation which He came to               The entire paper is an evidence  of the need of just
accomplish, centrally upo.n the cross of Calvary. There-      such a basic study as Dr. Vollenhoven has begun in
for  althcugh  Isaiah refers to the Son of Man as the his "De Noodzakelijkheid eener Christelijke  Logica".
Man of Sorrows, Who suffers for His people particu-               On the first point Mr. Evenhuis holds that "when
larly upon the cross, Matthew is mindful of this pro- it is a matter of interpr,etation  the Christ&n  will speak
phetic word because these miracles are signs *c.f the with authority but the nonchristian cannot" (page 32).
saving work of the Christ. But this is not all. We "When (the public school teacher) expects to give a
read that Jesus, healing the many, took our infirmities,      perspective of history he will be wrong because he
and bare our sicknesses. It is evidently the meaning does not have the light. . . . , he may speak authori-
that at that very moment the Lord took upon Himself tively as far as description or narration of data is con-
the burden of all our physical and spiritual and eternal      cerned, but he will err when he gives his interpreta-
woe.    This is easy to understand. Whereas Jesus' tion"  (p. 33).
miracles were signs of His redemptive power, the sick-            On the question of method, however, Mr. Evenhuis
nesses and misery surrounding Him in Canernaum proposes a different theory regarding the source of
symbolized  aour misery, and He could create this type.       authority.    He adds: "Can a teacher gather all his
perform these mighty works because He actually was methods of teaching from the Bible? No. The Bible
to save us, therefore, healing the many, He at the same is not a text-book on pedagogy"  (p. 30). "If the teacher
time assumed the tremendous responsibility of actually finds in the world educational methodologies which are


281)                                      THE  S'iYANDARD  BfiAREk
-        -                                                      -II               -                         I_
good he had authority to draw frcm the world that                      But-what must we think of the remark of Prof.
which is good and employ it for the good of Christian Schultze? Is Prof. Schultze still ignorant of the  refer-
education. . . . He has authority, to analyze the con- enc3e of the term "common grace"?                    Does Prof. S.
temporary learning, seize upon the good, and lead the really believe that if a Christian school teacher can
way in the world of education" (p. 31). See also pp.             glean fragments or portions from the methodology of
33, 34.                                                          the atheist in order to sift and reconstrue them for
        Upon this paper an interesting discussion followed. his own  advantage(  as was evidently the sentiment
        Near the beginning of the discussion (as  recordesd)     of persons speaking) -does  *Prof. S. really believe that
one Mr. S. E. Greydanus (Paterson, N. J.) makes this this is possible by virtue of a grace that the elect and
significant remark : The speaker said that  th.e Christian reprobate have in common?
teacher must take good out of the world. I would like                  If the Christian teacher sits on a chair, at a desk,
an explanation `of the words "good" and "world".                 using writing material and a text-book all made by
        Mr. Evenhuis answers : "I mean the entire world of atheists, is this use possible by virtue of a grace, a
Education. . . . We understand that the mo'dern  edu- love of God that He entertains toward and bestows on
cational leaders have a philosophy of education which all men?
is wholly unacceptable `and we repudiate it but their                  The proposed light of Prof. S. again plainly shows
investigation and discoveries are usually open for our that w*e must in the present debate regarding common
study and it must be acknowledged that they have                 grace, be very insistent on the proper definition of
made worthwhile advance. . . . If we can draw from terms.,
the world anything which will enable us the better to                  I think there are three alternatives which we must
educate our children we have obtained a good from the maintain.
world".                                                                Either-or !
        Rev. De Koekkoek, differing from Mr. Evenhuis                  Either the continuation of the present world with
maintains that the Lord has also "revealed authority its rain and sunshine etc. indiscriminately to all is
in method" (p.  33)) "it is wrapped up in Christian God's means whereby He realizes "His eternal purpose
teaching but the teacher has not yet discovered it" in Christ" and the Church;
(P. 34).                                                               Or it is Gcd's love and grace toward all men indis-
        It is at this interesting point in the discussion that criminately.
Prof H. Schultze offers a remark which seems like a                    If the first is true then the term common grace is
soluticn  and obscures the issue for everyone who does utterly superfluous and senseless. What use would we
not think clearly on the point of common grace.                  otherwise have for the accepted term "Providence"?
        The professor says: I think we are getting some-               If the second is true we must emphatically keep the
where now. Rev. De Koekkoek brought up the question term common grace.
why does Mr. Evenhuis insist that the world gives us                   Either-or.
something that comes from nothing and can't give us                    Eit%w  the "glimmerings of natural light" in men
something concrete.         Isn't there room for common and devils are the result of the providence of God
grace?                                                           which glimmerings He makes subservient to His "Pur-
        Mr. *4. S. De Jong is not so taken up with common pose" ;
grace. He remarks with a tinge of irony that Darwin's                  Or as some of the proponents *of common grace
theory of the survival of the. fittest brought on the            teach they are as thoughts and emotions, good, re-
world war. He evidently means to question whether ligious desires and impulses, virtues which the natural
the "glimmerings of natural light", that is, the power- man can perform because of a gracious operation of
ful intellect of Chas. Darwin was grace.                         t.% Holy Spirit in his heart.
        On the whole there is something encouraging abo::t             If the first is true then the term common grace
this discussion.                                                 is utterly superfluous and senseless. Surely the ac-
        Mr. Greydanus evidently desires to use the words cepted word "reason (rede)  " is much more expressive
"good" and "world" carefully and critically.                     of the idea.
        Rev. De K. maintains that the Bible is authoritative           If the second is true we must emphatically retain
also in the field of method.                                     the term common grace.
        Mr. D J. is not quite satisfied with the theory of             Either-or.
common grace.                                                          Eithw  we must hold that the Christian is active al-
        Mr. Evenhuis, even, notwithstanding his faulty con- ways and in all spheres of life by the impulse of par-
clusion has the authority to sift and construe methodo- ticular grace.
logies. The  charitab,le  reader will also view same of                (We must not permit Dr. C. Bouma (see "Calvin
his  rema,rks in the light of the fact that Mr. S. is a Forum" 111:3, Oct. `37 pp. 51, 52) to make us believe
rather young man and most probably not conversant that the issue of common grace which has caused such
with the question of so-called common grace.                     bitter contention among us, was merely the question


                                    T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                       281
                                            -....            -.I__                   __-                 -__I_
whether we shall serve God only on Sunday or seven
days in the week, that is, not only in the church but                         A Poor Show
also in our daily work).
   Or we must hold that all men by an operation of             In this world the deeds of men do not always re-
God's grace (flowing from His favorable  ,dispcsition to    ceive their due reward, or rather, wo do not always
all) can do  go,od  works in the sphere in which the        see that to be the case.  Crcokedness  and  corruption
Christian  w*orks  six days in the week.                    sometimes appear in a form of justice and truth and
                                                            are not revealed or punished according to their worth.
   In the first place common gra,ce  means a grace that The only reason we can find for this, is, that this dis-
is for the Christian common to every day of the week.       pensation is not the God-appointed time for the revela-
The idea is ludicrous. And our contention would be          tion of the righteous judgment of God.
a most painful, t~ragic  misunderstanding.    The first
does not explain the introduction  `of the term common         There are also, however examples in Scripture as
grace.                                                      well as in  hi&cry which shows that it sometimes
                                                            pleases God, who rules and governs all things through
   If the second is true we must emphatically retain        our Lord, Jesus Christ, to bring to light also in time
the term comon grace. It exactly covers the idea.           the wicked devices of men and use them as means for
   Summarizing, I would say:                                the furthering of His cause and kingdom to vindicate
   Either-Or.                                               His W,ord of Truth and to reassure and confirm His
   Tf the three points of the Synod of Kalamazoo are        people in the faith.
Biblical and Reformed the term  conunon  grace must be         We were reminded of this fact more than once,
retained and inculcated. Then there is no reason what- lately, now that the question of "co&on grace" has
soever for adding the words "so-called" nor, for using once more become the subject for discussion, especially
the term in quotation mark. Nor should we counten- in the Netherlands. As to the outcome and result of
ance the attempt of Rev. Zwier to substitute another that discussion, I  wou1.d not dare, at the present time
term. It will only add to the confuwon.                     risk a prediction; especially whereas one of their own.
   If, however, the three points are Arminian and leaders and perhaps one of the most reliable authori-
Pelagian  we must retain the term common grace to ties on the matter, namely, Prof. Greydanus, made
designate that error and fight the error with all our the statement last year on the floor of the Synod, and
power.                                                      recently repeated it, that the problem of "common
   Then it will become evident by God's grace that the grace" belongs to those things which require profound
continued  existence of the world and men and devils ;      study as well as broad discussion before an official
the power of intellect and emotion in natural man  ;        statement concerning th.e matter should be oonsidered."
and also the spiritual force by which God's people serve That, by the way, does not say much for the three
Him seven days instead of one has nothing to do with        points.
a grace that is common. The term will die its natural          Meanwhile the discussion continues. There are
death.                                                      several groups, each of which view the matter from
                                    Rev. A. Petter          difierent  angles. There are those who want to de-
                  604 Oak St., Bellflower, California.      fend all that which Dr. A. Kuiper, Sr., has written
                                                            about it. They are ready to brand anything,  d.ifferent
                                                            in form, as an unsuitable product of high-mindedness.
                                                               There are others who have much in common with
                                                            the first-mentioned, but who admit that there is room,
          IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT                            not only, but also need for development.
                                                                Still others there seem to be who want  t,o maintain
    The Annual Meeting of the League of Men's So- the thing itself, but in a new form using new words
cieties is to be held the Lord willing, on April 21 in like "general goodness" and "general longsuffering".
the Fuller Ave., Church Parlors at  8 :00 P. M.                Finally there seem to be those who, by their writ-
    Rev. P. De Boer, of South Holland, Ill., is scheduled ings, lead one to believe that they really do not  agree
to address the meeting on the topic : "The  Pres.ent  Day with the whole theory. The theory that the reprobates
International State of Affairs in  th.e Light of Pro- whom God in His counsel has appointed to be "vessels
phecy." This speech promises to be instructive and of wrath fitted unto destruction" should in time be-
interesting. The Holland, Mich., (Male Quartet) will come the objects of His favor so that what they receive
furnish the music.                                          in this life in the form of rain and sunshine, health and
                                                            such things must be looked upon as gifts of God's grace,
    This is the last Membership Meeting of the season. be it only in a temporal sense, is in itself inconceivable
Please let's have a record attendance.                      unless one has an erroneous conception of God.
                             Gerard Borduin,  Sec'y.            It is, I think, between those groups mentioned first

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

and last, that the discussion becomes more and more could it be that their ignorance concerning the matter
interesting for us. What we would like to see is that and their being aware of that fact prevented them
some, would take a firm stand on the ground of Scrip-           from touching upon it for fear of defeat? Secondly,
ture and openly declare themselves against the whole was the manner in which they got rid of the "erring
theory of `*common grace".                                      brethren" of such a nature that they would rather not
       Perhaps we are a bit too anxious. We must realize have the light of investigation shine upon  it? Thirdly,
what a step like that would mean in the Netherlands.            whereas they were well aware of the :fact that any-
       Looking at the "common grace" controversy on the thing offered by them woulrd  be promptly answered
other side of the Atlantic, one naturally would expect by the opposing party, and knowing  frcm past  cx-
that their brethren on this side, seeing that they went perience that every time an attempt was made in that
through the same thing would be a great help to them;           direction it proved to be an eye-opener to some of their
that they would lead them in the right direction and            followers. They deemed it wise to put the lid on the
place before them the result of their study in  beak            whole thing, hoping that by so  daoing they could
form. Surely in the course of  scme thirteen or four&n smother both the opponent and his fearful propa-
years they must have gathered much knowledge con- ganda.
cerning the matter.                                                These, I think are some of the reasons which are
       Did not the Synod of 1924, which deemed itself at much closer to the truth than Rev. Zwier's excuse.
that early date strong enough to formulate doctrinal            There is, of course, nothing new in this for us, but
statements as an addition to their confession, urge             when our good friends  woul,d mislead us as to  the
all th.e leaders of her denomination to make further truth concerning history it is well to be reminded of
study of that wonderful ,doctrine,  which even the pro- this "lest we forget".
fessors could  net describe? Yet it was considered                                                             H. Knott.
sufficiently important to banish all those who would                                           Grand Rapids,  Mich.
not believe in its existence. Couldn't one expect that
there would be a remedy in this country for the breth-
ren in the Netherlands?
       We have all the more reason for such an expectation                            ZN MEMORISM
when we consider the fact that the opposing party                   Het  behaagde  den Heere om tot  zich  te nemen na een
which they like to call "erring brethren" have constant- eenigszins langdurige krankheid  onzen geliefden  Vader  en  groot-
ly and unceasingly provoked them to study. They have Vader,
coaxed them, challenged them, admonished them, and                                    LOUIS POLSTRA
have even given them an outline for study.
       And now what do we  find? What have they to              in den ouderdom van 75  jaren en 11 maanden
offer to the Netherlands in their present struggle? Oh,
yes, they have the same three old miserable statement,s             Daa.r wij mogen vertrouwen dat hij ingegaan is in het
with an attempted explanation from their "father". Vderhuis der vele woningen, behoeven wij niet te treuren ge-
Besides that they  have a few confused sermons; but             lijk degenen die geen hoop hebben. Moge onze getrouwe Ver-
5or the rest, I think we can safely accept the statement bonds God dit verlies aan onzer aller harten heiligen door Zijn
of the Rev. Swier "that they are not one step farther           Geest en Woord.
than they were fourteen years ago". That is what I                                           Mr. en Mrs. B. Doornbos
call  u poor show. Rev. Zwier also must have realized                                        Mr. en Mrs. A. Miedema
this somewhat, for he comes with an excuse which is                                          Mr. en Mrs. D. De Vries
so contrary to the truth that it is really astounding                                        Mr. en Mrs.  J. Polstra
how anybody can have the nerve to openly write such                                          Mr. en Mrs. L. Jousma
things.                                                                                      Mr. en Mrs. M. Keevers
       In the first place, nothing is farther f;om the truth                                   en Meinkinderen.
than to say that the Ch.ristian  Reformed Church has                Oak Lawn, Ill.
wasted its time pointing out to the "erring brethren"
where and in what they were wrong, not even from the
very beginning.
       And in the second place, if that were so, would                                  NOTICE
that not have been the very occasion and opportunity
to search the Scriptures, making extensive study and               The Board of the R. F. P. A. wishes to notify its
shcwing  themselves strong over against the opponent? readers, that they have some more copies of the S. B.
       Therefore, Rev. Zwier's excuse will not do. I would Index, Vol. l-10. Please send your order to: Mr. R.
rather make a few suggestions as to  a possible reason Schaafsma,  521 Henry Ave., S. E. Grand  Rapids,  Mich.
for their not having produced anything at all. First,                                                    T H E   BOARD.


                                  T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                            283
-I__^_^  ..._."                         _....._ _l_l ..---..                       .-.-.._-             -_..
                                                                that the true rest, the eternal sabbath consists. Now
           The Fourth Commandment                               the believers of th Old as well as the believers of the
  Remember the Sabbath  Uuy to keep it  Holy.  . . .            New Dispensation began in this life through their ceas-
                                                                ing in principle  frcm all their evil works and through
    The last statement of the previous article on this their yielding themselves to the Lord, the eternal sab-
subject was to the effect that the sabbath of the Old           bath. It means that the true sabbath was  there from
Testament was a sign of the covenant of  Jehcvah and the beginning-the true rest that Christ entered into
of all its blessings and glory. .It thus at once pointed, with His people. But besides this rest, there was also
this sabbath, to the eternal rest that Christ entered a sabbath that was purely a sign and a prefiguration
with His peopie - the rest "`that remaineth for ,i;he and thus a shadow. No,w  this shadow was no sabbath
people of God."                                                 by itself. To the contrary,  i't formed together with
    That there remains for believers this rest is the           the true rest  as begun by  bdievecs,  the one Jewish
conclusicn  of the argument  <or' the writer of the epistle sabbath.  We cannot separate here, but distinguish
to the Hebrews in the fourth chapter of his epistle.            we must, if we are to expose the fallacy of the view
The writer admonishes his readers to fear, lest, a to the effect that the weekly sabbath together with
promise being left of entering into His rest, any of            the law waxed old and vanished away.
them should seem to come short of it as did those who              What now belonged to that shadow sabbath?  It
had sinned, those with whom the Lord was grieved                tco, had a positive and negative side. The negative
forty years and whose carcasses had fallen in  the side of this (shadow) sab,bath  was that resting frcm all
wilderness. But the brethren to whom this epistle               manual labor, even from such light labor  as con-
was addressed, and whose error was that they clave              sisted in gathering wood, preparing food and kindling
in their hearts to the types and symbols of  M'oses' law a fire in the dwelling.  R,esting also from this light
and who thus understood not that the law having wax- labor was very actually one of the elements of this
ed old and had vanished away, now that it had been sabbath, and thus also a sign of the covenant between
fulfilled by Christ, would be sure to ask whether,              Jehovah and His people Israel. The meaning of this
whereas the rest of the earthy Canaan had been en- is that the people of Israel had to refrain on the week-
tered into, there remained a rest  - a rest other than ly sab,bath  from ail heavy and light labor, not simply
that already entered by the church  - to the people of to free ,their time from all worldly occupations that
Gold. Anticipating their question, the sacred writer there might be to them leisure for concentrating on
affirms that if Joshua had given them, the believers, the things above, but also because this very act of re-
rest, then wouEd He, the Lord God, not afterward have fraining from all work entered into the make-up of
spoken of another day, which he did when, after SC the sign. Hence to engage in even the lightest  kin4 of
long a time, that is, so long a time after the carcasses labor was to destroy the sign. The seriousness of such
of the unbelievers had fallen in the wilderness, he an  offence  becomes apparent if considered that  theI signs
said through the prophet Divid to the Church of this of God are shadows of heavenly realities, so that ~to de-
prophet's day, "Today if ye will hear His voice, harden stroy  thsse signs is to remove from the earth the very
not your hearts," `lest,' such is the implication,  `any of instruments thru which God makes known to His people
you come short of the rest.' What rest? Not the rest what may be known of Him. It need awaken no surprise
of the earthy Canaan. This  carmot  be, for, such is therefore, that the man found gathering sticks upon
the reasoning of the Holy Spirit, He, God, speaketh of the sabbath was ordered by Jehovah to be put to death.
another  {day. Thus it is, must be, a rest  ether than What sin can be greater than that consisting in defac-
that of the earthy Canaan. So there remaineth a rest ing Jehovah's signs. He doing so declares that he is
for the people of God, the rest that Christ merited for opposed to Jehovah being known of men and to His
and also entered with His redeemed, - the eternal being praised by men.
rest of the heavenly Canaan.                                        But there were still other wlorks  that belonged to
     Now  0.f this rest eternal, the sabbath of the old the negative side of this  shad,ow  sabbath. We think
covenant, the rest of the earthy Canaan, was as to its now not merely of the weekly sabbath but of the ag-
symbolical-typical form and manifestation the pre- gregate uf those sabbaths that rendered the land of
figuration, the prophetic type. It must be emphasized Canaan a sabbath land. There was much leisure in
that it was this as to its typical-symbolical form *only Canaan on account of its many sabbaths. As often as
 and thus not as to its essense. By essence is here the sabbatical year was folIoweld by the yelar uf jubilee,
 meant the true religion of the heart, the faith, hope the people of Israel enjoyed a period of rest of two
 and love of the true church of that day, the works of years duration. Now there was no essential difference
 faith consisting in the true believers resting from sin, between the weekly sabbath and the others. The latter
 in their having fellowship with Jehovah and in their were but an expansion of the former. hsrael's  sabbaths
 blessing His Name, in a word, in their participating can truly be said to form one indivisible whole. Thus
 in the covenant life of their covenant God. It is herein in ascertaining what  beIonged to the negative and also


r
     284                                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
     ___..- "-."--" ^..... ^ _ .._-............" _..." ".     -_-_l___--._ -._..  ~ -...... -".                                     _.---..""
     the positive side of this shadow rest, regard must be things to come. . . ." Thus all these typical sabbaths
     had to the one rest of the earthy Canaan. To the nega- of the Old Covenant belonged to the things that waxed
     tive side of this rest belonged something  mlore  than a old and vanished away.                                      What therefore vanished
     cessation of all worldly occupation ; to it belonged also away is Israel's symbolical-typical sabbath  (sab,baths)
     the cessation of a work that consisted in Israel's jour- as to its negative and positive side. What vanished
     neying from Egypt to Canaan and in its warring the is Israel's entire ,symboiical-typical  service and ail its
     warfare of Jehovah under the leadership first of Joshua typical institutions. But what abided is the true sab-
     and finally under King David, "who God caused to rest bath as already begun by the true church of the Old
     from all His enemies." The positive side of this rest Covenant, - the true sabbath that consisted in the
     consisted in the performance of that elaborate sym-                                     true church ceasing from sin and in its yielding itself
     b,olical-typical  service, required by the law, - a service to God to work His works. We will have ocassion to
     of which a sketch was given in the article preceding. return to these scriptures in the sequence.
            This, then, was properly the symbolical-typical rest                                   But now the question once more whether the weekly
     of Canaan. What this rest symbolized was the eternal sabbath, this resting on one of seven days also belonged
     rest of Christ as  begun  by the  5rue church of the Old to the things that waxed old and vanished away. l'he
     Covenant; what it typified is this same eternal rest in conclusive proof that such is not the case i,s the cir-
     all its fulness, and as it will once be enjoyed by the cumstance that it is net Israel's ceremonial law but
     redeemed church on the new earth. The rest of Ca- the law of the ten commandments that places  i;he
     naan is thus the glass through which one ,behol,ds  all church of both the Old and New Testament under the
     the features of the rest eternal. Thus this rest (eter- necessity of remembering the sabbath day and the cir-
     nal), too, is a cessation not merely from worldly oc- cumstance further that the reason assigned for this
     cupations but from all that is earthy and from all is the doing of the Lord consisting in His making hea-
     that is sinful, and on its positive side a serving God ven and earth in six days, in His resting the seventh
     in perfection, a dwelling in his house continually to day and His blessing and hallowing this day. The in-
     behold Hs beauty, to inquire in His temple, to behold stitution thus appointed at creation was meant to be a
     His face in righteousness and to be satisfied by His law in all time. It was an example addressed to Adam
     likeness. But this rest is now hidden with Christ in and through him to all  his posterity. The arrange-
     God. It must still appear with Christ in glory. When ment applies to all mankind as truly as does the insti-
     it will have appeared, the journey through this wilder- tution of Marriage. In a ward, the weekly sabbath,
     ness of woe will have been made and the good fight this cessation from all worldly occupation on one of
     will have been fought.                                                                  seven days is, as well as marriage, an ordinance ,of crea-
            There is then a rest that remaineth for the people tion. La.ter on, when the law entered in, the sabbath
     of God.                                                                                 received a typical dress, so to speak, but not only the
           Is the Church of this New  Dispensaticn  still under sabbath but also marriage. But Christ, through His
     the necessity of observing the weekly sabbath? There fulfilling all righteousness,  `did not certainly nullify
     is a view according to which the church is no lsonger these ordinances, but freed them of their typical dress.
     under this necessity And the following, Scriptures are This does not mean that He revived the sabbath of
     appealed to. "One man esteemeth one day above an- creation, but simply that He made the ordinance of
     other. Another esteemeth every day alike. Let every the sabbath serve the ends of His kingdom.
     man be fully persuaded in his own mind". Rom.  14:5.                                          Further, it is not questionsd that the Jews were
     "But now, after that ye have known God, or rather                                       under the law of the Decalogue. It only remains then
     are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and to inquire whether we have evidence that the obliga-
     beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in tions aof the ten commandments d.escends  to the New
     bondage?               Y.e observe days and months, and times Testament Church. In more than one respect it is
     and years. . .  ." Gal. 4:9, 10 "Let no man there- true that believers are  d*elivered from the law given to
     fore judge you in meat or in drink, or in respect of a                                  Israel. They are freed or rather exempted from any
     holi:day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days;                                   obligation to observe the Levitical ceremonies. And
     which are a shadow of things to come ; but the body                                     there is a sense in which they are delivered from the
     is of Christ".  Cd.  2:16,  17.                                                         Deealogue  itself, but delivered in a manner that binds
            The question is what is to be understood by days, them the more strongly to its requirements. The law
     months,  ,times and years? And the answer: Israel's of the ten commandments, proclaim.ed  from Sinai, was,
     typical sabbaths. In respect of these, that is, "in re- as it had been since the fall of man, a law of condem-
     spect of a holiday, or eof a new moon, or of the sab- nation and curse as well as a law of liberty. It is so
     bath days, let no man judge you", `if you have re- under the dispensation of the gospel. No one was more
     frained from observing them, for in not observing stern in preaching the terrors of the law than Christ
     them, you do well (such is the reasoning of the apostle Himself. And what was the purpose of this all?  It
     Paul here), for these sabbath days' "are a shadow of was that sinful men might be delivered from the  con-


                                    T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                         285
                         -..--7                                               .--...-_.  -.--..
demnation and curse of the law, and brought to obey rest of a year and even of two years duration. But
its precepts, the very precepts, for the transgression consider that only as residents of Canaan and thus not
of which they were condemned, but which are still as residents of the wilderness did the  people of Israel
their rule, as unbending as ever, yet rendered practic- enter into the rest of these sabbaths. Thus the con-
able and attractive by Christ's atonement, love and ception according to which the Church in this present
grace. "We are delivered from the law, that being life need not in a particular sense hallow one of seven
dead wherein we are held, that we should serve in             days in that now each day is to it a sabbath day ,-
newness of spirit, and nut in the oldness of the let- this conception Es now seen to be thoroughly fallacious.
ter."                                                            In the essential sense it was just said, every day is
   To what absurd and frightful conclusion would we a sabbath day to believers as all the days of their life
be driven, were it true that as a result of Christ%  hav- they rest from their evil works and war the warfare
ing fulfilled all righteousness, the law of the ten com- of God. But for this very reason they have need of
mandments ceased to be binding for New Testament the weekly sabbath day, - the day on which the Lord
believers? To the conclusion that believers may' now prepares for His pilgrim-warriors a table in `the pre-
serve  ether  Gods, prostrate themselves before the           sence of their enemies and anoints their heads with
graven image,  t.ake  the name of the Lord in vain,           oil. There in His sanctuary He causes them to lie
dishonor father and mothter,  steal and kill and bear down in green pastures, leads them beside still waters
false witness. Once more, then, are these commands and restores their soul with the bread  <of life and the
,still binding? Some will say, assuredly, yes, all but living water, and they tasting that He is good, bless
the fourth. But we ask, why not the fourth as well            His name and cry out his praises. There in His sanc-
as the others?    But some may say, Isn't it true that tuary. I3e blesses them, forgives them, testifies with
New Testament believers rest all the days of their l,ife their spirits that they are His sons, multiplies unto
from their evil works and if so, should they then them His grace and mercy and peace, and they have
esteem the one day  - the first day of the week - fellowship with Him  ,through  Christ. What would the
above the others ? Let me reply to this. The Old Church militant  dto without the weekly sabbath ! How
Testament believers, tco, ceased in principle from their their spiritual life would suffer,  shoultd  there be to
evil  w,orks  all the days of their life. But did their them no opportunity for repairing on one of seven days
doing so, free them from the command to remember to the house of God to inquire in His sanctuary. On
the weakly sabbath?  Jt  did not. Further, the true the other days the believers war the warfare of God,
believers cease from all their evil works, to work it is true. Consider, however, that they war this war-
every day of their life the work of the Lord. To those fare only in principle. How `the souls of these war-
who on the six days of the week works the works of riors still cleave to the dust. H,ow engrossed they can
Satan, the sanctuary of God is closed on the sabbath. become in the things of this life. How they can be
Such, though they join on the sabbath the worship- trusting in these things and be seeking them. What
ping assembly, have no fellowship with God through would therefore become of God's people, should not the
Christ. There remaineth a rest only for the people Lord at regular intervals call them away from these
of God, not for the others.                                   things, draw them by His l,ove out of the world in'to
    What now are those works .of the Lord that the            the light of His sanctuary and to Himself. God's
people of God work in this life? As the friend-ser-           people are not in the wed of the weekly sabbath? The
vants of God, they war the warfare of Jehovah, fight          foolishness of this contention!
the good fight of faith. This they do through their con-
fessing His name and their witnessing for the truth              But was not the weekly sabbath of the neonle  of
in the midst of this  worl,d.  Doing so, they condemn         Israel among those sabbaths "which are a shad,ow of
the world that lieth in sin and thus bring themselves things to come"? It was. Did not then also this sab-
forward as the servants of God, as lovers and cham- bath as well as the others vanish away? It did, cer-
pions of His cause. Such then are the engagements of tainly. The New Testament weekly sabbath  is  not
the church on earth, the engagements of the believer-s a prolongation of Israel's symbolical-typical weekly sab-
in this present life.    It means that the Church  rn         bath day, but the projection of the eternal rest into
earth is the Church militant. It rests not in this pre- our time. Into this rest Christ brings all His people
sent life except from its evil works. Not until the even in this present life. He does so by making them
journey throu.gh  this wilderness of sin and death will kings and priests unto their God. The eternal dav
have been made, not until the warfare of God will             therefore dawns in their lives, and they no longer toil
have been fought, not until  all the believers will have under the weight of `their sins. Thus thev  have peace.
anpe'ared  with God in glory, can it be said of the           And they walk in the light of Jehovah's countenance
Church that it has fully entered into the rest eternal. and go forth from strength unto strength.
that every day is to it a rest day. Attention was  callead       But do,es not the New Testament Church in observ-
to the fact that the law of Moses called for periods of ing its weekly sabbath do the very thing that the

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

apos,tle discouraged when he said, "One man esteem&h            God and His covenant. But what is to be understood
one day above another: another esteemeth every day              is that idleness is no worship. Christ has delivered
alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his mind"            His people from the law. But standing in their liberty,
and the very thing that the apostle forbade when he             they shall understand that their freedom is no license
wrote, "How turn ye to the weak and beggarly ele-               fcr careless and loose living, no license for sin.
ments, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?                 In the Old Testament Dispensation, the church kept
Ye observe  .days and months and times and years."              holy the last day of the week. This was in agreement
       Attention has already been directed to the:e  pas- with the fact that then Christ was still to bring thz
sages. These scriptures will .not perplex if only it be         true sacrifice - the sacrifice of self - and to enter
borne in mind that what is here forbidden is that               His rest. Hence the law of the kingdom was then, "Do
New Testament believers turn again to the shadows and thou shalt live".                   But as a result of Christ's
of the law, and that thus the sabbaths `that these  re-         having fulfilled all righteousness, this order was re-
b,ukes  concern are the typical rest-periods of the law versed, so that the law of the kingdom now is, "Live,
to which also belonged, as was said, Israel's weekly            enter His rest, and do". The Holy Spirit therefore
sabbath-day. What is here forbidden is that  them               directed that the sabbath be made to precede the six
days be esteemed above others, as to do so is again cdays that man shall do all his work, thus directed that
to turn to the beggarly elements from which Christ I.+          the day to be kept holy be the first day of the week,
livEred  His people. But does it now follow from this the day on which Christ was risen to the justification
that New Testament believers may not esteem their of His  peop1e.
weekly sabbath? Assuredly not.          But this sabbath           Now if this change was made under the direction
must be esteemed for what it is. And what is this of the Holy Spirit, it must be th&t it has the sanction
sabbath? Not a  sign of the covenant, not a  `CyrE or cf Scripture. And so it has. The scriptures ito which
prefigurati'on  of the eternal rest of Christ as were the attention shall now be directed, prove two things: that
sabbaths  of  the Old Testament Dispensation, not a the apostolic church kept a weekly sabbath and that
prolongation  of Israel's typical sabbaths or a  reviva1        the day kept was the first day of the  w,eek.  .
of the sabbath of creation, but simply a day on which              Let us now present the scriptural evidence for a
the people of God rest from their earthy occupaticns            change of the sabbath from the seventh to the first day
to enter the courts of their redeemer-God with joy to `of the week. In the first epistle to the Corinthians it
inquire in His temple. By itself, however, this day is is thus written: "Now concerning the collection of the
not to be esteemed above the others, it being no sign saints, as I have given order to the Churches of Galatia,
and  n*o type as were Israel's sabbaths.        If it were, even so do you. Upon the first day of the week let
if  onr sabbath, tco, ought. by itself to be esteemed abo-je    every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath pros-
other days, we, New Testament believers, would have pered him, that there be no gatherings when I come"
to refrain on the sabbath even from such light labor            (I Cor. 16 :l. The first day of the week is never before
as preparing food and kindling a fire in our  dwzll-            mentioned but as the day o-f the Redeemer's resurrec-
ings.                                                           tion, and of religious (assemblies and business. These
       But let there be no misunderstanding on this scure.      are its only distinctions - the only marks by which
True it is that New Testament believers, too, must it is discriminated from the other  days of the week,
rest from their worldly  cccupation  on this day. But and by which we are to know its character. We are
they  <do so that th.ere may be to them much leiaure fully warranted by this history, therefore to regard
time for worship. And certain it is that the nearer it as a sacred day. And here we are made acquainted
believers are brought to heaven, the less occupied they with the important fact that it was well known in this
will be ,on the sabbath with their own business and its  onIy character by the Corinthian and Galatian
pleasure, amusements and vanities, and the more occu- churches, if not also by all "that in every place call
pied they will be with the things of God, not  dcing            upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs
their own ways, nor finding their own pleasure, nor and *ours," to whom with the Christians at Corinth,
speaking their own words. But what is to be under- the epistle is addressed. The writer takes it for grant-
.stood  is that now this cessation from labor is solely e,d that all Christians observed it as a holy day.
a means to an end and thus has no significance in The prescription  of  benevolent contributions to be
itself. In the Old Testament Dispensation it was dif- made on it - not once or twice, but constantly - is
ferent. Then this negative resting  was a sign and only in harmony with its nature. The seasons of wor-
thus had meaning by itself. Yet from this it does ship were anciently sanctified by such gifts and offer-
not follow that being occupied with every-day work ings (Deut. 16 :lO). Our Lord asserted the doing of
on the sabbath is not as serious an offence  today as it good as an appropriate duty of the sabbath-day. The
was in the Old Testament dispensation.          How shall frequent periodical return of such a day tends to pro-
one worship if there be to him no leisure time? The mote benefici,ence,  and to impart principle and regu-
man who does his own ways on the sabbath reviles larity to its exercise,


                                                                             T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                     237
                           -___-.............- ......................._-.                                 ---.--  -____._I__ .............-
   The expression "Lord's Day", in Revelation  1 :lO,
is justly regarded as a decisive testimony to the Chris-                                                      Those Single-Track Minds
tian Sabbath. "I was in the spirit," said the Apostle
John, "on the Lord's day." This latter expression                                                  "Keeping our Balance" is the caption of an article
corresponds with the phraseology of the Old Testament, appearing in The b?mner  for Feb. 24. The writing is
"A sabbath to the Lord", "The sabbath of the Lord from the pen of the Editor in Chief, the Rev. H. J.
thy God," and still more with the Saviour's language,                                           Kuiper. The reverend sets out with telling his readers
"The Scn of man is Lord even of the Sabbath day."                                               that he is at present reading a most interesting and in-
The designation of "Lord" i'n the New Testament is structive brochure on Common Grace, written by Prof.
usually to be understood of Jesus Christ. We read of V.  Hepp of the Free University of Amsterdam. After
the word of Christ, the ministers of Christ, the Lord's commenting briefly on this production of Hepp, the
table, the ,cup of the Lord, the body and blocld  of the                                        reverend goes on to say, "One may wonder how it
Lord, the Lord's supper, the Lord's death, and so we                                            happens that fault is found with this doctrine (of eum-
read of the Lord's day. He has appropriated a day mon grace) among the Reformed people in the Nether-
unto himself; but as his word, his ministers, his table,                                        lands as well as among us. We believe the answer is
his death, are for the benefit of his  * people,  t3 be                                         twofold. First, it is human to engage in single-track
applied, however, in securing that end, according to thinking.                                                  How easily one is tempted  .to  `s&e' the
`his prescription  - so it is with His day. Which day many apparent paradoxes of Scripture by denying one
of the week that is cannot be reasonably questioned. of the two seemingly conflicting lines cf thought. For
The apostle refers to it as well known to the churches                                          example, to maintain the unity of the Three Divine
cf Asia. He knew that the first day of the week was                                             Persons at the expense of the Trinity. To sacrifice
the day of the resurrection and of the visits of his                                            one of the two natures of Christ in order to avoid hav-
Lorrd  - the day held as sacred by the churches of ing  difIicu%y with the unity of his personality:  t; deny
Troas, Corinth, and Galatia - and by the simple men- the sovereignty of God for the sake of not appearing
tion of its name as the Lord's he, or rather the illogical by maintaining man's responsibility, or vice
Spirit of God, has authorized us to conclude that "the versa. To stress God's wrath against the sinner and ig-
first  *day of  ,the week" and the "Lord's day" are  ex-                                        nore His love for those same sinners: or to maintain
pressions which denote the same day. His testimony, the antithesis and therefore deny common grace, or _
moreover,  proves that the day was not only  hcnored                                            to do just the reverse. There are those who believe
by the Christian churches and by himself, after the that it is impossible to harmonize the two doctrines
lapse cf nearly a century from the time of the Re- last mentioned, and therefore close their eyes to the
deemer's advent, but honored under the name and fact that both lines run through Scripture and are
sanction of the Lord Jesus Christ.                                                              clearly discernible." So far the reverend.
   The  .first  day of the week came to be thus re-                                                Let me comment on this. According to the reverend,
ceived and observed as the weekly holy day by divine the explanation of our denying common grace is our
authority.                                                                                      yielding to the human trait of engaging in single-track
   One more matter. Does not the church in resting t,hinking.  Mark the expression "single-track thinking".
on the first instead of on the last day of the week,                                            The reverend here resorts to a kind of pictorial lan-
transgress the fourth commandment. Such is the con- guage in which the idea, truth (or lie) is seen as a
tention of the adventist. Let us consider however that track to the mind in which the mind in its processes
this change was made by the direction of the Holy moves. Now according to the reverend it is right for
Spirit. Now Christ has a right to modify His own                                                the mind to move in its thinking in two tracks or paths.
commands respecting the sabbath, He being its Lord.                                             But, says he, it is so human for the mind to think
The above accusation therefore is without force.                                                in one track. This accounts fnr it, according to the
(To be continued)                                                                  G. M. 0.     reverend, that some deny common grace. They are
                                                                                                so human. Being human, their thinking is in one
                                                                                                track.
                                                                                                   So  then, we are at least human, and even supremely
                              NOTICE                                                            so. This is something! But are we now driven to the
   Will  memb,ers who are and have been in arrears fol                                          conclusion that the exponents of common grace are
some time with subscription dues, kindly take care of inhuman (according to the reverend, they are a people
same in the near future or notify the treasurer of characterized by double-track thinking) ? This, of
their inability to pay at this time.                                                            course, the brethren deny. So they too, have their
   Teeken in cp de (Vaandeldrager) Standard Bearer ".Telrkkige  (or ongelukkige, which is it?)  inconse-
A.bonements  prijs $2.00 per jaar. Te verkrijgen bij                                            qcenties. Let the Rev. Zwier take notice!
R. Schaafsma, 524 Henry Ave., S. E., Grand Rap:ds.                                                 Further.          The conception of the reverend is that
Mich.                                                                           THE BOARD.
                     .-                                                                         such paradoxical truths as the unity of the Three  Per-


288
__I  -_-.- --                           T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
                              ~-I__.                  _.                 "_                                           -_
sons and the Trinity, .the two natures of Christ and and thus progressing in a single direction, of two
the uni,ty  of His personality, the sovereignty of God tracks? No need whatever.
and Man's responsibility, are to be conceived of as               That double mind or heart is again something to
forming two disparate tracks or paths, so that the mind        be afraid of. Let me quote James on this subject. "A
delineating on these truths thinks in two tracks. Where- double-minded man is unstable in all his ways". And
as now they who deny common grace, hold fast to all then the verse preceding, "For let not that man think
these truths (and the r.everend well knows this) and           that he  shall receive anything of the Lord." James
thus from the reverend's own point of view en-                 13,  8
gage in much double-track thinking, how could he,                 The Rev. H. J. Kuiper prides himself on being a
as being aware of this, pen  down  statements designed man equipped with a mind capable of double-track
to drive the reader to conclude that the reason some           thinking. He is welcome to his mind. But let him
deny common grace is that they are equipped with consider that the kind of a mind he glories in i,s some-
single-track minds. If from Kuiper's point of view thing to be afraid of. I advise him (and his colleagues)
these minds do much double-track thinking and en- to rid himself of such a mind. There are lines of
gage in single-track thinking in respect to com- thought in Scripture; to be sure, but these lines run
mon grace  ,only, it certainly will not do to ascribe          parallel and touch or rather merge at every  point..
their d,enial of common grace to a tendency to think in        The truth is one and farms but one path to the Throne.
one track. There must be another reason. The                   Christ says not, I am the ways, but He  says, I am
reverend certainly understands this. Will the reverend the way (singular) the truth and (therefore) the Life.
never come to it, to deal honestly with those who re- The truth therefore calls for one Find. only, one heart,
ject common grace?         Is- he inherently incapable of not for two.
this?                                                                                                                       G. M: 0.
       The minds of those who deny common grace en-
gage in :double-track  thinking not actually, of course,
but cnly from the point of view of the reverend's con-                              1913 - Vijf en Tivintig  jaren - I.938
cepticn (double-track thinking is forbidden, as will
be made plain presently). But the reverend Kuiper's                Zoo de Heere wil,  hopen
mind is in the need of a double track, two paths.                                     MR. en MRS EVERT HENKEN
       And we are wondering just why. Or let me put den  ll.den  Maart   bun 25 jarige  echt vereeniging te gedenken.
the question in general. Why should any mind be in
the need of two tracks? Because the load that it must              Dat  tij  nag   lang voor elkander en ons  gespaard   mogen
bear is so great that one track or road would not bear         blijven,  is de wensch  van hunne kinderen.
up under the crushing weight thereof? There is no                                                         Mr. en Mrs. Arthur  Henken
danger if ,only that road be the solid rock of the truth.                                                             Lynden, Wash.
Can it be that the mind may become so broad that one                                                      Caroline
track or path or road will no longer do? Broad minds                                                      Josie
and broad roads go together. But such a mind and                                                          James
road are things to be afraid of. I read in Scripture                                                      Evelyn
this. "Enter ye in at the straight gate: for wide is                                                      Marion
,the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruc-                                                   Arlene
tion, and many there be that go in thereat: because                                                       en een kleinzoon.
straight is the gate, and narrow is the way, which                 Sumas,  Washington.
leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it."
       In Col.  8:22,  one comes upon this admonition,  "In
singleness of heart, fearing God." Now what need has                                              NOTICE
the heart or mind, characterized by this singleness, of                        D
two tracks or roads? No need, whatever. It is the man              The Beard of the R. F. P. A. comes with a request
with a double heart, that is, with two hearts or minds         to the different Societies to remember them with a
that is in the need of two tracks and this for the rea-        financial gift, if possible.
,wn that the one heart speeds along in a direction oppo-                                                              THE BOARD.
.site  to that in which the other heart progresses. And
the cause of this latter phenomenon is that the man's                                             NOTICE
mind or heart is freighted with two philosophies of                Don't forget the date, March 24, for the meeting
life, philosophies between which there is not a seem- of the various committees appointed to make arrange-
ing or apparent but an actual conflict. But what actual ments for the Annual Field Day.
need now has a mind or heart minding the same things                                                                  THE  BOARD,


