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                                                               join, to fasten. It is also used intransitively so that
                  The Love Of God                              it means to adhere, to stick tolgether. With respect to
                                                               love, therefore, it emphasizes the idea of a bond of
       It would, no doubt, be difficult to find a  subj,ect    fellowship. It also expresses the idea of delight. The
more biblical than that which is the topic of this essay:      latter idea as an element in love is related to the first
t/z@ love  of God. Nor would it be easy to speak on a sub- probably as the cause to the effect. One delights in
ject more sublime and profound, more worthy of our another and the result is that he longs for the olbject
consideration. By it we are, according to Scripture, of his delight, seeks it, and having found it he cleaves
directly led to the contemplation of the very Being of to it. According to this word, then, love is that bond
God, folr God is love, I John 4:8; and especially of love of fellowship between two parties that have delight
it may be said with unique emphasis, that of Him and           in each-other. Thus it is used in  Deut.   7:7 of the
through Him and to Him are all things, to Him be               love of God: The Lord did not set His love upon you
glory forever, amen ! For, herein is love, not that we         (i.e. delight in you, seek you and cleave to you) nor
love Him, but that He loved us, I John  4:lO. That choose you, because ye were more in number than
is, such is the very nature of all love, that it has its       any people ; for ye were the fewest of ail people. And
source in God and operates out of Him as its Fountain also in Ps. 91:14 the same word is used : Betiuse he
toward and through us. For, love is of God, that is,. hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him.
it is out of IIim as its source, I John 437. For  that         The second word employed in the Old Testament to
same reason al,1 the course of history finds its chief olb- express the idea of  lo,ve rather denotes the living action
ject,  its center, its consummation in an event which is of love than the essence of it as a bond of fenjowship.
a manifestation of love. For, in this was manifested           It has the root-meaning : to breathe after, and thus :
the love of God toward us, that God sent His only              to long for and strongly to desire. It is the word that
begotten Son into the world, that we might live through is used in Deut. 6 :4: And thou shalt love the Lord
Him, I John  4:9. Far, God so loved, the world, that thy God (i.e. long for, strongly desire Him) with all
He sent His only begotten Son, that whosoever  bet             thy heart and with all thy mind, and with all thy soul
lieveth on Him should not perish but have everlasting and with all thy strength. God, as the Highest good.
life, John 3  :16. And because love is  so sublime, so         therefore, must be the chief and only  obj.ect of  o,ur
uniquely divine, love in us is also the surest evidence desire. It is the language of love, when .Asaph sings
that we are of God. He that hateth is in darkness,             in Ps. 73:25: Whom have I in heaven but thee? and
but he that 1oveth his brother is in the light, I John there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. And
2 :9-11. And every one that loveth is born of God.             again it is the profoundest expression of love when
Love is, therefore, the greatest, more sublime even than David sings in Ps. 42 :12, As the hart panteth after the
faith and hope, and all the gift of prophecy, all  polwer      waterbrooks, so panteth my soul lfter thee, 0 God.
and knowledge  is not for a moment comparable to My soul thirsteth for God,, for the living God ; .when
love !                                                         shall I come and appear before God? The word is
       Our subject then, may be considered of pre-eminent      used also to express the love of God for His peoiple,
significance. A discussion of what is by far  t.he great- as in Deut. 4:37 : And because He loved thy fathers,
est in the life  of! the Christian ought to be of interest     therefore, he chose their seed after them, and brought
to us, not only, but also must be of practical value for thee out in his sight, with His mighty  pvwer out of
our spiritual life. What is that' love of Gold of whch         Egypt. And in Isa. 63 :9; IIn His love and in His pity
Scripture speaks so frequently and sublimely? What             He redeemed them; and He bare them and carried
does it mean, that God is love and that love is al-            them all the days of old. If we combine the various
ways and only out of Him? How is that love of elements expressed by these terms we may say, that
God manifested and who are its objects and partici-            love is a spiritual bond of  fehowship,  in which two
pants? And this is emphasized by the fact, that  0.f or moire  parties adhere to one another, a bond which
this greatest of  Isubjects there is also the saddest mis-     is the result of the delight these! parties h&ve in one
understanding.       The love of God is very generally another, which causes them to desire and to seek one
spoken of, but as little understood as the term  is another.
generally used. Let us, therefore, turn to the Word               In the New Testament there also occur two words,
of God in  ,order  by it to be instructed in the truth of which only one neleds to be considered here, for it
concerning the love of God.                                    only is used for the love of God. The other word
       When we turn to the Word of God for instruction expresses a tender  aftection,  a fondness, which is
with respect to the meaning of the word love, we dis- rather emotional than  vohtional.  It is much weaker
cover first of all, that in the Old Testament there are than the regular word for love. It is well-known how
especially two words used to express the idea of love, both words are characteristically employed in John
though with different  (shades of meaning. The first 22 :15-17, which narrates the restoration of Peter after
wvrd we have in mind has the  rooi meaning of to he had denied the Lord. The Lord inquires of his


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sorrowful disciple, whether he loves Him, twice using now and in our English language for animals and
the stronger word, that expresses love proper, the last things, though the word is used properly when applied
time employing the weaker word that denotes a tender to ethical and spiritual virtues. It is true, that the
ai-lection.  The apostle, however, dares not use the word is employed in Scripture as referring to  then very
stronger word, conscious as he is of his recent mani- opposite of  ethical  perfection, as when it is said, that
festation of self-confidence and miserable weakness. men love darkness rather than light, Jolhn 3:19; and
If I may translate the weaker word by "to feel for", that they loved the  gIory of men more than the glory
althou.gh this is by no means the exact rendering, we of God, John 12 :43; but this merely emphasizes the
obtain the following result:                                 very perversion obf love in the natural man, even as it
   "So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon is not love but adultery, when a husband is unfaithful
Peter, Simon, sun of Jonas,  lovest  thou me more  than      to his wedded wife and is said to love another woman.
these? Yea,, Lord, thou knowest that I feel for thee. Love is the bond of perfectness, that unites the ethical-
   "He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son ly perfect as such. For that reason it implies a choice
of Jonas, lovest  thou me?         Yea, Lord, thou know&,    of the will and is the very antithesis of hatred. A man
that I feel for thee.                                        cannot serve two masters, or he will love the one and
   "He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of hate the other, Matt. 6 :24; God has loved Jacob but
Jonas, dost thou feel for me? Lord, thou knowest all         Esau bath He hated, R,om. 9 :13. Love is also the ful-
things, thou knowest that I feel for thee!"                  fillment of the law, Rom. 13 :lO; and the love of God is
   However, apart from the fact that this passage the first and great commandment, while the love  elf the
clearly brings out that the one word, that is constantly neighbour is like unto it. For this same reason the
used for the love of God in Scripture is stronger than Lord establishes as an unchangeable truth, that he
the other, it does not teach us anything concerning the that loves Him does keep His commandments, while
proper meaning of the word itself. We shall, therefore, he that loveth Him not will not keep His sayings. John
have to consult sundry passages of Hdy Writ, in order 14:23,  24. And the ethically perfect character of love
to ascertain the true denotation of the term and the         constitutes the basic note in that well-known eulogy
contents of the concept  Z0u.e.                              of love which we find in I Cor. 13. Love rejoiceth not
   First of all I would like to call attention to the        in iniquity, but it rej'oiceth  in the truth, I Cor. 13 :6.
passage in Col. 3 :14 : Above all put on love (charity          If we bear this thoroughly ethical character of love
in our version is old), which is the bond od perfectness. in mind, we are not surprised to read in Scripture that
It would probably be over emphasizing the real value God is love, I Joihn 4 :8 ; and that love is always of God,
of this text if we  shoukl say that here we have a bibli- that is, wherever you may find true love, even among
cal definition of love, yet it approaches the nature of men, it is out of God and has its source in Him, I John
a definition very nearly. Love is the bond of perfect- 4:7; and that God is the God of love, II Cor. 13 :ll.
ness. By "bond of perfectness" I understand a bond For, He is pure perfection. His very Being is the
or union th,t is characterized by perfection in the moral    bond of perfectness. He is a light and there is no
ethical  sense of the word ethical goodness, such as darkness in Him at all. He is righteousness, He is
truth, righteousness, holiness, justice, faithfulness and truth, He is knowledge and wisdom, He is purity and
the like. Love, then, is a bond, that can exist and be       Hohness; He is Goodness, the highest Good and the
maintained only in the sphere of ethical or moral per- overflowing Fountain of all good. Hence, God loves
fection. There is no love in darkness. And they that         in Himself, and He loves Himself. All the love and
love darkness do not love one another in the positive        delight of His perfect nature is directed to His own
sense  of the word. If love, as we gathered is the infinite perfections. Also in this respect God is per-
union or bond that is caused by the delight of one           fectly  self-sufhcient.  He has no need of men's hands
party in the other, by the longing of the one for the        to be served; He needs not man's heart to be loved, He
other, by the seeking of the other by him that loves,        is in no need of any creature outside of Himself in
then we now learn that the reason and object of this order to  Iove. For, God is triune, one in Being and
delight is ethical perfection. He that loves in the true three in persons. He knows Himself as Father through
sense of the word, delights in perfection, in moral the'Son and in the  Spi:rit.  Constantly, eternally He
goodness, in truth and righteousness, in the light. beholds His own perfections and delights in them, and
Bence,  love requires a  perfec,t  subject and a perfect the three persons of the Holy Trinity are united in the
object. Both he that loves and he that is loved must         bond of divinely, infinitely perfect love. Hence, we
be perfect. Since love is the bond of perfectness, it is read that the Father loves the Son, John 3 :35 ; There-
the bond that only unites perfect parties only. Love, fore ,doth my Father love Me, John 10 :17 ; and He
therefore, is an ethical virtue. It is an attribute and would have the world know that He loves the Father,
act  ,of the will. It requires a person to  ,love.  And it John 14 :31.
requires a person, or an ethical quality to be the ob:           We may, then, on the basis of Scripture mention
ject of love. Hence, we must not use the word, even the following elements as essential to love. In the first


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               -             -__-._
place, it is a bond of fellowship, that unites, draws through our hearts to Him. I John  4:lO. He reminds
and fastens. In the second place, it is ethical in nature us that God so loved us that He sent His Son to be
and therefore, requires an ethical subject and an ethi- a propitiation for our sins. I John 4:10,  11. It is evi-
cal object. Thirdly, love requires an ethically per- dent, then, that God does not only love Himself, but
fect subject and an ethically perfect object; both he that He extended the sphere of His love outside of His
that loves and he that is loved must be perfect. If in own Being and Triune life so as to include also men.
Scripture we are admonished to love our enemies,                But there is more. Not only do the Scriptures
them that persecute us, the meaning is not that speak of this love of God to us, they also emphatically
we are expected to have fellowship with them. The speak of the love of men to God. Love may be onesided,
bond of perfectness in such a case cannot exist. The         purely divine in nature and origin and manner of oper-
meaning, therefore, is, that we shall bestow acts of         ation, the effect of this operation and manifestation
love on them, such acts as would tend to draw them of the love of God is surely, that we also love God, so
into the sphere of perfection. We shall bless them and that there is ,a bond of fellowship between Him and
pray for them. And finally, love as an act of the per- His people. For, indeed, He loved us first and all love
fect subject towards the perfect object is delight in is out of Him, but we also love Him because He loved
perfection, and therefore, the longing for and the us first, I John 4:19. In fact, that we love God is the
seeking of the object, in order to cling to him when         heart of the law, that we love Him with all our heart
found.                                                       and mind and soul and strength is the first and great
   And now we may offer the following definition of oommandment.  This love obf God, both as it is mani-
love. Love is that spiritual bond of perfect  fello,wship    fested as God's love to us and as it is our response to
that subsists between persons that are ethically perfect the love of God, is a ,love of God in Christ. For that
and dwell in the light, and that, because of their per- reason the Word of God teaches us to shout with vic-
fection mutually delight in one ancther,  long for one torious joy, tshat nothing can separate us from the love
another, seek one another and cling to one another.          of Christ,  flom. 8  ~35 ; but immediately after reminds
   As such God is love, the God of love, and all love is us that this love of Christ is the same as the love of
of God. In Him love is absolute and self-sufficient. He God, when the same chapter of the epistle  tot the  Ro-
is its subj,ect,  the One that loves with an infinitely per- mans concludes that no power in heaven or on earth
fect love, from eternity to eternity. And He is its shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which
object,  the One that is loved.        God, being the impli- is in Christ Jesus our Lord, Rom.  8:39. And con-
cation of all ethical perfection, has an infinitely perfect cerning our love to God, the Lord tehs His disciples!:
delight in Himself, seeks Himself and et.ernally  finds If ye love Me, keep my commandments, John 14 :15.
Himself, has fellowship with Himself, lives the life And again : If a man love Me he will keep my words ;
of perfect Iove, of the Father, through the Son, and         and the reason is, that the word which He speaks is
in the Holly Spirit!                                         .not His own, but the Father's which sent Him, John
       But, although God i,s not in need of any creature     14~23,  24.
to have an object of love, nor to be the object of love,        And, lastly, Scripture speaks not only of God's love
yet, the Word of God does not only sneak of this ab- to us and 04 our love to God, but it also teaches us that
solute love of  Go,d  to Himself, but also of a love which by the power of this love of God in our hearts, we also
He has to us. For, the Scriptures speak of "the be- love one another. He that loveth God boveth his brother
loved according toi the election", Rom. 11:28.  It teaches also, I John 4 :21; and again: A new commandment
us to rejoice that hope maketh not ashamed, because I give unto you, that ye ilove une another, John 13 :34.
the love of God hath been shed abroad in our hearts,         For, he that loveth his brother dwelleth in the light,
something which undoubtedly means that we have been I John 2:lO. And in this the children of God and the
made to possess and experience the love of God to us.        children of the devil are distinctly manifest, that the
Rom.  5:5. The apostle John frequently speaks of this child of God loves his brother, and he  tahat loveth not
love, particularly in his first general epistle. He calls his brother is not of God, for this is the message  t&t
upon us to admire the wonder of that amazing love ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one
when he writes: Behold, what manner of love the another. By this we even know that we have passed
Father hath  bestolwed upon us, that we should be called from death into life that we love(the  brethren, for he
the sons of God. I John  3:l. He  points to the real that loveth not his brother abideth in death, I John
nature of love, when he explains: Herein is love, not 3:10, 11, 14. Every one, then, that loveth is born 09
that we love God, but that He loved us; meaning that         God, I John 4 :7. If a man should say that he love God
such is the very character and operation of love, that and hate his brother, he is a liar, for-this is the com-
it proceeds from God alone, not from us to Him, neither mandment which we have from the beginning, that he
mutually from Him to us and from us to Him, but that loveth God love his brother also, I John 4:21.
from Him it proceeds to us and our love is but a re-             If,  therefore;we would conceive  ob the love of God
spanse to His love, the return of God's own love, in all its riches and in the entire scope of its operation,


                                               T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                      303
-           ._...^  "...^_ -............ -.                                        ." -" _.-.__, ____ ^. ..__
we must keep before us: 1. The love of God in God God cannot love that which is imperfect, sinful and,cor-
to Himself. 2. The love of God to us. 3. The love of rupt.                In the fourth  plaoe,  that He  e!ternally knew
God in us so that we know that He loves us; 4:. The               His people, not merely as perfect, but as perfect&
love of God in us to God, so that we love Him. 5. The through the deep way of sin and grace. For, in order
love of God in us to the brethren. For all these are that His love might be manifested all the more g!ori-
manifestations and operations of the one love of God. ously and they might taste the blessedness of that love
Love is always of God, whether it is in God to Himself, more fully and deeply, God determined in His eternal
in God toi us, in us of God, in us to God, in us to the oounsel,  that His people should reach the highest per-
brethren. And the question is: How is this love of fection in the way of sin and by the power of grace.
God possible  as it is  ,d,irected to us? If love is the          They are, therefore, eternally before Him, in His di-
bond of perfectness and must have a perfect object, vine counsel, not as corrupt, neither merely aa' per-
how, then, can God love us, while we are yet sinners ?            fect but as the perfect&, `as the redeemed and *delivered
How is this love of God manifested? And how is it out of the world, as the adopted children, as washed
realized in us, so that we taste it, so that we respond from their sin, as called and justified and sanctified
to it in love to God, and so that we love one another?            and glorified. Thus it is in Rom.  8:29,  30. Hence,
     And then we must understand first of all, that God           it is necessarily  sol, that !the object of this love of God
loves His people with an evenlasting love, from eternity are the elect and the elect only. And again, it follows,
to eternity. For, *`The Lord hath appeared of old unto that God beholds His people eternally in Christ Jesus
me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting as their Head, Whom He ordained as such, and to
love ; therefore, with lovingkindness have I drawn whom He gave His people. Well, then, if we thus con-
thee", Jer. 31:3. And the mercy of the Lord is from ceive of the people af God, of the object of `the love of
everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear Him God,, we can understand t.hat love is the bond of per-
and His righteousness unto children's children, Ps. fectness, that it requires a perfect subject and a per-
1.03 :17. Jacob hath He loved from eternity, for this             fect object, and that, nevertheless, God can love His
was said unto Rebecca, before the children were born.             people, though in time they are sinful and in them-
neither had done any good or evil, that the purpose of selves chil,dren of wrath as are also the others. "He
God according to the election might stand, Ram. 9  :ll- hath not beheI,d iniquity in Jacob, neither hath He seen
13. And whom He did foreknow, that is with a divine, perverseness in Israel; the Lord his God is with him
causal and eternal knowledge of love, He also did pre- and the shout of a' king is among them", Num. 23  :2l.
destinate to be conformed according to the image of He knows them, beholds them eternally as perfected in
His Son, He also called, justified an,d glorified. Rom.           Christ, through the way of sin and death, and as such
8  :29, 30. Besides, He blessed us with all spiritual             they are the eternal objects of His immutable love !
blessings in heavenly places in Christ  nccording  as He             Hence, all the history of this present time is cen-
hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the trally an unfolding, a manifestation and realization  of
wc&d,  that we should be holy and without blame before that love of God wherewith He eternally loved His
Him,  Epb.  1:3, 4. And it is in love, that He  nre-              people in Christ Jesus. When He created the first
destinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus              man Adam, He created His Church and Adam bears
Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of the entire Church in his loins, Christ according to His
His will, Eph.  1:5. This also follows from the fact.             human nature not exc!.uded. When he falls into sin and
that herein is love, not that we love God, but that He death, the Church fall in him, becomes  guijlty and cor-
loved us, from the fact, that God loved us first, and             rupt according to the flesh in that first man Adam.
from.the fact, that all love is out of God. Moreover. That in the fulness of time Christ can appear, without
God is immutable, and sol is His love. God does not ?guilt and without corruption, though also He according
fall in love. He loves eternally. And this does not               to His human nature is the son of Ad,am. is not d,ne
merely apply to His d,ivine Selflove, but also to His             fo the fact, that for once the unclean could bring forth
love to His people in Christ Jesus. Now, what does                the clean, but through the wonder of grace. wherebv
that mean? First of all, that eternally God willed to             the Person  oif the Son of God united Himself with
reveal Himself. in  that which. we might.  hj*nanlv               human nature, so that the guilt of the race could not
speaking, call the very highest of His divine being and he imnuted to Him; and whereby through the  coticen-
life: His love. In the second place, that `therefore. +`cn of the Holy Spirit the human nature was kent free
from all eternity He divinely and sovereignly knew. from  defilement. In Paradise the Church fell into
that is, oonceived  and willed a people, that could be            sin and death in the loins of `Adam. But it was all
the obiet -+ r'.`- *`-i'rrht and love and that would taste according toi the counsel of God, whose good pleasure it
and acknowledge His love and have their delight in                was to manifest His love as `sovereign, free. divine. as
Him. In the third place, that, therefore, He conceived P love that is. altogether His own 08nlv. Hence. accord-
of this people in His eternal counsel, as perfect even ing to His counsel He reaches out in His everlastinrr
as He is perfect, for love is the bond of perfectness and love to its object, His people in sin and death, from the


304                                       T H E   S T A N D A R D   BEARER
-.- ___. -.__"--_.       __- . ..- "._                        .__~ ..-l___l_lll  .                     -.-A.-
moment of their fall into darkness. He seeks them; in everlasting love, for His own Name's sake comes in
He speaks to them; He reveals to them the promise of Christ to  reoecirl  il.t' people from sin and death, It
love, which is the promise of redemption; He separates        is, therefore, the love of  Gcid in Christ,. that is mani-
them; He foreshadows His redeeming love in all the fested on the cross of Calvary I
riches of its manifestation in Christ, in sacrifice and           But even so it is not sufficient. We have been
altar and priest, in all the shadows and types of the         speaking of the love of  Go,d as it is in Him and to
old dispensation.     AnId: finally, the  fulness   ,of time Himself. We  a.lscr  called your; attention to the  1ovs1 of
comes. And that fulness of time is centrally the mani- God as it is in Him to His people from before the
festation of the eternal love of God, which flashes as        foundation of the world. We finally considered the
a beautiful shaft of heavenly light from above. Hle           love of God to His people, as He manifested it in Christ
manifests it in Imrnanuel,  God with us, the Son of God Jesus our Lord, His incarnation, death and resur-
come into the flesh. He reveals it in the bloody tree of rection. But we must still speak od the love of God in
Calvary. For, therein is the love of God manifested,          us and to us, of the love of God in us to Him, and of the
that God sent His Son into the world, and sent Him            Ewe  uf God  in  us and to one  anckther.  For,  ail these
into our death, to be a propitiation for our sin. God         are the Jove of God in us and through us to Him and to
reaches out in everlasting love for the object of His         one  onother.  &low  is this all realized? How do we come
love into the lowest part of the earth, yea, into the         to taste, to experience to know the love of God to us?
depth of he& when His Son in human nature cries out           And how do we come to  love Him? Is it, perhaps,
from the darkness of Golgotha: "My God, my God,               thus, that God merely manifested His love to us, as a
why hast thou forsaken me?" By that death of His              love to sinners, that He has that love to sinners pro-
Son He Himself brings the sacrifice for our sins,             claimed  promiseuouslg  to  a!1 that hear the gospel, and
which we coald never bring, nor even thought of bring- that by the procl%m%tiaa of that unfathomable love the
ing. By that death of His Son He reconciled us, that sinner is moved and attracted and persuaded to love
is. the whole Church of all ages,, all the elect, given to    God? That the matter is thus we would gather  frcm
Christ by the Father unto Himself, for He justified           much sentimental preaching about the love of God.
them in His blood. And, therefore, He further mani- God loved you so wonderfully, will you not love Him
fests His love, when once more He reaches out into            in return. But such is not the case. This might be
the depth of the death of His Son and raises Him as -the case, if love were as it is  mcst generally presented,
the firstfruits, gives Him glory, eternal. life, lifts Him a sentimental fe.eling for sinners as such, a sentimental
up on high in heaven, and exalts Him at His right             longing to bring them tot heaven instead of to hell.
hand. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the central and highest But. that is not the case. Love is the bond of perfect-
manifestation of the love of God, because He died for ness. It requires a perfect subject and a perfect ob-
ITS while we were yet sinners, and through His death          ject. God, the  eterna1l.y  perfect Subject, loved His
God reconciled us with Himself, while we were vet             eternally perfect people in Christ Jesus, as He beheld
enemies.                                                      them in His counsel. But this people cannot taste the
    Never may we present the matter in a different love of God to them, neither can or will they love Go,d,
light.    Never may we present it, as if the love of until they also are made perfect. By nature they are
God to us, to His sinful people, is the result of the corrupt, that is, with all their mind and will and heart
death of Christ. God does love us because of the work         they stand in enmity against God. For, the carnal
of Christ; but the work of Christ is the outflow and          mind is enmity against God. It is not subject to the
the manifestation of eternal <love. True, by virtue of law of. Gcd,  nei'ther indeed can be.  Ram  8:5-8.  We
the work of Christ we are translated into a state of have no delight in God, as the only Good and Perfect.
righteousness in which only we can become the proper We hate Him. We do not seek Him. We flee from Him.
objects of that love and in which only we mav taste           Yet it is as the ethically perfect God, that He mani-
the love of God toward us. As long as  olur sins are fested Himself in Christ Jesus. He manifested His
not. blotted out the guilt of our sin hangs like an im- love in the cross and the resurrection, to be sure, but
penetrable veil between `the eternal love of God and our it is redeeming and delivering and perfecting love.
heart. And in the cross and the resurrection of Jesus And by nature we love sin and hate perfecticn  and we
that veil is pierced, or rather wholly removed, because do not want to be delivered from the pollution of sin.
it is the blotting out of our sin. But is the love of Hence, we will have none of Him, though He manifest
God that removes the veil and in Christ reaches out           Himself to us in the face of Christ Jesus. He that
for us. Not a wrathful God and a Christ that Roneases         hateth God, hateth His Christ and will crucify Him
and reconciles Him. But eternal love, that sends and          anew !
manifests itself in Christ Jesus our Lord and recon-              Hence, finally, it is that same power of the love of
ciles us to, God. Not God one party, filled with wrath God, that is manifested in Christ that reaches out into
and hatred ; and Christ another partv,  our party, that our hearts and draws us with cords of love out of the
allays the anger of  @od ; but God His own party, who mire of sin into the fellowship of  H-is perfection. The


                                               T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                          305
-.-~-                      -............- - _.__            ..." ..__. ____..-_ _____-                         .____ --__      -
exalted Christ received the Spirit. And through that
Spirit He returned to His Church, dwells in them and                                   League Activities
operates in them. It is by that Spirit that He regener-
ates us and makes us partakers of His own perfect life                   A meeting of the League of  ivlen's  Societies of
of the resurrection. It is by that Spirit that He opens Grand  Rapias  and vicinity was  neld  `I'hursday,  Feb.
our eyes that we may see, our ears that we may hear,                  1'7 in Roosevelt Park  Yrot. Ref. Church to set forth
that He calls and through the Word draws us unto                      their labors, and to listen to an address given by  lcev.
Himself. It is by that Spirit that we, on the one hand,               H. ue Wolf, pastor of Hope l/rot.  Ref. Church on the
are made to see the misery of our sin and enmity SubJect  : "Our Obedience to the Government in Time
against God and, on the other hand are made to                        of Wax".
thirst for th.e living God as He reveaIed  Himself in all                The meeting was well attended, and was opened
the beauty of His perfect  love in Christ.                            by the President, Mr. A. C. Boerkoel, who asked the
                                                      It is by the
Spirit that we are led to the cross, that we appropriate              audience to sing Psalter No. 275, which speaks of the
                                                                      Everlasting Covenant of God, Who is enthroned above
the love of God, the forgiveness of sin, righteousness
and eternaL  life. It is by that Spirit that the love of the skies; the Creator of the heavens and the earth. In
God in Christ is shed abroad in our hearts, so that we                this psalm the afflicted child of God is overwhelmed
know and taste that He loved us with an everlasting with grief, and pours out his complaint before the
love. It is by that Spirit too, that the power of the love Lord. He mourns that he is like a pelican in the wilder-
of God, which is love of perfection, causes us to love                ness and as an owl in the desert. But this child of
Him, to have our <delight in Him, to seek Him, to thirst God can also rejoice: that He will' remember Zion,  ,the
after Him, to desire to be pleasing to Him, and, there-               Church in the midst of this world.
fore,  ,to flee from the world and from the corruption of                After this singing the  Rev. R.  Veldman  offered
sin and to do His commandments. By the power of that                  prayer.
love we walk in the light. And in that light we have                     The Pres. then read Rom. 13, this being an appro-
fell,owship,  not only with God, but also with  one-                  priate chapter for this meeting, as it speaks of powers
another. For, even when the love of God in us becomes ordained by God, and that every soul must be subject
love of o,ne another, it is still the love of G3d and still unto the higher powers ordained by Him.
the bond of perfectness, -we love one another, not ac-                   Mr. D. Ondersma then gave some musical selec-
cording to the flesh but by the Spirit of Christ, as tions on the organ, which was followed by a word of
children of the Most High, reflecting His perfection. welcome by the Pres. who then introduced the main
Therefore, doth the world not know us, but we know speaker for the evening.
one another. Therefore, does also this  lcve of the                      The speaker made plain in his introduction, that
brethren as the bond of perfectness only manifest it- we must be subject to those who are placed over us;
self as we walk in the light of God and keep His com- in other words; we must  `obey the Government which
mandments. It is for this same reason, that both the rules by the will of God. Only in that way it will
love of God to us and our love of God is still imper- protect us. Obedience is always good, if the laws are
fectly experienced, and also that the love of the in accordance with the Word of God.                                   There are
brethren is not perfect. But when all the darkness of circumstances wherein the Christian can not obey those
sin shall have *disappeared, and we shall be presented who are placed over him, and in these circumstances
without spot and blemish before God and the Father, he must obey God, and Him only.
then we shall know even as we are known, then we                         At the close of the introduction the Rev. asked him-
shall see face to face. Then shall the love of God be self the question, is war such a circumstance, that we
perfected;, in us and through us and we shall have our may not o.bey  the Government? He made it plain in
eternal delight in Him as we shall dwell in His taber- his speech, what the place was of the Government in
nacle forever !                                         H. H.         the midst of this world.
                                                                         The speaker divided his speech  int,o three parts.
                                                                      1. Is war always wrong? 2. Who shall determine?
                                                                      3. What is our duty:
                        NOTICE !                                         The Pacifists say: War is always wrong. They call
    The second issue of the series of sermons on the                  it murder on a large scale. It is in conflict with the
Book  09 Romans, chapters 9-11, being written by Rev. Scriptures, and in particular with the Sermon on the
H. Hoeksema is now available by writ.ing to the Sec- Mount, which speaks of peace and peace-make,rs. This
retary of the Committee, F. Pipe, 946 Sigsbee St., S. E. Pacifist  has not proved his contention, for  G#od, instruct-
Grand Rapids,  Mich.  Cost is  10~ per copy Please                    ed His people to war, and to fight the battles of Je-
send cost with the order so that the committee can                    hovah.      David was a great warrior, and when the
continue the publication  of  the series.                             soldiers came to John the Baptist and asked the  yues-
                              The Publication Comm.                   tion : "and what shall we  ,do"?  then he did not tell

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

them to quit the army. The Centurion also was a de- opinion is: if the government persecutes the Church
vout man.                                                     of Jesus Christ the Christian may not obey, but must
    `I'he speaker came to the conclusion in his  first protest and not only that, but never fight the people
pomt: war in itself is not evil according to Ycripture.       of God, but show the world that God is our Refuge and
 `~`ne Christian m this respect does not go too war as our strength, our Helper also in times of unrighteous-
a child, of God, but as a citizen, although it must be-       ness.
come evildent  also in time *of war that the children of         The Church however, may not mingle in with the
boa diner it om the children of the world.                    kingdoms of this world, but must preach the Word in
    `r'he Rev. reasons in his  second  point as follows:      season and out of season, in order that Zion may be
Ev,ery man shall decide for himself, some say, but then founded and her Citizens may be glad.
we take the authority out of the hand of the Govern-             There was also a comparison made between the
ment. Who are we to decide when war is to be de- Church and the government. It was said : The Govern-
clared, or when it shall be peace? We have not enough ment has full authority to rule its citizens as they judge
wisdom to decide on such large  prublems.                     to be right, and the Church has also that right and
    Somtimes  the Christian must protest; it is his duty authority over its members. In both cases it requires
for the Government is not his God, and may rule only obedience.
m its own sphere.         It alone is responsible in that        The comparison however  dces not hold, for  ;ihe
sphere, and must always use the sword-power in that Church rules in love, and disciplines by the sword of
domain.       And last  *of all it is the duty of each and    the Spirit. She has the key to shut out but also to
 every Christian to obey not in the  first place as a keep in.
church-member but as a citizen. if the Government                Not so with the Government  I It rules by the God
uses the sword against the Church, then the Christian ordained sword power, and always must punish with-
may not obey but stand firm, for he shall obey God            out mercy those who rebel.
 rather than man.                                                This meeting was closed with thanksgiving and
    It is not asked of me to give a full report of Rev.       praise unto God by Mr. J. Cammenga  of Holland.
 De Wolf's speech,, as he promised to do this in "Our                                    Your reporter, S. D. V.
 Church News". Those who read this "paper" do well
 to take note of this worthy speech.  ,It shows that
the Rev. is Reformed also in his delivery of a speech,
 and did not wean away from the Reformed teaching                      The Atoning Sacrifices Of The
 taught him by Reformed teachers in a thoroughly  Re-
. formed school.                                                               Old Dispensation
       W.e then had recess, when we could exchange friend-        In the previous article on this subject, it was shown
 ly greetings and become better acquainted with one-          that the unmistakable teaching of Moses' law is that
 anoth.er.                                                    the blood of goats and bulls took away sin, that these
       After recess we sang a Holland psalm, Psalm 42 :6,     creatures did bear the iniquity of the offender and
 `7 ; which speaks of the sorrowful child of God, whose through  their death atoned for his sin and that the
 hope is in Him alone.                                        blood of these creatures was therefore indeed accepted
       Heel aardig  he dat er ook  no,g een psalm-versje      as a covering for sin. Of this, it was shown, there
 werd gezongen voor de hollanders. It was not neces- can be no doubt. Consider once more the following
 sary, I am confident they all could sing and understand scriptures, "And the priest shall make an atonement
 No. 275 of the Psalter which we sang in the beginning for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all
 of the meeting.                                              your sin." "And Aaron shall lay both his hands upoa
       After this singing the speech of Rev. De Wolf was the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the
 discussed in general. Questions were asked and ans- iniquities of the children of Israel. . . .putting  them
 wered. It again was brought out clearly, that the upon the head of the goat, . . .and the goat shall bear
 Government has the sole right to declare and end wars, upon him all the iniquities unto a land not inhabited."
 and never has to ask its citizens for advice. As long This passage literally affirms that the goat bore upon
 as the Government does not go outside its boundaries him all the iniquities. Finally, there is this scripture,
 we as citizens must obey. We must obey the good and "if the soul sin through ignorance against any of the
 the bad; it is justifiable for the Government  to declare commandments of the Lord, then let him bring for his
 war, and also the people of God must obey, although sins a young bullock. . . . for a sin-offering. He. . . ,
 sometimes they are duty bound to protest.                    shall lay his hands upon the bullock's head  and kill
       Also the bold statement was made, even if the the bullock before the Lord, and the priest shall take
 Government persecutes the Church in time of war,             up the bullock's blood. . . .and sprinkle of the blood
 we must protest but still obey, for she is Supreme, and      seven times before the Lord before the veil of the
 we can not judge, and have no vote in the matter. My sanctuary. . . .and  thle priest shall make atonement for


                                       T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                        307

them and it shall be forgiven them." If the teaching ficial offerings for sin that has given rise to the views
of these scriptures is not that the offender was fur- we have been controterting,  as certain passages in the
given by reason of the fact that his sins had been New Testament, which appear to deny to those ancient
atoned for by the death of the sacrificial animal, words sacrifices any validity as to the purifying ad the soul.
have no meaning. And yet, the  explicite  teaching of Thus it is said by Paul, `that by Christ all who believe
the new testament scriptures is that it is "impossible are justified from all things, from which they could not
that the blood of bulls and  of goats should take away         be justified by the law of Moses' . And still more
sin."                                                          strongly and expressly in Hebrews, it is declared that
   As was said in the preceding article, various at- the gifts and sacrifices of the law `could not make him
tempts have been made by students of scripture to              that &id the service perfect as pertaining to the con-
harmonize these  uppa%rently   contrary teachings. There science ' ; that it was `not possible the blood of bulls
is the view that the sins atoned are to be regarded as         and of goats couId  have taken away sins ' ; and that
mere breaches of legal order and ceremonial etiquette, such blood, as the ashes also of the heifer sprinkling
Bnvalving  no moral guilt. This view, it was shown,            the unclean, could but avail to the purifying of the
is untenable.    Paul's statement, "Moreover the law flesh, w,hile the blood of Christ, and this alone, can
entered, that the  offence   mght abound", applies to the purge the conscience from dead works to  serve  the liv-
ceremonial as well as to the law of the ten eommand-           ing God. If such passages were to be taken abscllutely,
ments. It can e!asily be seen how that some in their they would uertainly deny any spiritual benefit what-
effort to arrive at clarity respecting the true worth ever to the Old Testament worshipper from his legal
of the animal sacrifices  came* by the aforesaid concep-       sacrifices. That they cannot be so taken is evident alone
tion. The law having "a shadow of good things to from this, that even when viewed as offerings for such
come and not the very image of the things could not offenoes  as effected the outward and  theccratical  posi-
with th,ese  sacrifices make the comers thereunto per- tion of an Israeiite, and satisfyng for these, they did
fect". What therefore seems more warranted  than the not stand altogether apart from his conscience ; to a
conclusion that for this reason those sacrifices  conc&,rn-    certain extent, at least, conscience had been aggrieved
ed only matters  o;P conventional propriety and thus  m&t- by what was done, and must have been purged by the
ters that lied outside the strictly moral sphere. But atonement presented".
if it be considered that the sacrifices were appointed            So then, Fairbairn was of the conviction that the
for this ,ead that by their use the believers might more scriptures under consideration cannot be taken abso-
fully learn to know themselves as sinners before God lutely. Let us supploee  this to be true; how then would
in need of graae and pard,on, that in connection with they `have to be read? As follows, "In former times,
them God spake to His people of their lost condition beli:evers  in  CL mcmre were justified from all things
and witnessed with their spirits that they were right- by the law. From these same things they are now
eous, it will be seen that the above view is altogether justified by Christ. The gifts and sacrifices of the
inadmissable, in that these  sacrifices must certainly law could in a. measure make him that did the service
have concerned sins that were in the strict sense moral. perfect as pertaining to the conscience. It was not
   Another view just as erroneous as the foregoing, altogether impossible the blood of bulls and ,of goats
distingeishes  between sin as a political and social mis- could have taken away sins. Such bloo,d could avail to
demeanor and sin as a spiritual evil and disease of the purification not olnly of the flesh but in CL measure
the heart and  aflirms that the sacrificial system of the of the conscience as well and thus could also purge
old covenant  concerned  only the former. What the the conscience of the ancient worshipper from dead
sponsors of this view are unmindful of is that in the          works to serve the living God".
sight of Jehovah the political crime was at  0nc.e  a             May these scriptures be so modified? Certainly
spiritual evil and that the first consideration in all not. To modify these scriptures is to ascribe a relative
breaches of the law was the moral guilt in which the efficacy to the suffering and death of the Saviour, is
offence  involved the trangressor  and that it was this thus to deny that there is salvation in any other name
guilt that was atoned by the death of the sacrificial than the name of Jesus C,hrist,  that there is none other
animal. This view is certamly  no answer `to the ques- name under heaven given among men, whereby we
tion how, if it was impossible that the blcod  of bulls and must be saved. Acts 4 :12.
of goats should take away sin, the Lord could assure              These scriptures then must be ta.ken absolutely.
His people that as covered by this very blood they were Maintained it must be that their meaning is that of
clean from all their sins.                                     the form of the words, that thus not the blood of bulls
    Another  inadmissable  solution of the  ditliculty  with and goats  b,ut that  the blood of Christ only could take
which we here have to do is one given by Fairbairn away sin. Now there can be not doubt that Fairba.irn
in `his "The Typology  of Scripture". "It is not", so he also would have been instantaneously ready to agre,e
wrote, "so much a consideration of the passages of the to this  ; for Fairbairn was a Scotch Presbyterian and,
Old Testament Scripture which treats of the sacri- as appears frosm  his works, a man of truly reformed

                                                                                                                            1

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

pursuasion. His book on the typol:gy of scripture is outward, ceremonial purification, that admitted the
a most valuable work and of rnestimable  importance worshipper to the court of a worldly sanctuary". This
to the  Christians  student. He would have been among is the teaching that, according to Fairbairn, cannot be
the last to actually deny the absolute wo,rth of the vi- taken absolutely. The bland of the bull, its suffering
carious atonement of Christ.       `l'hat he nevertheiess and death, did merit, belget, a measure of relief even
could write)  in ef%ect  that "these pa&sag&'  cannot be for the conscience. Such was his view.
taken  absolutely, finds its explanation in the eircum-           Rut what now is to be done with such statements
stance that  ,strange  as this may seem, he failed to as, "And the goat shall bear upon him all the Iniqui-
arrive at clarity respecting the true significance and ties," and, "the priest shall make atonement for them
import of the animal sacrifices of the Old Govenant. and it (the sin) shall be forgiven them". What is the
Consequently, he found himself unable to  properry ex- construction to be plaoed  upon the&se  passages and hew
plain such passages as, "An,d the goat shall bear upon are they to be harmonized with the teachings of the
nim all the iniquities of the children of Israel. And New Testament scriptures on this subject. And the
the priest shall make atonement for them and it (the answer: by (interpreting them in the light .of these
sin) shall be forgiven them," and to harmonize these very teachings. The law had a shadow of good things
passages with such statements as, "For it is impossible to come and not the very image of the things. Heb. 10.
that the blood of bulls and of goats shou1.d take away All was shadow, symbol, type, and thus unreal: the
sin". However he (Fairbairn) does say that (but)               animal's sacrifice, its atoning the sins of the  worship-
"in all these passages the apostle is speaking of what,        per through its suffering and death, the fruitage  c,f its
in the proper sense, and in the estimation of God, or death,  to wit, the forgiveness and cleansing of sin.
of a soul fully enlightened by the truth, can  aft'ord         Hence, one must read, "And the `goat shall bear sym-
(t wa.t and valid satisfaction for the guilt of sin. . . ."    bolically, thus not really, upon him all the iniquities".
This is an indirect statement to the effect that the "The priest shall make a symbolical, that is, a pictorial
satisfaction for the guilt of sin made by the animal and thus unreal atonement for y.c.u, to cleanse you,
through its !dying was unreal and thus invalid. And symbolically, not really, that ye may be symbollically
so it indeed was; absolutely so. However, instead of clean from all your sin". These passages, so construed,
holding this apprarsal, Fairbairn in the sequence of are in most perfect agreement with the teaching that
his delineation d,eparts  from it and again reverts to the the blood 6.f bulls could not take away sin, that the
conception that in a measure the conscience was purged blood  cf Christ, and this alone, can purge  the con-
by the blood of the animal sacrifice. Wrote he, "We science from dead works, in perfect agreement, and this
rea*d in latter scriptures of the difference between the for the  simple reason that the ancient worshipper, sym-
Old and the New in God's dispensations,  th& `the law bolically cleansed from sin, was in reality still in his
came by Moses, but grace and truth by Jesus Christ'. sin, so far as that  blmood of the bull, with whch he had
or, `the darkness is past, the clear light now shineth been covered, was concerned.  F:oa this blood,  t&
-not as if there had been no light, no grace and truth suffering and dying of this creature, could merit no
before, but merely none worthy to be compared with real forgiveness, could not in reality atone sin. What
what now appeared. And in like manner, in the pas- need is there then of the view that "these passages
sages under consideration, the measure of relief and           (found in the New Testament scriptures) cannot be
purification to guilty conscience which was atforded           taken absolutely"? None whatever. It ought to be
by the previsional  institutions of the tabernacle, be-        understolod that to maintain  this is very actually to
cause of their inadequate character, and the imperfect deny the symbolical character of the animal sacrifice,
means ,employed  in their accomplishment, are for t& tis to deny that this sacrifice had but a shadow of good
occasion overlooked or placed  `out of sight, in order to things to  come.
bring out prominently the real, the ultimate, and per-            Let us now concentrate on these symbolical, shadow
fect salvation that had been at length brought in by transactions, on this  shad:o#w  sacrifice of the old cove-
Christ."                                                       nant. There was, let it be repeated, a symbolical, that
   Mark the statement, "the measure  aif relief and is, a shadow sacrifice, a suffering and dying of the
purification to the guilty conscience! which was afforded sacrificid  victim that was but shadow, thus a dying
by the provisional institutions of the tabernacle. . .  ." that-constituted a kind of satisfaction for sin that was
   Consider th'at the question is whether the blood likewise a shadow,  - a shadow the fruitage of which
~of bulls and goats could avail to the purification of the was a symbolicial-typical forgiveness of sin. Now in
conscience, that is, whether the, animal through its explalining  these shadows, care must be exercised not
suffering and death in any measure merited for the to reason them in our delineations out of existence.
worshipper this purification. The answer of the sacred For things that da not even exist can from the nature
writer is, "This was impossible. The blood of bulls of matters be no symbols, have no shadow of good
availed only to the  purificatm,n  of  the  flesh. This things to come. Th!ese old testament symbols and types
was the sole fruitage  of the animal's death, nameIy,  an -that shadow sacrifice, atonement and forgiveness of


                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                         309

sin - were actual enought,  but - as shadows, symbols, The  conclusiv,e  proof of this is exactly Jehovah's pass-
types.                                                        ing them o.ver a,n account of their being covered by the
   Let us set out with the question, "What was this bbc.od And this symbolical forgiveness was extended
symbolical forgiveness of sin and in what did it con- to all, tihat is, to the reproba.ted  as well as to the elect.
sist ?" Here again scripture is our only  &wide.  The Thle natural lives of all were prolonged. All were freed
answer to the above question till come to. us, if regard fitsm Egyptian bond,age.  All that finally took up their
be had to the doings that formed the celebration of the       residence in Canaan were not  Iof the elect &me, many,
first Passover and to the doing of Jehovah that con-          were reprobated. And the latter too, were  ceremo?&ly
sisted in his passing by His peopEe and in His slaying clean, as a result of their having been covered by the
the firstborn of Egypt.      First in order are the in- bl,ood. And this blood that was being continually shed
structions concerning the Passover. In the tenth day at the sanctuary continued to beget also for them the
of the month, the children of Israel shall  tak.e  unto       right to dwell in the earthy Canaan and to enter the
them every man a lamb, according to the house of courts of the earthy tabernacle and to inquire in God's
the  f&hers,  a lamb for an house. The lamb must temple. Yet, though symbolicuZZy  clean and righteous
be without  blemiish, a male of the  first year.  It and forgiven,  tihey  were really cursed. Cursed were
is to be killed, on  thfe fourteenth day of the month.        they as  resi,dent.s of Canaan, as  wcrshippers  in the
Its  blcod  must be struck on the two side posts and          earthy temple. Hardened were they through all this
on the upper door posts of 4he houses, wherein they fruitage  of Israel's shadow  scarifices..  The true
shall eat it. And they shall eat it with haste: it            pardon was not theirs, as Christ was not their portion.
is the Lord's passover.       For the Lord will pass             In the light of the abov,e cbservations,  meaning can
through the land of Egypt  this night,  an,d will now be given to such passages as, "And Aaron shall
smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man lay both his hands upon the head of the goat, and con-
and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt He will          fess over him all the iniquities of the children of
execute judgment And the blood shall be to them for           Israel. . . . and the goat shall bear upon him all tihe`
a token upon the houses where they are ; and when             iniquities."
the Lord sees the blood He wil1 pass over them and               It must not be supposed that we have to do here
the  plagu,e  shall not be  Lpon  them to destroy them, with an empty form, that by this imposi.tion  of hands
when Be smites the land of Egypt.                             absolutely nothing was laid upon the head of the goat
   The Lord did as he said. He passed them over and and  tihat  consequestly  this creature bore upon him
thus spared their lives And why? Because they were            nothing. Were this true, there would be nothing in
less deserving of death than the firstborn of Egypt this entire transaction to which the terms  stiw,
whom He smote? Nay, but  becaus.e they w.ere covered symbol and t.ype could be made to apply. Besides, if
by the blood of the animal sacrifice, - the blood in          this scripture affirms that "the goat shall bear upon
which was the soul  ,of the animal that by its travail in him all the iniquities ," it will not do for us to say
death had symbolically satisfied the offended majesty that actually this animal bore upon  hiim nothing at all.
of God and thus atoned for their sin Wherein then What it bore was the guilt of their iniquities,  -
did this typical atonement and forgiveness consist? In guilt, that is, the obligation (and this is guilt) to
being covered by the  bbcod of the animal sacrifice and suffer the penalty of their sins, not  the reel  penalty
in being vested with its satisfaction,-a satisfac-            (the animal is incapable of suffering this) which is the
tion that consisted in the animal suffering and               spiritual  de&h of the soul and the descent  of that
dying for sin. And what was the  fruitage  of this soul into  th.e abyss of eternal, outer darkness, but the
satisfaction? It was their being freed for the moment penalty of sin in so far as it consists in physical death.
of the obligation to suffer the penalty of  physicnl          That this death is not the renl zctuffes  of sin, appears
d,eath. It thus consisted as to, its positive side in the     from this that the godless, too, approach a physical
prolonging of their natural lives in the earthy Canaan. resurrection and will thus again be seen in a body of
If regard be had more particularly to the fruitage  of which their souls will never be divested.
the death and satisfaction made by the first  pass-              Now whereas the animal also dies a physical death,
over  Ilamb, then it is proper to say that negatively this    it was permitted to stand in the worshipper's  room  to
fruitage  consisted in the nation's being freed from the momentarily free him, by dying in his stead. from
obligatilon  to su#er  the penalty of physical death and this death. But the freeing even ,of this death lacked
positively in its being delivered from a  symbolical-         reality, as appears from this that the sacrifices had
typic.al bondage (the Egyptian) a'nd in its being made to be daily repeated at the sanctuary and that when
to  ,enter  into the typical rest of the earthy Canaan.       the worshipper's hour of death would strike these
    That there actually was such a symbolical  fosgive-       sacrifices  coulmd not avail. Only He Who is  th.e  re-
ness of sin. that this forgiveness or rather its  frnitaae    su.rrection  and the life can truly atone sin and thus
consisted merely in being freed from the obligation to truly free also from this death. The priest of the old
undergo the penalty of a physical death, is certain. covenant was but a shadow. He, this shadlow  priest,


 310                               THE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
         -..ll____--        ll..-.l__-ll_----__ll_--------l__-
made atonement for them, to be sure. He thus cleansed ill-deserving and condemnabl,a  offender and dying in
them  t.hat they might be clean from all their sins. his stead and for his sins." Thus the one central truth
But his atonement merely consisted in his covering that the animal sacrifice drove hlome to the h*earts of
them with the blood of an animal sacrifice and thus in God's people is that there can be f,orgiveness  of sin
momentarily freeing them from the obligation of only because there is, or better said, will be a shedding
dying a physical death. This was his cleansing. Noth- of  blcod  by  a lamb that Jehovah Himself will provide,
ing more. Thus even as. cleansed, they were still (and thus only because somehow His offended righteous-
I speak now.  of the  elsect) under condemnation; and ness wiil be satisfied. It was as estabhshed  in and as
the ,ob,ligation  to suffer the real penalty of their in- holding this truth in faith th!at believers wouEd sacri-
iquities was still there, waiting to be removed by fice,  - the truth namely that the Lord God is merciful
Christ. Because of this, it will hardly do to say that and gracious, forgiving iniquity but by no means clear-
the blood of bulls and of goats in a measure took away ing the guilty, that thus he only can enter into the
sin, and that this blood was the meritorial cause of and holiest, who enters by the blood. TMs was the speech,
afforded a measure of relief and purification to guilty the word of God that dwelt in His people, - the people
conscience. How could this blood, the suffering and          who offered as did Abel by faith. And this was the
dying of the sacrificial animal, beget for the true          w,ord,  the truth, to which  they also gave expression
believer as much as an  satom  of real relief, if this       throughi  their act of sacrificing. And therefore they
blsood could but momentarily free him from physical          could be saved. Saved fhey could be not because they
death and if, in spite of his being covered by this          had Christ as the direct object of their vision but be-
blood, there was at any time but one step between him        cause they  clave unto Jehovah' as their only hope,
and  death? What the believer had need of is to be           trusted in His mercy and believed and ocnfessed that
tru& freed from physical death and from the obliga- Zion's ccnverts  are ,redeemed  with righteousness. So
tion to be spiritually dead and to spend an eternity         believing and confessing, they received witness in
outside of God's country and  temp1.e in hell. And only connection with theEr sacrifice that they were right-
because he knew that he was so freed, only because he eous, tml?~ righteous and thus also t&y forgiven, not
received witness that `he was righteous and that there- because of their being covered by the blood of an
fore the grave would be to him thre corridor to that         animal sacrifice, bl;t because as Abraham they beli,evsd
city that hath foundations, did he have peace.               God.
    This brings us to th%e question whether the true            Let us say a ward about Abraham. Why was Abra-
beEever derived no benefi,ts from the typical sacrifices.    ham saved; why was be justified in his heart, and why
H.e did, indeed, and this from the nature of things. did he receive witness that he was righteous (the  not!`ce
Being an elect, this momentary extention of life, that that his faith was counted to him  fo'r righteousness is
the symbolical sacrifices begot, was to him a blessing, but another way of saying that he received witness that
as were all the ceremonial rights of which the typical he was righteous). Why did he receive this witness?
sacrifices was the meritorial source, such as the right Because he rested in an animal  sarifice  or because he
to dwell with God in the earthy Canaan and the right         saw Christ `as we see Him through the glass of the
to enter His courts and to enquire in His holy temple.       New Testament scriptures? Not so. He received this
But the reason that these rights were bo him a blsss-        witness, because says Paul, he considered not his own
ing was not his being covered by the blood of a shadow dead body and the deadness of Sarah's womb (which
sacrifice. The reason was that he believed.  BEing one means, that he, in the ultimate sense, considered not
who feared the Lord, all these  symbodical-typical           his soul, by nature dead in sin) but because he was
things of  th.e law were to him a  s.avor of life unto       "fully persuaded that  what he (God) had promised
life.                                                        He was also able to  perform."Perform,  do what? Save
    However, the animal sacrifices were of inestimable him and all God's people in the wuv of righteousness;
wj::Tth  to the oId testament believers not on account       thus save him, just how he understood not, in a
of what it begot for them (postponement of physical          manner compatible with His, God's righteousness.
death, the ceremonial  r,ights mentioned above,  -              What then was the real worth of the animal sacri-
rights that with the advent of Clhrist  vanished  away),     fice and that entire typical service? It was a symbol
but on account of it being  thle symbol, the sign of that went hand in hand  tith the spoken word of God.
God's method of salvation, and thus a sign, a pictorial This spoken word together with this symbo1  formed
representation of the facts of `His redemption. As was the instrument through. which God  reve.aled  unto His
said  (,in a former article) the  speach  of God that came people His method of salvation. That bearing on the
to  thle ancient  worshippers  through this shadow sacri- part of the animal of the obligation to suffer the
fice was, "The forgiveness of sin is the fruitage of the penalty of physical death, the animal's atoning and
doing of the righteous and holy  Gofd, consisting in satisfying for sin through its suffering and death, the
His satisfying His offended majesty through the fruitage of this atonement, namely, that symbolical
agency of an innocent one! standing in the room of the       forgiveness, and the right to dwell in the earthly


                                                                                  T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                           311
     -.^-...---  ^.......^l^.l_---l  ..".....^_ .l_.".l.". .....^........- ..-       ---"- ..^......." ^-.--.........--.~....--....                           -~--^-_. . . . .
Canaan, - all pointed to the work of Christ and the                                                                           Only the believers were blessed by the Lord. And
fruitage  this work, to wit, His taking away the sin though the shadow satisfaction made by the animal
of His  peoplee,  IIis atonement, His true satisfaction,                                                                was not the meritorial source of this hlessing  Ohow
the true forgiveness of sin, and the right to dwell in                                                                  oculd it be this), nevertheless, this blessing could be
the heavenly Canaan with God.                                                                                           had only in  connect*ion  with this sacrifice, in  cnn-
   Herewith the  questiron  has also been answered necti,on  with the typical things of the law. Through
whether  theI true  belifevers  rested  ultimateIy in the all these ceremonial transactions, Jehovah spoke to his
animal sacrifices. This could not possibly be. There people. And'to His people they were the instruments
was an abundance of evidence to them that the animal through  whichl they could gave expression to their
sacrifice could not truly avail. To begin with, there faith.
were several sins that the blood of this sacrifice could                                                                                                               G M. 0.
not cover, such as murder, adultery, desecration of
the sabbath, prostitution, sodomy,  ibolatry,  taking the
name of the Lord ,in vain, failing to act in accordance
with the ruling of the judge or the priest, religious                                                                                  The Fourth Commandment
apostacy.  Over and over the people of Israel forsook
Jehovah and served the idols. They did so right at                                                                              Remember the  Snbbath  Dny  t,o  Kcxp  it Ho/y. . . .
the beginning of their national career at Mt. Sinai.                                                                           Let us now in the final article on the subject of
Then, despite their sacrificing, thle hand of th.e Lord the sabbath attend more particularly to the idea of
was against them for evil and they were greatly dis- its rest. Attention has already been called to the fact
tressed. But each time the Lcrd would deliver them out that the rest of the sabbath is not idleness, mental and
of their enemies hands, not because of an atonement physical inaction, listlessness, hut  acton  that consists
made by the priest but because it repented the Lord in believers doing the ways of Jehovah, finding His
by reason of their  groanings.  Two such sins (adultery, pleasure, speaking His words and in delighting them-
and  murd'er) that could not be atoned by the priest selves in H,im as they behold Him, His glories, through
were committed by king David. Yet he found forgive- the  g'iass   of His work.
ness  soIely in the way of repentance. When he there-                                                                          Just what the idea of the rest of the sabbath is
fore prayed, "Blessed is he whose transgression is may be known from the descripti,on  of G,od's very own
forgiven.             Blessed is  th%e man unto whom the Lord doing on the day following the six days in which He
imputeth not iniquity. . . ," it must be that he was rest- created heaven and earth. We read, "For in six days
ing not in the animal sacrifice but solely in the `Lord. the Lord made `heaven and earth, the sea and all that
And it was on account of  his having been made to                                                                       in them is, and rested the seventh day:  wherefore  the
understand that this animal sacrifice was but symbol                                                                     Lord blessed the seventh day and hallowed it."
and shadow, that the Spirit could by his (David's)                                                                             Here it is asserted that God rested. What is to be
mouth declare, "Sacrifice and offerings thou didst not u.nderstood  by this rest of God? First, that, whereas
desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering thle work of making heaven and earth and all that in
and sin offering hast thou not required. Then said I. them is had been finished, God ceased to create. But
Lo, 1 come: . . .  ." The truth here expressed is that this resting on the part of God had also a  posij-
the animal sacrificed by itself availed nothing, that tive el'ement in it. What this element was is indicated
what had worth in the sight #of God is an obedience by the notice, "And God saw all that He had made
that springs from true faith in God. The animal sacri- and behold it was very good", <and the notioe  to the
fice  secured  fm-  both the believing and unbelieving effect that He blessed the sahha,th  day. God saw His
access to  thle worldly sanctuary. But only they who own handiwork as being very good and blessed each
loved God and who as contrained by this love truly                                                                       creature according to its nature, imparting the good
repented of their sins., had followship with Him and the that His lips pronounced. It means that in that crea-
witness in their heart that they were forgiven. This ture He delighted and that His attitude toward it was
certainly every true believer must have understood one of  beaevoleace  and love. And this was properly
and also experienced. "When I kept silence," says the God's rest, namely, His beholding in Ecve, delighting
Psalmist, "my bones waxed old  th(rough  my roaring in and blessing that completed and perfect work of
all the  d,ay long. . . . I acknowledged my sin unto His. This was His sabbath.
thee. . . .              And thou forgave& the iniquity of my                                                                  Now this rest of God was at once action. He he-
sin. . .  ." The prophet Isaiah must have been voic- held, delighted in and blessed; and this act of blessing
ing the conviction of every true and thoughtful be- had respect to all the work of His hands as the cause
liever, when  h.e declared, "To what purpose is the and reason of its contirmed  existence. And His ac-
multitud,e of your sacrifices unto me, saith the Lord. . . tion was at once His rest.
"Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your                                                                           It must not be supposed, however, that the dawn
doings from before mine eyes  ; . . .  P)'                                                                               of that first seventh day marked the beginning of


312                                        T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
--.-_l__..~             ,.."_..^  ,---.  -__      ._l_--  .-... ll__--.--_---^.."~  . ..-__.  - _.II_ll-.-.___l___-.-.-
God's sabbath, Apart from His creation God is by by the power of His love out of darkness and sin int.0
Himself infinite action and rest. There is in God that the light of God's countenance; it is to be transported
action of the Father that consists in His eternally  beL out of the kingdom of darkness int,o the kingdom of
getting the Son, and in His giving  t.o the Son life,            His Son  ; it is to enter the holiest by the blood of
and that  a&on of the Father and of the Son that Jesus, by a new land living way, which He hath conse-
consists in Their breathing the Spirit. These actions            crated for us; it is to draw nigh with a true heart
form a work that is eternally finished, a work, there- in full assurance of faith; it is, as so having drawn
fore, that God everlastingly beholds in love and de- nigh, to know and see God and to be known of Him,
lights in. The Father joys in the Son, He being the to eternally possess and enjoy Him as our reward
express image of the Father and the brightness of exceefding  great. This is resting.
His glory. And the Son eternally cries Father. And                  Now this rest, this perfected work of God, His
the Spirit searches the deep things of God. There is             people enter into in this life in principl+e  and at the
then in  God a perfect fellowship of the Father and              return of  Chhrist in full. In the light of the above
the Son in the Spirit, a perfect life of love. This is           observations, it is plain th:a,t  only the people of God
the eternal rest of God. This is God's rest in respect can truly rest on the sabbath, can remember and keep
to Himself only.                                                 holy this day. And it is also evident that to merely
       But there is ,also a sabbath of God in respect to desist from the daily pursuits of life is not truly to
His  pmple.  God was eternally resolved to possess               rest. The rest required by the fourth co,mmandment  is
a  pecple in Christ, saved by grace and led through sacred, spiritual action not idleness, thus an action of
suffering and death to glory, who should dwell with which true believers only are cap'able. They begin the
`Him in His temple to behold the bleauty  of the Lord            eternal  sabbath1 in this life. They rest from all their
in the face of Christ, the  gIory  of the eternal covenant evil works and serve their God. Thus they rest not
rest of Him, ,the triune Jehovah. It is the realiza- one of seven days but all the days of their life. That
tion of this resolve that brought into being the eternal         the believers nevertheless have need of resting from
rest that remaineth for the peop1.e of God. .                    their daily tasks on one of seven days, has  alrea,dy
       What then is God's rest in respect to us? It is one been explained, as also that now all the days are es-
that He prepares in Christ. It is a completed and sentially alike and that our rest is no revival of the
perfected work uf God, that may be signified by the sabbath of creation, no prolongation of the typical
one term  the heavenly.               Thus this rest is the sabbath of the old covenant, thus no sign, no type, no
city of Gcd that hath foundations, whose Maker and               prefiguration, but the dawning of the eternal rest or
Builder God is; it is the holy city, the new Jerusalem, day in our lives.
having come down from God out of heaven, prepared                                                             G. M. 0.
as a bride adorned for her husband; it is the r,edeemed,
foreknown, predestinated to be conformed to the image
of His Son and therefore called, justified and glori-
fied; it, this rest, is the new heavens and the new
earth; it is the redeemed having appeared with Christ
in glory on the new earth and walking with God and
havin,g fellowship with Him through  Ch:rist,  inquir-                               ECHTVEREENIGING
ing in His temple, tasting th,at He is good and, as so
tasting, eternally crying out His praises. This is the               Den  23&n Februari herdachten  onze   gelidde Ouders en
rest that He has already prepared. It thus exists as             Gro.ot-ouders
a compIeted and perfected work in Christ. For Christ                              Mr en Mrs. ANDREW PORTE
was risen to the justification of all His people. Withi
Him were they crucified, buried and risen and set in             hunne 40 jarige Echtvereeniging.
heaven.                                                              Dat de Heere hen verder voor ons spare en xegene is de
       And this rest the redeemed en,ter into in this pre-       w:nsch `en bede van hunne dankbare  kinderen:
sent life. For He chose them in Him before the foun-                                           Jake Porte
dation of t.he world, that in the dispensation of the                                          Barbara Porte-Van Meeteren
fulaess of times He might gather together all things                                           Susie Porte
in Christ. And He raised them up together and made                                             ALex  Braaksma
them sit teogether  in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:                                        Gertude Braaksma-Porte
that in ages to come He might show the excellent                                               Ben Barkema
riches of His grace in His kindness toward them in                                             Mina Barkema-Porte
Christ Jesus.                                                                                  Dick Hofman ,
       And what is it now to enter this rest, this com-                                        Albertha   Hofman-Porte
pleted and perfected wo'rk of @d? It is to be drawn                                            en 5 kleinkinderen.

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

                                                              Editors-Rev. H. Hoeksema, Rev. G. M. Ophoff,
`~!                                                                 RevRFHzmF
              a                                                                                     y
                                                        Associate  Edito-   kev A  Camienga  Rev P.  De
                                                              Boer, Rev. M.  Gritters,  Rev. C. Hanko, Rev. B.
                                                                  Kok, Rev. G.  Lnbbers,  Rev. R.  Treldman.


Vol. XIV, .No. 14. Entered  BR second  class mail                             APRIL 15
                      m a t t e r   a t   G r a n d   R a p i d s .   Mich                , 1938                       Subscription Price, $2.00

                                                                                        limited to the dust  from  which they are taken, with a
           M E D I   A  ITON                                                            natural life. . . .
                                                                                             It is raised a spiritual body!
                                                                                                                  -         -
              The Life-Giving Spirit                                                        How shall this be? . . . .
                     And  so  ,it  & written, The first  -mm                                Through Christ, our Lord !
                 Adam was made a living soul;  the  la&                                      For, He was raised and is become the firstfruits
                 Adam was made a quickening  split.                                     of them that slept!
                                                                   I Cor.  15:45.           He is the secand man ?
                                                                                            The Lord from heaven, as far exalted <above the
   It is raised a spiritual body !                                                      fn-st man Adam as the heaven is above the earth; the
   Such was the final answer to part of the question                                    life-giving spirit !
that was asked by "some man" concerning the manner                                          And we shall be like Him !
of the resurrection and the nature of the  resurrection-                                     For, even as they that are earthy are like the
body.                                                                                   earthy first man, so  aIsp they that are heavenly shall
   But how shall the dead be raised? Thou fool! . . .                                   be like  unto the heavenly last man. And as we have
    If by the question thou intend to suggest that the born the image of the earthy,, so also shall we also bear
resurrection  of the dead is impossible, look about                                     the image of the heavenly.
thee ! Dost thou not see the picture of the resurrec-                                        Through His power as the life-giving spirit this
tion-wonder in the things  ,that  are  perceived? That mortal shall nut on immortality, and this corruptible
which thou sowest  is not quickened except it die! . . .                                shall put on incorruption. . . .
   And with what body do they come? . . . .                                                  And this flesh and blood shall be changed into the
    Emphatically: the body that is dead shall be raised.                                spiritual body of the resurrection.
Resurrection is not a new creation. It shall be the                                          The last Adam was made a quickening spirit!
body that is sown in the earth at the burial. When                                           Christ, our Lord!
thou  sowest  wheat thou dost not  expect  to harvest
barley.
   Yet, through death and resurrection the body shall                                        The last Adam !
be changed. For,  the body of the resurrection  shaI1                                        Emphatically the last Adam is Christ!
be liberated from all the  ef&cts  of sin. It is sown '                                      Not merely another man is  He, made after the pat-
in weakness, in dishonour, in corruption; it is raised                                  tern of the first man Adam; neither is He, the  secoad
in power, in glory, in incorruption. For, this mortal                                   Adam. a repetition of the first, merely to take the
must put on immortality, and this corruptible must                                      latter's place  ; but He is the last!
put on incorruption. And this it will do through the                                         Nor is He the last in the order of time.
power of the resurrection of the Lord, with whom we                                          Rather is He the last, because He is the First:
shall be united fo,rever  and unto whom we shall be                                     fcr, as the first-begotten of the dead, the Lord from
like!                                                                                   heaven glorified in human nature, the life-giving spirit,
    But more must be said!                                                              He is  the  Firstborn of every creature. tha First  in
    It is sown a natural bo,dy. For, our present  boldies                               God's conception of all created things in heaven a,nd
are natural, physical, soul-bodies, taken from the dust,                                on earth, unto Whom all things are made; and Who,


314                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
                                   -
_II-                                                      - -
therefore, is the last, the final, the goal that must be            A double distinction the apostle here postulates
reached, in Whom God's work finds eternal rest, the              between Adam and Christ, the first man and the last.
last Adam. . . .                                                 Christ is spirit, while Adam was soul ; Christ is
       The final antitype  !                                     quickening, while Adam was merely living.
       For, the natural is first, but it never was the goal;        For thus it is written: the first man Adam  was
the spiritual is last, and is the final perfection or' all       msde  a living soul. God formed him from the dust
things. There is a natural, earthy, psychical state of           of the ground and breathed into: his nostrils the breath
things ; and there is a spiritual, heavenly order. Bnd           of life. And  hhus,  by this  ,twofold  act of the Most
when the Creator of  all things made the heavens and             High, he became a living soul, Not merely by forma-
the earth in the beginning, He had in mind the goal,             tion from the dust was he called into being; neither
the "last". And having in mind the eternal, the spirit-          was it merely by the inbreathing of God that he be-
ual, the heavenly order of all things, He made of the            came a living soul; but by the double act of formatlon
first things an image of the iast, of things earthy  an          and inbreathing, he was made a living soul.
image of things heavenly. And so the first man xdam                 Surely, this does not signify that the first man was
was made an image of the "last" that was to come, and            not spiritual, that there was no spiritual entity m ms
in Whom all ithings in heaven and on earth wouid be              mmost  being, that !he was a living soul merely in tne
united to enter into their  final rest.                          sense in which  also the animals are living souls. `.L'he
       Only as the type is the earthy Adam the  first  man;      mnreathing  of God assures us, that the tirsr; man  LS:
as the culmination is Christ the  last Adam!                     m,ore than  fresh of  blood,   that  t&s  --hving  soul" that
       Image  and ultimate realization !                         1s called Adam, is also ,spiritual,, related to God and
       Type and Antitype!                                        to spiritual things, capable, too, of being the image-
       Adam and Christ; the first and the last !                 bearer of God, and even destined to be  extiieu   rar
       And both  bhave their own. Both stand at the head         above all thmgs  even in heaven and on earth.            2 et,
of those that  sare incorporated in them. The first man          the first man Adam is not spirit, but emphatically
represents all, so that when he sins and falls, all are          `kd", a living soul. By God's double creative act  LX'
dragged with him into the ruin of sin and dEath;  the            formation from the dust of the ground, and the in-
last Adam stands as the representative Head of ail               breathing of the breath of life, not two beings were
that are given Him of the Father, ,so that when He               formed, a material and a spiritual, but ,ma.n, the one
brings the perfect sacrifice and satisfies the justice of man, was made, and  this one man, that one being
God, all are justified  through Him and drawn unto               that is called Adam, is such a union of the dust-formed
Him in gl,ory. Bloth are organically the head of their           organism and the inbreathed spirit that he is a living
own. For, the first man Adam is the father of all                soul. For, his life was earthy and in every respect
th,at are earthy, the bearer of the earthy human na-             limited to and by the earth,  by  the very dust from
ture, through sin corrupt and in the power of death;             which  he was taken.       Through the medium of his
and his earthy, corruptible and mortal nature is trans-          earthy organism, formed from the dust, he had no
mitted to all that are of him. Vanity of vanities,!              direct contact with spiritual, with heavenly things.
Evolution from the ear%hy to the heavenly, from the              His life was dependent on the earth from which he
mortal to the immortal, from the corruptible to the              was taken. By the earth it must be nourished and
incorruptible there is not, there can never be. The              sustained ; to the earth i,t belonged. His eating and
last Adam  is the organic Head of all His own, the               drinking were earthy.        His perception was earthy.
bearer of the heavenly nature, spiritual, incorruptible,         He saw earthy things, ,he heard earthy sounds. Even
immortal, glorious and in power; and He transmits                heavenly things he contacted only through the media
His nature to all His own, not &rough natural birth,             of earthly forms. He thought in earthly terms. He
but through spiritual rebirth. . . .                             did not and could not see face to face. The highest
       The resurrection! . . . .                                 freedom was not yet his.
       For, as we have borne the image of the earthy, so             Such was his soul-life, in his psychical body, in the
we shall also bear the image of the heavenly !                   midst of and in organic connection with all earthy
       Of the last Adam, the Son in the flesh                    things.
       The first-born among the brethren.                            The first man Adam was made a living soul!
       The risen Lord!                                               But the Iast Adam was made a life-giving spirit!
                                                                     The Lord is that Spirit, and where the Spirit of
                                                                 the Lord is, there is  l~iber&y
       The life-giving Spirit !                                      That the'lwt Adam is made a spirit surely does not
       Such is the excellency, t;he pre6minenc.e  of the last    imply that He has no body, that He was changed into
Adam over the first.                                             a spirit even as the angels are spirits. Even as th.e
       For, the first man Adam was made a living soul,           saying, that Adam was mLade a living soul, does not
the last Adam is made a quickening spirit                        signify that he was like the animals, that there was no


r
                                          T H E   S T A N D A R D   BEARER-                                                                               315
     -____-                                   ".""-^.^"^.."..."  ..........I..... "-" ,..-_..  "I .._.. I__       -.-.-.....  "._ _....... "-
     spirit in him, so the expression "quickening" spirit"                               The first Adam was made a living soul.
     with application to our Lord in glory, does not mean                                The last Adam, however, is become a life-giving
     that he is a bodiless being. For, he is risen indeed!                        spirit!
     But he is raised, not in the psychical body, related to                             Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
     and limited by things earthy, but with the pneumatic,                        Christ! For such a Lord, that is a life-giving spirit,
     the spiritual body of perfect freedom, perfect instru-                       we need. We are dead. Naturally, physically, spirit-
     ment of the glorified spirit, no longer subject to the                       ually we are dead. And from the bonds of death we
     limitations and laws of an earthy life, but with the                         cannot deliver ourselves. But the living Lord is power-
     perfect freedom of the life of God's heavenly taber-                         ful ! The risen Lord is able ! He is the quickening
     nacle, with the spiritual eye and spiritual ear, the                         spirit! He .is able to make us alive with Him, to de-
     spiritual power of perception, the perfect medium of                         part His own glorious life of the resurrection unto all
     perfect spiritual contact wi*th the heavenly world, of                       His brethren. And He does so, in the hour of regene-
     fellowship with God, of seeing Him  ,face to face, of                        ration, when the dead hear the voice of the Son of God
     know.ing even as He is known. He is raised with that                         and live, and when we are begotben  again unto a liveiy
     nature in which Re is able to inherit the Kingdom of                         hope. . . .
     God !                                                                               And He shall do so in the hour of the resurrection,
        He wns a living soul, like unto His brethren in all                       at the last trump !
     things.                                                                             For, the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be
        But He lay down His soul-life ; He poured out His                         raised incorruptible, immortal !
     soul unto death, freely, in perfect obedience. . . .                                Christ is the life-giving spirit!
        And He was made a quickening spirit!                                             He shall impart His own life to us in heavenly per-
        All that is of the earth earthy has fallen away                           fection.
     forever !                                                                           Quicken and glorify our humiliated bodies.
         His glorified spirit finds its perfect medium in  His                           And make them like unto His own !
     resurrection body.                                                                  Our mighty Lord !
        The Lord is that Spirit!                                                         A quickening spirit EIe WCLS m&e.
                                                                                         For, the last man is, the Son of God come into the
                                                                                  ff esh!
        The quickening spirit !                                                          Great is the mystery of godliness !
        Adam, the first man, was living; Christ, the last                                He is &d of God, Immanuel, God with us. And
     man, is lifegiving!                                                          as the Son of God, co-eternal with the Father and the
        Adam possessed life.                                                       Holy Ghost, He has the life in Himself. He is not
        Life, for man who is made after the image of God,                         merely living, but the very Source of life. He could
     is the movement of his whole nature after God ; the                          say: I am the life ! And He became like unto us, not
     constant agdaption  of his entire being to God. To mind                      by divesting Himself of the life of the divine nature,
     the mind of God, to think the thoughts of God's heart,                       but by entering into the likeness of our sinful flesh, by
     to will the will of God, to delight in the pleasures that                    joining Himself to us in our darkness and death ! . `. ,
     are at His right hand, to know Him, to love Him, to                                 And in that likeness oiE our sinful flesh He, the Son
     seek `after and find Him, to know an,d taste that He                         of God, the life, tasted death for us!
     is good, to serve Him with all the dfelight  of our soul                            In death He so laid down His life as a living soul,
     and with all things; to experience His lovingkindness                         He so poured out His soul,  ,that He merited the right
     and to dwell in His house, to have that intimate fellow-                     to give life, glorious life, eternal, heavenly, resurrec-
     ship with Him which is the operation of the  covenant-                       tion life unto all His brethren, that were in themselves
     bond of friendship,-that, for man, is life!                                  worthy of death through sin. And God set His seal
         As living soul, in an earthly measure, Adam pos-                         upon His atoning sacrificial  wlork by raising Him from
     sessed that life!                                                            the dead, and giving unto Him that glorious life which
         And  ehe might eat of the tree of life in the midst of                   He was to impart to all whom the Father had given
     the garden.                                                                  Him. And He was exalted into the highest glory, and
         He was endowed with true knowledge of the living                          received a name above all names, filled with all glory
     God, with true righteousness and holiness.                                   and honor and power in the highest heavens.
         He lived, yet he was not life-giving. He had no                                 And He received the Spirit of promise!
     source, no fountain of life in himself. The source of                               And He poured His Spirit out into His Church,
     his life was elsewhere, was outside of him, was from                         which is His body!
     moment to moment. in God only. His life was only a                                  He dwells in us ; imparts His life to us ; makes us
     reflection, a vibration in ,him of the life .of God. He                      like unto Himself!
     could lose it. By turning away from the living God                                  Christ, our Risen Lord !
     he could lose himself in the darkness of death.                                     Quickening spirit !                                     H. H.


326                                           T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
-- _.. "_-             ____--._-.-."..^  ..- "-.-..                                                    _- ..-.....    . ..d
                   A Mortal's Sorrow                             Oh, beloved, it is the caricature, of  t.he prophecy that
                                                                 God speaks in their hearts that  ar,e slowly, maddening-
                                                                 ly slowly breaking ! It is the prelude, the sad prelude
        Lif,e with its sorrows !                                 of the long, long traii'in  hell !
        Life with its tears!                                         Sing on your sad songs, oh world of sorrows ! It
        IJnless my  mem.ory  fails me then the above two         is  fitting,   ,entirely fitting! I much rather hear them
lines are found in a song of, the world.                         than your jazz and swing. When I hear the former
        I find an answering echo in my o,wn heart when I/can cry with you, for I am of the same frame ; but
I hear the songsters of the worl,d  warbling such melan- when I hear the latter, when I hear the hearty laugh
choly songs. And  ho.w they are able to emphasize the and the joyous ( ?) strains of peppy musiq then I taste
sentiment found) in t,he above l,ine. The suund and in-          of the abomination. Is it not true? There is only
flection of their voices, the wai;ling  of the violin, the merriment possible when the Father kills the fatted
hush that follows and the hush that precedes - it calf in heaven. Therefore there is "only one `place where
all brings home to  yen the untold suffering, the  ,&art-        enjoyment is proper and that is the church.
breaking sorrow of the world, There is indeed a                      Life with its sorrows! Life with its tears!
veritable school of melancholy music and songs. Even                 True ! True, indeed ! Th,at is the proper definition
some 0-f the most beautiful classics; yes, sometimes of the world life of sin-soaked humanity. Sorrows and
I think the entire repositioire  of classical music to have tears because of untold suffering of the body and ,cf
an undercurrent of deep despondency.                             th,e soul.
        And this is as it should be.                                 Thbe Bible has a word for it. It  #is called there
        The music of the world ought to express the life the sorrow of the world. Which worketh death. Oh,
of the world. Especially the life of the heart of the            how terrible.
world.                                                               When the  worl,d  expresses its sorrows then she
        That  hea.rt  of the world is sad and sorro8wful.        falls deeper and ,deeper into the yawning abysses of
        No, it .is not always evident. I wail1 admit t-hat you death.
hear and see a great deal  lolf laughter and  enjfoyment.            And because we are of the same frame by nature,
You hear time and again of their thrills and good we know that this is true. Do you not remember that
times. But, rightly considered,, this so-called enjoy- you sang of your suffering and wrongs and that when
ment and `laughter, this thrill and gcod time really you poured lout your heart in self pity and melancholy
,emphasizes  t.heir  sadness. Only the fool laughs in th'e groanings it all  ileft your heart still aching while rack-
,depth  of the night.                                            ing sobs caused your frame to shudder? Ah, it did not
       But, oh, the heart of  the  world! It is so sad, so       help. It worketh  deat.h.
inexpressibly scrrowful,  that a man cannot find. fitting            And the deepest cause is theological. It never
words to  cexpress  it. Therefore  th*ey sing such sad was a sorrow after God. It was not a sorrow acoord-
songs,. They have an uncontrollable urge to give vent ing to God. It was not a sorrow after the manner of
to their so3rrow  and they experi.ence  some kind of re-         God. (verse 9) When God beholds the breaking hearts
lief when they either sing of it or hear it sung by              of the worldlings in their melancholy singing and
other sufferers.                                                 groaning then He is filled with wrath over them. They
       The songs that have a very sad theme are liked do  not behave in their sorrow as they ought. Their
best of all. And they live Zongest.                              sorrow is not of a kind with th'e Divine sorrow over
       Long before "the merry-go-round broke down" the sins of humanity.
there was the  melancholy  strain of a "home on the                  Ylou see, belove,d,  there is a Divine reaction against
range"  ; and long after the silly strains of the "banana" sm  wheich  we might call God's sorrow over sin. Its
sung d.ied away, never to be revived, sh,all the world root is holy Self-love He luves Himself so much, that
go  aa singing of the "goldmine  ,in the sky" with its           when He beholds the monster of sin upon the earth:
heartbreaking cadences.                                          "It grieved Him at His heart". And when that Divine
       And this is entirely natural. `It is as it should -grief  finds expression we hear the roaring  flood upon
be. All the silly songs that speak and warble of light the earth and the yelling  .of millions of godless people
and love and merriment are not the life of the heart             who d,ie in the flood. That is Godly sorrow over sin.
of the world. When you would interpret the  heart-               Properly it is hatreds Iof sin.
life  lof the world, you must sing of "the long, long                And so the church grieves and groans, sings and
trail awinding"  and,  ,of Poe's soul-rending "Never-            warbles of sadness and sorrows.
more". Instinctively the world knows and feels that                 There is sadness in the church. From this point
it is born for abject misery. Not only for this life of view you may say that the history of the church
but also for the life to come. Have you never noted              is a tragedy that is written and lived in bitter tears.
that the "goldmine"  is "far, far away"? An& that the You may dtefine  the life of the church from this view-
trail to untold happiness is always so "long awinding"? point to be Godly sorrow.


                                        T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                                  ::37
_-."  ..-  ---".."   ..-- --  ..----         "--.l..^-.-l."."".-  . ^ ..- - .__ ~__ .-...-.----            -    -             _-__.-.-._.----  I___
    Its most beautiful expression you find in the Lamen-                       And David, the beloved: "Against Thee, Thee only,
tations of Jeremiah, but we hasten to add' that in all                   have I sinned, and done  this  evil in Thy sight. . .  ."
t,hs books of the Bible we may fin,d its theme and all                         Or Job: "Wherefore I abhor myself and repent in
the saints speak 09 it and sing of it; and pray it.                       dust and sushes."
    Ah! Listen to this: Dan zou  geen schaamt mijn                             And what shall I more say, for the time should fail
aangezicht  bedekken !                                                   me. Shall we tell you of dohn who fell #down as dead
     Its root, dear reader, is the  love of God. It is at the feet  ,of the glorified Saviour or Peter who
founded in righteousness, holiness and purity.                            begged Jesus to depart out of his dwelling because he
    You see, Christian is the child of G.od, Therefore                    was so very sinful? Shall we  t,el:l   ,of  Habakkuk and
he loves his Father. And loving his  Fath,er  he  lo,ves                  Nehemiah whose face was  sad before the king -of  the
all His  .attributes,  ,a11 His praises and wonders.                      heathen? Shall we tell of the  publican  who would not
    He loves them all because he is recreated according so much as l.ift up his head to heaven land the prodigal
to the image of God. All these praises find a shadow, son who exclaimed: No more worthy, no  more worthy
a replica in him. In the inner heart he  heho,lds the to be called Thy son: make me as one of Thy  hire+
righteousness, the holiness and the purity of God; and lings ?
he loves them. There is no goodness and loveliness                              No, beloved, we shall not tell of all of them ; it is
that he does  rzo-t.  love. Thherefore he sings as the dar not necessary. Remember, ah, remember, th.e night
is long: H~our love I Thy law ! It is my meditation all of weeping, when you could not sleep because of grief
the day !                                                                 to God. When you did not dare raise your eyes, when
     But there is another law in him and that law is the you .did not td'are pray. When you indeed knelt down
law of sin. Christian is also of the earthy and, seeond- by your bedside, but when you could find no words to
ly, the move&s  ,of sin remain in him to  h:is dying day.                 express the sorrow for sin. When in the darkness
And these movements of s!in take him in captivity so only a sigh' or two escapes your anguished breast and
that he does not do the things he loves, but contratily,                  your pillow was witness to a sorrow that really rent
they cause him  $0:  ,dlo the thing he abhors. And there your heart. Do we not all sing in God's wonderful
you have the sins of the people of God. As long as                        church:  I dare not raise mine eyes !? My sins are
they are ,on this eartht  they are sinners and sin every more than  I can count! Gena ! 0 God.  hoor   mijn
day in connection with all their thinking, speaking gebed!! The blind men at Jericho's gate: Jesus, Thou
and acting.                                                               Son .of David ! have mercy on us !
                                                                                That sorrow is wonderful !
     Bnd when Christian beholds all that corruption                             W'hen those  tea.rs and  Lsighs are interpreted in
and abomination he grieves, he bows his head in sor- heavenly language the angels begin to sing and the
row. He grieves because he  h'ates sin and he  sorro,ws                   Son of God bows down to the anguished, saint in un-
because he arealizes that all his sin is an offence  to God.              speakable mercy. When you dare not raise your  eyes
God he loves and in his deepest heart he wants to be to heaven, h&en bows down to you and the halls of
well pleasing to Him, while he realizes that all  his sin the heavenly Jerusalem resound's of music and  Id'anc-
is grieving to God. That is the deepest cause of h,is                     ing. There is joy in heaven with God's angels over
sorrow.                                                                   one sinner t,hat repenteth.
     List.en  to Jeremiah: The Lord is righteous ; for I:                       Godly sorrow worketh repentance.
have rebelled against His oommandment: hear, I pray                             Unto salvation.
you, all people, and behold my sorrow! Jerusalem's                              Sorrow that bears the stamp of  Gcd's approval
 filthiness is in her skirts; she remembereth  not her                     makes glad in the last instance. It is the theme of
 last end; therefore she came d,own wonderfully: she heavenly glee.                                                                   G. V.
 had no comforter!
     Or Daniel: Ol$ Lord, the great and  dreadfu:l  Go:&,
 keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love
 Him, and! bo them that keep His commandments; We                                                  IN MEMORY
 have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have                              Bij  dezen   betuigt   de  Kerkwaad  der Protestantsche  Gere-
 done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by d'eparting                      formcerde   Rerk  te Redlands, California hunne  hartelijk   deel-
 from Thy precepts and from Thy judgments! (First nenting met haren lceraar en gezin  in het verlies van zijn Vader
 he had spoken: "I Daniel was grieved in my spirit in
 the midst of my  boldv, and  the visions of my head                                                      PETER VOS
 troubled me," 7:15)  a.nd later: And whiles  1  was en bid hem Gods v&roosting  toe in dit  vwlks.
 speaking, and  pray.ing,  and confessing my sin and the                                                        Namens de Kerkcraad,
 sin of my people Israel. . . . 9 :20. Showing that also                                                               A Porte, Vice  Pres.
 Daniel saw his sin and  &rieved over them in Godly                                                                    M. Gaastra, Scriba.
 sorrow.                                                                         Redlands, California.


328                                    T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
.-......- -^"  -^^ ."    _"-._-         ..--.-. -._-..---.-  . -._-.l--"..--.l-.^.."_.                 .__- - ..-. -- ..."-    -
    Repentance  Preaching  In  Holy  Writ                      Therefore all who are incorporated into Christ ,by a
                                                               true and living faith, belong to the Seed;
          AMONG THE GENERATIONS OF THE                            Bearin,g  in mind this relation, wh,ich  exists between
                         HOLY SEED.                            Christ and the church, it is not difficult to understand
                                                               that repentance is preached in the line of the Holy
       In our study of Repentance-Preaching in Holy Writ Seed. In one of our former  articles we observed that
we have thus far seen, that repentance preaching ,is           repentance is only preached in and through Christ.
primarily an act of God,. It ,is His work, and His work Now if repentaace  is preached only ,in Christ, it fol-
alone.                                                         alows that it be preached in that sphere where Christ
     As a work of God it is performed in and t1lrozs,ql~       dwells by His Word and Spirit. For Christ is  the
Christ Jesus our Lord. Through Immanuel, the Word-             Anointed' of ,t.he Father. He is such as the Prophet,
Incarnate  Qud preaches repentance. He never preaches          Priest and King of Gtd. It is the first of these offices
repentan.ce  apart from Him. Therefore, so  wc say, of Christ that claims our attention. As the Prophet
repentance is not preached in the Word of God in crea-         of God He stands before God to speak to us in His
tion. It is in creation,  t,he "things made" that God          name. And when He speaks, He says the things that
from the creation of the  world very  clearly reveals          Hce sees and  h,ears.    He does not speak of Himself,
His eternal pswer and godhead. This Gad so in His              but that which, His  Senlder  has instructed Him to
infinite wisdom does, in ord.er  that man shall be for- say. And He can speak the Wiord  of G.ccl, for no one
,ever  without excuse. The Word of God in creation "know&h  the Father save the Son, and (he) to whom-
teaches man that God is God, and presupposes the               soever the Son wiI1 reveal (Him) `J Matt. 1127.
state `of rectitude. The preaching of repentance pre-             And when this Prophet of God speaks the Word.
supposes the state of guilt and sin. And therefore He is sent "to His own" (John  1:ll.).  He  ,is sent
Gz&`s Word in  creat,ion does not call to repentance           to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. In fact` He even
and to confession of sin.                                      refuses to go outside of Israel. Having received the
     Repentance is preached in Christ, the elected head flesh and blood of the children He preaches to them.
of God's church. It is preached by God in the  sphere          "Repent ye for the kingdom of  Go,d is at  h.and".  He
cf the Promise. Repentance preaching is positively a d.oes n.ot preach this to all. For He is not sent. to all.
manifestation  (of the sovereign grace of our covenant He is come to seek and to save the ,Iost of the house
God. And this grace is only revealed in our Lord               of Israel. Luke  19:lO.
Jesus Christ.
     We no.w  come to our next observation.                       Christ, however, did nat only speak th'e Word of
                                                               God when He was  pewonahy   up.on  th,e earth. In
     In this vbservation we wish to show that repent- "sundry times anid divers manners" God spake unto
ance preaching as an act of God is oonfined to the             the  fn;t#z;ers  by the prophets". Heb.  1:l. The pro-
limits of the Holy Seed.                                       phets were busy diligently ensuiring and searching
     Repentanoe is in scripure lim.ited  to certain genera-    into the things pertaining to the fulfillment of the
tions, to wit, the generations of the people of God.           ,promises, to wit, the salva.tion of our souls. It was the
     In our study of this subject we notice first of all       Slsirit of Christ which in them did signify, testifying
that the giving of the Promise, and t,he preaching of before-hand, the suff,erings  of Christ and the glory that
repentance are very closely interrelated. Th latter is         should follow. I Peter  1:ll.
not conceivable without the former. Repentance is
preached within the sphere of the covenant of God                 But the labors of the prophets were unto the
in Christ Jesus our Lord. Only in the sphere of the            "fathers". They were not for "mankind.". And the
promise of the eternal mercy of our God is the preach- "fathers" are the believers of the Old Testament Dis-
ing of  repenta,nce  possible.                                 pensation. They are the generation of the children of
     And these promises are given and fulfilled within Gold. They  icire in the line of the  Eoly  Sme:ed  in the
the limits of the Covenant generations  historicallv.          midst of this world!. They are of Christ. Who is the
To  many of these matters we wish to call  attemiun in         Root of David. the Holy Seed. The prophets did not
this article.                                                  live outside of this Seed. Outside of the Holv Seed
     The Word of God teaches us, that the Holy S,eed is        God did not raise up His prophets. HO~W could it ros-
centrally Christ. In Gal. 3 :16 we read : Now to Abra-         sibly be otherwise. God works in and through His
ham and his seed were the promises madBe.  He saith Christ. He is also born in the Holy SeeId'  historicallv.
not, And to seeds as o.f many; but as of one, and to           He is t,he Ro,ot  of David, David's royal Son. And the
thy seed which is Christ.                                      nrophets  receive their anointing and calling in Him.
       It is very dearly  a.nd explicitly stated here that     Then how  ecuId  the  nroo,hetic  Iine be  outsit&  of the
Ch&sf;  is the H,oly  Seed. This He is centrally as the        generations of the Holy Seed?
chos.en  Head of the church: He is the Promised Mes-              Nay, not in Ishmael, Esau, Mdab or Amelek dlo the
siah in whom the Promises of God are yea and Amen.             prophets appear. And therefore it is not in these


                                   T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                          829

nations that we find the preaching of repentance. Only          Noah  not only built the ark, but he was also a
in the generations of the children of God!                  preacher, a prophet. He preached righteousness, in
   It is very interesting and fascinating to note the thee days of  elxtreme  unrighteousness.
fact that the prophets are in the Holy Seed, even in            And so we see, that before the days of the flood, the
the history of God's Covenant before the catastrophe preachers of repentance and *of the just judgment of
of the flood!. Here we find also the preaching of re-       God, were present in the generatons  of the Holy Seed!
pentance. But not in the generations of the children            After the flood God does not alter His course. II,e
of Cain. The Scripture record which we possess of           does not raise up prophets in the line of those who
this early history of God's covenant is indeed brief.       dwell outside of the pale of the Covenant Seed. Also
But in the brevity of form, we me told that there were      here God is the LORD ,of the believers an'd their Seed.
two  peo~ple upon the earth. Immediately the Word
of God to our first parents had gone into effect. The          Noah has three sons, Shem, Ham and Japhet. Ham
children of grace  ,and mercy became manifest, as well      is cursed, and is to be the servant of his brethren. Ja-
as the children of God's sovereign wrath. There is          phet also temporarily falls outsiide  of the line of `t.he
manifestly a great enmity between the two seeds ; the       Holy Seed. In the .dispensation  of the fulness of t.imes
seed of the woman and the seed lof the serptent.            he is destined to dwell in the tents of Shem, but for
                                                            the time being the children  .of the promise  ar,e not
   Scripture traces the history of the generations of found in his gene&ions. The elect of God are gather-
Cain unto the sixth generation, namely to Lamech the ed from the generations of the children of Shem. Sorip-
infidel. In these generations you do not find the pro- ture painstakingly reveals to us the historical  trend
phetic line of those who preached repentance. True          and development of this line.
also here there is prophecy, but not the prophecy of
light and truth. It is the prophecy of the Lie ! It is         This holy line runs in the generations of Abraham,
the prophecy breathing the wisd.om that is from below, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, David, Christ. Always in this
and is therefore earthly, natural, devilish. Hear the line there is an obvious narrowing down of the line.
bold and God-defiant speech of Lamech! And Lamech For a while the Holy Seed is in the it.welve  tribes of
said unto his wives, Adah and Zillah: Hear my voice Israel, but presently ten of these tribes are carried
ye wives 0-f Lamech, hearken unto my speech ; for I off into the captivity and are doomed to. extinction.
have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man As a nation they are no more. Then only the tribe
to my hurt. If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly of Judah remains. It is  .ouit of Judah that the Shiloh
Lamech seventy and sevenfold. lit is the bold prophecy shall come forth, in whom the Holy Seed shall forever
of the lie. Here is  not the preaching of repentance.       stand.
   Turning to the sacred record of the Holy Seed, the          And it is also here again that we see the line of
generations of Adam in the line of Seth, Eaos, Cainan, the prophets in the generations of the H:oly Seed. Not
etc. . . . we find the prophets of God present. Here outside of Israel was there ever a prophet of the Lord.
dwell the righteous saints, who find favor with God.           All the pro.ph&s  are in Israel. Each prophet stands
Fvr we read that "they walked with God".                    on the shoulders of the former prophet who has pro-
   The first prophet of whom it is explicitly stated phesied before him. And last of all came the "greatest
that he was a prophet is Enoch, the seventh from tof thos.e born of women", John the Baptist. He also
                                                            preached repentance. He cried in the wilderness, "Re-
Adam. What  ,do we read of him as a  prophett? We
read in Jude  1.4 that Enoch .in his generation had pro- pent ye for the kingdom of God is at hand".
phesied saying, "Behold, the Lord came with ten th,ou-         Finally the cent,ral  and chief Prophet appeared in
sands of His holy  ones,  to execute judgment upon all, the person of Christ. He preached repentance in the
and to convict all the ungodly of  all their works of Name of God. Not in the world .at large, but in the
ungodlness  which they have ungodly wrought, and of house of Israel.
all the hard things which the ungodly have spoken              And so it is today, that God in Christ His chief
against Him".                                               prophet is still preaching repentance in `the house of
                                                            Israel, the chur.ch of God in the midst of this world.
   We quote this passage merely to demonstrate, that Ile gdoes this no longer personally, but now through
in the Holy Seed the prophets of God are present.           His Word and Spirit. For we have the more sure pro-
   Another clear and striking instance we have in the phetic Word, unto which we do well to give heed as
case of Noah. This "father"  is  d,esi,gnarted   to have    unto a  ligha shining in a dark  place, until the day
been a "preacher of righteousness". In II Peter 2:5 dawn and the day-star arise in o,ur hearts. II Peter
we read: "And spared not the ancient world, but  pr+ 1:19.
served Noah with seven others, a preacher of right-            The Prophetic word is now also in the sphere  of
eousness, when He brought a flood upon the world of the  chil,dren of light. There is where repentance is
the ungodly.                                                preached.- The Spirit of Truth, leading into all truth


3.70                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
                                            -.. _--- .-_ ___- ,..-......  "-.- "111---.-_--.-"  .._.-..._ I.I_-_  .._. -. l..--.-_l__-._._    ._.... _.
has been given unto the Church, the Israel of God.
Jc&m  16:13;  Gti. 6  :16. This Spirit the world is  nr;t                                   The  Offering  By Blocd
ablfe `to receive, because it sees Him not, neither does
it knaw `Him. John  14:1'7.   4nd  men as it does not                            It was shown in the previous articie that the un-
have this Spirit, thus aiso it does not possess Him from mistakeable teaching of Moses' iaw is that the blood
whom the Spirit proceeds, namely, Christ. The world cf goats and of bulls tolck away sin, that these cr&-
in the New Testament  dispensation   does not have the                   tures laid bear the iniquity of bhe offender and through
Christ, the Anointed P<roph&  of God in their midst,                     their d,&h atoned for his sin, and that, on the other
instructing them in the way of life, righteousness, sor- hand, the explicit teaching of the New Testament scrip-
row Eor sins, and the crying after the living God. Only tures is that "it is impossible that the bibod  of goats
the church, the heirs of everlasting life, who are 1~~; a                and (of bu#s s,houl*d take away sin". Various attempts
true and living  fa.ith ingrafted into Christ, receive the               have  been made by students of scripture to harmonize
preaching of repentance. For if  wt'i: he in Christ  wz                  these apparently contrary scriptures  ; but none  e0.f these
are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the Pr:- attempts, it was foun,d,  `were successful. It was shown,
mise! Gal. 3 29.                                                         further, that harmonizing these scriptures is really  a
                                                                         simple matter. The thing to  %$a, it was pointed out, is
        Today Christ still has the office of prophet in the              to place upon the t,eachings  of Moses the very construed
church to preach repentance. First of all their is the                   tilon that the writers of the New Testament scriptures
office of  prophet,  as it is in all the believers. The                   place upon them. "The  law", so we read in  the epistle
believer has the Anointing of the Spirit.  "And as to the Hebrews, `thad a sha.d.ow  of, good things to cdnie
for you, the anoinking we have received of Him abideth and not the very image of the things", Ail was symbaf,
in you, and ye nwd n,ot that any one teach you; but type, and thus unreal. The animai  sacrifice therefore
as His anointing teacheth  you concerning all things,                    bore  s.ymbolical,ly,  thus not really, upon him all the
and is true and is no lie, and even as it taught you,                    iniquities, and if so, it must foll.ow that the blood of
abide ye in Him". I  Jlohn  227.                                         Christ, and this alone, can take away sin. As to th.e
        We have here a very clear passare  beaching that                  real worth of the anima1  sacrifice, it was pointed ont
the church is the body of Christ. consisting of  i>ro-                    that this sacrifice was a symbo1  that together with the
whets of God in Him. A people who know God in the                        spoken word of God formed the instrument through
face  .cf Jesus Christ.                                                   which He revealed to His people that without shedding
        But this is not al! that scripture teaches  concerning auf blood there can be no/forgiveness of sin, that thus
the office.                                                              Zion is, shall be, redeemed with judgment and her
        Christ has alsa instituted the special  oflice   (of  pro- converts with rightzousness.                          And to His people, the
nhet in  $,he church, the Holy  Seed.  Todav  this  of?ice               animal sacrifice was the medium through which
is that of t;`he minister of the Word of God. He rnll'ct they could give, and ailso gave, .expression  to their faith.
teach,  a*dmonish,  comfort, reprove,  rehvke  with the                   Th*e qu,estion  was also raised arid answered whether the
Word of prophecy, that the man lof God mav bl fur- true believers rested in the animal eacrifioes. It was
nished unto every good work!             For repentance is               shown that this could not possibly be. The reason
preached in the line of the Covenant. th,e Holv Seed.                    is, so it was pointed out. that there was too much evi-
        Let us briefly summarize what we have found:                      dence to the believers that the animal sacrifice could
                                                                         not truly avail. Many sins could not even be covereId
        Firstly, that Christ is the Seed lof Abraham. the                by the blocd  of this sacrifice. Two such sins  Cadnltery
Root of David, in Whom repentance is  preached. Go3                      snd mur,+>er) were committed by David. Yet he found
only preaches repentance in Him.                                         forgiveness but solely in the wav of reuentance.  When
        Secondly, that all those who are in Christ b.v a tr!le           he therefore prayed. "Blessed is he whose transgres-
and living faith. are the Seed of Abraham and heirs                      sicn is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the
according to the Promise.                                                man IInto whom th,e Lord imnuteth not iniquity," his
        Thirdly, that these believers are sound in srezifi:               eve was singled solely to the Lord.
                                                                           *.
generations historically.        These generations are in                        Let us now proceed from this point.  Ho.w keenlv
Scripture designated as the  H~oly Seed.                                 aware the believers of the Old Dispensation were that
        Fourthly, that as well in the New Dispensation as the blood of the animal sacrifice  oould not truly avail.
in the Old, Christ is the Prophet, who  through   3% bllt how, on the other hand;. they were also made to
Spirit and Word preaches repentance in the specific.                      und,erstand  throngh the  inst,rumentzzlity  of this  verv
generations. The  w.ord  of repentance is only nreached                   sacrifice that sin in order to be forgiven must be atoned
in the sphere of the generations of the Holy Seed !                       and covered, is evident from this very prayer lof David.
        More will be said on  t.his subject in a following This prayer reads not. "Blessed  is he whose sin is
article De0 Vole&e.                                                       covered by  th,e  blood   of  the  mimd  swcti.tice."  but it
                                         G. C. Lubbers.                   read?  $mply,   "Blessed   &  &?  whose  sin is  csvere$`,


                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                            331

That we have not to do here with an arbitrary omis-              between that shadow sacrifice and the true Lamb of
sion is evident from this, that, nowhere in the Old              God to which it pointed was not, to be sure, that by the
Testament. scriptures does  une come upon a prayer in            latter-the Christ- the church came to a different
which this expression occurs. T,his being true, the              knowledge of God than it came to by the former. The
conclusion is warranted that the  leason  it does not            difference is that from the face of the latter the glories
occur in the prayer under  co,nsideratl;on is that the           of God shine forth with such unprecedented brightness
Psa'lmist   hard! been made to understand that the blood         that to see Christ is to see God as He is.
of bulls and  ,of goats did not truly atone sin.         Yet        That God even immediately after the fall brought
he was fully aware that sin to be forgiven  m~sC be              into being a rite-the animal sacrifice-setting forth
atoned. This the animal sacrifice  ha.d impressed upon           the truth that without shedding `of blood there can
his mind and upon the mind of every believer. The                be no forgveness  of sin, that thus Zion cannot other-
proof of this is the very prayer, "Blessed is he whose           wise be redeemed than by the power of holy love,
sins are covered".                                               shows with what power God is devoted to His right-
   But now further. If the psalmist did  n,ct pray,              eous and holy Self, with what great esteem He regards
"Blessed is he whose sins are covered*  by the blood of this S,elf, and what as the Saviour o*f His people His
the sacrificial animal," neither did he pray, "Blessed           primary and highest concern is, namely, that His
is he whose sins are covered by the blood of a human             pe,ople  see His glory and cry out His praises. How
sacrifice, Who as to His person is God". Expressilons            His wrath must therefore kindle when men come with
such as this are not found in any of the prayers of              a philosophy  of  salvation that bedims `His glory---His
Old Testament believers. It was not until after the              righteousness and mercy-changes this glory into a
sending of the Spirit that the church gave, and could vile lie!
give, expression to the truth in this form. It shows
that the Old Testament believers' knowledge of the                  It was just said and also shlown  that the Old Testa-
mystery of redemption was as imperfect as the  djispen-          ment believers  were made to understand that the blood
sation to which they belonged. The further evidence of bulls and  ,of goats could not take away sin. From
of this is their conception of the tmne forgiveness of this it follows that they must als~o have been ma.de  to
sin. As they understood it, to be  fo'rgiven  was not look forward to the bringing in of a sacrifice that could
also to be vested with a positive righteousness but was truly avail. And this in turn warra.nts  the conclusion
merely to be freed from the guilt an.d penaltv of sin. that at least those especially enlightened were also
The Psalmist prays not, "Blessed. is he to whom  the given to understand that this sacrifice was. had to be.
Lord imputeth righteousness," but he prays. "Blessed made by a moral-rational being. This the Lord had
is he to whom the Lord imputeth not. iniquity". And intimated to Abraham through His commanding him
the reason iniquity was not imnuted t.hey knew to be to offer  UP  Isaac as a burnt-offering.  The  command
that iniquity was, better said, would somehow be, reads,  "Tak'e now thy son, thine only son Isaac. whom
covered',  tha.t is, atoned. Thus they knew that. th:e for- thou lovest. and get thee into the land of Morrinh : and
giveness that was theirs  was  just, that they were saved        cffer him  ther.e for a bnrnt-offering  upon  one of th
with righteousness.  But'who was to atone sin.  ho\?.            mountains which I will tell thee of." Bv this man-
the Lord could justify the ungodly, on the ground                date the Lord causes Isaac to momentarilv  stand out
of whose merit, they could not exnlain. Of what God before Abraham's mind as one who bears his iniquitv
was purposing to do, when  the fulness of time was and who will atone for his sin. And this Isaac u-i11
come, to wit, send forth His Son, made of a woman.               also do. yet not Isaac but the seed-Christ Jesns-to
made under the  la.w, to redeem them that were under be called in Isaac and of which  Isaa,c, as led  to the
the law, they had no adequate understanding.  The altar, is. as compared with the animal sacrifice. a more
sending forth ,of the Son, `what the Son as sent forth aerfect   nrefiguration.           It cannot be otherwise than
was to accomplish, formed the mystery "which bath                that this command, as sanctified to Abraham's heart.
been hid from ages and from generations. but now is              must have strongly suggested to him that the  &rue
made manifest to His saints : to whom  Gold would make atonement was  n,ot being made by the  dumb creature.
known what is the riches of the glory of this mvsterv whose blood he was  dailv shedding. that it  wild  thus
among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope have to be made bv a lamb-&e Lamb o,f Grid--Chat.
of glory. Cal.  1:26, 27.                                        God would provide Himself for a burnt-offerinn. That
   The reason that the .animal sacrifice. though b-It ilbraham  was  pro,hibited  from  actnallv  o%%rinp:   nn
a shadow, could serve as the means of grace wherebv              Isaac. must have intimated to him that this lamb  wa,q
the elect of the Old Testament could be saved. is  tha.t         not to be an ordinary mortal human. The mere human
this sacrifice set forth, as well as the reality of which sacrifice was in the eyes of God an abomination.
it was  thee prefiguration, nrecisely  t.hose  virtues of God       This command that came to Abraham.  toe&her
- His justice, mercy and truth- that men m&  have                with what it reauired of him, must have been pondered
knowledge of in order to be saved.  Th.e difference by every thoughful believer who came after: It may
                                                                               ."                        .

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

not be so strange therefore that when the people of parents with th,e promise of a seed, who should gain
.Israel at Sinai turned from the Lord to prostrate the ascendency  over the malice ,of the devil. In sub-
themseives   betore  the shrine  or the golden calf and sequent history this  pr,omise was  retierated  over and
through their doing so committed "great sin", Moses over and each re-iteration shed new light upon this
came  ,to the Lord with the petition that he be  per- seed, who, in the  final instance  IS Christ. In the pro-
nutted~ to make an atonement for this sm. Said he phesy to which Jaoob in his dying hour gave utterance,
to the Lord, "Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, he appears as the Shiloh whom the nations will render
and have made them gods lof gold. Yet now, if thou willing obedience; and in the prophecy of  Balsam  as the
wilt forgive their sin; and if not blot me,, I pray thee, star who shall smite the corners of Moab, and  destroy
lout of thy book w,hich thou hast written."                      all the children of Sheth. The book of Psalms especial-
   The petition, "Yet nowj if thou wilt forgive. . , ."          ly is interspersed with lively descriptions of both the
may, if taken by itself, mean, "Y'et  now, if thou wilt sufl'erings and the triumphs of this promised, deliverer.
forgive their sin, it is well ; but if thou wilt not forgive,    Such  a description is Ys. 22, "Be not far from me ;
let me perish  titlh  them".  Some  t&e Moses to have for trouble is near and there is none to help. Many
meant just this. `However, if this be the  constructi,on         bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan  have
to be placed upon this petition, it is expressive of ,an         beset me round. They gasped upon me with their
impio,us sentiment--this sentiment, "Lord if thou  canat mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion. I am poured
not forgive, let me perish with this people; for the tout l.ike water, and all my bones are out of joint: my
love that I bear them is so great that the thought of heart is  like wax ; it is melted in the  mid&  of my
being with thee without them is unendurable.         There- bowels. My strength is dried up'like a  potsherd   ; and
fore, if thou must consume, let Thy bolt strike also thou hast brought me in the dust of death. . . . For
me. For .I will not be  s.eparated  from this people." dogs have compassed me: the assembly of  lthe wicked
But such speech can rise from that soul only aflame have enclosed me: they pierced my hands and feet.
with rebellion. But Moses was a man of exceptional               I may tell my bones: they look and stare upon me.
piety. What brought that petition of his over his                They part my garments  ,among them, and cast
lips was zeal of God's house, concern about the honor lots upon my  vesture".                  Also the triumph and
of Glad's name. If God consumes them, the Egyptians conquest of the Messiah were predicted by this pro-
will slander. They will say, "For mischief did He phet-the prophet David-of God, "Yet have I set my
bring them out". Moses' prayer is therefore to be king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare thy
paraphrased thus, ". . . .but if not, if thou can& not decree : the Lo& hath said unto me, Thou art my Son ;
forgive, except their sin be atoned, let me die for and this day have I begotten thee. Ask  .of Me, and I shall
in their stead, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book and give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the
spare them.`" The petition, so explained, agrees with uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou
M.cses' declaration to the people, "And now I will go            shalt break them with a rod of ,iron;  thou shal$t dash
up unto the Lord ; peradz;enture I shaJL rna'ke  cm atone- them in pieces like a potter's vessel." Ps. 2 5-9. And
ment  for  yo-df. That he had before his mind not an again, "The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my
anima1  but a human sacrifice (the sacrifice of self)            right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.
is evident from this, that `he beseeches the Lord to blot        The Lord shall send the rosd ,of thy strength out of
him out of the book of life.                                     Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. . . .
   Now there can be no ,doubt that Moses' insight into The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art
the scheme (of redemption went deeper than the in- a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek."
sight of any other prophet or saint of the Old Gove-             Ps.  110:1,2   -4.
nant. (The one possible exception is the prophet                     That these scriptures concerned not David but
Isaiah). It was with a shining face that he dlescended           Christ  cnly is evident from such statements as, "Thou
the mountain of God. What was this lustre other than art priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. Bles-
the radiance of a heavenly gladness filling the soul  lof sed are they that put their trust in him. :I will give
a man wh.o had mediated into the revelation given him thee the uttermost parts of the earth for thy posses-
and had seen, as no one before him had seen, the glory           sion. The Lord said unto my Lord". And the pro-
of his redeemer-God. Yet from this  it does not fol- phet must also have known not merely that the words
low that he alone  lof  ,all  t.he believers was given to        to which the Spirit through him gave utterance con-
und'erstaad that if God's people were to be truly saved cerned not him, the prophet, but another, but also that
fr.cm all their sins, something mure was required than this other was more than a  mere man. For as the
a mere anima1 sacrifice.                                         conscious agent of the Spirit, to be sure, He pronounces
  There was in the old Testament dispensation a Mes- blessed all those who put their trust in Him, the Son.
sianic hope. And every true believer,, certainly, fled Ps. 2. In P,s. 110, he calls this same Son his Lord;.
for refuge to lay hold upon this hope set before him.                Wseae  the believers of the old covenant made to
Immediately after the fall, the Lord came to  tour first perceive  Ithat this bruising of the heel of the Seed,


                                           T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                           33.3
.-               -"-l.~".--.^..^  --.-_                   _--  - - ".___l_l            -- ^___ ~^_ .-l_--..__l  ..__
this  suifering   cof  t.he Servant of Jehovah was to atone the ratification of the covenant, thus sent at a time
the sins of God's people. Was the  blood  of the animal when the distinctions of the Mosaic ritual had not
sacrifice and  Re whose griefs thy described in any yet been introduced, "offered burnt ofl'erings  and sacri-
way associated in their minds? The only prophet who                ficed peace offerings of o.xen  unto the Lord." Ex. 34 :5.
ascribed to the suffering of Gad's Servant atoning Nowhere in Holy Writ does the ancient church appear
value is the  prophet  Isaiah. He it was who declared, as offering still other kinds of sacrifice. The conclu-
"He was  WoundedI for our transgressions, He was sion is therefore warranted that in those ancient times,
bruised for our iniquities:  tthe chastisement of our the burnt- and the peace-sacrifice were the only kinds
peace was upon him  ; and with  HIs stripes we are                 oRered.  What is more,  t,here  must have been but
healed. . . .and the Lord hath laid upon Him the in- slight variations in the manner in which these two
iquities of us all." To the truth in the form of these kinds of sacrifice were dealt with by the pre-Mosaic
words no other prophet gave utterance.                             worshippers, so that much of what they felt when
      Did then the believers see Christ in the law of the they offered, had to be expressed by word or be allowed
old dispensation, in that shadow sacrifice? If what to exist in their silent consciousness.
is meant is wheth'er they saw Him as He is now being                   The order of the five kinds of sacrifice (this order
seen, through the glass of the New Testament scrip- was: sin-, trespass-, burnt-, peace-, meat-offering) in
tures, the question must of course be answered in the the Mosaic sacrificial system was  net arbitrary. In
negative.       How could this be? If however what is this system the sin- and trespass-offering had to be
meant is whether, being aware that the animal  aacri- given first and the burnt-and peace-offerin,g,  as suppli-
fice CO~I.&  not truly avail, they cast themselves upon m'ented by the meat-offering, last  pIa& And this for
J,ehovah?s  mercy and expected the true sacrifice  with the reason that the things that are necessary for God's
which He would provide Himself, the  questian  may be people to know, that they may live and die happily,
answered in the affirmative.                                       are first, bow great their sins and miseries are and
  Let us now have regard to the kinds of animal sacri-             how they may ?X delivered from their sins and then
fioe.                                                              Eas&?y, how they shall express their gratitude to God
      There were several kinds of sacrifices, namely, for such deliverance. One of the great lessons of
the sin-, trespass-, burnt-, peace-, and meat-offering. scripture is that in leading His people into the truth
The kind last. mentioned; was not a sacrifice by blood.            by which He *actually  frees them from their sin, He
All these kinds of sacrifice were need.ed to bring out always, and this from the nature of matters, takles  His
the whole truth in connection with the wurli of Christ; starting point in sin, and that thus in saving His people
they were needful to the believer as the instruments               His ,first  consideration is that they may be made to
for the adequate expressi,on  of the faith that was in behold against the dark background of their sin and
him, of his contrition,, gratitude and praise, thus of na.tive  depravity, His ma.tchIess  moral purity and right-
the response of his heart to the grace of God that he              eousness and, as so beholding,  und*erst&d  that by
experienced. The manifold riches of this grace called themselves they are n,ot worthy even to direct their
for just such an elaborate ritual sacrifice, if anything gaze to His holy sanctu,ary  and, as so understanding,
Iike a complete representation wax to be given and sun- confess that they are but dust and ashes but yet, not-
plied, namely, a shadow service in the face of which withstanding, the beloved of God and thus forgiven
every feature of the redemption and. salvation of the and saved solely for Christ's sake. But, as ever mind-
elect of God stood out in plain relief, and thus a service ful ,r?f this, His people, as urged by the love that He
that as performed in faith and  love betokened all the sheds abroad in their hearts, also, as His grateful chil-
hall,owed  and variant states and feelings of the true             dren, serve, praise and' adore Him for the mercy  that
people of God.                                                     He causes them to experience and thus  "nresent their
      It was by this elaborateness that this ritual  eacri- bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God.
fice of Moses' law excelled in usefnlness that.  of the which is their reasonable service".  Ram. 12  :1. And
preceding epochs.             As was shown, the sacrifice by so praising and adoring,  they have  fellowshin  with
blood `dated from the fall; but until the law was im- Him through the Son. Such is His will. In that
p'used  upon the promise,  t.he ritual of this sacrifice Mosaic system, therefore, a  place had also to  he  &en
was marked by grea.t  simplicity. We learn from scrip- to the burnt-offering (the  offering that esneciallv svm-
ture that prior to the coming of the law, there were bolizes the whole-hearted devotion of the  r?.eo+ of
but two kinds of sacrifice: the burnt~offering  and, the           God to Him and His service) and, the peace  or praise
peace-offering.          And these must have differed but offering and the. meat offering. that  bet,oken.ed   t.he
slightly. Of Noah we read that, upon leaving the ,airk,            fellowship of the believer `with Jehovah. Without the
he "builded an altar unto the LordI; and tank of everv offerings, last named, the system would not have  be,en
clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered  burnt comnlete. It was preciselv  in t.h,ese offerin"gs thnt, this
offerings upon the altar." And the young men of the system reached its kulmination. The reason, certainly.
qh;i!dren
         .~ . .   pf  @raeI,   sent  by  Mose;e~  on  the occasion  of for Christ's saving His people by  Hi?  blood%  is  that


334                                  T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
                                             --.__-"-
they may testify their gratitude t,o God for His bless- feited by his sins, but by sins that were  covered and
ings and, that He may be praised by them. But these           that therefore were ect calling for his condemnation,
are matters that will be d,ealt with when the several         that, finally, whereas all was of God-his gain, all
kinds of sacrifice will have been entered on. Atten- the fruits of his *labor-he by the grace of his God
tion must first be directed to the name that the  sacri-      cxmsecrated  all his activity, his very life and all his
iices bear in the law, namely, corbnnim  (in the &original    power, to the Lord his Sav.iour, Who had redeemed him
Hebrew),  from  the (Hebrew) verb  ca,rc@, meaning from all his sins and had taken him for His peculiar
to draw -nigh. Thus the sacrifice was a  corban  (trans- treasure. Because the believers of the Old covenant
lated  offt?%g in our English Bible), namely, that with ofiered  as standing in this faith and as so disposed,
which the ancient worshipper drew nigh to the Lord,           their offerings were a sweet savor to Jehovah. This
enthroned between, the cherubim of the Ark of the             it is quite needless to say that these believers  tdid not
covenant that rested in the holiest.       H<E,nce, in the offer as addicted to the view that the Lord had need
gospel of Mark, this  corbm  is transl,ated  by the Greek of their gifts or that He delighted,, as a human, in
word  dooram,   meaning literally  c&  gift.  Thee place in those material things as such. God is spirit, to be
the aforesaid gospel where this translation occurs is worshipped in spirit and in truth. His meat is not the
verse 11 of chapter `7'. Here, we read, "If a man shall       bread that perishes but the praise that He works in the
say to his father or mother,  C&ban,  th,at is to say, hearts of His people..  And only inscfar  as those gifts
a gift. . .  ." That the things presented for the altar were the embodiment  aof the state and feelings of a  so&
were signified by the name  gifts or  o~~whgs  is the that thirsted after the living God could  Headesire  them.
mere deserving of notice as this name might b,e applield         It is also needless to say that the believing Israelit,e
to everything with which the worshipper approached            did not ,cffer as thinking that by his gifts he had to
the Lord,-namely, to the free-will offerings which y&n for himself God's goold will or induce the Lord
were contributed by the people for the building  o;E the to show him favor; or thinking that through his giving
tabernacle ; to what was afterwards required for the          he merited the favor he sought. It is under the im-
support of the daily service, in particular the  half-        pulse of such  sondid  motives that the godless offer.
shekel which was first exacted from all grown males Their sacrifices are therefore an abomination in His
at the dedication of the tabernacle, and served as their sight. Also when a man  o,ffers  his material things to
ransom-money, and was afterwards regularly exacted God, his offering must be trully a sacrifice of praise.
to be the memorial offering "to make atonement for 4nd if it is this, it must be t,he outward manifesta-
their souls"  ; and lastly, to the tithes, first-fruits, and tion of all the above-stated sentiments.  H'ow  could
free-will off.erings  that went to support the ministers one  Z%Y&XC!  God to show him favor? 1s Go,d a man, that
of the sanctuary. That all these gifts, those presented He can be swayed by His creature? And how can He
for the altar as well as the others, might be designated' become indebted to man by the things that ma.n places
by one name, indicates that they all had something in upon His altar? Are these things of man? And what
common, n,amely  this, that all were dedicated toe `the kind of a Father wouBd God be, if His children had t3
Lord for sacred use and that all served as the medium promt Him by their gifts and cries to be merciful to
of communion between Jehovah and His People (the them? Must an earthy father be induced by some
true  beli.evers)  and thus as the medium for the ex-         petty gift of his child to love it? Must  th.e parent
pression of their faith, love and devoticn.  What the         be driven by the cries of his child to care for it? No,
believing Israelite td.eclared~  by his coffering  presented indeed, but his ear is inclined to the child's cry. God
for the altar has already been stated. In substance it careth  Bcr His people. And His mercy is sovereign.
wa,s  this that the  off,ering  was  God?s gift to him for    And it is by the power of this mercy that His peopl,e
a covering of His sins, that thus however deserving are saved. And the earth is His footstolol.  It belongs
he was of the pun,ishment  inflicted upon his innocent        solely to Him. It is as standing in this faith, that His
substitute (the sacrificial animal) , he was nevertheless people offer to Him also their material things. It is
one to whom Jehovah imput&h  not iniquity and thus only th,e children of grace who can truly sacrifice.
one when as freed from all his sin, be!onged  to Jehovah                                                  G .   M .   0 .
his faithful  Savionr and therefore stood ready to yield
himself by His grace with bod$y and soul to His service.                             NOTICE !
These were the sentiments of  wh.ich  the sacrifice was          The Third issue of the Series of Sermons on the
the sign and: the expression. And the sentiment that Book  ocf Romans, chapters  9-11, being  writt.en  by Rev.
the believing  wlorshipper by his other gifts gave ex- H. Hoeksema is now available by writing to the Sec-
pression  to was in essense this that all he held, his retary  cf the Committee, F. Pipe, 946 Sigsbee St., S. E.
substance   (and his  very life, was of Jehovah,  t.he su-    Grand Rapids,  Mich. Cost is  lOc per copy. Please
preme  Ilord of all the land which he together with  h& send cost with the order so that the committee can
br,ethren  had received for a possessibn, that the `Lord's continue the publication of the series.
gifts  to&m were in unbroken continuity being  for-                                       The Publication  Co,mm.


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__.- __._--  ___._- "" ._-....       ___  ^ I___ ..-...........  -^-.             - .-.                      -__^--                     ._I
                                                                                   of God afresh and thus put Him to open shame. Who
       Love  More  And  More  Abounding                                            does not know of men, who, at the time that they made
                                                                                   their public confession, began well, but some time af-
                             And this  T pray, that your love may abound           ter, perhaps years, began to languish spiritually and
                        yet more and more in knowledge and in  all                  to exhibit such love for the world and its pleasures and
                        judgment; that ye may approve things that                   sins as to cause the brethren to doubt whether they
                        are excellent; that ye may be sincere and with-             actually were true children of God. What they first
                        out  offence  till the day of Christ.                       in their zeal denounced they could later on  aprove.
                                                               Phil.  153, 10.      What was first repulsive to them, they afterwards
     So wrote Paul to his brethren at Philippi. "TX.s sought. Their interest in the affairs of the kingdom
1 pray. . . . " The church at  PhilIppi was numerically waned. They contributed less and less to the support
small. It was poor and  persecuted.  It is deserving of the service until finally they found it hard to part
of notice therefore that the apostle does not pray that with even the smallest coin. It was with increasing
this church might be freed from persecution, prosper dimculty that they eventually couId keep their mmd
materially and grow in numbers but this that its on the sermon until finally they lost  all interest in
love might abound. . . : This has weight with him. tne truth. If at first they went up to the house of GOU
It may be doubted that he ever prayed ,even for ces- w&l joy and as often as there was opportunity, tney
sation of persecution. In  -th.e sequence of his epistlcl l,ater on discovered that it was only with ditiiculty  that
he does make mention of their adversaries when he they could drag themselves once to the  churcn.   It
writes that they be not terrified by them but that they was as if their feet were of lead. `l'hey,often  somehow
consider that unto them, His people, it is given in the succeeded in the sabbath in ,imagmmg themselves phy-
behalf of Christ not only to believe yin Him but also sux~~ly  unable to be in the house of God. So they would
to suffer %or His sake. . . .                                                       idle their time away at home. Toward everung they
    "That your love may abozmd.  y . ." that is oucrrf'low.                         would put on their best clothes and go joy riding and
The torm of these ,words shows that the apostle sees                                visit friends and then, to ease their conscience, would'
thus  love spring up as a well-spring up to God its attend some meeting for public worship somewhere
Source in praise and thanksgiving and in all  gocd sn the way. They declined spiritually in respect to
works.  And the believer is this spring; for the love                               every duty and in every place and relation of life.
shed abroad in his heart `5s not in him a thing apart They became worldly and loose-living. It became more
but is part and parcel of him. And what is the spring- and more plain that the things on earth formed their
ing up of this love other than the good works of the                                treasures and that thus on earth was also their heart
 redeemed one, his confessing and witnessing, the praise and walk. What were those men, what are the likes
and thanksgiving that issues from his heart.                                        of them in their latter end? Dried-up springs? Hardly
      The apostle tells them that he prays that this iove                           this. In the sphere of grace, there is actually no such
may abound, spring up more and ,~MxY?. And so :it is thing as a dried-up spring. For,  unce a living spring,
and shall be. This prayer is answered, for God so always a spring. So the conclusion to which, this
wills as the apostle here prays--wills that the love of drives us is that  t.hese  men had never truly loved.
His people abound more and more and thus, as the                                     Their initial godliness was but a form. It went not
God. and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ He ever mu,ch deeper than their Sunday clothes.
multiplies unto His  chii,dren Christ's grace and there-                                   Every pastor, I suppose, has had this or that sheep
fore love does abound ~~o?e anid more,  the redeemed                                 say to him, "The older I become,, the bigger sinner I
do, grow in grace and in knowl,edge,  and there is such                              become in my o,wn  eyes." Let the pa&or  not be too
a thing as coming unto a perfect man, unto the mea-                                  ready to reply, "Feel assured, brother, what you say
sure of the stature o,f th,e fulness of Christ.                                      of yourself is an  umnistakeable sign of growth in
      But is there not also such a thing as an &bounding                             grace".     The man may belong to the class of men
 less and less, a drying-up of the spring? Do there not described above. If so, w,ha.t his testimony indicates
 seem to be examples of this in scripture? There are                                 is simply, that, though he began well, he in thought
 those, we read of such in Christ's parable of the sower, and conduct became disobedient to  th,e truth., so `that
 who receive the word with joy, mark you, with joy, but he now stands o,ut before his own mind as an apostate.
 who, as they have no root in themselves, endure for                                 If this becoming more and more a greater sinner in
 a while only. When tribulation and persecution arise `our own eyes is due to a steady growth in grace, we
 because of the  wor.d,   they  m-e offended and apostatize.                         are walking cot with the worId in the way of sin but
 Then Holy Writ  (Heb.   6) speaks of those who were with God in the way of His covenant.
 once enlightened, tasted of the heavenly gift, were                                       If a man truly became a living spring, his life,
 made partakers of the `Holy  Ghost, tasted the good                                  taken on  `a whole, will shew that,  de&e the  fact
 WO&  of God, and the powers of  th,e word  ho come, and                              that his disobedience amounted to but a small begin-
 later on fell away and crucified to th,emselves the Son ning in this life, his love abounded more and more.


txci                                                        T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
.-..___. --.---  --......_  - ..-...-...  "..." .._.._..        ..~."      ----.-" .._... "-       _.....,. ."_                          ..__"  ..- _
        "I  pray:' says the apostle, "that your love may a- multitude of ways pointed out he has knowledge of
bound more and more in knowledge and in judgment," and is aware of their fundamental errors and weak-
that is, in the kno,wledge  of the things  exc,ellent, ,the                          nesses."    Stupendlous ! I wonder if the minister is
th*ings  of God, fin knowledge of God and of Chr.ist  and                           supposed to know his Bible. It seems to me that if
of what He accomplished as the Saviour  of His people,                              before *arriving at the end of his career, he succeeds
in knowledge of God's will and of the grace that He                                 in knowing somewhat his Bible, h.e does pretty well.
causes His peoJple to experience.                                                         If this knowledge (of which the apostle speaks)
        Now the knowledge of these things is not of man                             is not of natural things, neither is it a mere thecretical
but of God and are contained in Holy Writ. Hence knowledge of spiritual things.  ,4 man's mind may
it fellows  that the first fruitage ,clf t,he apostle's prayer be stocked with knowledge of scripture, of things
is th!at they who truly love feel t,h.emselv,es  more and                           spiritual, but if that knowledge  was not acquired under
more attracted to the Word of  Go& that more and                                    the impulse of true love of God, if that knowbe,dge  is
more they search Ohis word, endeavor to work their not Eoved, if it is not being held by a mind a,nd heart
wa.y into its meaning. that more and more they will                                 that loves, if it does not at once form the content  of
avail themselves of every opportunity to be instructed a living faith, if it is not lived and witnessed for be-
out of this word. For they realize that if there be no                              fore men, if it is not something of w.h.ich a man can
increase of understanding of this  wlord,  their love can- truthfully say that it is to be preferred above rubbies,
not possibly abound more and more in knowledge.                                     --it, this knowledge is to a man a savor of death unto
Hence, one of the marks of a man that truly loves ,is                               death. Knowledge hurts a man,  ,if not saving. If
that the law (word) of God is his meditation day and                                a man be destitute of  graoe, it  ,were better that he
night.            And so  lone of the marks of a. man whose                         knew not at all. The man that does not do what he
godliness is mere form is that he  k,nows  no urge to                               kinows to be the right is cursed. Thus, that the
apply himself to the study of God's Word. It does not ,apostle prays that his brethren may abound in know-
speak well for a Christian man that he has time and                                 ledge, shows that they love and that he loves them.
money for everything except for books and magazines                                       If there be knowledge  t,here will be judgment, that
that the  Lor,d  places within his reach for leading him is, the spiritual talent and capacity, to taste, recognize,
,deeper into the truth of His Wlord.                                                know, th.e things excellent and also the things that,
        It is not without meaning that the apostle in enum-                         because of their being lout of th.e world and not out
erating the things  be prays for, m.entions first know- of God, are base'and vile. If a man dwells with God,
ledge aacl then jud.gment and lastly walk, conversation.                            which he does if his luve abounds in knowledge, his
(The statement, "that  you may be sincere and without spiritual power of discernment is keen, and he in-
ofFence"  appli,es  to Christian coeduct). If there be no tuitively knows the  t+hings that are excellent and the
knowledge there can fr;cm the nature of things be no                                things that are vile, so that the devil cannot deceive
right judgment on the part of a Christian man, and no him, for he is quick of understanding in the fear of the
right conduct. Doctrinal preach,ing,  so much dreaded                               Lord.
by some, is so nece+ary. And if there be love, there                                      And now finally, capable of approving things that
must be a thirst after doctrinee,  knowle,dge,  truth. For are excellent, they who love will be sincere and without
the thirst after knowledge is at bottom a t,hirst  after offence  till the day of Christ.
God.                                                                                      Sncere,  (that is, pure, not defiled with the con-
        The knowledge that the apostle h.ere  speaks of is. tagion of the world, of the vile things out of the worl,d.
Lo be sure. spiritual. It is a knowledge not of natural                             Bnd the man who loves is sincere, as he is quick to
but. of spiritual things. A certain brother said this                               discern thle things excellent and the things base and
in one of his most recent addr;esses, "Discoursing on                               therefore cannot be deceived. Being sincere, he is
the requirements of the minister of the  gosrel,  he de- without offence  as his walk is upright and thus ap-
clared, "His mind is  well stocked with  ItnowIedge.                                proved  by'the Lord. A Christian man is an <offence  ho
`EX,e knows something about his ph.ysical self and the ,his brethren when he is defiled with the contagion of
physical world about him.  Ee knows the world  of the world, and he is defiled when he allows his flesh to
men, both  individ.ual  and society.                          He understands reach out for the lie of the devil anld the base things
the various t;orms and movements, social, economic, out of the world, to Iive this lie and to feed upon these
t~olitical,  religious, nhil~osophical,  scientific, aesthetic, things. Then thtis man wa.lks  for the time being in sin
moral. (Well! well! G. M. 0.). He knows not only his andi is an  offence  to every one  who contacts him.
present  worId, but the world of the  vast.  He  is  a~- Then his brethren stumble over him. This is a sad
iruainted with the ways of men in various times and state of affairs.
climes. He has studied the rise  anId fall of one move-                                   Believers must be without offence  and they are this
ment after another. His mind is saturated with in- essentially, as kept by the power *of God unto the ap-
formation on history. He knows,  to% the  systems of pearance of Christ and therefore are not ashamed at
thought that now prevail and have  brewailed.  The I-Iis coming.                                                                G. M. 0.


