158                                    T H E   S T A N D A R D  BEARER
              --.           - - - -   ___.
            A Letter From Manhattan                           every Monday morning we would again rearrange the
                                                              Why must the coming of Prof. K.  Schilder  be boy-
       It has been several months since the readers of cotted? Why is the Rev. H. J.. Kuiper afraid of a re-
the Standard Bearer have heard concerning our labors vival of the  `Commum Grace'  controversy?   Why  do
in Manhattan, Montana. First ,of ,a11 we may say that not some of the leaders of the Christian  Reform&
we  have labored  Fhere these several months with great Churches, who secretly agree with Dr. Schilder,  Grey-
joy and may believe that the `Lord has a'so rhere given       danus,   D.e Graaf and  .others,  of -which  there must art
us  an  lcpen   door. Every week we are privileged to         least be some, come out into the open? Is it because
preach the Word to a fair and attentive audience  of there .is a consensus of opinion in this matter? Not
about 70 to 75 individuals. Many, who have become             accordincg  to the official declaration  of the Synod of
more and more convinced of our sincere desire to lead         1924. We read in the official acts of the  synod of 1924
them into the truth of Gcd's sovereign grace, as inter-       the following exhortation: "But to urge the leaders
pret,ed  by our Reformed Standards, have invited me ,cf our people, both ministers and professors, to make
into their homes, to discuss with them more intimately        further study of the doctrine of Common Grace; tha.t
the difference  bekween  us and the churches that have they give themselves account, carefully of the problems
so cruelly cast us out. Many of the older ones, when that present themselves in connection with this matter,
they come to hear us', give expressilra  to their surp&z,     *in sermons,  lectures  and publications. It is very de-
when they may  ,again hear `de  gcede  `oude  gerefor-        sirable that not a single  indivfdual   clr a small number
meerde  waarheid. They understand and love the Re- of persons accomplish this task, but that many take
formed truth, and for that very reason are dissatisfied       part in it." In another connection we read: "Partici-
with the condition of the Christian Reformed Churches.        pation in such a discussion must be general as possible
T know there are many .&hers that  wtould rejoice with and  mu& not- be limited to a single group of churches."
us in the  unadult~eratid  truth Nod the Word of God, but What shall we say concerning this  exhertation  in the
who hesitate or are afraid to come becaulse  they have        light of recent history?' In one word it is sheer hypo-
been warned and admonished to have rmthing  to do crisy. Why was such a task never undertaken? Why
with us and  our doctrine. When these  pe&e  right- is it that when an esteemed and honorable theological
fully inquire of their elders or of their pastor concern-     Professor of Kampen, makes further study of the doc-
ing our Protestant Reformed Church, or  abc,ut the trine of Common Grace, and carefully gives account of
`mysterious' Three Points, then I do not believe there the problems that present themselves in connection
is an elder that can give them an intelligent a.nswer,        with this matter, is placed under a cloud of  suspicica,
and the pastor shamefully hides behind the1 o!d alibi,        and a shameful attempt made to boycott his conltem-
"these things have been d,iscussed so much and have           plated tour of our shores? I am more than ever con-
been threshed over and over  again, ,that he does not vinced that the synod of 1924 and the Christian Re-
consider it wort,h his time to discuss them anymore."         formed Churches of to&y, wlere not then and are not
   I regret, more than I can say, this R,omish popery today, vitally interested  `in the  tmct~h.. They are more
of warning the people against ,our person and doctrine,       interested in denominational security than in the wel-
without telling them the reason why. Making every fare of Zion, in temporal ease and wellbeing than in
possible attempt to keep them from the pure unadulter- the truth elf the Word of God. This  attitudie literally
ated preaching of the Word of God. Lest we should             permeates the Rev. H. J.  Ku&z's editorial in The
be accused  of laboring in secret, which we never &J$         Banner concerning Dr. Schilder's contemplated visit.
we made it a pcint to first call upon the pastor and also     We are sorry  to say that this dictatorial and popish
the consistory,  to a@,ure  them, that ,in all our labors attempt to frustate  Dr. Schilder's  visit has had its de-
in their midst, we were constrained by the love of Jesus :&red `affect here in Manhattan. After being presented
Christ and only sought the true spiritual welfare of to the congregation in ,such a way that everyone could
Zion. That it was not our purpose tcl raise discord and feel that his visit was not very welcome, the matter,
sow the .csds of dissatisfactioa  in their midst, but to      afiter a heated discussion, was dropped. 0, such hypo-
promulgate the truth of God's sovereign grace,  from crisy! On the one hand an exhortation to make fur-
which their church had ot3icially d,eparted since 1924.       ther study of the matter, but woe unto the men, or
Time and again we have attempted to  cpenly discuss group of men, that set themselves to the Itask.
these issues. First with the pastor and also with the            Since the fjrst of Nofvember  we have been meeting
.consistory, but all in vain. Finally we ch.aIlenged the in a building of our own. The first few months of our
pastor  ,&CX  an opendebate, (See an "Open Letter to  Rev.    labor here we conducted services in a country  Glchool-
A. H. Bratt", in this issue} but also this has remained house. These services were conducted every Friday
unanswered to this day.       Why can we not have a an& Sunday evenings. Every Friday afternoon after
thorough and  b&herly discussion concerning  these            school hours we would arrange the room and place the
vital issues? Why can we not joi,n the churches in the chairs, which an accomodating  mortician from Boze-
Netherlands in  :a very lively debate on this question?       man,  about  20 miles distant, had loaned us, and early


                                          T H E   S T A N D A R D  BEARE-R                                          159
                                                                                                              .-I___
room for  schocl.     In the meantime we looked about How  d,are you, in the light of the fact that you sol fre-
for a better and more permanent meeting place. This quently emphasize the absolute  so,vereignty  of God
was quite a problem, however, in this community. The Whose purposes never fail,  subscribe  to the following
`Holland Settlement' as it is called here, is batted right &atement  of the Professor Berkhof in his pamphlet
out in the country,  .approximately  ten miles from any      on the `Three Points', as you *did before me and your
town or village, and of which Churchhill, upon which con&story. "Die verklaring moet gezocht  worden  in
the Christian Reformed Church is located, is the ec- lhet  &et,  dat God met  deze openbaring zijner liefde
clesiastical and !geographic  center. Besides the church besogde.       En wat was dat  doel? Om de goddelooze
ctnd Christian  sch.ool   there  are about ten  cr twelve `Joden   dieper in het verderf te storten? Neen,  maar
homes and one store building. This store building had om  he.n tot bekeering  te  I&dten. Doch in het geval
been vacant for about four years, it now being used 6 der  Joden  beantwoorde   bet  resulkat   niet  aan de  be-
for storage purposes. We made arrangements to buy `heling." "Drie Punt,en  in Al1.e Deelen  Gereform~rerd?'
this vacant  sprclperty  and then proceeded to clean  out    pp. 27, 28. If this is not a denial of G:d'a Sovereignty
the interior and give it`a coat of paint, and made a then I can not understand plain Holland language, and
few alterations.  Then came the problem of seats. We yet you stated that you could wholeheartedly subscribe
heard, of some benches, which had formerly adorned to this statement.
the court roolm  in the old courthouse in Bozeman, which        Time and again you assured me and others that you
we could buy for a reasonable sum. These we  placed Iheartily agree with Dr. Greydanus'  article in re "Vra-
in our newly acquired quarters, and when all was com- gen in Verband met de Algemeene Genade". In these
pleted we ,had a meeting place of which w.e could justly Brticles  I find the following paragraph:  R,efsrmatie
be proud. In this we must say the Lord had certainly         Vol. 18, No. 13, pp. 140, "Daarom  kunnen  we  niet ze,g-
provided. Even  b&re we left for Manhattan there rgen, dat *de eigenlijke bedoeling Gods, zocals die in dien
were several that remarked to us that we would not           raad is vastgezet,  ooz't geweest  &, met het go&e, dat
be abl'e to find a place to meat, and we must admit ,that IHij op aarde alan de niet verkorenen schenkt:  be&an,
this caused us more than litte concern, but also in this `gezcadheid,  kracht, verstand, goederen, hun eeuwig
*the Lord has put us to shame.                               heilrte werken, werkelijk hun voor immer het goede
    Besides preaching the Word Sunday and Friday te schenken. Al hangt hunne eeuwige ellende mede af
evenings we have just begun with a series of meetings van hun eigen misbruik van Gods  gc,ede  gaven  aan hen,
for men and young men who are interested' in discuss- zoo neemt  dit niet  weg, dat die  eeuwige  benauwing en
ing reformed doctrine in  <general  and the  issuea  aif verschrikkmg, ook aIs gevolg van dat misbruik, door
`Common Grace'  *in particular. These meetings are God van eeuwigheid is geu&en  en be+p&d  en beheld.
held each Monday evening and it is our purpose to have IEn m&t heeft God te hunnen aanzien eene andere be-
as much free discussion as possible. We also distribute a do&&g   gehad". (Onderstreeping van ens)  . In unmis-
hundred copies of each issue of the  Stand4ard Bearer and takeable language this is  just the  c#pposite from the
many are following the articles of Rev. H. Hcaekssma         teaching of Professor Berkhof. Here you must choose
written against Rev. D. Zwier with great interest.           one or the other. The latter is reformed  and h.as al-
    It is still somiewhat  early to form an opinion con- ways been -maintained by us. The former is a denial
cerning the possibilities of organizing a Protestant of God's sovereignty and teaches us that Gad's pur-
Reformed Church at this place. Neither is this really poses are sometimes frustrated by puny man. I deny
the most important question. We are thankful that that you can agree with both as you would. have me
the Lord has given us the opportunity to preach the and your ocinsistory  believe. I wish you wou!d  make
Word at this place, and that, the hearts of many are this inconsistency clear to us. If not, I will expose this
being comforted and strengthened in the truth of God's       inconsistency in an open letter in  lthe Standard Bearer.
Sovereign grace. It is our calling t3 plant and to water,       I also read an interesting paragraph .ia a late issue
and for the rest we will commit the work of the Lord of `De Reformatie' Aug. 26, un,der the caption `Kerke-
unto Him, Who alone can give the increase, knowing lijk Lever-2  edited by the Dr. K. Schilder. It reads as
that our labors are never vain in the Lord.                  follows: "Nu zou ik niet durven bceweren,  dat elke lo-
                                               B. Kok.       waging,  welke verdeeldheid  en onrust  in d'e gemeente
                           -    -    -                       *des Heeren  teweeg   brengt,  te  veroordeelen  is. De
                                                             ges&iedenis  der kerk leert  anders. Dihwijls was het
    AN OPEN LETTER TO REV. A. H. BRATT.                      God zslf, die de kerkelijke rust verstoorde cm tct nieuw
`The Rev. A. H. Bratt,                                       leven  op te  wekken. Bij de  beoordeeling  van  een  be-
MGanhattan,   Mcatan,a.                                      weging mag  a!zoo  dwit?t  de  vraa,g   overheerschen,  (en
                                                             in verband  met onzen  arbei,d  in uw midden  is dit van
Esteemed Brother :                                           uwe  z&de  altijd de overheerschende vraag geweest) of
    For the aause of God and truth I hereby come to          zij onrust  verwekt, maar mo:et worden  nagegaan  of zij
you with the following simple yet important question: &n  bets  van  G&  Wooed   ican door&an."

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

       I am willing, at any time, to show that our labors country on the face of the globe. It makes no  differ-
in your midst "de to&s  van Gods Wozlrd kunnen door- lence anymore where a man lives anymore, nor what
staan'?, by  challen.ging you to publicly  ,&bate on the the form of gcvernment  might be, w,e live in a troubled.
following issues :                                              world.
You  defending the doctrine contained in the `Three                We conceived of the idea that the world would final-
Points' :                                                       ly become ,a #safe place to dwell in. Twenty years ago
                                                                it was the religion of the world to make it  safe for
       1. a. Thak God's (grace,  gocdness,  mercy or love is    demccracy.       And it takes all sorts of idealists to make
             common.                                            people  bdieve  that  <the world not  n,ot failed in its pur-
         b. That  the preaching of  th*e  gospel is a well      pose. Besides, instead of reaching the prophesied' goal,
             meant  offer  .of salvation and that it is grace is the world not much further away from peace than
             to  a41 that hear.                                 ever before ?
       2.  T!hat apart from regeneration there is an opera-        The Church of Jesus  Christ does not expect Q world
         tion of C3cd% Spirit whereby $the carnal man is        without struggle and misery. To her it is known that
         somewhat improved.                                     sin is the cause of all the ailments of the human race.
       3.  That natural man, without regeneration, is  ab'e     She cannot remeidy  and better this world. The leaders
         to do good in the sight of Cod.                        of the Church should. never make it their business to
And I will defend the Reformed `doctrines :                     preach about a better world ncr should they  be azhamed
                                                                to. confess that this present world with all its changes
       1. a. That God's grace, goodness, mercy and love         is destined for destruction. The' facts are that a so-
             is always particular, namely over those  that      called better world does not  mea.n  anything to the
             fear Him.                                          Christizm  and even the world at  itis best is not the
          b. That the preaching of the gospel is a savour       world he exp:ects. TOI the Church is said that a better
             of life unto life, and a savour of death unto      world is awaiting her, but this world is the new crea-
             death.                                             tion when time shall be no more, the world without
       2. That apart frcim regeneration the natural man sin and corruption,.
          is totally depraved.                                     In this letter to the Corinthians, we have an oppor-
       3. That the natural man is unable to do good before      tunity to take a  look into the life of the Apostle Paul.
          God even in things natural and civil.                 And that from the point od view of his suffering for
       Your consistory  oan be the judges. I make this          the cake of. Jesus Christ. Turn for a moment to the
challenge, not in a spirit of malice but in love to the eleventh chapter where we find the  folloTwing: "(I
cause elf Cod and truth. I will await  your answer bea          speak as a fool) I am more ; in labors more abundant,
fore making this challenge public in order to give you          in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent,
time to consider it.                                            in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times  received  I forty
                  You& for the cause of God and truth.          stripes save one. Thri,ce  was I beaten with rods, once
                                                                was I stoned, thrbce suffered I shipwreck, a night and
                                               B. Kok.          a day I have been in the deep ; in journeying3 often,
                                                                in perils by mine clwn countrymen, in perils by the
                                                                heathen, in'perils  in the city, in perils in the wilderness,
                                                                in perils in the sea, in perils  ,among false brethren; in
                                                                weariness and painfulness, in watchingst  often, in hun-
                                                                ger and thirst, in fastinlgs often, in cold and naked-
             Affliction Working Glory?                          ness."
                                                                   Indeed a gruesome picture of the sufFering  seem-
                                      II Car. 4:17,  18.        ingly without measure in a world most beautiful at
                                                                that time. In that beautiful world however, the Apcsttle
       A contradiction in words.                                and the congregation, both experienced the suffering
       Dces not the one exclude ,the other? Misery and          Ec:r Christ's sake. Church and world cannot and  will
joy are not the one ,and' the same. A man in the midst          not live peacea.bly together. There is only one way out
of misery knows  of no joy and we do better not to ask          to have peace with the world and that way is to be
him, when ,he fmds himself in the midst of all kinds of         like her. When the Church understands her high call-
trouble, whether he enjoys his oclndition. Or is it wise        ing, the suffering will be present. And between the
to ask  dhat same man if he cannot conceive of the              present suffering and the future glory, Paul draws a
idea, that after his misery he may expect  da,ys  of joy?       comparison and ;he does! that in such a way, that the
   The world wil1 not be comforted wi,th  su,ch thoughts. suffering of the present time is subservient to the fu-
In our day we find trouble an every side. Troub,le  is ture glory.
the right word for every sphere .oC life and in every              When speaking of  aflliction we must never place the


                                       T R E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                          161

suffering of the world on the same level with that of holding back and trying to subdue the new inner man.
which the Apastle  speaks. How true it is theat also the The old man desires to live the life of Me earth, to
world knows about suffering. Mankind, especially to- rejoice in the thin,gs  v,isible a& tangible. We live in
day, knows it  b&ter  than ever before. Listen to your a world that speaks loudly to us. It satisfies  our eyes
r.adico and three fourths of every news broadcast is and fleshly desires & it is instrumental to seek the
conoerned  about <suffering. Or look round about you things that are below. There is harmony between  that
and pessimism and melancholy is written on every  gate.         enticing world and our sinful n,ature. The two agree
And is it not true that every home bears its own cross?         perf&ly.  Besides, the wicked  cae will never be at
And (every one of the children cb man: lives a life char-       rest when it pertains to the congregation of the living
acterized  as being much more of a  burd'en than of God. He will in manyfokl ways shoot his fiery darts.
pleasure. That  is the reason why poets and philo-              Especially in the Church he finds his field  o;f  de&rue-
sophers point out the uselessness of  iIt all, most of  lif-e tivte labors: He .is the arch-enemy of the truth of the
itself. That is the true pict.ure  o,f the wholle race. Peo- Waztd  of God. And thus  .the Christian is  &set  with
ple may be ,satisfied with s thing fur a while, but like many afflictions.
little children they will throw their  Itoys away, sooner          How paradoxical to hear `the Apostle say that this
or later.                                                       affliction is liight. Wlhat does he mean? Is it his pur-
    Yet the general suffering  $of mankind is not meant         pase to teach us that we must conceitve of it as being
here. In fact, even suffering is not general. Paul light, or take the stand, that we  can rise above it?
speaks here, as elsewhere, about  our suffering and our         The tstoics of old taught their fellowmen not to be in-
&Xction. And that our is the congregation and the fluenced by suffering, .but like man to *face it and by
Apostle.     Therefore, it  ,is a peculiar suffering-the sheer willpower to overcome pain and affliction. Take
sufferin,g  and a.Miction  as gifts of grace. The suffering a cold attituidre  over against it and be men. Even, today
for Christ  and for God's sake. It is the affliction as the we meet  <the same kind of people who teach that pain
result of the testimony of the  chiM of God,  fo,r his and  afllictica are imaginary things. All  this foolish-
walk,iw  in the ways of the Lord. Because he is not ness does not help in the least. The Lord sends pain
asham&  of the gospel of Jesus Christ, therefore the            and affliction that  we should feel them and turn to Him
world' persecutes him. According to the Apostle `they and to His Word with it.
ihave ,a treasure that ,the excellency of the power of God         Does  %he Apostle perhaps mean this ; He compares
may be r&ealed  in the face of Jesus Christ. The.y  are the suffering of the present time with the future glory?
troubled on every side and perplexed.                           The glory is eternal and the  sufferin,g is only  for  a
   From this point of view the child of God passes moment. We suffer at the most forty or sixty years,
through affliction. He received the light of the know- but  aster all what does that amount to if we consider
ledge of the glory of God. In his Me that glory radii-          it in the light of eternity ? And is it not, true that we
ates ini <the midst of darkness. His, light hs seen, he often  speak about suffering in that manner? And it is
speaks of that light,  !his ways are directed by that light.    at the same time  also true when speaking of it in that
He speaks because he  >&ways  believes and in harmony way, that we are not willing to suffer, but we accept
with the measure  vf his testimony, affliction is added         this peculiar suffering as a necessary evil. Our reason-
unto him. He hates darkness and. rejoices in the light.         ing is, as to the idea as follows : We place on the une
And darkness hates him, (the world must have none  sf           side of the balance the afffiction  and on the other side
it because the hatr& is mutual. He is dead to the               the glory ltaf come. And of course, the Iglory wins it
world and the world seeks to destroy him and make  li-fe        by far. Our cfunclusion  is `Let us suffer for a while,
impossible. The  su#ertilg  for Christ's sake  is the rea- presently the glory shall be ours'. If we could possibly
son  folr this peculiar suffering.                              be the judge in this matter we would see to it that
    Such is the picture of the Church as we find it in          the suffering disappeared, now  ho,wever,  we know we
Scripture. Enoch and Noah, Abraham and the  Patri-              cannot escape it, hence, let us use a little `spiritual'
ar&s, Israel and the saints of the New Dispensation             arithmetic and figure it out in such a way, that after
experienced that one atl-liction.     Every  man and all        all we are sot on the losing side.' Consequently, if
things  are against them. Is it wonder that Asaph  be-          this is the ease we  do! not want to suffer. Neither are
caFe angry?                                                     we in the way of the Lord when we actually make  an
    Still more. Even our own flesh and blood, the out- evil of it that must be  dealt with.  Anti there is no
ward man, must perish, because he. is a hin&ance  ;to: positive fruit connected with taking such a view of the
US.  What the outward man  consists  of? First of all,          suffering for  God'@ sake. Yes, but it makes us pray!!
Icur fleh and bloo+d'. Our earthly existence (apart from What kind of prayers are heard in such cases? The
sin). All our earthly relations,  the mode of existence         prayer that the Lord may  soon take the pain and
our  particular  placle  on  eiarth. Besides, in that flesh     suffering from us. Prayers that are not prayers and
and  blmsd, sin  loper&es,  holding  black and  (trying  to that result not in the peace necessary  to  carry  the cross'
subdue the new inner man. The old blood,  sin operates, sent to us. Don't let us be fooled by our own sinful


162                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
-..                         _____II--
heart and sinful desires. If there is anything we But a?so for this li& it is significant to knciw  that the
must learn to know more anid more it is that corrupt suffering of the present breaks down the earthly taber-
heart and  t:hat corrupt mind. Looking at ourselves              nacle and  slanctifies in such a way that it prepares
in the light of the Wlcrd is it not true that in the things      us  far that eternal glory. We will then live the life
that shoul,d  be most dear to us, we often fcc,l ourselves?      of heaven, here in principle and understand the ways
Only $he Word can help us to direct. our ways.                   of the Lord. And we will also understand the affliction
       The Apostle not only says that the light affliction and know why the ,enemies  are sent to us to* persecute
is but for a moment, but he adds that it worketh for the Church. And our will becomes one with the will
us. . . .                                                        of our heavenly Father. Thy way, 0 Lord, is good and
       Is it possible  that affliction works something good?     now let Thy way be my way. That is after all the true
Not,  of course if taken by itself. And. especially if w? spiritual experience in the midst of the affliction and
grasp the meaning of the word.  T*his  wlo,rd   a,ffliction      it will make that affliction light indeed. Thus and thus
means to be beset on evlery  side, strangl'ed  `so that death    ahne oan the inner man be made &orious and tinally
is the inevitable end. So that i:t i,s a tribute! that ends      be glorified. There is no other way.
when it takes a complete hold of us, till we are no more.           Is that the actual condition ibn, the lif,e of the Chris-
And that in itself can never be made light of. No,               tian always, you ask? So that we can at any time
but the appraisal must be found `in something else.:             make that confession? No, it is not the question
Not in the afflc,tion  M such, neither in iits short dura-       whether or not we know this to be true as, a part of
tion, because in both cases there is no positive fruit           our *doctrine.  Dogmatically we are not in doubt and
to be expected. But in the relation in which they-stand          know these things to be true. But, although the in-
to one another we find the ~explanation.      Affliction and tellectual knowledge is necessary, does it also mean
glory are bcth mentioned, and not simply compared, lthat we derive comfort ,frclm this fact? The Apostle
as cause and result. The one is necessary in connection gives us the answer when he says, `While we  I~ook not
with the other.                                                  at the things which are seen, but  iat the things which
       T.he c&IX&ion is necessary to reiach the glory. The are not seen'. First of all, by way of intithesis, the
new man in Christ Jesus must be renewed from day to Apostle  idoes not focus his eye upon the things visible
day. And that daily renewal is at the same tiame a as ,the end of it all. Not, these things  ave no purpose
further growth. Negatively  speakin.g, the life of the in themselves. The things visible and tangible and
new man is death  toa the other. The way of afflictica           perceptible belong to that which soon shall disappear.
is the way of the breaking of the earthly tabernacle. They slip away from us, because they are but for a
In th&t way alone &the) heavenly home can be reached             moment. The whole world ,and the things thereof pass
and by the. way of that process the new man becomes              away and we with them. That b the end of the things
more and. more complete to inhabit that heavenly home. which we see. Your work and labors, your relations
       Gculd not God then give us the glory without the and ,a11 that is connected with them. Your name and
afflictilon?  I am  always1 afraid of such  a question, money, your wealth land your home, yea, you your-
because not what God could do, but what He did con- selves shall not remain here forever. If that is all we
cerning us. It will also lead away from the Word when can boast of, th,at is, if we have the earth, we have nuth-
we take the pcsition  that after <all it meant not sot much ing  abidin!g.
to God to d,o the one or the other thing. God  de&=+-               But the things unseen, they remain. They are the
.mined  exo&y that wapg. That is therefore the object *heavenly  things as we  :have them through faith in our
of our study. He decided that the way  to) glory is by Lord Jesus Christ. For His is the power  and glory
and through the way  od suffering. Hard to unlderstand           for us.
someone may say, why it should be that way-the                      Thus  wee understand that the affliction is light. The
way of suffering. Well, first o,f all He decides for us          closer look by faith at the things here belo.w,  that much
and that settles ilt. But in the second place, He de-            mere  they become insignificant and also subservient
sire,d to let us see the beauty of His glory can the dark to the things that are above, those that shall remain.
background of the affliction. That He did for our                   There is another world made ready for me. God
sakes. Be decides in that light and in that same man- conceived of it in His eternal counsel-the  heavenly-
ner  all things. The terrible cross of His Only Begot-           spiritual world.. It is true, we do1 not see it as yet,
t,en Son, His death and sufferin,g,  that sinful world a.nd but it exists, it is there in the eternal conception of
all the wicked; even the devil Himself serve that pur- my God, and it shall in the iabsolute sense of the word
pose. In ione word, the Lord God planned according be fully realized and revealed.
to His determined council all things in such a way                  And th& affliction worketh. It brings us nearer to
that when this plan is  executed  in time, we may see it         it and no one can really hurt us. Also the suffering
and praise His Name for it.                                      is one of the means to bring me there. The breaking
       So it is with our light afflictions. No, not so, that dcwn of the earthly house of this tabernacle serve that
it simply brings us home. T$hat will be the final result. djvine purpose in me and for me.


                                       T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                         163
               -.-_111^-                  ____I.---
   Then the glory. I am partaker of the glory of my people, the elect, those given Him of the Father before
Lcsd in principle ru)w while I look at the thin.qs unsem.     the foundation of the world. That atoning death  is?
And as to the fu)ture, Then the renewal of the entire efficacious, i.e., has the quality of being effective,  pro-
inner man shall be  compljeted.   While  74~  look  `now      duoes  the intended ef%ect. For that death is of infinite
we have peace. And presently the glory unspeakiable           value, making complete and perfect satisfaction for
to the full. To the glory of God Triune, through JESUS sin, since it was the death of the eternal, only begotten
Christ our Lord.                                              Son of God in our human nature. The d;octrine  of the
                                                w.  v.        particular atonement is therefore of central signifi-
                                                              cance. For that atonement roots in the sovereign, eter-
                                                              nal  counsel,  and gracious will and purpose  oif Gad, It
                                                              extends to all the elect of all tribes; kindreds  and na-
                                                              &ns of all ages, whereby they receive the benefits of
                                                              ,the atonement and are led to final, complete salvation.
                                                              It reaches out to the consummatio~n  of all things, to
    Particular Atonement and General                          the new heavens `and the new earth where  fhe re-
                    Preaching                                 deemed, washed in the blood of the Lamb, will receive
                                                              the inheritance and reign with Him forever to the
   In regard to the atonement of Christ  o,ur Reformed ceternal praise of the Triune God.
theoiogy,  in distinction from all others, maintains that        This doctrine of Particular Atonement having been
it is particular. This doctrine  cC Particular Atonement established on the basis of the infallible  Wcrd of God,
as being thoroughly Scriptural  is beautifully enun- it remained for our Reformed fathers  to1 say something,
ciated in one of our Reformed Standards,  n-l., the           or rather, to confess what they believed, with regard
Canons of Dordt, over against the teachings of Armin- to the proclamation of the Gospel. The Arminians,
ianism.    The latter teaches, as is well known, that         of course, were quick to accuse the Reformed of having
Christ's death is intended for all men without excep- such a narrow conception of things that the latter,
tion, that is, that Christ died for all individuals. Hence, holding to their doctrine of particular Atonement as
the name of this doctrine, General Atonement (in the they did, could not earnestly and sincerely preach the
Dutch, Algemeene  Verzoening) . This doctrine not only Gospel  i,n general, but, to be consistent, would have to
belittles the righteousness of God but also ultimately limit their preaching to the elect. The Arminians al-
denies it. The trouble was, of dour-se, that the Armin- ways try to make the position of the Reformed appear
i,ans had a very superficial and unscriptural view of absurd. Always have and always will. But there is
the satisfaction of Christ. Since it is a fact that many more. Is not the bgeneral preaching od khe Gospel to
die in their sins {a fact which the Arminians can ani a&, also to those who do not obtain the pardon of  sim
do not deny) how can  oue maintain that God is right- and eternal life, proof that the grace of God in Christ
eous in punishing those? For Christ died for all, also is offered to all without exception? Well, on the basis
for them. Moreover, the suffering and death of Christ, of  ithe Arminian doctrine of general atonement, it
according  to1 such a doctrine, was largely in. vain. It would not be difEcult to answer in the affirmative. in
did not have the desired effect of salva,tion upon the        . a& it would be easy. If God intended. to save  a:l, it
vast multitude who perish in their sins. The Arminian,        P:lFows  that He causes the Gospel  to be preached, to
in  his zeal to  commonize  God's grace in Christ and         .:.Ler salvation to all who hear the same. Of course,
thereby (so he thinks) to ascribe great worth to thR          nothing is now said about the many who never heard
death of Christ, in reality and in  pcint of fact be-         and never will hear the Gospel preached. We are now
littles and ascribes little worth to Christ's satisfaction. limiting ourselves to the preaching or  procla.matic,n
Bavinck describes the Arminian conception of the death of the Gospel, which preaching implies hearers.  Now
& Christ as *`eene  offeraade, eene volkomene, tot in         it must be said that this view of the matter cheapens
den dood gehandhaafde>  toewijding  van  Christus aan         the  whole  Idea of salvation, and similarly of the preach-
Ccd,  welke door Hem  als  voldsendel   voor alle  zond.en    ing of the Gospel of salvaticn. Some years ago I heard
aangemerkt werd. Op grond van die offerande laat              a sermon (in a church of Reformed persuasion) in
Gad nu door het  Evangelic  aan allen  de vergeving der which salvation was presented as a free offer to all. It
zonden aanbieden, opdlat  elk, die geloo,ft  zalig wor$e;     was presented this way: If a rich man offered a gold
naar  Christus  verwierf niet de werkelijke zaligheid         watch to a poor man, the latter wculd gladly accept
vaor de zijnen, doch slechts de mogelijkheid, om zalig        it. Now salvation is infinitely more precious  th.an  a
te warden,  voor allen."    (Dog. III, 379, 380) .            gold watch. But in  th,? same  w#a,y as the rich man
   Over against the heresy of Arminianism our Re- wauld oKer  the watch, the Lord offers His salvation
formed Fathers defend& the Scriptural doctrine of t.o ycu all, ~to all those in the audience. Now we know
Particulas A$tonement,  that is, that the death of Christ ,that salvation, that Christ and all His benefits, is not
was the substitutionary atonement for the sins of His to be compared with an article. What poor man would


164                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
                                          -"                                  -.
not take a gold watch? But-how many wretched sin- ized in the believers in time. In time and eternity the
ners despise, ridicule, and scorn salvation as revealed chosen enes are the objects of God's grace. In connec-
in Scripture and  procIaimed  in the preaching thereof!            tion with these articles we must read the Rejection
But saivatio,n  is a gift, it is given, not offered. It is of Errors at the end of this second. head of doctrine,
given to all those and only those  Ito whom God eternally n.l., VI. Here the Reformed  fathers reject the error of
purposed to give it, toi those whom He has sovereignly those who teach the following: "that God, 88 far as
chosen from eternity in the Belcved. As to the preach- He is concerned, has been minded of applying to all
ing of the Gospel, it is not some good  advice concerning equally the benefits gained by the death of Christ: but
which we can say: take it o.r leave it. It accomplishes that while some obtain the pardon of sin and eternal
all that which God purposes. Therefore the preaching life, and others do not, this difference depends on their
of the Gospel is and can never be in vain. It is evident own free will, which joins itself to the grace that is
that if it were an offer it would largely be in vain.              offered without exception, and that it is not dependent
       Our Reformed fathers w,ere  not led to the denial on the special gift of mercy, which po,werfully works
of the general preaching of the  Gospel  of particular in them,. thtat they rather than others should appro-
atonement. Following upon their confession of the doc- priate unto themselves this grace. . . ." Such is the
trine of particular atonement, we have the confession              teaching that the Reformed fathers rejected  as the
of the general preaching of the Gospel (Canons II,  5).            de.structive  poison of Pelagian errors.
Here it is: "Moreover, the promise of the Gospel is,                 Here we notice the Pelagian error, in reference to
that  whcsoever believeth in Christ crucified,  sh.all not the outco;me of <general  preaching, is that those who be-
perish, but  have   ,everlasting  life. This promise, to- lieve do so as  a result of the joining of the free-will to
gether with the command to repent and believe, ought the grace that is oRered without exceptimon. These two
to be declared  and published to all nations, and to  all          concepts are found in the teaching branded as Pelagian
persons promiscuously and without distinction, to <error.
whom God out of His good pleasure sends the Gospel."                  There are those who would still have us believe that
This confession concerning the general preaching of the general preaching of the Gospel means that there is
the Gospel is made here in connection with the con- ,a general offer of salvation, that God  th*rough  the
fession concerning the Limited or Particular Atone- preaching offers salvation to all individuals that hear
ment- The Canons also speak of the preaching cd the it. It is claimed that Calvin teaches such. In a foot-
Gcspel  in chapters III, IV, 8, 9, but in an other connec- note on page 12 of his brochure, The Three Points of
tion. Now in this article, our Reformed fathers show- Common Grace, the R&v. H. J. Huiper writes, among
ed that they had no difficulty with regard to the general          other things: "Calvin teaches it, notwithstanding his
preaching of the Gospel in view of the doctrine of Par-            strong emphasis on election". He then  qu:tes: "For
!ticular Atonement. It does nlot at all follow that the there is a universal call, by which God, in the external
latter precludes the former, as the Arminians would preaching of the Word, invites all indiscriminately to
have it. The promise of the Gospel is always the same, come to him, even those to whom he intends it las a
n.l., that whosoever helieveth in Christ crucified, shall savor of death, and an occasion  sif heavier condemna-
not perish, but have everlasting life. That promise is tion". The reference is Institutes Bk. III, 24, 8. When
true, is God's trulth,  and will never fail. This promise, we  lcok in this reference to Calvin, we find that he is
together with, the  ccmmand to repent and believe, must speaking about the calling (roeping). We quote some
be proclaimed to  ,all persons without distinction. Now of this frfr0.m  the Dutch translations (Baum, Cunitz,
in this articlme  there is no kraoe  of a general offer of til-    Reus) : "Die  spreuk van Christus: dat  velen geroepen,
vation.,  nor is it implied in the general  preach,ing  of maar  weinigen uitverkorenen zijn (Matth. 22  :14),
the Gospel. Comtng to all without exception the Gospel wordt tot dit  einde   zees kwalijk dus opgevat. Er zal
has a tw,oifc,ld  effect. Art. 6 explains that many who            niets dubbelzinnigs zijn.  Z,oo wij vasthouden, hetgeen
are called by the Gospel  do not repent but perish in              uit het bovengestelde  blijkbaar behoort  te zijn, dat de
unbelief. That is one result. ,This fa,ct of unrepentance roeping tweederlei  is. Want er is eene algemeene roe-
and unbelief is not to be ascribed to any defect in the `ping, waarmede God door de uitwendiige  prediking des
sacrifice of Christ, but it is to be imputed to them-              Woorcls   allen  Igelijkelijk tot  Zich roept,  oak degenen
selves. On the  c&er hand those who believe, and are (aan wie Hij de prediking tot een reuk des doods en
saved through the death of Christ, are ind,ebted  for this eene oorzaak  van hunne des te zwaardere  verdoemenis
benefit of salvation solely to the grace of God, grivm             voorstelt. Er is cok eene bijzondere roeping,  waardoor
(I underscore) them in Christ from everlasting, and                Hij gemeenlijk  alleen  de  geloovigen  verwaardigt te
not to any merit of #their own (Art. 6). Here the idea roepen,  wanneer Hij dcor de inwendige verlichting van
of a general offer or any oth.er  kind of olffer of grace is       Zijnen Geest te weegbrengt  dat het cgepredikte woord
not at all  tot be found. It is expressly stated that the in hunne harten post vat". And further: "Dewijl nu
grace of God is given to them. And that in Christ de  Heere  zag dat het Evangelie heinde en ver verkon-
from everlasting. That grace from everlasting is  real-            digd, door de m&ten veracht, door weinigen op des-


                                         T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                        `365
3r.               -                                                       --.--.                           .__I__-I__
zelfs  rechte waarde geschat'werd,  ZOO  beschrijft Hij         up *Job as a man who has been walking in the way of
ons God  .onder  l&t beeld van eenen koning (Matth.             righteousness merely with a view to keeping God
122 :2) die, eene plechticge maaltijd aanrichtende!  Zijne      pacified in order that He might continue to bless the
boden  alom uitzendt, om een groote menigte volk te             work cif Job's hands, as He had done in the past, so
noodibgen,  en  nogtans  van  zeer weinigen verkrijgen that his substance had increased mightily. It is this
kan dat zij komen, *dewijl  een ieder voor zich beletselen      substance and not God that, according to Satan, Job
voorwendt ter verontschuldiging; zoodat  Hij, daar de loves. And it was point.ed  out that Satan pins all his
Qenoodigden  weigeren, ten laa.ts%e  gedrongen wordt een hopes of succeeding in shlo$wing up Jo,b as a man who
iegelijk te roepen  die hem oq de openbare  wegen ont-          lacks genuine pi,ety  cn the ability of these friends to
moet. Er is  niemand  of hij ziet  dat deze gelijkenis tot      convince Job that they give him the true solution of
sdus verstaan meet worden  van (de uitwendige roeping". his sufferings. For, as convinced of this, Job'will be
And a  1ittl.e  further, "Zoo zijn dan weinigen  uitver-        driven to conclude, so Satan reasons, that despite  his!
koren  uit het groot  getal  van degenen die geroepen righteousness, despite his having kept God's way, God
zijn,  doch niet geroepen met die  roeping uit welke wij        holds him for a, wicked man,  so, that as a result
zeggen,  dat de geloovigen van hunne verkiezing moeten          he, Job, is now perishing by the b!ast of the Almighty.
oordeelen. Want de eersltgenoemde  roeping  is o:k den          Satan feels assured that once this thought has taken
goddeloozen gemeen, maar de laatste brengt met zich             root in Job%  BCU~,  Job will conclude that it is utterly
den  Geest  der  wedergeboorte,  die het onderpand en futile for a man to serve God, "to hold his foobt to God's
zegel is der toekumstige erfenis, waarmede unze  harten         steps," to trust in Him, to enjoy God's favor through
verzegeld worden  tct den dag des Heeren.`" (pp. 546,           a walk that takes a man on the way of God's com-
547).                                                           mandments, and that Job, as so concluding, will in
       Here we are taught by Calvin that the cal!ing of his nameless dispair and great anger, turn-upon Gad
the Gospel is twofold, n.l., inward and outward. The            and curse Him to His face.
external call comes to all that hear. But Calvin cer-              It can be expected therefore that Satan, through '
tainly says nothing here about a general offer  of sal-         the agency  cf the threie  friends, will insist that the
vation, There is a twofold  aspeot  of the calling of the solution of Job's sufferings is the true and only one
Gospel. With this in mind we have no difficulty in and that in his desperate attempt to convince Job, he
preaching to all in general the Gospel of Particular            will repeat it over and over. And so he does.
Atonement.                                                         What now is Job's reaction to his sufferings and to
                                        G. J. Kooistra.         the terrible solution of his sufferings given him by his
                                                                friends. In how far did Satan succeed with Job? To
                                                                knCoOw  this regard must be had to Job's replies to his
                          -                                     critics. These replies' reflect the various states of the
                                                                sufferer's mind.        They set forth the disquieting
                                                                thoughts that tear at his heart during the p,ersistent
                                                                attack of Satan. Hearken unto this complaint of his:
       Wilt  Thou Disannul My Judgments?                             "For. he breaketh me with a tempest, and  multi-
       In the  previous  article under the above caption the         plieth my wounds withoat a cause".  (Job 9 : 17) .
false view of Job's critics was ,exposed and examined.               Know now that God has overthrown me, and hath
These critics maintain that without exception every                  cclmpassed  me with a net.  Behol,d,  I cry out of
wicked and thus reprobated personage: receives in this               wrong, but I am not heard: I cry aloud, but there
life his full measure of punishment - ot punishment                  is no judgment.
that consists in just the kind of calamity and pain that             He hath fenced in my way that I cannot pass, and
has overtaken Job. So, beholding Job's sufferings,                   he hath  set darkness in my paths.
they reproach him with atrocious sins, and thus in-                  He hath stripped me of my ,glory, and taken the
directly declare that, being a wicked man, a lion of                 crown from my head. He hath d.estroyed  me on
iniquity, Job has God against him  Bnd therefore                     every side, and I am gone: and my hope hath he
now perishes as do <all the wicked. As was made plain,               removed like a tree.
these friends, through their reasonings, actually clas-              He hath also kindled his wrath against me, and
sify Job with that unhappy portion of humanity a-                    he coanteth me unto him as one of his enemies".
gainst whom the Lord hath indignation forever;                       (Job 19 :6-11).
       The question was put what Satan's purpose is in
coming to Job with the theory of these three friends,              Mark the  two- sentences, "He multiplieth my
-the  Itheory that in this life every wicked man without        wounds without a cause. . . . He coanteth me unto
exception receives his full measure of punishment.              him as one of his :enemies." Who now are "his (God's)
The question was answered thus : Satan strives to shew enemies"?             Who else but the wicked, the reprobated

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

lions of iIniquity,  whcse thoughts are that there is no          him: neither have I saff&ed  my mcuth  to sin by wish-
God. z'hus the colmplaint  of Job is that though he has ing a curse to his soul. . . . The stranger did not
kept God's ways (as prompted by the love of God shed              lodge in the street: but I  o!pened my doors to the
abroad in his heart)) and is thus God's friend, God traveller.                If I covered my transgressions as Adam,
counts him as one of His enemies, thus as one of the              by hiding my iniquity in my bosom. . . . If my land
wicked. Such ia Job's reasoning. it means that Satan's            cry against me, or ttit the furrows likewise complain; 1
wish is partly fulfilled. As Job listens to the rebuttals         if I havs eaten the fruits thereof without money, or
of &his friends, the belief does  form in his soul that hi have caused the owners  there0.f to  lose their life: . . ,"
now receives in his flesh the punishment that God mea- then, if Job be guilty of these sins, so "let my arm fall
sures out to the wicked' in th.is life and thus. that God         from my shoulder  blad.e,  and mine arm be broken
hclds him for an enemy, is angry with him, and in His             from the bone. Then let thistles grow instead of wheat,
anger has taken "me by the neck, and shaken me to                 and cockle instead of barley" (chap. 31). What now
bieces,  and set me up for his mark. His archers com-             is the thrust of this reply of Job to his critics. It is
pass me around :about, he cleaveth my reins asunder,              this, "1, Job, take God as my witness that I am irmo-
and doth not spare; he poureth  out my gall upon the              cent of thei sins whereof ye, Eliphaz, Bildad and Zo-
ground. He breaketh me with breach upon breach,                   phar, ant .accusing  me. I am not to be &&tied  with
he runneth upon me like a giant" (chap. 16:X&14).                 the ungo,dly. I knoiw myself to be a child of the light.`"
Why  does  Ctid  sol behave toward Job? "Not",  Job               It is this lassurance  that makes Job bold as a lion in
maintaias, "for any injustice in mine hands: also my the presence  of his accusers and  $hat prompts him to
prayer is pure" (16 :1'7).                                        say in the presence of God, "Oh, that one would hear
       Neow  this precisely is Job's great grief, to wit, that    me! Behold, my desire is, that khle Almighty would
God holds him for an enemy. This, Job well knows,                 answer Me, and that my adversary had written a boo~k.
`he is not. And so far is his conscience frcm being evil,         Surely I would take it upon my sho,uider, ,and bind it
that he d`are say toi God, `*Thou knowest that 1 am not Ias a crown to me. I would declare unto him (God)
wicked; and there is none that can deliver out of thine the number of my steps; as a princ,e would I go near
hand" ( 10 :?) . "Till I die", Job replies to his critics,        unto him" (chap.  31:35, 36).
"t will not remove my integrity frcm me. My right-                   Here Job has again God in view, fcr whose judicial
eousness I hold fast, and wiI1 not let if go : my h!eart          interposition in his behaif he accordingly longs again
shall not reproach me as long as I live." So persuaded as previously (chaps 13 and 16). The meaning of this
is Job that his past life is free from the terrible sins          exclamation of his is, "HeFre  is the document of my
with which his friends reproach him, so convinced is defense,  with my signature! Her.e  I present my writ-
he that he is net a man to be classi,fied  with the wicked ten vindication-let the Almighty examine it and de-
who perish by the blast  of the Almighty; that in his Iiver His senten&."
final discourse he gives expression to the  Icnging that             As was said (in the foregoing article ca this sub-
he be weighed in an even balance, that God may know               ject) , it must nat be supposed that Job means that he
his integrity, "If my step hath turned out of the way,            is free fr,om the faults and infimaties common to all
and my  hart walked after mine eyes, and if any blot              believers. What he means is simply thet  heI has not
bath cleaved unto my  %hands." If so, "Then let me                been walking in the past in the gross sins that char-
cow, and let another eat; yea, let my offspring be rooted         acterize  &he life of ungodly mea
out. If my heart have been deceived by a woman, or                   W.hy does Job with such surprising tenacity hold
if I have laid wait at my neighbor's door; then let my            fast his essential righteousness? Thme is reason for
wife grind unto another, and let others bow down upon             this. His testifying in the presence of God that, re-
her. . , . If I did despise the cause of my mfanservant           viewing his pa& life, be can discover no such sins as
or of  my maidservant, when they  conten,ded  with me  ;          those of which his friends accuse him is; certainly not to
If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or have            be  yegarde<  as betokening  a pharisaic pride rooting in
caused the eyes of the widow to fail :. . . . if I have           self-deception. Job is no pharisy, who, builds upon a
seen any perish for the want of clothing, or any poor ~self~established  righteousness. He is a man of genuine
without covering;. . . . If I have lifted my hands a- and singular piety. Then only, let it be considered,
gainst the fatherless, when I saw my help in the gate:            does God tell His people that they are His own, when
If  I have made gold my hope,  <or have said  to the              and while they walk with Him in the way of His pre-
fine gold, Thou art my confidence; If I have rejoiced cepts. Job has been walking with God. Hence, the
because my wealth was great, and because my hand Itestimony  has come also to him that he is one of God%
hath gotten much; If I beheld the sun when i!t shined, sons. Should  J'o,b, therefore, allow himself to be con-
or the mo'on  wbalking  in brightness ; and my heart bath         vinced by Satan that he has in the past led. a wick&
been secretly enticed, or my mouth hath kissed my life, he will be driven to conclude that the assurance
hand: . . . . If I rejoiced at the destruction of him of his being one of God's own is a delusion. Now should
that hatetb  me, o,r lifted up myself when evil found this thought take root in hi,s so'ul, his despair wi!l be


                                        T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                        167

  complete. Hence, his insistence that he is bsing falsely yea, are mighty in power? "Their seed is established
  accused is representative of a desperate attempt on his     in their sight with  {them, and their offspring before
  part to prevent himself from passing under the, do-         their eyes. Th'eir  houses are safe frclm fear, neither is
  minion of Satan's lie that  his assurance is false. In the rod of God upon them. Their bull gendereth  and
  his great affliction, Jolb's  heart tells him ithat, though ,faileth not; their cow calveth, and casteth not her calf.
  his friends magnify themselves against him, and             They send forth their li&le ones like a flock, and their
  though his hcpnor has been turned into extreme con-         children dance" (chap. 21:7-10).
  tempt and his prosperity into  oalamity,  he still has          It is plain, then, to. what extent Job is influenced by
  God. This is his sole comfort. But this comfort is his the reasonings of his three friends. To this extent
  only as  long  as, he can prevent himself from being        is he influenced that he can see it no orther way but
  pursueded that he has become the victim of self-de-         that, despite his integrity, God holds him for an enemy
  lusilon.  As pursuased, he of necessity will stand out and also behaves as an enemy toward him. What emo-
  in his mind as one whose hope in God is vain, and as        tions do these tragic thoughts raise in Job's soul?
  one doomed to destruction.                                  Satan's wish is  ithat Job become angry and despair of
     Now  mcst of the time Job succeeds in holding fast himself and of God and that in his angelr  h.e turn upon
 his essential'righteousn,ess.    There are moments, how-     God and curse Him to His face. And whereas Job,
  ever, when Satan's persistent attack so confuses him,       according to Satan's appraisal of him, is devoid of true
 that he lets it (his righteousness) go. Attend to the        piety, Satan feels assured that  J,ob  wH1 indeed end in
 following complaints, "How many are mine iniquities          renouncing and denouncing the Almighty. But Satan
 and sins? make me (to know my transgressions and my          is due for a complete disappointment. In showing this
 sin. . . . F,clr thou writest  bitter things against me,     the remark is in order that to Job's life as it is known
  and make&  me toa possess the iniquities of my youth        from the book that bears! his name, there are four
  (chap. 13 23, 26). I have sinned; what shall I do unto stages of experience through which he is made to pass,
 thee, 0 thou preserver of men? Why hast thou. set to wit, the stage of prosperity, of reverses, of reverses
 me as a mark against thee, so that I am a burden to          more severe, and of restoration. TOI the third stage
 myself? .And why dost thou not pardon my iaiquity?           belongs the great debate. It is while Job passes through
 .Fclr now shall I sleep in the dust; and thou shalt seek     this third stage Ithat, with Satan's reasoning in his ear,
 me in the morning, and I shall n,o& be" (chap:? :20,21).     the feeling stealIs  over his soul that God counts him
 What Job means is that death will soon hurry him for an `memy  and has therefore destroyed  him on every
 away and that God will then have no further oppor-           side. What are now the emotions that this feeling
 tunity  to show him favor. The sentiment to which `arouses in Job? His replies exhibit a soul resentful,
. Job here gives utterance  indic&es  that he seems to        angry, vexed and grieving, and a soul encircled by a
 be regarding it as probable, that, unbeknown to him- gloom  th3ck  and deep.
 self, he in the sight of God may have been walking in            There  is$ anger in some of those replies cf the
 gross sin, and that, being thus  wicker&  he may have to     sufferer especially in the one in which he hurls impre-
  perish with the ungodly. It is in moments when              cations at the day of his birth. And mark cnce mDre
 thoughts of this kind dwell in JobTs soul, that he smks      the bitterness of this language, "How shculd a man be
  to the lowest depth  0.f despair. At such times he          just with Gcd?" Should Job have  cc~mpleted this seIlc
 seems, to place a question mark behind his essential ctence,  he would have said, "How should a man be just
  uprightnese, with the result that his soul is  than haunt- with God, if God is determined that a man be unjust,
 ed by the terrifying thought that there may be for him       wicked'?" Job  `goes on to show that it is utterly futile
 nv forgiveness. It is not often, however, that Job finds     for a man  tot attempt to be just before God, if God
 himself at this low level of despondency. His prevail- is resolved by Himself ithat a man be unjust. "If he
  ing conviction, during all the time of his great suffer-    (man) will contend with him (God) , h.e cannIo$t answer
  ing, is that, thou:gh  for some unaccountable reason God him one of a thousand (questions)  ," The meaning
  counts him as one of His enemies, God is still for him      is that God, <as infinitely  man's superio,r, would over-
  and that,  Ithough  "after my skin worms  destr.o,y  my     whelm him with such's multitude of questions that he
  body, pelt in my flesh I shall see God." Chap. 19 26.       must stand before Him ,in mute embarrassment, so
  This being his conviction, it can be expected that he       confused that he would be able to utter not one word
 will also assail the theory oifhis critics that, without     in  defense  of himself. The meaning of Job's  utter-
  exception "the  rtiiumphing  of the wicked is short, and !ances that now follow (chap.  9  :1S-35) is,  "Shzald   I
  the joy of the hypocrite but for a time," and that thus     call to God, ,and He ask me what I wanted, I would
 every godless person is exposed by his state and por-        not believe that he wouhl listen to me should I tell him.
  tion in th.is life. And so he does. Zophar a.gain  voices :For He breaketh me wit,h a tempest, and multipli,sth
  this theory., And Job replies that so far is the hypo-      my wounds without a cause, that is, He cverwhelms
 crite (every hypocrite without exception) from flying me with  calamiti.es,  `even though, I be innocent. . . .
  away like a dream, that the wicked live, become old;        And even were I right, my mo,uth  would n.ot know ho,w


168                                    T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
-._                                                                                                          _..---
to make the right answer land would therefore con- right.  Now this is what Job in his great vexation  oC
fess me guilty, though I were innocent. And  kTuIy soul denies. Job's contention. is that the innocent-
I am actually  innccent.     And I will give myself no those who are actually innocent-perish, that  God
concern about  my life. Therefore  I  will out with it:         breaketh him, Job, without a cause. He thus accuses
God  dtestroys  the innocent and the wicked alike. It is God of injustice.
all the same to Him whether a man be innocent or
wicked. Both receive an identical treatment. If a                  How is it to be-explained that Job, the  saint  of
calamity  suddenly overtake a people, then He mocks singular piety, can give expression to a sentiment of
at the despair of the inncloent,  His d'esire  and delight: this character? Job suffers unendurable pain. The
are in the suffering of  rthe wicked. I am to be guilty, man is being severely chastised. And in great pain he
that is, God wants  me so, me, even of all men. I was is being driven rto. distraction by the philosophy o,f his
selected for this treatment. It is utterly vain there-          friends. The discourse af Job under consideration is
fore that I weary myself in trying to be innocent that a reply to this philosophy as again voiced by Bildad.
I may be acquitted by God. If I  should wash                    "If thou were pure and upright," Job hears Bildad
                                                    myself
in snow water and cleanse my hands with lye, thou               saying, "surely he (God) wouId now awake for thee,
would& plunge me in the ditch sub' that my clothes and make the habitation of thy righteousness prosper-
would cause me  to be abhored."                                 ous. . . . Behold God will not cast away a perfect
       Is the fundamental thought                               man, neither will he help ithe evildoers" (chap. 3). "0
                                      of  this discourse of
Job that the sovereign power of God acts in the life of Jcb, thy trouble is," BiIdad  means to say, "that thou
the individual in a merciless, arbitrary manner, en- art wicked, and  bein,g wicked  refuseth to  "rep.ent   o,f
tirely regardless of all human right and innccence? In thy sins'. "If thou  wouldest  therefore (only) seek
other words, is the case -that Job imagines that of a           unto God  betimes"  `then all would again be well with
man who, as a res& of rthe labor that he has expended thee.' Gatching  hold.  of these statements of BiIdad,-
upon himself, is  ctcCzuc.Lly  guiltless and clean, but who,    Job replies, "I know it is so of a truth, but how should
despite his innocense,  is being dealt with by th,e Al-         a man be just with God, if God is determined that he
mighty as a guilty and wicked personage for the sole be kqiilrty." It is impossible. "And this," Job means
reason that God wants him guilty? Expressions occur to say, "is precisely my case. I am innocent. But God
that leave no doubt that this is indeed the view to wants me guilty; and therefore I now suffer." It is
which Job gives expression in this discourse. God plain that in uttering this language, Job means  $0
does just as He pleases, whether it is really right or strike not so' much at God as tut Bildad and Eliphaz.
not. Mark the fo1Iowin.g expressions, "He destroyeth            But in overturning the reasonings of his criticsi and in
the perfect and the wicked. He laughs at the trial              maintaining his integrity, Job assails God's justice.
cf  rthe innocent.  Re  multiplieth  my wounds without          He does so, not  dehberately  but rather accidentally.  '
a cause. If I make my`hancls  ever so clean; yet shalt That he speaks as he does is rto be accounted for by the
thou plunge me in the ditch, and mine own clothes shall fact that his sou1 is full of confusion. There is there-
abhor me." It is said by many (a commentator) that fore not a destruction, but merely a temporal with-
the being whom Job here delineates is the  God of the drawd, eclipse, of his conscious. faith. It is not the
pre-distinationists  and extreme  Mvinists, disposing real Job speaking here. When the dark cloud of de-
of the destinies of men in  accco'rdance  with an uncon- spair is again removed,  J,ob stands before God as His
ditional, arbitrary decree, irrespective of all moral saint.
~ worthiness or unworthiness. But this accusation is               When Satan heard Job utter this vi.olent speech,
false. True it is i&t the decree 04 God F;hat touches           he must have greatly rejoiced, thinking that Job was
the eternal destiny of His moral creatures is uncon-            now about to turn upon God and curse Him. But
ditional and thus absolutely sovereign. But this decree         Satan did not understand. Being Satan, how could he !
is not arbitrary. Further, though the divine decision Even the  most violent language of Job is, rightly con-
to reject  some was made irrespective of the moral              sidered, the utterance of a man grieving bec,ause  he
worthiness  or unworthiness of those  rej:ected,   th,e rea-    deems himself forsaken by the God after whom  his soul
son of the CZ&LU~  perishing of the reprobated wicked           yearns and for whom his soul is crying.  The  dis-
i,s their sin. Those whom God in His sovereign good courses of Job, taken as a whole, are the lamentations
pleasure decided to reject, He through the ages also of the pious soul of a man, who is sad beyond words
prepares (whom He will He hardeneth) for the doom               because (the thought has taken hold o&f him that the
to which they were appointed, so that, though  Gocl             God whose fellowship he craves now counts him as one
`disposes of the destinies of men in accordance with an         of His enemies. How can such a man renounce and
unconditional dmree, it is only the wicked who actually curse God?
perish.     And they perish on account of their being
guilty and wicked, so that, though God does just as                                (To be continued)
He  pIeases,  what He pleases  to dot is absolute just and                                                G. M. 0.


                                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.





Vol. XV, No. 8.            E n t e r e d   aa  s e c o n d   &se   m a i l
                      m a t t e r   a t   G r a n d   R a p i d s .   Mich             JANUARY 15, 1939                       Subscription Price, $2.00

II things without limitatica, they refer to the entire pre-
        M E D I T A T I O N                                                                   sent, visible world, the heavens and earth, ,and all they
                                                                                              contain, as they were origina.lly  created, as they fell
                                                                                              under the power of the curse, death  and- misery,
          The Nearness Of The End                                                             throu'gh  man's  s.in, as well as through the rebellion
                                                                                              of Satan and his angels, and as it became the scene,
                    But, the end of a.11 things is at hand; the stage for the  realizati.on   oC God's  counsel of  sal-
                  be ye therefore sober  a.nd watch  ,unto vation  and His eternal covenant in Christ Jesus our
                  prayer.                                                                     Lord.
                      .                                                       1 Pet. 4.-F.       All things!
   To pilgrims this word is addressed.                                                           It means the end of time as we know it and ex-
   And from <the viewpo,int  of a stranger, in'the con-                                       perience it, with its succession of time, of moments,
sciousness of your being a sojourner  in, the world  yea                                      of hours, of days and  moaths and years, of seasons, of
must hear it.                                                                                 summer and winter, spring and autumn.             One  la&
   Failure to receive this Word of God in a pilgrim's                                         moment will come, never to be succeeded by another
consciousness  would~ result in finding nothing but rea- moment just like it.                                           The clock of, this world will
sons for sadness and lamentation in these words.                                              stop forever: it can never be  rewound  or repaired. It
   The end of all things is near, ,at handl!                                                  signifies all that exists in time and is characterized
   What if that signifies the end uf all yon love and                                         by the measure of r time; the sun and the moon and
cherish, of all  the things on  which you did set your the stars, the mountains and the *hills and the valleys,,
heart, for the which you strove to possess them, to                                           the oceans and seas and lakes aed rivers, the woods
which you cling, in which are bound up all your hopes                                         and  the fields, the trees and  flow.ers,  the beasts of the
and expectation; the things  that are below, earthly                                          field, the flying birds and the creeping things ; man, the
things,. things you now see and hear and taste and                                            crown of the earthly creation ; the earth itself and all
;toach; your home and possessions, your name  and its creatures,-the moment will  co;Me which will be
position, your ties of friendship and  love-relstions,                                        their last. It implies all that takes place in time, a.ll
your  ~earthly  pl,ea.sures  and joy, your very life ; the                                    the movement and development of all the creatures;
earth and all it contains; the whole present world?. . . man's life and thoughts in terms and forms of this
   The end of them all?. . . .                                                                `world, his work and strife, his peace and war, his
   To be sure, the text means nothing  less when it power and glory ; and all that is ever produced by
speaks of the end  ..csf all  &hings.  Hardly could the man's ingenuity and power. The moment will come
apos!tle refer to the entire and final end of the Jewish that will sweep  it all away!
economy, marked by  t.he destruction of the temple,                                              Things have *an end !
the city of Jerusa&em  and the &spersion  of the Jewish                                          They do not meerely  come to an end, haphazardly,
nation over thee whole earth. The words stand there arbitrarily, perchance, without having accomplished
without limitation: the end of all things. Nor is there any definite purpose whatsoever. But there is an end,
anything in the context that could possibly persuade a very definite end  tied for  them>  for the things of
us to conclude that the words refer to the end of the this world, for a.11 things. And towards that end they
Jewish nation.      A very strange way of expressing' move, they hasten, they rush, simultaneously; and all
such a tho,ught  it would be, indeed, to speak of the end things will reach the end that is fixed for them at the
of  <all things. And when the Scriptures speak  oif all same time, the final moment!


Ii.70                                         T H E -   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
- -             ---"-               -.__--                  _____.-I_-__
         That purpose is God's eternal covenant!                    years ago the end of all things were near, it still is
         God is building His house in Christ! That is the not yet? Or, how can, what is separated from us by
essential "thing'. All the rest is the scaffolding. And a  peri,od  of nineteen centuries, be called "at hand"?
even.as  the scaff.olding is necessary as long as the build-           Many explain that this expression and similar utter-
ing is in the process of construction, but must be re-              ances in the N,ew Testament merely indicate a mis-
moved as soon  `as the building is finished ; so "all taken view on the part of the apostles. They expected
~things" must exist, move, develop, act, live, labolr, toil,        the end of all things soon. They labored under the
strive, suffer, groan, until God has realized His: eternal impression that the Lord would return before lotng,
purpose of .salvation  and the moment is there, when in fact, in their own time. An(d) to this mistaken hope
the new heavens and the new earth may be manifested expressions of this kind must be attributed.
in fall their eternal glory ; then they may, then they                 But how could the Word of God be mistaken?
must be removed !                                                      Thalt the inspired apostles did not always under-
         Then the former things shall be no more!                   stand the exact implications of their own writings may
         Nay, they shall even be remembered no more !               easily be true, may readily be granted. The prophets
         At the last trump ! The mo~ment  ! The twinkling of the old dispensation certainly did not always fully
of an eye! Then "all things" shall  h burned with comprehend the contents of their own prediotions  of
fire. The very elements shall melt. The earthly clock things concerning the kingdom of God. And when
shall stop forever; the heavenly clock shall run on a they spoke of the "day vf the.Lord",  they undoubtedly
new schedule never to stop again !                                  conceived of that  day as even then approaching. Nor
         But what if you love "all things"?                         did they perceive in their prophetic vision the long
         -What if you  belo,ng to the scaffolding of  G~d's         period  thlat separates the first Advent from the Second.
building, seek the things which are below and have And thus the apostles, inspired by the Spirit of Christ
your heart sold to the things that are on the earth, the to write the deep things of God, did not always: fully
things which you now see and hear?                                  fathom the depth of their own writings. There  is1 noth-
         H,ow  sad !                                                ing objectionable in the view that they conceived of
         For, the end of all things is at hand !                    the return of their Lord as to be expected in  jthe near
         But the  w.ord  is addressed to pilgrims and  so- future, although even this is not always true.
jaourners in the midst of all these things.                            But the fact is, that here we have, not the word
         From this viewpoint the epistle of Peter considers of man, butt the Word of God.
and addresses the Church of Christ of all ages.                        And the Word of God cannot fail.
         They  rare  `telect  strangers". Even in God's eternal        And even though the apostle mighthave understood
counsel they have been set apart as strangers in the his own words as signifying that the end of-all things
world. And in time they become strangers. For, they was only a few years in the future, we know that  this
are begotten again unto a lively hoge through the re- certainly canncit have been the meaning of the Spirit
surrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. They have that inspired him.
a new life. Resurrection life. They are born from                      Yet  t.he end is at hand, very near!
above. They are strangers. No longer do they live                      It is next!
according to the flesh. And their walk and citizenship                 Does not the Word of God emphasize that this is
is in heaven. . . .                                                 the last hour? Does it not teach us that the end of
         For the city which  bath foundations they look, the the  "ages" is come upon us ? Various hours there
city of  thtir citizenship.                                         were in the  paat on God's world-clock. There was the
         And they confess that they are sojourners in the hour, perhaps very brief, that found its end in the fall
earth !                                                             of man; the hour that struck when ithe first world was
         Their heart is set on the House ; not on the scaffold-     destroyed by the waters of the deluge; the hour that
ing !                                                               was marked by the Babylonian confusion of tongues;
         To them  the end of all things is the end of the the hour of Abraham%  separati'on  ; the hour of Israel's
journey !                                                           economy ; the (hour of the captivity ; the hour of the
         And that end is at hand !                             .    "fulness of time", &ginning with the ccmina of the Son
         Blessed comfort!                                           of God in the flesh, and to be culminated in His re-
                                                                    appearance in gl,ory. And this is the last `hour! . . . .
                                                                       Or, if you please, on the pilgrim's way of the Church
         The end is at hand!                                        through the ages of time there were different stations.
         It was near then, when first the apostle wrote these The next station is the terminal. And the conductor
words; it is near, still nearer, now, nineteen centuries already  passes  through the train and shouts: "Next
larter  ; it is `always at hand !                                   stop as far as we go!" The end of all things is at
         It does not appear so !                       *            hand !
         Ah, how is it to be explained, if nineteen hundred             The next stop !


                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                            171
            -            -                                      --_.-__                                         -.-
   W4e cannot expect <another  great event before the house; set not your :heart  and hope upon the scaffold-
Kingdom of God shall have fully come!                        ing instead of upon the house. Be sober and watch
   Besides, we are living in the hour of the end. The unto prayer!
idea ,of the end is in dl things in this final dispensa-        Yea, the attitude of prayer should be ours.
tion.. For, the  end does not just come without reason          This the apostle emphasizes. Unto this we! must
or preparation. Christ is even now coming! He be sober and watch. For, thus the text shouhd  be read.
hastens to co,me. He is coming in all things that take It should not be separa&d  so that we read : "Be sober !
plaoe in the history of this last dispensation,  ia peace And  wiatch unto prayer!" But rather should we read :
and war, in elantlhquakes  andi uphavals, in famine and "Be sober and watch. . . . unto prayer!"
pestilence, in life and in death, in the preaching of           Unto,  prayer!
the gospel to earth's remotest ends. And all the events         NO,  not indeed, unto a  so&called  prayer that pro-
of this "last hour" testify with one accord : the Lord ceeds from a heart filled with the love of this wborld and
is coming! The end of all things is near, is at hand,        with care and anxiety concerning the. thin,gs  of the
is  upoln us!                                                world.    These cares you may cast  upon. the Lord.
   We are living in the end !                                These things shall be added unto you. Seek ye first
    And ho'w fast the end is coming. If you are travel-      the Kingdom  <of God! But prayer  that proceeds from
ing  tcward  the terminal of a long journey, and We          the pilgrim's heart; prayer that is `a sigh of longing
final station is, say, still one hundreds  miles distant, for the soul-satisfying grace of God ; prayer that is the
your conception o'f the nearness of that final station expression of hunger and thirst after righteousness,
d.epends  tlol a large extent upon the speed at which you of khe new life in Christ, of hope, of a yearning for the
are travelling.  Nsot so near the end would seem if you deliveranw  from the body of this death, for the f?nal
make your  j:ourney afoot. But very near is the end of perfection of the Kingdom tef God, for t.he end of all
your way, though it be one hundred miles distant, if things, for the coming of the  Lord in all the glory
you travel by express  ,or aeroplane. And the Lord is the Father gave Him ! . . . .
not slack concerning His promise. He travels: fast!             The prayer of the Spirit and the Bride?
He comes quickly ! He ,hastens  the day ! Tremendous            Come Lord Jesus ! Yea, come quickly !
Wings must still come to pass before the end of all             The  arttitude  of that prayer is in harmony with the
things is  at hand! And His time is not yours. -4 reality that the end of all  things is near!
thousand years are with Him as one  ,day and one day            Be ye therefore sober and watch!
is as a thousand years. . . .                                   For how shall you be able to pray, to assume  the
    But He is coming!                                        only   proper attitude over against the nearness of the
    Behold, I come quickly, and My reward is with end, if YOU are not sober, if you are drunk, if you are
Me!                                                          intoxicated: with the things the end of which is near?
    He. does not delay ! He tarries not in the way! The drunken man reels. He is confusedl. He does not
`He crowds  all that can possibly be crowded into time, judge correctly. He cannot evaluate reality properIy.
in order that He meet His bride and present her ~ZO And if YOU are spiritually drunk you will cling to the
thle Father withtout spot or blemish?                        things that are on the earth. Be sober! ; . . .
    Faster and faster  He is coming!                            And how shall you remain sober, if  you fail to
    Do you not see it in  the hurry and bustle of our watch?
present  <day?                                   LYyqT$q        Your flesh is carnal. The world seduces ! It will
                                                   !  .:
    And we know not the Ihour!                               make  yea drunk with its dainties!
    What else, ithen, can be said, seeing that the next         Watch, therefore, that you may be sober !
,=tation  is the end of all things, that all things move        And that you may be instant in prayer!
thither in our dispensation, that the Lord is coming            The end is at hand !
auickly  and that we know nolt the..ihour,  than what the                                                    H. H.
Word of God addreses  in  .olur taext to the Church of
the new dispensation:
    The end of all things is at hand !
    Pilgrims and sojourners in the world, the end is                              ATTENTIE !
near !
    The next stop!                                              Prof. Dr. K. Schilder spreekt D. V. Woensdagavond
                                                             Feb. 8, 1989 in de Eerste Protestantsche  Gemeente,
                                                             corner Fuller and Franklin, over "De Algemeene Ge-
    What then?                                               nade". Hoort dezen beroemden Dogmaticus over dit
    What, if the end of all things is near, sho,uld  b,e our belangrijk onderwijs.
attitude toward "all things"?                                                         Namens de  Publ. Comm. van
    By all means d,ol not mistake the scaffolding for the                                 The Standard Bearer.


                                                  T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                         183
                 -~---                                                          -_____--.._-
tuurlijk  licht  dat  de  Heere hun geeft,  weten   ze wat
goed en kwaad is, en openbaren ze hun verdorven ver-                                 Our Hudsonville Meeting
stand en wil,  door   altolog te kiezen voor  h&  kwade.
Daardloor  zijn ze dan oak niet te verontschuldigen,  bet-                    On the evening of the eighth of December, the
eij Jlcod, hetzij Heiden, en ze zulkn dan ook beid+e  opens               League  of Mens' Societies hekl its second  meeting of
baren  dat ze liever  zullen  dienen  een kikvorsch  dan den rthe season. This meeting was held Iat Hudsonvil1.e  in
levenden  (&j,  dat  ze  liever  ki,pzm  m0.r  Blarabbm   &,n Eev*  J*  De  Jiang's   chrch*  The  attmdmce  Was  gOO&
voor Jezus. Oak die openbaring is geen genade  maar % and as the acting vice-president said,  " `t  Valt me mee".
vloek voor de onwedergeboren Jood crf He&n, en is                         He had nut expected so many present in  Huidsonville.
igenade  a&en voor Gods uitverkoren  kind.                                Unfortunately,  &here was a program given by the
     Wij  willen in het geheel   met  beweren  dlat Dr. K. Roosevelt Park Choral Soci&y  on  the same evening.
Schild~er nu een Protestanitsoh  Gereformeerd  mensch is,                 It was not unfortunate that  Ro,oaevelt Park Choral
in alle &&en,  want dat weten  we niet. Maar  wat we Society  gav.e  .a program  of course, but it was  un-
we1 beweren  is dat Dr. Schilder veroordee~t  de verkla-                  fortunate Ithat it fell on the same date. A -program
ring van Rom. 2:14, 15, die de Synode  van 1924 er aan                    of a choral  society  ha a  very strong appeal, and is
geeft, waarmele Punt drie moest  worden  bewezen.                         a worthy competitor of a League membership meeting
                                                          L. v.           for attendance. The result of two  pro.grams   on the
                                                                          same evening is divided attendance. I woadler if some-
                                                                          thing could not be done; to avoid this. Couldn't for
                                                                          example, a date committee be appoint&  whose duty
                          IN MEMORIAM                                     it would be to see to it that there would be no conflicts
                                            e                             in dates of programs ? Different societies could then
     In the early morning  hour of Christmas-day it  pleased our          confer with this ot`mmittee  in setting dates for pro-
Heavenly Father to take unto Himself our dear  Wife, Mother,              grams. This is only a suggestion. But, I am missing
Grandmother, Daughter and Sister,                                         my purpose. I was to write a report on. our Hudson-
                                                                          vi!le  Lea.gue  meeting.
            MRS. SIDNEY VISSER-Hilda De  Vries                               The evening was calm, and although thy sky was *
fat the age of 60 years and eleven months.                                overcast,  ,there  was no precipitation of any kind, and
     The loss  of her, who  aIways  took  a great place  in  our life,    it was not cold. This was the weather on  olur trip to
is keenly felt, but we sorrow not as those which have no hope,            Hudsonville. Coming back we had some rain. When
knowing that she entered into the joy of her Lord and in hope             we arrived at Hudsonville there was  already  a goodly
we look toward the day when we shall be forever with the                  number present at the church. The speaker for the
Lorsl.                                                                    Ievening, Rev. G. M. Ophoff soon after arrived, and also
                                                                          the vicelpresident  far the evening. The president, Mr.
                                Mr. S.  Visser                            A. C. B,oerkoel  could not be presant  that evening be-
                                Mr. and Mrs. C. Visser                    cause of an importan.t  appointment. This was the fir&
                                Mr. and Mrs. R. Visser                    time he had been absent from any o,f our meetings.
                                Rev. and Mrs. A. Cammenga                    The meeting was begun by singing number 223  04
                                Mr. and Mrs. J. Visser                    tthe Psalter, which speaks of perversion of justice by
                                Mr. and Mrs. Ray Visser                   wicked rulers.    After this the president read Rom.
                                Hernice                                   13, which treats of the  God-fgiven  authority of rulers.
                                Sydney                                    He then offered a word of prayer.
                               Richard
                               Seven grandchildren                           A  wordr of welcome was spoken, and  some opening
                               Mr. and Mrs. M. Vander Wal and             remarkqs were made by the president who then gave
                               children.                                  the floor to the speaker.
. Grand Rapids, Michigan                                                     The Rev. Ophoff began his speech by stating his
                                                                          intention of  adherring to the instructions given him
                                                                          by the secretary in his letter of invitation to him.
                                                                          He placed this construction upon lthe letter from the
                             LEZING                                       secretary, that he should lead into, but not out of the
                                                                          subjlect; that his speech should be thought-provoking,
    Door Dr. K.  Schtilder  over het  onderw~e~rp,   "Alge- but  ncrt thought-determining; that he should ask ques-
                                                                          tions but not answer them Evidently the secretary
meene  Genade".        Plaats  : Bethany  Reformed  Church had not intended s.uch an interpretation of his invita-
te Rose!and,  Chicago, III., den  14den  Pebruari,  te be-                tian to the Reverend +to speak for the League, and it
                                                                          was the first time such an interpretation was given
*@men   om  7:45 P. M.                                                    to any invitation he has given. Nevertheless, the  secre-


184                                   T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
                          -
tary will do well tot be more careful with the w.ording God. The result would be religious persecut,ion,  and
of his future1 invitations. The subject of the evening the  l,ues of the freedom of religion. The magistrate
was,, "Whgat  is the Obligation of a Magistrate in Re- wr>uld also have to pass on ma&ers of doctrine which
gard to the First Table of the Law?" This subjeot the church only may do. In short, for a magistrate
was  suggest& by the former League speech delivered to maintain the first table of the law as we should like
by Rev. R. Veldman, which-speech was published in to have him do it as Protestant Reformed people he
the Standard Bearer, "Our Christian Duty in Civic would have to be Protestant Reformed.
Affairs."                                                       I  siha!l let the reader judge from Rev.  Ophoff's
       In his speech the speaker defended the proposition speech whether there are not some real questions on
that the magistrate must enforce  tthe first table of the this issue. Wle hope to see some articles an this ques-
law as well as the seconb This is his Gad-given duty, tion in the S. B.
and he cannot escape it. Various objections were raised         As our time  was up we sang Psalm 25  :l and Rev.
but not  removed,  and questions were asked for the H. De Wolf of Hope, closed the meting with rthanks-
meeting  tot  a.nswer. The speaker made it plain giving.
however, what  *his position was on the issue. He ex-                                                 G. Borduin.
plained the state was an  lexpa.nsion  of the family. It
unquestionably was the duty of the head of the family
to enforce the first as well as the second rtable of the
law, and tha$ it therefore was the duty of the magis-
trate to do the same thing. The questions were raised                            ATTENTIE ! ! !
wh&her it would be practically pcssible  for a magis-
trate to enforce the first table of the law, whether it         Van de genen die'niet van zich laten  hooren,  waren
would not result in persecution, and whether it would we genoodzaakt de S. B. te stoppen. Wil men echter
not destroy religious freedom.                               de S. B. nag hebben, zend dan uw Subscription aan
       As the speech was  Ito be published in the Standard R. Schaafsma, 524 Henry Ave., S. E., Grand Rapids.
. B.earer I will refrain from going into& details, but will P.S. Van nu aan zal geen Advertenties meer worden
instead say a few things about the  discus&n.                opgenomen voor de S. B., tenzij dat men &n Dollar
       As usual we had our recess after the speech during    ($1.00) erbij insluit.
which time we had our refreshments which  were sup-                                                    Treasurer.
plied by the Hudsonville Society, and, of course, the                                             Namens de Board.
brethren  enj'oyed their smokes and  ch&%.
       After recess we sang Psalter No. 187 during which
a collection was taken toI defray expenses. Now the
discussion began. The  ,speaker,  so it developed, made
one bad guess. He thought he was through when he
had finished his speech, ,a.nd. that he could ask ques-                   DEACON;S  CONFERENCE
tions ,and have the audience answer them. The ques-
tions which he asked came right back to him, and he              The next Deacon's Cotierence  will be held at Hol-
was asked to answer them. He remarked that he land, Michigan on Wednesday evening, January 18, at
thought this was. supposed  to1 be  GE period of discussion. 8 P. M. in the new church building.
However, he willingly obliged and answered the ques-
tions put to him. One member put a question to him,              All D,eacons and ex-Deacons tare cordially urged
and the Rev. proceeded to answer.         When he was to be present as Rev. P. De Boer will speak on the
through the questioner said the Rev. had not under- interesting subject : "In what way does the exhortation
stood his question. Answered he, "That's nothing. of  Ithe Deacons differ from that of the Elders?"
What I said was all right, anyway." (Laughter). Dur-
ing the course of the discussion it became plain that
there were- questions that are not easy to answer in
regard  I~X the duty of a magistrate with  relati,oa to
the first table of the law. E.g. Suppose a magistrate
were a seventh day advlentist,  and proceeded to enforce
the fourth commandment according to his religious                                      LECTURE
beliefs. He would cobmpel cessation of all manual labor
on Saturday, and punish those who did not observe the           Dr.  K.  Schilder will lecture in the Bethaay Re-
seventh day as Sabbath. Sunday would be an ordinary formed  Clhurch of Rosel.an,d,  Chicago, Ill., February 14,
work day to him, and he would not prosecute eny*one at 7:45 P. M. He will speak on the subject: "Common
who would work on that day, and refuse to worship Grace".


                                          T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                        185
  __                                                             .-._
              God's Will To Save All Men                        ledge of the truth." And we hasten to add: that will
                                                                of God will be realized ; all men shall be saved, and the
                                                                word of Isaiah will be realized in perfection, "the earth
                                                                shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord,  #m the waters
        The passa@? We have in mind as we mfiect  on the        cover the sea." Isaiah  11:9.
 above-mentioned subject is rthat familiar one from 1
 Tim. ~~4, `Who will hwe all men to be saved, and to            Whom?
 (3ume  unto the knowledge of the truth.".                          Who must according to the will of God come to the
        These  words  of Paul to Timothy have occasioned        knowledge of the truth?
 much stumbling.                                                    It is plain from the versfes innnediately  preceding
        The Arminians  quu>t@ this passage tot sustain their tie one now under discussion Dhtat  the heart of this
 aacur,-sed  Arminianism  and Ito prove that salvation is       text lies in this "all men".  P:aul is not speaking of
 both divinely intended and merited in  Gfhri& for every        salvation as such, or about bthe knowledge of the tru*h,
 ,individual  member of the human race. Against tihese          or even about the content and character  (crf the will of
 Arn&ans of his day Dr. A. Kuyper Sr. fought when               God. He is speaking about the subject of prayer. He
 he wrote his rather lengthy exposition of this text in is admonishing the congregation that `%upplications,
 his "Uit Htet  WcKrrd", Deel  IV, "Dat de &nade Parti-         prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made
 culier Is". It would be w@ll for many elf our opponents fcs all men". Vs. 1. This "all men" also includes
 in the common  $grm  ~LnhVersy  to read this book "kings and all  theat are in authority". , Vs. 2. This
 and  particularly   this chapter on I  Timc&hy  2:4. We        passage  ~&es not mean to teach that we are called upon
 do not cl&n  to follow the late Dr. Kuyper in all ha ha,s      to pray for dE those in au&ority  over us. Apart from
 ever tau&A We certainly are not  d?isciples  of the Dr.        the question whether or noit this is our specific calling,
 Kuyper of "De  Gemeene  Gratie".  Neither, however,            a matter that does not concern us at present, this pas-
 are our ,opponents  quite as Kuyperian as they imagine         sage is not a spedfic admonition to pray for  &I in
 themives  to be.                                               authority over us. Exegetically, we must pray for
        The%  wcsds Qf the aP@de Paul are also quoted by kings and those in authority in the same sense as we
 many semi-Arminians  in our t&y to sustain  their dot-         must pray for "all men", and "all men" Ihere ~has the
 trine of a well-meaning offer of salvation unto  all who       same connotation as in vs. 4, where we read that God
 hear the gospel. NO, the Synod of 1924. did not quote wills to save "all men", and in vs. 6 where we read of
 this passage in support of the theory "that, apart from Christ,  %hat  .He gave Himself a ransom  5c:r "all".
 the saving grace  0.f God which He shows only to those         Verse 2 merely teaches that also kings and those in
that rare elect unto eternal life, there is also a certain      authority over us must be include%3 in our prayers, pri-
 favor or grace of God wmch He shows to His creat.ures          va$e and congregational. If "all men" in vs. 1 means
 in igenerai." To them  tit must have been too  apparent        every individual man ion the face of the earth, then
 that this Scripture would never serve as a proof for           "kings and all that are in  autlhority"  of vs. 2 must
 "Point I". Others, however, do use this passage to mean every one in authority, not cnly those in our
 support  the "poi&"`in  qUe&ion.                               Country,  a  nestricti~on which is certainly altogether
        The result is, that many, who, at heart do intend to    arbitrary, but in all the world. If, however,  "al, men"
 be Reformed, also stumble over  this passage. Especial:        in vs. 1 does not mean every individual member og the
                                                                human race, then the "kings and all that are in author-
 ly with, a view to these it might be well to analyze tihese
 words   of Paul and give a brief exposition. Thus it           ity" of vs. 2 does not mean every individual king and
                                                                magi&a&  ccn the face of tie earth, much  less every
 may become  clear that our doctrine as Protestant Re-
 formed Churches c?ei%ainlY  does  not clash tit& these         magistrate in these United States. By "all men" in
 words of I Timothy 2. And thus we have wherewithal vs. 1 Paul simply means all classes of men. Your
 to mwgr those who insist in casting this passage of prayers may not be with &stinction  ad persons. You
 Paul inb our teeth.                                            may  not deliberately exclude certain  cl~saes of people
                                                                from your prayers. You may not refuse to pray  for
        That a first glance at these words may confuse the      a negro because he happens to be a negro,  for a German
 Reformed  Ghristian  is  &o be understood. Paul speaks,        because he (happens to be a German (as so many were
 d,oes   hg not, of "all men". With respect to these he         inclined to  do during the  last war), for a Jew because
 writes, `q-&d  will have all nta to be saved, and to come he happens to be a Jew, or a magistrate because he
 unto the knowledge of the truth."                              happens to occupy a place of authority. Let your
        A somewhat deeper ,study of this passage, ghowever,     prayers be for all men. Why? "For this is good and
 will  rmeal  &at there is  no  dlifficulty here whatever. acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour  ; Who w-i!1
 Cje&idy,.  the text SPeil.h O*f "all men". Surely, "God        have all men trol be saved and mrne to the knowledge of
 will bve all mm to be sa'ved and come to the know- the truth." God's salvation  i,s not with. respect of
                                                          .

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

persons. Cdd wills to save all men. Why then should and that of the well-meaning offer  of salvation to all.
we *exclude certain  men  from our prayers? Thus the           People will not .always believe, that C&d offers a sal-
question as to the identity of these "all men" is indeed       vation to all th@.t has not been intended for all from
of  paramcrunt  significance to the exposition of this         everlasting nor been  meriltled  for all by the one sacric
passage.                                                       fice cf our Savior on ;the cross. One or the other must
       To the question: Wqhom  will God save? Scripture go, and, in perfect harmony with the nature of all
seems to give various answers. Sometimes Scripture apostacy,  the doctrine of particular atonement will be
says that God svill have but few to be saved. "Many            the  me to go. In  %ihe  mea%re  the doctrine of the
are called but few are chosen." It is "a little flock"         well-meaning offer gains ground in the ocnscicusness
unto which the Father's  ,gocd  pl,easure  will  g&e the       of  tihe people, in that same measure the truth of par-
kingdom. Then again we are impressed with  the fact ticular atonement will disappear from the conscious-
that God will save many. Is it not a "great multitude,         ness  &f the church. In its stead, will come the logically
which no man could number" t$at will be redeemed by            more scund basis for such a well-meaning offer,--&he
the grace *of God? Finally, we me told that God will           doctrine of general atonement. Even now this heresy
save all men. 2 Peter 3 9, "The Lord is not slack con-         of general atonement has gained a firmer  fo,othold  in
cerning His prclmise  ; but is longsuffering ito usward,       the Christian Reformed Churches than their leaders
not willing that any should perish, but that all should        seem to suspect. And no one to blame b%t themselves.
come to repentance." Titus  2:11, "For the grace of            For the time being, however, it still is confessed  thtat
God that bring&h salvation bath appeared rto all men."         Christ did not die for all. Nevertheless, God's revealed
And  zhere we read, "Who will have all men to be saved         will, His divine desire is, that all men shall be saveld
and come to the tknctwledge  of the truth.!'                   and come Ito the knowledge of the truth.
                                                                  Thus this  expression  "all men" is interpret4 to
Head for Head?                                                 refer to every  individual  of the human race. Does
                                                               no% Scripture express itself clearly enough, "Who will
       It is on the basis of pamages  such as cited above ,have all men to be saved"? Therefore he can offer His
that many contend,  that the will of the Lord to save          salvation to  fall without distinction.
embraces all men head for head.
       This is maintained first of all by all adherents of Impossible!
the general atonement heresy. When scripture speaks               He, who would dispose of this exeg&ical  question
cd "all men" it always  means  every individual member so easily, however, is assuming an impossible position.
of the human race. Christ gave Himself a ransom for Nothing can be farther from the truth than the asser-
all.  Heshed  His precious blood in order that every tion, that when the Word of Gcd speaks of "all" or
human person may perceive the  opportunilty  to be             "all men" it invariably refers to every individual mem-
saved. Now it  is the will, the desire, the good pleasure      ber of the human race. Reformed exegetes Ihave al-
of God, that  =all men shall actually be saved and come        ways  stressed this point.
to the knowledge of the truth. That in spite o+f rthis
men are lost is due solely to the impenitance  of man             Ceritainly, if Arminianism  is correct on this point
himself.     God1 did and dues what he can to bring all        we retain a poor, weak, dependent God. He desires
men to salvation.                                              that all men shall be saved ! He would have every one
                                                               #tin the face of the earth partake of eternal salvation
       That God's desire to save embraces all  pecpl,e  is     in the blood of Christ!. Yet, Itie great majority of the
taught,  too, by all who insist that the gospel of Jesus human race is lost, forever ! Then God do&, not attain
Christ is a well-meaning offer of salvation to all who to the satisfaction of His own desires. Then but a
hear. No, according  to His  et,ernal  ocunsel  God does       small percentage of i&c&e whom the Almighty wills are
not intend to save all men. But this counsel is the hi& actually redeemed. Then salvation is contingent after
.den will of God, and with this will of God we may             all upon the will and whim of mortal man. Verily, a
not cvncern  ourselves. Are not the revealed things            poor, dependent being is God. Such a Gods is not God!
only for us and our children? Neither did  Christ give
Himself a ransom for all persons. Men imagine that                Or, at the very best, all becomes an insoluble,  im-
they can still cling to the  dootrine  of particular atone-    possibile acaundrum. God  w&? have all men to be
ment while they also preach that God offers His sal-           saved? He  cc102 save all men? He wills. He can.
vation to all men with the divine desire that they all         Why, then, does He not save all?
shall come `co  repentanoe.   For a time this attempt             It is plain to every one who is not too superficial,
may succeed, due only to the hearty reception accord&          that if will` never do to dispose of this expression  "all
every form and degree of inconsistency by many in our          men" in this fashion. N;ctD  only does it not always  refer
day. Ultimately, however, it will prove impossible to          to every individual of the  hum,an race. Et is very
maintain both the  dcctrme  of particular atonement *soZ&orn,  that when  ,the Word of God uses this and


                                        T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                         187
                                        -_
similar expressions, it alludes to the entire human race, simple, destroys itself. To Titus the same apostle
head for head. "All" is allI, indeed! "All men" are all writes : "For the grace of God that bringeth salvation
men, of course! But the reference is always to all or bath appeared to all men." To  *all men? To every
all men in a given sphere. That  splrzre may be the             member of the human race? The grace of God that
entire human race. It may a!so be a more limited bringeth salvation? And that some two thousand years
sphere.                                                         ago ?. Can this possibly refer to anything but all na-
    In our  daiiy life and speech we often speak of "all" tions and tribes and  tongues?
or "all men" in a limited sense of the word. In the                 In Paul's letters to Timothy "all" and  `4all men"
majority of cases we do  net have the entire human do not refer to the whole human race generally. In
race in mind at all. I borrow the following  exjample           I Timothy  520 we road: "Th!em  6hat sin rebuke be-
fncun one of the works of the late Dr. Kuyper. I am fore all, that others also may fear." Must Timothy
strolling  abng the street  with my little boy.  Tlhe           rebuke  these  people before ail the members of the
latter, as boys are apt to dlo, begins to a& up, either         entire hum*an  race? Is the sphere mt plainly limited
with the  i&a of attracting attention or from the sheer here to all those concerned in the matter, or, at the
joy of living. I say to him, "Don't act  ~121 queer, every- very most<, all the members of one particular congre-
body?s  looking at you." No one in the w+orld would gation? Yet, the apostle writes "all". In II Timothy
think of applying this "everybody" to the entire human          1:X Paul says: "This thou knowest, that all they
race,  err even to  all men in  the United States, or even which are in Asia be turned away from me." It would
to every one in the State of Michigan, or even to the           be nonsense to assume that Paul in this passage was
entire population of the city of Grand  Rapds.          Not alluding TV all the millions of inhabitants of the entire
even to every individual1 living in one single city block       continent of Asia. The sphere there  is certainly limited
of Grand  Rapids. The expression  wlculd simply limit           to those in Asia with whom the apostle had come in
itself to those whom we happen to meet on the way.              contact. Andy even then, the passage can allude to
   From Scripture in general it is plain that expres-           those only of whom  Paul had heard that they  (had
sions such as we are now discussing can and may not             turned away from him. Judge for yourself whether
be made tot refer to all men generally, and that without all members of the human race or of the Gentile world
further examination c;f the context whence it is taken. are meant when Paul writes in II Timothy 4 : 17, "Not-
The very  attimpt  proves disastrous. A few illustra- withstanding  the Lord stood with me, and strengthened
tions will prove  olur point, In I Corinthians  15:22           me; that by me the preaching might be fully known,
we read: "For as in Adam ~a11 die, even so in Christ            and that all the  Gentilesl  might hear."
shall all be made alive." Does "alli" in both parts of
the  tex't refer to all men generally? Then the passage            Finally, the  oontext  of I  Timot'hy  2:4 positively
teaches, not merely that God desires all to be made forbi'ds that "all men" be taken in that individual,
tilive in C%ris.t!,  but that all human beings will actually    unlimit&  sense of the word. Then we should also
be made alive in Christ even as all die in Adam. Either,        be forced to believe in general atonement. In this
the text  qu~o%e~d  does not and cannot refer to every respect the fullfledged Arminians are at least consis-
member of the human race, or it is a very plain lie.            tent. In verse 5 the apostle continues his--discourse,
The former is true, iof co,urse.    In Adam all die, that "For there is one God, and  cne mediator between God
is, all that are in Adam. Here "all" refers to every and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave Himself a
member of  the human race, not because  th,is is the in- ~rim.som  for all." It stands to reason, that this "all"
variable implication  of "all", but simply because all and the "all men" of verse 4, "Who will have all men
men are by nature "in Adam". And all who are in to be  ,s!aved", must refer to  the same people. Here, to
Adam  die. In the same manner shall all be made alive           be sure, the  soun'd  hermeneutic  principle applies, that
in Christ,  thtat is, all who are in Christ. Here "all"         the same word in the same connection must have the
refers only to the elect believers. Again, not ,because         same meaning. Without the possibility of conttradic-
"all" in Scriptur@refers  to the elect, but because only tion it may be said, that if God will have every meml
the elect are  "`in Christ". In  both parts of the  tbext       ber of the human race to be saved, Christ also gave
we read "all". In the one part of the text, however, Himself a ransom for every member of the human
it is "all" in Adam. In the other part  Iof the passage, race. Moreover, neither what. precedes the  passjage we
`<all" in Christ. In Remans  5 : 18 Paul writes : "There- -are discussing nor what follows gives any sense at all
fore as by the affence of one judgment came upon all if "all men" is made  ko include the whole human race
men ito  condemnation;  even so by the righteousness of individually.
one the free gift cltme up-a all men unto justification            The conclusion of the entire matter is plain. The
of life." Does "all men"  invari,ably  include the entire expre&on "all" usually does not include all individuals
human r:ace,  head for head? Then the free gift actual- of  mankin'd. Only the greatest superficiality accepts
ly came upon all men unto justification of life. Also this as an exegetical  ,axiom.  Wherever we come in
here the argument of the Arminians, apparently so eontact with  thi,s and similar expressions in Scripture


188                                       T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
-
we should ask aii once:  what sphere is-allude& to in the World War, who excluded the German people from
this particular passage. Only sound exegesis can de- their prayers merely because they were Germans and
termine what "all" or `?a11 men" or "every one" includes America  was at war  wilth the German nation. We
in a given passage.                                             must pray for all  WKQ.. For, "this is  ~goc&  and accept-
                                                                able in the sight of God our Savior; Who will have all
Again-Whom?                                                     men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of
                                                                the truth." .
       Thus we ask once more: Whom will God have to
be saved and Ito come to the knowledge of the truth?               However, God saves "all men"  only in athe remnant
                                                                according to election.  Out  of "all men" God  &saves
       "All men" in  I Timothy 2:4 refers to all kinds of only the elect. The tree of the entire human race is
men ; men of every class, rank, station, pcsition,  race,       saved, but only in  t&e living  branchas, whereas  the
nation and tribe and tongue. God  dces not limit Him-
self as was the case in the old                                 &hers  are cut off and burned with fire. Regard these
                                    dispen*slatica.             Ired&med  out of "all men" apart from  tlhose who are
       Thus we  can understand verse 6. Jesus Christ gave lost, and you are bounldi to say: it is a throng no man
Himself a ransom fur all. The very character of atone- `can number. An  innumerab!e   `host. Many will be
ment makes it impossible that ttis be explained as              saved.    Compare them who will inherit  eternal life
referring to all members of the human race. Atone- with those that perish, and it must be admitted, "Many
ment implies payment of sin and subsequent reconcilia- are called but few are chosen." Thus they who are
tion  wibh Go&. Not possibly, but actu#ally.  Hence, all        redwmed are an inrvumevable  few.
those for whom Christ gave Himself a ransom must                   And why "all men" ? Becaus'e God is the God of
be saved. Hence, all who are not saved have not been
justified and reconciled in  Chris& Hence, this "all"           all. All men, all classes,  all nations and peoples  Ihave
                                                                been created by Him. They are His and He is  theirs.
cannst  refer to every individual person in the world.          And He will have ,all to be saved! God's creation may
Hence, it can refer only to all classes and sorts of not perish, nor may any part of that work of God be
people. And this  is  t:he clear presentation of all Scrip-
ture On the basis of that atonement for "all" God lost.  The whole must some day rejoice before the
can will  lto Ihave "all men" saved.           .                throne of God and the Lamb.
       Thus we can understand what follows in verse 5.          God's WiU.
"For there is ane God, and one mediator between Cod
,and men, the man Christ Jesus." According to some,                God's will here is His counsel, His decree, His eter-
every  peuple  had their own  &. This was also the              nal  gmd pleasure, and in connection herewith, the
conception fof many of the Jews. God was not the God            ethical desire of His (divine heart that all men shall
iof all. He was the God of the Jews only. They had              come  ti the knowledge of the truth. It is manifestly
a monopoly on God. Them ;ainly God desired to have              untrue that "will" must here be identified with  demnd.
SEiSWd.     For tthem  only was the mediator, who was a Indeed, God demands of all men on the face oil' the
Jew,  anldr intended therefore only for the Jews. In            earth, that they repent and believe in the Lord Jesus
lihe manner, Gcd was not the God of those in ,aut,hority,       Christ. This,  Ihowever, has  not.hing  to do with the
,and Christ Could not be their mediator. This idea the passage before  us1 It  wou13d simply make no sense  to
Spirit, through Paul, refuses in this context. No! say: we must pray for all men because God deeds
God will  Ihave  dl  ~nzen   to be saved. For, all have         that all men be  saved! and come  to the knowledge of the
the same God ; also the same mediator ; the mn Christ truth. Neither. is there room here for a distinction
Jesus. The same thought lies at the basis of this               between hidden and revealed will of God. It  wtould
conhext  as we find in  Remans  329-30, Is he &he God           then be the revealed will of God that all men be saved,
of the Jews only? is he not  .also of the Gentiles? Yes, whereas the Ihidden will provid.es ,sralvation  for the elect
of the Gentiles also; seeing it is one God, which shall mly. However, if God's revealed will in verse 4 is,
justify the circumcision by faith,  and uncircumcision that all men in the world shall be  ssved,  His revealed
through faith." And to the  Galations  Paul writes, will in verse 6 must be that Christ Jesus gave Him-
"There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond self a ransom for those same all men. No, God's will
nor free, there is neither male nor female; for ye are          in I Timothy 2  :4 is simply His eternal good pleasure,
.a11 one in Christ Jesus.`"                                     the ethical desire  uf His divine heart. Moreover, what
       To this exegesis also the preceding context  point.9.    is more clearly  reve&ed  in the Word of Cod than that
The congregation must pray and give thanks. From He does VW~ will that `all men be saved. Did God also
these prayers no class u:f people may be deliberately           desire the salvation of Esau? Of Pharaoh? Of Juda&
excluded. No one m,ay be regarded as lost simply be-            Does God not' also harden whom He wills? Are there
cause he or she happens to belong to .a certain class           not also "the vessels of wrath fitted unto destruction" ?
of people, or to a certain nation or language. We may              Thils will of I Timothy  2:4 is also realized. As
not do, for example, as many apparently did during certain as it is that God will have all men to be saved,


                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                        189
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90 sure it is, ho, that all men shall be saved. and come
to the knowledge of the truth.                                             Sovereign Election
   Of oourser  beoause  Gd is GOD and His immutable,           Scripture is most  o&spoken  respecting the matter
almiffhty  will is ever realized. How terrible to deny      of election and reprobaticn.  This, no one, acquainted
this in any manner! Should GDd will the salvation           with the contents of Holy Writ  wlill deny, ever has
of all His moral creatures and should this will go un-      denied.
Lsatisfied?  Wuulld it be possible that the majority of        Whereas, it is freely admitted that Scripture in
those whotm the Almighty wills be lost? Could God's unmistakeable  speech  #teaches  a divine election and
desires possibly be frustrated by the will and whim of reprobation, the  issue is not: Does Holy Writ  teach
mere man? Thanks be to God, what He wills is real- election, but rather: What is the character of the elec-
&xi. If  not, I would  h,ave no God. Neither would tion it teaches. Is it supreme and sovereign, or bound
heaven ever  be according to the (heart of the Lord, our    and imprisoned by the will of man. We afXrm  on the
God.                                                        basis of Scripture that the divine choice must be as
   Of course, tco, because God Himself realizes His sovereign as God Himself. And He  isi absolutely sover-
own will. He loved "all men" with an everlasting love,      eign. High is He above all nations, exalted far above
and in that love  H!e predestinated them unto life  et+%- all gcds. What may be the secret of His supremacy?
nal. N& lolnle people, but all the people of the earth.     He is ad, i~nfinite in might, the Almighty Creator of
For these "all men" He gave His Christ to be a ransom t.he earth and the fulness thereof. He appears in Scrip-
for sin and to reconcile them to the living God. And        ture as the Creator of the saint and as the sole source
these "all men"  He Himself r-e&ems.  `The saving grace of his sa,lvatifon. Also of sin He is  the supreme neces-
of God unto salvation has indeed appeared unto all          sity. He forms the light, and. creates :darkness  ; makes
men. With His Spirit and grace He enters into all           peace and creates evil. Verily, the joint testimony  of
classes, ranks, races, nations and tribes and tongues Scripture that  G& is supreme is overwhelming.
of men. Out of them all He redeems those chosen                What we will now prove from Scripture is that
unto eternal life. Them He regenerates and converts. God's choice,  selection, is sovereign, that is, not bound,
Them He fills with His life and light ,and grace and        tied down and held in bondage by  main. What may
truth. Them He brings  &cacieusly  to the true spirit-      be meant by a supreme, in distinction from a bound
ual knowledge of the truth, which  is in God  alone choice? Let us illustrate. The matter is simple enough.
through Jesus Chris& our Lord. Them He saves, and A merchant is in need of ,an able clerk. He advertises,
He Jone. Whomever He wills. Them only. Them and shortly two men, A. and B. apply. .The merchant
*to the last one. And thus, by saving the elect out of ,fures his gaze first upon the one and then upon the
all classes of men and ages of Ihistory, God Himself other; and the thought rises in his soul, A. strongly
saves "all  men?`, according to the word of God to appeals to me. Him will I selfect,  providing he poss~esses
Timothy. The dead branches shall be burned! with fire. the necessary fitness. A brief interview, however,
Nevertheless, in the remnant according to His grace convinces him that the fit man is  nzt A. but B.
He saves all mankind.                                       13. therefore is, taken and A. dismissed. A bound choice,
   Soon, in  that  same remnant of grace, "all men"         bound because  sha,ped and influenced by a circumstance
shall enter into the glory Gcd has prepared for them.       -the fitness of the  appli.cants-the  merchant did not
Then the chaff shall be destroyed forever, but  %.ll        create, but before which he is compelled to bow and
men" shall be redeemed. Then this will  of the Al- take cognizance of, a circumstance, therefore  that  coni
mighty will be fully and finally  realizd.  Then the        stitutes the factor that determined the choice. On
knowledge of  tihe truth will be perfected in  all for      the other hand, if the merchant, capable lof making
whom it was: intended and the prophecy of Isaiah will       of a man what he wills, could choose without consider-
be fulfilled: "Ithe earth shall be fulI of the knowledge    ing what  the applicants by themselves  are, his choice,
of the Lord, as the waters  oover  the sea".                determined solely by factors within  him&elf,  would be
   John on  t,he isle of P*atmos, granted by means ocf      free and sovereign. Fncm the very nature of things,
visions a glimpse into the glory to come  *and there Ihowever,  man's choice is alw,ays  bioand.
seeing   "aJl men" before  the throne of  GRd and the          However, as the choice, selection of a God who
Lamb, writes in Revelation  7:9ff, "And after  this  I made heaven and earfth, moves mountains, dries up
beheld, and, lo, a great multitude which  noi man could     seas, creates evil, turns  men's  hearts, is the source of
number, of all nations, and kindredsj  and  people, and anything of gcodness  in man, - this chcicice,  elective
tongues, shd before the throne, and before the Lamb, love of God  inr supreme. Nowhere is  ,this more plainly
clothed with' white robes, and palms in their hands;        ta,ught rthan in the ninth chapter of Paul's epistle to the
And cried with ,a loud voice, saying, Salvaftion to our * Remans, Ati'cend to the argument of the verses ten to
God which sittetih  upon the throne, and unto the Lamb." fourteen : "And not only this ; but when Rebecca als2
   These are the all men of I Timothy  2:4!                 had concieved by one, even by our father Isaac ; for the
                                                R. V.       children being not yet born, neither having done any


."..    190                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D  BEARhR
        good or evil, that the purpose of  God  accordring  to the eye of the apostle. It again shows that the doc-
        election, might stand, not of works bu% of Him that ~jtrine  of the preceding verses is: Ged chooses one and
        calleth ; it w,as said, unto her, The elder shall serve the    rejects another because He will. The form in which
        younger. As it is written, Jacob have I  `loved, but the apostle' has  t'he objector cast his complaint is:
        Esau have. I hated." This passage asserts, mark you, "Why does He yet find fault? For who hath resisted
        that  God loved Jacob before he had done any good, so          His will?" The reasoning here is plain: If it be true
        that Ithe supreme cause of the divine choice as it de- that  ~the destiny of man is in the  alm!ighty hand of
        volved upon the younger chibcl was not the good works,         God, if it is no& of him who will&h,  nor of him that
        `which  he, as a  lhistorical  phenomenon, performed; but runneth, but of  God'  that showeth mercy, if one believes
        the will, the good pleasure, of the Almighty God. And because God saves him ; if another remains. impenitent
        this is the mrne as saying that He chose Jacob `with           because God hardens him, and! is lost because God fi$s
        a view to increating in him holy  life. For, not  elf him for destruction, Jf man's state and destiny depend
        ~;orks but of  Nim that  ealleth,  that the  purpose'of        on God alone+holw can He find fault, that is, how can
        God according to election might stand. Forsooth, God's He blame  m,an and hold him responsible? For who
        &ice  is supreme. The sole factor that determines it, can resist His will? Observe that the objection is  pre-
        is found within Him. He has mercy upon whom He `cisely the one being urged against our d'o&rine  af the
        wiljl.                                                         chara&er of the elective grace of God. Let this set
               Deny the sovereignty ,of the divine choice, say that you to thinking. It shows that we are in exceedingly
        a sinner of himself believes, can believe if he but will,      go& company, in the company of no one less than
        and cannot be made to believe, if he will not, .and you        Paul.
        brush aside with one sweep the entire mass of testi-              "Who hath  resdsrted  His will?" The objector then
        mony of Script,ure  tha,t  Gcd is God, and lsret man in a has grasped the  foirce  and implication of the apost'e's
        throne left vacant by a dethroned God.  For if the             reasoning. The question is, however, whetlher the doc-
        spiritual  I,sraeI, as to its hiallowed  energies, and power, trine of the preceding  verses yields this conclusion.
        its faith, hope, and love, and :good  works, is not of God,    And the answer: In the mouth of the objector khe com-
        the creation of His almighty will, He is not Israel's          plaint, "No one can resist His will" is vile slander.
        M,aker,  <exalted  and almighty Father, King and Savior. What the objector means to say is that the reprobated
        To say, therefore,  :that there  is something of good- sinner is hardened irrespective  of  what  he can do
        ness in man that is not of God, not the creation of His,       a&bout  it, is hardened therefore against `his own good
        will-some power,  showsever infinitesimal,  to+  appns~        will and better self. If God would only withdraw and
        priate the Christ and the blessings, of the kingdom, to        permit this better self to assert itself, the hardened one
        take hold of the lifeline thrown out, some power to            wlould obey and  n~it rebel. The sinner, according to
        utter a single faint cry for mercy-is to, strip Him cb the  reasoning  of the objector, is being compelled to
        His infinite might, yea of all His glories, and draw           Y-W  no to the Almighty, though he would say yes.
        Him down to the level of  th.e creature. Consider that         Hence, God cam@ find fault. What has .&he  apostle to
        man is by nature dead in trespasses and sin, and thus          say to this? Noithing  directly. He could `have replied%  :
        d'estitute  of spiritual life and power. How, then, can Thou, 0 man, cans& not resist God's will in the sense
        he believe, `will to believe of himself?                       that  ithou,  hieing hardened by  G~x+,  canst will to  Idi3
               As to Esau, God thated hi,m before he had &zae any nothing  else but harden thyself and say no to! Him.
        evil, so that the supreme a9 the divine rejection  es          Thy will is only evil as thyself. Wiith  thy whole being,
        it devolved upon the older child was ncrt Ihis corruption, with all the power that is thine, dost thou pitch thyself
        the evil works he as a  historica   phenomeacn  per- again& God. He therefore finds fault with ,thee,  holds
        formed, but the will, the good pleasure of God. For Wise accountable. For thy rebellion is, wanton, wilful,
         reasons within Himself the Almighty resolved to reject unrestrained, unfettered.
         and to Iharden  the historical Esau. "Therefore  lhath He         Verily, though hardened, man is the subject of his
         mercy  Ioa  w,hom He will have mercy, an whom He rebellion, and behaves in agreement with his  n,atare.
         will1 He hardeneth."      Consider  ath,at  if  Esau's total de- With such amazing freedom does he sin, so far is he
        pravity was the supreme reason that compelle&  God to from being able to detect the power of the Almighty
         reject him, the Almighty would ,have been  for,ced  to over and in him as something fore~ign to  <himself that
         reject Jacob as well, for he by nature was as depraved        he denies the existence of God, Ask a man who per-
         as his reprobated brother. This shows that the  su-           sists in his unbelief why The continues to say ;no to the
         preme reason .of Esau's  rejection  was nut his wicked- Lord, and his answer will not be : Go18 hardens me, but,
         ness, but  the sovereign will of God.                         I will not believe, I hate God and refuse to come to His
                  One of the main objections raised against the doc- service.
         trine of sovereign election, is, thalt it is incompatible         That the apostle knew how to meet the aforesaid
        with human responsibility. This grievance, to3, was objection, is evident from  the following passage taken
         advanced by the enemy of the truth who rose before from the first  section of his epistle: "Who knowing the


                                       T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                             191
                                                        - -
 judgment of God that they which commit such things doctrine by the aomplaint, "Who oan resist His will?"
 are worthy of death, not only do the same but have            `Just so', such is the force of the apostle's reply, `in  t.he
 pleasure  in them that do them. Therefore art thou in-        right sense (not in the sense in which the opponez~t
 excusable, 0 man, whoscever thou art  (that judgest  :        meant it) no one can will to do nothing else but harden
 for wherein thou  jnd.gest `another, thou  condemnest         himself. Hence, thou, 0 man, art but clay in the hands
 thyself; for thou that judge&  doest  the same thing," of God. Being clay, it behcoves  thee to hold thy peace'.
 Ram.  1:32-2  :l. So then, the express  declarattio,n  of        "Who art thou that repliest against God. . . ." Let
 Scripture is that the rejected sinner, though hardened every opponent of Paul's .doctrine  seriously ask him-
 and fitted for destructi;og  by God, is nevertheless in-      self t&is question. Let him ask? who am I that dare to
 excusable, and is thus being held accountable for his set my mouth against Heaven and say, There is un-
 moral state. Though hardened by  Ged, man sins as             righteousness  with God. Wlho ,am I that dare to chal-
 a free moral agent. If you ask, How can this be? I lenge God's claim upon His moral creatures. Who am
 must reply that I know not. What Scripture here pre- I that have the vile courage to call God to account. In-
 sents is no contradiction but a mystery, which for this deed, who art thou, 0 man.  Considmer  for a moment
 reason defies our powers of penetration. Deny either who .tho art: a vile lump of clay by thyself, impotent,
 that man is art fault, or t,hat God hardens him, and the lifeless, without power  to make  anythi,ng  of thyself at
 mystery vanishes into thin air. The exponents of the all, &t&r B vessel unto honor, or a vessel unto dis-
 theory of a well-meaning offer of salvation to all men,       honor. Consider, that thou  can& not as much as harden
 cf the theory that God wills to save all, that Christ         thyself  except the Almighty hardens  :thee.  In God
 died  for all, of the theory that a sinner of himself can thou dost live, move, and  have  thy  beihg. Thou art
beli.eve,-I  saw, the  aexponents  of these various theories creature, the issue  oI His  wjill. Even as a vile sinner
 have no mystery.                                              thou dost come forth clut of the  wlomb  crf divine  provi-
     "H*ow  can He find fault. For who hath resisted His d:ence. In a word, by itself, thou art clay. Thy  oavil-
 will ?' Let us now attend to the .apostle`s  reply to this ling with God, how utterly preposterous! It behooves
 question. Consider, that the question is rhetorical and thee to hold thy peace and to extol the adorable sover-
 may therefore be converted into a positive statement eignty of  thy Maker. For thou art  c'iay. Yet  thou
 thus: God oannot  find fault, for no one can resist His openest thy mou'th,,  thou a vile lump of cl,ay, to criticize
 will. The opponent feels certain that the objection he God, to accuse Him of unrighteousriess,  to challenge
 now raises compels the apostle to concede that his doc- His claim upon thee, to say to  Hi,m,  Why  ha.4  thou
 trine is inconsistent with human  acoountability  and made me thus? Unbelievable! 0 man, thou art clay.
 therefore shall have to be relinguished. But the apostle Tell me<,  asks the apostle, h&h no$t  the potter power,
 is not to be silenced. In replying, however, he pur- that is, right over !the clay, of <the same lump to make
 posely  refrains from  cavilling  with his opponent about one vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor? 0
 the matter of human responsibilty, for the reason that man, have you ever heard of anyone challenging the
 all such complaints rise not from a sincere perplexity, right o;f the potter  over the clay? Would it not amlong
 from an earnest desire to know the truth about the            men be considered the `height of .&he  a.bsurd for any-
 matter, but from a stinking pride that dares to cavil         one to deny that the petter  has this right? And would
 with  tGod, and challenge His claim upon His moral it not be consB&ered  the heilght  Izf folly and arrogance
 creatures. Grievances they are  t.hat  sprmg  from a for the dishonorable vessel, a mere lump of clay, to say
 sinful unwillingness to believe that with God there can to the potter, "Why ha& th!ca made me thus?" And
 be  nu unrighteousness, from a vile stubbornness,  that       yed, 0 man, thou repliest against God, sayest  to Him,
 against better knowledge refuses to concede that where- `Why hast thou made me thus."
 as God is God, and man His creature, a thing form&,               What, then, is Ged's very own answler  to him who
 God can do with man according  ,e.s He wills. The             challenges His right over His  mora? creatures and in-
 apostle, therefore, frames a retort designed to rebuke sists that  with Him there is unrighteousness because
 the opponent's stinking pride andI to expose the blasr        He exercises His divine prerogatives over man as his
 phemous root-thought from which the  comp!aint                sovereign Maker? It is this: Consider, 0 man, that
 springs (read Rom. 9  :20-23)  the  rc&thought, namely,       w.ith me there can be no unrighteousness  as I am a holy
 that God hath  1.110 right to do with His moral creatures     God.  Consi,der, further, that I am thy -sovereign
 as He pleases.    Essentially this complaint is like unto     Creator and  therefcre   ,have a right  tto do with thee
 the-one first raised!: "Is there unrighteousness with ac.cording   to, my will. Therefore, be still  ,anld' bow
 cold?"  Attend now to the apostle's reply: "Nay, but          before the sovereignty of thy Maker. Humble thyself
 0 man, who art  .thou that repliest against God? Shall        und.er  my mighty hand. Extol My sovereignty, My
. the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why  haBt        glories, as thou beholdest them in the face of My Son,
 tb3u made me thus?" It is to be noticed that the Christ Jesus. Doing so, thou hast wi'cbin thyself the
 apostle here judges the opponent out of his own mouth. evidence that thou art a vessel of mercy prepared unto
 The opponent had thought to overthrow the apostle's glory.


192                                   `SHE  STANDARD   BiZARti:fZ
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       0 man,  will you continue to denounce the adorable       Pelagianism  represents an <attempt  to improve upon
God because you cannot reconciIe His perfect doings the  ha.&  ( ?) God of Scripture. Improve upon this
with your corrupt conceptions of what is right and           God and  polu  get a monstrosity. The men of whom
proper for Him to (do? Not satisfied w#ith Go:d as He is, Paul in his epistle to the Remans wrote. b-i&d it. But
you try and improve upon Him. Improve upon  Go&d,            their improvement turn,ed out to be B cdrru$ibl;e  man,
and you get a mo~nstros~ity.                                 a bird, a four-footed beast, a creepmg  thing, Let us
       So then, He hath mercy on whom He will have quote the passage: "And changed the glory of the un-
mercy, and whom He will He hardeneth. Xt means that corruptible `Gold into an .image made like to oorruptible
the relation He sustains to sin is causal. He hardens man, and to birds and to four-footed beasts, and creep-
first, .and as a result the sinner hardens himself. The ing things." Does any one suppose that the race of
exponents of the theory of the free will of man reverse today ccn,&3 do any better than those (heathen? Not
this. Man first hardens h~ims~elf  and as a result God a,t all. The made-over Gcd of the Pelagian,  that God
hardens ,him. The very fact, however, that the apostle who wills to slave all men head for head but cannot, is B
insists that God may do with His moral creatures as menstrosity.  This is plain enough.  ConsEder,  that
He pleases proves that His hardening the sinner is the acocrding to the apostles  .of a dethroned God the su-
cause of  ,the sinner hardening himself. The heart of preme  reason for a sinner believing is  the sinner him-
the entire argument  gof the apostle is that the  reI.ation' aclf, his supreme will. It  mans that God cannot save
God sustains to sin is causal, active progressive, and       unto His supreme ,g!ory. His, redemprtive  labors, there-
not as is commonly held, passive,  permissi,ve  receding. fore, being works that fall short. of Himself, must be
What is meant is  not an  abando,nment  of man to a denominated sin. ,4nd1 a  G.od whose works tie sin,
reprobate mind, a withdrawing of the restraining in- is darknesls. Further, the Gcd of the apostles of a free
fluenees  of His Holy spirit, a  givmg up to the  un- will must destroy the wicked because of an inherent
oounteracted  operations of surrounding hardening or impot.ence   lo bring them to repentance, so that the
perverting influences, but a positive giving up of the perishing of the wioked.,.speils  his defeat. In a word,
sinner to s,in through the wiokedness  of his own heart.     to dleng that the electing and rejecting God is supreme
Deny this ,and you overturn the entire argument of the is to change the glory of the incorruptible, vile, and
apostle that He  bath mercy on whom He will have impotent man. Improve upon  &the God of Scripture
mercy, and whom He will He hardeneth.                        and you get  a monstrosity.
       Having brought to the fore and removed the chief         Finally, if the electing and rejecting God is not
objections raised against the God of soivereign  mercy supreme, a man's salvation depends upon his  olwn ca-
and of sovereign wrath, let us now face the question: pricious will. Though believing today, the assurance
What m'ay be the raeal reason for the rejection of this      is lacking to him that he will still be cleaving unto
God? And the answer: the very fact that He is su-            Christ on the morrow. Even with the gat.esl of heaven
preme, selects one and rejects another because He wills within sight, he may still plunge back into hell. The
folr reasuns' in Himself, according to His purpose and theory we ,expose,  it is plain, renders everything un-
unto His supreme and everlasting Iglory.       A God so certain.       It is a  .theory that genders  nait peace but
absolutely sovereign the vile sinner cannot to!erate.        anxiety, not only but grief, not hope but despair, not
So he fabricates himself a God. But what is this  Ggd        humbleness but stinking pride. How different the dis-
other than an idol that can be taken up, stationed in a      position of a man who firmly believes Ithat the eiecting
corner anId stay put; a figurehead if you will, trained and rejecting God is supreme, the creative c.ause of his
to take orders ; an ornament, a deified extension of man ,salvation,  His Almighty Redeemer, Who  bo&s  `him  kre-
$himself,  B God who will talk along with man and say cause He wills, for a reason in Himself. This man has
that He selects  lone and rejects another for reasons in rerlt for he rests in God.
the creature: man's virtue, f&h or unbelief <that deifies        Man by himself is nothing. God is all. He is su-
even the power of God. Such a God man makes for preme. His power is infinite. .He saves to the utter-
himself, a God who selects or rejects according as man       most a vile sinner by himself hopelessly lost, whose
wills and unto man's supreme glory. The apost!es  of only hope theredore  *is God. Knowing himself as claim-
a dethroned Gcdr have `no objection to God casting a cdl by a God of sovereign mercy, the redeemed one ,has
man in hell, if only it be conceded that the supreme         peace, and joy unspeaka.ble,  and he glories. in the cross
reason for Him doing so, is the sinner, his stu,bborn.       and will Iglory in God forever more.
will. Even in hell the lost one can then glory in him-           Becau,s!e He is God supreme, John the apostle hears
self, shake his fist in the face of God and with the every creat,ure  which is .in heaven and in the earth,
proud Stoic lof old say, My will even thou  canst not        and such as me in the sea ,and ail that are in them,
overpower. R is noteworthy that the modern revivalist saying, Blessing a.nd honor and glory, and power, be
preaches hell and damnation with  a strange  ferosity.       unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unts the
They preach a Christ, too, a Christ, however, who com- Lamb forever and ever.
pletes the task of housecleaning begun by man.                                                           G. M. 0.


