     450                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
             -.
                            As To Books                              on a person after he has been humbled and frightened
                                                                     by the exposure of his sins and the wrath of God. We
                                                                     must then say to the Law: `Mister Law, lay off him.
        A  Commen;tary  On  Gklations   by  Martk   Luthe-r.
     Zondervan Publishing  /House,  Grand Rapids,  Mich.             He has  ,h,ad enough. You scared him good and proper'.
     Price  $1.95.                                                   Now it is the Gospel's turn. Now let Christ with His
                                                                     gracious lips talk to him of (better  things, grace, peace,
            This is a new and very much abridged translation forgiveness of sins, and eternal life". p. 150.
     of the well-known commentary of Martin Luther on                  One more illustration:
     the epistle to ,&he Galatians, by Theodore Graebner,                " `I am not angry with you', says Paul. `Why should
     professor of Philosophy and New Testament  Interpre-            I be angry with you, since you have done me no injury
     tation  at  Goncordia  Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri.           at all?'
            In the preface the author writes:                            "To this the Galatians reply: `Why, then, do you
            "The undertaking, which seemed so attractive when say that we are perverted, that we have forsaken the
     viewed  `as a literary task, proved  a most difficult one, true doctrine, that we are foolish, bewitched, etc., if
     and at times became oppressive. The Letter to the you are not gangry? We must have offended YQU  some-
     Galatians consists of six short chapters. Luther's com- how.'
     mentary fills seven hundred and thirty ootavo  pages in             "Paul answers: `You Galatians have not injured
     the Weidman Edition of  ,his works. It was written in me. You have injured yourselves. I chide you not
     Latin. We were resolved not to present this entire beoause  I wish you ill. Z have no reason to wish you
     mass of exegesis. It would have run more than fifteen ill. God is my witness, you have done me no wrong.
     hundred pages, ordinary ~ctavo  (like this), since it is On the contrary, you have been very good to me. The
     impossible to use the compressed structure of sentences         reason I write to you is (because I love you.
     which is characteristic of Latin, particulary of Luther's           "The bitter potion must  ,be sweetened with honey
     Zlatin. The w,ork had to be condensed. German and               and sugar to make it palatable. When parents. have
     English translations are available, but the most acceplt- punished their children they give them  ,apples,  pears,
     able English version, besides laboring under the handi- and other good things to show them that they mean
     caps of an archaic style, had to be condensed into  half well". pp. 196, 197.
     its volume in order to accomplish the `streamlining' of             From  ithese illustrations the reader may gather that
     the book."                                                      the style is lucid and that the book offers easy read-
            Naturally such severe condensation and "stream- ing.
     lining" could not very well be accomplished without the             It contains 282. pages.
     loss of some elements that are characteristic of Luther's           We are glad to recommend this edition  elf Luther's
     commentary, both  as to contents and form.                      commentary on the epistle to the Galatians to our
            Yet, I believe that the author has very well succeed-    readers.
     ed to give us a "condensed Luther".           Even in this                                                       H. H.
     "streamlined edition" the reader easily recognizes the
.    characteristically robust style of the  wellJknown   re-
     fmTlller.
            Let me quote a few passages.                                 The  Holy Spirit, by B. H.  Carrel,  D.  D.: LL.D.
            "Man's folly, however, is so prodigious that  instead- Zondervan  P!ublishing  House, Grand Rapids,  Mich.
     of embracing the message of grace with its guarantee Price $1.50.
     of %he forgiveness of sin for Christ's sake, man finds
     himself more laws to satisfy his conscience. `If I live,'           Mr. J. B. Cranfill, who is the editor of these ser-
     says he, `I will mend my life. I will do this, I will do mons, composed by Dr. Oarrol  and compiled by Pro-
     that'. Man, if you don't do the very opposite, i*f you fessor  J.  W. Crowder, writes in his "Foreword" :
     don't send Moses and the Law back to Mount Sinai and                "As I read and edited these pages I had the feeling
     take the hand ,of Christ, pierced for your sins, you will that must ,have been in the heart of Moses when he
     nkver be saved".> p. 149.                                       stood by the burning bush<,  for I know that the ground
            Another  quotatiun   :                                   covered ,by these great sermons is holy ground, and no
            "The Law is,not to have its say  indefinitely.  We man would dare lightly even to speak the name of
     must know ,how long the Law is to put in its licks. God's Holy Spirit.
     If it hammers  arway  too long, no person would and                 "It is, therefore, with a deep sense of my own
     could be saved. The Law has its boundary beyond                 un$worthiness  that I venture to give this book to the
     which'it  ,must  not go. How long ou,ght the Law to hold public. B. H. Carrol, that noble, dev&ed,  faithful ser-
     its sway? `Till the seed should come to whom the vant of God, walked in the way of the highest, and it
     `promise was made. . . .'                                       was fitting that he should leave for those of us, who
            "Spiritually, it means that the Law is not to operate followed on, this great  v&me of sermons on the  Holy


                                           T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                           451
   _
Spirit.      There may be greater discussions on this
sacred theme than those found in this volume, but if                         Paulus' Bede En Dank
so I have never ,been  fortunate enough to come upon
them".                                                             Daar zijn dank  tech van die gedeelten der Heilige
        I cannot agree with-this evaluation of Dr.  Carrel's    Schrift  die ons rechtsstreeks de kostelijike leer der
sermons.                                                        eeuwige voorverordineering  leeren. Gedeelten, waar-
        True, the book causes us to know the author as a op de geheele of gedeeltelijke Arminianen van aiilerlei
fervent preacher of the Word, cwith  strong and  definite slag, kleur en indeeling  zich stomp op bijten ; gedeelten,
convictions, as a preacher should have.                         die van allerlei zijden lbezien  worden,  behalve van uit
        It is also true that these sermons contain material het  rechte oogpunt en daarom  ,dan ook doorgaans  velr-
that is instructive and worth reading.                          knoeid  worden  itn plaats van verklaard. Men  wring-t
        Nevertheless, it is `my conviction that Dr. Carrel      zich in alllerlei  boohten  om zijn vooropgxzette  Betterij
.has not grasped the significance of Pentecost and pre- van een God die allen mint te handhaven  en tegelijker-
sents to us an erroneous view of the outpouring of the tijd tech ook den indruk achter  te Iaten, dat ,men den
-Holy Spirit and the New Testament Church.                      Woorde  Gods geen geweld aandeed.                     I
        I would recommend the reading of this book unly to         Dwrom  is dan ook het grootste getal der commen-
those that have the power of discretion.                        taren  geen  venklaring   doch  stellen  te  leur.
                                                   H. H.            Een dier gedeelten vinden we in bet eerste deel van
                                                                Efeze 1. Daar  lee& ge keer op keer van dat eeuwige
                                                                lwelbehagen  Gods. Er wordt van vers tot vers gedurig
                                                                gewaagt van de gedachten  `Gods die in  Christus Jezus
                                                                zich uitstrekten tot ,het geheel der verkorenen.
                                                                    In  vers 3 begint Paulus God te zegenen vanwege
                     A T T E N T I O N ! !                      Zijn  wonder*   daden jegens ons. Hij heeft ons  geze-
                                                                gend met a.lle tzegening  *in den hemel in Christus.
        FIELD  DAY  OF THE  PROTESTANT  REF. CHURCHES               En dan verbindt ,hij die gedurige Goddelijke zege-
                                                                ning aan het fuindament  van alle zegeningen: de eeu-
        JULY 4,  AT  BROWN'S  GROVE NEAR  JAMESTOWN             wige voorverordineering. Want in vers 4 zegt hij : ge-
                         *  *  *  *  *                          lijk Hij ons uitverkoren heeft in Hem, dat is,  Christus
                                                                Jezus. In  vers 5 theet het, dat Hij  ens te voren  ver-
        The Committee has arranged a good program. ordineerd heeft; in  vers 9 gewaagt hij van het  wel-
There will be good speakers ; also games for young and behagen,  thetwelk  hij voorgenomen had in Zichzelven ;
old, such as (baseball and volleyball for the old people,       in vers 11 hooren we wederom `van de voorverordinee-
and other games and contests for the younger children. ring lna.ar Gods voornemen.
                                                                    Merkt hier bij op, dat Paulus achik heeft van die
        The program will begin at 11 o'clock with com- waarheid. Hij verbloemt ze niet, hij knoeit er niet
munity singing. Some of the games for the younger mede,  ,maar hij  verilustigt  zich  er in.  Het is dezelfde
children will be played before dinner.                          Paulus van  Romeifnen  9. Als hij daar  aan het einde
                                                                gekomen is van  zijn onderwijzing in de leerstellige
        Dinner at 12 o'clock sharp. Coffee will be served. waarheid dan roept hij in  verrulkking uit: 0, diepte
Take your mown cups and' containers along. Buns, Ice- des rijkdoms, .beide der Yvijsheid  en der kennis Gods!
cream, soft drinks, candy etc., will be sold. Proceeds hoe ondoomoekelijk zijn Zijne oordeelen en onnaspeur-
$for The"Standard  Bearer.                                      lijk Zijne wegen!
                                                                    Die verlustiging in de groote en wondere awerken
        Let us make this day a success.                         Gods merikt  ge ook op in Efeze. 1. Eerst al doordat hij
                                          The Committee.        zijn onderwijzing aangaande de  voorverord,ineering
                          -          -                          Gods begint met een uitioep  van heilige verruking :
                                                                Gezegend zij ,de God en Vader Ban onzen  Heere Jezus
NOTICE :-Opportunity will be given to pay your Sub- Christus! En al  lzegenende en  zmgende  komt hij tot
scription for the Standard Bearer. The Essay of Rev. een  ~besohrijving  van het eeuwig welbehagen. En in
H. Hoeksema, .delivered  at the Conference in the Pant-         de tweede plaats  doordat  hij eindigt met te  danken
lind Hotel, and the sermons of Rev. H. Hoeksema on en te bidden.
the book of Romans twill `be sold. If you do not have               Het.  veband  loopt   zoo:   aij zegent God vanwege
                                                                Zijn wondere werken. Die  weaken   vertelt   h,ij in de
any or  all of these, get them there' from                      verzen 3 tot  14. En dan zegt  Paulus: Daarom houd
                                     Ralph  Schaafsnm.          ilk niet op ook God te danken  voor U  allen  in Efeze,
                                               Treasurer.       noch ook houd ik op te bidden lroo~ U allen,  U geden-


                                            T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                               455
  ,                 _--_
  glans en heerlijkheid van het  lichaam.  Met  andere              zal U plaats in den  hemel,   nlaar verhouding,  grooter
  iwoorden:  ge wordt  niet geroepen om vele  meesters              zijn daar in den  Hemel  dan hier  -op  .aarde.  Dan zal
  te zijn (gedenk aan Jakobus' brief), doch om te dienen. God zeggen : Vriend, kom hooger op !
  IHet laatste pbatsje, de plaats van den  dienaar-                   Dan zal het U eer zijn voor degenen. . . .
          En wat wondere vrucht.                                       En de eer zal ,bestaan  in dienen. Dienen  tot zalig-
          Zie ,het in Christus                                      heid in alle eeuwigheid.
          O?ndat Hij Z,ich zoo vernederde en de plaats kaos                                                          43. v.
  die  eindelijrk geen  plaarts meer was, heeft God  Hem
2 uitermate  verhoogd.
          Hij wordt Koning van Gods nieuwe wereld en da%
  tot in eeuwigheid. Al de vollheid  Gods gaat lichamelijk
   in Hem  wonen.         Hij  ontva.ngt  een Naam die boven
  allen  naa,m is. Nu mag Hij God  zdci dienen, dat all&n
   door Hem alle  kinderen  Gods zalig worden. Van ouds                            Baptized  fn Moses
   profeteerde Hij ervan: In het  mi,dden  der gemeente                                                     I Car. 10 :l, 2.
   zal Ik U prijzen  !                                                                                                   .
          Nederigheid is lieflijk. E.n geeft wondere vrucht.           Strange words these.
          Vrucht van  verheerlijking.                                  Pecu&xr_admonition.
          Zoo zal het ook zijn in den dag der dagen.                   I  woul,d. not brethren that ye should be ignorant
          Als ge hier op aarde Uzelf vernederd hebt en ge-          concernin-g the great event of the pasSing'  through the
   diend in getrouwigheid des  harten,  zal de  hem&&e              Red Sea.  Moreover,  I  ,wuuld not that ye should be
   Rechter  U odk in het ,bijzijn van hemel en aarde ver-           ignorant. In this clause we find the conception tvith
   gelden.   Daarom  zullen  veEe eersten  d&&r  de  laatsten'      th& ,preceding chapter. `I&e exhortation at the end of
   zijn en vele laatsten de eersten.                                the chapter pictures `a sharp contrast  between the
          Jezus zegt : alsdan  721  het U eer zijn  war  de-        athletes in the Olympic &adium  and.those  who run the
   genen. . . .                                                     spiritual race. There is first  cif all similarity between
          En daarom  : Zijt niet vele meesters ; staat niet naax    %hem. The contestants strove for the reward @r the
   de hooge  dingen,   voegt U tot de nederigen. Leef niet          crown which was to be had `wlien the race was finitihed.
   zoo, dat van U gezegd  zou  moeten  v&x-den:  die bij            The difference is, the one received a corruptible, t3ie
   zichzelven rechtrvaardig  waren  en de anderen niets ach- other an incorruptible crown. Secondly, many began
   ten. Een ellendige ,h40uding voor zondaren  temidden the race, but only a few received the reward. This im-
   van zondaren.                                                    plied that to enter the race is not suffici&,  the race
          En ook niet te gaaw  aanzien ,wat voor oogen is.          must be finished  and it niust be ,done at the expense
          Wat dan?                                                  of all other things. The lbig question was not am I a
          Kent Uzelven en gruvvt van Uwe  zonden. Ziet om contestant in the race, but is my running of such a
   met een tranend hart en `bekreten  oog naar het laa&ste nature that I will reach the end and thus receive the
   plaatsje in de gemeente.                                         reward. It is not sufficient to enter cthe spiri'iual battle,
          En dient. Er is zoovee1  ellende en smart en tekort. we ,must keep fighting because only in that way shall
   Zalig zijn de- barmhartigen die zich ,bekommeren  om de the end be reached.
   ellende des broeders. Vervloekt zijn zij, die in hun                The Apostle applied the admonition to his own Iif&,
       ijd'len waan in verwachting neerzien op den  mindere.        says he: "I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so
   Zulk soort heeft alleen nog voor eigen schittering  van          fight I, not as one that  beat&h the air: but I keep
   deugden.  Doch ik  verzeker  U,  d& als ge oog krijgt            under my  Ibody, and bring it into subjection: lest that
       voor de schittering van Gods deugd, ook de deugd die by any means, when I  shave preached to others,  I my-
   .Hij van  U eischt, ge ietwat  voorzichtiger  zult zijn self should be a castaway."
       en zult ge, op het laatste plaatsje staande, gaarne              You must reach the end or perish.
       dienen.                                                          What the purpose of  Paul' might  be? He means
          En dat van  )h,arte.    Geen kruipende nederigheid to instruct lthe Corinthians that they should not deceive
       met  stinkende   hoo,gmoed  in  `k hart.  Doch van  harte    themselves by thinking that  <all is well with them and
       nederig.  En dan  zal `t  gaan.                              that they should not worry about the outcome of their
          Dan is er vrucht voor U.                                  race w,hich  is to be run. He means Ito say, you are stlT
          Vrucht hier. Want het is zalig om wetikelijk  nederig     at the  ibeginning  and you cannot make matters easy.
       te zijn. En ook is het zalig om te dienen. Daarin rtiet      The  .battle is now, and he alone who persevers to the
       ge de scheppingsordinantie Gods voor U. Het is zaliger       end  shall receive the crown.
       om te dienen dan orn gediend te worden.                          Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be
          En  vrulcht straks.  Ab God U Uw  eeuwige   p&&s          ignorant. Ignorant about  $he history of the Church
       zal aanwijzen.  W~t;bti  ge  dan werkelijk  nedwig,   d&n of the L&in-g God. The Apostle points to the history

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

of. the Old Testament Church. More  parlticularly  to the preceding and the verses following have no sense
the exodus from Egypt. He refers to  t.he fact of God's and cannot be understood. But if the same people
demand to Pharaoh to let God's people go, that they knew this history (and they did) is the question not
mlay serve the Lord and  .sacrifice unto  -Him in the absurd?
wilderness. This demand of the Lord was presented               The answer is, they knew the histary  and yet the
to Pharaoh  Iby Moses and Aaron. It was an easy              question of the Apostle is not fo&sh in the least. What
command to olbey, but Egypt's king chose not to com- Paul means to convey is this, do you understand the
ply with it and thereby denied Jehovah the right until spiritual significance? He had said, all ran the race,
the Lord poured out His wrath upon the Egyptians.            but the greater part of them did not reach the end of
       Moreover, brethren, remember  ,(-&d's  peculiar way t.he journey. I  want  you to know this concerning Israel
with Israel. This rtlso refers to the difficult journey in spite 06 the miracle at the Red Sea, in spite of all
through the wilderness. Soon after they left the house the other miracles performed by the Lord. I would
of  Ibondage,  on the third day, the Lord commanded          not brethren, <that ye should be ignorant. History is
Moses to turn sideways. If Israel had travelled in a nut simply the happenings in time of some natural
straight line  t&e promised land could have been reached     phenomena,  `but the revelation of  &d, of  `{His counsel
in a considerable short time. However, this was not and covenant, ,of His love and also of His wrath. It
the Lord's purpose. He sent His people in'a direct line is the manifestation ;bf His goodpleasure  and it reveals
toward tie Red Sea. And standing (before the sea they His divine purpose.
were closed in by mountains on each si,de. Their situa-         The passage through  the Red Sea meant to Israel
tion is precarious. The sea before them, the  moutains       to be baptized unto (into) Moses. 3
on each side and behind them the onrushing Pharaoh              That some  exlphin this to mean, when Israel passed
and  his host. Consequently, certain destruction would through the Red Sea they walked in or through the
be their end. There uras no way of escape *left.             water and tiere  thus baptized. The water, ,it does not
       The reason? For one thing, Israel was a child and make any difference whether it was much or little, was
must  Ibe instructed. Israel was not ready to inherit for them the water of baptism.
the promised land and had to attend the school of               Others say, while Israel went through the,Red Sea
Jehovah. And one of the most important factors was, a strong wind  ,blew across  the sea and sprinkled some
that Israel must  *learn  *and understand its relation to- water on their heads and thus we have a prophecy of
ward Jehovah. The journey was one of the means in baptism  >by sprinkling instead of the baptism  [by sub-
the hand of the Lord to reveal His wisdom,  [His power merging. In both eases one  mtarvels  at the ingenuity
and His love. And through it all  thie people must be- of such fertile minds. I prefer to oall this bome-made
come conscious of the covenant relation, to be a separ- typology  clear and simple,  ,without  Scriptural basis
ate people; whose help was in the Name of the Lord           and very dangerous. Besides, if one holds te such an
and that without Him ;they could do nothing. (Another. explanation, I am sure that no one among the Israelites
reason for thk lengthy journey was, that the cup of          (not even Moses) understood their baptism and could
iniquity of the Canaanites was not yet full.                 not derive any spiritual benefit from it. And the Lord
       The Lord intends to  revea1 from the outset that He does not reveal anything whereby His peopIe  are not
is the Unchangeable One in regard to His people and          benefited.
in His relation toward the enemy. Pcharaoh  must be              4s to the first  emlanation,  namely, that Israel
brought low and become the occasion of God's revela- ,walked  through the water, it can be said that the oppo-
tion of iHis love toward His peopIe  at the expense of site was actually the case. The people went in the sea
their tormentor. Therefore the precarious condition on a dry path. T:hat was part of the miracle. While
at this ,moment. True it is, Israel did not understand the waters stood on each side of them like a solid wall,
all this, to the contrary, they murmur and find fault their path was perfectly dry. And as to the sprinkling
with the Lord and Moses. The mlajority considered the of the water by means of the wind, Scripture does not
servitude in Egypt easier to bear than to, walk in fait~h    refer to this  historica1  fact with a view to baptism.
with  the Lord. And thus it continued in the desert at Besides, what kind of baptism must it be to be baptized
several  loccasions.  Nevertheless, the Lord leads, leads, unto Moses?
,a11 the way in spite of the rebels. He opened the way          No, but Moses' call,ing and his appointment to be
by commanding the sea to provide a dry path in its           the mediator were now made plain. The people did not
midst and by destroying the enemy. The sea became know that this man Moses was appointed to lead them,
the watery-grave for Plharaoh  and his army.                 to intercede for them, to. be their mouthpiece unto the
       I would not brethren, that ye should be ignorant.     Lord and the Lord's mouthpiece to His people. And up
       Did the Corinthians not know about this episode of to this moment it seemed to the contrary, that they
Israel's history? Is it Paul's intention to enrich their were an ignominous part of Egypt, the slaves of
knowledge with some historical facts? Was it only a          Pharaoh, they and their children. But in the passage
question of some information? If that Were the case through the Red Sea two things became plain. First


                                        T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                          457

  the  facts that Moses and the people became one. This leader and mediator, the means of grace and the privi-
  the Lord clearly revealed by the miraculous act of His leges corrected with the covenant were to be given
  almighty power. Through it al.1 it became plain that to Israel as a nation separated from the world. Israel
  under the leadership of Moses  *hey were to set out to was under  tie protection and guidance and the instruc-
  the land of promise. Moses was to lead them to the tion of the Lord. And all of Israel were on their way
  borders of Canaan. Moses' calling and his place in the to fc2maar-l.
  midst of Israel  `as mediator was confirmed.                     This fact therefore, is typical of the New Testament
      And they were all under the cloud. In the cloud           Church and its tb$ptism.  I would not t,hat ye be ignorant
  the Lord was present to lead and, to guide, to protect brethren. Nor would we know, had not the Apostle
  and to fight for His people. We read of it when the           Paul explained it to us, that the passage through the
  chil,dren  of Israel were pursued by Pharaoh:  "-And the Red Sea was as such a type. We must notspiritualize,
  Angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel,           the Scriptures will interpret its own types for us.
  removed and went ,behind them; and the pillar of the             What happened in the Old Dispensation is here
  cloud went from before &heir face, and stood behind explained to us. Israel land the New Testament Church
  them: And it came between the camp of the Egyptians are essentially one. Israel was separated by the cloud
  and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and dcark-         and the sea and theus baptized unto Moses. To follow,
  ness to them but it gave light by night to these : so that    to be prayed for and instructed and finally to be led
  the one came not near the ot.her  all r&&t-And it came        into the- land of Canaan was the goal.. And in it and
  to pass, that in the morning watch the Lord looked unto through it all Israel is held cbefore  the eyes of the New
  the host of the Egyptians through the p.ilhr of fire and Testament Church. The Church is separated from the
  ,of tie cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians,        world and the devil to be a peculiar people unto the
  snd took off their chariot wheels, that they drave them Lord. And thus the passage through the Red Sea is
  aheavily ; so that the Egyptians said, let us flee from type of baptism. Beautifully- expressed in our well-
  the face of Israel; for the Lord fighteth for them known form "Thou,' who ha& drowned the obstinate
  against the Egyptians. And the Lord said unto Moses, Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea, and hast led thy
  Stretch out thine  hand over the sea, that the waters         people. Israel through the midst of the Sea upon dry
. may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their ground, by which  baptism was signified."
  chariots, and upon their horsemen". (Ex. 14).                    For even as Israel was separated from Egypt and
      In the cloud the Lord was present and as we quoted, Pharaoh to be God's people, dedicated unto His service,
  in the Red Sea the cloud moved between Israel and the a peculiar people in distinction from the nations round
  Egyptians so that lthe one came not near the other about it, so also the baptismal sign and seal preach,
  all night. Tlhe Lord provided for Israel a shining light be ye separated from this sinful world, the dominion
  out of themidst  of the cloud, while darkness prevailed .and power of the devil ,and of sin. T:he water of bap-
  over the Egyptians.       Hence, that cloud was a sure tism speaks of the cleansing of the unclean heart. For
  sign of the one fact, the face of the Lord is over His        in  the submerging or sprinkling of the water and the
  people. And on the other hand, His wrath is upon returning out of the water we have the sign and the
  Qwpt. $His people were protected, abeing under the seal of entering spiritually into the death of Christ and
  cloud of  the Angel of the Lord (Jesus Christ)  )smd          the returning out of the water,  a return unto a new and
  with and through Him, the ever faithful covenant God. sanctified life unto the Lord. No, not in the water as
  Israel was under the cover of Jehovah's wings. There-         such (for then there le no sign nor seal left), but `in
  fore they were safe. Egypt was doomed through that the blood of Christ Jesus, Who died and was raised for
  same cloud, lightning flashing and thunder rolling,           us and we with Him. And by  &ace,  through His
   causinlg  ohaos in the army of Egypt while it was in         Spirit, gives us that pure conscience toward God,
  the.midst  of the sea.                                        through which grace we enter into the coventant  fellow-
      And in the sea.                                           ship of God Triune.
      The sea was also instrumental in bringing Israel             And thus Israel never returned to Egypt and the
   unto Moses. It was the final aot of the Lord. First, to bondage of Pharaoh, so also the believer is freed from
   bring His people before and ,+I& the sea and finally to the bondage and service of Satan, the world and his
   lead them  through  tie sea.                                 sinful flesh.
      And through the sea they were separated and set              That happened to the believing Israel in the passage
   free from the tyrant Pharaoh and from Egypt, the through the Red Sea, under the cloud, following Moses.
  *house of bondage. In a certain sense they were separ- Freed from Egypt and their tormentor they were called
   ated from  tie sinful world. The Lord's command was to be an `holy people=unto  the Lord.
   fulfilled, "Let my people go; `?&at they may hold a feast       For I would not brethren that ye should be ignorant.
   unto me in the wilderness". Apd thus the Old Testa-             All were under the cloud.
   ment form of worship. in a nationa'listic sense came             There is no difference, according to the  ,Apostle
  about and was inaugurated; Moses. was to be their Paul. The. emphasis must be  pl,aced in  ,the all.  &ZZ


4 6 8                                         T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

were baptized unto Moses  .and  aZZ passed through the
sea. The privileges connected wi$h. Israel were enjoyed                              The Day Of Atonement
by, a1.Z. The means of grace were administered to  aZZ.                     In the foregoing article on the typology  of Scrip-
AZ.! left Egypt, were fed in the wilderness and were ture, we were occupied  with the Holiest Place and its
called by the name `the people of God'.                                  furniture. As the symbolical import and typical bear-
         They aZZ entered the "race" to Canaan.                          ings of this furniture can be fully comprehended only
         Did they all enter?                                             in connection with the service of the day of atonement,
         The answer is: "But with  many of them  God  was we shall consider this service, the instructions for
.not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the                       w,hich  are contained inthe 16th ahapter  of the book
wilderness."                                                             of Leviticus. This ehapter has exclusive regard to
  Now these things were our examples. Not  Some the means of approach to God  ,on the day of atonement.
,but many  (bet  meerendeel) never reached the Ipromised                 It consists of two portions. The first of these  (vss.
land.                                                                    2-28) contains the directions for  the annual atonement ;
         The believers alone  Iwere  saved. They were  the. and the second (vss. 29-34) the command for the
spiritual  *people of God, separated from Egypt and look yearly celebration.
forward to the Canaan that is  above.  When they                            The chapter sets out  with the notice that the Lord
entered the promised land they had the hope eternal spake  unto Moses after the death of Aaron's two sons.
in their hearts. That was their dnal goal, loking  for These sons-Nadab  tind  Abihu-had  been devoured
the better Mediator,  W/ho was to give them eternal rest. by  tire going out from the Lord on account of their
         For I would not  fbrethren  that ye should be ignorant. having offered strange fire, "which  (He commanded
         Also for the  Church of today the admonition is                 them not". Thus they had  ,died through their ap-
imperative. It must be preached and taken to heart.                      proaching the Lord profanely. The inauguration of
There is no essential difference for the Churclh is one the atonement now to be considered is historically con-
even as the Covenant God is One in the Old and the nected with the death of Aaron's two sons. But this
New Dispensation.                                                        connection does not exclude the logical connection ,with
  Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take the legislation that preceded and followed. T.he pro-
heed, lest he fall.                                          W.V.        vision for the solemnites of the  ,dlay of atonement was
                                                                         necessary in any case to  t&e oompleteness  of the sacri-
                                                                         ficial system, but the making of this provision was oc-
                                                                         casioned by the unlawful act of these sons. The data
                                                                         to show the length of time between their death and
                                I N   MEMORIAM                           the new divine revelation is wanting. . . .
                                                                             In view of the catastrophe just mentioned, Moses,
         Het behaagde  den Heere den 2Osten  Juni, na een langdurig      in the name of the Lord, cautioned Aaron against com-
lijden,  een onzer leden  door den dood tot Zich te nemen,               ing at all times into `*&he Holy Place within the vail
                         MRS J. H. REINDERS                              "before the mercy seat, which is upon the ark ;. . . ."
                                                                         By the Holy Place is to  (be understood the Holiest, as
 m den ouderdom van 74 jaar. Da  J3eere   nam haar tot  Zich;            is evident from the phrase, "within the vail before
haar  strijd is  g&eden;  de loop geeindigd  cn het geloof  be-          the mercy. seat." The vail separated the Holy Pl*ace,
houden. 2 Timotheus 4 vers 7 en 8.                                       the outer compartment of the sanctuary where the
         De Heere trooste de  bedroefde   Camilie.  En geve de  Hecre    priests daily ministered at the altar of incense, from
ons dat iwij  bereid mo.gen   zijn  als de Bruidegom komt.               the Holiest which might never be entered  .by man
                  Namns  de Hollandsche  Vrouwen Vereeniging             except on the day sppointed in this chapter. Should
                                      "Wee& een zegen"                   Aaron disregard this command, he would reap the
                           van de Eerste Prot. Geref. Gemeente.          same judgment that overtook his two sons; for it is
                                Ds. D. Jonker, President.                added, "that he die not". It was only on the day of
                                Mrs. J. Cammengs, Secretaresse.          atonement, which was the tenth of the seventh month,
                                                                         and  usually.occurred about the beginning of our Octo-
                                                                         ber, that Aaron was instructed to enter this Holiest
                                NOTICE                                   Place. And ,he was warned to enter only in the `way
                                                                         prescribed, "kst he die". !He had to lay aside his
         The. essay-written  ,by Rev. H. Hoeksema, which was beautiful priestly robes and ornaments and clothe him-
delivered at the Conference of the Ghristian Reformed self with a linen coat over linen drawers, and girt with
 and Protestant Reformed ministers held at the Pant- a linen girdle, The linen cape completed the attire.
 lind Hotel, can be purchased in pamphlet form. in either He was thus to divest himself of Ihis "golden garments"
the Holland or English language from R. Schaafsma,                       and to be clothed in pure w,hite  #as symbolical of holi-
 524 Henry Ave., S. E. at the price of 20 cents.                         ness. This symbolism was increased by his bathing


                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                        469

himself before putting an these garments, and again and sprinkled upon and in front of `the mercy seat,
when he exchanged them fur his official robes. (These and subsequently upon the altar of incense, first upon
bathings were not the mere ordinary bathings of the the horns of the altar and <then upon the altar itself
h*ands and feet, but of the whole $body.)     Thereupon seven times. In this sprinkling, tie Iblood of the bullock
he entered the Holiest place with the atoning blood.         of the priestly sin offering -was joined wit-h the blood
   But Aaron *had first to make atonement for himself of the he-goat. As a result of this action the blood was
and for his house ibefore  proceeding to offer for the in the presence of Jehovah in token of its abeing  accept-
people. Having killed the bullock of the sin-offering ed by Him as a covering for the sins ,of the offenders, in
which was for himself, he took of the blood of  tmhe         this case the entire congregation including the priests.
bullock, and sprinkled it with his fingers upon and             Though it is nowhere explicitly stated, there is
before the mercy seat seven times. But this was not nevertheless grounds for saying that Z;he blood of these
sufficient. He had ,also to take a tenser  full of burning sacrifices was  s'prinkled  not merely upon the furniture.
coals of .fire from off the altar of the burnt-offering be- of the Holiest Place but upon all  the furniture and.
fore  the' Lord and with h,is hands full of sweet incense    utensils of the tabernacle and thus also upon the brazen
bring it  within  the vail. There he had to put  the laver.  `and the altar of burnt offerings that stood in,
incense upon the fire before the Lord, that the cloud the outer court. The statement occurs, "And sprinkle
of incense might cover the mercy seat that was upon it (the blood) upon the mercy seat. . . . and so shall
the testimony, "that he die not".                            he do for the tabernacle of the congregation. . . . (Lev.
                                                             16) 5" And in the epistle to the  IHebrews we came
   Thus the order of these rites were as follows:            upon the notice (Chap. 9  :21,  22))  I "Moreover he
(1) the highpriest slew the  bullodk   for his own sin sprinkled with the blood both the tabernacle,  sand all
offering; (2) then he entered the ~Holy of Holies with the vessels of the ministry. And almost all things are
the golden tenser  full of burning incense ; (3) t&king by the law purged with (blood." The reason for this
the blood of his own sin offering, he again entered the action with the blood is (given, "And he shall make an
Holy of Holies and sprinkled the blood, first u,pon the atonement for the Holy P&lace, because of the .unclean-.
front side of the mercy seat, and then seven times           ness of the &ldren  of Israel, and because: of their
before it. T.hat .in making atonement for himself the transgressions in all their sins. . . . And he shall
.highpriest entered the Holiest Place twice is not ex- sprinkle of the blood upon it seven times, and cleanse.
pressly stated. Yet this must follow from the circum- it, and hallow it from the uncleanness of the children
stance that with his  `(hands full of incense" it was
physioally  impossible for him to at once bring in the of Israel (Lev. 16 :16-19)  ." TIhat these lifeless things
                                                             were also in need of cleansing was not on account of
vessel of blood.                                             their being in themselves capable of contracting guilt
   These rites having been perfurmed,  Aaron there- but on account of their being exposed to  defilement:  in
upon made atonement for the people. In response to the midst of a people, whose sins were continually com-
the command of (God,  he took of the congregation of ing up into the sanctuary and defiling by their pollu-'
the children of Israel two kids of ,the goats for a sin tions the holy things it contained. Thus the result  pf
offering and presented them before the Lord at the           the sprinkling of the blood upon the mercy seat was
doorof the tabernacle of the congregation. According twofold. As a result of this action, the blood, as was
to Jewish tradition, the two goats were to be of the just said,  was before the face of the Lord and, secondly,
same size, color, and value, and  *as nearly alike in every the mercy seat itself was hallowed from its defilement.
lway as possible. The selection of these goats and of Finally, no man mikht be in the tabernacle during the
the bullock for the sin offering, which was for Aaron process of its cleansing. T,he object of this was not to
~himself,  took place at the same time, before the slay- guide the privacy of the ceremony, but simply because
ing of the victim for the priestly sin offering. Over <all was regarded as defiled and to be atoned for, and
the two goats, Aaron, after .having  made atonement everything defiled must be excluded during the process
for himself and his house (not his immediate, personal of  ,atonement.
family only, lbut in all likelihood the whole order of          After the completion of these rites, the live goat
priests) now cast lots ; "one lot for the Lord and the was brought, namely, the one on "which the lot had
other for the scapegoat (the word found in the original fallen to be the scapegoat" and for which atonement
is not scapegoat but Azazel). Both of them alike had been made (16:ll). Upon his head Aaron laid
Aaron was directed to #present before the Lord through both his hands, confessed over him all the iniquities
his leading them to the sitar of burnt offering. The df the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in
one upon which the Lord's lot had fallen-the goat all their sins, putting them upon the headoof  the goat,
of the sin offering that was for the people-was now and thereupon sent him away .by the hand elf a fit man
taken and killed. The action with the blood of this          (a man of opportunity) into the wilderness. Tlhis was
offering was the same as that-with the blood of the          done with the victim that he might "bear upon him all
priestly sin offering. It was brought within the vail the iniquities into a land not inhabited" (16  :21, 22).


460                                    T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
--.
       If the symbolical import of these transactions is to people were atoned for the live goat, that is, with a
be correctly perceived we must not allow ourselves to view  to this bearing them away.
conclude, as some writers have done, that in respect to             After the dismissal of the scapegoat,*Aaron,  com-
the two goats we have to do here ,with  two offerings,          ing  ,again into the tabernacle of the congregation, put
the one consisting in the slaying of the goat upon which off the linen garments in which the whole of this ser-
t,he lot of the Lord fell and the other in the sending vice thad been performed, and left them there in the
of the live goat into t,he wilderness. The two ,victims         tabernacle until the next day of atonement. Washing
formed one sin offering. We learn this from the ex- his flesh with water, which he had to do before every
pression (contained in verse  5)) "two kids of the goats service, he  lput on his usual garments. Coming forth,
for a sin  offer.ing."    The presentation of two animals he offered a burnt offering for himself, and another
was necessitated by the impossibility of sending an for the people; by the blood of which he again made
animal that had been put to death into the wilderness atonement for sin and by the action with the other
alive. Further, this one sacrifice was the Lord's. The          parts there was expressed anew dedication of their
notice, "And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats ;         persons to God. The fat of the sin offering was burnt
one lot for the Lord, and the other for the soapegoat,          upon the dtar and thus dealt with according to the
doe,  not form the grounds for a Imntrary  view. That instructions for the disposal of the fat of the ordinary
it is said of only one of the lots that it ~was "for the        sin offerings. The bodies of the victims, as in the
Lord" finds its explanation in the circumstance that ease of the sin offerings in general, were carried with-
the goat upon which "the lot for the Lord" fell, was,           out the camp and burnt iwith tire. The symbolical im-
as slain, placed upon C&d's  altar and  brouglht,  as to its    port of this rite has already been  9explained  in con-
blood,  .within  the vail. The conclusive proof that also nection with ordinary sin offerings, `and need not be
the scapegoat must be regarded as belonging to the              repeated here. The person who burnt them, as well
Lord and thus not to another is that upon this goat as as the person by whom &he scapegoat had been con-
well the lot of the Lord fell. The casting of lots was ducted into the wilderness, had to wash his clothes
done only with that which was in a peculiar sense the and bathe his flesh before coming into the camp.
Lord's. Wihat had to be ascertained, in the case of the
offering under consideration, is not which of the two
goats had to be devoted to one other than the Lord, <but            What may have been the special purpose and de-
to what use He willed that Iboth parts of the sacrifice         sign of the great atonement? The substance of the
be put. Now as to the action with the first goat,               answer that writers in general have given to this ques-
through this action the sins of the people were expiated tion has been <adequately  expressed by the following
(symbolically) .     It meant that these sins had been language from  the`pen  of Fairbairn,  " (For) atonement
completely- obliterated so that God was no longer set- was made (by this great sacrifice) for all sin and
ting them before His countenance. That there might transgression. It weas virtually implied, that the acts
be to the condemnable and ill-deserving nation a visible of expiation, which from time to time were made
token of this ,blessed  effect of the atonement, Aaron, as      throughout the year, but imperfectly  ,satisfied  for the
instructed  by'the Lord, now returned to the live goat iniquities of the people, since the people were still kept
and laid on him the now-atoned iniquities, that he outwardly at some distance from the immediate  diwell-
might bear them  alway into a region of desolation.             ing-place of `God, and could not even through their
Thus through the dismissal of the soapegoat embodying consecrated head  (be #allowed  to go within the vail. So
in sensible form the result of the work  of Christ, God that when a service was instituted with a view of
declared and continues to declare to  His believing giving a representation of complete admission to. God's
people that He has cast their sins into everlasting presence and fellowship, the mass of sin must again
oblivion.                                                       be brought into consideration, that it  `might be blotted
       In the light of these observations, it is plain that out by a more perfect atonement". (Typology, Vol. 11,
the live goat was  t,he complement of the one slain.            P .   3 3 7 ) .
Other evidence of this is  that  ,both goats were pre-             Here the view is broached (`a view to "which the
sented to the `Lord at the same time (verse 10)) in author of the above lines was also addicted), that the
order that, while atonement was being made with the great sacrifice, as compared with the acts of expiation,
blood of the first, the second might be standing in w!hich from time to time were  ma,de through the year,
readiness to be laden with the sins as expiated and to was a more perfect atonement-an atonement so much
be driven as so laden into the desert. Finally, there more perfect even that by it  the mass of sins, for
is the notice to the effect (verse 10) that while the live which the daily acts of expiation had but imperfectly
goat stood  ai the door of the tabernacle,  atonement was satisfied, w.a.s blotted out. Now this view will not at
macle for him (not with him as in our version). This all do. `It is thoroughly jewish. The Jews have such
certainly cannot mean that the sins of the live goat            a saying among them, "That on the day of expiation
were atoned. What is. meant is that the sins of the all Israel was made as righteous asin the-day. wherein


                                       T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                        4 6 1

 man was first created." It is to `be considered that the called yood things to come with respect to the time of
 great atonement  was as to kind and in its essential the administration of the law. Of these things the law
features identical to those daily acts of expiation. The as to the sacrifices which it inculcated was but shadow,
.-former  as well as the  -latter  was, certainly,  ,merely    an obscure representation, smbol, type. It was thus
symbolical (and typical). How, then, could it surpass not the very image of the things, that is, not the sub-
the latter in perfection?  l&w could sin by it, be stantial image, the things themselves, the body, which
obliterated, if sin could not be obliterated  ,by the daily is Christ with all the grace, mercy, and privileges
atonements ? Even despite the fact that the sponsors Jvhich  His people receive by His incarnation.
 of this view  Ihad in mind, it must be, not a  tmL.e             Beihg but a shadow, the sacrifices of the. law could
but merely a symbolical blotting out of sin by the great not  maike  the comers thereto continually, that is, once
atonement, the view is incorrect. It is not true that and for all time, perfect (as did the one sacrifice of
 only the yearly and thus not the daily atonements C%rist) and thus had no true efficacy. Such being their
symbolicnlly  blotted out sin, and was therefore in dis- deficiency, they were offered year by year; and it
tinction from the others the  atonement of symbolical was always the ScGme s&rifices  (the word same-is found
 perfection. All  6he `sacrifices by blood did so. The in the original)' that were offered- same as to kind,
statement, "And the priest shall make atonement for so that all were equally impotent. Had these sacri-
him in respect to his sin (or sins) and he (the offender)      fices been  sbIe to make perfect,  they would have ceased
 shall be forgiven," had respect to all these sacrifices. to be ogered; because that the worshippers  once myged
This every student of Moses' law well knows.                   should  hue  no more conscience of sin, that is, they
    The view under consideration is in conflict with would not have been occupied in their minds and hearts
the teaching of a passage contained in the epistle to with sin  as with  sirt that  had not been blotted out  .by
the Hebrews (&ap. 10 :1-4)  and that reads, "For the its  being atoned. And they, God's <believing people,
 law having  ,a shadow of good things to come, and not were so occupied and thiti of necessity #as the true sscri-
 the very image of the things, can never with those fice had not yet been bl;ought. They spent their days
same sacrifices wihich they offered year .by year con- with the thought in their soul that their sins had not
tinually make the comers thereunto perfect. For then as yet been truly expiated. Hence they had conscience
 woul,d  they not have ceased to be offered, because  the of sin on this account, that is,  B conscience agitated and
 worshippers once purged should have had no more perplexed by sin, and that jmudged  and condemned their
 conscienc& of sins. But in these sacrifices there is a persons for the guilt of sin, aand, so deprived them of
 remembrance again made of sins every year. For it solid peace with God. True, they were covered by the
 is not possible that  the Mood of-  <bulls and of goats blood of a typical sacrifice, but as this sacrifice, as'was
should take away sins." T.his passage is an important just said, lacked true efficacy, from the knowledge of
one for outr subject on this sccount  Ohat from it may be      being covered Iby its blood could spring no true and
 known  tie true design of the great atonement. Let lasting peace. There was to this sacrifice no satisfac-
 us then examine this Scripture. As the content of the tion and righteousness with  wlh.ich  the believers could
 epistle in general, it directly concerns only the great       before their own consciousness be clothed and have
 atonement. "For the  Iaw having a shadow of good peace. There was therefore under the law conscience
 things to come.  : .  ." T:he conjunction "for" indicates     of sin.    It is true that also now believers may
 that what follows is an inference made on that which have a conscience judging and condemning them for
 precedes, namely, the  teachjng  of the absolute necessity their sin, no less than &hey  <had under the 1~; but this
 of the sacrifice of Cihrist. Having affirmed that Christ trouble' of conscience does not arise from this that
 had perfectly atoned sin,  .the sacred writer concludes sin was not truly expiated by the sacrifice of ChriFt, buk
 that  the sacrifices of the law are but shadows of good only from a fear that they have no interest in that
 things to come and cannot therefore  make  the comers sacrifice and  the benefits thereof. Under the Old Testa-
 thereunto perfect. This  *he now proceeds to prove. ment  they doubted not their interest in their symbolical
 The subject spoken of is the Zaw and in particular the sacrifices.          How  cquld  they, if  t.hey possessed its
 sacrifices of the law, especially those w.hich  were offer- fruitage, if, on account of their performing.the  rights
 ed year Iby year continually--the great aatonements. By and ordinances of service unto them, their natural
 the law these sacrifices were instituted and upon it all lives (and this, as has been expIained  in former articles
 their virtue and efficacy depended-by bhe la~w, that is.      was the fruiiage 6f the typical sacrifices) were being
 by the covenant which God made  witi>!  Israel at Sinai prolonged in the land of Canaan. But their conscience
 with al.1 the institutions of worship which  4belonged  to it. charged them with the guilt of sin, as a result of their
 Tlhe law had a shadow of good things to come. It thus being  ttware that their sacrifices did not expiate it.
 had not the very image of the things themselves, that is And this awareness was caused by God's institution
 of the bIessings  of that new covenant of wihich  Christ is of the repetition of the sacrifices;  whiah, had not been
 the eternal Mediator and which may be designated done if they could have made the worshippers perfect
 ,by the one expression "life eternal" and  .which  are once and for all.


462                                       T H E   STANDAR.D   B E A R E R

       It is different in respect to conscience for sin w.hi.ch    mercy and be `expecting the true lamb that God would
 remains. in God's people under the new testament.                 provide Him.
 Their fear concerns not any insufficiency in the sacri-              Let us now ,ask not why the sacrifices and in parti-
 fice of Ghrist but their interest in this sacrifice. They cular the great sacrifice had to be repeated but let us
who.  are purged may be in the dark sometimes as to ask why there was instituted a sacrifice greater, more
 whether Christ is their portion. But if the sacrifices solemn, than all the others. The reason is that God's
 either  ,by their efficacy or by their repetition could           believing people under the Old Testament (and also
 not take away sin, so as that they who came to God under the new) were in the need of an atonement more
 by  .them  could. have peace of conscience, was there             expressive than the others, an  ,atonement  that showed
then not true peace with  God under the old testament? forth more of tie work of C,hrist. And this need was
 There was indeed. But this peace was not theirs on met by the great sacrifice with all its attending rites.
aocount-of  their sacrifices being truly efficacious. As How vividly it signified sand thus forlcibly proclaimed
 has been fully explained in previous articles, it m-as to believers that their sins are forgiven and that unto
`theirs only because the truth set forth by the sacrifices them the Lord imputeth not iniquity.
 was blessed to' their hearts.                                                      (To be Continued)
 God not only appointed the repetition of the sacri-                                                         G. M. 0.
 fices; but .also that in every repetition of them, there
should' be  Q  remembrctnce made  of  sin,  us  of  that yet
 to be atone&.  {Here  we come upon the design of the
 great atonement; In them was a remembrance of sins
again. This was true of every sacrifice but especially
 of the great atonement. For this was made <with the                             The Prophet  Hosea
 blood of an  ,animal-the  live goat-on  iwhose head
 Aaron lay (both his hands and over whom he confessed                 The Prophetic activities of  Hosea   occured  in the
 all the unatoned iniquities of the children of Israel, days of Uzziah,  Jotham,  Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of
`. and all their transgressions in all their sins. And the Judah. The contemporary  kings  of Israel were:  Jero-
 peopIe  had on  their part to be similarly occupied boam II ; Zachariah, the son of Jeroboam and the last
through their afflicting their souls on account of their king of the house of Jehu ; Shallum, Menahem,  Peka-
sins that Aaron was confessing over the live goat, hiah, Bekah and ,Hoshea, the last king of Israel.
 "And this shall' be a statute forever unto you : that in             The, joint reign of these kings lasted from 823 to
 the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye `730 B. C. Altogether comprising a period of 93 years.
 shall  ,afflict  your souls, and do no work at all, whether All these (kings  were wicked (of Israel). Of each one
 it be one.of your country, or a stranger that sojourneth it is related that he walked in the ways of Jeroboam 1.
 among you: For on that day shall the priest make an                  The period during which Hosea  prophesied was one
atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean of religious  apostacy,  moral decay and internal strife.
from all your sins before the Lord. It shall be a sab- Zachariah, the son of Jeroboam II, :was assassinated by
bath of rest unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls by his successor Shallum ; and the later in turn was again
a statute, forever. And the priest. . . . shall make an murdered by his usurper Menahem, who died a natural
atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make death, being succeeded by his son Jekahiah. The latter
an atonement for the tabernacle of the congregation, was again murdered by Pekah and Pekah by  Hoshea,
and for the altar, and  ,he shall  .make an atonement for the last king of Israel. One of these kings reigned only
the priests, and fur all the Ipeople of the ,congregation.         one month (Shallum) ; (another only six months (Zacih-
And this shall be an everlasting statute unto you, to ariah) . In this period the Lord [had both befriended
make an atonement for the children of Israel for all and smitten Israel, but the people hardened their hearts
their sins once a year" (Lev. 16 :28-34).                          and would not repent. Already in the days of Jehoahaz,
    It will thus be seen that in the great sacrifice re-           the Lord's hand had begun to rest heavily on the ten
membrance w;1s made of sin as in none of the other tribes  *because of their sins.
sacrifices.     Remembrance was made for sin in this                  J&u had routed out the Baa1 worship only to cleave
sacrifice in all its bearings-for the high priest and to the worship of the golden calf, and that for the pur-
his ,house,  for the people in all their families, for the         pose of widening the religious gulf between Jud.ah and
tabernacle and all its furniture and utensils. Why Israel. The religion he chose was one that could pro-
now had there to be year ,after year this remembrance mote his political ambition ; and, so he thought, per-
of sin? And the answer: That the church under the                  petuate his dynasty. Thus was the glory of God &anged
O.ld Testament might know that, in the words of the into an image made like to corruptifble  man and to
sacred writer, `4t was not possible that the blood of beasts etc. God was brought down to tihe level of the
bulls and of gusts should take ,away sins, "and that, creature and placed in a class with the heathen gods.-
knowing this,  they should cast themselves upon. God's                Forsaking Jehovah, Israel fabricated for itself a


                                           T H E   STA.NDARD   B E A R E R                                          .463

     god, which rightly. considered  rwas nothing more than Israel shall know no God but Him, for  theye is no
     the extension of their own  currupt  selves. Thus the Sav-iour beside Him. He did know Israel in the wilder-
     parting wall between Israel and the heathen  thad been ness in the land of great drought where He pastured
     broken down. For the worship of the golden calf was him. When Israel was .a child then God loved him and
      essentially  Baa1 worship. Both Baa1 and the. ox were brought him out of Egypt. It is on  &he background
     representations of the corrupt life-force in man. The of-these great benefits and in the light of the peculiar
     ox was nothing more than the deification of the brute relation Israel sustains to Jehovah, namely that of
      in man. This accounts for it that although according wife, that the prophet depicts the apostacy and sin of
     to the record in the book of Kings the B,aal worship had the nation. Because Jehovah is the nation's Husband,
     been uprooted by Jehu,  this same worship, according and as the nation's Husband, lavished His love upon
     to the prophecies of  Hosea  and Amos prevailed during ihim, Israel's apostacy is so amazingly wicked  ,and goes
      the reign of  Jehu.  All Jehu's successors followed in (against all reason. Snch  is the  theme  of this discourse.
     his footsteps.                                             Let us see how he develops this theme.
         The Lord had chastised  @Iis people through the            Because Israel is Jehovah's wife  lhds apostacy, and
     agency of Hazael, king of Syria, who had invaded and his going after other gods is whoredom. Israel, so the
      overrun the entire Northern kingdom.         After this prophet complains, has gone a whoring from under
      period of grief, the Lord had taken pity on His `people their God. He sacrifices to idols.. Israel  committeth
      for the sake of His covenant and had sent them a whoredom and will not turn to the Lord. Let trhe child-
     saviour in the person of Jehoahaz, the grandson of Jehu ren plead with their faithless mother that she put her
      and Jeroboam II. Of Jehoahaz we read, that she re- whoredoms from between her breasts.
      covered. the cities which Hazael had captured during'         Israel's spiritual adultery goes  *hand in hand with
     the reign of .his father. (II Kings 13 :13-35) Jeroboam a frightful outburst of sin in all its various forms. This
      II conquered Damascus and  Hamoth  and succeeded in is the third point of the discourse or the next step.
      restoring the .boundaries  from IIamoth  to the Dead Sea. Religious bankrupcy  is always accompanied by a moral
     (II Kings 14 :25-28) ; .but the people refused to turn to breakdown. This the prophet plainly shows. There is
     the Lord. All this display of mercy left them untouch- muclh stealing, lying, murder, deceit,  immorality, in-
      ed. Of all the kings that now reigned, none departed ternal strife.
      from the sins of Jeroboam I. Yet under Jeroboam II            Let Israel know, this is the 4th step in the argu-
      the Northern kingdom had again been elevated to a ment, that that Lord takes cognizance of the sins of His
.     position of honor and glory. But the only effect tihis people. Israel must not think that their sin is hidden
      benefit had was to lead the people to conclude that  Je- from the Lord. He knows. His eyes penetrate their
      .hovah  was condoning their sins.  T.he people were outw,ard conformity to trhe ceremonial law (sacrifices
      strengthened in their belief that notwithstanding their and so forth) and their feigned repentance, under
      sins, all was well between them and CM.                   the cover of which Israel imagines he can perpetrate
       The above cited religious apostacy went hand in his sins unnoticed. This cover ,does  not exist before
      hand  with a moral degradation.  Tlhere  vas cursing the Lord. He knows Israel's repentance to be like the
      and murder and stealing and adultery. One king would       vanishing morning dew. Though there is  mu& sacri-
      be murdered  by.his  successor. Israel, says the prophet, ficing, real goodness and mercy is lacking, and  notwith- '
     .made him kings ,as he willed. I?hen  God came with His standing Israel's outward show of piety, he breaks the
      judgments, Israel was carried into captivity in the covenant. The Lord knows that they consider not Him,
      year 730 B.  C. and pe'rmanently disappears from the that they  aare all adulterers, that they kill their kings
      stage of hi,story.                                         and j,udges,  and like a silly dove paw alternately to
         T.he Book as such.                                      Egypt and Assyria, to whom Israel looks for help, in
         The prophetic discourse of  Hosea is  ,as  could be whom Israel trusts instead of  -in Jehovah.
      expected in agreement with conditions during the              The threatened punishments that will overtake
      period of this particular prophetic action. Let us now the nation is the next step in the argument. The Lord
      trace the argument of the Book and notice its perma-       will punish the whoredoms of His people. Israel shall
      nent values and thus discover its place in the canon.     seek Him but shall not find IHim. Ephraim sha.ll be
         The relation Jehovah sustains to the people of made to return to Egypt  <where he will be derided.
      Israel-The relation is  tihat of  husban.d. Israel is Je- Israel shall ,be pursued by his enemy. Then the noth-
      hovah's (betrothed and thus belongs to Him exclusively. ingness of the golden calf at  Samaria will be exposed.
      When and how Israel became Jehovah's wife and in Israel has sown  t*he wind and shall reap the wlhi'rl-wind.
      what condition he found her, are matters upon which He shall return to Egypt and eat the bread of nolution
      t!he prophet does not expatiate  ,but only lightly touches in Assyria. Ephraim's day shall vanish. His root shall
     . upon in chapter 13 :4-8 and a (few other sections. In be dried up. The golden calf at  Samaria shall be car-
      this section, the Lord appears as declaring that He ried to Assyria for a  present, The Assyrian shall be
      is tihe Lord. his God from the land of Egypt and that Israel's king.


  -,364                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

           A promise of salvation given to the elect remnant,       but we say to him, "your sin is that you despise God's
   is the final step in the argument. The Lord will draw love for His people." This raises the question why
   His faithless wife back to 1Himself  (the elect Israel).         tie sin of such a person can be said to be so ,awful if
   Israel will be ultimately restored to fello~w&ip  with he is not allowed to say that he derides God's love for
   dehovah,  and ,be betrothed to the Lord in righteous- him.  And the answer: though such  ,an one may not
   ness. Jehovah will be Israel's king. He will raise think orf himself, if ,he be <walking  in darkness, as loved
   Ephraim from the polwer of the grave. He will heal by God, that is, as a chosen one, Ihe has no right to say
   His people  Fnd love them freely.                                positively that he is a non-elect, a reprobate. He may
           The universal  perman&  vabues of the Book.              be an elect. Whether he is will appear eventually.
           We notice first of all that the prophet rwas prepared    He therefore cannot advance as the reason for  his
   for his task by his own domestic sufferings. I am still spurning God's love that he is a reprobate and that
   inclined to believe that the woman ,he is bidden to take         God wills to damn him. Fact is that the command  to
   to wife in the third chapter is the Gomer of dhapter             accept the love of God as revealed in Christ for His
   one, and that it is this unfaithful woman whom he re-            people also comes to him walking in sin. But he
   stores, places upon probation, and at the end of the             refuses to heed  ,the command and the only reason
   period of probation, restores her to full communion              he can  ,advance  for doing so is that he despises the
   ,with   timself. We feel for this interpretation,  as it love of ,God and all tie glories of God as seen in Christ
   affirms that the domestic experiences of the prophet for His people.
   were such as constitutes  ,a replica  &f the state of mat-          Do not draw the conclusion &at such an one could
   ters between Jehovah and Israel. It was his own ex- not be charged with despising God's love in the event
   periences that were used by the Spirit to lead  hdm he  knew he were a reprobate. What characterizes
   into the very heart of the great sulbjects  she had to treat. the reprobate is that he  canot  will to do anything else
           The first permanent value of the Book. The pro- but despise the revelation of God's love. In the event
   phet first lets us see how amazingly and  in?onceivably          he knew he were a reprobate, he could say, I go' lost
   sinful sin is and  whet  there is about sin that makes it        because God wills not to save me. Yet he would be a
   so appaling. In order to understand tl$s; it must be reviler of God's love and of the revelation of God's love
   borne in mind that ,God is here speaking to His chosen as he wills not to be saved. Only as organically related
   people. This people He had redeemed and betrothed.               to the `true Israel can the reprobate say  that they
   In +he words of the prophet: Jehovah had loved Israel, .despise God's love for them. It is the true Israel  who
 I brought him up out of Egypt, taught Israel to <walk,             say and can say after their regeneration: My great
    caused him to 4ride on the ,h.igh places of the earth,          sin is that by nature- I despise God's love for me. This
I kept him as the *apple of His eye, br.ought  8im in His           they say after every period of backsliding when again
`. own land-, -a land flowing with milk and ihoney,  having         spiritual.  T!his the true Israel of  Hosea's  day would
+ driven his enemies from before his face. So had the say.
-.j Lord lavished His love upon' Israel His wife. All that              The second permanent value of the Book is: that
a. ?.: Israel was, it was through ,God. All that Israel possess- according to the  prophet  judgment is the necessary
 : ed and enjoyed was God's gift.                                   and inevitable result of sin, that sin demands judg-
           *How  does `Israel react? By rejecting Him, by for-      ment, that judgment must fall upon  aa sinning people
   saking  IHim and following Baal, who is no god, by               in all its force and completion. The prophet looked,  ,at
   spending the very gifts of the loving Rusband, Jehovah, sin and saw it working out in judgment.
   in the service of lewdness. Thus the prophet shows                   The third permanent value of the Book. is: that
   us of what sin is capable, how wicked man by nature is.          Jehovah's love is for the elect.  ,God is eternal, im-
   He shuws us in a word how amalzingly  sinful man is,             mutable and sovereign. Israel has merited notihing
   how that sin goes contrary'to all reason, is  a,bject  fool-     but death, also the elect Israel. Yet Jehovah can not
   ishness ; for Baa1 was nothing, Syria ,and Egypt were            give him up. "How can I give thee up O- Ephraim".
   nothing. The prophet shows what is the most awful                The prophet goes  ,fnrther-he plainly teaches  t&at  the
   thing about sin, namely, the despising of God's cove-            love of God `for His elect wife is the sole fountain of
   nant love of His people as exhibited in the aggregate            Israel's salvation.
   of all His acts of love.                                                                                       G. M. 0.
           Yet let there be no ,misunderstanding. We do not
   mean to say that according to the prophet the most
   awful thing about sin is that it'is a despising of God's
   love for  the reprobate sinner, but for  ,His chosen                                        NOTICE
   people. _ We therefore do not say to a Fson walking
   in darkness and giving no evidence of possessing the                As is customary there will be no Standard Bearer
  life  of; regeneration-we do not say to such an one:              on  tihe 15th of July,
   "Your. great sin is that you despise God'slove for you,"                                         -.  - "$;. The Board,
                                                                                           _`..^


T A Reformed SFmi-Monthly BEARER
                                                                                       Magaz<ine
             PUBLISHED BY THE REFORMED FREE PUBLISHING ASSOCIATION, GRAND RAPIDS,  MICH.





                                             C. Hanko, Rev. G. Lubbers, Rev. R. Veldman,

                                                                       -.--.
Vol. XV, No. 20. Entered  ILH Second  CIFSJR  mail
                      matter at Grand  Rspida.   Mich.        AUGUST 1, 1989                       Subscription Price $2.00

                                                                       But he must put on the Lord Jesus Christ!
            r\iE.DITATION                                               For, trfiis .is the indispensible condition for a w,alk
                                                                    as in the day !
                                                                       As in that day!
     Putting On The Lord Jesus Christ
                      Let us  waEk  honestly,  as-in  the  day;        Strange exhortation !
                  not  .in rioting and  drvnkelzlness,  not  in         Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ!
                  cha,mbering  and wantonness,  not in                 What, pray, just what (does the Word of God here
                  strife  and  envying.  But put ye on the enjoin ,upon us? And how may it be accomplished?
                  Lord  Jesus Christ, and make not pro-                Scripture, indeed, uses the expression "put on"
                   vision for the flesh to fulfill the  k&s         frequently. We are admonished to "put off" the old
                  thereof.                                          man, ,and to "put on" the new man ; to "put off" the
                                             Rom.  13:13,   -I$.    works of darkness, and to "put on" the arms of' light.
    Even now, let us walk as in the day !                           And the meaning is,  evid'ently,  that, on the one hand,
    Even now, while the ,day is not yet, w4hile the night, we shall so  ,oppose, resist, fight the operations, the
though far spent, still lingers, and the day, though, at motions of our sinful flesh, $that they have no dominion
hand, still tarries.                                                over us, that they are vanquished, that they do not
    Let  us  walk  as  ,in the day,  that  day, the day of contro1 ,our mind and will ,and desires and find no ex-
Christ !                                                            pression  in our actual walk and conversation  ; end,
    For, of that day the apostle had been writing to on the other hand, that we so live land walk from the
the Church in the immediately preceding verses; of inmost principle of the renewal of our #heart, that by
the day of salvation,  of  tial salvation, and,  hherefore,         it alI our thoughts and desires, all our outward life
the day of the perfect realization of the righteousness and conversation are Sdireded. If we "put on" the new
of the kingdom of heaven, when sin,  whethm  con-                   man, the regenerated heart comes to  manilfestation
ceived as guilt or as corruption, shall be no more ;                in our whole life.
when death shall be completely swallowed up of life ;                  But put ye on the Lord Jesus' Christ!
when the darkness shall be forever dissipated  *by the                 Jesus Christ as  Lord,  as your Lord ! desus   Christ
light of God in Christ;  the day of heavenly glory and as we know Him from the Scriptpures,  as the Son of
fellowship and  knowtledge, when we shall see Him God come into the flesh ; ss the One that was delivered
face to face, and shall know even as we are known. . . . for our transgressions and raised for our justification  ;
   That day is near!                                                as the One that ascended up on high, leading captivity
    Its break is the next event!                ~                   captive, and is seated at the right hand of C&d, angeIs
    And the hope  otf that day must  Idominate the and  pnincipalities  and powers  `being  subject unto Him;
Christian's life, even as he is still  ~walking through as the One that i,s the *revelation  `of the God of our
the night of this present world. He must put off his salvation, full of grace and truth, that overcame the
night garments, the works ,of darkness, and put on the power of guilt and sin and death, that obtained for
arms of light.                                                      us redemption through His precious blood, right-
    He must make no provision fur the flesh, to satisfy eousness, the adoption unto children, the right to
the lusts thereof, .in rioting and drunkenness, in cham- eternal llife;  Who by the power of His Spirit delivers
bering and wantonness, in strife and envying.                       us  from the dominion of sin, sets us free, quickens  ue

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

with the life of His own resurrection, cleanses our                They put Him ,on !
hear,&  enlightens our mind, changes our will, instructs           For, through the Spirit, by faith, through love,
us in the knowledge of  &he  &&her, fills us with all earnestly  desisring  to be !like Him, .they contemplate
spiritual graces, faith, hope, love, righteousness,  hdi- Him, gaze at Him ,with  delight as `He is revealed to
ness, truth, meekness,  humiliky,  mercy,. patience. . . . ;them  in the Scrilptures.
       Put Him on!                                                 Even the ungodly  bbecome   like the vanities they
       Put *Him on, the Lord Jesus Chlrist, in dl the power gaze at with delight. Tthe flesh creates its own objects
of His redemption and liberation, in -all the fnlness  of of delight to satisfy irts lust, objects of the lust of the
His grace and truth ; so that His mind may direct              flesh and the lust of the eyes and the  prilde of life.
your every thought, His  Imill may dominate your every And they gaze .at them with iumer deLight,  and rejoice
desire, His grace may express  #itself  and become mani- in them, because  *they  are  lilke them. And the  more
fest in every word you speak, every step you take, they contemplate these vanities, the more tihey become
every deed you perform; and in all your oultward  walk like them in dl the manifestation of their life and con-
and  conversatiion  the Land Jesus Christ becomes re- versation. . . .
vealed in all the beauty of His grace ; so that *you follow        Thus the'believer  gazes at the Lord Jesus Christ.
in His steps and in an increasing measure resemble                 He (beholds  Him Iby faith in all the beauty of His
Him as He  .is revealed in the Scriptures, His glorious grafze.
image is reflected in your  life.                                 And beholding as in a. mirror the glory of the Lord,
       Put on the Lord Jesus Christ!                           He is changed from glory to glary, as by hhe Spirit of
       T.hinik Him ; will IHim ; ,desi;re  Him ; be Iike Him ; the Lord!
speak as He spoke ; act `as He acted .in relation to God,         But put ye on `the Lord  Jesus Christ!
to men, ;to all things!                                           Put Him on, day by dlay, by a continual battle of
       Put Him on, ndt, indeed, as you don' ti garmeht,  a .faith.
mere  o&ward  cwering. To put on Christ is not a                  Till the day dawn ! The deay of Christ ! 1
mere external imitation  of Him. Thus, indeed, the                When we ,shdl be perfect in His likeness.
model;n  exponent of  Christilanity   would have it. Not          Marvellous  grace !
understanding the terrible  real&y of the corruption of                                  -       -
sin, nor giving heed to the "word of the cross", and              Walk `as in tihe day !
to the power of His resurrection ; *having  no kno$edge           And make no provision for the flesh !
of the redeeming and liberating pwer of His g-race,               A somew$hat  strange and, at the same time, very
he makes of the Saviour a mere example, mose in- humiliating characterization of our sinful nature and
struction, especially  +as contained in the  Sermon<  on its tendency.
the Mount, one must heed, Whose life he I&I& imitate,             One, to be sure, makes provision for his needs. ,He
in Whose steps he must follow, and ,a11 will be weK  . . .     is hungry  and provides food to satisfy his  hulnger  ;
   Sad delusion !                                              he is thirsty and provides drinkk  to quench*  his thirst:
       what else could be the tresult alf such a vain and he is naked  and provides garments to cover his naked-
proud attempt of sinful man,  Idead through trespasses ness; he is cold and provides fuel b drive away the
and sins, to imitate the Son of God in the flesh, to           cold ; he needs a home ,and provides a dwellingplace.
follow  ia ithe steps of Him Who knew no sin, than a Many are his needs and he makes provision  to fulfill
mere outward sholw, sbom!inable  in the sight of God, them.
Who demands truth  In the inward parts?                           But the flesh, has no needs,-it has lusts !
   But the apostle is addressing the Church, redeemed             For, ;the flesh here (is, as frequently, to be under-
from &he guilt 6f sin by the blood of Jesus Christ her stood in the figurative sense `as referring ;to our sin-
Lord, Irenewed  in heart Iby ;the Spirit of Christ. And ful nature. That sinful nature with its evil motions,
by that Spirit Christ Himself dwells in the hearts of crparations, inclinations, tendencies, is called flesh, not
the believers, imparts Himself to them, His life, !His beoause sin is physical, or because matter as such is
righteousness, His truth, His holiness, the riches of necessarily evil, or because evil has its source in the
all His  pace.  And so they taste His Iove and they body,  (but because it is in and through the flesh, through
love Him. And from within, from the recesses of their the body and its organs, t&at  sin realizes itself and
inmost  ,heart, where Christ wrought His  limkeness,   they becomes manifest in actual life. Sin is transgression
desire to canse that likeness of their Lord to shine forth of the  law and proceeds from the heart, the mind, the
in their lilfe and walk.                                       will, tie emotions and de&es ; Ibut it finds its ready
       Through the grace of Christ within, they put on instrument in the body, in the lustful eye and vain
CThl;ist in  all their conversation.                           ear and lying mouth, the  gIuttonous  appetite, the
       TIheir  own salvation they work out. for God it is crating belly, the foul instruments of fornication and
that  warks in them to  till  qand to do of His good adultery. . . .
pleasure.                                                         The flesh !


                                           T H E   S T A N D A R D B E A R E R                                              467

     The whole of our carnal nature,  motiv&ed  by and occasions of amusement; the ambitious provides
 enmity against God and minding  death   !                        for .hiinself  positions of lpnwtrr and Elory ; the proud
     And that flesh has no needs, for itself has no busi- seeks the honor of me+n.  . . .
 ness to be ! Needs are created, but li%e flesh is the               And the results are <rioting  and drunkenness, the
 product of  corrupti,on;   neecls  are legitimate, but all one usually accompanying the other, because the
 that is of ,the flesh is ifiegitimate.                           drunken man loses bis sense of propriety, becomes
     But it has lusts !                                           silly and boisterous, ihilarious  and ,revelrom  ; chamber-
     Evil cravings !                                              ing *and wantonness, :acts  of adultery  and fornication,
     There is in that flesh the courser lust that makes carnalirty and shameless sexuality ; strife and envying,
 of the belly a god, gluttony, drunkenness *and rbting; sins  of the mind and heart,  self-exaltatioa,  pride, dis-
 there is the love of sensual pleasure and `amusement, agreement, .diesension,  <hatred, `war. . . .
 th*e love of what is `immoral, unclean, filthy ; there is           But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ !
 greed, covetousness, the love of money and possessions,             Make no provision for 6h;e flesh to fulfill the lusts
 the misefily  lust aft.tcrr  the,things  of tiis earth for their thereof !
 own sake ; there sre the finer, but no less corrupt lusts           Deny these llusts ; ,oppose  them ; fight them ; silence
 of pride  <and haughtiness, the desire for the honor and their clamor !
 glory of men ; of ambition and lust after power and                 Amd let (mther  the grace of the Lord *Jesus become
 greatness ; the lust .olf malice and ,ha*red  and envy. . . . manifest in all  your walk and conversation.
     The flesh!                                                       Walk as in the day !
     A filthy soulrce  of currupt  and vile motions !
     Impelled Iby the evil force  of enmity against God !
     Our flesh!                                                      Walk  "hcmestly".
     For, even though tihe believer is redeemed, and in              Your "walk" is your entire life in the midst of the
 principle, in his deepest heart, also liberated from  t,he       world from +he viewpoint of its spiritual-e&i&  d&c-
 dominion of sin by grace, so that he is become a new tion.
 man ; yet he is still in tie flesh. And although the lusts          It  liemplies your outward  life as determined by your
' of ,the flesh n,o longer have their source  in his deepest inward condition, your wflimg and i&inking and aspir-
 heart, in which Christ dwells ,by His Spilrit,  although ing, your emotions land inclinations, your seeing az~I
 they are motions and tendencies  oaused  rather by  the hearing, your spe&ing and acting, persornally and in
 ol,d ruts in the roadbed of ,his nature left by the vehicle      every relation of ,life, in the home, in the c,hurch, in
 of ,his life when ilt moved in the direction of sin, ruts the world. And  *always that life moves in a certain
 that were eut already in that roadbed of his nature be- direction, after God or contrary to Him, in harmony
 fore he was born, and that were deepened even rat.her            with His  ,wilI  or  irn  cotiict with it, toward God or
 than erased; yet these motions and tendencies, these away from Him.
 lusts of Dhe flesh are there, and tihey are a matter of ex-         Walk  "`~honestly".
 perience for every ohild of ZGod. And they are rather               7J3hOe word `Bonestly"  hardly conveys to us anymore
 accentuated and become more pronounced in their the denotation of the original  wlord. It signifies: elle-
 operations because of the presence and dominion of gantly, shapely, gracefully,  becomimgly.  To  walk as
 grace  iIn the heart of the believer.                            in the day, in truth and righteousness and holiness,
     And these lusts clamor \for satislaction!  !                 width  tie  Ilaw of God in your  tinmost  heart and the
     They appeal to your person ; *hey stand at +he door praise of God on your lips, with the image of tihe Lord
 of your heart #loudly demanding .recognition  ; they pre- Jesus Christ reflected in all your conversation,-tihat
 sent themselves to your mind, they steal into your  de- is graceful,  beautif;ul,  elegant,  Ibecoming.  For, man
 s&s,  th:ey plead  awith  your till. And sided by the ~XU  ,made  after  .the image of God.  ,He  w&  c-ted
 "world" and its lurst of the flesh and lust of the eyes         in in-u+h, in r!ighteousness,  in holiness, a prophet, priest,
 ancl pride  of life, they  ltry to  cpersuade  your  inlmost    king of (2&d,  His friend and servant. To walk irn &he
 heart to make provision for their fulfillment! . . . .          light of tie truth, to seek rigrhiteousness,  to be holy as
     So does the world.                                          Ee is hdy, therefore, is beau;tiful in itseIf and becom-
     It makes provision for Dhe flesh to Eulf31 the lusts ing to  marn.
 t.hereof !                                                          Walk, then, elegantly, grac&ulIy,  ;becomingIy  as in
     Even as the hungry makes provision  fm  *he satis- t h e   d a y ?
 faction of his  ,hunger, and the  th,irsty  Q quench his            As in thatday, the day of Christ, as if &he.day brad
 thirst, so the ungodly makes provision for the satis- already dawned ! !
 faction of the lusts ,of the flesh. The covetous provides           Dominated by the %ings that are abo.ve  !
 means to satisfy his greed; the sensual makes pro-                  For, the night is far spent!
 vision to indulge in his vile passion and voluptuous-               The day is at hand!
 ness; the pleasure-loving provides for himself places                                                             H. H.


                                        .   T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                               471
    L&ten we op Art. 14. Zoover  noodig  haal ik het
artikel  hier aan:                                                        Apologizing On The Installment Plan
    "Wij gelooven,  dat God den Nmensch  geschapen  heeft                  I once saw a  robin sticking its  sh.arp beak into the
van het stof der aarde, en heeft hem gemaakt en ge- lawn in pursuit of a worm.
formeerd                                                                                                   ~
               naar  Zijn beeld en  gelijkenis,  yoed,  recht-             Its first attack :was too ferocious, the robin pulled
voardig en he&g; kunnende met zija wil in alles over-                  too hard, and the result was Ithat it captured only a
eenkomen  met den  wille Gods. Maar  als hij in eere small piece of the coveted worm. It attacked again
was, zoo  heerft  hij het niet verstaan,  noch  zij.n  uit- and pulled out `another piece. . . .
nemendheid erkend ; maar heeft zichzelven  willens der                     In the end I could inot tell whether the bird succeed-
zonde onderworpen, en overzulks  den dood en avervloe-                 ed  t,o extract the entire night-crawler.
king, het oar gbiedend aan het w,oord des duivels. Want
bet  gebod des  levens,   dat hij ontvangen had,  fheeft
tij  ,ov&reden, en heeft  zieh van God, die zijn ware
leven  was, door <de zonde afgescheiden ; hebbende ,nijn                                   )I
geheele  natuur  verdormen;  waardoor  lhij  zich schuldig                 I was reminded of  3thi,s  incildent,  when in  The
gemaakt heeft  des liehamelijken  en geestelijken  doods. Banner  of June 22 I read the following  announcement   :
En in  alle  zijne wegen goddeloos,  verke@d  en  verdor-
ven geworden  zijnde, heeft  hij verloren able  zijne  uit-                                      CORRECTION
nemende  gaven, die  hij van God ontvangen had,  en                        "I exaggerated the statement  in The Banner of
heeft  diets  an,ders  over@   behouden dan enkele  kle+ne             March 23,  dn regard to the Rev. B. Kok, that  .he went
overblijfselen   daarvan,   dewelke genoegzaam zijn om                 through the congregation as though he was its pastor."
den men  alle onschuld te benemen; overmits  al het
licht,  dat in ons  is,  &a  cluisternti   <is  veranderd.  . . . .                                  "Albert H. Rratt."
 (Cursiveering  natuurlijk van mij) .
    Wordt bier nu geleerd, dat de natuurlijke mensch                       I probably had better not  criticise the lack of logic
enkele overblijfselen van  het beeld Gods  heeft overig and clear  detiition  in this "apology".                       It must be
behouden?                                                              evident to the  treader  that the Rev.  Bratt  did not
    Wet tegendeel is waar.                                             exaggerate the statement in The Banner,  but that this
    Het is duidelijk, dat  ,het  beeld  Go& volgens dit statement ,in The Banner is an exaggeration of what
artilkel  volstrekt miet hetzelfde isals "al ,ijne uitnemen- actually took place in Manhattan.
de yaven."                                                                 I shall also Ipass by the fact that this "correction"
    Het beeld Gods is: goedheid, rechtvaardigheid,  hei- was published in an obscure corner of  The Banner.
ligheid.                                                               rather than in ;the Editorials, where in all justice it
    Dat beeld Gods is  ,&et  maar verloren, maear in zijn sheuld have been published.
tegendeel omgezet: des mensahen  geheele natuu.r is                       What I do want to emphasize is that this is install-
everdorven,  hij ,is in al zijne wegen god,deloos,  verkeerd ment number two of the apology of the Rev. Bra&
`en verdorven  geworden.       Er is dus van bet b&d Gods                 First there appeared installment  nu$mber  one, about
niets over.                                                            the  ,insinuation  that the Rev.  Kok had announced a
    Maar  terwijl  hij  alzoo  verdorven  werd, heeft hij              meeting to be held  tin  .the basement of the Christian Re-
mede al zijne uitnemende  yuven verloren. En daarvan formed Church, without first asking the  consistoyy,
nu heeft hij sleohts  enkele ovenblijfselen  behouden.                 together  Itith a neutralizing n&e of the editor of
   Maar Ds. Zw,ier zegt maar:  onze vaderen  spreken The Banner.
in Art. 14 van ove~blijfselen  van het beeld Gods.                        Now there is published installment number two.
   Z                                                                   The robin extracted another piece of the worm.
     OO komen "gangbare  meeningen" in de wereld.                                                                                     .
                                                                         *But this is still not the entire apology.
   En zoo krijgen  ze langzamerhand bet stempel  van                      And that it is published `in installments is really
de confessie.                                                          not the fault  of the' Rev, Bratt. It is the fault of the
   En dan komt er straks verzet  tegen die roorstelling,               editor of  The Banner.
een  synode  van "gangbare-meeningen-afgevaardigden",                     For I know, ,that long ago the editor oi The Banner
een synodale  verklaring : `qhet staat naar  S&rift en received a full apology from the Rev. A.  H,  Brat%,
belijdenils  vast, dat de  natuurlijke  mensch  overblijf- which  the  ,editor of  The  Banher   did not consider  fort
selen   va.n whet ,beeld Gods  beait",  en men is weer een             for publication.
stap verder a&g&den  van de Gereformeerde waarheid  ;                     And so the Rev. Bratt is apologizing on the install-
en  dat in naam der Confessie!                                         ment-plan.
   Dat is auk de korte historic-besschrijving  van den                    As soon as other installments appear we shall.
oorsprong  tder "Drie Punten".                                         inform our readers.
                                                     H. H.                                                             H. H.


                                                                 is necessary now is tlhat we lave some general con-
               Are We Calvinists?'                               ception of what is to be understood by Calvinism. And
                                                                 .then it is well, in order not to wander too far from the
    The Board of the League of Men's Societies in ask- subject, to ask, also in a general way, whether the
ing me to speak on this subject realized that already at theory of common grace is actually  CaZvinistic.  In
first glance tihe answer %o this question would be an that way we can reach a conclusion whether we are
unqualified `Yes'. Without   Ihesitation we are proud            Calvinists.
to  cl,assify  .ourselves  as Calvinists. As such my sub-           Accompany me as we ask the  followi.ng  questions:
ject is very simple,"for  on that .point bhere can be no
dispute.                                                                  1. What is Calvinism?
    Nevertheless your cimmittee also felt  3hat there                 II. 1.n wth,at relation does the theory of Common
is more to be said on the  .matter.  The  fact is, that                     Grace stand to Calvinism?
Calvinism has become a very general and vague term                  III. And in the light of these facts: Are we Cal-
in our day. Many who differ on very fundamental                             vinists ?
doctrines of Scripture  nevertiheless  rally under  tihe            I. Anyone who attempts to answer the question as
banner of Cahinism. ,Witness  the attempts in the last to what is understood by Calvinism finds,himself  placed
years to call a Calvini&ic  Congress. Moreover, espec- before various definitions. It must, ,tist of all, not sur-
ially nearer  ;to our own circles,  tlhe theory'of Common prise us that we as Protestant .Reformed Churches
Grace is regarded as one of the basic principles of are sometimes called a sect.  ,Possibly  the earliest use
Calvinism. Some would even go to thecextent  of call- of the term Calvinism was as a secCartin  name. It was
.inhg John Calvin the  aoknowledged  discoverer of the a nickname used by tihe Jesuits to designate the Re-
doctrine of common grace and quote. him  profusely  to formed faith, so that the term means nothing more to
maintain  :their stand. Anyone who reads Dr. A. Kny-             the  C$thobics  than  ;t;he name of a  se& Overagainst
.per's stone lectures  on "Calvinism" must repeatedly Arminianism this has-become  ,a confessional name. -By
reach the conclusion  that, if Dr. Kuyper is correct, no Arminians a Calvinist is represented exclusively as 6he
one can deny +ommon  grace and also be a Calvinist.              outspoken subscriber to  ,the dogma of predestinations.
WhiIe Dr. .Herman  ,Kuiper  in his "Catinism and Com- Avowed  Arminians speak wtitifi: repulsion in this sense
mon Grace"  ,fmds so much "common grace" in  .the of Calvinists. Strange to Bay, but this is sometimes
writings of Calvin tghat this theory must certainly be also  used as a  denominational  name. Calvin would
one of the  >futndamental  principles of  Galvinism.  To certainly enter ihis protest if he were to know that his
deny lit means i7hat you are no Calvinists.                      name was attached to a denomination, as all true
   By this time  a.nyone  must begin to realize that the Calviniti refuse to ,be called  by the name of a man.
question  .is not so simple after all. We come face And yet there are Churches that have borne tke name
to face  wi,th a twofold question. like one question is: of "Calvinistic Methodists" and "Calvinistic Baptists".
Wihat is Calvinism? In order to do full  justice%0  this The  wel,l-known   Spurgeon  is said to  halve belonged
question it might prove benetial to make a Thorough              to a group  which  called itself Calvinisti:  Baptists.
and comprehensive study of all that Calvin  [has written,           But Calvinism-has taken on an even broader mean-
and that especiallly in. the light of.lhis time. But even a ing.  %%torically   <it indicates the  cl'2an,nel  in which
thorough study of all the works of John  .Galvin would tche *Reformation moved in so far as it was neitfher
not be  sufficient,  for it  soon becomes evident  %hat, Cal- Lutheran, ,nor Anabaptist. nor Socinian. Dr. Kuyper
vinism is more  than merely &he views of one man.. No speaks  .of it in lhis stone lectures as a scientific name.
one.cares  *to be called a Calvinist in the sensethat  rle is    designating an independent form of world and life
.the blind  ,follower  of a man. In so far as the truth          view.      (Stone Lectures, pages  8~12).  The  Schafl-
of the Word of God was brought to the foreground Herzoz  Encyclopedia of  .Religiovs  Knowledge  aives
and developed into a doctrinal system  ,by John Calvin ,from that aspect  bthe following definition: "Calvinism.
the question still remains : what is the clhtannel  in which is the entire body of concmtion,  theological, ethical.
that  t&h  is developed today,? Only those who con-              fltilosophical..  social, political, which under the master
tinue to build on the structure of Augustine and Calvin.         mind of *John Calvin has left a permanent mark on
or who continue in tie channel of truth followed by thought and life-history in protestant lands." (Vol. II.
Augustine and Calvin can be called Calvinists. n'-rere-          page 359). Although I am not so interested in that
fore we face a second question: Wthat is t&e historical          definition as such there is  somethinp  added  whicih
development of the ,Reformed  Truth of Calvinism to- is *my important., It goes on to say that the funda-
day?                                                             mental principle of Calvinism lies: "in a profound  arc
   `Naturally I do not pretend to be able to give a con- prehension of God in His majesty, with  &he inevitably
clusive answer to these weighty questions at  tGhis time. accompanying poignant realization of the exact  natrl.re
Nor do I deem it necessary in order to give a thought-           of the relation sustained to Him by the creature. [He
provoking answer to the question before us. All that ,who ,believes in God without  reserve, and is determined


  480                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R   ~
                         _
  that God shall be God to him in all his thinking, feeling,     outline all the fundamental principles of Calvinism,
  willing-in the entire compass  vf his life-activities, but merely speak, in general.                -
  intellectual,  moral, spiritual, throughout all his indi-          This is, nevertheless, sufficient to answer our ques-
  vidual, so&al, religious relations-is, by  the force           tion.
  of that strictest of all logic which presides over the             Calvinism is not simply everything that is taught
  outworking of principles in thought snd life, by the           by John Calvin. No Calvinist can be content to re-
  very necessity of the case, a Calrvinist." (Vol. II, page main staring  tit Calvin, admiring in worshipful rever-
  3 5 9 ) .                                                      ence all that he wrote and resti.ng:`donten.t  with that.
         The reason for quoting this last statement is that I    From the <basic 4principle  ,that the Holy Scriptures are
  feel that the fundamental principles of Calvinism it- the Word of ,God and may be the only ruIe for life and
  self can best tell us w&at ict is. It certainly is more thought follows that also  Caltin himself must be judged
  than a confessional name, more than just another world in that light. Al,1 that he has written must be placed
  and life view. Its distinctive principles make if absol- under the merciless knife of criticism  on the basis of
  utely unique. To accept them simply makes one a the Word of God. The question must needs be put:
 IC.alvi~ist. To deny them deprives one of the right to          Was Ca1vi.n a Calvinist? And if so, in how far? This
  bear the name.                                                 can and must be eaid with .no ,lack of appreciation for
     Under the  fun,damental  principles of Calvinism I all that Calvin was privileged to be for the `Church.
. would mention flrst of all, that tlhe Scriptures are the          What is more, maintaining that  tlh,e development of
  infallible Word of God before which we bow uncon- truth under the guidance of the Holy Spirit ran through
  ditionally and which we accept as the only infallible          the channel of Augustine and Calvin we too must con-
  rule fur thought and #life. A Calvinist makes himself tinue in that channel. Tlhe fundamental  trutlhs  of
  strong *by bowing.before  no other authority than tiat         Scripture must be maintained and *developed into dot:
  authority of the Word of God. It is repugnant to him trSna1 standards. A Calvinist is never finished  plying
1 to be a follower of any man, or to place any standard          ever deeper into the truth of the revealed, Word of
  or confession on a par with Scripture. In the Scrip- God.
  tures &xl speaks and it behooves us to humbly and                  And certainly the principle of predestinating, e&t-
  reverently listen as docile children. Anyone who does ing, sovereign grace must be maintained and defended
  not proceed from  tlhat motivating principle is not with tooth and nail. That truth witih its accompanying
  worthy of the name of Calvinist.                               trnth of the antithesis is the heritage handed down
         On that basic principle Calvinism founds a second, to us from the fathers by the grace of God.
  namely: that God  is God. Therefore it teaches a  pre-
  destinati.ng,  electing, sovereign grace. That is the              II. That brings us to the second question: In what
  foundation stone in ijts bulwark against all Arminian-         relation does the theory of Common Grace stand to
  ism. The live points of Calvinism are  certainly  known Calvinism?
  to all of us, na,mely  : Unconditional %le&ion, Limited            In the light of the foregoing we already have an
  Atonement,  T&al Depravity, Irresistible Grace, and answer to ,&hat question. Anyone &a makes an earnest
  Perseverance of Saints.        On that basis Calvin also study of the Word of Itid ,and is willing to abide by
  taught that "by His free and unfettered counsel Cdd its truth must admit that common grace  lhas no place
  rules all mankind, and all men and tihings,  and also all in Scripture an,d therefore no place in Calvinism. To
  parts and particles of the worlld by His  infinite wis- maintain that God is God, with all that this includes,
  dom and incomprehensible justice." (Calvin's Calvin- already precludes a theory of common grace.
  ism, p. 261). From this also follows that God is not for           Nevertheless, it is repeatedly maintained ,in our
  man's sa,ke,  nor is religion for man's sake, but all are day  that this theory does have a pIace in that theo-
  only for God's glory. All creation exists for God. All logical system. According to Dr. A. Kuyper it is one
  life must be consecrated to Him in strict obedience. of  the fundamental principles in a  Cralvinistic world
  Wherever man may stand, whatever he may do, to and life view. Dr. Herman Kuiper and others, make
  whatever he may apply himself, in every sphere of Calvin the acknowledged discoverer of this doctrine,
  Iife, he is st.anding  before God's face ,and is an instru- althoulgh it is evident that no serious effort has been
  ment in  His  hand, must obey  C&d and Iive to His made to  searoh beyoml Calvin.
  glory.     For  i&hat  ,reason our  Cateohism  speaks very        Dr. A. Kuyper speaks of  CaIvinism  as dealing with
  Caltinistic  Ianguage when it answers in Lord's Day man's relation to God, to his  -fellowman  and to the
  33 to hhe question, What are good works?.: "Only those $world. Man's relation to God  Ihe calls a relation of
  which proceed from a true faith, are per-formed ac- fellowship. Man himself can only be honored for the
  cording to the law of God, and to His glory ; and not          sake of his likeness to the divine image.       And the
  such as are founded on  ou'r imaginations, or the insti- world can only be honored as a divine creation. Yet
  tutions of men."                                               this places to the fore, as he says, "the great principle
   You realize, of course,  tit I make no attempt to tihet there is a particular grace which works salvation,


                                         T H E   dTANDARD  B E A R E R                                                    481

 and also a common grace  ,by which God, maintaining bers of the covenant in its wi.dest  significance, elect
 the life of the world relaxes the curse which rests and non-elect covenant members."
 upon it,  srrests  its process of corruption, and thus              It is the second of these in which  we are now inter-
 allows the  untrammelled  development of our life in ested. Under this class he finds his proof for the
 which  to glorify Himself as Creator." (Calvinism, page three  points. Only in four instances does he find the
 `30).                                                            fword `common' joined with `grace', and twice, the ad-
     "Sin places us before a riddle,  wihicih in itself is mits, *&at this refers to sting grace. But he does
 insoluble. If you view sin as a deadly poison, as enmity find many evidences of general goodness, mercy, kind-
 against God, as leading to everlastin~g  condemnation, ness, etc. He says: "It strikes us how often and how
 and  ,if you represent a sinner as being `wholly incapable emphatically  Calvin assures us that there is a divine
 of doing any good, and prone ,to all evi,l', and on this grace  Lwhich touches  mank,ind in general and every                    L
 account salvable only if  `God by regeneration changes individual member of the hulman  race in particular.
 his heart, then it seems as if of necessi~ty  all unbelievers    Calvin never seems to grow weary of telling us that
 and ,unregenerate  persons ought to .be wicked and re-           God is  beneficient   ,to mankind ; that God manifests
 pulstie  men. But this is far from being our experience paternal clemency toward men in general and  ~bestows
 in actual life. (Notice the argument, C. H.) On the many excellent blessings upon them;' that God loves
 contrary the unbelieving  worl'd excels in many  tlhings.        the human race and shows concern for its welfare."
 F?redous  treasures  hiave come dawn to us from the              (page  182).
 old heathen civilization." (page 159). "In a similar                That sets our expectation rather high, but only to
 manner God  ,by His "common grace" restrains the ope- be disappointed ,if we take the effort to follow him
 ration of sin in man, partly by breaking ' its power, in `reading the  nrarious  passages adduced as proof.
 partly by taming his evil spirit, and partly by .domesti-        To mention a few examples. If Calvin is to be in
 c,ating his nation or his family. Common grace has accord with the first point jof #he Synod of 1924 he
 thus  .led to the result  that an unregenerated'sinner must agree that God loves the wicked. The distinction
 may captivat,e  and attract us by much that is lovely is made between sin and the sinner, as if God hates                             ,..
 and full of energy, just as ,our domestic animals do, the one and loves the other. Does Calvin say that God
 but this, of course, after the manner of man. The loves  `the sinner? A quotation is taken from  it[hR Insti-
 nature ,of sin, however, remains as venomous as it tutes II, 16, 3: "For God  who is perfect righteousness;
 was." (page 163).                                                cannot love the iniquity which He sees in all. All of
     This theory must certainly lead to dualism. In us, therefore, have that within  which  deserves  the
 the midst of the world there can never be synthesis, hatred of God. Hence, in respect, first, of our corrupt
 only antithesis ; the antithesis between  ,&he truth and nature, and secondly, of  ,the depraved conduct follow-
 the lie, wisdom and foolishness, God's covenant and the ing upon it, we are ,all offensive to God, guilty in His
 world,  li&t `and dankness.       Tehe line of Calvinistic sight, and by nature the' children of hell. But as tihe
 truth does not run along these views of Dr. `A. Kuy- Lord wills not to destroy in us that  which  is His own,
 per.                                                             He still finds something in us which in kindness He
     Nevertheless these views were made a dogma of can love. For though it is by our own fault tit we
 the church by  a,n  eLxtra-confessional  addition to the are sinners' we are still creatures; though we have
 confessions by the Synod of 1924.                                brought deatlh upon ourselves, He ihad created us for
     Although we could quote the proofs for the three             life." At best this can be used as proof that God
 points cwlhich  the Synod took from Calvin's Institutes l,oves His creation. As to the second point Synod also
 it is probably better to refer to Dr. CHerman  Kuiper's          quotes the passage found fn Calvin's Institutes II, 3, 3.
 work on "Calvinism and Common `Grace". He is sup- Here Calvin must say that God restrams  sin in the
 posed to have made an elaborate study of this subject, heart of the (wicked by His' $ni&t  in order that good
although it is evident that he merely quotes Calvin's may come forth. This is what we read: "Here again,
 writings with the purpose to prove that he also taught we are met with a question  I\Fery much  l&e same as that
 the Kuyperian ,tlheory  of common grace.                         which was previously solved. In every age there have
     He fm,d `in Calvin three classes of common grace, been some who, under the guidance of nature, were
 which he distinguishes as follows:                               all their lives devoted to virtue. It is of no conse-
         1- Universal common grace. "Common to all crea- quence, that many blots may be detected in their con-
 tures who make up this sin-cursed world. A grace duct; by the mere study of virtue, tihey evinced that
 which .touohes  creatures as creatures."                         there was somewhat of purity in their nature. . . . .
     2- General common grace. "Common  to human Suoh examples, then, seem to warn us against suppos-
 beings in distinction from the rest of  Crod's creatures.        ing that the nature of man is utterly vicious, since,
 This is a grace which pertains to men as men."                   under its guidance, some have not only  exicelled  in illus-
     3- Covenant common grace. "Common to those trious deeds, but conducted themselves most honorably
 who live in the covenant sphere, to all who are mem-             through the whole course of their lives. But we ought

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

to consi'der,  tihat, notwithstariding  of the corruption of and  Titus make Him inconsistent  n?ribh Himself?" (page
our nature, tihere is some room for divine grace, such 255). Notice from this last statement that  Calvin
grace as,  wikhout purifying it, may lay it under in- considers it ieconsistent  with God to will and at .the
ternal restraint. . . . .In the elect, God cures these same time to will, as the matter is sometimes presented
diseases in the mode [which .will sihortly ,be explained; in the "two-track" tendency.
in others, the only lays them under such restraint as             We could also ask  Calvin: what  Ss &d's attitude
may prevent them from breaking  forth  to a degree to the wicked? To which he answers: "Most true is
incompatible  witlh the (preservation of the  establis&d       that tich the Psalni affi~rms, `Thou hatest all workers
order of th,ings." Thus far tihe Synod quoted Calvin. of  iniquilty'  (Ps. 5  :5). Nor, indeed, does God there
The rest was, for some. unknown reason, left out. But testify by  the  moubh of David anything else than that
. listen : "Hence,  .how   muoh  soever  men may disguise which He exemplifies in reality every day  wlhen He
their impurity, .some are restrained only by shame,            punishes men for their transgressions. Nor would He
others by ,a fear.of tihe laws, from breaking out into         punisih tiheir sins if He did not ,hate those sins. You
many kinds of wickedness. Some aspire to an honest see here, then, t.hat God is an avenger, from which
life, as <deeming  it most conducive to their interest, awe are fully assured that He is not an approver. But
while others are raised above the vulgar lot, tit, by many are deceived in these sacred matters, not rightly
the dignity of their station,  tiey may  Ikeep inferiors       considering that $God willeth righteously those tlhings
to their duty. Thus God, by His providence, curbs the which men do wickedly." (page 255).
perverseness of nature, preventing it from breaking               To the question whether the preaching of  tihe. Gos-
forth  into action, yet without rendering it inwardly pel is a general, well-meant offer 04 salvation Calvin
pure." Dues not this last overthrough what t,he first answers to  tihe contrary. The fact that the gospel of
 part was supposed to prove?                                   mercy is set forth, presented to khe unbelieving as well
       Let this be sufficient to show that Calvin does not as to the ,believring  is with the purpose that @hey  may
always say  wlhat he is made to say. Judged in the be without excuse; "The Gospel is the power-of God
 light  of our time we might  (wish  him, especially at unto salvation to every one that believeth,  &en, what
times, more definite and more emphatic on this issue, can it be  ti others but tie savor of death unto death?"
 but judged in the light of his own times we can draw          (pages 95, 96).
no other cxmclusion  from all his writings that ;h,e cer-         As to the restraint of sin and civic righteousness
 t.ainly was not addicted to the Kuyperian theory of, notice the following : "But  with reference to His
common grace as defended by the Synod of 1924.                 hardening men's  ihearts,   tlhlat is a different way of
       Taken all in  a&l, Calvin was thoroughly Calvinistic God's working, as I have just observed. Because God
as a staunch defender of the Sovereignty of God and a does not govern  tihe reprobate  Iby His regenerating
sovereign, elective grace. Common grace as taught Spirit; but gives them over to the devil, and leaves
today has no place either in the writings of Calvin or t!hem  2;o be his slaves ; and He so overrules their cle-
in true Calvinism as suoh.                                     praved  wills ,by His secret ju.dgment and counsel, bhat
                                                               they can do nothing but &at wlhiczh He has decreed.
       III. To finally be somewhat more  positilve and come    (page 319). "Tlhe reprobate, however, made, as they
to a definite  angwer  to the question before us, it is not are, vessels unto dishonor, never cease to provoke the
out of  piace to go to Calvin with certain questions vengeance of God apon  themselves ; tihereby  manifestly
and listen to his reply in some of his works, which proving, as in written characters,  that t,hey  are ordain-
may be considered the maturest products from his hand ed to destrudion. . . . .Tlhe Scripture plainly teaches
and wthich we find in "Calvin's Calvinism". Here we that none but the elect of God are ever ruled or "led"
need not search  loag for  tihe passages lie in ready by His Spirit. What rectitude or right-doing then
reach.                                                         can there be in man wi$hout the "leading" of +he Holy
       I would ask of hi$m: Did God will the fall and sin? Spirit? . . .  .What marvel, &hen, if the  reprolbate,
To this question  she answers : "Taking, then an honest wiho are destitute of the nighteousness of God should
and sober review of the whole of this  &J&  and Divine do nobhing,  nor know to do any-tthing, but sin?" (pages
matter, the plain and  indubi$able conclusion will be 142-143).
that `the z&Z1 of God is tihe one principle and all-high          Tfhese are but snatches taken at random which can
caztse of all things in heaven an,d eartih !" (page 246). be multiplied many times. Yet I deem them sufficient
"Meanw&dl&,  I freely acknowledge  `my doctrine to be evi.dence   tihat Calvin stood firm in his  contentioa  for
this: that Adam  feil, not only by  the permission of the Sovereign Grace of God, especially  ocveragainst  all
Gud, but by His very secret counsel and decree." (page semi-pelagianism.
267). "Tlhe Scripture is replete with examples of the             Across +he .centsuries he flings to us tis weapon, the
same nature. and tendency. Shall we, then, on  t,hat           Sword of +he Spirit, which is tihe Word of God, that
account. either impute the cause or fault of sin to God,       $ve may carry on in the conflict  against all heresy re-
or represent Him as having a double or twofold will,           pugnant to that Word. The battle centers especially


                                         TEE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                        483

about the  ~tru&  of God's Sovereign Grace. It is our by "the &hings not seen". In  Heb. 1l:l we read the
calling to maintain and develop that truth in Reformed following: Faith is the substance of things hoped for,
channels, following in the footsteps of the fathers, the evidence of  <things not seen (ou blepomenoun) .
who went before us, and only thus are `we worthy of             It is very plain that the `%hings not seen" are the
the name of (2alvinists. Then : Calvinists we are !         same as the  "lhings hoped" for. Now  *tihe  things
                                            C. Hanko.       hoped for are our objective  Ihope "laid up for us in the
*Delivered at  ti,e meeting of the League of Men's So- heavens", the heritage incorruptible, undetilable,  and
cieties in Holland, Mic,higan.                              that  fad&h not  awfay, and  wlhic!h is ready to be  re-
                                                                   `.
                                                            #vealed  m the ,last time. They are the things tiat eye
                                                            bath not seen, and ear hath not  {heard,  and which
                                  -                         bath not entered into the heart of man. It is the sum-
                                                            total of all the heavenly gifts, which shall be the radia-
                                                            tion of the divine perfections.
        The Invisible Less Certain  Than                        But they `are  not  seen. And that for a twofold
                                                            reason. The first&reason  dies in the things themselves.
                  I The Visible?                            They are in heaven. They are. hid. `With relation
                                                            to us they are under a covering. And the covering
    A certain theologian is reported to have said on his    is the separation of %he earthly from the heavenly':
deatlh-bed, "Life is a riddle  ,and death is a still greater Heaven and earth are as yet not united into one-the
one." In this statement there lies a challenge. In-         new heavens and  ear%  where-righteousness shall dwell.
directly we wish to meet the ch*aLlenge in this essay.      And as long as thisseparation is, the things of the per-
Certainly if "life is a riddle" the most "prudent" must fect Covenant  of God  w&h man  shall not be seen.
,attempt  to solve it.                                      The second reason lies with us. We are in no condition,
    is life a riddle?  Is it one  ,great  night-mare, in' to see the `heavenly things, qthe things hoped for and
which one feels ever more"perplexed,  lost at sea, grop- yet not seen. We are of the earth earthy. And as
ing in the dark?                                            oarthy we belong to the earth, ,and not to the heavenly.
    If so the "pessimistic" wonl~d-  and life-view is the And as long as we shall bear the image of tihe first
correct interpretation of the universe.                     Adam, we cannot see the heavenly face  to face. Pre-
    With these things in mind we deem it Iprofitable  to sently this shall all be changed. We shall bear the
place ourselves before the  .above-captioned   yues~on.     image of the Lord out of heaven, the second, the last
Every day of our life we  &and in the midst of the          Adam. Then  *tie things that are  now "not seen"  ghall
things seen, the unto-us visible world, and by faith then be the "things seen", for when  Christ  shall be
ewe reaoh out toward the  tings that are not seen.          glorified, we shall be glorified  .with him. We must:
    Is this not the height of inconsistency? Should we itherefore  wait till `we shall see "face to face,".
not set our affections on the things that we can see,          Upon these things we set our !hope, our longings
,that we can handle and toudh,  measure and weigh, buy and. inward affections; Do I hear `someone say, that
and sell, if we wish to move and live in* the realm of this is strange, paradoxical: To stand in the midst
the things that are certain? Is it then  <not utter folly of the things seen, and to live by the things not seen.
to change the order of things about, and to cling to           But what are  the things seen, the things of which
the tilings that are not seen as the ultimate solution we now form an integral part? For we are part and
of life, the hope of the future, the end and destiny of parcel, of the things that we now see. For this reason
man?                                                        we see them.
   Is not Ipossibly our whole life, our wihole system of       We answer: the earthly creation, the earth and the
faith, after -all a "shot in <the dark", missing all pur- fulness  lihereof.
pose, an,d ultimately leading us to the point proving          But again we  as~k: do not the  things seen  have a
that f'aiti in the unseen is a great delusion?              greater degree of certainty for us, than the things
   One cannot help but ponder upon these and similar not seen? The things which we can handle and touch, '
problems. P,roblems! Yes, no less than the problems measure and  *weigh, buy and sell, eat and drink, hear
of life and death, time and eternity.                       and see, are t&se not the things of whit%  we can be
   No we do not ask these questions without due rever-      certain?  An,d can we not say of these, that we are
ence. Neither do we ask as the unbelieving  sceptic         more sure that they are and what they are, than we
does. We ask &hese questions gin the full light of the can be of the things that are not seen ?
Word of God, tilinging  to His promises by faith. We           To be sure, it is <in th& sphere of the things seen that
ask these questions, u walking in the light, sand as men can be busy in "scientific" researoh. Here at least
seeing the unseen". And so we ask t&he question: Are man can attempt to find the ultimate origin and es-'
the visible things less certain, than the things invisible? sense of life. Bnd is this not the sphere where man
  What do we mean, what does Holy Writ understand in the way of research can come to rest?

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

     And therefore shall a human mortal have certainty                 tainty  of our senses and of our perception; or if you
  let him  delve into  the  "khings seen". These he can will of our sense-perception. (gewaarwoordingdwaar-
  place under the scrutiny of the microscopic eye, and                 neming) . Is not "faith the substance of things hoped
  so ultimately let him come to "first prin,ciples" of life.           for the evidence of things not eeen"? And does  Scrig-
         Let man find these in the very phenomena. No ture ever present the assurance  %hat the believer has
  need then of wrestling with the problems of the unseen.              relatilve  to the unseen realities of the Kingdom of God,
  Away  bhen  {with   tihe "folly" of standing in the midst to be less &an tie assurance we have of the things that
  of the t!hings seen, and which are therefore certain, are earthly and seen? If the latter be the case we will
  and "speculating" upon the uncertain, the t,hings hoped grant that the  ,above objection is valid.
  for and "not seen".                                                     But this is not all.
         Thus unbelieving man speaks. Yes, even unbelief                  The question still remains whether there is not a
  in our own hearts. Tihis is the language of the man tremendous amount of  fai%h  exercized  by tie  christian
  w,ho will  not walk "by faitih". He is not regenerated, relative to the certainty of "things seen". To state the
  "born from above" and tinerefore  cannot see ;Dhe  King- matter atill more pointedly : whether in &he last aanaly-
  dom of God. He does not walk "as seeing  the Unseen". sis all is not fail&. Can we understand anfihing apart
  He has not received out of mere sovereign grace a from faith in the Word of God, even pertaining to tthe
  mind  to discern spiritual things spiritually.             He is things Wat are seen ?
  blind with the prejudice of sin ! He says as  *he fool :                Rel&ive  to this last question there can be no
  There is no God!                                                     argument among those who profess to believe t.he in-
         This little essay is not meant to ,teac;h  the unbelcever.    fallibility of tie Scriptures!      *
  Its purpose  .is rather to orientate tie man of  faifi                  We read in `Heb. 11:3, "By  faith  we understand
  For the christian  must at ai1 times know his directions that tihs worlds have been framed by the Word of God,
  spiritual,ly  ; he must not be lost at sea, and suffer ship- so  tihat what is seen  hatih not been made out of things
  wreck in the f&h. For tihis is the victory t&at aver- w$hich appear."
  cometi the world, even our faith ! To be more than                      This passage of the Word of  Cod deals with our
  conquerors through (Him who loved us unto death, bhat "understanding" of  the  t&ings   that are seen. And the
  1s our hope.                                                         key to the correct `understanding is faith, i.e. faith as
         And  wilth the believer, who will bcnw before the khe substance of things hoped for, the evidence of
  Word of G*od, and live by faith, we ask: Are the things things not seen.
  that are seen more certain for you in their origin and                  But ,&he careful reader wil,l  #have observed, that t&is
  existence than  %he things not seen?                                 text does not merely  sp`eak  of our understanding of
         We answer :  O&f course not ! But, pray, why not?             t,he things seen, but of our ,understanding  their origin,
         The deepest and ultimbate  reason is that Cdd is the thei? genesis. Also this  k  hue.
  Creator of' both  bhe things seen and the tthings not seen.             But again I ask: What do I know of the certainty
  God as the Causa Ultimata Causarum, (+he ultimate of a  thing, if I don't  iknuw  from"`w,here  it  has come.
  Cause of causes) gives ,being to and uphulds  both the And certainly the origin of a thing must also determine
  visible and the invisible thing. He  ist is that  gilves             its destiny and end. If therefore I must know the
  certainty to  botih from moment to moment. Boa bath                  "wherefrom" of a thing tx, know wehat it is, and that it
  a certainty, a `derived  certainty, both the visible and is, and if this only can be known "through faith", tihe
  the invisi,ble,  the `temporal and the eternal !                     certainty of  +he things  se&n   aies for the believer in the
         It is therefore our convi,ction,  that the Ivisible  and last analysis in his faith.
  the invisible  t;hings are equally certain.                             Indeed  t,he child of God walks by faith, with a view
         But the objection can be raised that this is side- to tihe certainty of the things seen. Thus it was "from
  stepping the issue. It may be objected that the believ- the beginning". From ;the beginning `we ,understood  by
  ing child of God, must hath more certainty  of the re- faith that the worlds were framed by tie Word of God.
" ality of the  t,hings seen, of the  tempo&,  because  tihese Man must walk in obedience. God has "from  ;the  be-.
  he can see, feel, taste, smell and  thear. That with tchese          ginning" decreed that man shall never fmd &he solution
  he therefore need not exercise  faith. But relative to to the question of  the origin  of the things seen, out of
  the eternal h& must 1,ive by faith. And that even though bhese very things. Man must first through  i?ait,h and
  the essense of botlh Abe equally certain and real, for us obedience r,ise to "seeing the Unseen", and from that
  bearing the image of the earthly this is not the case.               lofty position of  fai&h, the  "Arohimedisch  Punt"
         Now it is true, ,tiat the element of perception which         (Booyeweerd)  God exhibits to him the origin of things,
  is present in man relative to the things seen, that  $his and assures man of their certai,nty.
  is wholly lacking relative to the things  not seen. This                 If man will nut  lrise to the position of faith, the
  we grant the objector without  Ihesitance.                           "uitziahts-toren"  ,he must needs be foolish and attempt
         Butt  thiscis  not the point! The question is this: to  find the origin of t;hings  in  tlhe things. An'd to be
  Is  &he certainty of  f%th less certain  than the  cer-              sure *his .is tie method and aim of the "scientist", df


I

                                             Tr-fE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                             485
   the wisdom of this  world,  which is  fqolishness  with
   God.  `I&en we get "evolution with all its attendant                     The River Of The Water Of Life
   m&strosities.  Man from  ithe ape, the ape from the
   lower animal, tihi? one in turn again .from the higher                  There is perhaps no imagery quite so vivid in its
   plants, and these from  the lower plants  ; the plant-life spee& as  the language of water. It is a figure that is
   from the  aniorganic, and this again divided into its often employed by tzhe Holy Ghost in the Holy Scrip-
   last and smallest indivisible unit.                                 tures. Both in the Old and the New Testament we
       Dues this bring us to tie desired end, to wit, the              note its speech. One of the very first P&alms that we
   origin  of things. Of course not. It merely divided learn in our earliest infancy  .is the beautiful  42nd psalm
   the things, and gave us more bhings,  which each in with  its.  cent&  theme of &he  tlhiirst for streams of
   their turn cry for ,an answer to *the question: what is             living water. But also in  other portions of the Old  '
   our origin, and our destination?                                    Testament do, we  find'its language. Think, for in-
        The origin of  tihings  does not lie in  tile category stance, of Isa.  44:3: "For 1 will wur water upon him
   of things. It will never ,be found there. For by faith that is thirsty and floods upon the dry ground." Also
   we understand that the worlds were framed by the                    the vision of Jpel  in ,his prophecy  of Pentecost we hear
   Word of God, so 6hat the things that are seen, Ihave not            language that reminds us of water: "And it shall come
   been made of things which  (do appear.                              to pass afterwards, that  I,will pow out My Spirit . . ."'
        If then, as we have  seen,  both  t;he seen and the            And who does nut know the lvoice of Isaiah when he
   unseen.  tibings are equally certain, and both can only speaks in almost New Testament language of  tihe
   be apprehended through faith in God the Unseen, to                  blessings of salvation : ,"Ho, every one  bhat %irsteth,
   whom be glory and honor everlasting, wahere is then come ye to the waters., . . ."?
   the paradox in the faith of the child of God? The 6hild                So also in the New Testament. More than once ,we
   of God does not .alk "by sight" relative to +he things have heard our Lord Jesus say: "If any man thirst, let
   seen ; "by fai&h" relative to the. things not seen, but him come unto Me and drink." So also to the "Sama-
   he *walks  "by .faith"  with a Iview to bow,.                       r&tan woman : "But whosoever drin,k&h of &he water
       Thus also we can understand that the apostle placed K%at I shall give him, shall never thirst ; but the water
   this  te.xt relative to the things seen and the operation that I shall give Mm, ihall ,be in him a well of water
   of faith with respect to tihem, at the head of the record springing  LI@ into  everiasting  life." And, finally, we
   of the `<heroes of faith" who embraced the promises. Ihear t!he same speech ,of water in the tisions of John
   True the woild .did not want them. They were laughed who received  the revelation of Jesus  Cihrist on the
   at. But these  iheroes   df faith returned to  t& original isle of Patmos. Time and again does this apostle speak
   way of life, as God had it in tie statute books "from of water. Note the first verse of  chapter  22: `"And
   the beginning". `J&e just shall live by faith, whether he shewed me ,a pure river of water of life, clear as
   this be in  trhe  &ate of original  rightequsness,  or in crystal. proceding out of the throne of God and of the
   `tie state of the imputed righteousness of God in Jesus Lamb."
   Christ.
       And so we  .see that the solution to the problem                   `Il& question arises: what is  the meaning of the
   of life and death is faith. Life is not a "riddle" for speech of water?
   the "wise and prudent" to solve, `but it is  the unfolding             I,t seems to ,me that we should put the question in
   of the wisdom of our covenant God, which He  hat?1 %is way first : what does the idea of. water tell 11s in
   made known unto babes ! For the babes walk by faith the natural sense?
   as seeing the unseen, both in $he visible and the in-                  Putting the question that way I would say that fi?r;,
   risible, ,the temporal arid the eternal tihings  !                  idea of natural water is as clear  ,as crystal. Water is
       Are there  trhen no questions left? 0, don't be mis- one of khe two things thit are absolutely essential to
   taken. Many are the details of #life &hat defy our at- life, natural life. It is indispensable $0 man pn earth.
   tempt to explain them. But in faith we know that We can spare many things but nut water. And  tihe
   ,hereafter  we will understand them far better, when we second essential is bread. If you have dry ,bread and
   &all see face to face. Now  we see in a glass darkly,               water you  /have in  these  two things  tihe two requisites
   but then face to face.                                              for life on earth..
       `I'hus we (have attempted to show, that if we w,ill                A.nd as  it is in the  ,natural sense so also in the
   not live by faith, scepticism  is the .only  other alternatiil-e    spiritual sense: spiritual bread and spiritual water are
   with a view to both the things seen and  tih.. things not necessary for spiritual life.
s e e n .                                                                 For it is evident that. bread and water as used
       And Lvlhat did we see?                                          in Scripture mean the.same thing. Attend for instance
       The things  visible are not more certain than the on this text in John: "And Jesus said unto them: I am
   things inviSible !                                                  the bread of Iife : he `&at cometh to .Me shall .never
                                            G.  C, Lubbers,
                         -    -                                        ,hunger  ; and tit: t&+ beli@$h  On Me &all never i+r$l"
                                                                                                            ~ , . . . . .


486                                    T H E   STAN.DARD   B E A R E R

Here we see plainly  that bread and waterhave the when entering a city or village there are found  adver-
same spiritual meaning. Coming to Christ and be- tisements of %he drinking water that read : The water-
lieving on Him are presented in tihds text as eating and      supply of this city is tested and approved and therefore
drinking Christ.                                              pure. Then these people mean that there are no colonies
       This leads us to the next question: is there a text    of bacteria in the water or <an undue amount of ob-
or texts in  &d's Word  lthat tell us what the exact          noxious minerals. They mean that the elements in
meaning is of this spiritual bread and water? And the such water are of the right kind and of the right pro-
answer is yes. You find it in the Old Testament in            pOI%iOIlS.
Isaiah 44  :g,.lhalf  of which we quoted already. I will          So also pwith  the water of the Spirit of Christ and
now quote the whole text : "For I will pour water upon        His blessings. You are safe in drinking of this water.
him that is thirsty and floods upon the dry ground. It wi,ll not ,harm  you rat all. There are no impure ele-
I will pour My Spirit upon thy seed and My blessing           ments' in it that would endanger your soul. And as
upon  tihy offspring." It ought to be clear as crystal to its  Ipositive meaning, the qualification pure, certainly
to anyone that in tie second, clause of the text we find      means that &he elements of .Wat water are just the
the explanation of the first. Water and floods stand          thing you have need of. They are the elements that
for God's Spirit and His blessings.                           belong to your nature. And also,  they. comprise the
       We  ,hear the same thing in John.  7:37b  and 39. `medicine for your condition and state. They are a
There we read: "If any man thirst let him colme  unto pu're medicine against all `your ills. This river will
Me and drink. But this spake He of ,the Spirit which for instance extend peace to you  ,lilke a river. And
they that believe on tHim should receive."                    the streams of this river are so pure that they will
       So we may safely conclude that the vivid speech make you glad. The sorrowing and sighing will flee
of water which ,is employed in God's Word in a spiritual away when you walk on the brink of the river and
sense stands for the Holy Spirit and His blessings.           drink  of. its pure water.         .
And more particularly, the Holy Spirit as &he Spirit             Moreover, this river, or rather its water is clear as
of Christ.                                                    crystal. That (is a further descrintive  qualification of
       That water is often portrayed as finding its re- the same. And I would say  p&at it stresses the fact
cipient through the further imagery of-a  rilver  or of that this water is *as virtuous as God is. Using a differ-
streams of the river. It is called "the river of God" ent imagery, the Bible states that  ,God  is light and in
or "the river of  &d's pleasures"; also the Bible speaks Him is no darkness at all. Tlhart  is saying the same
of &is river as having streams that make glad the city thling as when we read here that tfhe river of water
of God. And finally there is again that text in Rev. 22 of life is  crear as crystal. It me&s that it is as virtu-
which speaks of t,his same river of God: the river of ous as God is virtuous. It means that if you drin'k it,
the water of ife.                                             you recetie  the communicable attributes of God. You
       When next we woad ask what the meaning is of drink in peace and joy and  ,holiness and righteousness
this spee& of a river then I  wou,d say that it seems and life and light and  faitlh and hope and love and all
to mean distribution. I woud base this opinion on Isa. the virtues  that are bound up in the Holy Spirit of
66 :E!a, wher$ `we read : "For thus saith the Lord, I Christ.
twill  mtend peace to  .her like, a  rider   and the glory       What a river!
of  th.e Gentiles like a flowing stream. . .  ."                 One more &hing  I would like to accenuate before
       In this text we find  the explanation of  tihe idea we will ask a few questions as to its origin. And that
there is in the river. So it is indeed aIso in the natural. is this that the text calls this river the river of life.
The Lord distributes water to the land by rivers. At             That means the same thing as when this river is
least, it is one of the modes of distributing water to called the river of God's pleasures. God's pleasure or
lands and peoples.                                            H,is goodpleasure is  IHis life. It is the pleasurable life
       So we may say that when the B,ible speaks of the of His covenant and it stresses the fact that  when you
river  ,of  tfne water of life the extending of the Holy drink of this water you will get drunk of the same kind
Spirit with all His blessings is meant.                       of pleasure as G-ad enjoys in His own covenant life. Of
       Further we note tehat two qualifications are given course, you will enjoy it in the measure and the quality
in Rev. 22  :1 of this blessed river.      First that this of the creature. But it is nevertheless the life of God's
river is pure.                                                covenant, the life of love and of friendship. In love we
       It seems Ito me that this means that there are no shall know Him and in friend&p  we shall tell Him all
foreign elements in `this water. Tlhere is no darkness our heart. Does not the Bible say that this is life
or evil in  trhR Holy Spirit as He is given to Christ eternal that they (and that is you) shall Iknow Thee
and as  Cthrist extends that Spirit to the  Church. You and Jesus  Christ Whom  Thou hast sent?
are absolutely safe in drinking this water.         When         Now another question.        Where does this river
traveling through our country we note sometimes that spring? Where  <is its source?


                                               ?-`iiJ3   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                          487
                        - A " _ -                               __-.               -                 - -
         And the text gives the answer: It proceeds from
      the throne of Ctid and of  trhe Lamb.                               Today If Ye Hear His Voice, `Harden
         Now we must n& make the mistake to t&ink  that                                  Not Your Hearts
      there are two sources: God and the Lamb. We might
      get that  i.mpression. And the reason is that these two                                               PaaIm 95 :7b-8a.
      names are placed alongside one  anollher  and connected
      by the coordinate conjunction rind. We use that con-                 Let us labor to enter the rest that remaineth to
      junction to co-ordinate things and persons and actions the people of God. Because of their unbelief ti& child-
      and conditions, etc.  Tlh& is: by using the word  md ren of Israel perished in the wilderness. With the
      we place things and persons alongside of one another. tragic end of these Israelites before their eye, the faith-
      But that is not the idea here. John uses ,here a Hebra-           ful are to fear, lest a promise being left, t&em of enter-
      istic way of expression. We will point to two otiers ing into His (Christ's) rest, any of  ttl?sm  shall seem to
      in Scripture. First to John 14  :l. There we read :               come short of it. That a rest remaineti  `to the people
      "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, of God is the inevitable conclusion to which the reason-
      believe also in Me." Here ,&he Lord does not mean: ing of the  sacrkd writer leads. %he word of the Lord,
      You  must not only believe in God, t3e Triune, but you "Today if ye will  b&ar  His voice, harden not your
      must alongside of that commendable action also be- hearts," came to Israel by trhe prophet David ages after
      I.ieve in Me, the Saviour ! But he means this, and                God had entered H,is rest (the rest of creation) and
      then you have  at the same time the central theme also tiny years after Israel had entered the  typical
      of that  which  foll,ows  in the  ahlapter,-He  means to rest of Canaan, so  bhat the rest which the.elc>lo&tion
      say: Believe in God, by believing in Me.                          of +he prophet David concerned was the rest that re-
         The same use of the co-ordinate con.junction we find           mains, to wit, the eternal rest which C%lrist entered
      in the same uhapter  verse 6. There Jesus says: I am with His people. Such is  ,Fe reasoning of the sacred
     the way, the truth and %e life !                                   writer.
         Now, does this mean tihat Christ is the Way, that                 Tjhe Israel of the desert period had  n&entered  into
      is one concept. And alongside of this concept, I am fihe typical rest of Canaan on account of'unbelief. This
     also the truth and tie life? No, but evidently Jesus               Israel &lad tempted the Lord, saying, "Is the Lord in
     means to say: I am ahe Way through being the Truth this place ?" The Lord had promised to be in every
     and the Life. That $his is so is plain from that which rlace where Israel would come.                    Said the Lord to
     follows: No one  cwrneth ,unto the Father but by Me.               Moses, "I have surely seen the affliction of my people
         So also in the text under discussion.                          which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason
         The river of the water of life proceedetih  fro,m the of  t$,eir  taskmasters ; for I know their sorrows; and I
     throne of God through the Lamb. It means that the am come down to delirver  th'em  out of the hatid of the
     oceans of living water are first of all in God, the Triune Egypti,ans,  and to bring them up out of that land into
     God. All  tihe pleasures of life eternal as are bound un a,good  land, unto a land flowing with milk and Fzonev."
     in the illimitable Spirit of  bife are in the God and              (Ex. 3 :7-s). The Lord had provided His people with
     Fati5er of our Lord Jesus Christ. But the floodgates, an abundance of evidence.&?&  He would do as He had
     the Fountain head, the opening through which trhev                 said.. In the -words of the psalmist, "He sent Moses
     gush forth is the Lamb.                                            His servant; and Aaron whom He had chosen.  They
         Note the name of tihe Saviour in this connection.              showed His signs among them, and wonders in  Dhe
     Tthe sacrificial Lamb. You may say: the floodgates land of  IHam. . . . He brought Bern forth also with
     through which  t,he waters of eternal life are extended            silver +and gold: and there was not one feeble person
     to me is Golgotha.                                                 `among   tiheir tribes. Egypt was glad when they de-
n        And ,here again we arrive at the central theme of parted; for the fear of them  fell upon them."  Ps. 105.
     tie whole Bible: Christ Jesus and Him crucified. The                  Yet the children of Jsrael  .on the journey %r~ugh
     water of God's pleasures shall always be  characteried             bhe desert to Canaan would say, in every emergency.
     by Golgotha. It shall sweeten the water, it shall make when &here was want. and the need was not immediate-
     you sing and warble for evermore. It is through the Iv supnlied, or when danger threatened  and their nlight
     manifastation  of a love that beggars descrir>tion  that seemed hopeless,-" Wherefore is this that tshou, Moses.
     Z~OU go to heaven. God, the triune God reveals thro~lgh hast brought us up  out of  Egypt.  to kill  11s and  ol'r
     fihe Lamb just  how wondrously gracious and  lor-;ely              children and  our cattle?" And they would ask.  "1%
     `He is.                                                            the  I)ord in  Ohis place?" meaning, "The  Jsrd is  not.
         And, finally, .&lo are the blessed that may drink?             in t,his place. 0 Moses ; thou hast brought'into a retion
         Note just ;trhree words of the text: IH~ sheweth me. where' t!he Lord would not have us be. Therefore this
         Need I say more? No, but I would pray to God:                  evil  hati overtaken us." So  they  reasbned.  though
     Oh, my God, show it to me, even me !                               they knew better in their  hearts-kliew that in bring-
                                                      G. V.             ing them into the wilderness, Mosq i&d fQllowed  the


   488                                    T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                             *
   instructions of the  Tdrd.      So  did they break forth is aa place, this wilderness, where God's people must
   in bitter complaint instead of  lettin'g  their requests wrestle against powers, against the rulers of darkness
   be made known  ,in everything by prayer and supplica- of this world, against spiritual wickedness in  thigh
   tion  awith thanksgiving unto God. They knew that places. But why be dismayed?  T,he  Lord is in  this
   to a humble cry on &heir part the Lord womd  deliver place indeed ! Even today we hear His voice, "Labor
   them from  all their troubles. Yet they repeatedly to enter the rest." To enter the rest is to labor. There
   asked whether they had been brought up out of Egypt is  .the body of this death that must  .be put off; the
   to be *killed. When the spies reported that  the prom- self t!hat must be denied; the chastening of the Lord
   ised land of their abode  w-as inhabited by giants,  &hey       that must be endured ; Satan that must be resisted ;
   even expressed  tie wish that they had died in Egypt. the world that must be overcome; the name of Christ
      So did they, the carnal seed, tempt the Lord,                that must be confessed ; and the truth that must he
   that is, question, repeatedly, the Lord's willingness to ,witnessed  for.
   do right by His people. And this questioning of theirs             Labor to enter into the rest. Say not tihat our labor
   was the expression  ,of unbelief-of an unbelief that is in vain in that we are no match for the united forces
   as to (its essence `was hatred of God. The carnal seed of evil. Know that sin is condemned in the flesh, that
   hated God. Canaan as a  lan'd where  nhey were to the victory has been won by ,Christ, that believers have
   be established for a people unto the Lord that He been set together with Christ in heavenly places, and
   might be their God, had no `attraction for them. Only that their life is hidden with C&sist  in God, and that,
   as a land flowing with milk an,d honey, as a place of when He shall appear, they also shall appear with Him
   figs, of vines, and of pomegranates, was Canaan to              in glory,
   them a prize to be desired. This is evident from their             If yeu hear His voice today, harden not your hearts.
   murmurings. "And why," said they to Moses, "have He who hardens *his Beart,  reasons and behaves as did
   ye broulght  up the congregation of the Lord into this          the children of IsraeI  whose carcasses fell in the desert.
   wilderness, that ,we and our cattle should die? . . . .         Such a one is disposed as were they. He is one .who
   It  (the desert) is no place of seed, or of figs, or of loives not God and who is thus spiritually disqualified
   vines, or of pomegranates. . .  ." Wlhat vexed  &em             for the  hard&ips  of the wilderness. He  wlill not be .
   is the hardships of  tihe journey. The  figs  .and the disciplined, will not deny himself and take up his cross.
   pomegranates of Canaan, was no compensation for the With the giants in the earth he makes peace and thus
   sufferings of the life in the wilderness, and for a loses [his soul. When the world threatens the little
   conflict w.ith the tribes by which the land of promise flock which he under the impulse of a (false fervor join-
 was  in,fested  and by  whioh  it was being corrupted. In ed, when the clouds of persecution gather, he is troubled
   Egypt they had sat at fleshpots,`had  eaten to the full and says, "Wherefore has the Lord brought us into this
   of garlic and onions and leek. Canaan was a good lan'd, to fall by tihe sword. . . ."
   land, but it was not worth the price they were being               Today if ye hear His voice, harden not your heart.
   required to pay.  E.gypt  winh its bondage was much                                                          G. M. 0.    ,
   to be preferred to the discipbne  to which they `as the
   army of God were being  su,bjected. How they temptecl
   God. They accused the Lord of having brought them
   "unto this land, to fall by  ahe sword that our wives                             ANNOUNCEMENT
   and children should be a prey".                                    The Theological School Committee (consisting of
          And He was vexed by their accusations. Forty the former Curators of the East) will meet, D. V., on
   years long was He grieved with them, and said, "It is           Tuesday, August 29, at 2&O P. M. in the parlors of
   a people that do err in their heart, and they #have not the First Protestant Reformed  Church.
   known my ways: unto  *whom  I sware in my  wraW                    A Pre-seminary course will be offered in our Theo- '
  that they should not enter into my rest" (Ps. 95). So He logical School, commencing in September. All appli-
   shut them up in the desert, and their carcasses fell            cants for this course who have nut yet applied, are,
   in the wilderness.                                              requested  ;to `appear at this meeting accompanied with
    , In one of his parting discourses, Moses said  to             a testimony of membership from their co&story  and
   the people of Israel, "Who (namely, Jehovah)  led thee a certificate of health from a reputable physician. The
`  * thfrough  that great and terrible  wil'derness,  wherein tuition  ,will be $70.00 per annum.
   were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where                                                                        I
   there  `was no water; . . .  ." (Deut. 8  3).  Crod is still
   leading His people through a terrible wilderness to              *r
   glory. This  wi'lderness  is  tihe world in whioh Satan
   goes about as a roaring lion, and the godless like                                      NOTICE !
   wolves  a.nd scorpions lie in  waif, for the faithful. It          There will be no Standard Bearer for August 1.5,


                                       T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                           501
-  -       -    -
het goud  tech verdonkerd, of is daar  we1 ooit goud  ge-      van  ehet Gereformeerde pad een snelle  afloup  der
weest ?                                                        wateren.
   In den zomer  van "33 kwam naar hier Zendeling-                U dan,kend  geachte redacteur voor de plaatsruimte,
leeraar Kok en mijn ligging kennende .was  bet voor verblijf ik met `alIe achting  en broedergroetend,
hem  eiet moeilijk met mij te spreken. We gingen daar-
lna Ds. Hoeksema hooren, die een lezing  zou houden in                                       Lucas Tempelman,
Hull, I,owa. Ds. Kok had voor ons 5 tal plaats  besohik-                                         Edgerton, Minn.
baar en we moesten dan hem, die een ketter was oak
maar eens hooren. Nu, die bazuin gaf ander geluid,
gelijlk we het in jaren niet gehoord hadden. `k Moeht
ten huize van den  :pastor  loci nug een weinig Ds. hooren
en vragen beantwoorden en die vijf mannen  werden de
eerstelingen van den oogst te Edgerton, waarvan  twee                            The Rich Fool
nu  ,dienen in  onzen  kerkeraad.  Door middel van Ds.
Kok werden we in kennis gesteld met de reden  en het                                               Luke 12 :,16-21.
feit der scheiding en werden verwezen  naar de acte
der Synode van `24. Nu ben ,ik te oud missehien,  mis-           A fool  is a' man who has his eyes  ,olosed for the
schien oak we1 te dom, em <door Synodde besluiten te reality.of life and dea$h, of the things of this life and
worstelen,   ma&r nadat  i'k tamelijh veel er van gelezen those of tie life to come. This is true of every one iwho
en her&en had, kon ik er #we1 een zelfstandige gedachte        lives witih!out  God In the world. If #a man blesses his
van vormen. E,r  -was een  vreeselijke  ketterij  ontdekt own soul and depends upon his own `w*isdom  he makes
en er waren  menschen die niet in de allgemeene  genade a fatal Imistake.
geloofden. Dus die moest er uit hoe eerder ,hoe beter. `. Such a man we meet in the parable of the rich fool.
Nu is dit het treurige. De D.rie formulieren van Eenig- This parable was spoken and stands in dose connection
heid zijn over de drie honderd jaren voldoende geweest with `a peculiar event. The Lord Iwas preaahing  to the
voor  alle Gerefurmeerden, maar in 1924 moest er  wat multitude. He warned his listeners for the leaven of
anders bij. En de drie punten waren  noodig om de the Scribes and the Pharisees. Furthermore, the mul-
ketters uit te roeijen, rwant  het ken niet met de belijde-    titude is warned `of the time when persecution shall
nis. Een der theoriep van  `de Jezuieten is `Het  doe1         come. Be not afraid says the Lord of  them who shall
heiligt de middelen'  en de &mode  van `24 wist ook nag kill you, but fear him, which after he  bath  killed hath
we1 dat er een Hollandsoh spreekwoord is, `Als men een' power to cast into hell. And  ,while persecuted be nut
bond wil slaan dan kunt ge nog we1 een stok vinden'.           afraid wihat ye shall say for the Holy Ghost shall teach
De drie formulieren even weg moffelen en wat nieuws you in the same hour what ye ou,ght to say.
geprakkisseerd, de drie punten en met die stok werden             Whi$le speaking, one of the multitude interrupts the
de mannen de Kerk uitgeslagen. Maar ik geloof Satan Savior's discourse. This man has an important question
laehte,  want hij kent ook nog een lijfspreuk  van de to ask. Not a question in connectian  *th the Lord's
aezuiten `Verdeel  en Heer&. Nu verdeeld is de Kenk. teaahing,  but with something radically different and
Kan Satan nu nag haar wijsmaken, dat algemeene  ge- in sharp contrast with the content  uf Jesus' sermon.
,nade en algemeene  verzoening twee woorden zijn, die             This is first of all a sign that the words spoken by
hetzelfde beteekenen, dan kan ik nog  op een heele oogst `the Lord did not carry much weight and di,d not strike
rekenen. En au denk ik als oude man ook aan mijn               him. Listen to him. Master, speak to my brother,
kinderen  en kleinkinderen en de  geslaehten die komen that he divide the inheritance  *with me. Without  any
en in de Chr. Geref. Kerk worden  onderwezen en ik i introduction or explanation he appoints Jesus to be the
doe het met  hweedom. Waarom? Wel: 1. Die  Alge- judge. Jesus speaking concernmg God and His King-
meene Genade Leer is fundamenteel. 2. In het Verbond dom. The persecution of tihe Church and the power of
geboren en wedergeboren bij den Doop. 3. Veronder-             the Holy Spirit. Of the Son of Man an,d the spiritual
stelde  wedergeboorte de bekeering uitsluitend. Daar-          things on the one hand and on the other hand  tihis man,
bij komt nog het versje van De Genestet `De Wijsgeer .not impressed at all, not even rea.lizing  that the warn-
in zijn zoeken gist, de leerling in zijn `waan beslist'. ing was also meant *for him, becomes impatient and
Dit  ,laatste  met het oog op de toekomst. Godsdienst is means to say we have heard enough now. Listen to
*nu ,alreeds  tweemaal  per Zondag  naar de Kerk. Niet me. My heart has ,different  needs. The carnal mind
naar slechte movies, een ,goede  dat kan wel. De kinde- for evermore fixing its attention upon the things that
ren naar de  Ghristelijke  School is  eiegenlijk  te duur, once shall perish and have no eternal value.
want een inienwe car kost heel wat geld en Gods zaak              `Ilhe Lord does not *answer the questioner. That is,
kan we1 wachten enz. enz.                                      he does not speak to him directly, ,but he takes hold
   Miss&en denken  de lezers wel, wat een zwartgallig of the underlying sin  which  besets him. Beware of
mensch. lHet  iij zoo, maar  Ik zie in het verleggen covetousness. Beware of it, because life does not de-


502                                    T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                         -
pend upon the abundance of the things which one may men of the wurld-+%hout God and without Christ.
possess. And at the same time the Lord continues his A*nd because life is from `Gsd &en as it must be dedi-
instruction with the teachinhg  of the parable of the rich &ed to Him, he who singles God out of his life must
fool. Who received in abundance. Who blessed his of necessity be or become a fool, even a rich fool in tihe
sou'l and  Iconsidered   .himself  because of his earthly possession of +he many gifts of i&e earth.
goods. Who also meant to possess .&vation,  peace and          Life alter all, is <that we continually reach out or
rest in  -ti%ese things. And whose soul was dragged se& after God. To have communion with him. He must
down to the basest service of the flesh and must leave at all.times  and in <all things be the object of the de-
it all (behind when death overtook him.                     sire of the heart. He halone can give us the real life be-
       Tbhe only thing  #wrong  with him was that  he had cause in Him is the fountain of life. His Iife is to de-
a foolish conception of life. That is plain from the light in himself, to seek himself and to rejoice in him-
fact when we listen to his :phil,osophy of life. He had self. And because he is the life and the only  Life-
abundance  an,d came to the conclusion I have years to      Giver, all creatures depend upon .him. Even tihe rich
`live and enjoy from the abundance to my  awn satis-        fool should, know w,hen his body cdled for food that
facti#on. And the enjoyment of the earthly things were life was not `in him, #but in ,God and fro,m rhdm alone.
the only object  ,of ahis soul. It meant life to him. Liv- To recognize God and Ito confess his Name is to have
ing and enjoyment belong together. That was life life. The difference between this,man  and tihe Chris-
and ,when that is ended all is ended. Now first of, a31,    tian is, the one seeks life in the creature, the other
we have one word in our language. which is not ade- in and through Jesus Christ. As we said, God was
quate to express that which Scripture means by it           not in all his thoughts.
when it speaks of life. "Fully to understand  hhese            And of course, a  :wrong   conce&on will also  .re-
words we must understand what `a man's life' is, which fleet itself in a foolish mode of  lki.ng.  Tjhis mans'
thus does not stand in the abundance of the things land hath brought forth plentifully. That he could not
which he possesses; of which therefore  this petitioner <help. We must remember  tlhis man is not pictured  as
would, not have had more, if instead of half,. he had       a spoiler or  extirtioner,   neither did he remove his
secured the whole of the disputed inheritance. While neighbors  k&ma&s.  We may say that his riches
we have but one word for `life', the Greek possesses were fairly gotten. The abundance of heaven was
two - one to express the .li.fe which we &ve, another thrown in  Ih.is lap. Yes, I know, he did not consider
to express the *life by which we live; and it is df tihis his iand to be the Lord's property, nor was the seed
latter which Christ `is speaking here. A ,man may have sown  *he Lord's and therefore'without the abundance
his living, his "ibios', the sustenance of his lower life, he was a fool, but that  atias after all the cause  whj he
out of ihis earthly ,goods;  nay more, they may them- could not poss+bly  see tlhe connection bet.ween  the abun-
selves be called by this very name ; but his life itself, dance and ,God. He received tihe gifts, but not out of
his `Zwn', he cannot draw from them." (Trench Par- the hand af the Giver. And whereas he denies God he
ables and Synonyms).                                        must of  aecessitjr make himself God. And because he
       The  questSon therefore was not first of all of the made himself the sole heir he becomes perplexed in
sustenance (leeftocht) but of life itself. And that the midst of his  riches. He does not  iknow  what to
again pertains. to our innermost `being. Thus we un-        do with  tihem.  Worldling never  knows  what to do
derstand why this man, ,who interrupted Jesus, was          wilth abundance. In the midst of it  ihe will create
worried about the patrimoay.        He did not care for pverty and confusion and will end in self. How
life itself, of whom it  leame and how it must  be de-      about the needy and the  .poor?' The homes of the
dicated unto the Lord, nay, but he worried about h,is       widows and orphans? Take IGad out of man's thought
daily sustenance.      He was a materialist pure and and he wi,ll reveal it in his mode of ,livinbg. Earth will
simple and di,d not acknowledge  the relation between never be connected  win&h  heaven but  .will seek self
his life  and God. In fact, God was not in  all of his      and end in self.
thoughts. merefore,  he coveted the patch of ground,           According to his wisdom ( ?) he acts.
because if not .looking  toward God he must of necessity       Speaking within himself all is of God and God is
look to the dust, the things that perish. In that re-       all? No, but all is mine and I am all. He is pleased
spect the one interrupting Jesus and the  Ricih Fool to converse in the singular. Listen to him for a mo-
8re identical. Both are men who center their thoughts ment.
upon the things here below, as if in these things are          I shall do this - bigger barns.
the fountain of life. Both of them make the real life          I  w'ill store away.
identical with the-things of  the earth. Hence,  pewe,         En my barns and <of my fields  and for my *body.  No,
joy and blessedness must *be faund in the abundance not for the body but for my soul. Self and God are here
of the things of the earth., The more ,gifts in the same contemplated as the  trwo poles between the soul must
measure one can speaik of blessedness ,and that without .choose. And he, +he Rich Fool, layeth u,p h,is treasures
God. The same tiheqry.of common grace  applied by the for Urnself. He  ,linked  himself with the things which


                                       `i'BE  STA~bA~D  B E A R E R                                                       603

perish and shall presently perish with them. God is not
in all his thougihts.                                                             Buy The Truth!
    Scripture considers the heart as that  which  consti-
,tutes to be either poor and foolish or rich and wise. He A timely admonition.
hhat has no love toward God, no spiritual affections               ,God's  churoh exists in a world that glorifies and
is  wretched  and miserable and poor and blind and lvractices  the lie. As never before the truth is trampled
naked. He has no peace and comfort net&her  in time under foot. True, since that terrible moment when
or  eterniky.  For  he has nothing with God. He seeks man inclined his ear to the lie of the devil fiis was the
to stay here and speak of many years, many barns, case. Yet, there is development in sin. As life itself
much bread and much money. Because he is from be- deepens and develops the lie develops, until the latter
low it is the desire of the  theart to remain here etern-       shall have reached its acme in +he kingdom of the man
ally.                                                           of sin.
    Wha+ a terrible `awakening it must be for this fool            The godless world worships  tlhe lie. It is her life,
in the midst of riches! He said to his soul many years her sphere, her delight. Maliciously men hold the
are in store for you and much goods are laid up, now truth In unrighteousness. Facts, which men  gabher
eat and drink, be merry and take thine ease. Yes, yes, in tie way of natural perception and study, they pre-
he was set `voor de oude dag  !' He provided his old sent in a wholly false and  wjoked light. In brief, the
pension in abundance.                                           world always lies. She lies in her art and science, her
    Cad speaks thou fool..,                                     business and education, her walk and talk. She thinks
    He said many years and 6he Lord cihanges  the years the lie, desires it, speaks it, sings it, paints it, writes it.
to  this night.                                                 In all her education she instructs  ,her  youtih in the
    He said, soul thou shalt be made fat-God says,              way of falsehood. She lies awohen  she examines the
it will be required.                                            bowels of the  eatih, when she counts tie stars and
                                                                measures the sun. A Reformed Christian should have
    They shall require  ti of thee. The question is who no difficulty understanding these things.
shall require that soul? Some explain  th.e avenging               In ever increasing measure the church, too,  is tak-
angels shall come and t&e his soul from him. Others,            ing its delight in the way of .the lie. This need not
this fool will meet a violent death. To  our mind that surprise us, neither should this lead us to diapair.
lb not the question. The question is, it is required Is not increasing apostacy  in the uhurch, according ,to
for the purpose to give an account. God demands trhe Scriptures, one of the signs w,hereby we shall know '
an explanation. First of all it  ,implies  Ihe must and that the day of the Lord is drawing nigh? Doctrinally,
will come face to face with God whom he denied. He the truth is being co?rupted,  the Word of God distorted
received his  ,Iife and the things for this life, the and the vain prh.ilosophy of this world gloiified. And,
abundance of God alone. But he became sole heir of practically,  n-ien seek the things of this present time:
self and of ,a11 that rightfully belongs to tihe Lord.          living the lie even as they profess it.
    Then whose shall those thitngs be which thou hast              The danger of yielding to the lie is more than an
provided? His proprietorship is denied in ;t$e heart imaginary one, also for us. Living in a lying  wo$d,
of the  questian  `whose  sha~ll it be'?     Some explain ourselves believing Satan  rather than God by nature,
it  sha.11 no longer be his,  ,but will  ,belong  to others.    there,is  also among us too little buying, too much sell-
There is an element in this explanation to justify it.          ing of the truth.
For when the rich die some one else will inherit  his              Vacation time is once more drawing i;o a close. ,By
riches.     I-Iowever,  there is a better explanation pos- the time this Standard Bearer finds its way to your
sible. This man comes face to face with God. He had library table September will be here. Our Christian
made himself guilty of  t&ing possession of the things schools, our catechism classes, our Sunday S~I'IOO~S,  om'
of the earth which rightfully belonged to the Lord, societies.-these all will resume activities within a
And standing ,before  &he Lord b@ng asked about tie             short  time. Make these words of the wisest of them
life that was spent and in close mnnection being asked all your motto and ihearken  to this divine injunction:
what was done with that life and the things thereof,            (Proverbs  .23  :23) "Buy the truth, and sell it not".
this becomes plain that even tihe rich fool w,ill admit T'mth.
nothing belongs to me but to Thee, 0 God. And not                  Buy  the truth!
having recognized God, placing him outside of his                   Truth is reality overagainst that which is unreql
life there is nothing left but the severe punishment or contrary `to reality. Too, it is the corre%, faithful
that  zslhdl be  met&l  out in harmony with the divine presentation of reality with respect to all things,  Go4
justice.                                                        and His work, Christ and the sinner. tihe p'resent, and
    So is he that  hyeth up treasure for himself, add is the future, heaven and earth, the  worId and the church.
not rich toward God,                                               Within the blessed Trinity the Son is the &u$h  in
                                                   w. v.
                         Ii                                     relation to the FaQher. By virtue of eternal generation


      504                                   T H E   STAND-A:R-D   B E A R E R
                              .._             ~-                   ..--._I__  -_
      the Father objectifies Himself `perfectly in the Son. as its content and purpose is of the lie. Bvery creature
      Thus the Son is the precise image of His Father and           is embodiment of divine .thought  and therefore, revela-
      tghe former is ail that the latter is. The Son is the tion of God. Exclude God and you have the lie.
      Eternal Truth.                                                    The Word of God ,reveals  the truth about man : that
             God Triune is the truth. He is the eternal reality <he was created by God, good and in His image; that
      Who was before all things and made all things in order        he chose for Satan and the lie and turned his back
      to reveal and glorify !Himself. God is the truth because upon,rhis  Maker; that is now a child of the devil, dead
      He is perfectly all that belongs to His divine being.         in ,trespasses,  incapable of doing any good and prone
      God is never different. ,Re never denies Himself. Not to all and every evil. All that evaluates man in any
      for a single moment does He ever contradict Himself. other way is of ,the lie.
      Therefore God is the Immutable One because He is                  The Book reveals the truth about Christ: that He
      constantly and perfectly (HIMSELF. He Is that He Is, is the revelation of God in the flesh ; that in Him only
      always. God is the truth because He always reveals the fulness of the Godhead dwells bodily ; that He only
      Himself just as He .is. As He is, He speaks ; as He           is the Saviour of sinners and The Light of the World.
      speaks He is. Therefore, His Word may never be                A man without CXrist  and the need of a Christ is a
     . doubted.                                                     liar.
             Our Lord  ;Tesus Christ is the truth. He is the            Holy Writ reveals the truth about heaven and
      eternal Son, the everlasting Word, in the nature of earth. They did not come to being in the  `way of
      man. He is the complete and perfect revelation of the evolution.           They were made and are sustained by
      Father. Overagainst the unreal He is the reality. The         G o d .
      shadow-s, however significant in their time and place,            God's Word reveals the truth about things earthly
      `were not real. Christ is the fulfillment of them all. and heavenly, natural and spiritual, temporal and eter-
      Overagainst all that is contrary to the truth He con- nal. The one is preparatory, shadow, and therefore,
      forms to  the same. Therefore He is our salvation, transient. On such things we must not set our hearts.
      xvhile He condemns all that is of darkness and the lie.       The other is the end, the real, and, therefore, incor-
             The  revealed and written Word of God, Scripture, ruptible. Such things we must seek with all our hearts.
      is the truth, the only truth, the sole source, therefore,     Whatever departs from tihtis principle in teaching or
      whence we must draw in order to attain the knowledge practice is the lie.
      of  tihe truth.  In. this essay  1 am thinking primarily
     * of the truth as it is contained for us in this written       Buy!!
      Word of God, The Book,                                            Parents, children, young men, young women,--buy
             Holy Writ reveals the truth, reality, with respect the truth !
      to all things. It IS the truth and as such we approach            You must. do all you can, with all the  means  at your
      it. We may not contradict Scripture, for all tihat speaks disposal, to procure that truth for yourselves and your
      against it is the lie. We may not doubt the Word of loved ones.
      God or imagine that we should approach it with un-                You must be willing, eager, to sacrifice all. you have
      biased minds. Even before we have acquainted our- for the sake of the truth, even as selling the truth im-
      selves with the,content  of a given passage of Scripture, plies that we sacrifice it for anything the world may
      we know and .believe that this passage contains only have for us. To obtain the  trutih  we must sacrifice.
      truth. All trhat proceeds contrary to this principle is It demands our interest, our time, even money. There-
      from hell. The Word of God is the  whole  truth. It fore we must  buy.  However, let us remember: the
      brings  all things to our minds and hearts in their pro- truth is always a bargain, even though it demand the
      per light and significance. Basically, there is nothing sacrifice of money and goods, of leisure and pleasure,
      in all of God's creation that Scripture does not explain. of  ehuroh  and former friends, of wife and child, of
      And, the Word of God is the only truth ; hence, the           name and place in this life.
      only source of truth. All else is of the creature, which          We must resist and reject all that is of  the lie
      cannot ascend to that which is beyond natural  percm in any form.                  *
      tion. And surely, unless we do go above that  wahich              We must believe and practice, that nothing may
      eye can see and ear can hear we will aever attain to stand between us and .the unadulterated truth of the
      the ,k.nowledge  of the tru'dht.                              Word of God, be it  <husband or wife or child, be it boy-
             The Bible reveals the truth about God: that He is friend or girl-friend. Nothing or no one may lure us
      God alone; that He is  the eternal and infinite  ,compre-     away from the sound conception and confession of the
      hension  of every perfection ; that iHe is Himself eternal, truth to one less pure.  At  all times the truth must
      yet of nothing made all things and still upholds trhem have the  right  of  wag.
      by His omnipotent and omnipresent providence. Thus                We must do all we can to know and understand the
      God must be known and adored, served and glorified, truth as revealed to us in the Holy Scriptures. Our
      seen and loved in all things. All that fails to have God renewed intellects must be enriched in the contents



L


                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                          505

of the Word of God. Neither should we content our- the pieces she plays on  (her musical instruments, her art
selves  with a mere knowledge of salvation in the nar- and literature.
row sense of tthe Word. The full revelation of God in            Apply t&is principle to the schools of the world and
*Jesus Christ, `we sihould strive to know.                    they become, `pure and simple, educational institutions
   And, we must seek to know and understand the of the lie. Neither do the few Christian teachers in
truth in order ,that we may live it. Life is the crown our public school system in any way altar this rule.
of doctrine; the latter the basis for the former. Our They cannot ,and do not change the institution as such.
lives  shoul,d  be Christian lives, for only  such a life They permit tihemselves  to be *bound  by them who care
is of the truth. We must deem the things spiritual of not about God and His Kingdom. They wbay not teach
paramount value and live for them with all we are the truth: not THE TRUTH. In as far as they do
and all we have. We must live the life that flees the they bootleg it in. It stands to reason that the, world
world and ,seeks the kingdom of God in all our thinking must instruct as she is; .and she ~5 a liar. To deny this
and' willing, playing ,and singing, speaking and all our character of the public schools is to deny the spiritual
activities. To this supreme purpose all other things character of the  SJvorld. One cannot possibly be Re-
must be made subservient.                                     formed and at the same time deny that the school of
   "`He that loveth father or  ,muther more than me is the world is precisely that: a worldly school,  ,a school
not  ewort,hy  of me: and he that loveth son or daughter of the lie. Certainly, the world can present mere facts,
more than me is nut worthy of me.".                           -historical, geographic, scientific, mathematical,  etc.-
   But also, Every one that hat,h  forsaken <houses, or and these she can give formally correct. But, educa-
brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or tion is not a mere giving of naked facts. T,he world
dhildren, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an itself maintains that in education the facts must be
hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life."             interpreted and explained in their proper light and
                                                              perspective. Therein she condemns herself. She takes  +
The  mmld  cmcl the truth.                                    God out of His own creation. He is not the Maker and
   It is obvious that the flesh can never and in no wise Sustainer of all things. She' takes God out of ,&tory.
"buy  t&he truth." It is in bondage to him who is tie The latter is not the realization of His counsel and the
liar from the beginning and has set himself to oppose work of His providence. She refuses God a place in
all that is of God, hence, of the truth. "For they that geography and science. These are not the wonders
are after the flesh do mind the  thitngs  of the flesh."      of  ,the Almighty. She denies Him a place in civics.
"Because  the carnal mind is enmity against God: All authority and government ,is not from and unto
for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed `Him. God is not  ,in all the  thoughts  of the world.
can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please ,And, mind you, these things the *world does deliber-
God."                                                         ately, intentionally. Does this, or does this not, make
   The ,world, consequently, &not "buy the truth". the world a liar and her education a false education?
She is in the flesh, and, hence, enmity against God and          A glimpse into our own hearts will verify the truth
friend of Satan. She excludes God from all her life. of what has been said and  tie.above evaluation of the
She says in  lher heart, "there is  .no God". And God is world. We, too, are by nature "after the flesh." We
the truth, the ultimate, eternal reality. She rejects are inclined to be carnal, earthly, sinful, false even'
Jesus Christ and nails Him to  the cross today even as now. What place does God have in  your  singing?
she did 2000 years ago ; and Christ is the Way, the           Your  sIpleaking?  Your play?    Your work ? Wh*at per-
Truth, and the Life. She ridicules the Word of God,           centage  of your life, your time is consciously and whoIe-
w,hich  we Bnow  to be the sole source of all truth. She heartedly devoted to God? In how far is your life
.despises  the spiritual things and cannot discern them dedicated to the quest of the truth?
spiritually; and these are reality in  adistinction  from        The author of Proverbs is speaking to you and me:
the things of the world. ,                                       Buy the truth, and sell it not!
   Thus the world lives  tihe lie. She lives it wit,h re-*
spect to God. Where  ,God is not the center, there life In Christian practice.
is false, vain, devilish. She lives the lie with respect         The application of this exhortation may be as broad
to the Chr,ist. She has no need of Him. She hates and as life itself. The things I wish to say wiW a view to
crucifies Him day by <day. IHe is not a Saviour. This t&e season that lies before `us are but a fragment, t,here-
again is due to the fact that she lives the lie with re- fore, of  wlhat might be said in this connection.
slpect to man. Man .is not dead in sin, helpless, miser-         As churches  we must buy the truth.
able. In all things she lives  tihe lie. She seeks the           How easily we sell for lvery incidental considera-
natural things and  ,despises the spiritual. She adores tions We yearn to see our congregations grow. We
the earthly and is blind for the heavenly. She loves          want to draw people to our services ; otrh,ers must be
the temporal and ,has no eye for the eternal. This is gprevented  from leaving us.  Among'one another and
the lie. These things characterize the songs she sings, with the world `round about us we `desire to keep the'

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

 peace. Gradually we compromise. We yield a little the Word of God itself. We read so much about the
 here and a little there until all the sharper points of Word of God ; we read so little in Scripture itself. Let
 doctrine and life are filed down to suit mere man. We Holy Writ itself speak to you. Read the products of
 court the friendship of the world. because it is easier them whose life's task it is to study Scripture and unto
 and profitable, too-outwardly. Against this danger whom the Lord (has given the talent and the insight
 we must be on our guard constantly.                          to see depths in His Word whioh are hidden from us.
     Let us be mindful of our <high calling with respect Meditate on the truth  ibn your quiet hours and discuss
 to God's cause and church. Let us resist without com- it in your Christian gatherings. The truth will live for
 promise-every departure from the truth, be it in doc-        us in tlhe measure we not only read it, but contemplate
trine or practice. Let us be adamant in our position it. There is time for this, if only we seek the time.
 against all them who plot to deliver the citadel to the Reading is naturally a greater #pleasure for one than
 foe. Let us insist that the pure and unadulterated for another, yet, we all should cultivate the desire to
 truth be maintained from our qpulpits. Be content witrl?     study. Then, too, the means will be there for the most.
 nothing less. Let `us give the Word of God the supreme necessary literature. There are those swbo cannot af-
 place in our midst, and, let  us love it, search it, live it. ford to read the Standard Bearer, but who can ride in
 Let us instruct our youth in the doctrine that is accord- cars, hunt and fish, smoke cigars and chew gum. Yes,
 ing to salvation and in a #walk of life that is unto the     chew gum,- after all, the price of four sticks of Spear-
 glory of our God. Let all heresy and conformity to the mint per week will bring the Standard Bearer to your
 world be rooted out from the beginning.                      very door. There are those who cannot read tshe Stan-
     As clhildren of God let us buy the truth person&y.       dard Bearer, but who are faithful subscribers to the
     Buy it in the way of personal, prayerful study of Grand R,apids Press, even though the price of one years
 the Word of God. (How easily we sell also here. We subscriptian to the latter will give you the former for
 are too busy to study  ; there is no time to read things     no less than three years. Let us be  thonest.  God is
 worth while. Or, we are too tired after a day's work. not mocked.
 Some complain that they simply have no pleasure in              Buy the truth, too, with respect to the church of
 reading. In most eases this means: in reading things         God.
 that pertain to  trutih and doctrine. As though lack of         We sell the truth when we {become or remain mem-
 desire. can ever be a valid excuse for failing to study bers of a certain church, even tihough  we #know that it
 the truth of God. Others have n,ot the necessary funds has departed from the truth, merely for the sake of
 for Christian literature. These, e.g., cannot afford peace, because of relative or friend, because it is
 the Standard Bearer. For these and other reasons, larger and the budget smaller, or because of a young
 then, there is little or no studying of  &he Word of God man or .youlng  lady, who is dearer to us than the very
 in many of our homes.                                        Word and truth of God.
     There can be no escaping the fruits of such indiffer-       We belong there, and there only, where according
 ence and selling of the truth. Such people remain to our deepest convictions the purest doctrine is con-
 ignorant and weak. They remain children wherein fessed and preached. We may aot assume the attitude :
 they should be men. If the Word of God is truly "the this or that church is close enough to the truth. That
 lamp before our feet and the light upon our ,pathway",       attitude places man above God. Nei$her  is there truth
 we cannot ignore it with impunity. Usually, too, such in this "close enough" attitude. No church who has
 people fail to profit from the preaching of the Word as      departed from the truth is "close enough". Our young
 they should. Only the most superficial type of preach- men and young women may not  <permit  themselves to
 ing can be grasped by  them. All else is too deep. Is        be drawn away from the church where, according to
 it surprising? And, is it right and honest for such their consciences, they belong. Let them beware,
 people to lay the blame for their failure to understand therefore, whom t;hey seek as friend and mate. Do not
 at the door of the preacher? Certainly, the preaching be content with anything and everything. Do not
 of the Word is in many weaknesses. Of course there take anything for  lh,usband or wife, irrespective of
 is room always for Ghristian,  twhoiesome criticism.         church  or creed. Do not be lured away by no more
 Nevertheless, those who do nothing themselves to be than a pretty or handsome face. (If indeed that much
 founded in the trut,h of God have scarcely the moral is gained). When you look about for a mate in life
 right to judge the preaching by the pastor. Here, if consider the truth from the very  Ibeginning.  Seek a
 anywhere, the word of the Lord Jesus applies, "First         Christian mate. Look for a Christian  partner, one that
 cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt will love the truth and  %he church that is dear to you,
 thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's one that can and will discuss the truth wit,h you, one
 eye."                                                        that can and will aid you in bringing up your ohildren
     Parents, children, young men, young w.omen,-let          in the pure doctrine of the Word of God. In all earnest-
 us  mke use of the lamp of God's Word. It is our only ness, look not only for a husband or wife ; look for a
 guide, our entire comfort, our sole instruction. Read father and mother for the children it may please the


                                       T H E -   STAND-:ARD  B E A R E R                                                    507
                                                               ._
Lord to give you. Many have come to us from other given it. Then you may expect the blessing of  tahe Lord.
chur.ohes and circles who are distinct assets for our The curse of the Lord is i:n the house of the wicked.
congregations." For these and <with  these we are grate- Then, too, you are applying your Prot. Ref. principles
ful. Oft'ener,  however, the fruits of intermarriage are to daily life. I am grateful, let me add, that our de-
bitter, indeed. Let our young people not only, but also nomination leads all others in the percentage of child-
our parents, take a firm stand in these matters.               ren attending the Christian school. That is the case,
    Buy the truth with respect to your chikiren.               is it not, Mr. F'akkema?
   We sell the truth when we become lax toward cate-
chism and Sunday, School. In our own churches, too, Not  aain in the Lord.                                                  i
&he spiritual welfare of many of our children is sacri-              Buy the truth, and sell it not!
ficed  on the altar of muney  or sport or ease.                      The fruit of  such a Christian life will assuredly
    Buy  the*truth-for  your children in your home life. be yours in the measure you heed this admonition.
Do what is in your power `to instruct them in the ways "Your labor is not in vain in the Lord."
of the Lord.  -Help.  them with their catechism lessons.             Your church will increase in the grace and know-
Speak to..them  yourself. Procure for them a reliable ledge of the Lord, instead of perishing for want of true
Bible Story  B,ook.  Read to them and apply to their knowledge. It will be strong in doctrine and Christian
lives that which you read. Blessed,are  those children practice, a light in the midst of a  worl,d  tiat lies in
wlho have parents that are zealous in the way of Chris-        darkness. There will be abundance of spiritual life'
tion trainirng. God help the children who have parents and joy.
that are so full of the world, that there is no time or              Your children will learn that the things of Crod are
inclination to be concerned about the eternal welfare of above all things precious and glorious. They will be,
their souls.                                                   instructed and founded in the truth and thus qualified  :
   And buy the truth with respect to trhe matter of to reveal themselves as  children  of the light. Parents
Ch,ristian instruction.: Do not look for reasons to send will experience the truth of the word, "When they will'
your c,hildren  to ,the schools of the world, as a small become old, they will  n,ot depart from it."
minority of our parents do. Let  sucih remember: a.                  You yourself will penetrate more deeply into the
Principally lwe may ,defend no other princple  than that mysteries of the Word and Kingdom of God. You
the children of the covenant must be trained daily  i,n the will be confirmed in the faith and find increased happi-
way of the covenant. b. It is not true that the Chris- ness in the service of Jehovah, Whom to know is ever-
tian schools today are no better than the schools of the lasting life. Much doubt, whi.ch  now beclouds the life
world. This is a contemptible lie. c. The Christian of many a Christian,  .will be dispelled, as the mist
school is !historically the school of the Kingdom of God vanishes before the rising sun.
vs; the world ; of the truth vs. the lie. They stand                 Above all, His name will be magnified "out of
as: testimonies against the God-less and Christ-less edu- Whom and through Whom and unto Whom are all
cation. of the world. d. If the schools today become things."
impossible for us, there remains for us but one calling.             To us also comes the word of the prophet, "Turn ye
Never may be,go to the world. We must build schools turn ye from your evil  ,ways ; for why  will  `ye  c&e,
of  i)ur own.  Ho,w serious many  peo,ple  are in their        0 house of Israel  ?'
complaints against the present Christian  schools is
only too evident from the interest they reveal in pos-                   "Grace and truth shall mark the way
sible schools of our own. Let us not be too righteous                     Where  the Lord His owrn will lead,
in word *when actually ,our main obj,ection to the Chris-                 If His wurd they still obey,
tian school is  %e tuition. e. The Christian schools                      And His testimonies heed.
themselves teach  our children that they must live alone                                                           --=Q-
                                                                                                                      "9         1
in this world. Even the Catholics and the Lutherans                      "They that fear and love the Lord
appreciate this element. f. We may not raise a genera-                    Shall Jehovah's friendship know ;
tion that is estranged to the very principle of Christian                 He will grace to them accord,                               1.
education.      That  `we do by patronizing the public                    And His faithful covenant show."
schools. That is not testifying  agaicnst t,he evils in the                                               R. Veldman.  `  _,  '
Christian schools today. That is killing the very prin-
ciple of Christian education. No, buy the  trutih also
in this respect. The schools of the nation are about
to open their doors to receive the children of the nation                     NOTICE-CONSISTORIES
for -another year ; worldly schools for worldly children ; The price of the copies of the Conference Speech of
C&ristian  schools for Christian children. Let us walk Rev. H. Hoeksema  are 20 cents per copy. (Holland or
in the way of the Lord. Send your seed where it is in English). Please order yours now.
its pIace and take interest in the instruction that is                                                     The Board.


 508                                       T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R '

          The Divine Forgiveness Of Sins                          wrath must be borne in  ,obedience.      It must be  Ivolun-
                                                                  tary, an act of tihe *will. Man must love God. He must
        Sin is guilt. Guilt is  obli,gation  to  iay. S,in involves realize that the very righteousness of Cnod is "at stake",
 us in the obligation to suffer  zlhe extreme penalty, the that God would cease to be God were iniquity to be un-
 wrath of Cod. And this wrath of God is eternal. For punished. Hence, the sinner must love God even in
 r2d is eternal life. Man, created as a.dapted to God's hell. He must bear His fearful indignation, in love,
 service and communion, can experience peace and as an act of the will. Besides, it lies in the very nature
 happiness only in fellowship with the Most IHigh. Tlhe of *the case that if any ,act of man, also when [he suffers
 10~~6 of C&d, my love of God and God's love of me, is for .his sin, is to be pleasing in the Lord's sight, it must
 for me eternal life and joy. Sin deprives us of this             be performed for God's sake, in harmony with His
 happiness. It places us in the state of guilt. And God, righteousness. This requirement no mortal can fulfil.
 Wiho maintains Himself and will not suffer evil to go Not only are we unable to pay the extreme penalty be-
 unpunished, cannot enter with man into covenant fel- cause it is eternal; not only is it impossible to make
 lowship unless the penalty of the eternal wrath of amends for an evil once committed ; but, even eternally,
 Jehovah  ,has been paid. The sinner must experience in we will never be able to decrease our debt before God.
 the away of eternal death, the suffering of tie Lord's           We are children, not of obedience, but of disobedience.
 eternal indignation, that  <he has separated himself from Even eternally man, wtho will bear the  burden of God's
 the sole Fount of life. Besides, no sinner can escape. wrath, will never be able to carry it away-spiritual
this  Dimvine penalty. In' this  .essay we would briefly obedience  ,will never  characterize  his suffering. Be-
 point  out that the forgiveness of sin, that  Jeihovah will cause of this threefold reason the forgiveness of sins
 not impute iniquity to us, will nut hold us  .responsible        lies beyond all human possibility. Nevertheless, all
 for our transgressions, is exclusively Divine.                   three requisites must be met if ,God is to blot out our
        The forgiveness of sin is impossible by man for a transgrdsion.
 threefold reason. Firstly, man cannot pay the extreme                The forgiveness of our sins is Divine. It is possible
 penalty. This point need.4  litfie comment. The punish- only by God. We must never confess forgiveness with
 ment of sin is an eternal death, a bottomless abyss, forgetfulness. That God forgives sins does not mean
 consisting of the eternal wrath of  tile Lord. It lies in that  tHe simply will not impute them unto us. The
 the very nature of the case that the creature, who will Lord never cancels debt. In this sense He does not
 bear the endless wra+h ,of Gud in hell, because of the .c.ast our debt into a sea of "eternal forgetfulness."
 eternal character of this penatly, can never make He never grants such "pardon". Never does any sin
 amends for an evil once committed. Our service of remain unpunished.  That Jehovah  fbrgives,  blots out
 Je;bovah  is sn oblfgation. Ctid is God and we are the sin means nothing less than Dhat He actually carries
 wonk of His hands. Therefore it is our duty  to love our guilt away. And this is possible only by God for
 the Lord with all our heart and mind and sod and                 a two-fold reason. Firstly, as the Personal Son of God
 strength.      Our service of God is never meritorious. our Lord could suffer for our guilt. Guilt is imputed
We can never do anything "extra'" before God, cannot to the person. Represented by Adam before God, we
 work "overtime" in His service. Even if we should are all judicially in him and guilty `before tihe Lord.
 serve Him all-the moments of our life, without ever Adam's guilt is our guilt. T*herefore  it is impossible
transgressing against His law, `we would still be un-             for a mortal to die for another inasmuch as he must
profitable servants. We will then  have merely done die for Himself. Jesus, as the Personal Son of God was
our duty. From this we conclude that man can never Himself innocent. He coulld therefore assume &he guilt
make amends for an evil once  committed. Presuppose, of another. Secondly, as the everlasting Jehovah our
i.f you can, a "Nathaniel" who sinned against the Lord Saviour was able to satisfy fully the righteousness of
during the first moments of  ,his life. Should he serve God and carry away the infinite burden of His wrath.
God perfectly all the rest of his days, he, in that-service           How does God forgive our sins?  Etercnally the
of the Lord,  would merely be doing that which is his Lord knew a people in Christ Jesus in sovereign love.
duty. And the one sin that he committed will remain               Eternally Jehovah Himself willed to be the Head of
unpaid. This, in the secon,d  place, renders it irizpossible      that people whom He would `lead through sin and death
for any man to effect the forgiveness of sin. Thirdly, into glory. This  Headship of Christ is the sovereign
man can never satisfy the requirement of God's right- basis for CHis suffering  and death. Christ died upon
eousness by wihich  atonement is alone possible. This Calvary because God's righteousness demanded His
reguirement  is obedience. God must be acknowledged death. And God's righteousness demanded His death
as God also in tie suffering of His wrath. The mur- because the body is represented in its Head and the
derer, who curses aGod when he pays with his life in              Head is held responsible for the body. In eternity it
the electric chair, has paid the penalty as far as our was Jehovah Himself, in  tihte second person of the
civil law is concerned. Before ,God, however, such pay- Trinbity,  Who bore Zion's eternal guilt, paid for all
ment for sin committed has no atoning value. God's our sins, and merited for us everlasting life.  This


                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                            509
- -                                                            -_-
Divine forgiveness is also realized in time. It is Je- into favour with God His sins must be fully paid. How-
h&ah Himself Who descends into the likeness of our ever, this  Divine  forgiveness, realized for God's people
human nature. He took upon Himself our flesh and by Immanuel; is also the foundation of our salvation.
blood, Himself without sin, yet assuming our guilty Having satisfied for all our sins and merited eternal
relation to the law of God. Particularly tipon  the ,cross    life, Ghrist thereby made our salvation sure. Having
He bore our guilt away.  Tlhroughout  His entire so- been redeemed by righteousness Zion must and  &all
journ among us IHis face was ,directed to Golgotha. All be saved to the uttermost. None can possibly  peri&.
things led to the cross. There the hour of &d's wrath But, also only they will be saved. The doctrine of
struck. Upon Calvary He ,descended into the fearful particular atonement, ,which  is the only possible atone-
depths of the eternal wrath of God. And He bore the ment, renders every other conception impossible. It
wrath of God alone.      "I, even I, blot out your trans- condemns  &he common theory of to-day, expressed
gressions", sait;lh! the Lord. Because of this all His in the First Point of Kalamazoo, 1924, that God is de-
disciples must forsake Him. There is none among the sirous of tihe salvation of others than the elect.
children of Zion who can render aid to Jerusalem's                    Finally, that God alone forgives sin, that He alone
Deliverer. He alone can bear our guilt. He alone must accomplished this forgilveness,  is `(for .His own sake"
bear our guilt. And He alone does bear our guilt. according to khe prophet, Isaiah. He aIone redeemed
1!Ioreover,  He bears the wrath of God in perfect ube-        His people in order that His  NFme  alone should receive
dience.     Although His human nature is  filled with glory. Therefore Jehovah willed  tihe deep way of sin,
terror in  ,&he garden of Gethsem'ane,  recoils from tt5e misery  aad death.            Therefore Jehovah  sovereignI,y
fearful way it must tread, even desires, hu,manly, an- willed .that we should become involved in a guilt which
other way of salvation than the way of His death, yet we would never be able to bear away,' that man would
His human terror never causes IHim to rebel against plunge into a night of death and misery out of which
the Will of God. And when in the garden the terror ,he could impossibly deliver himself. And therefore
of Calvary grips Hiis soul, Jesus struggles, not go revolt Gqd is the sole Deliverer. He al,one  bears the wrath of
against His God, but to submit Himself to the Will of God, pays the penalty, merits eternal life. . In order
Jehovah and experience peace in His terror-stricken that all flesh may forever be silent, and that even
soul. -4nd when finally He is nailed to the cross, Christ eternally the children of Zion may sing  ti!~e  eLIraises
suffers the wrath  df God, consciously, willingly, even of their God Who called them out of darkness into His
unto the eternal end. Jehovah Himself, in the likeness marvellous light.
of sinful flesh, by His own blood,  *writes "Paid" behind                                               H. Veldman.
our iniquities.
       This is not all. Even as it is God alone W%o for-
gives us OUT sins, from eternity and upon ti%e cross, so                                         -
it is God alone Who forgives sin in the consciousness
of t,he believer. For it surely is not true that God does
"His part" on the cross but that the rest is left to man.                            CLASSIS WEST
My faith is not my hand reaching out to  God, my part
in the work of salvation ,in distinction from God's part ; De  Classis,  bestaande uit onze  kerkefi West  lvan de
to the contrary it is `the gift of God which  He sovereign- Mississippi, vergadert, D. V. den 20sten  September,
ly bestows up-on His people. And when `He irresistibly 1939, om 9 uur des voormiddags in het kerkgebouw
draws His people out of darkness into light He leads der Prot.  ,Geref. Kerk te Hull, Iowa.  Stukken  voor
them <unto the foot of the cro&. He causes us to see het agendum dienen verzonden te  worden  aan Mr. Ed.
our utter hopelessness by nature, that we cannot carry Vander Werff, Hull, Iowa.
away our guilt but, to the contrary, increase it. He Alclaar Cand.  Blankespoor'  het beroep aangenomen
callses us to confess our sin and hopelessness, to take heeft  naar  Orange  #City en  Cand.  Vis dat van Rock
refuge to the cross of Golgotha. He sanctifies  ti>at Valley,  zal hun classicale examen  plaats hebben  naar
cross to my heart and grants me the assulrance that de volgende orde:
Ghrist died also for me because God knew also me in
merlasting  love. And thus we confess: "Thou, Lord, Dogmatiek I-II  - Ds. G. Lubbers
canst only forgive sin, and didst  fcyrgive my sin, by Dogmatiek III-IV - Ds. A. Cammenga
Tahyself,  upon the accursed tree of Calvary.                 Dogmatiek V-VI  - Ds. M. Critters
       This Divine forgiveness of sins, in harmony with Belijdenisschriften - Ds. W. Verhil
&d's righteousness, is the only possibility for our sal- Kennis der Heilige S&rift - Ds. A. Petter
vation. Sin must be atoned. God's  j,ust,ice must be Controvers  - Ds. J. Vander Breggen
satisfied. The Lord cannot enter into a  reIation  of
friendship with man except upon the basis of perfect Pra&.ica  - Ds. G. Vos
righteousness. And &a!1 the sinner again be received l&z?  examinatie  z+l d% n+rn$$dags aanvangen  QIQ 1130.


510                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
-                                                                                                                      -
                           A m o s                             lover of God, who with a quickened conscitince  medi-
                                                               tated on the *things  of God in the solitude of the desert.
       The name of the prophet, Amos, means burden And he had much f;ood for thought as the Idrd at t7he
bearer. He was not the father of Isaiah whose name             very outset had given unto  IHis people a revelation of
was also Amos. The Book tells us the following about Himself and of His purposes. The first one to whom
the history  of; the prophet. His `home was in Tekoah this  reve&ion came was Adam. And in the mouths
the modern  Tekua, located about 12 miles south of of all the propihets that came after, Enos, Abraham,
Jerusa,lem  and about 6 miles south of Bethlehem. Ac- Moses  etic., this revelation continued to enlarge. As
cording to tradition it was a place where many shep- `was said in another connection,  even the exile had been
herds grazed  tiheir  flo&s.                                   foretold by Moses. It is not true therefore as  meet
       Amos was no  proplhet by profession, that is, he was modern commentators maintain, even the more con-
no member of the prophetic guild, and came from no             servative, that Amos came  wi&h a new theology. Fact
prophetic school. His occbpation  was that of a herds- is, he came with the old tried ,do&rine.             It was while
man. It is a question whether he was the owner either he was following the flock that Amos  .was  led into
wholly or in pant of  t.he flocks he shepherded or whetiher    the things of God. Also in many,  other ways the Lord
his flooks belonged to another, so that we are to think shaped him into a vessel meet fur the master's use, ,by
of him merely as a shepherd or hireling. The two               this lonely shepherds  dife. Being a poor herdsman,
Hebrew words which Amos uses to signify  ihis occupa- he wou,ld  be struck by the e.xtravagances  and luxury
tion are nachad and  bokar.  The former means a                of the rich. Being a man pure of heart, living ,among
sheep master. The word is applied to king Mesha of the hills, he would be repelled by the corruption of the
Moab who is called the sheep master% in the English aristocracy. He had further to defend his sih.eep against
version, (II Ki,ngs 3 :4). According to some linguists a the bear and the lion. From   the maul of these beasts
nachad  was not only  ,a master of  siheep,  but sometimes the Lord, it may be imagined,  hzid delivered  ih'im. Thus
only a mere  hirely.  The second word, bokar, means the went forth as a slkepherd with faith in God as his
a shepherd. This Amos calls himself in 2  :14. It must defender.
therefore remain an open question whether tie prophet             Further, His  oo&upation  as a wool  gro%%fr  must
was a sheep master or merely `a Ihireling. The fact that have necessitated journies among the markets of: the
he says to the false Trrophet,  I am a shepherd, is no         land, where he had opportunity to familiarize himself
positive proof at all that  ihe awned  even in  .part  the     with Northern Israel, her  cilties and  Northern  life and
flock he attended.                                             worship. At least  Ohe prophet was acquainted with
       The prophet also caIls himself a gatilerer  of syca- the facts, the poverty of the  peopIe,  the oppression by
more fruit,  7:14. One may still find everywhere on the rich, tihe tyranny of the rulers, the immorality of
the border  of the Syrian desert shepherds nourishing the priests, #and he knew that the sins of Israel spelled
a few fruit trees around the .wells  of their pastures in its ruin. He #was, not deceived by the miIitary  strength
order to supplement ;their milk diet. The fruit was t'he       of the people, by their recent  victories  over Syria, and
Doorest  yet most easily grown. The sycamore was a by their false doctrine according to which Jekovah  is
fig mulberry tree that grew abundantly in southern awinst  the heathen nations, even in the interest of all
Palestine to the size of a walnut tree. The fruit grew apostate Israel. Such a man was Amos.
in clusters like grapes. And the fruit was  gike a small          When the call  came to him  Ihe left ihis flocks im-
fig. What little taste it has is wooden. Because it is mediateIy  and went to Bethel, the religious center of
infested with a small insect, it must be punctured to the Northern kingdom. There in sight of the royal San+
let  -the inseot escape and in its escaping it carries with tuary (7:13) ihe delivered his aburden  or message. He
it a bitter juice.  men the fruit ripens and becomes was  rebu!ked  by the false prophet Amaziah, but the only
edible.                                                        effect this rebuff had `was to stimulate him to greater
       Both of the prophet's occupations  <were humble. activity.
If she was a s&eepmaster  he.*was  not very wealthy, for            According rto chapter 1 :l, Amos prophecied  while
he says of himself that he $ollpowed  the flook. `7 : 14.      Jeroboam  IS was king of Israel and  Uzziah, king of
       It thus appears tihat Amos was a hearty country- Judah. Thus his  ,Ia!bors  fall between the years 789
man, living in the open. His language and figures bear and 737. Amos  *was  Ia prophet of the 8th century, the
witness to this. Compare  the following:  2:13  ; 3  :4;       same as Hoshea, Miuha, and Isaiah. It can be shown
5:8;  6:12.                                                    that he did not prophesy during tihis entire period, but
       Thus t/he call reached him as he followed the sheep. duning its later half. Consider that the entire Book
Here, some would say, we have an instance of a mighty          deals with the evil consequences of the  pros-oerity  re-
prophet  with no training or previous  preparatio,n.           sulting from the sutccessfd  wars of Jeroboam II against
This is not true. The call found him fully prepared.           Syria. These wars were fou&$ after 760. We there-
To begin with he belonged  to the  ftithfu,l  remnant. fore place the activity of Amos after the middle of
*He was an Israelite who `was loyal to Jehovah, a real `Jerobam's  reign, about `760 to 755 B.C.


                                        T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                      511
                                                                            . _ I - -
     The period in which Amos prophesied was one of d.  Oppression  and  ctrrruption in the  courts. The rich
 great prosperity for both Israel and Judah. For obtained their  ,wealth by robbery (3  :lO)  ;. by oppress-
 Israel bhis era had been immediately preceded by a ing the poor and needy who were d'riven into slavery
 period of extreme depression. During  Dhe  re&n of by their creditors  (2:7;  8  :6) ; by dishonest trading
 Jehu aad Jehoahaz, the successor of Jehu, the anger         (8 :4-6) ; by exacting presents and bribes (5 :ll, 12).
 of Jehovah, so we read in II Kings 13:3,  was kindled       The women of the rich were as corrupt Ias the `men.
 against Israel and He delivered them into the hand of To satisfy their appetites,' they urged their husbands
 Hazeel, and in the hand of Benthadad  the son of Hazeel.    to greater cruelty (4 : 1). Tthere was a shameful cor-
 And  ante more in  `verse  7 of this chapter, "he left      ruption of the courts of justices (5 :7, 19, 12; 6 :12).
 none to Jehoahaz of- the people save 50 horsemen, and The poor could get no hearing and justice was bought
 10 chariots and. 10,000 footmen, for the king of-Syria and sdd (5 : 12). Immoralities were  pract&d  without
 destroyed them." Israel seemed on the verge of being shame (7:7). Trademen  were vexed (because the snc-
 destroyed. But  tihe Lord once again sent salvation red days interrupted t7heir  greedy pursuit after gain
 by the successor of Jehoahaz, namely,  Joash  (also         (8 :5). The leaders who should have set an euaml-Jle
 called Jehoahash.)       Of him we read, "he took again of; godliness were masters in vice and crime (6 : l-6).
 out of the hand of Benhadad, son of Hazael, the cities Those w(ho wantonly champianed  the right and rebuked
 wbJ6h  he had taken out of the' hand of Jehoahaz, his the wrong were despised and abhored  (5 :lO ; 7 :lO-13).
 father, by war. Three times did  Joash smite him and           With  all this wickedness there went a feeling of
 recovered the cities of Israel (II Kings 13  :25). Jero-    absolute security and selfrighteousness.       The great
 boam  II continued the successes  .of his predecessors. mass of people believed tiiat Jehovah  was in duty bound
 He became ,a "savior of Israel" (II Kings 14 :27). He to prokect  them as did the Jews in Jesus' day. They
 recovered all the territory that had been lost even said we are the seed of Abraham and God's chosen
 expanding Israel's  territmy  in every direction. He        moplIe,  hence we  dwel,l  safely (5  :14). It shows that
 even captured Daniascus (II Kings 14 :23-29). Upon they had no insight into the ci>sracter  of God. It was
 these successes in war, commerce revived and the this wiakedness and these  ,wrong thoughts of God
 internd resources  of Israel were developed. As a re- against which Amos raised his voice. The argument
 sult, Israel rose to a pitch ,of power and prosperity       of his discourse  may  be briefly stated  thus: Israel is
 higher than the nation had known since the division of the people of Jehovah, His absolute possession. He
 the kingdom.                                                chose the sons of Abraham and delivered them from
    But this prosperity was accompanied  an,d followed       Egypt, led them in the wilderness and established
 by moral decay and spiritual degeneration on the part them in His, God's own land.
 of the nation. The Book of Kings gives nothing but             This is fundamental to  ti?e discourse of Amos, the
 the briefest outline of  Isr&el's history during this major premise of the remaining discourse. From the
 period. For a vivid and detailed description of the foregoing, according to the prophet, it follows  Cat
 social, moral, and religious condition of Israel and        Israel is God's handiwork absolutely, beIon.=.  to the
 Judah during this eighth century, we must go to these Lord. They are His people and He their absolute King.
' 8th century prophets namely Amos and Hosea  in.%rael       Hence the nation is in duty bound to selrve Him and to
 and  Isaiah and .Micah in Judah.                            pay homage (2 :9, 10; 3 :l-2). But Israel forsook God
    We find in the prophecy of Amos, the  vi,vid  picture and despised His covenant, but the Lord cannot relax
 of the fdllowing :                                          His hold on the people that are His. Therefore He will
 a. Prosperity in Israel. The rich (wallowed in luxury `continue to possess them to destroy them and thus
 made possible by increased  wealt;h.   They  bu.ilt their maintain His sovereignty. B.ut the Lord has His people
 palaces of hewn stone (5:2) and paneled them with according to election. The discourse ends with a de-
 ivory (3  :15).       They had pretentious summer and       pi&ion  of the future glaty of the church.
 winter residences (3 :15) ,with  interiors most e::tuva-       We find in this prophetic' discourse a reiteration
 ganbly furnished (3 : 13 ; 6 :4).                           of  the declaration  made  unto Abraham: "They cursing
 b. A  morn1   decay. This luxury was accompanied by thee will I curse, they blessing thee will I bless." The
 drunken revelry (6  :5, 6). There was extravagance attitude of the  surrounainq  nations  toward Israel was
 an every hand, only the choicest and best of everything     that of hostility. Israel,  C&l's heritage, was  throuffh-
 in  6h.e way of oils, meats and music could satisfy         out the centuries kated and persecuted by t,he l?%ilis-
 (6:4,  5, 6).                                               tines and Phoenicians, Morn, Ammon and Moab. How
 C. Religious decay  shrouded in a great show, relipious-    the nations were disposed to the church of the old dis-
 ity consisting in sacaifice  (7  :13). The king patronized nensation is vividly described  and lamented in Ps. 85.
 the sanctuary in Bethel. It was thronged with  wor-         The Psalm' reads  i.n part as  follotis:  "Keen  not  Thou
 shippers (9:l). The other  sanctuaries  were also dili- silent 0  C.Xl! `Hold not Thy peace and be  not stilt
 gently visited (4  :4, 5;  8  :4). There was a  bringing    0  Ctid! For lo Thy enemies make a tumult: and  t+ey
 of offeriq$s  and tithes in abundance (5 :5, 21-23).        that  `hate Thee have  lifted up the head. They have


51'2                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
i                                                                                                             -~
taken crafty counsel against Thy people, and consulted with hearts far ftrom  Him and wit;h *hands full of blood.
against Thy hidden ones. They  !h.ave said,  icome,   Iet But the prophet  attaoks  their false notion of God's
us cut them elf from being a nation, that the Name              character.     He will deal with the despisers of  IHis
of Israel may be no more in remembra&e.            For they Name in lsrael  as He deals with the  &wicked  nations of
have consulted with one consent, they are confederate the earth, for with Him there is no respect of persons.
against Thee." The nations mentioned  by the Psalmist En  tk.eir  external religion He can take no delight. He
are the same as those mentioned by Amos. They curse hates this service as sin, which it is. It is an abomin-
Israel in their hearts and. such is the stand taken by ation to Him.
the Psalmist, in cursing Israel, they cu,rse God. They              Herewith the prophet does not deny that God has
hate, *Jehovah,  and thus Israel &rough wihom  and in `His chosen people upon whom He pours His love. But
respect to whom Jehovah exhibited His glories, to wit,          the great tru& that the prophet drives home is that
His righteousness, mercy and limitless power. There- no man may claim to belong to this peo,ple  unless he be
fore the Psalmist prays for  tfhe destruction of these holy as God  .is holy. The wicked Israelites not holy
natians. He does so, it ,should  ,be borne in mind, as the      unto the Lord will therefore be destroyed, yet within
inspired agent of God. The spirit ,animating  from his this nation that is destroyed, Cod ihas His remnant, the
prayer  .is holy and his  ,prayer   *has  normitive  value.     elect.    This follows  :from the fact that the prophet
The stand taken by the Psalmist is that of Amos and             closes his discourse with a promise that the tabernacle
of  al*1 the prophets.      What  th,e Psalmist prays for, of Davi,d shall be raised up and tihat Israel shal*l possess
Amos predicts. The nations assailing Israel and thus the  eleclt*of  all nations. [Here  the prophet ,reiterates
assaili,ng  God shall be destroyed.                             the promise made centuries before, the promise namely,
        Place  in the room of the Old Testament theocracy, that in Abraham, that is in Clhrist,  all the nations shall
the Church universal of the New Testament  dispensat-           be blessed.
tion and in the room of the aforesaid  m-&ions,  tihe anti-         We made  tihe statement that Amos emphasizes God's
Christian power in the  <world  and the above-cited pre- righteousness. He does ithis hut not as seems to be
diction of Amos (chapters 1 and 2) are as timely today the common  Iview, to the  excjlusion  of His love. For
as then. Fraught with comfort are they for the people the prophet speaks of a cremnant,  of the tabernacle of
of God of the New as well as the Old dispensation.              David that shall be raised up. Fact is, that God
                                                                lavishes His love upon this elect people, and  this love
        `Bbe Book has another element in it that gives it is boundless. For the .remnanrt  is by nature as wicked
permanent value. This discourse may  truIy be said as the reprobated element who in history appear as
to be an exposition, or better said, a vivid  exem;Irlifica-    the despisers of God's covenant who never come to re-
tion of the vitaI'truth  *hat may be formulated thus : pentance. The elect Israel w&s a people also drawn
He that cal,led Israel sand brought Israel into being by away ,by the wicked. Ttiey  too deserved the exile, but
His call is God, holy and righteous. Israel, therefore, in  hbem the chastisement of God worked the peaceful
must be  Iholy in  .a11 manner of conversation if it would fruit of righteousness. These repented and besought the
dwell before  ,God'$  face and  *live. Let Israel remember throne of God for mercy and the Lord led 6hem with
that with God *there is no respect of persons that He           His mercy.
.iudges  according to every man's work, be he Jew or                                                      G. M. 0.
G e n t i l e .
        Israel's God is holy, righteous. T%is is especially
the attribute of God emphasized by Amos. He de-
mands ,righteousness  in His people, and this is the same
as saying t'hat He demands of His people tchat tiey shall
cleave unto Him as the ,God of riffhteousness  and as
their Savior and walk in His righteous ways. But His                                    NOTICE
people foresook Him, and despised His righteous ordin-
ances. The prophet Amos &s a defender of God and The annual meeting of the R.F.P.A. (Standard Bearer)
His cause, exposes the sins of <God's people, and flays (will be held  ThursdayZ  September 21, at  `7:45 P.M.
them for despising God's covenant, and predicts their New board members  wi'll be  elected  from the following
destruction. Yet Israel refused to hear for  fiey be- nomi,nation:  W. Koster, F. Pipe, R. Sahaafsma,  Rev. H.
lieved that  w*ith Jehovah there was  sotually   resned         Veldman, B. Wuudenberg and A. Wychers. All mem-
of persons : t,hat He was partial to them no matter how         bers and readers are requested to attend this meeting.
si'nful their conduct. This popular misapprehension A new proposal of operating our Society wi,ll come up
of the  oharacter  of Jehovah found expression in a mis- for discussion. Rev. (H. Hoeksema'will deliver a speech.
taken religious zeal. The people thought ;that so long Opportunity  *will be given to pay membership or sub-
as the  e&ma1  religious requirements  ;c?rere  met, faith scription fees, ,Collectors  will be present at 7 o'clock.
of Jehovah  w,as  assured even though they worshipped                                                   The Board.


                                   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.





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                                                                                     taming of salvation, the glory of the Lord Jesus
            M E D I T A T I O N                                                      Christ. . . .
                                                                                        How beautifully the Church is distinguished, when
                                                                                     viewed in contrast to the antichristian' world !
                 Divinely Distinguished                                                 Distinguished by grace !
                                                                                        Chosen,  calIed, sanctified, glorified by grace !
                                                                                        Divinely distinguished !
                          But we are bound to give  thanks  CCE-
       *             way to God for you, brethren, beloved                                                   -          -
                    ,iof the Lord, because God hath from
                      the beginning chosen you to salvation                             Unto salvation !
                      through  aarxtijication  of the Spirit and                        And more specifically: to the obtaining of the glory
                      belief of the truth: Whereunto he called                       of our Lord Jesus Christ!
                      you by  our gospel, to the obtaining of                           For these two, 
                      the glory  of  our Lord Jesus Christ.                                                 salvation  and  the  obtain&g  of the
                                                      II  Thess.  2:13,  14.         glory of the Lord Jesus Christ,, are very closely related,
                                                                                     refer to  tie same thing. They may, indeed, be distin-
     But! . . . .                                                                    guished. Salvation is the more general, the more com-
     Amazing contrast !                                                              prehensive term of the  twu; the "glory of our Lord
     Similar to that which is found in the second chap- Jesus Christ" the more specific term, looking at salva-
ter of First Peter, where the apostle writes about those tion from the viewpoint of its final realization and per-
that are appointed to stumble over the Stone and then fection. But the two can never be seperated. Salva-
addresses the Church : "But ye are a chosen genera- tion  4s the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus
tion" . . . .                                                                        Christ. And the latter is salvation.
     S o   h e r e .                                                                    Glorious distinction ! !
     Both the context and the text speak of a ,work  of                                 Chosen unto salvation ! Chosen, sanctified, called
God. What else could create sharp and amazing anti-                                  unto the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus
theses. God is light. . . . and there is no darkness                                 Christ !
in Him. And this is why He creates the light. . . .                                     Salvation comprehends the whole of that work of
and forms  the darkness!                                                             God in Christ by which the sinner, the whole Church,
     Hence, the "but".                                                               the whole creation in the organic sense of the word, is
     For, in the preceding the apostle had written about lifted from the depth and darkness of guilt and sin
the work of God with respect to the Antichrist and his                               and condemnation, of corruption and death and the
world ; here he speaks of the work of God in His own,                                slavery of sin, of the curse and vanity, into tihe glory
the elect,  "nhe beloved of the Lord". In the context he of the heavenly kingdom, the glorious liberty of the
spoke of a work of God the result of which was a                                     children of God, eternal life, perfect knowledge of God,
strong delusion, so  t.hat men should believe a lie; here perfect righteousness, perfect holiness, participation
he speaks  uf His sanctifying Spirit and His efficacious in the divine nature, friendship and fellowship on the
calling unto the belief of the truth. There the delusion theavenly plane with the living God in the new heavens
and belief of tihe lie must end in the damnation o.f all and the new earth. It is the &vine work that was
that had pleasure in unrighteousness; here the calling promised from the ~beginning  of the world, that was
unto the belief of the truth has its purpose in the ob- centrahy  realized in the cross and resurrection and


                                                                            '3
                    *

514                                       THi3  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
             -_-                                              __I--
exaltation of our Lord Jesus Christ and is perfect in and eternal life, and in His  marvellous  works, so even
Him; that is wrought in its firstfruits in the ,hearts  of that sinful men would fall down in worship and implore
the believers in this world, when they are regenerated Him to depart from them. Yet, in His state of humili-
and sanctified and called out of darkness into His mar-        ation His human nature could not be bearer of this
vellous light; but that shall not be finished and  mani- glory.
fested in all its beauty and perfection until we are               Prophetically it shone forth when His figure was
glorified body and soul, the whole Church is gathered transfigured on the Mount. For, there, the disciples
in, the new heavens and earth are formed, in which             beheld His glory, a glory as of the only beg&a Son
righteousness shall dwell.                                     of God!
       IJntil Christ shall appear!                                 And when He is risen from the dead, and received
       For then  we shall obtain His glory !                   up into (heaven,  and all power in heaven and in earth
       And in the obtaining of the glory of the Lord Jesus is given unto Him, that glory is fully realized.
Christ salvation shall have reached its end, its final             The obtaining of that glory is the perfection of  sal-
perfection.
       The glory of our Lord ! !                               vation  !
       All glory is of God. Apart from  ,His glory there           For, we shall share it!
is no glory. It is as the Lord taught us to say in the             Always, indeed, it will be the glory of- our Lord
doxology of the perfect prayer : Thine is the glory !          Jesus Christ, never ours. For, He merited it through
   For, glory is the radiation of infinite goodness and His suffering and death and resurrection ; and He
perfection.         ,4nd there is none that is good, that is possesses it in Himself as the eternal Son of the  High-
infinitely perfect, save God Himself. He is the perfect est. Yet, also to His people He will impart it. To
One. In Him are all the perfections that are. And them also will be given perfect righteousness, holiness,
in Him they are infinite. There is no end to His pcr- wisdom and knowledge, power and authority, heavenly
fections.  He is a light and there is no darkness in beauty. And that to each one of the redeemed saints
Him at all. He is knowledge and wisdom, He is right- according to the measure of his capacity and according
eousness and ,holiness, He is truth and justice, He is to  his position and name in the eternal Kingdom.
love and grace and mercy. And, therefore, He is glori-             The fulness of the glory of Christ will be reflected
ous. For, glory is the shining forth, in Himself or in all the thousands upon thousands of the glorified
without, of His infinite virtues.                              saints !
   And this glory is also Christ's                                 It will be the glory of God in the Lord Jesus Christ,
   There are no two glories, the glory of God and the          shining forth from the whole Church !
glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. On the contrary, these             That will be glory indeed !
two are one. For, the glory of God is given to Jesus               Blessed distinction !
Christ our Lord, so that it radiates from and through
His human nature. In Him dwelleth all the fulness
of the Godhead bodily ! And mark you well : all the ful-
ness. ,Not  merely a part of it. It is not so, that you            Divinely distinguished !
can separate the divine virtues into two or more groups            For, even as there is nothing in that glorious end
and say that one group of these divine perfections are         unto which we are distinguished, so the way in which
imparted to the Lord, while others are withheld from that distinction is realized is wholly God's
Him. All the fulness of the Godhead dwells in Him                  It is He, that sanctified us through, His Spirit, and
bodily. The perfect revelation of God is He. In the it is He that called us unto belief of the truth ! He
highest possible, though still creaturely measure, the chose us unto salvation  through  sanctification   of  the
divine virtues are imparted to and shine forth in and Spirit and belief  of  the truth, whereunto He called
through the human nature of the Lord. God's know-              US. . . .
ledge and wisdom, God's righteousness and holiness,                Sanctification and belief of the truth!
God's beauty and grace and mercy?  God's power and                 By the one we possess our salvation, the glory of
authority,-all are imparted to the Lord. He is clothed our Lord Jesus Christ, in principle; by the other we
with them. That is the glory of the Lord !                     even possess it all by faith and hope ! For, sanctifica-
   And it is in a very particular sense His glory.             tion is the divine work of the Holy Spirit whereby
       For, it shines forth through Him from within !          we are delivered from the power and pollution and
       He is the eternal Son, God of God, in human nature.     dominion of sin, and receive the beginning of a new
And from within the beauties of the Most High are, in life, the firstfruits of all the spiritual blessings in
a creaturely, yet in the highest possible degree, im-          Christ, a new light, a new knowledge, a new right-
parted to that human nature.                                   eousness and holiness, new power to fight the good
   In His humiliated condition this glory was hid.  filght even unto the end. And this sanctification  re-
OccasionaI1.y  it would flash forth in His Word of power veals itself in us exactly as the beginning of perfection.


                                         T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                            515
--_                                                      -                                                  -"__----
It is perfection in principle. It is perfection in the         call us to believe the truth unto the glory of the Lord
midst of imperfection.          It is the Spirit surrounded Jesus Christ?
by the flesh. It is holiness in the midst of corruption.          Does He not give unto others a strong delusion so
And, therefore, it reveals itself as fighting, always that they believe a lie and are damned?
fighting to have dominion in our  w(hole life. It ex-             Why, then, should He call me and you to believe
presses itself in sorrow over sin and hatred of all cor- the truth unto the obtaining of salvation, the glory
ruption, and in a new delight after God.                       of our Lord? You say: we are beloved of the Lord.
       It is the beginning of the obtaining of the glory And truly, thus the text instructs us. And because we
of our Lord Jesus Christ.                                      are beloved of Him He sanctifies and calls us unto the
       And, yet, even now we possess that final salvation!     belief of the truth, that we might obtain that unspeak-
       For, we have been called  u'nto the belief of the       able glory. But does not the question return with
truth! And the truth is the gospel, the Word of God double emphasis: why? `Why should we be loved of
concerning His Son, setting forth the fulness  of that Him, while others are not?
salvation we have in Christ, and assuring us of the               What is your answer?
divine purpose to realize that glorious salvation unto             Will you have the courage to stand before His
us. And belief of that truth is the activity of the sav-       face and reply: because I made myself more worthy of
ing faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as it  em'braces  that that love, and, therefore, of that divine distinction
gospel, appropriates all its promises, relies upon it in than others? Will you, indeed, pretend to search for
life and death, so that the believer is saved by hope!         the answer to this question in yourself? . . . .
       Unto that belief of  the.truth  we are called.             God forbid !
       Called by the gospel.                                      There is but one answer: the divine distinction is
       Called by God.     For, He called us through the ,and remains divine, purely divine even to its very be-
gospel.                                                        ginning, to its eternal source : He hath chosen us !
       The gospel is more than a mere presentation, it is         More cannot be said.
more than a mere setting forth of the salvation in                Indeed, there are who would read the words of the
Christ. It is more than a mere offer, It is a calling. tefrt differently. They call attention to the fact, that
It addresses itself to you. It calls you to believe the        in the original the word that was translated  "bath
truth. It does not merely say that there is perfect chosen" does not signify election at all, but literally
righteousness, but it calls you into the state of that means : "hath taken". And so they would render the
righteousness.      It does not simply set forth the mean- text : He hath taken you from the very beginning of
ing of the spiritual blessing of forgiveness, but it as- my preaching of the gospel to you. But first of all, it
sures you of it, it binds it upon your heart: thy sins must be remarked that the translators were not in
are forgiven! It does not only explain to you the glory error when they rendered the original word by "bath
of the resurrection, but it calls you into that glory. chosen". For, the form af the word denotes a taking
It calls : come unto me and I will give you rest! Come for oneself, for one's own possession, and, therefore,
to the waters and drink! Forsake your way and taste a preference, a choosing. And, secondly, when the
that the Lord is merciful and that he abundantly Scriptures speak of "the beginning" without any fur-
pardons !                                                      ther modification, it must be taken in its strict sense,
   And that gospel is His Word!                                as referrxg  t,o'the  beginning of all things.
   Nay more  ; it is `He that calls us through that               There, then, is the answer.
gospel.                                                           From the very beginning God took you unto Him-
   For, otherwise  swe would not hear and believe and self, made' you His portion, His peculiar possession,
embrace the promise and have eternal life and the              preferred you  !.
glory of the Lord Jesus  Ch*nist.       So foolish are we ;       When He created the world He had His mind on
so darkened in our understanding ; so perverse of will you, that you might be His own and obtain the glory
that we refuse to heed that blessed call of the gospel.        of our Lord Jesus Christ! With a view to you He
   But He calls !                                              created all things. With a view to your glory in Christ
   And w'hen  He calls we hear and believe the truth           He ruled all things ever since !
and are saved.                                                    What,  shall we say then?
   Glorious, divine distinction !                                 What else can we say than : Thanks be to God !
                                                                  Of Him and through Him and to Him all things
                                                               are! Glory to Him!
   Adorable source !                                              Forever!
   For, why, 0 why  shouId  He thus sanctify us and                                                              H. H.


 528                                    T H E   S T A N D A R D   -BEARER

   Young Peoples ' Societies Convention                       ing its banks completely, and thus running turbulent.
                                                              Therefore, instead of damming the stream, it must be
                                                              led into proper channels. Thus also the activity of
        With the permission of our Editor-in-chief, the our youth must be directed in the way of God's Cove-
`undersigned has been instructed by our Convention nant. Truly this was an edifying, instructive, and fit-
 to give a report in our Standard Bearer, concerning the ting address for our young people, as well as for the
 latest activities and undertakings of our youth as they others present. Except for a short meeting after the
 are organized into various Societies.       We sincerely speech, at which time badges were presented to the
thank our Editor for this  alloted space.                     delegates and visitors, the meeting was closed by Rev.
        Our first National Convention of Young People's
        . .                                                   C. Hanko.
 Societies was held August 2 and 8, in the auditorium
 of our South Holland Church. A year ago the,desire              The following day, meetings were held from 9315
 was expressed by members of the Suuth Holland So-            A.M. to 5 :00 P.M.,  .with an hour and a half lunch inter-
 &ty to unite more cl.osely  the young people's societies, mission.        Rev. L. Vermeer was President, pro tern,
 and immediately a committee was appointed to study until the voting of an executive board. Members elected
 the matter and work out a (program for action. The           were : Pres,ident--Homer  Kuiper ; Vice-Pres.-`Peter-
 fruit of this (preliminary work was our convention and nella  Poortinga ; Secretary-Alice A. Van  Baren ; and
 the recent organization of a National Federation on a Treasurer-James Kuiper. Also a committee was
,permanent  basis.        This result was very gratifying,    voted to draw up a constitution and submit it to the
 and we may at the outset of this report say' that the next convention.` This committee consisted of Margaret
 convention was a fine success from every point of view,      Schippers,  Harriet Doezema, Betty Van  Dellen,  and
 and the Lord was surely with us.                             Homer Kuiper. Tihe following temporary resolutions
        After having come from far and near, 114 young were passed on to this committee : (a) The basis of this
 people were registered although only four delegates          convention is the Word `of God as expressed ' in the
 from each Society were officially designated to be pre- Three Forms of Unity ; (b) The purpose of this con-
 sent.         Pella, Oak Lawn, Fuller Ave., Young Men's vention is to unite all Protestant Reformed Young
 Society, Talitha, also of Fuller Ave., Hudsonville, Hol-     People's Societies to work in close unity and in this
 land, Hope, and South Holland were officially repre- manner secure a sense of solidarity in order to seek
 sented, and  Oskaloosa,   Creston, and Kalamazoo had the mutual edification and development of talents as
 unofficial representatives, however the latter were given becomes Christian young people ; (c) Our endeavour
 advisory votes.                                              is to maintain with united front our specific `Protestant
                                                              Reformed character. Proposals of both South Holland
        The first session was of an introductory nature ; and Fuller Ave., Societies to establish a permanent
 for the main po,int of business was an address given organization were enthusiastically passed. It was de-
 by Rev. G. Lubbers. This session took place on the           cided to ask the various societies for suggestions, to be
 evening of August 2, under the chairmanship of Rev. submitted to the committee in re the constitution, as.
 L. Vermeer.         A fifteen minute Psalter songservice,    to a name for this new Federation. AIso  the invitation
 guided by both organ and  :piano, opened the meeting. of the Fuller Ave., Societies to hold our next conven-
 After prayer and scripture reading, the speaker ad- tion in Grand Rapi,ds  was accepted.                    ,
 dressed us for nearly one hour on the subject, "Tihe
 Days of Our Youth". This theme he divided into three            One of the outstanding decisions was the proposal
 main parts, namely, the period of youthful activity,         for a gaper of our own in which a uniform Bible study
 the period of youthful preparation, and the period of system could be printed for the benefit of all member
 youthful guidance. (This address, to which the public societies. After considerable discussion it  twas decided
 was invited, we deem worthwhile to be published in to ask for a space in Our Church News, in order to
 our Standard Bearer). The speaker stressed the fact have a department for Federation activities. The
 that youth is characterized by activity, and the `do-        South Holland Society was given the responsibility  to-
 something' spirit. Always youth, whether wicked or work out this plan and to do this in conjunction with'
 godly, is intensely active, and this activity prepares the newly organized Western League of Young People's
 him for life. Life, not in the narrow sense of the word,     Societies and the present writer of our Young People's
 but life in all its spheres, as that life gradually unfolds Department  of, th.e Church News. The following'pro- ~
 itself when youth grows up into man- or womanhood.           posals were passed on to the S. H. committee for their"'
 Because this  youthful activity cannot be stifled or consideration: (a) To choose one or more editors to
 checked, it prepares us for all of life ; therefore youth write a few articles in connection with our  Society'
 must be guided into the proper channels. A fitting life ; (b) To see to it that each Society in the Federation
 example used by the speaker was that of a stream or contribute to this column; Cc) To send a definite  SYS-
 river. If we attempt to dam the stream, the results tern of Bible-lessons to the various Societies  for their
 will be to send the water into all directions,  overflow-    approval or ratification. This decision was  surelY  `a


                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                        529

practical fruit of already stated purpose of our con-
vention.                                                                The  Great  Atonement
   The advice of the committee in regards to financing
the conventions in the future was adopted. The advice          What *was the special purpose and design of the
was: (a) That each society be granted three cents great atonement? The aview of writers in general is
<per mile expenses, (b) 'I'hat each society, as its share that the great sacrifice, as (compared with the acts of
,of the expenses, be assessed eighty  cents per mem- expiation which from time to time were made through
ber until the next convention.                             the year, was a more ,perfect  sacrifice, so much so that
   Various resolutions  *were  passed concerning the by it the mass ,of sins for which .the daily acts of ex-
gratitude of the convention for the work done or favors piations had but imperfectly satisfied was blotted out.
shown. Motions of thanks were passed for the moral Now this view, as was previously said, will not do.
support of the Men's League through their reporter,        It is thoroughly Jewish. The Jews, it was pointed out,
Mr. A. C. Boerkoel;  which was given this new venture have such a saying among them, "That on the day of
of the young people, and  also  for the free publicity expiation all Israel *was made as righteous as in the
granted us by the Doorn Publishing Company.                day wherein man was  first created".
   Further, it was decided to appoint ministers of our         The right view is" that the great atonement was
churches to act as advisors at the future conventions. instituted for the purpose of accentuating the truths
For the next convention the Revs. L. Vermeer and G. set forth by the common sacrifices by blood, in par-
Lubbers were nominated by acclamation. Finally, it ticular by the sin-offering. In support of this state-
was decided that the secretary publish a complete re- ment, we direct attention to the following.
port of the activities in the Standard Bearer and Our         The great sacrifice was, to be sure, as well as the
Church News. The main business session hating come common sin-offering symbolical-typical. The victims
to a close, the afternoon meeting was adjourned. After for both sacrifices belonged to the class of domesticated
the concept minutes were read and approved, Rev. G. animals. As to the action with the blood, on ordinary
Lubbers closed with thanksgiving.                          occasions, when the sin-offering had respect to a single
   We cannot, however, close this report without men- individual, a ruler or a private member of the congre-
tioning the grand time (which was experienced by all gation, the shed blood was poured round about the altar
the delegates including 114 visitors,, during the evening and some of it sprinkled upon the horns of the ,altar-
"get-together" at the Roosevelt School parlors. Here its prominent points of sacredness. If the offering was
we all enjoyed a finely prepared supper having been for the sin of the highpriest, or of the community, in
served by the young married ladies of our congregation addition to these actions in the outer court, the blood
at South Holland, under the able leadership of our was carried into the sanctuary and sprinkled by the
caterer, Mrs.  M. Smits.    Included in this evening priest seven times before the  tail of the holiest place
gathering was a program which consisted of various and upon the horns of the altar of incense. But (as-
numbers rendered by the societies, and last, but not already has been explained in former articles) on the
least, the community Psalter singing was enjoyed by great day of atonement, the high priest, clad in the
all. Indeed this was a never-to-be-forgotten evening. insignia of his office and freshly bathed, went with
Many acquaintances were made and a pleasant spirit the blood of his own and the people's sin-offering in the
prevailed which was  fittingly  expressed in the final inner room of the sanctuary-the holiest place-w.here
song, "Blest be the Tie that Binds."                       he sprinkled with it the mercy-seat an,d the space in
   May this convention be the forerunner of many front of it.
more and may the Lord our God continue to bless our            There was then this varient action with the blood.
Young People's Societies, so that we may be  .a rich As a result of each distinct action, that is, as sprinkled
`blessing for our Protestant Reformed Churches, both upon the horns of either of the altars (the altar of the
now and in the future. #God be with us till we meet burnt-offering or the altar of incense) or as sprinkled
again.                                                     upon the mercy-seat of the ark, the blood was in Jeho-
                       Alice A. Van Baren, Sec'y.          vah's presence before `His face. Now its presence there,
                                                           on the horns of the altar of the burnt-offering (the pre-
                      -                                    cinct of this altar, which stood in the outer court, was,
                                                           as well as the precinct of the ark, the meeting place be-
                                                           tween Jehovah and His people) or on the mercy-seat
             NOTICE-CONSISTORIES                           of the ark, bespoke its acceptance by the Lord and
The price of the copies of the Conference Speech of declared that by its shedding sin had been expiated
Rev. H. Hoeksema are  70 cents per copy.                   (symbolically). But of all these transactions, the one
                                            (Holland or
English). Please order yours now.                          that spoke loudest was that of sprinkling the blood
                                                           on the mercy-seat of the ark; for, as over this seat or
                                        The Board.         lid the cloud hovered, it was especially upon this lid that


530                                       T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
                          - - -       ..---                                                                              .
the blood was before the very face and under the very connection with no sacrifice was this ceremony so ex-
eye of God, as a blood accepted by Him as a covering pressive as when performed in connection with  th.e
for the sins of His  peoi;`le.  How, therefore, its pre- great at,onement;  for then it was su,pplemented  by the
sence in the holiest place witnessed for the truth that highpriest's confessing over the victim all the iniqui-
it was ,with  Jehovah that the offending nation had to        ties of the children of Israel and all their transgres-
do; that when sin was committed, it was  His law that         sions in all their sins.
was being transgressed and  His  majesty that was                With these comparisons before our mind, it is plain
being offended and  ,that therefore it was also  1iis         that the institution of the great sacrifice gave to the
justice that had to be satisfied and  His  wrath appeased truth of the gospel an expression fuller and clearer
and this solely by a sacr,ifice provided, accepted and than that given to it by the other sacrifices. More
approved by Him. How this shed blood, as carried              must be said. On account of the connection of this
into the very presence-chamber of God, witnessed for sacrifice with the holiest place, it could and did serve
the truth that sin by it had been expiated-expiated           the Spirit as an instrument for signifying things that
so  completely  and perfectly that with it sinful man could but vaguely be suggested by the `others. Into
couId  come into the very presence of God and'live.           the holiest "went  the high priest alone once every year,
        Let us now compare the action with the flesh of not without blood, which he offered ,for himself, and
the common sin-offerings with the action of the flesh for the errors of the ,people:  the Holy Ghost thus sig-
of the great offering. As has been pointed out in             nifying,  tha.t the way into the holiest of all  ,was not
former articles, when the sin-offering  ,was for the yet made manifest,  w,liile as the first  tabernacIe  was
common member or for the single ruler in the congre-          yet standing." This scripture (Heb. 9  3) is of the
gation, the flesh, with the exception of the fat, had greatest importance for our subject. It sets forth the
to be eaten by the priesthood. When the offering real purpose and design of the great sacrifice in par-
had respect to the sin of the highpriest or of the whole ticular and thus of Israel's entire typical-symbolical
congregation, then the flesh was carried without the service in general.
camp and burnt in a clean place. The action with the             The sacred writer' sets out (in the 9th chapter)
flesh of the great offering-an offering comprised, as         with affirming that the first covenant  .had also ordin-
we have seen, of two goats-was as follows: the flesh ances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary. There
of the goat that was  kiiled and whose blood was brought      was a tabernacle made: the first, wherein was the
within the vail, was carried  lwithout  the  camp  and        candlestick, and the table, and the shewbread, which
burnt with fire. Thereupon the live goat was brought, is called the sanctuary (the holy place) ; and the second,
namely, the one on which the *lot had fallen to be the        after the second vail, which is called the  ,holiest of all,
scapegoat. IJpon  his head Aaron laid both his hands, and wherein #was the golden tenser,  and the ark of the
confessed over him all the iniquities of the children of covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was
Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins,       the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that
putting them upon his head, and sent him away by the          budded, and the tables of the covenant; and over it
hand of a fit man into the wilderness.                        the  cherulbims  of glory shadowing the mercyseat. The
        Such was the varient actions with the flesh, the      writer declines to speak of these things "particularly",
bodies, of the victims of these sacrifices. Now all           that is, to enter upon an explanation of their signifi-
these actions, the one as well as the other, signified the cance. To do so would not be agreeable to his purpose,
complete removal (symbolically) of guilt and thus the which is to prove the dignity, pre-eminence, and efficacy
completeness of the reconciliation. But of all these of the priesthood and sacrifice of Christ above the
actions, the one that spoke loudest was that of sending sacrifices of the law. So he goes on to say that "when
into the wilderness the live goat, laden with the ex-         these things were thus ordained the priest went always
piated guilt of the whole congregation. It  *was especially into the first tabernacle (the holy place) accompl.ish-
by this action that the Lord declared unto His beher-         ing the service. But into the second went the high-
ing people that He cast all their sins into the deep priest alone once every year, not without blood: the
sea.                                                          Holy Ghost signifying," so the apostle continues, "that
       The action with the fat was the same for both sacri- the  ,way  into the :holiest of all was not yet made mani-
fices. It was placed upon the altar and burnt with fire.      fest, while as the first tabernacle was standing." Let
In its state of burning it betokened the whoIehearted         us examine this scripture.
and perfect devotion to God on the part of Christ and            What the writer intends by the  holies  is the gracious
His people.                                                   presence of Jehovah, the especial residence of  :His
       Then, finally, there was the ceremony of the impo- glory, thus a blessed presence that can be the abode of
sition of hands-a ceremony that formed a part of the such only who partake of God's nature. In this pre-
ritual of all the sacrifices by blood and that betokened, sence man was brought into being through his being
as has fully been explained, the transference of guilt created in God's i,mage.  From this `presence he was
from the offender to his innocent substitute. But in ejected when he disobeyed the command.. But there


                                        T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                            531.
i.                                                                      _.-- _.____-                .-_____~.-
was slain from the foundation of the world the Lamb. could and did receive witness that they were righteous
4nd He, His atoning sacrifice, is the only way out of and, being righteous, had access to God's gracious pre-
the abyss of eternal hell to the holiest. Now the apostle sence. This statement is not in conflict wi,th the asser-
does not say that while the  first tabernacle was stand- tion of the sacred writer that,  Iwhile the first tabernacle
ing this way was not existing. This  iway did exist was standing, the Holy Ghost was signifying that the
then, not actually but ~~,+rt~r,ally  so, and this because it    way to the holiest was not yet made manifest. As was
was certain that Christ would offer `Himself and be-             said, the' writer means not to maintain that the way
cause, on account of this certainty, the benefit of              was not virtually made manifest. It was this; and
what He was to do was applied unto them of the old therefore the ancient believers could and did have  ap-
dispensation that did believe. That  this  wap was preach  to God. T:his is abundantly evident from their
virtually  but not  actually  existent means that it was         prayers and songs of praise. The Old Testament be-
then not yet manifest, that is, it was not &rectly visible lievers were underprivileged only in this respect, that,
but only ,indirectly, through the medium of symbolical-          whereas Christ had not yet been exhibited in the flesh,
typical institutions and transactions. Hence what the            they had not the  %oag as the direct object of their
ancient believers gazed upon is not the way as such              vision ; and that, consequently, having, as they did, eon-
but `merely its weak and dark shadow. The  ,way  as such science of sin, they lacked that confidence  to.ward God
was not to be seen and this by reason of the circum-             which is now the portion of New Testament believers.
stance that the Lord Jesus  C.hrist  had not yet actually        This way having been made manifest, it is now as
offered Himself unto God, nor made atonement for sin.            plain as can be that believing people have the right to
Thus, whereas Christ is the way, the making manifest enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus. They should,
of this way was an act on the part of God that con-              therefore, now: draw near, so reasons the apostle in
sisted in His actually exhibiting Christ  Himself  in  thg       the following chapter, in full assurance of faith. Let
flesh and His sacrifice of Himself; secondly, in God's           them do so.
plainly declaring the nature of Christ's person and His             The great sacrifice, to return to it, is still service-
mediation; and finally in His revealing the right and            able in the church. On account of the action with its
privilege which His believing people have and whereby blood-with this blood the priest went into the holiest-
they are led into His blessed  presence,--the  right, it formed of all the offerings by blood the clearest and
namely, to enter into the hohest  by the blood of Jesus,         most complete representation of Christ's mediation.
   In fine, so long as the first tabernacle (i;a:mple)  was      It was therefore with an eye upon this sacrifice and
standing, the way-Christ, His person, nature, and                its attending ceremonies that the apostle wrote, "But
mediation-was not yet manifest. It leas thus hidden.             Christ being come a high priest of good things to come,
It formed the hidden  mystery that was destined to be by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made
revealed. And the result oi its having been revealed             with hands, that is to say, not of this building ; neither
is not that it ceased to b+ 2 mystery but %at it is now by the blood of goam and calves, but by His own blood
plainly manifest.                                                he entered into the holy place, having obtained eternal
    It  `was not yet manifest, whilst yet the first taber-       redemption for us" (Heb.  9:11,  12).       G. M. 0.
nacle was standing, had its station, that is, its state
and use in the church. That it had until the death
of Christ. T,hen, in the coming of the Holy Ghost, was
laid the foundation, whereon a new way of worship
was established ; and the old was declared abrogated.                                   0 badiah
   In the light of the explanation of the above-cited
scripture, the reason of the institution of the great               The book of Obadiah is comprised  osf but one chap-
sacrifice is evident.  T:his sacrifice was added to the ter of 21 verses. It is the shortest book in the Old
others that the Holy Ghost might be in the possession Testament.                Of the personal history of the prophet
of a superior instrument with which to signify that nothing is `known. Some identify him with Obadiah
the way of the blood of bulls and of goats was but               mentioned in II Chron. 17:`7, lwho was sent by Jehosha-
shadow and that thus the true way `was not yet but               phat to teach in the cities of Judah, but his identifica-
eventually in God's own time would be made manifest. tion is exceedingly doubtful. It is probable that the
&4s an instrument for setting forth the truth concern-           prophet was a native of Judah, for all his interests
ing the things which are of the Spirit of God, this seem to be centered in the south.
sacrifice excelled all the other offerings by blood. And            The prophecy of Obadiah has been dated very early
it did so, because with Nits blood the high priest alone         and very late. Some writers assign it to the ninth
once every year went into the holy place. Being thus century, others to the fifth and still others to the fourth.
superior, the great sacrifice, together with the rites The most probable date would seem to be soon after
and ceremonies attending it, was especially the offer- 586 and this for the following reason. The prophecy
ing in connection with which  God's believing people ,is a denunciation of  Edom's  hostility during the crisis


532                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
-                              ___-.                                                                      -
w.hich  resulted in the downfall of the kingdom of of the judgment is Edom's violence against his brother
Judah. True, the historical books do not name the             Jacob. In the day that strangers carried away cap-"
Edomites as taking an active part in the destruction tive Jacob's  &forces,  and foreigners entered into his
of Jerusalem, but the Old Testament asserts over and gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem, even Edom was
over that the Edomites were bitter enemies of  lsrael; as one of them. But Edom should not have looked on'
and it is evident from other allusions in exilic and `post    the day of his brother in the day that he became1  a
exilic writings that during the closing days of Judah's stranger; neither should he have rejoiced over the
national existence the old hostile spirit revived. In         children `of Judah in the day of their destruction ;
Lamentations the prophet Jeremiah `bids the daughter neither should he have spoken proudly in the day of
of Edom to rejoice and be glad over the fall of Judah ;       his distress. He should not have entered into the  gates-
but he immediately adds a threat of vengeance (4:21) ;        of God's people in the day of their calamity nor have
Ezekiel also announces  t,he doom of Edom (25  :12-14  ;      laid hands on their substance in that day.  Neitherri,
35:I-15) ; and in Ps. 137 the poet recalls with indigna-      should Edom have stood in the crossway, to cut of?
tion the malice of the Edomites: "Remember, 0 Je- those of Jacob that did escape ; neither should he have
hovah, against the children of Edom the day of Jeru-          delivered up those of Jacob that did remain in the day-
salem ; who said, Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation of distress [vss.  9-14).
thereof." This spirit of hostility the prophet condemns               From the description of Edom's crimes the prophet
in 11-14. Well has it been said that the curse upon turns once more to the punishment. The Edomites
Edom is "the one implication which breaks forth from are to be cut off forever; and the judgment will fall
the Lamentations of Jeremiah ; it is the culmination <upon all nations. This announcement of doom upon
of the fierce threats of Ezekial; it is the whole purpose the nations is followed by a promise of deliverance and
of the short, sharp  cry of Obadiah ; and the one warlike     restoration to Israel. There will be a remnant  re;
                                                              *
strain of the evangelical prophet (Isaiah) is inspired stored. Upon Mt. Zion shall be deliverance, and there
by the hope that the divine conqueror *would come knee-       shall be holiness. Saviours will arise in Zion, whose
deep in Idumaean blood." This historical reference sway will extend over the mount of Esau, and over
to the, destruction of Jerusalem makes it highly prob- all will be established the  rule of Jehovah.
able that the prophecy in its present form comes from                 Trhese  predictions of doom concerning Edom have
a period subsequent to the fall of Jerusalem in 586.          been fulfilled with remarkable completeness. Said the
       The prophet has a twofold purpose: To announce Lord, "Also Edom shall be a desoiation ; every one that
judgment upon Edom. By the announcement of the goeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss at all
speedy overthrow of this enemy to bring comfort and the plagues thereof. As in the overthrow' of Sodom
hope to the cruelly wronged people of God. This two- and Gomorrah, and the neighboring (cities thereof, saith
fold purpose is seen in the content of the book.              the Lord, no man shall abide there, neither shall a son
       T.he prophet is charged with heavy tidings against of man dwell in it (Jer. 49  :7-10,  12, 13, 15-18). Thus
Edom; for Edom sends an ambassador among the na- saith the Lord God, I will stretch out mine  <hand upon
tions with the message, "Arise ye, let us rise up against          Edom, and will cut off man and beast from it; .and I
her (Judah) in battle." But the Lord will thwart the will make it desolate from Teman (Ezek.  35 : l-4). The
scheme. The Lord will make Edom small and to be word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man,
despised among the nations. Edom is ,proud and by set thy face against Mt. Seir, and prophesy against it,
his pride has been deceived. He thinks he dwells safely and say unto it, Thaus saith the Lord God : I will stretch
in the clefts of his high rocks, that from these rocks        out mine hand against thee, and I will make thee most
no one can bring him down to the ground. But let him desolate. I will lay thy cities waste, and thou shalt
not deceive himself; for though he exalt himself as           be desolate (Ezek. 25 :14, 15). And I twill make thee
the eagle and set his nest among the stars, the Lord a perpetual desolation. and thy cities shall not return"
will humble him.                                                   (Joel  3:19).
       Edom's destruction shall be complete. The things               These predictions have been literally fulfilled. The
of Edom even the hidden things, will be searched                   land of Edom was situated to the south of the land of
rout and carried away. The enemy twill leave nothing.              Moab; and it extended southward to the eastern gulf
Edom thought to make himself strong by seeking of the Red Sea. Such is Edom's desolation, travelers
alliances with the nations, but all the men of Edom's tell us, that the first sentiment of astonishment on the
confederacy, the men that were at peace with him,             contemplation of it, is, how a wide extended region,
have deceived him and prevailed against him. They now a desert wilderness, could ever have rbeen adorned
that eat Edom's bread have laid a wound under him.            with cities and tenanted for ages by a powerful  pecvple.
       Edom's wisdom and might shall fail him utterly.             Its present aspect would belie its ancient history, were
`Xhe Lord shall destroy the wise men out of Edom; also not that history corroborated by the remains of walls
his mighty men will be dismayed, to the end that every <and paved roads, and by t,he ruins of cities still existing
one of the mount of Esau may be cut off. The reason in the ruined country . The whole country of Edom is


                                                                                                                                               1

                                                   T H E   S T A N D A R D   E E A R E R                                                533
 - --.. -.^-lll__"_._lll__l---"-  .._ - -..._ - ___.-_-  - l.....-llll..      - __.._._..-.  "-.-_- _--.---._-.    .._^ -.-.^^ _^-~-"  _.--
 today a cheerless desolation. Of its large towns noth- lentiles; and he did eat and drink, and `rose up, and
 ing remains but the broken walls and heaps of stones.                      went his way."
`But Edom's stronghold was Mt. Seir. In this region of                         How could Esau barter away this right of his for
 rocky clefts were found Edoms strongest and best forti- some food? The desire was strong in him to instantly
 fied cities. Here on the hight of this mount and in the appease his hunger, which was great. And being a
 clefts of its rocks dwelt Edom securely, so he thought,                    profane man, he yielded. That he `was well aware of
"`0 thou that dwelleth in the clefts of the rock, that the full content of the blessing is certain. This bless-
 holdeth the height of the hill. . . . I will *bring thee                   ing must have been the one topic of conversation in
 down from thence, saith the Lord. Also Edom shall                          Isaac's family. Though he was not the man to <ponder
 be a desolation." It is evidently to these well fortified the revelations made to the fathers, though he was de-
 cities of Edom, that  thlis particular prediction has                      void of grace to discern the things which are of the
yeference. These cities, too, are desolate  ; but, thuugh                   Spirit of God, he must have realized that what he
#desolate, the signs of their former power and splendour                    spurned was in the final instance, not things on this
remain. And these signs are: channels for carrying earth  but the heavenly.
`water,  mausoleums of colossal dimensions,  theatres                          Some years after, Esau on a day again came in from
pith all their benches, capable of holding about three the field with the venison he had taken. This time he
thousand spectators, dwellings, all cut out of the rock,                    made straight for his tent to `prepare for Isaac savory
*out of the side of the mountain.                                           mea&  such as he loved, and to bring it to him, that
     "There shall not be any remaining of the house                         he might eat and that his soul might bless him, Esau,
of Esau. E,dom  shall be cut off forever" (Obad. 10 :11) .                  with the dew of heaven, with the fatness of the earth,
     The house of Esau did remain, and existed in great                     with corn and wine, and pronounce him lord over his
newer, till after the commencement of the Christian brethren. Esau was jubilant, for these things-earthy
era. The Edomites were soon after mingled with other opulence and power-appealed to him mightily. Upon
tribes. In the third century their language was dis-                        these things his affections were set ; not upon God.
used, and their very name utterly perished and their And at that time these things belonged to the content
country itself was united to Arabia. Thus  *while, as of the blessing. ,The birthright therefore had attrac-
also predicted. by the prophets of God, the posterity tion also for the profane Esau. True, he had sold this
of Jacob have been dispersed in every country under right; and the sale he had even &inched qwith an oath.
heaven and are scattered among all nations, the Edom-                       But what had driven him was hunger. And besides,
.ites, though they existed as a nation for more then \vhat was an oath? What is more, the value of what
seventeen hundred years, have been cut off forever. he had parted with was so out of proportion to value
<There is not any remaining on any spot on earth of received-a little pottage-as to render the entire
,the house of Esau.                                                         transaction void. Certainly Jacob must have realized
     Of all Israel's adversaries, not one was so  persist-                  at the time that he had been jesting. Tlhus Esau must
`intly and fiercely hostile as Edom. This can be ex- have reasoned. So, as willingly ignorant of his past
plained. The father of the Edomites was Esau. And                           doing, he hastened to his father's tent with the savory
&he twin-brother of Esau was Jacob, the progenitor of meat he had made him. He craved the blessing. When
&he Israelitish people. Esau was the firstborn. Thus                        therefore he heard Isaac say that Jacob had come with
by birth the right to the specific blessing of Abraham,                     subtlety, and had taken away his blessing, his soul
which included the possession of Canaan, the.covenant                       filled with anguish, and he cried with a great and ex-
`fellowship with Jehovah, and the progenitorship of ceeding bitter cry in the hope that Isaac, seeing his
Him-the Lord Christ-in whom all the families of teaks, would bless also him. Thou,gh his tears did not
the earth were to be blessed, was Esau's. Eut, being a avail, he continued to cry-for this earth. To this
`;profane  man, he was devoid of longing for God. So                        cry Isaac responded ,with a curse. Said he to Esau,
:in  the hour of temptation he fell. Coming in from "Behold, thy dwelling shall be away from the fatness
the field one day, faint with hunger-he had been hunt- of the earth `(so reads the text in the original), and
' `ng-he entered Jacob's tent and spied the  lentiles  that away from the dew of heaven above; and (therefore)
.i is brother  &was  sodding. `Craving food. he said to                     by thy sword thou shalt live, and shalt serve thy
Jacob, "Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red,                           brother; and it shall come to pass when thou shalt
!for I am faint."           Jacob's reply was instantaneous, have the dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke from
"Sell  me this day thy birthright." Esau agreed.                            off thy neck." The mountains in which Esau finally
Since he was going to die, said he, what profit should took up his residence are the most sterile deserts in
this birthright do <him. Was he jesting? Would he in the world. Thus Esau's dwelling-place was to be  $t'-e
afteryears keep him to his bargain? Jacob had his very onnosite of the richly blessed land of Canaan.
doubts.      So he would have his brother swear. And he War. &age, and robbery, were therefore to SUPPOSE
`Sware unto him. Thus did Esau "despise his  birth-                         him in a barren country. `He should serve his brother.
`right. Then did Jacob give him bread and pottage of                        And he did so. This prediction was fulfilled typically

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

in the time of David. By David  `Edom was conquered. saying that Edom's ,hatred concerned first of all God.
However, under king  Ahaz the Edomites liberated Wad God promised to give Esau of the dew of heaven,
themselves entirely from Judah. But this liberation and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and
rwas the curse of God working itself out in Esau in his    wine, he, in his profanity,  iwould  have been real-pleased
generations.      For to be in submission to Jacob was     with God, and this without loving God and longing for
fundamentally a (blessing as Jacob was  Chri$.             Him. Esau could and did not love God ; for God is
        Was the meaning of Isaac's prophecy concerning holy and righteous, and Esau was a profane man. And
Esau fully understood by him? Did Esau realize that herewith has been presented the fundamental reason of
he had been cursed? Or did he imagine that his tears Esau's hatred of Jacob. The latter, despite his failing,
had actually availed and that thus after all he had re-    was an upright man, a chi1.d of grace. Hating right-
ceived a blessing, greatly inferior  tom that bestowed upon eousness, Esau personally and in his generations hated
Jacob, but still a blessing and not a curse? The latter God and His righteous servant. Esau loved wicked-
must have been the case, so that Esau's hatred of Jacob ness. Therefore he also went out from before the face
after the discovery of the deception was due to his        of the Lord and took up his residence in Mt. Seir. And
imagining not that he had been cursed but that he          his borders there were called "the borders of wicked-
had been robbed of the only worthwhile blessing. This      ness" (Mal. I). And finally, as we have seen, the
was the thought that remained with him in his con-         Edomites liberated themselves entirely from Judah.
soious soul through the years. It continued to kindle So did Esau, in his generations, work out his own
his wrath. This-thought he must also have imparted         damnation.
unto his posterity, with the result that through the          But did not Esau in afteryears,`again  take Jacob to
centuries the people of Israel continued to stand out his bosom and place upon his brow the kiss of reconcili-
in the mind of Edom as a race of men by whose father ation? Not actually but only apparently so. True,
it had been swindled out of its real heritage.             as overpowered by a natural affection, Esau rushe'd for-
        However in his more thoughtful moments Esau *ward  and in the next instant was weeping on his
must  .have perceived that Isaac had pronounced no         brothers'  neck. What a glorious display of nobility of
arbitrary blessing and that he could not have pro-         character! But let us bear in mind that, as Esau
nounced blessings at will, that thus, unbeknown to him-    understood it, this brother of his had declared by his
self, he has blessed him whom God had appointed for manner of approach, that he repented of his past
the blessing. Isaac, at the time, had plainly intimated doings and craved the pardon of the victim of his guile  ;
this in his reply to Esau's wailing. Esau had said, that further, he was of a mind to waive his claims to
Is he not rightly named Jacob, heel-catcher, sup- the right he had gained by his deception, was thus
planter?`! `Shall be allowed to get t*he advantage over of a mind.to receive him, Esau, as the elder brother,
me through his acting true to his name and nature-         as the first-born in the house of his father and thus as
treacherously, with cunning and fraud?' To this Isaac the ruler, protector, and benefactor of the clan. Satis-
answered, "I have made him thy lord. . . . with corn       fied that Jacob had returned as a  man of peace, instead
and wine have I sustained him: and what shall I do of as a contender for the priority ; feeling certain that
now unto thee my son?" Isaac had spoken according Jacob was decided to pass under his wing; highly
to truth. He had no more blessing for Esau. And            flattered by the obeisance he had made him, Esau's
previous to the making of this statement, he had said,     anger cooled, so that his natural affection could again
"I have eaten of all before thou camest, and have assert itself. Esau% feet did not lose their swiftness
blessed him.      Yea, and he shall be blessed." Also for shedding blood, his mouth was not cleansed of its
Isaac's trembling had told Esau that his father was        dreadful curses. What happened was that, whereas the
surprised most at the divine decision, ,which had re-      reason for cursing and shedding blood had been re-
vealed itself through Jacob's deception. Isaac was con-    moved, those feet were now swift to carry him into the
vinced that all along in the past he had been striving arms of a brother who had fed his pride and flattered
to forestall that decision, bu,t that even through this    his vanity by crouching at his feet.        G. M. 0.
striving God had caused His counsel to stand. There-
fore he "trembled very exceedingly." Now through
the years and centuries that followed, Edom was con-
tinually being shown, through God's fulfilling His pro-                            NOTICE
mise unto the patriarchs, that Isaac had correctly
affirmed, "Yea, and he shall be blessed", that thus he        The consistory of the First Protestant Reformed
had made no mistake when blessing his second-born Church of Grand Rapids, Michigan hereby announces
son. And from this it follows that the real reason of that Classis East of the Protestant Reformed Churches
Edom's bitter hatred of Jacob was not that Jacob till meet, D. V., September 27,1939  at the above named
had taken away his blessing but that the Lord had church at 9 O'clock A. M.
selected Jacob for the blessing, which is equivalent to                               M. Vander Vennen, Clerk.


                                            ?`t?E  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                           535
                                                                                    .-.._.  -._--_            --...
   Come Now, Let Us Reason Together                                     find evil in the Lord and that thus their apostacy  was
                                                                        ocassioned *by his failing to do right by them. Or it
                                                                        may be that they are of the conviction that their evil
                  Come now, let us reason  toge%er, saith the           conduct can be excused on other grounds. Whatever
                  Lord: t.hough  your sins be as scarlet, they shall    their reactions to the Lord's charges may be, let them
                  be as white as mow; though they be red like           go to God and talk over the matter with Him. Let them
                  crimson, ,they  shall be as wool.                     deny the charge in His very presence, if they have the
                                                  Isaiah  1:18.         courage ; say to his face that they find evil in Him ;
    "Come now, I pray. . . . It is the Lord speaking utter their excuses in His very audience. "Come now,
to His people. He bids them to come to Him that He let us reason together, saith the Lord."
and they may reason, dispute together, speak with each                     But can it be that this is what the Lord means?
other, He ,with them and they with. Hi.m.                               Does the Lord actually afford man the opportunity
    Mark the Lord's manner of speech. What eager- to appear before His throne in His presence to tell Him
ness it betokens! What yearning after His  peopIe   !                   what evil he imagines he finds in Him? Is God willing
"Come now, I pray. . . ." It is, to be sure, a command to discuss with man the charges He has lod,ged  against
to which the Lord here gives utterance. He cannot do him or to allow man to present whatever ground he
otherwise than' command, when addressing Himself to thinks he may have, on the basis of which he imagines
the will of His people, when making known to them that his sins can be explained or excused? Is this the
what He would have them do. For He is God, the construction to be placed upon the'  d,ivine  petition,
sovereign Saviour. But the command is here cast in "Come now, let us reason together?" It is indeed. In
the form of a petition. The great God is here beseech- Scripture the Lord over and over appears as affording
ing. To what extremes He goes to speak comfortabIy                      man, His people, the apostate, this very opportu.nity.
to His people!                                                          By the mouth of the prophet Jeremiah the Lord said
   "Come. . . . Let us reason together. . . ." What to His people Israel, "What iniquity have your fathers
may  the Lord have in mind? What may there be to                        found in me, that they are gone far from me, and
reason together about? The surroundings of this ex- have walked after vanity, and are become vain" (Jer.
hortation tells us. The Lord has lodged a charge  .against              2 :6). And the prophet Micah, speaking for God, makes
His people. "I have", says He to them, "brought up this statement in the audience of the apostate Israel;
children, and t.hey have rebelled against me." The "Hear ye, o mountains, the Lord's controversy, and ye
Lord goes on to say, "The ox knoweth His owner, and strong foundations of the earth: for the Lord has a
the ass his master's crib: but Israel doth not know, my controversy with His people, and he will plead with
people doth not consider. Ah sinful nation, a people Israel" (Micah 6 : 2) . Mark you, a controversy the
laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that Lord has with His people, a dispute, debate, disputa-
are corrupters : they have forsaken the Lord, they have tion. The accused may answer for themselves, deliber-
provoked the holy one of Israel to anger,  t.hey  are ate with God on the charge that He has lodged. And
gone away backward."                                                    He will answer them. How true this is appears from
                                                                        the questions that the Lord by the mouth of the pro-
   Such is the charge. "Come now, I pray thee, and phet puts to His people, "0, my people, what have I
let us reason together, saith the Lord: . . . ." Reason                 done unto thee? and wherein have I wearied thee?
together about what? For one thing, about this charge.                  testify against me" (Micah 6  :3).
It may be that the aceused  maintain that the charge is
not true. In fact there were those who maintained                          In the third chapter of the book of Genesis the Lord
j-ust this. They said, not to the Lord's face but behind actually appears as reasoning with our first parents
His back and to the face of His prophet by the mouth respecting  their disobedience. To Adam, who together
of whom He accused them,-they said, "We are god- witth  Eve, has hid himself f,rom the presence of the
fearing. We walk in the way of God's commandments. Lord, the Lord, calls, "Adam where art thou".  -4nd
Consider this: We bring a multitude of sacrifices unto                  Adam may reply and he does,  " I was afraid, because
th.e Lord. We lay upon His altar burnt offerings of I was naked." Then the Lord once more, "Who told
rams and the fat of fed beasts and the blood of bul- thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten. . .  ."
locks. We appear before the Lord, thread His courts. Adam may again reply. He does so. He has an excuse
We bring oblations and incense and keep the new to offer, "The woman whom thou gavest to be with
moons and the sabbaths, keep the Lord's feasts and me. . .  ." Amazing scene ! The great God disputing
make many prayers". But what saith the Lord, "Your with that ill-deserving speck of dust who had  jtast turn-
new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth. ed his back to God and made common cause `with the
When ye make  m,any prayers I will not hear: your devil!
hands are full of blood" (Isa. 1:X).                                       To Job the Lord said, "Gird up thy loins now like a
   It may be, too, that the accused imagine that they man: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.


536                                           T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
                       " -..-.. ---1.." L-       ...~...".^--~,-l_-  -... - .._... __.-
(30 :7). Job had asked for this.              He has accused God for our sin. But  ou*r trouble is that in our carnal
of  n,ot doing right by him It is well. Let him now                        moments we murmur and complain and find fault with
sustain the charge if he can.                                              God, and deny that we are being rightly accused of
       Why does God condescend to dispute with man?                        Him, not to His face but behind )His back, so to say,
There is no iniquity in Him. His charges are unfail-                       and to t,he face of His servants. When the people of
ingly true, His apparisal unerringly correct. Man  ,is                     Israel said, "Ye have brought us in this wilderness to
without excuse. It is the way of God to allow the ac-                     kill this whole assembly" they were facing Moses and
cused to answer for themselves, in order that the ac-                      had their backs turned to God. But what they said
cused one may never be able to say that he was con-                        was nevertheless meant for God's ears. But this, of
demned by the Judge of all the earth without a hearing.                   course, is what they wou,ld  never have admitted. And
       Come now, I pray thee, let us reason together. . . .                when we are angry with God and are finding iniquity
But can  th.ere  be found a man who would dare to find in Him on account of His demanding of us by the
evil in God and testify against Him? Do not the wicked mouth of His: servants that we forsake our ungodly
set their mouth against the heaven ever? Do they not ways and turn to Him, Ewe bring our fist down upon
say, `H& doth God know? and is there knowledge with the head of him by whose mouth God rebukes and ad-
the Almighty? Do they not rage and imagine a vain monishes us. But that blow is really meant for God.
thing and take counsel together against the Lord?                          But what we refrain from doing is to testify against
But the exhoration under consideration concerns God's God to His face, to face Him with our excuses, to find
people.      The Lord's controversy is with His people. iniquity in Him in His very audience, to actually go
They have forsaken Him. Why have they? Does the                           to Him to have Him dispute with us about our sin,
fau'lt lie with God. : Is there evil with Him? No, none about that evil way in which we may be walking and
whatever. He is righteous God, thrice holy. Yet even concerning which we insist that it is not an evil way.
God"s people do find evil in Him, in their carnal mo-                      But God says, "Come now, let us reason together. . . ."
ments when they walk not with Him, or when God's                           `I with thee and thou with Me'.
doings perplexes and they stand not in their faith.                            Bow  now do those addressed respond? The carnal
       Asaph, seeing the prosperity of the kicked, was seed, the wicked, those devoid of grace, continue to set
envious at the foolish. Then he said, "verily have I their mouth against heaven, to find iniquity in God.
cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in But this they will not continue ever. In the final judg-
innocency. For all t*he day long have I been plagued, ment day these will be made to appear before the throne
and chastened every morning." During their wander- of judgment. They will then be in the very nresence  of
ings in the desert the children of Israel found iniquity                   Christ. And they will stand there mute and trembling
with God over and over." Would to God we had died rrnd without one excuse. They will confess through
by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when their silence that God's charge is true and that He `is
we sat by the fleshpots. . . . For ye have brought us                     righteous in His judgment. They wilt1 thus be testifv-
in this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hun- ing not against God but against themselves. But their
ger." So they spake again and again. This speech confession comes to late. It does not spring from love
was directed `ostensibly to Moses but actually to God.                    bl?t from fear that as to its essence is hatred of God.
The  peopleof  Israel persecuted God's prophets. What Such therefore perish everlastingly.
else did it mean than that they were angry with and                            But there are God's believing people. By the mercies
found iniquity in God on account of His rebuking of God they say now in this life and they say it often,
t,hem by the mouth of His prophets for their sin?                         continually, Lord, we dare and desire not to dispute
       "Come now, my people, let us reason together. `. . .               with thee. Thy charge is true, We have sinned against
What have I done unto thee?" `Tell me. Come into                          Thee. And we are without excuse. The fault is  all
my presence and testify against me, or let me hear                        ours. Thou art righteous God. 0, our sins ! If thou
the ground upon which you think your sin perhaps can                      shouldst mark transgressions. . . . Lord, have mercy!
be excused. Deny the charge to my face ,if you think                           Now to such God ' says, " Though your sins be as
it untrue. And I will answer thee. Come now, let us                       scarlet, they shall be  as  white as snow; though they be
`eason  together.`?                                                       red  like crimson, they shall be as wool." This word
       I& no one of God's believing people say that this                  He sneaks in the hearts of His people. Through it he
speech of  C*od, this exhortation, does not concern him.                  genders in them that confidence toward Him which
Finding iniquity in God. This God's believing people they need. And they go then into the holiest and. an-
do as often as they murmur and complain on account near in His  presence  before His face not to testify
of what God sends them in this life. How inclined they against Him but to cry out His praises.
still are, when rebuked of God, to say that they have
no sin, and to reason away their sin. How prone we                                            (To be continued)
are to become angry with God when rebuked of Him                                                                     G. M. 0.


