 VOLUME XVIII.                                              JULY. 1, 1942                                                    NUMBER 19

                                                                     wordt gesteld, en zooals  bet door den Heere der  heir-
                                                                     seha,ren wordt  bevteiligd,  geheiligd en  `ge1ouher.d ; en het
                                                                     tweede stuk  l,oopt tot het einde der profetie, voorspelt
                                                                     denzeil2den strijd, maar zooals  deze uitloopt op  Je,.u-
                                                                     zalems  -&ndelijke   overwinnipg.
  Jeruzalem  ,Der-  Goddelobzen  Aanstoot                                `t Is  de.last vari h-et  "Woord des Heeren over Israel,
                                                                     over Jnda en  J.eruzalem;  over  d:e- Kerk in het  midden-
           Ziet, `Ilk aal Jeruzcdem itellen tot eene &rin&           der  wereId. .  .'  :
           schaal d&r xwijmel+,g allen volken ronclom;                 E n         dit  alles.  wordtingeleid door het.  veelbeteeke-
           in, ook en1 xii zijn over, Judg, in de belegering nende : "De Heere  ,spreekt."
           tegen Jerusalem. En het ~a.1 te dien clage ge-: De.HEERE!                                  `.           ..-
           schiedek, dat ik Jerusalem xal stellen tot ee'n           .Hij  i s   JeruzSlems  G o d '!
            lastigen steen  allen volken;  allen,  die  xich             D,e  Verbonds'God,  Die  >eruzaiem  -v&l&en  heeft tot
            claarmede'  -beladen  zulle~  gewissdijk  door- Zijn6 erve, Die  haren  weg;haren  strijd en haar lijden,
           sneclen  worden; en  .a1  de volken der  aar@             maar ook  overwinning  ,@eeft` bepaald  voor de  grondleg-
          zullsn eich tegen haar versamelen.                         ginlg  d&r  wereld,.-en  Die dien weg  b,estvurt en op het
    De Heere spreekt !                     Zach.  121*2j   3 .       door Hem  (bepaalde  einde doet  aanloopen.
    ISij is de  HEE,RE,  Jehovla, de Ik  zad zijn.                       Hij kan spreken, want het einde is Hem  van den
    Hij is de  Eer&e,- maar ook de  Laatsbe; de Alpha                aanbeginne. b&end !             En niets kan Zijn  Woord ooit
en de  Omega.                                                        vterijdelen,  of "Zijn hoog  besluit ooit keeren",  want de
    Hij verkondigt de  dingen  iran  den.  aanbeginne~i-id           HEERE is de  volstrekt  almachtige   Potentaat!
kondigt het einde  aan van het  begin, Hij, de  Onver:                   Hij is het, Die -den  hemel  uitbreidt en  `de  s&?de
anderlijke !                                                         grondvest ! Let  wel,.  n&t alleen'heeft Hij in den  Ibe-
    Daarom  k,an hij ook  aan  J.eFtizalem b&end  maken,             ginne het  fixlmatient  uiltgebreid,   maaxnog altijd  l%eeft
wat  haar weg  za! zijn door heel de  geschiedenis tot het dtit `firmament des  hemals  zijne  spanning,   o,mdat.  Haij
eindle toe. Het' is "de last van het  woor,d  d!es  H,eer,en het met Zijne almachtige  tiakd  die spanning  geeft : Hij
over  ~Israel." !$ Is  bet  Wooed, dat eeuwig zal  bestaari.         breidt  den .hemel uit al?  eeti diirinen doek. En'als.  straks
    Een  nieuw  ged.eelte  van, de  pr9f.eti.e  yqn  Z,aeharia       die  Ctgebreide  hemel  zijp:  ,doel  .heeft  ge.diend,  dan-,rolt,
wordt hier  illgeleid. Het is  he&  sl@stuk  deir  voor- Zijne hand hem toe: .  :  ;
zeggingen des  profeten..  En  daarii.
                                    . .-   wor& ons  getee-              Hij heeft  niet slechts bij  d'e  sehepping de  aar'cle.ge-
keed Jeruzalems positie en  wpl-ste!ing.ell-lijaen  teqid-           grondvest,  maar Zijne  haDd doet nog altijd,  eti`%ot
den eener  vijandtge  wereld,. die  $siar.  $$+a&   en  haat  - bet einde toe,  <de aarde op  hare  grondvesten  &tin, en
en van  alle  kanten  b&g&, het  pp-,,btarTF  ondergang  - &r&s,   wanneer ook die  &otidvesten   1haa.r  doal,  $ebben
keeft gemunt  ; en ook  har,e  heerlij-k&.toekomst.  Daar is         bereikt,  heeift Hij  slechts Zijne hand  terug te  Itrekkeh,
lijden en  verdrukkiqg te  veax$qhtq.yoor  de  Kerk'des              om de  wereld ineen te  doen storten. . . . . .
Heeren, maar ook  bewaring en eene  .eindelijke  volko-                  Alle  dingen zijn in Zijne  han.d!
men overwinning. E6n profetie is  I-&, want hetzelfde                     Odk de  gee&  ,des  mensahen !
thema  wdrdt &r in behand'eld:   do,ch `dit laatste-&uk  val&            Niets bedenkt`de  tiensch, niets kunnen  `de  machtigen
in  tw.ee  ,deelen  uiteq: het  eer;st$: gedeelte, dat  loopt tot    der aarde  ber&adSlag&   tegen Jeruzalem, dat niet door
het zesde vers van hoofdstuk dentien,  teekent ons  Jey,u-           Hem  met  ,be&lisfe   .souverein&eilt   wlordt  (bepaald  en  be-
zalem,  zoo$s.het  door de  vijand;en  wordt  bestookt, en           stu%urt.              -                      . . . .
door  Gbd'  tot.,,een  aanstqot   .vo?r.~de  ,goddelooie  -wereld       -  `@ij  f~x%~e$r~  d+  &.yxx%en geest  m  zqn  binnenste !
                                                   .

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

       De God van Israel is het, Die in heel deze  profebie  eener  vijandilge  wereld!
spreekt !                                                               Dit  .is  wlel  duidelijk uit hetgeen we in  !net verleden
       D.e  H e e r e   H E E R E !                  .  ..;         uit de  profefie van  Zaoharia  hebiben geleerd  aangaande
                                                                    &e  stad Gods, die  dorpsgewijze  zou  worden  bewoond,
                                                                    die  groolt en  heerlijk zou  worden, in  h&  midden  waar-
 Zi,et ! . . . .                                                    van alle volken zouden  aanbidden. Dit is ook  genoeg-
   Ik zal Jeruzalem  stellen . . . .                                zaam duidelijk uit het tiende  vers van dit  ,hoof,dst;uk,
   Vergeten we niet,  dat de  profe;tie staat op en  Uit-           dat zeker op den  Pinksterdag  zijn  aalereerste  vervulli?g
jgaat`van  het  standpunt van des profeten  tij,d en  om- had. En  eir&lijk wordt dit bevestigd door  bet  Nieuwe
s t a n d i g h e d e n .                                           Testament, dat immers  alitijd nog  spreekt van  Jeru-
       Zoo is het altijd. De  openbaring  der  profetie is          za.lem,  schoon  de aardsche  &ad reeds  lang werd  ver-
voor heel de  Kerk de eeuwen door, voor de Kerk van                 woest.'
den tegenwoordigen tijd en  der  toekolmst, maar ook                    Jeruzalem is de Kerk !
voor de  geloovigen  .van den dag,  yaarin de  psofatie                 Verschillende  vormen neemt de stad Gods  aan.
eei-st  werd  gegeven. Houden we dit  nietvoor  #de  aan-           Wezenlijk is ze altijd  d,ezelfde. Nimmer bestaat het
dacht, dan  vallleri we in  Nd,e  dwaling van het  Chilias*me       wezen  vlan  Jerqzalem in  gene  &ad van hout en  Steen,
met zijn  dispens,a&alisme en  v&brokkeling van  .het               van  aa*rdsche  menslchen  tin aardsche  vorlmen van  gods-
 Wooed Gods. Dan is  J*eruzalem  altijd de aardsche stad            dlienst. Altijd is Jeruzalem  stad  Gods, de &ad, die
van hout en  skeen, met  zij,n  aardschen tempel en met             fundamenten  heeft,  welker- kunstenaar en bouwmeester
zijn  aards.che   vormen van  h& koninkrijk Gods. Dan               God is, de  gemeensohap van God met Zijn  vulk. In
~zijn Israel  -en  Juda altijd het  O,ud  T,estamentisc,he volk.    JeFuzalem  w?ont God.  Daar  wandelt Hij met hen,
Dan komt het  noo,itverder met het werk  Gods door de               daar zegent Hij hen, daar  rege&  Hij'  .door Zijnen
geschiedenis. Dan geldt deze  prosetie-o,ns  feitelijk niet,        Geest en Zijne  genade.; en  daar  dient het vdk  `Hem en
maa,r  dleen  `den  Jod.en. En dan keert God  stcraks  op           ,vterkondigt  belt de deugden Desgenen,  di,e hen  geroeben
Zijn schreden door  de  geachiedenis  tenuig, om te her-            heefk uit de  dui+sternis tot Zijn  wlondaerbaar   lieht. I n
bouw,en en  te  h.erstellen,   wa't reeds lang  verwoest  werd.     de oude  bedeeling nam die stad Gods den  vo,rm  aan
       ,DOch zoo is het `niet !                                     eener aardsche stad. Daar stond de aardsche tempel.
       Voo,r Gods volk de  eeu;cven door is ook dit gedeelte        Daar  werden door  aardsohe  priesters aardsche offer-
&r  Sehrift. Hun geldt  o&k deze  voorspelling.                     anden gebracht. Daar was ook  d'e  aaxdgehe   berag  Sions
       En destijds,  toen de' profeet deze  openbar.ing   ont-      en daar stond de aardsche troon van David. Dat alles
ving, bestond dat  volk des Heeren in den  vorlm  nag               werd venwoest,  Mom nimmer in dien  vurm weer  Ite  wdr-
eener  natie, het Israel  dser  oude-  bedee1in.g..  Toen  na&      ,den  opgericht. Maar ofschoon de  porm van het oude
de Kerk nog den  vlo,rrn  aan van het  aard6ch.e  Jer:uzalem.       Jeruzalem.  verdween, Jeruzalem bleef, en werd  ver-
En  omdat ook  voor de  Keh;k van dien dag dit  Woord hoogd  enverheeutlijkt. In de  nieuwe bedeeling is  Jeru-
`Gods  golld,  daarom  ken  h e t   we1  n i e t   and.ers  o f   bet zalem  wezenlijk  hemel&,  .het  Jeruzalem,   d&t  boven  is,
moest-  zioh aansluiten  bij de  omstandigheden  en  dn             hetielk  i s   o n z e r   aller  moedm.  Want  J e r u z a l e m s
vormen,  waaronder de Kerk van' dien dag  beston,d.                 Koning en  Venlmser is g&omen, is  gestorven,  begra-
       Vandaar : Jeruzalem . . . . en  oak. Juda.                   ven, en  ten  derden  dage  opgewekt,  Y;eFheerlijkt  aan de
       Aan geen tegenstelling is hier te  denken. Zoo is  db        reohterhand  d e s   Vadms,  e n   heeft  n.u  alie  macht  i n
~&tdrukkin~g  : "zij  zal ook over  J,uda zijn"  w,el  ver-         hemel en op aarde. Tempel en  altaar, de berg Sions
Maar d, Juda  liti  dan  buit$n Jemzalem, dat door de               en de troon  Davids,-ze  zijn  ithans alle  Iboven, in den
vijanden  wotidit belegerd. En het maakt gemeene zaak               hemel, waar Christ&  is zittende  aan de rechterhand
met den  vijand.  Daarom  zal de  drinksch,aal  d,er  zwij-         Gods. Maar dit  hemelsche Jeruzalem telt hare burgers
meling  qok~  "06x Juda zijn". Doch een zeer  &wax--  ook op  aaide. Ook in het  mi,dd)en eener vijandige
schijnlijke verklaring mag  .dit  w&$eti  ge&ht. -En                wereld  verschijnt dit  hemelsohe Jeruzalem.
bovendien  strijdt  ze  tegen  heigeen. we in het  vemolg               De Kerk van den  ni&&en dag !
van dit  hooSdstuk  van Juda lezen. Jeruzal.em  en Juda  ~-             Want  we1 is  d#ie  KeYik "gekomen tot den  berg Sion,
zijn  &n. Niet de  drinksrclhaal  `d&r  zwijmeling zal  o+er        en  .de stad des  levenden Gods, tot  h&t  hemelsche  Jeru-
Jucia. zijn,  maa;  I  ,de last `van  h.etzelfd#e  Wooed  d,es      zalem, en de  v@le  duizenden der  engelen; tot de  alge-
Heeren over  Israel;- dat  Jeruzal.em   geld& is ook  voor meene  vergadering  en de gemeente der  eerstgeborenen,
Jluda. Tezamen  vopmen  ze het  Q&e  vulk  d,es  verbonds.          &in  de hemelen  upgeschreven zijn" (Heb. 12  :22, 23).
Bei,de zijn ze, als  h&t  &he volk  des.Heeren,  voomerp                Maar  to&  woonit"zij   nag up aarde,  en verkeert zij
van den  haat der vdken. En door  d!en Heere  worden                eijdelijk in de  wereld,      Straks neemt  Jepuzaiem haar
ze  gesteld tot een  drinkschaal der  -z.wijmeling   allen          eeuwigen vorm  aan!  -'
volken.                                                                 Dan  komt  &  ebn  nieuwe  hemel en eene nieuwe
I  ~e.z@nlijk is dit  Je~u&&m de Kerk in  bet  midden               a&r&!  En dan  da&  `t  volmaakte en  beiels&e  Jem-
                                                                                                     -~ ___.__._.  _ .2-..


                                              T H E ' S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                                    419

  zalem  uit den  hemel van God op de nieuwe aarde neer !                   spreidt ze ten  toon hare  schatten  voor de oogen van
       De stad Gods in `t  Kansan der  ruste !                              Jeruzalems  burgers, haar geld en  goed, haar macht
                                                                            en posiitie,  haar eer van menschen en haar zingenot ; de
       Ik zal Jeruzalem stellen!                                            lust des vleesches, de lust  der oogen, de grootheid des
       God stelt Zijn volk in de wereld in het  midden der                  levens.  Dikwijls ook,  -als ze merkt, dat  -geen  valsche
 %vijanden!                                                                 philosophic  e n   g e e n   schijnschoon  d'er  verl.eiding  d e
       `t  Lijkt niet zoo!                                                  Kerk  t o t   a f v a l   k a n   bewegen,  openbaart  z e   zich  i n
       `t Schijnt veeleer alsof de vijanden Jeruzalem  stel-                hare ware gedaante van  haat en nijd en  vijandxhap
  len tot het mikpunt van hunne booze  aanvalllen.                          tegen den  aherhoogstfen  God. . . . .
       Al de  volken  der  aardi  verzamel'en  zich.  itegen haar !               Dan  trekt ze het  zwaard!
  Van rondom  r&ken ze  aan, om  .Jeruzalem te  verwoes-                          Dan  benart ze de burgers van Jeruzalem in  bun
  ten. . De  stad Gods is  abeltegerd,  aan  alle zijden  inge-             aardsche positie !
  sloten,  volgens de  voorstellinlg  in deze  prof,etie.                         Dan  geefit ze Gods  volk  geen  pl,aats  meer voor het
       Zooals een  wellustige dronkeman  zi,ch zet  om zijn                 ho1 van hunnen voet. Dan  veroorl,ooft  ze hun  met om
  sterken. drank op te  zweldgen, zoo zijn de vijanden  ver-                te koopen of te verkoopen !
gaderd,  om  zilch  aan Jeruzalem  te  `goed-te  doen,  bun                       Dan doodt ze hen den  ganschen hag !
  haat en vijandschap  aan Jeruzalem te bekoelen, haar te                         En  tech: `t is  alles van den  HEERE !
  verwoesten.  J.eruzalem is  Hun een  Steen, die hun in                          Ik zal Jeruzalem stellen !
                                                                                                          .~
  den weg  sitaat. Ze zijn met man en macht gekomen                                     >
  om die  Ylastigen  steen" voor  altij,d uit den  w:eg te
  ruimen.                                                                         Een aanstoot !
       Zoo was het  on&r de  ou,de bedeeling.                                     Meer dan  overtinnaar is Jeruzalem !
       Letterlijk stond  toen de stad Gods als een  aahrds,che                    Nooit wordt des  vtijands  doe1  gediend in deze be-  ^
  stad  temid.den  van  aardsch,e  en vijandige volken. En                  legering van Jeruzalem, in de vervolging der Kerk.
  a1tij.d  was ze gehaat. Door  h:ee.l haar geschiedenis  heen              `t Is God,  ,die  Jer.uzalem   alzoo in het  midden der  vijan-
  was ze het voorwerp van de  pogintgen der  volkeren om                    den stelt, `It Is  ,God,s   d,oel, dat gediend moet  worden !
  haar  ter aarde  ltoe te verwoesten. En hare inwoners                           Want Hij stelt Jeruzalem tot een zwijmeldrank, en
  konden metterdaad kbgen:  `Ze hebben mij  ditijls                         tot een "lastigen"  Steen.
  benauw,d  v a n   m i j n e   jeugd  af.  Zegge  n u   Isr,ael;  z i j          `Figuurlijke taal wordt hier gebruikt, om de  ge-
  hebben mij dikwijls van mijne jeugd af benauwd. . .  :                    daehte zoo scherp mogelijk voor te stellen. Jeruzalem
  Ffloegers   hebben op  mijnen rug `geploegd; zij hebben                   wotrdt  voorgestel,d  als een  schaal  vol van een  bezwijme-
  hunne voren lang getogen. . .  :'                                         leeden drank.  GretiLglijk zwelgen de vijanden den
       En niet anders is het  onder de nieuwe bedeeling.                    drank op.  Doch  &et, ze  worden dronken, ze  doen
       Neen, `t is niet  langer een  stiijd `van  natie tegen               vreemd  ; ze tuimelen,  ee waggelen ; ze  w&en niet wat
  natie. De  vollkeren der wereld  k*unnen  zich niet  langer               ze  ,doen. Of ook: Jeruzalem is een zware  Steen. En
  stellen tegen Jeruzalem door op te  trekken tegen eene                    de vijanden  t,r.achten den  Steen uit den weg  te  ruilmen.
  &ad en haar te  belegeren. Jeruzalem en- de vijand                        Doch ze  aichten  zich een  breuk,  aan den  Steen.
  beide zijn thans  onder  alle  volkeren der aarde.                              Jeruzalem een  -aanstoot  !
       Do& de  strijmd is  d.aarum niet minder  werkelijk.                        Zoo  tech is de  gedachte. Zeker, door h-et  beeldvan
       Want de "wereld"  staat  onder de heerschappij van                   den  zwij.meldrank en den  "lastigen",  veel te  zwlaren
  den vorst der duisternis. Zij heeft  d,e duisternis  liever               Steen,  wordt ook aangeduid,  dat de vijand tevergeefs op
  ,d.an  ,het  Ii&t. Ze  haat God en Zijn  verbond en Zijn                  Jeruzalem zal  aanvallen; nooit de overwinning  zd heb- . .
  Christus  en Zijn  volk. En ze stelt  zich altijd  :tegen de              ben, dat  J,eruzalmem  d,oor hen nimmer  zal kunnen  wor-
  Kerk, om haar op te zwelgen, haar te  verwioesten. Die                    ,den v&woe& Maar  tech : door den Heere  lwordt  Jeru-
  Kerk is  haar  e-en  lastige~  Steen, die haar in den weg                 zalem  gesteld in het  midden der vijanden, en dat als
  staat. Want die Kerk heeft het Woord Gods, en  ver-                       een  bezwijmelenden  d&&k,- als een  ,steen,  waaraan men
                                                                                                                --._`._
kondigt  dat` Woord, en in  ,die  verkondiging staat ze                     zilch een breukt  iilt.      -1  .T--
  voor de zaak  des  aevenden  Gods, en  vleroord,eelt  ze  d,e                   Een  Steen des aanstoots en eep rots der ergernis!
  werel,d en  sd.e werken  der duisternis.                                        Zoo  was het  centraal met  Christus. Zoo is  bet, nog
       Daarom bestookt ook thans  die,vijandige wereld de                   altijd met  d,e  Kenk des  Heeren-in'~e~.i;vereld,  die  staat
  Kerk, en belegeren de  volkeren  der aarde Jeruzalem                      voor de zaak des levenden Gods.' -Hoemeer  die  werel,d
  we1 zeer  gwerkelijk !                                                    zi,ch  -keert tegen de Kerk, hoe dwazer ze  wordt en  doeit.
  :    En  di.e wereld  lgebruil@  verschiUende  wapenen,                   En  hoe!meer ze op  d,e Kerk aanvalt, hoe  meer ze haar
       Soms valt ze op  Jeruzal,em   aan  sdoor de wapenen                  eigen verwoesting  tie&t !
  der  valsche  philosophic, -en  1e.g-t ze bare. mijnen van                      Staat dan voor de  za&  des  leveaden Gods!
  leugen en bedrog onder de  gron~dvesten  der stad. Soms                   :      DeHeerespreekti                         .I"     _     -,-`-`i-     H.H.

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


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                                               EDITOR - Rev. ,H. Hoeksema                                                                                               p                                        PRE-SYNODICAL SERMON
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                                                                          CONTENTS                                                                                                                  Christ  had -come to  manif,estation there, had been
                                                                                                                                                                                  Page              called  0~~5  of  &he  ,worJd into  *he kingdom of God's
MEDITATIE  -                                                                                                                                                                                        dear Son, out of the darkness of heathendom into the
  JERUZA'LEM, DEB GODDELOOZEN AANSTOOT . . . . . . . . . . . 417                                                                                                                                    light of the gospel of  Chri`st. And, behold, how quickly
            Rev.  H. Hoeksema.  I                                                                                                                                                                   the wiles of the devil had deceived  the believers in
E D I T O R I A L S   -                                                                                                                                                                             Corinth; how  easily the'  deceitiulness  -of sin had
  SITEDFAST AND ABOUN,DING  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .._I......... 420 wrought havoc. in the youthful  bhurch ! Disrupted
 Rev. H. Hoeksema.                                                                                                                                                                                  they were by the' spirit of partisanship, so that  o,ne
`IlHE   T R I P L E   XNOWLEDGE   -                                                                                                                                                                 said : "I am of  Apollos",  another : "I am of Cephas" ;
  EXPOSITION OF THE IIEIDE.LBERG  CATECHISM......424                                                                                                                                                a third : "I am of Paul" ; while a  fonrth-would acclaim
 R e v .   H .   H o e k s e m a .                                                                                                                                                                  Christ as  tihe head of his party ! Disfigured the  &Lwch
                                                                                                                                                                                                    was by shameful  sines and  corrluptions,  and at  itheir
  THE LIVING  ,CREATURES  CCHERUBIM)  IN EZEK.                                                                                                                                                      love-feasts one  tias  *hungry and  anohher drunken !
  1 ahd 10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , . . , . . . . . , . . . . . . . . . . . . 427    And its very foundations  wer,e shaken by  false  doc-
           Rev. G. M. Ophoff.                                                                                                                                                                       tzine, so that they even denied the resurrection  `of the
  SMART TE  MIDD'EN  VAN  VALSCH,HEID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 430                                                                                                           dead ! Yet, approaching the close of his epistle to
          Rev. G. Vos.                                                                                                                                                                              Ithem, in which he  instr(ucted,   admoni,shed,  rebuked
  GEDOOPT VOOR DE DOODEN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 432 theni, the apostle in this final exhortation does not
          Rev.  W. Verhil.                                                                                                                                                                          hesitate to address them as his b&loved brethren !
                                                                                                                                                                                                    He knew that the church of Corinth was not his work,
  GOVERNMENT RELIEF AND THE DEACONATE...;..,....                                                                                                                                                    but  th.e  (work of the Lord, and that the gates of hell
      Rev. L. Vermeer.                                                                                                                                                                              canno% overwhelm the  chturch  ob  .Christ in the  wor*ld.
  SUBMLSSION  TO CHU?CH GOVERNMENT . . . . . ..a.............. 436                                                                                                                                  He knew, too, that the believers  .in this  wiorld still
          Rev.. J. D. de Jong.                                                                                                                                                                      carry about with them the "body of this death.", and
                                                                                                                                                                                                    so, through  ;the darkness he could perceive the light,
  THE CHRISTIAN SGHOOL AND THE CHURCII . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 438 throu,gh the corruption of  sin he  .saw the saints in
          Rev. G. Lubbers.                                                                                                                                                                          Christ Jesus, through the dissension and disruption he
  NIEUWS VAN ONZE KE'RKEN  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 440 saw the unity of the communion of Christ's body, and
          Mr. S. De  Vnies.                                                                                                                                                                         he does not hesitate  io address them even now as "my
                                                                                                                                                                                                    beloved brethren  !"
                                                                                                                                                                                       _                                                 - .
                                                                                                                                                                         -.


                                                T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                            421

         In the  narr,o,west sense the conjunction "therefore" raging  wayes of  $he sea. And together the two words
    connects this  exho'rtation  with the immediately` pr&                    mi&t be paraphrased by  ;the,exhortation  : be ye, there- I
    ceding verse. God giveth us  ;tihe victory through our                    sore, persevering,  w*hatever forces of darkness rise
    LoFd Jesus  C,hrist. Therefore, we  kno8w, that our work                  against you !
    shall not be  vail1 in the Lord. Let us, then, be stedfast                    To be stedfast means to stand somewhere, on a
    and unmoveable, constantly  aboundin!g in the work of                     definite, clearly  circumscribed  place, and to stand  th&e
    the Lord.  In a broader sense,  holwever, -this exhorta-                  firmly. For the Church as a whole, as  wrell as  fo,r the
    tion constitutes the conclusion of the entire  cha.pter                   individual <believer, this  @ace on which to stand is
    on the  resunrectiori of Jesus Christ, and the  glorious                  Christ.    Chrisit is the sole and  sdr,e  f,osndation of the
    resurr.ection of  the.saints  wibh him. It is in this  resur-             ,Church, and on  IHim the Church is  fbunded. He is the
    rection that they have the hope of victory ; let them,                    soil in which  the individual  *believer is rooted, from
    therefore, be stedfast and  unmoveabl.e, always abonnd-                   which he draws his life, his  alil. Tlhe power by which
    ing in the work of the Lord. And in the  widest sense,                    %he Church is fastened to this sure foundation, and by
 w,e may, we cannot fail  to  see in  thi's exhort&ion a                      which the  bdievler is rooted  iti  Chris.t,  is  .the spiritual
    ref,erence  to.all the apostle had written to them in  bhis               poiwer of faith, that faith which is both, a certain
,epistl:e.      `Glancing back  ,over the  ,entire  letter, the               knowl.edge  13 all  `chat God has revealed in His Word,
    apostle realizes that they had need of  the  eyhortation                  and a hearty  confid'enke, whereby I rely wholly,  fo,r
    t o   b e   stedfait  a n d   unmoveabI.e,  a n d   t o   abonnd,  i n    time and eternity, on the God of my salvation in  Chrisk
    ChrisUs work. And always again the church of the                          Jesus our Lord. It  folow.s, therefore, that  wfith re-
    Lord Jesus Christ has need  -of hearing this twofold                      spect to  he,r conscious Iife and, walk in the world, the
    admonition : persevere and abound  ; and of being re-                     Icihunch organically and institutionally, and the be-
    minded of her sure hope: your work will not be vain                       liever  individ.uailly  ,must be  @edfast in the  truth as it
    in the Lord! And the more need she has to hear this                       is revealed in the Scriptures. "Be ye,  therefo're,   `sted-
    Word -of  God as the time of the coming of Christ ap-                     fast" means : be  fir,ml,y established in  the truth as it is
    proaches,  apostacy from the faith increases, wicked-                     in Christ!
    ness abounds in  the  wonld, and the position of the                       - Now,  what does this  irrqly? First of all, it means
    &urch in the  iworld  becolmes more precarious and                        that believers should  kn'ow  t!he truth.  Xhey  should
   . apparently impossible. It is with this in mind that I                    have a clear and  full conception of the  whole counsel
    :decided to call your and my own -attention to this                       :of God  conce~rning  6ur salvation.. I say, a clear, that
    lScripture tonight.                                                       is, well defined -conception of  ;t.he truth. Our know-.
        W,e see at a  gbnloe that the words of  o'ur text con-                ledge of  the truth  m'ust not be vague and  ambiguo,us,
    tain a twofold exhortation,  hhe two parts of which are                   for if it is, we  wil.1 not be able to discern `between the
    very  closeily related and-interdependent. The first part                 truth and  tjhe lie  ; and if we fail clearly  to, distinguish
  of  bhe admonition urges us to persevere. For such is                       between.truth  and error, we cannot clearly discern the
    the meaning of the figurative expressions :  st&&st and                   place on  whi,ch we  m&t stand,  wle  will  wander away
    ummoveable.       B,oth these expressions are, evidently,                 from the fonndation `Of truth, and before we' even
    figurative. Both make  US  think Of an  edi,fice  th.at is                kno,w  will have landed in the sphere  o,f the lie. For
    built upon a  suture foundation, or of  $he sturdy oak                    the same reason,  o~ur  knowlefige of  tihe truth  must be
    ;that is firmly and deeply rooted in the ground, or of                    complete,  ftill,  embracin,g the  :&hoae  &unsel of God.
    the rocky cliff that proudly  ri.ses in an  allmost per-                  We  eust  noit be  seatisfiecl with  a. little gospel one can
    pendicular  l,ine from the surface of the ocean, and                      write  oh his  thumbntiil, but appropriate all that God
    against which -the angry billows beat in vain.                  And       has  revealled to  L& in His Word. It implies, in the
    both terms together refer to what we  expjress  by the                    second place, that this-truth is spiritually appropriated
    phrase  "perseveranlce  of  &he saints". The first term                   b y   aus.  M e r e   inrtellectual  ktio,yledge  o f   $he  truth  i s
    "stedf&"  copsiders-  this  perseve,rance as such, by it-                 n o t   s3tifficient. Stedfastness means that we firmly
    self, apart from its relation to the  evil1 influences of the             stand on -the basis `of that truth, and that, therefore;
    world  aed the attacks of the  enemy;  tihe second word,                  it has become for  us a living  conlti&ion,  a  deefly
    "unmoveabl'e", looks at  ;that same perseverance,  b:ut                   roosted  certainty, the certainty of faith. We, then,
    this time from the  aspect of its  bein.g put to a severe                 know the truth spiritually. We embrace it  width  .a11
t e s t .   Tthe  f i r s t   expr,ession- brings to yonr mind the            our  heart. W,e love it and always give it the testimony
    mighty  o'ak as it  ,stands  quietly in  ;t-he  cal'm atmosphere  ;       that it is the truth.  Thir,dly, to be stedfast also  i&-
    the  second word shows you that same oak as -it is                        plies,  that we confess the truth. We  dd so as a  @ureh
    siwept by the tempest only' to strike its roots more                      in  o.ur standards. For  US this means that  w.e stand
    deeply in  t&i ground. The  first term makes  you think                   ori the basis  ,of the Reformed Confessions,  unadmul;ter-
    of the rock  ,as it rises from the  plains of  Wyomi-ng;                  ated by the alien elements of the "three points", `the
   the second of the  r&k as it stands in the midst of  f&e                   heart of  w&h is the truth of God's `absolutely  sover-


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 I.,
422                                                  ,TR#         STkNDARD
                                                                                                  BE/Rea                                          -

                                                                                                                                            .          _


ejgn grace. But we also confess the  truth  as--individual                              &.`hahd, so  that we are passively carried along.
Christians in the  mid& of the  worJ,d. To stand on the                                 Rather  dloes God's power of grace hold and preserve
basis of the truth, to preach  an.d to teach and to con-                                us from within, from our deepest heart, and in the
fess that truth in all its purity and definiteness,-that                                strength  which His grace supplies do we hold on  ;to
is to be stedfast. And, lastly,  froim this it follows,                                 Him in Christ. And so, even though it is  all of God's
tliat this truth also becomes the sole  controllling  power                             soverei.gn  grace,  ther:e is room for the  cons&t  admoni-
iti our  sctiual  lifme, so that we gladly and  stedfastly  r,uh                        ti'on : "Be  ye,  therefor,e, stedfast, unmoveable."
ifi the way of God's  commam3ments,   an,d stand for the                                    But  bhere is  ano&her element  `in  ;this  exhortation,
cause of  the-Son of God in the midst of  bhe world.                                    intimately related to the first:  `CaEways abounding in
 Now, tie  -must maintain this  stedfastness in the                                     the work of the  hard.`! I like to  emphasize, first of all,
midst of the  world. And this implies that our perse-                                   that the work in which we must abound is definitely
verance in the truth will be tested. The  world lies in                                 the  work of the Lond. Do not be too hasty  in:para-
)darkness.        I t   .loves  da?kness  r&her  t h a n   light.  I t                  phrasing this  expr.ession into : "the work for the Lord,"
stands in enmity against God and His Christ.  3t loves                                  for then we might miss  -the true meaning of the
the lie and hates  $he truth. And it  deli,ghts to  Jive                                apostle. 0, `we in our modern. times hear a good deal
from the  princip1.e of the lie. It  deve]Jops the lie in                               about working for the Lord. To work for the  Lord,
all kinds of false  phillosophy.  and heresies, and it                                  to do something for Jesus,---that is true Christianity!
cT&tes  for itself a  worl,d full of the  h&t of the flesh,                             It matters not  v&at  we believe, if we  only do some-
and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. And                                    thing  f&  Christ! Yes,  but  let us not forget that it
this  would,  wtih its Prince, the  devi.1, is not purely                               is the work  of  the Lord in which we are exhorted to
external to the  ch.urch visible in the world. It  is. al-                              be abounding by the  w#or,ds  of our text. And this
ways in the church, in the carnal  eelement of  t.he church                             means, first of all, that  the,work is most emphatically
as well as  ix the old nature of  b4ievers.m  And this                                  His, not ours. Lt  is His,  noit only in the sense  that He
"tiorld" cannot leave the church  alone. It  must needs                                 determines  wlhat must be done, that He alone has the
at$ack   h e r .   I t   w i l l   t r y   to,  m a k e   inroa'ds   i n t o   t h e    prer.04gativ!&  and  a.uthority to command and to demand
CGuroh.   `It  will attempt to deceive  $er by its false                                strict  o.bedience  ;. but it is  {His work  ails20 in  athe sense
philosophy, and to  confu'se her mind and heart by all                                  $hat it is  He  t&at  .does it! He  di,d the work  for  us,
kinds of  heresites. And it will tempt her to seek  +he                                 in our stead and, in our behalf when He shed His  life-
things of the  worl,d, to follow! after  ;the vanities of its                           baood on the  accutised tree and was  obedi&t even unto
id&s, to seek the `lust of the  fl,esh, that she may be                                 the  d,eath of the cross.  Jt is  H,e  t4hat also does the
swlalflowed  up by its corruption. Well,  it is in the                                  iyork  wikhin  us, calling us  o,ut of darkness into  ;marvel-
midst  df that  wor>ld  ;i?hat the  ichurch must be  stedfast.                          ous light by His Spirit and Word, uniting us  Filth
Hence, the  apost1.e  ad'ds : "unmoveable". Always.  the                                Himself,  c1othin.g us  wibh  everJa&ing -righteousness,
world  wi,lJ try to  move'you   fro,m your sure foundation.                             and making  us partakers of everlasting life and glory.
Winds of false doctrine will sweep against you to carry                                 But it is He also, that  works through us,  .tchat bears
yoti hither  an,d thither; tempests of persecutions will                                fr,uit in us,  thait preaches, that teaches, that exhorts
arise threatening death  and  des,truction   ; sweet siren's                            and-admonishes,  that  conf.esses and fights the good
songs of  carrial lusts  wi.ll be  s,ung  ori your very door-                           fight  tlyough the believers.  This  appli,es,  to be  s,ure,
s&p to  l,ure  y@u away  from, Christ as revealed in the                                to  the work of officebearers, of the ministers of the
Scriptures  ;.  b& in the  m&t of it all stand ye  <unmo?ne-                            Word, the elders and deacons. If He does not speak
a%bil,e on  tihe  basi,s of the truth, and let that truth in                            His  awn  Wo(rd  &here is no preaching. `If He-does not
Ckist dominate your  w!hole life, to the  pr,aise of the                                instruct and admonish and handle the keys of  th,e
glory of His grace in the-beloved !                         -                           kingdom of heaven, there is no instruction  b;r dis-
    `Of  cqurse,  we all. understand that  this  .would be quite                        cipline. If He does  n,ot function as the merciful High
jmpossible, if it were not for the power of God's grace.                                Priest, there is no work of mercy. If He does not
The  po,wer of  o,ur perseverance is God's preservation                                 work His work through our  synodical gathering, coun-
of us.  W.e are kept in  the'power of God. Yet, let us                                  sel and lead, and  delibera;te  through us, there is no
n,ot  fo,rget, that this power of  pr,eservation does not                               synod. B'ut this is also  tr.ue of  ev?ry believer  in all his
remain external to us, so  t7hat -we  are passively kept                                life and walk and confession. In as far as he  saves
in the  wor#ld  an,d  lsed unto  *glory: it passes through  u&                          the Lord Christ, it is Christ that works through him.
and  in` us becomes the power of God, the power of                                      He is  th:e vine, we' are the branches : and He bears
faith,  iwhereby  we may fight the  goo.d fight  even unto                              fr.uit through us! The  +nk is the work of the  Lor-d!
the  en'd that no one take  our crown. No,  w!e do  not                                     B,ut in  .+his work of the Lord we must abound !
persevere in  o,ur own  s&&&h:  if our  w,eak  hatid had                                Always abound! We might say, that the work of the
to  hold God's hand,  ye  wonl,d surely be  lo&. N,or do                                Lord  ,overflows in us and through us, and because it
#w& speak the full truth when tie insist that God holds                                 overflows, abounds in us as rational, moral creatures,


                                       .THE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                             423

 it takes into its service our hearts and minds and  &uls        canriot be separated: we must be stedfast and  un-
 and wills  an,d all our strength, so  ;that we  becqme in       mov,eable in  or.der to abound in the work of the Lord!
 this true and  correct sense of the  word co-workers-with           Yet,  bti the  o,ther hand, it is equally true, that
  Christ! Even though, therefore, it is the  tiork of            abounding in the work of the Lord is necessary unto
 the Lord and not ours, though it is Christ that works           tr.ue stedfastness. For,  of.  wlhat good  w,oul,d it be, if
 and not we, yet we become conscious  paptakers  of His          we  kno,w  t.he will of the' Lord, and know what is His
 work, and there  is room for the. admonition:  d.ways           wonk, if we do not accomplish it, if we are not abound-
 abound in the  w,ork of the Lord! And you will now also         ing .in  it?. Dead intellectualism, cold, good for nothing                    L
 understand that in this exhontation two elements                orthodoxy, confessionalism, then will be the result.
 should  havle all the  emphasis:  it must be the  WCJ?I,% of    We will then be able to  ex&und true doctrine in every
 the  Len-l  in which you are engaged, and in that work detail, and to defend  Reformed truth against anyone
 you must constantly abound. It  m.us,t be the work              that contradicts or corrupts it; we may  even be  pr,oud
 of the Lord! Y,on must not think your own thoughts,             of our Reformed Confessions; but it is all faith without -
 you must not speak your own word,  yo~u must not                works, which is dead. And dead intellectualism cannot
 preach your  ovrin philosophy, you must not accomplish          endur.e, will surely fail in  tht;he evil day. A  ohuroh,  or
 your own will, or work your own work : you must be              an  indiSi&al believer cannot, remain  stedf,ast  merely
 engaged in  6h.e work of the Lord. And in this  Tork            on the  b"asis of a dead faith, of cold intellectualism.
 we must not be  la2 or  in,ddent,  b'ut diligent, and that,     And, therefore, even as it is necessary to be stedfast,
 too, constantly:  dways abosnding ! &d  iwell may all           and riot to  be moved to and fro, in  or,der to abound in
 of us, but especially we as  oficebearers, take this  ad-       the  -wlork of the Lord, so, on  the other hand, to abound
 mon$ion to heart, not in  o,rder  #that we should make          in;His work is an indispensable condition unto  spirikual
 some vain resolutions henceforth to heed this exhorta-          stedfastness !       Let us, therefore, hear  bhis  Weird of
 tion, but rather that we may  conf,es; our weakness and         God,  aed be found faithful  -in the work of the Lord,
 aour unfaithfulness, and ask the Lord whose work it is          laboring  ,whi.le it is  day;ere the night  cometh  in'whitch
 for  Hi.s grace  an,d Spirit, that we may always be more        no man can work!
 and more  aboueding in His work!                                  We may, indeed, be assured of fruit. We  knolw
     It will be  evi.dent, too, that there is a very close       that our labor shall not- be vain in  ,tihe Lord! "Your
 ielation between  ihe two parts of this double admoni-          toil," the apostle  -here says. He had written: "the
 tion : be persevering and be  aboundinlg  in the  w,ork  of-    work of the' Lord.". Now he writes: "Your labor" or
 the Lord. And  the relation is mutual.- On the one              toil. And, indeed, as we  aboned in the work of the
 ahand, to be stedfast and  unmoveable, to persevere in          Lor,d, that  wolrk,assumes the  f,orm of  ,toil, hard labor,
 the truth, is an indispensable condition for abounding          struggle, battle,  suffmering. And always the reason is :
 in the  /work of the Lord. Wle must be stedfast in  ord,er      the  oppo#tion  of the flesh,  bokh from  withiri and
 to abound. This  i,s denied or, at least, ignored by many       from  .without. If as  believfers,  and more particularly
 in  ou.r day. Wlhat does it  ii&ter, say they, whether we       as  o,fficebearers, we would please  the flesh,  ,we need
knovir the truth, whether we are  ir&ructed in the  whole        nbt  *toil, and suffer, and labor, and be in fear and
 counsel of God, whether we  sltaed on the basis of a' trouble, in anxiety and worry. B,ut if we  woulnd abonnd
 viery  definite and clearly circumscribed confession, or        in the  wolrk of  the Lord,  ou own flesh opposes us, and
 not? If  only  w,e  km% that we are -saved and  that            the flesh in  ?che  church hates us, and the world  fills us
 we  belong to Christ, it is quite sufficient! Let us for-       wil$, reproach ! The work of the Lord is not  o,f but
 get rather about our differences, and be up and doing           opposed to  Dhe flesh! Hence,  we. must labor in  .the  -
 in the work of  $he  Lor,d ! But  6his. is very dangerous       L o r d !
 and deceptive  tallk. It is quite impossible to be  negJi-          That toil, however, shall not be vain. Vain is  dl
 gent in regard to  the truth,  t,o be indifferent in respect    Iwopk  thlat is in the last analysis fruitless, that  bealrs
 to  khe stand we  take in our confession, and then to           no  ab5ding fruit. Vain  .is the effort of a horse in a
 abound in the  work of the Lord. The reason is that             treadmill,  -that.  to& and labors all day long  wi-thou,t
 it must be the work of the Lord, and not our own work,          advancing; Vain is all the  t&l and  labor, all the science
 in  wlhich we must  aboued. And how shall we know               and philosophy, all the invention and production of the
 h&w to  &bound or  whebher we abound in His work, un-           world. For, even though it meets  with temporary
 less  we know and stand. on the basis of the  truth?            success, it is encompassed on every side by  death, and
 HOIW. shall our preaching and teaching and exhortation,         it will all be destroyed  iti  hhat day, when the very
 our  conf,ession and walk in the midst of the world be          elemerits of  .the world  s,haP melt and be consumed.
 ,an  aboundin.g  in the work of the  Lor,d, unless it is all    T(here is no abiding fruit of the work of man outside
 aodor,ding to His Word as  &.itained in the Scriptures?         of Christ. To man it may be  sai,d:  ."you know that
 And how  &a&l  It be according to that  Woxd, unless we         your  lab& shall  ,be vain in the  w.orld  !" Vanity of
.. know  an.d are stedfast  in  tihe truth? Surely, the two      vani,ty,  saith  the  pr&cher,  alJ  i s   v a n i t y !   B u t   t h i s

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

 cann'ot be said of "your labor in the Lord". It may
often appear vain to us. Because neither the  work in
the  Lord nor the  `bruit  of that work belong to this              `The Triple Knowledge
world, the latter may frequently appear very efficient
-and fruitful, while the work .of the Lord  s,eems vain.
And this may cause us to be discouraged often. Yet, our               An Exposition Of' The Heidelberg
 labor in the Lord cannot be vain. It always bears                                     C a t e c h i s m   *
fruit. And its fruit will appear in the day when the
 tiord Himself shall be manifested and we shall be                                           V.
manifested in glory  wihh Him !                                                       LORD'S DAY IV.
       We know this, because we know  t.hat  th.e Lord is                                    3.
r&en !      He was dead and,  behold, He liveth  f,&ever-
more ! Death  h.as no more dominion over Him ! He is                          The Justice Of God's Mercy.
the Lord of life ! His  resurrection  was no return to              Is not God then also  mencif,til ? In this  thi?d and
oulr mortality and  colrpu;ptibleness,  our weakness and         last question of Lord's day IV is expressed  bhe final
our shame, but an advance into  i.mmoarkality and  in-           attempt on the  psart  of sinful man to find a way out
corruption, into  po8wer and  gl,ory, the  glorp of the          of  &is misery without satisfaction and without repent-
image of the heavenly.  hour  lalbolr in the sphere of           ance, to change the  livling God so as to make it quite
that risen Lord is not vain. It is not limited by death,         safe to sin  bef&y?e His face. The first attempt involved
it is transcendent! It can never be  ,destroyed,  it  will an attack on  l&e right of God to demand of the sinner
abi.de forever.  Fo!r, presently, that  litiitig  Lolrd shall    that which he cannot perform. The second denied
come again, and be manifested in all His  glory. Then            ,God'.s  punitive justice. And in this last question the
His work,  even  $Zis work through  o,ur toil, shall be          sinful mind makes the foolish attempt to divide and
manifested  wiith Him. This mortal shall put  o,n  im-           to divorce from one another the very virtues of God,
mortality,  aDd this  cormptible shall put on  incorrup-         partilculariy  ,&hose of His justice and mercy, and to
Con, and  khe saying shall be brought to pass: death             inbroduce a conflict between  them, such a conflict that
is  sw!allowed up in victory! And in that final victory          Gbd's mercy induces Him to. deny His justice.          The
it will be revealed, that in the  Lord our labor was             question is closely related  to the preceding one, and
never vain,  sh.all bear eternal fruit in everlasting  - implies an objection to the answer our Catechism gave
-glory !                                                         to  i.t. God will not leave sin unpunished. His justice
       We  k&w this.  Y,es, but only by  fait,h. We  knoiw       demands punishment. He is filled with wrath against
this, yes,  btlt  only as we  loo$at our risen -Lord. It         alJ our sin,  original and actual.     He curses all  that-
is not the things that  are. seen that can ever assure us        do not  keep His good commandments. And He pun-
of the  fruithfulness  of our toil. Let us, therefore, be        ishes them with  itemporal  as well as with eternal
stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in  ,the work of          punishment. Such is the terrible wrath of God. But
bhe Lord. IAnd if the work should become burdensome now comes the question: is not God then also  merci-
`and  diffi~ciult, and if we should be inclined to grow          `ful? The question contains an objection to the con-
weary and faint and discouraged, let us not forget to            ception of God  presejflted in answer to the. tenth
fix our eyes on Him Who is the resurrection  aed the             question. And how common an objection it is!
life, our glorious Lord!  Tihen  `we shall take courage          How frequently one meets with it in actual life!
and know, that  .our  label+  shall not be vain in Him !         The objector that raises this question  cea;lly means to
                                                 H. H.           sajr that if you insist that God is always filled with
                                                                 ,wra$h `against-.the sinner, and that He punishes sin
                                                                 in time and  .eternity,-   your. conception of God is that
        SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL  FIE.LD-DAY                           of a cruel tyrant,  iTrho.  kriows of no  me&y, a- Shylock,
will be held July 4th at Ideal Park. The program will            [that wants his pound of  flesh ! This  indilctment is
bkgin at 10 :00 with games for the children. Speakers            lbpought.against  t:hose who deny that God can be  grac-
for the day will be Rev. H. Hoeksema  and:R,e$. A.` io;ui at  all to the sinner outside of Christ, as well as
Petter. There are plenty  ob seats and benches. . .              against them that maintain  bhe  trabh  of eternal  pun-
We have odr  olwn  Cafite`en this year. Come one and all `ishment in hell.  IGod's  mercy militates against His
and spend` the day` with us in Christian fellowship.             justice, and prevents Him from executing His right-
Dire&ions : from  Grand,Rapids,3vA  mile from South              eous wrath upon the  heard of the sinner!
Beltline, turn  $5 mile  Wlest, then  y! mile South.                However, the  ,Cateohism' denies the existence of
From  K.&lamazob:  11/z mile north" of Cutlerville on            such a conflict in God.  16 readily grants that God is
Division,  turn  1/2 mile West, then  1/ mile South.             merciful. But it denies that this mercy of God elimin-
                                      The Committee.             ates the  exe&ion of His justice--and righteous wrath.


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       It insists that. the blessed  m&y of God  can reach the                t,here are pleasures forevermore at His right hand.
       creature only, through the channels of His' justice.                   And even as He is blessed in Himself, and  tihat, too,
       "`God is indeed merciful,  but also  ji@  Werifore his                 as the  infiizitely  perfect One, so  He,is the sole Fount
       justice requires, that sin  which  is committed against                of all  blessin,g; of all life and joy and  delilghi,  for all
       the  most high majesty of God, be also punished with                   His creatures. For the  wial to  ,glorify Himself implies
       extreme, that is,  with  ever,lasting punishment of body               that He purposes to  rmleal  Himself  as- the eternally
       an.d soul."                                                            blessed God. `That God  is merciful, therefore,  signifies
           God's justice is that  vlirtue according' to  which.ee             lthe will, and  desire in God  to make  th.e  creatuze  sha,re
       maintains Himself  ai the only  #Good   as the sovereign               in His  own- divine  blessednesd.        If, therefore, that
       Governor of the universe, God is good. He is a light,                  creature is in depths of misery, the mercy of God be-
       and there is no darkness in  IHim at all. -He is the im-               comes  reveded in the  divine act of deliverance. In
       plication of  aal infinite perfeations. And as the infinite- relation to the  Icreature,~  t,heref,ore,  the mercy of God
       ly perfect One He reveals  Hi$mself in His  relati,on  to,             is that  divine virtue according  $0 which He delivers the
      -and Iiis  .dealiugs with the moral creature. He will be creature from all misery and.  fills him with  life  ad
       glorified.     For He made  all things for His  own  nam&`s            joy.
       sake, even the wicked unto  `the day of  evil. He seeks                    Now, these two perfections in God  arti often pre-
       His own  gl.ory in the righteous and in the wicked                     sented  as if they  ar.e or might  be  in.  conflict  with  each
       both. And this means  ithat it is His  wjll  thai  all  the            other. This is the  Case, according to  Ibhis  conceptibn,
       moral,.-creatures shall know Him and  acknotiedge   ll%rn              as soon as God's mercy and  jzustice are applied to the
       as the infinitely perfect Sovereign 02 heaven and earth,               sinner.. T;hen God confronts a dilemma. According to
       for  ,Gold's glory is the  radiati.on of Hi.8 divine  perfelc-         the justice of God; He  Ynust  make  the sinner  miserabte  ;
       tion. The  oreature  must confess that  IGod is God, that              according  to- His mercy,  h%qwever,  He  des.icres to deliver
       He is the  absolulte  Lord,  an'd that He is  the perfection           him  fro,m all misery and to fill him with blessedness..
       of goodness. Hence, God always reveals Himself to                      If, therefore, God will exercise His justice, He cannot
       the  mo,rad  <reatupe  as the perfect  rSovereign of heaven            show' His mercy to the sinner. And, on the other  har)cl,
       and  earth. He does  80 by  lrewa_rding the  good with                 if  IHe  would  reveal His mercy, He cannot execute  His
       good, the evil with evil. From this fundamental  [rule                 justice.  N,ow, according to the  concepti,on  that is  i#m-
       of His government  (God never  -departs.              From the         plied in  this  elevenbh question of  the  Carteohism,  God's
       implications of  &his rule no  creatiure  can ever  &cape,- mercy  prevlails  ag3inst  His justice. This is  in  the  yery
     riot even for- a moment. God, Who seeks His  own                         natnre of mercy, not only among `men,  bixt also in  !God.
       gl,ory  ,and  *would have the  creature know  `clhat He is             A just mercy is a contradiction in terms. If a criminal
       in&finite  p-er$ection,  blesses the  ri,ghteous.  He makes            receives mercy from the court, justice is set aside in his
       the good happy in his goodness, in order that he may                   case. Justice is overruled; mercy prevails; the crim-
       taste and  .acknowjledge  th&  t?he  Lor;d is good. And                inal is pardoned.  T,he  Fame,  gooolrding  ito this  ,vi&w,
       13e makes the evil  one miserable. He curses him in                    must' be true  .of  <God, if  I& is merciful.  ye  is just,
       the way of his-  wickedaess, in  b,rder that the wicked,               to be sure, and according  tp this  virtue He strikes the
       too,  ..n-iay  rexperienlce and confess that He is good.               sinner with the curse in His  ma&h.           But  H e   is  &so
       "With the  lme;rcif.ul thou wilt shew thyself merciful;                merci$ul.  And in His mercy it is  impo.ssib!e   *hat He  -
       with an  uprighlt  man  bbou wilt  shew thyself upright;               can cause suffering  anid  ,misery  to  rthe  cr.eature,  even
       w&h the  pure thou  .tilt  shew thyself pure, and with                 thoegh he be  iworthy of punishment. He  yeargs for the
       the  fr&var,d  thou  <wilt  shew thyself  fro:wz+r.d. For thou         happiness of the sinner. The  result is that  He denies
       wilt save  th.e afflicted. people  ; but wilt  brin.g  ,down  ihigh    His justice, and  bl,esses  tihe sinner even in  ,his sin  apd
       looks:" Ps..  X3:25-27.  And  tihe  *Spirit  teaches  .us to           guilt. By some this is applied  cqnsistently  : without
       pray : "Do good, 0 Lord, unto those that be good, and                  sat&faction of  IHis justice,  IGod  ,bestows upon  the sinner
      to them that are  Iupright in their hearts  ;" and assures              eternal life  an,d  baiss. By others this  same  err.or is
      .us : "As for such as turn aside unto  thseir crooked  ways,            applied only to this  tempoiral  life and  exi$tence:  with-
      the Lord shall lead them fort!  with the workers of                     ont any basis of righteousness  `God is gracious to and
      iniquity: but peace  shall  `be. upon Israel." Ps. 125  :4, 5. .blesses the sinner in His  co,mmqn mercy.
       This, then, is the justice of God.  According to it, He                    The  fullldamental  error of  t,his conception is  appar-
       so governs the universe that He becomes known to all                   ent: it denies  lthe oneness of God,  an.d presupposes  .a
      His moral creatures as the  abstilutely  ,gpod  Lord; by                conflict between the  vlirbues of truth, faithfulness,
      rewazding  &he good with good, the evil with evil.                      rightequsness,   holiness, and justice, on the one hand,
           God's mercy, too, .is His  in,finite  gaod.ness.  But .and  those of love, grace and mercy  oti the other. Mercy
     mercy considers this  gpodness  -of  G.od. from the view-                and justice  are separated. -They are  bresented as
      point  that He is the infinitely blessed One. W&h .God                  opposed to  $aflh other. But this whole conception is
      there is life and light,  fulness of joy, and gladness;                 false,. God is  one, $t is true, He is revealed to us  i.n


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 426                                        T H E   STANDAR~D  B E A R E R

 many perfections, but all these divine attributes  aare one            be most miserable of all. The wicked would flee far
 in  ,God. W,e may not separate them, even though  t,hey                from heaven, because God's presence is there. And,
 can  b e   ,distinguished. God is His attributes.               His    t,herefore, the question : "Is not God then  also  merci;
 mercy is His  jastice, -and His justice is His mercy.                  fd?" may in general be  answer&as follows: "Indeed
 And  therefor,e, His mercy is always a just and right-                 He is; but this already implies that He is just, for an
 eous mercy; and His justice is always merciful. It is                  unjust mercy is  fbundamentally  a `contradiction in
 this truth that is [denied by  ltihe objector that is  intru-          terms."         5
 duced to  .us in the eleventh question of the Catechism.                   This justice, according to the Heidelberg Catechism,
 lAnd this denial is a very fundamental error, that                     "requires, that sin which is committed against the
 vitiates all  the theology and the  ,whole conception of               most high majesty  .of God, be also punished with
 lif~e of those that present it as the truth. We must                   extreme, that is, with everlasting punishment of body
 emphasize, therefore, that God is one, and that all His                and soul." Justice requires punishment. The wicked
 attributes are  .one in Him. The divine  ~virtue of  sim-              is evil, and because God is good and must be known
 `pdicity must be maintained.                                           and  aoknowlledged as  such,  t,he ethically evil must
          If this is clearly  underst,ood,  it  will at  onlee be       suffer evil, misery, death. Never `may the sinner
 recognized that unjust mercy is fundamentally no                       receive the impression that `God blesses him in his
 `mercy, and that the latter, far from  overr,uling and                 sin. Nowhere, in all the wide universe, may the  sinner-
prevailing against mercy,  cannot even be  besto,wed                    find a place where he can stand and claim that He
 upon the sinner, except in the way of and with strictest               found rest and peace and life and joy. Nut for a
 `maintenance of justice. This is even true in human                    moment may he so experience God's  goverrrment  t,hat
 life.      Suppose  t.hat a child has grievously sinned, and           he can deny  (that God is good, righteous, holy, and true,
 that  the parent should inflict a severe punishment upon               too pure of eyes to behold sin. On the contrary, he
him. However, he cannot bear the very thought of                        must taste, even in his way  ,of sin, that God is good;
 seeing his child suffer,  an,d  s'o he refrains from  punish-          and this  h,e must confess. Hence, he must be made
 ishing him. Is the motive on the part of the parent for                miserab,le, unspeakably wretched. Punishment must
 not chastising  Ithe child to be  consi.dered  mercy? Of               be inflicted upon Him.. Such is the requirement of the
 course not. It is merely a sinful weakness. And  in-                   justice  of. God. He rewards the good with good, the
 `stea,d of blessing  the.  child and bestowing a  ,good upon           the evil  wit.h evil  ; and that for His own name's sake !
 him, it hardens him in his sin. Or suppose that a                          And this punishment. must be  comm.ensurate  with
 judge, instead of maintaining law and justice, pardons                 the evil committed. The evil inflicted as punishment
 the criminal that is indicted in his court. Is that judge              upon the sinner must be equivalent to the greatness
 m'otivated by mercy or by a "love of humanity" in thus                 of the sin.          This is the underlying principle of  !the
 pardoning the criminal, and does. he really bestow a                   statement of the Catechism here that "sin  which is
 blessing upon that criminal? Far  ftrom it. Various                    committed against the most high majesty of God, be
 reasons  (may  motivlate the  .action of  tche judge, but              also punished with extreme,  Ithat is, with everlasting
 mercy is not one of them; justice is violated  ; the crim-             punishment of body and soul." The greatness of sin
 inal is strengthened in his crime ; and crime is encour-               is not measured by  the. position and worth of him that
 aged in the land. Or again, suppose that a oertain                     commitsit, but by the majesty and goodness and sover-
 governor of a state or country would habitually pardon                 eignty of Him against  who,m sin is  commiltted. It is
 all criminals in his domain. Would such a  governo,r                   so among  men; It makes a  wor.ld  .of difference  w.hether
 gain for himself the reputation of being a very merci-                 one offends against his  f,ellowman  on the street or in
 ful and benign sovereign? And would, under his                         t.he shop, or whether  his- offense is directed at the
 government,  even the good  lbe blessed? The answer is                 chief magistrate of the land, be he president or em-
 evildent. His very subjects would condemn such an                      peror. Bet sin is committed against God. And God
 application of human weakness and gross  injastitie  in                is GOD! `He is infinite in majesty and glory, the  sole
.the name of mercy. In an infinitely higher sense of                    Good and  ,overflowing fountain of good. To sin against
 the  aword this is true of God in relation  rt'o the sinner.           Him is to trample infinite majesty and sovereignty
 In fact, that all the attempts of men to separate justice              under foot. To clench the fist in His face and violate
from -mercy  in human life are doomed to  ~failure, has                 His commandment, is to rise in rebellion against  ithe
 its deepest cause in the  faot that these two virtues can              everlasting Lord of heaven and earth. He is Lord in
 never be separated in God. Mercy cannot be bestowed                    all the universe  ; He is Lord. in time and in eternity.
 upon the wicked as  such. It cannot bless the sinner                   Always and everywhere and for ever we have to
 except on the basis  ,of  justi,ce. The guilty sinner cannot. `do  w i t h   H i m .   Nevler  c a n   w e   e s c a p e   FPim.  T h e r e
 be blessed. It is  i,mpossible that he  should_ever be                 is, therefore, no rest for  th% sinner.  <Offense against
 made happy in his sin. Even if he should be taken                      the infinite majesty of God, than Who  the& is no
`to `heaven, suppose this were possible, there he would                 other sovereign, must be punished  everywE& and  -


                                       TH.E  S T A N D A R D   RE-A-RER                                                             $27

 for. ever. Extreme, that is, everlasting punishment            straight foot) ;  Andy the sole of  thek feet was like
 and that, too, in body and soul, is required by the            the sole of  .a calf's  ,foot : and they sparkled like  :the
 justice of God!                                                color of burnished brass. And they had the hands of
    There -is no way out, therefore, as far as man is           a man under their wings on their four sides; and they
 concerned. Salvation is of the Lord. It  is.not, it can-       four had had their faces and their wings. Their
 not be of man. God is.indeed merciful. And it is His. wings were' joined one to another; they turned not  -
 everlasting good pleasure that His mercy should be             when they went  ;  !t:hey went every one straight forward.
 revealed in all the fulness of its glory, even through         As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the
 sin. He does, indeed, lift the sinner from his misery,         face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the  ri:gh.t side :
 and reveals  .t.he abundance of His mercy by exalting          and they four had the face of an ox on the lift side  ;
 him to  the glory of everlasting, heavenly bliss in  `His      they four also  ,had the face of an eagle. Thus was
 taberna&.  And His mercy is revealed, too, as a just           their faces : and their wings  w,ere stretched upward  ;
 .mer,cy. l?or God revealed His mercy in Christ, His            two wings of every one were joined one to another,
 own Christ, in Whom His justice and mercy  .with and- two covered their bodies. And they went every
 relation to the guilty and miserable sinner shine forth        on.e -straight forward: whither the spirit was to go,
 in most blessed harmony and sweetest accord. And               they  .went; and they turned not when they went. As
 when  t,hat mercy of God revealed in the cross and             for the likeness of the living creatures, their' appear-
 resurrection  #of our Lord Jesus Christ is bestowed upon       ant&e was like burning coals of fire, and like the appear-
 the sinner, he acknowledges by faith that God is               ance of lamps: it went up and down the living  crea-
 abundantly merciful, but also  t,hat His mercy is ab-          tures; and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went
 solutely just !                                                forth lightning. And the living creatures ran and re-
                                                 H.  H.         turned as the appearance of a flash of lightning":
                                                                (Ez.  1:5-14).
                                                                    The main features  ,of this word-picture stand out
                                                                clearly. What-we discern is four living creatures, of
                                                                strange composite structure.  Th&r general appear,
                                                                ante is human. They are winged; and each has four
    The Living Creatures (Cherubim) In                          heads-that of a man, lion, ox, and eagle. Each has
                    Ezekiel 1 And IO                            two legs, which are straight, i.e., without joints, with-
                                                                out back and front, smooth and  sy.mmetrical; and
     It was in  hhe  thir#tieth year on the fifth day of the    their feet are those of a  Icalf. The wings of all-those
 fourth month that Ezekiel saw visions of God. The              which are stretched upward-are so joined one to
 heavens were opened and the word of God came to                another, that all  move straight forward with remark-
 him. And- he looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came             able coherence. There being four faces  [to each crea-
 out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire catching it-       ture, all quarters of the earth are facing them, whether
 self, and about it was a brightness, as the color of           they go  backfward or forward, to the right or to the
 amber, issuing out of the midst of the fire. Loolking left.  IBence, they turn not when they go, and every
 more closely, the prophet saw four living creatures-           one goes straight forward. The upper pairs of wings
_ the cherubim of the book of Genesis and of the book of        for,m a square. The lower pairs are without connection
the Revelations-whose likeness came also from the               and with these the creatures cover their bodies in
 midst of the fire. It is these. creatures that form  ,the      order to show their holy fear and reverence. They are
 subject of this  ,essay. Let us present what may be            led by the Spirit-the life-breath of God-which
 collected  f'rom the Scriptures on this subject-arrang-        dw~ells in  <them (whither the spirit was to go, they
 ing our remarks under the following divisions:                 went).      Issuing out of the midst of. the fiery  Icore
     1. The  descri@ures of the structure of these  crea-       of the great cloud, their appearnace is in themselves
   t u r e s .                                                  like  kin.dled coals of fire burning and breaking forth
    2. `The names applied applied to them.                      in lightning. They  for.m, do these creatures, the very
     3. The  posiition  assigned to them.                       kernel of the fiery cloud.
     4. Their  fuaction.                                            Vss. 15-21 form a passage that sets forth the
                                                                second vision of the prophet-the vision of the four
     1. As to the first point, we find nothing definite` in     wheels. These wheels are associated with the living
 the Old  T.estament  Scriptures until we come to the           creatures of the first vision so closely that  they may
 book of Ezekiel. "And this," says the prophet, "was be said to belong to the very structure of these crea-
 their  ..appearance ;  they- had the likeness -of a man.       tures. `fNow as I beheld the living creatures," so the
 And every one  .had four faces, and  every.one had four        prophet continues, "behold one wheel upon  the earth
 wings. And their feet were straight feet (the original :       b y   the  l i v i n g   creatures?  with  h i s   f o u r   falces,  ,The


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428                          .     `itik.STANDARti                              BEAR.Ed

appearanie  of the wheels and their work was like-unto           full of eyes round about, even  5he wheels that they
the color of beryl: and they four  ha-d one likeness  i          f,our had." Rev.  4r7, 8, "And around the throne were
and their  appedraece and their work was as it were a            four living creatures  (beasts  in the translation, but
wheel in the middle of a  wlheel.  Wshen they went,              incorrectly so) full of eyes before and behind.  IAnd
they  went upon their four sides: and they turned not            the first living creature was like a lion. And the
when  they  wlent. And  .as for their rims-the rims of           second like a calf, and the  thir.d had the face like a
the wheels-they were so high that they were dread-               man, and  :the fourth was like a flying eagle. And the
ful ; and  *their rims were full of eyes round about them        four living creatures had each of them six wings
four. And when the  livlin~g creatures went, the wheels          about him; and  zthey were full of eyes within."
,went by them: and when the living creatures were                    Thus the structure of these creatures varies at least
lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up.             as exhibited in the vision. As seen by Ezekiel in his
Whithersoever  the. spirit was to go, they went, thither         first vision  (cha'pter 1) they are represented as having
was the spirit  t.o go; and the wheels were iifted up            each four faces and  f&our wings while in the description
over against them': for the spirit of the living creature        subsequently given by him in chapter 10, mention is
was in  ithe wheeis. -When  those went, these  went; and         made of only two  fa,ces appearing in each. Again, if
when~ those stood, these stood  ;  and- when those -were         John and Ezekiel discern four creatures of composite
lifted  un from the earth, the wheels were lifted up             strudure,  the former sees each creature as having
over against them  ; for  :the spirit of the living creatures    not four faces but a face  after one of the four types.
was in the wheels."                                              The number of  wlings  be1,ongin.g to each is also differ-
   The living creatures, forming as they do the kernel           ent-not four but six. Finally, in Ezekiel's first vision
of the fire-chid, are  directly suspended between heaven the eyes appear only in the wheels connected with the
and earth. Butt being destined for this earth, they              cherubs, "while in Revelation the creatures themselves
are associated with wheels. Thus the impression as a             appear full of eyes, as they also do in Ezekiel 10  :12."
wh'ole is that of a kind of  vehicie, in which the Lord          There is  ithus a diversity in regard to the  particular
takes  the  place of the charioteer, and the living crea-        form. But  ;they are alike in two respects: Their pre-
tures the place of the chariot.      The wheel, which is         dominating appearance is that of a man-a man's
lowermost, as is usual in a chariot, -is to be thought           body, posture, and hands. "The other point of agree-
of as being on -the earth. That mention is made first ment is  t&heir composite structure-with- this form of
lof one  ,wheel and then of four is because the four             a man predominating but combined with other animal
are conceived of together as  foiming a unity. They forms-those namely, of the lion,`and the eagle."
correspond to the four front sides,  the human faces                -As to these creatures' names, nothing certain has
of the creatures and round them  foram-a square. All             been established regarding the original meaning of the
four have one sort of shape. Each consists of two                term  Cherub.  There is  an,other  name, however,  fir&
wheels,  which intersect each other at right angles.             applied to them by Ezekiel and the only name given
This  eonstPucti,on has the  efiect (vs.'  17)  that,  they them in Revelations.. This expression is `the living
dan  go'in  all four directions without turning. Vs.. 18 ones," or, "the  1ivin.g creatures". In Ezekiel and
tioncludes their description.     Great height character-        Revelation it occurs over and over and therefore must
izes the rims of, the wheels. These rims are  .full of           be taken as bespeaking the symbolical character  of-the
eyes; Mention is made in  yIs(i7 of the movement of  :the        Cherubim. It presents them to view as imbued with
wheels by themselves ; now in.  vs..  13 their relation to       life. The thought  :thus imparted agrees with all that
the  tireatures is  spoken of in detail. The wheels stand is known of them from the Scriptures. They are in-
beside the creatures.,  .but when the latter move,  the          cessantly active. They rest neither day nor night say-
former must of themseives follow the impulse. whither            ing, Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God  Almisghty,  which  w.as
the spirit of the creatures  .went, just  thither  wentthe       and is and is to come (Rev. 4  8).     Their movements
spirit  ,of the  ,wheels. This simultaneous movement is          are characterized by marvelous speed. Their running
based on there being one spirit. The  eyes  in the               and returning is  qui,ck even as the flash of lightning.
wheels correspond to `the  faces in the living creatures         They are replete with life in its highest state of power,
and both are `to be understood in connection with the            courage, true wisdom and knowledge. For they are
spirit as  in&&&e  of life. As the creatures them-               full of eyes and the eye is the symbol of life that is
selves, so the wheels-they are things not inanimate              l i g h t .
but living.                                                          The position of the cherubim must  *be noticed in
   The Bible contains  still`other descriptions of these         this connection. In Gen. 3  :24, they are placed by
"living creatures" (`Cherubim) as to form and  appear;           [God, after the  .ej,ection of man from the  .garden of
ante; Ezek. 41  il8; "And every cherub had two faces.,,          Eden, at the east thereof together with the flaming
Ezek.  lo:12 "And their whole body and their back                sword "to  .keep the way of the tree  `cif life". In the
and their hands and their  win,gs and their  wheeis were         Tabernacle there were two cherubic figures of solid


                                       T H E   S`TAtiDARD  BE-AiiEfi                                                      429

  gold upon the mercy-seat- with  win)gs outstretched              Let.  US  get the features of this word-picture clearly
  above and  .with faces -toward each other and toward          before  ,.our eye. There is the  likeness  of a firmament
  the mercy-seat. This seat, bordered-by the cherubim           upon the heads of the living creatures.         It is not
  and covered by their wings,  wlas the throne of God.          heaven-the deep, blue sky above our heads-but some-
  "There", said He to Moses, "will I meet with thee,            thing like it. This  Somtith&g-stretched  forth over
  and I will commune  with thee from above the  mercy-          the heads of the  cherubim--$s   fearful   in  its dazzling
  seat, from between the two cherubim which are  upon- clearness and purity. It incites awe by its splendour,
  the ark of testimony, of all things- which I will give        in which that  ,of the Creator is reflected. Under it
,thee in commandment to the  children~ of Israel." In           are eight  of,the sixteen wings with which the cherubim
  obedience to the command of God, there were also              collectively are equipped,-straight, raised aloft. With
  cherubic figures  w,oven into the texture of the inner        the remaining wings they cover their bodies. The  #tip
  curtain of the Tabernacle and the veil.                       of the wings, -raised aloft, reach to the firmament,
     We must attend. more closely in this connection to         not  fsor support and for this reason, that the wings
  the vision of Ezekiel in Ezek.  1; The entire chapter         make .a loud noise, and are therefore in motion, when
  is taken up with this vision, formed of three distinct        the creatures are in flight and further because when
  parts, the first two  .of which have already been ex-         they stand, they let down their wings-the ones serv-
  plained. There comes a whirlwind  .out of the north,          ing for -flight. The prophet now describes also what
  bringing a great cloud,  (the interior of which is formed he hears, to wit, the voice of their wings in their going.
  of a brisk fire that spreads its brightness round about.      The comparison is a threefold one: (1) of the voice of
  Out of the intensive fire of the cloud there are formed       many waters, (2) of the voice of the Almighty,  .which
  the four  living  creatzcrres-the  cherubim. This is the      may mean the thunder; (3) of the voice of a host.
  first part of the vision (vss. 4-14). By the living           The prophet now directs our gaze even higher. When,
  creatures are four wheels that bring the whole in             i.e., as often as, there comes a voice from the firmament
  connection with the earth.  _ The description of the          which is over their heads, the cherubim at the hearing
  appearance of the wheels and of the behaviour of the          of it, cease their motion and let. down their wings.
  wheels and the cherubim, into union with the wheels           They thus come to rest and are submissively silent
  by the spirit, form the second  part, of the vision (vss.     before the  livin)g God, as soon  .as His voice-the voice
  15-22). The whole is now completed in the vision              that comes from the firmament is  l&s--is heard.
  of  the  Heavenly  Enthmnecl  One (vss.  22-28))  the cul-    Above the firmament, that is over the heads of the
  minating point of the  theophany:                             cherubim, is  ,the likeness, of a throne. It is the throne
     "And the likeness of  the firmament upon the heads         ,of God. `If beneath it is  .fne and lightning-ail that
  of the living creatures was as the color of the terrible .is terrifying-the throne itself is bright and pure,
  crystal, stretched-forth over their heads above. And          heaven-like blue. Upon the likeness of the throne is
  under the firmament were their wings straight, the            the likeness as the appearance of a man above it, the
  one  !towaid  the other: every one had. two, which            lower part  ,of whose body is like fire, which produces
  covered on this side, and every one had two which             a reflection round itself, and the  refleotion has the
  covered on that side, their bodies.        And when they      appearance of a rainbow. "This was the appearance
  went I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise         of  t,he  likeiness of  the'glory of the Lord." Thus the
  .of great waters, as the voice of the Almighty, the           glowing likeness of the man upon the throne,  ,the fire
  voice of speech, as the noise of an host: when they           and its reflection, is the face of the triune.  Jeh.ovah,
  sto'od they  1,et down their wings.  A.nd their was a         i.e., the visible manifestation of all His goodness-the
  voice. from the firmament  which was over their heads,        face of Jehovah, here again the prefiguration of
  when they stood, and let down their wings. !A.nd above        Christ's human nature.        Such is the vision in its
  the firmament that was  over their heads was the              entirety.
  likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire             We can now make a statement regarding the posi-
  stone, and upon the likeness of the throne was the            tion of the cherubim. It is near and even in (Revela-
  ,likeness as the appearance of a man  .above upon it.         tion 5) the throne of God.
  And I saw as the color of amber, as the  appearan,ce                              (To be Continued)
of fire round about within  it, from the appearance of                                                       G; M.  0.
`. his loins even downward, I saw,  as,it were, the appear-
  ance of fire, and it had brightness round about. As
  the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud -in the
  day  ,of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness                            FIELD  D A Y
  round about. This was the appearance of the likeness                       JULY  4th, IDEAL' PARK
  of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell
  upon my face. . .  ."                                                       EVERYBODY WELCOME

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

             sinart Te Midden Van Vaisci?h.eid                                      Dan volgt een beschrijving van-zijn ellende.
                                                                                    Ik bedrijf  misbaar in mijn klacht! Het  oorspronke-
                                  (Psalm 55)                                   lijke woord voor  wvisbaar  becZyijve!n beteekent  letter-
                                                                               lijk:  heen en weder geworpen te  worden. Datid weet
             Er zijn er die dezen psalm.  doen  slaan  op' David's             niet meer waar  zich te  wenden  om rust te verkrijgeri.
      lijden te  midden van de vervolging die hij van Saul's                   Er is op aarde geen uitweg  me&: hij heeft  alles  over-
      handen  eryoer.  D,ooh  t e n   onrechte.  E n   dat  o m   ver- twogen,  dies  werd door hem  beproefd,  doch wat er
      schillende redenen. Saul was David's  leidsmaln  en vlerdwijnen moge, zijri klacht, zijn smart bleef.  Daaro,m
      bekende  niet.      (vers 14) Saul  w's in geen een  opzichh             is het gevolg, dat hij getier  mtiakt.     `Ge  zult het zelf
--    de  .raadsman van David.  (vers 15) Ook wandelde Saul                    we1 eens ervaren hebben. In zulke benauwde  oogen-
      niet liefelijk met David ten Huize  ,Gods. Saul was  ,de                 blikken, soms  iti de eenzaarnheid, ontsnappen er  kr,eu-
      openbare vijand van David.  S,ad had nooit een  ver-                     nende zuchten  diie  soms ons zelf  ontsitellen. Ze rezen
      bond gemaakt met David, een verbond dat later  irer-                     op uit een.geprangd gemoed en  oqwillekeurig werd het
      broken  ,wlerd. (vlers 21) Bovendien  ,duidt de psalm                    iuchten  hoo,rbaar  en  maakkefi we geluid, getier. En
      aan, dat al de  vuile geschiedenis van verraad en  Yalsch-               indien wij  al. kreunen, de beweeglijke en veel  meer
      heid in Jeruzalem  geschifed,de, terwijl de vervolging                   aangedalne  Oosterling sprak van gstier  makeli.
       door Saul door het  `gehe,ele land plaats  yioind.-  O,ok                    En waarom? Vanwege den  goddeloozen  vijand.
      kunnen we dan de verzen 7 en  8  nieit  versitaan.  Als                  Met die  tyee namen  karakteris'eert  David die tegen
       deie psalm gedicht' w,erd  dloor David  itoen hij  vluch- hem opstaan.  Zij zijn hem een vijand en ook  godde-'
      tende was voor het  aangezilcht   Sauls, zou hij zulks niet              Joos.      Die  vij,andschap en goddeloosheid openbaarde
      vra,gen,  doch dan -was hij daadwerkelijk  weggeylucbt                   zi.ch hierin, dat zij ongerechtigheid  op David  schoqen
      .\in de woestijn. Nu, terwijl David Koning te  Jeru-                     en in torn hem haatten.       En-. dat werkt benauwend.
      izd<m was, kon  hlij dat juist niet. Want, dat is onze                   Dat  weten we bij  ervaring. Ook is het de ervaring van
      terklaring  : deze vervolging  onde.rvond David  .toen.  ,hij            elk kind Gdds.  Dtit is de openbaring Gods : het al is
      koning over Israel was  ; en  geschi,edde  ddor het verraad              ingegeven door den Heiligen Geest.         DL:S  w e   wetea,
      van  Achiltofel en  ,de  ,onn&uurlijke  hande1in.g  van  Absa-           dat David de waarheid sprak. Hij was onschuldig.
       loq zijn zoon.  - De verzen 13-15 en 21 slaan daarom op                 Daarom  moest men ongerechtigheid op hem  schuiven.
       Achitofel en niet  op Saul.                         _-
                                                                               Zoo komt de onschuld te staan in de plaats der  boos-
             Er  zijn niet veel  psalmen die de smart van Jezus                doeners. Wie denkt hier niet  aan Jesaja die  vam Jezus
       beter  vextolken  d,an deze. Want daarop moet ook gelet.                profeteerde : "en. met `de overtreders is getelcl geweest"
       I*Pstillrn 41 en Psalm 55 zijn  hlierin gelijk, dat ze beiden           ofscihoon Hij  ."Mijn  .Knecht, de Rechtvaardige"  ge-
       de  smati  pan Jezus  veu?tolken vanwege het verraad van                naamd  Ls?
       Judas,     Die  smart  is_ vooruit  doorleefd door David.
       Doch dan slechts  iti oppervlakkige mate. Vergelijking                       En dat is benanwend.  Doch Jezus heeft dit  vleel
       is  daa%rom  bij,na  tiitgesloten.                                      dieper  gevoeld' dan David. David was een zondig
             De verzep 2-9 beschrijven de smart van  D,avlid; van              mensch. Hij  mocht dan geheel en al onschuldig zijn
      `vers 10 tat 16 luisteren we naar een  beschrij$ng van                   in  bet  ondephavige geval,  tech was hij een zondig
      den vijand  in zijn  qtls&heid   IX-I geweld; van vers 17                mensch. Maar van Jezus staat er: "omdat Hij geen
       !tot het einde  ho,oren  `wle van het einde der  pa.rtijen:             onrecht  ged:aan  heeft,  noch  bedrog in Zijnen mond  `ge-
       David  sterkt   zich in zijn God en de vijand  zaJ.  iter  belle        weest is." Zelf zeide Jezus: "Wie uwer overtuigt Mij
       trslren. i&t gebed van David, den nam Gods, heeft. een van  zonde?"
       kostelijk  einde: hij zal  op God  vlertrouwen! Dat is                       Ilk  zeide;dat al dit gruwelijk werk der goodeloozen
       ook zijn overwinning.                                                   benauwt.  Ge kunt het aanhooren in de  ontroerende.
             Ha&-verscheurend  is  dC! beschrijving van David's                beschrijving : "Mijn hart  kriinpt weg in het binnenste
       ellende in  deze periode. Treffen$  is zij,n worstelilng  om van  rriij,  ea  ve&chrikkingen des doods zijn  op mij  ge-
       $och  .g&oord  te  worden.  0   G o d !   H e t   i s   D a v i d 's    vallen.  *Vrees en  beving  komt mij  aan, en  giuweti  over-
       gewoonte om in  bange  dag&  nich tot  God te  ,wenden en               adekt mij  ; zoodat  ik zeg :  Och; dat mij iemand  vleuge-
       Hem  aan te  roepen. Wat  schopn begin  vloor het gebed  :- len  aLs  eener duif gave: ik  zoude  henenvliegen waar  ik
       0 God!                                                                  blijven  mo&t;  zie, ik zoude  ver wegzwerven, ik zoude
             Tot viermaal toe  komt er een bange nadruk in de                  trernachten in de  ,woestijn. Sela. Ik zoude haasten,
       opening van zijn gebed.  :Het is  .als een  worstelillg:                dat ik ontkwame van den  drijvenden wind, van den
       eerst' vraagt hij om Gods oor; dan smeekt hij om  to,ch                 s t o r r r i ! "
       den Heere  te mogen zien ;  vervolgells  vraag;t   hij  om                   Straks  dac,hten we  aan Jesaja, nu staan we  bevend
       Gods oog; en eindelijk, dat de Heere  aan het werk  tijge               bij Golgotha of  gescheiden door een steenworps afstand
       om  tech de bede te beantwoorden in  daden  ;  verhoor                  in Gethsemane's  hoye. Daar  waren het onze  onger.ech-
       Uw knecht !                                                             tigheden die op Jezus  afgeschoven zijn en de  haat die


                                         T H E - S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                -431

 eigenlijk onzer is, was  .op Hem  gevallen.. Er was een tofel- wist  het beter dan zij  allen: hij hing  zilch op.  ;HEj
 wervelwind die van  uit de diepten Gods  IHem tegen-            wist van te voren, dat  ELI  Israel het  verloren had.        .'
 woei ! 0, Jezus was bang van die wervelwind. De                     Lee& de  beschrijvting van de betrekking die er  be-
 verschriklkingen van den eeuwigen dood deden Hem                stond tusschen David en Achitofel  v66r die bange                                        ~
 vragen : "Vader., of Gij  wildet dezen  derinkbeker van d a g e n
                                                                            `(` :
                                                                              wij,  ,die in zostigheid  heim,elijk  beraadsslaag-
 Mij wegnemen  !"           Evenwel, die Jezus had God  z&i      den  ; wij wandelden in gezelschap ten huize Gods  !"                     '
 ,lief; dat Hij  yde verschrikkingen van den eeuwigen` En  als dan  zu1.k een mensch  z&h  verkoopt  tot  godde-
  dood verkiest  bovien de vlucht eener duive naar het           loosheid en  zich  tegen'-U   keerit, dan  wordt het bang.
  gebergte, zoo zulks de  wil van God zij. Want Hij              Dan geeft men den moed op. Dan is men geneigd
 be-eindigde Zijn gebed :  :"Doch niet Mijn wil, maar de         om te zeggen :  `waar  zullen we nu heengaan? Och, geef
 Uwe geschiede  !"                                               mij de  vleugelen van een duive en dan  zullen we,  veer
     Doch  w,ij verkiezen vaak de vlucht der  d.uive. Wij        van menschen, een toevlucht zoeken bij de  rotsen en
. zijn bang  vlan vervolging en die vreeze doet ons  soms        in de  spleten  der  bergen of in  d.e  woestijn!
  daadwerkelijk  wegvliegen, ver, ver weg. Dan  start                De  vuile boosheid der zonde roept dan ook- om de
 Elia zijn  klaclxt uit tot God : `Ik ben alleen overgebleven    hoogste straf. David  wendt  zich tot God en  vraagt
  en zij zoeken mijne  ziel!" En moet Gods volk  leeren,         Hem of Hij ze wil beetnemen en  `levend der  `helle  -doen
  dat  ds de Heere maar met ons is, de vijand en de              varen.
 vlalsche vriend niets  vermogen tegen ons.        0, het is         En  Achitofel is Judas. Zoo heeft dan ook  Jeziq
 mogelijk, dart de  toestand  z66 benauwd wordt, dat ge          gebeden.                                                            ;:
 teruggedrongen wordt tot in het hart, zoodat niemand                En beide David en Jeius zijn  verhoord.  .L              `.-
 zijn stem verheft tegen  allerlei gruwelijk onrecht om              Achitofel en Judas hebben  zich verhangen.  Zi'e.
 voor U te spreken: als in dit -hart ik mij maar sterken         vooral  vers.24. Beide  Achitofel en Judas  ~hebben  -hu'nne
 mag in mijn God,  clan is het  goed. Daar vond dan de           dagen niet ter  helfte gebracht: ze sloegen hun hand
 duive rust  voor  bet holle van  haar  voet.                    aan hun eigen leven.  Doch  achter dit alles  l&-t de
     Want God is God. Dat beseft David. In  een woord            hand Gods. En ze voeren  levend  her  belle.'
maakt hij zijn zaak de zaak des Heeren :  verslind ze !              De dood'overviel hen beiden als een  schuldeischer.                             1
 Heere ! David weet dat de Heere gruwt van  goddeloos-           `Wel, we  weten immers wat dat beduidt. Een zeer  duide-
 heid. Dat Hij verslinden zal  allen die ongereohtigheid lijk              beeld.- .
 gieriglijk bedrijven.                                               En God is altoos  recht in al Zijn weg en werk. Dat
     Dat soort  volk zijn het die David benauwen. Luis-          weet David ook. Hij  zal ons den grond voor  bun akelig
 terti maar naar hun beschrijving. Ze hebben de  stad            vonnis  leveren. Boosheden waxen in hunne woning.
 Jeruzalem al ingenomen,  .ofschoon David nog steeds op. Ook was het niet zoo, dat  het zonden en  boosheden
 den  ltroon  zit. En ze hebben de stad ingenomen door           waren die nog tegen  onzen wil overbleven, die we  `be-
 valschheid, door verraad.          Overal is de partij van      kampten in onze woningen. 0 neen. Het  waren  boos-
 Absalom  bezig. Er is  wrevel, twist, ongerechtigheid,          heden  d,ie hun oorsprong  hadden in "het  binnenste'van
 overlast-en  vercierving in de stad des Konings. En             hen". Vers. 16. Dat is de beschrijving van  duivlels-
 al die gruwelen  worden gekenmerkt door "list en  be-           kinderen. Gods  volk is rein van  hart& Als er booze  ge-
 drag" ; v e r s   1 2 .                                         dachten en woorden en  daden  zich openbaren vanwege
     Dat wordt bewezen door de volgende' verzen. En              de  b.ewegingen   dyer zonde die nog in onze  uude natuur
 in die verzen uit David zijn diepste  smar,t. Wat nu, woeden, dan  stelt  zich, dat reine hart tegen al zulke
 volgt is een  bexhrijving van Achitofel's  woel.en. Hst         dingen,  veroordeelit  ze  -in`? hart en  bi!ndt den strijd
 was geen vijand en hater die bavid hoonde en  zich              aan er tegen. Dan bedroeven we ons om al die  dingen
 tegenover hem groot maakte.  0 neen.  Als dat het               en dan is ereen snerpend leed  over al die  zonde die
 geval geweest ware, zou David gezegd hebben:  d.at had          tegen  onzen  avil geschiedden.  Doch  geheel  anders is
 ik  allang van hem  vlerwacht.         Itk wist dat hij mij     het met de Judassen en  AchStofels.  Zij zijn boos tot
 haat,&;   nu komt het tot openbaring. Wat zal ik  doen?         in  ?t diepe hart  ,toe. En daarom behooren zij  `i,n de hel.                  0
 Ik zal mij voor hem verbergen.                                  Dat is naar `t zuiverst  recht.'
     Do& nu? Het was mijn ieidsman en mijn bekende,                  Neen, het reine hart van Gods  kind  zal, anders
 een man die mij gelijk was in waardigheid. In zijn              handelen. Ge  kunt het van David  leeren., "Mij  aan-
  dagen achtte men het woord van Achitofel als het               gaande, ik zal tort God  roe@n, en de Heere  zal' mij  ver-
 woord Gods:. zoo wijs.  w&en zijn redenen.           David      lossen. Des avonds en des morgens en des middags
 leunde op hem gelijk op geen ander. Leest de  ge-               zal ik klagen en getier  maken, en Hij zal mijne stem
 schiedenis maar. Zoo  wijs en verstandig was hij, dat           hooren."  Dat is heilzaam. En gevaarlijk voor  onzen
 hij  zich  verhing.  toen hij gewaar werd, dat zijn raad        v i j a n d .                                           :
 niet opgevolgd was. Geheel Israel met de  helden  trok-             0, die vijand zal nooit de ware  wijsheid  leeren.
 ken-uit om David den genadeslag  te  geven,-doch  Achi-         Hij beseft niet  .dat als men Gods kind aanraakt men


                        .-
432                                     -'?          THE                ~~~ANIL~RD                    BEARER           -

gijn  oogappel   a a n r a a k t .   D,at  H i j   a l t i j d   hoort  h e t
gekreun van Zijn  vollk. Luistert :  als gij Gods kind                                   Gedoopt Voor De Dooden
@enauwdheid  aandoet en  hij. tot zijn God- roept, dan                                                                      1 Cor. 15:29.
gaat er een  reohitvaardig oordeel van God uit. Hij                                                              _-
oordeelt  alle dagen, Dan  moo&  ge  lachen en U  ver-                              Het lijdt geen  twlijfel  of  de vele  verklaringen  ge-
kneukelen in de smart en benauwheid van Uw  slacht-                              geven van  dezen tekst, hebben  all,en dit gemeen, dat zij
offer,  doch weet, dat de  1fleere.U in `t  vreeselijke Oog                      dit  doopen,  vodr, de dooden als een  ,geheimzinnige en
heeft. Zijt ge niet bang voor God!?                                              verder  voor ons verborgene handeling  beschduwen.
       Hoe  ging het met de  Tijanden van David?  Met                            Daarop komt  bet, wat de groote meerderheid der  ver-
SaLll?  Achitofel? de  Filistijnen?  met Absalom? Ze                             klaringen betreft, op  neer. Er is dan te  Corinthhe een
zijn in de  hel.                                                                 tijd geweest, dat men bij de bediening van het Sacra-
  Hoe ging het met de  vlij$nd& van Jezus, die Hem                               ment des Doops  nich van een  zeker  gebruik bediende,
deden zuchten en weenen? Met. Judas, het Sanhedrin,                              waarop in geen anderen brief wordt gezinspeeld. Het
Pilatus, en  HeYodus? Ze  zijn verzonken in de diepten                           komt ons  echter voor, dat sommige van die  zoogeeaam-
van Gehenna. En de echo's va.n die bange vraag                                   de gebruiken niet de  vlerk1arin.g  kimnen zijn' van dit
klink& o zoo naar en akelig in den  af'grond:  Vriend                            vers,  sdoch veeleer gebruiken zijn, die eerst later in de
Judas, was doet gij hier in de  hel? Waart gij niet de                           Kerk zijn uit- of ingevoerd en waarmee men  zich tot
bekende, de raad, de  ap&tel  van Jezus? Wandeldet                               den  tekst heeft  gewend.  Voorzichtigheidshals,e  heb'ben
gij niet met  .Hem naar den Huize  Gods? En tot in alle                          anderen dan ook gezegd, er was  we4 een  zeker gebruik
eeuwigheid  meet die arme Judas schreeuwen:  -1k heb .of verrichting bij de bediening des  Doops,  we1 bekend
verraden het onschuldige Bloed!                                                  vo,o,ral  Ite Corinthe,  ,doch  li'oor ons  vender verborgen
       Neen,  we kunnen Jezus nu niet meer verkoopen voor                        gebleven.    Daarmede blijft men dan bewaard voor
dertig  zilverlingen :          Hij is nu  in. den  hemel  daar-                 verkeerde  gissingen, maar  bllijft dan ook de tekst  on-
boven  b i j   G o d !   /                                                       verklaard. Dat eerste nu mag volstrekt niet, omdat we
       Maar Zijn arme volk is  nu nog op de aarde. En                            met geen enkel  gebrui;k ons tot de  Schrift mogen  wen-
waar gij  allen  .ook nog de bedrieglijke, harde,  onver-                        den, om dan de  S&rift  maar om te buigen en  .haar  i&s
mqrwbare menschelijke natuur hebt en het  gevlaar  niect te laten zeggen dat wij gaarne  willen, dat zij zeggen
`denkbeeldig is, dat Juda Israel  benauti   en broeder                           zal. Wat. betreft het laatste, dan kan de  .Fraag gedaan
den broeder vertrapt, zou ik U  allen  Willen smeeken:                           worden,  -zou  iets,  dat de` Heere  voolr ons verborgen
Zijt tegen elkander goedertieren en laat  tech nooit  BQn                        Wilde houden, ooit op eenige wijze ons  worden  geopeti-
onzer zoo,  moeten  zu&ten `en  kretinen.-vanwege laffe                          baard. We  ,bedoelen,  als  & een zekere handeling  ,was
vervolging.  Voor  dengene die het  do&  wacht de  Bas-                          bij de Doopsbediening te Corinthe, voor ons  ni&  nod-
tijdende en straffende hand Gods, ook al wordt  ge                               dig, dat we daar kennis van zouden hebben,  zou-het
behouden. W&nit zulke vertrapte en vervolgde  btioeders                          dan  we1 op eenige  wijze ons zijn medegedeeld. Dit
zoeken de eenzaamheid op en  roepen tot God. En God                              laatste  <trekken we ieer sterk in  twiijfea. Niet, we
geeft ook `een sntwoord. Hij zal ze  plagen. De  ver-                            erkennen het gaarne, dat  {edere  plaits overduidelijk is
rtrapte  echter wordt in' vrede verlost.  Alle werk dat                          en haast  voor  zichz&f   spree& en zichzelf  vlerklaa.rt.
-,tegen Gods volk ondernomen werd, door  vriend of                               Dat is niet  waar van een enkele  Schriftuurplaats,
vijand,  wordt  verwoest. En  hijzelf- wordt ook zelfs                           schoon er daarom  we1 groot  verschil is  t&schen tekst
,door die vertrapping gebaat. Hij  wierp zijn  zorg  op                          en  tekst,  brief  & brief.
den  Heere en tot in der eeuwigheid toe zal God er voor                             Er zijn niet  mcinder dan dertig verschillende  ver-
zor&gen dat de  rechtvaardige niet  wankelt vanwege  Uw                          klaringen gegeven  vian dit Schriftwoord. Af te gaan
slagen. Want het is Gods eigen  rechtvaa.rdigh,eid die                           op enkele  -8der  eerste of  .oudste, dan was  ,dit  doopen
o p   `t   spel  staat.                                                          een  doopen van levenden, dat  gexhiedde voor of ten
       Slaat Uwe  handen  niet  aan degenen die  vrede met                       behoepe  van, hen, die ongedoopt  waren  Igestorvlen. Men
u  hebben.   Dat.deed  Achi&ofel-en  dat deed Judas.  Dat                        doopte de levenden,  `opd,at  ,de gestorvenen de  straf  der
hoort  oeder ons niet, broeders.                                                 niet gedoopten zoude  ontloopen; Magisch was dan ook
       De broeder gaat  tech paar God ermee. David                               de kracht, die  .er van den doop uitging. Of ook,  tien
`heeft het U geleerd. Aan het einde roept hij  &t: Ik                            doopte een  atider,  omdat men bang was, dat de  ge-
daar,entegeri  zal op God betrouwen!                                             storvene  an,ders  nielyzoude   worden  opgewekt, of dat hij
       En dat betrouwen op God is Gods eigen kracht.                             indlien hij werd opgewekt, zijn opstanding zou zijn,
Daartegen kan niets bestaan.                                                     niet `ten go.ede ,dooh ten kwade. Beide kwamen  .vrijwel
       En ook:  .hoe zalig is zulke ervaring.                                    met  elk&der  oxereen en  hadden ongeveer hetzelfde op
   . Daar juicht men, zelfs door  de. tranen  heen: Hij                          het  o.og:  Het  behoud van hen, die  alreeds gestorven
is de kracht  van mijne  k-racht !                                               waren. Iets dat niet zoo ver  ligt van de theorie, die
                                                              G; V.              wil  dat  kleine-  kinderen  gedoopt  worden op het geloof


                                            THE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R - 1                                           , 433
                                                                                             __
                        :             ._
  der  orders.                                                      de Reformatie  ,liepen de verklaringen  al1reed.s ver  uik-
      We  stemmen natuurlijk toe, dat deze  ketterijaen  van        een.  :. Somniigen meenden, dat dit  doopen niets anders
  allerlei  kleur en schakeering  we1 opkwamen in de  k&k           was  din het  wassehen van de  ,ontslapenen.      Aldus was
  des Heeren, do& dat we in geen geval het  beamen,  als            er dan ook eigenlijk geen sprake van  doopen, waarover
  men zou meenen,  d.a&dit feitelijk ook al het geval was           de tekst  spree&. Het Sacrament  werd dan geloochend
 `in den  tij,d  sder Apostelen. We meenen, dat de Kerk             of men had dan in dit wasschen een symbool  vlan den
  haar Doop en  Avondma&l..  toep zeer  we1 verstonden.             Doop: Een symbool  van een  symbool   d&us.
  De  ketterijen zijn van later  datu!m.                                Of  oak, men heeft verklasrd dat dit  doopen  ge-
      E6n der meest  afwijkende  verk.laringeri is, die  des        schiedde om vergiffenis te verkrijgen  voo`r  .bedreven
  Marcionieten. De  Kerk-vlader  Chrysostomus verhaalt              doodelijke  zonden.. Ook hier weer een veranderen  vjan
  van hen: "Wanneer een catechumeen onder hen  sterft               bet  teeken  in  de,. zaak die het moest  afbeelden, een
  ,dan'leggen   uij een  levende onder de doodssponde  ; dan        veranderen van  bet Sacrament in de genade zelf. Al
  naderen zij tot dezen, spreken met  hem-en  vrag& hem             fdeze  verklaringen, die  dan van een  enkelen tekst een
  of hij den  doop wil ontvangen. Dan  verklaart  hij, die          dogma maakten, moesten tenslotte  we1 in grove  ket-
  onder de sponde  Ii'&, dat hij zou  wilJen gedoopt  wor-          terij,en  ,en. een  .viernielen van de Waarheid, uitloopen.
  deli." We hebben dan in deze beide zoogenaamde  ver-                  Zij, die dien weg niet  wilden gaan,  veu;klaarden  den
  k.la?i,ngen  t e   doen  m e t   e e n   opvatiing,   d i e   aan  ,het tekst in  verband met plaatselijke omstandigheden.
  doo,pen en  doopsbediening  e,en magische  kracht  `toe-          Met  li,et  zich  <doopen op de graven der dooden. Deze
  kent, die door de  Schrift nergens wordt geleerd.                 dooden  hadden hun geloof bezegeld met hun bloed en
  En indien deze praktijken te  Corinthe  ti&kelijk  aan-           `de ledige plaats in de gemeente  o'ntstaan,  werd dan
  .wezig  waren geweest, we  zij.n er  zeker van, dat de            ingenomen  aoor  he:l, die  aidus gedoopt werden. Men
  Apostel de gemeente daarover  zeelr scherp  zo,u hebben           Wilde dan de  tekst laten zeggen, met het oog op of ten
 verm'aand  en bestraft. Hij had er zeer zeker op  ge-              behoeve van die dooden, liet men  zich  doopen.  Wle  ge-
  virezen,  mdat dit gruwelijk spel en  goddeloos  gedoe, een       voelen  dadelijk, dat deze wijze  van  verklaren geen zin
  ,ontheiliging van het Sacrament was, Erger wordt  dit geeft.  CGestel eens,  tdat men  zich op de graven der
  nog  `wlanneer op de vraag,  wie dan  tech  we1 deze  af?         mau?t.elaren liet  doop&,  ,waartoe zou dat  alles dienen?
  go&s&e gewoonte had  i.ngev!oerd, men ten  antwoord Noch de gedoopten,.  noch de dooden,  hadden er  eenig
  geeet, dat  A.pollos hiermede was begonnen, om  aan de            voordeel bij.    Men  vorderde  daar niets  ,mee en de
  Doopshandeling  Been  plechtigen   yorm  te'  geven.  M e n       gemeente  va.n  Christus   heeR  daa,r  tech  allerminst  be-
  beredeneert het dan als volgt :  Apollos was een mensch           hoefte  aan? Trouwens, de, dooden namen  dan,wel  een
  met  .een aesthetische natuur en gaf  aan zijn  schoon-           zeer groote  p1aat.s in, die hen  z&&r  niet toekwam.
  heidsgevoel uiting, door  bet  i.nvoeren van dezen  viorm         Dit was niets minder dan  heilsi,ge-vbreering, iets dat
  bij den Doop. Het wesd er daarom zoo plechtig  om- vleel later de  Kerk is  bin.cengesIopen.  Waar  tdan  nag
  schoon een mensch met  eeri  gezond   verstatahd  het  boeren-    bijkomt, dat  tiaar men deze  verklari,ng bouwde  op het
  bed.rog noemt.                                                    voorzetsel,  (UP,ER)  , dit voorzetsel nooit de beteekenis
      Wje  gevoelen  a.anstonds,  dat al dit soort  van  yier- heeft van plaats.
  klaren, door den tekst wordt  tegengespr,oken. De  hoofd-             Nog vreemder wordt het wanneer men de gedoopten
  f,out is, dat men van de  veronderstelling uitgaat,  edat         en de dooden vereenzelvigt. Men verklaart  da?  na-
:.  bet  koordeel van het  doopen den dooden ten  goede` zal        tuurlijker wijze niet den tekst,  doch  fabriceeat  .een;ge-
  komen. Doch juist  $et  tegenovergestelde  is waar, wat heel  ni&uwe  lezing van den  tekst. Men laat de  -tekst
  is het voordeel of het  pro,fijt  v'oor de  gedoopiten wanneer    dan zeggen, de dooden  (geestelijk) laten  zich  doopen
  zij voor de dooden  gedo6pt  worden? De Apostel zegt              met het oog op  Ihun  d'ood, in  verband met en  ten:.be-
  nergens  -in..dit hoofdstuk, wat is de  win&e voor de  doo-       hoeve van de wederopstanding, die  einde1ij.k  op den              _
  ,den,  doch wat is het  profijt voor  u wanneer gij  u  last      dood zal volgen. Dit  kan dan  weer op  tw.ee&lei   wij!ze
  #doopen,-  wanneer ge  alleen in dit l&en op Christ  ho-          .worde.n  opgevat.  D'e  bedoeliing kan dan zijn,  alle sterve-
  pende  zijit, als  er  geen  bpstanding  der dooden is?,          lingen leven met den dood  voor  oogen; vragen met het
      Ja  maar, dat  doopen voor de  jdooden dan?                   oog daarop om den doop, om  aldus verzekerd te zijn van
      Wat was het  eigenlijk?. Heeft men te  C,orinthe              de  opstanding.  sdes lichaams, die  aan  bet  .einde der
  dan  tech  &en soort  ddopspractijk` gehad, waardoor. bij         seeuwen  zal plaats  .grij.pen.  Alsof de hope der  opstan-
  het doopen aan de dooden :werd. gedacht ?                         ding dlereerst zou  worden verkregen door  bet Sacra-
      HI&  ligt niet in onze bedoeling om over  mogelijk en         ment,  in plaats  van het  Woord.  Of,  .gelijk we boven
  ook  we1 onmogelijke  verklaringen,--die omtrent dezen            zeiden, deze  gedoopten-zijn  van nature geestelijke doo- .
,- tekst  .werden  gegeven  tee  schrijven;   schoon  bier nog      den, die  echter door den doop bij de levenden  moeten
  .wel wat  tirucht van  verwaeht kon  worden, vooral de            gerekend  worden en  al&s  gemeenachap hebben met
 -vrucht van hoe men niet moet exegetiseeren. Daarom                de gesborvenen,  die straks door  Christus   wordeti  opge-
  .zij..slechts  op een enkele gewezen. Ook ten  tijde.van          we.kt, Die  tech ook dood was en levend werd. Deze


  434              _                       T H E   S ' T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

  soort van verklaringen  zij,g uiterst  `zwaai' en moeilijk
  te  verstaan  vo'or iemand, die  gelooft, dat  verk&ring            Government  Relief And The Deaconate
  altijd  `bet duidelijke van den tekst moet uitbrengen,
  zoodat de  beteekenis-gezien   wordt.                                   The subject assigned to us touches upon many
      Zelfs  Calvlijn  sehijnt met den tekst geen raad te             practical problems in the matter of giving relief to
  weten en verklaart,  .dat' de gedoopten catechumenen                the poor, but it also touches upon' the God-ordained
  waren, die.  6f door  kran;kheid  6f' toevalligerwijze  be-         office of mercy, as instituted in the Church of God by
  dreigd, werden (door  vervolging) door den  dood en                 her head Jesus Christ. Especially in our day  cah,such
  die om den doop vroegen-of ter hunner eigen  ventroos-              a discussion of Relief be of immense value, for many
  ting, of  ter opbouwing der broederen. Dan. wolrden de              false theories  and practices exist that should  <be  ab-
  woorden `voor de dooden' vertaald als  volgti met  `bet             hored by the people of God, and  concernihg which they
  oog op den  .dood, of in het  g.ezicht des doods,  liet men         should repent and return  unto the way of Jehovah.
  zich  doopen,  .om zoo aanstonds met de dooden  vereenjigd             Often  Relief is given the poor by both the govern-
 te  zij,n.                                                           ment and the Deaconate, as  +hough both these agencies
      We  gevuelen.direkt,  dat er ook  aan deze verklaring           operate for the same goal, from the same principle
  iets niet in  ,md?de is. Het gaat er niet  ovey in  den tekst,      and unto the same purpose. Now this  niuslt be  op-
 noch in het  verband, of  er een vereeniging zal zijn van            posed~ with all that is in us. To give relief, is an act
  1,evenden met de dooden, maar wel, of  er  voor levenden .of mercy and of love bestowed upon the poor and dis-
 en dooden een  opstandiing  zal zijn en of de Doop  een              tressed. This act of mercy and love can impossibly be
  Sacrament is, waardoor men  aan  `de  gemeenschap.Imet done by the government agencies, even if these agencies
 het  Lichaam van  C,hristus (de dooden met de levenden               have been called into being for the expressed purpose
  dus) ,  wordt verzekerd en verzegeld.                               of helping those who cannot help themselves.            The
      Want indien  er geen opstanding der dooden is, dan              government is not an agency of mercy and love, nor
 is er  ilmmem  o'ok  ,geen  behoefte  aan den Doop? Dan is           lean it  ever be this. It is nut the calling of the govern-
 er in geen enkel  opiicht eenige gemeenschap,  noch met              ment to show  mercy unto the poor first of all.        It is  `.
  de dooden,  noch met de levenden  onderling;  noch ook              the government's calling to exercise the sword-power
 .met Christus. De  ofistandi_ng beslist hier  alles. Dan             to protect the good and to punish the evil-doer. If
 wordt  oak de  fioop, met het  o#og op  :de dooden,  ,dwaas-         now the rich  exploilt the `poor and rob them of their
 heid. Precies  als  &et  ,het geloof, dat ons tot de  ellen-         meagre  belonginxgs, yes,  &hen the government has the
  digste  Ban alle  mensohen-maal@,  zoo het ons  alleen in           duty and obligation to protect the poor and punish the
  dit  Eeven  hopend; doet zijn op Christus.  Daarmee                 rich. The government's duty is then clearly not to
 staat  en valt de zaak van het Christendom; van  Chris-              allow the one unit of  soleiety infringing upon  lthe rights
 tus en van God. Dan is  er met den dood het einde                    of the other.. But this does  not,,mean that the govern-
 waarop geen vervolg of  vldortzetting  volgt.                        ment itself Bas then the right to infringe upon  :the
      En om nu  rnaar niet meer te noemen,  want het zou              rights of either of the units of society. The govern-
 niet  moeilij,k zijn om nog vele andere verklaringen te              ment niay, strictly speaking, only  ,be busy in the sphere
 memoreeren, er is ook  no,g een  wijz,e van  verklaren; wherein God has placed it, and regulate  the affairs of
  die  vloor de dooden, `Den  D,oode',  namelijk  Christus            its people in such a way, that each unit of society re-
 willen lezen.  Hier,over  kunnen we  eehter zeer kort                mains free and independent to exercise its own calling
 zijn. Deze.wijze van  venklaren is  ,een  vermin,ken van             and duty.
  den" tekst en is  vrucrht  van  Deb  allergroftsite   w6llekeur.       We do not believe that  +he government can exercise
De  tekat  spreek.t niet over den Christus,  doch  handelk relief to  !the poor, for it is not the agency wherein love .
 over  #de dooden en op .deze dosden  .wordt  clan met  na-           and mercy are poured out. Even as our formula for
druk geweien, tot  .tweemaal toe.                                     the administration of the deaconate so plainly states,
    W.e willkn nu  alreeds voorop stellen, dat we er van              that to extend relief to the poor is not merely a  matiter
 overtuigd zijn  bier niet  te  doen te hebben met  een of-extending some  fin+ncial  aid, but "also with comfort-
 zekere gewoonte. Zouden we  `van die gedachte uitgaan,               ing -words from Scripture", give spiritual "relief" for
 dan  waren we als vanzelf  direlct  over de  moeillijkh&d            the poor is also one who is "poor of spirit". There-
 $een.  Fe$elij.k is er dan geen  moeilijkheid. We  kon-              fore it is plain  :that the government has no calling
 den  dan  de-  teket.  voonbijigaan. Want  een voor ons              whatsoever to speak comfortable words from Scrip-
 verborgen  gebleben  gewoonte kan dan op zijn -best ons              ture, and to give  spirtual aid and comfort in the midst
 doen gissen,  omtrenrt de  iviraag  wat die  gewoonlte  ge-          ,of poverty. When the government provides relief to
 weest is.  iVaar dat zal niet bevredigen, want  waarom               its poor, then it `is but a matter of cold, hard cash,
 vzou de  66ne gissing niet even  goed, of niet even slecht,          given to those who seek only the cold, hard cash and
 zijn  als de  andeute?                                               nothing more. Of  c5urse we realize that the govern-
     Doch  hier.over een volgende  keer.              w..v.           ment is interested -in the `fact that her citizens remain
                                                       1.  (.


                                         ,~T:H~  $.TANDARD   BEARER                                                          435

  as contented as  p&sible, that all spirit of revolt and          recognize any other agency `than the one established
  rebellion be as much as  posiible banished. Thus it is           in the Church. For the Deaconate represents Christ
  to the interest of good government to help the poor  -df         as'thti Sympathetic Highpriest. And  this- Sympathetic
  the land. Yet we maintain that  it is not the  eailing,          IHighpriest comes to manifestation and  r&elation   ifi
  nor the duty of  the government to afford relief, for            the midst of the world,  only through the  Hightiests
  ,strietly speaking, it can  not  and may  izot.                  office  of  Deacon.  Therefore the deacons alone CAN
      The Deaconate, however, CAN, and MAY, and                    administer relief to the poor, for the more they relieve
  MlJST administer relief to the poor. It CAN because the poor  :the  m-ore they are busy in the work of Christ.
  it is the God-ordained office in the  Church, to afford          Blessed the Deacons and the Church who has poor
  relief to the poor  and distressed. There is no one who to relieve. ,On  -the other hand the above stated  prin-
  will deny that  nthe  ofice  of.. deacon was instituted,         ciple, will also  .cause the poor to seek  .their relief
  according to Acts 6 to show  rhercy and  love in the             nowhere else  %han from the deacons.          This does  not
  name of Christ our- Merciful  Highpriest. .Offi&ially  the       mean. that the poor will immediately apply to the
  w,ork of mercy had-its origin then  and there.  -Surely          deacons for aid when they are in need. They  will
  individual. acts of mercy were performed  lon#g  before          surely recognize the duty  of member  .of the same
  this. This is plain  from the first chapters, of  t.he book      family to help in time of need. But when-the resources
  of  A&s. However, the official, God-ordained work of of the family have been exhausted, or when the family
  mercy began when the Holy Spirit guided the Apostles             has become so  unspir.itual  tliat they do  not care to
  to institute the  c&ice of  deaLon, in the  Church of Christ.    help the other member of the family in his or her need,
  So that  it is plain first of all that God Himself, when -then the poor will desire to go to no one else than
  determining, an  agehey for the relief of the. poor,  de-        to the Deaconate. He is then poor of spirit also, de-
  termined upon  the Church, as the agency of relief.              siring comfort from also the Scripture.  Else therefore
  This is of course  perfectly understandable and logical,  -  .turns  to .the sympathetic.Highpriest, as represented in
 for the Church is the body of Christ,  and consists               the Deacons, and prays for mercy and  lo&, from the
  of members wherein the  love of God is shed abroad.              ~only body that can indeed give. this mercy and love.
  In  t$@, body of Christ, each  member has  his.or her own        Then the body of the  deaootis, being filled with bowels
  place it is  -true but they  are members one of another.         of mercy for  .Christ's sake, give aid and comfort and
  They serve one another  and love one another.  .They relief to the needy.
  together possess one spirit,. have one hope, stand under             This body of deacons also MAY and MUST give
 one`  L,ord, and are inseparably connected one to an-             this relief. Itt may do this,  f.or it is capable of giving
  other. Therefore in  thit body  #of  C,hri,st, the  lovle of     relief. God Himself gives the right to administer
  .God  js shed abroad. This love is not merely a little           relief to the poor unto this body. `Therefore the
  sympathy for one `another, but is a love rooted in God's         deacons  havIe  ri&ghts alone  ato officially  .give this aid.
  own love, whereby He  gaue,  His  #Only Begotten Son.            God produces in the members of  the body of Christ,
  This Son loved them  uniKL'aeath,  and unto the end.             the desire to give liberally to the Deaconate, so that
  Wlhen  o n   ,Pentecost  C h r i s t   e n t e r s   ariew  i n t o   !His this body. may  administ& its aid. It may do this in
  Church, He  w,orks that-love  in and through the mem-            various ways,  accordin,g  to discretion and wisdom.
  bers of His body.  And let  u.s  liot-`forget that His           In the earlier church the deacons even bought prison-
  lolvle is such that it gives its life, it  tiff,ers Himself      ers out of their prison cells. And this must all be
  and  &ll His benefits. He does not merely offer some-            dbne in the name of Christ, out of the principle of
  thing of Himself,  but completely does He  give unto             tiercy and love of Christ, for the salvation of the sin- .
-  the members of His body ALL  THINiGS. Therefore                 ners, pointing to the blessed,  .incomparable  gift of
  when this  1,ove of Christ now  meets with a poor or dis-        mercy  whilch God gave unto His people in  ,giving His
  tressed member, it can  ,only reveal itself in an act of         only begotten Son. And the Deaconate MUST give
  mercy and love. For when one member suffers, all the             this relief, because if they do not, then they are with-
  members suffer. Arid this suffering of love with the             holding the mercy and love of Christ to the needy,
  distressed, is the root principle from  whi.ch is  born          .which of course would bring  +he wrath of God upon
  all  .woy;k of mercy. Outside of this principle there is         those who are unfaithful. God loves a cheerful giver,
  no work of  mer,cy. There is essentially no relief out-          both in the members of the body of Christ in general,
  side  the body of Christ.                                        but also in  the Deaconate that remains faithful to  .its
      The above stated principle therefore will result in          calling of being the administrator of God's manifold
  two things. First of. all as respects the Church of              m e r c i e s .
 ,Christ, the Deacons will not  want-any   bf  +he poor to            The result of this all is then too that the poor are
  go anywhere else  f,or relief,  than alone, to this God-         actually receiving aid from  the God of their salvation.
ordained agency of  merfcy. `To go- anywhere else is               They  Jhen  actually do  no!t receive help from man, but
  a" disgrace to the  Dea&ns. The  `Deacdnate refuses to           from the Sympathetic Highpriest. -It is because the


       435                                   T H E   STAND,A'RD  B E A R E R

I poor are  con&ious of this, that they are  &so poor in              I will miss the particular point which was in the
/ spirit. Truly they need not be beggars,  but they also .mind of  .our editor-in-chief who assigned all the sub-
  .do not demand in a highhanded way. Tiey desire then jects to the various contributing editors.
       the mercies of Christ. They long for His love, and its            When we speak of submission to church govern-
       manifestation.     They are then also grateful. and truly      ment we have assumed already that  -there is such
       thankful for the aid extended them, and their own              a thing as church government. We will not try to
       bowels of mercy will open  5or the poor and needy,             prove at length from Scripture that this is so  but we
       when they can  give of their abundance later..                 go  ,out from the `assumption' that there is. After  a!1
         : In concluding this essay, concerning "government           our readers are no little children who have never heard
       Relief and the Deaconate", let me state first of all that      of church government. Let it suffice therefore that I
       the.  melnber;s are duty bound then to furnish the dea-        quote one text from Scripture which plainly  teache?
       cons with the necessary funds and goods to provide  f,or       that there is  chu&h authority and hence  i?hurch  go+
       all  :t.he poor.  ,Givle liberally, even as God has dealt      ernment: I have reference now to the  wellknown text
       liberally. with you. ,Government  relief should not be         in Matthew 16: "And  I will give unto thee the keys
       necessary in the Church of Jesus  ,Christ. The day will        of  the kingdom of heaven: and  `whsitsoever thou wilt
       come: when also  bhe <government will be part of the           tbin,d on earth shall be bound in heaven  ; and what-
       antichristian kingdom of this world. This  antichris-          soever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in
       tian kingdom will demand the mark of  the beast on             heaven. `(Our reformed fathers have always explained
       everyone of her citizens. Not to bring the members             this text, and'that in connection with a host of other
       of the body of Christ in further distress, we may not          passages in Scripture, that the exalted Christ has
       allow its `members to even ask the government for              gi.ven  <he Church authority, the power of the keys of
       relief. In that day  it may be necessary to share the          the  kingdqm. We might also remark that our con-
  ,very last, crust of bread with another member of the               fessions deal with the subject of church government
       body  of,Christ.  Brethren let us be faithful. Secondly,, and church authority. In this connection we might
       let relief be  given  only in the name of Christ our Lord.     mention Lord's Day 31,  whileh discusses the subject of
       That the testimony of the truth may resound into the           the  k&j& of the kingdom of heaven, while  Lord's   .Day
  homes-and institutions of all those who  are on  distress           40 deals with the subject of authority and obedience as
       or in need. ICutlerville   .and Bethesda and all the insti-    based upon the fifth commandment. Furthermore our
  tutions of. mercy, must manifest in all its  wor;k  *hat            articles of  fai+h speak e.g. about the subject of church
  the -Merciful Highpriest  ,dwells there with His good gbvernment  in articles 30 and  3i. And, finally, our
       and Holy Spirit of love and grace. So  that whkn even          reformed churches  have their own church  ,order which
       the wicked enter such an institution, or receive aid           in  more than eighty articles gives rules, regulations
       from the Deacons, they may behold your good  works             and stipulations for church government.
       and glorify God in the day of visitation.       Surely we         That the  Itihurch has the authority to govern,  *to rule,
       must take care first  ,of all of the household of faith.       to regulate, follows  also from  the nature of the case.
  But thereafter it is  not our duty to shut up the bowels            There must be authority in  the church as well as in the
       of mercy. It is rather our duty to  continue this work         home, the  Sbate, etc.    Although we should keep in
       of  .,meTcy, also to the world  ar&nd  us. BUT ONLY mind that the power of the church must be distinguish-
 .AS  4"  TE!.$TIMONY  OF `THE  TRUTH, over against                   ed from the power of the State and every other sphere
  the tender mercies  (?) of-the wicked  whileh are cruel.            of authority. That this is actually done  also in  Scrip-
 ..Thus  .shall the righteous  sin,g of the  ten,der  mercies         ,ture.itself is plain from the fad that the power of the
  of the Lord, and they shall know that  !H5s mercy  en-              State  ,is  symb@zed by the sword, that of the church.
       dureth  forevler, for time and eternity,. in life and          by the keys. The power of the State is also of such a
 .death, as to body  tind  8s to soul.                 L. v.          character that  it'forces its will upon its subjects and
                                                                      is satisfied  with a formal  obedience,  the power of  the.
                                    *-                                church is of a spiritual-ethical nature.
  :                                                                      We should furthermore. keep in mind that Christ is
 r        `.A
 ,`:.  k3ubmission  To Church Government                              the  supreme ruler of His Church. He holds the keys
                                                                      of the kingdom, He rules, decides, demands, lays down
              It stands to reason that  when: bne writes a short      the laws.  ,He opens and He shuts.
       article on the above mentioned. subject  he. can not              However, Christ has  charged His office bearers on
       enter into  every detail hence, several things  mu&t be        earth that  t,hey execute His commandments. In other
  taken for granted. Not having chosen this particular                words the church government. rests with the  office-
       subject  ,myself the undersigned does not know what            bearers. And they can and may do nothing else but
_  ,Jwas exactly in the mind of him  &ho assigned it.                 execute the will of Christ which He has revealed in
 .HG,pce, it is very well possible that to a large extent             His  `Holy Word. Therefore the Bible is the guiding


                                                T H E   S T A N D A R D   B - E A R - E R                                              437

   rule for  churfch government. Church government must their laws,  ,the church has no sword but comes with the
   be in harmony with the principles of Scripture, the                       power of the Word, of the keys of the kingdom. But
  Ch&ch  must  alwaJ%  eie;ute the will of Christ and the keys do not administer bodily punishment,  they"
   qlways ask: "Lord,  what wilt thou that we shall do."                     bring no man in  jail, they do not kill. The. power  6f
        Furthermore, it is the conviction of reformed  be-                   the church is of a spiritual-ethical nature. Knowing'
   Jievers  +hat the local church is autonomous. The high-                   this the recalcitrant member also knows that the
   est authority in the church, under Christ, of  cours,e, is                church cannot punish him bodily, or fine  him4 or force
n o t   t h e   cdngregation,  b u t   t h e   conSistory.    Of  I:ourse    him to confess his sin, or submit to its government.
   we do believe that the various churches which are one                     He must  vloluntarily, willingly, by way of persuasion
   in confession should together form a denomination of                      submit to  l:htirch government, but no church can ever
   churches. And in our Protestant Reformed Churches                         force him.
   we distinguish between three  different~ kinds of church                     `But  are`there no consequences connected with in-
   gatherings :  Consistory meetings, Classical meetings,                    subordination to the church?         Of course there  5re.
and  Synodical meetings.  ,However,  the power of the                        If the recalcitrant party refuses to submit to church
   broader church meetings is not a higher power but a                       government the church will at long last excommunicate
   delegated power' to  whilzh the local churches subject                    him and  dszlare that he has no part in the kingdom
   themselv:es voluntarily by mutual agreement. There-                       of heaven. Hence, the consequences are very serious
   fore the highest authority in the  churches is the  con-                  indeed. Or if the insubordinate person refuses to be
   sistory and` although the  broa,der gatherings  also exer-                govierned by the church, he merely withdraws as mem-
   cise a certain autority, this is not of a higher kind and                 ber from  t.hat church and  bi that very act he no longer
   it is not dictatorial at all but  moie of an advisory                     belongs to the jurisdiction of that church. Of  conrse
   nattire as far as-the local church is concerned, and  0f.a                withdrawal is  usually,.although not always, a cowardly
   delegated character as far as the common interests                        act, it solves no problem,  i:t clears up no case, it settles
   are  concerned. We can not enter into these  .things at                   nothing before God.
   present, we merely mention them.                                             We must say still more. Not submitting to  <church
        And, finally,' the church governs only in its  o,wn                  government means insubordination to and rebellion
   sphere and over its own subjects. Perhaps this sounds                     against Christ  whq called to  aut,hority. Again', not
   like a  superfluous  remark. However it is not, think of submitting to church government means not  submit-
   the conception of  the  Roman Catholic Church which to the Word of God. Therefore we conclude that sub-
   even today,  .if it could, would subject.  ta itself the                  mission to church government is necessary for God's
   power of the State.                                                       sake, for Christ's sake, for conscience sake. And sub-
        Now, as to the question  "inust we submit to church mission to church government is actually submission
   government?", the answer is of course an  unequivlocal :                  to God, to Christ, to the Word.
   "YES  !"     That is rather self-evident. As well. as a                      Howevler, even so not all is said that should at least
   &ild must submit to his parents, as well as the  citize'n                 be mentioned  in'this connection. (Perhaps  me>h more
   must submit to the civil government ruling in its own                     should be said  ,but our space is limited). In the first
   sphere, so also must a church member submit  ,to church                   place we must keep in' mind that the church through
   government. All this follows from the nature of the                       it.s office bearers is certainly  not a perfect and infallible
   case. Scripture tells us that we must submit ourselves                    institution. The church can make mistakes, errors, the
   to the God-given authorities. God is a God of law and                     church can do wrong. Therefore we reformed people
   order in every sphere and domain of life. Hence the                       believe in the right of appeal. Submission  ,to  chup?h
   individual member must submit  himself to the govern-                     government is not and should not be a blind submis-
   ment of the local church, the local church must submit                    sion, that would be hailing the hierarchical system. of
   itself  td the government of the  Classis   ancl- Synod,                  Rome. In the second place no one should submit to
   provided of course  that the latter stay within their                     church government, and  iri  ,this connection I mean cer-
   o-wn very limited domain.                                                 tain rules, regulations or decisions, when he is con-
       Life teaches us, however, that many a time those                      vinced in  $s soul that the church is positively wrong.
   who should submit themselves to church  governmen&                        Then the word of  hhe apostles counts: "We must obey
   refuse to  do so. This is often the case with discipline                  God rather than man." Because in such instances the
   cases. Those found guilty by the church will deny  the                    church no longer speaks the Word of God and func-
   charges or ignore the decisions and demands of their- tions as the agent of  Chi5st  but lords it  oyer  $he flock,.
   own  c.onsistory, the latter being often times supported                  Submission must indeed be refused when the  .church
   by the  -classical and  synodical gatherings. In such                     demands things that are in conflict with the Word of
   instances the church has no outward power to compel                       God.
   the recalcitrant member to submit to its government.                         1~ the third place we also like to emphasize once
   The civil authorities have the sword  -and can enforce                    mire that the  church~ only governs in its own sphere


  $38                                       T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R   :  "  `-
   ~.
  and- none need to submit to  <the church  wh.en  .-that              "+wA"?, Of the School"?                i
  church arbitrarily demands submission. to  her in re-                ..  .Spea&ing of the "church" there are two possibilities.
  spect to things that lie outside of  her domain.                        The first is, that we  <have in mind the  Izhurch  .& a
         And, finally, only when the  chur,&  wants>-to be             living, spiritual organism. in  Christ  Jesus. This is the
  liothing else but the instrument of Christ,  su'bmitting             church as' she invisibly  dwells in the hearts of the
tierself to the Word, and when the members have a                      regenerated elect. It is the  .body of the risen, glorified
  supreme desire to be obedient unto Christ, we can  ex-               Christ. And this church reveals itself in confession
 pect the  i,deal relationship between the members of                  and walk, as the "one new man in the Spirit". This is
  5he church and the office bearers' whom Christ has                   lthe holy Catholic  church of which we make  .confession
  invested with authority. For then the governing church               in the apostolic confession.
  will seek to glorify Christ, love the truth, maintain                   `The second is, that we  have in mind the church in
  justice and be never a pleaser of men. And on the                    her  inst&diond   life. We here have  refereaze to that
  other hand  %hen those who must submit themselves to                 institution in which the living church is able to, in an
  church government will do so gladly, cheerfully, in the              orderly  Gay, reveal  herself'+   the midst of this world.
  consciousness that the  chup& seeks their spiritual  land            Her task is, the preaching of the gospel, and the ad-
  eternal wellbeipg.                                      J .   D .    ministration of the sacraments and the exercising of
                                                                       the Christian discipline.     Speaking of the preaching
                           _     .-
    z                                                                  of the gospel we have in mind also the church's duty
                                                                       to  :train.the  ministry. To maintain the  schools.and the
    $ie Christian Schobl And The Church                                ministry, as spoken of in Lord's Day 37, Qu. 103.
  Viewpoint                                                                In `this article  iive  wlill treat of the church as to her
                    of the Treatment of this Subjeat :          -.     in.s~titutiord  calling, in  distieetion from the calling and
         Looking at our subject, we notice that it is stated           sphere of the  lab&s  of the  Christian schools.
  in' its most general form. The main subject of this                      Ii is also necessary to define what  `to  our mind is
essay is not the "church" but the  `.`christian school".               the  chxi.?tian school.
  And  the idea is no doubt, that this school is to be viewed              There is much in our day that is called Christian,
  in its proper relationship to the church.                            that  i_s not worthy of this name.  In the. most general
         Whereas this relationship of `the school to  :the             sense of the term, all that is not Mohammedan,  .Bud-
  chuneh  has various angles, it can be viewed from more               d&tic, etc. is called Christian. In this sense both
  than one viewpoint. First of all, the subject could  be              Catholicism and  Protestantis?n  is "Christian". To be
  treated, from the viewpoint of the pedagogical  need of              sure, no well-thinking person, would  con12ede that a
  essential harmony of the instruction given in the School             school that is  `.`christian"  iri that general sense is
  and in the church. Viewing the subject in this light,                w&thy of serious consideration.             Neither is, to pass
  the child to be instructed in both institutions would be             by  R?man Catholicism, all that fall within the pale of
  brought into  the. focus-point. Secondly, to mention                 Protestantism worthy of  .the name "Christian". Think
  another viewpoint,  attentioll  could be called to the               of all the modernism, denying the very heart of the
  administrative relationship. of the Christian School to              Christian religion, to wit, the  Sonship of Christ, and
  the  churtih. A question of interest in this connection              His vicarious atoning labors.  I
  .would be: Should the `schools be subsidized by the                      A Christian school to our mind is one that is  .dis-
  churches at large: This latter question is quite actual              tinctively reformed, and-in this sense must of necessity
  in some territories  ,of our land,  .where  the Christian            of the present structure of things, be denominational.
 -school-movement is desired to -be -expanded to numeric-  _ This latter statement is a "thesis"  w:hich the writer of
  ally small and financially-weak church&. A third view-               these lines would be happy to  defend in a separate
  point is the question of the rightful God-ordained call-             article.
  ing of the Christian school in its teaching, in  distinc-                And a distinctively reformed school, be it primary,
  tion from  bhe  church. What is the  -sovlereign sphere              hig&+chool,  college or university, must be this minus
  of the school? Of the church?                                        cb@ral  implications of-points II and III of the Synod
         `To exhaust the subject from all these and other              of 1924. This point we wish to illucidate upon present-
  possible angles within the allotted space is out of the              ly. Our subject in the light of this definition, calls for
  que&on.  -We will confine our treatment of the subject               an answer to the question: what is the proper task of
  to the  iatter of the three viewpoints suggested in the the Christian School in relation to the task of  the
  former paragraph.
          I                                                            Church.
  De&&ion of the Subject Peroper :
         It may be of merit to some of the readers of this             The  Duty.  of  Both Institutions  Subjectecl to  &d's
  essay, that we first of all define our subject. What do              Sovereignty.
  we exactly  have in mind when  we speak of  .the  -
               _                                                       In  views of the virtue  gf God's Unity  ,&cl also the


                        j_~   ..rC-li-RZ`
                                        ..    T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R   `
                                                                                                                   7             439
                                                                                                                                  <
unity of His sovereignty in every domain, both institu-                   genius of the duty of the  christian  school in distinction
tions must be considered as in the service of the living                  fr.om the duty of the church.
God and His  Chriit.                                           .  .._
                                                               ._.  :-       `To  :answer-. this question attention must be called
   This implies that we cannot put  :the duty of the                      to  the'specific field of the school. The subject  tiatter
school in the realm of "nature" and that of the  chuneh                   of the school  is not gathered from the Bible. The
in grace. Apart from the fact that the  construdtion                      Bible is written in very grammatical language, but  *
`hature and grace" is not reformed, but Aquiniah,                         it does not teach us scientifically the laws of grammar.
Roman Catholic, it must be rejected as an untenable                       It is not the duty of the minister in the catechism class
d u a l i s m .                                                           to teach grammar. Neither can we very well speak of
   Both the Christian school and the church must view                     a biblical physiology, describing scientifically all the
all things in the light of the glorious revelation of  God                functions of the body. It would be utter folly to  try to
in the face of Jesus Christ, and must insist, that apart                  collec't the data of miedieval and modern secular (?)
from the regenerating influence of the  Spirit of  sancti-                history from the Bible. It is also ridiculous to speak of
firation none can know God.                                               a scientific knowledge of geography in the Bible.
   Neutrality, in either institution is out of  then ques-                 . The data of these  subj'ects  taughit in school is col-
tion.' It is either  lteeching the subjection to the law                  lected empirically by men and women, apart from the
of God, in subjection to it, or to oppose it in bitter                    Scriptures. And the scientist, provided he remains a
hatred and denial.                                                        scientist, can go on collecting data indefinitely, and
                                                                          nevler will he lock horns with the believers in the infal-
   Both must teach in their respective fields, having                     libility of the Word.
the-Word of  #God as a lamp unto their feet and a light                      But the mere collection of the data is not  inow-
upon their pathway.                                                       ledge, and  instructipn.     Knowledge deals with the
Is the Christian School a Cbmplement of the Church? totality of things, in `the origin, existence and purpose.
                                                                          And the interpretation of things, is either a matter of
   If the school -and the  church did not have their-own                  God's revelation or of  man's  reason. It is in its total
divinely sanctioned domain of  prescri,bed.  duties, they                 ex@ana!tion, either theology or philosophy! It is a
would be overlapping each other, and  either  the one                     biblical life- and world-view, or a philosophic life- and
or the  other would have to be declared  tq have no  right                vyorld-view.
of existence. We believe each has  its own task; which                       The church must develop  thhe dogma,  an$ the  school
the one cannot perform for  tl-+e other.                                  applies it. And so the application in the school, is
   The Christian school may never be an appendix to                       the leaven of the church in every domain of life. Does
the catechism class. Its duty is not to teach reformed                    this tell the scientific meaning, of every detail?  No,
theology  -pure  land  simp!e. That is  rthe duty of the                  it does not. But  i% does afford  t,he "vantage-point" of
church. Neither is the Christian school another  Suncluzj                 faith for believing perspectives.
school.  This latter motive could never warrant the
existence of a separate school-institution.                               Some Practical Implications.
   Still the question of  `the priority of the institutions                   If the  reformed life- and-world-view is to be applied
may be raised? And then it is our  conviletion, that                      -to the subject  matter in the school, it calls for  ifi:
as to the interpretive. element  in the  schdol-subject-                  structors  who have a deep and penitrating grasp of the
matier of  inetruction, the school must borrow the                        reformed truth. This sets  a-high standard.
principles from the church.  The church has felt the                          The Christian school teacher must be a theologian
need of Christian schools, to apply its teaching to all                   plus being acquainted with the  subje%matter of his
the field  .of the  scierices taught  bn the  schooldeurri-               -particular field.    If one reflects a bit he will detect
culum,    In  fact, there is a  separa'te  article in the                 thit not. all subjects lend  themselveS  eqally well to be
Church  Order, relative to the duty of consistories- and                  placed in  the broad perspectives of  God% sovereign
the  chri&iam schools.  _ During the annual  "church-                     win. The teacher- in the reading class may be able to
dsitation" the question `of the Christian schools is also                 call attention  to. words as "God"  "muat", and explain
mentioned,  not to forget the  qfiestion  at  .the end of                 them, but then she is. strictly speaking. not limiting.
each  classilcal meeting;                                                 herself. to "reading".
   Their is a sense in which the school  complemefits                         Qne teaching history has a far greater opportunity.
the work of the church as an institution. We do not                       Thub also one  iteaching  geography, and civics.
here have reference to the factual, historical,  scfiptural                   It has been my  experi>nce,  that too little attention
knowledge imparted in the school.  I!ts merit is an                       on the part of  eduicational  committees has been  giveti
undeniable fact. And  mady are. the ministers  whole to these questions. School boards also ought-to-stress
gratefully  acknowled.ge  this fact.           But  this.'  latter  ii     he need  6f truely Christian schools. It is with mingled
not what we have in  mind, since it does not touch the                     eeling that  I. visit the Christian schools of our day.


                    I
~44ii--                                S - O T H E   S T A N D A R D   BEARE.R

  The majority of the teachers have not seen  (the genius                         naam; en  :tot troost van Zijn volk. En  oak buiten onze
  of Christian schools. How  ban they teach?                                      kringen  wi%ren deze  redevoeritigen  welkom, en  er  werd
        In  ,c!psing permit me to remark, that  the goal set                      elk& Zondag door  vielen. naar uitgezien.
  by  our  %eformed fathers, is a lofty  atid exacting one.                           Zij die  dan  oak  `goed hebben  .geluistercl   ztillen'  we1
  The difficdities  are great with which a truly Christian                        hebben  be,merkt   dafhet  algemeene-genade-hnisje  is  om-
  school has to contend. There is always and again .the                           vergetrokken. De jonge mahnen vereeniging van Ful-
  element  o&sin-and laxity. Walk worthy of the high                              ler  Ave: doet  dan ook  goed nu ze weer een  poxing deed
  vocatioq- wherewith you have been called, is the  witch-                        ,till de komende winter  -Ds.  -Hoeksema  weer over de
  word of.  the hour!
           ,_.                                                                    radio  t& laten spreken, D.  .V. Laat ons als gemeente
                                                              G. L:~              deze poging  po8  fillanci`eel.steutien.
                                                                                      Ook in het  Westen  ziet men zeer  goed  dart  Zendings-
                                                                                  werk over de radio doel-treffend is. Redlands'  doming
                                                                                  doet dit op zijn eigen eenige manier.  Ik verbindt dit
                                                                                  doen meestal  aan zijn  qaam. Om sluw te zijn in den
              Nieuws Van -0nze Kerken                                             goeden  zin van het woord is niet  verkeerd.; Met  al dit
                                                                                  mooie hebben we echter nog geen Zendeling in  bet  veld.
                                                                                  We  moeten hst eene  doen en het  andere niet  nalaiten.
   .              (,Continu.ed  from last Issue)                                     -Het is  6ok zeer gezond dat we van binnen nit  uit-
        Nu  iS het m.i. geen  ovkrbodige  weelde om het  zoo- breiden.                         H!ier in Grand Rapids zou een mooie  ge-
  in  +e  richten  dat we.  jaarJijksche  Synoden hebben.                         meente  kuhnen  `worden gesticht,,  b.v. in de  ,O:akdale
  Men  blijft beter  ,op' de  hoogte met de samenleving der                       P,ark buurt. Een beetje meer Westelijk van de  pla&ts
  verschil1end.e kerken van  O,osrt  en West.  Zakeiz  van                        alwaar we onze school  hopen te bouwen in de toekomst.
  meer ernstigen  ,aard- kunnen en  moeten gezamenlijk -Wie geeft de  -eers!te  stools?
  worden  perhandeld, en  indien mogelijk  s.poe`dig-  afge:                          Het is,  dunkt  :me, een prijzenswaardige  zaak van al
  Ihandeld, opdat het  we1 mag gaan ook met het Zion                              onze  vrouwen  bier en rondom de stad onzer inwoning
  Gods  oeder ons. We  moeten niet vergeten: de band                              dat ze  willen  helpen tot  bet verkrijgen van een eigen
  der  :liefde moet niet  worden  gerekt  Imaar  we1  nauwe,r                     school. -Waar  liefde woont gebiedt de Heere Zijn
  aaneengesnoerd, en een Synode vermag  dilt dikwijls                             zegen; daar  woont Hij Zelf, en wordt  Zijn',heil  ver-
  t e       bevlorderen.                                                          k!regen. .  ; .                     L
        In de tweede  p!aats zijn we als  Protesltiantsche                            Ik vernam het  uit goeie bron dat  bet  goed gaat met
  Gereformeerde Kerken nog jong, en het is van veel                               de  Kal.amBzoo gemeente. Er kwamen eenige  huisge-
  gewicht dat een Synode de leiding geeft. We  moeten                             zinnen bij, en  a.nderen komen getrouw  luisteren: Zeker
  het pand bewaren hetwelk ons is  toeveurtrouwd.  We een  goed  teeken, en een  rechit geaard  ChYisten:-  ver-
  hebben  ,op elkander toe  tezi.en om uit  ens, eigen  begin-                    blijd  zich dat er  welvlaart  is in  eigeriivesting:  .'  .=            :
  se1 zoo veel mogelijk te  leveri.                                                   I k   wij  ootk  ilog  .eventjes  v e r m e l d e n   d,at  Creston
        Ik zag dan ook  gaarne dat er werd  beslist hoe b.v.                      gemeen!te in  haar leeraar Ds. J. De Jong de  reohte man
  Zendingswerjk moet  wcorden  vlerricht.  _  D?t,is voor een                     heeR gevonden. Oud en  jong is  we1  tevreden. Voor
  kerkengroep~  als de  onze van  grodt  belang. Het  -is een                     bet overige weet  .ik niet  veel.  van  ontie-  gemeenten in
  vereischte  da! er-  uitbreiding  ook bij ons  worclt   ge-                     en  ,ron.dom  Grand Rapids.
  zochk. We hebben  tech  6ok jonge  m?annen die  worden
  opgeleid voor  d&n dienst  `des  Wooxds,  om spoedig, te                            IHet is  soms  ~61 eens een beetje  lasltig  wa,nneer  m&
  worden  uitgestoten in Gods Wijngaard. Maar als er                              mo&  timmeren zonder  g.ereedschap.   Aan  .de  ,andere
  dan geen  plaatsen   zij,n, wat dan?      .            .                        kant is het echter ook weer  mooi. Men  kan dan meer
                                                                                  schrijveti in het algemeen over  din&en- die  tolc!h ook
        Mr. Kort gaf dienaangaande  onl,angs   w&l  een  kl.eine                  niet  heele'maal  buiten de gezichtseinder van onze  ker-
  vingertvijzing. Hij was van oordeel dat Ds. Hoeksema                            ken liggen, en haar  nut kunnen hebben `ook voar onze
  voor een jaar  v~erlof kreeg van,.zijn gemeente om' Zen-                        Standa&  Bearer lezers.
  dingswerk te  docn. Dit is  .m.i.  ech:tey minder  wijs.
  Een  generaal  heeft een  ,eenige  plaats  in een leger, en                         Ik ga nu maar  eindigen. De  vlorige  maal was ik
  in dezen is ook de  voorzi.ehti,gh.eid de. moeder der  wijs:                    een beetje lang van  adem en schreef meer als ik  eihgen-
  heid.                                                                           lijk  we1  mocht.  -                                           ."  `.
        Men hoort  .soms  oak  stemm& onder ons dat  preeken                          Ik  wensch-u  voorts  allen den "zegen des Heeren"
  en redevoeringen- over de radio  nuttig zijn voor  Zen- toe, en de  rust der  ziele die we  we1 noodig hebben in
  dingswerk, en wie zou die durven tegenspreken. Dit                              e'en  wereld van oorlog  en `ontevredenheid, van jammer
  heeft  hie? bij ons  vieel bijgedragen  tot de  ve!rrijking en  ellende.                                 _,    -
  van  .onze beginselen; tot' de verheerlijking  ;yan `Gods __  :  I .                               .,
                                                                           . .                                                         S. D. V.
                                                                   .,.I


