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

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         Semi-Monthly, except Monthly in July and August                                                                                                                                 EDITORIALS
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                                                1101  Hazen Street,  5. E.                                                                                                                      Colon Grace
                                         EDITOR - Rev. H. Hoeksems
   Contributing editors-Revs. J. Blankespoor, A. Cammenga,                                                                                                                                              IX
   P. De Boer, J.  D. de  Jong, H. De  WoLf,  L. Doezema,
   M. Gritters, C. Hanko, B. Kok, G. Lubbers, G. M. Ophoff,                                                                                                                    A rather striking illustration is used by Van Til
   A. Petter, M.  Schipper,   J.  Vanden   Breggen,  H. Veldman,                                                                                                             to  clarify his application of the 
   R. Veldman, L. Vermeer, P. Vis, G. Vos, Mr.  S. De Vries.                                                                                                                                                        "As  If" theory. He
                                                                                                                                                                             criticizes Dr. Kuyper's  ,conception  of "territories"
   Communications relative to contents should be addressed                                                                                                                   (terreinen-leer) , according to which the latter assigns
   to REV. H. HOEKSEMA, 1139 Franklin St., S. E., Grand                                                                                                                      to believers and unbelievers a certain common ground
   Rapids, Michigan.                                                                                                                                                         of living and cooperation. He, Van Til, does not agree
   Communications relative to subscription should be  ad-                                                                                                                    with this theory, and admits that this conception of
   dressed to MR.  R.  SGHAAF'SMA,  1101  Hazen St., S. E.,                                                                                                                  Kuyper's is not to be brmonized  with his doctrine ol
  Grand Rapids,  Mich.  All Announcements and Obituaries                                                                                                                     the antithesis.
  must be sent, to the above address and will not be placed
   unless the regular fee of $1.00 accompanies the notice.                                                                                                                       I may remind our readers that we criticized this
                                              Subscription $2.50 per year                                                                                                    "terreinen-leer"  of Dr. Kuyper's long ago, and even
                                                                                                                                                                             `before attention was called to this element in Kuyper's
         Entared  aa  s e c o n d   claw   mail   a t   G r a n d   Rqids.  Biichi~                                                                                          teaching in the Netherlands.  Qnly  twe always held,
                                                                                                                                                                             and still hold, what Van Til is unwilling to admit,
                                                                                                                                                                             that this doctrine of "territories" or of a common
                                                                                                                                                                             ground in this world for the righteous and the wicked
                                                                                                                                                                             must and ,does inevitably and undeniably follow from
                                                                 CONTENTS                                                                                                    the theory of cominon grace. For, according to this
                                                                                                                                                            Page             theory the elect and reprobate, regenerate and  un-
MEDITATIE                                                                                                                                                                    regenerate, have a certain grace in  common.         Even
                                                                                                                                                                             this statement, without any further explanation  or
  LOUTERING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385    elaboration, leads to the conclusion, that there must
          Rev. H. Hoeksema                                                                                                                                                   b.e a common ground on which they agree and cooper-
EDITORI+LS  -                                                                                                                                                                ate by virtue of this grace. For,  .common  grace is
         .                                                                                                                                                                   not merely concerned with an "attitude" of God, sup-
  COMMON GRACE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  ~ . . . . . . . . . . . . 388                    posed to be revealed in the many gifts God (bestows
         Rev. H. Hoeksema                                                                                                                                                    upon the righteous and the wicked alike, but it is
`IlHE  TRIPLE KNOWLEDGE                                                                                                                                                      aIso  a power  for  .good, an  operation upon  the nature
                                                                                                                                                                             of  fisllen man,  Iboth  the elect and the reprobate. And
  EXPOSITION OF THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM....390                                                                                                                              by this operation of grace  ,the natural man is very
         Rev. H. Hoeksema                                                                                                                                                    really improved, #without  being regenerated. Accord-
                                                                                                                                                                             ing to the lSecond and Third Points of 1924 this op-
  THE CANONICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE BOOK                                                                                                                                     eration of grace is a working of the Holy Spirit in the
  OF DEUTERONOMY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 394                           unregenerate, restraining sin, ran influence of God
         Rev. G.  M. Ophoff                                                                                                                                                  whereby the sinner is so improved that he is able to
  TEMPTATION AND TRIAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..*............................397                                                                                    perform civil righteousness. I am aware that some-
                                                                                                                                                                             times this operation of grace is so explained that its
          Rev. M. Gritters                                                                                                                                                   effect is a  ,mere negative restraint of sin. But this
  THE REF. CONCEPTION OF `THE SACRAMENT . . . . . . . . 399                                                                                                                  is not really the meaning of this part of the doctrine
          Rev. R. Veldman                                                                                                                                                    of common grace. Let us rememtber : (1) That a mere
                                                                                                                                                                             restraint could never be productive of some positive
  THE INCENTIVE OF SANCTIFICATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 401                                                                                        good. (2) That Dr. Kuyper presents this operation
          Rev. J. Blankespoor                                                                                                                                                of common grace as having been begun in Paradise,
  UNWARRANTED CONCLUSIONS ? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..*......403                                                                                 at the fall, so that Adam ~did not fall so deeply as he
          Mr. G. Ten Elshof                                                                                                                                                  would  have fallen, had God not administered  a dose
                                                                                                                                                                             of common grace. I  ref,er to Kuyper's illustration of
                                                                                                                                                                             the man that takes Parish green and to whom an  an-


                                     T,HE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                           3 8 9
                                                                                                                 -
tidote is administered. Common grace, therefore, does        title to both plots of ground.  ,Ee has, he says, in-
not operate in a  toially depraved nature, according to herited it from his Father who owns all things. More-
this view, but in a nature which is not yet wholly cor-      over he has warned his neighbour of this fact. He has
rupt, and whose total corruption is prevented for the        offered to give his neighbour clear title to the ground
time being  rby the antidote of common grace. (3) That on which he is building. The unbeliever has spurned
Kuyper himself clearly saw that he would gain no- this offer. He claims to hold title in his own right.
thing by a theory of mere restraint. He very  con-           He says he has inherited his title from tne .~rince of
sciocsly-faced the huestion,  ho,w  mere restraint of sin    this world' himself. He denies that the  Ibeliever has,
in the totally corrupt sinner could possibly yield pos- had, or ever can have any claim to his property. He
itive fruit in good works. Hence, he attributed to           goes further than that, he claims to have inherited
common grace a positive influence for good, even upon title to the ground on whi,ch  the believer is building.
the mind and will of the unregenerate. But if there Thus both parties claim title to both plots of ground.
be such an operation of positive grace upon belie  ;ers      Their `common judgment' is common only up to a cer-
and unbelievers in this world, how can the conclusion tain point."
be avoided that they have a common life, a common               Now, I #would  like to see two such neighbours, both
ground on which they cooperate? It is no longer a of whom claim the right of all the property, anti WW
question of cooperation between righteous and wicked,        tell each other over their backyard  r'euce   that the
but between men that are alike under the influence of other fellow has no right to exist in  this  GUL'++,  --L
a certain grace. And what is the common ground on            would like to see them cooperate with each otner even
which <believer and unbeliever meet? In one word:            on an `as if' basis. I am afraid that not much wouid
the  presdnt  uwrld.                                         come of their friendly interchange of ideas and mater-
   And such is not only the logical inference from the ials, as long as they stand in this attitudeover against
theory of common grace, but such are also its actual         each other. If the believer ,wants to live with his un-
results.                                                     believing neighbor on the (basis of an `as if', especially
   f do not hesitate to characterize the common grace .with  one who openly professes that he inherits  all
theory as downright modernism in principle, which things from his father the <devil,  he must not make the
is only worse than open modernism because it pre- good confession, he must not only act, ibut also spcuFc
sents it self under the cloak of Calvinism !                 `as if' they do the same thing when they build a house.
    Now, instead of this "terreinen-leer" Van Til That, I think, Scripture teaches plainly. They hated
would have the believer and unbeliever cooperate on          Christ, they will also hate those that are His. And
an "As ilf" basis. This means that it is admitted that the more the,y openly confess the Loid Jesus, the more
"cooperation pure and simple the believer cannot have, they must expect to experience the hatred of the world.
without compromise to his faith, at any point, with And this is also verified in experience. If you want
the unbeliever," Van Til's  (book,   p. 31; but that ac- to-live on a friendly footing of cooperation with'those
tually they do cooperate "as if" they had anything in that are enemies of Christ, you must compromise in
common.                                                      wor.d as well as in deed, especially with a view to the
    And now the illustration of which I spoke in the concrete things of this world and the present life. As
beginning of this article. I quote from p. 31 of "Com- long as you enclose your religion within the four Iwalls
mon  Grace" `by Van Til:                                     of your church, and limit it to your private life and to
    "To this we must now add that the non-believer your home, you may not encounter opposition. But
is not  e$stemologieally  selfconscious. Only Satan and when you [begin to insist that Jesus is Lord always
his host have reached that point. Yet some of the men and everywhere, and try to apply your confession to
of this (world may seek to 1iv.e close to their master. such things as houses and lots, you will make it im-
They are epistemologically selfconscious to such  ia de- possi'ble to live on an "as if" basis with the wicked.
gree as we may expect to see this side of the judg-             And yet, I do not believe that van Til here offers
ment day. Ought not in their case cooperation with the correct conception of the antithesis between sin
the  Ibeliever to  .be of the `as if' variety? A reason- and grace, between the wicked and the righteous. It
ably selfconscious believer and a reasonably selfcon-        is my conviction that this particular believer would
scious non-believer may each build a house on adjoin- not speak the truth, but ~would spek very foolishly,
ing plots of ,ground.  While they build they have the if he made the claim that he has a clear title, not only
`metaphysical situation' in common. Both obtain their to his own, but also to his neighbor's  I&, and that his
materials from the same source. Roth have learned nei(ghbor  had no title to his 1,ot at all. iIt is perfectly
their skill from the same master builder. Quite courte- true, of course, that in Christ the believer is the right-
ously they assist each other with interchange of ideas       ful heir of the world, `but that has reference to the
and material. But only the believer has a clear title        future world, not to the *present.    The righteous shall
to his property.        In fact the believer holds clear inherit the earth, to  *be sure, but that is after this


390                                    T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
                                       -
present world shall have been destroyed by fire, and                                                            ---"_  -
the new heavens and the new earth shall have been
created.     it is also true, that in a sense all things in       The Triple Knowledge
this world are ours, for Christ is surely Lord, and all                                                                -
things must serve His purpose. They all move and
develop around Him and His Church, so that all things
are subservient to their salvation. In that sense that         An Exposition Of The Heidelberg
wicked neighbor who professes the devil as his Lord,                               Catechism
his plot of ground, his house and all he does, and all
the wicked, yea, life and death are the believer's.                                   PART TWO
But that does not mean that the believer can claim that                         OF MAN'S REDEMPTION
his neighbor's plot of ground is his also. That is                                  LORD'S DAY VII
exactly not the case. It belongs to the common "meta-                                 Chapter II
physical situation" as Van Til calls it, that the wicked
and the righteous in this *world have all thin'gs in com-                   The Nature Of Faith (cont.)
mon, also lots and houses.       That particular plot of          Calvin treats the subject of faith elaborately in his
ground very really  ,belongs  to his neighbor in the           Institutes, Book III, chapter 2. Also according to him
providence of God, and not to the believer, nor will he        faith is both knowledge and confidence, `and both are
ever possess that particular plot of ground through            of a special, a higher kind than the knowledge and
any clear title from Christ. Such a title to that  parti-      assurance of faith in general.       Writes he: "Know-
,cular plot of ground in this present world the believer ledge, as we call faith, we do not `understand in the
does not possess, and Christ did not merit it for him.         sense of  .comprehension,  such as we have of those
       That, therefore, I consider a mistake. When the things that fall within the scope of human sensation.
believer acts under the acknowledgement that that For this knowledge is even so far superior, that the
particular plot of ground is his unbelieving neighbor's, mind of man must needs exceed and surpass itself, in
and not his, he does not act on an "as if" #basis at all.      order to ,attain to it. And even when he has attained
       What, then, might the believing neighbor say to to it, he does not understand that which he discerns ;
                                                               but while he has a persuasion of what he does not
that wicked man that built his house on a neighboring grasp, he apprehends more by the very certainty of
plot of ground ? He may and should say this: "God this persuasion than he would by perceiving some-
gave you that plot of ground, and it remains His. Be- thing human by its own capacity." (1). And again:
fore God no man can have any absolute right of posses- "This also the words of Paul indicate : whi!st we are at
sion. That plot of ground is capital  wZh which you home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: for
may work as `His servant. And what is true of that             we walk by faith, not by sight, (II Cor. 5  :6,7),  wliere-
plot of ground is true of your building material, of           by he shows that those things which we understand by
your skill and strength to build your house. It is             faith, are, nevertheless, remote from us, and hid from
true, in fact, of all you are and have, of your body and       our view. *Whence  we conclude that the knowledge of
soul, of your gifts and talents, of your money and pos- faith consists in certainty rather than in apprehen-
sessions, of your wife and children, of your name and          sion."     (2). It appears that, according to Calvin's
position in this world. It is all God's, and it can be         view, the confidence of faith is the result of this
yours only in the sense that with it you must love and         special and higher knowledge that consists in certain-
serve the Lord your God. Do not speak of your rights.          ty rather than in comprehension.         For he writes:
You have no rights in the absolute sense of the  $word.        "This is the principal hinge on which faith turns,
Rather speak of obligation to glorify God in your              not that we consider the promises of God's mercy to
body and soul, and with all you have. That is your             be entirely apart from ourselves, and not at all within
sacred calling. And if you do not fulfill that caIling,        us, but rather that, ,by embracing them from within,
but simply use this world, your lots and houses and            we make them our own. And out of this is born at
all things for the lust. of your own flesh, God is ter-        last that confidence which  eIsewhere  he  calIs peace
ribly angry with you. and He will punish you both              (Rom.  ,5  :l) , unless one would rather derive peace
in time  and- in eternity. And this calling you can never from .thence." ~(3). And again he writes : "Let this
fulfill, for you are dead through trespasses and sins.         be the sum of the matter. When even the smallest
But this is possible for those that are in Christ Jesus.       drop of faith is instilled into our minds, we begin at
I advise you, therefore, to seek forgiveness of your           once to contemplate the face of God as peaceable,
sins in His blood, and <grace  to be delivered from the        serene and kind toward us, and that, indeed, far off
dominion of sin, that you may see your house and lot in        `and remote from us, but nevertheless by so certain
the proper light, and glorify God with it."                    an intuition that we know that we are not at all mis-
                                                H. H.          taken."


                                    T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                      391

   According to Calvin, then, the knowledge of saving Gospel of salvation, ,which hitherto  wss to me a sealed
faith is not a general certainty of the truth of the book; which, although I understood it after the letter
Word of God, while the real and chief element of-faith       and its connections, I could not apply to myself, to
is the hearty confidence that my sins are forgiven,          direct and support my soul in the great distress, con-
but it is quite a special kind of knowledge, far  ebeyond    flict, and anguish which the knowledge of God and of
the capacity of the human intellect, whereby the be- myself had brought upon me.                But it now became
liever contemplates the face of God as being kind and        plsain and knowable to me. Now I learn by the  in-
merciful toward him. And, according to the reformer, shining of the Holy Spirit the contents of the Gospel,
it is even the chief element of faith, at least in this so that I can deal and commune with it. And so I suck
sense that it is first, and that confidence is based on from these breasts of consolation the pure, rational,
it, and follows from it. This scriptural knowledge of and unadulterated milk of the everlasting Word of
faith clings to the Word of God as contained in the          God. . . .And in this way, by means of the heavenly
Scriptures, particularly, so Calvin teaches us, to the       light, which pours in upon the inwrought faith, the
promises of God. And since these promises of God are soul obtains knowledge of the secret of the Lord in
all concentrated in Christ, since Christ is the real-        Christ, who is revealed to her. . . .
ization of all the promises of God, th,e knowledge of           `Second, this knowledge is a divine light of the
faith looks to Him, and the confidence of faith relies Holy Spirit in, from, and through the Gospel, by
on Him as the revelation of the God of our salvation.        &which  ,I know Christ, who is its Alpha and Omega,
And not only the confidence, but also the knowledge as the glorious, precious, excellent, and soul-rejoicing
of faith is a special gift of the Holy Spirit, enlight-      Pearl and Treasure hid in this field. Although  I
ening our minds so as to be able to apprehend the            knew all things, and I did not know Jesus by the
spiritual things of  .the Word of God. It is true, so        light of the Spirit, my soul would be a shop full of
he writes in paragraph 33 of chapter 2, book III of miseries  ; a sepulchre appearing beautiful without,
the Institutes, that the mere and external demonstra- but within full of dead men's bones. And this know-
tion of the Word ought to be abundantly sufficient to ledge of Christ, imparted to the soul by the inshining
work faith in us, if it were not that our natural blind- of divine light, through the Gospel, can never from it-
ness and stubborn perversity makes this impossible. self give any light to the soul as long  `as it is not
For the inclination of our mind to vanity is such that accompanied by the immediate inworking and illum-
it will never adhere to the truth of God, it is so dull ination of the Holy Spirit. For it is not the letter
that it is always blind to His  1igh.t. And from this which is effectually working in the soul, but the direct
it follows that without the illumination of the `Holy working of the Holy Spirit by means of the letter.
Spirit, the Word avails nothing. (Sine Spirifus sancti          ,And now you may  ask,: In what respect must I
illuminatione, verbo nihil agitur). Whence it is evi- know Jesus? We will confine ourselves to the follow-
dent that faith is far superior to the mere human in- ing matters: This knowledge of faith, the object of
tellect. Nor will it be sufficient that the mind is en- which is Christ in the Gospel, is a knowledge by which
lightened by the Spirit of God, by His power the I know, through the divine light of the Holy Spirit,
heart must *also be strengthened and sustained. And my absolute need of Christ.              I see that I owe ten
he concludes that in both aspects faith is special gift thousand talents, and that I have not a  farthing  to
of God: as a purification of the mind to taste the truth     pay; and that I must have a surety to pay my debts.
of God, and as the strengthening of his spirit in that       I see that I am a lost sinner, who am in need of a
truth.    (Ergo singulare  Dei donum utroque modo est Savior. I see that  II am dead and impotent in my-
fides, et quod mens  hominis  ad degustandem Dei self snd that I need Him who is able to quicken me
veritatem purgatur, et quod animus in ea stabilitur). and to save me. I see that before God I cannot stand,
   A good deal was written on *the important subject and that I need Him as a go-between. I see that I go
of saving faith, its nature, object, and activity by astray and that He must seek after me. Oh ! the more
A. Comrie (A. B. C. des Geloofs, Eigenschappen des this necessity of Christ presses me, from this true
Zaligmakenden Geloofs, Verklaring van den  Heidel- knowledge of faith, the more earnest, intense, heart-
bergschen Cathechismus), to whom also Dr. Kuyper melting, and persevering the outgoings of my soul are
refers in his work "The Work Of The Holy Spirit." from the inwrought faith, and attended with greater
We cannot refrain from offering our readers part of conflict. . . .
a quotation from Comrie occurring in the last named             "Third, it is through this knowledge that I, by the
work of Kuyper on the subject of faith:                      light of the Spirit, know Jesus in the Gospel, as
   "We will shortly enumerate the objects of this adapted in every respect to my need. It is th,e very
knowledge of faith.                                          conviction of the fitness of a thing which persuades
   "First, this knowledge is  a divine light of the Holy the ,affections  to choose that thing above every other;
,Ghost, through the Word, by which I become ac- which makes one resolute and persevering in spite
quainted, to some extent, with the contents of the of every obstacle, never abandon the determination to


392                                   TfHE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

secure to himself the thing or person chosen for this         the light of the Holy Spirit shining into  rn$  soul
fitness to his need. . . .But when the divine light of through the Gospel Jesus Christ, as the most willing
the Holy Spirit in the Gospel illuminates my soul,            and most ready Savior, who not only  has the power to
and II receive this knowledge of faith from Jesus, oh!        sav,e and to reconcile my soul to God, but who is ex-
then I see in Him such fitness as a Surety, a Media-          ceedingly willing to save `me `My God, what is it that
tor,  ,a Prophet, Priest, and King that my soul is touch-     has brought about  such a change in my soul? I am
ed in such a measure  t.hat I judge it impossible to          dumb  `and ashamed, Lord Jesus, to stand before Thee,
live another happy hour, except this Jesus becomes by reason of the wrong 1 have done Thee, and of the
my Jesus. My affections are inclined, taken up, direct- hard thoughts which I entertained concerning Thee,
ed, and settled upon this object, and my resolution is        0 precious Jesus! I thought that Thou wast unwill-
so great, so determined, so immovable, that if it re- ing and.1 willing; I thought that the  .fault  lay with
quired the loss of life and property, of father and Thee and not with me; I thought t.hat I was a willing
mother, sister, brother, wife and child, right eye or sinner and that Thou hadsf to be entreated with much
right hand, yea, though I were condemned to die at crying and praying and tears to make of Thee, un-
the stake, I `would lightly esteem all this, and would        willing Jesus, a willing Christ; and I could not be-
suft'er  it with joy, to have this wonderfully fit Savior lieve the fault lay with me. . . . .
to be my Savior and my Jesus. . . .                              "The believing knowledge of the willingness of
       "`Fourth, this knowledge of faith is a divine light    Jesus, in the light of the Holy Spirit through the
of the Holy Spirit whereby I know Christ in the Gos- Gospel, makes me see my former unwillingness. But
pel in all His sufficient fulness. By this I see not only as soon as this light arises in my soul the will is im-
that He is well disposed to poor sinners such a my- mediately bent over and submissive. They who say
self-for a man might be favorably disposed toward that Jesus is willing, but that I remain unwilling,
another to assist him in his misery, but he might  lack speak from mere theory; but they lack the knowledge
the power and the means to do so, and the best that of faith, sand have not discovered this truth. For as
he could do is to pity the wretch and say, `I pity your the shadow follows the body, and the effect the  cause.
misery, but I cannot help you'-but this divine light so is the believing knowledge of the willingness of
teaches me that Christ can `save to the uttermost;            Christ `toward me immediately followed by my will-
that though my sins are as scarlet and crimson, heav- ingness toward Him, with perfect abandonment of my-
ier than the mountains, greater in number than the self to Him. `Thy people shall be willing in the day of
hairs of my head and the sands of the seashore, there Thy power' (Psalm CX, 3).                               1
is such abundance of satisfaction and merits in the              "Lastly, by this knowledge through the promise of
satisfaction, by virtue of His Person, that though I the Gospel, and by the light of the Holy Spirit, $1 learn
had the sins of the human race, they r. ould be, com- to know the Person of the Mediator in His personal
pared to the satisfsction  of Christ, which has by vir-       glory, being so near to Him that I can deal with Him.
tue of His  Perso,n  an infinite value, as a drop to a I say, `in the promise of the Gospel,' to show the differ-
,bu,cket,  and as a small dust in the balance. And this          e between a vision of ecstacy  like that of Stephen
ic,onvinces  my soul that my sin, instead of being an and the conceited knowledge of which heretics speak
obstacle, much rather adds to the glory of the re-            outside of and  ,against  the Word. The Word  ,is the
demption, that sovereign grace was pleased to make only mirror in which Christ can be seen and known
me an everlasting monument of infinit,e compassion. by saving faith. And herein I see Him in His persr
Formerly, I always confessed my sin reluctantly ; it glory with the eye of faith, so near as I have ever seen
was wrung from my lips against my will only be- any object with the bodily eye. For this inwrought
cause I was driven to it by my anguish, for I always faith and the light of the Holy Spirit shining thereon
thought, the more I confess my sin, the farther I will brings the Person Himself in substrantial  form to the
be from salvation and the nearer my approach to soul, so that he falls in love with Him, and so enchant-,
eternal condemnation; and, fool that I  wtas, I dis- ed with Him that he exclaims : `My Beloved is white
guised my guilt. But since I know that Jesus is so and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand. For His
all-sufficient, now I cry out, and mu:h more with my love is stronger than death; jealousy is more" cruel'
heart than with my lips, `Though I  were's blasphemer than the grave ; the coals thereof are coals `of fire,
and a  pczsecutor   ,and all that is wicked, this is a flames of the Lord. Many waters cannot quench that
faithfr-1 saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that love ; if a man would give all the substance of his house
Jesus Christ has come into the world to save sinners, for love, it would be utterly contemned'  (Cant. III, 10  ;
of which I am chief.' -4nd if need be, I am ready to          vn11, 6, 7).    (A. Kuyper, The  Wodc  Of The Holy
sign this with my blood, to the  gIory of sovereign spirit, 422-427).
grace. IIn this way every believer, if he stands in              I made the above quotations, which could easily be
this attitude, will feel !nclined  to testify with me.        multiplied, to show that, according to Calvin and Re-
       "Fifth, it is this knowledge by which  `1 know in formed theologians; knowledge is a very essential`zpart


                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R  *                                                     393

of saving faith, and that it is a very  specimal kind of ician with his stomach full of cancer. He knows all
knowledge, by which a man discerns and appropriates about Christ with his natural mind, yet he does not
spiritual  things. To be sure, it is a certain knowledge know Him, neither can he ,appropriate  Him. In reality
whereby II hold for truth <all that God has revealed to         he does not even see Christ, nor does he hear His voice,
us in His Word. Without the Word of God we know                 for Christ is spiritually discerned. He does not  feel
nothing of the things of the Spirit. Faith, the know- need of  Him, for though he has a head full of theories
ledge of saving faith is not a certain `inner light' t.hat about sin, he does not know his sin ; and though he
can do without and despises the letter of the Word.             knows all about the atonement, he does not flee to it:
It is in the Holy Scriptures that the Christ is mirrored.       and though he probably delivered a lecture on the
And faith is  c@t&n knowledge. It holds for truth bread of life, he does not hunger after it and can not
and it assents to all that is revealed in the Scriptures. eat it. He has knowledge, but it is not the knowledge
It is not necessary, therefore, to discover three ele- of faith.                On  the other hand, a person may be  fa:
ments in saving faith, and to speak of resent  as the           inferior to this able theologian in intellectual capacity,
third element. For this assent is, in part at  l,east,  im- and his knowledge of the Gospel may be very simple,
plied in the certainty of the knowledge of saving faith ; if he has the knowledge of saving faith, he will be like
while, in as far as assent means personal application           the hungry man that relishes and digests his food.
of and reliance on the truth of the .Word,  it is included      He will know himself in all his misery and emptiness,
in the confidence of faith.                                     as a damnable and guilty sinner, void of light and
   But this does not mean that the knowledge of faith           wisdom and righteousness, full of darkness, foolish-
is mere intellectual certainty and assent to the truth. ness and iniquity, and he will deplore all this before
Saving faith is not historical faith plus a hearty confi- God. He will know Christ as the Bread of life, as the
dence. The knowledge of faith is more than this intel- fulness of his own void, as the righteousness in his
lectual apprehension and assurance of the truth. It guilt, the holiness in his corruption, the light in his
is different.    It is not at all like the knowledge a darkness, the life in his death. And he will hunger
n&ural man may have of the truth of the Word of God. and thirst in this knowledge of faith for the Bread
For the natural man does not discern and receive the and Water of life, take it, eat it, relish it, appropriate
things of the Spirit. The knowledge of saving faith it, make it part and parcel of himself, and live! The
is spiritual. It is experiental. It is not a theoretical        knowledge of saving faith is the kind of knowledge
knowledge nbout God in Christ, but it is knowledge of of which Jesus speaks in John 1'7:s:  "And this is life
Him. There is a wide difference between knowing all eternal, that they might know thee the only true God,
about a, thing or person, and knowing that thing or and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent."
person.    In the former instance, my knowledge is                                                                       H. H.
purely theoretical, and my relation to the thing or
person known is external and superficial. I place my-
self a'bove the object of my knowledge, investigate it,
feel rather superior to it, criticize it, anaiize it minute-    (1)  Cognitionem,  dum vocamus, non  intelligimus  comprehen-
ly and describe it. But in the latter case, my know-            sionem, qualis esse solet earum rerum, quae sub humanum sen-
ledge is experiental, it is a knowledge of love and fel-        sum  cadunt.      Adeo enim superior est, ut  mentem   hominis  se
lowship, and my relation to its object is profound and          ipsam excedere et superare' oporteat, quo ad  illam  pertingat,
spiritual. A  dietitian  may be able to analyze  thorough-      Neque etiam ubi pertigit, quod sentit,  assequitur; sed dum per-
                                                                suasum  habet  quod non capit, pms ipsa persuasionis certitudine
Iy every item on `a menu, and inform you exactly as             intelligit,  quam si humanum  aliquid  sua capacitate perciperet.
to the number and kinds of vitamen  each offered d*ish          Lib.  III,  cap. 2;  Id.
contams,  but if he has cancer of the stomach he can-            (2) Id  indicant et  Pauli   verba,  nos in hoc corpore  habitantes,
not taste the food and enjoy it, neither is he able to          a  Domino  peregrinari: quia per fidem  ambuIamus,  non per
digest it, and derive the necessary strength from it.           aspecturn  (II Cot-.  5:6) : q&us ostendit, ea quae per fidem in-
On the other hand, the man with the hungrv stomach              telhgimus,  a  nobis   tamen  abesse, et  aspectum nostrum  latere.
may sit at the table with him, know absolutely nothing `IJnde  statuimus, fidei notitiam  certitudine  magis  quam  aPPre-
                                                                hensione contineri. Lib.  III, cap.  2;  14.
about vitamen,  but he will order his meal, relish his           (3)  Hit  prae&puus  fidei card vertitur,  ne quas  Dominus   offert
food, and appropriate it to himself in such a way that           misericordfae  promissiones, extra nos tantum verxs  esse s&i-
he is refreshed  aand strengthened. Thus a man may be            tremur, in  nobis   minime:  sed ut potius eas intus  complectendo
a keen theologian, so that he can ably and thoroughly            nostras faciamus.          ffinc demun nascitur  fiducia   illa, quam
discuss all kinds of dogmatical  su,bjects;  he may be           ,alibi  pacem  idem   vocat  (Rom.  5:1), nisi  qui  Pacem   derivare
thoroughly versed in Christology, and deliver learned `inde  malit.
 discourses on the incarnation, the person and the               (4) Summa  haec  sit.  Ubi  prhnum   vel minima fidei  gutta   men-
natures of Christ, the atonement and the resurrection,           tibus  nostris mstillata  est, iam faciem Dei  placidam  et serenam
and His exaltation at the right hand of God, `but if he          n&isque  propitiam   contemplari incipimus:  pro4  id quidim et
is a mere `natural man, he is like that scholarly diet-          eminus,   sed ita certo intujtu,  ut sciamus nos  minime hallucinari.

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

                                                             gether  and said unto them, H,ear, 0 Israel. . . ." (5 :I-.
 The Canonical Significance Of The 1'Now these are the commandments, the statutes and
            Book Of Dueteronomy                              the judgments, which the Lord your God commanded
                                                             to teach you. . . ." (6 :l) . "And Moses with the elders
                                                             of the people connnanded  Israel saying. . . ." (27 :1).
    To bring out this significance regard must be had "And Moses went and spake all these words unto the
 to  th,e character of this book. The character of the       people. And he said unto them. . . ." (X:1, 2).
book has been variously defined. It has been described
 as an attempt "to furnish a new law which might be             2. A second characteristic of the book concerns its
j conducive to the interests of altered circumstances," style. The mode of expression in the milddIe books is
 by another as, hortatory description, explanation and that of a speaker communicating bare fa,cts. The style
 enforcement of the most essential contents of the cove- of Deuteronomy, on the other hand, is horatory. The
 nant relations and  covnant  laws with emphatic  prom-      speaker of the discourses found here makes his appeal
 inance given to the spiritual principle of the law and to the will, recommends, approves, urges, threatens
 its fulfillment." Lange comments on the purpose of :and promises, as one swayed by a powerful emotion.
 the book as follows: "Deuteronomy. . . .  `ihe second And what is  iaid upon the hearts of the hearers is the
 law. But Deuteronomy is not therefore a repetition law (ceremonial, civil, and moral) of Jehovah. What
 i,n the sense  of.-a transcript. That would be a mere is stressed throughout is that the law be Ioved  and
 `copy. . . .which   the second tables of the law were, obeyed,  th:at the people may live and not be destroyed
 which Moses must hue, written truly by God Himself,         by the anger of God. This is the strain sustained
 as were the first but in other respects the work of throughout the whole book. It continues to gain in
 Moses, while the first were entirely the work of God.       loftiness until it finally ends in a prophetic outburst
 According to another interpreter the aim of the book revealing that the vantage point to which Moses is
is, "to secure by supplementary regulations that the         finally raised is of such height that it allows him to
 laws and institutions of the previous books, whose full se.e the course of God's doings with His people to the
 validity is presupposed, shall be observed, not only in end of time. An examination of these discourses bears
 an external way, but as to their inner  signifiance, out this statement. The substance of  thefirst  address
 their higher aim, their spiritual principle." Then there    (l-4) is that the peopIe of Israel hearken to the stat-
 are those who define the book as the people's code and utes *and the judgments "which I teach you for to do
 regard this as its distinguishing mark.                     them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding
    An examination of the book leads to the following in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these
 discoveries.                                                statutes and say, Surely this great nation is a wise
    1. In the middle books of the Pentateuch (Exodus,        and understanding people. For what nation is there
Leviticus, Numbers) God speaks to Moses and Moses            SO  great, who hath God so nigh  unto  them, as the
 as God's prophet to Aaron and his sons. Conspicuous         Lord God is in all things that we call upon Him for?
 in these books are statements such as these: "And the And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes
Lord said unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I
 of Israel. . . . `And the Lord spake unto Moses, say- set before you this day? OnIy take heed to thyseIf
ing. . . . And the Lord said unto Moses. . . , And and keep them diligently, lest thou forget the things
the Lord called unto Moses and spake unto him out of which thy eyes have seen, and lest they depart from
the tabernacle of the congregation, saying. . . ." Fact thy heart all the days of thy life; but teach them to
 is that in these'middle books God appears almost  ex-       thy sons and to thy sons' sons. . . . ." And the basis
elusively as the sole speaker and Moses as the hearer; on which the rendering of this obedience is made to
`rarely is Moses here brought forward as speaking to rest is that the covenant promise will be realized, that
the people or to the priests. After recording the Lord's thus Jehovah will cause His people to inherit the land.
 communications to Moses of the instructions regard- And the certainty of this is the greatness which Je-
 ing the building of the tabernacle, the writer simply hovah already has begun to show them by His giving
asserts : "Thus did Moses according to all that the into  .their hands the enemies thus far vanquished.
Lord commanded him, so did he." Ex. 40:17.                   Let them therefore now hearken to the Lord's  st&.rtes
    Coming to the book of Deuteronomy we find that to do them, that they mtsy live, and go in and possess
 here Moses as God's prophet is the sole speaker and .the land which the Lord God of your fathers giveth
he speaks in lengthy discourses not to a few priests YOU. For only on condition that they keep the covenant
 but to all the people. The book sets out with the an- will they receive the promise. Let them be mindful
nouncement, "These be the words which Moses spoke of this. Let them recall their fathers who murmured
 unto all Israel on this side Jordan in the wilderness."     in their tents, and said, "Because the Lord hated us
 Every distinct discourse in the book is headed by a hath he brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, to
similar statement : "k&l Moses called all Israel to- deliver us into the hands of the Amorites,  to destroy


                                    ToHE S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                               395

us," and concerning who the Lord therefore sware              to the Lord's gracious dealings with them in the past.
saying, `Surely there shall not one of these men of this *They are warned lest, after `the Lord shall have Ides.
evil generation see that good land, which I swiare  to troyed their enemies and brought them in to possess
give  eunlto your fathers." Let them considef  further        the land, they glory in themselves, in their own right-
what their eyes  have seen, to wit, "what the Lord            eousness instead of in the iand. Zet them understand
did because of Baal-peor, the Lord thy God hath da-           that the Lord giveth them not this  land for their
strayed  them from among you. But ye that did  cleave         righteousness ; far they are a  stilTnecked  people. This
unto the Lord thy God are alive every one of you this he shows them by rehearsing their  several  rebellions.
dcy."  (Deut.  4  :3, 4).                                     Now their minds are directed to God's tnercy  of the
   The second discourse begins with chapter 5 and past in renewing with them the covenant at Sinai,
continues through chapter 26. Though the materials            the covenant that they had broken,. through',His  re-
contained in this section may have been spoken in a storing the two tables, and hearkening to Moses' pray-
succession of days, fact is that they form a distinct er for them. What now does the Lord require of them
whole.    For  this section sets  oult with the  annonce-    but to fear Him, to walk in all His ways, and to love
ment "And Moses called all Israel together and said           Him and to serve Him with all their heart and soul.
unto them, Hear 0 Israel the statutes and judgments The Lord is their ppaise. He has done for them these
which I speak in your ears this day." The style also great and terrible tl+ngs  which their eyes have seen.
of `this discourse is hortatory and its  puqose is to And now He has made them as the stars of heaven for
bind upon the hearts of the people that they must be          multitude. Therefore they shall love the Lord their
loyal to the Lord their God. There is again the ex-           God. Their eyes have seen all the great acts of the
hortation, "Hear 0 Israel the statutes and judgments Lord which He did. Let them therefore keep all His
which I speak in your ears this day, that you may commandments. If they do so, He will prosper them
learn them and keep them and do  them." Rehearsing            in the land of C,anaan.  If they forsake the Lord, His
the events at Mt. Sinai-the giving of the law of the          wrath will be kindled against them, and He will shut
ten  ~zommandments,   :and the  I fear of the people by up the heaven that there be no rain.               Blessing and
reason of the fire, and reciting to them the law, Moses       curse is set before them ; blessing for them if they
conclndes  with saying what he has once and again obey, but curse if they obey not.
already said, "Ye shall observe to do therefore, as the          The  codtent  of  chapter.s  12-26 is formed of statutes
Lord your God hath commanded you,  that ye may live and judgments communicated by Moses to the people.
and that it may be well with you, and that ye may In these chapters the exhortations "fear the  Lord"
prolong your days in the land which ye shall possess."        followed by promises and threats is wanting.
    In chapters 6 to 12, the people are told `that               (Chap 27:1-8  is the tmnsition  to the last and third
the end  .of the law is obedience and therefore exhorted discourse which continues through chap. 31. It con-
to hear and to observe to do it, to love the Lord their       tains  ,blessings  and cursing and the renewal of the
God with all their heart, to teach His words to their covenant.           Chapters 32-34 are supplements to the
children, and to write them upon the posts of their           book.    In them is found the Song apd Blessing of
houses and upon their gates. They shall beware lest Moses and a narration of his death.
they forget the Lord, which brought them forth out               It is these exhortation from which our book de-
of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage,              rives in part its significance. The entire collection
when He will have brought them in the promised land is summed up in the first and greatest  commandmerit,
of their abode and have filled their houses with  ,211        "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart
good. They shall fear the Lord and sware by His and mind and will and strength. This command is
name and shsll not go after others gods. They shall, contained only in the fifth book of Moses, at 6:4 and
not tempt the Lord as they tempted Him at Massah.             10:12. And although it is not expressly stated, yet
They shall do that which is right and good, to  cast out      it is certainly.implied that without love in the heart,
all their enemies before them, as the Lord hath the people's sacrificing is vain, that thus, obedience
spoken. They shall surely smite the nations inhabit- ;is better than sacrifice.
ing the promised land. They shall make no marriages              Thus, the great         emphasis    which our book
with them. Instead, they shall  ,cleanse  the promised        places upon the religion of the heart-loving God
land from all ,defilement  of their abominable idolatry. above all-is the complaint of Isaiah, "To what pur-
For they are a holy peoplie  unto the Lord. They shall pose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me;  saith
Iknow  that the Lord  keepeth  co\-erant  and mercy the Lord, I am full of the  burnt-oRerings of rams
with them  that love Him; and repayeth them that hate and the fat of fed beasts. . .  *your hands  are full of
Him to their face to destroy them. . . .If they heark- blood. Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil
en unto these judgments thsey shall be blessed above all of your doings.- . .  ." (Isa. 1  :ll  seq.).  But the car-
peopk,  They are  exhort,&   te obedience with  regard EElal.  Israel  according  tc>  the  reprQ.batioe  did  ,Pot.  Yet


 ,396                                 T*HE  .STANDAkCU   B E A R E R

 it continued to bring a multitude of sacrifices unto the the nations whither the Lord their God hath driven
 Lord: burnt offerings of rams, the fat of fed beasts, them, and shall return to the Lord and obey His voice,
 *the  blood of bullocks, lambs, and he goats. It ap-        that then the Lord their God shall turti their ,zaptiv-
 peared before the Lord and tread His courts,. brought       ity,  aad have  comp,zssion   on them,  and  will  roturn
 oblations, burnt incense, kept the new moons and the and gather them from  all  nationa,  whither He has
 Sabbaths, called assemblies and solemn meetings, ob- scattered them. And He will bring them unto thr?
 served new moons and the appointed feasts, spread land which their fathers possessed, and they shall pos-
 forth its hands and ma,de many prayers (Isa. 1 :ll-15),     sess it. . . .And the Lord will circumcize  their heart,
 compassed sea and land to make one proselyte, swore and the heart of their seed, to love the Lord  with a!1
 by the altar, payed tithes of mint and anise and cum-       their heart,  an,d with all their soul that they may
 mim, strained at a gnat,  builded the tombs of the          live. . . .For the Lord will rejoice over them for good,
 prophets, aad garnished the sepulchres of the right- as he rejoiced over their fathers,
 eous. This outward <conformity to the  12~ of God              This last statement is plainly a reference to ,the
 gave to Israel .the aspect of a fruit-bearing Fig tree. blessedness of the church in glory. Now it is true that
 So the Lord God came and sought fruit thereon. But the statement to the effect that the Lord will root the
 He found none. Instead of faith He found unbelief;          people of Israel out of their land forms the subse-
 instead of humbleness, pride; instead, of love hatred;      quent clause of a conditional sentence, the introductory
 instead of mercy, cruelty; instead of contrition, hard- clause of which is, "If ye disobey my voice," so that
 ness of heart; instead of a pure heart, a heart full of it may be objected that nothing is here  predictezl.
 uncleanness, extortions and excesses. The appearance But the conditional sentence has the force of a posi-
 of the tree belied its nature. D,espite  all this outward tive statement. This is plain from the subsequent
 show of piety, it lacked the true religion of the heart.    chapters, where it is stated that the people of Israel
 For three years Christ labored with this tree, exhort- will actually `be overtaken by these judgments on ac-
 ing it to repent, calling it to the service of God, per- count of their sins. Said the Lord to Moses, "Behold
 forming many miracles before the eye of Israel and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; and this  neop!e will
' thus providing them with  %he proof that He, the rise up and go a whoring after the gods of the stran-
 Christ, came from God. But they despised and re- gers of the  lan'd. . . .and will forsake me and break
 jected Him and  crudfied Him, the Lord of Glory.            my covenant. . . Then my anger shall be kindled a-
 Thus having filled the measure of iniquity, it, the na- gainst them in that day, and I will forsake them. . ."
 tion was soattered  over the face of the earth.             (Deut.  31:17,18).    And once more in the  sofig of
     A prediction of this scattering and also of the Moses, "But Jeshurun (the people of Israel) waxed
 dispersions of the nation in the preceding centuries, fat, and kicked. . . .then he forsook God that made
 are found in our book. Thus there is also a prophetic him. . .They  have moved me to jealousy with that
 element in the book of Deuteronomy. We do find in which' is not God . . .an.d I will heap mischief upon
 it a prediction of the exile of the people of Israel        them. . They shall be burned with hunger, and de-
 to B&bylon,  of its return to Canaan, and of the final      voured with burning heat and with bitter destruc-
 dispersion of the people of Israel over the face of the     tion. . .  ." And then follows the prediction of  th&
 earth. Let us show this.                                    return of the remnant to the land of Canaan and of
     Ch,apter  28-30 is formed exclusively of blessings the future glory of the church. "And the LoFd  shall
 ,and cursings. If Israel shall hearken diligently judge his people and repent himself for his servants,
 unto the voice of the Lord  .their God, to ob- and will render vengeance to his adversaries, and will
 serve and to do all His commandments, all these be merciful unto the land of His people." Here it is
 blessings (those names in the  sequenlce) shall come stated positively, i. e., unconditionally, that Israel, the
 upon them. But if they will not hearken unto the remnant according to the election, will be led through
 voice of their God, then curses shall come upon them. tribulation to glory, will be redeemed through judg-
 The Lord shall bring them z.nd their king to a nation ment. Though the Lord will heap mischief upon His
 which neither they nor their fathers have known. people, though they will be devoured with bitter des-
 He will bring a nation against them from afar, from         truction on account, of  theis sins, the Lord will be
(the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth,  ZI     merciful unto them in the end.
.nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard           In this prophetic section of our book passages oc-
 the person of the old, nor shew favor to the young.         cur which have meaning only if made to apply to the
 And he shall beseige them in all their gates, until final dispersion of the nation.  `:And the Lord shall
 their high and fenced walls come down wherein they          scatter thee among all people, from one end of the
 trusted. And the Lord will make their plagues won-          earth even unto the other. . . .And along these na-
 derful.    And it shall come to pass, when all these tions thou shalt find no ease, neither shall the sole of
 things are come upon them, the blessings and the thy foot have rest: but t,he Lord shall give thee there
 cusse. . . .and they shall call them to mind among all      a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and. Sorrow of


                                   T.HE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                               397

mind:  an'd thy life shall hang in doubt before thee;
and thou shalt fear day and `night, and shall have                          Thmpation And Trial
none assurance of thy life. . .and the Lord shall bring
thee into Empt again with ships. . . .Thou  shalt see               God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth
it (thy land) no more again."                                   He any man. It is in this word of James that God is
   /It is plain that our book forms the foundation of presented to us as the ,Holy being, Who cannot have
,a11 later prophecy. Isaiah begins His prophecy with fellowship with anything which is impure. It is con-
words almost identical to those found at Deut. X:1.             trary to the nature of our Holy God to seduce or
The whole discourse (Chap. 1) is a mosiac from Deut.            allure men with evil designs. In that sense the Bible
31 and 32. How well acquainted Amos is with Deuter- speaks of God as never tempting anyone. God is pure
onomy is evident from chap.  11:9; 4  :11  ; 9  7. We in His purposes and designs.
tletect  the words of our book in many passages of                  But, again, God  DOEfS tempt us, and have us
Hosea. In the proverbs there is a reference to Deu-             tempted.       With the purpose of demonstrating the
teronomy from the beginning onwards. To a certain superior quality of His work in the saints. Then we
extent, the song of triumph of Deborah is formed                call it, trial.
up& original passages from Deut.33. Christ makes                    From both James 1  :I2 and 1 Pet. 6-7 it is evident
siwificant use of Deuteronomy in his personal history. that, in content, temptations and trials are one and
  ;-iThus the significance of our book in the Canon of the same. Temptations are trials and trials tempta-
the Scriptures is plain. Our book completes the legis- tions. Jn fact, in 1 Pet. 6-7 it appears that tem;>ta-
lation that came by Moses by its emphasis on the law tions serve the trial of the faith. As gold must be-
of love, at least by implication it thus sets forth the         come approved and purified by the fire, so God will
truth that works not springing from true faith have try the faith, but vs. 6 speaks of this act of trial as
no ethical value in the sight of God and are thus very embracing also what we call temptations.
actually iniquity.                                                  In 11 Cor. 13 :6, as far as the Greek word is con-
   The book foretells the working out of the curse of cerned, we are even admonished to "Tempt  ourselves,"
God in the generation of the reprobated Israel to whom although we have translated this passage as "Examine
faith and love were not imparted. It foretells, does            ourselves."        `From which it appears that  a far as
this book, the ultimate blessedness and glory of the            the words themselves re concerned the two are used
redeemed of God, who by His mercy keep His covenant somewhat interchangeably, r.eceiving  their particular
and who through tribulation are led by Him to their meaning for a great part from the context.
heavenly destination. Such being the scope of this                  The difference between the two is only that  of
book; it forms the groundwork for all later prophecy.           lviewpoint. The difference is not this, that the devil
   Finally, whereas the people of Israel are about to tempts us but God tries us, as some seek to maintain.
inherit the promised land, the book also in its middle It is true that the devil never does anything else than
section rounds out the legislation contained in the tempt us, wherefore he also has the name of Tempter.
previous books.                                                 But, in certain aspects God also tempts us. In Gen.
                                              G.  ti. 0.        22:l it is simtply  related that, "God did tempt Abra-
                                                                ham," using the Hebrew word  "nasah"  when we
                                                                might have expected the "beghan"  of Job 23 :lO. The
                                                                devil intends our ruin for he is the murderer. His de-
                                                                signs are evil. For such actions the Bible uses the
                                                                word tempt or deceive. Standing there, watching the
                                                                devil tempt a Christian, and realizing that his purpose
                                                                is to murder and destroy the Christian, we call it
                       NOTICE                                   temptation. In that sense God never tempts. But
                                                                God can and may at the same time take the same ma-
   The Consistory of the First Protestant Reformed              terial which the devil would have used with the in-
VChurch wishes to call to the attention of our churches tent to murder us, and use that for the welfare of and
that Synod will meet D. V., on Wednesday June 2,1943 furthering of our faith. God  can. take the attacks of
in the.parlors  of the Fuller Ave. Church.                      sin and the devil, hallow them to our service and use
                                               This is to be
preceded by a prayer service on Tuesday evening, them to make our  fai,th stronger and purer. Then in
June  1 at 3.00 in the Roosevelt Prot. Ref. Church.             turn the temptation again becomes a trial.
The President of the former Synod, Rev. B. Kok, will                A matter of viewpoint therefore.
preach the sermon on this occasion.                                 James says : "Blessed is the man who endureth
                                                                temptations, for when he is tried he shall receive the
             Consistory of the First Prot. Ref. Church. crown of life." In this passage the  tem,ptatiou   be.
                           H. Meulenberg, Clerk.                comes at once a trial, purifying and bringing out  puri-


 398                                 T%HE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

fied, the faith. The very same we have in 1 Pet. 1:6- come to refinement, trials are necessary for the well-
7. "In heaviness, through manifold temptations, that being and development of, that faith. As gold cannot
the trial of your faith. . .  .though  it be tried with      be purified except it pass through the fire  SO it is
fire. . .  ." Again we see that temptations are trials with faith. And as a tree would never become firmly
also.                                                        rooted except heavy winds tug at its branches oc-
    The afflictions and persecutinos and hardships and casionally, so our faith needs trials shall  i,t become
even the failings of the saints are being pressed by the strong. It needs experience, it must submit to experi-
devil, in order to murder us. But these same entiti,es       ment. So God lets us wrestle with problems, sufrer
become in God's hands like so much fire, trying and under adversities, be confronted with satan's allure-
purifying the faith and finally bringing it out in its ments, be crushed under the feet of tyrants etc. in
refined beauty. Although this will not appear until order to add to faith, virtue and to virtue knowledge.
IChrist  returns.                                            Or, as Paul says in Rom. 5. "Tribulation worketh pa-
    So much for the distinctions.                            tience an,d patience experience." But we have access
   In connection with this we would make a few con.          to this grace only by faith. Where there is no fai,th
. clusory remarks.                                           these same problems, hardshi.ps,  difficulties, tempta-
    In the first place it is evident that throughout the tions etc, will add to unbelief impatience ; to impatience
ages of history Go.d is engaged in demonstrating "the cursings; to  cursings  blasphemies and rebellions, and
glory of His grace" (Eph. 1:6, 12,  X4) in His people.       the end will be destruction. In short, the exigencies
In that program of Self glorification God has given of these times exhibit that God's people have faith,
His people the faith. But now God also wants the             but these same things exhibit that the infidel is an
beauty and the glory and the strength of that .faith         infidel. In the end of time  wisdorjn  will be justified
to appear. 1 Pet. 1:6-7 God tells us that the faith is `of her children.
precious, but God wants to bring out its preciousness           Thirdly, since in us there is so much weakness and
by demonstration. God does things so entirely dilTer-' waywardness, we must conduct ourselves humbly and
ent than we would do. If we had something which reverently in the presence of these trials. "Let Thy
was precious, because of its very preciousness we work appear unto thy servants" (Ps. 90) says the
`would scarcely dare come out in the open with it, humble Moses as he leads the staggering Israel on, past
 afraid perhaps that somehow we might become rid the dead bodies of fallen comrades further into the
.of it, lose it etc. But God, after He has first  given      wastes of the sun-scorched and trackless desert. And
His people the faith, thereafter comes out into the again, "Revive Thy work in the midst of the years,
 open with it, putting it upon display and making            in the midst of the years make known," says the
demonstration of it before the eyes of all the world.        humble Habbakuk in chap. 3 :l. Faith is God's work
The result is that we have such a chapter in the Bible and the final approved display of it will be an exhi-
as Heb. 11, wherein God shows us, and all the world,         bition of God's work in  u's, pray therefore that God
that the fire and water, the persecutions and trials,        con'tinue  His work of faith in us, that it choke not
the hatred and wrath of the world  et,:. became the          under the burden of trials He heaps upon us some-
stage whereupon God would demonstrate the great-             times. "LeaId  us not into temptation" Jesus taught
ness of His Work in the saints.                              us to pray. Hence it behooves us to face these reali-
        So God  tempts Abraham to offer his son (Gen.        ties in true humility. If God should forsake us for
22:1) in order that afterwards He may write in Heb.          just a moment we should perish. If God should neg-
 11:17  that Albraham did it, and all the world may lect His work of faith in us for a moment it would
wonder at the strength of such faith. So God tries collapse under the impact of temptation. The strength
Gideon when He orders him with three hundred to to face trials and temptations is not in us, our forti-
fight an army of perhaps a half million, i,n order that      tude or aptitude (even a David fell) but is alone in
in  Heb. 11 God may later record that Gideon did fight God. Therefore also we shall not seek or give our-
that army of half million and overcame. In  Peter's          selves unto temptations, neither shall we play the
.epistles  His people are tried  an'd tempted by many Stoic when adversities come, but we shall flee to the
 and divers temptations, but the end is, that amid the watch-tower where we shall hear God say: "The just
 welter of afflictions" the faith in the saints comes out shall live by his faith." And meanwhiles we shall not
 in all its strength and beauty. And so we could go          neglect to put on the entire armor of faith.
:on through the lives of many other saints. But the             Lastly, we have that beautiful expression of Job
 point is evident. (God  determines and regulates and        (23 :10) "When He hath tried me I shall come forth
controls and sends temptations and trials, and by the as gold."
means of them strengthens the faith but also approves           Ah, dear reader, there is the secret of the chris-
 and exhtbits  the approved faith, to His own glory.         `tian's endurance when he is tried. He knows the
        In the second place, since there is so much dross mind and the purposes of God. He knows God's un-
in all of us  an,d the faith needs  ex.periment  shall it    changeable election, he knows God's goodness and


                                   T H E   STANDA.RD   B E A R E R                                               399

mercy.    He believes  .that God will bring him forth has always been much controversy and misunderstand-
victorious. Though the eyes be sometimes tear-stained      ing on this question.      Here, more than in anything
and the shadows fall close in, and he cannot see. . .      else, habit and superstition have played a great role
vet he believes. He believes that the end of his trial-    in the church. What then, is a sacrament? What
fraught way will be glory and salvation, glory to God does it purpose ? How must we ,zonceive  of its opera-
and salvation in  th,e appearance of Christ in glory.      tion?
   But then we must wait until Christ returns. Then           A sacrament is, first of all, a sign, a vi,sibZe sign.
we shall see the refined and finished faith, and it        As such, signs may be adapted to any one of our
shall be to the praise and the glory of Him Who  work-     .senses, of course.      The sacraments,  however,  are
eth all things after the counsel of His will.              adapted to our sense of sight.
                                                 M. G.        Such a sign is a visible representation of some-
                                                           thing which is itself invisible, a perceptible something
                                                           which rivets  our attention on something that cannot
                                                           be perceived with the natural senses. Of such signs
                                                           even this present life is full. There is much, even in
                                                           nature, that eye cannot see and ear cannot hear and
The Reformed Conception Of The that must be presented to us in the way of signs.
                   Sacrament                               In a still wider sense all xreated  things, animals ztnd
                                                           plants, numbers and colors, mountains and valleys,
                                                           are signs, perceptible representations of things spir-
   Just how and why the word "sacrament" came to           itual and eternal and heavenly.           '
be used for the divine institutions we now know by            Thus the sacraments are primarly signs. In each
that name is not entirely clear. The word itself is there is a material element; in Baptism the water that
not taken from Scripture. That, however, need not is sprinkled; in Communion the bread and the wine
condemn its use. Other terms have found their way that is broken and poured out, eaten and drunk. These
into Reformed theology which are not taken directly        visible elements signify the invisible grace of God's
from the Word of God.                                      covenant with all its benefits, the forgiveness of sins
   "Sacrament" is from the Latin  "sscramentum,"           and justification, sanctification and perfect redemp-
meaning: something that is consecrated, a consecra- tion, in a word: Christ. Together sign and thing
tion.  Kn earIy times it designated the sum of money signified constitute the sacrament. Mind you, both
deposited in court by both plaintiff and defendant         sacraments have reference to the same covenant of
previous to the trial of a case and kept in some sanred God and the same Christ. Herein, however, they dif-
place. `After the verdict had been rendered the win- fer, that whereas Baptism is the sign of entering into
ner's money was returned to him, R hile that of the that covenant and of incorporation  into Christ, Com-
loser was forfeited. This money was called a  sac- munion signifies our constant life in that covenant of
ramentum, it is suggested, because it was intended as God and continuous fellowship with and eating and
a sort of sacrifice to the god. Then sacramentus de-       drinking of the crucified Christ.
noted an oath, especially the military oath by whish          It is vital that we see clearly the relation between
a soldier pledged his allegiance to his commander or the sign and the thing signified. We must in no way
standard. In this way it gradually came to be used fuse them into one as does the Roman Catholic Church.
for the sacred rites now known as sacraments, where- They conceive of the union between the two as physi-
as in them our covenant God seals unta us the truth cal. Somehow the thing signified is inherent in the
of His Word and covenant, and the church in using sign, so that he who receives the one also receives the
them consecrates itself to Him.                            other. The sign  and the things signified are insep-
                                                           arably connected, so that the latter is  actually  contain-
                                                           ed in the former substantially. The sign, then, be-
                                                           comes the channel through which the grace of God is
                                                           conveyed to us, and the latter is strictly and absolute-
   What is a sacrament? It is imperative that we           ly bound to the means of the  sacraments,  without
have a  clear-1cut  answer to this question. First, be- which, naturally, there can be no salvation. The Lu-
cause the sacraments are indeed essential to the spirit- theran position is more moderate, yet they too retain
ual welfare of the church. We need them, not be- too much of this inseparable connection between the
cause the Spirit enn not sdo without them, but for the     outward means and the inward grace. They do not
reason that He will not do without them; and if the        see the union as physical, they do not fuse sign and
Holy Spirit wills to use them for the dispensation of thing signified into one, but th,ey do maintain a 10x1
divine grace and the confirmation of  our  faith we union. The thing signified is present with the sign
cannot ignore them with impunity. Secoedly,  there in such a way, that all who receive the one receive

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

both, although the thing signified is to man's advan- and their seed, and which the saints must use by faith
tage  only  if received by  faith)    We must not fall into    (for always they involve an action, conscious partici-
either of these errors.       The connection is neither pation on the part of the church), all may be summed
physical nor local; never do sign and thing signified up in this one thing: they are "Means of grace."
become one in any way; never do we receive the one Surely, in as far as they involve conscious participa-
merely by receiving the other. The grace of God is tion on the part of the church and thus represent an
never in the things as such. Water, bread, wine are expression of faith and spiritual life on her part,
merely that,-no. more.        However, they  siynij'y the they also serve as uniforms, marks of distinction  for
invisible grace of God's covenant and as such the              the church in the world. Primarily and predomin-
Spirit uses them to impart the graze of our Lord Jesus ately, however, they are means of grace.
Christ to the believing church.                                   1Means of grace are those means which the Holy
                                                               S.pirit employs to apply the grace of -God in Christ
                                                               to the living church in the world.
    However, the sacraments are more than mere signs.             Remember, that the grace which they impart re-
They are also seals. A seal is a visible sign of author-       fers only to the conscious life, the active, conscious
ity, and consequently, a tangible guarantee of the             faith of the child of God. This point  is essential to
genuineness of that which receives the seal. When a clear understanding of the means of grace. All of
a person graduates from school he receives a diploma;          salvation is not granted in the way of means. The
on tha't diploma you will find the seal of the State of        ess@-%e of things, such as regeneration, whereby the
Michigan; that seal signifies authority and guaran- new life is imparted to the dead sinner, is always im-
tees the genuineness of that diploma and the truth of mediate. Thus faith itself is never given to us by
what it states. Without  ,that seal the entire document way of any means; it is the fruit of that act of God,
would be rejected as false. Thus the sacraments are whereby He calls the things that are not as if they
seals, seals of God, signifying divine authority and           were by the immediate word of His sovereign and
giving to  t.he church God's own guarantee that the            omnipotent will. God works mediately only when it
matter represented `by the sacraments is true and comes to the operation of that faith, given in regen-
certain of realization.                                        eration, in the consciousness of the Christian. Hence,
   And what do they seal? What do the sacraments.              means of grace serve, not to give life, but to bring it
guarantee? Some say: the sacraments seal the per-              to manifestation; not to plant the seed, but to cause
sons who take part and give to all participants the            it to sprout out and grow; not to give the principle
assurance of salvation. Yet, this can never be, for            of  fai.th, but to bring us to an active and conscious
then the sacraments would not be speaking the truth,           faith in Christ.
whereas God has no pleasure in many of those who                  These means of grace are two in number. The
partake of them. Others say: No, not that, but the term in its broadcast possible application may be made
sacraments seal to all who partake that God, from to include everything, for God uses all things for the
His side, is willing to save all. Whether or not we salvation of His church. However, its use in Reform-
are actually saved depends on what we ourselves do ed doctrine is restricted to those means whereby the
with the offer. that comes to us, not only through the Spirit applies Christ and His benefits directly, brings
Word, but also through .the sacraments. This we re-            Christ Himself to the consciousness of the church.
ject as rank Arminianism applied to the sphere of the Thus understood there are only two such means, the
church institute. Fact is, the sacraments guarantee preaching of the Word and the s&ninstration  of the
the truth of God, the promise of the Gospel, justifica-        Sacraments, adapted respectively to our two higher
tion from sin only in and through Christ. They guar- senses, that of hearing and seeing. Both, however,
antee the inseverable connection between faith and             speak the same language and bring the same message.
justification and seal to us the blessed promise, that            Thus the sacraments. are closely related to the
whosoever believes in Christ is fully justified before Word. Both have one and the same Author, God.
the face of God. As such they picture what really is Both have the same content, for of both means of
and certainly shall be the condition of the church, by grace Christ crucified is the heart. Both are appro-
the grace of God and according to His counsel of re- priated by a living faith only and have their purpose
demption.                                                      in the active, conscious Pait.h  of the Christians. .And
                                                               both work the same grace of God in Christ. Some
                                                               people, including the late Dr. A. Kuyper, hold that
                                                               a specific gracee,  differing from that wrought by the
   As far as the purpose of the sacraments is con-             Word, is conveyed by the sacraments. What grace
cerned, whilch  God Himself has instituted, which the this could be they Ido not make plain, but the sacra-
church in the world must administer to the believers           ments, they feel, must work something which the


                                   T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                         401
               -
Word does not give. However, this is not the view
of Reformed scholars as a whole, who cannot concede          `The Incentive Of Sanctification
the existence of a grace other than that which is
wrought by the preaching of the \Yo!*d.                        The Christian is solemnly called upon `to walk in
    Even so, however, there  arz points of difference the way of sanctification. Sanctification certainly
between the Word and th,e sacraments. Both are uot         is an earmark of the redeemed child of God. By the
equally necessary, for although the Word is indispens- fruits shall the tr.ee be known. It is, however, not our
able for salvation, this cannot be said of the  sa&a-      purpose  to write on the subject of sanctification prop-
ments. Also herein we differ widely from the Momarl        er, but as is evident from the title the incentive of
Catholic Church.    They have always failed to give        such a walk. In particular we will try to show that
proper significance to the Word. Not it but the sac:-      such a holy walk stands in direct relation wi,th doc-
rament is the real means of grace. The later con- trine. Occasionally we hear, and some of us perhaps
tain all that is necessary for salvation, they are pcr-    even bosom the thought that sanctification has very
fectly  cIear in themselves, and therefore they render little to do with doctrine. To be sure, they say, we
the Word virtually superfluous as :`: means of grace. must have the truth of God's Word and fight for it,
We, however, maintain the priority of the Word. it         but that really does not have anything to do with
is the more important by  Pa!*,  wher.eas the Word our walk of life. After all there are many Christians
without the sacrament would be quite complete, while of denominations other than the Prot. Ref. whose
the sacrament alone could mea? nothing whatever :o sanctified life cannot be surpassed by many of us, and
us. Whatever significance the sacrament has is de- who Certainly will ente#  the pearly gates. And isn't
rived from the Word. Besides, the preaching of the it possible that a thorough-going Arminian or Pelag-
Word accomplishes more, for whil? the saCrament  can       ian fights sin and temptations and serves God? So
only strengthen a faith already active, the Word we find pious people in many denominations even
works as well as confirms that faith.                      though they differ radically in respect to confession
                                                           and doctrine. Does it then make any difference as
                                                           to our walk whether we are Reformed or Arminian
                      -                                    or whether we believe in predestination and the sov-
                                                           ereignty of God, yes or no?
                                                              Our answer is that is not only makes some dif&r-
   Lastly, it is of cardinal importance that we clearly ence,  a difference of  qdegree, but in the final sense
discern the relation between the means as such and makes all the difference. Our life is affected  tre,mend-
the Spirit who uses them as His instruments.               ously by the doctrine we confess. The Holland lan-
   We must not emphasize the one at the expense of guage has it: zoo leer zoo  leven. The truth of this
the other. The two  beIong  together. As  r'ar as our statement we will try to prove in this article.
conscious faith is concerned, the Spirit alwrya  works        To understand this we must know and keep in
through the means of grace. Hence, we cannot do            mind the essence of sanctification. What is a Iife in
without them. Nevertheless, it is not the means as         the way of sanctification? In a nut-shell  i.t is a bit
such that impart the grace, but the Spirit of Christ, of heaven. The regenerated snd justified child has
Who is and must be all in all, Who must plant the          been  redteemed  from the filth and dominion of sin,
seed and cause it to grow, Who must give the life and and been made conformable  .to the image of God's
cause to live, Who must give the faith and cause to        Son. Through this gift of God's Spirit he now can
believe.                                                   walk in the way of good works and live a holy life in
                                             R. V.         principle.    A life of  sanotification  means that we
                                                           daily crucify our old nature, fight sin, and put on
                                                           the new man. It implies that we live as God's chil-
                                                           dren in the midst of the world, its temptations, pleas-
                                                           ures and treasures. The sanctified christian mani-
                                                           fests himself as of God's party in church life, the home,
                                                           school, work, friends and conversation.       He conse-
                    ATTENTION !                            crates his life unto God and in principle keeps not
                                                           some but all of His commandments.
      Editorial Staff of The  Stcnda:d  Bearer.               But  sanctifiaation  means more, much more. There
A meeting will be held D. V., Friday, June 4, at 8 :OO are many who apparently do these things and yet
P. M. at the  FulIer Ave. Protestant Reformed Church. fail to really  wa;k in the way of sanctification. The
                                                           motive,  m-of love is lacking.      The Christian must
                              Rev. G. M, Ophoff.           serve God and consecrate all unto him because he loves


402                                 T%lE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

God. 1 John  4:7-g. And that is ,where so much of 1 ion. The idea we also find expressed in the very
our apparent sanctified life falls by the wayside, be-       arrangement of the Heidelberg Catechism, misery,
ing false. Why do we serve God? Why do we live redemption  ~2nd gratitude. First through the law of
as His  chilidren, revealing ourselves likewise in the       God we are shown our misery. What a horrible pic-
various spheres of life? This  queskn   naturally ture we see. Man by nature is corrupt in sins and
touches the very heart of the matter of sanctification.      trespasses.    He is not merely a sinner, but a dead
Usually, and I unhesi,tsntly  add, most of the time for s'nner.       Were he merely a sinner his condition would
self, either because we are so dreadfully afraid of hell     not be  SO grave. It is not so dangerous to be in deep
and therefore want to go to heaven, or for other             w&er, if we can only swim. But man is dead, in-
utilitaristic reasons. How we try to bring our  Ar- capable of doing any good and inclined to all evil.
minian   land Pelagian self into the sphere of religion :And God is  :terribly displeased with his original as
and the service of God ! Bu.t if we cater such motives `&ell  as actual sins and will punish them in His just
we certainly do not walk in the way of sanctification. judgment temporally end eternally. That is mankind.
This is not sanctification, regardless what we may do Then the Catechism comes with Christ.  ,Christ saves,
in the deed. Neither  cm the Arminian or Pelagian redeeming our life from destruction and crowning our
witi his ideas truly walk in lhe way of sanctifica5on.       life  *with loving kindnesses and tender mercies. To
But true sanc,tification  proceeds from the heart that that helpless, depraved sinner  God manifests the rich-
loves God. Adam was called upon to  loye the Lord            es of His grace, His boundless' and unfathomable love,
His God with all His heart and mind  and soul and ,and mercy as high as the heavens are above the earth.
strength. Our Lord when on earth emphasized this IIe spared not His only begotten Son, and to express it
very same thing. My heart must say: God I love you in plain terms He gave all He h& So God manifests
and therefore I want to serve you. Out of love for ,His love. But that redeemed child of God experiences
Him I hate sin and strive for the good, reveal my new        more. Seeing many of his fellow men who have not
life in all `the spheres of life.  1 John  2:s. Such a tasted of that wondrous redemption but still in the
life is (a little bi,t of heaven, for unto eternity we will midst of that horrible death he begins to wonder. ,He
praise Him there simply becau,se  our hearts go out to       ,asks himself "why this is given unto him and not to
Him. And in it the saints will have perfect joy.             ,them?  Why was I born in the covenant  and not in
       Viewing our life in that light we must confess `a heathen land? Why did I have Christian parents?
wi,th the Heidelberg Catechism that our beginning of *If he is honest with himself he will admit that it was
new obedience is yet very small. How much do we              due to nothing of himself. And the positive answer
really do out of love for Him? But another question he also finds `in God's Word : sovereign elective grace.
is : how is it possible for me to improve upon myself? On the one hand he sees his depravity  an3 on the
That II must so live I know only `too ,well, but what 3an other the sovereign love that has redeemed him. Deut.
I do about it? The  ques.tion  is not, take notice, how 7:6, 8ff, Jer. 31:3,  etc. The result is: God I owe Thee
we can serve Him more in the outward deed. That              everything, 0 God I love Thee. I want to serve Thee
question can be answered by revealing ourselves more simply because I love Thee. This  ,idea we  al,so&find
as His children in all that we do. But whist can acti- expressed in the 32nd L,ord's Day of the Catechism.
vate me to do tha.t out of love? How can I love Him          The question is asked: since then we are delivered
more with my heart? Without a doubt .such lies be-           from our misery, merely of grace, through Christ,
yond the realm of my own power. Personally I can             $ithout any merit of ours, why must we  stil1 do
Ido nothing about it.     Neither must  `we think that good works? This the Arminianism in man asks. He
resolutions will help, nor that by so-called practical wants to merit at least a little of his salvation by good
preaching we will receive an incentive to do so. Some works, a Iife of sanctification.            But since we are
think that if the ministers only preach enough of hell saved merely by grace, through Christ, of what avail
and condemnation, and hammers on the need of  San:-          will they be? In his heart he says: it's no  use. But
Rification  the eff,ect  will certainly be a holier walk of answers the Heidelberg so pithily, exactly  because of
life. Flact is, and experience confirms it, that all this that we must walk  in the way of sanctification. Just
by itself does not help one bit. We cannot drive or          because we do nothing of ourselves and all is of grace
compel people to love God.                                   through Christ we must do good works. Theoretically
       There is only one thing that can motivate us to       and practically the result is that we  lo,:e our God  and
so serve Him out of love, m-the Word of God. God have a delight in His commandments. The same idea
Himself. And the Word only. Only the preaching of we find in Psalms 78 and 105.
the pure and unadulterated Word can have the elect              Does it then make any difference `what we believe'?
that His people love Him and therefore walk in His Are sanctification and the life of the Christian affe.:ted
w~ays.  To come still closer to home we can say that         by doctrine  ? As said in the beginning it not only
the preaching of sovereign predestination and the            makes some difference but really all the difference.
total depravity of man is the  inzentive  of  sanctifica-    Sanctified life out of love for God the  Arm&ian   4s'


                                  T H E S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                            403

Arminian cannot live. Neither the Pelagian. They tainly has that privilege as creatures of the dust
still have ability to do something of themselves, and       we are subject to error and readily submit to correc-
believe in merits. Neither will we ever come to that tion and reproof if neceessary.
love of God by maintaining that there is still  dome           Let us then treat the matter as they appear in
good left in the natural  mban and that God is still gra- brother  VeIdkamp's  article entitled "Unwarranted Con
cious to him in this life and  ,not terribly displeased     elusions"  and perhaps enlarge somewhat on proof for
with his original as well as actual sins also in this the conclusions which are supposedly unwarranted.
tem.poral life. The incentive of sanctification is found       In the first place I utterly fail to see how anyone
only in the preaching that centers around the sover-        can speak of this or that being "more Bliblical" when
eign predestination of God and the total depravity of       he himself has aldvanced  no Scriptural proof to sub-
man. That Word God applies to the heart, and the            stantiate his argument.     Of course we agree that
result is and always shall be more of love to Him.          there are passages in which we can plausibly con-
,Of all people the Protestant Reformed should live a ceive of more than one interpretation but our inter-
life of sanctification, serve Him out of love in every      pretation must not conflict with the rest of Scrip-
sphere of life and forgive one another. Another ef- ture and both parties must present such a text and
fect is that we daily experience our home not to be         that has not been done,
found here below in the midst of sin and the old `man.         If now then your opponent advances Scriptural
Neither do we expect or long for a so-called glorious       proof to substantiate his statements may we then
kingdom of peace on this earth after the present war.       quit ourselves of the matter simply by saying, "I am
.He who loves God has strife with sin anld all its irn.     not an exegete?" Must we be afraid. of wrong con-
plications.  But we long for the heavenly country to        clusions that, rather than risk it, we very literally
be delivered once for all from all that hinders us to `close  .the Scriptures and reason with our own little
love Him in this life and to enjoy the perfect liberty finite minds? Neither do I claim to be an exegete
of the children of God.                                     but .I refuse to believe that any child of God has been
                                              J.  B.        denied so much grace or has received ,the gift of the
                                                            Spirit in so small a measure that he cannot under-
                                                            stand and interpret the Scriptures according to the
                                                            measure and ability which God in His Wisdom has
                    -                                       deemed good for him. To my mind it is positively
                                                            dangerous to infer that conditions have changed (al-
                                                            though basically they have not) and therefore  cer-
                                                            tain passages hold little or no meaning for us!
      Unwarranted Conclusions?                                 I also trust that brother B. V. being well acquaint-
                                                            ed with Eph. 6  :11-X3 will have noticed that it very
Esteemed Editor:                                            distinctly  is a spiritual warfare to which the Apostle
                                                            has referenee-"For we wrestle not against flesh  aned
   May I again be privileged to use your paper to  fur-     blood. .  ." and the weapons of offense are very dis-
ther  subst.antiate  statements which I made and which      tinctly not the arm of flesh but  ":the sword of the
are seemingly asumed to have  `no basis in fact and Spirit, which is the Word of God." We also find a
remarks for which I supposedly must hang my head            related passage in 11 Cor.  10:3,4.
in shame?                                                      And now brethren of the opposition it is assumed
   First of all !I must say that it is not my intention that I know but little concerning the organization
in this controversy over the CLA to become personal         which you so staunchly defend. It is assumed that i",
in respect to those who disagree with me. Neither  do       is nothing other than base ridicule when I place
I think we should stand on the heights and classify "Christian" in quotation marks when speaking of the
our opponents and call "shame, shame" or say  that          CLA. aLet me then state some plain and unquestion-
this or that is not to his credit or assume to know how     ably true facts which are very easily verified by at
much or how little our opponent knows about his sub-        least three seperate parties and more if need be. I
ject. `Not that the undersigned is greatly affected by shall only take the liberty not to give the names of
such remarks but  I feel that, besides the fact that        the individuals ,concerned  but these may be supplied
such things sound a bit juvenile, that is not the issue at your request.
and the matter in hand is of more importance than              1. Is  iet not true that an officer of  th,e  CL*A, an
the personal opinions of any individual contributor. ardent worker for the cause and a zealous organizer
I would rather let our  re.aders compare the various        of the shop men in `Holland, Mich. was not a church
articles themselves and let our arguments stand or member and to ,bhe best of my knowledge never at-
fall by their own judgment. If brother B. V. feels          tended church services. And is it not true .that he was
that I have been uncharitable in my remarks he cer-         seperated from his wife and that when this man


                                       FtTcjHE   ST&N-D'ARD   B E A R E R

     passed away a short time ago it was necessary to call      well then, if a man or group of men (and I have em -
     in  a' thoroughly modernistic preacher who,  had he players and companies in mind) by their unrighteo's
     been there, would have pronoun&ed  a eu!ogy oyer  the      and wicked acts be it by robbing the hireling cd ccl!
     body of Judas Iscariot himself! I ought to know for        the class of evildoers, it is the duty of the govern.
>that. officer lived under my roof for some six months,         ment to punish such evil-doers  .and they i. e. the  go:-
     I hope for your sakes, brethren, that this is one of ernment may very well be made aware of such a s'ia'e
those rare exceptions yet nevertheless he was one of            or condition by a direct appeal to them by the .we!l
your brethren in the CLA.                                       doer or doers. I trust that that is clear.
        2. Is it not true <that when I was employed for a           There is also much more <to Ice said in respet-:t  to
     slzort time at the West  Mich. Furniture Co., one of       *`ihe right of ore man or a group of men to .lesve his
     your CLA men earnestly `besought me to  "join up" or their,work  or threaten to  <do so simply for  the. sake
at the first opportunity he had to approach me on the of another who belongs to their organization and who
matter. And that without knowing who I was, for 1               demands higher wages when it is possible that he
`was relatively a stranger here, or what I believed or is already being remunerated to the full extent of his
*did not believe. I daresay  I could have been an atheist worth to his particular employer. But that matter
land the invitaion would have as warmly been ex- had better be left lest our patient editor feels that we
tended me to affiliate with your organization !                 occupy to much space.
        3. Is it not true that at least a percentage of,your                                            G. Ten Elshof
*members have stated to acquaintances of mine that
(they  prefer to work next to a CIO man rather than
a non-union man?                                                                              *
        4. Is it not true that by joining the CLA it be-
comes very easy to take another step and join the                             18th ANNUAL  FIEL,D DAY                        a.,
other unions? For, is it not true that the carpenters                                                                        'i  :
of our fair ciy were CLA men and when they found                                JULY 4  -  (IDEAL  PARK
that the CLA had not enough prestige and power to                   Plans are being formulated for a big Field Day
secure for them the wage increase they sought they this year at Ideal Park. We need the cooperation of
promptly joined the AFL?                                        every family in our Grand Rapids churches, as well
        These facts cannot be Idenied brethren and if your as the families in our churches surrounding Grand
organization continues to entertain such on your rolls Rapids to succeed. Good speeches, wholesome `games,
     I  lube no reason why they cannot in time become a and Christian fellowship, all will combine to make this
majority and "extend the sphere of  ,their   influence"         a day of real Christian joy. The committee is doing
,in your midst.       These are not words of bitterness         their part to prepare these plans, but you must do
`or sarcasm but they are the truth as both I and others your part and BE IIWERE! You may have some plan
have experienced them. Neither have  I conducted a to help us make the day a success. If you do, send us
"snooping campaign" to discover these things. They a line. Watch for more announcements later.
were literally thrown at me. Do you perhaps have
an  explarmtion  for such a phenomena?                                  Mr. W. Hofman, 734 Franklin St., chairman.
.       I have not found basis in the Scriptures for a                  Mrs. B. Verstrate, 958 Sigsbee'  St., secretary.
Utopia in this life but  have  found comfort in such                    Mr. B. Veldkamp, 852 Dunham St., treasurer.
gassages  as : "Be of good cheer for I have overcome
the world. . .Let not your heart be ,troubled.  . :Tf in
this life only we have hope in Christ. . .A table Thou
preparest me in the presence of my enemies. . .Be pa-
tient therefore brethren, unto the coming of the Lord                                   IN MEMORIAM
. . -Behold we count them happy which endure. . If
ye suffer for righteousness sake happy are ye. For               The Consistory of the Protestant Reformed Church of
it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer          Grand Haven, Michigan wishes to express its sincere  sym-
for well doing . . .If any man suffer as a Christian            pathy to its pastor, Rev. A. Petter, and to  h@' family, in the
let him not be ashamed," and,many many more.                    loss of his father,
       If it is true that my proposition favors State So-                              MR. JOHN PETTER
cialism then so does Rom. 13 and Art. 36 of the Bel-
gic confessions.       For what in brief  ;do I propose?            May the Lord abundantly  c%xnfort  hini and his family in
Simply this: That I believe that the government is              this time of sadness, and may He fill the emptiness in their
instituted by God for the punishment  of the evil-doer          hearts with the presence of the Holy Spirit.            ,
and for the protection  of. those that do  w,ell. Very                                     By order of the Consistory.
as gross acts of violence, cause themselves  to fall into                                     Peter Yander  Gugten, Clerk. `,


       VOLUME XIX                                    MAY 15, 1943                                             NUMBER 16
                                                                   of Jehovah, the servants .of the Most High, are per-
             M E D I T A T I O N                                   secuted and killed all the day long. The name of the
                                                                   Lord is a reproach and sh,ame, and thsere is no avenger.
                                                                   And so they, the servants of  Jehovah,  who are His
                                                                   witn-esses  and representatives in the world, long and
                                                                   yearn, pray and cry out for the day of perfect justi-
                           Revelation                              fication when " their innocence shall be known to all,
                                                                   and they shall see [the terrible vengeance -which  God
                   A?& it  came to  pa.ss  at the time of the shall execute on the wicked, who most cruelly pers.e-
                 ofjFering of  the evening sacrifice, that Eli- *cuted, oppressed and tormented them in this world
                 jah  tke  pyoghet  came  ~neccr, and mid, Lord .  m .and their cause which is now condemned by many
                 God of  Abruhnm,   Isuac,  ano! of  Ismel, let judges and magistrates, as heretical and impious, will
                 it  be  knouin   this day that  th.ou  art God in then be known  @to be the cause of the Son of God."
j_.              Ismel.              i  Khgs .18:36 98.            (Conf. Belg. 37).
                                                                      Let it be known!
          Let it be known !                                           Such was the prayer of Elijah on  Carmel.  It was
           0, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, let it be          but an instance of, a strong expression of the longing
       known!                                                      that is always in the hearts of the  wiltnesses  of Je-
          We beseech Thee 0, Jehovah! lret it be known that hovah in the world.
,`- Thou art God, and that we are Thy servants, and that              A special reason there was for this fervent prayer.
: we have said and d,one all these things in Thy name,
:. and according to Thy word!                                         The covenant of the Lord was trampled under foot
                                                                   and His glory was trodden in  ithe dust by the very
          Always, throughout the ages, this is the earnest people that had been called and formed to proclaim
' supplication of the Church in the world. The  prede-             His praises. The wicked violators of God's precepts
;. luvian sain,t.s  cried for it; the prophets of IsraeI looked    were in power, and a foreign Gold had been introduced
       forward to  Pt; the inspired psalmist sang of it; the into the land of Jehovah by a cruel an,d hateful foreign
       Anointed of God Himself longed and prayed for it; the woman. The priests and prophets of  Baa1 were in
       souls under the altar grow impatient as  thmey wait for honor, and filled the land with (their abominations,
       it; the Spirift and the bride would hasten the day of and the prophets of the Lord God of Israel were per-
: it. . . . .                                                      secuted and killed. The whole land appeared to have
          Let it be known that Thou art God, and that we are       apostatized from the living God and to haste turned
  Thy servants !                                                   after the foreign idol,  *for even those that did not bow
          It is the cry for the itheodicy,  for the justification the knee to Baa1 were fearful, and dared not openly
       of God, His cause, His covenant, His servant, His protest against the abounding wickedness. . . . .
       people in  the world.                                          And in the wiIds of Gilead, Elijah, that stood bg-
         For frequently, in this world, judged ,by the criterion fore God, had kneeled down and earnestly prayed *that
       of things that are seen, the cause of (the Son of God       God might shut the heavens and withhold the rain,
       suffers defeat.     Many are the false gods, and the        in order that it might be known that He, and not
       powers of darkness increase. And they occupy posi- Baal, is God.
       tions of power and influence, and are strong and pros-         And Jehovah had heard. For three years and six
 per. And they that stand for (the name and covenant months the windows of heaven had been shut, and the


 362                                     TlHE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                I
                                                                                                                    -  I
 hand of the Lord had been heavy upon the worship-             ponents  in favor of  Baal,  thal', their mouths may.  he
 pess of false ,gods.                                          stopped, and they be forced to admit that the Lord
    (Had it (become known that Jehovah is God?           .     is God?. . . . .
        The word of the Lord had commanded Elijah to              But how would su'ch a thing be possible?. . . . ., .
 return, and to jhow himself to the wic;ked  king of Is-          Does not the. question concern GOD? And is nob
 rael, for God  woulid  send rain again.  IHad the judg- `God the Invisible? Does He not dwell in Eternity.?
 ment of the drought, then, borne fruit?                       And is not the Eternal ,beyond  the reach, always e%-
        The prophet had met the king, and he had revealed      actly beyond the reach of time? Is not the  Infinite
 himself as `being only embittered and hardened by the outside of the scope of the finite? And is, for  that
 stripes which the scourge of Jehovah had Iaid upon his        very reason, the attempt to demonstrate and prove the
 back. And he had commanded the wicked sovereign to existence of God not doomed to failure?  Baa1 could
 gather all the people and all  #the prophets and priests Ibe demonstrated, indeed, and by that very fact would
 of  Baa1 to Mount  Carmel, a rugged range in the $a11 within  tthe scope of things vain and finite. But
 northern part of the land, stretching in a north-             how could man demonstrate the living God?: . . . .
 westerly direction to the Mediterranean Sea. There               And, if possible it were, how futile would be the
 the people were gathered. There also the aepresenta-          attempt !
 tives of the opposition were present in force, although          For when was ever the mouth of  thre enemy stopped
 the four hundred prophets of rthe groves that ate at          by logical argument? Were even these prophets of
 Jezebel's table had been kept at home by the wily             Baal, these sons of iniquity, ignorant of the fact that
 queen, who, no, doubt, foreboded only calamity for            Baa1 was a vanity, and that he had not created the
 them if they should attend.                                   heavens and the earth? Did they not worship  Baa1 be-
        Had  the people turned back to Jehovah?                cause they loved darkness rather than light? Did they
        `Had it <become known, then, that the Lord is God not serve him because they delighted in the pleasures
 and that Baa1 is nothing but vanity and deceit?               of iniquity? And can logical refutation ever have the
 Solemnly and definitely the challenge had been result of turning the wicked from their evil way?
 presented  rto them by the servant of the Lord : ,"If the Are not the  invisibIe things of God, from the creation
 Lord be God, follow him: but if  Baal, `then follow of the world, clearly seen, being understood by the
 him."                                                         things that are made? And do not wicked men hold
        But the people had answered not a word!                the truth in unrighteousness? . . . .
        0, God! let it be known!                                  ,O, God! let it be known!
                                                                  Let it be known that Thou art God, that I am
        But how shall it be made known?                        Thy servant, that I have done all these things at Thy
        How shall it  ,be  shown, convincingly, so that all    word, and that Thou has turned the hearts of this
 must admit that Jehovah is God, and all the mouths            people back again!
 of the opposition are stopped?                                   Yes, indeed, if it is to be known to friend and foe
        Shall the prophet. preach and testify? Shall he that Jehovah is God, so known (that the mouths of the
 demonstrate to them from Moses how the Lo& had enemy are stopped,  ,and that all acknowledge  His
a delivered them  wilth  a mighty hand from  th!e power sole Lordship, then H-e must reveal  IHimself  from heav-
 of proud and  wi,cked  Egypt, how He had led them en, and that, too, at the word of His servant, in all
 through the Red Sea on dry ground, and, in the very the majesty of His power!
 path of their salvation had destroyed. the enemy be-             ReveIation  of the terrible majesty and power of
 hind them, how He had led them into  an'd  Ithrough           the living God !
 the wilderness, had made His covenant with them,                 That is C,armel  !
 chastised them for their rebellion in the desert, but            Not logical demonstration, but manifestation. On
 fulfilled His promises unto th,em, nevertheless, and had Carmel  God is not  the  subjaect  of a cool and philo-
 given them this land of Canaan for an inheritance? sophical round table discussion, in which men all the
 Shall he preach to them the God of Abraham, Isaac,            time speak about B,aal, never of the living God ; no*
 and Israel, their fathers ?. . . . .                          -is He the proposition of a public debate for the enter-
        But why should he?  Dird  ,they not know?. . . . .     tainment of an audience. . . . .
        Wilth them, surely, their rebellion and  apostacy         It is the revelation of the living God, the Friend of
 was not a matter of mere ignorance.                           His own, the terror of the wicked. . . . .
        Shall he, then, enter i&o a dispute with the four         And that, too, as an answer to the prayer of His
 hundred and fifty priests of Baal, that were present?         servant.
 Shall  Ithere be an open debate between them and him-            tIt is judgment!
 self on the proposition that Jehovah is God alone, and
 shah he logically demonstrate the proposition before             Let it be known !
 all the people, and refute all the arguments of his op-           And let it be known precisely in the way of  mY


                                      .."  .-           T H E   STANDARIj  .:BEARER   .                                                         363

                  ;.prajrer, and  .through  the  ,+sibIe  -means I have  pre- `of the de+& and condeinn the prophet of Jehovah for
                  -pared as Thy servant!                                           .his cruelty!.  Indked,  many might be inclined so  Ito
                      Such is the meaning of Elijah's supplication.                judge in  -o& God-forsal&  age with its show of reli-
                      For the  ~prophet' had,' indeed,' presented a  d@&ite        gion, its supercillious  ,pieiety,  and its love of the works
                  :`.$*oposition  to.  the people,  bjr which  i*ot he,  but%e     rather than 
                                                                                            .I . . of&the
                                                                                                   .*          L&yjng, God ! But rather remember
             -iLord Himself would show that He is God, and would `th& these crying and. wailing and leaping hypocrites
                  i expase the vanity of BaaI.                                     `.were haters of G?fl and His people, had lived upon the
                      A sacrifice  tiey would  prepare,   ,both  `he and the fat of the land  and  flakei-ed  the  pritde  ,of a wicked
                  :priests  of Baal, each to Him whom (they professed to queti;:and  had pers&uted  to <the death the prophets
             `-be their God. Thus they would express their acknow-                 ofw&Ee  -M&t-  H&h-.- . .  I
            " I. ..ledgenient  of Him as Gad. They would confess  /Him,              " I& "t&m bc? `&&k&d. that th$ `hypocrisy may be
                                                                                                         "
                  express                                                                                                    .   .
            .:               their desire to glorify Him as  ,God, declare * ei&sed  !
;:,-that   they,   woui`d  cotiecrate themselves and their all                        Till the time of the  evening'sacrifice,  and till there
            ,"~to  Him, and *beseech fron Him a token of His fa?or was no'b?eath  Ief$ in them .to cfy; rth4y: prayed.
--:.TC  towards them.                 For such was the  meaqing  `of the             ' %.nnii~ow it wa8 time for JehOvah's'  sepant to act.
?;,sacrifice  they wouId. offer.
       i .                                        Only, they would present             An old altar of Jehovah on which the faithful were
;; the sacrifice without bringing it; they ctiotild  prepare wont to  tiring  ltheir  sacrifices to God, but that bad
&\ their offering without really -offering it; ,they  WijuBd +be&q [broken - down, he" boldly `restored ' in `protest.
-;;. leave it to whomever is God to take His own sacrifice %&equal,  bbldhess,  and before the `face of the'king,
. .:": from their  wiIling hands. For this purpose  tl%ey were he `pkotested  against the, ichism between Judah and
T; to build their altars,  kilI their  "OuIIocks, lay their wood .the rten tribes, by b&ding his altar  with tweIve stones,
5. in order upon their altar, but refrain from putting fire and Qy pouring twelye  barrels of water into the trench '
`wt.`....I under it. And He that would accept the sacrifice by he had dus round abo&  the altar, and on the sacri-
in;. sending fire to light and burn it, wouId  Ibe God !                           fice and on the'wood, to remove  all possible suspicion
 . . ..$              Such was the prophet's proposition.                          that somewhere  lthere  was. a hidden  coal. glowing
     5,'              And the priests. of Baa1 had accepted ! They had among the wood.
%%aken  the prophet's proposition, not, indeed, because
..                                                                                    Then. he prayed. . . .
<\-they  &It any measure of assurance that their God                                  Quite in contrast to the  vain  and frantic  repeti-
?,  rould answer by fire from heaven, for  well they .tions of the priests of Baal, in the calm assurance  that
 ,g.knew that their cause was vain, but because they were he acted a's the servant of Jehovah, and that he prayed
     `I: compelled and could do naught else. No doubt, they                        according to the will of the Most High, knowing, there-
 i; hoped  Ito gain time, and would watch for an opportun-                         fore, thart Jehovah WQS not only able to grant his pe-
       ; ity secretly to - carry their own fire to the offering. tition, but that He would surely hear his. prayer and
     z:And they had been given the first opportunity, for fulfill his request, briefly, yet earnestly, he prayed:
 f'th.ey  we're many, so the prophet had said somewhat "Lord God  o.f Abraham, Isaac, and of  Is&eI,  let it
 -" ironically, while in reality it had been his  purppse
     _,'                                                                           be known this day that thou art .God in Israel and that
     ;:.:,that  they, and the vanity of their idol, should be. ex- I- am thy servant, and th& I have ,done all these things
      .- posed, `a purpose that could not have. been attained if at thy word. Hear me, 0 Lord, hear me, that- this
     -T[`EIijah's  prayer had Jeen  heard before they had had people may know #that thou art the Lord God, and that
       `tbir opportunity.                                                  :  '    thou hast turned their hearts  *back again.`?
                      And they had prepared their altar and their  sac&               And the answer .cornes  at once!
";  fice.                                                                             Fire flashes from heaven, consumes the sacrifices,
     : :              And they  had prayed. . . .                                  the wood, the stones, everything ; and licks up the
_                     Prayed they had as all the wicked pray. AI1 day water in tie trench !
      "LIong
._"                     Ithey implored. their god, as if they might move              [God  let it be known  !
            "-him by their vain repitjtions,  him that had ears `but                   And struck to the ground by the revelation of
i',, could not hear. Frantically they prayed, leaping on His terrible majesty in this hour of judgment, all the
I-*, the :altar,  cutting themselves wi&h knives, as if their people. gall on their faces, and acknowledge that Je-
       god could be moved to pity them iby their sufferings. hovah is God..  Elijah ahd the.seven  thousand are vin-                                   _
     `. And vainly they prayed. . . . .                                            dicated. The priests of Baa1 are slain. . . .
                      And Elijah, standing near and  watching, lest as                 And He will let it be known!
                  they leap upon the aRar they carry fire to the offer-                For He raised, up the Lord Jesus from the dead,
ing, mocked. . . . .                                                               and exalted  Him at His right hand !
                      "Cry  sIou,d, for he is a god ; either. he is taIking,        Through Him He  wiII  ,Iet it be known  Ito. all  ihat
                  or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradven-           HeisGod!
      ture he is sleeping,  and must be awakened !"                                   Till all shall bow the knee and every tongue confess  !
     ,-               And beware, I&t you sympathize with these sons `_               :%&ii?; :Loi?d :J&ti! `,. __ __ __ ..*:i: ,     ,- H. H. _.a
                                                                                                                   1


366                                    T.#H,E,  STANDA:RD.`BEARER

een scheidbrief had gegeven terstond weer mocht sponsible for a number of copies. The cooperation of
trouwen met eene  andere vrouw; maar dat de vrouw a11 our' people, therefore, is necessary to' make this
drie maanden moest  wachten.'  Er is dus niet  veeI enterprise possible with a view to `future  volumes,
grond voor de beweriag, ldat de Heiland  in .Zijne uit-, the Lord willing.
spraak het geval voor de aandacht had van eene vrouw,                Order a copy by Mr. A. Doezema,  819 Dunham St.,
die verlaten was door haren man, maar wier man nog S. `E., Grand Rapids, Michigan.
niet  `weer getrouwd was. Hij mocht  .immers,  naar                  The price of the book is two dollars.
der  Joden  inzetting terstond weer trouwen ! Integen-                                                           H. H.
deel, Hij spreekt van eene vrouw, wier man haar niet
slechts verlaten heeft, maar die  oak eene andere vrouw
heeft getrouwd. Dit  aIles heeft  plaats "anders dan uit                                     -
hoereri j ."     De vrouw is dus onschuldig. Maar  nu
bedrijft de man hoererij, door `met eene vrouw in het
huwelijk te treden. Zij heeft nu dus bijbelsche grond
voor echtscheiding.  Als iemand ooit het recht kan
hebben, om weer  te trouwen met eenen `anderen man,                  The Triple Knowledge
dan is het zeker deze vrouw. Haar `man heeft,  voor-
zoover dit aan hem stond, de band des huwelijks met
zijne eerste vrouw.  totaal  verbroken, Ieeft in  overspel.
En  tech heeft die vrouw niet  bet recht om weer  te               An Exposition. Of The Heidelberg
trouwen.        Integendeel,  wie haar trouwt, ook  nadat.'                            C a t e c h i s m
haar man  een ander huwelijk heeft aangegaan, die
wordt gezegd overspel  te bedrijven. Waarom ? Er                                         PART TWO
kan slechts e&r antwoord zijn op deze vraag: in weer-                            O F   M A N ' S   REDEMPTiON
wi1 van de zonde des mans, en in  ,weerwiI van haar                                    LORD'S DAY VII
verlaten  zij&, is deze vrouw nog  altijd   voor God  aan                                                                 `,,.
                                                                                          Chapterl.
den levenden man verbonden !
       Daarom is mijn antwoord,  dat er  welbijbelsche                       Salvation For Believers Only. (Cont.).               .
gronden bestaan voor echtscheiding door de wet, zoo-                Radically opposed to all these  universalistic   .,and
dat man en vrouw gescheiden van elkander  Ieven, maar semi-universalistic theories of salvation stands  lthe an-  '
dat dit nooit kan worden beschouwd. als zulk eene ver-            swer of .the Catechism: "No ; only those `who are in-
lbreking van den band des huwelijks,.  dat .een der beide. grafted into him, and receive  alI his benefits by  a'true
partijen;   schuldig  of onschuldig, het  re,ht  .kan  heb-       faith." This answer is' worthy of our closest cotisid-
ben om met een  ander  te trouwen, totdat de dood  tus-           em&ion  especially for two reasons. First of all, by the
schen b'eide treedt.                                              expression "ingrafted into him" it presents faith, not
                                                83. H.            as an act on' the part of man,- but as a gift of God,
                                                                  a means whereby God saves the sinner throu.gh Christ.
                                                                  And secondly, by the same expression., as well as by
                                                                  the clause "and receive all his benefits by a true faith"
                                                                  the Catechism opposes all intellectualistic and, philo-
                                                                  sophic conception of saving faith, and `presents it as
           "In The Midst iOf De&h"                             - the spirittual  bond by which the believer is united'with
                                                                  Christ.
       The above is the  titIe of a book by the undersigned          As .to the first point of interest mentioned above,
that should have  Ieft  the press and be ready for distri-, the rather precise and exact expression  ."ingrafted  in-
bution  by the time the present issue of The Standard.. to him,"' was, no doubt; intentionally employed  Iby the
Bearer reaches our rmders. It is a first volume of a authors of the  Catechism,;in  order to convey  accm-
proposed exposition of the Heidelberg Catechism, and ately their conception of the importance of saving
covers the first part of that `well-known part  ,of our faith. How easily might the answer be cast into a
Forms of Unity, the part that treats of sin and misery. different form, which apparently would  expre,ss   the.
   The book will contain about two hundred and, twenty- very same truth, but which would actually d.eprise it
`five pages, is printed on good-paper, and has a neat of its real meaning and force! In {answer to fZhe ques-
cloth binding.                            .,              :       tion : "are all men saved?" the majority of evangelical
    The  voIume is published by the Eerdmans Publish- Christians  .of our own day would most probably say :
ing 1420. However, a committee of my consistory, sup- "`No  ;  ail men are not saved  ;/ but  only those  lhat
porting this publication financially  from,  the fund that believe in Jesus Christ, and accept Him as <heir per-
was collected on my anniversary three years ago, is re- sonal  Saviour." To many a Christian, unskilled' in


                                           T H E   STAN'DA'RD   B E A R E R                                            367
I the discern$ment of the true doctrine and the detection Him, draw our all from Him, and thus receive all His
I .of errors, it would seem as if this answer, though benefits. We shall have more to say about the char-
       different in form, expresses exactly the same truth acter of faith in *the next chapter. But here  me must
i      as that of the  Heidelberger.    And the advantage of briefly call attention to this essential nature of faith
       this form is that it is very popular, and if you say no      as our union with Christ.
       more, all  ortho,dox  ,Christians will agree with you. In       Faith is not another work by performing  which
       fact, you may go a step further, and insist that faith we become worthy of salvation. All the work  thatX
      `is a gift of  God? without causing any serious disagree- makes us worthy of righteousness and eternal life and
      ment. Nay more, in answer to the further question:            gIory has been performed and completely finished by
       to whom does God give this faith? you may even ap-           Christ. Even the gift of faith He merited for us by
I      pear to be very Scriptural and Reformed, and muin-           His perfect obedience. Nor is faith a condition upon
       ,tain  that this gift of grace is bestowed only upon God's our fulfillment of which God is willing to give us the
       elect, and no Arminian will differ with your statement, salvation merited for us by Christ. There are no
      `as long as you only leave room for the answer to b:he conditions whatsoever unto salvation. It is free and
       original question : "Only those are saved that believe sovereign. Nor is ilt the hand by which we on our part
~      in Christ, and that accept Him as their personal accept the proffered salvation. Often it is presented
      I Saviour." For the Arminilan would say that lthe elect thus. ,Salvation  is compared to a beautiful gold watch
,I :are those that are willing to believe in Christ and to which I freely offer to someone. I hold it in my extend-
      xcept  Him, and upon those that so reveal their will- ed hand and beg the person upon whom I would be-
      ingness  God bestows the gift of faith. 0, it is grant- stow this gift to take it. It is his for the accepting.
1 ' ed, it is even emphasized that salvation is only of But he will never actually possess that watch unless
       grace. But whether the sinner will receive this grace he will extend his own hand to take it from mine.
I ~ depends in last analysis upon himself. All men are
c                                                                   Thus, it is alleged, faith is the hand whereby we take
      not saved, but God is willing to save all. And you hold of the salvation proffered in the gospel. But also
I ] must leave room for the well-meaning offer of salva-            this is not true. For, first of all, the reception and
-' ' Ition to all, for the "altar call" from pulpit and radio.      appropriation. of the benefits of Christ is by no means
      .. Faith, therefore, though it is a gift of God, must be such a mechanical and external transaction as  Itaking
      ,rpresented  as an act of mlan, an act whereby the sinner a watch from a man's hand. It is a profound spiritual
      : accepts Christ. But notice, now, Ithat the Catechism activity of the entire soul. And, secondly, the natural
      : uses an entirely different terminology in its answer, man has no hand whereby he is able to accept, rthe
      :.a terminology that leaves the sinner entirely passive salvation of God in Christ, were it merely offered
       in the hand of God:
P                              "No,  but only those  th:at  are him. No, but faith is a bond, a spiritual bond, where-
      '  zln.vufted  into him." One must be ingrafted into by we are so united with Christ that by it we live  out
      : Christ before he can accept Wim, even b:efore he can of Him.
      `be willing to  accept  Him. And the ingrafting into             That is the meaning of the figure that underlies
       Christ is an act of God, never of man As long as the the expression : "ingrafted into Him." It is the figure
f      sinner is not ingrafted into Him, he is dead in tress-       of a twig or scion of one tree that is ingrafted upon
,j passes and sins. And he cannot, he will not, and can- another. That ingrafted branch  beco-mes  one organ-
      :not will to come to Christ. As sinner, indeed, he is ism with the tree upon which Et is grafted, so that
       very active. He will resist and reject (the gospel in from it it receives all its life-sap. The figure is
; _ unbelief. But with a view to salvation he is wholly thoroughly Scriptural. The Saviour compares the re-
      `. passive. Christ must come to  IHim, before He can lation between Himself and believers to that between
1      come to Christ. Salvation is of the Lord. It is not the vine and the branches. "I am the true vine, and my
      "of him that willeth, nor of hi,m that runneth, but of Father is  *the husbandman. Every [branch  itn me that
      God that sheweth mercy. Rom. 9 :16.                           abeareth not fruit he taketh away; and every branch
is         Viewed in this light, this question of the Catechism that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring
      and its answer becomes very serious.         They speak, forth more fruit. . . .I am the vine, ye are Ithe branch-
       not of man, but of God. Are ail men saved? No ; but es: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same
       only such as it pleases God, and  th:at in absolutely bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do
       sovereign grace, to graft into Christ by a true  and nothing." John 15 :l-5. The apostle speaks of Ithe
      `. living faith.                                              olive tree and of branches that are grafted into it.
           As  ito the second point of importance mentioned in Ram. 11. And he speaks of being planted together in
      the beginning of this chapter, the Catechism here the likeness of `Christ's death, and in the likeness of
       offers a profound spiritual conception of saving faith: lHis resurrection.       And the spiritual bond that so
      it is the  .means whereby we are united with Christ, makes us one plant with Christ that we live `out of
       the  spiriltual bond whereby we `are made one body,          Him, is failth.
       one plant with Him, so that by faith we may live from           One might use other figures to illustrate this same


  368                                 T$HE   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

  truth. You can put a. dead stick in the ground, but.3 .saved  through faith. Without faith he is not saved
  wil1 never show signs of life, nor do you expect it to      for a moment. If it were conceivable or possible that
  sprout into foliage and bear fuit. On the contrary, it he should ever, e+en  for a moment, lose his faith, that
  will rot. And the richer the soil, the faster will be moment he would be lost, and again he would be dead
  the process of decay. But  pIant  a little tree in that in tresspasses and sins. For all his  lif,e and salvation
  same soil, and it ,will strike its roots into it and dra+v are in the Lord Jesus Christ, and by faith he is join-
  its nourishment from the soil, and grow and bear ed to that Christ, ingrafted into Him, and receives all
  fruit. This may illustrate 4he difference between the PHis benefits.
  unbeliever  and  the believer. You may bring the form-         But now the Catechism calls special attention to the
  er into contact with the  Clhrist  through the preach- nature of true, saving faith. In answer to the ques-
  ing of the gospel: it will only  harmden him in his un- tion: "What is true faith?" it points to the following
  belief. And the richer and stronger the gospel that is elements: 1. Faith is both a certain knowledge and a
  preached to him, the .more  he will hate it and rebel hearty confidence. ,2. This knowledge concerns all
  against it. But let Ithe wonder of grace be performed that God has revealed to us in His word. 3. The con-
  upon a  sirmer and let the power of faith be implanted fidence of faith is trust concerning my personal salva-
' in his heart, and he will strike the roots of his soul tion  as being freely given me of God by grace, and that
  into the Christ that is presented to him in the gospel, only for the sake of Christ's merits. 4. With respect
  and from that Christ he will draw his life. A more          to this confidence of faith, it is said that it is wrought
  mechanical, and for that reason less suitabIe  figure, in the heart by the Holy Ghost through the Gospel.
  is  th,at of the relation of your lighted home to  (the        The answer places all the emphasis on the element
central  powier plant in your city.          In that central of confidence. It is the peculiar property of saving
  power plant there is, so to speak, the power that is faith, that distinguishes it from all other kinds of
  able to light your home at night. But if your home is .faith.       All  &her kinds of faith are also a "certain
  not properly wired and connected with that central knowledge," but saving faith is  not  only this, but also
  plant, so that the current is carried right into your a hearty confidence that I have a personal part in the
  home,  your~rooms  will remain dark. So there must be salvation God has wrought in Christ. In fact, the
  a living connection between Christ and your heart, answer leaves the impression that not the element of
  if you are to partake of the light of life. And that a "certain knowledge,". but only this hearty trust is
  connection is saving faith.                                 wrought in our hearts by the Holy Ghost through the
         The truth is, that all our salvation is in Christ. gas@ The "certain knowledge" of faith is not the
  In Him is our redemption, th,e forgiveness of sin, the      special work of grace that is wrought in our hearts
  adoption unto children, eternal and perfect righteous- through the gospel by the Spirit of Christ.
  ness, knowledge of God and wisdom, freedom from                That this is, ind,eed,  the meaning of the answer is
  the dominion of sin and sanctification, eternal life and corroborated by the explanation Ursinus gives of this
  light and joy,-all the blessings of salvation are not       part of the Catechism. We read: "The  justifying
  only merited by Him, but  athey are in Him. He is faith is described in the Catechism. In this descrip-
  our wisdom and  knawledge,  our righteousness and tion of faith "knowledge and holding for truth" are
  holiness, our eternal life and peace. In order, there- mentioned as characteristics of faith in general. Faith
  fore, to obtain these blessings of salvation, we must does not exist in a doctrine which is not known ; one
  first ,become one plant with Him. We must be  uni,ted       must necessarily kno.w the doctrine before he can b,e-
  with Him in a spiritual-organic sense of the word.          lieve it. For this reason, we reject the  `i,mplicit  faith'
  Bnd the bond whereby we are united with Him is of the Romish Church (i. e.  fbelieving  what the church
  faith, a gift of God, a means whereby God joins us teaches, regardless of the question whether or not
  for ever to Christ. And when we are so united with one is  acyuain;ed  with it). This description of faith
  Him by the power of faith, we become active, and by differs from the general definition in ,that it speaks
  that faith we receive Him and all His benefits. By in addition of  confid:ence,  and of application of the
  that faith whereby we are ingrafted into Christ, we forgiveness of sins through and  bfor the same of
  appropriate Him unto ourselves so that His righteous- Christ. The peculiar characteristic of faith is: to rest
  ness and holiness, His life and peace become our own,       and  ,to rejoi,ce  in God on account of so great salvation.
  and we reioice  in the God of our salvation!                The efficient cause of it is the `Holy Ghost. The means
                                                              whereby He works this: the gospel, implied in which
                         Chapter 11. .                        is also the use of the sacraments. And it is the will
                     The Nature of Faith.                     and the heart of man  *that experiences this operation.
                                                                 "This justifying or saving faith differs from the
         In the preceding chapter we already touched upon     other kinds of faith in this, that it is a firm confi-
  the character and significance of saving faith and its dence, whereby we appropriate to ourselves  ,the merits
  relation to salvation through Christ. The believer is       of Christ, i. e. are firmly convinced that the  righteous-

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

  ness of Christ is given and imputed also to LE. Now, do nothing else all his life long than read the Bible,
  confidence is an inclination of the heart and of the and compare Scripture with Scripture, he would not
  will; this inclination has regard to some good, rejoices even advance one step toward the knowledge that is
  in it and relies on it; also in our language (German)       here meant.      No, here a new knowledge is meant,
`. it denotes `a complete reliance on something.'     The which you did not possess as a sinner, and of which
  Greek word for faith is derived from a root which you received  ,the power in regeneration.                     Another
  implies the idea of confidence. In ,this sense even pro- kind of knowledge this is, comparable to the original
fane authors,  Iike Phocylides and Demosthenes,  aI- knowledge which Adam received in Paradise, and
ready used the word." 1, 147.                                 which is given us of God in Christ `our wisdom.' He
      It is plain, then, "that according to Ursinus, the that receives this knowledge, Icnwws differently, seea
  knowlredge  of saving faith is the same as that of all differently, touches differently. That which before he
  other kinds of fatth. It is simply the intellectual ap- could not discern, he now perceives, and it [becomes
  prehension and assurance of a certain truth or doc- life to him. `Enlightened eyes of the understanding'
  trine.    There is knowledge in so-called historical the apostle therefore calls this knowiedge;  and they
  faith.    All men believe in their deepest heart that are eyes too, that gaze with such uncommon accuracy,
  God is. Even the <devils believe that God is one, and that they afford immediate and complete certainty
  they tremble in this knowledge. Jas. 2 :19. There is and assurance concerning those things that are per-
  knowledge in the general faith in the objectivity of ceived by them: so clearly, so lucidly, so sharply this
  the world according to the testimony of our senses. knowledge defines the things before your conscious-
  The same is true of "miraculous ,faith," or the assur-      ness. The natural man does not see anything of this,
..  ante  tha,t some wonder will be performed by              but the spiritual man that has the gift of faith dis-
                                                     us or
`, upon us. And even what is called "temporary faith,"        cerns all things. On the other hand, if one is not
" and which  iS; nothing but a temporary stir of the          born again, he cannot even see the kingdom of God.
I emotions, is not  possiible  without knowledge.    Now,        "Without the implanting of this saving faith, one
I. this element of knowledge ,these other kinds of faith,     may, therefore, indeed, commit the Bible to memory,
; according to Ursinus, have in common with true, sav-        and accept its' contents historically, but this  do:es not
i ing faith. And it is also wrought by the Holy Ghost, help him. `He may also work himself into it by the
.' but not by the Spirit of Christ, and not necessarily spur of the emotions, and for a stime rejoice in it, but
I through  t,he gospel. There is a general revelation of neither this `historical' nor this `temporary' faith has
" God, and there is also a general operation of the Holy anything in common with the faith whereby we are
,b Spirit, whereby .every  man is assured of certain truths, ingrafted into Jesus.        Even `miraculous' faith has
e. g. of ,the existence of God. But it is the element of      nothing in common with saving faith, for although
.' confidence that distinguishes saving faith from  ali       you had a `faith to remove mountains' (and that is
: other kinds. And this confidencce  of saving faith it is miraculous faith) and love was not infused into your
,j that is wrought by the Spirit of Christ, and through       heart, you still would be nothing.
.- the gospel, as a special work of grace.                       "Disputations, therefore, do not help. We must
      We call special attention to this part of the  sn-      have testimony, the Word must be administered, be-
  swer of the Catechism, and to its explanation by Ur-        cause usually. it pleases God to use the Word as a
;' sinus, because we cannot accept this exclusive em- means for implanting of faith; but even though LOLL
phasis on the confidence of faith, as if it alone were talk day and night to someone, as long as his soul can-
., the work of grace by the Spirit through the gospel. not see through the eye of faith, you cannot show him
And no one does. Not only the confidence of saving            the glories of God."                              H. H.
1 faith, but also its certain knowledge is peculiar to it-
: seif, and is wrought ,by the Spirit through the gospel.
  Even though usually attention is not called to the some-
`: what strange separation between the knowledge and
' the confidence of faith the Catechism makes, the ans-                                 NOTICE
' wer is always explained as if it presented both elements       The Consistory of the First Protestant Reformed
: as the fruit of the special operation of the Spirit of      Church wishes to call to the attention of our churches
God in Christ. Dr.  2'4. Kuyper Sr. writes (E Voto, 1,        that Synod will meet D. V., on Wednesday June 2, 1943
: 129, 130) :                                                 in the parlors of the Fuller Ave. Church. This is to be
      "This `certain, secure knowledge' does not consist preceded by  a, prayer service on Tuesday  evening,
in a further  dlevelopment  of a knowledge which in June  1 at 8.00 in the Roosevelt Prot. Ref. Church.
  part we already possessed, nor in an unfolding of a The President of the former Synod, Rev. B. Kok, will
. knowledge that was hid within us.  ,One does not make preach  the sermon on this occasion.
any headway in this knowledge, though he would fin-                          Consistory  of the First  Prqt.  `Ref. <Church.
: ish the courses in all the schools. Even if one would                                      H. Meulenberg, Clerk.


870                                  Tl3E  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                 -             -
                                                               two thousand cubits; and on the south side  tlwo  thous-
              The ' Leviticai Cities                           and cubits and on the north  side two ,thousand cubits;
                                                               and the city shall be in' the midst :, this shall be to them
       Before turning to our subject, we must first take the suburbs of the city."
notice of the order of instructions which IGod gave to            The tr2be of Levi the Lord seperated to bear the
Moses for the establishing of the Israelitish common- ark of the covenant, stand before the Lord to minister
wealth in Canaan. Chapter 33 :52-X (of the book of unto Him,  and  lbless His name. Wherefore Levi  has
Numbers) contains the directions for the purifying no part or inheritance with his brethren; their lot
of the holy land from all heathen defilement. The in- and inheritance is Jehovah. Deut.  10:X, 9. But the
habitants of the land are to be driven out,' all their tribes shall give them cities, to the numfber  of 48 (Nu.
pictures and molten images destroyed, and their high 35:`i), out of their inheritance, and in addition pas-
places plucked down. Next in order are the instruc- turage for their cattle. The pastures lay around their
tions for the division of the land among the people of cities, for their cattle; flocks and herds, and animals
Jehovah.      It shall be done in a just and  equatible generally. The clear conception of the location of the
manner. (33 :54). The lawgiver now passes to define            pastures. which were given to the Levites in the sur-
the  boundlaries  of the holy  Iand, within which they roundings of their cities is regarde,d  as very difficult
shall not rest u.ntil all the territory within them has        by interpreters in general. But the description  is
been acquired, chap. 24. We here learn that the area entirely clear.              The original text reads: "And the
of the land, which the Lord gave to His people, extend- suburbs. (or surroundings) of the cities. . .  .(shall
ed southward to the wilderness of Zin, was bordered reach) from the wall of the city and outward a thous-
on the West by the  Meditermnean  Sea, reached to the and cubits round about (the `city). And ye shall mea-
Westiern  crest of the Lebanon on the north, while its sure from without (the thousand cubits, that is, be-
eastern border rested on the north-eastern shore of the yond the thousand cubits) to the city on th:e east side
sea of Galilee and' then ran down the Jordon. These two thousand cubits" etc. The thought eonveyed is
bounds did not include the heritage of the two tribes that the sutburbs  should extend thr,ee thousand <cubits
and a half east of the Jordan. West of the. Jordian            beyond the wall of the city round about  on all sides of
there were regions that may never have been perman- it. The only question left unanswered is why,  sin:e
ently occupied. In this strip of, land, approximately this whole space was suburb, the text speaks seperate-
160 miles in length and whose greatest width measur- ly of the thousand  cubits  and of the two thousand
ed but 40 miles (the territory of the two and a half           cubits beyond this  l,ength.  It has been conjectured
tribes is not included in  these  divisions) the Lord that the thousand cubits were for gardens or also for
plant,ed  His people. The share of the earth that He           the cattle, of the strangers in the cities and that in
gave them was but little.                                      the space beyond this length, in the two thousand
       The -directions for purging the land of  all cubits round about, the Levit,es  pastured their flocks
heathen idolatry,  and its just apportioning among th.e and herds.
people, are now followed by directions for the con-                Their might  Ibe (danger, especially with the ir-
secration of the  Iand to Jehovah by the distribution of regular forms which the cities might assume, and with
the Levitical cities (35  :1-6). This light of levitical the physical obstacles encountered in the surrounding
holiness over the land becomes brighter through the ground,  ,that neighboring landowners would deem the
sancturies  for fugitives, who were pursued for unin- suburb sufficient, if it measured three thousand cubits
tentional shedding of blood ; places of refuge, selected ih some directions and not in others, in [which  case it
from among the levitical cities and placed under the might be restricted to a very smal1 area. To prevent
jurisdiction of the Levites (35 :6-34).                        this, it was commanded that the  sulburb  should extend
       The regulations concerning these cities are found three thousand cubits' distance from the wall alike on
in Nu. 35 :l-5. "And the Lord spake unto Moses in north, south, east, and west.
t,he plains of Moab by  Jordan  near Jericho, saying,             ,So was the tribe of Levi scattered in Israel  as
Command the children of Israel, that they give unto broken up into a number of <distinct co-unities each
the  Levities  of the inheritance of their possession with its own place of abode. This had its advantages.
cities to dwell in; and ye shall give also unto the            Although this is nowhere expressly stabed,  certain it
Levites  stiburbs for the cities round about them. And is that the c&u-non Levites, as `well as the priest, were
the cities shall they have to  dweI1 in ; and  <the subuibs assigned to the task of teaching the people of Israel the
shall be for their cattle, and for their goods, and for law as the priests' assistants. Their  disintegrzition
all their beasts. And the suburbs of the cities, `which        was great enough to allow them to  contact,  as tea-her:
ye shall give unto the Levites, shall reach from the wall of religion, the whole nation in all its branches; and
of the city and outward a thousand cubits round <about. yet not so great as to result in the loss of their power.
And ye shall measure from without the city on the              Segregated in cities of their own,' they lived  alone
east side two  thousands   cubits, and on the  West   ,$,de    in the midst of their people. They   coulld thus main-


                                   T*HE  S T A N D A R D B E A R E R                                              x71

tain the proper :balance between the kind of familiar- all the righteous blood shed upon the earth,  from.the
ity that breeds contempt and the aloofness that es- blood of the righteous Abel unto the blood of  Zach-
tranges the pastor from his flock. They lived within         arias. . .  ." (Matt.  2334))  that is, `that upon you
easy reach of those whom they had to instruct yet may come all the  punis,hment  incurred by all the guilt
without being exposed to the corrupting influences of of your godless antecedents-at once your fathers ac-
the broad country. And the  ,whole nation could  con- cording to the flesh and your spiritual forebears---in
trilbute  to their support, viz., by the payment of the      whose footsteps ye follow'.
tithes that could not be carried far. Thus they did             When children love and practice the sins of their
not  ,be:ome burdensome to individual tribes by too fathers, they are thereby partners to these sins in the
great a concentration. It was an ideal arrangement. eyes of God ; and the guilt that accumulates in the race
   Their dispersion was the fulfillment of prophecy is communal. In all such cases, therefore, the punish-
uttered by the dying patriarch Jacob. "2 (mark you           iOng of the children is a visiting of the sins of the
I, the dy'ing  prophet here introduces J,ehovah as the fathers upon the children. Yet, it is not correct to
spaeker) will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them speak here of imputation of guilt  #from  fathers to
in Israel "Gen. 49 : 70b). Levi, the patriarch (Simeon Fhildren. What we here have to do with is one great
need not be considered here) had distinguished him- sin and one enormous guilt common to the whole race
self by treachery and violence and intense wrath of such godless men, because all kill God's prophets.
against man and beast. His anger is cursed but not Thus, the punishment is also  dommunal'  and is visited
he, personally; and in his generations he is broken up on each member of su?h a race that does not repent,
and scattered. This dispersion is the specific remedy visited in its full fury upon the children. To be freed
against his violence. Thus Levi (and also Simeon)            from this communal guilt, the individual member of
lacked the external independence of the other tribes         the race must denounce and forsake the sins of his
and were thus at the mercy of these tribes for their fathers and turn to the Lord. Doing so, he saves him-
life's support. As this support was not always forth-        self. Failing in this, he perishes with his family.
coming, the  Levites  suffered privations and on this Thus, no sinner who repents, finds himself, despite his
account yielded themselves sometimes, as individuals, penitence, under the necessity of perishing on account
to the priestly service of Idolatry.                         of the sins of his forebears. A man dies because of
   A rather difficult question is: was the dispersion his own sin, because he follows in the steps of his
of this tribe a visiting of Levi"s  sins upon his offspring wicked fathers and thus makes their wickedness his
and thus a curse or is it to be regarded as a  blessin.g?    own instead of repudiating it and turning to God.
Otherwise said: in declaring, "I will scatter them in           It is this truth that the people of iIsrael,  the con-
Israel," 1va.s the Lord cursing Levi in his generations temporaries of the, prophet Ezekial, denied. They
or blessing him? If words have meaning, then the said : "The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the
announcement, "I will scatter," does have an ominous children's teeth are set on edge," (Ezek. 18) meaning :
meaning.    Yet the Levi according to the election was "The children, despite their righteousness, must per-
the blessed of the Lord.                                     ish on account  ,of the sins of their wicked forebears."
   Now according to the plain teachings of Scripture This slander, and slander it is, drew forth from the
(Ex. 20:5), the Lord  does indeed visit the sins of the prophet  a reply that reads in part : "Yet ye say, Why?
fathers upon the children, unto the third and fourth doth not the son bear the iniquity of the father?"
generation of them that hate Him. This refers not to Not so, says Ezekial: "When the son hath done that
the imputation of guilt from the fathers to the child-       which is lawful and right, and hath kept all my stat-
ren, as in the case of Adam with respect to the human utes, and bath done them he shall surely live. The
family (Adam's guilt was imputed to his offspring-           soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son-the ?Qteous
the guilt incurred by his first disobedience and none s-shall not bear the iniquity of the father. . .  ."
other) but to the accumulation of guilt in the wicked The sole point to the prophet's argument is that Go:K
generations of godless men, whose reprobated off- is gracious to the penitent, loves the righteous, saves
spring, as sovereignly hardened by the Lord, walk in [His people, irrespective of how their fathers have
their sins-the sins of the fathers- and on this ac- walked. To say that what the prophet here `teaches
count share their guilt;  anfd upon whom, therefore, is that the Lord takes no delight in the death of the
is visited, as punishment, in the day of reckoning, repnobated  wicked but is determined that he also re-
the filled measure of iniquity, the measure as filled pent, is to miss the whole point in his argument.
by both the fathers and the children. Said Christ to            Was now the dispersion of the Levites another case
the reprobated Israel : "Wherefore, behold, I send of a visiting of the sins of a father upon the children?
unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and Was it, in a word, punishment, a curse? It was this
some of them ye shall kill and crucify ; and some of certainly in so far as it concerned the apostates, the
them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and perse- men of violence, in the tribe. Alrea,dy  in the days of
cute them from city to city: that upon you may come the judges we find the sons of Eli making "themselves


372                                   T-HE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

fat with the chiefest of all the offerings of the people"      It is suggested, in `i Chron. 4:13,  that the independ-
(1 Sam.  2:29). In after centuries the entire priest- ent possessions of these cities by Sirneon  ceased in the
hood, with the exception of a faithful few, was yield- time of D'avid, 1 Chron. 4 :42, 43 makes mention of cer-
ing itself to the service of sin, profaning Go,d's  sane- tain exploits of Simeonites at Gedor against the  Amal-
tuary and collaborating with the apostate princes and          ekites, and at Mt.  Seir. To this they must have
rulers in killing and rob,bing the people. The priests         been driven by dire necessity. The references at 2
said not, Where is the Lord and they that handle the           Chron,  15:.9 and 34:6 associates certain Simeonites
law knew  iHim not, Jer.  2% They said to a stock,             with %he norther kingdom, thus indicating their dis-
thou art my father ; and to a stone, Thou .hast brought        persion in Israel.    Finally, there is no mention of
me forth.      They turned their back upon the Lord, the return of any Simionites  after the captivity; and
Jer. 2  26; and joined the false prophets and the prin-        their cities fall to Judah( Neh. 1126).
ces in demanding the death of Jeremiah, Jer. 26:ll.               But there was also a Levi (and a Simeon) accord-
They violated God's law,  ,profaned   %His holy things, ing to the election, formed of children who were the
put no difference between thee holy and the profane,           blessed of God, loved His law, walked in the way of
showed no difference between the clean and the un- His commandments and denounced and repudiated the
clean, hid their eyes from the Lord's Sabbaths, and            violence of the patriarch Levi. They were not cursed.
profaned Him among the people,  Ezek.  22%. Their The  .dispersion,  to which they also were subjected,
cities were dens of corruption. As troops of robbers was to them a blessing on the ground that to them
wait for a man, so they murdered in the way by con- who love God  ~11 things work together for good. And
sent, Hos.  6:8,9.    Threy  taught for hire, Mic.  3  :11;    the token of God's favor toward them was the appoint-
They polluted the sancturay, done violence to the law, ment of th.e tribe to the office of priests and of teach-
and despised the name of the Lord, Zech. 3  :4; Mal.           ers of  religi<m, their material prosperity and physical
1116.                                                          well-being, when they dwelt securely and  *contentedly
       So were these apostates practicing the very vio-        in their cities, with all their needs fulfilled by the
lence that had been cursed in the father of the tribe.         generous contriibutions  of other tribes. But this was
It was upon this. seed of evildoers that God visited the       their lot only in times when the nation as a whole
sins of Levi the patriarch, doing so through His scat- kept covenant fidelity.
tering it in Israel. Thus the divine utterance, "I will           The presence of God-fearing men in a tribe--the
scatter," was a curse indeed, pronounced upon Levi             tribe of Levi-selected to exhibit the curse in its
as to this offspring.     L4nd its execution, the actual working, the appointment of this tribe to the office
scattering, preindicated the dispersion of the nation of priests, was calculated to demonstrate `before  ,the
as a whole over the face  ofthe earth in afteryears.           mind of the church in that  ,day certain vital principles
That the prediction was punishment, cL;rse,  becomes           of truth; these truths: 1) the (righteous) son shall
plain the moment we get before our mind the plight of not bear the iniquity of the father; 2) whether a man
the Levites in times of  apos.tacy,  when the law of God       is blessed or cursed, appointed to death or to life,
was despised. In such times the Levites were for- depends not on .racial or tribal descent, on whether
saken. Then they were poor and needy and home- he be `a Levite or a Simeonite or a Jew but solely on
less and as vagabonds roamed the broad country in              the good-pleasure of the God Who hath  merzy  on
search of bread. This was their lot usually. And               whom He will and hardeneth whom He will.
this was the  rea1 scattering. It all comes down to               The appointment of Levi to the office of priest
this that the dying ,patriarch Jacob, in foretelling the       mas not properly the fulfillment of the prediction:
future of his sons, gave utterance to cursing as well "!I will scatter." If it were this, the tribe of Simeon
as to blessings, Simeon and Levi were the two tribes would have been similarly honored. The singular
selected to represent the curse in its working. They favor shown to Simeon was his being attached to the
were singled out, were these  trib,es!  to serve as a tribe of Judah. The appointment to the office of
perpetual reminder that the Lord indeed visits the priests was a special honor Ibestowed upon Levi.
sins of the fathers upon the children unto the ,third             That the Lord should have recruited his ministers
and fort-h generation of them that hate  Him. This of religion from this tribe-a tribe under the ban of
is especially evident from the history of the tribe of God-had significance also for these ministers. The
Simeon. The tribe was eventually absorbed in  Jut&&            consideration of this circumstance was assuredly cal-
In the blessings of Moses, Simeon is not mentioned  a1;        culated to keep them humble.
all, nor in Judges 4 and 5. Their inheritance "was in             It is plain that the dispersion of Levi was in  ,it-
the midst of the inheritance of the children of  Judah"        self neither a (blessing nor a curse. This must be said
(Josh. 19 :I) ; this is accounted for (ver. 9)) "for the       also of his elevation to the priesthood. They were
portion of the children of Judah was too much for blessings only to the Levi according to the election.
them." But the `very cities which were .apportionec]           To the others both were made to work only for evil.
to Simeon were allotted to Judah (Josh. 15 : 21-32).            The dispersion of the Levites must not therefore be


                                    T,HE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                              373
contemplated-and so it is aontemplated  by interpret- the congregation shall judge between the slayer and
ers-as in itself a curse but a curse that was con- the revenger of blood. . . .and the congregation shall
verted into a blessing for the whole tribe through its        deliver the slayer out of the hand of the revenger of
elevation to the priesthood.                                  blood, and the congregation shall restore him to the
    When the Levi% kept covenant trust, feared the city of his refuge, whither he was fled. . .  ." (vers.
Lord, and with diligence and perseverance taught the 24, 25). This is not very  expliscit.  Doubtless this is
people the law, their 48 cities were so many sests of what took place: On reaching the city the fugitive was
religion in Israel, centers of pious influence. As such, received by the eiders (Gevites), secured admission,
they contributed mightily to the conversion of Canaan and was given asylum until his case could be ,tried.
into a type of that land-the heavenly Canaan-where The clause : "And the congregation shall restore him
the knowledge of Cod covers the earth as the waters           to the city of refuge," plainly indicates that the trial
cover the bottom of the sea-a  Iand where men say took place in the district from which he had fled and
not to one another, "Know the Lord," in that all know to which he was therefore  .condueted  to be tried.
Him.                                                          There the witnesses were examined. If it  comd not
                                           G. M. 0.           be proven that he was an intentional slayer, that he
                                                              hated the person slain, he was declared innocent and
                                                              led back to the city to `which he had taken refuge. On
                            -                                 the other hand, "if any man hate his neighbor, and lie
                                                              in wait for him, and rise up against him, and smite
                                                              him mortally that he die, and  fleeth  into one of these
          -The Cities Of Refuge                               cities: then the elders of the city shall send  ,and fetch
                                                              him thence, and deliver him into the hand of the
    Selected from among the Q8 Levitical cities were avenger of blood, that he may die. Thine eye shall
the 6 cities of refuge, 3 on each side of the Jordan,. and    not pity him, but thou shalt ,do away the guilt of in-
placed under the jurisdiction of the Levites, to serve nocent blood from Israel, that it may go well with
as places of retreat and security for such as might thee." ,(Deut.   19:11,  12).
shed blood unwittingly, without foresight or' design.            This scripture throws some additional light on he
East of the Jordon they were Bezer in Reuben, RQ-             transaction. It seems to imply that there were cases
moth-Gilead in Gath, and Golan in Manasseh. On                in which the fugitive, from fear of the revenger,
the West of the Jordan they were Hebron in Judah,             could not be induced to return to the scene of the slay-
Shechem in Mt. Ephraim, and Kadesh in Judah.                  ing to be tried, that, in this event, the trial took place
    The purpose of the appointment of the Cities of without him, and that, were he found to lbe `a willing
Refuge was to prevent the shedding of innocent blood, slayer, the elders of the city, rwhere he had taken up
i. e., the blood of one who had killed his brother unin- his abode, would surrender him to the manslayer, that
tentionally and ignorantly. The need of such cities justice might take its course. There are still other
rose from the following cir,cumstance:  If a man `irere       conjectures. According to some, we are to suppose a
slain the duty of avenging him lay upon the near- preliminary trial by the elders of the refuge city. If
est relative, upon one therefore who,  .as  Lblinded by this was satisfactory, the fugitive was given a tem-
passion, might do a man to death in revenge for what porary asylum until a regular trial could Ibe carried
was the purest accident. To prevent such a thing and out in his place of residence. iIf unsatisfactory, 1. e.,
to ensure a right administration of justice, these cit- if guilt were immediately established, no second trial
ies were instituted. From time immemorial and thus was necessary, and the culprit was set at large to be
not by any law given to Moses the duty of avenging a hunted down and slain. If this is the view to be
`man who had been slain rested upon the nearest kin, adopted, the witnesses must be imagined to have  fol-
-from time immemorial, before the appearance of the lawed the fugitive to the city, to be on hand at this
public magistrate, thus when the sword was still born preliminary trial. According to others there was but
by the father of the family or clan. Instead of abol- one trial-the trial that took place *before the gates of
ishing the practice the Lord, by stepping in ,with  His th,e refuge city, where the fugitive stood and stated his
law, humanized it and made it serve the ends of jus-          case to the elders of the city in the presence of wit-
tice.                                                         nesses. This ,view  collides with the statement: "And
    The three cities on each side of the Jordan were the congregation shall restore him to the city of ref-
equally distant from each other, lest the avenger of uge" (Nu.  35:25).             The  con.gil-eg&.tiom  is plainly the
blood pursue the slayer while his heart was hot and           residents of the place where the fugitive lived, as-
overtake him because the way was long and slay him sembled not before the gates of the refuge city but in
(Nu. 35 $3). The escape to these cities was thus pos- their own <district. Finding the fugitive innocent, they
sible to all.                                                 restored, i. e., led him back, to the city to which he
    The judicial procedure was as follows: "(Then)            had fled.


374                                    T*HE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

       Thus did the law of God s,tep in between the aveng-    had (symbolically) atoning virtue and covered  wit11
er and his victim an,d restrain him in the exercise of        respect to God a multitude of sins which  h,ad risen
his right and duty by the trial and  ,verdict   #of the from ignorance and mistakes and thus formed a bound
unimpassionate congregation in order to free this beyond which even the avenger of blood might not  g?.
primitive form of revenge  f.rom the barbarisms and Thus, with the death of the high priest, the priest  and
injustices inherent in blind passion. So did the in- the sacrificial victim appeared as united in one person
stitution of the Cities of Refuge aid in converting Ca- as they actually were in the person ,of the true high
naan into a land  rwhere righteousness and praise priest, Christ Jesus, whose blood wrought out eternal
sprang forth before all nations (Isa. 61 :ll) and thus        redemption only, because through the eternal S;:irit
into a type of that country-the new earth-the right-          H,e offered Himself without spot to God.
eousness of whose redeemed inhabitants goeth forth as            From this circumstance it follows that the slaying,
brightness and the salvation thereof as a lamp that           though unintentional, had nevertheless inc~olved the
burneth (Isa. 62 :l) .                                        slayer in guilt before God.     With  his guilt  atone;1
   The intentional killing had its signs by which  il through the dying of God's priest, he was set free.
could ,be recognized. "And if he (the slayer) smite              The  manslayer  could be convicted by the testimoay
him (the victim) with an instrument of iron, so that of several (Deut. 2 and 3) witnesses. only. The testi-
he die, he is murderer: the murderer shall surely be mony of a single witness was not valid.
put to death. And if he smite him with throwing a                No satisfaction, i.e., money paid in compensation
stone, wherewith he may die, he is a murderer. . . . for the murder, in settlement of the avenger's claim,
Or if he smite him with a hand weapon of wood,                might be taken for the life of the murderer, who was
wher.ewith  he may die, he is a murderer. . .  .If he         found guilty of death (Nu. 35  :31). The permission
that thrust him (the victim) of hatred, or hurl at him to make compensation for murder sacrifices the prin-
by laying in wait, that he die; or in enmity `smite him ciple of justice that lies at the basis of the divine com-
with his hand, that he die; he that smote him shall           mand, "Whosoever sheds man's blood, by man shall his
surely  ,be put to death, for he is a murderer: the           blood be shed." Moreover, it allows the kindred of
avenger of blood shall slay the murderer when he              the murdered man to make gain out of murder.
meet him" (Nu.  85:17  sty.). The use of such weap-                                                       G. M. 0.
ons-iron or la stone, if heavy enough to cause death
or a heavy piece of wood-would imply some evil in-
tent, and  (was proof of a malicious purpose, yet not, of                                -
course, invariably so. Other factors would needs have
to enter in, if the presence of these objects in the hands
of the slayer could be taken as certain indications of
his guilt. The slayer might have killed his neighbor               Door Lijdeh Tot Verblijden
with any of these objects unintentionally. Therefore
it is added: "But if he thrust him suddenly without                                 (Psalm 66)
enmity, or have cast upon him anything without                   IHet is niet met zekerheid uit te maken wie dezen
laying of wait, or with any stone, wherewith a man            psalm gedicht heeft, noch ook in welke p&ode  van
may die, and was not his enemy, neither sought his            Israel's bestaan dit lied valt. Er zijn  we1 gissingen
h,arm.   . .  -then the congregation shall deliver the slay- gemaakt,  doch uiteraard  kunnen zij nooit voorwerp
er out of the hand of the revenger of blood" (Nu. zijn van het geloof der gemeente .van Christus. God
25 :22ecq.).    Thus., what had greatest weight is how heeft het ons niet geopenbaard.
the slayer was disposed toward his victim previous               Tech is `zulks niet een beletsel om door dezen psalm
to the time of the slaying. If he was known to have geestelijk  gebaat  te  wonden.  De inhoud is van  toe-
hated and threatened him, then, having been armed passing op het Israel aller eeuwen,  zoowel   globaal,
wi,th any of the aforesaid weapons at the time of the         collectief, alswel persoonlijk. Het is een van de lieve-
slaying, he would naturally experience much difficulty lings-psalmen der kinderen  Gods van alle eeuwen. In
in satisfying his judges that the killing had been de Grieksch-Rooms&e kerk werd hij  .voorgelezen   011
purely accidental.                                            den Paaschmorgen. In den Griekschen  Bi.jbel  werd
   The slayer, declared innocent had t,o stay in the hij geheeten den psalm van (de verrijzenis  des Heeren.
refuge city until the  ,death  of the high priest,  `,the        Zijn  thema  is de verlossing van Gods volk door de
priest who has been anointed wit.h the holy oil." Until sverschrikkelijke  en wondere  daden des Heeren. Zijn
that event he must not on no account pass beyond the begin tot het 12de vers beschrijft die uitredding van
boundaries of the city. If he did, the revenger of Israel collectief; doch van het 13de vers tot het eindc
blood might sl,ay him with impunity. But when the high past de dichter  het op zichzelf toe en is daarom per-
priest died, the slayer might return to his inheritance. soonlijk van aard.
This could only be thecause  the death of the high priest        Ge vindt in dezen psalm  hetzelfde   thema  als  vsn


                                   '  `.T;HE   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                      377
            - - -
     Geheel IIsrael zal er aan te pas komen: luistert  tech have not to do here with oratorical hyperbole but with
 toe, gij Godgezinden  ! Ik  zal  U  zeggen  wat Hij  aan fact, with definite bounds of the land for the race of
 mijn  ziel gedaan heeft. En dan komt het lied,. dat       Abraham.     This is clear from the following: In its
 oude lied van Mozes en het Lam. Want mijn uitred-         best days, the Israelitish dominion did reach to
 ding rust op Golgotha !                                   the Euphrates. That there is no record of its exten-
     Ik  had' een gruwen van ongerechtigheid in het tion to the Nile must be ascribed to the failure of the
 hart:  Wilde  ze niet zien  ,zelfs. Want anders had de people of Israel to carry out the orders of God. Fur-
 Reere  niet naar mij gehoord. Doch nu heeft Hij mijn ther, in ,communicating  his promise to Abraham, the
 smeeken niet afgewend. Hij  haorde  mijln  brullen en Lord named the tribes to be extirpated and those to
 klagen.    Zijn goedertierenheid heeft mij omhuld als be subjected. The number enumerated is ten.  A;
 een gewaad. Ik mag mij baden in de groote goedheid there &welt many more than ten tribes in  8 region so
 van mijn God.                                             vast, the purpose of the enumeration was to fix the
    Voorts prijs ik Hem tot in eeuwigheid ! Hallelujah ! impressicn  of completeness, of which the num,ber  ten
     En  alle volken  zeggen  : Amen !                     is the  symlbol.    The Kenites, who are also named,
                                              G. v.        were not a Canaanitish but an Arabian tribe,-thus a
                                                           tribe that dwelt' outside the borders of Canaan proper
                                                           and was not under the iban of God. Finally, the prom-
                     -      a--                            ise given to Abraham was repeated in afteryears in
                                                           substantially the same form.       "And I will set thev
                                                           bounds from the Red Sea even unto the Sea of  the
              The Limits of Israel's                       Philistines (the *Mediterranean) and from the A-
                                                           rabian desert unto the river." (Euphrates.  Ex.  23  ::.I).
                     Inheritance                           This was the promise of God as it  came to Moses:
                                                           "Turn you and take your journey. I . .by the sea to
                                                           the land of the Canaanites, and unto Lebanon, unto
    As has already been pointed out, Canaan, not in- the great river, the  riv-er Euphrates"  (De&.   13).
 cluding the area occupied by the two and a half tribes And again : "Every place whereupon the soles of your
east of the Jordan, was a  sm*all strip of land, ap- feet shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness
 proximately 160 miles in length and whose greatest and Lebanon, from, the river, the river Euphrates,
width measured but 40 miles. It extended to the  wil- even unto the uttermost sea shall your  ceast  be"
`:  derness of  Zin on the south, was bordered by the      (Deut.  1134). And to Joshua : "Every place that the
'  Mediteranean  Sea on the West, reached  UP into  the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have 1 given to
 region of the Anti-Lebanon on the north, while its you, as I said unto Moses. From the wilderness and
 eastern border rested on the north-eastern shore of this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Eu-
 the Sea of Galilee, skirted this sea and  SO on down the phrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the
 Jordan (Nu.  34).                                         great sea toward the going down of the sun,, shall `be
    However, according to other passages contained in your coast" (Jo.  1:3, 4).
the  Old Testament Scriptures, the territory, which God       It cannot be, certainly, that in all these scriptures
gave to His people was much larger. It was an im- we deal with hyperbole. What is also against this
 mense region that extended to the Euphrates  and view is that, as already has been pointed out, a clear
thus included the whole of Arabia and to the Nile line of demarcation is drawn between the doomed
 River.                                                    tribes infesting Canaan and those races "dwelling
    "In the same day the Lord made a ,:ovenant  with afar off," beyond the limits of the territory in which
: Abraham, saying, Unto thy seed have  II given this God planted His people. The former-the Canaan-
 land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river,       ites-were under the ban of God. They had to be
 the river Euphrates" (Gen.  15 :18).                      wholly destroyed, both male and female, in a word,
    The  Rti:er of Egypt is the Nile, because, ,as Keil everything that breathed. Deut. 20 :lO seq. The craft
 remarks, it is  nsther  and not  nachal. The latter of the Gibeonites proves  ,conclusively that Joshua
: was not a river or brook of Egypt at all but a little    might not attempt to save these tribes from the sword
' desert stream that formed the dividing line between of the Israelites ;by overtures of peace. As sovereignly
Canaan and Egypt.  Nachal  is used five times in the hardened by the Lord, through the witness of His ser-
Cld  Testam.ent;  that it does not occur at Gen. 15  :I8 vants who had dwelt in their midst and through the
 can only mean that  th,e river referred to in this  pas- speech that had risen from the salvation which he had
 sage is not the so-called brook of Egypt but the river wrought out for His people, they had filled their meas-
Nile. Some interpreters hold that the passage is rhet- ure of iniquity, and* therefore had now to (be desbroy-
 orical and that thus its sense and  meaning is not that ed. Rut to thecities of the tribes who dwelt "afar 07,"
1  Of the form of its words. But it is certain that we     who lived in the region that lay outside the bound-


378                                  TcHE  S T A N D A R D '   B E A R E R

aries of Canaan proper, Joshua had to proclaim peace forth the praises of the Lord. All the flocks of Kedar
before unsheathing against them his sword. .But the shall be gathered unto thee, the rams of  Nebaioth
city that was worthy-the city that surrendered and shall minister unto thee: th,ey shall come UP with ac-
expressed   a willingness to become tributary to the          ceptance  on mine altar, and I will glorify the house of
people   of Israel and to own Jehovah as the God  in          my glory" (Isa. 60 23 s:q) .
heaven and on earth and thus to put away  t.heir  idols                                          <         G. M. 0.
-was spared.
       Thus the question that now confronts us is  ho&iv
to harmonize Nu. 3&-the one scripture that narrows
down the inheritance of God's people to a strip of
land 160 miles in length and 40 miles in  breadth-
with those passages in which the boundaries of this
inheritance are defined as extending to the rivers             Federal Solidarity and Personal
                                                       Eu-
phrates and the Nile. And the answer.  :By  perzeiv-                           Responsibility
ing that a distinction is to be made on the one hand
between Canaan proper, the land divided among the
tribes of Israel by the lot of God, thus the only ter-           Federal Solidarity and Personal Responsibility are
ritory  ,which the people of Israel had to  :x*zquire for Scriptural conceptions. The first term refers ,to the
their actual habitation-the land where God taber- oneness of the human race. The word "federal" sig-
nacled with His people -and, on the other hand, that          nifies a league or contract, derived from an *agreement
vast region inkuabited  by tribes not under the ban of or covenant  ibetween  parties, particularly between
God, tribes that had to be spared alive if ready to come states or nations. Theologically this word refers to
under the dominion of  iIsrael  and Israel's God and          the covenant idea  ,as pertaining to the human race
subject themselves to His rule. Thus the inheritance          with Adam as its head.          "Solidarity" refers to  a
included Canaan proper-the land of Israel's abode-            solidarity of interests, a communion of interests.
and the tribes that dwelt in the regions beyond, who          Hence,  `ifederal  solidarity" is the conception which re-
were not dispossessed but instead, brought under the fers to `that which all mankind has in common because
dominion of the people of Israel.                             of the covenant relation in which Adam stood to the
       As was said, many of these  tribes were subdued' entire human race. All men are  obj,ects of wrath and
by kind David in afteryears, who through  th.ese con- are conceived  and born dead in sin  ,and trespasses be-
y,uests  laid the foundation of the  pezce that  charac-      cause of the sin of the one man. Of course, the idea
terized the reign of Solomon. In subduing these tribes, of guilt stands upon the foreground. ,411 men do not
David  was- acting under orders of God given to Moses become guilty because of their sins (pelagianism).
and  doshua. Solomon had  d,ominion over all the re- but we all sin because we are guilty. Guilty we are
gion on this side of the Euphrates, over all the kings because of the one sin of Adam, our judicial repre-
this side the river; and they all paid him tribute. 1 sentative head.
Ki. 4 :22. To David the surrounding countries had be-            Scripture teaches this doctrine of "federal  soli&
come  subj,ect  from the Mediterranean Sea to  Ha-            arity," particularly in Rom.  5. In verse 15 we  read
Imath, and from the territory of the Lebanon to the that through the  offence  of one many are dead. In
borders of Egypt, the inhabitants of which :assumed a verse 16 we are taught that the judgment was by one
friendly attitude and recognized the new rule. Under to condemnation.              In verse 18 Paul declares that bv
Solomon the kingdom of Israel was a power so great the  offence  of the one judgment came upon all men  te
as to rank <beside Assyria and Egypt.                         condemnation. And in verse 19 we are told that by
       It is this universality of the kingdom of  Israel      one man's disobedience many were made sinners.  One
during the reign of these two theocratic kings that man sins, commits one  offence.                   Thereupon all are
stood out in the minds of the prophets of God as pro- guilty of death. That one  offence  is sufficient to  pIaX
phetic of the coming of the blessings of Abraham all men upder condemnation. We are all dead be-
upon all the nations of the earth, and the universal cause of the one sin of ,Adam.
sway of the kindgdom of Christ. "Ask of me, and I                On the other hand Scripture also teaches the doc-
shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance and trine of "personal responsiibility." In connection with
the uttermost part of the earth for thy possession." the subject which rwe are treating in this brief essay
(Ps.  223). "And the gentiles shall come to thy light "responsibility" is referred to from the viewpoint of
and kings to the brightness of thy rising. . . .the our being held accountable Iby God for our sins.
forces. of the gentiles shall come to thee. The multi-           Man's personal responsibility is taught in Scripture
tude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of throughout. W,e read in Ezek. 18 20: "The soul that
Midian  and Ephah;  all they from Sheba shall come: sineth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the inicl-
they shall ibring  gold and incense ; and they shall shew     uity of the father, neither shall the father bear the


                                      T H E   ST:ANDARD   B.EARER  ,                                               379

 iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous unto life for some but also as a savour of death unto
 shall be upon' him, and the wickedness of the wicked death for others, we are accused of denying the .re-
 shall be upon him." Moreover  ,the. parable of the  tal- sponsibility of man? Does this objection not imply
 ents.and  the description of the judgment day in Matt. that only then can the responsibility of man be main-
 25 surely proceed from this Scriptural truth. In tained if he be presented as one who can either rel
 Rev. 22  :12 we read that Christ comes quickly, land ject or accept this "offer of salvation?" And is this
 that His reward is with Him to give every man ac- view not a denial of the truth that because of the sin
 cording as his work  shall.be. Besides, does not Scrip- of the one man all men are conceived and iborn  dead
 ture abound in admonitions, commanding man in  gea-           in sins and trespasses, unable by nature to do any good
 era1 to forsake his evil way and His people in partic-        and inclined to all evil? Surely, the doctrine of a free
,.ular to put on  ,the new man and to put off the old?         ,offer  of salvation implies that man is also able to
 All men are personally responsible and are held ac- accept this offer. Hence, I maintain that also their
 countable by ,God for their actions.                          explanation of personal  resposilbility  is principally
     Federal solidarity and personal  responsibility- pelagian and maintains the sovereignty of the in-
`how must we conceive of these conceptions in their            dividual.
relation to one another It is in this light that I un-            Of course, man's personal responsibility must nev-
.derstand this subject which has been assigned to me.          er be confused with moral sovereignty.       His moral
.How can a man be held personally responsible when freedom is not sovereign freedom. Never does man
., he is a mem>ber of an organism which is characterized act independently of the Lord. It is surely not neces-
 by federal solidarity? In answering this question we sary to quote from Scripture to prove this point. A r e
 do well to bear in mind that it is of the utmost im- no.t the hearts of kings in the hands of the Lord as
 portance that both concepts be maintained.                    water-courses, which He turneth whithersoever He
     The pelagian's explanation of this  probl,em is will? Was not Shimei's cursing of David of the Lord,
' rather simple. He simply denies the federal solidar- and was it not of Jehovah that Joseph was sold by
 ity of  t,he human race. Pelagianism denies original his brethren into Egypt? And was not Christ taken,
guilt and pollution. His conception is strictly  individ- crucified, and slain by wicked hands, delivered into
' ualistic. Every man, in his opinion, is born good and these hands, by the determinate counsel and fore-
:,`upright.    lMan is the victim of his own environment. knowledge of God? Consequently, the personal  re-
 Viewed superficially this view is very simple. Viewed sponsib  lity of man is never to be viewed as sov-
`: realistically, however, this conception involves us in a ereign, as independent of God, as sovereignly deter-
: hopeless predicament. This is true of every conception mining his own eternal lot. God is and remains God
 which deviates from the Word of God. We deny that also as far as all the moral acts of man are concerned.
- arminianism, in  distinction  from the Reformed con-            Yet, man is personally responsible, also as a mem-
ception, is easier to understand.      We maintain that ber of the human race which is characterized by fed-
palagianism and arminianism involve us in hopeless eral solidarity. He is personally responsible also for
I conceptions which can never satisfy the human mind. the sin of Adam. This means, of course, in the first
`: For, apart from the fact that this pelagian  ,canception    place, that he is held accountable by God -for the sin
 presumptuously opposes the teaching of Holy Writ of Adam in the sense that, because Adam is the ju-
 as in Rom. 5, it certainly gives no answer to the amaz-       dicial head of the human race, his sin is .imputed  to
ing question, "Why, then, are all men victims of evil all and all men are held accountable  %for that one sin.
 environment, and whence  this evil environment?"              That one sin is laid to the charge of all. All men
     The Christian Reformed Churches, in their ex- stand condemned before God, worthy of eternal death
 planation of man's personal responsibility, fail to do and subject to spiritual darkness because Adam par-
 justice to the federal solidarity of the human race. took of the forbidden fruit.
 Fact is, this federal sodidarity of the human race im-           However, man is personally responsible also in the
 plies that every man, himself personally responsible, sense that he himself always assumes personal re-
 is condemned to death Ibecause  of the sin of another. sponsibility for that one sin of Adam. Man is a mor-
I do not mean to say that these churches deny the ally free agent. .Sin is always the object of his own
 h.eadship  of Adam. But I will maintain that their con- choice.            He sins because he chooses to sin. He is
 ception of personal responsibility is individualistic. never driven to do iniquity. Although God is sov-
 And we must also bear in mind that one hears more ereign and therefore the eternal Cause of all things,
 and more nowadays. of that rather  ,convenient  ex- also ,of the moral ,actions of men, He is never the Auth-
 planation of difficulties, summed up in the term: ap- or of iniquity. Having willed sin  :He also willed it as
 parent contradictions.     Is it not true that,  wh,en we `being performed through man as a morally free agent.
 would maintain the doctrine of  t.he absolute sover- God eternally willed a sinner who would voluntarily
 eignty of God, and that the gospel is not a general choose iniquity which the Lord hates. As that moral-
o&r of salvation, but is preached as a savour of life          ly free agent man always assumes full responsibility


  380                                   T*HE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

 also for Adam's sin. By nature we approve of our the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, we must maintain
 first father's action in Paradise. Man's objection to         Christ as the Head of His eternal covenant.           The
 the doctrine of federal solidarity, that because of the headship of Adam is but a divinely willed symbol of
 sin of one man all should (be suibject  to death, is very the  headship  of Christ. Was not Adam a figure of
 hypocritical. He himself chooses Adam's sin in every          Him Who was to come? :All men, in Adam, are con-
 moment of his existence. If man by nature were ask- demnzble  because of the sin of the one, in ord'er that
 ed whether he would have followed a different course all men, in Christ, should be rendered righteous bee-
 than Adam, or rwhefher he is in any sense of the word cause of the righteousness of the One Who died that
 sorry for the sin of pride of his first father, he, if we might live, and that the more  abundantly.
 he be honest, must needs answer in the negative. Man                                                      ,H. V.
 may be sorry because of the results of sin but he never
 experiences any grief because of sin itself.
        Yet, even so, the question is not fully  gnswered.
 In the final analysis only one answer is possible. It re-
 mains an incontrovertible fact that my spiritual agree-
 ment with the sin of Adam is due to the federal solid-
 arity of the human race. I agree with the sin of Adam
because I am wholly corrupt.  I may choose to do in-                 The Time Element and the
 iquity and perform deeds of darkness as the object of
 my own free choice. However, I must choose the evil,                           Fourth Gospel
 1  canno.t  choose the good. I am become a slave of
 iniquity, am bound in the service of darkness with               When you read this subject you may be inclined to
 fetters of iron and steel which reign over me even ask whether time element is different in the Fourth
 in the very depths of my spiritual `being. I am not           Gospel from that in the first three gospels? And
 subject  to the law of God, will not ,be subj,ect  to that    when you ask this you undoubtedly ask with the cor-
 law, but neither can I  ,be subject to it! This, I say,       rect view in mind, that the four Gospel narratives are
 is due to the federal solidarity of the human race.           together the one Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. We
 And this, of course, is .to be ascribed only to the alone     believe and can maintain that there is inner harmony
 sovereign God. Why did God impute the sin of the between these four gospels. If the four secondary
 one man unto the whole human race? And we answer, authors give us the revelation of Jesus Christ through
 of course : Because God `conceived of that human race that there can  ibe no contradictions, no real difference
 as an organism with Adam as its head, so that the between them. Therefore we must explain the reason
 sin of the one would be imputed to all, and a!1 would         for the significance of the subject, "The Time Ele-
 be held accountable for the sin of the one. Why  di.3         ment and the Fourth Gospel."
 God conceive this? Because He sovereignly  willed it             We  know  of course that the four Gospel narratives
 SO.     God is the Potter and man is the clay. This is are not identical.           If they were there would be no
 the only possible final answer.                               real reason for keeping them all in the canon. Though
        What, then, shall man say? What must be his we can point to many things in which they are alike
 answer as far as mankind's federal solidarity and his we all can point to differences (between them. That is
 personal responsikility  are concerned? What shall be true of the time element also. From a certain point
 his answer when every vile mouth shall be stopped', of view the reference to the time element is the same.
 and every knee shall  Ibow? Why does he now object And yet we notice distinct differen,ces  between them
 to this Scriptural presentation of the truth? Is it not in this respect. Because of this ,difference  there arises
 because the clay refuses to be clay and would be the the problem of the time element in the four gospels,
 Potter? And shall he not forever acknowledge this and especially in the fourth gospel because it is dis-
 sovereignty of the Lord? Let that man, also today,            ti,nct from the first three.
 who objects to this truth, confess his sin of pride and          With respect to that which is common to all four
 humble himself before the living God.                         gospels in their historical reference you *will notice
        What shall we say? Firstly, if it pleased God to that none of the four gives us a chronological table of
 call us out of darkness, who also by nature are in- the life of Jesus Christ. In our New Testament there
 cluded in that  condaemnable  human race, only because is no `biography of our Lord.           Attempts have been
 He sovereignly decreed a place for us among those             made to construct a "life of Jesus" from the data
 of whom Christ  i,s the Head, we shall render Him given in the four gospels, rbut these attempts fail be-
 eternal thanks for a salvation which is so exclusively cause there is not sufficient material from which to
 Divine in order that no flesh should boast. And,              complete the entire life of Christ; and because Christ
 secondly, we shall confess that God  *willed  the human       cannot be limited by this  time-He  is eternal and
 race as an organism in Adam, because  EIe willed so also  beyo,nd  time and space. The result of  such

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

effort is always more fiction than fact. We know, to        definite accounts. (He means that of Mark and John,
make this plain, very little of the early life of Jesus.    L. D.) The fact is the narrative in Mark cannot `be
9nd of the three years of His ministry the events are made to agree with John, except on the supposition
not all given. And those that are given are not given that one or the other is, as regards objective facts, in-
to serve as a chronological time-table. We read in accurate and misleading. For example, it is impos-
John that these things were written which were for sible ,t.o insert the story of the raising of Lazarus  in
our faith, "that we might believe." And that all the        the historical framework preserved {by Mark. And if
words and deeds of Jesus are not given.         "If they the narrative of the Passion in Mark and the events
should ;be written," John writes, John 2125, "I sup- leading up to it in Mark 9 20-12 be historical in gen-
pose that even the world itself could not contain the       eral outline then it is impossible to regard the story     I
books that should be  ,written."                            of the raising of Lazarus as in any way a narrative of
   Although we do not have a time-table in the gos- fact." This is an example of the attitude of higher
pels of the work and words of Jesus, we do have an          critics. If something  does not fit into their assump-
important reference to time. We cannot change or tions they reject it. In this case the Iassumption  is
distort the chronology which is given~ us. The time that omission, `on the part of John of the historical
element is very'essential for our understanding of the references in Mark and the other synoptists, makes
revelation of Jesus  ,Christ. For that reason a sermon John's chronology not only incorrect but his w-hole
on a Word of Jesus usually contains the important account false.
point, the occasion upon which Jesus spoke or per-             For.our own satisfaction we can explain that be-
formed a miracle. The Gospel narratives often begin cause in the Gospel according to Mark  `u-e  hav,e  many
with such expressions as, "NOW when", "in those .days",     more happenings given us in that period (before and
"and it came to pass", "at that time".                      during Jesus' stay in  Bethany  than in the Fourth
   Now the chronology or the reference to time is not Gospel, and because Mark and the other Synoptists
always the same in the four gospels. But we notice          make no mention of the mighty miracle of the rais-
immediately that there is much more from the same           ing of Lazarus, that therefore we cannot conclude that
viewpoint in the first three  gospeIs.than  in the Fourth one record is untrue. We  s:xtnnot prescribe how one
Gospel. For that reason the first three, Matthew, narrative must fit into another and contain the same
Mark, and Luke are called the Synoptic Gospels. The events. The assumption that if a record is true, for
word synoptic means viewed together. Although there example, the record of the raising of Lazarus, it would
is a difference of viewpoint among' the three they are be mentioned in the other records is a .false assump-
much more alike when compared to the Gospel accord- tion which the four Gospel narratives do not permit.
ing John.                                                   We must maintain the principle that although it is the
   There are several main differences which we can same Jesus and the same time concerning which they
mention.     The Synoptists, for example, write about write, and the same Holy Spirit who inspired them,
Jesus' activity in and around Galilee, while John lim- their viewpoint is nevertheless different, We may not
its it to Judea and Jerusalem. John therefore omits fit the four viewpoints into one made by us, but from
long periods which are accounted for in the first three the four we receive the one CGospel  of our Lord Jesus
gospels.     In the fourth Gospel much more attention Christ. In their differences  `\v*e have the riches of the
is given to the Word of Jesus. There is, to ibe sure, Gospel. If one contradicted the other we would have
always an historical reference, the time element, but reason to reject the testimony of one or both, but you
then John devotes the major portion to the words of notice even from the criticism made that no contra-
Jesus upon each occasion. This is to be noticed im- dictions are found.
mediately when we read of His discourse with Nico-             *Another answer to this question admits of' the in-
demus,  with the Samaritan woman, with the Pharisees, accuracy of the time element of the Fourth Gospel but
and His last discourse with His disciples before the concludes  thlat it was not intended to be accurate his-
crucifixion which takes up chapters 13-17. Because tory. Bousett says that John's Gospel is literary and
of this difference and because John devotes more space not historical. J. A. Robinson in his Study of the F.&M
to the words than to events, the question arises what pels says in answer to the idea of higher critics as
is the significance of the time element in John?            quoted above, "It is the Gospel of the Christ of Chris-
   With respect to the question there are some who tian experience. Because he views the Gospel history
become higher critics and say that the time element from the subjective standpoint, he allows himself free-
in John proves that it is not the  true,  Gospel. The       dom in remodelling the external events."
following statement is made in The Encyclopedia of             This answer is also an impossible view to take.
Religion  an& Ethzks,  edited by James Hastings, "The The time element in the Gospel of John as well as in
comparison of the Synoptic narrative with that of the Synoptic Go;;pels  is an integral part. Not one of
John is an old and very simple study. It is a matter the Gospel  narrati,ves  can be received  ,without  the
3f historical discrepancy in two perfectly clear and time element. It stands to reason that the historical


  382                                  3':H.E  STANDAR.Dj  BEA:RER                                                    -.

  element is not referred to as often in John  because~ he
  records fewer events.                                                          Corkribution
         In the Gospel according to John there are specific
  references  to time and place. If you peruse the. gos- Esteemed Editor of the  .Standard  Bearer':
  pel you will notice some of the following expressions
  which show  blow  John connects his narrative with May I have a small  space  in the Standard Bearer?
  time. Chapter 1:28, "These things happened in Beth-             Rev. Hanko has in a private conversation express.
  any where John was." 1:35, "Again the next day." to me the wish that I iwrite  again on the strike proh"
  2:1, "The third day there was a *wedding in Cana."           lem. And I told him the title of  `my next-  assigned
  2 :12, "After this He went down to Capernaum. And article does not lend itself to that subject but that 1
  it was near the  passover  of the Jews."  4:43, "Now would try to write a little contribuion.
  after two  ,days He departed thence and went into Gali-         First, then, I want to state that it is  a pleasure  to
  lee."  5:"2, "The hour  cometh and now is when the           discuss with Rev. Hanko. His tone makes it easy to
  dead shall hear the voice of the Son of M&an  and they keep the issue to the fore and to  Naome close together,
  that hear shall live."  7:3, "His hour `was not yet and should also make it very easy to concede a point
  come." This is a familiar reference to time in  acon- to him. I `want to express my appreciation for this
  nection  with Jesus suffering in the Gospel according tone of Rev. Hanko. For I believe that also in this
  to John. We have such general references such 8s the little discussion some have revealed  th,at it is hard  to
  foregoing and the expression, "After these things  ;"        remember that the fight for Christian meekness and
  but we also have a very specific reference to time long-suffering, must also be a fight  of Christian ditto,
  which shows how very observant the apostle John                 To begin, I would like here to reaasert a couple of
  really was. iIn chapter  1:39 there is this reference my contentions against the first article of Rev.
  to the extra hour: "And it was the tenth hour." A- Hanko. 1. If we are not very sure of our judgments
  gain in  connecti,on  with the cross in 19  :14, "And it also re the strike clause of the CLA., charity dictates
  was the preparation of the Passover, and about the a favorable interpretation.  2. Further, 1  felt  strong-
  sixth hour."                                                 opposed to the statement: "And another  question
         We must remember the deeply profound  charact.er      arises, what must be the attitude #and action of his
  of the Gospel according to  J,ohn. John points us to church in the matter of discipline in such a  p:ase   (i. e.
the Person of the Mediator as the Son of God. He in case he partakes in a CLA strike)  ?
  explains his own viewpoint, which is, "But these are            For in this second point lies the assumption that  3
  written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, strike is -per se -wrong. And ,an assumption is even
  the Son of God ; and  th&,  believing ye might have life stronger and Ibolder  than an assertion. Assumption
  through His name." John  2031. He is deeply pro- implies that it is all  we11 established, known, and ac-
  found because he refers to eternity from the begin-          cepted and needs no express statement. And with
  ning of his narrative and throughout. He begins with respect to our Christian life I am <afraid  of such as-
  eternity. "In the beginning was the Word. . . ." And sumptions, which easily acquire the power of decrees
  with all His discourses, with Nicodemus, with the and shibboleths. If our people shall  *be guided by
  Samaritan woman, with the Pharisees, and with His principles they must as much as  possible see the  prin-
  disciples, he amazes and `baffles His hearers with His ciples, and not ,say "we all believe," or "the Standard
  divine and eternal nature.                                   Bearer has written," or " the Synod has dezided."
         Though John gives the Christ from the point of I feel that such things are very impotent especiallY
  viaw of the profound eternal, and incomprehensible,          with the view to the  dark'future that awaits us  as
  he nevertheless refers to the historical, to time. The churches, and a consistory armed with such assumP-
  eternal touches time, 1:14 "And the Word was made tions, would stand very weak in its guidance and  dis-
  flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory,          cipline of its members.
  the gIory  as of the only begotten of the Father, full of       Therefore, I (believe and take the stand that until
  grace and truth," And that is so with every part of some one can produce  evid,ence from Scripture either
  John's record ; it has an historical reference, a :neces-    that a strike is per se inconsistent with the  ,meekness
  sary time element, and "his record is true". The time of the Heavenly Kingdom, or that it is an absolute
  element is necessary for without it the writing would transgression of a clear-cut well-known boundary he-
  not be the Gospel, the "glad news" from heaven which         tween the sphere `of function of the citizen and of
  touches our time. It {would lack reality. Salvation is the government, we shall have the continual task of
  realized in time and space, is historically real, and judging each case by itself.
  based upon undeniable  ,evidences.  If we fail to see         For this last assumption of Rev. H. II find his ap
  the importance of the time element in the Fourth peal to the fifth  .commandment  too precarious.  An
  Gospel we fail to see the marvelous evidence of the employer of the present-day free laborer surely doe:
  Incarnation.                                   L. D.         not have the same authority over his employee that  ;


                  .~'*         *,
't   ":
                                                             +T*wE  ,sTA.NDA.R.D.`BEA,RtiR                                               383

                   `slave-owner held over his `slave lwho was Ibought and onder ofis volk die zich schijnbaar blind staren  op een
    ~ lIpsid for and woven into his enterprise and the fabric artikel in de C. L. A. handelende over strikes  als.uiterst
                  :of society, as at the time of the apostles' Tegen de middel tot het verkrijgen van billijk  recht, alsof dat
                  :RevoIutie  bet Evangelic, said Groeli van Prinsterer.
   `_ 1,                                                                           het hoofddoel van de C. L. A. ware." Het is waar daar
                          I do not write in defense of the strike, but'for the     wordt d'uidelijk gezegd dat strikes als uiterst middel
                  .right of the strike to be honestly judged. This is no moeten  gebruikt  worden  tot verkrijgen van  billijk
           "50-50  debate, but th.e' burden of proof is wholly with recht,; maar als strikes zich opdoen in .het leger van ons
          ,l: Rev. Hanko. As long as he does not remove the last land, of oy! zee, dan worden  zij met de dood gestraft,
         ;,reasonable  shred of evidence he may not ask us to                      want  dat is muiterij.      En hoe wordt muiterij  be-
          ,; adopt his assumption. When he does I shall concede                    handeld op het terrein van het kerkelijk  leven? Ook
          ; the .point to him.for  his tone has not made that un- daar roept de wet om belijdenis van zulke zonden, cif
     `;;pIeasent.                    And .then I will stand `with him on it.       afzetting. En dat is daar het eind van strikes; voor
         ::               We cannot develop a hetithy  Christian life under biilijk  recht ! ( ?)      Ten zesde,  weet de  `breeder  niet
        ; the suggestive power of a facile dictum, and until we waa.r  ik, het vandaan haal dat wij  persbonlijk  we1 naar
       <i can make a pronouncement that is well grounded on lotsverbetering mogen streven, maar dat wij dat niet
   ., :;. Scripture and makes its appeal to the Christian con- mogen  dmn  aIs een georganiseerde  groep.   We1  broe-
       ,:O.science   ;we will have to judge every ease by itself. der, er was tech zeker niets op tegen toen  u van Byron
     f;; Agreements and policies can Ibe decided by vqte, but Center naar Grand Rapids verhuisd'e, en nu  oak .niet
         i z:.principIes must rest on God's Word alone.
       b                                                                           als u als  persoon  naar een ander arbeid uitziet.
      ;:                                  Your Brother in Christ for the Truth,
     .E                                                                               Ten zevende weet de broeder ook  niet waar ik het
     ..*i:Y++.                                                Rev. A. Petter.      vandaan  haal dat wij  als Christenen alle onrecht  maar
       ;,                                                                          moeten-  verdragen. Wel, dat heb ik van Jacobus,  en r
                                                                                   waar die het vandaan  haalt weet  broed.er  De Jonge
                                                   --                              ook wei: Ten achste, broeder, u Ieest niet goed, ik doe
                                                                                   de C. L. A. nergens uitkomen, dat is  ,Go& werk. Maar
                                             Ingezonden
    :4,r-                                                                          ik heb op `bet gevaar gewezen om op iemanJ   n ,' `n '
                                                                                   dan God te vertrouwen, en dat durft u niet ontkennen.
     ,;: Eerwaarde Redakteur :                                                     Ten negende  wenschte  de  breeder   we1 dat ik mijn
     ..Ga>                                                                         btuk maar in de pen had gehouden. Ja, broeder, dan
 .' ,G
I:.,: 5;.                 In de Standard Bearer van 1 Januari  verheft Broe- had u misschien ook geen moei.te  gehad met Jacobus
     ,f: $er H. De Jonge zijn stem tegen hetgeen ik g&&even                        5, en Matt. 20, 21.       Maar  &~ls wij pntevreden zijn
`ii heb in de Standard' Bearer van  1 December. Ten in ons lot, en zoeken hulp .bij een C. L. A., dan leven
  .`;< eerste  zegt broeder De Jonge dat hij van de zelfde ge- we een ondankbaar  leven,  en dat is arm.
/ 5: voelens is als A. Folkertsma, hoewel  dat hij het mis-                           En nu word ik aangeraden am een beetje inlichtinn
`: Lk.j schien e<n !beetje anders gezegd had. Nu dat is waar, te winnen ,bij hen die meer erraring  hebben in fsbrieks
t:`: 
     :`. hij zegt het wat anders, maar hij strijd met dezelfde arbeid. Nu breeder,  inlichting behoef ik in deze niet,
$3 wapenen, onder dezelfde banier, en  ,voor  hetzelfde en ervaring heb ik in deaen  in overvloed. Ik heb jaren
 [$ doe& en dat is om Christen arbeiders af te leiden tot gewerkt in de `brick yard", die in dien  tijd Farao's
     %`i een union, een union die gaat onder de naam van tichel uvens werd genoemd, en dan 6 dagen 10 uur per _
  1 T C. L. A. Welke van die twee cbroeders nu het gevaar- dag, en somtijds nog drie  nachten  om ovens  te stoken.
       : lijkste is in zijn schrijven' laat ik aan de wetienkende                  Ook heb ik als `basket-maker' en `csubinet-maker'  ge-
  f lezer over. Niet een van beide heeft getracht om een werkt in de fabriek, en dat voor 10 tot 12 cent `per
ji enkei bewijs uit Gods Woord bij te brengen tot staving uur.
`;.:- van hunne beweering. Ten tweede zegt broeder De                                 Ten elfden  zegt breeder  De Jonge, "ik denk het zou
 i;i. Jonge dat !Hirdes  niets afiweet waar de C. L. A. ,eigen- heel wat beter zijn `waneer  onze christen arbeiders zich
r `:- lijk voor staat ; maar een ding .weet  ik wel; en dat is                     aansloten bij de C. L. A., en helpen  degenen die staan
 b  f, dat zij  niet staat op den weg van  Jacobus  5. Ten voor een rechte  verhouding tusschen werkgevers en
 1.'" `derde zegt de broeder,"het  is ook mijn plaats niet om we&man,  en dit trachten te bewerken in een weg ge-
ff; op al die punten in te gaan die de broeder er bij sleep& grond op Gods Woord." Broeder, d% luidt mooi, rriaar
 f i waarop ik antwoordt  dat het  we1 terdege uw  plaats wazht even op wat er  volgt : "en  wanneer  het onze
`.  f is om op die  punten  in  te gaan, maar u  kunt geen                         ox+rtuigixig is dat er  dingen  zijn in de C. L. A. die
i ! grond  vinden  in )Gods Woord om er tegen op te komen. niet goed zijn, zou het dan niet beter Iwezen te. trach-
1 : Ten  vierde,  zegt broeder De Jonge "1Teutraal  bestaat ten het te verbeteren." Zich maar eerst  aansluiten,
 I i1 er niet" en dat is zeker waar, weest dan voorzichtig overtuigd zijnde dat er toestanden zijn die niet goed
 '  op welken  `weg gij u begeeft. Ten  vijfden zegt De zijn,  ezi dan  mxar trachten die te  verbeteren?   Nu,
:;  g  Jonge, "het schijnt met broeder Hirdes te  wezen als broeder,  ds dat uwe redenen zijn waarom  gij christen
 !. ! met velen en dan Ibedenk  ik in `t bijzonder aan velen arbeiders aanspoort zich aan te sluiten bij de C. L. A.                            .


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VOLUME XIX                                             JUNE 15, 1943                                        NTJMBER  18
                                                                     Participate in the rejoicing of this glorious day of
         ` M E D I T A T I O N                                    judgment,  o, sovereign of Israel!
                                                                     Rejoice with thine own people, and loin in with
                                                                  their shouts that Jehovah is  God! Rejoice with them,
                                                                  as they take vengeance upon the ppwers  of darkness
            Abundance Of : Rain                                   and opposition to God's covenant, and slay the prophets
                                                                  of  Baa1  at. the brook  Kishon! If, o king, it be im-
                                                                  possible for thee to take the lead in these matters,  as
             And Elijah, said u.nto Ahab, Get thee up, thou  shouIdest,  at least turn with thy subjects  away
           eat and drink: for there is a sound of ubund-          from the service of the dumb idol to the worship of
           ante of  rai7..    So Ahab w&t up to eat and the living God. . . .
           to drink.     And Elijah  wnt up to the top               Even though  Carmel's victory is only apparent,
           of  Carmel;  and  .he  c& himself down upon even though the repentance and return of the ;c??le
           the earth, and  (put his face between his to Jehovah is merely external, yet, it belongs to the
           knees, And said to his servant, Go up now,             signifinance of t-his day, that thou, too, o  king! be
           look toward t,he sea. Anld he went up, and             inspired by the zeal of thy  people to  prophesy'   :vith
           looked, and said, There is nnth2ng. And he them :
           said, Go- again seven times. And it came to               Jehovah, He is God! Jehovah, He is God!
           pass at the seventh time,, that he said, Cc-              But at all events, rejoice, for there is a sor..nd  of
           hold, there  uriseth  a little  cloti out  o.f  C/W    abundance of rain !
                                                                     Get thee up, then !
           say u'nto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot, CW& U~J.
           sea, like a man's hand. . And he said, Go  LIE::          Eat and drink!
           thee down, that the rain stop thee not. And
           it came to  pnss in the  ;&an   .while,  tha.t the        Apparently Ahab repented.
           heaven was black with clouds and wind, and                Not, indeed, with true sorrow after God, but, never-
           there was a gre:at .rain. etc.                         theless, with the sorrow of the world, lyhich,  in out-
                                    1  K i n g s   18:31-46.      ward show often resembles, even surpasses genuine
    Get thee up !                                                 repentance.
    0 mighty king of Israel, get thee up, eat and drink !            Between the two there is, in reality, a profound
    There is reason now no longer to be dejected and              difference.
to fast, for the theodicy has come, and the people of                For the sorrow after God is rooted in the iove of
Israel have acknowledged that Jehovah, and not Baal,              hod, the sorrow of the world is a weed that springs
is God.                                                           from the root of self-love. The former is a sorroiv that
    And to this theodicy belong blessings from heaven             is concerned about sin itself, the latter is anxious about
upon them that fear the Lord and acknowledge His the evil consequences of sin. Sorrow after Go3 is
Godhead, and confess His name. The judgment of hatred of sin, sorrow of the world merely dreads sin's
the drought is past, and Jehovah will reveal Himself wages. He that is filled with the sorrow of true re-
to His people by sending rain upon the land.                      pentance cannot rest until he has received the assur-
    IGet thee up, Ahab, for the sound of the people's ance of forgiveness, and knows that he is once  more
shout that Jehovah is God is already followed by an- the object of God's favor and lovingkindness; but
other sound, that of an abundance of rain !                       worldly sorrow only seeks to escape the punishment,
    Arise, eat and drink!                                         knowing nothing, and caring not at all, about the


                                                       -



406                                 )  TGE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R   - - - -

sweetness of God's grace.          Godly sorrow becomes       fast, certain it is that fasting was a form of humilia-
manifest in a turning away from the path of sin, and          tion and repentance. And so the prophet appears to
in an earnest desire and  endseavor  to keep  a11 the com-    interpret these signs. For he that had always been
mandments of God; but the sorrow of the world is a messenger of wrath and judgment to the king, now
still love of darkness, and would indulge in the pleasure assumes a kindly attitude toward him, invites him to
of sin without limit, if  onIy  it  couid do so with im-      arise, urges him to break his fast, and, what is more,
punity.                                                       brings him the message that the days of wrath and
       Yet, as the tares resemble the wheat in the same jud,ment are past, and that the Lord will send rain
field, and as the obnoxious weed usually is like the          on the earth !
plant near which it grows, so to the eye of man, true            The wicked pride of the king appeared to be
and counterfeit  repentance  may, for a time, appear broken.
the same.                                                        And tacitly he had confessed that Jehovah is God!
       To all appearances Ahab repented on  Carmel.              So much, at least, may be said for the king in con-
   Subsequent history shows but too clearly that, al- nection with the slaying of the priests of Baa1 at the
though the revelation on  Carmel made a profound im-          brook Kishon. It is true that this had been accom-
pression on the wicked king, it di,d not move him to          plished at the command of the prophet, and through
true repentance. When God's judgments are passed,             the zeal of the moment evinced by the multitude that
Ahab returns to his evil ways. But how he could had been witness of the power and glory of dehovah.
hunrble  himself outwardly under the mighty hand of Even in this,  t.he king had taken no active part. Yet,
God! IIf he hoped that it might move the Lord to pity,        it had been done with the sovereign's silent consent.
and to turn His fierce wrath and judgments away This was but inevitable, unless he had interfered and
from him, he did not hesitate to go in sackcloth and          protected the false prophets, Jezebel's favorites,
ashes! And the mighty revelation of Jehovah's glory against the zeal of the prophet and the wrath of the
on Mount Carmel,  and that, too, as the climax of the         people. His, and not the prophet's, was the  sword-
terrible judgment of the drought that had ravaged the power. To remain silent when the prophet command-
land, might well strike fear and terror into the heart ed the people to slay the priests of BaaI, was to consent
of the wicked sovereign.                                      to their death. Moreover, the fact that he had brought.
       What a day it had been !                               them to the mount at the command of the prophet,
       A day of the Lord !                                    made him doubly responsible for their lives. Nor,may
       The mighty power of the living God had been mani- it ,be said that the king was helpless against the en-
fested, and the utter defeat of  Baa1 and his repre-          thusiasm and anger of the people, and over against the
sentatives had been accomplished !                            predominating power of the prophet, for it is hardly
       And the king had been witness of it all!               conceivable that he had gone to  Carmel without some
       An attitude of humility he had assumed. It is true, representation of his mighty men of war.
the text does not inform us in so many words that he             He had consented to their death.
had repented, or even that he assumed an attitude of             And by this consent he had confessed that they
repentance. He had not taken an active part in the            were false prophets, that led the people of Israel
activities of the day. Rather does it appear that he          astray, and who, therefore, according to the law of
kept himself aloof, taking the part, neither of the           Moses, were worthy of death.
priests of Baal, nor of the lonely prophet of Jehovah,           Outwardly the king repented, and had taken sides
but silently awaiting the outcome of it all. When the         with the cause of the Lord.
fire had flashed from heaven upon the prayer of Elijah           And so the prophet explains the king's present
and had consumed the sacrifice completely, and the            attitude.
people had fallen on their faces shouting: "Jehovah,             For not only does he speak kindly to him, and hold
He is God !" the king had not been fired by their en-         before him the promise of abundance of rain, but he
thusiasm, nor joined in with their confession, but  still     prays that the anger of the Lord may be turned away,
retained the attitude of a silent witness.                    and that the heavens may be opened to bring rain
       And yet, both from his attitude, and from that. of     upon the land.
the prophet toward him, it wouId  seem that the king             He who, filled with the zeal for Jehovah's name
humbled himself.                                              and covenant, and with holy indignation at the iniquity
       For, first of all, the words of the prophet addressed of the king, had earnestly beseeched the Lord, in the
to the sovereign pIain)y suggest that the latter, as he       wilds of Gilead, three years and a half ago, that the
witnessed the activities of the day, had sat upon the Lord might withhold the rain, now prays for the re-
ground all day in an attitude of dejection and humility.      turn of God's mercy upon the king and the people !
What is more, it is evident from Elijah's exhortation            The victory of  Carmel  was, outwardly at least,
to eat and drink that he had fasted al1 the day long.         complete !
And whatever may have been his own reason for the                  The opposition was crushed !


                                    TbHE S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                 407

   The people had confessed that Jehovah is God alone !          not the words of this prayer, we may well surmise that
   And the king appeared humbled !                               the plea was based on God's own Word and covenant,
                                                                 !and that it brought into remembrance the people's
                                                            `repentance and acknowledgement that Jehovah is God
   Fervent prayer of the righteous!                         `alone, as well as the fact that He had accepted their
    "And Elijah went up to the top of  Carmel  ; and             scrifice by fire from heaven.
he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face               And Jehovah hears and answers!
between his knees". . . .                                           Rain He sends for His own Name's sake, in the
   Beautiful, God extolling prayer of the righteous!             way of His covenant, and for those that keep His com-
   For, even though the words of this prayer of the         mandments to do them!
prophet on the top of  Carmel are not recorded, we know             For what else might be'the meaning of the number
that it was motivated by the zeal for the glory of the      seven in this connection? The prophet prays, and sends
Lord, and that it aimed at the magnification of Je- his servant to wa:tch  the heavens for the Lord's answer,
hovah's name before the king and all the people.            but there is nothing. Six times he prays and sends his
   And what else is prayer?                                 servant, and still there is no sign of rain. But when
   What else can be its purpose than that the name he returns the seventh time, the servant reports a cloud
of the Most `High, Who is our Father for Christ's sake,     as a man's hand. And soon the heavens are black with
may be sanctified and receive all the glory?                clouds, and the rain descends in torrents.
   0, if rain and prosperity had been the object in                 In the way of His covenant Jehovah sends rain !
view of the prophet when he went to the top of the                  Blessing them indeed that fear His name!
mountain, and assumed an attitude of fervent prayer,                And in answer to the prayer of the righteous that
it might have been judged a vain show. For was it not availeth much !
already certain that the Lord would send rain, even                 Beautiful prayer !
before the  ,prophet  went up to pray? Had not the
word of the Lord come t.o the prophet, when he was                  Marvelous sign !
still with the widow of Zarephath: "Go, shew thyself        '       In torrents of rain the prophet runs before the
unto Ahab ; and I will send rain upon the earth"? And       chariot of the king!
had not even now the prophet assured the king of                    Through his servant the prophet had sent the mes-
Israel that already there was a sound of abundance of sage to Ahab urging him to prepare his chariot and to
rain? Why, then, should the prophet ascend to the hasten away to  Jezreel.'
top of the mountain to beseech the Lord for that                    Then the hand of the Lord is strong upon His ser-
which had been surely promised, and which was even vant, so that he is able to overtake the speeding horses
now approaching?                                            of the king's chariot, and run before them all the way
   But the name of Jehovah must be acknowledged by to the gates of Jezreel, a distance of more than four-
His  sgrvant.                                               teen miles !
   Even now, it must become manifest that Elijah is                 Nor is this a vain show.
only a servant, and that it is Jehovah, before Whom he              For as it is in the strength of Jehovah that the
stands, that not only sent the drought, but Who also        prophet runs before the chariot of the king, it is the
opens the windows of heaven to send rain upon the           Lord Who here creates a sign, and through the sign
earth.                                                      delivers a last Word to the wicked sovereign.
   Hence, before the eyes of the king and of all the                Positively, it is a demonstration of the proper re-
people, the prophet humbles himself and prays for the       lation between the king of Israel and the prophet of
promised blessing.                                          Jehovah, between the throne and the law, between the
   Fervent and righteous is this prayer of. the pro-        scepter and the Word of Israel's God. That prophet
phet. Fervent it is, as is indicated by the very posture    must take the lead, and the king must follow; that law
of the servant of Jehovah, as he sits on the ground         he must heed, and according to it' he -must rule ; that
with his face between his knees, not because he feels            Word of the Lord he must hear, and in its way he
tha,t he must persuade the Lord by much speaking and, must walk. And in this light there was still much to
urgent pleading to grant him his petition, but because      do for the king. The revelation of  Carmel must be
he is wholly motivated by the zeal of Jehovah's name        followed up, the service of Baa1 must be rooted out,
and cause, and is wholly absorbed, with all his heart       Jezebel must be killed. . . .
and mind and soul, in the presence of the Most High.                But woe unto the king, if he fails and returns to his
And righteous is his prayer, for, although it is, no        ,wicked way !
doubt, a plea that the Lord may send abundance of                   For even as that prophet, so the Word of Jehovah
rain upon the parched earth, it is not the rain, but the    runs very swiftly !
manifestation of the power and glory of the Lord that               Never will he escape its terrible judgment!
is the purpose of the prayer. And although we know                  Mighty Word !                             H, H,


     410                              ,   `3T8HE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

     wil centralisatie,  doch niet de  centralisati'e van den                                                            -
     zondigen  mensch, die buiten en tegenover God wil
     staan, en zelf de wereld wil redden, om haar te stellen         The Triple Knowledge
     in den dienst der zonde en des over&en  van de macht                                                                -
     bder duisternis. Ook Hij wil centralisatie, en dat we1
     de centralisatie  aller  dingen,  in  hemel en op aarde,
     maar dan zoo, dat alle dingen in Christus, Die de open-      An Exposition Of The Heidelberg
     baring en de Vertegenwoordiger is van den  onzien-                              Catechism
     lijken God, zullen zijn vereenigd, en door Hem zullen
     liggen  aan Gods Verbonds-harte! Want alle  dingen                                PART TWO
     zijn de onze, en wij zijn van Christus, en Christus  is                     OF MAN'S REDEMPTION
     Godes, opdat Hij zij alles en in  allen!                                        LORD'S DAY VII
            Doch eer die volkomen, door Christus  in God, ge-                           Chapter II
     centraliseerde wereld, het Koninkrijk van den Zoon
     van Gods liefde, in de nieuwe schepping in vollen glans                 The Nature Of Faith (cont.)
     en hemelsche heerlijkheid geopenbaard zal kunnen               Saving faith, however, is also hearty confidence.
     worden,  meet de zondige Mensch, moet heel de zondige       The Catechism teaches us that true faith is not only
     wereld onder den vorst der duisternis in haar poging a certain knowledge, "but also an assured confidence,
     om zonder en tegenover God eene wereld van vrede            which the Holy Ghost works by the gospel in my
     en geluk te scheppen, in de hopeloosheid en dwaasheid heart ; that not only to others, but to me also remission
     van zulk pogen geopenbaard worden.  De zonde moet of sin, everlasting righteousness and salvation, are
     openbaar worden  zonde te zijn. Ten einde toe!              freely given by God, merely of grace, only for the
         En daartoe behoort ook, dat heel de wereld steeds sake of Christ's merits."             After the emphasis we
     meer door een geweldigen drang wordt bewogen om placed upon the knowledge of faith as a spiritual ap-
     een wereld-centrum  te zoeken, en zich te vereenigen.       prehension of the God of our salvation in Christ, and
         God Zelf is daarvan de onzichtbare Stuwkracht.          of all the spiritual blessings in Him, it would seem
         E,n  ,straks, wij  weten het immers uit Zijn Woord.     that there is but little room left for this confidence
     zal het die wereEd ook voor een korten tij,d gelukken, as a distinct element of true, saving faith. And, in-
     schijnbaar  althans, om het  ideaal van een groote          deed, the two elements of faith, knowledge and confi-
     ,wereldmacht,  van welvaart en vrede, te realizeeren.       dence, although they may be distinguished from each
         Dan is het de tijd van den Antichrist.                  other, can never be seperated as if they were two
         De eindelijke wereld-orde !                             distinct spiritual dispositions, and two seperate act;
,        Doch  God zal die wereld ook dat eind-ideaal  voor of the saved sad. They are two aspe-ts  of one and the
     een korten tijd doen  bereiken, alleen opdat de godde-      same spirituai power, but faith is one, and the  a:-
     loosheid der zonde, en de dwaasheid en hopeloosheid         tivity of saving faith is one. The reason for this is
     der ongerechtigheid volkomen geopenbaard mag  kun-          that the human soul, as the seat of life, is one, and the
     nen worden.                                                 human personality is indivisible. One may distin-
         Want Babylon zal zeker  verwoest   worden.  De guish various so-called faculties in the human soul, but
     wereld-zonder-God kan niet bestaan, verwoest altijd these may never be presented as if they were  seperalc
     weer zichzelf. En God moet gerechtvaardigd worden           powers or functions. Man is an intellectual-volitional
     in Zijn oordeel!                                            being. He has a mind and a will. And from interac-
        Met het oog op' dit  alles mogen we spreken van het      tion of these two arise the emotions. But  a!&ough
     *teeken  van centralisatie.                                 we may distinguish in the soul of man the faculty oC
        En met het oog op dat teeken,  maar dan als Gods         the intellect, and the faculty of volition, these two do
     teeken,  hebben  `we goeden  moed.                          not exist, nor ever act, apart from each other. There
        Want wij zoeken niet deze wereld, die voorbij  gaat.     is never a mere or pure thought, a seperate function-
     Maar wij verwachten nieuwe hemelen en eene nieuwe ing of the intellect : all man's thinking is volitional and
     aarde, waarin  gerechtigh'eid  woo&.                        emotional thinking. Nor could there possibly be  a
        De poor  eeuwig gecentralizeerde wereld !                pure act of volition, apart from the intellect : all man's
                                                      H. H.      willing is rational, intellectual willing. Man is one,
                                                                 and as one being, he lives a physical and psychical,
                                                                 an intellectual and volitional life. And all his actions
                                                                 involve all his powers and faculties, cooperating and
               In heav'n, and earth, and air, and seas,          interacting most intimately.
               He executes his firm decrees ;                      This may explain the reason why, when we speak
               And by his saints it stands confessed,            of the elements of true faith, we can never spesk of
               That what he does is eve,r  best. .               the one without, in part, also entering into a discus-l


                                   T,HeE    S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                        411

sion of the other.    Faith is one.    It is a spiritual And he has abundance of reasons to be filled with ter-
habitus,   disposition, function power and act of the ror at the thought of God. Everything warns him
entire soul of man, of his whole personality. Hence, that he should beware of the living God. For "the
there is never "pure" knowledge of faith without con- wrath of God is revealed from heaven," and in that
fidence; nor is there ever mere confidence without consuming wrath he pines and dies. And his own
true knowledge. Knowledge without confidence would conscience, i. e. the handwriting of God in his own
be blind, would have no object in whi,ch  to trust, and     moral consciousness, witnesses against him, and ac-
would, therefore, be impossible. And so, when one cuses him before the Judge of heaven and earth. God
defines the true spiritual knowledge of saving faith,       intends to kill him ! `God will for ever consume him
he cannot avoid to speak of confidence at the same in His fierce anger ! Such is the testimony that reach-
time. Nevertheless, the two may be distinguished. es the sinner from every side, from without and from
The knowledge of faith is strictly a spiritual disposi- within. And, therefore, he is afraid of God, dread-
tion and act of the intellect, confidence belongs to the    fully afraid! He tries to hide himself, to cover his
domain of the will. Knowledge presents to the be- own nakedness before the face of God. He would flee
lieving soul the obj,ect of confidence, the God of our far away from Him. But God assures that sinner of
salvation in Christ as revealed in the Scriptures; con- His eternal good will toward him. He reveals Him-
fidence clings to that ,Object,  and by the act of confi- self to that sinner in the face of Jesus Christ, His
dence the soul surrenders itself to, and wholly relies      only begotten Son. In the cross and resurrection of
on Christ revealed. Confidence is the immediate re- the Christ, and in His exaltation at the right hand of
sult of the true knowledge of saving faith.                 God, He reveals His exceeding great'power to save to
  It is not true, as the answer of the Catechism would the uttermost, and His eternal good will and covenant
seem `to suggest, that only the confidence of faith is      friendship and love to the elect sinner. And He
.wrought  in our hearts by the Holy Ghost and through speaks of His boundless grace and mighty power unto
the gospel: this holds for the knowledge of faith as        salvation in the gospel. But this is not sufficient. A
well. One dare not say that only the confidence of          "general offer" is of no avail to fill the sinner with
faith is persona&  so that through its activity I come ?onfidence  in that God of Whom he  is. dreadfully
,for the first time into a personal possession of the       afraid,. It is not sufficient for him to know that God
blessings of salvation: even by the knowledge of true       loves sinners: he must know "that not only to others,
faith I apprehend the God of my salvation in Christ but also to him" personally, God is gracious and filled
as  my God. The knowledge of faith as  w,ell as its .with  eternal good will. And this "assured confidence"
confidence is assurance that my sins are forgiven me.       God works through the Holy Ghost by the gospel in
But confidence is an act of friendship whereby I draw the sinner's heart. It is the confidence of faith, and
unto Him without fear, make known to Him the by it the sinner wholly casts himself upon the eternal
secrets of my heart, flee to `Him for refuge in all my mercies of the living God in Christ, expecting from
*miseries, cast myself upon `Him laying hold upon His       Him every good thing.
,promises,  assured of His good will toward me, and of        The Catechism expresses the matter very correctly
IIis power to save me to the uttermost. The know- and beautifully, therefore, when it teaches us that
ledge of God's favorable attitude to me personally is this confidence of faith implies the assurance "that
the indispensable ground of confidence. I  must be not only to others, but to me also, remission of sin,
*assured  of someone's good will in regard to me be- everlasting righteousness and salvation, are freely
fore I can have confidence in him. A simple but good given by God, merely of grace, only for the sake of
illustration of confidence is the squirrel that approach- Christ's merits." Indeed, the sinner must know that
es me to be fed out of my hand in my backyard. At           his sins are blotted out, removed for ever, forgiven
first it dared not come near me. As I would hold out him freely, and that he is clothed with an everlasting
my hand and show it the nut I intended to let it feast `righteousness, if he is to approach God with boldness
on, it would sit up straight, and `in various ways re- ,and confidence. It is God's righteousness and his own
veal its eagerness for the delicious morsel I offered sin that fill him with terror and that are an impas-
it, but it would remain at a  (safe distance. It was not Isable ,barrier between God and himself. If he may be
assured of my good will. It feared that the delicacy        -assured that there is forgiveness with God, that God
in my hand might be a trap. I had to devise means           justifies the ungodly, that the Judge of heaven and
to assure it of my real and honest intention to feed rearth  loves him as a redeemed and justified sinner,
it, by throwing out bits of nut-meat, first at a safe then, and then only, can he have boldness to enter into
distance, gradually a little closer in, till finally I had `the sanctuary. The confidence of faith is assured of
gained its full confidence, and it would approach me this. It is peace with God through our Lord Jesus
without fear to take the nut out of my hand.                IChrist.  Even in the midst of this world, and while
   Thus it is with the confidence of faith. The sin-        the sinner is still in t&e flesh and lies in the midst of
ner is afraid of God. `He looks upon God as bis enemy. bdeath,  the believing sinner has this peace and flees to


412                                 TaHE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

the God of his salvation for refuge. While all his  ex-     faith, therefore, is rooted in experience, and is of
*perience in this world bears the testimony to him that     practical importance for our life as believers in the
he is a damnable sinner, by the strong confidence of        world.
faith he clings to the God of his salvation, assured            Faith is, first of all, a gift, a power, a spiritual
that he is righteous. In the midst of death he lays         habitus,  a new disposition or aptitude to apprehend
hold upon life in Christ, and with fear of hell all about and appropriate Christ and all His benefits, the things
him he clings to the mighty God of his salvation, and       which "eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have
looks forward to eternal ,zalvation  in heavenly glory.     entered into the heart of man, the things which God
God is able to save. It is God's eternal purpose to hath prepared for them that love. him." I Cor.  2:9.
save. And God knows how to save. Upon that God              It is not another natural faculty of the soul, in addi-
of perfect salvation the confidence of faith relies         tion to those of intellect and will. It is rather a new
for time and eternity !                                     disposition of the entire soul, a spiritual aptitude which
                                                            `makes the whole soul of man, with mind and will and
                                                            all the inclinations of the heart, peculiarly fit to appre-
                                                            hend spiritual things. It is the  ,fitness to believe in
       The question is often asked, in what sense, from     distinction from the' act of believing itself. Analogies
what viewpoint the Christian defines true faith in of this distinction may be found in natural life. When
its twenty first answer. Is our instructor speaking a child is born it has all the faculties and powers and
of the power of faith or of its activity? Does he have gifts it will ever have, even though they do not as yet
in mind the being or the well-being of saving faith? actively function. The infant in  th.s cradle has the
Y*et,  it appears  ra&er  plain that the Hiedelberger,      faculty to think, to will, to perceive, to  ::nderstand  the
at least in answer twenty one, is not thinking of this      world about him, to walk and to act in general, even
distinction, and is simply speaking of the activity  of though at that time it does not actually think and will,
a conscious faith. This should be evident from the perceive and understand, speak and walk. `If later in
Ifact that it ascribes the work of faith to the Holy life the child develops into a great mathematician or
(Ghost  through  the gospel.    And it is not the power skill,ful musician, this mathematical bent of mind or
or  habitus,   but the activity of saving faith that is     artistic tendency was not added to the child? talents
wrought in our hearts by the gospel. If the Catechism .fter it was .bc~n, but they were all given with birth.
may at all be said to speak of faith as a power, it must The same may be said of saving faith. As a spiritual
be found in the twentieth answer where it speaks of         aptitude, it is given with our spiritual birth, i.e. in
those "who are ingrafted into him by a true faith."         regeneration,  while it develops into the conscious activ-
But in the answer to question twenty one it has in          ity of beljeving  only through contact with the gospel
mind the activity of a conscious faith.                     applied to  t&c hea& by the Spirit of Christ.
   However, the distinction may he made between the            Now, it is about this habitus or spiritual aptitude
gift or power of faith as such and its  activity. Nor of faith that we must make  a few remarks. First of
is the distinction merely one of scholastic interest. all, it may be said of this power or disposition of faith,
On the contrary, it has its prae:ical importance and        as well as of active  and  conscious faith, that it is
value. The  co,nscious  activity of saving faith is not both knowledge and confidence. Only, as a power
always equally strong and clear; in fact, i,t is not al-    it is the capabdity to know, and capability to confide
ways present in the life of the believer in this world.     in the God of our salvation in Christ. Without this
It may seem lost sometimes. And in the case of very spiritual aptitude it is impossible for a man to be-
small infants, who can have no contact with the gospel      lieve in Christ. If a child is born blind he cannot be
as yet, this activity of saving faith is not consciously taught to see ; if he is born dumb, he will never speak ;
present at all. But the gift and power of faith is al-      if he is born deaf, the activity of hearing will never
`ways  the same and can never be lost. It is present        develop. The same is true spiritually. By nature the
when, in the humdrum of our daily life, we are not sinner is born blind and deaf and dumb with regard
conscious of spiritual things whatever, and seem to         to spiritual things. As such no one can possibly teach
be wholly occupied with the things that are seen ; or him to see and hear and confess the God of his salva-
when; tempted by the allurements of the world and           tion in Christ. Even though you would instruct him
the evil inclinations of our own flesh, our soul appears    in the knowledge of Christ from infancy, and preach
to lose its hold upon Christ, and we are enveloped in       the gospel to him all his life, there would never be
spiritual darkness. And it is certainly pr,esent in those any other response than that of contempt and rejen-
elect infants whom God regenerates from their mothers tion. For "the natural man receiveth not the things
womb, and who know nothing of Christ and the                of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness to him:
XGospel, but who are saved by faith nevertheless. These neither can he know them, because they are spiritual-
too are ingrafted into Christ by a true faith. The di!s- ly discerned."  I Cor. 2  :14. But when the power of
tinction <between the power and the activity of saving      faith is implanted in the heart, the sinner thereby  re-


                                    T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                              413

ceives the necessary aptitude to discern spiritual very weak at times, may seem to have died out and
things: it is a .power of spiritual knowledge and con-        disappeared, so that we seem to have no hold on
f'id ence.                                                    Chris%  and the precious promises of Christ, and the
    Secondly, we may observe that this aptitude of soul is enveloped in darkness. But the power of faith
saving faith may be and is implanted in the heart by can never be lost. Once a believer is always a be-
the Holy Spirit regardless of age. It is wrought in           liever. But that this is true is not due to any inherent
the heart immediately by the Spirit of Christ, with- virtue in the aptitude of faith, but only to the abiding
out the preaching of the gospel. Hence, the power of indlwelling  and continued operation of the Holy Spirit
faith may be in the heart of the smallest infant as           in the innermost recesses of our hearts. Without that
well as in the adult. And what is more, we may, no Spirit, dwelling within us, saving faith could not exist
doubt, assume that in the sphere of the historical" and maintain itself even for a moment. But the Spirit
realization of God's covenant God usually gives this          never leaves us. The bond with Christ is never brok-
power of  if'aith to the elect of the covenant in their en, because it is constantly preserved by His Spirit.
infsncy.  For, not only does He continue His eternal And so, the ultimate ground of the statement that the
covenant in the line of the generation of believers,          power of faith is never lost, is the fact that faith is
but it is also His will that one generation of His people most absolutely a gift of God, which He bestows on
shall instruct the next in the things of the kingdom of the elect only. And "the gifts and calling of God are
heaven, and declare unto them the marvellous works            without repentance."  Born.   1129. He that glorieth,
of God. He places His people in the very sphere of let him glory in the Lord!
the Church, where the Spirit of Christ operates, and                                                        H. I-I.
the  gospel  is preached, from their infancy, in order
that from earliest childhood they may become ac-
quainted with the Word of God concerning their sal-
,vation. But why should the  allwise God place His
elect within the sphere `of His covenant and of the
preaching of the Word, as deaf and blind and dumb?
He certainly would never do anything so incongruous.               Moses `As `Mediator, A Type
Although, then, we cannot establish a general rule in
this matter, it is safe to'say that  u..su~@y  God bestows                        Qf `Chrkt                      f
the gift of the power of faith on His elect covenant
children in their infancy. And it is in this confidence          The mediatorship was an office in the church insti-
tnat the Church instructs the covenant seed, and              tuted by God. Ut was an office to which belonged the
preaches the gospel of Christ unto them as early as           following duties : reconciling the people of Israel to
Ipossible,  that they may gradually become active be- God through a sacrifice by blood; praying for this
lievers, and appropriate Christ and all His benefits          people on the grounds of the merits of this sacri-
consciously.                                                  fice ; blessing this people in God's name and thus
     Thirdly, we wish to remark that the activity of bringing the virtue of the sacrifice in living connec-
saving faith, as well as its ha.bitus   or power, is the      tion with them; speaking to this people God's word
fruit of the work of the Holy Ghost. It is true that          and  ,bringing  them under its yoke. He who served
the power of faith becomes active belief only through this office was thus mediator of God and man. All
the gospel. Without that gospel, faith has no Christ ,the aforesaid duties formed his mediation. By virtue
to apprehend or cling to, and can, for that reason,           of his office, he occupied an intermediate position  .be-
never become active belief. But we must not make              tween God and man, the  ch,osen  people, and as the
t,he mistake of presenting the matter of saving faith occupant of this position he formed the ,transit from
as if its  habitus  or power were implanted, wrought          God to man and from man to God.
in the heart by the Holy Spirit, while.its  activity is          We must guide against conceiving of the mediator
caused by the gospel without the operation of the `of God's covenant after the image of mediators such
Holy Spirit. This is not true. Both, the power and            as we find among men. There is no real agreement
the activity of faith, are wrought through the Spirit         whatever. The mediator among men deals with par-
of Christ only. It is the Spirit that applies the preach- ties mutually hostile.       The mediator comes between
ing of the gospel to the heart of the sinner in whom the to reconcile the contenders to each other., i. e. to pre-
aptitude of faith was wrought, and it is, therefore,          vail upon them to come together for the settlement
the Spirit of the Lord that calls and awakens the pow- of their disagreements and to forgive and forget.
er of faith into the conscious activity of belief.            The mediator of God's covenant deals with a  people-
     Finally, it may be said that this spiritual power or     God's chosen people-by nature dead in sin and hate-
aptitude of faith can never be lost. As we have re-           ful of God; but with a God who was so far from hat-
marked above, the activity of saving faith may be ing  this people that. in His fathomless love He  ,gave


                       _
414                                     T,H;E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R             c-` `.

His only begotten Son-the true mediator of God and atonement He brings His people out of the house of a
of man--to stand in the breach and reconcile, through cruel bondage. So, too, Moses; he was God's deliverer.
His atonement, this people to God. Thus the media- Through the Passover that he instituted, he redeemed
tar, as God's gift, was the highest demonstration of the people of Israel from their sins and brought them
the great love He bore His ill-deserving people..             out of Egypt.
       In the light of the above observation it is plain         *Christ, as Moses, was a prophet mighty in word
that the ideal mediatorship was formed of the three and deed.
fold office of prophet, priest, and king; and that all           Moses reigned in Egypt in the midst of His  en-
the prophets in Israel and all the priests and all the emies.         Christ reigns in the midst of His enemies
theocratic kings were mediators of God and of man  an,d makes them His footstool.
be it that none performed all the duties that belonged           As Moses revealed God's wrath over Pharaoh's
to this office.       Neither the prophet nor the king sins, over his arrogance and wicked pride, and thereby
served the altar. If the view be taken that in the saved his people, so does  C.hrist  bring down from
Old  Testamerrt  Dispensation mediatorship consisted Heaven the wrath of God in judgment over all  un-
solely in bringing the  sacrificies  by blood and not also righteousness of men that His kingdom may come and
in the related actions of praying for the people, bless- His people be saved.
ing them and speaking to them God's word, Moses,                 With Christ God spake mouth to mouth. So, too,
who brought not such  sacri,ficies, was not a media- spake He with Moses.
tor. But he was mediator. As such he was even the                Christ stood in the breach and appeased the anger
greatest of them all. None ranked with him.                   of God against sin through the  giving.of His own life.
       He excelled as prophet. Since his passing there There was present with Moses a readiness to be ac-
arose in Israel not a proph,et like him (Deut. 34 :10).       cursed from God for his people.
Wherein, then, did he differ? Firstly, "in all the signs         Through His intercession in heaven Christ turns
and the wonders, which the Lord sent him to do in the away God's wrath, lest He destroy His people. Over
land of Egypt, and in all the great terrors which he and over did the people of (Israel corrupt their way
shewed  in the sight of all Israel,"      (Deut. 34:11,12)    before God through sins that could not be atoned by
in a word, in all the great power that he shewed and animal sacrifices. Then Moses would pray for them ;
experienced. He reigned in Egypt. , Through his liv- and his prayer always availed. It is especially on a::-
ing faith he brought  P.haraoh  and all the Egyptian count of these prayers that his mediation reflects so
host at his feet.           ,                                 much of the glory of the mediation of Christ.       '
         As prophet, he differed, further, in this that to       Yet, for all this, Moses as mediator was but a
him the Lord spake mouth to mouth, even clearly and shadow; for he was only a sinful man. Thus, he fell
not in visions, dreams and dark speeches as He did short of what a true mediator had to be. Of the
to the others (Nu. 12 i6, 7). What is more, to Moses, signs and wonders that the Lord sent him to do in the
in distinction from others, it was given to behold the land of Egypt, he was not the author.              They were
Lord's likeness (Nu. 12  :7) by which is to be  under-        wrought by the wonder-working power of God in re-
stood a superior revelation of God's virtues. Before sponse to his faith. He could do all things but only
him the Lord made all His goodness pass and declared through  Jehovah   with whom he reigned because he
,to him His name.                                             believed. Thus, his victory over the world as repre-
       Thirdly, in Moses' hand, in distinction from the  sented by Pharaoh was solely his faith. And his
hand of all the others, the law was ordained (Gal 3:          faith was God's gift.
19). It was he who received the law directly from                The salvation which he wrought out was but a
God that he might give it to the people. In this legis- &adow.
lation he was the middle person between God and the              His passover  and all the sacrifices which he insti-
church of all ages.                                           tuted  were but shadows.
       Finally, since his passing there arose in Israel          He gave to the people the law. But, he was only a
not a priest like him. When the people made them ser-vant  in God's house, for a te&im.on~  of those things
gods of gold and thereby committed a sin for which which were to be spoken after (Heb.  3:s). Hence,
the animal sacrifices did not avail, he would have            when as a result of the entering of the law, sin
God blot him out of the book that He had written, abounded, he stood `helpless. All that he could do is
would thus give his own life, that they might have complain to God. At times the rioting of sin in the
life.                                                         people that God had placed in his charge so sorely
       But however Moses excelled, he was but a shadow, `vexed him, that he wished he were dead, as on the
a type of Christ, but then, certainly, a most excellent occasion of their lusting for flesh  (Nu.11).  "Where-
type. His mediation bears so plainly the impress of fore hast thou afflicted thy servant?" He was say-
the features of the mediation of Christ.                      ing this to the Lord, "And wherefore have I not found
       Christ is God's deliverer. On, the grounds of His      favor  in  thy sight, that  thou  Iayest this burden of


                                            S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                       415

all the people upon me? Have I conceived of all this not having received the promises, but having seen
people? . . . . And if thou deal thus with me, kill them afar off, and was persuaded of them, and em-.
me, I pray thee, out of hand, if I have found favor in braced them and confessed that he was a stranger and
thy sight . .  ."                                           ,pilgrim on the earth, and thereby declared that he
   Of all men he was the meekest,-of all men, mark sought a better country, that is, a heavenly. Where-
you. There were limits to his meekness. For he was          fore God was not ashamed to be called  his God: for
but a mere man, and a sinful man. He was short of `He hath prepared for him a city.
that patience-that inexhaustible patience--that en-             "So Moses the servant of the Lord died there
abled the true Mediator to bear with His people in all "in the  Iand of Moab, according to the word of the
their sin and weaknesses to the end. In Kadesh,             Lord. And he buried him in a valley in the land of
where they came, there was no  water for them. And          Moab. . . . ; but no man  know&h  of his sepulchre
after water they and their little ones now panted. For unto this day. And Moses was a hundred and twenty
they had marched for long hours. They  chode with years old when he died; his eye was not dim, nor his
Moses. Their speech was exceptionally hard; for they natural force abated."  i
`were in an evil mood. Moses' wrath burned. "Hear               Moses was but a shadow. The true Mediator is
now, ye rebels ; must ,we fe,tch  you water out of this     Christ. With respect to Moses He stands in the rela-
rock?" he said to them, as he stood there, smiting in tion of  antitype  ; and this because, besides being very
his heat the rock to which he should have spoken. He man, He is also very God. Being very God, He is the
felt as though he could no longer endure their mur-         true lawgiver. He is the author of the law and the
murings. The insufferable rabb1.e  ! Let them perish, end of it. And He writes the  1awzHis law-on the
go to perdition, one and all. <Such  were his reactions tables of men's hearts and thus sets up His kingdom
to their  complainings  on that occasion. There were within them. When Christ said to the Father, "sac-
limits to his patience indeed. He was not the Christ.       rifice and offering thou didst not desire ; . . . Lo, I
   He `was but a shadow. Attend to his praying for come," the Father did not counter with, "Whosoever
them. His prayers prevailed. They were heard. The hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my
anger of the Lord was turned but not on account of book," but He approved. And He came, did Christ;
the virtue of any sacrifice that he could bring. His and He presented His own body a living sacrifice to
proposal that he be blotted out of God's book for the God on the cross. Through His obedience, He con-
sake of his sheep was rejected on the ground that, quered all our foes ; He conQuered  sin and death and
whereas he was innocent of their sin, his dying for hell ; He conquered the world-man's world, the world
them would collide with  th,e justice of God. Whosoever *that lieth in darkness, whose name is blasphemy and
hath sinned against God, him will He blot out of His        whose prince is  satan; the world that made war with
book (Ex.  32:33). Such was the reply by which the the Lamb and that kills the saints and prophets; the
Lord countered his proposal; for he was but a mere world where stalks the curse of God. He trusted in
man.                                                        God.; and God delivered Him.
   He finally went the way of all flesh on the very             In distinction from Moses He could also with full
borders of Canaan. He might not bring his people propriety identify  lif&--the  heavenly life, which He
into  <the land, because he had not believed God, to merited for His own humanity and for His people-
sanctify Him in the eyes of the children of Israel,- with His own person, which He did when He said,
he, of all men the meekest, a great saint. So, when         "I am (the resurrection and) the life." Of this life
the Lord told him that the time of his passing was at       He too, is creator as well as meritor.    What is more,
hand, he preached  ,to them his farewell sermon, in it dwells in His humanity, so that of His life we all
which, with all the fervor of his great soul, he, for receive. Thus, He is the *true vine, i. e., the channel
the last time now, admonished them to love and fear of life between God,  ,the creator and fountain and His
the Lord and to walk in the way of His command- people the recipients of it, so that to be implanted in
ments. His discourse merges into blessings for the          Him by a living faith is to have life. Without Him we
tribes. He sings of the excellencies of Israel. He has can do nothing. He is the way and the truth because
said and is silent. His earthly career is ended. So He is the li,fe. No one has access to God except through
he goes up from the plain of Moab unto the mountain Him. And in His face we see God. It is to this itruth
of Nebo. The Lord is there, too. And He shows him to which He gave expression, when He said, "And the
.a11 the land. "This is the land," said the Lord to glory which thou gave&  me I have given them ; that
him, which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac and un- they may be one even as we are one: I in them, and
to Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed: 11 have     thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one;
caused thee to se.e it with thine eyes, <but thou shalt and that the world may know that thou hast sent me,
not go over thither." No, not thither, to Ithat place,      and hast loved them as thou hast loved me"  (,John
the earthy C,anaan ; but thither, to that heavenly coun-    17 :22, 23). So He prayes now. So He prays ever-
try shall Moses go over. For he, too, died in faith,        lastingly.    He prays that through that Spirit the


  416                                   T*HE  S T A N D ARU  B E A R E R

Father-the triune Jehovah-be in  Him as the foun- demnable, they stand before Him guiltless and  righ't-
  tain  and creator of life-true life-and that of His,           eous and thus participating in Christ's glory. In
  Christ's life we all receive now and forever. This is          paradise, man lived as walking in the way of his own
  His mediation as the glorified priest in the sanctuary obedience.             His righteousness before God was not
  above. Also herein, He, in dis?inction  from Moses, is .the imputed works of a mediator but his own  good.
  the true mediator of God and of man.                           works. The life that was his was communicated to
     So does He pray for His people, the house of God            him not indirectly though a channel of life, as is now
  -the house in which Moses, however faithful in it the case with the redeemed of God, but directly. There
 was but a servant but of which Christ is the builder was no Christ mediating for him through  in,tercess-
  ((Heb. 3 23).    And as high priest He bears with His          ory prayer.
 people in all their infirmirties; Eor in all points  H.e was        W'hy did not this state of things continue? This
 tempted like as we are, yet wfthout sin. And the love question can be variously stated. Why did God make
 that He bears His own endureth; it endureth forever.            room for Christ the Mediator through sovereignly will-
     There is one more difference between Moses and ing sin and through so arranging His providence that
 Christ thait we must notice. Moses reigned in Egypt.            sin actually entered? The answer to  athis question
 The Lord made him a God to Pharaoh (Ex.  `7:l).                 we discover in the following scriptures.
  Christ reigns in heaven and on the whole earth. He                 "Beloved. . . .it does not yet appear what we  shaI1
  is Lord of all lords and king of all the kings that are        be: but we know that when he shall appear, we shall
 seated on +he thrones of man's kingdoms. As Moses,              be like him; for we shall see him as he is" (1 John
 He too, does all things through God, because He be-             85).
 lieves. Buit more must be said of Him. Unlike, Moses,
 Christ is the author of His own power and might, He                "The first man is of the earth, earthy ; the second
 being very God. Thus, He reigns also by His own man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such
 might, by a  migh.t that originates with Him. It will           are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly,
 not do to say of Him that, as compared  wi:th  His such are they also that are heavenly. And as we ha;e
 enemies, among whom He must reign until they all be borne the image of ;the earthy, we shall also bear the
 made His footstool, He is the stronger. There is no             image of the heavenly" (1 Cor. 15:47-49).
 comparison here whatever.        For our true  media,tor           "And having made peace through the blood of the
 is almighty, with emphasis on the all. The might of             cross, by him t3 reconcile all things unto himself, by
 His adversaries is  Nis might. In Him, too, do they him, I szy, whether  they be things in earth or thitigs
 live and move and have their being. In all their wick- in  heaven" (Col.  120).
  ed rioting, they are actually in His hand. He does                 It  @ke  Christ, the Lord from  H,eaven,  to show
 wi.th them according to His good  pleasxe.         A'nd all     us God as He is, Not the fire.t man but Christ only
 creatures are so in His hand, that without His will bears, can be&r,  the image of the heavenly, as He is
 they cannot so much as move. Hence, we  ,trust  in              the Lord from  Heaven.         Hence, it is only through
 Him also as in God.                                             Qhrist  that the chosen  of God come, can possibly
     That we must  have Christ before us also in His             come, into the possession of the heavenly glory. And
 essential divinity in the contemplation of Him as it is only by this same Lord-the Lord from heaven
 M,edia!tor  is plain from scriptures such as this, "And         -that things in earth and things in heaven can be
 unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and            reconciled unto God. This must be the  impliaation
 the government shall be upon his shoulder: and His              of these scriptures. If not,  ,the terrible cross of  Chris,t
 name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The                 wx utterly superfluous. And this certainly, car_xt bz.
 mighty God, The everlasting Father, The prince of iIt is certainly a serious blunder to maintain Chat if
 peace"  (Isa.  8:6).                                            the first man would have remained standing, God
     The mediation of Christ commenced with the en- would have crowned his obedience with the glory that
 trance of sin and not before. Christ was not mediat- is now the portion of His people through  Chris.t.
 ing for Adam before the  la'tter's  fall. It was not                                                          G. M. 0.
 necessary that He should, the reasons being that
 Adam was an earthy man and that, being created in
 ,the image of God, he was without sin and guilt. Thus,
 he had no need of the Chri&, of the Mediator, to stand
 in the  .breach  and reconcile him to God through a
 ,cr-cas; no need of the satisfaction and righteousness
 that God prepared for His people  *through   Christ-                      Jesus, my Lord, I look to Thee ;
 a righteousness  rtpart  from the  law-4he imputed                        Where else can helpless sinners go?
 righteousness .of Christ with which God clothes His                       Thy boundless love shall set me free
 own, so that, though in themselves  guil'ty  and  con-                    From all my wretchedness and woe.


                                     T,HE  STANDA R D   B E A R E R                                             417

                                                             gfavor in having written this brief account.
      Anselm's "Cur Dew Homo"                                   Two matters the author sets forward in bold re-
  And The Heidelberg catechism                               lief in the part we quoted. 1. That the end in view,
                                                             the purpose is twofold. Negatively to stop the mouth
                                                             of unbelieving infidels, who mock the Truth because
   A brief explanation of the subject may be of bene- it is not  yeasonable.   And positively to demonstrate.
fit to the reader for the correct understanding of the       that the Incarnate Word is the only possible way for
issue involved.                                              man to .be redeemed. 2. The method to be employed.
    `Ykr Deus Homo" is the title of a theological is. a. Leaving Christ out of view as though nothing
treatise from the pen of (St.) Anselm of Canterbury.         were known or revealed concerning Him. b. There-,
He is considered one of the most emminent of the Eng- fore employ "absolute reasons."
lish  prelatesj and the father of medieval scholasticism.       Now, what has this to do with the Heidelberg
He was born in Italy in the year  1033 and he died           Catechism,  What is the comparison or relationship
-April 21, 1109 at Canterbury, England. He thus at- involved in the superscri,ption  of this essay?
tained the age of 76 years.                                     Permit us just a word abou,t the Heidelberg Cate-
    The above-mentioned work of Anselm was begun chism as such. The Heidelberg Catechism is an at-
by him in England. He writes in the "preface" on tempt at systematizing the revealed Truth of God.
this work that this work was begun "in great tribu-          Its purpose is not  polemica  in the first instance,
lation of heart, the origin and reason of which are          neither is it to be considered to lie in the field of
known to God." It was completed at Schiavi, a moun- theologi,cal   apologe%ics, but it is a practical Manual
tain village in Apulia, where he enjoyed a few months        (hand-book) to teach the children of the Covenant
rest in 1098.                                                in the faith of the fathers. It embodies the truth of
    In the already mentioned "preface" the author Holy  Writ from the viewpoint of the "Only comfort
gives a brief synopsis on the scope and intent of his        in life and death." The answers to the questions are.
treatise.    ,4s the title expresses, it is an attempt to taken from Scripture directly or indirectly by logical.
show why God became man to bring man to bliss anA            inference.
salvation. After pointing out that the work consists            However, there are a few questions and answers
of two par,& Anselm has the following to say: "The which ,might  seem to be an exception to this method.
first contains the objections of infidels, who despise       We refer to the questions 12-18 of this reformed
the Christian faith because they deem it contrary to symbol. At least the form in which the questions are
yedso,n:  and also the reply  of believers  and in fine, put might seem to indicate this. We refer, of course.
leaving Christ out of view (as if nothing had ever to: (Ques. 15) "What sort of a mediator and deliver-
been known of him) it proves, by absolute reasons, er must we seek for?"               (Ques. 16) "Why must He
the impossibility that any man shoul,d  be saved with-       be man and also perfectly righteous?" (Ques. 17)
out Him. And again the second book, likewise as if           "Why must He in one person also be very God?".
afothing  were knou& of Christ, it is moreover shown            What we are particularly interested in, in this com-
by plain reasoning and fact that human nature was or- parison of these two documents, is the method em-
dained for this purpose viz. that every man should           ployed in both.    Is the method of the Heidelberg
enjoy a happy immortality, both in body and in soul;         Catechism, in the particular questions quoted; that of
and that it was necessary that this design for which Anselm in his `.`Gur Deus Homo"?
man was made should be fulfilled, but ;that it could not
be fulfilled  z.&ess God  becclme man,  and unless all
things were to <take place which we hold with regard            The writer of these. lines first became interested.
to Christ." `(I underscore G. L.)                            in this problem while preparing his expositions of
 The importance of the above-quotation from the the Lord's Days V, VI of the Catechism. P.articular-
"preface" of `LCur Deus Homo" cannot easily be over-         ly this was due ,to the fact first that at that time he
evaluated. This is evident from the following remark was sudying medieval phylosophy and scholastic theol-
of the author  incorrporated  in the "preface" itself. ogy, of which the latter, Anselm is considered the
We quote: "I request all who may wish to copy this father.            The writer's interest in this question was
book to prefix this brief preface, with the heads of further accentuated in his taking knowledge of the
`the whole book, at its commencement; so that into against scholastic theology of Dr. Luther in the Nine-
whosoever hands it may fall, as he looks on the face         ty Nine Theses. And it seemed to him that he de-
of it, there may be nothing in the whole body of the         tected some of the scholastic methodology in `these
work which shall escape his notice."                         cyuestions.  One has to preach two entire sermons be-
    Since no one would be able to give a clearer ac- fore he finally can say: this mediator is none other
coun,t  of the intention of the author than the author `than our Lord Jesus Christ! The reasoning seemed
himself, we feel we do him justice and the reader a          rather abstract to me at that time,                 ."

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

   Since that time, I learned that others have thought flict declares itself he must reexamine his principles
to observe the same matter. As recently as April and check his conclusions until he discovers the mis-
1940  (Ds.) H. Kakes wrote an article touching this takes that vitiates them. If, however, even then he
very question in the `$Gereformeerd  Theologisch Tijd- fails to come to an understanding with the rational-
schrift" under the heading "Over Method En  Oor-              ist it is not for lack of speaking the same language.
sprang Van De Vragen  12-18  Van De Heidelbergsche            Never will he commit the unpardonable error of St.
Catechismus." According to Kakes it was Dr. J. I.             Augustine or a St. Anselm, and, when asked for proofs
Doedes who already in 1881 had objections against of the existence of God, invite us first of all to be-
this (`in abstract,o  beschouwen van den Middelaar en lieve in God. If his philosophy is true, it is solely in
verlosser dien  w+ij noodig hebben." Dr. August  Lang virtue of its own rational evidence; if he fails to con-
in a treatise  nn the Heidelberg  ,Catechism  had criti- vince his opponent it would be lack of candor on his
cism of a similar nature. He counts this "part with-          part to appeal to his faith for his justification, and
out dbubt to be the weakest of the whole Heidelberg-          this not merely because his opponent does not share
er." Dr. P. Seinenga in his book report on Knap's             his faith because the truth of his philosophy in no
.exposition  of the Catechism speaks of this part as wise depends on his faith."
having its principle via Anselm in Aristotle.                    This latter quotation is of interest to us, for it
   Possibly to be able tc give a fair judgment of this may be considered a rather clear statement of the
important and fundamental question we should at- application of the method advocated by Anselm in the
tempt an answer to two questions. The first is: How           preface of his Cur Deus Homo. knselm  may not have
must we judge of the method of Anselm? and the gone this far, but it is the consistent application of his
second : Is the method of Ursinus and Olevianus  (com-        method. It was in Aquinus that this method found
posers of the Catechism) that of this English prelate?        its clearest expression.
   There can be no doubt but what the method ad-                 We are now placed before the question: Is this
vocated by Anselm and  which he himself superscribed          scholastic method that of the Questions 12-18 of the
above his "Cur Deus Homo" is that of rationalism.             Heidelberg Catechism?
He wishes to meet the infidel on his own ground in               It would almost seem that, in the light of the fore-
the arena of reason and there subdue him. Attend              going observations, to ask this question is to answer it.
to the following once more: "And in  fme, leaving But to call attention to this matter, and to point out
Christ out of view (as if nothing had ever been known that the very opposite is the case can do no harm. ,
of Him) by absolute  reaso!ns"   he  wishes to stop the          Question 19 asks : Whence  knowest thou this? (that
mouth of unbelievers and mockers!         This can only we need the Mediator and Savior spoken of in Ques-
mean that Anselm wished enter the field of apologetics        tions 12-18). And the answer : For self-evident, ration-
(book one) with a method based on human reasoning, alistic principles?              No ! We know this from the
owing all its truth to the self-evidence of its principle holy gospel. . . .!
and the accuracy of its deductions, reaching an accord           And when we  dook at the answers given under the
with faith spontaneously and without having to deviate question quoted above from this reformed symbol we
in any way from its own proper path.                          see that all the answers are scriptural.       It is not
   It may be argued that Anselm did not strictly ad-          scholastic to ask "why" as long as we seek the answer
her to this principle. That he in the last analysis ac- in the revelation of God. And the latter is &he method
cepted God's Word as the criterion of ~faith and con+ of the Heidelberg Catechism.
duct. And indeed many scholars are of this opinion.              The arrangement of these questions when taken
Thus Dr. H. Bavinck in his Gereformeerd Dogmatiek .by themselves may have the semblance of the  An-
says: "Anselm lived in the naive confidence that faith selmian method, and could with benefit be arranged
can be exalted to knowledge and attempts this. . . . differently as suggested by Ds. H. Kakes. But that
for the incarnation and satisfaction in his Cur Deus would be a matter of pedagogy and not of principle!
Homo" Dr. A. Kuyper contends that Anselm declared Whether the "why" and "what" of the Heidelberger
the dualism between faith and reasoning consciousness reflects somewhat in a  pur,ely formal manner the
to be untenable ; but only to think into it for his heart.    "why" and "what" of the scholastics is a matter of
Page 96 "Christelijke Encyclopaedie." With this a- lesser. importance. As was said we are interested in
grees substantially the appraisal of Etienne Gilson  in the principle not in the form.
his "The Spirit Of Medieval Philosophy" page 6.
"Doubtless a <fundamental difference remains between                                -
such a neo-scholastic and a pure rationalist. (Thomas
Aquinas is considered such neo-scholastic by the writ-           A few remarks on the general nature of this sub-
ers G. L.)    For the former the faith is always. there ject and some of the problems it has bearing on are in
and any conflict between his faith and his philosophy conclusion, we feel, in order.
is a sure sign of philosophical error. When such a  con-         That the method of "Cur Deus Homo" is disastrous


                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                       419
               _II-
for Christian thinking the history of scholastic theolo-
gy has abundantly demonstrated. When once, be it in             The Similarity (Of The Synoptic
the name of theology one meets the rationalist  on'his
rationalistic ground, it is not possible to defeat him.,                           Gospels  i
There is apparently no compromise between "faith"
and "rationalistic reasoning".                                  The term Synoptic Gospels is used in reference to
   To say that revealed truths do not contradict  each       the first three Gospels of the New Testament in dis-
other is one thing; to say that  "abs.oIute  reasoning"      tinction from the Gospel according to John which is
and the revelation of God do not conflict is something not included in this group. The word synoptic means
quite different. The former is  th.e position of the literally to view together, from the Latin syn - to-
Protestant Reformed Churches, the latter of the schol- gether, and opsis - view, referring to She fact that
astic tradition. The stand of the Protestant Reformed the three evangelists, Matthew, Mark and Luke,  ,view
Churches is that of the first sons of the Reformation the earthly life and ministry of Jesus from a very
as it comes to expression in the Heidelberg Catechism. similar  aspect,  as it were,  j from the same vantage
   This does not mean that we must confine our think- point.
ing to mere Biblical terms. Legitimate reasoning is             Any attentive reader will soon note that there is
allowed ; by which we mean : taking both maj.or  and marked difference between the Gospel written by
minor premises from the Word of God. Theology is             John and the other three, even though it is true that
a science, not psoceeding  from philosophic terms and        together they form the one Gospel of Jesus Christ,
pri.nciples,  but proceeding from its own principles!        the gl,ad ,tidings of the revelation of the Son of God in
It follows the dictum: I have believed, therefore do I the flesh. They all have this in common that they
speak !                                                      make no attempt at a biography, which would be quite
   If Anselm says matters, reaches conclusions in his impossible of the life of the incarnate Word, but show
"Cur Deus Homo" in his dialectic method, which also          that in His birth, ministry, suffering, death and re-
are taught in the Bible, it demonstrates that one, after surrection He is powerfully proven to be the Son of
having been instructed in the scriptures and having God, the Christ of the Scriptures. They .a11 follow, to
there seen the Christ, can no longer "leave Christ out a greater or lesser extent, the chronological order of
qf view, as if nothing had ever been known of Him,           events in their natural setting, tracing the course of
and prove by absolute reasons the impossibility of any Jesus' walk and ministry from place to place, often
man  Ibeing  saved without Him."          Psychologically he from ,day to day, and even sometimes from hour to
can no longer place himself in the place of the Greek hour as He accomplishes His work here on earth.
Philosophers who reason from self-posited apriori.           They all stress the closing scenes of His life, particu-
(Self-evident propositions)                                  uarly His final sulffering,  death and resurrection. But
   *Christ Himself the light of the world, did not come      John distinguishes himself from the other three by
~to reason with men, but to reveal God, Whom no man limiting his account almost  ,entirely to Jesus' ministry
can see or has ever seen.          He came to reveal the in the environs of Jerusalem. The only exceptions
Father, and to testify of Him. Here no possibility of to this are found in chapters 1, part of 2, 4 and 6,
compromise is left. It is  faith+alvation,  or  unbelief-    where he describes the witness of John the B.aptist
damnation !                                                  in the wilderness, the wedding at Cana,  the meeting
                                                  G. L.      with the Samaritan woman and the rejection at Caper-
                                                             naum.    In the rest of his Gospel he holds himself
                                                             mainly to the ministry in Jerusalem,  inentioning  only
                              .                              seven miracles and laying much emphasis on various
                                                             disputes with the Pharisees and his discourses either
                                                             in the audience of the people or in the more resfricted
                                                             sphere of his disciples.
      18TH   A N N U A L   F!IELD  D A Y                        This difference between John's Gospel and the
               JtiLY 3  - IDEAL PARK                         other three only tends to accentuate the similarity
                                                             between the Synoptics. So evident is this similarity
                                                             that many "harmonies of the Synoptics" are obtain-
                       Good Program
               Games For The  Children                       able, in which the three Gospels are placed side by side
                       Canteen Service                       to show the similarity between them. Thus com-
                         Ball Game                           paring them we note that Matthew will frequently
                                                             give an account of the same event recorded by Mark,
Come all day and'spend the day in Christian fellowship and Luke's account will often compare with that of
                                                             Matthew or Mark, while no less than fifty passages
                                      The Committee.         can be placed side by side which are found in all three


420                                  T*HE S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

of the Gospels. But even the form in which these *monIy accepted that Mark must have been the  stiurcc
accounts are written and the expressions used are           used by the other two. And still others prefer  to
often so very much alike that the conclusion is readily think that there were still other sources, unknown to
drawn that the one writer had taken cognizance of us, but to which all three writers had free access.
the manuscript of the other before  h*e wrote. But             The  troubEe  with all these theories is that they
even that does not account for the underlying harmony are mere assumptions .with  little or no basis in the
that is evident in these Synoptic Gospels.                  Scriptures. Scripture itself is not particularly anxious
       This, of course, in no way destroys the difference to satisfy our curiosity in this matter. We do know
in style, viewpoint and purpose of each individual          that not one iof the writers ever refers to the others,
writer.                                                     nor do they give any definite assurance that they hsd
       Matthew writes as Matthew, Mark as Mark and          knowledge of either of the other two Gospels. In fact
Luke as Luke, so that the three Gospels each bear the       the only clue ,that we have as to the possible sources
earmarks of ,that particular writer. Matthew wrote          used by the evangelists is found in the first four
chiefly for  th'e Jewish Christians, to whom he presents verses of the Gospel according to Luke, "Zorasmuch
Jesus as the Messiah promised by the prophets of            as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a
old. Repeatedly, and no less than twelve times thru-        declaration of those things which are most surely
out his Gospel, he states that a thin,g is come to pass     ibelieved  among us, even as they delivered them unto
that it might lbe fulfilled as was written in one of the    us, which from the beginning were eye-witnesses and
Old Testament Scriptures. For that reason he also ministers of the word, it seemed good to me also, hav-
lays much emphasis on the teachings of Jesus, supply-       ing had perfect understanding of all things from the
ing us *with an account of the Sermon on th,e mount very first to write unto thee, in order, most excellent
and many parables.                                          Theophilus, that thou mightest  know the certainty of
       The Gospel according to Mark is the briefest of      those things wherein thou hast been instructed."
the three, and was probably the first to be written.           The expression `having had perfect understanding
It is sometimes thought that Mark gained his informa- of all things from the very first', can also be trans-
tion direct from Peter, with whom he is supposed to         lated as `having made a diligent investigation anew,
have been in contact for some time. However this or, from the beginning of all things', as the Dutch has :
may be, he deals mainly with the works of Jesus dur- "Hebbende alles van voren  aan naarstiglijk  onder-
ing His earthly ministry, beginning at once with the zocht". Since Luke had knowledge of other writings,
ministry of John the Baptist. Mark empasizes that in fact, of many other declarations from eye-witnesses
Jesus is the promised King Who is come in great             and ministers of the Word, it is possible that he in-
power and is gone on into glory.                            vestigated these writings  *as well as the orai state-
       Luke follows far more closely the chronological      ments of those who had seen and knew. And this
order of events than the other two, but also lays much may likewise have been true of the other evangelists.
stress on the teachings of Jesus. In distinction from The possibility is not even excluded that either Mat-
Matthew, who wrote for the J,ewish  Christians, Luke thew or Luke, or both, made use of `Mark's Gospel in
seems to have written his Gospel for those who  sp.oke      writing their own. But this is certain that it is of no
and read the Greek. .His particular viewpoint is that *essential value for us to know this, for God has not
the Son of Man came to save the lost, and may be ex- deemed it necessary to reveal it to us.
pressed in the words of Jesus to the  trave1.er.s   tro        John Calvin makes the very pointed remark in con-
Emmaus  on the day of the resurrection, "Ought not nection with the authorship of the Gospel of Mark,
the Christ to have suffered these things, and to  ,enter    "But on this subject we need not give ourselves much
into His glory?" Luke 24%.                                  trouble, for it is of little importance to us, provided
       Even with these differences in the similarity of     only we believe that he is a properly qualified and
the Synoptics  has always aroused  a great deal of at- divinely appointed witness, who committed nothing
tention. Many attempts have been made to account            to writing but as the  HoIy Spirit directed him and
for this amazing similarity, and yet even today many        guided his pen."    And in regard to the differences
refer to it as the synoptic problem that has as yet         and similarities in the three Gospels he adds : "For w,e
found no solution.                                          wiI1 not say that the diversity which we perceive in
       Various theories have been suggested. There are      the three evangelists was the object of express ar-
those who assume that the thre.e  evangelists all drew      rangement, but as they  intetided  to  <give an honest
their material from a common source, possibly from          narrative of what they knew to be certain and  un-
oral tradition carried to them from the mouths  iof eye-    doubt,ed,  each followed that method which he reckoned
witnesses and disciples of Jesus. Others assume that        best. Now as this did not happen by chance, but by
two of the writers made use of an earlier Gospel            the direction of Divine Providence, so under this
written by the third. Although there ,is by no mean3        diversity in the manner of writing the Holy Spirit
a unanimity of opinion on this score, it is most corny      isuggested  to them an astonishing <harmony,  which


                                   :  T*HE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                        421

would almost be  suflicient of itself to secure credit            *
to them, if there were not other and stronger evi-                           Church And State                           *
dences to support their authority."          (Harmony of
Matthew, Mark and Luke, pp. 38, 39).                            The importance of this problem is immediately
    That is the one important fact that is often lost evident to anyone who scans th'e History of the New
sight of, that all these Gospels have a common Author Dispensation and recalls the struggle of Pope and
in the Holy Spirit who enlightened and guided th,ese *Emperor,  the question of Calvin and Servetus. The
#holy men to infallibly write the Word of God. They long discussions surrounding Article 36 of our  Nether-
`wrote concerning those things "which we have heard, land Confession, and the attempt of Dutch Christian
which we have seen with our eyes, which we have groups to work out a Christian polity and state. And
looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word for a very concrete `instance of the importance we can
of life," but they wrote only as the Spirit directed look at the Russia, Germany and Japan of today, and
them, even to the smallest detail. Therefore there is not to relax our vigil, the America of tomorrow.
:zlways  the personal earmark of the evangelist, who is         In considering a problem such as this, one often
a qualified and divinely appointed writer of his Gospel feels the question come up, whether we are intend,ed
:and has obtained first hand information concerning to have a solution.            Does Scripture intend that we
%he things he writes, but behind him stands the Holy should have in this dispensation of crooked and per-
^Spirit, Whose signature stands out plainest on every verse generations, in the midst of sin and abnormali-
page of Holy Writ. That accounts for the fact that ties and ending in a cataclysm of judgment, a solution
the Gospels present no biography written by mere for these problems.
man concerning a man, but contain nothing less than             There are, indeed, Christians who from out of the
the revelation of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, our church take the practical, unreflective attitude that
Lord. And there lies the real cause for the amazing we cannot do anything, we just live along, are dragged
similarity that we find in the synoptics.                   [along, and the less on,e has to do with the entire life
   And that we accept in faith.                             iof the State the better. Here the tendency is t*o re-
   For the believer a comparative stu,dy  ,of the syn- ject the creature because of the sin that has affected
roptic  Gospels can have but one result. We are  im- it.
:pressed  with the certainty of those things "which are        On the other hand are the rather blind idealists,
most surely believe,d  among us", as also God Himself who always believe  t.hat we are advancing, with these
assures us that in the mouth of two or three witnesses institutions to a more ideal condition, and immediately
shall every word be established. But we are even more embrace anything that seems to contribute moment-
impressed with the fact that God has given us an arily to that pleasant prospect, regardless of its ethical..
infallible testimony of the work and ministry of quality.
Christ, such as God only could give us. And the syn-            The one throws away nature with sin; the other
`optics, instead of overlapping, serve together with iembraces  sin with nature.
both their diversity and their similarity to present to         We can immediately establish that they are two
us the one Gospel of J,esus  Christ, which is the power *entities clearly taught in Scripture, and any denial
of God unto our salvation.                                  of either the State (Anabaptists, and the modern
                                                C. H.       dialectic theologians) or the church (conventicles and
                                                            sects, who deny the institute, or Modernist who
                         -                                  *deny the organism) is an ignoring of the Scriptural
                                                            relations of nature to sin and grace.
                                                                Now we can conceive the relation of these two in
          Most gracious Father, God of all,                 several ways.
          To thee we come, on thee we call,                    First, according to their essence as : 1. Unrelated,
          By whom both man and beast are fed:               `2. ICo-ordinate,  3. Church subordinate, 4. State sub-
          Give us this day our daily bread.                 ordinate.
                                                               Now it seems advisable to learn the essential being
          All our supplies on thee depend,                  `of #both  and thereupon their historic embodiment in
          Whate'er we need in mercy send ;                  `order if possible  t,o determine the mutual relation,
         Thou art the glorious fountain-head,               if any. And though the order of their arising might
          Give us this day our daily bread.                 suggest that we speak of the State first, yet it seems
                                                            advisable to look first at the church as being most
          Nothing, 0 Lord do we deserve,                    easily defined, thus giving us something of a guide  ,in
         The thought of merit we would dread ;              `formulating the more difficult.
          `Tis as an alms alone we crave,                      The Church we can define as the Mystical body of
          Give us this day our daily bread.                 Christ, i.e. the organism of elect humanity in and


422                                 'rsHE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

through which He lives and manifests His eternal be introduced after the "beginnings".
life of righteousness, holiness, love, etc., and this           Scripture does not tell us of any such act of God
church we can view from three aspects, viz., the after the fall, and if we conceive of the word-revelation
church  invisi'ble,  the church  ,visible in its extra-      given to Noah as the founding of the state we must
insti,tutional  life and the church visible as institute.    remember that it is not a creative word, such as those
       With the church as instituted we have now espec-      words and blessings of the six creative days. And
ially to do, and know that the nature of this institu- if we consider it a command we must ask, how, besides
tion is  debrmined  organically by the manner in the obedient church, also the disobedient world came
which the mystical life of Christ would come to mani-        to assume that command and lived according to it
festation and in accord with this by the Word and ever after.
precepts of  Chris,t  and the Apostles. So arising and          We may regret that Dr. Dooyeweerd (Wijsb. der
guided she is the bond and mother of the believers in        Wetsidee, Vol. III) did not enter upon this problem,
the world, and provides all necessary means for the `which he apparently considered outside the ,province
profession of faith, in word and deed, the teaching,         of  hhis studies on  Structuren  der Tijdelijke  Mensche-
the discipline, and the ministry of mercy.                   lijke Samenlevensbanden, although he adopts in prin-
       In this God-ordained function it has sovereign ciple the view-point of Dr. Kuyper.
competency and recognizes no other authority than               Now perhaps this difference is not as great as it
the Word of Christ.                                          seems, it being somewhat accentuated by the view-
   (Coming  now to the definition of the State we face point that is taken.
difficmties. For although their formal organizations            It is very possible that the potentiality for the
have so much in common that they are easily con-             state is given in creation, including such factors as
ceived of and also often talked of as almost twin the great variety among individuals with  predomin-
institutions, yet when we seek their essence we are          ence in some, and the natural knowledge and bent for
forced to ask wherein they are alike.                        equity and external deportment, whereas the  exercise
       First of all we lack the definite advantage which of these powers first appears, when sin calls forth
we had in the case of the church, viz., that there was authority vested in certain persons with the power of
a concrete essence, which we could grasp and which the sword.
was determinative for  th.e institute, i.c., the living         This brings us to the second question: What is the
Christ, and further we lack that same full Scriptural        purpose of the state. What is it that the Creator
material.                                                    would reveal in the civil order, analoguous to the
       We stand before the questions: What is its idea, *purpose of the church? And the answer is undoubt-
what is its purpose, wherein is it founded?                  edly that the state is a creaturely temporal organ for
       Now in struggling with this question, Christian the eternal Righteousness of God. So it  was in the
theologians and statesmen have usually asked the ques- Old Testament Theocracy. The state was a minister
tion, what is its origin? Dr. A. Kuyper, who has of righteousness, of equity and of vengeance; so it
written several works on Staatkunde, strongly advo- is also in Romans 13.
cates that the state has come to existence because of           This natural faculty for equity is indeed given in
sin. Household and family relations (gezin en familie)       the creation of man and by it he reveals that equity
arise out of creation but the state does not come up ,is desireable and that it must be maintained if human
out of creation and would not ,be except for sin, but life is to reveal its  fulness  so that all of life acquiesces
is mechanically added. And h,e asks the very reason- in and corroborates the eternal rightness of God.
able question: What woulcd  be the task of the state if         And in this respect there is a strange difference
there were no sin, remembering of course that the <between   the, state and the church, for whereas the
proper task of the state lies in the realm of equity.        church can only fulfill that purpose when it does so
       On the other hand, however, there are other con-      as a willing organ, the state  can also do so to an
siderations that would induce us to seek its origin in extent in unbelief toward the Creator. The explana-
creation.     1. We may point to the world of angels, tion is that the state maintains only the righteousness
which, though it has no sin, yet is according to Scrip- whether to destruction or to restoration and does so
ture well organized in ranks and authorities; 2. We lby virtue of increated power, whereas the Church is  a
may point to the family before sin entered, where we umanif,estation  of God's restoring grace, and can be an
have the authority of the man over the wife, and over *organ  thereof only when it is itself restored by grace.
`the creatures; 3. There is no doubt that the great              Since then, the state arises  ou5 of the creation
similarity  .between  the term used to picture the nature    and has its function in the natural sphere it would
&ci relations, in the kingdom of Heaven and the seem questionable whether she has anything to do
kingdoms of earth is found in an underlying likeness, with revelation or the Gospel. However, this does not
land abiding element; 4. But not least is the utter at all follow, for if the state in its government is to
lack of an explanation how such an institution could function efficiently it  ,wil have to use all the  know-


                                   T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                           4%

 ledge of God and His will that it can obtain and there     phemy is less wrong than speeding or trespassing,
is no reason why the state must not be guided in all but it. is a question of her competency, and she can
*its official conduct by revelation, not only in nature, serve God fully only when she abides in her spher.e.
 but also in Scripture generally, and even as it is            Thus in judging an issue between a Christian and
specificaliy  g8t-en  us in .the Gospel of the crucified and an atheistic group the state would be called only to
 reigning Christ.                                           maintain equity in the material and personal rights.
    But this does not yet determine the limits of the Thus it is with  ,the government and education, where
 competency for the state, for this is quite different      the estate has no competency and every parent or
*from the question of a believing personnel, or of the      every group of parents must determine what their
complete norms of its conduct.                              children shall be #taught. So she is neutral which does
    The question of its competency is often stated by       not at all imply that she is Anti-Christian, but that
asking its relation to the first table of the Decalogue.    officially she has nothing to do with it except to
IAnd although it is debatable whether the division of regulate its civil ordinances.
of the decalogue is so simple, whether we know how             Indeed, in many cases this principle of relations
it was divided, and then whether the tables intended would be hard to maintain, but the difficulty would un-
to indicate man's relation to God. And his relation doubtedly lie rather in the actual application in a sin-
`to his fellow-man respectively, we may retain as a ful world than in  a.ppIying  the principles theoretically
`gist the question our fathers meant to ask, viz., must and that is where we must always begin, of .course.
Ithe state also concern itself with our relatibn to God.       But there is also a definite  i&err&ion of the two
    Now it has of course been felt that  ascri,bing to      in their conduct. The Church has Certain functions
the government power also over man's relation to  Gsd,      that extend into the state and  vita  versa. As instances
places us before insurmountable difficulties, and this of the first we have the church proclaiming a severe
 practicle consideration has apparently also affected morality whereas the state is often lax in its divorce
 the historic stand of the church  $on the question. Yet laws; contrarywise, when the state advocates prohibi-
this practicle difficulty may not influence us when we tion the church may feel called to preach that all
seek for principles. We are bound to face the prob-         creature of God is goond.  .Such preaching cannot fail,
lem of the sphere and just extent of competency.            theoretically to affect the citizenry of the state.
    And the nature of this competency is determined            On  th+e other hand we have the state's concern
by the nature of the physical sphere and the su,bjects      about church property. -4nd just recently the qyes-
 found therein. For  sh.e has dominion over a geo-          tion of her calling to pay the ,victory tax and to dis-
graphic domain and the citizens resident therein for        play the flag has arisen.     In these cases it is very
the purpose of maintaining and avenging justice and necessary to discern the proper relations. Why, e.g.,
equity among men, and this again determines her should not the officers of the church  deduct.the  vic-
means for whereas the church has as its sphere the tory tax? For surely when they function in ithe task
small circle formed by those who are susceptible to         of financing they are not engaged in the spiritual task
the method and means of spiritual appeal, and grace of the church. And  tvhy should not the government
and forgiveness, the government cannot use the meth- regulate the administration of monies that are an
ods of grace, for its subjects are not presupposed to       integral part of the financial fabric of the nation?
be susceptible thereto. They require the restraint and So also with the taxation of church property, which is
vengeance of temporal physical power and the sword,         not "spiritual" but is merely a par,t of the wealth and
and only these does the government have.                    also the responsibility of the nation.
  ' However when we now view the relation of the               The question of displaying the flag may be noticed
government to the first  <table,  we must evidently take here. The propriety undoubtedly, depends on whether
into  acount  the traditions. of the people, for what           -"lag on the church property symbolizes that the
might be to one people a very unobtrusive act of the        property and the members are subject to the govern-
government might be to another a very disrupting ment, or whether  i,t means to symbolize that the church
process. Yet we may say that any transgression also as custodian of lthe Gospel places itself in the service
of the first (table inso far as it affects the communal of the nation. But just because the flag is symbol
life of the citizens and temporal welfare of the state we must be sure that the symbolism is properly under-
falls under the sway of the state. She must punish          stood and gives no false impression of allegiance.
Sabbath breaking, Atheistic, Communistic propaganda., Should  Ithe church preach patriotism, is another vital
and any kind of  "Moloch  Sacrifice". This does not question. And here again we must carefully discern.
mean that she is trying to esta,blish the Kingdom of Indeed the church must. The Scriptures everywhere
God with the sword, but that she is vindicating the         teach it. Subjection and tribute and honor and fear
law of God for the relations of men as it is revealed are enjoined toward .the government. This is essent-
in outward life, and this does not make the striving ially no different from  <the love and reverence we owe
of the state mere humanism so that Atheistic blas-          our parents. We are to love our fellowmen in that


424                                         T%tE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

relation also according to God's ordinances. But let
us not forget that she preaches patrio,tism  to men of        Faith And Works In The Epistle
all nations.
       And here again we must carefully discern. Indeed                          Of James
the church must. The Scriptures everywhere teach
it.     Subjection and tribute and honor and fear are           In this essay we will not take up !to.o much space
enjoined toward the government. This is essentially to disprove the contention that there is disharmony
no different from the love and reverence we owe our between Paul's assertion "that a man is justified by
parents. WE are to love our fellowmen in that re- faith  ,wi,thout the deeds of the law," and the asser-
lation also according to God's ordinances. But let us        tion of James: "by works a man is justified, and n.ot
not forget that she preaches patriotism to men of by faith only." We will try and confine ourselves
all nations.                                                 positively to the idea of faith and works in the epistle
       And it is  ,true that this point which seems to raise of James, and only consult other parts of scripture,
such conflicts in our minds in war time  witsh its choos- including that cwritten  by Paul, only to make clearer
ing of sides and is seen much more easily in its posi- the beautiful truth as expressed by the inspired
tive beauty and constructiveness, does nevertheless, not James. Sufficient to state here, that it is impossible
,.raise an essential conflict.    Lt implies nothing less that God would  contradiot  Himself, and that God
than that %when  we in war-time pray that God may speaks the same language in the book of Romans as
cause His children to be faithful also in their calling He does in the book of James.
as soldiers, we pray for those of every nation. If then         James is indeed combating a certain class of people
it seems absurd that we pray that our enemy may do when he asserts throughout .his second chapter that
his *best .when he faces us in the battle line, the only "by works a man is justified and mat by faith only,"
answer is that the true Christian loves law and order, but he is in no wise combating Paul's comforting doc-
more than he does personal success and victory. Un- trine of the child of God being justified by faith only.
less, then there is another competent government ready In fact James is defending the doctrine of justifica-
to take charge, also our enemy may not institute an-         tion by faith, and developing it  Ito such an extent
archy in the ranks against his lawful government.
Tyranny may be unbearable to the flesh, but anarchy that he at the same time exposes a shameful and sin-
                                                             ful tendency of certain hypocrites in the church.
is unlbearable  ito the spirit; it is nihilism, the destruc- These hypocrites did not deny the doatrine of ju'sti-
tion of the order of the universe itself.                    fication  by faith. On the contrary they were profuse
       We may end with the practical remark that if the in their declarations that works cannot save any man.
relations are so serious there is room for more clear-       Either wholly or in part, and that nothing but faith
cut testimony of the truth to the government, although can save a man. This is evident from the course of
it is questionable whether this should be done by the James' reasoning with them. "What doth it profit,
church and not rather by the Christian citizen and my brethren, though a man SAY he hath faith, and
citizen-groups.                                              have not  w.orks?  Can (such)  faiith  save him?" And
       *Our space forbids to  <treat the' relation of the state further, concerning the destitute and poor, "if one
to the Incarnate Christ, whether her essence is tem- of you SAY unto them, Depart in peace, <be you warm-
poral or abiding, and what is her ultimate relation to ed and filled: notwithstanding ye give them not those
the church in that perfected coming Kingdom.                 ithings which are needful to the body: What doth it
                                                   A. P.     profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works is dead;
                                                             being alone." These statements of James imply very
                                                             plainly that James has in mind those who hypocrit-
                                                             ically espouse the truth of Justification by Faith, but
                                                             abuse it for the purpose of walking in sin, yea for the
                                                             purpose of  DISRE,GARDIN[G  the works of the  1a.w.
                                                             He attacks what he calls "dead faith." In fact James
           On Christ, by faith, my soul would live,          tells these counterfeit Christians that even as Paul
           From Him, my life, my all receive:                 speaks of "dead works," so there is also a "dead faith,"
           To Him devote my fleeting hours;                  and that neither the "dead works," nor the "dead
           Serve Him alone with all my powers.               faith" can save them. The class of people James up-
                                                             poses "said" they had faith. Their professed faith,
           Christ is my everlasting all,                     in James phraseology, was "alone." It had no  con-
           To Him I look, on Him I call;                     neotion  with works. It was not a directive principle
           He ev'ry want will w,ell supply,                  of the heart and mind and will, abut it was merely a
           In time, and  thro' eternity.                     PROFESSED faith. So that when James speaks of a


                                      T*H,E   S!J?ANDARD   B E A R E R  1                                         425

 justification by works and not by faith only, it is vorce faith from <works. This is plain from the words
 evident that he is referring to  TIHIEIR  faith, their       in chapter 2 :18 : "Yea, a man may say, Thou  ha?6
nonworking, inactive, and therefore dead faith. Such          faith and I have works." A plain implication that  one
faith cannot save the soul, anymore than dead works           man may have faith and another man may hzve  the
 can save the soul.                                           works. James howeeper,  in his answer to .this, so shap-
    We  mcst also remember that James is speaking es his words, as not only to deny the possibility of a
 throughout his epistle of a "saving faith," that is,         divorce between faith and works, but also to show
 a faith that  aatulally  saves.    What now is such a the connection ever so clearly between the two. This
faith that actually saves us ? First of all we my say connection Iwas that faith is the root and principle by
 that faith is the spiritual tie uniting us to God in which we are justified, and that works are the fruit
* Christ Jesus. Faith is the mystical  upion between and evidence of this faith. Notice that though James
 Christ and His people. A union that unites us even as does lay strong emphasis upon works, yet he  dots
 the engrafted branch is united to the tree. The life not divorce  ,these works from true faith:  "Shew  me
 of Christ causes that engrafted branch to have the thy faith without any works (of the hypocrites) and
 same life. Secondly we may say, that faith is given I will show thee my faith BY my  ,works." The im-
 us with regeneration. When God gives the new life, plication of this answer is, not only that true and sav-
 from above, unto His chosen people, they receive in ing fai*th cannot exist tiithout  showing itself in good
 tha.t  new life the principle of faith. Sv that this faith works, but that good works are secondary  to,faith  415
 is not something that we possess or can come into being its effect and evidence. Works are not the root,
 possession of anytime we please, but it is the aabso-        but the branches, or  ,better the  f&t. A faith that
 lute gift of God's love. Even as Jesus says: "Unless         is devoid of works is a dead faith aad will never save
.ye are  {born again (regenerated) ye cannot (even)           a soul. For such a faith is not rooted in love of God,
 see the kingdom of God." Therefore thirdly this faith nor does it have certain knowledge and hearty confi-
 contains two elem'ents : "a certain knowledge" and "a dence spoken of in the Catechism, nor is such an in-
 hearty confidence." I cannot say it better than ais it active fai.th  a gift of God's grace, and finally it is not
.is contained in the Heidelberg Catechism: "True  fai,th      the mystical tie uniting the sinner to God in Christ
 is not only a certain knowledge, whereby *I hold for Jesus and saving him.              Such a faith is  merely   a
 truth sll that God has revealed to us in His word,           PRETENDED faith,  n&t true but falsely professed.
 but also an assured confidence, which the Holy Spirit           The ;works that James con,tinually  speaks of,% and
 works by the  Guspel in my  hear.t;  that not only to by which we are justified, are works produced by liv-
 others, but to me also, remission of sins, everlasting ing faith. Keeping this in mind we can better under-
 righteousness and salvation, are freely given by God,, stand the two examples he uses to explain this truth.
 merely of grac,e,  only for the sake of Christ's merits."    "Works" as standing for "working faith," is what
 So that justification (and that is what James is justified Abraham, "when he offered up  Isaac his
 speaking about) is complete in Christ. And there is son." And, "Rahab was justified by works (work-
 no need of completing the complete. Nothing but the          ing faith) when she sent the messengers out another
 work of Christ can in any way satisfy or justify. No way."            In saying that Abraham and Rahab were
 man can supplement nor add to his justification by "ju$ified by works" James is describing faith there-
 any works, NO MATTER HOW GOOD THEY MAY fore as the living tie to God in Christ Jesus whereby
 BE. He who trusts in that work of Christ, as the thme saints of old wrought mighty work, `which works
 sole ground and reason of pardon and salvation, need justified them because they were. the fruit of a mar-
 not bring with him a single jot or  ..tittle  of his own     velous fai,th.
 work. There is nothing EXPIATORY in the good                    The works, as fruit `of faith then, also bear  thl
 works of any of God's people, even though he is the marks of all good works, namely, they are to the
 holiest of the saints. Even the perfect works of the glory of God, and are according to the Holy Law of
 saints in heaven will never pardon or give us salva-         God, and come from  tru_e faith. The works result-
 .&ion. And upon this doctrine of justification by faith ing from true faith are not first of all outward and
 alone, and not by works of the law, James stands             vkible,  such  8s the discharge of duties and obliga-
 foursquare.    Finally this  fai,th has its root in love. tions towand others. They are first of all invisible
 God's love to us Ibrings regeneration and from regen- but very evident in the one possessing faith. They
 eration comes faith, rooted in love to God. Just as are peace, joy of heart and mind, long-suffering, meek-
 unbelief is rooted in hatred to God, so faith is root- ness, hope, perseverance. T,hese  all are also the fruit
 &  $n  lave to God. And "we love Him because He              of saving  faith..  They necessarily follow upon faith
 first loved us."                                             and ar:e the evidence of the sam*e. A dead faith pos-
    From the above it will become evident that this sesses neither peace, hope, joy of heart, longsuffering
 ,faith is not divorced from works. The hypocrite in          meekness or perseverance.      Therefore a dead faith'
 James  epistle tried to do &his Yery thing, namely di- will never justify a man,  IIt is Paul  remarks  of  a


                                                                    .

  426                                      ,T%IE   ETANDARD   B E A R E R

  heathen idol, "it is nothing." It  is a nonentity. A
  dead faith, a faith that does nothing, and produces                    The Dangers `Of Early Addescence
  nothing,-yea is nothing.          It is a  pretence.  It is
  sheer hypocrisy. It can  no more save  .the soul  than                    ,God  has not (willed that we should come into the
  sin can  save it. But the true faith as described by                   worEd as mature men and women, ready to take, a full-
  James will produce bountiful fruit unto everlasting                    fledged place in life. Adam.and  Eve `never had a child-
  life, first in the mind and will and heart.                            hood or youth. Their  oi%pring,  however, born into the
         Then there also follow the works of faith such as               world as helpless  babes,  must pass through a long
  can be seen and are revealed to men. This faith pro- period of  grow,th  and development before. they at-
  duces prayer and praise, Christian benevolence ar&                     tain maturity. This long period of  d.evelopment  that
  the discharge of our duties and obligations also to  th'e              finally emerges into manhood or woman hood may
  neighbor. Yea this faith will produce the obedience again itself be divided into two sharply distinct per-
 `to the second table of the law also. This faith houors iods: childhood and adolescense.  It is the latter per-
  father and mother, and does not kill ; nor  doa it                     iod, that.  af  adolmcence,  that we are  i&er*esced  in
  commit adultery, nor steal nor speak false witness in this article; and primarily in the early part of that
  agai,nst  the neighbor nor covet what has not been period.                      Irving King in his  The  HighSch.oo~  Age
  given  u&o me by my heavenly Father. It works,                         well says, "There is no season in ,the life of the boy
  not to be justified but because it IS justified.                       or girl, which, to parent and teacher, is mqre inter-
                                                                         esting and more baffling than are these years which
         In closing it is well to note that according to Jam,es,         we may roughly consider as lying. between thirteen
  the dead faith, produced just  <the opposite of good and twenty."
 lworks. One with false faith becomes fearfully har-
  dened. He treads the atoning blood under foot, where-                                     Early Adolescence
  by we are truly justified. There is evidence in James
  that those who were abusing the doctrine of justifica-                    Our English word "adolescence" means: "the state
  tion by faith only and not by works, were very fsr of growing, applied to the young of the human race  ;"
  gone in earthliness and sin. This is evident from the "youth, the period between chil'dhood  and manhood."
  kind of sins rebuked by him in his epistle. He re- HS the abotie quotation indicates this period includes
  bukes them for their human standards used in judg- the years from thirteen to about twenty. As a  de-
  ing of the rich and the poor; for their reckless use pendelit child one enters `Lhat period of deveIop!nent,
  of the tongue, in slandering and boasting ; for their and emerges from it as a full-fledged man or woman
  grasping after authority making of them "many mas- taking a full pla2.e in society.
  ters ;" for their quarreling, envying and fightings,                      Adol,escence   itiself  is frequently dividod into  t-go
  causing James to address them sternly: "Ye adulter- periods: early and lster adolescence. Although these
  ers and adulteresses, know ye not that the  frien&hip two are  not as sharply  distince as  childhoo*d  aad
  of the world is enmity with God?" These are all cor- adolescence  or adolescence and manhood are, there
  ruptions that had crept  into the church and among is a noticeable difference as everyone realizes who
  the brethren  .because  of the abuse of the doctrine                   pays attention to the difference between a normal  fif-
  of free grace.                                                         .teen year old and an eighteen or nineteen year old.
         It is  eviden,t then that  Fait,h and Works are  es-            Early  aedolescece  extends roughly from thirteen thru
  sen.tially the same, in so far as they are both the re- sixteen, while later adolescence runs from seventeen
  sult of God's grace unto `His people. Without  Sitith                  thru about twenty.  The settled adult is clearly re-
  it is impossible for me to do any good works. By                       cognizable in the adolescent passing  through  the
  faith, good  (works are' automatic results and of neces- years just prior to maturity. While the early adol-
  sity follow. In that working faith we are justified escent is naturally thought of as still belonging in the
  and have peace with God through our Lord Jesus group of minors, ,the late adolescent quite readily takes
  Christ. Let no man  then-`think   himtself justified be- his place among mature men and women as soon
  fore the bar of God's justice, when he merely says                     ready to :be one of them.
  that he has  fai+th but has not the works. For such                       Early adolescence has one outitanding  character-
  faith will not save him. It is dead faith in a dead                    istic: change. During the years thirt,een through six-
  sinner. But that man is justified by God, who  has                     teen a great change ,takes place in the life of the in-
  received a living faith in Christ Jesus as the sole ,dkidual.  There is first of all: physical change. Pro-
  basis  and ground for his justification and who has found physical changes come about, changes that
  the evidence of such living faith in living works. bring about a series of bodily adjustments. Even the
  Such faith *works unto his salvation for it is SAVING most ordinary  o,bserver  has noted how most boys and
* faith.                                                                 girls suddenly begin to grow rapidly somewhere be-
                                                     L. v.               tween the ages of tyelve and fifteen. ,TQe youngster


                                      T*HE  STAN.DARD   ` B E A R E R                                                  427

  whose growth excited little attention from those about great things.            Everything throbs with the joy of
  him  `daily during the years prior to this, now sudden- living. Fourthly, we ought to add that this is the per-
  ly ,begins  to shoot up. In spite of a watchful mother iod of instability. The adolescent, during early adol-
 ,his  aleeves get too short and an akward length of            escence especially, ,turns from one thing to another.
  shank appears between his shoe-tops and the  .bottoms         He is easily influenced by others, though during these
  of his knee trousers. His movements become ungain- years he would be the last to admit it. The adoles-
  ly. He stumbles about and has  grea.t  difficulty in          cent wishes to be acceptable  .to others,. and  easily
  knowing what to do with his hands and feet. This              adapts himself to others. He often acts before he
  awkwardness is more apparent in boys than in girls. "thinks.
  This marked physical growth is usually a little later
  in boys than in girls, but the boys go on growing for                               The Dangers  ,,
  a longer period. The ma,turity  of the sex function is,
  >of course, central, in these physical changes; the rapi$d       ,Of course, if there were no sin and no consequences
  increase in stature is so nearly coincident with the          of sin there would be no dangers during this period
  change of puberty that it may ordinarily be taken as          of adolescence. But there is sin in the  `world,  and
  a proof that that change has taken place. Usually .there  are consequences of sin. The adolescent child
  this is a period of good health. I11 health is not nor- of the Kingdom also, even as the non-covenant child,
  mal at the time. Thee vital forces are intense, and the is by nature a child of darkness. And it must grow
  over-flowing energy is all needed for the accomplish-         up and develop in a world that lies in sin and dark-
  ment of the change. If <this energy is diverted, by an ness. It is a period of rapid growth, and we must use
  excess or physical labor or by excessive social inter-        our utmost efforts' to keep up  wi,th that growth in the
  ests with interference with regular habits of rest spiritual surroundings and influence we as Chris-
  and sleep, the child suffers for it.                          tian pare&s  must provide.
      But there is more than physical change going on              We mentioned adolescence as a time of reflection.
  &ring this period-there is corresponding mental This reflection is perfectly natural and normal. Do
  change. Parents realize the child cannot fbe taken by         not repress  .the adolescent's questions. Often the adol-
  the hand so easily, the adolescent wants to know the escent reaches wrong conclusions in  his. reasoning;
  reason of things, he disputes the authori.ty  of others       don't get too excited about it. Many of these things
  over him. Mentally the child is undergoing as pro- adjust themselves. Be sure `that you can't by a $final
  found a change as physically. This period shows a command of authority correct your child if he. errs.
  marked change taking place, a change that  &o&d               Try to show him where he errs ; often you can ac-
  take place. It should take place for God has willed complish your purpose better indirectly than directly.
  that the child become a man. Parents should realize Don't forget that at sixteen there are many radicals,
  this, expect it. They should desire it. It is God in          at seventy there are very few.        But by all means
  His providence that brings about this change.                 see that the  adolesc.ent, as far as his spiritual training
      This mental change reveals itself in various ways.        is concerned, finds a healthy Christian atmosphere in
  First of all, in distinction from childhood the time of the home, and if he goes to school in the school. In-
  adoIescence   is. the time of reflection. The  chibd in struct him in good reading.  rin listening to good radio
  his teens is not interested in mere facts but begins to programs, encourage him to attend worthwhile meet-
  relate them. While the child took for  gramed  and            ings. Teach him to pray for himself, rather than
  believed $what parent and teachers told it, the adol-         pray with him.
  escent wants proof, and asks for the why's and where-            We also mentioned youth as a time of self-asser-
  fore's, This is not the time of pure memory work              tion and independence. Also this is in itself normal,
. anymore ; it is time to explain, to help the growing and divin,ely willed. It is an evidence of the grow-
  child answer it's problems.       Secondly, this is the ing consciousness of individuality and may not be
  period when the individual *begins to declare it's in-        repressed. A!s parents seek to guide this new-found
  dependence.    The pre-adolescent child was satisfied self assertiveness in the right channels. That is not
  ,to be led by father and mother, to go wh.ere they went, an easy matter. Usually, however,  .&he-turn  which
  to go  *with them. The  a*dolescent  wants to live it's this self-assertion will takes depends upon the home
  own life, prefers to go without parents, delights in atmosphere in early childhood. If the child has felt
  taking care of itself. Especially when the adolescent irritated and repr!essed,  if it feared rather than loved
  begins to earn a  Iittle money does he wish to be more mother and father before adolescence, then you will
  or less independent. Thirdly, this is the period of find it next to impossible to lead the child in adol-
  the exuberance of life and vitality. The child is fuI1 escence. An adolescent revolts against imposed author-
  of the exuberant joy of living. The cares and pro- ity that rules by `decree rather than by love. But by
  lems of life do not oppress. There is an unbounden a11 means seek to influence the child for good. Don't
  hope and conviction of being able to accomplish on the other hand, allow the child all the freedom to


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go out evenings, etc. i,t desires. The child is not able       is what we ,need in all these problems that surround
to handle uncontrolled freedom during these years.             us  as Christians. We need principles and facts.
Usually the child thinks it is, but it is not, anymore            And this series of Mr. T. E., some of which.  1: .con .
:than  the young  calf  led  from  the barn for the first      sider very serious, show how badly we need to discuss
time.                                                          these problems.
    Then there is the youth's exuberance and vitality,            Do such things belong to the essence of the C.L.A.,
which brings dangers and problems of its own. Life             do they follow logically from its principles, are they
seems so sweet, there does not seem to be a cloud in           inevitably connected with it, are they unavoidable?
the sky, marriage seems nothing but roses, sin and                An answer to these questions would seem to deter-
evil often  seem so distant. The youth easily imagins.s        mine whether it may bear the name of `.Christian,"
that by his own efforts he can change conditions that          for they are serious charges.
none could before him. The young girl imagines she
can choose a life-partner, the young man that he can              There are thus a group of distinct questions  whish
choose his mate. The young girl of sixteen or seven-           we should  ;try to discuss from  o,ur Protest& Reformed
teen, and even older, thinks if she marries a young principles :
man of the world, she can l,ead him and take him to
church. The youth is full of hope, and sees no danger,              1. The Bread Question.
not naturally nor spiritually. It is a time of uncon-               2. The Strike Question.
cern, even more so than in childhood. This brings                   3. The Membership Clause Question. '
dangers. The youth must be guided, not uncontrolled,                4. The Closed Shop in favour of Br&hren.
lest it form friendships and alliances that will bring
sorrow  Jand disillusionment later, if not life-long grief.       And in discussing these things could we avoid
    As a fourth characteristic we mentioned instability.       as much as possible all partizanship which is after all
In, itself that is perfectly natural and normal. But nothing but the old mad  ,Class Struggle. Let us avoid
due to sin in the world and the consequences of sin, discrimination  be,tween  rich and poor, farmer and
it brings its dangers. Dangers `that this instability urbanite, Labor Ass'n. and Business  A&n., Employer
twill go to extremes, and it will emerge from the per- and Employee, A church and B church.
iod of adolescence still  unstab1.e. A certain amount of          Surely the time is  near when we as Christians
firmness is necessary on the part of parents and               will have, in a new sense, to stand alone iwith God in
teachers to control this instability and tide the youth the world.                                                         I
over it.                                                          The time is very short and we as Christians are
    Adolescence is the spring-time of life, indeed. The        swamped with problems in every sphere of our life
world beckons to the covenant youth, Give me thy               and calling.
heart. Home, school and church must use their best                I long for bold and objectke discussion with  only
efforts toward the youth. If in one period of their            Ithe Word of God as our Standard.v
life w,e must not let them down, it is in this period.
An understanding, sympathetic, spiritual attitude is                                         Yours in Christ,
above all things needed. It is in this period a*bov* al1                                           Rev. A. Petter.
that the admonition of Ephesians  6:4 is in place,
"And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath:
but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of                        I  ^I  .
the Lord."
                                              P. D. B.
                      `r                                                 Rejoice, believer, in the Lord,
                                                                         Who makes your cause His own
                                                                         The hope that's built upon His word,
                                                                         aCan ne'er be overthrown.

                      Contribution                                       Though many foes beset your road,                      !
                                                                         And feeble is your arm:
Esteemed Editor of the Standard Bearer,                                  Your life is hid  wi.th  ,Christ  in God,
                                                                         Beyond the reach of harm.
        May I have a little space in your paper.
        In the last Standard Bearer appears an article by                As surely as He overcame,
 Mr. Ten Elshof that occasions me to (write. I take it                   And triumphed once for you ;                 '
 upon the word of Mr. Ten Elshof that these  things he.                  So surely, you, that love his name,
relates in coinnection  with the C.L.A. are facts and that               Shall triumph in him too.                    1


