       VOLUME XXI                                                  0,CTOBER  15 -  1 9 4 4                                           NUMBER 2

                                                                                    spreken, worden alle g&loovigen  to,egesprken als nieuw:
                                    I-T A 41: 1,                                    geboren kinderkens.
                                                                                         Intusszhen  zijn ze echter niet ,slechts nieuw ge-
                                                                                     boren in dezen zin. Ze zijn door hunne tweede ge.-
                                                                         .-.,_a-

                                                                                    boorte ook waarlijk nieu$.geworden.  En nixeuw wer-
                                                                                    den ze, niet sle:hts  in verge1ijkiil.g  -et  h u n   o u d e n ,
                                                                                    zondigen en verdorven staat, ,zoo:dat ze,in. humlen  oor-
                                                                                    sprtinkelijken`staat her,:teld werden.       Ware dit het ge-
                    zo0 legt clan  uf alle llwaclheicl,  en aJle  be-               val, ze~dzouden  naar de .redelijk.e onvervalschte melkj
                   drog, en gea&mdheicl., ex nijdigheid, en die                     was-ryqq  de tekst gewag maakt,  niet b$geeri,g kunnen.
                   ctchtedappin~siz;  EG, ais r&xqgeboren  kin-                    zijn.      Ze werden echter geboren uit onvergankelijk
                   deykens,  eijt  zeer  begeekg  ,n&r  de mxlelijke                zaal& Ditmaal werden ze niet slechts door. God `ge-
                   o n v e r v a l s c h t e  nzel&,  opdat gij door  clezelve      Schapen, maar uit :God  geboren! Ditmaal  -werden ze
                   nzoogt  opwamen.                                                 aiet slechts tot levende zielen doordat God. hun den
             9                                         f PetY. b:i, 2.              adem des ,Iclvens  in ce;a  uit de aaxle  geformeerd lijf
        ' Zoo  legt dan af. . . .                                                   inblis, maar werdten ze levend gemaakte  nieuwe schep-
           En ioo, dat is, waar de zaken zoo staan, als in het selen, doordat de Zoo:?,  die vl&esch werd, die stierf en
       laatste gedeelte van -het vo,orgaande  hoof dstuk. be-                       den dood overwon, die opstond en I$ot een levenrlmaken-
       schr&en wend, zijt zeer begeerig naar de redelijke                           den IGeest  werd, het zaad des levens in hen inplantte>
     onTiervalschte   m e l k .                                                     en _he~ met Zichzelven koor altoos verbond.
           Daar Ikoch werd gezegd, dat de. geloovigen weder-                            Ui,t onver!>erfelijk zaad wedergeboren !
       geboren zijn. Ze zijn. dus ii? geestelijken zir nieuw-                         : Etiaar daarom blijft het leven, dat uit dit onver:
       geboren kinderkens, _                                                        derfelijk zaad ontspruit, voor zijn onderhouding en
         Nieuw geboren zijn ze, niet slecht;s.  in den zi,n,  ,dat                  voeding, dan ook voortdurend, afha&elijk  van den
       ze pas geboren zijn, en dus nog klein en trer zijn.               Ook        Zone Gods,  het vleeschgeworden Woord, dat uit de
       !dat is' waar. ,Ze zijn idog kinderkens.' Allen zonder                       dooden- opsitond  en verheerlijkt ,wecd in de hoogste
-      onderscheid zijn ze nog kleine kinderkens. Want wel                          hemelen.
. - is er `onderscheid  in .de gemeente van Christus, en zijn                           Van boven kwam .ditmaal  het zaad hunner geboorte.
       sommigen sterker dan and#&ren,  zij12  sommigen verder                           uan. boven moet ook het leven ui;t dit zaad worylen
       gevorderd i.n den g:.estelijken  `wasdom ; en wel &ogex                      gevoed.      In heel de natuurlijke, .aandsche sChepping  is
       we uit dit oogpunt ,:prekten,  van kinderen, jongelingen,                    er niets, #dat  tot ond5ervhoud  van ,dit leven ,dienen kan.
       en vaders in de kerk des Heeren op aarde.                   Mits maar            Bovendi,en weTden ze, wat hun bewustzijn betreft,.
       verstaan wordt, en ook door allen beleden,  !dat in ver-                     immers ook in deze nieuwe geboorte gebaard door het
       gelijking met, en in- bet,rekking tot ,de ei.-.delijke zalig-                Woord, h& eeuwig blijvend Woord van God !
       heid en volmaaktheid, allen, ook de sterken en verst                             En dat Woord komt hier olj aarde nog altijd to.t hen
       gevord.erde$ nog altij?! ,nieuw g,born kinderkens zijn.                    door <de verkondiging er van in aardsche vormen, .en
       Immers hebben ook de allerheiligsten nog slechts, een                        in aardsche woorden V&A  menschen.
      klein zbe&nsel der nieuwe `gehoorzaamhei,d, en :s er dus                          Wat wonder dan, dat !de apostel hier schrijft: ZOO
       in dat opzicht geen.verschil tusxhen heiligen, hen, die                      dm.. t. . .zij,t.  zeer begeerig. . . .
      heiliger, hen, die,heil.igst, en hen; die allerhsili.gst  zijn                    Waar  gij `immers allen nog nieuwgeboren kinder-
       ?n dit leven, `En ,in hdt woord `GQds  dat `we hier $9
                                                     L <_ .__.A                     @ns xijt! die niet alleen yoor  UW !evensond~~houn,~g~


     hofte  hebt aan voeding, maar die ook nog moet op-                         ten, opdat ze met bewustheid uit Hem mogen eten el?
     wasseri  . . . .                                                            ,drinken al het heil, dat Hij voor hen heeft bereid en
         Waar gij echter geboren zijt uit onvergankelijk                         dait `Hij hun schenkt.         Daarom moet er hunnerzij@
     zaad., en dus in deze wereld nergens het ;noodigr. vo,ed-                   een Idaiad  ,des geloofs zijn, door Gods  genade in hen
     sel kur& vinden . . . .                                                     gewerkt, waardoor zij den Zich aan hen med'ecleelen-
         Waar gij geboren. zij& ,:door het Woorc1 van God,                       den Christus en al Zij,ne welda~den. aannemen, den
     dat eeuwig blijft, en`I&%nd`is . . . .                                      rijkdom Zijner genade smaken, en ,God  ve?heerlijken
        .&n waar dat Woqrd oeder-u ve>kondigd wordt. . . .                       voor,, het wond,er Zijner zaligheid.
         Zij t z,eer  begeerig daarnaar !                                            tGeen  bloot kunstma;tige,  hunnerzij ds passieve voe-
                                                                                 ding mag hun leven on'derhouden  en doen. opwasseii.

                                                                                  _ Als gezond,e,  l e v e n d e ,  :nieuwgeboren.   k i n d  r k e n s
         N a a r   d e   r e d e l i j k e   m e l k !  _                        moeten ze eten en drinken `en verzaldigd  worden.
         En >dat  wel met nadruk : q'aar de onrvervalsckte  rede-                    Maar juist daarom moet het levende .en eeuwig blij-
     lijke melk !                                                                vende Woord van God den vorm aannemen der ver-
         In het licht van het reeds opgeha_alde  ver.band  kan                   k o n d i g i n g .
     er zeker geen twijfel meer- aan-bestaan, of deze.  rede-
     3ijke onvervalschte  mIelk is het levend en eeuwig blij-                        Ht moet redelijke, onve~valschtemelk wor,de3  !
     vend Woond_van God, zooals het in het bewus?zijn  van                           Melk, want immers zijn het de nieuwgeboren kin-
     deze nieuwgeboren ki,n'derkens  kan worden opgenomen                        :derkens,  die ,daardoor  m o e t e n  gevoecl   w o r d e n .  `He!.
     door Zij:ne verkondiging onder hen.                     Het is het Woord    woord staat hier dan ook niet #tegenover  vaste spijze,
     der za1ighei.d in Cliristus,  het Woord, dat vleesch werd                   evenmin a1.s  #de geloovigen hier. kinderkens ,worde??
     en on:der o-ns  tabernakelde, door Wien God Zelf in deze                    genoemd in ondersc4heiding  van anderen, die reeds toe-
     laatste ,dagen tot ons heeft gesproken; het Woord, drt                      namen in de genade en kennis van den Heere Jezus
     in ons vleesch ldqor .dei! eeuwigen. Geest Zi,chzelVen o;;-                 Christ,us.     Integendeel, het #dui!dt  hier aan heel het
     .offerde aan het vloekhout; het Woord, da% als overwin-. Woord, ,dat onder ons verkondigd word!, gehe,cl den
     naar over zonde en dood ten derden dage in heerlijkheid                     inhoud van :de leer, .die !n.aar de godzaligheid is, ,de ver-
     verrees, .tian `s Va_ders  rechterhand verhoogd werd,                       kondiging van den vollen, rijken Christus, die. in het
     e.n de belofte des~H,eiligen Geestes  ontving; het levend                   Woord Gods  ons is geopenbaard.
     en eeuwig blijvend Wo0r.d Gods  door Christus gespro-                           En deze melk is redelijk.
     ken., en dat God riog altijd door Hem spreekt tot ons ;                         ,Niet alsof de inhou,d van het geopenbaar:de  Wooqd
     het levend. en eeuwig blijvend Woord onzen zaligheid,                       Gods,  dat levend en eeuwig blijvend -is, ,zich aansluit.
     dat in apostelen. en profeten gelegd werd, door hen                         bij de natuurlijke rede, ,door het aatuurlijk, onweder-
     verkondigd *werd, in de Hleilige Schriften voor ons be-                     gebbren, ongeestelijke verstand van lden zondaar kan
     waard .bl,eef,  en naar het voorbeeld der apostelen en                      ,worden  ontvangen., De natuurlijke mensrh begrijpt
     profeten nog altijd door de Kerk verkondigd wordt, i#:l                     niet de dingen, ,die ,des .Geestes  Gods  zijn.        Ze zijn hem
     haar bewustzijn wordt opgenomen als redelijke melk.                         dwaasheid, ea hij kan ze niet verstaan, daai" ze immers
     en alS szoodanig  sari navolgende geslachten medegedeeld                    geestelijk onder$chei:den  wormden.  Dat Woou'd betreft
     wordt, - het is ,dat Woord, .dat idool-  den apostel wordt                  `clingen, *die geen oog heeft gezien, geen oor heeft ge-
     aangeduid als redelijke oqvervalschte  melk.'                               hoord, ei1 in geen menschenhatit  ooit zijn opgeklom-
         Door dat levend <en eeuwig blijvend Word  van.God,                     men. Maar wel zoo, dat het het geheiligde verstand
     werden :deze aieuwgeboren kinderkens wedergeboren.                          ,van den geloovige op redelijke*wijze  tospreekt, zoocat
         Door dtibelfde levende en eeuwig~lblijvende  Woord                      het re:delijk  verstaan kan woade,n., en het verstand van
     van God in `Christus .wordt het nieuwe leven in hen al-                     den wedergeboren  mensch kan vervullen met waar-
.    door onderhouden en gevoed. Want aap. Christus.zijn                         aohtige kennis van den God onzer volkomene zaligheid,
     ze verbande+  Uit Christus leven ze. Ja, niet zij ,zij.n                    van ,den Christus en alle Zijne heilsgoederen.                 Alleen
     het, !die leven; Chri&us leeft i;n hen.                  Op gansch won-     op redelijke wijze grijpt het geloof, dat immers ook
     derlijke, voor ons ondoorgrondelijke, mystieke wijze                        eene iekelye. k&nis  is, het redelijke Woord Gods  aan,
     deelt Christus Zich steeds aan hen mede, zooals `de                         ,en wordt het leven der nieuwgeboren kirnderkbns onder-
     wijnstok zijn levenssappen aan de ranken- mededeelt.                        houden en gevoe,d ten einde toe.
         En'toch mag ,dat leven ui% Christus in hen niet lou-                        O n v e r v a l s c h t  !
     ter passief `en voor het bewustzijn der nieuwgeboren                            TGeen  vreemde bes,tanddfe,elen,"  geen v&cheO  philo-
     kinderkens verborgen blijven.                                               Sophie,  geen ij:d.el  menscheiiwoord mogen met de ver-
      Zij moeten immers sinakeq  ,dat !de Heere goed is.                         kondiging van het eeuwig blijvend, levende Woord '
     Ze moeten den God hu.nner volkomene zaligheid kennen Gods  vermengd worden. Het leven, dat door het Woord
     in al <den rijkdom Zijner genade, opdat ze Hem mogen                        ,God,s  gewekt werd, kan alleen door Gods  Woord gel
     verheerlijkei. Ze moetq naar Hem hongeren  en-Gors-'                        vqqd  word??:  _


       SUi'PLEIblENT   T O   T H E   S T A N D A R D  lBE.ARERFOR  OC+.  1 5 ,   1 9 4 4





         The Rev. S.. Cammenga, pres. -of the              and a committee is appointed to regu-             to have Classis  advise the churches to

       last Classis  opened the session. The               late the schedule for these  app.ointmentd.       take up periodic collections for the Clhris-

       roll-call revealed every congregation to            The appointments were adopted as fol-             tian High.       Classis  %nswers  t h e m   a s

       be. represtnted  with two delegates, ex-            lows :                                            follows: that inasmuch as there are
       cept Redlands  and Manhattan; with one              Manhattan, last two Sundays of each               churches resorting under this  Classis

       each. Rev. P. .De  Boer took the chair              month, as follows:                                that have their own llocal  schools to

       and Rev. S. Cammenga kept the minutes                                                                 s u p p o r t ,  Classis  cann.ot  as Classis  ad-
                                                                     Oct. Rev. Blankespoor
       for this session of Classis.  The minutes                                                             vise our churches to financially support
                                                                     Nov. ,Rev.  S. .Cammenga
       of the last- meeting were read and their                                                              this Christian High.          We advise the
                                                                     Dee. Rev. A. Cammenga
       recording approved. The church  visitors                                                              Board of Chr. High to address the con-
                                                                     Jan. Rev. M. Gritters       `:
       for the Calif. churches report that they                                                              sistories in Sioux and Lyon County and
                                                                     Feb. Rev. P. Vis
       have done their work and their report                                                                 Minn. directly and ask for their finan-
       on the visit is accepted. The Classical              Pella, as follows:                         .'    cial support.

       Comm. also renders its report. Then                                                                     Rev. L. Doezema is appointed to thank
                                                                     Oct. 8 Rev. J. Vanden  Breggen
       came the report of the Sermon Com-                                                                    the ladies of the Edgerton  Church for
                                                                     Oct. 22 Rev. S. Cammenga
       mittee, that is, the committee which                                                                  their fine services. Sioux Center invites
                                                                     Nov. 12 Rev. J. Blankespoor
       seeks to gather sermons for reading                                                                   Ciassis $0 have its next meeting there.
                                                                     Nov. 26 Rev. M. Gritters
       purposes.     In connection with this re-                                                             So decided, on first Wed. of  March
                                                                     Dec. 10 Rev. P. Vis
       port, and after lengthy discussion,  Clas-                                                            1945 D.V. Questions of D.K.O. Art. 41
                                                                     Dec. 24 Rev.. G `VOS
.      sis decides to have each minister  s,end                                                              are asked and favorably answered. Script
                                                                     Jan. 15 Rev., A. Cammenga,
       up three sermons, two English, one                                                                    minutes are read and approved.               Rev.
                                                                     Jan. 29 Rev. J. Vanden  Breggen
      Dutch, between now and Jan 1; these                                                                    De Boer speaks a few words of thanks-
                                                                     Feb. 12 Rev. S. Cammenga
       sermons to be mimeographed and seven-                                                                 giving and farewell after .-which  Rev.
                                                                     Feb. 26 Rev. J. `Blankespoor
       ty bound copies to be made available                                                                  G. Vos closes this session in thanks

     ' for &he  consistories.       The entire mat-          Classis  proceeds to vote its Church            to the faithful God for all His love over
       ter is placed in the hands of the present           Visitors,     as follows : Primi:  Revs. G.       us.
     9 sermon committee.,, Revs. Blankespoor               Vos and M. Gritters; secundi: resp. Revs.                  M. GRITTERS, Stated Clerk.
       and Vis..  To the table came also .a corn--         S. Cammenga and J. Blankespoor. Mo-

       munication from the Rev. H. De Wolf,                tion prevails to have the ministers from

       expressing his farewell to  Classis  West           Calif.  visit Calif.  churches and also Man-

       and his best wishes to her in all her               hattan church on their way to the  March

     `labors. A consistory asked advice in  re             Classis.  It also votes a member to the

       a certain matter, which  Classis  gave.             Deputaten Comni. in view. of the fact

                                                           that Rev. Lubbers is now with Classis
                    A f t e r n o o n   S e s s i o n :
                                                           East, the member voted to be proposed

         Orange City's consistory came asking              to Synod is Rev. G. Vos. To the Clas-

       for financial support in the matter of              sical committee Classis  votes Revs. J.

       certain necessary church repairs. It                Blankespoor and A. Cammenga.

       was granted.       Pella asks for classical           Two .brethren,  representing the West-

       appointments, two per month; Manhat-                ern Christian High School appeared at

       tan came,with  the same request, the two            our Classis  seeking to address her on

       appointments to run two  susccessive  Sun-          behalf of that Institution. Rev. P. De

       days. Both these requests are granted               Koekkoek and Prin. J. Vander Ark seek




                                                    THE: STANDARD BE'ARE"R                                -_
   L-p
                                       .__.  .


           &en dat Woord, maar  ook geheel dat Woord!                     den broede? te schaden, te benadeelen, kwaad te doen,
           Ilecielijlte,  onitervaischte  melk !                           is van ;de hiter opgesomde zond,en misschien wel de
                                 -.-- a                      ;L            K-orkel.'  Ge%aat  uwen broeder, wilt hem schaclea,  te
           zijt zeer  begYx?rig  !                                        schaade  maken, zijn, naam uitroeien, hem verwoesten
           Z;iJit;  hongerig en dorstig liaar  die redelijke, onver-      in de boosheid uws harten. Daarui,t volgt ook reeds
   balschte  melk !                                                       de nijdigheid, die het niet hebben kan, dat het den
      Begeer toch d,imm4r &s a3&k;s  dan de volle, o,nveF-               broeder wel gaat ; en ook tde .duiueleche achterklap,
   m e n g d e ,  zuivel& verkomdiging van  h e t   l e v e n d e  en     waardoor ge met hatelijke tong deil naam uws broeders
   eeuwig blijve@le  Woord  vit11  ,Gsd!                                  door het slijk sleurt, bekladt, hem geestelijk bedoelt
       `Laat  uw.e ziel t&  geen bevred&ng zoeken in ds                  te vermoorden. Maar in nauw verband hiermee staan
   vage my&iek van goes:tdrijtierq  die u `zou afvoeren van               ook de zonden valn be&I:o.g,  de leugen in actie, en van
   ,cle waarheid, rdie in Christus is, pp de wieken van-                  geveinsdheid en huiskelcwii,  waardoor ge uwe boosheid
   schijn-zalige  gevoe'sa~~,do~~,iIlgent  of zou doen om-               en kwaaldlheid en nijdigheid en achterklap een masker
' I<on~e~  in &S  neveien `van panthestische,   d r o o m e r i j  :    van vroomheid aandoet.
  r%&&jke  ?-&lk zijt ge moadig,           Laat  t& geen arglistig-            Al clete boosheden zijn zoovele werkingen der zonde
   heid vn bedriegelijke `dwaa&x&efi'  toe, dat ze ooit                  in uwe 1,eden.         '
   de zuivere melk van het Woord Gods,  waafdoor alleen                       Als ge deze goddeloosheden den vrije.n teugel viert,
   uwe ziel gevoed kaa #worden ten leven, vermengen met                   heeft in d$vlev'en  de oude mensch  der`zon,de den boven-
   de,ijdele philosophie van menschen : overvalachte  melk                toon.
   moet ge 32geeren.                                                           En die oude mensch fder  zonde is van beneden.       Hij
       En bege.eren moet .ge :deze melk.                                  i7oed.t  zich met ongerechtigheid en leugen.    Hij heeft
      Zeer begeerig moet uwe ziele naar haar zijn!                        zeker geen begeerte naa&  de redelijke oa,vervalschte
       Naa,r Gods  Woord most uwe ziel hongeren en dors-                  melk. Integeildeel,  van deze heeft hij `een afkeer. tiij
   ten.      Dan toch alleen zult ge het in u op-emen, door               haat het levend en eeuwig blijvend Woord van God,
   het geloof verwerken, gevoed wopden en opwassen!                       waar het verkondigd wordt.      Hij verzet zich er tegen
       Edoch, is dit niet ,eeile etwat vreemde vermaning?                met al, wa.t in hem is.
       Als er dan toch eenma@ bij het kleine kind gees                        Hoe zult ge dan, waar deze oude mensch en zijne
   eetiust  is, zai men het door een vermanend woord tot                  werkin6gen bij u den. boventoon voeren, begeerig zijn
   begeerte naar voedsel kunnen opwekken?               En is het op      naar ,de redelijke onuervalschte  melk? Eene geestelijk?
                                                                                                                          ,
   geestelijk gebied niet even onmogelijk als op natuur-                  lonmogelijkheid  -is het.
   lijk gebied om iema&l?.d  tot hoinger en dorst naar het                    Zoo legt dan af! . . . .
   waarachtige Woord Go:ds  te vermanen?                                      Ach neen, dat beteekent ni,et, dat ge. bij machte
       `t Is waar, op zichzelf ware ,deze vermaning ijdel.                zoudt zijn, om eens en voor goed uwe oude, .zo,ndige
       Maar .de apostel doet meer. Hij wijst ook den                      natuur af te leggen en kwijlt. te worden..      Van den
   Weg, waarin `de nieuwgeboren kinderkens velrwachten                    ouden mensch komt ge n.iet af tot den dood toe.
   mogen, dat z zullen hongeren en dortiten  naar ,de ge-                    Maar wei wil dit zeggen, dat ge steeds door ,waakt
   rechtigheid, en bege.eral.  zull,en naar de redelijke on-              en bi:dt, en strijdt Iden goeden strijd des- geloofs; dat
   vervalschte melk.          Zoo toch mo,et het woord .verstaan          &e bij dagen en bij Inachten  de werkingen van den
   wosden,  waarmede hij deze vermaning aanvangt :  "Zoo                  ouden mensch' dr zonde door de ,kracht van Gods
 legt .dfall-af alle kwaa'dheid, en alle bedrog, en geveinsd-             genade tegenstaa;t.;  en daat ge den r&uwen mensch, clie
  heid, en nijdigheid, en alIe achterklappingen". . . .                   naar God geschapen is, ook in het lichaam dezes  doocls
       Het eene is onafscheidelijk aan het andbere ver-                   doet heersehen en aldoor oefent in dezeii- geestelijken
   bo,nden.                                                               strijfd.
       Van tween n, ge legt af alle  kwaadhed;  bedrog,                   In den weg van deze voortdurende  gees:telijke  oefe-
  geveinxlh@d, 1 nijdigheid, _ en alle achterklappingen, en               ning, zti$t.  ge zeer begeerig zijn inaar de redelijke on-
  wat dies niber ,zij, en dan zult ge ook de, begeerte naar               vervalschte~  melk.                      . .
   de r,edelijke,  onverval.schte  melk in u ervaren; of ge                   Want het is de nieuwe mensch, !die :dan den boven-
  koesitert  deze zo,a.clen,  of ook slechts n er van aan uw            toon voert.
  hart, maar des versterft ook in  u .de ware geestelijke                     En het. is deze ni.eqwe mensch, het nieuwgebo?en
  eetlus:,  en alle ,begeertr naar het leven'd en eeuwig blij-            kindeke in u, het beginsel der w,edergeboorte alleen, dat
  vend Woord van IGod  vergaat bij u.                                     begeerig zijn.ka!n  naar het levend en eeuwig blijvend
   . Hoe kan  h e t   a n d e r s ?                                       Woord van Go.d!
       Kwaadheid, bedrog, geveinsdheid, nijdigheid, ach-                      Dan zult ge hongeren ei [dorsten naar de.gerechtig-
  terklap,' en zooveel meer w,erkingen der zonde, zijn                    beid !
  uitingen van uwen, ouden zondigen, totaal bedorven                         -Dan zult ge eten en verzadigd worden!
  ,men&h,         Kqqd?@d,  cla) _is ,de neiging en begeerte  om,             En opwassen $Qt de zali&eid!                     R. El,


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28                                                                                                     , THE  S T A N D A R D  BEARE-R



                               The Standaxd   B e a r e r
              Se&-Monthly, except Monthly in July and' Auglist                                                                                                                               .' EDITORIALS
                                                                Published by

                         The Reformed Free Publishing Association

                                              946 Sigsbee Stree, S. E.                                                                                                   _.
                                       EDITOR - Rev. H. .Hoeksema                                                                                                                   -As t6 Proposal. of Lsd No. I'2
   Contributing editors_Revs.  J. Blaqkespoor,  A. Cammenga,                                                                                                                        Wk received the following communicd:.ion  :
       P. De Boer, J. D. de Jong,. H. De Wolf, L. Doezema,                                                                                                                      Dear Mr. Editor,
       M. Gritbesrs,  C. Hanko, B. Kok, G'. Lubbers, G. M. dphoff,                                                                                                                                             !
                                                                                                                                                                                    We were astonished to I:ead on page 470 of the
 `A. Petter, -M. Schipper,  JI Vanden  Breggen, H. Veldman,
       R. Veldman, .L. Vermeer, ,P. Vis, G. Vos, W. Hofman,                                                                                                                     Standard Bearer of Se\ptember  1, 1944, what Mr.
       J. Heys, Mr. S. De Vries.                                                                                                                                                Richard Tempelma,n  had written to yod  in a personal

       Communications .relative  to contents should be addressed                                                                                                                letter. He undoubtedly did not intend it for  publica-
  to REV. H. HOEKSEMA,  1139 Franklin St., S. E., Grand                                                                                                                         kion.      And,`Mr.  Editor, we weFe'my&ified  also by you:!-
       Rapids, Michigan.                                                                                                                                                        action.      WFat  :did you hope to gain by the publication
  `Communjcations  rel&tive  to subscription should be ad-                                                                                                                      of that letter, without havi*ng  tried to verify its con-
dressed to MR. GERRIT PIPE, 946 Sigsbee Street. S. E.,                                                                                                                          tents?      Surely it coulcl serve no good purpose.
       Grand RaGids, Mich.  All Atinowwements  and Obituaries                                                                                                                       As !to the .cor&ents  of the ,letter  : we will answer the
       must be sent to the above address and will not'be placed
                                                                                                                                                                                charges. We particularly resent the attack  `upon the
   unless the regular  fee of $1.00 accompani'es  the notice.
                                                                                                                                                                                Convention. prqcedure  and the  reflection op the C.L.A.
                                           Subscription $2:50  per year
                                                                                                                                                                                Secretai-y.  It is true that debate on the proposal of
 Entered as second class  tilail  at Grand Rapids,  Michigin
                                                                                                                                                                                Local 12 `was limi::ed  to one hour.        Bu% that was done
-*;.                                                              -.                                                                                                            for no other reason than that- time was very limited
                                                                                                                                                                                si:nce we met for only  o,ne afternoon in Convention.
                                                                                                                                                                                Mr. Tempelman  did not, ,either  at the National Board
                                                                    CONTENTS
                                                                                                                                                                                meeting, held ial the forenoon of it.he  same ,day,  nor at
MEDITATION-                                                                                                                                    , i                              khe Convention meeting pbotest  about this limitation.

  GEESTELIJKE                                                                                                                                                                   He also failed to mention that at the National Board
                                              ~~3m..wr . . . .' . . *........* . . . . . . . . . . . . . s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . * . . . . . . .     25
                                                     d                                                                                                                          meeting, held `in t.he moxning,  the question was dis-
            Rev. H. Hoeksema.                                                                                                                                                   cussed'for more than an hour in hiis presence, and that

                                                                                                                                                                                the National Board could thei?  already have ,decided  by
E D I T O R I A L S : -  __                                                                                                                                                     a large majority to recommend :to the Convention `not
       AS TO PROPOSAL 6F LOCAL NO. 12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                                                                                                               to adopt th,e%  proposal of Local 12, but  thati  it. did not
                                                                                                                                                 c .,....,..............  28
                                                                                                                                                                                M&ke use of that prerogative, but instead  deaided  to
EXPOSITION OF THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM........30                                                                                                                                bring the proposal before the Conve.ntion  without com-

            R e v .   H .  $Ioeaksema                                                                                                                                           men;t,  in order to avoid even `the semblance of  high-
                                                                                                                                                                          I     pressure tactics.
       RENEWED A+OS_TACY                                                 AND REPENTANCE\ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34                                                 It is true that the C.L.A.  secretary spoke on the

                                                                                                                                                                                proposal ahead of, the delegates from Local 12,~  but that
              Rev. G. M. O p h o f f
                                                                                                                                                                                was not intentioilal.      Th.e Secr&ary  was asked by the
                                                                                                                                                                                President to place the proposal before the  m,eeting,
       D E LES DER HISTORIE . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...' . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
                                                                                                                                                                                in his capacity as secretary, which lie did. He then

       ,`,Rev.  G.Vos'                                         _`I'                                                                                                             stated what the C.L.A.`s  position- on the strike had
 i& .( -'                             r -                                                                                                                                       always been, tha$  it is the historical  p&iti.on  of. the

       THE POWER O F PUBLIC                                                        OPINION ..,........,... I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40                         Christian labor movement, that the arguments pre-
  .
                                                                                                                                                                                sented by Local 12 were.  not convincin.g,  and that
       . . ..Iiev.  J. De Jong
                                                                                                                                                                                .t.herefore  th,e.  Executive Committee was opposed to

                                                                                                                                                                                adoptioa  of the proposal.          Inst.eacl of taking up the
       PROOFS FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
                                                                                                                                                                                greater part of -the hour we will vouch for it that the

           Dick Vander Wal                                        "                                                                                                             secretary did not take more than ten minutes!             When
                                                                                                                                                                                Mr. Tempelman later stated thait.  he did not like that
 :. GLEANIN,& FROM `TWENTY YEARS . . . . . . . . :. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  ..I.. 45' procedure the secretary frankly stated that he didn't
                                                                                                                                                                                Fither,  but  that it was not improper and that no harm
           Rev. W. Hofman i                                                                                                                                                     had been  done. *.
                                                                                                                                                                                   Tha;t. was entirely true,        The..simpKe  fact. is th& thq
                                                                                                                 ._ ,.,.."... v.,i _ _ _~


   -.-        _ .-                             T H E  STA,NDARD  BEAREi                                                          29
                                                                                  .

   delegation that was supposed to ,defen,d.  Local 12's pro-           South Dakota, arid when I returned it was too late for
   posal was confu.sed  about the whole thing. Mr. .Tempel-             its pu.blication  in the Standard `Bearer of Oct. .l. I
   man hifisel>f admits the inabilitjr  to ,defend  the pro-            had left my copy for the last named issue with thz.
   p&al, but tries to put .the ,blame  on the secretary who             prir&r before I left Grand Rapids, and when I  ie-
   supposedly "puit. a rope around the necks" of the Local              turned that issue was already on' the press.  ,This
   12 delegates.              Whatever Mr. Tempelmati means by          by way of ,explanatic&.:'             .
   that expression, it is absurd.                                           2. As to the contents of  the  communication, it is.
          The brothe?  did not state facts either when he said          not for me to gainsay or  admit the truth of what t.he
   that. Local 12's delegates tried to get another word  for            brethren write about the procedure at their annual
 the word "s:,rik&  when they realized th.e hopelessness                meeting of the C.L.A. wi.th  regard to the proposal of
   of getting anywher.e  with the original proposal. Fa-t               Local No. 12. Mr. Tempelman, `who supplied the in-
   is t.hat in the debate they were led to admit that i.t was           formation to which the aboee  communication gives '
   not so much  against -the use of ;t'he strike in principle           the lie, can have all the opportunity he wan&
   that they were opposed, but to the use of the word                       3. I am, however, concern,ed  with the first para-
   "strike" as used by the  r,adical &ions because of its               graph of the communication.. The brethren appear to
   offensive implicatibns.           Mr. I. De' Mey, of the Tailors'    have been s0mevirha.t  overheated when they wrote that
   Local, who drew that statement from them, was there-                 paragraph, judging from the .big  words and unwar-
   upon very quick to point out that then the proposal                  ranted statements they use, as well as from the fact
   did ilot make sense and that it shopld-have  dealt only              that they jump tb the conclusion that 5 muist  have
   with the &ubstitu%ion>  of another  word` for the word               been  motivated bJT  some evil design, when I published
   "strike."             The delegate from Kalamazoo, Mr. P. Smit,      the informa.t.ion  I received from Mr. Tempelmaa.
   thereupon asked whether such a word could not be                     They wfere `%stonished,"  they were, in fact, "mysti-
   found, and t.he Secretary stated that he too had been                fied" by my action!        They openly state tmhat  Mr. Tem-
  .lookin&  for another word,  and that  the .best he could             pelman wrote me a person&  letter, which was undoubt-
   think  of was "cessation !of work."          Others pointed out      .eclly  not intended for publication. And they wonder
   that a change was nec'esisary  but that we.  would have              what I hoped to gain by this publication, but surely
   to instruct the people .that what  sthe  C.L.A. understands          "it cou1.d  serve n,o good -purpose." This certainly con-
   by a str,ike  is something different than that of the un-            cer;ns me.
   christian. organizations.            The delegates of Local 12          4. And then I must kindly ask the brethren, if
   were to1.d  thalt.  if a substitute for th,e  word strike was        ever they desir.e  space in thje  Stu&ulard  Be~iwer again,
   what they were  `seeking another propo.sal  to that ef-,             to refpain  froin  such tactics, and to leave all person-
   feet ought to be brought neirt  year. Thereupon tile                 alities kindly out of the discussion.      Our paper is fair
   proposai  before the Convention was.  voted down.                    to all tha.t desire to use it for the  .discussion  of the
          That, Mr. Editor, is `the true aild complete ,stori,          truth.    I like to give the brethren  of the :C.L.A.  ample
   to which the underisgned six members of the Execu-                   space, as the past issu&s  of our paper will abundantly
   tive Committee, outside of th,e  Stecretaiy,  attes.:.  If           prove.         But they must not -become personal, must not     ,
   that is not sufficient we are sure that  wle can get                 allow themselves to be astonished or mystified tit a
   testimony to the .truthfulness  of it fpom  practically              perfectly clear and simple matter, and not imputi?
   all those who wtere  present at the Convention.                      evil motives where there was `none. I may also sug-
          We requ,est  that you, in fairness to us and to               gest in this connection that it is quite sufficient to sign
   remove the unfair reflection on the C.L.A. Secretary.                a communication wi.th  one single signatL!re.        We do
   publish this letter in, the, next issue .of The Standard             not need a list of names in our paper to fill it.      Per-
   B e a r e r .                                                        ha.ps Mr. Tempelman will be incliped  to send in a
                                               Ralph De Groot           commupication  with eight names to contradict the
                                               Sam Sterk                six. And .before  long we have ninety two.
                                               Andrew Lamer                5. The above brethren write that Mr. Tempelman
                                               Edward Stegink           had written me a personal  l,etter,  which was not. in-
                                               Henry C. Van Wyk         tended for publication. This is an untruth. In the
                    .                          Ralph Kok                Sept. 1 i'ssue  of our paper\.1  wrote: "Although the
R E P L Y :                                                             writer, Mr. R. Tempelma,n,  does not state whettier  or
                                                                        not he intended this for publication, we thought there
          1. I am sorry ihat  circums'tances ma'de  it impos-           was nothing secret about the  ivhole  matter, and that i!.
  sible for me to publish then above `communication ii?                 was but fair to all concerned that we made it public.!'
  the ,last  number of our paper.             It arriv.ed  at my ad-    This means sitiply .that Mr. Tetipelman  did not as!:
   dress about .the  fifteenth .of September,. though it was            me in so many words to pu.blish his communi,:atio2
   dated the eighth. ' At. that time I, happened to be in               over his own name, although he certainly did not
                                                                                       .


  30                                             T - H E  ~TANDA,RD   BE A R E R
                                      ,
  intend it for private use by me, but sent rrie the

  information td be used by me as the editor of the                     !.     The Triple Knowledge
  Stuwdard  Bearer. Let Mr. Tempelman himeslf testi-

  fy whet.her this !S not the truth. How then can the
  above brethren write that Mr. T,empelman  seht me
a person;&  letter, npt, in.tlended  for publication at all?                  An Exposition Of The Heidelberg
  They must, indeed, hsive b,een  mystified!

        6: Besides, what wrong wds there in Publishing the                                      C a t e c h i s m  
  information by Mr. Tempelman? To me it- seems,                                                                               r
  first of all.`th&t  there was.' nothing secretive. about                                        PART TWO
  the' contents of Mr. Tempelman'; commutiication.  In                                        OF MAN'S REDEMPTION
  fact, had I kept it to myself, I might have left the
  impression with those who virere acquainted with it                                            Lord's  Day XII

  that I allowed myself to become a party to backbiting.  .                                             6
  What wrong can ther,e  possibly ,be in publishing some-
  one's .estimate,  even though it is unfavorable, of a                                       The One Sacrifice
  public meeting such as the armual meeting of thL?                                     (cont. from Vol. XX, p. 397).
  ,C.L.A. was-to a large extent?           Do not *the brethren of
  the 0L.A. have :t.he right and also the opportunity to                       The m,oraZ theory  of the aufferi,ng  of Christ .stands
  gainsay Mr. Tempelman ?            Arid, in the second place,`-       condemned, first of all, in the  ,ligl$ of all that Scrip-
  htid  not the secretary of the C.L.A. openly written  tha!            ture teaches us concerning the state and condition  oLC
  the proposers of. "Proposal No. i2" w&e  not able  to                 th,e  natural' man, and the character of sin.
  defen.d  their ow`n  proposal ? It w'as to this state-                       For, acc,ording  to Scripture, sin is.guilt, and the
  ment that Mr. Tempelman replied, &id which h c sinner is liable to punishment, worthy of damnation;
* meant to explain in his ,communi,:ation.                 And to do    wholly, *unworthy  of God's favor, a <child  of wrath.
  this in public,  even through the Stcmdard  .&`earer if               Sin is not only, and not in the first place, an inherent
  he so `desired, he had a perfect right. And he may                    weakness or defilement of .the human nature, some
  certainly answer  the above communication if:that  is                 moral imperfection that. may be removed by  th[?
  h i s   d e s i r e .                                                 i.nfluence  "of s.ome  sound moral example: it is guilt.
        And now: no fur.t.her  persoiial  insinuations. And             And this means that the sinner, as the object of God's             _
   only one name, please!                                  H. H.        just cond,emnation,-lies  in the midst of death, and has

                           ~_--                                         no right .to life.     This also  implies his spiritual death,_
                                                                        according to which he is incapable of doing any good
                           N    O     T     I    C    E                 and inclined to all evil.      He is legally a slave of sin.
        To subscribers and"members  of the Standard Bear-               His moral depravity is the punishment that is inflicted .
  er : On our annual membership meeting held Sept. 14 ;                 upon him by the righteous judgment of God.  ,Hence,
  *he followirl?.g  men wel:e chosen as new Board meni-                 suppose even that it were possible to reform man, to
 `hers,  D. Jonker,  S, De  Vries and G. Pyp ; on a'.rec,Ant            deliver him from his moral depravity by a mere
. held Board meetilng MRilr.  G. Pyp was chosen treasurer               example ,or moral influence, the natural man would
  to take the place of Mr. R. Schaafsma who for 11 years                not even have the right to such deliverance from the
  has faithfully worked as treasurer of the Ref. Free                   slavery . of sin.       Before he may be clelivere$   t h e
  Publ. Ass'n., but due to lingerilig  illness had to lay               justice of God against s.in must. be satisfied. And,
  ,down this work. In all thbese  years.  this brofher  has             as we have repeatedly emphasized, this satisfaction of
  *freely  given his time and effort fok;  which we are                 God%,  justice `can be accomplished o.illy  through su&
  grateful and pray that the Lord may  bless  him with                  a vbluntary  bearing of the wrath of God ancl of the
  Ithat assurance that his labor was not .in vain and                   punishment of sin that constitutes an act of the per-
  that he may receive grace to patiently walk the way ii1               fect obedience of love. There is no deliverance from
  which the Lord also now  lea,ds'him.                                  sin without atonement for sin.        There is no possibility
         Communications relatiye  to renewal of snbscrip-               of sanctification without justification.        If -the death
  tions and membership fees or gifts should now be                      of Christ is not the sacrifice of vicarious atonement,
  sent to Mr. Ge'rrit`pyp,  946 `Sigsbee St., Grand Rapids              it certainly cannot have _the power of .moral  improve-
  :,6,' Michigan.                                                       ment or reformation.
  El. S. Please remember the cost of our paper has in-                         Besides, this moral theolrzj of'the antonement really
  creased above cost price, so your prom@.  renewal sub-                proceeds. from .the supposition that mari  is inherently
  scription and  gifts will be appreciated.                             good; though `his nature is weakened and morally jn-
                                                      The Board         capacitated somewhat;' If only he considers how  in-


                                               T H E .   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                            81


        finitely good a.nd  loving and merciful God is, he will,        claimed the death of Christ as an atoning sacrifice
        by the contelnplation  of this good and loving Fathe?,          for the sins of His ow:n..  Jesus Christ, the righteous,
        be persuaded to love Him too, and strive for  imprqve-          is a propitiation fbr our sins, I John 2 :2. He is the
        ment that he Gay be pleasing in God's sight. And                faithful and merciful High Pri&,t.,  that makes recon-
        that he may be able to understand and  contemplate              ciliation for the sins of the  peopl,e,  Heb. 2 :17. He
      fhis great love  of God-,  the Most High enters into our          Himself bare our sins in his own body on the tree,
        deepest woe through the death of His Son.          However,     that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteous-
        Scripture teaches us, not that man is morally weak              ness, I Pet. 2:24.     The Ch.urch  is bought with a price,
        by nature, but that he is dead through trespasses and           `1 Cor. 6 :20; `7:23.  And all the sacrifices of -the old
        sins.    He is not in need of Teformation,  but of regen-       disptinisation  pbint to .the  same truth: Christ's death
        eration, and unless he is born again, he cannot evefl           is the vicarious atoa,ement,  whereby the justice of God
        see the ki?gdom  of %od.  No amount. of moral influ-            is for ever satisfied against the sins of His  peopl?,
        ence will do him a particle of good. The very con-              and through which they are reconciled  to Him.
        trary is. true.    The more the loye of God is demon-             A second theory' of the significance of the death of
.'      &rated,  provi,ded  it is' truly .the love od GOD that is       (Christ that. denies the Scriptural truth of satisfac-
        shown, the more he will hate God and hold the truth             tion and vicarious atonement, is' known as the goveryz-
        in unrighteousness. The very cross of Christ., that  -is        mental Theo@. It denies that it was necessary that

        supposed to exert this salutary moral  influen.ce  upon         God's justi,ce  be satisfied. Christ did  not have to
        the sinner, is sufficient .proof  of .this.    Let us not be    su&er  and die in-order to bear the sins of many, and
        oblivious of the fact, that, although God delivered His         thus- to' atone for them.     God's mercy is exactly that
        only  begotten Son to the death of the cross, he was            He forgives sin, that He cancels the debt without pay-,
      takeli  and slain by the  .hands  of wicked men. And              ment. However, it would .be a dangerous, a morally
      . Y&her than being morally improved -by the sight of              impossible thing to forgive the sinner, and to treat
        .the suffering of the righteous Son of God, they jeered         him as if he had never  committed any sin, without
        and mocked and blasphemed as lo,ng as. they ,dar@  at           first causing  him to acknowledge the righteousness
        ttie  spectacle of Golgotha! Apart. from God's act of           and justice of God.     IHe woul:d get the impression that
        reconciliation through the atoning death of His Son,            God is indifferent to si.n.;tha.t  He, is not te?ribly  dis-
        the cross reveals nothing but wrath  and judgment.              pleased with the workers and work of iniquity. Even
        It is the condemna.tion  of the world.                          ,though  God forgives the si,nner,  and receives him
           Further, what ,demonstration  of God's love ~could           again into His favor, He must maintain the moral
        one possibly discern ifi the cross of Jesus, considered         order of the universe, and, the Sinner must repent
        as an act of God, ,if the death of Christ is not an aton-.      and acknowledge. that God is holy and righteous. An3
        ing sacrifice for sin?    If Christ did not bear .our sins      Ito bring him to bhe acknowledgement of God's right-
        upon  :$he accursed tree, He did not represent us.      And     eousness, and to true repentance, God gives a ,demo.n-
        if He did no.t represent us, He could not -justly  ent.er       stration  of His wrath and justice in  the deatin.  of His
        into our death, and God could not-justly send Him into          Son.    In delivering up His ow.n Son He clearly re-
      our death and hell. Surely,. it is quite impossible to            veals to the sinner what He might righteously do $b
        discern how such an unjust and  .quite  super%luo!ls            every sinner.    Just as a general might court martial
      infliction of suffering on' the righteous Son of God,             and sentence, to death every soldier of a regiment that
        which apart from t.he i,dea of atonemeilt  and suffering        con-imitted mutiny, but singles out only one, the ring-
      for sin can be little more than an empty, though ter-             leader, perhaps, and hangs him in the sight of all the
        rible show, could be a revelation of God's love, .and a         rebels, so God demoastrated  His righteousness and dis-
        power for the moral improvemknt  of the sinner.                 pleasure against sin, by sending Christ into death'thdt
           Lastly, it is quite tru,e  that th,e Bible holds before      we might go free. And .t.he sinner, looking by faith
                                                                        ,at that demonstration of the justice and wrath of
        us the sufferi'$s  of Christ as an examplte,  w&h  we

        must follow. But, let it be noted, first of all, that           (Gold,  will confess his sins, acknowledge that  Gocl  is
        this example of Christ's suffering is  hel'd, not before        righieous,  and thus assume the position in which God,,
      the natural  man and'for  his moral improvement, but              while maintaining His moral government. of the uni-
        before those~  that have been redeemed by the .d,eath  of       verse, may forgive him, and  treat him as if he had
        Ckist, called by :His grace out of darkness into the            never had or committed any sin.
        light, and in principle delivered from the power  aad              That also this theory must be rejected as con-
        dominion of- sin and d,eath,  that they might be to the         trary to the plain teachings of Holy Writ, and, besides,
        praise of the glory of God's, grace  in the Beloved.            as inherently absurd and impossible, is not sdifficult  to
       And, secondly, though t.he Scriptures certainly pr,e-            see. All the Scriptural passages tha% speak of the death
        sent the suffering of Christ as an examp1.e  for us to          of Christ as a sacrifi,ce for sins, a rgnsom,  as a price
       follow, it never does so except after it has: first pro--        that was paid for oGr  redemption, as :a propitia$ion


                                                                                                                 -.4._.`__I*
  32                                    ` T H E '   S T A N D A R D  B~EARER '


for                                                              siniler with eternal death,  not the .most earnest and
        sin, as an  atoneme@  and reconciliatioil,  through

  blood, condemn this presentation of the significa*nce          heartfelt repentance can satisfy the justice of God.

  of Christ's death and; of the redem$ion of the Church          But only such an act of obedience, whereby the sinner

  as' contrary to the revealed Word of God. `To be sure,         voluntarily and from the love of God suffers the pun-
 the death of Christ is a setting  forth,  a demons:ration,      ishme&`.for  sin to the end, is capable of blotting  out
  a. declaration of the righteousness of God ii1 justify-        the gui,lt  of sin.     This act of lovihg disobe$iience  in the .
  iGg  the ungodly, but only and exactly because it is a         suffering of eternal death the sinne? could never .per-

  payment of the ,&ebt,  a satisfying of the justice of          form, still less accompli;41  perfectly to the end. But
  ,God,  a "propitiation through faith in His blood,"            God's own eternal Son i,n our flesh, ordained to be

  Rom. 3 :25,  26.    Only `because. Christ represented His      ;the  Head of all His elect, was authorized and capable
  people in the hour of the righteous judgment of God,           to bring fhis ivilling  sacrifice instead of His guilty

  and as their Repres,entative  tpok  upon Himself the           people._ This,. an& not a mere demonstration o'f the
  guilt of .their  sins., so that He pcould  justly bear the     justice  of God, is the meaning of the cros.`;  of Christ.

  wrath of God in'their stead and in their behalf, was           And this is also its power  ulito  salvation unto every
  the death of Christ indeed a demonstration of God's            one that believes.
  unchangeable righteousness.                                        Finally, we must-briefly review  in this co,nneztion

         How o.therwise  could it possibly be such a demon-      what. is known as the mysticuJ t,heory  of the death of
  straiion?  Even if, accor,ding  to the` illustration used      Christ. This theory, in common with the two presenta-

  above, tihe general of an army s,elects  one of the            tions. of the meaning of Christ's suffering which we
  guilty muti.&ee?s  to punish him in the sight of all           already discpssed, also den,ies that Christ's death is
  ihe rebels,,  and lets the others go free, this can hardly     substitutional.        It must ,have nothing of what is often
  be considered a demoi;stration  of righteousness and           called "blood theology."         Those who support this view
  justice, f,or all were guilty an& deserved punishtient.        scpff at the idea of the necessity of satisfaction.  They.
  However, in such a case it is, at least, one of the gnilt;y    will not hear of guilt and punishment, but  ratsher  em-
  o,nes that is sel.e&ed  to receive .the punishment as an       phasize that the sinner is morally weak and  s:ck,

  example to_+11 the rest:  ' An innocent outsider could         and must be delivered from the power of sin.              To this
. not. possibly serve such a purpose. But with  Christ           end Christ entered intq our nahre,  and on the cross
  this is different. H,e knew no sin. Unless the guilt of        He actually bore our sinful nature ard  delivered it
  His people could be and was imputed to  Hi;r!. so Iha!         up unto death. On the cross our sinful nature died

  He could suffer their punishment -in their stead,  there       principally. And in the resurrection He arose  wit;.r
  was no sin and gutit  upon His head for the which He           a rew,  glorified, holy nature, wholly free  frolil  sin

  ,could  justly be made `to &uff'er death. If; therEfore,       and death. Now, through faith we.become  mysticall)
  our Lord suf?er$t  merely as a demonstra*lion  of the          one with that Christ, who led to death and buried  our
  ju.$i& and righ%,eousness  -of God against sin;in order        sinf,ul  nature, and who arose in glory and righteous-
  to impress us sinners with the truth tliat  God -might         ness.      Through this mystical union also their sinful
  justly d$mn  us, all to eternal death, the demon.:tration      nature is crucifi,ed,  and also they rise unto' neiTness
  misses the point entirely.      To make ,the just suBe:*       of life. And ~so they  become  reconciled to God.
  as an example for the unjust is not a sho,;v  of right-            .There  i,s, of course, an element of truth in this
  eousnee.s  and of justice, but of the grossest injustice.      mystical theory, provided it is left in its proper  con-
  %ch a demonstration, even thpugh this method wo~lcl            nection,  am?  viewed. in the proper~light.  The Word
  be. sufficient to `satisfy .&hd  main'.ain  thy jusiice of     of, God teaches us, indeed, that by grace we become one
  God, would be quite devoid of power to bring men to            plant with Christ, so that our old nature is crucified
 .ail acknowledgetient  of the justice of God, and to            with Him; and with Him we are raised to newness of
  true repent&e and sorrow over sin, simply because              life. We are crucified with Christ, and we are raised
  it' is no .*de?nonstration  of justice, but of injuslice:      with Hini, and. we are set with Him in heavenly
         And finally, such  a demonstration of the right-        places.     Scripture teaches, indeed, that in and through
  eousness of Goci' could never accomplish the recon-            the suffeking  and death of Christ,  sin itself was con-
  ciliation of men with God. Sin is not merely a de-             demned in th*e flesh, 80 that it has no long& the
  nial of the justice of God ia the consciences `and con-        right and the power to have ,dominion  over us. .Rom.
  sciousness of men, it is also ifi the objective sense z        8 :3.      And thus there is surely power in the cross
  violatio,n  of God's law.     It is rebellion against the      to deliver us from the power and corruption of sin
  Most High. It is guilt. It mu&  be blotted out. And            through our union with Christ. But we must not
  it can be blotted out only through satisfactidn,  that is,     overlook the fact  that the Word of God always pre-
  through an act of obedience  that is the complete anti-        sents this power of deliverance from  ,the dominion and
  thesis of the act_ of sin committea.  Not the mere             defilemlent  of sin as. the fruit of the cross, never as
@nlowledgetient  that God could justly O@_misl~  eirery          the ground @f our .re-oncilation  and justification.           Thz


                !


                                       T H E ,   S T A N D " A R D   B E A R E R                                              33


 latter is found only in the vicarious suffering of  our         d.o mine o&n will, but the will of him that seat  me.
 Lord, in His perfect sacrifice for sin, never in our'           And this is the Father's, will wlhich  hath s&t me,
 being "crucified with Christ in mystical union with             that of all which he hnth given me I should lose no-
 Him. And, secoil.dly,  this spiri,tual  fruit of th,e  death    thing, but should raise it up again at the last day."
 of Christ is given us only on the ground  af His                John 6 :38,  39. Hence, the Lord is never discouraged,
 perfect satisfaction, and of our being  ja+&ifiecr  by          even though under His preaching the things of the
 faith in Him. We are not justified because we die               kingdom of -heaven are hid from the  wise and pruden't,
`and rise with Christ in the mystical sense, but we are          aad'revealed  only to the babes, for He knows. that  this
 delivered and sanctified because we are justified               is the good pleasure of the Father, Matt. 11:26.  _ And
through His blood., Justification is ever, the grouncl           "all that. th_e Father giveth. me shall come to me."
 of our sanctification.                                          John 6 :37.        He is the good Shepherd, and He knows
    All these theories of the meaning  and; power of             His sheep, and  is ljnown of His. .And He lays down
 the death of Christ must be rejected. They are a                His life, n6t for. all men, bu:t  for His sheep. It -is
 denial of the one sacrifice of Christ scomplished on            not the free wiil bf man that determines who shall be-
the cross.     They deprive us of the silre  ground qf ou.r      long to His sheep, for the Stiviour  knows His sheep
 salvation, and of the only comfort in life and death,           as those whom the Father gave Him, even before
 that. we are not our own, but belong to our faithful            they know Him. Hence, he  can declare: "And other
 Saviour Jesus Christ, who fully satisfied for all our           sheep I have, which are not of this fold: _ them also
 sins, and d,elivered  us from all the power  of the devil.      must- I bring, and they shall hear my voice  ; and
 For this sure ground can only be the righteousness of           there shall be one fold, and one shepherd." John
,God,  realized in the perfect obedience and satisfaction        10 :14-16.      To `the opposing and murmuring Jews
 of Christ, imputed' to us freely by grace, and given            he says : "But ye believe not, because ye are not of my
 unto us and appropriated by ux through faith. All-              sheep,? as I said unto you." Let us take  note of this
these theories somehow substitute a righteousnesS  of            remarkable word.        Many may be inclined to turn this
_man  for the righteousness of God  ; and the former can         saying of the Lord about, so that it  1vould, read: "Ye
never be the ground of our salvation.           <God was in      are not of my sheep, because ye believe riot."          Never-
 Christ. reconciling the world unto Himself, not im-             theless, the Lord emphatically decla:&es the very oppo-
puting their trespasses unto them.             For He hath       site : bgcause  they are not His sheep, i.e. because they do
made Him sin tihat knew no sin, .that w,e might be-              not belo&.  to His God-given -flock, therefore they do
' come i;he  righteoustiess  of God in Him.     All this was     not believe.       His sheep surely hear His voice, and He
actually accomplished nineteen hundred years ago.                knows them, and they foilow Him, and He gives them
It is purely of God, in no wise of us.         Not our good-     ,eternal  life. And no one is ever able to pluck them
,ness,  not our faith, not our religion or  pi&y,  not any-      out of His hand'. :Iiis  Father Who gave Him the
thing that is of. us can po,ssibly  be the ground of our         sheep is stronger than. .all,l  and no one can pluck them
 salvation.    But the righteousness of. God through             out of His Fatmher's  hand. John-IO :26-29.        Only those,
Jesus Christ, and that  righteouseness  absolutely alone,        then, whom the Father `ordained to life and gave to
 is the ground of our hope in God, the sure basis of             Jesus, belong to His sheep. And  fol- them He gave
all our salvaltion, our etq-nal  peace!                          His life, and offered the.perfect  sacrifice on the cross.
                                                                                                                     H. H.

                           -- ,                                                                  \

                              7.

                   Atoned'For  The Elect.

    Christ is ,the  High Priest'  of His people,    And His                                 ` N O T I C E
people a&e they whom the Father hath given Him
before the foundation of $he worl,d.       And these are :the        The protestant  Reformed Consistorial  Conference
eltect,  chosen a,nd ordained unto eternal life out of           will meet Friday .evening,  O&ober  27, 8 :OO  o'clock, at
free and-sovereign grace..      And His sacrifice-to atone       the Roosevelt  Park Protestant R:eformed  Church. Topic
for the sills of sinful men, was brought, not for all            -for discussions  wil'l  be: `<Whether  or Not the D~i~cippli~~c
men head for head, but only for those whom the                   of Mem,beri  That  B e l o n g   t o  W;orBti(y OTgamim~iOnS  ,
Father had sovereignly ordained unto eternal life,               Should be Jtift ho the MimkDrti  of .the Word"
and' chosen in Him. That  this is true is abundantly             .,$peakers:  Rev. H. Veldman, and the Rev., John  Heys.
testified by all the Scriptures. Christ Himself' fre-  s
quently  speaks of this. To the Je~ws in Capernaum                  .Ali Consistory and exXan_sistory   M e m b e r s  art?'
He declares                                                      W e l c o m e ,
                : "For I came,. dowq  from liejven,  llot ?;o
                  --.. _ . i ,_>.L

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


                                                                                        nounced  by Jotham,  the brother that had escaped.
           ,iRen&$d  Apostacy itid Repeqtance                                           "Let fire come out  from Abimelech, and devour the

           .> ,.:                                                                      men of Shechem, and the house. of Mile;  and `let fire
           : -: :TO get our bearing in .expatiating  on the history of                  come out from. the men of Shechem, aad from ,the house
          ,Israe&on that ,part `of it in which the) person of                           of Mile, and devour Abimelech." So he had spolien.
            ,Jephthah  figured so .p.ro.minently-we must rea.ch  back                  The godless- would insist that, the man had not spoken
           ..,a.  .fey years to -the' timesthat immediately folio  wed the             for God but that his words had originated in his  o>vn
.          . ..dgath..of.  ~Gideon:  .So soon as Gideon died;  the'chil-               *heart.  It was but natural .that he should curse the
           i&m  .of Israel,turned  .again, and went. a Fhoring af-                     .murderers  .of his father's house.       God had not sent
          "by. Baalimj .and.  made Baal-covenant their god.                     The    the man.      That doubtless was held to be evident from
           : amazing  foolishness of the people ! It had been demon-                   the very tenor of his speech. Abimelech was to .de-
           &rate.d.to  them, through the achievements of Gideon's                      vour. the Sheehemites and at once be devoured by
           .~fa.ith,  ijx&. national. freedom, `security, and prosperity               them, a .&zing  impossible. And thus the Shechemites
           -alay,.  :olily  .-in the way ..of obedience and wholehearted               were to &~our  Abimelech after he had devoured them;
          ' qconsecration:  to:: Jehovah in opposition_.to  Baal: And                  likewise a thing impossible.     So they must have reason- _
           ~~p@w they again ran after `Baa1  ! Previously they had ed:reasoned  that the speech of the man was contra-
           " gone .a .&ho&g ..af:ter  Gideon and his ephod-after                       `,dictory  and thus self-:destructive.  Nothing could come
            {Gideon,:,: in. ..~:hbm .ihiy conceived- their victory to  .be             of it,.    Let them  then -rejoice,  in this. king and he in
            $rsoilified-i-,so  that their, turning to Baa1  was merely                 them, as the compact was bound to be productive of
           ' tit.: sliiftiiig  ,of..  affections and ' allegian,ce.  from one idol     the greatest good for the parties concerned. But  Jo-
           _i ioj :_nother:    :,Y.et  Lhe shift that now was made the                 tham indeed spoke for God. His discourse,  howeve?
           sacred narrator regards as a .new,  .open,  and com-                        impossible on the surface, was fulfilled, marvelous. to
           : .plet.e  break'. &th Jehovah, for he continues  .( Chap.                  say, to the l.ett.er.    To the. end it had seemed that
           _ 3:;34)  f "`And the c 1 ien.
                                          h:ld    of Israel `remembered not
                                               ".                                      Abimelech was to emerge from his coi?fIict with the

           `the  Lord their God, who-had delivered them out of the                     Shechemites, alive and well and completely victorious
           `.han$`of all their enemies on every side. . . ." They and that thus the second part of Jotham's  prediction
            were willingly. ignorant of' the salvation that had been                   was not to take effect and that therefore the whole
            v&ought  in their behalf by Jehovah. Israel thought -not                   discourse was after all a human invention. Consider
            en. the God who'had  delivered it from its enemies, and                    the following. Gaal and his men had been routed.
           , it therefore thought not on the-human agent after he                      Shechem bed been.taken, its inhabitants slain, the city
            -had' passed away.  ",`iNeither  shewed  they kindness to                  razed to the ground, `and sown with salt,. The neigh--
           :Itl@ house of JerubbaaI,  namely, Gid,eon,  according to                   boring city of Thebez had likewise fallen. Thus the
                                 . :
           :a11 the goodness. whi,ch .,he had shewed  unto Israel."                    rebellion nearly, had been put down.        Abimelech tva3
           $f. the people repudiated Jehovah in favor of Baal.,                        fighting his last battle with some remnants of  his
            it could riot be expected thatthey  continue to do well                    foe trapped in a tower within,the  city.      Thus the war
            by the house of Jerubbaal  the antagonist of BaaI.                  As     was so good as over with him as the victor.        Fire in-
          "the tool of Abimelech; they turned against Gideon and                       deed had gone out from  Abimel,ech  and devoured th?
           ,ex?erminated  his hcUs:e...  1: Thus they destroyed' every-                Shechemites ! But Abimelech still lived ! And the
     .`thing that rem&d&`them  of Jehovah and adm&i;shed                               foe was in his harid, at. his mercy.    Assuredly, Jotham's
            to repentance. And the godless Abimelech was made                          words were `vain. So doubtless spake Abimelech
            king.' These atrocities were perpetrated only by the                       with himself`when,  in a careless moment., he went hard
            Shechemites directly, .Yet the whole nation should                         unto the door of the tower to burn it with fire, only
            have decried these crimes and asked Jehovah what                           to have his skuI1 broken by a piece of a millstone cast
            action should be taken against those wicked men,                           upon him from above by a certain woman, so that he
            But this was not done. Abimelech's usurpation and                          died. That was the fire coming out from the man of
           the murder of the seventy were deeds that were over-                        Shechem and from the house of Milo devouring  Abime-

          ::lookjed.  in, condonation. Nothing was done about it.
                                  ,..,                                                 lech.  That was plainly God's doing. For the  mattej
           There, may have beyen and undoubtedly were protests                         had been foretol!d  with'amazing accuracy. And it i.a
            f(om  individuals i. but..+as  the people ..:on  a whole had               on@ God who -knows the end from the beginning

          I, cho,seq  to,..be .unmindfui,  ,of. .what Gent on there in This `whole terrible history was SO plainly the succes-
          _. S&&em,  ., (he guilt. of those, / crTmes.l rested. squarely               sions of the revenges of God! Gideon's  eph0.d  ,q:as
     -     upon the whole,. nation.. .Could these terrible , .deeds                    `punished with the blood of his sons  ; the blood of his
           gave been commited'  with impwiity  ?            Would  the -cove-          sons was punished with the blood of the Shechkmites,
          .`&it-betwee%  Abimelech and the Shechemites  :endurev'                      as `shield  by Abimelech, and with the blood of Abimelecll
           `!~o~~~,t~e:.ompa,ct,prov,e  beneficial through the years?                  as shed by the woman;. The retaliations of God  .a,lq2:
           It could not. Over it hovered  the`curse  ef God as pro-                    et&&~  and just;                                       * -
                                                                           ;                                            :i


                                               THE  S T A N D A R D  BE:ARER-                                                          3%'

              Ther'e  are grounds in the narratiye  for conclud-        the. thiriy a.&s rode on" thirty' &ses  and ha& &$ty.
       ing that the terrible end  .of Abimel,ech  and  Shechem          cities.      Their' appearanae  on this animal  indicated~  theii`
       made a deep impressi@                                            calling. They judged their thirty cities. Unlike  the
                                      uptm  the conscience of the

       nation as a whole, so that,'  fearing that worse thing,:s        sons of Samuel, `they were `worthy  sons, who gave'
      `might befall them, should  they any longer pos!.ponz             happiness to their father. They .performgd  their`
       forsaking their abomination, the people sought  after            task w,ell.      They were an influence for good i;l their;
       Jehovah. For we read.  "And after Abimelech  there               district.      For after t.he death 6f Jair and doubtless of'
     arose to deliver Israel, Tbla  tile son of' Push,  the son         tiost  of his sons, idolatry again spreads far and wide..
       of Dodo,  .a man of -Issachar  ; and he dwelt in ShamiT-             "And the child;,en. of `Isiael  did evil or continue 1
       in mount  Ephraim. And'he judged Israel twenty agd               -to do evil in the sight of J&ovah atid  served the Bagl.
       three years, and he died, and was buried in Shamir"              im and Ashtaroth,"  whose service Gideon bv&th$e\G,
       (Jud.  10 :l, 2).    That  this deliverer arose after Abime-     "and the gods of Syria," whose .king was ,defeat&  bar
       lech,  would s,eem  to lend support to the above view,           the hero Othniel,        "and thle gdds of Zidon, the men;'
      &nd thus td justify 0u.r imagining the .succession  OF            tion of whom r,eminds  us of the victory bf Deborah
       events to have been as follows.Q'  After. the death, of          and Barak over Jabin,  .king of Canaan, "`and th6 go&
       Gideon, the people agaiti apostatized  anId in punish-           of .Moab,"       whom Ehud had smitten.           Israel &&&:I
       ment of their ,deflecbion  were again hardssed by the            these gods and besides these it now also'  served' .fhe'
       enemy from without..          Then came the catastrophe          gods of the Ammonites  and the Philistines.  And tli'e
       within She&em  that, iti combination with the terrors            anger  of Jehovah was kindled against Israel, and he
       from without, brought about the return-of the people             &livereci  them into the power of the Philistines,  ahd
       to God.                                                          into the power ,of the children of `Atimon:             "Arid i!!
       The record of Told's life is exceedingly brief. It               that year they broke and crashed  _the' bhildren of IS-.
       contains no action like that of most of the other judg-          rael  eighteen years.".  It is not certain h&v this state:
       es;     It makes no mention  of the enemy from which he          ment is to be construe&           Th& use of the word' "that"
       delivered the people.      But It `does  contain the names of    is not plain. It may mean"the  first year of the op-
       hi$ fattier and grandfather:, As `the mention of both            piession  oqthe last-year both of the oppression  andoi'
       fathe+  and grandfather is unusual, and o,c&?s  in ,the          Jair's life. The fortier  is the mo:`e  likely bs @thertl.>
       case of no other judge, the  name' dodo  was taken to            apo&acjr  and servitude havealways  followed t.he deatli.
       mean cousin or uncle aad the expression "son of                  of .the judge;       But the latter meafiing  has in,its  favor
       dodo"  rendered "son of his tine16 or cousin" and the            the very ambiguity of the statement and  the'brevitg
       "his" made to Abimeleqh.  Iil` -this `view, T6la would           of the recoi(d  of Jair's life'.`. Though it is sai:d  Lhat
       have to ,be taBen  as a son of a brother or a sister of          he judged. Israejl,  it may be doubted whkther  .his `ii+
       Gideon.      But if such were the relation, itis rnor$?          fluence  was strong enough to hold the `people to  ; the
       likely that the write:r wotild  have said, "Son of the           .worship  of Jehovah. The new  `tide of idolatry that.
       sister  of Jerubbaa!."      "The  names can also be taken        engulfed the land, may .have begun to rise `evei in .thz
       as indicating a certain industry that must have been             first years  of Jair's judgeship. Be this as  it. m&y;
       carri,ed o,n in Issachar.       Tola dwelt in Shamir,  on        the sufferings and conflicts with the western.natioasi-
       Mount Ephraim.  Her& was perman&ily  fixed the                   paqticularly,  with  the philistines, are related  uiider

       centre of his judicial activity,  where he also died and         Samsod  and Samuel.. The chastisement by ,Irietins of
      was buried after a judgeship of. twenty  ,three  years.           Ammon was experienced by `the people `e&t of' the
              "And after him rose .Jair, the Gileedite, and judged      Jordan, the. neighbors of Atimon.              The children ,.of
      Israel twenty and two years.         And he had thirty sons       Ammon spoiled t:heir  harvests. and plutidered  . theik
      that rode on thirty ass  ?cdl+s, and  they  had thirty ass        cities, and imposed tribute year after year.          The wedkl
       colts, and they had thirty cities, those are called cir-         ness  of Israel emboldened the oppre&oY: Ammo%
       cles of Jair untb this  :day,'  which are in the land of         passed over the  Jdrdan  and ,atta;cked  Tsr&eY  in .th.z

      Gilead." These cities  were arranged in the form of  ft           heart `of the most p'owerful  tribes-Judah; Benjamiiij
     * circl,e  and therefore  called Havoth or circles, of Jair.       and Ephraiti-without  meeting resistanc'e.                 Aft&"
_     It was not Jair, the judge, who gave to the,se  cities his        eighteen years when the peril was .&e&test  `arid. f':
      name, but -an ancestor .df his, Jair the son' of Manas-           seemed that the death. of the  :nation  `as a free people
      se+.       From fium.  32:39-41  we lear.9  that Michar           was .probabl&,  the children of "Israel cried unto Jeho.+
      took Gilead and "Jaik,  the son of Manasseh," `the,               ah, saying,' " We have sinned against t&e!& n8m6l-y~
      "circfe3:"       The .position  of Jair the judge was one of      because we haGe forsaken oui- God and. hve s&v&
      `distinction.      By his strength `and virtue he had de-         t& Baalim?          It was .orie  great agonizing `cry that  +:
      fused his thirty sons over the entire district in which           from the bosom 6f the sorely'distressed  natiofi.  Cbn:
     these'thirty,cities  lay and with which his ancient pro-           sider Jehovah's r.eply  to"it.  : +Ain:d Jehovah said uritb
      genitor had` long ago associ6ted  his own name. Fo!               the children  of Isra'el,  Did I not  deliver you'frdm the


                                                                                       r





 36                                     T H E  STANDAGD   B E A R E R


 Egyptians (from Mizraim, i.e. Egypt) ,-and from the             more t<ake  some not.ice  -of. God.     So finally they did cry.
 Amorites, from the chilsdren  of `Amman,  and from the          And of all men these apostates cried +he 1,oudest:            And
 Philistines? The Zidionians also, and the Amalekites,           they crowded God's .sanctuary  in the hope of inducing
 and t.he Maonites !did oppaess  you,.and  ye cried to me;  _ Him to send deliverance. And they bewailed before God
 and (then) I delivered you out of their hand. Yet ye            their sins.    "We have sinned against thee, because R'C
 haire  forsaken me and served othei  gods: wherefore            have  forsaken our God an,d` served Baalim."               Is it to
 I will deliver you no more.      ,Go and cry unto the gois      be virondeied  at that. God replied as He did?            "Go and
which ye have chosen ; . let them deliver you in the             cry unto the gbds which ye have chosen; let them de-
 time of your tribulation."      Just .how this. divine mes-     liver you in time of your tribulation."             But the people
 sage was communicated to the people-whether  di-                were insistent. They would not! leave off beseiging
.rectly by the Lord Himself, i.e. by the Angel of the.           God for help against the oppressor. They  sard,  `%I3
 Lord-or by an unnamed proohet,  or by the highpriest            have sinned, dp thou unto us whatever  szemeth  go&l
 at the sanctuary, in the name of God, through the               unto thee, only ,deliver  us, we pray thee, ,this day."
 Urim and the Thummim, is pot st:ated:  It makes no              They even  w,ent further.        In fact they went as faP
 essential diflerence.  But what is all-important is that        as they could go in their frantic effort to  s&ure  re-
 we deal here with the very wovd  of God, a reply th,?t          lief from their present miseries. They put away the
 originated .in the mind and heart of God and  -not in           strange gods `among them and served the Lord.
 the heart*  of man.      It is a terrible answer to their          Thlere is a question here.          To whom are these con-
 cry for deliverance. It is well that we pay closest             fessions of sin. and this repuliation'  of. strange go<,;
 attention to it. The voice of Gad speaks in the tonh            ia favor `of Jehovah to be ascribeId, to the carnal seed i:l
 of passionate discourse. According to His customary             the natio;n  or to the true people of God or to bo:h.           To
manner of ,dealing  with the apostate nation, the Loril          both certainly.    But then there `is this -question. Wou!d
first held before the ,peopl,e  their history in which lay       unprincipled men, lacking in the life of regeneration.
 embedded thiese  great facts and truths, to wit,  that          say to `God, we h5ve  sin'ned,"  turn again&t  `their idols
 IsrSel  ha& his origin in G&d's  election and was .brought      and sefve  Goid?  When outward physical distress reach-
 into being by the wonder-working power of God's                 es such a ,stag,e  that it has become a threat to his very
 grace, that thus the Lord was Israel's Maker and they           existance,  the natural man will even go through all the

 the sheep of His pasture, His very own herita&,  ill            motions of a true repentance, if onljr he may gain some
 duty bound to be wholly congecrated  unto Him tlzeit.           respite. But no s'ooner  is the respite granted, than
 redeemeriGod.       For He had- d:elivered  them .from  the'    he returns to his abominations. We have examples
 Egyptians and, through the centuries, from all their*           of this  in the Scriptures. There is the amazing case
 other adversaries, when they cried unto Him. Yet,               of the Pharaoh of Che Exodus.            As seized by the ter-
 as will,ingly  ignora.nt  of their history, of .the  great      ror of God, when he saw his land being devastated by
 Principles of truth it so marvelously  dcmonstratecl,           God's plagues, he wailed in  .the ears oy Moses and
 they over and over and now again forsook Him and                Aaron," I have sinned this time : the Lord is righteous,
 went to prdstrat.irig  themselves before the shrine of th::     and I and my people are wicked. Intreat  the Lord
!devil-go&s  of their edversaries,  made after the likeness      (for it is enough) that there be no more mighty thun-
 of the creature anid of corruptible man,  gods in whose         derings an.d  hail; anid I will let you go, and ye shall
temple they could play and dance and serve .the lusts            stay n.o longer" (Eex. 9 :2'7,28).  "But when Pharaoh
 of the flesh.    That was the real  reason they repudiated      saw that, the rain and the hail and the  thunders  were
 over and over the Lord their Gad and crowded Baal's             ceas:ed,  he sinned yet more, and hardened his heart,
temples. Jehovah is holy God. They  could not servi)             he and his servants" (Ex. 9 :34). Sot it went with
 Him.    But Baa1 made no demands on them,except that            the carnal Israel.    Now- again; since there was no way
 they worship him.       For the rest, they could do as thev     out of their present troubles, other than the way of
 liked. With Baa1 therefore they.ha!d  no quarrel. But           reper&~nce,  they bent their stiff necks and repented.
 they were in dire distress now. For  `they again had            ie was the only thing to do in the present emergency.
denied Him whom no man can deny  with  impunity,                 But their sorrow was the sorrow of  the -world  that
 He being the living .God.      Consistency demand:e!d  that work&h death. Soon did they `return again to their
 they now turn to the gods which they have chosen.               idols wher,efore  the Lord $delivered  int:o  the hands of
 But these gods were vanity, they  well knew. None?              the Philistines, Judges 13 :l.                 '
 but t+he  livjng  God would do, now that they were in              but there was also the true Israel according to the
 trouble and once again reaped the bitter fruits OP              election. The present plight of the .nation  was also
 their sins. So tliey Idirected  their cry to Him. True, theirs, for, with their brethren according to the flesh
 it took them eighteen years to come,io  this.    But their      the formed the one people of Israel, whom the Lord
 distress, was great.    It .was therefore the part of  wis-     now again  smote. The cry that rose from the  bosom
dam  that they lay a&d-e  their sinful bias and oilce            of the -nation inch&d  also their groaning ; and wha:t


                                       T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                         37


they cried was subst_antially  identical to what the             none of those who had been serving Baa1 and who

 others cried. Yet ib must not be supposefl  that they           no%,  in the present distress,. rep.ented  of their vile
had literally been crowding Baal's  templk  as had the           doing, were not truly~.converted  and thus soon agail
 others. Tlheir  sin, in times of general apostacy lay           turned to their ildpls.       There is no ground in the Scrip-
 in a differen&  direction, as has already been explaisiled      tures for t.he  view that without exception all  ido!&
 in former articles.      Because. of this formal  agree-        ters were reprobated and ,that a truly penitent;  Baa.l-
 tnent  between the conf,es&ons  .of the true Israel and         worshipper  was a nonentity in Israel. To b& consid-
`the  confessions of the ot,hers,  the sacred narrator           ered is this. After every great deliverance another
 included them all in the one statement, "And the                generation would rise and `grow up' in ignorance of
 children of Israel cried u&o the Lo@ and said, We               thq glorious history of its people, thus grow up i'n
have sinned  against, thee, because w& have forsaken             ignorance of God's great works anid of His. \i'orshi;>.
our God and served Baalim."  But in the language of              Though this ignorance was what Holy WAt.calls  wil!..
 an old adage, two can do the same thing and  still              ing, yet the fault lay, to a large e&e&.-with the rc:
not `do t.he same thing. -Confessions of sin ,are  like the      ligious teachers in Israel. They wdilld*fail  to iud&.-
fruit of fruit-bearing trees. Their character,,i.s  de-          trinate the rising generation.            The.`result  was a, gen-
termined by the character of the man, of  liis heart.      If    &al  falling .away . Then, at the hi& tide of renewed
the heart is bad, the confession of  siin that proceeds          apostacy, God would again come with His judgments
from that heart is an abominable thing, however weli it.         and the result -`Gas that the nati`dn  -btice more would
agrees, as to the form of its word?, with a  t.rue  con-         seek after Jehocah.  Many, perhaps the great majority,
f ession. When the. natural man colifesses  his sin,             eventually,would  `?eturri  to their idols ; but there w&s al;
he seeks not Gord  but himself only.       Thus the notice,      ways present in the nation the seven thousand; the rem-
"And the children of Israel cried unto the Lord.  . . ."         nant according;  to the ,election,  comprised for' the most
has reference to the cry of two kinds of p&tents  in             part of those ti@ had not once been seen in Bail's tern-`

Isra+,  the true. anld  the false, and to two kinds of           ple, and of those, their num:ber may hdve been small,
cries.    Jointly, bhey formed the one cry of the peopl?         whe were permanently cured of t:hei?  idolatry by the
of ,Israel  in great distress.    Only in the light of these     grace of God.          Doubt.less  in times'of stress, the public
observations can it be understood' how -God could  rc-           confessions o$ sin rose largely from  the `l%&om  `of this
act to this cry as He did,  tha$  He could say on the ime        element, who thus would again assert themjel:v,es.                  So
hand, "I will deliver `you no morje, go and cry unto             it was now. And the result was that a new spirit
the gods that ye have chosen," and on the other hand             was manifest in the nation. oAn:d  i;vith  the putiting
be    "grieved on.' account of the niisery  of Israel."          away of the strange gods`and the return of the  ila-
Rightly consi!dered,  God extended His help only to the          tion to the Lord, discord and weakness, despondency
true'Israe1.    The others would  share in the deliveranc-       and self-iseeking,  gave way to concord and cbdfidenco
es, btit.  never were they tq@  helped ; but they  were          in God, that lead. to victory.         Thus, when t:he  children
hardened through the very manifestation% of divine               of Ammon made a new incursion into `Gilead,  "were
mercy over His people and thus prepared, through                 gathered together ai?d eticamped  in Gilead,  "the chil-
the ages, for the final day of reckoning. The reply              dren of Israel likewise assembled themselves together,
of God, however severe, was also meant for the                   and encamped in. Mizpah.              The -phrase "children of
ears of Gad's believing people, to be sure.         With re-     .Is1:ael"  does not include all the tribes but only Gad
spect to them its purpose was to incite  them to lgy             and Manasseh east of the Jordan.                 B u t  t.he host of
hold of God with greatest  .spiritual vigor.      Thus. upon     the.  Lord was witchout  a human leader to lead it intq
them this reply, however severe and discouraging,                battle. T.he  prince,s of the people agree among them:
humanly speaking, had a .most wholleeome  effect, the            selves that the man that would begin to  figh:.  agail&
reason being the presence of God's redeeming grac'e              thZe Ammonites would be head qver them. .&?3 thei
in their hearts. With new born courag_e  -and deter-             thoughts turned to Jephthah.                        G. M. 0.
mination, the god-fearing fathers and mothers in Is-
rael, and the god-fearing .heads  of the cla&s,  demand-

e$ as did Jacob of old aft,er  his bitter experience in                                        NOTbI.CE
Sfiechem,  that the Q$ols  be put away aild be destroyed                                                                  S'
and that there be a return to the Lord.        If they her&          To those who wish an index for fche last lci volumes
tofore  had -been .silent,  w,hen they should have spoken,       of the Stadard Bearer, ple$se  place your order  now so I
they npw came out boldly for .the Lord.         To .them t.he    .ways  atid  means...<m&y  b'e fdund  ..io have t&id done in
severe  reply of the Lord was a  bllessing.                      a way most.reasonable  for all those interested,.
      The statement was,  just made thnt  thfe true  people                                      B'. Viroudenberg,  Se&y!
of God were not among those who had been  bending
                                                                                   0          ,i_ 839.  Wa$kins..  St.          _
the Lnee  before Baal.    But the `implication .is not. that     ~. `--
                                                                    .     .:,.:               ..' Grand Rapids 7, Mi&g&.!,

                                                                          ,


                                                                                                                                      ._
     38                                                                                 T H E  STA.NDAR-D   B E A R E R
                               _...

                                                                                                                 spreken tegen het soogenti~e'  object, een hoogmoe-
                                                                                                                 dig;' briefje sturen.
            : ,.;;. ",.
                  ,                                                                                                Doch G?d spreekt tot ons. "Neigt  ulieder OOL"  tot
                   :'

    ,Y'f                      .`.
        ., . . :                                                (Psahil78)                                       de redenen Mijns Morzds!"       Dat;is vooral vervuld toen
            ,%/. I<
            :_                                                                                                   JeZus  Zijn 
            :I Pit is. e& &n- de historische psalmen die ons de                                                                  melodieuze stern  ded weerklinken .in de
    geschied&s.van  .Gods  volk  vertolkt moet  het doel, dat(                                                   valleien ,en wegen.van  Judea en Samaria`en in de land-
    het. tegenwoordige geslacht die -dit lied zingen zal, er                                                     palen van Galilea..  Hebt ge wel eens gelet hoe de
    uit @eren z.@ hoe zich, tegenover den levenden God tel                                                       Bergrede tot ons kwam? Er staat: "En Zijnen mond
    g             e      d     r       a     g           e     n      .     .     .                              geqpend  hebbendme  leerde. Hij hen, zeggende . . . `."
                                                                                                                 Matth.'  5 :2. -Ja,  Jezus,. achtte het niet beneden Zijn
                  0 m@n  volk!
                  Hi,er  .zien  we weer, dat Gods  boodschap `vai? Zijn                                          waardigheid om tot hoeren en tollenaren Zijn mond
    Woord is v;oor  Israel,  voor de Kerk der eeuwen, vooi                                                       open te doen & heel vertrouwelijk en liefelijk tot en
    God's.  uitver,koren  volk.                                            De predikin&  van dat Woord           met hen te sprkken.
    mag algemeen zijn; de boodschap als zoodanig is voor                                                             Hoe zal het ben vergaan zijn, die de stem vn
    G?d.`s  volk en. is `daarom, partikulier.                                                                    Jezus met. hun uitwendige 6or  gehoord hebben en Hem
                  Mijn volk!                                                                                     niet hebben geloof,d?  In de Hebr'en  brief staat er
                                                                                                                 iets van. De schrijver heeft het daar ook over "de
       ,: :' .Daar  zit meer ,in dan net maar bezitting.. ~,O ja,'
    God bezit Zijn volk; zij zijn Zijn eigefidom;  Hij heeft                                                     stem-  der woorden".       En later waarschuwt qok hij :
    ze, gekocht door den prijs van het dierbare bloed Zijns                                                      "Ziet loe,  dat gij Di& die spreekt niet. verwerpt Y'
    Zoons-evenwel zit er meer in dan dak.                                                    In het bezitte-     Hebr. ,12:19,  25.. Geen .wonder,  dat hij besluit $ het
 lijk yoor,naamwoord  "mijn" zit ook liefde. Het volk                                                            laatste vers van dit hoofc@tuk:  "Want onze God is,een'
 Go& +$oor  Hem bemind van eeuwigheid; zij zijn. een                                                             verterend vuur."
    kleinqod  des Heeren,  waarop Hij ten, allmentijde  ziet met                                                    En om niet meer te noemen  (Gods  Woord is vol van

    inning. wogevallen.                                       Des Heeren  volk is Zijn erfd,eel.                 dit overheeylijke  feit, dat God spreekt en. roept.) wij-
             ,Dit volk zal in dezen psalm een particulere  bood-                                                zen we naar. Spreuken 1. Daar zegt God : "Dewijl Ik
    schap van hun. God ontvangen. '                                                                              geroepen h&b en gijlieden geweigerd hebt!" Vers 24.
     . ^ Daarom :. 0 Mijn volk! ,neem  `Mijne `leer' ter oore.                                                      .Vr6eselijk  is het om Gods  stern  te hqoren  en te doen
  neigt,ulieder  ooi -tot de, r&l&~n.  Mijns monds.'                                                             alsof Hij Kooit sprak. Zoo kunnen we er eenigzins
                                                  _ i
       ;i :En Lals.&e.  dan. den1 psalm aandachtig bestudeeren,                                                  inkomen, dat.. we verder de vreeselijke woorden  lezen:
    merk.e$  wie op, dat hij een .gro.ot  verhaal, is van alle de                                                "zoo  zal Ik ook in ulieder verderf lachen, Ik zal spotten
    yond&e:daden.  die den Heer,e  gewrocht heeft ten over:                                                      wanneeF  uwe vrees, komt." En dan zull,en zij roepen,
    staan van~datyolk.  De Heilige..Geschiedenis  van Israel                                                     zegt God, doch Ik zal niet antwoorden! Dan valt  cl?
    is. leep.?  Leer van God.                                               :,                                   stilte van de eeuwige gramschap :Gods  op hen.       Hannah
                                                                                              ,
                  Die  leer  `van God's wondere  daden ter oore neemen                                           heeft er van geprofeteerd; `"maar;  -de goddeloozen zul-
    en biet  O;OT  n'eign  wil meer zeggen dan juist maar met                                                   len zwijgen in duisternis." Voor eeuwig  telaat!
    he?i&.w,endig  gehoor waar te nemen' op de Woorden                                                              Zullen we.dan  luisteren met `een liefhebbend hart,
    die .gezoiig&n  zullen  worden.                                               Ook,dat wordt ingesloten.      geliefde lezer?

    d@h d hoofdiaak  is het, hooren  met een opmerkzaam,                                                           .Het  is God die spreekt in dezen-psalm. Hij ZC+ ons
    gehoorSaam  hcirte.                                       Zoo  wordt het vaak in  Gods Woord                 de geschiedenis van Zijti  wonderb  daden verhalen.
  g&b?ukt.  :. `:t Zit -ook in het woordje "gehoorzaam".                                                        Het is ,een  lang verhaal.    Twee-en-zeventig verzen.
_ - Dg` Heere `bedoelt: Luistert naar Mijn Woord met                                                                Het eerst,6  vers van de stem van God en van nu aan
    l&fd$  :in h&`hart; ..:Drink Mijn .woorden  in en regelt                                                     zullen we luister& naar den profeet door wien God
                        ga.nsche leven +n naar. dat Woord..                                        En dan zal
    ui? '                                                                                                        tot ons spreekt. .'
    `t gaa;&  -                                                 ._                                                   Die profeet  is Asaf.
                  Merk&  ook op de nederbuigende goedheid Gods!                                                      Benijdenswaardig menschenkind.  Hij was een van
    Hij zegt:                          "neigt ulieder opr tot de redenen. Mijns                                  de pperzangmeesters in Israel.      Als de verzen gedicht
    monds !"                    .Ik heb hi.er het  oog op het feit, dat de Heere                                 waren' d0or hemzelf of .door  David of door een ander,
   Zi,jn  lippen opengedaan heeft en tot de vaderen  ge-                                                         din ontving'hij die lied,eren  om ze op zang  te zetten,
    $%$&  heeft.."  V&&eijki dat  bij d grooteti  der aarde.                                                   zijn koor' te leerex  en boorts  u?t. den t'reure  te zingen
  c Of o&,_di+l&  hier. a$ti-`de-$bw&t&fiheid  der h'oovaardi-                                                   vooi" Gods   v o l k .  Het is eexi  vooruit.grijp&  raar d!i
    &n-  n'der  .o,ns,i  ,:_Hebt  lg% i;veI'  ,eeti&`  `gelet op tiat  aotil-                                   hem&che ialigheid  war g,ezongen  zal worden tot in
                                            . :                                                                  .eeuwigheid.
    mige ste&e$r@~  .&@ike~~ in: gi%t&  botiheid.`n-`ver'                                                                        (Psalm $9 : 1; onberijmd. Hovele kinde-
   `wat,en  h&&_@& ?: "~~&.t&t~'  "Denk je, dat il< tege:                                                        ren Gods zijn al niet met dat iersje  de eeuwigheid in-

    dien ker$-+wc$;bed?&?  `iru8'$naken?"  Sommige men-                                                          gegtian?)
                                                  `i, *:.
    ,w&$k'~&jd'  z'oo `hbo-gmo&i&  dat zij inplaah..  van te                                                     ": Asaf zegt qns:  Ik"za1 mijnen mond operidoea  met


                                                          T H E,            S T A N;.D..A R D.            B E A Ik E R                                                                    39
                                                                                                 /                               r-

        spreuken, ik zal verborgenheden overvloediglijk' uii-                               slacht dat staan zal op. de, aarde bij de vreeselijkc
        storten van oudsher.                                                                komst van Christus?                Hebt g het God"' wel eens, ge-
            Het gebruik van hetwbord "spreik!'                              alswel-  ia3    vraagd om Uw geslacht dat dan leven `zal te, doe;:
        den term "verborgenheid" vertelt exi leer; ons, clat%,w,e                           bid.den : "Deze God -die daar komt op die vreeselijkl?
        hi&r een particuliere boodschap van God hebben.  H e t                              wolken is onze God ; gelijk onze vaderen in 1,944 hebben
        is maar geen bloote,  vaderlandsche geschiedenis.                        Beide      wij op Hem vertrouwd en nu komt  Hij. om ons zalig
        woordaen naar hunne oorspronkelijke .!beteekeiris  zien                             te maken ! ?"                                                . . I
        op authoritatieve, gewichtige ,gezegden.  De spreuke:l                                        (God  heeft ons de kinderen van de oude geslachten
        die geuit zullen worden zijn als gelijkenissen die ons                              die voor ons waren en op God hoopteil.                                                   :
        een les zullen lseren. Het tweede woord wil eigenlijk                                          En nog zijn er menschen onder_ ons clie hunne
        zeggen, dat de feiten van Israel's  historie .evenzoovele                           kind,eren naar de publieke school sturen. Foei toch!
        diepe waarheden in zich opsluiten ter leering en onder-                             Durft ge de kinderen Gods  ,daaraan te wagea ?                                   Zulke
        wijzing van de geslachten die zullen volgen.                                        ouders verbergen de spreuken en de verborgenheden
            Dat is dan ook te begrijpen. God is de eeuwig                                   Gods  voor de ooren van het geliefde zaad. MoeYen
        onveranderlijke. IZijn werken en arbeid die Hij `aan                                d a n   U w e  kindren het straks tegen God-:zggen, al
       Israel gedaan .heeft beantwoorden aan Zijn eer en                                    w e e n e n d e :  0 God, ik heb het niet geweteu?                                 Onze
        deugden. En zooals Bij handelde met Israel zal Hij                                  teacher heeft ons andere dingen geleend,.. dingen die
        zekerlijk ook handelen met U en met mij.                             Dat is tot     verfoeiselen  waren in Uw oog. ,.: Vader en moeder
        onze w.aarschuwing en tot onze troost. Bij Korech's                                 warien stil als het graf, ,do,ch teacher heeft ons cie
       vurige graf <hooren we Zijn waarschuwing bij Jakob's                                 leugen geleerd. Doch van Uwe voetstappen in Si&
       &nkken; en weenen beluisteren wij Zijn vergevende                                    en op Golgotha weet ik niets?
       -ge.nade  in Jezus' lbloed,  _.                                                                 Gij allen die dit lees:, kunt ge het Asaf  nazeggen:
            Altemaal spreuken en verborgenheden. Och, schenkt                               " W i j .   z u l l e n   h e t   n i e t   v e r b e r g e n .  . . ."?                      I
        Gij mij de hulp van Uwen. Geest ! We zullen dien                                               Wat zullen wij niet verbergen? Dit: "de loffelijlr-
       Geest van noode hsebben  om alles te mogen verstaan.                                 heden des Heeren en Zij.:ie sterkte, en Zijne wonderen
            Ook .zijn we verantwoordelijk..voor  hen.                                       die Hij gedaan heeft.."
            We he.bben  ze gehoord en we weten ze. Van'jongs                                           De loffelijkheden .des Heeren, ,wat zijn ze? ..Zii
       aan hebben ikin `t kleine kerkje in Sassenheim geluis-                               zijn het inbegrip vn alle deugden God,:  in-n woord.
       terd naar het telkens weer herhaalde,: Yen Zijn volk                                 Al zijn groote genade en liefde, Zijn lankmoedigheid
       droogvoets daar doorgeleid, waardoor den `doop.  he-                                 en goedertiere,nheid, Zijn trouw en gunst aan groote-
      . duid wercl.`t            We hebben ze gehoord en. .we, weten ze.                    zondaren, Zijn wijsheid en kennis; Zijn rechten eu
       Daar heeft God voor .gezorgd..  Luisteren .we daarom                                 heiligheden, alle. deugden van God. .En zij. ,"wonden
       niet en gaan we zoo  de eeuwigheid in zonder geho.or-                                .loffelijkheden  genoemd, omdat die deugden schit(:~eren!
       ,zaamheid, dan zullen de Japaneezen-  en de Chineezen                                schoon en lieflijk zijn.             Als g.e die deugden ziet cloor
      tegen ons opstaan in dien dag en. ons ,v&roordeelen.                                  ~Gs!d`s gynade, dan kan :het"niet  anders, dan gaat ge, aan
       Vreeselijk te vallen in de handen van~den:sprekende;x                                .het. zingen n loven en prijzen van God. ,
       ,God.              ,:,                                ._ .! _ .: 2.                             Apart gnoemd wordt : Zijn sterkheid. .,                        ..
         ,Onze  v a d e r s   h e b b e n   z e   v e r t e l d .  .; ?.          ~ L                  Die sierkheid is dan ook `zoo  groot.            Zi,e  rondom U
           Christelijke huizen, catechisatien,  scholen. En het                             in de werkeb Zijner handen.                 Ziet het aan het aardrijk
1      telkens wederkeerende r.efrein _ ws : Zoo spresBt de                                en Ide hemelen.          Elk oogenblik staan ze .daar  als.. een
     Hfeere!  Ja, onze vaderen hebben ze verteld. Ik zie  ir                                monument `van de groote kracht des Beeren.. Hij
       mijn gedachten nog dat grijze hoofd van grootvaders,                                 beef:  ze, geschapen, door het woord Zijner, kracht .en
     grootmoeders, oud-ooms ,en tantes.                         En met bevende              geschapen zijnde, onderhoudt Hij ze do'or  het zelfd-
       stem hebben sommigen van hen getuigd van den On-                                     ,spreeken  Gods.
       v e r a n d e r l i j k e .  '                                       _ :.                       Eindelijk wordt ook nog apart genoemd:' Z.ijne
           `Ik  b e n   v e r a n t w o o r d e l i j k .                                   wonderen Die Hij gedaan heeft..                                                  . .,/
           Zullen `wij het dan voor hunne kinderen verbergen ?                                         Wat een sluitsteen !' '                    k >
                                                                                            :
           Wat een eigenaardige naam voor ons geslacht dt                                             De wonder,en  die PIij deed zijn in n Woord : Jezus
       we geteeld hebben'!               ..Onze  kinderen zijn de kindel-en                 op Golgotha `en verrezen in Jozef's  hof.                             .                 :
       van die bevend'e  ouden die ze nooit. gezie; hebben.                                           `Het  Goddelijk Wonder is, dat Hij de, donkerheid
-Doch ze hebben voor hen gebeden.                            Vrage: Bidt ge wel             ,des eeuwigen doods die, over ons ligt verbreekt en, in
       ,eens voor de kinderen die ge nooit. zult zien?                         Spreekt      het vriendelijk, gezicht van Zijn Zoon voor ons,,staat
       ge wel eens met `Uwe  kinderen over de kinder,en  die                                ?ot in alle eeuwigheid.                                                          ;; :_ _< . .
       na hen komen zullen? En als ge dat niet durft, hooren                                          Zong Adam in het Paradijs van de loffeli$hedgp
       Uwe kindern het wel,eens dat ge voor hunne kinderen                                 Gods,.  wat `zullen wij doen?                         :.`., .-:_;.  : :::,;
       en'kindskinderen  bidt,? Bidt ge wel.eens  voor Uw..ge-                                        Wij staan op denheuvel van Golgotha  en? ,later,  $3


 .40                                              T H E .   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E ' R


 Jozef's  hof en zingen  dns lied. Langzamerhand  gaan                       ical party or candidate the majority of .bhe peoljle  intend
 onze hoofden  omhoog  en zien wij verlangend op naar                        to vote.    knd although.sometimes  these polls are unre-
 den hemel.  Paulus  zal onze  ;toll:  zijn: "Do&  Wij zien                  li$bl&, the `politicians certainly keep close w&h  of
 Jezus, met eere en heerlijkheid  gekroond  !"                               these polls and  if possible take ,measures  accordingly.
        En die gekroonde en verheerlijkte Jezus is de                         You  would be surpristid how much the average
 verlosser  onuer.  ziel.en                                                  individual, including `you and I, reckons with "public 
                                !                                                                                                                 I
        Neemt dan Uw geslacht bij de hand ell. gaat bi.j                     opinion" .in his every day walk of life.. We do this
 Asaf staan. Tez&men  iullen wij de loffelijkheden  des                      ofteil.,uncorisciously.  You might check up on yourself
Heeren  zingen,  ja, zipgen!                                                 once by doing. a little inve&igation  on this point.
                                                           G. V:                    Also Scripture speaks of public opinion, although
                                                                             the term is not used. Sometimes public opinion is

                                                                             changed in short order when t.he.  people find otit  that
                                                                             they have misund~e~rs`tood  something. We have an ex-

                                                                             ample of this in Joshua 22. The Israelites on this
         The Power of Public Opinion '                                       stde of the Jordan thought that their brethren on the
         j ,                                                                 other side of Jordan had erected an altar to worship
        What `do we mean when we speak of  "pdblic                           thereon and thus neglect the, true service of God and
 opinion ?,'      Consulting the dictionary onk finds that                   separate themselves from the rest of the people.            Pub-
 aa opinion is : "A conclusion o? judgment held with                         lic opinion was aroused, the children of  Isra'el  gath-
 confidence, `but falling shorlt.  of positive knowledge.-                   ered themselves together at Shiloh to go to war against
Favorable judgment or est$nation.-An opinion is a                            their brethren.       However when a commi:Zee  of in-
 general conclusion held as probable, though without                         vestigation finds out that their brethreil  had no such
 full certainty. -A cowvictim  is a fixed opition sus-                       intentions but erected an altar of testimony to ex-
 tained by such evidences as removes all doubt from                          press their unity with and their affinity to the Is-
 the believer's miild."              From  the foregoing it is  pla!:n       raelites ,011 $his side of. Jordgn,  the `public opinion
 that .the word "conviction" is stronger than the w_grd                      changed.      "And the thing pleased the children of Is-
 "opinion."       The word "opinion" from the Latin opmio                    rael, and the children of Israel blessed God, and did
 meanb  think. When one expressed  his opinion about                         not intend to go up against them in battle, to destroy
 something, he states what he "thinks" about it.                             the I.and  -wherein the  chil.dren  of Reuben and  Gad
        "Public'? means : of, pertaining to, or affecting dwelt.`"                        (Joshua 22 :30)  . .
 the people at large  or the commuliity,  distinguished                             Davicl  tried- to obtain' a favorable reaction,  win
 from priwate  or Pepsi&.-The  people  collectively."                        the confidence of the people, at the time when Abner

_ "Public opinion" is therefore the opinion of the pub-                      was killed. Joab had done this wicked d*eed,  but th?
 lic, the peop!e-at  large, the community. It is the col-                    people might easily cast suspicion on David. But
 lective opinion of the maiority,  what the majdri'ty                        what did David do? He did not take bread or ought:
 thinks to be right or_ wrong, good or bad, nioral or                        else till the sun was down, thereby  cleclaring  that he
 i m m o r a l ,   e t c .                                          . . .    abhorred Joab's deed and had no par%  in it.           A;ld thus
        Keeping this definition in mind we ca!l see af                       he won the favor of the' people, he rose in their esti-
 oilt:e  that the "publid  opinion" is >sqmething  to be                     mation, he won their confidenc&                 "It pleased the
 reckoned with. It is a po_wer.  It may b,e a power                          people," (II Sam. 3 :36)  th.at  David acted in this man-                 I
 for good, it may be .a pdwer  for evil, as we hope to                       ner..
 explain in the sequence -of this essay. "Governments,                              When bhe `apostles propose& to appoint deazoils  to
 rulers, busiizess  establishments etc. usually reckon                       take care of the poor, they explained this matter to,
 with and they must reckon with "public opi?zion."                           the church.       And the result was that "the sayina
 Take for example the matter of "style." Any shrewd                          pleased the  whole multitude to appoint deacons." The
 business man who puts a certain article on the mar-                         proposal had the approval of the church, public opin-
 ket knows that he must azvertize  his product, bring it.                    ion (in @is case the community of the believers) was

 before the public,tand  a! favorable reaction to his p:c?-                  on the side of the apostles and favored the change.
 duct will bring him sales.               If the reaction to his pro-               V?e,  read on the othe?  `hand'.  of wicked men who
 duct is ynfavorable,  he may just as well  clo5c  shoy.                     "catered" to public opinion.            (Somethiilg  that is very
Hence, tremendous sums of money are spent for prOpd-                         common also today).         "Felix wjlling to show the Jews
 g&Ma  $0 win the favor`of the public, to  r&d Jii_lblic;                    a pleasure, left Paul bound."            (Acts 24 :27). Festua,
 opinion.       During the last few years we have  hacl M:V-                 willing to do the Jews a pleasure; suggested to  Paul.
 e&l  organizations'.in  our Coutitry which make it their                    that he be judged] in Jerusalem. (Acts 25:9).
 business to sample public opinion.               Think for exampie                 At times public opinion may be s.uppr@ssed  by pro-

 cJf the polls th@,are  takeg  tc, find out- fgr what politi-                paganda, threat  ?r force,           We have `an example of this
                                                                             . i


                                         c


                                  : _         ` T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                     41


  nature in John 17: 13.              Many of Christ's followers          If Classes or Synods take decisions which are contrw~  ~

  ithought  highly .of the rabbi of Nazareth. However                     to public, opinion it is well to inform and instruct the

  the rulers, had threatened dire measures. if some one                   public.. After all you eail  not. deny the power and in-
would confess Him,. Hence, we read:  "Howbeit  i1o                        fluence of public opinion, not even in  church.
  `man  spoke openly of him, for fear of the Jews." A                          What a po,wer it is `"public opinion." It may de-
  (clear  case of suppression of public opinion.                          thro,ile  kings; it may put rulers inlo power. It may

      Sometimes public opinion restrains rulers from                      make or break a cause. It may be right, it may. be
  commiting  certain crimes.<  "Herod  would have .,put                   wrong . .We do well to remember this. After all pub-
  John the Baptist to death but he feared the multitude                   lic opinion is ,,not  the crit.erion  for right or wrong.
  because they counted him as a prophet,"                     (Matthev    There are many people who seem to have a  notioil  that
  14 :5).    For the same reason th,e chief priests and the               as long `as the majority wants `a  .thing,  it mu&  be
  pharisees. did not dare. to lay hands on Christ fol                     right.      Politicians like, to promise their constituenis
  th,ey feared the people, because they took Him for a                    that they will do for them what the majority desires;
  prophet. (Matthew 21:26).                                               However, public opinion may be very well wrong and
      There are also cases wheel  public opinion is ignored               often is. Public opinion winks at divorces, adultery,
  and scorned. The unjust judge in the parable says                       immorality etc. Does that make these sins right or
  that he fears "neither God nor regards man."                            excusable? By no means. After all the Word of
      "Public opinion."-What a power it is. It means                      God and the Word of God alone is the criterion of
  that the multitudre,  the majority approves or dis-                     right and wrong. The apostle Paul in I Thess. 2:4
  approves, backs you up or condemns you.                                 lays down the criterion for every act and every de-
      In. November public- opinion will decide the presi-                 cision, for the proper attitude in any particular.  mat-
  dcntial election.           No' wonder that the politicians do          ,ter,  when he says : "But as we were allowed of God,
  :their  best to mold publid  opinion.-Tremendous power.                 to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak;
  A couple of years ago public opinion in our Country                     zoi CM pleas&g mein, but God Gi;hhich trieth our ;hewts."
  was against war, our people were apathetic with rei                     Only the law of God is the true ,criterion"of  right and
  spect  to war.           Our political and military leaders could       wrong ii1 respect to every sphere of li,fe and every~
  not make very much progre:ss  in prepar.ing  our Coun-                  ackion  of men, whether individuals or collective groups.
  try. for war because  they feared the unfavorable re-                        We said public opinion may be right at times!
  action of the people.           Public ouinion was against war,         it often is wrong, unreliable, dangerous.
  the leaders had to go easy.            (When you read some po-               Public opinion may restrain one from committing
  litical speeches you sometimes get the impression that                  a certain sin, it may restrain some one else from en-
  our leaders were sleeping at `the switch, but fact is                   forcing 3God's  law.-Public opinion is greatly influ-
  public opinioil  was a mighty factor in the matter of                   enced  .by propaganda, hence, it may condemn today
  unpreparedness) . Again, it was public opinion that what it approves tomorrow. Today it may restrain
  switched overnight at that fetceful  Dec. 7 when Pearl                  the Jewish ruler.4 from laying  .hands  on Christ, to-
  Harbor was attacked by the Japs.              Germany first con-        morrow it may support these same leaders in nail-
  quered one nation after another, but public opinion                     iag Christ.on  a cross. There is tremendous dynamics
  in the suppr,essed  countries, was against ,the German                  in public opinion.            No wonder tha:t  so much is being
  rulers and made life miser,able  for them.            By its ruth-      done by persons, parti,es,  organizations,. .by the writ-
  less measures and its refusal to cater to public opin-                  ten, page, the spoken word, the picture on the screen,

  ion the Germans made countless #enemies  for them-                      to molcl  public opinion. Publife  opinion also may be
  `selves in the territories conquered.                .,.                suppressed, as e.g. the case in several dictator coun-
      In order to gain the' good will and cooperation                     tries today.-P.ublic opiaion is often poisoned by false,
  of th,e masses one must w,in  the ,confidence  of. the                  lying propaganda.             What a :tremendous.  power it -can
  people, public opinion must be on one's si,de.  Any-                    be in the wrong directi,on.              So `much so -that  it will
  one who ignores public opinion is foolish. You may                      also have bearing on the sufferings, of the people of
  disagree with it, you may like to change it, you mav                    God in the last days. We can see many instances and
  want to suppress it, but you must  reckon with it.                      ,isolated cases of that n,ature  now already in our po-                -
  This is also true in church matters. Sometimes pub-                     litical and social set-up.           And pr'esently  in the day of
  lic opinion is contrary to the decisions of  ecolessiastical            Antichrist .public  opinion will favor thet beast, will
bodies. The public (in _t.hiS  case of course common                      be molded by the false prophet,  an.d as such it will
  members of :the church) may be wrong, sometimes the                     favor the persecution of God's people. And the re-
  public may be right.            It is foolish to take the attitude      sult will be that the antichristian  power will with all
  "let them swallow it."            If decisions are right,m church the more , coefidence  and ruthlessness oppress the
  leaders do always w:sll  to attempt to convince people                  c h i l d r e n   o f   G o d . .
  that `they are indeed right, make it clear, explain it.                     Let us be alert and wide awake, and never `be



                    . .


 242                                            T H E   S T A N D A R D  BE/ARER. -


 persuaded by mere.  "public opinion." ' But let the                            For Kant, all knowledge is operation on material
"Word of God be our Guide, our crit,erion'  for all our                    given through the senses, jn other words, if there
 thinking, for all our actions. Not,  when we bli,ildly                    should be reality that cannot manifest itielf through
 follow public opinion but only  ,theri  when we can say:                  ,our senses, wie could never have know1edg.e  of it.
 "Thy Word have I hid in my heart, that I might not                        Therefore, says Kant, God may be, real but we can
 sin against thee," do we walk  t&e  straight and nar-                     have no knowledge of God.         We cannot prove nor dis-
 row .road  that leads to heaven.                  . -                     prove His reality.     So too, man may be free (morally)
                                                          J. D:            but we cannot prove nor :disprove  that. And again.
                                                                           the idkals which man seeks" may be eternal, but we
                                                                           can neither prove nor idisprove  that. God, freedom,

                                                                           immortality remain unkn.owable,  they `ar,e,  not phe-
                                                                           ,homenal. A-priori knowl,edge  is limit,ed  :to the seilse
 Proofs <For The'Existence  Of God                                         world.
                                                                     ."         Thus .ive see tshat Kant's criticism of the ontologi-

   : But as Kant poi&  out the  `?rgumen:!s  of Anse1.m                    cal argument is that the argument is based or depend-
 and Descarte,  as well as those of Leibniz, are based                     ent upon' the <alse  asstimption  that conceived existence
upon stgsumptions  which have yet to be proved: One                        and real e$stence  are synonymous.         The fact `that we
 assumpltion  is: That :existence  mush  be regarded as                    have  a concept of God as an all-perfect Being does
 one of the qualities in of the concept of an absolutely                   `in no way guarantee His existence. His example is
persect  Being, And a sec0n.d assumption. in Descarte's                    that it is'not the same to say that I am conscious of
argqmen$  is that matters of exilstence:  in this instance                 a hundred dollars or that I  actually  possess one hun-
at least; can `be Idiscovered  by a purely analytical `ex-                 .dred  dollars. He says,  "If I try to conceive a being,
amination of conceptions that aye clear and distinct,                      as `the highes;t  reality, (without any hefeet),  the I
 without' recqurse  to empirical evidence.            The fir.st O.as-     question still remains, whether it exists or not. For
sumption  asserts that if a person thinks of an abso-                      though in my concept there may be wanting nothing
lutely perfebt.  B'eing, he must also think .of  that Being                of the possible real content of a thing in general,.
as actually existing., since otherwise the Being, would                    something is wanting in its relation  Yo my whole state.
`not be perfect.      This may be questionable and is said                 of thinking, namely, that the knowledge of that ob-
by Rev. Hoeksema to be a cl,ear  illustration of b,egging                  ject should be possible a-posteriori also."
the question. But suppose this assumption granted.                              The point of difference, then, between Kant and
Unless the second assumption also be canceded, `the                        the proponents of the oritological-argument is that the
first taken alone, might only leaid to the ,conclusion                     latter think that an all-perfect Being necessarily  ih-
;that  a person. who clearly an,d distindtly thinks  of an                 eludes  the athribute  of exititence,  while Kant says, ,110,
absolutely perfect- Being must also,think  of that Be-                     w,e can have a concept of a reals absolutely all-perfect
ing as in existence; whilch  would n&. be enough to                        Being, but that does not necessarily include existence,
<prove  that the Beiing  does actually.exist  outside of the               because existence can be proved only a;posteriori,  or
person's thoughts.                    ,                                    through sense perception.
  "It is easily perceived,"- says Kant in  his Critiquk                         .J%aving  ,discussed  the pros and con3  of the ontologi-
of IPure  Reaso,n,  "that the concept of  an absolutely                    cal argument, we will now proceed to t.he so-called .
,necessary  Being is a- concept of pure r,eason,  `[the. ob-               Cosmological Arugment.
jective reali;ty  of which is by no means proved by the                         We will recall that this argumlent  is an attempt to
fact that reason- ?aquires  it.            Th&t  idea dbes  no more        prove bhe existence of God from the evidence of a
than point to a certain but unattainable completeness,                     First Cause of the wor1.d  or universe. Everything
and  s.erves  rath,&  to limi't the understanding, than to                 must have a cause.. Therefore, there must. be some
extend its sphere,. It seems strange and absurd, how-                      Being outside the universe who caused it. Briefly
ever, that a conclusion, of an absolutely necessary ex-                    stated in the form of a syllogism,  we,  have as
istenc'e  fronia given existence in general should seem                    1    Major Premise-Every new existence or change in
so urgent and correct, and that yet all the *conditions                    existing things must have had a cause pre-existing and
under which the under&amdiing  can form a coilcept                         aidequate.
of such a necessity should be entirely against                                  Minor Premise-The universe as a whole and in all
                                                            us.

        "The concept df a supr,eme  Bkini is, in `many ;e-                 its parts is a system of changes.
spe,cts,  a very useful  idea, but, -being an idea only, i!                     IConclusion-Therefore,  the universe must have a'
is quite incapable of &creasing,  by itself alone;                         cause etit,erior  to itself, and the ultimste  or absolute
                                                                   our

                                                                           Cause must be eternal, uncaused, and unchange'able.
knowledge wikh regard to. what exists.              It `cannot  even
`do so much als to infofm us any furLher  as to its pos-'                       Tthis  version of the cosmological argument that pro-
-sibility."    (&nd  6f quot6)   .                                         ceeds from.effects  to causes, has as its niajor premise


                                       T H E   S T A N D A R D  BEARE--R                                                     48


a causal judgment. that is intuitive ! aad absolutely           stands in necessary relation both to its effect an!d  t8

universal and neces&ry.  Even though it is denied               its own cause, and consequently an ultimate being
by some, as Hume and Mil.l,, it is nevertheless used            cannot  be a cause. For, 1) An ultimate being if it
in all `their reasoning a@ to the origin of the  world          were a cause wou1.d  need to .hav:s  a cause, amd so
an,d  all th&gs  in the world.    The juclgment  is unavoid-    would cease'  being ultimate.          (That is, .as cause, God
able and its opposite is unthinkable.         If som,e:thing    ,would be a member of the temporo-causal series and

exists now, there must have b&en something ,exi&ing             thus not be ultimate).        2) If God, in the interest: of
eternally which is the cause of that which 6xists  now.         ultimacy, be placed outside [this  temporo-causal series,
    Dr; A. A. Hodge in hia `Outlin&  of Theology', says :       then how is He connected with the' ccmtingent  things
"We must r'emember  `that the cosmological argument             of which He is said. to be the cause?:'  (end' of quote').
is not that everything must have a cause, but that                  In this argument we have an appeal to experience:;
every new t,hing  or change, must have b.e.en caused.           it is a fact in ,experi'ence  that I exist.    But in the majo;,
That which is eternal and immutable n'eeds  no cause.           premise a leap is made beyond ,experience  in the as-
Therefore, the red cause-t,hat in which the causal              seation  that `the existence of anything contingent and
judgment can alone absolu;t.ely  rest-must be neither           dependent, implies the existenc"e  of something abso-
a change nor a &rim of changds but something UII-               lutely necessary and- perfect.  ' We !do not know that
caused, eternal, and immutable. All philosophers pos-           to be true, and this part  pf the cosmological ,argument
tulate an et~esnal;  self-existent, and unchangeable cause      reverts `to the ontoldgical  argumlent  and is <dependent
of the universe and in so doing  th;ey merely assume            upon it, for it assumes that ,existence  can be deduced
the `principles asserted in this argument.`? (end of            from mere ideas, those of contingency and necessity.

quote).                                                             The `third argument advanced by some philosophers
    AB to the minor premise, `this objective reality is         is called the Teleological Argument, or the physico-
accepted by practically, everyone. Common ~,+nse re-            th,e.ological  argumemt.,  as Kant calls it;` because it calls
cognizes the universe and its parts as a syst&m  of             attention to the-!si:gns  of order, design, and  purposive-
changes.       This is emphasize4 by the principle an::1        ness'that  w,e see about us in nature; evidences which
lesson of mod,eyn  scieuce.                                     .are impressive.     This argument is simply a form of
    Tjh'ere  ,is another and  more common version of the        the cosmological argument. Whereas .the causcil  argu-
cosmological argument which is the interpretation giv-          ment proceeded from ~effect  to First Cause, this argu-
en, by Kant when he criticizes it  ili his "Critique of         ment proceeds from an brderly  ei%ect  to a wise cause.
Pure Reason."      `Stated in syllogistic form we have:         The Cosmological `argument led us to an `eternal,  self-
    If there `exists anybhing  there. must exist an ab-         existe.nt,  First Cause. This arg%ment  reveals the First
solutely necessary Being.                                       Cause as possess'ing  ititelligence  and will.
    For, 1) Everything         contingent must have it&             Stated in a syllogism this argument could be  tire-
       cause, and                                               senit'ed  thus :
            2) This cause-if contingent-must have its               Major Premise-Universal harniony and purpose
           cause, till the serieb  of subordinate, causes       in nature and in all creation, is a ma:t.ter  of fact.
            lend in an absolutely necessary cause, tii.th-          Mi,nor  Premise-This eff ect, or matter of fact,  mu&
            out. which, the series would have no com-           have a cause adequate and pre-existing.

            pleteness.                                              Conclusion-Therefore, the First. -Cause .of the. uni-
   Since at least I, exist, an absolutely necessary Be-         verse must be an intelligent Mind  ,and will.

ing exists.                                                         As a proof of the major prebmise,  it may be stated
    La analyzing this syllogism we find that it is `based       that the very fact that science is possible, shows that
on two princi$es. ~Firtit.,  Every limited or contingent        there is design in the order o-f nature. Science is
reality must have a caus,e..  Secondly, Every limited           based and dependen%  upon the fact th&  external na-                '
reality must  have, not merely a partial, but a com-            ture be.tirs  out its conclusions. Besides, `we have  but
*plete explanatory, and ultimate cause.                         to look about .us, to find evidences of a definite pur-
    Kant's cri&cism  df this argument is very nicely            pose in the laws of tiature.          As Rev. Hoeksema points

stated in `t.he notes of Dr. Stob, as follows:                  out, "How beautifully and perfectly are all things
    "It is true that: every `limited or contingent  reality     adapted to one another, so  th%t each creature exists
must have a cause.                                              and moves, lives amd acts, within the sphere of 3s own '
    It is not true that the universality of `this causal        law, and  ,a11  its needs are satisfied ! -The fish is adapt-
principlk  implies an ultimate cause;--All that the  caus-      ied to the `water, the bird to fly in the air, and the
al principle d*emands  is that  the causal series of con-       be.ast  Ito roam in bhe jJung;le."
tingent beings never a,t any particular point. come to            Must we find the cause for this harmony in chance
an end.                                         _               or accideint ? Or, should we conclude that an intel-
   A cause is necessarily. contingent, i. e., a cause           ligent -mind and will .is the First Cause df the ..uni-


  Y44                                      T H E  STAN-ILARD   B E A R E R


  verse.     Huxley an!d  Darwin would base their conclu-             has a,moral  consciousness. He realizes a.a obligation
  sions upon chance, contending that through a long                   to do that which is right and. cfleels a sense of guilt
  perio,d  of time chance can'  accomplish the work of                when he does `that which is wrong. Man's conscience
  in!telli.gence.    According to Darwin, orga,ilisms  are            tells whim constantly that he must' perform that which
  like `grape-s&t  of which on.e  hits' something and the             is good, and thdt'happiness  will follow upoh  virtuous-
  rest falls wide. But according to Tebeology,  organisms             ness.      And on the other han,d, that he should no.t per-
  aie lik,e.  a rifle bullet fired straight  a.t a target.    Just    form that which is evil, for surely sin will be reward-
as nobody can b,elieve  that any number of throws could               ed ,with evil consequences. Now in, onder  .t.6 account
  cast a font of Zype into `the o.r,del:  of letters in the           for this moral consciousn,ess  in man, the existence
  plays of ShakespFre,  so no man can rationaly believe               of #God  must be postulated.        In order that the highest
  qlat  the complicated aa,d .%gnificaatly  intellectual or-          good may be possible, God mus.t  exist. For if there
  der of the universe sprang from chanoe.             '               were no God, how could we even have a-sense of that
         It is again in Kant that we find 3 criticism of the          which is right or that which .is wrong?. If ithere
  Teleological Argliment.  Although Zhis,  of all the proofs,         were no perfect moral  Being, as our standal?d,  how

  appealed most to Kant, y& he insis.&  that it carries               could we universally determine good and  evil?
  with it no absolute certainty, and is open to all the                    It is probably in Kant's, "Critique of Practical
  objections he has given  to ithe  Cosmological argument.            Reasdn,,"  that this argument finds its basis. He says,
  He says it is simply analogica1.i  Because a human                  and I quote: "Happiness is the condition of a rational
  being would .need  thought. and will in qnder`  to &ea.te           being in %.he world with whom everything goes ac-
  objects comparable to the wonders of nature, we have                Fording to his wish and will; it rests, therefore, on
  l!o right to argue that the  unknown caus'e of nature is            the harmony of physical nature with his whole end,
  intelligence and will. And in this argumen%ation  he                and likewise with the essential, determining principie
  agrees with David Hume, who argues  tha,t our con-                  of his will.      Now -the moral law as a law of freedom
  viction that adaptation impli,es. design- is due  to ex-            commarids by determining principles, which ought to
  perience and.cannot  go beyond it. That our judgment                be ,quilt.e  independent on nature and on its harmony
  that natural organisms imply *design in their cause,                with our faculty of d&ire. But the acting rational
  is an inference from It.he  analogy of human contrivance,           b,eing in th:e world is not the  cause of the world a.n.d of
  and its effec,ts.  Hume argues further that this <anal-             nature itself. There is no.t the least ground, there-
  ogy is false because the human worker is antecendently              fore, in the  moral law for a necessary connection be-
  known to us as h. intelligent conti*iver,  while the                tween morali4.y  and proportionate happiness in a be-
  author of nature is antesemdently  unknown, anid the                ing that belongs to a world as p&t of it, and there-
  very objetit. sought to be verified by the theistic in-             fore :dependent  on it, and which for that reason can-
  ferelice.  Also the processes of nature are all unlike              `not by his will be a cause. of .this  nature, .nor by his
  the processes by which man *executes his  cont?ivances,             own power make it thordughly harmonize, as far as
  and the formation of the world, and the  i#titution  of             his happiness is concerned, with his practical prin-
  the processes of nature are peculiar efEec:,s  of the like          ciples.     Nevertheless, in' %he practical problem of PLZFC
  of which we have nq experience.                                     reason, i.le., thte.  necessary pursuit of the `summum
         We could answer Hume's arguments by saying                   bonum,' such a connection is postulated as necessary  ;
  that it.he hunian  contriver, of whom he speaks, the  soul          mus,t contain ithe principle of the harmony of nature,
  of our .fellow-maa,  is not known to ~1s antecedently,              not merely with' a law of th:e  will .of  rational-beings,

  nor is ever in any way k.nown  except by the character              but with .the conception of this law, in so far as they
  of the works in wh.ich he manif!ests  himself.              And     make it the, supreme determining principle of the
  exactly in the same way and  ;t.o  the sam'e. extent is             will, and consequeatly  Z.not  merely with `t.he- form of

 .the Author  of nature known.        And secondly, the anal-         .morals, but with their morality as their motive, that
  ogy .of human contrivances is not the gr0u:n.d  o'f the             ,is with  *heir moral character.         Therefore, the sum-
  convictio8n  that order and adaptati,on  imply intelli-             mum bonum is possibl,e.  in the world only on .the sup-
 gence.       It is a universal and necessary ,judgment  of           position of a supreme being having  cgusality  corres-
  reason that order and adaptation can only spring                    ponding ito moral character. Now a being that i:;
  from an. intelligenit.  cause, or from acci!dent, and that          capable `of acting o:n the conception of laws is an
o the latter supposition is absurd.                                   intelligence (a rational being), and the causality of
         n`here  is on'e,  more argument which `we can brief-         such a being according to this conceptions  of laws i3
  ly present in this introduction, and that is the Moral              lzis will ; ;therefore,  th*e. supreme cause of nature, whixch
  Argument. This argument adds to the cosmological                    must be presupposed as a condition of the  summum
  and teleological argum,ents  a new elemenit.,  viz., the            bonum, is a being which is the cause  ,of_nature  by
  attributes `of holiness, justice, goodness, and  truth.             intelligence and will, consequenit.ly  its author, that is
  L&e ..;jlrgument  uses ?s a premise, the fact that rngn             ,Gofl.     It- .followts  that the postulate ,of the. possibility


             \                                                                                                                                               I




                                               T H E  STAND,A-RD  B E A R E R                                                           4     5


 of .t.he highest ,derivecl  good (the best world) is like-           possibility of the existence of God, for they are reas-

 wise the postulate of the reality of  t,he higest.  original         onable,  and. in their very reasollableness  they strength-

 good, that is to say, of the existence of God. Now                   en the fai?h  of those who believe.
 it wa,s seen to bl! a duty for us to  proni&e  the sum-                :                                       D. Vander Wal
 mum bonum; consequently it is no%.  merely allowable,                i:i Paper read at a meeticg of the student philbsopby  `club ?f the
 but-it is a n.eceesity  connecte!d  with duty as a requisite,        Protestant Refbrmed Seminary.                          .
 that we should presuppose the, possibflity  of .this  sum-

 mum bonum ; and as this is possible only on condition
`of the existeace  of God, it inseparably conne&s  `the
 isupposition  of this with duty; t,hat  is, it is morally

`necessary `to assume the existence of God." (end of
 quote).
     Criticism of this argument is foundled  upon several
 factors.         111 .the `firsit. place,  this argument does not           Tonight wz celebrate twenty years of continuou:;'
 take into consideration the `mechanical, invariabilities             publication of the Standard Bearer. I thought it ap-
 of natural laivs, and their disregard of the:welfar&  of             propriate, therefore, 03 this twentieth anniversary,
 human beings. `Then there is the obvious sufferings                  to depart somewhat  from the usual type of  speec?l
 of- irrational animals that cannot be shown to be                    hear:d  on the occasion  of tve Annual business meeting
 compatible with It.he virtue-happiness ratio of this.                and to review briefly the past -twenty years of his-
 argument. Again there is the presence of moral and                   tory of the Standard BEarer.  To accomplish this re-
 physical evils among mien                                            sume of the past twent.y  years many fadts have .been
                                    ; besides, the apparent un-
 equal apportiontient  of providential `favors, ail,d  the            gathered and some conclusions and deductions drawn
 `absence of all proportioil  between the measur,es  of               from them w$ich should pr'ove  both interesting anct
 hapb,iness  alloted,  and the respective mol-al  character,+         profitable for a di%u;ssion.  The material,divided  un-
 of those  w.ho  receive it.his  happiness-these conditions           der three heads: General Facts,  Facts  concerning th_
 are not easiiy explained on the basis of the moral                   contents, and Facts relative to Policy. Many of  the
 argument. John Stewart Mill in his "Essay -on Na-                    figures pyesented  are, very `evidently, not actual but
ture" describes it as the charadteristic  of nature rtit.h-           approximations ; used as' a basis for conclusion. T
 leslsly to inflict suffleri.n,g  and death, and affirms that         believe, however, that they are correct enough to allow
<the  cause of naturb,  if a personal will, must be 2..               the conclysioas  `drawn.
 monster of cruelty and injustice. In his "Essay on                          The September 15 issue of the  Standard Bearer
 Theism,"         he argues that the attempt to maintain              completes 20 vo1ume.s.  of our paper. ,In .these 20 vol-
that the author of nature, such as we know it, is' at                 umes there are about 430 separate numbers or issues.
 once omniscient an,d omnipoitent  and absolutely just                These volumes contain approximately 10,320 pages a.nd
 and beilevolent,  is abominably i'tioral.                            about 10,320,OOQ  words.  If the pages of a complete
    Thus we could continue to, quote from many  dif-                  set  of 20 volumes would be laid  en'd to end they would
ferent philosophers as to their  ideas  of these difier-              stretch for a distance of about 2 miles.              If all the
 ent rational proofs for the existence of God, for they               pages. .of all the issues, :hat.  have ever  been printed,                   ~
all have in their systems of philosophy a slightly  dif-              would be. so laid end to etid,  they would easily con-
f'erent  ,slant on it.his  universal question. They must              nect  all of our Churches and then go around  the  world
at one time or another in their logic consider the place              sqbout  oae  and one half times. If the words of a corn-                          .
of a Supreme Being.                                                   plete set were laid out in a straight line they.  would
    But because God is God, Incomprehe~n~sible,  and                  form a c,ontinual  senten.ce  of about. 62 miles in length.
Invi&ble.  ." He dwelleth iri a light .no man can ap-                        In .the  past twenty years there have been 3 special
proach unto."           Therefore we must conclude that the           issues of the-Standard Blearer printed. Two of these
value of these arguments is not in ,.the  fadt.  that they            have commemorated our Young People's Conventions
compel belief ih God, nor do they.  .prove  His ex- and the third has been devoted' to the 25th aimiver-

istence inathematically, but they ~do  strengthen the                 sary of the Rev, H. Hoeksema's ministry.
faith of those who already believe in His `existence.                        Each `month + there are ab'out' 1,200 cbpies of the
The existence of God is a matter of faith. This-,do&                  Standard Bearer printed. These are scant obt  to 800
no.t mean.'  that belief in His ex&tence  is :unr&ason-               subscribers, .whilee  400 are gift subscriptions.           The gift
able, for it ais immenently .l:e&onable,  but that reason             subscriptions include all our servicemen,  contribul!ors,
cannot conclusively deinonstrdte His existenoe.            Faith . exchanges and' Library copies. Amoqg  the libraries
does not contradidt.  reason  but goes beyond it.            It is where the Standard Bearer`is  foi_lnd,  are the Calvin
`more reaisonabl'e  .toe believe in God than. not to.      Over- Library and the Grand Rapids Pu,blic Library.                         Al:
against ur@@iever+  the$e  proofs do' establish a stro:lg             though. there arc only 12 subscribers  outside dur `de-
                                         _.


 46                                       T H E  STANB:A'RDs.   B E A R - E R

nomination, there is .evidence  that it. is much mdre             arouse within             a mighty prayer of thanksgiving and
                                                                                     us 
widely read by other than Protestant' Reformed  Churdh            praise to ,God  for His goodness to us; thankfulness fo!*
members. Among our Churchles,  Edgecton leads with                deeming us worthy to carry ithe banner of His truth
a 100% subscription record while Manhattan is not                 for these twenty years; praise for His continued
far behind. Proportjonately,  Fuller.Ab&  has the least           blessing upon our labors ; appreciation and adoratioil
n u m b e r   o f  &bacribers.                                    to Him for giving us men with insight and talent and
       The original staff of the Standard Bearer was  com-        spiritual `gifts, +hrough whom He has developed the
posed of the Revs. H. Danhof;`-  H. Hdeksema, G. M.               truth of Scripture in our midst.
Ophof and Mr. G. Van  Beck;  Soon after the  birth                   In the second place, it is evident that they demand
of the chil,d  the Rev. Danhof and Mr. Van,  Beek de-             a `sincere expression of -thanks,  appreciatibn,                 anti
serted the babe leaving `the Revs. Hoeksema ati.d Op-             gratitude to the Rev. H. Hoeksema, especially, and to
hof to nurse' the iittle gi$nt  alone. That they did so           all olthers  in a varying degree, who have labored so
very' .nobly is abundantly evident.                               faithfully for the Standard Bearer.
       The Rev; `Hoeksema has written at least one article           They also reveal that. the burden. of  th-e responsi-
in `every  isstie  of `the magazine since its inception.          bility and work connected with the Standard Bearer,
An amazing r,ecord  ! Tl-(is includes ihe three special           in the past twenty  years, has rested on the shoulders
issues that have been print&d.            In fact;  it. is the    of the Rev. Hoeksema.               He has fellt that responsibility
exception fo find only one article with the initials              and has assumed it throughout.                It is evident that he

H. H. . It has only occured  once in the twenty years has often filled its pages when others were negligent.
of .history;  in the 20th anniversary number. In. each            This has meant much burning of the-midnight oil and
of the Convention numbers there  are tw,o  articles               plenLy  of hard work.              T~he paper has been a constant
signed by him. His material has filled from yk of                 cause- of worry to him.             Ilt has often been a ii& baby
a page in the Anniversary number  tip to 28 -pages of             and his was the struggle to keep it alive.                     Even
, the Standard Bearer. You might ask how that last                though noti  there are 22 regular subscriber+ it is still
figure is possible for the paper is of only 24 pages.             his babyi  as it always has been.
At the_ t.im@  that Dr. K. Schilder was visiting in this             But after twenty years  it should be a healthy
country a meeting was h&d ,in the  Pantliad  Hotel in             young ma; and the time has comje  to prove that  it
Grand Rapids to disc&s  a possible reunion with the               is. We .would  like to suggest, therefore, that the
Clhristian.  R&formed Church. The speech which the                Paper be departmentalized or divided into rubrics.
Rev. .Hoeksema delivered at this gathering was print-             Not only w.ould  t:his relieve the Rev. Hoeksema from
ed in both English and  H'olland  and :together  with             a great deal of unnecessary work and worry, but.
other material written by him accounted for 28 pages              ,would  at X.he same time stabilize the paper and  let
in that particular issue.         Apart from that it is `ITot     it stand on its. own. feet.           To accomplish that end then
uncommon  to find froml2-16  pages of the Rev. Hoek-              plan should be adopted that was  suggest,ed  by the
sema's  material in a single issue.        Ttie overall aver-     Editor-in-Chief in Volume fl, number 8. He sug-
age is about %lO_pages.  If tie :take  theelower  figure          gests that the following deparitments  be inclucled:

we  find that hti has filled about 3,440 pages and writ-                     Meditations                 Doctrine.
ten about 3,500,GOO  words in the  past twenty years in                      Biblical Histor'y Hist. of Dogma                       ".,
the ,`Standard  ~Bearer.    This material would fill about
                                                                             Missions                    Reviews
`7 volumes and is, conseqtiently,  more than one-third                       E d i t o r i a l s      Church History
of .a11 the material published.                                              Social Topics                Political History
       The Rev:  G. M. Ophof follows; also having high
honors.     Next in line are the two "nurses aides" who                .,  E d u c a t i o n              Questions & Contributions
were soon calleid  in, the late Rev. W. Verhil and the            These mi,ghf, of course, be -decreased or in.creasecl;
Rev. G. Vos, who quickly be&me  full fledged "doc-                according to the discretion of the staff.             Our persoEa1
t;ors"  by faithful service and labor. +t present there           preference would be to give the  .Rev.  Hoeksema the

are 22 regular contributors; some of whom are n.ot so             Meditation and `Doctrinal dep@ments  and to relieve

regular.                                                          him of all ,else.  He &uld,  -of course, contribute al?.y
You would like to'suggest,  perhips,  that though                 other' mat,erial;  as he pleased. For the rest, one man
these facts have been inter,esting, to gather them re-            should be resppnsible  <for each departmelnt.                The l:e-

presents a terrific waste of time and effort. On the              maining linen mighi be divtded  under thes,e  heads as
contrary, they are not. only interesting but very very            ,would be necessary:-,  :It is evident that not every

revealing and of great value, in their r&elation, to all          rubric ;cohld  be ,included  in each issuk but a  schedule
those who are truly illterested  in our paper. By                 could be drawn up to work out the material. We

these gross figures we are brought, first of all, very            believe it would be wise to include the Rev. Hoeksema's.

stkikingly,  before a- great cause for joy. They shouli!          rmtegial in. each  iwopz;  To %his  we would also add
                                                                                                \


                                              i


                                         T H E '  STANDAkD   B E A R E ' R                                           .         47


  the remark found in the article referred to  ahov%:               Manhattan Imead  in the perceiltage  of subgcribers  and
"Each editor or department' head shall  "be held re-                Fuller Ave. lags, is likewise revealing.       It reveals that
  sponsible, during the time of his  appointmlent,  to fill         our newer and younger congregations are the best

  his space with material pertinent to the rubric as-               supponters'of our paper in subscriptions. That again
  signed Yo him, and ,that `no one else,  not even the              means  that'as  we grow older in our clenominatio'n  ow
  Editor-in-Chief, may fill. that space"-uilless  some              s.upport  a,nd interest wailes.    It is the old story of los-

  extraordinary circumstance arise, such as the death of            ing our first love and with it our enthusiasm. This

  the writer.                                                       certainly demands a mighty revival and call to return.

          -The objection raised to the adoption of this. plan           Some interesting and yevealing  fa&s  have also
  is that the contribu:tors  in .the  past have not sent in         been gat.hered  rellative  to -the contents of the Stndard
  their material, neither when it was directly  assigr;ed           Bearer in the past twenty years. Passages from all

  to them, nor when they had the privilege of choosing              the books of `the Bible have  beei treated except -@vo
 o their `own material.      Further, it is sa<d,  that if :this    or three of the Minor Prophets in the Old  Testament.
  would, continue it Gould surely be the death of the               and the books of Philemon  ,and  III John in the Non
  Standard Bearer.         We believe, however, that effect-        Testament. Many books are :freated  comprehensively.

  ive measures could be taken and that. the adop+ion  of            Portions from almost every chapter of Genesis are
  the plan itself would eliminate this  objeztion.`  Nol-           treated. Of the a50 chapters in Gknesis on.e can find

  dq we believe that this woul,d  be the death of our               references -to' all but about 12-14. There are. 12 or
  Standard Bearer.                                                  more references from the first chapter  alone; while
          For especially two reasons, we feel thaw this plan        there are over 75 from the entire book. Passages

  would be- a means of s;tabilization.  and growth' rather          from about half the chapters of each Exodus, Duet-

 than lethargy and dea&:  Instead of .the situation                 .eronomy  and Proverbs are treated.         Of the 150 Psalms
  of prompting and directing and the r!elati,onship  of             about 100 have been treated; many in great detail.
  pupil and teacher that n6w .exists, there would arise             Isaiah has been treated comprehen,sively  wlhile  Zech- ,
  a healthy.  sense of responsibility and individual de-            ariah is most complete-almost  verse for verse.            II!
velopment., In .the  second place, ,the  inclusion in each          connection with Ezekiel's prophecy we find a strik-
  issue of the departments assigned to the Rev. .Hoek.-             ing fact. Especially 2 portions, in  .fact 2 verses, .re-
 ,sema,  which would surely be prepared, would alone                ceive  t,h&  lion's share of discussion.    Verse 23 of chap-
  make the paper worth printing and ciyculating-;  eve3             ter 18 is treated,in  9 articles while verse 11' of .chap-
  though nothing. else appeared.        At the same time "we        ter 33 is developed in 7 articles. They are the two
  should begin to prepare ourselves for a  future even-             most famous "common grace" texts: "Have I any
  tuality.     Al,thbugh  we all pray that  the. Lord  may yet      pleasure in the death of the wicked?  sai,th  the Lord
  spare him `for many years, `we know that some day the             Jehovah ; and not rather that he should return from
  Rev. Hoeksema w'ill  be forced- to lay down his many              his way and live?"- US:23  ; and "Say unto them, As
  labors.      The adoption. of this plan .weuld help to pPer       I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, I have no pleasure in
  pare us for that day.                                             the death of the wicked.; but that the wicked  tun!
      The facts concerning the &culation and volume of              from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your                 .
  material that has been.  written are also very reyeal-            evil ways ; for why will ye die, 0 house of Israel?"
  ing.      It was .stated that if al.1 the pages were laid end     -33:ll.
  to end they would easily connect all of our churches*.               In the New Testament the following books are
  The Standard Bearer has been, just :exa&ly,  that                 treated comprehensively : Matthew, Luke, John, Ro-
  mighty and potent ?actor  of connection' between                  inans,  1 & 2 Corinthians, Phillipjans, Hebrews; 1 & 2
                                                            ow
 Chur,ches  w*hich  was necessary to us, who are scattered          Pet,er,  Revelation.
  and small. It has been a bond of union between us.                  . All of the so-called proof texts for "common  gra,-,e"
It was further stated thait  the c&tents  of a com-                 are treated and explained in detail in the light of ail
  plete volume woulci  form a continu&is  sentence. Once            of Siripture.  The most difficult  passages seem t6 be
  again, it would be exactly that, for tllere  has been             found in the Gospel according to Matthew for at least
 unity and harmony of thought and development                       12 questions con.cerning  pa&sages  in this book have
  throughout its histdry. ,                                         been sent .in ; which is more `thati on any other book.
    Some sad impressions ar,6 left by the facts rela-                  The titles and field:. covered are of an equally
 tive to circulation. It is evident that only' about 1/2-+$+        wide range. They spread from A-Abraham or Ab-
  of our own people al%  regular subscribers. Certainly             solute Predestination to Z'Zelotes  or Zeal. Some 6X
  there should be 100%.         This, together .with  the fact      the more interesting ancl striking titles are: Yankee
  that there are" only about a -dozen  subscribers outside of       Dutch, That Insdne  Amusement.. Notion, The Lone

  our own denomination, presents .a terrific field for -ex-         qrcher, Benedict0  Domini  Super Candidatos Nostros,

  pan;sS?n  Sn &ii I&. T,llq  gidenice  that Edgerton and Did Christ ComJnit  Suicide, and, of c&miel Cgmmsu
                                                    s


                                                                                                                                    ._  - -
                                                T H E  STAN-D.ARD  BEARER


       Grace. Material treated `has b&n in the rtyl-e and               Suncl,ay-s,chool  teachers, elders and deacons5  all Church
       fields of' Doctrine, Meditations, Church H&t&y,  Bible          workers, thd sick, all i&&e  not able to attend services
       History, History of Dogma, Philosophy, Economies,               -in brief- for everyone and for every occasion.
       Sociology, Politics, and .many  more.    Contribd'ors,  out-     We would like to see the R.F.l?.A.  give to, or urge
       side the  regular staff, have ranged from A-Aarclzna             every copsistory _to buy' or- acquire, a  complele  set of
       to Z-Zwier.       The latter being the Rev. Daniel  Zwiep.      the 20 volumes to be the prop&y of the congregation
       of Holland, Michigan.                     >                     for use by- al! its memtbers.
           There are two special  depa&men!s  which we wish                Many deductions can be made concerning the  read-.
       to examine a bit closer, fol- they give an,inclication  o-f     ,ei iliterest  from the two special department3 reviewed.
       reader interes#t.  In the first place there are Contri-         In both cases ;there  was a gradual decline in intel'es!
     butions,  which include. articles by others than thz              until noti  $he-one  is almos::  dead and the other is fast
                                                                       disappearjng;  except for an occasional report of some
      , regular contributors, communica:ions  titli  the editors,
       reports, etc.    In the.first  10 volumes"there  were about     special Church~&ivi$.  This indicates, certainly, that,
       196 of these for an average of about 20 per volume.             our $eople`are"l&ing  interest, and we might even say,
       These 196 articles represent, however, `only about 50           :that they are not` reading the Standard Bearer. No
       Ldividual  writers; so that many wrote twice or more.           one .tiill deny .that  it is evidence of the fact that the
       In the llith voltime'theye  are 61 of thess contri'bution~~     paper is a.ot  being read as it, should.              We repeat that
       representing  `as. mariy individual tiriters:  The reason       one lqoks  in vain for a response frdm our Young
       for this sudden increase was in  `respozse  to a request,       Peopl:e  aed a sign of ititerest  on their part. Once
      `,of  the Editor-in-Chief for reflection and sentiment           they rallied Ito ask for help and consideration and fbr
       regarding a proposed change i3 the set-up of the                a .voice  in the paper.          In that connectio;n  it is inter-
       Standard Bearer.       [It is inter&king  to nobe that this     esting Lo note, that not one `of the Young People who
       is the only oooasion  that the Young People were rous-          wrote ifi at Ihat itime,  was oppose,d  to the proposeId
       ed to write in to the. Standard Bearer.         Outsidti of     plan.. Furttier,  that many of the  adults  who expretised
       this, one looks in vain for the voice of our Y.oung             stheir  opinion admitted ,the  fact tihat  there was not ,a
       People ; .except for an bccasional  paper or society work.      grea;t.  deal to iril:erest  `our Young People in the Sta.n-
       We discovered only one such co:l:tl;ibution:  a discus--        `dard Bearer and favored the change. Personally, we
       sion on Hymns from the Fuller Ave. Yjoung  Men's                would  not favor the change proposed at that time
       Society. It is also interesting to note that this con-          but that latter change which we have already discussed.
     tribution al;bused  a great deal of juterest  and discus-         In as much as we touch upon these matters  Ia$er we
       sion. In the next 4 volumes--1%15-th&e  are  abov.t             leave them for &e time being.            We `d6 believe that.the
       46 contributions or 11 per volume.  . The last 5 vol-           facts presen$ed  `warrant the conclusion `that the ma-
       umes coiltain  about 47, contributions or 9 per volume.         jority of our  Young People aye n&readiing  she Paper,
          The other special feature is the Question and An-            that the `same is true of many adults, and that gradual-
       swer department. In past twenty yeari'  many  inter-            ly ;the  Standar,d Bearer is losing its place among  OUJ'
     &iag  and instl:uctive  .questions  have been received            p e o p l e .                                            W. H.
       and answered.       For example: May a .C+ristian  en-                                      (To be continued)                     I
       gage in Politics?, When werg  the Aagels  :zreated?,            "Speech delivered at the Annual meeting of the R.F.P.A. on

       What is the `distiriktion.  between the ethical will  df        `Thurseay  evening, September. .14, 1944 in Fuller Ave.- Com-

       ,God  and the will of His,  counsel?, May a minister as-        ments and criticiims  concerning any of the ,material  here pre-

       sunie that a member of his congregation is a child              sented is invited.

       bf God if he si,$ply  answer's yes, or-no  `at house visita-
                                                                                                     --_
~      tion?\  There are no questions in the first volume. In
       the .next:  9 volumes theke  `are about 997 or 1.1 per vol-                                                      *
                                                                                                    IN MEMORIAM
       ume.    In the. ilext `5 volumes, there are about 47 or
       9 per volume. In the last 5 volumes t.here  are `about              The School board-pf  the First Reformed  Christian Schoal

       11 or 2 per voiume.                                             of Redlands; Calif. wishes to `express its sincere sym,pathy  ta
          Once again theses  facts are.verg revealing. They            its brother mem'ber  Charles Pieksma and family in the loss of

       give evidsence,  in the first place, of the' richness and       both mothe:r'and  father in. the course of eight days.

       depth of the Word of God in its content and truth.                                    MR. WILLIAM. PIEKSMA

       Further, they instruct uslthat  in the twenty volumes                          MRS. JOSEPHINE PIEKSMA

      of the Standard Bearer that we now have, we possess                May the Lord abundantly com$ort  him and his family in

       a veritable gold mirie of treasure from whi,ch  to draw.        this time of sadness, and may He fill. the emptiness` in, their
       We have here, a wea&  of material on almost any sub-            hearts with the presence of the Holy Spirit.

       ject discus&d in our circles.' Ati ;such, they are in-                                                 H. A. Kimm, Pres.
       valuable fo? ministers no% only, but for society'tiork,                  .i           :y              .B', J&rig,  Ses'y,

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