VOLUl!IE XXIII                          December 1, 1946 -:Grand Rapids, Mich.                              N-UMBER 5

                                                                  the Lord of all fdr all His benefits, brjng to Him the
                EDIT'A.THON                                       sacrifice of the, wicked, and become abomjnable  in the
                                                                  sight of Him, Whose is the earth, and the fulness there-           '
                                                                  of, the world, and they that dwell thereiil.     L
     I             APP Of Him                                          Thanksgiving. does, indeed, imply jpy and gladness
                                                                  of heart, but not in the abundance of earthly things,
                Wherefore David blessed the Lord before but ,,in God Who is really GOD, the Lord `of all,. Who
          ,  `. all the congregation of Israel: and David reign&h in the heavens above and on the earth beneath,
              said, Blessed be thbu, Lord God of Israel, our Who doeth all things well ; Who is,. moreover, the God
              fath,er, for  euer and ever.  Thine, 0 Lord, is of our salvation in Christ Jesus our Lord, Who for:                         '
              the greatness, and the power, and the glory, giveth all our:biquities, Who healeth all our diseases,
              and the victory, and the majesty: for all that and from Whose fatherly `hand we receive all things,
              is in the heaven .and in the earth is thine; rain and drought, fruitful and `barren years, .health
              thine is. the Iciiigdom,  0 Lord, and thou art and sickness, joy and-sorrow, life and death, and Who
              exal@d as  kead above all.  B&h  ri&es and causes all thin& to work for our salvation.
              honor come of thee, and thou reignest over                To give thanks means, $0 be, sure, that we point to
              all; and in thine hand is ,power and .,might; blessings received, and that we count them one by one,
              and in t&&e hand it is to make great, and but not so that we exclude from these benefits anything
              to give. strength unto all.  ,.Now therefore, that we Y'eceived  from the.hand of our heavenly Father
             9 our God, we.thank thee, ancl praise thy glori- in this valley of death, so  th& we speak of  :"many
              ous name. But' who am I, and what is (my things- to be thankful for" while we know-not what to
              peijple, that we should be able to offer so will- do with those experiences that were contrary to our
              inbly after  this sort? For we are strangers earthly desires p but so `that we cqnsider all things,
                                                                  by faith, and in the light of His pro&&, as. gifts of
              before thee, and sojou?:ners, as were all our
            fathers: our days on the earth are  as  ,d His grace, for the which He is to be praised and adored.
                                                                        It.means that .we praise Him and- glorify His holy
              shadow, and there is none abiding.
                                    I  Chron.                     name because of the abundance df IHis mercy over, us,
                                                   29:10-15.      but again, not .in the vain imagination tha> by doing              .
   All of Him, none of self!       '                              so. we add anything to (His glory, and oblige Him to us,
   This confession is essential to real thanksgiving.             but in the deep sense that even our thanksgiving and
   0, it is easy to rejoice in an, abundance of things,           praise is a gift of grace, an unspeakably great privilege
of earthly bounties, of food and drink, of health and which He bestows upon us, and for the `?vhicb w,e owe
strength, of ppsition and honor, of might and power, Hini thanks.  '                                              2.  ;.  :-
of victory and peace, and to confuse such carnal joy                    And thus it implies that we deeply humble oqrselves
with the real joy of gratitude. . . .        ;.     `I.  i  `-    before Him, Who is Go&-the Lord, and acknowleclge
   It is quite':conceivable that, on Thanksgiving Day, that we are wholly unworthy' of al! His benefits.
yve- exalf ourselves in sinful ,pride, boast in `the things             To acknowledge-Him  as God alone, and to prostrate
we possess and `enjoy, attribute them  in.,our deepest ourselves in adoration before His throne, -that is
h&rt to our own  irigenuity and efforts, thus boast t h a n k s g i v i n g .
iii'our own worthiness, while, perhaps, we-acknowledge                  All of Him, none of self!
t+at-tKe  Lor'cl canie in'to assist and to crown 6ur worthy                             -     -. -.
efforts,. and thus, imagining that  we cant remunerate                 None of self!
                                                                  /                                                             `


98                                       %`HE     S+UgDARD                     BEARE,R                 _          `(            _        ,`I
                                                                                                                                      - i,
      That is the ,deep  note. that' pervades the p&&e of' sojourners, that. tarry btit fo$ k da+, we havel-a-..&&t
David in the $h&ksgiving we quoted:above-thi&medita               t'6 : nothing. Our, day  iS as  & -shadow, for  `&e"  haqe
tion.                                                       '     sinne&; and: we `move  about- in  the:,@dst  of death;
       The kilig of Israel-is old, and his-day%  are well-nigh                                              ~ `p j;. _.-`. "
                                                                  there. is- `tione abiding.
ftilfilled.  : Yet a" little whil&, and he will' be gathered          Who --are we?
to' liis, fathers.                                                    What else, ar,e we, than guilty. and corrupt sinners;.
       Still lie i&contieriled.about  tlic louse .of:.God:  he- had that; are:& `ourselves -worthy of death and:damnation;
s6  st?ongly.   desirkd  to  ,build  iti  J&ilsalem,  but which unworthy  and, wholly incapable? of the $y of offering
work had. been taken out `of `his hands 6y the Word of- up .praise. and.: adoration,. to the, Mbst High, exiles from
God through the prouhet, and assigned to his son. that the- house of God.? . . . . .              .
would succeed him oc..the throne of Israel.                        .;;`O, in all oilr thinksgiving there ,is none of self !
       However, having- set his affection )m the house of             It is: all' of- tkie God- of-' our salyafion, Who r,evealed
God, he had coll&ted'a huge store of materials, in,order j ZI@nself- to us in'. the face of' Hi% Son, Jesus Christ as
that, in the days-of his son, the work! of~~buil&ng~God's         our Reconciler ;and Redeemer; W-ho blotted out all our
templ,e  might. proceed i without del&yj gold, and silirer-,      iniquities-th?ough"the  blood of the cross; and Who; by
and brass;-,and  iron, and marble,- and. precious-stones,.        the power of !His wondrous .grace, drew us out of the
and wood;. iti abundance; And; of ,his own personal. mir,e of-sin into the glo?y of His.fellowship, and Cal&d
possessions he izad added to this -store, three- thousand- us  otit of  darkne&  inta the marvellous light. of His
t.al&ts-  of, gold, and seven thousand: tale&s. of ref iiled tabernacle, in which we rejoice. in Him, and praise
silver.                                                           His holy name with thanksgiving-!
       And: now~ the` people had' joined him, and had. 0%             None of self : none but sin and guilt and corruption !
fered'willingly for thi,s cause of the.Lord?s.house.                  None of'self: not.even bur praise and` adoration of
       For- this the.king!s  heart: overflows-with.joy in- the His holy name; It is His gift to us.
Lord, and with praise,to  the .Gbd-of Isr$el.                         0 Lord, who are we?
      For he recognizes- in.this willing offering, his dwn,
atid.that  of the peopl?, the-grace-of God over .tliem,
       There iS in. it none-of self,.                                 Allyof .I$im!'
       There is nothing  to.,boast..  Even of  this. pure joy        And; therefore, unto Him !
of giving willingly, and-with a perfect. heart, .the$ were,           `I?0 .acknowledge  this. i6 our hearts, and to declare
unwortliy.                                                        this before His face with holy reverence,-that is
       "But who am I; and what is my `people, that we thanksgiving.'
should be able to.offer so willingly after this sort? for             For, remember: He is God.
all- things. come of thee, and of- thine own have we                 lHie iS not a mati that you. should recompense Him
given thee.  For we are strangers  befcre thee, arid fbr all HiS benefits. He is the absoltitely  self-,sufficient
sojourners, ati were all our fathers.: our days..ar,e  on Lord`of`hea\ren  and'earth. His are all-things. All the
the earth,.as a, shadow, and there is none abiding."              `gold and silver, the c&i& on a. thdusand hills, you
       Who are we? . . . .                          .  '          yodiselves, your body and your soul, your mind and
       Let. US - translate. this prof ounclly humble acknow-      your will, all-your power and thlents, are His. And H,e
lddgement- of. the king in terms of our. own thankggiv-           iS infinitely glorious, and' perrectly  blessed in Himself.
ing:: "Who are w'e that we should be. able to p'?%is& and            What, then,.would  you give H`im,. or do for Him?
glbrif$ Thee, `0 Lor$ so .will&gly,  and -bring our grati-           Ever He iS the Giver, never the Receiver.
tude to-Thee-with. joy- of heart?' For it is all.of Thee!            The overflowing Fountain of Good is He, and we
Thk  tkiings we receive from  `Thy..fatherly hand, the can approach iHim only to-dr.ink  from that Fount.
l&oivledge  that it is from The& as our. g,r.acious Gqd,             .What, then,. shall we render unto the Lord for all
in. Christ our Lord- that we receive them, the assurance !3is benefits? Nothing,  but then,  absol$ely  nothing!
-that. all that Thou doest- is. well. don& and..that  Thou How  else? then, shall- we bring the offering  of.. our
causest all things to work together for good to- them praisk and- thanksgiving to Him- than- by humbly and,
that love:Tliee,  our joy and peace, as- well our tiilling- reverently acknowledging that He is all,?
ness to off,er  up our praise and thanksgivifig' unt&Thy              So doe's the king.in,his.beautiful  hymn of praise..
holy, name,-it5  is all: of thee !"-                                 He simply exalts.the  name of the Lord.
       `I'he blessings- we count are `thine !                     : . "Blessed. be thou, Lord- God: of Israel: our father,
       The grace to remember them, and tb praise `Thee fbr ever. and- ever-.. Thine, ,O Lord,. is the greatness,
for them,, is Thine !         ,                                   and the power, and the glory, and. the victory, and the.
  - And who are we?                                               majesty : f,or all' that is in the heaven. and in the, earth
       Strangers and sojourners in the land !                     is thine; ahd thine is-the kingdom, 0 Lord,' and Thou
       As strangers in the land, we posskss nothing. As art exalted. as. head over a& ;B&h riches and: honor


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                                        T H.E S  .T  A'N:D:A-.R.D             :B.E A R.E.R                                        99

 come of Thee, arid Thou reignest .over all ;. and. iti thine the full  manifeitation of all the glory of our Lord
 hand is power and might; and in thine ,hand  it ii -to Jesus Christ;-and the final glorification of His beloved
 `make great, an-d-to give strength unto all;"                          Church in Him?
     All of Him !          '                                               The glorious name ,of. our God !
     That is the-keynote of this beautiful ascription -of                  Alid do we.not,see,@' our.pEesent  w?~, through this
 praise to-the.:Mo&High..  -And:that..must..ne&ds  be the valley of death, all our experiences in this world, all
 sole theme of `our  thaliksgiving to Him, of Whom,                     that comes to (us by His .fatherly hand, in the light of
 -and thkough Whom, and, unto ,Whom -are ali- things !                  that glorious name, joy but-also sorrow, prosperity but
     `Nor..is  such praise .a mere abstraction, an ascription also adversity,' riches but also povert.y, health but also
of .glory to some unknown God, -which .we.have-learned                  sickness, life but also death; and. are we riot assured
 by heart, but which has very- little real and .concrete                that $11 these things are ours, blessings of His,grace to
 meaning for our _ conscious life. On the contrary, it `us, and that must all work together for our salvation?
 implies. that we know the name of the Lord, <as He                        Now, ther,efore,  our cod, we thank thee, and praise
 revealed it unto. us, .an;d that,. b$ faith, we :have seen thy .glorious name !                     L
 the revelation of that name as it concerns .u6, .so .that                 For that t2l.y name of salvation is near, thy won-
 We `know whereof .we ipeak,  and.aY;e.impelled  to `pros-' drous works declare !                                                       I
 tcate. ourselves before Him, .in order to. express what                    We thank thee!
liv.es iti .our hearts of fhe.glory of .that.imme,:and. ascr.ibe           To thank the-Most  High presuppostis  a joyful con-
 to Him blessedness, and greatness, and power, and                      sciousness of having beertblessed,  of having received
 ;gl.ory, and .,-victory, .and Tmajesty, .and dominion, .-an.d          benefits, nothing but good things. from.;Him. It means
 exaltation over .all..                                                 that we point them out. This is picturesquely express-
     Does not the king speak of the -name,  the: glorious               ed in the  /Hebrew original. It means "to throw out
 na-me of God ?                                                         the hand," to point to something, to indicate blessings
    `"Now,  therefor;,  our God,  w& thank thee,  Bnd                   we received, to call .attention  to them as revelations
 pra& thy. glorious, name !"                                            of the goodness and glory pf the Loud our God,
  The glorious -name of' God !                                             And thus we may praise Him.
    `But what else does it -mean than that $Ie has .r.e-                   We praise `Him, because .in .all, things we received
 vealed IHimself to us in all the Iglory of infinite .might             out of His hand we recognize His glorious name, His
 and dominion, and. majesty and; greathess, -and ,gyace                 power, His everlasting love and mercy over us, His
 and mercy, .and righteousness. and truth, so th& we wisdpm, the wonder of .His marvello&  grace in Christ
may, indeed, .know  Him, and ascribe iglory to His hb!y Jesus oui Lord.                         .
 name?  -~What else does it mean. than `that He  :Fade                     We praise Him by glorifying His virtues, as  ye-
 Himself known, not onty .as our: Creator, -Whb .calls                  vealed in all [His benefits.
 the things -that. ace snot ,as if they- were ; :but .&o .:afid            And by declaring ZIis glory to'Him, ,and to meti !
 above' all, as our `Redeemer, Who loves us `with an                       All of Him !                            s
 everlasting love, Who revealed His love -and the niighty                                      -_~
 power of His :grace to us in the -face ,of Jesus Christ,                  Joy in t&e Lord!
His'only begotten Son -in- the flesh, crucified-&d slaip,                  Such is the gladness of true thanksgiving.
 and raised on the third day ; as the -One that blotted                    And this.rejoicing  is possible. only in. the conscious
 out all our iniquities, that clokhes us with ai everlast- acknowledgement that we are riothing,  and that God
 ing .righteousness, -atid . . that .purposes  to `lead us to, is all.
 the everlasting glory.of His heavenly tabernacle?            .            Notice that this is, indeed, the ,essen'ce  iand ground
     His -glorious .name !                                              of the joy and gladness of the. king and of the people,
     What else does it mean than, that we MOW behold                    as eypressed  in this `inspired praise and thanksgiving :
 all  things  ih the light of  that  ,.glorious  revelation of          "Then the people rejoiced, for that they `offered will-
 himself in t&face  of Jesus Christ our Lord, whom He ingly, because with perfect heart thei offered willingly
 raised from-the.dead?                                                  to the Lord : and ,David the. king also rejoiced with
     Do we nc$ know IHim, as we behold:IHis,,glory  in,the              great joy." T-hey rejdiced  in the Lord, for- they,were
 face of Jesus, as the One-that crea$ed all things with .a              glad because of the grace bestowed upon them to'offer
 view, to _ thg -heavenly  commonwealth .of His `eternal                willingly .unto --the ~Lord their God !
 kingdom, in which Christ will be fully'revealed as the                  It is the joy of the experience th& the God of our
 %rstborn of. every creature, -having- the preeniinence salvation is our God for Christ's sake !
 ok+  &II?  -                                          ,_          I       The joy of  the. conscio&ness that we drink from
   Contemplating'His  revelation in't?he name of  Jesus,                the Fountain of good!
.are, we- ndt `a?sured  that He governs all things .with a                 It is a joy, pure and undefiled.
 view 6. ilie "realization *of:-His everlasting Ltabernacle,               And enduring forever! ,                      lI.:I-T-. .
              .q


       l?O .                                    I                                                                . T H E   STA.NDARD  BE&:XE.;<                                                                                                                  .-

                                          The St&lard  Be&i+
                      Semi-Monthly, exxc&t  `Monthly in Jnly  and August                                                                                                                                           E'Dl[TORIALS-
                                                                                                                                        i.
                                           i              P u b l i s h e d   B y
     :                             The Reformed Free Publishing Association
                             I,                         146.3 Ardmore St., S. E.                                                                                                       . .                   Three.P6ints  A n d   F o u r   '
               .'                                                                                                                                                    i                                  -
                                                     EDITOR:  - Rev. H.  Hoeksema.
                    5  `.                                                       so                                                                                                                     With, reference to what the Synod of Utr&ht de-'
     ;, Contribu,tin,g  Editors :
                      .I  i,                                  - Rev. G.  &I.  Ophoff,`Rev.  G. Vos, Rev.                                                                                            .clared concerning God's altitude  and, relation to the
      R.  Vel.dman,   R&v:  H.  Veldman,  Rev. H. De  W<lf, Rev. B. Kok,                                                                                                                            wicked  and reprobate  ill  t&s world, we  conclu$e,
      `Rev. J. D. De  Jcng, Rev. A.  Fiztter,.  Rev. C. Hanko,  kev.. L.                                                                                                                            therefore :
      Vermeer, Rev. G.  Lubb&s,  Rev. M.  Grltters, Rev. J. A. Heys,
                                                                            .-
     Rev. W.  Hfofman.                                                                                                                                                                                 1. .That in the main issue, viz., the alleged grace of
           Communications relative to contents should. be addressed to                                                                                                                              .God to the reprobate in the preaching of the gospel,
      REV. H. HOEKSEMA,  1139 Franklin St., S. E., Grand Rapid:,                                                                                                                                    conceived as a well-meant offer of- salvation to all that
     Michigan.                                                                                                                                                                                      hear.& the Synod tacitly differed from the first of the
           Coqmunications   relatibe  to subscription  .should.  be addressed                                                                                                                       three points adopted in 1524, by the Synod of Kalama-
      to  J&R.  GE,RRIT  PIPE, 1463 Ardmore St., S.`E., Grand Rapids,
      Michigan.                     All Announoements, and  Obituaries   must be sent                                                                                                               -zoo. In Utrecht .they were well aware that this grace
      to the above address and will not be placed  unlelss  the regular                                                                                                                             of God in the preaching of the g'ospel is the very heart
      fee of  $l:OO  aocompanies   $he notice.                                                                                                                                                      of the "First Point". TLat they did not adopt it can.
                                         (Subscription Price $2.50 per .year)                                                                                                                       hardly be.regarded  as un,intenti&nal. We conclude that
      E&red  `as -Second Class Mail at `Grand Rapids,' Michigan.                                                                                                                                    the Netherland theologians were more Reformed than
                                                                                                                                                                                                    those of Kalamazoo.
                                    .                                                                                                                                                                  2. That the declaration of the Synod  of. Utrecht
                                                                                                   -                                                                                                concerning God's attitude to and dealings  with the
                    *'                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 ,
                                                                                                                                                                                                    reprobate wicked in this world is too vague and am-
                                                                                                                                                                                                    biguous to serve as an officially accepted dogma of the
                                                                     i CONTENTS -                                                                                                                   Church that is supposed to be binding upon all its
                                                                                                                                `
                                                                                                                                    .                                                               officebearers and members. It is difficult to: under-
      MEDITATION  :-                                                                                                                                                                                stand why the Synod of Utrecht felt the need of declar-
                                                                                                                                                                                                    ing anything at all upon a matter that was so evidently
      ALL OF HIM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..!........".........  `;.:..:.97                                    in its undeveloped stage, unl'ess it may be supposed ,that
                 Rev. H.  H,oeksema.                                                                                                                                                                it felt itself obliged to support and express a measure
                                                                                                                                                                           L.                       of agreement with the Christian Reformed Church (es)
      E D I T O R I A L S : -                                                   -                                                                                                                   here, ib which case it made a b&d job of it.
      !l?HREE   P O I N T S   A N D   F O U R                                                                                    ..-
                                                                                        . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .100        3. That we, as Protestant Reformed Churches,
      EXPOSITION OF THE BEIDELBERC;  CATECHISM . . . . . . . ...102                                                                                                                                 would no more subscribe to this declaration than to the
r
                 Rev. H.  Boeksema.                                                                                                                                                                 Fir,st Point of Kalamazozo of 1924, if it were only
                                                                                                                                                   ,                                                because of its ambiguity and lack of clear conceptions.
      THE DEMAND  ,OF THE PEOPLE AFTER A KING . . . . . . . . . . . . 105                                                                                                                              But let us now turn our attention to the second
      THE T                                                                                                                                                                                         and third;declarations of the Synod .of Utrecht on the
                             RANSFER OF THE PAPACY ~0 Av~GNoN  . . . . . . . . . . . 1109                                                                                                           matter of "common grace".                  These, deal with the
                 Rev. G. ;M. Ophoff.                                                                                                                                                                natural man, and are comparable to the second and
       CHRISTm, I~ST'RUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  ;...:: . . . . . . . . . . . . . :. . . . . . . . . 110 third' points of Kalamazoo, 1924. We quote them
                     .:A'                                                                                                                                                                           ( t r a n s l a t i o n   o u r s )   :
                 .Rev. M. Gritters.                                                                                                                                                                     "2. That He also left to man imall remnants of his
       KOM, 0 GOD DER WRAKEN! . . . . . . . . ~ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  .112 original creation-gifts, and some light of nature, even
                                                                                                   ~'
                  Rev. G.  Vss.                                                                                                                                                                     though this ,is entirely insufficient unto salvation, and
                                                                                                                                                                                                    man, even in things natural and civil, does not use this
       FROM HOLY WRIT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114                             light  aright. (Netherland Cong. Art. 14 ; Canons of
                 Rev. H. Veld&an.                                                                                                                                                                   Dordt, III, IV, 4) ;                          ,'
                                                                                                                                                                                                        "That these remnants and be&fits must serve, not
       PERLSC;O:PE  (The ,Conference)  ,..........,....................,.....  l..........,. . .116                                                                                                 only to rend& man without excuse, but also to bridle
                  Rev. W. Hofman:                                          -                                                                                                                        the course (woyking through) of sin temporarily, and
                                                              . .                                                                                                                                   to. cavse that possibilit'ies; given in the original crea-
                                                                                                                                                                                                    tion, may-still be `developed in the sinful.world."


                                  `T H E   S T . - A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                          101.

     On the same matter the Synod of Kalamazoo, 1924 restraint at all.
 expressed itself as follows:                                    2. -The declarations of Utrecht ascribe the "brid-
     2. "Regarding the second point, touching the re- ling" or' restraint of the "working through" .of- sin tb
 straint of sin in the life of the individual man and of the remnants and natural lights of fallen man ; the
 society in general, Synod declares that, according to d8eclarations  of  Kalamazoo'bbldly  ascfibe this restraint
 Scripture and the Confession there is such a restraint      of sin to. an operation of the Holy Spirit, arid to an
 of sin. This is evident from the Scripture passages influence of God, and with equal boldness simply de-
 that wer,e quoted, and from the Netherland Confessioti,     clare that such an operation of the Spirit .of. God is
 Artt. 13, and 36, which teach that God, by a general taught  .in  the Confessions. This, too, is important,
 operatiori  of His Spirit, without renewing the heart, because: (1) the Synod of Kalamazoo thus declared
 restrains the unbridled tianifestsition  of sin, so that that there, are positive operations for good in the
 life in human sbciety retiains possible ; while the citti- natural man, apart from regeneration ; and (2)' thereby
 tions from Reformed authors of. the most flourishing denied the. complete depravity of the sinner as he
 period of Reformed theology prove, moreover, that our actually exists in this world.  The Synod of Utrecht
 fathers f&m of old maintained this view.                    wisely refrained from speaking so boldly.
  "3. Regarding the third point, touching the per-               3. The declarations of Kal&mazoo.speak  of the good
 formance of so-called civic righteousness by the un- that sinners do, through -tin  influehce` of God `upon
 regenerate,.Synod declares that,  accor$tig  to Scripture them,; but tlie declarations of Utrecht do not speak df
 and the Confessions, the'unregenerate, though  incap- this good at all. They are content to speak  of. the
- able `of doing any spiritual good (Canons of Dordt, bridling -or. restraint of sin, caused by the remnants
 III, IV, 3)) are able to perfbrm such civic good. This and the natural light that are left to fallen man. '
 is evident from-the Scripture passages quoted, and              4. The declarations of Utrecht are honest, enough
 fr"oin  the Canons of  Doydt,  III, IV, 4, and from the to remind us that the Canons teach that the natural
 Netherland Confession, Art: 3.6, which teach that God, man does not use his fen&an& and n&Ural light aright,
 without renewing the heart, exercises such an influence even in things riatural and civil, although they should
 upon man'that he is enabled to- do civic good ; while it have proceeded a step farther, and also have stated
 is, moreover, evident from the citations  made   from that -the sinner wholly pollutes this natural light, and
 the Refo&ned.  writers & the Ynost flourishing- period of holds it`in unlighteousness,  for the same article of the
 Reformed theology that our fgthers from of' old main: Canons states this also.               The synod of Kalamazoo,
_tained this `view."                                         however, not knowing what to do with.. these state-
     Let us, fi&t. of all; compare these two sets of de- ments of, the Cations, and surely not being able to use
 clarations; .                                               them in support for their alleged good that sinners do
 -: There is  very iittle similarity between them.           by an optiration  of.the Spirit upon them, omitted. them
 . In`fact, the only `point of `similarity must be found     entirely,  And quoted-only the first part of Canons III,
 in this,. that both speak of a restraint or bridling IV, 4. This can hardly be ascribed to -an oversight
 (beteugezing) of sin; although, even on this point, they    on ~their part, of course, but rather `reveals that they
 iui.te radically differ as to the nature of this restraint, were quite conscious of the fact that this last part of
 its  cause,  and.its effect.                                article 4 of Canons  II!, IV quite condemned  their
 - Fpr the r&t,' the %wo. declarations differ `in every      doctrine about the good that sinners do.~
 r,espect. Let-us nbte the following important points of         5. The declarations of Utrecht refrain from trying
 di?fer&tce  : --  ..                                        to find support in the Confessions, when tlie'ji interpret
     1. The declaration by the :.Synod  of Utrecht pro- the remnants and natural light, left to the -natural man,
 ceeds`fi-om  the remnants and natural light left to man as serving the purpose of restraining .sin ; `but the .de-
 after-the fall. These are the subjects of its pronounce- clarations of Kalamazoo boldly refer to the Confes-
ment.' Of these it says  ~something. The second and sions, without any ground or sense, for the& doctrine
 third points` of Kalamaz'oo, however, ,deal &h the that sin is restrained by an  oper&ion of the Holy
 matter df the restraint of sin. In this `they take their Spirit.                        \          '
 point- of, d&partu& And- cdilcerning  this spbject they      6.  The declarations of Utrecht  h+ve a remote-refer-
 attempt to declare something. This is imp&tant,` for ence to the Kuyperian theory that, through'the power
 by chooSin@ &s"their subject the remnants left to man of cotimon grace, God car@@ out His original creation
 after -the fall, -the theologians' `of Utrecht wer,e in a ordinance, when they declare that., the-remnants left
 posi&ti-:to.:kake  their standpoint in- the Confe%ions :    to man after the fall, "cause that; poss`iloilities, given `in
 they  do,  iKdeed speak of-  th& remnants  ;  while, by the origirial creatiqn, may stiJl%be  develop&d in the sin-
 speaking  of%he restraint of sin, in the sense in which ful world." The. decl+rati@ns  of Kalamazoo have n&h-
 they do; the theologians' of Kalamazoo at once ieft the ing at all th&t pertains to this view of Kuyper:
 basis of the Conf.essions  : they do not s&e& `of &-& 8      . Qn the whole, .therefore,  we may `say th&t the de;


102,              !i                   T H E   S T A N D A R D   BE,ARE~' I
clarations of iUtrecht are much more sober than those                  This is much stronger.
of Kalamazod;  and the latter ale much worse than. the
                                                     i                 There is a marked difference between saying that
former.     /                _                                   a -man does not-use the natural light aright, and saying
    Certain iq is, that although the theologians of the that he is incapable of doing so.
Netherlands yere well`acduainted with the doctrine                                                              H. H.
that had beeq adopted in 1924, by .the `Synod of E(ala-                                   --
mazoo,  and with. the controversy about this doctrine,
they did hot At all support their sister church, though,
pr.obably, thi$ was their original purpose.'                     -
    Nor can it be said, that the two sets of declarations              THE  TRIPLE  KNOWLEfiGE
`supplement  e+ch other, or that those of Kalamazoo are,
at least; implied in those of Utrecht. If the restraint
of sin is to belascribed  to t& remnants of natural light,       An Expkitisn 0% The Heideberg
-left to man $fter the fall, `it cannot be ascribed' to a
special  operafion   qf the  $Ioly. Spirit.  :The, theory of'
A. Kuyper  qr., which  the Synod of Kalamazoo at-                                         P a r t   Tw:o.
tempted to es!ablish as an official dogma of the Church,
`is that sin is $0 be compared to a dose of parish green,                           Of Man's Redemption .
which our fi$st pargnts swallowed, and that comtion                                   Lord's Da; XXI.
grace is ,the +tidote, that caused them t9 vomit otit                                                                    :,
this poison, 01, at least, pzirt .of: it. [Hence, man is not                                     8..
so .c@praved iis he mi-ght have been without .this anti-                    The Gathering of the Church (cont.)
dote. Somehhw there is in him a remnant of. original                  -. As well might we present the work of crea;tion as
goodness.- Rut this is .qtiit$ different from the view being the product of the cooperation between God and
that the natural man has s&me remnants of his origihal man,. as to give any credit to man for the marvelous
creation-gifts; and .of fiatural. light.                         work  oi gathering the Church -of Christ out of the
    We can oply conclude that the Synod of Utrecht whole human race.
could not see pye to eye with that of Kalamazoo.                       The Church is not a human'society that comes into
                        !                                        existence by the free will and' choice of its members,
                        f                                        and which you may eith& join or refuse to join. Nor
    But  hqw-to  judge of the  declaratidns of Utrecht is it a school of philosophy, the disciples and adherents
considered by! themselves ?                                      of which imbibe and follow the teachings of a great
   As to poiht 2, one can very well subscribe to  it, thinker. It cannot be compared to a mighty religious
as far as it does. For it declares nothing more than movement, such as Mohammedanism,  or Confucianism,
what is literally in the Confessions.                            initiated by some influential pefsonality or religious
    And  althok!gh it may be considered a virtue that fanatic, / who died long ago, but, whose followers are
ti Synod  .&lhpes literally to the Confessions of the still inspired by hi,+ precepts and .example. The Church
Church, rath$r than, in a round about way formulating is something far different. It is the  livin-g'body of
points that h*ve nothing to do with -the Conf,essions,           the living Christ,. the Son of God in' the flesh, .Who
to introdgqe  false doctrine into the Church, as did the died and Tose again, Who is exalted into the highest
Synod'of:  Kalimazoo ; .yet, one wondkrs why the Synod heavens, clothed with all authority and power in heav'en
of Utr&ii  cobsidered  it necessary to make such a de- and on earth, and Who now gathers unto Himself `His
claratidri,  &s. contained in  its. second point under           Church, and builds the house ,of God. The Church
Common Grahe, at all. It certainly expresses nothing therefore does not ,come  into existence by the work of
new, nor doesi it bring an ,old truth to further develop-        men that join the Church or organize it  ; it is. not
ment,  .or shed; light upon an established truth.                even the product of preachers  that persuade men to
    In  fact,  t!e original form of this truth, as it is be&me church-members ; it is not the result ,of the
expressed in Canons III, IV, 4, is to be preferred above combined efforts of God and map; it is the `wonder:
thai adopted by the Synod of Utrecht. Instead of say- work of grace, which God. alone accomplishes through
ing : "all this  is entirely insufficient unto salvation, and Jesus-Christ our Lord by His Spirit and Word.
man, even in things natural and civil, does not use this                Hence, the Church is gathdred qut of and separated
light aright,": the Canons declare: "But so far is this from the whole human  ?ace  a? the congregation of
light of nature frbm being sufficient to bring him to saints, through the divine calling. The Greek word
a ,saving kno$edge  of God, and to true conversion, that used in Scripture to denote the Church is e&%Zes&,  the
he is incapab67 of using it alight eyen in things natural gathering of those that are called out. And through-
.aF:d civil," j:                                                 out, the Holy Scriptures  teach  ps `that the Church


                                 T H E        S T A N D A R D   BEARER                                            r 103

 comes into being throu,gh the calling of God, bi His the. Gentiles ; and when He does, "they shall hear his
 Spirit and Word. Coficerning  the deliverance  bf israe voice ; an,d there shall be- one fold, and one shepherd."
 out of Egypt, the pkophet  declares: "When Israel was Jshn 10  :16. In all these passages Scripture plainly
 a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of teaches that it is- through the divine calling that the
 Egypt." 130s.  11  :I.. Through Isaiah, the Lord` pro-        Church is gathered out of the whole human race.
 claims : "But now thus saith the Lord that created thee,         This calling is  ,of God, through Christ, by  1His
 0 Jacob, and H,e that formed thee, 0 Israe.1, fear not:       Spifit and Word, and through the preaching of the
fpr I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy G o s p e l .
 name : thou arf mine." And again : "Fear not : f.or I            It is of God, and, therefore, it is a powerful'calling,
 am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, 2nd        eficacious, accomplishing that which it speaks and
 gather thee from the west; I will say to  -the  no&h,         unto which it is sent forth. Man's word is vain and
  Give up; and' to ihe south, Keep. not back: bring my powerless, even though it proclaims the gospel. `It
 sons- from far, and my daughters from `the ends of may be ever so persuasive and forceful, but it can
 the earth ; Even every one that is called by my game." never bring one soul out of darkness into the light;
 Isaiah 43  :,l, 5-7. And again:  `!Thou whom I have it is incapable to add even one member to the body of
  taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee            Christ.  /He calls the things that aye not- as if they
 from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, Thou were, and He quickens the dead. When He speaks:
  art my servant ; I have' chosen thee and not ca&t thee       "Let there be light," there is light. When' He addresses '
 away.". Isaiah 41:9. L Picturing Judah as a child born        the Church as she is in her blood, and says "Live,"
  of heathen parents, cast out into the open field, and        she lives., By His Word, the guilty are justified, the
  cared  fol: by none, the Word of God through Ezekiel de-     pol&ted  are made holy, the darkness is transformed
  clares : "And when I passed by. thee, and saw thee into the light,- the dead are raised ; the holy catholic
  polluted in thine own blood, I said. unto thee, when         Church is gathered out of the corrupt, damnabl'g, and
  thou wast in thy blood, Live ; yea, I said unto thee         dead human race.
 when thou wast in thy blood, Live." Ezek. 16 :6.                 This divine calling, whereby the Church is gathered
   In the New Testament this divine calling of the out of th,e world, is realized through Jesus Christ our
  Church is always emphasized. In` the epistles of Pa&l Lord.          Always God speaks through His Son. The
 the congregation of believers is addressed as ttie'&m-        worlds are formed by the divine Word of God. How-
 munion of those that are called to be saints. Rom. 1:7;       ever, in that Word of God as it comes to us throu&
  I Cor.  1:2.  In'separably uniting the Church of the creation and providence, there is no hope, for the wrath
  old and new dispensation, the apostle `Paul writ& :          of. God is revealed from heaven over all' ungodliness
 ."Even us, whom he `hath called, not of the Jews only,        and. unrighteousness of men.       Through that Word
. but also of the Gentiles. As he saith also in Osee, I        the holy catholic Church could neber be called out of
  will call `them my people, which were not my people ; the world. And people who, in' self-willed pieti and
  arid her beloved, which was not beloved. And it y4all        religiousness, pretend that they prefer to listen to the
  come to pass that in the place wher,e  it was said tinto Word of God in nature, rather than seek the preaching
  them, Ye are not my people; there they shall be called       of the gospel through the Church, `can do so only iti
  the children' bf the living ,God." Rom. 9 :24-26. To the their folly, and to their own damnation. For it is not
  church of~,Corinth the apostle writes : "God is faithful,    in nature that the Word of `God unto salvation is heard.
  by whom ye were called into &he fellowship qf his `son       God calls H,is, Church through Christ. -- And Christ is r
  Jesus Christ our Lord." I Cor. 1:9. He niarvels that the Son of God in the flesh, who revealed the Father,
  the Galatians are so soon removed  .from  hirri that Who died for our sins, Who was raised for our justifi- .
* called them into the grace of Christ, Gal. 1:6 ; and he cation,. Who merited for His Church all the blessings
  writes -to the Thessalonians that God called  them by of salvation, Who is exalted at the right hand of God,
  the gospel to the obtaining of the glory of -our Lord Who has received the promise of the Holy Spirit, and
  Jesus Chris'& II Thess. 2 :13. The chtirch is gathered through Whose  Wird and Spirit  %od gathers His
  out- of the world through the divine calling : "Where- 9 Church out of the corrupt human race. We may,
  fore,  cpme ye out from among them, and be ye separate, therefore, also express it thus : the `Son of God in the
  saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I flesh, our exalted Lor( ,Jesus  Christ, speaks the Word
  will receive you." II Cor. 6 :17. Arid' again-, the Word of the divine calling, whereby the. Ch&ch is gathered
  of God'calls  ; "Awake thou tliat sleepest, and arise from out of' the world.. When IHe speaks to you, you llea~
  the dead, and, Christ shall give thee light." Eph. $:14. the voice, of Jesus, calling and dathering'the sheep the
For "the h&r is  coming,. and now is, when the dead            Father gave  &Iim.' His is  she  mighty- Word of the
  shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that        God of your salvation, whereby you aa6 called out of
 hear shall live." John  5:25. And Clirist must gather darkness into light, out of de&h `into life, out of the
 all His sheep,. `not' only from the Jews, but alsb fl;om      natural fellowship of the iuilt$-and sinful human race


                         /                                      \
                         !  ,
                         /

       1 0 4             I /                          TFE  STANDAR-D   B E A R E R '

       into .the  fell{wship   6f His body, the communion  o!f day? `Did he not, together with all the Old Testament '
       saints. And $his Word you hear, when Christ Himself ' saints, die in faith, "not -having received the promises,
       speaks to you' efficaciously by His Spirit.                   but having seen them afar off ?" l?Ieb. 11:13. Was it
           This is  dhat the Catechism means' when it in- not through Christ that God  caU@d His Son out of
       structs us  t{at the Son of God by His Spirit  and Egy& and was not Christ leading His Church all
       Word  gatherb unto Himself a Church chosen unto t+ough the desert, so that He was the spiritual rock
       everlasting life.                                             that followed them, and out of which Israel drank?
           However, this divine calling reaches us through the Is not Christ the end of the law, revealed in. all the
       preach&g of the gospel. Do not for a moinent imagine shadows of the old dispensation? And- did not all the
       that here, at iast, the gathering of the Church becomes prophets speak by the  Spirit  df Christ that was in
       the work of  ban. For, first of all, the gospel is nbt them? Ddes He not Himself declare that all through
     ours but  Ch&s. It is His Word. He revealed it.                 the  old- dispensation He was gathering  Jerusal'em's
       In fact, He i$ the gospel.. -And it is always iHe that children as a hen gathereth her chicks?
       speaks it. Nbr does this change when He causes that              And in the fulness of time He came, and the gospel
       gospel to be hroclaimed  unto us, and delivers its con- was realized in IHis incarnation, death, resurrectioh,
       tents to iHi? /people `in the Holy Scriptures: without and exaltation into glory. Still He speaks by His
       His own Spi?it and Word the Bible could never have            Spirit and Word. He commissioned His apostles, and
      been. And  abain, the work of gathering His Church in them the  Chu.rch,  to  .l:reach the gospel to every
       does not be&me dependent on man, when the Lord creature, and gave them the promise that He would
       commissions &nd calls prophets, apostles and evangel- be with them even unto the end of the world-. He, the
       ists to proclaim His Word ; or when He instituted His         exalted  VLord, through His Spirit and Word, still
,      Church, and hives unto her ,pastors and teachers, that        speaks through the preaching of the gospel, and gath-
       through the4 the Church may preach the gospel unto            e%s His Church from every nation and  tongue  and
       all nations. For without Him there could be no preach-        tribe, and Tyill do so until the last one of !His_ brethren
       icg. It is H,& that calls and prepares the preachers ;        shall have come unto Mount Zion, the city of the living
       it is IHe that /sends them whithersoever He will ; and God.
       it is He that / speaks through their preaching by Hi,s         ~,.,.To this we must add that in this world Christ
       -Spirit to  gatl$er  nis Church. Hence, even though it ;gat&rs His Church in the line of continued genera-
       be  thiough  the instrumentality of the preaching of tions. When He establishes /His Church in the world,
       the gosljel,  th& Church is always gathered, not by `men,     He does not gather certain individuals arbitrarily
       but by  Chrigt, the  Son. of God, through His Spirit and at randoin, but He calls the families, and continues
       and  W o r d .   i                                            His Church in their generations. Thus it was in the
         " This diviqe calling is heard throughout- the ages,        old dispensation. He gathered His Church in the line
       and the Churich  is gathered from the beginning even          of Adam, Seth, Noah, Shem, Abraham, Isaac, and
       u n t o   t h e   e n d   iof  ,the  w o r l d .              Israel, according to the Word of His promise: "I will
           We dare dot object to this that before theifulness establish my covenant between me and thee and thy
       of time ChriAt  was not yet,. ,and that, therefore, He se'ed after thee in their generations for an everlasting
       could not  galher His Church from the human race covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after
       during the  aid dispensation. For although in  .time          thee." Gen. 17:7. And the same truth is proclaimed
     / Christ had  n;O!  yet been revealed, in God's eternal by Peter in the dawn of the new dispensation: `!For
       counsel the Sc)n of God had been anointed the Head of the promise is unto you and to your children, and to all
      I His Church bbfore the foundation of the world. And that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our .God
       in the days o$ the old dispensation IHe functioned and shall call." Acts 2:39.                               -
       revealed  Himself,   ,and sent  for_th His Word by His The result is that on earth the Church is the
       Spirit,-as the Christ that was to come. It was through gathering of believers and their children, `baptized. in
       Christ that Giod sent forth the Word of the-gospel in the name of the triune God. And it is enctimbent  upon
       qaradise;   im+ediat$y  after the fall, and began to a the Church in each generation to .pres&ve  the truth of
       gatlq ;His Cl+urch  in our first parents. It was through the gospel, and to deliver it tb the next: the children
       Christ that, l$noch proclaimed the. day of the Lord,          of the Church must be instructed in the fear of the
       and that No$h becam'e a preacher of righteousnesg.            Lord. The result is, too, that the Church, on.`earth,  `is
       And was it  hot through Christ  that' Abraham was never pure, for they are not all Israel that are of' Israel.
       @Ied out of, :Ur- and Haran? And do not the Scrip- The ca+n&l seed ever. springs tip ationg the spiritual
       tures' teach  #s that  ,God, `purposing  to. justify the seed of the Church to corrupt it. It is from this carnal
       heathen thropgh faith, "preached before the ' gospel seed that the false church develops and the final great
       unto  Abraha@ saying, In  thi?e shall all` nations be apostasy will arise, that  iyill be  .precursory to' the
       blessed?" Gal! 3 :`8. Did not Abraham long to see His         ultimate revelation of the man dcf sin, the son of per;
                              I                            -
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                                          T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                     1`05

dition, the Antichrist. Hence, -the Church is always in this connection, to refer to-just one that quite proves
called to watch- and pray, and put, on the whole arnior the point. I have in mind Hos. 1 :10, 11 in compariso:i
of God, that she may be able to stand in thk evil day.        wnh Rom. 9 :24-26. In the former passage we read :
Doing.`this she may be of good cheer, for she is foulided     "Yer, the number of the children of Israel shall be as
upon the rock which is `Christ,' and the gates of hell        the _ sand o? the sea, which cannot, be measureti or.
eannot"overwhelm  her. The Son .of Gdd, Who gathers numbered ; and it shall come to pass, that in the place
iHis Church, also-defends her by His gr.eat  power, and where it was said u&o them, Ye are not my `people,
will surely,preserve  her even unto the'end.                  there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the
                                                              living God. Then `shall the children of Judah and the
 .'  _.                        -    -                         children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint
                                                              themselves one head, and the? shall come up out of, the
   This Church, the Catechism instructs us, is gath- land i for great ~shall be the day of J.ez?eel." When this
ered from the beginning even unto  the end  bf the            passage is read in its own light, it simply speal& of
world.                                                        the. old covenant people, more particularly of the ten
   Ever since God visited our fallen parents in Para- trib,es.         To them, because of their  apbstacy from
dise, and IHimself revealed the gospel unto: them in Jehovah, it was, said i `"Ye are not  .my people." But
the Protevangel  : "I Will put enmity between thee and they  .shall be  Restored, and  they shall  be called the
the &man, and betwee? thy seed and her seed ; it shall sons of the living God. United they shall be with
bruise thy head, and'thou shalt bruise his heel"; even Judah tinder one ,head. And the glo$y of their restora-'
unto the days of the final manifestation of the man tioti shall be great.
of sin, the Church is called, by the Spirit and Word             But a clear commentary upon this Old Testametit
of the Son of God, out of the whole human race, even          passage we have in Rom.. 9 :24-26. There we read:
though,  `for a period, she is found almost exclusively "Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only,
iti the nation of Israel..                                    but also. of the Gentiles. As he hath  &id in  lOsee, I
   in fact, from a higher viewpoint, we m& even say will Call them my p.eople which were not. my people ;
that the forlliation of the Church goes back to creation, and her beloved which was not beloved. And it shall
and that the'temptation,by Satan and the fall of Adam conic to pass that in the place where it was said unto
and Eve- ar.e subservient to the purpose of God to bring theni, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called
the Christ into the-world, and to gather- unto ,Himself       the  childken  of the'living God."
a Church chosen unto everlasting life.                                                                 H .   H .
   This confession, that the Church is gathered from
the beginning to the end of the'world, stands opposed
to the view of those, who present the Church `as an
interim, as the body of Christ in distinction from the
kingdom-people of Israel,  ) that  is. gathered from the
day of Pentecost until t&e fulness of the Gentiles shall            THE DAY OF SmDOW
have been gathered in.              .'
   In ?iew of what was said on this point in the chap-                                         -
ter "The Meaning. of Pentecost," and cdnsideriizg that ,The  Denmnd Of  Th? People  After
more must b& said on this important question in our
discussion of infant baptism, we need not _ dwell at                                banking
length on it now.
: `Only one observation. we wish to make here.                   As  wd have seen, great things had been  accom-
   It. is this, that those who insist that Israel is a        plished throug,h Samuel, his prayers an+ prohesyingti.
separate people, and that the .promises m&d,e to them         Eli's wicked sons had been destroyed, the gods of the
in the Old Testament must be understood as having heathen put away, the Philistines discomfited; and the
refepefice to that nation alone, and nbt to the Church, peopl,e of Israel delivered in the way  tif repentance
refuse tb read the Old Testament in the light of the          and return $0 the Lord. Having thus obercome,  Samuel
New, `and to interpret the Bible in its own light.            judged Israel, going  froin year to year in circuit to
 When we teach that Israel is the Church, and that            Bethel and' Gilgal and  Mizpah. Having thus `been
the :I%%& is the tru,e and.only Israel `of God, we. do not    engaged perhaps for some -fifteen years, he on a day
expose `ourselves to the in'dictment  of false allegoriza- was paid a  visit by the elders of Israel, who came
tion  br spiritualization' of Scripture, but we simply to him in  Ramah. Their request was tliat he make.
adopt .the Bible's own niethod of interpretation.             them a king to judge them like all .the nations. Why
   The  truth  bf this  migl$  -be demonstrated from          should they be asking. fdr a king? The reasons they
matiy passages of Holy Writ. But let it be suffici&t,         gave were` that Samuel was old and  that  his sons

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106               !I                            T  H  E- S T-A  N.I%&RliD       B'E A r, E-E
 walked not ijl his ways.. Tt was true .what they said.               the matter, he was grief-stricken and his heart was
 Samuel Yeas / old.               And.. he .ha.d. mad&. his two sons troubled. For  their  clamouring  for  .a king  was evil
 judges over )Israel as his.. ..assistarits-his two sons,             in his sight, and the thought that. the fault. lay with
 Joel, the firstborn,- and. Abiah,: It: was .also tiu'e that hiin, was too painful for words..
 these. sons w&ked:not  in his &ays;. They t,ur&d  aside                     But the Lord, who knows man's heart,. assuaged .
 after lucre,  And took bribes and perverted justice.                 Samuel's grief "by r,evetiling to him that he had mis-
 Such is the tkstimony .of* the.: sacred writer., And the             judged those  <elders.    "They  .have not rejected thee
 elders were holding Samuel responsible for thfe crimes but they have rejected me. . . ." It means that. Samuel
 of his sons. Y&ey held it against him-that he iontinued must not blame himself alone for their doing; that his
 them in off&. He should have deposed them, long ago. age and fhe misrule of his sons had little to do wit hit.
 The text at  ichapter  12:3. indicates that there were It  may seem at the first reading of this reply that
 whispering aLlong them that Samuel might .even  be a the Lord speaks here in riddles. For the.fact of the
 partner to tlieir crimes. So the elders told him that                matter is that the  klders had spoken not one word
 the thing, foi him to' d@ was to resign with. his, sons              against the Lord; but had concenerated solely on the
 to make ,roo@ for a king. Being old; he had served age of  Sameel and the misruie of his sons as. the`
 his usefulnesT;  and his sons were a.bad.inflilence;                 cause of their- dissatisfaction. Taking them- at. their
       Samuel dtd not r,eply, to. the- elders immediately.            word, we are shut up to -the view that what they
 Doubtless he icould not. For the request was' evil and wanted is not .the abdication of the' Lord at all'but
 thus to a  rnatii like Samuel too soul-disturbing, especial-         solely the removal of Samuel and his sons.         It. is
 ly its implications.              (The thing was evil in Samuel's' .Samuel and his evil brood that' they reject not cer-.
 eyes, chaptei 8 :6).               What they told him about his. fainly God. For these elders, so-it- seems, are pious.
sons he doubtless had heard before; and it is a good men. They ask for the removal of corrupt judges and
 conjecture ttiat he had taken them skverely to task thus are interested in righteous government. Can
 and would  $ave-. discharged them had he not  felt- it be t&e of such men that .they want not the Lord?
 certain that they were mending'their ways. But `it is The  Lord's- reply to Samuel  .contains  still another
 not likely th$t they had altogether ceased to offend,                statement that may perplex us, "And the Lord said.
 so that the eld,ers could justly say to him that his s'ons           &to Samuel, hearken unto the voice of the people in
 walked not  ih his ways. Painfully  awar& that they' cdl that theg saz~ usto. thee-thus make them a king+ ,
might be speiking the truth about them and holding, for they have not rejected thee, but me have they
 himself' respjnsible. for their misrule, he was doubt- reject&d. . . ." So then.  just because  they rejected
 less too  morjified  and dispirited to frame a proper not Samuel but the' Lord, Samuel must do as they
 reply at that moment. .- Judges who like his sons'turned req,ucsted. So the Lord commanded.. At first  glance;,
 aside for lucrk, the elders did wkll to reject. He found this mandate, too, may prove perplexing. However,
 no fault with/them on that score. He would not have the Lord's reply will be understood if thoughtfully at-
 continaed  his' sons -in office had he known the truth tended to. What the Lord meant by saying that they
 abaut them. iHe was not that kind of a saint. With .had rejected not Samuel but @im is, that what they
 him there wa&` no respect of persons.' But his hearing basically were. interested in was ridding themselves.
 the elders rejfct al,& him must.have  wounded-his soul,. `not of old, discrepent and corrupt judges in Israel, but
 cut deep into, his heart and filled his, soul tiith mis-             of Jehovah their king. Assuredly, they had rejected
 givings.               I                                              Samuel, and the Lord meant not to deny it. But the.
       Having dismissed the elders without tendering point $0 the Lord's reply is, that they had not rejected
 them' a reply; Samuel unburdened his soul in prayer Samuel for the reasons they have, which were that
 to  God..  Tli4 prayer is' nbt  revealsed `to  us';  but. the he was old and that `his sons took bribes and perverted
-&ord's' reply forms-the index to its substance, especial- judgment, and that Samuel had continued these tiis-
 ly the  statedent, "They have not rejected thee, but                  creants in office. instead of discharging them. In
 they have rejected me, that I should not r.eign over saying that they objected  to Samuel on these grounds,-
 them." Samtiel yas not sufficiently mindful of this. they werk pretending. Their real objection to him-
`He imagined /that they had actually rejected not the an objection that they, to be sure, did not dare voice-
 Lord,  bLit  hi& Samuel -`rejected him on account of was that he, as ju'dge; would not walk with them in
 his a&e but ebpecially on account of the atrocities of their sins, bless them in th'eir iniquity, and pray for
 his sons. Being the kind of a  Man he was, he Must their deliverance with, them prostrated at the shrine
 have been a&using himself  before  G.od for having of Baal. These were. the' actual reasons of their com-
 brought  'ofi.  that crisis through his  cofitinuing   th&e          ing to him with .the' request that he resign with his
 unprincipled' gons in office ; and telling the- Lord th&t sons to tiake rooti `for d king to' judge them in his
 it was his, `Sar&el's,  fault, that they were now insisting istead. ' Samuel, was-of the party of God, the 6hampion
 that  hi reiigv alld tiake them a king, Thinking di7 __ of' His c&use be-f&e': ti:en..' 1 H,ence, ridding themselves
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  of Samuel, they rid  thems6lves  of the Lard  ; and to            s&s? This is  too unlikely.  Thou&h he may  n6t have
  rid themselves of the Lord, `they mu& rid themselves-             been with them :as much as he hacl liked, he had not
  of Samuel ; for Samuel and the Lord were`.one.  ~This             ceased to instruct, admonish, atic exhdrt them iti. their
  being true, their  insi'stence  that Samuel resign was youth. And being the kind of a man  that he "was,
  at bottom a request that he rid them `of God throiigh he had all along,.set them the best of examples. There
 his ridding -them of himself, and. that .he thereupon              is glso the question whether he was .aware .of the evil
  make them a Ming in the room of the Lord  ,and                    doings of his  saris as his assistants in his office of
  Samuel.                                                           judgeship. .It may be that what they told him about
          It is then .so very true what the Lord said, "They `his sons, .formecl a report .of events of which he was
  have not rejected theA1( that is, rej,ected  thee on ac-          cjmpletely ignorant.             How  ,ever unlikely this  view,
  count of thy age and the misrule of thy sons) but. no statement occurs in the sacred narrative forbidding .
  me have they rejected (and therefore also thee in that            its adoption. .It is significant that in his reply to
  thou  afid I  ar,e one). The truth bf the L-ord's reply Zamuel's prayer, the Lord made no mdntion of Samuel's
 ?s born out by their  .exaggerations.           They said to       sons, except by implication. .-What this indicates is
       Samuel that he was old, meaning that his age had not that they were being falsely accused of men but
  disqualified  .him for the duties of his office.  But .`that, for a reason unrevealed, the. Lord was not blam-
  they were making too much of that: At the  time cing Samuel for :their -conduct. Certain `it is that -if
  there still was .in store for Samuel twenty years .of Samuel was condoningVsin  in high places, just because
       active service.    He had yet  -to  .anoint two  kings- these places were bein&.oc&pied by his own flesh and
       Saul and  David-and. to  ,guide the destinies of the blood, the Lord would no more have spared him than
  nation during the reign of the first. Thus his natural .hc had Eli.                                                             _
  force w&s still far from being spent at that juncture.             Though the  .elders  as the representatives  .of  .the
  -He was still the competent judge of yore, physically people, had rejected Jehovah their .king, they felt `that
       strong and vital  d.espite  his years;  atid mentally as they  cpuld not  do--tiithout  a king and with reason. <It
  keen, alert, and pen&rating as ever. That was Samuel was the-age of the judges in which every &an did that
  at the time -the elders in Israel came to tell him that.he        whi@h w&s. right in his `own eyes. There was no aider.
  was old, too .old, and that therefore the thing for.him           It had long given way to chaos and discord, carnal self-
  to do was to .resign and make them a king to judge will,  licentioutiness,   and  .passio.n. The national bond
  theti like .a11 the nations. Thtit was th,e man of who-m          had:relaxed  and .the nati& .ass%n%edl%he  form of several
 they wanted to rid themselves-a man who., as their independent and rival kingdoms. 7 Iti was on' account
  judge, feared God and  eschew,ed evil and: at whose               of the prevalence of these conditions -that th.e elders
  heart the interests of God's covenant lay very close, I wanted ,.a king to. rule over the nation. But they did
  a man' through whose fervent and effectual  prdyer                not .desire the `kind of & king the Lord by ,the mouth
  they -had but recently been delivered from the terrible of Moses said they might have, .a king "whom the -Lord
  oppression of a Philistine dominion, a man who could              sho.uld choose'?, one who  ".when he sitteth  upon the
  not .be bribed, whom rid~one  had even dared attempt to throne of .his kingdom. . . . . writes him .a copy of the
  bribe. For the integrity of the  man, his  hatred,.of -jaw in .a book out of that which is b<efore  the priests
       corruption, the way he was wont to denounce and con- the Levites that it may, be with him .and that .he may                      i
       demn sin in high places, was known to all so that his. read-therein all the days of his -life-:  lthat he may learn
  $ear was upon  all.          He was the  `very horses and t6 fear the Lord his G?d, to keep all the words of the
       chariots of Israel. Did `they not want to realize this'? `la& and -those' statutes, to. do them : that his heart be -
  How dared these elders complain to `Samuel or to `not lifted up above his brethren,. and that he turn ndt
       anyone else for that matter about the perversions of         aside from the, commandment, .to the right haad, or
       Samuel's sons as if they, these elders themselves, were to the left : td tl& end that he. m&y psdlong his `days in
  lovers of truth and justice and interested for God's his kingdom, he*&d  his childFen, in .the .midst of Israel"
       sak$e in righteous government, -if they w&e resolved         (Deut. 1'7 : 15-20') ; In a word, .they did not &ant & king
       among  the&+elves  that a judge of Samuel's virtue;          of the party of God, with the fear of God in hissheart,
  competency,' and achievements-by faith he had over- and bringing the nation under the yoke of -God's law.
  come the w&ld &ere in Canaan-Abdicate in order to Their -wanting su@h a king would have been equivalent
  make room -:for' a king to judge them like all the nal            to their wanting Jehovhh. `But Jehovah they had .re-
 tions?  What hypocrites those elders were!.                        jetted.         What they waritecl  is .a man strong arid cap-
          And.yet,' Samuel% two unprincipled sons, these sons able, a  leeader of men; a. god `among his  .ftillo:virs,   _ in
lin office perverting judgment, raises.per$exing ques- whom men. of commori  clay naturally put their -confi-
:tions. -$IadySamuel's preoccupation with the manifold dence, thus .a .tian supreme19  qualified to free them
       duties  6f his office, `through the years of  th.e  past,    fr6m `the results: of-their: sp&tacy,--.which  `vVas' war,
`resulted 4n his neglecting the religious trai.uing  of his         dppr&ion,  .chao$  tind iTassion,--as  .one willingrto serve             8
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with them iniBaal% temple. What they wanted is vic- out the tribes. If the task of the council of elders was
tory, freedod; and prosperity and peace without truth to watch over the general iriterests  of the nation, that
and righteou$n"ess, he'aven without God. The kind of of `the judges was t'o determine, in the light of Moses'
..king for whi4h they asked is one who would .give them .laws, qeestions  of dispute in contests of law between
these things ;without placing them under the necessity individuals. _
of eschewing: evil and fearing God. -                            To the Levites, as assistants to the priests, weie
    "And  thei Lord said `unto  Samtiel, Hearken unto given the task of teaching. the nation the law. The
the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee:       purpose of the appointment o$ the cities of refuge was
.for'they  liav& not rejected thee, but they have rejected    to prevent the shedding of innocent. blood. Certainly,
me,' that I sgould not reign over them. According to the nation was Xn the possession o? all th,e necessary
all the works which they have done since the day institutions for righteous administration, `maintenance
that I brougl$ them out of `Egypt even-unto  this day,        of ord,er  and. preservation of national unity, so that
wherewith they have forsaken me, and served other there was no need of a king other  thaq  Jekiovah,  if
gods, so do tpy also unto thee." _                            only the nation feared Cod and kept His. covenant.
        Mark the! statement, "So do they a1s.o unto thee." T&en the Lord would have commanded His blessings
They afforded the- Lord and Samuel a like treatment upon them in the city ancl in the fields, in the fruit
and .this of necessity as the Lord and Samuel were            of their body and the fruit of the,ground and in the
qpe.  And  jkst because  they have rejected  th'e Lord fruit of their cattle. Then he would have caused
and Samuel his servant, Samugl must do. as t$ey re- their `enemies that rose up against them to be smitten
quested ; heaTken untb their voice. So the Lord com-          before their face and tb come out against them one
manded. The implied meaning, of the mandate is not way and to flee before them seven ways, Deut. 28 :2ff.
that had thex loved the Lord, Samuel would have been          It means that the conditions in Isiael that called for
commanded Fo.~ turn down their request. IHad they a  king;such  cbnditions as war, oppression,  lawless-
feared God, Fhey would not at $11 >have asked for a .ness, carnal self-will, licentiousness-resulted from the
king. But  then question remains how it must be  ex- nation's unwillingness to be one by a common faith
-plaihed that Samuel must make them a king because in the Lord, from the pedple's. indisposition: to serve
tF;ezJ rejected! the L.ord. The explanation is this: %`h,e    God arid Keep His covenant. The carnal Israel did not
Lord was Isiael's king, and the instruments through want peace and prosperity from the hand .of God-on
which He  eAercised   IHis  ruie  were adequate. After the condition that they be his people wholly consecrated
.the dveaih ofI Joshua `there subsisted in the nation `a to him. If life and property and freedom from oppres-
gdvernment  hhich is indicated bjT the name "elders".         sion could be had only in the way of: obedience. to the
They were: Aot chosen .by the people but were the             Lord, they preferred death to life. `In  `tie light of
born ljrinces iar,d representatives of tl& beople. Their these observations, we can understand the Lord's man-
task was to i preside atid to watch over the general `date to Samuel, "Hearken unto'the voice of the people
interests of &he nation and so to continue the rule of        in all that they say unto thee for they have rejectecl
Moses and Joshua.         For  se'ttlemtent of' matters of me." The Lord had determined that Israei should
gen'eral cone&n,  they congr.egated  in the' ceiitral point have a king; Yet =the conditions that called for a king
of the land,; which in the. time of the  j'tidges was resulted, as was explained, from their unwillingness
Shechem. They formed a high council in Israel which to serve God; and their request for a king rose frqm
in great crisis such as way zopld confer its authority thbeir unwillingness .to be saved and prospered by3Go.d
on a single ibdividual.' But it was not a law-making          in the way of their serving Him. It was thus in reply
body,- for Isiael's sol,e legislator was God. His laws to a deeply sinful asking, that the Lord gave Israel a
he had bomn&nicated  to the' nation by Moses, and the king; but so did he advance the cause of His kingdom
elders weu'e iti duty bound to act by the existing legis-     and covenant, namely through the unbelief' and apos-
lation.  as  suhplemented,  in all matters of  public im-  tacy of the carnal Israel.                   . . .       --.
.portance, bjiithe will of God as revealed through the           Though? Samuel c mu,& hearken unto. the voice of
instrumentality of the "Breastplate of Judgment" or . the people, he must not fail "to protest solemnly unto
Urim  2nd Tliummim. Ati this device could be directly them, ,and shew them the manner of the king that
consulted solhly by the highpriest, the finally decisive shall, reign over them." As the request was deeply
word of  `Goq could be  had  olily from  &his dignitary, `sinful, it had to be protested. The king that Samuel
who thus, in g. sense, canie to take the place of Moses in    set forth in his protest was plaifily an oriental despot,
the assembli&  of the nation.                                 a heathen ruler, -a godless man and thus a crtiel tyrant,
        Besi.des   the council of elders as headed by the who regarded his  subj,ects as existing for  himielf
highpriest,  the nation had also its judges which a&          and tr,eated them as such. This was really the kind of
cording to  tye  commandmerit of Moses (Deut. 16  :X3) a king for which the  .people,   had~ asked.              For -their
the people yh,se for themselqes in all the gates through- reques`t had been that Samuel `make them a king- in
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                                 T H E   - S T A N D A R D   BEARER:.  ,I                                          109

 the room ,of the Lord and Samuel, that he thus set over     and liberty, God's greatest. gift to man. The noblest-
 them. a tyrant, fearing God nor man. "This will. be people are the Romans deserving of the right to rule.
 the manner of the king that shall reign over YOL&" said This right was given by Christ himself. By consent-
 Samuel to the people, and then went on to tell them         ing to be -born under Augustus and to suffer under Ti-
 what he would claim from his subjects, according to berms  brought Himself under Roman jurisdiction.
 the custom of heathen rulers. For example, "He will         It was witnessed to by the, church when Pad said to
 take your fields, and your vineyards, and your olive-       Festus, "I stand at Ceasar's judgment seat; where I
 yards, even thte best of them, and give them to his         ought to be judged.", The.two gqverning agents indis-
 servants. . . . And he will take the tenth of your pensible to society are the pope and the emperor. The
 seed, and of your vineyards, and give them to his supremacy- in temporal affairs belongs exclusively to
 officers, and his servants. . . . And ye shall be his the.emperor.         His task-is to give men guidance to life
 servants." These words include all that is said before ;    eternal in agreement. with the truths `of revelation.
 the loss of all their freedoms and with reason. It was But the emperor should r,evere  the pope with a rever-
 with their eyes on the kings of other nations that the ence that a first-born son pays to his father.
 people had demanded a king. What they asked for                But the theory of the temporal power of the papcy
 they would rmeceive.  And. they shall cry out in, that also had its defenders. There was the tract of Aegidius
 day because "`of your kings which ye shall have chosen Romanus, 124'7-1316. It sets forth the following teach-
 you ;- and the Lord will not hear you in that day." But ings. The pope judges all things and is judged by no
 the people would not repent. "Nay", said they, but man. To the pope belongs full power. This power is
 we will have a king over us ; that we may be like all measureless, numberless  .and without weight. All
 the nations, and that our king may judge us, and go         Christians are subject to it. `The pope is superior to
 out before us, and fight our battles."                      all. laws and infallible in matters of religion. ' Like the
                                           G. M. 0.          sea he fills all vessals, like the sun he sends his rays
                                                             into all things. The priesthood was first. in order of
                                                             time, royalty second. Nimrod followed Abel and Noah.
                                                             The militant church can have but one sourse of power,.
      :  `THROUGH THE  AGES                                  .one supreme government, one head to whom belongs
                                                             all power. This is the pope of Rome. God immediately
                                                             appointed the priesthood and the papacy. Early'king-
  -  The, Transfer of the Papacy                             doms were either established by the priesthood or had
                                                             their origin ,in usurpation, robbery, or other forms of
                   To Avignon                                violence. The state is the `means through which the
                                                             church works. As such it is necessary. The church
     As was seen, king Philip IV of France was the first may possess all worldly goods. Cities were given the
 ruler to defy the- pope without either being destroyed Levites. The church controls all temporal goods. The
 or even once humiliated. It shows, as was said, that        pope rules all temporal affairs as the soul rules the
 the peoples of Europe and in particular' the people of body. The right to the possession of a'single acre of
 France were losing much of their dread for the pope's ground is only by the permission of the church..
 thunderings. His spirtual weapons no longer availed.           Another defender of the papacy was Henry of
 The people of France threrfore dared to support their       Cassaloci, who died in 1312. His tract begins ,with the
 king in his warfare with the pope.                          words of Matt. 27  :18, "All power is given to me,!'
     Nothing more is indicative of this change of at- that is to-the pope. The emperor cannot function with.,
 titude than the literary attacks upon the papacy at out papal concecration.  Christ said, "My kingdom is
 this time. The ;Holy Roman Empire was declared an- not of this world,`9  but what He meant is that the world
 tiquated and'thestates of Europe was said to be sover- refused to obey Him. Though Christ said, "render to
 eign within their own boundaries. The arguments for Caesar the things which are Caesar's;" He was under
 the independent and sovereign states were derived no obligation to give tribute to the emperor; and this
 from reason, Aristotle and the Scriptures. Three pro-       applies also to the children of the kingdom of God.
 positions were `advanced. 1) The monarchy is neces- They are free on the ground, of Matt. 27:26. Henry
 sary. 2) The monarchy is the possession of the- people. attempted to found the theory of papal supremacy in
 3) God bestowed it directly upon the, Romans, and it temporal affairs on the Scriptures, the fathers, and rea-
 did not come through the mediation of the papacy.           son. God at first ruled through Noah, the patriarchs,
 The argument runs as follows. "An impartial arbiter Melchizedec, and Moses. They were priests and kings
 is .necessary.  to society and only a monarchy that is `at the same time. Moses punished Pharaoh. Both
 universal,j, arid independent, and sovereign can be im-     swords  .w.ere carried by Christ.      Hi drove out the
' partial. ,- The blessings of such a monarchy are peace     money changers and wore the crown of thorns. He


 110                                      T H E   .STANDARD   .BEARER

_ received pow : to judge the world. The same power the church.' Rome was now turned into .a city of con-
was delegatec to Peter and his successors. The state fusion. It was now the city of strife between leaders
bears to the c urch the relation of the moon to the sun, who strove with one another for the mastery in murii-
 and whatever power the emperor has is givem him by             cipal affairs. No longer visited by -pilgrims, it lost
the pope.                                                       its source of income and became poor. .Its population
                 rt
    The write] ; who denied the pope's right to temporal diminished.          In 1300 it numbered less than 20,000.
authority oveI! the nation were mainly jurists. There The city had no commerce at this time. The churches
.is the -tract k:+(own as the Twofold Prerogative. `The became roofless. Cattle ate grass at the altars of the
tract didtingt`fshes between two functions, the spirit- Latern and St. Peter's There was a  stopage of all
 ual and the tmymporal. The pope has full power only art.
 in the spiritI.$al realm. The spiritual and `temporal             Northern Italy was torn by anarchy. Bands of
functions are not united in the one person. This is             robbers crossed the country.      The officials in `the
 evident' from :hrist's refusal of the office of king and church had to' buy their fr,eedom  from violence. It
from the law If. Moses. forbidding the Levites to hold          seemed as if Italy was turning into a desolate waste.
temporal  POESessions, worldly property.           The civil And the city of Rome became a den of robbers unfit
                 g$
power is indel mdentof the,spiritual. But both powers for human habitation.
 ar,e of God.          The same position is taken in another       As to Avignon, it lies $50 miles east of Paris.i It
tract. Moses was a temporal -ruler and Aaron was was purchased by Clement V from `Naples for 10,000
priest. Both 1: Id their own .offices. The church is one gold florens. It remained a papal city till .the French
in  ,Christ. IF 3 established the two powers, spiritual revolution. The Italian bishops pressed Clement to re-
and temporal            The pope's' weapons are the spiritual turn. to Rome, but he refused. Living in Avignon,
ones. Christ hLad no worldly jurisdiction and the pope the. pope was in the power of the king of France, Philip
should unders,t.and this. The popes -pl-ace in the church IV. Philip who imposed the terms on which Clement V
is that of rep] :sentative  of the whole body of believers.     received his crown. He had to undo all the Boniface
IHe is not the : lord. He is subject `to the church, by had done in his warfare with Philip. The king also,
whom he can )e called to account. The emperor may ,ordered  the destruction of. the I Templar Order, and
depose the pc be.                                               Clement, in obedience to Philip, ordered the persecution
    In these racts the attack was  .only against the of these knights wherever they might be found. The
claims of the papacy to the temporal supremacy over charges prefered were heresy and worshipping idols
the kings of he earth.. His` spiritual authority was and moral indecency. The members were accused of
not denied.       The state is supreme in its sphere and holding meetings with the .devil, who -appeared in a
likewise. the :hurch.          Both receive their authority black cat. ,Many of the men admitted the accusation
from God.                                                       under extreme torture. The Templars nowhere had
    The trans er of, the Papacy of Avignon. In 1305 friends. All were opposed to them. In Paris many
 Clement V  v ts  <elected pope. This Clement was a .of them died under torture and hundreds perished in
Frenchman w to never went to Rome. He chose Avig- prisons. They were tried in most all the countries of
non, a city in pranc,e, as his residence. Here the popes        Europe.                                   G. M. ,O.
remained for more than seventy years. The period
is known as he Babylonian captivity of the papacy.
It included se `en popes, all Frenchmen. This~ absence
from Rome  ( .d the papal system much harm. The
papacy. thrae tened  to become a French institution.                        Ii+UIIS  F E A R   ._.
The morals,oJ the papacy during its residence in Avig-
non became n torious throughout Europe. The house-
hold of the p pe took on the appearance of a worldly                       Christian  Ini3truction
court. It  .wa torn by strife and dark schemes of all                                                     I
kinds. It w s *noted- for its sensuality. Bribery                  We said in our previous article that Christian
and ' Simony Tere much practiced. It was crowded instruction must lee God-centered and covenant-direct-
with money c .angers.  Petrarch  called it "the sink of ed, that is, the teaching must be of such quality that
.every vice, th haunt of all iniquities, a third Babylon, it serves to prepare our children to j take the place
the Babylon o the West, the fountain of all afflications,       which the Covenant assigns to them.
the refuge of wrath, the school of errors, a temple of             We would call that then the' Center of all instruc-
lies, .the awfu1; prison, hell on earth."                       tion, the hub where all the spokes make contact, the
    During thLj;s period the condition in Rome was de- point around which everything revolves.  .Let this out
 plorable. Rome had been -the--queen -of cities. It -was and  you,get  a disintegrated curriculum, an unorganized
.visited  by throngs of -pilgrims.  `It was loved by all        series of subjects in our schools, but -have zhat centers


                                          T H E   S 'T A N D A R - D   B E A R E R                                     111

   and all the subjects are integrated. into one grahd created"..           The article then proceeds" to give govern-
   unity.                                                       ment a place in this evolution and asserts that demo-
   :    To keep tha't center is then our continual calling.     cracy needs Christian schools.. In comment on this
        To keep that center is extremely difficult.             expression we remark that Scripture plainly tells. us.
        We-a& all prone to off-center activities. The best what evolution human society will achieve, a-nd one
   of us are by nature self-centered, creature-centered, look at our present world will convince us of ihe same.
   and man- and world-centered. We must continually We shall have  Go part  iti this evolution and if this
   reperit  of this and turn from it. If we will retain true evolution is. the fruit of common grace, grace is indeed
_ Christian instruction we  m&t be vigilant.                    a corrupt root. But on the other hand, the evolution
                                                                for which it wds created (to borrow that term for just
                           Off-Center.                          a moment) is preached  through Christ, over the .cross
        `The `present Christian school system reveals be-' and will be reached. by the church via the way of world
   times a' ce&&n  teridency  which I fear is offrcenter.       catastrdphe and judgment. All this because sin en-
   I reheat,  we are -all -off-center so much in our lives tered into the world.. But one notices that the state-
   that it hardly behooves                                      ment re-appears that democracy needs. Christian
                               LIS  to look at others to sek
   how they fare. B.ut yet, when certain tendencies re- schools.~ Again the nationalistic. outlook.  Agaiil we
   veal themselves it'is well that we take notice of them, tempt ourselves to give the type of leadership a demo-
   discuss  atid test them.                                     cracy wants instead of setting  durselves  to  th.e task
                                                                of giving our children the type of instruction which
        We refer especially` to the tendency today to eval- the covenant requires.. For my part I am convtilced
   uate Christian instruction in terms of the social and that our Christian men may and can function in high
   political service it can render to the attainment of a places (provided they clo not forswear themselves by
  democratic state, or how it can function to lead America joining the Lodge or the Union) but to imagine that
   back to God. The danger is-that the instruction in- the presence of a. Christian there will improve -our
   stead of being covenant-centered- becomes social-cen- national state of affairs is to forget what relation
   t e r e d .                                                  exists .between  light .and darkness..
        To be more specific let me cite examples of the            In that same Annual, p. 84,. we read, "The eause
   above mention.ed tendency.                                   is after all lpuch bigger than just the Christian. schools.
        In the,Christian ,School Annual 1943, we may read It is the cause of .a democracy. and of the Kingdom.
   as follows : "The Christian day school stands as a. Either one of which is well worth fighti,ng for". And
   spiritual bulwark and base of supplies in the midst in interpretation of `this statement the article con-
  of history's fiercest and most destructive war". (p. tinues to tell us thatthe scope of chiistian instruction
   72). A little  furt@er  we read, `"The  Christian.School goes "beyond `winning the war to winning the peace."
   is a bulwark against the demoraliiing influences of Again the `national-political flavor. It is  darigerotis
  war". (p. 72), and continues with the statement thai: to identify so closely a democracy and the Kingdom,
  America needs leadership, and, "for the supply of that unless the  writer secretly hopes that Christian  in-
  kind of leadership we can hopefully look to our Chris- structiqll may bring us a theocratic state up.on earth.
  `tian schools". (p. 76). Certainly we appreciate what And that. the christian schools must serve to win the.
  ,we  have in this country,  &id  we`are not insensible war and win the peace threatens to convert our schools
  to  the. chaos and confusion which we experience at into political machines, whose service is primarily
  present, but. the above,given approach makes our out- national.
  look very nationalistic, it tempts us as party of the            In the Annual of 1940, p. 39, we read,.  "Christ-
   antithesis and &dangers fhe truth that we seek a likeness is the supreme need of the hour if civilization
  better, that is',  an heavenly  `cduntry.  Qf course, the is to survive". This statement is r,epeat.ed  on p. 41
  writer believes that too, but it is not mentioned. Be-. and continues. to show that Christian. schools foster
  sides, do you think Jesus `and the Apostles wanted the Christlikeness. H,ere Christian scl~ools are in the ser-
  saints to $01~ hopefully to them for the attainment vice of civiiization,  whatever this may mean. What
 I. of a Jewish national state?' Wasn't it that "hopeful civilization, for instance? This is all so vague, to say
  outlook" which  J&us  repeatedly condemned, and wasn't the least.
  He finally crucified because He would not comply with            Repeatedly we find Christian education advertized
  the hopeful. o&look p                                         as being more true `to genuine democracy than .the.
        In that same annual, p. 79 we find a quote which` public schools.. Or we find Christian in&u&ion ad-
  Peads as follows: "Culture belongs to Cpmmon  Grace vertized as the power .w$ich must assist in bringing
  and is the result of the creative will of God. Culture our youth. to Christ and through  t&m to bring
  is a task God has assigned to human society in order America back to ,God.
  that it may achieve the evolution for which it. has been         .In a recent editorial of. the Home and,S.chool  ?&aga-


                       //
112                                           @HE  ,_  S T A N D A R D ' B E A R E R

zine (October il'9$6, p. 14) we read, "`The evowed aim since we loathe being fools in such a wise world, we
of Christian edhcation is to develop Christian character, are in danger of going off center when we give cove-
prepare the ch!?d for constructive Christian citizerl,ship nant instruction. God' be merciful to us and let us
and `useful occupation". And then continues to show ,chastise ourselves with the whip of His Word.
that we must produce Christian citizens for democratic                                      (To be Continued)             M.. G.
`living and-atttiin that by democratic leadership in our
schools.  Plack next to this the avowed aim of chris-
t&n instruction as expressed in the Baptism Form and
we feel the difference.
       Dr. Macheh in his book, "Th,e Christian School the                        SION'S;`ZANGEN                                           -
Hope of Ame$ca" has probably summed up this ten-
dency  when Be says that the Christian  schools are
"iike precious j salt, that checks the ravishes of decay"                      Kom, 0 God Der Wraken!
and then holds up the Christian schools as nurseries of                                 (Psalm. 94 ; Tweede Deel)
democracy wh$re we shall be liberated from the totali-
tariafi state ai?d have freedom". (p. 17).                                 De vorige maal toen we stilhielden bij dezen psalm-,
                  I          R e s u m e '                             hebben we er iets van gezien, iets van de vreeselijke
   ,We by no imeans  infer from the above'quotations wraice Gods. Want God toornt alle dagen over de
that all the kmphasis is on this social or national goddeloozen.                                                              I
aspect. We  je&d, for instance, in the 1945 Annual,                        IRet laatste vers, dat we behandelden, bevatte een
p. 91, as follows, `<We are opposed to the world. beschrijving d,er dwazen die Gods volk aanranden en
And the ,worlp  is opposed to us. The lines between                    denken,  dat ze zulks doeh kunnen zonder de rechtvaar-
us will  becoFe `ever more clearly defined as time dige straffen Gods te ontvangen.
brings thk  pdinciples of. both sides to `their logical                   Nu komt er  eeh  schu'eeuw uit het  geprangde  hart
-development <nd outworking".. But even in this pas- van `den zinger Israels: 0 Heere, zij verbrijzelen Uw
sage and article  the' Yines" are not, clearly drawn, volk, en zij verdrukken Uw erfdeel.                                                      '
the antithesis jis hinted at but very vaguely.                           Wat iou de  reden'  wezen, dat het  goddelotize  volk
       But we sa!d, the tendency is. there. We could pro- het zoo verzien heeft op des iHeeren arme volk.? H&t  -
duce countless! other quotations to bear this out. But antwoord is  gemakkelijk:,  omdat  -ze God  openbaren
t h i s   i s   sufficidnt.  -                                         in hun leven. Indien ge slechts van hetzelfde  alloi
       The tendeicy there is to make things vague, foggy w@rt als dat' der wereld, zou de wereld U liefhebb@,
and uncl.ear.  /The tendency to becloud the real issues.' d&h omdat ge den Heere God opetibaart in Uw handel
The danger of making an apology for our existence. `,en wandel, in  Uw lied. en  belijden?, in Uw  gansche
We read `predious little of the antithe'sis,  ,of election leven, daarom haat'U de wereld.
and  reprobati.on,  of the Covenant.                 The antithesis        En zoo wordt Gods volk verbrijzeld en verdrukt.
sometimes sedms -to lie between democracy atid totali-                     Ik mag U er zeker we1 aan herinneren, dat ook onze
t&anism  insbead  .of  betiveen "God's people  and the verbrijzeling en verdrukking;  sinds 1924, van dezelfde
world, between light and darkness, between election gehalte,is.  0 zeker, men ondervindt die verbrijzeling
atid reprobatipn.                                                      ook in  ?e kerk van Christus. De wereld  binneri de
    And this i$ off center.                                            poorten  der kerk is v&n dezelfde nattiur als de wereld
    Have we bkcome ashamed to be fools (I Cor. 3 :18) ? buiten de kerk. Omdat de leekayen Danhof, Hoeksema
Pati tells us, j"We are fools for Christ's sake". That en Ophoff op zeer duidelijke  -wijze  d&n Heere God
is our positioli  `as Christian schools, in the ,eyes of the openbaarden, daarom werden ze vertrapt. Hun stem,.
world. Whe{ we go about instructing our children hun belijdenis, hun getuigen van God was zuiverder
and thus go about building upon the  .foundation   of, dan de rest, en daaroti werden Fe uit de plaatstelij'ke
God's Word, !we become spectacles to the world; to                     kerk, uit het instituut der kerk uitgebannen. 1k:zeide  :
tingels and to imen (I Cor. 4 :9).              '                      plaatstelijke  kerk,  oak hoemde ik het institdut der
    We do  no) make  fdols out of oprselves, we are keirk.  Daar mdet ge om  d&ken. Die  mafineiz zijn  1
fools for Chri&`s sake. But we must never be @shamed niet uit de  -kerk van  Christus gebannen.  Dat kan
of this or  aiologize for `it. When we instruct  oui niet.  Christtis  neemt op in die `kerk en  miien- door
children- to repeal themselves in this world as ,of `God's             Christus opgenomen is in de  ke?k, die blijft-  eE  iti
Party, as God's friend-servants; when we educate "tot in alle  eeu+igheid.  -  "-                                  `.               `s
them to, live And walk in Christ, when we teatih them                     Maar die verbrijzeling en Verdi&king  ,is tot het
to seek the better  country. . . .in the'eyes of the world             welzijn der  kerk.~   -Als  h'et  alled voorbij is  dtin  -z@gt
we are fools And our children will be fools.                           dat volk  :-  `t' Is  goed  Voor mij `verdrukt  te iija  ge-
    Since the bvorldly wis@ press us from all sides and weed!                                                 . .  .^


                               _-      T H E   S T A N D A R D  B E A R E R '                                                         113

     De weduwe en den vreemdeling dooden zij,  `eh Gods. Hij bewijst .niet dat er een God is hier. ,`Maar
 zij vermoorden de weezen,  en zeggen: De ,Heere  &et           Hij bewijst dat cle God die voor Hem levendig bksttiai,
 het niet, en \de God Jakobs merkt het niet !                   hoort en ziet.           -
    He! wil mij voorkomen, dat in deze beschrijving                 Wat- een  &ooi argument  hebbeti we  .hier !                      Hoe
 van het onheilige werk der goddeloozen, dieper, ge- dwaas is de gedachte, dat -God niet zou zien en .hooreti,
 blikt  meet dan net maar de  oppervlakt&  Dit vers terwijl Hij een schepsel formeert, hetwelk die schooni:
 bedoelt meer te zeggen, dan het gqddeldoze  I volk g a v e n   h e e f t .
 keduwen,  vreemdelingen  en  weezen vermoordt." Ik                 En ja, de `Heere leert den mensch yetenschap, zoo'-
 denk, dat  Be hier te  doen hebt met een  irerdere.   be- dat hij nooit- te verontschuldigen zal zijn in- deli dag
 schrijving van Gods  ;irolk. Gods volk zijn die  wedu-         der groote straffen. Want we moeten er we1 aan den-:
 wen, vreemdelingen en  weezen.             En in de  tweecle ken, dat alle zonden een willend zich keerkn  is tegeti
 plaats,  ziefi  Owe hier weer de  Christus Gods. Hij is        God. God sprak luide in  .de' schepping. Hij sprak
 de Wees bij uitneemendheid. Niemand heeft ooit nog luider in Zijn Woord. Do& de goddeloozen stop-
 zoo  geleden  als de vreemdeling, de weduwe en de pen hun ooren en rennen snellijk tot hun `verderf. '
 wees als Christus Jezus. Het was Zijn bangste klacht,              De IHeere weet de gedachten .des menscheti,, dat ze
 dat God !Hem verlaten had. God  irerbergde  Zich.              ijdelheid  zijn.                                                            1 h
                                                                                                                                            D.I
 Let op het tweede lid van den tekst: de goddeloozen               Ziedaar de grootste zonde. En een zonde die:meest
 zeggen immers : God ziet het  ni&t! Hij merkt het over het hoofd gezien                               worclt.      '     '           `-
 niet! Denkt  tian Golgdtha en de  massa rondom  -dat               Als men spreekt vail zonde, dan wordt er tieestai
 kruis als ge d,eze verzen lee&. Gods kind werd .daar gedacht aan roof en moord en dronkenschap en dkge-
 verbrijzeld en verdrukt, en het  scheen of er  * geen lijke vergrij,pen. E%enw@;   de  ioride, de  groote'.zdnd*e
 God  iri  den-  hem& was  oni  aeie.  snoode daad te  be- die het meest gezondigd` wor$t is ijdelheid. Er woirdt
 letten.          \     ;.                                      hier een woord gebruikt,  `dbt beteekent e&n `iucht, 6&i                           .'
`1 En dan  begipt  de; kerk te klagen tot God.  `Juist ademtoch. Het is een woord, dat gebruikt.wordt  met
 zooals Christus `geklaagd,  heeft : Waarom, o,  waar-          het woord niets en niet. Gedenkt aan Jesaja in hoofd-
 om?!                   ,                                       stuk 40, wtiar hij zegt: een ni& en ijdeiheid.                  --
  ' Dan klaagt  de kerk: Sta op,  IHeere! Weer  we&r            H e t   is.  d e   gestalt&   v a n   den  natciu&jken'  tiensch
 om Uws natims Wil!                   ,      `
                                             .                  waardoor hij  godd'eloos  is.  Alle"iijti   g&d&&t&n  zij&
   En dan gaat de  kerk'  $e goddeloozen toespreken als een  nlet en ijdelheid., Inplaats  d?n dat zijn  `gez
 en beprediken gelijk Noach, de prediker der gerechtig- dachten, alle zijn gedach+en*vol  zijri vafi:God en God-
 heid.  Aantierkt, gij onvernuftigen onder het  &lk  ;          delijke.zaken,  is hij vervuld  met dingen en gedachteti
 en gij dwazen,' wamieer  zult gij  verstandig   war-, die ijdel, niets zijn. Daartegenbver staat he& l&en
 den ?                                                          van  ekn  Engel Gods en  d'e'  rechtvaardigen. ..`In den
   Een  qnvernuftig mensch  verstaat  niet': ze zijn hemel  is men altijd met  cod  .bezig,  &i  `dat':is  goed.
 dwaas. Een dwaas ,.verstaat de dingen niet, wat ze Dat is hemelsch'goed. Hier op aarde :i% hei &en strijd
 eigenlijk zijn.  `&ij ziet ook  nie& het  verband.  en de      oni  aan  God te  denketi.  Daarom.  beluistjtiren  we.  dien
 relatie aller .dingen, hoe ie `allen vast zitten en leiden     onuitsprekelijke klacht in den  twee-&A-vee&i&kn
 tot God. ..$Kj g+bruikt daarom dan ook de schepping psalm: `k D,enk aan U; o God; iri `t klagen!' En tech;
 averechts  verkeerd: hij gebruikt de  dingen  ,en de T;ire  denken   aan God, al  is. het  aan  oak,  ~ dat we  ,zoo
 relaties der  din:g& tot zijn eigen  genot en lof en           klagend en  schieiend  do&n. De  godd$loozen   echter
 prijs,. terwijl  hij juist  bet  tegenovergestelde  moest denken niet aan God. Dat is hun grootste zond'e`:  Ziett
 doen, namelijk,  .hij moest de  dingen en relaties  ge- ge nu niet, dat dit het is, dat hen god&loos d'oet zij&
 bruil<eli tot den!  lof  eh` glorie  Gods. Dan .ware hij       Ze  denken   aan God' niet; hun gedachten  zijn  bezig
 wijs.  Nd  ia hij  pnvgrnuftig en`dwaas.                       met datgene wat niets is y&n ijdelheid, gelijk a&n een
    `De'kerk zal get deli goddelobieiz  ook' redelijk voor      ademtocht.     Ze  `denkeri   sari zichzelf, de  w&eld  ron-
 oogen stellen.  vat  -vindt ge: in  de volgende verzen:        dom hen,  aan genot  VGOF zichzelf  `en hun  kornuiten:
 Zoude die  bet, obr plant,  niet  liooren,,  zoude  die het Maar aan God, neen, aan Hem denken ze niet. .Tot&t
 oog formeert  niet  aanschoutien?` .Zoude   dii'de heide-      ze  pl&eiing  voor  Zijll  aangeiigt   kometi te  staan en
nen tuchti&  riiet straffen, Hij die den mensch'wet&n-          door Zijn  ha&& gegrepen  worden.  Vreeselijk zal
`schap  ieert?  '                                               het zijn te vallen in de  handen  van den  .levendigen
  _ Deze  ye&en  doen mij  -denken  -  aan  soinm.ige der'                           ..
                                                                Godi.                                                                 .
 zoogenaamde bewijzen voor het be&aan van..God. Als                L&&ert nu eens naar de`beschrijving  van de' God:
                                                                         .
 d`e  z&n&er   den  men&h  be&ude&rt,  .dan komt hij tot        zaligen, dat &l-. &eigen,  naar het voik, `dat Go1 is v&n
 de' conclusie :. er is  eeri God.    De' mensch hoort en' (`&a !. Welgeluk&lig   "& d&~~&&$i;,-~() `.  e&&.! &en' `Gij
 ziet,  dtis  God  hoort   en"ziet  ook. En  tech  .is `er  een' tuchtigt, en dien Gij leert uit Uwe wet !           '  .-  '  :  :
grobt` verschil. De  z&fig&  &aat uit  ?a?  liet  b&&an'          Jai  %iijn  broedei,  zekei;:   Iriiijn  z&iei,.  clat  hebben


ii?                 -                             T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
     -  _                _ __       ~~
we: we.  h&ken de  tuchtiging  des  Alllerhoogsten., en getuchtigd  wordt, ! wreekt U niet ! Het is U .God  en
de `bnderwijzing van Zijn wet. Ik mag hier w&l even Vader die. er achter zit. Hij leert U in die tuchtiging
zingen van het eeuwige Halleluja!                                   uit de .Wet. Die, U voorging.  is, Jezlxs. Nooit is iemand
     Die  tuchtiging:  is  als we verbaij.zeld  w&den,  ver-        getuchtlgd  zooals Hij. En in het bitterst  uu? heeft
drukt worden  door de goddeloqzen. Ge moet daarom Hij gebeden voor Zijn folteraars. Hij liet U een voor-
nooit nijdig w,orden Op den dwazen man, dieeer  schik beeld   na, Voor U om %e volgen. Wandelt dan i? Zijn
in heeft om Gods volk te trijteren. Die  zijn  er,  Q  j.a, voetstapgen.           Schrei Uw smart tot  Gbd. Hij zal het.
die zijn er.  Z,e  iijn ook in de  kerk,  zooals  ii;  hier-        alles vergelden.  Doch  wrcekt U niet.  .Maakt  plaats
boven  aanhaalde.  Wie zijn het die Jezus het ergste voor den toorn Gods.
gcplaagd  hebben ? Ja, ge hebt  gelijk,  bet  waren de                 De Wreker staat voor de deur.
menschen van de keyk, de overpriesters en de schrift-                  Doch leert in dit alles l&f te hebben.
gcleerden,   de.  wetgel>erden  en  FarizBeers,  de  Hooge-            De Goddelijke, reine, aanbiddelijke Li%fde Gods is
priester Kajafas en zijn schoonvader  Ann&s. Die de  vervdlling  der wet!  H&t is Jezus  Christus voor U
hebben Gods Kind meer geplaagd en geslagen, dan en door U!
de heidenen. En  zoo  is-het in  alle  eeuwen   en  over-                                                                 G. v.
al.. Masr Gods volk  wreekt zich niet. Ze  weten dat
God er achter zit. Toen dan oak David geplaagd werd
door Simei, zeide hij : God heeft tot hem gezegd : vloek
aavid !                                                                        FR43sM  E@Lmr  WRIT
             Het is. een zegen om door God- getuchtig$  te wor-.
den. Het  leidt ons  $rug  naar God.  lHet  brengt ons
van wegen der zopde. lHet leert 6ns onze zonde ken-                           James  1:6-S.`- "But let him  ,ksk in faith, nothing.
nen, berouwen en beweenen. Het brengt ons schreiend                           waver?ng. For  he that  tiaTris>rtith is like a wave of
tot God.                                                                      the  ,sea driven `with  the  win&  end tossed.  F,or  let.
       . `Oak wordt dat volk geleerd uit.Zijn  wet. En dat                  not that man `think that he shall receive anything
is de  hemel, daar boven bij God. En dat is dan ook                           of the Lord. A double minded  &an  is unstable in
de  hemel hier  op aarde. 0, dat  leeren  tiit die wet:                       ali his ways."
h?e heerlijk !                                                         In verse 5 James exhorts the church of God to ask
Die wet is.  beschpeven in  slechts  een woord, het wisdom of the Lord. This wisdom shall be given her
lieflijkste,  woord uit Gods Eigen woordenboek. Dat for the,Lord-  giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth
B&e Woord is LIEFDE!                                                not. In verses 6-8, intrbduced  by ,the word "but", the
I            De Wet God is de liefde, het is `een afschijnskl  van holy writer sharply tails our httention to the indis'pen-
Gods Eigcn volmaakte,, goddelijke Wezen !                           sibl'e requirement for the prayer for wisdom, namely,
             D.e Wet  &od lee& ons lief te hebben.  .De Wet that we ask in faith. That we must ask this wisdom
riept het  oni toe van oogenblik tot  oogenbljk: Hebt of God is plain. Wisdom is not nierely a matter of
Mij  lie3  eh  dw naaste om Mijns Naams  wil.!  I+ is the head;af the- intellect. If`it were, we could acquire
niets heerlijker dan de Wet. die Hij den sterv'ling zet .it m&ely by attending school and in the measure that
`t binnenst i{g.ewand  ! De wet  vervuld is Christus. - we diligently apply ourselves to our studies. Wisdom,
Het is imme?s Christus Die- Zijn Vader 266 beminde, however, is spiritual. And inasmuch as it is a spiritual
dat Hij den  zeeuwigen dood inging.  HijL heeft God matter it.must be granted us continuously which im-
intensief bemind ; Hij beminde ook Zijne naaste. Voor plies that we must constantly ask it of the Lord. Be-
Zijn  ,volk is  !IHij gestorven, vqor hen heeft Hij  ge- sides; we are by nature not wise but foolish. Wb are
zwoegd  tot i$ de vreeselijke eeuwigheden om hen te                 of the earth earthy; not only physically but also spirit-
zaligen, om hen den Vader voor te  stellen   sils een               ually. By nature we hate God and love sin and the
reine  liefhebbende  maagd, de  Bruid  van" Christus, things of this world; The child of God, who has be-
van  God.'  j                                                       come ,wise in principle, and is therefore fully aware
             Laat U ddn leeren u-it de wet! Zet U nooit tegen of the foolishness which characterizes him as he is'by
die wet.  Dii wet is alles, is het uiteindelijke leven nature and continues to remain with him until the day
voor het Aadgezieht  van God!-                                      of his death, understands fully the words of James:
             Een ware! Wetgeleerde is daarom een Lfefhebber Let him ask'for wisdom of God and it shall- be'given
deer  zielenl- l$Iet is een mensch die God  bemint boven h i m .
alles en zijn naaste~om Gods wil: Het hijn de kinderen                 H&e&, we must'ask in faith. The word "but"
Gods, Want' God mint  Zichzelf met een  GoddelijB,e,                serves to bring out a sharp distinction. Not all who
reine liefde.  i                            .-                      pray fdr wisdom shall receive it 0f the Lord. We must
             .Wre&t  @ daarom  niet,  beminden!  Wanneer ge pray in faith. The word  "but"; forcibly reminds us.


                                      - T H E ' S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                       115

  of the fact that, faith is an absolutely necessary requi-         This man is unstable in all his ways. He is as a
  site for our prayer for and receiving of wisdom.              wave of the sea driven w&h the wind and tossed. In
     James speaks in  vers&  6 of "a wave of the sea his walk he  iti unsteady,  tossed to and fro, does the'
  driven with `the wind and tossed", and  iti verse 8 of most unheard of things.  `He is at  home  app,arently
  `a double-minded man who is unstable in all his ways." am&g the children of the living God but seems to
0 We understand that these two expressions refer to ~ feel Bin&elf equally at home among those who khow
  each other. The one is a figure-of the other. A waver- not the fear of the Lord. IHe never pursues a steady
  ing person; one that doubts, is, according to James, .course, one never knows what he will do; whether he
 a double minded person. And even as a wave of the will turn, to the right or to `the left. He is a spiritual
 sea is driven with the wind,,and tossed, so also such a drunkard.
 doubleminded man is unstablk, un&,e%dy in all his ways.           D& present time is characterized by many of these
  Literally we do not read, "A double  minded man is spiFitua1  drunkar.ds. On the one hand, they are spirit-
 unstable in all his ways"; but, "A dotible minded un- ual,  extraord-inarily spiritual. They can almost al-
 stable in all his ways." .Ia,  other words; this man ways be recognized by their exceptional  piety. None
 who asks not in faith is that .double minded man` who          is more  regtilar at church attendance and none is
 is unstable in all his ways. This double nriinded man more faithful in  the performance of their church
 must not think that he shall receive anything of the           dutiss and obligations. They can be exceptionally
 `Lord.                                                         jealdus for mission  wor.k,  would save the world if
  First of all, James speaks in this portion of Holy possible, although they are not  allays  particular.ly
 Writ of a double r?$nded man, verse 8. Wavering or concerned with deplorable conditions at home, such as
 doubting is contrasted in this text with faith. Accord- ignorance concerning the truth of `God's `Word. On
 ing to James, therefore,, anyone who doubts is really. the other hand, these people .are -also  viro@3y. You
 a double minded man. The expression "double minded" probably imagine them to be very pious  *and `are
 of verse 8 means literally' "two-so$led."-  A double amazed to find them in the ve.ry mtdst of the world.
 minded man `h&s two souls. Fundamentally, we under- They are spiritual drunkards. James Iikens them unto
 stand, this is impossible. It is true that there are a'wave of the sea as it is driven and tossed to and fro.
 `two, opposing forces in the child of God, the operation You never know what to expect of these ,douMe  minded
 of light and that of darkness. Romans `7 cleai4y teaches persons. They would live from two  opposi.ng  prin-
us this truth. But this does not render a man "two-             ciples of life.               t
 souled." The child of G6d shall cleave%0 the one and              such an one, writes James,  m.ust not think that
 hate the other. This is principally always his struggle. he shall receive anything of the ,Lord. One might ask
 L:oving in principle not only sotie.but all the comma&         the question whether these. persons actually pray for
 me&s of the Lord, he must continually cope with the wisdom, or how it can be possible that they pray for
 forces of eyil and darkness which remain in him until wisdom. Fact is, these double minded men also pray
 -the day of his death. What is possible,  however,  is         for wisdom. They, too, appear i.n. the assem.blies of
 that one may try to serve  twb masters, would fain the pebple  of God or pray because of custom or habit.
cleave to both, and in'thatsense  have two souls, would It is `also customary for them, $0 open and dlose with
 personally live  `from two principles. Such an one prayer at their metils ( of course, in their own homes),
 appears, then, to have two hea&, two centers,' twq and to close with prayer when asked to do -so ai public
 `minds, two wills. He always sees double;hears double, meetings, such as school or  chu.rdh  ga%herings.  And,
 seeks  donble.  He * would ,love the light but also the they pray for  &sdom. Of course! `They would not
 darkness, grace but also sin, righteousness but also           da& to mention anything -else in their prayer. They
 unrighteousness, Christ but also Belial, God but also          pray, then, that they r&y be the people of the living
 Mammon. Such a person  would be a friend of God                God -and conduct themselves a&ord.ingly  in the midst
 but also of the world.         He attends  Divin.e service of the world, They qsk the Lord for His grace and
 regularly, participates in all congregstional~  activities,    Spirit to fight the good fight o? faith even utito  the.
 but also seems  to enjoy .himself  in the midst. of the end, to reject Egypt and the glories of Egypt io-r the'
 world. This double minded mati is iti a very pitiable heavenly treasures  w.hibh  are above. They  .ask  ,the.
 condition. He may be a .child of God who has wan- Lord to bless them in the :day which lies ahead and.
 dered far f.rom the path of God's covenant, and he has they implore His mercy -in order that they may walk
 indeed wandered far from the' way of God's' covenant as children of the light in the midst rof a worid which
 and precepts.' He tiay also be one who never knew the lieth in sin and darkness. We always pray for .$hese
 grace of God, but, -belonging to the church of  Gbd things, also the double.  mi,nded man.  I&  w&d  not
 accoiding  to her development in the midst of the world,       dare to mention anything else in his petitions.
 merely appears as a child of God and apparently walks             such a petitioner will receive nothing. We must
 from two .prificipl,&s  of life,                               ask iA faith, write's Jamis,- nothing wqvering or doubt-


1       1          6                  T H E   S T A N D A R D .   B E A R E R :

ing:. A doubter .is a double minded man and vice versa. the` world. In that faith  .we must stand. Prompted
First of .all, he really doubts whether he earnestly de- by that faith we must pray. This prayer will be heard
sires what he asks. .The word that is translated "wav-       and the  .Lord  will grant  LIS  wisdom. For He giveth
ering'r. means literally "to be at variance, in conflict to all -men liberally and upbraideth not.
with oneself ." These doubters pray for wisdom, for                                                          H. +.
the fear of God, that;the  Lord may lead them not into ~
temptation, that they may be His party here below.
But in, their prayer they are actually at variance with
themselves. They are afraid that the Lord will grant
them the things they request. They probably consider                       PERIS~COPE
it convenient to be able to do both: be the party of the
living `God and seek the. things which are below. In
reality they are of the world: And it is a fact that
they,really  seek the world. .They pray for wisdom but                      The Conference
actually they do not desire it. Hence, they are at
variance with `themselves. . Secondly, they doubt that Fourth  &ssion .  : . .
God will give them their request and know that their            The Rev. J. De' Jong led us in the opening exercis,es
prayer will not re.ceive,an  answer. Also in this respect on Thursday -morning. The speaker at this session
they differ with themselves. They petition `the Lord was the Rev. R. D. Steubbe, pastor of the Reformed
to give them His grace. But in their hearts they realize Church in the U. S.; at Garner; Iowa. `Rev. Steubbe
t,hat their prayer is mockery and that Jehovah does had been assigned the subject: ."Th,e Distinguishing
not `listen to their supplication.                           Marks of the Church"`.
:' .;Such. a man, .writes James, will not receive any-
thing, of the Lord. Of. course not. Jehovah will not Resume' of `Lectuw . . . .                         :
be mocked.  H,e delighteth not in hypocrisy and iniquity,       "In developing our subject we take ourfocal point
1He' is far from such :prayers. And it is really a ter- from the words of the  Apostle..Panl,   YNevertheless
rible thing to pray the Lord for  lHis guidance and the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal;
blessing when. one has determined to seek the things         The .Lord,  knoweth them that `are his, and let every
which are below. This is a terrible thing. not only on,e that nameth the name .of Christ depart from in-
because we then are. hypocritical in our prayer. #But iquity." Since `the Lord kndweth them that are His'
it is surely terrible to ask the holy and righteous God the Church is Holy ; set apart unto God. That Holy
to `accompany us in such ways of evil and ask His bless-     Church is also Catholic as confessed :,in the Apostle's
i,ng to be upon us in paths of sin. It is the evil of Creed and .expohnded  .in question and answer 54 of
tempting God, t,o entice Jehovah, that He forsake His our :Xeidelberg  Catechism. It is Catholic rather than
holiness and walk with us in the way of iniquity and universal for it is from the beginning to the end of the-
sin.         r          -,                                   world as well as universal in extent ; that is, it is uni-
                                                                                               I
     We must ask in faith. Faith.is the living, spiritual versal in two directions.
bond which unites us with God in Christ Jesus. By               `(Through that :Holy- Catholic Church God chooses
faith;  w.e are united. -with Christ and become one to prevent the truth from perishing in the world.  1
plant .with Him; And by faith, which is the Spiritual        Hence, God gave to .her very distinguishing marks.'
knowledge and a hearty confidence, we also draw our Her duty is to watch closely and keep herself distinct
spiritual life's sap out of the Christ, and so live'out through these marks, since Satan always attacks her.
of Him.. To pray in faith means that we pray in the          These. distinguishing- marks are the Word, and the
sphere of faith,. This implies that our prayers must Sacraments. Where you find the Word, in its entirety,
be rooted in faith and that we therefore-actually seek preached and heard, and the Sacraments administered
and desire the things "we petition. United with Christ according to the: institution of ,Christ,  there-you find
and having been called out of darkness into God's the Church. The Word must not only be preached
marvellous light we will desire wisdom, that spiritual but  h,eard,.  i.e. believed:' Where it is` not preached.
fruit of grace whereby we seek the things above and and believed you have no Church, These marks of
view the present in the light of the hereafter. Such the Word ,and the Sacraments `cannot exist without
a-prayer will also be in harmony with the will of God. bearing fruit and prospering by the blessing of God.
It will be delivered of all worldly and carnal  .lusts,         "The purpose of the Word is, to make `distinction
will seek  `the glory of the living God, and- will be between Jerusalem and Babylon. The  .hearing. of
concentrated in the desire to be the party of the' Most God's Word is. the criterion--for membership in Jeru-
High and that according to ,our place, and calling which Salem-the Ch,urch. .~ Hence, that Word preached and
&h&ah has sovereignly willed for us in the midst, of         believed must be the Word- of' God-. and' not `of man?


                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   B,EARER  X                                                                             1117 .

 That Word 4s describkd as a two-edged sword. In this                The Rev. Stuebbe--`".Not  without tlie Word. There                                                  '
 description its destructive and cutting power $4 em- must be a sin against the Word.  `There.`is  rio exc6m-
 phasized. It makes separation. That Word, as sdtih, munication   w i t h   t h e .   W o r d . "                             I                       I..
 is a spiritual weapon.      Christ  hsed- it;  during His
 temptatibn of Satan in `the wilderdess,  to destroy the             The Rev. IK Ko4'n-"The Fathers .said in.. Connec-
 d e v i l .
          Jesus had no physical weapotis ; He used the tion with. preaching: `Preaching of the Word,of  God
                                                                is the  Word  of God, ,,                                           .A
 sword, .of the Spirit. The Word is the sword which                                                                                             i:
 the Spirit us& to work in the heayt. It is the weapon "             The Rev. Stuebbe--"I believe that iB `c&re'ct. The
 by which Christ conquered and gives us the  vic- Bible as` it lies here is ,the WoTd of Gdd.`.' ,"'
 tory.                                                                                                 `.
    "That Word of God is also a power. The Scrip-                    The Rev. G. Lubbers--"The  speaker placed  disci-
                                                                pline under the preaching and So tiohsiders  two ears-
 tures reveal the power' of the Word of God. At  crea-  marks  of  the Church
ti& God spoke I&s Word and the power of the Word                                            .    Others  ofily have  one-4he
 was revealed in creation. Again in Jonah 2  :lO we             pyeaching. I believe  thtire is no essential  diff,ere&e.
 read : `And the Lord spake unto the fish and it vomited. But I have .a question., The speaker- said the Wok;d
 out Jonah upon the dry land'. God spoke and that must be heard, i.e. believed.                        Is, there  e?er such a
 which He spoke came to pass. His Word. is ti pow#er.           thing in preaching of `the W&d `that ,it `goes'.in. one                                             -
    "God has  given.,that  Word unto  His Church. In  :ear  and  Out  the  `ther' I `.or does it al&ys `. enter' the
 the Church He has appointed ministers and teachers I consciousness of those wlio heai?"'                                                     .::
to  edifi the Cliurch through  IHis Word. Their  t&k                 The Rev. Stuebbe-`"I believe the .latter  -is correct.
 is to proclaim the `Word of God and administer the It is a savor of life unto life `or of death unto death.
 Sacraments. -Tlie following reasons may be adduced It is always effective. -The Hoiy Spirit is always ac-
: why God uses men for this task. `In the first place,  tive in the Word-unto life or death."                            .'  I  :                    :.  ":
                                                                                                                                                        0
 God thereby declares IHis condescension .to us. in the
 second place, `w'e are thereby tr_ained in true hfimility.     1    The Rev. J.  Howerxyd'"Are   th.e two `marks-the
                                                                preaching and `the sacraments-co-equal  irl `imp&t-
 And finally,  this binds us to each other  in.  mtitual  ance7,,                                            ,.          I                                   . .
                                                                                                                                         :
 charity. ,
    "God has also instituted  the Sacraments in His                  The, Rev. Stuebbe--`"Yes, I believe they' are."'
 Church as, a distinguishing .mark. There is .no Sacra-
 ment apart from. God. He has given us Sacraments                    The Rev. J. De Jong-"The term' "Word' is'usedjn
 that we ,may draw near to Him and be assured of our various ways. The %Vord is given to.`the  Chur&;`$he
 salvation. That which H,e promises in His Word He Word of  Scri,pture  ; the Preach&l Word ; the Lo&s ;
 seals to us in the S&ran%ents.,  The Sacraments seal tize Word of creation ; the Word as a p&er  or dest&&-
 the promise of  the'.Word.  There is no seal if there tive force, etc; I would like a little more light. IHOw
is nothing to seal. Hence, there is no Sacrament with- must we distinguish between these, since  .as a dis-
 out the Word.                                                  tinguishing mark we have the preached Word ? What
                                                               is the distinction between the creative Word, ihe Word
    "The Sacraments are a special gift unto the Church of God's providence, the Word `as' a power unto sal-
 to assure her of salvation. .They must not'be omitted. vation,. etc. ?"
 They go hand in hand with the Word. The promise of                                                                 _
 the Word is that we are cleansed from our sins. This                The Rev. Stuebbe--"That the Word is a power &to
 promise is sealeG to us in,baptism. As the Word must `salvation was omit&d  in the paper." (~                                .'
be preached in its &niirety so also the Sacraments must
 be administered according to the Word ; as instituted               The Rev; J. De Jong-"What i,s the difference when
 in Scripture. Where the Word is proclaimed and the             God speaks -to the fith to vomit  out Jonah: and when
 Sacralnents administered, there you find the Church. the Church  decla)-es the Word of God'? The  Church
                                                                doesn't have that power. What is the relation between
 These are her distinguishing marks.
    "We might also add.to  this the mark of ,exercise  of -the.  Creative Word and  &e Word  `that the  dhurih
                                                                s p e a k s   ?"                                    .
 the key-ppwer ih Christian discipline but this comes
. under the Word.      Preaching and  disciplinti  beldng            .The  R&v.  Stueb&---It is the same Word.`I'  .`rhe
 to the proclam&ion of the Word. Discipline can only Word of God is the Word of God. It is the sam'e Word
 be according to the Word.`!                                    that Christ had and which God s$okk:, The relation
                                                                is the same then, to a certain extent. The  Chhrch
 Discussion . . . .                                             has .the. same power agaipst the Devil with that Word
    The  Rev.  HI  Veldtian-"Must  we limit discipline .as Christ had. . The  Church can only  ,s$and  .by  &he
 `to the preaching or is ,it to be'exercised ip the way of power of God's Word.                  The Church does not  `habe
excommunication?"                                              the creative. Word but as  the  W&d.  is  pre&&d   that


t  l-l$                                     , - T H E   -S:TAN.DA:RD  lB.EA1RE.R

 ,-which is  ;proe!aimed  occurs.. The destructive power *Word is not -pr.eached:ftilly:and  .the sacraments care not
 ;of ithe =Wor'$ -:prq9aime.d `by -the - C-hu-rch. is -the same .admi.nist,ered."
  as Christ had in the wilbepgcss."               _                        `The  .IZev..  J.  Hou!er@-"If  the two are co-equal
   Zl!he:Rev.:.IJ.   .-BEan&espo.or-".The  speaker  said that shouldn't  .we. have the Sacraments every. week?"'
 .:the .purpose.  of :,.thes marks-is to distinguish.. Jerusalem           The Rev. ,Stuebbe--"I believe-we should."
  from Babylon, the true from  .the false.  D.id the
  speaker mean *that .it distinguishes- betweeli tl@right-                  The, Rev. P. B'oer--"`The IBaptists  deny .the Sacra-
  eous and the wicked. What does the word `disti-nguish-                -merits.  Isn't it impossible to.`belpng  there?"
  ing' mean in the topic?"                                                  `The Rev. Stueb'be:"That  would follow from-what
      .The 8ev. ,S&&etibe-"~Those  -marks .which set .apari -1 said.",
 .the  .B,ody  .of Christ  ,so  :that .we may recognize  ..th,e             The  Rev.  W.  .Hofm_an-"Is`..there  a difference  .in
 Church.           That which  .makes it  s?parate,.  set apart,        degree of ,purity.-among  .Churches?              Is. there a more
-. holy."              :                                                pure Church or .sev&al  with- the -same degree, of pur-
      The  ,Rev.  <-W.  Korn--+Are   `all  Ibaptized  in Christ ity?"
  and do -all who are baptized put qn"Christ. accor$ng                     -The Rev. Stuebbe--"Ves, ,there -is -a. difference."
 .as we legd: .`For -as:many of --you as have be& bap-.                     r&rom  the ~AudZe~ce7".T'he  Sacraments are not dead
  tized into Christ have put on Christ.`- Gal. .3,:-27?"            . -symbols -but they --teach, accord& -to .the Catechism.
     "' The-Rev. $tuebber"Are--all.in,the  .covenant  7 .No." They%each  and seal. There isno essential difference
                                                                        between the preaching and the Sacraments."
      -.!&`& :Rerv. :H.:Hoeksema-"Note.  that, the- text reads                                                                     _
  into  Christ."                                                           -,The &ev: A:-`Petter-Y-If.  the. question -of p.urity-is
                                                                        relative, :w:hen .does -the false: be&:-and  the true .end ?-
      IThe-Rev..A.:Camme~ga~`~Since.all~C~hurch.es  preach When :does the relative `skandard -cease'-so that ,we find
 . ..f rom :Scriptare -and _ preach- Chris!, tihat must :.bk the ,no Church,:at all ?- -Hoti'ftir: must ewe,:go before .we -find
  criterion for pure preaching?"                                        no Church?
           l%e &Zev. +Stueb;be~"We  cannot-;go into. that. I n              The Rev. Stwbbe-"We  cannot go down at all.
  all visible. Churches where the Word is breach:ed and                                                                                 We
                                                                        -must stay at%he $op.
 ,believe%l and where  %he Sacraments are instituted,                                                 The -minute you $ake away one
                                                                        tittie or iota you cease. -.We-believe  there are denomin-
. that's ,where*the' ,Church is. `It makes. no diff-erence ,a$ions which come -close to-&he lcruth b-ut no separate
  where `we go-as' long -as. the *Word is proclaimed -and
 .the `SacramentsLadministered."                                        denomination-is a completelytrue.and.perfeCt  C.hurch."
                                                                           cThe  `Bev.  .6.  .LubDbers-1"Much  is  : said of the  .re-
           The;Eev.,L. Ve?meer~`fI  .was.glad that- the+peaker ,lationship-bet-ween  fhe W.ordJand-the Sacraments. The
' +dded  r%the-,mark  of -Christic@-diseipliae. <Isn't ;it true speaker gives them equal importance. -Yet. we.  ,see
 ..that  .not of .the:sacrarhents  hut :of th,e*Word  we read -that -they `are `not equal -in -o.ur -:spiritual `life.
 .&at ,*it :is                                                                                                                          Are
                  ,a,..go.qer  .af .-God unto -salvation? :-Hence,  is %hey+qual in -norm-ative valtie'?"
  not the Word more important; the chief  .means of
  grace? The Word begets  US, according to James 1.                         Thi.Rev. Stuebbe-"They should have egual norma-
 >kWe never retid -this of the sacraments. *How `can we tive value. In-the- Church where the' Word,is preached
  conceive of them as .eo-equal?" '                                     and the. Sacraments are administered they .are equal
                                                                        in normative -value.
      '                                                                                              The Wsrd is -the norm but the
            The -Rev. StueGbe-`fWhat 5 would yoti think .of a .Word is-not complete withqut the-Sacraments."
 Tman  :that  be!i-eved  the `Word -and  neve?  .,partook  of
--the sa~ram&s-7 -?s-it ,enoGgh  that, the,word  is preach-                -5!%e ,Rev. r J. -Z?lankespoor7`.`If  the -administration
  ed only? -My-answer 
             .                  isno."                                  of the, Sacraments.-is-one of -the- distinguishingvmarks
                                                                        of ..the - Church -how-can' it be if -many .`Chnrches -have
           `The  Rev. W. Hofman-"Have  both the Word-.and -.them?  What  i.s  >the difference?`:
  sac?aments  been ordained for the same purpose. Do
 the sacraments produce faith?"                                            -*he  ,Rqu..  Stu~bb.e~"`Calvin   write&  in the  `Insti-
                                                                        >&&es', ,*book  `4, -+hat *-the Roman. Catholic Church still
      ,Ehe >Rev.,Stuebbe-`<No, the sacraments. strengthen
 `:our .&i$h;""                                                         has a bit of the distinguishing -marks df the Church
                                                                        s i n c e   th,ey  still  h a v e   b a p t i s m . "
           T&e -,Rei. ;H. ;`VeZdman---"What do you consider- to
-Abe the  .false:  Church',and.  its-,marks   1"                            T-he `Rev. .-H.-,Hoeksema-`!There  $re,sevesd  gues-
                                                                        tions -here and since. the subj,ect .is of -iimportance :we
            XhelRev.. St-uebtie+-"The,Zexact  opposite ; +vhere. the    should come to some conclusions., 1 1~. the first @ace,


                                      T H E .   S3'AND.A.R.D  B.EAREti.                                                   1-19

 ivhy  shtiuld  there  be-  marks of the Church? The Holy: Scripttires, by the- Church! institute,: through; lier;
 Church. is essentially invisible. but through her marks called ministers. It .is- the-spe?kitig:  of I Christ .thr&gh.
 one may ascertain where' that. Ch&ch is. in .the wo;lh. tb.? audible proclamatioti  of the Gospel. by. the: insti-
 They are, certain signs by which it may be determined tuted Church through the ministry,. It. is noti merely
 that the Church. is distinct from all other bodies in the.. exposition of. "the- Bible. We must hear CHRHST.!.-                       . .
 the world. In  the second place, they are  distinguishing If Christ does not speak. then th,ere. is. no> preachitig;.                        '
 marks. By them we may ascertain the true  Chuy;ch Preaching. is the ,mini&ry  of. the : Word of: God`; It: is-.
 from its departure or' false- Church so' that evepyone         the Word of, God. which H6, sp.eaks .tlirough:.Christ:
 is called- upon- t6 join the-purest manifestation of`the          `6'How shall: we-- determine--if we have- thati preach-
Church.        1~  th,e. third place,  our' Confessions point ing?. In the, first place; it must- be. official ministry-;.
 out that there are- 3 distingtiishing  marks:' the-preach-    ihere must be a rnsn standi& in that office institute&
 ing.of the Word, the adtiinistration.of the"$acraments. by Christ.  Hemust be-called'of  GhriSt:  In@ie.secotid.
 an@ the- exercise of Christian discipline; It- is a-strik- place; the one iE that offike- mu& abide strictly- to. the
 ing  fact that the distinguishing marks are. not. the. criterion of Scripture. It mu& be the. pure-preaching;
 attributes. of: the. Chtirch, viz, holiness, catholioity, and Where you have. the institute& tiinistry tind the-pure                         .
 apostolicitp;  *but -that:  they. are: identical, with .the nieans preaching, Christ is  with.'  the.  off&; Where  that
 of grace, including even Christian discipline. Why occurs:`you.  have. th-e.true Church.-and-  where iD is-not
 are not the attributes but rather the means of grace you have no Church: Chi%t- does not. speak except
 selected as the distinguishing marks?"                        through. Scripture  and:  trot  officialljr- except: through.
     "To understand. the selection and the `marks them-
                         ,..                                   the instituted' ministry.
 selves we. must proceed:f?om. the fact that. the Church.
 is the Body of Chris& ' .Therefore,  the Church is only           "What. is t.lie relation between &at preaching, and
 where. Christ. is.; only! where it pleases Christ to be `the other marks of the Church? The relation is such
 do you find the Church. Ypu.- cannot make I a- Church. that. in &he SaFraments  you `also: have `the Word which
-Christ establishes His. Church and there w;here   iHe Christ speaks through- the' in&it.u&d~  signs : and;. sea,lst
 establishes,  His, Church, Christ  is, and  ,bl&ses her as administered; by` the Church. The e&ence  `05 the
 with all spiritual. blessiilgs;                   . I
                                               . .              Sacraments is;-the?  Wtir&og-  Christ. If'Chr.i&.does:not
     "The question then is how do you d&ermin,e  where, say, by IHis Spir-it, ."M& e&!: et&, you: have nothing
 among the -gatherings in this world, Christ is-? Christ more than a natural eatin& of. bread.`.and..  wine;. The
 is where 12% Word ig; arrd'where-  Christ is there is His Host at the table .is Christ Himself and He. speaks
iWord for Christ speaks.through  His- W-ord. He estab- through the signs to the  b.elievers.,' The Word- of
 lishesth&.Chuirch by His Word and Spirit. `Where He God is also the. essence of' tlie  SBcranients.' Christ
 has  thtis established His Church  IHe speaks to  hep          can only baptize  into  His  na.me.. Christ causes. the ,
 through the preacher:  - And-  wher,e  He speaks, i.e. `Sacrament to be eff:e&va.by  His mig@y Wbrd: With-
 Christ; there is the Church. We must speak, not'lhe            out the- Word of  CliriSt tliey  havy no meaning and
 preaclier.     And  Tyheti.  Chri&.. speaks there is the without the, spoben wqrd they have. no m-eanin-g forus.
 Church. Hence, if we can determine where Christ In- that sense they are subordinate. to the preaching:
' speaks, there we shall find:.the  Church.                     They derive their meaning and, contents, from the
     Where  dbes. Christ. speak.?. Not simply where Word. For that-,r.eason  )QL$ have no Sacrament- w&h-
 the Bible is. or. where it. is iead; Yod cannot see the out the. Word; the; Word is preached: even at the ad-
 Word of God or Christ.. Preaching of  _ the Word of ministration of: the Sacraments: The Sacraments-are
 God is the Word of God, if you give the right definition, subservient to the Word.
 of preaching. Where: that:  Wbrd- is preached there               "What. about `the Keys of  Christ`ian  DiScipli&?
 Christ is. bu_t y.ou .cannot.  see Christ. We must hear The main Key is the preaching of'the. W&d. Ii;  fact,
 Christ through. the. ministry of preaching., And Christ there is no other Key. Even personal` discipliee.  is
 speaks where His. Word.  is purely: preached, i.e. only preaching of the W&d.               The difference is that- it @
 where  .it is proclaimed according' to the Scripture. private and personal. rather than public and g&e&;
 The conclusion: is  thae  the  distinguishing. mark of Christ has, given.the Key power tu the Church. How
 the Church  iS  the preaching:  of. the Word. Where is that `possible,? It does nott mean. that Christi has
 Christ speaks through- His W&d, there. ip the Church. delivered the Key power  ov'er the Church but  that-
 Nothing can . be compared.' to the preaching. of the the-instituted Church has the promise of- Christ that.
 Word and essentially also' the administration of the where His W&d- is, preached. He will use that Word
 Sacraments and. the exerzisk  of Christian discipline as a Key power' to. shue and- open. That is ttiue- also                    _
 are preaching `of the Word-.                                  of personal ,discipliee,  even of excommunication, When
    "What: ,iS: preaching? Preaching: is the .proclama-        it is said `we declare ,you' outsides the,. Church. of, God,
 tion of the content, of, the Gospel; as rev@& in the          and. f  ellomship  w&h-  @r&t'?   @at-  means  that,  G@st


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  will bind this declaration upon `then consciousness of to repent. The Church 3s always .there. If it is false
  the sinner. Christ will apply .it to his conscience.              there iS no use preaching to it. T-he Church is there
    9 `Finally, what is the false Church? The false but she must convert herself."
  Church is that which corrupts the' Word and Sacra-                                                                           -  W;  H .
metit's, casts out the faithful and protects the wicked.                                                                .
  We. must- bear in mind the, rule that &eryone is called
 ta `join himself to' ,the purest -Church. Hence, I must            .
  be able toi say -that the Psotestant Reformed Churches                      Fur&g `one of- the earlier-sessions of the Conf erenck
  are the purest. That is my conviction. Everyone                   an invitation had been received from the Reformed
  must be, ,in his ow,n conscio&ne&,  convinced that he             Churches of Sutton, Nebraska, to meet there. in- 1947.
  belongs to the -purk& Ch&ch `&d `X he does not, he A committee `had beep appointed to Iconsider this and
  helps  d&g'  the progress toward the false Church. various other .matters. ,At the ,close of the Wednesday
  If there is any heresy ip the Cl-+&h to which he be- afternoon- session, this committee reported and ad-
  longs, .and he protests but cannot g&t anywhere, and              vised as follows:
  is `able to join a -purer manifestation, he must do so                      1. That we hold a.gother Conference in 1947.
  .or  .lbeco&z  guilty of cooperating  .in evil and he!ping                  2. That the choice of theme be left to .the Con-
  `to,.  kring,. the anti-Christ and false Church. There ference Committee.
 -may be  inconsistency  and imperfections within the                         3. That the Revs. W. Korn .&nd G. Vos be retained
  pu+st mapifestation,  since we do `not reach perfection as Conference VCotimittee.
I. heie. Nor `is it a'question of  goinb'to heaven or not                     4. That. the following be appointed as speakers for
  b@  ..of our, calling and  responsibiljty ; and that is           the next Conference : The Revs. P.. De Boer, C :Hanko,
  clear." . :
    . . .
   _._.  1                                                          H. Hoeksema, from the Protestant Reformed Churches
    .`:  Th,e  Rev.  j.-  De  Jong-"It was said that Christ- and the Revs. W. Korn and K! J. Stuebbe from the
  speaks ' the Word and` then you have. the essence of : Re_fortied  Church in-the U.: S.                                         I?
  the ~Sacramentz If Christ. does' not `so speak ,do we not.                  5. That we accept the .-invitation of- Sutton and .
  have that -, essep&? We know,. for example, that all hold the Conference the weey folloting  the fall session
  baptized children are. not `saved. Does this make of Classi's' West of our Churches.
  their baptism a niere.formality?"             ;                             6. That the Rev. A.  Cammenga  b; appointed as
         :. .          :                                            Conferenoe  president for tile ensuing year.
   The Rev. H.  Hqeksema-"The   means of grace  ar,e
  al>y,s$s means: Christ always opera&es in the Word                          These suggestions were adopted by the Conference. /
  a,?,!  Sacratients   ; as a. savor of life unto life or of                                                                   *. W. H.
  !eath `unto death. The Sacraments are never anything
  by. themselves ; tieithkr  the Word."                                                    . . .
                                                                    I --
 q  T&e  Rev.  H.  Velclm~anY"We speak of one false                                                 DEDICATED.  D                  `-
  Ck<lrch  ahd all. kinds of pure Churtihes ; not all equally                                                     :
  piire but in. a ,relative sense..  Would it not be better                       0 Lord, thy heavenly grace  imp&                                1  '
toe'speak   `lof'  one  pure Church and all, kinds of false                      And. fix my frail, `incon&%@ heart;
  Clitirtihes  ; false. in the sense that they have officialLy                    Henceforth my.  chikf  d&ire  shall be,
  fi&ak&n  tile marks-of th,e tFu& Church?"            .                      To dedicate myself. to.  .thee..
         ,,  .The  Rev.  A..  qetteri-"As  far as .we are aware,
   r.
  today` we have. th& purest manifestation of the Truth.                          Whate'er pursuits my time. embloy,
  But  we  ar:e  fa&ble  and tomorrow may change the                             One thought shall fill niy` heart witql_  joy :
  picture. Can we say that now we are the purest, but                             That  silent,  s&zret  thdu@it.-shall  .be,                -
  `that this may be altered in the future?"                                       That all my hopes aire- fix@d bn the&-
                                                                                                                       `, -
          The  Reti.  H;  Hoel&etia-"We  cannot take' that`                     Thy glorious eye pervadeth space';  y .
  pobition'  ih the' light of Scripture. In Revelation 2                          Thjr presence,' Lord,.  fills everji  place; '
  ahd 3 the, $resentation is ndt to reireal  hoti -far the.                       And  whatstie'er  tiy lbt  niay- -be,
  Church'eti   have  &one;`in the false direct&  btit  i,s a                      Still shall my spifit--cleave- to thee.               I
  pr&entati&  *' of the  true' Church with its defects.                            ,'
                                                                                               `
                                                                                                ..          -.         -. .
                                                                                                                  .,,-
- Wi have' there the defective, Church in the world that                          &nouticing  e v e r y   tiprldly  thing;                        s
  mu&  alwajrs reform. The Church at  `P&gamos  w&s                               And safe beneath thy spreadirig wirig ; -.
                                                                         I
defective in discipline  ;' Sardis  had'  a'  name'  t&t she                      My stieet&t thought  henceforth shall be -
  l&d and `was dead ; 8tc. Nevertheiess   $11 are  called                         Th& all `I wait' I find in-thee. `. -


