      .___  --
                                        I
        VOLUMEXXIX                                  OCTOBER 1. 1952  - GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN                              NUMBER 1
                             ,                                                  Jesus?. If Jesus paid the price for the totality of all
              -M  i  b I-T A T  I  0  hi                              .'        sin which the human race committed; how can God in
                                                                                justice  d&&and  any part. of that sin for the second
                                                                            ' time in`lthe damnation of the majority?
               The  Lb&  of  God  for  the  World--                               : The fundamental mistake in this theory is the in-
                                                                               terpretation  of the word  @odd,   I will prove to  you
                  -"For God  ,s,o loved the world,  that  .He gave His          that this word$oes not meas all men. Indeed, it nev-
                o,nly   begotten'son,  that  whoso_ever   believeth  in Him
                shduld not  perkh,  but have everlasting  :life."              er means- that' in Holy Scripture. The word world
                                                             kJohn  3:16' has different  `conndtations  in Scripture. That this  iS
          A beautiful text indeed! But a text that is almost                    so will-become  evident by a simtile comparison of sev-
       universally  misundersltood,  and certainly very often                   $rai  te%t$  whitih speak of the world.
       mis-quoted.
          You   will bear me witness that  al,most   eve$yone                      First;  `there are those  texts which speak of the
     - that purports to preach the Gospel of our Lord Jesus~, world as the sum total of `created things. An example
-      Christ tiill sooner or later quote John 3 :16, in order                  of this use  you  will find in Acts  17:24. There we
       to prove that #God loves everygne, that as far-as `God                   read :' "God that made fhe world and all things ther.e-
       is concekned,  all' may be saved from everlasting death.                 in, seeing that He is Lorh of heaven and earth, dwel-
      . God, so they-argue, has provided a way out for abso-                    ling not in temples made with htinds." And-the same
     lutely everyone.  Nb one, as far as God is concerned,                      connotation of the word world you will note in all the
       need be lost. For; Gdd so loved the world, and `that                     texts which speak of  ,God's counsel, thoughts and deeds
     - means everyone who ever lived, now lives, or will ev-                    "before the fobndaltition  of the world." Also there the
       er live upon this sorry earth, that He gave His only                     word woyld means the created physical world.
                                                                                                       ..
       begotten Son to this world, in order/that  every one                        Second, there is the use of Xl&% same wol-d in- the c
       tha' -belie$eth might have .everl&ting  life, and never                  Bibl,e where it is used to denote the worldpf men who
       come into the awful place of torment.                                   are fallen away from God  ,and have become  wh6lly
          However, it simply is not-true -that God loves ev- _ corrupt. And of that world, so the Bible tells us, thk
       eryone. Is it noB a p&in truth, which no serious Bible- devil is its prince. It.is the sum total of corrupt hu-
       student  call deny, .that the greet majority are lost, -manity which turns itself with all it controls against
     t.hat they do perish? But how is -this possible, if the                    God  and His  ,Anointed.  Examples  of this  US& of the
       living  `God once loved them?           Is the  l&e of  IGod `w&d wor,ld you find in I John 5 :19; John 12:31; 14:
       changeable? Is there variableness with God -ifter all?                   30; 16  :ll. Note especially John  15:19. There we
       If the so-called love of God for everyone of the whole                   read : "If ye were of the world, the world  would love
       human race is so strong athat He will send Hiti only                     his own I, but because ye are not of the world, but -1
       begotten Son into the pang&&f eternal death_ for ev-                     have chosepyou out of the world, therefore the world
       ery one of them, how can He later, damn them fore?-                      hat&h you." Now surely, if wqrds mean anything at
      .er' ? Again : if the love. of God for every- man is so                   all to you, it will be very ,evident that John 3 :16 does
       wollderf ully strong &that He will send -Jesus i`nto ,hkll               not mean every man -of the human race. Attend to
, for them,. paying the price for the sin of eyery descen-                      this : John 15:19 tells us that those who believe on         .,
       dent of Adam, how is it-possible that He will later ex; Jesus aq.`e nolt of the wo$d! And because they are not
      act the same price from .those who did not believe'.on -.of the world, ther.efoTe  the world hates them ! Is it

                  ,.
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                                                                                            -.
2                                     T H E   Si!ANDARti   B E - A R E R
                             .
not plain, therefore, that there is more than one in= monious whole and perfect order reigns. Absolutely
terpretation  of the word world? I .assure  you th&t if           all things and all men and all devils march in one dir-
we are to lay hold of (the real meaning of :`&hn 3':16,           ection, and are activated aAd motivated by one com-
we must very carefully determine the idea%f this im:. mon principle : .hatred  against God and His Anointed.
p&ant concept as it isgsed&the  whole of Scripts%? And that is the reason why that wicked mass which is
Only then can we de$etmi&"wh&t.  is .in any pari$cu- going to perdition is also called  by this formal name.
lar text. No, the  usc:.;@f  th$~,word  -in  tthe second in-         And'ncw view the text again. Note the first word :
&nce is the  world  ~o!f'reprbbat&  `min. Allow me to             `For'. This little word tells  us  ,thait  the content. of
contrast ,t& texts, and I am ce&ain that you will see             John 3 :16 is a- reason for that whi& was said in the
the  clifference   ciea?ly.  .John 3  :16'-says: "Fbr God  ,SO    immediately preceding context. There we. read that
loyed `the Gorld,  that He gave His only .begotten  Son, the Son of'man must be lifted up even as also the ser-
that whosoever believeth in IHim should not perish, but           pent  ha$ to be  listed up in the desert by Moses the
have everlagting iife." But now listen to Jesus' own              servant of God. This  must of  Christ'& elevation on
,voice in John 17 :9: "I pray for them: -1 pray not for           the accursed tree is explained in our text. He must
the world, but for them which `Thou hasi given Me_ ;              go the way Gf the cross because of the love of ,God for
for they are Thin&" .cOnce more: contrast John 3 :16              His chosen world. .
with 1. John 2 :15, "Love not the world !" Is it not
crystal clear that-we have here two radically differefit             And here .we also have the very heart of the gos-
concepts? I would conclude this paragraph with. -a                pel that is eternal. It is. th.e love of God. That love
biblical definition of that wicked and reprobate world,           foi His own He proved in the sending of the Son for
which will never see salvation, as we find it in I John           His own sheep, which He knew by name froth all eter-
2-:15-1'7.  There we read: "Love not the world, neither           nity. Always remember that the giving of Jesus is
the things that are in the world. If any mal;i love the           substitutional, that *is, Jesus died for definite persons,
world, the love pf the Father is not in him. For all .and that death has a delfinite effect. Is iit not clear `to
that is in the world, the lust of the~flesh, an! {the lust        you, that if the',Cross of Jesus means anything at all,.
of the eyes, and the pride' of `life, is not of the. Father,      it means that there the awful -price is paid for sin
but of the world. And the world passeth away, and the             and transgression? And if you admit this,  you have
lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth           also admitted that for whomsoever He died, He has
forever."                                                         freed from  sin. and the  pun&hmen't  for sin, that is;
                                                                  eternal damnation. The death of Jesus is particular,
     Third, there is the use of the word world which is           and restricted t:, His sheep. Did He not say so Him-
-the object of `God's, everlz+sting  love. It is the world        self? Listen to Him: "I am the Good Shepherd:  the
which will shine unto all eternity because of the ra-             Good-Shepherd  giveth His life for the sheep." And
diance of His glory which is given to that w-orld. He             in lthe same chapter, Jesus says to the Jews that hated
loved it, and for ilt He gave His Son. Ahd fbr the Bake           Him : "But ye believe not, because ye are-not of my
of that Son and all He did in the way of unspeakable              sheep."    Thi,s Scripture teaches plainly that some
suffering and the death of the cross, &has forgiven               people are th7e sheep of `Christ and some are not. And
all the sin of that world, not imputing their trespasses          they are knowri .by this : the sheep believe on Christ
unto them. For that chosen world Christ Jesus is the              and, the wolves do not.- Further proof that Jesus'
propitiation and'for that world He will pray, not for             death is the payment for the sin of particular and
the world as quoted in His High-priestly prayer iti               chosen people is ,,the  text which we find in II Cor. 5 :19.
JohK17:9;                                                         There we read: "To wit, that God was in Christ re-
     You  will ask me : if these three. concepts of -the          conciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their
world are so dissimilar, how is it thabt the same word            trespasses unto them; afid has committed unto us the
is used for all three? And the answer is, because of              Word of rec&ciliation.-" Note that the trespasses are
the fact that the word world  mea& a h&moniously- not imputed unto  Ithis world. And again: if words
related order. And this formal id,ea lies at tl$ botto;m          `mean anything at all, these-words teach us that this
of each of the the three. concepts. The  Holjr  Ghqst             world is saved,  complet+y saved. It is another in-
uses the word world for created things because the                stance where the Bible speaks of the chosen and happy
whole of creation is a harmoniously created- whole.               world of God's love. And a third use of the word
The same is true bf the world of wicked. men under                world in Ithat sense we `find in I -John 2 :2. `There we
captaincy of the devil. Also  here the  wbrd  virbrld is -rtiad, "And He -(that is, Jesus Christ) is the propitia-
in place. Did not th.e L0r.d Jesus tell us that the house         tiqn for our sins : and not for .ours  only, but also for
of the- devil is not divided against itself. ;Oh no, the          the sins of `the whole world." Here again these words
whole world of the wicked men and-devils are a ha+ would have no meaning at all if -we do not see th&t .the


                                           THE  STA~NDARB.  BEARER                                                            3
   ^_.  _~- . __  _.  _  .-  ,__..-  -.
  world here is the sum total of chosen humanity whose         that is a& awful. truth !. Yes, but attend -to this : it is I
  sins are paid for by the propitiation-of Christ's suff-      ,God Himself who tells Us these things,- And where
  ering and death.                                             ,God speaks, `it behooves us to listen in absolute sub-
                                                               j'ection,  and try not to make the Word of God of' none
       The next question is the "whosoever believeth" of       effect by 6ur own foolish philosophies.
  our text. This phrase has been quoted and sung in              ' Now then, those ' that believe shall never perish.
  such a way as though it is entirely up to man, as a          No, for Jesus did perish iq their stead. That and that
  work of man pure and simple. They say and sing               only is  it,he language of the cross of Christ. Christ;
  and preach to you on this wise: Christ paid for your         paid for our sins by going the way of eternal des-
- sins;  .and it is now entirely up to you if you are to       olation.  It is the reason. why we heard His bitter
  behefit by this sacrifice of the Lamb of ,God: Simply        cry: My God, My God, 6hy hast Thou forsaken Me?
  believe on Him and you are saved. Atid I would say:          And ?he answer, mlspoken by God, but taught in HiA
  that is true, but do not forget that' no one' can or will    Word nevertheless, is this :. Because I love my sheep.!
  believi in Christ if nothing tiore is said aiid done. `We. Because they shall not perish ! Because I have reserv-
  will not believe on <God and on Christ, neither can we       ed for them untold happiness !~ Because Thy suffering
   will to believe.. Man by nature is a slave of sin and       and death and .eternal desolation is the manifestation
   the devil. The Lord Himself. is our witness to this .and revelation of Our won&rous  love. To look upon
   awful- and dolorous truth. Listen to Him : "No one          that -love, revealed in the Lamb stan`cling as if slain,
   can come unto Me except the'. Father that sent Me           shall be the eternal task of the churbh of Christ.. iSO
   draw Him !" And if jrbu would have a very clear com-        that they may be to God's praises forever.
   mentary of the  "whosoe?er  believethl' I would ask             No, they shall  not perish.  -                  .     -
   you to come with nie to the. Apostle Paul as he ex-
   plains the way to Christ and to  `God. You will find            But they shall have everlasting life;
   it in Eph. 2 :8. It were well-if you w&ld memorize              Everlasting life is of all things the most wonder-
   this text: it is very fundamental to an under.standing      ful. It.is the very heart of heavenly bliss. Elsewhere
   of tthe way to :God. Thkre we read, "For by grace are       the Lord has, explained the `meaning of this concept,               ._
   ye saved through faith ; and that not of you&selves, it     this mighty miracle. In John 17 :3 we hear Him say :
   is the gift .of God." Note here that saving faith-is the    "And. this is life eternal, 1 that they might know Thee,
   gift of God. It -is the way which God us& to bring          the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast
- His chosen children through Christ Jesus bo His bo.s-        sent !"
   om._ -If yod receive this gift of faith, you aye surely         `To know God.  Btit again we ask:  what` does it
   coming to the Lord Jesus Christ.- If you lack this          mean to know God? And the answer is : To know
   faith, you are never pleasing to God. It is the way (Gdd is the expression of the love of ,God which resides
   which He has ordained to His heart. .It may be well         iG the heart and mind ana soul and all the affections
   to quote the following two verses in Eph. 2 also: "Not      of the people of .:God.            It means  th&t you direct all
   of works, lest any -man should'boast. For we. (that is, your heart and thoughts of your heant on the Triune
   the believers), are His workmanship created unto- good      Godhead. In Him Lou firid youp all ; in Him you see
   works, which God has before ordained that we should         all the beauty and the glory of His adorable virtues.
   walk in them." I ask you in all seriousness: what re-       Yes, heaven is this: you may look upon and know the
   mains of that vaunted ability of any man to believe         F a c e   o f   IGod.
 on ,Christ and be saved? Yes, I will freely admit that            It is f,or that reason that we know God and Jesus
   any one believing on Christ will by the same token          Christ  whom He has sent. The only way to know God
   be saved. But the gift of faith is of God. He gives         is through Jesus. Seeing and knowing and loving
   it to some ; and He keeps it from others. There lies        Jesus. is tantamount to seeing, knowing and loving
   the difference. It ought to be plain to everyone that       God. As Jesus said to Philip: "Have I been so long
   if the matter-of faith in Christ would rest with us,        time with you, and hast thou not known ge, Philip?
   those that believe would have something to boast of         he that hath seen Me h&K seen the Father ; and how
   in the face of those that will not obey the Son. -But       sayeth thou then, Shew  ys the Father?"
   the Word of IGod avers that it is not of the works of           If you do not believe en J&us, say: It is I! It is
   man, but bf God that shbweth mercy. Does not the            because I am a slave 6f sin and of f&e devil !
   same Apostle Paul tell us in Romans 9 that "It is not           And if you beli.eve  on Jesus say :It is-of ,God ! He
   of him that will&h, nor of him that runneth, but of         has given me saving faith in Jesus,, so `that I should
   #God that showeth mercy?? And later he said : "There-' not perish, bnt have everlasting-life !
   fore hath He mercy on whom He,-will have mercy, an.d            To God be all the glory for ever and ever!
   whom He will He  hardeneth.`!  YOU  will-.say to me-:             -.                 .  _..                     G. Vos.
                                                                                        ..`.
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4                :                                                        T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R   :                                       \
                                                                                                                                                   - -
     -
                           THE `STANDARD BEARER                                                                                   EDITBRIA-LS
            Semi-monthly, except monthly in July and August-- ..
      Published -by the Reformed Free Publishing. Association
               Box X24, Station C., Grand Rapids 6, Michigan                                                          The  Promise According   to  the  Confessions
                        EDITOR - Rev. Hefman  Hoeksema'
      Communications relative to contEnts should be addressed                                                          At the close of my last article on the current sub-
      to Rev.  H. Hoeksema, 1139 Franklin St., S. E., Grand                                                          ject I said that I would refer `to the Baptism Form,
      Rapids 7, Michigan.                                                                                            which according to my conviction is one pf the most
      All matter relative to subscription should be addressed
      to Mr. J.  Bouwman,  1350 Giddings Ave., S. E., Grand                                                          beautiful and clearly Reformeci  documents which have
      Rapid; 6, Michigan. Annonncements  and Obituaries mu@ i                                                        come down from our fathers.
      be mailed to the above address and will be published at a
      fee of $1.00 for each notice:                                                                                      In treating th6 contents of ithis Baptism Form we
      Renewals:- Unless a definite request for discontinuance                                                        must remember that I am still discnssing  the ques-
      is received, it is assumed that the subscriber wishes the                                                      tion of a conditional- promise as maintained by Dr.
      subscription `co continue  without  tine formality of a re-                                                    Schilder in his brochure~written  agaipst the Declara-
      newal order.
                           Subzcription  #price: $4.00 per' year                                                     tion of Princip@. He wants to maFe the distinction
      Entered as Second Class mail at Grand Rapids, Michigan                                                         between predictions and promises, and to maintain
                                                                                                                     that while predictions ar.e general, promises are for
                                                                                                                     N.N., but at the same time are conditional.
                                                                                                                         At the same time I will in the present article also
                                                                                                                     bear in mind. the bold statement made by the Rev.
                                -  -::::                                                                             Kok in  the Sept. 1 issue of the  Stan&&  Bearer  in
                                                                                                                     which he wrote : "Bearing this in mind, there is no
                                                                                                                     one'who would dare to maintain !that ,God ever pro-
                                                                                                                     mises salvation unconditionally to anyone, no more
                                                                                                                     than He did to Abraham, the father of believers."
                                       C O N T E N T S                                                                   I, for one, not only dare to maintain this, but I
                                                                                                                     maintain that unless ,God promises salvation uncondi-
MEDITATION-                                                                                                          tionally Ito the elect, salvation becomes an absolute im-
          The Love of God for the World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                           1
              Ry. G. Vos                                                                                             possibility.
                                                                                                                         It is this truth which I will try to show from our
EDITORIALS-                            ~                                                                             discussion of the Baptism Form.
          The Promise According to the  Confessions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
              Rev. H. Hoeksema                                                                                           Already from the very first paragraph of this
                                                                                                                     l3aptism  Form it should be very evident that unless
THE TRIPLE  KNOWLEDGE-                                                                                               IGod promises salvation unconditionally, without any
          A-n  Exposition of the Heidelberg Catechism .,................                                       7
              Rev. H. Hoeksema                                                                                       prerequisite  which man must fulfil, it becomes an im-
                                                                                                                     possibility that anyone should ever be  -saved.  For
          Two Fundamental Principles in Preaching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10                         there we read: "That we with our children are con-
              R e v .   H .   Veldman                                                                                ceived and born in sin, and, ,therefore  are children of
SION'S  ZANGEN-                                                                                                      wrath, in so much that we cannot eilter  into the king-
      G o d s   G r o o t e   Goedertierenheid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .    13     dom of God, except we are born again." Now in the
              Rev. G. Vos  '                                                                                         rebirth, or regeneration, the sinner is absolutely pas-
I N   H I S   F E A R -                                                                                              sive and is absolutely incapable of meeting any con-
          Looking to the Future                   . . . . . .  ~. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  16    ditiofis.    %od regenerates him unconditionally. To
              R e v .   H .   C .   Hokksema                                                                         this we will refer later.in 0u.i discussi%.
F                                                                                                                        More important, however, for our purpose  is the
     ROM HOLY  WRIT-
          Exposition of I Peter  1:l.Z . . . . .  :. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                          18_ beautiful second part  qf  -our Baptism Form, which
              Rev. G. C. Lubbers  "                                                                                  treats of the-significance of baptism in general. There
T                                                                                                                    .we read: "Holy baptism witnesseth and' sealeth unto
     HE   DAM OF  SHADOWS-
          Moses' Intercession               . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20         us the washing away of our sins through Jesus Christ.
               Rev. G. M. Ophoff                                                                                     Therefore we are baptized ifi the name of the Father,
          The  Gospel and the Command ..,,,.,,......................23.                                              and of the Z&n, and of the Holy Ghost. For when we
                Rev. G. M. Ophoff                                                                                    are baptized in the ,tiame  of the Father,.,God  the Fath-
                                                                                                                     er witnessetb,  aqd sealeth unto us, that be doth make
                                                                                                                                        \


                                       T H E   S T A - N D A R D   B E A R E R                                              5
                                - -
an &ernal covenant of grace with us, and adopts us               praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made
for his children and heirs, and therefore will prdvide           US acceptecl  in &he beloved." And no one, not even Dr.
us with every good thing,, and avert all evil or turn iit        Schilder or the Rev. Kok, woulcl dare to maintain that
to our prdfit." Notice, in the finst place t.hat it is iGod      this predestination unto the adoption of children was
that  estiblishes  His covenant with us. This is the             conditional, for that wpuld be too plainly Arminian.
language of Scripture ithrouighout. If it were a cove-           Moreover, this adoption unto children was objeotively
nant between two parties, as in the case of a covenant           realized in (Christ,  `in His cross and resurrection,
betkeen men, this would. be absolutely impossible.               whereby  He obtained the right for all the e&t- to be
When we read that <God establishes His covenant with             chilclren  of God and heifs`df everlasting salvation. No
us, it certainly means that He alone fulfiJls all the ele-       one will -dispute that the adoption unto children and
ments that are necessary to realize `His everlasting heirs belongs Ito the salvation, nor will anyone ever
covenant. In the establishment c$ t&is covenant there            dispute that G`od promises this salvation uncondition-
cannot possibly be any conditions which man must                 ally. It is true that this objective adoption unto child-
fulfill in order Ito enter into that covenant. It has al-        ren must be received by us by a true faith;but  to ithis
ways been Reformed, and not spec&cally  Protestant
                                        `".                      element we must call your attention in the third part
Reformed,  ,to maintain that at least ni. the establish-         of this paragraph of our Baptism Form.
ment of the covenant it is unilateral," onesided. Man                Fourthly, notice that  ithe Baptism Form in this
can do absolutely nothing unto the, establishment of sectiqn tells us that God the Father witnesses and
IGod's covenant `with. him. He  cann'ot;  ,po+s$bly  per-        seals unto us that He. will provide us with every good
form any conditions. And, as salvation and the cove-.
                                                 . ..__          thing and avert all evil, or turn it to our profit. This
natit are inseparably connected, I maintain that when            includes, mind you, everything that belongs to our way
God establishes His covenant with us, He promises                unto salvation in this  p?esent life. He Will provide
all the blessings of salvation, and thait too untindi-           us with `every good thing, that is, with every thing
tionally, to the elect.                                          that belongs to `the means of our salvation : for only
   Secondly, let-us note that the covenant which God             that is a good thing that is conducive to our salvation.
establishes with us is an eternal covefiant. This means          IMoreover, God `will avert all evil, or turn the evil to
that the covenant `of God has nottiifig to do with any           our profit, so that all things must be conducive to our
contingency. or conditions which man must fulfill, ei-           salvation. Is lthis promise, perhaps, conditional, so
ather  to enter into the  cov&ant   oin to remain in the         that it implies a pr&eqUisit&  which we must fulfill in
covenant. The covenant is, ,God's  covenant. It is `es-          order to obtain it? Are prosperity and adversity,
tablished by Him. It is eternal, and eternally estab-            $&ne&  and health, peace and war, life and death,
lished with us, and can never be disannulled. Also               and anything that may be our experience or may be-
this truth, that (God's  covenant is ,an'everlasting  cove- fail us-in this life, conditioned by anything ithat man
nant, and that it can never be broke&  that God will             must. do? Or can man do &p,ything  in order to turn
surely maintain it unto the end, is abundantly testi-            all these things unto our  brofit and unto our salv-
fied by Holy Writ.                                               ation?                             .
                                                                              Again I say : ,God forbld ! In His eternal cove-
   Thirdly, we read in this part of the Baptism Form `nant of- grace God promises all these things uncondi-
that God the Father wittiesseth  and sealeth unto                tionally.
                                                           US
that He adopt us for His children and heirs. Also                    Finally, notice that according to the Baptism Form
this .adoption  unto children of -God is an element df           in Ibaptism, God witnesses and seals all thFse  things
our salvation. When CGod promises, that is, when He              u&o us. That' God the Father seals this unto us is
witnesses and seals unto us that He. will adopt us for           the same as saying `,that  He swears. by an oath' that
                                                                                                            .'
His children and heirs, -He promises salvation to us.            He will surely fulfill the promises unto ithose to whom
Is this adoption, perhaps, a, conditional adoption? Is           He promises these things. Will `God ever fail to ful-
it perhaps dependent upon anything .that we must do              fill His promise?  ICan  -our sin  or. our unbelief ever
in order to obtain it, or even in order ,to remain in the        prevent Him from realizing `His promise? You ans-
state of, adoption? (God forbid ! ,For first of all, `God        wer with me: of course not. If that were the case, He
has adopted us unto His children in l&s eternal coun-            would never fulfill it. For we on our part always vio-
sel' of election.. For thus we read in Eph. 1:4-6 : "AC-         late the covenant of (God and make ourselves unwor-
cording as he halth chosen us in him before the foun-            thy of being called His children by our sin and ini-
dation of the world, that we should be. holy and with-           quity.       Hence, that He seals  the promises unto  US
out blame before him in love, Having predestinated us            means the same as saying that all these {things are
unto the adoption of%hildren-  by Jesus Christ tq him-           promised to us unconditionally. This is all the more
self, according to the good pleasure, of his will, To the evident from the fact that according to the Baptism


6                                 _ T      H       E            STANDA-RD.-BEARE'R

Form He seals all these promises untie us, that is, uiito         It is true that-  in time this washing away of our
the believing church -and  hheir spiritual seed..' He sins and this incorporation -into Christ must be ap-
seals these same promises to the little infants that are      plied unto us, and that,we  obtain'it .only by a true and
baptized, and that cannot even conceive of, still less        living faith. But, in `the first place, to this I will call
fulfill, any conditions whatsoever`. To" ithis element        attention when I am discussing the last part of this
we must refer later.                                          particular paragraph  of. the Baptism Form. And
     In the light of the foregoing, I would ask ,the Rev.     besides, let me emphasize that when we say Ithst.we
Kok whether he would still maintain this statement:           receive all these blessings and the realization of these
"Bearing this in mind, there is no one who would dare `promises by faith, that faith; according to all our
to maintain that #God ever promises salvation uncqn- IConfessions;  iS .not' a condition, but iS only a means,
ditionally to anyone, no more than He did to Abraham,         a IGod-given means, implanted into our hearts and e-
the father of believers." I kindly and in a brotherly voked by nthe preaching of the gospel through the liv-
spirit ask him to answer this question. I offer him ing and abiding Word of <God, whereby we obtain part
all. the space necessary to reply to this.                    with Christ and all His benefits.
     The Baptism Form continues  ithat God  the Son               But again I ask: Will t-h@ Rev. K,ok still maintain
promises, that -is; that He sealeth unto us, that is, that that God never promises salvation uriconditionally to
He swears with an oath "that he doth wash us in his           anyone?
,blood from all our sins, incorporating us into %he fel-          And again I emphasize that the Baptism Form
lowship of his death and resurrection,, so that we are        appropriates all !the,se promises for `%s and our child-
freed from all our sins, and accounted righteous be- ren", and that these children certainly cannot fujfill
fore God."`,                                                  any conditions. whatsoever.
     I ask again: Is this promise, perhaps, conditional?                                                                         H.H.
     What does it mean ,that ,Christ washes us in His
blood from all our sins, and what does it mean th.$                                    -- :-:-
He' incorpora+,es us into the fellowship &f His death
and  resurrectiop?                                                               WEDDING  &NNIVE+ARY
     It certainly means, in the first place, that the Lord
,Jesus Christ died for us, .and `chat through His de&h          On October 11, 1952 our, beloved  pare&s,
we were reconciled unto God. <Objectively the atoning                       MR. and MRS: PETER  T. BOELEMA
death of Christ is ithe washing away of the sins of, all      hope to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary.
the elect. And. certainly the atoning de&h of Christ            We, the  children,  are grateful to our  Beavenly  Father for
is not, arid cannot be conditioned by anything we can         having been. with them these many years.
do. Unless we want to make the death of Christ ac-              It is our  dncere hope and prayer that He may  comtinue  to
                                                              bless them in $1 their way for their remaining years together.
,cording  to God's intention universal, and speak of
general atonement, we may certainly say that <God                              .  _        _'          Mr. and Mrs. Adrian Syti:ma
                                                                                                       Miss Jeanne Boe1em.a
fulfilled His promise of `the washing away of the sins.                                                GDatndchi;ldren:   Sheryl   a n d
of all the  eleot`in the death of `Christ  atid that He                                                 Larry.
                                                              Grzmsd  Rapids, Miohigan.
sealed that promise in His resurrection. The same
is true  conceihing  the incorporation into the death
and resurrection of Christ. All the elect were legally                        40th WEDDING  ANNIV.ERSARY
and ideally incorpolated into Christ when He died on            On Friday, O'ctober.lf?,.  1952, our beloved parents
the cross and rose again from the dead. For this is                       MR. and MRS. John  `3Hofma.n   (,nee  Hoorn)
plainly taught in Eph. 2: 4-6: "But God, who is rich          hope to celebrate their 40th wedding  annivereary.
in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,             We thank .and praise our heavenly God.,and  Father witih  them
even when we. were dead in sins, hath quickened us            for  havimtg kept them  &l sustained them through the  yea%.
together with Christ, (by grace are ye saved ;) And {It is our earnest  hope  and prayer  that the Lord may grant
hath raised us up together, and made us sit together          +hem  His peace in their remaining years.                   . .
in heaienly places in Christ Jesus."                                                   Their &rateful  children,
                                                                                                 Mr.&d  Ml's.  A. Vermeer
     The washing away of the sins of all the elect, and                                    : Rev:  %nd Mrs. W. Hofman
their  incorljoration  into Jesus Christ, is an accom-                                           Rev.  and Mrs. A. W.  Hoogztrate
plished fact, realized in time long before we were born,                                         Mr.  ,and Mrs. W.  Barrow,s
                                                                                                 Mr. and Mrs. D.  Vamt Hof
and rooted in God's election, according to all our. Con-                                         John Jr.
fessions. `And therefore also that .part of our salva-                                           Fourteen  Gmndchildren
                                                              Open house afternoon and evening of Friday, October 10, 1952.
tion cannot be conditional.                                   GramId       Rapid&      Michigan.  .               .,        .  ""        I-`.
                . .


                                                    T H E   STANDARDS  B E A R E R                                                7

                                                                      , of the kingdom of .-God. We are risen with Christ.
                                                                                                               _
         TI3iE TRIPLE  .KNoWLEDGE                                       And** "If then ye be risen wi&th Christ, seek those
                                                                -       things which are above, where Christ siitt,&h on the
                                                                        right hand of God.  Set your affection on things  a-
       An Exposition Of. The Heidelberg b,ove, not .on~ things on the earth. For ye are dead,
                            Cat&km                                      and your life is hid with Christ in God." Col. 3 :l-3.
                                                                        In virtue of that new and heavenly` life we become
                                  P A R T   III-                        principally strangers and pilgrims in the  earth  afid
                                                                        seekers of the city tha_t hath foundations, whose buiI-
                     O F   THAN~FTJLNE~SS~                              der and maker is God.

                            Lord's Day 33                                 Now in &w of all that has been said about the new
                                       1.                        -      birth, it should be perfectly evident that it is a sove-
                                       -.                               reign work of God, .pure  and simple, iri which the sin-
               Regeneration and Conversion' (Cont.)
                             :                                          ner himself has no parit whatever, in which he does not
          Moreover, as we have, said before, this new birth             in Blly sense cooperate with <God, but -in which man is
       is a-heavenly-birth. It is a birth from above, and not           wholly passive. It is very important that this be em-
       from the earth. It is principally resurrection. A' neiw          phasized,  in o?der  to maintain #the truth of salvation
       principle of life- is instilled in our hea&s by th6 won:         by grace only, as wehave already said. It is absurd
       der of regeneration, and This new life is not earthy,            to say that' in ,regenerstion  man himself %is active,_ just
       but heavenly, It is not `from below, but from above.             as it is absurd to beg the sinner to `become regenera-
       In regeneration  we have the beginning of' the .resur-           ted. `- As well might a man' go- to the cemetery and
       rection:  It is the principle  of`  the.  resurtiection.,  It beg the dead to come  out of their graves. No more
       is  ithk life` of Christ, the risen Lord Himself. This           than Adam cooperated in his own creation, no more
       is evident from the passage in John 5 :24,25 : "Verily,          than Lazarus cooperated in his own resurrection, no
       verily, I say unto ydn, He that heareth my .word, and inore does the sinner cooperate with God in his own
       believeth on him that sent me, h&l evel;ia&ing life,             regeneration. It is a work of God alone, tiithout our
       and shall not come into condetitiatioh  ; lbut is.p&ea           J&lp.  IOf `this wonder-work of God  *he  ICanons  of
       from death into life. Verily, `v&y; I `s'ay unto you,            Dordrecht te&h us in Chapter III, IV,' 12 : "And -this
      `T.he hour is coming, and now is, when ithe dead shall            is, the regeneration so highly celebrated in. Scripture,
       hear the voice of the Son of God. And they that hear             and denominated a new creation: a resurrection from
       shall live." : From this passage it .is"evident,  first of       the dead, a making alive, which God works in us with-
       all, that those that believe on Christ are immortal              dut our aid. But this is in no wise effected merely
       now, have everlasting life. Mbreover,  ihat regener-             by the external preaching of the gbspel,  by moral su-
       ation is prin,cipally a  resurre&on from the -dead is            asion, or such a mode of operatiqn, that after God has
       very `plain from vs. 25. For wheti the Lord says, "The           performed his part, it still remains in the power of
       hour is coming, and now is; when tlze dead shall hear            man to be regenerated or not, to be converted, dr. tb
-      the voice of the Son of #God: and `they that hear shall          continue unconverted; but ii is evidently a supernatu-
       live," it is evident from the expression that the hour           ral work, a most powerful, and at the same time most
       "now is" thatit does n& refer to the final resurrection,         delightful, astonishing, mysterious, and in& able ; not
       but to the spiritual resurrection that is &fleeted' in the       inferior in efficacy to creation, or the resurrection  '
       moment of regeneration. Regeneration is pesurrection             from the dead, as the Scripture inspired by the au-
       from khe dead. This is also implied in the text din I            thor of this work declares ; so that all in whose heart
       Peter 1:3, where we read : "Blessed be the"sGbd  and             God works in this marvellous manner, are certainly,
       Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, &hich &c%o;k:&iihg to `infallibly, and effectually regenerated, and do actually
     his abundant mercy hath begotten us again  u&o a                   believe., Whereupon the will thus renewed, is not on-
       lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ' fY'om           ly actuated and influence! by God, but in consequence
       the dead." We are begottep  again, of course, in the             of. this influence, becomes iit@f active. Wherefore
      moment .of regeneration. And  lthe fact  that"  th<s  re-         also, &an is himself rightly said to believe and repent,
       &eneration.is  through the resurYection  of Jesus Christ >by virtue of that grace received." And again, as to
      -from the dead inforps us that the life of regeneration           the power and flaculty of faith which is bestowed upon
       is like the life of Christ, the life of the risen Lord, and      .the sin&r in the moment of his regeneration, we read
      ttherefore, resurreotion  life... 1 Hence, through regen-         i$the  same.Canons,   III, IV,  14:. "Faith is  the:efore
       eration we  `are  e!tnpowered not. only to seek after            ito be considered as the gift of God, not on account of
     .. righteousness, but ,to aspire after .athe heavenly things       its~,being'ofl!ered  by (God td man,, tq be accepted or re-

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

 jetted at his pleasure; but because it is in reality con-       make .ourselves  unworthy of the grace of God ! But
 ferred,` breathed, and infused into him; nor even be- (God never changes : once regenerated is always. ,re-
cause IGod bestows the power or ability to believe, and          generated! For let us remember that this work of
 #then expects that man should by `$he exercise of his           grace is wrought by the God of our salvation through
 own free will, consent to the terms of salvation, apd           Jesus Christ: our Lord. It is the firstfruit of our be-
 actually believe -in Christ; btit .because he who works         ing united &th Chrj@. I. It is only in union with Him
 in man both to will and to do, and indeed all things in         :that we receive  thiB  hew principle of life. But even
 all, produces both the will to believe, and *he act-of-be-      after we are reborn,.we do not possess the new life in
 lieving also." 10f: this latter part of ,regeneration,  that    ourselves. It is.  always in  -Christ.  IOut of Christ it
 is, ,of the `activity -of faith and conversion, we Will         constantly flows,' into _ oui' he'arts by the indwelling
 speak presently; if it only is clear now-that accord- Spirit. Lt is never in us. It remains dependent upon
 ing to ithe ,Canons,  regener&ibn is like a new creation, `our union with the Savi&r;`. "But this is exactly why
 is like the resurrection from the dead, and that in Ithe        it is safe and secure, why it  can  aever be lost: for
 moment of regeneration man is not active, but is- en-           IChrist wjl.1 n,ever  .leave us, and. nothing can ever sep-
tirely passive. Regeneration is solely and sovereignly           arate us from His.love. The gifts of God a,Fe without
 .the work of God through .Jesus Christ our Lord.                r&pentance;  .:I  -)  ;:.  -,  1.  :    c -      :
       This truth is of extreme significance and of great            SOne  more  observ@ion must necessarily be made
 prastical importance. For first of all, this work bei@          before we close this chapter. T.he impression might be
 absolutely a &ork of God, in which the sinner is whol-          left that the regenerated sinner, seeing he has-all the
 ly pkssive, it. is evident that there is no age-limit to        power of faith unto oonv&sior, now converts himself,
 those that may become the recipients of this wonder-            so that the work of grace, cegses  with the gift of re-
 ful blessing of grace.- The most hardened sinner, al-           genera,tion.   T*his, however, .&ould `be a sad mistake.
 though he be hoary with. age,  tiay be regenerated; buk         Without Christ we can do  nothing. Also conversion
 also the infant in the cradle and at its mother's breast        is nolt f&t of all the work of the sinner, whether he be
 may receive this grace of God. In fact, as we have              the natural man or the regenerated child of IGod. God
 developed before, there is good reason to believe that          is always first. . And also conversion is first of all the
 within the sphere of the church God usually, if noit            work` of God. In regeneration the sinner is, of course,
 always, regenerates the seed of the covenant. in their          principally converted ; but it is not true that after re-
 early irifaney,  unconditionally ahd without any act of         gene&ion he now converts himself. This is evident
 their own. Not only therefore is there no reason to. from Scriptdre.  In Jeremiah 31: 18 we read : "Turn
 despair of their salvation if Ithey die in infancy, even        thou me, and I shall be turned ; for thou art the Lord
 though they never heard the gospel ; but this. truth also       my God:" And again, in vs. 19; `Surely after that I
 requires of us as a church and as parents that `we              was turned, I repented; and after [that I was instruc-
 bring up our children in the sphere of the gospel and           ted, I smote upon my thigh: I was ashamed, yea, even
 instruct them in the fear of the Lord from their earli-         confounded, because I did bear the  r.efiroach of my
 est childhood. Qn mother's breast `the child may learn          youth." And again, in Lamentations 5 :il : "Turn thou
 to stammer his prayer. In mother's lap he must be               us' unto thee, ,O Lord, and we shall be turne,d; renew
 instructed in the first knowledge of the gospel, in the         our days as `of old." In Acts 5  :31 we read: "Him
 confidence Ithat the elect seed of the covenant not only        hath 1God exalted with His right hand (to be a Prince
e have the seed of regeneration in their heart, but also         and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and
 that they are efficaciously influenced by the living and        forgiveness of sins.". And in Acts- 11:18 : "When they
 abiding Word of God. And as the child grows older,              heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified
 he must consiStently  be instructed in the doctrine of          God saying, Then .hath God also to the Gentiles gran-
the Word of  God, not only in the home and in the                ted repentance  un:t,o  life." According to  Philipp@ns
 church, but also in the school. Christian inst&tion             2 :13, "it is IGod which worke$b in you both to will to
 is not only a calling, it is also a possibility, thanks be, and to do of his good pleasure." And iti II Tim. 2 :24,
 to ,God and to His wonderful work of .the new birth.            25 we read: "And the servant of the Lord must not
  `One more  observatio%  must be made in this con-              strive ; but be .gentle &to ill men, apt to Iteach,  pati-
 nection. Seeing that this. marvellous mystery of the            ent, In meekness ifistrueting those t&at oppose them-
 new birth is --wholly of divine authorship, that it is          sel,ves ; if ,God peradventdre will give them repentance
 entirely of God, without the aid or even- thk activity          to the acknowledging of the atruth."--.
 of man, we may rest assured that it can never be lost,              It is .&rue, of course; that the call unto conversion
 can never be undone. As far as we are concerned it does and must -proceed  to all, -elect and reprobate a-
 ceritainly would  ,bedestroy'ed.  How  gften  $e sin  and       &e. It is  aIs@  kue-that man is  responsible for that


                                                           ,

                                            T H E   S-TANbARD   BEARER                                                                9
                         ---__-                                                                                                       1
      call, whteher he heeds or rejects--it. This too is vers        of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, as follows : "From ,t.he
     `plain from Scripture. In II Kings 17 :13ff., we r&a&           thirteenth year of  Josiah the son of  Amon king of
      that- the Lord constantly, continually testified against       Judah, even unto this day, that is the three and twen-
      Israel ,and against their evil ways, and called them to        tie&h year, :t.he word, of the Lord hath come unto me,
      turn from their idols unto Him: "Yet the Lord Itesti-          and I h,av& spoken unto you, rising early and speaking ;
      fied against Israel, &id against Judah, ,by all the pro-       but ye have not hearkened. And the Lord hath sent
      pheits, and by all the seers, saying, Turn ye from your        unto you all his servants ,.;the  prophets, rising early
      evil ways, and keep my commandments and my sta-                and sending them ; but ye have not hearkened, nor
      tutes according to all the  .la& which I commanded             inclined your ear to hear. `They said, Turn ye again
      your father,s,`and  which I sent to you by my servants         now every one from his evil way, and from the evil
      the prophets. Notwithstanding they would not hear,             of our doings, and dwell in the l,and that the Lord hath
      but  har,dened  their necks,  like to  tl@ neck of their       given unto you and to your fathers for ever and ever:
      fathers, that did not believe in (the `Lord. their God.        Arid go not after other gods to serve them, atid to wor-
      And they rejected his statutes, and his .covenant  that        ship them, and provoke me not to anger with the works
      he had made with their fathers, and his testimonies            of your hands;  and I' will do you no hurt." vss.3-6.
      which he testified against. . them; and they followed          The same is true of the fte&imony in the New Testa-
      vanity, and became vain, and went after the heathen            ment.  In Matt. 3  :2 we read: "Repent ye: for the
      that were round about. them, concerning whom. the              kingdom of heaven is at hand." To the question which
      Lord had charged them, that they sfiould not do like           the amazed multitude on the day of -Pentecost addres-
      them. And they' lefit all the  `dommandments  of the           sGd to the apostle  Pet.er, "Men and brethren, what
     j Lord their God, ,and made them molten images, even            shall  w&do?" Peter replied: "Repent, and be  bap-
      two calves, and made  a grove, and worshipped all the          tiied every one of you in the name of Jesus. Christ
      host of heaven, and served Baal." And again; in Is-            for  &he remission of sins." iActs  2:38.  `Or, to quote
      aiah 31: 6 : "Turn ye unto him from whom the chil-             from Scripture the language of this thirty-third Lord's
      dren of Israel have deeply revolted." In Ezekiel 18 :30-       Day, in Eph. 4 :20-24 we read: "But ye have not so
      32 we read: "Therefore I will judge you, 10 house of           le,a&ed  Christ ; If so be that ye have heard `him, and
     Israel, every one according to his ways; saith the Lord         .h&ve  been  itaught by him, as the truth is  in Jesus:
      God, Repent, and turn yourselves from all your trans-          T'hat ye  put off concerning the former conversation
      gressions; so.iniquity shall not be your- ruin. `Cast a- the' old man, which is corrupt according to the deceit-
      way from you all your transgressions, whereby ye               ful lusts'; And be renetied  in #the spirit of your mind ;
      have transgressed ; and make you a new heart and a             I\`nd that ye,put d"i; the ne+ man, which after God is
      new spirit: for why will ye die, 0 house of Israel? For        cI eated in righteousness and *rue. holiness."
      I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith                 It is very evident, therefore, that the call to con-
      the Lord  `God: --wherefore turn  your,selves  and live        version does and must come to all, also in khe church
      ye." And in the same book of Holy Writ, 33:l.l, we             of Jesus Christ, But this does not mean that man is
      find the well-known words: "Say unto them, 4s I live,          able to convert himself, whether he is in the unregen-
      saE:h the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death            erated or in the .regenerated  state. We must never
      of the'wicked; but that the wiCked turn from hi,s way          forget that the `mere, external calling to ,rep&nt can
      and live: `turn ye, turn ye from ,your evil ways; Eor          only  hav.& the effect of hardening, as  was  (the case
      why will ye die, 0 house of Israel?" In Jeremiah 3:            with the majority in the old dispensation. `Only when
      12-14 we read: `{Go,  and proclaim these words toward          through that same external calling God speaks His
      then north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel,          own, efficacious, powerful Word, can  m,an hear the
      saith the Lord; and I will tiot cause mine anger to fall       call to repentance, and so hearing the call, cry out
      upon. you:  $or I  ati merciful,  sailtch  `the Lord, and I    with the publican -of the parable once again : "0  ,God,
      will not keep anger for ever. iOnly acknowledge thine be merciful Ito me a sinner." In the work of grace,
      iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the Lord         (God is `ever first, and the work of man, also in con-
     thy God, an.d hast scattered thy ways to the strangers          version, is the fruit of the work of God in him.
                                                                      _ _ _
      under every .green_ tree, an&' ye have nor't obeyed my.                                                                 H.H.
      v&e, saith the Lord. Turn, 0 backsliding children,                                       q   El  q   El-El
      saith the Lord ; for I am married unto you : and I will
_     take you one of a city,. and two of a family', and I                         Thru all the downward tracts of time
      Will bring you to Zion." In Jeremiah 25 we find the                            God's watchful eye surveys ;
      Word of the Lord which-He spake unto all the people                          NO! who so wise to choose our lo&,
     of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem in the days                      -  .Or regulate  our.  ways!
                                                                                                                         P


 10                                   T H E   S.TAN.DARD   BEARE.R

                                                                      Moreover, this truth `is verified throughout Holy
   Two  Lndamental  l't++.Jes  in  l'rea&g                       .
                                                              Writ: Permit  us  to quote a few passages. We read
                                                              in Acts 20 126-28 : `Wherefore I take you  Ito record
       Fears have been expressed during the course >of        this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men.
our present d,i$cussion on "conditic&"  that this con-        For I have hot shunned to declare unto you all the
ditional presentation of the truth is vitally necessary       counsel of `God. Take heed t'herefore unto yourselves,
if our  church.es are to  conltinue in the proclamation       and to all the flock, over which the Holy Ghost hath
of a full and complete gospel. Nqt to stress this "ii&        made you overseers, to, feed the church of God, which
portant  phase" of the Scriptures would have for its          He halth purchased with His own blood.`.' In Eph. 4:
result a calamity of catastrophic proportions and im-         11-15 -we read : "And He gave some apostles ; and
poverish our ch%rches $0 the extent that we no longer         some, pr0phet.s  ; and `some, evangelists; and some,
wou1.d enjoy a "full-orbed" gospel.                           pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints,
       On the ,other  hand there are others who fear that     for the wo&.of  the ministry, for the edifying of the
this stress on conditions itself may be  catastkbphic         body of Christ :. till we all come in the unity of the
and deprive our churches of a preaching of the gospel         fai?h, and of the `knowledge of the !Son of #God, unto. a
which has .been our heritage as Prot,estant  Reformed         perfect `man, unto the measure of ,the stature bf the
churches.            -~                                       fulness  ,of Christ: `That we henceforth  .be no more
       Undue emphasis upon the responsibility of man is       children tossed to and fro, and carried about with. ev-
dangerous. Undue emphasis upon the respo?sibiliJy             ery wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and ctinn-
of' man is emphasis upon man's responsibility at the          ing craftiness, wherelby they lie in waiit to deceive ;
cost of the eternal and unconditional sovereignty of          But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into Him .
the living God. I am alarmed because of the voices            in all things, which is the -head, even Christ." In
which have recently been heard, demanding that we             (301.. 2 : l-3 we read : "For I would that ye knew what
have more "pra&cal" pfeaching and more emphasis               great conflict I have for you, and for them .at Labdi-
upon man's responsibility. I am alarmed because- I            tea, and for-. as many as have not seen my face. in the
have always believed that our churches stressed arid          flesh  ;  Thavt their hearts might be comforted, being
maintained this truth of Holy Writ. I am alarmed              knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full-
because I consider undue emphasis upon man's re-              assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgment of
sponsibility heresy's "backdoor." I know of no church         the mystery of `God, and of the Father and of Christ;
that has deviated from the truth because (they empha-         In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and
sized <God's sovereignty. The number of the churches
that have departed from the truth of the Word .of God         knowledge." `L :-d?n I Thes. 1:4 we read: "Knowing
                                                              brethren-beloved, your election of *God." In addition
by emphasizing mgn's responsibility is legion; I fear         to *these few passages we would call attention to the
that a greater danger may confront us iti the things
that are not being said than in the things that are be-       epistle of the apostle Paul to the Romans in which he
                                                              develops, step by step, the tremendous truth of the
i n g   s a i d .
       It is for this reason that the undersigned will at-    righteousness of God, to the epistle of the same apostle
                                                              to the Ephesians in which he dwells upon the tre-
tempt in (this article,to set forth what he believes to       mendous fulness and riches of the church of God as
be  our calling as Protestant Reformed churches with          the body of Christ (and note particularly Eph. 1 :l-11)
respect to the preaching of t,he Word of God.                 and to the epistle to the Colossians in which the Lord
       The first truth we wish to emphasize is that a full    holds before us the tremendous riches .of the Christ
and complete gospel must proceed from the, calling rto
build                                                         Who is the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And we
          up  the elect Church  df the living  IGod. This     would, conclude with ithe observation that throughout
truth is sustained by a very common example in I$$
all around us with which we are all familiar.                 our liturgy we, aie admonished and exhorted to Adhere
                                                   I refe?
to the example of the farmer whose concern centers            to the truth and fight -every heresy .repugnant  thereto.
in his sown corn or wheat, or whatever his crop may                   What does this mean? This means that in all our
be. If we ask a fartier what he has jn yonder field           lab&s we must proceed from the truth that we are
                                                                                          _ .'
he will tell you that he has corn or wheat. He Is a-          dealing with the elect Church .of the living God. Tliis
ware of the fact that there is much chaff among his           implies in'the first place that the-church of God must
corn and many tares among the wheat. Nevertheless             be constantly directed to th,e eternal and unchangeable
he will not reply to your question t&at he has corn and       love and failthfulness  of God as the sole cause and ori-
chaff or wheat and tares, but corn `or wheaht. And he         gin of its salvation. We must be "election-minded".
does everything f,or the sake of his crop. We may safe-       We must li$e out of the blessed fact of election. T.his
ly use this example because Scripture does the  same.         truth must be proclaimed in all its blessed significance.


                                              -
                                                                                                                             i i

        This does not mean that we mu& not call atitetition  to         stowed by the Lord- equally to all and which, as far
        the calling of the church to walk in the way of sanc- as its actual content' is concerned, will become their's .
        tification. Neither, however, must the two be divor-            if ithey believe, or do we baptize and sulbsequently in-.
        ced. The calling-to walk in sanctification and believe          struct our children on then basis of a promise which
   `must: serve to direct the people of the living God t`o              has been realized for them as well as in the elect a-
        make their election sure. Faith is not to be considered dults? Do we baptize and later- instruct them on the
        apirt from election, is not a conditionVfor election, but       basis of a righteousness which may become theirs or               -
- is itself a part of election, `belongs to. it, and is there;          on the basis of a righteousness which has been merit-        '
        fore the only way in which the child of `God can know           ed for them and bestowed upon them? `The Libera-
        ithat he has been elected of God from before the foun-          ted say the foY;mer and we do and must .emphatically
        dation  of the world. Hence, to preach election and not maintain the latter. There is no differlence  between.
        faith is simply a caricature of the truth of election ;         the adult and the child as far as their actual partici-
        but to preach faith and repentance- at the cost of e- pation in the salvation of God is concerned.
        lection is Arminian corruption of the Word of God.                 Thfis (truth, too, is sustained by the reality of life
        We must be on our guard against any clamor for more             about us. The farmer bestows labor upon his acre
        "responsibility preachihg" and le!s election preaching. because of the seed which he has entrusted to the soil.
        Our election is our sole salvation and only comfort in          Why should the Lord command us to bestow labor up-
        life and in death. This implies  ins the second  plaCe          on the children except for the fact that the seed of ev-
        that that elect Church of the living God `must be in- erlasting -life is in them.7
        Btructed in all lthe truth and the Mystery of the will             This (truth is also verified by Holy Writ.. Has not
        of God. We must remain doctrinal in our. preaching.             all; scripture. been given by inspiration of ,God for do&
        To be sure, doctrine without life is dead orthodoxy.            trine, for reproof, for correction,  -for instruction in
        But, to divorce  the latter from the former must re-            righteousness `in' order that- the. man of God may be
        sult in spiritual weakness and decay, and is fatal. The         peTfeet, thoroughly' furnished unto  all. good  wdrks?
        church of God must never weary of being led into the            see 2 Tim. 3 :16-1'7.    This  instruction  certainly in-
        fulness .of the trut.h  of the living ,God. To know God         eludes the children. And we should notice that the
        in all the fulness of His revelation is and should b'e          purpose of Holy Writ is the perfecting of the man of
        eternal life. For, even as the farmer exerts every ef- [God.  .The man of God is God's man, the Christian,
        fort to bring his crop to maturity, .so also the preach-, w-ho is called the man of God because he ,owes-his  ex-
        ing of the gospel must purpose to .build up It-he -people       istence to the living  (God. And this text surely em-
        of <God  in all the fu1nes.s  of the truth so that they will    phasizes the thought Ithat, when instructing our child-
        be able to reveal and c&duct themselves as the people           ren in the Scriptures, we are instructing exactly the
        of the living [God, who know and love Him, and are man of IGod, not sdmeone w.ho may become a child of
        able to reveal themselves as His pkople  and party also `God but who very defiinitely is a man of God. In Acts
        in the midst of a world which lies in darkaess and is           2:29 we are told that "the promise is unto you and to
        constantly attempting to undermine arid' destroy the your children, and to all that are afar off, even ,as
        truth of the Word of God. Hence; in ;our preaching many ai the Lord our God shall call.?' We need not
        we must not address the churchras a group of people             enter into a detailed discussion of this passage. I
        who must believe and repent in the sen$&~as it is com-          merely wish to call attention to the fact that no dis-
        monly understood today but as the peopld'of ,the living         tinction is made here between the "you" and the chjld-
        #God who must conduct themselves as such in the midst           ren. Who are the "you" in this. text? To be sure,
_  o f   t h e   w o r l d .
   D                                                                    they are those who have been pricked in their hearts.
           The second truth to which we would call attention            13.owever,  we -would add to this that they are the
        is this: this elect church ?f the living ,God includes          church, the Itrue. Church of the living God, the true
        the children. We understand that not' all. the children [Church in distinction from those who had accused the
        born in the sphere of the covenbnt  *are `elect children        apostle of-being full of new wine. They had the pro-
        tif  -God and will return to this thought later. This,          injse, They had it in a very real and actual sense of
        however, does not altar the'tiuth  that the eltct church        the word, Well, the children possess that same pro-.
        which &nfronts us- includes children. `God generally ( mise in the same sense of the word.
        regenerates His elect in their infancy. I consider this            Besides, this is also the truth of the Confessions.
        truth of paramount -significance. It is especially -on          `Concerning this there. cannot be any possible doubt.
   -this point that we differ wilth the Liberated, Permit               We do r& hesitate to assert that, according to our Re-
        us to state the question concisely. Do we baptize our           formd Confessions, the adults and the children share
        children'on the basis of a general proinise wliich is be-       &ually in &e'salvai&n Of ,God. Both are loved of God
                    .     -


_  12"                                       JI'HE  STANDAR.D;   B E A R E R

  from before the foundation of, the world; both have          jeciive" preaching, where the listeners are exhor-l;ed
  bien redeemed through the blood of Christ; concern-          and begged to-believe in and accept Jesus, and whe?e
  ing both we may say that the Holy Spirit dwells and          the training of the child is shamefully ignored. Sum-
  operates in them.  I'his is the teaching of Question mer schools are'organized for the spiritual'instruction
  and Answer 74 of our Heidelberg Catechism: "Are              of the child as if they would make amends for `their
  infants' also Ito be baptized? Yes: for since they, as       gross neglect of the same children frdm the begin-
  well as the adult, are included in the covenant anCI_ ning of Septemb.er into the following June. We labor
  church of God ; and since redemption from sin by the         with our children from their infancy on, bestow upon
  blood  ,of Christ, and the Holy Ghost, the author of         them catechical ins:truction,  and send them to schools
  faith, is promised to them no less than to the adult,        of our own. It is well to bear this in mind when the
  etc." To call attention to this answer is surely not         clamor is heard that we, in our preaching, should a-
  necessary at this time; this has beei done repeatedly        dapt ourselves more to the chii& Where is more ,done
  of late. But we must not fail to notice that the same        for the child than where the covenant conception is.
  thing is said here of the children as of the adult, This     understood ?
  is also true of the (teaching of Art. 34 of our Confes-         What doles all this imply? Lt surely implies in the
  sion of Faith. It is worthwhile .to read this answer         first place, that in _o_ur preaching, we `are addressing
  once more.     Having maintained in this article .that       the eternally beloved, ,redeemed,  -and &nctified people
  the sacrament of baptism is a sign of the spiritual and      of the living God, not merely a--people  who must be
  internal operation of !the Holy Spirit, the- Fathers, in     called to believe and repent in the current s'ense of the
  the -concluding part of this article, condlemn  the error    word, but who have been called out of darkness into
  of the An@ptists  who condemn the baptism of the in-         `God's  maivellous   lighlt.. This truth implies, in the
  fants of the believers as follows: "And indeed Ch&t          second piace, that in our preaching we may never vio-
  shed His blood no-less fo? .the washing of. the children     late the truth that God generally regenerates His
  of `the faithful than f& adult p&sons; and therefore         people during their infancy.  `0, how this truth em-
  they ought to receive the sign and sacrament of that,        phasizes the uncotiditionality  of God's promise and the
  which Christ hath done for them." We repeat: tigain          entire work of salvation ! Lt is indeed wonderful when
  no distinction.is  made  between the adult and the ehild-    the Lord calls an adult out of darkness into His mar-
  ren. And we  -must all be  acquaintled With the lang-        ve;llous light. In a certain sense we may say that this
  uage of our beautiful form fork the administration _of       is more wonderful than when this work of the Lord is
  baptism which emphasizes the same truth: the child           performed  witkiin a child. Nevertheless, it  is so un-
  as well as the adult- has been adopted by the Father         conditional when al3 infant is regenerated by the Lord,
  to be heir of everlasting life ancl of His covenant, has     is united with Christ by a true and living faith. And
  been redeemed. by (the blood of the Son and presented        this is not an exception but-the general rule in the
  righteous before God; is the object of the operation of      development of God's kingdom and covenant. This
 -the Holy Spirit and will one day be presented before         mfeans that the calling to walk in sancltification may
  God without spot or wrinkle as belonging to the as-
                                                         ,     never be presented except as the fruit of Divine grace.
  sem,bly of -the  elect in life eterndl.                      To be sure, man must be commanded  iri: the Name of
     This truth is of paramount significance- It empha-,       the Lord to repent from his evil because the Lord is
  sizes that we baptize and subsequently instruct our          ,God and no man has any `excuse to walk in ways of
  children on the basis of. a righteousness which they         evil. But, the child of ,God must be exhorted Ito repent
  possess, that the Lord- generally regenerates them in        and believe, not to become a child bf God but, because
  their infancy, that (they belong-to the elect Church of      he is a child of God;` The truth that the Lord regen-
  (God as well as the adult; This truth emphasizes the         erates His people generally in their infancy demands "
  unconditional character of the promise  aid of the           this explanation and presentation.
  entire work .of salvatioti; inasmuch us chiildren  share        Does this di, just@e to the moral-ethical tenor of
  in the salvation of the Lord. *his truth musit control       the gospel and to the truth that msn-is riot a stock and
  all our instruction atid preaching and constitutes the       block? Does it not? Must we.not take our childreli a-
  basis for the Christiah School movement and the erec-        side; as early .as possible,-and  speak to them of sin and
  tion of Christian Schools. We do not build schools in        inizuity.&d  also of the.everlas:ing love and mercy of
  the hope of what our children may become, but surely ,God? We shall-speak t6 them of the fact that we are
  on the basis of what they are and have already become.       conceived and born in sin, that it is impoesible to save
      Do we- feel the import .of this?. Think of all the       ourselves, that we must serve  `God; that the Lord loved
  labor which is bestowed_ upon the child! Th&e are            a people from before the foundation of the world and
  so many churches which stress "practical" and f`sub- Ithat He gave His Son to be a propiti@ion.foy  their
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                                       T H E          SThDARII)  .IBE~ARER                                             1           3
                                                                                                 -

sins upon the cr.oss &of Calvary, We shall tell- our chil-
dren that this Jesus also suffered and died for them                 _  S I O N S   Z A N G E N
if they may be sorrowful for their sins, not because
the power of the cross will also extend to them if only
they believe, but because their sorrow because of their                   Gods Groote Goedertitmm heid
sin tind faith is bhe fruit of the ,efficacy ~of the cross,
inasmuch as all those whom the Father gave unto Je-                           (Psalm 118; Derde Deel).
sus shall surely come unto Him. And we shall empha-               We zijn toegekomen aan het 15de vers van dezen
size that it-behooves them to walk as children of the          psalm, en daar staat : "In de ltenten  der rechtvaardigen
Lord, At home and in rthe &$ool and in the world, be-          is eene stem desk gejuichs en des heils : de rechterhand
cause  wheri the  Lord opens our eyes and  <ears and           des Heeren doet krachtige daden ;" En het 16de vers :
mouths we-must see and hear atid speak. Always  we             "de rechterhand des Heeren is verhoogd, de rechter-
,must presenlt  our walk in holiness and sanctification        hand des Heeren- doet krachtige  daden !"
as the fruit of.Divipe  grace. Howeyer,  when we thus             `Dit is een uitroep van verrukking !
busy ourselpes with our children we shall soon discov- _          En de godvruchtige geslachten van het troik' Gods
er that the reaction of -the children to our instruction       hebben die verrukking vhrstaan, want ze  ~deelden in
is not always  f-avorable.     We bring forth Esaus as         dezelfde-blijdschag.   Lat,er,  veei later, zijn er van die
well as Jacobs. And we shall discover that theYe `are          godvruchtigen geweest `die. al die verrukking van dit
those who will resent this teaching  cdncerning  sin and       vers op rijm gezet  .hebben,  en zoo' is  de blijdschap
Jesus and the holy demand of the Lord that we love             vodrtgeplant van geslacht tot geslacht, en heb ik ze
Him and serve Him alone. With them also we must                ook hooren zingen.in  mijn prilste jeugd : IGods i-echter-
labor.    We shall continue. to instruct  theni in the         hand is hoog verheven ; des Heeren sterke recliterhand
things of the Word of God and hold forth before them           doet door haar daan de wereld beven, houdt door haar
the Divine command 40 leave their evil ways and turn           kracht Gods volk in stand.! De  oorspronkelijke  ver-
unto the Lord. -And this also applies to  t,he  Chris: rtikking van dezen dicbter'heeft een vrucht gehad, een
tian School and the preaching of the Word. The sin-            kosltelijke  en'rijke vr&ht;in al dat zingen van'het volk
ner must *be warned in the Name of the Lord and ad-            (Gods sindsdien hij dichtte en zong; En het zal door-
monished to repent because the Lord alone is God, and          gain, totdat geen maan tie& schijpt. En dan zal dit
 the. child of the Lord must be' exhorted ito repent (lev-     lied volmaaktelijk `gezongen worden met hemelsche
 cry day anew) not to become a child .of God but be-           klankgeslachten._           j          -
 cause he is a, child of the Lord. _ (God's  grace and fel-     -~ Die sterke rechterhalid  van God!
 lowship and our walk in all the commandments of the            Men  hoort der vormen  teilt  weergalmen  van  hillp
`Lord must be prpclaimed  as inseparably related, not          en  heil' ons  aangebracht;  da&r zingt men blij, met
 in the sense that the latt.er is ever a condition for the     dank'bre  psalmen :  (Gods. rechterhand  dqei groote
 former but in the sense that it is the fruit of it. Where     kracht.
 does the Holy :Spirit work ? A~SQ in the .hearts of the          10 >a, de dichter van de Holland&he berijmde p&l-
 children. And conbtanltly we must bear in mind that           men heeft die verrukking verstaan, en in zang  ge-
 we. are laboring with the elect Church of the living          bracht.    Hij is  allang  gestorveq maar zijn vrucht               .
*God who must be built up in all the truth of God's            bleef, en zal blijven.
 Word and the blessed~ mystery of His will.                       De  retihterhand  van God is Jesus  Christus.  Toen
    May this continue'to charticterize the b?ea&ing in         alles reddeloos  verloren Tyas, is G&d gekomen en met
 our Protestan Reformed Churches! May we remain                almachtige  kracht  heeft Hij heil geschonken.         Het
 doctrinal and emphasize our practical calling as a            scheen onmogelijk,  dat  Sian  d'oit gered zou kunnen
 Church of the living ,God, no,t at the cost of doctrinal      w&den. Sion lag iti diepten van zonde en schuld ter-
 preaching but as resting upon it. May we preach elec-         neer. Maar, God is de Almachtige die alles kan wat
 tisn and responsibility, not as independent of each o-        Hem behaagt. ,Welnu, het behaagde Hem om Sion te                         _
ther, neither at. the cost of e$ch other, but as insepar-      verlossen uit de diepteti  v&n den eeuwigen dood. En
 ably related, so that we may live and fight the good          die krachtige rechterhand van God heeft het  gedaan.
 :fight of faith as a people of the living God who are         Dat is het eeuwig ,Evangelie.
 anchored in the eternal and tinchangeable and wholly              Dat lied  wordt gezongen in de  tenten der  recht-
 sovereign love of God Who loved us before we 16ved            vaardigen.
 Him, whi1.e we were sinners, and Who therefork  shall            Wat beduidt het rechtvaardig  te zijn?  Zooeven
 love us even unto the end.                                    sprak ik van zondige en schuldige menschen.            H       o         e
                                         H. Veldman            zijn die  zondaqs  en  schuldigen   reshtvaardig  gewer-
                                                                                      3


                      I
i    14                            I    TBE       STANDAi2`D               BEARER

     den? Dat zit zoo : zij zijn eerst rechtvgardig in Chris-        no$it gewend raken aan den aanblik van een lijk. Een
     tus Jezus, Gods Zoon. riit eti. van zichzklven zouden           lijk is een onding.  Als heel klein ki.nd heb ik het al
     ze nooit rechtvaardig kunrien worden. Maar ,God gaf             gevoeld. Dat koude,  kille,  afschuwelijkle lijk!  Later
     al Zijn volk aaq Jezus van voor de grondlegging der             las, ik wat  er gebeurt met  zulk een lijk in de  onge-
     wereld. En Hij gaf Zijn Zoon bevel om al dat volk               voelige aarde. En ik heb gegruwd.
     te rechtvaardigen. Die Zoon beloofde  vati eeuwigheid               En tech, dat is~slechts  een zeer klein deel vari het
     om det  te'  doen. En Hij heeft Zijn belofte gestand            &erven.
     gedaan, want `in de volheid des tijds is Hij gekomen             ~  LJselijker is de  geestelijke  dood.  ,Geestelijk  te ster-
     en  heeft alles  gedaan wat ter rechtvaardiging van             ven is, flat men zich in haat keert tegen de Bron van
     Gods volk noodig was.  IGij weet wat dat alles  be-             alle goed, en dat is God. Dat men'zijn leven verwoest
     duidt. Hij leed, stierf, en verrees  en- voer ten hemel.        door zich tegeq  ,God en Zijn .Gezalfc&  te zetten. Een
     En  *Hij deed dat alles plaatsvervangend. Wat- Hij              goddeloos mensch is'vreeselijker dan een lijk.
     verrichtte, werd Zijn volk  to<gereke.nd. En zoo  zijn              En wat zal het zijn als lichaam en ziel en geest in
     #Gods  volk gerechtvaardigd voor ,God.                          de he1 liggen, om dan voorts te sterven, te sterven, te
       Maar zij zijn ook in beginsel rechtvaardig door de            sterven,  - eeuwiglijk! Daar  woelit en tiert en  tan-
     heiligmaking.  ,-De deugd van rechtvaardigheid wordt            denknarst men door elktinder om- het hardst ; daar hoor
     hun geschonkep door Gods Woord en Gods Geest. En                ik slangen schuif'len !     Ik lijd zoo'n smart in deze
     dat beteekent, dat zij des Heeren wil doen in `t diepste        vlam  ; och, dat er tech &ens iemand kwam om deze
     hart. Dat zij dien wil Gods beminnen en trachtes te             dorst  te  1:esschen.  Maar't kan niet, is er mij gezeid;
     volvoeren in hun spreken' en handelen, in -geheel hun           bier blijf ik tot in eeuwigheid ; heir, in de pl,aats der
     wandel. En die gedaehte ligt op den voorgrond in                duiv'len !
     dezen  tekslt.  Als de  psalmen  spreken.  van de  recht-          ,Stemt gij niet toe, dst we slechts stamelen als we
     vaardigen, .dan is meestal die ethische deugd- van het          van de he1 en de verdoemenis spreken ~of schrijven?
     volk voor de aandaeht van den zanger. Zoo ook hier.             Net zoo min a1.s we de grootte van de zaligbeid  in den
     Hun reclhtvaardigheid blijkt trouwens in hun gezang. nieuwen hemel  en in de niqwe aarcte  kunnen meten;
     D,e tekst zegt: In de tenten der rechtviardigen  is eene        kunnen we ook niet verstaan wat het zeggen wil om in
     stem des gejuichs en des  hqils! Welnu, daar blinkt             de he1 en de verdoemenis te verkeeren.
     hun gerechtigheid  in. Ziet ge niet, dat deze menschen              Maar.-ik  zal.niet sterven, zegt de zanger. .Ik zal
     het groote  doe1  v&n God dienen? Gods eenige  doe1             l$even,~  en dat leven is eeuwig leven : ik ga de werken
     met de wereld en de historic- is,. dat de menschen Hem          des Heeren vertellen.
     juichend dienen. Welnu, dat  doen zij. En er  is'ook                Er zijn altijd itwee polen in de thedogie. De eene
     een stem des heils. Heil is die toesfand waar al Uwe            pool is de. mensch, mitsgaders  zijn' werken. E-n de
     behoeften vervuld zijn. En de grootste, eigenlijk, de fandere  pool is God en Zijne werken. Naar welke pool
     eenigste behoefte die een mensch heeft is om God te             wordt gij getrokken?  Hebt ge den mond vol van wat
     hebben tot zijn deel in tijd. #en eeuwigheid. Welnu,            de mensch doet? Dan zijt ge Pelagiaan.  Loopt  Uw
     deze zangers van mijn tekst zingen van heil. Zij zijn mend over van wat God doet? Dan zijt ge  `Gerefor-
     zalig in beginsel. En daarom de naam van rechtvaar-             meerd.
     .digen past.                                                        Deze zanger weei.wat hij doen zal : hij gaat zingen,
           Ik moet, echter,  Bog-66n ding zeggen, opdat ik niet      zingen van gena. : Hij gaat ons in zang vertellen wat
     verkeerd verklaard mag worden.  Alleen zij die door de Heere gedaan heeft.
     .Jezus Christus gerechtvaardigd werden, ontvangen de                Komjt. luistert toe, gij  ,Goclgezinden!   IGij die den
     daaclwerkelijke deugd van rechtvaardigheid in hun               Heer van harte vreest! Hoort, wat mij God deed on-,
     ,hart en leven. Met andere woorden, de heiligmaking             dervinden; wit Hij gedam heeft aan mijn geest!
     sto'elt  bp de rechtvaardigmaking. En niet omgekeerd,.              0, ik weet, dat dit een andere psalm is, maar het
     zooals men het in onze dagen, en in dit ,land vooral,           past, het past.
     wil.      Alleen. zij die tot  ,Gods uitverkoren volk  be-          Laat ons verder luisteren naar den zanger: hij
     hooren. ontvangen den Heiligen Geest  die door het `gaat bns vertellen van `Go& werken.
     Woord van God de kind&n  heiligt. Joh. 1'7.            ,2 `-        "De Heere heeft mij'%51 hard gekastijd,  maar Hij
             "Ik zal niet st&ven maar leven, en ik zal de wer-       heeft mij ter dood niet ,overgegeven !"
     ken des Heeren vertellen."                                          Daar hebt ge het verschil tusschen #Gods werk ten
             Daar is de vrucht, beide van de rechtvaardigtia-        overstaan van de kerk, en ten overstaan van de wereld.
     king en de heiligmaking                                         De wereld geeft Hij altijd over in den dood.  Ge-
           `0, te moeten  Bterven is zoo onbeschrijflijk bang.       slacht na gesiacht komt en gaat, en ze komen allen uit
     Te  moeten  Bterven  is vreeselijk.  Ik zal  hior-op  aarde     in.den kuil. IGod strafit de wereld met tijdelijke straf-


                                       T H E          STANDARD..BEARER                                                       15

 fen en met eeuwige straffen. Maar Hij  -&raft hen            die STEEN! Die Steen die de bouwlieden verworpen
 altijd.                                                      hebben ! Die Steen is Jezus. En die  Jezus is ohze
     Maar de kerk wordt gekastijd.                            VerbondsJehovah.
   Er is een groot verschil, een hemelschbreed  verschil.        Jezus Ghristus  is het die de poor$en  der gerechtig-
 Ik mag zeggen: een eeuwig verschil. Het verschil is          heid opengedaan heeft door Zijn borgtochtelijk werk,
 zoo groot als het verschil tusschen den hemel  en de hel.    en als die Jezus in U woont, dan zingt die Jezus in U
     Kastijden is de slaand'e hand Gods .die Zijn kind        en met U: Open de poorten  der gerechtigheid! Door
 slaat en zeer doet  tot zijn nut. God kastijdt Zijn kind,    deze zal ik binnentreden. En zij kunnen en zij zullen
 opdat het Zijn heiligheid xou'deelachtig worden.             en zij. moeten door die poorten  ingaan, want zij zijn
     En gij wordt gekastijd, en weet dat- ge gekastijd        gerechtvaardigd dbor dien STEEN, door dien Jezus,
 wordt door ,God, als ge al- Uw smart en al Uw tranen         door dien God.. Zij zijn ~66 door en door gerechtvaar-
 verbindt  aan  IGod. Zoo spoedig de verderver Uwe            digd, dat hun naam tot in der eeuwigheid zal zijn: de
 fente nadel+, zegt ge: <God  heeft gezegd : plaag Mijn       rechitvaardigen.
 kind ! Ziet het  aan David.  Toen  Simei vloekte en             En wat doen zij, nadat zij door die poorten  der ge-
 stoof met stof, zeide David': ja, laat hij vloeken;  want    rechtigheid getreden zijn? Dit: "ik zal den Heere lo-
 de Hegre tech heeft tot-hem gezegd :. Vloek David : wie ven !" &eest bet in d:e verzen` 19 en 21.
 zoude dan zeggen: waarom hebt gij alzoo gedaan? 0,             _ Wit is het om den Heere te loven?
 dat gaat diep. Zoo kunt ge het  verstaah, dat Gods              Dat is'het hemelleven.          Dat is als ge voor het"lief-
 volk geen wrake doet tegenover  zijne wederpartijders..      lijke Aangezicht komt te  staan, om dan al  maar' ite
 Nog dieper,  zoo kunt ge.eenigzins verstaan, dat aGods       roepen : Heilig, Heilig, Heilig is de Heere der heir-
 volk kan bid-den xoor zijn benauwers.                        scharen. En de dorpelen en de posten der deureh  wer-
     Wehm,. God had dezen armen man gekastijd, ja,            den bewogen van de stem der zingenden, en het Huis
 zelfs ha& gekastijd. Maar de Heere had hem niet ter          werd vervuld met rook. Schaduw.en van ,Jesaja in den
 dood overgegeven. Ik weet wel, dat de huidige zangcs         hemel. ,( Jes; 6 :3,4).
 bier het oog heeft op den physischen dood. God maak-            .,Ge  looft God als ge Hem  vertelt hoe  liefiijk, hoe
te hem weer betel-, als die kastijditig ziekte geweest is.    schoon, hoe  aanbiddelijk  Hij is in  majesteit  en  heer-
 Of: God verloste hem uit ge handen van zijn vijanden,        lijkheid. ,Ge looft God als ge al Uw blijdsehap in Hem
 als-de kastijding bestond uit het overgeven in de han-       vindt.
 den van mensehen die hem benauwd  hadden.  En                   Dat  meet ge hier op  garde beginnen.  Begiilt ge
 tech, we mogen het ook toepassen op den eeuwigeu             bier niet op aarde, dan doeat. ge het ook nooit in den
 dood.  `-God geeft Zijn volk- nooit over in den eeuwigl>n    hemel. Als  wle  straks in den  hemel   tianlanden,  zullen
 dood. Dat .doet Hij met de verworpenen, do& nooit            we zeggen : de helft is .inij niet aangezegd. Maar we
 met de verkorenen.                                           zullen ook zeggen: de .`kwaliteit, de smaak heb ik ge-.
     Neen, met dezen zanger geschiedt juist het tegen-        proefd in dat kleine kerkje aan den hoek van clie of
 overgestelde van bet overgeven in den eeuwigen dood.         die straat. 1 10 ja, er is  meer, ontzaglijk veel meer,
 Wat is  bet? De  poorten  der gerechtigheid  worden          maar het zal niet  anders zijn. God is hier  oak. Hij
 opengeworpen, en hij mag binnentreden in den hemel,          woont   ill ons  midden.  ,Groot  is cle Heilige Israels in
 daarboven  .bij `God. -                                      het midden van U, o Sion !
     *`Do& mij de  poorten   der  gerechtigheid  open,  ik       Zal er stof zijn om den Heere te loven?
 zal daardoo; ingaan, ik zal den Heere loven. Ik zal              Gij dwaas! Waarom vraagt ge dit? Kent gij,
 U. loven, omdat Gij mij verhoord hebt en mij to!. heil       kent gij, dien Jezus niet ?
 geweest zijt."                                                  Laat ons luisteren na'ar wat deze arme en tech zoo
     Hier worden  de lijnen lfefelijk getrokken.              rijke zanger ons  leert.                .
     Poou$en hooren in een  muur. Een  muur behoort               "11~ zal U loven,  or&at  Gij  mij  uerhood hebt en
 rondom een stad. En die stad is het hemelsche Jeru-          mij tot  heil  geweest   zijt."
 zalem. Het gaat hier over het ingaan in den  hemel.              Daar hebt ge het in eenige woorclen. Maar  clfe
 ,Gods stad heeft een muur, en die muur heeft poorten.        woorden  zijn zwaar. -Er zit een eeuwigheid van `Gods
 En die poorten  zijn de gereihtigheid ,Gods. Niemand         lieflijkheden-in.                       --i
 kan. tot `God gasp, tenzij hij of zij bekleed worde met         #God verho& iijn volk.
 de gerechtigheid.                                                Dat  beteekent,  dat dit volk tot Hem roept,
     En nu zegt onze zanger : Doet mij die poorten  open !    schreeuwt, schreit, ja, en soms brult.
     Dat is stoute taal ! Kan dat ? Mag dat ?                     Weet ge niet, dat een der namen Gods is-: o Hoor-
     Ja, dat'mag en dat kan en dat moet zoo gezegd            der der gebeen?       --.
 en gezongen. Het zet vast op de verzen 22 en 23; ,O,                                                              G. Vos


                                                                                                  . .


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

                                                                e&e.  .%?e must not be swept along in this current,
             I N H I S  I? E  A.  R  ,_  -'                     but maintain the correct-Reformed principle of paren-
                                                                tal responsibility and of separation, the physical sep-
                                                                aration, of church and school. I mention this again
                                                                because it has much bearing on the tw0 remaining
           Looking       To      The       future          .    qu&tions which we must answer in connection with
                          CHAPTER 3                             teacher training, and especially has bearing on the
                  ON  TEACHER TRAINING                f         pr&ical question of how we must  atjtain our  goal.
                                                                We had better- be realistic from the start, and under-
        Having interrupted our train of thought in regard       stand that from- the practical viewpoint this' principle
  to the subject of teacher training for the past two is-       is simply another obstacle in ithe road to our own teach-
  su&, it will do 11~ harm to try to catch ithe connection      er-training facilities.  B means  we shall have to go
a"bit, before plunging into the material itself.                against the c&rent. It means we shall have to put
        Thus far tie have established the necessity of spe-     out of mind  .the notion that we can simply look to
  cifically Protestant Reformed training, and are pro-          mother church 40 provide us With a normal school.
  ceeditig on the supposiBion  (that the aim of those who       It means that any normal school we establi,sh  shall not
  seek Protestant Reformid eclucation  for their `children      come from funds accumulated by  synodical assessment,
  is also to have teachers  with Protestant Refornied           but by the same old method of saving and scraping and
  training. And  w.e trust that the  obatades  which lie holding drives,-hard work, willing sacrifice, enthus-
  on. the lj$th .to the attainment of this gbal will not be     iastic spirit,  generous.`giving.  It means, as  we-have
  viewed as &surmountable by those concerned.                   said, that the full and real r,esponsibility for ithe actual
        In the secoild place,  we i&e insisted, also in regard establishment of teacher trainicg facilities, and all
  I!O the establishment qf our own teacher training fac- that it implies, rests squarely on the very same par-
  ilities, upon the pZr&$e of parental responsibility,          ents, societies of parents, and school boards who have
  not ecclesiastical  responsifbility.  The  calling of. the    by dint of much hard labor and sacrifice established
  parents  `%o instruct their children in  the  af,oresaid      our grade  sclzdols.  The very same problems will be
  doctrine, or help:or cause them to be instructed Ithere-      faced, ito a large extent. The problem of finance, the
in, to the utmost `of your power" includes the respon- multitudinous problems of building, location, etc., the
  sibility f OT good irzstructors. This follows from. the       problems  of organization, the problems of personnel,-
  truth that good instrtiotion is siinply impossible,with-      all these will stare you in the face in grimly realistic
  out good instructors. Those, parents, therefore, who          fashion. Make no mistake about that. Let 
  take no vital interest in the, supplying of instructors                                                       L&  be real-
                                                                istic  .There  is no easy way out.
  for their children, wlio, when they send their children
  off to school, think that there the parental responsi-           As has been intimkted,  two main questions remain
  bility ends,  very definitely  abandon their  responsi-' to be answered. They are interrelated, and are larg
  bility. The parent stands responsible for all the in-         ely  questidns  of a practical nature. I have no stock
  struction which is given in schobl, for every word spok-      answer for these questions. And I believe that they
  en, for every method used, .for every approach lto th'e       will have `to be faced actually by those officially con-
subject material taken, And that responsibility can             cerned, viz. the. societies, and especially the school
  never be abrogated. It follows; then, that the parent         boards, an& eventually those who are charged with
  individually, or the pagents  collectively, are respon- the- responsibi13t.y of executing the plan to establish a
  sible to provide their children width proper instructors.     normal school.  Chcumstances  v&l have much to do
  And if, as we have established, this responsibility can-      with thie eventual answBrs to these questions. A happy
  not be fulfill.ed- unless those instructo?s  receive Prpt-    medium will have to be struck between our ideal of
  estant Reformed normal training, then' it follows that the  P.rotesltant  Reformed Normal School and the means
  t!e parents are ult.imately responsible to provide such which are at hand, always, however, keeping in view
  training.                                                     the ideal. Research and study, careful planning and
        This stand, as we have~seen in our la,st installment    ineticulous execution of plans, will be important ele-
  under this chapter, "is contrary to the ~course which         ments in answering t&se questions.
  has usually been taken in the establishment of higher          ' - The questions are : 1. What are the minimum re-
  educational facilities. The principle of  .ecclesiastical     quirements of  such a Protestant Reformed normal
  responsibi1ilt.y  has been overwhelniingly maintained in      course ?    What is absolutely necessary in such a
  the course of history. The church-established normal          course? 2. How ctin this goal be attained? How can
  school and-college, and even university, is a very com-       we arrive at the stage where w& make  .an actual be-
man thing. But this makes fundamentally no differ-
        ._  ._                                                  gi&ing in training our own teachers?


                                       T      H     E          STANDARYJ,' B_EARER    - :                                  '               14

As To Minimum Rejquiriments                                     teacher,s. In general, such a course would include the
   As I have said, I have no stock answer to this ques-         delineation of R,eformed,  Scriptural principles concern-
tion. To set- an absolute minimum as to what courses            ing the edu&+nd, the education, ,and the educator, the
r&slt be taught, how extensive or intensive` they must          child, the subject-material and the teacher.
be etc., is i&possible at the present stage. Besides,                   2) Closely allied, and perhaps, for &hat reason, not
I am no educational expert, though I have a speaking            immediatfely  essential as a separate course, would be
acquaintance with these matters. Furthermore, we a. course in the Philosophy of Education. Especially
must not forget that a course in education is a unity,          if such a course conc&rns the history  of educational
a unified whole, with all the various subjects and fields       phtlosophy, it would not be  imm&iately necessary.
of study closely interwoven and interrelated. In redl-          Nevertheless, it should be added as soon as feasiblle,
ity, there is no end to &e education of a teacher. Nev-         I would say, especially from the point of view that it
erthele.ss,  just as you can strip a house of all its trim-     prepares the teacher to defend himself both in Itheory
.mings and luxuries' and non-essentials, so that you            and practice against the many  wlinds of false phil-
have left a mere four walls and roof, so you can strip          osophy.
a course of education,&-of  all the non-essentials, and                 3)' (Certainly to be classified as essential is a thor-
have left noihing but the fundamentals of the course.           ough course either in general psychology or education-
Mark this, I do not say this is ideal: Et -is far from it.      al psychology, preferably the latter.
Nor must we be satisfied permanently with these bare                    This classification we will continue  next.  itime,
fundamentals,- no mtire than we rest satisfied with             D. V.
a mere four walls and a rodf for. a house when and if                                                                    H. C. Hoeksema
                                                                                      -
we have thle means to build a modern house, beauti-                     :-
fully decorated, conveniently equipped, luxuriously  fur-                                                HI---_-,
qished.  Buit.  `.  .necessity is the mother of invention.
And. . .we are talking now only about beginnings. . I              6
am of the opinion that many of us may have to learn,                                             IN  MGMORLAM
especially in view of the fact that we have become ac-            On.Augus$  29,  1952;  it pleased  ,the Lord to take unto Him-
                                                                self  our  beloved  wife, mother, and  grandmbther,
customed to using educational f.ticilities of others, and        . .            <.         MRS.  DORA  MQNBMA
attending full-fledged colleges&-learn to be s&isfied           Although her loss `is  $elt keenly by the family, we  kn& that
with perhaps a rather humble and lowly beginning.               OLD   lo& is her gain.
But what of it? W,e are interested in the principle,              Oar earnest prayer is that the Lord will  supply  ou< -every
are we not? Why cannot our own Normal School, `need for comfort in the hours of  lonelitiess,   and that He. will
if necessary, be as lowly an institution as our Theolog-        be our con'stant aid.              '
ical School, which is still being conducted, if you will                                                Mr. Orie Monsma
pardon  it.he reference to Fuller Avenue's basement,                                                    Children and grandchi'ldren
in a hole in the ground? If only the fundamental
thing, the quality and prbper content of the instruction,                                   -      E      -    Z    -
may be obtained, then al4 is well. But in the meantime,
let not necessi1t.y drive us into a hole either from which                    REsP!OR%OF  THE ANNUAL MEETINiG                              *
wie never emerge !
   In order, then, to come to some conclusion as to                     The Annual Meeting of the R.F.P.A. was held on
what we should expect in an `itifant normal school,             Sept. 25. .New board members chosen~were  K. Ezinga
let us, first, of a$ get ti general view `of the course of-     (Fourth), G.. E. Bylsma and H. Velthouse (First).
fered in a full-fledged normal school.  ;In  ,.dc$m`g so        Retiring members: J ,Oomkes,  P, pykema and G. Bor-
we can attempt somewhat to classify  ithe material, and,        ,duin. The Society decided to increase the m&mbership
at the same time come to some understanding as to               dues to $5.00 effective Jan. 1, 1953.
what is essential.                                                The board reported to the .Society  that it -was en-
   First of all, we may mention those subjects which            deavouring to send The Standard Bearer gratis to var-
belong  St&&J-y to a  cour.se  for teachers. Usually  in7       ious  tchristian (Colleges throughodt the Country. Thus
eluded in this classification are the following:                far 22 of these schools have answered our request that
   1) A Cotirse in the Principles of Education'. Cer- they would be willing to place our paper in their li-
tainly, such a course is the foundation-stone of. any           b r a r i e s .
course for teachers. `It cannot be excluded. The pro-                   The annual rep&s of. the secretary and treasurer
per prlinci`ples  of education, Protestant Rleformed  prin-     were read and approved.
ciples, must  before.:  all else be inculcated  into our                                                                  -The Board.


18                                            T,HE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

                                                                   of the word  the  apostle. Foolish and trifling men
F  R  0  M I3  0 L  Y.  -.W  IX I  T have indeed attempted to fabricate the apostle par
                                                                   excellence of Peter. We think here of -all the insis-
                                                                   tence of the Roman Catholics. But Peter himself
                                                                   wrote simple: an apostle. He is simply one of the
               Exposition  of  I  Peter  l:l, 2             ;. , twelve. He is indeed in that college of men, formerly
                              I
                              1                                   ,Galilean  fisher-men, who have been separated to be
      The undersigned intends to `write a series of pop-           to  Abe lthe eyewitness of Christ's death, resurrection
ular expositions on the first epistle of Peter during `and ascension, but among these he is simply an apos-
the next few months. These articles do not intend to -*le. No longer is he trying to be the "greatest" in
;be technical exegesis; such is the task of the min-               self-exaltation. He  is great in humility. Peter, an
ister in his study. There will be as little of this "work-         apo.stle. Let it be noticed !
shop" in these articles as possible. Not that these art-              But even as such his stature is great. He is an
icles are not based on as careful exegesis as this- writ-          apostle of Jesus Christ. He was called personally by
er can perform, but these exegetical labors will; not Christ Himself. Already at the beginning of Jesus'
stand in thle foreground. Rather they will-be exeget-              ministry Peter was called initially to the apostleship
ical sketches keeping in mind the doctrinal and hor-               through the instrumentality of Andrew, (John 1:41)
tatory and practical implications of the text as we-pro-- later at the sea of Galilee this f:isherman  from Galilee
gress.                                                             is called by: .Jesus and shown that he is to become a
      In this first contribution to this series we will de-        fisher of men ; all &he years of Jesus' suffering, Peter
vote our attention to the first two verses of I Peter 1.           accompanied His Lord. Peter belonged to the inner
We read the following from the pen of Peter, the in-               circle of. the three disciples, who might a&ompany Je-
spired writer: "Peter an ,apostle of Jesus Christ to the           sus on special occasions. We think of the event of the
elect st?"ang.ers,  dispemed in Pontus, Galdia. Capado-            raising of the daughter of Jairus, the time when Je-
cia, Asia  and  Bithynia,  accomiing to the foreknow-              SLW  is glorified on the mount, the occasion of the
ledge of God, the F&her, through sanctification of-the             struggle' of Jesus in  Gethsemane.  Peter is called by
Spirit,  u&o  obe,dience  ancL  spriml+ing of the  bloocl'of       Je,sus  Christ to .the apostleship. H*e is a sent one. But
Jesus Christ. Grace unfo you and peace be  ma&i-                   h,e is also-qualified by Jesus Christ. He is empowered
plied."                                  0                         from  ,on high according to the certain promise of
      `The. first matter of importance that strikes  our           `Christ. (Acts 1: 5)
attention in this Scripture passage is what we read                   Certainly these are good credentials of Peter.
here of Peter. It is true we do not read a great deal                 He lays them on -the table of the churches addres-
about Peter's person here. `This is not a letter of Pet-           sed in this letter as well as on the table of all the elect
er concerning himself; it is a letter concerning all .saints in all ages.
that pertains to the church and her living hope in                 ' .?Shall we reverence these credentials, giving him
Christ Jesus in the midst of this world. Hence, noth- .honor for Christ's sake, yet placing him on a par only
ing about the person of Peter. But for the very rea- with all the other apostles?
son that this pertains to the'hope of God's el'ect we do :.
read something of Peter's relationship to .Jesus Christ. " `That is ithe first item worthy of notice in this pas-
                                                                  sage we have quoted.
      It is this: Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ.
      It is Peter who here writes : it-is not simply Simon,           There is, however, still .another matter that is wos-
son of Jonas. It is the Peter whose faith and hope and thy of our attention.
calling is a "rock" because it is all built and anchored "            We refer, of course, to what Peter here tells us in-
in the Stone laid in iion, elect and precious with #God.           cidently of the stakus quo of the church in the midst of
"Thou  -art Peter" our Lord had said to him in the                 this world. It is well that this status quo be not over-
regions of northern #Galilee. In'$his one name we see              looked; nor may it be.neglected.     We may not neglect
Peter in all the glory, of God's grace ; he is a new treat- - this since we believe an- `holy Catholic Church. When
ure, old things have passed away and all things have               we take the church of.,Christ seriously, confessing that
become new. He is led by his Lord.                                 we are a member .of the same, and trust that we shall
      Then too it is Peter who writes, but it should be            forever remain such a member then we will be inten-
carefully noticed, that he writes as' an tipostle of Je-           sely interested in the status quo of the Church. It is
sus Christ.                        .L               `A..           true: Peter  doesnot lay down a formulated  .dogma
      Inthe first place, we notice the ~uthful-iin~lication        here. But it. is equally true that a great deal `of dog-
in the expression an apostle, that he is in no sense .ma is incidentally stated here concerning the Church.


                                       T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                            19

   In the warp and woof of this address is wonderful             interpreted as though it merely meant God foreknew-
material for ecclesiology.                                       who would believe, and, therefore, gave to them the
      Let us notice this, heeding (the various elements in       gift of faith, and elected them. But such is not the
   the text.                                                     "foreknowledge', of ,God ! Clearly the foreknowledge
      In the first place, we would notice, that the church-      of `God is such that it even logically precedes the'"fore-
   es here are not addressed as being Pontians, Galatians,       ordination". At least it is a concomitant of foreor-
   Capadocians, Asians,  Bithynians. No more is this             dination. Thus we read in  Remans  829, "Because
   true. than ithat today we may address the church in           whom He has foreknown he has also foreordained to
   Netherlands as Netherlanders, or the church in Amer-          be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might
  ica as .America%s.    The church is not national, nor is       be  [the First-born among many brethren." All things
   it composed of nationalities. She is not composed of in heaven and on earth are as God foreknew them in
   manzJ  nations. She is one new man in Christ. She a divinely causative way! Thus is the "foreknow-
   is gathered oz& of .every tongue and tribe and nation.        ledge of .God" in my text.
   But she is herself  not a  composite  of nationalities.          The; actual efficient cause of our being strangers
   She is a new creation, a living body of Jesus Christ,         histori&lly  in faith and hope is due to the Spirit of        .
   gathered by His word and Spirit. She is a holy na;-           sanctification; God sovereignly .calls -us unto a state
   tion, a royal priesthood, a redeemed people, called out       and condition of holiness. He is, the,.,Holy ,One of Is-
   of darkness into,,God'.s  marvellous light, a people form-    rael. And He constitutes us a holy people by the op-
   ed .by God for ,Himself,  that it may declare His great       eration of the Holy Spirit Who justifies and sanctifies
   and glorious praises.                                         us. In the sphere .qf the operation of this Spirit of
      This negative aspect in this description of Peter Christ we are very really constituted saints in the
   here should not be o+erlooked.                                light. (Our status-quo is that the Spirit--of grace and
      But there is more in this text.                            glory rests upon us. Compare I Pet. 4  :14. As  lthe
      We should also notice the positive statements of           "cloud" rested upon Israel in the desert on .the way to
   Peter concerning God's church in the world; these the; land of Canaan, so now .the abiding presence of
   statements tell us the'real status quo of the church.         $God is in .LLS, because the Spirit of sanctification has
                                                                 made His abode in our hearts. The church is the
      The  [Church here is called, addressed as being temple of the Holy Spirit! That is her status quo.
   "elect strangers," scattered in-the pro&ices of the Ro-          By the power of this Spirit of sanctification we
   man empire in greater Asia Minor. They `are in the            are brought to a new obedience. It is not obedience to
   world ,yet not of the world. They have another,capi-          the law; for that is impossible. Says Peter in the
   tal city Ithan mighty Rome. This earthly city, mighty         meeting at Jerusalem, "Now therefore why tempt ye
   though it be, belongs to the "thrones" that are de-           (God,' to put a yoke upon. the neck of the disciples,
   stroyed. But the capital city of the elect strangers is       which neither we nor our fathers were able to bear? ,
   the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the great King, Je-       But we believe that through the grace of our Lord
   sus Christ. From the viewpoint of this city the elect         Jesus `Christ we shall be saved' even as they." Hence,
   are stranger,s in the world. Thus we are sons of Ab- this is no obedience to the command of the law. It
   raham, Isaac and Jacob who looked for the better              is a new obedience by which we walk according to the
   country, that is, an heavenly. IGod is not ashamed to Spirit of santification. `For it is an obedience which
   be called our (God, for He bath prepared for us this          is the effect, the fruit of being "sprinkled with the
   (City. It is the Civitas Dei.                                 blood of Jesus Christ."
       This city is there because of the Builder and Mae            -Hence, the obedience here is an obedience which
   ker, who works all things according to the counsel of, is wrought by the S'pirit of sanctification through the
   His will. This predestination, foreknowledge, election        preaching of the gospel!
   is the last and first reason of our being strangers in            Faith-obeys the gospel. It reaches out to Christ,
   this world. `This we read in  the text: Elect stran-          lays hold on Him. -And faith obeys the gospel.
   gers ! This means that the church does not simply
   happen to be strangers in this".world  plus being elect,          Faith is wrought by the Spirit of sanctification !
  . but that the children of -God are strangers by- virtue         `-land the Spirit of sanctification and the faith it
   of  ekctiom.  Election is the cause and source of  this a works together with its' obedience is according to the
   being strangers in the midst of man ; only God's fore-        forekno,wledge  of #God the Father.
   knowledge is the heartbeat in our spiritual stranger-             Thus it all is according to the rule of plant, fruit
   hood in this world. Says Peter: Elect strangers  ac-          and  .its root. From  (the fruits (obedience) the plant
   corcling to the foreknowleclge of God the Father.'            "of the Spirit is known to be rooted,in the unchange-
       It is true that this foreknowledge has often been able, sovereign .and only good foreknowledge of `God.
                                                            0                         - .


       20                                        T H E   S T A N D A R D   -BEAR.ER                                        -
             What a picture of the churc-h  in the world! ,          his intercession he enumerated all the reasons why
             What a "status I quo" !                                 the Lord could not possibly destroy His people.
             And. do not forget the order. It is "according (to"     - -- -And ,then, we read, "And the Lord repented of the
       and "in" and `"unto"! The "unto', is never possible           evil which he said that he would do unto His people,"
       without the "in", but neither of these two are a real-        `if Moses had nqt prayed for them,' that is, what the
       ity without the "according to". Let this' be clearly          Lord said that' He would do unto His people-con-
       seen and joyfully confessed.                                  sume them-if He had not raised up Moses, if He had
             Now our .soul rests safely and surely in the eter-      not raised up `Christ to atone their sins and to inter-
       nal elective love of God.            -                        cede for them on the ground of His atonement, griev-
                                                      G. Lubbers     ed Him. For that people was the object of His eter-.
                                                                     nal love in Christ. Hence, the idea-such is the mean-
                                                                     iag-of destroying that people was abhorrent to Him.
                                                                     Por such is the repentance of God. It is not remor:e.
                                                                     It is not change of mind and plan as is the repental-ce
-.             THE DA? OF SHADOWS.--                                 of man. But it is grief, here His sovereign deter-
                       _ -.                                          mination .to be grieved by theidea of His consuming
               :                                                     His people and thus to be delighted by the idea of His
                               M oses"     InteFclzssioll            saving them in Christ.
             As was stated, God's people had corrupted them-            The Lord repented. . . . But as was pointed out, He
       selves. They had turned quickly aside out of the way          refrained from telling Moses that He had repented
       which  Ithe Lord had commanded them. They had made            and would spare and forgive His ill-deserving and
       a molten calf and .worshipped  it, and sacrificed there-      condemnable people. It means that as far as Moses
       unto, and said, These be thy gods, 0 Israel, which have       knew, his intercession went unanswered. It was
       brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. Ex. 31::`7,8.       therefore with a burdened soul that he left the Lord?
         And the Lord was wroth. He said to Moses, "I                presence. Again in the camp among the people, his
      have seen this people, and behold' it is a stiff-necked        first act was, as we saw, to send, the sword among the
       people; now therefore, let me alone, that my wrath            apostates, and :&here fell of the- people three thousand
      may- wax hot against them, and that I may consume              men.
      them'and I will make of thee a great nation."                     As was stated, Moses had besought the Lord to
             As I stated, these words of the Lord had reference      turn from His fierce wrath.. But there had been no
      to the whole nation including ithe Israel according to .answer. To be forgiven, sin must be atoned. Moses
      the election. For, as was pointed out, in these words          understood. So on the morrow he returned to the
       of the Lord the entire nation and Moses appear. side          iL,ord ,and offered himself as an aitonement for the sins
      s by side as excluding `the one the other.- "That I may        of the people. "Blot me, I pray Thee, out of the book
       consume. them," said .the Lord, "and make of thee a           which `Thou hast written," were his words. But the
      grealt nation." .                                              Lord  - returned answer :    "Whosoever hath sinned
             But the Lord cannot destroy His people. And             against. Me, him will I blot out of My book." And
      therefore, as was explained, what the Lord was actu-           though He next bade Moses to lead the people unto
      ally saying to Moses is this: "Now therefore let me            the promised land, and said that His angel.would go
      alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and             before Mo.ses, He also let it be known that in the day
      that I may consume  ,them,  which I cannot do, they            that He would visit, He would visit their sins upon
      being. my people, but which I nevertheless must -do,           them.
      except thou Moses int.ercede for them," or in the lan-            The Lord's doings continued ominous. He *plagued
      guage of the New Testament Scriptures (Moses `typi-            the people because of their sins. And though He
      fied Christ) "Now therefore, let Me alone, that my             again commanded Moses to depart and go up hence,
      wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may con-            he and his people, unto the land which He, the Lord,
      sume them, .which, however, I cannot possibly do, but          had sworn unto Abraham, Isaac and  Jacob,~  and
      which I must nevertheless do, I being righteous `and           though He repeated His promise to send an angel be-
      holy God, except `Thou, `the Christ, Mine only begot-          fore Moses to drive out the Canaanites-yet He also
      ten, atone for their sins by Thy, suffering and death          let it be krmwn that He would not go. np in the midst
      on the cross, and on the ground of Thy atonement               of them, and giving as His reason that "thou art a
      everlast.iqgly   .intercede for  .them.  Theref,ore,  atone    stiff-necked people: lest I consume thee in the way.,'
      Thou for their sins and intercede for them.                       The Lord now did as He had threatened. He an-d
             And Moses ,did intercede for the people. And in         His Angel (the two were essentially one) took. up


                                   TH;  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                             21

their residence in a place far remo$ed  from the camp,      know Him in the face of Christ, Who, being the truth-,
that is, where Moses, as commanded by- the Lord,            and the life, is the way.
pitched the tabernacle. He  ~pitched  it without  t_he         The Lord gave answer. He said to Moses for th.e
camp, afar from the camp, and called it the taber-. benefit of the `penitent among the people: "My pre-
nacle of the congregation. And here the Lord now            sence (that is, My face) shall go with thee, and I wi!l
communed with Moses. And here,' too, he  deceived           give. thee rest." In a word, "I will return and  give
the penitent among the people.'                             thee and My people rest, in the final instance, the rest
   By this doing specially the Lord made it clear that      of the new earth, where God's tabernacle-will be with
in His heart he had forgiven His people, definitely the     men."
penitent among-the+ Moses therefore continued his              But.  Mo,ses  &as not satisfied. His awareness of
intercession.                                               the necessity of  the Lord's going up in their midst
                                                            ~was that lively that he could `not allow the matter to
   To all `appearance the Lord-He and His Angel-            rest here. $0 he said to ,the. Lord, "If Thy presence
was to go before His people, but was not  ,intending        (face) go not with  us-in our midst-carry us not
to go up in'%heir midst. Moses therefore said to the        up hence. For wherein shall it be known that I and
Lord, "See, Thou sayest unto me, Bring up this              Thy people h&e found grace in Thy sight?- Is it not
people: but Thou hast not let me know whom Thou             that Thou goest with us? So-if Thou goest with us-
wilt send with me," `as my  compahion   b;j, my side,' we shall be separated, I and Thy people, from all the
he meant. It is clear from the sequel that Moses' people th-at are upon the face of the earth."
complaint was' really a request that the Lord and His          The glory of ,God's people is exactly that the Lord
Angel return.. to him and his people and dwell in their     is  *in their  niidst as the God of their salvation in
midst as of yore. A`s it was, He had se]?arated Him-        Christ Jesus.
self frpm His people and was dwelling at a, great dis-         The Lord replied,, "I will-will indeed-do this
tance from them. This to Moses was inexplicable and, thing also~ that thou hast spoken ; for dhou-thou and
at once  int'olerable.  For had not the Lord said that `thus thy  people:have found grace in  - my sight."
He knew him by name, him and his -people, and that          Moses in his intercession typified Christ, so that the
he had found grace in  Hi.s sight? How then could           truth to be ,drawn out of these words of the Lord is _
the tL,ord be holding them both at arm's length as He that His mercy is upon Christ and through Christ and
was apparently now doing?  .d  1             -              for Christ's sake @on His people.
   And therefore -Moses continues: "Yet Thou hast              Still Moses was not satisfied. The vital part of
said, I  knoti thee by name, and thou hast found his ,petition  that the Lord show him His. way that he
grace in my sight," (`thou and thy people,' the Lord        might kno& Him, still went unanswered. SQ he again
meant). Now therefore, I .pray thee, if I have found        prayed, "shew me Thy glory," "Thy mercy and grace
grace in thy sight, shew me now Thy way, that I: may        with regard to Thy sinful people." It was but an-
know Thee, that I may find grace in Thy sight; and          other way of saying, "Show me  Thy way," "supply
consider that this nation is thy people."                   me with the tangible evidence of Thy forgiving love
   "If I have found grace in Thy sight, shew me now         for Thy iii-deserving  people and of me."
Thy way." Implied in this request is the unexpres-             The Lord replies to His servant, "I will make all
sed petition, "Return to us, 80 Lopd, and again go up       my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim
in our midst," so that we must read here, "If I (and        the name of the.Lord before thee ; and will.be gracious
T.hy Ijeople)  have found gyitc;e in Thy sight; (as Thou    to w,hom  I will be ,gracious, and will shew mercy on
sayest), return to us, and shew me Thy way, tha.t I         whom I will  shew mercy."
may know Thee."                                                "I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy."
   Moses' request,  it  &s `plain, is twofold. For it is    This is the expression of absolute freedom of choice
not enough for him that the Lord again take up His          peculiar to  !God alone. And implied is that He will
abode in their midst. That would prove disastrous           liot have mercy on all.. ;Some He will harden again
for his sinful people, should not the Lord also turn        solely because He wills.
from His fierce wrath. 80 h& petitjon  is also and es-         And so He will indeed returc but in love only of
pecially t,hat the Lord show him His way with them,         some and accordingly- in hatred of the others, whom
reveal that this way is one of love and salvation and       He will harden and destroy in His wrath when their
not of doom and destruction. "That I may know               measure of iniquity is fui!. This will be I%is way with
Thee." The Lord's way .with His people being one            sotie,  and that will< be His way with the others. And
of forgiving love and- salvation, it .follows that to see the two ways in .combination is His glory, the-reve-
and to know this way is to see and t;o know the Lord,       lation of His name, of all His goodness, of the total


22                                   T H E -   iSTANDARD  B E A R E R

of the virtues of His invisible being, of His  love as        goodness and truth, keeping  mercy for thousands,
operative in  the  salSat&  of His elect and of His forgiving iniquity and. transgression and sin, and
hatred of-sin as operative in the damnation of the rep-       that will by no means clear the' guilty; visiting the
r o b a t e d .                                               iniqui'ty of the fathers upon  ttie children, and upon
      These `things Moses had to understand. He had the children's children, unto the third-and fourth gen-
to be made. to perceive that all is not Israel that .is of    eratioxi."
I.srael, but that the children of the promise are coun-          So then, the Lord will keep mercy for thousands.
ted for t.he seed, and that on this Israel alone God will     T.heir  sins and iniquities He will forgive. On  the
have mercy.                                                   other band, He will by no means -clear the guilty. But
      But Moses had asked the Lord that He shew him their sins He will .visit unto their chil_dren. It is cl.?ar
His glory. This the Lord now `promises also to do.            and it mu& certainly have <been clear to Moses that'
He will make all His goodness to pass before Moses.           the Lord was here speaking bf t,wo kinds of `people.
He will make to pass before Moses the Angel (the pil-             In the law of the ten commandments the former
lar of cloud), and in the face of this cloud-in the           people-th;e'thousands  for  whom  the  ilord will keep
face of the Angel, who is Christ-Moses will behold            mercy-are described as such who fear  :God.   - Yet,
all God's .goodnes's as reflected gloridusly in this face,    whereas the Lord will have m&cy on whom He will
the face of the .Angel.                                       have mercy, these favored qnes ip themselves are just
      Besides, from out of that cloud w-ill come a voice,     as lost and undone as the others, just as depraved
the voice of the triune Jehovah and of IChrist-pro-           and worthy of condemnation,. just as hard of heart
claiming the name of the ,bord before Moses.                  arid stiff of neck. That the Lord in His love never-
      But the Lord .said to Moses; "Thou canst not see        theless forgave them and put His fear in their hearts,
my. face:  for there shall no man see Me and live." that was His glory.
Doubtless what `is meant here is the effulgence of                And Moses now saw and heard the glory-tie glo-
God's glories in which ,God `alone dvyells and can dwell,     ry  df the  .Lord. For the Lord revealed it unto him.
and accordingly the light unto which no man can +p-           And he made haste, and. bowed his head toward the
preach.  It is only the "back  paits" of this "light," earth and  worshipped.  And in the full  .assurance of
the creatural revelation of IGod in the face of the Son       faith, he completes his  int&cession.  "If now I have
of God incarnate; here preindicated by the. Angel, the        fourid grace in `Thy sight, 0 Lord, let my Lord, I pray
pillar of cloud, that Moses can see and live.                 Thee, go among us ; for it is a stifS-necked  people ; and
      And so `the` Lord says to Moses, "Behold, there is      pardon our iniquity and sin, and Yake us for Thine
a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon?a rock; and          `&heritanc&`!
it shall come to pass while My glory passeth by,: that            `This can now be his prayer. For lie had heard
I will put thee in a cliff of the rock, and will cover        with his ear the Lord's proclamation, "The Lord mer-
thee with My hand, and thou shalt see My back parts;          ciful and gracious . . . forgiving iniquity." And the
but My face shall not be seen."                               Lord replied., He said, "An! behold, I' will make a
      As the L,ord's doing, what He here said,-will be the    covenant; before all the people I will do wondtirs,  such
act whereby He will renew the covenant that had been          as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any na-
trampled by the people, Moses must  heti him two tion ; and- all the people among which thou Brt shall
tables of stone like unto-the first, that the Lord may        see the  w&k of the Lord: for it is a  .terrible  thing
write upon them the words that were in the first table that I will do with tliee."
that Moses .had broken., The Lord further instructs               As appears from the sequel the reference was in
Moses to be ready in the morning to come up u&o `the first instance to the Lord's ,driving out before His
mount Si?ai and present him there to `the; Lord in the        people the. Canaanites by the sword of Joshua.
top of the mount. But no man shall come up with               Joshua's victories were a new work indeed, a wonder
him. Neither shall' any man be seen throughcmt all            of grace, never before seen and as such prophetic of,
the mount. Neither shall the flocks and herds be 61-          the return` of Christ td judge the quick and the dead
lowed tc feed before the mount.                               in order that His little `flock may receive the kingdom.
      Mo,ses did  as. commanded. He hewed him two                 Moses ,had received `a new vision of God and of
tables .of stone and went up @to the mount with the           His way with His people.  ,. The  L!6rd will certainly
two tables in his hand. And the Lord did as He had            forgive the -great sin that was committed but only in
said.     He descended in then cloud. and stood before        some and not in all.. But regarding the question just
Moses there, atid proclaimed His own name-the name            how sin was to-be atoned; and by whom, Moses was
of the Lord. He said, "The Lord, the Lord `God, mer-          as much in tl?e dark as ever. *!On these questions the
ciful and gracious,  .longsuffering,   snd  abundani in       proclamation  of. the Lord had shed no  light. That


                                               T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                        23

  sin must be atoned in order to be forgiven ind also                    b) hod worketh in you both to will and to db.
  will be atoned, Moses well knew.;  For  th& was the                 highly  exalted Him  t.hat at His name every knee
  great lesson of the animal sacrifices, this lesson name-               In .other  words, what the apostle says to` the elect,
  ly,' that Zionshould 6e. redeemed with @dgment  and historically the believers, and certainly to them al-one
  her coverts with righteousness.. That faith was his                 is this,: Brethren, my fellow believers in Christ, just
  in common with all' the saints of `that day. And as                 be!cause Christ atoned your sins on the cross and in
  standing in that faith they were saved.                             reward of His obedience was highly exalted by. His
                                                 G. M. Ophoff         Father, and accordingly has both the power, privilege
                           -::::                                      and ability, a& Lord of lords and King of kings and
                                                                      as head over all things in the church to gather His
                                                                      church, and just because God, through ,Christ's Spirit
             .The  Gospel  and  the  Command  i                  -    has- imparted unto you the fruits of His atonement,
    In  .the Scripture  gyctce and  t& command  or.  ez-              working in you both to will and to do; therefore my
  hortation  are always connected, and the. former, grace,            brethren, beloved in the Lord, wor,7c  out your own &,l- <
 presented as the cause, reason and fountain of obedi-                v'ation. with jear and trembling.
  ence to the command in faith and repentance and                        In other words, believer  in God through Christ, cru-
  holy living.                                                        cify your members which are upon the earth and put
       This point is well illustrated by the Scriptures at            on Christ, because it is Goh who, by imparting unto           0
  Phil. 2 :5-12. "Let this mind be in you; which was al- you the life of Christ and working in you both to
  so in Christ Jesus: Who being in  the form of God,                  will and `to do, makes you to believe in ,God through
 thought it not robbery to be equal  with  ,God: but Christ. Desire and will to walk in. every good work
  `made  Himself of no reputation:. and took upon Him                 and do walk in them actually, because it is God who
  the form OY a servant, and. was made in the likeness                maketh ,you so to desire, will and do. He worketh in
  of men : And being found in.fashion as a man, He hum- you both to will and to do.
  bled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even                     Take notice then, how that in this discourse of the
. the death of the cposs. Wherefore God also hath liigh-              apostle the work of (God whereby  He worketh in His
  ly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above                 people both to will and to do, and His command to
  every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee                    Hi6 people  :. work your  own .-salvation, and their
  should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth,               obedience to it, are linked together not only, but set
  and things under the earth, And that every tongue                   forth in the relation of cause and effect or fruit. The
  should confess that Jesus is the Lord, to the glbry of              total of good works `of .the believer,their willing and
  the Father."                                                        doing the will  of God, their faith and repentance,
       "Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obey- .their laying aside sin and putting on Christ and their
  ed; not as in my presence only, but now much more walking worthy of the vocation wherewith they are
  in  niy  ZbsenCe,   work  &t your own salvation with                called with humbleness and meekness and with long-
  fear and trembling. For it is God that worketh  in suffkring bearing one another-are  ,God's works  in,
  you both to will and to do."            -                           them, one and all. For of them all He is the creator.
      Let us take notice of the command or  exhorta-                  And as a result, and in obedience to His  commancl
  `tion contained in this Scripture passage directed, as that they work out their salvation-a command spa;
  it is, to thk believers. It is this:                                ken in their hearts by Him, W&y work, walking in all
      "Work out your own salvation."                                  the good works prepared for them by Christ's atone- ,
      Second, let us take notice of how this command m&t and worked iri them ,by Christ's Spirit.
  or exhortation does not stand alone, but that, on the                 To separate in the preaching the exhortations of.
 I contrary, it is logically related to what in the above the Scriptures from the Gospel, the `obedience of the
  cited passage preceeds and follows it and this by the believers in repentance, faith, conversion and their
  two words `fwherefore" and "for?`, so that the reason-              holy co&ers&ion from the *Gospel  that ,God works in
 ing of the apostle here is verily this:                              them-both to will and to ,do, to fail always to set forth
      Work out your own salvation with fear and trem-                 in the preaching how things here are related, or even
  bling (the command) for, or, bec.ause  :                            to lay onesided emphasis on the exhortations of the
      2) IChrist, having taken upon Himself the form of               Scriptures and the obligations under which they bring
a servant, and having  .been made in the likeness of                  men, and definitely the believers, is not to preach the
  men htimbled  Himself and becam.e  obedient .even unto Bcriptures. It is not $0 preach as Paul preached, nor
  death, even +he death of the cross, and aGod therefore              as  any of the other of the  apOstles  and  pro.phets of
  s h o u l d   b o w .                                               the-scriptures preached. In all the  Scri&ures, Gos-  -


  24                                   +tiESTA-fiARD  BEARER                                        __-_           _        _          '
                                  -..---                                                           -
  ael and the coillmand or exhortation, the work of -Gocl                also in  their  i&ard`pa&s,  the  r&son,being that the-
  &hereby He works in His people both to will and to                     blood of the sacrifices-of this coveiant could not atone
  do, and the fruit of this work of God in them are. al-                 sin except symbolically. -But the. law external to man
  ways linked together. In combination,. the one with                    is the law as transgressed  .by  @an, for it  is riot in
  the other, they constitute' the ~Gospel of `Chrisf to'ahe              their hearts. Thus the `law external -to man curses
  believers.                                                `L,~
                       :  -  .,  .,                                      man. It calls for the Yev$ation  of the wrath o-f Gocl
        Let US adduce a-few other examples td' show $ow-
                                                     _                   over man. Therefore God's face assumed  an aspect
  true this is.                                             .I           so terrible there on  .the  mount. :                     .
        Said. the Lord to Abraham : "I am thy God:"` &is                    But ,the purpose was pedagogidal.  By those thunder-
 ,is ,Gospel.` And the command : "Walk before My fack                    ings  alid cursings  of the -law the Israel according to
  and be upright," And- the meaning? -Not, -certaihly,                   the election had to be driven in the- artis of Christ.
  `I will be thy God on the condition that thou walk-be-                 And~therefore  also&the very law called for the sacri-
  fore My face and be upright.' Did  `God speak one                      fice by blood by which the sins of- the people were
  language to Abraham aKd another language to New                        symbolically atoned, thus a sacrifice that was prophe-
  `Testament believers by the mouth bf -Paul? Certain-                   tic of  ,Christ in his suffering  2nd dying for the sins.
  ly not. .The meaning, then, is this : Abraham, just be-                of His people, -and in His, resurrection and exultation.
  caz..se  I `am thy IGod, the God of thy salvation in Christ            at the right hand of God.           "
  Jesus, walk thou before My face and be upright: It                        And therefore also Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and
  was but another way `of saying : Work out- thy sal- `Abihu and seventy of the elders of Israel went up to
  vation with fear and trembling, because it is ,God that `God on the mountain, and they saw the God of Israel-
  worketh in thee both to will-and to do.           :`
                                                                    (
                                                    I  -                 His face-and therk under His feet as it were a paved
        Let us now take notice of the law as pro&mlgated                 work of- sapphiu]e stone, and as it were the. body og
  from Mount Sinai.                                                      heaven  .in its clearness. And upon the nobles of' Isra-
        It was a terrible sight that the people were made                el  God. laid His hand. And there was a  sacrifke
  to behoid. We read, "And it came to pass on the&bird                   by blood on the mount, the flesh of which they did eat
  day in the morning, that there were thunderings an$                    in token of-their fellowship with God.
  a thick cloud upon the'*mount,  and- the voice of -the                    God then wa;s not angry with His people to destroy.
  trumpet exceeding loud, so that. the peocle that was, them for their sins. He only wanted to impress them
  in the camp trembled. And Moses brought forth'the with the fact of. His being holy God with eyes to pure
  people out of the camp to meet God ; and they stood at                 to behold sin and with the fact that, being thUs dis-
  the neither part of the mount. And mount, Sinai &as                    posed, He would redeem them from their' sins in the
  altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended                      blood of  ,Christ in  or$er that His tabernacle might
  on- it in fire ; and the smoke thereof descended as ,the               be with them.                            .'
sklloke of a furnace, and the whole` mount quaked                           And accordingly He  spake-to  them- from the  tbp
  greatly. And when the voice of the trumpet sounded' -of the Mount and from out of the dense cloud thus,
long and waxed louder  afid  louder;   gases spake- and                  "I am the Lord thy God, which hath brought thee
  IGod answered him by a voice." (Ex. 19 :16-19') "And                   out of the land of Egypt, out of the House of bondage,
so terrible was the sight, that Moses  said, I exceed-                   that is; in the language of the New Testament Scrip-
  ingly fear and quake." (Heb..                   12:21)                 tures, "I am the Lord thy God, the God of thy salva-
        What we here .behold on Mount Sinai is the face                  tion in (Christ Jesus, who delivered thee out of the bon-
  of God-the angel of the Lord, Christ Jesus {the pil-                   dage of sin and death anci clothed- thee with heavenly
  lar of cloud) -now assuming a most terrible aspect;:                   perf ecti& and glory. Theyefqre, because thou art my
  a black .cloud, streaked by lightnings, followed by peals              people in whom I am working now and everlastingly
  of thunder, `and a quaking mountain, all indicative of                 botli to will and to do, thou shalt. have no other Gods
  God's  holy. wrath, anger, avenging justice.                           before tie. , :but Me thy Gbd thou shalt love with $11
        The reason for this is found in the charact& of the              thy heart."
  covenant that the Lord was instituting with His people                    It was again Gospel that the; Lord was proclaim-
  here at Sinai. It was a symbolical-typical covenant                    ing'to His people there $t Sinai. And this is the way
  of grace in  the first  instance, the first  coventint, so             the command and the ,Gospel  is ppbclaimed  in the Scrip-
 `called in the epistle to the Hebrews. It was a coVenanf/               ture, proclaimed to His people, His elect in Christ,
  of external law, of law written pn two tabjes of stone                 namely in combination with each other and w it h
 .and not also in men's hearts. It was a covenant with Christ's #God the fouhtain and the cause of obedience
  the law external to men, `over and above them and not                  to the command.                                 G.  MI.  Ophoff'


