PRO T EST ANT REF 0 R M E D THE 0 LOG I CAL JOURNAL. This Journal is published and distributed in limited

Transcription

1 l l \ j PRO T EST ANT RE 0 R M E D THE 0 LOG CAL JOURNAL Ths Jounal s publshed and dstbuted n lmted quanttes~ at no chage~ by the Theologcal School of the Potestant Refomed Chuches 0 nteested pesons desng to have the names on the malng lst should addess the Edto~ Pof. H. Hanko 3 at the addess of the school vanest Ave., SoW., Gandvlle~ Mchgan 494l8~ " [ THEOLOGCAL SCHOOL of the PROTESTANT REORMED CHURCHES Gandvlle, Mchgan May, 1975 Volume V, No. 2 _. -

2 l TABLE O CONTENTS lt \. Edtoal Comments _---- v Pof. H.. Hanko James 5: Pof. H. Hanko Calvn's Theoy of Semen Relgons Pof H. c. Hoeksema A Ctque of D. G. C. Bekouwevs HEen Halve Eeuw Theologel ~ Pof. H. C. Hoeksema l L l l C""l... -

3 ' '" "'l ) EDTORAL COHMENTS Wth ths ssue of the Jounal we complete eght yeas of publshng. How swftly the tme has gone by t seems but a shot tme ago that we began ths new ventue. And we ae contnually supsed by the gowth of ou subscpton lst and by the nteest you ou eades have shown n ou modest publcaton. We hope that we may contnue to hea fom you fom tme to tme. And f thee ae any who would lke to eceve the Jounal egulaly~ you need only send n you name and addess. We stll ae not chagng fo the Jounal. m ' ', Pof. Hoeksema has two atcles n the pesent ssue. The one enttled 1: Semen Relgons n Calvn;1s an unpublshed pape whch was delveed some tme ago at the student club of the Semnay. Ths atcle should pove of nteest to all who stand n the tadton of Calvn) the geat Refome of Geneva. Thee s consdeable confuson on ths pont whch Pof. Hoeksema dscusses J and we hope that hs pape wll help to clea the a on the matteo Hs second atcle s the begnnng of a evew of the latest book by D. G. Co Bekouwe: ""Een Halve Eeuw Theologe.;j (A Half Centuy of Theology) Thee was no tme fo Pof. Hoeksema to pepae a thoough evew of the book fo ths ssue snce he obtaned the book only a shot tme ago. We can, the Lod wllng~ look fowad to futhe comments n a late ssue. have begun a sees of atcles on exegess of James 5: t s hoped that these atcles on ths vey nstuctve and pactcal passage out of James? epstle wll be helpful especally to pastos n the pastoal wok. Pof. Decke hopes to contnue hs sees on the Semon on the Mount n the next ssue. We seek you payes and we would enjoy heang fom you when you have eactons to what 'you ead between these coves. - v -

4 \ om ' James 5: NTRODUCTON n ths and succeedng atcles~ the Lod wllng, we hope to offe to ou eades a detaled exegess of James 5: Thee ae seveal easons why ths passage s wothy of ou consdeaton. The fst eason s that, at least n pat~ ths passage 1 has been appealed to by Pentecostalsm n suppot of ts contenton that Scptue pomses us healng fom physcal dseases upon the paye of fath. t s woth ou whle to nvestgate whethe ths clam of Pentecostalsm s justfed by the text. The second eason why we fnd ths passage mpotant s that thee s n ou day~ especally wthn the moe consevatve chuch wold~ a enewed nteest n dscoveng what the Scptues have to say concenng the soluton to the poblems of lfe n whch the chld of God fnds hmself. Ths enewed nteest has been bought about n lage measue by the wok of D. Jay Adams~ pofesso of Pactcal Theology at Westmnste Theologcal Semnay. n vaous books whch he has wtten, he has done sevce to the chuch by pontng out that t s only n the Scptues that we can fnd ou solutons to the poblems of lfe whch we face. t s hs clam that moden day psychology and psychaty have usuped the place whch the chuch ought to occupy~ n the teatment of those wth mental poblems, and that wok whch ghtfully belongs to offcebeaes n God's chuch has been taken ove by psychologsts and psychatsts. t s hs contenton, and wth ths contenton we agee, that only a etu~n to the Scptues wll gve to us that whch s necessay to solve the p~oblems whch the beleve faces n the mdst of hs callng n ths wo~ld. We beleve that ths passage n James 5 s of consdeable help n undestandng the poblems whch the chld of God faces. t s not ou ntenton n ths atcle to examne n detal the clams of Pentecostalsm~ no s t ou ntenton to ente nto 10Ths s especally tue of VSSo 14, 150 p;;;l ] (mj\l ~ 1 -

5 1 ' n m l '1, the whole queston of psychatc teatment and ts elatonshp to behavo; t s ou ntenton athe smply to let the text as we dscuss t n detal speak fo tself. Ths does not mean that we shall not~ fom tme to tme, make some emaks n these two aeas~ but the emaks whch we have to make whch deal wth Pentecostalsm and wth the teatment of mental poblems wll be ncdental to ou exegess of the passage whch we hope to consde. t s ou hope that we wll dscove that Scptue has a geat deal to say about these mattes. THE MAN DEA O JAl'1ES EPSTLE The epstle of James as a whole has always pesented some poblems fo the student of Scptue. t s a well known fact that at one tme n hs lfe Luthe called the epstle of James, n a staw epstleo ~ He dd ths because'j falng to undestand the man dea of the epstle~ he came to the concluson that what s taught n ths book of the Bble stands n flat contadcton wth the tuth of justfcaton by fath as set foth fo example~ n such books as Romans and Galatans. t was only late on n lfe that Luthe undestood the man teachng of the book of James and changed hs opnon of t~ and consdeed the book to be genunely canoncal. Othes have clamed that, whle pehaps James epstle s canoncal, nevetheless thee s lttle o no gospel n James. t s the contenton of these exegetes that James, wth hs emphass upon the necessty of good woks) has faled to nclude n hs epstle the gospel of the coss of Chst. Ths too, s a seous msconcepton concenng James 1 lette. We poceed of couse, on the assumpton that the chuch has been hstocally coect n ncludng ths epstle n the canon of Scptues. And~ on the bass of ths assumpton, we nsst too, that ths epstle s pat of the nfallbly nsped Wod of God. And, because t s pat of the nfallbly nsped Wod of God, we mantan also that t s pat of the nfallbly nsped wtten ecod of the evelaton of Jehovah God n the face of ou Lod Jesus Chst. f ths s tue, as we beleve t s, we beleve futhe that thee s gospel n James. A caeful eadng of the text and a caeful study of the thought of the apostle wll demonstate that ths s ndeed tue 0 ("1'1-2 -

6 ' p:t L ", ' \ James s addessng hmself n ths epstle to a pecula poblem that exsted n some pats of the chuch n hs day and that stll afflcts the chuch of Chst to the pesent fom tme to tme. The poblem to whch James addesses hmsllf s ths. Thee ae always those n the chuch who~ whle they clam to have fath, nevetheless fal to manfest the fath n good woks. t s James' contenton that ths s 'mpossble. Afte all, fath s the bond whch untes the beleve to Chstc t s the lvng bond of fellowshp between Chst and Hs people. As such~ t s the lvng bond by whch the lfe whch s n Jesus Chst becomes the nhetance of those who belong to Chst. t s just because fath s the means wheeby the lfe of Chst becomes the possesson of the people of God that fath must also manfest tself n good woks. The lfe of Chst n the heats of Hs people comes to expesson n the lves n woks that ae accodng to the law of God. Thee s an nevtablty about ths. The lfe of Chst cannot eman hdden. t must come to outwad expesson. Hence, those who clam to have fath but do not do good woks qute obvously do not have fath at all. They have a fath whch s a countef6± fath, an mtaton of tue fath,a knd of fath whch~ although n some espects esemblng tue fath, s nevetheless not savng fath. t s not the fath whch bnds the beleve to Chst. t s a dead fath. And t s unfutful. Ths fundamental pont of the epstle s emphaszed especally by James n chapte 2: And all the emphass n the epstle on the pactcal lfe of the chuch of Jesus Chst s ntended by James to demonstate the mpotance of lvng out of a tue fath. t s ths man dea whch s also caed though n chapte 5: ' James 5: 13; s any mey? \, s any among you afflcted? let hm sng psalms. let hm pay. Befoe we ente nto the text as such t s pobably somewhat mpotant to ask the queston: what s the connecton between vs. 13 and the pevous context? Ths s always an mpotant queston n the exegess of any pat of the epstle of James. t s - 3 -

7 " ' l \ ' ', m m '. chaactestc of hs epstle that the connectons between the thoughts ae not always mmedately evdent. t seems oftentmes as f James tuns suddenly fom one thought to anothe and ntoduces an entely dffeent and unelated thought wthout any beak n the text. And so some commentatos have concluded that ths s also the case n vs~ 13. These commentatos have concluded theefoe that no connecton n the thought whatsoeve exsts. James s smply begnnng an entely new thought n ths passage. But t s usually tue when one caefully consdes the thought of the apostle that, whle the connecton may not be mmedately evdent, nevetheless thee s a close connecton n the thought whch s not dectly expessed. Some commentatos have ecognzed ths~ and they have consdeed the possblty that the apostle s pckng up n vs. 13 the dea of suffeng evl whch he aleady mentoned n vs. 10. Thee the apostle wote ~ ~Take, my bethen, the pophets) who have spoken n the name of the Lod, fo an example of suffeng afflcton, and of patence.'; ndeed, the same wod s used n VSe 10 whch s used n vs Ths s no doubt coect. n geneal we may say that James s tunng hee n ths secton to the subject of ou mmedate subjectve eacton to the ccumstances of lfe n whch ~ve fnd ouselves, and as the ccumstances have been descbed n pat n the pecedng. James has, thoughout the pecedng context, ndeed spoken of suffeng evl. And n ths and the followng veses, he tuns hs attenton to what oftentmes s and what ought to be ou eacton to these afflctons whch the Lod n Hs wsdom s pleased to put upon us. t mmedately becomes evdent that n vss. 13 and 14 the apostle asks a sees of thee questons, s any among you afflcted? s any mey? s any sck among you?'; The queston also ases theefoe, what s the elatonshp between these vaous questons. t s possble, of couse~ that James s meely 2 xq,xon:u8 ~U) ~ whch means, "to suffe evl ~ - 4 _.

8 L ~ descbng vaous fames of mnd n whch the chld of God fnds hmself, and that James gves nstucton as to what must be done n these ccumstances. n ths case~ thee would be no ntenal connecton between these questons at all. t s also howeve~ possble that James means to use a patcula ode that goes somethng lke ths. Ae you suffeng evl? Then pay. Does ths payng help so that you ae cheeful? Then sng psalms. O, s you mental fame of mnd so depessed that you ae ll and cannot pay? Then call the eldes of the chuch so that you wll be able to sng agan. No doubt) ths latte dea s coect, fo t s moe n hamony wth James ente appoach n the followng veses. But you wll notce, that f ths s the case, then James means also to say, that) n any case, sngng s the goal fo whch we ought to stve. f we may put t that way~ James s sayng that the nom fo the Chstan lfe s happness. Ths s the sptual nom. Ths s the nom fo whch Gods people ought to stve. ndeed~ ths s so much the nom~ that ths s tself the command of the Scptues. t s only when we ae happy that we lve n the pope sptual fame of mnd whch s pleasng to the Lod. Hence the apostle means that f we ae not happy but ae athe afflcted, we must pay~ We must pay because t s though paye that we wll once agan become happy. Thee s then the closest possble connecton between the two questons. Paye s the means to bng us tue sptual happness. But James also consdes the possblty that we fnd ouselves n such a sptual fame of mnd that we cannot pay. t s that to whch he efes n the fst pat of vs. 14 when he asks: lls any sck amon: you?l The answe -to ths queston s: "Let hm call fo the eldes of the chuch; and let them~ pay ove hm~ anontne hm wth ol n the name of the Lod: And the paye of fath shall save the sck~ and the Lod shall ase hm up) and f he have cojtl.mtted sns, they shall be fogven hm. H Ths then, s the elatonshp n vlhch these questons stand to each othe. \ _., 5 -

9 pm, ' m \ ~, f""'"' t, f'\.'l THE PROBLEM O ALCTON n geneal, whle sngng s cetanly the desable and necessay fame of mnd fo the chld of God, ths s not always possble. Sometmes we cannot sng because we ae afflcted. And t s to ths poblem that the apostle addesses hmself" The wod xa.xon:a8ew means lteally, lto suffe evlho t thus has a boade meanng than the tanslaton of the Authozed Veson 3 "afflcton. ~j Ths s why vaous tanslatons ende ths wod dffeently. The Revsed Standad Veson eads, Hs any among you suffeng?~ Both the Phllps tanslaton and the New Englsh Bble tanslate: ;'s any among you n touble?h The Dutch has: lls emand onde u n ljden. At any ate:;, the mean- ng of the wod whch the apostle uses s boade than mee ~afflcton"f' To suffe evl s actually to expeence some knd of evl; and suely afflcton, f looked at fom the subjectve vewpont~ s the esult of suffeng evl. The Authozed Veson s theefoe coect nsofa as t mples the' subjectve effect as t elates to ou fame of mnd. The meanng of the wod theefoe s not smply a efeence to the objectve ccumstances n whch we fnd ouselves and whch we would call evls~ but the wod also ncludes the subjectve eacton o the subjectve sptual fame of mnd n whch the chld of God fnds hmself because of ths evl whch he s called upon to suffe. These evls ae many~ Hthout gong nto detal concenng them~ we may notce that James hmself efes to some of them n the pecedng context. Especally he efes to pesecuton whch s often the lot of the people of God hee below. n VSSa 1-6 he efes especally to the pesecuton of the people of God whch comes at the hands of the wealthy. But moe n geneal he efes to pesecuton of all knds 0 fo he holds beoe ou eyes the exam~ pe of the pophets who sp6ke n the Name of the Lod and seve us as an example of suffeng afflcton and of patence. But he efes also to the case of Job, God gave Job tempoaly nto the powe of Satan, and Satan took fom Job eveythng he had ncludng hs healtho He lost all hs possessons and all hs wealth; he lost all of hs chlden; and he was afflcted wth gevous bols. Even hs wfe uged hm to cuse God and de. So no doubt to these (

10 ' : (, pm. pm \ p:::m \ \ f"n thngs espec~ly the apostle efes. Nevetheless, we may nclude n ths lst of evls all such evls whch befall the people of God of evey concevable k.nd 0 povety~ Somet.llJes these ae the evls of then agan the evls of sckness and bodly suffeng; then agan the chld of God s weghed down wth the many poblems of lfe so that hs way seems dak and dffcult to walk. O~ the Lod may take fom hm some loved one so that he s plunged nto the mdst of geat soow. All these ae, objectvely consdeed~ evls whch befall God 1 s people, The Psalmst wtes n Psalm 34: 19: 1Many ae the afflctons of the ghteous. l \\Je may even nclude n ths lst of evls the evl of sne The apostle hmself efes to ths n vs" 15 when he wtes ~ ;'and f he have commtted sns') they shall be fogven hm, t t s not at all supsng that the chld of God fnds that the sns whch ase out of hs snful natue and whch contnue to pla,ue hm all hs lfe hee below become fo hm a bone~ of mnd. geat evl) a heavy buden whch must be an occason fo much afflcton and suffeng. These objectve evls esult n a these evls~ subjectve, sptual fame So often t s tue that the chld of God, beset by s flled wth pan and anxety of heat and mnd. Oftentmes he s lonely. Doubts and feas~ peplextes and anxetes fll hs soul. Oftentmes Scptue tself gves expesson to these expeences of the sants. Jacob~ fo example, complans n Gen. 42; 36: :;Me have ye beeaved of my chlden ~ Joseph s not, and Smeon s not, and ye Hll take Benjamn away. All these thngs ae aganst me t ~; Especally the Psalms gve expesson to ths. He ead fo example n Psalm 4 2 ~ 7: 'ldeep calleth unto deep at the nose of thy watespouts: all thy waves and thy bllows ae gone ove me." O agan, n vs. 3 of the same Psalm~ 'HY teas have been my meat day and nght J whle they contnually say unto me, whee s thy GOd?H n Psalm 17, Asaph wtes: H sought the Lod~ my soe an n the nght') and ceased not~ my soul efused to be comfoted. emembeed God, and was toubled; complaned, and my spt was ovewhelmed. Thou holdest mne eyes wakng: am so toubled that cannot speak. have consdeed the days of old, the yeas of ancent tmes. call to emembance my song n the nght: commune wth mne own heat: -,. 7 -

11 l. f"'l'1 l mm t \ m" pm l. j and my spt made dlgent seach. Wll the Lod cast off fo eve? and wll he be favouable no moe? s hs mecy clean gone fo eve? doth hs pomse fal fo evemoe? Hath God fogotten to be gacous? hath he n ange shut up hs tende meces?" vss O agan) to cte but one moe passage, we ead n Psalm 88: 1-9: ;O Lod God of my salvaton, have ced day and nght befoe thee: Let my paye come befoe thee: nclne thne ea unto my cy~ o my soul s full of toubles: and my lfe daweth ngh unto the gave = am counted ttjth them that go down nto the pt: am as a man that hath no stength: ee among the dead, lke the slan that le n the gave, whom thou emembeest no moe: and they ae cut off fom thy hand. Thou hast lad me n the lowest pt, n dakness, n the deeps. Thy wath leth had upon me, and thou hast afflcted me wth all thy waves. Thou hast put away mne acquantance fa fom me; thou hast made me an abomnaton unto them: am shut up~ and cannot come foth. Mne eye mouneth by eason of afflcton: Lod, have called daly upon thee, have stetched out my hands unto thee. l1 Evey chld of God at one tme o anothe has found hs own deepest expeences echoed n these Psalms whch ae ncopoated nto the Scptues. We know that all these complants ae wong. Thee s sn nvolved when ou heats ae so deeply toubled. We fal to see Gods hand whch govens all ou lfe and makes all thngs wok togethe fo good. l~e fal to walk by fath and we fal to lve n quet chldlke tust. Nevetheless, these passages and many othes ae found n Scptue because they so often fnd an echo n the subjectve expeence of the chld of God who s beset by many evls. That thee s an element of sn nvolved s especally emphaszed by the fact that n othe passages n Scptue we have examples of sants who wee happy even n most tyng ccumstances. The thee fends of Danel wee flled wth peace and joy even at the pospect of death n the fey funace. See Danel 3: Paul and Slas sang psalms at mdnght n the pson n Phlpp though the backs wee aw and bleedng because of the stpes of the jale and though the hands and feet wee bound n stocks. See Acts 16: 25. The apostles could gve thanks that they wee counted wothy to suffe fo the name of Jesus. See Acts 5:

12 '., m m:1 The Scptues make clea that ou pope atttude towad all the suffengs and evls whch the Lod places upon us must be of patent and humble submsson to Hs wll and must be one of happness even n lfes most tyng hous. Nevetheless James knows that these tmes come nto ou lves when we ae afflcted and to ths poblem he tuns. PRAYER THE SOLUTON TO LE~S PROBLEMS What then s the soluton when we ae afflcted? The soluton, James says, s to pay. n geneal, we ought to notce fst of all that ths s Scptue's advce whch comes to us n the mdst of ou afflctons. Ths s not the advce of the wold. f you go to the wold fo advce n the mdst of these afflctons you wll fnd dffeent knds of suggestons to cue you of you many soows. SODe wll tell you to down you soows n pleasue, to get the most out of lfe whle you can, fo the happy moments of lfe ae few and~ between. Othes wll tell you to keep a stff uppe lp and bea as best you can wth stocal esolve the toubles whch ae you lot. n ou day t s nceasngly popula n the mdst of these many afflctons to consult a psychologst o a psychatst who wll pescbe tanqulzes o some othe theapy n an effot to esolve ou poblems and toubles. Elaboate and extended theoes ae spun out by leaned men n an effot to assst us n comng to gps wth the poblems whch we face. But the poblems ae sptual, and a cue pescbed by Scptue alone wll do. n the second place we ought to notce that the veb whch the apostle uses hee s n the pesent tense. 3 By the use of the pesent tense, the apostle James means to ndcate contnuous acton. ~]e could pobably tanslate ths ~ lkeep on payng. 11 The Scptues often empl1asze the necessty of ths n dffeent ways. Thee ae tmes when the Lod s not pleased to Rve us mmedately what we seek fom Hm. And when we do not mmedately 31poaeuXe c8w pesent mpeatve.

13 pq eceve fom the Lod that whch we seek fom Hm, the Scptues uge upon us to pesevee n paye. t s easy fo us to become dscouaged when we do not mmedately eceve that fo whch we seek. And t s easy fo us to conclude theefoe that the Lod wll not hea us anyway~ and that we mght just as well cease payng. But n dffeent ways the Scptues uge upon us the necessty of contnung to pay. When Jacob westled wth the angel at the Book Jabbok, he sought the blessng of the Lod. But he S ad to the angel 5 n wll not let thee go ~ except "thou bless me. 1; And because of hs peseveance the angel sad to hm: Thy name shall be called no moe Jacob 5 but sael: fo as a ~ \ t : pm 1 m ' " pnce hast thou powe ~vth God and wth men'j and hast pevaled. 11 See Gen. 32: The Syophoencan woman who sought the Lod n ode that He mght heal he daughte was almost coldly ebuffed by the Lod: and to cast t to dogs. ; ':t s not meet to take the chlden 1 s bead, But she pessted nevetheless n he pettons: '(Tuth 9 Lod: yet the dogs eat of the cumbs whch fall fom the mastes tabled': And she eceved that fo vjhch she soughto The same tuth s taught by the Lod n the paable of the fend at mdnght ecoded n Luke 11: n that paable 5 the Lod admonshes us: ~~Ask, and t shall be gven you; seek~ and ye shall fnd~ knock~ and t shall be opened unto you. o eveyone that asketh eceveth) and he that seeketh fndeth; and to hm that knocketh t shall be opened. t: See vss. 9, 10. Paye s a wondeful blessng and pvlege of gace~ wonde of paye s eaned fo us by the coss of Chst. has meted fo us on Hs coss both the ght to pay and the The Chst ablty to pay. Nethe do we have of ouselves. Of ouselves we have no ght to appea befoe God) fo we ae snnes; and no snne has the ght to stand n the pesence of the Holy One of sael. Chst has gven us ths ght though Hs pefect atonement D But no less do we la.ck the ablty to pay. t s mpos sble fo the man devod of gace to offe any paye at all whch s head by God. The powe and the ablty to pay, eaned by Chst on Hs coss, s gven to us though the opeaton of the Spt n ou heats. Ths wondeful pvlege of paye 1S God~s means to keep us.> 10 p f'll

14 " pn, j' n fellowshp wth Hm. As the fut of the Spt n ou heats, the Spt sts up ou heats and aouses wthn us the dese to ente nto Godvs fellowshp. Paye s the way to covenant communon wth God. Though the Spt 5 God teaches us to pay. He shows us though paye Hs geatness and gloy, Hs gace and love) Hs tende concen fo us n all ou needs. He gves us all we ask and teaches us the tuth of Hs Wod~ t s though paye that we ae comfoted n ou many afflctons. We often fal to undestand the wondeful blessng whch paye eally s~ t s the channel of communcaton wth ou heavenly athe. He need to wte no lette when we wsh to expess ou needs to God. We need to dal no telephone n ode to establsh connecton wth the swtchboad n heaven. We need to make no appontment n ode to gan access to the thone of gace. God s always pesent when we pay. Whethe t be n the daylght o n the deepest hous of the nght, whethe t be when fomally we bow ou heads n paye o when ou spts beathe foth paye as we go about ou daly tasks, the eas of the Lod ae eve open to the ces of Hs people. How geat s the gft of paye whbh s gven to us; yet hovj seldom eally do we pay. Nevetheless ths s the dvne cue fo afflcton. We have the pomses of the Scptues that though paye ou afflctons wll be taken away, Ths does not mean of couse, that God wll necessaly alte the ccumstances of ou lfe. He does not pomse us that He wll necessaly change that whch bngs afflcton and suffeng. f we ae sck and suffe bodly pan, He does not necessaly pomse to make us bette. f ou way s flled wth dffculty, le has not pomsed to emove the obstacles of lfe. f He has plunged ou souls nto soow though the loss of a loved one, He does not pomse to estoe such a loved one to ou sde. But whateve may be the way of lfe n whch the Lod s pleased to lead us, He wll gve us the gace to endue. He wll gve us sucease fom soow, joy and happness n the mdst of ou teas, and the assuance of Hs favo. He wll gve us fath to beleve that all thngs ae fo ou poodo And though we contnue to suffe evl objectvely, nevetheless the afflctons

15 t, t l pot l whch touble ou souls wll be taken fom uso Of ths also the Psalms often speako We need cte only one nstanceo n Psalm 116, the Psalmst agan gves voce to hs many complants 0 He wtes n vs 0 3: lthe soows of death compassed me~ and the pans of hell gat hold upon me: found touble and sootvo But the Psalmst payed 0 And he wtes n vs 0 4: ';~Then called upon the name of the Lod ~ 0 Lod, beseech thee:) delve my soul. ~tjhat s the fut of ths? The fut of ths s that the Psalmst says: HGacous s the Lod, and ghteous; yeas ou God s mecful. Retun unto thy est) 0 my soul; fo the Lod hath dealt bountfully wth thee. o thou hast delveed my soul fom death~ mne eyes fom teas~ and my feet fom fallng. ;~ vs s 0 5) 7 0 Hence~ poblems 0 paye and paye alone s the soluton to lfe's OUR CALLNG TO BE HAPPY The wod whch James uses hee 4 comes fom two sepaate Geek wods 0 The one wods s the gene~l wod fo passon o feelngo The othe wod 6 means vjelloh Thus lteally:. the wod means well~passonedj o of good feelng. The wod ';mey~? ljhch s used n the text~ s not eally a good tanslaton, fo n the usus loquend t has come to have canal connotatons 0 To tanslate ths by the {A7od ~'; cheeful~j s almost too ~ Jea.k 0 Pehaps ou Englsh wod :happyu s the best tanslaton we can 'fndo The Revsed Standad Veson tanslates ths wod by cheeful l The New Englsh Bble eads: ;:s any n good heat?, The Dutch has: as emand goedsmoeds? l n 1 w 12 -

16 pm 1 ;. '. Thee s a knd of woldly o ca~al mement whch s pesent n the elatonshps between men~ Ths woldly o canal mement s often meanngless and supefcal. t s expessed n slly laughte) bald jokes~ supefcal mement whch s only on the suface. One fnds t even n such expessons as, f'mey Chstmas t { ~ o, HHappy New Yea.. '/ Thee ae seveal thngs about ths eathly and supefca mement whch ae woth notng. n the fst place t s often a mement whch s an attempt to cove up an angushed and fea-stcken soul. The wcked expeence conscously the wath of God fom whch they constantly attempt to flee. And the flght, they thnk, s aded by extenal laughte. n the second place the jokes of the wold, as often as not, ae laughte ove lfes tagedes, o laughte about the sns whch ae pesent n the wold. Ths s even evdent n comc stps.. The wold makes jokes about the dsobedent son, the Denns the Menace. O the wold laughs ove the hen-pecked hus~ band who does not know hs pope God~ gven place n the famly, but s bowbeaten by hs wfe. n ths way the wold attempts to escape fom lfe's tagedes o to make a joke of lfe's sns. Ths type of laughte s evl.. Ths s not to say that the Chstan may neve laugh. Laughte has a legtmate place n the lfe of the chld of God. Thee ae many ways n whch laughte s an expesson of the joy of the Chstan and even of delght n one anothes fellowshp. But the natue of the happness of the Chstan s fundamentally dffeent fom the mement of the wold. Such happness ases fom a heat that s contented and at peace wth God and man. t s the happness of seenty and sptual tanqulty. t s not the happness that necessaly expesses tself n bosteous laughte, but t s a deep happness whch comes to expesson n a pofound and joyful lfe whch chaactezes the people of GOdo Such a happness s not necessaly detemned by the outwad ccumstances of lfe. One can fnd ths tue sptual happness n a peson who les upon a bed of unelentng pan. One can fnd such happness at the sde of the gave. One can fnd such happness n the lfe of the famly that lves n a hovel. All of ths s tue becuase t s a h~ppness whch s the fut of an - 13 _.

17 . \ m ~ P'l ftl ḟ expeental appopaton of the tuth of the Scptues. n all the wold~ the chld of God s eally the only one who s tuly happy. Ths s because the blessng of the Lod s upon hm. He ejoces n the conscousness of God's favo no matte what the ccumstances of hs lfe may be. Ths s theefoe also the callng of the Chstan. The people of God sometmes seem to be the saddest of all) the most gumpy and complanng. Yet they, of all men, have the only eason to be happy. Many tmes the Scptues pess upon us the callng to be happy. The Psalms fo example~ do ths agan and agan. We ae uged to ente nto God's pesence wth sngng; to make a JOYful nose unto the Lod, to ejoce befoe the face of God; to sng even when judgments come on the wcked" The Psalmst wtes n Psalm 48: 11: jlet mount Zon ejoce 7 let the daughtes of Judah be glad;j because of thy judgments. W But all of Sc pue caes ths same note. saah wtes n chapte 66: O:,,; Rejoce ye wth Jeusalem~ and be glad wth he~ all ye that love he: ejo~ce fo joy wth he, all ye that moun fo heon Zechaah, n chapte 9: 9 wtes: HRejoce geatly~ 0 daughte of Zon; shout 5 0 daughte of Jeusalem: behold, thy Kng cometh unto thee: he s just, and havng salvaton"ll The same s tue n the New Dspensaton ; fo example Jesus uges Hs dscples:) nrejoce~ and be exceedng glad~ fo geat s you ewad n heaven: fo so pesecuted they the pophets whch wee befoe you. j; Hatt 0 5: 12" Paul speaks of the sants as "soowful, yet always ejocng; as poo, yet makng many ch; as havng nothng, yet possessng all thngs.~ See Coo 6~ O~. Pete speaks of the sants as ejocng even when they ae n the mdst of fey tals. Pete 1: 6~9. And Paul sums t all up when n Phlppans 4: 4 he says: lrejoce n the Lod alway: and agan say J Rej oce. ~~ Ths then s what Scptue consdes to be the sptual nom of the chld of GOdo Ths s not to say that the chld of God s not called also by Scptue to be geved ove hs sns. James hmself n chapte 4~ 9 says: Be afflcted: and moun, and weep: let you laughte be tuned to mounng, and you joy to heavness. H ~ 14 n

18 l f"' p:l 1""1 "l JT"1 ~ And ndeed a boken spt and a contte heat s pleasng n GodYs sghto Nevetheless~ the chld of God appopates by fath the pomses of the Scptues. n soow fo sn he lays hold on Chst and expeences the joys and blessedness of fogveness. n the mdst of hs afflctons he heas the wod of God whch speaks to hm of God~s pomses whch ae hs nhetance. And theefoe~ whateve the ccumstances of hs lfe may be, he s called upon to be happy. THE CALLNG TO SNG PSALMS What s the chld of God to do when he s happy? James says accodng to the text ~ ~ let hm sng psalms.. The wod whch James uses hee 7 s a wod fom whch we get ou Englsh wod psalm. The wod tself comes fom a veb whch means lto pluck; o :to pull:' 0 And the efeence s to pluckng the stngs of a stnged nstument to make musc. om ths basc meanng:l the veb has come to mean:) ::to sng vjth accompanment. ~ And hence t efes to the sngng of pases to God. Once agan~ the apostle means to stess that ths must be contnuous on ou pat~ fo he uses the pesent tense of the veb ndcatng contnuous acton. We must contnuously snr pases to God. n the Hew Testament chuch the t\7od Hhch James uses hee came to efe to patcula songs of the chuch. The efeence was to the songs of Zon whch the chuch always sang and whch the chuch stll contnued to sng n the days~te Pentecost. These songs ae the songs whch ae found patculaly n the Bblcal Psalte. Thee ae~ of couse J othe songs ecoded fo us n Scptueo The chuch has always been a sngng chuch. We have ecoded fo us n the Scptues fo example~ the sones of Ham afte saelts passage though the Red Sea J of Deboah and Baak afte the vctoy ove Ssea 5 of Hannah at the tme of the bth of Samuel, of Habakkuk the pophet, of May and Zachaas and Smeon. The Old Testament sngng was an nte~al pat of woshp n the temple whee chos, muscans~ and composes wee P'" ~. 15 -

19 f"l'j P" 1 ) l ' employed 0 n fact j t appeas fom the Old Testament that the sngng n these woshp sevces of the temple was lmted to specal chos whch dd the sngng fo the confegatono But now n the New Testament:, because the chuch has the Spt of Chst~ the chuch no longe needs chos n he woshp sevces) fo the chuch heself s able to sng. Scptue even pctues the chuch n heaven as a cho whch sngs togethe the songs of Moses and the Lamb" See Rev. 5 ~ 11 0,.14 ~ 7 ~ 9~12;. 11 ~ 17 ~ 14 ~ l~5. Nusc tself s a pondeful gft of God. t s the hamony of sounds. Just as a pctue s the hamony of lnes and colos used to expess the tuth of God's wold:l so s the hamony of sounds expessve of some tuth n ths Vlold n whch we lve. ~fuen wods ae added to lycs~ the wods expess the tuth of the Scptues: and along wth the lycs~ f the two ae n hamony wth each othe; they become a poweful expesson of the nmost lfe of the sants~ Musc has an ntellectual aspect~ that s~ musc tself. By ts vey powe~ t conveys thoughts and deas. these But especally musc has an emotonal aspect. t conveys/though fgues~ mages~ hythm J hamones~ majo and mno keys~ etc. t s theefoe a most poweful foce~ easly undeestmated n ts mpact on ou lves. The sngng of the chld of God s a 7ft of the Spt. Only the chuch can know and love the tuth and can sne the songs of Zon fom the heat. By means of sones) the chld of God expesses theefoe the tuth of the Scptues~ hs pase to God Who has saved hm; the deepest longngs and needs of hs heat and lfe~ and expesses them n such a ',Jay that hs ~.vhole beng s taken up n t? Hence~ sngng s the way n whch the chld of God expesses best the happness whch s wthn hm. And t s to ths James efes when he admonshes us n ou happness to sng psalms. o by means of sngng the songs of the chuch~ we expess that ou happness s ooted n the salvaton whch God has ~ven to us n Chst Jesus. And expessng the happness whch s ous n ths gloous nhetance~ we~ by ou sonesj expess pase and gloy to Hm VJho alone s ~"Jothy of all pase and gloy foeve and eveo The dea s theefoe~ that not only s happness the sptual nom of the Chs tan lfe fo l.hch the chld of God must oj 16 -

20 stve, but ths happness whch s deeply n hs heat and mnd must be expessed n pase to God. All hs happness s the esult of what God has done fo hm. Thee s no happness apat fom ths. And ths must be expessed n the songs whch he sngs. " ", pm m ; P'1, l pl."j ) m James 5: 14; s any sck among you? let hm call fo the eldes of the chuch) and let them pay ove hm~ an~untng hm wth ol n the name of the Lod. NTRODUCTON n geneal, ths s one of those texts n Scptue whch has been so much abused and msntepeted that t s vey dffcult to see what the Wod of God has to say to us n.t. a t s not only text appealed to n suppot of fath healng by Pentecostals, but t s also appealed to n suppot of the Romsh doctne of ex-ceme uncton. t s well pehaps to take a healng as t fnds ts suppot n ths passage. mstake s the clam that James ~s hee speakng of physcal sckness. close look at ths dea of fath The undelyng t s tue that n the tmes of the apostles thee wee macles of physcal healng pefomed. Sometmes, although not always, ths was done though paye and poung on of ol. Jews used ol extensvely fo ts medcnal and cosmetc value. (See the paable of the good Samatan.) Appaently the Jews beleved~ The supesttously~ that ol could even chase away demons, though thee s no tace of ths n Jesus v teachng. Hence ths text s used to suppot healng though paye and anontng wth ol. Wthout gong nto ths matte n detal, we ought to notce the seous mstake whch s made. The macles n Scptues always seved a specfc pupose. 1acles wee pctues of the powe of the gospel of the coss of Jesus Chst to heal the people of God of all the sptual dseases. Hence j macles wee added to the gospel n the days when the canon was not yet complete as sgns and confmaton of the tuth whch the gospel poclamed. Wth the passng of the apostolc peod and the completon of the canon~ the need fo macles s gonec Ths s not to say that God _. 17 -

21 L ~ ~ V7" cannot pefom macles anymoe; suely He can should He so dese. But thee s no need to pefom macles anymoe because we have the completed canon as the full confmaton of the gospel. ths s suffcent fo the people of God. The macles whch Pentecostals clam to pefom ae qute dffeent fom the macles of Scptue. They ae showy? ostentatous; and n no way ae connected wth the peachng of the gospel. They seem ndeed to epesent the same knd of clamong fo a the wcked Jews. gospel. And sgn whch chaactezed But they have nothng to do wth the tuth of the Also the Roman Catholcs 1n the theoy of exteme uncton appeal to ths passage. evdent that a Ths vew teaches that when t seems peson s gong to de, he must be anonted wth ol. A pest anonts the eyes, eas, nose~ mouth, hands, kdneys, a~d feet wth consecated olu Ths s ntended to ease the buden of sn and gult and thus to make ease the last tp though death and pugatoy to gloy. We need not take the tme to efute ths vew. James says nothng of all ths n the text. THE SCKNESS TO WHCH JAMES REERS The ente meanng of the text hnees on the meanng of ~"sck~~ n geneal, ths text s ntepeted as f ths passage efes to physcal sckness. But f ths s taken n the context of the whole vese~ thee s a false assumpton. The assumpton s that f we pay eanestly enough when we ae made sck, we shall ndeed be cued of ou dseases. O~ as t s sometmes sad~ f a lage goup gathes togethe fo a paye meetng~ desed esults can be obtaned whethe the paye s fo healng o fo someone n dange o fo any othe eason. That s? the noton s held by many that by a stom of paye fom a multtude of people~ God can be pevaled upon to do what we ask. Ths s a vey canal and unscptual concepton of paye. Ths does not mean that we cannot pay fo ecovey when we o someone we love o someone n the chuch s ll. But when we BOThe Geek uses hee the wod cla8ev8w

22 ' ) \ "l 1 ' j ('\'lm " pay fo ecovey, t s then an expesslon of ou deel)8st dese whch we bng to the thone of gace~ And we bng ths to the thone of gace~ not fo canal easons~ but fo sptual easons. And fo ths eason, we bng ths petton to the thone of gace always addng~ :Thy wll be done. Gve us gace to submt wth thankfulness to Thy wll. Although t s tue that the wod whch the apostle uses hee s oftentmes used n Scptue fo physcal sckness~ ths s by no means always the case. ~lle ead fo example n Rom. 8: 3: H o what the law could not do) n that t weak though the flesh... ~~ 9 t s obvous that the wod tweakness 7 n ths passage, whch s dentcal to the wod whch James uses, cannot possbly efe to physcal llness. Stonge yet) n Romans 4: 19 we ead:?land beng not weak n fath;, he consdeed not hs own body now dead.. 0 Hee the same wod whch James uses s emphatcally used of sptual weakness~ of the weakness of fatho lo Ths wod and ts cognates s theefoe often used n Scptue to efe to sptual weakness. See such passages as Co. 2~ 3; Reb. 5: 2; 1:28; 4: 15; Co. 7: 5-9. That ths wod can efe to moe than physcal llness s also evdent fom ts etymology. The wod tself comes fom the Geek wod~o o8evos ) whch means stength plus the alpha pvanso Thus, etymologcally~ the efeence s to any knd of lack of stength whethe physcal o sptual a n the thd place, the context efes vey emphatcally to sn; Hand f he have commtted sns, they shall be fogven hma V1 t s theefoe n keepng wth the context that the efeence s to a weakness whch s due to the lack of the conscousness of the fogveness of sns, and s theefoe a sptual weakness a nally~ the text speaks emphatcally and wthout qualfcaton of ths paye beng answeed wth healng. But t must be emembeed that we have n all the Scptues no pomse of God that He : \ 9o~V ~ Do8ev81 Ol~ ~VC o~px6s. lo.xat ~~ doe8v~oa, ~ft nto~8t. ~. 19 ~.

23 l. ( 1 ) ~ p;:j, t j wll always make us bette when we ae physcally scko Not even fath heales dae to can ths absolutely. We conclude theefoe~ that the efeence of the text s to sptual weakness 6 Ths does not mean that thee s not oftentmes a elatonshp between physcal and sptual weakness6 Cetanly t s tue that all ou physcal scknesses ae the dect esult of the entance of sn nto the wold. And we also know that thee ae cetan patcula sns whch ae always punshed wth physcal llnesses of one sot o anothe. Ths s tue of dunkenness, of chonc mmoalty~ of dug abuse. uthemoe God sometmes sends Hs people physcal llnesses to chastse them n ode to puge them fom the sns, to stengthen the fath, and to teach them to tust n Hm and to walk n Hs ways. Besdes all ths, t s also tue that Godfs people, because of the close elatonshp between body and soul, ae n tmes of geat physcal weakness because of suffeng and pan, also sptually weako Yet thee s no had and fast ule. God, gulty of many sns~ Thee ae many people of who ae not gven any physcal chastsement n the sense that they ae chastsed wth physcal scknesses. And thee ae sants who ae called upon to suffe the seveest physcal tals wth no appaent sptual eason, and whose fath shnes as a bght and shnng lght. But the pont whch James s makng hee s clea. n vso 13 he has descbed the nom of the ChstanVs lfe as beng one of happness~ And he has admonshed the chuch that~ when they ae happy~ they must sng psalms~ But he has consdeed the possblty that sometmes n the mdst of many afflctons n whch the Lod s pleased to place us 9 we ae unable to sng psalms because we ae unable to be happy. The pescpton of the Scptues n these ccumstances s that we ae then to pay. Paye wll be the means wheeby happness s once agan estoed to the heats of God 1 s people. But James consdes the possblty that some of the sants wll say to hm, But James:') what f we cannot pay? la7hat f ou afflctons and anxetes ae so geat that paye becomes mpossble fo us?n As evey chld of God knows, ths sometmes happens 0 He tuns to the Lod n paye~ but he seems unable to pay 0 He knows not what he should pay fo as he ought 0 O, the

24 , " ~ 1 '. " ) wods of hs payes stck n hs thoat. O, although he s able to go though the motons of paye and although he s able to utte the wods of paye, nevetheless, hs payes do not seem to get above the oof of the oom n whch he pays, and they seem unable to cay hm nto the pesence of God. v.~at then? What unde those ccumstances must the chld of God do? Ths nablty to pay s the sptual sckness o weakness to whch the apostle efes. fo vaous easons. even yeas of suffeng and pan. Such sptual weakness may come t may be the esult of days o months o t may be the fut of geat tals of sckness when we ae bought ngh unto death. t may also have ts oot n some sptual cause. t may be the esult of ou falue to lve a lfe of fath and tust n God. t may be because of the fact that thee s some patcula sn whch we cannot o wll not fosake. esult n an nablty to pay. All these easons and many moe may The esult s that we becqme sptu~11y weak. We lose the joy of salvaton~ the assuance of God's love j the confdence of fath. We lose the peace of heat and seenty of soul that comes wth the knowledge of God's love. We ae thown nto deep and dak tumol of soul so that we cannot pay. Paye does not cay us nto the pesence of God and fals to bng us nto the sanctuay of heaven. As the Psalmst expessed t: ''The thought of God bought me no peace, but athe made my See Psalm 77. THE CURE O SCRPTURE feas ncease. n The apostle answes the queston of what we must do f we ae sptually weak by sayng: ELet hm call fo the eldes of the chuch; and let them pay ove hm, anontng hm wth ol n the name of the Lod., t s well to emembe at the outset that ths s the couse of acton whch s pescbed by the Scptues. And because ths s the couse of acton pescbed by the Scptues, t s ths couse of acton whch alone wll bng solutons to ou poblems. When the apostle speaks of the eldes of the chuch, he efes to both mnstes and eldes~ fo the fome ae teachng eldes _. 21 -

25 ' \ whle ~he la~tq a~e ~Ulng eldes. Both may be called. We do well to emphasze the mpotance hee of the eldes n the chuch of Chst. The eldes ae those who ae called and apponted by Chst to ule and to teach n Chst's Name n the mdst of the sants. Chst does not ule dectly ove Hs people, fo He s n heaven and we ae on eath. And He, as God so often does, bnds Hmself to the use of means n the ule whch He extends ove Hs people. Nevetheless, though the eldes, t s Chst Hmself tvho vey eally ules ove the lves of Hs people by means of Hs Wod and Spte vfuen theefoe, the people of God call to themselves,ll they vey eally call Chst. Thus the eldes ae entusted wth the sptual cae of the sants. They ae the shepheds of God's sheep~ the guadans of the souls, the caetakes of the sptual well-beng, the ovesees of the lfe fom a sptual pont of vew. n a vey eal sense, when the sants call the eldes they call Chst Hmself. Ths must be emphaszed? fo we have hee an admonton. Thee s mpled at least, a cetan esponsblty whch falls upon the eldes n ths connecton. They ae the eldes of the chuch of Chst. As eldes of the chuch of Chst, the esponsblty fo the cae of the sheep of God falls upon them. They must theefoe be always avalable when the sheep call. They must be avalable fst of all n that they ae always able to come at any tme the sheep summon them n the need. Thee s nothng at all whch may ntefee wth ths. But they must be avalable too n the sense that they ae sptually eady to come to the assstance of the sheep n the need. t would be a teble thng f a sant summoned an elde to come to hm to pay fo hm because he hmself could not pay, only to have the elde say to hm: "But you had bette get someone else, because can't pay ethe.~; The eldes n Gods chuch must theefoe be sptually avalable. They must be themselves constantly n a sptual fame of heat and mnd so that they can bng Chst ~llo alone can solve the poblems of Hs pp.ople and estoe to them the joy of salvaton. Chst comes to Hs people when the eldes bng the Wod of lftpooxuaeogo8w ~ aost mddle mpeatve, thd peson sngula. The veb s appaently the eflexve mddle, and means Hlet hm call to hmself. p.~ L. 2 -

26 . m' ~ R 'l C"1ft ~ '" 1 God.. Ths too s mpotant to emphasze.. How aely s ths done n ou day.. On the one hand~ offcebeaes n the chuch of Chst often quckly sluff off the esponsbltes when the people of God ae n touble and stee the people of God to othes.. f the poblems of God 1 s people nvolve the maages, the eldes quckly send them to a maage counsello. f the poblems nvolve toubles whch plague young people, the eldes send them to those who ae supposed to be sklled at dealng wth the poblems of the young. f chlden seek the help and the advce of eldes; teaches ae consulted who ae supposed to be some knd of elte especally adept at dealng wth the poblems of chlden.. f the poblems whch the people of God face and whch make t dffcult fo them to pay ae poblems of mental afflcton, the eldes hastly summon the ad of psychatsts and commt the sheep to the cae of those who ae sklled n psychatc technque.. O, on the othe hand, f the eldes themselves attempt to deal wth the poblems whch they encounte, they play the ole of docto o psychologst o psychatst.. They come to the sheep wth wods of woldly wsdom.. They leave the Bbles n the pockets and the Wod of God n the studes and they come wth wods of men's wsdom. But ths s of no aval to the people of God n the mdst of the afflctons.. The eldes n the chuch of Chst have only one powe~ and that s the powe of the Wod of God. t s wth that Wod of God that they must come 0 What must the eldes do? The text says:;let them pay ove h lm...,12 L. 11 h d ~ h " t. 1.tea y t e text ea s ~ 'let tj em pay upon hj.mo And the dea s that the offcebeaes of Chst must pay on behalf of Gods people as ntecessos.. They come to God's people n the needs~ deeply conscous of, and undestandng fully these needs of God's peopleo But because the people of God n the touble cannot pay, they act as ntecessos.. Ths paye must be n the Name of the Lodo 13 Thee s a queston whethe Chst o God s efeed to he'e by the name ~lthe Lod.. ',\ Pobably ~'L 0 1.".~ XCLt 1Cpoo'eo~u.c wac)) t:'t CCl0170)) h h 1. "'" ~." A " t e pase ev ~w ovo~a~~ 'tou xup~ou appaently modj.fj.es the ente clause and not only the patcple~daet~cv~e~ "~ 2 3.~

27 " l, [ l howeve, the efeence s to Chst, fo ths was the case n the pecedng context, and s agan the efeence n vs. 15. Yet t makes no essental dffeence, fo we always go to God though Chst. f God s efeed to) the emphass falls on the fact that the paye s an ntecessoy callng upon the Name of Jehovah. Thus the offcebeae stands between the sck and God. The esult of ths ntecessoy paye wll be that the sck ae led to God. The sck ae bought, though the payes of the eldes, to the thone of gace so that they can be bought conscously nto God's pesence. Thus) as t wee, they ae taken on the wngs of the payes of the eldes nto the sanctuay of heaven. \fuen they themselves cannot pay, the eldes n the chuch of Chst~ by means of the payes, pay fo them, and cay them nto God's pesence whee they cannot go by the own stength. The apostle adds, lanontng hm wth ol. Hl4 Ths phase must not be taken n the lteal sense of the wod. James uses many such Old Testament fgues whch he does not ntend to be taken lteally, but whch must be taken n the sptual sense. o example~ n chapte 4: 8 the apostle efes to Old Dspensatonal foms of cleansng when he says: "Daw ngh to God, and He wll daw ngh to you. Cleanse you hands, ye snnes; and pufy you heats, ye doublemnded. f Rathe:; ol s a symbol of the Holy Spt. And anontng wth ol n the Name of the Lod means that the paye whch s offeed as an ntecessoy paye by the eldes s a paye fo the Holy Spt. t s a paye that the Spt may come upon the sck and estoe those sck to sptual health. Ths s eally the pupose of the paye of offcebeaes, and ths s the cue fo the afflctons whch come upon the people of God. And so n ths way the people of God wll be once agan estoed to that sptual condton n whch they wll be able to pay. And f they ae themselves once agan able to pay, they wll also once agan be able to be happy. They wll be happy n spte of what the extenal ccumstances of the lfe may be. And n the happness they wll be able to sng songs of pase to the God. "

28 , f""l "' l f"' pm Calvn's Theoy Of Semen Relgons ~-Pof. H~C. Hoeksema-- n Book of hs nsttutes Calvn teats the subject of the knowledge of God; and t s n ths secton of the nsttutes that the subject of a semen elgons fnds ts place. We can do no bette, theefoe, wth a vew to undestandng the context of ths theoy of Calvn than to quote fom the Geneal Syl1abusc the nsttutes, Vol., pp. 41, 42: So the fst book s on the knowledge of God, consdeed as the Ceato, Peseve, and Goveno of the unvese at lage, and of eveythng contaned n t. t shows both the natue and tendency of the tue 1010wledge of the Ceato--That ths s not leaned n the schools, but that eve~ man fom hs bth s self-taught t--yet that the depavty of men s so geat as to coupt and extngush ths knowledge, patly by gnoance, patly by wckedness) so that t nethe leads hm to glo~ God as he ought, no conducts hm to the attanment of happness--and though ths ntenal knowledge s assst~d by all the ceatues aound, whch seve as a mo to dsplay the Dvne pefectons, yet that man does not poft by t--theefoe, that to those, whom t s Gods wll to bng to an ntmate and savng knowledge of Hmself, He gves Hs wtten wod; whch ntoduces obsevatons on the saced Scptue--That He has theen evealed Hmself; that not the athe only, but the athe, Son, and Holy Spt unted, s the Ceato of heaven and eath; whom nethe the knowledge nnate, by natue, no the vey beautful mo dsplayed to us n" the wold, can~ as to glofy Hm. n consequence of ou depavty, teach us to know so Ths gves occason fo 'teatng of the evelaton of God n the Scptue, of the unty of the Dvne Essence, and the tnty of Pesons. ---To pevent man fom at butng to God the blame of hs o~~ voluntay blndness, the Autho shows the state of man at hs ceaton, and teats of the mage of God, feewll, and the pmtve nteety of natue --Havng fnshed the subject of ceaton, he poceeds to the consevaton and govenment of all thngs, concludng the fst book wth a full dscusson of the doctne of dvne povdence