All Articles For From Holy Writ

Scripture says of Enoch that he walked with God. “And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters  And Enoch walked with God and he was not; for God took him.” Gen. 5:22, 24. That is by far the most unique biography that you can find anywhere in the annals of history or in the Scriptures.

*Paper delivered at the Ministers’ Conference of Classis West on March 4, 1948.

The Objective. Turning once more to the “General Course of Schools, we find that their objective is, ‘a thorough indoctrination of the pupil in the fundamentals of Study’ as prepared by the Lutheran Evangelical Christianity.”

There are two words that spell the depth of despair, the complete disillusionment of the sinner shackled in the bondage of sin and death. They are the two words, “In Vain”. It is the verdict of the righteous Judge of heaven and earth upon those who set their hearts and affections upon the things of this earth. In large, bold letters Gods writes over a world of wickedness, as it exists under His curse: In vain, vanity. It ends in eternal desolation of hell. Vanity is Deceptive Emptiness.

Scripture speaks of being dead in sin, but also of being dead to sin. Although the expressions appear very similar, they are entirely different, even mutually exclusive. A person is either dead in sin or dead to sin; if the one is true, the other, which is the very opposite, cannot be true. They are as different as eternal woe and eternal blessedness, as far apart as utter despair and infinite joy of salvation.

The expression “we and our children” is by no means unfamiliar to those who are at all acquainted in Reformed circles where the truth of God’s covenant is still cherished as our peculiar heritage. It is only natural for them to speak in one breath of themselves and their children, whether in their discussions, in their conversations, or in their prayers. But just because it is so common, its tremendous implications are liable to escape us.

Scripture often speaks of God’s face, especially in the Old Testament, but also in the New. This expression is even more common than we often realize, for the word for face, both in the Hebrew (panim) and in the Greek (prosoopon), is sometimes translated as countenance, and sometimes even as presence. For example, in Psalm 4:6 the word is translated as countenance, “Lord, lift up the light of Thy countenance upon us.” While in Psalm 16:11 that same word is translated as presence.

Scripture often refers to our relation to God as a relation of servants, our calling to serve Him, and our obligation to devote ourselves with our whole lives in His service.

In this brief essay we can only hope to sketch briefly the wide and varied implications of the rich concept “the mouth of the Lord”. We are dealing once more with an anthropomorphism, just as when we speak of God’s face or eyes. God is a Spirit and is not made up of substance as we are, yet our earthly substance carries a reflection of His divine perfections, so that we can know what it means that God sees, hears and speaks. Again we must remember that God’s mouth is divine, even as His face and His eyes.