(Kersten, Heidelberg Catechism, Vol.1. part 6) The Anguished Cry of a Convicted Sinner For Deliverance Lord's Day 5 Psalter No. 40 st. 1, 2 Read Psalm 49 Psalter No. 135 st. 1,4, 5 Psalter No. 362 st. 1 Psalter No. 337 st. 1, 2 Beloved: The redemption of the soul is too precious to be brought about by all the treasures of the world. And yet, natural man placed his confidence in those treasures, as the poet of Psalm 49 has seen. It is for him as for Asaph in Ps. 73, an enigma that the wicked prospered, while the righteous must go their way with many afflictions. But the Lord solved the enigma when He showed him the insignificance and brevity of the happiness of worldlings. Strutting in pride, their inward thought is that their houses should stand forever and their dwelling places to all generations, exalting themselves as they seek for honour, they call their lands after their own names. Nevertheless, man being in honour abideth not; he is like the beasts that perish. Soon God cuts off his life, and he must stand before God's judgment seat. The ground of the worldling's confidence, their earthly possessions, they must leave to others, and even if they had gained the whole world, they shall lose their soul and never redeem themselves nor their brother, nor give God His ransom. Nevertheless, God demands for the redemption of the soul a perfect satisfaction for His righteousness which was violated by sin. That demand shall never cease. Whatever man may lay upon the balances is weighed, and found wanting. All creatures in heaven and on earth together can not give the required ransom. We hear the cry, "Lost! lost!"; for the redemption of the soul is too precious. To attain that redemption we need a righteousness that can only be granted by Him, Who is not only very and righteous man, but who is more than all men, namely, very God. Would not then they who know themselves to be guilty before God because of their original and actual sin, and see every way of being saved cut off for them cry to God, asking whether there is still a way of escape? This anguished cry we hear in the fifth Lord's Day of our Heidelberg Catechism. Lord's Day 5 Q. 12: Since then, by the righteous judgment of God, we deserve temporal and eternal punishment, is there no way by which we may escape that punishment, and be again received into favour? A. God will have His justice satisfied: and therefore we must make this full satisfaction, either by ourselves, or by another. Q. 13: Can we ourselves then make this satisfaction? A. By no means; but on the contrary we daily increase our debt. Q. 14: Can there be found anywhere, one, who is a mere creature, able to satisfy for us? A. None; for, first, God will not punish any other creature for the sin which man has committed; and further, no mere creature can sustain the burden of God's eternal wrath against sin, so as to deliver others from it. Q. 15: What sort of a mediator and deliverer then must we seek for? A. For one who is very man, and perfectly righteous; and yet more powerful than all creatures; that is, one who is also very God. Hear in this Lord's Day the anguished cry of the convinced sinner, and learn I by whom this cry is uttered, II by what only means an answer to this cry is possible, III which sure way is shown in answer to this cry. I The first question of this Lord's Day tells us by whom this anguished cry is uttered: it is the troubled sinner who sees no way of escape. All his attempts proved unsatisfactory and at wit's end he cries, "Is there no way by which we may escape that punishment, and be again received into favour?" It is a cry for deliverance, while submitting to God's justice, for the questioner acknowledges that by the righteous judgment of God he deserves temporal and eternal punishment. The doctrine that God, according to His unalterable righteousness, can not but punish our original and actual sin with temporal and eternal punishment, may be too hard for many, but he who through grace has seen the state of His misery acknowledges God's justice. Without making any allowances, he admits that according to the righteous judgment of God he has merited those punishments. God's holy law wrought within him the knowledge of sin by the operation of the Holy Spirit, so that he experienced that he could not keep the law of God, because he is prone by nature to hate God and his neighbor. In the depth of misery he saw that he was a transgressor of all God's commandments, unable to keep one of them, try as he may. He counts the irrational creatures happier than himself. It seems to him that the stones of the street call to him that he does not deserve to tread upon the earth, and that all men can read upon his forehead how miserable he is, and that, as Lord's Day 3 showed, by his own fault. Oh, such a man will not blame God for his misery, but acknowledges that he himself is the cause of it, because of willful disobedience and breach of the covenant in Adam. In Adam he himself broke the Covenant of Works. Adam's sin is his sin, increased by him daily. God therefore must punish that sin with the judgment of eternal death. How can it be otherwise? Moreover he has learned to love the righteousness of God, and he would not use any way of escape that does not glorify all God's perfections. But that makes his salvation impossible and cuts off all his hope. We must notice that in those that are savingly convicted, a submission to the justice of God is wrought. Such a convicted sinner could never, though he were assigned to hell, curse God, but would eternally cry out that God is righteous. He would subtract nothing from the righteousness of God. He will thus bow under God and cry for a way of escape, only when all hope of being saved by the works of the law is cut off. When the Holy Spirit leads His people, Law and Gospel, Moses and Christ are not intermixed. As it is His work to glorify the work of Christ in the elect, so it is His ministry to remove from man all grounds outside of the only Mediator. We can never rightly value the Lord Jesus without forsaking all outside of Him, and he who never learned to see his own works as insufficient for salvation has never truly sought refuge in Christ by faith. Yea, the people drawn by God, that seek too much to satisfy God and make their tears and experiences their ground, rather than Him Who is the stone laid by God as the headstone of the corner, that people must be deprived of all that in which they seek life. As entirely lost persons, they must seek a way by which they can again be received into favour, a way revealed by God. The Lord taketh away the first that He may establish the second. Then the dire need of their soul causes them to persist in beseeching and crying to God, Who draws them with the cords of His loving kindness and leads them with weeping and supplication. Ahab humbled himself only outwardly, but knew nothing of true humiliation before God, nor of true seeking after God. But the sinner, convinced by the Holy Spirit, who is willing to sign his death sentence with his own blood, nevertheless cries to God, "Is there no way by which we may escape that judgment?" "With men," the Lord Jesus once said, "that is impossible, but it is possible with God." And although the fear is great, and the way is narrow, still there is in the heart of the sinner who submits to the righteousness of God, a hope in God that with Him a way of escape is possible. This causes him to persevere and cry, "Is there still a way, a way with Thee, O God, a way in which we can both escape the well-deserved punishment and be again received in favour?" To be again received into favour, means to be restored into God's favour and fellowship. The purpose of the lost sinner is not only to be relieved from the punishment of hell, but his soul desires to be again received into favour, that is to be restored into communion with God. In the state of innocence Adam did not need grace, as we do for the forgiveness of our sins; for in that state man had no sin, but lived in the blessed fellowship and favour of God. By sin that communion was broken, and after that communion the convicted sinner thirsts. He wants God. How many are stricken in their conscience for a while, and fear hell; but if the fear of eternal condemnation is taken away, they are at rest. But he who learns to know truly his sinful heart, who by a saving discovery of his state of misery sees the righteous judgment of God, thirsts after God as a heart after the water brooks, after reconciliation with God and restoration in His favour. He loves God, however much he has provoked Him with his sins, and that love seeks not only to escape the righteous judgment, but also to attain communion with God. That is what the question means: "Is there no way by which we may escape that punishment, and be again received into favour?" That is a mark of the true work of grace. He who is a stranger of this thirsting after God, has no knowledge of the life that is born of God. This asking about being received into favour, keeps the soul from taking any rest until it has found peace with God in Christ. The efficacious, clear discovery of the Holy Spirit is profitable to the soul itself, because it drives us from all rest outside of Christ and causes us to remain active to rest by faith in God. There is nothing more harmful to the people of God than to rest in the grace received. This is the fruit of the redemption in Christ, but not the ground upon which we may rest. Oh, how necessary it is that we see our state of deep misery in order that we may again be received into favour, and reconciled with God in Christ, may have communion with the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. To have that communion is the main purpose, for that was broken by our fall. God's elect are, however, in Christ, in whom the Father is well pleased, returned to the Father's heart of love, not only in the closing of the covenant in eternity, when Christ was by the Father, as one brought up with Him, and was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him, rejoicing in the habitable part of His earth, and His delights were with the sons of men; but those given by the Father to Christ, were also restored into reconciled relationship and communion with God, when their Surety and Savior had paid all their debt by death, and having risen again, ascended to heaven and sits at the right hand of God. Then all the elect were placed in heaven with Him. And both in the Covenant of Grace in eternity, and in the execution of it in Christ, God's people are restored in a state of reconciliation and communion with God. Upon that foundation alone their guilt and punishment is removed and they, who are children of wrath as all others, are again received into favour. Then the Spirit of God shall bear witness with their spirit that they are children of God. It is for this restoration in God's favour that the totally lost sinner seeks. Is there no way to attain this since all means from man's side are cut off? Deeply embarrassed, out of the soul's great need, the child of Adam seeks it. The Catechism instructs him, II by what only means an answer to this cry is possible. The way is shown A. by holding up the demand of God's justice; B. by showing how impossible it is for man to give satisfaction. In the answer to the 12th question the instructor again places the perplexed sinner, in whom all hope of being saved is taken away, before the justice of God, saying, "God will have His justice satisfied, and therefore we must make full satisfaction, either by ourselves or by another." Many would call this a very harsh answer. If such a person in such a state would come to you or to me, asking, "Is there still a way for me to be saved?" would we not be inclined to encourage him with all kinds of comforting texts? Do not thousands call, "Just believe in Jesus?" Yea, everyone is urged to do so, even if the arrows of God's law have not wounded his soul. Compare such an answer to one that says that God will have His justice satisfied, and He demands payment in full. We must pay, even to the last penny. Oh, let us cease building upon frames and feelings. If they truly see that they are guilty of transgressing God's law and are subject to the righteous judgment of God, they shall disdain your hollow comforts, and if they rely upon them, they shall draw the soul away from Christ. The damage done by disregarding the inexorable demand of God's righteousness can never be described. And now, I am not only thinking of the Orpah's who are fond of God's people and do want to live with them until they fall away, but I am thinking especially of those who have been quickened by the Lord out of their state of death, who complain as a living man about their sins. The damage done is unspeakably great if they are not placed before God's judgment seat. Christ shall never be desirable for them if they do not learn what it means, that God's justice must receive full satisfaction; and they cannot give that satisfaction with their convictions, tears, prayers, and promises. God cannot be content with their good intentions. The Pelagian, the Armenian and the Modernist would leave no room for God's righteousness, and the Socinians would mock this doctrine, but God demands perfect satisfaction, perfect obedience to the law on pain of death to all eternity. Therefore the Roman Catholic Church sinks away with all its good works, as the house of the foolish builder, "which built his house upon the sand." The satisfaction which God demands is bearing the punishment threatened upon sin, and rendering perfect obedience to the law. If God could subtract even the very least part of this demand, why could He not just as well, as the wicked Socinian teaches, give up entirely the demand of His righteousness and forgive sins without demanding satisfaction? In the previous Lord's Day already we observed that this heretic teaches that God forgives sins without asking satisfaction. According to Socinus, forgiving excludes satisfaction. If we are able to pay our neighbor what we owe him, we neither ask nor accept forgiveness. How then can we speak of God forgiving sin only when His justice is fully satisfied? Because the forgiveness by which God blots the sins of His people out of His book, does not rest upon a satisfaction brought by the elect, but by God Himself. God's only and natural Son, He Who with the Father and the Holy Spirit is the true and eternal God, has paid the penalty for His people by His suffering and death in our human nature. The elect are reconciled to God by God. They themselves did not pay even the smallest part of the huge debt which is entirely forgiven them. The demand of satisfaction to the violated righteousness of God rested upon Christ as the Surety of His people. God Himself paid in full by His active and passive obedience, but the sins of God's elect are forgiven freely out of God's grace which is in Christ Jesus. Therefore forgiving does not preclude the demand of full satisfaction. Socinus also contested the doctrine of reconciliation by the passion and death of Christ as impossible. Among men a surety can only function in the case of financial debt, but for one person to die in the place of another is impossible and contrary to justice. The crime that is punishable by death, is of a different character; the lawgiver can avenge this guilt only upon the transgressor himself. Yes, indeed, among men this rule of justice holds, but it has no force in regard to the suretyship of Christ. As Adam represented all his posterity in the Covenant of Works, and through him death came upon all those whom he represented, thus Christ could represent His elect in the Covenant of Grace, and engage His heart to approach unto God for them, giving Himself unto death, so that as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of One, many shall be made righteous, that as sin has reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. Moreover, no man's life is in his own power, and therefore he may not give his life in the place of one condemned to die. Indeed, this rule of justice applies to men. But the Lord Jesus testified, "I have power to lay down my life, and to take it again." He could lay down His life, He could give Himself into death for His people, for He had power to take His life again. In His death He destroyed him that had the power of death, that is, the devil. He did not enter death to remain there, but to conquer death. The righteousness of His Father demanded His resurrection from the dead, and by His own power He rose again from the dead. Thus His death is not only a satisfaction of God's justice, but it is also a triumph of Him as the Surety of the Covenant. Jesus entered into death, not as a martyr who has no power to save himself, but as the Lion of the tribe of Judah, sure of His victory, and rejoicing in the satisfaction He rendered to the righteousness of God, so that the sins of His people could be forgiven without violating God's justice, and thus the good pleasure of God would be accomplished. Thus the lying objections of the Socinians fall away completely. Sins can be forgiven only when God's justice is satisfied. Otherwise why should it have been necessary for God to send His only-begotten Son into the world, and cause Him to bear the burden of His eternal wrath? Moreover, God's righteousness demanded a perfect satisfaction, both by perfect obedience to all the commandments, and by suffering and bearing the penalty threatened upon transgression. As impossible as it is that God should cease to be God, so impossible it is that God should be content with a partial payment, overlooking the rest, even though that were but a very small amount. The law curses everyone that continues not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them, and that curse that rests upon Adam and all his posterity can only be taken away by rendering perfect satisfaction to the justice of God. Either we or someone else in our place must render this perfect satisfaction. God binds this demand upon the soul of His people while they have not a penny to pay for their great debt, and this demand is maintained by the instructor. The enemies of this doctrine may mock and say it is a hard, merciless doctrine; the upright in Zion fully agree with it. They do not desire anything else. It is for God's honour; His righteousness may not be violated. They desire to be redeemed with righteousness. It is that which causes so much strife within, for how shall that righteousness be satisfied? But did not the Lord Jesus come into the world for this purpose? Has He not cried out, "It is finished?" Certainly, but they do not know Him even though He has been preached to them from their youth. They must be prepared to know Him as the way, the truth and the life. And that preparation takes place when the demand of God's righteousness which cannot be escaped penetrates their soul. No, the answer of the instructor is not too hard and merciless, for it leads to Christ, to redemption, in Him Who shall manifest Himself unto them as He does not do unto the world. The debt must be paid, paid in full, either by ourselves or by another. "Can we ourselves then make this satisfaction?" "By no means." In whatever way you take it, from whatever angle you view it, payment by ourselves is impossible. The law, having become weak through the flesh, could not justify anyone before God. "Wherefore," asks the Lord, "do you spend money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which satisfieth not?" We ourselves cannot pay, not even one penny. And what is worse, we increase our debt daily. Every person adds sin upon sin every day until God can no longer endure them, and the convinced sinner is aware of this. They have experienced it. They have exerted every effort since the law wrought in their heart the knowledge of sin, but they seemed to become worse from day to day. Often they dared not close their eyes at night for fear they would open them in hell. They spend their nights sighing. They must give up the hope of ever rendering satisfaction to God's righteousness by themselves. And by another? Let us remember that he who would pay for another must be one with the debtor before the law, must stand in his place, make his debt his own, obliging himself to pay the debt for him in full. The law's demand of suffering the penalty and rendering perfect obedience is then made upon the one who gave himself as surety. The law pursues the surety, the righteousness of God demands of him the same that was demanded of the original debtor. And if the surety gives satisfaction, this satisfaction is accepted in the place of the satisfaction God demanded of the one for whom he was surety. But where can we find such a one? Among the creatures it is impossible. Who could that other one be? The blood of bulls and of goats can not satisfy God's justice. The holy angels cannot be our mediators. God's righteousness would not permit it. Man has sinned and man must pay; God will not lay the penalty upon another creature. Moreover, man is subject to God's punishment in both body and soul, and the angels have neither body nor soul. How then can they bear our punishment? The devils shall be subject to God's wrath in the everlasting fire only in their nature as angels. Moreover, eternal punishment must follow sin, under which a creature would have to suffer eternally, and therefore no mere creature can take away the eternal wrath of God against sin. This is also true of mere man, as we shall see in the following Lord's Day. But what about the saints? Saints are only they who by faith have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore, and for that reason only are they before the throne. They also were fallen in Adam, subject to death and condemnation, and they were saved only by grace through the death of Christ. They themselves have never been able to satisfy God's justice. It is of them the instructor speaks when he says, "No mere creature can sustain the burden of God's eternal wrath against sin, so as to deliver others from it." When Rome seeks the favour and intercession of the saints and good works, it shows plainly that it has not the least understanding of the righteousness of God that demands perfect satisfaction. God's people are bowed down under that demand, and they lose all expectation of themselves and of all creatures. Although the love of God to His people is very great because they have been renewed after His image, they fall away when placed before His righteousness. There before God's judgment seat each person shall stand alone some day to give an account of himself; and before that by God's people are placed in this life, laden with origins] and actual sin. No creature in heaven or on earth can pay the penalty. They expect nothing but the execution of the curse pronounced upon sin. But still ... there is hope, which shines through the sharp answer of the instructor, hope even though God will not punish another creature for the guilt man has made, this does not exclude the possibility of a person being a surety for fallen sinners. We must pay ourselves or by another. Angels cannot pay and saints have not a penny for others, and still in the third place, III a sure way is shown in answer to this cry. Let us briefly give that our attention. The 6th Lord's Day will give us more instruction on this point, but here already the way is shown when the instructor tells us that we must seek a mediator and deliverer who is very man, and perfectly righteous, yet more powerful than all creatures, that is: one that is also very God. Only such a mediator and deliverer shall satisfy the demand of God's righteousness and can deliver from the curse of the law. A mediator is someone who stands between two parties to reconcile them to each other. The Mediator spoken of here stands between God Who is angry on account of sin and a condemned sinner, to reconcile God with His people and remove the curse from His people forever. That Mediator is at the same time a Deliverer. He delivers from the curse and dominion and penalty of sin; He delivers from the power of Satan. He frees those for whom He mediates. This He does freely in His eternal love, putting Himself in their place. The spotless Lamb of God became the guilty debtor in the place o$ His elect, and they became the righteousness of God in Him. Isaiah speaks very clearly of the substitutionary work of the Mediator, saying, "But He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him and by His stripes we are healed." However He only could do this who is not only very man and perfectly righteous, but also very God. The next Lord's Day we are told who that Mediator is. As it were out of travail of the soul, convinced of His sin and misery, He comes forth in the knowledge of faith. The drawing power of His love may be felt in their heart for some time, and His fruit may refresh them while His person may still be concealed from them. That causes much agony, for their debt burdens them, and the law pursues them. Therefore their soul calls for a Mediator and Deliverer who can satisfy God's justice. That cry of need causes them to use the words of the psalmist which we shall sing "Out of the depths I cry, O Lord, to Thee, Lord, hear my call" etc. Psalter No. 362 st. 1 Application Beloved, do you fully agree with the doctrine that maintains the righteousness of God and demands full satisfaction from you and me even unto the last penny? The church wavers upon its foundation if even the least is detracted from this doctrine. Yet everywhere this doctrine is pushed to the background. Not only do the Pelagians and Socinians deny it, but even among those churches which want to be considered Reformed, the just demand of the perfect obedience to God's law is relegated to the background, while the so-called command of the Gospel to believe and be converted is in the foreground. But what is the Gospel without man's state of misery? God's justice must be perfectly satisfied and the Gospel tells us by Whom and in what manner that satisfaction was given for God's elect. Oh that we would take instruction from the Word of God so clearly presented in the Catechism. God wills, not arbitrarily, but because of the perfection of His Divine Being, that His justice shall be perfectly satisfied. Do not, my hearers, give up even the least bit of that demand. May God keep His church from falling away to the Socinians who make a mockery of God's just demand, or to the Pelagians who rob God of His honour, or to the Roman Catholics who glory in their works. We must pay, pay in full, and we cannot, not even for one of all our sins. Therefore we need a Surety, Who will pay for us; a Mediator, Who is very God and also very man and perfectly righteous. Search continually our old famous theologians; consider, and assimilate what they, who were so enlightened by God's Spirit and have battled with so many erring spirits, have left us. Many have attended from their youth the reading of those sermons in the House of God. May God keep us with those truths. Has what you read in Smijtegeldt, Justus Vermeer, Vander Kemp, Comrie, and many others, been different from what the Heidelberg Catechism teaches? Do not allow these new presentations given in these days draw you away from the old tried truths. In the works of those strict Reformed fathers, you have never found the doctrine of general atonement, kept alive by Pelagius, as though Christ died for all men; nor the gladly accepted Barthian theory, propagated by Prof. Niftrik, published in our country, and taught in many schools; nor the doctrine of three covenants that makes the covenant of grace merely an offer of grace which must be accepted. The old writers place the state of death in the foreground and by maintaining God's righteous demand that His justice be satisfied, they have cut off all hope of being saved, even, as we observed the appeal to God's mercy. Justice must run its course, and that justice was satisfied, for God's elect, by the sacrifice of Christ. Away with your works, your prayers, your tears; we all need a Mediator Who is very God and very, and righteous man. Dare anyone say that with this doctrine man's responsibility for all his deeds, and especially for the callings of the Gospel that come to him is not maintained? How much labor has God bestowed on us! In the external call He invites all those who hear the Word, none excepted. No one is excluded; no one has sinned too long or too grievously. Even publicans and harlots were not turned away by Jesus. Can anyone of us say, "That call of Christ is not for me?" Yet we will not come to Him. He testifies of us, as He did of Jerusalem, "How often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen does gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not." Shall He then not one day say, "But those that would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me?" Oh, I pray you, bind the Word of God about your neck; read, search the Scriptures, do not neglect the means of grace given by God; always occupy your seat in catechism and in church. Parents, take your children with you when you go to hear the preaching of the Word. Keep your eye upon them, so that they shall listen. Speak often with each other about the true doctrine and withdraw from the pleasures of the world. Young and old, bow before God and pray Him to use the preaching for your salvation. Doing all this does not bring you one step nearer to your salvation, oh, no! but it may please the Lord out of pure mercy to bless the means, so that you may discover your state of misery and learn to pray and knock as a poor lost sinner at His throne of grace. We must first learn to know our state of misery before we shall pray to God for grace. The discovering of our misery is the work of the Holy Spirit. May He convince you of it, and stir you up out of your deadly carelessness before the time of grace for you shall be passed. Today, if ye hear His voice, harden not your heart. Let the people of God testify, however varied their way may have been, whether the Lord perhaps had called to them from their childhood days, they would never have truly prayed to God, if the Lord had not prevailed upon them. He opened their eyes for their state of deep misery; He convinced them of their sins; He summoned them before His judgment seat. And then? Then they became the most miserable of all men. Did not God's law demand of them what they could not perform? Did not all their sins testify against them, yea, even their best works? And still they must justify the demand and the judgment of God and acknowledge that they are worthy of death. With childlike simplicity they agree with the instructor before Him Who knows the heart, "By the righteous judgment of God we have deserved God's temporal and eternal punishment." Moreover, there is no way of escape. Blessed are they who arrive at wit's end. They cannot live without that only Mediator. Although He is still concealed for them, although they cannot save themselves with their historical faith, their soul is prompted to seek salvation in Him. Continue in prayer and supplication before God's throne of mercy until He manifests Himself to you as He does not to the world. Has He not promised His guilty and lost people that He will not tarry, and that He shall not forsake the work of His own hands? May He enlighten your eyes so that you may see the King in His beauty. It would become so different in you if that only way that leads to life were but revealed to you. Out of His fullness His people receive grace for grace. He caused them to awake out of their state of death, but He also wants them to understand thoroughly that salvation without Him is impossible, and for that purpose He takes away all grounds upon which they might rest. We must seek a Mediator who is both God and man. Seek Him constantly; seek Him, that your guilt may be pardoned, that your iniquity may be removed, and that you may be restored in the fellowship with God. Oh, people of God, give your soul no rest except in this only Mediator. He is also the Fountain of life for His own. Oh that we would more and more seek our life in Him. Outside of that Mediator who is very man and perfectly righteous, and yet more powerful than all creatures, that is, one who is also very God, we have no access to the Father. The redemption of lost sinners was so great a work that it could only be brought about by Him, Who is both God and man. One day that great work of redemption shall be obtained in perfect glory. This is acknowledged even in this life by faith. Therefore God's children fall down in adoration and amazement at Jesus' feet crying out, "He is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand," and to all eternity they shall praise Him Who redeemed them to God by His blood. Amen. (continued in part 7...) ---------------------------------------------------- file: /pub/resources/text/ipb-e/epl-02: krhc1-06.txt .