MISSION TIDINGS

Our receipts for the Timothy Mission Fund totaled $25.00 during the month of August, which we acknowledge with thanks. Two checks were sent out, each in the amount of $100., to the Wycliffe Bible Translators and to the Spanish Evangelical Mission, leaving a balance on hand of $8.40. We hope that all of you may have had the opportunity to hear Rev. Kuijt tell of his work in West Irian, for in this way you might have heard how the mission funds are used.

A picture from West Irian, showing a stone ring from which are hanging the former idols and sacred things of the natives. After God’s Word is proclaimed to them, they often bring these idols together to be burned, showing the effect of the Word of God. Do we not also have idols which should be disposed of?

GIFTS RECEIVED FOR MISSIONS IN AUGUST 1970

CLASSIS MIDWEST SOURCE AMOUNT

Timothy Mission Fund Gift $100.00

A friend in Kalamazoo Gift 5.00

A friend in Michigan Gift 120.00

In G.R. Ch. Col. Gift 25.00

In G.R. Ch. Col. Gift 75.00

CLASSIS WEST

Corsica Rebecca Circle Gift 12.04

Sheboygan Mission Friends Gift 50.00

Total: $387.04

Dear Friends,

In the first place we like to thank everyone for your kind gifts to the mission. May the Lord bless you and your gift. Many of our people have had the opportunity to meet Rev. Kuijt, as at this time he is still traveling in America and Canada. We hope that the Lord may use him as an instrument also in this country. We hope that the Lord brings him safely to his wife and children and also to the mission field. The Lord willing by the time this comes in the Banner, he hopes to be amongst a new tribe. We were surprised and glad to hear how the Lord is blessing the mission work amongst the tribes where Rev. Kuijt has been. It should encourage us to call upon the Lord who is still doing wonders in converting sinners unto Him. I hope that also the boys and the girls may have an impression and an interest in the mission work. The question has been asked several times what has been done with the money that the mission committee receives. Whereas it is often said we see the income in the Banner but never the expense. It has been decided in the last mission committee that we give a report of the expenses every three months, which we hope to do but it involves more work. When we have seen the pictures and heard Rev. Kuijt and sometime ago the pictures and words of Miss Ann Herfst, then we can realize that all these things require a great sum of money on both mission fields. We hope to give you the report of the expenses as of the first of July of 1968. We will make it a brief report because it will take too much room to break it down in all the different costs. We hope this will be satisfactory. May the Lord give a place in our hearts for our mission workers and the people they are working with. May the Lord remember us all in His undeserved mercy.

We sent to Holland for the Mission work of Rev. Kuijt and West New Guinea, Miss Ann Herfst and Nigeria, and the airplane fund, the amount of $28,367.97. I hope you understand that this is for many different things involved in the two mission fields. For other causes related to mission work we spent $4,311.85. I hope this will give you some idea of the expense. We have also received a letter from Miss Ann Herfst that we will place in the Banner at this time also.

American General Mission Fund of the Netherlands Reformed

Churches of America and Canada

John Spaans (Treasurer)

Plankinton Box 106 RR 1

South Dakota 57368

Bethesda Clinic;

Dear Mission Friends, 12–8–70

Jairus, one of our helpers, who became one of our patients, died last week. We got to know him about two years ago, when he began to attend our clinic as an out patient. He complained of having a troublesome and persistent cough. We suspected that he had Tuberculosis, which indeed turned out to be the case after we got the results of various tests. He became one of our inpatients for some months, his condition improved and he helped us in making mats for the other patients. By the time he was ready for discharge, we employed him as one of our gatewatchers. He still needed regular checkups, medicine and extra milk, but was doing quite well. One day our other workers brought Jairus to the clinic while he was in shock, he had been coughing up quite a bit of blood all of a sudden. At first we were afraid that he wouldn’t recover, but he did. As soon as his condition allowed it we brought him to one of our T–B huts, he has been staying there for over a year. He went through many ups and downs, has been seriously ill quite often but improved again. We got to know him as a quiet and serious boy, who seemed to pay good attention when we did our daily Bible reading with him. He never talked much about it, but we all had the impression that he was seeking the Lord.

Since he could read some English we saw him quite often study his own Bible too. Shortly after he had been admitted again some elders of his village came and tried to persuade him to go back with them so that they could sacrifice for him at home. He refused, they repeated their visits and kept on persuading him about the same matter. One time they even brought a chicken to be sacrificed for Jairus with them, they were really bothering him about it. Finally he sent a message to the clinic and asked if we would tell the villagers to go home and not to bother him anymore.

Several months later his father wanted him to come home for a while (although his father hardly came to see him during his sickness). His mother whom had been staying with and looking after him very faithfully wanted to go home for a while. At first we didn’t like it too much, but when they mentioned it time and again, we thought it probably would be better for both of them to go for a while.

We took them to the Church compound at Ohumo Ulpa (Jairus’ village) and his relatives took him along the bushroad to his father’s compound. After he had been home for a week we received a message from him if we would come to take him back to the clinic. He went back to the same hut, his condition being much the same as it had been all along. He could be quite depressed at times, being sick for such a long time and to go through so many setbacks. This was to be expected. For a while he didn’t even want to eat, it took quite a bit of time before we could persuade him to take his milk or a little bit of food. However later on he seemed to be doing a little better again and he looked quite a bit brighter.

Two weeks ago he began to complain of chest pains and difficult breathing again, he also was coughing up some blood again, although it was only very little this time. His condition became worse, by the end of the day pain increased, his breathing being worse, and he became very restless. Injections which were given to him didn’t give him much relief and he died a few hours later.

We explained to the mother that we would like to bury him in a Christian manner, and arrangements were made to do so.

Clement our Gbo carpenter made a coffin for him in which he was taken to his own village with our lorry. His mother a few other relatives and a few of our clinic helpers, went along with the lorry.

We were able to reach the Church compound, from there the coffin was being carried by natives of the village to his father’s compound.

His grave had been prepared close to the Church compound, but Jairus’s body had to be carried to his father’s compound. According to Egedde custom, the people there had to see him before his burial. Many natives were following the group of men carrying the coffin, they were all crying out loud in their own heathen way. It was quite a sight. When we reached his father’s compound, the pagans being gathered there joined the other people in crying out loud.

One of the Church leaders encouraged the church people to sing their religious chorus, our clinic helpers were singing already too. It was quite an impressive moment when the pagans stopped their crying and the Church people were singing instead.

After the father and other relatives had looked at Jairus’s body, several pieces of cloth, cut at different lengths were put in the coffin with him. The cover of the coffin was put on following (One of the clinic helpers explained, that the pieces of colth being put in the coffin with Jairus’s body are used to wrap a dead body in when the burial is being carried out according to heathen custom).

The group of men carrying the coffin started out on the way back to the Church compound again, followed by many natives, Church people as well as pagans.

The people were remarkably quiet when Mr. Commelin told them about the death of the rich man Lazarus and the great difference of what happened to them afterwards. One could tell that Jairus’s burial was being carried out in a completely different manner than what the pagans are used to. When I asked one of our boys what his impression of Jairus’s burial was, he told me that everything was done in a quiet way. He also said, the natives must think that Jairus had been a true Christian, otherwise they wouldn’t have turned his body over to us so soon in order that he could have a Christian burial.

We had attended the burial of a so–called Christian, who went to Church on Sunday but performed heathen practices other days of the week. The natives refused a Christian burial in his case. It made me aware of the fact that the pagans do pay attention to the people attending the Church services and that they observe if actions are in correspondence with one’s words.

On occasions like this you wonder if the people really realize more about the Gospel message being brought to them then they often give an impression of. It also encourages us to carry on in the Lord’s strength in spreading this Gospel message with the hope and prayer in our heart that may be blessed in the hearts of many.

Greetings from,

Miss Ann Herfst

Igeede, June 1970

Dear Mission Friends,

It was a long time ago that I wrote you, and therefore I am going to sit down for a few moments in order to tell you a few things.

First I want to express my sincere thanks (also the thanks of Sister Herfst and Sister Sonneveld) to all those who sent us cards or letters at our birthdays. It was real nice to receive all those friendly congratulations. Unfortunately, it is impossible for us to answer them all personally.

Little Comfort (a motherless child of 2½ years) who, with her brother Sunday, is living in the house with me, enjoys playing with all the pretty cards, and calls out frequently, “O kij es, kij es” (meaning “Kijk eens” or “Just look”). She learns this from Geurt Commelin, with whom she often plays. In this way Geurt learns the Igedde language from Comfort, and Comfort learns Dutch and English from her.

Jairus Egbedigbe, the boy who last year had such serious bleeding in the lungs, is still living, but we fear that he soon will die. He is getting worse, and is beginning to lose courage. Eating and drinking is becoming more difficult. He is quite thin, and very weak. Please pray for this boy, I am quite certain that God’s Spirit is at work in him. Recently I asked him, “Jairus, shall I read something for you out of the Bible?”

He answered, “Please do, sister; will you read the Lamentations of Jeremiah for me, chapter 3, verses 19 to 33?” After I had read and prayed with him, I said, “Jairus, if this which we have read is truth in your life, then you are very fortunate, notwithstanding all your suffering. If you can say, ‘The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in Him,’ you can live with this but also die with this, for then you have everything necessary for time and eternity.”

He said, “Sister, I seek the Lord earnestly, but I am so afraid that I cannot be saved, as I am not baptized. Can someone who is not be saved?”

I answered, “Yes, Jairus, if you truly believe in the Lord Jesus then you will be saved, even if you are not baptized. Read about this in Mark 16, verse 16.”

The seed is scattered; the Lord must give the increase. Jairus never says much, never complains about his suffering, and does not ask for much, but is always so thankful when you sit with him for a few moments to read and pray with him.

There is a very great amount of tuberculosis among the Igeddes,and it is very difficult to convince the people about this sickness. They do not believe that it is contagious, of which we have been trying to convince them. Strangely enough, they are very much afraid of and refuse to sleep with anyone who has epilepsy. However, they are not afraid of tuberculosis, until the person begins to cough up blood, and then they will come to the clinic. Often by that time it is so far advanced, that you question whether it is already too late.

The reason this sickness spreads so rapidly is because the entire family sleeps together in a small, stuffy hut where no fresh air can enter.

They are careful to secure all doors and windows because of fear for snakes and thieves. It is no wonder that there are continually more cases of this disease.

Once a month I go with a helper to Oboren, a village about 8 miles away, in order to have a clinic there. It can only be reached by bicycle. When I was there in November a man came to me with two children, which frightened me to see them. The neck of the boy (about 5 years old) was terribly swollen. The glands were so greatly enlarged that he could hardly turn his head. When I asked how long it had been this way, he told me about a year. The girl (of about 3 years) also had swollen glands in her neck, but only on one side, and not as severe as the boy. However, her spinal column had grown crooked, which I recognized immediately as tuberculosis in the spinal column.

I advised him to bring them to the clinic as soon as possible, and he promised to do so. However, promising something and doing so later have no connection whatsoever to the Igeddes. Happily, a few days later he came with the mother to bring the children to us. We sent them to the hospital for X–rays, and it appeared that the lungs were not too bad. With God’s help we have now taken care of them about half a year, and it is a wonder to see how they have improved, especially the boy. The swollen glands have almost disappeared, he is growing, is happy and cheerful, and this only because of much rest, good food, and medicines, and God’s blessing over all of it. The girl is not doing as well. She should be cared for in a special bed but this would be something impossible for the Igeddes, even if it were possible to obtain one for the child here. She grows poorly, eats poorly, and constantly complains about her back. Their mother has three other children, and she always has the youngest child with her (sleeping, eating, and playing in these infected surroundings). Unfortunately, the mother gets tired of staying at the clinic, and occasionally disappears for a few days without concerning herself with the children. The nurses can then take care of them and feed them. We hope to keep the children a little longer, until they are completely recovered.

This is the way our work goes on, although joined with many difficulties. But it is God’s work and shall make progress, no matter how Satan tries to hinder it. Pray that the Lord will give spiritual fruit among the Igeddes. Many have heard the gospel, but few have accepted and been born again.

All of you might pray that many might be truly converted and begin to ask, “Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?” The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much! Leuni Commelin

MEMOIR OF THE REV. JOHN TENNETH

(Continued)

He was endowed by his Creator with a natural quickness of apprehension, copiousness of fancy, and fluency of expression, which served to qualify him eminently for the office of a preacher. He had made no contemptible progress in the learned languages, and also in philosophical and theological studies; but he particularly excelled in the polemical and casuistical branches of divinity. He was well known to be an expert disputant and casuist, but that which crowned his other attainments, and made them appear with beauty and lustre, was his unfeigned and eminent piety.

His attainments in the Christian graces were eminently conspicuous in the following particulars. First, his humility. He was wont to speak of himself in the most abasing terms, saying that he thought one of the worst creatures the creation bore; and on his dying bed he desired his relations to forbear any funeral encomiums upon him when he was gone, for he declared with vehemence that he was not worthy of them. When admitted to preach he would often, in his private studies, take the Bible in his hand, and would walk up and down the room weeping and mourning that although there was a treasury of precious truth contained in that blessed book, he understood so little of them. A sense of the greatness of the ministerial work, and of his ignorance and unfitness for it was often a very oppresive burden to him. It was a striking evidence of his low opinion which he entertained of himself, that he never could be persuaded that a holy God would bless the labors of a person every way so mean and so unworthy as he felt himself to be. And when informed that certain persons had been convinced under his ministry, he could not for some time believe that the work was genuine, until further convictions was afforded by bright and incontestable evidences.

His love to Christ was manifest to all who had the opportunity of hearing his earnest and importunate prayers. Indeed, Christ and Him crucified was the end at which he aimed, the sacred centre in which all the lines of his life terminated. Christ was the object of his supreme love and highest admiration.

He possessed also a flaming zeal for the establishment and promotion of the Messiah’s kingdom. It was his oftrepeated petition that God would make him serviceable to His church, and that He would not suffer him to live merely to devour the alms of the church, but that he would rather remove him to Himself before he became useless.

When Mr. John Tenneth had finished his preparatory studies in the Log College, he presented himself to the Presbytery of Philadelphia; and after passing with credit the usual trials he was licensed to preach the gospel.

Soon after Mr. Tenneth licensure he visited the congregation of Freehold, in the county of Monmouth, New Jersey, which was now without a pastor. This congregation owed its origin to some Scotch people who were cast on the Jersey shore, the vessel Caledonia, in which they sailed, having been stranded on our coast. These people, being thus by the providence of God cast upon this land, determined to take up their abode in the country, near to the place where they reached the shore; and being Presbyterians, they were not content to live without the ordinances of public worship, according to the creed and usages of the church of Scotland. They accordingly set about building a house of worship, which was situated a few miles east of the present church of Freehold, where the remains of the old building and a graveyard are yet to be seen. Mr. Boyd, the first licentiate of the Presbytery of Philadelphia was their first minister, but died within less than two years. For some time afterwards this congregation was supplied by the Rev. Joseph Morgan, but he having left them early in the year 1730, they invited young Mr. Tenneth to preach to them as a candidate. Being a young man of uncommon modesty and humility, he was very reluctant to go. and even after he had consented to visit them, as his brother William, in his letter to Mr. Prince, of Boston, informs us, he regretted the engagement very much, for it seemed to him that they were a people whom God had given up for the abuse of the gospel. But though he went under this cloud of discouragement, his first labors among this people were remarkbly blessed. On his first visit he preached four or five Sabbaths, and found among the people a serious disposition to attend to the concerns of their souls, and to search the Scriptures to see whether the things which they heard from the pulpit were so. And he was assisted to preach with so much freedom, that he told his brother William that he was fully persuaded that Christ Jesus had a large harvest to bring home there; and though they were a poor broken people, yet if they called him he would go to them, though he should be under the necessity of begging his bread. On the 15th of April, 1730, they assembled, and gave him a unanimous call, which he accepted, and was ordained November 19th of the same year.

His labors in this congregation, according to his brother Gilbert, were attended with three notable qualities — prudence, diligence, and success. Though the time was short which he was permitted to remain among them, yet his labors were abundant. His race was swift and vehement; and his heart was so fixed on the work of God that he could not be persuaded to desist from his public labors, even when his body was emaciated and debilitated by a consumptive disease, and when, in the judgment of physicians, it was prejudicial to his broken constitution.

(To Be Continued)

EVIDENCES OF THE FLOOD

(Part II)

Last month we saw how accounts of the flood had persisted in the traditions of numerous tribes and peoples in places all over the earth.

It is even easier to show the existence of countless animal remains, buried in sedimentary or water–laid deposits all over the earth. These fossils are usually bones found in caves on high land, and covered with a layer of sand or gravel washed in by the waters as they reached the height of the caves, or secondly they are found as huge stretches of bones of various types of animals often mingled together and buried quite often under layers of sediment of varying thicknesses, some surprisingly thick. All this could have happened in only one way. Tidal waves, in the first days of the flood, caused by the breaking through of “the fountains of the great deep,” Gen. 7:11, swept across the land, drowning and carrying with them the animals in their path, with also vast quantities of mud, sand, gravel, clay and chalk. After travelling huge distances the speed of the water became small enough for the dead animals and silt to fall to the bottom, where the sediment hardened encasing the animals in sedimentary rock. Amongst these animals of various kinds were huge multitudes of fish already in the waters before they swept over the land, and as these fish were choked by the mud in the waters, and buried under it, shoals of fossil fish are found in many countries. It is a startling fact that shoals of fossil fish have been found near the tops of the Alps, and on mountain tops in other parts of the world, as well as on flatter parts of the earth. Truly the waters covered the mountains. Of course, if the waters were above the mountains in some countries, they were just as high in all countries.

In addition to this millions of skeletons of animals have been found on lower land. Dr. Broome, the South African fossilologist, estimated that the Karroo district of 200.000 sq. miles contained thousands of millions of skeletons of animals buried in flood–silt. In all continents there are large dinosaur ‘cemeteries’ containing hundreds of skeletons of these animals which had been washed into valleys and buried in the mud. In the Paluxy River Bed, in Texas, there are fossilized foot prints of dinosaurs mingled with those of men. So the dinosaurs instead of living 60 million years ago as some so–called “scientists” pretend, were living, with men just before the flood. The human footprints were 15 inches long, which agrees with Gen. 6:4 “There were giants in the earth in those days.”

Another astounding fact is the existence in all continents of caves almost always on high ground, literally crammed with the skeletons of a strange mixture of animals which had climbed the mountain sides to avoid the rising flood water, and had all crowded together in the caves, hoping to escape, but as the water still rose it entered the caves, drowned the animals, and left a covering of gravel on many of them. These caves are found in France, Cyprus. Malta, Sicily, California in U.S.A., Maryland, Java, Australia, S. America and Yorkshire in England. The Victoria Cave in Yorkshire, at an altitude of 1,450 feet contained the bones of the grizzly bear, bison, fox, reindeer, mammoth, hare, hyaena and hippopotamus, when excavated in 1870. The Elbolton cave 800 feet up. excavated in 1888 contained bears, reindeer and mammoths. The Raygill Quarries at 750 feet, excavated 1880, contained bones of bears, hyaenas, elephant, lion, hippopotamus and slender–nosed rhinoceros. It is clear that nothing but a flood would have driven such strange mixtures of animals into caves in all parts of the earth and buried them together.

One more astonishing fact is the existence of a saltwater sea in a fold of the Andes Mountains in Bolivia in S. America, at an altitude of 12,500 feet. There are no salt–bearing rocks or streams in those parts, so the only way in which this salt–sea could have been deposited is for it to have been left there when the waters covered the earth, and as the flood subsided it remained trapped in the mountains. At first it was 400 miles long and 100 miles wide, but has slowly evaporated to much smaller proportions.

This mountain–locked sea, the shoals of fish on mountain tops, the remains of drowned animals on high ground, the huge shoals of fish on lower land, and bone deposits in all continents all prove beyond a doubt that the whole earth was flooded in every part.

It is noteworthy that in no place on earth do the fossils show the least sign of evolution from one species to another. All the fossils appear in completely distinct species, with not a single connecting link between any of them.

We come next to those geological and geographical evidences which are before our eyes. These evidences deal with the rocks of the earth, and the state of the land. The most complex evidences will be avoided in this article, as it is hoped to keep it understandable to the younger readers, as well as informative to the older ones.

There are two main kinds of rock on the earth, the igneous or volcanic, of which many of our mountains and plateaus consist, and secondly, sedimentary rocks of many sorts, namely those which have been swilled into position in the form of gravel, sand, clay and chalk, etc., and have, under the tremendous pressure of the flood waters, and the weight of still further deposits of sediment, become compressed and hardened into solid masses. These layers of sediment, as mentioned in the previous account, were loaded with multitudes of various kinds of animals or their bones, which became encased in the rocks as they hardened. These are called fossils (which means “dug up”). They must have formed very quickly, or they would not have formed at all, as the bodies would have decayed or disappeared. It is very important to notice that fossils are only found in water–laid rocks. Now, although so–called “science” books give the impression that the fossils in the lowest rocks are small, and of simple form, slowly changing, as we come up through the rocks, into larger and more complex forms, till at last we come to the highest rocks and find the biggest and most complex animals, and some human fossils, this is simply not true. This does not occur in a single place on earth. If it were true, and if the simple forms had slowly evolved into slightly more complex ones, there would have been countless millions of animals slightly different from those below and above them, but no distinct species at all. The exact opposite is true. All the fossils appear in distinct and separate species, quite different from other species near them, with no connecting links between any of the species. If mutations or sudden changes are suggested as a method of evolution, it is well to know that these are always within the species, never from one species to another.

Also in no place on earth do we find more than a very few species in layers near each other, mostly two or three species, instead of the hundreds of species which children are allowed to imagine to be there. The next fact is almost unknown, namely that the species that are there are by no means always ascending from the simple to the complex, but in very numerous cases the complex forms are lowest, and the simple forms above them. Neither is there a single connecting link between any of the species on the earth. If evolution were true there should have been millions of links, and could any one at all intelligent believe that any particular species stayed at one single spot on earth for millions of years, so that their bodies might build up a stratum of layer of fossilized remains at a rate of less than a thousandth of an inch per century? This is what evolutionists would have us believe, from their ridiculous datings of strata. And anyhow, the fossils are not in well–ordered series, but in hundreds of cases in topsy–turvy arrangement.

This again disagrees with evolution.

(To Be Continued)

MARTIN LUTHER — CHILDHOOD DAYS

There are few, if any, more notable names in the history of Europe than that of Martin Luther, ‘the solitary monk who shook the world’. To him God gave the signal honour of commencing on the Continent the movement known as the Reformation. The story of how he passed from darkness into light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that he might receive the forgiveness of sins, is singularly instructive and worthy of continual remembrance.

Martin Luther was not of high birth, for like many of God’s most eminent servants he came of the ‘common people’. ‘I am a peasant’s son,’ he said, ‘My father, grandfather, all of my ancestors were thorough peasants.’ Hans (John) and Gretha (Margaret) Luther, the parents of the great reformer, lived in Saxony, a state in the South of Germany, in the later fifteenth century. Their names have been made familiar to all Germans by the formula in the marriage service which Martin Luther afterwards drew up — ‘Hans, wilt thou take Gretha?’ The soil of Saxony was not very favourable to agriculture, and though many of the Saxons engaged in farming, others preferred to earn a livelihood by mining, specially for copper which was abundant in the hills. The life was a hard one and although by unremitting toil Hans Luther maintained his family and attained to a position of comparative comfort, a large part of his life was passed in poverty. Notwithstanding this, like many of the German peasants, he possessed a coat of arms, which in his case depicted a hammer on a granite block. One of Luther’s brothers had a different coat of arms showing a crossbow with a rose on each side.

Martin, the eldest child of Hans and Gretha Luther, was born at the town of Eisleben on November 10th, 1483, and as the following day was the feast of St. Martin, as observed by the Roman Catholic Church, he was called after that saint. Germany was, at that time, a land where the Roman Catholic Church held sway, and its people were blinded by the erroneous teachings, unscriptural customs, and idolatrous practices which the Pope and his clergy authorised and enforced. A large part of Catholic worship consisted of the adoration of relics which, whether genuine or spurious, were of no value to the worshipper. Also the people were taught that salvation came to men through their obedience in the church, in other words by the works which they themselves could perform, rather than by the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ and the work which He accomplished. Or. if Christ’s work must be given a place, it was simply of value for patching the imperfect garment of salvation woven from man’s own works.

Unhappily, the home into which Martin Luther was born was darkened in this way, as were countless other German homes. The darkness over the whole land was a darkness that could be felt, and which seemed to call for the outpouring of God’s judgment and wrath. But by the mercy and grace of God, in this land where superstition and idolatry held sway, though veiled under the name of Christianity, God now raised up a man destined to be a good soldier of Jesus Christ. By the preaching of the gospel of the grace of God he was instrumental in bringing into liberty many who had been the slaves of Satan and a false church.

Happily, it is recorded of Luther’s parents that in the days of the Reformation they were among those upon whom the light of God shone, and this gave their son no little satisfaction and joy. Upon the death of his father, Martin Luther wrote thus to a friend: “Tis with me a pious duty to weep for him whom the Father of mercy destined to give me birth – for him by whose labour and sweat God nourished me, and made me what I am, such as that is. Oh, how I rejoice that he lived long enough to see the light of the truth! Blessed be God for ever, in all His counsels and decrees! Amen!’ Gretha Luther, too, received much blessing from God through her own son, and in later years one of Luther’s friends, eminent alike for gifts and grace, describes her as distinguished above all for her modesty, her fear of God, and her constant communion with God in prayer.

Although Luther s parents were in 1483 wrapped up in Roman Catholic teachings, there was much about their home that was pleasing and worthy of praise. The mother and father were alike industrious and spared no effort to provide for and educate their children, of whom there were at least seven, four sons and three daughters. ‘My father,’ said the Reformer, ‘was a poor miner; my mother carried in all the wood upon her back; they worked the flesh off their bones to bring us up; no one nowadays would ever have such endurance.’ Towards the close of their lives, when their affairs were more prosperous, both of them sat for their portraits to the famous painter, Lucas Cranach, and we can discern in these the effects of the strenuous toil which characterized their lives. The Reformer is said to have resembled his mother in appearance. Her features, though careworn and angular, suggest a quiet and meditative mind, and strength of will and purpose. When Martin Luther became famous as a result of the warfare he waged with the Roman Church, malicious tales were invented by his foes concerning his parents, but these were entirely without foundation; his parents carried themselves honourably to the end. The Reformer counted it a joy to come of such simple and God–fearing stock, and they on their part esteemed it their greatest honour to have such a son.

The discipline of Luther’s childhood home has been termed ‘unusually severe’, and this was probably the case. Luther’s father, his character largely moulded by the severity of his occupation, ruled his house with rigour, and exerted his parental authority to the full. Once, we are told, he flogged his son so severely that the latter fled from him and bore him a grudge for a considerable time afterwards, and as a usual thing he had such a fear of his father that he always hid in the chimney corner when he had done anything to anger him. Strict rule was also exercised in the house by the mother, who shared her husband’s fault of occasional harshness. On one occasion she whipped her son til the blood flowed for stealing a hazel–nut. Punishment in the home does not seem to have been proportioned to the offence. Yet, in spite of this failure, the discipline worked Martin Luther good rather than harm, and he came in time to realize that it was meant for his profit. In later years, indeed, he seemed to recognize that parental correction for his faults made him the more keenly sensitive of his faults before God. Such a sensitiveness is no mean possession.

Luther’s schooldays began early, and by the age of six he could read and write with a fair degree of ease. Reading, writing and Latin were the subjects in which he was first instructed, but the teaching he was under seems to have been of a very inferior kind, and he spoke in after life of the vexations and torments which resulted from the almost barbarous teaching of Latin conjugations and declensions. Small respect was shown for the feelings of the pupils. Schoolmasters, he says, in those days were tyrants and executioners, the schools were prisons, and in spite of blows, trembling, fear and misery, the boys made little progress. Once, he tells us, he was whipped fifteen times during a single morning for no fault of his own, having been called on to repeat what he had never been taught. During his youth the terror inspired by such schoolmasters never left him, and harsh language or usage often served to bring back recollections of his torment. Thus, when he was about fifteen years of age he went with certain friends to sing carols from door to door. At the door of a solitary farmhouse the farmer came out and called to them in a harsh voice as though displeased, ‘Where are you, young rascals?’ The farmer’s intention was to reward them with two large sausages which he carried in his hand, but such was the fear which his rough words produced, that the boys ran away terrified, and only returned for the sausages after much friendly persuasion.

Luther remained at his first school until he was fourteen, when his father determined to send him to a better school in Magdeburg, which lay at a considerable distance from his home–town. Luther went there on foot, knapsack on back and stick in hand, his heart doubtless troubled with conflicting feelings as he left the parental roof and faced life alone amid strange sights and faces. Such a moment is often critical in the life of youth. Absence from home and home life, and separation from parental discipline for the first time, is a real testing of character and conduct. Not a few, alas! deem the occasion suitable for spending themselves in riotous living, but where the grace of God is at work there is victory over sin. How far Luther’s conduct at Magdeburg corresponded with his conduct at home we do not know, but school discipline, though it could not satisfactorily replace home discipline, would to some extent make up for its absence.

Luther only remained about a year at Magdeburg and then his father, for reasons unknown, had him transferred to another school at Eisenach. The money with which his father supplied him was not sufficient to cover all the expenses of board and lodging as well as schooling, and, together with other scholars similarly placed, Luther used to sing hymns from door to door and receive small gifts as was the custom in Germany at that period. ‘Let no one in my presence,’ he said, ‘speak contemptuously of the poor fellows who go from door to door, singing and begging bread. You know the psalm says, “Princes and kings have sung”. I myself was once a poor mendicant seeking my bread at people’s houses, particularly at Eisenach — my own dear Eisenach!’

Luther received much help at this time from Frau (Mrs.) Cotta, a lady of some wealth who lived in Eisenach, and who took pity on the poor striving scholar. His singing found a way to her heart, and for the four years during which Luther remained at Eisenach he was welcomed to her table and greatly assisted in his studies. For the first time he was introduced to a well–to–do home circle, and the peasant’s son learned to move in a higher rank of society than that to which his parents belonged.

(To be continued)

PROCLAIMING ALL BIBLE TRUTHS

Selective use of the Scriptures is not confined to purveyors of the new theology. We charge the radicals — and rightly so — with mutilating the Bible. This passage they reject as non–authentic; that narrative they refuse because in their understanding it represents an outworn view of the world. They become the judges of what is useful and profitable. As a result the Bible — or what is left of it — is simply a convenient adjunct to their own theories.

But they are not alone in this approach! Admittedly the Bible–loving evangelical turns to the Scriptures with a completely different attitude. For him the Bible is the Word of God. To its pages he turns that he may hear the voice of God. It is the Book which stands in judgment on him rather than being subject to his critical analysis. Yet which of us is not guilty in practice of doing something similar to the destructive critics, namely, concentrating on the Scriptures which suit us and paying scant regard to those which we find less convenient?

All Scripture is God–breathed (2 Tim. 3:16). This does not mean that the saving truths of the Gospel are equally prominent in every passage. Clearly the Epistle to the Romans deals more directly with the basic gospel theme than does Esther or Ecclesiastes. But that does not mean that we dismiss other areas of Scripture as of little importance. We endeavour to understand the mind of the Spirit as He has made God’s truth known in all its parts. The vivid colours of a picture may catch the eye, but the darker hues are necessary to complete the work of art. The bright threads in the tapestry may highlight the theme, but the dull greys and browns are equally important if the vivid colours are to be shown up by a sharper contrast. So it is that in the purpose of God all Scripture is profitable in order to declare the glory of God as it is seen supremely in Christ.

There is one aspect of this selective use of Scripture which has serious consequences. We notice the stress which the Bible lays on orthodoxy. How important it is to hold fast the faith once for all delivered to the saints! How vital it is to ensure that the preaching in our churches accords with the apostolic testimony! So we aim to maintain the truth, and as a result we are watchful in face of the constant emergence of error, so that we may resist it as firmly as Paul did in Galatia.

But with our very justifiable concern to maintain the orthodox faith we sometimes forget the biblical injunctions to spread it. The call is not only to preserve the gospel in face of error but to make it known. The gems of truth are not to be confined in a casket of orthodoxy in order that the saints may appreciate their beauty; they are to be displayed to the spiritual paupers who need the word of truth. Or, to change the metaphor, we are not to hoard the gospel provisions in order that we may have a substantial and balanced spiritual diet. We are to go out to men who are spiritually starving in order that they may be fed with the bread of life.

There are others, of course, who rush to the other extreme. They are so concerned to share the message of the gospel with men that they become careless about its content. They are so actively engaged in feeding the crowds that they fail to ensure that the food they provide is really adequate. They, in fact, are guilty of the same failure. They have listened to the call to go to others. They have seen the Christians in the Acts of the Apostles reaching out with the message. They have listened to that side of the Word and have forgotten the equally important call to contend earnestly for the faith.

There are few, if any, of us who can claim to be really blameless in this matter. What we need is a penitent acknowledgment before God of our own failure to take seriously the whole of Scripture, even though this failure may have arisen from our very zeal for God’s truth. All Scripture is God–breathed. All Scripture is profitable. Our part is to submit ourselves in all humility to the sovereign direction of the Holy Spirit as He speaks in and through the Word. H.M. Carson.

FAMILY PRAYER

Leadership

When the family as a unit of society appears before the Lord, there should be leadership. This leadership rests in the first place upon the head of the family. He should give leadership and lead in prayer.

Silent prayer may be proper in a restaurant, but in a family it should be very unusual. To say, “Let’s be quiet a moment,” seems mysterious and lacks orderliness. When two young people form a family, the young man, who is the head of the new family, needs to be conscious of his duty in this matter. From the beginning he must give leadership.

The argument that while they are just together they are not yet a real family, does not hold. They have established a new unit, and in this unit they must give expression to the acknowledgment of God. If they do not do so immediately, and this matter is postponed, it becomes very hard to find the moment in which to make the beginning.

If the marriage is founded upon the desire to serve the Lord together, this must find expression in family prayer.

Shy characters may find it hard to lead in family prayer, but it may not be neglected. A stream of words is not necessary, nor beautiful words. Simplicity and sincerity are characteristics of true prayer.

Even if shadows fall upon the beginning of the marriage, praying together may not be neglected. Perhaps a family had to be begun sooner than was desired, or the home left much to be desired, still they should not neglect to seek the Lord together in prayer, so that their marriage may have a right relationship to God from the beginning.

Today young people often think everything must be different than formerly. They want no firm rules, and certainly no traditional paths. To give serious thought to what has always been is good, but do not forget that our possibilities of thinking up something really new are very limited.

There need not be too great fear of forming habits. It is a fact that the plant of our life cannot stand without the stick and therefore the support of habits. In this case we cannot live with the thought: “When we feel the need of it we will do it.” Forming the habit can arouse the need, and awaken deep thoughts.

The marriage may also have its difficulties. The characters may clash, there may be disagreements in minor matters. The good habit of praying together can cause the difficulties to be dissolved. Such difficulties may never push prayer aside, but contrariwise, praying together may remove the difficulties.

Peter with apostolic authority has said that we must dwell together according to knowledge, that our prayers be not hindered.

If prayer is to develop in a family, there must be a mutual oneness. One who marries with an unbeliever cannot have this oneness. One can think that making an agreement to leave each other “free” is a solution, but then he is deceiving himself. Where true oneness is needed such patchwork is out of place.

Those who are often called upon “to lead” will come to the discouraging discovery (unless he is a confirmed formalist) that all his prayers are but poor attempts. However we must consider that we do not have a perfect prayer situation or a perfect prayer.

We always stand in a life broken by sin, we come out of this as we draw nigh to God, and our prayers carry the marks of this brokenness. There is however the comfort of knowing that there is a perfect Intercessor in heaven Who sanctifies our broken but sincere prayers.

In this article I am assuming that the husband as head of the family leads in family prayer. That will be so at mealtimes as we experience our togetherness, if the family conditions allow it, and also at special circumstances that call for acknowledging God for His favor or asking for His blessing.

It is however possible that the father of the family has passed away. That is a sad loss for the leadership of the family, especially in a growing family.

Then there lies a heavy duty and responsibility upon the mother. She shall also have to give to family prayer the leadership that her husband had given. Not that she must imitate the father. A woman is different, and will do it in her own way. but it is her duty.

Also when her husband is away during the day, or is away from home for long periods, mother must give leadership. Although she is different, she in not inferior. In a family where the father is absent mother’s prayer can be of much significance.

And the children, must they always be silent and listen? Must they pray themselves? I hope to speak of children’s prayers at another time. Now only this: It sometimes happens that children ask whether they may pray instead of father or mother. Do not turn this aside, but seek to allow it.

And if children remain in the family circle longer than usual, let them sometimes lead, but first talk it over with them. Have they not become mature members of the family? As we sometimes ask our guests to offer prayer or give thanks, we can also ask our mature children.

Good leadership in family prayer can be of great significance in the development of the members of the family.

The family is the place where much is transferred from parents to children, and where good traditions in more than one respect are retained. Prayer life is a part of the riches transferred in a family to the following generation. There is much these days that breaks in upon our family life and flows into our living rooms, and not only there. A lively family prayer can give to family life a distinctive atmosphere that is noticeable to those outside.

Prof. W. Kremer

Translated from “De Wekker”

REMEMBERING THE REFORMATION

My Dear Young Friends,

Four hundred and fifty years ago in the year 1517, the Reformation in Germany began. This glorious event is certainly worthy of being remembered and in this connection no doubt the name that will spring into the minds of us all is that of Martin Luther. He was the central figure of the Reformation in Germany, a faithful herald of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ whose labours were signally owned of God, and one who was greatly honoured by the Lord in that he was chosen to fulfil such an important task.

We do not intend to write an account of his life, at present, but we do want to draw your attention to an event which took place on the 31st October, 1517.

Some five years before this, Luther, in the course of his duties as a Roman Catholic priest, had paid a visit to Rome. During his stay in that infamous city he had a wonderful experience. Like all devout pilgrims he was intent on performing all kinds of supposedly–religious acts and so a certain day found him in the Palace of the Lateran climbing on his knees the marble Scala Sancta (Holy Stairs). At every step he would earn a year’s indulgence, but suddenly, he was arrested by a voice speaking, as it seemed, from Heaven, “The just shall live by faith.” Twice before these same words had spoken to him with great force, and now he started to his feet, grasping their significance and realizing the folly of his present activity. He left Rome an enlightened man. “I, Doctor Martin Luther.” he wrote, “unworthy herald of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, confess this article, that faith alone without works justifies before God; and 1 declare that it shall stand and remain forever in despite of the Emperor of the Romans, the Emperor of the Turks, the Emperor of the Tartars, the Emperor of the Persians; in spite of the Pope and all the cardinals, with the bishops, priests, monks, and nuns; in spite of kings, princes, and nobles; and in spite of all the world, and of the devils themselves; and that if they endeavour to fight against this truth they will draw the fires of hell upon their own heads. This is the true and holy Gospel, and the declaration of me, Doctor Martin Luther, according to the teaching of the Holy Ghost. We hold fast to it in the name of God. Amen.”

For another five years he continued to occupy his position as a professor at the University of Wittemberg and, in name at any rate, as a priest of the Roman Catholic Church. During this time he made a close and prayerful study of the scriptures so that he became well–grounded in the doctrines of the Word of God.

The 1517 was marked by a greatly–increased traffic in indulgences, the so–called pardons which could avowedly be granted by the Romish Church. John Tetzel, a priest of some notoriety, was commissioned to sell these in Germany. Sales soared, and money poured into Rome’s coffers. “Come, and I will give you letters all properly sealed, by which even the sins which you intend to commit may be pardoned. But more than this indulgences avail not only for the living but for the dead . At the very instant that the money rattles at the bottom of the chest, the soul escapes from purgatory, and flies liberated to heaven … I declare to you, though you have but a single coat, you ought to strip it off and sell it, in order to obtain this grace … The Lord our God no longer reigns, he has resigned all power to the Pope.” So roared Tetzel in the principal churches in every town he visited.

Luther was greatly distressed by these reports and condemned the practice from the pulpit and in the course of his other duties. He then resolved on further action.

On the first of November Wittenberg would be thronged with people for the ‘Festival of All Saints.’ On the eve of that day Luther could have been seen pressing through the milling crowds already assembled, towards the door of the Castle Church. With him he carried a paper which he proceeded to nail to the door of the church. The paper set out ninety–five propositions regarding indulgences, which propositions Luther was prepared to discuss and debate. These Ninety–five Theses, as they are called, did more than strike at the evil of Indulgences. They effectively undermined the whole infamous Papal system. A few examples may be cited: —

1. Those who fancy themselves sure of salvation by indulgences will go to perdition along with those who teach them so.

2. The true and precious treasure of the Church is the holy Gospel of the glory and grace of God.

3. Every true Christian, dead or living is a partaker of all the blessings of Christ, by the gift of God, and without any letter of indulgence.

4. We should teach Christians that the Pope (as it is his duty) would distribute his own money to the poor, whom the indulgence sellers are now stripping of their last farthing, even were he compelled to sell the Church of St. Peter.

A great event in history had been enacted and the name of Martin Luther was to be had in everlasting remembrance!

May the God of Martin Luther be your God and Redeemer, my dear young reader. “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” (Isaiah 1, 18).

Young People’s Magazine

We see God’s decrees when they bring forth their fruits. all actions, good and ill, sweet and sour, in their time; but we see not presently the after birth of God’s decree, to wit. His blessed end, and the good that He bringeth out of His holy and spotless counsel. We see His working and we sorrow; the end of His counsel and working lieth hidden and underneath the ground, and therefore we cannot believe.

U.S. IS A WELFARE STATE, SAYS EX–NIXON AIDE

The welfare state has been achieved in America and we are now paying the price for it in unchecked inflation, taxes, disorders and crime, Roger Freeman, former special assistant to President Nixon, said recently.

Contrary to the contentions of those who demand a reordering of our national priorities, they already have been reordered, he said. Since 1952, defense costs have gone up only 57 per cent, barely keeping up with inflation, he said.

In the same period, spending for national domestic services went up 219 per cent while health, education and welfare expenditures went up 1,142 per cent, he said.

Freeman, who served as an adviser to the President from July, 1969 to June, 1970, spoke before the annual meeting of the Governmental Research Association in the Drake Hotel.

No Appreciable Result

Spending for health, education and welfare is now greater than that for defense, with no appreciable result, he said. Poverty continues as much as before, and, in cities such as New York, the quality of education has degenerated despite a doubling of the number of teachers and a 700 per cent increase in the money spent on schools, he said.

“The nation has acted as if all social ills could be cured by generous infusions of public money,” he said. “Huge federal spending has brought forth no social miracles but resentment among those who felt cheated when no miracles materialized as the money dissipated.”

Domestic tranquility and the general welfare have not benefited from this outpouring of money, he said. Instead. “crime, delinquency, and most kinds of social ills, new and old, have been multiplying at a frightening rate, to a point where American citizens are less safe than they have ever been or as most people are in other countries,” he said. “Crime Pays”

Under a welfare state judicial system directed towards the legal needs of the criminal rather than the victim, crime rates have soared because “crime pays,” he said.

“A recent study concluded that the chances of going to prison are less than one in 200 for a man committing a felony in New York City,” he said. “The criminal now has four chances in five of never being arrested. Is there any other money–making enterprise in which the chances are nearly as good?”

Conceived as an emergency relief measure during the Depression, public aid has become a permanent institution which perpetuates poverty and crime, Freeman said. Aid to dependent children, originally designed to assist orphans, has “replaced gainful employment and become the accepted way of life for well over two million women and men — the latter usually indirectly and surreptitiously,” he said.

Crime Needs ADC

“ADC has become an essential nutrient in the breeding grounds of crime, delinquency, illegitimacy, prostitution and all other forms of social ills.

“No country in the world has anything like our program of aid to families with dependent children — nor would want to,” he said. “It is a nightmare and a plague on the body politic.”

Obviously, hearts are not changed with federal aid.

The truth is, we have tried to conduct our affairs as if there were no God. We have ruled Him out of our government, our public schools, our families and our lives. We treat His holy law as though it was a myth or a relic of the past. We, as the fool in Psalm 14 have said, “No God”.

But God is not mocked. As with individuals, so with nations, what we sow we reap. In the multitude of difficulties, probably the most serious in our history, we are receiving our due reward. Take any of the problems described here, and many more that could be cited, and every one will point us back to the violation of God’s laws. Our beloved country is being punished and will be increasingly punished as long as we stay on our present disaster course.

We don’t need more government, more laws, more relief. We need God.

PROVERBS 30:15,16

The horseleach hath two daughters, crying, “Give, give”. There are three things that are never satisfied, yea, four things say not, “It is enough. “

The grave; and the barren womb; the earth that is not filled with water; and the fire that saith not, “It is enough “.

The horseleach represents unbridled desires that are never satisfied. Now Agur, the wise man, reminds us of that fact that nature has such a character. He gives a few examples. The grave is never satisfied. Always it opens its mouth to swallow new victims. But at last it would have to say, “It is enough”, since there would be no more lives to take. Therefore Agur mentions also the womb. The urge to reproduce is indestructible, insatiable. The womb and the grave are as the two daughters of the horseleach, they cry, “Give, give”. The first works for the second. The womb always desires to bring forth life, and the graves desires untiringly to destroy life. It is a continual cycle that wearies men.

Agur points to still another pair: water and fire. The earth opens itself from day to day to drink in water, and greedily asks for more. And always again fire consumes the water. By the heat of the sun, water evaporates, to descend again as rain. It is an endless battle between fire and water that is never decided. Here, too, we hear the voice of the leach, “Give, give”. We must acknowledge that there is no power on earth that can break that dreary cycle of water and fire, and of womb and grave.

But above the realm of nature stands He for Whom nothing is too wonderful. Thus we are directed to the holy and eternal gospel. In Bethlehem a womb was opened for life, and not for the grave, at least not permanently for the grave. There it was said, “It is enough”, for the Child of Mary is the Savior, and there is no other fountain of life to be expected. And in the garden of Joseph it was said to the never–satisfied grave, “It is enough”, when the Lord Jesus Christ arose from the dead. The Eternal One has passed through the womb and the grave, and has subdued the horseleach character of them both. He did so for the benefit of His corrupted people that must be ransomed from the destructive “Give, give”.

Also the battle between water and fire shall be brought to an end by the Almighty. Once the earth was swallowed up by the waters of the Deluge, and God said, “It is enough. This shall not be again.” Once again the Lord shall speak thus when the elements shall burn, and the earth shall have passed through the fire. The Most High shall pluck a few out of the power of the horseleach. Whom? Those that know their impotence in regard to the “Give, give”, of nature, and, beside the baptism by water of the covenant, receive also the baptism by fire of the Spirit. They are translated into the kingdom of grace, and soon into the kingdom of glory. The insatiableness of the leach is taken by Him Who said, “Give Me thy heart”, for “in thy presence is fulness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore”

Translated from a book of daily meditations.

WALKING WITH THE KING

And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the Scriptures? — Luke XXIV. 32.

Ought not the disciples of Jesus to do now, as the disciples of Jesus did then? What but of Jesus should we speak of by the way? Methinks the Lord’s people, and especially when coming from the Lord’s house, should be distinguished from the frothy conversation of mere carnal worshippers. I would, by talking of Jesus, invite him to mingle with us, and open to our understandings the Scriptures. I would therefore sometimes ask one, and another, when returning from the house or the table of the Lord, How went the matter with our soul to–day? I pray you tell me. Was the King at court? Did he receive petitions? Did he answer prayers? Were you refreshed; were you healed; any comforted; any made joyful in his house of prayer? Surely we might hope, by such edifying inquiries, each would help his fellow. And He, of whom it is said, the Lord hearkened and heard, when of old the people of God were often talking one to another, would again draw nigh, and make the heart burn with the sweet manifestations of his love. But chiefly, blessed Master! if I meet with none to ask whether they have seen the King in his beauty, give me to taste of the sweet savour of thy grace myself; come to me, Lord, in the refreshing, strengthening, heart–warming, soul–rejoicing, manifestations of thy presence: for thy love is better than wine; and the very crumb from under thy table is more delicious than the honey and the honey–comb.

NOTES OF PRAISE

It was most truly and blessedly said, by the Lord Jesus Himself, when speaking of the Holy Ghost, in His work, as a party of the Covenant of Grace: ‘He shall glorify Me; for He shall receive of Mine, and shall shew it unto you,’ John 16, 14. And since the Son of God returned to glory, how abundantly hath He done it in the thousand and ten thousand instances manifested toHis people! From the day of Pentecost to this hour, what acts of grace hath He wrought in regenerating, quickening, comforting, and strengthening the souls of the redeemed in Christ! How sweetly hath He opened and explained to the Church the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that hath followed; and what proofs hath He thereby given of His Person, Godhead, and Ministry ‘in making known the mystery of Jehovah’s will, according to the riches of His grace.’ Dr. Hawker

I thought it had been an easy thing to be a Christian, and that to seek God had been at the next door, but oh, the windings, the turnings, the ups and the downs that He hath led me through! and I see yet much way to the Lord.

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