TIMOTHY MISSION FUND

During the month of April a total of $51.00 was received in gifts for our Timothy Mission Fund, and these gifts are gratefully acknowledged. The balance in the fund as of the first of May was $117.90. Acknowledgment for checks disbursed were received from the Mbuma Mission Hospital and from Mr. D. Polder in the Netherlands. May the Lord incline hearts unto willingness in supporting the work of the missions as well as in the performing of the various labors required. Even the heart of a king is in the hand of the Lord. (Proverbs 21:1).

Donations to the Timothy Mission Fund should be sent in care of Mr. Tom Stryd, P.O. Box 2322, Kalamazoo, Michigan 49003.

MISSION CENTER IN NIGERIA

When Sister Sonneveld arrived in the Egedde district of Nigeria in 1963, there was only a ramshackle house in which she conducted the clinic for more than a year. Today this beautiful clinic and quite a few other new buildings are the results of much labor and the financial support of our congregations. In addition to the care of the physical needs of the local population, instruction is daily given from God’s Word regarding the Great Physician Who came to seek and to save that which was lost.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Mbuma Mission Hospital Bulawayo, Rhodesia

Dear Timothy Mission Friends,

Very many thanks once again for your gift of $100 from the Timothy Mission Fund.

We have had especially good rains this season for which we are thankful to the Most High. The last two seasons were very dry and there was much distress among the people.

The Bible speaks of the former and the latter rain and we only wish we could report a little enthusiasm for the Gospel among the people. But “salvation is of the Lord” and we are looking to Him. It is a great matter to have a waiting spirit. They that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength.

The Lord bless you.

Yours sincerely,

James R. Tallach

Dear Mission Friends,

A few days ago we received your check in the amount of $100 from the Timothy Mission Fund for the mission work of our congregations.

We wish to express our sincere thanks. May the Lord bless these gifts to the extension of His Kingdom among people who have never heard of His Holy Name.

We acknowledge this from our heart and again express our hearty thanks. In all things be commended unto God.

With friendly greetings,

D. P. Polder

GIFTS RECEIVED FOR MISSIONS IN APRIL 1972

CLASSIS MIDWEST SOURCE AMOUNT

Friend in Michigan Gift 75.00

Norwich Mission Night Collection 502.11

Friend from Missouri Gift 5.50

Friend in Hamilton Gift 20.00

Friend in G.R. Gift 25.00

Friend in G.R. Gift 500.00

In G.R. Ch. Col. Gift 100.00

In G.R. Ch. Col. Gift 5.00

In G.R. Ch. Col. Gift 10.00

CLASSIS WEST

Friend in Rock Valley Gift 10.00

TOTAL: $1252.61

Dear Friends,

Here with we acknowledge your generous gifts for the mission work. May the Lord bless you all and your gifts. We are glad to let you know that it is going somewhat better by Rev. Kuijt. Those people who were so hostile to him have now made friends. He wrote us that he would send a letter for the Banner but I’m sorry we haven’t received it yet. Maybe we will have it for the next report. By the time this appears in the Banner, Miss Ann Herfst hopes to be again in Nigeria. Meta Elshout is studying in the Netherlands. So far as we know everything is going fairly well on both mission fields. We are very glad for Rev. Kuijt that he may experience some encouragement in his work amongst the heathen people. What has looked so impossible for awhile the Lord has made well. We would say, oh wait upon the Lord ye waiting people and He shall make it all well. So many times we become so impatient which is nothing else then the fruit of unbelief, which is a great sin. May the Lord remember us all for His Name’s sake. Sincerely, your Mission Committee.

American General Mission Fund

Netherland Reformed Congregations

of America and Canada

John Spaans, Treasurer

Plankinton Box 106 RR1

South Dakota 57368

ACKNOWLEDGMENT FROM TRINITARIAN BIBLE SOCIETY

24th April, 1972

Dear Mr. Spaans,

Thank you for your kind letter of March 27th enclosing a gift of three hundred dollars for the work of our Society. We now have pleasure in enclosing our receipt and we shall be grateful if you will kindly convey our warmest thanks to all who have contributed.

During the year ended March 31st there was a great increase in the number of Bibles and New Testaments distributed and in the providence of God every need was supplied. We trust that the Lord’s blessing will accompany the Seed sown and make it fruitful.

With warm regards,

Yours sincerely,

Terence H. Brown

Secretary

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT FROM HAROLD AND FRAN POPOVICH

Brasilia, DF

April 10, 1972

Dear Mr. Spaans,

Please communicate our gratitude to the churches for the gifts of $100 in both January and February, 1972. Also for $100 given in March.

In February Harold, Philip and I went to the tribe to do the semi-final check of the book of Acts. Then we arrived back in Brasilia and spent a very hectic week trying to move while getting the new apartment ready for occupancy. Now, a month later, we are “moved in”, after living here for a month, and can let the rest go until later.

We’ve had three house guests already. We’ve entertained Brazilian young people on the way to their first tribe session. And now Harold is leaving to introduce yet another young man to tribal work, this time among the Maxakali. Please pray for Mailton Lima. He was to have married and taken his bride along, but her family objected violently to the marriage. Now he is going as a bachelor and will surely need our prayers for the lonely time ahead.

Please pray for the rest of us as well. I have to type up the book of Acts during this month. Early in May (or about the middle of the month) we hope to have the translated portions checked for publication: Acts, I and II Timothy, Abridged Genesis, and perhaps I and II Thessalonians.

David (14) had spring vacation last week and went back to school which is 6–8 hours away by bus. His school closes for the school year on May 21st. Jimmy got back Friday night from a bus trip to São Paulo for a sports meet with students of other American schools in Brazil. Annette is doing well on the flute, and little Philip plays freely outdoors with the children of colleagues who live here on the base.

May the Lord bless you, Frances Popovich

NOTES OUT OF THE CATECHISM CLASSES OF REV.J. FRAANJE

USING THE CATECHISM BOOK

SPECIMENS OF DIVINE TRUTHS

BY

REV. A. HELLENBR0EK

Lesson 9 — Creation — Part 1

Since we had not discussed all the questions on creation last week, we shall, with God’s help, attempt to go further.

For a moment, I shall review briefly:

Who is the creator of all things? The Triune God.

Out of what has He created it? Out of nothing.

Through what means? Through His omnipotence.

For what reason? For His own sake and to His own glory.

We mentioned: “Some people explain the six days of creation as six periods of time.”

We do not accept this. God’s Word teaches us: “And the evening and the morning were the first day, second day, third day etc.” We must hold stedfast to the declarations of God’s Word. God completed the whole creation in six ordinary days of 24 hours; opened and closed by morning and evening.

The Lord did not create all these things because He had need of them. No, it would then have been a creation out of compulsion.

He created only because He so desired; merely through His sovereign unlimited power (omnipotence) He completed it.

What were the principal creatures that God brought into being?

Men and angels.

We have said earlier: (but are reviewing it a moment to sharpen your memory), God created man on the sixth day as the crown of creation. He referred to himself for the first time in the plural as He set about doing this work: “Come, let Us make man.”

God created the whole of mankind in the first man, which is evident in Acts 17:25 & 26 “He giveth to all life and breath and all things; and hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth.”

It is also clear in the account of creation that God created man in two parts, namely, body and soul (spirit).

The body by way of means (from dust of the earth) and the soul without means (the soul came immediately from God, for He breathed a living soul into them).

The Bible talks about “spirit” and then again about “soul.” We must consider these as having the same meaning, because the soul is a spirit that never dies (immortal) whereby we live and exercise reason, according to Hellenbroek.

Last week we talked about the creation of man; so, we shall now try to talk about the creation of angels.

Our lesson asks: Are the angels also created?

Answer: Yes. Psalm 104:4 says: “He makes His angels spirits.”

What are angels, actually?

Paul gives us a clear answer to that in Hebrews 1:14. “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?”

Hellenbroek asks further: “When were the angels created?”

He answers: “Probably on the first day” God’s Word is not explicit in this. There is only a reflection of it referred to in Job 38:4, 6 & 7 where God said to Job, “Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. Who hath laid the measures thereof?

Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof?”

The Lord asked Job all this. He spoke with Him about the great work of creation and especially in these verses about the creation of the earth. He then follows immediately with: “When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy.”

The words, “sons of God” and probably the word “morning star” mean the angels whom God had created for His praise.

In as much as the Lord speaks of it in connection with the creation of the earth it leads us to believe that the angels could have been created at the same time: on the first day.

We shall not involve ourselves any deeper; the hidden things are for the Lord. We might better be silent concerning matters on which God’s Word is silent.

To what can we give a more certain answer, however?

To the question whether the angels were created good.

Without hesitation we can say “yes” about that, because, “God saw everything that He had made, and behold it was very good.” The angels were included there.

If it is sure, then, that all the angels were created perfect, you would say: “Where do the devils come from?”

Would God have created the devils?

No, that is impossible; He would then be the creator of evil.

What happened then?

The angels were all created good, but they did not all remain good. One group of them fell away from God and became devils in Hell.

Can that be proven from God’s Word?

Surely, just read it in the epistle of Jude:6 “And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, He hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.”

Some people teach that the evil angels were not created perfect but carried a germ of sin.

You must never believe this. It follows (according to that theory) that God created them with a sinful germ and so He is the creator of devils.

That is in direct conflict with the Truth. He is the Creator of the angels.

A part of the angels did not remain standing in their perfect state in which they were created. They had, with their unrestrained volition, stood up against their Creator.

But the Triune God stood above them and punished their uprising by casting them out of heaven.

Peter said very plainly in 2 Peter 2:4 “God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down into Hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment.”

So, the first sin was begun by an angel.

VARIOUS QUESTIONS

(5)

God’s people also have a desire after holiness. They learn more and more how unholy they are in themselves, and testify with the Apostle Paul, “Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.” Phil. 3:12. They are partakers of the divine nature, and therefore have a childlike longing for a holy life, far from sin, and near to God. It is good for me to draw near to God. In Thy law my joy shall be. They long to be confirmed to the image of His Son, to die to sin and to live unto righteousness, until they one day shall be satisfied when they awake, with His likeness. Ps. 17:15.

They are also sealed with the Holy Spirit. The sealing with the Holy Spirit is received after they have heard the word of truth, the gospel of their salvation, after having received the gift of faith.

In various places in the Word of God we read about sealing. In Jeremiah 32 we read the charge that the Lord gave to Jeremiah while he was sitting in prison to buy a field in Anathoth from his counsin Hanameel. Jeremiah did according to the word of the Lord and bought the field, and weighed him the money. The deed was written up, signed and sealed before the eyes of witnesses. Hence that sealed deed was proof of ownership. We read also in Rev. 7:3 that the servants of God were sealed in their foreheads, as formerly cattle and slaves were branded with their owners mark. Hence that sealing means: this one is Mine, that is My servant.

We also read that the sepulcher of Christ was sealed. There the tomb was sealed to keep it from being robbed or desecrated. The lions’ den into which Daniel was cast was also sealed. Dan. 6:17. Closed books also were sealed. Isa. 8:16. In the Revelations of John we often read of sealing. Christ was sealed by the Father, John 6:27, since the Father gave evident proof that Christ was His only begotten Son.

Thus the true church is sealed with and by the Holy Spirit. The church is God’s peculiar treasure. The gates of hell shall not prevail against it. God’s people are at God’s charges. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned: neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Savior. By the sealing the believers (as Father Brakel observes) are kept inviolate. In that respect they are called a fountain sealed in the Song of Solomon. (Ch. 4:12)

By the sealing of the Holy Spirit the children of God are assured of their interest in the covenant of grace and all its promises. That sealing of the Holy Spirit also includes that God vouches for His people. They live here in a world that lies in wickedness, and hates and persecutes them. The Lord Jesus taught His disciples and all His people to pray: “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” The devil never sleeps, but is busy day and night, always lying in wait to distress, to tempt, and to destroy us. His head was bruised on Golgotha, but with his tail he can strike so hard that we do not know where to go, and our heart and soul are wounded by the blasphemies. Our corrupt flesh, that old man of sin, is in league with the devil and the world to rob us of our comfort, and to bring us to the brink of despair. All these things together (and I have touched upon only a little of it) God permits and controls so that they shall drive us out to God. Yea, then we shall learn to understand and sing with the poet of Psalm 74,

“Unto the multitude do not
Thy turtle’s soul deliver:
The congregation of Thy poor
Do not forget for ever.”

But however far it may go, the true church is sealed by the Holy Spirit, and they are kept by the power of God unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. I Peter 1:5. That sealing is the earnest of their inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession. Soon they shall appear with Christ in glory. Col. 3:4.

What we have observed before, we must now repeat: this is all true, and it lies firm in God, but we must experience it. To have it in our head, and superficially in our confession is not enough. The Apostle Paul speaks in Rom. 5:5 of the Holy Spirit which is given to us, and in Gal. 4:6 that God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts. But that same apostle wrote in Rom. 8:9: “But if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.” That is decisive for you and me on the way to eternity. Oh that God Himself would bind the seriousness and importance of the matters upon our hearts. The responsibility is so great for us and for our children. Soon we shall be summoned with them before the judgment seat of Christ, and then there shall be no excuses.

I shall not enlarge upon this any further at this time. If later the Lord gives me time and opportunity, desire, light, love, and opening, I hope to continue. Although I have written but a few incomplete thoughts, I hope the questioners can make their own application, and that these remarks may serve as an answer to some of the questions they asked. May what I have written impel them to search the Word of God. In His providence the Lord has given us so many excellent works that can explain His Word for us. May it also penetrate deeply in our heart and mind that what must be known in order to be saved, cannot be picked up from the street, but must be given us out of free grace from the Father of lights, from Whom every good gift and every perfect gift comes down. James 1:17.

Moreover, when we want to join another church, the main question is whether we can entrust the eternal welfare of our souls to the doctrine that is taught there. Let us always remember that we have only one soul, and the value of that soul is more than the whole world. In the Song of Solomon (ch. 1:7) the spouse asks, “Tell me, O Thou whom my soul loveth, where Thou feedest, where Thou makest Thy flock to rest at noon.” When we ask in truth, with seriousness and an inward need, then the Lord will show us the way. The spouse also received an answer. In Psalm 85 we sing, “Peace to His people He will speak.”

Finally, it is necessary for you and me to make the application and to ask ourselves, “What do I know about this on our way to eternity?” We are inclined to live on without thinking of our state. May we with David think upon our ways. Do we know the times and places where the things of eternity became reality for us? The Word of God says clearly: “The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and they that hear shall live.” (John 5:25) Where that life is granted there is also a crying after God, as a hart after the water brooks. (Ps. 42:1) There those characteristics are found of which Christ speaks in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5, as revealing that life of God. They are poor, they mourn, they are meek, they hunger and thirst after righteousness, they are merciful, pure of heart, peacemakers, and are persecuted.

If the Word of God excludes us, we are outside, and we are strangers of divine life. But if we are included, then Psalm 115:13 & 14 shall be confirmed,

“For small and great who fear His Name
The Lord has good in store;
Ye and your children, blest of God,
Shall prosper more and more.”

May the Spirit of God bless these lines for those who are going astray, and apply it with power to those who are in constant doubt whether the true work of God is in their heart and life.

W. C. Lamain

THROUGH BACA’S VALE

“Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus.” — 2 Corinthians 4:10

The two aspects, if I may use the expression, of our gracious Lord, in which are wrapped up all our faith, and hope, and love, are a dying Jesus and a risen Jesus; Christ in his sufferings and death, Christ in his resurrection and life. This is the Christ of God, this is the Son of God in whom we believe unto life eternal, as he is presented to our view in the Scriptures of truth, and by the inward teaching and testimony of the Holy Ghost. If, then, you do not believe in a dying Christ and in a risen Christ, your faith is not the faith of a Christian. Now just see how this bears upon our text. Why do we bear about the dying of the Lord Jesus? It is that the life of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. As then we bear about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus; as we suffer with Christ, die with Christ, and enter by faith into the mystery of his crucifixion so as to be mystically and spiritually crucified with him, we rise, so to speak, out of this death into union with the risen, living Christ, so as to derive life and strength, grace and power out of his glorious fulness. For he is risen from the dead: he is no more in the tomb, into which he sank in all the weakness of death; but is risen again, and was thus “declared to be the Son of God with power.” Yes, he has gone up on high, and now sits at the right hand of God in the highest heavens. He is gone within the veil, to be the High Priest over the house of God; there, too, he rules and reigns as King in Zion; and there he ever lives as our glorified and risen Head. As, then, we bear about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, as crucified with him and conformed to his death, so as “risen with him,” there is even now in our body a manifestation of his risen life.

J. C. Philpot

THE CHRISTIAN’S GREAT INTEREST IN QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Q.l. What is the great business a man hath to do in this world?

A. To make sure a saving interest in Christ Jesus, and to walk suitably thereunto.

Q.2. Have not all the members of the visible church a saving interest in Christ?

A. Not verily; yea but a very few of them have it.

Q.3. How shall I know if I have a saving interest in Him?

A. Ordinarily the Lord prepareth his own way in the soul, by a work of humiliation, and discovereth a man’s sin and misery to him, and exerciseth him so therewith, that he longs for the Physician Christ Jesus.

Q.4. How shall I know if I have got a competent discovery of my sin and misery?

A. A competent sight of it makes a man take salvation to heart above any thing in this world: It maketh him disclaim all relief in himself, even in his best things: It maketh Christ, who is the Redeemer, very precious to the soul: It makes a man stand in awe to sin afterwards, and makes him content to be saved upon any terms God pleaseth.

Q.5. What other way may I discern a saving interest in Him?

A. By going out of my heart seriously and affectionately towards Him as He is held out in the Gospel, and this is faith or believing.

Q.6. How shall I know if my heart goeth out after Him aright, and that my faith is true Saving Faith?

A. Where the heart goeth out aright after Him, in true and saving faith, the soul pleaseth Christ alone above all things, and pleaseth Him in all His three offices, to rule and instruct, as well as to save; and is content to cleave unto Him, whatsoever inconveniences may follow.

Q.7. What other mark of saving interest in Christ can you give me?

A. He that is in Christ savingly, is a new creature, he is graciously changed and renewed in some measure, in the whole man, and in all his ways, pointing towards all the known commands of God.

Q.8. What if I find sin now and then prevailing over me?

A. Although every sin deserveth everlasting vengeance, yet if you be afflicted for your failings, confess them with shame of face unto God, resolving to strive against them honestly henceforth, and to flee unto Christ for pardon, you shall obtain mercy, and your interest stands sure.

Q.9. What shall the man do who cannot lay claim to Christ Jesus, nor any of these marks spoken of?

A. Let him not take rest until he make sure unto himself a saving interest in Christ.

Q.l0. What way can a man make sure an interest in Christ, who never had a saving interest in Christ, who never had a saving interest in Him hitherto?

A. He must take his sins to heart, and his great hazard thereby, and he must take to heart God’s offer of pardon and peace through Christ Jesus, and heartily close with God’s offer, by betaking himself unto Christ the blessed Refuge.

Q.l1. What if my sins be singularly heinous, and great beyond ordinary?

A. Whatsoever thy sins be, if thou wilt close with Christ Jesus by faith, thou shalt never enter into condemnation.

Q.l 2. Is faith in Christ only required of man?

A. Faith is the only condition upon which God doth offer peace and pardon unto men. But be assured, faith, if it be true and saving, will not be alone in the soul, but will be attended with true repentance, and a thankful study of conformity to God’s Image.

Q.l3. How shall I be sure that my heart does accept of God’s offer, and doth close with Christ Jesus?

A. Go make a covenant expressly, and by word speak the things unto God.

Q.l4. What way shall I do that?

A. Set apart some bit of time, and having considered your own lost estate, and relief offered by Christ Jesus, work up your heart to please and close with the offer, and say unto God expressly, that you do accept of that offer, and of Him to be your God in Christ; and do give up yourself to Him to be saved in His way, without reservation or exception in any case; and that you henceforth will wait for salvation in the way He hath appointed.

Q.l 5. What if I break unto God afterwards?

A. You must resolve on His strength not to break, and watch over your own way, and put your heart in His hand to keep it: And if you break, you must confess it unto God, and judge yourself for it, and flee to the Advocate for pardon, and resolve to do no more so: And this you must do as often as you fail.

Q.l6. How shall I come to full assurance of my interest in Christ, so as it may be above controversy?

A. Learn to lay your weight upon the blood of Christ, and study purity and holiness in all manner of conversation; and pray for the witness of God’s Spirit, to join with the blood and the water: and His testimony added unto these will establish you in the faith of an interest in Christ.

Q.17.What is the consequence of such a closing with God in Christ by heart and mouth?

A. Union and communion with God, all good here, and His blessed fellowship in Heaven forever afterwards.

Q.18.What if I slight all these things, and do not lay them to heart to put them in practice?

A. The Lord cometh with His Angels in flaming fire, to render vengeance to them who obey not this Gospel, and thy judgment shall be greater than the judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah; and so much the greater that thou read this treatise, for it shall be a witness against thee in that day.

Wm. Guthrie

* “To close with Christ,” infers to surrender unconditionally ones own self righteousness and to embrace the righteousness of Christ by faith as the only propitiatory satisfaction by the Father.

CFB

BIBLE READING

“Search the Scriptures” — John 5: 39. “How readest thou?” —

Next to praying there is nothing so important in practical religion as Bible-reading. God has mercifully given us a book which is “able to make us wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” (2 Tim. 3:15). By reading that book we may learn what to believe, what to be, and what to do; how to live with comfort, and how to die in peace. Happy is that man who possesses a Bible. Happier still is he who reads it! Happiest of all is he who not only reads it, but obeys it, and makes it the rule of his faith and practice!

Nevertheless it is a sorrowful fact that a man has an unhappy skill in abusing God’s gifts. His privileges, and power, and faculties, are all ingeniously perverted to other ends than those for which they were bestowed. His speech, his imagination, his intellect, his strength, his time, his influence, his money — instead of being used as instruments for glorifying his Maker — are generally wasted, or employed for his own selfish ends. And just as man naturally makes a bad use of his other mercies, so he does of the written Word. One sweeping charge may be brought against the whole of Christendom, and that charge is neglect and abuse of the Bible.

To prove this charge we have no need to look abroad: the proof lies at our own doors. I have no doubt that there are more Bibles in our nation at this moment than there ever were since the world began. There is more Bible buying and Bible selling - more Bible printing and Bible distributing — than ever was since we were a nation. We see Bibles in every bookseller’s shop - Bibles of every size, price and style - Bibles great and Bibles small — Bibles for the rich and Bibles for the poor. There are Bibles in almost every house in the land. But all this time I fear we are in danger of forgetting, that to have the Bible is one thing, and to read it quite another.

This neglected Book is the subject about which I address the readers of this paper today. Surely it is no light matter what you are doing with the Bible. Surely, when the plague is abroad, you should search and see whether the plaguespot is on you. Give me your attention while I supply you with a few plain reasons why everyone who cares for his soul ought to value the Bible highly, to study it regularly, and to make himself thoroughly acquainted with its contents.

1. In the first place, there is no book in existence written in such a manner as the Bible.

The Bible was “given by inspiration of God” (2 Tim.:3, 16). In this respect it is utterly unlike all other writings. God taught the writers of it what to say. God put into their minds thoughts and ideas; God guided their pens in setting down those thoughts and ideas. When you read it, you are not reading the self-taught compositions of poor imperfect men like yourself, but the words of the eternal God. When you hear it, you are not listening to the erring opinions of short-lived mortals, but to the unchanging mind of the King of kings. The men who were employed to indite the Bible, spoke not of themselves. They “spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Peter 1:21). All other books in the world, however good and useful in their way, are more or less defective. The more you look at them the more you see their defects and blemishes. The Bible alone is absolutely perfect. From beginning to end it is “the Word of God.”

I shall not waste time by attempting any long and laboured proof of this. I say boldly, that the Book itself is the best witness of its own inspiration. It is utterly inexplicable and unaccountable in any other point of view. It is the greatest standing miracle in the world. He that dares to say the Bible is not inspired, let him give a reasonable account of it, if he can. Let him explain the peculiar nature and character of the Book in a way that will satisfy any man of common sense. The burden of proof seems to my mind to lie on him.

It proves nothing against inspiration, as some have asserted, that the writers of the Bible have each a different style. Isaiah does not write like Jeremiah, and Paul does not write like John. This is perfectly true — and yet the works of these men are not a whit less equally inspired. The waters of the sea have many different shades. In one place they look blue, and in another green. And yet the difference is owing to the depth or shallowness of the part we see, or to the nature of the bottom. The water in every case is the same salt sea. — The breath of a man may produce different sounds, according to the character of the instrument on which he plays. The flute, the pipe, and the trumpet, have their peculiar note. And yet the breath that calls forth the notes is in each case one and the same. — The light of the planets we see in heaven is very various. Mars, and Saturn, and Jupiter, have each a peculiar colour. And yet we know that the light of the sun, which each planet reflects, is in each case one and the same. Just in the same way the books of the Old and New Testaments are all inspired truth, and yet the aspect of that truth varies according to the mind through which the Holy Ghost makes it flow. The handwriting and style of the writers differ enough to prove that each had a distinct individual being; but the Divine Guide who dictates and directs the whole is always one. All is alike inspired. Each chapter, and verse, and word, is from God.

Oh. that men who are troubled with doubts, and questionings, and sceptical thoughts about inspiration, would calmly examine the Bible for themselves! Oh, that they would act on the advice which was the first step to Augustine’s conversion, — “Take it up and read it! — take it up and read it!” How many Gordian knots this course of action would cut! How many difficulties and objections would vanish away at once like mist before the rising sun! How many would soon confess, “The finger of God is here! God is in this Book, and I knew it not.”

This is the Book about which I address the readers of this paper. Surely it is no light thing that God should have caused this Book to be “written for your learning,” and that you should have before you “the oracles of God.” (Romans 15:4; 3, 2). I charge you, I summon you to give an honest answer to my question. What art thou doing with the Bible? — Dost thou read it all? — HOW READEST THOU?

2. In the second place, there is no knowledge absolutely needful to a man’s salvation, except a knowledge of the things which are to be found in the Bible.

We live in days when the words of Daniel are fulfilled before our eyes:- “Many run to and fro, and knowledge is increased.” (Dan. 12:4). Schools are multiplying on every side. New colleges are set up. Old universities are reformed and improved. New books are continually coming forth. More is being taught — more is being learned — more is being read — than there ever was since the world began. It is all well. I rejoice at it. An ignorant population is a perilous and expensive burden to any nation. It is a ready prey to the first Absalom, or Catiline, or Wat Tyler, or Jack Cade, who may arise to entice it to do evil. But this I say — we must never forget that all the education a man’s head can receive, will not save his soul from hell, unless he knows the truth of the Bible.

A man may have prodigious learning, and yet never be saved. He may be master of half the languages spoken round the globe. He may be acquainted with the highest and deepest things in heaven and earth. He may have read books till he is like a walking encyclopaedia. He may be familiar with the stars of heaven — the birds of the air — the beasts of the earth, and the fishes of the sea. He may be able, like Solomon, to “speak of trees, from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows on the wall, of beasts also, and fowls, and creeping things, and fishes.” (1 Kings 4: 33). He may be able to discourse of all the secrets of fire, air, earth, and water. And yet, if he dies ignorant of Bible truths, he dies a miserable man. Chemistry never silenced a guilty conscience. Mathematics never healed a broken heart. All the sciences in the world never smoothed down a dying pillow. No earthly philosophy ever supplied hope in death. No natural theology ever gave peace in the prospect of meeting a holy God. All these things are of the earth, earthly, and can never raise a man above earth’s level. They may enable a man to strut his little season here below with a more dignified gait than his fellow-mortals, but they can never give him wings, and enable him to soar towards heaven. He that has the largest share of them, will find at length that without Bible knowledge he has got no lasting possession. Death will make an end of all his attainments, and after death they will do him no good at all.

A man may be a very ignorant man, and yet be saved. He may be unable to read a word, or write a letter. He may know nothing of geography beyond the bounds of his own parish, and be utterly unable to say which is nearest to England, Paris or New York. He may know nothing of arithmetic, and not see any difference between a million and a thousand. He may know nothing of history, not even of his own land, and be quite ignorant whether his country owes most to Semiramis, Boadicea, or Queen Elizabeth. He may know nothing of the affairs of his own times, and be incapable of telling you whether the Chancellor of the Exchequer, or the Commander-in-Chief, or the Archbishop of Canterbury is managing the national finances. He may know nothing of science, and its discoveries — and whether Julius Caesar won his victories with gunpowder, or the apostles had a printing press, or the sun goes round the earth, may be matters about which he has not an idea. And yet if that man has heard Bible truth with his ears, and believed it with his heart, he knows enough to save his soul. He will be found at last with Lazarus in Abraham’s bosom, while his scientific fellow-creature, who has died unconverted, is lost forever.

There is much talk in these days about science and “useful knowledge.” But after all a knowledge of the Bible is the one knowledge that is needful and eternally useful. A man may get to heaven without money, learning, health, or friends — but without Bible knowledge he will never get there at all. A man may have the mightiest of minds, and a memory stored with all that mighty mind can grasp — and yet, if he does not know the things of the Bible, he will make shipwreck of his soul for ever. Woe! woe! woe to the man who dies in ignorance of the Bible!

This is the Book about which I am addressing the readers of these pages today. It is no light matter what you do with such a book. It concerns the life of your soul. I summon you — I charge you to give an honest answer to my question. What are you doing with the Bible? Do you read it? HOW READEST THOU?

Bishop Ryle

THE TWO NEIGHBORS AND THE HENS

A man in New Jersey related the following circumstance, respecting himself and one of his neighbors.

I once had a great number of fowls. I generally kept them shut up. But, one Spring, I concluded to let them run in my yard, after I had clipped their wings so that they could not fly. One day, when I came home to dinner, I learned that one of my neighbors had been there, full of anger, to let me know that my hens had been in his garden, and that he had killed several of them, and thrown them over into my yard. I was greatly enraged that he should have killed my beautiful hens, that I valued so much. I determined at once to be revenged; to go to law with him, or in some way to get redress. I sat down and ate my dinner as calmly as I could. By the time I had finished my meal, I became more cool, and thought perhaps it was best not to quarrel with my neighbor about such a trifle, and thereby make him my bitter and lasting enemy. I concluded to try another way, being sure that it would be better.

After dinner, I called at my neighbor’s house. He was in his garden. I went out, and found him in pursuit of one of my hens with a stick, trying to kill it. I accosted him. He turned on me, his face inflamed with wrath, and broke out in a great fury:

“You have injured me. I will kill all your hens if I can get at them. They have ruined my garden.”

“I am very sorry for it,” said I. “I do not wish to injure you, and I now see that I have made a great mistake in letting out my hens. I ask your forgiveness, and am willing to pay you six times the damage they have done you.”

The man was confounded. He did not know what to think of it. He looked up at the sky — then down at the ground — then at his neighbor - then at his stick — then at the poor hen he had been pursuing; and said — not a word.

“Tell me now,” said I, “what is the damage, and I will pay you sixfold; and my hens shall trouble you no more. I will leave it entirely to you to say what I shall do. I cannot afford to lose the love and goodwill of my neighbors, and to quarrel with them, for hens or for anything else.”

“I am a great fool,” said my neighbor. “The damage is not worth talking about; and I have the most need to compensate you, and to ask your forgiveness.” “A soft answer turneth away wrath.”

Submitted

THE WOMAN OF SAMARIA

“He must needs go through Samaria “ (John iv. 4).

Once as the Friend of sinners dear,
A Man of sorrows sojourn’d here;
Eternal love ordain’d it so,
That through Samaria He must go.

But what could His dear feet incline.
(Unless compell’d by love divine,
From whence salvation’s blessings flow)
That He must through Samaria go?

There, wand’ring from the fold of God,
He saw the purchase of His blood:
And o’er this wretch, to lust a slave,
Did sov’reign grace her banner wave.

Herein discriminating grace
Shone with a bright refulgent blaze;
While dead in sin ten thousands lie,
Grace brought this rebel harlot nigh.

Roused from her fond delusive dream,
As Israel’s God she worshipp’d Him;
Drank of that living water pure,
That shall to endless years endure.

This object of eternal love,
Ordain’d to fill a throne above,
Shall in the gospel annals shine,
And prove election all divine.

A PRAYER

Grant, Almighty God, as in these days the affairs of the world are in a state of disturbance, and as wherever we turn our eyes we see nothing but horrible confusion: Grant I pray, that we may be attentive to thy teaching. May we never wander after our own imaginations, never be drawn aside by any cares, and never turn aside from our stated course. May we remain fixed in thy word, always seeking thee and always relying on thy providence. May we never hesitate concerning our safety, as thou hast undertaken to be the guardian of our salvation, but ever call upon thee in the name of thine only-begotten Son. — Amen.

Calvin

MIRIAM, THE JEWISH MAIDEN

The events which are here related are of a recent date, and have been furnished by a gentleman of long Continental experience, of high respectability, and of known veracity.

Miriam was the only child of parents living in one of the rural districts of Poland. They filled a respectable position in society, and Miriam was brought up and educated very carefully. She was of retired habits, of a rather passive disposition, fond of quiet, and was oftener to be found nursing her own thoughts than joining with other children in their games. She did not mingle with the children of professed Christians, though they were to be found right and left of her home.

One day, when she was about sixteen, she was sitting alone in her father’s garden, which was separated only by a wooden fence from the next garden, where several girls were at play, when she was startled by a shout of joy. A young girl had rushed up to the merry group in the adjoining garden, crying as she ran —

“Look here! Is not this a pretty Book? My father has just bought it for me.”

The girls took the Book, and examined it. At length one broke the silence by exclaiming —

“Oh, I know what it is! It is the New Testament. I will read a piece to you.”

She read the nineteenth chapter of John, recording the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Miriam heard every word, as she sat quietly in her garden seat. The record of our Lord’s death was news to her, and the words sank into her heart. She determined to obtain a copy of the Testament. This was not difficult, and she at once commenced a regular course of reading. As she read in her own room, or in the shade of the garden, her young heart was deeply moved, and she felt herself strongly attracted by the lowly, yet majestic Sufferer, so full of compassion and of love. Her heart was won, and she became at length a disciple of Jesus. So true are the words of the Psalmist, “The entrance of Thy words giveth light.” And thus we are reminded also of the words of Jesus, “The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life.”

She opened her mind to her parents, and entreated them to read the New Testament for themselves, and to become disciples of Christ. They were struck dumb with surprise. Could it be true? Was this their own daughter, ever quiet and timid, now pleading with them with such fervency in behalf of the God of the Christians? It seemed impossible. Their ears, however, had not deceived them. But how could she have received these notions, all intercourse with Christians having been studiously avoided? Their indignation equalled their amazement. They forbade her ever again to speak to them on the subject, and threatened her, not only with their extreme displeasure, but the heaviest of all curses, if she should ever dare even to think of becoming a Christian. In silent sorrow Miriam turned away. She could not renounce her faith, nor cease to read the Book whence her new light, and hope, and joy had sprung; for when true religion really takes possession of the heart, it keeps possession.

A year passed without any particular incident, but at its close her mother was compelled to leave the home on pressing family business, and her stay was prolonged beyond all expectation. Before she returned, her husband was seized with a violent disease. Miriam became his nurse, day after day watching and tending him with a devotedness and affection which must have deeply touched him. But she ministered not only to his bodily wants — she spake to him lovingly and reverently of Him whom her soul adored. Reading from her Testament, she proved to him that Jesus is indeed the Christ, the promised Savior, “Who should turn away transgression from Jacob,” and redeem His people with His own blood. She urged him to seek Jesus, Who is the Savior, desiring that he might be led to believe in Him as his ever-living Redeemer.

At length his eyes also were opened. The dying Jew looked up to Him whom the serpent of Moses foreshadowed. He beheld the dying Jesus as “the Lamb of God, bearing away the sin of the world.” He called on His name and had no rest till he found joy and peace in believing with his whole heart. He wished to confess his faith, and to be baptized in the name of God. Miriam hastened to a Christian minister, who resided at some little distance. He knew the difficulties he would have to encounter from his Jewish friends and relatives. He knew, too, that in such a case, when the convert was so near his end, God would accept the will for the deed; and he knew that baptism, while immensely important as a profession of faith, as a symbol of Christian truth, and as an act of obedience to Christ, is no part of a sinner’s salvation; so, repeating the parting words of the Redeemer, in which He instituted the ordinance, he dismissed her for the present, saying, “Go and pray for thy dear father! Repeat to him the words of Christ thou hast heard from me, and may he prove that the God of all grace has accepted him as His child.”

Miriam returned, and not long after, her father died in peace, repeatedly testifying that he trusted only in the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, although it was not until “the eleventh hour” that he learned to know His name and the right way of salvation.

The mother’s stay was prolonged until after her husband’s death. When she returned, her sense of loss was more than overpowered by her madness when she knew that he had died a Christian. She was furious. She made it known among her friends, and stirred up their bitterest ill will and enmity against her daughter. Miriam was beaten, and otherwise illtreated, but she remained faithful. She would not deny her Savior Jesus. All at once she disappeared. She was sent to some distant relatives to be “cured,” as her mother said, “of her obstinacy.” Six weeks later she reappeared. But what a spectacle she was! She was running through the streets of her native village, crying for help. Her clothes were torn and filthy, her hair hanging down in wild disorder over her face and shoulders, her hands and feet bleeding, as she went. A crowd soon gathered, and her tale was soon told. She had been confined in a cellar, and her mother having, in a frenzy of passion, threatened to murder her, Miriam had succeeded, after a fearful struggle, in effecting her escape.

At this point, as though God would show that He will not suffer His children “to be tempted above that which they are able to bear,” the police interfered, and Miriam was safe from further violence. But her faith was unshaken — the love of Jesus still possessed her heart. She could say as David, “I called upon the Lord in distress: the Lord answered me, and set me in a large place.” Ps. 118:5

She was sent to Warsaw. There she sought and received further instruction in the Christian faith, and the last report concerning her is to the effect that she had made a public profession of her dear Redeemer by being baptized in His name.

The lessons of such a life-story are on its very surface. They teach us that only in Jesus can we find the secret of pSace — that only by faith in Him can we rejoice in hope of eternal life amidst suffering — that only through His merits can we face death with joyful hope.

Reader, do these lessons meet your case? If so, call upon Jesus, Who waits to be gracious. He will receive you as you are, save you from your sins, support you in your sorrows, and sustain you in the solemn season when heart and flesh fail. Of Jesus we say, Hear Him; look to Him; follow Him; and all things shall be well.

It was the language of Asaph, “Whom have I in heaven but Thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside Thee. My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.” Psalm 73

Submitted

I HAVE FOUND HIM

I remember well a poor man who had been long accustomed to hear me preach with whom I never had conversation, until on his death bed, I visited him. I found God had convinced him of sin; that he knew the Doctrines of Grace; he knew the only way a poor sinner could stand peacefully in the presence of God was by being washed in the blood of Christ, and clothed in His righteousness. But he had not what he wanted. He saw there was a fountain opened, but he wanted to be washed in it. I generally left him with this on his Ups, — “If I perish, I will go to hell from the foot of the cross. If I perish, I will perish pleading Jesus.” How sure I was he never could perish there! The last day of his life dawned — poor creature, worn out in body, and harassed in mind, propped up in his bed, he exclaimed, “0 I have not yet that which will do to die with. I thought I had hungered and thirsted for righteousness, and that I should be filled; - but, alas! I am mistaken. I thought I was a longing soul, and that I should be satisfied, but oh! I am not satisfied - I am dying, and have not hold of Jesus.” Oh! how that man pleaded with Jesus — “Lord, wash me in Thy blood.” At length exhausted, he lay still for half-an-hour: a sweet change came over his face, and he said, “I have found Him: I have found Jesus. I just got Him in time.” “What, have you indeed found Christ?” He said, “I have,” and his eyes glazed immediately;he sank into the arms of death, and now his soul is among “the spirits of just men made perfect.”

Poor sinner, you will never perish at the feet of Jesus; you will have the consciousness, sooner or later, to a greater or lesser degree, that you are amongst “the just.” You are one of those who can say,

“Black, I to the fountain fly,

Wash me, Savior, or I die.”

S. Sears

COMMUNISTS IN OUR CHURCHES

In this article, let me answer once and for all the question of whether or not there are Communists in our churches and church organizations.

I find it difficult to understand why some of our clergy refuse to recognize the facts about Red infiltration into our church groups, when they are so blatantly evident. How any clergyman, or for that matter, any believer in God, can front for Red causes in the face of the murderous history of Communism, is also something that staggers the imagination.

Both Marx and Lenin considered religion their prime enemy, therefore the prime target for destruction. “Religion,” they both taught, “is an opiate for the ignorant masses — it must be destroyed.”

With this destructive thesis of the Reds on religion, how can any believer in the Supreme Being blind himself to the realities of Communism by joining Communist fronts, or by defending Communists in their evil conspiracy, when by so doing, he is contributing to his own murder? So-called “intellectuals,” especially in the fields of religion and education, would do well to learn from history, which records that in every nation which was lost to Communism, most of the “intellectuals,” even those who were in the forefront aiding, abetting and defending the Red cause, were murdered, thrown into political prisons, or sent to slave camps.

Are the Reds infiltrating the churches in the United States? Of course they are — and in many cases with the help of the very clergy who would be tortured and murdered if the Reds took over.

As an example of Communist church infiltration, let me recall a Red meeting which I attended in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania in the Fall of 1959. At this meeting, Steve Nelson, a top Red agent, read a report from Joseph Stalin, the leader of International Communism at that time. In this report, Stalin laid out plans for the mass murder of twenty million people in China to solidify Red control of that country. This Kremlin report, and the ensuing discussion, also outlined plans for the murder of additional thousands in Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary. Where did the Communists plot this mass murder of millions? Was it in some deserted cellar, or some far-away secret hide-out? — No, the Kremlin plot was revealed in a most respectable place — the meeting room of one of the largest churches in the northside section of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania — and with the permission and full knowledge of the pastor!

Many American clergy and church laymen are not aware that the Reds have a well worked-out plan for the infiltration of our churches and church organizations.

This infiltration is planned by a secret group of high level Red agents, labeled the “Clergical Commission of the Communist Party.” This Red “Commission” is composed of Soviet agents and American Reds, posing as ministers, preachers and priests, who have fallen away from the church and joined the Communist Party, and lay Red agents. How do I know about the existence of this Red Clergical Commission? I have reason to know only too well, because in 1945, while posing as a Communist for the F.B.I., I was a member of this Red Commission. In the Pittsburgh district alone, this commission consisted of 12 well-trained Red agents. Similar Red commissions with orders to infiltrate and use the churches and church bodies exist in every section of the United States.

It might be apropos to point out at this very moment, Red agents are well-entrenched in key positions of some of our national church bodies. There, under the cover of respectability, they are zealously carrying on their Communist work, often aided and abetted by the very churches and church groups they are plotting to destroy.

“What about Red China?”, I am often asked, “If we would recognize Red China we could send over our missionaries. We can’t ignore 600,000,000 Chinese people.” My answer to those who would play into the Red hands by recognizing Red China as a “spiritual must,” can be given by posing this question: “How many missionaries have we been permitted to send to Soviet Russia since we so foolishly recognized that Godless Red government in 1933?” The answer, of course, is none. If we recognize Red China, we may be assured that the Red tyrants will never permit us to preach our Gospel, which the Reds are sworn to destroy.

It is true the Reds in Russia permit a small percentage of the churches and synagogues to function, about 2 or 3% of the number in existence prior to the Red take-over in that nation. However, this small exercise of Religion is permitted by the Reds in Russia solely to mislead visitors from free countries. The Reds’ plot calls for the ultimate destruction of all religion, including this 2 or 3%, when they find it no longer necessary to permit some display of religion behind which to hide their ulterior motives.

For a more recent picture of “Freedom of Religion” Communist style, let us take a look at poor Tibet. Since the Reds have stolen this country, the Tibetan monks have been publicly tortured and murdered or imprisoned. The Tibetan nuns have been sent into brothels for the Red soldiers, and the children of Tibet have been taught to spy on their parents, brothers and sisters, and report any spark of opposition to the Red tyrants.

If the Reds ever take over in our free nation, we may be certain that their plan for religion is the same as it is for Russia, Red China and Tibet. I personally sat in secret Red meetings where plans for the torture and murder of the American clergy were discussed.

What is our answer to the Communists and their sympathizers? We must brook no compromise with the Reds, or with those who aid and abet them in any way. Jesus Christ sounded the warning in these words: “A man cannot serve both God and mammon.” Yes, it is time that the flock calls on the Red-fronting ministers to answer for their betrayal of God, by espousing Communism and Communist causes. “No man can serve two masters,” adds Jesus Christ.

We must open our eyes and speak out against the godless Red tyranny. Let us rid ourselves of these “wolves in sheeps’ clothing” who, while hiding behind the Holy cloth and the respectability of the Church, are carrying on their un-Godly and devilish work to destroy us.

M.C.

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