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MISSION TIDINGS

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MISSION TIDINGS

42 minuten leestijd Arcering uitzetten

GIFTS RECEIVED FOR MISSIONS IN FEBRUARY 1976

CLASSIS EAST SOURCE AMOUNT

Friend in Clifton Gift $ 25.00

CLASSIS MIDWEST

Friend in So. Holland Gift 5.00

In G.R. Ch. Collection Gift 160.00

Friend in Michigan Gift 125.00

Friend in Chicago Hts. Gift 100.00

CLASSIS

Sheboygan Ladies Aid Gift 250.00

Friend in Sheboygan Gift 50.00

CLASSIS FARWEST

Friend in Manhatten Gift 1000.00

Sunnyside Mission Guild Gift 2100.00

TOTAL: $3815.00

Dear Friends,

Herewith we want to thank everyone for their kind gifts to the mission. May the Lord bless you and your gifts. It sometimes takes a lot of time before things are actually taken care of, such as the helicopter for Irian Jaya. We can inform you that the helicopter arrived approximately the first of the year and is now being used, and that the M.A.F. is making work to buy a second one, because one is not enough for such a large area. Hoping that our missionaries may receive much benefit of these helicopters. We have a letter from Mr. and Mrs. Jan Louwerse and Mr. and Mrs. Harold Popovich, so we will make our report short to save space in the Banner. May the Lord give prayer for more missionaries and that He may open new fields, for the time is short.

American General Mission Fund

Netherland Reformed Churches of America and Canada

John Spaans, Treasurer

Plankinton Box 106 RR1

South Dakota 57368


HELP NEEDED

Needed - a Christian housekeeper to live in with an elderly couple. If any of our readers know of someone who may be interested in this appeal, please have the person write or call Mrs. James Engelsma for additional information at 3908 O’Brien Road S.W., Grand Rapids, Michigan. 49504. Telephone number 616/453-0974.


A LETTER FROM THE LOUWERSE’S

Langda, February 1976

Dear friends;

Again some months have past since we wrote something about Langda. During this time we received quite a lot of letters, and as usual the pile of unanswered mail grew to a considerable height.

First of all we like to thank all of you who wrote us. We see this as a sign of your sympathy with the work over here, and with us personally. Thanks so much also for the prayers for the work here. Many blessings we have noticed in the past and are still noticing. A few months we now already live in our new house and we are quite happy about that. When we look out of the window in the valley, full of sunshine, we can see the three villages where our evangelists and helpers, together with a group of Langda people now are building helipads. This morning they departed, all together a group of 25 persons. It is amazing to see how the valley is opening for the Gospel. At three villages regular services are held, and every night there is a dayclosing in the village Langda itself, with Scripture study, song and prayer. Another group of workers left the day before yesterday for one of the other villages, to level there, together with the local people a piece of land and to gather trees for a new church building. Next week, the Lord willing, they plan to erect that building with the other workers.

Last week we received the happy news that the long waited for helicopter has arrived at Sentani, and soon will be operational. Therefore we are busy with the construction of helipads in all the villages in the neighborhood of Langda.

Last December we had company of the Jaap van der Wilden Family. Jaap is a Wycliffe Bible translator of Dutch origin, who is presently working among a coastal tribe in Irian Jaya. Together with him we did an extensive study of the Una language, which is spoken over here. This study resulted in the “First Tentative Phonological Statement Of The Una Language.” By means of this base we are presently involved with Doriaan, our language informant, in revising our word files.

During Christmas time five chiefs went to Passvalley to see how things have changed in this Christianized area. This visit turned out to be really successful, and we daily still see the good results of it. During the days of Christmas, representatives of all the villages of the Langda area visited us. By that occasion 270 people heard of the birth of the Son of God, Christ Jesus; Who came from heaven to save sinners.

Three weeks ago we again were spared by the Lord, when at the end of our return flight from the conference at Passvalley we crashed at the strip of Langda. We shot off the strip and finally came to a complete stop in Janny’s nice flower garden. Wonderfully, the pilot and I were not hurt at all. However the M.A.F. plane was quite badly damaged. Therefore a repair crew stayed with us last week to get the plane in the air again. We had a real good time together and after the job was done the plane was ferried to Sentani to get a good overhaul.

Recently Janny made a new wind sack for the airstrip. After we put it on the pole, we watched how it was doing. Suddenly we got a hurricane which blew away the roof of our old house, and the workshop into the bush.

The damage has been repaired and now we can continue to prepare meditations and hymns in the Una language. The medical work in the small clinic also has been a blessing.

Besides that we do have about 30 pupils which receive daily training in school. Some of them are quite able to read already. Along with our outfit, which recently arrived, we received Biblical pictures of a large size, which are very helpful for Bible story teaching. The children, and also the older folks like them very much.

Friends, we hope that this again gives you some idea about the work which is going on over here, in the Langda area. We again like to ask you to remember the work in your prayers, so that His Church may be built here.

With hearty greetings,

Janny and Jan Louwerse.


But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice; let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them; let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee.

Psalm 5:11


A LETTER FROM THE POPOVICH’S

Brasilia, D.F.

Feb.18, 1976

Dear Friends;

We are facing a lot of changes in the coming year. Some we already know about, and others are still hidden from us. These changes challenge us to fix our eyes on the Unchanging One:

“Change and decay in all around I see;

O Thou who changest not, abide with me!”

Harold has been with the tribe since Jan. 29th. We expect him back by the middle of next week at the latest.

Dave works in Publications here and is looking into the possibility of helping at another Wycliffe Center in Brazil for a few months. It will be good for him to work away from home a little before the “great break” comes when he goes to college.

Jim is at the Porto Velho jungle center where he is guest helper in the radio department. He finished high school early and was given a chance to help on the Portuguese language radio net that keeps in contact with folks in the tribes. He jumped at the chance.

Annette and Philip are still in school and keep the household humming.

Our Brazilian “daughter” Odete left this last week for Bible School, and there went my cook and bottle-washer.

Both Harold and I have been asked to help in the university-level linguistics course (S.I.L.) to be given in Portuguese here during March, April, and May. In addition there is a technical paper to be given in a linguistic seminar at a university in Rio on March 10.

We are planning a trip to the U.S. this summer to help the boys settle in college. Then Harold and I will request special status and try to finish the Maxakali New Testament in first draft by 1977. Impossible? Pray!

In Him,Fran


ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The Banner of Truth Tract Mission committee hereby expresses its sincere appreciation for gifts received for the publication and free distribution of tracts. Tracts to be published will consist of suitable articles taken from the denominational publication, “The Banner of Truth”, as authorized by Classis East and Mid-West. Personal gifts are encouraged for the furtherance of this endeavor and will be gratefully received. Gifts may be mailed to The Banner of Truth Tract Mission, 540 Crescent St., N.E., Grand Rapids, Mich. 49503. Gifts received during the months of January, February, and March 1976 are as follows:

South Holland Congregation $100.00

Miscellaneous 230.00

Total $330.00


NOTES OUT OF THE CATECHISM CLASSES

Of Rev. J. Fraanje

Using The Catechism Book

SPECIMENS OF DIVINE TRUTHS

by

Rev. A. Hellenbroek

Of His Ascension and Sitting at the Right Hand of God Lesson 29 Part I

Jesus remained upon earth for 40 days after His resurrection. His presence here was more clearly to establish the certainty of His resurrection and, secondly, to further instruct His disciples in certain matters.

Who can bring proof from God’s Word that these are the reasons?

Answer: Acts 1:3, “To whom He shewed Himself alive “ and “speaking of the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.”

Who can make a comparison with an example from the Old Testament?

The temple had a vestibule into which all the people (undefiled) were permitted to enter. Then there was a holy room into which only the priests were allowed and, thirdly, there was a holy of holy sanctuary where only the High priest was permitted to enter and then only once each year.

So, then, the three years the Lord Jesus traveled about upon this earth were as though He was in the vestibule being easily seen by all the people. But the forty days after His resurrection and prior to His ascension, He walked about as it were, in the Holy Place. None of His enemies, Jews or Gentiles, saw Him during that time. He showed Himself eleven times to His people as a visible proof that He had truly risen. It was no longer necessary that He show Himself to the world. They had not believed in Him prior to His death and so under these circumstances they would no longer be able to see Him. He had said previously, “--and the world seeth me no more.” Further, the watchmen at His grave were living proof of that.

But now the appointed time for the second step in His exaltation was there, namely, His ascension into heaven. This was as if He, the Great Highpriest, should unaccompanied, enter the holy of holies. Was this foretold in the Old Testament too? Answer: Yes, in Psalm 68:18, “Thou has ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive; thou hast received gifts for men, yea, for the rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell among them!” Paul wrote, Eph. 4:10 “He that ascended up far above all heavens.” What does he mean by this?

You know that we commonly speak of three heavens: the heaven of clouds, the heaven of stars and the heaven of heavens. The heaven of heavens is said to be the eternal habitation of God and it is there that the Son of God ascended. That is why it is said, “He ascended up far above all heavens, namely: the heaven of clouds and the heaven of stars.

Hellenbroek asks: Did any witnesses attend His ascension?

Answer: Yes, angels and the disciples of the Savior, Acts 1.

From where did Christ ascend?

Answer: From the Mount of Olives, outside of Jerusalem.

Jesus had chosen the eleven disciples to be witnesses of His entire work as Mediator, even to the very last step. Luke reports of this, “And He led them out as far as to Bethany, and He lifted up His hands, and blessed them. And it came to pass, while He blessed them, He was departed from them, and carried up into heaven.” “A cloud received Him out of their sight,” Acts 1:9.

They did not see Him anymore.

And what happened then? Did the disciples hurry away?

No, something else happened right then. Luke describes it in the Acts of the Apostles: “And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; Which also said: “Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven.”

What kind of men would that have been who were wearing white clothes?

Answer: Angels.

And where did these angels come from?

They had not been on the Mount of Olives as the disciples were, but came directly out of heaven to the place from where the Mediator had ascended. They had come as messengers to instruct and comfort the disciples who stood there in amazement. They wanted to say, in other words, “This Jesus, whom you have now seen ascend with a glorified body, shall return by and by with that same glorified body upon the clouds of heaven and every eye shall see Him.”

Had Christ ascended into heaven with the same nature as that in which He had been resurrected? What are your thoughts about that?

Yes, He died and was raised up again in His human nature, and also ascended into heaven in His human nature. It is not as though this human nature was without His divine nature in all this, that is impossible. His deity has not a body and consequently cannot be seen.

Hellenbroek now asks:

Is not His human nature become omnipresent by His ascension?

His answer is: “No, Matt. 26:11, Ye have the poor always with you but Me ye have not always.”

The Lord meant with these words, that He would be with them for only a short time in His human nature. That is a proof that He, in His human nature, was not omnipresent.

Now, possibly one would ask himself, “What was the purpose of this ascension?” Since everything had now been accomplished, the Lord Jesus had been restored to life again by the Father by virtue of having secured His satisfaction and He Himself arose from the grave. Could He not remain here upon earth as a human being?

Our lesson says not. Ascension was necessary:

1st. In order that he might rule as King,

2nd. To intercede in prayer - 3rd, to gather His own people there in heaven around Himself.

One who is to be a king over a nation must first be crowned. No one can rule as king over a land without the official coronation.

Would the Mediator have been crowned too? What a coronation He had! By faith Solomon saw Him in His service as it were and consequently speaks of it in the Song of Solomon 3:11 - “Go forth, O ye daughter of Zion, and behold King Solomon with the crown wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his espousals, and in the day of the gladness of his heart.”

He does not have himself in mind here, but he means the more eminent Solomon whom he believed in faith would surely come. He envisioned the ascension of Christ into heaven as the golden coronation of the Son of God as Mediator. A King who had conquered all enemies; He was supreme ruler over all.

And with what was He crowned?

First He was crowned with the iron crown designating might. (This is only a manner of speaking.)

Is this according to God’s Word?

Yes, for He says Himself in Matt. 28:18, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.”

2nd. He was crowned with the silver crown of grace. John says in John 1:16, “And of His fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.”

3rd. He is crowned with the golden crown of lordship. Hebrews 2:9 — “crowned with glory and honor.”

These are proofs from God’s Word that He ascended into heaven to reign as the officially crowned King. Not only in grace over His people, but also as complete master over all His enemies, the devil, sin and death. The revelation of the Son of God was made in this way to show He would subdue the work of the devil. He would break it down and bring it to nought for time, spiritually and eternally.

For what else was His ascension into heaven needed? Not only to reign as King, but secondly, to intercede in prayer.

Under the old dispensation, on the annual Day of Atonement, the Highpriest entered into the Holy of Holies with the blood of reconciliation to perform his duties there. When this Highpriest was behind the veil with the incense and the blood of the bullock and the blood of the goat, the priests, in the holy place, listened for the sound of the little golden bells that were fastened to the hem of the Highpriest’s robe.

Why would they do that?

Well, the tinkling of the bells indicated to them that the Highpriest was actively sprinkling the blood of reconciliation upon the mercy seat; that he was not asleep or dead but working actively in his holy employment. This is clearly explained in Exodus 28:33–35, “And beneath upon the hem of it thou shalt make pomegranates of blue and of purple - and of scarlet round about the hem thereof; and bells of gold between them round about; a golden bell and a pomegranate upon the hem of the robe round about. And it shall be upon Aaron to minister; and his sound shall be heard when he goeth in unto the holy place before the Lord and when he cometh out, that he die not.”

These were prefigurations and types of Christ, the Great Highpriest, Who would once enter into the heavenly kingdom with His own blood, shed personally.

And has He entered in, there to be inactive at the Father’s right hand? No, but to be occupied as intercessor for His people. Now, they, who are waiting in the holy vestibule, can listen and perceive how the Holy Highpriest is diligently active presenting them to the Father in His work of reconciliation.

What had the disciples received while waiting in Jerusalem those ten days after His entrance into the holy of holies? Well, then the confirmation of the reconciliation was made clearly evident, that is, the Holy Ghost fell upon them as a pledge or proof that the Father received the sacrifice from the High priest and was completely satisfied.

O, this is the portion of God’s people; a Highpriest, sitting on God’s right hand, rendering thanks, praying and serving. He is and remains peace for such a people who had no desire for peace but who declared war upon God. He has conquered all these rebels and now reigns as king over them. Just as I have so often made mention to you from Revelation 6; when the Lamb had opened the first seal, there was a voice which said, “Come and see.” And what did John see? “And I saw, and behold a white horse; and He that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto Him; and He went forth conquering, and to conquer.”

Who would that have been?

That was the crowned Mediator, Who rode on the white horse representing his Gospel with the bow of His Word and Spirit in His hand, wherewith He went out to conquer, His people to eternal life and His enemies to death. He had been given the crown, that magnificent crown on which every one of the elect shall be a jewel.

Who can comfort themselves with Christ’s ascension?

Answer: Those who are risen with Christ, Col. 3:1, “If ye then be risen with Christ seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.”


THY MERCY IS FREE

How mighty thou art, O Lord, to convert;

Thou only couldst conquer so stubborn a heart,

For thy love to lost man alone could constrain

So stiff-necked a rebel to love thee again.

For sinners like me thy mercy is free,

Who hunger and thirst for redemption by thee.

Lord, gather in more; make this the glad hour;

Compel them to yield in the day of thy power.

Toplady


Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour. Ephesians 5:1,2


LOVE

When I survey the wondrous cross,
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain, I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ, my God—
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to Thy blood.

Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love, so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.

Watts


DISAPPOINTED, BUT ALSO ENCOURAGED

What I now wish to write about is something that happened on a New Year’s Day.

I was still in my first congregation, and a few houses away lived the Rev. G. Van Reenen. He was still in the prime of life when he was afflicted by a stroke, and due to bodily weakness he could not longer administer his office. It was a deep way for him. His life was in the pulpit, but it pleased the Lord to change him from a preaching minister to a writing minister.

A woman from the west of America once wrote to Rev. VanReenen, and that letter came just when in his deep despondency and through many blows from Satan he had resolved to write no more. But now he edifies even today because he also wrote after the heart of Jerusalem.

God had richly blessed him and had granted him the blessing that he was assured of his salvation in Christ.

Yet it had also been confirmed to him that God does not only give strength according to our cross, but also a cross according to our strength. His strife was very severe at times. We have often been witness of that because I was at his house almost every day. New Year’s evening my wife and I visited him. The first words that he spoke to us were, “I am disappointed. I had hoped that I would not have to enter this year. I had thought that my journey would end with the old year.” He had said, “Lord, must I enter into this year again?” The tears rolled down his cheeks.

“But,” he continued, “The Lord has also encouraged me this day with the words out of Heb. 6:17, and especially these words: “That by two immutable things in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us.” He had been reconciled with God’s will and he desired to serve God’s will. His hope was enlivened, his soul was gladdened with the immutability of God’s counsel, and with that oath with which God had confirmed it. What a deep impression those words made that evening!

That was no talk just to talk, but it was fresh fish which had just been caught. It came from the ocean of God’s eternal love and out of the fountain of God’s eternal good pleasure.

I thought of that event, now that we are standing at the transition of the Old into the New Year.

It is surely the greatest mercy when our will may be swallowed in God’s will, when we want only that which God wills. Yet it is also a great mercy when we have more desire for death than for life..I mean that death which is a dying unto sin and a passage into eternal life. As to life, I have in mind the life which we now live in the flesh. The life of which Paul writes in I Cor. 15:19, “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.”

This life is only a continual death, and the strength thereof is labor and sorrow. That was the testimony of Moses, the man of God, who during his life had received a benefit far above others of God’s children: that God had communed with him face to face, that Moses who had been on the mount with the Lord for forty days and forty nights, but who had also become disappointed with himself. Even the holiest men have in this life only a small beginning of this obedience. They are complete in Christ, but not in themselves. Although there is a following after perfection, it does not go any further. Moses had also experienced that to his profound sorrow and especially when he had struck the rock twice instead of speaking to it.

How full of darkness, stumblings, vicissitudes, strife and misery life in general is for God’s children.

This is not the land of rest.

With respect to death, it is not a curse to God’s people, but a blessing. Christ as their Surety and Mediator has destroyed death and in His death has swallowed up death unto eternal victory. It is indeed the last enemy which must be destroyed. But yet death has lost its destroying power for all those who are comprehended in Christ. Death may often seem to seize them, oppress them, but yet their end shall be so much better than they ever expected. Before the setting of the sun they shall all have passed through Jordan. Not a foot shall be left behind. Their Redeemer is strong. The Lord of Hosts is His Name.

“My soul with Thy counsel through life

Thou wilt guide,

And afterward make me in glory abide.”

Psalm 73.

By death God’s people are delivered from the body of sin and death; delivered from all doubt, from all hard thoughts, from all unbelief, from the present evil world, from the devil who at all times is after them, from their depraved heart, from all oppression and from all crosses, bonds and prisons. Truly, for those who here have learned to die, the day of death shall be better than the day of their birth.

In heaven they shall rest from all unrest and there they shall be enabled to perfectly glorify God as here upon earth they have never been able to do. Their flesh, their sinful proud flesh, and their self righteous “ego” always interferes. Here they have a thorn in the flesh and an angel of Satan which buffeted them. Ah, it can never be expressed what a blessing and what a deliverance death shall be. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints, Psalm 116:15. Of course, that commences here already while they are still alive. But that is fully confirmed when they may lay down their life and may enter into the joy of their Lord.

It is for this and many other reasons that I wrote this. It is a great mercy if we have more desire for death than for life. In most cases when we would rather continue to live than to die, our matters are not as they should be. With Caleb it was an exception. He was eighty-five years old and was still ready for war and to go out and to come in; Joshua 14:11. The Bible also explains the secret of that life: “because there was another spirit in him”; the Holy Spirit was in him, and the important thing was the fulfillment of that which God had promised him before he died.

God’s Spirit was also in David, but when he was seventy years old, he did not desire to live any longer. He was wearied because of murderers, sick of the world, sick of sin and of himself. There was nothing left that could charm him. His delight was in the eternal covenant which God had made with him, and his soul desired to be with God to ascribe all honor and glory to Him forever.

At one time Elijah also desired to die, but it did not issue from the right principle. He was despondent and pitied himself. It is such a great difference whether we are sick of misery or sick of sin. Then sin becomes more and more a burden and a sorrow, and it begins to oppress us more and more so that our life no longer answers to the holy calling wherewith we have been called. We are so unconformable to the image of the Son of God. Our sins have not been mortified; we are worldly-minded; full of unbelief. We disagree with God’s ways and dealings, we are loveless and unobservant. We must often exclaim, “To what sin have I died? Wherein is my self-denial manifest? Where is the true abhorring and loathing of self? Wherein do I seek the honor of God?”

They shall not be able to give themselves many points. Ah, when they may rightly consider what they should be, and what they are, then they shall say, “Why should I cumber the ground any longer?” Through the lack of self-knowledge we think so much of ourselves. That is so deeply rooted within our heart. That is the abomination of our fall. But when we are favored with light from above, into the depth of our heart, then it shall become different. We have the examples of that in God’s Word. David did not say in Ps. 34:6, “This king, this converted man, this great man”, no, but “this poor man cried and the Lord heard him” and in Ps. 70:6, “But I am poor and needy.”

If we may feel and experience, “It is good for me to draw near to my God,” then it is no wonder that there is more desire to die than to live.

This life becomes more and more empty and is less and less satisfying to God’s people. The greatest evil is sin, and the greatest good is communion with God, and what God’s child may taste of that communion is wonderful. Yet here it is not perfect. Its perfection is the salvation which has been prepared in the new Jerusalem where there shall never be any want, but neither shall there ever be a separation.

Disappointed, but at the same time encouraged. We may truly become jealous of that. That is something which we cannot make ourselves.

Ah yes, in our days there are thousands of people who have no fear of death. They have not the least difficulty or strife to leave this life. They firmly imagine that all is well with them, and they are so sure of heaven, that not the least doubt of it arises in their heart. Yet what disappointment shall it be when death comes. With the rich man they shall open their eyes in hell. Having been deceived by others, and having deceived themselves, they shall sink away in perdition. When we think of that, we should tremble and quake. Here they have always lived so comfortably. The devil did not disturb them. They never were suspicious of their state; they lived in the supposition that they had overcome the evil one. Thus they went cheerfully through this life.

But with that true people it was and is so different.

You may truly believe that if the devil had to let go of us, then usually he will vex us twenty-four hours a day.

We read of that Blessed Surety in Luke 4:13, “and when the devil had ended all the temptations, he departed from Him for a season”. He came back again, also to Christ, until on Golgotha his head was bruised. And thus it is also in the life of all who by electing love are comprehended in Christ.

How they are plagued, tormented, assaulted, pierced, persecuted, oppressed, condemned, distressed, attacked about their state, tempted in their condition. Paul himself wrote, “For we are not ignorant of his devices.” By permission he may bring us into such a darkness in our condition, that even our state may be covered. It shall remain a warfare till the end.

And finally, although God’s people are in the world, yet they are not of the world. Here they are strangers upon earth. Their Fatherland is above, and it would be unnatural if a traveller, a wanderer did not long for his home. Paul says, “For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven,” II Cor. 5:2.

As the year passes, we should all examine ourselves seriously. If our life is in this world, then we shall also perish with the world.

We shall not be able to sacrifice our flesh to the world and in the end offer our bones to God. Shall it be well with us, then we must be drawn out of the world; then the world shall have to perish for us, and we must become partakers of that life in union with Christ which shall never die, John 3:36.

Although the principle may be present, yet with respect to death, we may be filled with great fear and we may constantly be glad that the Lord is still lengthening our life.

To be able to enjoy this comfort and to live and die happily, we must become partakers of that one comfort which consists in this, that we are no longer our own but belong to Jesus Christ. It is so necessary that we are reconciled with God by the death of His Son, yea, that we are restored into the fellowship with God, and that the Holy Spirit assures us of eternal life.

It is true we cannot die with all the benefits which we have received. God’s people must receive grace to die as well as grace to live, And the Lord is so free. He is able to grant us in one moment that which we have looked forward to for years. At times He makes death so easy that they say, “Is that dying?” But that is something which can and does happen but that we may not count on.

It is so necessary that we may obtain ground under our feet, and that ground is Christ Jesus alone, and that foundation stands firm to all eternity.

It also happens in the life of God’s established people that there is hardly any longing for death, and that for a time they would rather continue to live than to die. There may be so many causes for that in their life. David declares in Ps. 19:12, “Who can understand his errors? Cleanse Thou me from secret faults.” We may lie so far from God. We may be so absorbed in the cares of the world that we have fallen asleep with the wise virgins.

So much anxiety may obstruct our way that we are filled with fears about death.

Yea worse, it is almost unbelievable, but, alas, it is true that hell does not frighten us and heaven does not refresh us. Then we are so far from what I wrote, “Disappointed, but also encouraged.” Then there is no room for encouragement and consolations from heaven.

What is man, and what are also God’s people in themselves even after they have obtained grace? They can only sin it away. They are incapable of doing any good and are inclined to all evil. We must learn more and more that it is all outside of us. God’s people are saved because God wills it.

It is and remains, “Through Thee, through Thee alone because of Thine eternal good pleasure.” What a great gift it is to pass the time of our sojourneying here in fear. We should sigh day and night to be filled with the fear of God and to be unable to depart from the Lord, so that His Name shall not be blasphemed because of us, but that our conversation may be in heaven, Phil.3:20.

May the Lord grant His people courage and strength to enter the year. Cast all your cares upon Him for He careth for you, looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith, I Peter 5:7; Heb. 12:2. For those people all things shall work together for good, Rom. 8:28, and although there are many dark providences, and though it is so different from what we had desired, for those people there is the promise: “I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them,” Isaiah 42:16.

They do not pass through this life alone. O no!

“For Thou art with me and Thy rod

And staff me comfort still.”

Psalter No 53:3

And the end of that man shall be peace.

May the Lord bless, for His Name’s sake, these few lines for all pilgrims on their journey through the wilderness of this life to the heavenly Canaan of eternal rest.

Rev. Lamain


A NOTE OF APPRECIATION

Mr. & Mrs. C.F. Boerkoel, Sr. wish to express their sincere appreciation for the many warm tokens of friendship, and to all who extended us their sincere best wishes, also from abroad, on our fiftieth anniversary. It will remain for us an unforgetable and memorable event. Psalm 8:4

SIN

Much we talk of Jesus’ blood;
But how little’s understood!
Of His sufferings so intense,
Angels have no perfect sense.

Who can rightly comprehend
Their beginning or their end?
‘Tis to God, and God alone,
That their weight is fully known.

O thou hideous monster, Sin,
What a curse hast thou brought in!
All creation groans through thee,
Pregnant cause of misery.

Thou hast ruined wretched man,
Ever since the world began;
Thou hast God afflicted too;
Nothing less than that would do.

Hart


And this is his commandment, that we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment. I John 3:23


AN UNMOVABLE FOUNDATION

“Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are His. And, let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.”2 Tim. 2:19.

To the consolation for the church of Christ in times of great distress, and in times of great tribulation, the word of God speaks of the immutability of Christ: “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and today, and for ever.” Hebr. 13:8. Darkness has covered the earth as we observe that the whole world is on edge, and the rulers of the world are confounded, not being able to reach a satisfactory solution to its problems. Why, you ask? It is because the Lord has a controversy with the nations. We have in our covenant head Adam turned our back towards our heavenly benefactor, and that which we have sown we shall also reap. Tribulation and anxieties are our daily concerns. What will the future bring for us and our dear generation? For the church it is a testing time: “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God.”

I Pet. 4:17. We have entered the days of the great tribulations which shall come upon the whole world. Who shall be able to stand when His afflictions come upon us? This is often a trying question for the sincere children of God.

The Lord therefore gives them an assurance of His faithfulness with these words: “Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are His.” It is a seal with two mottoes upon it, one on each side. The first is to their comfort for they are His from eternity. He has chosen this black bride, stained with sin, who became His by adoption in His only beloved SON CHRIST JESUS: “Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation; he that believeth shall not make haste.” Isa. 28:16.

On the other side of this seal we read: “And let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.” This requires their humble submission with love to do His will: “Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.” I Tim. 6:12. Every new born child in the Kingdom of Christ will encounter a spiritual warfare with his threefold enemies, Satan, world and sin. They are always to be tried. It is Satan’s purpose to disannul God’s plan of redemption, knowing that his head is bruised, and that his time is of short duration. His lost subjects have now become his main targets. Threatening blows and grievous assaults are cast upon them to curse their new Master and Lord, whom they have promised the love of their heart: “I LOVE the Lord, because He hath heard my supplication.” Ps. 116:1. If you are a stranger to Satan’s assaults, elevate not yourself to be beyond his approach. He tempted our first parents, being in the state of innocency. He provoked David the man after God’s own heart to number the children of Israel. He tempted the Son of God, when he said: “If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.” The highly enlightened Apostle Paul speaks in his epistle to the Corinthians: “We are not ignorant of his devices. So subtle are his devices that he transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore is the Church of Christ admonished to be aware of false doctrines: “For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that if it were possible they shall deceive the very elect.” Matt. 24:24. Wherefore they are called to watchfulness: “Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour.” 2 Pet. 3:8.

The adversary of the children of God sometimes charges them as to their insincerity to the love of Christ, causing great spiritual unrest to their state for eternity. Their religion can be formalism: “Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.” The foundation of their conversion can become so questionable that they can agree with what David said: “I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul.” I Sam. 27:1. But the Lord had assured David he was to become king of Israel, so the Lord assures His people that the gates of hell shall not prevail against Him.” For the foundation (Christ Jesus and Him crucified) of God standeth sure, having this seal: The Lord knoweth them that are His.”

To receive the comfort of the assurance that this seal is applicable to them; God’s children are admonished to: “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.” Phil. 2:12,13. By nature God’s people are moulded to the activities, and cares of this life. This often destroys their spiritual comforts. They are not only to be known by their conversation in this world, but also by their walk in life. They are bought for time and eternity, therefore they are admonished: “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” I John 2:15.

The cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and they become unfruitful. By the true work of regeneration, God’s children learn to hate all unrighteousness,, evil communications, all bitterness, and filthiness. They are called to be diligent, not slothful in business, providing for their families, seeking the welfare of their fellow man, the welfare of the church of Christ upon the earth, and are also called to be fruitful in good works. Their good works are not a foundation for their salvation, but as fruit of the love of God in their hearts, doing His will. In this they find themselves impotent, for their sufficiency is of God who worketh with His Spirit in them both to will, and to do, of His good pleasure. The Lord views the hearts of His people, whom He has made willing, and who find their sufficiency only in Christ, and His vicarious work as their substitute, thus bringing forth fruit worthy of repentance.

There remains for them also a spiritual warfare, not only from their soul’s enemies, Satan, the allurements of the world, but also of their own deceitful hearts. In the first convictions of the heart, when sin for them becomes exceeding sinful, and their hearts condemn them before a Holy ever present and Majestic God, who is too Holy to look upon a sinner, then their heart troubles them. They become conscious of their inborn state of corruption, and become zealous in many outward good works, promising the Lord that they will pay Him what they owe Him. The harder they work to accomplish their objective, the greater the obstacles become, because their inborn and indwelling sin takes the mastery, which by nature they are not able to overcome in their own strength. This is a grievous lesson for them to learn. The Apostle Paul spoke thereof: “O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” Rom. 7:24. The Lord does not leave His people without comfort as they come to the knowledge of their spiritual powerless condition, as He further speaks to them: “Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.” Zech. 4:6

It is under such conditions, (which is to their comfort) they are called to: “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will, and to do, of His good pleasure.” The Lord has promised to lead His people with weeping and supplication. They desire to live a holy and an unreproachable life, wherein God’s Holy name will not be reproached, and their neighbors welfare is sought. And this is then-warfare; that their life may be Christ. Christ must have the pre-eminence. This is their heart’s desire which God has wrought within them. But prince Belial gives them no rest in this life. Therefore God gives them this encouraging assurance: “Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are His. And let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.” This is the comfort for the children of God, that He has laid this UNMOVABLE FOUNDATION; CHRIST JESUS, their intercessor by the Father.

Dear reader, do you have knowledge of this spiritual warfare, sometimes questioning; Am I His or am I not? Or is your life so far beyond reproach that you never question your own sincerity? Are you never in need of the reaffirming voice of God in your soul, whereof David spake: “Say unto my soul, I am Thy salvation.” Ps. 35:3. Remember there is only one life to live, and the hour glass will soon run out: “If the tree fall towards the south, or towards the north, in the place where the tree falleth, there it shall be.” Ecl. 11:3. Let us consider earnestly; to which side shall we fall? If we fall towards the north, it is because we have always lain towards the north, but if we may fall towards the south, it is because God has built us on the unmovable foundation Christ Jesus. He remains faithful: “For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee.” Isa. 54:10.

All glory unto God we yield,

Jehovah is our help and shield;

All praise and honor we will bring

To Israel’s Holy One, our King.

C.F. Boerkoel, Sr.


“Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance” Ps. 32:7


THE CALL TO THE MINISTRY

By John Kershaw [1792–1870)

There are four things that attend every one that God sends to labour in His vineyard:

First, they have an inward call from God, which is the Spirit’s mighty operation leading them into the work (Gal. 2:8).

Second, they are fitted and qualified for the work by the great Head of the church, who has ascended up on high and led captivity captive, and received (ministerial) gifts for men (Eph. 4:12).

Third, the Lord in His providence opens doors for them without their having to push themselves forward in the work, for He never sends a man, but He has a work for him to do, and strengthens and supports him in it (Matt. 28:20; Mark 16:20).

Fourth, when the Lord sends a man to preach, His power so attends the word spoken by him that he is made manifest in the souls of God’s people as the Lord’s messenger (1Thess. 1:5).

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Bekijk de hele uitgave van donderdag 1 april 1976

The Banner of Truth | 20 Pagina's

MISSION TIDINGS

Bekijk de hele uitgave van donderdag 1 april 1976

The Banner of Truth | 20 Pagina's