MISSION TIDINGS

GIFTS RECEIVED FOR MISSIONS IN DECEMBER 1979

CLASSIS EAST SOURCE AMOUNT

Friend in New Jersey Gift $ 650.00

Clifton Calendars 200.00

Friend in New Jersey Gift 5.00

CLASSIS MIDWEST

Friend in Michigan Gift 145.00

Kalamazoo Gift 250.00

Kalamazoo Calendars 250.00

Friend in Chicago Hts. Gift 150.00

Friend in Illinois Gift 125.00

Friend in Michigan Gift 50.00

Friend in Gr. Rapids Gift 200.00

Friend in Gr. Rapids Gift 100.00

Friend in Gr. Rapids Gift 500.00

Unionville Calendars 86.25

CLASSIS WEST

Sheboygan Collection 197.50

Friend in Luverne, Minn. Gift 500.00

Friend in Corsica Books 27.50

Waupun Calendars 87.50

Rock-Valley Calendars 175.00

Friend in Waupun Gift 200.00

In R. Valley Col. Gift 300.00

CLASSIS FAR WEST

Port Alberni Collection 233.00

Chilliwack Mission sale 6000.00

OTHER

Friend in Maryland Gift 150.00

Friend in So. Carolina Gift 200.00

TOTAL $10,781.75

Dear friends,

It’s again time to acknowledge all of you for your generous support for the mission. May the Lord bless you and your gifts.

We are informed that Miss Ria Baaijens and Mr. Dieleman who were in Holland for some time because of illness and who through the goodness of the Lord have recovered, hope to return to the mission field in the month of February with the family of van Walsum.

We promised to write something about the country of Haiti. It takes an hour and forty-five minutes to fly from Miami to Port-aw-Prince, which is the capital of Haiti. As you enter the airport you realize the country is quite warm and that the airport is not a modern airport as in the more developed countries. The unemployment in Haiti runs very high. The majority of the people have no work. Just giving my own estimation I would say that 15% of the people are wealthy, 15% are average, and 70% are very poor. Many do not get enough to eat. Your heart goes out for these people because you really get to see what poverty is. Eighty percent of the country is very rugged so their food has to be grown out of about 20% of the country. The cities are heavily populated. The biggest part of the cities have no electricity nor telephones.

The religion is Roman Catholic by government authority, which was established in the 1960’s, but a very small number of the people are actually Roman Catholic. By far the most are still adhering to their old heathen religion of Foodu. There are several small missions and a few larger missions. We have talked to some of the leaders of the larger missions and they feel that there is still a wide open door anywhere in the county of Haiti. These larger missions feel that they have not even begun the missionary endeavor with a vast multitude of people. The mission board hopes to bring this situation in Haiti to our General Synod in June of 1980.

May the Lord give much prayer that we don’t make decisions without the favor of the Lord. We are fully convinced that without the Lord we can do nothing.

American General Mission Fund

Netherland Refromed Churhes

of United States and Canada

John Spaans, Treasurer

R.R. 3 - Box 17

Plankinton, So. Dakota 57368

Phone-1-605-732-4539

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

Gifts received for the Banner of Truth Tract Mission during the months of October-November-December, 1979:

American General Mission Fund $ 2,192.67

Banner of Truth Publication 1,000.00

Kalamazoo Church 150.00

Rock Valley Church 100.00

Friends in Grand Rapids 324.90

Friends in Wisconsin 130.00

Friends in South Carolina 25.00

Friends in Washington 15.00

Friends in New Jersey 10.00

Friends in Florida 5.00

Friends in Arkansas 1.00

$ 3,953.57

The Banner of Truth Tract Mission hereby expresses its sincere appreciation for the gifts received. This tract Mission is maintained by voluntary contributions.

I AM SO POOR I MUST BE DRAWN TO SEEK GOD

Part II

We become aware in our life, how blind, miserable and hostile we are. We always want to become something, but God’s way is that we become nothing. We are seekers of rest and grounds, but no seekers of God. And we must become before God what we are, so that God shall become for us what He is and wants to be in Christ Jesus. And now, between each benefit which God grants His people, lies a way of want and of impossibilities. God intends and seeks only His honor and the exaltation of Christ. Every benefit brings its own fruit but also its own joy. But after each benefit it is—they have possessed it but a little while. Heaven is kept for heaven. They have received the Spirit that is from God that they might see and know the things that are freely given to them by God. But now we must come to a solution with all these benefits in the benefactor so that it becomes—that God is our salvation. Formerly, salvation was our God, but then it becomes—that God is our salvation. This is a treasure that does not diminish but continually becomes greater and more and more valuable. But in what way? Indeed, that is a secret and that is the secret of the Lord which is with them that fear God and He will show them His covenant, Ps. 25:14.

“For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal felsh,” 2 Cor. 4:11. And now Lodesteijn says that the highest step in sanctification is: “But I follow after”, Phil. 3:12. God sees to it that there will be no statues erected for any of His people, but that they shall all be saved by grace, a miserable and a poor people. At first we confess it, but then we are still rich, but if we experience that, then our confession falls away. We may talk, act, preach and pray as though we were poor, but then we are still very rich. I can still remember that, now nearly 50 years ago, a minister who is now delivered for many years already, commenced his inaugural sermon by saying: it is not easy to be poor, but to become poor is still worse. How great is the wisdom and goodness of God for His people, to lead them step by step in the midst of the paths of judgment. We will find out that we cannot teach ourselves this. Neither do we have a desire for it. Therefore the poet of Psalter 415:2 (Ps. 25) prayed: “Show me Thy ways and teach Thou me; so that, by Thy Spirit guided, clearly I Thy paths may see.”

Christ constantly instructed His disciples, but often they did not understand what He spoke unto them. They were not able to do so. He once said unto them, “But thou shalt know hereafter.” They could not grasp it that they had to enter death with Christ. They had knowledge of His person as the Son of the living God, but they had not the least insight of the necessity of His mediatorial ministry or of His suffering and death. The Justice of God was such a mystery for them. And after the resurrection, they continually had to wait until He came to manifest Himself. Oh, if the Lord would bring His people into the depths immediately and let them see how low that they would come, then they would surely succumb. But that wise God does not lay too much upon His people. It is the same with those people as with a child going to school. They begin in kindergarten, then to the first grade, and if the teacher would give that child in the first grade a book that is taught in the sixth or seventh grade, then that child would have no courage to come back again. Each grade has its own books; and of course, it continually becomes harder and more difficult. Spiritually it is the same way. Sometimes they walk at liberty (Psalter 326:3) in the opening of the gospel and in the revelation of Christ, also after the cutting off and taking over after Christ has been applied to the heart by the Holy Spirit, by the entering into the covenant, etc., but the pathway to heaven continually becomes narrower. It is all so different than we had thought. An old pilgrim wrote me, “I am so poor that I must be drawn to seek God.” No, they never expected that when they were in the day of their youth, in the love of their espousal, when they went after Him in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown. Then their eyes ran down with tears before God night and day, but now it is a wonder if their eyes at times get wet of yearning and longing for God. Now they sometimes sit under the sermons, so dead that they barely get a taste any more of all the sweetness of the gospel. Then with the mind they still can see the things as dear and amiable, but there is no emotion or liveliness in the heart; dead in duties (as our divines express it) wandering about far from God, they pray but not with the heart, and cannot wrestle nor have close communion with God. It all becomes so different—it becomes almost impossible to come on our knees, and if we may come there, then those inward knees remain so hard so that we must rise again, just as we knelt down. May Christ become our only Intercessor, “Who is even at the right hand of God, Who also maketh intercession for us.” Rom. 8:34. Then the love toward Christ is so dull, there is no longer a lively hope; nor out-goings of heart. It is as though heaven and its fulness no longer have strength. The heart is not stirred up to speak of the ways of God among His people. And what we do is more often a must than a privilege, so that they despise themselves.

When I was but a child, I heard an experienced child of God say in his prayer: “Lord Jesus, make Thyself precious to me once more.” It was all a strange language then; but when we must experience it for ourselves, then it is different. It is now sometimes hard to go and visit people, and to pray, because we are not sincere. We are so hard, so cold, so listless, so that there is no beauty nor comeliness in Christ for us anymore. God does not attract us and we feel no need for prayer anymore.

In ourselves, and for our own consciousness, we are only hypocrites or great Pharisees. But I will not enlarge upon this any further. Nothing remains of which we can boast. We are too high-minded to expose our poverty. We cannot boast about ourselves, but neither can we complain about the Lord. He who glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. Oh, what a privilege it is that God is unchangeable, and that the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. We will deceive ourselves, but God is not disappointed with His people. Oh no, He knew that we would be called transgressors from the belly and the womb and that there would never be anything in us which would be pleasing to Him. Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward forever, for from Me is thy fruit found. And what a privilege it is that God no longer expects anything from us. Christ is that Rock Whose work is perfect. The Father rests and is satisfied in the perfect work of that Surety. Yea, therein He glorifies Himself eternally. Oh that our souls, in the deep spiritual poverty, might find its enjoyment in the Suretyship of Christ. And that precious Spirit, that faithful Guide of children, takes out of Christ to proclaim it to those that are His, to grant unto them grace for grace out of His fulness. The poor are filled with goods; the poor uttereth supplicatons, the poor need more and more the drawing love of the Father, the redeeming love of the Son, and the sanctifying and cleansing, but also the comforting and strengthening love of the Holy Spirit.

No, the Lord makes no mistakes. Man must fall outside. He must become and remain a sinner, delivered unto death for Christ’s sake. All our honor and boasting must go so that God alone shall receive the honor and then it will become “Thou art, O God, our boast, the glory of our power”, Psalter 422:6 (Ps. 89).

Such poor sometimes thank God with empty hands that they were not given their way and cannot find their paths. We would also rather sit in a beautiful, well furnished palace, than to lie with Lazarus at the gate. And still the last is more profitable than the first. May the Lord give that these words may find a response. Those that are so poor also, and who can understand it, shall be encouraged by it. For such have I written. Rev. W.C. Lamain

SONGS OF DEGREES

Psalm 124:7, “Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped.”

The poet is rich in picture-language. In our previous meditation we have seen already which pictures David refers to concerning the raging of the enemy. But we also saw that the Lord lives and upholds His church despite all the raging of hell.

The enemy does not only work with brute power but also with tricks. It is a blessing if we may be enabled to repeat what the apostle said, “We are not ignorant of his devices” (II Corinthians 2:11).

Truly, what snares the prince of darkness sets for the church of the Lord. He comes to attack a truly concerned soul by saying that it is too late, that is is impossible for such a one, that such a soul has sinned too gravely, too much, too long, too heavily. Just as a fowler sets different snares and has also different ways to catch the bird, so Beelzebub does likewise.

He attempts to draw away still others by means of sins, by means of enticing them with the counterfeit beauty of the world, and also by means of whispering to them that sin is such a sweet morsel.

If the soul falls in the snare, oh, then Satan comes exactly from the opposite side and says to such a one, “Did you think that God, Who is righteous, can still have communion with such a person? Do you believe that the door of grace is still open for such a one?”

Indeed, what tossings and doubtings Satan works in the heart, how many traps he sets, even if a person may know Who Christ has become for him. There was an old mother of nearly one hundred years old who might keep long on the way of life and in her old age he still came with whisperings concerning the Trinity of God and he tried to catch her in that snare.

How much did also David meet with those snares. But he might testify, “Our soul is escaped.” Why? Well, “The snare is broken.”

Could David have done this himself? Would anyone of God’s children be able to deliver himself from the snares of the devil? Surely, no.

However, it can indeed be that the Lord, by the Holy Spirit, works a prayer in the heart during that need, a sigh from an oppressed spirit for His help and assistance. And if the Lord deems it to be the proper time, then He breaks the snare and the soul may rejoice in freedom.

Therefore, wonder that we read, “If it had not been the LORD Who was on our side, when men rose up against us: Then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us.”

Yes, Satan also uses people as puppets to fight against God’s children, to press them into straits and to persecute them with words and deeds.

Poor man who walks on the leash of hell in this way, for he must lose anyway. On account of this David may see over and beyond all things and also testify, “Our help is in the Name of the LORD, Who made heaven and earth.” Yes, he has cried out at times:

Lord, Thou doest strength impart;

Then free me from the snare

Which foes for me, with wicked art,

Did secretly prepare.

(Psalm 31, Psalter 82)

Every living child of the Lord might indeed be watching and praying in this warfare which lasts until the day that the Lord takes them away out of the church militant and translates them into that church triumphant Above. Then they are delivered from the snares here below. Oh, song of ascentgoing up!

However, this song of degrees also tells our unconverted fellow-traveler to eternity that there is a people in the world, who, in days of need, may have a Refuge. That we then would become jealous! No, not for their sins and iniquities, not for their faults and miseries, but for that which the Lord—from pure, sovereign favour—came to grant them and make partakers of. Their soul is delivered out of the snare of that wicked fowler, the devil, for the Lord is on their side.

“If it had not been the LORD”—by nature we cannot say this. That is only possible if in truth we have learned to seek a Hiding-Place with the Lord.

Then we are discovered to our own sins, discovered to all what is outside of God and Christ. Behold, that we would learn to desire to become a subject of that Blessed Prince, then it holds true, “If it had not been the LORD....”

Rev. A.W. Verhoef

1) Linen breeches - white undergarment

2) Linen coat - white

3) Robe (or Robe of the Ephod) - blue

4) Ephod - woven with blue, purple, scarlet, white hnen and gold

5) Girdle - same colors as the ephod

6) Breast plate - same colors as the ephod with 12 precious stones set in gold

7) Mitre - white hnen with plate of gold and ribbon of blue

THE HIGH PRIEST The Clothing of the High Priest

Part II

The consecration, the duties, and the regulations of the High Priest point to the Lord Jesus and His work, and so the dress of the High Priest also points to the only Saviour for lost sinners. The High Priest was dressed with seven articles of clothing. The Linen Breeches and Linen Coat

The first two articles of clothing worn by the High Priest were the linen breeches and the Unen coat. Both were made of white linen, woven without a seam. White is the symbolic color of purity, of cleanliness. This is a type of Christ’s righteousness and perfect holiness during his entire human Ufe. His sinless Ufe was perfectly knit together, it was woven without a seam. In Heb. 7 we read of Christ, “For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners...” (Heb. 7:26). It is interesting to note that on the Day of Atonement, when the High Priest was to carry the blood into the Holy of Holies and sprinkle it on the mercy-seat, that he had to remove his outer garments and enter only wearing these white under garments. So, also Christ, when He presented His own blood, to pay the fuU price for the sins of His people, to His Father, had His clothes also taken from Him; but the purity, the whiteness of His sinless Ufe was still seen by His Father.

The Robe of the Ephod

The Robe, or Robe of the Ephod, was the third article of dress. It was woven of blue yarn in one piece, without a seam. Blue is the symbolic colour of the heavens, and so we see this blue, seamless robe, the perfect heavenUness of Christ. This is the first time the word robe is used in the Bible. A robe speaks of authority; it is a kingly dress. Here the seamless blue robe directs us to the King of Kings, the one Heavenly King. On the hem of this robe were attached golden bells and pomegranates in an alternating manner. The bells speak of testimony. The pomegranate was a sweet refreshing fruit in the wilderness. The pomegranates speak of fruitfulness. Here we see a type of the perfect testimony and fruit in the Ufe of the Lord Jesus. The bells and pomegranates were equal in number, placed alternately. So it should also be in our life, our testimony should be balanced with fruits in our walk. In the Ufe of the Lord Jesus, His talk and His walk both balanced perfectly.

The Ephod

The fourth article of clothing was the ephod. The ephod was made of “gold, of blue, and of purple, of scarlet, and fine twined linen, with cunning work”. These colours point to the offices and the natures of Christ. Blue is the heavenly colour showing Christ as the heavenly prophet. Scarlet is the blood colour referring to Christ’s sinless human life. Therefore in the blue, scarlet, and purple we may see the offices of Christ portrayed: prophet, priest, and king. In the gold and white His two natures, divine and human. These colours were all sewn together in a most intricate way in the ephod; the Bible says “with cunning work”. So, also, in the life of Christ, His offices and natures are intricately connected; they are without mixture and change, and yet without division or separation, one person. Christ’s human nature is not mixed with His divine nature, and yet His divine nature is not separated from His human nature. Both are woven into the one person, Jesus Christ. The ephod testified of this great mystery and beauty.

The front of the ephod was connected to the back at the shoulders with two shoulder stones. These shoulder stones were two onyx stones, with the names of the twelve tribes engraved in them, six on each stone. The shoulders are the place of strength and security. The strength and security of God’s people is not in themselves but rather that they are carried on the shoulders of that Great High Priest. Israel is often a type of God’s elect as God’s chosen people. All twelve tribes are engraved in the stones. None are forgotten. They are not just written, but engraved in stone. It is permanent. This, then, is the security of God’s elect. Jesus Christ, the living High Priest, shall not forget one, not even the least; for each name is engraven in stone; they shall be carried on His shoulders eternally. Christ, Himself, testified “...they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand”. (John 10:25)

(to be continued)

CHRIST ONLY THE CONSOLATION FOR ALL BELIEVERS

“Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. ‘‘Matt. 11:28

Let us consider this earnest invitation under the following three thoughts.

First, to whom these words are directed and made applicable.

Second, the person who extends this invitation.

Third, the comfort it applies.

Because of the willful disobedience of our covenant head Adam, we are all under the condemnation of a threefold death, namely; temporal, spiritual, and eternal death. The apostle Paul speaks thereof in Romans 6:23-”for the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal Ufe through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Since the fall of man, men by nature have been searching for comfort. The world and all that it offers is subject to constant changes. Nations are taken captive, rulers are brought to subjection, and riches have taken wings. Satan the deceiver, the world, and our own corrupt hearts have fallen so grossly in sin that there is on man’s side no desire or ability to return unto our heavenly benefactor and maker.

When our first parents transgressed the Lord’s command, they likewise were without comfort. Their own sins condemned them, and hiding themselves amongst the trees of the garden, they sewed themselves fig leaves to cover their nakedness. It was God Who sought them in the garden, in theirforlorn state, calling unto Adam, “And said, Where are thou?” Gen. 3:9. Having covered themselves with fig leaves, they acknowledged their spiritual death. But it is God who seeks sinners regardless of the extent of their sin, and offers His exclusive deliverance and salvation from disobedience and sin. God in grace slew an innocent lamb, and through its death and blood provided a covering and remedy which was acceptable to God. In faith Adam and Eve were again comforted looking with faith upon the promised Savior, Jesus Christ as promised in Gen. 3:15—”And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heal.”

We read in Gen. 6:6—”And it repented the Lord that He made man upon the earth, and it grieved Him at His heart.”

Reader, have you knowledge of your deep fall in your covenant head Adam, and has the Lord ever applied these words unto your heart? If so, you must have felt that the sentence of the three fold death was upon you, and finding yourself without God in the world, totally dead in trespasses and in sins, and no way to escape His righteous judgements. Does your sin grieve you that you have grieved Him at His heart? We are monsters of sin and filled with all unrighteousness. Has your burden of sin become too heavy for you to bear, and are you labouring under the magnitude of your transgressions which have risen higher than the heavens, labouring day and night to overcome them? But alas! They seem to overtake you. The harder your labours become to flee from your iniquities, the more they seem to increase. This was also the confession of David, the man after God’s own heart. “For innumerable evils have compassed me about; mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of mine head: therefore my heart faileth me.” Ps. 40:12.

Has the majesty of God brought you to deep humiliation, as we read of Abraham, the friend of the Lord, when the angel of God appeared unto him, confessing that he was but dust and ashes. Gen. 18:27. And with Asaph in Ps. 73:33—”So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before Thee.” Have there been times in your life, wherein you have learned to love the attributes of God, above your own salvation? And are you still burdened, because you feel yourself not burdened enough because of your indwelling sin? Do you question yourself whether your fear is not a childlike fear but a filial fear? You are called to believe, and you read in James 2:19—”Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.” You question, do I love Him, yes or no? It is for such that the Lord has promised—”But to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at My Word.” Isa. 66:2. It is unto such that the Lord extends His earnest invitation.

Permit me to detain you for the consideration of the excellency of the person speaking to you in this text.

He is the; “I AM THAT I AM.” Ex. 3:14. The “JEHOVAH” the incommunicable name of the God of Israel. Ex. 6:3. The unchangable, the everlasting God. He is the eternal Son of God; “Then I was by Him, as brought up with Him: and I was-daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him; Rejoicing in the habitable part of His earth; and My delights were with the sons of men.” Prov. 8:30, 31. He is the “ALPHA AND OMEGA”, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. He is the Only-begotten Son of the Father. He is the Messenger of the covenant of grace. Mal. 3:1. He is the Emmanuel, God with us. Isa. 7:14. He is the great High Priest appointed and called by God. Heb. 3:1, 2. He only is the appointed Head of the church; Eph. 1:22. He is the Foundation, the Rock upon which the church is built; I Cor. 3:11. He is the King of Zion; Math. 21:5. He is the great Prophet; Luke 4:43. His kingship is durable; Luke 1:23. In His Prophetical office He is wisdom itself; Luke 2:20. In His Priestly office He made reconciliation once, and has an unchangeable Priesthood; Heb. 7:23-28. He is also the good Shepherd; John 10:11-14. He knows His people, calls them, gathers them, guides them, feeds them, cherishes them tenderly, protects and preserves them, laid down His life for them, and gives them eternal life. It is Christ who obtained redemption for His church; Heb. 9:12. In consideration of all this, it is not to be wondered that the bride in the Songs of Solomon placed Christ as her Pre-eminence; “My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest amongst ten thousand”; Song of Sol. 5:10. All the books in the world cannot describe His excellencies, His Glory, Majesty, Power, and mercies for the most unworthy sinners.

Christ invites such who are of a broken heart and a contrite spirit, and He alone is able and willing to satisfy their longing souls. “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise;” Ps. 51:17. He promises rest to a restless soul. A restless soul constitutes a soul which has been labouring under many spiritual afflictions. The unstableness of mind, the temptations to sin, and the deceitfulness of their hearts causes these souls many times to doubt their state for eternity. Lacking the assurance of His presence, and reconciliation with their Maker and because of their sin, being discouraged and without hope, justly deserving His wrath, the Lord in His condescending mercy speaks to and invites them, and applies His Word to such souls with these words to His rest—”Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord, though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool;” Isa. 1:18, and confirms it as with an oath: “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.

It is here that a soul is brought to rest in the atoning work of Christ by faith, whereof David speaks in Psalm 43:5—”Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? Hope in God for I shall yet praise Him.” Unto such He further fulfills His promise of an abiding rest here: “He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me; and he that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to him.” John 14:21.

Dear fellow travelers to eternity, does not holy jealousy fill your hearts for the comfort and consolation the Lord grants unto His people while traversing this Mesech upon the earth? Many of you are baptized at an early age, others again as an adult, but all have the token on your fore-head, that only the blood of Jesus Christ washes from all sin. Are you building your salvation on an outward application of water, and are you resting upon a presupposed regeneration? If so: we read in Isa. 28:20, “For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it: and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it.”

And my dear young generation: Satan, the world and your own youthful hearts are so soon involved with the pleasures of this life, but be reminded that it is all vexation of spirit. You who are still young, give not your heart unto the pleasures of the world. You have enough of it within your heart as you came into this world. Seek not the worldly pleasures, let not your time be taken up with the IDOLATRY of sports. “Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee idolatry.” I Cor. 10:14. They are the worldly idols, let them not be a snare unto you. Ask your parents not to take you to those places of vanity. Neither spend your precious God-given time with reading the funnies in the newspapers, nor with the improper articles and filthy displays in magazines, along with what is seen over the T.V. Neither attend plays whether worldly or so-called religious plays, for we read in God’s Word: “The thought of foolishness is sin.” Prov. 24:9. You are called to fear and keep His commandments. Seek Him in your early life. He is so worthy to be obeyed and worshipped. He calls to us in His Word: “Flee youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” 2 Tim. 2:22.

The Lord still calls you: “My son, give ME thine heart, and let thine eyes observe My ways”—Prov. 23:26. Ask Him: “Lord, wilt Thou please make Thine abode within my heart?” May the Lord make place within all our hearts, both old and young. For if we have Him, we have the chiefest amongst ten thousands. For the redeemed of the Lord shall inherit an eternal bliss: “For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of water; and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes”—Rev. 7:17. There the redeemed of the Lord shall inherit an eternal rest, never to grieve Him any more, never to be separated from His presence. Ever there to sing with the church triumphant the song of Moses and the Lamb.

-C.F. Boerkoel, Sr.

STUDYING THE SCRIPTURES

No. 1

Erasmus, speaking of Jerome, says, “Who ever learned by heart the whole Scripture, or imbibed or meditated upon it as he did?”

Tertullian, after his conversion, was engaged day and night in reading the Scriptures, and got much of them by heart.

The Emperor Theodosius wrote out the New Testament with his own hand, and read some part of it every day.

Theodosius the Second dedicated a great part of the night to the study of the Scriptures.

George, Prince of Transylvania, read over the Bible twenty-seven times.

Alphonsus, King of Arragon, read the Scriptures over, together with a large commentary, fourteen times.

That illustrious monarch, Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, united heroic courage with genuine piety. It is said of him that he made religion the spring, as it were, of all military vitues, composing prayers for the use of those whom he commanded in the field. His maxim was that a good Christian could not be a bad soldier. He said to an officer, who seemed surprised to find him reading the Bible, “I am seeking strength against temptation by meditating on the sacred volume. Persons of my rank are only answerable to God for their actions, and that independence gives the enemy of our souls opportunity to lay snares, against which we cannot be too much on our guard.” Each station has its special temptations, but the grace of God imprinting on the heart the principles of His word, is a sure defence from all “the paths of the destroyer.”

No. 2

A missionary in New Zealand, while visiting the sick, went to the hut of a poor cripple. He found him with a New Testament lying by his side and asked if he could read. He replied that he could. He was asked, “How did you learn to read?” as he had never attended school. He said, “I used to creep about, and after raking the rubbish thrown out of my neighbours’ houses, pick up all the bits of printed paper I could find. Sometimes I got half a leaf of a New Testament, and sometimes a bit of a leaf of a Prayer Book. These pieces, which I got from time to time, I used to sew together. Then to learn to read I pointed to a word, and asked my brother to tell me its meaning. This I often did, till at last I could manage to read a whole verse, and then a chapter.” The missionary then asked, “Do you esteem the word of God?” He replied, in his expressive language, “It is my pillow.”

CAST THY BURDEN ON THE LORD

He shall dwell in perfect rest
Whose mind is stay’d on Thee,
Whom to keep within my breast,
My only care shall be;
View the lilies of the field,
They grow, but neither toil nor spin,
By their Maker’s arm upheld,
Who clothes the earth with green.

See the ravens, day by day,
Their Maker gives them food,
Lions, roaring for their prey,
Do seek their meat from God.
Lean thou on His faithful Word,
Nor by distrust, provoke His wrath,
Cast thy burden on the Lord,
O thou of little faith.

Will the Saviour (Who thy peace
At such a price hath bought)
From His work of mercy cease
And sell thy life for nought?
Doubting soul, to Him look up,
His ears are open to thy cry;
God shall recompence thy hope,
And all thy need supply.

-A. Toplady

THE CHRISTIAN AND THE REPROBATE

1. If ye prize Christ and His truth so as you will sell all and buy Him, and suffer for it.

2. If the love of Christ keepeth you back from sinning, more than the law, or fear of hell.

3. If you be humble and deny your own will, wit, credit, ease, honour, the world, and vanity and glory of it.

4. Your profession must not be barren and void of good works.

5. You must in all things aim at God’s honour. You must eat, drink, sleep, buy, sell, sit, stand, speak, pray, read, and hear the Word, with a heart-purpose that God may be honoured.

6. You must show yourself an enemy of sin, and reprove the works of darkness, such as drunkeness, swearing, and lying, albeit the company should hate you for so doing.

7. Keep in mind the truth of God that you heard me teach, and have nothing to do with the corruptions and new guises entering into the House of God.

8. Make conscience of your calling, in covenants, in buying and selling.

9. Acquaint yourself with daily praying; commit all your ways, and actions to God by prayer, supplication and thanksgiving, and count not much of being mocked, for Christ was mocked before you.

-Rev. Samuel Rutherford, A.D. 1600-1661 Received the above from a youthful interested reader of the Banner of Truth.

LUTHER’S LAST WILL

Luther had this passage in his last will and testament—”Lord God, I thank Thee, for that Thou hast been pleased to make me a poor and indigent man upon earth. I have neither house, nor land, nor money, to leave behind me. Thou hast given me wife and children; whom I now restore to Thee. Lord, nourish, teach, and preserve them, as Thou hast me.”

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