MISSION TIDINGS

GIFTS RECEIVED FOR MISSIONS IN JUNE 1983

CLASSIS EAST SOURCE AMOUNT

Neth.Ref.Chr. School NJ Gift $ 1,478.00

Friend in Prospect Park Gift 10.00

Women’s Conference

(St. Catharines) Gift 44.66

Friend in Byron Center Gift 50.00

Hamilton Pentecost Coll. 2,081.19

Friend in Lynwood Gift 200.00

Friends in Michigan Books 10.00

Rehoboth School

(Norwich) Mission week(U.S.) 597.00

Rehoboth School

(Norwich) Miscellaneous (U.S.) 85.00

Rehoboth School

(Norwich) Gift 100.00

Kalamazoo Pentecost Coll. 1,043.00

Plymouth School (G.R.) Miscellaneous 214.20

Grand Rapids Pentecost Coll. 4,440.86

Bradford Pentecost Coll. 1,005.44

Bradford Coins and pennies 19.30

Bradford Sunday School 15.90

Bradford Catechism Class 1 14.04

Bradford Catechism Class 2 15.90

CLASSIS MID WEST

Waupun Pentecost Coll. 724.90

Rock Valley Pentecost Coll. 842.71

Corsica Pentecost Coll. 458.90

Friends in Rock Valley Gift 200.00

CLASSIS FAR WEST

Lynden Pentecost Coll. 1,545.25

Fort Macleod Pentecost Coll. 414.07

Artesia Pentecost Coll. 126.00

Lethbridge Pentecost Coll. 2,427.89

Lethbridge Mission Sale 13,018.71

TOTAL: $31,242.05 Dear friends,

It is with pleasure that we may have this opportunity to acknowledge all of you for your generous support.

We can again see how the Lord inclines hearts of the children in our schools and for the large gift from Lethbridge, (Ladies’ Aid Tabitha) but also with those who have liberally contributed.

Psalm 116:12 says, “What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits to me,” and as a Mission Board we also may have feelings of this because this is the largest amount ever received in one month.

It is really an encouragement in the time of economical problems, and with the high cost of Christian schools. May the Lord truly bless you with your gifts.

The Lord willing, Mrs. Meta Moerdyk, with her children, hopes to return to Nigeria the latter part of August.

Miss Janette VandenBerg of Norwich, who has been instructing the children of the mission workers in Nigeria, is enjoying her vacation with relatives and friends, and hopes to go back again for the new school term.

Our friend, Wm. Van Voorst, has translated some new pieces from the Paulus, of which we may include one at this time.

I hope the boys and girls and older people may read it a few times, becuase there is something in it of which to be jealous, especially that awareness that the bird was praising his Creator, and I can never do it anymore of myself. It is a blessed knowledge to learn, because it makes need for that only Saviour. May it all redound to the glory of a Triune God

American General Mission Fund

Netherland Reformed Congregations

of United States and Canada

John Spaans, Treasurer

2376 Shadow Lane, N.E.

Grand Rapids, Michigan 49505

Tel. 616/364-8379

MISSION IN HOLLAND Appearance Deceives From the June issue of the Paulus

Alkmaar

May, 1983

Dear Evangelical Friends:

In outward appearance, he was a rough looking man. He is a pile-driver by occupation. Pilings of ten to thirteen meters long had to be put in the ground to support the big factory complex. A good foundation is half the job. Think about the wise builder in the parable (Matt. 7:24). The work of a pile-driver is a responsible work.

The pilings must be driven in the ground so solidly that the heaviest blows of the pile-driver will not make them go down another centimeter. Then the firm or solid point is reached whereupon the foundation will rest. If they do not do their job properly the building will sag and crack.

It was still early in the morning when I passed the building site. The sun was shining brightly. It promised to be a nice day. Only the foreman was on the building site. He was inspecting the job and equipment. It was going to be a busy but also a warm day. I can still see him walk in his heavy boots and leather vest, with his lined face, and a hard hat on his head; in short, a man with authority. High in the rigging sat a bird whistling in full volume. Except for this, it was still and quiet in the realm of nature.

I saw the man listening closely to the splendid tone of the whistling bird. It sounded like a song of praise upon the creation. Since I was standing only a short distance from this man, I could see two big tears come in his eyes. You do not see that every day. I walked through the gate onto the building site, and said to the man, “What a beautiful song.” Startled, he looked up and to my great amazement, said, “That bird is praising his Creator, and I can never do that anymore.” His voice had a sob in it and his face was now streaming with tears.

After customary introductions, we had a conversation which I will not soon forget. This rough man, (as man sees him) was a discovered child of God. The Lord had drawn him powerfully out of the world of sin. He had experienced his deep fall in Adam, but he had also learned to know Him, Who was given as a Surety by the Father for lost sinners.

That morning he was in a tender frame of heart and mind, and the following words from Ps. 116:12 were lively in his heart, “What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits toward me?” For him it was, in the exercise of faith,a great lack that he could not live to the honor of such a gracious God. A child of God continually experiences this lack.

To be sure, it is the fruit of spiritual life that we are grieved about our unfruitfulness. After the church of God has been quickened, it experiences her death state in Adam.

For a moment we had church on this building terrain, and the surroundings underlined the words which we were speaking. The good foundation on which Jaap was working, and the bird which continued to sing even louder, performing as “Organist,” and the magnificent glow of the sun in “the Heavens”, caused us both to exclaim almost at the same time, “really church.”

So we can see that the Lord leads His people out of natural happenings to spiritual matters. The Psalms testify so richly of this.

Appearance deceives. At first sight you would pass by such a man, because pile-drivers often have the reputation of being rough men. I was glad that I had not passed him by that morning. I would have missed a lot.

How pleasant it is to be able to start the day in this manner. It gives one courage again. The Lord is still working. When we took leave of one another, we again both spoke almost as with one voice, (Ps. 17:8)

When I in righteousness at last,
Thy glorious face shall see,
When all the weary night is past,
And I awake with Thee,
To view the glories that abide,
Then, then I shall be satisfied.

(Psalter 32:4)

What a wonder!

Hearty greetings,

SAVED BY GRACE

Part II

It often happens, that on the morning of a funeral, we still have no text and must beseech the Lord to give us something. But for this woman it would be easy.

The Lord did not exalt that woman, but did exalt His grace, the grace which shone forth in her life, and the Lord would not withhold that in her death. But in an all together different way than she or I had thought and expected.

The Lord knows what is necessary and profitable for His people, and He leads so that He alone shall receive the honor.

That friend still lived a few days after that visit. Her second leg also became so sick, that the doctor advised that if the sickness continued it would also have to be removed.

I visited her again the next day. But by the great goodness of God it was now different. The Lord showed her His mercy. The Lord Himself had encouraged her with Psalter 416:5—”But the Lord shall send salvation.” But she still made the remark, “I have been refreshed and the storms are abated, but I still don’t know whether it is for my body or for my soul.”

It is so different with God’s people than with those credulous Christians. They are not confused and in darkness so long. When something comes into the mind of those superficial Christians they know immediately whether it comes from the Lord or from the devil. They can immediately determine where it comes from. They say so openly that they bring everything before the Lord and that He gives them now this and then that. They speak about the one text after the other. Those kind of people never seem to have any need to say with the poet, “O Lord, no longer hold Thy peace, no longer silent be,” etc. It was different with this friend. Still there lay in that single line of Psalter 416:5 so much divine strength for her that she received rest in God, but also submission to the ways of God.

But it soon appeared that it was for her soul. We bade each other farewell because the next day we had to leave for the East, to Paterson, Clifton, and Peoples Park, to supply in those congregations. At the end of that week she again had a stroke and passed away in the hope of eternal life. She was delivered out of the strife of this life, out of this body of sin and death, also from the suffering of her body, to exalt God eternally, which had been the desire of her heart in this life, through saving grace. I still wish to add a few lines yet to what I have written.

When I saw the severe soul strife and struggle of that unforgettable friend, I continually had to think of the earnest warnings directed to God’s people of the now long deceased Rev. VanOort, who also was exercised in the spiritual strife. He once said from the pulpit, (I was still young then) “People of God, never speak lightly of death. Remember that for God’s children, it is the last enemy to be destroyed. Though death was destroyed by Christ in His death, but death must also be destroyed for us personally. It could happen that you will hear dogs bark upon your death bed which you have never heard bark in all your life.” I have afterwards often heard that same minister say, “People, it is easier to die when you are twenty years old than when you are seventy.” That minister often had expressions in his sermons which sometimes needed more explanation. Neither could I always follow it. Later I asked him what he meant by that. He said, “We can also die when we are young, but when once we are seventy or eighty years old, then, according to Psalm 90, we know that it cannot be very far off anymore. Then it becomes reality, namely that we must meet God.” And that minister did not know this just because he had read or heard it some place, but he himself had become familiar with death. For him it had also become reality what David, the man after God’s heart, had experienced, “The sorrows of death compased me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow.” And though he found deliverance for his soul, later he was still often assailed with death. Perhaps some people will say, “Yes, but what about old Simeon then in Luke 2:25; death wasn’t so bad for him, was it?” If that Godfearing man still lived and we were to inquire how it had been in his life, then he would tell you how many deaths he had died in this life. But though he could give this testimony: “Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace,” for now God had fulfilled the promise formerly given him. There he stood with the Promiser and the Fulfiller in his arms. And further, “For my eyes have seen Thy salvation.” I cannot enlarge upon this any further now, but that man could explain the grounds upon which he could enter into death. The Lamb, which he now held in his arms, which he might embrace, that Son of God had received him from eternity out of the hand of the Father and embraced him as His inheritance. That Lamb was slain from the foundation of the world in the counsel of God. He was promised as the One Who would swallow up death in victory.

And when Christ as Head and Surety of the covenant of grace for all His elect, strove the strife of death in the graden of Gethsemane, His sweat became as great drops of blood which fell upon the earth.

His divine nature supported Him in all things, but according to His human nature He has cried out: “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death.”

OURENGAGEMENT Watch and Pray!

Part IX

The time of engagement is a beautiful time of life, but this time also has its dangers.

As the engaged pair comes closer together, and communication becomes more free, it may happen that desires are awakened for that which is only permitted in marriage. It is perfectly understandable that the longings for each other grow stronger the more we go with each other. It is clear that during the engagement the tensions can become very great. Especially so since in the present circumstances of life the engagement can last unusually long.

Still we must earnestly warn you here, especially since modern opinions open for us the way to sin without fearing the dangers. However, we must maintain unequivocally the law of God concerning the chastity of life, also for engaged couples. Against the ideas of modern man we must place only the holy testimony of the Lord. Therefore we should shun, also during our engagement, whatever might stimulate sinful desires. Do not reach out for that which God in His laws of creation grants as a beautiful gift to husband and wife in the bounds of a lawful marriage.

Although the time in which we live offers many possibilities of living in sin, without showing the result, we must remember that we must not hate sin because of the results it may have, but because sin itself deserves to be condemned. Even if we may live before the eyes of men so that we give no offence, there is a God Who sees all things. May we ever in our conversation with each other be conscious of the omniscience of God.

The wedding day is deprived of much that is beautiful when because of sinful action we are obliged to make haste to be joined together in marriage.

Moreover, we must always consider that an unlawful reaching for the communication that is only permitted within the bounds of a legal marriage, can have such bitter results. Living together in marriage according to the ordinances of God is related to reproduction. Hence it is an act in which we must be very conscious of our responsibility to our possible posterity.

How can we consider such a deed as a responsible act outside of marriage? If death takes the man away before the date set for the wedding (and how quickly that can happen) then a child shall be born that cannot have the father’s name; then the mother must go through life with a mark of shame as being an unwed mother. Also for that reason we must refrain from acts which may bear such bitter fruits.

We know that the temptations can be great and strong. Therefore the admonition is pressing: “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation.”

One of God’s servants once prayed, “Lord, withhold from me the opportunity to sin when I have the inclination, and withhold the inclination when I have the opportunity to sin.”

In the midst of temptations of which there are so many during our engagement we would do well to make this prayer our own.

Against all temptations also in these matters, we would commend the way of prayer. Let no man glory in his own strength. Also in this time let our prayer be the sixth petition of the perfect prayer, which the Heidelberg Catechism paraphrases thus: “Since we are so weak in ourselves, that we cannot stand for a moment; and besides this, since our mortal enemies, the devil, the world, and our own flesh, cease not to assault us, do Thou therefore preserve and strengthen us by the power of Thy Holy Spirit, that we may not be overcome in this spiritual warfare, but constantly and strenuously may resist our foes, till at last we obtain a complete victory.”

God’s people always need this prayer, because of all the enemies that lay snares for their soul. May the Lord by His Spirit also make it our prayer in our youth.

If one has stumbled and fallen into sin, let him remember that the Lord says, “Whoso confesses and forsakes his sins shall have mercy.” Also for this sin reconciliation can be found in the blood that cleanses from all sin.

WANDERING SHEEP

Jesus, let Thy pitying eye
Call back a wandering sheep;
False to Thee, like Peter, I
Would fain like Peter, weep;
Let me be by grace restored;
On me be all its freeness shown;

Saviour, Prince, enthroned above,
Repentance to impart,
Give me, through Thy dying love,
The humble, contrite heart.
Give, what I have long implored,
A portion of Thy love unknown,
Turn, and look upon me, Lord,
And break my heart of stone.

Chas. Wesley

COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JOHN 12:47–50

And if any man hear My words, and do not believe them, I do not judge him, for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. He who rejecteth Me, and receiveth not My words, hath One who judgeth him. The word which I have spoken shall judge him on the last day. For I have not spoken from Myself; but the Father Who hath sent Me hath given Me a commandment what to say and what to speak. And I know that His commandment is eternal life: those things, therefore, which I speak, I speak as My Father hath told Me. John 12:47–50

47. If any man hear My words. After having spoken concerning His grace, and exhorted His disciples to steady faith, He now begins to strike the rebellious, though even here He mitigates the severity due to the wickedness of those who deliberately—as it were—reject God; for He delays to pronounce judgment on them, because, on the contrary, He has come for the salvation of all. In the first place, we ought to understand that He does not speak here of all unbelievers without distinction, but of those who, knowingly and willingly, reject the doctrine of the Gospel which has been exhibted to them. Why then does Christ not choose to condemn them? It is because He lays aside for a time the office of a judge, and offers salvation to all without reserve, and stretches out His arms to embrace all, that all may be the more encouraged to repent. And yet there is a circumstance of no small moment, by which He points out the aggravation of the crime, if they reject an invitation so kind and gracious, for it is as if He had said, “Lo, I am here to invite all, and forgetting the character of a judge, I have this as my single object, to persuade all, and to rescue from destruction those who are already twice ruined.” No man, therefore, is condemned on account of having despised the Gospel, except he who, disdaining the lovely message of salvation, has chosen of his own accord to draw down destruction on himself.

The word judge, as is evident from the word save, which is contrasted with it, here signifies to condemn. Now this ought to be understood as referring to the office which properly and naturally belongs to Christ; for that unbelievers are not more severely condemned on account of the Gospel is accidental, and does not arise from its nature, as we have said on former occasions.

48. He who rejecteth Me. That wicked men may not flatter themselves as if their unbounded disobedience to Christ would pass unpunished, He adds here a dreadful threatening, that though He were to do nothing in this matter, yet His doctrine alone would be sufficient to condemn them, as He says elsewhere, that there would be no need of any other judge than Moses, in whom they boasted, (John 5:45). The meaning, therefore, is: “Burning with ardent desire to promote your salvation, I do indeed abstain from exercising my right to condemn you, and am entirely employed in saving what is lost; but do not think that you have escaped out of the hands of God; for though I should altogether hold my peace, the word alone, which you have despised, is sufficient to judge you.”

And receiveth not My words. This latter clause is an explanation of the former; for since hypocrisy is natural to men, nothing is easier for them than to boast in words that they are ready to receive Christ; and we see how common this boasting is even amongst the most wicked men. We must therefore attend to this definition, that Christ is rejected when we do not embrace the pure doctrine of the Gospel. Loudly do the Papists, indeed, proclaim this word which Christ uttered; but as soon as His pure truth is brought forward, nothing is more hateful to them. Such persons kiss Christ in the same manner as Judas kissed Him (Matth. 24:49). Let us therefore learn to receive Him along with His word, and to render to Him that homage and obedience which He demands as His sole right.

The word which I speak shall judge you at the last day. It is impossible to give a nobler or more magnificent title to the Gospel than to ascribe to it the power of judging; for, according to these words, the last judgment shall be nothing else than an approbation or ratification of the doctrine of the Gospel. Christ Himself will indeed ascend the tribunal, but He declares that he will pronounce the sentence according to the word which is now preached. This threatening ought to strike deep terror into the ungodly, since they cannot escape the judgment of that doctrine which they now so haughtily disdain.

But when Christ mentions the last judgment, He means that they are now destitute of understanding; for He reminds them that the punishment which they now treat with mockery will then be openly displayed. On the other hand, it yields to the godly an invaluable consolation, that to whatever extent they may be now condemned by the world, still they do not doubt that they are already acquitted in heaven; for, wherever the faith of the Gospel has its seat, the tribunal of God is erected to save. Relying on this right, we need not trouble ourselves about Papists or their absurd decisions; for our faith rises even above angels.

49. For I do not speak from Myself. That the outward appearance of man may not lessen the majesty of God, Christ frequently sends us to the Father. This is the reason why He so often mentions the Father; and, indeed, since it would be unlawful to transfer to another a single spark of the Divine glory, the word, to which judgment is ascribed, must have proceeded from God. Now Christ here distinguishes Himself from the Father, not simply as to His Divine Person, but rather as to His flesh; lest the doctrine should be judged after the manner of men, and, therefore, should have less weight. But if consciences were subject to the laws and doctrine of men, this argument of Christ would not apply, “My word (He says) will judge, because it has not proceeded from man;” according to that saying, There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy, (James 5:12). We may likewise infer from it, how monstrous is the sacrilege of the Pope in daring to bind souls by his inventions; for in this way he claims more for himself than the Son of God does, Who declares that he does not speak but by the commandment of His Father.

50. And I know that His commandment is eternal life. He again applauds the fruit of His doctrine, that all may more willingly yield to it; and it is reasonable that wicked men should feel the vengeance of God, Whom they now refuse to have as the Author of life.

John Calvin

REPENTANCE

Repent, or you’re undone;
And pray to God with speed:
Perhaps the truth may yet be known,
And make you free indeed.

The hour of death draws nigh;
‘Tis time to drop the mask;
Fall at the feet of Christ and cry:
He gives to all that ask.

Good Shepherd of the sheep!
Abolisher of death!
Oh, give us all repentance deep,
And purifying faith!

J. Hart

OF WHAT PEOPLE ART THOU?

READER, dost thou belong to the Church of the living God? I ask not whether thou art of any particular denomination, or outward Church, so-called among men. No; my aim is higher. Thou mayest be a member of any particular Christian society, enjoying the soundest and most apostolic form; thou mayest be esteemed for thy zeal, thy strictness and for thine whole outward deportment; thou mayest make a good profession, too, before many witnesses; and yet, after all this, and much more, not be a member of Christ’s spiritual Church or a Christian indeed. It is even a possible case that thou mayest be a minister or a preacher to others, and be enabled to work miracles in nature and grace (for Judas and others have done these), and yet be in the gall of bitterness and bond of iniquity. Thy heart may be unchanged; thy spirit may be loaded with pride, malice and every evil temper; thy affections may be fixed upon self or the creatures, notwithstanding much apparent zeal, knowledge, or reputation. Thou mayest also change thy sect without being renewed in thyself; and thou mayest have any or every form of godliness, and for many years, but all the while a stranger to its power. Thou mayest write books in proof of the true Church, and lead others into a profession, but be thyself notwithstanding only a sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal. It is hard to say what thou mayest be; what gifts, attainments, admiration, and successes thou mayest receive or procure, yet without following Christ in the regeneration, and without being united to Him in the sacred fellowship of His Holy Spirit. It is certainly possible to be much in show, and nothing in reality; and how much it is worth both thy labour and mine to search deeply and enquire.

The sincere soul, with fear and trembling, seeks the discussion; and the hypocrite, with a careless or presumptuous look, abhors and shuns it.

Ambrose Serle

PRAYER

Fervent, persevering prayers
Are faith’s assured resource;
Brazen gates and iron bars
In vain withstand their force:
Peter, when in prison cast,
Though by soldiers kept with care,
Though the doors were bolted fast,
Was soon released by prayer.

While he slept an angel came,
And spread a light around,
Touched, and called him by his name,
And raised him from the ground;
All his chains and fetters burst,
Every door wide open flew;
Peter thought he dreamed at first,
But found the vision true.

Thus the Lord can make a way
To bring His saints relief;
‘Tis their part to wait and pray,
In spite of unbelief:
He can break through walls of stone,
Sink the mountain to a plain;
They to whom His name is known
Can never pray in vain.

Newton

NO FREE WILL

Let it stand, therefore, as an indubitable truth, which no engines can shake, that the mind of man is so entirely alienated from the righteousness of God that he cannot conceive, desire, or design anything but what is wicked, distorted, foul, impure, and iniquitous; that his heart is so thoroughly envenomed by sin that it can breathe out nothing but corruption and rottenness; that if some men occasionally make a show of goodness, their mind is ever interwoven with hypocrisy and deceit, their soul inwardly bound with the fetters of wickedness.

John Calvin

ESAU

John Newton

Poor Esau repented too late,
That once he his birthright despised,
And sold for a morsel of meat,
What could not too highly be prized.
How great was his anguish when told,
The blessing he sought to obtain,
Was gone with the birthright he sold,
And none could recall it again!

He stands as a warning to all,
Wherever the gospel shall come;
O hasten and yield to the call,
While yet for repentance there’s room!
Your season will quickly be past;
Then hear and obey it today.
Lest, when you seek mercy at last,
The Saviour should frown you away.

What is it the world can propose?
A morsel of meat at the best!
For this are you willing to lose
A share in the joys of the blessed?
Its pleasures will speedily end,
Its favor and praise are but breath;
And what can its profits befriend
Your soul in the moments of death?

If Jesus, for these, you despise,
And sin to the Saviour prefer;
In vain your entreaties and cries,
When summoned to stand at His bar;
How will you His presence abide?
What anguish will torture your heart?
The saints all enthroned by His side,
And you be compelled to depart.

FINAL LETTER OF JOHN OWEN -300 YEARS AGO

Although I am not able to write one word myself, yet I am very desirous to speak one more word to you in this world, and do it by the hand of my wife. The continuance of your entire kindness, knowing what it is accompanied withal, is not only greatly valued by me, but will be a refreshment to me, as it is, even in my dying hour. I am going to Him Whom my soul hath loved, or rather Who hath loved me with an everlasting love; which is the whole ground of all my consolation. The passage is very irksome and wearisome through strong pains of various sorts which are all issued in an intermitting fever. All things were provided to carry me to London today, attending to the advice of my physician, but we were all disappointed by my utter disability to undertake the journey. I am leaving the ship of the church in a storm, but whilst the great Pilot is in it, the loss of a poor under-rower will be inconsiderable. Live and pray and hope and wait patiently and do not despair; the promise stands invincible that He will never leave thee nor forsake thee. I am greatly afflicted at the distemper of your dear lady; the good Lord stand by her and support and deliver her. My affectionate respects to her and the rest of your relations who are so dear unto me in the Lord. Remember your dying friend with all fervency. I rest upon it that you do so, and am

Yours sincerely,

J. Owen

August 22, 1863

(John Owen died on the 24th.)

Dear Sir,

THE HOLY GHOST

Ho! ye whose anxious seeking minds,
To new pursuits new vigour binds,
This question, sure, concerns you most:
“Have ye receiv’d the Holy Ghost?”

He comes, and with a powerful ray,
He drives the love of sin away:
Those He wounds deepest love Him most:
“Have ye receiv’d the Holy Ghost?”

Where’er He comes, He comes to dwell,
And Christians like His presence well;
He fits them for the heavenly host:
“Have ye receiv’d the Holy Ghost?”

With love of sin, and cursed pride,
The Holy Ghost will not abide;
He scorns the Pharisee’s vain boast:
“Have ye receiv’d the Holy Ghost?”

Dear Lord, before Thy throne I bow;
Decide this question for me now;
Let me this heav’nly guest receive,
And never more Thy Spirit grieve.

Submitted

DAVID’S PRAYER

Consider and hear me, O Lord etc. Psalm 13:3

How different is the confident undertone of this psalm from those earlier ones in which David complained that he had prayed without result, that God had forgotten, turned away from and refused to listen to him. Now he is certain that his prayers will be answered. David, now victorious, prays that God may consider him, although he had been continuously heard by God. We too ask that when God thinks of us we may feel the inner joy of heart and confidence, and that we may pray for His gracious care and listen while He favors us through grace, making us victorious in life’s struggle. David’s prayer is not only that one may reflect upon the grace of a merciful God, but also that one may reflect upon the peace He works in men.

M. Luther

FAITH

In all our worst afflictions,
When furious foes surround us;
When toubles vex,
And fears perplex,
And Satan would confound us;
When foes to God and goodness
We find ourselves by feeling,
To do what’s right,
Unable quite,
And almost as unwilling;

When, like the restless ocean,
Our hearts cast up uncleanness,
Flood after flood,
With mire and mud,
And all is foul within us;
When love is cold and languid,
And different passions shake us;
When hope decays,
And God delays,
And seems to quite forsake us;

Then to maintain the battle
With soldier-like behaviour,
To keep the field,
And never yield,
But firmly eye the Saviour;
To trust His gracious promise,
Thus hard beset with evil;
This — this is faith
Will conquer death.
And overcome the devil.

J.Hart

CHRIST’S SUFFERINGS

There’s not a gift His hand bestows,

But cost His heart a groan!

His crucifixion, and the whole of His sufferings from wicked men, cannot give us a just idea of what He endured for us. Grievous as they were, considered in themselves they were light — if compared with the agonies of His soul. These extorted the blood from His body, before the hand of man touched Him. And when He uttered His most dolorous cry upon the cross, it was not for the anguish of His bodily wounds, but His soul felt, for a season, a separation from the presence and comforts of God. Therefore, He said, “Why hast Thou forsaken Me?” It is true, His holy nature was not capable of some part of the impenitent sinner’s portion. Remorse of conscience, the stings of the never-dying worm, and the horrors and rage of despair, could not touch Him, Who had no personal sin, and Whose love and faith were perfect. —But a sword pierced His soul: and it pleased the Father not only to permit Him to be bruised by the cruelty of His enemies, but to bruise Him Himself. “He was bruised” which refers to the sorrows of His soul (for it is expressly said) “It pleased the Lord to bruise Him” — that distress broke His heart, filled Him with dismay, caused Him to be sore amazed and very heavy, and to say to His disciples, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death.” The death of Jesus was death indeed, death in all its horrors, the death which sinners had deserved to suffer as transgressors of the law.

Newton

NOT YOUR OWN

“Ye are not your own” —I Corinthians 6:19

There is a blessed sense in these words, “Ye are not your own.” Remember you must be some one’s. If God be not your master, the devil will be; if grace do not rule, sin will reign; if Christ is not your all in all, the world will be. It is not as though we could roam abroad in perfect liberty. Some one will have us. We must have a master of one kind or another; and which is best, a bounteous benevolent Benefactor such as God has ever shewn Himself to be; a merciful, loving, and tender Parent; a kind, forgiving Father and Friend; and a tender-hearted, compassionate Redeemer, able to save us to the uttermost; or a cruel devil, a miserable world, and a wicked, vile abominable heart? Which is better, to live under the sweet constraints of the dying love of a dear Redeemer; under gospel influences, gospel principles, gospel promises, and gospel encouragements; or to walk in fancied liberty, with sin in our heart, exercising dominion and mastery there; and binding us in iron chains to the judgment of the great day? Even taking the present life, there is more real pleasure, satisfaction, and happiness in half an hour with God, in sweet union and communion with the Lord of life and glory, in reading His Word with a believing heart, in finding access to His sacred presence, in knowing something of the droppings in of His favour and mercy,—there is more solid happiness in half an hour thus spent in the real service of God, than in all the delights of sin, all the lusts of the flesh, all the pride of life, and all the amusements that the world has ever devised to kill time and cheat self, thinking, by a death-bed repentance, at last to cheat the devil.

Rev. J.C. Philpot

AN EARNEST REQUEST FOR THE SALVATION OF THE LORD

“Remember me, O Lord, with the favour that Thou bearest unto Thy people: O visit me with Thy salvation.”—Psalm 106:4

How is a man brought and taught to want to be “visited with” God’s salvation? He must know something first of condemnation. Salvation only suits the condemned. “The Son of man came to seek and to save that which was lost;” and therefore salvation only suits the lost. A man must be lost— utterly lost—before he can prize God’s salvation. And how is he lost? By losing all his religion, losing all his righteousness, losing all his strength, losing all his confidence, losing all his hopes, losing all that is of the flesh; losing it by its being taken from him, and stripped away by the hand of God. A man who is borught into this state of utter beggary and complete bankruptcy—to be nothing, to have nothing, to know nothing—he is the man, who in the midmight watches, in his lonely hours, by his fireside, and at times, well-nigh night and day, is crying, groaning, begging, suing, seeking, and praying after the manifestation of God’s salvation to his soul. “O visit me with Thy salvation.” He wants a visit from God; he wants God to come and dwell with him, take up his abode in his heart, discover himself to him, manifest and reveal Himself, sit down with him, eat with him, walk with him, and dwell in him as his God. And a living soul can be satisfied with nothing short of this. He must have a visit. It profits him little to read in the Word of God what God did to His saints of old; he wants something for himself, something that shall do his soul good; he wants something that shall cheer, refresh, comfort, bless, and profit him, remove his burdens, and settle his soul into peace. And therefore he wants a visitation —that the presence and power, the mercy and the love of God should visit his soul.

Rev. J.C Philpot

THE NATURE AND ATTRIBUTES OF GOD

At present let it suffice to understand how God, the former of heaven and earth, governs the world which He hath made. Both His paternal goodness, and the beneficent inclinations of His will, are every where celebrated; and examples are given of His severity, which discover Him to be the righteous punisher of iniquities, especially where His forbearance produces no salutary effects upon the obstinate.

Moses certainly appears to have intended a brief comprehension of all that it was possible for men to know concerning Him—”The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, and transgression, and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children” (Exod. 34:6). Where we may observe, first, the assertion of His eternity and self-existence, in that magnificent name, which is twice repeated; and secondly, the celebration of His attributes, giving us a description, not of what He is in Himself, but of what He is to us, that our knowledge of Him may consist rather in a lively perception, than in vain and airy speculation. Here we find an enumeration of the same perfections which, as we have remarked, are illustriously displayed both in heaven and on earth—clemency, goodness, mercy, justice, judgment, and truth. But, to avoid the necessity of quoting many passages, let us content ourselves at present with referring to one Psalm; (Psalm 145) which contains such an accurate summary of all His perfections, that nothing seems to be omitted.

These three things it is certainly of the highest importance for us to know—mercy, in which alone consists all our salvation; judgment, which is executed on the wicked every day, and awaits them in a still heavier degree to eternal destruction; righteousness, by which the faithful are preserved, and most graciously supported. Nor is this representation chargeable with an omission of His truth, or His power, or His holiness, or His goodness. For how could we have that knowledge, which is here required, of His righteousness, mercy, and judgment, unless it were supported by His inflexible veracity? And how could we believe that He governed the world in judgment and justice, if we were ignorant of His power? And whence proceeds His mercy, but from His goodness?

John Calvin

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