TIMOTHY MISSION FUND

During the month of October we received donations to our Timothy Mission Fund of gifts totalling $35.00, which we gratefully acknowledge. During the month a check was sent to the International Christian Relief in the amount of $185.00, which was to be used for a well in India. Our balance on hand at the end of October was $105.90.

The $185.00 mentioned above is the average cost of a well in the southerly region of India, where unusually dry weather has been experienced for several years. This includes the hiring of men, the use of tools, and the pouring of a cement well-head which prevents cave-ins and keeps the water clean. Existing wells in the area spread disease, not only through contamination of the water, but by providing lurking places for the dreaded liver fluke, a wormlike creature which penetrates bare skin and migrates to the inner organs. The new wells have hard, dry openings where these worms cannot exist. Our hope and prayer is that these people may, through the Word of God, also become acquainted with that living water, flowing from a living Fountain.

GIFTS RECEIVED FOR MISSIONS IN OCTOBER 1971

CLASSIS EAST SOURCE AMOUNT

Friend in Clifton Gift 150.00

Friend in Clifton Gift 150.00

CLASSIS MIDWEST

Friend in Michigan Gift 50.00

Friend in G. R. Gift 100.00

Total: $450.00

Dear Mission Friends,

We want to thank you all for your kind gifts to the mission. May the Lord bless you and your gift. At present things are going a little better at Nipsanma. Mrs. Kuijt and the children are again back with Rev. Kuijt on the mission field. Some of the people are a little more friendly but many are still very hostile. But nothing is too hard for the Lord. He can break hard hearts at home but also in the mission field. In Nigeria it is very busy at present. Mr. Commelin and his wife and Miss Ann Herfst are working in a new area to try to learn the language of this new tribe which is as far as we know about 150 miles from Nigeria. So you can imagine there is a lot to be done. To build a new clinic and to try to teach a people with a strange language the word of God. In Abenago and in Landikma things are progressing very well, also in Nigeria. Oh, who knows what the Lord will do yet. May we all be given a desire to be a helping hand in the spreading of the one and only truth. God exalted in the highest and man abased in the lowest. May the Lord give true prayer therefor.

American General Mission Fund

Netherland Reformed Churches

of America and Canada

John Spaans, Treasurer

Plankinton

South Dakota

Box 106 RR 1

57368

NEWS FROM THE MISSION FIELD OF INDONESIA

In a letter received from Rev. Kuijt he has related some of his experiences in the valley of Nipsan, where he has just recently begun to work. He began to write the letter on August 6, but had left it unfinished for several weeks. On August 31 he wrote.…

“It is now August 31 when I am writing this. I could not have previously imagined that on Sunday August 8 a frightful event would take place in our camp at Nipsanma. What did happen at 5 P.M. on that Sunday afternoon?

About 4:30 I saw thunderstorms approaching our area from three directions. As a precaution I removed the antenna from our radio communication unit, something which I had never done before. Then, taking with me my Bible and the book of the memoirs of R. M. M’Cheyne, I went from the tent that served as our bedroom to the kitchen unit, which is a distance of about 35 yards.

I can recall well that I moved from one chair to another as the first loud thunderclap rolled through the valley. And then suddenly it happened - a terrible thunderclap and I thought it had become eternity. I do not remember anymore what thoughts went through my mind, but one thing I do recall — I prayed, “Lord, what is this?” I realized that I had been struck on the back of my head, the lower part of my back, and also my right leg. All feeling was gone from my leg and for a moment I thought the entire leg had been taken off. There was a moment of great anxiety, but I did not have much time to think, as I noticed that the kitchen which I was in had begun to burn.

Since I could not walk, I crawled towards the fire, meanwhile picking up a level which lay nearby and with which I was able to put out the fire. When I looked outside, it appeared that our “bathroom” was also ablaze. I hobbled outside, noticing that the feeling in my leg was returning, and whistled for my helpers, who had built their little village about 110 yards distant. At first no one came as they thought I was only calling them for their daily rations, and, since it was raining, they weren’t in a hurry.

But as I continued to whistle insistently, they came running outside and the alarm was soon given to the entire camp. Some climbed on the grass roof of our “bathroom,” beating at the flames with bare hands. Our possessions were thrown outside (the “bathroom” served as storage as well as toilet) and in a very short time the fire was quenched, helped by the rain which continued to fall. When we had made certain that all the flames were extinguished, we gathered in our kitchen.

My helpers began to cry, partially because our camp had been struck by lightning and that I was yet alive, but also because of the loss we had suffered. After a few moments I spoke to them, pointing out that we must not mourn because of this present loss, as they were but earthly goods, which one day would all pass away. The crying quickly ended; it was as if light arose for our brothers: “O yes, these were only earthly goods and will pass away.” The thunder and the rain also disappeared in the distance.

We then stood up to survey the damage and to see where the lightning had struck. Above my head where I had been sitting, two beams had been hit. It could still be seen where the lightning had travelled. The chair on which I was sitting was also damaged. It is a very great miracle that I am still living. I had noticed that the lightning had gone down my leg and singed the hair, but there was no sign of a burn.”

(The radio equipment, which had been located in the kitchen, had also been damaged, and when no contact was made with them from the neighboring mission post, a request was made to the M.A.F. to send a plane to investigate. At that time no plane had attempted a landing on the airstrip of this new area.)

On Tuesday, August 10th, a landing attempt was made. The airplane appeared in the distance. Lower and lower it came until … it touched ground, creaking because of the hardness of the strip, and taxied to a stop. My helpers were already at the plane and shaking hands with the pilot, Dave Hoisington, who at the moment is the head of M.A.F. in New Guinea. When I met Dave, I could not control my emotions and wept, followed by my helpers who crouched under one of the wings and also wept. There had been so much tension the last days, and now this — an M.A.F. plane on the ground at Nipsan; it was almost unbelievable.

The pilot mentioned how that there was great reason for thankfulness and gladness. As a group we went to our camp, where the pilot could see for himself what the lightning had done two days before. His only comment was, “Gerrit, that you have come out alive! The Lord has something to say with this occurrence.” After he had seen the camp, we all sat down in front of the kitchen unit to pray together and acknowledge the Lord for all His goodness.

Did the Lord wish to admonish? What was the Lord’s purpose? In this place the Gospel had never been heard before and these people who live in this valley can hear the Gospel in no other way. Friends, we have one thousand and one questions and no answer.

FIRST LANDING AT NIPSANMA

NO RAIN, PLEASE LAND, EVERYTHING RUSAK (damaged). This is the sign made out of old bed sheets that met me as I circled over NIPSAN for a first landing.

When I went in to Nipsan several weeks before by helicopter, I had talked to Gerrit Kuijt the missionary about the first landing. If there had been recent rain, I advised him to tell me so I could wait for it to dry.

For the past six months Gerrit had worked under very trying conditions to build the Nipsan strip. Forty Jali men walked the four day trip from nearby Naltja to assist him. They were continually threatened by the local people and eventually one of the Jali men was killed by arrows. When the strain became too great Gerrit’s wife was flown out by helicopter. Still the construction went on foot by foot.

Then came our search. July 17th PK-MPK was missing. A Nipsan man came with the story that a plane had crashed one day’s walk up valley. The helicopter in the area flew us to a high ridge onto which we could alight from the chopper and walk to the site of the accident. Our pilot Martin Kehle was dead — killed on impact. We buried him at the site anxious to leave the area. Arrows had been fired at us during the helicopter ride from Nipsan to the ridge.

The strip was nearing completion. Things were getting more tense as the Jalis told Gerrit that they would be attacked during the full moon. August 9th, Saturday night they awakened Gerrit to tell him that the people were coming. Gerrit got no sleep that night. Still hoping that I would come in for the first landing within the next few days. Because our float plane pilot was sick in the hospital, and one other one killed, I was flying floats on the South Coast, unable to make the promised first landing. Sunday afternoon as Gerrit was listening to the Dutch news on his portable radio, lightning hit his station. Everything electrical was hit including him. His leg was paralyzed for a while. A nearby shed with his portable generator caught fire. All his canned goods in his tent were either arched together or had holes burned in them. His radio antenna was melted, the transceiver burnt out. In his present state of mind (mind taut with thoughts of impending attack), first landing delayed, then lightning striking him, he needed help.

When he did not answer the radio sked Monday morning, we had one of our pilots circle overhead. We knew attack was pending, but when the pilot saw not a soul around and the shed burned down, our hearts sank. Just a week before two tiny missionary children had drowned after their parents had held on to them for five hours in huge ocean waves after their boat had capsized. Ah these happenings within a period of one month just caused us to cry out to God to calm things down. We prayed as another plane brought police to the Nipsan area. The pilot was hesitant to land as he then saw Gerrit and the Jali men waving. No radio contact, but a note dropped told Gerrit to give a sign if he would wait one day more for the first landing. He signaled okay.

Next day I made the first landing. The strip was hard as concrete. I greeted Gerrit and then he started to cry as he related the days of tension, wondering what God had in store for him through these recent experiences. He and his men had hidden the first overflight the day before so we would realize something was radically wrong. As he showed me the lightning damage we began to see how the Lord really did spare him and just before we took off had a twenty minute prayer meeting with the national men thanking God for His care and committing the strip to Him so that the curious “enemy” watching us from the surrounding hills might soon acknowledge Jesus Christ as their Saviour. I then took Gerrit to Sentani for one week where he stayed with his wife as they put their oldest child in school for the first grade.

I’ve received letters asking “what are you doing out there?” We’re trusting that this letter will give you an insight into the problems and decisions pressing in on us daily. With the death of three of our friends recently, we are again impressed with the brevity of life and the importance of living life to its full for our Lord.

Sincerely,

Dave and Ruth Hoisington

Dan and Doug

OUR MISSION IN NIGERIA

Recently a letter was received from Miss Ann Herfst, our mission nurse in Nigeria. As I wrote in a previous report, it had been decided to start a second mission station there, and this station is now located in the East-Central State of Nigeria, south of the Bethesda Clinic. At the present time only Miss Herfst is working in this new area, and she plans to be there until sometime in January in order to learn the language of the Izi-area. The chief of the Izi-tribe offered Miss Herfst the use of two rooms in his compound, which are very suitable to her needs. Also his wives and children have been most helpful to her.

The advantage of this new mission field is that there we will be able to work under our own name. Plans are being made to set up a clinic, some dwellings, etc. Miss Herfst receives much help in her study of the Izi language from people sent out by the Wycliffe Bible Translators, especially the Meier family there. As you probably know, the Wycliffe Bible Translators have sent workers into all parts of the world in order to aid in mission work by getting unknown and unwritten languages in a printed form.

Miss Herfst has a new mailing address, which is — Miss Ann Herfst, c/o Mr. P. Meier, P. O. Box 20, Abakaliki, East Central State, Nigeria.

May the Lord bless our labors in Africa as well as in Indonesia. Let us prayerfully remember our workers in the various mission fields, begging the Lord that they may be given grace and strength to endure unto the end.

Clerk of Mission Committee

THE TRINITARIAN BIBLE SOCIETY THE BIBLE IN MANY LANDS

SPAIN

“We praise God for the wonderful way we got permission from the authorities in Santiago de Compostela to put our book-stall in the high street of this town. It was very difficult, as the sale of books in the street is forbidden, but with the help of a local evangelical minister I got permission. We meet many Latin-American students and find the people here more interested to have the Word of God than in other towns. We have also made contact with American tourists, and English, French, and Dutch people.

“This is a big town and a centre of pilgrimage for many Roman Catholics, who come here to worship the body of James and kiss his image. Some of the people are hostile, and a priest cried out — ‘You deceive the people and give them an untrue Bible.’ We are distributing literature in several towns in the street and from house to house. We need your support in prayer for this Gospel work in Spain.”

KERALA, SOUTH INDIA

“Thank you for the Tamil Gospels you so kindly forwarded to us. Your support is always a great encouragement to us. These Tamil Gospels with the attractive cover were badly needed for our meetings among non-Christians and in the hospitals. Tomorrow about fifty of us will be conducting an open air meeting and ministering both to Tamil and Malayalam speaking people. We request you to send some more Tamil Gospels and also some more Bibles, New Testaments, booklets and text cards for distribution in the hospitals.

“I have great pleasure to inform you that the Golden Thoughts Calendars were used by school teachers at Madurai Christian Schools and one calendar was hung up in every classroom. Every pupil was encouraged to memorize the verse for each day and also to translate it into Tamil. Thus the spiritual atmosphere among the students has been encouraged by these Golden Thoughts Calendars.”

Submitted

Notes out of the Catechism Classes of Rev. J. Fraanje

Using the Catechism Book

SPECIMENS OF DIVINE TRUTHS

by Rev. A. Hellenbroek

Our catechism lesson today deals with the three Divine Persons.

Does this mean that there are three Divine Beings, or three Gods?

No, there is but one God but in that Divine being we distinguish three Divine Persons, which are called Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

We learned in our first lesson, that we can know there is a God by observing nature and from the Holy Scriptures. Can we prove from nature that there are three Divine Persons?

No, and further, we ought not try to do it. Some people and especially writers have attempted to do it. They say:

“As in nature root, trunk and branches are one; and, water, snow and ice are one, so also, the three Divine Persons are one.”

But I caution you to never say it in that way. It is impossible to equate, created, perishable things with the Divine Being. We have learned that the Divine Trinity is a mystery ; not contrary to nature but above it.

Where can we prove this?

Out of the Holy Scripture, which is always the best source of proof.

Before we search out what God’s Word teaches us regarding it, I want to know what your thoughts are. You are still very young, but we are gathered together an hour to be instructed, so you have freedom to express your thoughts.

Would the three Divine Persons rate one above another in value or power?

Do you think they are as three stripes set one above another in that the Father is higher than the Son and the Son higher than the Holy Ghost?

No, that is absolutely not so and you ought not represent it that way. Do you know what you should read concerning the three Divine Persons? The Athanasian creed. Athanasius lived in the year 333 A.D. and was bishop in Alexandria. Alexandria was the capital of Egypt for a long time. We cannot spare the time now to recite the whole creed. Read it when you are at home tonight. It can be found in the “Doctrinal Standards of the Netherlands Reformed Congregations.” It says in part: “And the catholic faith is this: That we worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in unity, neither confounding the persons, nor dividing the substance. For there is one person of the Father, another of the Son and another of the Holy Spirit. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit is all one, the glory equal, the majesty co-eternal. The Father uncreate, the Son uncreate and the Holy Spirit un-create. The Father eternal, the Son eternal and the Holy Spirit eternal. And yet they are not three eternals but one eternal.

The Father is God, the Son is God and the Holy Spirit is God. And yet they are not three Gods, but one God. And in this Trinity none is before or after another, none is greater or less than another. But the whole three persons are co-eternal and co-equal. So likewise the Father is Lord, the Son Lord and the Holy Spirit is Lord.”

The old bishop in the days of the early Christians made it plain for us in this way, that the three Divine Persons are not to be separated from one another. But, can they not be distinguished from one another? You understand, certainly, the difference between things that are completely separated from one another, and things that belong together but are distinguished by themselves.

We can observe plainly in a prayer of the Lord Jesus Christ the distinction in the Divine Persons. In John 14:16 he says: “I will pray the Father and He will give you another comforter. Jesus spoke here to the Father about the Holy Ghost.

Jesus Prayed. To whom did He pray? To the Father. And why did He pray to Him? For the Comforter, that is, the Holy Ghost. The Divine persons are plainly distinguished here. Hellenbroek asks: How is the Trinity proven from the Holy Scripture?

Answer: The three persons are explicitly named in texts both of the old and new testaments. Psalm 33:6 “By the Word (2nd person) of the Lord (1st person) were the heavens made: and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth (3rd person).” And in the New Testament it speaks literally in Matt. 28:19 “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.”

They are truly three Persons, though they are one in being.

The difference is much clearer in the New Testament than in the Old. They are found in texts gathered from the Old Testament but the Persons are not named literally.

That is why the Old Testament is said to be as a shadow. Justus VerMeer mentions in one of his books: “It was for the people living under the Old Testament dispensation as though they carried a heavy lantern with the many offerings and all sorts of ceremonies that they had to perform conscientiously. They went along stooped under the weight of the heavy lantern. Certainly a great many Jews under the Old Testament, because of the detailed ceremonial laws, found them to be heavy tasks and hardly knew then significance. But by way of speaking, there are a few that eventually put the lantern down and looked in. When they looked carefully they saw that there was a little bright light in there; and the quickened ones, who had faith that all those “shadow services” pointed to Christ, were as they who observed the light in the lantern. Then they courageously took up the heavy burden again and went on further.

So we can know that the Trinity and especially Christ is spoken of in the Old Testament. However, it is like light from the stars in contrast to the bright sunlight in the New Testament. The Lord said to Moses in Exodus 6:2 “I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac and unto Jacob by the name of God Almighty, but by my name Jehovah was I not known to them.”

The Trinity can be proven from both the Old and the New Testaments.

Now it is asked: “Are they then personally distinct?”

Answer: “Yes, by their personal properties, or manner of subsisting.”

Then it is further explained: The personal attribute of God the Father is that He as Father is self-existent.

The personal attribute of the Son is that He is begotten of the Father. Psalm 2:7 “I will declare the decree: The Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son: this day have I begotten thee.”

The personal attribute of the Holy Ghost is that He proceeds from the Father and the Son. John 15:26 “But when the comforter is come, whom I shall send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, He shall testify of me.”

These are called the personal attributes, because they do not belong to the whole essence, but each of them only to one person in particular.

Of the Father, who is called the first person in the Divine Essence, it is said “That He as Father is of Himself.” That is, not by creation, not through another, but He is Himself without beginning and without end. The Son, nevertheless, is said to be begotten of the Father, which is clear from Psalm 2:7.

But now you must express yourself whether there is a contradiction in God’s Word on this point or not.

It is asked: “When is the Son begotten of the Father?”

Answer: From Eternity, Proverbs 8:24 “When there were no depths or fountains, I was brought forth.”

Don’t you find too that this answer is in conflict with the former where it is said: “This day have I begotten thee?” “From eternity before the depths or fountains existed” is very much different than “This day”; is not this so?

Hellenbroek gives us the solution. He says: “In God is only one eternal and unchangeable day.”

How must we understand this now; that the second Person, the Son, is of God the Father?

This is a mystery. It is not contradictory, but far above our nature and impossible for our finite human understanding to comprehend.

Yet, even though we cannot understand them, we believe on the basis of God’s Word that it is so.

John the Baptist said, “No man hath seen God at anytime: the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared Him.” John 1:18. The Father shares the same Divine essence with the Son from eternity to eternity. “He is the image of the invisible God,” says Paul in Hebrews 1:3, “the first born of all creatures.” And in Colossians 2:9 he says: “For in Him dwelleth (in Christ, that is) all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.”

Hellenbroek asks now: “Did He not become the Son of God by being born of Mary or by His mediatorship?”

“No,” says he, “for He was the Son of God before.”

He was begotten according to His Divine nature; God out of God, which we cannot comprehend. In respect to His human nature He was ordained. Begotten means: “Same brings forth same.” That is to say, the Father imparted His essence to His Son from eternity to eternity.

In respect to His personal attributes as God’s Son, (His divine being) they are not His by will alone but out of the essence of the Father.

In respect to His human nature, He was ordained from eternity and took it upon Himself at the appointed time.

These are difficult studies for you, but I must speak to you about these matters even if you cannot understand all of it. Try to remember it. Perhaps, when you get older, you might still receive profit from it. Above all, I wish God would teach these mysteries to your heart. You will then receive them by faith and this subject will contribute to your adoration and admiration of God.

The personal attribute of the Holy Ghost is: that He proceeds (goes out) from the Father and the Son. We have just stated that we must not understand in these persona! attributes that the Son or the Holy Ghost are inferior to the Father, so we shall not repeat our discussion of it. It is clearly proven in God’s Word, that the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father. Jesus says in John 15:26 “But when the comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of Truth, which proceedeth from the Father, etc.”

It is clear in this connection, that He proceeds not only from the Father but also from the Son in that He is also called the Spirit of Christ as in Galatians 4:6, “And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, ‘Abba, Father!’”

Soon after the time of the Apostles there was a great difference of opinion concerning this point between the Eastern and Western churches.

You know that Paul and the other apostles came to Europe to preach the gospel of Christ. As a result, there were congregations established there too, which constituted the first Christian congregations affiliated with the congregations in Palestine.

The congregations in Europe were considered the Western church, and the congregations in and around Jerusalem were called the Eastern Church.

The difference that developed between them concerned this point:

The one part said: “The Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and the Son”

But the other part said: “The Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and testifies of the Son.”

It became so serious, they were not able to meet in session with one another and because of this one point a schism developed between the two churches.

The differences, however, was not serious; it was only a misunderstanding.

It is clear from God’s Word, that the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and the Son in respect to His personal attributes or evidences of existence, as we have proved from the quoted texts.

But as for His Divine influence, it is evident that He proceeds from the Father but witnesses of the Son. This is evident in John 15:16; “But when the comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the father, even the Spirit of Truth, which proceedeth from the Father, He shall testify of me.”

Both are correct, therefore; only a distinction must be made.

It is clearly evident all around us, that the Holy Ghost testifies of the second Person in His divine work in the hearts of the elect.

You know, in an intellectual way, that each Divine Person is recognized for His one distinct work, is not this true?

It is recognized that:

1st. The election is the work of the Father from eternity (however, not without the Son and the Holy Ghost)

2nd. Redemption is the work of the Son.

3rd. The application is the work of the Holy Ghost.

A LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT

September 11, 1971

The President

The White House

Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear Mr. President:

Your decision to visit the mainland of China has caused deep concern, also in our circles. A number of our people disagree with your standpoint that it is your duty to do so. However, there is general concern among us about the possible consequences of your visit to the spiritual interests of this country and of other non-communist nations. There is great fear that your visit will eventually help the communistic, atheistic cause in one way or another. We feel it our duty to bring this concern to your attention.

If, in the future, decisions or concessions will be made that directly or indirectly would help the enemies of God and His people, would this not be certain to bring more judgments and miseries upon this nation? Moreover, would not this also result in a loss of support from those who publicly and privately carry the needs of you and the nation to God’s throne for His help and blessing? The support of those who for mere political reasons hail your decision but who fail to pray for you cannot be of the same value to you as the support of God-fearing supplicants. Does not history teach us that the prayers of these people have availed much?

Dear Mr. Nixon, consider these lines as written out of loving concern for you and the nation. “Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation.” Mark 13:38

Respectfully yours,

THE NETHERLANDS REFORMED CONGREGATIONS OF AMERICA

The Synodical Committee

Rev. A. Elshout

C. F. Boerkoel, Sr., Elder

IMMODESTY OR WORLDLY DRESS

God has written a book and in that book He reveals Himself in all His majesty and holiness. He highly exalts His Son and tells us of His obedience to the Father’s will in tasting death for sinners. In His book He shows forth sin in all its magnitude. He brings before man Heaven, Hell and judgment. Also in His book He has carefully and plainly set forth His will concerning His people, all people. He has given instructions for their deportment and every circumstance of life, that they may be without excuse. There is no end to the things written in His book concerning His people.

Let us now consider some of the things written concerning the subject of modern dress. We read: “In like manner also, that women ADORN themselves in modest apparel with shame-facedness and sobriety; not with braided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; but (which becometh women professing GODLINESS) with good works.” I Tim. 2:9, 10.

Some of the meanings of “adorn” are enrich, dignify, and grace. As we adorn ourselves in modest apparel, we not only show forth our high position in Christ but we are also enriched by it as objects of grace and we will be conscious of the dignity and esteem that an obedient Christian has before a holy God.

Webster says “adorn” implies “the adding of a beauty other than external or material. “The ornament of a meek and quiet spirit.” So we see our dress reveals our true self. By our dress we show whether the Spirit is or is not in us, guiding and directing our life in true grace.

Modest adornment dignifies or gives distinction to our profession. It has nothing in common with the world. God’s standards are as high and holy as Himself. The world’s standards are contrary to all moral and decent rules of behavior. WHAT are YOUR standards? Are they of the world or of God? Does God’s word change? No it never changes. It is as eternal as Himself.

The adornment is to be in modest apparel. Now modest means decent or virtuous and virtuous means moral virtue, pure or chaste. So we see God would have the woman to dress decently, free from immodesty or obscenity. This CANNOT be done by wearing the revealing worldly dresses designed by ungodly men and women — clothes designed to reveal the body and to be suggestive and sexy. There is nothing about modern dress that is MODEST. It is IMMODEST and immodest means obscene, which is offensive to modesty, disgusting or ill-looking.

Immodest also means SHAMELESS, indecent, unchaste, lewd, brazen, bold, forward, base and unblushing. What an indictment against those who profess godliness yet adhere to the godless fashions of this world.

It is said that a woman’s dress should be “long enough, wide enough and heavy enough to cover herself when she sits down.” Nothing short of this is modest or pleasing to God. There is nothing more disgusting than to see a woman (when she is sitting down) to be continually trying to pull her dress over her knees. This is especially shameful and ill looking when gathered to worship God. They but gather judgment to their souls.

There is no excuse for such lewdness. It is an affront to all that is decent. It is a shame to the testimony of Christ. Some try to hide their worldliness by saying “we can’t buy long dresses,” etc. By these excuses they seek to salve their conscience. Those who love the Lord and are seeking to please Him can find many ways to obtain and use MODEST clothes.

Judgment will also be upon the head of those who have the care of God’s people, and have withheld their cry against this evil. The hirelings, whether in the assembly or in the pulpit, have held their peace for fear of the loss of “filthy lucre” or prestige. They tickle the ears with only pleasing things. They dare not offend for Christ’s sake. Great indeed will be their sorrow when the Lord of the harvest comes to judge men.

Let us briefly consider I Cor. 11:15 (as the woman’s hair is mentioned in our text). “But if a woman have LONG hair, it is a glory to her, for her hair is given her for a covering.” This should need no explaining. It is a plain and simple statement from God’s word. Like modest dress, it concerns us as to our obedience to God’s word or our disobedience to it. To the woman whose desire is to please her Lord and Master, these instructions or restrictions hold no difficulties for her. But she who is worldly-minded will use every excuse she can to cut and array her hair like the world does.

We are not of the world. We are to “love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.” We are to keep ourselves “unspotted” from the world, “for the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world.”

The modern dress and the cutting of the hair of the modern Worldly Christian is far from GODLY. Under these conditions of disobedience we cannot live RIGHTEOUSLY “in this present world.” May the love of Christ constrain you to seriously consider these things.

Selected.

Youth’s Living Ideas

WHY IS CHRISTMAS ON DECEMBER 25th?

Perhaps many of our readers have never thought about the question as to why we celebrate the birth of Christ on the 25th of December. How do we know that this is the day of Christ’s birth?

In the Holy Scriptures we do not find any way to determine the day of the year on which Christ was born. We do read that He was born “in the fulness of time”. God’s appointed time had arrived and at that time the Messiah was born. The seventy weeks of Daniel and so many other promises were fulfilled. The time appointed by God had arrived when His dear Son would take upon Him the form of a man and would become like unto His brethren, sin excepted.

Since no one can tell with any certainty that the 25th of December is the right day of Jesus’ birth, why do all of the churches celebrate the birth of Christ in the flesh on this day?

We must realize that the Christian church did not always celebrate the birth of Christ. It was during the fourth century that the 25th of December was appointed and celebrated as a feast of the church in commemoration of the birth of Christ. In Rome, the center of the Christian church, it was in the year 354 that Christmas was observed for the first time on that day. Why was this day chosen by the church for the celebration of Christ’s birth?

The church had many reasons for this. From the Bible the Christians were able to determine the dates of Easter and Pentecost and celebrated the wonder of Christ’s resurrection and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on those dates. But they lacked a date for the celebration of that great wonder of godliness, the Son of God revealed in the flesh. There was a desire to set aside a certain day for that purpose. Probably the most important reason for this particular date was that on that day the heathens had a feast called “The Feast of Light”. In old Roman calendars one will find the 25th of December shown as “dies invicti solis”, meaning “The day of the unconquerable sun”. The heathens celebrated the wonder that the light always and again prevailed over the darkness, since from this day the sun began to increase in power and the days again began to lengthen. Their feast was celebrated by drunkenness, games, gambling, and all kinds of indulgences.

It is said that the evergreen was chosen by them to be a symbol of the immortality of the light, and that is the reason we don’t have evergreens in our homes. We are Christians and not heathens. The Christians wanted to show them that Christ is the true Light of the world and that in Him all the powers of the darkness have been conquered. They wanted to celebrate the wonder of God’s incomprehensible love in that He had sent His only begotten Son as a Light of life into the world of darkness and sin.

Soon the date of December 25 was accepted by all Christians as the feast of Christ’s birth. It was decided that no work should be performed on that day, and even the slaves were to have a day of rest. Fasting was prohibited and there was to be joy in all houses. However, it was stated that this joy was to be a spiritual joy; public and heathen feasts were prohibited by the Christian emperors.

As time went on the heathenish customs were mixed with those of the Christians, and the celebrating of Christ’s birth degenerated into a day of meals, evergreens, drunkenness, balls, and dancing. Especially the Roman Catholic church departed from the genuine celebration of Christ’s birth; they celebrated Christmas with a cradle and a Christ-child. The Reformation accepted December 25 as the day on which to celebrate the birth of Christ, but did not want to do so in the same way as the Roman Catholics; in fact, many of the ministers of the Reformation were not at all in favor of the celebration of Christmas. If they celebrated Christmas, they only wanted to do this by preaching about the wonder of the Word which had become flesh, Jesus Christ.

There is nothing against the celebration of Christ’s birth on the 25th of December, but there is much against the way it is celebrated by the Roman Catholics, many Protestant churches, and the world in general. We should listen to the exhortation of the Lord Jesus Christ - “But ye shall not be so” (Luke 22:26). We should celebrate Christmas in another way, and not in a way of drunkenness, dancing, and evergreens.

Above the place where it is thought that Christ was born, a church has been built. Most of the religion in that church is Roman Catholic and there is much idolatry, but one thing is very significant. The door by which you enter the church is so very low that even a dwarf would have to bow before he could enter. The symbol of this door is true and biblical. To celebrate the birth of Christ, it is necessary to bow. Only when we bow down as a guilty sinner at the cradle of Bethlehem will we celebrate the genuine feast of Christ’s birth. We must stoop and humble ourselves. Then it will happen that the more we see of the wonder of God’s love manifested in the birth of Christ, the lower we will bow and the more we will understand of the song of the angels: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”

I hope that the Lord will grant us such a celebration of the birth of Christ.

GRIEVING THE SPIRIT

The Spirit is grieved by a denial, or undervaluing of his gracious work in the heart. It is a circumstance worthy of remark, and important in the instruction which it conveys, that, among all the examples of deep humility, self-abasement, consciousness and confession of sin recorded of the saints in the word, not one appears to afford an instance of a denial or undervaluing of the Spirit’s work in the heart. Keen as appears to have been the sense of unworthiness felt by Jacob, David, Job, Isaiah, Peter, Paul, and others; deep as was their conviction, and humiliating as were their confessions of sin’s exceeding sinfulness, not one expression seems to betray a denial of the work of the Holy Ghost in their souls: they felt, and mourned, and wept, and confessed as men called of God, pardoned, justified, adopted, not as men who had never tasted that the Lord was gracious, and who therefore were utter strangers to the operation of the Spirit upon their hearts: they acknowledged their sinfulness and their backslidings as converted men, always ready and forward to crown the Spirit in his work. But what can grieve the tender, loving heart of the Spirit more deeply than a denial of his work in the soul? And yet there is a perpetual tendency to this, in the unbelieving doubts, legal fears, and gloomy forebodings which those saints yield to, who, at every discovery of the sin that dwelleth in them, resign themselves of God to believe a lie! To such we would earnestly say, Grieve not thus the Holy Spirit of God. Deep self-abasement, the consciousness of utter worthlessness, need not necessarily involve a denial of indwelling grace in the heart; yea, this blessed state is perfectly consistent with the most elevated hope of eternal life. He that can confess himself the “chief of sinners” and “the least of saints,” is most likely to acknowledge, “I know in whom I have believed,” — “He hath loved me, and given himself for me.” What! is it all fabulous that you have believed? is it all a delusion that you have experienced? have you been grasping at a shadow, believing a lie, and fighting as one that beateth the air? are you willing to yield your hope and cast away your confidence? What! have you never known the plague of your own heart, the sweetness of godly sorrow at the foot of the cross? have you never felt your heart beat one throb of love to Jesus? has his dear name never broken in sweet cadence on your ear? are you willing to admit that all the grief you have felt, and all the joy you have experienced, and all the blessed anticipations you have known, were but as a “cunningly devised fable,” a device of the wicked one, a moral hallucination of the mind? O grieve not thus the Holy Spirit of God! deny not, undervalue not, his blessed work within thee! What if you have been led into deeper discoveries of your fallen nature, your unworthiness, vileness, insufficiency, declensions, and backsliding from God, we ask, Whose work is this? whose, but that same blessed, loving Spirit whom thus you are wounding, quenching, grieving, denying? On this point the writer feels acutely; when he remembers how many whose eye may trace this page, are in this very state, — not merely writing hard and bitter things against themselves, but also against the blessed, loving faithful Spirit of God, - calling grace nature, denying his work in them, and, in a sense most painful to his tender heart, “speaking words against the Holy Ghost” he cannot but feel. There is much spurious humility among many saints of God, and this is one of its common forms. It is not pride gratefully to acknowledge what great things the Lord hath done for us, — it is pride that refuses to acknowledge them; it is not true humility to doubt, and underrate, until it becomes easy to deny altogether the work of the Holy Ghost within us, — it is true humility and lowliness to confess his work, bear tesitmony to his operation, and ascribe to him all the power, praise, and glory. See then, dear reader, that you cherish not this false humility, which is but another name for deep, unmortified pride of heart; remember that as Satan may transform himself into an angel of light, so may his agencies assume the disguise of the most holy and lovely graces; thus pride, one of his master agents of evil in the heart, may appear in the shape of the pro-foundest humility. And I would have you bear in mind, too, that though the work of the Spirit in your heart may, to your imperfect knowledge and dim eye, be feeble — the outline scarcely visible amid so much indwelling sin — the spark almost hid amid so much abounding corruption, yet, to the Spirit’s eye, that work appears in all its distinctness

and glory. “The Lord knoweth them that are his.” This declaration will apply with equal truth to the knowledge which the Holy Ghost hath of his own work in the believer; his eye is upon the gentlest buddings of indwelling grace -the faintest spark of love - the softest whisper of holy desire - the most feeble yearnings of the heart towards Jesus, — all, all is known to, and loved by, the Spirit; it is his own work, and strange should he not recognize it. Suffer this consideration to have its proper weight in hushing those murmurings, and soothing those fears, and neutralizing those doubts that so deeply grieve the Holy Spirit of God: yield yourself up unto him; humbly acknowledge what he has done in you; follow the little light he has given you, call into constant and active exercise the small degree of grace and faith which he has imparted, and seek “with all prayer and supplication” an enlarged degree of his holy, anointing, sanctifying, and sealing influence.

Rev. Octavius Winslow

Let dissolution come when it will, it can do the Christian no harm, for it will be but a passage out of a prison into a palace; out of a sea of troubles into a haven of rest; out of a crowd of enemies into an innumerable company of true, loving and faithful friends; out of shame, reproach and contempt, into exceeding great and eternal glory. -JOHN BUNYAN.

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