TIMOTHY MISSION FUND

We were again gladdened during the month of October with the gifts received for our mission fund totalling $101.00. Our constant prayer should be that the Lord might multiply the benefits of these gifts, even as the Lord Jesus did the five loaves and two fishes while upon earth, and that it may be to His glory and to the salvation of lost souls. With Him all things are possible.

The balance of our fund at the end of October was $151.90. Your gifts should be sent to Timothy Mission Fund, P.O. Box 2182, Kalamazoo, Michigan 49003.

SPANISH EVANGELICAL MISSION SCHOOL

AN ACKNOWLEDGMENT

Wycliffe Bible Translators

Brasilia, D.F. Brazil

Dear Timothy Mission Friends,

Thank you for your gift. The Lord has signally blessed the work so inauspiciously begun in 1959 among the Maxakali Indians in Brazil. For twelve years there was virtually no response to the gospel. In the slow process of learning a language monolingually, always searching for better ways to express ourselves, we had reduced the language to writing, done an analysis of its structure, printed four primers, a reader, a school book, and the gospel of Mark in their language. But we had met with only discouraging indifference.

Then there was a move of the Spirit over this hard, suspicious people. Just exactly what happened to this secretive, reserved tribe, only eternity may completely reveal. We do know that, returning to the tribe early last year, we overheard some Indians talking about believers. After probing, our friend reluctantly named a few. (Divulging information about another Indian is perhaps THE cardinal sin to them.) One man volunteered, with shining eyes, that “the name of Jesus is very strong. My heart sits firmly in the name of Jesus,” he said. There were about 60 of them, and they had begun to meet in the various villages very informally. Their testimonies are completely unstudied. They speak with naturalness about the changes inside, and how they love Jesus. Always in terror of death, they spoke of this torturing fear being removed. Long in the grip of hatred and revenge, they spoke of deliverance from hate and anger. And their faces spoke of joy.

BANNER OF TRUTH

Official Publication of the Netherlands Reformed Churches of the United States and Canada. Published at 1422 Tamarack Ave., N.W., Grand Rapids, Michigan. Subscription $4.50.

Reverend William C. Lamain, Editor

211 5 Romence St., N.E., Grand Rapids, Michigan 49503

Banner of Truth

1422 Tamarack Ave., N.W., Grand Rapids, Michigan 49504

All announcements and material submitted for publication must be typed and corrected. No handwritten copy can be accepted. Advertisements and anniversary or memorial notices are charged at 30 cents a line. Copy for the next month’s issue is due the 15th of the month before publication.

There are now perhaps some 120 believers in this tribe of some 360 Indians. The book of Acts is now being printed. The translation, which was begun under so much indifference, was finished with the assistance of those same language helpers, now enthusiastic and eager. We can’t translate fast enough for them now.

An abridged Genesis is nearly ready for printing. In January Harold hopes to check I and II Timothy and I and II Thessalonians as well as Titus. Fran hopes to have Luke ready for checking in April. We do need your prayerful participation.

In His service,

Harold and Fran Popovich

GIFTS RECEIVED FOR MISSIONS IN OCT. 1972

CLASSIS MIDWEST SOURCE AMOUNT

Bradford Gift 40.00

Bradford Gift 12.00

Bradford Gift 40.00

Bradford Gift 5.00

Bradford Pentecost Collection 244.15

Friend in Michigan Gift 115.00

Friend in Ontario Gift 20.00

Friend in Caledonia Gift 20.00

Friend in South Holland Gift 100.00

In G.R. Ch. Col. Gift 100.00

In G.R. Ch. Col. Gift 25.00

CLASSIS WEST

Friend in Sheboygan Gift 50.00

Friend in Sheboygan Gift 20.00

CLASSIS FARWEST

Tabitha (Lethbridge) Gift 1300.00

TOTAL: $2091.15

Dear Friends,

Herewith we want to acknowledge you all for your kind gifts for the mission work. May the Lord bless you all and your gifts. We are sorry we have no letter this time from Rev. Kuijt nor Miss Ann Herfst and do not know anything new happening on the mission field at present. May the Lord remember us all at home and abroad and prepare us in this short life to meet Him in righteousness and in peace.

American General Mission Fund

Netherland Reformed Churches

of America and Canada

John Spaans, Treasurer

Plankinton Box 106 RR1

South Dakota 57368

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

Using the Catechism Book SPECIMENS OF DIVINE TRUTHS

by Rev. A. Hellenbroek

Lesson 11 — part 1 — Of the Covenant of Works

We learned from the previous lessons that the Triune God created the earth. He created it in the beginning from nothing by His power for His own sake and to His own glory. We also learned that the work of Creation came first and the work of providence afterward. When Hellenbroek finished the explanation of Divine Providence in regard to all the creation, he asks this question: Has God any other particular direction respecting man?

Answer: Yes, He governs them in a covenant way.

How many of you know what a covenant is?

A covenant is an agreement between two or more persons. It is evident, then, that two parties or persons are needed to make a covenant.

How many covenants are mentioned in the Holy Scriptures?

Two. There is a covenant of works and a covenant of grace.

And which covenant was first revealed to man?

God made the covenant of works with Adam before the fall; this is, then, the first one to be revealed. The covenant of grace was made in eternity, but was not revealed to Adam until after the fall.

Both covenants have a “head” with whom they are made. Who knows who was the head of the covenant of works and who is the head of the covenant of grace?

Adam was created by God in the state of rectitude. He was made in the image of God and was perfect. He was the “head” of all persons that would be born after him. But besides the fact that he was the father of the whole human race, God made a covenant with him and appointed him head of that covenant; that is to say, he represents all mankind. In this way God, through Adam, establishes the covenant with all people yet to come.

Perhaps this is still difficult for you to understand but that would not be reason for us to omit the entire lesson, would it?

In the simplest terms we could say: God created man, one for all or all in one. God created the angels one for one. Each for himself. After their creation not one was added to them. Their number never increased or decreased by way of birth or death, because spirits neither are given birth nor do they die.

Just as God created Adam one for all, so he also establishes the covenant of works with him as the principal one, but at the same time, it is established with all men in him as the head.

Now, covenants always contain conditions to which there is an obligation.

What was the condition set forth in the covenant of works? We could also consider this a requirement, and this is: perfect obedience to the law.

To the law? Had there been a law given at that time; I thought that the law was given to Moses on Mount Sinai sometime later?

The law was presented again at that time in 10 commandments, but God had created in Adam’s heart a knowledge that he should love God with all his heart, with all his soul and with all his mind and his neighbor as himself. Adam carried this consciousness about with him. He could do this because God gave him the ability to love Him above all else.

Men call this innate (inborn) knowledge; the law of love.

How shall we present it to you in the simplest way; Give me close attention:

1. God established a covenant with Adam and with all of us in him, that is, He made an agreement.

2. God placed a condition in that covenant which we call a requirement, and what is this?

3. That Adam must be obedient to the law of love. But how could Adam know which law is meant for him to obey?

4. God created the knowledge of that law in his heart; that he must love God above all else and his neighbor as himself.

5. God promised eternal life to Adam (and to all men in him) upon the fulfillment of this requirement.

6. This promise was confirmed by means of a visable token (or sacrament) which was the tree of life. The Lord was saying: Just as surely as you see the tree of life in the garden of Paradise, just so surely I promise you eternal life if you remain obedient to me.

7. On the other hand He threatened death upon transgression. And lastly, He added:

8. A probationary command, that is: He not only commands love for God in their heart but they must show it through an actual deed too. The Lord informed them of the tree in the garden, the fruit of which they may not eat. In this way they would show that they wanted to remain obedient to God. If they ate of it, their actions would show that they did not respect the ban and the requirements of the covenant that God had set up with them.

The tree was called: The tree of knowledge of good and evil. This means: Through this tree it would be revealed whether they would sin or not. It was tangible proof whether Adam wanted to remain obedient to God or not. If he really wanted to remain obedient to God he would never eat of that tree.

Who can name the twelve points regarding this matter in exact order? Try to list them, because it will be necessary soon to grasp the meaning of this lesson in order to understand the lesson that follows.

1. Who made the covenant, God or Adam?

Answer: God with Adam.

2. What do we call this covenant?

Answer: The covenant of works

3. Was it instituted only with Adam?

Answer: It was instituted with Adam personally but with all men in him as head of the covenant.

4. What is Adam properly called?

Answer: Adam is called the representative head of the covenant.

5. Did God place conditions in that covenant?

Answer: Yes, He required obedience from Adam.

6. In what way must he be obedient?

Answer: To love God above all else, etc.

7. What kind of obedience is this?

Answer: An obedience to the law of love.

8. Did God promise something upon his obedience to this law?

Answer: Yes, God promised him eternal life.

9. How did God confirm this promise?

Answer: Through a visible symbol, which we call a sacrament. This was the tree of life that was placed in the center of the garden.

10. What did God threaten if he did not remain obedient? Answer: Death in its fullest sense, that is: Physical, spiritual and eternal.

11. Did God give Adam opportunity to manifest his obedience in a real way?

Answer: Yes, God gave him a probationary command, the symbol of which was the tree of knowledge of good and evil through which he could show whether he wanted to obey God or not.

12. What difference was there between God and Adam in respect to their being parties of this covenant?

Answer: God was and is a holy righteous, sovereign, almighty, boundless, omniscient, omnipresent, eternal and triune Being, without beginning and without ending.

But Adam was created a tangible creature; and, even though he was perfect, he was able to fall. In respect to his person, he had a beginning. He was the pinnacle of creation. God, on the other hand, was not created and is incapable of doing evil.

You must remember these points. You will be able to put them to good use in the following lesson.

A STILL GREATER WONDER I

In the fall of Adam man has lost everything, also attentiveness. By nature man lives on thoughtlessly. “A brutish man knoweth not; neither doth a fool understand this.” Ps. 92:6

Our minds are filled with the world, and with sin, and with things that are wrong. Yea, we have made ourselves so wretched that we cannot give ourselves any thought of God, nor of divine matters. We have ruined ourselves and it is evident in all things that we come short of the glory of God, and lie completely under the power of Satan. The enmity against God, and our aversion of the Lord is so great, that it cannot be expressed. We have no desire to fear God, and no longing to be converted. We are dead in trespasses and sins. On the side of man there can never be any expectation any more.

Man chooses the shortest way to hell. What took place in Paradise repeats itself in our lives from day to day. Many thousands deny it and think the situation is not so bad. If we have any conviction of the truth, it is almost impossible to believe that there are such people. Still it is true. The Bible also speaks of people that are pure in their own eyes, and yet are not washed from their filthiness. So it was also with the rich young man, and with the Pharisee of Luke 18.

What an enmity reveals itself against the fall of Adam. The superficial religion of our days praises Jesus, and urges men to accept Christ. Thousands allow themselves to be misled, and thus deceive themselves for the great eternity.

They do not speak of Adam. It is as if he never existed. That in Adam we are condemnable before God, that his guilt is imputed to us according to the just judgment of God, and that we are incapable of doing any good, and inclined to all wickedness, all these matters are never mentioned. In this respect also it is true that truth is fallen in the street. There are reasons to fear that our generation also is sinking away in ignorance.

God has still left His Word among us, and a rich supply of the “old corn,”, the old writers. But there is almost no desire to read them. There is almost nothing left of family worship anymore. I think most of us do not even know what it is. At Catechism those that still attend learn very little. Heart and mind are filled with the pleasures of the world. Men live on radio, television, and magazines. But in general there is no interest in the sincere milk of God’s Word. The judgment of hardness is much more extensive and much deeper than we realize. Also among us many are growing up who have almost no realization of the necessity of true conversion. If the seriousness of the times were observed and impressed upon our mind, we would weep day and night. But we also are sound asleep, and we are satisfied with the little “religion” and outward forms we still have.

God still sustains His people, and shall continue to bring in His elect till the end of the world, but the church lies under God’s judgment, its glory has departed. How little the living church grieves about it. Everyone seems to be sleeping. How little it is observed that God has a controversy with His people, and that we because of our sin are living under a cloud, since God is hiding His face, and seems to be forsaking us. A grayness rests upon the church of God. And how is it with the professing church?

But now, to come to the point, the purpose of my writing: dead is dead. What an eternal wonder it is of God’s free and sovereign grace that Christ testified, “The hour is coming, and now is, that the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and they that hear shall live.” John 5:25. Paul wrote, “And you hath He quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins.” God in Christ is reconciled with the elect sinner. The Father found a ransom. Job 33:24. By His active and passive obedience the Son obtained the remission of sins. Rom. 3:25. The Holy Spirit applies and confirms that salvation to all those that have been known from the foundation of the world.

We stand guilty before God’s justice, and are so corrupt that we are shapen in iniquity and conceived in sin, objects of God’s wrath and curse from the very hour of our conception. No fruit will grow on us henceforward for ever. The salvation of the elect lies firm in God, and is brought about by Christ. He is called the Servant of the Father, and was delivered for the sins of His people, and raised again for their justification.

Christ has borne the wrath of God. Yea, by His mediatorial work He has quenched the fire of God’s wrath, removed the curse, fulfilled the law, bruised the head of Satan, and brought in everlasting righteousness. Not only is the righteousness of God maintained, but it is also glorified when a sinner is called from death to life, when he is reconciled to God, Who before was his Judge, yea, when he is restored into the blessed communion with a Triune God. Where the Bible explains the covenant of grace, it speaks not only of a new covenant, but also of a better covenant. The first covenant, that of works, would be broken, but the second, of which Christ is the Head, the Surety and Mediator, yea, the contents, is well ordained, unbreakable and eternal. The salvation and the glory of the Church lies eternally and unchangeably firm in the Triune Covenant God. We read of it in Isaiah 54:10, “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.”

It is also a covenant of salt, Num. 18:19, that is not subject to corruption, but shall stand forever. In that covenant all the covenant blessings are assured for the church, and the church receives those blessings freely and sovereignly from the God of the oath and the covenant. One of those blessings of the covenant of grace is the quickening of the dead sinner. What a great wonder it is when a sinner is quickened by the Spirit of God. Through our deep fall we have become subject to a threefold death. We ourselves have freely chosen death rather than life, the curse rather than the blessing. In Paradise we had a free will, and that will was in perfect harmony with the will of God.

W. C. Lamain

THE WISE MEN

An Exposition of Matthew 2:1–12 by J. C. Ryle

It is not known who these wise men were. Their names and dwelling-place are alike kept back from us. We are only told that they came “from the East.” Whether they were Chaldeans or Arabians, we cannot say. Whether they learned to expect Christ from the ten tribes who went into captivity, or from the prophecies of Daniel, we do not know. It matters little who they were. The point which concerns us most is the rich instruction which their history conveys.

These verses show us that there may be true servants of God in places where we should not expect to find them, The Lord has many hidden ones like these wise men. Their history on earth may be as little known as that of Melchisedec and Jethro and Job. But their names are in the book of life, and they will be found with Christ in the day of His appearing. It is well to remember this. We must not look round the earth and say hastily, “All is barren.” The grace of God is not tied to places and families. The Holy Ghost can lead souls to Christ without the help of any human means. Men may be born in dark places of the earth like these wise men, and yet like them be made wise unto salvation. There are some travelling to heaven at this moment of whom the church and the world know nothing. They flourish in secret places like the “lily among thorns” and seem to waste their sweetness on the desert air. But Christ loves them and they love Christ.

These verses show us, thirdly, that there may be knowledge of Scripture in the head, while there is no grace in the heart. We are told that King Herod sent to enquire of the priests and elders where Christ should be born. We are told that they returned a ready answer to him and showed an accurate acquaintance with the letter of Scripture. But they never went to Bethlehem to seek for the coming Saviour. They would not believe in Him when He ministered among them. Their heads were better than their hearts. Let us beware of resting satisfied with head-knowledge. It is an excellent thing when rightly used. But a man may have much of it and yet perish everlastingly. What is the state of our hearts? This is the great question. A little grace is better than many gifts. Gifts alone save no one; but grace leads on to glory.

These verses show us fourthly, a splendid example of spiritual diligence. What trouble it must have cost these wise men to travel from their homes to the place where Jesus was born! How many weary miles they must have journeyed! The fatigues of an Eastern traveller are far greater than we in England can at all understand. The time that such a journey would occupy must necessarily have been very great. The dangers to be encountered were neither few nor small. But none of these things moved them. Their hearts were set on seeing Him that was born King of the Jews; and they never rested till they saw Him.

It would be well for all professing Christians if they were more ready to follow the example of these good men. Where is our self-denial? What pains do we take about means of grace? What diligence do we show about following Christ? What does our religion cost us? These are serious questions. They deserve serious consideration. The truly wise, it may be feared, are very few.

These verses show us, lastly, a striking example of faith. These wise men believed in Christ when they had never seen Him. But that was not all. They believed in Him when the scribes and Pharisees were unbelieving. But that again was not all. They believed in Him when they saw Him a little infant on Mary’s knees, and worshipped Him as a King. This was the crowning point of their faith. They saw no miracles to convince them. They heard no teaching to persuade them. They beheld no signs of divinity and greatness to overawe them. They saw nothing but a new-born infant, helpless and weak and needing a mother’s care, like any one of ourselves. And yet when they saw that infant, they believed that they saw the divine Saviour of the world (Mat. 2:11) “They fell down and worshipped Him!’

We read of no greater faith than this in the whole volume of the Bible. It is a faith that deserves to be placed side by side with that of the penitent thief. The thief saw one dying the death of a malefactor, and yet prayed to Him and called Him Lord. The wise men saw a new-born babe on the lap of a poor woman, and yet worshipped Him and confessed that He was Christ. Blessed indeed are they that can believe in this fashion.

CHRISTMAS

Toward the end of this month, toward the close of this year, the Church of God throughout the length and breadth of the earth shall again be called together to celebrate the memorable fact that God came in the flesh. To thousands and tens of thousands, Christmas consists in sending Christmas cards, exchanging Christmas presents and decorating a Christmas tree. Among these thousands we find not only the irreligious and profane but also those who outwardly profess the Christian religion. There was a time when a difference could be seen between the church and the world but today the border between them is all but non-existent. In our days the devil is offered very little resistance. Religion has yielded to the world to such an extent that the two now travel together arm in arm. Alas, the number of those who know and understand the true meaning of Christmas is steadily decreasing. On every hand we see great rejoicing in external things and a sure return to heathendom.

How necessary then that the Church let her voice be heard in a testimony against all that idolatry of our time; against the denial and the departure from all that God has revealed in His word concerning the sending of His Son into the world.

Christmas is properly called “The Feast of the Father.” For from eternity the Father ordained His Son to be Surety, Mediator and Head of the Covenant of Grace. In Isaiah 42 the Son is called “The Servant of the Father.” From eternity He was in the bosom of the Father and coessential with the Father and the Holy Spirit. He thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but He took upon Him the form of a servant. It was His will to do the will of the Father. Not by compulsion but willingly He gave Himself, leaving His throne and His crown to come to this sin-cursed world in our human nature. It was necessary for Him to do this in order that in our human nature He might live, suffer, wage an holy war, die and emerge victorious. That was the demand of God’s unimpeachable justice. In no other way could the violated justice of God be satisfied and in no other way could God’s elect church ever be delivered.

And now, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” That love of the Father is beyond all comprehension; it is unfathomable. Because the Father loved Himself, therefore He spared not His Son. Who can ever understand that wonder of wonders? It transcends all understanding.

After man broke the Covenant of works, God Himself announced the Covenant of Grace which has its basis in the Covenant of Redemption. Already in the mother promise Christ was revealed. All the prophets prophesied concerning Him and His coming. They were filled with the Spirit of Christ and the coming Messiah was the burden of their preaching.

When the fulness of time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law. In Bethlehem’s inn there was no room for Christ and so also by nature we have no room for Him in our heart neither in our home. He was born in a stable to the end that He could be born in the hearts of those people who have learned to say with Asaph in Psalm 73: “I was as a beast before Thee.” In a manger, serving as His cradle, was Christ laid down. He, Who is God of God, Light of Light, Who is over all, God blessed forever. He became like unto us in all things, sin excepted. He become poor that He might bring riches to His people who possess nothing but sin, misery and debt. He came to deliver them from sin, to restore them to full and blessed communion with God. Christ came into the world to save sinners. No sinner is too old, none too young, none too hardened and none too miserable.

O no! He came from heaven to Bethlehem’s manger to reconcile enemies to God and to justify the ungodly. By His active and passive obedience He restored luster to the virtues of God which we have violated, took away God’s wrath, turned Him away from the fierceness of His anger and brought forth an eternal righteousness. Christ came to destroy the works of the devil, to purchase His Church, to gather her, to establish her, and one day to glorify her forever.

That, in short, is the real meaning of Christmas. It is above all else necessary that we experience Christmas in our heart. We must have knowledge of a personal union with Christ shall it be well with us for that great and all decisive eternity toward which each of us is traveling. Christ is the unspeakable gift of God. Only He can fill our empty heart. May that become the portion of each of us. That is the real Christmas.

And when it pleases God to reveal His Son in us, then we shall not only have no desire for the external and worldly observance of Christmas but we will detest and despise to the core all the showy glitter that accompanies the world’s observance of that day. Then we shall seek not a Christmas tree, but the tree of life that stands in the center of heaven. The fruit of that tree is precious, and if we possess that tree then we have also the fruit. When we have Christ, we have all. Then the longing of our heart shall be to take that blessed Child of Bethlehem in our arms and to embrace Him as did Simeon at the temple. In eternity, before the foundation of the world Christ embraced His Church when He received the elect from His Father as a reward for His mediatorial work.

Most blessed are they who, by the application of God the Holy Ghost are given to spiritually embrace that Child by faith and so obtain an assurance of their portion in Him. There is on earth still a people, although few in number, who long for the moment when they are privileged to put their arms around Him in a blessed embrace. In that moment they can believe that for them, too, Christ came into the world. Nothing is more essential than knowing Christ. To know Him is life eternal. In that moment they extol Him as their supreme joy. Then, too, they experience a desire and a longing to grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. They continue to desire more of Him. They are forever spoiled for the world. All that the world offers holds no interest for them, if cannot satisfy. The world passes away and the lust thereof but they who have Christ for their portion have a treasure that ever increases in value.

In Christ, the children of God find all they need for life and salvation. They have moments when they can praise God for that “unspeakable gift of the Father.” For of Him, through Him and to Him are all things. Then they see in that Child of Bethlehem the incomprehensible love of the Father, the unfathomable love of the Son and the transcending love of the Holy Ghost — a three-fold cord that shall never be broken.

Truly, such a Christmas would be unforgettable. May God grant it to each of us for Christ’s sake through the Holy Ghost.

Rev. W. C. Lamain

MEDITATION AT THE END OF THE NEWLY BEGUN YEAR

Thus wrote one of our deceased ministers in a New Year’s Eve sermon, and indeed, that is what it really is. Whenever we start a new year it appears like a long time to us. Especially when we are young, a year of twelve months appears like a long time so that we wonder how we are going to get to the end. In general to young people time does not pass fast enough. Later that becomes different, but it does not take long, and then we say, “Has half the, year passed already: has the summer passed already: is this the last month already? Time flies as it were with eagles’ wings.”

Of course, much may happen in one year. Our business, our position, which had soared so high, may fail in a short time. Things may happen which never came to our mind, and which may be indirectly the cause that there was such a decline. Also in our family and personal life, such far reaching events may take place. We do not know what may happen from one day to the next, yea, from one moment to the other. What terrible accidents may happen to us, and into how deep mourning we may be plunged suddenly! How many people there are over the length and breadth of the earth that often remark, “This and that year we shall not easily forget.” Especially in oppressive circumstances and in heavy trials it may appear to us that there shall be no end to this year. God foils our calculations so often.

The apostle James writes in chapter 4, “Go to now, ye that say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year and buy and sell and get gain.’ Whereas ye know not what shall be tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.”

When during special calamities and disasters we are preserved by God’s hand the year flies away, and then we are at the end of it before we realize it. Life and the cares of this time occupy our thoughts to such an extent that hardly a moment is left to stop and consider how transient this life is. At times we would say, was there ever a time that there was such a restlessness in the hearts of young and old, and that everything is so hurried that there is no more time to consider that after this time there shall be no time. And yet how necessary it is, to consider our ways calmly. By and by another year will be behind us in which the Lord has shown that He has no pleasure in our death, nor in our ruin and destruction.

How many lives have been cut off over the entire world and also in our country. Many have, due to old age, weakness and sickness, exchanged time for eternity. What a great number had no sick bed, but who by a heart attack or by an accident were suddenly summoned to appear before the Judge of heaven and earth.

Probably also among our relatives, among our friends or in our own family, the angel of death entered to cut off the thread of life. We remember so many of our members, here and there, who during the past year had to part with their beloved relations. May the Lord strengthen and sustain them, and sanctify it to their heart, unto an eternal blessing.

But we have still been spared, and for us the prayer, “Lord, let it alone this year also,” Luke 13, has been answered. The door of mercy is not yet shut. It is still the acceptable time, the day of salvation. What abundant reasons there are to bow down in the dust before that God in Whose hands our life is, and Whose are all our ways. God has not yet removed His Word from us, but still left it with us. It is that word which can make us wise unto salvation. We have lived under the proclamation of law and gospel. We have been told about the weal and the woe. Christ was preached as the only foundation for salvation. Blessing and curse, life and death has been preached to us.

How much labor of love God has spent upon us and how many callings came to us. The Lord could also say to us, “What could have been done more to my vineyard that I have not done in it?” But where is the fruit and what has been our response? Day by day God has loaded us with His blessings. God has granted us life and favor and His visitation has preserved our spirit. Truly, they were all undeserved blessings wherewith the Lord surrounded us. From God’s side there were favors, but on our side was nothing but sin, guilt, shortcomings, ingratitude and unfruitfulness as we read in Nehemiah 9:33, “Thou hast done right, but we have done wickedly:” and may that also be the confession of our heart and life.

How it becomes us that at the end of this year which by and by will belong to the past, to bow down in the dust before that High God in Whose hand our life is, and Whose are all our ways: that God Who has loaded us with His benefits. But a brutish man knoweth not, neither doth a fool understand this. By nature, man just lives on. He is born as a wild ass’s colt, and we live on as creatures that have a right to blessings.

Man is willing to agree, and does not contradict that we have demerited everything, but the acknowledgment of it is so cold and unfeeling. The Lord Himself tells us in His Word, “The ox knoweth his owner and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel doth not know: my people doth not consider.” Isaiah 1:3. We are worse than an animal, and what a great benefit it is when with Asaph in truth we become as a beast before God. Then we become truly upright. Then we acknowledge that only when we are wrought upon by God’s Spirit does it touch the heart.

And now I do not write this to hide behind it, or to excuse ourselves. No, far from it. It is all our own fault. God has created us good, and after His image. As the jewel of God’s creation, we were adorned with knowledge, righteousness and holiness. We have destroyed that image of God, and deprived ourselves of all those treasures wherewith God had endowed us. In our fall we even lost our attentiveness. We have no longer an eye nor a heart for the mercies of God. We are blind for our blindness and dead for our state of death. We just go on in a vain show, and we step from one year unto another, without considering what it all signifies.

Our state of death cannot be expressed. We have lost God, lost His image, lost His glory, yea, we have lost everything, and we have become so very miserable, that we have no longer an idea concerning the things of eternity. How should the thought take hold of man that he has lived another year, and is a year closer to eternity and the final judgment, where the Lord shall demand an accounting of our stewardship. Old years day and evening remind us that the end of all things is at hand, and that by and by we shall be placed before that great judgment seat where we shall be asked what we have done with all the blessings and callings.

We have received another year’s time to consider the things that belong to our eternal peace; and that year shall not return. It is impossible to convert ourselves, but let us bear in mind that God did not create us unconverted. God has created us good and after His likeness with the power and ability to live well-pleasing before Him, and to walk in His ways, and even though we have fallen ever so deep, God demands the return of His image. Let us never forget that. Besides, a way has been opened in Christ to escape that punishment, and be again received into favor. God converts unconverted people. The trumpet of the gospel is still heard among you. God has proclaimed and called to us, “Seek ye the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon,” Isaiah 55:67, and that only in and through Christ, Who in the state of His deep humiliation satisfied God’s justice. Only in His precious Mediatorial blood is the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His mercy. The word of salvation is sent to us, and the Lord asks in His Word, “What could have been done more to My vineyard that I have not done in it?” There is nothing left for us to excuse and exonerate ourselves.

On the contrary, we must consider that by virtue of creation and gospel, God has made Himself free from us. For that reason it is written that those that have known the way, and have not walked therein shall be beaten with many stripes. O how just shall that just judgment of God be in the great day of judgment. Man confirms with his life that he will have nothing to do with God, and that he only desires to go to hell. Perhaps it sounds harsh to some people, but is the honest truth.

When during this past year we were concerned about getting ahead in this world, to add houses to houses, and fields to fields, then we had the time. We sacrificed everything for that. There was time to pursue the things of the world, such as money and property, yea, we even sacrificed our night’s rest to acquire that which perishes.

Time was set aside to go on vacation. How much we sacrifice to please the flesh. The world must be followed in everything, but, alas, there is no care nor concern to become reconciled and at peace with God. Why no time for our immortal souls and for the eternal interests? Ah, the only answer that I can give to that is, “No time because there is no desire and no need.” When we actually realize it, then we must say, our life has been trifled away and spent uselessly. In Paradise we bade farewell to God, never to return to God. With all our religion, piety, and self-righteousness, we are nothing but enemies of God. We hate God and we desire not the knowledge of His ways. We realize that in the world there is neither fulfillment nor satisfaction, but still man continues his own work to seek happiness where it can never be found.

By nature man hardens his heart under all the blessings and callings, and refuses to blush with shame, and to ask after God his Maker Who gives psalms in the night. By and by the day of grace will be past and then it is too late, forever too late. In the hour of death the longsuffering of God will have an end. And then, and then, we will curse the day that we were born, and curse the time that the gospel sounded in our ears: but also curse ourselves - and continue to curse ourselves forever and forever. God will be cursed because of the pain and sorrow there where the worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.

O if that were realized then men would not arrange for a sociable time on New Year’s Eve: then there would be no drinking nor would all kinds of foolishness be committed. Alas, many so-called church people take part in that, and even many who consider themselves to be converted people. But man only reveals what he is. If the seriousness of life were realized: and the emptiness of everything here below, and the importance of eternity were felt, then there would be need for something else. Then there would be cries which could be heard outside, “O God, I am still unconverted, still unreconciled, still unsaved, still lost.” Then it would be a fleeing from chamber to chamber, then a cry for help would go up to heaven, that it might please the Lord to show mercy according to the riches of His grace in Christ Jesus. Then we would not lay our head down so easily to sleep on New Year’s Eve. David sang in Psalter 140:2.

“My transgressions I confess,
Grief and guilt my soul oppress.
I have sinned against Thy grace,
And provoked Thee to Thy face.
I confess Thy judgment just,
Speechless, I Thy mercy trust.”

O would that by and by the bells of eternity would begin to toll in our heart, in our home, in the church and in the world. The judgment of hardening has so far advanced already that there is hardly any more notion of death and eternity. It is only sports and games, eating and drinking, having fun, and sinking deeper and deeper into the world and sin, while extinguishing and killing all thoughts of eternity. With all the religion that exists, it is practically nothing but returning to paganism, and a ripening for the approaching judgment of God. O that here and there where the truth is still in the church, we may once more hear the sounding of the mountains. The Lord has departed far, also from the instituted ordinances. How great is the unfruitfulness to be observed everywhere. We cannot accuse God of injustice, but our sins are the cause that the Lord has so far departed from us. We banish God with our sins of heart and home, and nation, church, and state.

May these poor lines be a blessing to this one or that one. May it become eternity for us while we are still alive. God’s arm is not yet shortened, and His power is not diminished. He speaks and it is, He commands and it stands fast. It is God who beats the rocks to pieces. There is nothing too wonderful for Him. His omnipotence is boundless, and His mercy endureth forever. God’s Spirit works powerfully and irresistibly. He is able to change a lion into a lamb: an enemy into a friend: an adversary into a supporter, a hater into a lover. He is the Mighty God: “I will, and they shall.”

There is no one too old, no one too young, no one too guilty or too wicked. There is nothing too wonderful for the Lord; and if there is an effectual calling within, a powerful, irresistible calling, then the immediate effect shall be that he begins to cry to God. When it becomes old year for us, then God gives us to look back, but also to look forward. Behind us everything is dark and gloomy, and forward, according to God’s righteous judgment, separation from God forever.

But in that distress a cry to God is born, a crying out of the depths; a confession of our sins in truth and uprightness, a sorrow for our sins as an affront to the Supreme Majesty of God. Then it becomes, “If Thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquity, O Lord, who shall stand?” Psalm 130. And that crying which God Himself has wrought, shall not remain unanswered: “Call unto Me and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things which thou knewest not.” Jer. 33:3. Then it becomes the year of God’s good pleasure, and the year of God’s pleasure is followed by the year of release. Then we shall remain no stranger of the way it came up in God’s heart from eternity to save and to restore His church, while maintaining and glorifying His infinite Divine virtues. We shall remain no stranger of God’s sovereign good pleasure toward man; no stranger to the labor of Christ, as declared in Isaiah 63:4, “For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of My redeemed is come;” remain no stranger to the ministration of the Spirit, Who quickens a sinner, convinces and uncovers him so that through Him, Christ would be glorified in their hearts to the praise of His unsearchable love and grace: to the preservation and salvation of the chief of sinners.

O may God, at the end of this year, bring many to the end with themselves; to the end of the law, in order that they may learn to know Christ Who is the end of the law unto salvation for all that believe. Then it shall be, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away: behold, all things are become new.” 2 Cor. 5:17

If death comes, then it shall be evident that they have not lived in vain. The Lord tells us in His word: “This people have I formed for myself: they shall show forth My praise.” Isaiah 43:31.

Through sin in Paradise we have missed our aim, but through regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, we receive back the purpose for which God has called us, namely, for His glory and glorification. However, if we belong to that favored people, and are included in that covenant of grace, then something shall also be learned of, “Through Thee alone because of Thine eternal good. pleasure.” But we have experienced each day, each week, each month, each year, which has flown by that if it depended on us, then it would be a lost cause. No fruit from us henceforward forever. Let all those people testify of that. God has loved His people freely. It was not because there was something in that people, or would proceed from them. O no, because that is so different. We read in Jeremiah 32:30, “For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have only done evil before Me from their youth.”

Therefore that wonder becomes so great. It becomes such a great wonder that “the Creator of the ends of the earth fainteth not, neither is weary.” The gifts and calling of God are without repentance. And Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

May God, at the end of the newly begun year, bring us to the end with self. Then we shall learn that Christ is the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last. Then we shall never want to go back again to the beginning, for it is nothing but disappointment with self, but then at times there shall be joy, that there will be an end to this present dispensation. It shall not be each day, nor each year, but it shall take place when faith is in exercise. And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come,” and let him that heareth say, “Come. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”

Rev. Lamain

STAR OF BETHLEHEM

Shine, Bethlehem Star! O shine, the night is dark;
Shine through the mists and gloom, that I may see
Thy power can soon relieve this trembling bark,
Dispel the gloom and calm the troubled sea.

Thy promise sets a morning bright in view,
And hope still rides the wave that’s roaring wild
Though merciless the billows, Thou art true;
Then shine, O Star, on Thy poor trembling child.

How tranquil was my lot, when by Thy light
I met the foe and crushed his power by faith,
Thy Word my sword and sovereign grace my might,
How sweet the work and bright the blood-stained path!

O shine, sweet Star, send down some life-gift rays;
All life Thou art in Thy celestial home;
All day and brightness, rich seraphic blaze.
Hail! hail! O holy One, Thy kingdom come.

O let me not desert my hope, bright Star;
Though darkness hide Thee, Thou art still the same;
Thy poor frail child may yet see through the war,
Declare Thy light and sound Thy glorious Name.

Bound for eternity this bark sails on;
O may I anchor on the shore of bliss,
Where sin and sorrow and where death’s unknown,
Where shines the Sun of glorious righteousness!

O Bethlehem Star, Thou guid’st the traveller’s way;
The patriarchs saw Thee and adored Thy light;
The prophets sang Thy soul-reviving ray;
Come, light my path and chase this dreary night.

With Thee, sweet Light, I walk the dreariest path,
Or sail at midnight ocean’s roaring wild,
Or plunge in headlong in the jaws of death
If Thou, sweet Star, but shine upon Thy child.

A. B.Taylor (1804–1887).

[Mr. Taylor was William Gadsby’s successor as pastor at Manchester].

“BRETHREN, PRAY FOR US” (1 Thess. 5:25)

This one morning in the year we reserved to refresh the reader’s memory upon the subject of prayer for ministers, and we do most earnestly implore every Christian household to grant the fervent request of the text first uttered by an apostle and now repeated by us. Brethren, our work is solemnly momentous, involving weal or woe to thousands; we treat with souls for God on eternal business, and our word is either a savour of life unto life, or of death unto death. A very heavy responsibility rests upon us, and it will be no small mercy if at the last we be found clear of the blood of all men. As officers in Christ’s army, we are the especial mark of the enmity of men and devils; they watch for our halting, and labour to take us by the heels. Our sacred calling involves us in temptations from which you are exempt, above all it too often draws us away from our personal enjoyment of truth into a ministerial and official consideration of it. We meet with many knotty cases, and our wits are at a non plus; we observe very sad backslidings, and our hearts are wounded; we see millions perishing, and our spirits sink. We wish to profit you by our preaching; we desire to be blest to your children; we long to be useful both to saints and sinners; therefore, dear friends, intercede for us with our God. Miserable men are we if we miss the aid of your prayers, but happy are we if we live in your supplications. You do not look to us but to our Master for spiritual blessings, and yet how many times has he given those blessings through His ministers; ask then, again and again, that we may be the earthen vessels into which the Lord may put the treasure of the gospel. We, the whole company of missionaries, ministers, city missionaries, and students, do in the name of Jesus beseech you “BRETHREN, PRAY FOR US.”

Taken from the Rev. C. H. Spurgeon’s “Morning and Evening” (Daily meditations).

FOLLOWING HARD AFTER

Psalms 63–64: Retaining our nearness to God

“My soul followeth hard after thee.”

There are several types of men and women within the visible Church. There are those who follow Christ nominally, or from wrong motives. The foolish virgins were apparently sincere followers of Christ; but their attachment to Him was only in name. They knew not the Lord and the Lord knew not them. Like those in the Church at Sardis, they had a name to live but were dead. There were many who followed our Lord in the days of His flesh, but when the hour of sifting came, they moved away.

Among true Christians there are those who, in seasons of backsliding or decline, follow Him, like Peter on one occasion, ‘afar off.’ And there are those who, in storm and sunshine, cleave to Him, and enjoy daily communion with Him. Asaph could say amid all his perplexities: ‘Nevertheless, I am continually with thee.’ ‘I held Him,’ said the Church, ‘and I would not let Him go.’ It was she of whom the question was asked, ‘Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness leaning upon her beloved?’ Nearer to Him she could not be.

I once read the life-story of a true man of God. In the book the remark was made that for several years before he left this world he continually enjoyed God’s sensible presence in his soul. Later I met an eminent father in Christ — Principal John Macleod — who told me that his own excellent wife, during her last year in this world was, night and day, blessed with the same awareness of God’s nearness to her. But this we cannot retain with our arms folded or with our knees unbent, and in a state of spiritual slumber. In his spiritual exercises David did not halt in the way; and the One to whom he cleaved renewed his strength day by day.

They say that certain Orientals, when traveling, do not sit or lie down till they reach their journey’s end. They run, and then they walk for a while till their strength is, in a measure, renewed. This fact elucidates the words found in Isaiah: ‘But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength .... they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.’

‘My soul followeth hard after thee.’ In other words, God is all the desire of His people. He is the subject of their love above and beyond all others.

A godly woman, who had lost both her husband and her only child, was dying. Both, she knew, had gone to be with Christ in heaven. Her love to them within the bonds of nature and grace was deep and constant. As she was leaving the world a friend said to her, ‘Soon you will see them both.’ Her answering words, which were also her last, were: ‘Jesus first.’ ‘Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another.’

M. Campbell

Christ taketh as poor men may give: where there is a mean portion, He is content with the less, if there be sincerity; broken sums and little feckless obedience will be pardoned, and hold the foot with Him ... He breaketh not a bruised reed, nor quencheth the smoking flax: but if the wind blow, He holdeth His hands about it till it rise to a flame.

S. Rutherford.

“BIBLE TRUTH BOOKS”

Dear Friends,

We, a group of young people, have for some time felt a need to make sound religious books available at discount prices, especially for the members of our congregations in the United States and Canada. We feel the Lord has helped us greatly in making this need a reality.

Our organization is called Bible Truth Books. All of our books have been approved by the Banner of Truth committee. We will operate on a nonprofit basis and therefore can sell these books to you at substantial discount rates.

It is our prayer that many books will be bought and read. The Lord has often used the reading of good books as a means for drawing souls unto Himself, and also for the strengthening and comfort of the converted. One of our ministers recently advised, “Search the precious books of our godly fathers, what the doctrine was, what the things were that they experienced, and that you may learn to behold the beauty of the Lord,” and one of our elders has so often said, “In order to truly understand our doctrine, you must do some reading.”

The following is a list of some of the approved books that we presently have in stock: THE PILGRIM’S PROGRESS

by John Bunyan

Retail - .95 Our Price - .80

A very nice printing of Bunyan’s most famous allegory: Christian and Christiana’s journeys through “the wilderness of this world” to the celestial city. (Unabridged) 256 pages, (paperback)

THE AFFLICTED

MAN’S COMPANION Retail - $6.00 By Watson, Brooks,

Flavel & Boston Our Price - $3.00

A compilation of four well-known Puritan works: 1. DIVINE CORDIAL by Thomas Watson. This book centers around Romans 8:28. “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose.” 2. MUTE CHRISTIAN UNDER THE ROD by Thomas Brooks. The opening sentence reads: “To all afflicted, distressed, dissatisfied, disquieted, and discomposed Christians throughout the world.” 3. KEEPING THE HEART by John Flavel. An inquiry into what the keeping of the heart is, “why Christians must make this a leading business of their lives,” and considers seasons of life that particularly call for diligence in keeping the heart.

4. THE CROOK IN THE LOT by Thomas Boston. An exposition on Eccl. 7:13. “Consider the work of God: for who can make that straight which he has made crooked.” This four-in-one book would make a treasured gift as well as being valuable for personal use. (hard cover)

THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

Retail - $ 1.45

by Octavius Winslow Our Price - $1.10

“A thorough and moving work on the place of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer.” “An experimental and practical view.” (Recently reprinted.) 223 pages, (paperback)

THE TEN VIRGINS Retail - $2.50 by Thomas Shepard Our Price - $1.25 Finally reprinted! A thorough, personal exposition on the five wise and five foolish virgins. Small print. 243 pages (paperback)

HUMAN NATURE IN ITS FOURFOLD STATE Retail - $2.45

by Thomas Boston Our Price - $ 1.80

I. The State of Innocence (Before the Fall in Paradise). II. The State of Nature (Man’s Natural State after the Fall). III. The State of Grace (Man’s nature after regeneration. IV. The Eternal State. In writing his well-known Fourfold State, Boston daily laid it before the throne of grace and the Lord has been pleased to use it beneficially for many souls. “For more than a hundred years its influence upon the religious life of Scotland was incalculable.” 506 pages, (paperback)

LETTERS OF JOHN NEWTON

by John Newton

Retail-$1.45 Our Price - 1.10

“All who love to trace the work of God in the soul of man, all who are troubled with sin and temptation, all who are seeking guidance in the Christian life, will find a deep mine in the letters of John Newton. There are riches abounding here for the poor of Christ’s flock. Written in simple flowing language, the letters are easy to read.” 192 pages. (paperback)

MEMOIR AND REMAINS OF ROBERT MURRAY M’CHEYNE

by Andrew Bonar

Retail-$5.50 Our Price - 4.00

An invaluable book on the life, letters, sermons, and other writings of this blessed Scottish minister who died at 29. 648 pages. (hard cover)

A COMMENTARY ON THE HOLY BIBLE Retail - $28.95

by Matthew Poole Our Price - 18.95

A concise, comprehensive, practical explanation of the Scriptures. Poole is clear and easy to follow. (hard cover) 3 volumes.

JOURNALS OF

GEORGE WHITEFIELD Retail - $2.50

by George Whitefield Our Price - 1.25

An account of God’s dealings with George Whitefield during the Great Awakening. 334 pages, (paperback)

A LIFTING UP FOR THE DOWNCAST Retail - $1.65

by William Bridge Our Price - 1.30

An experimental work “dealing with believers suffering from spiritual depression.” Encouraging, enlightening, very experimental. 287 pages. (paperback)

THE MYSTERY

OF PROVIDENCE Retail - $ 1.45

by John Flavel Our Price - 1.10

A book relating many of the wonders of Providence. Many aspects of human life are covered, with a part devoted to the duty of meditation and personal application of Providence. 221 pages, (paperback)

A BODY OF DIVINITY Retail - $3.50

by Thomas Watson Our Price - 1.75

Three books by Thomas Watson in one paperback book of 640 pages. THE LORDS PRAYER, TEN COMMANDMENTS, and A BODY OF DIVINITY. A much-needed explanation of practical religion in our day.

We pay the postage. If you would like to be included in our mailing lists, please let us know. We would like to inform you of additional books which we have available. Please address all requests to:

BIBLE TRUTH BOOKS

P. O. Box 2373

Kalamazoo, Michigan 49003

Your prayers and donations for this cause will be greatly appreciated. May the Lord bless these books to many souls for their eternal welfare and His honor and glory in our congregations throughout the United States and Canada.

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