Covenanter Witness Vol. 55 - Rparchives.org

written"vain"not""MyLord Has Not Told Me To DoIt"Dear Reader : If you have been born again thrufaith in our Lord Jesus Christ and have a real heartfelt appreciation of Himself and His salvation youwill welcome this little message; but if not bornagain or not in sweet communion with Him it willfind no place in your heart.We have nothing to say in this message to theworld, nor to anyone who has no heart for the LordJesus Himself. Our appeal is to those who love Himand desire to please Him in all things, but havenever been impressed with the truth that the Word ofGod is our all-sufficient Guide Book for every stepof the journey down here. Read 2 Tim. 3:16, 17.If I cannot say concerning my religious activities as the Lord Jesus did to Satan, "It isthen they are mine, not God's. Nadab and Abihu usedfire on their incense that God had not commandedthem to use and died for their sin (Lev. 10:1, 2).Uzza died before the Lord not because he was doingthe wrong thing but because he was doing the rightthing in the wrong way (2 Sam. 6:3-7).The fact that God has not commanded the celebration of the birth of His Son is sufficient reasonfor any devoted child of God not to have any part inother reasons thatsuch practice. There are manymay be stated why the one who loves the Lord Jesuswill shrink from any participation in such unfruitfulworks of darkness, but this is enough "My Lord hasnot told me to do it."The word "Christ-mass," we prefer not even totake it on our lips. Think of associating the title ofour blessed Lord with the abominable Romanizedheathen mass. The modification of the name to Xmasis preferable as it leaves out the name of the LordJesus, and substitutes only the Greek initial.But some of our readers will ask how this practice came into existence and if it is not generallypracticed by Christians. To the last question wewould say, "It is more generally practiced by the'professors'world and by than by the real Christians ;altho some whose salvation we cannot doubt are stillDetmold from page 406no 'better way of creating a truly Reformed ecumenicity than through the medium of distributionof Reformed literature.A part time secretary will give more directionto this movement. Until the present moment thismovement is a volunteer movement of those whosetime is limited. Through him such ideals as a centerof Reformed literature, exchange of books, newsreleases, writing for all classes of people, perhapsan international Reformed Journal, or helping thecurrent Reformed journals to become more internationally Reformed, will be realizable.This Congress revealed that the Reformed faithhas something to say, and must say it to our age.Consequently it adopted a threefold purpose: (1)to promote fellowship between Reformed Christiansin every land; (2) to facilitate the interchange ofReformed thought and experience; (3) to strengthen and advance the Reformed cause throughoutthe world.December 21, 1955blind to the question of guidance wholly from theWord of God in all spiritual matters.No one who acknowledges the supreme authorityof the Holy Scriptures to direct in all questions ofDoctrine and practice will have any fellowship inXmas celebrations after his attention has been calledto the matter, unless he does it deliberately in selfwill.As to the question of Origin, Xmas was originally a Roman heathen celebration of the birthday ofthe Sun-god. It was taken over by Catholics withsuch changes as suited their abominable idolatry.And then her Protestant Children followed the mother of harlots and modified it a little more till theythink (at least a few of them do) that they are honoring the Lord by such observance. The use of theXmas Tree, the Mistletoe, the Holly Wreaths, theCandles, and the tradition of Santa Claus are all ofheathen origin ; not one word in the Bible about anyof them. "Thus saith the Lord, learn not the way ofthe heathen . . . for the customs of the people arevain; for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, thework of the hands of the workman, with the axe.They deck it with silver and with gold; they fastenit with nails and with hammers, that it move(Jer. 10:2-4).God has not told us to observe any special days,but has rather shown us the danger of it. Paul saidto the Galatians who had been led off after the traditions of Judaism. "Ye observe days, and months,and times, and years. I am afraid of you, lest I havebestowed upon you labour in (Gal. 4:10, 11).To the Christian there are no special holy days. Every day should be alike holy unto the Lord. It is theChristian's blessed privilege to cease from otheroccupations and spend one day in seven in morestrictly spiritual things, and best of all, as the earlydisciples did, to meet together on the first day ofthe week to break bread. This privilege is secured tous in this and many other lands by the laws, whichwe are commanded to obey. The fact that the worldjoins in the celebration of Xmas is proof that it is notaccording to the will of God. "For the carnal mindis enmity against God ; for it is not subject to the lawof God, neither indeed can be" (Romans 8:7).If they would not link the name of our blessedLord with their heathen ceremonies then would wehold our peace. If it were like a 4th of July celebration we would have nothing to say. We are not hereto argue the question. No possible argument wouldhave the least weight since, "My Lord has not toldme to do it."Not only so but He has not allowed us to knowthe time of his Son's birth. The time of His death,His resurrection and His ascension are all markedbut His "birth' is hidden.What may be said of Xmas may also be said ofEaster, just another religious heathen celebration.Then think of a Child of God stealing one of theLord's days and calling it Children's Day or Mother'sDay, Father's Day, etc. But do you say, "I don't seeany harm in it." If you are not a child of God youmay say so, but if you are, you are in a miserably lowspiritual state to make such a statement. Is a nega-407