Editorial: “The Lord Shall Lift Up a Standard”

“When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him” (Isaiah 59:19). We have chosen the title of our paper from this verse of Scripture because, as undergraduates on the campuses of Yale, Harvard, and Columbia Universities, we have seen the Lord establish His work in the midst of overwhelmingly dark circumstances.

The recurrent waves of student rebellion have created an atmosphere which, when coupled with drug abuse and immorality, beckons an entire generation of youth into destruction. It is precisely during these years of decision that the power of Jesus Christ must be displayed through His servants, so that souls may be delivered from the schemes of the devil.

There is a continual conflict between truth and error at the universities, where the Bible is scorned and His servants, who live in accordance with its standards, are ridiculed.

That is why we believe that nothing less than a body of Christians solidly knit together with a sure standard of holiness, of discipleship, and of daily victory through the cross of Jesus will prevail against the devil and his emissaries.

The wickedness of our generation should only serve to increase the sobriety and carefulness with which we handle each day. Paul told Timothy, “Give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine” (2 Timothy 4:13). Proper teaching, coupled with our decision to subject ourselves to God’s Word, has preserved us in critical times from being swept aside, as young believers, by the enemy. This Spring 1972 issue is being published to communicate to you and others some of the instruction we have received through the elders of our church, a non-denominational fellowship in New York City.

The standard of the Lord is worked out on the earth through active faith based on God’s Word and on His power operating in us. Whether your surroundings are those of a campus or an office, they can be the location for a clear, steady enlargement of the plan of God; every circumstance can become a point of contact on the earth for the will of God as it is purposed in heaven.

Because of the cross-current of lies on our own campuses, we quickly found that we needed to be joined together in daily prayer and strengthening in the Word of God in order to withstand the confusion.

Daily prayer indicates to God, to the devil, and to all men that there are Christians on the campuses who mean business, and who are greatly concerned for the welfare of others—that they may be enlightened. Knowing that “it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe” (2 Corinthians 1:21), we have also preached both indoors and outside to provide the opportunity to unsaved fellow students to cast off their sins and follow Jesus.

The Lord’s standard is planted by Him in the midst of conflict and may be clung to by men who know they are weak in themselves, but who understand the words that the Lord spoke to Paul: “My strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).

This nation is a battle ground for souls, but one where the Lord has drawn a line against the enemy. Let us as Christians wax bold in the Lord, fill places on that line, and stand until we see the salvation of our God triumph.