According to the goodwill and sovereign decree of God, he has placed us here in the twenty-first century and specifically in the year of our Lord 2024. We continue to run in time according to the will of God to this very day. We live in a day and an age that can be compared to the days of Sodom and Gomorrah and to the late days of the ancient Roman Empire. All kinds of filth in lifestyles and doctrines are being tolerated and promoted today as they were back then. Not with the eye of flesh but with the eye of faith, one can see Satan working harder and shrewder than he ever has. The devil is ceaselessly working and conjuring up new ways to trap and lure the child of God, to make him to hate his God and to love the devil. The devil wants nothing more than to take the children of God and turn them to his side. Look what is being promoted by the world today: the entertainment industry is advocating for the LGBTQ movement at every turn, making it harder and harder for man to be disgusted by it. The false church is promoting man-centered theology, and a love for man in theology is gaining ground as never before.

These are the times in which we live as a church, and they are not going away. As wickedness increases, there is one worldview that is becoming intolerable and insufferable. The Christian, specifically the Reformed Christian, holds to the worldview that people deem wicked, vile, and hateful. Christians are even looked at with blank stares. One must see that the devil is behind this wicked worldview of hatred for Christianity, and he hates God and his people and will continue to work on his craft of attempting to pluck the sheep from Jesus Christ one by one. That is the devil’s objective, and he will not cease. He does this by throwing the church into false doctrine; making sin less offensive, heaven less appealing, and hell less horrific; putting tolerant men into special offices; bombarding the church with distractions; and making the true gospel less urgent. The devil is the spiritual foe the church of Jesus Christ faces.

The devil and his host is the army that the church of Jesus Christ will fight till her members take their last breaths on this earth.

But there remains a truth for the church to take hold of in these dark, last days. Hallelujah! The truth of Jesus Christ, the king. In these last days our sovereign King will provide faithful warriors for these end times, to guide, instruct, and lead the church into the truth until Christ returns. The truth that God will provide these warriors has been evident throughout history, and that truth is seen still today. It is with that promise and comfort that the church need not fear for the end times, because her God is sovereign and is working to gather, preserve, and defend his blood-bought people.

Throughout the entire existence of the Reformed Protestant Churches (RPC), there has been turmoil and unrest. Controversy seems to be at every turn, dividing the churches and resulting in the losing of friends and members of the churches. The devil is relentlessly attacking our churches from every which way in all forms of evil. This can lead the church of Christ to fall into sin and question God’s way or to lack confidence and assurance in the truth. Satan works, and his work has a destructive effect upon the church. He comes like an angel of light and asks, “Does God really say that? Does God really want you to suffer like this, and does God really require that of you?” Until Christ returns Satan will harass the church of Jesus Christ. This is made evident from Genesis 3:15, which reads, “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” God says that there will always be strife between you and the world, between you and those of Satan. But today people do not want to hear this verse. They do not want to fight for the truth’s sake. Take, for example, the man who claims to be a Christian but who also believes that there can be peace without fighting for the gospel. He will sit in a church, and men will talk about how nice he is and how he has a good word to say about everyone, including the false prophet. He will excuse false doctrine by saying something like “It is ambiguous” and “He did not mean it.” He will make excuses for that false teacher for all kinds of reasons, but the main reason is that he will not war. He hates war. This man is not a Christian at all. A true Christian, an elect child of God, can never say peace through tolerance of false doctrine even when his flesh rises up against him not to war. He will war. He must war. When God takes his abode in the heart of a believer, the believer must fight. He will fight. It is impossible for him not to fight. The child of God realizes that true peace only comes in the way of fighting and that his battles are not against flesh and blood but against principalities of darkness, against the great red dragon and his hosts. But the child of God fights like none other. He fights with confidence; he knows that he has the victory, not because of himself but in his savior, Jesus Christ. What confidence! What warriors God brings forth in times of deep apostasy in the church according to his sovereign decree of election.

This life is nothing but warfare for the child of God, and there is nothing easy about this life. This life is full of attacks by wolves and the likes of those who lie in wait, quietly seeking about to destroy the souls of God’s people. This life is full of counterfeit doctrines and love-promoting movements in society that present themselves to the church as a most beautiful thing. In the last days the child of God is reminded of what Matthew taught in Matthew 24:24, “For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.” It is in times like these that God graciously provides faithful warriors, men who have unwavering zeal and love for God. It is by the means of such men, whom God raises up to labor in the church, that he protects the sheep. It is these faithful warriors whom God will raise up in his church until Christ comes again. What a blessed comfort for the sheep to know that their Shepherd will always provide men for the times.

How do you know if a denomination or congregation is either reforming or apostatizing? According to Belgic Confession article 29, you look for the marks of the true church. Are those evident in the church you attend or are looking to attend? And one can judge whether a church is true or false almost immediately by hearing what is being preached from the pulpit and by looking at the men in that church, particularly the men who hold office. On the negative side, in today’s day and age, men arrive at a church and look at the men in office, and they look for thoughtful, gentle, and loving men. They do not want troublemakers; they look for men to say nice things to them, to give them a nice little pat on the back, men who they see smiling and laughing in their best suits, men who like to talk about politics and the sports games that just happened on the weekend. They want the men who so generously give their money to the schools. Overall, they look for men who are just tolerant men. They think to themselves, “I will join myself to that church because these men are truly good men and perfect for the church.” And that is exactly what the devil wants you to believe. That old serpent knows he cannot conquer the truth, nor does he waste his time trying. What he does instead is most clever. The devil’s tactic today is to bombard the churches with these so-called nice men. By placing these nice men in churches, the people immediately are enamored with the men’s personalities and loving gestures. Because of their good reputations, these men are soon nominated to be elders and deacons and leaders of Bible studies. These men are not fighters, and by nature people love men who do not want to fight. In the end no one really knows what these men whom they put into office believe concerning the gospel, nor do they give two thoughts about it because that does not matter to the people. It is all about reputation, the reputation of a peaceful, nice man.

It is a clever trap by the devil, into which many churches fall. The denomination that I left, the Protestant Reformed Churches (PRC), fell into this trap; and the one I now belong to, the Reformed Protestant Churches, will also fall into this trap if Christ tarries. No one is exempt from the wiles of Satan, who makes you love nice men. When I was a member in the PRC, I did not understand this as I do now. Ever so slowly doctrine became a little less important and the gospel became a little less urgent. Practical preaching and practical living became the center of life and doctrine. Law preaching became all that men knew how to preach. The power of the preaching was gone. Men became indifferent to doctrine, and doctrine was put aside. Men were put into office based on age and if they were kind and if they had not upset the apple cart the last time they were in office. Men soon came under the illusion that doctrine was no longer that important; and if the gospel was something you heard only a few times a year, that was acceptable. In the PRC they do not care what you believe as long as you do not rock the boat and become a troublemaker. Professor Hanko would say that as soon as the boat is rocked, you are immediately looked upon as a schismatic and a troublemaker. They tell you to either stop shaking the boat and be quiet or to just leave.

Last year Prof. Brian Huizinga wrote an article in the Standard Bearer titled “My Heart Desires Thy Peace.” The whole article is about why you should desire peace in the upcoming year and the years going ahead. His opening paragraph is as follows:

Peace in the church is fragile and precious. Threats to peace in the church are many and mighty. The call to peace in the church is urgent and necessary.¹

From all appearances this seems like a very noble and beautiful call to the people. Some might think that there is nothing wrong with this. Though nothing is doctrinally wrong with this statement, it nonetheless shows the heart of Professor Huizinga and many others in the PRC. Peace is the only thing that matters to them—not the truth, not the gospel, not even doctrine. They are willing to buy peace at the expense of the truth. Peace is the only thing that they care about. Peace trumps all for them to the exclusion of the gospel. I can prove this because in a seminary convocation address Professor Huizinga said that no one in the PRC is teaching false doctrine. “Though all the ministers are orthodox and all the ministers are members in good standing, there may be sometimes the temptation to start dividing them.”² In the PRC all the ministers are orthodox and have perfect doctrine, according to Professor Huizinga. He says that so peace can remain, no matter the cost. Regardless of what ministers teach, they are to be considered orthodox, because that creates peace in the church.

It has become evident that the PRC sacrificed the truth for peace. However, what is ironic in this all is that the PRC will not deal with doctrine or controversy. Peace can only come through the gospel, warfare, and controversy. Men in the PRC, like Professor Huizinga, have a false understanding of peace. That is why their calls for peace and promotions of peace are so ironic. Peace to them is to have no problems, for everybody to get along, and to have nothing troubling the church. To them that is peace, but that is not peace. Peace is living in Jesus Christ. Peace comes only by the gospel, which is Jesus Christ. That alone is comfort and peace, and that gospel is the only remedy for a troubled heart. The PRC’s solution to promote peace over against warfare and controversy is to attempt to brush the problems under the rug and hope that they never show themselves again. Or they try to gain peace by dealing with their abuse problem by having conferences. Hundreds of people will gather at a conference to gain peace in their churches and be rid of abuse, while only a couple handfuls will gather at a classis meeting to watch what becomes of the doctrine in their church. The members fall over themselves for earthly peace, while the root of their church is rotten to the core. The men of these churches do not want to deal with doctrine and controversy because that puts them before the face of the living God. “What have you done with my Christ?” is the question that comes from God. And they would rather ask, “What has man done to man in our church?” What worthless warriors! They do not care anymore; they simply want to keep it as “Reformed is enough.” Men like Professor Huizinga will continue to heap their calls of “Peace, peace” in the churches, but peace will never come. The churches might fix the problem of abuse, but they still will not have peace because of the false doctrine on their pulpits. Professor Huizinga and many others stand as cowards because they are unwilling to go to battle for the truth. They will not be warriors for Christ. They can only be warriors for man. They will not so much as touch doctrine or come near to it. And their solution? They cry, “Peace.” They promote love and peace even when peace cannot exist with false doctrine.

So, then, who are the faithful warriors, and how are they characterized? The answer comes in 1 Chronicles 12:32–33. In these verses God gives us a description of men who are warriors in the church.

32. And the children of Issachar, which were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do; the heads of them were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their commandment.

33. Of Zebulun, such as went forth to battle, expert in war, with all instruments of war, fifty thousand, which could keep rank: they were not of double heart.

These verses characterize the type of men David had in his army when fighting the enemies of Israel. This description of the army of David is a beautiful picture of the army of Jesus Christ today. The church is called the church militant because the members of the church fight from the moment they are born till the moment they die. They do not fight physically like this passage is describing, but the picture has significance. The warrior fights his sin, his own flesh, Satan, and the world.

First, the men of the church must have an “understanding of the times.” That means the men of the church must have an understanding of the truth versus the lie. In every way and from every page, there are doctrines that come relentlessly, all professing to be the truth. These warriors, and specifically the elders of the church, need to be able to discern what is the truth and what is the lie. The only way to know what is the truth and what is the lie is by studying God’s word. The men of Berea took that calling to heart, and we find that truth in Acts 17:10–11:

10. And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews.

11. These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.

Second, these warriors of the church must be like the Bereans, who “received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” That is, the Bereans took the word that Paul and Silas had brought and searched and studied the scriptures to see if what Paul and Silas had taught to them was true. These Bereans did not consider reputations; and that is evident because even though Paul and Silas had preached and ministered to them, the Bereans still searched the scriptures to see whether what they had been taught was true. Elders and men of the church may not have respect of persons when it comes to doctrine. Apart from the Spirit, men may fall into false doctrine even if they are considered to be giants in theology. Similar to discerning the truth from the lie, to have an “understanding of the times” also means that these faithful warriors of the church must know what kind of attacks are being made on God’s truth. They must know this because they must know “what Israel ought to do.” Men who are ignorant of the truth and the lie cannot protect the sheep from the dangers and false doctrines outside the church. These false doctrines and attacks are what these warriors must fight against constantly, and they must be able to discern what is the lie and what is the truth.

As the world becomes more corrupt, the false doctrines and attacks on the church are becoming more deceiving and deadly. It is for this reason that we need men for the times, who know what Israel ought to do. There is also a warning from Jehovah for those who do not have knowledge nor understand the times, and that is found in Hosea 4:6: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.”

Third, the men of the church must be “expert in war.” This is to say, these men must know how to do battle. The men in David’s army knew how to use their weapons and were experts with them. These men trained and trained, day after day, to prepare themselves for battle, so that when the battle came, they were ready. The same principle applies today. The men in the church must be expert in battle; that is, they must know how to use scripture and the creeds in the defense and promotion of the truth. These men must spend time in the word of God, equipping themselves with the weapons of scripture and putting on the “whole armour of God” that they might be able to use their weapons against the foes of the church of Jesus Christ (Eph. 6:11–17). These men must not be afraid to use these weapons either. Elders must not be afraid to use the weapons of scripture when admonishing members of the congregation and when dealing with men who promote and teach false doctrine. Ministers must not be afraid to call out false doctrine on the pulpit and to defend the Reformed faith. These men who are “expert in war” must always be ready to fight for the truth, even unto death. It is in our flesh and human nature to make exceptions for false doctrine and to permit it because we do not want to cause another ruckus in the church or to give up our peaceful lives. These warriors in the church must never put the sword down, but they must always have it drawn, ready to battle for Jesus Christ. Oh, many people will tell these warriors to put their swords away because they keep causing trouble in the church and that they are too harsh and too polemical, but these warriors are not worried about what men say of them. They have a zeal to glorify God in all they do, no matter what men may write and say about them.

A faithful warrior, who can find? These are the men who are so few to find and whom the church of Jesus Christ needs here in this battlefield. I am reminded what Professor Hanko said in his sermon titled “Men for the Times”:

They didn’t sit there as happens so often, you know, where one man has the courage to stand up and say, “This is the truth. This is where we must stand.” That they on the sidelines wring their hands and say, “Oh, don’t rock the boat, don’t rock the boat. What are you trying to do? bring trouble? What are you trying to do? bring unrest and confusion into the church? Don’t be so sharp. Don’t be so critical. Don’t be so condemnatory. We have to live in peace; we have to live in quietness.” And there they stand, harping and criticizing and making a big fuss about it because someone has the spiritual courage to stand up and be counted in the cause of the truth.³

Is it not true that this is who so many in the churches have become? These men say to the warriors fighting for the truth, “Stop rocking the boat and stop being so condemnatory. Stop nitpicking and being a faultfinder. You are too harsh in your language, and you are so full of hate. You need to put your sword away and live in peace.” The men who bring this charge are afraid to be counted for the cause of the truth. Men like Professor Huizinga are afraid to be counted for the cause of the truth because they are unwilling to fight. They are unwilling to do battle for the cause of Jesus Christ and his kingdom. This charge of rocking the boat and being condemnatory has always come to those who are faithful warriors in the church, and that is the charge that the men of Zebulun drew.

Further, these warriors must be men who are “not of double heart.” This means that when the battle comes, they do not put on all the armor as if they are going to fight and then turn around and drop all their weapons because they are not willing to do battle. We see this often in churches today when men will say that they love the truth and that they are willing to defend God’s truth no matter the cost, but when the lie hits them in the face, they see that the cost of doing battle is too high. And what do they do? They turn around and run the other way. In the Reformed Protestant Churches, we saw that when men resigned from their offices and left the gospel because the suffering became too much to bear. They had lost enough for Christ’s sake; and when God said, “Give up more,” they were not willing. When wars had to be fought and battles had to be won, they were unwilling to fight. They were not willing to give up their lives for Jesus Christ. God has a word for those men: “Whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it” (Matt. 16:25). Those men revealed by their actions that they have a love for earthly things over their love for Jesus Christ. The opposite of those men is the man who is not of a double heart. He is one who has a heart that is fixated upon the glory and majesty of Jehovah God. His heart is buried in the scriptures that he might have an understanding of the times, and he is equipped with the weapons of scripture that he might become an expert in war and that he might have the strength to do battle all the days of his life for the glory and praise of his eternal King.

These were the characteristics of the men of David’s army, and they ought to be the characteristics today of the men in the church of Jesus Christ. As is evident throughout history, God has raised up warriors who understood the times, who were expert in war, who were not of a double heart: men like Augustine of Hippo, Martin Luther, John Calvin, Ulrich Zwingli, George Ophoff, and Herman Hoeksema. And God will continue to raise up men who are willing to do battle.

Yet it is important to remember that not one of those men fought perfectly in God’s army. Not one was a faithful warrior of himself, and no man ever will be. We will often and in many ways fall short and fall into sin and temptation. We will see how utterly corrupt and depraved we are, but God gave unto his church a perfect warrior. Oh, is that not comforting! God gave to his people one who did all perfectly. It is because of that one’s perfect warring that we war today. We rest in knowing that our warring will never be perfect on this side of Jordan, and yet we fight with confidence knowing that Christ earned the victory and gives us the victory by faith in him. What a gift!

God, through the line of generations, continues and will continue to raise up men for the times to lead the church in this dark and late day in history. God will raise up men who are warriors in the church to lead the church even when she is in her darkest days. God will raise up men who know what his church ought to do, and that is our comfort. That comfort does not rest in men or in a man to lead the church, for man is but a weak and sinful creature; but that comfort rests in God alone, who promises to always remember his church for a thousand generations. What a comfort that is for the church! God does not forget his church, and that is evidenced in the raising up of warriors. Men will continue to be raised up to lead God’s people into the green pastures and to keep the wolves and every wind of false doctrine out from among God’s people. Praise be to God for using weak means to fulfill his will.

Often the glory and praise go to these men for what they did and what they accomplished for the work of the church, whether that be sermons, writings, books, or commentaries, but that should not be so. We should give utmost thanks to God for raising up these warriors. Men are but mere creatures of the earth, created from the dust of the earth with no power in themselves. Man is nothing before God, and that is to be remembered. It is by the Spirit of God alone that those men did what they did for the church. God raised them up for a time and then carried them home as warriors who were faithful because God is faithful. We confess with Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:10 the same truth that every reformer of God has confessed: “By the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.”

As we run through the last days in history, may we not be as so many churches today and worry that the gospel has lost its appeal, so that we are tempted to soften it. Tempted to make it more attractive to men. Tempted to file off its sharp edges. Tempted to compromise the truth of the gospel. To do so would be to destroy the only weapon that we have in this world of darkness. We confess with Augustine, “The truth is like a lion. You do not have to defend the truth. Let it loose. The truth will defend itself.” We have the gospel, which is scarcely heard anywhere in the world, and yet, sometimes we are ashamed of it. Often we do not want to war anymore; we want the peace of the false church. Unless God makes us to war for his cause, we would all be worthless warriors. Praise be to God for his faithfulness.

May God graciously continue to raise up warriors for the times, who know what Israel ought to do, that they might lead the church out of false doctrine and into the truth of Jesus Christ and his word, warriors who are able to discern the truth from the lie and who are not afraid to be counted for the cause of the truth of Jesus Christ alone. Only in that way will the true church have peace in Jesus Christ.