Closing Remarks

I have just a few comments and observations from the meeting this evening. I want to thank the board and the association of Reformed Believers Publishing for the support of this noble and righteous cause. The cause of Reformed Believers Publishing is nothing less than the righteous cause of the Son of God himself. We stand in the party of the living God for the truth of the unconditional covenant; for the truth of justification by faith alone; for the truth of sovereign, particular grace; for the truth of God; and for the truth of the reality of God’s eternal decree. Sword and Shield magazine represents that cause.

This magazine is the outworking of the office of all believers. This is not my magazine. This is not the editor’s or the writers’ magazine, but this is your magazine. As writers we write not to you, but we write for you. The words that are written on the printed page are your words as if you yourself had written them. The words contained here are your confession of the truth as a prophet anointed with the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Ultimately, for the writers and the readership, it matters not how many people read Sword and Shield. The numbers do not matter. If men read Sword and Shield and believe the truth contained therein, glory be to God for his work. Or if men burn Sword and Shield in their firepits, utter shame be upon them for rejecting the truth. There is only one reader who matters. In a complaint not dissimilar to the one of Isaiah, who looked out over the rebellious nation of Israel and lamented, “Who hath believed our report?” sometimes I ask myself, “Does anyone read this? Does anyone care at all?” But we write for a readership of one. That one is Jesus Christ himself as the Son of God crucified, raised, and exalted. It does not matter what men think of the magazine or its contents. It does not matter if throngs read Sword and Shield or not. God is glorified. He will be glorified in the salvation of his elect, and he will be glorified in the destruction of the wicked.

We give thanks then to our God for giving this magazine a place in the world. I would argue that there is no magazine in the world today that sounds forth with such a distinctive Reformed sound. All that men hear and read in the world is a discordant sound. All the world’s articles and literature, which are full of practical counsel, self-help guides, and false doctrine that makes man a savior in some sense, are a cacophony of noise. But the sound that comes out of this magazine is the beautiful symphony of the gospel and of true doctrine. Nowhere else do you hear the beautiful sound of true doctrine. Doctrine is minimized, despised, and hated. Doctrine is derided as divisive and unimportant for the life of the believer.

But doctrine is the lifeblood of the Reformed faith. Doctrine is truth elicited from the scriptures. The scriptures are doctrinal. The Reformed confessions are doctrinal. Our Reformed fathers loved true doctrine because in that doctrine God was revealed to them in all his glory and perfection as the sovereign, righteous, and gracious God of our salvation; as the one who accomplishes all his good pleasure for the glory of his own name. 

The board and association of Reformed Believers Publishing must be committed then to doctrine. The speech that we heard tonight was a thrilling speech that was thoroughly doctrinal.

The speech was also polemical. We may not tire of the hard words against the Protestant Reformed Churches and her ministers. The apostle Paul writes,

1. Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe.

2. Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision. (Phil. 3:1–2)

It is needful for the Reformed Protestant Churches to be engaged in polemics against the doctrine and teachers of the Protestant Reformed Churches. It is safe for the Reformed Protestant Churches to be reminded of the warfare in which she is engaged.

If this magazine refuses to engage in doctrinal controversy, you must start another magazine. This magazine must not sheath the sword. 

Therefore, we commend the cause of Sword and Shield and of Reformed Believers Publishing to the Lord, for the battle is the Lord’s. The battle is not ours. The victory that we have is Christ’s victory. And the day is coming when the cause of the Reformed Protestant Churches and of this magazine shall be vindicated before the whole rational, moral world that this cause belonged to the Son of God.