It is good to see so many supporters here. I remember well the first meeting of Reformed Believers Publishing, and a lot of changes have taken place since then. But to see the ongoing enthusiasm for the work of publishing the truth is encouraging to us as writers.

Sword and Shield was formed to publish the truth. Sword and Shield was formed as a believers’ magazine. Our mandate to publish the truth does not come from the church. Our mandate comes from Jesus Christ himself, who gives to believers his Spirit and who says, “Confess me before men.” Reformed Believers Publishing was formed because we stood to honor that command of Jesus Christ: “Confess me before men.”

Jesus Christ was being denied in the Protestant Reformed Churches. He was being denied in sermons; he was being denied in synodical decisions; he was being denied in discussions; he was being denied left and right. And you could not hear the truth; you could not speak it; you could not write it; you could not contend for it. And because of that, Reformed Believers Publishing was started to publish the truth.

And it is that truth that is also our right to existence. Reformed Believers Publishing has the right to publish the truth, to be heard, to be read, because Sword and Shield publishes the truth. Sword and Shield’s righteous cause is particularly the truth of God’s unconditional covenant. That unconditional covenant, as we heard tonight, was the issue in 1953, and the unconditional covenant continues to be the issue today. And as the editor in chief, I want you to know that I view the place of Sword and Shield in the church world and the task of Sword and Shield in that place to engage in that controversy in defense of God’s unconditional covenant. Sword and Shield’s place is not to speak to current events, as if it were a newsy magazine. Sword and Shield’s place is not to address broadly topics in theology, as though we have but an intellectual interest in the truth. Sword and Shield’s task, Sword and Shield’s purpose, is to defend the truth of the unconditional covenant of God. In doing that, then, Sword and Shield will speak to all of the truth because all of the truth is in the service of the unconditional covenant of God, wherein God is revealed and wherein God is glorified.

In light of that I want to thank the board for its constancy and support, especially during this rather tumultuous year. My friend and my colleague left his post. He abandoned this righteous cause that Jesus Christ started. It never was our cause; it was always Christ’s. That is why, over against all of the opposition that has been flung at Sword and Shield, the magazine remained because the adversaries were hurling all of their opposition at Jesus Christ. And I am thankful that the board through that tumultuous event remained steadfast in the purpose to publish the truth, to keep Sword and Shield going, and to see to it that our witness continues.

I am thankful for the new writers that we have. I am thankful for the willingness of laymen and laywomen to write in Sword and Shield. I am thankful for the submissions that we have already received for the new rubric Insights. It becomes abundantly clear every day that Sword and Shield is the Lord’s work. It is the Lord’s work to witness to the truth of his unconditional covenant and to cause that witness to be heard, for good or for evil.

I also want to express thanks to the retiring board members. They have been unflinching and unwavering in their support of the endeavor to publish Sword and Shield and that at great loss to themselves, so that they show that the truth means more to them than their own lives.

I also want to give a word of encouragement to the new board members. That word of encouragement is to follow in the footsteps of those whom you succeed, to stand steadfast in the truth, to brush off all criticism, to disregard all calls to blunt the very sharp edge of Sword and Shield, and to encourage us as writers too, that we remain sharp, that we refuse to blunt the very sharp edge of Sword and Shield. The board and the writing staff have an excellent mutual understanding and working relationship that is born of a mutual love for the truth and the desire to see the truth published. This must continue.

I see new faces here tonight. It is especially heartening to see many young people here tonight. And I want to say one other thing about this meeting. This meeting is a testament to the commitment of Reformed Believers Publishing to the office of believer. That is what you have to think of when you see these meetings: the office of believer. It is the most basic office in the church. It is that office out of which all other offices arise, so that without the office of believer, there cannot be ministers, elders, and deacons. And it is the right of that office of believer to form organizations such as this and to support organizations such as this, so that with their support and their encouragement they publish their confession of the truth. That is what this organization represents. It represents the confession or witness of believers. There is a witness of the church, and there is also a witness of believers. And here we celebrate the witness of believers.

That witness of believers is what was crushed in the Protestant Reformed Churches. That is what was forbidden. There was an organization that once stood for the witness of believers, but it was taken over on the board side by men who were ignorant of the purpose of the organization, who lacked commitment to its historical position in the publishing world, and who had no zeal for the truth as it once had been proclaimed. That organization was then hijacked by unrighteous men, who had no interest in publishing the truth, who had a great interest in being accepted among men, and who achieved their ends by unrighteous censorship, fear tactics, intimidation, and the persecution of the truth. And Jesus Christ recovered the truth. He recovered the truth, and this organization is a testimony to that recovery.

I want you to understand the importance of that. It is my view that the truth cannot remain in the church apart from organizations such as Reformed Believers Publishing. This organization, and the magazine that it publishes, was the midwife to the Reformed Protestant Churches, so that Reformed Believers Publishing was there during the labor that finally gave birth to the Reformed Protestant Churches. Reformed Believers Publishing has a continuing place because she has a continuing mandate to publish the truth. With God’s grace we shall carry on in that work. So I want to encourage all of you in the truth. Thank you for your support, and be encouraged in that support that we have a righteous cause, the cause of Jesus Christ and his truth.