I imagine that my experience of God’s mighty hand among us is very similar to the experiences of many readers of Sword and Shield.

Like many in the Reformed Protestant Churches, I am of a generation far removed from the beginnings and touchstone battles of the Protestant Reformed Churches (PRC). The year 1924 was almost seventy years before my birth; the schism of 1953, forty years. There is a PRC that I learned about from history books. According to that history the PRC appeared to be a very bold and convicted federation of churches with sound doctrine, rich and lively and beautifully true. I loved what I read in those history books about the PRC and her doctrine, but the ministers who taught me throughout my life were at most lukewarm on Rev. Herman Hoeksema and his theology, and many of them were intent on distancing the current Protestant Reformed theology from its warring heritage. That always seemed odd.

Looking back now, that was a clear indication of the unbelief that dominated in the PRC. If those ministers had convictions, they were that those ministers did not want to be seen in the same way as they viewed Hoeksema (unless, of course, it was a redefined Hoeksema). One professor, upon seeing me in the Hoeksema portion of the library in the Protestant Reformed seminary, quipped, “You know, HH wasn’t right about everything.” That same professor expressed shock at the way Hoeksema and his contemporaries wrote: “I couldn’t get away with any of that today.”

Hearing that as a young member from the farthest reaches of the denomination—the Canadian hinterland—well, those statements stayed with me. I was bewildered. What had I heard? Was it right? Why did the sentiment seem so foreign? Was it just a matter of a man’s opinion, to be discarded without much thought? The cognitive dissonance was dizzying—proud of the PRC’s doctrinal superiority but embarrassed of her heritage and founding? embarrassed of God’s work to preserve and keep the denomination and her heritage? At the time, I did not see clearly what was going on, and I wondered if I was missing some secret knowledge that had put me in the dark. There was obviously significant disagreement on the warfare of the church, evidenced by the enormous gap and apparent animosity between Professor Engelsma and the other professors, and the ministers who came after them attested to that fact, not to mention the menagerie of different opinions in the pew. Every man was saying something different; the harmony of the church had become a cacophony of opposing spirits and masters.

Now, of course, that state of affairs is increasingly simple to understand and demonstrate. The ministers, elders, and members of the PRC hated the doctrine of Reverend Hoeksema, in particular the doctrine of the sovereignty of God in salvation as summarized in the creeds. There was no conviction among them because they did not believe that doctrine to be true.

But why could I not see it then? I was no loudmouth rebel in the PRC. I sat dutifully in my place in the pew. I memorized everything I needed to memorize, even the intricate patterns of paying lip service to the PRC’s Reformed heritage while undermining everything for which the PRC’s church fathers had fought. As the foundations of the PRC began to crumble, I joined the droves that flocked to support all the right men, and I parroted the same lines we would all rehearse so many times later about the wisdom of the broader assemblies and the purity of doctrine in the PRC—two arguments that were foolish, wishful thinking.

Having been delivered by the mighty hand and outstretched arm of God, I now spend Sundays gaping at the wonders of the celestial city into which I have been brought, like a country bumpkin visiting the capital of an empire. But instead of seeing a mere city of stone and mortar, the living gospel declares to me, “Behold your God!” And I behold him, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, mercy and truth kissing each other! Sunday after Sunday, my ignorance is exposed to my shame, but that shame is swallowed up by the gospel’s declarations to me about my God. Each Sabbath my king displays his glory, and the risen Christ stands before me, his foot upon the head of his enemies, his resurrection life filling my heart, the breath of his love pouring out of the scriptures, and his glorious light casting away every shadow of turning, every shadow of sin.

Under the illumination of that light, Jehovah’s heralds have carried out of God’s treasure house many wonders, new and old, and set them on display. The truth has sought out the lie like a guided missile, taking the contest onto a battlefield where all pretenses are exposed, all lies are revealed, and all excuses are destroyed. So also, we have had restored to us a right perception, and we are made aware of so many snares of our past. We also have seen principles of the resurrection life of Christ restored to us, so that we are transformed in our daily lives.

I can see now that, swallowed whole by the doctrine of the Protestant Reformed Churches, I was a wretched creature entangled in snares, snares that held me like layered webs, so that even if I could have struggled free of one snare, another was waiting for me. The first snare blinded me, so that my ability to perceive beyond the surface of so many dazzling doctrines was impaired. In that web a barb was hidden, one that pumped a poison into my soul and left me with questions in every place where I should have had confident, clear, Reformed answers. With very few exceptions, I found no help in the pulpit or in the elders’ bench. Conviction of the truth had departed long ago, leaving those places dusty and cold.

When I think back to life in the PRC, I perceive now that I and many others were tormented creatures for a number of years. What else can you call that life in the PRC for children of God but torment? To know by a number of signs and strangenesses that something is horribly wrong but to lack the perception to truly see and understand? To wonder why the gospel and confessions continually speak of freedom and life in Jesus, but the preached word was a stranger to such freedom and life? To know that the gospel gave the strength to battle and to fight in our daily struggles but constantly to be directed toward our own devices, doing, and cleverness so that the awaited blessings could be given? To have Christ preached as only the possibility and not as a power? To have the contortions of reprobate minds argue one into a faux assurance (self-righteousness)?

That subtle, subversive, and blinding poison, which had been driven deep into my being, was fear. Unbelieving fear.

Fear Versus Faith

The word of the false gospel of the PRC (and of most other so-called Reformed churches, whom the PRC really ought to join) is not faith alone but fear alone, terror alone. Be afraid—fear death. Be terrified that the promises of God are not really true. Fear that Christ did not speak truly when he declared that he had finished all of our salvation. Fear what man thinks of you and will say about you to others. Fear what men can do to you if you dare to pull against the bars of man-centered doctrine, if you even dare to look outside the cage to the truth that stands outside the camp, bearing the reproach of all. Fear that it is wrong to be certain of a finished work of God. Fear that the gospel will make you careless and profane. Fear that the gospel really is about repenting enough to satisfy God’s standard of forgiveness, and fear what that will mean for you and your salvation. If you doubt the words of powerful men, fear that you will never have God’s approval without first having theirs. Fear what will become of your family if you actually maintain the truth as truth. Fear what will become of your standing and life in this world if you maintain the truth with all the boldness that the truth demands. Fear that Christ is not enough.

Let us not be mistaken: there is such a thing as a faithful fear. The Old Testament and the Psalms especially are replete with references to such fear. That fear is a right fearing of Jehovah, godly reverence and trust in him, a worshipful regard for his perfections and holiness. That fear is awe that is born of faith, and positively it is the fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of knowledge. It is the fear of Moses, who removed his sandals at the command of God and humbled himself before Israel’s omnipotent deliverer, for Moses stood upon holy ground. That fear is no confidence in the weakness of the flesh, but that fear is a despising of the strength of the flesh and a resting in the strength of God, who works in his people both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

The matter of fear is set before us in the Heidelberg Catechism. The fear that is of faith is fear that in principle is a keeping of the first commandment.

Q. 94. What doth God enjoin in the first commandment?

A. That I, as sincerely as I desire the salvation of my own soul, avoid and flee from all idolatry, sorcery, soothsaying, superstition, invocation of saints, or any other creatures; and learn rightly to know the only true God; trust in Him alone, with humility and patience submit to Him; expect all good things from Him only; love, fear, and glorify Him with my whole heart; so that I renounce and forsake all creatures, rather than commit even the least thing contrary to His will. (Confessions and Church Order, 124–25)

Zacharias Ursinus, in commenting on this question and answer, makes a distinction between what he terms “servile fear” (unbelief) and “filial fear” (faith):

Servile fear, such as the slave has for his master, which consists in fleeing punishment without faith and without a desire and purpose of changing the life, being accompanied with despair, flight and separation from God—such a servile fear differs greatly from that which is filial. 1. Filial fear arises from confidence and love to God; that which is servile arises from a knowledge and conviction of sin, and from a sense of the judgment and displeasure of God. 2. Filial fear does not turn away from God, but hates sin above every thing else, and fears to offend God: servile fear is a flight and hatred, not of sin, but of punishment and of the divine judgment, and so of God himself. 3. Filial fear is connected with the certainty of salvation and of eternal life: servile fear is a fear and expectation of eternal condemnation and rejection of God, and is great in proportion to the doubt and despair which it entertains of the grace and mercy of God. This is the fear of devils and wicked men, and is the commencement of eternal death, which the ungodly experience already in this life. “I heard thy voice in the garden and I was afraid.” “The devils believe and tremble.” (Gen. 3:10. James 2:19)¹

The two principles could not be more opposed to each other. Both are far-reaching. Both are all-consuming. Both determine the mind and the direction. One is all zeal and conviction, commitment at all earthly costs, and assured joy in a certain outcome. The other is all lukewarm, quivering cowardice; caged desperation; and tragic despair. The one principle is the confident pilgrimage of the stranger, the other is the clutching and grasping of the native of this world. Faith rests in God and his promises to his elect in Jesus Christ. Faith is a principle for all of life. Fear is also a principle around which an existence can be formed (not really a life), but it is a principle that brings ruin and despair, tormenting with visions of safety and happiness but bringing only cages and shackles. That is because such fear is, at its root, unbelief.

Fear: Portent of the End

25. And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;

26. Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. (Luke 21:25–26)

I would like to highlight what Ursinus pointed out about the fear of unbelief in connection with James 2:19. That fear is not to be considered lightly nor its significance diminished because that fear is a devilish thing, a thing born out of hell. That a man should have knowledge about the most high God but not a knowledge of faith makes that man just like a devil—he knows, and he trembles. And this fear is a principle of his whole life. He lives his whole life looking over his shoulder, a certain awareness of his end looming over all he does. He is like the one described in Hebrews 10:27, who is characterized by “a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.” Fear fills his eyes, and loss hovers over all his lovelies.

Further, that fear comes rushing to the forefront in times of trial, when a man’s claims and life are put to the test, and he is exposed before all.

We should not be surprised to see just how prevalent this terror is, for it has stood at the forefront of each controversy during the short history of the Reformed Protestant denomination. From her very beginning, and recently again in the matter of repentance and forgiveness, unbelieving fear has insisted that there must be something more required than the precious blood of Christ. In the matter of legalistic wranglings about the preaching and the sacraments—as well as the shameful worship of exclusive psalmody—the fearful, unbelieving man craved a system of grace that can be manipulated by man, a grace that is found in physical things, a grace that is available and is ineffectual until man exercises faith or obeys, and a keepable law to maintain himself in God’s favor, attempting to cooperate with God to receive the blessings of faith. And in the matter of the school and the antithesis, the unbelieving man scorned the love of Christ in the body and devised for himself a clever way to “live” apart from that body, being wise in his own conceits, depending on himself and his earthly wisdom to lead him through, clutching to himself his earthly ties as his one true and great love that he will never render to the care of Jehovah God.

As our savior teaches us, this terror is a sign of the end times. Where will it be evident that men’s hearts are failing them for fear? in the world? Yes, of course. The great and mighty in the earth will cry out for the hills to fall upon them, seeking to hide from the judgment of God. That said, they were long ago consumed by that fear, and there is nothing strange about seeing it in the world. They eat and drink and are merry, for tomorrow they die.

But where could this effect be seen more clearly than in the church? In that company a man by his talk may align himself with Christ’s cause for a time, but when trial comes, his false faith shrinks in fear, and he runs and hides himself in the rickety pavilion of his own imaginations. When exhorted to rest in Christ and look to him, that man answers that such comfort is all well and good when the danger is abstract and theoretical, but not when his earthly ties are truly on the line. No, then he forsakes the church, murders her with absurd charges and slanders, gathers his flesh around himself, and departs for the greener pasture of his own backyard or the cold company of like-minded men. He despairs of God’s promises in Christ and goes his own way.

Fellow footmen, do not be surprised when people all around us, and even a great many of our number, fall prey to such fear, for these are the last days. These people are dominated by fear because they love this present world and its dainties. Remember the prophecy of Simeon, and count it to be no great strangeness: 

34. Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against;

35. (Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. (Luke 2:34–35)

By means of this exposure, God drives out of the church those identified in Jude 12–13:

12. These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; 

13. Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.

 

Faith: Boldness in the Last Days

27. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.

28. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. (Luke 21:27–28)

Look up!

It is not as though according to his flesh the believer has no sense of fear or of that which could cause him to fear. On the contrary, the believer is especially sensitive to the weakness and insecurity of his flesh. In the weakness of his flesh, he is prone to fear and to doubt the promises of God. Oh, yes, the believer knows fear all too well. How often the psalmist cried out when surrounded by his innumerable foes! And the bold Peter took his eyes off his Lord and sunk into the consuming waters!

But, even in all the things that shall come in the last days, the believer is identified by scripture as one whose seed remains in him, and thus he abides in Christ. The believer’s life is not here below; indeed, as to the life here below and the things of this life and present world, the believer is dead, crucified with Christ. “Ye are dead,” says Paul in Colossians 3:3, “and your life is hid with Christ in God.”

Remember the resurrection and ascension of Jesus! The battle is already won. What is there to fear? Such was God’s comfort to Moses at the burning bush—to Moses, who had seen how his own arm of strength failed to be Israel’s deliverance and who was a desolate stranger in the land of Midian; Moses, who was called to march into the very palace that he had by faith forsaken and to pronounce the demands of God to the mighty pharaoh who held Israel in bondage. “Certainly,” God told Moses, “I will be with thee” (Ex. 3:12).

Regarding this passage, John Calvin comments as follows:

It is remarkable that God sets his ready help alone against all to overcome every fear, and to take away every scruple; as much as to say, It matters not who Moses is, or what may be his strength, so that God be his leader. In these words we are taught, that he is never regarded by us with due honor, unless when, contented with his assistance alone, we seek for no ground of confidence apart from him; and, although our own weakness may alarm us, think it enough that he is on our side. Hence these celebrated confessions of his saints:

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me.” (Psalms 23:4.)

Again, “In God have I put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.” (Psalms 56:4.)

Again, “I will not be afraid of ten thousands of the people.” (Psalms 3:6.)

Again, “If God be for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31.)

Therefore, in proportion to our advancement in the faith, when we are exposed to the greatest dangers, do we magnify the power of God, and, exalting ourselves in that, advance boldly against all the world; and this is the ground of firm and unwearied obedience, when the thought that God is with us is deeply rooted in our hearts.²

Again and again scripture shows us the work of the Spirit in the people of Christ to deliver them from the bondage of fear. There are almost too many examples to recount. I encourage the reader to look at 1 Kings 22, where Micaiah, taken out from the dungeon of his wrongful imprisonment, boldly declared the word of the Lord to the God-despising Ahab and his multitude of false prophets. One cannot really understand David’s confidence before Goliath if he does not know himself how the Spirit gives true, enduring conviction concerning God and his promises. Indeed, whenever faith shines like the wondrous jewel that it is, it shines in repudiation of fear and doubt and unbelief. Trace the fruits of faith on display in the lives of God’s workmanship in Hebrews 11, and you will see how the faith of Christ contrasts again and again with the fears of the flesh.

Over against the terror of unbelief, God declares the certain, soothing word of his promises in Christ. And that word shows its power in the hearts and minds of his people. “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63). Do the people of God fear from time to time? Indeed, they do, and that fear is of the flesh. But by faith—that is, by that quickening Spirit of Christ that he breathes into his own—they are not consumed by that fear, but they cling to Jesus Christ and all that he has done for them. He is sufficient. He is the victorious king.

So, look up, believer! Be bold and confident in Christ! Stand in the certainty that whatever comes, comes only at his hand, which hand is also the hand of your deliverance and salvation. Dare to be convicted of the truth and to stand daily in that conviction. He will not allow you to be plucked from his hand, and he has not led you out of Egypt for you to be consumed by hunger and the enemy. Fight and be assured of your victory.

Look up, and you will see Christ marching at the front in the vanguard, his sword raised and flashing in his blessed light, his foes falling before him, no matter their creaturely strength. And beyond, consider the gates of the celestial city, their heads lifted up, obeying the glad summons, the everlasting doors opening the way for the king of all glory!

Your redemption draws nigh!

1. The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

2. When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.

3. Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.

4. One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple.

5. For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.

6. And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the Lord. (Ps. 27:1–6)