It is no secret that the Reformed Protestant Churches and First Reformed Protestant Church in particular have endured another sifting at the hand of the Lord. The membership of First church is greatly diminished, and yet she will be stronger on account of it. There were many at First who from the beginning hid their true sentiments—sentiments that were contrary to the public preaching, writing, and decisions of the churches. It also is clear that their dishonesty and sentiments had a purpose. Their purpose was to change the entire direction of the Reformed Protestant Churches. The Lord now has exposed the leaders of that movement.

The days in which the church lives are perilous times. These times are characterized by the falling away of many from the truth. Many appear in the church who have a form of godliness but deny the power of it and who use their influence to sway others to their departures. We were warned that this would be the case for the church in the new dispensation. Now we have lived it in the brief history of Reformed Believers Publishing, Sword and Shield, and the Reformed Protestant Churches. We have been witnesses to many defections from the truth by those who have been seduced by the lawless spirit of the age and have been bewitched by the cunningly crafted arguments and false doctrines of the leaders of these defections. Many whom we thought stood with us in our righteous cause have shown that they love this present world, and they have gone out from us as the revelation that they were not of us. Many whose faith appeared so verdant have revealed that they are rooted in stony or thorny ground and have been choked by the cares of this world or burnt by the searing heat of persecution and personal loss.

We do not rejoice in the fall of those who have left us. Perhaps the Lord yet will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth. That would be our desire, but God’s will be done. We are sober in the face of apostasy and acknowledge the perfect sovereignty of God, who has mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he wills he hardens. We stand in awe with the apostle Paul when we see that those who preach the gospel are a savor of life unto life and a savor of death unto death. We utter his words in holy reverence at the righteous judgments of God through the preaching: Who is sufficient for these things? The preaching—which is foolishness to the world and to the unspiritual man—is the power of God to justify and save his people, and it is the power of God to harden men in their own conceits, unbelief, and other sins.

The preaching that we heard from the pulpits of the Reformed Protestant Churches and the writing that we read on the pages of Sword and Shield have come with great clarity and sharpness. The preaching and writing have given to all who heard and read a taste of the good word of God and the powers of the world to come. And it is in that very clarity of the word that the unbelief of many over against that word is even more staggering. They were enlightened and partook of a heavenly gift. It is as though they had been lifted up in the Spirit to see the very towers, walls, glory, and riches of the heavenly city, and they have turned away from it.

Shocking unbelief!

But divisions must come on the church, according to the absolutely righteous and good counsel of God. The church herself is a warring church. She has the victory through her Lord Jesus Christ. As she wars she is already the church triumphant. The very gates of hell cannot prevail against her. Sword and Shield is committed to this warfare of the church. May the Lord keep us from turning back in the day of battle and from doing the work of the Lord in battle lackadaisically. May he use the writing in Sword and Shield also to arm his people for the fight.

In this issue we have the usual meditation and editorial. The editorial is a continuation of the series on the application of salvation to the elect titled “Union with Christ.” Sword and Shield not only damns the lie but also does so in the context of a positive contribution to the development of the truth. The editorial series intends to be that. Reverend Bomers carries on with his explanations of the old dispensational sacrifices. Reverend Ophoff takes on two enemies of the truth in his rubric Understanding the Times. One of the defectors from the Reformed Protestant Churches and Reformed Believers Publishing was supposed to submit an article for this issue in the Running Footmen rubric. He has instead renounced his former convictions and is running away. The rubric has been filled ably by Caleb Ophoff on the subject of dragging the Pelagian error out of hell. False teachers who are intent on bringing man and his works into salvation have been doing that for millennia, and we are witness to this again today. Reverend Pascual continues his work on the knowledge of man and writes on man’s expulsion from paradise.

We pray that the Lord will use the writing in this issue for your edification and growth in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.