December 1954–January 1955

“[I]f God’s people must bear witness of God, how did they come to be equipped for the task? The answer is that they have been “formed” by God for this purpose. They have not chosen this task. They have been chosen for it.”

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“As God was favorably disposed to the human race before the fall and offered the race as a whole eternal life, so even after the fall God gives His good gifts to men everywhere, thereby calling them to repentance and to performance of the task.”

Common Grace and Witness-Bearing Cornelius Van Til

“The true church cannot be maintained in an atmosphere of secularism. Many Christians of our times have fallen into the deadly sin of loving pleasure more than God. They have not taken the Christian life seriously. They have not seen the smoke of battle, the blood of the dead, the hatred of the mortal enemy – Satan.”

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“The tendency of the modern church is to hush things up, smooth things over, and silently to tolerate an unholy condition.”

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“[W]herever God may call you, I beg you never be clothed with the cloak of mediating compromise. Keep your teaching clear. Keep it sharp. Keep it biblical. Keep it close to the Word of God.”

Scriptural Separation as Illustrated by Events in the Recent History of the Christian Church in Korea Park Yune Sun, President of the Theological Seminary in Pusan, Korea

“Indifference to the Truth, the faith once delivered to the saints, was for Dr. Machen the great sin of his church and he inveighed against it sharply and powerfully. To be wrong about a detail of doctrine was not nearly as heinous, in his opinion, as not to be concerned about the rightness or wrongness of a doctrinal position at all!”

Stonehouse’s Biography of J. Gresham Machen Henry R. Van Til

“[T]he young person should be firmly decided that he will wait and prepare for his marriage. On the negative side, that will mean that he will flee from youthful lusts. On the positive side, however, it will mean that he will actively engage in preparing himself, making sure that he has something to offer his beloved. He should see that he is healthy, both physically and spiritually.”

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“Selection of a marriage partner should take place with prayerful supplication, that God will provide here as elsewhere. If we pray for our food and for our clothes, shall we not also pray for this important thing?”

Marriage and the Family Robert S. Knudsen

February–March 1955

“Though in unity there is strength, uniformity is the death of any church.”

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“[T]here are many people who do not seem to worry very much about the final outcome of this battle. They reason this way, ‘Has not the Lord promised that the gates of Hades shall not prevail against the church?’ As they see it, this means, ‘The forces of hell will never prevail against my denomination.’…I call that interpretation a wicked interpretation. If it were true, then all those denominations which were at one time sound and pure would still be sound and pure. But we know that this is definitely not the case. Surely the worst enemy of any denomination is the man who is constantly saying, ‘What happened elsewhere cannot happen in my church.’”

Today’s Battle William Hendriksen

April 1955

“To the sinner standing in the brightest light of the glory of a perfect holiness there is every reason to fear! But to those who make humble acknowledgment of sin in confessions there comes the blessed word of assurance and comfort.”

“I was Dead…I am Alive for Evermore” Rein Leestma

“Strange though it may seem, there is something sweet in the outpouring of our hearts before God. For the Spirit who works true repentance and confession of sin, testifies in our hearts that in the acknowledging of sins we are dear and pleasing to God.”

The Place of Contrition in Public Worship William Kok

“The notion now prevails that the church’s welfare depends solely on the pastor. If he’s a friendly fellow, a smooth talker, and preferably the possessor of a Pepsodent smile, the church will get on. Elders and deacons, if they still count, should content themselves with being pastoral cheerleaders or congregational errand-boys. This is a far cry from the teaching of Scripture which insists on a full complement of officers ‘for perfecting the saints, unto the work of ministering, unto the building up of the body of Christ.’”

Fathers and Brethren Peter Y. De Jong

May 1955

“The reason given by Paul for condemning the wearing of an alien yoke with one who is basically alien to our mode of life is simply that there can be no real fellowship between a believer and an unbeliever anymore than there is fellowship between light and darkness.”

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“Our being together with unbelievers as members of a common humanity, eating and drinking and working, is not the same as entering upon such a work-communion, so that we are yoke-fellows, mates with them. If there is a working agreement, a concerted action of any kind, Paul teaches that it must be on the basis of a yoke that fits the Christian. And the unbeliever’s yoke does not fit the professing Christian!”

Bearing an Alien Yoke Henry R. Van Til

“Both principally and practically mission work is to be conducted by the local congregation as the manifestation of Christ’s Body on earth. Indeed, this may and should be done in close cooperation and conference with sister-congregations. Yet the work must be related as intimately as possible to the local organization.”

Review of J. H. Bavinck’s Introduction to the Science of Missions Henry R. Van Til

“Many members seem to resent an authoritative proclamation of the Word. When admonished concerning doctrine or conduct by the officers, some will even speak boldly of curtailing their Christian liberties and the unwarranted prying into what they consider to be their private affairs. As a result, some who have been clothed with Christ’s ruling power hesitate to carry out their commission. The danger of closing our eyes to weaknesses and sins in the congregation is not imaginary. The sin of hesitating to rebuke the wayward does not seem to be infrequent. And by such neglect heresy and worldliness threaten to sweep the church from its spiritual moorings.”

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“Our only weapon against these defections is the daily, prayerful reminder that Christ wills to rule his people through the lawfully appointed and elected of ficers. This authority with which ministers, elders and deacons are clothed is not their own but his.”

To Whom the Church Belongs Peter Y. De Jong

July 1955

“If we continue our easy-going ways, our tendency to loosen the lines which hold us fast in the Word, if we are unwilling to break with the world, if we no more war against sin within and without the church, if we, be it ever so profoundly, merely talk about love but are not unwilling to perform works of love, we can receive no comfort.”

The Church – Light Bearer in a Dark World Henry A. Venema

September 1955

“Freedom must be a spiritual discipline which recognizes the limits imposed by law and accepts them voluntarily.”

On Freedom Henry R. Van Til

November 1955

“If we bear our cross without finding joy therein, we have never understood the suffering of Jesus.”

The Case of the Muzzled Ox Lambertus Mulder