Journal: Central Bible Quarterly
Volume: CENQ 02:3 (Fall 1959)
Article: To Strengthen Our Testimony
Author: Warren Vanhetloo

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CenQ 2:3 (Fall 1959) p. 43

To Strengthen Our Testimony1

Warren Vanhetloo

Dean of Central Conservative Baptist Theological Seminary

“The day is at hand” says Rom. 13:12. This verse contains a negative and a positive. The over-all thrust of the verse is the imminent, any-moment of our Lord Jesus Christ. In the light of our appearing before Him to give account of all that we have done, we must recognize the situation in which we live and take a positive stand for the Gospel and along with it a negative stand against that which will hinder the Gospel. As we view the evidences of fulfilled prophecy pointing to the soon return of our blessed Lord, as we recognize the spreading apostasy in our own land and the subtle infiltration of error in our very midst, as we look into our hearts and discover there a tendency to follow our own path instead of Scriptural injunctions, we recognize that “The night is far spent, the day it at hand.” We recognize, too, the great need there is to “cast off the works of darkness” and “put on the armor of light” (Rom. 13:12). The twofold message is first of all negative, let us cast off the works of darkness; and then it is positive, let us put on the armor of light. Let us as Bible-believing Baptists consider three areas, the local, the state, and the national, according to the two emphases of this text verse; first the negative, then the positive.

The Day Is At Hand To Strengthen Our Testimony Against All That Is Not True To The Gospel!

Some people do not recognize that to be positive, one must also at the same time be negative. It is not possible to proclaim that there is but one way of salvation without implying (if not specifically stating) that other; so-called ways of salvation are but the inventions of men and not God-appointed. To know where a man stands, we must know what he is against as well as what he is for. To be against everything and not for anything is of course an abominable position. But to be for everything and against nothing is just plain foolish. We have taken a definite stand for the Gospel recorded in the infallible Scriptures and of necessity this makes us stand against certain deviations from the word.

State-Wide

In regard to our Fundamentalist separatist stand here in Minnesota, it is well for us to recall the historic background of our present enviable position. Across America men refer to Dr. William Bell Riley as “the prince of

CenQ 2:3 (Fall 1959) p. 44

fundamentalists.” His outspoken stand for the Gospel, his undeviating opposition to all that...

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