“Now hath God set the members each of them in the body”                                      1 Corinthians 12:18   Many organizations make a distinction between active members and members who merely give their financial support. The active members participate in the activities of the organization; the others are mere hangers-on. The active members are actual members because […]

“Of a willing heart.”                                        Exodus 35:5   Daily experience teaches us that privileges always involve obligations. It is therefore readily understood that he who attains the full communion of his church and the privilege of partaking of the holy supper is also called upon to share the financial burden of the church. The term […]

  “Justified freely.”                                   Romans 2:24   Finally the moment came in which you could make your confession. The moment came in which you could confess before God and his holy angels, before men, and before Satan, that you had turned to Jesus and that you now acknowledge that he is the Son of the living […]

“The bond of peace.”                            Ephesians 4:3   The church has always demanded that certain stipulations be endorsed by those who make public confession of faith. She should still seriously make it a point that these stipulations be explained to those who ask for admittance to the holy supper. Stipulations are promises. Promises are exchanged between […]

“I will receive you.”                            2 Corinthians 6:17   What is the relation between your confession and being received into the church? About the time you contemplate making your confession, perhaps you are frequently asked, “When will you be received?” We hear it said on a certain day that next week occasion will be given […]

SPEAK!   “Before men….”                       Luke 12:8   During the weeks that precede your making confession and on the day it is to occur, Satan often whispers this thought into the heart of the believer: “Why make a public confession; is religion not a matter of the heart, an affair between my heart and the eternal […]

“Repentance…not to be repented of.” 2 Corinthians 7:10   Yes, you must study for confession. But you must also repent and turn to God. How can an unconverted person make a sincere confession of his Lord? It is unfortunate that Methodism has worked havoc in our Reformed churches in this respect. It was the influence […]

“The praises of the Lord.”                         Psalm 78:4   Men have studied for making confession as long as Christ’s church has existed. That is perfectly natural. You would not need to study if you had been present personally when God revealed himself through the prophets, through Christ, and through the apostles. But God’s works and God’s […]

             Time and again you hear the remark made that the confession of your church is a comparatively unimportant matter, and that your personal confession ought in no way to be affected by it. Those who voice such remarks usually talk in this fashion: You belong to Jesus, do you, and the life of God […]

The seed of faith that it frequently pleases God to sow within the heart of a child does not grow and flourish of its own accord. Imagine, for a moment, that a child within whose heart this seed had been planted had been kidnapped soon after its birth by a tribe of savages, that it […]