Measuring a Minister

When John Newton took the pastorate at Olney in England, the people soon learned that Newton's life as a minister was consistent with his pulpit ministry. Once when he was speaking to a friend he linked the two: "I measure ministers by square measure. I have no idea of the size of a table, if you only tell me how long it is; but if you also say how wide, I can tell its dimensions. So when you tell me what a man is in the pulpit, you must also tell me what he is out of it, or I shall not know his size."

Thunder

A man came on one occasion to the great George Whitefield and asked if he might print his sermons. Whitefield replied, "Well, I have no inherent objection if you like, but you will never be able to put on the printed page the lightning and the thunder." (D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)

Seth Joshua

There is a story about Seth Joshua, the Welsh revivalist at the turn of the nineteenth century, that helps to illustrate the point that God may indeed be a patient and longsuffering God but his wrath does come upon men. Joshua was to preach in a town one evening, and advertisements appeared announcing his appearance at a local theater. This was a ruse. In reality, an actor was going to play the part of the evangelist and make great fun of him. That night, with the theater packed with people, the actor came on stage and began imitating Joshua, to the great glee of the crowd. As he circled the stage, the actor "fell with a thud and a hushed audience soon discovered that he was dead." Sometimes God's judgment does go forth immediately in the earth; other times it is withheld. But it will come.

Liberal Christianity

Liberal Christianity is alive and well on the planet earth. In support of that fact is the recent statement by German New Testament scholar Gerd Luedemann: "The tomb was full and the manger empty." Of course, what he means by that is simply that there never occurred a virgin birth and there was no resurrection of Jesus from the dead. The Apostle Paul responded to similar suspicious teachings in his day, and he said, "Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain . . . we are of all people most to be pitied" (1 Cor. 15:12-14, 19). The very foundations of Christianity are the historical incidents of the incarnation and the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Much of liberal Christianity, however, proclaims a Christ without a manger, a Christ without a cross, and a Christ without a resurrection. If what these people teach is true, then what hope is there? As Paul said, "And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile, and you are still in your sins . . . If in this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied" (1 Cor. 15:17, 19). But, true believer, do not despair! Paul announces: "But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead" (1 Cor. 15:20). Our hope is true and real. No, Prof. Luedemann, we believe that "the tomb was empty and the manger full."

The Horse Stealer

In 1770, George Whitefield was on a preaching tour of New York when an extraordinary event took place. He describes it himself:

"A very peculiar providence led me lately to a place where a horse stealer was executed. Thousands attended. The poor criminal had sent me several letters, hearing I was in the country. The sheriff allowed him to come and hear a sermon under an adjacent tree. Solemn, solemn! After being by himself about an hour, I walked half a mile with him to the gallows. His heart had been softened before my first visit. He seemed full of solid, divine consolation. An instructive walk! I went up with him into the cart. He gave a short exhortation. I then stood upon the coffin -- added, I trust, a word in season -- prayed, gave the blessing, and took my leave. Effectual good, I hope, was done to the hearers and spectators. Grace! Grace!"

Romaine Quote

William Romaine, 18th century Puritan, made the following comment regarding grace:

"O what am I, that such a sinner as I am should be thus highly favoured? A child of wrath by nature, even as others, and by practice, having sinned long with greediness against light and conviction, sinning and sorrowing, sorrowing and sinning, from year to year, a slave to the lust of the flesh, to the lust of the eyes, and to the pride of life, every moment fit and ripe for hell. O what a monument of infinite patience and longsuffering! spared from day to day, and at last called to the saving knowledge of Jesus."

Kinsman

Rev. Andrew Kinsman was once preaching on Sunday in London. A dreadful and heavy rainfall suddenly came, and a number of people who were simply passing by ducked into the church in which he was speaking. One of the people was a young man who was from Kinsman's home town of Plymouth; he listened to the service and then asked Kinsman how his relations were in Plymouth. Kinsman replied that his good aunt and religious mother had recently gone to heaven, "but which way are you going? What would your pious mother say, if she sould miss here William there?" The sermon had had no effect on the young man, but these words of Kinsman sure did. They struck him to the heart, and they were the means of his conversion.

Years later that young man's son came to Rev. Kinsman to have his child baptized. Kinsman, knowing that this man was an unbeliever, told him that he would baptize his child for the sake of his grandfather. Kinsman then told the man the remarkable story of his father's conversion. This so affected the man that he himself was converted hearing the conversion story of his own father!

Henry Tanner

In the year 1743, George Whitefield spent some time preaching in the port city of Plymouth while he awaited a ship to go to America. He had very low expectations regarding his preaching in that city; as he said, "I expected little success." A Mr. Henry Tanner, while he was at work on the docks, heard Whitefield preaching from a great distance . . . he concluded that Whitefield was a madman, and so he and some compatriots decided to go and knock him down. They filled their pockets with rocks to do so. But when Tanner drew near, his heart was melted as he heard the preacher proclaim the gospel of Christ and invite sinners to Christ. Tanner came back the next night and the night after that, and he was converted.

Tanner grew in grace and knowledge and was eventually called to preach. In 1769, he built The Tabernacle in Exeter and labored in the ministry there for many years . . . he preached three times every Sunday and twice during the week. Gillies tells of his end: "Mr. Tanner's exertions continued unabated till within a short time of his death. His frequent petition was, that he might die in his Master's work. His petition was granted. For he was taken out of the pulpit, being unable to finish his sermon; and shortly after fell asleep in Jesus, March 30, 1805, aged eighty six."

Log Cabin

George Whitefield in his Journals, dated November 22, 1739, tells of his meeting with Rev. Tennant in New Jersey:

"Mr. Tennant, and his brethren in presbytery, intend breeding up gracious youths for our Lord's vineyard. The place wherein the young men now study, is a log house, about twenty feet long, and nearly as many broad. From this despised place, seven or eight worthy ministers of Jesus have been sent forth, and a foundation is now laying for the instruction of many others. The work, I am persuaded, is of God, and therefore will not come to nought."

Whitefield was right in one sense: this log cabin became Princeton, and in the early years it had such presidents as Jonathan Edwards and Samuel Davies. And over the years the school employed some worthy theologians such as Charles Hodge and B.B. Warfield. The state of the school today from a spiritual sense is another matter all together.

Balm in Gilead

In New Brunswick, New Jersey in the 18th century there occurred a large awakening under the preaching of Reverends Frelinghuysen, Tennant, and Rowland. Rowland was once asked to preach in the Baptist church there. He preached divine law to such a degree that there were many present whose very souls were sinking under the weight of the law, and a number of them fainted in the service. Rev. Gilbert Tennant was present, in fact he was standing at the foot of the pulpit, and he saw the effect of Rowland's preaching. He interrupted the preacher and pleaded with him, "Brother Rowland, is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there?" According to Gillies, Rev. Rowland immediately changed the tone and tenor of his sermon, and he sought to direct the people who were overwhelmed with a sense of their guilt to the Savior. But before this had taken place a number of people had been carried out of the church "in a state of insensibility". Indeed, there is an answer to the weight of guilt and sin . . . we must point our people to Jesus.

Envy

Robert Murray McCheyne, pastor of a Church of Scotland congregation in Dundee, took a leave of absence to travel to Israel to see the state of the Jews in the holy land. He left the congregation in the hands of a young man named William Chalmers Burns. A revival broke out at the church under Burns' ministry. How did McCheyne react. Prior to the revival he had written Burns the following note: "You are given in answer to prayer; and these gifts are, I believe, always without exception blessed. I hope you may be a thousand times more blessed among them than ever I was. Perhaps there are many souls that would never have been saved under my ministsry, who may be touched under yours; and God has taken this method of bringing you into my place. His name is wonderful" (March 2, 1839).

The revival in Dundee made McCheyne's heart rejoice. He had no envy of another instrument being used of God in a place where he had labored with many tears. He rejoiced that the work of God was done and by whatever hand.

Rev. Cole

A Rev. Cole from Gloucester, England was greatly affected by George Whitefield's preaching. In fact, he used to claim that he was Whitefield's curate (assistant) and would follow him preaching from one place to another in the country. One evening he was preaching, however, and "he was struck with death" (Gilles); yet, he asked for a chair to lean on until he finished his sermon, and then he was carried upstairs and died. George Whitefield's reflection on this death: "O blessed God! If it be thy holy will, may my exit be like his!"

Associate Presbytery

Ballantyne Presbyterian Church is a member of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian denomination. This denomination was formed in the United States through the merging of two presbyteries that came from Scotland (and there had broken away from the Church of Scotland). I have been reading the Memoirs of George Whitefield by John Gillies, and I came across part of a letter that George Whitefield had written Ebenezer Erskine in regard to the Associate Presbytery in Scotland. Written May 16, 1741, Whitefield said,

"This morning I received a kind letter from your brother Ralph, who thinks it best for me wholly to join the Associate Presbytery, if it should please God to send me into Scotland. This I cannot altogether come into. I come only as an occasional preacher, to preach the simple gospel to all that are willing to hear me, of whatever denomination. I write this, that there may not be the least misunderstanding between us. I love and honor the Associate Presbytery in the bowels of Jesus Christ: But let them not be offended, if in all things I cannot immediately fall in with them." Whitefield stayed in the Church of England.

Rotherham

The town of Rotherham is located in Yorkshire. In the 18th century, George Whitefield preached there . . . and he was met with great hatred and loathing from the crowd. Whitefield almost decided never to preach there again; however, he found out that some who had been bitter and terrible persecutors had been converted through his preaching and his work in the town. One particular incident is telling:

Whitefield was held in such contempt in Rotherham that public bars became theaters in which the Bible, true religion, and Whitefield were roundly ridiculed. At one of these public houses, a Mr. Thrope and three of his companions decided to mimic Whitefield. A wager was made that the one who mimiced the best would win the money. The first three in order got up on the table in the inn and did their best to ape Whitefield and to destroy everything sacred. Mr. Thrope was the last to ascend the public house pulpit. He exclaimed as he rose, "I shall beat you all!" A Bible was handed to him, and, by the mysterious providence of God, it opened to Luke 13:3, "Except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish." As he read the verse, great conviction came to his soul . . . and so he preached. And he preached with great earnestness. As he would later say, "If ever I preached in my life by the assistance of the Spirit of God, it was at that time." The crowd was struck dumb, but not by entertainment but by Thrope's sincerity.

Thrope was converted that hour by an unexampled act of divine grace. Later he became pastor of a church in Masborough where he served the church for 13 years until his death in 1776. Oh the mysterious providence of God in the conversion of a sinner!

Godly Influence

In his commentary on Malachi, John Benton tells the following story of George Whitfield:

George Whitefield, the eighteenth-century evangelist, was only a young man of twenty-three when he first decided to cross the Atlantic. He was to be the military chaplain on the voyage aboard the ship the Whitaker, sailing with two other ships to Georgia. Captain Whiting was in charge of the ship and, besides the crew, there were about a hundred soldiers (under a Captain Mackay), twenty or so women and a few children aboard, all bound for the colony in the New World.

Whitefield began to hold public prayers at the commencement of the voyage and declared that he intended "to know nothing among them save Jesus Christ and him crucified." The moral tone of the ship was low and his announcement met with nothing but derision and scorn. The officers and crew told him that they believed that his religion was phoney and they would treat him as an impostor. On the first Sunday there was nothing to be seen but gambling and little to be heard except cursing and swearing and the sound of an oboe player entertaining everyone. "I could do no more," writes Whitefield, "than while I was writing, now and then turn my head by way of reproof to a lieutenant who swore as though he was born with a swearing constitution. Now and then he would take the hint, return my nod with a 'Doctor, I ask your pardon' then to his swearing and cards again."

Yet Whitefield began to exert an influence for Christ. He visited the sick and shared his provisions with them. He prayed privately for the people. Each morning and evening, undeterred he continued to read public prayers on the open deck. He took up every opportunity for legitimate socializing and witnessed for Christ whenever he could. Some of his entries in his diary read as follows: "Had some religious talk with the surgeon, who seems very well disposed"; "Gained an opportunity, by walking at night on the deck, to talk closely to the chief mate and one of the sergeants, and hope my words were not spoken in vain"; "About eleven at night, I went and sat down with the sailors in the steerage, and reasoned with them about righteousness, temperance and a judgement to come."

Gradually, by his evident godliness and courteous but plain speaking, things began to change on the ships. As the journey continued the time came when the captains would come and stand on each side of Whitefield as he preached every morning. Captain Mackay ordered a drum-beat calling the soldiers to these daily services. Often when the weather allowed it all three ships would draw near together and everyone joined in the worship of God!

Quote from Renwick

James Renwick, minister of the Covenanters during the "sifting times", said the following: "Let us be lions in God's cause and lambs in our own."

The Lion of the Covenant

In an earlier blog we mentioned Richard Cameron, who was known as "The Lion of the Covenant." As a brief reminder, his father Alan Cameron was in prison, and one day the guards threw into his cell a severed head and severed hand. They belonged to his son Richard. Alan responded by proclaiming the sovereignty and providence of God even in this brutal execution.

Richard Cameron had returned from exile in Holland in 1679 in order to stand tall for the covenanters in Scotland. In a sermon he preached in May, 1680 he declared that much of Scotland acknowledged Charles as their king, but "We will have no other king but Christ." Cameron and some of his supporters were surrounded and massacred at Ayrsmoss. They severed Cameron's head and hands and affixed them to the Netherbow port for all to see. And, indeed, all of Scotland did see . . . and they said, "There's the head and hands of a man who lived praying and preaching, and died praying and fighting."

Hard Times

In the late 1970's I went to hear Francis Schaeffer speak at Tremont Temple in Boston; at the time I was a naive seminary student at Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary. One thing he said that night has stuck with me ever since: "The time of ease and comfort for the church in the west is soon coming to an end." Many of us when we hear such things become nervous and fearful. But I do wonder if those are the right reactions. Listen to the words of William Wilberforce (1759-1833) concerning the persecution of Christians:

"Christianity especially has always thrived under persecution. For at such times it has no lukewarm professors. The Christian is then reminded that his Master's kingdom is not of this world. When all the earth looks back, he looks to heaven for his consolation. Then he sees himself as a pilgrim and a stranger. For it is then as in the hour of death that he will examine his foundations and cleave to the fundamentals."

Spurgeon on Calvinism

Spurgeon defined Calvinism in the following way:

"If anyone should ask me what I meant by a Calvinist, I should reply, 'He is one who says, "Salvation is of the Lord."' I cannot find in Scripture any other doctrine than this. It is the essence of the Bible. 'He only is my rock and my salvation.' Tell me anything contrary to this truth, and it will be heresy; tell me a heresy, and I shall find its essence here, that it has departed from this great, this fundamental, this rock-truth, 'God is my rock and my salvation.' What is the heresy of Rome, but the addition of something to the perfect merits of Jesus Christ -- the bringing in of the works of the flesh, to assist in our justification? And what is the heresy of Arminianism but the addition of something to the work of the redeemer? Every heresy, if brought to the touchstone, will discover itself here. I have my own private opinion that there is no such thing as preaching Christ and him crucified, unless we preach what nowadays is called Calvinism. It is a nickname to call it Calvinism; Calvinism is the gospel, and nothing else."

Perspecuity of Scripture

In the most recent Banner of Truth magazine (Nov. 2008) we read a story of a discussion between Mary, Queen of Scots, and John Knox regarding the interpretation of Scripture. Mary asked John Knox the following question:

"You [Protestants] interpret the Scripture in one way, they [Roman Catholics] in another. Whom shall I believe? Who shall be the judge?"

Knox answered, "You shall believe God who speaks plainly in his Word. Further than the Word teaches you shall not believe the one or the other. The Word of God is plain in itself. If there is any obscurity anywhere, the Holy Spirit, who is never contrary to himself, explains it more clearly in other places. No one can remain in doubt, save those who remain obstinately ignorant."

Christian Autobiography

It would be a good thing for Christians to take the time and write an autobiography. By this, I don't mean a man-centered writing in which one praises one's own life and work. Rather, it should be a running account of how God brought one from life to death, and how God sanctifies one in the Christian life and walk. What a testimony to those who follow. Along these lines, listen to the discerning words of Flavel:

"Ah, sirs, let me tell you, there is not such a pleasant history for you to read in all the world as the history of your own lives, if you would but sit down and record from the beginning hitherto what God has been to you, and done for you; what signal manifestations and outbreakings of His mercy, faithfulness and love there have been in all the conditions you have passed through. If your hearts do not melt before you have gone half through that history, they are hard hearts indeed." - John Flavel, The Mystery of Providence (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1963; first published, 1678), p. 118.

Facing Death

Due to the encouragement of a good friend, I just finished reading Corrie Ten Boom's The Hiding Place. I read it years and years ago. As I read it this time, I indeed saw its lasting value as Christian literature and that it still has a powerful impact. In one scene, for example, Corrie talks about as a child she was confronted with another child's death . . . it troubled her greatly. And later that night Corrie's father came to see her, and

"I burst into tears, 'I need you!' I sobbed. 'You can't die! You can't!' . . . Father sat down on the edge of the narrow bed. 'Corrie,' he began gently, 'when you and I go to Amsterdam -- when do I give you your ticket?' I sniffed a few minutes considering this. 'Why, just before we get on the train.' 'Exactly. And our wise Father in heaven knows when we're going to need things, too. Don't run out ahead of Him, Corrie. When the time comes that some of us will have to die, you will look into your heart and find the strength you need -- just in time.'"

Mr. Standfast

Many people in the church are familiar with John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progess. But, in reality, many have not read part II of the book . . . it was written later by Bunyan and it describes the pilgrimage of Christian's wife and their children. It is true that part II is not as engaging as part I, but there are indeed some powerful scenes in it. For example, when Mr. Standfast crosses the cold river of death, Bunyan provides a most profound and stunning description:

Now there was a great calm at that time in the river; wherefore Mr. Standfast, when he was about halfway in, stood a while and talked to his companions that had waited upon him thither; and he said, "This river has been a terror to many; yea the thoughts of it have often frightened me. But now, methinks, I stand easy . . . The waters indeed are to the palate bitter, and to the stomach cold, yet the thoughts of what I am going to and the conduct that waits for me on the other side, doth lie as a glowing coal at my heart. I see myself now at the end of my journey, my toilsome days are ended. I am going now to see that head that was crowned with thorns, and that face that was spit upon for me.
I have formerly lived by hearsay and faith, but now I go where I shall live by sight, and shall be with him in whose company I delight myself. I have loved to hear my Lord spoken of; and wherever I have seen the print of his shoe in the earth, there I have coveted to set my foot too . . . His voice to me has been most sweet; and his countenance I have more desired than they that have most desired the light of the sun. His word I did gather for my food, and for antidotes against my faintings . . . "
Now while he was thus in discourse, his countenance changed, his strong man bowed under him, and after he had said, "Take me, for I come unto Thee," he ceased to be seen of them.

The Race

Two of John Bunyan's most famous allegories are The Heavenly Footman: A Description of the Man that Gets to Heaven and Pilgrim's Progress. It seems likely that the seed of both of these books comes from 1 Corinthians 9:24, "Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it." Bunyan believed that a man must run for his eternal life and not look back at the world, as Lot's wife had done. And in these two allegories, Bunyan urges and encourages people to run for heaven in spite of earthly hindrances and circumstances. In The Heavenly Footman, he impels us by saying, "The prize is heaven and if you will have it, you must run for it."

Humility in Preaching

Richard Baxter once commented on his own preaching: "And for myself as I am ashamed of my dull and careless heart, and of my slow and unprofitable course of life; so, the Lord knows, I am ashamed of every sermon I preach; when I think what I have been speaking of, and who sent me, and that men's salvation or damnation is so much concerned in it, I am ready to tremble, lest God should judge me as a slighter of his truths and the souls of men, and lest in the best sermon I should be guilty of their blood. Methinks we should not speak a word to men in matters of such consequence, without tears, or the greatest earnestness possibly we can; were we not too much guilty of the sin which we reprove, it would be so." D. Martyn Lloyd Jones once said that he would not cross the street to hear himself preach. Oh that today we would have preachers of humility and ones who trembled as they went into the pulpit!

Trust

P. B. Power, in his book The 'I Wills' of the Psalms, comments on Psalm 55:16, "As for me I will call upon God, and the Lord shall save me." He explains that the Lord's people would be blessed indeed if they continually exercised the trust expressed in this verse. Power then gives a striking example of trust:

"At the time of a great drought, several pious farmers agreed to hold a special meeting to pray for the much needed rain. When the appointed time came, the minister was surprised to see one of his little Sabbath-scholars bringing a huge old family umbrella, and asked her why she did so on such a lovely morning. The child gazed at him with evident surprise at the enquiry, and replied, 'why, sir, I thought as we were going to pray God for rain, I'd be sure to want the umbrella.' While they were praying, the wind rose, and the clear sky became clouded, which was soon followed by a heavy thunder-storm, by which those who came unprepared to the meeting were drenched, while Mary and the minister were sheltered by the umbrella her faith had led her to bring."

Submitted by NMC

Graves Stones

Have you ever thought about what you would like to have carved or inscribed on your tombstone? How about what the preacher will say during the eulogy at your graveside? What would you like written in your obituary? Reflecting on his impending departure, W. C. Fields remarked, "On the whole, I'd rather be in Philadelphia." Ernest Hemingway asked that a simple phrase be put on his marker: "Pardon me for not getting up." And Casey Stengel had written on his funeral plaque his immortal words, "There comes a time in every man's life, and I've had plenty of them."

When Robert Murray McCheyne, the well known Scots' pastor, died at the youthful age of 29 in the mid-19th century, many people came forth to give eulogies regarding his life. One London pastor said, "McCheyne was altogether one of the loveliest specimens of the Holy Spirit's workmanship." The Dundee newspaper, Dundee being the city of McCheyne's pastorate, stated, "His mind was so full of Christ that he sought to introduce the glorious subject that was always most uppermost with him." Alexander McLeod, another famous Scots' pastor, had two inscriptions carved in his grave marker: "Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord" and "A great man has fallen in Israel."

J. Gresham Machen, the founder of Westminster Theological Seminary, desired that the following words be inscribed on his tombstone:

"Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all."

Philippi

Today I visited the site of Philippi in the region of Macedonia in northeastern Greece. Wonderful excavations have taken place here since 1914. Two major events took place at this site:

1. First, a major battle took place here in 42 B.C. between the forces of Marc Antony and Octavius and the troops of Cassius and Brutus. Cassius, dismayed at the apparent outcome of the battle, committed suicide . . . what he didn't know was that his troops had, in fact, won the battle. A few years later, Brutus also committed suicide as his troops were overwhelmed at Actium by the forces of Octavius.

2. The second major event at Philippi was the visit of Paul, Timothy, and Silas on the second missionary journey. Here, next to the river, was a noted conversion: Lydia. Thus, the first conversions in Europe took place at Philippi.

Isn't it interesting to compare those two major events. At the time, perhaps the second one seemed so insignificant whereas the first looked like it would change the world. But the reality? The message that Paul and his missionaries brought to Europe was one that was staggering and almost beyond comprehension in regard to its impact.

Isaiah 53

In my prophets class at RTS, I have recently been teaching on the great Messianic passage of Isaiah 53. Below I give my translation of that passage from the Hebrew, and I introduce it with a comment by John Calvin. I pray that you would ponder and meditate over this all too wondrous passage.

ISAIAH 53: THE IRONY OF THE CROSS

“The spectacle of the cross alienates many persons from Christ, when they consider what is presented to their eyes, and do not observe the object to be accomplished. But all offence is removed when we know that by his death our sins have been expiated, and salvation has been obtained for us”
John Calvin commenting on Isaiah 53

Translation of Isaiah 53:

v. 1 Who has believed our message?
And to whom has the arm of Yahweh been revealed?

v. 2 For he grew up like a sapling before him;
And like a root in the land of drought.

He has no form and no ornamentation,
That we might look on him.
And no appearance,
That we might delight in him.

v.3 He was despised and forsaken of men.
A man of sorrows and knowing grief;
And as one from whom men hide their faces,
He was despised.
And we did not esteem him.

v.4 Truly, he lifted up our griefs,
And he bore our sorrows.
Yet we ourselves did esteem him as stricken,
Smitten of God and afflicted.

v. 5 Yet he was pierced for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities.
Chastening for our shalom is upon him,
And by his strokes we are healed.

v. 6 All of us like sheep wander about;
Each turns to his own way.
Yet Yahweh has caused the iniquity of all of us to fall on him.

v. 7 He was oppressed and he was afflicted.
But he did not open his mouth;
Like a lamb to the slaughter he was led,
And like a ewe is silent before its shearers,
So he did not open his mouth.
v. 8 By restraint and by judgment he was taken away.
And as for his generation who thought that he was cut off from the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people?

v. 9 And they gave his grave to be with the wicked,
And to the rich in his death.

For he had done no violence,
And there was no treachery in his mouth.

v. 10 Yet Yahweh was pleased to crush him,
To put him to grief,
That he would place himself as a guilt offering.

He will see his seed;
He will prolong his days.
And the delight of Yahweh will prosper in his hand.

v. 11 From the anguish of his soul
He will see, he will be satisfied.
By his knowledge the righteous one, my servant, will cause many to be righteous;
And their iniquities he will bear.

v. 12 Therefore, I will allot him a portion with the many,
And he will divide the plunder with the many.
For he emptied his soul to death;
And he was numbered with transgressors;
And he bore the sin of many;
And he interceded for the transgressors.

Hugh M'Kail, Part III

M'Kail was taken to the scaffold with five other men who were to die with him. At the bottom of the steps he sang part of Psalm 31, and then prayed with such fervency that many fell to tears. He then turned to go up the ladder, and he was heard to say, "I care no more to go up this ladder and over it, than if I were going home to my father's house." As he clambered up the ladder he turned to his fellow sufferers, and he said, "Friends and fellow sufferers, be not afraid, every step of this ladder is a degree nearer heaven." As the executioner put the rope around his neck, the people began to weep; M'Kail responded by saying, "Your work is not to weep, but to pray that we may be honourably borne through; and blessed be the Lord that supports me . . . so I hope you will not be wanting to me now in this last step of my journey, that I may witness a good confession." He closed his life by reading to the people the last chapter of the Bible, "Let him that is athirst come, and whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely."

Here is a Christian that, indeed, died well.

John Bunyan

Every now and then I run into a book that is life-changing, that is, it deeply affects the way I think and act. One of those is a recent book by Faith Cook titled Fearless Pilgrim: The Life and Times of John Bunyan (Evangelical Press, 2008). If you purchase this volume, it is worth every dollar or quid!

Bunyan was a tinker, that is, a laborer who fixed pots and pans. One day something extraordinary happened in his calling; it is best to put it in his own words:

Upon a day, the good providence of God did cast me to Bedford, to work on my calling; and in one of the streets of that town, I came where there were three or four poor women sitting at a door in the sun, and talking about things of God, and being now willing to hear them discourse, I drew near to hear what they said, for I was now a brisk talker also myself in the matters of religion, but now I may say, I heard, but I understood not, for they were far above, out of my reach.

What Bunyan heard that morning from those poor women was deeply disturbing to him. He further explains:

Their talk was about a new birth, the work of God on their hearts, also how they were convinced of their miserable state by nature; they talked how God had visited their souls with his love in the Lord Jesus, and with what words and promises they had been refreshed, comforted, and supported against the temptations of the devil.

Bunyan was devastated because he had been trying to live a life of works righteousness, and he took great pride in his religious accomplishments. But Bunyan was drawn, and so day after day he managed his work so that he could hear the women speak of such things as God's grace to undeserving sinners. These poor women were members of John Gifford's dissenter church in Bedford . . . and this was the church that would later send out a preaching evangelist whose name was . . . John Bunyan.

Rev. John Bennet

In the 1740's, the Englishman John Bennet was converted through the ministry of the evangelist George Thomson. Bennet at the time was over 70 years old, but after his conversion he pastored a church in Cornwall. On one occasion, Charles Wesley was preaching in Bennet's church. His topic was "Against Harmless Diversions" that keeps one in the darkness of sin. Three pastors were present for the sermon: John Meriton, George Thomson, and John Bennet. Wesley exclaimed in his sermon that "By harmless diversions I was kept asleep in the devil's arms, secure in a state of damnation and darkness, for 18 years." No sooner were those words uttered than Meriton yelled out, "And I in darkness for 25 years!" Then Thomson cried out, "And I in darkness for 35 years!" And, finally, Bennet, the venerable minister of the church, said, "And I in darkness above 70 years!"

Lady Jane Grey

A recent publication I would encourage you to read is a book by Faith Cook called The Nine Day Queen of England: Lady Jane Grey (Evangelical Press). In the mid-16th century, Jane Grey ascended the throne of England, but was quickly deposed and executed by beheading. She was a Christian, a Protestant, and one who was steeped in the Bible and the catechims. Kneeling at the scaffold, whe recited the fifty first psalm in its entirety, that is, David's great psalm of contrition. Then she turned and witnessed to those in attendance regarding the salvation that one can have through the blood of Jesus! The executioner was so moved that he asked for Jane Grey to forgive him. She put her head on the block, and called out in a clear, strong voice, "Lord, into thy hands I commend my spirit!" Lady Jane Grey was 16 years old.

Hugh M'Kail, Part II

The morning of his execution, Hugh M'Kail's father came to see him to say goodbye. They prayed together and had a spiritual discussion. The father's last words to his son were "that this suffering would do more hurt to the prelates, and be more edifying to God's people, than if he were to continue in the ministry for twenty years." M'Kail, then, asked his father to leave him so that he would not have further pain and anguish. The son said to the father at the end of their time together: "And I desire it of you, as the best and last service you can do me, to go to your chamber, and pray earnestly to the Lord to be with me on that scaffold; for how to carry there, is my care, even that I may be strengthened to endure to the end."

I believe we in the church today, when faced with hardship, spend much of our time praying and asking that God would take the pain and anguish away. M'Kail did not ask for that . . . but, rather, he asked to be strengthened to face his hardship dead on. Perhaps we should more often respond that way: O Lord, may you give me grace to "man up" as a Christian and squarely face whatever trials you may have in store for me. Indeed, may we live well and may we die well.

Hugh M'Kail, Part I

It is a pity that some of the old Christian books are not more widely available; one such work I have recently found is by Rev. William Wilson, and it is called Naphtali, or the Wrestlings of the Church of Scotland for the Kingdom of Christ (published in 1845). It describes what the Scots call the "sifting time", that is, the great persecutions of the covenanters in Scotland by the English in the 1660's. Part of the "sifting time" was the Great Ejectment when hundreds of covenanter ministers were thrown out of their pulpits in 1662. Many of these men were tortured and some martyred.

Wilson, in one instance, describes the sufferings and death of Rev. Hugh M'Kail. M'Kail preached his last sermon in September, 1662 just days before Parliament removed all the ministers of Edinburgh and its surroundings. M'Kail was later captured by English soldiers, accused of sedition, and placed in jail. He was severely tortured (the English used the "boot", a barbaric mechanism to crush a person's leg), and then sentenced to death on the scaffold. In the days leading up to his execution, the Lord was very graciously present with M'Kail. Two nights before his execution, he was eating supper with the other prisoners and he said to them joyously, "Eat to the full, and cherish your bodies, that we may all be a fat Christmas pie to the prelates!" And he continued speaking, "Many crosses have come in our way and wrought weakly upon us; but here is a cross that hath done more good than all the many that befel us before." What is it that causes a man to face death that way?

Robert Reid Kalley

Robert Reid Kalley, the so-called "Wolf from Scotland", was a pioneer missionary to the Portugese island of Madeira and to the people of Brazil. Kally, however, had wanted to go as a missionary to China. In the 1830's he made preparations to go. He married in 1838, but just before the marriage his soon to be wife developed pneumonia, which proved to be the beginning of tuberculosis. And so the door to missionary service in China was closed to Kalley. However, God is so good to his people that China did in fact benefit greatly from Kalley. W. B. Forsyth comments, "In January 1838 he (Kalley) was invited to speak at a meeting convened by the Church of Scotland Missionary Society, at which he spoke of the urgent need for the gospel to reach the Far East. As he spoke a young man felt the call to offer for missionary service. That young man was William Chalmers Burns who, in 1846, eventually reached China under the auspices of the English Presbyterian Missionary Society and blazed a trail in China for others to follow."

If Burns' name is unfamiliar, he served the church at Dundee in Scotland when Robert Murray McCheyne, the pastor, and Andrew Bonar traveled to Israel to see the state of the Jews there. William Chalmers Burns brought great revivals to that church in Scotland.

Money

No blogs have appeared the last week or so. I have been in London; preaching and giving a paper at a creation/science conference at the John Owen Centre of London Theological Seminary. The title of my paper, "The Exegesis of Genesis 1 and 2: A Question of Genre." As I was in London, the financial sectors of the US seemed to melt before my eyes, and I had to check myself regarding how dependent I often am on finances. I need, as a Christian, to loosen my grip on such things. It reminded me of a letter that George Muller sent to a donor who wanted to give a gift to Muller himself rather than to the orphanages that Muller ran. Muller's response is telling:

"I have no property whatever, nor has my dear wife; nor have I had one single shilling regular salary as Minister of the Gospel for the last twenty-six years, nor as the director of the Orphan-House and the other objects of the Scriptural Knowledge Institution for Home and Abroad. When I am in need of anything, I fall on my knees and ask God that He would be pleased to give me what I need; and He puts it in the heart of someone or other to help me. Thus all my wants have been amply supplied during the last twenty-six years, and I can say, to the praise of God, I have lacked nothing. My dear wife and my only child, a daughter twenty-four years old, are of the same mind. Of this blessed way of living none of us is tired, but we become day by day more convinced of its blessedness."

The potential donor responded by sending 300 pounds to Muller for support of the orphanages.

Our God, Our Help

A commonly sung and loved hymn in reformed circles is "Our God, Our Help in Ages Past" by Isaac Watts. One of the great stanzas of that hymn reads:

Our God, our help in ages past,
our hope for years to come;
our shelter from the stormy blast,
and our eternal home.

Watts wrote this hymn, based upon Psalm 90, in response to the death of Queen Anne in 1714. That monarch's sympathy was with the Church of Rome, and she was in the process of passing laws in England that would have ended with great persecution of Protestants. She, however, died on the very day the laws were to be enacted. Believers in England understood this to be divine intervention in which God was protecting his people.

Waiter or Guest

In his autobiography Spurgeon relates a wonderful story regarding his own preaching: "I once learnt something in a way one does not often get a lesson. I felt at that time very weary, and very sad, and very heavy at heart; and I began to doubt in my own mind whether I really enjoyed the things which I preached to others. It seemed to be a dreadful thing for me to be only a waiter, and not a guest at the gospel feast.

I went to a certain country town, and on the Sabbath day entered a Methodist Chapel. The man who conducted the service was an engineer; he read the Scriptures, and prayed, and preached. The tears flowed freely from my eyes; I was moved to the deepest emotion by every sentence of the sermon, and I felt all my difficulty removed, for the gospel, I saw, was very dear to me, and had a wonderful effect upon my heart. I went to the preacher, and said, 'I thank you very much for that sermon.' He asked me who I was, and when I told him, he looked as red as possible, and he said, 'Why, it was one of your sermons that I preached this morning!' 'Yes,' I said, "I know it was; but that was the very message that I wanted to hear, because I then saw that I did enjoy the very Word I myself preached.'

It was happily arranged in the good providence of God. Had it been his own sermon, it would not have answered the purpose nearly so well as when it turned out to be one of mine."

Calm Seas

It is a common teaching from pulpits today that Christians ought to seek a life of comfort, ease, and prosperity. The idea is that because one is a Christian, God thus promises the Christian calm seas on the pilgrimage through life. And, moreover, because Christians are God's people then they ought to have expectations of comfort; one should seek the comfortable pilgrimage. But is that really true? Is that the proper understanding of the Christian life?

Isaac Watts asks this very question in his hymn "Am I a Soldier of the Cross?" In stanza 2, he says, "Must I be carried to the skies on flowery beds of ease, while others fought to win the prize, and sailed through bloody seas?" Isn't the reality that God does not promise calm seas, but only that we will reach port safely! He does not promise us a wealthy, prosperous, easy, comfortable pilgrimage; he only gives his word that we will arrive safely. The truth is that many of us, if not all of us, will go through the crucible of life. And the question is, how will we respond to the fiery ordeal?

Rocky Ground

The great American theologian Jonathan Edwards used to make a distinction between a person who has been awakened by his/her sin and shows remorse, and a person who has truly been saved. He was making the point that some people feel sorrow for what they have done but they never come to saving faith in Jesus Christ. Asahel Nettleton, a Reformed evangelist during the Second Great Awakening in America -- who, by the way, wrote the tune for the hymn "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" -- traveled throughout Connecticut preaching the gospel. In the mornings he would preach about sin, and many people would be awakened by their sin. However, he would not preach salvation until the evening service to see who was truly troubled and ready for deliverance. He also preached in a yearly circuit; he would come back to a church a year later to see whose hearts had truly been changed.

This is quite biblical. Jesus teaches in the parable of the sower that the spread of the gospel is like a sower who sows seed in a field. Some of the seeds fall along the path and are quickly eaten by birds; other seeds fall on rocky ground where there is not much soil -- the grass springs up quickly but it does not last, but withers away quickly. Other seed falls among the thorns and is choked; and, finally, some seed falls on good soil and does well. Jesus defines the seed that falls on rocky ground as those who hear the message and receive it, but they endure only briefly and they fall away quickly. There are, indeed, some who hear, are pricked to the heart, but it does not last; it is not a true conversion.

A Warning

In Deuteronomy 6:10-12, Moses warns that Israelites that when they enter the land of promise they need to care for their souls. The land is rich and pleasant; it is full of all sorts of good things: vineyards and olive trees, houses that they did not build, cities that they did not build -- and all of these things will belong to them. Yet, there is great danger. The temptation is to enjoy oneself with all these good things and to forget the Lord. That is, it will be easy for them to become enamored with stuff and consumed by material things. And they can lulled into thinking that they acquired all these things on their own. Pride and self-sufficiency easily will creep in. They can easily forget that it was God who promised them the land, redeemed them from Egypt, and brought them into the land.

This warning is also for the church today. How easy it is for us to become complacent in our Christian walk. St. Augustine said that "earthly riches are full of poverty." Indeed, earthly blessing can breed complacency in one's Christian walk, and it can breed forgetfulness -- it can cause a Christian to move away from God and to cling to the things of the world. Luther was truly convinced of this truth when he said, "a full belly can be a great trial for a Christian"! So let us enjoy the blessings that God has bestowed on his church, but let us remember that anything that we have is due to his mercy and grace to us who are so undeserving.

Time to Read the Bible

George Muller commented regarding his reading of the Bible: "I look upon it as a lost day when I have not had a good time over the Word of God. Friends often say, 'I have so much to do, so many people to see, I cannot find time for Scripture study.' Perhaps there are not many who more to do than I. For more than half a century I have never known one day when I had not more business than I could get through. For four years I have had annually about thirty thousand letters, and most of these have passed through my own hands. Then, as pastor of a church of twelve hundred believers, great has been my care. Besides, I have had charge of five immense orphanages; also, at my published depot, the printing and circulating of millions of tracts, books, and Bibles; but I have always made it a rule never to begin work until I have had a good season with God and His Word. The blessing I have received has been wonderful."

Richard Baxter

Richard Baxter, the great Puritan who wrote such works as The Reformed Pastor and The Saint's Everlasting Rest, was a frail invalid for most of his life. What kept him going in life and performing spectacular duties for Christ? His secret was simple: each day he would spend a half hour meditating on the life to come, therefore, putting at the forefront of his day the glory that awaited him. J. I. Packer comments on Baxter's practice: "Diligent cultivation of hope gave him daily doggedness in disciplined hard work for God, despite the debilitating effect each day of his sick body." One of the reasons Baxter was a good worker in the vineyard for Christ despite his sickness was because he looked to the celestial city; his eyes were upon the heavenly city, the city with foundations.

D. L. Moody put it this way: " Take courage. We walk in the wilderness today and in the Promised Land tomorrow."

Hugh Stowell

For the last two months, on Sunday evenings, we have introduced a hymn of the month. This practice is so that we as a congregation can learn the hymns of the Trinity Hymnal. I am surprised by how few of them I know. Along with the hymn, those who introduce the hymn also do some research about the author of the hymn. This past month's hymn was by Hugh Stowell (1799-1865). Stowell was Oxford educated and served in the Church of England his entire life. He is perhaps most well known for his writing of children's hymns.

The hymn by Stowell that we learned was "From Every Stormy Wind That Blows" -- if you do not know it, it is well worth learning! I could find very little written by Stowell apart from his hymns. I did find one quote, and I believe it is worth citing: it reflects his view of the Scriptures:
"Here (in the Bible) is milk for babes, whilst there is manna for Angels; truth level with the mind of a peasant, truth soaring beyond the reach of a seraph."

Wandering Thoughts

Do you have wandering thoughts during the singing of hymns at worship? If you are like me, I often sing hymns without paying much attention to the words that are on the page. I suppose I have the attitude of looking so forward to the sermon, which is the central focus of the service, that I want to get the preliminaries over with. I was recently brought under great conviction as I read an account of the life of the great hymnist Fanny Crosby. She was converted when she was 30 years old by listening to the words of an Isaac Watts hymn "Alas! and Did My Savior Bleed". The following words were particularly striking to her:

Was it for crimes that I had done he groaned upon the tree!
Amazing pity! Grace unknown! And love beyond degree!

God can use any part of the worship service to change hearts of unbelievers and to edify his people. As pastors, may we choose hymns well and ones that are biblical. And may God focus our hearts and minds upon them as we sing them in worship.

The Pilgrim

I have written previously about the language of "journey" and "story" that is used ubiquitously today. Everyone is on a "journey" and everyone has a "story". We need, as Christians, to be careful using this type of language because for many people today it simply reflects a meandering, rambling path that has no purpose, end, or goal. There is no telos. Most people do not know where they are going. In addition, most of those who use this language are centering the journey upon themselves: it is a self-serving story. It is a journey of self-importance.

Christians, on the other hand, are on a path that has an end in sight; we are heading for the celestial city, the city with foundations, that is, the land that will never perish or fade away. And we are going there to meet the King! It is he whom we serve on this pilgrimage. One of the Puritan prayers in the Valley of Vision puts it well:

"May I feel that I am a stranger and a pilgrim on earth,
declaring plainly that I seek a country,
my title to it becoming daily more clear,
my meetness for it more perfect,
my foretaste of it more abundant;
and whatsoever I do may it be done in the Savior's name."

Alexander Peden

I have written often about the Great Ejectment in Great Britain in 1662 in which well over 400 ministers were removed from their pulpits because they would not conform to the Middleton Act. These pastors were not only thrown out of their pulpits, but they were removed from their manses and their pay was cancelled. One of these men was Alexander Peden, who after the ejectment spent his years preaching to the covenanters on the hills and in the moors of southern Scotland. He did this at great risk to his life.

His church, before the ejectment, was in New Luce. On his final Sabbath with his people, he preached in the morning and the evening from Acts 20. In the evening service, his final sermon was on Acts 20:32, "And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified." The people did not want to leave at the close of church; great emotion gripped them as they knew the time of parting with their pastor had come. As Peden left the pulpit, he turned and knocked on the pulpit three times with his Bible and he said the following words: "In my Master's name I arrest thee; that none enter thee but such as enter as I have done, by the door." It was a striking moment, and a statement that came to pass. For the next 27 years the pulpit of that church remained unoccupied, and no minister who had conformed ever entered the pulpit. The man who succeeded Peden, 27 years later, was a man after Peden's own heart, a man of great covenant conviction named William Kyle.

Obeying the Higher Power

In an essay titled "The Freedom of the Free Churchman", Paul Cook makes the following statement: "The Christian's subjection to human governments and magistrates and his respect for local and national laws should arise from recognition that such authority has been delegated to men by God. The living God is the One to whom the believer renders ultimate obedience; should the state and its officers trespass from their civil duties into the spiritual realm, where it has no legitimate authority, then the Christian is to obey the higher power." Over the centuries many Christians have paid steep penalties, often execution, for holding fast to this truth. In 1593, for example, Henry Barrows, John Greenwood, and John Penry suffered death on the scaffold over this very issue.

John Penry was a Welshman who was a graduate of both Oxford and Cambridge, and he came under deep conviction for the spiritual needs of his brethren in Wales. He became a separatist because of the indifference of the Church of England over sending the gospel to Wales. He was found guilty of sedition, and in May 1593 he followed Barrows and Greenwood to the scaffold. According to Robert Oliver, at his trial, Penry declared: "Imprisonment, judgement, yea death itself are not meet weapons to convince men's consciences, grounded on the word of God." He left a Bible to each of his three daughters, and his will ends with the words, "I leave the success of my labours, the calling of my country to the knowledge of Christ's blessed Gospel unto such of my countrymen as the Lord is to raise after me."

Cost of Discipleship

William Ames (1576-1633) held a post at Cambridge University where he had a stellar academic career. He had been converted under the ministry of William Perkins. He was forced to leave the university and all of his degrees were suspended because of his Puritan convictions. He went to the Netherlands where he was given a position at the University of Leiden and, later, at a university in Friesland. He lost the last post for the same reason: his Puritanism and conviction of practical godliness. He finally became a pastor of a church in Rotterdam. According to Robert Oliver, Ames' "lasting memorial is his Medulla Theologiae or Marrow of Theology published in 1627. As a university tutor he had attempted to 'call students away from questions and controversies obscure, confused and not very essential, and introduce it to life and practice so that the students would begin to think seriously of conscience and its concerns.' He began his Medulla with the words, 'Theology is the doctrine of living to God.'"

What Can I Do For God?

What Can I Do For God?

Most of us would like to do something special in life, something to distinguish us. We suppose that we desire it for God's sake, but more likely we are discontent with ordinary life and crave special privileges. When Israel asked if they should offer some spectacular sacrifice--thousands of rams, ten thousand "rivers of oil," a firstborn child--the answer was, "He has showed you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God" (Mi 6:8 RSV).

There is nothing conspicuous about those requirements. It is not a "special" service for which one would be likely to be decorated or even particularly remembered. But it is worth more to God than any sacrifice.

Lord, deliver me from the delusion of imagining that my desire is to serve You, when my real desire is the distinction of serving in some way which others admire.

Elizabeth Elliot (submitted by Meg Spear)

Hugh McKail

I have mentioned a number of times in this blog that one of the main reasons that the covenanters in Scotland of the 17th century suffered so much was because they refused to acknowledge the English king and that he was the head of the church. The persecution was severe; in fact, the covenanters called it "the sifting time." How did these men, women, and children face such bloody times?

Hugh McKail was a covenanter preacher who was sentenced to death for his views of Christ as the only king. As he approached the scaffold he sang Psalm 31, and the crowd who was watching the proceedings began to sympathize with him. As he mounted the steps, the people began to groan and mourn, but he turned and said to them, "Friends and fellow sufferers be not afraid, every step of this ladder is a degree nearer heaven." At the top he said, "And now I do willingly lay down my life for the truth and cause of God, the Covenants and work of Reformation, which were once counted the glory of this nation: and it is for endeavouring to defend this and extirpate that bitter root of prelacy that I embrace this rope."

His final words were these: "As there is a great solemnity here, a confluence of people, a scaffold, a gallows, people looking out of windows; so there is a greater and more solemn preparation of angels to carry my soul to Christ's bosom . . . Farewell father, mother, friends and relations; farewell the world and its delights; farewell meat and drink; farewell sun, moon and stars; Welcome God and Father; welcome sweet Jesus Christ the mediator of the New Covenant; welcome blessed spirit of grace, the God of all consolation; welcome glory, welcome eternal life; welcome death! Into Thy hands I commit my spirit." At the age of 26, Hugh McKail gained the martyr's crown. There is only one king, and that is King Jesus; and that is worth dying for.

Fears of the Christian

What do you fear? Are you afraid of death? Sickness? Pain? Separation? Can you define your true fears? A unique answer to those questions was once given by Chrysostom, the great church father. Empress Eudoxia had been sending him deeply threatening letters, that is, against his very life. His response is illuminating: "Nil nisi peccatum timeo." That Latin saying is simply translated as "I fear nothing but sin." What do you fear?

Soldier of Christ

In his book De Corona Militis, Tertullian tells the story of a Christian soldier in the emperor's army who refused to wear a laurel wreath upon his head in honor of a sacred idol. All the other soldier's wore crowns of bays upon their heads, but not this soldier. He came under great ridicule and mockery from the other soldiers and, in particular, other Christian soldiers. Tertullian defends the man: "This soldier was more God's soldier, and more constant than the rest of his brethren, who presumed that they might serve two Lords, and, for avoiding persecution, comply with the heathen in their superstitious rites." This example, of course, raises the question for each of us: how often do I simply comply with culture so as not to be persecuted, ridiculed, or mocked. Are we not soldiers of Christ? Then let us stand at our post and let the world do its worst.

Christian Courage

When the great reformer Martin Luther was travelling to the Diet of Worms where he was to be tried by the church for heresy, he was warned he would be given no safe conduct. He was considered a heretic, and, therefore, worthy of abuse and even death. As Luther neared the city, a friendly priest came out and warned him, "Do not enter Worms!" But Luther, undismayed, turned his eyes on the messenger and said, "Even should there be as many devils in Worms as tiles upon the housetops, still I would enter it." "I was undaunted," said Luther, "I feared nothing." This reminds me of Psalm 3 in which David is under such fierce persecution, yet he can say: "I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around." How could he say such a thing? Because "O Lord, you are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head" (v. 3).

Our Utmost for His Highest

God's service is not easy and cheap. It may cost us dearly, but we are called to give our very best to the work of the kingdom. A good example comes from the life of the famous British soldier General Gordon. Because of his work in China in the nineteenth century, the government wanted to reward him with money and titles, but he refused all those honors. He was finally persuaded to accept a medal inscribed with his various military engagements. After his death, this medal could not be found. He had had it melted down and the proceeds given to the poor children of Manchester during a particularly severe famine. He wrote in his diary the following words: "The last and only thing I have in this world that I value I have given over to the Lord Jesus Christ."

Who is King of the Church?

When we examine candidates for the gospel ministry in presbytery often the first question we ask is, "Who is head of the church?" Many simply answer, "Jesus". In reality, I would argue that one needs to be more specific and say, "Jesus alone." The fact is that many of our Scottish Covenanter ancestors were martyred over that very issue in the 17th century.

One of the great antagonists against the covenanting church in Scotland in those days was a cruel, barbaric man named Claverhouse. His desire was to remove every Covenanter from this scene of time. He is well known as the murderer of John Brown. Alexander Peden says of his friend John Brown, "Brown was a clear shining light, the greatest Christian I ever conversed with." Claverhouse attempted to have John Brown take the Oath of Abjuration, but Brown refused to take it, "declaring as every true Covenanter did that they knew no king but Jesus Christ" (Horne, Torchbearers of the Truth, p. 90). Claverhouse then said to Brown, "Go to your prayers, for you are going to die." Brown's prayer was so moving that Claverhouse's soldiers refused to lift a hand against Brown; Claverhouse killed him himself.

Claverhouse, after the dreadful deed was done, turned to Isabel Brown, and said, "What thinkest of thy husband now, woman?" She replied, "I thought much good of him and now more than ever."

And, so, when we ask the question at presbytery of our ministerial candidates, "Who is the head of the church?", we hope and pray that they answer, "Jesus alone." That would have been the answer of our forebearers such as John Brown and other Covenanters like him!

The Testimony of the Holy Spirit

Many today feel that Christian belief in the Scriptures is not rationally justified. Faith is seen as an irrational necessity that is permissible only if it does not touch upon aspects of life that are governed by more sensible, rational analysis. Many today believe that faith deals with that which is unknown (unreal) and reason has to do with that which is the “real” reality.

On the contrary, belief in Scripture is not fideism (a belief that is arbitrarily chosen with no rational justification). Rather, Christians trust the Scriptures upon the most rationally justifiable grounds: the testimony of God, who does not lie. The Christian knows this testimony through the written word of God, and is made able to see its indisputability (despite spiritual blindness) by the Spirit of God. This is what Calvin called the “self-authentication” of Scripture. Elsewhere, he follows Hilary of Poitiers (a doctor in the early church), stating that “God is his own best witness.”

While we don’t shy away from demonstrating the truthfulness and reliability of the Scriptures in manifold ways, using reason and evidences, we know it will fall upon deaf ears without the Holy Spirit. Though all creation and providence affirm the message of Scripture, men are blind until the Spirit illuminates their minds. Calvin states, “unless this certainty [from the Spirit], higher and stronger than any human judgment, be present, it will be vain to fortify the authority of Scripture by argument.” Therefore, let Christians pray that the Spirit of God would mercifully revive hearts to hear his voice in the Scriptures.

ARG

Standing Your Post

A new exhibit has opened up in Charlotte this month: it is called a Day in Pompeii. For years archaeologists have been uncovering the remains of that city which was destroyed by the ash and lava of a devastating volcano. Researchers have discovered much evidence of people attempting to flee the catastrophe, and some people are forever "frozen" in a running position. But one man did not run. Burgess records that "At the city gate was found a skeleton of a Roman guard. There he had remained, both hands clutched about his weapon, while the very ground on which he stood trembled and the fiery ashes were gradually burying him; after these many centuries, he was found at his post of duty."

We Christians are to be soldiers for Christ. We live in enemy territory. And one day the world will come to an end, and it will be cataclysmic. And where will you be? Will you be running? Or will you be standing your post?

Submission to God's Will

In his A Faithful Narrative of Surprising Conversions, Jonathan Edwards tells of a young woman who was converted after having lived a riotous life. But soon after her conversion she was beset by severe physical trials that ended in a slow, painful death. As she faced the dark, fearful unknown her faith was strengthened by the Lord to the point of joy and exultation. Edwards writes:

"She had great longings to die, that she might be with Christ; which increased till she thought she did not know how to be patient and wait till God's time should come . . . 'I am quite willing to live, and quite willing to die; quite willing to be sick, and quite willing to be well; and quite willing for anything that God will bring upon me! And then,' said she, 'I felt myself perfectly easy, in a full submission to the will of God' . . . The same week that she died, when she was in distressing circumstances as to her body, some of the neighbors who came to see her, asked is she was willing to die? She replied, that she was quite willing either to live or die; she was willing to be in pain; she was willing to be so always as she was then, if that was the will of God. She willed what God willed. They asked her whether she was willing to die that night? She answered, 'Yes, if it be God's will.' And seemed to speak all with that perfect composure of spirit, and with such a cheerful countenance, that it filled them with admiration."

Partial Obedience to One's Call

The church needs people who obey the word of God and obey his calling to them. Adoniram Judson, after graduating from seminary, received a call from a very important church in Boston; he was to come as its assistant pastor. Many congratulated him on receiving such a desirable offer and position. Judson responded unexpectedly by saying, "My call is not here. God is calling me beyond the seas. To stay here, even to serve God in His ministry, I feel would be only partial obedience, and I could not be happy in that." The Forward reported after Judson's death that "The fashionable church in Boston still stands, rich and strong, but Judson's churches in Burma have fifty thousand converts, and the influence of his consecrated life is felt around the world." God does not want people of "partial obedience", but rather he wants those who obey him and keep his word.

Tithing

The Moody Monthly once reported a story of a church in Siam that was composed entirely of tithers: "There are 400 members, and every member tithes. They receive 40 stangs (less than twenty cents) and their rice each week. Of this, each gives weekly one-tenth. Because of this they have more for Christian work than any other church in Siam. They pay their own pastor, and have sent two missionary families to spread the Gospel in a community cut off from the outside world. They are entirely responsible for this work and are very earnest about it. They are intensely interested in all forms of Christian work, especially work for unfortunates of every kind, and their gifts for this kind of work are large. They not only have accepted Christ but also, having found him good, are making him known to others. And every member is a leper."

Humility

I recently heard the story of a young Scottish minister who was asked to be the guest preacher one Sunday morning in a large church in Glasgow. As he prepared to preach, he strode to the pulpit with eyes blazing, head held high, and with a demeanor of clear confidence in what he was doing -- and it bordered on arrogance. He preached and the sermon clearly did not go well. When he was done, he descended the pulpit slowly with his head bowed and tears in his eyes. The church's older and much more experienced pastor was there that morning, and so the young minister asked him what he did wrong. The wise pastor answered, "If you had gone up the pulpit the way you came down, that would have been a good start."

It reminds me of the story of the two covenanter pastors who were standing at the foot of the steps that led to the scaffold for their execution. One turned to the other and said, "I am less fearful to go up these steps than the steps into the pulpit."

J. Hudson Taylor and Martyrdom

J. Hudson Taylor's response to the news of the martyred CIM missionaries:
"Oh, think what it must have been," he said, "to exchange that murderous mob for the rapture of His presence, His bosom, His smile!" He paused, trying to control his voice. "They do not regret it now," he continued. "A crown that fadeth not away. They shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy.'" His mind had gone to the Book of Revelation (3:4).
Later, he penned these words in a letter to one of the families, "We thank God for the grace given to those who have suffered. It is a wonderful honour He has put upon us as a mission to be trusted with so great a trial, and to have among us so many counted worth of a martyr's crown...When the resumption of our work in the interior becomes possible we may find circumstances changed, but the principles we have proved, being founded on His own unchanging Word, will be applicable as ever. May we all individually learn the lessons God would teach, and be prepared by His Spirit for any further service to which He may call us while waiting for the coming of our Lord."

Submitted by JD

Proverbs

For the last year we have been reading through the Book of Proverbs in our Sunday morning worship service. At times, it feels as if we are drinking from a fire hydrant: one grand adage after another. Has this worship exercise really been worth it? I would answer with a resounding yes! Matthew Henry gets at the heart of the issue when he says: "What good use may be made of Proverbs? Those who are young and simple may by them be made wise, and are not excluded from Solomon's school, as they were from Plato's. But is it only for such? No; here is not only milk for babes, but strong meat for strong men. This book will not only make the foolish and bad wise and good, but the wise and good wiser and better."

How to Face Persecution

Broomhall, in his book Martyred Missionaries of China Inland Mission, tells the story of the persecution of missionaries in Shan-Si province, China during the Boxer Rebellion of 1900. He quote a letter written by a missionary to her parents:

"The sufferings and privations we endured cannot be told, and I do not want to dwell upon them. The Master suffered, so must we follow in His footsteps, at least it is reserved for some to do so. May He accept how we bore it for His name's sake. I can truly say -- even for the little ones of the party -- no hatred seemed to be felt. Those of the children who knew a little compared it to how Jesus was treated, and spoke about the naughty soldiers who treated Jesus badly. Mr. and Mrs. Saunders' little Jesse, aged seven, who died on the road, said when they were stoned and beaten, 'They treated Jesus like this, didn't they mother?'"

Henry F. Lyte

In the last two Sunday evenings, Jake Spencer has been teaching us a hymn written by Henry F. Lyte called "Abide with Me; Fast Falls the Eventide" (#402 Trinity Hymnal). Jake also told us the story of the hymn, and I wanted to take a moment to put that history on paper for us as a congregation.

Henry Lyte was born in Scotland on June 1, 1793. He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin. And throughout his life he dealt with on-going and threatening health problems. Yet, he was a tireless pastor. For the final twenty-three years of his life, he pastored a small and poor church among fishing people at Lower Brixham, Devonshire, England. While there his health continued to worsen. His last sermon among the people was in 1847, and some recall that he had to crawl to the pulpit, a dying man preaching to his congregation. In his sermon he wanted to "induce you to prepare for the solemn hour which must come to all by a timely appreciation and dependence on the death of Christ." He then traveled to Italy to try and convalesce, but on his way he died in Nice, France and is buried there.

The hymn "Abide with me; Fast Falls the Eventide" was completed by Lyte shortly before his last sermon and his leaving his parishioners. It appears that he knew his time was short. He wrote, "I fear no foe, with thee at hand to bless; ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness. Where is death's sting? where, grave, they victory? I triumph still, if thou abide with me."

Answer to Prayer

In 1932, D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones was on an extended visit to the United States. He was engaged to speak at the Chautauqua Conference Center. He had not planned on going there, but, at the last minute, one of the speakers got sick. Lloyd-Jones was hurriedly put in his place. This was a week long engagement, starting on Monday and ending on Friday. Over the years the conference had become secularized, but there were a few Christians who continued to pray for better things to come for it. On Monday, July 11 some thirty people came to hear him (although there were thousands at the conference). By Friday, Lloyd-Jones' final service, was moved to the concert hall which held 6,000 people and the place was packed.

A Kindred Spirit

The well known Princeton theologian B.B. Warfield tells the following story about a US army officer:

"He was in a great western city at a time of intense excitement and violent rioting. The streets were overrun daily by a dangerous crowd. One day he observed approaching him a man of singularly combined calmness and firmness of mien, whose very demeanour inspired confidence. So impressed was he with his bearing amid the surrounding uproar that when he had passed he turned to look back at him, only to find that the stranger had done the same. On observing his turning the stranger at once came back to him, and touching his chest with his forefinger, demanded without preface: 'What is the chief end of man?' On receiving the countersign, 'Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him for ever' -- 'Ah,' said he, 'I knew you were a Shorter Catechism boy by your looks!' 'Why, that was just what I was thinking of you,' was the rejoinder."

John Ryland

Sov'reign Ruler of the skies,
Ever gracious, ever wise,
All my times are in thy hand,
All events at thy command.

His decree who form'd the earth
Fix'd my first and second birth;
Parents, native place, and time,
All appointed were by him.

He that form'd me in the womb,
He shall guide me to the tomb;
All my times shall ever be
Order'd by his wise decree.

Times of sickness; times of health;
Times of penury and wealth;
Times of trial and of grief;
Times of triumph and relief;

Times the tempter's power to prove;
Times to taste the Saviour's love
All must come, and last, and end,
As shall please my heavenly Friend.

Plagues and deaths around me fly;
Till he bids, I cannot die;
Not a single shaft can hit,
Till the God of love sees fit.

John Ryland (1753-1825)

Posted by NMC

Richard Greenham

In the late 16th century, Richard Greenham pastored in Dry Drayton, an English town about 7 miles from Cambridge. As a pastor, he worked very hard and was diligent for the Lord. "He rose daily at four and each Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday preached a sermon at daybreak, to catch his flock before they dispersed into the fields; then on Sunday he preached twice, and in addition catechised the children of the parish each Sunday evening and Thursday morning." (Packer, A Quest for Godliness, p. 43) Henry Holland, his biographer, says that when he preached that "he was so earnest, and took such extraordinary pains, that his shirt would usually be as wet with sweating, as if it had been drenched with water." He was constantly and continually with his people, encouraging and counseling. In one of the few letters we have from him, he wrote his bishop to say that his ministry was "preaching Christ crucified unto my selfe and Country people." But for all his labors for Christ, Greenham's ministry was unfruitful.

How are we to understand the truth that many pastors diligently labor in fields in which there appears to be little growth? Are we to be in despair? Are we to be discouraged in our labors for Christ? Indeed not! Packer concludes that in "rural England in Greenham's day, there was much fallow ground to be broken up; it was a time for sowing, but the reaping time was still in the future." That, of course, is the correct answer: some are called to sow and some are called to reap, yet both are good, solid laboring for Christ.

Robert Pasfield

William Hinde, in his biography of John Bruen, tells of one of Bruen's servants, a man named Robert Pasfield. Pasfield was totally illiterate, unable to either read or write. Hinde says that Pasfield was "a man utterly unlearned being unable to read a sentence or write a syllable." But Pasfield was no ignorant man. According to Hinde, Pasfield "was so acquainted with the history of the Bible, and the sum and substance of every book and chapter, that hardly could any ask him where such a saying or sentence were, but he would with very little ado tell them in what book and chapter they might find it." (See Ryken, Wordly Saints, p. 140)

Prayer Life

If you want to gain insight into the state of your soul, consider your prayer life. As Robert Murray M’Cheyne said, "A man is what he is on his knees before God, and nothing more."

Likewise, J. C. Ryle in the booklet A Call To Prayer writes the following: “I have a question to offer you. It is contained in three words, DO YOU PRAY? The question is one that none but you can answer. Whether you attend public worship or not, your minister knows. Whether you have family prayers in your house or not, your relations know. But whether you pray in private or not, is a matter between yourself and God…It is essential to your soul’s health to make praying a part of the business of every twenty-four hours in your life. Just as you allot time to eating, sleeping, and business, so also allot time to prayer. Choose your own hours and seasons. At the very least, speak with God in the morning, before you speak with the world: and speak with God at night, after you have done with the world. But settle it in your minds, that prayer is one of the great things of every day. Do not drive it into a corner. Do not give it the scraps and parings of your duty. Whatever else you make a business of, make a business of prayer.”

Mr. M’Cheyne surely incorporated such principles in his life as his diary entry from February 23, 1834 testifies: “Rose early to seek God, and found Him whom my soul loveth. Who would not rise early to meet such company?”

Submitted by NMC

Congregational Attention Span

We live in an age in which people's attention spans are minimal. Preachers are, of course, well aware of this truth. When the sermon is yet being preached at noon on Sunday, and parishioners are shifting in their seats and watches are beeping and cell phones are ringing, what is a preacher to do? When, heaven forbid, the preacher goes until ten after twelve, and he hears about it from some mothers who have dinner in the oven.

Thomas Fuller, in his book The Worthies of England, tells the story of a sermon given by Laurence Chaderton one Sunday morning in Lancashire. Chaderton was the first Master of Emmanuel College of Cambridge University, and he was a fine preacher of the gospel. In any event, on that Sunday morning he had preached for about two hours to the congregation in Lancashire that was not used to good, solid expository preaching. In any event, at the end of the sermon he said something almost apologetically: "that he would no longer trespass on their patience." But the people would not allow him to stop. They urged him on, "For God's sake, sir, go on, go on!" Fuller describes the consequence, "Hereat, Mr. Chaderton was surprised into a longer discourse, beyond his expectation, in satisfaction of their importunity."

I believe many in the pastorate would be sent into great shock if their congregations responded this way.

John Elias

Rev. John Elias was a pastor in North Wales in the early 19th century. He was a lively preacher, as is evidenced by a remarkable sermon he preached in 1824 against drunkeness. Efion Evans describes the sermon as follows:

"Are there any drunkards here?" he cried. "I am afraid there are. I beg of you, will you -- at least today -- control yourselves. If you have no respect for the Almighty, no respect for the laws of your land, no respect for yourselves, will you please -- for our sakes today -- behave soberly and decently. You are, by attending our meetings ande by your drinking and disorderly conduct, undermining our character . . . We have nothing but our character on which to fall back. We are not rich, we are not learned, we are not gifted, we have no high titles . . . But we have our character; we have a very high opinion of our character; we are unwilling to allow anybody to destroy our character. But the drunkards who are attending our Associations are undermining our character. What can we do with them, my brethren?"

Someone made a remark, referring to a sermon that had been preached that day. "I feel within myself this minute", he cried, "to offerthem for sale, by auction, to whomsoever will take them, that they might not disturb us any more." Then, at the top of his voice, with his arm outstretched, as if he held them in the palm of his hand, he shouted, "Who will take them? Who will take them?"

"Churchmen, will you take them?" "We? We, in our baptism have professed to renounce the devil and all his works. No; we cannot take them."

Then, after a moment's silence, "Independents, will you take them?" "What? We? We, ages ago, left the Church of England because of her corruption. No; we will not take them."

Another interval of silence. "Baptists, will you take them?" "We? Certainly not! We dip all our people in water as a sign that we take those who have been cleansed. No; we will not take them."

Silence again. "Wesleyans, will you take them?" "What? We? Good works is a matter of life with us. We do not want them."

Then he stretched forth his arm once again, as if holding the poor drunkards in his hand; and once again, at the top of his voice he shouted, "Who will take them? Who will take them? Who will take them?" Then, suddenly, his whole nature became agitated. His eyes flashed as he turned his head aside, and in a low tone which could be heard by all, he said, "Methinks I can hear the devil at my elbow saying, 'Knock them down to me! I will take them.'"

Then, after thirty seconds of dead silence, he cried, "I was going to say, Satan, that you could have them, but" -- looking upwards he said in a loud, clear, yet gentle voice, "I can hear Jesus saying, 'I will take them! I will take them! Unclean, to be washed; drunkards, to be sobered; in all their filth and degradation, I will take them, and cleanse them in mine own blood."

According to Peter Jefferey, the "effects of all this can be better imagined than described. The ministers, preachers and elders were stunned; and the huge congregation was stirred with a spirit of tumultuous joy and exulatation."

Balance

Keeping one’s balance is a constant Christian challenge. It is the secret of successful tight-rope walking. It is also the great secret of Christian living. As a tight-rope walker can fall either to the right or the left, so it is with any believer. J. I. Packer thinks we are not very good at doing that.

“We Christians are in fact abysmally bad at avoiding extremes,” he says. “We are like pendulums, constantly swinging from one extreme to the other.” Indeed, the power of reaction is one of the powerful forces in all of human life. Packer says it works like this: We see or hear, or think we see or hear, something we dislike and we back away from it as we would from a poisonous snake in the grass. We fix your eyes upon it while we put as much distance between it and us as we can. Walking backward from the snake we soon reach an extreme opposite danger that we are likely not to notice, like a cliff or a hornet’s nest. Avoiding one extreme spawns an opposite sort of extreme. Or as Packer delightfully quips, “The reaction of man does not work the righteousness of God.”

We can see this pendulum swing in the epic struggle between legalism and antinomianism. Another area is the struggle between the dangers of compromise with the world and retreating from the world, an ethos of assimilation to one of detachment by containment and safety.

Jesus’ instruction in Matthew 10:16 helps us maintain balance in our Christian life, positing an ethos of shrewd harmlessness. Jesus was instructing his followers to be crafty at the same time he was commissioning them for ministry in the world. Are there Biblical examples? Yes, Joseph in Egypt and Daniel in Babylon are excellent role models of this balance. Shrewdness and craftiness calls for a knack, a flair for fitting oneself into the world. Not avoidance or witlessness of the world. Shrewdness includes good judgment, discernment, and attentiveness.

Preaching Today

Much preaching today seems to be tepid, soft, and often meant to please the ears of the audience. In contrast, a great example for us today is Spurgeon who used to preach to people in a way that caused them to see the Lord with great fervor. He believed that preaching should never be boring, shallow, or lukewarm. He once said, "That is what you must do with your sermons, make them red-hot; never mind if men do say you are too enthusiastic, or even too fanatical, give them a red hot shot, there is nothing else half as good for the purpose you have in view. We do not go snow-balling on Sundays, we go fire-balling; we ought to hurl grenades into the enemies ranks."

He said further in his book The Soul Winner: "If the people are to be saved, it must be by sermons that interest them. You have first to get them to come under the sound of the gospel, for there is, at all events in London, a great aversion to a place of worship, and I am not much surprised that it is so concerning many churches and chapels. I think, in many instances, the common people do not attend such services because they do not understand the theological 'lingo' that is used in the pulpit; it is neither English nor Greek, but Double-dutch. No, brethren, we must preach in what Whitefield used to call 'market language' if we would have all classes of the community listening to our message."

Earthly Mindedness

Jeremiah Burroughs, a Puritan, wrote a wonderful book called A Treatise of Earthly-Mindedness. He defines "earthly-mindedness" as when a person puts his/her mind and heart primarily on the things and cares of the world. It is as if the things of the world are the most excellent things; as if they are the real treasures of life and so should be sought with all out fervor and energy.

Christians can be earthly-minded; they can be pilgrims without the pilgrim spirit. They can be like Lot who gripped the world and was hesitant to let go. Burroughs provides one way for us to guage our hearts in this matter, and it is quite insightful. He says we need to ask ourselves the following question: what is your heart upon in times of solitude? When you are alone and need not impress anyone, what is it that you place your heart upon? It is at these times that the true nature of our wants and desires are easily discovered.

John Nelson

The first time John Nelson ever heard the gospel message was when he heard John Wesley preach at Moorfields in London. He recalls, "O that was a blessed morning to my soul! As soon as he got upon the stand he stroked back his hair and turned his gaze towards where I stood, and I thought fixed his eyes upon me. His countenance struck such an awful dread upon me before I heard him speak that it made my heart beat like the pendulum of a clock. When he did speak, I thought his whole discourse was aimed at me."

Nelson tried to stop any conviction that was taking place in his heart, that is, until he heard another man tell a group of women that he had been saved through the preaching of John Wesley. Nelson tells of the man's words: "When he began to speak his words made me tremble. I thought he spoke to no one but me, and I durst not look up, for I imagined all the people were looking at me." Nelson went and heard Wesley preach again, and he said, "I found power to believe that Jesus Christ had shed his blood for me, and that God, for his sake, had forgiven my offences. Then was my heart filled with love to God and man."

In time, John Nelson became one of Wesley's assistant ministers, and he went with Wesley to preach in Cornwall and elsewhere. As Geoffrey Thomas comments, "He too became a mighty proclaimer of the divine message of the gospel." (Robert Strivens, ed. Which Church? How to Identify a Biblical Church. Evangelical Press, 2007, p. 77)

Locked out of Church

In an earlier blog I told the story of Charles Simeon, and how the people of Trinity Church in Cambridge, England would lock the doors of the church to keep him from the pulpit. He preached the doctrines of grace, and the people did not want to hear expository preaching or the gospel message. He, of course, wore them down, many were converted, and Simeon pastored that church for over fifty years.

Now, I am not against locking preachers out of a church, but it must be for the right reasons. Alexander Henderson (1583-1646) was unconverted when he went into the ministry (Spurgeon once commented, "nothing could be sadder than an unconverted minister"). On the day of his ordination, the people of his church locked it so that presbytery could not get in to set Henderson apart for the ministerial office. So, against the will of the people, presbytery was obliged to sneak through a window of the church. By God's providence, Alexander Henderson was eventually converted under the preaching of Robert Bruce, and he became a valuable gospel preacher in the city of Edinburgh. But, indeed, at the beginning of his ministry he should have been locked out of his church!

Children

Here is solid advice in raising children:

“What we want to do with our children, is not merely to control them and keep them in order-but to implant true principles deep in their hearts which shall rule their whole lives; to shape their character from within into Christ-like beauty, and to make of them noble men and women, strong for battle of life. They are to be trained rather than governed. Growth of character, not merely good behavior - is the object of all home governing and teaching. Therefore the home influence is far more important than the home laws; and the parents' lives are of more significance than their teachings. Whatever may be done in the way of governing, teaching or training-theories are not half as important as the parents' lives. They may teach the most beautiful things - but if the child does not see these things modeled in the life of the parent, he will not consider them important enough to be adopted in his own life.”

J.R. Miller, Home-Making (1882)

Submitted by RE MS

Thomas Scott

Thomas Scott, an English preacher of the 18th century, is probably best known for his mammoth commentary on the whole Bible. The commentary is evangelical, Calvinistic, judicious, and well written. It has had a great impact on the church ever since it was written. What is of great interest, however, is how Thomas Scott came to see and grip the doctrines of grace.

In the 1770's, Scott was the curate in charge of the parishes of Ravenstone and Weston Underwood (Church of England). He, however, was obviously an unbeliever: he denied the Trinity, he ridiculed the belief that the event at Calvary was a substitution and covering for sin, did not believe in hell, original sin, or judgment. He did not believe that one needed to be born again, that is, regenerated by the Holy Spirit. Scott also was an uncaring pastor; he had very little to do with the people of his congregation. In fact, he had become a minister in order to have an easy way of making a living!

Scott began to hear rumblings in his parish that there was a Dissenter in the town of Olney preaching strange things. So Scott slipped into the man's church to hear him preach. He couldn't believe the things that he heard! And, then, he found out that the Dissenter had, in fact, visited two of Scott's parishioners who were on their death beds in order to encourage them in their trials. What audacity! Who is this man that he is visiting my parishioners?

Scott did not like this man, but he began a written correspondence with him in order to test his own theology. The Dissenter, John Newton, refused to argue with Scott. He simply laid out the gospel to him, prayed for him, and assured him that one day he would come to agree with Newton's theology. Slowly Scott's mind and heart were changing. Brian Edwards comments, " . . . but not only his mind, his preaching also. To his great confusion, some of his congregation came to him 'in great distress about their souls', but he could only encourage them 'in a general way to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.' Clearly some were converted before there own minister was!"

In 1777, through a time of great trial and distress, Thomas Scott knew of only one man to turn to. John Newton helped him through the personal adversity. Scott, by the end of the year, had converted, become evangelical, and soon became Calvinistic. Ironically, when Newton left Olney to pastor in London, it was Thomas Scott who "took his place in the vicarage and wrote and preached as a champion for the truth" (Edwards). One of the men who used to come and hear him preach frequently was a young Baptist cobbler named William Carey. Carey commented in 1821, "If there be anything of the word of God in my soul, I owe much of it to Scott's preaching."

Oh the mysterious providence of God in the salvation of sinners!