Martyrdom of Vincentius

Thomas Brooks tells the following story:

"Vincentius, who by his patience and constancy madded his tormentors; wherefore they stripped him stark naked, whipped his body all over to a gore of blood, sprinkled salt and vinegar over all his wounds, set his feet on burning coals, then cast him naked into a loathsome dungeon, the pavement whereof was sharp shells, and his bed to lie one a bundle of thorns. All which this blessed martyr received, without so much as a groan, breathing out his spirit in these words, 'Vincentius is my name, and by the grace of God I will still be Vincentius, in spite of all your torments.' Persecution brings death in one hand and life in the other; for while it kills the body it crowns the soul."

A Little Food for Thought

This past Sunday evening at Ballantyne Presbyterian Church we ordained and installed our Associate Pastor Robert Arendale. It was a great event with many eyes drawn to Jesus. The office of pastor/teaching elder is a high calling: Thomas Goodwin famously said that "God has only one Son, and he made him to be a preacher." May we deal with our new Associate Pastor as one of high calling, and one that has been placed in our midst by God.

Horatio Spafford

Horatio Spafford lost almost everything in the great fire of Chicago in 1873; it was a financial disaster for him. After the fire, he decided to send his family to England, and so he put his wife and four children on the SS Ville de Havre. Deep in the Atlantic Ocean, the ship collided with another ship, the SS Lochearn. Over 200 people died in the accident, most by drowning . . . including Spafford's four children. When she got to England, Spafford's wife sent him a telegram with the words "Saved Alone." Spafford caught the next ship to England in order to be with her. The story goes that when the ship came to the point of the drowning, Spafford sat down and composed the following lines:

"When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
'It is well, it is well with my soul.'"

William Carey's Tombstone

William Carey the great missionary to India had the following inscribed on his grave-marker:

William Carey

Born August 17th, 1761

Died June 1834

A wretched, poor and helpless worm,

on Thy kind arms I fall.

Seeing Life at Death

J. E. Rattenbury, in Wesley's Legacy to the World (1928), tells the story of the death of Bishop Butler in 18th century England. Butler is remembered for his relationship with George Whitefield (both for good and bad) and for his book Analogy of Natural and Revealed Religion. It is clear that his Christianity was of the head and not the heart, at least until the end of his life.

"When he lay dying, he was in distress of soul, and said to his chaplain that, notwithstanding his efforts to live a good life, he was afraid to die. 'My lord', said his chaplain, 'You have forgotten that Jesus Christ is a Savior.' 'True', was his answer, 'but how shall I know that He is a Savior for me?' 'My lord, it is written, him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.' 'True', said the Bishop, 'I am surprised that, though I have read that Scripture a thousand times over, I never felt its virtue till this moment, and now I die happy.'"

John Cennick

The 18th century preacher John Cennick remembers a spiritual event that had a lasting effect upon his soul, namely, the death of his mother's aunt. The woman, as she lay on her death bed, gave a wonderful testimony to salvation in Christ. She said, "Who calls me poor? I am rich in Christ! I have got Christ! I am rich! . . . This night the Lord stood by me and invited me to drink at the fountain of life freely; and I shall stand before Him, bold as a lion!"

God used this scene to affect his heart for Christ. He commented, "The words she uttered indeed pierced my soul, so that I could not rest day nor night, but was continually wishing, if I thought of sickness or death, O that I may be assured of Heaven before I die! and began to fear greatly. These were the most early convictions I can remember, nor do I know any time between whiles, till my conversion, when I did not meditate on my aunt's last words."

The Lord is My Shepherd

This past Sunday evening in our church service we began looking at Psalm 23. As I have been reading the letters of John Newton, it was interesting to see his following comments to a parishioner:

"Like sheep, we are weak, destitute, defenceless, prone to wander, unable to return, and always surrounded by wolves. But all is made up in the fulness, ability, wisdom, compassion, care, and faithfulness of our great Shepherd. He guides, protects, feeds, heals, and restores, and will be our guide and our God even until death. Then he will meet us, receive us, and present us unto himself, and we shall be near to him, and like him, and with him for ever."

Calvin on Mortifying the Flesh

"First, as we are by nature too inclined too attribute everything to our flesh -- unless our feebleness be shown, as it were, to our eyes -- we readily esteem our virtue above its due measure. And we do not doubt, whatever happens, that against all difficulties it will remain unbroken and unconquered. Hence we are lifted up into stupid and empty confidence in the flesh; and relying on it, we are then insolently proud against God himself, as if our powers were sufficient without his grace. He can best restrain this arrogance when he proves to us by experience not only the great incapacity but also the frailty under which we labour. Therefore, he afflicts us either with disgrace or poverty, or bereavement, or disease, or other calamities. Utterly unequal to bearing these, in so far as they touch us, we soon succumb to them. Thus humbled, we learn to call upon his power which alone makes us stand fast under the weight of afflictions." Institutes III. 8. 2.

Ryle on Whitefield

J.C. Ryle in his book Christian Leaders (1869) writes about how the clergy in England responded to the preaching of George Whitefield:

"The clergy, with a few honourable exceptions, refused entirely to countenance this strange preacher. In the true spirit of the dog in the manger, they neither liked to go after the semi-heathen masses of population themselves, nor liked anyone else to do the work for them . . . The plain truth is, that the Church of England of that day was not ready for a man like Whitefield. The Church was too much asleep to understand him, and was vexed at a man who would not keep still and let the devil alone."

Awakening

George Whitefield, of course, was one of the great evangelists in the history of the church. However, it is interesting to note that, in contrast to many preachers today, Whitefield did not encourage people to make a public profession of faith at his services. He saw many people moved by his preaching . . . and he saw the Holy Spirit arouse sinners to deep, often overwhelming, sense of sin. But Whitefield did not call this conversion, but, rather, awakening. He believed that many were awakened, but not all of them were converted. In this regard, Whitefield refused to count converts . . . he believed that only time, months and years, of righteous living would evidence true conversion. But, even then, he said, "Only the judgment morning will reveal who the converts really are." How refreshing!

Wesley

Early in his days of ministry John Wesley travelled from London to Georgia in the new world. There he hoped to minister among the Indians and settlers, and he desired to see many conversions among the people. His ministry did not go well . . . as Dallimore remarks, "he was in bitter dejection, for his whole person was shaken by the realization that salvation was not to be gained by any programme of human effort." He fled back to England, and confessed, "What have I learned? Why, what I the least of suspected, that I who went to America to convert others, was never myself converted to God."

Wesley had been first taught this truth by Moravians, a German evangelical group. At sea he noticed that when ship was hit by a violent storm, that "a terrible screaming began among the English." The Moravians, however -- men, women and children -- calmly sang a hymn of trust and praise. Wesley was startled because he realized that these Christians possessed something he did not have, and that amidst the storm he admitted, "I was afraid to die." Later, the Moravian leaders continued to ply Wesley with questions, such as "Do you know Jesus Christ?" and "Do you know if he has saved your soul?" These were Wesley's first contacts with evangelical Christianity and "they left a lasting mark."