"The Market Day of the Soul" by Clifton Rankin

The Sunday before Christmas, as I headed home from worship, I looked over at Parkdale Mall and noticed that there was nary a parking place to be had. The Sunday after Christmas (which was the day after), as I headed home from worship, the same parking lot was filled to the brim with automobiles, as people fought to get after-Christmas deals, use their gift cards, and return all those clothes that were too small.

However, on Christmas Day, I drove past the same mall and not a car was to be seen; except for a few news vans parked outside of KJAC channel 4. Granted, I realize that I live in a fallen world, and that I can’t expect non-Christians to reverence the Lord’s Day, but I could not help but wish that the same respect given to Christmas Day, would be given to the day each week that the Lord commands us to “keep.” Because we are “prone to wander,” it is imperative that at least once every seven days, we be reminded of our need to worship the Triune God, and to think about His grace that has been poured out upon sinners.

As 2011 draws near, may we as God’s people take seriously His day; for His eternal glory, and for our eternal good.

8 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. (Exodus 20:8-11)

Is This All I Get--After So Much Trouble? - John Newton

"Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world." John 16:33

Dear Brother,
Blessed be God for the news of a better world, where there will be no sin, trouble, nor defect forever!

What shall it be--when the Lord shall call us up to join with those who are now singing before the eternal throne!

What shall it be--when all the children of God, who in different ages and countries have been scattered abroad--shall be all gathered together, and enter into that glorious and eternal rest provided for them!

What shall it be--when there shall not be one trace of sin or sorrow remaining--not one discordant note to be heard, nothing to disturb or defile, or alleviate the never-ceasing joy!

Many a weary step we have taken, since the Lord first drew us to Himself; but we shall not have to tread the past way over again. Some difficulties may remain--but we know not how few. Perhaps before we are aware, the Lord may cut short our conflict and say, "Come up hither!" At the most, it cannot be very long! He who has been with us thus far--will be with us to the end. He knows how to cause our consolations to exceed our greatest afflictions!

And when we get safely home--we shall not complain that we have suffered too much along the way. We shall not say, "Is this all I get--after so much trouble?" No! When we awake in that glorious world, we shall in an instant--be satisfied with His likeness. One sight of Jesus as He is--will fill our hearts, and dry up all our tears!

"I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us." Romans 8:18

Sensual Worship — A Sign of Impending Apostasy

Sensual Worship - A Sign of Impending Apostasy by Iain Murray

When interest in the churches begins to centre round the visual and the sensual it is commonly a sign of impending apostasy. By ‘sensual’ I mean that which appeals to the senses of man (sight, smell, hearing), as opposed to ‘spirit’, that is, the capacity that belongs to those born of the Spirit of God. Hence the antithesis, ‘sensual, having not the Spirit’ (Jude 19). ‘Sensual’ is also translated ‘natural’ or ‘worldly’; the meaning is the same. It does not take regeneration to give the sensual or the aesthetic a religious appeal to the natural man or woman.

In the Old Testament the people of God were in measure taught by their senses as God imposed the form of worship. As a check against any misuse of that means of teaching no additions to or subtractions from it were allowed. But with the finished work of Christ, and the coming of the Holy Spirit, a momentous change took place. The church was raised to the higher privilege of worship in ‘spirit and truth’ (John 4:24). She belongs to the ‘Jerusalem which is above’ (Gal. 4:26).

In the words of John Owen, ‘the naked simplicity of gospel institutions’ was established in the place of ‘the old, glorious worship of the temple’; Levitical choirs, incense, vestments, etc. — all were gone. Yet not gone permanently; for as church and world gradually came together in the rise of the Papacy, worship that appealed to the senses was reintroduced. Presuming on Old Testament practice, what the gospel had ended in the apostolic age was restored, and the difference brought in by Pentecost disappeared.¹ Instead there developed a form of worship in Roman Catholicism which made impressions on the senses at the natural level and which did not need the Holy Spirit.

In the words of Richard Bennett, long a Roman priest, ‘The ritual, symbolical richness of the sacramental life of the Church, to a great extent, meets the human need for transcendence.’² It does no more than that. The observation of W. H. Griffith Thomas, writing on ‘Spiritual Worship’, is true:

It is the universal experience of Christian people that the more the senses are attracted, fascinated, and occupied, the less room there is for the action of the soul. The teaching of Christian History points very clearly to the fact that simplicity of outward ceremonial has been usually unaccompanied by the reality of the inward spirit of worship.³

This is where the neglect of church history and Scripture has serious consequences for many contemporary evangelical churches. In the 1960s, at a time when the churches were losing their hold on young people, it was believed that a new way of renewing contact with them was to be learned from the contemporary culture. Music appeals to all, and why not make use of the new style of music and accompaniments which had become so popular? After all, music has to be neutral, so why not make it an ally?⁴ Some put it more strongly. James Ryle ‘prophesied’ that ‘God is getting ready to anoint Christian musicians with the same anointing that was given to the Beatles’, and he attributed to God the words, ‘I had a purpose, and the purpose was to usher in the charismatic renewal with music revival around the world.’⁵

Few warning voices were to be heard. Martyn Lloyd-Jones was almost alone in the 1960s in England when he warned against ‘the increasing tendency at the present time’ to use music to produce emotion; the justification being that music can make people happy, and when people feel happy they will find Christianity more acceptable. When an older generation sometimes expressed misgivings at the change this thinking had brought into public worship, they were told not to put their wishes before those of the outsiders whom the church needed to win. Few saw the danger pinpointed by Lloyd-Jones: the impression of music on natural feelings was being confused with spiritual truth: ‘Because it [music] is performed in connection with a religious service or by Christians, people imagine and persuade themselves that they are feeling the truth. But they are not. This feeling has no direct connection with what they have believed.’⁶

With this new departure came a flood of musical innovations into evangelical churches worldwide. The instruments of the old temple worship, as well as others, were restored, and with ‘music teams’, ‘music directors’, public worship has undergone a transformation.

It would be a mistake to say the change has come simply from the initiative of evangelicals. The Roman Catholic Church is no less involved, and in her case the new thinking was not new at all. It was under the Papacy, in the later Middle Ages, that the Church first commonly took up the use of instrumental music. At the time of the Reformation, Erasmus complained of the Roman Church:

We have brought into our churches a certain operose and theatrical music . . . as I think was ever heard in any of the Grecian or Roman theatres. The Church rings with the noise of trumpets, pipes and dulcimers; and human voices strive to bear their part with them . . . Men run to church as to a theatre, to have their ears tickled.⁷

The Reformers rejected the paraphernalia of musical accompaniments, not because they did not appreciate the place of congregational song in the worship of God but, on the contrary, because they wanted its restoration to New Testament simplicity. In the words of Calvin: ‘In gospel times we must not have recourse to these, unless we wish to destroy the evangelical perfection, and to obscure the meridian light which we enjoy in Christ.’⁸ Far from having any right to claim the support of Scripture for what Rome had introduced, he further says: ‘Now that Christ has appeared, and the church has reached full age, it were only to bury the light of the gospel, should we introduce the shadows of a departed dispensation.’⁹

The Church of Rome, in her apostasy, has long exhibited the full outworking of the danger which evangelicalism has been ignoring. But sometimes protest coming from an unexpected quarter broke the silence. Richard Bennett, after finishing his education at the Angelicum University of Rome, served as a priest in Trinidad. In all his years there, he writes, Protestant Christians from overseas sometimes came to services,

saw our sacred oils, holy water, medals, statues, vestments, rituals, and never said a word! The marvellous style, symbolism, music, and artistic taste of the Roman Church were all very captivating. Incense not only smells pungent, but to the mind it spells mystery. One day, a woman challenged me (the only Christian ever to challenge me in all my twenty-two years as a priest), 'You Roman Catholics have a form of godliness, but you deny its power.' Those words bothered me for some time because the lights, banners, folk music, guitars and drums were dear to me. Clearly I was unable to apply the Scripture to my life where it mattered most.¹⁰

The change in public worship in evangelical churches is not the harmless thing it is thought to be. ‘So long as there is good preaching’, it is said, ‘we need not be overly concerned.’ We ought to be concerned! An appetite is being fed which in the past has led to the very abandonment of the gospel. When satisfying the ‘natural’ becomes acceptable in churches, the spiritual will not long remain. As the long-time Catholic, and later Protestant martyr, Hugh Latimer, warned, ‘When candles go up, preaching comes down.’

That music has great prominence in modern society is not in doubt. Nor is it the first time that such attention has been given to music in periods of decadence. Horatius Bonar noted:

In connection with the 'decline and fall' of the Roman Empire, a singular fact has been recorded. — When the arts were declining, — poetry, sculpture, painting, deteriorating, — religion and patriotism decaying, — music was cultivated to an extraordinary extent. Old Romans died music-mad.¹¹

Accommodating the churches to contemporary culture may increase numbers (for a time); it has never led to a spiritual awakening. Unless there is a God-given change, it is to be feared that we will see in evangelicalism a developing apostasy.

---

Notes:

1. ‘Dislike of the purity and simplicity of the gospel worship is that which was the rise of, and gave increase or progress unto the whole Roman apostasy. Men do not like the plain institutions of Christ, but are pleased with the meretricious Roman paint, wherewith so great a part of the world hath been beguiled and infatuated.’ John Owen, Works, 20:114-5, also identified as his Exposition of Hebrew, vol. 4 in the Goold/Banner of Truth edition. Likewise he argues that what was being addressed in the Epistle to the Hebrews was the temptation of professing Christians to regret the loss of the visual glory of Judaism. Owen’s Nature and Causes of Apostasy from the Gospel, in his Works, vol. 7, is unsurpassed as a treatment of the subject.

2. Richard Bennett, Catholicism: East of Eden (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 2010), p. 44.

3. W. H. Griffith Thomas, The Catholic Faith, A Manual of Instruction for Members of the Church of England (London: Church Book Room Press, 1955), p. 147.

4. That music is ‘neutral’ is by no means always true. ‘Since music should help the reception of the Word of God, it should be weighty, dignified, majestic and modest; fitting attitudes for sinful creatures in the presence of God’ (Calvin).

5. Quoted by John MacArthur, Charismatic Chaos (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1992), p. 72.

6. Living Water, Studies in John (Wheaton: Crossway, 2009), p. 365. He added: ‘If you start clapping your hands or stamping your feet or moving them in a rhythmic manner, you are the whole time dealing with this realm of the emotions. And there is a great deal of that today. Some even deliberately employ psychological methods — different coloured lights, for instance, to prey upon the emotions’ (p. 366).

7. Quoted by John L.Girardeau, Instrumental Music in the Public Worship of the Churc (Richmond, VA; 1888), p. 162. R. L. Dabney, reviewing and commending Girardeau’s book, made the same point as Dr Lloyd-Jones: ‘Blinded men are ever prone to imagine that they have religious feelings, because they have sensuous, animal feelings, in accidental juxtaposition with religious places, words, or sights. This is the pernicious mistake which has sealed up millions of self-deceived souls in hell.’ Dr Girardeau’s Instrumental Music in Public Worship, A Review (Richmond, VA: 1889), p. 8.

8. On 1 Samuel 18:1-9.

9. On Psalm 92:3, quoted by C. H. Spurgeon, whose church also used no instrumental accompaniment, The Treasury of David, vol. 4 (London; Marshall, Morgan, & Scott, 1950), p. 123. Many Protestant churches have used one instrument instead of a precentor to set the tune; this is very different from the instrumental accompaniment that is now promoted.

10. Catholicism: East of Eden, pp. 9-10.

11. Horatius Bonar, Our Ministry (Edinburgh: MacNiven 1883), p. 74.

Artists Build the Church???

Just a few minutes ago I posted a comment in response to one commenter on The Gospel Coalition Website Blog and to an article as a whole.  It was then deleted a few moments later, but I wanted my comment to be public.  It is the following:

I want to respond to 'yuck' (at least at the beginning of my response and then to the article as a whole) who stated that we should be asking 'Who do we worship?' and I assume that that is instead of 'How should we worship'???  Well, we worship the Lord God Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.  What does He say about how to worship Him?  That is the only thing that matters isn't it?  How I want to worship HIM means very little.  If I chose, I could worship Him in the corporate setting by reading a good book about Him, but would He be pleased?  No.  He says in the context of worship in Dt. 12, "You shall not worship the LORD your God in that way, for every abominable thing that the LORD hates they have done for their gods, for they even burn their sons and their daughters in the fire to their gods. Everything that I command you, you shall be careful to do. You shall not add to it or take from it."  I think that is pretty clear.  He never tells me to read a good book about Him (outside of the Bible) during corporate worship.

Okay, who builds the Church?  Artists?  Nope, God's Word says, "The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the church."  What did the prophets do?  They spoke God's Word.  God's Word is what builds up the Church.  What else does God's Word say about God's Word?   "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work."  Oh yes, God's Word builds up the Church spiritually.  What about physically?  Yes, the Word of God builds physically the Church.  "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim);  because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved...everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?"  And what were they preaching?  Yes, that's right, the Word of God. 

Artists don't build the Church, I as a Pastor don't build the Church, Christ Jesus the Head of the Church tells us how the Church is built...by His living and active Word, which is sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.  I'd like to see an Artist do that!

The Church needs to return to what Jesus says is important on how to build the Church physically and spiritually, and that is His own Word: Read, Preached, Prayed, Sung...

Conclusion: This article is hogwash, false teaching, and is of devil.  Don't be led astray.

The Only Holy Day is the Lord’s Day

Acts of the General Assemblies of the Church of Scotland on Festival Days

December 10,

Session 17, 1638

And next in particular, concerning festival days findeth that in the explication of the first head of the first book of discipline it was thought good that the feasts of Christmas, Circumcision, Epiphany, with the feasts of the Apostles, Martyrs and Virgin Mary be utterly abolished because they are neither commanded nor warranted by Scripture and that such a observe them be punished by Civil Magistrates. Here utter abolition is craved and not reformation of abuses only and that because the observation of such feasts have no warrant from the word of God. In the General Assembly held at Edinburgh Anno 1556 the large confession of Helvetia was approved but with special exception against the same five days which are now urged upon us. It was not then the Popish observation only, with the Popish opinion of worship and merit, which was disallowed; (for so the reformed Kirk in Helvetia did not observe them) but simpliciter all observation. For this end was read a letter in Latin, sent at that time by some of our divines to certain divines in these parts to this purpose. In the Assembly holden 15 5. in August, complaint was made against the Ministers and Readers beside Aberdeen; because they assembled the people to preaching and prayers upon certain festival days: So that preaching and prayers upon festival days was judged rebukable. It was ordained likewise, that complaint be made to the Regent, upon the town of Drumfreis, for urging and convoying a Reader to the Kirk with Cabrfet and Whistle, to read Prayers, all the holy days of Christmas, upon the refusal of their own Reader. Among the articles directed by this Assembly to the Regent: It was craved that all holy days hereto-fore keeped holy, beside the Lords day, such as Yuleday, and Saints days, and such others may be abolished, and a certain penalty appointed for banqueting, playing, feasting upon these days. In the Assembly held in April, Anno 1577. It was ordained that the visitors with the advice of the Synodal Assembly, should admonish Ministers, preaching or administrating the Communion at Easter, or Christmas, or other like superstitious times, or Readers reading, to desist, under the pain of deprivation. In the ninth head of the first book of Discipline, the reason is set down against Easter Communion. Your honours are not ignorant how superstitiously the people run to that action at Pascheven; as if the time gave virtue to the Sacrament, and how the rest of the whole year, they are careless and negligent as if it appertained not to them, but at that time only. And for this reason, other times were appointed by that book, for that holy action. In the Assembly holden 1596, begun in March 1595, at which time the Covenant was renewed, superstition and idolatry breaking forth in observing festival days; setting out of bonfires, singing carols, are reckoned amongst the corruptions which were to be amended: And the pulpits did sound from time to time, against all show of observing any festival day whatsoever, except the Lords day.

Why Should Protestants NOT Mix With Roman Catholics?

Over a decade ago there was this push for evangelicals and catholics to find a common ground where they could live together.  What came about was called "Evangelicals and Catholics Together".  But I am here to tell you that Protestants and even more specifically Presbyterians are not to intermingle with Catholics.  You won't find a common ground.  The one place there has to be a common ground is on the Gospel, specifically justification.  But you won't find it.  You can look for the rest of your lifetime and you can try to redefine words to try to make it work, but it will not happen.  This is why we are Protestants because we Protest against Roman Catholicism and their heretical views.  

Well, I bring all this up because I was alerted to a letter Charles Hodge wrote to Pope Pius IX after being invited to the first Vatican Council.  How did he respond for his fellow Presbyterian brethren?

The text of a letter written by Charles Hodge of Princeton Theological Seminary on behalf of the two General Assemblies of the Presbyterian Church in the USA, explaining why the Pope's invitation to Protestants to send delegates to the first Vatican Council of 1869-70 was beind declined.

To Pius the Ninth, Bishop of Rome,

By your encyclical letter dated 1869 you invite Protestants to send delegates to the Council called to meet at Rome during the month of December of the current year. That letter has been brought to the attention of the two General Assemblies of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America. Those Assemblies represent about five thousand ministers and a still larger number of Christian congregations.

Believing as we do, that it is the will of Christ that his Church on earth should be united, and recognizing the duty of doing all we consistently can to promote Christian charity and fellowship, we deem it right briefly to present the reasons which forbid our participation in the deliberations of the approaching Council.

It is not because we have renounced any article of the catholic faith. We are not heretics. We cordially receive all the doctrines contained in that Symbol which is known as the Apostles' Creed. We regard all doctrinal decisions of the first six ecumenical councils to be consistent with the Word of God, and because of that consistency, we receive them as expressing our faith. We therefore believe the doctrine of the Trinity and of the person of Christ as those doctrines are expressed in the symbols adopted by the Council of Nicea AD321, that of the Council of Constantinople AD381 and more fully that of the Council of Chalcedon AD451. We believe that there are three persons in the Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; and these three are the same in substance and equal in power and glory. We believe that the Eternal Son of God became man by taking to himself a true body and a reasonable soul, and so was, and continues to be, both God and man in two distinct natures and one person forever. We believe that our adorable Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is the prophet who should come into the world, whose teachings we are bound to believe and on whose promises we rely. He is the High Priest whose infinitely meritorious satisfaction to divine justice, and whose ever prevalent intercession, is the sole ground of the sinner's justification and acceptance before God. We acknowledge him to be our Lord not only because we are his creatures but also because we are the purchase of his blood. To his authority we are bound to submit, in his care we confide, and to his service all creatures in heaven and earth should be devoted.

We receive all those doctrines concerning sin, grace and predestination, known as Augustinian, which doctrines received the sanction not only of the Council of Carthage and of other provincial Synods, but of the Ecumenical Council of Ephesus AD431, and of Zosimus, bishop of Rome.

We therefore cannot be pronounced heretics without involving in the same condemnation the whole ancient church.

Neither are we schismatics. We cordially recognize as members of Christ's visible Church on earth, all those who profess the true religion together with their children. We are not only willing but earnest to hold Christian communion with them, provided they do not require, as conditions of such communion, that we profess doctrines which the Word of God condemns, or that we should do what the Word forbids. If in any case any Church prescribes such unscriptural terms of fellowship, the error and the fault is with that church and not with us.

But although we do not decline your invitation because we are either heretics or schismatics, we are nevertheless debarred from accepting it, because we still hold with ever increasing confidence those principles for which our fathers were excommunicated and pronounced accursed by the Council of Trent, which represented, and still represents, the Church over which you preside.

The most important of those principles are: First, that the Word of God, contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, is the only infallible rule of faith and practice. The Council of Trent, however, pronounces Anathema on all who do not receive the teachings of tradition pari pietatis affectu (with equal pious affection) as the Scriptures themselves. This we cannot do without incurring the condemnation which our Lord pronounced on the Pharisees, who made void the Word of God by their traditions (Matt. 15:6).

Secondly, the right of private judgement. When we open the Scriptures, we find that they are addressed to the people. They speak to us. We are commanded to search them (John 5:39), to believe what they teach. We are held personally responsible for our faith. The apostle commands us to pronounce accursed an apostle or an angel from heaven who should teach anything contrary to the divinely authenticated Word of God (Gal. 1:8). He made us the judges, and has placed the rule of judgement into our hands, and holds us responsible for our judgements.

Moreover, we find that the teaching of the Holy Spirit was promised by Christ not to the clergy only, much less to any one order of the clergy exclusively, but to all believers. It is written, 'Ye shall all be taught of God.' The Apostle John says to believers: 'Ye have an unction from the Holy One, and know all things . . . but the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you; and ye need not that any man teach you; but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him' (1 John 2:20,27). This teaching of the Spirit authenticates itself, as this same apostle teaches us, when he says, 'He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself (1 John 5:10). 'I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth' (1 John 2:21). Private judgement, therefore, is not only a right, but a duty, from which no man can absolve himself, or be absolved by others.

Thirdly, we believe in the universal priesthood of all believers, that is, that all believers have through Christ access by one Spirit unto the Father (Eph. 2:18); that we may come with boldness to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need (Heb. 4:16); 'Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; and having an high priest over the house of God; let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water' (Heb. 10:19-22). To admit, therefore, the priesthood of the clergy, whose intervention is necessary to secure for us the remission of sin and other benefits of the redemption of Christ, is to renounce the priesthood of our Lord, or its sufficiency to secure reconciliation with God.

Fourthly, we deny the perpetuity of apostleship. As no man can be an apostle without the Spirit of prophecy, so no man can be an apostle without the gifts of an apostle. Those gifts, as we learn from Scripture, were plenary knowledge of the truth derived from Christ by immediate revelation (Gal.s 1:12), and personal infallibility as teachers and rulers. What the seals of apostleship were Paul teaches us, when he says to the Corinthians, 'Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds' (2 Cor. 12:12). As for prelates who claim to be apostles, and who demand the same confidence in their teaching, and the same submission to their authority, as that which is due to the inspired messengers of Christ, without pretending to possess either the gifts or signs of the apostleship, we cannot submit to their claims. This would be rendering to erring men the subjection due to God alone or to his divinely authenticated and infallible messengers.

Much less can we recognize the Bishop of Rome as the vicar of Christ on earth, clothed with the authority over the Church and the world which was exercised by our Lord while here in the flesh. It is plain that no one can be the vicar of Christ who has not the attributes of Christ. To recognize the Bishop of Rome as Christ's vicar is therefore virtually to recognize him as divine.

We must stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free. We cannot forfeit our salvation by putting man in the place of God, giving one of like passions with ourselves the control of our inward and outward life which is due only to him in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, and in whom dwells all the fulness of the Godhead.

Other and equally cogent reasons might be assigned why we cannot with a good conscience be represented in the proposed Council. But as the Council of Trent, whose canons are still in force, pronounces all accursed who hold the principles above enumerated, nothing further is necessary to show that our declining your invitation is a matter of necessity.

Nevertheless, although we cannot return to the fellowship of the Church of Rome, we desire to live in charity with all men. We love all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. We regard as Christian brethren all who worship, love and obey him as their God and Saviour, and we hope to be united in heaven with all who unite with us on earth in saying, 'Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen' (Rev. 1:6).

Signed on behalf of the two General Assemblies of the Presbyterian Church in the US of America

Charles Hodge

Clothe Yourself With Humility by John MacDuff

"Be clothed with humility." 1 Peter 5:5

"True humility," said one, "is a lovely ornament; it is the only suitable dress for a saved sinner!" O let us seek then to be clothed in this robe--that we may be brought to lie low at the footstool of our Maker and Redeemer.

In the saints of old, this grace of humility appeared with marked prominence--and they are patterns for our imitation.

There was Abraham, the father of the faithful and the friend of God. How great was his humility! how profound his self-abasement! "I have ventured to speak to the Lord--even though I am nothing but dust and ashes!" He was filled with a consciousness of his absolute nothingness in the presence of the Great Eternal.

There was David also, who speaks of himself as "a worm--and not a man!"

Job cried out, "Behold, I am vile!"

In the apostle Paul, again, what a striking exemplification have we of this grace of humility. If self-delight were ever allowable in any individual, it would be in him; for such a laborious, self-denying, unselfish character, has, doubtless, not yet appeared--the man Christ Jesus alone and always excepted.

But what were his views and feelings in reference to himself? On one occasion we hear him saying that he was not worthy to be called an apostle. At another time he says, "I am less than the least of all God's people!" And when penning one of his last epistles, he designates himself the very chief of sinners! He was brought to know himself--a knowledge in which all wisdom centers. If we knew ourselves as he did--pride and self-delight would find no room within us!

But, above all, let us consider Him who said, "Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me--for I am gentle and humble in heart." The heaven of heavens could not contain Him; all the fullness of the Eternal Godhead dwelt in Him; devils trembled at His rebuke, and flew from His presence to the abodes of misery; yet how gentle, how humble He was! Reader, aspire after conformity to Christ--in His humility.

Against the proud--God's displeasure has been manifested in all ages.

Think of Pharaoh. The language of that proud monarch was, "Who is the Lord--that I should obey Him?" But the Divine Majesty could not bear to be thus insulted; hence the puny worm with all his legions were destroyed--they sank as lead in the mighty waters!

Think of Nebuchadnezzar. Hear his boasting exclamation, "Is not this great Babylon that I have built, by the might of my power, and for the honor of my majesty?" But God resisted him, and he was turned from the society of men--to eat grass with the beasts of the field!

Think of Herod. With what delight did he receive the applause of the people, when they cried, "It is the voice of a god, and not the voice of man!" But the angel of the Lord smote him--and he was eaten with worms!

While, however, God resists the proud--He has promised to give grace unto the humble. The humble are the objects of His special regard. "For thus says the high and lofty One, who inhabits eternity, whose name is holy: I dwell in the high and holy place"--that is one of the palaces of the Great King, where the throne of His glory is erected--where the countless armies of cherubim and seraphim are stationed, and where perfected saints reside. But He has another place of habitation: "with him also, who is humble and contrite in spirit!"

O Lord, subdue the pride of my heart; and help me to manifest, by my whole demeanor--that humility of spirit which is in Your sight of great price!

In Affliction Look To Jesus - Octavius Winslow

God's family is a sorrowing family. "I have chosen you," He says, "in the furnace of affliction." The history of the church finds its fittest emblem in the burning, yet unconsumed bush, which Moses saw. Man is "born to sorrow;" but the believer is "appointed thereunto."
If he is a "chosen vessel"--it is in the "furnace of affliction."
If he is an adopted child of God--"chastening" is the mark.
If he is journeying to the heavenly kingdom--his path lies through "much tribulation."
But if his sufferings abound, much more so do His consolations. To be comforted by God, may well reconcile us to any sorrow with which it may please our heavenly Father to visit us with.

In each season of affliction, to whom can we more appropriately look--than to Jesus? He was preeminently the man of sorrows--and acquainted with grief.

If you would tell your grief to one who knew grief as none ever knew it;
if you would weep upon the bosom of one who wept as none ever wept;
if you would disclose your sorrow to one who sorrowed as none ever sorrowed;
if you would bare your wound to one who was wounded as none ever was wounded
--then, in your affliction, turn from all creature sympathy and succor, and look to Jesus! You could not take...
  your trial,
  your affliction,
  and your sorrow...
    to a kinder nature,
    to a tenderer bosom,
    to a deeper love,
    to a more powerful arm,
    to a more sympathizing friend!
Go and breathe your sorrows into His heart--and He will comfort you!

Blessed sorrow if, in the time of your bereavement, your grief, and your solitude--you are led to Jesus, making Him your Savior, your Friend, your Counselor and your Shield.

Blessed loss, if it is compensated by a knowledge of God, if you find in Him a Father now, to whom you will transfer your ardent affections, upon whom you will repose your bleeding heart, and in whom you will trust.

Spurgeon's Thoughts on Death

"Death gives us infinitely more than he takes away! To stand before that throne upon the sea of glass mingled with fire, to bow within the presence chamber of the King of kings, gazing into the glory that excels, and to see the King in his beauty, the man that once was slain, wearing many crowns and arrayed in the vesture of his glory, his wounds like sparkling jewels still visible above! Oh! to cast our crowns at his feet, to lie there and shrink into nothing before the Eternal All, to fly into Jesus' bosom, to behold the beauty of his love, and to taste the kisses of his mouth, to be in Paradise, swallowed up in unutterable joy because taken into the closest, fullest, nearest communion with himself! Would not your soul burst from the body even now to obtain this rapture?"

Heidelberg Catechism Question 1

1. What is your only comfort in life and in death? 

 

That I, with body and soul, both in life and in death, am not my own, but belong to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ, who with His precious blood has fully satisfied for all my sins, and redeemed me from all the power of the devil; and so preserves me that without the will of my Father in heaven not a hair can fall from my head; indeed, that all things must work together for my salvation. Wherefore, by His Holy Spirit, He also assures me of eternal life, and makes me heartily willing and ready from now on to live unto Him.

The Forming of the PCA: Part 13

Read Part 1.
Read Part 2.
Read Part 3.
Read Part 4.
Read Part 5.
Read Part 6.
Read Part 7.
Read Part 8.
Read Part 9.
Read Part 10.
Read Part 11.

Read Part 12.

There are many questions circulating out there by some elders of the PCA concerning the future of our denomination. Since this is a Pastoral blog, I believe it a good thing to look back at some of the writings of the fathers of our denomination as they were nearing the end of the PCUS and considering themselves what was to become of their own denomination, which in the end led to the formation of the PCA.  I believe we can learn from them, and so the following is Part 13 of this little series looking back to 'the fathers of the PCA.'  Please take time to read the entirety though it is long for a blog.  Trust me this is crucial.  

Forward to Dr. John E. Richards' book 

"The Historical Birth of the Presbyterian Church in America"

Entitled "The PCA: Another Tapestry"

In her recent book, The Tapestry, Edith Schaeffer speaks of history as a tapestry being woven by God. The threads in the tapestry are individual people and events used by God to work out the design of history. 

Mrs. Schaeffer points out that, as our lives are interwoven with the lives of others, we affect one another's ideas, understanding and attitudes and at the same time we are affecting history.

We do matter; our decisions and choices matter in history. As Mrs. Schaeffer says, "History is different because you have lived, because I have lived." Every thread is important in the design, there is no insignificant person or event in God's plan.

In one of his sermons on providence, C. H. Spurgeon said, "God guides the speck of dust blowing in the wind just as surely as He guides the meteor through space. He is in the glimmer of a firefly just as much as He is in the flash of a falling star."

I have a friend who does beautifully detailed a petitpoint tapestries. She purchases a canvas on which the design is stamped and being an artist she selects her threads carefully, sometimes using six, eight or ten shades of the same color to get the desired effect. When she has completed a tapestry and hung it in her home, everyone who sees it marvels at her skill and artistic ability.

Keep this in mind as we think of history. Before God created time, He had a design for all of time. We read, "In the beginning God...." In the beginning of what? In the beginning of measurable time. Time, as we know it, had a beginning and it will have an end.

When time is no more, when God's tapestry is complete, we will marvel throughout all eternity at the details of light and color, of life and beauty that He has brought about in all of history. 

Now we can only see small portions of history and the details are not always clear, sometimes it looks to us as though the threads are hopelessly tangled, but in eternity we will see the perfect harmony of the whole.

In this article, I want to take a glimpse at one small portion of history. I want to focus on the beginnings of the Presbyterian Church in America. It is wonderful to see how God has interwoven many lives and events in bringing this church into being. Let's look at some of the individual threads.

In the 1940's, Dr. L. Nelson Bell and a board of strong men began to publish the Southern Presbyterian Journal (now the Presbyterian Journal). These men were deeply concerned that there was little opportunity for the conservative voice to be heard within the Presbyterian Church US. This publication faithfully and Biblically addressed issues within the church for 30 years before the PCA was born.

In 1958, the Rev. William E. Hill Jr. left his pastorate in Hopewell, Va., to become a full-time evangelist. Soon other men joined him and formed the Presbyterian Evangelistic Fellowship for the purpose of holding evangelistic meetings in any church that requested them.

In 1964, Kenneth S. Keyes was asked to head a new organization known as Concerned Presbyterians. Through writing and speaking, this group of men encouraged laymen throughout the church to become interested and informed about issues in the denomination.

Over the years, conservative ministers grew increasingly concerned about the direction the PCUS was taking. Many of these men began to meet together to pray for revival in the denomination. These prayer groups grew into an organization called Presbyterian Churchmen United.

The Rev. John E. Richards and the Rev. Donald B. Patterson led this group to publish a Declaration of Commitment in 1969. This statement of commitment to the Word of God and to the Reformed Faith ended by saying: "That, should the basic theology or polity of the Church be altered or diluted, we shall be prepared to take actions as may be necessary to fulfill the obligations imposed by our ordination vows, to maintain our Presbyterian faith."

The Declaration, signed by more than 500 ministers, was published in over 30 major newspapers.

These four groups affected the ideas and attitudes of many people in the church and so affected the history of the church. The prayers and efforts of all four of these groups were directed at bringing revival of spiritual life and Biblical commitment to the PCUS. They worked and prayed hard for years but their efforts had little effect on the leadership or direction of the denomination, until 1971 when the General Assembly met in Massanetta Springs, Va.

At that Assembly, the conservative groups working together put in nomination the names of leading Bible-believing people for every General Assembly committee; they failed to get even one elected. Because of this and other events that took place at the Assembly, many men speak of it as the time when their thoughts began to turn to a new church.

In the summer of 1971, representatives of these four groups (The Presbyterian Journal Board, Concerned Presbyterians, Presbyterian Churchmen United, and Presbyterian Evangelistic Fellowship) met and formed a "Steering Committee for a Continuing Presbyterian Church." This was announced at the Journal Day meeting of 1971. At this point several men who had been active in these groups dropped out of the movement.

During the next year, Paul Settle, John Richards, Kenneth Keyes, Jack Williamson and several other men traveled and spoke in many churches where they were invited to present the issues before the church or to debate more moderate or liberal spokesmen.

At this time the PCUS and the UPC-USA had joint committees working on a plan of union. There was talk of writing into the plan an "escape clause" that would allow any church that chose not to go into the union to withdraw and keep its property. The committees had promised to bring such a plan to the General Assembly for a vote in 1973. 

Jack Williamson, a member of the PCUS committee assigned to draft the plan of union, was also a member of the Steering Committee for a Continuing Church. In February, 1973, Mr. Williamson reported to the Steering Committee that the "escape clause" had been scrapped. The Steering Committee met with the four executive committees to discuss taking immediate steps to form a new church.

Dr. Francis A. Schaeffer was another thread woven into this part of the tapestry. He was speaking to the National Presbyterian and Reformed Fellowship in Atlanta near the place where the Steering Committee was meeting at the time. Many members of the committee heard him as he urged that when disagreement is necessary it must be done in a spirit of love and meekness. Some of these men have said that Dr. Schaeffer's talk made them consider even more carefully and prayerfully the decision which soon would be made.

The vote to begin a new church was preceded by a time of prayer with many of these men on their knees and some of them weeping openly. It was not a decision they took lightly. Jack Williamson recently spoke to me of his thankfulness that he has never heard the men involved in this movement express any bitterness or resentment toward those who disagreed with them.

In February, 1973, the Steering Committee called for a Convocation of Sessions to be held in May, 1973, at the Westminster Church in Atlanta. Letters were sent to all the churches that had expressed interest in the movement, inviting them to send representatives of their sessions to the meeting.

At the Convocation, and Organizing Committee of 40 men was chosen to draft plans for the structure of the new denomination, and an Advisory Convention was called to meet in August, 1973, in Asheville, N.C.

At the Advisory Convention, held at Asheville's Grove Park Inn, the organizational plans were discussed and returned to the organizing committee for further refinement; and the first General Assembly was called to meet in December, 1973, in Birmingham, Ala., at the Briarwood Presbyterian Church. The date selected, December 4, coincided with the original date of formation of the PCUS in Augusta, Ga., in 1861.

That General Assembly in Birmingham adopted the Westminster Standards as the doctrinal statement of the church and a Book of Church Order as the standard of government. The First General Assembly also chose the name, National Presbyterian Church, and established permanent committees for Administration, Christian Education and Publications, Mission to the World and Mission to the United States.

An "Address to All Churches" of Jesus Christ through the world was adopted and signed by 338 commissioners. Mr. Jack Williamson was the very able moderator of this Assembly.

It was the Second General Assembly in Macon, Ga., that the name of the denomination changed to Presbyterian Church in America, because the National Presbyterian Church of Washington, D.C., had protested the use of that name. Dr. Francis Schaeffer spoke to this Assembly, and again he urged that there be maintained a strong testimony of love toward those from whom these church had separated.

God's tapestry of history is not woven with inanimate threads but with living, thinking individuals. There were times in the history of this movement when men went to a Steering Committee or General Assembly meeting wondering how strong-minded men who held strong convictions on different sides of an issue could come to agreement. Many times in the midst of hot debate someone would say, "Brothers, let's stop and pray about this." Prayer has kept us together.

During the past 10 years many outside have watched expectantly for this group to become hopelessly divided. Providentially, there never has been one dominant personality leading this movement, but a group of humble men who have sincerely sought to honor the Lord in their decisions. The Lord, in turn, has honored this and His Spirit has repeatedly overruled to bring unity and harmony out of disagreement. Many pray that the Presbyterian Church in America will always be led by humble men who seek to honor the Lord and are controlled by His Holy Spirit.

I recently asked Jack Williamson what he considered the greatest need of the PCA at this time. He replied: "A consciousness that God has called us into this denomination to work together in trust and confidence to fulfill His will, rather than to build isolated individual kingdoms which will certainly dissipate in their influence when the dynamic individual which leads them is called to glory. We need, in my judgment, a sense of togetherness, of unity, about what God is doing through us as a group."

Mr. Williamson explained that because many churches could not tolerate the organizational structure of the PCUS, they early began to operate to all practical purposes as independent churches. Therefore it now is difficult for them to grasp that the true concept of Presbyterianism is working together through Christ in a unified effort to make a greater witness. Mr. Williamson concluded, "It's that growing consciousness that we work together in trust and confidence that we need more than anything else."

Today the PCA is not just a group of churches separated from the PCUS. From the North, the Midwest, the West -- into Alaska and out to Hawaii -- churches have come, or have been organized, to join in a varicolored fabric that includes black, white, hispanic, Korean and Chinese churches. They are large, small, suburban, inner city, rural and collegiate.

"To whom much is given of him shall much be required." We have been given much in the PCA; much in the way of instruction, much in the way of opportunity, and much in the way of heritage. The godly men who worked to begin this denomination, did so at great cost.

Some of them were officially charged with heresy by PCUS courts and some were even stripped of their ordination. Some have had doors of ministry closed against them. Laymen, as well as ministers, gave many hours to this work, hours that had to be taken away from business or family. Many of these men were rejected by close friends or family members because of their stand.

Some congregations were turned out of sanctuaries where they had worshipped for generations.

Those who have been involved in this denomination from the beginning will never forget what it cost, but they don't want their children to forget that they were willing to pay any cost to insure that their children could worship in a church that would be "true to the Bible, to the Reformed Faith, and obedient to the Great Commission."

History is different because of the Presbyterian Church in America! Our choices do matter in the design of history. The early history of the PCA was affected not only by those who were a part of it, but also by those who chose not to be a part of it. 

It was also affected by the prayers of many people. For example, during the First General Assembly, there were people in local churches who prayed every hour the Assembly was in session. Spurgeon called prayer a very effective wheel in the machinery of Providence. He said, "It is such an essential part of the design that we find that whenever God delivers His people, His people have been praying for deliverance."

You can make a choice that will affect history. You can determine now that you will pray faithfully for the leaders of the PCA. This is another momentus year in our church. The 10th General Assembly will meet in Grand Rapids, Mich. in June. Will you pray that the Holy Spirit will rule in every debate and every decision of that meeting? Will you pray that these men will work together in trust and unity and thus bear a greater witness to Christ?

Will you pray that the Assembly will be characterized by a spirit of love as well as an unfaltering faithfulness to the Word of God?

The Forming of the PCA: Part 12

Read Part 1.
Read Part 2.
Read Part 3.
Read Part 4.
Read Part 5.
Read Part 6.
Read Part 7.
Read Part 8.
Read Part 9.
Read Part 10.
Read Part 11.

There are many questions circulating out there by some elders of the PCA concerning the future of our denomination. Since this is a Pastoral blog, I believe it a good thing to look back at some of the writings of the fathers of our denomination as they were nearing the end of the PCUS and considering themselves what was to become of their own denomination, which in the end led to the formation of the PCA.  I believe we can learn from them, and so the following is Part 12 of this little series looking back to 'the fathers of the PCA.'  Please take time to read the entirety though it is long for a blog.  Trust me this is crucial. 

"A Message To All Churches of Jesus Christ"

Adopted December 1973 at the First General Assembly

And Published In Most Major Newspapers in the South

Nationa1
Presbyterian
Church
OFFICE OF THE STATED CLERK P.O. Box 256 Clinton, Mississippi 39056

W. JACK WILLIAMSON
Moderator

MORTON H. SMITH
Stated Clerk

A MESSAGE TO ALL CHURCHES OF JESUS CHRIST THROUGHOUT THE WORLD 

FROM THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE NATIONAL PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

Greeting: Grace, Mercy and Peace be multiplied upon you!

As the National Presbyterian Church takes her place among the family of Churches of the Lord Jesus Christ, we take this opportunity to address all Churches by way of a testimony.

We gather as a true branch of the Church of our Lord Jesus Christ. We affirm our allegiance to Him as the sole Head of the Church and the sole Law-giver in Zion. We remember that “the gates of hell shall not prevail” against His Church.

The constituency of this new denomination for the most part have separated themselves from the Presbyterian Church in the United States. The decision to separate has come only after long years of struggle and heartache on the part of many of us to return the Church to purity of faith and practice. Principle and conviction entered into that decision, reached only after much soul searching and earnest prayer. We have reluctantly accepted the necessity of separation, deeming loyalty to Christ to take precedence over relationship to any earthly institution, even to a visible branch of the Church of Christ.

In much prayer and with great sorrow and mourning we have concluded that to practice the principle of purity in the Church visible, we must pay the price of separation. We desire to elaborate upon those principles and convictions that have brought us to that decision.

We are convinced that our former denomination as a whole, and in its leadership, no longer holds those views regarding the nature and mission of the Church, which we accept as both true and essential. When we judged that there was no human remedy for this situation, and in the absence of evidence that God would intervene, we were compelled to raise a new banner bearing the historic, Scriptural faith of our forefathers.

First, we declare the basis of the authority for the Church. According to the Christian faith, the Bible is the Word of God written and carries the authority of its divine Author. We believe the Bible itself asserts that it has been given by inspiration, or, more literally, has been “God-breathed” (II Timothy 3:16). “No prophecy ever came by the will of man; but men spake from God, being moved by the Holy Spirit” (II Peter 1:21). We declare, therefore, that the Bible is the very Word of God, so inspired in the whole and in all its parts, as in the original autographs, to be the inerrant Word of God. It is, therefore, the only infallible and all-sufficient rule of faith and practice.

This was the position of the founding fathers of the Presbyterian Church in the United States. We affirm with them in their “Address to All Churches” the application of this principle to the Church and her mission:

Let it be distinctly borne in mind that the only rule of judgment is the written Word of God. The Church knows nothing of the intuitions of reason or the deductions of philosophy, except those reproduced in the Sacred Canon. She has a positive constitution in the Holy Scriptures, and has no right to utter a single syllable upon any subject except as the Lord puts words in her mouth. She is founded, in other words, upon express revelation. Her creed is an authoritative testimony of God, and not speculation, and what she proclaims she must proclaim with the infallible certitude of faith, and not with the hesitating assent of an opinion.

We have called ourselves “Continuing” Presbyterians because we seek to continue the faith of the founding fathers of that Church. Deviations in doctrine and practice from historic Presbyterian positions as evident in the Presbyterian Church in the United States, result from accepting other sources of authority, and from making them coordinate or superior to the divine Word. A diluted theology, a gospel tending towards humanism, an unbiblical view of marriage and divorce, the ordination of women, financing of abortion on socio-economic grounds, and numerous other non-Biblical positions are all traceable to a different view of Scripture from that we hold and that which was held by the Southern Presbyterian forefathers.

Change in the Presbyterian Church in the United States came as a gradual thing, and its ascendancy in the denomination, over a long period of time. We confess that it should not have been permitted. Views and practices that undermine and supplant the system of doctrine or polity of a confessional Church ought never to be tolerated. A Church that will not exercise discipline will not long be able to maintain pure doctrine or godly practice.

When a denomination will not exercise discipline and its courts have become heterodox or disposed to tolerate error, the minority finds itself in the anomalous position of being submissive to a tolerant and erring majority. In order to proclaim the truth and to practice the discipline which they believe obedience to Christ requires, it then becomes necessary for them to separate. This is the exercise of discipline in reverse. It is how we view our separation.

Some of our brethren have felt that the present circumstances do not yet call for such a remedy. They remain in the Presbyterian Church in the United States. We trust they will continue to contend for the faith, though our departure makes their position more difficult. We express to them our hope that God will bless their efforts, and that there may come a genuine spiritual awakening in the Presbyterian Church in the United States.

We trust that our departure may cause those who control and direct the programs and policies of the Presbyterian Church in the United States to reexamine their own position in the light of the Word. Our prayer is that God may use this movement to promote spiritual awakening, not only in the new Church, but also in that from which we have separated. If in the providence of God, such were to occur, we would gladly acknowledge that the grounds for separation and division would have to be reassessed.

We declare also that we believe the system of doctrine found in God’s Word to be the system known as the Reformed Faith. We are committed without reservation to the Reformed Faith as set forth in the Westminster Confession and Catechisms. It is our conviction that the Reformed faith is not sectarian, but an authentic and valid expression of Biblical Christianity. We believe it is our duty to seek fellowship and unity with all who profess this faith. We particularly wish to labor with other Christians committed to this theology. We further renew and reaffirm our understanding of the nature and mission of the Church. We have declared that Christ is King and only Law-giver in Zion. He has established the Church. His Church is a spiritual reality. As such it is made up of all the elect from all ages. This spiritual entity is manifested visibly upon the earth.

The Church visible is found wherever there are those who profess the true faith together with their children. As an assembly of those who do so profess this faith, we have established this denomination in the belief that it is a true branch of the Christian Church.

We believe the Church in its visible aspect is still essentially a spiritual organism. As such, its authority, motivation and power come from Christ, the Head, who is seated at the right hand of God. He has given us His rulebook for the Church, namely, the Word of God written. We understand the task of the Church to be primarily declarative and ministerial, not legislative or magisterial. It is our duty to set forth what He has given us in His Word and not to devise our own message or legislate our own laws.

We declare that the ultimate purpose of the Church is to glorify God. We believe this includes giving top priority to Christ’s Great Commission. We reaffirm the substance of the position taken by the founding fathers of our former Church regarding the mission of the Church:

We desire distinctly and deliberately to inscribe on our Church’s banner, as she now unfurls it to the world, in immediate subservience to the authority of our Lord as Head and King of the Church His last command: “Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” We regard this as the great end of our organization, and obedience to it, as the indispensable condition of our Lord’s promised presence. It is the one great comprehensive objective, a proper conception of whose grandeur and magnitude is the only thing which, under the constraining love of Christ, can ever sufficiently arouse our energies and develop our resources so as to cause us to carry on with that vigor and efficiency, which true loyalty to our Lord demands, those other agencies necessary to our internal growth and prosperity at home.”

As a Church, we consciously seek to return to the historic Presbyterian view of Church government. We reaffirm in the words of that earlier "Address to All Churches" the following:

“The only thing that will be at all peculiar to us is the manner in which we shall attempt to discharge our duty. In almost every department of labor, except the pastoral care of congregations, it has been usual for the Church to resort to societies more or less closely connected with itself, and yet logically and really distinct. It is our purpose to rely upon the regular organs of our government, and executive agencies directly and immediately responsible to them. We wish to make the Church, not merely a superintendent, but an agent. We wish to develop the idea that the congregation of believers, as visibly organized is the very society or corporation which is divinely called to do the work of the Lord. We shall, therefore, endeavor to do what has never been adequately done--- bring out the energies of our Presbyterian system of government. From the session to the Assembly, we shall strive to enlist all our courts, as courts, in every department of Christian effort. We are not ashamed to confess that we are intensely Presbyterian. We embrace all other denominations in the arms of Christian fellowship and love, but our own scheme of government we humbly believe to be according to the pattern shown in the Mount, and, by God’s grace, we propose to put its efficiency to the test."

As this new member of the family of Churches of the Lord Jesus Christ comes into being, we necessarily profess the Biblical doctrine of the unity of all who are in Christ. We know that what happens in one portion of His Church affects all of the Body of Christ. We covet the prayers of all Christians that we may witness and serve responsibly. We desire to pursue peace and charity with love towards fellow Christians throughout the world.

To the Presbyterian Church in the United States, in particular, we express our continued love and concern. You are our spiritual mother, in your arms we were nurtured, under your ordinances we were baptized, in your courts we were ordained to serve our Lord and King, and to your visible organization we thought we had committed our lives. We sever these ties only with deepest regret and sorrow. We hope that our going may in some way recall you to that historic witness which we cherish as our common heritage.

We greet all believers in an affirmation of the bonds of Christian brotherhood. We invite into ecclesiastical fellowship all who maintain our principles of faith and order.

We now commend ourselves to God and the Word of His power. We devoutly pray that the Church catholic may be filled afresh with the Holy Spirit, and that she may speedily be stirred up to take no rest until the Lord accomplishes His Kingdom, making Zion a praise in the whole earth.

December 7, 1973

A Letter to Elders in the PCA

Many of you know that lately, I have been posting on the History and Forming of the PCA.  Many of those posts dealt with the issue of Church Property.  The following was sent to me via email concerning the PCA today!

This is a letter to fellow presbyters from Rev. Todd Allen, an honorably retired teaching elder from Northwest Georgia Presbytery. In this letter he urges Presbyteries to vote against the BCO 14 amendments that were sent to Presbyteries by the 38th General Assembly. TE Allen was the pastor of the Eastern Heights Presbyterian Church in Savannah, Ga., from 1962-1974, during the time frame he refers to in his narrative when the church withdrew from the Presbyterian Church in the United States (PCUS) and went through years of litigation to keep the property.

Please forward to other elders.

Dear Brothers,

Property is power! We fought long and hard through 3 1/2 years of litigation to keep church property rights for PCUS congregations. Those property rights were written into the Book of Church Order when we formed the Continuing Presbyterian Church (Now the Presbyterian Church in America in December of 1973 at the Briarwood Presbyterian Church in Birmingham, Alabama.

We once believed without question that we had local church property rights in the Presbyterian Church in the United States. Those rights were challenged in 1966 when two Savannah churches (Eastern Heights Presbyterian Church and Mary Elizabeth Blue Hull Memorial Church) voted on April 17, 1966 to withdraw from the PCUS over departures from the PCUS constitution. The Savannah Presbytery then named an Administrative Commission to defrock the two ministers and the ruling elders of both churches and install presbytery appointed ministers and sessions.

The two churches obtained a court injunction to stop the presbytery from assuming this original jurisdiction and taking over the government and property of the two churches. The presbytery then went to the Superior Court of Chatham County and declared that they were justified in assuming original jurisdiction because there was an implied trust on church property in favor of the PCUS presbytery.

The two churches therefore had to prove to a twelve member jury that the PCUS had violated its trust by departing from its constitution.. The jury unanimously ruled in favor of the two churches and awarded them rights to their church property. The presbytery then appealed to the Georgia Supreme Court and in a unanimous decision that court also awarded the property to the two local churches.

The presbytery then appealed the case to the United States Supreme Court. That court took the case and in a unanimous decision remanded the case back to the Georgia Supreme Court, stating on remand that civil courts are proper forums to adjudicate church property disputes but that they cannot determine church doctrine. The Supreme Court enunciated three neutral principles for courts to use in adjudicating church property disputes. The three neutral principles are as follows: (1) who holds the deeds to church property, (2) what does state law say, (3) what does the hierarchical church law say.

Following that Supreme Court remand the Georgia Supreme Court determined that the two Savannah churches satisfied all three neutral principles that the Supreme Court had been enunciated and in a second unanimous decision awarded the church property to the two local congregations. The Georgia Supreme Court also struck down a Georgia statue known as Mack vs. Kime that had given church hierarchies an implied trust vested interest in the property of its connectional congregations.

The Savannah Presbytery then again appealed to the United States Supreme Court. In January of 1970 the United States Supreme Court denied certiorari, thus ending 3 1/2 years of litigation.

Dominic Aquila has written a very important and incisive article on the inherent possibility of a civil court ruling that there is a hierarchal civil connection between PCA church courts if BCO 14 amendments are adopted. This would very likely result in a loss of local church control of its church property. He recommends that these BCO amendments be defeated. I certainly concur with him.

Please take time to read Dominic Aquila's article below before voting on the BCO 14 Amendments.

Your brother in Christ,

Todd W. Allen

PCA Honorably Retired Minister

Midway PCA Pastor Emeritus

The Prayer Meeting

Take great heed to these words, which come from a sermon by Charles Spurgeon on Zechariah 8:21.

"And the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to pray before the Lord, and to seek the Lord of hosts: I will go also." - Zechariah 8:21

One of the first signs of God’s Presence among a people is that THEY TAKE GREAT INTEREST IN DIVINE WORSHIP. “The inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to pray before the Lord, and to seek the Lord of Hosts.” It is clear from this that they no longer despise assemblies for worship and no longer count Divine service to be a weariness. On the contrary, they begin to value the means of Grace and desire to make good use of them. The first solemn assembly mentioned here is the Prayer Meeting and certainly one of the surest tokens of a visitation of God’s Spirit to a community is their delighting to meet for prayer.  The first cry of the people mentioned in our text was, “Let us go speedily to pray before the Lord.” It is no statement of mine, suggested by unreasonable zeal, but it is the result of long-continued observation when I assert that the condition of a Church may be very accurately gauged by its Prayer Meetings. 

If the spirit of prayer is not with the people, the minister may preach like an angel, but he cannot expect success. If there is not the spirit of prayer in a Church there may be wealth, there may be talent, there may be a measure of effort, there may be an extensive machinery, but the Lord is not there. It is a sure evidence of the Presence of God that men pray as the rising of the thermometer is an evidence of the increase of the temperature.

As the Nilometer measures the rising of the water in the Nile, and so foretells the amount of harvest in Egypt, so is the Prayer Meeting a “Graceometer,” and from it we may judge of the amount of Divine working among a people. If God is near a Church it must pray. And if He is not there, one of the first tokens of His absence will be slothfulness in prayer. God’s people, by their saying one to another, “Let us go speedily to pray,” manifest that they have a sense of their needs—they feel that they need much, much that Nature cannot yield them—they feel their need of Divine Grace, their need of quickening, their need of God’s help if sinners are to be converted. They feel their need of His help if even those who are saved are to be steadfast—their need of the Holy Spirit that they may grow in Grace and glorify God. He who never prays surely does not know his own needs and how can he be taught of the Lord at all? God’s people are a people sensible of their needs and therefore the absence of a sense of poverty is a sad token.

Moreover, the love which God’s people have for prayer shows their desire after heavenly things. Those who frequently meet together for importunate, wrestling prayer, practically show that they desire to see the Lord’s Kingdom come. They are not so taken up with their own business that they cannot afford time to think of God’s business. They are not so occupied with the world’s pleasures that they take no pleasure in the things of God. Believers in a right state of heart value the prosperity of the Church and, seeing that it can only be promoted by God’s own hand, they cry mightily unto the Lord of Hosts to stretch out His hand of mercy and to be favorable to His Church and cause.

Church members who never pray for the good of the Church have no love for it. If they do not plead for sinners they have no love for the Savior and how can they be truly converted persons? Such as habitually forsake the assembling of themselves together for prayer may well suspect the genuine character of their piety. I am not, of course, alluding to those who are debarred by circumstances, but I allude to those who, from frivolous excuses, absent themselves from the praying assemblies. How dwells the love of God in them? Are they not dead branches of the vine? May they not expect to be taken away before long? Earnest meetings for prayer, indeed, not only prove our sense of need and our desire for spiritual blessings, but they manifest most our faith in the living God, and our belief that He hears prayer, for men will not continue in supplication if they do not believe that God hears them. Sensible men would soon cease their prayers if they were not convinced that there is an ear which hears their petitions. Who would persevere in a vain exercise?

Our united prayers prove that we know that God is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. We know that the Lord is able to work according to our desires and that He is willing to be entreated of us. I have never known a thirsty man by a well who would not use the bucket which was there ready to hand unless, indeed, he was of the opinion that the well was dry. I have never known a man who wanted wealth and had a good trade, who would not exercise his trade. And so I have never known a man who believed prayer to be really effectual and felt his great needs who did not engage in prayer.

It is an ill token to any community of Christians when prayer is at a low ebb, for it is clear evidence that they do not know their own needs, they are not anxious about spiritual things and neither do they believe that God will enrich them in answer to their petitions. Beloved, may we never, as a Church, deserve censure for neglecting prayer! Our meetings for prayer have excited general astonishment by their number, but they are not all they might be. I shall put it to the conscience of each one to say whether you are as prayerful as you should be. Did you ever hear of a Church member who had not attended a Prayer Meeting for a month? Do you know of Church members who never assemble with the Brethren so much as once in a quarter of a year? Do you know of any who have not been to a Prayer Meeting in this place for the last six months? Do you know such?

I will not say I know any such. I will do no more than hint that such people may exist. But if you know them will you give them my Christian love and say that nothing depresses the pastor’s spirit like the absence of Church members from the public assemblies of prayer, and that if anything could make him strong in the Lord, and give him courage to go forward in the Lord’s work, it would be if all of you were to make the prayer meeting your special delight? I shall be satisfied when I see our prayer meetings as crowded as the services for preaching. And it strikes me if ever we are fully baptized into God’s Spirit, we shall arrive at that point. A vastly larger amount of prayer ought to be among us than at present and if the Lord visits us graciously He will set us praying without ceasing.

But next, these people also took an interest in meetings for instruction. I find that the Chaldee translates the second sentence, “Let us seek the doctrine of Jehovah of Hosts.” The Lord’s coming near to any people will be sure to excite in them a longing to hear the Word. God sends impulses of enquiry over men’s minds and suddenly places of worship become crowded which were half empty before. Preachers, also, who were cold and dead become quickened and speak with earnestness and life. No doubt waves of religious movement pass over nations and peoples—and when God comes to a people the crest of that wave will be seen in this form—that the kingdom of Heaven becomes an object of interest and men press unto it!

During the revival under John the Baptist, the people went in crowds into the wilderness to hear the strange preacher who bade them repent. The revival under the Apostles was marked by their everywhere preaching the Word and the people listening. This was the great token of the Reformation—meetings were held under Gospel Oaks, out upon the commons and away in lone houses—and in glens and woods men thronged to listen to the Word of God! The professionals of popery were forsaken for the simple preaching of the Truth of God! This also marked the last grand revival of religion in our own country under Whitfield and Wesley. The Word of the Lord was precious in those days.  And whether the Gospel was preached among the colliers of Kingswood or the rabble of Kennington Common, tens of thousands were awakened and rejoiced in the joyful notes of Free Grace.

Men loved to hear the Word—they said to one another, “Let us seek the Lord.” It is said that Moorfields would be full of light on a dark winter’s morning at five o’clock when Mr. Whitfield was to preach because so many people would be finding their way to the rendezvous, each one carrying a lantern. And so also over there in Zoar Street, in Southwark, when Mr. John Bunyan was out of prison and was going to preach, a couple of thousand would be assembled at five o’clock in the morning to enjoy his honest testimony.

Master Fox in his, “Acts and Monuments,” speaking of the time when the Reformation was breaking out, uses language something to this effect—“It was lovely to see their travels, earnest seeking, burning zeal, Bible reading, watching, sweet assemblies, resort of one neighbor to another for conference and mutual confirmation.” And, he adds, “All which may make us now to blush for shame in these, our days, of free profession.”

We may take the good man’s hint and feel shame for neglected opportunities, cold devotions and disregard of the Word of God. Our fathers loved to meet for prayer and to hear the preaching of the Truth of God. And when they came together it was with an intensely earnest desire to obtain the Divine blessing. To get this they risked life and liberty, meeting, even, when fine and imprisonment, or perhaps the gallows might be their reward. O to see the like earnestness among ourselves as to the means of Grace! May the Lord Jesus send it to us by the working of His Holy Spirit.

Another sign of God’s visiting a people in mercy is that THEY STIR EACH OTHER UP TO ATTEND UPON THE MEANS OF GRACE, for “the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to pray before the Lord.”

That is to say, they did not merely ask one another to go if they casually met. They did not bring in the subject accidentally if they could do so readily in common conversation—but the inhabitants of one city went to another on purpose to exhort them! They made a journey about it. As men go to market, from town to town, so did these people try to open a market for Christ—and not only one messenger, but many of the inhabitants of one city went on purpose all the way to another city, with set design, to induce them to join in worship, saying, “Let us go speedily to pray before the Lord.”

They put themselves out of the way to do it. They had such a desire that great numbers might come together to worship the Most High that they took much trouble to invite their neighbors. God will be with us, indeed, if each one of us shall be anxious to bring others to Jesus, and to that end shall try to bring them to hearken to the Word of God. Why were these men so earnest? The reply will be, they persuaded others to come to the meetings for worship out of love to God’s House, to God’s cause, and to God Himself. God’s House is honored and beautified when great numbers come together. The ways of Zion do mourn and languish when but few assemble for prayer. Christ has promised to be where two or three are met together in His name. Still, it is not helpful to comfortable fellowship for a mere handful to meet in a large house. We feel like sparrows alone on the housetop when such is the case.  

Observe in our text there does not appear to have been any minister or missionary employed to go from one city to another, and to say, “Let us go and pray,” but the inhabitants, themselves, undertook the duty of invitation and persuasion, and said, “Let us go and pray unto the Lord.” The people, themselves, attended to mutual provocation to love and to good works! How I wish they did so now! They did not wait for the exhortations of one specially set apart to be a prompter and an organizer. But their own hearts were so warm that they did it spontaneously among themselves! My Brothers and Sisters, may you thus be pastors to one another! There are far too many of you for me to look after personally, therefore I pray you stir one another up to every good word and work.

I believe that when a man stirs others up it is good for himself, for a man cannot, in common decency, be very cold, himself, who bids others be warm. He cannot, surely, unless he is an arrant hypocrite, be negligent of those duties which he bids others attend to! Beloved, I commit this charge to you, and then I have done with this point. This morning I ask you to visit one another and to say, “Come, let us not as a Church lose the Presence of God after nearly 20 years’ enjoyment of it. Let not our minister’s hands grow weak by our neglect of prayer. Let not the work of the Church flag through our indifference, but let us make a brotherly covenant that we will go speedily to pray before the Lord and seek the Lord of Hosts, that we may retain His Presence and have yet more of it, to the praise of the glory of His Grace.”

I must pass on to notice that it appears from our text that it is a sure mark of God’s visiting a people, when THEY ARE URGENT TO ATTEND UPON THESE HOLY EXERCISES AT ONCE. The text says, “Let us go speedily to pray,” by which is meant, I suppose, that when the time came to pray, they were punctual, they were not laggards. They did not come into the assembly late. They did not drop in, one by one, long after the service had begun—but they said, “Let us go speedily.” They looked up to their clocks and said, “How long will it take us to walk so as to be there at the commencement? Let us start five minutes before that time lest we should not be able to keep up the pace and should, by any means, reach the door after the first prayer.”

I wish late comers would remember David’s choice. You remember what part he wished to take in the House of God? He was willing to be a doorkeeper and that not because the doorkeeper has the most comfortable berth, for that is the hardest post a man can choose. But he knew that doorkeepers are the first in and the last out and so David wished to be first at the service and the last at the going away! How few would be of David’s mind! It has been said that Dissenters in years gone by placed the clock outside the Meeting House so that they might never enter late. But the modern Dissenters place the clock inside, that their preachers may not keep them too long! There is some truth in the remark, but it is not to our honor.

This was, however, a fault with our forefathers, for quaint old Herbert said—“O be drest, stay not for th’ other pin: why you have lost a joy for it worth worlds.” Let us mend our ways and say, one to another, in the language of the text, “Let us go speedily to pray before the Lord.” Let us go with quick feet. If we go slowly to market, let us go quickly to Prayer Meeting. If we are slow on week days, let us go quickly on Sunday. Let us never keep Jesus Christ waiting and we shall do so if we are not on time, for He is sure to be punctual, even if only two or three are met together in His name. The expression, however, means more than this. “Let us go speedily” means, let us go heartily—do not let us crawl to prayer, but let us go to it as men who have something before them which attracts them.

When the angels serve God they never do it as though they were half asleep. They are all alive and burning like flames of fire. They have six wings and, I guarantee you, they use them all! When the Lord says, “Gabriel, go upon My bidding,” he outstrips the lightning! O, to exhibit some such ardor and zest in the service of God! If we pray, let us pray as if we mean it! If we worship, let us worship with our hearts. “Let us go speedily,” and may the Lord make our hearts to be like the chariots of Amminadib for swiftness and rapidity—glowing wheels and burning axles may God give to our spirits—that we may never let the world think we are indifferent to the love of Jesus. “Let us go speedily.”

The words, “Let us go speedily,” mean—let us go at once, or instantly. If any good thing has been neglected and we resolve to attend to it better, let us do it at once. Revivals of religion—when is the best time for them? Directly! When is the best time to repent of sin? Today! When is the best time for a cold heart to grow warm? Today! When is the season for a sluggish Christian to be industrious? Today! When is the period for a backslider to return? Today! When is the time for one who has crawled along the road to Heaven to mend his pace? Today! Is it not always today?

And, indeed, when should it be? “Tomorrow,” you say. Ah, but you may never have it! And, when it comes, it will still be today. Tomorrow is only in the fool’s almanac—it exists nowhere else. Today! Today, let us go speedily! I beseech the Church of God here to be yet more alive and at once to wake up. Time is flying—we cannot afford to lose it. The devil is wide awake, why should we be asleep? Error is stalking through the land, evil influences are abroad everywhere! Men are dying, Hell is filling, the grave is gorged and yet is insatiable—and the man of destruction is not yet satisfied. Shall we lie down in wicked satisfaction, yielding to base laziness? Awake, arise, you Christians! Now, even now, lest it be said of you, “Curse you Meroz, says the Lord, curse you bitterly the inhabitants thereof, because they came not to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty.”

I know we are all apt to think that we live in the most important era of history and I admit that under certain aspects every day is a crisis, but I claim liberty to say that there never was a period in the world’s history when Christian activity, and prayerfulness, and genuine revival were more needed than just now. Where is our nation? Is it not on the very verge of becoming, once again, a province of the Pope’s dominion? Are not the modern Pharisees compassing sea and land to make proselytes? Does it not seem as if the people were gone mad upon their idols and were altogether fascinated by the charms of the Whore of Babylon, and drunken with her cup? Do you not see everywhere the old orthodox faith forsaken, and men occupying Christian pulpits who do not believe, but even denounce the doctrines which they have sworn to defend?

Might I not say of Christendom in England, that “her whole head is sick and her whole heart faint”? The daughter of Zion staggers in the street for weakness—there is none to help her among all her sons—all her friends have dealt treacherously with her, they have become her enemies. Her adversaries are the chief, her enemies prosper. Her Nazarites were purer than snow and their separation from the world was known of all men—but now they are defiled with worldliness until they are blacker than a coal! From the daughter of Zion her beauty is departed. O you that love her, let your hearts sound as a harp for her! O you that love her, weep day and night for her hypocrisy, for unless the Lord returns unto her the time of her sore distress draws near. Thus says the Lord, “Arise, cry out in the night season, pour out your hearts like water before the Lord, and then the Lord will return and be gracious to His inheritance.”

When God visits a people they will not only attend to prayer and preaching, and stir each other up to do so at once, but THEY WILL HAVE A SPECIAL EYE TO GOD IN THESE DUTIES. Observe, they shall say, “Let us go speedily to pray before the Lord, and to seek the Lord of Hosts.”  Beloved, how different is my text from that formal worship into which it is so easy to fall. “I have been to the Prayer Meeting. I have done my duty and I can go home satisfied. I have taken a seat at the Tabernacle and listened to two sermons on Sunday—I feel I have done my duty.”

Oh, dear Hearer! That is a poor way of living! I need a great deal more than all that or I shall be wretched. At the Prayer Meeting I must see God, I must pour out my soul before Him! I must feel that the spirit of prayer has been there and that I have participated in it, otherwise what was the good of my being there? I must, when in the assembly on Sunday, find some blessing to my own soul! I must get another glimpse of the Savior! I must come to be somewhat more like Him! I must feel my sin rebuked, or my flagging Graces revived! I must feel that God has been blessing poor sinners and bringing them to Christ! I must feel, indeed, that I have come into contact with God, or else what is my Sunday  worth, and what is my having been in the assembly worth? If God shall bless you, indeed, you will worship spiritually and you will count nothing to be true worship which is not of the spirit and of the heart and soul.

It is a blessed sign of God’s visiting a people when  EACH ONE OF THEM IS RESOLVED, PERSONALLY, THAT HE WILL, IN A SPIRITUAL MANNER, WAIT UPON GOD. Notice the last four words. “I will go also.” “Let us go speedily to pray before the Lord, and to seek the Lord of Hosts: I will go also.” That is the point—“I will go also.” The Christian man should neither be content, when he goes to worship, to leave others behind, nor should he be content to drive others before him and stop behind himself. It is said of Julius Caesar that he owed his victories to the fact that he never said to his soldiers, “Go,” but always said, “Let us go.” That is the way to win. Example is mightier than precept!

We read of the Pharisees of old that they laid burdens on other men’s shoulders, but they themselves did not touch them with one of their fingers—true Christians are not so. They say, “I will go also.” Was not that bravely spoken of poor old Latimer, when he was to be burnt with Ridley. Ridley was a younger and stronger man, and as he walked to the stake, old Latimer, with his quaintness about him to the last, cried to his Brother, Ridley, “Have after, as fast as my poor old legs can carry me.” The dear old saint was marching to his burning as fast as he could—not at all loath to lay his aged body upon the altar for his Lord! That is the kind of man who makes others into men—the man who habitually says, “I will go also; even if I am called to be burned for Christ. Whatever is to be done or suffered, I will go also.”

I would be ashamed to stand here and say to you, “Brothers and Sisters, pray. Brothers, preach. Brethren, labor,” and then be an idler myself. And you, also, would be ashamed to say to others, “Let us pray. Let us be earnest,” while you are not praying and not earnest yourselves. Example is the backbone of instruction! Be, yourself, what you would have others be and do, yourself, what you would have others do. “I will go also,” because I need to pray as much as anybody else. I will go to hear the Word, for I need to hear it as well as others. I will go and wait upon God, for I need to see His face. I will cry to Him for a blessing, for I need a blessing. I will confess my sin before Him, for I am full of sin. I will ask mercy through the precious blood of Jesus, for I must have it or perish.

“I will go also.” If nobody else will go, I will go. And if all the rest go I will go also. I do not want to pledge any of you this morning. I shall not, therefore, ask you to hold up your hands, but I should like to put it very personally to all the members of this Church. We have enjoyed the Presence and blessing of God for many years in a very remarkable manner and it is not taken from us. But I am jealous, I believe it is a godly jealousy and not unbelief—lest there should be among us a slackness in prayer and a lack of zeal for the Glory of God. I am fearful of a neglecting of the souls of our neighbors, and a ceasing to believe to the full in our mission and in the call of God to be, each one of us, in this world as Christ was, saviors of others.

My Brothers and Sisters, knit together as we are in Church fellowship and bound by common cords to one blessed Master, let each one say within himself, “I will go also.” The Church shall be the subject of my prayer. The minister shall share in my petitions. The Sunday school shall not be forgotten. The College shall be remembered in supplication. The Orphanage shall have my heart’s petitions. I will plead with God for the Evangelists. I will consider the congregation at the Tabernacle and pray that it may gently melt into the Church. I will pray for the strangers who fill the aisles and crowd the pews that God will bless them. Yes, I will say unto God this day, “My God, You have saved me, given me a part and lot among Your people and put me in Your garden where Your people grow and flourish. I will not be a barren tree, but abound in fruit, especially in prayer. If I cannot do anything else I can pray. If this is my one mite, I will put that into the treasury. I will put You in remembrance and plead with You, and give You no rest until You establish Your cause and make it praise in the earth.”

I am not asking more of you than Jesus would ask, nor do I exact anything at your hands—you will cheerfully render that which is a tribute due to the infinite love of your Lord. Now, do not say, dear Brother, “I hope the Church will wake up.” Leave it alone and mind that you wake up yourself. Do not say, “I hope they will be stirred up this morning.” Never mind others! Stir up yourself. Begin to enquire, “Which Prayer Meeting shall I go to, for I mean to join the people of God and let them hear my voice, or at least have my presence. And if I cannot go to the Tabernacle I will drop in near my own house. And if there is no meeting there I will open my own house—the largest room of any cottage shall be used for a Prayer Meeting—or my parlor if I have one. I will have a share in the glorious work of attracting a blessing from the skies. I will send up my electric rod of prayer into the clouds of blessing to bring down the Divine force.”

Do it! Do it! Let each one say, “I will go also.” May God bless this Word to His people, and I am sure it will result in benediction to sinners.