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.

Infant Baptism is Biblical?

The following comes from a pamphlet asking if Infant Baptism is Biblical.  There are many Baptists today who question the practice of infant baptism because they can't find a specific command or example in the Bible.  This pamphlet attempts to answer those who question the biblical doctrine of infant baptism.

Infant Baptism Is It Scriptural? by William Hendriksen

Answer This Question for Yourself on the Basis of Scripture

1. Does the Bible really teach that infants of believers should be baptized?

Answer: "And he that is EIGHT DAYS OLD shall be circumcized among you" (Genesis 17:12).

2. But that text says "circumcized," not "baptized." Hence, that passage fails to prove the point, unless baptism is Christian circumcision. Is it?

Answer: "In whom also ye are circumcized with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead" (Colossians 2:11, 12).

3. Is it true then that God has done away with circumcision, as having no longer any spiritual meaning, and has commanded baptism in its stead?

Answer: "Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye receive circumcision, Christ will profit you nothing" (Galatians 5:12).

"Go ye, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28:19).

4. So, then, the Bible teaches that since baptism has replaced circumcision, and since children eight days old were circumcized, therefore small children should be baptized. Is there any other passage which clearly implies this?

Answer: "And Peter said unto them, Repent ye, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of sins; and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For to you is the promise and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call unto him" (Acts 2:38, 39).

5. Do you really believe then that Jesus would not forbid little children to be baptized?

Answer: "And they were bringing unto him little children, that he should touch them: and the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it, he was moved with indignation, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me; forbid them not: for to such belongeth the kingdom of God" (Mark 10:13, 14; Matthew 19:13-14).

6. But why were the bloody sacraments of circumcision and passover replaced by the unbloody sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper?

Answer: "Christ through his own blood entered in once for all into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption" (Hebrews 9:11, 12).

7. But is it not true that some persons who were baptized in their infancy are lost for eternity? Then, why baptize infants?--No, you do not have to answer that one, for on second thought I see that the objection is foolish, for it would hold just as well against adult baptism. Besides, we surely would not banish all wedding rings because some people fail to keep the pledge which is represented by them.

8. But another problem arises in my mind. It is this, What good does infant baptism do the child, seeing that he does not understand what is happening to him?

Answer: "And he that is eight days old shall be circumcized among you" (Genesis 17:12).

Oh, I see your line of reasoning now. My objection would hold just as well against circumcision, yet God commanded a little one, eight days old, to be circumcized. And if God commands it, we must do it. But though I must admit that there is not much left of my objection, I still cannot understand what good baptism will do the little one... unless it should be that the parents who present it for baptism will be more apt to keep a solemn promise which they have made in public before the eyes of God and all his people. Do you think that there is something to that?

Answer: "I will pay my vows unto Jehovah, Yea, in the presence of all his people" (Psalm 116:14).

Moreover, if even wicked people are more ready to do a wicked thing because they have solemnly promised to do it, will not God's people be more ready to do a good thing because they have promised to do it?

Herod was a wicked king who had made a wicked promise. Yet we read, "And the king was exceeding sorry; but for the sake of his oaths, and of them that sat at meat, he would not reject her" (Mark 6:26).

9. I can see now that Infant Baptism is good for the child in a twofold way: 

1. because of the promise which the parents make, namely, to nurture the child in the fear of the Lord; and 
2. because of the fact that if the child has been baptized as an infant, then when later on he hears about this wonderful, sovereign, love, it becomes a powerful incentive for him to love and trust the Lord in return. He will then say, "How wonderful, that it is exactly INFANT BAPTISM that has shown me that God loved me ere I knew him. Seeing, then, that at baptism, he said to me: "My son [or "my daughter"], give me thy heart" (Proverbs 23:26), I will, by means of making public profession of my faith, and by means of adorning that confession with a godly life, say to him:

Take my life, and let me be
Consecrated, Lord, to thee;
Take my hands and let them move
At the impulse of they love.

Take my love, my God, I pour
At thy feet its treasure store;
Take myself, and I will be
Ever, only, all for thee.

10. But why does God present that wonderful gospel of his love to our eyes by means of the sacraments (baptism, the Lord's Supper) as well as to our ears (in the preaching of the Word)? Does that twofold presentation make the gospel more effective?

Answer: "I had heard of thee by the hearing of the ear; but now mine eye seeth thee: wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes" (Job 42:5).

11. Is it true that the water of baptism points to the cleansing blood and Spirit of Christ?

Answer: "In that day there shall be a fountain opened... for sin and for uncleanness" (Zechariah 13:1).

"The blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin" (1 John 1:7).

"Except one be born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God" (John 3:5).

12. I am now strongly inclined to believe in Infant Baptism, I can see that it is a wonderful sign and seal of God's love, and that once rightly understood by the child, it will be able to exert a might influence for good upon his spiritual life in its development. But, if you don't mind, I want to know how to answer three additional objections that are sometimes advanced against this doctrine. The first is this: Does not Mark 16:16 indicate that a person should first believe before he can be baptized?

Answer: See for yourself by reading the text in its own context. It means, of course, that those to whom the gospel is preached (verse 15) must first confess their faith before they can be baptized. Hence, before an adult is baptized he must first confess his faith. The passage, therefore, has nothing whatever to do with infant baptism.

13. Yes, I can see that now clearly. The next objection I want to be able to answer is this one: some people say that infants cannot be admitted to baptism because nowhere do we read in so many words (literally), "Go and baptize infants."

Answer: And where do you read in so many words (literally), "Women can be admitted to the Lord's Supper"? (Remember that when Christ instituted this sacrament men only were present.) Where do we read in so many words, "Go to church on Sunday instead of on Saturday"? You say, "But these are safe and warranted inferences." Exactly, so is Infant Baptism, as you have seen. Furthermore, shouldn't we expect a command, not to baptize infants, if the Lord wanted the New Testament Church to have a different attitude and practice than was present in the Old Testament?

14. The final objection which people sometimes advance is this: Infant Baptism is a late invention. The early church did not know anything about it.

Answer: One of the greatest authorities on Church History, Philip Schaff, has this to say about that objection:

"Among the fathers... there is not a single voice against the lawfulness and the apostolic origin of infant baptism."

The Forming of the PCA: Part 11

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.

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 11 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.  

December 4, 1973 

Opening Worship Message of the Newly Formed "The National Presbyterian Church"
(Later Changed to "The Presbyterian Church in America")
By W. Jack Williamson

On this historic occasion, we gather at the call of Almighty God. We gather in the providence of our Father who art in heaven. We gather to worship and honor our Creator. Our chief end is "to glorify Him and to enjoy Him forever."

We gather to continue a True branch of the Church and the sole law giver in Zion. We remember His promise that "the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."

Let us immediately declare the purpose of this Church, our portion of which today becomes a formal ecclesiastical entity. This Church exists merely for the sake of God. Its purpose cannot be human or humanistic as to prepare a believer for heaven. Its purpose does not like in us, but in God, and in the glory of His name. The origin of this Church is in God, its form of manifestation is from God; and from beginning to end, its purpose is and shall be to magnify God's glory.

Let us further declare its nature. This Church is a spiritual organism, including heaven and earth, but having at present its center and the starting point for its action, not upon earth, but in heaven. We are in this world but not of this world. We declare our devotion to the Church as a spiritual institution knowing that the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ is not of this world. Not until His second coming shall this organism manifest itself as the center of the cosmos. Now, here on earth, it is only as it were its silhouette that can be dimly discerned. In the future, this new Jerusalem shall descend from God, out of heaven, but at present it withdraws its beams from our sight in the mysteries of the invisible. And therefore the true sanctuary is now above. On high are both the Altar of Atonement, and the incense Altar of Prayer; and on high is Christ, as the only priest who, according to the ordinance of Melchizedek, ministers at the Altar, in the sanctuary, before God. We confess that Christ in human form, in our flesh, has entered into the invisible, and that with Him, around Him, and in Him, our Head, is the real Church, the real and essential sanctuary of our salvation.

But who are we who gather to form and continue on the earth a visible branch of the true invisible Church? We have been chosen, regenerated and called by God for this purpose. We are convinced and convicted of our calling and election by these words of the Apostle Paul:

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,  to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: that in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: in whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: that we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ." (Ephesians 1:3-12)

We are but a group of sinners saved by grace and sent out to be ambassadors for our Savior Jesus Christ on this earth. We are a group of confessors who shall live in an ecclesiastical union of obedience to the ordinances of Christ Himself. This is no mystical, spiritual order gifted with mystical powers to operate with a magical influence on men. We are only regenerated and confessing individuals, who in accordance with scriptural command, are forming a society and therein shall endeavor to live in subordination to Christ our King. We are called to be a visible manifestation of the true Church on this earth. The Church of Jesus Christ is not a building, not an institution, not a spiritual order; but it is a group of living stones built on Jesus Christ as the cornerstone. We are then a group of regenerated and confessing individuals who have been united, not as we have seen fit, but according to the ordinances of Christ. We are a priesthood of believers. Do not misunderstand me. I do not say: This Church consists of a number of pious people united in groups for religious purposes. It is true that the real, heavenly, invisible church must and will manifest itself in the earthly church. But the real essential church is and remains the body of Christ which is composed of people who have been regenerated - "born again." Merely for pious, sincere people to get together in groups is not sufficient to form a true Church of Jesus Christ on earth. There you have a religious society but not a Christian Church. This is the great contradiction and danger of our generation in America. There are many religious societies in our land but far fewer real Christian churches. And Satan is using these religious societies to give a false sense of eternal security to their members. By them, many people are being misled into believing that to be "religious" is to be "Christian". People are being taught that to be "religious" and to be "Christian" are synonymous terms. We know this is tragic error. (sic) This is not to say that all these religious societies are bad. On the contrary most of them are good. For the most part they are composed of sincere people who are in varying degrees committed to a cause. Some are totally dedicated and give their lives to such causes. They exhibit zeal and courage in support of their cause. They are sincerely convinced that they are right. They use "Christian" terminology in support of their cause. They are philanthropic and altruistic. The results of their efforts often bring good to many people. But their causes are always humanistic and secularistic. Whatever movement is the vogue of the day becomes the cause of the year for these religious societies. Many Americans become members of these religious societies as a fashionable facet of the good life. They call themselves "Christians". In this they may be absolutely sincere but are certainly wrong. As proof that religious piety, sincerity, and zeal do not make a person a "Christian", we recall the autobiographical account of the life of the Apostle Paul. As Saul of Tarsus, he was deeply and sincerely religious. He was a zealous leader in the leading religious society of his day. but he tells us the he was certainly wrong. He did not become a "Christian" until the Living Lord Jesus encountered him in the road to Damascus. He was there "regenerated - born again"; and thereafter the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ become his only cause. Paul testified to his mission before King Agrippa, as Dr. Luke recorded, in Acts 26:15-18 as follows:

"And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee; delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me."

Paul became a "Christian" through the regenerative power of a personal encounter with Jesus Christ; and thereafter he was called and sent forth as an ambassador of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He went about the then known world and preached this gospel and formed many true branches of the Church of Jesus Christ on this earth. This true church on earth then consists only of those who have been incorporated into Christ, who bow before Him, who live in His word, and who obey His ordinances. We do not claim to be perfect. Nor shall this Church be perfect. But we do assert that we have been chosen by His grace through faith to know Jesus the Christ as Savior; that we have been regenerated by the power of the Holy Spirit; that we have been called to proclaim His Word on this earth, to administer His sacraments to believers, and to exercise discipline in the body to preserve the purity of His Truth. As we stand before the face of Almighty God and know our hearts and minds, this is the necessity that is laid upon us. It is not that we would. It is that we must. Today we raise a fresh, clear banner of the truth of our Living Lord Jesus Christ before this watching world. It shall stand out distinctive in contrast to many false religious societies which bear His Name. It shall not be conformed to this world. It shall be a standard to which the "wise and the just may repair". Following in true apostolic tradition, we are but continuing a true branch of the Church of Jesus Christ on this earth. God being our helper, we can do no other.

But to understand this necessity which we feel God has laid upon us, one must understand the principle that has motivated us. As an apologetic, we would lay this principle before the world. It is the practice of the principle of the purity of the visible church. In order that we might practice this principle, it has been necessary that we leave the visible church with which we have been associated. We have separated; but the principle is not separation. Separation is a negative idea. But our principle is a positive concept. Separation is merely the price we have had to pay for the principle is a positive concept. Separation is merely the price we have had to pay for the principle. It has been a terrible price. Many have had to "let goods and kindred go". This separation has forced division among families, friends, and local congregations. It has been heartrending and with many tears. Separation from foes is not easy; but separation from fellow Christian friends is traumatic. It was only after much prayer and with great sorrow and mourning that we concluded that to practice the principle of purity in the visible church, we had to pay the price of separation. Before we come to the place where we had to make this horrible decision to separate from our mother church, we had to settle a prior issue. That issue was that the church we loved as an organization is not first; Christ is first. Therefore, once Christ is no longer King and Lord in a church, then that church cannot have our loyalty. Long ago faithful men saw our former church losing her first love. Liberalism and modernism were beginning to make significant inroads in the Presbyterian Church in the United States by the mid-1940's. We cannot possibly give credit to all who in the past three decades have fought so valiantly to return that beloved Church to her true mission. Such Christian soldiers are legion. But we must mention some of the major groups which have sought to defend the faith once delivered to the saints. Over 25 years ago a group of men from the Presbyterian Journal met at the Biltmore Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia. We have recently read in the minutes of that body a list of the dangers they saw then before the Church. It was with prophetic insight that they wrote; fore every danger they listed, save one, is now an accomplished fact in the Presbyterian Church in the United States. Through these years the Presbyterian Journal has been the focal point of leadership for those who wished to preserve the historic witness of the Reformed Faith in the Presbyterian Church in the United States. We frankly admit today that we are a product of their original initiative. Most of us are novices in the battle compared to those veteran defenders of the faith. We honor and respect these men; and we give thanks to Almighty God for their gallant faithfulness. They have indeed led us to this place and this hour. Praise God for each of them.

Then in the early 1960's, one man was called by God to begin in faith an independent evangelistic organization. Presbyterian Evangelistic Fellowship was born. These men have fearlessly preached the whole counsel of God as revealed in His Word. Many souls have been saved; and many quickened and nurtured in the faith. Praise God for each of them.

Then in 1964, a group of laymen formed Concerned Presbyterians. This group was dedicated to return our beloved Church to its primary mission of winning souls to Jesus Christ and nurturing them in the faith. They sought to inform the church of the trends toward liquidation of her historic witness; and they sought to arrest such trends through constitutional process in the courts of the Church. Again God raised up one man to principally provide the leadership for this group.  He enlisted a number of full time field men who went over the length and breadth of the Church warning individuals and groups of these trends. Many of these soldiers of the cross are here today; but some have remained behind to conduct a rear guard action for the many uninformed sheep yet languishing in uncertainty or unconcern. The contribution of this group is incalculable. Praise God for each of them.

Then in the late 1960s, over 600 ministers formed Presbyterian Churchmen United. They subscribed to a document they entitled "Declaration of Commitment" and published the same in full page advertisements in the leading newspapers in the South. They fearlessly took a stand for the faith. Many have suffered ecclesiastical persecution. The course any church takes is predominately set by her ordained ministry. In spite of the human threat of ecclesiastical oblivion, most of these faithful servants have stood firm out front in the vanguard. They too have led us to this place and this hour. Praise God for each of them.

Finally, let us never forget those faithful who labored in lonely places - many times in almost total isolation. Let us pay tribute to those great prayer warriors in the homes across this land. Those women who prayed while we fought, who spent many lonely nights while we traveled, who gave up the best years of the lives of their men, who kept informed so that they could educate the men, who built fires under the session through their ruling elder husbands, and who deserve as much credit for this hour as any man here. Yes -- "they also serve, who only stand and wait." Praise God for each of them.

For at least three decades, these and many more have attempted to stop the trends in the Presbyterian Church in the United States toward humanism, secularism, and syncretism. But their efforts failed. Our beloved former Church has continued the fetish for ecumenism so that the form of unity regardless of the faith has become its goal. She is already linked in constitutional principle with the UPCUSA through union presbyteries; and thus she has given approval to the doctrinal position of her sister body as expressed in the Confession of 1967. But her greatest deviation from her historic witness has been in her attitude toward the Scriptures. The true Church of Jesus Christ belongs to those who by the grace of God are faithful to the Scriptures. The higher critical theories of Scripture and the neo-orthodox view of Scripture have become the dominate and official position of the PCUS today. To them, the Bible is not the Word of God written - it merely contains the Word of God. To them, it is not absolute objective truth. For them, truth is subjective to the discovery of the mind of man. I believe it correct to assert that there is not one single professor in the four PCUS seminaries who holds to the doctrine of Scripture of our founding fathers. Men are consistently being ordained in PCUS Presbyteries who deny cardinal doctrines of Scripture. Universalism is being openly defended in the courts of the PCUS. As a result ethics and morality are determined by permissive situationalism. In his recent book "How Is The God Become Dim", Dr. Morton H. Smith has cataloged in over 200 pages this decline in the PCUS as reflected in its Assembly actions. It has been my observation that wherever and whenever the inspiration and authority of the Word Inscripturated is attacked, the person and work of the Word Incarnated is demeaned. The work of Jesus Christ in the world becomes equated with all the other noble causes laid before society. The zeal of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is lost and the temper of the times dictates the religious cause for the day. It appears to me that the PCUS is rapidly becoming such a religious society with tremendous potential for good community service but with only an incidental relationship to salvation of souls through faith in Jesus Christ.

But you ask, why did you not practice the principle of the purity of the PCUS by disciplining those who deviated from the proper position in regard to the teaching of Scripture and tot he creeds? The answer is that the denomination is now so much in the hands o the liberals that it is officially and formally no longer possible to have a discipline trial, ever - even in theory! As we have pointed above, truth to the liberal is subjective and relative. Hence we have no standard o f objective truth on which to make a judgment. Since these men no longer believe in truth, any concept of discipline in regard to doctrine has been unthinkable. Instead of discipline, there has been substituted the policy of pluralism. It is the great umbrella principle of covering almost everybody regardless of belief. It is argued that the church is big enough to accommodate varying points of view. They say that in love we will tolerate each other. It is a live and let live philosophy. Each position has to make some compromise and concession to exist with the other. It is a tendency toward a growing latitudinarianism. This always leads to a low view of Scripture. And it gives to the watching world a multi-shaded view of Christianity. These may still talk about truth but tend less and less to practice truth. They practice tolerance, concession, compromise and accommodation. The world gets no clear and distinctive view of Jesus Christ in His Church. It is to restore this clear, distinctive, historic witness to Jesus Christ that we have felt constrained to separate from the PCUS.

In a word, my reasoning is that my vows of ordination as a Ruling Elder, as I understand them, required me to separate from my beloved church. It is with genuine sadness, many tears, and much soul-searching that I cam to thus see my duty before my God. On ordination, I promised to study the peace, unity, and purity of teh Church. For a decade now I have diligently sought to fulfill this vow at various levels in the Church. I reluctantly concluded that I:

(a) Could find little peace in a structure that in its official acts and doings is constantly and consistently contradicting my faith.
(b) Could find little unity in a structure that advocates a pluralism and diversity that tolerates unbelief - for me "two cannot walk together less they be agreed."
(c) Could find little edification in a structure that continues to embarrass me in its official acts and doings and forces me to spend most of my time in negative reaction and apology.
(d) Could find little hope for purity in a structure that permits unbelief to run rampant and has lost its will and ability to discipline.

Thus as I saw my duty, it is not that I wished to go but that I must. Others may see their duty differently. We must respect their views as "God alone is Lord of the conscience"; and we ask them to respect ours. We have thus made our decision. We settled the prior issue - Christ not Church is first. We tried to return the church to its true mission. we could not. After years of much intensive effort, it became obvious to us that humanly speaking it would be impossible to recapture our church. Instead of being able to stop these trends, they seemed to get worse as the liberals intensified their efforts in reaction to our opposition. Suffice it to say that several years ago it became the consensus of our leaders that the historic witness of our beloved Church was gradually being liquidated; and for those who felt a duty to preserve it, division became the only answer. From that point in time on the issue of division has been settled; and the only issue has been timing and procedure. It was then we sought a method of peaceful realignment hoping that men of good will would prevail. Not the only but the best method for such peaceful realignment seemed to be an acceptable escape clause in the plan of union with the UPCUSA. Our liberal friends promised this method; and we accepted their promises in good faith. But in February this year, they succeeded in closing this door by discarding the draft of the Plan of Union which they had promised would be presented to the 1973 General Assemblies for vote; and thus they delayed presentation of any plan indefinitely. Thus this method for constitutional division became no longer a viable possibility for the foreseeable future. The abandonment of this method by the liberals was an act of pure ecclesiastical expediency. They broke faith with us and forced us to move to an alternative procedure. Once the battle for doctrinal purity was lost, we were forced to decide what price we were willing to pay to practice the principle of purity in the visible church. We found it necessary to leave the visible organization with which we had been associated to preserve the principle. Separation became the price we had to pay to maintain the principle. But note well: We did so with tears - not with drums playing and flags flying. We claim empathy with the Rev. Dr. Thornwell who addressed the first General Assembly of our separated forefathers in 1861 with these matchless words:

"We should be sorry to be regarded by our brethren in any part of the world as guilty of schism. We are not conscious of any purpose to rend the body of Christ. On the contrary, our aim has been to promote unity of the Spirit in the bonds of peace. If we know our own hearts, and can form any just estimate of the motives which have governed us, we have been prompted by a sincere desire to promote the glory of God, and the efficiency, energy, harmony and zeal of His visible kingdom in the earth. We have separated from our brethren as Abraham from Lot, because we are persuaded that the interest of true religion will be more effectually subserved by two independent churches...

For the sake of peace, therefore, for Christian charity, for honor of the Church, and for the glory of God, we have been constrained, as much as in us lies, to remove all occasion of offense. We have quietly separated, and we are grateful to God that, while leaving for the sake of peace, we leave it with the humble consciousness that we ourselves have never given occasion to break the peace."

Now having declared our purpose and the nature of this church, and having explained who we believe we are and the principle which has motivated us, we would again state the commitment which binds us. We have committed ourselves to the rebirth and continuation of a Presbyterian Church loyal to Scripture, the Reformed Faith and committed to the spiritual mission of the Church as Christ commanded in the Great Commission. For us in the Bible is both necessary and sufficient. Apart from Scripture man is hopelessly lost. Created in the image of God, man has fallen and darkness has engulfed him. Man in sin is not only spiritually ill, he is spiritually dead. He is not only confused in his pilgrimage through this world; he is lost. He is like a person in a forest, without a map, compass or guide and no idea which way to go. To be sure, there is revelation in creation. God continues to speak to all men in spite of their sin, but the consequences of sin are such that men cannot hear. Other sounds distract them and drown out the call of God. They hear His call but indistinctly. The calls of the world and self are too strong. Without some leading, they will never find their way to the Father's house. That is why salvation from God is necessary. Apart from it, the Apostle Paul declares in shocking language that men are "separated from Christ, alienated from the common wealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world" (Ephesians 2:12).Thus we declare the necessity of Regeneration for real existence and of Revelation for clear consciousness. Thus we see the Necessitas Sola Scripture, i.e. of the need of scriptural revelation. To abandon or depreciate Scripture is tantamount to abandonment or depreciation of Christianity itself. In paradise in the Garden of Eden before the fall there was no Bible; and there will be no Bible in the future Paradise of glory. But in our present condition our immediate communion with God is lost. When the sun shines in your house, bright and clear, you turn off the electric light, but when the sun sets, this artificial light is kindled in every dwelling. So it is in our religion. When there is no mist to hide the majesty of the divine light from our eyes, what need is there for a lamp unto our feet or a light upon our pathway? But when history, experience and consciousness all unite in stating the fact that the pure light of Heaven has disappeared, and that we are groping in the dark, then a different, or if you will allow the analogy, an artificial light must be kindled for us in His Holy Word. God regenerates us - that is to say, He rekindles in our heart the lamp sin has blown out. The necessary consequence of this regeneration is an irreconcilable conflict between the inner world of our heart and the world outside. Now, in the Bible, God reveals, to the regenerate, a world of thought, a world of energies, a world of full and beautiful life, which stands in direct opposition to this ordinary world, but proves to agree in a wonderful way with the new life that has sprung up in our heart. It is our only infallible rule of faith and practice, in the accepted and ordinary meaning of these terms. We believe that the Holy Scriptures fully contain the will and word of God and that whatsoever man ought to believe unto salvation and sanctification are taught therein. We shall not consider any other writings of men, however holy these men may have been, of equal value with those of divine Scripture. Nor shall we consider custom, traditions, councils or decrees as of equal value with the truth of God as found in the Scripture, since that truth is above all. The Word of God written is without error and our final authority. We are committed to a church loyal to Scripture. We are committed to a church loyal to the Reformed Faith - Ecclesia Reformata. By this we mean a church that has been renewed according to the Word of God. We shall attempt to recover Christianity in its original purity and to remove from it the beliefs and practices that have become attached to it in our day and generation without foundation in the Word of God. We acknowledge that this can only be accomplished by the Spirit of God. So we pray that His Holy Spirit shall so fully indwell us that this faith is clearly and comprehensively systematized in the subordinate standards which are the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Larger and Shorter Catechisms. We make no apology that this church will be thoroughly Calvinistic in doctrine and intensely Presbyterian in form of government. In the tradition of our forebears, we affirm with Rev. Dr. Thornwell that

"the ends which we propose to accomplish as a church are the same as those which are proposed by every other church - to proclaim God's truth as a witness to the nations; to gather His elect from the four corners of the earth, and through the Word, ministers and ordinances, to train them for eternal life."

We have heard the voice of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ when He commissioned us for the primary mission of His Church, namely:

"Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world" (Matthew 28:19-20)

Confident of the promise of His presence, we shall endeavor to strive for a new obedience to this great commission.

Having thus declared ourselves and our commitment, we would address specific groups of people with whom we shall have contact in our mission. For the purpose of illustration, we will liken our approach to five concentric circles. Each group shall be a different circle. From outside to inside, the circle of groups are:

1. All people of the world.
2. All the churches of Jesus Christ through the earth.
3. The Reformed Family of churches of Jesus Christ.
4. The Presbyterian Church in the United States.
5. Our Brethren in this Church.

For all the people of the world, we have this good news:

"God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16)

God loves you. It is not his desire that any of you should perish. He sent Jesus Christ His Son to this earth that you might be reconciled to God through faith in His Son. Jesus gave his life on the cross as an atonement for sin. This sacrifice was sufficient for all of you. God calls you to repent and believe this gospel. There is no other way to heaven. No man can come God the Father except through God the Son. The alternative is eternal damnation in hell separated from God. We shall and do proclaim God's truth to you regardless of your race, color, creed or national origin. Repent and believe the gospel.

To all the churches of Jesus Christ throughout the earth, we send greetings in the ties of Christian brotherhood and common mission. We desire to cultivate peace and charity with our fellow Christians throughout the world. We believe and profess one holy catholic and apostolic church. Our Westminster Confession beautifully sets forth this heavenly all-embracing nature of the church, when it says:

"The Catholic or Universal Church, which is invisible, consists of the whole number of the elect that have been , are or shall be, gathered into one, under Christ the Head, thereof; and is the spouse, the body, the fullness of Him the filleth all in all."

Thus the church is Catholic or Universal because there is only one church; and it is Apostolic because it has direct continuity with the church of the first century. It is indeed built upon the foundation of the apostles and the prophets with Jesus Christ himself its chief cornerstone. it is the view held by some zealous Christians that theirs is the only true church, or that their members are superior to Christians in other churches. We do not hold this narrow concept. We would distinguish between mere religious societies that often bear the name "Christian" and the true churches of Jesus Christ on the earth. But we declare that the visible unity of the true body of Christ, though obscured , is not destroyed by its division into different denominations of professing Christians; but all of these which maintain the Word and Sacraments in their fundamental integrity are to be recognized as true branches of the Church of Jesus Christ on this earth. In His matchless name we greet you as brothers in Christ.

To the Reformed Family of Churches of Jesus Christ, we extend special greetings. We share with you the sharp accent on Jesus Christ as the heart of our tradition and the foundation of our ecclesiology. We share the view that the church is not only an organism, a fellowship of believers united to Christ, but it is also an institution in society. Like other social institutions it has certain distinguishing characteristics. These have been called "marks". Where these were in evidence the church was called a "true church" and where they were not it was called a "false church" or a "sect". We know you agree that these "marks" are:

1. that the church must preach the gospel,
2. that the church must properly administer the sacraments as instituted by Christ, and 
3. that the church must exercise discipline in order to preserve the honor of Jesus Christ, the head of the church.

Since you agree with us on the major points of doctrine and polity, we seek great possibilities for closer ties in the future. We seek the "oneness" of which Jesus spoke in John Chapter 17. We are convinced that there must be a unity of faith before a unity of form. We appreciate the assistance and encouragement you have already given us. We look forward to a closer relationship with you. We see in our mutual relationship the seeds of true ecumenicity. May God hasten the day.

To the Presbyterian Church in the United States, we acknowledged our continued love and concern for you. 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 could sever these ties only with deepest regret. We have done that which we think our duty demanded. We have done that which we think the honor of Jesus Christ required. We sincerely hope that our going may in some way recall you to that historic witness which we cherish as our common heritage. It is our prayer that God will use these days for self-examination and reform. Any such separation is traumatic; but in word and deed we have attempted to show Christian charity for the sake of peace, for the honor of the Church, and for the glory of God. Without question, the most painful aspect of this separation has been to leave the communion with many fellow believers with whom we have stood shoulder to should in the ecclesiastical battles of the last three decades. We believe we have moved as Christian statesmen with honor. We know you agree with us in principle but disagree as to procedure. We respect your right to your judgment before God. We would prefer that you were with us today. We feel that it is here that you belong. Your absence makes us feel incomplete. We covet your continued fellowship in all areas possible. There are so many times and places where we can continue our warm fellowship and friendship - both public and private; and for our part we shall continue to expedite and cultivate these opportunities. We now extend to you our hands of love and good will and our open invitation and plea to join us soon. May God hasten that day.

To our Brethren in this Church, we rejoice with you in praise and thanksgiving to Almighty God for bring us to this hour. Surely His providence has taught us that we are in His will, under His control, and led by His Spirit. I counsel you that our attitude toward others is most important. Regardless of the attitudes or actions of others, we will remember that we represent the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the King and Head of the Church. As his ambassadors to the watching world, we must let this mind be in us which was in Christ Jesus. Let men everywhere notice in us the three effects to nearness to Jesus - humility, happiness and holiness. History teaches us that in prior church divisions, those who come out tend to become hard. They tend to become absolutists even in the lesser points of doctrine. Francis Schaeffer points out that

"One must realize that there is a great difference between believing in absolutes and having an absolutist mentality about everything."

True humility is the answer to this problem - for it is caused by thinking more highly of ourselves than we ought. Our Lord demonstrated the proper approach when he washed the disciples' feet on the night he was betrayed. Now I'm not advocating "foot-washing". But I am suggesting that we need the Holy Spirit to help us discern the difference between those things that are revealed in Scripture and those things that are the product of our human pride and opinion. In the former, we must not compromise; but in the latter, we must learn true humility to be in subjection to our brethren in the Lord. We must put away our former mentality of being suspicious of our fellow churchmen; and we must trust and believe our brothers until and unless they prove otherwise. Our Lord came to minister; and so must we. The grace of humility should abound in us. Also happiness should pervade our existence. We should rejoice and be exceedingly glad. God has given to this select group an opportunity to witness to His Glory the likeness of which men have not had in many generations. What a privilege it is to have been born for such a time as this. We have the answer to life and to death - Christ is the answer. He came to give us the truly abundant life. Yes, there shall be trials and tribulations. But we should be of good cheer for He has overcome the world. We bear the name of "Christian." But we must realize that every moment of every day, we stand in the presence of God with the latin expression Coram Deo. We have a living encounter with our Creator. Before Ahab and Jezebel, the lone prophet Elijah exclaimed "As the Lord, the God of Israel lives before whom I stand." As individuals this concept that our whole existence is lived before the Lord forms the foundation for our holiness. Remember that perhaps of Christ the world's only view shall be what they see of Him in you.

Then, brethren, in conclusion we must under gird this Church with a great outgoing of prayer. We know it is far easier to fight than it is to pray. But our battle is "not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rules of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." Only fervent prayer will prevail.

We must work. Remember that the true war-cry of the church is Gideon's watch word - "The Sword of the Lord, and of Gideon." God must do it; but we are not to be idle. If we only cry "the Sword of the Lord," we shall be guilty of an idle presumption; and if we should cry "the Sword of Gideon" alone, we shall manifest an idle reliance on an arm of flesh. We must blend the two. We can do nothing ourselves, but we can do everything by the help of our God.

We must be confident of His promise. To the chosen children of Israel, the prophet Isaiah wrote the words of God that I believe apply to us, namely:

"You worry at being so small and few, but Abraham was only one when I called him. But I blessed him and he became a great nation" (Isaiah 51:2)

What a promise! What a God!

"And now we command you to this God and the word of His grace. We devoutly pray that the whole Catholic Church may be afresh baptized with the Holy Ghost, and that she may be speedily stirred to give the Lord no rest until He establish and make Jerusalem a praise in the earth." "For of Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things: To whom be glory forever. Amen" (Romans 11:36)