July 2012

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July 16: Rev. George Gillespie

16 July, 2012 in July 2012 by davidtmyers | 3 comments

This Day in Presbyterian History:  

Little of the Power and Life of Religion

In New Castle, Delaware, Pastor George Gillespie took an opportunity to write to a pastor friend in Scotland, for “the interest of the Glorious Christ.”  Written on July 16, 1723, Pastor Gillespie made reference to two hundred Scotch-Irish Presbyterian families who had recently left the old country to move to Pennsylvania.

In the letter, George Gillespie rejoiced that “the glorious Christ has great designs in America” with the arrival of these Reformed families from Ireland.  A many congregations had been erected and were continuing to be organized.  However, with the increase of both people and churches, there was to his disappointment “little of the power and life of religion” with them.  He prays in acknowledging that fact that “the Lord disappoint his fears” for the state of Christianity in the new shores.

The Scottish minister then gave the following statistics, that out of thirty ministers and licentiates in their synod, some six of the number had been “grossly scandalous.”  Discipline had taken place upon these six ministers, with the most severe censure that of suspension for four Sabbaths from the pulpit and means of grace.  It was interesting that one of the sins charged against one Robert Laing was that he had taken a bath on the Lord’s day.  George Gillespie noted that the latter minister “is the first from Scotland to be grossly scandalous in our parts.”

Pastor Gillespie ended  his letter to his friend with some prayer requests that the latter be a great prayer warrior for “the infant church of Christ in America, and that the Lord would purify the sons of Levi.”  He also prayed that “the faithful God  hasten the time when He would fulfil His promise in Isaiah 59:19 that ‘they will fear His name from the West.'”

Words to Live By: In our world, and even church world now, the charges of sin, like taking a bath on the Lord’s day, are not considered a scandal which needs discipline.  Indeed, it would more so be considered a necessity, or perhaps one of mercy to all those who might find themselves around him on that day!  But nevertheless, we see one of the marks of the true  church, namely, that of discipline being carried out in the Lord’s name.  That is ever a sign of a pure church.  Pray much for those elders who must administer discipline as well as those members under church discipline today, that they might be restored to the fellowship of the saints by repentance and renewal.

Through the Scriptures: Isaiah 28 – 30

Through the Standards: Proof texts of the fourth commandment:

Deuteronomy 5:12 – 15
“Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the LORD your God has commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your ox, your donkey or any of your animals, nor the alien within your gates, so that your manservant and maidservant may rest, as you do.  Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the LORD your God brought you out of there with a mighty arm and an outstretched arm.  Therefore the LORD your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.” (NIV)

Genesis 2:2, 3
“By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all  his work.  And God blessed the seventh day and made it  holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.” (NIV)

Isaiah 58:13, 14
“If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you all the Sabbath a delight and the LORD’s holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then you will find your joy in the LORD, and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.  The mouth of the LORD has spoken.” (ESV);

Revelation 1:10
“On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit . . .” (NIV)

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July 15: A Continuing Church

15 July, 2012 in July 2012 by davidtmyers | 1 comment

Time to Move for a New Church

The evidence was already in, in fact, it was well in.  All of the efforts of the conservatives in the Southern Presbyterian Church (Presbyterian Church U.S.) had failed to stop the tide of liberalism in that once great church.  So after the last General Assembly in 1971, something had to be done.

Gathering together in Atlanta, Georgia, on July 15, 1971, a group of conservative Presbyterians met to discuss the situation.  Realizing that some key elders were not present, they met two weeks later on July 30th at the Airport Hilton in Atlanta, Georgia. This was a meeting which was filled with talk to the heavenly Father as well as to those of like precious faith. They met all together and then in small groups.

By the morning of the next day, some statements were presented to the group.  They were as follows:  “A plan for the continuation of a Presbyterian Church loyal to Scripture and the Reformed faith: 1. To create a climate of opinion favorable to the continuation of conservative presbyteries and churches loyal to Scripture and the Reformed Faith, by promoting as strong an image as possible of such loyalty through actions taken by synods, presbyteries, and congregations. 2. To identify presbyteries and congregations willing to take such a stand.  And 3. To accept the inevitability of division in the PCUS and to move now toward a continuing body of congregations and presbyteries loyal to Scripture and the Westminster Standards.

This intent was breathed in prayer in, in the discussion towards it, and breathed out in prayer at the conclusion of it.  Men who had been through the battle to return the PCUS to the faith of the fathers wept at the very prospect of the future.  And when the vote came in favor of the three points, there were no high fives, or shouts of victory, but rather silence, as one of the men there said, a heavy silence of profound sadness.  They were not merely leaving the southern church.  The southern church had left them and their ordained convictions for a mess of liberal pottage, as Cain had done much earlier in his life.

A timetable was then worked out followed by the organization of a Steering Committee.  The plans were set in motion for a Continuing Church, which in time was named the Presbyterian Church in America.

Words to Live By: Thank God for men and women with a firm conviction of the historic Christian faith.  Praise God for Christian leaders who refused to compromise the truth of the gospel for a mixture of theological error.  We need men and women like these in every age, for the Christian church to march on and be the appointed means to bring the gospel to every creature.  Be a part of your local church if it is holding faithfully to the faith once delivered unto the saints.

Through the Scriptures: Isaiah 25 – 27

Through the Standards: The importance of the word “remember.”

WLC 121 — “What is the Word Remember set in the beginning of the fourth commandment?
A.  The word Remember is set in the beginning of the fourth commandment, partly, because of the great benefit of remembering it, we being thereby helped in our preparation to keep it, and, in keeping it, better to keep all the rest of the commandments, and to continue a thankful remembrance of the two great benefits of creation and redemption, which contain a short abridgment of religion; and partly, because we are very ready to forget it, for that there is less light of nature for it, and yet it restrains our natural liberty in things at other times lawful; that it comes but once in  seven days, and many worldly businesses come between, and too often take off our minds from thinking of it, either to prepare for it, or to sanctify it; and that Satan with his instruments labors much to blot out the glory, and even the memory of it, to bring in all irreligion and impiety.”

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July 14: Daniel Morgan

14 July, 2012 in July 2012 by davidtmyers | No comments

This Day in Presbyterian History:

The Father of U.S. Special Forces

Of all of the soldiers of the Revolutionary War in our nation’s history, very little has been written on Daniel Morgan.  Yet he fought in the French and Indian War, and in the battles associated with our nation’s independence.

In his early days, this six-foot man was very wild in his character and conduct. Known as a gambling and drinking man, he had his share of brawling with others.  Once as part of Braddock’s force, he had hit a British Lieutenant and received 500 lashes for striking an officer. If he had not being such a strong man, he would have died with this punishment.  He had a particular hatred after that experience for King George and the British army.

When the Revolutionary War began, the Continental Congress called for the formation of ten rifle companies from the middle colonies of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia to support the siege of Boston.  Virginia decided to send two companies.  The House of Burgesses chose Daniel Morgan to organize one of the companies and serve as his commander as a Captain.

Daniel Morgan recruited 96 sharpshooters in ten days, assembling them at Winchester, Virginia on July 14, 1775.  They then marched the 600 miles to Boston in twenty-one days, arriving there August 6, 1775.  They were known as “Morgan’s Rangers.” They were sharpshooters which changed the way the battle was fought, as officers in the British army were targeted by these men who were adept as snipers.

In later years, Daniel Morgan joined the Presbyterian Church, and specifically Old Stone Presbyterian Church in Winchester, Virginia.  He became an elder in the Presbyterian system.

Words to Live By:  God is able to take a rough frontier image of a brawler and change the man inside to a Christian servant of God.  Think of yourself or others in the kingdom of God who have been so changed spiritually, and rejoice in the power of God’s grace this day.

Through the Scriptures: Isaiah 22 – 24

Through the Standards: The fourth commandment: reasons annexed

WLC 120 — “What are the reasons annexed to the fourth commandment, the more to enforce it?
A. The reasons annexed to the fourth commandment, the more to enforce it, are taken from the equity of it, God allowing us six day of seven for our own affairs, and reserving but one for himself in these words, Six days shalt thou labor, and do all they work; from God’s challenging a special propriety in that day, The seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God; from the example of God, who in six days made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; and from that blessing which God put upon that day, not only in sanctifying it to be a day for his service, but in ordaining it to be a means of blessing to us in our sanctifying it; Wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath-day, and hallowed it.”

WSC 62 — “What are the reasons annexed to the fourth commandment?
A. The reasons annexed to the fourth commandment are, God’s allowing us six days of the week for our own employments, his challenging a special propriety in the seventh, his own example, and his blessing the sabbath-day.”

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July 13 : A Plea for Tolerance?

13 July, 2012 in July 2012 by davidtmyers | 2 comments

This Day in Presbyterian History: 

A Plea for Tolerance or a Plan for Liberal Takeover—Which?

That was the fundamental question which was being debated in the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A., in the early decades of the twentieth century in the United States.  Should this historic church be allowed to have all sorts of opinions accepted within the church, or should the principles and practices of the  historic Christian faith be demanded by all those who are ordained into the church leadership?  This issue was brought to a head by two opposing sermons, both of which were printed and sent to the nation’s spiritual leaders.

“Shall the Fundamentalists Win?” was the sermon which started the battle over which brand of Christianity should be accepted by the leadership of the Presbyterian Church.  Preached by Harry Emerson Fosdick at the First Presbyterian Church of New York City on May 21, 1922, this Baptist Associate Pastor  pleaded for tolerance of more liberal views of Christianity.  In reality, he affirmed that it was not necessary to believe in the sovereignty of God in history, or the inerrant Bible, or special creation.  The virgin birth could be denied by pastors and those in the pew without having to leave their churches and positions.  The Bible is not to be thought of as being without error and the supreme judge of all controversies of religion. Evolutionary science could be received by the visible church without harm. Negative sanctions should be placed in the past without hurting the gospel.  And ecumenism is the best way to go, as far as the end times are concerned.

This message, with printing financed by John D. Rockefeller, was sent out to 130,000 pastors and leaders. Its title was changed to “The New Knowledge and the Christian Faith.”

Answering the sermon was the Rev. Clarence Macartney of Arch Street Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on July 13, 1922 with a sermon entitled “Shall Unbelief Win?”  If all those points raised by Fosdick were valid, then Christianity would be a Christianity of opinions and principles and good purposes leading to a Christianity without worship, a Christianity without God , and a Christianity without Jesus Christ.  Liberalism was progressively making the church secular, according to Clarence Macartney.  This sermon was published and sent to the nation’s religious leaders as well.

These two questions, and their sermons, were the opening salvos in the modernist-fundamentalist battles of the twenties and the thirties in American Presbyterianism.

Also this day :
The Rev. John Leighton Wilson died on this day, 13 July 1886.

Words to Live By:   Tolerance was pleaded by liberals.  But when they became in control of the church machinery, there was no tolerance for Reformed Christendom.  The latter ministers and elders were thrown out of the church.  Remember dear reader – once the essentials of Christianity are thrown out, then there is no real Christianity, no worship of the Triune God, no evangelistic efforts, and no hope for heaven’s shores left.  Always be ready to give an answer, or a defense, of the historic Christian faith.  Fight the good fight of faith.

Through the Scriptures: Isaiah 19 – 21

Through the Standards: The Fourth commandment : Sins forbidden

WLC 119 — “What are the sins forbidden in the fourth commandment?
A. The sins forbidden in the fourth commandment are, all omissions of the duties required, all careless, negligent, and unprofitable performing of them, and being weary of them; all profaning the day by idleness, and doing that which is in itself sinful; and by all needless works, words, and thoughts, about our worldly employments and recreations.”

WSC 61 — “What is forbidden in the fourth commandment?
A. The fourth commandment forbids the omission or careless performance of the duties required, and the profaning the day by idleness, or doing that which is in itself sinful, or by unnecessary thoughts, words, and works, about our worldly employments or recreations.”

Image sources:
1. Cover image of the sermon “Shall the Fundamentalists Win?” by Harry Emerson Fosdick. From an original copy located among the Fosdick miscellany collection at the PCA Historical Center.

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July 12: David Brainerd, Missionary

12 July, 2012 in July 2012 by davidtmyers | No comments

This Day in Presbyterian History:  

Not Works But Christ’s Merits Alone

From day one of this historical devotional, we have recorded several experiences of David Brainerd, the Presbyterian evangelist to the Indians in the early part of the eighteenth century in America. What made this young man go so courageously to their villages  and witness to the sovereign and saving grace of God in Christ? The only answer, beyond his call to do just that, was his own experience of saving grace and a desire to spread that message of eternal life.

David Brainerd was born on  April 20, 1718 to a religious family. Yet while ministers were among his relatives, he didn’t receive or respect the true way of eternal life. He thought almost all of his young life that salvation was through a life of good works. And he did live such a life.  Prayer, fasting, personal duties to God and man, all were his to show to God.  When he still couldn’t get any real peace with God,  he went to a spirit of real antagonism with this God of the Bible.

As he tells in his diary, he was irritated with the strictness of the divine law against sin. Then the condition of salvation by faith alone bothered him.  Couldn’t there be another way, he thought?  Then, just how does one find saving faith? He didn’t know, nor could he find faith at all.  Last, the sovereignty of God was a troubling idea to him.

All of these questions were answered on this day July 12, 1739 when God’s convicting Spirit fell upon him powerfully  and saved his soul.  Listen to his words in his celebrated diary: “By this time the sun was scarce half an hour high, as I remember, as I was walking in a dark thick grove, ‘unspeakable glory’ seemed to open to the view and apprehension of my soul.  By the glory I saw I don’t mean any external brightness, for I saw no such thing, nor do I intend any imagination of a body of light or splendor somewhere away in the third heaven, or anything of that nature. But it was a new inward apprehension or view that I  had of God; such as I never had before, nor anything that I had the least remembrance of it.  I stood still and wondered and admired.”

Now David Brainerd was qualified to take the unsearchable riches of the gospel to the tribes of hostile Indians.  Commissioned by the Scottish Society for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge, he served his blessed Lord and Savior for three years until on October 9, 1747, he went to glory.  But his diary has remained in print and has effectively influenced countless people with missionary zeal to spend and be spent with the call of the Lord to reach the unsaved people of the world with Christ and Him crucified.

Words to Live By: It may be that some of you readers have never responded to the gospel call of the Spirit of God.  It may be that some of you are still trying to claim that your religious works will save your soul.  Learn from the experience of David Brainerd of old that all the testimony of Scripture is that eternal life is only by Christ alone, through faith alone, by grace alone.  Repent, and believe the blessed gospel.

Through the Scriptures: Isaiah 16 – 18

Through the Standards: Leaders in families and business must set the example

WLC 118 — “Why is the charge of keeping the sabbath more specially directed to governors of families, and other superiors?
A. The charge of keeping the sabbath is more specially directed to governors of families, and other superiors, because they are bound not only to keep it themselves, but to see that it be observed by all those that are under their charge; and because they are prone ofttimes to hinder them by employments of their own.”

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