“God Arising And Pleading His People’s Cause”
by Abraham Keteltas (Oct. 5, 1777)

Abraham Keteltas (1732-98) was raised by Protestant parents in New York and New Rochelle, where he spent much of his time among the communities of Huguenots in the area. Becoming fluent in French early on, he later studied theology at Yale, where he earned his degree in 1752, followed by gaining his preacher’s license in 1756. From 1757 until his dismissal in 1760, Keteltas supplied the pulpit of the Presbyterian church in Elizabethtown, New Jersey. He then served as an itinerant preacher to the Dutch and Huguenot parishes in Jamaica and Long Island, New York, where he gained much popular support. By 1776, Keteltas was elected to the Provincial Congress and became such a vociferous defender of the American cause that he feared for reprisals when British troops landed on Long Island. During the Revolution, he served as preacher to a number of Presbyterian churches in Massachusetts and Connecticut until his retirement in 1782. He died in 1798 and was buried on Long Island. (Source: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/etas/30/)

An earlier sermon on patriotic themes was his 1759 The Religious Soldier, which was preached to both American and English soldiers, calling for ethical behavior among the military. A year after this sermon below, Keteltas also supported the Revolution with his Reflections on Extortion. Thus, he hardly shied away from political subjects.

Reiner Smolinksi summarizes that in this influential political sermon, Keteltas enlists Jehovah of Armies in defense of America’s rights. Drawing on typological parallels from both Testaments, Keteltas demonstrates that God always supports the cause of righteousness, liberty, and self-government, especially where his people are concerned. If God is on the side of his American Israel, Kelteltas prophecies, the British enemy cannot succeed for long. Religion and politics are joined in a bed of patriotism.”

Keteltas begins with an imprecation from Psalm 74:22, calling on God to arise and plead his own cause. His first primary point was “To shew you what we are to understand by the cause of God.” The preacher then set out to define the “cause of God,” which was “the whole system of divine truth.” In amplified form, the cause of God was:

All the doctrines contained in the old and new Testament, from that system of truth, of which we are speaking, amongst these doctrines, those most essential to man, are his fall in Adam, and redemption by the Lord Jesus Christ, the necessity of being regenerated and sanctified by the spirit of God, and being justified by the righteousness of his son imputed to them, and received by faith, the necessity of holiness in order to happiness, and of conformity in heart and life to the nature and will of God: These, and all the other doctrines of his word, are the cause of God.

However, Keteltas goes further to amplify: “But 2dly, By the cause of God, we are to understand, the cause of universal righteousness: The moral law, or the ten command-ments is the rule of this righteousness, and besides the moral law, all those duties which are incumbent upon us, as fallen creatures; such as the great duties of faith, repentance and conversion, which imply the forsaking of every sin, and the practice of every virtue.”

Thirdly, he added: “the welfare of the people, who believe and profess the above-mentioned system of divine truths, and practice the righteousness just now described, is the cause of God.”

As he begins to expand his themes, his second major heading was: “what is meant by his arising and pleading this cause; and what encouragement his people have that he will effectually do it.” He sounds very much like a well-trained exegete, beginning with: “The Hebrew word here translated ‘plead,’ may be rendered ‘litigate, strove, contend, fight,’ but being here connected with cause, it is best translated, by the English word ‘plead,’ a term very familiar to most of us, which signifies an advocate, lawyer, or patron’s arguing, supplicating, interceding, contending for his client, and representing his case to the best advantage, espousing or patronizing it, or taking it in his own hands and managing it. The phrase of God’s pleading his people’s cause, frequently occurs in scripture.” God pleads his cause by his word, by his Spirit, and by his providence.

In his Word, God commands his followers how to live; also “he pronounces a woe against them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed, to turn the needy from judgment, and to take away the right of the poor of his people; he commands that he who ruleth over men, must be just, ruling in the fear of the Lord; he commands magistrates to be a terror to evil doers, and a praise to them who do well.”

After a discussion of how God works by his spirit, his providence is extolled as: “The whole history of it, from the creation of the world, is a series of wonderful interpositions in behalf of his elect.” In this section, he refers to the Dutch and Swiss independence movements as worthy precedents and useful models.

He praised liberty as “the grand fountain, under God, of every temporal blessing, and what is infinitely more important, it is favorable to the propagation of unadulterated christianity. Liberty is the parent of truth, justice, virtue, patriotism, benevolence, and every generous and noble purpose of the soul. Under the influence of liberty, the arts and sciences, trade, commerce, and husbandry flourish, and the wilderness blossoms like the rose.” On the flip side: “But if liberty is thus friendly to the happiness of mankind, and is the cause of the kind parent of the universe; certainly tyranny & oppression are the cause of the devil, the cause which God’s soul hates. The holy scriptures abound with instances and prophecies of his judgments against tyrants and oppressors; and not only sacred, but prophane history, prove the fulfilment of those prophecies.”

Conversely, “tyranny & oppression are the cause of the devil, the cause which God’s soul hates.” God has “in the most lively characters, written his hatred and detestation of tyranny and oppression, upon the bodies of those who have been guilty of those heaven daring offences—thus hath he shewn how much he detests, and how severely he will punish cruelty and injustice, the murder of the innocent, and the invasion of their rights and property.”

Keteltas cites several previous precedents that support the independence of America. Moreover, he also drafted several British statesmen who supported the revolution. His sermon concludes with these words and a call for Americans to defend not only their own liberty but that of the coming generations.

The cause of God—his own cause, must prosper, in spite of earth and hell—God will effectually plead it; he will plead it by his almighty word, his all conquering spirit, and his over ruling providence. No weapon formed against Zion, shall prosper: every tongue that riseth up against her, shall be condemned: God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved: God will help her, and that right early: Trust ye therefore in the Lord Jehovah, for in the Lord Jehovah there is everlasting strength. Cast all your burdens and cares upon the Lord, and he will sustain you—he will never suffer the righteous to be moved. Eminent Divines & celebrated poets, have given it as their opinion, that America will be a glorious land of freedom, knowledge, and religion,—an asylum for distressed, oppressed, and persecuted virtue.

The entire is sermon avail at: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1030&context=etas. It is also included in Logos software at: https://www.logos.com/resources/LLS_EVANS12185/god-arising-and-pleading-his-peoples-cause.

By Dr. David W. Hall, Pastor
Midway Presbyterian Church

For others like this order a copy of Twenty Messages to Consider Before Voting from Reformation Heritage Books.

Born this day on September 9, 1880, 

Oswald Thompson Allis was born in Wallingford, Delaware county, Pennsylvania to Oscar Huntington Allis, M.D. and his wife Julia Waterbury Thompson Allis, on this day, September 9, in 1880. He was raised in the family home at 1604 Spruce Street, in Philadelphia. Decades later, this same location was to serve as the cradle for the newly formed Westminster Theological Seminary.

His education included an A.B. degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1901; the Bachelor of Divinity degree from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1905; the A.M. degree from Princeton University in 1907; and finally the Ph.D. degree from the University of Berlin in 1913, with a dissertation focused on the study of selected Babylonian cuneiform texts.

Dr. Allis first served as Instructor in Semitic Philology at the Princeton Theological Seminary from 1910-1922 and then as Assistant Professor of Semitic Philology at the same institution, from 1922-1929. Reorganization of the Princeton Seminary placed modernists in control of the school and so prompted the resignations of Drs. Allis, J. Gresham Machen, Robert Dick Wilson and Cornelius Van Til. Over the summer of 1929, plans were laid for the organization of Westminster Theological Seminary. Classes began in that autumn and Dr. Allis served as Professor of Old Testament History and Exegesis at Westminster from 1929-1930 and then as Professor of Old Testament from 1930-1936. When Dr. Machen and others were forced in 1936 to leave the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. denomination over their involvement with the Independent Board for Presbyterian Foreign Missions, Dr. Allis chose to remain in the denomination, but retired from his teaching post. Independently wealthy, he was able to devote the remainder of his life to research and writing.

Dr. Allis was the editor of The Princeton Theological Review from 1918-1929 and, beginning in 1929, maintained a position as Editorial Correspondent for The Evangelical Quarterly up until the time of his death, with many of his articles appearing in that publication.

A 1931 promotional brochure for Westminster Theological Seminary prepared by the Student Committee on Publications had these comments regarding Dr. Allis and his teaching:

“It is the painstaking and thorough accuracy of Dr. Allis in whatever he does, that causes his students to marvel. We watch him unravel the intricacies of Hebrew syntax, and his patience is a constant example and inspiration to us.”
“Dr. Allis’ favorite class room pastime is to answer critics who seek to prove the Old Testament untrue and unreliable. He shows how these would-be Bible destroyers are often false or inaccurate, and frequently so even in the realm of sheer facts. To sit under his teaching is to have one’s faith renewed in the Old Testament as the altogether reliable inspired Word of God.”

Words to live by: The Word of God is sure and reliable, and the Christian can rely fully and completely upon His every promise to the believer. In all that comes against us in this life, He is our refuge. The very character and nature of God is our strong sanctuary in times of trial.

A great man of God, now little known to most—”He exercised the broadest charity toward all who loved the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity and truth.”

RECOLLECTIONS OF DR. JANEWAY,
by the Rev. Nicholas Murray, D.D.
Elizabeth, New Jersey, September 8, 1860.

It was at the close of the winter session of the Theological Seminary at Princeton, in 1827, that I first saw Dr. Jacob J. Janeway. He was then a little past mid-life, but rotund in form, placid in aspect, in vigorous health, with black hair, a firm step, and dignified bearing. There seemed to be a little too much dignity mingled with his other qualities; so much so as to give him the air of cold reserve. As I entered a coach for Trenton, the day after the term closed, there to take the Steamer for Philadelphia, I found Dr. Janeway reclining on its back seat, obviously in pain. I was introduced to him by Dr. Miller, and requested to take care of him. This I did to the best of my ability. I led him to a sofa on the Steamer, and covered him as I could. On reaching the city I secured a carriage and conveyed him to his house, in Arch Street. He was carried from the coach to his bed, a very sick man. For some days fears were entertained for his life; but his disease yielded to remedies, and he was spared to be a blessing to the church for many years afterwards.

Such was my first acquaintance with Dr. Janeway and his family. During my subsequent residence for a year in Philadelphia, I mostly attended his ministry, was a frequent inmate of his family, and enjoyed many opportunities of meeting with him in public and private; and my love for the man grew in the proportion of my acquaintance with his character, and the principles that governed him. When he went to the Seminary at Allegheny, as Professor of Theology, I seriously canvassed the question of going there with him. And when I was ordained to the work of the ministry in Wilkesbarre, Pennsylvania, he went there to preach my ordination sermon, and to lead in the service by which I was set apart, by the laying on of the hands of the Presbytery. And onward to the close of his life, it was my privilege to be on terms of the most fraternal intercourse with him.

Those who knew Dr. Janeway only as a public man, did not know him at all. He was a man of few words to strangers. His principles were fixed. He was an out and out Presbyterian. He knew nothing about expediency; and where principle was concerned, he was as unbending as a pillar of iron. You might flatter him, or abuse him, or outvote him, but he could coolly stand any thing for the sake of his principles. This made him unpopular with many; and even with some as orthodox as himself, but with more policy; and they judged him accordingly. But in private he was communicative, and genial, and warmhearted, to a remarkable degree.

And whilst firmly attached to his own opinions, and to his own church, he exercised the broadest charity toward all who loved the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity and truth. No person could fully know Dr. Janeway, without esteeming his principles, and loving him as a man.

We knew him after he had passed the acme of his years. We had often heard of his great popularity as a preacher in his youth; but our recollections of him are those of a sound, sensible, substantial preacher. If not eloquent, he was istructive; if not flashy, he was solid; if he did not excite the fancy, he touched the heart. Sensible people were pleased with him. And this was apparent from the congregation which sat under his ministry at the corner of Third and Arch Streets, in which were such men as Charles Chauncey, Alexander Henry, and Robert Ralston. But few such congregationns were to be found in the land for intelligence, wealth, and liberality. Genius and rhetoric are not to be despised in the ministry; but common sense, diligence, humility, piety, are gifts far to be preferred. And these Dr. Janeway possessed to an eminent degree. The comet blazes and attracts, and soon burns out; but the sun, moon, and stars always shine. An occasional Niagara is very well; it attracts the wonder-seeking, and the wonder-loving; but the gently flowing rivers are those which bless and fertilize the country.

Dr. Janeway was also a truly benevolent man. He had a heart and hand for every good work; and when he  had  retired from active pastoral life, he found abundant employment in preaching in vacant churches, in assisting his brethren, and in aiding in every effort to glorify God, and do good to men. There was not a Board of his own church with which he was not in some way connected; nor was there a great society in the land which had not his sympathies, his contributions, and his prayers. Blessed with a large paternal inheritance, he did not dig in the earth and hide his Lord’s money; as a faithful steward, he generously used it for the promotion of every good work. Whatever met with his approval, met also with his most generous support.

Dr. Janeway outlived his own generation; and that amid which he died only saw the faded remains of what he once was. “Without a stain upon his fair character, he lived on to his four-score years; and whilst his lot was cast in the days of exciting and angry controversy, and with which he had not a little to do, we know not that his principles, his integrity, his unyielding honesty, were ever called in question by his most vigorous opponent. The part that he took in the defence and extension of our Presbyterianism—in the founding of our Seminaries and Colleges—in the establishment and support of all our Boards, entitles him to a place with Green, Alexander, Miller, Baxter, Rice, among the fathers of the  church, which he  so  faithfully served.

Image sources:
1. Rev. Nicholas Murray [1802-1861], The Presbyterian Historical Almanac for 1862, p. 105.
2. Rev. Jacob Jones Janeway, frontispiece portrait from The Life of the Rev. Jacob J. Janeway, D.D. (1861).

“Conservatives continued to hold out hope, though, that any talk about the delay of the plan of union was simply talk. Jack Williamson wrote an article in the Journal in August 1972 in which he laid out a possible timeline for withdrawal if the plan of union is presented to the 1973 General Assembly as planned with the proposed escape clause. He continued to urge conservatives to wait for the plan of union, if possible, because it would give the continuing church “a broader base with a maximum number of churches,” it provided ministers with “full protection” in coming to the Continuing Church, and “it is the guaranteed constitutional method for a local church to elect not to enter the union and still keep its local church property.” With this approach, it was possible that a new continuing church could be formed by the 1974 General Assembly. However, some churches simply could not wait that long. On September 7, 1972, sixteen ministers and elders representing ten churches formed a new independent presbytery. Called Vanguard Presbytery, it was the brainchild of Todd Allen, the pastor of Eastern Heights Presbyterian Church, Savannah, Georgia, which had successfully fought for its church property. Vanguard would become a provisional option for some churches and ministers who felt conscience-bound to withdraw and a model for others in the days ahead.”—Dr. Sean Michael Lucas, For a Continuing Church: The Roots of the Presbyterian Church in America. (P&R, 2015).

VANGUARD PRESBYTERY

A significant event in the Presbyterian family occurred in Savannah, Georgia on September 7, 1972. A group of ministers and independent Presbyterian churches met and formed Vanguard Presbytery.

Early in August the Reverend Todd Allen, pastor of the Eastern Heights Presbyterian Church of Savannah, contacted the Administrator of the Steering Committee for a Continuing Presbyterian Church and requested advice and counsel with reference to his plan for calling a meeting of the representatives of independent Presbyterian churches and their pastors for the purpose of forming a presbytery that would be faithful to the Word of God and the Reformed Faith. The Steering Committee is ever ready to assist Presbyterian churches in uniting for this worthy purpose. The Administrator was glad to be of what service he could, but the credit for the accomplishment of the Vanguard Presbytery must go to the Reverend Todd Allen and others closely associated with him.

The meeting on September 7 was on a high spiritual plane, beginning with a devotional lesson from Philippians 1:1-6. The Communion service which followed was according to the Word of God and the presiding minister reminded the worshipers that the Sacrament commemorated the substitutionary atonement of our Lord for our sins.

In a most orderly fashion a temporary moderator and clerk were elected and four standing committees were “The Constitution and Service for Constituting the Presbytery”, “Naming and Chartering”, “Presbytery Organization and Schedules” and “Committee of Thanks.” The entire group united in intercession to God for His blessing upon these committees.

The feature of the afternoon meeting was an address by Attorney Owen H. Page. Mr. Page was the attorney for the Eastern Heights and Hull Memorial Churches when these churches went independent in 1966. The case went to the United States Supreme Court and was decided in favor of the local churches’ ownership of their respective properties. The case was decided on neutral principles, that is, without reference to church doctrine or government. Mr. Page stated that the vast majority of church property decisions recently rendered in various states had used the Savannah churches as the precedent effecting their decisions. (Incidentally, state laws vary greatly on the matter of church property and any local congregation wishing to assure the ownership of their church property should consult local attorneys to work out the proper legal instruments.)

The standing committees worked during the afternoon and completed their reports.

The people of the Eastern Heights Presbyterian Church graciously entertained the entire group at supper.

The concluding session of the presbytery was held at 7:00 p.m. All committee reports were unanimously adopted. Rev. Todd Allen was elected Moderator and Ruling Elder Chester Hall of the First Presbyterian Church, Louisville, Kentucky was elected temporary clerk and treasurer. The Presbytery was named “VANGUARD PRESBYTERY, a provisional presbytery for Southern Presbyterian and Reformed churches uniting.” The presbytery accepted an invitation for their November 14 meeting from the Tabb Street Independent Presbyterian Church, Petersburg, Virginia.

The meeting in Savannah was joyously Christian and was without criticism or derogatory remarks concerning any other religious group. The presbytery voted to accept the invitation of the Steering Committee for a Continuing Presbyterian Church for its moderator to become a member of that Steering Committee.

Words to live by:
The organizing meeting of the Vanguard Presbytery began with a message on the text of Philippians 1:1-6. The central truth of that message is that “He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”
In everything that He does, God unerringly accomplishes His purpose. And here, in this text, the apostle Paul drives home the point that as the Lord has raised you up from death to a living faith in the risen Savior, so He will continue to work in you, bringing you at last to Himself in glory. God’s work is sure, and there is no condemnation for those who in Christ Jesus.

The first General Synod of the Bible Presbyterian Church Meets

They said that the Presbyterian Church of America which began in 1936 had been ”a false start.”  Issues regarding  the exact details associated with Christ’s second coming as well as the total abstention from alcoholic beverages formed a divisive wedge between once united brothers in Christ.   The place of independent agencies in the new church versus denomination agencies added another issue to the contention of “a false start” in the Presbyterian Church of America.  Some would even argue that the death of J. Gresham Machen was a blow to the original testimony.  But whatever it was, in 1937, a small group of ministers and ruling elders had gathered in another place from the General Assembly then meeting to set up the rules for association for a new church.

And now, beginning September 6, 1938, and continuing two more days, thirty-nine teaching elders and eleven ruling elders met at the new tabernacle building of the Collingswood Bible Presbyterian Church, in Collingswood, New Jersey.  The name of this new church had been taken from the name of the congregation pastored by the Rev. David K. Myers, a home missionary of the Presbyterian Church of America in Lemmon, South Dakota.  That constituted  the first Bible Presbyterian Church in the nation.  The other churches were represented by seven presbyteries: New Jersey, Great Plains, Philadelphia, Great Lakes, Chicago Bible, Iowa, and California.  In its beginning days, it would have a glorious testimony to the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Some of its original ministers were individuals who had and would have a testimony in present and future years.  They were: Francis A Schaeffer [in the above photo, he is the first man on the left, in the front row], H. McAllister Griffiths, Carl McIntire, Harold S Laird, Oliver Buswell, Allan MacRae, Charles Dana Chrisman, A. Franklyn Faucette, J. A. Toms, and others.  J. A. Toms was elected moderator, and H. McAllister Griffiths was elected the Stated Clerk.  Those who had suffered censure in various degrees by the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. were absolved of all such censure.

Two of the original resolutions passed by this new church were the exact two which were issues in the Presbyterian Church of America.  The church was decidedly placed in the premillennial camp by adding parenthesis to the Confessions Standards.  Further, the call for holiness and specifically a call for total abstinence from alcoholic beverages was passed by the new church.

Even though they were classified as independent agencies, both the Independent Board for Foreign Missions and Faith Theological Seminary were endorsed by the new denomination.   

Words to live by:  There is always joy over the birth of something new, especially a church body.  But to have individuals who had stood the test of orthodoxy in an increasing liberal church find out that they cannot agree with one another on other issues is disheartening. The issue of the doctrine of the last things was not premillennialism per se.  It was dispensational premillennialism.  The issue of holiness of life and total abstinence from alcohol was an issue in the days of prohibition, but to this writer it was not a reason to separate from brothers in the Lord.  Westminster Seminary put out a directive right around this time which enjoined its students from alcohol, citing a witness to the world and that of offending brothers in Christ.  But there is encouragement even in small blessings, for just a few years ago, modern Bible Presbyterians approved a motion in granting observer status to the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. There are blessings to brothers who dwell together in liberty.

Coverage of the First General Synod of the Bible Presbyterian Church was provided on the pages of The Christian Beacon, in its September 15, 1938 issue. To view the entirety of that issue as a PDF scan, click here.

Photo source: The Christian Beacon, 3.32 (15 September 1938).