January 2012

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January 7: Rev. Thomas Dewitt Talmage

7 January, 2012 in January 2012 by archivist | 1 comment

This Day in Presbyterian History :  

What was Meant for Harm Turned Out for Good

Reared into a family of twelve children on a farm in New Jersey, Thomas Dewitt Talmage had the blessings of Christian parents.  Four of the children in this family, as a result, would become ministers and missionaries of the gospel, including Thomas, who was born on this day on January 7, 1832.  Graduating from what is present day New York University, Thomas at first studied law, but eventually received the calling in becoming a minister of the gospel. Graduating from a Dutch Reformed seminary, he pastored three churches in what is now the Reformed Church in America. In 1869 however, he transferred into the Presbyterian Church and was called to serve as pastor of the Central Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn, New York.

[» Dutch Reform Church, Philadelphia. This picture shows the church where Dr. Talmage was pastor previous to his call to Brooklyn »]

Preaching without notes, without a pulpit to hold him in place, with the fervor of a George Whitefield, and the rhetoric of Shakespeare and Milton, the church congregation began to grow with the faithful preaching of the Bible,  with the result that  many were turned away.  Building a larger building brought them masses of additional people, which only caused more to be turned away because of lack of space.  Eventually, area ministers in Brooklyn, jealous at his success, began to spread rumors, which were in turn picked up by the news media.  These sinful slurs upon his ministry and person became hot news for the reading public.

The following Sunday after the slanderous remarks hit the front pages, reporters showed up for the worship service, expecting Rev. Talmage to respond publicly to the personal attacks.  That hope would make great news copy.  But Talmage didn’t respond at all to the verbal attacks. In fact, he didn’t say one word about the newsy stories of the previous week.   He chose instead to proclaim the unadulterated gospel.  That one sermon was printed word for word in countless newspapers in New York. and even around the world.  In fact, this policy of printing his sermons by the public media became the standard practice, as some 3000 newspapers eventually came to be used by the Lord in this way to deliver the good news of eternal life.

It is estimated that twenty five million people read his biblical sermons around the world, with thirty thousand souls won to Christ as a result.  He was faithful in word and practice to the calling of Christ to be an ambassador, representing King Jesus to the world of lost men and women.

Words to Live By: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12:21 NIV)  It is always easier to respond in kind to those who attack by their words and actions, but God demands of us a different response.  In fact, it is often that “softer word” which is used by the Lord to convict both the one who attacks our character, as well as a tremendous example to those outside the immediate situation.  Jesus told us to bless those who say all kinds of evil against you.  Let us be faithful to do that, and leave the outcome to God.

Through the Scriptures: Genesis 20 – 22

Through the Standards: Three witnesses to Scripture

WCF 1:5
“We may be moved and induced by the testimony of the Church to an high and reverend esteem of the Holy Scripture. And the heavenliness of the matter, the efficacy of the doctrine, the majesty of the style, the consent of all the parts, the scope of the whole (which is, to give all glory to God), the full discovery it makes of the only way of man’s salvation, the many other incomparable excellencies, and the entire perfection thereof, are arguments whereby it doth abundantly evidence itself to be the Word of God; yet, notwithstanding, our full persuasion and assurance of the infallible true and divine authority thereof, is from the inward work of the Holy Spirit bearing witness by and with the Word in our hearts.”

WLC 4 “How doth it appear that the scriptures are of the word of God?
A. The Scriptures manifest themselves to be the word of God, by their majesty and purity; by the consent of all the parts, and the scope of the whole, which is to give all glory to God; by their light and power to convince and convert sinners, to comfort and build up believers unto salvation: but the Spirit of God bearing witness by and with the scriptures in the heart of man, is alone able fully to persuade it that they are the very word of God.

All of the above images are taken from a saleman’s display copy of The Authentic Life of T. De Witt Talmage (1902); all scans by the staff of the PCA Historical Center.

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January 6: Moses Drury Hoge

6 January, 2012 in January 2012 by archivist | No comments

This Day in Presbyterian History:

An American Spurgeon

Born into a family of ministers in 1818, Moses Drury Hoge was reared in the doctrines of the Christian faith.  Twenty years later, Moses made a profession of faith. Entering Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, he graduated as valedictorian of the class.  His theological studies took place at Union Theological Seminary in Richmond where he was to study under the finest theologians of the South.  Licensed into the Presbyterian ministry, he began to preach the Word to a large congregation at the Second Presbyterian Church of Richmond,  Virginia.  His time there as pastor would stretch for nearly fifty years.

When the War between the States broke out in 1861, at first he was not in favor of secession.  He had offered freedom to all of his slaves which had accompanied his  wife’s estate, but only one was willing to accept the gift of liberty.  But when Virginia left the Union, he went with her decision with his whole heart and soul.  With thousands of Confederate soldiers gathering in Richmond, the capitol of this new nation, they were added to his congregation.  It is estimated that as many as one hundred thousand soldiers of the Confederacy heard the gospel from his lips.  Often he would travel to the actual battlefield, while the battle was ongoing, to minister to the spiritual needs of the men.  Once he even sailed through the naval blockade to England to bring back Bibles to the men and women of the southern confederacy.  When defeat came four years later, he was overcome with grief at the dark providence of God, but rallied his people with sermons from the Bible.

After the war, Moses Hoge traveled to every part of the nation, including trips to Europe, to deliver  hundreds of biblical sermons with power.  One wrote of him, “He preached with power, pathos, pleading, and spirituality.  No notes either, but all free, direct, and natural.  He is our Spurgeon.”  Moses Drury Hoge would depart this earth on January 6, 1899.

[Below, a letter, now preserved at the PCA Historical Center, which
Dr. Hoge enclosed with a book sent to a close friend]

Words to Live By:
“We are to pray for  . . . ministers.” (Larger Catechism, #183)
In fact, know their weekly schedule, by simply asking them for it.  Any minister will be glad to give it to you.  I know of one congregation whose pastor has given his week in general to specific members of the congregation, who then have his ministerial labors on which to pray for a special day of that week.  In that way, the work of the Lord is brought before the Lord on an every day every hour span of time.  What a great example for all of our congregations to follow.

Through the Scriptures: Genesis 16 – 19

Through the Standards: God is the Divine Author of Scripture

WCF 1:4
“The authority of the Holy Scripture, for which it ought to be believed, and obeyed, depends not upon the testimony of any man, or Church; but wholly unto God (who is truth itself) the author thereof; and therefore it is to be received, because it is the Word of God.”

Dr. Hoge’s first published work was Honorable Old Age: A Sermon preached at the funeral of Capt. Benjamin Sheppard (1855). His last published work, gathered under his own hand, was Cause and Cure of Despondency (1898). Posthumously, there was published a collection of his sermons under the title The Perfection of Beauty (1904). Ironically, in one of those sermons, Dr. Hoge himself paid tribute to Spurgeon :

“…I do not know of any history more instructive in another aspect than his. It shows how a man with the courage of his convictions, how a man who is intensely loyal to the truth, and fears nothing but what is wrong, will at last triumph over all opposition. Very few men have lived in England that were subjected to the ridicule and misrepresentation Mr. Spurgeon was during the early years of his ministry. Hundreds of stories were invented reflecting upon his manners, reflecting upon him in every way, and yet he pursued the even tenor of his way without even a murmur, with his bright, genial spirit unchilled by the abuse that was heaped upon him. He went on quietly, with the pluck and perseverance that characterized him, until the time came that he won over to himself all the parties in England, and not only all the parties, but all the different classes of society.”
[“Liddon, Bersier, Spurgeon,” The Perfection of Beauty, p. 149.]

[Our author, Rev. David Myers, didn’t know of Dr. Hoge’s tribute to Spurgeon when he wrote today’s devotional. Click here to read the entire portion of Dr. Hoge’s tribute to Charles Haddon Spurgeon. 

Image sources:
1. Frontispiece portrait from Fifty Years a Pastor. An Account of the Observance of the Semi-Centennial Anniversary of the Installation of Rev. Moses Drury Hoge, D.D., LL.D. in the Pastorate of the Second Presbyterian Church, Richmond, Virginia. Richmond, VA: [The Church], 1895.
2. Letter from Dr. Moses D. Hoge to John J. Jamieson, Esq., dated 3 December 1895, found enclosed with the above mentioned volume. Scanned by the staff of the PCA Historical Center.

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January 5: Manor Presbyterian Church

5 January, 2012 in January 2012 by davidtmyers | No comments

This Day in Presbyterian History :  

Church Courts Seek to Maintain the Purity of the Church

Before America became a nation, local civil courts were unknown.  So in their absence, church sessions were frequently called upon to settle cases which involved both wrongs done against God as well as against God’s people.  The published session records of Manor Presbyterian Church in  Pennsylvania, which is the second oldest congregation of the Presbyterian Church in America, is one example of this. The church, begun in 1730, had as their first pastor, Samuel Blair, a graduate of the Log College.  Two years after Blair became their under-shepherd, the Session of Elders became in essence  a moral court , stating its conviction on the dangers of strong drink.

[» “the original Log College building” »]

On January 5, 1742, the Session of Ruling Elders gave a general warning of the dangers of “excess in strong drink.”   They stated, “we look upon this as our duty in this public manner, to testify against the corrupt practice and giving and drinking spirituous Liquor on such occasions, inasmuch as the shameful and unmanly, as well as unchristian and ungodly sin of Drunkenness, more or less, is generally the consequence of it; so that it is likely to corrupt and debauch the land, and make bad men much worse, to the great endangering of the everlasting perdition of souls, the profanation of God’s Holy Name, and wounding of his church . . . .”

This Presbyterian session of elders, in seeing such a loss of testimony on the part of those who were engaged in this sin of drunkenness, warned that such as would be found guilty of this sin would have to make a public confession of their sin, and profess their grief and sorrow for it before God, as an evidence of the truth of their humility.  Further evidence must provide a great bond and restraint upon them afterward, before they could be admitted back into the distinguishing privileges of the visible church.  In other words, genuine biblical repentance in attitude and action must be evident in their heart and lives before restoration would take place.

It is interesting that not too many years into the future, after this initial expression of concern of proper behavior among the members, the Great Awakening would come to Manor Presbyterian Church under the ministry of both Samuel Blair and George Whitefield.

Words to Live By: One of the three marks of a true church is the biblical practice of church discipline, done in love, according to the Scripture, for the punishment of sin,  for the restoration of the offenders, the purity of the church, and the glory of God.   Let us pray for all church sessions to be faithful to this mark.

Through the Scriptures: Genesis 12 – 15

Through the  Standards:  What is not in the canon of Scripture

WCF 1:3 “The books commonly called Apocrypha, not being of divine inspiration, are no part of the canon of the Scripture, and therefore are of no authority in the Church of God, nor to be any otherwise approved, or made use of, than other human writings.”

Image sources:
1. “The original Log College building” – frontispiece drawing in The Presbytery of the Log College, or The Cradle of the Presbyterian Church in America, by Thomas Murphy (1889). Image scan by Wayne Sparkman.
2. Photograph of Samuel Blair’s gravestone by Dr. Barry Waugh. Used by permission.

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January 4: Rev. Aaron Burr, Sr.

4 January, 2012 in January 2012 by davidtmyers | 2 comments

This Day in Presbyterian History : 

Practicing his Preaching

It is a rare combination for a man that he be an effective pastor as well as an effective professor.  And yet, Aaron Burr was such a man.

Born on  January 4, 1715, Aaron Burr graduated from Yale University in 1735. He was then ordained in the Presbyterian Church of Newark, New Jersey on January 25, 1737.  Just four years later, a remarkable revival occurred in the church with the result that the following winter, the entire town was brought under the convicting influences of the Spirit of God.  Four years past the previous work of God’s Spirit in the congregation, another revival of religion occurred among the church members, this time, among the young people.  Both of these religious awakenings tell us that Aaron Burr was an effective instrument of the Spirit, applying the whole counsel of God to the hearts and minds of the people.

On the death of Jonathan Dickinson, first president of the College of New Jersey, that infant educational institution moved to Newark, New Jersey, to be placed under the direct spiritual oversight of Burr in 1747.  For the next seven years, Rev. Burr would serve both as pastor and professor to the people and theological students.  In 1755, the pastoral side of his calling was dissolved and the students preparing for ministry had the full attention of his tireless zeal in their training.

It was Aaron Burr who recognized that Princeton, New Jersey, was a more suitable site for the college than Newark.  So in 1756, he moved the now seventy students to a building which had been built especially for it.  The college, which later on would become Princeton University and Princeton Theological Seminary, would never leave this town.

Burr was certainly an  intellectual in his teaching abilities.  Yet it was when he was preaching that he shone most brilliantly.  His life and example were a constant commentary on his sermons.

Words to Live By:  It is said that our lives preach all day every week.  Question? Are other souls being helped or hindered in the hearing and  reading of those lives?  Are those without Christ being convicted and convinced to become Christians?  Are Christians being encouraged, comforted, edified, and taught Christian truths?  What is our profession—not just of our lips, but of our lives—as we live before others? All these questions are good self-examination questions, especially as we begin this new year.

Through the Scriptures: Genesis 10-11

Through the Standards:  The what, how, and why of the Bible, as found in the catechisms:

WLC 3 “What is the word of God?
A. The holy scriptures of the Old and New Testament are the word of God, the only rule of faith and obedience.”;

WSC 2 “What rule hath God given to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him?
A. The Word of God, which is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him.”

For further study:
The finding aid, or index, to the Aaron Burr manuscript collection preserved at the Princeton University, may be viewed here.

Recommended reading on Princeton University:
Noll, Mark A. Princeton and the Republic, 1768-1822: The Search for a Christian Enlightenment in the Era of Samuel Stanhope Smith (1989). 340 pp.

[Images from Scribner’s Monthly, vol. 13, no. 5 (March 1877), pp. 627 & 629.]

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January 3: David Brainerd

3 January, 2012 in January 2012 by archivist | No comments

This Day in Presbyterian History :  

God Enabled Him to be a Prayer Warrior

It is amazing that one life lived for God could  inspire not just his own life and soul, but  countless others as well.  And yet that was the case with David Brainerd [1718-1747].  A recipient of the Great Awakening in New England in the early seventeen hundreds, David Brainerd was ordained by the Presbytery of New York as a missionary  to the Delaware Indians.  A sickly man, he would eventually die of tuberculosis, but not before he penned a memorable diary which illustrated his deep piety in the things of God. Listen to some of his thoughts, written on January 3, 1745.

 “Being sensible of the great want (lack) of divine influences and the outpouring of     God’s Spirit, I spent this day in fasting and prayer to seek so great a mercy for myself, my poor people (e.g. the native population) in particular, and the Church of God in general.  In the morning, I was very lifeless in prayer and could get scarce any sense of God.  Near noon, I enjoyed some sweet freedom to pray that the will of God might in every respect become  mine, and I am persuaded that it was so at that time in some good degree.  In the afternoon, I was exceedingly weak and could not enjoy much fervency in prayer, but felt a great degree of dejection which, I believe, was very much owing to my bodily weakness and disorder.”

If you read carefully the above quotation from David Brainerd, you would have observed that this was an all-day prayer session by this home missionary.  And it was a prayer which was answered, for within a year, there was an outpouring of sovereign grace among the Indians, beginning with his own interpreter and his wife. Eventually God’s Spirit would bring an extraordinary spiritual awakening to the inhabitants of the towns and villages which later on became the northeastern states of the United States. And his diary continues to be an inspiration to modern day Christians, countless of whom have entered into Christian service as a result of its reading.

Words to Live By:  What is prayer?  Prayer is an offering up of our desires unto God, in the name of Christ, by the help of His Spirit, with confession of our sins, and thankful acknowledgment of his mercies.  (Larger Catechism of the Westminster Standards, No. 178)

Through the Scriptures: Genesis 6 – 9

Through the Standards:  The what, how, and why of the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments

WCF 1:2  “Under the name of Holy Scripture, or the Word of God written, are now contained all the books of the Old and New Testaments, which are these, OF THE OLD TESTAMENT Genesis. Exodus. Leviticus. Numbers. Deuteronomy. Joshua. Judges. Ruth. 1 Samuel. 2 Samuel. 1 Kings. 2 Kings. 1 Chronicles. 2 Chronicles. Ezra. Nehemiah. Esther. Job. Psalms. Proverbs. Ecclesiastes. The Song of Songs. Isaiah. Jeremiah. Lamentations. Ezekiel. Daniel. Hosea. Joel. Amos. Obadiah. Jonah. Micah. Nahum. Habakkuk. Zephaniah. Haggai. Zechariah. Malachi. OF THE NEW TESTAMENT The Gospels according to Matthew. Mark. Luke. John. The Acts of the Apostles. Paul’s Epistles to the Romans. 1 Corinthians. 2 Corinthians. Galatians. Ephesians. Philippians. Colossians. 1 Thessalonians. 2 Thessalonians. 1 Timothy. 2 Timothy. Titus. Philemon. The Epistle to the Hebrews. The Epistle of James. The first and second Epistles of Peter. The first, second, and third Epistles of John. The Epistle of Jude. The Revelation of John. All which are given by inspiration of God to be the rule of faith and life.

For further reading on the life of David Brainerd:
Primary sources: Brainerd’s Diary remains in print and can be obtained here or on the web in various digital formats here.

Secondary sources, recommended:

  • Marsden, Robert, “Missionary Heroes of the Past: XIX. David Brainerd,” The Presbyterian Guardian, 8.11 (10 December 1940): 170.

Secondary sources, additional (more scholarly & to be read with discretion):

  • Conforti, Joseph, “Jonathan Edward’s Most Popular Work: The Life of David Brainerd and Nineteenth-Century Evangelical Culture.” Church History 54.2 (June 1985): 188-201.
  • Harris, Paul, “David Brainerd and the Indians: Cultural Interaction and Protestant Missionary Ideology,” American Presbyterians 72.1 (Spring 1994): 1-9.

Also on this date:
in 1898, Robert Lewis Dabney died at his home in Victoria, Texas, at the age of 77.

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