This Day in Presbyterian History

“In preaching, speak low, speak slow, and be short.”

Rev. Lawrence was born on Long Island in 1718, and is said to have been a blacksmith.  He studied at the Log College, and was taken on trials by New Brunswick Presbytery, September 11, 1744, and was licensed at Philadelphia, May 28, 1745.

The original organization at Newtown, in Bucks county, seems to have died away; for Beatty was sent, in the spring of 1745, to “settle a church there.”  In the fall, Newtown and Bensalem asked for Lawrence; so did Upper and Lower Bethlehem, and Hopewell and Maidenhead.  At the request of the Forks of Delaware, he was sent, May 24, 1746, to supply them for a year, with a view to settlement; and, in October, a call was presented to him.  He was ordained, April 2, 1747, and installed on the third Sabbath in June.  Treat, of Abingdon, presided and preached.

The Forks North and the Forks West had been favored with a portion of Brainerd’s labours, and were by no means an unpromising field, having many excellent pious families.  But it was a laborious field,—a wide, dreary, uninhabited tract of fifteen miles lying between the two meeting-houses.  Lawrence was not robust; and, for his health, he was directed to spend the winter and spring of 1751 at Cape May, then in very necessitous circumstances.  Chesnut supplied the Forks in his absence.

His health still continuing feeble, and there being no prospect of his being able to fulfill his pastoral office in the Forks, he was dismissed.  He removed to Cape May.  This was one of our oldest congregations, and was among the first that had a pastor, and then remained vacant nearly thirty years.  The Revival was felt there, but the congregation was feeble in numbers and re-sources.  Beatty visited the people, and laid before the synod their distressed state.  Davenport passed some time there, but with no effect till the last Sabbath.  Lawrence was called; but a long delay occurred before his installation, which was not till June 20, 1754.  Of his ministry little is known.  The records mention him as a frequent supply of Forks, and as going to preach, in 1755, at “New England over the mountains.”

A meeting-house was built in 1762, the frame of which remained in use till 1824.

“It appears to be my duty, considering the relict of my old disorder, to take and use the counsel which, I have heard, the Rev. Samuel Blair gave, not long before his exit, to the Rev. John Rodgers:—in preaching, to speak low, to speak slow, and to be short.” [Manuscript note to his Sermons, in the hands of his descendants.]

He died April 13, 1766.

Words to Live By:
“Of his ministry, little is known.” — How true that is for so many pastors. And yet they labor faithfully on behalf of their congregations. The true pastor labors not for man but for the Lord, for His glory and for His kingdom. Pray for your pastor; pray for all those called to this work.

THE SCHOOL & FAMILY CATECHIST
by Rev. William Smith (1834)

The Westminster Shorter Catechism
Q. 94. What is baptism?

A. Baptism is a sacrament, wherein the washing with water, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, doth signify and seal our ingrafting into Christ, and partaking of the benefits of the covenant of grace, and our engagement to be the Lord’s.

EXPLICATION.

Baptism. –This word properly signifies washing, sprinkling, or pouring out, for the purpose of cleansing.

Washing with water. –This points out the cleansing efficacy or power of the blood and Spirit of Christ; for, as water cleanses the body, so the blood of Christ purifies the soul from sin, when it is applied to the conscience of the sinner, by the Holy Spirit, in the exercise of true and saving faith, on the part of the former.

In the name of the Father, &c. –This signifies, not only, that we are baptized by the authority of the glorious Three-one God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; but that, in this ordinance, we are solemnly dedicated or given up to him as our God and everlasting portion, and that we profess, and are bound, to be his servants for ever.

Signify and seal. –Point out, and make sure, in the same manner as a seal fixed to a writing, confirms the deed contained in it, and makes it binding in point of law.

Our ingrafting into Christ. –Our close and intimate union to Christ, here pointed out by the figure of ingrafting branches into a tree.

Partaking of the benefits of the covenant of grace. –Sharing in the blessings and privileges of the gospel of Christ, such as the pardon of our sins, the sanctification of our natures, and such like.

Our engagement to be the Lord’s. –Our making a solemn promise, by which we seriously bind, or give up, ourselves to the service of Christ, and to remain always at his disposal and direction.

ANALYSIS.

In this answer we learn six things concerning the nature of baptism :

1.  That it is a sacrament, or religious ceremony, in which washing with water is used. –Acts x. 47. Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized.

2. That this washing with water is in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. –Matt. xxviii. 19. Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.

3. That this washing signifies our ingrafting into Christ. –Rom. vi. 3. Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ, were baptized into his death. –Gal. iii. 27. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ.

4. That it is also intended to point out our partaking of the benefits of the covenant of grace. –1 Cor. xii. 13. For by one Spirit we are all baptized into one body, –and  have been all made to drink into one Spirit.

5. That it is also significant of our engagement to be the Lord’s. –Rom. vi. 4. We are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

6. That this washing with water, not only signifies our partaking of these benefits, and our being thus engaged to be the Lord’s, but it also seals, or ratifies and confirms the whole. –Rom. iv. 11. And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had.


Lastly, a little extra something today, sent along by my co-author, Rev. David T. Myers, courtesy of Mary Spraitzer:

How the Virus Stole Easter
By Kristi Bothur
[With a nod to Dr. Seuss 😊]

Twas late in ‘19 when the virus began
Bringing chaos and fear to all people, each land.
People were sick, hospitals full,
Doctors overwhelmed, no one in school.

As winter gave way to the promise of spring, The virus raged on, touching peasant and king.
People hid in their homes from the enemy unseen.
They YouTubed and Zoomed, social-distanced, and cleaned.

April approached and churches were closed.
“There won’t be an Easter,” the world supposed.
“There won’t be church services, and egg hunts are out.
No reason for new dresses when we can’t go about.”

Holy Week started, as bleak as the rest.
The world was focused on masks and on tests.
“Easter can’t happen this year,” it proclaimed.
“Online and at home, it just won’t be the same.”

Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, the days came and went.
The virus pressed on; it just would not relent.
The world woke Sunday and nothing had changed.
The virus still menaced, the people, estranged.

“Pooh pooh to the saints,” the world was grumbling.
“They’re finding out now that no Easter is coming.
“They’re just waking up! We know just what they’ll do!
Their mouths will hang open a minute or two, And then all the saints will all cry boo-hoo.

“That noise,” said the world, “will be something to hear.”
So it paused and the world put a hand to its ear.
And it did hear a sound coming through all the skies.
It started down low, then it started to rise.

But the sound wasn’t depressed.
Why, this sound was triumphant!
It couldn’t be so!
But it grew with abundance!

The world stared around, popping its eyes.
Then it shook! What it saw was a shocking surprise!
Every saint in every nation, the tall and the small, Was celebrating Jesus in spite of it all!
It hadn’t stopped Easter from coming! It came!

Somehow or other, it came just the same!
And the world with its life quite stuck in quarantine Stood puzzling and puzzling.
“Just how can it be?”
“It came without bonnets, it came without bunnies, It came without egg hunts, cantatas, or money.”

Then the world thought of something it hadn’t before.
“Maybe Easter,” it thought, “doesn’t come from a store.
Maybe Easter, perhaps, means a little bit more.”
And what happened then?

Well….the story’s not done.
What will YOU do?
Will you share with that one
Or two or more people needing hope in this night?

Will you share the source of your life in this fight?
The churches are empty – but so is the tomb, And Jesus is victor over death, doom, and gloom.
So this year at Easter, let this be our prayer, As the virus still rages all around, everywhere.
May the world see hope when it looks at God’s people.

May the world see the church is not a building or steeple.
May the world find Faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection,
May the world find Joy in a time of dejection.
May 2020 be known as the year of survival, But not only that – Let it start a revival.

One hundred seventy years ago, Presbyterian congregations were largely ignorant of the Church’s own Standards.  Are we much better off today? Witness this quote from 1840:

“The Presbyterian Board of Publication have issued a correct edition of the Confession of Faith, and they are now selling it at the lowest possible rate, without any regard for pecuniary profit ; their principal aim being to circulate it widely through the Church.—It will be readily admitted that every Presbyterian should be at least partially acquainted with the standards of his own church, and yet how many are there who have never made these the subject of a days study?  It is wholly inexcusable in pastors to have families under their care who are not provided with the Confession, especially when a little exertion on their part, might supply the defect.  Will not Pastors and Sessions at once resolve that every family in the Presbyterian Church in the United States shall, before the expiration of two years, be provided with the Confession of Faith of our Church?”

[excerpted from The Charleston Observer 14.8 (11 April 1840): 2, col. 3.]

And on that note, let me next direct you to an article written a few years ago by my friend Barry Waugh. All through 2017, Mr. Waugh was writing a monthly article for his church’s website, in observation of the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. His entry for the month of April that year was on the importance of catechism for the Reformation. He began:—


The books that would most likely come to mind for those with some knowledge of the literature of the Reformation might be Martin Luther’s The Bondage of the Will, his translation of the Bible into German, or his work on the New Testament book of Galatians. In the case of John Calvin one might think of Institutes of the Christian Religion, which was published in several editions and languages, or possibly his commentaries on many of the books of Scripture would come to mind. These works by both Luther and Calvin were written primarily for ministers, teachers, and those involved in the debates about doctrine in their era, but one of the most influential types of publications for reform was the catechism. The word “catechism” comes from the Greek language and it describes a text used for oral instruction which most often followed a question and answer format to teach essentials. In conjunction with Bibles translated into the common languages of the nations, catechisms were used to train believers in the fundamentals of faith, salvation, and Christian living. In the picture accompanying this article, Martin Luther is teaching his catechism to children in a classroom to provide them with doctrinal instruction.

In 1529, Martin Luther wrote his small catechism. It was a simple edition that included among its subjects the Ten Commandments, Apostles’ Creed, The Lord’s Prayer, other prayers including one for grace at the table, and some additional important topics for Christians. In his preface, Luther said that he wrote the catechism because during a visitation of churches in area towns he found that the people knew “nothing about Christian doctrine” and even some of the pastors were “quite unfit and incompetent to teach.” He encouraged ministers to use the catechism to teach adults but “especially … the young.” Luther’s catechism provided a concise and simple way to bring reform to a considerable portion of the people. The doctrine in Luther’s catechism is not in full agreement with that of Presbyterians today, so it is not the best source for teaching their children. In the Presbyterian Church in America (P.C.A.), the catechisms composed by the Westminster Assembly provide essential truths. However, Luther’s catechism is historically important because it provided basic instruction for the people, and it was the first catechism written by a married former Catholic priest who had children that could learn from its teaching.

To read the rest of Barry’s post, click here.

To Be a Christian Attorney was his Highest Aspiration
by Rev. David T. Myers

Thomas Reade Roots Cobb was born at Cherry Hill, Jefferson Country, Georgia on April 10, 1823.   While still a child, his parents moved the family to  Athens, Georgia and he later attended the University of Georgia, graduating at the top of his class.  From that day forward, Thomas Cobb aspired to be a Christian attorney.

His membership was in the Presbyterian Church in Athens.  As a deeply religious man, he labored during the day as an attorney, and prayed in the church in the evenings.  Whether working on behalf of the state of Georgia through the courts, or laboring in revival meetings, he was the same earnest worker.   He was successful in implementing the reading of the Bible in schools in Georgia.

In the field of law, he was considered to be “the James Madison” of the South.  Not only did he contribute to countless law documents for the state, he authored the Constitution of the Confederate States of America.  It is written in his handwriting.  He was the founder of the Georgia School of Law.

Like the majority of Southerners and even Southern Christians in that era, Cobb looked to the argument of States Rights in defense of Southern secession. Indeed, he wrote a large tome which sought to defend the practice of slavery.  When elected to the Confederate Congress in 1861, he chaffed at the slowness of the legislative branch to prosecute the defense of the South.  So he entered the Confederate army as a Colonel of the Georgia troops, which he called Cobb’s Legion.  His troops fought in the battles of the Seven Days, Second Manassas, the Antietam campaign, and Fredericksburg, Virginia.  At the latter battle, he fought as a Brigadier General.

It was in the last battle that he suffered a mortal wound.  Assigned to guard the Sunken Road, an artillery shell burst near him and wounded him mortally.  Within a few hours, he would die.  There is a monument in that battlefield on the Sunken Road which tells of his death.  Before his death, another Presbyterian military officer by the name of Thomas Jonathan Jackson, or Stonewall Jackson, would visit him and  pray with him.  Cobb is buried in Athens, Georgia.

He was survived by his wife, the former Marion Lumpkin, and four daughters in 1862.  As recently as 2004, because of his stand on slavery, a controversy arose as to whether his home should be restored to a museum.  It eventually was, and today can be visited in Athens, Georgia.

Words to Live By: 
While we would oppose his stand on racial slavery, still we are left with the recognition that in other matters, here was a man who feared God and worked righteousness in his public and private life.  For all of us, our Christian ideals are to be manifested outside the four walls of the church, indeed, into all of life, so that God’s name can be glorified, and God’s kingdom can be advanced.
Perhaps the most searching question in application might then be, “In my life, what sins am I blind to? How am I a creature of my culture? How and where is the Word of God not thoroughly and consistently worked out in my life?”
May God have mercy upon us all. We are, all of us, mired in sin and without hope before a righteous God, but for the grace and mercy found in Jesus Christ alone.

For further reading:
We find that two articles on the legal profession were published in the Southern Presbyterian Review :
1. “Relations of Christianity to the Legal Profession,” by an anonymous author, SPR, vol. 5, no. 2 (July 1859): 249-270.
2. “Morality of the Legal Profession,” by Robert L. Dabney, SPR, vol. 11, no. 4 (January 1859): 571-592.
and two articles published in Princeton Seminary’s Biblical Repertory and Princeton Review :
3. “A Course of Legal Study, by David Hoffman, reviewed by Samuel G. Winchester, BRPR, 9.4 (October 1837):509-524.
4. “Professional Ethics and their Application to Legal Practice,” [review of An Essay on Professional Ethics, by George Sharswood], by an anonymous author, BRPR, 43.2 (April 1871): 286-304.

How Many Have Ever Been Ordained on Their Birthday?

Frederick W. Evans, Jr. was born on April 9, 1924 in New York City to the Rev. Frederick W. Evans, Sr. and his wife Grace. He was educated at the College of Wooster, graduating with a B.A. in Classical Languages; honors from that institution included Phi Beta Kappa. Princeton Theological Seminary conferred the degree of Bachelor of Divinity in 1947 and he was ordained to the gospel ministry, on April 9, 1947 by the PC(USA) Presbytery of Troy (later incorporated into the Presbytery of Albany). One of his Princeton professors, the Rev. Joseph L. Hromadka, brought the sermon at the service of ordination.

Rev. Evans was installed in his first pastorate, Christ’s Presbyterian Church, in Catskill, NY on 10 February, 1948. He served there just over three years before accepting a call to the Bedford-Central Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn, NY, serving in this pulpit from 1951 to 1953. His last pastoral position within the PCUSA was at the Third Presbyterian Church of Chester, PA (1954 – 1955).

It was at the outset of this pastorate that he married Irene Payne, with the marriage taking place in Brooklyn on 15 May 1954. Rev. Evans and his wife have four children: William, now a professor at Erskine College and adjunct professor at Erskine Theological Seminary; John, an ordained pastor in the PCA and a missionary in Africa; and daughters Mary E. and Martha J.

The years at Third Presbyterian marked the culmination of his convictions regarding the theological decline of the PC(USA) and forced him to transfer his credentials. He had been a member of the Albany, Brooklyn-Nassau and Philadelphia Presbyteries of the PC(USA) from 1948 to 1955. In 1955 he requested the erasure of his name from the rolls of Philadelphia Presbytery.

His first three pastorates were within the Presbyterian Church (USA). His last three pastorates were in independent churches. Leaving the PC(USA), he first accepted a call to the Westover Church of Greensboro, NC, where he served from 1955 until 1964. From this post, he next moved to Indianapolis and the pulpit of Faith Missionary Church, serving there from 1965 – 1971. It was during his last pastorate, at the Walnut Grove Chapel of Indianapolis (1971 – 1990), that he began also working toward a doctorate, first receiving an MA in 1974 from Butler University and an S.T.M. in 1978 from Christian Theological Seminary, both of these institutions being located in Indianapolis. Westminster Theological Seminary then conferred the degree of Doctor of Ministry in May of 1984. Of special note was the graduation of father and son together at the same occasion, with son William receiving the M.A.R. degree.

In 1989, the Rev. Dr. Evans was received by the Great Lakes Presbytery of the PCA, and in July 1990 he retired from his pulpit at the independent Walnut Grove Chapel. In his petition for reception into the Great Lakes Presbytery, he noted:

“For better than thirty years I have been without formal denominational ties. At the time when I departed the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. for conscience’ sake I did not feel at liberty to seek membership in either the Bible Presbyterian Church, because of the McIntire influence, or in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, because of my premillennial convictions.

Since the early 1960’s I have been approached by a number of individuals in the Reformed Presbyterian Church, Evangelical Synod, and more recently the Presbyterian Church in America, urging me to cast in my lot with them. This I have hesitated to do, not wanting to cause misunderstanding or difficulty for the various independent congregations I have served.

Plans now call for me to lay down my present pastorate in the Summer of 1990. Accordingly I do not feel that my becoming part of the PCA as an individual would create any serious problems for the Council and Congregation of Walnut Grove Chapel.

My motive in making application is simple. I have always subscribed to the Presbyterian principle of being in subjection to faithful brethren and feel that recent events in the religious world have only underscored the importance of accountability. In view of my Reformed convictions and persuasion of the rightness of Presbyterian polity, I believe that the PCA would afford me the opportunity to be subject to those who are true brethren in the Lord…”
[27 July 1989]

Of note here is the sacrificial character of a true pastor, who put consideration for his congregation first ahead of his own needs. He would not take the least action that might be misunderstood.

Upon his death on 12 May 1992, the PCA Messenger commented on the Rev. Dr. Evans’ keen interest in church history. He authored four books during his lifetime. Two twelve-week study courses were entitled They Kept the Faith [a study bringing together faith and history] and They Sought a City! [a survey of American Church history]. Also published were Christ in the Psalms and The God Who Is [a study on the character of God, employing the pattern found in the Westminster Shorter Catechism, question 4].

The Frederick W. Evans, Jr. Manuscript Collection is preserved at the PCA Historical Center, St. Louis, Missouri.