A Lesson From the Apostles by R.E. Thompson

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No course of lectures which I have ever heard has been a greater source of guidance and strength than the Stone Lectures of 1891. The lecturer was Professor Robert Ellis Thompson, of the University of Pennsylvania, one of our ablest economists and the foremost advocate, among university teachers of his time, of the theory of protective tariffs. He was also a devoted Christian minister and we had few preachers in America who could equal him in the weight and originality of his sermons. He had one famous sermon on “The Sending of the Apostles Two by Two.” After preaching it in the Walnut Street Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia a friend urged him to repeat it. Dr. Thompson replied: “Why, Sparhawk, that is the one hundred and fifty-third time I have preached that sermon.” It was a sermon worthy of an even longer tenure. — Robert E. Speer, The Finality of Christ (1933), p. 11

It was indeed a notable sermon that Robert Ellis Thompson preached and a theme that he developed over the years regarding the Apostles. He published:

• The Sending of the Apostles, Two by Two: A Sermon (1890)

• What Became of the Apostles (1890)

• The Sending of the Apostles (1894)

• The Apostles as Everyday Men (1910)

In these works, Thompson spoke of the individuality of each Apostle, and their respective contributions to the church, but also how they meshed together to help the Church united. They were fishermen, weak, impetuous, full of character and foibles, essentially ordinary men like all of us. Distinctive in their character, but not spiritual supermen of faith, they needed the grace of God as much as we do.

Why, you find that these twelve apostles were just men like ourselves, men of our frailties, men of our weaknesses, our failures, our doubts. We can look upon the story and see how Christ chose just such men as we are to take part in His ministry and form His first church, and we can feel that there is a place for us in His church. We can feel that we were represented in that first little company, that our doubts were met and overcome — our questions were answered, and that such as we are still welcome to His company as He goes on to do and to teach what He "began to do and to teach" in the Church of the Apostles (The Sending of the Apostles Two by Two (1890), p. 3).

Each Apostle has a name, and the list of names makes up a company that “turned the world upside down” (Acts 17:6). But in examining the names one by one, we find that each character, standing alone, has little to commend itself to the wisdom of God in calling such men to such an important task. Yet, “Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God” (1 Cor. 1:24) called these men and in doing so confounded the wise of this world, and brought remarkably unexpected unity to the early Church.

Who would have thought that Doubting Thomas and Matthew the Publican would have made good partners in the project to advance God’s kingdom in the earth? Or that zealous Peter and cautious Andrew would both as brothers have their particular contributions to make towards the Apostolic mission? But we see in the calling of particular men, somewhat unalike in comparison, but with traits and characteristics having much in common with the rest of humanity, that the Apostolic team has much to teach us about the nature of the Church and God’s wisdom in assembling such a diverse tapestry of men for one noble task.

So the Master made one whole man out of two halfmen. And so his chugch should go forth, two by two, each with the one most unlike himself, and therefore best able to help him. The sect spirit bids them separate on the ground of these innocent differences of temper and disposition. Christ bids them unite the closer through such differences, When we heed him, and become “rooted and grounded in love,” then shall we “be strong to apprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge” (The Sending of the Apostles (1894)).

This is the great lesson for the Church taught by the calling of such unique, yet everyday, men. We are many, and we are not much to look at individually, but we are one in Christ, and Christ is “altogether lovely” (Song of Solomon 5:16) to behold. Our differences in personality and in gifts ought not to divide us, but rather to unite us in common cause as they did in the case of the Apostles. Having all been raised out of the same “miry clay” (Ps. 40:2), there is no room for pride, but there is plenty of work to be done in the Lord if we, by the grace of God, would once again “turn the world upside down.”

Clarence E.N. Macartney: Come Before Winter

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Do thy diligence to come shortly unto me…Do thy diligence to come before winter (2 Tim. 4:9, 21).

The most famous sermon delivered by Clarence E.N. Macartney (1879-1957) was Come Before Winter, a sermon he first preached at the Arch Street Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on October 3, 1915 — and every October thereafter. It was a sermon about the need to take advantage of the opportunities given by God before those opportunities pass away. A 30th anniversary edition of this sermon was added to Log College Press earlier this summer and on this first day of October, 2022, it seems good to highlight what he had to say.

Before winter or never! There are some things which will never be done unless they are done “before winter.” The winter will come and the winter will pass, and the flowers of the springtime will deck the breast of the earth, and the graves of some of our opportunities, perhaps the grave of our dearest friend. There are golden gates wide open on this autumn day, but next October they will be forever shut. There are tides of opportunity running now at the flood. Next October they will be at the ebb. There are voices speaking today which a year from today will be silent. Before winter or never!

What are those voices to which Macartney refers? He names three:

1. The Voice Which Calls For Reformation

2. The Voice of Friendship and Affection

3. The Voice of Christ

To each of these we ought to give heed and not delay to respond. None of us knows what the year ahead may bring. But we know that we are called to repent, to serve, to believe.

The greatest subject which can engage the mind and attention of man is eternal life. Hence the Holy Spirit, when he invites men to come to Christ, never says “Tomorrow” but always “Today.” If you can find me one place in the Bible where the Holy Spirit says, “Believe in Christ tomorrow,” or “Repent and be saved tomorrow,” I will come down out of the pulpit and stay out of it — for I would have no Gospel to preach. But the Spirit always says, “Today,” never “Tomorrow.” “Now is the accepted time.” “Now is the day of salvation.” “Today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” “While it is called Today.”

Let not the beautiful colors of October pass into grey November without responding to the call.

Once again, then, I repeat these words of the Apostle, “Come before winter”; and as I pronounce them, common sense, experience, conscience, Scripture, the Holy Spirit, the souls of just men made perfect, and the Lord Jesus Christ all repeat with me, “Come before winter!” Come before the haze of Indian summer has faded from the fields! Come before the November wind strips the leaves from the trees and sends them whirling over the fields! Come before the snow lies on the uplands and the meadow brook is turned to ice! Come before the heart is cold! Come before desire has failed! Come before life is over and your probation ended, and you stand before God to give an account of the use you have made of the opportunities which in his grace he has granted to you! Come before winter!

Consider the words of Dr. Macartney and hear the voice of Christ which calls us to follow Him in season and out.

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Samuel Doak's 1780 Sycamore Shoals Muster Sermon & Prayer

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In the summer of 1780, five years into the American War of Independence, Major Patrick Ferguson of the British Army was assigned the task of organizing Loyalist militia forces and protecting the flank of Lord Cornwallis’ main force in the Carolina backwoods. A pivotal event in the Southern campaign of the war was the Patriots’ victory over Tory and regular forces at the Battle of Musgrove Mill In Laurens County, South Carolina on August 18, 1780. It inspired Patriots in the area to believe that the South Carolina backcountry was up for grabs. By September 25, Colonels Isaac Shelby, John Sevier and Charles McDowell, with their 600 Overmountain Men, had united with Col. William Campbell and his 400 men from Virginia in the territory of the Watauga Association at Sycamore Shoals near what is now Elizabethton, Tennessee, in preparation for what would become a major battle in the war at Kings Mountain in South Carolina.

On September 26, 1780, at the Sycamore Shoals muster, Rev. Samuel Doak led the Patriots in a religious service which has become legendary in American history. The text from his sermon and prayer, given below, is handed down to us through the courtesy of Mrs. Rollo H. Henry of Washington College, Tennessee and comes from the scrapbook of her father, J. Fain Anderson, as recounted in Pat Alderman, One Heroic Hour at King's Mountain (1968).

Samuel Doak’s Sermon:

My countrymen, you are about to set out on an expedition which is full of hardships and dangers, but one in which the Almighty will attend you.

The Mother Country has her hands upon you, these American Colonies, and takes that for which our fathers planted their homes in the wilderness — OUR LIBERTY.

Taxation without representation and the quartering of soldiers in the home of our people without their consent are evidence that the Crown of England would take from its American Subjects the last vestige of Freedom.

Your brethren across the mountains are crying like Macedonia unto your help. God forbid that you shall refuse to hear and answer their call — but the call of your brethren is not all. The enemy is marching hither to destroy your homes.

Brave men, you are not unacquainted with battle. Your hands have already been taught to war and your fingers to fight. You have wrested these beautiful valleys of the Holston and Watauga from the savage hand. Will you tarry now until the other enemy carries fire and sword to your very doors? No, it shall not be. Go forth then in the strength of your manhood to the aid of your brethren, the defense of your liberty and the protection of your homes. And may the God of Justice be with you and give you victory.

Samuel Doak’s Prayer which followed:

Let us pray.

Almighty and gracious God! Thou has been the refuge and strength of Thy people in all ages. In time of sorest need we have learned to come to Thee — our Rock and our Fortress. Thou knowest the dangers and snares that surround us on march and in battle.

Thou knowest the dangers that constantly threaten the humble, but well beloved homes, which Thy servants have left behind them.

O, in Thine infinite mercy, save us from the cruel hand of the savage, and of tyrant. Save the unprotected homes while fathers and husbands and sons are far away fighting for freedom and helping the oppressed.

Thou, who promised to protect the sparrow in its flight, keep ceaseless watch, by day and by night, over our loved ones. The helpless woman and little children, we commit to Thy care. Thou wilt not leave them or forsake them in times of loneliness and anxiety and terror.

O, God of Battle, arise in Thy might. Avenge the slaughter of Thy people. Confound those who plot for our destruction. Crown this mighty effort with victory, and smite those who exalt themselves against liberty and justice and truth.

Help us as good soldiers to wield the SWORD OF THE LORD AND GIDEON.

AMEN.

Following these inspiring words, the Overmountain Men departed and headed towards the forces under Major Ferguson’s command. Encamped in Cherokee County, South Carolina, Ferguson was given a warning of the Patriot advance by two informants. He is reported to have exclaimed that, "he was on King's Mountain, that he was king of that mountain, and God Almighty could not drive him from it.” However, on October 7, 1780, the Overmountain Men contributed to the Patriot victory at the Battle of Kings Mountain, which in fact proved to be a major turning point in the war, and in fact Major Ferguson died in battle. The words of Samuel Doak still echo through time, as do these words from Scripture:

And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD's (1 Sam. 17:47).

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W.H. Fentress: No Sea in Heaven

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Read the scripture, not only as an history, but as a love-letter sent to you from God which may affect your hearts. -- Thomas Watson, A Body of Practical Divinity, p. 27

Considering he was blind, the word-pictures painted by William Henry Fentress (1851-1880) are all the more remarkable. In one sermon from his volume Love Truths From the Bible (1879), he speaks of the ocean with tremendous insight into matters temporal and spiritual. The sermon is “No Sea in Heaven” (based on Rev. 21:1: “and there was no more sea”) and the extracts which follow are intended to whet the appetite for all of his sermons.

Have you ever stood by the sea? have you ever had the sense of being lost in the contemplation of its wonders? have you ever seen, and heard, and realized what it has to reveal? if so, you have been admitted to one of the grandest privileges known to the lovers of nature. It seems impossible that even the careless should pass by the sea uninfluenced: there is so much to engage the attention; so much to compel interest; a very spell, a fascination in its presence. To the thoughtful it is most impressive; unfolding to consciousness mysteries of thought and sentiment that banish the common things of life; that produce an experience beyond language to define; that give, as it were, a new being, with other motives, other powers, other ambitions. These impressions come again when the sea is far away, as we fancy that the night heavens of the Orient recur to the traveller, who has once enjoyed their sublime magnificence; as the splendors of royalty haunt the mind of an exiled Napoleon; as the awful meeting of contending armies is recalled by the old veteran, when the war has long been over, and lie is resting with his little ones about him in his peaceful home.

The sky, the forests, the mountains, all have attractions peculiar to themselves; and so has the sea. Behold the giant waves, crimsoned with sunbeams! or silvered by the light of the moon! how majestically they rise and fall ! Now raging under the lash of the storm demon, now moving in calm with long measured roll, they seem impatient of restraint, as if possessed by a spirit of life; as if some mighty force were rocking the cradle of the deep. Hear the rush of waters, the waves struggling and dying on the sands, the deep thunder of the breakers on the shore! and strangely with the deafening tumult mingle the wild shriek of the seagull and the soft note of the curlew. For miles inland upon the hush of night comes the monotone of the ocean. It is as the sound of a distant, heavy-rolling train. It is an unbroken anthem of praise to the great Creator. The beach is strewn with shells of every size, and shape, and color. Have you never kneeled upon the hard, white sand to gather these bright offerings washed up by the surf? and when a larger one was found, have listened with a child's delight to the whisper of some far off sea, laving the shores of some distant isle, or continent? These shells are nature's beautiful playthings, adorning the frame-work, in which she has placed the master-piece of her art. What a setting! what a picture! commanding the admiration not only of earth, for the hosts of heaven delight to mirror themselves in the boundless, blue expanse.

Fentress continues to expound upon the vast expanse of the ocean and its deepest depths which harbor shipwrecks, treasures, animals, caves and more, culminating in this cry: “O sea! Not only man, but thou also art wonderfully and fearfully made.”

It is thus evident, that the sea is not the source of a perfect joy. Far from it! It has features, occasions and associations which are productive of sadness and suffering. Has it beautiful shells and pearls? It has also loathesome weeds and reptiles. Has it fairy isles and safe harbors? It has also dangerous Scylla and Charybdis. Has it warm streams, that moderate climate and contribute to human comfort? It has also floating fields and mountains of ice, which are a terror to man. Do its waves appear fair and bright in the sunshine? When clouds gather and the wind spirit goes abroad, they are terrible to look upon. Is there majestic music in the roar of the surf? to the mariner whose vessel driven from its course, is hurrying toward the breakers, it is a knell of death. Does it bring to ns the treasures of India and other lands? alas! it sometimes bears away dear treasures of our hearts, and returns them no more. Hence, as we learn from our text, there will be no sea in heaven: for "God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes ; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away."

As beautiful as the sea is to behold, Fentress reminds us that its wide expanse separates divides continents and separates mariners from their loved ones; while in heaven, there is no separation between spirits, no division between members of Christ’s body. Though at times it may seem placidly calm, the sea is a place of change with its tides which ebb and flow, and its tempests which bring such violence and danger; whereas, in heaven, there is eternal rest from this life’s storms, and peace from the contrary gales which we all experience.

O mariners on the sea of life, seeking rest but finding none; make your reckoning with a view to eternity; take the Bible as your chart; hold your course straight for the Star of Bethlehem; and in the fiercest storm, through the darkest night keep a brave heart, relying upon God: and though the voyage be long, and wearying, and beset with difficulties and trials, peace will be reached at last.
…
There will be noble strivings in heaven. The spirits of just men made perfect, will vie with each other in obedience, love and consecration to Him who loved them; who washed them from their sins in His own precious blood; who made them Kings and Priests unto God. The law of progress will demand ambition, increase, change: ambition to be holy, as God is holy; increase in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ; and change by advancing in the divine image: but there will be no sea in heaven; that is, no restlessness, no discontent with what you are, and have. For earth, with all its petty cares, its fevered dreams, its nameless longings, its unsatisfying pleasures, will have passed away; the realties of the life in God, will bring to the troubled heart profound calm; the Prince of peace will give His own peace to the weary soul, and not a wave of care will ever disturb the deep serenity of that life in the bright Forever.

Our speaker puts his finger on that which troubles the mind and heart of many believers in this life: fear. And death.

Now in human affairs the possible, more than the actual, is the cause of distress. Life's fabric takes its sombre colors, more from what may be than what is. In other words, fear is the main, disturbing element to human peace: but in heaven there will be nothing of this. There, doubt, uncertainty, danger, and threatenings of misfortune will have no place. We shall know, even as we are known; we shall love, even as we are loved: and perfect knowledge and perfect love will cast out all fear. O the trust and confidence and security that will be the heritage of God's children, when gathered home; when folded at last in the Father's embrace! No sea in heaven; that is, no fear.
…
But is it not written, that "the sea shall give up the dead that are in it, and that Death and Hell shall be cast into the lake of fire?'' In heaven therefore, the daughters of music will not be brought low: nor desire fail because man goeth to his long home: nor mourners go about the streets: nor the silver cord be loosed: nor the golden bowl be broken: nor the pitcher broken at the fountain: nor the wheel broken at the cistern. There, there will be no gathering of friends at the bed-side, to be crushed with anguish at the departure of one beloved: no struggling for breath, then a marble coldness: no damp wiped from the brow; no eyes closed by the hands of another. There will be no tolling of bells; no procession in black; no speaking of the words, "dust to dust." There will be no turning away, to leave a father, a mother, a brother, a sister, a husband, a wife, a child, or a dear friend to solitude and night; no going back to the house with the awful feeling, that we have no more a home; no strewing of flowers on fresh, green mounds. Thank God! there will be no church-yards in heaven. No sea in heaven; that is, no death.

Those who gaze out at the horizon may with difficulty at times discern where the sea ends and heaven begins. But those with spiritual sight are taught here to look up to the center of heaven where our Chief Pilot, who commands the winds and the waves, will navigate us home.

Jesus brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. He has gone to prepare a place, to make ready the many mansions, that where He is, His disciples may be also. Yes, to Jesus, and Jesus only do we owe our sweet hope of heaven. Heaven, that golden clime far beyond life's troubled ocean! Heaven, on whose blissful shores no waves ever break! Heaven, that land of love and loveliness! Heaven, that paradise home, where the pure in heart are joined forever! You and I have loved ones already there. We parted from them, as from our very life. The world has never seemed so fair and bright since they went away. Are we seeking for re-union in that better country? Let us then be sure to take the homeward way. Let us run with patience the race set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Let us fight the good fight of faith, and sing the victor's song. Let us go forth, and accomplish the voyage, marked out for us on the sea of life: not as the disciple who began to sink because of unbelief; but with unwavering trust in God, that He will not let the waves and the billows go over us; that He will direct our course aright; that He will be our guide and refuge to the last: and be assured, He will then receive us to that haven of rest, where the sorrows of the sea are no more.

Read this and other sermons by W.H. Fentress here, and meditate on such “love truths from the Bible,” for our author would have you “look unto Jesus.”

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De Witt Talmage: Seek the God of the Pleiades and Orion

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Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion (Amos 5:8).

Some of Thomas De Witt Talmage’s sermons are so rich in word-pictures that they appear to us as a bright as the night sky far away from any electric lights. A case in point comes from his discourse on “The Pleiades and Orion” in New Tabernacle Sermons (1886).

A country farmer wrote this text—Amos of Tekoa. He plowed the earth and threshed the grain by a new threshing-machine just invented, as formerly the cattle trod out the grain. He gathered the fruit of the sycamore-tree, and scarified it with an iron comb just before it was getting ripe, as it was necessary and customary in that way to take from it the bitterness. He was the son of a poor shepherd, and stuttered; but before the stammering rustic the Philistines, and Syrians, and Phoenicians, and Moabites, and Ammonites, and Edomites, and Israelites trembled.

Moses was a law-giver, Daniel was a prince, Isaiah a courtier, and David a king; but Amos, the author of my text, was a peasant, and, as might be supposed, nearly all his parallelisms are pastoral, his prophecy full of the odor of new-mown hay, and the rattle of locusts, and the rumble of carts with sheaves, and the roar of wild beasts devouring the flock while the shepherd came out in their defense. He watched the herds by day, and by night inhabited a booth made out of bushes, so that through these branches he could see the stars all night long, and was more familiar with them than we who have tight roofs to our houses, and hardly ever see the stars except among the tall brick chimneys of the great towns. But at seasons of the year when the herds were in special danger, he would stay out in the open field all through the darkness, his only shelter the curtain of the night, heaven, with the stellar embroideries and silvered tassels of lunar light.

What a life of solitude, all alone with his herds! Poor Amos! And at twelve o'clock at night, hark to the wolf's bark, and the lion's roar, and the bear's growl, and the owl's te-whit-te-whos, and the serpent's hiss, as he unwittingly steps too near while moving through the thickets! So Amos, like other herdsmen, got the habit of studying the map of the heavens, because it was so much of the time spread out before him. He noticed some stars advancing and others receding. He associated their dawn and setting with certain seasons of the year. He had a poetic nature, and he read night by night, and month by month, and year by year, the poem of the constellations, divinely rhythmic. But two rosettes of stars especially attracted his attention while seated on the ground, or lying on his back under the open scroll of the midnight heavens—the Pleiades, or Seven Stars, and Orion. The former group this rustic prophet associated with the spring, as it rises about the first of May. The latter he associated with the winter, as it comes to the meridian in January. The Pleiades, or Seven Stars, connected with all sweetness and joy: Orion, the herald of the tempest.

Talmage goes on to say:

In the first place, Amos saw, as we must see, that the God who made the Pleiades and Orion must be the God of order. It was not so much a star here and a star there that impressed the inspired herdsman, but seven in one group, and seven in the other group. He saw that night after night and season after season and decade after decade they had kept step of light, each one in its own place, a sisterhood never clashing and never contesting precedence. From the time Hesiod called the Pleiades the "seven daughters of Atlas" and Virgil wrote in his Aeneid of "Stormy Orion" until now, they have observed the order established for their coming and going; order written not in manuscript that may be pigeon-holed, but with the hand of the Almighty on the dome of the sky, so that all nations may read it. Order. Persistent order. Sublime order. Omnipotent order.

What a sedative to you and me, to whom communities and nations sometimes seem going pell-mell, and world ruled by some fiend at hap-hazard, and in all directions maladministration! The God who keeps seven worlds in right circuit for six thousand years can certainly keep all the affairs of individuals and nations and continents in adjustment. We had not better fret much, for the peasant's argument of the text was right. If God can take care of the seven worlds of the Pleiades and the four chief worlds of Orion, He can probably take care of the one world we inhabit.

Truly, what a great comfort it is to place our trust in the One who creates and governs the stars, as well as the Earth upon which we live.

In your occupation, your mission, your sphere, do the best you can, and then trust to God; and if things are all mixed and disquieting, and your brain is hot and your heart sick, get some one to go out with you into the starlight and point out to you the Pleiades, or, better than that, get into some observatory, and through the telescope see further than Amos with the naked eye could—namely, two hundred stars in the Pleiades, and that in what is called the sword of Orion there is a nebula computed to be two trillion two hundred thousand billions of times larger than the sun. Oh, be at peace with the God who made all that and controls all that—the wheel of the constellations turning in the wheel of galaxies for thousands of years without the breaking of a cog or the slipping of a band or the snap of an axle. For your placidity and comfort through the Lord Jesus Christ I charge you, "Seek Him that maketh the Seven Stars and Orion."

Our preacher continues further:

Oh, what a mercy it is that in the text and all up and down the Bible God induces us to look out toward other worlds! Bible astronomy in Genesis, in Joshua, in Job, in the Psalms, in the prophets, major and minor, in St. John's Apocalypse, practically saying, "Worlds! worlds! worlds! Get ready for them!" We have a nice little world here that we stick to, as though losing that we lose all. We are afraid of falling off this little raft of a world. We are afraid that some meteoric iconoclast will some night smash it, and we want everything to revolve around it, and are disappointed when we find that it revolves around the sun instead of the sun revolving around it. What a fuss we make about this little bit of a world, its existence only a short time between two spasms, the paroxysm by which it was hurled from chaos into order, and the paroxysm of its demolition.

And I am glad that so many texts call us to look off to other worlds, many of them larger and grander and more resplendent. "Look there,' says Job, "at Mazaroth and Arcturus and his sons!" "Look there," says St. John, "at the moon under Christ's feet!" "Look there," says Joshua, "at the sun standing still above Gibeon!" "Look there," says Moses, "at the sparkling firmament!" "Look there," says Amos, the herdsman, "at the Seven Stars and Orion!" Don't let us be so sad about those who shove off from this world under Christly pilotage. Don't let us be so agitated about our own going off this little barge or sloop or canal-boat of a world to get on some "Great Eastern" of the heavens. Don't let us persist in wanting to stay in this barn, this shed, this outhouse of a world, when all the King's palaces already occupied by many of our best friends are swinging wide open their gates to let us in.

There is a reason why the Scriptures call us to look heavenward, at the celestial. In the words of John Calvin, “Job's intent here is to teach us to be astronomers” (commentary on Job 9). Although given dominion over this beautiful blue globe, and called to till the ground and give a good account of our stewardship, we who are created in the image of God are called to not be satisfied with the earthly and temporal, but to long for the heavenly and eternal. We are called to seek the God of the Pleiades and Orion. Read Talmage’s full sermon on this topic and many more here, and pause to meditate upon not only the wonders of creation, especially in the skies above, but to ponder the love of our God for such as we.

When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? (Ps. 8:3-4)

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Samuel Blatchford: Heaven is an Eternal Sabbath

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When we've been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun, we've no less days to sing God's praise, than when we'd first begun. — John Newton, “Amazing Grace”

A sermon delivered by Samuel Blatchford (1767-1828) not long before his passing from this life to the next still speaks to a truth of great importance to our own generation almost two centuries later. Preached on November 27, 1825 and published the following year, the sermon was titled The Sanctification of the Sabbath. Among the points made in conclusion (p. 20), we find a powerful argument for adhering to the Fourth Commandment in the recognition that the Christian Sabbath is in fact a foretaste of heaven.

A very great part of the exercises of the Sabbath, duly sanctified on earth, bears a strong resemblance to the employments of the heavenly world. Heaven is an eternal Sabbath. There the spirits of just men made perfect approach with delight the seat of the infinite Jehovah. With adoring praise, they pour forth their lively gratitude. With exquisite pleasure, they contemplate the Author of all things, who governs and actuates the immensity of beings, which occupy the universe of life. The hallelujahs of praise break forth in uninterrupted harmony from every angel, and every redeemed sinner. And, my brethren, in the due sanctification of this holy day on earth; in a general consent to worship God; not to speak our own words, nor to think our own thoughts; to have our meditation of God; to croud [sic] about his altars; to esteem a day spent in the courts of the Lord’s house preferable to a thousand elsewhere: O! this is to congregate with the hosts of glory, and to constitute a heaven upon the earth. Hereby we shall know him who hath sanctified the Sabbath, and be maturing for those enjoyments, where there remaineth a rest, a Sabbatismos, for the people of God.

What a profound thought it is to recall that our exercises of worship on the Lord’s Day are but prelude to joining the heavenly choir itself, to glorify God in heaven even more perfectly forever than we aim to do on earth each week. When we exalt the name of God together from one Sabbath to the next, we begin to taste the delight that awaits us where we will praise Him unceasingly. Read Blatchford’s full sermon on The Sanctification of the Sabbath here, and consider the reward of keeping God’s day holy on earth, which is a but a taste of heaven.

E.P. Humphrey: Where is the spirit of those faithful ministers of old?

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And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me (2 Kings 2:9)

Our Theology in Its Developments is a sermon preached before the General Assembly (Old School) of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (PCUSA) which met at Charleston, South Carolina, in 1852, by Moderator Edward Porter Humphrey (1809-1887) and later published in 1857. From this interesting sermon, which lays out seven particular aspects of “our theology,” we have a poignant concluding clarion call to consider the past in light of the present (pp. 83-85).

Let no man say that within the precincts of a church which has gathered into a single graveyard [Princeton Cemetery] the ashes of Samuel Davies, Archibald Alexander, and Jonathan Edwards; the first memorable for the awakening power of his sermons; the second trying the spirits and discerning even the thoughts of our rising ministry; and the third preaching a sermon on the doctrine of election, which was mighty in the conversion of sinners, and delivering another, so instinct with the terrors of the Lord as to bring his audience to their feet, and compel the preacher, who sat behind him in the pulpit, to start up with the exclamation, “Mr. Edwards! Mr. Edwards, is not God merciful too?” The sepulchres of these men are with us until this day, and so is their theology; but where is the spirit of profound meditation and importunate prayer with which they prepared their sermons? Where is their vehemency and tenderness of utterance? Where their annihilating reply to the disputers of this world, their masterly appeal to the understanding, and their onset on the conscience?

May these words serve to remind us almost two centuries later that we may have the theology of our fathers in our heads and in the books we read, but we must also seek after their heart, their passion and join ourselves to their piety and prayers. It is not enough to admire the tombstones in a cemetery such as Princeton, but we ought to consider the example set by those men who went before us and left a godly legacy that we might, by the help of the Holy Spirit, preach, pray and live as they did.

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James R. Willson Warns of Political Danger

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In 2009, Crown & Covenant Publications published a volume edited by RPCNA minister Gordon J. Keddie titled Political Danger, containing sermons, essays, letters and more by RPCNA minister James Renwick Willson. It is a valuable compendium of Willson’s works. Most of the material in that volume — and much more — is now available to read online at Log College Press, including the 1825 fast sermon Political Danger.

Based on three Scriptural passages (Ps. 12:8; Prov. 28:15; and Prov. 29:2), this sermon — originally titled Political Danger: A Sermon Preached on January 6, 1825, on the Occasion of a Fast Observed by Several Churches in Newburgh, N.Y., and Its Vicinity and originally published in The Evangelical Witness — warns of the danger to society when wicked men are exalted to high places in civil government (Ps. 12:8). Vice is defended, promoted and eventually imitated by citizens when wicked rulers shape wicked policies and call evil good. Willson goes on to explain how this principle is true in all times and places, and how the nation that embraces such wicked rulers incurs the wrath of God. After recounting the national sins of his day, Willson implored his hearers to humble themselves before God and seek His mercy. At this annual fast, he called upon Christians to “in prayer call upon Jehovah, invoking His blessing upon us during the present year and for all time to come.”

One wonders what Rev. Willson would think of the condition of the United States almost 200 years later. We do well to heed his admonition to humble ourselves before the Lord both in the church and in civil society. Take up this sermon and hear Willson’s voice preaching to us today with prayerful consideration.

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Samuel Davies on the Excellency of the Divine Being

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Editorial note: Rev. Dylan Rowland is Pastor of Covenant Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC) in Mansfield, Ohio.

Recently, I have preached through various Psalms during our afternoon Lord’s Day service. In particular, I’ve preached sermons on Psalms 93 and 95 and will, Lord willing, preach from Psalms 96-100 in the near future. These Psalms are beautiful testimonies to the glory and majesty of the Lord God our King. For example:

Psalm 93:1–2 (NKJV): The Lord reigns, He is clothed with majesty; The Lord is clothed, He has girded Himself with strength. Surely the world is established, so that it cannot be moved. Your throne is established from of old; You are from everlasting.

Psalm 95:3–7 (NKJV): For the Lord is the great God, And the great King above all gods. In His hand are the deep places of the earth; The heights of the hills are His also. The sea is His, for He made it; And His hands formed the dry land. Oh come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture, And the sheep of His hand.

Psalm 96:6–8, 13 (NKJV): Honor and majesty are before Him; Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary. Give to the Lord, O families of the peoples, Give to the Lord glory and strength. Give to the Lord the glory due His name; Bring an offering, and come into His courts….For He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with righteousness, And the peoples with His truth.

These Psalms bring to the center of our attention the glory and majesty of theology proper (doctrine of God), and they do so in a pastoral way. The descriptions of God’s attributes were written in such a way so as to move readers to worship the Lord with humility, joy, thanksgiving, and with great adoration. By the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, these Psalms are meant to pastorally demonstrate how the doctrine of God culminates in our worship of Him.

However, I have also been reading through the collected sermons of Samuel Davies (1723-1761), an eighteenth century Presbyterian minister. In a sermon titled, The Nature and Universality of Spiritual Death, Davies comments on the majesty of God’s divine excellence (His nature and attributes) and answers the question as to why men fail to adore the Triune God for His excellence. 

The following is a quoted excerpt from Davies' sermon which is a helpful and humbling commentary detailing what an appropriate response to the nature of God should be. His insights are especially helpful in seeking to apply the wonderful truths of Psalms 93-100. Consider the following from Davies [Sermons on Important Subjects (1804 ed.), Vol. 1, pp. 133-135]:

Consider the excellency of the divine Being, the sum total, the great original of all perfections. How infinitely worthy is He of the adoration of all His creatures! How deserving of their most intense thoughts and most ardent affections! If majesty and glory can strike us with awe and veneration, does not Jehovah demand them, who is clothed with majesty and glory as with a garment, and before Him all the inhabitants of the Earth are as grasshoppers, as nothing, as less than nothing, and vanity? If wisdom excites our pleasing wonder, here is an unfathomable depth. Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! If goodness, grace, and mercy attract our love and gratitude, here these amiable perfections shine in their most alluring glories. If justice strikes a damp to the guilty, here is justice in all its tremendous majesty. If veracity, if candor, if any, or all the moral virtues engage our esteem, here they all center in their highest perfection. If the presence of a king strikes a reverence; if the eye of his judge as the criminal, and restrains him from offending, certainly we should fear before the Lord all the day, for we are surrounded with His omnipresence, and He is the Inspector and Judge of all our thoughts and actions. If riches excite desire, here are unsearchable riches: if happiness has charms that draw all the world after it, here is an unbounded ocean of happiness; here is the only complete portion for an immortal mind. Men are affected with these things in one another, though found in a very imperfect degree. Power awes and commands, virtue and goodness please, beauty charms, justice strikes with solemnity and terror, a bright genius is admired, a benevolent, merciful temper is loved: thus men are affected with created excellencies. Whence is it, then, they are so stupidly unaffected with the supreme excellencies of Jehovah?

Here, my brethren, turn your eyes inward upon yourselves, and inquire, are not several of you conscious that, though you have passions for such objects as these, and you are easily moved by them, yet, with regard to the perfections of the Supreme best of beings, your hearts are habitually senseless and unaffected? It is not an easy thing to make impressions upon you by them; and what increases the wonder, and aggravates your guilt, is, that you are thus senseless and unaffected, when you believe and profess that these perfections are really in God, and that in the highest degree possible. In other cases you can love what appears amiable, you revere what is great and majestic, we eagerly desire and pursue what is valuable intends to your happiness; in all of this you do freely, spontaneously, vigorously, by the innate inclination and tendency of your nature, without reluctance, without compulsion, nay, without persuasion; but as to God and all of His perfections, you are strangely insensible, backward, and averse.  Where is the one being that has any confessed excellency in the compass of human knowledge, that does not engage more of the thoughts and affections of mankind than the glorious and ever blessed God? The sun, moon, and stars have had more worshippers than the uncreated Fountain of Light from which they derive their luster. Kings and ministers of state have more punctual homage and more frequent applications made to them than the King of kings and Lord of lords. Created enjoyments are more eagerly pursued than the Supreme Good. Search all the world over, and you will find but very little motions of heart towards God; little love, little desire, little searching after Him. You will often, indeed, see Him honored with the complement of a bended knee, and a few heartless words, under the name of a prayer; but where is the heart, or where are the thoughts, where the affections? These run wild through the world, and are scattered among a thousand other objects. The heart has no prevailing tendency toward God, the thoughts are shy of Him, the affections have no innate propensity to Him. In short, in this respect, the whole man is out of order: here he does not at all act like himself; here are no affectionate thoughts, no delightful meditations, no ardent desires, no eager pursuits and vigorous endeavors; but all is listless, stupid, indisposed, inactive, and averse: and what is the matter? “Lord, what is this that has seized the souls of Thine own offspring, that they are thus utterly disordered towards Thee?” The reason is, they are dead, dead in trespasses and sins. It is impossible a living soul should be so stupid and unaffected with such an object; it must be a dead soul that has no feeling. Yes, sinners, this is the melancholy reason why you are so thoughtless, so unconcerned, so senseless about the God that made you: you are dead. And what is the reason that you, who have been begotten again to a spiritual life, and who are united to Christ as your vital head, what is the reason that you so often feel such languishments; that the pulse of spiritual life beats so faint and irregular, and that its motions or so feeble and slow? All this you feel and lament, but how comes it to pass? What can be the cause that you, who have indeed tasted that the Lord is gracious, and are sensible that He is all glorious and lovely, and your only happiness–oh, what can be the cause, that you, of all men in the world, should be so little engaged to Him? Alas, the cause is, you have been dead, and a deadly stupor has not yet left you: you have (blessed be the quickening spirit of Christ!) you have received a little life; but alas, it is a feeble spark; it finds the principles of death still strong in your constitution; there it must struggle with, and by them it is often borne down, suppressed, and just expiring. Walk humbly, then, and remember your shame, that you were once dead, and children of wrath, even as others.

This is a humbling testimony from Davies and readers would do well to meditate on it. Therefore, it seems important to ask: when we read the Bible’s testimony concerning God’s divine excellencies, are we moved to worship and adoration? If not, why? To worship and adore the Triune God because of His divine excellencies is surely the lovely truth found in Psalms 93-100. Read more about Samuel Davies at the biographical links on his page, as well as the full sermon highlighted above.

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In defense of a learned ministry: George A. Baxter

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In his notable ordination sermon for William McPheeters, preached at Bethel Presbyterian Church in Augusta County, Virginia, in 1806, George Addison Baxter, besides noting the necessity of ordination and election, as well as the duties of the gospel ministry, in speaking of the qualifications for the office he also articulated a defense of what later became Samuel Miller’s 1812 clarion call at Princeton for “an able and learned ministry.”

The the text upon which Baxter preached was 1 Tim. 3:1: “This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.” He says that “vital piety” is the chief qualification for such a man. And so it is. But then he goes on to add remarks that lay the groundwork for solid Biblical training for ministers. He joins the head with the heart in his description of the godly minister.

But I think it not only necessary that a minister should possess religion, and that in an eminent degree, he ought to be a man of the most upright, exemplary, and prudent conduct, patient, and forbearing, and able, on all occasions, to command his own temper. I mention this, because there are some professors of religion, of whom charity would teach us to hope well, who are, notwithstanding, subject to a fickleness and inconsistency of conduct, which would be very incompatible with the office of the gospel ministry. Together with the qualifications already mentioned, I think it very desirable, if not absolutely necessary, that a minister of Christ, should possess, in a good degree, the assurance of faith, and a warm zeal for glorifying God in the gospel of his Son.

It is undoubtedly of great importance, that the work of the ministry should not be committed to weak or ignorant men, who might be unable to teach others; competent gifts, as well as graces are indispensably requisite. I do not mean, that candidates ought to be rejected for the want of preeminent talents, but a gospel minister ought to possess a mind naturally sound, and well cultivated. A liberal education may not in all cases be indispensably necessary - uncommon natural talents combined with certain circumstances, may compensate in some degree for the want of improvement; but generally speaking, I think what is commonly called a liberal education ought to be required. A minister of Christ should certainly attend to all those branches of human learning, which might enable him to deliver his message with propriety; and in order to understand his message he ought to be acquainted with the sacred scriptures, in the original languages. There may be some dispute as to the course of study most proper to effect the first of the purposes, or to qualify a man for speaking, but it is certain that to accomplish both the purposes just mentioned, a considerable course of human learning, is absolutely requisite.

But there are some denominations in the world, who declare absolutely against the necessity of a learned ministry, and in support of their sentiments, allege the example of our Saviour, who chose fishermen and mechanics to be the first ministers of the new testament. Their error however, as happens in almost every case of bad reasoning, consists in comparing things which do not resemble. It is true that our Saviour in the first instance, chose mechanics and fishermen to publish the gospel: but to say nothing of the advantages which these men derived from his personal instructions and example, for upwards of three years; when he sent them in to the world, he endowed them with miraculous qualifications; he enabled them to perform miracles, to speak all languages that were necessary, and by a supernatural inspiration, instructed them what they ought to speak. ‘But when they shall deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in the same hour what ye shall speak. For it is not yet that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you’ [Matt. x.19-20]. Here now, were men, endowed with every qualification, that can be conceived of, or supposed necessary for the purpose. The gift of miracles which arrested the attention and carried conviction to the consciences of the world - the gift of tongues which contributed to the same end, and also furnished them with an opportunity of communicating the treasures of the gospel to all nations - and the spirit of inspiration, which enabled them to give the most appropriate and salutary instructions, on every occasion. I should think, if any thing can be inferred from our Saviour’s example in this case, taking the whole of it together, it would be that a minister of Christ, ought to possess all qualifications necessary for convincing and instructing the world.

But those with whom we contend, will suppose that by possessing real religion, and being taught in the school of Christ, they obtain all the knowledge and qualifications which are necessary. In reply to this, I will readily admit that religion is the best preparative, for understanding the word of God, and I have no doubt the divine Spirit, conspiring with the use of means, greatly assists a pious minister in his studies. But distinct from the qualifications which grace may confer, there are others absolutely necessary, and which may be acquired by a course of human means. It will, no doubt be admitted, as of the first importance, that a gospel minister should have a correct knowledge of the holy scriptures, for without this he is no better than the blind leading the blind. But to understand the holy scriptures, we should be acquainted with them, in the original languages, we should be acquainted with the history of those customs, and events, in the midst of which the inspired penman wrote, and to which they frequently allude; we should be versed in literary science, so as to understand the different modes of writing - the different phrases and figures with which all compositions abound, and the rules of interpretation, to which all writings human or divine, must be subjected, without some knowledge of this kind we shall not be qualified even to follow a good Commentator on the scriptures, or to form any opinion for ourselves. But how is this knowledge to be obtained? It may as already said be obtained by human means, or it might be conferred by the extraordinary inspiration of the divine Spirit. But those who neglect the natural means, and pretend that divine teaching gives them all necessary knowledge, are pretending to an inspiration which supersedes the use of means, and is therefore very distinct from the common operations of grace; for common grace does not supersede means, but encourages and assists in the use of them. But when any one makes pretensions of this kind, he ought to support them by miracles, or some supernatural evidences. The teaching of which he speaks is a secret miracle, and amounts to something like that inspiration which the apostles possessed, and if it be of this kind it needs a public miracle to make it credible. All pretending therefore that we are taught by the divine Spirit what things we ought to learn, as others learn them, should be rejected in the present day, as self-righteous presumption: and if any people give credit to such pretensions, they are manifestly in the high road of error and delusion: and what is worse, they put themselves under the influence of a delusion, which cannot be corrected or reasoned down because they do not profess to be led by reason, or evidence, or scripture, but by the unsupported assertions of a fellow creature. It perhaps would be well to recollect, that the plain line of distinction between impostures, and the real messengers of heaven, has been pretty much the same in every age. An impostor never proves his assertions. Mahomet had his secret miracles and inspirations, but he did not pretend to confirm them by any public miracles; and modern impostors, have their illumination and teachings for which they can give no evidence but their own assertion. On the other hand the real messengers of grace always deal with mankind as with reasonable creatures; when they introduced a divine revelation into the world at first they confirmed it by sufficient and undeniable miracles, and since the age of miracles has ceased they require the belief of nothing but what can be proved from a revelation sufficiently authenticated. These observations will, I trust, be sufficient to show that the improvement or knowledge necessary for the ministerial office are not to be expected in a supernatural way, and therefore that a course of scientific education is absolutely necessary.

But let it be remembered, that although all knowledge may be useful to a clergyman, his principal attention should be turned to the subject of divinity. His business is to understand and teach the doctrines of the word of God, and every man ought to be better acquainted with what belongs immediately to his own profession, than with any thing else. I have now taken a brief view of the principal things necessary to qualify a man for preaching the gospel. What I have mentioned are real and cordial religion, a prudent and upright moral deportment, a good degree of the assurance of faith, a fervent zeal for glorifying God in the gospel of his Son, and a mind sufficiently improved with useful knowledge. These things taken together and connected with a favorable train of providences, constitute what may be termed a divine call to the ministerial office. They are very much mistaken, who suppose a ministerial call to consist in blind impulses or impressions, of which a person can give no rational account, and which have no relation to his fitness for the work. A ministerial call comprehends all the necessary qualifications for the office, both human and divine. And a ministerial call without ministerial qualifications, in the greatest absurdity in the world.

In line with Presbyterians before and after him, Baxter here articulates an understanding of the qualifications for the gospel ministry that show the necessity for a well-rounded education, encompassing many branches of human learning, subordinate to the queen of sciences, that is, divinity. The faithful minister, in the age wherein apostolic miracles have ceased, must join human learning with divine knowledge, to best and most adequately deliver the message of reconciliation between God and man. An able and learned ministry is what God calls men to in accordance with his gracious declaration to mankind: “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isa. 1:18).

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J.W. Rosebro on seeking the Lord

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From the Southern Presbyterian Pulpit (1896), today we highlight a sermon by J.W. Rosebro which is based on Isa. 55:6: “Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near." As Rosebro notes, the text is both a invitation and a command, both a privilege and a duty, and incorporates both a promise and a warning.

Rosebro (1847-1912) was educated at Davidson College, North Carolina, Princeton University, and Union Seminary in Richmond, Virginia. He served pastorates at Mossy Creek Presbyterian Church in Augusta County, Virginia; Lewisburg, West Virginia; and at the Tabb Street Presbyterian Church in Petersburg, Virginia. He also served as President of Fredericksburg College (Virginia); director of Union Seminary, Richmond; and as a professor at Southwestern Presbyterian University in Clarksville, Tennessee. He was the son-in-law of B.M. Smith.

Returning to our sermon, after an insightful introduction showing the connective tissues between the 53rd, 54th and 55th chapters of Isaiah, Roseboro shows the connection between God’s gracious invitation and firm command.

The command is, "Seek ye the Lord." It comes from one who has the right to command. Let not the fulness and freeness of the invitation lead you to think you have nothing to do. It is true Jesus says he came to seek as well as save the lost; yet he also declares we must seek if we would find. It is true, he stands at the door and knocks, yet must we knock if we would have it opened unto us. It is true, God opens wide the door of his grace and proclaims, “whosoever will may come”; yet must we "strive to enter in." He offers the water of life “without money”; yet must we “buy” it. God presses the gift of eternal life on us; yet is it true, “I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel." God forces himself on no soul. He offers himself, and then it is our privilege, our duty to "seek the Lord.” We cannot sit down and wait for salvation; we must seek the Lord, though he. is not far from us.

It is on the basis of Christ’s work as Redeemer, seen so vividly in Isa. 53, that the promises given to those who come at God’s gracious call do rest.

If God invites us to come and commands us to come, there is surely an implied promise of acceptance, when we obey the command and accept the invitation. He has filled his book with richest promises and holds up before us one illustration after another, that we may see how sinful souls came to accept his invitation and that none ever went away unblest. He assures us that the favor of God standeth sure, and that '''whosoever'' cometh to drink of this water shall receive it without money….It is a glorious, amazing truth, that since Jesus died God is graciously bound to receive every soul that comes trusting in Jesus who died.

Yet with the call, there is an admonition to the hearer.

The preacher would not be faithful to you did he not press on your thoughts the warning in this text. Do not the words, "while he may be found," "while he is near,” warn us that there is a time when he may not be found, when he is not near?

This is the full-orbed, whole gospel message which Rosebro conveys to his auditors and readers.

Oh! while the Spirit is whispering in your heart, "To-day, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your heart," while Jesus once more invites, while God is near, come! come! Provoke not that state in which it will be impossible to renew you again to repentance. It were better for you, if you had never been born.

Begin now to seek the Lord. Stop and think. You cannot stop and think of your sin and ingratitude against such love and patience without coming to repentance. You cannot think of Jesus bearing your guilt, of his suffering and death for you, without learning to love him who thus first loved you. "My people will not consider" is the mournful charge God brings against us. Therefore does he entreat us to — "Come now let us reason together." "Harden not your heart,” but "seek ye the Lord while he may be found; call ye upon him while he is near.”

Read the full sermon by Rosebro here. Oh, may the Spirit of God quicken us to draw near and not shrink back when God graciously calls us to himself. To God be the glory for his kindness and love towards undeserving, unworthy sinners for Christ’s sake.

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The Almond Tree in Blossom: A Tribute to the Godly Father of T. De Witt Talmage

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Thomas De Witt Talmage — “the American Spurgeon,” one of the most famous preachers in American history — was the youngest son of David T. and Catherine “Catey” Van Nest Talmage. Born in New Jersey, where his father would serve in the state legislature, the son was raised in the Reformed Church (David served as a deacon in the First Church of Raritan), and that is where Thomas began his ministry before being called to serve in the Presbyterian Church.

Engraving of the 1833 Leonid Meteor Shower by Adolf Vollmy (1889), based on the painting by Karl Jauslin.

Thomas once gave an account of his father’s experience traveling between work and home of an event that astronomers still talk about today. The horse that David Talmage was riding was named “Star.”

My father was on the turnpike road between Trenton and Bound Brook, coming through the night from Trenton, where he was serving the State, to his home, where there was sickness. I have often heard him tell about it. It was the night of the 12th and the morning of the 13th of November, 1833. The sky was cloudless and the air clear. Suddenly the heavens became a scene never to be forgotten. From the constellation Leo meteors began to shoot out in all directions. For the two hours between four and six in the morning it was estimated that a thousand meteors a minute flashed and expired. It grew lighter than noon-day. Through the upper air shot arrows of fire! Balls of fire! Trails of fire! Showers of fire! Some the appearances were larger than the full moon. All around the heavens explosion followed explosion. Sounds as well as sights! The air filled with an uproar. All the luminaries of the sky seemed to have received marching orders. The ether was ribbed and interlaced and garlanded with meteoric display. From horizon to horizon everything was in combustion and conflagration. The spectacle ceased not until the rising sun of the November morning eclipsed it, and the whole American nation sat down exhausted with the agitations of a night to be memorable until the earth itself shall become a falling star. The Bible closes with such a scene of falling lights — not only fidgety meteors, but grave old stars. St. John saw it in prospect and wrote: ‘The stars of heaven fell unto the earth even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs when she is shaken of a mighty wind.’ What a time there will be when worlds drop! Rain of planets! Gravitation letting loose her grip on worlds! Constellations falling apart and galaxies dissolved!

David Talmage also served as sheriff, and worked to promote education in New Jersey. He lived a long and fruitful life (1783-1865). When he died, Thomas delivered a commemorative sermon titled “The Beauty of Old Age,” based on Ecclesiastes 12:5: “The almond tree shall flourish.”

An almond tree in blossom.

Thomas spoke of how his father shined so brightly even in old age. Even as the almond tree blossoming is a picture of the same.

Finally, I notice that in my father’s old age was to be seen the beauty of Christian activity.

He had not retired from the field. He had been busy so long, you could not expect him idle now. The faith I have described was not an idle expectation that sits with its hands in its pocket idly waiting, but a feeling which gather up all the resources of the soul, and hurls them upon one grand design. He was among the first who toiled in Sabbath-schools and never failed to speak praise of these institutions. No storm or darkness ever kept him away from prayer-meeting. In the neighbourhood where he lived, for years he held a devotional meeting. Oftentimes the only praying-man present before a handful of attendants, he would give out the hymn, read the lines, conduct the music, and pray. Then read the Scriptures and pray again. Then lead forth in the Doxology with an enthusiasm as if there were a thousand people present, and all the Church members had been doing their duty. He went forth visiting the sick, burying the dead, collecting alms for the poor, inviting the ministers of religion to his household, in which there was, as in the house of Shunem, a little room over the wall, with bed and candlestick for any passing Elisha. He never shuddered at the sight of a subscription-paper, and not a single great cause of benevolence has arisen within the last half-century which he did not bless with his beneficence. Oh! this was not a barren almond-tree that blossomed. His charity was not like the bursting of the bud of a famous tree in the South, that fills the whole forest with its racket, nor was it a clumsy thing, like the fruit in some tropical clime, that crashes down, almost knocking the life out of those who gather it, for in his case the right hand knew not what the left hand did. The churches of God, in whose service he toiled, have arisen as one man to declare his faithfulness and to mourn their loss. He stood in the front of the holy war, and the courage which never trembled or winced in the presence of temporal danger induced him to dare all things for God. In church matters he was not afraid to be shot at. Ordained, not by the laying on of human hands, but by the imposition of a Saviour’s love, he preached by his life, in official position, and legislative hall, and commercial circles, a practical Christianity. He showed that there was a such a thing as honesty in politics. He slandered no party, stuffed no ballot-box, forged no naturalization papers, intoxicated no voters, told no lies, surrendered no principle, countenanced no demagogueism. He called things by their rightful names; and what others styled prevarication, exaggeration, misstatement, or hyperbole, he called a lie. Though he was far from being undecided in his views, and never professed neutrality, or had any consort with those miserable men who boast how well they can walk on both sides of a dividing-line and be on neither, yet even in the excitements of election canvass, when his name was hotly discussed in public journals, I do not think his integrity was ever assaulted. Started every morning with a chapter of the Bible, and his whole family around him on their knees, he forgot not, in the excitement of the world, that he had a God to serve and a heaven to win. The morning prayer came up on one side of the day, and the evening prayer on the other side, and joined each other in an arch above his head, under the shadow of which he walked all the day. The Sabbath worship extended into Monday’s conversation, and Tuesday’s bargain, and Wednesday’s mirthfulness, and Thursday’s controversy, and Friday’s sociality, and Saturday’s calculation.

Through how many thrilling scenes he had passed! He stood, at Morristown, in the choir that chanted when George Washington was buried; talked with young men whose grandfathers he had held on his knee; watched the progress of John Adam’s administration; denounced, at the time, Aaron Burr’s infamy; heard the guns that celebrated the New Orlean’s victory; voted against Jackson, but lived long enough to wish we had one just like him; remembered when the first steamer struck the North River with its wheel buckets; flushed with excitement in the time of National Banks and Sub-Treasury; was startled at the birth of telegraphy; saw the United States grow from a speck on the world’s map, till all nations dip their flag at our passing merchantmen, and our “national airs” have been heard on the steeps of the Himalayas; was born while the revolutionary cannon were coming home from Yorktown, and lived to hear the tramp of troops returning from the war of the great Rebellion; lived to speak the names of eighty children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. Nearly all his contemporaries gone! Aged Wilberforce said that sailors drink to “friends astern” until half way over sea, and then drink to “friends ahead.” With him it had for a long time been “friends ahead.” So also with my father. Long and varied pilgrimage! Nothing but sovereign grace could have kept him true, earnest, useful and Christian through so many exciting scenes.

He worked unweariedly from the sunrise of youth to the sunset of old age, and then in the sweet nightfall of death, lighted by the starry promises, went home, taking his sheaves with him. Mounting from earthly to heavenly service, I doubt not there were a great multitude that thronged heaven’s gate to hail him into the skies — those whose sorrows he has appeased, whose burdens he had lifted, whose guilty souls he had pointed to a pardoning God, whose dying moments he had cheered, whose ascending spirits he had helped up on the wings of sacred music. I should like to have heard that long, loud, triumphant shout, of heaven’s welcome. I think that the harps throbbed with another thrill, and the hills quaked with a mightier hallelujah. Hall, ransomed soul! thy race run — thy toil ended. Hail to the coronation!

Like an almond tree in blossom — which does so in winter, as Thomas notes (see “The Almond-Tree in Blossom” in his 1872 Sermons) — David Talmage served God well in old age, and the tribute that his son left for him is an encouragement to others, young and old, that one can hold on the starry promises, and shine all the brighter, not only in the noon-day of life, but also towards the end our days, even in the darkest of nights.

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Henry Highland Garnet on the path to happiness

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Those that look to be happy, must first look to be holy. — Richard Sibbes, Commentary on 1 Corinthians 1:22 in Works 3:469

Henry Highland Garnet preached a sermon on Isaiah 57:13-14 concerning brotherly love and honoring God which was published in the May 12, 1848 North Star. His words remain simple and yet deeply profound over 170 years later.

The first great duty of man is to honor the living God. For this he has all the necessary capacities. He is endowed with thought, and affection, and the one is capable of being turned lovingly upon the Lord, and the other can be improved illimitably.

And there is another duty which a righteous man will perform. He will labor to promote the happiness of his brethern of the human family; to remove if possible, the sorrows that may gather around them; to wipe away the tears from their eyes; to soothe their aching hearts, and to lead them by precept, and example to the bosom of the universal Father.

There is another great duty devolving upon men; a duty which the majority of mankind places first upon the list; a regard for one’s own happiness. This blessing so eagerly sought, but which is so seldom found, can only be secured by the discharge of the two former duties. Love to God and man, opens the road to happiness. Love and obedience united, produce this happy state of mind. He who lives the holiest life, enjoys the happiest spirit; so it has been since men or angels have had being, and so it ever will be. He who loves God, and his fellow men, receives the approbation of Jehovah, and his conscience is the witness. Perfect love flows from the heart in several directions, and like a stream from the brain of a mountain, it gladdens every spot through which it flows. It prepares us to maintain all the relations of life. We become faithful patriots, friends, brothers, companions, parents and Christians.

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Christians love one another: John Black's sermon on Church Fellowship

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By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another (John 13:35).

While it is to be deplored that there is ecclesiastical division amongst the churches of Christ throughout the world, who hold to different creeds, and church unity is a thing to be earnestly desired and prayed for, yet such unity must begin with love. If there is such love — which itself is the gift of God — then there is hope that barriers to unity will be overcome in the Lord’s great mercy.

A sermon preached at the opening of the 1816 Synod of the RPCNA by John Black (1768-1849) on Christian Fellowship acknowledges the reality of ecclesiastical barriers to full, unhindered communion, but speaks profoundly of the love of the saints, that basic building block needful for unity. It is worth pondering Black’s words on this point; they are timeless because this essential Biblical truth is timeless.

All real Christians love one another. They all love Christ, and cannot but love all who bear his image. And this is the characteristic mark of all who love him — they have his Father’s name written in their foreheads. All such will delight to mingle their voices, their hearts and affections, in religious exercises. They will speak of Christ — of the wonders of his love, and the wonders of his grace, with pleasure and delight They will join in his praises. They will talk together in recommending him more and more. The theme is inexhaustible. They will unite in addressing him, for they love prayer, and they have one heart. One spirit actuates them.

We must ask ourselves this as we pray for unity among the saints of God: do we love one another? If the answer is yes, the path is laid before us and, by the grace of God — notwithstanding the need for union based on truth and not error — that love will find its outward expression in the unity of the visible church. If the path is to begin somewhere, it must begin with the words of Christ, who said that they will know us to be Christians for our love to one another.

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Ruling Elder Moderators: A Sermon (or Address) by Ralph E. Prime

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To introduce this new addition to Log College Press, we quote from Joan S. Gray and Joyce C. Tucker, Presbyterian Polity For Church Officers, p. 42:

One fascinating document from the last decade of the nineteenth century is a pamphlet titled “A Sermon or Address on the Elder Moderator and the Ruling Elder.” This sermon was delivered before the Presbytery of Westchester of the Synod of New York at its meeting in Stamford, Connecticut, in 1894. Ralph E. Prime began by recounting his experience as the first elder to moderate his presbytery. One of the first questions which arose was whether he would preach the sermon, even though he titled it “A Sermon or Address.” The sermon was a learned lecture on the history of presbyterian polity and of the Presbyterian Church. Prime told story after story of elders serving as moderators of various judicatories in various places. About one-third of the way through his sermon Prime concluded that in matters related to polity it is, indeed, right to make changes! Having reached that conclusion, he turned to the text from Romans 11:13: “I magnify mine office.” And indeed Prime did! He called on elders to exercise their office according to the highest standards of faithfulness.

Ralph E. Prime, Sr. (1840-1920) was a remarkable man. Born in Matteawan, New York, Prime went on to fight for the Union in the War Between the States, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel (he was nominated by President Lincoln to serve as brigadier general), and practiced law after the war was over for more than four decades. He was a city attorney for the town of Yonkers, New York, and served as deputy attorney general for the State of New York. He was a member of the New York Society of Military Order of the Loyal Legion, the Society of the War of 1812, the Empire State Society of Sons of the American Revolution, the Order of the Founders and Patriots of America, and as President of the American Flag Association. He was also a long-time Presbyterian ruling elder who served as clerk of his session, and as a delegate to five Pan-Presbyterian Alliance council meetings in Europe and the United States. He was a church historian, a published author and a Mason. To the point for this post, he was the first ruling elder to serve as moderator of his presbytery (Westchester) and synod (New York).

Being the first ruling elder of his presbytery to serve as moderator, Prime was forced to confront the question of whether it was proper for him as a ruling elder (and not a minister) to deliver the traditional moderator’s sermon. In fact, as he recounts the event, he was asked that very question (but it remain unanswered) before the vote to elect him to the position was taken.

In his discourse, Prime takes his audience through an historical tour of the precedents for him serving in the capacity of moderator. He relates the story of George Buchanan in Scotland, and others in England, and in the PCUSA and the PCUS, who all served as ruling elder moderators. He also examines the relevant portions of the book of church order, and affirms his conviction that there is one office of elder, teaching and ruling, before proceeding to “magnify” that office by expounding on what the Scriptures teach about the duties of elders, and stirring up his fellow presbyters to faithful service to the kingdom.

Recently, we have obtained a copy of this discourse, photographed it, and uploaded it to Log College Press. It is an interesting read to be sure, and it shows both the knowledge and passion of the author for this subject. We nevertheless take note of the ambiguity of the title - is it a sermon or is it an address? Read it for yourself and decide.

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Edward O. Guerrant: The Gospel of the Lilies

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Flowers preach to us if we will hear. — Christina Rossetti, “Consider the Lilies of the Field”

Edward O. Gurreant’s devotional work The Gospel of the Lilies is a treasure of encouragement with much meat for meditation. We have extracted his first message for your consideration today. May his remarks concerning our Lord’s sermon on the Mount — a sermon derived from the very flowers planted by our Creator on that mountain — render a blessing to your soul as you read and, “consider the lilies.”

THE GOSPEL OF THE LILIES

Consider the lilies. Matthew vi, 28, 29.

The greatest preacher was the simplest. The “common people heard Him gladly,” and under stood Him easily.

This was His first sermon, His “inaugural address.” In it He states the character of His kingdom, and lays down the laws of its government, and the duties of its subjects. He shows its superiority over all that preceded it and the absolute security and happiness of all its inhabitants.

Multitudes waited on His teaching. He was the “desire of all the nations.” For four thousand years a guilty hopeless world has been expecting a deliverer. All other helps and hopes had failed. “In the fulness of time,” He came to save a lost world; to bring a race of immortals back to God; to restore order and peace to God’s kingdom on earth. It was a mission worthy of a God, and only a God could do it.

This great sermon on the mountain was His first utterance. He used plain language. He was speaking to plain people. Most of them were poor and unlearned. Their life was a hard one; a struggle for bread, long and sharp. He was speaking to multitudes who were accustomed to “walk by sight,” to depend upon their own arm for a living. The inquiry was “how shall we get bread and clothes for ourselves and children?” They saw nothing beyond the narrow horizon of a hard life, and nothing above the humble roof of their homes.

For years they had been ground beneath the heels of tyrants, and deluded by teachers who taught a false religion, without a Savior or a hope. They felt the need of something better. This was the occasion. The object was to teach them, and you, and me, a better way — the divine, the heavenly way. We need it: The old Galilean cry has come down to us — “What shall we eat?” It occupies most of our thoughts, and time, and energies. He came to show us a better way; to set the world right; to put God back in His place in our lives; to lift up the burdens which have crushed humanity for six thousand years. His great theme was to let God do our thinking, planning, and providing; to let God bear our burdens; to let Him be, what He ought to be, our Father, our Helper, our Redeemer, our “All in All.” He showed them the utter helplessness of man; the utter folly of thinking more of their clothes than of their bodies; more of their food than their souls.

Looking down into the valley where beautiful lilies were blooming, He called their attention to them, and says, “consider the lilies.”

What a scene! What a sermon! How simple, yet how sublime! He made those lilies. He painted their heavenly colors with His sunlight; He refreshed them with His dews and showers; He dressed them in colors more regal than “Solomon in all his glory.” “They neither toil nor spin.” No milliner could have made their wardrobe. God only could make it. Now let us consider:

I. God’s care of the lilies. — He made them, and planted them along the mountain, glen and stream, in field and meadow. He fed and clothed them. The wild lilies have no other provider. God alone cares for them. How well it is done. No human heart or hand can take His place. He planted them where they grow. He selected their home. They grew as He wisely ordered, by stem and leaf and flower. He watered them when thirsty, and fed them when hungry.

“They have no care;
They bend their heads before the storm,
And rise to meet the sunshine warm,
“God cares for them.
His love is over every one;
He wills their good, His will be done.
He does neglect no single flower;
He makes them rich with sun and shower,
Their song of trust is sweet and clear,
And he that hath an ear, may hear.”

You see the lesson. The maker of the lilies made you; the Lover of the lilies loves you. Will He not clothe and feed you? Are you not worth more than all the lilies? Why, then, be “anxious about the morrow?” Why, then, be afraid to trust God? How unnatural How unreasonable! How ungrateful!

This is the lesson. Trust God like the lilies, and He will take care of you. This is the life of faith, the lily life; the child life, the heavenly life.

II. Then consider God’s prodigality to the lilies. — Go into a beautiful garden and examine the flowers. What a wealth of color and shape and perfume. All colors, all shapes beautiful, all exquisite perfumes. The wealth of heaven poured out on earth. No wonder Jesus called heaven “Paradise,” the beautiful garden of God.

But that lily is only a poor soulless flower. It can never know who feeds it, or made it, or loves it. It can never see, or know, or enjoy Him. You can. This is your God, your Father. Consider what He does for the lilies, then doubt what He will do for you, His child, His image, His loved one. You can know Him, see Him, love Him and enjoy Him. How much more then will He do for you. What prodigality of love and grace and riches and honor He has for you.

See what He has already done for you. For whom did He make the lilies and the birds and the sunshine and the world? All for you. Whom did Jesus die for? Whom are angels ministering to? Whom is heaven waiting for? All for you.

“Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.”

III. Then consider God’s resurrection of the lilies. — They vanish with the summer, and the snow of winter covers the graves of the lilies, and we imagine they are dead. The wild bees seek them in vain, and the valley is desolate where they bloomed, and the children wonder where they went, but God smiles over the landscape with April sun and showers, and the lilies rise from the dead, and bloom again. This is the resurrection of the lilies. Does it teach us no lesson? Hear Him say, “Consider the lilies.”

Have we loved ones beneath the sod, and the snow, whom we call dead?

“An angel form walks o'er the earth,
With soft and silent tread,
And bears our best loved friends away,
And then we call them dead.”

And will not the God of the lilies smile on them again, and make them rise from the grave and bloom again? He says He will. “Awake and sing, ye that sleep in the dust.”

Hear Him say, “Thy brother shall rise again,” and thy mother and husband and child.

We will consider the lilies, and thank God for the beautiful lessons they teach us. The loving hand that heals the broken lily with divine surgery, will bind up the broken heart of His child.

The mighty voice that calls the sleeping lilies from beneath the snow and sod, will call our loved ones from their graves. Blessed resurrection! With beauty beyond all lilies, and life beyond all death, we will receive them again to our rejoicing hearts and homes.

When hard times come and our hearts fail, “Consider the lilies, how they grow,” and take courage. When death comes and takes our best loved ones away, then “consider the lilies,” how they rise, and rejoice that we shall meet them again

“In those everlasting gardens,
Where angels walk,
And Seraphs are the wardens.”

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Three kinds of grace, according to Gilbert Tennent

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What is grace? Archibald Alexander in his Pocket Dictionary (1829, 1831) defines it as “free favour, unmerited kindness.” Gilbert Tennent in his 1743 sermon on this attribute of God — from his series on the chief end of man, reprinted also in Archibald Alexander’s compilation of Sermons of the Log College, edited by Samuel Davies Alexander — also speaks of it as “undeserved kindness.” Tennent elaborates that grace is both a divine attribute of God, and the gift of God towards others — and that God’s grace extends to “ail Creatures, even to the noblest Angels.”

The fact that God’s grace — unmerited favor — extends to all creatures suggests that not all creatures are beneficiaries of what is known as “saving grace.” Thus, distinctions must be made in the types of grace that God extends to His creatures. These distinct types of the grace of God are discussed in the writings of Jonathan Edwards, Charles Hodge, A.A. Hodge, Robert L. Dabney, W.G.T. Shedd, Geerhardus Vos and many other notable American theologians, all of whom properly distinguish between saving and common grace.

But to return to Gilbert Tennent’s sermon on grace, let us hear what this son of the founder of the Log College taught in 1743.

…Grace is Three-fold, viz., Universal, common, and saving. And

1st. Universal Grace is that, whereby Jehovah dispenses natural Things upon all his Creatures, and hence he is call’d the Saviour of all Men. 1 Tim. iv.10. And is said to preserve Man and Beast. Psa. xxxvi.6. He causes his Sun to rise upon the Fields of the Evil and the Good, and sends his Rain upon the Just and the Unjust: He gives to Man Life, Health, Strength, and all the Supports he enjoys therein, all which being undeserv’d, may be call’d Grace; but according to the Usage of Scripture and Antiquity, they seldom and less properly bear that Name.

2dly. Common Grace consists in the Communication of moral good Things upon Men promiscuously, whether they be good or bad, elect or not elect, just as natural Wisdom and Prudence, and all the Train of moral Vertues, in which even some Pagans have excell’d. And to these we may add, all outward religious Priviledges and Means of Grace; together with those transient Effects which are sometimes produced, by them upon the Unregenerate, such as some of Illumination, and Stirrings of religious Affection. In a Word all those common operations of the Holy Spirit, which are not follow’d by a habitual and saving Change, must be ascrib’d hereto. Of these mention is made Heb. vi.4-6. and also in the Parable of the Sower, Mat. xiii.20-21. But he that received the Seed into Stony Places, the same is he that heareth the Word, and anon with Joy receiveth it, yet hath he not Root in himself, but dureth for a while, for when Tribulation or Persecution ariseth, because of the Word, by and by he is offended. But

3dly. Saving Grace is that undue or undeserved Love of God, whereby he confers upon the Elect only, saving Benefits, of his own meer good Pleasure.

Thus, according to Tennent, the disposition of God towards all of his creatures is gracious, leading him to extend unmerited favor in some measure unto all, although saving grace is reserved for the elect only. The knowledge of God’s grace — in all its manifestations — is a mighty incentive to humility:

…methinks the Doctrine of Free Grace should powerfully induce us to Humility, Seeing that it is God only, who has made us to differ from others, and that we have nothing but what we have receiv'd. We are his Debtors, for all we have in Hand or Hope. The Nature of Grace supposes the Object, upon whom it is vouchsafed, unworthy of it. A continued humbling Sense of this, would as much conduce to our Benefit, as Ornament.

The sovereign and free grace of God, which flows from His very nature, will naturally bring low the pride of man and exalt the goodness of God. Consider this word from Tennent — the whole sermon is found in his Twenty-Three Sermons on Man's Chief End (1744) and in Alexander’s Sermons of the Log College (1855) — and may we then praise Him as the Psalmist does who said: “The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy” (Ps. 103:8).

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"Not One Forgotten" - A sermon by T.D. Witherspoon

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The doctrine of Providence has its sceptics, and all too often even believers do not heartily embrace this doctrine as they should, despite the fact that it is as the comfort to them of a warm blanket in a cold, wide world. Thomas Dwight Witherspoon reminds us of these realities in a sermon titled “Not One Forgotten” (taken from Luke 7:6: "Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God?”), which is to found in that remarkable volume of sermons, The Southern Presbyterian Pulpit (1896).

Two things in particular mitigate against such an embrace, according to Witherspoon: 1) the apparent insignificance of this world, and especially the seemingly trivial and minor things of this world, in the great scheme of things. Why, after all, should the great God of the universe condescend himself to be concerned with the little things of our mortal life? and 2) The apparent unevenness and irregularity of the events and operations of this world., and the fact that all mortal life ends in death, whether for the righteous or the wicked (Eccl. 9:2).

Witherspoon examines each of these apparent obstacles to embracing the doctrine of Providence and, while granting there is some truth to them, as modern science has shown how big the universe is and how small the globe we inhabit is, and how seemingly disordered and chaotic, yet Witherspoon, with the eye of faith, tells us that they are, ultimately, untenable. And what a comfort that is to the believer!

But, amidst all the confusion and disorder incident to a state of things like this, it is the great joy of the Christian heart to rest in the doctrine of the overruling providence of God, which is so clearly taught in his holy word; to think of the little sparrows, five of which brought less than a cent in the markets of the world in our Lord's day, and to remember that "not one of them is forgotten before God.'

The vast expanse of the universe serves to magnify, not diminish, the power of God and the beauty of his magnificent providence. Out of disorder, he gives meaning and purpose to life. In the midst of great distances of time and space, he shows care and concern for the most minute aspects of his creation.

Many persons are willing to admit that the hand of God is in the great events of nature and of human history. When the pestilence is on the air and thousands are falling victims, when some great earthquake has engulphed cities, or some furious tempest at sea has carried down strong ships with their hardy seamen and their terror-stricken passengers, there are few who believe in a God at all who do not recognize his hand, and say, “Surely God is here.” But that the God who kindled the blaze of the sun supplies also the glow-worm's lamp; that he who ”rides upon the stormy wind” fans also the cheek of the invalid with the gentle zephyr's breath; that he who upholds the stars in their courses guides also the sparrow in its flight; these are the things reckoned incapable of belief. And yet the Scriptures do not more clearly teach the one than the other.

The minuteness of the Providence of God can be described thus:

As the whole machinery of a watch will come to a standstill if one of the almost-invisible jewels be dislodged, or if a grain of dust adhere to one of the thousand tiny cogs in its various attachments, so, if one of these minute events should go awry, the whole order and course of providence would be arrested or disturbed. I stood, not a great while ago, looking at a splendid locomotive about to be put upon its trial-trip. The engineer, proud of his beautiful engine, at a signal from the conductor, placed his hand upon the lever and applied the steam. But, though there was a quiver, as if every nerve of the iron horse w^ere strung to its utmost tension, there was no motion of the great wheels. A second time the lever was applied, but with the same result. Then the quick eye of the engineer detected the cause. A single thumb-screw had been insufficiently turned. There was but the light touch of the fingers upon it, and again the steam was applied, and the train moved gracefully away. These little things which men think beneath our heavenly Father's notice, what are they but the valve-screws of the great engine ? What but the cogs and jewels of that secret mechanism which causes the hands of all human destiny to move upon the dial-plate of time?

Witherspoon concludes with some practical observations and applications that will benefit readers in our day as much as they did in his.

…let me remind you what a sanctity it gives to the little things of life that God's eye is upon them, and that we can have fellowship with him in them. So much of our life is taken up with little things — things that do not seem to tell upon the great issues and interests of Christ's kingdom in the world — that we are likely to feel as if the time spent in them is lost from the service of God. The mother with her little brood about her, the housewife with her busy cares, the merchant with all the inventory of his active brain, the teacher with the tedious routine of the class-room — one and all with the daily throng of little duties, little vexations, little cares — let us remember that not one of all these is forgotten before God. There is a sanctity and a blessedness given to life when we can see God's hand in everything — in leaf and flower, in pebble and stone — and the dull monotony of the most humdrum life may be relieved by this thought of the ever-presence and sympathy of our heavenly Father.

Again, let me remind you that if not one of the least of these dumb creatures is forgotten before God, they should not fail of all due consideration and kindness from us. How much wanton cruelty, how much thoughtless neglect would be avoided, did we always keep before us the consideration that "not one of them is forgot- ten before God." How this thought of our heavenly Father's watchful oversight and tender care binds us, as with a band of gold, not only to the humblest and poorest of our kind, but to all that vaster family whom his loving arms enfold, and who rest upon the bosom of his care.

Thirdly, and lastly, while we know not what the changes or trials of coming life may be, there is one thing we do know, and that is, that not one of us in any of them shall be forgotten. However dark the pathway, God's eye will be upon us as we walk it; his infinite arm will be about us to protect us; his wing of love will overshadow us, and he will make good to us his precious promise, that "as our days so shall our strength be." And if at this hour there be in the sanctuary some child of adversity or bereavement, whose cup seems to be full to overflowing with sorrow, let me say there is comfort for you here. Thou, O child of affliction, art not forgotten. Forgotten before man thou mayest be, forsaken of kindred, deserted of friends, but not forgotten before God. His eye of love is upon thee. His pitying arms enfold thee. He will be with thee in all the way thou goest. “Fear not,” is his message, “I will help thee.” Say, O timid one, "I will trust and not be afraid"; for “the eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms."

Sweet comfort indeed from a 19th century sermon, and worthy of meditation upon this Lord’s Day afternoon.

Charles Hodge on Meditation as a Means of Grace

In the context of discussing a recurring theme in sermons by Charles Hodge dealing with the importance of meditation in the life of the Christian believer, Andrew Hoffecker writes:

In a conference sermon on the subject “Meditation as a Means of Grace,” Hodge pointed out the main distinction between meditation and mere intellectual consideration of an idea. The object of the latter is merely to understand intellectually while the object of meditation is to experience the power of God’s Word. He outlines suggestions to aid in this exercise. Believers ought to purpose to do this faithfully, setting aside times when it might be regularly performed. It should be done concomitantly with prayer, i.e., “not only in the formal sense of the word, but also as meaning converse with God.” (W. Andrew Hoffecker, Piety and the Princeton Theologians, pp. 82-83)

Here is the text briefly and directly from Hodge:

Meditation as a Means of Grace

I. What is meditation?
It is the serious, prolonged, devout contemplation of divine things. 1. This is distinguished from mere intellectual examination or consideration. It has a different object. The object of the one is to understand, of the other to experience the power. 2. It is distinguished from casual devout thought and aspiration.

II. It is a means of grace. By means of grace is meant a divinely appointed instrumentality for promoting holiness in the soul. That meditation is such a means is proved, 1. From its being frequently enjoined in Scripture for this end. 2. From the example of the saint as recorded in Scripture. 3. From the experience of the people of God in all ages.

III. Why is it thus salutary? 1. Because God has appointed his truth as the great means of sanctification. 2. Because the truth, to produce its effect, must be present to the mind. "God is not in all his thoughts," it is said of the wicked. "Estranged from God," is the description of the ungodly. 3. The intimate relation between knowledge and feeling, between the cognition and recognition, the … (knowing), and the … (acknowledgment) of divine truth. 4. Because all unholy feelings are subdued in the presence of God, unsound principles are corrected in the light of divine truth. We become conformed to the things with which we are familiar.

IV. Subjects on which we should meditate, are, God, — his law, — his Son, — the plan of salvation, — our own state as sinners, — heaven, etc.

V. Difficulties in the way of this duty. 1. The difficulty of continuous thought. 2. Preoccupation with other things. 3. Indisposition to holding communion with God. 4. Want of method and purpose.

VI. Directions for the performance of the duty. 1. Form the purpose to be faithful in its discharge, from a sense of duty and conviction of its importance. 2. Have a time and place sacred to the duty. 3. Connect it with prayer, not only in the formal sense of the word, but also as meaning converse with God. 4. Connect it with the reading of the Scriptures. Meditate on the word. Read it slowly, with self-application, and pondering its import. 5. Cultivate the habit application, and pondering its import. 5. Cultivate the habit of controlling your thoughts. Do not let them be governed by accident or fortuitous association. Keep the rudder always in your hand. 6. Do not be discouraged by frequent failure; and do not suppose that the excitement of feeling is the measure of advantage. There may be much learned, and much strength gained when there is little emotion. 7. Consecrate the hours especially of social and public worship to this work. Let the mind be filled with God while in his house. (Charles Hodge, sermon preached on Oct. 28, 1855 in Princeton Sermons, pp. 298-299 and Conference Papers, pp. 298-299)

The Sermons of Moses Hoge are on the Log College Press website

ne of the early preachers of the American Presbyterian church was Moses Hoge, a student under William Graham and later James Waddel. He became the President of Hampden-Sydney College in 1807, and helped lay the foundation for Union Theological Seminary in Virginia. His sermons were renowned for their eloquence and erudition. Here are the first ten sermons in this volume (there are twenty-two more!):

Ministerial Piety - 1 Corinthians 9:21. 
The Demonstration of the Spirit - 1 Corinthians 2:4
Mysteries of Redemption - 1 Peter 1:12. 
The Origin of Sin - Romans 5:19
The Carnal Mind - Romans 8:6
The Gospel Worthy of all Acceptation - 1 Timothy 1:15
Glorying in the Cross - Galatians 6:14
Cordial Faith - Romans 10:10
Purifying Hope - 1 John 3:3
The Excellence of things Unseen and Eternal - II Corinthians 4:18

The preaching of 19th century American Presbyterians was often more textual and topical than what we understand as expositional preaching today. They would take a verse or snippet of a verse, explain its meaning in its immediate context, and then unpack and apply that meaning to their people from many different angles. Each sermon is more of what we would think of as an in-depth theological study of a particular topic, but they were never merely for theology's sake. Rather, the goal was the conversion of the lost, and the transformation of the found, through the knowledge of the truth. Download this volume today to go back in time to the pews of an early 19th-century father of American Presbyterianism.