This Day in Presbyterian History: 

A Political Issue Divides the Old School General Assembly

With the Old School General Assembly meeting on May 16, 1861, the unity of the nation was at stake.  Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina has been attacked and captured.  Southern states had already seceded from the Union.  The slavery issue, which had been debated in previous assemblies, became secondary to the important matter of preserving the union.  Thus, Rev. Gardiner Spring,  the pastor of Brick Presbyterian Church in New York City, New York suggested that a committee be formed to consider the following resolutions before the assembled elders.

          “Resolved, 1.  That in view of the present agitated and unhappy condition of this country, the first day of July next be hereby set apart as a day of prayer throughout our bounds; and that on this day ministers and people are called on humbly to confess our national sins; to offer our thanks to the Father of light for his abundant and undeserved goodness towards us as a nation; to seek his guidance and blessing upon our rulers, and their counsels, as well as on the Congress of the United States about to assembly; and to implore him, in the name of Jesus Christ, the great High Priest of the Christian profession, to turn away his anger from us, and speedily restore to us the blessings of an honorable peace.

          Resolved, 2  That this General Assembly, in the spirit of that Christian patriotism . . . do hereby acknowledge and declare our obligations to promote and perpetuate . . . the integrity of the United States, and to strengthen, uphold, and encourage the Federal Government in the exercise of all its functions  under our noble Constitution: and to this Constitution, . . . we profess our unabated loyalty.”

Interestingly, some of the main opposition to this resolution came from Dr. Charles Hodge, of Princeton Theological Seminary.  He protested that the General Assembly had no right to decide to what government the allegiance of Presbyterians is due, that it was neither North nor South. His alternate resolutions lost before the assembly.  When the issue came to a vote, with an amendment offered by John Witherspoon II,  the Spring Resolutions, as they were known in church history, passed by 156 to 66. Tragically, they also brought about the schism between Old School Presbyterians, dividing North and South.

To read a full account of what came to be called the Gardiner Spring Resolutions, click here.

Words to Live By: There is a reason why the Confessional Fathers in chapter 31:3 specifically stated that “Synods and councils are to handle, or conclude nothing, but that which is ecclesiastical; and are not to intermeddle with civil affairs which concern the commonwealth, unless by way of humble petition in cases extraordinary; or, by way of advice, for satisfaction of conscience, if they be thereunto required by the civil magistrate.”

Through the Scriptures:  Psalms 106 – 108

Through the Standards:  Ingredients of repentance in the Confession

WCF 15:2
“By it (i.e., by repentance), a sinner, out of the sight and sense not only of the danger, but also of the filthiness and odiousness of his sins, as contrary to the holy nature, and righteous law of God; and upon the apprehension of His mercy in Christ to such as are penitent, so grieves for, and hates his sins, as to turn from them all unto God, purposing and endeavoring to walk with Him in all the ways of His commandments.”

This Day in Presbyterian History: 

A Christian Apologist of the Twentieth Century

What more can be written about Francis Schaeffer that has not already been said?  Born in Germantown, Pennsylvania in 1912 . . . Born again in 1930 . . . College graduate from Hampton – Sydney, Virginia . . . Seminary student in two historic seminaries, Westminster and Faith Seminary . . . Pastor to three conservative Presbyterian churches for ten years before he went to Europe to begin L’Abri Fellowship, reaching intellectuals for Christ . . . An advocate of both the gospel and cultural mandate to the masses.  In short,  Francis Schaeffer had an effective ministry in the seventy-two years in which he lived in the twentieth century.

On a personal note, this contributor was barely an adolescent when he came to my chaplain father’s Army installation in Dachau, Germany for a series of evangelistic meeting in the late forties.  Night after night, the gospel was presented to lonely American soldiers in post-war Germany.  And the meetings were held right down the road from the infamous concentration camp building of Dachau where sinful depravity was the order of the day barely five years previous to these meetings. They were present in all their stark reality in that this was before the whole site had been memorialized by the West German government.   But beyond the meetings to the adults,   day by day, this youngster, and a whole host of others, learned Psalm 19 by Edith Schaeffer, which I remember today!  (Edith Schaeffer writes about all this  visit in her book, The Tapestry.)  In short, the Schaeffer’s were hungry for the power of the gospel unto salvation to be demonstrated  for all who believe.

It was in 1978 that cancer was discovered in Francis Schaeffer’s body.  Despite this disease, even by his own admission, more was done in his ministry in the last five years of his life than before. He rewrote his book legacy and ministered to large crowds everywhere. He spoke to the combined General Assemblies of the Presbyterian Church in America and Reformed Presbyterian Church Evangelical Synod in 1982, which had just merged together into one church. [click here to read "A Day of Sober Rejoicing"]

As the days grew difficult, Edith Schaeffer tells how ten days before he died, she brought him home from Mayo Clinic. She spoke about her conviction that he would want to go to the house he had asked her to buy in Rochester, Minnesota to pass from his body and be with the Lord. The medical staff agreed with that decision. Edith Schaeffer surrounded his bed with the things he loved, including music played into his room. All the favorites from Beethoven, Bach, and Shubert were played. On the morning of May 15, 1984, he was taken home to glory with Handel’s Messiah in the background.

Words to Live By: Francis Schaeffer was a sinner saved by grace, as all believers are. We by no means believe that he was without difficulties in his life towards those nearest and dearest to him, as well as the Christian family as a whole. But despite these foibles, he will be remembered as the spiritual father of many a Christian today, while his work continues on in many lands today to reach the intellectuals of the twenty-first century with the same precious gospel. As God enables us, let us each be faithful, in word and in deed, in proclaiming the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ alone.

Through the Scriptures: Psalms 103 – 105

Through the Standards:  The Nature of repentance

WCF 15:1
“Repentance unto life is an evangelical grace, the doctrine whereof is to be preached by every minster of the Gospel, as well as that of faith in Christ.”

This Day in Presbyterian History: 

A Prayer From the Catechism

With little or no Presbyterian history to find on this May 14 day, we go to the words of Shorter Catechism No. 31.   It tells us that Effectual calling is the work of God’s Spirit, whereby, convincing us of our sin and misery, enlightening our minds in the knowledge of Christ, and renewing our wills, he does persuade and enable us to embrace Jesus Christ, freely offered to us in the gospel.

On the one hand, this is rich theology.  It defines for us the biblical doctrine of vocation.    It follows catechisms which tells us that we are made partakers of the redemption purchased by Christ by the effectual application of the Spirit of God who works faith in us and unites us to Christ.  It precedes catechisms which define the benefits of vocation as being justification, adoption, and sanctification.

But on the other hand, this is devotional.  This is an evangelistic prayer.  It can formulate the requests which we make every time we or someone else shares the gospel of eternal life with the lost.  We can make each one of the verbal phrases in this catechism a prayer petition for our unsaved loved ones, or our neighbors outside of Christ.

Let’s look at the teaching first.  The Spirit first applies the effectual calling upon our minds by convincing us of our sin and misery.  This work of God’s Word, and especially His law, as well as His  Spirit convinces the heart of the unsaved as to his deserved guilt, the dreadful wrath of God, and endless miseries of hell, if we reject his gospel.    Then a second application of the mind by the Word and Spirit is  enlightening in the knowledge of Christ.  We know with conviction that Christ is the only answer to our sin and misery, that He has undertaken to save us and will be faithful to perform it.   We in short discover Christ in the gospel.  Our spiritual eyes are opened to His person and work on our behalf.

Second, the Spirit applies the effectual call upon our wills, by renewing them.  This is a secret, spiritual. and mysterious work, as Christ compares it to the wind which we hear but don’t know where it comes from or goes to in John 3.

But the full result of all this convicting work upon the mind and will of the sinner will be to persuade and enable him to embrace Jesus Christ as He is freely offered in the gospel.

Christian, recognize that this is your spiritual history.  You might not have been aware that all this was happening inside of you.  But while others might have been externally called by the Word of God, you were called externally by that same Word and internally persuaded to become a believer.  None but the elect of God are thus called and chosen by the Word and the Spirit.

But this is more than mere doctrine, as important as that is.  It is also devotional.  The next time you present the gospel to someone else, or you hear it presented in a public meeting, like a church service, turn these expressions into prayer requests.  Holy Spirit, convince the lost of their sin and misery.  Enlighten their minds in the knowledge of Christ.  Renew their wills.  Persuade and enable them to embrace Jesus Christ this day as He is freely offered in the gospel.

Words to Live By:   For the purposes of both doctrine and devotion, it is important to memorize this answer.  If you do, and this contributor did so a long time ago, it is a comforting assurance in days of doubt which the old serpent enemy casts towards us, as well as an effective evangelistic tool to use anywhere and everywhere.   Your assignment is, memorize Shorter Catechism 31.

Through the Scriptures: Psalms 100 – 102

Through the Standards: Proof texts of saving faith

Ephesians 2:8
“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.” (NAS)

Romans 10:17
“So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.” (NAS)

Romans 1:16 “For  I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes . . .” (NAS)

Acts 16:31
“Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved, you and your household.” (NAS)

This Day in Presbyterian History:   

Ninth Oldest Educational Institution in the Nation

The history and tradition page on the college’s web site is very thorough about the various changes which have come in the time the educational school has been in existence.  Our readers know it as Washington and Lee University, in Lexington, Virginia.  The latter part of its name was added in 1870 when General Robert E. Lee, late of the Confederacy, died as its president in that year.  Before that from 1813 and 1796, it was simply known as Washington College and Washington Academy.  The father of our country had come in a time of financial struggle to give a grant of 20,000 shares of James River Canal stock.  And so in honor  of him, they gave his name to the school.  Before that still, it was named on May 13, 1776,  as Liberty Hall Academy in that same location. Ruins from that school are still to be found on a hill looking over the area.  Originally, it was called from 1749, Augusta Academy, so named after the county in which it found itself in Virginia.

Yet missing from this whole description of the founding and re-naming of the educational institution is that the Presbyterians of Virginia had begun this school.  As early as 1771, the Hanover Presbytery expressed its intention to begin a seminary of learning within the boundary of the Presbytery. Its early leaders, supporters, and faculty were all Presbyterians from the Shenandoah Valley.  And its purpose was to give a religious and moral education to the students who would come to study under its oversight.  It is true that they did not desire to make Presbyterians of all who came there, but the denominational basis of the school was clearly known by all who were to attend.  Its board members were all Presbyterian ministers and members of the Presbyterian churches in the valley.  Its first president was the celebrated Presbyterian minister William Graham, who studied under John Witherspoon at the College of New Jersey.

It was said that Liberty Hall Academy owed its foundation, first, to the pious zeal of  Presbyterian clergy, second, to the contributions of the Presbyterian people of the valley, third, to the energy and talents of Presbyterian minister and leader, Rev. William Graham, and last, to the attention by the Presbyterian trustees and gratuitous aid of members of the Presbyterian churches of said valley.  Yet it is all this which is missing on the present history and traditions page of the University on-line.

Words to Live By:  A Christian man and woman this writer knows has taken remarkable  incidents out of their lives when God has been powerfully present and accounted for in those lives, and remembered them by marked stones in a dish.  It is a reminder that we are too apt to forget what God has accomplished in the past.  That is why a key word in Scripture is the word “remember.”  Let us remember God’s dealings in our lives, and in the lives of our institutions.

Through the Scriptures: Psalms 97 – 99

Through the Standards:  The degrees of faith

WCF 14:3
“This faith is different in degrees, weak or strong; may be often and many ways assailed, and weakened, but gets the victory: growing up in many to the attainment of a full assurance, through Christ, who is both the author and finisher of our faith.”

This Day in Presbyterian History:

A Great Address from a Small Man in Stature

The smaller man of stature was waiting at the Chinese dock for his former student friend from Princeton Theological Seminary that day in 1904.  When he did not appear on the deck of their steamer, he was disappointed.  But who was standing there waiting to exit the boat was a young American woman by the name of Mabel Mennie.   Later, they would find out that they were both from the state of Missouri.  And Albert Baldwin Dodd, Presbyterian missionary to China, would obviously find out later of that meeting on that Shanghai, China dock was no accident.  The sovereign God makes no mistakes.  She would become his wife soon and become the mother to their four children in God’s good time, all born in China.

Albert and Mable Dodd would labor for 32 years in China under the Board for Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian U.S.A. church.  Founder and professor of North China Theological Seminary, he saw the approaching apostasy of the home church as it evidenced itself in foreign missionaries sent to the field of China.  Indeed, it was he who revealed that apostasy to Dr. J. Graham Machen, who spread by publication and proclamation the issue of foreign missions before the people in the Presbyterian denomination.  When request after request was denied from that foreign missions board, it was Machen, with others,  who organized the Independent Board for Presbyterian Foreign Missions in 1933.   And among the veteran missionaries who joined that faithful board was Albert and Mable Dodd, who would continue their  service for another 39 years, first in China, then on the island of Taiwan.

On May 12, 1936, Albert Dodd was the commencement speaker at the Witherspoon Building in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for Westminster Theological Seminary’s seventh graduating class.  Speaking on the subject “Be Strong,”  this famed missionary began his sermon with the following  words:

“You young men of Westminster Seminary are deliberately choosing to face a hopeless situation and to set your hands to an utterly impossible task — from a human standpoint.  Magnificently equipped with a clear-cut knowledge of, and love for, the gospel which is the power of God unto salvation, and imbued by staunch martyr-spirited professors who count not the cost, with the divinely prescribed and only right attitude toward false brethren who would pervert that gospel, you are being called of God to the task of taking the message of salvation, in an age of intense crisis, to a world wherein countless millions have never heard, and to minister to a rapidly apostasizing church which is more and more inclined to reject that message and to hate and persecute that attitude.  Never before, not in any other calling, have stronger men been needed.”

The reader is invited to read the entire address as it is found in the Presbyterian Guardian Archive on-line for June 1, 1936, Volume 2, number 5, on pages 95-99 of that issue. No wonder the reporter of that magazine commented, “the veteran missionary carried his listeners along with him on a crest of conviction and spiritual power.”

Dr. Dodd, from texts like Ephesians 6:10 and 2 Timothy 2:1, challenged the graduating seniors and guests to be strong in the work of evangelism, be strong in the battle for the faith of the gospel, and be strong to love much, even those who are our enemies.  Such a message would be needful, for before the year was out, the Bible-believers in the Presbyterian church, would be outside the camp, but courageously caring on the work of the Lord in the church and in the world.

Words to Live By: Being strong in the Lord is a necessary trait in the home, at your calling, and in the church.  The only difference today from the days of Dr. Albert Dodd is that the intensity of the spiritual strength needed has increased a hundred fold.  But greater is He who is within you than he who is in the world.

Through the Scriptures: Psalms 94 – 96

Through the Standards: The way in which faith operates

WLC 73 — “How does faith justify a sinner in the sight of God?
A.  Faith justifies a sinner in the sight of God, not because of those other graces which do always accompany it, or of good works that are the fruits of it, nor as if the grace of faith, or any act thereof, were imputed to him for his justification; but only as it is an instrument by which he receives and applies Christ and his righteousness.”

This Day in Presbyterian History: 

A Plea for Ministers and Money

Most of us can remember Paul’s vision which he experienced on his second missionary journey of a man who called out to the apostle, saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” (NIV – Acts 16:9)   Well, we don’t have any record of any visionary request for help, but early Presbyterians in this blessed land did correspond with Presbyterians in the mother country just two years after the organization of the Presbytery of Philadelphia in 1707.  There is a letter written on May 11, 1709 to Presbyterians in London, England from the Presbyterian ministers in the Philadelphia Presbytery appealing for more men and money to help the infant Presbyterian Church get off the ground.  Listen to the pathos in their words:

“Unto whom can we apply ourselves more fitly than unto our fathers, who have been extolled in the reformed churches for their large bounty and benevolence in their necessities!  We doubt not, but if the sum of about two hundred pounds per annum, were raised for the encouragement of ministers in these parts, it would enable ministers and people to erect eight congregations, and ourselves put in better circumstances than hitherto we have been.  We are at present seven ministers, most of whose outward affairs are so straightened as to crave relief, unto which, if two or three more were added, it would greatly strengthen our interest, which does miserably suffer, as things are at present are among us.

“Sir, if we shall be supplied with ministers from you, which we earnestly desire; with your benevolence to the value above, you may be assured of our fidelity and Christian care in distributing it to the best ends and purposes we can, so as we hope we shall be able to give a just and fair account for every part of it to yourself and others, by our letters to you.

“That our evangelical affairs may be the better managed, we have formed ourselves into a Presbytery, annually convened.  It is a sore distress and trouble unto us, that we are not able to comply with the desires of sundry places, crying unto us for ministers.  Therefore we earnestly beseech you to intercede with the ministers of London, to extend their charity to us, otherwise many people will remain in a perishing condition as to spiritual things.”

It is obvious that the seven ministers of the Presbytery of Philadelphia certainly saw that the fields of America were ripe unto harvest.  They also sadly realized that the laborers were few so as to reap that spiritual harvest.  And so they, in a spirit of prayer, asked for both ministers and money to take advantage of the opportunities for a wide and effective service in the American colonies.

It would be at a later date in the history of the American church, indeed several decades from this date,  that the question of where you were trained educationally became an issue in the visible church.  But at this early date in American Presbyterian history, they were at a critical crossroads, as the letter above proves.  They needed more pastors and more money to support those who were present in ministering to the masses.

Words to Live By: Such a prayer and plea as this is never outdated, even in current America.  We might add the adjective “faithful” before the men who are needed in our conservative Presbyterian and Reformed church bodies, but the need is the same.  Will you be a prayer warrior before our Sovereign God and heavenly Father for Him to thrust out faithful  laborers into the harvest fields?

Through the Scriptures: Psalms 91 – 93

Through the Standards: The principal acts of saving faith

WCF 14:2
“By this faith, a Christian believes to be true whatsoever is revealed in the Word, for the authority of God Himself speaking therein; and acts differently upon that which each particular passage thereof contains; yielding obedience to the commands, trembling at the threatenings, and embracing the promises of God for this life, and that which is to come.  But the principal acts of saving faith are accepting, receiving, and resting upon Christ alone for justification, sanctification, and eternal life, by virtue of the covenant of grace.”

This Day in Presbyterian History: (Death of Charles Erdman)

It was at the momentous Syracuse, N.Y. meeting of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A. where Dr. J. Gresham Machen was officially defrocked from the ministry of that denomination. That action in turn then prompted the founding of what was to become the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. Also in attendance at that General Assembly in Syracuse was one of Machen’s many adversaries, Dr. Charles R. Erdman, a man who was by all accounts staunchly evangelical. Yet he found himself in opposition to the course taken by Dr. Machen— he found himself siding with those very men who took a decidedly modernist and unbelieving approach to the Scriptures.

The Syracuse Herald gave some coverage of Dr. Erdman’s visit to his birthplace in Fayetteville, NY that year, noting:

“Dr. Erdman was born in Fayetteville, where his father was a Presbyterian minister, but when he was three weeks old, his parents moved to another charge.

“In spite of the short time Dr. Erdman was a resident of the Onandaga County village, however, he has frequently visited his birthplace and this week, before the adjournment of the General Assembly which he is attending, he will again visit his birthplace, he said Saturday.

“Dr. Erdman’s father, the Rev. William Jacob Erdman, preached in the same church, and lived in the same manse as did the father of Grover Cleveland, former President of the United States. His youngest daughter is the wife of Francis Grover Cleveland, son of the late former President.

“The greater part of Dr. Erdman’s boyhood was passed in Jamestown. He also lived in Chicago where his father was pastor of Dwight L. Moody’s church. He was graduated from Princeton University in 1886 and from Princeton Seminary in 1891. He holds [honorary] doctor’s degrees from Wooster College, Princeton University and Davidson College.

“For six years following his ordination in 1891 he was pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Overbook, Pa. Then he became pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Germantown, Pa., where he remained until 1906 when he became a Princeton professor.

“He became a member of the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions in 1906 and in 1926 was elected as president, an office he still holds. He was elected moderator of the Presbyterian General Assembly in 1925. In the same year he was moderator of the New Brunswick Presbytery. In 1910 he was a delegate tot he World Missionary Conference in Edinburgh and in 1922 to the National Christian Council in Shanghai.

“He is the author of many books, including The Ruling Elder, Sunday Afternoon with a Railroad Man, Coming to the Communion, Within the Gates of the Far East, The Return of Christ, The Lord We Love, The Spirit of Christ, The Life of D.L. Moody, and expositions of most of the books of the New Testament.

“Dr. Erdman’s wife was Miss Estelle Pardee of Germantown, daugher of a widely-known coal operator. His son, the Rev. Calvin Pardee Erdman, also a Presbyterian minister, has preached in Hawaii and California….

“The Erdmans have a summer home at Saranac Lake.”

Embedded in that newspaper account are a few clues for the observant reader as to why Dr. Erdman found himself an opponent of Machen. Erdman had become attached to the denominational board of foreign missions, and Machen had been critical of that Board for fielding missionaries who held low views of Scripture. Moreover, Erdman’s personal and family connection to D.L. Moody might indicate a faith and a theology that was more generally evangelical and less confessional or Reformed in nature. Politics may also have had a part. Like Grover Cleveland, Dr. Erdman may have been a Democrat, whereas J. Gresham Machen was decidedly libertarian in his views and more of a political free-thinker.

Words to Live By: Why some men make the decisions they do is often a puzzle beyond our understanding. In pondering this point, we realize how much we must seek to live humbly in the fear of the Lord, for there are times when it takes a clear head and a resolute faith if we are to stand fast on the sure counsel of God’s Word. Too many of us are shaped by our associations, much more so than we realize. Seek instead to be shaped by the Word of God. Live each day as honestly as possible, confessing your sin, repenting and seeking the Lord’s mercy and grace.   

Through the Scriptures: Psalms 85 – 87

Through the Standards:  Justifying faith, in the Confession

WCF 14:1
“The grace of faith, whereby the elect are enabled to believe to the saving of their souls, is the work of the Spirit of Christ in their hearts, and is ordinarily wrought by the ministry of  the Word, by which also, and by the administration of the sacraments, and prayer, it is increased and strengthened.”

Image source : News clipping from among the scrapbooks in the Rev. Henry G. Welbon manuscript collection.

This Day in Presbyterian History: 

We Thank God  on Every Remembrance of You

When Professor John Murray retired from Westminster to return to his beloved land of Scotland, he attended for the last time the General Assembly of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church in 1966.  The delegates there gave a memorial to him which captured the man and his ministry perfectly when it simply quoted the Pauline expression, “We thank God on every remembrance of you.”  That said it all to their fellow minister.

Fast forward in your mind nine years to the Free Church of Creich in Scotland and its small cemetery where the remains of John Murray were being buried in 1975.  Five hundred people from all over the world had gathered to hear the memorial messages.  A prince of Israel  had indeed fallen on May 8, 1975.

Between these two events, John Murray had served his country in World War I,  where he had fought with the famous Black Watch regiment.  The loss of his eye came from that time of military service.

Education included the M.A. degree from Glasglow University in 1923.  Then his ministerial degree (the older ThB) and Th.M. came from Princeton Theological Seminary in the United States.  Returning to Scotland at New College at Edinburgh University, he returned to Princeton Seminary at a pivotal year, namely, 1929.   That year, Princeton’s Board of Trustees was reorganized and Westminster Theological Seminary was begun.  John Murray joined the faculty of Westminster Seminary.

From that time until his retirement in 1966, hundreds of students sat under this “saintly scholar.”  He really equipped the student saints to go forth and minister the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ on a sound foundation of Biblical truth.  John Murray also capsulized that same Biblical truth in several books he wrote.  It might be interesting to sum up those books, which this contributor used all during his pastoral ministry.

Church officers in our Reformed churches  would do well to have a firm understanding of both Christian Baptism, and Divorce.   Both of course would be profitable to the Christian in the pew as well.   All those with the gift of evangelism, as well as Evangelism teams going out weekly, must have an understanding of the book Redemption Accomplish and Applied.  In fact, all Christians should read this book.  Then Principles of Conduct are a reminder of the Christian life.  If any book of the Bible is a “must” book to consider the themes of sin, salvation, sanctification, sovereign election, and service, the book of Romans fills those themes perfectly.  And Murray’s commentary on The Epistle to the Romans is just what is needed to comprehend the great apostle’s words and thoughts.

After John Murray retired in 1966, after having lived 68 years as a bachelor, he took a younger Scottish wife, Miss Valerie Knowlton on December 7, 1967.  Two children would be born to the union.

Words to Live By: John Murray had many “children of the faith” in his years in teaching in this Reformed school of the prophets.  Let them remember him in their current ministries as they pass on what they have heard to others also who will be able to teach still others in the history of the church.

Through the Scriptures: Psalms 82 – 84

Through the Standards:  Relation of saving faith and repentance to God’s will regarding our salvation

WLC 153 — “What does God require of us, that we may escape his wrath and curse due to us by reason of the transgression of the law?
A.  That we may escape the wrath and curse of God due to us by reason of the transgression of the law, he requires of us repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ, and the diligent use of the outward means whereby Christ communicates to us the benefits of his mediation.”

WSC 85 — “What does God require of us, that we may escape his wrath and curse due to us for sin?
A.  To escape the wrath and curse of God due to us for sin, God requires of us faith in Jesus Christ, repentance unto life, with the diligent use of all the outward means whereby Christ communicates to us the benefits of redemption.”

This Day in Presbyterian History:  

Who Wrote This Hymn?

We often sing favorite gospel hymns without the slightest idea or even care as to who was the author of it.  Also, have you ever wondered just what circumstances produced the words of such hymns?

Consider the following hymns:  “Are you Washed in the Blood?,”  “I must tell Jesus,”  “Is your All on the Altar?,”  “What a Wonderful Savior,”  “Down at the Cross where my Savior died,”  “Leaning on the Everlasting arms,”  “Speed the Light,”  “Christ has for sin Atonement made,”  “Glory to his name,”  “Have Thine own way, Lord,”  and “Give Him the glory.”

Indeed, if we listed all the hymns which the Presbyterian minister Elisha A. Hoffman wrote, we would list another 1,988 hymns.  And this from a man who had no formal music education!

Elisha Hoffman was born on May 7, 1839 in Orwigsburg, Pennsylvania. His parents were Pennsylvania Germans, with his father a minister.   Elisha was educated in the Philadelphia school system.  During this time, he was converted.  He went to Union Seminary in New Berlin, Pennsylvania, completing a classical  education at that school.  As this was the middle of the Civil War, he enlisted after the battle of Gettysburg, but for some unexplained reason, only served for one month.  He married in 1866 Susan Orwig who died ten years later, leaving him with three young boys.  Ordained in the Presbyterian ministry in 1873, he went on to serve as pastor in three Presbyterian churches, with the longest being the First Presbyterian Church in Benton Harbour, Michigan.  He married a second time, which union produced a baby boy, in addition to his family.  She would be wedded to him until  he died at age 90 on November 25, 1929.

Often various pastoral situations prompted him to write hymns.  To two widowers who had lost their respective wives, and who were absolutely dismayed over it, he joined another Presbyterian elder, A. J. Showalter, of Dalton, Georgia,  in writing the words and music of “Leaning on the Everlasting Arms.”

When a woman was burdened down with troubles, and no words of comfort accomplished any relief for her, Rev. Hoffman said “You must tell Jesus . . . You must tell Jesus.”  She replied, “I must tell Jesus.  Yes, that is the answer.”  Elisha Hoffman went home and penned the words of the well-known hymn, “I Must Tell Jesus all my troubles and cares.”

The visible church is enriched by the spiritual gifts of music of this man, Elisha Hoffman, and thankful for the theology and experience which he gave to us over the years.

Words to Live By:  Whether in the congregation of the church you attend, or around the piano in some home or Bible study, why not have a hymn sing of the songs listed above in the historical devotional?  It will bless your heart and mind, and help you rejoice in the Lord who called this man to add to the worship of the church down through the ages.

Through the Scriptures: Psalms 79 – 81

Through the Standards: Proof texts of sanctification

John 17:17

“Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” (ESV)

Romans 6:12, 13

“Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions.  Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.” (ESV)

Galatians 5:16 – 17, 24, 25

“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will  not gratify the desires of the flesh.  For the desires of the flesh ae against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you wont to do.  And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.  If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.” (ESV)