The Monitory Letters

Although published anonymously, the author of Monitory Letters to Church Members (1855) was William Buell Sprague. These are the letters of a watchman for the souls of his flock, and they address challenging issues that were prevalent in the 19th century, and no less so today. 

Contained in this volume are a series of 22 letters written to address subjects that reflect a declination in serious religion. Among those persons and topics addressed are:

• Those who undervalue divine truth;
• Those who willfully skip the second worship service on the Lord's Day;
• Those who would send their children to dancing school (Sprague does not argue that dancing is sinful);
• Those who neglect family worship;
• Those who travel excessively on the Lord's Day;
• Those who neglect mid-week services;
• Those who are stingy and censorious (overly-critical); 
• Those who are impatient, complaining, fickle, bigoted, neglectful, and irreverent;
• Those who lack parental involvement and oversight; and 
• Those who would send their children to a Roman Catholic school. 

Sprague means here to uphold the sanctity of the Lord's Day, the virtue and importance of family worship, the graces of the Holy Spirit in the Christian life, the appreciation of true religion, and the wholesomeness of the home. Not all in our day will agree with his position on all issues. But these letters remind us of the seriousness of the issues which are pastorally addressed. They are not to be lightly dismissed. 

Three of the letters speak to the subject of family worship. The second letter, in particular, addresses the Scriptural warrant for its duty and practice. All of them are valuable incentives to experimental piety, which Sprague aimed at in all of his writings. 

Take time to read over these monitory letters. You may not be the addressee, but they may still convict the 21st century reader and stir him or her unto a serious apprehension of our duties before God and man. 

Grace Abounds

"It is as easy for him to save a great as a small sinner. No one was ever saved because his sins were small; no one was ever rejected on account of the greatness of his sins. Where sin abounded, grace shall much more abound. If your guilt is very enormous, the greater honour will redound to that Deliverer who plucks such a brand from the burning. 'Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.'" -- Archibald Alexander, "Sinners Welcome to Come to Jesus Christ" in Practical Truths, p. 164

Sermon Illustrations by an American 'Prince of the Pulpit'

Like Charles Spurgeon in his Lectures to My Students, Thomas De Witt Talmage (1832-1902), dubbed 'The American Spurgeon' by the newspapers, has left us a remarkable resource on the topic of sermon illustrations. 

"Points;" or, Suggestive Passages, Incidents, and Illustrations, From the Writings of T. De Witt Talmage, D.D. was published in 1874 and its contents reveal the preacher's remarkable ability to paint a picture with words and give his hearers substance to ponder. 

BIBLE ILLUSTRATIONS. -- There is hardly a beast, or bird, or insect, which has not been called to illustrate divine truth. The ox's patience, the ant's industry, the spider's skill, the hind's sure-footedness, the eagle's speed, the dove's gentleness, and even the sparrow's meanness and insignificance.

PEARLS FROM GREAT DEPTHS. -- I have been told that the deeper the water the larger the pearl. I don't know how that is, but I do know that from the greatest depths of sin the Lord Jesus Christ sometimes gathers up His brightest jewels. Paul was a persecutor, Bunyan was a blasphemer, John Newton a libertine, the Earl of Rochester was an infidel; and yet the grace of God went plunging down through the fathoms of their abomination, until it found them and brought them up to the light. 

JEWELS OF GOD'S GRACE. -- The geologist tells you that the brightest diamond is only crystallized carbon, or, as I might call it, charcoal glorified; and so it is with souls that were coal black in the defilements of sin - by the power of God's grace they are made God's jewels for ever.

DON'T WORRY. -- Don't worry because God made you different from others. Don't worry because you don't have the faith of that man, or the praying qualities of this, or the singing qualities of another. It were as unwise as for a carnelian to blush deeper because it is not a diamond, or a japonica to fret all the colour out of its cheek because it is not a rose. God intended you to be different.

THE BEAUTY OF GOD'S CARE FOR US. -- More beautiful than any flower I ever saw are the hues of a bird's plumage. Did you ever examine it? The blackbird, floating like a flake of darkness through the sunlight; the meadow-lark, with head of fawn, and throat of velvet, and breast of gold; the red flamingo flying over the Southern swamps, like sparks from the forge of the setting sun; the pelican white and black - morning and night tangled in its wings - give but a very faint idea of the beauty that comes down over the soul when on it drop the feathers of the Almighty.

There are many other "talking points" for ministers to be studied and considered. They may serve as inspiration for more. Rather utilizing a table of contents in the front of the book, look instead for the index of topics at the back of the book. It is a resource that can benefit 21st century pastors as it did their counterparts in the 19th century. 

Daniel Baker’s Prayer on the Eve of His Being Licensed to Preach the Gospel

Daniel Baker wrote this prayer in his journal on October 12, 1816, during the week preceding his licensure. He was twenty-five years old and had been studying for the ministry under William Hill of Winchester, Virginia, after graduating from Princeton College. These words ought to express the heart of every gospel minister:

“In the prospect of my being licensed in the coming week, I have set apart this day, by fasting and prayer, to draw near unto the Lord  I am now about to go forth to preach the everlasting gospel to poor, perishing sinners; to proclaim liberty to the captive, and the opening of the prison to those that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. O, may I go forth in the strength of the mighty One of Jacob, and lift my banner in the name of the Captain of my salvation! I know that my duties will be arduous, and I am sensible that I am not sufficient for these things; but I know in whom I trust; it is not in myself, it is not in any atm of flesh - it is in the living God, the merciful and covenant-keeping God, who has been pleased to say, ‘My grace is sufficient for thee; my strength shall be made perfect in weakness.’ To thee, O my God, do I commit myself, and again would I solemnly renew the dedication of myself and my all to thy service.  O condescend to accept the unworthy offering, and lay me out for thy glory. I ask not to be rich in silver and gold, and to be admired and caressed; I ask to be rich in faith and good works, and to be blessed and owned in my labors of love. I ask not to be exempted from grievous trials and persecutions, but I ask grace to glorify thee in the hour of trial; grace to be useful, grace to be triumphant in death, and grace to reach, at length, the Mount Zion above, where I may forever sing the triumphs of my dearest Lord. To thee, O my God, do I now commit my way; be pleased to direct my paths, for the Redeemer’s sake. Amen.” 

— Life and Labors of Daniel Baker, by William M. Baker, Pages 91-92

Friday Funny

Eleanor Butler Roosevelt (née Alexander) (1888-1960) was the wife of Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. (1887-1944) and the great-grandchild of Archibald Alexander (1772-1851) and Janetta Alexander (née Waddel) (1782-1852). Janetta's father was the famed Blind Preacher of Virginia, James Waddel (1739-1805). 

Eleanor Roosevelt wrote a 1959 book titled Day Before Yesterday: The Reminiscences of Mrs. Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. in which she recounted an anecdote from the courtship of Archibald Alexander and Janetta Waddel. 

"When he asked for her hand in marriage her father said, 'There is something I think I should tell you about Janetta's suitability as the wife of a clergyman. While her Latin is excellent and her Greek good, her Hebrew leaves much to be desired."
 

Cane of Orthodoxy

Missionaries from Princeton were actively working in Hawaii in the early 19th century. A chief of the Sandwich Islands (as Hawaii was then known) sent a gift to Princeton, a cane or walking-stick carved from whalebone, by way of one of those missionaries in the 1820's with instructions to "present it to your chief," that is, Dr. Archibald Alexander. 

It was a treasured memento, which Alexander, on his death bed, bequeathed to Dr. Charles Hodge, who recorded the event afterwards thus: "He then, with a smile, handed me a white bone walking-stick, carved and presented to him by one of the chiefs of the Sandwich islands, and said, 'You must leave this to your successor in office, that it may be handed down as a kind of symbol of orthodoxy'" (J.W. Alexander, Life of Archibald Alexander, pp. 605-606).

The cane was passed "metaphorically" to A.A. Hodge by Charles and the Princeton trustees in 1878 when A.A. Hodge was appointed as his father's successor. It was again "symbolically" passed on to B.B. Warfield upon the death of A.A. Hodge in 1886 (Paul C. Gutjahr, Charles Hodge: Guardian of American Orthodoxy, pp. 378-380).

Today the cane resides in the Special Collections Department of the Princeton Theological Seminary library as a "kind of symbol of orthodoxy."

For the Children: Two Valuable Books that Parents Should Read

Log College Press has recently added two books to the site which will be of interest especially to parents. 

The first is The Children of the Church, and Sealing Ordinances by Lyman Hotchkiss Atwater (1813-1883). First published in the Jan. 1857 issue of The Biblical Repertory and Princeton Review, then reprinted in 1858, slightly expanded and revised, as a separate volume by the Presbyterian Board of Publication, this work examines the place of children in the church and their relationship to the two sacraments which Christ has instituted for church. This is an excellent little study for parents of children of the covenant.

"It is in Zion that the children of the Church are born to newness of life. Since He has promised to be their God, it is in training them as if they were his; as if it were alone congruous with their position to walk as his children in faith, love, hope, and all holy obedience, that we are to look for that inworking Spirit, and out-working holiness, commensurate with their years, which shall seal them as sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty. This is what we believe to be the blessed significance and intent of infant baptism. This is what we have at heart in writing these pages..."

The author is described by Paul C. Gutjahr thus: "Lyman Atwater enjoyed a long career at Princeton College, serving on its faculty from 1854 until his death in 1883. Although his students fondly lampooned his pear-like shape, they considered him an outstanding teacher in his courses on logic and moral philosophy. He co-edited the Repertory in its various forms from 1869 to 1878 and contributed more than 110 articles to its pages, making him one of the most prolific defenders of Old School Calvinism in the nineteenth century" (Charles Hodge: Guardian of American Orthodoxy, p. 348).

The next book contains an introduction by Atwater, but is primarily the work of William Scribner (1820-1884) (Scribner was the brother of Charles Scribner (1821-1871), who became head of the publishing firm eventually known as Charles Scribner's Sons). It is titled Pray For Your Children; or, An Appeal to Parents to Pray Continually for the Welfare and Salvation of Their Children (1873). Divided into two parts, eight reasons are given to motivate parents to desire and pray for the salvation of their children, and a further eight reasons are given to stir up parents to further pray for God's blessings upon their young ones. 

The first eight reasons are listed here to whet the appetite of parents who love the souls of their children. (Read the rest of this book here.)

1. Pray for the salvation of your children, because their salvation is so great a prize that it is worth all the pains which your prayers to secure it for them may cost you.
2. Pray for the salvation of your children, because few will pray for it if you do not.
3. Pray for the salvation of your children, because none others can pray for it as you can.
4. Pray for the salvation of your children, because your omitting to do so will be perilous to them and to you.
5. Pray for the salvation of your children, because you will then find it easier to perform other parental duties on the performance of which God has conditioned their salvation.
6. Pray for the renewing of the souls of your children, because prayer alone can call into exercise that divine power in their behalf which is absolutely necessary in order that the means which you may employ for their salvation may not be used in vain.
7. Pray for the salvation of your children, because by their salvation, granted in answer to your prayers, the divine Saviour will be glorified.
8. Pray for the salvation of your children because you have a strong encouragement and incentive to do so in the express promise of God that, if you are faithful to your trust, he will be their God, and will save them.

Three Important But Forgotten Works on Ecclesiology by Robert Jefferson Breckinridge

Three works by Robert Jefferson Breckinridge (The Christian Pastor; Presbyterian Government, Not a Hierarcy, but a Commonwealth; and Presbyterian Ordination, Not a Charm, but an Act of Government) have been all but forgotten by modern Presbyterians. And yet, thanks to the reviewing work of James Henley Thornwell in the Southern Presbyterian Review, and the Biblical power of Breckinridge's ideas, much (though certainly not all) of what he believed has found its way into the Book of Church Order of the Presbyterian Church in America, and perhaps other American Presbyterian denominations (for instance, the right of rulings elders to lay hands on teaching elders being ordained and the need for ruling elders to make up a quorum of a church court are practices the PCA takes for granted, yet Breckinridge had to contend strenuously for them). Written in the middle of the debate over the nature and function of the ruling elder in the Old School Presbyterian Church in the 1840s (other authors who contributed to this debate include Thornwell, Thomas Smyth, and Charles Hodge), these works are worthy of your time.  If you've never read these short treatises, you can find them here. 

Learning to Be Thoughtful

In his 1898 volume titled Young People's Problems, J.R. Miller addresses the need for Christians to be thoughtful, gentle people. This is certainly as true today, in the age of social media, as it was over a century ago. Let us consider then what Miller has to say to young persons, and indeed all Christians in these extracts: 

One of the finest things in a complete Christian character is thoughtfulness. It gives a wondrous charm to a life. It makes one a benediction wherever he goes. It tempers all his conduct, softening all natural harshness into gentleness, and giving to his every word and act, and to all his bearing, a spirit of kindliness.

A thoughtful person does not have to be asked to help others — he helps, as it were, instinctively. He is ever ready to do the obliging thing, to say the encouraging word, to show an interest in the life of others, to perform those countless little kindnesses which so brighten the common pathway. He does not make his life an offence to others, a constant irritating influence. He never meddles with other persons' affairs, but respects the individuality and the rights of every one. He curbs his curiosity, and does not pry into matters of which he has no right to know. He is most careful not to touch others at sensitive points. If any one has a physical deformity or any feature which is marred, he is careful in conversation never to refer to it, and seems never to notice it, or to be conscious of it.

Thoughtfulness reveals itself quite as much in what it does not do as in the things it does. Many people make their very goodness so obtrusive as to do harm, and give pain to those they would help. They are too anxious to be helpful. They intrude upon others, pressing their offers of kindness upon them in ways which become, if not offensive and impertinent, at least burdensome. When their friends are in sorrow, they are sincerely eager to give comfort; but they fail to understand the sacredness of grief, or to respect the craving of sad hearts for quiet, and allow their eagerness to become intrusiveness. There is no more delicate test of thoughtfulness than that which sorrow furnishes. Usually love's sweetest and best service then is rendered in the quietest expression of sympathy, certainly with no undue pressing of one's self into the presence of the friends who are in trouble, and with no over-eager offer to help. Then, unless from personal experience of grief one has been prepared for giving effective sympathy, one would better not seek to be a privileged comforter.

Thoughtfulness has a wide field for its ministry in the family circle and in the daily household life. Perhaps few young people come by this grace naturally, are born with it. Usually it has to be learned. Most of us think first of ourselves and our own comfort and convenience, and are not apt to think how our words, acts, and dispositions will affect others. We say what at the moment we feel like saying, not stopping to ask whether it will give pleasure or pain to those who must hear it. We like to say, saying it too with some pride, that we are plain, frank people, honest and out-spoken, not indulging in courtly phrases, but sincere though brusque, not realizing that our brusqueness and plainness ofttimes hurt gentle hearts. We do the thing we feel inclined to do, because it pleases us, not remembering that true love seeks not its own, but thinks first of the comfort and pleasure of others. Without being aware of it, many of us are miserably selfish in our life among others. We practically forget that there are any other people, or that we ought to make any sacrifices, or practise any self-denials, for their sake. Young people at home, for example, will indulge themselves in sleep in the mornings, coming down late to breakfast, not thinking of the trouble they cause to those who have to do the work, nor how they interfere with the order of the household. Thoughtfulness seeks never to add to another's burdens, never to make extra work or care, but always to lighten loads.

In much home conversation, too, there is a lack of thoughtfulness shown. Not always is the speech gentle — sometimes it is sharp and bitter, even rude. Playfulness is to be allowed, and in every family there should be a readiness to take a jest without being hurt by it. Over-sensitiveness is a serious fault. Some persons are so touchy as to demand an excessive thoughtfulness —a watchfulness in all our relations with these over-gentle souls which is unreasonable, which makes friendship with them a burden. Life is too short, and has too many real duties and cares, for us to be held to such exactions of attention and kindness as these good people would demand. Yet always in our relations with others there should be that refined courtesy which is part of the lesson of love that we learn from our Master — "As I have loved you." Rude words never should be spoken, even in jest.

Thoughtfulness will seek always to say kindly words, never words that will give pain, but ever those that will give pleasure. We have no right, for the sake of saying a bright thing, to let loose a shaft, however polished, that will make a loving heart bleed.

These are fragments of a lesson which might be indefinitely extended. Are you thoughtful? — that is the question. Answer it for yourself. Some one has said, "Unless our religion has sweetened us to a very considerable extent — giving us the control of our temper, checked us in our moments of irritation and weakness, enabled us to meet misfortune and, in a measure, overcome it, developed within us the virtues of patience and long-suffering, making us tender and charitable in our judgments of others, and generally diffusing about us an atmosphere that is genial and winsome, — whatever else we may have gained, one thing is sure, religion is not having its perfect work in us; and, even though our Christian life is clear and positive, it is only as a gnarled and twisted apple-tree that bears no fruit, only as a prickly bush that bears no roses, and the very thing which of all others we should have is the very thing in which we are most deficient. A Christian life without sweetness is a lamp without light, salt without savor."

We all know in our own experience the value of sincere and Christly thoughtfulness. We do not like to come in contact with thoughtlessness. We know well how it hurts and how unbeautiful, how unchristian, it seems when we see it in another, and when our heart is the one that suffers from its harsh, rude impact. We all long for thoughtfulness; our hearts hunger and thirst for it. It is bread and wine to us.

We all know in our own experience the value of sincere and Christly thoughtfulness. We do not like to come in contact with thoughtlessness. We know well how it hurts and how unbeautiful, how unchristian, it seems when we see it in another, and when our heart is the one that suffers from its harsh, rude impact. We all long for thoughtfulness ; our hearts hunger and thirst for it. It is bread and wine to us. 

What we long for in others, in their relation to us, we should be ready to give to them. What in others hurts us, gives us pain, we ought to avoid in our contact with others. Thoughtfulness is one of the finest, ripest fruits of love, and all who would be like the Master must seek to learn this lesson and wear this grace. 

At the Feet of Christ and His Church

In an earlier blog post, James Madison McDonald's histories of the First Presbyterian Church of Jamaica, Long Island, New York were highlighted. That church was founded in 1662, and was represented as the first Presbyterian Church in America. The story of that church is a fascinating one, well worth reading, but further digging has identified (what is not news to scholars, but may be of interest to amateur church historians such as this writer) an additional eight Presbyterian congregations in America, which preceded the 1662 Jamaica congregation. 

The earlier Presbyterian congregations, almost all of which were planted on Long Island, include those founded in Southampton (1640); Southold (1640); Hempstead (1643); East Hampton (1648); New Castle, Delaware (1651); Newtown (1652); Huntington (1658); and Setauket (1660).

Interestingly, in the early days of these Long Island congregations, the first pastors and members were of British, not Scotch-Irish, heritage. In the case of Southampton, it was a Puritan group of settlers who left Lynn, Massachusetts in the spring of 1640 to settle Long Island. Before their departure, colonists prepared a "Declaration of the Company" (a little-known document, which merits comparison with the Mayflower Compact) in which the signers stated that "Our true interest and meaning is that when our Plantation is laid out by those appointed that there shall be a Church gathered and constituted according to the mind of Christ, that there we do freely lay down our power of ordering and disposing of the Plantation and of receiving inhabitants thereof or any other thing that may tend to the good and welfare of the inhabitants at the feet of Christ and His Church."

After the Dutch pushed this group out of the west side of the island, they landed at Conscience Point, on the east side, where they founded the first English settlement in the state of New York, in June 1640. Although the founding of the church dates to that event, its first pastor, Abraham Pierson, Sr. (c. 1611-1678), did not arrive until November 1640. The story of this church is told by Randall Lee Saxon, At the Ffeete of Christe and His Church: An Historical Sketch of the First Presbyterian Church in America.

Meanwhile, Founders Landing in Southold commemorates the October 1640 landing of a group of Puritans from New Haven, Connecticut, led by the British-born Rev. John Youngs. The timing of these two events has led to a dispute over which church is properly considered to be "the first Presbyterian church in America." 

Regardless, the Puritan origins of Long Island Presbyterianism (the first American presbytery was the Presbytery of Philadelphia, but the Long Island Presbytery was constituted as part of the Synod of Philadelphia by 1717) is an important aspect of early American Presbyterianism that is worthy of our study. 

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.

19th Century Commentaries at Log College Press

If you're starting a new sermon series this fall, make sure to check out the Commentaries page on the Log College Press website to see if a 19th century American Presbyterian has written on the book through which you plan to preach. The Princeton theologians, Joseph Addison Alexander and Charles Hodge, have the most studies of Scripture on our site, but a total of twenty-one authors so far are listed - and surely we'll find more to add. 

The Happy Man's Pedigree

William Mills (1739-1774) was a graduate of Princeton, who became pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Jamaica, Long Island, New York, one of the first Presbyterian churches in America. As part of his ministry, he wrote tracts, such as the Bunyan-like one below, which can be found in James Madison McDonald, Two Centuries in the History of the Presbyterian Church, Jamaica, L.I.; The Oldest Existing Church, of the Presbyterian Name, in America (1862), pp. 182-183.

The Happy Man's Pedigree

The HAPPY MAN, was born in the City of Regeneration — in the parish of Repentance unto Life: he was educated at the School of Obedience, and lives now in Perseverance: he works at the trade of Diligence, notwithstanding he has a large estate in the county of Christian Contentment; and many times does jobs of Self-Denial; he wears the plain garment of Humility, and has a better suit to put on when he goes to Court, called the Robe of Christ’s Righteousness; he often walks in the valley of Self-Abasement, and sometimes climbs the mountain of Spiritual-Mindedness; he breakfasts every morning upon Spiritual Prayer, and sups every evening on the same; he has Meat to eat that the world knows not of, and his Drink is the sincere Milk of the Word: — Thus, happy he lives, and happy he dies. Happy is he who has Gospel Submission in his will — due order in his affection — sound peace in his conscience — Sanctifying Grace in his soul-real Divinity in his breast — true Humility in his heart — the Redeemer’s yoke on his neck — a vain world under his feet — and a crown of Glory over his head. Happy is the life of such an one: — In order to attain which — Pray frequently — Believe firmly wait patiently — work abundantly — live Holily — die daily — watch your hearts — guide your senses — redeem your time — love Christ — and long for Glory.

The Type of Preacher Daniel Baker Desired to Be

“Dry, logical sermons, with rounded periods, delivered in a cold, formal, and heartless manner, I can never relish, however beautified by the superficial elegances of composition; and I question if the good effects which flow from such preaching will be sufficient to compensate the minister for all his care, labor, & refinement. I love warm, animating, lively, evanggelominos  Preaching, full of fire, breathing love and compassion. I may I never, become a cold, lifeless, sentimental preacher, but may I imitate the zeal of a Whitefield, the tenderness of a Hervey, the affection of a Baxter, and blend all with the pure, sound, evangelical principles of a Doddridge.”

— Daniel Baker, Life & Labors , p. 62

Samuel Wylie Crawford on Creeds and Confessions

Samuel Wylie Crawford was born on October 14, 1792, in the Chester District of South Carolina. He was born of good Scottish stock, but was orphaned at a young age, and was looked after by his uncle Dr. Samuel Wylie. Crawford initially studied medicine, but then settled on the study of theology. He was ordained by the Northern Presbytery of the Reformed Presbyterian Church and was installed as a pastor in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. This sermon comes to us from that congregation. It is a remarkably helpful sermon today just as it was in yesteryear. Crawford opens with the text Amos 3:3 “Can two walk together lest they be agreed?” He uses this as the touchstone for a wonderful doctrinal sermon. He explored the basis of Ecclesiastical relations, the significance of having creeds and confessions, as well as the problems with fellowships that do not have them. Overall this sermon is as helpful today as it was the day it was preached.

Ashbel Green's Commentary on the Westminster Shorter Catechism is on the LCP Website

If I asked you for a list of commentaries on the Westminster Shorter Catechism, chances are th two volume set by Ashbel Green wouldn't be on it. But you can find it here, written for the youth of his day. He also published a history of Presbyterian mission work during the 19th century, and a variety of sermons and addresses. These can be found on the Log College Press website, so spend some time browsing what we've collected.

William Swan Plumer on the Glory and Grace of the Incarnation

William Swan Plumer, the 19th century Southern Presbyterian pastor and theologian, wrote more than most of us have time to read. We've published his two inaugural addresses as Christ All in All: The Right Temper for a Theologian (you can purchase a copy of the booklet, or it's available as a free ebook in the month of August!). But you don't want to miss this excerpt from the 21st chapter of his book The Grace of Christ (available here!) on the glory and grace of the incarnation of the Son of God. The gospel is richly present, so soak in it today and lets its truths permeate your soul:

“Our Lord Jesus Christ became incarnate, was made under the law, lived, acted, obeyed, suffered died and rose again for his people.

He came down to earth that they might go up to heaven.

He suffered that they might reign.

He became a servant that they might become kings and priests unto God.

He died that they might live.

He bore the cross that their enmity might be slain, and their sins expiated.

He loved them that they might love God.

He was rich and became poor that they, who were poor, might be made rich.

He descended into the lower parts of the earth that they might sit in heavenly places. He emptied himself that they might be filled with all the fullness of God.

He took upon him human nature that they might be partakers of the divine nature.

He made flesh his dwelling place that they might be an habitation of God through the Spirit.

He made himself of no reputation, that they might wear his new name, and be counted an eternal excellency.

He became a worm, and no man, that they, who were sinful worms, might be made equal to the angels.

He bore the curse of a broken covenant that they might partake of all the blessings of the everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure.

Though heir of all things, he was willingly despised of the people, that they, who were justly condemned, might obtain and inheritance that is incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away.

His death was a satisfaction to divine justice, a ransom for many, a propitiation for sin, a sweet smelling savour to God, that we, who were an offense to God, might become his sons and daughters.

He was made sin for his people that they might be made the righteousness of God in him. 

Though Lord of all He took the form of a servant, that they, who were the servants of sin, might prevail like princes with God. 

He, who had made swaddling-clothes bands for the sea, was wrapped in swaddling-clothes that they, who were cast out in their blood, might be clothed in linen white and clean, which is the righteousness of the saints.

He had not where to lay His head that they who otherwise must have laid down in eternal sorrow, might read the mansions in His Father’s house. 

He was beset with lions and bulls of Bashan, that his chosen might be compassed about with an innumerable company of angels and of the spirits of just men made perfect.

He drank the cup of God’s indignation that they might for ever drink of the river of His pleasures.

He hungered that they might eat the bread of life.

He thirsted that they might drink the water of life.

He was numbered with the transgressors that they might stand among the justified, and be counted among the jewels.

He made His grave with the wicked that they might sleep in Jesus.

Though He was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was, yet He became a helpless infant, that creatures of yesterday, sentenced to death, might live for ever.

He wore a crown of thorns that all, who love His appearing, might wear a crown of life.

He wept tears of anguish that His elect might weep tears of repentance not to be repented of.

He bore the yoke of obedience unto death that they might find His yoke easy and His burden light.

He poured out His soul unto death, lay three days in the heart of the earth, then burst the bars of death, and arose to God, that they, who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage, might obtain the victory over the grave and become partakers of His resurrection.

He exhausted the penalty of the law that His redeemed might have access to the inexhaustible treasures of mercy, wisdom, faithfulness, truth and grace promised by the Lord.

He passed from humiliation to humiliation, till He reached the sepulcher of Joseph, that His people might be changed from glory to glory as by the Spirit of the Lord.

He was matchless in grace that they might be matchless in gratitude.

Though a Son, He became a voluntary exile, that they, who had wickedly wandered afar off, might be brought nigh by His blood.

He was compassed about with all their innocent infirmities that He might perfect His strength in their weakness.

His visage was so marred more than any man, that His ransomed might be presented before God without spot, or blemish, or wrinkle, or any such thing.

For a time He was forsaken of His Father that they, whom He bought with His blood, might behold the light of God’s countenance forever.

He came and dwelt with them that they might be forever with the Lord.

He was hung up naked before His insulting foes that all, who believe on His name, might wear a glorious wedding garment, a spotless righteousness.

Though He was dead, He is the firstborn among many brethren.

Through His sorrow His people obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing flee away.

Though He endured the worst things, they do and shall forever enjoy the best things

Wonderful mystery! God was manifested in the flesh! Here is no absurdity, no contradiction, no fiction, and yet a mystery that baffles all attempts to solve it, and dazzles all human and angelic vision. Blessed is he, who is not offended in Jesus. Blessed is he, who loves the incarnate mystery, and rests upon it. It is a mystery of love, of power, of salvation. It is the mystery of Godliness. It is the great study of the inhabitants of heaven, and shall be while immortality endures.”

Lessons from Job by William S. Plumer

The person of Job is referenced in many ways throughout William Swan Plumer's classic volume Jehovah-Jireh: A Treatise on Providence (1867), but there is one chapter where lessons are gleaned in particular from his remarkable experience that we can greatly benefit from today.

 In chapter 15, titled "Alternate light and darkness in providence, illustrated in the case of THE GREAT MAN OF UZ," Plumer examines the doctrine of providence as reflected in the life and trials of the patriarch. The chapter is brief but golden; it is a short but profitable read. The concluding observations are very valuable and practical lessons from which we can all benefit. 

1. How vain are all merely earthly possessions! How unstable is popular favor! How uncertain are riches! How soon our pleasures may be followed by pains! When parents rejoice at the birth of a child, they know not how soon they may weep over his dead body without an assurance that his soul is saved. Solomon thoroughly tried the world. His sober inspired judgment was that all was vanity. The sooner we reach that conclusion ourselves, the wiser shall we be.

2. Let us always be more afraid of sinning against God than of offending our nearest earthly friends. Job instantly repulsed the wicked assaults of his wife, saying, "Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh." Job ii. 10. To his own disciple, Peter, Jesus was compelled to say: "Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savorest not the things that be of God but those that be of men." Matt. xvi. 23. No human friendship may for a moment interfere with our fidelity to God.

3. Although God generally chooses the poor as his children, yet he offers mercy to the rich, and receives all such as humbly seek his grace. Job's riches did not debar him from the kingdom of heaven. By reason of depravity riches tend to alienate the heart from God; yet sovereign grace can remedy that evil. He, who is rich in this world's goods, and also rich in faith and good works, is loudly called to sing the praises of Jehovah. Nothing but almighty power could thus make the camel go through the eye of the needle, or preserve the soul from the burning flames of insatiable covetousness.

4. Weight of character and a high order of talents are by no means confined to the enemies of God. "Why should they be? Piety is wisdom. Who ever stood higher for wisdom in council, for soundness of judgment and for prowess in war than did the man of Uz? In proportion to the number of consistent professors of religion, there cannot be found any number of men who surpass God's people for calmness of inquiry, soberness of mind and practical wisdom. True religion is worthy of the most earnest and solemn attention.

5. Good men are not always good in proportion to the degree of light which they enjoy. Job is supposed to have lived before the time of Moses, under the obscurity of the patriarchal dispensation; yet he was a burning and a shining light. He neither saw nor heard many wondrous things well known to us. Yet how far did he and Abraham and Enoch and other ancient worthies excel the great mass of even good men of these latter days. Truly we ought to blush for our short-comings. Guilt is in proportion to light. Surely then we must be very guilty for our sad deficiencies.

6. When malice, or envy, or suspicion, or evil sur- mising exists, no established reputation, no want of evidence of guilt can "tie the gall up in the slanderous tongue." By a long and holy life Job had given incontestible evidence of the purity of his character. His friends could bring no proof of his criminality in anything. Yet they charged him with cruelty, rapacity and hypocrisy. Such wickedness has not yet left the earth. It is no new or rare thing for the best men to be charged with the basest plans, principles or practices. It will be so until grace shall reign through Jesus Christ over all hearts. A propensity to evil thoughts and evil speeches is among the last faults of character from which even good men are delivered.

7. If friends accuse us falsely and act as enemies, let us not forget to pray for them. Job set us the example: Job xlii. 8. Enmities arising between old friends are generally more violent than others. "A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city: and their contentions are like the bars of a castle." Prov. xviii. 19. But we must not yield to passion. We must forgive and seek blessings on those who falsely accuse us and cruelly entreat us. It was not till Job prayed for his accusers that God turned his captivity. Let us never carry a load of malice in our hearts. It is worse than any evil we can suffer at the hand of man.

8. When our characters are assailed, we are at liberty to use Christian measures to remove an evil report. It is then best to leave the whole matter in the hands of God. Lawsuits for character may be lawful and sometimes expedient. But when bad passions are excited no character is so unspotted that malice will not spew out its venom against it. We may deny our guilt; we may call for evidence against us; we may bring evidence of innocence; but with men of heated imaginations and strong prejudices, evidence never has its just weight.

9. It is very dangerous to become involved in a labyrinth of reasoning concerning God, his character and providence. Things which are revealed belong to us and our children. We may safely follow where-ever revelation leads; but we are no judges of what is proper to be done under the government of God. The attempt to criticise the divine proceedings is always a failure and iniquity.

10. It is important to study the Scriptures and learn all we can concerning the plans and providence of God. Had Job clearly known what we by patient study may learn, it would have removed much of the pungency of his grief. God's word is a light and a lamp. Let us walk by it.

11. What is the grief of each one? Is it poverty, poor health, want of reputation, loss of religious comfort? Whatever it be, take for an example of suffering affliction Job, the narrative of whose trials was written for our comfort. Like him, let each one say of the Almighty, "Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him." Job xiii. 15. Never was pious confidence in the Lord misplaced. Never did any trust in him and was confounded.

12. The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him. The greatest secret God ever reveals to his people is the mystery of redemption. Of this Job was not ignorant. By this he triumphed. His own language is explicit: "I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: and though after my skin worms destroy this body yet in my flesh shall I see God: whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold and not another." Job xix. 25-27.

Samuel Miller on the High Calling of Parenting

Samuel Miller, in his discourses on the guilt, folly, and sources of suicide (a booklet we hope to reprint soon, Lord willing), has a marvelous paragraph about parenting. May the Lord enable every Christian parent to take these words to heart and live them out to some degree:

Parents! You see the numerous dangers to which the traveler through this vale of tears is exposed. How should your solicitude be excited, your zeal be roused, and all the tender anxieties of parental affection be called into exercise, in behalf of your Offspring, who are entering on the journey of life, and about to encounter all its perils! You are the guardians of their health and lives, you form their morals, you direct their pursuits, you are the depositories of their happiness in this world, and, in a degree, in that which is to come. With what unceasing care, then, should you imbue their minds with correct principles! With what sacred fidelity should you put them on their guard against the licentious opinions of the age, against the contagion of evil company, and against the destructive habits of intemperance and sloth! With what devout tenderness should you exhort them, warn them, pray over them, and endeavor to win them, both by precept and example, to the love and fear, as well as to the knowledge of God! O Parents! were these things duly considered, what a revolution should we witness in your mode of treating your children! We should see you more attentive to domestic instruction and discipline, than to the frivolities of a fashionable education. We should see you embracing every opportunity to inculcate on their minds, that virtue is superior to wealth; that holiness is a distinction infinitely more valuable than the magnificence and honors of this world. We should see you, in a word, making their moral and religious culture your chief concern, and studying daily to impress upon their hearts the conviction that, to fear God, and keep his commandments, is the whole duty and happiness of man.

Theron Hall Rice: Man of God

In the preface to John Miller Wells' Southern Presbyterian Worthies (1936), he mentions three ministers that he desired to write about but was unable to do so because of limitations of time: "Robert Lewis Dabney, the Theologian; Stuart Robinson, the Eccleiast; and Theron Hall Rice, the Man of God. 

To give but the briefest of introductions to the man that Ernest Trice Thompson also referred to as "one of the great spiritual leaders" (Presbyterians in the South, Vol. 2, p. 331) of the Presbyterian Church in the United States (PCUS), he was born on July 8, 1867 in Wetumpka, Alabama, and went on to study theology at Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, Virginia, graduating in 1892. From Richmond, he went to Alexandria, Virginia, where he pastored the Second Presbyterian Church from 1892 to 1896. Rice received a doctorate of divinity from Davidson College in 1899. He ministered to the Central Presbyterian Church in Atlanta, Georgia from 1896 to 1908. Following that pastorate, he returned to Richmond, becoming the Stuart Robinson Professor of English Bible and Pastoral theology at Union Theological Seminary. In 1918, he received a Doctor of Laws degree from Kings College in Bristol, Tennessee. 

He wrote often for The Union Seminary Review, and some of his articles are available to read at Log College Press. He also contributed to the 1912 Centennial Celebration of Union Theological Seminary a tribute to the seminary's accomplishments that William B. Sweetser, Jr. termed "the most insightful work produced for the Centennial" (A Copious Fountain: A History of Union Presbyterian Seminary, 1812-2012, p. 238). "Theron Rice places Union in the landscape of American theological education. Over a decade before the first systematic study of American seminaries and twenty years before the very idea of accreditation was broached, Rice explores Union's strengths and weaknesses."

Take a look at this particular article, and others by Rice, and see what this man of God had to say. Theron Hall Rice, Jr. is a pastor worth knowing.