Greenville Street Preaching

The Character of an Old English Puritan

2010-03-25T17:25:00.003-04:00

"The Old English Puritan was such an one, that honored God above all, and under God gave every one his due.

His first care was to serve God, and therein he did not what was good in his own, but in God's sight, making the word of God the rule of his worship. He highly esteemed order in the House of God: but would not under color of that submit to superstitious rites, which are superfluous, and perish in their use. He reverenced Authority keeping within its sphere: but durst not under pretence of subjection to the higher powers, worship God after the traditions of men. He made conscience of all God's ordinances, though some he esteemed of more consequence..."

- John Geree (1600-1649), an English Puritan, who, though censured by the bishops, was a pastor beloved of the people.

Christ with His Bride, part 4

2010-03-05T20:09:00.003-05:00

"Who can speak suitably, and as he ought of this noble, notable subject, the love of Christ to His church, that breathes so sweetly and strongly throughout this Song, and that which by its sovereign influence so powerfully draw forth the church's love after Him: a heart be-drenched with, and a tongue and pen dipped in the sense of this love, would do well; sure the reading, writing, speaking, hearing, and meditating of this song, treating of so transcendently excellent a theme, and in so spiritually ublime and lofty a strain, calls for a most spiritual and divine frame of heart."

- Margaret Durham, the wife of James Durham, in a letter (1669), describing the spiritual communion of Christ with His bride, His people.

The Chronicles

2010-02-19T22:16:00.002-05:00

Having the day off from work, I was able preach with Pastor McCurley downtown today at noon. He preached from the end of Psalm 2, "Be wise now O you kings... serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry and you perish in the way... blessed are all they that put their trust in Him."

Pastor McCurley preached how we are to give reverance to God the Son, whom the Father has appointed to be over all the kings and authorities of this earth. This psalm is especially fitting to us at it speaks to our own time when Jesus the Messiah reigns at God's right hand in heaven. We are to serve King Jesus. Those who kindle His wrath but a little, will perish in their way, but those who trust Him, will be blessed.

When Pastor McCurley was about done, though yet preaching, a fellow from across the street came directly up to him. He was tall, a white guy with a shaved head, and was wearing cut-offs with tattoes on his arms. He did not wait for Pastor McCurley to finish but got his attention and began speaking to him. As I went up to see how things were going, Pastor McCurley turned to me and asked me if I would preach while he prayed with the fellow. It turned out that he had heard Pastor McCurley preaching a block or two away. He wanted Pastor McCurley to pray for him, as he had known the Lord but had become discouraged in life and had not been walking with Him and wanted help.

I began to preach on Romans 14 where it says, "For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's... for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ." I preached that to live is Christ, and to die is gain, and that those who trust in Christ are His, and how we shall all stand before the living Christ to give an account unto Him of our lives. The Lord gave both Pastor McCurley and I much unction as we preached, and much good was laid before the people that walked by today.

Christ with His Bride, part 3

2010-02-15T20:24:00.003-05:00

"...Those frequently claimed, avouched, boasted of, and gloried in, mutual interests:- Those love restings, and resposings on the arm, and on the bosom of one another, with these serious and solemn chargings and adjurings not unseasonably to disturb and interrupt this rest and repose:

-Those mutual kind invitings, and hearty accepting of invitations; those comings and welcomings; those feastings, feedings, and banquetings on all manner of pleasant fruits, chief spices, and best wines, even the rarest and chiefest spiritual dainties and delicates:

-Those pleasant, refreshful airings and walkings together in the fragrant fields, villages, woods, orchards, gardens, arbours, umbrages, and as it were, labyrinths of love:

-Those stately magnificent and majestic describings of one another, as to stature, favor, beauty, comely proportion of parts, curious deckings and adornings, seet-smelling odoriferous anointings, powderings, and perfumings, holding forth their respective qualifications, endowments, accomplishments, perfections, and excellencies, whereof all things in the world, bearing such names, are but dark, dull, and empty resemblances..."

- Margaret Durham, the wife of James Durham, in a letter (1669), describing the spiritual communion of Christ with His bride, His people.

Christ with His Bride, part 2

2010-02-13T14:19:00.005-05:00

"...those failings, faultings, lyings a-bed, and lazinesses, and thereupon, when observed, those love-faintings, swarfings, swoonings, seekings and sorrowings on the one side; and those love followings, findings, pityings, pardonings, passings by, rousings, revivings, supportings, strengthenings, courings, confirmings, and comfortings, with most warm and kindly compellations, on the other: (O let men and angels, wonder at the kingly condescending, the majestic meekness, the stately stooping, the high humility, and the lofty lowliness that conspicuously shines forth here on the Bridegroom's part!)

-those love languishings, feverings, sickenings, holy violentions, apprehendings, and resolute refusings to let go on the one part, and those love unheartings, heart-ravishings, captivatings, and being overcome: those love arrests and detainments in the galleries, as if nailed (to speak so with reverence) to the place, and sweetly charmed into a kind of holy impotency, to remove the eye from looking on so lovely an object, on the other:

-those bashful, but beautiful blushings, humble hidings, and modest thinking shame to be seen or heard speak, on the Bride's part, and those urgent callings, and in a manner compellings, to compear, with those serious professings of singular satisfaction, to hear her sweet voice, and to see her comely countenance on the Bridegroom's part...

- Margaret Durham, the wife of James Durham, in a letter (1669), describing the spiritual communion of Christ with His bride, His people.

Christ with His Bride, part 1

2010-02-12T19:11:00.008-05:00

"My blessed husband, the author of this piece, as according to the grace given unto him... has been led to open up [this] book of the holy scriptures, wherein the Lord's people did very much desire to know the mind of the Spirit, [it] being somewhat darker, and less easily understood, than many, if not than all the rest... this book of Solomon, the Song of Songs, or the most excellent Song;

containing the largest and liveliest discoveries of the love of Jesus Christ, the King, Bridegroom, and Husband of his church, to her His Queen, Bride, and Spouse; and of hers to Him, with those spiritually glorious interviews, holy courtings, most superlative, but most sincere, commending and cordial entertainings of each other, those mutual praisings and valuings of fellowship;-those missings, lamentings, and bemoanings of the want thereof;-

those holy impatiencies to be without it, swelling to positive and peremptory determinations, not to be satisfied, nor comforted in any thing else, those diligent, painful and restless seekings after it, till it be found and enjoyed, on the one hand;-and those sweet, and easy yieldings to importunity, and gracious grantings of it, on the other; with those high delightings, solacings, complacencies, and acquiescings in, and heartsome embracings of one another's fellowship:-"

- The Epistle Dedicatory of Margaret Durham commending the commentary of her husband James Durham on the Song of Solomon to the Lady, Viscountess of Kenmure, 1669. Her letter is impressive, being much more spiritually full and edifying, savoring of a rich, experiential acquaintence with the deeps truths of Christ's Word, than even the preface to the reader by the justly renowned scholar, John Owen.

An Inch to Preach

2010-02-10T09:20:00.004-05:00

"But an inch of time remains, and then eternal ages roll on for ever -- but an inch on which we can stand and preach the way of salvation to a perishing world."

- Robert Murray M'Cheyne (1813-1843), a minister in the Church of Scotland, who died two months before the Disruption at the age of 29 due to typhus fever. Upon the occasion of the right of the church to govern itself coming before the House of Commons, M'Cheyne wrote in his diary, "Eventful night this in the British Parliament! Once more King Jesus stands at an earthly tribunal, and they know Him not!"

God's Earnest Invitation, part 4

2010-02-08T20:14:00.006-05:00

"There is a second love and mercy in God, by which he loves all men and angels, yea, even his enemies, makes the sun to shine on the unjust man as well as the just, and causes dew and rain to fall on the orchard and fields of the bloody and deceitful man, whom the Lord abhors, as Christ teaches us, Matt. 5:43-48.

Nor does God miscarry in this love. He desires the eternal being of damned angels and men; he sends the gospel to many reprobates, and invites them to repentance and with longanimity and forbearance suffers pieces of froward dust to fill the measure of their iniquity, yet does not the Lord's general love fall short of what he wills to them."

- Samuel Rutherford (1660-1661), from Christ Dying and Drawing Sinners to Himself, pp. 443-45 (1647).

God's Earnest Invitation, part 3

2010-02-07T15:58:00.006-05:00

"Now this desire of approbation is an abundantly sufficient closing of the mouth of such as stumble at the gospel, being appointed thereunto, and an expression of Christ's good liking to save sinners. Expressed in his borrowed wishes, Deut. 5:29. O that there were such a heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep my commandments. Ps. 81:13. O that my people had hearkened unto me, and Israel walked in my ways, which wish, as relating to disobeying Israel, is a figure, or metaphor borrowed from men, but otherwise shows how acceptable the duty is to God, how obligatory to the creature. But the Lord's expostulations, Ezek. 18:31. Why will ye die, O house of Israel? Verse 32. For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dies. In the Lord's crying to sinners, Prov. 1:20. Wisdom cries, she utters her voice in the streets. The word is to cry with strong shouting, either for joy, Ps. 81:2, or sorrow, Lam. 2:19, which expresses Christ's desire to save sinners."

- Samuel Rutherford (1600-1661), from Christ Dying and Drawing Sinners to Himself, pp. 443-45 (1647).

God's Earnest Invitation, part 2

2010-02-05T21:10:00.006-05:00

"Isa. 55:1, Ho, everyone that thirsts, come to the waters, and he that hath no silver, come buy, and eat

2. God loves, approves the believing of Jerusalem and of her children, as a moral duty as the hen loves to warm and nourish her chickens; and he hates, with an exceeding and unfeigned dislike of improbation and hatred, their rebellious disobedience and refusing to be gathered: but there is no purpose, intention, or decree of God held forth in these invitations called his revealed will, by which he says he intends and wills that all he makes the offer unto shall obey and be saved.

But it's to be observed, that the revealed will of God, held forth to all does not hold forth formally that God intends, decrees, or purposes in his eternal council that any man shall actually obey, either elect or reprobate; it formally is the expression only of the good liking of that moral and duty conjunction between the obedience of the creature and the reward, but it does not hold forth any intention or decree of God that any shall obey, that all shall obey, or that none at all shall obey."

- Samuel Rutherford (1600-1661), from Christ Dying and Drawing Sinners to Himself, pp. 443-45 (1647).

God's Earnest Invitation, part 1

2010-02-04T21:37:00.006-05:00

"Isa. 55:1, Ho, everyone that thirsts, come to the waters, and he that has no silver, come buy, and eat

As if the Lord were grieved, and said, 'Woe is me, Alas that thirsty souls should die in their thirst, and will not come to the water of life, Christ, and drink gratis, freely, and live.' For the interjection, 'Ho,' is a mark of sorrowing, as ah, or woe, everyone that thirsts. It expresses two things, 1. A vehemency and a serious and unfeigned ardency of desire that we do what is our duty, and the concatenation of these two, extremely desired of God: our coming to Christ and our salvation. This moral connection between faith and salvation is desired of God with his will of approbation, complacency, and moral liking, without all dissimulation, most unfeignedly; and whereas Arminians say, we make counterfeit, feigned, and hypocritical desires in God, they calumniate and cavil egregiously, as their custom is."

- Samuel Rutherford (1600-1661), from Christ Dying and Drawing Sinners to Himself, pp. 443-45 (1647).

The Christian Home

2010-02-02T19:26:00.005-05:00

"It was said of one that 'she looked like a prayer.' If we would make our homes truly Christian homes, our daily lives must be like our daily prayers.

If the members of the family wrangle and quarrel, the fact that the father is a minister or an elder, and the mother president of a Dorcas society or secretary of an association to send the gospel to China, does not make the home religious. If a blessing is asked at the table before the meal begins, and if then, instead of cheerful and affectionate conversation, the table-talk is made up of faultfinding with the food, of ill-tempered disputes amid acrimonious bickerings, the asking of a blessing surely does not make the intercourse Christian. If family worship is observed with scrupulous fidelity, and the members rise from their knees to violate the simplest lessons of Christian love and kindness in their fellowship as a household, the fact that there is family worship does not make a Christian home.

The prayers must be lived. The Scripture lessons must find their way into the heart and then into the speech and conduct."

- J.R. Miller (1840-1912), a Presbyterian pastor from Pennsylvania and a popular Christian author.

Speaking in God's Language

2010-01-30T12:57:00.003-05:00

"The more intimately we converse with the word of God, and the more we dwell upon it in our thoughts, the better able we shall be to speak to God in his own language and the better we shall know what to pray for as we ought. Reading the word will not serve, but we must meditate in it."

- Matthew Henry (1662-1714) on Psalm 119:148.

The Chronicles

2010-01-30T12:26:00.002-05:00

Yesterday (Friday) I had the day off from work; it was the first time in over a year that I was able to preach with Pastor McCurley at lunch as we used to do. It was refreshing to to have him with me. I also had lots of energy, which I normally don't have, usually coming from after work. He was going to have to leave right after he finished preaching so I got there 20 minutes before him and began preaching on Psalm 119:81, "My soul faints for your salvation; but I hope in your word."

I preached on how the Christian sometimes finds himself fainting in this life, unable to go on, as he looks to God to save him from his sin and misery; that the Christian's eyes are always looking to his future salvation when God will deliver him from his troubles. For these times, God gives us in the present His word to hope and trust in, which sustains us in this life as we look to the things promised in it and wait upon God. The Christian life is often of this twofold character: of fainting and of hoping. God uses the weakness of faith to strengthen us.

The Lord gave me much liberty in opening up His word and much compassion for the people that heard as they walked by. I continued until Pastor McCurley arrived. He preached on the verse, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins." His preaching was striking in contrast to the people walking by who were minding their own things, who had probably never heard such a message before. God's Son, the Redeemer, was magnified before them.

Prayer

2010-01-26T20:40:00.003-05:00

"Words are but the body, the argument, the outside of prayer; sighs are nearer the heart work. A dumb beggar gets an alm at Christ's gates, even by making signs, when his tongue cannot plead for him; and the rather, because he is dumb... Tears have a tongue, and grammar, and language, that our Father knows. Babes have no prayer for the breast, but weeping: the mother can read hunger in weeping."

- Samuel Rutherford (1600?-1661)

The Love Letters, #3, part 3

2010-01-25T15:46:00.004-05:00

“Now, my dear, I desire willingly and cheerfully to resign my right in you to your Father and my Father, who has the greatest interest in you. And confident I am, though men have separated us for a time yet our God will ere long bring us together again where we shall eternally enjoy one another, never to part more. O let me hear how God bears up your heart, and let me taste of those comforts that support you, that they may be as pillars of marble to bear up my sinking spirit. I can write no more. Farewell, farewell, my dear, till we meet there where we shall never bid farewell more; till which time I leave you in the bosom of a loving, tender-hearted Father, and so I rest till I shall forever rest in Heaven,

Mary Love”

- A letter (1651) from Mary Love to her husband Christopher Love the night before he was executed.

The Love Letters, #3, part 2

2010-01-23T15:11:00.003-05:00

"And be not discouraged when you shall see a guard of soldiers triumphing with their trumpets about you, but lift up your head and you shall behold God with a guard of His holy angels, triumphing to receive you to glory. Be not dismayed at the scoffs and reproaches that you may meet with in your short way to heaven, for be assured that God will not only glorify your body and soul in heaven but He will also make the memory of you to be glorious on earth!

O let not one troubled thought for your wife and babies arise within you. Your God will be our God and our portion. He will be a husband to your widow and a father to your children; the grace of your God will be sufficient for us."

- A letter (1651) from Mary Love to her husband Christopher Love the night before he was executed.

The Love Letters, #3

2010-01-22T19:54:00.004-05:00

"My Heavenly Dear,

I call you so because God has put heaven into you before He has taken you to heaven. You now behold God, Christ and glory, as in a glass; but tomorrow, heaven's gates will be opened and you shall be in the full enjoyment of all those glories which eye has not seen, nor ear has heard, neither can the heart of man understand. God has now swallowed up your heart in the thoughts of heaven, but ere long you shall be swallowed up in the enjoyment of heaven. And no marvel there should be such quietness and calmness in your spirit while you are sailing in this tempestuous sea, because you perceive by the eye of faith a haven of rest where you shall be richly laden with all the glories of heaven.

O lift up your heart with joy when you lay your dear head on the block in the thought of this: that you are laying your head to rest in your Father's bosom which, when you do awake, shall be crowned not with an earthly fading crown but with a heavenly eternal crown of glory."

- A letter (1651) from Mary Love to her husband Christopher Love, the night before he was to be executed.

The Chronicles

2010-01-19T20:03:00.002-05:00

The Friday before last I preached on Psalm 46.

The Chronicles

2010-01-08T20:13:00.003-05:00

New Years Eve (a Thursday night) I went downtown to preach. There wasn't as many people as I expected, perhaps from the cold. But my hat and gloves kept me warm enough. It was hard to preach. It was so cold I wasn't able to be very loud, lots of various noises crowded my voice out, people went about with their friends and no one really seemed to care about what I was saying. My spirit was heavy before I went downtown that night, and unlike usual, I found little comfort as I preached.

Being depressed and finding little strength in my own heart, I decided to end by preaching on the end of John 17, where Christ says "I have overcome the world".

I think this evening when I go out again in a bit, I will preach on the same thing, and try to find and open up more than I found last time...

Keeping the Heart

2009-12-31T13:21:00.003-05:00

"The heart of man is his worst part before it be regenerate, and the best afterwards; it is the seat of principles, and fountain of actions. The eye of God is, and the eye of a Christian ought to be, principally fixed upon it.

The greatest difficulty in conversion is to win the heart to God; and the greatest difficulty after conversion, is to keep the heart with God. Here lies the very pinch and stress of religion; here is that that makes the way to life a narrow way, and the gate to heaven a strait gate."

- John Flavel (1628-1691), an English presbyterian that was ejected from his pulpit in 1662 by Charles II. He remained to be one of the most popular of the puritans, his warm and practical writings spiritually feeding many during his times, and many still today.

The Loveliness of Christ

2009-12-18T19:56:00.006-05:00

"O pity for evermore that there should be such a one as Christ Jesus, so boundless, so bottomless, and so incomparable in infinite excellency, and sweetness, and so few souls to take Him! O, you poor dry and dead souls, why will you not come here with your empty vessels and your empty souls to this huge, and fair, and deep, and sweet well of life, and fill all your empty vessels? O, how Christ is so large in sweetness and worth, and we so narrow, pinched, so ebb, and so void of all happiness, and yet men will not take him! They lose their love miserably, who will not bestow it upon this Lovely One.

- Samuel Rutherford (1600?-1661), a Scottish divine and delegate to the Westminster Assembly. He wrote in his letters, "I am most gladly content that Christ breaketh all my idols in pieces: it hath put a new edge upon my blunted love to Christ. I see He is jealous of my love, and will have all to Himself."

The Love Letters, #2

2009-12-11T18:28:00.001-05:00

“More Dear to Me than Ever,

It adds to my rejoicing that I have so good and gracious a wife to part with for the Lord Jesus. In your grief, I have been grieved; but in your joy I have been comforted. Surely, nature could never help you to bear so heavy a stroke with so much silence and submission to the hand of God! Oh, dearest, every line which you write gladdens my heart. I dare not think that there is such a creature as Mary Love in the world. For Kit and Mall [the two living children], I can think of them without trouble, leaving them to so good a God and so good a mother.

Be comforted concerning your husband, who may more honor God in his death than in his life. The will of the Lord be done; he is fully satisfied with the hand of God. Though there is but little between him and death, he knows that there is but little between him and heaven, and that ravishes his heart.”

- Christopher Love, in a letter (1651) to his wife Mary Love while in prison in a tower awaiting execution. The letter ends, “The very things I thought to have written you, you have written to me. I have had more comfort from your gracious letters than from all the counsel I have had from anyone else in the world. Well be assured that we shall meet in heaven.”

Christ Offered

2009-12-10T10:15:00.002-05:00

“Seeing Christ comes near you in this gospel, and this is one of the market days, I entreat you, while He is near, receive Him, call upon Him while He is near… open to Him, take Him in, give Him welcome… There is not a conscience in any man that hears this gospel, but that He will have this testimony from him in it, that He came near them, was in their sight and within their reach and grip, as it were, if they would have put out their hand to receive him… O receive this gospel, give him room; while He is content to sup with you, take Him in, make sure of your union with Him. This is the end [design] why this report is made, and Christ is laid before you, even that you may lay yourselves over on Him.”

- James Durham (1622-1658), a commissioner of the Church of Scotland to the Westminster Assembly, in his second sermon on Isaiah 53. In the same sermon Durham interprets Christ knocking at the door in Rev. 3:17 as “an earnest invitation to make way for Christ Jesus, wanting nothing but an entry into the heart.” Durham understands this appeal of Christ in the gospel to be gracious, according to 2 Cor. 6:1, “We beseech you not to receive this grace in vain, which is not meant of saving grace, but of the gracious offer of grace and reconciliation through Him.”

The Chronicles

2009-12-07T18:05:00.002-05:00

Last Saturday was a day of prayer and fasting for our nation. Our nation has done much to provoke God’s anger and judgements, being full of unbelief, false religions, atheism, and people doing whatever is right in their own eyes instead of doing what is right in the eyes of the Lord. Sin is boasted of and paraded in our society, no longer being a shame to us. Our government does not fear God, nor use His moral law as a standard of righteousness. God’s Word, instead of being reverenced, is mocked, ignored and gladly replaced with the wisdom of man. Christ’s church in this land is little better: split with many schisms, deluded with false doctrine, laden under unbiblical worship, and content with a dead faith unable to change lives to the glory of Christ.

Under such circumstances we did what the Bible directs us to do: hold a public day of prayer and fasting, confessing our nation and our church’s sins in order that in bringing them to the surface the Lord would pardon them and bring righteousness to our land by His Holy Spirit. We prayed that the Lord would bring great reformation to our land, that the civil government would profess and fear Christ as the King of kings, that godly civil magistrates would fear God more than man and would remove false religion and worship from our nation, would enforce God’s 10 commandments in our society and that they church would grow strong and unify herself under the influence of Christ’s grace from heaven, purify herself in doctrine and worship, and be filled with a faith that sanctifies sinners to the glory of Christ.

In accord with the purpose of the day, after our meeting where we learned from scripture and prayed, I went out to downtown Greenville to preach. It turns out that I got there after a Christmas parade had gone through and people were leaving. The roads were blocked off and there was a festival with rides for kids at the square I normally preach at. So went and stood on the opposite corners and began to preach loudly towards the families and people congregated and walking by, and said,

“Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the LORD. For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water." (Jer. 2:12,13)

I also preached on Jer 2:19 and 3:12

“Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts.”

“Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the LORD; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the LORD, and I will not keep anger for ever.”

The Lord gave me much liberty and confidence in God’s Word that night as I preached for an hour and a half or so; many people took notice, and heard, I believe, sufficiently enough to save them. A guy came up to me and asked me how I picked out the corner I was on to preach on. I said that this corner was as good as any. He said that some people preach in front of bars or this or that. I said that it didn’t matter to me. People’s problem is not whether they are drunkards or not, but that they need their sins to be forgiven by God.

The Chronicles - San Francisco

2009-11-26T00:44:00.004-05:00

Tuesday afternoon I took the ferry across the Bay of San Francisco. The only thing more beautiful than the weather was the view: rolling hills lining the expansive water, sail boats casually navigating the breeze, big tankers slowly floating along, bridges lining the distance, islands passing by and military strongholds upon the highest embankments protecting the borders. The sight of this great port city, rich with the merchandise and trading of the world made me think of Tyre of old,

"Howl, ye ships of Tarshish; for it is laid waste... Is this your joyous city, whose antiquity is of ancient days?... Who hath taken counsel against Tyre, the crowning city, whose merchants are princes, whose traffikers are the honorable of the earth? The Lord of Armies has purposed it, to stain the pride of all glory." (Isa. 23:1,7-9)

As soon as one is off the ferry shopping venues and malls immediately present themselves. I walked down the sidewalk along the piers, being taken in with all of the unfamiliar sights and sounds. There was such a diversity of people, activities, buildings, and districts. There was already a line 45 minutes long for the trolley I was going to take for a scenic ride up to Union Square, so I had to change plans. After wondering about a few blocks I found a bus going that way and after asking a few people for directions I made it to Union Square: a sqare block park in the middle of giant buildings surrounding it on every side.

I felt more than a little out of place. Everyone seemed like they were in a rush going somewhere; all types of people were passing by, many of whom probably didn't even know English. I had no idea where I was other than that in a half hour someone was supposed to pick me up to go eat. I felt alone, like a foreigner in a strange land, not knowing what I was doing.

Then I considered that all these people I saw were yet made in the image of God and that in the midst of the hustle and bustle and impressive buildings, the Creator remains the same and that He is as the bright sun that was shining in the sky overhead, and that He would be with me as I sought to preach to His creatures who are all in a hurry doing something else.

I preached on the parable of the prodigal son from Luke 15: how God the Father rejoices and comes running to hug us and weep upon our neck when we repent and come back to Him, rejoincing that though "my son was dead, he is alive again; he was lost, but now is found." The big buildings reflected my voice well so that lots of people could hear. The Lord gave me much help and many people listened to what I said as they stood at the intersection and walked by. After a half hour or so I had to stop and catch my ride to dinner.

Preminently a Preacher of the Gospel

2009-11-20T20:42:00.007-05:00

"I have followed holiness, I have taught truth, and I have been most in the main things; not that I thought the things concerning our times little, but that I thought none could do anything to purpose in God's great and public matters, till they were right in their conditions."

- Donald Cargill (1619-1681), a preacher during the Killing Times in Scotland, when Charles II was systematically hunting down and killing with his armies presbyterians who would not confess that the king was head of the Church, as Christ is her only head. Though towards the end of his life Cargill was forced to take up civil matters pressing on the times, he considered himself first and primarily a preacher of the gospel of Christ. As he climbed up the scaffold to be beheaded, he said, "The Lord knows I go up this ladder with less fear, confusion or perturbation of mind, than ever I entered a pulpit to preach."

The Love Letters

2009-11-10T19:50:00.006-05:00

"Be not troubled to think what shall become of you and yours after my death, for be assured that my God, and the God of the widows and fatherless, will not forsake you, but will wonderfully provide for those and be comforted in this, that though men take your husband from you, they cannot take your God from you; and so do not think that you have lost your husband, but only parted with him for a while, and in the meantime your Savior will be a husband unto you and a father unto your children."

- Christopher Love (1618-1651). Love's execution was delayed for a month from July 15th to August 15th, and then for another week after that. On August 21st, the night before his death, he was able to see his wife. These were some his last words to her before they prayed together and she departed.

The Chronicles

2009-11-09T10:01:00.002-05:00

A friend of mine, Wayne, who is also a student at the seminary, came out preaching with me. It was a real encouragement to have him along.

I began preaching on Mark 15, where Christ is beaten and mocked by the soldiers before He is crucified. The Lord gave me much liberty and light in opening up the sufferings of Christ to all those standing and walking by. I preached on what it means where the Bible says, “Christ was made sin” (2 Cor. 5:21), how he was legally accounted and punished as a sinner, how His divine nature renders His human sacrifice of infinite worth which alone is able to repair the infinite glory of God that man has transgressed against, and how His atonement is sufficient to pay for all the sins of all the world, and how this complete redemption is offered freely to all those walking by that they might turn and believe and trust in this Savior that is offered to them and forever find peace and life with God. I think a lot of people took serious interest in what I was saying, as most of them probably had never heard before what I was saying.

Wayne preached after I did on Romans 1, how God’s invisible attributes are known from what appears, how His wrath against ungodliness is revealed from heaven, that man suppresses the truth in unrighteousness and how the Gospel is the power of God to bring men to salvation. It was his first time preaching on the street. A few people came up to him and thanked him for what he was doing, as it was evident that he preached from his heart and set forth the system of truth revealed in scripture to all those walking by downtown that Saturday night.

A guy who sat and listened to us for a while came up to me and talked about the things of the Lord with us. His name was Rufus and seemed like a sincere guy. I realized I had met him before at Fall for Greenville. He had come up to Pastor McCurley and I when we were preaching and had encouraged us. He wanted to talk and needed a ride home, so we went back to my place and talked for a while before I gave him a ride home. It was a wonderful blessing to meet him and to talk with him, our friend.

The Love Letters, #1, part 5

2009-11-07T11:09:00.003-05:00

"Be comforted, my dear heart. It is but a little stroke and you shall be there where the weary shall be at rest and where the wicked shall cease from troubling. Remember that you may eat your dinner with bitter herbs, yet you shall have a sweet supper with Christ that night. My dear, by what I write unto you, I do not hereby undertake to teach you; for these comforts I have received from the Lord by you. I will write no more, nor trouble you any further, but commit you into the arms of God with whom ere long you and I shall be.

Farewell, my dear. I shall never see your face more till we both behold the face of the Lord Jesus at that great day."

- The end of Mary Love's letter (1651) to her husband Christopher Love the night before he was to be executed. She said of him, "He lived too much in heaven to live long on earth."

Humility

2009-11-06T19:12:00.004-05:00

"Does it become us to be proud, when our Master was so humble? Read the lives of the eminent saints who are gone; and see how far you come short of their gifts, and graces, and performances, and usefulness; and you will rather blush than be proud."

- Matthew Henry (1662-1714), while not being anxious to preserve his own reputation, was always careful to guard the reputation of others. He would tell his children of a man who, when he came into company with those likely to speak against the Puritans, would tell them before-hand, "Sirs, I desire you to take notice, that I am one of those you call Puritans; and therefore, if you like my company, and mean that I should stay with you, pray forbear talking evil of them, for I cannot away with it."

The Path to Hell: Lined with God's Mercies

2009-11-05T08:34:00.003-05:00

"Men evangelized cannot go to hell but over the bowels of God's great mercies. They must wade to it through the bood of Christ."

- John Duncan (1796-1870), a Disruption Worthy of the Free Church of Scotland, professor of Hebrew and Oriental Languages at New College, and missionary to the Jews in Hungary. He was known for his proverbial wisdom and upon his death William Knight, an English writer, remarked that "with him has perished a breathing library of wisdom."

Drawn Low, but Not Empty

2009-11-04T19:51:00.008-05:00

"A believer may at some time be drawn low, but he can never be drawn dry... his comforts may be like the widow's oil in the cruse, where only a little remains (1 Kings 17:12)... The Lord did put forth His power, though not in making the oil and meal to overflow... but in keeping it from wasting so as to be a constant supply unto her and the prophet's necessities in the extreme of famine."

- William Spurstowe (1605-1666) was an English puritan and Westminster Divine. He was part of a group of 5 presbyterians that wrote against prelacy under the name of Smectymnuus (being an acronym made up of the initials of their names, WS, or UUS, being the last part of the word). After being kicked out of his pulpit in 1662 for non-conformity, he would be instrumental in the building of 6 almshouses before his death, knowing intimately what poverty was.

The Love Letters, #1, part 4

2009-10-30T11:21:00.001-04:00

“And when you lay down your precious head to receive your Father’s stroke, remember what you said to me: Though your head was severed from your body, yet in a moment your soul should be united to your Head, the Lord Jesus, in heaven. And though it may seem something bitter, that by the hands of men we are parted a little sooner than otherwise we might have been, yet let us consider that it is the decree and will of our Father, and it will not be long ere we shall enjoy one another in heaven again.”

- Mary Love in a letter (1651) to her husband Christopher Love the night before he was to be beheaded. Only three days before she had written to him, “One comfort I would have of you to carry to your grave, if ever God did good to my soul, you were the chief instrument of it, for I never looked after God till I saw your face.”

Tears for the Lost

2009-10-29T14:26:00.003-04:00

"Should you not weep over such a people, and should not your tears interrupt your words? Should you not cry aloud, and show them their transgressions; and entreat and beseech them as for life and death?"

- Richard Baxter (1615-1691), was a very influential puritan and enemy of the state in London. His book, A Call to the Unconverted to Turn and Live, was instrumental in the conversion of thousands. In it he writes, “We are commanded to beseech and entreat you to accept the offer and turn; to tell you what preparation is made by Christ; what mercy stays for you; what patience waits on you… We must tell you of the wrath that is on you already, and the death that you are born under for the breach of the law of works. But this is only to show you the need of mercy, and to provoke you to esteem the grace of the Redeemer."

My Lips Shall Sing

2009-10-28T16:09:00.001-04:00

"O happy day! Can I ever fergit it? Dat wuz my conversion mornin’, and dat day de Lord sen’ me out wid de good news uv de Kingdom. Fer mo’ dan sixty years I’se been tellin’ de story. My step is getting’ rather slow, my voice breaks down, an’ sometimes I’se awful tired, but still I’se tellin’ it. My lips shall sing de dyin’ love uv de Lam’ wid my las’ espirin’ breath!”

-John Jasper (1812-1901), was a black slave in Richmond Virginia. Upon being converted in a cotton mill one day, in seeing his own sin and God’s mercy held out in Christ, he was filled with joy and wanted to tell everyone about the great redemption he had found. He became an enthusiastic preacher, preaching mainly at slaves’ funerals at night after the day’s work was done. His preaching attracted whites as well as blacks, and after becoming free his church attracted thousands. Till his dying he day he kept telling of the merciful Saviour that had filled his heart with joy.

The Love Letters, #1, part 3

2009-10-27T20:53:00.003-04:00

"My dear, I know God has not only prepared glory for you, and you for it, but I am persuaded that He will sweeten the way for you to come to the enjoyment of it. When you are putting on your clothes that morning, O think, 'I am now putting on my wedding garments to go to be everlastingly married to my Redeemer.'

When the messenger of death comes to you, let him not seem dreadful to you, but look on him as a messenger that brings you tidings of eternal life. When you go up the scaffold, think (as you said to me) that it is but your fiery chariot to carry you up to your Father's house."

- Mary Love, in a letter (1651) to her husband Christopher Love, who was awaiting death by beheading the following day. Remembering him after his death, she wrote, "after he had a family of his own, he made it a little nursery for God, resolving that whatever others did, yet that he and his house would serve the Lord, and that his family should be among the number of those that know God and call upon His name."

Christ's Pulpit

2009-10-26T11:41:00.006-04:00

"The cross was a pulpit in which Christ preached his love to the world."

- Aurelius Augustine (354-430), an early church father and perhaps the most influential theologian ever. B. B. Warfield (1851-1921) said of him, "It is Augustine who gave us the Reformation."

The Chronicles

2009-10-26T08:58:00.004-04:00

Saturday night I preached on the angel’s words at Jesus’ birth “I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people! For there is born to you this day a Savior, who is Christ the Lord… Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” (Luke 2:10,11,14)

I preached on the good news that God has sent a Savior into the world, even Jesus the Christ, and this was a token of His goodwill toward men, that there should be peace between man and God. And this proclamation of God’s goodwill to the world, bringing peace to the door of sinners, brings glory to God in heaven. And that we are directed by God to Christ who is both Savior and Lord.

A guy came up to me. He was tall, middle-aged, had long hair, and began smoking a cigarette. In a composed manner he said that a long time ago he had tried all of that, he had asked God and Jesus for a few favors, and it didn’t do anything for him. He went on about how God had let him down and left him and how he had been a good person for all these years, though by no means morally perfect, yet nonetheless he talked as if God owed him something. I tried to tell him that God owes us nothing, and that we have to take Christ alone without our righteousness. He listened but it didn’t do much good.

He had a lot of lingering anger against God, built up from his past experiences, as if God had wronged him all this time. I find it strange when people know there is a God, and despise Him because they cannot see His goodness and good-will toward them. He began to walk off and turned to me and pointed to me and said with a lot of emotional anger, “God and Jesus and all that, they have forsaken me!"

I began to preach on Rom. 9:3,4: “For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believes.”

When I finished preaching and left to go home, I looked over and the guy was sitting on a bench a ways away, within hearing distance…

What is Your Only Comfort in Life and Death?

2009-10-23T12:48:00.005-04:00

"That I with body and soul, both in life and death, am not my own, but belong unto my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ; who, with his precious blood, has fully satisfied for all my sins, and delivered me from all the power of the devil; and so preserves me that without the will of my heavenly Father, not a hair can fall from my head; yea, that all things must be subservient to my salvation, and therefore, by his Holy Spirit, He also assures me of eternal life, and makes me sincerely willing and ready, henceforth, to live unto him."

- The opening question and answer of the Heidelberg Catechism (1563). The catechism was written by Caspar Olevianus (26 years of age, a preacher) and Zacharius Ursinus (28 years of age, a professor at Heidelberg University) at the request of Frederick III, a German provincial ruler, in order to promote the protestant religion, bring together the best elements of Lutheran and Reformed thought, and unify and instruct Christians.

Christ's Death: God's Pledge of Love to the World

2009-10-22T17:24:00.006-04:00

""For God so loved the world.” …So we must see from where Christ came to us, and why he was offered to be our Savior. Both points are distinctly stated to us: namely, that faith in Christ brings life to all, and that Christ brought life, because the Heavenly Father loves the human race, and wishes that they should not perish...

This, he says, is the proper look of faith, to be fixed on Christ, in whom it beholds the breast of God filled with love: this is a firm and enduring support, to rely on the death of Christ as the only pledge of that love. The word only-begotten is emphatic, to magnify the fervor of the love of God towards us. For as men are not easily convinced that God loves them, in order to remove all doubt, he has expressly stated that we are so very dear to God that, on our account, he did not even spare his only-begotten Son...

"That whosoever believeth on him may not perish…” And he has employed the universal term whosoever, both to invite all indiscriminately to partake of life, and to cut off every excuse from unbelievers. Such is also the import of the term world, which he formerly used; for though nothing will be found in the world that is worthy of the favor of God, yet he shows himself to be merciful to the whole world when he invites all men without exception to the faith of Christ, which is nothing else than an entrance into life."

- John Calvin (1509-1564), commenting on John 3:16. He sought to live his life coram deo, in the presence of God, having as his life's motto, “I offer you my heart, Lord, promptly and sincerely.”

The Love Letters, #1, part 2

2009-10-22T08:15:00.003-04:00

"I dare not speak to you, nor have a thought within my own heart of my unspeakable loss, but wholly keep my eye fixed upon your inexpressible and inconceivable gain. You leave but a sinful, mortal wife to be everlastingly married to the Lord of glory. You leave but children, brothers, and sisters to go to the Lord Jesus, your elder brother. You leave friends on earth to go to the enjoyment of saints and angels, and the spirits of just men made perfect in glory. You do but leave earth for heaven and change a prison for a palace.

And if natural affections should begin to arise, I hope that spirit of grace that is within you will quell them, knowing that all things here below are but dung and dross in comparison of those things that are above. I know you keep your eye fixed on the hope of glory, which makes your feet trample on the loss of earth."

- A letter (1651) of Mary Love to her husband Christopher Love the day before he was to be executed. Mary petitioned the English parliament four times. The first asked that he be pardoned, citing friends who said that he would live a peacable life. In the second she asked for banishment instead of death. In the third she asked for his banishment to New England so that he might be used of God in the conversion of the Indians. Lastly she asked that she might trade her life for his own on the scaffold. Each petition was read before parliament and voted down.

The Love Letters, #1, part 1

2009-10-21T08:06:00.003-04:00

"My Dear Heart,

Before I write a word further, I beseech you not to think that it is your wife but a friend now that writes to you. I hope you have freely given up your wife and children to God, who has said in Jeremiah 49:11, "Leave your fatherless children, I will preserve them alive, and let your widow trust in me." Your maker will be my husband, and a Father to your children. O that the Lord would keep you from having one troubled thought for your relations. I desire freely to give you up into your Father's hands, and not only look upon it as a crown of glory for you to die for Christ, but as an honor to me that I should have a husband to leave for Christ."

- A letter (1651) from Mary Love to her husband Christopher Love (1618-1651) the day before he was to be executed. Love, a presbyterian pastor and brief member of the Westminister Assembly, was charged with other ministers, including William Jenkyn and Thomas Watson, for treason in being involved in a plot to restore Charles II to the throne of England. Love was the only one executed. He left his wife, 8 months pregnant, and three little ones.

The Chronicles

2009-10-20T20:52:00.004-04:00

As I was preaching from Romans 8 Friday night a person in a vehicle got stuck in the intersection immediately before me as the light turned red. A cop was behind her, and put on her lights and pulled the lady over.

I pointed to the scene and said that if you break the laws of Greenville, the police will arrest you. How much more if you break God's law will you surely pay the penalty for doing so. The woman police officer got out and went to the vehicle of the lady to talk to her through the window, and began writing her a ticket. I began preaching, in the hearing of the police officer, the one pulled over and others standing on the corners, that breaking God's law will not simply get you a ticket like that lady is getting now, but that the price for doing so is death, and just as we have all done what that lady has done, so we have all broken God's law. Except that God doesn't come like that police officer with justice, but God comes in mercy to you now to pardon all of your crimes against Him.

Eventually the police officer got back in her car, and both drove away. I began to preach to those standing by observing the whole scene, How can you pay back God for breaking His law? There is nothing you have that is not His, that He has not given to you. Hell is eternal because you are a penny-less debtor with nothing to pay back God in order to satisfy His justice. Your condition is completely undone. You need a substitute. Christ is willing to stand in your behalf and pay that which you cannot. He is willing now to receive you, to account to your credit His everlasting righteousness before God, that you, the criminal, might be freed from the penalty of the law. It is in Christ that His death is counted for ours, and the law's demands are fulfilled. The law has no power, has no claim, and cannot condemn anyone who believes on Christ and are acquitted by Him. Here, offered to you, is everlasting salvation.

Fall for Greenville - Lord's Day Afternoon

2009-10-16T18:29:00.015-04:00

Pastor McCurley, I, and another family with some of the kids went downtown after worship in the afternoon on the Lord's Day. We preached where Pastor McCurley usually does on Friday afternoons; it was a really nice day and lots of people were out. People could hear us really well because there were not big trucks going up and down the street as usual, and all the buildings reflect our voice. Even though most people who walked by probably did not hear the Word of God in public worship that morning, they heard it in the afternoon in the street.

Pastor McCurley preached on the 10 commandments, using the law to drive people to Christ. I preached on the significance of the cross: that at the cross is the judgement and mercy of God displayed for sinners.

In the video below, which one of the kids took, the guy was asking us why we find it necessary to preach on the street. The reason is Romans 10:13-14,17,

"For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

How then shall they call upon Him in whom they have not believed?

And how shall they believe in Him whom they have not heard?

And how shall they hear without a preacher?...

For faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God."

Fall for Greenville - Saturday Night

2009-10-13T20:13:00.007-04:00

Pastor McCurley and I went downtown from about 7:30pm Saturday night until about 9:30. This was the busiest time of the festival. We found a spot next to a curb and Pastor McCurley began to preach on the verse that says, "Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven and whose sin is covered."

Even though most people walk by, they know what we are doing, as is sometimes evidenced by the comments they make. There was quite a diverse crowd, people from many walks of life that would never step foot in a church. As many of them would never otherwise hear the Word of God, God brought it to them on the street.

A fella came up to us and it turns out that he is an elder at Downtown Presbyterian (PCA). We talked to him for a while; he was surprised to hear us preach because we were preaching from Romans and we didn't sound Arminian. He was encouraging to talk to.

I began preaching from 1 Tim. 1:15, that, "Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners." At one point a woman in the crowd said "there are many ways; that is not the only way." As she walked by I preached in her direction that Christ said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father but by me." She wasn't real happy and kept walking. People took notice of it.

Later, an older fella came up to me, put his hand on my arm, paused, and said real kindly, "This is not the place," and kept walking. I preached as he was walking away that this is exactly the place for sinners to be reconciled to God. He came back put his hand on me gently again, and said very kindly, "no one is a sinner." I preached in his direction as he walked off that the Bible says that none are righteous and he who says he has no sin is a liar. People heard the interchange, and it is through things like this that light is clearly distinguished from darkness. One is forced with the alternative to believe what the Bible says, or what what others say.

Later as the festivities were ending, we went down the road and preached as people were leaving.

A girl came up to us with some friends. She was going on and on how she knew she was going to heaven because she believed in Jesus, and her daddy, a preacher, had always told her that as long as we believe in Jesus, no matter how we live, we'll go to heaven. It turns out that she was drunk, said that she gets drunk all the time and smokes weed, every day, the guy she was with (who goes to church and reads his Bible) is a homosexual, and her father had a cocaine addiction (as a pastor), but is recovering. Pastor McCurley told her that 1 Corinthians 6:9,10 says that drunkards and homosexuals go to hell. She insisted that she believes in Jesus and therefore is going to heaven, because her dad told her that. Pastor McCurley, the following day on the Lord's Day, used her as an illustration in his sermon of someone having false assurance of salvation.

Fall for Greenville - Friday Night

2009-10-12T09:35:00.008-04:00

I only found out that Fall for Greenville was happening early afternoon Friday while at work from an off-hand comment from my boss, otherwise I would have completely missed it. The Lord changes our plans. I wasn't prepared at all, but nor were the apostles when the Lord brought opportunities upon them. I went downtown after work at 9pm by myself as Pastor McCurley was not able to go with me. Downtown was so packed I had to park where we meet for church and walk about 7 minutes over. It was slightly warm and lightly sprinkling at times.

The streets were teeming with people, so much so that it was hard to go anywhere at times. Every other person had a beer in their hands.

There were concerts on the side streets, which I tried to avoid because of the noise. The low bass really drowns out preaching.

I made my way towards the busiest intersection I could find.

There were a couple cops nearby. They never bother us, and their presence would ensure no one would try to mess with me.

I found a good spot near the corner and began to preach into the middle of the intersection. Most people are startled when I begin, as they hear a loud voice and don't know what is going on, which is good: it captures their attention. I started saying, "The Bible says, 'Be reconciled to God, for the Father has made Christ, who knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him,'" (2 Cor. 5:20-21).

I preached on how Christ is the only person who has lived righteously before God and is sinless, and God made Him a sacrifice; putting the whole curse of the law upon Him, and that in Christ is redemption paid in full, and offered to them that night in order for them to be reconciled to God. And in the sinner trusting Christ, the only savior, Christ's everlasting righteousness is accounted to him in place of his debts, that he is forgiven of all, and has peace with God.

People often ask us why we preach on the street. Here is a short answer:

2 or 3 people came up to me, and one of them asked why I was only preaching on Christ. He was somewhat hostile and aggressive. I asked him what he wanted me to preach on. He asked why I didn't preach on the church, or the saints, or the Old Testament. I said, I'll preach from the O.T., and I began flipping through it to find a place. He then started talking about Mary and how great she was and how we should pray to her and the saints, and how I should preach about her too, because she was the mother of, and bore God in the flesh. I told him the Bible says Mary was a sinner, and she spoke of God as her savior (Luke 1:47).

That inflamed him. The three of them got in my face. So I took a deep breath, and preached over them so everyone could hear, at the top of my lungs, that no priest in the Roman Catholic Church can forgive your sins; Christ is the only priest that can forgive your sins, and praying to Mary is idolatry, that prayer is to be offered through Christ alone. The guys in my face went off, and 2 cops came in and pushed between us and forced the others away out into the street as they railed against me. Praise the Lord for the civil magistrate doing its job by protecting God's ministers so that they can preach freely.

After preaching on and off for an hour and an half, I went back to my car to go home. It is important to pray not only before we preach, but after also, that the Lord would bless His Word to those that heard it,

Fall for Greenville

2009-10-09T14:23:00.010-04:00

We urgently need your prayers! Fall for Greenville is this weekend. It is the largest outdoor festival in the South Carolina upstate area for the whole year. All of downtown Mainstreet Greenville and the side streets will be blocked off for vendors and festivities. Thousands upon thousands of people will be crowding the streets Friday night, Saturday night and Sunday.

We will be preaching Christ's everlasting Gospel to the multitudes rushing down the broad path to destruction, urging them to turn to the narrow way: to Christ. Pray fervently that as we preach the gospel into the gates of Hell that Christ would draw many out into His kingdom forever.

"Look unto me all the ends of the earth, and be saved: for I am God, and there is none else."

- Isaiah 45:22

The Church's Treasure

2009-10-09T11:33:00.005-04:00

"Here are the treasures of Christ's Church."

- The reply of Lawrence (258 A.D.), the treasurer of the church at Rome, as he presented the sick, the poor, and the lame to Emperor Valerian who had demanded of him to produce the treasures of the church, with the intent of confiscating it. For the remark Lawrence was slow roasted to death on a grid-iron.

The Three Loves of God

2009-10-08T17:19:00.004-04:00

“It is true that Saint John says generally, that he loved the world. And why? For Jesus Christ offers himself generally to all men without exception to be their redeemer...

Thus we see three degrees of the love of God as shown us in our Lord Jesus Christ. The first is in respect of the redemption that was purchased in the person of him that gave himself to death for us, and became accursed to reconcile us to God his father. That is the first degree of love, which extends to all men, inasmuch as Jesus Christ reaches out his arms to call and allure all men both great and small, and to win them to him. But there is a special love for those to whom the gospel is preached: which is that God testifies unto them that he will make them partakers of that benefit that was purchased for them by the death and passion of his son.

And for as much as we be of that number, therefore are we are double bound already to our God: here are two bonds which hold us as it were straightened unto him. Now let us come to the third bond, which depends upon the third love that God shows us: which is, that he not only causes the gospel to be preached unto us, but also makes us to feel the power thereof, not doubting but that our sins are forgiven us for our Lord Jesus Christ’s sake…

- John Calvin (1509-1564), Sermons on Deuteronomy, #28, on Deut. 4:36-37, p 167. Calvin's sermons, though notated by scribes and published internationally, were primarily intended for his own congregation. Calvin first and foremost saw himself as pastor, as Christ had called him to that office.

Ready to Live

2009-10-08T09:02:00.003-04:00

"If men are prepared to die, they are ready for anything."

- J.A. Alexander (1809-1860), was the son of Archibald A. Alexander, the first professor of Pinceton Seminary. He was also a beloved presbyterian pastor, known for his warm and experiential sermons, and a professor at the seminary with Charles Hodge. He knew over 30 languages and wrote first rate commentaries on the Psalms, Isaiah, Matthew and Mark. Hodge said of him, "I regard Dr. Joseph Addison Alexander as incomparably the greatest man I ever knew... his thorough orthodoxy, his fervent piety, humility, faithfulness in the discharge of his duties, and reverence for the Word of God, consecrated all of his other gifts."

The Benefit of Open-Air Preaching

2009-10-07T17:49:00.003-04:00

"The great benefit of open-air preaching is that we get so many newcomers to hear the Gospel who otherwise would never hear it. The Gospel command is, 'Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature,' but it is so little obeyed."

- C.H. Spurgeon (1834-1892), who recommended that every person training for the ministry begin by preaching on the street.

Humility in Affliction

2009-10-07T08:52:00.003-04:00

"When the flail of affliction, O Lord, is upon me, let me not be as the chaff that flies in your face, but as the corn that lies at your feet."

- a prayer of Philip Henry (1631-1696). He would also say, "The worst sin, pride, comes out of our graces, and the best grace, which is humility, comes out of our sins."

Never Reconciled

2009-10-06T20:07:00.006-04:00

"We have been so long married, and never reconciled; that is, there never was any occasion for it."

- Matthew Henry (1662-1714), upon 20 years of being married to his wife. His father Philip had advised them upon being newly wed,

"Love much, and oft together pray; but see
you never both together angry be.
If he speak fire, do you with water come;
Is she provoked, be thou in kindness dumb."

Christ Saves those that Trust Him

2009-10-06T12:25:00.004-04:00

"If I did not believe in the perseverance of the saints, I could no longer believe in the Saviour Himself. For is it not so that at our conversion we put ourselves with perfect confidence into the hands of Christ, to be saved by Him? –and salvation would scarce be worth having if, after giving up ourselves unto Him, He could in the end leave us."

- Alfred Edersheim (1825-1889), born of a well-cultured and wealthy Jewish family and brought up in rabbinical learning, became a Christian through reading the New Testament while studying medicine at the University of Pesth in Hungary. He spent the rest of his life writing in order "to show that the life and teaching of Jesus--His conception of the Kingdom of God and of the Messiahship--were absolutely opposed to the ideas and conceptions of His time and people." And what greater proof is there that Jesus' doctrine was truly revealed from heaven?

The Chronicles

2009-10-05T11:10:00.009-04:00

By the street here is where we preach at night

Some people crossing the street that hear us

Here are some of the people that walk by

Saturday night, as I started preaching, there were a few guys sitting on a bench nearby, facing the other way, that kept turning around and telling me to shut up. In my book, thats grounds for me going over to them and telling them the gospel. Most people are not comfortable with direct confrontation; fortunately I am not one of those people. I went over to them and asked if they wanted to talk, they said no and told me to go away. So I stood in front of them and told them that we all fall short of the glory of God and deserve to be punished and go to Hell for breaking God's law. They consciously looked down as I talked and kept smoking their cigarrettes and then looked up and said, Hallelujah. We know all of that, we both used to be religious. I said that the only way we can be right with God is by trusting Christ to save us from our sins. They said that they were already right with God, that one of them used to go to church. I tried to tell them more, and then I saw it was to no use, so I went back to my place to preach, and they eventually left.

I preached from some verses in Hebrews, that Christ "is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing that He ever lives to make intercession for them." I preached that we need a priest to stand before God for us, to reconcile us to God, and that Jesus Christ, who rose from the dead and is in heaven at the right hand of God is the only mediator between God and men. And that Christ is the only one able save them from their sins; no one else can. And that He saves us not from some of our sins, or most of them, but all of them.

God's ministers are to preach in season and out of season. This was out of season. I struggled for things to say and motivation to continue. My heart didn't rise much to what I was preaching, but the Lord sent more than a handful of people that night to come up to me and encourage me and sincerely thank me for what I was doing.

Earnestness in Preaching

2009-10-02T20:19:00.004-04:00

"You think we are too earnest with you to leave your sins and accept of Christ; but when you come to die you will see the meaning of it. We see death at your backs."

- Matthew Henry (1662-1714), on preaching to his congregation. Being noted for his warm zeal in preaching, he defended himself saying, "I cannot help it; for I believe the things I speak to be true and great, and I would be in my work as one in earnest."

Much on the Main Things

2009-10-02T11:58:00.005-04:00

"I'm first a Christian, next a catholic, then a Calvinist, fourth an evangelical, and fifth a Presbyterian. I cannot reverse this order."

- John "Rabbi" Duncan (1796-1870), converted to Christianity from Judaism and was the Church of Scotland's first missionary to the Jews. Adolph Saphir and Alfred Edersheim, both orthodox Jews, became Christians through Duncan's work in Hungary. Duncan came out of the great "Disruption" in 1843 with the Free Church of Scotland, becoming a professor of Hebrew in the newly formed New College seminary. Duncan, Saphir, and Edersheim would become prominent leaders in the Free Church during the second half of the 19th century.

Meditation

2009-10-01T17:27:00.005-04:00

"Many a plain, honest, unlearned disciple of Christ, by meditation, experience, prayers, and especially obedience, attains to a more clear, sound, and useful knowledge of the word of God, than some great scholars with all their wit and learning."

- Matthew Henry (1662-1714), an English Presbyterian. His father taught him as a child to meditate each day, throughout the day, on one verse of Psalm 119, traversing through the whole psalm twice a year.

Christ Offers Salvation to All

2009-10-01T09:04:00.003-04:00

"For I came not into the world to judge the world, but to save the world."

"Why then does Christ not choose to condemn them? It is because he lays aside for a time the office of a judge, and offers salvation to all without reserve, and stretches out his arms to embrace all that all may be the more encouraged to repent. And yet there is a circumstance of no small moment, by which he points out the aggravation of the crime, if they reject an invitation so kind and gracious, for it is as if he had said, 'Lo, I am here to invite all, and, forgetting the character of a judge, I have this as my single object, to persuade, and to rescue from destruction those who are already twice ruined.'"

- John Calvin (1509-1564), commenting on John 12:47.

Gentleness to be Exercised by those in Authority

2009-09-30T17:11:00.007-04:00

"Sir, I beseech you, have some respect in this matter to honest, innocent affections, though not to mine, who am but a stranger; yet, however, to her’s who is your own flesh; and be pleased to consider, the same God, who bids your child obey you, bids you also, in the same breath, not to provoke her, lest she be discouraged. I should much rejoice if I might hear that you are inclined, yet, at least, to entertain more charitable, favorable thoughts concerning me, who do really desire to approve myself, sir, as your servant in the Lord."

- Philip Henry in a letter (1659) to the father of his future wife, Katherine Matthews, during the time that the father made an "imposition of inequitable terms, with a view to breaking off the acquaintance." Henry wrote in another letter to him that this "has been one of the greatest afflictions that has befallen me; as, on the other hand, your approbation would be one of my greatest outward mercies."

Seeking One to Marry

2009-09-30T08:10:00.006-04:00

"Among other objections urged by her friends against the connexion was this, -that, although Mr. Henry was a gentleman, and a scholar, and an excellent preacher, he was quite a stranger, and they did not even know where he came from. 'True,' replied Miss Matthews, "but I know where he is going, and I should like to go with him."

- J.B. Williams' account (1828) of Katherine Matthews' long and difficult trial in overcoming her family's resistance to her marrying Philip Henry (1631-1696). Her family was of a wealthy estate, and she had many other well-to-do suitors. The Henry's second child was Matthew Henry, the well known Bible commentator.

Open-Air Preaching

2009-09-29T20:40:00.004-04:00

"No sort of defense is needed for preaching out-of-doors; but it would need very potent arguments to prove that a man had done his duty who has never preached beyond the walls of his meeting-house."

- Charles H. Spurgeon (1834-1892), pastor of the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London. He was known as "The Prince of Preachers."

The Chronicles

2009-09-29T14:45:00.005-04:00

It was raining softly as I was going downtown Friday night after work. I was wondering whether I should preach or not, as it has been our policy not to preach if it is raining. I didn’t have a jacket either, and it was kinda cool outside. I parked and walked down the street to our normal spot to gauge things better. There were still plenty of people out and about who would be able to hear. I thought about it a while. If I went home, my Bible would stay dry, but I wouldn’t have anything to do at home, and no one would hear the Word of God. If I preached, people would hear the Word of God, but my Bible would get wet and messed up, and I would probably be cold. To the latter I replied to myself, “Who cares?” and went under a couple trees nearby by a bench and began to preach.

I preached from John 5:24-29, “He that hears my word and believes on Him that sent Me, has everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death to life… the hour is coming when all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good to the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil to the resurrection of damnation.”

One of the saddest things I see is when I look at young people my age in the eye as I preach, and their attention is caught for a moment, and then they consciously look down and away. They are out with their friends, full of the atmosphere and themselves, and they’re not able in good conscience to open their attention to someone preaching righteousness, life, and trust in God.

A Christian came up and encouraged me in what I was doing. He asked me what church I was from. I told him and he asked if I was reformed. I said I was. He said that is surprising, because reformed people are always talking about election, but he doesn’t ever see them evangelizing. I said, “I know.”

True Religion

2009-09-25T18:50:00.005-04:00

"It seems that much more of true religion consists in deep humility, brokenness of heart, and an abasing sense of barrenness and want of grace and holiness, than most who are called Christians imagine... many of whom seem to know of no other religion but elevated joys and affections."

- David Brainerd (1718-1747), was orphaned at age 14 and converted upon his 21st year. A friend of Jonathan Edwards, he became one of the first missionaries to the American Indians in the New England area. He was constantly sick due to his labors, and died of tuberculosis at the age of 29. He wrote in his diary, "I hardly ever so longed to live to God and to be altogether devoted to Him; I wanted to wear out my life in His service and for His glory."

Humility

2009-09-25T13:38:00.004-04:00

"A sight of God's glory humbles. The stars vanish when the sun appears"

- Thomas Watson (1620-1686), C.H. Spurgeon said of him, "Watson was one of the most concise, racy, illustrative, and suggestive of those eminent divines... there is a happy union of sound doctrine, heart-searching experience and practical wisdom throughout all his works." Watson died suddenly when at prayer in his closet.

The Means of Grace

2009-09-24T17:05:00.006-04:00

"Remember that your errand at ordinances is to get grace. You have God’s promise to them, and His power and faithfulness, both engaged for its performance; and it is your fault and folly if you go hungry from a full table, and empty from a large treasure…

You complain that you want grace: go to Christ, who has variety and sufficiency for your supply;… Alas, Christ is more willing to sell than you can be to buy; to give, than you are to ask."

- George Swinnock (1627-1673), one of the easiest puritans to read, who suggested that "godliness is every man's main and principal business."

God's Offer of Salvation: Merciful

2009-09-24T08:29:00.003-04:00

"He accuses them of unthankfulness, because whereas they were chosen by God out of all people, that Christ might offer Himself unto them, they refuse so great a benefit maliciously... because they do willingly cast from them so great a grace... Such greatness of grace which God vouchsafed to bestow upon them, doth exaggerate and increase the greatness of their sin while they reject that which is so mercifully offered to them."

- John Calvin (1509-1564), commenting on Acts 13:46. Jacobus Arminius (1560-1609) said of Calvin's commentaries, "I affirm that he excels beyond comparison in the interpretation of Scripture, and that his commentaries ought to be more highly valued than all that is handed down to us by the Library of the Fathers."

Loving Others

2009-09-23T17:22:00.004-04:00

"Of love there be two principle offices, one to give, another to forgive."

- John Boys (1571-1625), Anglican, Dean of Canterbury, who had one of the largest book collections of his time, and died suddenly amongst them.

Spiritual Conversation

2009-09-23T08:31:00.005-04:00

"My rule, in regard to visiting, is to visit as much as time and health will permit. I make none but pastoral visits. I gave my people to understand, when I was settled (as their minister), that they must not invite me to dine or sup when they did not wish to have the conversation turn wholly on religious subjects. This has saved me much time and trouble."

- Edward Payson (1783-1827), Congregational minister from New Hampshire and leader during the Second Great Awakening.

God's Love for Mankind in the Gospel

2009-09-22T15:41:00.014-04:00

"So wonderful is His love toward mankind, that he would have them all to be saved, and is of his own self prepared to bestow salvation on the lost. But the order is to be noticed, that God is ready to receive all to repentance, so that none may perish; for in these words the way and manner of obtaining salvation is pointed out. Every one of us, therefore, who is desirous of salvation, must learn to enter in by this way.

But it may be asked, If God wishes none to perish, why is it that so many do perish? To this my answer is, that no mention is here made of the hidden purpose of God, according to which the reprobate are doomed to their own ruin, but only of His will as made known to us in the gospel. For there God stretches forth His hand without a difference to all, but lays hold only of those, to lead them to Himself, whom he has chosen before the foundation of the world."

- John Calvin (1509-1564), 16th century reformer, from his Commentary on 2 Peter 3:9, "Not willing that any should perish."

"He that hears you, hears Me"

2009-09-21T08:27:00.014-04:00

"He that is sent of God to preach, speaks in His name, and what He says is as if God from heaven spoke it... our saviour Christ therefore said to His disciples going forth to preach, 'he that hears you, hears me, and he that despises you, despises me'... so every preacher of the word speaks only what God puts into his mouth as he preaches according to the Word. And therefore St. Paul commends the Thessalonians, for they received his preaching as God's Word, such as indeed it was (1 Thess. 2:13)."

- John Mayer (1629), English puritan.

The Chronicles

2009-09-19T13:40:00.005-04:00

"Jesus Christ, whom having not seen, you love" - 1 Peter 1:7,8

I went downtown Friday night after work, about 10 o'clock; at first there were less people out than usual as it was kind of damp and cool, but the traffic seemed to pick up some as I preached. The change in weather, especially the humidity, was hard on my voice for the first 15 minutes, and I wondered if I would continue, as I was having to stop constantly. But I decided to preach on anyway and the Lord helped. As I did, my voice became stronger and more adapted to the conditions, and He gave me much assurance of the things I was preaching.

I preached from 1 Pet. 1:7,8, that Christ is to be our chief love, and is to have all the affections of our heart. And in perceiving and trusting Christ, not by sight, but with faith, it causes the sinner to "rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory." And that those that look to Christ as the end of their life will "receive the end of their faith, even the salvation of their souls." I then continued preaching on 1 Peter, starting at verse 3, about the unchangable and eternal blessedness of God who is abundant in mercy, and how in believing the sinner is risen from the dead to spiritual life by virtue of union to the risen Christ, and will receive an incorruptible inheritance in heaven.

The last part of the hour I was preaching from later in the chapter (v.15,16) where it says that we deal with a holy God, and we must be holy as He is holy. And that it is only by the blood of Christ (v.19), the Son of God, that the one who believes on Him is forgiven completely and fully of all of his or her sins. I closed with the last few verses of the chapter, that though all men die off as the grass, the Word of the Lord endures forever.

A number of people stood on the opposite corner listening for a while. More than a handful of individuals at various times came and sat down on some nearby benches and listened for 20 or 30 minutes. Many people walking by seemed affected by what I was saying, and the Lord was kind to send His Spirit along with His Word to testify to their heart the truth of it. The contrast between people going out to have a good time to please themselves and what I was saying seemed to be striking at times. A few people came up to me and talked with me for a while. One seemed to be a sincere fella a few years younger than me who appreciated what I was doing. Probably a few hundred people heard the gospel last night. One guy sitting on the bench listened a long time with his head in his hands and tears. Christ knows His own, and will manifest Himself to them.

Christ's Love for His Own

2009-09-18T19:31:00.008-04:00

"And he that loves Me... I will love him, and will manifest myself to him." - John 14:21

"Christ manifests Himself most sweetly unto them who love Him, especially after long absences. When the soul has been seeking and cannot find Him, wandering in the wilderness under amazing fears, perplexing doubts, doleful despondencies, sinking in heart-overwhelming grief, after a black night of deep desertion... Oh, how comfortable are the bright beams of the morning light when He shines upon their dark, despised and sorrowful spirits, giving them to know assuredly that they are the dearly beloved of His soul, that He has not forgotten them, that He will not forsake them, and that He has a more tender love unto them!...

He manifests Himself when they have the most need... when they are most low in their spirits, most poor and mean in their own esteem as well as most low in their condition through affliction and trouble. Humililty and patience under affliction makes way for the experience of Christ's manifestation. Christ, many times, reserves His cordials for the fainting fits, and the sweetest consolations in the discoveries of His love, for the time of the greatest adversity, especially when the trouble is for His sake."

- Thomas Vincent (1634-1678), an English puritan who was ejected from his pulpit in 1662, and remained in London to minister to the 68,000, and seven of his own household, that would die around him in the plague of 1665.

Everyone is Happy

2009-09-17T16:37:00.029-04:00

"It was strictly forbidden to preach to other prisoners, as it is in captive nations today. It was understood that whoever was caught doing this received a severe beating. A number of us decided to pay the price for the privilege of preaching, so we accepted their terms. It was a deal: we preached and they beat us. We were happy preaching; they were happy beating us - so everyone was happy."

- Richard Wurmbrand (1909-2001), a Romanian Jew converted to Christ, imprisoned in solitary confinement for 14 years under the Communists, author of Tortured for Christ and founder of Voice of the Martyrs.

What is the Gospel?

2009-09-15T20:09:00.010-04:00

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." - John 3:16

Here we see God's great love for a world ready to perish justly under the condemnation of its own sins: a world that has left off God, is separated from God, and does the things which God hates, having no care or love for God. Yet God finds within Himself a greater love than His enemies have wickedness, a love originating not in anything found in the creature, but only in His good pleasure. Who is there such as God, who loves the unlovely and even the loveless? Whose love has no depth, and no height? And extends even to the ungodly?

In order to demonstrate the magnitude of His love for this unbelieving world, God spared not His only Son in whom He delighted and was well pleased, but sent Him to die as an eternal sacrifice to offer salvation freely to sinners. The perfect life and death of Jesus Christ, the very Son of God, is the price of man's redemption. God gave Christ freely over to His enemies, who executed the Lord of Glory, not knowing that God was using this for the salvation of the world. Christ came not only to suffer for the sins of His believing people, but also to buy up a righteousness for penny-less debtors which alone can perfectly satisfy God's law.

You are in a desperate condition, lacking the righteousness that God requires, and having works in your hands that God must punish. How is it that you, a sinner, will stand before a holy God? You need a substitute; one to stand in your place. Christ is the only Savior. He is the only mediator between God and man; you need Him.

God makes a free offer to you, that if you believe in Christ, you will be saved from what you deserve, from perishing in Hell. God offers to you, friend, what you cannot merit, earn or work for. Salvation is of the Lord. The only thing we can contribute is the sin that we need to be delivered from. Salvation is without works to us, because it is merited wholly upon the work of Christ alone. It costs us nothing because it cost Him everything. God extends grace even to beggars. See the love of God in Christ for you in offering to you the greatest gift that can ever be received.

It is by believing upon Christ and resting in Him alone for salvation that we are saved. He is willing to receive you, friend. Christ calls you to Himself, "Come unto me all you that are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest." "Ho, every one that thirsts, come to the waters. He that has no money, come, buy and eat without price." Where is greater love manifested, but in this market of free grace, where the poor are made rich? None are turned away. Are you a sinner? Christ is the Savior of sinners.

Christ alone can forgive sin. He is willing to pardon all of your transgressions, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. He compels you to it by His loving-kindnesses. "Whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely." "Whosoever drinks of the water I shall give him shall never thirst again."

To know Christ is to know eternal life, for He is the resurrection and the life. He is the One who has conquered death itself by rising from the grave. In believing upon Christ, He will raise you to newness of life, making you a new creature in Him. "He that believes on me has everlasting life."

Friend, Christ is the Lord of Life, and the Glory of Heaven. For what life is more desirable than one spent upon Him? And why is heaven so pleasant, except that He is there?