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At the outset, I would like to bring

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a few words of introduction, which will be

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rather biographical in nature that I think will

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help in lending some background to the paper,

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and then we'll consider a definition of our

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terms, Puritan evangelism, what do we mean by

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those terms, and then a few of the

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sources from which I have drawn the paper,

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and this is why it will be necessary

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to do a good bit of reading, because

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I have a number of quotes in the

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paper, and I haven't been blessed with a

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photographic memory that can just take whole paragraphs

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and memorize them and then give them, as

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though they were extemporaneous.

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And then we want to come to the

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core of the paper, which is what I

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am calling the distinctives of Puritan evangelism, those

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areas in which the evangelism of the Puritans

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was marked in great contrast to the evangelism

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of our day.

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I am not touching the areas where there

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might be basic agreements, such as the free

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offer of the gospel, the truth that salvation

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is to be found only in the merits

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of Jesus Christ.

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Some of these areas where the evangelism of

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our day has been more or less adequate,

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but I will be speaking of the distinctives

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of Puritan evangelism in seeking to touch upon

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those aspects of their evangelism which have well

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-nigh been lost in the evangelism of the

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twentieth century.

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And to cover that, we will look at

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the message, its content, and then the methods

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used to communicate it, some of the means

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by which those methods were employed, and then

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if we have time, something of the mood

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or the climate of Puritan evangelism.

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By way of introduction, I would like to

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say at the outset of our consideration of

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this important theme that I beg your permission

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to give this biographical introduction.

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God thrust me out in His sovereignty into

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an itinerant ministry back, oh, about ten years

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ago, and I had nothing to do but

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to preach night after night, to pray and

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read the Bible.

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And at that time there came to my

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own heart a deep sense of holy fear

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in the light of 1 Corinthians chapter 3,

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I believe it's verse 13, where the Apostle

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Paul said, For the day shall try every

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man's work, not of what size it is,

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but of what sort it is.

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When I stood before my Lord, it would

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not be primarily the quantity of my labors,

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but the quality.

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And with that holy fear before me, I

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began to ask God, What is it that

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I am authorized to preach?

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For the Lord gave me enough sense to

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realize it's rather an impudent thing to pray,

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Oh God, bless that which I am preaching,

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if I'm not preaching that which He's authorized

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me to preach.

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To pray, God, bless the means that I'm

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employing, if He has nowhere authorized those means.

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And so this drove me to an intense

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study of those aspects of biblical revelation, which

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touched particularly upon the evangel, the message we

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are to proclaim, and the means by which

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we are to proclaim it.

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And as I studied it, I saw some

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glaring inconsistencies in the modern methodology and the

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modern message.

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I saw very little justification in the Bible

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for the means that were employed, which were

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more often psychological than scriptural.

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But realizing that many a heretic started out

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by saying, Back to the Bible alone and

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the son of my fair head, I was

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scared to come to any finalized conclusions unless

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I had some confirming voice from that great

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stream of historic Christianity, and began to pray.

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I had nobody to guide me in my

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reading or my literature.

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Most of the pastors where I ministered were

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very negative to me.

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And the Lord in His providence put a

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book like Baxter's Call to the Unconverted into

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my hands.

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But I began to read, and there came

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that witness at the mouth of two or

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three witnesses, every word shall be confirmed, that

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these were not some strange concepts that no

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one else had ever seen in the Bible,

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but that they were in the mainstream of

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historic Christianity.

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And so long before I came to a

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commitment of the basic God-centered approach to

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all truth as expressed in Reformed theology, I

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found much help in these authors whom I

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have named to you.

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In the light of these things, it's obvious

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that I'll not be able to handle this

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subject with that dispassionate objectivity that seems to

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be a status symbol in evangelical circles today.

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I can't deal with this thing dispassionately.

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One cannot handle aspects of truth which he's

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convinced have eternal implications, which bear directly upon

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the honor and glory of our Lord Jesus

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Christ, and do so in such a way

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as to give the impression that there's really

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not much at stake if you take a

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divergent view.

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I'll not be able to consider the subject

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in such a way as to leave it

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unrelated to the present hour in which we

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live and in which we minister.

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Now please get this next statement.

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I feel it's the crux of the whole

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paper.

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To the extent that the Puritans captured biblical

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principles of evangelism and then worked them out

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in the flesh and blood of actual experience

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in the context of their generation, to that

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extent, we are obligated to discover those same

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biblical principles and embody them in the flesh

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and blood of the twentieth century ministry.

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I have no desire to either begin or

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perpetrate a cult of antiquity worship, none whatsoever,

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but I'm greatly concerned that we capture the

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biblical principles embodied in the evangelism of the

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Puritans.

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And where some of these things touch us

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at sore spots, I make no apologies for

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I'm greatly disturbed by men who seem to

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delight in building sepulchers to the Puritan prophets,

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but who will not embody their concepts at

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the price of radically overhauling their own message

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and methodology in the field of evangelism.

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And the proof of your theology is in

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your methodology.

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A man can sit and talk to me

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all day that he believes this, this, and

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this, but I want to watch him work,

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and then he tells me what he believes.

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So that, by way of sort of a

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biographical background, now a definition of terms.

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What do we mean by Puritan evangelism, or

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what do I mean tonight?

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The word Puritan, I am not limiting our

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study to those who were cut off from

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the stated ministry of the Church of England

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by the Act of Uniformity in 1662, but

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all those who preceded that band of worthies,

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and all those who followed them and who

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drank of the same wells of biblical and

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experimental Christianity, that kind of Christianity that was

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characterized by three things.

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Doctrinally, it was a broad and a vigorous

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Calvinism.

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Experimentally, it was a warm and contagious devotional

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kind of Christianity.

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And in evangelism, it was tender, aggressive, and

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impassioned.

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And so in the term Puritan, I'm using

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it in that broad sense.

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By evangelism, I'm using the term in this

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sense, speaking of that distinct proclamation of the

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evangel, the counsel of God concerning the salvation

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of men from sin and its consequences.

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To use the definition which Packer sets forth

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in his book, Evangelism and the Sovereignty of

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God, evangelism is, quote, a work of communication

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in which the Christian makes himself a mouthpiece

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of God's message of mercy to sinners.

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So we're speaking of that message of mercy

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to sinners as embodied or as set forth

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by these Puritans, using the term Puritan in

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its broad sense.

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Now, from what sources have we drawn these

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observations?

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In general, much of that which will follow

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in the paper is drawn from the climate

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of the Puritan expository works where an impassioned

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proclamation of the gospel and an earnest entreaty

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to sinners are woven into the warp and

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woof of the regular expository ministry of the

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Word of God.

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Anyone who reads the Puritan commentators will be

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constantly exposed to these concepts and will be

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aware of their constant reoccurrence like the pronounced

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motif in a work of art or music.

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When one is reading a weighty treatise like

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Manton's treatise on sin called Man's Guiltiness Before

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God or William Gernald's The Christian in Complete

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Armor, as you read through, you find these

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continual strains of an impassioned evangel occurring again

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and again.

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But now specifically, the works from which I'll

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be quoting to a great extent tonight are

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these, Eileen's Alarm to the Unconverted, the book

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that was graciously given to us by the

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host church and one which, in my own

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opinion, is the clearest, most biblical treatise ever

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written on the subject of conversion.

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We have spent an entire Sunday school year

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going through this, exegeting it in our college

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class, and what a blessing it's been, looking

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up every passage of scripture and where a

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principle is touched upon, taking off and sometimes

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spending the whole class session on it.

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Many quotes from Eileen.

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Secondly, some quotes from Philip Dobridge's famous work,

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The Rise and Progress, a great work of

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the nonconformist minister of the 1700s, and then

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Baxter's Call to the Unconverted and his book,

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The Reformed Pastor, and then several works of

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Jonathan Edwards, his sermon, Sinners in the Hands

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of an Angry God, his classic work on

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the religious affections, and then an article by

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J.I. Packer on Puritan evangelism.

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I'm so glad this didn't get into my

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hands until after I had initially prepared the

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paper because I would have been discouraged, I

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think, in trying to have some originality, and

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I got hold of this after I'd originally

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prepared it and so have added some to

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the original paper from this book of Packer's.

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Now we move to the heart of our

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study tonight.

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What were the distinctives of Puritan evangelism?

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First of all, will you consider with me

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the distinctives of their message in its content?

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Now, in a general sense, three things marked

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the evangelism, content-wise, of the Puritans.

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First of all, it was eminently a scriptural

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evangelism.

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It is not unusual to find five, ten,

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or sometimes as many as fifteen distinct phrases

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in the actual language of the English Bible

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on any given page of Puritan evangelistic literature.

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When reading the evangelistic sermons of our contemporaries,

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one is often disturbed by the fact that

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the message contains more indications of an acquaintance

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with Sartre and Freud and Tillich than a

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heart acquaintance with Moses, Paul, and John.

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Though the Puritans, for the most part, were

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certainly learned men and had a broad base

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of classical learning beneath them, they were men

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who were absolutely convinced that people are born

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again not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible

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by the word of God which liveth and

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abideth forever, and that the Holy Ghost, though

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he works sovereignly, but he uses the truth

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as his instrumentality.

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It's obvious that their thought patterns were steeped

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in the exact phraseology of the English Bible.

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One is amazed how in one sentence there

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may be a phrase from some obtuse section

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of Obadiah and then a familiar phrase from

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John, all woven into the very thought patterns

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of these men.

266
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And I believe there's no explanation for it

267
00:12:54,360 --> 00:12:58,240
but that these men primarily studied their Bibles

268
00:12:58,240 --> 00:13:02,540
devotionally and on their knees the Holy Ghost

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burned the very words of Scripture into their

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00:13:05,720 --> 00:13:08,560
hearts, that when they took up pen to

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00:13:08,560 --> 00:13:10,760
write there was something that the Spirit of

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00:13:10,760 --> 00:13:14,100
God could bring to the conscious remembrance and

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00:13:14,100 --> 00:13:18,140
out flowed Bible passage after Bible passage.

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Ah, the wind took my paper.

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All right, thank you, Walt.

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That's why I said I better stick with

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00:13:29,740 --> 00:13:30,240
my paper.

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00:13:30,380 --> 00:13:31,700
The wind's going to blow it away when

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I leave it and go to other things.

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Secondly, it was not only eminently scriptural, but

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00:13:40,190 --> 00:13:41,070
it was doctrinal.

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They were not afraid to let their slip

283
00:13:46,670 --> 00:13:49,090
show when they preached the evangel.

284
00:13:50,650 --> 00:13:53,290
They were not out here ringing five bells

285
00:13:53,290 --> 00:13:56,570
when they preached the gospel, but their slip

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00:13:56,570 --> 00:13:56,930
showed.

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00:13:58,470 --> 00:14:01,830
Setting forth Christ, they set him forth with

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00:14:01,830 --> 00:14:07,730
a theological articulation and distinguished things that differed.

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00:14:09,650 --> 00:14:11,230
When they dealt with sin, you knew what

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00:14:11,230 --> 00:14:11,710
they meant.

291
00:14:13,110 --> 00:14:16,610
They talked either as sin, as moral rebellion

292
00:14:16,610 --> 00:14:21,090
against God bringing upon me legal guilt, or

293
00:14:21,090 --> 00:14:25,410
they talked about sin as that inherent depravity

294
00:14:25,410 --> 00:14:28,110
of nature which made me unfit for a

295
00:14:28,110 --> 00:14:30,070
heaven that was light and a God who

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00:14:30,070 --> 00:14:32,150
is pure and of infinite holiness.

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00:14:32,690 --> 00:14:34,510
And when they were done talking about sin,

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you knew what they meant.

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00:14:36,650 --> 00:14:38,950
When they dealt with the atonement, even in

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00:14:38,950 --> 00:14:42,870
the practical work like Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, doctrine

301
00:14:42,870 --> 00:14:45,630
is dealt with even when he talks about

302
00:14:45,630 --> 00:14:46,010
chickens.

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00:14:49,340 --> 00:14:51,560
In the House of Interpreters, clucking of the

304
00:14:51,560 --> 00:14:53,480
hen, she has two kinds of clucks.

305
00:14:53,740 --> 00:14:56,020
There's the general cluck four kinds, but the

306
00:14:56,020 --> 00:14:57,160
two I'm thinking of tonight.

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00:14:57,220 --> 00:14:58,300
Thank you, Mr. Reisinger.

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00:14:58,840 --> 00:15:00,360
I'd better be straight on Bunyan.

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00:15:00,480 --> 00:15:02,300
I have his paper insane here tonight.

310
00:15:04,200 --> 00:15:07,060
But he makes the distinction between that cluck

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00:15:07,060 --> 00:15:09,220
that she's doing all the time and no

312
00:15:09,220 --> 00:15:12,400
chickens come running, and then that special cluck

313
00:15:12,400 --> 00:15:14,380
that brings her little ones under her wings,

314
00:15:14,840 --> 00:15:18,900
the general call of the gospel, that effectual

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00:15:18,900 --> 00:15:20,200
call to his elect.

316
00:15:21,320 --> 00:15:25,640
Doctrinal principles woven into the warp and woof

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00:15:25,640 --> 00:15:26,680
of the evangelist.

318
00:15:27,140 --> 00:15:28,900
And then thirdly, it was symmetrical.

319
00:15:29,700 --> 00:15:32,180
There is a beautiful symmetry in the whole

320
00:15:32,180 --> 00:15:35,200
counsel of God, and so in Puritan evangelism,

321
00:15:35,320 --> 00:15:37,520
one finds indications of this symmetry.

322
00:15:38,340 --> 00:15:40,860
One of the glaring faults of modern evangelism

323
00:15:40,860 --> 00:15:42,420
is its lopsidedness.

324
00:15:42,500 --> 00:15:45,800
It's a caricature of the true evangelist.

325
00:15:46,240 --> 00:15:49,660
Its proclamation of God's grace is in such

326
00:15:49,660 --> 00:15:51,520
a way as to make it cheap grace.

327
00:15:51,900 --> 00:15:54,200
Its holding forth of the simplicity of the

328
00:15:54,200 --> 00:15:57,520
gospel is such that it makes it contemptible.

329
00:15:58,480 --> 00:16:01,260
This you will never find in the Puritan

330
00:16:01,260 --> 00:16:03,660
proclamation of the gospel.

331
00:16:05,850 --> 00:16:08,030
Where in modern evangelism do you ever read

332
00:16:08,030 --> 00:16:10,990
a message on Luke 13, is it?

333
00:16:11,570 --> 00:16:13,810
Strive to enter in at the narrow gate.

334
00:16:20,360 --> 00:16:22,040
When the Puritan came to a text like

335
00:16:22,040 --> 00:16:23,760
that, he let it say what it meant.

336
00:16:25,000 --> 00:16:28,320
That true salvation in conversion is a difficult

337
00:16:28,320 --> 00:16:29,740
and a rare thing.

338
00:16:30,500 --> 00:16:32,120
And yet when you come to a glorious

339
00:16:32,120 --> 00:16:36,040
text, he that believeth on the Son hath

340
00:16:36,040 --> 00:16:39,140
life, they let it speak in all of

341
00:16:39,140 --> 00:16:42,260
its freeness and all of its gospel glory.

342
00:16:42,820 --> 00:16:47,080
There is that beautiful symmetry in the proclamation

343
00:16:47,080 --> 00:16:48,640
of the gospel.

344
00:16:48,820 --> 00:16:52,600
Let me read this very clear comment by

345
00:16:52,600 --> 00:16:52,780
J.

346
00:16:52,860 --> 00:16:52,980
I.

347
00:16:53,040 --> 00:16:54,300
Packer on this subject.

348
00:16:56,020 --> 00:16:59,460
Thomas Manton said these words, The sum of

349
00:16:59,460 --> 00:17:02,940
the gospel is this, that all who by

350
00:17:02,940 --> 00:17:06,579
true repentance and faith do forsake the flesh,

351
00:17:06,760 --> 00:17:09,760
the world, and the devil, and give themselves

352
00:17:09,760 --> 00:17:13,119
up to God the Father, Son, and Holy

353
00:17:13,119 --> 00:17:17,819
Spirit as their Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier, shall

354
00:17:17,819 --> 00:17:20,780
find God as a Father, taking them for

355
00:17:20,780 --> 00:17:24,900
his reconciled children, and for Christ's sake pardoning

356
00:17:24,900 --> 00:17:28,540
their sin, and by his Spirit giving them

357
00:17:28,540 --> 00:17:32,080
his grace, and if they persevere in discourse,

358
00:17:32,640 --> 00:17:37,180
will finally glorify them and bestow upon them

359
00:17:37,180 --> 00:17:42,260
everlasting happiness, but will condemn the unbelievers, impenitent

360
00:17:42,260 --> 00:17:45,720
and ungodly, to everlasting punishment.

361
00:17:46,280 --> 00:17:49,080
This is the sum of the gospel.

362
00:17:49,900 --> 00:17:52,540
Quite different from trust Jesus to take you

363
00:17:52,540 --> 00:17:53,580
to heaven when you die.

364
00:17:54,660 --> 00:17:55,160
Isn't it?

365
00:17:55,680 --> 00:17:56,860
The beautiful symmetry.

366
00:17:57,760 --> 00:17:59,660
The sum of the gospel is this.

367
00:18:01,420 --> 00:18:05,440
Repentance, faith, being returned to God, Father, Son,

368
00:18:05,560 --> 00:18:10,220
and Spirit, justified, sanctified, and glorified at the

369
00:18:10,220 --> 00:18:12,060
end of a perseverance.

370
00:18:13,360 --> 00:18:14,760
That's the gospel.

371
00:18:15,360 --> 00:18:18,600
A beautiful symmetry in their presentation.

372
00:18:19,480 --> 00:18:23,120
Now specifically, what are the distinctives of Puritan

373
00:18:23,120 --> 00:18:23,760
evangelism?

374
00:18:23,820 --> 00:18:28,860
In a general sense, eminently scriptural, doctrinal, symmetrical,

375
00:18:29,640 --> 00:18:32,200
but now in what specific areas do we

376
00:18:32,200 --> 00:18:35,500
find their evangelism different from the evangelism of

377
00:18:35,500 --> 00:18:36,080
our day?

378
00:18:36,980 --> 00:18:41,540
John mentioned this morning that after you've painted

379
00:18:41,540 --> 00:18:43,940
the horse, or drawn the horse, you draw

380
00:18:43,940 --> 00:18:46,580
a cow, and you say, horse is not

381
00:18:46,580 --> 00:18:46,920
cow.

382
00:18:47,340 --> 00:18:49,360
Well, tonight I want to say, horse is

383
00:18:49,360 --> 00:18:49,940
not cow.

384
00:18:50,040 --> 00:18:51,500
I think this will be the best way

385
00:18:51,500 --> 00:18:54,980
for us to bring out in clarity the

386
00:18:54,980 --> 00:18:56,660
distinctives of Puritan evangelism.

387
00:18:56,780 --> 00:19:00,780
First of all, their evangelism had as its

388
00:19:00,780 --> 00:19:04,100
basis a vigorous biblical theism.

389
00:19:06,980 --> 00:19:11,220
The foundation of their evangelism was the proclamation,

390
00:19:11,500 --> 00:19:15,620
the setting forth of biblical theism, a proper

391
00:19:15,620 --> 00:19:17,080
doctrine of God.

392
00:19:20,000 --> 00:19:21,960
I think the contrast can be best stated

393
00:19:21,960 --> 00:19:23,480
by saying this.

394
00:19:23,720 --> 00:19:26,460
Modern evangelism says that the most important verse

395
00:19:26,460 --> 00:19:29,440
in the Bible is John 3.16, God

396
00:19:29,440 --> 00:19:30,680
so loved the world.

397
00:19:31,340 --> 00:19:33,700
A Puritan would say, no, the most important

398
00:19:33,700 --> 00:19:35,980
verse of the Bible is Genesis 1.1,

399
00:19:36,100 --> 00:19:37,420
in the beginning, God.

400
00:19:38,380 --> 00:19:40,860
And anything that happens from there on is

401
00:19:40,860 --> 00:19:45,760
going to be doing to ends that he

402
00:19:45,760 --> 00:19:48,280
has designed for his own glory.

403
00:19:49,800 --> 00:19:53,320
And so they didn't assume that people knew

404
00:19:53,800 --> 00:19:56,340
who the God of John 3.16 was.

405
00:19:57,220 --> 00:20:00,220
They knew that the concept of atonement, of

406
00:20:00,220 --> 00:20:05,020
reconciliation, of forgiveness, of justification, have absolutely no

407
00:20:05,020 --> 00:20:09,160
biblical meaning, apart from some basic understanding of

408
00:20:09,160 --> 00:20:13,090
the God of the Bible who does affect

409
00:20:13,090 --> 00:20:16,910
the reconciliation and who does draw sinners to

410
00:20:16,910 --> 00:20:17,430
himself.

411
00:20:18,870 --> 00:20:21,770
And so they would use as the basis

412
00:20:21,770 --> 00:20:26,850
of their evangelism a biblical theism.

413
00:20:27,170 --> 00:20:30,390
You see this in Ilion, where he comes

414
00:20:30,390 --> 00:20:32,290
to that chapter on the miseries of the

415
00:20:32,290 --> 00:20:36,310
unconverted, and he expounds how every attribute of

416
00:20:36,310 --> 00:20:39,970
God is against the sinner in his unrepentant

417
00:20:39,970 --> 00:20:44,930
state, his holiness, his faithfulness, his justice, his

418
00:20:44,930 --> 00:20:50,530
purity, until the sinner is prepared, as the

419
00:20:50,530 --> 00:20:52,370
Spirit of God takes that truth and makes

420
00:20:52,370 --> 00:20:55,710
it real to him, to receive as good

421
00:20:55,710 --> 00:21:00,430
news the fact that that God, whose attributes

422
00:21:00,430 --> 00:21:06,460
burn against him in righteous indignation, has provided

423
00:21:06,460 --> 00:21:08,420
a way of mercy and escape in his

424
00:21:08,420 --> 00:21:10,060
Son Jesus Christ the Lord.

425
00:21:13,610 --> 00:21:17,930
Secondly, they were not fearful to use the

426
00:21:17,930 --> 00:21:21,570
law of God as an instrument of evangelism.

427
00:21:23,650 --> 00:21:25,670
Now William Guthrie, who would not be classified

428
00:21:25,670 --> 00:21:28,590
as a Puritan, but whose work, the Christian

429
00:21:28,590 --> 00:21:32,610
saving interest, is certainly in the stream of

430
00:21:32,610 --> 00:21:36,190
Puritan thought, says, as some of you may

431
00:21:36,190 --> 00:21:38,810
be aware, that God calls sinners four ways.

432
00:21:39,210 --> 00:21:41,570
Some he calls in a sovereign gospel way.

433
00:21:41,890 --> 00:21:47,130
Saul of Tarsus, breathing out threatenings and slaughters

434
00:21:47,130 --> 00:21:49,750
against the Church on his way to Damascus,

435
00:21:49,830 --> 00:21:52,870
and God says, it's time for my eternal

436
00:21:52,870 --> 00:21:55,070
purpose and the salvation of this rebel to

437
00:21:55,070 --> 00:21:57,130
be realized, and so he speaks out of

438
00:21:57,130 --> 00:22:01,620
heaven a verse, and when Paul writes about

439
00:22:01,620 --> 00:22:04,620
it later, he says, when it please God,

440
00:22:04,740 --> 00:22:07,180
that's the word of time, when it please

441
00:22:07,180 --> 00:22:11,860
God, to reveal his Son in me, that

442
00:22:11,860 --> 00:22:18,130
salvation, when it please God, a sovereign gospel

443
00:22:18,130 --> 00:22:18,410
way.

444
00:22:18,670 --> 00:22:21,250
Zacchaeus, a good illustration of it.

445
00:22:21,350 --> 00:22:23,270
Some God calls from the womb.

446
00:22:25,110 --> 00:22:28,850
John the Baptist, filled with the Spirit from

447
00:22:28,850 --> 00:22:29,550
his mother's womb.

448
00:22:30,550 --> 00:22:32,650
Some God calls in the hour of death.

449
00:22:33,530 --> 00:22:35,290
The thief on the cross, as Bishop Ryle

450
00:22:35,290 --> 00:22:38,510
says, there is one account in the Bible

451
00:22:38,510 --> 00:22:39,750
of a deathbed repentance.

452
00:22:40,570 --> 00:22:42,030
One that none may despair.

453
00:22:43,190 --> 00:22:45,410
Only one that none may presume.

454
00:22:46,270 --> 00:22:46,870
Only one.

455
00:22:47,030 --> 00:22:47,830
But there is one.

456
00:22:48,930 --> 00:22:51,050
But there's a fourth way that God calls

457
00:22:51,050 --> 00:22:53,550
sinners, and this is his more ordinary way,

458
00:22:54,010 --> 00:22:55,910
and it's by a prior law work.

459
00:22:56,670 --> 00:22:58,550
Now some of the Puritans were divided on

460
00:22:58,550 --> 00:22:58,910
this.

461
00:22:59,330 --> 00:23:02,810
Some went into an unbiblical extreme, and people

462
00:23:02,810 --> 00:23:04,830
began to feel that unless you had 35

463
00:23:04,830 --> 00:23:08,490
pounds of conviction and 23 buckets of tears,

464
00:23:08,790 --> 00:23:11,170
and wept for 13 months, you couldn't come

465
00:23:11,170 --> 00:23:11,730
to Christ.

466
00:23:11,810 --> 00:23:13,190
You had no warrant to come.

467
00:23:14,350 --> 00:23:16,910
But there are other Puritans, and certainly Ilion

468
00:23:16,910 --> 00:23:18,750
is one of them, and Baxter would be

469
00:23:18,750 --> 00:23:21,570
another, who did not at all fall into

470
00:23:21,570 --> 00:23:23,990
that error, and yet they still had a

471
00:23:23,990 --> 00:23:25,170
proper use of the law.

472
00:23:25,330 --> 00:23:28,430
They regarded the law in its killing, slaying

473
00:23:28,430 --> 00:23:31,810
work as a necessary prerequisite to the right

474
00:23:31,810 --> 00:23:34,090
proclamation and application of the gospel.

475
00:23:34,730 --> 00:23:38,070
For example, Doddridge says, after setting the stage

476
00:23:38,070 --> 00:23:40,630
by announcing the pattern and goal of his

477
00:23:40,630 --> 00:23:43,710
book, quote, as I am attempting to lead

478
00:23:43,710 --> 00:23:45,970
you to true religion, and not merely to

479
00:23:45,970 --> 00:23:49,430
some superficial form of it, I am sensible

480
00:23:49,430 --> 00:23:51,930
I can do it no otherwise than in

481
00:23:51,930 --> 00:23:54,130
the way of deep humiliation.

482
00:23:55,290 --> 00:23:56,850
He didn't say, if you'll just admit you're

483
00:23:56,850 --> 00:23:58,750
a sinner, now we're ready to move on.

484
00:23:58,790 --> 00:24:00,530
No, he said, if you're going to have

485
00:24:00,530 --> 00:24:02,550
the real thing, it's got to start on

486
00:24:02,550 --> 00:24:03,370
the base note.

487
00:24:03,890 --> 00:24:06,550
One dear servant of God says, when God's

488
00:24:06,550 --> 00:24:08,830
about to play the chord of grace in

489
00:24:08,830 --> 00:24:10,970
the heart of a sinner, he starts with

490
00:24:10,970 --> 00:24:12,010
the base note.

491
00:24:13,750 --> 00:24:14,910
Isn't that the Beatitudes?

492
00:24:15,230 --> 00:24:19,050
Blessed are the want, poor and spirit.

493
00:24:19,090 --> 00:24:20,970
That's where God starts his work of grace,

494
00:24:21,110 --> 00:24:22,990
and this is what Doddridge is saying.

495
00:24:23,250 --> 00:24:26,490
Therefore, still quoting, supposing you are persuaded through

496
00:24:26,490 --> 00:24:29,310
the divine blessing on what you before read

497
00:24:29,310 --> 00:24:32,270
to take it into consideration, I would now

498
00:24:32,270 --> 00:24:34,910
endeavor in the first place with all seriousness

499
00:24:34,910 --> 00:24:39,210
that I can to make you heartily sensible

500
00:24:39,210 --> 00:24:41,030
of your guilt before God.

501
00:24:41,070 --> 00:24:41,910
Now, see the difference?

502
00:24:42,490 --> 00:24:43,950
He does not say, I want you to

503
00:24:43,950 --> 00:24:46,430
get, get you to admit that you're guilty.

504
00:24:46,690 --> 00:24:49,150
He said, I want to make you heartily

505
00:24:49,150 --> 00:24:51,410
sensible of your guilt.

506
00:24:52,050 --> 00:24:53,270
There's all the difference in the world.

507
00:24:54,990 --> 00:24:56,890
Heartily sensible of your guilt.

508
00:24:57,250 --> 00:24:59,650
For I well know, still quoting, that unless

509
00:24:59,650 --> 00:25:02,170
you're convinced of this and affected with this

510
00:25:02,170 --> 00:25:06,390
conviction, all the provisions of gospel grace will

511
00:25:06,390 --> 00:25:10,270
be slighted and your soul infallibly destroyed in

512
00:25:10,270 --> 00:25:14,740
the midst of the noblest means of, end

513
00:25:14,740 --> 00:25:15,220
of quote.

514
00:25:15,920 --> 00:25:18,260
Thus using the law, they sought to show

515
00:25:18,260 --> 00:25:20,600
men that God stands as an angry judge

516
00:25:20,600 --> 00:25:22,480
and his wrath burns toward the sinner.

517
00:25:23,140 --> 00:25:25,640
His claims and throne rights have been denied,

518
00:25:25,820 --> 00:25:27,260
his laws spurned.

519
00:25:31,280 --> 00:25:33,600
Listen to Joseph Ilian as he declares to

520
00:25:33,600 --> 00:25:36,020
his hearers that God is against them while

521
00:25:36,020 --> 00:25:37,680
they still abide in their sins.

522
00:25:37,920 --> 00:25:41,340
Quote, sinner, I think this should go like

523
00:25:41,340 --> 00:25:43,060
a dagger to your heart to know that

524
00:25:43,060 --> 00:25:44,120
God is your enemy.

525
00:25:45,040 --> 00:25:46,460
Oh, where will you go?

526
00:25:47,020 --> 00:25:48,620
Where will you show to yourself?

527
00:25:49,300 --> 00:25:51,120
There's no hope for you unless you lay

528
00:25:51,120 --> 00:25:53,560
down your weapons and sue out your pardon

529
00:25:53,560 --> 00:25:55,800
and get Christ to stand as your friend

530
00:25:55,800 --> 00:25:57,520
and to make your peace.

531
00:25:58,140 --> 00:25:59,000
End of quote.

532
00:25:59,600 --> 00:26:01,640
He then proceeds to show that the face

533
00:26:01,640 --> 00:26:02,980
of God is against the sinner.

534
00:26:02,980 --> 00:26:05,020
The heart of God is against him and

535
00:26:05,020 --> 00:26:07,140
all his attributes are against him while he

536
00:26:07,140 --> 00:26:08,320
remains impenitent.

537
00:26:08,860 --> 00:26:11,400
We find a similar concept set forth in

538
00:26:11,400 --> 00:26:14,580
Jonathan Edwards' famous sermon, Sinners in the Hands

539
00:26:14,580 --> 00:26:15,680
of an Angry God.

540
00:26:16,120 --> 00:26:17,380
I'll not read it, I had a rather

541
00:26:17,380 --> 00:26:19,800
large quote, but it's along this same line

542
00:26:19,800 --> 00:26:22,560
and expresses the same sentiment.

543
00:26:23,280 --> 00:26:25,100
In their use of the law, the Puritans

544
00:26:25,100 --> 00:26:27,520
sought to bring men to the realization that

545
00:26:27,520 --> 00:26:30,060
their problem was a twofold problem.

546
00:26:30,640 --> 00:26:33,480
That of a bad record, a legal problem,

547
00:26:33,740 --> 00:26:35,900
and that of a bad heart, a moral

548
00:26:35,900 --> 00:26:40,120
problem, both of which made them unfit for

549
00:26:40,120 --> 00:26:41,200
the presence of God.

550
00:26:41,880 --> 00:26:43,880
By the one they sought to bring men

551
00:26:43,880 --> 00:26:46,580
into a sense of their condemnation, a bad

552
00:26:46,580 --> 00:26:49,040
record, and by the other to a place

553
00:26:49,040 --> 00:26:51,760
of despair in the light of their depravity,

554
00:26:51,980 --> 00:26:52,840
a bad heart.

555
00:26:53,940 --> 00:26:55,860
You see, in our day, the gospel has

556
00:26:55,860 --> 00:26:57,940
been proclaimed in such a way that men

557
00:26:57,940 --> 00:27:00,020
have been made aware only that they've got

558
00:27:00,020 --> 00:27:01,120
a little legal problem.

559
00:27:01,240 --> 00:27:02,880
They've got a few check marks up in

560
00:27:02,880 --> 00:27:04,600
heaven, they've done some bad things.

561
00:27:05,100 --> 00:27:07,880
But the Puritans realized Jesus Christ is a

562
00:27:07,880 --> 00:27:10,120
Savior not only from what I've done, but

563
00:27:10,120 --> 00:27:11,060
from what I am.

564
00:27:12,360 --> 00:27:14,740
And just as no sinner will lay hold

565
00:27:14,740 --> 00:27:17,740
of the righteousness of Christ for what he

566
00:27:17,740 --> 00:27:20,840
has done that is wrong, until he sees,

567
00:27:21,240 --> 00:27:24,200
not the labors of my hands can fulfill

568
00:27:24,200 --> 00:27:27,800
thy laws demands, so no sinner will lay

569
00:27:27,800 --> 00:27:30,740
hold of an omnipotent Christ to change him

570
00:27:30,740 --> 00:27:33,200
in terms of what he is, until he

571
00:27:33,200 --> 00:27:34,620
can say foul.

572
00:27:35,120 --> 00:27:42,350
And Christ is a Savior from both.

573
00:27:42,790 --> 00:27:44,670
And the reason we've had this division of

574
00:27:44,670 --> 00:27:48,470
justification and sanctification, and the root, the theological

575
00:27:48,470 --> 00:27:53,370
root of the whole deeper life movement, for

576
00:27:53,370 --> 00:27:56,010
having only presented man in his legal...

577
00:28:00,840 --> 00:28:02,300
We've got to somehow fix up this guy

578
00:28:02,300 --> 00:28:04,360
who says he's got his legal problems solved,

579
00:28:04,460 --> 00:28:05,080
but who's obvious.

580
00:28:09,560 --> 00:28:12,880
So we've had to concoct everything from, well,

581
00:28:12,960 --> 00:28:14,360
you know all the names for it, to

582
00:28:14,360 --> 00:28:17,460
somehow get the gospel to the man in

583
00:28:17,460 --> 00:28:18,620
terms of what he is.

584
00:28:19,460 --> 00:28:20,760
Puritans didn't have that problem.

585
00:28:21,760 --> 00:28:23,720
I read something that was interesting about Charles

586
00:28:23,720 --> 00:28:28,700
Spurgeon, who saw the genesis of that which

587
00:28:28,700 --> 00:28:30,500
is called, and I don't say this with

588
00:28:30,500 --> 00:28:32,640
any disparaging remarks to many of the dear

589
00:28:32,640 --> 00:28:37,000
men who are propagating that system of thought,

590
00:28:37,380 --> 00:28:39,600
many men of God whose shoes I'm not

591
00:28:39,600 --> 00:28:43,000
worthy to shine, but so you know what

592
00:28:43,000 --> 00:28:44,700
I'm talking about, I must use the term.

593
00:28:44,820 --> 00:28:47,880
He saw the beginnings of the holiness movement,

594
00:28:48,300 --> 00:28:52,080
Keswick concept, and he'd never speak at any

595
00:28:52,080 --> 00:28:52,900
holiness convention.

596
00:28:54,660 --> 00:28:55,820
You know why he wouldn't?

597
00:28:56,880 --> 00:29:01,180
He said, the gospel I preach secures not

598
00:29:01,180 --> 00:29:05,240
only the justification, but the sanctification of sinners.

599
00:29:10,540 --> 00:29:11,020
Got it?

600
00:29:12,580 --> 00:29:15,720
He drank of those wells, and it was

601
00:29:15,720 --> 00:29:18,420
the proper use of the law that lay

602
00:29:18,420 --> 00:29:20,440
at the foundation of this, for the law

603
00:29:20,440 --> 00:29:23,500
reveals not only the bad record, but the

604
00:29:23,500 --> 00:29:24,360
bad heart.

605
00:29:27,030 --> 00:29:29,390
For after Paul says he was slain by

606
00:29:29,390 --> 00:29:34,640
that law, he said, here full of sin

607
00:29:34,640 --> 00:29:36,740
in me dwelleth no good thing.

608
00:29:37,420 --> 00:29:39,940
And Christ is an objective and a subjective

609
00:29:39,940 --> 00:29:40,500
Savior.

610
00:29:41,680 --> 00:29:43,360
Well, I must hurry on to the second

611
00:29:43,360 --> 00:29:44,340
or third area.

612
00:29:45,100 --> 00:29:48,080
A strong theism was the foundation of their

613
00:29:48,080 --> 00:29:50,780
gospel, a right use of the law was

614
00:29:50,780 --> 00:29:53,200
one of the first stones, or one of

615
00:29:53,200 --> 00:29:56,080
the first beams in the superstructure, and then

616
00:29:56,080 --> 00:30:01,660
thirdly, their evangelism was marked by a discriminating

617
00:30:01,660 --> 00:30:03,120
application of truth.

618
00:30:03,120 --> 00:30:06,360
A discriminating application of truth.

619
00:30:07,140 --> 00:30:09,440
One cannot read long in Puritan literature without

620
00:30:09,440 --> 00:30:11,840
being struck with the keenness with which they

621
00:30:11,840 --> 00:30:14,960
searched out the differences in their hearers and

622
00:30:14,960 --> 00:30:17,320
sought to apply the truth to them in

623
00:30:17,320 --> 00:30:18,560
their specific categories.

624
00:30:19,220 --> 00:30:21,460
In an excellent article by A.T. Atkinson,

625
00:30:21,860 --> 00:30:23,680
we have set before us the three main

626
00:30:23,680 --> 00:30:26,840
areas in which this discrimination is evidenced and

627
00:30:26,840 --> 00:30:29,000
needs to be set forth in our ministries.

628
00:30:29,280 --> 00:30:32,740
One, the difference between the church and the

629
00:30:32,740 --> 00:30:33,100
world.

630
00:30:34,140 --> 00:30:38,720
Two, the difference between true and professing believers.

631
00:30:40,140 --> 00:30:43,760
Three, the difference between the different stages of

632
00:30:43,760 --> 00:30:44,620
spiritual growth.

633
00:30:47,190 --> 00:30:49,490
The difference between the church and the world,

634
00:30:50,290 --> 00:30:53,290
true and false believers, and the different stages

635
00:30:53,290 --> 00:30:54,870
of spiritual growth.

636
00:30:55,010 --> 00:30:56,870
This principle is seen very clearly in the

637
00:30:56,870 --> 00:30:59,510
Alarm to the Unconverted by Eilean, in which

638
00:30:59,510 --> 00:31:02,070
he actually starts his treatise by clearing away

639
00:31:02,070 --> 00:31:05,230
mistakes about conversion and clearly stating what conversion

640
00:31:05,230 --> 00:31:05,730
is not.

641
00:31:05,830 --> 00:31:08,410
He starts out, conversion is not, taking the

642
00:31:08,410 --> 00:31:12,330
badge of Christ in baptism, outward adherence to

643
00:31:12,330 --> 00:31:14,210
the form of religion, he has about seven

644
00:31:14,210 --> 00:31:15,730
or eight things religion is not.

645
00:31:16,410 --> 00:31:17,990
Then when he comes to the marks of

646
00:31:17,990 --> 00:31:19,910
an unconverted man, he says there are ten

647
00:31:19,910 --> 00:31:22,510
marks that some people carry in their foreheads,

648
00:31:22,510 --> 00:31:23,850
and so he deals with them.

649
00:31:23,950 --> 00:31:27,290
The unclean, the profane, the willfully ignorant, ten

650
00:31:27,290 --> 00:31:30,170
marks, obvious marks of an unregenerate man.

651
00:31:30,250 --> 00:31:31,510
They said, ah, but a number of you

652
00:31:31,510 --> 00:31:32,270
have escaped me.

653
00:31:32,710 --> 00:31:34,430
Now let me go to twelve marks that

654
00:31:34,430 --> 00:31:35,330
are hidden in the heart.

655
00:31:35,710 --> 00:31:37,870
And then he proceeds to lay out twelve

656
00:31:38,290 --> 00:31:40,770
categories of unbelievers, and when he's done with

657
00:31:40,770 --> 00:31:44,480
his twenty, you fall on your face and

658
00:31:44,480 --> 00:31:47,360
you say, oh God, are there but a

659
00:31:47,360 --> 00:31:49,100
few that be saved.

660
00:31:51,480 --> 00:31:52,480
Why did he do this?

661
00:31:52,600 --> 00:31:54,640
Because he realized he had all twenty-two

662
00:31:54,640 --> 00:31:56,460
classes before him if he had probably more

663
00:31:56,460 --> 00:31:57,640
than fifty or sixty people.

664
00:31:58,400 --> 00:32:01,280
And so he was concerned as a wise

665
00:32:01,280 --> 00:32:04,640
surgeon or as an able doctor that he

666
00:32:04,640 --> 00:32:07,200
would prescribe the right medicine for the right

667
00:32:07,200 --> 00:32:11,560
malady, and they were discriminating in their application

668
00:32:11,560 --> 00:32:12,680
of truth.

669
00:32:14,160 --> 00:32:16,120
Perhaps there's no treatise that is filled with

670
00:32:16,120 --> 00:32:17,940
this from beginning to end like Pilgrim's Progress.

671
00:32:19,820 --> 00:32:22,400
How discriminating is that account of talkative.

672
00:32:23,460 --> 00:32:25,660
My, you listen to talkative talk about the

673
00:32:25,660 --> 00:32:28,120
free grace of God and imputed righteousness, and

674
00:32:28,120 --> 00:32:29,760
you say that fellow's got it straight.

675
00:32:29,880 --> 00:32:31,620
The Holy Ghost has really taught him.

676
00:32:33,300 --> 00:32:35,780
And you remember Faithful, he got quite enamored

677
00:32:35,780 --> 00:32:36,420
with this guy.

678
00:32:36,800 --> 00:32:38,300
Christian didn't share his joy.

679
00:32:39,040 --> 00:32:40,080
So he came and said, what's the matter,

680
00:32:40,160 --> 00:32:40,760
you a killjoy?

681
00:32:41,340 --> 00:32:44,300
Now I'm making bunion twentieth century now.

682
00:32:45,240 --> 00:32:46,000
Are you a killjoy?

683
00:32:46,120 --> 00:32:46,640
What's the matter?

684
00:32:47,620 --> 00:32:49,840
Well, he said, why don't you talk to

685
00:32:49,840 --> 00:32:51,000
him about the power of things?

686
00:32:51,620 --> 00:32:52,600
And so he begins to.

687
00:32:52,960 --> 00:32:54,580
Oh, and he can still mouth it until

688
00:32:54,580 --> 00:32:56,020
Faithful begins to be what?

689
00:32:56,740 --> 00:32:58,820
Discriminating in his application of truth, and it

690
00:32:58,820 --> 00:33:01,460
isn't long before talkative says, I've had enough

691
00:33:01,460 --> 00:33:02,940
of these boys, let them go on, I

692
00:33:02,940 --> 00:33:04,000
can't take this anymore.

693
00:33:07,930 --> 00:33:08,290
Ignorant.

694
00:33:08,550 --> 00:33:10,610
What a picture of multitudes in our day.

695
00:33:11,810 --> 00:33:12,870
When they begin to ask him, how do

696
00:33:12,870 --> 00:33:13,550
you know you're saved?

697
00:33:13,590 --> 00:33:14,530
He said, well, I know I must be

698
00:33:14,530 --> 00:33:16,050
because my heart tells me I am.

699
00:33:16,150 --> 00:33:17,850
But upon what basis does your heart tell

700
00:33:17,850 --> 00:33:18,350
you that it is?

701
00:33:18,470 --> 00:33:19,950
Because my heart tells me that it is.

702
00:33:19,990 --> 00:33:21,050
In other words, I must be saved.

703
00:33:24,670 --> 00:33:25,650
Utterly ignorant.

704
00:33:26,250 --> 00:33:29,710
The grounds of assurance is not to be

705
00:33:29,710 --> 00:33:34,760
found by seeing if I get 13 watts

706
00:33:34,760 --> 00:33:39,350
of deuce, but by holding up the standard

707
00:33:39,350 --> 00:33:41,810
of that book, which describes what a Christian

708
00:33:41,810 --> 00:33:44,710
is, and being as honest and objective as

709
00:33:44,710 --> 00:33:45,970
I'll have to be in the day of

710
00:33:45,970 --> 00:33:48,230
judgment saying, oh God, am I what your

711
00:33:48,230 --> 00:33:49,890
book says a Christian is?

712
00:33:51,510 --> 00:33:54,910
And that's the truth that in keen, incisive,

713
00:33:55,090 --> 00:33:58,310
discriminating application Bunyan is getting across with ignorance.

714
00:33:58,650 --> 00:34:01,850
Mr. Byhams, you're familiar with him, I'm sure.

715
00:34:03,050 --> 00:34:05,610
One of Jonathan Edwards' greatest works, some consider

716
00:34:05,610 --> 00:34:08,130
it his greatest, that of the Religious Affections.

717
00:34:08,850 --> 00:34:12,270
Its basic premise is this, to distinguish between

718
00:34:12,270 --> 00:34:14,810
a true and the false conversion.

719
00:34:15,650 --> 00:34:18,449
Edwards' sermon, hypocrites deficient in the duty of

720
00:34:18,449 --> 00:34:19,170
secret prayer.

721
00:34:19,409 --> 00:34:22,170
John Thornberry had some mimeographed copies of that

722
00:34:22,170 --> 00:34:23,290
and I got it when I was with

723
00:34:23,290 --> 00:34:24,989
him some years ago down in Kentucky.

724
00:34:25,530 --> 00:34:28,510
And after reading that sermon, so discriminating.

725
00:34:28,630 --> 00:34:32,130
He speaks of this principle, that a true

726
00:34:32,130 --> 00:34:34,810
Christian, one who's had a real sight of

727
00:34:34,810 --> 00:34:39,590
his uncleanness and his spiritual bankruptcy, even after

728
00:34:39,590 --> 00:34:42,370
he knows his sins are pardoned, has much

729
00:34:42,370 --> 00:34:45,370
ground to continually come to God because he

730
00:34:45,370 --> 00:34:46,330
knows he's weak.

731
00:34:46,770 --> 00:34:48,929
His heart is a tinderbox of iniquity and

732
00:34:48,929 --> 00:34:50,630
the world is full of sparks.

733
00:34:50,969 --> 00:34:52,770
And he comes to God again and again

734
00:34:52,770 --> 00:34:56,800
praying that the sparks will not fell down

735
00:34:56,800 --> 00:34:59,700
in the flames of passion and rebellion against

736
00:34:59,700 --> 00:35:00,040
God.

737
00:35:01,920 --> 00:35:04,020
Has plenty of need to continually come to

738
00:35:04,020 --> 00:35:04,820
the throne of grace.

739
00:35:05,000 --> 00:35:08,220
But the hypocrite, the only need he's ever

740
00:35:08,220 --> 00:35:09,580
been aware of is he knows he's going

741
00:35:09,580 --> 00:35:11,340
to die and his conscience tells him he

742
00:35:11,340 --> 00:35:12,640
might meet his sins.

743
00:35:12,800 --> 00:35:14,980
So his only need is, I gotta get

744
00:35:14,980 --> 00:35:15,960
a sense of forgiveness.

745
00:35:16,140 --> 00:35:18,780
And once he gets that, having never discovered

746
00:35:18,780 --> 00:35:21,020
the corruption of his heart, he has no

747
00:35:21,020 --> 00:35:22,340
sense of need to pray.

748
00:35:22,560 --> 00:35:23,300
So what happens?

749
00:35:23,560 --> 00:35:25,740
The hypocrite is deficient in the duty of

750
00:35:25,740 --> 00:35:28,280
secret prayer until he hears a sermon that

751
00:35:28,280 --> 00:35:29,760
a Christian's a praying man.

752
00:35:29,900 --> 00:35:31,960
Then he prays enough to ease his conscience

753
00:35:31,960 --> 00:35:33,320
and then he doesn't pray anymore.

754
00:35:33,760 --> 00:35:34,860
Well, I tell you, after you read a

755
00:35:34,860 --> 00:35:37,040
discriminating sermon like that, you go down on

756
00:35:37,040 --> 00:35:38,680
your face and say, Lord, is it I?

757
00:35:39,740 --> 00:35:40,620
Is it I?

758
00:35:41,760 --> 00:35:42,640
Is it I?

759
00:35:44,740 --> 00:35:45,440
Is it I?

760
00:35:46,600 --> 00:35:48,280
Now at this point, it might be well

761
00:35:48,280 --> 00:35:49,720
to give a word of warning for no

762
00:35:49,720 --> 00:35:51,660
doubt some of the Puritans went too far

763
00:35:51,660 --> 00:35:54,520
in making fine distinctions which troubled the consciences

764
00:35:54,520 --> 00:35:57,600
of the sensitive and were totally unheeded by

765
00:35:57,600 --> 00:35:58,140
the indifferent.

766
00:35:58,960 --> 00:36:00,480
But if they went too far in this

767
00:36:00,480 --> 00:36:04,180
direction, God knows we've fallen so far short.

768
00:36:05,320 --> 00:36:06,700
I don't know who made the comment, but

769
00:36:06,700 --> 00:36:08,440
after reading one of the old Puritan works,

770
00:36:08,540 --> 00:36:10,360
someone said, oh, that I could be but

771
00:36:10,360 --> 00:36:11,860
one of so-and-so's hypocrites.

772
00:36:13,400 --> 00:36:14,080
You get it?

773
00:36:15,800 --> 00:36:17,640
They've been describing, you can do this and

774
00:36:17,640 --> 00:36:18,860
do this and do this and do this

775
00:36:18,860 --> 00:36:19,840
and do this and this and this.

776
00:36:25,070 --> 00:36:26,170
And that's the extreme.

777
00:36:26,830 --> 00:36:28,330
But there certainly is in the Word of

778
00:36:28,330 --> 00:36:31,250
God a discriminating application for when Ilion goes

779
00:36:31,250 --> 00:36:34,250
to make his discriminating applications, it's chapter and

780
00:36:34,250 --> 00:36:37,270
verse, chapter and verse, chapter and verse.

781
00:36:37,890 --> 00:36:40,950
Fourth area in which Puritan evangelism had a

782
00:36:40,950 --> 00:36:44,290
distinctive so little known in our day is

783
00:36:44,290 --> 00:36:47,410
that they preached the whole Christ to the

784
00:36:47,410 --> 00:36:47,910
whole man.

785
00:36:48,730 --> 00:36:51,210
The concept of Christ being offered as prophet,

786
00:36:51,470 --> 00:36:53,810
priest, and king had apparently worked its way

787
00:36:53,810 --> 00:36:55,370
into the warp and woof of the thinking

788
00:36:55,370 --> 00:36:57,590
of the men of that age before it

789
00:36:57,590 --> 00:37:00,690
became embalmed in printer's ink through the efforts

790
00:37:00,690 --> 00:37:02,890
of the Westminster divines.

791
00:37:03,690 --> 00:37:06,810
Therefore, we see no attempts in Puritan evangelism

792
00:37:06,810 --> 00:37:08,810
to offer Christ as a savior from the

793
00:37:08,810 --> 00:37:12,410
penalty of sin while deliberately ignoring his claims

794
00:37:12,410 --> 00:37:14,290
as a sovereign and a lord and his

795
00:37:14,290 --> 00:37:16,650
demands that we forsake the love and the

796
00:37:16,650 --> 00:37:16,910
practice.

797
00:37:18,220 --> 00:37:20,800
The following statement by Ilion is a classic

798
00:37:20,800 --> 00:37:21,680
in this regard.

799
00:37:22,500 --> 00:37:26,260
Quote, all of Christ is accepted by the

800
00:37:26,260 --> 00:37:27,160
sincere convert.

801
00:37:28,040 --> 00:37:30,160
He loves not only the wages but the

802
00:37:30,160 --> 00:37:33,140
work of Christ, not only the benefits but

803
00:37:33,140 --> 00:37:34,740
the burden of Christ.

804
00:37:35,100 --> 00:37:37,160
He's not only willing to tread out the

805
00:37:37,160 --> 00:37:38,860
corn but to draw under the yoke.

806
00:37:39,820 --> 00:37:42,040
He takes up the commands of Christ, yes,

807
00:37:42,100 --> 00:37:43,080
the cross of Christ.

808
00:37:43,220 --> 00:37:46,520
Now notice, written back in the early 1600s,

809
00:37:47,120 --> 00:37:52,020
the unsound convert takes Christ by halves.

810
00:37:52,840 --> 00:37:55,160
He is for the privileges but does not

811
00:37:55,160 --> 00:37:56,900
appropriate the person of Christ.

812
00:37:57,360 --> 00:38:00,340
He divides the offices and benefits of Christ.

813
00:38:00,480 --> 00:38:02,660
This is an error in the foundation.

814
00:38:03,180 --> 00:38:06,440
Whoever loves life, let him beware here, for

815
00:38:06,440 --> 00:38:09,200
this is an undoing mistake of which men

816
00:38:09,200 --> 00:38:10,440
are often warned.

817
00:38:10,640 --> 00:38:15,340
Now listen, and yet none is more common.

818
00:38:16,740 --> 00:38:18,900
Did you think the dividing of the offices

819
00:38:18,900 --> 00:38:21,100
and the benefits of Christ was a 20th

820
00:38:21,100 --> 00:38:22,280
-century concoction?

821
00:38:22,480 --> 00:38:22,660
No.

822
00:38:23,580 --> 00:38:26,000
It's the concoction of the rebel heart of

823
00:38:26,000 --> 00:38:29,140
man, and the expression of it may be

824
00:38:29,140 --> 00:38:32,040
different in each age, but Eilean said none

825
00:38:32,040 --> 00:38:33,500
was more common in his day.

826
00:38:33,620 --> 00:38:36,460
Jesus is a sweet name, but men do

827
00:38:36,460 --> 00:38:38,600
not love the Lord Jesus in sincerity.

828
00:38:38,820 --> 00:38:40,660
They'll not have him as God offers him,

829
00:38:40,960 --> 00:38:42,840
a prince and a savior.

830
00:38:43,360 --> 00:38:45,700
They divide what God has joined, the king

831
00:38:45,700 --> 00:38:48,940
and the priest, whereas the sound convert takes

832
00:38:48,940 --> 00:38:51,640
a whole Christ and takes him for all

833
00:38:51,640 --> 00:38:55,840
intents and purposes without exceptions, without limitations, without

834
00:38:55,840 --> 00:38:58,860
reserve, for he's willing to have Christ upon

835
00:38:58,860 --> 00:39:01,520
any terms, willing to have the dominion of

836
00:39:01,520 --> 00:39:04,200
Christ as well as the deliverance by Christ.

837
00:39:04,360 --> 00:39:09,020
He says with Paul, Lord, what wilt thou

838
00:39:09,020 --> 00:39:09,920
have me to do?

839
00:39:10,620 --> 00:39:14,840
In reading the covenants, which Puritan evangelists encourage

840
00:39:14,840 --> 00:39:17,360
their hearers to use in closing with Christ,

841
00:39:17,680 --> 00:39:19,760
one is struck again with this note of

842
00:39:19,760 --> 00:39:22,080
presenting the Christ to the whole man.

843
00:39:22,740 --> 00:39:25,020
As an example, in Doddridge's famous work, we

844
00:39:25,020 --> 00:39:28,440
find the following words, quote, he puts a

845
00:39:28,440 --> 00:39:31,560
covenant on paper for the sinner to make

846
00:39:31,560 --> 00:39:35,520
with God, but my heart now bows itself

847
00:39:35,520 --> 00:39:38,600
before thee in humble, unfeigned submission.

848
00:39:39,400 --> 00:39:42,240
I desire to make no terms with thee,

849
00:39:46,140 --> 00:39:47,860
but that I may be entirely thine.

850
00:39:48,820 --> 00:39:51,560
Brother Barnard said today, he died to get

851
00:39:51,560 --> 00:39:53,740
me, me.

852
00:39:53,740 --> 00:39:56,460
I cheerfully present thee with a blank, entreating

853
00:39:56,460 --> 00:39:58,200
thee that thou wouldst do me the honor

854
00:39:58,200 --> 00:40:01,140
to signify upon me what is thy pleasure.

855
00:40:01,340 --> 00:40:03,560
Teach me, O Lord, what you'd have me

856
00:40:03,560 --> 00:40:05,900
to do, for I desire to learn the

857
00:40:05,900 --> 00:40:08,000
lesson and to learn it that I may

858
00:40:08,000 --> 00:40:08,780
practice it.

859
00:40:08,840 --> 00:40:09,500
End of quote.

860
00:40:10,840 --> 00:40:13,160
Again, hear the words which Ilion puts into

861
00:40:13,160 --> 00:40:15,600
the mouth of the seeking sinner, quote, therefore

862
00:40:15,600 --> 00:40:18,020
I bow my soul unto thee and with

863
00:40:18,020 --> 00:40:21,560
all possible thankfulness accept thee as mine and

864
00:40:21,560 --> 00:40:24,720
give myself up to thee as thine.

865
00:40:24,980 --> 00:40:27,280
Thou shalt be sovereign over me, my king

866
00:40:27,280 --> 00:40:28,240
and my God.

867
00:40:28,700 --> 00:40:30,540
Thou shalt be on the throne and all

868
00:40:30,540 --> 00:40:33,020
my powers shall bow to thee and shall

869
00:40:33,020 --> 00:40:35,200
come and worship before thy feet.

870
00:40:35,800 --> 00:40:38,680
Thou shalt be my portion, O Lord, and

871
00:40:38,680 --> 00:40:40,060
I will rest in thee.

872
00:40:40,500 --> 00:40:42,620
I fly to thy merits.

873
00:40:43,150 --> 00:40:46,220
I trust alone to the virtue and value

874
00:40:46,220 --> 00:40:50,540
of thy sacrifice and prevalence of thy intercession.

875
00:40:51,140 --> 00:40:53,080
I submit to thy teaching.

876
00:40:53,880 --> 00:40:56,800
I make choice of thy government.

877
00:40:57,500 --> 00:40:59,680
Other quotes I have but will pass over

878
00:40:59,680 --> 00:41:01,260
them in the same sentiment.

879
00:41:01,920 --> 00:41:06,280
Of the anemic, bloodless expression, take Jesus as

880
00:41:06,280 --> 00:41:07,480
your personal savior.

881
00:41:08,240 --> 00:41:10,820
These are mighty forefathers who knew nothing.

882
00:41:11,940 --> 00:41:14,040
Of a gospel that merely got men out

883
00:41:14,040 --> 00:41:17,540
from underneath the dangers of everlasting hell, leaving

884
00:41:17,540 --> 00:41:19,480
them an option as to whether or not

885
00:41:19,480 --> 00:41:21,560
they would bow to their sovereign at some

886
00:41:21,560 --> 00:41:26,840
subsequent date, these are spirit-taught fathers who

887
00:41:26,840 --> 00:41:28,440
knew absolutely nothing.

888
00:41:31,180 --> 00:41:39,820
Now in the fifth place, another distinction was

889
00:41:39,820 --> 00:41:41,580
their clarion call to repentance.

890
00:41:42,220 --> 00:41:44,120
Now when I use the term clarion call,

891
00:41:44,240 --> 00:41:46,600
I'm not using it for semantic embellishment.

892
00:41:46,780 --> 00:41:47,780
I'm using it purposely.

893
00:41:49,080 --> 00:41:52,580
Paul says in 1 Corinthians chapter 14, if

894
00:41:52,580 --> 00:41:56,160
the trumpets sound an uncertain note, how should

895
00:41:56,160 --> 00:41:57,560
they prepare themselves to battle?

896
00:41:57,660 --> 00:41:58,440
You want to get the picture?

897
00:41:58,960 --> 00:42:00,640
Here's some fellow that's in his tent out

898
00:42:00,640 --> 00:42:01,220
on the battlefield.

899
00:42:01,980 --> 00:42:04,100
It's about time for breakfast, and the bugler

900
00:42:04,100 --> 00:42:06,400
goes out, and he starts to toot something.

901
00:42:07,000 --> 00:42:09,580
So he perks his ears up, and he

902
00:42:09,580 --> 00:42:10,600
can't figure out the tune.

903
00:42:11,160 --> 00:42:13,180
Is that mess call, or is that call

904
00:42:13,180 --> 00:42:13,660
to arms?

905
00:42:14,440 --> 00:42:15,720
So he nudges his buddy, and he says,

906
00:42:15,760 --> 00:42:16,760
hey, what's that guy playing?

907
00:42:17,520 --> 00:42:19,020
And he can't distinguish the tune.

908
00:42:19,100 --> 00:42:21,260
He doesn't know to put his helmet on

909
00:42:21,260 --> 00:42:21,920
and get his rifle.

910
00:42:23,600 --> 00:42:25,980
Well, the trumpet's sounding, making a lot of

911
00:42:25,980 --> 00:42:29,380
noise, but it's not sounding a certain note.

912
00:42:29,480 --> 00:42:31,160
And Paul says, if it doesn't sound a

913
00:42:31,160 --> 00:42:33,380
certain note, how are people going to rise

914
00:42:33,380 --> 00:42:34,140
up to arms?

915
00:42:37,070 --> 00:42:39,510
I'm convinced with all my heart that this

916
00:42:39,510 --> 00:42:43,030
is what God wants to do in our

917
00:42:43,030 --> 00:42:45,950
own generation, and to do it in the

918
00:42:45,950 --> 00:42:47,970
order that he's been pleased in these days,

919
00:42:48,030 --> 00:42:49,410
and I can't tell what it's meant to

920
00:42:49,410 --> 00:42:50,050
me personally.

921
00:42:51,130 --> 00:42:54,030
To convince us that we need a heart

922
00:42:54,030 --> 00:42:58,790
that burns with love for sinners, eyes that

923
00:42:58,790 --> 00:43:01,510
are filled and spilled down with tears for

924
00:43:01,510 --> 00:43:01,990
sinners.

925
00:43:02,730 --> 00:43:05,870
Oh, dear ones, unless that is geared to

926
00:43:05,870 --> 00:43:09,490
a clarion call of the truth upon which

927
00:43:09,490 --> 00:43:13,030
God has put his shield to save sinners,

928
00:43:13,030 --> 00:43:16,050
it will be abortive.

929
00:43:16,810 --> 00:43:23,070
Just as preaching that God-owned message without

930
00:43:23,070 --> 00:43:28,050
a God-broken heart will be abortive, so

931
00:43:28,050 --> 00:43:31,190
to have the tearful heart without the God

932
00:43:31,190 --> 00:43:35,270
-owned message will fall short of that which

933
00:43:35,270 --> 00:43:37,390
God would do for his glory.

934
00:43:39,110 --> 00:43:42,530
And in this area of repentance, the Puritan

935
00:43:42,530 --> 00:43:44,310
sounded a clear note.

936
00:43:45,810 --> 00:43:47,410
I try to take my five-year-old

937
00:43:47,410 --> 00:43:48,730
son with me whenever possible.

938
00:43:48,990 --> 00:43:50,590
Sometimes when I go to the hospitals, I

939
00:43:50,590 --> 00:43:52,790
put him in the car, and he even

940
00:43:52,790 --> 00:43:54,350
likes to listen to John Bunyan on the

941
00:43:54,350 --> 00:43:55,230
little recorder, too.

942
00:43:55,350 --> 00:43:57,470
He says, Daddy, turn on Pilgrim's Progress.

943
00:43:58,570 --> 00:44:02,170
And as we're traveling around, sometimes we learn

944
00:44:02,170 --> 00:44:03,670
hymns together, and I was trying to teach

945
00:44:03,670 --> 00:44:05,230
him the hymn, Come Thou Fount of Every

946
00:44:05,230 --> 00:44:05,750
Blessing.

947
00:44:06,890 --> 00:44:09,410
Well, a few days before I started working

948
00:44:09,410 --> 00:44:11,350
on this with him, or sometime during the

949
00:44:11,350 --> 00:44:12,810
period in which I was trying to teach

950
00:44:12,810 --> 00:44:15,510
him that hymn, I had the radio on,

951
00:44:15,630 --> 00:44:17,710
and there's a Christian FM station in our

952
00:44:17,710 --> 00:44:20,550
area, and there was an arrangement of Come

953
00:44:20,550 --> 00:44:22,150
Thou Fount of Every Blessing, and it was

954
00:44:22,150 --> 00:44:24,630
a piano arrangement, and with an orchestral background.

955
00:44:25,850 --> 00:44:27,730
And I knew that it was Come Thou

956
00:44:27,730 --> 00:44:30,670
Fount of Every Blessing only because my ear

957
00:44:30,670 --> 00:44:32,970
was keen to pick out the tune amidst

958
00:44:32,970 --> 00:44:36,070
all the orchestral embellishments, you know, sort of,

959
00:44:36,290 --> 00:44:37,830
da-dum-dee-da-dum, da-dee-da

960
00:44:37,830 --> 00:44:39,490
-dee-dee, da-da-da-dum, dee-dum

961
00:44:39,490 --> 00:44:41,170
-dee-dum, da-da-da-da-dum.

962
00:44:41,570 --> 00:44:42,770
And I could hear it there.

963
00:44:42,830 --> 00:44:43,990
Once in a while I'd pick out the

964
00:44:43,990 --> 00:44:44,210
note.

965
00:44:45,490 --> 00:44:46,870
Now, when I got into the car with

966
00:44:46,870 --> 00:44:48,310
my son, and I'm about to teach him

967
00:44:48,310 --> 00:44:49,970
Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing, how did

968
00:44:49,970 --> 00:44:50,670
I teach it to him?

969
00:44:50,710 --> 00:44:51,970
Now, son, this is how you learn it.

970
00:44:52,570 --> 00:44:54,590
Da-dum-da-da, da-da-da-da

971
00:44:54,590 --> 00:44:54,690
-da.

972
00:44:54,690 --> 00:44:55,790
No, no, I didn't do that.

973
00:44:56,350 --> 00:44:57,630
I said, Son, this is the way we

974
00:44:57,630 --> 00:44:58,170
sing it.

975
00:44:58,930 --> 00:45:06,850
Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing.

976
00:45:07,070 --> 00:45:07,430
Why?

977
00:45:08,470 --> 00:45:11,670
Because you see, an ear that is sensitive

978
00:45:11,670 --> 00:45:14,070
to a tune that is well learned can

979
00:45:14,070 --> 00:45:14,730
pick it out.

980
00:45:16,290 --> 00:45:18,530
But an ear that has no previous knowledge

981
00:45:18,530 --> 00:45:21,030
will never learn it unless it comes through.

982
00:45:21,470 --> 00:45:23,750
Dum-dum-dum, you see?

983
00:45:24,410 --> 00:45:25,670
That's what Paul's saying.

984
00:45:25,670 --> 00:45:28,830
If the trumpet doesn't sound a certain note,

985
00:45:29,530 --> 00:45:31,990
it's not enough to have a little side

986
00:45:31,990 --> 00:45:36,630
reference to repentance, not enough to have a

987
00:45:36,630 --> 00:45:39,510
little reference and aside here and there to

988
00:45:39,510 --> 00:45:41,530
the fact that it's turn or burn.

989
00:45:42,150 --> 00:45:44,690
The admonition of our Lord in Luke 24,

990
00:45:44,810 --> 00:45:47,450
47 was literally obeyed by the Puritans in

991
00:45:47,450 --> 00:45:48,290
their evangelism.

992
00:45:48,430 --> 00:45:53,700
Jesus Christ said that repentance among all the

993
00:45:53,700 --> 00:45:57,040
nations, the example of St. Paul was assiduously

994
00:45:57,040 --> 00:46:00,500
followed in Acts 20, 21, repentance toward God,

995
00:46:00,680 --> 00:46:01,740
faith toward Christ.

996
00:46:02,280 --> 00:46:05,100
Hear the call of Richard Baxter, quote, It

997
00:46:05,100 --> 00:46:07,360
is not enough to mend the old house,

998
00:46:07,440 --> 00:46:09,900
but pull down all and build new on

999
00:46:09,900 --> 00:46:12,260
Christ the rock and sure foundation.

1000
00:46:12,840 --> 00:46:15,300
It's not to mend somewhat in a carnal

1001
00:46:15,300 --> 00:46:18,280
course of life, but to mortify the flesh

1002
00:46:18,280 --> 00:46:19,640
and live after the Spirit.

1003
00:46:19,640 --> 00:46:22,400
It's to change your master and your works

1004
00:46:22,400 --> 00:46:26,580
and end and set your face the contrary

1005
00:46:26,580 --> 00:46:29,300
way and do all for the life you

1006
00:46:29,300 --> 00:46:33,320
never saw and dedicate yourselves and all you

1007
00:46:33,320 --> 00:46:34,360
have to God.

1008
00:46:34,780 --> 00:46:38,080
This is the change that must be made

1009
00:46:38,080 --> 00:46:39,540
if you will live.

1010
00:46:39,700 --> 00:46:43,440
That's a certain note, a certain note.

1011
00:46:43,960 --> 00:46:46,160
So if you will be drunkards or fornicators

1012
00:46:46,160 --> 00:46:48,240
or worldlings or live after the flesh, you

1013
00:46:48,240 --> 00:46:50,700
may as well say plainly, we will be

1014
00:46:50,700 --> 00:46:54,020
damned or you shall be unless you turn.

1015
00:46:55,020 --> 00:46:57,480
There's no intimation that Baxter believed that the

1016
00:46:57,480 --> 00:46:59,580
question was not the sin question, but the

1017
00:46:59,580 --> 00:47:00,220
son question.

1018
00:47:00,940 --> 00:47:03,120
He clearly affirmed in these statements that no

1019
00:47:03,120 --> 00:47:08,100
man can settle the son question who's unwilling

1020
00:47:08,100 --> 00:47:13,350
to honestly face in the development of the

1021
00:47:13,350 --> 00:47:14,250
theme of conversion.

1022
00:47:14,450 --> 00:47:17,550
Ilion states that in true conversion, we turn

1023
00:47:17,550 --> 00:47:19,510
from sin, the devil, the world and our

1024
00:47:19,510 --> 00:47:20,290
own righteousness.

1025
00:47:21,450 --> 00:47:24,190
And again, we could set forth many quotes,

1026
00:47:24,330 --> 00:47:25,350
but why did they do this?

1027
00:47:26,270 --> 00:47:30,850
It's because again, their theology affected their message

1028
00:47:30,850 --> 00:47:31,250
here.

1029
00:47:31,690 --> 00:47:33,690
They believed Acts 531.

1030
00:47:34,650 --> 00:47:37,490
God has exalted Christ with his right hand

1031
00:47:37,490 --> 00:47:39,230
to be a prince and a savior to

1032
00:47:39,230 --> 00:47:39,730
do what?

1033
00:47:40,170 --> 00:47:43,390
To give repentance and remission.

1034
00:47:45,320 --> 00:47:47,700
They knew that one of the works of

1035
00:47:47,700 --> 00:47:50,600
the risen Christ and only the omnipotent Christ

1036
00:47:50,600 --> 00:47:52,700
can do it is to take the sinner

1037
00:47:52,700 --> 00:47:55,540
who loves his sin, who drinks iniquity like

1038
00:47:55,540 --> 00:48:06,670
water and

1039
00:48:06,670 --> 00:48:07,570
turn to God.

1040
00:48:37,940 --> 00:48:40,620
And the soft peddling of the biblical doctrine

1041
00:48:40,620 --> 00:48:43,920
of repentance in our day, I'm convinced that

1042
00:48:43,920 --> 00:48:46,820
tried to think this through and it's interrelationships

1043
00:48:48,670 --> 00:48:51,670
is inseparably united to a denial of the

1044
00:48:51,670 --> 00:48:53,690
truth that salvation is of God.

1045
00:48:54,390 --> 00:48:57,590
For if man contributes to it, you better

1046
00:48:57,590 --> 00:49:00,890
get demands that man can meet unaided by

1047
00:49:00,890 --> 00:49:01,670
the Holy Ghost.

1048
00:49:02,470 --> 00:49:03,090
You follow me?

1049
00:49:03,750 --> 00:49:04,610
Don't miss this.

1050
00:49:05,850 --> 00:49:10,490
If man contributes to that salvation, then you've

1051
00:49:10,490 --> 00:49:13,270
got to have a standard of demands and

1052
00:49:13,270 --> 00:49:17,070
terms that man can meet unaided by the

1053
00:49:17,070 --> 00:49:17,770
Holy Ghost.

1054
00:49:18,510 --> 00:49:21,070
And it's just plain good horse sense.

1055
00:49:22,270 --> 00:49:23,710
If all I need to do to get

1056
00:49:23,710 --> 00:49:26,050
to heaven is to nod to a few

1057
00:49:26,050 --> 00:49:28,570
propositions about a man on the cross 1900

1058
00:49:28,570 --> 00:49:31,190
years ago, so that when I die, I

1059
00:49:31,190 --> 00:49:32,350
go to be with him and I don't

1060
00:49:32,350 --> 00:49:34,770
burn, that's just plain good horse sense to

1061
00:49:34,770 --> 00:49:39,510
nod my head to those facts, isn't it?

1062
00:49:40,850 --> 00:49:43,530
Jesus said, the rich so hardly enter the

1063
00:49:43,530 --> 00:49:44,070
kingdom of heaven.

1064
00:49:44,170 --> 00:49:46,410
I've thought about it along these lines.

1065
00:49:46,570 --> 00:49:47,970
A man's usually rich because he knows how

1066
00:49:47,970 --> 00:49:49,350
to handle money and make money, right?

1067
00:49:49,450 --> 00:49:50,490
He's got a good business head.

1068
00:49:50,950 --> 00:49:53,490
Now, if salvation was simply nodding to some

1069
00:49:53,490 --> 00:49:56,670
facts in order to assure me that when

1070
00:49:56,670 --> 00:49:57,970
I die, and I know I've got to

1071
00:49:57,970 --> 00:50:00,270
die, I won't have to face the consequences

1072
00:50:00,270 --> 00:50:02,210
of my sin, why a rich man would

1073
00:50:02,210 --> 00:50:03,810
be the most likely to get saved because

1074
00:50:03,810 --> 00:50:06,410
he'd have the most keen sensitivity, that's just

1075
00:50:06,410 --> 00:50:07,830
a good business proposition.

1076
00:50:08,090 --> 00:50:08,950
Free insurance.

1077
00:50:09,990 --> 00:50:11,530
Even got tracts that tell you that's what

1078
00:50:11,530 --> 00:50:12,390
salvation is.

1079
00:50:14,670 --> 00:50:15,230
Isn't that right?

1080
00:50:15,970 --> 00:50:18,050
But Jesus said, the rich man will hardly

1081
00:50:18,050 --> 00:50:18,450
enter.

1082
00:50:18,630 --> 00:50:18,950
Why?

1083
00:50:19,070 --> 00:50:22,210
Because salvation involves not merely the nodding to

1084
00:50:22,210 --> 00:50:26,970
some facts, but the forsaking of lust, the

1085
00:50:26,970 --> 00:50:29,290
bowing of the heart to the sovereignty of

1086
00:50:29,290 --> 00:50:29,590
Jesus.

1087
00:50:32,650 --> 00:50:36,750
So they emphasize repentance, not with the embellishments

1088
00:50:36,750 --> 00:50:40,310
of an orchestral arrangement, but with the simplicity.

1089
00:50:43,540 --> 00:50:45,920
Turn or burn.

1090
00:50:47,180 --> 00:50:48,720
And then another area in which we see

1091
00:50:48,720 --> 00:50:51,220
the distinctives of Puritan evangelism is in their

1092
00:50:51,220 --> 00:50:54,240
concept of the magnitude of the work of

1093
00:50:54,240 --> 00:50:55,060
conversion.

1094
00:50:55,840 --> 00:50:58,500
The Puritans did not believe that true conversion

1095
00:50:58,500 --> 00:51:02,020
was ordinarily the work of a moment, ordinarily,

1096
00:51:02,860 --> 00:51:05,100
to be performed in an atmosphere of giddiness

1097
00:51:05,100 --> 00:51:07,520
and lightness by one whose mind had not

1098
00:51:07,520 --> 00:51:10,500
been brought to the place of deep sobriety

1099
00:51:10,500 --> 00:51:15,600
and serious thought concerning the great issues of

1100
00:51:15,600 --> 00:51:16,780
sin and eternity.

1101
00:51:17,900 --> 00:51:19,960
Listen to Baxter as he says, quote, oh

1102
00:51:19,960 --> 00:51:23,000
sirs, conversion is another kind of work than

1103
00:51:23,000 --> 00:51:24,040
most are aware of.

1104
00:51:24,480 --> 00:51:26,340
It's not a small matter to bring an

1105
00:51:26,340 --> 00:51:28,940
earthly mind to heaven and to show man

1106
00:51:28,940 --> 00:51:32,160
the amiable excellencies of God, to be taken

1107
00:51:32,160 --> 00:51:34,400
up in such love to him that can

1108
00:51:34,400 --> 00:51:36,940
never be quenched, to break the heart for

1109
00:51:36,940 --> 00:51:39,280
sin and make him flee for refuge to

1110
00:51:39,280 --> 00:51:42,140
Christ and thankfully embrace him as the life

1111
00:51:42,140 --> 00:51:44,500
of his soul, to have the very drift

1112
00:51:44,500 --> 00:51:50,540
and bent of his life changed and places

1113
00:51:50,540 --> 00:51:54,400
his happiness where he lives not to the

1114
00:51:54,400 --> 00:51:57,420
same end, drives not in the same design

1115
00:51:57,420 --> 00:51:59,160
in the world as he formerly did.

1116
00:51:59,700 --> 00:52:01,360
In a world, he that, in a word,

1117
00:52:01,460 --> 00:52:06,420
he that, that's no small thing.

1118
00:52:07,100 --> 00:52:08,460
And that's no small thing.

1119
00:52:09,400 --> 00:52:11,860
We find similar statements in Eilean's alarm.

1120
00:52:12,000 --> 00:52:13,680
The following is but one of many that

1121
00:52:13,680 --> 00:52:16,220
I could quote, quote, never think you can

1122
00:52:16,220 --> 00:52:17,080
convert yourself.

1123
00:52:17,680 --> 00:52:19,620
If you would ever be savingly converted, you

1124
00:52:19,620 --> 00:52:21,400
must despair of doing it in your own

1125
00:52:21,400 --> 00:52:21,880
strength.

1126
00:52:22,340 --> 00:52:24,260
It's a resurrection from the dead, a new

1127
00:52:24,260 --> 00:52:26,680
creation, a work of absolute omnipotence.

1128
00:52:27,620 --> 00:52:29,180
Are not these out of the reach of

1129
00:52:29,180 --> 00:52:29,820
human power?

1130
00:52:30,420 --> 00:52:31,820
If you have no more than you had

1131
00:52:31,820 --> 00:52:34,000
by your first birth, a good nature, a

1132
00:52:34,000 --> 00:52:36,980
meek and chaste temper, etc., you're a stranger

1133
00:52:36,980 --> 00:52:38,180
to true conversion.

1134
00:52:38,400 --> 00:52:44,020
This, when our Lord Jesus finished dealing with

1135
00:52:44,020 --> 00:52:46,300
a man, the disciples cried out in amazement,

1136
00:52:46,620 --> 00:52:47,020
what?

1137
00:52:47,660 --> 00:52:49,900
Isn't the plan of salvation simple?

1138
00:52:51,300 --> 00:52:52,700
Now then, what they said when he got

1139
00:52:52,700 --> 00:52:54,560
done dealing with a rich young ruler, what

1140
00:52:54,560 --> 00:52:55,140
did they say?

1141
00:52:56,460 --> 00:53:01,000
Threw their hands up and said, Lord, who

1142
00:53:01,000 --> 00:53:02,680
then can be saved?

1143
00:53:04,060 --> 00:53:05,320
And what was Jesus' answer?

1144
00:53:05,760 --> 00:53:06,860
Matthew 19, 25.

1145
00:53:07,140 --> 00:53:10,160
With men, this is impossible.

1146
00:53:12,520 --> 00:53:16,660
But with God, all things are possible.

1147
00:53:23,790 --> 00:53:26,270
Then one last thing concerning the distinctive.

1148
00:53:28,090 --> 00:53:30,310
They did not usurp the office of the

1149
00:53:30,310 --> 00:53:30,950
Holy Spirit.

1150
00:53:33,420 --> 00:53:38,220
One of the sad earmarks of modern evangelism,

1151
00:53:38,320 --> 00:53:39,620
and when I use the term, remember, I'm

1152
00:53:39,620 --> 00:53:41,340
not just talking about mass evangelism.

1153
00:53:41,440 --> 00:53:43,560
I'm talking about the proclaiming of the evangel

1154
00:53:43,560 --> 00:53:48,220
in our tracts, in our personal work ministry,

1155
00:53:48,520 --> 00:53:53,080
and in our classes on personal evangelism as

1156
00:53:53,080 --> 00:53:54,640
well as mass evangelism.

1157
00:53:57,090 --> 00:53:59,810
There is a continual attempt and an actual,

1158
00:54:00,830 --> 00:54:04,550
it seems, though I would not impute false

1159
00:54:04,550 --> 00:54:06,610
motives to this, some men probably do it

1160
00:54:06,610 --> 00:54:07,910
in ignorance, but it seems to be a

1161
00:54:07,910 --> 00:54:12,250
studied attempt to have everything so arranged that

1162
00:54:12,250 --> 00:54:14,490
if God the Holy Ghost didn't come within

1163
00:54:14,490 --> 00:54:16,470
a hundred miles, you still have something to

1164
00:54:16,470 --> 00:54:17,330
show when you're done.

1165
00:54:18,890 --> 00:54:21,930
Whereas the concept of Puritan evangelism and biblical

1166
00:54:21,930 --> 00:54:24,890
evangelism is this, whether it's when the saints

1167
00:54:24,890 --> 00:54:26,950
meet to worship or whether we proclaim the

1168
00:54:26,950 --> 00:54:30,670
message, if Almighty God doesn't do something, nothing

1169
00:54:30,670 --> 00:54:31,210
will happen.

1170
00:54:32,490 --> 00:54:34,050
That's what Paul meant when he said in

1171
00:54:34,050 --> 00:54:36,430
1 Corinthians 2, he said, when I came

1172
00:54:36,430 --> 00:54:38,850
unto you declaring the testimony of God, I

1173
00:54:38,850 --> 00:54:41,150
didn't come with enticing words of men's wisdom.

1174
00:54:42,330 --> 00:54:42,690
Why?

1175
00:54:43,970 --> 00:54:44,910
Listen to what he said.

1176
00:54:45,570 --> 00:54:47,130
He said, I did not want your faith

1177
00:54:47,130 --> 00:54:49,610
to rest in the wisdom of men, but

1178
00:54:49,610 --> 00:54:50,710
in the power of God.

1179
00:54:51,170 --> 00:54:53,170
That's why he said I came in what?

1180
00:54:53,690 --> 00:54:58,290
Weakness, fear, trembling, and I wasn't going to

1181
00:54:58,290 --> 00:55:01,810
garnish the cross with beautiful flowers and cover

1182
00:55:01,810 --> 00:55:04,590
its ragged, jagged splinters.

1183
00:55:05,670 --> 00:55:06,990
He said I was going to come with

1184
00:55:06,990 --> 00:55:11,330
a message and a method so offensive to

1185
00:55:11,330 --> 00:55:14,710
the natural heart that unless my God broke

1186
00:55:14,710 --> 00:55:26,660
out of heaven and opened so conscious

1187
00:55:26,660 --> 00:55:29,160
I was that unless God came from heaven,

1188
00:55:29,440 --> 00:55:32,600
all my past experience and the thousands of

1189
00:55:32,600 --> 00:55:35,040
sermons I've preached and all the things I've

1190
00:55:35,040 --> 00:55:37,580
seen didn't give me one bit of help.

1191
00:55:37,940 --> 00:55:39,660
I stood before you trembling.

1192
00:55:43,100 --> 00:55:45,200
Ah, dear ones, I believe the Puritans had

1193
00:55:45,200 --> 00:55:46,200
this in great measure.

1194
00:55:46,920 --> 00:55:49,080
You read Eileen, I can't quote, I haven't

1195
00:55:49,080 --> 00:55:50,700
even looked at the clock, probably shouldn't.

1196
00:55:51,100 --> 00:55:53,120
I'll get convicted that I've gone too long.

1197
00:55:54,820 --> 00:55:56,640
But you read Eileen at the outset of

1198
00:55:56,640 --> 00:55:59,140
this book, he says, Oh, God, what shall

1199
00:55:59,140 --> 00:55:59,580
I do?

1200
00:55:59,780 --> 00:56:00,760
The sinner is dead.

1201
00:56:00,820 --> 00:56:01,760
His ears are deaf.

1202
00:56:01,860 --> 00:56:02,980
His eyes are blind.

1203
00:56:03,580 --> 00:56:05,020
He's in the pool of sin.

1204
00:56:05,460 --> 00:56:07,240
And he said, Oh, God, choose my arrows

1205
00:56:07,240 --> 00:56:07,940
for me.

1206
00:56:08,480 --> 00:56:10,180
Lord, how can break through?

1207
00:56:10,260 --> 00:56:11,780
And he has an allusion there to the

1208
00:56:11,780 --> 00:56:14,700
creature there, the Leviathan in Job, who has

1209
00:56:14,700 --> 00:56:18,180
the hide so impregnable that no instrument can

1210
00:56:18,180 --> 00:56:18,720
pierce it.

1211
00:56:18,880 --> 00:56:20,780
But he said, Lord, how can pierce it

1212
00:56:20,780 --> 00:56:22,200
with the arrows of thy truth?

1213
00:56:23,240 --> 00:56:25,100
They didn't usurp the office of the Holy

1214
00:56:25,100 --> 00:56:28,340
Ghost, either in the proclamation, the method.

1215
00:56:30,610 --> 00:56:32,810
When it came time to apply the message

1216
00:56:32,810 --> 00:56:35,630
to an individual, they didn't use this cute

1217
00:56:35,630 --> 00:56:36,430
little syllogism.

1218
00:56:36,650 --> 00:56:37,450
You admit you're a sinner.

1219
00:56:37,590 --> 00:56:37,850
Yes.

1220
00:56:37,870 --> 00:56:38,830
Christ received sinners.

1221
00:56:38,950 --> 00:56:39,810
Yes, you've got it.

1222
00:56:39,890 --> 00:56:40,750
You don't feel a thing.

1223
00:56:40,810 --> 00:56:41,990
You don't know anything's happened.

1224
00:56:41,990 --> 00:56:43,890
But believe me, you've got it.

1225
00:56:44,430 --> 00:56:45,150
Didn't do it.

1226
00:56:45,790 --> 00:56:48,350
They shut men up to God till he

1227
00:56:48,350 --> 00:56:49,050
told them.

1228
00:56:49,430 --> 00:56:51,070
May I share something that has been one

1229
00:56:51,070 --> 00:56:52,990
of the most precious experiences I've had as

1230
00:56:52,990 --> 00:56:53,390
a father.

1231
00:56:54,130 --> 00:56:57,530
I was catechizing my son one evening, and

1232
00:56:57,530 --> 00:56:59,010
we had gotten to the question again.

1233
00:57:01,890 --> 00:57:03,590
What is a change of heart called?

1234
00:57:03,790 --> 00:57:04,610
He said, regeneration.

1235
00:57:05,590 --> 00:57:07,110
Who can change a sinner's heart?

1236
00:57:07,190 --> 00:57:08,710
And he answered the Holy Spirit alone.

1237
00:57:08,810 --> 00:57:11,710
He said, Daddy, he said, I want God

1238
00:57:11,710 --> 00:57:12,430
to give me a new heart.

1239
00:57:12,430 --> 00:57:13,670
I said, well, that's good, son.

1240
00:57:14,410 --> 00:57:16,250
He said, Daddy, if I pray to God,

1241
00:57:16,310 --> 00:57:16,970
will he give me one?

1242
00:57:17,050 --> 00:57:18,010
We went on the next question.

1243
00:57:18,070 --> 00:57:19,330
How can you obtain the help of the

1244
00:57:19,330 --> 00:57:20,010
Holy Spirit?

1245
00:57:20,610 --> 00:57:21,990
God has told us we must pray to

1246
00:57:21,990 --> 00:57:22,210
him.

1247
00:57:22,530 --> 00:57:24,830
He said, Daddy, I'm asking God to give

1248
00:57:24,830 --> 00:57:25,390
me a new heart.

1249
00:57:25,450 --> 00:57:27,350
And he said, Daddy, if I keep asking,

1250
00:57:27,490 --> 00:57:28,270
God will do it, won't he?

1251
00:57:28,310 --> 00:57:29,730
I said, yes, son, he's promised.

1252
00:57:30,170 --> 00:57:31,590
If you ask, you receive.

1253
00:57:31,730 --> 00:57:32,850
If you seek, you'll find.

1254
00:57:33,110 --> 00:57:35,470
And he said, Daddy, you can't tell me

1255
00:57:35,470 --> 00:57:37,650
when he's done it, but he'll tell me,

1256
00:57:37,730 --> 00:57:38,090
won't he?

1257
00:57:40,800 --> 00:57:42,440
I tell you, dear ones, that all I

1258
00:57:42,440 --> 00:57:44,700
do to keep from breaking down and weeping,

1259
00:57:45,720 --> 00:57:47,860
I said, oh God, whether he's just parroting

1260
00:57:47,860 --> 00:57:50,280
something I've told him or whether you've sent

1261
00:57:50,280 --> 00:57:51,980
a little glimmer of light, I don't know.

1262
00:57:52,500 --> 00:57:55,260
But what he said is more sound Bible

1263
00:57:55,260 --> 00:58:02,700
theology expressed in hundreds of evangelistic methods of

1264
00:58:02,700 --> 00:58:03,200
our day.

1265
00:58:05,030 --> 00:58:07,530
Beloved, I don't say these things cruelly, but

1266
00:58:07,530 --> 00:58:08,230
you've got to look.

1267
00:58:08,290 --> 00:58:11,880
I've got a little blood mixed with them.

1268
00:58:12,040 --> 00:58:13,900
Been privileged to be in meetings where the

1269
00:58:13,900 --> 00:58:16,020
Spirit of God has been pleased to come

1270
00:58:16,020 --> 00:58:19,180
and people have been under conviction, sometimes where

1271
00:58:19,180 --> 00:58:22,260
there's been visible evidence of tears and deep

1272
00:58:22,260 --> 00:58:22,880
concern.

1273
00:58:24,000 --> 00:58:28,380
I refuse to create any impression that any

1274
00:58:28,380 --> 00:58:30,780
overt act was to be identified with the

1275
00:58:30,780 --> 00:58:32,980
inward reality of the reception of grace.

1276
00:58:33,500 --> 00:58:35,060
So I wouldn't call them down an aisle

1277
00:58:35,060 --> 00:58:36,600
or to a room, but tell them to

1278
00:58:36,600 --> 00:58:37,320
seek God.

1279
00:58:38,100 --> 00:58:40,180
And if they had questions and needed help

1280
00:58:40,180 --> 00:58:42,260
to get more light to come and would

1281
00:58:42,260 --> 00:58:43,800
stay there till the break of day.

1282
00:58:44,140 --> 00:58:45,560
But if they had all the right they

1283
00:58:45,560 --> 00:58:48,820
had, I would know where to come under

1284
00:58:48,820 --> 00:58:49,760
God by him.

1285
00:58:53,730 --> 00:58:55,430
I've seen men of God write me off,

1286
00:58:55,770 --> 00:58:56,590
count me cruel.

1287
00:58:58,700 --> 00:59:00,280
And I've handed him my Bible and said,

1288
00:59:00,360 --> 00:59:02,300
my brother, when I stand before God, I'll

1289
00:59:02,300 --> 00:59:04,540
be judged on the basis of the message

1290
00:59:04,540 --> 00:59:07,220
and the method is found in this book.

1291
00:59:08,020 --> 00:59:11,220
Please show me chapter and verse, principle or

1292
00:59:11,220 --> 00:59:11,840
precept.

1293
00:59:13,580 --> 00:59:14,720
It hadn't been done yet.

1294
00:59:17,430 --> 00:59:19,410
This is why I'm prejudiced to my Puritan

1295
00:59:19,410 --> 00:59:19,790
trend.

1296
00:59:20,350 --> 00:59:23,150
For they encourage me to trust the Holy

1297
00:59:23,150 --> 00:59:26,210
Ghost, to do his work of conviction, of

1298
00:59:26,210 --> 00:59:28,510
illumination, of drawing to Christ and then of

1299
00:59:28,510 --> 00:59:30,630
assuring sinners when he's done the work.

1300
00:59:31,250 --> 00:59:34,990
Now, just quickly, what method of communication did

1301
00:59:34,990 --> 00:59:35,510
they use?

1302
00:59:36,490 --> 00:59:38,370
And here I would state that the matter

1303
00:59:38,370 --> 00:59:40,990
of method will differ in age to age,

1304
00:59:41,390 --> 00:59:43,790
according to gifts and style and the rest.

1305
00:59:44,190 --> 00:59:46,890
The man suggests three things that characterize the

1306
00:59:46,890 --> 00:59:50,490
method by which the Puritans communicated this gospel

1307
00:59:50,490 --> 00:59:56,510
that was doctrinal, symmetrical, scriptural.

1308
00:59:57,270 --> 01:00:00,350
One that had a strong theism as a

1309
01:00:00,350 --> 01:00:06,250
platform, used the law wisely, discriminatory in its

1310
01:00:06,250 --> 01:00:10,810
application of truth, sounded a clear note of

1311
01:00:10,810 --> 01:00:13,670
repentance, the whole Christ for the whole man,

1312
01:00:14,230 --> 01:00:16,130
didn't usurp the work of the Spirit.

1313
01:00:16,550 --> 01:00:17,990
How did they communicate it?

1314
01:00:18,330 --> 01:00:19,670
Three things I would suggest.

1315
01:00:19,850 --> 01:00:23,110
Their communication was, first of all, reasonable.

1316
01:00:24,890 --> 01:00:27,610
Secondly, it was affectionate or impassioned.

1317
01:00:29,230 --> 01:00:30,670
Then I thought I had a third.

1318
01:00:30,790 --> 01:00:32,510
Let me check my general outline here.

1319
01:00:34,590 --> 01:00:36,470
Now, those are just the two basic things

1320
01:00:36,470 --> 01:00:36,970
that I had.

1321
01:00:37,730 --> 01:00:39,890
When one reads the evangelism of the Puritans,

1322
01:00:39,950 --> 01:00:41,750
he's stuck with the fact that they're addressing

1323
01:00:41,750 --> 01:00:43,250
men as reasoning creatures.

1324
01:00:44,190 --> 01:00:46,270
They did not come to the unregenerate man

1325
01:00:46,270 --> 01:00:48,770
with a barrage of pressure directly upon his

1326
01:00:48,770 --> 01:00:52,170
will, but they are seeking to move the

1327
01:00:52,170 --> 01:00:53,930
man by way of his understanding.

1328
01:00:54,650 --> 01:00:56,830
As someone has pointed out in his comment

1329
01:00:56,830 --> 01:01:00,850
on Doddridge's classic, quote, Doddridge addresses the intellect

1330
01:01:00,850 --> 01:01:03,730
to shame his readers for their unreasonable neglect

1331
01:01:03,730 --> 01:01:04,290
of God.

1332
01:01:04,810 --> 01:01:07,850
By direct charge and natural analogy, he appeals

1333
01:01:07,850 --> 01:01:10,370
to the conscience to produce conviction of sin.

1334
01:01:10,910 --> 01:01:13,230
His use of such argument, however, does not

1335
01:01:13,230 --> 01:01:15,430
mean that like the rationalist of his day,

1336
01:01:15,810 --> 01:01:17,210
he's forgotten the limitation.

1337
01:01:19,160 --> 01:01:21,480
It is his contention that conscience is the

1338
01:01:21,480 --> 01:01:23,620
voice of God to the sinner, and we

1339
01:01:23,620 --> 01:01:26,540
continually meet with such phrases as, quote, I

1340
01:01:26,540 --> 01:01:29,980
put it into your conscience, and, quote, is

1341
01:01:29,980 --> 01:01:32,580
it so contrary to the plainest principles of

1342
01:01:32,580 --> 01:01:33,440
common reason?

1343
01:01:33,540 --> 01:01:35,860
You find this in Elyon's alarm.

1344
01:01:36,480 --> 01:01:39,140
He tries to show men the unreasonableness of

1345
01:01:39,140 --> 01:01:42,100
going on in an impenitent state.

1346
01:01:43,640 --> 01:01:45,620
The Puritans even dared to answer some of

1347
01:01:45,620 --> 01:01:47,700
the thorny questions relative to the doctrine of

1348
01:01:47,700 --> 01:01:50,180
election when they were proclaiming the evangelism.

1349
01:01:50,320 --> 01:01:52,480
Convinced as they were that every excuse should

1350
01:01:52,480 --> 01:01:54,000
be torn from the hand of the sinner

1351
01:01:54,000 --> 01:01:57,080
so that he stands inexcusable before God, it's

1352
01:01:57,080 --> 01:01:59,440
not surprising to find Elyon reasoning with the

1353
01:01:59,440 --> 01:02:02,180
sinner in the following manner, quote, you begin

1354
01:02:02,180 --> 01:02:03,960
at the wrong end if you dispute about

1355
01:02:03,960 --> 01:02:07,180
your election, prove your conversion, and then never

1356
01:02:07,180 --> 01:02:08,080
doubt your election.

1357
01:02:08,500 --> 01:02:10,940
If you cannot prove it, set upon a

1358
01:02:10,940 --> 01:02:12,320
present thorough turning.

1359
01:02:12,900 --> 01:02:16,340
Whatever God's purposes be, which are secret, I'm

1360
01:02:16,340 --> 01:02:18,080
sure his promises are plain.

1361
01:02:18,560 --> 01:02:20,480
How desperately do argue?

1362
01:02:20,760 --> 01:02:22,400
If I'm elected, I'll be saved.

1363
01:02:22,540 --> 01:02:23,140
Do what I will.

1364
01:02:23,620 --> 01:02:24,920
If not, I'll be damned.

1365
01:02:25,040 --> 01:02:25,840
Do what I can.

1366
01:02:26,220 --> 01:02:28,540
Perverse sinner, will you begin where you should

1367
01:02:28,540 --> 01:02:28,840
end?

1368
01:02:29,240 --> 01:02:30,760
Is not the word before you?

1369
01:02:30,900 --> 01:02:31,740
What does it say?

1370
01:02:32,280 --> 01:02:34,500
Repent and be converted that your sins may

1371
01:02:34,500 --> 01:02:35,280
be blotted out.

1372
01:02:35,880 --> 01:02:36,920
What can be plainer?

1373
01:02:37,240 --> 01:02:40,240
Do not stand still disputing about your election,

1374
01:02:40,580 --> 01:02:42,620
but set to repenting and believing.

1375
01:02:43,240 --> 01:02:45,320
Cry to God for converting grace.

1376
01:02:45,720 --> 01:02:47,480
Reveal things belong to you.

1377
01:02:47,780 --> 01:02:49,320
In these, busy yourself.

1378
01:02:50,120 --> 01:02:52,340
It is just as one has said, they

1379
01:02:52,340 --> 01:02:54,040
who will not feed on the plain food

1380
01:02:54,040 --> 01:02:57,000
of the word should be choked with the

1381
01:02:57,000 --> 01:02:57,320
bones.

1382
01:02:58,200 --> 01:03:00,840
Whatever God's purposes may be, I'm sure his

1383
01:03:00,840 --> 01:03:01,900
promises are true.

1384
01:03:02,400 --> 01:03:04,540
Whatever the decrees of heaven may be, I'm

1385
01:03:04,540 --> 01:03:10,900
sure that if I repent, there's not this

1386
01:03:10,900 --> 01:03:12,160
plain ground for you.

1387
01:03:12,620 --> 01:03:14,620
And will you yet run upon the rocks?

1388
01:03:15,000 --> 01:03:15,600
Isn't that beautiful?

1389
01:03:16,520 --> 01:03:20,540
Because they realized any mental barrier could stand

1390
01:03:20,540 --> 01:03:22,600
as a block between the soul and its

1391
01:03:22,600 --> 01:03:23,740
approach to Christ.

1392
01:03:24,120 --> 01:03:25,440
And so they reasoned with the sinner.

1393
01:03:25,960 --> 01:03:28,020
They did as one eminent servant of God

1394
01:03:28,020 --> 01:03:28,940
said we must do.

1395
01:03:29,360 --> 01:03:31,560
We must grow with the stick of divine

1396
01:03:31,560 --> 01:03:34,520
truth and beat every bush behind which a

1397
01:03:34,520 --> 01:03:41,320
sinner hides until we're God in his nakedness.

1398
01:03:41,800 --> 01:03:42,520
Why do we do that?

1399
01:03:42,620 --> 01:03:43,320
Because we're cruel?

1400
01:03:43,680 --> 01:03:46,100
No, because we know until he gets out

1401
01:03:46,100 --> 01:03:49,560
from behind that bush, he'll never cry to

1402
01:03:49,560 --> 01:03:51,320
be clothed in the righteousness.

1403
01:03:53,130 --> 01:03:54,950
So the Spirit has reasoned with them.

1404
01:03:55,530 --> 01:03:57,190
They addressed truth to the mind.

1405
01:03:58,330 --> 01:03:59,870
They did it by logical order.

1406
01:04:00,730 --> 01:04:02,930
They did it by specific naming of sins.

1407
01:04:03,530 --> 01:04:05,590
It's interesting after Hylian gets through the first

1408
01:04:05,590 --> 01:04:07,830
60 pages of his book and you say,

1409
01:04:07,870 --> 01:04:09,690
my, he's just clobbered all of us.

1410
01:04:10,050 --> 01:04:11,870
Then he says this when he starts chapter

1411
01:04:11,870 --> 01:04:14,910
four, while we keep aloof in general statements,

1412
01:04:15,170 --> 01:04:16,230
he's given those 10.

1413
01:04:16,970 --> 01:04:20,850
Yes, he's given the 10 outward marks, the

1414
01:04:20,850 --> 01:04:22,150
12 inward marks.

1415
01:04:22,630 --> 01:04:24,290
And now he says, while we keep aloof

1416
01:04:24,290 --> 01:04:27,210
in general statements, there's little fruit to be

1417
01:04:27,210 --> 01:04:27,750
expected.

1418
01:04:28,030 --> 01:04:30,530
It's the hand fight that does the execution.

1419
01:04:32,010 --> 01:04:34,450
David is not awakened by the prophets hovering

1420
01:04:34,450 --> 01:04:37,210
at a distance in parabolical insinuations.

1421
01:04:37,810 --> 01:04:39,830
Nathan's forced to clothe with him and tell

1422
01:04:39,830 --> 01:04:42,170
him plainly, thou art the man.

1423
01:04:43,350 --> 01:04:45,130
When I read that, I said, Lord, how

1424
01:04:45,130 --> 01:04:49,270
much closer can you go than just talking?

1425
01:04:51,290 --> 01:04:55,630
Logical order, specific naming of sins, and then

1426
01:04:55,630 --> 01:04:58,110
the pressing of questions upon the conscience.

1427
01:04:59,070 --> 01:05:00,870
This is something that has struck me, that

1428
01:05:00,870 --> 01:05:03,950
all the great masters of Puritan evangelism and

1429
01:05:03,950 --> 01:05:06,630
those who've drunk of the same wells learn

1430
01:05:06,630 --> 01:05:09,030
to use the question as a probe to

1431
01:05:09,030 --> 01:05:09,590
conscience.

1432
01:05:09,990 --> 01:05:13,030
Hylian in some places has whole pages of

1433
01:05:13,030 --> 01:05:13,490
questions.

1434
01:05:14,070 --> 01:05:16,270
Let me just take several sentences out of

1435
01:05:16,270 --> 01:05:16,670
page.

1436
01:05:19,010 --> 01:05:21,470
Is it a reasonable thing for you to

1437
01:05:21,470 --> 01:05:22,830
contend against the Lord?

1438
01:05:23,310 --> 01:05:26,370
Is it reasonable that an understanding preacher should

1439
01:05:26,370 --> 01:05:29,050
lose, yea, live quite against the very end

1440
01:05:29,050 --> 01:05:29,730
of his being?

1441
01:05:30,370 --> 01:05:31,590
Is it reasonable?

1442
01:05:32,410 --> 01:05:34,010
Does it make sense?

1443
01:05:34,410 --> 01:05:36,050
How is it with your soul?

1444
01:05:36,190 --> 01:05:38,710
You see, probing the mind with the question,

1445
01:05:39,210 --> 01:05:41,090
forcing conscience to do his work.

1446
01:05:41,770 --> 01:05:43,950
The Puritan believed that the handle that he

1447
01:05:43,950 --> 01:05:46,070
had in the dead sinner was his conscience.

1448
01:05:47,230 --> 01:05:49,470
Only God could do the saving work, but

1449
01:05:49,470 --> 01:05:50,770
he did it by means of the truth.

1450
01:05:52,330 --> 01:05:53,550
I had a man who claimed to be

1451
01:05:53,550 --> 01:05:55,670
a Calvinist say, after I delivered this paper

1452
01:05:55,670 --> 01:05:58,830
elsewhere, he said, well, you talk like you

1453
01:05:58,830 --> 01:06:00,790
believe we ought to preach and so the

1454
01:06:00,790 --> 01:06:01,630
whole work depends.

1455
01:06:03,960 --> 01:06:06,660
I said, my dear brother, you and I

1456
01:06:06,660 --> 01:06:09,140
are called upon to employ every means of

1457
01:06:09,140 --> 01:06:11,340
the instrument he's put in our hands to

1458
01:06:11,340 --> 01:06:13,060
study and pray continually.

1459
01:06:13,220 --> 01:06:15,600
God, how can I communicate the truth to

1460
01:06:15,600 --> 01:06:15,920
sinners?

1461
01:06:16,700 --> 01:06:19,120
Packer says in his book, love is enterprising,

1462
01:06:19,640 --> 01:06:22,020
and if I love sinners, I'll be enterprising

1463
01:06:22,020 --> 01:06:25,040
to find every legitimate tool that the Holy

1464
01:06:25,040 --> 01:06:27,860
Ghost has given me to somehow stab and

1465
01:06:27,860 --> 01:06:30,580
wound the sinner's heart that God might bring

1466
01:06:30,580 --> 01:06:31,380
into himself.

1467
01:06:32,100 --> 01:06:33,780
And a man tells me he loves souls

1468
01:06:33,780 --> 01:06:35,920
and just goes on week after week saying,

1469
01:06:36,700 --> 01:06:41,100
naming a few sins and only categorizing people

1470
01:06:41,100 --> 01:06:43,720
in big general globs and not seeking to

1471
01:06:43,720 --> 01:06:46,080
be discriminating, that man has no love for

1472
01:06:46,080 --> 01:06:46,340
souls.

1473
01:06:47,800 --> 01:06:50,920
Now the ability to do this may be

1474
01:06:50,920 --> 01:06:55,140
somewhat varied according to gifts, experience, background, but

1475
01:06:55,140 --> 01:06:57,060
if there isn't a burning attempt to do

1476
01:06:57,060 --> 01:07:00,020
it, it's because we've got a cold and

1477
01:07:01,840 --> 01:07:02,880
we don't love sinners.

1478
01:07:04,140 --> 01:07:07,680
If I saw men in some kind of

1479
01:07:07,680 --> 01:07:11,260
dire physical plight, not all would be rescued

1480
01:07:11,260 --> 01:07:12,980
by the exact same means.

1481
01:07:13,620 --> 01:07:15,260
If I had any love for them, I

1482
01:07:15,260 --> 01:07:17,240
would do everything in my power to learn

1483
01:07:17,240 --> 01:07:20,020
every single means and use it to rescue

1484
01:07:20,020 --> 01:07:21,340
as many as I could.

1485
01:07:23,480 --> 01:07:24,940
I believe this is what God wants us

1486
01:07:24,940 --> 01:07:25,180
to do.

1487
01:07:25,300 --> 01:07:26,000
Remember what Paul said?

1488
01:07:26,760 --> 01:07:29,720
The same Paul who said, when it pleased

1489
01:07:29,720 --> 01:07:31,920
God who separated me from my mother's womb

1490
01:07:31,920 --> 01:07:34,080
and called me, the same Paul who wrote

1491
01:07:34,080 --> 01:07:38,220
Romans 9 said, I am become all things

1492
01:07:38,220 --> 01:07:40,320
to all men that are...

1493
01:07:47,580 --> 01:07:48,480
Why did he do it?

1494
01:07:49,400 --> 01:07:50,580
Love is enterprising.

1495
01:07:51,500 --> 01:07:53,240
As I said to my people, put in

1496
01:07:53,240 --> 01:07:55,520
that 20th century vernacular, when Paul saw a

1497
01:07:55,520 --> 01:07:56,940
man over there, first thing he wanted to

1498
01:07:56,940 --> 01:07:57,740
get was his ears.

1499
01:07:58,880 --> 01:08:00,720
First part of any man's anatomy that Paul

1500
01:08:00,720 --> 01:08:01,840
saw were man's ears.

1501
01:08:02,820 --> 01:08:03,420
That's right.

1502
01:08:04,220 --> 01:08:05,660
Because he said, I've got a message that

1503
01:08:05,660 --> 01:08:07,680
maybe God will send into the ears of

1504
01:08:07,680 --> 01:08:08,820
his heart, but they won't go to the

1505
01:08:08,820 --> 01:08:09,860
ears of his heart till they come to

1506
01:08:09,860 --> 01:08:10,640
these physical ears.

1507
01:08:11,260 --> 01:08:12,580
So he starts over to that man.

1508
01:08:12,620 --> 01:08:13,780
He wants to get his ears and tell

1509
01:08:13,780 --> 01:08:14,300
his message.

1510
01:08:14,820 --> 01:08:16,140
But he sees that in front of those

1511
01:08:16,140 --> 01:08:18,040
ears is a big Jewish nose.

1512
01:08:19,859 --> 01:08:21,880
So Paul takes his ham sandwich and he

1513
01:08:21,880 --> 01:08:23,580
puts it back in his valise.

1514
01:08:25,460 --> 01:08:25,720
Yeah.

1515
01:08:26,660 --> 01:08:28,040
You see, he doesn't come up to that

1516
01:08:28,040 --> 01:08:31,439
man eating his ham sandwich because he knows

1517
01:08:31,439 --> 01:08:33,899
that though in front of those ears is

1518
01:08:33,899 --> 01:08:36,080
a nose, that those nose are attached to

1519
01:08:36,080 --> 01:08:36,399
a feet.

1520
01:08:37,420 --> 01:08:38,720
And if he comes up with a ham

1521
01:08:38,720 --> 01:08:39,899
sandwich, the feet are going to go.

1522
01:08:40,000 --> 01:08:41,620
And when they go, the nose is going

1523
01:08:41,620 --> 01:08:41,979
to go.

1524
01:08:42,380 --> 01:08:50,760
And to my friend Aby, I become a

1525
01:08:50,760 --> 01:08:51,500
Jew to the Jews.

1526
01:08:51,620 --> 01:08:53,840
I only have my kosher food with me.

1527
01:08:55,200 --> 01:08:56,359
Isn't that what he's saying?

1528
01:08:56,720 --> 01:08:57,640
Why did he do it?

1529
01:08:57,979 --> 01:09:00,000
Because he thought he could save the sinner.

1530
01:09:00,479 --> 01:09:01,580
No, he's the same.

1531
01:09:10,979 --> 01:09:13,040
He knew that his task was to proclaim

1532
01:09:13,040 --> 01:09:17,279
the message accurately to as many people and

1533
01:09:17,279 --> 01:09:18,380
with earnest intrigue.

1534
01:09:22,300 --> 01:09:24,160
And that leads me to the second point.

1535
01:09:24,240 --> 01:09:25,779
I'll not need to labor it there.

1536
01:09:26,800 --> 01:09:29,840
Evangelism was affectionate or impassioned.

1537
01:09:30,680 --> 01:09:33,120
It's a rare thing to find a ministry

1538
01:09:33,120 --> 01:09:36,420
which both feeds the mind with solid substance

1539
01:09:36,420 --> 01:09:41,020
and moves the heart with affectionate warmth.

1540
01:09:42,020 --> 01:09:43,220
That's a rare thing.

1541
01:09:44,040 --> 01:09:44,500
Isn't it?

1542
01:09:45,340 --> 01:09:47,220
That's what our brother Ernie was talking about.

1543
01:09:48,560 --> 01:09:52,740
Solid substance, but warm overtones of truth.

1544
01:09:52,920 --> 01:09:54,600
And wasn't God good to give us a

1545
01:09:54,600 --> 01:09:56,460
living demonstration of it last night?

1546
01:09:57,360 --> 01:09:59,580
It's a long time since I've wept halfway

1547
01:09:59,580 --> 01:10:00,260
through a sermon.

1548
01:10:01,320 --> 01:10:03,400
And I asked myself later, did he tell

1549
01:10:03,400 --> 01:10:06,060
any stories that were emotionally touching?

1550
01:10:06,160 --> 01:10:06,720
Not a one.

1551
01:10:08,040 --> 01:10:10,400
I even teach young preachers to use illustrations.

1552
01:10:10,580 --> 01:10:12,100
Brother Fletcher, you didn't use any last night.

1553
01:10:14,170 --> 01:10:15,310
He's a close friend.

1554
01:10:15,490 --> 01:10:17,110
He knows the spirit in which I said

1555
01:10:17,110 --> 01:10:18,550
that he's my elder in the Lord, and

1556
01:10:18,550 --> 01:10:19,990
I wouldn't want to be disrespectful.

1557
01:10:20,630 --> 01:10:22,610
But we've been together in meetings, and I

1558
01:10:22,610 --> 01:10:24,510
believe George knows the spirit in which I

1559
01:10:24,510 --> 01:10:24,970
said that.

1560
01:10:26,630 --> 01:10:29,930
Was there that which had any natural way?

1561
01:10:30,030 --> 01:10:30,230
No.

1562
01:10:30,330 --> 01:10:30,790
What was it?

1563
01:10:30,910 --> 01:10:34,190
Just the holding forth of the great and

1564
01:10:34,190 --> 01:10:38,390
glorious doctrines of God's grace in Jesus Christ.

1565
01:10:39,110 --> 01:10:41,470
But somehow God the Holy Ghost came and

1566
01:10:41,470 --> 01:10:42,790
sat on those words.

1567
01:10:43,830 --> 01:10:45,590
And the time they come out of the

1568
01:10:45,590 --> 01:10:47,690
mouth of His servant got into our hearts,

1569
01:10:47,850 --> 01:10:52,010
and our heads were informed with solid substance,

1570
01:10:52,290 --> 01:10:54,970
and our hearts burned with warmth by the

1571
01:10:54,970 --> 01:10:55,730
Holy Ghost.

1572
01:10:56,510 --> 01:10:57,570
That's a rare thing.

1573
01:10:59,350 --> 01:11:01,750
The Puritans, I think, captured that.

1574
01:11:03,490 --> 01:11:04,710
At least I find when I read them,

1575
01:11:04,750 --> 01:11:05,370
that's what happens.

1576
01:11:06,870 --> 01:11:08,550
And they did it in their evangelism.

1577
01:11:09,550 --> 01:11:12,290
One who's reviewed Doddridge's Rise and Progress said,

1578
01:11:12,430 --> 01:11:14,310
quote, one feels in reading the book his

1579
01:11:14,310 --> 01:11:16,990
intense longing for the salvation of the sinner.

1580
01:11:17,430 --> 01:11:20,410
He conveys this desire in the painstaking care

1581
01:11:20,410 --> 01:11:22,830
with which he pursues the sinner into every

1582
01:11:22,830 --> 01:11:24,590
corner of his carnal confidence.

1583
01:11:24,890 --> 01:11:25,370
Isn't that good?

1584
01:11:26,130 --> 01:11:28,310
Pursues the sinner, loves him enough to keep

1585
01:11:28,310 --> 01:11:30,730
after him into every corner of his carnal

1586
01:11:30,730 --> 01:11:31,210
confidence.

1587
01:11:31,830 --> 01:11:34,590
When one is done reading Eilean's Alarm, he's

1588
01:11:34,590 --> 01:11:36,850
struck again with the clear application of this

1589
01:11:36,850 --> 01:11:40,410
principle enunciated by Charles Spurgeon when he said,

1590
01:11:40,710 --> 01:11:43,030
quote, I wouldn't be in if I didn't

1591
01:11:43,030 --> 01:11:44,270
have one quote from Spurgeon.

1592
01:11:47,300 --> 01:11:49,360
When I have shot and spent all my

1593
01:11:49,360 --> 01:11:51,760
gospel bullets and have none left, and little

1594
01:11:51,760 --> 01:11:54,060
effect seems to be made upon my ears,

1595
01:11:54,500 --> 01:11:56,780
I then put myself in the gun and

1596
01:11:56,780 --> 01:11:58,080
shoot myself at them.

1597
01:11:59,420 --> 01:12:00,320
End of quote.

1598
01:12:01,260 --> 01:12:02,480
What did he mean?

1599
01:12:03,220 --> 01:12:05,260
He meant he would just unzip his heart

1600
01:12:05,260 --> 01:12:06,900
and plead.

1601
01:12:08,060 --> 01:12:10,620
Robert Murray McShane wasn't a Puritan by name

1602
01:12:10,620 --> 01:12:11,980
or by the time in which he was

1603
01:12:11,980 --> 01:12:14,120
born, but in the doctrines he preached, in

1604
01:12:14,120 --> 01:12:18,300
his discriminatory application of truth, the use of

1605
01:12:18,300 --> 01:12:19,900
the law, he fits in here.

1606
01:12:20,020 --> 01:12:21,500
Some of you perhaps have heard the story.

1607
01:12:22,300 --> 01:12:24,160
Someone went to the church where he preached

1608
01:12:24,160 --> 01:12:26,120
and saw such blessing of God.

1609
01:12:27,100 --> 01:12:29,220
And the old sextant was there who had

1610
01:12:29,220 --> 01:12:32,080
been there when Robert Murray McShane was holding

1611
01:12:32,080 --> 01:12:33,080
forth the word of life.

1612
01:12:33,220 --> 01:12:36,240
And this man, awed by the sense that

1613
01:12:36,240 --> 01:12:37,960
this was the place where there'd been such

1614
01:12:37,960 --> 01:12:40,620
mighty visitations of God, was looking at the

1615
01:12:40,620 --> 01:12:42,240
different parts of the church and the old

1616
01:12:42,240 --> 01:12:42,940
sextant took him.

1617
01:12:44,510 --> 01:12:46,090
And the man said to the sextant, tell

1618
01:12:46,090 --> 01:12:48,230
me, having been here, sat under this godly

1619
01:12:48,230 --> 01:12:49,850
man's ministry, what do you feel was the

1620
01:12:49,850 --> 01:12:50,110
secret?

1621
01:12:51,810 --> 01:12:53,930
He said, my friend, go around, sit in

1622
01:12:53,930 --> 01:12:54,390
that desk.

1623
01:12:56,050 --> 01:12:56,650
So he did.

1624
01:12:56,710 --> 01:12:57,910
He walked around, sat in the desk.

1625
01:12:58,870 --> 01:13:00,770
He said, now put your head over on

1626
01:13:00,770 --> 01:13:01,230
the desk.

1627
01:13:02,490 --> 01:13:02,950
He did.

1628
01:13:03,070 --> 01:13:05,690
He said, now put your face in your

1629
01:13:05,690 --> 01:13:07,730
hands and weep.

1630
01:13:13,190 --> 01:13:14,330
They walked out of the study.

1631
01:13:15,030 --> 01:13:16,570
They went out into the sanctuary.

1632
01:13:17,570 --> 01:13:19,230
And he stood in the pulpit from which

1633
01:13:19,230 --> 01:13:23,010
Robert Murray McShane sounded forth the glorious gospel

1634
01:13:23,010 --> 01:13:25,670
of our ever-blessed God and our Lord

1635
01:13:25,670 --> 01:13:26,370
Jesus Christ.

1636
01:13:28,450 --> 01:13:29,390
And he said, you want to know the

1637
01:13:29,390 --> 01:13:31,470
success, the secret of the success of his

1638
01:13:31,470 --> 01:13:31,850
ministry?

1639
01:13:32,230 --> 01:13:33,650
He said, lean over the pulpit.

1640
01:13:34,350 --> 01:13:35,550
The man leaned over.

1641
01:13:36,310 --> 01:13:37,710
He said, now stretch out your arm.

1642
01:13:39,050 --> 01:13:40,850
He said, now weep again.

1643
01:13:46,260 --> 01:13:52,080
I sense this in Baxter, Eileen, Dodd-Rich,

1644
01:13:53,460 --> 01:13:58,040
and even though the personality of the keen,

1645
01:13:58,500 --> 01:14:03,120
logical Jonathan Edwards would perhaps not lend to

1646
01:14:03,120 --> 01:14:06,440
the weeping of the eyes, you sense the

1647
01:14:06,440 --> 01:14:07,280
weeping heart.

1648
01:14:10,620 --> 01:14:13,280
Oh, beloved, may God give to me, give

1649
01:14:13,280 --> 01:14:18,840
to you, that distinctive of Puritan evangelism.

1650
01:14:21,190 --> 01:14:23,450
And then, last of all, the means.

1651
01:14:24,330 --> 01:14:26,350
What means were used?

1652
01:14:27,970 --> 01:14:29,830
I won't go into these details.

1653
01:14:30,010 --> 01:14:31,770
Perhaps the other things have been more important.

1654
01:14:31,910 --> 01:14:32,730
It was pastoral.

1655
01:14:34,330 --> 01:14:37,310
They didn't make this distinction between an evangelistic

1656
01:14:37,310 --> 01:14:40,530
sermon and an expository sermon, for the Bible

1657
01:14:40,530 --> 01:14:43,050
is both an instruction book for the saints

1658
01:14:43,050 --> 01:14:45,210
on their way to heaven and a guide

1659
01:14:45,210 --> 01:14:47,230
for those in the broad road as to

1660
01:14:47,230 --> 01:14:49,370
how to get into that narrow gate and

1661
01:14:49,370 --> 01:14:50,410
get on the narrow way.

1662
01:14:51,210 --> 01:14:53,290
And so you find wherever they could legitimately

1663
01:14:53,290 --> 01:14:56,190
do so, there was the continual sounding out

1664
01:14:56,190 --> 01:14:58,970
of these great notes of divine revelation.

1665
01:14:59,770 --> 01:15:01,790
It would seem that their ministry was not

1666
01:15:01,790 --> 01:15:03,270
only pastoral, but occasional.

1667
01:15:03,550 --> 01:15:06,030
It said of Eileen, by his wife, that

1668
01:15:06,030 --> 01:15:07,310
in the latter days of his life he

1669
01:15:07,310 --> 01:15:09,810
would preach anywhere from nine to fourteen times,

1670
01:15:09,990 --> 01:15:12,390
seeming to indicate that when these men sensed

1671
01:15:12,390 --> 01:15:15,690
that the place or upon the ministry of

1672
01:15:15,690 --> 01:15:18,510
a certain man, then they would give themselves

1673
01:15:18,510 --> 01:15:19,290
to more meetings.

1674
01:15:19,450 --> 01:15:21,250
This would demand more historical study.

1675
01:15:21,390 --> 01:15:24,610
I'm not qualified to speak authoritatively in this

1676
01:15:24,610 --> 01:15:24,990
area.

1677
01:15:26,470 --> 01:15:29,170
Perhaps someone could do the Church of God's

1678
01:15:29,170 --> 01:15:31,010
service by following through on this.

1679
01:15:31,130 --> 01:15:32,690
And then thirdly, it was catechetical.

1680
01:15:33,510 --> 01:15:36,470
Baxter's comments are proverbial on the influence of

1681
01:15:36,470 --> 01:15:39,950
catechetical instruction as a means of evangelism.

1682
01:15:40,570 --> 01:15:42,910
Of Eileen, it is said that five days

1683
01:15:42,910 --> 01:15:44,890
a week he followed up his work of

1684
01:15:44,890 --> 01:15:49,490
Sunday and kept a list of all the

1685
01:15:49,490 --> 01:15:52,550
people on the streets and catechized regularly.

1686
01:15:53,090 --> 01:15:55,250
May I commend for your reading along this

1687
01:15:55,250 --> 01:15:59,330
line of the benefit of catechetical instruction as

1688
01:15:59,330 --> 01:16:02,030
an instrument of evangelism, an article by John

1689
01:16:02,030 --> 01:16:04,170
Murray in The Banner of Truth, the compilation

1690
01:16:04,170 --> 01:16:08,670
of their periodicals, volume two, and the last

1691
01:16:08,670 --> 01:16:11,710
chapter in Shedd's book on pastoral theology and

1692
01:16:11,710 --> 01:16:12,350
homiletics.

1693
01:16:12,750 --> 01:16:14,410
Two excellent articles.

1694
01:16:14,670 --> 01:16:16,250
What was the result of such a method?

1695
01:16:17,110 --> 01:16:20,810
In our day, when the quick results, many

1696
01:16:20,810 --> 01:16:23,450
are responding, take note of this now, to

1697
01:16:23,450 --> 01:16:26,350
an unknown Christ from a sense of unknown

1698
01:16:26,350 --> 01:16:28,890
need in terms of unknown conditions.

1699
01:16:30,570 --> 01:16:31,270
You got it?

1700
01:16:32,650 --> 01:16:36,070
We're so intent upon quick results, people are

1701
01:16:36,070 --> 01:16:38,770
responding to an unknown Christ from a sense

1702
01:16:38,770 --> 01:16:41,590
of unknown need in terms of unknown conditions.

1703
01:16:42,230 --> 01:16:45,030
But Puritan evangelism was marked by its thoroughness,

1704
01:16:45,310 --> 01:16:48,430
and the practice of catechizing was no small

1705
01:16:48,430 --> 01:16:49,790
part of this thoroughness.

1706
01:16:50,730 --> 01:16:51,970
I like to think of it in terms

1707
01:16:51,970 --> 01:16:54,310
of a fireplace, and God says to us

1708
01:16:54,310 --> 01:16:56,470
as his servants, lay the great logs of

1709
01:16:56,470 --> 01:16:58,390
my truth in the minds of people.

1710
01:16:58,470 --> 01:17:00,050
The fireplace is the human mind.

1711
01:17:01,230 --> 01:17:03,430
There's no warmth, there's no light from those

1712
01:17:03,430 --> 01:17:05,390
logs, but they're there in the fireplace.

1713
01:17:08,230 --> 01:17:10,850
You and I can't give any saving warmth

1714
01:17:10,850 --> 01:17:14,710
or light to truth, but we can watch

1715
01:17:14,710 --> 01:17:18,600
truth in the minds of others.

1716
01:17:18,800 --> 01:17:21,860
And when God sends the fire of his

1717
01:17:21,860 --> 01:17:25,220
own spirit, there's something to be ignited, and

1718
01:17:25,220 --> 01:17:27,260
when it begins to burn, it isn't the

1719
01:17:27,260 --> 01:17:29,240
quick puff of a piece of paper that's

1720
01:17:29,240 --> 01:17:30,880
been thrown in in the spur of the

1721
01:17:30,880 --> 01:17:35,160
moment, but it's the continuous glow and long

1722
01:17:35,160 --> 01:17:37,180
-lasting fire of logs.

1723
01:17:39,100 --> 01:17:42,500
That's instruction, catechizing, laying the beams of truth,

1724
01:17:42,600 --> 01:17:46,480
and calling upon God that he'll take that

1725
01:17:46,480 --> 01:17:49,280
truth and give the light and warmth that

1726
01:17:49,280 --> 01:17:50,260
only he can give.

1727
01:17:50,400 --> 01:17:51,760
So beloved, he's not going to put the

1728
01:17:51,760 --> 01:17:52,380
logs in there.

1729
01:17:52,500 --> 01:17:53,380
I've got to do it.

1730
01:17:55,860 --> 01:17:56,600
It's my task.

1731
01:17:57,460 --> 01:17:59,360
The mood or climate of their evangelism?

1732
01:17:59,960 --> 01:18:03,060
Reverence, sobriety, and urgency.

1733
01:18:04,080 --> 01:18:07,220
They didn't try to haplify people to Jesus.

1734
01:18:08,260 --> 01:18:10,240
They tried to sober them with the great

1735
01:18:10,240 --> 01:18:11,660
claims of their Creator.

1736
01:18:12,520 --> 01:18:16,580
The awful nature of sin, there's rebellion against

1737
01:18:16,580 --> 01:18:16,860
him.

1738
01:18:19,200 --> 01:18:21,080
But the wonder and the awe that this

1739
01:18:21,080 --> 01:18:24,060
God so loved the world that he gave

1740
01:18:24,060 --> 01:18:28,820
his only begotten Son, for whosoever forsaking their

1741
01:18:28,820 --> 01:18:34,320
own claims to righteousness, desire to retain that

1742
01:18:34,320 --> 01:18:37,660
usurped crown upon their head, and willing once

1743
01:18:37,660 --> 01:18:41,640
again for it to rest upon them, come

1744
01:18:41,640 --> 01:18:44,880
in faith and repentance, that they shall find

1745
01:18:44,880 --> 01:18:45,200
mercy.

1746
01:18:46,900 --> 01:18:49,500
And the mood of their evangelism, you sense,

1747
01:18:49,640 --> 01:18:57,320
was one of reverence, of sobriety, and urgency.

1748
01:18:58,220 --> 01:19:00,260
Baxter said, if there's anything, he said, I

1749
01:19:00,260 --> 01:19:01,300
can't stand it.

1750
01:19:01,300 --> 01:19:02,920
It's a preacher who tries to make me

1751
01:19:02,920 --> 01:19:03,380
laugh.

1752
01:19:04,360 --> 01:19:06,660
There's a place for the occasional aside of

1753
01:19:06,660 --> 01:19:11,080
humor, but when it's the studied effect of

1754
01:19:11,080 --> 01:19:14,800
the history-on-turn preacher and the psychologist

1755
01:19:14,800 --> 01:19:19,620
-turn-pulpiteer, it's an abomination in the sight

1756
01:19:19,620 --> 01:19:20,060
of God.

1757
01:19:21,950 --> 01:19:24,290
Well, I believe the Puritans can teach us

1758
01:19:24,290 --> 01:19:28,310
much, and I trust that this paper tonight

1759
01:19:28,310 --> 01:19:31,550
has helped us to want a drink of

1760
01:19:31,550 --> 01:19:35,230
those wells of biblical principles that in our

1761
01:19:35,230 --> 01:19:41,370
generation the evangelism that God has authorized may

1762
01:19:41,370 --> 01:19:43,450
be proclaimed in the power of the Holy

1763
01:19:43,450 --> 01:19:48,830
Ghost, and that we'll see great multitudes coming,

1764
01:19:49,170 --> 01:19:52,410
strict and broken, and falling before the foot

1765
01:19:52,410 --> 01:19:53,610
of the Sovereign Savior.

1766
01:19:54,670 --> 01:19:57,170
I'm confident in a group this size tonight.

1767
01:19:57,410 --> 01:19:59,810
There are some of you who've never been

1768
01:19:59,810 --> 01:20:03,130
wounded by God's holy law, who've never been

1769
01:20:03,130 --> 01:20:05,510
brought by the Spirit to bow to King

1770
01:20:05,510 --> 01:20:10,370
Jesus, who extends mercy to sinners.

1771
01:20:11,290 --> 01:20:13,830
And I entreat you tonight to seek the

1772
01:20:13,830 --> 01:20:15,450
Lord while he may be found.

1773
01:20:16,110 --> 01:20:18,010
Call upon him while he's near.

1774
01:20:18,810 --> 01:20:20,750
Speak him in a way of repentance and

1775
01:20:20,750 --> 01:20:23,650
faith, and you have the promise of God

1776
01:20:23,650 --> 01:20:25,090
that none is cheated in death.