USA > Missouri > Presbyterianism in the Ozarks : a history of the work of the various branches of the Presbyterian Church in Southwest Missouri, 1834-1907 > Part 3
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It is a good thing now and then to read sermons preached by ministers of a former generation, known only to their own generation and to the circumscribed world in which they had their being-the humble missionaries of the cross. Sneh a prac- tice may soften our asperities when we contemplate the militant character of former denominationalism, humble our spirits as we behold how they delved into the deep things of God and remind us that long before a new chapter on "the love of God and mis- sions" was added to the confession their souls did magnify that boundless grace and love of a tender Father for his lost and erring sons and daughters.
The first regular supply of the Ebenezer Church was Kev. Valentine Pentzer, who served the church for three years. Had some enterprising publisher of his day compiled a volume enti- tled "Who Is Who?" his name would not have found a place therein, nor do theological catalogues contain the titles of vol- umes of his sermons. I have searched in vain for his name in various historical addresse delivered before our Synod. But there fell into my hands eleven manuscript sermons preached by him in the middle forties. I shall insert extracts of these ser- mons to exhibit the strong spiritual meat which pioneer Pres- byterians of Southwest Missouri were fed by the typical and commonplace home missionaries, and to show that Calvinism as preached sixty years ago was not as revolting as it is often rep- resented. No wonder the preachers of that day were reverenced as men of God and loved with a love like unto that of David and Jonathan. Aunt Mary Johnson-now deceased-said that when Valentine Pentzer and William Orr parted "it was like two women-hugging, kissing and crying."
I read these eleven manuseripts one day with profound in-
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terest and heart searchings. They are not as long as tradition would lead us to expect; I should think the longest could be preached in forty-five minutes and the average in thirty-five. They are a little more polemical than the preaching of today; and while they dwell more on the strong doctrines of the Word, these doctrines are presented in a plain and practical way. Without any effort at selection, the first one I read treated of "Predestination," the second of "Election," the third "The Support of the Ministry," the fourth "Christ the End of the Law for Righteousness." These sermons are remarkable for the vast array of Scripture with which they are buttressed. If the gentle reader thinks that such lengthy extracts are out of place in a historical work he can pass them by, but if he does he will miss two things-a fair representation of the food that nour- ished the pioneer church and a real refreshment for his own soul.
EXTRACTS.
Zech., 13:7: "That this passage of Scripture has reference to Christ is evident because Christ himself applies it so. (Mat., 26.31.) The doc- trine taught directly in our text is that the death of Christ was by the decree and the direct command of God the Father. (Then he reverts to the conspiracy of the Jews and Pilate, and continues.) They were but his instruments and all their rage could easily have been prevented. * * If the doctrine of predestination is denied there can be no atonement. For all things took place in the death of Christ according to the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, or else by accident. But if his death happened by accident and contrary to the decree of the Almighty how, then, can it be an atonement Would it not be the most dreadful of all nonsense to talk about the death of Jesus Christ being a satisfaction for our sins, a sacrifice, a propitiation and an atonement if it all had been only by the determinate counsel of men, say the Jews? And yet so soon as you admit that the Lord laid upon him the iniquity of us all, that it pleased the Lord Jehovah to bruise him, that he was a lamb slain from the founda- tion of the world, you (admit) that it was the purpose of God that it should be so-that is, that it was predestinated to be so. (Here he cites in full Scripture proofs as Luke 22:22, John 19:11, John 18:11 Luke 9:22, John 12.27, Luke 22:53, Acts 2:23, Acts 4:27-28.) * * * If there is only an overruling Providence, that simply overrules actions after ' they have been committed, then it would follow that after the Jews crucified our blessed Saviour, God made a virtue out of his necessity and set his blood which they had shed to the account of those who should repent. This is dreadful. For Jesus Christ was an innocent man, and he was taken by a malicious and lawless mob and crucified, contrary to every principle of justice. How under the sun could God then on any natural or reasonable principles set this wicked transaction down as a bonus in his government in view of which he could pardon sinners? But if you deny the doctrine of predestination you are obliged to occupy that ground. Admit the doctrine that God works all things after the counsel of his own will and then every- thing comes in its natural place. (John, 3:16.) And the divine Son loved our race so well as to bear our sins in his own body on the tree, and that all this was ratified and agreed upon fixed and settled, long before the world was made or Adam's dust was fashioned into man."
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(From a Sermon on the Two Covenants. Text, Gal., 4:24.) :
"It is thought by some that Adam at that early age of the world did not understand the nature of covenants and covenant relations-that the metaphysics of mind and of moral obligations were ideas too abstract and refined for his rude and uncultivated mind. Adam was created in the image of his God, and it reflects no great glory on the character of God to suppose he should create the first pair as ignorant, as rude and as sensual and gross in his intellect as an unlettered Indian and his squaw in the wild woods of America. St. Paul informs us that the image of God con- sisted in knowledge and true holiness. They were the noblest in dignity, in wisdom, in high and holy conversation, of all the human race. They conversed with God, with angels, with high-born seraphs, and little squab- bles about metaphysics, about natural obligations and moral abilities, our theological disquisitions about fate, free will and predestination would have been like the squabbles and contentions of children to their high and boly minds. Adam was created for the very purpose of a federal head, and every way qualified for the high station. The covenant of works was made with him. It was the only covenant that could be made with him. The covenant of grace did not need to be unfolded then. Mercy as yet on earth had nothing to do. After he fell by transgression there was given to him an intimation of the covenant of grace, but it could not be made with him, for he could not atone for his own sin, much less the sins of
others. * * * The covenant of works was the only one that could be made with Adam. The law of that covenant they violated. It is now a broken covenant. The flood has long since swept through thy bowers, O Eden, where Eve sang, in holy love, eternity, creation and time just began. The trees of the garden-the tree of knowledge of good and evil-and the tree of life, too, that grew in the terrestrial paradise the worms have long since eaten. But the violated law of the covenant stands demanding the sinner's blood. It raises its insurmountable barrier between God and the sonl. Its claims are just-decided so in the high court of heaven-and they never can be abated. God in reviving the covenant and embodying its principles in the ten commandments, amid the awful thunders of Mount Sinai, showed that he had abated nothing from his claims. Indeed, he cannot, without injustice to himself and great injury to his creatures, demand anything less than perfect obedience. But his refining, perfect obedience by no means implies that any since the fall of man have had
ability sufficiently to keep the law of God perfectly. * * * Nor is the right to claim perfect obedience founded upon our ability. God requires all devils to love Him with all their powers-but devils cannot love. They once could-they destroyed their abilities. So man once had ability, but now he is sold under sin. It is vain to say we had no hand in this transaction. He who made us knew where our greatest strength lay. If he had seen it lay in you he would have made the covenant with you. But he made it with him who was best able to fulfill it. But he fell by trans- gression, and all his posterity fell in him and with him." *
Note the rhetorical beauty of this soliloquy of Adam:
"Farewell, Eden, thou loved spot; farewell, innocence; thou lovely, heavenly friend! I did thee much wrong. It will be long before thou wilt sing in my habitation again. I shall sleep in the dust before thou wilt again be my companion. Farewell, tree of life! Thy fruit falls no more for me and my children. Farewell, tree of knowledge of good and evil, fare- well! By thee I offended. Farewell all-all! But, O, who can tell what seas of tideless, waveless, sailless, shoreless, hopeless woe awaits me and my dear children-wars, famines, pestilence. plague, fierce diseases, poverty,
1
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sorrow, pain, nakedness, cold and hunger, shame and fear-the undefinable, shapeless monster Death, and the loathsome, solitary grave are now their sad inheritance. O, infinite God! Creator omnipotent, my Father! who stoodst before me the morning I first awoke by sound of heavenly music, The first, the most glorious being I ever saw! Say, O say, for I never yet heard of mercy, say if I cannot be forgiven, or else on me let all thy thun- der fall and save my posterity-my dear children!"
Now note how admirably the Second Covenant is intro- duced :
"But the answer of God to Adam is Go thy way, Adam, the seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head, the vision is yet for many days and to the end thereof desolations are determined. Thou must come to the grave and sleep in the dust of the earth for many davs, but thon hast now heard something of mercy. Mercy now must supply the place of innocence. Farewell, child of heaven! Fallen but now penitent child, farewell! In view of Adam's fall the covenant of grace was made with Christ, the second Adam before the world began." * *
That sounds Miltonic for pioneer preaching, but note this for the interdependence of the cardinal doctrines :
"If men are not carnally minded, dead in trespasses and sins, and enemies to God there is no need of a Holy Ghost. Start with the doctrine that man is not spiritually dead and totally depraved and there is no use for the doctrine of the trinity. If man is only bewildered -- if he is only a child lost in the wilderness, crying for home, then all he needs is some one to guide him into the path. He needs neither an Almighty Being for a Saviour nor an Almighty Spirit for a sanctifier. Hence those people who deny the divinity of Christ and the power and presence of the Holy Ghost are at least so far consistent that they have no useless appendages to their creed. They believe that man's nature 's not radically vicious; that he is only spoiled by bad company, that the law of God is not perpetual in his nature and obligations; that God as a sovereign can bestow pardon without any regard to His law, consequently a sacrifice for sin-a real atonement is not necessary. Now such have no use for a Saviour who was both God and i an- no use for a covenant of grace made in eternity be tween the Father and Son in view of Adam's fall. Again, what use have they for the doctrine of regeneration by a lireet and powerful work of the Holy Ghost? Man needs no such a change. + * * All he needs is that some one of truth and well acquainted with the subject reveal the mind of God to him. Hence these people who deny the doctrine of the trinity, the divinity of Christ, the Holy Ghost, human depravity, predesti- nation, gratuitous election and the doctrine of : real atonement are inuch more consistent in their belief than those who bold some of those doctrines and deny the rest. What is it that gives infinite value to the atonement? Is it the chvinity or the humanity of Christ? Undoubedly his divinity. Now, if Ile lad all the essential attributes of Deity He must have had a mind perfectly informed, a judgment correctly made up. a will fully deter- nuned so as to remain in suspense about nothing. For can it be presumed that eternity can add anything to the stock of information which deity now possesses? Will the judgment day bring any new information to God about the wickedness of men or devils? But can a sound mind help decid- ing on a subject when it possesses full and perfect information, especially when much depends upon an immediate decision? But the divinity of Christ depends upon this infinite perfection of wisdom and knowledge, and
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the perfect correctness of his decisions and judgments. And the value of the atonement depends upon the perfection of his wisdom and knowledge, and the perfect correctness of his decisions and judgments. But it will not be denied that his decisions are as much needed about future events as past. But to decide and determine about future events implies predestina- tion; then the value of the atonement depends for its merit upon that wis- dom of God which is exerted in predestination. How absurd to hold to the doctrines of either the divinity of Christ or the atonement and deny the doctrine of predestination."
The sermon on the support of the gospel ministry is so timely that it might have been preached but yesterday :
I Cor.,9:14: "This is the regulation which God established for his church, and those who have altered this commandment and are teaching men so will one day be called the least in the kingdom of heaven, if they get into the kingdom at all. Our Lord did not ask it as a matter of charity for his ambassadors that they should have a pittance to live upon; but by the same authority that he used in instituting the gospel ministry he also established the duty of supporting his ministering servants. We shall endeavor to consider :
"First-The reasonableness of the requirement.
"Second-Upon whom it is binding and the reciprocal duties of pastor and people. And,
"Third-The serious results of breaking this regulation of God's house."
(Here follows an excellent exhibition of God's sovereign rights in the earth, of his provision for the support of the Levite and the Levirate ordi- nances, and of the early Christians bringing their goods and laying them at the Apostles' feet, which, he declares, "never was intended to be a rule for the church in after ages yet it shows a beautiful spirit of confi- dence, and of a full and complete surrender to God, not merely in word, but in heart-giving themselves and property to God, their rightful owner.") Continuing, he said: "Nor did our Lord ever enjoin this, but he did enjoin it that they that preach the gospel should live of the gospel. This is altogether reasonable on account of the manifold duties and cares and labors through which a faithful minister must go. And if the church would be edified and built up in knowledge and holiness she must provide that her ministers have time to wait upon their ministry. The time was when the pastoral union was invested with a degree of permanency which it has now unhappily lost. It is our prayer that it may speedily be re- stored. , It was a most sacrilegious work which that vain, ambitious man did when he, contrary to God, ordained that the minister licensed by his Presbytery should preach without having a pastoral charge and without a support. He looked at the church of Christ and saw it an impregnable fortification; he then looked at the prejudices of the Western people. He saw he could sow the seeds of disaffection and jealousy from one point, and one only-it was the support of the gospel ministry .* Time has already discovered the results of what he has done. But eternity alone will fully
*I do not know to whom he refers or whether this has only a local bearing, but some years ago an honored elder in one ofthe churches of this Presbytery told me that his father had upbraided one of the most influential and godly pioneers of that county for preaching without salary. because he was sowing seeds that would bring forth a harvest disastrons to the cause of Christ. The descendants of that pioneer preacher are yet prominent in that locality and the prophecy as to the harvest has been verified.
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show all the dreadful evils resulting from his unscriptural and time-serving policy. Ignorance, error and delusion; pride, covetousness, prejudice and infidelity, like the tail of a comet, will follow in his train. The preaching of the gospel, not raising corn and feeding cattle, is the pre-eminent duty of the gospel minister. It is expressly to preach the gospel that the min- istry is instituted. It is the voice of the living preacher, urging with all the powers of his heart and of his utterance the love of the Saviour, and the awful realities of a future state, which God blesses to the building up of his church. All other duties should be subservient to the necessary preparations for preaching the gospel. Hundreds of immortal souls are each Sabbath assembled to hear the divine message. The Christian min- ister is God's ambassador to them. And with whatever abilities he may be endowed he must consecrate all to the faithful enforcement of religious truth. He must diligently study so that he may be able to bring out of his storehouse things new and old. Logie should make all the parts of his sermon harmonize, so that one part should not contradict another. Sound argument should fortify the different parts of his discourse, and simplicity, childlike simplicity. make every part so clear and plain that a very child could understand it all; and eloquence, soul-captivating eloquence-the elo- quence of an upright, earnest heart-should carry every sentence of divine truth home to the hearts and consciences of his auditory.
"How difficult this! Is it likely that the man whose cares must neces- sarily be about the concerns of a worldly employment will be able to preach the gospel aright? Will not his discourse on the Sabbath be either cold and formal or empty of soul-nourishing instruction ? * * * A man with all his time is not sufficient for the great work. The word of truth must be rightly divided so as to give to each his portion in due season. * * * Some of his hearers are engulfed in the whirlpool of a false religion; some are in the wild career of utter ungodliness; some deceived with false hopes, or trying to deceive others with false pretenses; some stupid with consciences seared and hearts as hard as marble or granite rock; some tender, affectionate, trembling with broken hearts and bruised spirits, feeling and sighing for God. To meet these wants requires thought. And the faithful Christian minister must consecrate the best hours of every week to this infinitely arduous work. And yet he must engage in other studies besides immediate preparation for the pulpit. He must search the Scriptures in their original languages; he must keep up a general acquaint- ance with the literature and the rapidly . advancing sciences of the day; he must furnish his mind to encounter the unbeliever and the errorist on their own grounds, and to defend the gospel; he must keep himself in- formed respecting the great moral movements of the age-he must not forget the mighty power of the press-that the world demands a Christian literature-that it is the duty of some of the ministers of the gospel to supply this want. These duties demand that at least every movement of the morning hours be devoted uninterruptedly to study* These hours should be held sacred from any encroachment. The people should feel that their pastor in all his studies is toiling for them, and they should cordially co-operate in seenring for him the means of uninterrupted appreciation to the arduous duties of his office.
"But the minister must also visit the people. Without this though, he should be ever so learned and eloquent he cannot be in the highest de- gree useful. By personal acquaintance alone he can ascertain the tempta- tions, the conflicts, the trials, the spiritual condition of his people. He must sacrifice the attractions of friendship and congenial habits and
*This from a man whose record shows that he rode over several coun- ties preaching in private houses as well as in public places.
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tastes, if need be, to his duties as a laborious and impartial parish minis- ter, who must account to God for each soul entrusted to his care. And espe- cially wherever poverty lays its heavy hand, or age is crushed with infirm- ity, or the weak and suffering invalid drags on a miserable life, or the widow's heart is bleeding with anguish-wherever there is anyone bowed down beneath the burden of life, it is there peculiarly the Christian min- ister is to go. And yet he must not let the time allotted to visiting his members encroach upon the time devoted to study and the duties of the closet. If he does his congregation will be pretty apt to complain that his sermons are all alike. These, to say the least, are the indispensable duties of a good minister of the gospel, and he who comes short of any one of these duties is just so far deficient, and lacks just that much of being a good minister. But how can a minister do all these arduous duties and support himself and family by farming and teaching, or some other worldly employment. *
* * Hence it is perfectly reasonable that God should * demand at your hands a comfortable support for his servants whom he raises up and sends among you to preach the gospel. * * God's ways are always right and woe to that wicked popularity-hunting preacher who alters what God has ordained. * * *
"It is everybody's duty to support the gospel. *
* And the fact that a man is not a professor of religion will be but a poor excuse in the day of judgment, for it will be making one sin an excuse for an- other .. ',Will a man rob God?' says the Ser ptures, 'but ye have robbed me even this whole nation.' *
* * Here the charge is rot brought against the Saints, but against the whole nation. Now, if it had not been the duty of the whole nation, no charge could have been brought against them. If a man says I am no professor of religion, if I were I might perhaps feel it a duty to do something. This is poor logie. It is as much as to say because I wickedly neglect to do my duty therefore I will rob God, my Ma'er, of his just share of the property he has put into my hands. This is adding robbery to rebellion. * * Throughout Southwest Mis- souri there are whole churches who act upon the principle that the gospel may get along the best way it can! And these all have their influence; and a most dreadful influence it is. It is inflicting a death blow on the intelligence and piety of the church. In this work none are excused. * * * All have some ability. The widow had two mites and she threw
* * * them into the treasury of the Lord. And she laid it out well.
Many no doubt would have thought her foolish.
**
*
But the wis-
* It has been dom of God differs from the wisdom of this world. *
remarked that a heresy always begins among the preachers. The preachers have done much to ruin the church in this our time. The system in vogue amongst us in this country is to license a minister with very little educa- tion, hoping he will go on and improve his mind after he is licensed. This he seldom does and for several reasons-first, because he is licensed and thinks he can get along about as well as the rest; aud, second, he thinks he has not the time to study. But the worst of it all is, in the third place. he does not know how to study. * *
* having never learned how to apply himself to books. * * #
"The system as now pursued overburdens the church with weak and inefficient ministers, and even if the people felt some disposition to sup- port a minister they become disheartened; for, in the first place, there are too many to be supported, and in the next place the people feel that they do not get an equivalent for their pay-a harping on the tenderer feelings without ever touching the understanding will, after a few hearings,
become insipid and uninteresting to all persons of sense. * * *
Have,' then, a minister-a workman that needeth not be ashamed-enter into the pastoral relation with him. And as you are entitled to his labors, his
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prayers, his tears, his heart, so on your part give him your prayers, your sympathies and your attention. Give him of such things as God gives you. * * But we are next to consider what are the ruinous results of breaking this ordination of God. And in order to see it we need only to look around. Where is the beloved Zion of God now? Her ministers are a class of secular men. There are none of them that can teach his brother in the law of the Lord; there are but few houses of worship, and money is thought to be too good a thing to be given to the Lord. And the man who can rave and rant once a fortnight about hell and heaven is just as good a preacher as any, because the people have learned to think but little of all preachers of the gospel; the office has so long been degraded by weak, ignorant and often by unprincipled men. You may always suspect a man for a knave or a hypocrite who is ready to suspect and charge every min- ister who tells his dying fellow men of this part of their duty with money hunting. * * *
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