Lessons After 75 Years (Pt 1)

I invite you to turn to Judges chapter 2, in the Old Testament Scriptures.

For those of you who were here on Wednesday, I truly appreciated the Reverend Logan Elder stepping in, as I was unable to be present, and bringing a report.

I trust you found it helpful and that it strengthened your prayers for the work in Orlando. Continue to pray for them. I know you do, but it is a particular and specific responsibility of the sending church to support those who are from our own congregation.

It is right and scriptural that, when opportunity allows, he returns and shares reports with us. This is exactly what we see in the book of Acts. I am thankful that, even though he is on vacation, he was able and willing to provide this report.

In that report, and after listening to the recording, he mentioned one of the recent challenges: the relocation of Mr. and Mrs. Walters, who are here this morning. I did not notice them earlier, as they were seated behind the pews, but it is good to see Ken and Judy.

I trust the Lord will bless them and continue to strengthen them as they enter a new season of life. They have moved from Orlando to be near their son and other family members who live here in Greenville.

Indeed, it is the providence of the Lord that our reflection this morning may be an encouragement to them, knowing that they are part of the early history of the Free Presbyterian Church on this side of the Atlantic.

Seventy-five years ago, it will be March 17th. Of course, you can always remember that—it is St. Patrick’s Day. And it is not only St. Patrick’s Day; it is Free Presbyterianism Day, the day on which the church officially began.

So, seventy-five years since the church’s origins. The Toronto church is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. You can do the math: it took twenty-five years before the church took root in North America. The following year, of course, it began in Greenville.

What do we have to reflect on at this point? Since 2005, when we established our own denomination here, we have in some way severed our formal ties. We are no longer under the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster, but have become the Free Presbyterian Church of North America.

Yet we do not forget them, and our ties to them remain very strong. We continue to support one another in missionary work and in other ways as well. Therefore, I felt a sense of responsibility to say something, to give some thought to this matter, and I trust that this morning it will be of help to us.

We will read God’s Word from Judges 2, beginning at verse 6 and continuing through verse 10. It is a relatively short passage.

“And when Joshua had let the people go, the children of Israel went every man unto his inheritance to possess the land.

“And the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the LORD, that he did for Israel.

“And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being an hundred and ten years old.

“And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnathheres, in the mount of Ephraim, on the north side of the hill Gaash.

“And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel.”

Amen.

We will end the reading at verse 10. What you have heard is the Word of the eternal God, which you are to receive, believe, and obey. The people of God said, Amen.

Let us pray.

May we from the heart say amen to every word of God, every word as it applies in direct instruction or by means of comparison and contrast. Every word is pure. It has something to say to us.

And as our brethren in Ulster especially reflect upon 75 years, and as we reflect upon the fact that we would not exist in the form in which we do if it was not for what happened 75 years ago, we pray that we would do so in the way that is right and proper.

So let us ask for help this morning. Give me help, Lord. I pray for the Spirit of God. I pray that You will accomplish Your will, not merely the thoughts of a preacher. But accomplish Your will, keep us protected, and grant that we may glorify Your worthy name.

So, Spirit of God, come; close us in, let us know a sense of Your nearness and the application of Your truth to every heart. We pray in our Savior’s name. Amen.

On March 17, 1951, the Free Presbyterian Church came into existence. Two years ago, some of you will remember, I brought a message in which the Lord’s Day was on the 17th of March, a message that I titled, “A Case for Free Presbyterianism.”

And in that message, I detailed some of the history of the denomination, some of the context that brought it all about, and certain things that I thought were important to bring before you on that occasion.

I do not want to repeat that. I am not in the business of simply taking an old message and going over the same things again. And so, as we come to the anniversary that is this week, I want to reflect in a different way.

So if you want the history, at least some of it, there is a whole library, not just in that message I preached two years ago, but in the writings of other men who have spoken about those early days and the context. And there are a couple of documentaries as well that you may watch.

I felt, however, that this morning the Lord was leading me to speak with a more cautionary tone, leaving a more cautionary message for you and for me, as the churches in Ulster acknowledge the 75th anniversary and reflect upon it in their own way.

My mind was brought to Judges 2:10:

“And all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel.”

I was driving around the other day, I think it was early last week, possibly when I was driving down to the rehearsal on Monday night. I was thinking about how to present this message. What should I say if I do this? Then this text came to mind—Judges 2:10.

I began to ask myself, wait a moment. What time period is involved? I started to consider in my mind how much time may have passed from the crossing of the Red Sea to the time described in Judges 2:10, at the end of Joshua’s generation and the generation that followed.

You cannot be exact on this, because the specific duration is not given in God’s Word. It is not stated precisely in Judges 2:10 that exactly such and such a year had passed, or that so many years had elapsed. But you can make a reasonable estimate.

By a reasonable estimate, it is not entirely beyond possibility that approximately 75 years had passed. It may have been a few years more, but it is around that figure.

I found it striking that this text came to mind, and that the time frame from the great event of the Exodus—the beginning of Israel, their commencement—aligns roughly with the warning presented in Judges 2:10, coming about 75 years afterward.

So this is where we are. We are at Judges 2:10, because it delivers a warning shot 75 years after something significant.

In those days, there was a man of God like Moses leading the people, and there were individuals of great ability, great intention, and great zeal, with God’s favor upon them and His power evident through their ministry. All that followed brought blessings, which the people enjoyed as a result of their efforts and endeavors.

But eventually, these leaders died, and their time came to an end. Another generation had to take their place. Around 75 years later, a warning arose: another generation came after them, which did not know the Lord, nor the works He had done for Israel.

Anniversaries can easily become monuments in which we erect our memories and celebrate our successes. In doing so, we may quench the very spirit that blessed us with the blessings we now enjoy.

I have attended anniversary services where I believe this has occurred. I have observed anniversary services in which, by my assessment, I feel sorrow over what is taking place.

The praise, the self-congratulation, and the celebration of past achievements are not what I will do this morning. We commend where commendation is rightful and proper. But even in our commendation, there must always be a note of caution.

This language then calls to mind the conscience of the Free Presbyterian Church, because we were not led by Moses. We were led by great men, but they were not Moses. There are men in the history of our denomination to whom we owe a tremendous debt, but they are not Moses, they are not Joshua.

And if a generation can arise 75 years after the Exodus in which they do not know God and begin to turn from God, as expressed in the following verse—indeed, they did evil in the sight of the Lord and served Balaam and so on—then it can certainly happen in our own time.

One generation may witness the mighty hand of God, while the next inherits the story and yet loses the very God who has blessed them in such specific ways.

Moses warned in Deuteronomy 4:9, “Only take heed to thyself and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life, but teach them thy sons and thy sons’ sons.”

So this morning, we are going to consider lessons for Free Presbyterians after 75 years. Lessons for Free Presbyterians after 75 years.

You may not be a Free Presbyterian this morning, but there are lessons for you nonetheless. Lessons for us all. Most of those present this morning have a goodly heritage. Most of those present this morning have reason to look back and be exceedingly thankful.

None of us have a perfect history. None of us can look back and see a history without fault. None of us. But most of us here this morning can look back and say, I have been greatly favored. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places.

So let us consider a number of things as we look at these lessons.

First of all, some generations inherit much from the godly.

Some generations inherit much from the godly. Another generation arose after them. There was a godly generation. It was not perfect. Many of them knew that some had died in the wilderness because of their unbelief and because of their sin.

But there were others, like Joshua, and others who were faithful, who stood with Joshua, followed Joshua, and served the Lord, as we are told. You see this in verse 7: the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua. Thus, there was a clear sense of blessing and favor upon them.

But another generation arose. Another generation came to the forefront. They came after those who had seen the mighty works. They followed in the footsteps of those who had witnessed them. And so it is with us.

Look back 75 years. There are still some who can remember that time and were alive when it happened. My own sending church was the third congregation in the denomination, and they are celebrating their 75th anniversary this year.

There are still members in that congregation who were present when it was founded, and whose fathers were involved in the church’s beginning. They are still alive today. They can trace the church’s history from its early days through the various events and developments over the past seventy-five years. It is a remarkable thing to consider.

But for most of us, we were not there, and we did not take part in the beginnings or the initial stages. What we have experienced is an inheritance. We have inherited the blessings and the privileges.

So we may say, first of all, they inherited truth; they did not discover it.

The truths that marked Israel, the things that God bestowed, the revelation that was given—even all the experience at Sinai, where through Moses He mediated truth to the nation and established it—those people referred to in Judges 2:10 were not present.

They did not receive that directly. They were not there when it was given. They inherited it. All of their worship, which was organized and constituted, was not something they were present for when it was established. Therefore, what they enjoy is not something they discovered; it is something that was passed down to them.

And it is the same in some ways for us with regard to the Free Presbyterian Church.

The gospel, the authority of Scripture, the necessity of the new birth, the significance of the atoning work of Jesus Christ, His deity, and so on. These were truths they fought for, preserved, and passed on.

We did not have to go out and find them. They were placed within our grasp. There was no struggle for these truths. As far as we are concerned, they were simply handed to us.

Our denomination exists because, to use the language of Paul in Romans 1, men determined that they would be separated to the gospel, that this is a reason, that this is a motivation. That how we live our lives is separated to the central truths of what God has revealed in His Son.

And that is important to remember, because it is very easy at times to fall into two dangerous paths: one is known only by what it opposes, and the other is known only by what it supports.

What I believe is true about the origins of our denomination is that men understood not only what they were for, but what they were against. They knew what to stand against. They knew what they would not compromise in certain areas. But they did not define their entire identity by what they opposed.

Now there are many Protestant movements, and that is what you see. That is all you know about them. I know they are against this, and they are against that, and they are against the other, and they oppose this person, they oppose that person, and so on and so forth.

They have this standard and that standard, and this belief about what Christians should do, and the other, and so on and so forth. And it is really a negative expression of their faith.

But the faith must be expressed positively. It must be expressed in what we are for.

I well remember a dear brother in the Lord, not here, not in Greenville, who, after being converted from Roman Catholicism and having his mind enlightened to the freedom in the gospel, found himself as a young man, before he was married, moving in circles of these Protestant parachurch groups.

And he aligned with one in particular, this Protestant movement, Protestant group, which had a periodical, and so on and so forth. Some of you may remember those kinds of things, which were more frequent in the past.

And he sat, after some time as a member of this group, in the room looking around at the others who were part of that group, and he asked himself, I know what they are all against. But I do not know what they are all for.

In fact, for some of them, I know they are not for the gospel of Jesus Christ in the way that he himself would say he was for it.

At that point, he left the group. He felt, I truly do not have fellowship with these people. It is only a fellowship based on what we are against. It is not based on what we are for.

We are separated by the gospel of Christ, just as the apostle exemplified himself.

And so this is what is truly the origin. If you go back and listen to some of the history, you will see that it was important. I was not there, obviously. I hope no one is under any confusion here. I was not there in 1951. Let me state it plainly. I was not there.

However, most of you know enough of my story to know that I was not brought up in a Christian home. When my family moved, my parents moved from Scotland, and I was three years old. We moved to the town in which my mother had been raised. It is a small town.

At that time, when we moved, the town population was probably around 6,000 people. We moved into that town, and we did not attend church at all. Sometimes my grandmother managed to get my sister and me to go to church on occasion, but it was very infrequent. I do not think I attended after the age of eight.

Let me say this: in that town, where 6,000 people lived, you could have walked to a Presbyterian church. I am speaking only about the Presbyterian Church in Ireland. I am not referring to the Reformed Presbyterian Church or other expressions of Presbyterianism.

I could have walked to three Presbyterian churches in Ireland. All three would have been closer than the distance I walked to high school Monday through Friday for five years.

Three churches I could have walked to.

Yet not one of them would have been worth walking to. I mean that. One of them I knew slightly because I attended elementary school there—what you call elementary school, we call primary school. I went to school with the daughter of one of the ministers.

Years later, when I was converted, this minister visited a senior nursing home. My mother met him in the hallway and stopped him to share the joyful news that her son, whom he knew well, had once come to school to lead assembly, and I had known his daughter well. She told the Presbyterian minister about my conversion.

He could not end the conversation quickly enough. He offered no words of celebration, no commendation, nothing positive. It was as if he began to back away, saying only, “Well, well, let’s hope he flourishes,” and then turned and left.

I know why. The man did not know Christ. He did not know the Lord. He had begun well, I believe, but at some point he began to seriously compromise the gospel.

Thus, it is a mercy, and I thank God, that my grandparents were part of the Free Presbyterian Church in that town. When I was converted, it was the most natural thing for me to go to the church where my grandparents belonged.

This led me not to a dead Presbyterian church, which I could have walked to, but to another Presbyterian church, the Free Presbyterian Church, in which I owe more than I can express in terms of the formation of my faith and my understanding of the essentials.

I cannot begin to put into words how different it would have been had I found myself in one of those dead Presbyterian churches. So, had they not taken a stand in 1951 in my town, I would not have had the option of going to a church where the new birth was emphasized—where you must be born again.

This meant we were not lifting up religious ceremony, nor the idea that being baptized is sufficient, nor bringing people into church membership without understanding salvation. It also meant we were not placing people in office as elders who lacked comprehension of God’s saving grace.

Instead, I came into a church that had faults, of course. No doubt. I came into a church where the minister was clear on the essentials, and where his elders were present at prayer meetings, praying for souls, interceding for the lost, and exemplifying evangelism in the community.

They carried a burden that connected directly to the missionary call and cause of the church—to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, not to social causes, but to the gospel.

So, had 1951 not happened, that church would not be there, and I would not be where I am or what I am today. That is my assessment of it, and so I am so thankful for it.

I have inherited a truth that I did not discover. Many of the truths, in terms of the degree of my understanding of the gospel and my comprehension of various aspects of the Christian life, are directly the result of what those men established in the foundation they laid.

Certainly, the older members here this morning can understand this, in what they have received through the years from this pulpit.

But they also inherited a witness they did not build. Not only did they inherit a truth they did not discover, but they inherited a witness they did not build.

The first generation of Free Presbyterians were, again, I keep saying this because I do not want it to be misunderstood as mere admiration, as if they were without any flaws. I hope it is understood that we are not making monuments to men.

But they did get some things right—things that are crucial.

It was right to separate over the cause of the gospel. Some of them had already done so.

When you consider it carefully, two churches came together to form a denomination. One of them already had elders and leadership that had separated years earlier. They had become independent. They had reached the point of saying, “We can no longer remain in this denomination.”

Again, perhaps it is difficult for some in this context, in our current environment, to understand this, because you do not have such deep roots in a denomination as they did.

These are people who could look out the window of their church and see a graveyard on that property, where three, four, or even five generations had been buried.

To walk away was a sacrifice. It was the generations of their fathers who had built the church and brought it to its present state. Yet, on the gospel, they said they could no longer remain, and they left.

Thus, the small congregation to which Iain Paisley was called was established because men had already stepped away from the Presbyterian church.

They got some things right. They separated over the gospel, and they were right to do so, just as we ought to in our day.

We live in a time—let me simply say this—in which there is a tendency to join together, to form alliances, to stand united, sometimes based on what one perceives to be a greater cause. And so, we set aside our differences in order to promote, to stand for, and to advance this so-called greater cause.

In the minds of some, there are causes greater than the gospel. To this I would say that the very matter that determines heaven or hell can be placed in second place.

How can this be? I do not see how it can.

And we live in a time of increasing confusion on this matter.

It was right to unite despite differences in matters such as baptism and the Lord’s return. Some of these early men, as many of you know, came from a Presbyterian background in which they believed their children should receive the mark of baptism.

Others came from a background in which they believed the mark of baptism should be reserved until a person makes their own profession of faith. And they decided not to divide over that issue. They decided to say, I think we can agree to permit that we live together in harmony, as long as no one teaches baptismal regeneration.

So they said, we can agree to that. And they were right to do so.

The same applies to the Lord’s return. They did not, even though there were some who held a strong view of historic premillennialism. It is difficult to measure the influence of Dr. Paisley’s father on the initial formation of the denomination, who was a Baptist and helped shape the Free Presbyterian Church in certain ways.

But they did not require premillennialism as a condition for membership in the denomination. And they were right to do so.

It was right for them to place a significant emphasis on evangelistic efforts. The heartbeat of the denomination was to reach the lost, to always be reaching out.

The smallest congregation is a mark of even the smallest. It is interesting because churches sometimes tell themselves that they are too small to do certain things, and there is truth in that. There are limits to what a certain number of people can accomplish.

I mentioned this even in the context of Vacation Bible School. The number of children we can serve is limited by the number of people available to oversee them here.

However, when you look at some of these small Free Presbyterian congregations, you find that all are engaged in evangelistic efforts. There is not one that is not involved in regular evangelistic outreach, striving to win the lost in their communities by whatever means they can.

In contrast, there are much larger churches where this is not the case. This is something we cannot lose. We cannot afford to lose that.

If you do not evangelize, you fossilize.

I did not coin that phrase, but I believe it.

It was right to make friends with good men who did not hold a Calvinistic position. Many within Reformed circles have nothing to do with anyone who is not Calvinistic.

Our denomination was different. From its earliest days, it maintained friendships with people who were, I mean, men who were respected and valued, including those who were Pentecostal, and others with various beliefs. Although there were many differences among them, they stood together for the same gospel of Christ, and they were right to do so.

I know that I sometimes move within certain Reformed circles, and I sense that some look at me and say, “Well, would you allow someone who is not Calvinistic to preach in your pulpit?”

Yes, I would.

First, the people are well taught, and they will be fine. They will survive such preaching. Second, this practice demonstrates the true catholicity of the church—that we are all one in Christ. Those of us who are saved by the same blood of Christ and justified by the same means.

It was right to emphasize personal and corporate prayer, a key mark of the faith. They inherited this from their fathers—prayer meetings and the importance of prayer—something that had largely disappeared in the Presbyterian church.

And the good people I mentioned two years ago—I referred to how the evangelist Nicholson, who had a significant impact through his preaching crusades in Northern Ireland during the 1920s, did not wish to start a denomination.

He understood the problem. He could see, even in the 1920s, the growing influence that was affecting the churches. At the same time, you had the founding of Bob Jones University. This was the same issue—the same compromise from the truth.

But Nicholson did not see himself as one to pioneer a new denomination, yet he did this. He encouraged the believers who were converted to meet for prayer, and they established the Christian Workers’ Union, and some of those meeting halls still function today.

This allowed them, despite the nominalism that was spreading through their Presbyterian, Methodist, and other churches, to gather as those who were truly saved and knew God. From this foundation, they came together in church efforts to reach their community. They prayed and they evangelized from that place.

Again, I think it is difficult for us to understand just how serious the situation was at that time. Therefore, there was an emphasis that came from Nicholson and others to seek the Lord, not only personally but also corporately.

It was right to emphasize both personal and corporate piety. They were not content simply that our people appear on Sunday mornings. We are looking for them to go on with God. They should be growing in grace. They should be more holy, not less.

They should be dying to sin and living unto righteousness. The preaching should cut and probe the conscience, provoke love and good works, and encourage people to abstain from even the appearance of evil. These things.

Most of what I just said is directly from Scripture. This emphasis was placed, and it must continue to be placed, in an environment in which the church, if you are looking for the church, you will find it in the world. If you are looking for the world, you will find it in the church. This reality is becoming increasingly evident again.

The standard of holiness is almost zero. The distinction between the church and the world today is simply that one person says the right thing in terms of profession in Christ, while the other does not. One attends church and belongs to a gathering of people, while the other does not.

And if that is as far as your Christianity reaches, it is not the Christianity I read in the Scriptures.

Oh, what a miracle it is that God takes an unholy man and makes him holy in an unholy world. That is the work He is still doing, and that is what preaching must aim toward.

It was right for those early Free Presbyterians to give humble, teachable, capable young men opportunities. I am so thankful for this.

As there are circles again that I am aware of, and let us just say it would be a long time before you had an opportunity to bring even a little devotional message at a senior’s home or elsewhere. But they gave good, godly, humble, teachable young men who seemed to have some interest in preaching God’s Word the opportunity to test it and to see whether there was any potential in them.

And they were right to do that. There is a risk involved. We like to deal with the finished article, do we not? We must make sure to go through the four years of seminary training, learn all the Greek and Hebrew, master all their systematics, and examine them in every detail. Then we might let them loose on a senior’s home or elsewhere.

But that is not how it is operated. And for good reason. I believe it is right.

I look back with great indebtedness on my own experience, in the trust that Reverend Park and Mr. Albert McCauley placed in me. And I think of Reverend Porter. He had met me just a year prior. I had just been converted. I was converted in May. He met me in an evangelistic endeavor in Donegal in August.

And we were going to help him in St. Patrick’s Day the following year. So I had not even been a Christian for a year—only ten months. And he called me up in preparation. He said, “Would you like to preach in the open air when you come here?”

I said, “Yes, I’ll do it.”

What occasion? Standing up on the street to preach for the first time. It took trust. It took a little risk. And I am thankful for it.

Every time I see him, or at least on several occasions, during extended periods, whenever I meet Reverend James Porter, I have said to him once or twice, “It’s your fault. I am a preacher. It’s your fault.”

It was right to take risks when planting churches. Those early Free Presbyterians did not always have everything in order. They did not have all the money they needed. They did not have everything fully organized. They did not have accountants reviewing every single penny. I know many of you are here. Thank God for all of you.

They did not bring accountants to every decision they made. They simply saw that there were people there. They were hungry. There was a man willing to set up a tent on his property.

Let’s go.

Who would we send to preach? The Lord will provide.

And off they would go.

That was right. That was the proper spirit—risk.

Sometimes, you must simply take the first step. There are some people who live their lives in such a way that if they had been standing with Moses, they would still be waiting on the other side of the Red Sea. They would wait for God to part the water before they stepped into it.

But there are times in God’s work when you must step into the water, trusting that when the time comes, the waters will part. God will make a way.

It is right. It was right for them to quickly establish a home for training preachers. It was right for them to quickly support missionaries and send them all over the world, so that to this day you will find Free Presbyterians in Northern Ireland, in Ireland, in England, Scotland, Wales, Spain, Australia, Liberia, Uganda, Kenya, Nepal, Canada, the United States, Mexico, Jamaica, and the Dominican Republic.

There is a work that seems to be opening up in the Philippines. I may be missing some.

This does not account for the missionaries who realized they would be better served by another mission board. They were Free Presbyterians, but they realized that the denomination was not in a position to help them effectively in that area or fulfill their burden.

Nevertheless, they went with the blessing of their minister and the blessing of their church to join this other mission board and serve there. There are countless such examples.

We inherited a witness we did not build.

The people in Joshua’s generation were standing on land they had not earned, had not fought for, and had no part in. It had been given to them. It had been handed over. They did not build it.

Here you are.

My time is gone. We will come back to this tonight, because I have much more to say. You will not get away without hearing it. You must come back. It was not my intention. I will come this evening, God willing, to deal more with the warning of this text.

But I want to leave it very clear. I may mention this tonight. I know we are not perfect. I know it. There are even specific areas in which I desire and have ambition to see further growth. I am not speaking only about added churches and added people. I am speaking about reform.

But I am thanking God today. I am thanking God for the courage.

And here is the truth: if you go back and read the pages of history, there was a dominant fear of beginning this work. It was not as though the church in Belfast was struggling and felt that joining might help their cause. At that time, they were thriving and experiencing much of the Lord’s favor.

After an initial struggle at the beginning, when Mr. Paisley first began his ministry—many of you know this story—he walked into a church of sixty people, and after six months, the congregation had decreased to thirty. After this initial struggle, the Lord began to bless his ministry.

There were strong, influential voices in that church who said, “We do not need this.”

What always fascinates me is that one of the key voices who stood up and spoke was a sixteen-year-old named John Douglas, who seemed to recognize that it was the right thing to join with these people and work together.

For this, I am thankful. I am also thankful that when I was converted, God placed me in a church that had life, under a ministry that had life, and under men who had life and who genuinely cared for my soul.

So today I give thanks to God. And as you will hear tonight, there is still much ground to be possessed.

Let us remain humble, yet thankful.