"These are the times that try men's souls."

Thomas Paine’s words, “These are the times that try men’s souls,” written as the opening lines of his Crisis articles in 1777 have often echoed in American history during trying times. Again our land is beset with trials and difficulties from without and within that try the union of the country, that seem to defy the rational capabilities of our leaders, and that seemly refuse any attempt at a solution. Most I fear are problems of our own doing and thinking. So, these are the times that try men’s souls.

In my reading of Zechariah, the Old Testament prophet inspired by God to deliver His word to the Jewish people who had returned from their captivity, I found some thoughts that brought hope and comfort. For whatever men may do or think, God is control of history. He will have His way. God sent Zechariah to bring hope to the Israelites of old. Things would not continue as they had. His anger against them as a people for their sins had passed. God is after all a covenant keeping God. He sent Zechariah to comfort them in that. A few lessons stand out to me in Zechariah 1:7-16, his first vision.

Trials are Meant for Good

This is contrary to our expectations and seems contrary to the goodness of God. But the scriptures are clear in many places that God does indeed use the sins of men and the trials in a sin filled world to accomplish good in the lives of his people. Consider Joseph’s statement to his brothers in Genesis 50:20. This is where the apparent clever argument of the atheist of the “problem of evil” against Christianity falls to the ground. God’s wisdom is so far above our own and his power so mighty that he even uses evil to accomplish his good purposes! So it was with Israel of old. God brought “trying times” upon Israel for their faithlessness and disobedience. That time was past (Zech. 1:14-16). God used the evil of the oppressing nations but would turn their evil back upon them. He was not content to let the then world rest in quietness of the status quo by the ruling powers (Zech. 1:11,15).

Paul writes in a similar vein in Romans 5:1-5 that the believer’s sufferings produce good in him. Having peace with God by faith in the provision for salvation, Jesus Christ, the believer rejoices in the hope in glory of God and in the tribulations of life. Such trials beget good things in us; perseverance, character, and hope.

The Church is Not Israel of the Old Testament

God treated his people Israel as children. They were underage (Gal. 4:1ff). I do not mean to disparage Israel of old. They were and are unique as a people for God made covenant with them. They had and have a special role in the plan of redemption (Rom. 11:25-33).  Yet as with a child they were disciplined as a whole and subject to outward punishments. They were given signs and shadows, not the reality of the full redemption in Christ. They heard the gospel (Heb. 4: 2) and were saved by faith (Romans 4). Nonetheless we see God’s mercy towards his people again and again despite their sin.

God surely disciplines believers (Heb. 12:7ff). Yet his dealings with the church are more of grace and mercy. There is no warning of captivity and divorce. The trials bear the fruit of building up believers and he defends his blood bought people because they are truly and fully his children (John 1:12,13). So, God does not treat his Church like he treated Israel of old. Just as a parent more severely rules his young child in order to teach and then grants greater freedom to the mature child so God works differently in the life of His beloved Church as the bride of His Son. If there was grace and love toward Israel of old surely God is truly zealous for his Church. In trying times God builds his church and his grace is displayed even more.

God Removes the Ease of the World to Enlarge the Church

God promised through Zechariah that he would again visit Jerusalem with mercy and cause the cities of the land to grow and prosper. He expressed his anger with the nations at ease who had with evil intent oppressed Israel. Throughout the prophets we see that God would judge the nations and upend their rule for the sake of his people. The Israelites that returned from the seventy years captivity would live through the upheavals of God’s punishment of the nation powers of that time. Yet, God stated that he loved his people, would comfort them, and enlarge them again.

So, in the human history of nations we see that God withdraws his grace and the nations are plunged into war. Their sin of pride runs unhindered again. God uses their own sin to punish them. Perhaps now as in the past we are seeing the nations turning to violence and oppression in large numbers. God is judging this unbelieving world. He is judging western nations and their civilization for turning their backs on him and all his external blessings. We see the upheaval as the nations again are allowed to let their sin produce its corrupt fruit. The Church is living through this upheaval. What is punishment for the nations is for the building up of perseverance, character, and hope of the Church. In the end this is all meant for the prosperity of the Church for God will call hopeless men, women, and children to himself through the only savior of world. God will enlarge the Church and it will spread out through prosperity by the calling of more sinners to faith and repentance from the ranks of unbelief, false religion, and outright enemies (Romans 5:6ff). These are the times that try men’s souls. God is trying your soul in these days. What is your trust?

Why I am a Presbyterian?

I had a visitor at our mission work recently ask why I would identify myself and the mission work as Presbyterian. He was referring to the recent action of the Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA) to affirm homosexual “marriage.”[1]  Presbyterians from the same denomination have been in the news recently for a article where a Presbyterian minister stated that he didn’t believe in God and still was proud to a minister in the PCUSA.[2] And again a PCUSA congregation in New Orleans recently hosted a rally to support and celebrate a Planned Parenthood abortion facility in that city[3].  Clearly the word “Presbyterian” has bad connotations for Christians that take the Bible as God’s word seriously and normatively. Why in the world would I who had just preached a Biblically based sermon identify myself with such a denomination? Why would I attempt to start a church that aims to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and use such a moniker that communicates the opposite to many people?

Not All Presbyterians are Alike:

As a matter of education there are many denominations that identify themselves as Presbyterian . There exist in the USA the PCUSA, the PCA, the EPC, the ARP, the OPC, the BPC, the KAPC, the RPCNA, just to name a few. We Presbyterians affectionately call ourselves the “split ‘Ps.’” The PCUSA is the largest but it is in serious decline because of the very positions against the teachings of the Bible and its own historic confession that it has taken.  So, while I am Presbyterian I am not a minister in the PCUSA though I grew up in it.[4] Many of the smaller Presbyterian denominations are more Biblically consistent and conservative trying to maintain the Biblical confessional standards that have characterized Presbyterians throughout the world and history. I am a minister in and do church planting for the OPC (Orthodox Presbyterian Church). So if I left the more progressive and liberal Presbyterian church why should I want to be a Presbyterian?

The Bible Teaches the Kind of Church Government Called “Presbyterian”:

The word Presbyterian comes from the Greek language used in the writing of the New Testament that refers to elder, presbyteros. If one reads the Bible carefully he will see that that the Jewish nation-church was ruled or governed by the elders by God’s appointment (Ex 3:16; 24:1). The New Testament church carried over this practice and a plurality of elders was elected in each new congregation (Acts 14:23). The apostles even saw themselves as elders though with a particular function as the authoritative witnesses of Jesus Christ, apostles, (I Pet. 5:1). Throughout the book of Acts we see the importance of elders in the churches. At its most basic level the word Presbyterian refers to the rule by elders.

Not only are the local churches ruled by a plurality of elders but the churches are connected. There is in Presbyterian government a connection of the all the churches to one another. This works to guarantee accountability of believers to the greater church, first to their own elders (Heb 13:17), and then to the broader church. Thus, in Acts 15 when there arose a theological dispute about how to handle the Jewish laws and the inclusion of the Gentile believers the elders of the all the churches gathered together to discuss, solve, and then communicate the decision of the whole church. I like to explain that the civil government structure of the United States borrowed from the Presbyterian Church. [5]  Think of local, state, and federal government and courts. That system of “graduated” or ascending levels of accountability is the outworking of Presbyterian church government. This is not just a man created system but a study of the book of Acts and Paul’s Pastoral Epistles in the scriptures reveal that the Presbyterian or “Elder” system of church government is taught and exampled in the Bible.[6]

Presbyterian Theology is Rooted in the Reformation:

The reformation of the Roman Catholic Church that swept across the organized church in Western Christendom had its identifiable beginnings in the 14^th century with John Wycliffe. Wycliffe’s concerns about worldly prelates, the primacy of scripture, and the nature of the Eucharist/Lord’s Supper became the main points of dispute. These concerns were echoed by John Huss in the 15^th century and the mighty Martin Luther in the 16^th century. It was John Knox who as a student of the exiled Frenchman, John Calvin, took the reformation doctrines to Scotland and became the father of Presbyterianism. Presbyterianism then spread throughout the world in various Presbyterian denominations utilizing the reformed confession and catechisms of the Westminster Standards written in England (1643-49) as an accurate summary of the teachings of the Bible.

While there are other reformed Protestant denominations across the world (Lutheran, German Reformed, Dutch Reformed) the Presbyterian church is the Scots-English expression of the grand doctrines of grace that are focused on the primacy of the Bible, the grace of God in Jesus Christ, and the glory of God in the salvation of sinners.[7] Often summarized by the five solas; The Scriptures Alone, Grace Alone, Faith Alone, Christ Alone, and God’s Glory Alone, these doctrines of God’s free grace are what powered the Protestant movement and gave birth to renewed freedom and dignity of all people. Biblical and historical Presbyterian doctrine is an important inheritance from the reformation that we need to hear again today.

Presbyterians Have an Evangelistic Mission Orientation:

Presbyterian missions in America initially was organized as in effort around 1800 in western Pennsylvania and territories west that would become Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan. Not only were the early settlements a focus of the gospel mission endeavors but the native Indian tribes were also evangelized. In 1802 the Presbyterian Church USA established the first Protestant denominational mission organization, The Standing Committee of Missions, that focused on home missions in the USA developing new local churches in settlements. Presbyterians supported the American Board of Foreign Missions and finally established their own denominational Board of Foreign Missions on the model of the Western Foreign Missionary Society that was begun by the Synod of Pittsburgh in the PCUSA. That society fielded twenty one missionaries to Native American Indians and thirty nine missionaries to Liberia and India.

This missions emphasis was the outgrowth of the reformed theology of the Presbyterians contrary to many modern opinions. The idea that people are made right with God by the means of grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone as taught in the scriptures alone to the glory of God alone compelled missionaries to go to the world at large. This theological commitment was expressed in John Calvin’s early missionary endeavors to take the reformation doctrines to other parts of the world from Geneva, Switzerland that all kinds of people would benefit from the doctrines of grace.

It was this missions emphasis that led to the formation of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC) when liberal theology that neutered the focus of the gospel of saving faith in Jesus Christ to a social gospel began to affect Presbyterian missions in the PCUSA. J Gresham Machen and others founded the Independent Board for Presbyterian Foreign Missions to maintain the gospel of free grace in Jesus Christ as the focus of missions. So in 1936 the OPC was founded on the commitment to the gospel in Jesus Christ as reflected in the robust reformed theological heritage of the Reformation. The OPC has continued to keep the focus on missions, both home and foreign, as an important part of the identity of the church.

As you can see there are many good reasons to be a Presbyterian. One has to be discerning because many Presbyterians have departed from the scriptures and the reformation theology that is taught in them. I am not so much proud to be a Presbyterian as I am grateful to God for the heritage and faithfulness of Biblical Presbyterians he has maintained and used over the years. Christ is still building his church. Reformation doctrine and the fruit of it, missions, are good and important reasons to be a member of a Biblical Presbyterian church. God has used this part of Christ’s church to grow many in the faith and to share the faith in Jesus Christ for God’s glory.

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[1] I refuse to surrender the term marriage to the modern practice of joining together people of various sexual preferences in civil interpersonal unions. Marriage has definite Biblical, historic, and commonly understood definition in human relations as an institution; Genesis 2:18-25, “the institution whereby men and women are joined in a special kind of social and legal dependence for the purpose of founding and maintaining a family.”  Webster’s 7^th Collegiate Dictionary, 1971.

[2] See http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2015/03/17/im-a-presbyterian-minister-who-doesnt-believe-in-god-2/

[3] See http://www.lifenews.com/2015/04/09/presbyterian-church-hosts-rally-to-support-new-planned-parenthood-abortion-business/

[4] Actually I was a child in the UPUSA (United Presbyterian Church in the north) which joined with the PCUS (the southern Presbyterian Church) in the 1980s and became once again an unified national Presbyterian denomination known as the PC(USA). 

[5] The first presbytery was organized in Philadelphia in 1706 and the Westminster Standards were adopted as the Presbyterian Church’s doctrinal standards in 1729. (see: http://www.history.pcusa.org/history-online/presbyterian-history/timeline-presbyterian-history)

[6] See I Timothy 4:14 where the apostle Paul reminds Timothy of his ordination into the ministry by the presbytery (ESV) or elders. From this text and Acts 15 the meeting of the elders from the churches settled theological issues and ordained ministers (pastor-teachers/evangelists). This is the biblical way of governing churches.

[7][7] See http://www.monergism.com/search?keywords=doctrines+of+grace&format=All