My first meeting with Dr. Girardo was in 1860 at the residence of Rev. Dr. John B. Adger while I was a student in the Columbia Theological Seminary. Pointing to Dr. Girardo, who was on the other side of the room, Dr. Adger emphatically affirmed to several of us, there is the Spurgeon of America, the grandest preacher in all our Southland. This statement then seemed to me to be a very extravagant one and provoked the criticism, see how these South Carolinians love one another. But afterwards, I often realized that it was strictly and entirely true. The testimony of one who knew Dr. Gerardo very well, Joseph Mack, John Lafayette Gerardo is not well known to us today, except in very small circles who love the old Presbyterians. And in fact, Roger, who usually likes to send out a little precursor blurb biographical sketch before I actually get to the person in question, I was delighted to find out could find nothing to send to any of you to I tip you off to what Gerardo was all about. I find it really a great pleasure to talk to you about Gerardo because I am attracted to John Lafayette Gerardo in a number of ways. First of all, he was an incredible pastor. He was a phenomenal preacher and an astute theologian. He always, no matter what he did, was passionate and enthusiastic. And as you read the narratives about Dr. Girardo, three words continually come up again and again and again, fire, thunder, and lightning. I'm also attracted to Girardo because he actually sheds a lot of light for us on a very misunderstood and misrepresented period of our country's history. You see, John L. Girardo pastored two large black congregations before the war and one large black congregation after the war. He had a great love for the slaves and he also served as a chaplain in the Confederate States of America. So let's begin first of all with his lineage, a little bit about Southern Presbyterianism and then his birth Gerardo came, you can tell his name is French, he came from Huguenot lineage. Of course, I'm sure that most of you have probably heard of the Huguenots by now. The Huguenots were the French Calvinists shortly after the time of the Reformation and they were terribly persecuted. In fact, they were persecuted for centuries after the Reformation. And many of the French Huguenots actually came over to America During times of persecution, Gerardo's family settled in South Carolina, like many other French Huguenot families, such as the ancestors of Francis Marion, the great hero during our war for independence, known as the Swamp Fox. One observer notes, the persecution of the Huguenots brought out an unusual number of splendid qualities in that remarkable people. This was due to the distinctive qualities of the French mind and to the special characteristics of the French disposition. When powerfully acted upon by the gospel and then subjected to the fierce fires of pitiless persecution, there came forth a people of strong mind and heart intense in their Calvinism, rigid in their discipline, pure in their lives, unbending in their loyalty, ardent in their zeal, tender in their sympathies, and magnetic in their personalities. The Carolinas actually were filled with Scots-Irish descendants of the Covenanters and the French Huguenots, and this fact alone would have tremendous bearing on both the war for independence and the war between the states. Now let me talk to you very briefly about Southern Presbyterianism. The Christian environment in which Gerardo was born into was a vibrant one. Just as the Bible says, there were giants in the land in those days. And there were giants such as Daniel Baker, Moses Hogue, Thomas Peck, William Plummer, James Henley Thornwell, Benjamin Morgan Palmer, Robert Louis Dabney. These men were absolutely incredible preachers, fabulous theologians, and really were unsurpassed even by their northern Princeton counterparts. There were two distinctives that really shaped Southern Presbyterianism as Gerardo would have known it. One was a theologically precise, intellectually robust, thoroughly reformed confessional Christianity. The second was an experiential Puritan piety and revival Christianity. Douglas Kelly says, on the one hand, there was an immense respect for the highest intellectual theological learning manifested in the Presbyterian emphasis on higher education with a consequent channeling of significant resources to the building of schools and colleges, but secondly, there could be found personal heart religion manifested in an unashamed devotion to Jesus, literal acceptance of scripture, and thirsty longing for spirit-scent revival. One of the things that appeals to me so much about Southern Presbyterianism is the welding together of those two things. A robust, intellectual, theologically precise confessional Christianity but not one that is a dead orthodoxy, but one that is alive and desires to see the Spirit poured out from on high, one that delights in a personal walk with Christ and experimental Christianity. John L. Gerardo was born into that on James Island near Charleston, South Carolina, November 14, 1825. He was born into the Southern Presbyterian culture, and he was born into the Southern culture, and he fit into both quite well. Now, what about his conversion? Gerardo's mother died when he was merely seven years old. He tells the account in his own words. He was out playing with one of his cousins and somebody came out and told them that your mother is dying. We need to remember in those days, people died at home. And so children were exposed to death continually. The extended family lived together on a plantation or a large farm, and the children saw death all the time. Young Gerardo, at age seven, saw his mother die peacefully. And he says in reflection, I think I can distinctly see how it has worked for ultimate good. I humbly believe the Lord intended it so. We lost the benefit of her motherly care and instruction, but we gained the benefit of tuition in the school of affliction. And eternity alone will reveal how important that discipline was. Gerardo graduated from high school between his 14th and 15th year and entered Charleston College He was a good student. He was an outstanding athlete, a wonderful singer, and an accomplished musician, just like me. Shortly after his graduation from high school and entering into college, He entered into what he calls in his own words that awful month. Dr. Gerardo's account of that awful month of conviction was enough to send terror to any unconverted soul. He had just entered college when a gloom like that of eternal night fell upon his soul. His conscience pointed to his sinful nature, the unbearable holiness of God, the flaming bar of judgment. In everything about him, he saw the warnings of coming vengeance, while the lurid glare of an eternal hell was before his fervid imagination. His case seemed hopeless. He could not see how anyone would want to laugh. He could not see how anyone could enjoy a life that was nothing more than a vestibule to the dungeon of eternal woe. He was afraid to put out his light at night, lest the darkness should never end. He was afraid to go to sleep, lest he should awaken the company of the damned. He had no appetite for food. He could not study. No earthly thing interested him. He spent his time reading the Bible, calling on God for mercy and bemoaning his lost estate. In vain did he strive to make peace with God. He wept over the consequences of his sin, but there was no sense of pardon. He tried to repent, he tried to reform, but there was no peace. He strove to make covenants and agreements with God, but the earth was iron and the heavens were brass. One beautiful morning while on his knees begging for mercy, it occurred to him that he had already done everything that it was possible for him to do. and that all of these things had availed him nothing. He would, therefore, just surrender himself to Jesus and leave the case in his hands. This was faith. Instantly, the Holy Spirit assured him that he was accepted in Christ, that his sins were forgiven, and that God loved him with an everlasting love. He sprang to his feet, clapped his hands, and poured out the overflowing joy of his soul in praise. All nature had changed. In the description of his feelings, he said that the sun shone brighter, the birds sang sweeter, the breezes blew softer than he had ever known them to do. His flesh as well as his heart felt the delight of the presence of a reconciled God. He could see no reason why any intelligent creature could care to do anything in this world but love and praise God. Just as we saw with Asahel Nettleton and his own conversion experience and how it shaped so much of his ministry later on. The same thing can be said of John L. Gerardo. Gerardo, after graduation, became a tutor for the Hamlin family and ended up falling in love with one of the daughters, Penelope Sarah Hamlin. In 1849 they were married. He was 24 and she was 19. Their marriage was one that was filled with joy. It was a solid marriage. They had 10 children together. Penelope grew up in a Charleston plantation and had been used to living a life of wealth and luxury. And she left all of that willingly to become a pastor's wife. Because for both John and Penelope, the most important thing in life was to glorify God through winning souls to Christ. Gerardo's education was fairly typical in those days. In 1845 he entered into Columbia Theological Seminary and it was there that he would be shaped by two great Southern Presbyterian giants, James Henley Thornwell and Benjamin Morgan Palmer. Thornwell was president of another college and would preach frequently in chapel. And Palmer was the pastor of Second Presbyterian Church. These two men, who really are legends in and of themselves, and also deserve our attention, would have an incredible effect. In fact, later in Gerardo's own ministry, he would credit Thornwell with being one of the greatest influences on his life, theologically, along with two other people you may have heard of, John Calvin and John Owen. It was during his time in seminary that he began to minister and he started a little mission in a shed in the lower part of Columbia at that time. He worked with the poor and even ministered to prostitutes and through that ministry during his seminary days many professed faith in Christ. He was licensed to preach the gospel by the Presbytery and he became the pulpit supply at the Wapita Church. Wapita is not on the map. It's just a little backwoods place. But all of a sudden, this young man, filled with the Holy Spirit and the truth of God, which burned in his own soul, began to preach his heart out. And people would walk 20 miles to come hear John Gerardo preach. One of his biographers says, here gathered every Sabbath morning large numbers of both blacks and whites to hear him preach. He preached first to the white congregation, which always filled the building. As soon as it withdrew, the Negroes filled every available foot of space, and he immediately began another service, preaching, according to many witnesses, his best sermons to them. It was actually this introduction during his seminary days and being licensed to preach the gospel that he began also to work among the plantations. While he was both a college student and a seminary student, he would often rotate around the various plantations speaking to the slaves, catechizing the slaves, oftentimes leading in family worship at the plantations, which of course would include both whites and blacks together, and saw wonderful revivals on these plantations. In fact, in his own words, he says, on another plantation, which I was in the habit of visiting, a prayer meeting was commenced by one or two young men, which became more and more solemn until the religious interest grew intense and a powerful revival took place, which involved the white family and their neighbors. The results of that meeting were marked and some of its fruit remained to this day. If I ever witnessed an outpouring of the spirit, I did then. While teaching school in another place, it was my custom to visit plantations in rotation on certain afternoons of the week and catechize and exhort the slaves. I knew of but one planter in that community who objected to this practice, and he was a very irreligious man. On Sabbaths, after the regular services of the sanctuary had been held and the white congregation had dispersed, the Negroes would crowd the church building and stand on the pulpit steps, and I would preach to them. Their feelings sometimes were irrepressible. This was with the sanction of the ministers and elders. While at the theological seminary, I only refrained from going on a foreign mission field because I felt it was my duty to preach to the mass of slaves on the seaboard of South Carolina. Having rejected, after licensure, a call to a large and important church which had very few Negroes connected with it, I accepted an invitation to preach temporarily to a small church which was surrounded by a dense body of slaves. The scenes on Sabbath were affecting. The Negroes came in crowds from two parishes. Often I have seen a sight, I reckon not often witnessed, groups of them double-quicking in the road in order to reach the church, you know, trotting to church. The white service, as many Negroes as could, would be attending. Once it was over, the slaves would then pour in and throng the seats vacated by their masters. Yes, cram the building right up to the pulpit. I've seen them rock to and fro under the influence of their feelings like a wood in a storm. What singing, what hearty handshaking after the service. I have had my finger joints stripped of the skin in consequence of them. Upon leaving church after the last mournful service with them and going to my carriage, which was some hundred yards in the distance, a poor little African native woman followed me weeping, crying, Oh, Master, you gonna leave us? Oh, Master, for Jesus' sake, don't leave us. Well, I've made an engagement with another church. If I hadn't, the poor little African's plea might have prevailed. When next I visited that people, I asked after my little African friend. Well, she's crossed over, sir, was the answer. And then Gerardo says, May we meet where parting will be no more. The song to Jesus never cease. Gerardo loved the slaves and he loved laboring among them. And in fact, in his first full-time charge, not as pulpit supply, but actually as a pastor, it was at the Wilton Church. He pastored that place for three years, ministering to both whites and blacks with tremendous success. One of the things we need to remember, and I'll point this out again later, is that before the war, oftentimes the churches were mixed. And so, many times, churches would be filled with both blacks and whites, and Gerardo preached his heart out to both. In 1854, he was called to the Anson Street Church. When he arrived in 1854, it had 36 members. Six years later, it had 600 members with 1,500 people in attendance, and both whites and blacks flocked to hear him preach. so that the building needed to be expanded. And once they expanded it, they called it the Zion Church. Now, just one note about his work among the slaves. John Gerardo was actually in favor of churches which were directed towards the black slave. He said that what he called the separate system, he was not opposed to whites attending predominantly black churches or vice versa. but he argued that the separate system was better for the black slave. Now certainly some of his reasons will sound somewhat paternalistic to us, but they are very sincere. He argued that in mixed churches, he felt that the blacks often missed the message because the preaching was primarily to the whites. He felt that if the blacks could have their own churches, then messages could be directed towards them at their level. He also felt that oftentimes in mixed churches, the blacks were overlooked in pastoral duties. The pastor is often giving preference to performing pastoral duties towards white members while neglecting black members. And in mixed churches, blacks could never attain to the position of leadership. And Gerardo believed that there were gifted black men who could serve as deacons and even elders in the church. And as long as they were integrated completely, they would never be able to attain to that. And so whether in retrospect we view his perspectives as right or wrong, the fact was he had a heart for the seaboard slaves of South Carolina. In fact, one of the interesting developments in his ministry at Zion Church was that he started what we would call today cell groups. It sounds rather modern, doesn't it? Here's a church of 1,500 people. He's the only pastor. How in the world can he pastor 1,500 people? Well, what he did is that he trained black slaves to be cell group leaders of 40 people to a group. And he trained them on how to minister to the groups. And once a group got actually up to 40, then it split off and he trained more and more. And actually it was quite an interesting innovation that was really long before its time. During this time, Gerardo's ministry. saw a tremendous revival. In fact, let me read one of these accounts to you. One evening, while leading the people in prayer, he received a sensation as if a bolt of electricity had struck his head and diffused itself throughout his whole body. For a little while, he stood speechless under the strange physical feeling. Then he said, the Holy Spirit has come. We will begin preaching tomorrow evening. He closed the service with a hymn, dismissed the congregation, and came down from the pulpit, but nobody left. The whole congregation had quietly resumed its seat. Instantly he realized the situation. The Holy Spirit had come not only to him, but he had taken possession of the hearts of the people. Immediately he began exhorting them to accept the gospel. They began to sob softly like the falling of rain, then with deeper emotion to weep bitterly or rejoice loudly according to their circumstances. It was midnight before he could dismiss the congregation. A noted evangelist from the north who was present said between his sobs to an officer of the church, I never saw it on this fashion. The meeting went on night and day for eight weeks. Large numbers of both white and black were converted and joined various churches in the city. His own was wonderfully built up, not only in numbers, but also in an experience that remained in the church. He was accustomed to say that he could always count on those who had been converted at that meeting. This was probably due to the deep work of the conviction of sin, the protracted period of conviction, the clear sense of pardon, and the joyful witness of the Spirit to their adoption. After the war, Gerardo became pastor of the Glebe Street Presbyterian Church. After he had been locked out of the Zion Church by the Freedman's Bureau, who had given the property and the church to a northern Presbyterian missionary, he pastored the Glebe Street Presbyterian Church, which was also predominantly a black church, until his time of becoming a seminary professor. That brings us next to a chaplain for the Confederate States of America. One of the important things about this particular aspect of Gerardo's life and ministry is that we understand Gerardo's times. It seems very difficult for us today to see how a genuine biblical godliness and serving in the Confederacy could be compatible. to help understand this historically. I have a paper that I've written, we only have 15 copies, called Slavery, the Bible and the South. And I would encourage you to pick that up. If there aren't enough to go around, we'll have some more made. But it's very important for us to understand this particular period of history and the perspective that these men carried with them. The reality is that most in the South were not fighting to perpetuate slavery. They were fighting a defensive war to protect their homeland and their rights from an invading army. Douglas Kelly says of Gerardo, he was convinced that the Southern cause was right and that the basic issue was a defense of constitutional liberties of a formerly conservative, decentralized republic now on the verge of being turned into a liberal, secular, centralized democracy. My friends, that is what happened. I would remind us as we look at his life as a chaplain very briefly that we do the people of the South a gross disservice when we believe that racism and slavery propelled the war. Read the primary sources, read R.L. Dabney, read James Henley Thornwell, read John L. Girardo, and see what their perspective was on the conflict between the states, because we must, out of fairness, at least consider what they have to say. They lived in it. We didn't. Gerardo proved himself to be a compassionate and useful chaplain. This was not the chaplain who simply stayed back at headquarters. Gerardo was on the battlefield. And in fact, many times, the men in his company, once the artillery would start flying, would say, and there stood Chaplain Gerardo finishing his prayer as if nothing was happening. He would pray for the wounded, both Confederate and Union soldiers. In fact, one particular account from 1862 reads like this, as we approached the rear of the work, the first thing that attracted my attention was a large number, 50 or more, of mortally wounded and dying Federal soldiers, that would be the Union Army, who had been collected and placed in the excavation behind the magazine. In the midst of these, on his knees was Dr. Girardo offering up an earnest and eloquent prayer for those dying soldiers, so lately the enemies of all he loved. I was moved, I was so moved that I forgot war and the dangers incident thereto. In view of the fact that Dr. Gerardo was an ardent, if not bitter, advocate of Southern rights, this triumph of Christian virtue over human nature, this absolute forgiveness accorded to the dying and no longer active enemies, emphasized his godlike soul and brings out in radiant light the benediction of this true disciple of the Master. The scene as witnessed under such tragic surroundings is worthy of an artist's brush and deserves to be handed down as a study exemplifying, as it does, the influence of Christ's teachings in the most trying of circumstances. The fact is, is that Gerardo ministered to whomever he could. Whether they were Southern, whether they were Northern, it made no difference to him. Someone who was dying was about to stand before their maker. and he labored and ministered for them. He bore the hardships of war patriotically and the duties of a pastor faithfully. In the trenches for days, weeks, and months, Dr. Gerardo was always with the soldiers, bearing their privations and undergoing the same hardships with them, always lending cheer to all with whom he came into contact. He held regular prayer meetings, even under those trying conditions, and many times came into the trenches, gathered a little crowd around him, expounded some scripture, and prayed. On these occasions so close were the lines together that our singing would attract the attention of the Union gunners and cause them to open fire on us." Gerardo was captured towards the end of the war and spent the last days of the war in a prison camp. If you know anything about the war between the states, the prison camps on both sides were deplorable. But Gerardo, like he did everything else, bared up well and served his master. He preached very often in the prison. One observer states, his platform was the center of the great circle from which the streets radiated to the various sections of the barracks. My cousin told me that when Dr. Gerardo preached, not only the circle, but the streets, as far as he could be heard, were crowded with eager listeners. Confederates and federal guards mingled together, held by a common interest. He said that many men dated their conversion from these services. Obviously by now you can tell just from what we've seen that Gerardo was a remarkable preacher. One has said the pulpit was his throne, its prayers a golden scepter, its sermon a crowned jewel. To preach Jesus Christ and him crucified was the one thing of his life, his chiefest joy, and often did the tones of his voice so reveal this highest delight of his heart as to make the melody of his words sound as sweetly as the echoes of the morning. Gerardo himself was a physically robust man. He was fairly tall for that period of time. He stood about 5 foot 11. That's not very tall for Grace Community Church but it was pretty tall back in the 19th century. He was physically robust and he had a melodious voice and when he preached he was energetic but yet graceful. His mannerisms, his gestures all were natural but captivating so that simply trying to read a Gerardo sermon could never do justice according to those who had seen him preach. Gerardo was absolutely a remarkable preacher. He threw his whole self, body, mind, and spirit into his preaching, speaking with a fervor such as I have rarely seen equaled in the pulpit, and which deeply impressed his hearers with his zeal for God and for their souls. Now Gerardo's preaching itself was remarkable and God used his preaching to bring revival in many different places. You might know that in the history of the church in America, after the second great awakening which we saw under Ozahel Nettleton, There was also another incredible awakening in 1858-1859. It is often called the Prayer Revival. And it jumped around like wildfire. In fact, you can read in Samuel Prime's book, The Power of Prayer, and about the Dutch missionary for the church in downtown New York and the prayer meetings that started. And it was a phenomenal thing. That spread throughout the entire country and Gerardo's contention was to his dying day that God sent that revival because many of America's finest young men would enter into eternity within the next five years. Let me give you a scene of the thunder and the lightning. During the summer of 1870, we were holding a meeting in the back country of South Carolina at a place called Whippy Swamp. Never been there. It was my night to preach. This is someone else speaking, a companion of Gerardo's, but he sat with me in the pulpit. The interest was so intense that before the sermon was finished, I was awed into silence as I realized my utter inability to fully meet the eternal issues of that hour. In despair, I turned around and cried to Dr. Gerardo, can you not tell these perishing sinners of our precious Savior? At once he was on his feet. In a voice tremulous with emotion, he tenderly told them of their critical, their very critical condition because of the presence of God's Holy Spirit. And he pointed to Christ as a refuge, an entirely safe refuge. Then his voice changed. The subdued manner was gone. The tremulous tone disappeared. In accents of exultation, he proclaimed a divinely glorious Savior as the fires of Christian triumph flashed from his eyes and flamed forth in his words The hearts of all God's people were kindled with the joy of salvation, and tears of gratitude coursed down every cheek. Just then, in a loud and thrilling voice, He cried, O sinners, dear dying sinners, this is our Savior. Come to Him just as you are. Come to Him right now. And in an instant, Every impenitent person in the house with one exception rose up and rushed forward to the foot of the pulpit. He had not given an altar call, friends. This was the spontaneous reaction of the preaching of the gospel. Some who were outside dashed through the doors and one or two sprang through the windows to reach the same place. Suddenly, there came a strange hush over the house, and I expected Dr. Gerardo to lead in prayer or make some earnest exhortation. But no! In a clear, sweet, ringing tone, he began to sing the well-known hymn, Come to Jesus. Before the hymn was finished, there was joy in two worlds. In God's glorious heaven, angels were singing and saying, He has saved them. And in that little rude country church, sinners were singing and saying, He has saved me. And to the heart of our Lord, the song of the sinners here was sweeter than the song of the angels there." There are many, many other accounts of those who heard Gerardo preach. On one occasion, the very scholarly Reverend J.M. Buckley, who was a Methodist, came to hear him preach. And at the end of this service, here he was crunched into a building that was overflowing primarily with blacks. And as Gerardo preached, the place was moved. God was there. And at the end, Buckley said, I have to say, I've heard Thomas Guthrie of Edinburgh, and James Hamilton of London, and even Mr. Spurgeon six or eight times. But it has never fallen to my lot to hear a more absorbing, spiritual, eloquent, moving sermon on this occasion. He says, looking around to catch the eye of my friend, I saw that two-thirds of all the men in the congregation were in tears. It was no rant or artificial excitement or mere pathos, but thought, burning and glowing. None but a man of equal intellect, learning, piety, and eloquence could preach such a discourse without notes. Gerardo's preaching was absolutely remarkable. On one occasion when he was in Charleston, this was shortly before the war, there were two black men who had been accused of killing a white man. Evidently, one of the black men actually was a member of Dr. Gerardo's congregation. The man swore that he had just witnessed the murder, but the jury tried him and found him guilty and hung him. Dr. Girardo announced that he was going to preach on the slave's death. Well, as things go, things got a little twisted and the rumor that was being passed around Charleston was that Dr. Girardo was going to preach a sermon vindicating the black man. Actually, he was planning on preaching a sermon warning people to watch their company Well, this riled up the Minutemen of Charleston, who were in no way going to allow such a sermon be preached in their town. And so as the service began that day, unbeknownst to Dr. Girardo, some people had heard the Minutemen's desire to kill Girardo before he started to preach. And so the mayor knew it, and so he sent some armed guards in, in plain clothes, And the slaves knew it. And so the mayor's men went in armed, the minute men went in armed, and the blacks went in ready to defend their beloved pastor even to death. And here's Dr. Gerardo, who didn't have a clue. He walked to church that morning and noticed that there were more people than ordinary, and he walked in with his little son, sat down, and got up and began to preach. And the Spirit of God fell in such a way that numerous among the minute men were converted. Many of those who had been sent there to protect him were converted. And afterwards, the ringleader of the minute men offered him a sincere apology and a trip to Europe at his expense. Gerardo's preaching was so famous that the state legislature of South Carolina asked him to preach a sermon that it was fairly well known at that time called The Last Judgment. And Gerardo, who could paint word pictures like an Edwards with fire, took the opportunity. And they filled up the First Presbyterian Church and he preached to senators and to legislators to those who were of the high class and to those who were the slave class for one and a half hours on the judgment to come. And once again, the spirit of God fell and many dated their conversion back to that time. He was well known through not only throughout the South, but throughout all of the country at that time. And in fact, in 1869, he was invited to go to Virginia and to preach at that time, which was Washington College. Robert E. Lee was president of Washington College. That college today is now Washington Lee College. Gerardo was an emotional man, a passionate man, and as he entered back into Virginia, the place where he had been held captive at the end of the war, the emotions of that experience overwhelmed him. And as he stood and preached to the student body, and to senators, and to legislators, and to the upper crust, and to the lower crust, he poured himself out And there sat General Robert E. Lee in the front row, making no effort to restrain himself emotionally as he listened to this man of God pour his heart out and preach the truth. His style of preaching was captivating, obviously. He always, he conscientiously tried to communicate with everyone that he was preaching to. To him, he had to gain eye contact. The eye was the window to the soul and he had to preach soul to soul. By the way, that's why these chairs are like this and not like this. Because if I was down there or down there and you were all the way back there, you'd be such a wee little person I couldn't see your eyeballs. There's something to be said communicating directly eye to eye and soul to soul. And Gerardo knew that that was one of the things the Spirit of God used and so he insisted on it. He also was insistent that you preach to people where they were. This of course emerged out of his ministry to the slaves. It has been said that Gerardo could preach just as profound a sermon theologically as James Henley Thornwell, but he could preach it in such a way that the slaves could understand. In fact, what's remarkable is that Gerardo himself actually thought through how to communicate to the slaves and to a white congregation at the same time. He would pick up catchphrases and repeat them in different ways with different emphases so that even the, quote, meanest listener and the most sophisticated listener could listen with edification. Douglas Kelly says he was a Rembrandt-like painter with words. You read some of his descriptions of the coming of Christ, of the soul entering into heaven, and you are just wrapped with attention, but he also believed in preaching with the whole man. Douglas Kelley once again says it's evident that Gerardo keenly felt the truth which he preached. His congregations could sense that he felt it and that in turn found it hard to remain indifferent to what so gripped this powerful mind and character. Perhaps part of this indescribable something was the way in which Gerardo apparently unconsciously threw the totality of his whole being, body and soul into the act of preaching God's living, burning truth. Spurgeon used to say, I set myself on fire and people come to watch me burn." The same could be said of John Gerardo. He was filled with the truth of God and it burned in his soul and he preached with every fiber of his being. He held nothing back. He also believed that if you're going to preach with the whole soul and the whole body and you're going to preach to where people are at, then you need to preach nothing but the unadulterated word of God. And he did. One of the reasons why so many, he was so successful among the black congregations is because he himself was filled with passion and emotion. One time, one of his church members, a black man, invited another person, another black slave from a plantation to go hear Dr. Gerardo. And the other slave said, what do you go listen to that white man preach for? And this man said, his face may be white, but his heart is black. Gerardo, after pastoring his third black congregation, received a call from Columbia Theological Seminary from Columbia, South Carolina. In 1875, he was elected professor of didactic and polemic theology for the seminary. At first, he refused because he thought he was unfit for the work. Here's one of the most brilliant minds in the Southland, perhaps in all of America, really an unparalleled theologian. He was unsurpassed. Certainly there were others who probably were his equal, but he was unsurpassed, and yet this is what he said. I was previously, to my first lecture, anxious almost to sickness. Now stop and think about that. This man has endured the war between the states. This man has preached to thousands upon thousands, and a seminary classroom makes him anxious almost to sickness. I could not endure the thought of undertaking an office for which my furniture was so consciously inadequate. But the Lord helped me. and he has helped me ever since. Gerardo, at beginning this new call, this new post, says, I commit myself and this work, to which I did not call myself, to the almighty faithful hands of the Lord Jesus. Oh, glorious Savior, I adore you, I admire you, I love you. Use me to show forth your matchless beauty, loveliness, and glory. Enrich me with all knowledge and utterance for thy name's sake. Amen. What we need really, having been to seminary myself, I can testify that what we need is we need men who will teach in our seminaries, who know what it is to have the truth burning within them. They are far and few between. Most of them just reheat their notes, go over the same stuff over and over, and lose their passion so that the notes become cold, the lectures become sterile, and all it is is cranking out information. And John Gerardo continued in this post for almost 20 more years, approximately 18 years, and never lost his zeal, never lost his passion, and was filled with the spirit even in the seminary classroom. Gerardo himself actually made number of contributions theologically. There was a professor who ended up being, I think, the great-uncle or the uncle to Woodrow Wilson, the President of the United States, who was in the Natural Sciences Department. This is in the 1870s. Well, what took place in 1859 that began to shake this world? the publication of The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin. Now, many at that time did not see the dangers of Darwinian evolution. And there at the seminary, Dr. Woodrow was preaching and teaching that there's an evolutionary process. God just started it all. At that time, not many people saw the danger to that. Even Benjamin B. Warfield at Princeton did not see the danger to that. Dr. Gerardo did. And he started a controversy over evolution that was a major eruption. He saw that the Westminster Confession of Faith required that we believe that the Bible says that God created this world in six days. You hold to evolution, you can no longer subscribe to the confession. You can't subscribe to the confession, you shouldn't teach in the theological seminary. And at the next General Assembly meeting, Gerardo gave in the speeches in its entirety, in his life and work, gave a three-hour speech on the dangers of evolution. And the insight that he had was probably at least 50 years ahead of his time. He also made other theological contributions, such as the area of covenant theology. He had magnificent insight and things that really had just been overlooked. And in my estimation, I've not read everything Gerardo wrote. I have John sending me everything else Gerardo wrote. And I plan on reading it as soon as it gets here. But I will tell you that in my estimation, the most significant theological contribution he made to the church was on the doctrine of adoption. Francis Turretin, who was a scholastic Protestant scholar in the 1600s, and his Institutes of Elenctic Theology became the standard for theological study in America and Europe. He simply taught that adoption was a subset of justification and actually only dedicated about a page to it. Charles Hodge, who followed Turretin, said basically the same thing. And even R.L. Dabney, the great Southern Presbyterian theologian, relegated adoption to simply a subset of justification. But Gerardo said, no, no, no, these men have missed it. You have to have courage to be able to say these men have missed it. Adoption is a central truth. And in 90 pages, He writes some of the most amazing things on adoption. If you want to read on adoption, we've studied it the last two weeks. I would recommend you read Gerardo's treatise and also J.I. Packer, The Sons of God and Knowing God. And those two things will give you a well-rounded explanation of doctrine of adoption. But Gerardo had insight. He was exegetically driven, theologically precise, and the man knew his Bible. The man knew philosophy. The man knew the fathers. The man had a spectrum of knowledge that was unsurpassed. He was a churchman of the highest rank. He loved his church. He labored for its good. He was a man that believed that you should be committed to your church. And that those commitments are nothing less than subordination to the Lord Jesus Christ, the head of the church. Well, let's talk about the man in life and death very briefly. Amazing piety. His son-in-law, R.A. Webb, says Dr. Girardo was first of all a Christian. I like that. I like that. He was first of all a Christian. His piety was intellectual, bottoming itself upon the profound and steady convictions of his great mind. It was fervent, drawing upon all the strong emotions of his sensitive heart. It was ethical, involving his conscience in the deepest sense of sin and making duty stand above him as an imperial master. He was a poet. He wrote poetry. He wrote poetry about nature, about the South, about the war, about the Psalms. He paraphrased many Psalms. He also wrote poems about the Christian life and about his Savior. His family life was impeccable. His son-in-law said in home life he was a model. He enjoyed life. He laughed and he joked. He wasn't some granite person with his face etched in stone. He knew how to laugh. He knew how to tease his kids and his grandkids. And he loved his family. He left an absolutely amazing legacy. He knew very well Dr. Dabney. And there's a moving story that I have to close with. On Sunday, Dr. Dabney preached to a large congregation in the Arsenal Hill Church on the power of love. The sermon was one of extraordinary power. By the way, Dabney was about blind at this time. When he came in his discourse to the love of Jesus for his aged servants, many in the congregation were weeping. Dr. Gerardo himself was deeply moved, while the hearty congregational singing, unaccompanied by any instruments of music, seemed to greatly affect Dr. Dabney. When the service was over, the two came down the aisle together. You get this in your mind. They were men of imposing presence. each like the son of a king. Their faces showed the influence of chastening grace. Their foreheads betoken the might of the intellects behind them. Venerable men, dignity, goodness, and greatness sat with ease and naturalness upon them. Dr. Gerardo said, doctor, that was a glorious sermon this morning. Dr. Dabney replied, this has been a sweet service to me. And the singing carries me back to my old church. Dr. Gerardo said, but what will it be in heaven? And so these blind and lame princes in Israel walked on, talking of the past and future worship of God. And a few months after this meeting, they both joined the General Assembly and Church of the Firstborn in the majestic worship of their God and Savior. He died June 23rd in 1898. He had been a mighty warrior, not only in the battlefield of this world, but in the battlefield of an unseen world. He peacefully fell asleep in Jesus, and he was memorialized in secular newspapers, in religious newspapers, and on and on it went. Let me just conclude very briefly with a few reflections on Gerardo. Why is he such an obscure figure today? Douglas Kelly says very simply, he chose to pour out all of his energies on an underprivileged people in a relatively remote corner of the world stage. His failure to achieve worldwide fame that his preaching deserved must be attributed to two main considerations. First, in his earlier ministry he was deeply identified with the poor slave people who were often despised, and secondly, during his later ministry he was tarred with the brush of a defeated confederacy which closed not a few doors to him in the wider world. Added to these factors was his deliberate choice not to write out most of his sermons. Probably a large part of his reason for declining to write out his sermons was his studious concern in his younger years to communicate with the slave population in a vital, direct way." Wonderful statement. But if his relative obscurity be considered a loss, it is the kind of loss that for the believer in Jesus is gain. It is the kind of death to selfish and worldly considerations from which Christ's resurrection power flows out to raise others to newness of life. Gerardo was a model pastor. He had a large heart, especially for the blacks. He was a great administrator, a great leader. He was a model preacher. He knew the power of the Holy Spirit. He knew the power of the Word, and he knew how to preach. Gerardo was also a model theologian. He could have, at any time, written a systematic theology which would have given him lasting fame, just like it has Dabney and others. But he was a pastor, first and foremost, and so he did what pastors do. He took the tasks as they came. His writings today are valuable, although not very well known. His thinking was clear and crisp. He articulated things with precision. He was unafraid to branch out and challenge the status quo and go wherever his Bible led him. What makes Gerardo so attractive is a strong mind, powerful intellect, and enlarged affections. He was a man of keen mind and warm heart. These qualities marked everything he did. He was a truly humble man who loved his Savior and sought to serve him with his whole heart. Let's go ahead and pray and then we'll just informally take some questions if you have any. Father, we thank you for this servant of yours who labored faithfully unto death by your grace. And Father, we thank you for the lessons that we can learn from such a man as this, and we pray that we would be sensitive to those who have gone before us, that we wouldn't be harsh in our judgments or unkind in our criticisms, but that we would be humble learners of those who have gone before, that we might learn the things that you did through them, so that we might be useful in our own generation. In Jesus' name, amen.