Please turn with me in the scriptures to Jeremiah chapter 6. Jeremiah chapter 6. I'll begin reading from verse 13 through verse 19. Let us hear the words of the living God. For from the least of them, even unto the greatest of them, everyone is given to covetousness. And from the prophet, even unto the priest, everyone dealeth falsely. They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace, when there is no peace. Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? Nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush. Therefore, they shall fall among them that fall. At the time that I visit them, they shall be cast down, saith the Lord. Thus saith the Lord, stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths. Where is the good way? And walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, we will not walk therein. Also I set watchmen over you, saying, hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, we will not hearken. Therefore, hear, ye nations, and know, O congregation, what is among them. Hear, O earth! Behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thought, because they have not hearkened unto my words, nor to my law, but rejected it. That ends the reading of God's holy and inspired word. John Murray walked by faith and walked in and taught the old past. He like Abel, being dead, yet speaketh. I hope in this lecture to highlight some of the material of his biography written by Iain Murray and refer you to some of his particular works, particularly those in his collected writings and in the Presbyterian Guardian and as well in the book O Death, where is thy sting?" which is a compilation of sermons that were recorded in the late 50s or 60s in the congregations that eventually became the PRC in 1965. I could speak of his great works, works of Romans, Redemption Accomplished Applied, Principles of Conduct. They're all out at the table. They were obviously influential in my life, as well as Christian baptism and his collected writings. I could speak of the great institutions that he was involved with, Westminster Seminary and the Westminster Theological Journal, also the OPC and the Presbyterian Guardian, He was also very influential in the beginnings of the Banner of Truth Trust. And might I also add, he was also involved in the foundation beginning of the work of PRC. He has greatly influenced me, though I never met him in the flesh. He's influenced me directly through his books, as well as through his recorded sermons in the churches of Ontario, as I mentioned before. He also has influenced me indirectly by two primary influences in my life, one being Pastor Al Martin, who was significantly influenced by John Murray, the other being my predominant professor at Greenville Theological Seminary, Morton Smith, who studied under Murray and whose lectures on the Westminster Confession conform very closely to the notes that he had taken when he was under Murray at Westminster. I want to briefly remind you again about his relationship to our churches. Then I want to bring up some aspects of his character, his piety, and then I want to speak of a few of his emphases, and maybe emphases that we wouldn't necessarily think about much. I want to refresh your memory about him. I want you to gain some fresh perspectives about the man and where he stood. I recognize there will be some things you will agree with heartily and there will probably be some things that I quote from Murray that you will disagree with heartily. But I do hope you'll take at least one of those things that you disagree with and maybe rethink it tonight and over the coming weeks. I'm going to speak a lot about Murray, but I'm going to speak a lot about Murray. He's going to speak for himself significantly here. And so I would ask you as we pray, gird up the loins of your mind, because he was a deep thinker. So let's start first with John Murray and the PRC. Well, obviously the churches that he began to be associated with after he arrived on the coast and began teaching, or excuse me, began as a student at Princeton and then taught for his first year after graduating. He was familiar with the Bloor Street Church in Toronto. It's likely through that that when the Presbyterian Church in America formed in 1936, that little congregation actually wrote a greeting to that new denomination. And it was placed in the Presbyterian Guardian in October 24 of 1936. Murray actually served as the interim moderator for that congregation for a while and did receive a call from that congregation in 1952, which he turned down. And as we mentioned, he met William Matheson. When William Matheson was actually studying, William Matheson was from the Hall of near Chesley in Ontario. He studied under the Free Peas in Scotland and while he did, he met Murray and Murray and him developed a very, very strong relationship. When Murray completed his studies and returned to Scotland, he found that he didn't have a pastorate. He had been removed from the roles because of his connection with Matheson over the issue of transportation on the Lord's Day. Kind of surprising, as strong as he was on the Sabbath. And we won't miss, as Douglas Debby said in the message last night, we won't go into that story in any length tonight either. But Matheson ministered in Chesley and the Halsh. And upon his death in 1957, Murray traveled up to Chesley to conduct his funeral and to pay tribute to him. That message is found in Collected Writings, Volume 3. It's entitled, The Death of the Godly. At the end of that sermon, he said this, I have lost the one whom I probably deemed my dearest friend on all the earth outside my family. There was no one of whom I relied for moral, spiritual, and prayerful support as our dear departed friend. After Matheson's death, Murray continued to preach at Chesley in the Halsh until his retirement in Westminster Theological Seminary in 1968. And again, many of his sermons are in this book. I'll just mention a couple that have meant a lot to me. One is entitled, This I Call to Mind on Lamentations 3, 21 and 22. Another one, Where Two or Three are Gathered, obviously for Matthew 1820. BE transformed from Romans 12, 1 and 2, and work out your salvation from Philippians 2, 12 and 13. writing to his future wife after a communion season in La Hoche, Murray said this in his letter, I think I feel most at home here and at Chesley of all the places I visit. In other words, the ethos of those church was similar to the churches that he experienced as a youth there in the Highlands. In 1965, he assisted in the formation of the PRC, And then there was some hope on the part of those in the PRC that when Murray retired in 1968 that he would give some consideration to taking one of the fledgling PRC churches. But as it was, Murray's sisters were ill and Murray chose to return back home to the home place to take care of them. So that's a little sketch of Murray and the PRC. Now let's talk about the character of John Murray. Cornelius Van Til wrote of Murray, as to his character, there was first his deep humility before God and even before men. There was second, his boldness. He feared God and therefore feared no man. There was third, his faithfulness. toward God and then toward men. John was of inestimable value to Westminster Seminary, equally to its students and to its faculty. He was the conscience of all of us. Blessed be his memory." So let's just touch on a few of those characteristics of his character. First, his humility. than what I've called his conviction and his charity, or his boldness and his charity. Alan McRae wrote of him, I was greatly impressed with his intellectual ability, but even more with his great devotion to Christ and his strong determination to stand by his convictions on every part. And equally pleased to find that this attitude was combined with remarkable charity and love. For he loved other Christians even when they differed with him on rather important points. He was not only humble and bold and charitable, he was also extremely faithful. Murray, speaking to Westminster theological students, said this, expedience is not the rule that guides Westminster seminary. He goes on to say, the whole counsel of God, but nothing more. The whole counsel of God, but nothing less. And that's what every Reformed seminary needs to be committed to, even in this day. In a testimonial given to Murray during the 33rd OPC General Assembly, which is recorded in the Presbyterian Guardian of December 66, we read this. You have been a warm friend and counselor to us, one and all. giving individual counsel whenever we sought, always out of a rich wealth of knowledge and inspiring reverence for the written word. You have been a faithful presbyter, spending untold days in the service of our beloved church, both in its assembly services and as a member of many of its committees. You have been a gracious reprover, a hearty encourager, and an unbitter dissenter in our deliberations." He did have a few minority reports that he was influential in. To many of us, you have been a patient teacher and more, for you have taught us exactness in the study of holy scriptures and a deep reverence for its high doctrine. Again, Dr. Morton Smith, one who was influential in the founding of RTS and Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminaries, who also served as the first stated clerk of the PCA, said this of Professor Murray. Professor Murray was one of the godliest men that I have ever known. to be able to sit in his classroom and take notes on his lectures was itself a religious experience, since he himself approached the material with such a deep sense of devotion." That's the John Murray. That's the character of Murray. Humble, bold, charitable, and also faithful. Let me speak briefly of his piety. Dr. Robert Godfrey said of Murray this, Murray was a strict Scottish Presbyterian, which meant he kept the Sabbath carefully, sang only psalms in public worship, and rejected the church talent. I'll let the third one go for discussion tonight, but I will mention his Sabbath keeping as well as his love for the Psalter. I'll mention two others as well. First, his family piety. He grew up in a home where the day commenced and closed with the reading of Scripture, prayer, and praise. Robert Nichols, in an article entitled Beloved Professor in the Presbyterian Guardian, again written as Murray was retiring, said this. Who has not found himself singing more heartily when he has observed this singer of psalms making melody in his heart to the Lord? No, actually. was able to observe a defense of a gentleman pursuing a degree at RTS years ago. And Dr. Frame was actually one of the members at the defense. The gentleman was actually arguing against dance and worship. And Mr. Frame, as serious as he could be, suggested that Murray swayed at the singing of psalms and hymns at Knox OPC, and so the PRC must be sympathetic to dance in worship. And he said it so straight-faced, it was like you would just, come on. But nonetheless, his family piety, his psalms, also his Sabbath keeping. He wrote, as a student, an article on Sabbath excursions that was published in Inverness. His practice was certainly that of a Sabbatarian. He wrote many articles and did many lectures on the Sabbath. We find them in collected writings, The Sabbath Institution, The Pattern of the Lord's Day, The Relevance of the Sabbath, all those found in volume two of his collected writings. Another mark of his piety was his great love and appreciation for the Sorter Catechism. He learned it word for word as a child. He thought it was very important in the education of covenant children. And he taught the catechism in Knox OPC to the youth. the systematic theology professor at Westminster Seminary on the Lord's Days after worship would teach the youth there at Notts OPC, said this to the class one time. At the age of 12, you ought to know the shorter catechism for beginning to end without even making a mistake. You don't know what you're missing. Get down to learning it, if you haven't already learned it. It will not only give you a most perfect human compendium of Christian truth that there is in the whole world, sorry Dutchman, but it will be the finest mental exercise and it will lay a foundation in your mind and in your life for a hundred other things, as well as for true religion. It will be invaluable to you through your whole life. And not only in this life, but in the life which is to come. John Murray loved the Sabbath. He loved the Psalms. He loved family worship. Yes, and he loved the shorter catechism as it exposed him and the youth, covenant youth, to the Word of God in a systematic framework. So now let's come to some emphases of John Murray. And obviously I have to be selective here. I'll skip over a couple briefly. I do hope someday to be able to spend some more time in this. But his methodology of systematic theology is very interesting, and really is just so wise in terms of his basis in biblical theology and exegetical theology, and the unique way in terms of how he related systematic theology to historical theology, practical theology, and even pastoral theology. I'll skip that. But I would say that Murray was a Westminsterian through and through, yet he wasn't a traditionalist. He completed studies on the Westminster Assembly. He taught the Westminster Confession at Westminster for years. And yet, he could speak of the fact that, in actuality, much of the polity of Presbyterianism, he could say, actually falls within the category of circumstances. And so he was willing to say, there is much room for variety. And the Church of Christ is always under the necessity of devising and adopting better forms of procedure and organization than those which tradition may have established. In other words, he was for indigenization. He was not seeking to bring over Scottish Presbyterianism, hook, line, and sinker to North America and create a cultural ghetto and an echo chamber for those of that descent. That was never his objective. He also had a unique place for the ruling elders. He saw the parity of rule, and he saw it often not practiced. And he was routinely speaking about the fact that it wasn't being practiced. He also, as he was working on the Book of Order in the OPC, suggested that ruling elders then could serve as moderators. That was a new thing for Scottish Presbyterians to consider that as an implication of the parity of rule between teaching elders or ministers and ruling elders. I might just happen to bring up, he also thought that ministers should be members of the local congregation that they served. There's one of your ministers in the ARP, Sinclair Ferguson, I believe that holds to the same position today. Also, John Murray was big on Christian liberty. He enjoyed his scotch. He enjoyed his cigars. And he preached much on Christian liberty. And yet, he wrote a great article on the weak and strong in Romans 14. And it's not the same as what he has to say in his commentary. It's the same principles, but it's not word for word in any way, shape, or form. But in those articles, what's interesting is he makes it very clear that we're not to flaunt our Christian liberty. He could say, the strong must exercise all due forbearance towards the weak. This is his charitable nature coming out. Now let me focus on the next five particularly. John Murray emphasized the public ministry of the Word. He was much for preaching and much for prayer. He could say to me, preaching without passion is not preaching at all. He and Murray deduced from that that it was this thought that caused Murray, that led Murray in his early years in Philadelphia to be present occasionally in the church of a certain black preacher. When Murray was asked about this preacher, he said, he would say some excellent things. Of course, there were some things I could not agree with, but I could take Methodism from a Methodist. He couldn't take Methodism from an OPC minister, but he could take Methodism from a Methodist. There was something he could learn and be edified from those sermons, passionate sermons. Last night you heard a paper from our minister, Douglas Gebby, related to the article entitled, Some Necessary Emphases in Preaching. He's speaking of some emphases that he clearly demonstrates, and you'd find demonstrated, in his sermons. Donald John McLean, in a recent article in Banner Truth, said this of Murray. His sermons show how his conception of preaching was put into practice and demonstrate how his systematic theology was no academic pursuit, but was in service of pastoring and preaching. He wasn't an ivory tower theologian. He was prepared to spend time in the muck with the sheep. He was willing to get his hands in the wool of his sheep. If you have ever heard Murray sermons, particularly those that are recorded in the late 50s and early 60s in Ontario, you would know that they are predominantly biblical. And many of them are found in this book as well, word for word. There's a sample of them there. Clarence Duff, who was a student with Murray, and then a missionary to Ethiopia, said this of Murray. I think I had never heard praying quite like that before. with its awesome sense of God's holiness and man's sinfulness and creaturehood, combined with a full assurance of God's love and grace, with much of the prayer expressed in the very words of Scripture." Again, Robert Nicholas, in his article, Beloved Professor in the Presbyterian Guardian, said this of Murray, whose soul, in hearing him pray, has not been lifted to the very gates of heaven, as if this man of fervent intercession uttered praise and petition with confession and thanksgiving to the Holy One of Israel." Murray was concerned about public ministry. And he engaged himself in it every time he could. He was also greatly concerned about private ministry, or what we could call pastoral work. Ian Murray, commenting, said this of John Murray, if he had been left to his own preference, it would have led him to the pastorate and the constant care of souls, which is involved in the ministry of the word. Love for people was a primary quality of his life. Again Murray, commenting on Murray, says this, that Murray ever cherished the conviction that the great object of the work of Westminster Seminary was to help prepare men for work at the parish level. And he considered it to be an important part of his own calling in that respect whenever he was permitted. He therefore prized the providence which gave him these openings among the congregations in Ontario. And his care for the services and for the people could scarcely have been greater had he been their settled pastor. I might say something to some of us who may be serving as interim moderators in places where we don't live. We still have a responsibility, a unique responsibility to those souls. It may be temporary, maybe only a few months, could be a couple years. But we have a unique responsibility. Murray sets us a great example in that regard. He warned his students. You must not forget that you exercise this ministry upon earth in the ministry of the gospel to saved and unsaved men and women who also live in this world with its cares and concerns, joys and sorrows, miseries and disappointments. You must never think that you are a spiritual aristocrat beneath whose dignity in office it is to minister. It may be in squalor of the lowest strata of society and in the midst of the discouragements of the lowest grades of intellectual capacity." Murray was training, generally, men who came from wealthy families at Westminster, and he was telling them they may have to minister to dirty sheep in that socioeconomic situation, but they may have to minister to dirty sheep in the lowest places of society and of the world. Another area of life in Knox Church was that Murray helped people in terms of personal problems. The minister there at Knox OPC, David Freeman, regarded Murray's personal ability in this work as outstanding. And he attributed it to his, quote, deep insight into scripture. He knew and saw where the application of scripture would be appropriate. In other words, Murray probably could have helped Jay Adams and CCF or could still help CCF or other counseling centers even today. In his visits to Chesley and La Halse, leading up to Communions especially, we learned that whenever he visited, he would try to visit every member of the congregation during those long weekends. And again, as I mentioned, he taught catechism class to the youth at Knox OPC for many years while he was there in the seminary. So first, he had a concern for public ministry. He had a great concern for private ministry. He also was deeply concerned about evangelism and missions. A systematic theology professor. Maybe one of the greatest of the 20th century. He was concerned about home evangelism. He was the president of the Committee for the Propagation of the Reform Faith in New England, which wasn't officially connected with the OPC. But eventually, the fruit of that work was turned over to the Presbytery of New York and New England. It's described in an article entitled, The Propagation of the Reform Faith in New England, which is found in his collected writings, volume one. It's apparent that he actually paid for many of the expenses associated with that work. He wrote this, as our session at Westminster Seminary is drawing to a close, we are making plans for summer work to begin not later than May 15th and continue to the end of September. We are hoping that in addition to the two men who are already on the field, at least 10 men will go, and as many as four or five preaching stations at which services and Bible classes may be conducted, either on the Lord's Day or on weekdays. Very intentional. in church planting in a very barren area in New England and particularly the state of Maine. I believe at one time there was a significant number of OP churches in Maine. I think there's still quite a few of them in existence today. He was also the secretary of the Committee for Local Evangelism. The reports came out in the OPC General Assemblies of the 11th Assembly, the 12th, and the 13th, and they were later placed in a book entitled Biblical Evangelism Today. Murray was on that committee, and he primarily wrote these articles. We require it in reading for our ministerial students still today. And it is on the OPC website today. When Ian Murray first wrote John Murray's biography, it was not on the website. And Murray commented that this is a great work in evangelism, but it's basically been lost. I don't think it's been republished, but it is on the OPC site. You go on there and search for it. And again, it's entitled Biblical Evangelism Today. It's a little dated, written in the 40s, but still the principles are relevant today. They're priceless because they're biblical. Let me just give you one example. In one of those articles, he says, the daily walk of the Christian in his business and social relationships has a direct relationship to the effectiveness of his own witness and that of the Christian evangel in his community. The Christian whose standards have succumbed to the materialism and romanticism of our culture is in the 40s. That's 80 years ago. is in a very bad position for propagating the gospel. On the other hand, the Christian whose life manifests the implications of Christian living in godly walk preaches the gospel by its very conduct. And his words will come with power. It's also documented that when Murray traveled over the pond to the UK and back, he would routinely ask permission to set up a notice on the bulletin board where he would schedule Bible studies and conduct Bible studies for those that were making the crossings with him. On to foreign missions. He served on the Committee of Foreign Missions for over 25 years of the OPC. Pretty impressive. I'll ask you, Mark, afterwards how long you've served. He wrote articles in the Collected Writings, Volume 1, The Message of Evangelism, Cooperation in Evangelism. He also wrote an article entitled The Church and Missions, which I have found very helpful. I remember quoting a passage from it the first time I actually participated in the Napark Missions consultation. And as I remember, most people around the table found it very helpful. So I'll quote one from that work, The Church and Missions, Collected Writings, Volume 1. He says, a great deal is said today about the mission of the church. And the accent falls to such an extent upon mission that the function of the church is defined in terms of mission. This is a critique, right? It would be a total misunderstanding of scripture to discount or even underestimate the responsibility of the church in its mission to the nations. In order to place this responsibility in proper focus, it is necessary to have a biblical conception of the church. And it's just because this is not always entertained that the emphasis on mission is so frequently a distortion of the concept of both church and mission. It says a lot about the agent of a mission. Again, systematic theologian. In his commentary on Romans, commenting on Romans 1.5, Murray wrote this. It is not the advantage of the nations that is paramount in the promotion of the gospel, but the honor and glory of Christ. And the ambassador of Christ must have his own designs in promoting the gospel oriented to this paramount concern. His, the ambassador's, subjective design must reflect God's own antecedent and objective design. Where do we start? The glory of God. The primary purpose of missions. Doesn't mean there's not plenty of secondary objectives, but that's the first. So Murray was greatly concerned with public ministry, private ministry, evangelism, and missions. Next, he was concerned about Christian world order and Christian education. In an article entitled, The Christian World Order, again in Collected Writings, Volume 1, he said this, A Christian world order, in the purity and completion of its conception, will not antedate the manifestation of power and glory when Christ will come again without sin unto salvation. Kind of getting a little hint of his eschatology there. Nonetheless, The Christian revelation does not allow us to do anything less than to formulate and work towards a Christian world order in the life that we now live. There is a divine obligation to see that true religion embraces every department of life. industry, agriculture, education, recreation. Murray attempted, or was part of a group that attempted, a Christian university in 1943. The association was called the Christian University Association of America. They developed a constitution, but a university never came to fruition. Ian Murray says this was probably one of Murray's greatest disappointments in his life. In that constitution it said that they pledged to quote, the establishment of a university founded upon the adhering to the Christian system of truth and way of life as set forth in the reformed or Calvinistic standards. After Murray had returned to Scotland, he worked with a group who was interested in Christian education. He gave an address in Dingwall in 1973 entitled Christian Education. Again, it's in Collected Writings, Volume 1. There he says this. When the Westminster Assembly placed at the head of its shorter catechism the question, what is man's chief end, and gave the answer, man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever, it was giving Not only the keynote of a sound theology, it was enunciating a foundational principle of sound pedagogy. Commenting on history, he said, history is the unfolding of God's plan in the world he created and the world he sustains by his power and directs in wisdom, justice, and grace. He said, in respect of science, there are two principles that have to be born in mind. The first is that the pursuit, speaking of scientific research, is the fulfillment of God's mandate to subdue the earth, and therefore to bring its resources into the service of man. He said, this should impress us. and impress upon us the dignity of the vocation, the vocation of scientific research. He goes on to say, the second principle is that the highest aim of scientific investigation is to glorify God by bringing to light the wonders which God fabricated into the structure of this marvelous world and the universe of which it is part. Again, he worked with the society and helped create a document, a short constitution of two pages, entitled the Society for Parent-Controlled Christian Schools in Scotland. Let me just read a brief portion of it. Number one, day school education is the responsibility of the parents. This principle is particularly applicable to Christian parents and it is a violation of the responsibility for nurture devolving upon them to commit their children to the tutelage of an organization over which they do not exercise control. Though church-controlled schools may supply, and often have supplied, the Christian nurture, parents should ensure for their children. Yet day school education is not the province of the church. And there he's, I think, talking of the church gathering, the church organized, not of Christians themselves. Secondly, he said, the Christian school is one in which all of the instruction is conditioned by and integrated with the world and life view given in the Christian revelation deposited in the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. He goes on to say, no sphere of neutrality is allowed by the Christian faith. So no department of the day school curriculum can be neutral in respect to its religious orientation. Sounds a little Vantillian, doesn't it? I guess Vantill rubbed off on him, hopefully, as much as he rubbed off on Vantill. And eventually, that society was able to establish a Christian school in Dornoch in 1975. So we've spoken of Murray's emphasis concerning public ministry, private ministry, evangelism and missions. We've considered his emphasis regarding Christian world order and Christian education. Any guesses as what might be the fifth and last emphasis I want to speak about? His ecumenicity. J.R. DeWitt said this of him, he was also one of the best modern representatives of the old reformed school of theology. We shall not see the likes of him again. His own caste of mind was conservative and he was a highlander through and through. At the same time, he was altogether Catholic in his sympathies, and not in the least narrow, bigoted, or closed. He was a faithful churchman in the OPC for many, many years, served as the moderator in 1961, He was a dear friend and regular pulpit supply and mentor, and also participated in ordinations within the PRC for years. As I said before, his focus and his priority was on indigenous churches in North America. He was not attempting to produce hook, line, and sinker Scottish Presbyterianism. Reformation continually, and always was going back to scripture to adjust the views of his forefathers. He recognized he stood on the shoulders of the greats, just as we do. But he was willing to go back to the fountain, rather than place his trust only in the traditions that he had grown familiar with. He wrote in 1965 an article entitled, The Biblical Basis for Ecclesiastical Union. I believe Mr. Pontier has quoted from that on Times, a writing concerning the work and the objectives of what we as NAPARC are about. And in actuality, this article was written as a rationale for just two congregations joining together in Ontario that formed the PRC in 1965. In that article he wrote this, the fragmentation and consequent lack of fellowship, harmony, and cooperation which appear on the ecclesiastical scene are a painted contradiction of the unity exemplified in that to which Jesus referred when he said, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee. He went on to say in that article, we appear to be provided with a pattern that points to the necessity of making the presbytery, and I'll add federation, as inclusive as is consistent with loyalty to Christ and the faith of the gospel. In a word, we are pointed to the necessity of unity in government, a unity that is violated when churches of Christ, adhering to the faith in its purity and integrity, are not thus unite." Here in the context, he suggests these two churches are, not just on paper, but in practice, identical. There was no reason for them to remain apart. 14 years earlier, in 1951, he had said in an article entitled Corporate Responsibility this. It is inherent in the nature of orthodox Protestant confession that the church ought to be one in doctrine, worship, government, and discipline. Division within the church arose from unfaithfulness to Christ and declension from the apostolic pattern. Everyone imbued with zeal for the honor of Christ must deplore the fragmentation which has marred the body of Christ and, to a large extent, dissipated its witness." And yet he went on to say this. You might think he was pushing the Council of Churches when you read that. But when you read this, he says, we cannot consider our own individual witness to Christ as independent of the witness which is born by the branch of the church to which we belong. He's saying you can't wash your hands if everything's going on. in the congregation, the presbytery, the church denomination that you're part of. He goes on to say something akin to that here. We can never take the position that we can segregate ourselves and bear witness in our own congregation disregarding what may be happening in the denomination as a whole. And yet, just to make sure he's going to be balanced. He's not encouraging people to rush away for, I think there's a pure church. Let me go there. Let me go, oh, I think there's a pure church here. Let me go there. He goes on in the same article to say this. We must not take lightly the matter of severing our connections with one denomination and joining another. Sometimes we may run away from solemn responsibilities and opportunities by severing our ecclesiastical bonds. And if we belong to a church that is unfaithful, we should do what we can to bring that unfaithfulness to an issue before we abruptly terminate our connection in which we happen to be. And this responsibility may require the ministry of reproof and protest. John Murray, we've considered his character, his piety, some emphases of his, which may reflect a little bit on me. as much as on him. I'm sure if one of you had this assignment, you may have chosen five other emphases of Murray. These aren't the only ones, right? But we've looked at five of them. His interest in public ministry, private ministry, evangelism and missions, Christian world order, Christian education, and ecumenicity. John Murray walked by faith. and walked in and taught the old paths. Being like Abel, being dead, he yet speaks. We can say as David in Psalm 16.6, the lines are fallen unto us in pleasant places. Yea, we have a goodly heritage. Again, Dr. Robert Godfrey commenting on Murray said this, his life was suffused with an earnest desire to know, teach, and live God's Word. Sounds like Ezra 710. May that legacy help us to live out that same reformed faith today. I hope you'll take something home from John Murray, something fresh, something to stir you up in your most holy faith. And I hope you have found him in the past and will find him afresh to be a faithful guide in the old paths. Let's pray. Our great God and Heavenly Father, We do thank Thee, O Lord, for saints that have gone before us. We thank Thee for the life of Thy dear Saint John Murray. We thank Thee for the legacy that he has left us. We thank Thee that by Thy grace Thou didst draw him to Thyself at a very early age. We thank Thee that Thou wast about, that You had begun a good work in him, and You'd continued it to the day, and will continue it to the day of Christ Jesus. We thank Thee that even as He went to glory, His last words were, be merciful to me, a sinner. And so we plead Thy mercy as well this evening. O Lord, we praise Thee that though we are once dead in trespasses and sins, Thou hast worked a work of grace in our lives. And may we out of gratitude follow in the paths that many have trod, those old paths, that good way, where we may find rest for our souls. We ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen. And please stand and let us close with the singing of Psalm 16, Psalm 16, 6 through 11.