181 — June 29 – This Day in Baptist History Past

 

A Man for an Hour of Great Travail  

 

During the years 1860 to 1865, our nation was convulsed in a horrible civil conflict that ultimately claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, both Northerners and Southerners. The pain and suffering defies imagination.

 

In the midst of this turmoil, Adoniram Judson Gordon was ordained into the gospel ministry June 29, 1863, and became pastor at Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts. His name, Adoniram Judson, was prophetic, because his new birth kindled an evangelical spirit that permeated every area of his life and ministry.   This evangelical spirit permeated Gordon’s writing also.  In his introduction of his book In Christ, Gordon gives us some insight into his heart and ministry.

 

Life is still of God, but it has this new dependency “in Christ.” “Of Him are ye inChrist Jesus.” The obligation to labor remains unchanged, but a new motive and a new sanctity are given to it by its relationship to Christ. “Forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” The marriage relationship is stamped with this new signet, “Only in theLord.”  Filial obedience is exalted into direct connection with the Son of God. “Children obey your parents in the Lord.” Daily life becomes “a good conversation in Christ.” Joy and sorrow, triumph and suffering, are all in Christ. Even truth, as though needing a fresh baptism is viewed henceforth “as it is in Jesus.” Death remains, but it is robbed of its sting and crowned with a beatitude, because in Christ. “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord.”

 

Dr. Dale R. Hart: Adapted from: This Day in Baptist History Vol. I. (Thompson/Cummins) pp. 266-267