Courage for the cause of Christ

I just say again, Happy Lunar New Year and Happy New Year.

It's January, it's that time of year where we look forward to the year that's been,

we celebrate maybe what's been, we certainly, or the year that's coming,

but also look back and reflect upon the year that's been, lessons learned, things like that.

Reflection, however, is not something that we tend to do,

it's not something that is a habit nowadays for most people,

that is the ability to assess what has been, learn the lessons from it,

and make the necessary changes as we move forward into the future.

What we tend to do is escape.

Moment of January, moment where things may be not as busy, we self-indulge,

we escape into TV and movies and holidays and everything else,

rather than actually pause and reflect.

So this series in January here is really an opportunity for us to spend some time reflecting

and looking forward to the year that is,

and what might it be to run the race of discipleship into 2023.

Now one of the things that I've always found helpful throughout my life,

and particularly my Christian life, is to get close to people,

and I'm looking at what does it look like to run the Christian life,

is to get really close to people who have run the race and are further down the track than I am,

and to learn lessons from them, even if they've been dead for 200 years.

There is so many lessons to learn for those who have not just started the race,

but actually run the race all the way to the finish line.

And so I want to encourage you as Christian brothers and sisters to read biography,

to read biography, to learn the lessons of those from the past.

And so in this January series, we're looking at,

we're really basing it on Hebrews 11, Hebrews 12,

to be people of faith and to run the race of faith,

and particularly where Hebrews 11 talks about the great cloud of witnesses,

based on them, run the races before you.

And so we've tried to throw a couple of extra people into that list of Hebrews 11,

of great cloud of witnesses,

and today I want us to introduce one more person to that cloud of witnesses that have gone before us,

who have run the race and finished the course.

And that is, today is John Patton.

So let me pray, and I'll launch into that.

Gracious Father, as we look at one life,

a life redeemed by you,

sovereignly guided by you,

empowered by you,

a life lived well for your glory,

I pray that you would give us the gift of reflection,

as we consider our own life,

the choices we're making now,

and whether or not it is ultimately for your glory or for our own.

And I pray, Father,

that the mission of Matthew that has just been thrown in front of us

would be the mission that drives us,

a mission to see all people come to know and to love you,

and we ask it for your sake.

Amen.

A chain of islands in the Pacific were discovered in 1606 by Spain.

They were named New Hebrides in 1773 by Captain James Cook,

and in 1980,

the New Hebrides gained its independence from Britain and from France,

and was named Vanuatu.

John Williams and James Harris from the London Missionary Society

landed in 1839 as the first Christian missionaries.

And this is what was written about them.

Within a few minutes of their touching land,

both were clubbed to death, cooked and eaten.

The London Missionary Society sent another team

to the island of Tanner in 1842,

and these missionaries were driven off within seven months.

Now, just think about that for a moment.

That's just not history.

Just think about that.

Matthew just read out to us,

go to all nations with this discipleship message,

and it's 1,800 years before that message hits the New Hebrides.

1,800 years.

1,800 years.

What was the church doing?

Anyway, that's not my main point.

Now, that's the remarkable missionary context

of the life and the ministry of John G. Patton,

a missionary to the New Hebrides

who landed there 16 years after Williams and Harris.

So today, if you've got your St. Paul's app,

open it up, you'll see an outline for my message in there today.

I want to look at the life of John G. Patton.

I want to look at the courage of John Patton,

and I want to look at what was the source

of Patton's courage for the gospel.

Most of my information comes from autobiography of John Patton,

published in 1889.

This is the 1965 edition of that.

So again, encourage you to read biography

and learn from those in the past.

Patton was born in Scotland in 1824.

He sailed for the New Hebrides via Australia

with his wife Mary in April 1858.

They reached the island of Tanner

on November the 5th of that year,

and four months later,

both his wife and his brand-new-born son died.

He served alone on the island for the next four years

in constant danger

until he was eventually driven off in February 1862.

For the next four years,

he travelled around Australia and Great Britain,

raising awareness of the work

of the Presbyterian mission in the New Hebrides.

He married again in 1864.

He took his wife Margaret back this time

to the smaller island of Anewa.

They laboured together there for 41 years.

When they came to Anewa in November 1866,

the islanders in that place were destitute.

They were cannibals who had, by that time,

only occasionally ate people,

but it was normally their enemies that they ate.

And Christian missionaries were enemies.

They practised infanticide,

that is the killing of infants,

widow sacrifices.

So if your husband died,

they normally killed you

so that you could be with him in the afterlife.

They would...

A number of other things.

He and Margaret laboured in those conditions

for 41 years, hard conditions.

In the next 15 years,

within 15 years of his landing,

the entire island of Anewa turned to Christ.

Remarkable.

That in itself is remarkable.

To go from cannibalism to life in Christ

is remarkable.

Margaret died in 1905 in Kew, Victoria.

Patton outlived her another two years.

He died in Canterbury, Victoria.

In January 28th, 1907.

Both are buried in Kew, Melbourne.

You can visit their tombs today.

This coming Sunday...

Sorry, this next Sunday

will be 116 years since his death.

And his legacy is remarkable.

Vanuatu nowadays has a population

of around 250,000 people.

Around 94% of that population

are confessing Christians.

73% claim to be Protestant Christians

with the largest group,

the Presbyterian Church.

With 550 congregations

with over 70,000 people affiliated

with that denomination.

That's more than Sydney Anglicanism.

And a large part of it,

they track it back to John G. Patton.

So, that's his life.

That's his legacy.

Let's look at his courage.

One of the things that stands out

as you read his life

is that he was a man of just incredible courage

for the cause of Christ.

Incredible courage.

And I've got a few things I want to mention.

He had courage to make the advancement

of the gospel,

his greatest and highest priority of life,

even as a teenager.

Mark that.

Even as a teenager.

In his teens,

he had an opportunity

to further his career prospects

as a surveyor,

which was,

you know,

in his day and age,

that was unheard of.

This guy did not come

from some,

you know,

wealthy connected family.

And so,

this was a remarkable opportunity

for effectively a peasant boy.

He was called into the boss's office

and was promised promotion

and special training

entirely at the government's expense.

And the only condition was

that he signed

a seven year engagement contract.

This is what he wrote

about that moment.

Thanking him most gratefully

for his kind offer,

I agreed to bind myself

for three years or four,

but not for seven.

Excitedly,

he said,

why?

Will you refuse an offer

that many gentlemen's sons

would be proud of?

I said,

my life is given

to another master.

And so,

I cannot engage

for seven years.

He asked sharply,

to whom?

I replied,

to the Lord Jesus.

And I want to prepare

as soon as possible

for his service

in the proclaiming

of the gospel.

In great anger,

he sprang across the room,

called the paymaster

and exclaimed,

accept my offer

or you are dismissed

on the spot.

His anger

made him unwilling

or unable

to comprehend

my difficulty.

The drawing instruments

were delivered up,

I received my pay

and I departed

without further parley.

Secondly,

he had courage

to overcome

the criticism

that he received

from respected elders

for in fact

going to the New Hebrides

New Hebrides

as a missionary.

A Mr. Dickinson

who he described

as a dear

old Christian gentleman

tried to deter him

from the New Hebrides.

The cannibals!

You'll be eaten

by cannibals!

Now remember,

Williams and Harris

were eaten

by cannibals

19 years earlier.

Patton's response.

I love it.

Let me read it to you.

I'll put my tone on it.

I'm not sure

it's Patton's tone

but I can't read it

with any other tone.

Mr. Dickinson,

you are advanced

in years now

and your own prospect

is soon to be laid

in the grave

there to be eaten

by worms.

I love the moxie

of this guy.

I really do.

I confess to you

that if I can live

but live and die

serving and honouring

the Lord Jesus

it will make

no difference to me

whether I'm eaten

by cannibals

or by worms.

And in the great day

my resurrection body

will rise

as fair of yours

in the likeness

of the risen Redeemer.

That is a remarkable

perspective on life.

He writes that

another objection

came up

was this.

He said

the rejection is

there are heathen

here at home.

Why on earth

would you leave

Chatswood

for goodness sake?

Let us seek

and save

first of all

the lost ones

perishing at our

very doors.

This I felt

to be most true

and an appalling

fact.

But I

unfailingly

observed

that those

who made

this retort

neglected

these home

heathens

themselves.

And so

the objection

as from them

lost all

its power.

They would

ungrudgingly

spend more

on a fashionable

party at dinner

or tea

on concert

or balls

or theatres

or on some

ostentatious

display

or worldly

and selfish

indulgent

ten times more

perhaps in a

single day

than they would

give in a year

or in half

a lifetime

for the conversion

of the heathen world

either here

or abroad.

I do

and always

did

only pity

them

as God's

stewards

making such

miserable

use of time

and money

entrusted

to their care.

Can you see

why I'm doing it?

It's an opportunity

for the Holy Spirit

to speak to each

one of us

about our time

and our priorities

our talents

our treasures.

Thirdly

he had courage

to risk losing

his loved ones

for the cause

of the gospel.

I've already

mentioned this

he and his wife

first wife Mary

arrived on the

island of Tanna

in November

1858

their baby

was born

February

1859

four months

later

yeah

four months

later

Mary then

died within

a few weeks

of the birth

of the baby

on the 3rd

of March

the baby boy

died less

than three weeks

later on the

20th of March

Patton himself

dug the graves

with his own

hands

right beside

the house

the little

sort of shack

that he had built

for them

as a family

and

to add

to his grief

he slept

on their graves

to protect

them from being

dug up

by the

cannibals.

you see

the courage

to risk

the loss

of a loved

one is one

thing

the courage

to experience

the loss

and to press

on alone

with the same

mission

is remarkable

I felt her

loss beyond

all conception

or description

in that

dark land

but feeling

immovably

assured

that my

God

and Father

was too

wise

and loving

to err

in anything

that he

does

or permits

sovereignty

of God

goodness

of God

I looked

up to the

Lord

for help

and I

struggled

on

in his

work

he had

the next

thing

he had

the courage

to face

the constant

threat

to his

own life

from the

islanders

I think

this is

what makes

this

autobiography

reading

like a

like a

thriller

in his

first four

years of

Tanner

he moved

from one

crisis

to the next

crisis

to the next

crisis

like

constant

crisis

it's

like

he's

fully

charged

flight

or fight

you know

all the

time

there's no

pastoral

retreat

there's no

weekend escape

to the beach

or the

mountains

or

you know

there's none

of that

it's not a

quick trip

overseas

he's there

by himself

all the

time

he writes

my enemies

seldom

slacken their

hateful designs

against my

life

however

calmed

or baffled

for the

moment

a wild

chief

followed me

around

for four

hours

with his

loaded

musket

and though

often

directed

towards

me

God

restrained

his

hand

I

spoke

kindly

to him

and attended

to my

work

as if

he had

not

been

there

fully

persuaded

that my

God

had

placed

me

there

and

would

protect

me

till

my

allotted

task

was

finished

looking

up

in

unceasing

prayer

to my

dear

Lord

Jesus

I

left

all

in

his

hands

and I

felt

immortal

till

my

work

was

done

one

of the

most

remarkable

things

about

Patton's

dealing

with

danger

is he

often

rebuked

his

enemies

to their

faces

for their

bad

behaviour

even

as they

held an

axe over

their head

to bring

it down

on his

head

remarkable

here's

another

one

one

one

morning

at

daybreak

I

found

my

house

surrounded

by

armed

men

and

a

chief

intimated

that

they

had

assembled

to

take

my

life

seeing

that

I

was

entirely

in

their

hands

I

knelt

down

and

gave

myself

away

body

and

soul

to

the

Lord

Jesus

for

what

seemed

to be

the

last

time

on

earth

rising

in other

words

rising

from

that

prayer

I

went

out

to

them

and

contrasting

it

with

all

of

my

good

contact

towards

them

at

last

some

of

the

chiefs

rose

and

said

our

conduct

has

been

bad

but

now

we

will

fight

for

you

and

kill

those

who

hate

you

so

they're

fickle

it's

a

remarkable

thriller

lastly

on the

idea

of

courage

and

there's

many

other

ones

he

had

the

courage

to

face

the

criticism

that

he

did

not

have

the

courage

to

die

I

mean

how

dare

you

do

that

after

four

years

the

entire

island

population

rose

against

him

and

finally

a

wonderful

answer

to

prayer

as

a

ship

arrived

just

in

time

to

take

him

off

the

island

in

response

to

this

after

four

years

of

risking

his

life

hundreds

hundreds

of

times

losing

his

wife

losing

his

child

he

recounts

this

incident

one

dear

friend

said

you

should

not

have

left

you

should

have

stood

at

the

post

of

duty

till

you

fell

it

would

have

been

an

honour

been

to

your

honour

and

better

for

the

cause

of

mission

had

you

been

killed

at

your

post

welcome

home

from your

missionary

service

how

easy

it

would

have

been

for

him

to

respond

with

that

moment

of

discouragement

well

I've

had

enough

of

this

church

it's

not

suiting

my

needs

I'm

done

I'm

done

how

easy

it

would

have

been

for

him

to

respond

with

that

but

courage

he

pressed

on

for

another

four

decades

of

fruitful

ministry

on the

island

of

Inewa

and in

fact

around

the

world

they

reckon

John

Patton

was

the

impetus

that

God

used

to

increase

global

mission

in a

remarkable

way

from

Europe

to

other

parts

of

the

world

most

of

us

don't

even

know

he

existed

so

let me

just

go

now

to

the

source

of

John

Patton's

courage

because

where did

this

remarkable

courage

for the

cause

of

Christ

come

from

now

there

are

a

number

of

things

let me

say

I

think

that

each

one

of

these

things

would

be

a

sermon

in

and

of

itself

I've

already

referred

to

his

trust

in

God's

sovereignty

God's

control

over

all

circumstances

including

including

the

ability

of a

native

with a

musket

to pull

the

trigger

of that

musket

he said

that guy

will not

be able

to do

that

if

God

does

not

enable

him

to

do

that

totally

under

God's

control

he

also

had a

very

strong

sense

of

God's

call

on

his

life

to

be

a

missionary

to

the

southern

seas

but

I

want

to

mention

two

firstly

his

courage

came

from

his

father

James

Patton

that

is

a

guy

like

John

Patton

doesn't

come

from

a

vacuum

even

if you

don't

read

anything

else

in

this

autobiography

the

tribute

that

he

pays

to

his

father

is

worth

the

price

of

buying

it

if

you

can

buy

it

anymore

I'm

not

sure

if

you

can

it

is

remarkable

the

first

75

80

pages

absolute

remarkable

tribute

to

his

father

father

his

father's

prayer

life

stands

out

particularly

as

being

extraordinary

and it

had a

deep

impact

upon

his

children

there

was a

small

room

in

their

little

little

cottage

that they

had

a very

small

cottage

like

three

bedrooms

three

rooms

sorry

not

three

bedrooms

three

rooms

I can't

remember

I think

there

was

like

eight

kids

raised

there

very

different

from

nowadays

where

parents

need

retreats

and

everything

and his

dad

would go

to that

small

room

and he

would

pray

it was

called

the

closet

he

would

pray

and the

impact

on

John

Patton

was

immense

how

much

my

father's

prayer

at this

time

impressed

me

I

can

never

explain

when

on

his

knees

and

all

of us

kneeling

around

him

in

family

worship

we

he poured

out his

whole

soul

with tears

for the

conversion

of the

heathen

world

to the

service

of

Jesus

and for

every

personal

and domestic

need

we all

felt

as if

in the

presence

of the

living

saviour

and learned

to know

and love

him as

our

divine

friend

prayer

prayer

covered

his

discipline

of

his

children

challenged

by this

if

anything

really

serious

this is

if

anything

really

serious

required

us

to be

punished

he

retired

first

to his

closet

for

prayer

and we

boys

got to

understand

that he

was laying

the whole

matter

before

God

this is a

man

let me just

pause

before I

say anything

else

this is a

man

60 odd

years later

reflecting on

this as a

kid

we

loved

him

all

the

more

when

we

saw

how

much

it

cost

him

to

punish

us

we

were

ruled

by

love

far

more

than

fear

and

then

there's

this

quote

about

his

dad

no

hurry

for

market

no

rush

to

business

no

arrival

of

friends

or

guests

no

trouble

or

sorrow

no

joy

or

excitement

ever

ever

prevented

us

at least

kneeling

around

while

our

father

led

our

prayers

to

God

and

offered

himself

and

his

children

to

there

James

Patton's

commitment

to his

local

church

also

had a

remarkable

impact

on the

young

John

James

was an

elder

in the

Presbyterian

church

in

Scotland

it was

about

four

miles

away

from

the

family

cottage

and

in

40

years

in

40

years

he

missed

church

three

times

40

years

and

just

so

that we

know

that

that's

not

an

exaggeration

John

mentions

the

three

times

once

when

the

snow

was

so

deep

it

was

impossible

couldn't

get

there

secondly

once

when

the

ice

was

so

bad

that

his

father

was

forced

to

crawl

back

home

on

hands

and

knees

because

he

had

fallen

over

multiple

times

attempting

to get

to

church

and

once

when

there

was

an

outbreak

of

cholera

and

all

commuting

between

villages

was

banned

and

just

to

make

sure

the

farmers

and

the

villagers

in

his

area

turned

up

to

the

pattern

home

to

plead

with

James

not

to

go

to

church

because

they

didn't

think

cholera

would

stop

him

from

going

to

church

this

commitment

to

a

public

devotional

I

mean

I

reckon

I

could

feel

like

I

could

stop

there

and

let

the

Holy

Spirit

challenge

all

of

us

on

that

one

this

commitment

to a

public

devotion

life

had a

profound

impact

on

John

and

his

brothers

and

sisters

he

wrote

each

of

us

from

very

early

days

considered

it

no

penalty

no

penalty

but a

great

joy

to

go

with

our

father

to

church

the

four

miles

were a

great

treat

to

our

young

spirits

one

scene

which

often

moves me

when I

read it

one scene

best captures

the depth

of love

and I'll

just give you

a shortened

version of

it

the depth

of love

between

John

and his

father

and the

power of

the impact

of John's

life

of

uncompromising

courage

and purity

for the

cause of

Christ

the time

came

for the

young

John

to

leave

home

he went

to

Glasgow

for

theological

training

he called

a divinity

school

from his

home

to the

train

station

was a

40 mile

walk

60

kilometres

walk

no Uber

or anything

back in

those days

and they

weren't

wealthy

enough

to own

a horse

or a

carriage

or anything

like that

and he

wrote

this is him

writing

40 years

after leaving

home

for this

journey

so

regard that

this is an

older man

my dear

father

walked with

me for the

first six

miles of

the way

his

counsel

and tears

and heavenly

conversation

on that

parting

journey

are as

fresh

in my

heart

as it

had been

but

yesterday

and tears

are on my

cheek

as freely

now

as then

whenever

memory

steals me

away

to that

scene

for the

last

half

mile

or so

we walked

together

in almost

unbroken

silence

his lips

kept moving

in silent

prayers

for me

and his

tears

fell fast

when our

eyes met

each other

in looks

for which

all speech

was vain

we halted

on reaching

the appointed

parting place

he grasped

my hand

firmly

for a minute

in silence

and then

solemnly

and affectionately

said

God bless you

my son

your father's

God

prosper you

and keep

you

from all

evil

in tears

we embraced

and we parted

and this

is

this is

the impact

of James

Patton

right here

vowed

deeply

and off

by the

help of

God

to live

and act

so as

never

to grieve

or dishonour

such a father

and mother

as he has

given me

James

Patton's

greatest

desire

for his

children

was that

they would

live

for the

cause

of Christ

and

John

Patton

in that

moment

is declaring

this is

in page

25

26

of the

biography

in that

moment

declaring

that I

will live

in such

a way

to honour

my

father's

God

you see

John

Patton

didn't

just

spring

up

from

nowhere

James

Patton

courageously

and

sacrificially

laboured

hard

to produce

not just

a son

but many

children

like this

and if

it wasn't

for John

Patton

we wouldn't

even know

James

Patton

existed

but what

a legacy

secondly

and this

is the