Lewis Craig
The Pioneer Baptist Preacher
[Section Three] Pages 70-90
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Though a man of unflinching courage, he exhibited a spirit of meekness, and accepted his persecutions in the spirit of his Master, and thus was he blessed and proved a blessing to others. Here we may learn a much-needed lesson. Meekness is not weakness, not want of courage, but the evidence of the highest courage. Lewis Craig was not weak. He was strong - strong to do and to bear. Our Master was not weak, but He was meek. He said, "I am meek and lowly in heart", and we must learn of Him. He places meekness in that catalogue of qualities that go to make up true manhood - "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." This spirit as manifested in Craig was one reason why the Baptists spread so; not because they were persecuted simply, but because of the spirit awakened under persecutions. The meek possess the earth. If, as Baptists, we ever possess the earth, it will not be with the battle-axe or the sword, but with that meekness that finds its way to the hearts of men, and leads them to say, "These men have 'been with Jesus".The meekness of Mr. Craig was greatly blessed in the awakening of John Waller, for it is recorded that "he was so deeply impressed by the meekness of Mr. Craig and the solemnity of his manner, that he did not recover from the awful impression until he found peace in Jesus,
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about eight months afterwards. He subsequently became one of the most distinguished' Baptist ministers of his generation, and, in his turn, endured persecutions, 'for preaching the Gospel contrary to law'." (Mr. Waller was in jail one hundred and thirteen days, besides being subjected to other abuses.)And who knows where all this devotion to principle, love of men, spirit of meekness will lead? When will the effects ever cease? "His works do follow him."
"The truly brave are truly meek,
And bravely bear both shame and pain.
They slay, if truly brave men ever slay,
Their foes, with sweet forgiveness day by day."How much all this meant for us! How grateful we should be for what we today enjoy of civil and religious liberty! How greatly should we honor those by-gone heroes, who fought our battles for us! Beyond all question the persecutions of Lewis Craig and his fellow laborers means a great deal to us. It is said of Jesus, ""With his stripes we are healed". It may be said by Kentucky Baptists, in a sense, by the suffering of those old heroes we are free.
"While centuries dawn and die away
The world still keeps their record vast,
And gathers ripened sheaves today
From seeds that fell in ages past."
72We shall give you here a quotation on the duty that lies before us in our day in "bearing our Cross", as this is an ever-present duty and privilege:
"The early Christians bore their cross midst, persecutions, imprisonments and death. They showed us that Christianity is not effeminate, but heroic, virile, noble. Christianity has won for us religious liberty so that no longer do we have to bear the cross of persecution, imprisonment and death as they did. Yet the same courage and equal fortitude is demanded of Christians today in bearing their cross amidst the hosts of lusts, anxieties, doubts, worldliness and unrighteousness. 'In the world ye shall have tribulation', will always be true. Evils will always strive to imprison spiritual joy and gladness, and there will always be danger of remaining dead in sin. There must be conflict in gaining the Christian victory for ourselves, but it is on the highest plane in making the heart clean and the mind pure. Courage, fortitude and sterling virtue are exercised as much in the Christian life today as in the time of the Lord. And as an everlasting and graphic picture of what eacih must do to become a genuine Christian, it is written that Jesus himself took His cross and bore it to the place of crucifixion.
"Our crosses may differ. One may be the
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apparent loss of great gain in being strictly honest. Another may he to bear the burden of always being bright, gentle and true to those who are ungenerous, unappreciative and brutal. Another may be to bear up with faith in perpetual adversity. Yet for our encouragement let us know that, whatever our cross may be, the virtues of Jesus will win out in every trial if they are not forsaken, if we patiently bear the cross to the end."The great battle for religious liberty was fought for us; that other for personal liberty from the besetments of sin, we must fight for ourselves, and that battle is ever before us, for "the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand," demanding that we know the truths of that kingdom, and, knowing, be free. "Ye shall know the truth and the truth will make you free," The test of one's sincerity is his willingness to obey the Lord, and He says, "If any one will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me daily".
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VI. "There were men with hoary hair
Amidst that pilgrim band
Why had they come to wither there,
A way from their childhood's land?"There was woman's fearless eye,
Lit by her deep love's truth;
There was manhood's brow serenely high,
And the fiery heart of youth."What sought they thus afar?
Bright jewels of the mine?
The wealth of seas, the spoils of war? -
They sought a faith's pure shrine!"Ay; call it holy ground,
The soil where first they trod;
They left unstained what there they found -
Freedom to worship God."Wherever civilization would come there must come a pulpit; more important is the pulpit than armies and navies, however needful these may be.
In those early days of our State mighty men came to prepare homes for their loved ones and to open the way for coming generations, and the most mighty among those pioneers were the lowly preaching men - Tinsley, Hickman,
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Lewis Craig and many more. There is nothing more important than this matter of man speaking to his fellow-man of his soul's eternal welfare; and so, in the Providence of God, arrangement is made to this one great end churches are founded, preachers are ordained, and man is pointed to a home beyond, and the voice of God is heard "concerning sin, righteousness and a judgment to come" through the preached Word. These "men fan the flames of human love and raise the standard of civil" and religious "virtue among mankind" - and more, win the hearts of men to Christ.Craig and his church were outposts of civilization. They brought the Ark of the Covenant with them. The most sacred thing in that camp of pilgrims was, their old church Bible. Hitherto this had been a light to their way and a lamp to their feet, and its divine truths were to lead them on and on till at last they should be gathered, one by one, on that eternal camping ground, into that one fold of the one Good Shepherd.
It was no new thing, nor is it yet a new thing for a man, or set of men, to move from their native land to possess new territory, but it was a "brand new thing" for a whole church "to pull up stakes" and move away to a strange land, and pitch tent there and begin to sow
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seeds for an endless harvest. This was what Craig's church did.Now, as we are speaking of that, let us try to see if this "brand new thing" throws any light on the character of our old hero. Does it? Was he a Moses? In a sense, he was - God's chosen leader, to lead a free people into a field that must be conquered and held for the Lord of hosts; to plant here a church in whose very soul was the love - undying love - of civil and religious liberty. He was the leader of a free church to the territory where true freedom should reign. This love of God and love of liberty led to this movement - really did it all. This church was to be, and was, a mustard seed that came to grow and grow, and overshadow other territory and start other trees to growing. Then, as to leadership, we see that he was a true leader - of necessity, must have been, for those intelligent people would not have followed him in a body through all the hardships that came upon them. There were strong preachers among them. Intelligent people will not follow a weakling simply because they are attached to him. Lewis Craig was no weakling, but a strong man, and those who came with him knew him to be such and trusted him as such, and loved him because he was strong. And another thing should be remembered, they trusted him not only as a true
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leader, but as a brother and a companion. "His company was very interesting."He was a man, then, that men could love and did love. No wonder that we read, "So strongly was his church attached to him, that most of its members came with him".
The question comes naturally, Why did they leave their old homes? Was there not room in that land for preaching Baptist doctrines? Was there no need of work there? There was need of work there, and that work was done, and well done. But these had turned their faces to a resting place from bitterness and persecutions, not that they feared these, but because they were led - led of a will to be free, but also led of Him who ruleth over all, for the good of all. Now, it is more than manifest that Craig was not seeking ease simply by this move from Virginia, nor seeking to shirk the responsibility of preaching righteousness that he might possess a Blue Grass farm, for he did not stop preaching, never ceased till his eighty-seventh year; did not leave off founding churches, for he followed that on to the organization of old Bracken; and one writer says that he founded others after the organization of Bracken, but of these we find no account. What was he seeking, then? Tradition says that he said it was because he believed that the Providence of
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God - that which had led him through trials, persecutions, imprisonments, church-building and soul-winning, to September, 1781 - was leading him out to the wild West and would lead him and them on to the true Canaan above. That this was a fact is beyond dispute.He came as a worker, a pathfinder, an organizer - "a voice crying in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord, make His paths straight". This was what he did; this was what he came to do, and ah, how well he did it! He was simply being led, and he recognized the good and constant leadership of the Lord. That his desire was to be located in a land where he might be free, and worship God according to the ruling passion of his heart - in freedom - is very manifest. That he should prefer the open fields to jails is very natural. The Lord made him and all others of that spirit, and that in him, we have seen, no jails could crush, nor prevent him from exercising his God-given right to preach the Word, whether in jail or out.
The Rev. W. H. Milburn, D.D., in his book, "The Lance, Cross and Canoe", in speaking of the tide of immigration that set in toward Kentucky about the close of the Revolution, says:
"The Baptists, who had long been trampled upon and persecuted by the State Church in the 'Old Dominion', and had waged a manly
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war against the tyranny of parsons and church wardens, now victorious by the abolition of the establishment, were glad to find an 'ampler ether, a diviner air', among the canebrakes and woods of Kentucky, where they could not only be free to worship God according to the dictates of their consciences, but also from the supercilious airs and opprobrium with which the 'first families' of the tide-water districts were used to treat them; and they often sought their new homes in large numbers embodied as churches and congregations, and as such formed other settlements."The traveling church was a symbol, in a sense, of what every church should be - an army, whether small or great, seeking to capture new fields, and found an earthly home where souls may be born anew and fitted for that house of "many mansions".
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VII. "He's the Noble - who advances Freedom, and the cause of Man."
"Is't death to fall for Freedom's right? He's dead alone that lacks her light!"
"God lives, God creates, God reveals his truth, God bows the heavens and, comes down that man may be free."
Freedom of conscience, unlimited freedom of mind, has been from the first the trophy of the Baptists. - Bancroft.
The article on religious liberty in the amendments to the American Constitution was introduced into it by the united efforts of the Baptists in 1789. - Dr. H. M. King.
In the infinite wisdom and mercy of the Lord he created man free, in order that He may lead him in freedom to the highest possible good. True freedom is this, having power to choose between that which is good and that which is evil, the freeman chooses the good and follows that regardless of all the sufferings that may come upon him in the attainment of his object. It is the true freeman who suffers persecutions, railings, imprisonments, even death itself, that he may follow that which is
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truly good, so that, in the end, he may confirm the good and true in himself, and lead others into the light of life, and lead them to be truly free. It is the freeman that makes sacrifices, who buffets his body that he may keep it under, for the purpose of bringing a knowledge of true goodness to men.In the wisdom of the Lord He leads us gently by that which He has planted within us - love of liberty. He has ever led men thus and not otherwise - to force him is to destroy the man, for, to be responsible, man must be free.
Now, for the love of liberty, Lewis Craig was imprisoned. You will say that he was free to choose to not preach the Kingdom of Heaven as he was preaching it - he might have heeded the judge and left off preaching for a year or indefinitely. That he had the liberty to make such a choice is true, but such having been made, Lewis Craig ceased to be a freeman, ceased to be a hero, and so ceased to he a son of God; for being set for the defense of the Gospel meant that in all things they, and "we should obey God rather than men". True freedom means, in the largest sense, implicit obedience to God. For him to be silent, then, meant for the hero to throw down his arms and turn traitor - turn to be the worst of slaves.
By the love of freedom the heroic Craig and his gallant church turned their faces toward
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the wilderness and braved all the dangers and hardships incidental to a final location on soil where no judges, with blood-hounds, would hound them to jail or hinder them from worshipping God according to the dictates of their own consciences. The Lord was leading him and them from within, by the love of that which is man's dearest boon - liberty. And thus, also, God was planting this tried and true hero of the Baptist faith in a land where true freedom should become the reigning principle among the people and make of them, for generations and generations, the most devoted and mighty advocates of liberty among men, both as to civil and religious freedom.He came to our State the leader of the first organized church of any denomination, the first Baptist church of the State, a free church, holding to all the principles of true liberty of conscience - a believer in a "free Church in a free State". He labored, even struggled, to gather and maintain such a church. This was the work of his life. Steadily he followed this one thing on to old age - on till he had founded Bracken Church and Bracken Association of Baptist Churches. When we speak of him as "the father of the Bracken Association", we speak of a wonderful thing, for this has been a great organization - greater for real and lasting good than any mere earthly army in any
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land, for many sons and daughters of the King have been born here. Little did this lowly Lewis Craig know of the mighty forces that he, as father of this body, was setting in motion. He hoped, to be sure, and believed, but did not know. Let us believe that he knows now and that he can and does visit in spirit these chosen ones upon whose shoulders rests the task that he laid aside so long ago.My brethren, the works of Lewis Craig should not be forgotten. For the benefit of our children and those who come after them, they should not only be recorded, but graven in stone. How can we forget and fail to honor our heroes of the past who opened the way that the light of life might shine in upon our souls?
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VIII. "'Through suff'ring, perfect,' stern decree!
It frights the coward heart of man;
Till he, from carnal mind is free,
His blessing seems a ban.
And 'whom God loves' - O high estate!
'He chasteneth him'; his fires are lighted
To burn the dross that lies innate,
To rouse the soul that rests benighted.Thou sacred ministry of pain,
By thee high Pisgah's top we gain;
O ministry of sorrow, lo!
Through thee our angels come and go
With messages of love and truth
From struggle, strength; and joy from [t]ruth:
To that Pure light that shall abide
We rise by something crucified.""And he said unto me, These are they which came out of great tribulation. * * * * For it became Him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, to make perfect * * * * through sufferings."
One thing in the character of Craig we must not pass over lightly, for it is a matter of importance, and gives us a pleasing view of the man, as to his inner life, and his dealings with his fellow-men.
That one most beautiful characteristic is
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summed up in one word - Peacemaker. Rev. John Taylor says of him: "He was a great peacemaker among contending parties." This, then, was his mission, and it is clearly to be seen that, in his case, peace "grows by what it feeds on". The business of his life was that of peace-making - between man and man and man and God. He was a man of peace bringing a knowledge of the God of peace to his fellows. Surely, "The beauty of the Lord our God" was upon him. "He was a great peacemaker!" Was not this a real test of his character? He was not learned, not brilliant, perhaps, but was a great peacemaker. "As an expositor of the Scriptures, he was not very skillful, but dealt closely with the heart. He was better acquainted with men than with books." He was a man, then, that dealt with the heart, dwelling but little on church doctrines, "but mostly on experimental and practical godliness". That was how he made peace, between man and, man and man and God, and how he founded churches, and why so many of them lived and still live - heart-religion being the only religion that lives and makes peace. All this in the life of that lowly worker in the Lord's Vineyard is well worthy of pondering. "There are the brilliant, who exhilerate [sic], charm and exhaust; the beautiful, the fair, who suggest invidious comparison, sow emulation. There are the learned, who
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impress with a mass of facts that impose too great burdens upon the mind; ponderous tomes of thought, innumerable problems, syntheses that startle with their evidence of toil. * * * * But how much greater is artless wisdom and love? * * * * He who brings the peace of the Lord brings the results of all high processes."This last was what Lewis Craig did - he brought the peace of the Lord, thereby making others happy and learning in large measure what this meaneth, "Happy the peacemakers, because they will be called sons of God" - not be sons of God simply, but shall be called such, shall be recognized among men as such. They knew him to be a peacemaker and knew also that he was a son of God.
"Still in thy right hand carry gentle peace,
To silence envious tongues."It is written, "The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself". Mr. Craig had been busy through life sowing seeds of peace and goodness; and he was reaping the harvest, peace of soul, and the honor of his fellowmen; "practical godliness" was coming home to his own heart and life, more and more, as he was making for the end of his long journey.
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Dr. J. B. Taylor says: "His last days were distinguished by increased spirituality of mind. His trials had been greatly sanctified to his good, and like a little child he yielded quietly to the will of his Father."
Thus we see that he had conquered and was coming off more than victor, for he was reaping a harvest of good to his own soul; he was becoming like a little child, getting ready for entrance into that home prepared for those who gain the spirit of the little child.
"Rightly indeed he fares, who, all his days,
With heart elate and purpose fixed and true,
Turns not aside in devious, aimless ways,
But fronts the life-work he has planned to do."
88IX. "O, view him down the vista of the years,
when, like the vision seen on Patmos' Isle,
His locks are wh'ite as snow; and now he bears
The weight of age with the benignant smile
Of one whose heart a stranger is to guile;
He sees his starry crown laid up in heav'n -
His earthly days well o'er, in which, erewhile,
He in his Master's cause has nobly str'iv'n,
And to apostate man the holy warning giv'n."His course is finished; 'tis enough, and now
He lays him down, with tranquil heart, to die;
With glory's prelibation on his brow,
He bids his weeping household all draw night,
And speaks a blessing to them from on high
Then falls asleep, to wake in paradise,
'Mid sweet acclaim of thousand souls, who, by
His work of love were led to seek the skies,
And over sin and death triumphantly to rise."Lewis Craig, having lived well-living manfully, heroically - living and laboring for his fellowmen - knew well how to die. So it is not surprising to learn that this aged man should say, shortly before the dying hour, "I am going to the home of my granddaughter to die", and then go on, "with solemn joy", to the place designated, and, in a few hours, pass on, "with little pain", to that home prepared
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for all who live and labor as he did. This occurred in the summer of 1825. Rev. John Taylor says that he was forewarned of his departure. He was so tranquil, so perfectly at peace, so beautiful in soul, that we may see a halo of light about that good, gray head, as he went, "with solemn joy", in the twilight of his life, down to the "River of Rest".We may say that he was taken home "like a shock of corn fully ripe". He "had finished the work that was given him to do", and finished it, too, as we have seen, very much as became a true man-a genuine workman and no idle time-server. Having done his day's work, he had the end in view, and was looking forward with joy to the last great change, that of laying aside his earthly tabernacle for the one "not made with hands, eternal in the heavens". As said one, "He looked forward into an everlasting country, where through the immeasurable deeps shone a solemn, sober hope".
That garment that he wore, by which he was recognized among men, was laid away in a grave near Minerva, Mason County, to moulder back to dust. It had served him well and served him long, but, as all things must change here and be cast off, that the wearer may put on a new garment - "he clothed upon with his house
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from Heaven" - he, too, must put off his earthly tabernacle and pass out of sight of men."And is he dead, whose glorious mind
Lifts thine on high?
To live in hearts we leave behind
Is not to die.""One life is continued into the other, and death is only the passage."
"How tells upon the destinies of men
Th' influence of a single holy one!
His words and way lead up to Heav'n, and when
He sleeps in death, th' effects are scarce begun;
'His works do follow him,' and as upon
The mount of God he stands, his struggles o'er,
'Tis bliss to know what he in Christ has done
His crown is gemmed with those who've gone before,
And those who still will come till time shall be no more!"============ [Lewis N. Thompson, Lewis Craig: The Pioneer Baptist Preacher - His Life, Labors and Character, 1910; via Adam Winters, SBTS Archivist, E-Text Collection. Scanned and formatted by Jim Duvall.]
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