Selected Sermons

by Lemuel Haynes

The Crossway Short Classics Series Presents Rare Sermons from Black Puritan Minister Lemuel Haynes

Born in 1753, Lemuel Haynes was an indentured servant who grew to become a dynamic Reformed preacher. Nicknamed “The Black Puritan,” he is credited as being the first African-American ordained for ministry in the United States. This addition to the Crossway Short Classics series presents some of Haynes’s important yet little-known work.

Selected Sermons features 4 rarely published sermons, along with a biography of Haynes. In “Universal Salvation,” he preaches on the reality of hell and the character of Satan. “A Sermon on John 3:3” explores Jesus’s command to be born again. “The Character and Work of a Spiritual Watchman Described” details qualifications for gospel ministers, and in “Liberty Further Extended,” he presents a biblical argument against slavery and oppression. This collection of Haynes’s sermons offers readers robust spiritual insight and a closer look at an extraordinary figure in church history.

Collection of Rarely Published  A unique, accessible resource for pastors and scholars Written by Black Puritan Minister Lemuel  Includes his sermons on racial justice, regeneration, biblical qualifications for ministry, and the heresy of universalism Part of the Crossway Short Classics  Other titles include The Lord’s Work in the Lord’s Way and No Little People; The Life of God in the Soul of Man; and Fighting for Holiness  Includes a Foreword by Jared C. Wilson

Genres: Theology

143 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 30, 2022

Reviews

[Barnabas Piper · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mixed bag - a couple of the messages were rich and deep, but the remainder read like dry outlines or essays.

[Joseph Abudar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lemuel Haynes has been on my mind and from my mouth for years, this work is maybe the best introduction to The Black Puritan I've come across. This would be in line with Luke Walker mini bio and Thabiti Anyabwile edited profile of Haynes' writings as an accessible guide to understand why I will happily state Haynes blows MLK out of the water in terms of doctrinal fervour, political vigour and exemplary character.

[Hobart · Rating 4 out of 5]

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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SOME THOUGHTS ON THE SERIES AS A WHOLE
The point of this series is to take classic short works—sermons, tracts, articles—package them attractively, edit a bit (modernize language, eliminate footnotes, tweak grammar, etc.), and make them widely available. Each is given a short introduction to help the reader get the context and a bit of information about the author.

They published seven books in this series last year, and I discussed them here. Two have come out this year (so far), but I'm hoping for more.

WHAT'S SELECTED SERMONS ABOUT?
As is obvious from the title, this is a collection of sermons by Lemuel Haynes. Born in 1753, Haynes is known as the first African-American ordained to the ministry.

The foreword serves as an introduction to Haynes as well as the included sermons, and we also get a quick biography of him before diving in.

The four sermons cover the idea of Universal Salvation, a sermon on John 3:3, a description of ministers, and a sermon against slavery.

SO, WHAT DID I THINK ABOUT SELECTED SERMONS?
The middle sermons—on the necessity of being born again and ministers were good examples of latter-Puritan-ish sermons, along the lines of Edwards and Whitfield. They were good, and solid, but not necessarily the kind of thing I'm coming back to.

The other two, however? Wow.

Sure, it's easy from our vantage point to shake our heads and wonder how so many Christians could be comfortable with American slavery—it's good to remember that it wasn't true of them all. With "Liberty Further Extended," Haynes delivered a powerful sermon against the practice, and you can only wish that more people were exposed to it—there's a lot to be appreciated from this sermon, even if it's not as timely as it once is (thank God).

"Universal Salvation," the first sermon in the collection, blew me away (and may have set my expectations too high for the rest). The rhetoric was dynamite (there's probably a better way to put it, but this is the most appropriate), the doctrine sound, and the conclusions were important. When you take the comments by Wilson into account, this must've created quite a stir when he preached it. I'd have paid the purchase price for the volume for this sermon alone.

I don't know that everyone will agree with my evaluation—actually, I'm pretty sure many won't—but I don't see that anyone with an affinity toward Puritan-ish sermons, (First) Great Awakening sermons, or just good sermons not appreciating this little gem of a book.

[Joshua Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Man…. This was a great book. I was unfamiliar with Lemuel Haynes, but found much reward in his sermons. He was the first ordained black preacher in the US. He contributes so much to the Christian community through his sermons.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading about his life in the intro, and working through some of his different sermons that addressed universalism, regeneration, and slavery/racism. Haynes rightly divides the word of truth.

[Bradley Endsor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this book ASAP. This was brilliant, and the political tract about slavery is so relevant to all of the issues so many christians are really worried about, covid overreach, abortion and transgenderism!

[Dominic Duran · Rating 4 out of 5]

Compilation of four sermons. I really enjoyed two of them:

Universal Salvation - Discourse on the nature and devices of Satan.

* “Satan is an old preacher; a very cunning, artful preacher; a very laborious, unwearied preacher; a very presumptuous preacher; a very successful preacher. This preacher has had the greatest success in the dark and ignorant parts of the either”.

A Sermon on John 3:3 - Regeneration

* “The very essence of religion consists in love to God, and a man is no further happy in the favor of God than he loves God. Therefore, to say we enjoy happiness in God and at the same time hate God is a plain contradiction”.
* “It is God alone who slays the native enmity of the heart — who takes away those evil dispositions that govern the man, takes away the heart of stone and gives a soft heart — and makes him that was a hater of God, an enemy to God, to become friendly to his divine character. This is not wrought by any efficiency of man or by any external motives or by any light let into the understanding, but of God… Thus, I say, the man is entirely passive in this work; it is all wrought immediately by a divine agency. In regeneration man is wholly passive. In conversion he is active. Regeneration is the motion of God in the creature; conversion is the motion of the creature to God, by virtue of that first principle whence spring all the acts of believing, repenting, and quickening. In all these man is active; in the other he is merely passive”.
* “The regenerate person loves God supremely. He loves holiness for what it is in itself because it agrees with his new temper; he chooses and prefers that to anything else. He loves the law of God. He loves the gospel and everything that is godlike. He loves the holy angels and the spirits of just men made perfect. His affections are set on things that are above. His treasure is there, and his heart will be there also. He loves the people of God in this world; nay, wherever moral rectitude is to be seen, he falls in love with it. He loves all mankind with a holy and virtuous love. Although he cannot love those who are the enemies of God with a love of complacency, yet he loves them with the love of benevolence. He is of a noble and generous spirit. He is a well-wisher to all mankind. And this supreme love to God and benevolence to man is spoken of in Scripture as the very essence of true religion”.

[Panda Incognito · Rating 5 out of 5]

This fascinating addition to the Crossway Short Classics series shares four sermons from Lemuel Haynes, the first African American ordained as a minister in America. This Black Puritan preacher served as a pastor and fought during the Revolutionary War, and he was an outspoken advocate against the evils of slavery and the faulty arguments that professing Christians used to support it. I had never heard of him before this book came out, and I was excited to learn about him. Selected Sermons includes a foreword from Jared C. Wilson with information about Haynes and an assessment of his legacy, a very short biographical preface, and four sermons.

The sermons are eloquent and engaging. I appreciated Haynes's orderly progression of thought, his clear communication of the biblical basis for his arguments, and his surprising wit. The first sermon was an extemporaneous response to someone else's preaching about universalism, the next is about John 3:3 and the importance of being born again, and the third is about the role of pastors and their serious responsibilities before God as caretakers for others' souls. The final sermon is about the evils of slavery, and it conveys a timeless Scriptural message while attacking contemporary arguments that Christians had made to justify their sin in slave-trading and/or slave-keeping.

Selected Sermons was a delight to read. I enjoyed Haynes's old-fashioned eloquence and timeless exposition of Scripture, and I agree with Jared C. Wilson's assessment that he was like an American Spurgeon. Although many of Haynes's sermons no longer exist, these are wonderful, and I am thankful that Crossway has brought these treasures into public awareness. History is always so much more complex than we think it is. I would not have guessed that the first Black pastor of a predominately white church served in the Revolutionary Era! This book is a gold mine for people who are interested in church history, Black history, and powerful sermons about timeless themes.

I received a free copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

[Tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this sampling of the works of Rev. Lemuel Haynes (1753-1833), with four representative sermons making up the scope of this book. Sometimes referred to as the "Black Puritan," this American Revolution veteran was the first African-American to be ordained (Congregational Church).
As a pastor, I especially appreciated what appears to be an ordination sermon on Hebrews 13:17, "The Character and Work of a Spiritual Watchman Described." Though around two-hundred years old, "Spiritual Watchman" speaks continually to pastors today. Just for this one sermon I recommend this to the reading for all pastors and pastoral staff.
My only negative reaction is directed to what is not included. The only biographical material is two pages in length, far too short in my opinion (the forward includes some additional info, but still not sufficient I believe). Also, no bibliographical citations are given for the source of the four sermons, or in what year they were presented. The inclusion of this information would have made this a stronger work.
I am looking forward to reading more of and about Rev. Haynes.

[Jesse Fenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lemuel Haynes is the forgotten Puritan. We have very few of his writings, but what we do have is worth its weight in gold. The few sermons that are recorded in this small volume are simple, clear, and potent. His sermon on the duties of a minister powerfully remind us that the minister must cultivate in his own heart a vivid fear of God, and the minister must live his life in the light of that fear. These sermons are well worth the read.

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful collection of sermons from Haynes. I particularly enjoyed the last two sermons. The one entitled, "the character and work of a spiritual watchman described" was a helpful and sobering little piece for pastoral prospects. In short, Haynes gives his own criteria for the pastorate and ends with an open letter. The last sermon, "liberty further explained," as a powerful little treatise against chattel slavery.

[E · Rating 3 out of 5]

Always good to read 250-year old sermons. These are fine. A bit dry, perhaps unremarkable--but faithful. The last sermon is stronger; it's anti-slavery polemic given more power by the fact that the author is half black. But you'd need to read more sermons than three to get a good feel for this Puritan born when the Puritans were no longer a thing.

[Mitchell Beck · Rating 4 out of 5]

The four short sermons are very interesting and good, especially the one describing spiritual watchmen and the one against universal salvation. I would recommend that anyone going into the ministry read "the character and work of a spiritual watchmen described." Some of his language is hard to understand, but it is clear overall.

[Peter Kiss · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing, clear and direct puritan preaching. These sermons didn't suffer from some of the overly verbose writing as some other writings, but instead were very edifying and historically very interesting.

[Jeanette · Rating 5 out of 5]

“There is no greater folly than for men to express anger and resentment because their religious sentiments are attacked. If their characters are impeached by their own creed, they only are to blame.”

[Jon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lemuel's "Liberty Extended" (1776) is a devastating argument against slavery, delivered decades before similar sermons in the 19th century. It is worth reading.