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George Ladd
George Eldon Ladd (July 31, 1911 – October 5, 1982) was an American preacher, Baptist minister, and scholar whose ministry bridged pastoral work and academic theology, shaping evangelical thought on the Kingdom of God across four decades. Born in Alberta, Canada, to George Trumbull Ladd, a laborer who died when George was five, and Ethel May Ladd, he moved with his mother to New England, growing up in poverty. Converted in 1929 at 18 after hearing a Gordon College graduate preach in a Methodist church, he studied at Gordon College (B.Th., 1933) and Gordon Divinity School (B.D., 1942), later earning a Ph.D. in Biblical and Patristic Greek from Harvard in 1949 under Henry J. Cadbury. Ladd’s preaching career began with ordination in the Northern Baptist Convention in 1933, pastoring churches in Gilford, New Hampshire (1934–1936), Montpelier, Vermont (1936–1942), and Dorchester, Massachusetts (1942–1945), while teaching Greek at Gordon College (1942–1945). Joining Fuller Theological Seminary in 1950, he preached and taught New Testament theology until 1980, influencing thousands with sermons on inaugurated eschatology—God’s Kingdom as “already but not yet”—preserved on SermonIndex.net. A critic of dispensationalism, he authored A Theology of the New Testament (1974) and The Gospel of the Kingdom (1959). Married to Winifred Grace Clippinger in 1936, with whom he had two children—David and Ruth—he died at age 71 in Pasadena, California, from cirrhosis following a 1980 stroke.
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The preacher delves into the concept of 'Rest' (anapausis) as described in the Bible, emphasizing that it is not merely the cessation of work but the restoration of lost strength and inner tranquility experienced simultaneously in labor. Jesus promises this spiritual rest in Matthew 11:29, focusing on the restorative character of rest rather than just stopping activity. Believers are encouraged to find rest in Christ, who offers freedom from guilt, fear, and the power of sin, providing a working rest that comes from completing a great work. The sermon highlights the importance of coming to Jesus to experience true rest for our souls, finding refreshment and peace in Him.
Kingdom of God & Missions
. . . I know only one thing: Christ has not yet returned; therefore the task is not yet done. When it is done, Christ will come. Our responsibility is not to insist on defining the terms of our task; our responsibility is to complete it. So long as Christ does not return, our work is undone. Let us get busy and complete our mission. . . . . The Kingdom of God has invaded This present evil Age. The power of The Age to Come has attacked This Age. The last days will indeed be evil days; but "in these last days (God) has spoken to us by a Son" (Heb. 1:2). God has given us a Gospel of salvation for the last days, a Gospel embodied in One who is Son of God. Furthermore, "in the last days it shall be," God declares, "that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh" (Acts 2:17). God has spoken for the last days; God has poured out His Spirit in the last days to give power to proclaim the divine Word. The last days will be evil, but not unrelieved evil. God has given us a Gospel for the last days, and He has given a power to take that Gospel into all the world for a testimony unto all the nations; then shall the end come. This must be the sprit of our mission in This evil Age. We are not rosy optimists, expecting the Gospel to conquer the world and establish the Kingdom of God. Neither are we despairing pessimists who feel that our task is hopeless in the face of the evil of This Age. . . . Here is the real motive of our mission: the final victory awaits the completion of our task. "And then the end will come." There is no other verse in the Word of God which says, "And then the end will come." When is Christ coming again? When the Church has finished its task. When will This Age end? When the world has been evangelized. "What will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?" (Matt. 24:3). "This gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations; and then, AND THEN, the end will come." When? Then; when the Church has fulfilled its divinely appointed mission. Do you love the Lord's appearing? Then you will bend every effort to take the Gospel into all the world. . . . When we have accomplished our mission, he will return and establish His Kingdom in glory (The Gospel of the Kingdom, 137-140).
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George Eldon Ladd (July 31, 1911 – October 5, 1982) was an American preacher, Baptist minister, and scholar whose ministry bridged pastoral work and academic theology, shaping evangelical thought on the Kingdom of God across four decades. Born in Alberta, Canada, to George Trumbull Ladd, a laborer who died when George was five, and Ethel May Ladd, he moved with his mother to New England, growing up in poverty. Converted in 1929 at 18 after hearing a Gordon College graduate preach in a Methodist church, he studied at Gordon College (B.Th., 1933) and Gordon Divinity School (B.D., 1942), later earning a Ph.D. in Biblical and Patristic Greek from Harvard in 1949 under Henry J. Cadbury. Ladd’s preaching career began with ordination in the Northern Baptist Convention in 1933, pastoring churches in Gilford, New Hampshire (1934–1936), Montpelier, Vermont (1936–1942), and Dorchester, Massachusetts (1942–1945), while teaching Greek at Gordon College (1942–1945). Joining Fuller Theological Seminary in 1950, he preached and taught New Testament theology until 1980, influencing thousands with sermons on inaugurated eschatology—God’s Kingdom as “already but not yet”—preserved on SermonIndex.net. A critic of dispensationalism, he authored A Theology of the New Testament (1974) and The Gospel of the Kingdom (1959). Married to Winifred Grace Clippinger in 1936, with whom he had two children—David and Ruth—he died at age 71 in Pasadena, California, from cirrhosis following a 1980 stroke.