Legacies of Light: E.V. Hill & S. M. Lockridge

A clear spine runs through everything we talk about today: make Christ unmistakable. We share how two pastors—E. V. Hill and S. M. Lockridge—held fast to the gospel when culture pulled hard, and why their courage still instructs our pulpits, our neighborhoods, and our daily conversations. Their stories cut through labels and factions, not because they dodged hard issues, but because they put Jesus at the center and let everything else take its proper place.

We start with EV Hill’s beginnings in Texas and his long pastorate in Los Angeles, where conviction outran credentials. He was loved by some, resisted by others, and shaped by Acts 4 boldness—recognized as a man who had been with Jesus. From praying at inaugurations to preaching an unblushing pro-life, six-day creation stance, he refused to let party lines define his pulpit. Then we dig into his “block captain” strategy, a simple but potent evangelism network that placed believers on nearly two thousand blocks so every neighbor could hear a kind, persistent invitation to meet Christ.

From there we trace SM Lockridge’s journey from Texas to San Diego, his statewide leadership, and the enduring power of “That’s My King.” The sermon still spreads because it exalts Jesus without ornament or apology, marrying cadence to rich doctrine. We explore how that vision of Christ—majestic, merciful, reigning—creates believers who can withstand pressure and love their cities well. Along the way we name the three anchors that shaped both men: the gospel of Christ as the priority, the approval of Christ as the motive, and the glory of Christ as the fascination.

If you’ve been longing for examples that stand taller than trends, this conversation offers a way forward: claim your address as an assignment, speak the name of Jesus with clarity and warmth, and cultivate awe until courage follows. If this resonates, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a review telling us where you’re placing your next “block captain” for the gospel.

Learn more: https://www.wisdomonline.org/

Transcript

Why Imitation Matters

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Memories Shaped By Many Churches

The Courage Of Black Preachers

Three Marks Of A Worthy Life

EV Hill’s Early Years And Calling

Untrained Yet Recognized With Jesus

Making Enemies By Telling Truth

Gospel Above Politics And Parties

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V. Hill and S. M. Lockeridge are worthy of imitation. Not because of their oratory, which was great. Not because of the size of the congregations they pastored, which were large. Not because of the reach of their political influence or the depth of their understanding. They are worthy of imitation because what mattered to them was the gospel of Christ. What motivated them was the approval of Christ. What mesmerized them was the glory of Christ. Well, we continue our brief study, a series of identifying lives of believers worthy of imitation, as the apostles told the early church even to find within their assembly those worthy of imitating. So we've just sort of taken a little pause here and we're introducing some choice servants of the Lord from recent church history and some as far away as about four or five hundred years ago. If you've been around here long enough, you probably heard me mention, of course, my father preaching in a number of churches, and I can remember growing up traveling with him, his ministry there in Norfolk, Virginia to sailors, predominantly sailors there in that servicemen center. He would load up an old bus, and every Sunday night we'd go to a different church to worship. Typically, it would be a church that would provide prayer support or financial support to their ministry. And he uh he preached in all kinds of churches. I wasn't raised uh in the Baptist church. He would preach uh in Presbyterian churches, missionary alliance churches, Methodist churches, Bible churches, Baptist churches, brethren churches. And frankly, I didn't realize the wonderful education I was getting in the broader world of evangelical Christianity, and it's something I treasure now. In fact, when he called me this morning, we were reminiscing about one particular Sunday. It's one of really the few Sunday evening services I can I can still remember. I can still see myself sitting in that assembly. It was a predominantly uh African-American uh church, a Baptist church. They had invited him uh to uh preach. It was a different kind of service than I had ever uh seen before, but it still brings back fond memories. I can tell you, nobody was sleeping in the pew. Not like while I'm preaching here on Sunday morning. Um everybody was alert. In fact, from the announcements to the closing benediction, it was just, it was just riveting. I uh I treasure those memories. In fact, uh I was telling my dad, I don't know if it's because of events like that, but to this day I am particularly inspired and motivated and moved by the preaching of evangelical black pastors. I so appreciate and admire their courage. They stand on the shoulders of their fathers and grandfathers and great-grandfathers, who many of them were pastors who preached and lived with great courage in a culture and society that was not accommodating in any way, shape, or form. I love bringing to our congregation so that we can hear the good preaching of men like Richard Allen Farmer and Robert Smith and E. B. Charles and Charles Ware and others. And uh love the fact that in our own congregation we're multi-ethnic, we're part of one family in Christ. But to this day, some of my favorite preachers are these African American pastors. I can't imagine, beloved, how difficult it would be to pastor as an African American in 1860. I can't imagine how difficult it would be to pastor in this country in 1960. So when I think of these men, two of them I'm gonna introduce to you, they were not only faithful as men, as husbands, as fathers, but they were faithful to the gospel in a society that was not accommodating to them. In fact, I'm gonna tell you a little bit about how they made enemies on both sides of the tennis net simply because they delivered the truth of God's word. And frankly, when I hear them preaching about freedom in Christ, when I hear them preaching about the faithfulness and provision of God, there is a richer, deeper nuance to their voice. And they so move me and motivate me and inspire me. Two of my favorite pastors from recent history, both of these men have been with the Lord now for nearly 20 years, are E. V. Hill and S. M. Lockeridge. If you don't know who they are, it's about time I introduce them to you. There are no biographies written about these men, and that is very unfortunate. But if you read their obituaries, if you read their sermons, if you listen to audio recordings of them, uh, if you read things they've written themselves, you'll pick up enough information that I've, as I've tried to piece it together for you today, they lived with similar devotion and courage and passion. And if I could boil down their lives and ministries into three observations, it would simply be these. What mattered to them was the gospel of Christ. What mattered to them was the gospel of Christ. What motivated them was the approval of Christ. That's what motivated them. Not the approval of mankind, but the approval of Christ. And what seemed to mesmerize them was the glory of Christ. Reading what little I could find on the life of E. V. Hill, it took me in my mind to the book of Acts and the early church. Let me invite you, we'll look briefly at a text in Acts chapter 4. So turn there if you have a copy of the New Testament with you. This text could be on the calling card of these men. This was their highest objective, and it ought to be ours as well. And while you're turning, let me tell you a little bit about Edward Victor Hill Sr. He was born in the early 1900s in a log cabin in Texas. He was born into poverty. He grew up in poverty. However, he would later write this, and I quote him, I didn't know I was poor. I didn't know I was poor. Because we never equated material things with poverty. To us, poverty was a matter of the spirit, and we were rich in spirit. That alone is a wonderful lesson for us. Well, through hard work, he graduated from high school, and the providence of God he earned a scholarship to a college that had been founded in the late 1800s to give the children and grandchildren of slaves an opportunity to get a college education. Prairie View, Agricultural and Mechanical College for the benefit of colored youth. How's that for a name? It would later become part of the Texas AM University system, AM standing still for agricultural and mechanical education. Although, of course, there are many degrees, but that really wasn't his desire. In fact, he wanted to go into the ministry, but this was an opportunity to go to college, and so he did. His mother sacrificed tremendously, he would say, later, to buy a bus ticket to get him there. And when he arrived, he had a dollar and eighty-three cents in his pocket and only the suit of clothing on his back. That's all he had. He didn't receive a theological education. He didn't receive a biblical training as a biblical training ground there at the school, but it was valuable in many other aspects. At the age of 21, he then became the pastor of his first church, and it was located in Texas. He would go on to pastor for nearly 50 years. He might not have had the best theological preparation, but I couldn't help but think, as you study his life, that he had the spirit of illumination and a desire to learn the word. And for the most part, he was self-taught. And if you listened to him, you would think he had earned several degrees. You would think he was a walking Bible encyclopedia, articulate and brilliant. But that wouldn't be how he'd be viewed. Certainly early on in his ministry, and I couldn't help but think of Acts chapter 4 and verse 13. Notice the apostles are called in before the Sanhedrin, and we're told now as they, that is the Sanhedrin, the High Court of Israel, the Supreme Court, as they observed the confidence of Peter and John. If I can stop you for just a moment, that word confidence is a word that is nuanced. It carries the idea of expressing yourself and not holding anything back. So here's Peter and John speaking to the Supreme Court of the nation Israel with confidence. They're delivering the truth of the gospel, they're holding nothing back. And the Sanhedrin, one more comment, and then we'll look, by the way, happen to be the most biblically literate, theologically trained group of men in the entire nation. The Sanhedrin, they're stunned. Notice again, these men are uneducated and untrained. The word for uneducated literally means unlettered. There's no pedigree. In spite of that, notice they were amazed and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus. Don't you love that? You've been with Jesus. See, it wasn't a matter of education, it was a matter of association. Maybe the reason or anything about my own life. Maybe you wondered the same about your own life. Perhaps we're not having the spiritual fruit we'd like to have is because we're more educated than ever, but the world isn't recognizing us as having been with Jesus. You can go out there and you can talk about God all you want, but you start talking about Jesus, and it's a different story. They have been with Jesus. Early on, E. V. Hill would be recognized for that kind of intimate association with the Lord. And I'm going to tell you, he will be disliked by the white community, he will be disliked by the black community and everybody in between. Because he's called to preach and he's going to deliver the truth. He will speak it and hold nothing back. I went to his university online to try to get a little research done. In fact, I thought there'd probably be a paragraph or a page on this most illustrious alumnus. And they did have a page. In fact, it's titled Notable Alumni of Prairie View. And the list is quite impressive. There are the names of corporate CEOs, university presidents, professional athletes in the WNBA, the NBA, the NFL, many names I recognize. There are the names of recording artists and concert musicians and civil rights leaders, but his name isn't found among the notable alumni of Prairie View. The most famous pastor to have ever graduated from that school is not listed. And I just sort of, you know, propped my feet up on my desk and said, well, let me think of why. And it was pretty obvious why, as you study his life. He didn't fit. He didn't fit the white community, he didn't fit the black community. He was a notable alumnus in the school of biblical doctrine, but because of that, he made enemies on both sides. It might have been because he placed the gospel above racial issues. Even though he was a confidant to Martin Luther King Jr., when he preached, it was about the gospel. Maybe he didn't make the list because he was more interested in building a church than a political movement. Maybe it was because he had friendships with men like Jerry Falwell and Billy Graham. Maybe it was because he preached, as he did, a very strong pro-life position. In fact, he preached and held to a very strong sixth literal day creation view. Maybe it was because he left the Democratic Party early in his ministry and began identifying with conservative political leaders. He would pray at the inauguration of one Republican president. He would become a confidant to another one. Maybe he didn't make the list because on one occasion he called the American Civil Liberties Union satanic. That's not going to win you, friends. You see, what mattered to him was the gospel of Christ. What motivated him was the approval of Christ and not man. He is worthy of imitation. How freely do you speak out there of your association, not with God, but with Jesus. This mattered most to him. It's interesting, I read a book some time ago by James Montgomery Boyce, now the Lord was the pastor of 10th Presbyterian in Philadelphia. And he was a friend of Evie Hill's. And in his book, Boyce's book on the Christian and Politics, which is the name of it, I copied out of that book an illustration about the ministry of Evie Hill as he pastored Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church in the Los Angeles, California area. He eventually left Texas. In fact, he spent nearly 40 years in California. Well, at one time early in his ministry, Evie Hill was a ward leader for the Democratic Party. And as a ward leader, his assignment was to get his ward out to vote. That strategy continues to this day on both sides of the aisle and in the middle as well. And he designed the strategy that what he needed to do was get a block captain for each block in his region. And on election day, the block captain would call their neighbors on the block and encourage them, remind them, today you gotta go vote. A great strategy. That was an ambitious goal, but he decided that would be their goal. And the entire church moved intentionally in that direction. Church members decided where they lived based on it whether or not somebody in the church already lived on that block. Can you imagine? I mean, in our day, my thinking is hey, I got a couple of families on my street that go to Colonel. This is great. They would have said, no, no, no, no, no. You got to spread out. We need somebody on every block. When Evie was sharing this strategic method with James Montgomery Boyce, he had already established block captains in 1,900 blocks in South Central LA. He tells, Evie does, of a funny story of something that happened. He said there was one man who'd been so put off by the block captain where he lived. She was always inviting him to church. Every time she saw him, she wanted to talk to him about the Lord, the gospel. She was friendly, tactful, yet persistent, and he kind of avoided her at every opportunity. And finally he got tired of her. And he decided to move. The moving truck came, he loaded up his possessions, and just before he drove away, the block captain came out there and bid him farewell, gave him one more invitation to church as he was driving away. And as he drove away, he said to himself, I'm so glad I'm rid of you people. The moving truck pulled away, and as soon as it was out of sight, the block captain ran into her house, got out the directory of the Mount Zion block captains, found the person in charge of the block to which her neighbor was moving, and when he pulled up, there was the new block captain waiting. Welcome to your new home. And let me invite you to church. His comment was classic. He said, Good Lord, you people are everywhere. I love that. I read that, though I was deeply convicted by that. Imagine if we truly believed we were positioned and stationed and assigned to our block. That cubicle, that desk, on assignment. Not to get out the vote, but to exalt Jesus Christ. His life is worthy of imitation. Let me introduce you to a colleague of his who grew up equally passionate about the gospel. His name was Shadrach Meshach Lockeridge. He would go by S.M., a lot shorter. He was born in 1913. He lived to the end of that century. He died in the year 2000. Again, there is no biography on his life. In fact, there's less information on SM's life than EV's. But again, if you look for scraps here and there and read the obituaries and what other people said about him and listen to some sermons and whatever, you can put some pieces together as I have for you and for my own ministry and heart. He also grew up in Texas in poverty. He pastored his first church in Texas. I can't imagine how difficult it would have been to pastor a church in Texas in 1925 to go through what he went through on so many levels societally as well as pastorally. He would serve for nearly 40 years in the ministry, much of it in California. He was called to pastor in San Diego and while there for decades, became a really powerful uh religious voice and social voice. He became the president of the California Missionary Baptist State Convention. He was also known for his courageous and powerful preaching. He likes Hill. They were like Peter and John to me. They just laid it all out there and held nothing back. Made plenty of enemies, plenty of friends. And he would teach evangelism courses. He served on the Greater Los Angeles Sunday School Convention. He even published two books that were, for the most part, sermons, one on the Lordship of Christ, and the other entitled Rekindling Holy Fires, which he tended to do. He would be used widely of the Lord. He'd preach crusades associated with Billy Graham, evangelistic rallies, conferences all around the world. Colleagues called him a giant among preachers. Again, self-taught, but when you listen to his articulation, you would think he had earned theological degrees because of his study and life in the word. His best-known message is a sermon entitled, That's My King. He preached it 40 years ago. In this sermon, he describes the Lord, and it's clear to me, and that's why I put that third observation on the lives of these two men. He was mesmerized by the glory of Christ. To date, that sermon, there's no video, there's only audio, and it's kind of scratchy. But that audio from 40 years ago now has been downloaded millions upon millions of times. It's more than likely the most listened to sermon in modern church history. And it's nothing more than the exaltation of Jesus Christ. The lyrics, and I say lyrics because it is poetry in motion. Some of them, I've edited down, it's an hour long. Let me give you three or four minutes worth. Some of it goes like this. My Bible says he's the king of the Jews. He's the king of Israel. He's the king of righteousness. He's the king of the ages. He's the king of heaven. He's the king of glory. He's the king of kings, and he's the Lord of Lords. He's my king. I wonder. Do you know him? He's the greatest phenomenon that has ever crossed the horizon of this world. He's God's son. He's a sinner's savior. He's the centerpiece of civilization. He's unparalleled. He's unprecedented. I wonder if you know him. He sympathizes and he saves. He strengthens and sustains. He guards and he guides. He forgives sinners. He discharges debtors. He serves the unfortunate. He regards the aged. And he rewards the diligent. I wonder. If you know him. His light is matchless. His goodness is limitless. His mercy is everlasting. His love never changes. His word is enough. His grace is sufficient. His reign is righteous. His yoke is easy and his burden is light. I wish I could describe him to you. But he's indescribable, he's incomprehensible. You can't get him out of your mind, you can't get him off your hand, you can't outlive him, and you can't live without him. The Pharisees couldn't stand him, but they found out they couldn't stop him. Like Peter and John. Pilate couldn't find any fault in him. Herod couldn't kill him. Death couldn't handle him, and the grave couldn't hold him. That's my king. Wow.

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V. Hill and S. M. Lockridge are worthy of imitation. Not because of their oratory, their skill in communication, which was great. Not because of the size of the congregations they pastored, which were large. Not because of the reach of their political influence or the depth of their understanding. They are worthy of imitation because what mattered to them was the gospel of Christ. What motivated them was the approval of Christ. What mesmerized them was the glory of Christ.