SERMONS AND ESSAYS
BY
MINISTERS OF THE
UtetjtoMsst (SjjistflpI djrwtjj,
EDITED BY THOMAS 0. SUMMERS, D.D.
NaslioiUe,
PUBLISHED BY E. STEVENSON & F. A. OWEN, AGENTS,
FOE THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, SOUTH.
1857.
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1857, by
E. STEVENSON & E. A. OWEN, Agents,
In the Office of the Clerk of the District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee.
STEREOTYPED AND PRINTED BY A. A. STITT,
SOUTHERN METHODIST PUBLISHING HOUSE, NASHVILLE, TENN.
(tonttnts.
Object and Nature of Religious Worship. By Joshua Soule.
*
Devotedness to Christ. By Bishop Pierce.
Semi-centennial Sermon. By the Rev. Lovick Pierce, D. D.
Charity superior to Knowledge. By the Rev. Wm. Winans, D.D.
The Gospel Ministry. By the Rev. Wm. Winans, D. D.
Ministerial Ability. By William M. Wightman, D.D.
Sermon on the Christian Ministry. By the Rev. T. N. Ral¬
ston, A. M.
Claims of the Gospel Ministry to a Support. By S. H. Browne.
The Divine Assessment for the Support of the Ministry. By
the Rev. R. Abbey.
On the Use of Tobacco.
Strictures on Church Government. By the Rev. R. Abbey.
Reasons for not joining the Baptist Church. By the Rev.
Joseph Travis, A.M.
(SHtorial |Wt.
The Sermons and Essays contained in this volume have all
been published in separate pamphlets, in which form they are
still issued, for the convenience of those who wish them for
gratuitous circulation or other purposes. They were all
brought out under the supervision of the present editor, who
does not, however, hold himself responsible for all the views
which may be advocated by some of the authors; though it is
believed none of them transcend the freedom of opinion and
utterance recognized by the communion to "which they belong.
The importance of the topics, the general ability with which
they are discussed, and the variety of matter and style, render
this an interesting and edifying book.
OfbitHr.
Nashville, Tenn., February 5th, 1857.
(v)
SEEMONS AND ESSAYS.
OBJECT AND NATURE
OF
RELIGIOUS WORSHIP:
A DISCOURSE
iBliraeti flt ttje imitation nf Solw-dtrm CJwrtjj,
NEW YOKE, JAN 4, 1818.
BY JOSHUA SOULE.
Nasfjbtlle, Centt.:
PUBLISHED BY E. STEVENSON & E. A. OWEN, AGENTS,
FOR THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, SOUTH.
1857.
1*
The following Discourse was delivered by Bisbop Soule, wben be
was connected witb the Book Concern in New York; and was pub¬
lished by request of the Trustees of John Street Church. It was
delivered at the opening of that edifice, which stood in the site of
the present church, where also stood the first Methodist church
in America, erected in 1768. A copy of this excellent sermon
recently came into our hands, and we are not willing to let it go to
oblivion. It deserves a better fate. We do not, however, feel at
liberty to publish it without the Advertisement, prefixed to it by the
author.
THOS. 0. SUMMERS.
Nashville, Tenn., May 5,1855.
When the following discourse was delivered, the author had no
expectation that it would appear before the public in print; conse¬
quently, but very little had been written, or so committed to memory
as to preserve the identity of expression. The reader is also desired
to recollect that two discourses had been delivered on the same day,
particularly adapted to the occasion of opening a house for religious
worship. To avoid interfering with the subject of these discourses,
the speaker, in the evening, found it necessary, in several instances,
to depart from the design which had been previously formed; in conse¬
quence of which, several ideas were entirely omitted, especially in rela¬
tion to the divine immutability. But although such omissions might be
admissible, under the circumstances above stated, in delivering a
discourse to nearly the same congregation which had heard the
previous ones, yet it would be very improper to present it to the
public mutilated by such omissions. It is, therefore, published in
substance as it was designed. Scarcely an idea was advanced, when
it was delivered, which is not here retained, and the order is pre¬
served as far as the above circumstances would admit. That there is
a variation of language there is no doubt; but the strictest care has
been taken to preserve the phraseology in which it was delivered, as
far as possible. No apology is offered for presenting it to the public
but a desire to gratify many, it is believed sincere friends, who have
repeatedly requested its publication, and a hope that it may be use¬
ful to some into whose hands it may fall.
(4)
RELIGIOUS WORSHIP.
" God is a Spirit; and they that worship him must worship him in
spirit and in truth."—John iv. 24.
That all nations of men, in all ages of the world, have
possessed some ideas of a God, or a power above themselves,
appears evident, as far as we can depend upon our limited
means of knowledge respecting them. Indeed, it should
seem that (independent of innate ideas) the variety and grand¬
eur of the works of creation—the order and harmony of the
whole system of visible things—the daily demonstrations of
the frailty and dependence of every grade of animate/1 being—■
and the constitution and powers of mind, of which there is
a certain consciousness—are subjects, considered in relation to
perceptive and reflecting beings, sufficient to produce a con¬
viction of an intelligent Cause. But although the light of
nature might afford such evidence as would produce a belief
in the existence of a God, we are fully assured that it is totally
insufficient to guide the human mind to such a knowledge of
his nature and attributes, of his will and moral government,
and of the relations between him and his creatures, as is ne¬
cessary to acceptable devotion and eternal happiness.
How dark and superstitious were the notions which the
most enlightened heathens possessed of the Deity—their gods
were multiplied to a number not easily calculated—they were
partial and passionate — sometimes at war with men, and
sometimes hurling their thunderbolts or casting their fatal jave¬
lins at each other. There was not a passion, however disgrace¬
ful to themselves, but was considered as existing in their im¬
aginary deities; and this too at the zenith of arts and sciences
—when philosophy and the splendid branches of human
6
RELIGIOUS WORSHIP.
knowledge were cultivated with extraordinary zeal, both in
public and private life. But however bright the sun of sci¬
ence might have shone, a dark and portentous cloud filled their
temples and enveloped their altars.
The inscription, " To the unknown God," while it stands a
monument of the insufficiency of the light of nature to guide
our dark and bewildered minds into the paths of truth,
righteousness and eternal life, will, at least indirectly, lead us
to admire and adore the infinite wisdom and goodness of the
God of all grace in furnishing our benighted world with a
revelation of himself, and of his purposes and designs con¬
cerning man.
In tracing the history of that divine revelation contained
in the Holy Scriptures, we observe that all its important con¬
tents were not to burst upon our world at once. It contained
the plan of an infinite mind, and the times, manner, and
methods of unfolding it were best adapted to the ends for
which it was designed.
The communications of God to the ancient patriarchs, and
the openings of the divine counsels under the prophetic dis¬
pensation, all pointed to a more perfect and intelligible display
of the mind and will of Jehovah.
The giving of the law upon Mount Sinai, in the wilder¬
ness of Arabia, was a grand era in the history of man. But
terrible indeed was the sight when God came down to write
his law on tables of stone—Moses must fear and tremble, and
a veil must be cast, even over the mirror which was to reflect
the divine glory and majesty—thunderings and lightnings must
accompany the awful message. But even in that message the
whole Deity was not known—the Mount was enveloped in clouds
and smoke; and a law of burdensome ceremonies follows, all
which were shadows of better things which were yet to come.
In all these, God was but dimly seen. It was reserved for the
Messiah—the Ancient of days—the Son, who was in the
bosom of the Father, to make a full declaration of the na¬
ture, perfections, and counsels of the eternal Mind. This he
has accomplished in the capacity of our Mediator. In him
we behold the meridian sun of revelation—the light of the
world—the brightness of the Father's glory—the express
image of his person—the desire of nations—the hope of
Israel—the end of sacrifices—the fulfilment of the law the
RELIGIOUS WORSHIP.
r
accomplishment of prophecy—the Alpha and Omega in the
economy of redemption and grace. It is a sufficient recom¬
mendation of the words which I have chosen on the present
auspicious occasion, that they proceeded from his gracious
lips ; but, rightly understood, they will be found to convey a
much clearer and more comprehensive view of the nature and
attributes of Grod, than can possibly be obtained from all the
methods of communication prior to the gospel tra; and to
explain the duty of man in relation to the Deity in a man¬
ner which claims a grand ascendancy over every former dis¬
pensation. It is not my design, on the present occasion, to
furnish you with a narrative of the rise and progress of building
houses, specially for the purpose of religious devotion: this would
only be treading in the footsteps of many who have gone before
me; and, should the history be conducted by the light of im¬
partial truth, it would furnish many circumstances which
could reflect no honor upon the professed friends of religion.
Neither does it incorporate with my present views, to attempt a
vindication of the propriety and necessity of erecting houses
for such purposes. It is a favorable and delightful considera¬
tion, that the pious zeal, which seems to be almost every¬
where rising and prevailing, in a great measure removes the
necessity of such a vindication. The time and the manner
in which this house has been built corroborate the pleasing
fact. The words of the text, in conformity to the event of
opening this house for religious solemnities, lead us to con¬
sider, First, the Object, and, Secondly, the nature of religious
worship.
First. Grod is set before us in these words as the proper
Object of worship. And that we may not do homage to an
unknown Glod, the inspired writings have furnished us with a
revelation of his nature, attributes, and administration. And
to these writings, as to an authentic communication from
Heaven to men, we must have recourse in all our endeavors
to obtain a right knowledge of the true Grod.
The light of nature is inadequate to the purposes of our
investigation; yet, so far as we can trace the harmony of the
books of nature and revelation, we must be sensibly struck
with their agreement. In exploring the works of creation
and providence, we discover evident manifestations of design
—of an intelligent Cause. The order, magnitude, and mo-
8
RELIGIOUS WORSHIP.
tions of the heavenly bodies—the form, and natural divisions
of the earth—the succession of day and night, summer and
winter, seed-time and harvest—the exquisite beauty of the
vegetable kingdom—the mysterious organization of animated
bodies—and, above all, the powers and faculties of mind,
inspire a conviction of an efficient Cause, and intimate that
this Cause must be wise, eternal and omnipotent. But nume¬
rous examples from among the most enlightened of the heathen
world, demonstrate the insufficiency of human reason, unaided
by revelation, to form just conceptions of this first Cause.
But no sooner do we cast our eyes on the luminous page
of revealed truth, than the veil is removed. Here that Being
whose glory was but dimly reflected by nil the grandeur and
majesty of his works, is pleased to make himself known by a
direct communication. But before we enter directly on the sub¬
ject, it is necessary to observe that all our inquiries concern¬
ing the Deity should be attended with deep humility. Osten¬
tation would be highly criminal where a subject so awful and
interesting is concerned. Let us enter upon it with the reflec¬
tions of the Psalmist deeply engraved on our hearts : " When
I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon
and the stars which thou hast ordained, what is man ?"
" Whither shall I go from thy Spirit ? or whither shall I flee
from thy presence ? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art
there : if I make my bed in hell, behold ! thou art there. If
I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost
parts of the sea, even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy
right hand shall hold me/' By searching we shall not be able
to find out GrOD. His attributes will still lie infinitely beyond
the grasp of our feeble intellect} and the farther we pursue the
inquiry, the more fully shall we be convinced of our incapacity
to comprehend the Eternal, or fathom the depth of the counsels
of the Most High. Yet such may be our discoveries as to
lead us to wonder, admire, and adore.
1. The words of the text lead us to consider Grod as a
spiritual essence. In the darker ages of the world, mankind
had gross ideas of the Deity as a material being, possessed of
body and parts, and tangible like other sensitive beings. Hence
the multitude and locality of their gods. But the light of reve¬
lation has dispersed these clouds of ignorance, and declared the
perfect spirituality of the divine nature. In this light, the single
RELIGIOUS WORSHIP.
9
expression, " God is a Spirit," accomplished that for the world
which had confounded the wisest philosophers, and baffled the
exertions of human science for ages and generations. The
spirituality of God being asserted, his unity must be per¬
ceived ^ for, as far as the human mind is capable of discovery,
divisibility is the property of matter only. But direct testi¬
mony has established the doctrine, and removed the necessity
of proving it by conclusions from given premises. " Hear,
0 Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord." "Now, a Medi¬
ator is not a Mediator of one, but God is one."
2. The eternity of the Deity is here established.
I will not impose upon your understanding by attempting
to prove this point of doctrine; but would rather introduce it
with a design to impress your hearts with a suitable reverence
for that infinite Being, who is, who was, and who is to come ;
and to inspire such trust and confidence in him, as the ideas
of endless duration and immutability are calculated to encour¬
age and support.
It was for the same purpose Moses spake of God in this
light: " The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are
the everlasting arms." And the same end is proposed when
the prophet represents the Deity as the " High and Lofty
One, inhabiting eternity." All sublunary things have a be¬
ginning—are subject to change and decay—and must finally
dissolve and perish; but God is the same, and his years shall
have no end. He is from everlasting to everlasting, and his
throne for ever and ever. The human mind, limited in its
capacity of comprehension, soon becomes lost in the contem¬
plation of a being whose duration cannot be measured by fixed
periods. We mete out time by days, weeks, months, years and
centuries; but there are bounds beyond which our calculations
cannot pass; and when we have increased the account to
millions and millions of ages, we cannot say this is a part of
eternity. Here no comparison can be drawn or proportion
conceived. Such then is the object of our worship; with
whom one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years
as one day.
3. The ubiquity of God is here asserted. The person with
whom our Saviour was conversing had suggested ideas of the
locality of the divine presence. Indeed, the Jews, as well as
the Samaritans, appear to have supposed that there were par-
religious worship.
where the Deity more especially resided, and
'' . 1 1 it ( int» -kn^li aim
prejudices have been handed down from generation to gene¬
ration ; and notwithstanding the light of the Christian Scrip¬
tures on this subject, we still discover too many traits of the
ancient superstition. But how certain is it, that an undivided
and eternal Spirit must exist equally in every place; and
that devotion is equally acceptable to him, whether offered
from the cottage or the throne—from the closet, or from the
public assemblies—from the wilderness, or from the city. If
the Christian dispensation has authorized the erecting of
houses particularly for the purpose of religious worship, we
must consider it in relation to social order and happiness,
and not as any proof of the locality of the divine presence.
In this connection it will not be improper to take notice of cer¬
tain expressions not unfrequently used in devotional addresses
to the infinite Jehovah—especially praying that he would be
present with us in this or that place. Now, that he is present
with all creatures, in all places, and at all times, is most
certain; for unbounded space is his temple, and he fills time as
he fills space. All, therefore, which is necessary to individual
or social happiness, is, that such a manifestation of his pre¬
sence may be made as will lead the mind to a right apprehen¬
sion of his character—produce a conviction of a personal
interest in his favor, and inspire a firm confidence in his pro¬
vidence and grace. Such a manifestation of his presence
should, therefore, be the subject of prayer.
But as the omnipresence of God is one of the grand pillars
of revealed religion, and a belief of it of the first importance
m the exercises of rational devotion, let us attend to the re¬
presentations of the Sriirif nf inanir-a+irm << Han onvhide him-
RELIGIOUS WORSHIP.
11
being." How insignificant do all the beathen deities appear,
wben viewed in the light of these sublime descriptions of the
one true and living Jehovah! There is not a place where
the Christians' God does not exist. He environs all beings,
penetrates all substances, and bj an active influence guides
the stupendous wheels of nature. Universal space is the
temple where he dwells—earth, seas, and skies are his altars,
from whence the sacrifices of sincere love, humble devotion,
and grateful praise ascend, with equal acceptance, before his
thron6. What are these stately pillars? these well-propor¬
tioned columns ? these majestic arches ? Turn your eyes to
the more stupendous productions of an Almighty hand ! Be¬
hold the ten thousand variegated beauties which appear
on the surface of our globe: survey the grandeur of the
scene where earth and ocean meet: view the lofty arch of
heaven, studded with radiant diamonds: contemplate the
ponderous planets, rolling in grand succession through the
pathless fields of space; and from all these works learn to
elevate your minds to Him whose word gave them birth,
whose finger guides their motions, and whosq power preserves
their being. That there is a place which we call heaven, or the
paradise of God, where the divine glory and majesty are
specially manifested, there can be no rational doubt. Revela¬
tion assures us of it, and points us to it as the place of perfect
and eternal joy and rest. Reason corroborates it; for how¬
ever innumerable the multitude of saints and angels, or how¬
ever various the orders of holy and happy spirits, they can all
occupy but a limited space, and this space must bound the
manifestations of the divine presence. But it should always
be recollected that time and place are terms which can only
apply to derived, and, consequently, limited beings; and if
they are used with reference to the Deity, they must always
be considered in a relative sense. Suffer me to close these
observations on the omnipresence of God, with the substance
of the reflections of a pious and learned man. How happy
must be the condition of that intellectual being who is always
in the presence of the Deity, and is always conscious of his
presence from the manifestations of his love and favor! How
melancholy is the situation of a rational being who is con¬
tinually in his presence without a consciousness of it; and
how inconceivably wretched and miserable must that intelli-
12
RELIGIOUS WORSHIP.
gent creature be, who is for ever in the presence of God, and
is conscious of his presence only from what he feels of his wrath
and indignation.
4. The God we worship, being eternal and ubiquitary, must
be omniscient. " Known unto God are all his works." He
who has created all things, who upholds and governs all things,
must have a perfect knowledge of them ; not only with re¬
spect to the several properties of distinct beings, separately
considered, but also in reference to all the relations and de¬
pendencies of the great whole. Matter and mind are equally
naked in his sight. The most secret springs and hidden
motives of human actions are perfectly disclosed to his view.
He marks with strictest scrutiny the various degrees of the moral
excellence or turpitude of the works of men. "All things
are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we
have to do. Neither is there any creature that is not mani¬
fest in his sight; for the eyes of the Lord are in every place,
beholding the evil and the good." Nothing can exceed the
beauty and sublimity of the Psalmist in his reflections upon
infinite knowledge resulting from omnipresence. He had
just taken a view of the divine majesty as everywhere pre¬
sent. If he cast his eyes to heaven, the ineffable glory met
the powers of vision: if he looked towards hell, the terrors
of his wrath were there; and should he arrive at that dark
and gloomy centre to which human skill had never penetrated,
even there he could not elude the grasp of his Maker's hand.
But will not the darkness conceal him ? No : that gloom of
night which is impenetrable to every other eye but that of
the Deity, is to him as meridian day. His understanding is
infinite. "My substance was not hid from thee when I was
made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of
the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being un-
perfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which
in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there were none
of them. Thou has searched me and known me. Thou
knowest my down-sitting, and my up-rising: thou under-
standest my thoughts afar off: there is not a word in my
tongue, but lo, 0 Lord, thou knowest it altogether." Such
thoughts of God can never fail to have a powerful influence
over the exercises of the heart. Hence the pious author of
this psalm annexes to these reflections the most lively expres-
RELIGIOUS WORSHIP.
13
sion of his delight, thanksgiving, and prayer. Such are the
sentiments and feelings which should ever mingle in all our
attempts to worship the God of wisdom, power, and grace.
. 5. To the foregoing perfections of Jehovah we must add
that of immutability. Fluctuation and change are stamped
upon the face of all visible things. Man, through ignorance,
weakness, or design, frequently fails to accomplish his engage¬
ments. The best concerted plans of frail mortals are often
defeated. Hopes which appear to be founded in the strongest
human security, are blasted in an hour. The most permanent
systems of civil polity have suffered revolutions. Thrones
Jiave trembled. The most powerful monarchs, whose sceptres
have made nations bow, have themselves fallen to rise no
more. Even the heavens and the earth, and the constitution
of all visible things, are reserved, under an infallible determi¬
nation, to a grand and universal change.
But that Being, who is spiritual in his essence, eternal in
his duration, filling infinite space with his presence, and pos¬
sessing a perfect knowledge of all things, must remain the
same, without variation or shadow of turning.
But as the doctrine of the immutability of God, rightly
understood, affords the greatest possible security and consola¬
tion to good men, so, misapprehended, it may tend to encour¬
age presumption, false confidence, or despair. It may there¬
fore be proper to observe that immutability, as a perfection of
the Deity, is nothing more nor less than the fixed and un¬
changeable determination of his mind to the accomplishment
of that which is right and just; having in view his own glory,
and the good of his creatures. But we should have been still in
obscurity, as it respects the counsels and purposes of the
divine Mind, had not a direct revelation unfolded them. In
this revelation it has pleased the everlasting Father to make
known his will to man with specific reference to a rule, and
to an end. The moment we quit the dubious regions of meta¬
physical refinements, and philosophical disquisitions, and make
our impartial and unprejudiced appeal to the oracles of sacred
truth, we find our path illuminated with rays of heavenly
light: the character of our Almighty Creator and gracious
Redeemer appears as drawn in sunbeams; and on the fair
picture stands engraved, in letters more precious than gold,
"Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons;
14 RELIGIOUS WORSHIP.
but in every nation he that feareth him, and worheth right¬
eousness, is accepted with him." Here we learn that t e im¬
mutability of God necessarily implies an unchangeable love^ of
holiness and hatred of sin; and an invariable determination
to render to every man according to his works. There is,
therefore, no disagreement between the doctrine that a man
may be a subject of the displeasure of God at one time, and
of his favor at another, and the doctrine of the divine immu¬
tability. Indeed, to deny that a man may be a subject of
grace at one time, and a child of wrath at another, is either
to deny the possibility of a change in the moral character of
men, or to assert the mutability of God. For example: sup¬
pose David to have been equally in favor with God at the
times when he was meditating and executing murder, and
when he was meditating and delighting in the law of God
day and night: what is the conclusion ? Most certainly one
of the following: either there was no change in the moral
character of David, or the divine administration must have
changed. Or is it to be supposed that sin loses its moral tur¬
pitude and criminality because it is committed by those who
have once been delivered from its guilt and power ? This
supposition is not only a direct violation of the most plain and
positive declarations of the Scriptures, but a flat contradiction
of the dictates of common sense, and in open hostility with
those great maxims on which the administration of punitive
justice is founded. The criminality of a sinful action is in¬
creased or diminished according to the degrees of knowledge
or conviction against which it is committed, and the strength
of the obligations which are violated. To produce the nume¬
rous passages of Scripture which go to establish this proposi¬
tion, would be to transcribe a considerable part of the Bible.
If we read that " God is of one mind, and worketh all things
after the counsel of his own will," let us always remember
that his will is the standafd of eternal rectitude and truth.
It is in this light we behold the claim of the Deity to our
sincere and devout worship. It was in this character Moses
exhibited him before the whole house of Israel: " Because
will publish the name of the Lord, ascribe ye greatness to
our God. He is the Rode: his work is perfect, for all his
ways are judgment. A God of truth and without iniauitv
just and right is He." No language could better describe
religious worship.
15
the unchangeable nature of the attributes and government of
God. The Psalmist exulted in the contemplation of this sub¬
lime truth. He surveyed the heavens and the earth as grow¬
ing old like a garment, and changing like a vesture; but He
who created them as enduring and remaining the same, yes-
day, to-day, and for ever. His promises must stand fast when
the sun grows dim with age, and nature sinks in years. O
ye servants of the living God ! lift up your heads with rejoi¬
cing : this dust may return to its mother dust: the earth may
receive back to its bosom its numerous offspring: the lamps
of heaven may burn out: the planets may start from their
orbits, and, quitting their ancient courses, rush in wild con¬
fusion one against another: the elements may dissolve: the
pillars of the universe may tremble and be removed : nature
may utter her last expiring groan, and time be lost in eternity;
but when all these grand revolutions shall have transpired,
He who has set his bow in the cloud will remain the same,
and his covenant shall endure for ever.
6. Notwithstanding the observations already made, it is
necessary to add, that the Object of our worship is possessed
of every moral perfection. This, indeed, has been suggested
in the course of the investigation; but not with sufficient
clearness to answer our present design. Would we worship
God according to the requisition in the text, we must appre¬
hend him as a Being of infinite goodness, mercy, justice, and
truth; and as exercising these adorable perfections in the
moral government of the world. The proportion and har¬
mony of the divine attributes must be considered. Mercy
and truth, righteousness and peace, must meet and embrace
each other. Were we to consider God merely as possessing
infinite power, without being able to determine the principles
by which its operations were governed, our condition, to say
the least, would be very forlorn. We should be ignorant
whether it would be exerted for our happiness, our misery,
or our annihilation. Should we unite justice to power, we
might have cause to fear and tremble; but where would be
the ground of confidence or hope, for creatures conscious of
sin and guilt ? What but wrath and indignation could be
expected ? God could only be viewed as an inexorable judge.
But when to these attributes we add mercy and goodness, we
find a proper foundation for all those exercises of the heart
16
RELIGIOUS WORSHIP.
which are incorporated in evangelical worship. Infinite power
is directed by unerring wisdom, governed by justice and truth,
and attended by love and mercy. We fear, we trust, we love,
we praise. 0 what a deep interest have perishing sinners in
those declarations which God has made of his dispositions
and designs towards them ! dispositions of kindness and
designs of grace. Hear, 0 heavens! and give ear, 0 earth !
while He proclaims himself the Lord, the Lord God, merci¬
ful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and
truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and
transgression and sin. As I live, saith the Lord, I have no
pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked
turn from his way and live. It is certainly an act of infinite
condescension for God to accept the penitence of rebels, and
receive to his favor the repenting sinner; but it is only from
a view of this condescension that we are encouraged to ap¬
proach him with the hope of acceptance. To sum up the
whole, when we apprehend God as a Spirit, eternal, omnipre¬
sent, omniscient, and immutable; possessed of every moral
perfection, and exercising the whole for the happiness of his
intelligent creatures, we have before us the proper Object of
our worship. Having thus considered the Object, let us,
Secondly, notice the nature of religious worship.
It appears evident from our Lord's conversation with the
Samaritan woman, that very imperfect notions were entertained
of the nature of that worship which man owed to God. The
Samaritans possessed a scrupulous veneration for the moun¬
tain where their fathers worshipped, and the Jews were
equally tenacious of their city, their temple, their synagogues,
and their altars. But Jesus Christ declared that the time was at
hand when neither in that mountain nor in Jerusalem, as pre¬
ferable to other places, should men worship the Father; but
that the true worshippers should worship in spirit and in truth;
that it was such worship which he required, and such only
he would accept.
From his words we learn, in general, that spiritual worship
consists in paying a due respect, veneration, and homage to
the Deity, by the sincere and unfeigned devotion of the heart
and life to him, according to the declarations of his will in
the Holy Scriptures. Such worship stands opposed in its
spirituality to the legal ceremonies of the Jewish dispensation,
RELIGIOUS WORSHIP.
17
and to tlie long and dreary catalogue of heathen superstitions.
The Christian economy, as it more fully unfolded the nature,
attributes, and providence of God, so it furnished a more
perfect knowledge of the obligations and duties of man.
What particularly distinguishes this dispensation is, that it
contains much clearer and more powerful influences of the
Holy Spirit. Prophecy points to this in multiplied instances.
It was with particular reference to it that God promised to
pour out his Spirit upon all flesh—to put his laws in their
hearts, and write them in their minds. Who does not see
the contrast here drawn? God had once written his law
visibly on tables of stonebut under the gospel he writes it
on the tables of the heart.* The same is alluded to by St.
Paul in his letter to the Hebrews : " For ye are not come unto
the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire,
nor unto blackness and darkness and tempest, and the sound
of a trumpet, and the voice of words, which voice they that
heard entreated that the word should not be spoken to them
any more : But ye are come unto Mount Sion, and unto the
city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an in¬
numerable company of angels : to the general assembly, and
church of the first-born, which are written in heaven, and
to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made
perfect, and to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and
to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than
that of Abel." Our blessed Lord gave repeated assurances
of the large and general effusions of the Holy Spirit; and
when the time was fully come, sent him down from the Father
according to hig promise. The office of the Spirit, thus sent,
was to convince and reprove the world of sin, of righteous¬
ness, and of judgment—to enlighten every man that cometh
into the world, and, abiding always with believers, to lead
them into all truth. It is his prerogative to take of the things
of the Father and show them unto us. Under such a mani¬
festation of light and grace, it is reasonable that man should
have a clearer knowledge of God) and that he should love
him with all his heart, soul, might, mind, and strength, and
serve him with uniform zeal and universal devotion. It is
proper therefore to observe, more particularly, that in the
spiritual worship which God requires of his creatures, is implied,
first, a just apprehension of the Object. Without this, all
2
18
RELIGIOUS WORSHIP.
our pretended devotions must necessarily partake of supersti¬
tion or enthusiasm. It is only when the mind is impressed
with a suitable sense of the divine perfections, that the heart
can he rightly exercised in prayer and praise; but a right
view of God will not fail to stamp the characters of sincerity,
humility, and fervor on all our religious performances. This,
too, gives stability and firmness to our devotions; and pro¬
duces that uniformity and consistency of character which can
only result from genuine conviction. Our Lord said to the
woman of Samaria, "Ye worship ye know not what." " We
know what we worship." The Athenian altar was dis¬
tinguished by being inscribed, " To the unknown Godand
a God unknown must be ignorantly worshipped. To arrive
at such a knowledge of the Deity as is requisite to produce in
the heart that humility, veneration, and respect which are in¬
cluded in spiritual worship, it is necessary to have recourse to
all the methods in which the divine character is revealed,
and to all the means of instruction which Providence may
have placed within our power. -The works of creation and
providence are well adapted to this end. Through them the
invisible things of him from the beginning are clearly seen,
even his eternal power and Godhead. But the sacred ora¬
cles must be resorted to as our infallible directory. Beason
must submit her high pretensions to the authority of revela¬
tion. Here God is seen in his own light—all his attributes
are delineated by the pencil of infallible truth. With such
means of knowledge at hand, can we be ignorant of God, and
remain innocent ? No : this is ignorance at which God will
not wink. Let us know then, assuredly, that whoever would
serve God in an acceptable manner, must seek to know him.
2. To worship God aright implies an adequate perception
of the rule. By the rule, I mean those directions which the
word of God has supplied relative to the government and
regulation of our hearts and lives in all our religious devo¬
tions. Without a proper knowledge of this rule, we are in
danger of presumption on the one hand, and of lifeless for¬
mality on the other. For want of such knowledge, enthu¬
siasm and superstition have too often usurped the seats of
Christian moderation and charity. It is not the least afflic¬
tion which the Church has suffered, that many of her pro¬
fessed friends have substituted the impulses of their passions,
RELIGIOUS WORSHIP.
19
or the strength of their prejudices, for the unerring testimony
of the oracles of God; and, through an indiscreet zeal, have
broken down those sacred barriers which the gospel has
erected to guard her rights. With such persons a special im¬
pression upon their own minds, or a particular prejudice of
their education, will outweigh the plainest declarations of the
Bible, and is paramount to all authority, human or divine.
The best reason they can assign for their practice is, that they
feel it to be their duty, or their parents or instructors taught
them so. With these persons we shall generally observe a
disposition very foreign from that moderation, candor, and
charity so highly recommended in the word of God. Hence
the importance of searching the Scriptures to ascertain whai
is the will of God concerning us. To this infallible standard
all our feelings, all our impressions, all our prejudices anc
prepossessions should submit. And let no one suppose thai
because he has found a single text that appears to favor his
opinions, he has sufficient authority on which to rest. But
rather let him read, examine, and compare the Scriptures,
with devout and humble prayer that the Holy Spirit may
shine upon his understanding, and teach him the things which
he knows not.
As it is not unfrequent for Christians to produce examples
from the manners of the pious, under the Jewish economy,
as authority for the same practices under the gospel dispensa¬
tion, it may not be improper to observe that such examples
should be admitted with caution in all cases where there is
not some corresponding authority in the Christian Scriptures
The propriety and importance of this observation will appear
if we consider that in many respects the two dispensations
differ widely from each other. The Mosaic code was distin¬
guished by signs, figures, and types, which were objects of sense;
the promises which it contained chiefly pointed to tempora.
blessings, and its threatenings to temporal calamities. In ah
these particulars there appears to have been a special adapta¬
tion to the passions. But the Christian era unfolded the
gates of immortality and eternal life. All its sublime doc¬
trines, all its maxims, all its instructions, all its promises, all
its obligations, were suited to intellectual beings, and pecu¬
liarly calculated to exercise all the powers of the human mind,
and, through the medium of the understanding, to enlist every
20
RELIGIOUS "WORSHIP.
passion and affection of the heart in a voluntary and cheer¬
ful obedience to its holy laws. It is safe, therefore, to take
the New Testament as the rule of our worship; and here we
shall find that the frame of the mind, and disposition of the
heart, are much more particularly and strongly marked, than
any external form whatever. On the whole, considering how
many inlets there are to the heart, how variously the passions
may be moved, how strong the prejudices of education, and
how powerful the influence of example, it should he the busi¬
ness of all who desire to glorify and enjoy God, to examine the
doctrines and examples of Jesus Christ and his inspired apostles
with diligence and prayer; and, under a humble sense of the
weakness and frailty of human nature, cleave to these doc¬
trines and examples as the only safe and infallible directory
for redeemed sinners in offering themselves as a living and ac¬
ceptable sacrifice to God.
3. Simplicity and sincerity are essential to spiritual and ac¬
ceptable worship. God must he worshipped in " truth," not
only in opposition to the "shadows" of the Law, hut with¬
out hypocrisy or deceit. The motives of action must he pure.
No ostentation, no pride, no love of praise, no desire of worldly
profit or applause, no secret wish to be seen of men, no thirst
to have our gifts displayed, no anxiety to know what others
say of us, can form any part of true worship, but are directly
opposed to it. A single desire to please God—to offer our¬
selves wholly to him—to enjoy the favor of his countenance
and the consolations and joys of his Holy Spirit, and to ad¬
vance the interests of his kingdom on the earth, is a savour with¬
out which our best offerings would be an abomination in his
sight, the most specious forms would be mockery, angelic
eloquence would be empty sound, and the zeal of martyrdom
a fruitless toil, if a pure design were wanting. We cannot
but notice how frequently our Lord and his apostles denounce
all ostentatious formalities, as inconsistent with the principles
of the gospel, and highly displeasing to God. Let us always
remember then to carry to our closet, and to the house of
God, that singleness of heart which in his sight is of great
price.
4. Spiritual worship implies the exercise of all our powers.
There is not a faculty of the mind but what finds constant
and delightful employment. Here the attributes, the works,
RELIGIOUS WORSHIP.
21
the providence, and the grace of God completely engage the
perceptive and reflecting faculties of man. Here the soul,
absorbed in pious thought, forgets the world. Silent contem¬
plation heightens spiritual joy. The mind surveys the won¬
ders of redeeming grace and dying love, till the heart swells
with gratitude, and the lips are clothed with praise. Here
the passions, rectified by reason and by grace, move harmo¬
nious within their proper bounds: here the affections quit the
earth and fix on things above. Nor are these devout medi¬
tations and fervent exercises transient or superficial. The
true worshipper of God is such by conviction—is such by
design. Hence stability and uniformity mark and distin¬
guish his religious course. His zeal, accompanied with a
humiliating sense of human frailty and dependence, is the
same in the closet, in the congregation, and at the altar. And
while he is gentle towards all men, he habitually studies to
offer himself a living sacrifice to God; loving him with all the
heart, soul, mind, and strength. Thus I have endeavored to
lay before you the Object and the nature of spiritual wor¬
ship. We will conclude with two inferences drawn from the
whole.
1. We may learn to distinguish between true religion and
enthusiasm.
Enthusiasm is the hope or expectation of obtaining an end,
without the use of those means which God has connected
with it. We readily perceive this in the ordinary affairs of
life, and the common sense of mankind disapproves it. No
man expects to reap a harvest in autumn if seed has not been
sown in the season; and we should pronounce him a madman
or an idiot who should calculate upon being a proficient in
science without application to study. Happy would it be for
our world if men judged and acted with equal consistency in
matters of religion, where the knowledge of God and the har¬
vest of eternal life are incorporated.
But in the more common acceptation of the word, enthu¬
siasm means zeal in religion not according to knowledge;
where the passions, improperly excited, leap the bounds of
moderation and reason, and precipitately rush to wild confu¬
sion. But how different is the religion of Jesus Christ;
which teaches us the knowledge of God and of ourselves.
Its blessed doctrines are calculated to enlighten the under-
22
RELIGIOUS WORSHIP.
standing, rectify the conscience, and bring every thought of
the heart into obedience to Christ. There is no concern in
which man can engage that has an equal claim to be entered
upon with deliberation. The reason is obvious: its truths
are momentous, its morality is pure, its duties are great and
numerous, its obligations are strong, and its interests are eter¬
nal. Hence it requires us to consider; to count the cost; to
resolve ■ to be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the
work of the Lord—in short, to make our calculations for an¬
other world. How then, my brethren, will you appear in this
house of God, now dedicated to his holy service ? Will you
tread this court with careless feet ? or sit in these seats idle
and inattentive ? Will you suffer your thoughts to rove abroad
to the ends of the earth, while the precious truths of the
gospel are proclaimed to you ? Will you permit the surround¬
ing objects of sense to divert your attention, while Christ and
his cross are exhibited before you ? Or will you sleep while
repentance, death, the resurrection, judgment, heaven, hell,
and eternity sound from this pulpit ? God forbid! Hut
rather give all diligence to make your calling and election
sure. Here let your employment be meditation, prayer, and
praise.
2. From this subject we may learn the difference between
evangelical worship and superstition. When any thing of
human invention, of which we are scrupulously tenacious, is
added to the true worship; or when we form such ideas of
God as lead us to serve him with a slavish fear of his wrath;
and especially when this fear is productive of servile acts to
appease his anger, we may be said to be superstitious. Hut
the subject which we have now investigated stands at the ut¬
most distance from this. Our Lord and Saviour has made
such a declaration of the divine character as lays a proper
ground for fear, confidence, and love. Guided by the light of
his doctrines, while we are awed by justice and power, we rejoice
in mercy and goodness. We behold not a tyrant, who takes
pleasure in the exhibition of his vindictive wrath; but a gra¬
cious and compassionate Sovereign, who delights in the hap¬
piness of his creatures, and is ever ready to pardon the peni¬
tent. Here no external forms are made the criterion of our
sincerity. The Jew may be accepted in his synagogue, with
the distinguishing signs of his dispensation; or the Gentile
RELIGIOUS -WORSHIP.
23
in his uncircumcision. Here is a kingdom, not of meat and
drink, but of righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy
Ghost. None are excluded; but "in every nation he that
feareth God and worketh righteousness is accepted with him."
Let every Christian rejoice that this religion is destined to
cover the whole earth. We live at an eventful period. The
time, yea, the set time to favor Zion is come: thousands are
engaged for her prosperity: the prophecies are fulfilling:
Jesus shall have the heathen for his inheritance, and the ut¬
termost parts of the earth for a possession. Those who have
sacrilegiously bowed to the image of a virgin, or the sign of
a cross, shall come and worship in spirit and in truth. The
kings of the earth shall lay their honors at the feet of our
Emmanuel, and crown him Lord of all. The knowledge of the
Lord shall cover the earth as the waters the great deep. Then
they shall not hurt nor destroy in all his holy mountain.
Hasten it, 0 Lord, in its time. Amen.
SPIRITUAL WORSHIP.
by c. wesley.
Jestts, thou soul of all our joys,
For whom we now lift up our voice,
And all our strength exert,
Vouchsafe the grace we humbly claim,
Compose into a thankful frame,
And tune thy people's heart.
While in the heavenly work we join,
Thy glory be our sole design,
Thy glory, not our own :
Still let us keep our end in view,
And still the pleasing task pursue,
To please our God alone.
The secret pride, the subtle sin,
0 ! let it never more steal in,
T' offend thy glorious eyes,
To desecrate our hallowed strain,
And make our solemn service vain,
And mar our sacrifice.
24
RELIGIOUS WORSHIP.
To magnify thy awful name,
To spread the honors of the Lamb,
Let us our voices raise,
Our souls' and bodies' powers unite,
Regardless of our own delight,
And dead to human praise.
Still let us on our guard be found,
And watch against the power of sound,
With sacred jealousy;
Lest haply sense should damp our zeal,
And music's charms bewitch and steal
Our heart away from thee.
That hurrying strife far off remove,
That noisy burst of selfish love,
Which swells the formal song :
The joy from out our heart arise,
And speak and sparkle in our eyes,
And vibrate on our tongue.
Thee let us praise our common Lord,
And sweetly join with one accord,
Thy goodness to proclaim:
Jesus, thyself in us reveal,
And all our faculties shall feel
Thy harmonizing name.
With calmly reverential joy
We then shall all our lives employ
In setting forth thy love,
And raise in death our triumph higher,
And sing with all the heavenly choir
That endless song above.
Nashville, Tenn.: Published by E. Stevenson & F. A. Owen, for the M. E. Church, South.
DEVOTEDNESS TO CHRIST:
A SERMON PREACHER IN
Htcjuniira C{mt\, Uas|iiill{, ®erat.(
APRIL 15, 1855,
IN MEMORY OE THE LATE
WILLIAM CAPERS, D.D.,
ONE OE THE BISHOPS OE THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, SOUTH
BY BISHOP PIERCE.
Nasptlle, Cemt.:
PUBLISHED BY E. STEVENSON & E. A. OWEN, AGENTS,
FOR THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, SOUTH.
1857.
2*
To the Reverend Bishop Pierce :
Dear Brother :—It affords me great pleasure to inform you,
that at a meeting of Methodist Ministers at the Publishing
House, Nashville, Monday morning, April 16, the Rev. Dr. Green
having been called to the chair, and Thos. 0. Summers appointed
Secretary, it was unanimously
Resolved, That the Rev. Bishop Pierce be respectfully solicited
to furnish, for publication, a copy of his excellent discourse de¬
livered on yesterday afternoon, at McKendree Church, in memory
of our late Bishop, the Rev. William Capers, D. D.
Resolved, That, should the manuscript be furnished by the
Bishop, the Book Editor and Agents be requested to publish
Sermon, as one of the Methodist Pamphlets for the people.
Resolved, That the Secretary of this meeting be instructed to
make known its wishes to Bishop Pierce.
Your compliance with the wishes expressed in the foregoing
resolutions, will, by the Divine blessing, be productive of good
and will, moreover, add to the personal obligations of
Your friend and brother,
Nashville, Tenn., April 16,1855. Thos. 0. SUMMERS.
My Dear Brother:—Yours of the 16th has been received.
The discourse delivered by me on Sabbath last was not written.
As soon, however, as I can, amid other engagements, prepare the
manuscript, I will submit it in obedience to your call.
My affection for Bishop Capers as a man, and my admiration
for his beautifully consistent character as a preacher, will make
it pleasant to me to bear my testimony to his worth in a more
permanent form than the fugitive tribute of an oral discourse. The
memory of this great and good man is precious. If any thing J
can say or write will perpetuate the perfume, I shall feel that I
have done good, while I have gratified my affection.
Yours affectionately,
Nashville, 18th April.
G. F. Pierce.
DEVOTEDNESS TO CHRIST.
"For none of us liveth. to himself, and no man dieth to himself.- For
■whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we
die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the
Lord's."—Romans xiv. 7, 8.
The spirit of Christianity is essentially a public spirit. It
ignores all selfishness. It is benevolence embodied and alive,
full of plans for the benefit of the world, and actively at work
to make them effective. Catholic, generous, expansive, it
repudiates all the boundaries, prescribed by names, and sects,
and parties, and " stretches its line into the regions beyond,"
even to the uttermost parts of the earth. The world is its
parish. Its wishes are commensurate with the moral wants
of mankind, and the will of God, who gave His Son to die for
us sinners and our salvation, is the authority for its labors
and the pledge of its triumphs.
It is the policy of every form of infidelity and speculative
unbelief, and of every false religion, to depreciate and under¬
value the nature of man. They despoil him of his true glory
by their chilling, preposterous theories, even while they affect
to magnify him by fulsome eulogy of his intellect and its
capacious powers. By false notions of personal independence,
they isolate him from his kind, and the sensibilities, which
Heaven intended should flow out free as the gushing spring,
they contract and stagnate, till the heart grows rank and
putrid with its own corruptions. But while our holy religion
exalts man as made ill the image of God, the head and chief
of the system to- which he belongs, and thus invests the indi¬
vidual with dignity and value, vast and incalculable, far, far
beyond " worlds on worlds arrayed," it yet links him in closest
fellowship with the kindred of his race. For him the ground
yields its increase, the sun shines, the stars beam in beauty,
the winds blow, the waters run. Earth, air, and ocean are
4
DEVOTEDNESS TO CHRIST.
all astir with agencies commissioned to do him good ; but not
for him alone. No matter what his rank, power, influence, he
but shares the bounties which have been provided, in the munifi¬
cence of Heaven, as the common inheritance of all his fellows.
No matter what his personal rights and interests, he is but a
part of a great whole. He belongs to a system. No choice of
his own, no social caste, no civil distinctions, can detach him
from it. Linked with the world around him by a law of his
nature and the decree of his Maker, every plan of isolation is
abortive; and the very effort at separation and exclusiveness
brands him as a miser, a misanthrope, a selfish, heartless
wretch, without natural affection or any redeeming principle.
A brute in human form—a demon, with the lineaments of
man, he is under the outlawry of a world itself, alas ! but too
ignorant of the law of love and the noble aims and ends of
this mortal life.
Bound together, as we are, by the ties of a common nature
and of mutual dependence, every man is a fountain of influ¬
ence, good or bad, conservative or destructive. Whether he
will or not, he is an example. His language, spirit, actions,
habits, his very manners, all tell—forming the taste, mould¬
ing the character, and shaping the course of others, to the end
of time. No man liveth to himself. He can not. Appar¬
ently he may, but really he does not. His plans and his
aspirations may all revolve around himself as a common centre,
but within and without their orbits will be concentric circles,
enclosing other agents and other interests. He may rear
walls around his possessions, call his lands by his own name,
and his inward thought may be, as the world phrase it, to take
care of himself and his dependents; but he can neither limit
the effect of his plans nor forecast the inheritance of his estate.
Another enters even into his labors. Disruptive changes
abolish his best-concerted schemes, and scatter to the winds
all the securities by which he sought to fence and individual¬
ize his own peculiar interest.
But while all this is true, and constitutes the basis of a
fearful responsibility, it is not exactly the idea in our text. In
the declaration before us, the Apostle does not affirm a prin¬
ciple as predicable of our nature and its social relations, nor
merely state a fact as resulting from an immutable law of our
being; but he presents a moral rule, and erects it into a stand-
DEVOTEDNESS TO CHRIST.
5
axd for the adjudication of character. He defines the rights
of Jesus Christ our Lord, and the obligations of those who
claim to be his disciples and representatives.
A dispute had arisen in the Church concerning meats and
days—what was allowable and consistent in the one case, and
what was required and binding upon the other. It was a
question of privilege—of Christian liberty. Assuming that
the parties were equally sincere, the apostle did not 'seek to
quell the agitation by a temporary expedient, a dubious, unre¬
liable compromise; hut took occasion to declare a principle of
universal authority and application. He lays down a rule by
which we are to judge others as well as to measure ourselves.
What one may regard as a ceremony and a superstition, is not
to be charged upon another, whose opinion is different, as
proof that his profession is a mask or his piety insincere. Nor
is the latter to denounce the former as a timeserver—a man-
pleaser, turning the grace of God into licentiousness. " He
that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he
that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it.
He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks;
and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth
God thanks."
Conceding the right of private judgment—frankly confess¬
ing imperfect knowledge—let both ,judge charitably. The
kingdom of God is not meat and drink—but righteousness,
peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. There may be, there is
unity in the great principles of Christian morality, and yet a
difference of judgment and practice in little things. We are
not to despise one another because of this diversity, nor,
though fully persuaded in our own minds, harass a brother by
the vexatious obtrusion of our peculiar notions. His liberty
is not to be bounded by our prejudice, nor his conscience re¬
gulated by our superstition. The law of love not only requires
good will, benevolent affection towards all men, but stretches
its authority over our opinions, our moral' judgments, our
estimate of character. We are not to perplex the weak with
doubtful disputations, nor incur the risk of imbittering our
own feelings by urging our ultraisms as essential to salvation.
Life is too short to be wasted in frivolous disputes, even about
matters of conscience. Christianity is too precious and noble
and vast to be scandalized by contentions in the Church about
6
DEVOTEDNESS TO CHRIST.
meats and drinks—the tithing of mint and anise^ and cum¬
min. As Christians, we are public men. ^ We ^ve ^or our
race. The Lord is our judge. Great principles are to be
avowed — maintained — diffused — established. God and
our generation are to be served—the one to be glorified, and
the other to be saved. For none of us liveth to himself, and
no man dieth to himself. Whether we live, we live unto the
Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we
live, therefore, or die, we are the Lord's.
The text is a comprehensive description of a Christian's
life—a decisive test of character. It is the language of one
who well knew what Christianity is, and who himself exem¬
plified its principles and spirit.
Avoiding minute details, we proceed to fix the meaning of
the terms, living unto the Lord, and dying unto the Lord.
Living unto the Lord may be considered as implying, that
we distinctly recognize the will of God as the rule of life.
If I may so express it—as the natural subjects of the Al¬
mighty, we are bound to serve him to the full extent of the
powers He hath given us. He has an unquestionable right
to our obedience. This results from our relation as creatures.
He made us and He preserves us. This original obligation,
instead of being relaxed and impaired, is confirmed and in¬
tensified by purchase and redemption.
The will of God is to be sought in the statute-law of the
gospel—the plain and express decrees which define and re¬
gulate our duty. It is important to notice and to remember
that the service we are to perform is not left to our choice.
We have no rights of legislation in the premises. Our task
is assigned us, divinely appointed. Lord, what wilt Thou have
me to do ? ought to be the inquiry of every human spirit.
The word of God gives the answer: " Thou shalt love the
Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy mind, with all
thy soul, and with all thy strength, and thy neighbor as thy¬
self." This is the law and the prophets—the true philosophy
of life—the first and second commandments. On these hang
all the subordinate requirements of " judgment, mercy, and
faith." The precepts of Christianity are so wisely and gra¬
ciously adapted to promote the private interests of individuals
and the general welfare of human society, that many who are
disaffected towards the divine government, will, for their own
DEVOTEDNESS TO CHRIST.
7
sakes, clioose to do many things which are just, and kind, and
beneficent. These things are comely, reputable, of good re¬
port among all men; and a man cannot therefore serve him¬
self more effectually than by practicing the great virtues of
humanity. Man's chief controversy is with Grod—against
Him he wars. He is not naturally the enemy of his kind.
While some fierce and unsocial passions occasionally break
out, and startle us by the atrocity of some monstrous indivi¬
dual crime, and while nations wrought into fury sometimes
quench their hate in blood, yet commonly the social instinct,
and the love of ease, and the fear of retribution, prevail over
what is hostile and malignant in our nature. In the absence
of injury or provocation, men generally wish others well, and
are even disposed to do them good. To some of the duties
of Christianity there is therefore no natural aversion—no ac¬
tive repugnance. And it is greatly to be feared that many
are basing their hopes of heaven upon their exemption from
the vices that corrupt and embroil society—upon their amia¬
ble feelings and kind relations—upon neighborly offices and
charitable expenditures. But those virtues which are merely
human—educational—conventional—cannot save. In this
world they have their origin, their use and their reward. The
great element of piety is wanting. There is no reference to
Hod. And here is a marked difference between the man who
lives for himself, and the man who-lives unto the Lord. The
one obeys a constitutional impulse perhaps—consults his re¬
putation, his business, his influence; or, it may be, rising a little
higher, he may rightly estimate his responsibilities as a father
or as a citizen, and so is honorable, moral, refined. But he is
without Grod in the world. Oh, the loneliness and destitution
of such a spirit! Atheism is his religion, if not his creed;
or at best he is an idolater—himself the idol. The other
realizes the divine authority, and obeys because Grod com¬
mands.
The relative duties of life are performed not to gratify a
native generosity, or eke out a dubious popularity, but as part
of the service and homage due his Maker. Over the whole
circumference of his engagements—in the bosom of his
family—the busy marts of trade—the retirement of the closet
—the worship of the sanctuary—the citizenship of the world
—r-there presides a solemn recognition of the Divine presence,
B
DEVOTEDNESS TO CHRIST.
his being and his empire, and every step is taken in reference
to Him as a witness and a judge. I know that many profess
and seem to he religious on lower principles. Public opinion
—consistency—ease of conscience to shun hell, to gain
heaven, all operate, and they supersede and dethrone the
higher law in the text. Not that these motives are illegiti¬
mate, but partial and inferior. They ought not to become
principal and paramount; and they cannot without a delete¬
rious unhingement of character, and a transfer of our duty
from the ground of what is divine and authoritative, to that
which is human and self-pleasing. The motive in the text is
comprehensive, embracing all lower ends—harmonizes all, yet
subordinates them all to its own sovereign sway. Like a con¬
queror at the head of his battalions, it marches forth to sub¬
due the insurgent elements that would dispute its dominion.
It is the u stronger man" keeping his goods in peace.- With¬
out it, there can be no consecration, and with it, no com¬
promise of duty. The failure to recognize and adopt this
great principle of morality, has fearfully diluted the experience
of the Church, and embarrassed every department of Chris¬
tian service. " I will run in the way of thy commandments,
when Thou shalt enlarge my heart," said the Psalmist. No
man can rise above the constraining considerations which
spring from interest, feeling, safety, pleasure, in reference to
all minor questions of duty, save as he resolves religion into
some great general principles and purposes, from the decision
of which there is no appeal. These principles, wisely adopted
and well understood, will marshal all the chances and changes
of life, all its untoward events, all its interfering agencies, so
that they shall fall into ranks like well-trained soldiers under
the command of a superior officer. They simplify religion,
disentangle it from all purely selfish influences, from the bias
of worldly interests, from the guile of passion, and leave a
man free to glorify God according to th<j Scriptures. How
simple and sublime the character, deriving its greatness and
worth from God and duty ! How grandly independent is he
who knows no fear but the fear of God, who seeks no favor
but the smile of Jesus, and whose single eye scans all things,
great and small, in the light which no shadow can eclipse!
His life regulated by one great pervading law and purpose'
he escapes all the trials by which feebler and less decided
DEVOTEDNESS TO CHRIST.
9
Christians are tormented and impeded. His heart, conse¬
crated in all its plans and purposes, falters not at sacrifice,
or peril, or suffering. Difficulties and doubts he has none.
His religion is to him a law that never changes. His
heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord. His plan of life settled
scripturally, advisedly, and in the fear of Gfod, he is not
to be bought or bribed, frightened or defeated. Turning
neither to the right nor left, he moves right on. If, along his
pathway, the den of lions opens, he lies down and lodges for
the night, and in the morning tells how the angel kept him.
If the furnace be kip died to test or to destroy him, he walks
unburned in the flame, and comes forth without the smell of
fire upon his garments. Escaped'from the shallows and the
breakers where so many toil with unavailing oar, he has
launched on the deep, and, favored by wind and tide, looks with
lively hope for an abundant entrance into the everlasting
kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
But the principle I am discussing, considered as a test of
character and a rule by which to adjudicate our Christian
claims, is worthy of enlargement. Living unto the Lord im¬
plies that we make the approbation of Glod our governing
aim—that we study to please him, and that, whatever we do,
we do all to his glory.
Religion, to be saving, must be supreme : " My son, give me
thy heart"—" He that loveth father or mother more than me,
is not worthy of me." G-od claims the body and the spirit.
He will not divide the empire, which is his by right, with in¬
vaders and usurpers. Unless, therefore, His approval is the
predominant motive, we not only base our Christianity upon
mistaken apprehensions of the Divine claims, but we repudi¬
ate the only principle which can subjugate the rebellious ele-
mentb and passions of our fallen nature. Before conversion,
we form attachments and allow indulgences wholly inconsist¬
ent with a life of devotion. To do well, we must first cease to
do evil. The flesh, with its affections and lusts, must be cruci¬
fied. Self-dChial is the first law of discipleship. Who would
submit to have the right hand cut off, the right eye plucked
out—much less, perform the operation upon himself—unless,
by the expulsive power of a new and holy affection, these
enemies which encamped within his heart shall be routed and
taken captive ? There must be the ascendency of another and
10
DEVOTEDNESS TO CHRIST.
a higher principle than any which is merely human, to break
down the dominion of appetite, and passion, and habit. Flesh
and blood are sad counsellers in the work of God. To consult
them is to betray our spiritual interests. The multitude do evil
—we must dare to be singular. But who will come out from
the world—brave its scorn—defy its persecution—disdain its
blandishments, and rebuke its ungodliness by declining its
fellowship ? None but those who feel that God's smile
amply remunerates for the world's contempt, and that the
testimony that we please Him outweighs all earthly treasure,
and outshines all earthly glory.
To live for Christ, and to live for ourselves, is utterly im¬
practicable. The union is a moral impossibility. We love a
good name; but they that will live godly in Christ Jesus
shall suffer persecution. We are rich; but the command is,
Sell all that thou hast, and give to the poor, and come
follow me. We love home and friends; but Christ calls to
absence, and labor, and sacrifice. Religion is popular—you
embrace it: the Church is fashionable—you join it. The peo¬
ple shout Hosanna, and Jesus is escorted by a worshipping
multitude — you say, " Lord, I will follow thee whither¬
soever thou goest." The Master replies : " The foxes have
holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man
hath not where to lay his head." What will you do now ?
Go away sorrowful ? or, having counted the cost, go on to build ?
"Chooseye this day whom ye will serve;" or have you set¬
tled this question long ago in favor of duty and Heaven ? Are
you living unto the Lord ? You are making a fortune—is
it that you may do more good ? You are rising in the world,
seeking title, and honor and influence—is it that you may en¬
large your sphere of usefulness ? 0 brother, if the carnal
affection grows along with the carnal interest, thy prosperity
may destroy thee. Or if thou art seeking thy own pleasure,
gratification, and advancement, thou hast fallen from grace.
Even Christ pleased not himself. Paul obeyed the heavenly
vision immediately, conferring not with flesh and blood. And
every man who would fulfil the great purposes of his creation
and redemption, must make God's approving judgment the
motive of all his actions, and the goal of all his efforts. Oh,
how the saints of the Bible luxuriated in this element of de¬
votion ! " One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I
DEVOTEDNESS TO CHRIST.
11
seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all. the
days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire
in his temple." " I count all things but loss, for the excel¬
lency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord." These
exemplars illustrate our subject. They lived unto the Lord.
In his favor was life. "A day in his courts was better than a
thousand." The world's parade and pomp paled before the
glory of the sanctuary. The festal charms, the music and
the mirth of the tents of wickedness, were despised, and the
lowest place in the house of God preferred. They felt that
they did not live at all except as they lived unto the Lord.
This is the spirit of the text. Life is not to be measured
by days and months and years, but by a succession of services
to him that loved us, and gave himself for us. I have no
doubt that when the last hour comes—that hour for which
earth has no comfort and philosophy no hope—when the
spirit, disenthralled from the seductions of time, the witchery
of sense, shall stand face to face with the realities of an
eternal state, then even life's most serious engagements
will all seem as vacancies, like the hours passed in sleep, and
the pleasures of the world like the vagaries of sleep itself.
Go, buy, sell, get gain—build a name—rear houses—add field
to field—project public improvements—locate railroads—plan
empires : this is all labor and travail—vanity and vexation
of spirit.
This is to breathe, not to live—to work, not to enjoy. "All
flesh is grass, and the glory of man as the flower of the grass
"but he that doeth the will of God, liveth and abideth
for ever." To love God, this is joy: to know Christ, this is
gain: to do good, this is life. Mortal man! child of the
dust! this vain life which we spend as a shadow is but the
vestibule of being. Here we die while we live : the cradle
rocks us to the tomb. We spend our strength for naught.
Riches fledge and fly away. Honor is but a dew-drop, glit¬
tering in the morning ray, exhaled by the very beam that
makes it shine. Love and friendship—the heart's blest affec¬
tions—wounded, pine; or, bereaved, they dwell among the
dead, like Mary weeping there. Oh ! where is the bloom
without the blight ? the sun without the cloud ? Lord Jesus,
thou wilt show me the path of life; in thy presence, though
12
DEVOTEDNESS TO CHRIST.
dimly seen, is unutterable joy, and where thou art in glory
visible, is heaven.
" Whether we die, we die unto the Lord." This is an
important declaration, " wholesome and full of comfort,"
" Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.'
The death of a good man is of too much import to happen
by chance. It is an important instrument in God's plans of
mercy and judgment. The event is big with instruction. Not
to lay it to heart when the righteous perish, is criminal insen¬
sibility—a wicked indifference to the dispensations of Heaven.
Such a death is a public calamity. It is not a sparrow falling
to the ground, a flower fading in the field, "the sere and
yellow leaf" afloat upon the autumnal gale, and then de¬
scending to the earth, where its mates of the forest lie
hueless and dead. A light is quenched, and the darkness
grows deeper. The world is bereaved of a conservative in¬
fluence. The prayers he would have offered are lost, and if
"the fervent effectual prayer of a righteous man availeth
much," how great the loss ! The family loses a guide and
guardian, the Church an example, the country a benefactor.
He serves the country best who loves God most. He is not
the patriot who fights the nation's battles, right or wrong;
but he who leads a life of quietness and peace, all godliness
and honesty. He is not the most important man who pro¬
jects your laws, marshals your parties, and leads in politics;
but he who, by faith, and prayer, and power with God, averts
the wrath our sins provoke. David did more for Judah when
he bought Araunah's threshing-floor, built an altar, offered
sacrifice, and stayed the pestilence, than when, with kingly
authority, he despatched Joab to quell the rebellion of Absa¬
lom. The intercession of Moses, when, with holy boldness,
with daring confidence, he rushed between the offending Israel¬
ites and the Almighty, girded for battle and extermina¬
tion, and prevailed for their salvation, wrought a greater
wonder than when, obedient to his magic rod, the parted
waters returned in vengeance upon Pharaoh's pursuing host.
Elijah was the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof—
the bulwark of the nation. The clouds of heaven hung their
keys at his girdle, and the widow's meal and oil multiplied
beneath his blessing. A good man! Oh, ye men of royal
DEVOTEDNESS TO CHRIST.
13
birth, ye sages, statesmen, heroes, ye glimmer faintly beside
the saint shining in the image of God. His wisdom is de-
vine, his lineage heavenly, and greater than he who -taketb
a city, for he hath conquered himself. I admire architecture,
painting, sculpture, the wonders of the chisel and the pencil. ]
love nature in her mountain majesty, the rolling ocean and the
woodland vales—all that is lovely and sublime; hut God is
witness I would go farther to see a good man, to hear him
talk of Jesus, enter into his communion, feel the moral gran
deur of his destiny, than to behold any achievement of art
or scene of nature. These change and perish: he is immor¬
tal. He thinks, he feels, he loves. His body is the temple
of the Holy Ghost, and his spirit is bathed in the glory of
the Shechinah—the symbol of the presence and worship of
God. The departure of such a man is a token of displea¬
sure. It is the voice of Heaven in judgment. But, though
the family is afflicted, the Church in mourning, and the na¬
tion smitten, he "dies unto the Lord" and "in the Lord."
With him "it is well."
Or the text may find its fulfilment in that God hides him
from the evil to come. I knew a good man who, in dying,
said, " My God is housing me from a storm;" and the decla¬
ration was prophetic. Soon evils that would have broken his
heart and brought him in sorrow to the grave, came upon
his family in overwhelming disaster. Dangers—spiritual
dangers — are coming; domestic calamities draw nigh; na¬
tional troubles are fermenting: God sees the clouds gather¬
ing, the elements brewing; and, while yet the cloud is as a
man's hand and the winds are murmuring afar off, He trans¬
fers his faithful servant to the repose of the blest. " In his
hand are all my ways." Delightful thought! He directs
my steps, hears my sighs, chooses my allotments, numbers
the hairs of my head, is about my bed and my path, and
knoweth how and when to deliver: " Whether we die, we
die unto the Lord."'
But it may be asked, Why, if the righteous are so dear to
Christ and so valuable to the world, are they doomed to death
at all ? Why does not religion, which saves us from a thou¬
sand other evils, release us from this law of mortality? In
answer, I remark: The reasons are obvious on reflection.
Exemption from death as a reward of piety would appeal sc
2
14
DEVOTEDNESS TO CHRIST.
strongly to the love of life—the quickest, most enduring in¬
stinct of our being—as to override the freedom of choice, and
thus make rational, voluntary piety impossible. We should
adopt it as a starving man would clutch offered bread, or the
man dying of thirst would seize the cup of cold water. And
besides the violence done to our nature in making the propen¬
sities decide a question belonging—under the present economy
and in the proper fitness and adaptation of things—to the
intellect, the heart, the will, the incongruity would follow of
proposing a carnal, earthly motive for a spiritual life. On
such a plan, Christianity must approve what she now repudi¬
ates ; and the holy considerations by which she now seeks to
win us from error to wisdom, from earth to heaven, would all
be neutralized and lost, and the world to come be doomed to
borrow the forces of time to achieve its noblest victories.
The evil of sin cannot be shown but by its punishment.
This conclusion is legitimate from what is revealed of the
divine administration, and from what we know of the processes
of conviction in the mind of man. God hates sin. It is a
blot upon his dominions. But he has not left the world to
learn the fact even from the awful denunciations of his word,
but he has written it in the catastrophe of nations. The
deluge, famine, pestilence, fire and brimstone from heaven,
have been the messengers of his wrath and the instruments
of retribution. And where, save in the crucifixion of Christ
Jesus and the damnation of the guilty, will you look for a
more impressive demonstration of God's justice and his indig¬
nation against sin, than in the dying agonies of infant inno¬
cence, or the mortal convulsions of him who dies unto the
Lord ? It is written, " The body is dead because of sin,"
even when " the spirit is life because of righteousness." But
death, with all its antecedents and consequents—the mourn¬
ful harbingers of its approach and its power—the loathsome
desolations of its victory and its reign—to the- saint of God is
no longer death. It is but dissolution—a departure. Sad in
its aspects and accompaniments, it is nevertheless a release.
A pillar of cloud and fire, its shadows all fall on this side the
grave : beyond, all is light, and life, and glory. We die unto
the Lord, and—may I not add?—for the Lord. The death
of the good preaches terror to the wicked. " If the righteous
scarcely be saved, where shall the sinner and the ungodly
DEVOTEDNESS TO CHRIST.
15
appear ?" Oh! we ask not " Enoch's rapturous flight, nor Eli¬
jah's fiery steeds" to bear us away, if by dying we may help to
convince the world of sin and judgment. We would do good
even in death. As we wish to live to serve him " who loved
us," so would we die to make his glory known—" the justice
and the grace."
" Mark the perfect man and behold the upright, for the
end of that man is peace." " The chamber where the good
man meets his fate" is a scene of glory. See his patience
under suffering—the calm submission, and often the joy un¬
utterable. Is this human fortitude—the stoicism of a blind
philosophy—the outflashing of sentiment and fancy ? No, no.
It is the fulfilment of promise, grace abounds. It is the con¬
viction that the Judge of all the earth will do right. " Though
ho slay me, yet will I trust in Him." It is the knowledge of
the Redeemer in his pardoning mercy—his purifying spirit—
and in the glory soon to be revealed in its fulness and eternity.
It is an argument for religion, that it ends well: "Let me
die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like
his." The prophet's prayer finds an echo in every heart not
lost to hope and heaven. Who that looks upon a dying
scene where Christianity wreathes the pale face with smiles of
rapture, and inspires the failing tongue to utter its last articu¬
lations in the dialect of heaven, does not breathe from his in¬
most soul the wish—even so may I meet the last enemy? In
life, being strong in faith, we give glory to God; so in the final
struggle He is glorified in us and by us. " These all died in faith"
—immortal record! epitaph of the good, and interpreter of
their doom. Living and dying, "we are the Lord's"—His
property—absolutely, in every change, walking upon the earth
and sleeping in its bosom. He made us and He loves us.
He is " not ashamed to be called" our God. Life, probation,
and death, are all ministers employed by Him to do us good.
If He prolong our days, it is that wo may serve Him and our
generation by. the will of God. If He afflict us, it is "for
our profit—that we may be partakers of his holiness. If he
call us hence, it is that we may " see Him as He is, and be
like him for ever." Our bodies may inhabit the house ap¬
pointed for all the living, and our very name perish from
the records of time—but He looks down and " watches all our
dust till He shall bid it rise." We are the Lord's—the jewels
16
DEVOTEDNESS TO CHBIST.
of his kingdom and the travail of his soul. He hath said it,
and it shall stand fast—"they shall be mine"—"Because 1
live, they shall live also." "We are the Lord's." Let us re¬
joice in our relationship, and walk worthy of our high descent
and our immortal destiny.
The principle and spirit of the text were beautifully ex¬
emplified in the life and death of our beloved brother, Bishop
Capers. I have never known a man of more simple, single-
hearted, uncalculating devotion. Born of God while yet a
youth, his life was consecrated unreservedly to the service
of Christ and his Church. Through all the changes of his
career—youth, maturity, and age, single, married, and sur¬
rounded by sons and daughters, on circuits, stations, and dis¬
tricts—a deacon, an elder, and a Bishop—he exhibited the
same steady, onward devotion—a man of God, of faith, of
zeal. His steadfast purpose never faltered—no change of
fortune modified the entireness of his dedication—no accumu¬
lation of cares relaxed his efforts to do good. He lived unto
the Lord. Absence from home might entail loss, afflict
feeling, tax affection—no matter, he had set his heart within
him to finish his course with joy, and the ministry which he
had received of the Lord Jesus to testify the gospel of the grace
of God. On more than one occasion he might have secured
Ifco his family a home rich in comforts, and to himself honors
and emoluments, by separating himself from the itinerancy
he loved, and consenting to serve a people who proved their
esteem by the largeness of their offered liberality. But
attached to our Church and its economy, by conviction and
choice, salary was no temptation to leave it, or even to modify
his relation to it; and, in the face of all the sacrifices and
privations and labors of a travelling Methodist preacher, he
declined a city home and a well-filled purse.
My acquaintance with our dear departed brother (I ought
to call him father) began while I was but a boy, and he was
in the meridian of his strength, and the blaze of a renown
such as few attain. The impressions made upon me then by
his humble manner, his sanctified conversation, and his un¬
wearied labors, were fully justified by the familiarity of inter¬
course in after years. He seemed to me to be dead to the
world, its gains and honors, and alive only to the glory of
God and the salvation of souls. While his name was upon
DEVOTEDNESS TO CHRIST.
17
every tongue, and crowds were rusting from appointment to
appointment, and the whole country was in a fever of curiosity
and admiration, he seemed to shrink from fame and the ex¬
ultation by which a common mind and a common heart would
have been lifted up, in his case was lost in an overwhelming
sense of the responsibility his position entailed. He was one
of the very few men I have known who was not injured in
his piety and preaching by great popularity. To seek popu¬
larity as an object, in a minister is a crime—to hear it meekly
when it comes unsought, is a virtue of rarest value.
This virtue characterized, distinguished Wm. Gapers in the
freshness of his youth, the glory of his noon, and in the mellow
ripeness of his sanctified old age. He was clothed with
humility. It was his beauty and his strength. The praise
even of the lowly oppressed him. Courted and caressed by
the rich, the great, the mighty in the land, he shrunk from
their embrace, lest he might seem to others to he seeking great
things for himself. His faith was never hindered by seeking
the honor of men—his fidelity never compromised by the
adulation of the Church or the world. Who ever heard him
tell of the mighty works he had done—the great sermons he
had preached — the wondrous revivals he had carried on ?
Who ever saw in his air the conceit of success, or detected
in his language the self-gratulation of a praiseworthy deed ?
He was not the hero of his narratives—nor did he talk to
niake the simple wonder, or the great admire. Like Paul,
whose visit to the third heaven was kept a secret for fourteen
years, and revealed at last only to vindicate his- apostleship,
he said hut little of his own experience, save in the retirement
of private life, to the ear of intimate companionship. Astonish¬
ingly fluent, he talked much, but always well. He never
forfeited in private the reputation he had made in public.
Cheerful without levity, and easy without familiarity, he never
degraded the minister into the trifler, nor reproached the
sanctity of his profession by foolish talking or jesting, which
are not convenient. As a man, his nature was alive and gush¬
ing with all noble, generous impulses : kind, affectionate, full
of sympathy, he rejoiced with them that rejoiced, and wept
with them that wept. In his family, gentle without weakness,
and fond without improper indulgence. His wife, herself a
model woman, revered, while she loved and honored, while
3
18
DEVOTEDNESS TO CHRIST.
she served. His children, feeling themselves^ favored of
Heaven in the virtues pf such a father, obeyed his commands,
consulted his wishes, and felt his smile to be a meed and a
recompense. No man loved his children more. He regretted
in the last hour that so few of them were present, and yet re¬
joiced that he had seen them so recently. Lovely family—.
children honored in their parents, and parents honored in their
children. God's best blessing continue with them to the
latest generation.
It is not amiss to say that Bishop Capers was in manners a
gentleman, bland, courtly, refined. In him the polish of the
courtier and the simplicity of the saint beautifully blended.
His politeness did not consist in the formalities and ceremonies
which, in certain circles, are dignified as the insignia of the
well-bred and the fashionable; but it was the outgushing of
a heart which knew no rule but the promptings of its own
benevolence. It was the outward expression of an inward
disposition—a mode of action which a loving spirit instinctively
prescribed—the free, untaught, unconstrained operation of
Christian courtesy. In the parlor and the pulpit, the street
and the sanctuary, he was minutely regardful of the pro¬
prieties of life; and while the simplest rustic found no affec¬
tation, the fastidious critic discovered no fault.
I must not omit to mention his excellence in prayer.
Whether we consider his power as a gift or a grace, he sur-
passecLmost men. In his devotions there was so much of the
evangelical element, that a heathen man might have learned
the plan of salvation from any one of his public exercises.
On his knees he knew nothing but Christ. The cross was his
all-prevailing plea. He urged it with fervor, affection, and
faith. He was himself an intercessor—filled with yearning
sympathies for his fellow-men. And sometimes his power
with God would remind us of Jacob and the Angel—of Israel
and his blessing.
To describe him as a preacher belongs rather to his biogra¬
pher than to the sketch of a funeral discourse. He was a
scribe well instructed in the kingdom of God—an able minis¬
ter of the New Testament. He brought forth out of his trea¬
sure things new and old. Rich in thought, fertile in matter,
there was no sameness in his discourses, even when he
preached from the same text—which he often did. I never
DEVOTEDNESS TO CHRIST.
19
heard him use the same illustration twice, or falter for a word.
Copious in. language, apt in selection, and inexhaustible in
variety, he was always ready and always new. It is difficult
to classify his style as a preacher. His sermons were not
essays nor expositions, nor were they narratives with reflec¬
tions interspersed, nor yet topical exactly; still, all these
sometimes, except the first, were mingled by him. Perhaps
the word textual will fit his manner best. His sermons grew
out of his texts, not by formal divisions, but by an artistic
development, a verbal evolution of their meaning. Under
his peculiar management, many a verse or passage to the
untrained eye dark, or at least obscure, became instructive—
beautiful—most interesting. Grifted with wonderful ver¬
satility and readiness, he excelled all I ever knew in adapting
his text and discourse, on a sudden call, to all that was pecu¬
liar on the occasion. He often awakened attention by the
announcement of a verse which none but he would ever have
chosen. In this, however, he was not fanciful or eccentric,
but simply obeyed the impulse of a mind unique in its con¬
ceptions and modes of thought. In thought, language, style,
he was original, yet without eccentricity; called no man
master, and yet violated no rule of the books; always accu¬
rate, always simple, but elegant in his simplicity. His ser¬
mons were often ornate; but there was no florid coloring—■
no exuberance—no glare. There was a delightful propriety,
a minute beauty, a neat, chaste, graceful arrangement of
every part. His flowers were not artificial: they all had
roots, and they were redolent with the morning dew—fresh
and fragrant as a vernal garden in the early day.
It is but just to say that his pulpit efforts were very un¬
equal ; yet in his driest, darkest moods, he was William Capers
■—all the mental characteristics of the man stood forth—a
familiar acquaintance could not fail to recognize them. He
possessed the singular faculty of speaking with fluency, grace,
and propriety when his mind was barren and empty, and his
hearers listened well pleased, even when they got nothing to
carry away. But at other times he was transfigured—his
very form dilated—his eye beamed with celestial beauty, soft
with the light of love, yet radiant with the joy of his rapt
and ravished spirit, and his voice, mellowed by emotion, spell¬
bound while it inspired the hearing multitude. When the
20
DEVOTEDNESS TO CHRIST.
Spirit of the Lord God was upon him—when the angel touched
his lips with a coal from the altar—oh! he was a charming
preacher. I have heard him when the consolations of the
gospel distilled from his tongue as honey from the rock, and
the message of salvation came down like the angelic song
upon the shepherds of Bethlehem. Anon I have seen him
clothe himself with terrible majesty, as when a prophet pro¬
claimed the vengeance of the Almighty, and then the thun¬
der of the violated law pealed from his lips like the trump of
doom, and the pallid, awestruck assembly told that the preacher
had power with God and prevailed with men. For the mourner
in Zion, the grief-stricken, the bowed, the desolate, he had
the tongue of the learned and the heart of a seraph. Oh!
the pathos of his sympathy—how touching and tender! It
was a healing oil, a soothing balsam : beneath its magic charm,
desolation bloomed and tears were turned to rapture. Many
a wayworn pilgrim, weary with life's heavy burdens, faint, yet
pursuing with faltering steps, felt his hopes revive and his
courage grow strong while this "old man eloquent" dis
coursed of providence, and grace, and heaven—-of the cross,
the mercy-seat, and the crown of life. These were the themes
on which he loved to dwell: they were the rejoicing of his
heart, and the staple of his ministry. But the harp is
broken, and all its music gone. The pleasant voice is hushed,
and he who played so well upon that wondrous instrument,
the human tongue, lies low in cold obstruction and dumb for-
getfulness. Bishop Capers is no more. His place at the
council-board of the Church he loved is empty. The pulpit
shall know him no more for ever. The grave's dark eclipse
rests upon that beaming face, and that venerable form, that
moved among us but a little while ago—shrouded, coffined,
buried, sleeps in death—thank God, in Jesus too—awaiting
the descent of the judgment angel and the revelation of the
Son of man.
The circumstances of his decease have been so widely pub¬
lished—are so generally known—that I need not detail them
now. Suffice it to say, that having finished his last episcopal
tour, visited his children, he returned to his quiet home, to
rest for a season in the bosom of his family. Oh! the sober
bliss, the grateful joy of such a meeting! It was a mercy
that allowed him this last interview. Death found the soldier
DEVOTEDNESS TO CHRIST.
21
in his tent, recruiting for another campaign. At midnight the
spoiler came. The sleeping household were roused by the
trembling cry of the wife, the mother, in the agony of her
alarm. They rushed to the good man's chamber, and found
him sitting up, but writhing in pain. " Make my blood circu¬
late," he said. They essayed the task, but failed. Seeing
their alarm, and feeling that his end was nigh, he said, " I
am already cold, and now, my precious children, give me up
to God. Oh that more of you were here ! but I bless God
that I have so lately seen you all." But see how principle,
and duty, and devotion to the Church, worked at the last and
to the last. Bathed in the dew of mortality, enduring un¬
told agony, longing for the faces of those he loved, gasping in
death, he said, " Mary, I want you to finish my minutes to¬
morrow, and send them off."" Duty was his law in life—his
watchword at the gate of death. Partially relieved by the
physician's skill and the power of medicine, he asked the
hour. When told, he exclaimed, " What! only three hours
since I have been suffering such torture ? Only three hours !
What must be the voice of the bird that cries Eternity!
Eternity ! Three hours have taken away all but my religion."
Health gone, strength gone, hope gone, life almost gone, but
religion abides steadfast and stronger. , Retreating from the
shore where stand wife, children, and friends waving their
last adieu, but my religion goes with me. All the founda¬
tions of earth are failing me, but my religion still towers
amid the general wreck, securely firm, indissolubly sure.
Glory to God for such a testimony from such a man !
For a little while nature seemed to rally — the king of
terrors to relent. His children retired to rest at his urgent
entreaty. On the morning of the 29th.of January, he pro¬
posed to rise and dress himself, and insisted that his-devoted
wife should seek repose. She reminded him of the doctor's
prescription, and besought him to keep his bed. He took
the medicine, drank freely of water, pillowed his head upon
his arm, and breathed his last.
" So fades a summer cloud away,
So sinks the gale when storms are o'er,
So gently shuts the eye of day,
So dies a wave along the shore.
22
DEV0TEDNES8 TO CHRIST.
Life's duty done, as sinks the clay,
Light from its load, the spirit flies,
While heaven and earth combine to say?>
How blessed the righteous when he dies !"
In the history of our honored, beloved brother, there is no
vice to deplore and no error to lament. I say not that he
was perfect; but I do say, a world of such men would liken
earth to heaven. I say not that he had no infirmities, no
numan frailties; but I do ,say that his self-sacrificing spirit,
his humble, holy, useful, labors, his unwearied zeal, and his
spotless example, are to his descendants a noble patrimony,
and to the Church a priceless heritage. Alive, he was a demon¬
stration of the power and truth of Christianity; being dead,
he yet speaketh, proclaiming to all that God is faithful. He
left all and followed Christ, but never lacked any good thing.
Counting all things but loss that he might win Christ, God
gave him friends and fame, honor and usefulness. A mes¬
senger of God, his visits were blessings. The country ad¬
mired him and the Church loved him. His death fell like a
shadow upon many a hearthstone, and his native State became
a valley of weeping. Cities struggled for the honor of his
burial, and Methodism, in mourning, repeats his funeral, to pro¬
long her grief and consecrate his memory. * Oh, brethren!
we have lost a friend, a brother, an advocate, an example, a
benefactor. Earth is growing poorer. There is now less
faith, less zeal, less love in the world. The righteous are
perishing, the good are taken away. Oh, ye venerable fathers
of the Church, contemporaries and fellow-laborers of the
ascended Capers, your ranks are broken. The friends of your
youth are gone, and, relics of a generation well-nigh past,
ye still linger among us. God bless you : we love you much,
but we cannot keep you much longer. Your sands are run¬
ning low, your change is at hand. You, venerable Sir,* are
almost the only bond that binds the preacher and his congre¬
gation to the pioneers of Methodism in this broad country.
That bond, fretted and worn by more than threescore years
and ten, is well-nigh threadless, attenuated, and ready to
break. But God is with you. The raven hair, the ruddy
* Bishop Soule.
DEVOTEDNESS TO CHRIST.
23
cheek, the vigorous arm, the enduring strength, are gone—all
gone; but your religion, too, thank Giod, is left you. Lean¬
ing upon that staff, you are waiting your summons. Heaven
bless you with a smiling sunset, a pleasing night, and a glo¬
rious morn. And you, hoary veterans of the cross—one and
all—heroes of a glorious strife, remnants of an army slain
and yet victorious, if we survive when ye are gone, how bereaved
and solitary our lot! But ye are going: the wrinkled brow,
the furrowed cheek, the halting step respond, Yes, we are going.
Pray for us while you live, and bless us when you die.
And you, brethren, middle-aged and young, let us imitate
the example, catch the spirit, of our glorified brother and
fellow-laborer. He felt himself a debtor to the wise and the
unwise. The White man, the Indian, and the Negro, all
shared his counsel, his labors, his sympathy, and his prayers.
The white fields are yet ungathered, and the strongest reapers
are falling. The mournful event we commemorate cries, Go
work to-day in the Lord's vineyard. This is our duty, and
ought to be our only business. We are here, as officers and
ministers of our branch of the Church, to inaugurate our
great missionary and publishing interests under new auspices.
But the cold shadow of death falls darkly upon our coun¬
cil-chamber. Its presence is a warning. We have home-
interests we may not live to supervise : there are plans of use¬
fulness we may not 'help to execute; for we too are passing
away. What we do must be done quickly. Let us live unto
the Lord : let us live unto the Lord more than ever : let us
be more prompt, self-denying and laborious. Let us be stead¬
fast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord,
forasmuch as we know that our labor is not in vain in the Lord.
What we lay out he will repay. Amid our toil, inconveniences
and trials, be this our consolation—u We are the Lord's." If we
live till our physical powers decay, the dim eye may still read
our title clear : on Jesus's bosom we may lean the hoary head,
and in death's sad struggle feel our kind Preserver near. God
will not love us less because " the strong men bow themselves,"
and " the keepers of the house tremble." His love endureth
for ever. His claim is undeniable—his title indisputable.
The grave's effacing fingers cannot mutilate the handwriting.
Time's ponderous wheel, as it grinds the world to dust on its
march to judgment, cannot destroy the record. "A book of
24
DEVOTEDNESS TO CHRIST.
remembrance is written before Him"—-safe beyond the deso¬
lations of earth, and the triumphs of the sepulchre. Heeding
then the solemn providence which bids us weep a brother
deceased, let us go forth bearing precious seed, sowing be¬
side all waters,—we shall rest, and stand in our lot at the end
of the days. "Whether we live, therefore, or die, we are
the Lord's." Living and dying, dead and buried, we are
His—His when we rise, His when heaven and earth are fled
and gone, His in the New Jerusalem, for ever and for ever.
" Servant of God, well done!
Rest from thy loved employ,
The battle fought, the vict'ry won,
Enter.thy Master's joy."
The voice at midnight came:
He started up to hear:
A mortal arrow pierced his frame,
He fell,—but felt no fear.
Tranquil amid alarms,
It found him on the field,
A vet'ran slumb'ring on his arms,
Beneath his red-cross shield.
His sword was in his hand,
Still warm with recent fight,
Ready that moment, at command,
Through rock and steel to smite.
At midnight came the cry,
" To meet thy God prepare!"
He woke,—and caught his Captain's eye;
Then, strong in faith and prayer,
His spirit, with a bound,
Left its encumb'ring clay:
His tent, at sunrise, on the ground,
A darkened ruin lay.
The pains of death are past,
Labor and sorrow cease;
And life's long warfare closed at last,
His soul is found in peace.
Soldier of Christ, well done 1
Praise be thy new employ;
And while eternal ages run,
Rest in thy Saviour's joy.
A
SEMI-CENTENNIAL DISCOURSE:
PREACHED, BY REQUEST, BEFORE THE
(Smgia Crntfenitc*
OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, SOUTH,
IN AMERICUS, DECEMBER 7TH, 1856.
BY
THE REV. LOVICK PIERCE, D.D.
TSTasfjbtUe, Centx.:
PUBLISHED BY E. STEVENSON & F. A. OWEN, AGENTS,
TOR THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, SOUTH.
1857.
dftiural fjtirtm.
The following is the substance of a Semi-Centennial Dis¬
course, preached by request of the Georgia Annual Confer¬
ence, from a few notes hastily made at the time of delivery,
and from which the written discourse has been taken—the
only changes made relating chiefly to order. I have, of
course, said more on some points and less on some others, in
the written than I said in the spoken discourse. The hope
that my knowledge of Methodism for fifty years, both as to
gains and losses, might be useful to the Conference, has con¬
stituted myjonly apology for publication; and, as a rich re¬
ward to my own feelings, I ask the pleasure of dedicating the
discourse to the Georgia Annual Conference, as a token of
my unfeigned love for that Association.
The Author.
(iii)
A SEMI-CENTENNIAL DISCOURSE.
by lovick pierce, d.d.
"Nowthanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in.
Christ, and maketh manifest the savor of his knowledge by us in
every place. For we are unto God a sweet savor of Christ, in them
that are saved, and in them that perish: to the one we are the
savor of death unto death; and to the other the savor of life unto
life. "—2 Cor. ii. 14-16.
The work assigned me in this call being peculiar, it will
not be expected at my bands that I go into all the processes
of a regular sermon, but only into such an analysis of the
words as will bring out the great doctrines and facts contained
in them to easy view.
The text declares a great fact in connection with apostolic
preaching : its universal triumph. But its universal triumph
was in Christ—never out of him—never without him. He
was the sum and substance of all apostolic preaching—the
great central thought. No matter what theme engaged the
attention of an apostle and minister of Christ in those days
of primitive orthodoxy, if you followed it to its origin or to
its end, it either came from or flowed back to Christ. No one
of this original panel of preachers ever lost sight of Christ.
The cross was the centre of attraction; and although there
might have been, even then, some centrifugal force working
to wild and erratic ramblings, still the centripetal power of the
cross—Christ crucified—was the controlling law. Christ being,
as he declared he was, the way, the truth, and the life, nothing
could be gospel-preaching unless Christ was the Alpha and
Omega of the discourse. The triumph of the gospel in the
(5)
6
A SEMI-CENTENNIAL DISCOURSE.
age of the apostles of the Church, was not the effect of their
office, but because they preached Christ crucified—notwith¬
standing they knew that such preaching was to the Greeks
foolishness, and to the Jews a stumbling-block. It is not our
business to take care of the gospel, but to preach the gospel;
and let it take care of itself.
He " maketh manifest the savor of his knowledge by us in
every place." The gospel ministry is the ordained means and
medium of promoting the knowledge of Christ, whether we
allude to its intellectual or its experimental progress. We
regard it to be the saving knowledge of Christ that is designed
in the text. And to bear out the just boast of the apostle,
we ask, When or where was Christ ever preached without
fruit ? The certain, unlimited, and universal success of preach¬
ing is its test. Converts constitute the Heaven-attested testi¬
monials of a true and Divinely authorized ministry. Here is
proof of apostolic succession : converts, which are the epistles
of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the
Spirit of the living God—copies of regeneration so well made
out as to be known and read of all men. Let all preachers
among us hear and fear at this point.
The thought that God ever calls a man to preach as an
evangelist, lays on him the worth of souls, and sends him out
to warn and teach every one the knowledge of Christ—the
theme of every evangelical preacher—and yet that there
should be no immediate fruit—no sinner awakened and con¬
verted to God—is an absurdity. To call men to preach who be¬
come mere gleaners, entering into another man's line of busi¬
ness made ready to their hand, amounts, in our opinion, to a
negative. Where is the proof Divinely given that God makes
known the savor of the knowledge of Christ by them in every
place ? There may be some variety in the developments of
efficiency as seen between one minister and another: indeed,
we fully believe this is so: the revelations of the New Testa¬
ment evidently teach us so ; and this being a principle in the
original design, it will follow as a sequence that the demon¬
strations of the Spirit, as they urge home the truths of Christ,
may be more immediate in some cases than in others: more
immediate because the saving influence acts upon a more visi¬
ble and demonstrative law of life; but not more effectual in
their ulterior issues—sometimes not so much so. The Spirit
A SEMI-CENTENNIAL DISCOURSE.
7
is given to every man—preeminently so to every minister of
Christ—to profit withal. In every variety of form, and in
every measure of degree, the Spirit is given. A man preach¬
ing without the Spirit is a mere lecturer on theology. If
gifted in the charms of speech, he may win silly admiration,
but his genuine converts will nowhere be ftyind. God must
work with us, confirming the word preached by legitimate
signs, or else proof Divine is wanting. Let no other necessity
which lies upon you as a ministerial qualification, ever take
precedence of the high and indispensable qualification given
to the graduates of the pentecostal commencement—-power
from on high.
We deem it proper in this connection further to remark
upon the varied visible success of preaching. We do so the
more cheerfully because many faithful preachers are sorely
tempted on the ground of no success, when, indeed, they are
doing good work in the salvation of souls. All our views on
this work ought to be modelled after the Saviour's allusions.
He meant much when he said, " One soweth, and another
reapeth: I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no
labor." The popular notion of here and there revival preach¬
ers, who are called in when great things are to be expected—
like popular auctioneers, where large sales are to be made—
we deprecate, as a perversion of the appointed ministry. No,
my brethren. It is the word of God faithfully preached and
relied on as God's appointed agency, coming from a minister
like Barnabas—a good man, and full of faith, and of the Holy
Ghost: such a minister will be a revivalist in the legitimate
sense of the phrase.
But to be more definite. How often do we see a warm¬
hearted, devoted preacher labor for a whole year—labor, too,
with surpassing ability—with but little visible success; (and
ministers only get credit for what becomes visible;) but all
the time he was seeding the mind with the word of God, pre¬
paring well the fallow ground, kindling a refining fire in the
conscience, indoctrinating the mind with safe views of duty
and of piety. But conversions and accessions are few and
far between. He leaves his field of labor, discouraged,
tempted, cast down, and ready to locate—yes, even to decline
the calling. He is succeeded by another, far below his pre¬
decessor in all the essential qualities of good sermonizing.
8
A SEMI-CENTENNIAL DISCOURSE.
But, like John, he preaches many things in his exhortation.
He is a good pulpit declaimer—warm in spiritual fire—happy
in Christian experience—makes fine music on the sympathetic
nerves. Under his exciting addresses, currents of feeling
which had before run gently along, but not idly, swell into
rushing currents which no longer admit of concealment.
Here, now, is a preacher for you—a revivalist—a man
brought into market upon a stream which he did not train
into the channel wherein it bore him into such honorable
notice. To him is awarded the glory of this mighty work;
while it is very likely the entries of heaven will put less to
the credit of his efficient instrumentality than any one of the
primary agents engaged in the preparatory processes. Great
mistakes are often made in our estimates of preachers on the
score of usefulness. Many of these star preachers find a peo¬
ple made ready, prepared for the Lord; and there they revel
in easy victories. But let no one imagine we depreciate the
value of these men. No, indeed; they are a part of the regular
employees—destined reapers. Our object is, rather to have
tempted preachers duly appreciated."
It is hardly proper to inquire under what department of
ministerial instrumentality arises the greatest honor. The
honor of being employed at all, as a medium of Heaven's
spiritual communings with man's immortal interest, is honor
enough. It matters little whether we plant or water, whether
we sow or reap, whether we exercise the pastoral office over
Christ's lambs or his sheep, so we feed them always upon the un¬
adulterated milk of God's word. The comfort is, that ultimate¬
ly, he that soweth, and he that reapeth, shall rejoice together.
Come, my brethren, let us cheer up. How it thrills the
Christian's heart to think of that jubilant company, the
grandmother Lois, and the mother Eunice, and Paul the
Apostle, all rejoicing over Timothy in eternal life. And
who now will pretend to determine to which of the three
belonged the immortal honor of Timothy's conversion ? Paul,,
no doubt, filled the largest place in the eye of the world,
perhaps in the eye of the Church, too; but eternity alone can
answer the question, Would Paul's preaching have gathered
Timothy into the Church, if it had not been for the sowing
done by his grandmother and his mother? They imbued
his boyhood's mind with such scriptural indoctrination as was
A SEMI-CENTENNIAL DISCOURSE.
9
able to make bim wise unto salvation. The way of the Lord
was prepared, and his paths made straight in Timothy, long
before Paul preached to him. In the same way now, are
parents, Sunday-schools, good books, godty examples, and
well-timed preaching, making ready a people prepared for the
Lord. And although ministers, and especially our so-called
reVivalists, may seem to be the chief instruments, yet it is
not really so. Eternity will show the pleasing fact, that the
very seed, which slowly but steadily vegetated into religious
maturity, was deposited by a mother's pious care, and nurtured
by a father's prayers. Thus shall the jubilee of salvation be
an occasion of joy to many an unheralded instrument. The
sower and the reaper shall both now play upon the same
heavenly harp.
But we must bring into notice another feature in our text.
We mean the mysterious, but, according to the chosen phrase
of the apostle, the natural issues of a Divinely appointed
ministry. Such a ministry is a sweet savor of Christ in them
that are saved and in them that are lost. To the former, the
minister of Christ is the savor of life unto life; but to the
latter, the minister of Christ is the savor of death unto death.
In both instances, the issue declared is because the agent is
the minister of Christ. A self-constituted ministry, or a
ministry ecclesiastically created, could never lead to such
responsibilities as those declared in the text. The commis¬
sion to transact business of such eternal interest, must issue
directly from the Lord himself. Accordingly, the true dele¬
gates of Heaven, appointed to act for God in these premises,
are denominated ambassadors for Christ—beseeching men, in
Christ's stead, to be reconciled to God. Few men, either in
the Church or out of it, have ever deigned to think of a
minister of Christ in that august character he sustains to the
rebel world to which he is sent, in God's name, to beseech
each and every offender to become reconciled to God through
Christ. Every Divinely appointed legate of the skies is to
every one of us as the mouth of God. Christ said once for
all time, in reference to these ambassadors, He that receiveth
you, receiveth me, and he that despiseth you, despiseth me.
Here, then, is the ground and reason why the preaching of
the gospel must work mighty results. It is a gracious procla¬
mation of peace and pardon, made at God's own instance,
10
A SEMI-CENTENNIAL DISCOURSE.
made through Christ, by declaring that he had made him a
sin-offering, notwithstanding his innocence, to the end that we
might be made the righteousness of God in him. How can
such an offer be made without a reflex action ?—acceptance
works life; rejection, death. The notion of results so direct
and specific as those claimed in the text, whether arising on
the side of mercy or of wrath, could never arise as sequences
of executive administration, except the government and its
agents were a unit in law and interest. How would it appall
every considerate mind to realize the terrific truth that every
time we decline to accept of offered mercy—of Christ as a
Saviour—we do, to all intents and realities, personally and
positively reject Christ; although the offer come to us from
human lips, come to us in the course of our regular Sabbath
ministry. But remember that Sabbath minister of ours is
God's ambassador; and as such, is praying and beseeching us
in Christ's stead; therefore, if we refuse the minister of
Christ, we refuse Christ himself.
This is one of the occasions when it is needful to fix the
meaning of a word; especially so, when if it have different
meanings, according to the connection in which it is used,
there should be one which enters into the just judgments of
God. And here is an instance. The ambassador of Christ,
with his message of grace, and the terms of reconciliation,
through Christ crucified, is declared to be " unto God a sweet
savor of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that are
lost." How is it that Christ is the same to God the Father,
in reference to them that are lost, that he is in reference to
them that are saved ? The answer to this inquiry could
never be satisfactorily given, if it had not been so variously
declared, that God has not appointed man to wrath, but to
obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. This we believe
to be the only- original precedent decree of God, in reference
to man's moral and eternal destiny. Hence, we learn from
that stronghold of predestinarian comfort, in Rom. viii. 29,
30, that, instead of any predestination outside of Christ,
every word contained in this scale of Divine decrees, as to
precedent measures, refers directly to the Divine determina¬
tion that Jew and Gentile should become heirs of eternal
life, upon the same general principle—unmodified faith in
Christ. Hence the decree is, in its essential requisite, that
A SEMI-CENTENNIAL DISCOURSE.
11
we must be conformed to the image of God's Son; therefore,
as no man can be saved unless he is saved through Christ,
and every man is redeemed in Christ, and must be saved by
faith in him, or condemned and adjudged to everlasting death
for denying the Lord that bought him, it is easy to see how
the accredited minister of Christ may be unto God a sweet
savor of Christ in them that are lost; a thing that never could
have been, unless Christ had died as effectively for every man
as he died for any man : we mean to be understood of redemp¬
tion in the abstract view of it, as it regulated the will of God,
and justified his economy of mercy. He solemnly and most
affectingly swears that he had no original willingness to human
woe; and makes death, even eternal death, the wages of sin.
The principal meaning of savor is confined either to odor
or taste. Its substantial import is found in the existence of
valuable qualities, such as give character to the thing. The
property of saving from putrescence, found in salt, is clearly
alluded to, when it is said, " If the salt have lost its savor."
But we are to find the Divine meaning of the word in the
Divine use of it; and that use is in connection with sacrifices
Divinely appointed and properly offered. In these typical
offerings, Jehovah scented the rich odor of the cross, and
anticipated the day of gospel sacrifice, when the stricken
sinner, with broken heart and contrite spirit, shall offer the
incense of Christ's living blood. After the flood, as soon as
Noah had dry ground to build an altar on, he did do so, and
offered thereon of every clean thing ; and the Lord smelled
a sweet savor.
The same general idea is maintained in the Epistle to the
Philippians, where Paul speaks of their large liberality as an
odor of a sweet smell; a sacrifice acceptable, well-pleasing to
God. Here acceptability is brought to view as the chief if
not the only reason why the charity alluded to was an odor,
or like an odor of a sweet smell.
Whenever we offer Christ by faith as our passover, sacri¬
ficed for us, there will be an odor of a sweet smell indeed;
because, as believers, we offer a sacrifice well pleasing to God.
The valuableness of this offering constitutes its acceptableness.
" This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased : hear
ye him." The preaching of Christ in his order and in his
offices—that is to say, in all his availability as the High-priest
12
A SEMI-CENTENNIAL DISCOURSE.
of our profession—must minister to the saints in such a way
as to make us a savor of life unto life in them that are saved.
O what an overwhelming thought! This work of perfecting
the saints and edifying the body of Christ, is divinely pleas¬
ant. How like alluvial deposits do successive discourses ou
the plan and the promises of salvation enrich the soul in the
depth and the fruitfulness of its spiritual soil!
It is on the principle of a reflex action in the Divine econ¬
omy that the minister of G-od is a savor of death unto death
in them that perish. How could God, in mercy, institute a
- mean, a medium of salvation, at so great a cost and upon the
principle of faith and believing obedience, without attaching
to it this reflex law ? Such action is not an incident but an
element in the judicial department of government, adapted to
free moral agents. A system of grace, offering life to the
submissive, must necessarily deal in death to all that refuse
and rebel. Wherefore, the blessed Saviour said, " For judg¬
ment I am come into the world, that they that see not might
see, and that they that see might be made blind." This
blindness was to be strictly judicial. It came on its ruined
victims, not as a cause, but as an effect—not as the antece¬
dent, but as the consequent. It is to us, at least, a very dis¬
cernible element in the equity of God's righteous dealings
that sufch a scheme of agencies and of responsibilities as we
find in the gospel of God's grace must kill, if it does not
make alive. No virtue can be an object of legal protection
on the ground of inherent goodness, without the condemna¬
tion of the opposite vice. The rewardableness of patriotism
requires the reprobation of treason ; so in like manner must
the reception of Christ, as a rewardable act, render necessary
the reprobation of his rejection, and, with it, the voluntary
agent. It is overwhelming to think of it, but not at all start¬
ling, that every faithful sermon we preach is finishing up the
doom of many a beloved hearer. It must be so : God him¬
self cannot prevent it, unless he could, by lawless power, in¬
vert every principle of systematic justice, and negative all
the substantive properties of vice by an arbitrary exaltation
of virtue. Should the sinner conclude, the case being so, to
lessen accountability by neglecting to hear, he cannot do it.
He only does, by one definitive act, what he would do by a
series of similar acts, if he were to attend preaching and re-
A SEMI-CENTENNIAL DISCOURSE.
13
fuse obedience. It is the sin of denying the Saviour that
does the fell deed •, and whether it is a protracted act or a
single act is a matter of no material consequence. If there
is any difference in the two cases, it is only the difference of
what our philosophy calls the chances. It 4s true that the
probability of conversion is greater when we statedly attend
the ministry of the word than it is when we statedly neglect
it. The salvation of a sinner may be regarded a bare possi¬
bility when he designedly abandons God's sanctuary : of his
salvation there is no probability.
Having vindicated the tremendous issues of preaching
Christ's gospel, as they tell upon the doom of him who re¬
ceives the grace of God in vain, by showing simply that the
judgment to condemnation is the evidence both of the need
of the atonement and of the individual universality of it, we
will again advert to the developments of preaching, as we
have learned them during the last half century. The differ¬
ence there is between a minister gifted in casting the seed of
life into the mind, and one who, by stirring appeals, puts the
gentler convictions into action—between those that plant and
those that water—we have before alluded to. Our business
now is to view the effects of preaching as they differ in much
that is visible, and, perhaps, mainly accidental, seen in dif¬
ferent phases of society as it moves upward,- in reference to
moral illumination and Christian indoctrination; we mean
such Christian indoctrination as leaves nothing outside of its
converting influence but an unsurrendered heart.
It is pleasant to contemplate the truth that in this evil
world there are many young people being brought up in pious
families and good Sunday-schools that have not a prejudice
against the Church, nor a doubt about the truth of religion.
This is the effect of the approach of our moral luminary to
meridian brightness. It is neither impossible nor improbable
that this transfusion of the Spirit and law of God into the
minds of the children, as the Church progresses in her appro¬
priate work of teaching God's commandments to children's
children, will bring on such a degree of intellectual faith, and
of reverential regard for the kingdom of God on earth, that
much of the'visible difference between their non-professing
and their professing life will consist in a connection with the
Church in membership, and the due observance of Church
14
A SEMI-CENTENNIAL DISCOURSE.
rules and ordinances. Sucli persons are behindhand with
God more in the way of duty than they are in the way of
faith, and furnish instances in point where works might and
often would make faith perfect. In most of these cases, con¬
viction of sin and distress on account of sin, to a semi-centen-
narian, might appear too shallow and quiet ever to lead to
regeneration. So it seemed to me, as I came up from the
style of convictions and conversions common in the days of
my inauguration; but my own mind is fully satisfied. I now
believe, these converts that grow up into Christ—persons
who have always felt identified with the Church, and remind
one, not inaptly, of well-bred persons who, when thrown into
highly improved and polished circles of society, seem natur¬
ally adapted to it—these converts, when they come into
the Church, are at home. The Church fits them; and they
fit the Church. Other things being equal, it is now well
known that these converts make our best Church-members.
They are more liberal, more active and serviceable, more un¬
complaining, and easier satisfied. The rationale of this is
that they bring into the Church as much heart as others, and
more principle.
In contradistinction from these, we may contemplate the
power of the gospel, as it suddenly pours a flood of moral and
religious light upon a mind long dark, and a conscience
steeped in the lethean dregs of sin—sweeping over the soul,
like an unexpected courier, proclaiming news of the most
imminent danger, with barely time, if indeed there is time,
to avert it—leaving, in letters of fire, in the confessing con¬
science, traces of guilt more indelible than letters chiselled in
granite. The hearers thus operated on, as a general fact, be¬
long to grades and conditions of civilized society where the
light of religion exists chiefly as a matter of natural con¬
science—a dim outline of moral obligation and responsibility,
sufficient, at most, only to forbode danger of eternal wrath,
without any of that education of the mind which shows the
loving favor of God in its encouraging and soul-quieting as¬
pects. Hence the peculiar tendency of conviction in all
these subjects of natural religion is to great anguish of feel¬
ing. A sense of guilty wretchedness and of righteous con¬
demnation causes groans and trembling, and even the most
piteous screams have been uttered—not hysteric screams, but
A SEMI-CENTENNIAL DISCOURSE.
15
such as arose from terrific apprehensions of God's wrath,
which they saw continually hanging over them. These per¬
sons do not see their condition any worse than it is—not
worse, indeed, than the more quiet penitent, of whom we
have before spoken, as to the substance of conviction; but
the difference is in the fact that the more quiet penitent had
been long feeling on this point, had admitted substantially
all these truths, become familiar with them; but upon the
other, the whole vision comes with the freshness of a new
revelation. His sins blaze in the light of God's holy law:
his conscience sanctions its righteous authority) his judgment
approves its infinite justice; and in the universe there is not
a star of hope to alleviate his wretchedness, unless it can be
found in the undeserved mercy of God. Of this, in his case,
he doubts. This doubtfulness continues, sometimes for a
longer and sometimes for a shorter period; but in every case
until the penitent reaches the point of utter self-despair—of
despair in every thing save in the merits of Christ Jesus.
At this point he falls on Christ—falls on him as the leper did,
saying, in effect at least, " If thou wilt, thou canst save me."
And in a moment, like Thomas, he cries .out, as if it were in¬
voluntary, " My Lord and my God !" The change in the
other class of penitents, although the antecedents were not so
agonizing in their effects, is generally very similar. They pass
the ordeal more in the style of an intellectual effort to trust
in Christ; and when they find peace in believing, it is more
like the filling of a desideratum. They feel that all their in¬
tellectual speculations on the feelings of a new-born soul
were nothing more than the meagre drapery of the living
reality. And thus, in the end, each of them and all of them
come to the same knowledge of Christ, and come to it in the
unity of the faith.
And nOw, having fulfilled our promise as to the text in all
its mighty sentiments, and in some of its collateral sugges¬
tions, we will dwell for a brief space on the great leading fact
to which St. Paul alludes as an accompaniment of gospel-
preaching, to wit, its universal triumph ; and apply this fact
to American Methodism. But let it be premised that we do
not claim for the gospel universal triumph over individuals,
but that in every country, and in every locality in every
country, where the experiment has been fairly made, it has
16
A SEMI-CENTENNIAL DISCOURSE.
triumphed. If success in preaching the gospel of Christ
were the experimentum crucis in the Divine intent, well and
truly has the result vindicated the intrinsic merit of the
agency. This was the sense in which the apostle intended to
be understood here, and also in Col. i. 6. The gospel is em¬
phatically the power of God; and whoever preaches it with¬
out this testimonial may be regarded as preaching profession¬
ally, but "not with the demonstration of the Spirit. All that
Paul directs, in order to insure success, is found in the em¬
ployment of a known tongue, and in prophesying; that is, in
such recitals of God's own word as the apostles used in
preaching to the Jews, with direct application. In other
words, it was using great plainness of speech. This style of
preaching reached both the ignorant and the unbelieving,
producing just such instantaneous conversions as we have
before alluded to. It was not pulpit cant—it was not silly
declamation—it was not far-fetched simpering—it was not
imaginative issues—not bombast and fustian—not digging
graves, and parading pall-bearers, hearses, and mourning pro¬
cessions. Neither was it philosophy, logic, nor metaphysical
disquisitions. But it was the testimony of God, simply de¬
clared. Can any disputant point out any State, or any county
in any State, where the gospel has failed to bring forth fruit,
if properly administered ? And this inherent energy residing
in the gospel of Christ is the Divine seal, both of a Divinely
appointed ministry and a Divinely acknowledged ministry;
and is, in our opinion, the only evidence of apostolic succes¬
sion. They that have the living epistles of Christ written by
the Spirit of God on fleshly tables of hearts, ministered how¬
ever by us, need no other credentials, either prelatical, epis¬
copal, or presbyterial, in as far as a Divine call and appoint¬
ment is the question ; though ecclesiastical credit is indispensa¬
ble to order and organization.
The original inherent power of the gospel is still further
and demonstrably verified in its independence of all govern¬
mental aid, and in its utter independence of forms of govern¬
ment. All the gospel wants, as the gospel, is to be let alone.
Do not^ embarrass it by legal restrictions, nor attempt to in¬
crease its efficacy by statutory force, and it will work its own
justification. It achieves its victories as easily and as cer¬
tainly in monarchies as in republics; and would do so in
A SEMI-CENTENNIAL DISCOURSE.
17
political despotisms. Spiritual despotism, however, is the
paralysis of gospel energy.
To be ministers of such a gospel has been the aim and end
of Methodist preachers in the United States, I am sure, since
the time of my entrance among them.
In the winter of 1804-5, I was admitted as a licentiate in
Charleston, S. C.; and in the winter of 1806—7, I was re¬
ceived into full connection in Sparta, Ga., and ordained dea¬
con, making this Conference the fiftieth of my membership.
And now, bringing the past and the present into view, I
might fitly exclaim, What hath God wrought! and as fitly
answer, He hath done great things for us, whereof we are
glad !
When I entered the itinerancy, there were seven Annual
Conferences in the United States and their territories. These
Conferences were made up of a handful of self-sacrificing
men, without the prestige of antiquity, or the talismanic
charm of learning and wealth. The want of antiquity was
jorimd facie evidence against their claim to popular favor, or
their right to be recognized as a branch of Christ's Church.
The Baptist Church could count back to John the Baptist;
the Protestant Episcopal Church to Christ and the apostles;
and others to a respectable antiquity. But as for the Method¬
ists, they were of yesterday—a religious mushroom. A some¬
what notorious writer considers it an unanswerable argument
against the Methodists that they came into existence seven¬
teen hundred and forty odd years after the Church of God
was organized, and could not by any possibility be of it. But
perhaps a greater difficulty than that which relates to time is,
that we, like the ancient Israel of God, came through Jordan
on dry land. But be this as it may, it once had its force
that we were the youngest sister in the family, and might
most naturally be suspected of unlawful birth. That the
Methodist Church was the last that came into existence under
original organization, dating no farther back than 1784, we
admit; but we deny the reasonings of our enemies on this
premise, and will use it, under the authority of the text, as
conclusive evidence in favor of the apostolic type of Method¬
ism. What is the testimony rendered in attestation of a
Heaven-sent and Heaven-approved ministry, but that God
makes manifest the savor of his name by it iu every place ?
4
18
A SEMI-CENTENNIAL DISCOURSE.
We can fearlessly challenge every evangelical Church in Eng¬
land, and especially *in our beloved America, to offer as many
proofs of Divine origin as have been afforded to us—the
last in the field, and denounced not more by the world than
we were by every old and well-established Church in Amer¬
ica. Not only had we been born out of due time, but we
were proclaimed heretics by every powerful and accredited
Church in the land; and not heretics merely, hut by the more
bitter and demagoguish class of enemies we were traduced as
loyalists and tories; and this, too, before the victorious re¬
publicans of the Revolution had hardly washed out from their
homes the blood of patriots shed by tories. And these were
days when the word tory roused up the most insatiable hatred
that ever was kindled in the breast of aq American citizen or
soldier. This unchristian slang was rung through all its
changes in 1812, when war with Great Britain became a fixed
fact. The gallant patriotism of the Methodists, however,
during that war, so completely silenced these mutterings, that
we had ceased to think of the vile slander, until a certain
writer, like some one who had slept forty years, ignorant of
all the progress of the world, woke up, and forty years be¬
hind the time, cut in, as fresh as if the excitement were just
beginning to brew. An attempt like this, to override a
numerous, well-known, and long-tried denomination of Chris¬
tians, by acting upon a morbid element of American demo¬
cracy, and seeking to get a popular tempest on political jeal¬
ousies, and thereby root out a dreaded rival, is more devilish
than just.
The cry of heresy was one to which all religionists looked
with intense interest. Previous to the appearance of Method¬
ist preachers in this country, the Calvinistic phase of theology
was the one which had prepossessed the public mind in as far
as the pulpit had influenced it; and as far, too, as doctrinal books
had moulded the public mind, that mind was Calvinized.
Against some Calvinistic teachings, such as a limited atone¬
ment, unconditional perseverance, and the necessary indwell¬
ing of sin in God's children until death, the Methodists
opened a heavy cannonade. Of course, the denouncing of
these new-comers as false teachers and heretics was every¬
where encouraged and justified where the progress of reli¬
gious knowledge had been sufficient to establish a religious
A SEMI-CENTENNIAL DISCOURSE.
19
creed: of course, every Church iu the land which was
regarded evangelical had all the odds of prejudice and of pre¬
dilection against us. There was nothing in the way of pres¬
tige to give us either aid or comfort. And to the truth, as it
is in Jesus, do I believe all impartial minds will attribute the
unexampled success of Methodism as an evangelical organiza¬
tion. Against all this odds, Methodism, in the course of
seventy-five years, has made its way to a numerical promi¬
nence unequalled by any sister Church, having in my day
grown in Conferences from seven to more than fifty, and from
one hundred thousand to a million and a half of members.
And could we add to the living the great multitude that have
died in the Church, and left the savor of a good life behind
to excite the living to duty and to diligence, we could swell
the chorus of triumph into a strain of loud and unanswerable
exultation.
There is one feature in Methodism which it is proper to
advert to in this connection: we mean the greatness of her
doings at home compared with the scantiness of her work
abroad. On this point we offer nothing by way of apology,
and but little by way of explanation. The reason is a very
obvious and a very comprehensive one.
When Methodism entered upon her appropriate work—
the spreading of scriptural holiness over these lands—the
United States consisted of the original thirteen, lying along
the Atlantic, from Maine to Georgia, but with territorial
border and extension almost limitless. This territory has
been constantly coming into occupancy, offering to enter¬
prising citizens, to foreign emigrants, and to that class, of
migratory persons who have enough of the savage element
mixed up with the civilized to make the wildest state of
society the preferred state, the very inducements which would
keep up an ever-extending and increasing population. This
state of things has gone steadily on, until the flood of immi¬
gration and population has reached the Pacific. And now
there is inviting, unsettled territory enough between us and
the Pacific to fill up the next fifty years in the same exhaust¬
ing process. We have kept up with the wave of immigra¬
tion as it flowed westward, and have demonstrated one thing
at least, that is, that our itinerancy is well adapted to the
spread of the gospel in a newly settled territory. But t<
20
A SEMI-CENTENNIAL DISCOURSE.
meet this necessity has exhausted our men and means ; so
that, though Methodism claims the world as its parish, we
have done but little for the heathen in foreign nations. For
the Indians in our country we have done much, and reaped
much ripe fruit. Whether our principle of action has been
the best, we will leave as an open question.
And now it seems to us to be a work of necessity, before
closing a semi-centennial discourse, that we give expression
to our personal views of Methodism during the last fifty
years. And this, we think, can be best accomplished by a
brief recital of facts, and a comparison of results; and to
these remaining duties we immediately proceed.
And first: We think great evil has arisen from a change
in the style and matter of preaching. The style is too decla¬
matory, and not enough experimental. The early practice of
drawing a scriptural delineation of all the emotions, convic¬
tions, mental exercises, peculiar temptations, and common
experiences of awakened and converted sinners, had a
wonderfully good effect upon anxious souls. In those primi¬
tive days of Methodism, every preacher felt it his duty to
study human nature and character with the closest care, and
the Spirit's workings with the deepest interest, to the end
that he might guide seeking souls aright. And every mem¬
ber of the Church felt, when he went to hear a sermon, that
he was to sit for his spiritual likeness—that he was to be
weighed in the balances of the sanctuary; and he listened
with trembling solicitude. And when, in spite of all his
fears and his sore temptations, he was compelled to own him¬
self a child of God, according to the admeasurement of God's
own word, the soul was often full of glory and of God. I
hear little or no preaching of this sort in these latter days.
The characteristics of personal religion are merged into a
beautiful generalization, and floated before the gaze of the
multitude; and many professed Christians, finding themselves
in possession of some of the general properties of religion,
assume that they have all or enough of the specific properties
to save them; and so, while they lack " one thing," they cling
deludedly to their general character, never daring a special
trial.
A return to this Pilgrim's Progress style of preaching, under
a well-digested scheme, would no doubt set some of the former
A SEMI-CENTENNIAL DISCOURSE.
21
currents of feeling to flowing again. Church members
should often be put upon a fair trial.
Again: It is quite certain to us that when the ministers
gave being and form to every conception of Church appli¬
ances, and led in the practical application of them themselves
—for in those days we did not have proxies, but helpers—we
had a more spiritual membership than we have now: we
mean, that the proportion of truly converted members, in
relation to the whole number of members, was much nearer
than in these days. Indeed, as a very old sentinel within the
wards of our Methodist Jerusalem, I must say that a formal¬
ist—an unconverted member in the Church—was unknown
for many years of my early ministry. This wonderful fact I
now account for, in a large degree, from the unvarying rule
of holding class-meeting, as preachers in charge, every time
we preached; and always with the class-papers so marked by
a letter, that we knew every member we spoke to that was a
seeker; and then and there we addressed them as mourners
under far more favorable circumstances than those now in
use at our crowded altars. This course was unintermitted
until every seeker that came into the Church was decidedly
converted. And 0, what decided converts then adorned our
despised Methodism! But if there was a failure in any pro¬
bationary member then—if any failed to manifest their desire
of salvation, as prescribed in the general rules, and would not
be urged to duty—such delinquents were formally dropped,
and would be now, if the keys of the kingdom of heaven had
remained where Christ placed them.
And here it becomes my duty to say, that, according to the
data brought before me in our past history, it is clear to
my mind that our future history will be one of still further
declension, unless, as preachers, we reinaugurate class-meet¬
ings, - not in name and form merely, but in spiritual sub¬
stance. We must kindly, but very honestly, tap all the
fountains where evil might lurk in disguise, or error in
spirit. The pastors of G-od's Israel must be, and ought to
be, the most prominent agents in this work : indeed, there is
by general allowance a sort of Divine right as well as Divine
authority given to ministers as pastors, that will not be cor¬
dially awarded to any other order of church officers. Very
special, individual pastoral conversation, with such applica
22
A SEMI-CENTENN-IAD DISCOURSE.
tion of it as the spiritual condition of the member demanded,
would he the best, indeed the only substitute for class-meet¬
ings that the ministry could adopt that would he worth the
labor of observing. And class-meetings, carried out as a
Church ordinance, and for the spiritual discipline of the
Church, is the wisest and best economy the Methodist
Church ever adopted for spiritual fraternization. And when¬
ever, by usage or by law, class-meetings cease from among us,
Ichabod may be written across the once fair fame of the
Church. So well satisfied am I of the justness of these
views, that I declare it to be my opinion that in as far as the
membership of the Church are concerned, many of us who
are going round our circuits and visibly doing nothing by
preaching, would, if we were to hold good old-fashioned class-
meetings, have revivals of experimental religion that would
renew the Church.
There is another fact connected with the progress of Me¬
thodism which it is proper to review in this connection. We
allude to that lust of numbers which, twenty years ago, ran
into such wildness, that, at camp-meetings and at revival-meet¬
ings, the door of the church was opened sometimes two or
three times in each day and night, followed with the most
pressing persuasions; and almost always during the highest
excitements that ever occurred. And although we know that
mere 6clat of numbers was never the controlling motive, yet
we do believe that, to a large extent, it insinuated itself into
the transaction. At all events, like all instances of careless¬
ness when allowed to incorporate with things which necessarily
demand great care and constant vigilance, the practice en¬
tailed on the Church a series of evils. It overcame and virtu¬
ally set aside the law of admission, as contained in the Dis¬
cipline. It gave countenance to the practice of doing a very
important and solemn act in a very summary and careless
manner. Nothing was promised, because nothing was re¬
quired. The whole matter was allowed to proceed as if it
was a mere personal adventure. The proceeding was unbusi¬
nesslike—it was unmethodistic. It was, as I believed then,
and as I know now, the entrance of an evil leaven into our
Church, which has been ever since seeking to leaven the
whole lump. There was no pastoral oversight of these new
recruits. They enjoyed no ministerial intercourse. Many
A SEMI-CENTENNIAL DISCOURSE.
23
of them never even shook hands again with the preacher.
He never met them in class: did not know whether they had
been soundly converted, as in the better days of Methodism
we did. The preachers (many of them, at least) pleaded too
much fatigue to hold class-meetings. All other necessities
and duties were, by common consent, subordinated to the
matter of revival and Church-extension. Class-meetings being
first omitted by the preachers, were afterwards neglected by
them; and as soon as it was evident that the preachers neg¬
lected them, the members began to neglect them. And thus,
by little and little, the early and excellent means of conduct¬
ing our seekers on to the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ was withdrawn; and if they did not get converted
during the confused aid they received at the general mourn¬
ers' altar, especially in our circuits, they perhaps never had
another word of suitable sympathy and advice addressed to
them. The consequence was, many of them fainted and tired,
like sheep not having a shepherd; and many more rested in
the moral reform which a deep conviction of sin, especially
of outward sin, had very indelibly impressed on their taste
and judgment. But never having been truly regenerated,
they were left without those spiritual appetites and affections
Which could find delightful pasturage in a close class-meeting,
or sufficient entertainment in a conversation upon holy living.
Hence the dislike which many of the modern Methodists feel
to class-meeting. They think that it is the institution itself
that they dislike, but they are mistaken—awfully mistaken.
It is the communion itself that they dislike. If the same
time were to be devoted to a meeting where the carnal appe¬
tite, instead of the spiritual, were to be regaled, these very
objectors would be their strongest advocates. Alas for a
church-member who feels any loathing for such a means of
grace as a good Methodist class-meeting! And here let me
say again, that nothing but such ministerial intercourse and
oversight as our class-meeting usages gave us over our proba¬
tionary seekers will either arrest or neutralize this growing
evil among us.
Another remark on Methodism as it once was and as it now
is seems to be absolutely demanded. The question whether
the original application of Methodism to the condition and
necessities of the American people would always continue the
24
A SEMI-CENTENNIAL DISCOURSE.
best plan of application, is now the question; and if any
modifications in the plan are necessary, what ought to be the
nature and extent of these changes. When Methodism was
introduced into the country, most of it where Methodism now
flourishes was an uninhabited wilderness long after I became
a travelling-preacher ; and for many years it was the case that
the people, as a general thing, felt unsettled. New territory
was constantly being acquired—territory inviting to enterpris¬
ing men of every vocation. Amidst the wavy population,
nearly every move we made was made in view of a present
necessity or propriety. There was little or no forecasting in
view of the future of Methodism. Present success was the
prime motive of action; and the future of Methodism was
left, as it ought to have been, to shape its course according to
the condition and wants of society. The wise flexibility of
Methodism in its operative genius is one of its highest politi¬
cal qualities. The way in which we then proceeded was the
way for the times. It was informal, elastic, and adaptive.
We met the demand that was upon us, took things as we
found them, preached in-doors or out, went everywhere, or¬
ganized what we called churches—but many of them had
very few attributes of a church, if what our Articles state is
the true notion of a church. We had a preaching-place—■
sometimes a dwelling-house, sometimes a schoolhouse or barn,
and sometimes we had a cabin or shanty, called a meeting¬
house. In these unsightly places of worship, we enrolled a
membership without a church-book. Every thing was got up
and carried on as upon a temporary plan. From this incom¬
plete system, as I believe, it became an infesting evil in our
general body to go on in Church matters as we did not in any
other interest on which it was necessary to impress the pro¬
gress and improvement of society. I have long felt that we
were blamably tardy in our church improvements. It is true
that when we built our huts of churches, they were in charac¬
ter with things in general; but long since, in many prosperous
portions of Georgia, they have fallen below and behind our
dwelling-houses, gin-houses, and barns. Every thing beside
has been enlarged and improved; but the old, unfinished,
dilapidated churches, as we got to calling them, have re¬
mained, and have testified against us that we have come to
think any place kept for worship is good enough for God. I
A SEMI-CENTENNIAL DISCOURSE.
20
allege, that our slipshod style of Church doings has betrayed
us into a hurtful policy. Most of these places of worship
were located without any possible knowledge of the changes
which would take place in advancing years. These changes
long ago threw many of our preaching-places into a. very un¬
favorable relation to the population, who ought to have been
brought under our regular ministry, but who, by reason of
real or imaginary inconvenience, fell without its saving in¬
fluence. They failed to come to us, and we, by a too perti¬
nacious adherence to old arrangements, failed to go to them,
until I judge it true that for the last ten or fifteen years we
have unwisely submitted to the largest outlay of ministerial
talent, time, and labor, without any prospect of a rich remun¬
eration in the awakening and conversion of sinners, ever en¬
dured by a body of ministers professedly and honestly labor¬
ing for that end> This ever-to-be-lamented evil has grown
out of the fact, that a system of ministerial labor once appli¬
cable to the masses has become inapplicable to the remaining
and more select inhabitants of the country. These views are
not introduced to the consideration of the Methodists as hav¬
ing a universal application to our system of circuit-preaching,
but as applied to those portions where the country has become
old, and the more restless and roving citizens having sold out
and removed, the farms which once supported five or six
church-going families have been bought up, and are owned
by one man; and the old circuit preaching-place is no longer
the suitable location for a country congregation.
And to these evils, all working against us, we may add an¬
other which has been no less deleterious. In this connection
we notice the division of large societies into two or three small
ones; as also the founding of original societies so contiguous
to each other, as to have foretold that insignificance must
mark their course, and failure be the epitaph of their grave.
This language would be severe if it were not that it is only a
common-sense perception, to see that a good congregation
cannot be built up without population enough to furnish it.
We have not wisely used our common sense. These impolitic
measures have, no doubt, been the accidents of our week-day
system of preaching. We have simply designed to save time
by shortening distance. But, in this connection, allow me to
say, that it is certainly impossible to throw around one of these
4*
26
A SEMI-CENTENNIAL DISCOURSE.
diminutive establishments any considerable conservative moral
power. So long as the place resorted to as a place of public
worship is among the most inferior and least inviting of pub¬
lic resorts, just so long will the uniform motion of the moral
current be in ebb. This truth is demonstrable in relation to
denominational influence. One denomination can root itself
out of a community, and another engraft itself upon it: the first,
by contempt of the house of Glod as a house, and the second,
by that kind of good taste, liberal arrangement, and Chris¬
tian regard which invite all worshippers to the house of God,
and make them comfortable while there. And it will require
only the time of one generation to do that in this age of pro¬
gress and refinement. The great principle of religious con¬
servatism in this age, and in all such population as clearly
indicate a ripeness for it, will be found in building up a large
church and congregation at suitable distances and points, and
investing them with all the attributes and agencies of a church.
Then their proper moral power will be seen and felt; and if
our opinion of the indispensable necessity of combining the
pastoral with the ministerial office be correct, it will follow, as
a thing of necessity, that our circuit charges must be lessened,
either by diminishing the number of preaching-places consti¬
tuting a circuit, or by increasing the number of preachers on
a circuit; and in our opinion the former will work better than
the latter mode. As to the expense, it is easily seen that there
will be but little difference. As a principle in our political
economy, it is a well-attested fact, that the fewer the number
of payers, the more certain the pay, if they are at all able to
do it, and voluntarily undertake to do it. If four congrega¬
tions in the country were to undertake to support a preacher,
they would do it as easily and liberally as eight would, for the
very reason that they would feel, as a first principle of action,
that a liberal subscription would be necessary. I allege it as
the great accidental cause of the scanty support of our minis¬
try during this half century, that the specious numerical basis
has led to the parsimonious support. There were so many to
help raise the allowance, that no one felt any absolute neces¬
sity to be liberal; and this practical idea, that no one need do
much in order to meet the claims of the Church, diffused it¬
self through all the veins and arteries of the Church, until
many of our people regarded it a corruption of Methodism,
A SEMI-CENTENNIAL DISCOURSE.
27
that money had become so necessary to the support of the
ministry, and the progress of the Church. Other denomina¬
tions, who early engrafted upon their patrons the necessity of
a more liberal support, never had our difficulties to contend
with, neither have they now. I do not intend to censure the
past generation of Methodists, nor to flatter the present; but
I will say, that I do not believe the present degree of liberality
could ever have been engrafted on the fathers of American
Methodism: I speak of them as a body; there always were
noble exceptions. This ascending spirit of liberality in the
Church must be drawn out and encouraged until we build
large and comfortable churches and parsonages, and furnish
them. Settle our minister, for the time allowed him, in our
midst. Let him preach to us, visit us all, pray with our fami¬
lies, instruct our children, visit our Sunday-schools, and disci¬
pline the members. And for this he must be decently and com¬
fortably supported; and whenever we get a preacher that will
neglect his flock to rusticate with his family, let him be sent
home to stay with them.
The advantage of a more constant and direct intercourse be¬
tween the pastor and his charge, is now a fixed fact. There
are many large settlements within the scope of my ministerial
acquaintance, in which Methodism is slowly but regularly
wearing out. Its moral force is not as much felt and respected
now as it was twenty years ago. It is admitted that there
may have been other causes leading on to this issue besides
our week-day preaching, and the consequent failure of pas¬
toral duty; but is there any member of this large and respect¬
able Conference prepared to say this declension would have
occurred, if these communities had enjoyed, all the time, re¬
gular Sabbath-preaching and pastoral attention in every family
connected with the pastor's charge ? And if we are not pre¬
pared to declare this much, then it is evident that the mode
of our serving the Church is an improvident one. And in fur¬
ther support of this presumption, we plead the universal suc¬
cess of the Methodist ministry in every place where the pas¬
toral element has been faithfully combined with it. In most
of our colonial cities, whether on the sea-coast or in the inte¬
rior, it was hard to plant Methodism; but by means of a resi¬
dential and pastoral ministry, constantly kept up, we worked
our way into the heart of the city population. No one believes
28
A SEMI-CENTENNIAL DISCOURSE.
we could have done this by a non-resident ministry. In all
the new cities which have sprung up in this State, and in
which we have had a regular stationed minister, we have be¬
come a stable denomination—often the most numerous. And
will any one say that our moral force and numerical strength
would have been what it is now, if we had entered the city,
even every Sabbath, and done a day's good preaching, and
returned home, and in this way carried on city preaching,
without pastoral visiting, without meeting the classes, and
without mixing in Sabbath-schools ? And if all say, " No,"
then we have additional evidence, that in whatever degree the
pastoral office is subtracted from the ministerial, in that same
degree is the ministerial compromised, if the evil is avertable.
It is not because the beneficiaries of this work live in cities
that it is so useful; it would be just as useful in the country
church as it is in the city church.
But once more : I challenge all my contemporaries, and all
others, to point out a single county, town, or village in Geor¬
gia, where the Methodists have been supplying the village
congregation, as one of the circuit appointments, where
Methodism is upon any thing like as broad and stable a foun¬
dation as it is in those places where the Church has sustained
a regular stationed minister; and the village that comes near¬
est, is the one where the circuit preacher has resided in it.
There are many things connected with Methodism on which
I would like to remark. To do it would be a relief to my full
heart; but my effusions have already become too long, and
there are some things remaining that I must say. And now,
as it regards practical Methodism—how will it compare with
Methodism forty years ago ? and I think I may come down to
even twenty years ago. But I choose to speak of it as it was
when I was initiated, and for a few of the following years.
Methodism in America, as an organized Church, had existed
only twenty years when my name went on the Minutes as a
probationary preacher. From 1805 to 1815 was a period of
great revival influence, interrupted, however, by the war; and
since then, at different times, a mighty work has demonstrated
the divine character of our ministry. But, as I have before
said, we inadvertently let our prosperity become our bane,
until, I think, the following is not far from a fair comparison
For the first thirty years of Methodism, I judge that eight-
A SEMI-CENTENNIAL DISCOURSE.
29
tenths of our membership attended diligently to every institu¬
tion and ordinance of the Church, especially to our class-meet¬
ings. Of late, and at this time through the country generally,
in as far as week-day circuit preaching is involved, and in as
far as class-meetings are involved, I say, with poignant regret,
that two-thirds of our common membership habitually neglect
these rules of the Church. If the state of the Church is as sound
and safe now as it was when these requirements were habitu¬
ally observed, then are the rules nugatory, and Methodism was
foolishly overtaxed with religious observances. But where is
the negligent Methodist that will look to the judgment-day,
and say these duties never did and never can minister to the
spiritual necessities of the soul ? Nay, my brethren, you your¬
selves know that those members of the Church who have faith¬
fully lived by these old spiritual landmarks of Methodism,
have been regarded by others, and by yourselves also, as the
best of your Church. Take heed lest God should finally blot
your names out of the book of life, upon the verdict of your
own judgment.
We come next to a comparative view of our preachers as
we knew them fifty years ago, and as we have known them
during the last fifty years. At our entrance upon the itinerant
field, it is true, a large number of the travelling preachers
were single men. They were at home wherever their work
led them, and many of them carried their little all with them.
It is an humble account we enter: A Methodist preacher out
on the mightiest mission ever filled—a mission of salvation to
dying men—and carrying both his wardrobe and his library in
a pair of saddle-bags, and, in this humble condition as to
worldly goods, calling upon all grades of human society to re¬
pent. Yet it is true, in those palmy days, like Levi, many of us,
at the Master's call, rose up, left all, and followed Christ. To
be an itinerant preacher then, was well understood to be a life
of self-sacrifice. No compromise was ever thought of. There
was in the Discipline a nominal salary of eighty dollars, but it
lay so deep in the pockets of its owners, that in my case it
never got up to any thing like eighty; but the good sisters
kept us well clad in domestic goods. But even in my early
days, there were a good many married men in the Conference.
The duty of a travelling preacher in those days, however, was
understood by us all as our paramount duty. The claims of the
30
A SEMI-CENTENNIAL DISCOURSE.
Church were first in order, and highest in degree. So we un¬
derstood Christ to have ordained, and so we conducted; and so
I understand the specific directions given to every man of us
called to follow Christ in this particular line. Accordingly, mar¬
ried preachers went home when the interests of the work would
allow it. Home qualifications and interests were strictly sub¬
ordinate : the Church was never left to chance; chances all
fell to home issues. Home was never a leading consideration
in the stipulations of a Methodist preacher in those days of
apostolic men: hence in all main matters there was but little
difference between married and single men on circuits. When
ministers married in those early times—for licentiates, mere
hoys in the work, never presumed to marry in the early days
of Methodism—they married on their own responsibility, and
for their leisure moments j they all understood that they were
under prior and even higher obligations, and that their duty,
as long as they continued travelling preachers, would be to
consult the Church as to when they could go home—not home
as to when they could go to their circuit. I must say, however,
that I think I have seen the days and the years wherein
Methodist preachers have planned for home, not as a subordi¬
nate, but as a coordinate interest with the Church. And I
hope they will calmly hear me when I say, that I believe every
preacher will do his duty best, when he finds his home inclina¬
tions and interests strong enough to lead him to blend their
claims with the claims of Christ and his Church, so as to de¬
mand compromise, to retire to local life. In saying this, my
conscience bears me witness that I have travelled and acted
upon this principle all my life. I have never compromised a
Church obligation either to get home, or to remain at home,
in all my itinerant life and I do not believe a vigorous, right-
hearted body of itinerants will ever cultivate our Methodistic
Zion again, until we are re-supplied with a corps of preachers
who will be able and willing, when they cannot do both properly,
to leave home, with all its fond endearments, and give them¬
selves willingly, yea, even joyfully, to the work of the gospel
ministry for the edifying of the body of Christ. I allow, in¬
deed, that it is the privilege of a deacon, or an elder, to " be
the husband of one wifebut I defy any one to show the au¬
thority for either to decline going into all the world to preach
because married. Indeed, if getting married after a call to
A SEMI-CENTENNIAL DISCOURSE. Si
preach, or being called to preach after marriage, could lessen
or change the obligation laid on ministers in their Divine call,
then would the broad commission given to the disciples be a
nullity, unless it had been enforced by a law of celibacy; and
whatever we might do, if, indeed, we did any thing, under
this world-wide command, would be ministerial acts ex officio.
0 Lord God of the Church! send upon us again those
Pauline days, when an admitted call to travel and preach will
end for ever our conferences with flesh and blood !
"We have said of the wonderful race of preachers by whom
Methodism was inaugurated in this country, that they carried
their library with them. This was not hard to do. Their
library consisted of a Bible and hymn-book, and one other
small volume. This little volume was generally a work on
Christian experience or duty, or a biography of some minister
or saint of such distinguished piety and devotion as to make
every anxious soul feel, after reading a lesson in it, religiously
afraid they had not religion enough to carry them to heaven;
and they laid down the book and retired to pray. Then add
to this the influence of the Bible upon such an order of Chris¬
tian ministers, and you will not be surprised if they should
have had more power with God than we have. I judge from
personal observation, that these early Methodist preachers
read God's word ten times as much as we of later times, and
prayed more frequently for Divine illumination.
I regret most deeply the necessity I feel to make this com¬
parison ; but I feel implicated myself. This is an age of books;
and if a preacher does not properly estimate the Bible in his
reading arrangements, it will be dangerously supplanted by
other books, good in their place, but highly injurious when
mind and memory come to give to them an undue promi¬
nence. With due regard to truth, I would say, it seems to
me that one of us, with a mind enamored with his profound
theological learning, might read Watson's Institutes, and adopt
it as a standard of scriptural doctrine, until, imperceptibly
and unconsciously, we might come to rely upon the clearness
and soundness of his conclusions for conviction and success;
and by this error in the state of our mind, make it judicially
necessary for God to withhold from our ministry the sanction
of spiritual power. We must always place our reliance for
success upon the same means and measures which God haf
32
A SEMI-CENTENNIAL DISCOURSE.
chosen and ordained, if our gospel is with power. This work
is only safely done when the substance of our discourses is
made up of declaring unto our hearers the testimony ot God.
The word of God must be the ground and reason of our ex¬
pectation. It must not he made vital in our use ot it by Wes¬
ley, Watsgn, or any one else : its life is in itself, and God will
give his glory to none other.
I think it highly proper to make these remarks respecting
books in general. Fifty years ago, what might have been called
Methodist literature was very limited, but well chosen. Our
readers almost always laid down the book piously dissatisfied
with themselves, and went off to seek more grace. Not so now.
Persons who have the love of God in their mouths, can and
do read volumes through, and their mind is never once turned
to the soul's drooping condition. It is evident to me, that
much of the reading that is done for knowledge, becomes a
drain to spiritual piety.
It is very natural that I should be asked what is the extent
of my objection to reading good books, not directly religious:
to which I answer, my objections extend no farther than to
their too great substitution in the duty of reading. I have
long believed that the absence of the spiritual literature from
our families, or the little use that is made of it where it can
be found, is one of the undercurrents which, unnoticed, is all
the time draining off spiritual affections. It is alarming, to
one of my age, to travel at large in this country of thrift,
and examine into the reading matter furnished for family use.
Would you believe it if I say that I can show families
enough, worth thousands, who cannot produce books, exclu¬
sive of a Bible, to the value of five dollars, and not one of
these soul-searching books in the house ! A newspaper may
be there; but the chances are against its being the Advocate.
Much depends in our eternal destiny upon the stirring up of
souls by heart-moving books.
A comparative view of the piety and devotion of early
Methodist preachers with those of the present day is con¬
fessedly a work of delicacy. There is no such thing as being
too pious : it may be possible to be too much of a "recluse to
allow that mixing with society which we believe to be good
for soul and body, if rightly graduated. But it does seem to
us old men that the present race of preachers are becoming
A SEMI-CENTENNIAL DISCOURSE.
33
too jovial, too full of anecdote—in a word, too full of frivo¬
lous sociality. They are certainly much more addicted to
these time - wasting pastimes than their noble fathers in
Methodism were. Now, whether they did not laugh and talk
enough for ministers of Christ or not, or whether we of this
day do too much of it, I will let conscience and sober, grave
Christianity decide. Early Methodist preachers, as far as
my knowledge extended, conversed hut little, in a merely
social style, only enough to form a link in the common fra¬
ternity of human association.
They did this always, as if it was a privilege to he enjoyed,
in full view of the obligation, " Let your moderation be
known to all men." Preachers in those days laughed and
talked little, read their Bible and prayed much. They lived
much in the woods, much upon their knees. They never
came to the pulpit like one from a glee club: they came
from their knees—came from a season of prayer—from the
soul-impressing work of supplication and intercession through
Christ for poor dying sinners. No one of us ever thought of
any thing less than the conviction and conversion of a soul or
of souls. If we failed, it was the exception, not the rule of
our preaching. And if we failed, we did not go home with
some one to eat a good dinner, smoke a good cigar, and spend
a social afternoon; but we went home with a troubled spirit,
fearing lest some fault of ours had driven God's Holy Spirit
off. We ate in mournful inquietude, soon left, and went out
to mourn over a fruitless effort, and to institute a solemn in¬
quiry into our own heart. To us, in those days, the state of
things which is coming off almost daily—the preaching to a
few or to many, coming down and shaking hands with the
church very socially, holding no class-meeting, having no
mourner to pray for, taking no one into the Church, and
apologizing to three or four for going to the same place we
went to before—would have driven us, in the palmy days
alluded to, into silence and despair. We could not have made
out our case. We never presumed to be assured of our
Divine calling, only when the Lord worked with us, confirm¬
ing the word with signs following.
Every thing appertaining to our divine vocation is full of
the deepest interest: our call to the ministry—our ordina¬
tion to the ministry—the vows and obligations we took upon
2*
34
A SEMI-CENTENNIAL DISCOURSE.
us in that day. May it not be that there are before me to¬
night elders who have never retraced the obligatory portions
of the formula of their consecration—never solemnly asked,
"Am I faithfully performing my ordination vows ?" Alas for
a minister who can so let down in the spirit of moral obligation
as to take our vows upon him, and yet in the run of a few
years seem to have lived and worn them into a shadow ! Yet
this monstrous infidelity has been seen among elders. Brethren,
how did it ever engraft itself upon our ministry, that we could
learn to get easily along, yes, even become familiarized to a
ministration bringing forth no immediate fruit? Can it be
that the habit of preaching so much to a few church mem¬
bers all along through the week, without a sinner to awaken,
or a mourner to comfort, has led to it ? I would not be sur¬
prised if it had. It would only be a natural type of human
character. Where it is a precedent opinion that nothing will
be done, ceasing to look and labor for it is a thing of course;
and what makes this the more probable is, that during all this
dwindling economy, the preachers have continued to labor for
mourners and conversions at all their Sunday preaching places
where they have had material to work on; and also at their
two days' meetings on the same account.
As I have said before in another form, so say I again, it
was an evil day for ministers, and for the Methodists as a peo¬
ple, when the extraordinary form of ministrations in order to
awakenings and conversions Was substituted for the regular
daily and ordinary ministry. The idea that the addition of
days, and the increase of ministers, can add any thing to the
gospel, or effect any thing in the way of converting souls, is
all wrong—all deluding. The Holy Ghost is the only efficient,
indispensable agent in the success of the ministry, and this
Spirit resides in the gospel, in the word, and is always pre¬
sent when that instrumentality is used, without making it de¬
pendent on extraneous issues and agencies; and we insist that
every act of the Church, whereby we either directly or indi¬
rectly substitute array and arrangement for the inherent
energy of God's own truth, necessarily brings the curse of seem¬
ing if not positive barrenness on our pulpit labors. It has
always required the presence and authority of the most strin¬
gent law of God to keep his Church from displacing him, to
make way for her conventional supplements. Brethren, it is
A SEMI-CENTENNIAL DISCOURSE.
35
the declaration of the testimonies of God that will insure his
cooperation—-" Of his own will begat he us with the word of
truth:" "Now ye are clean through the word which I have
spoken unto you." When Christ prayed the most immortal
and capacious prayer ever prayed for his Church, uttered with
creative power in his nature, and a Saviour's sympathy in his
heart, he adhered to the eternal formula, showing that he
would neither pray nor bless outside of its provisions—" Sanc¬
tify them through thy truth : thy word is truth"—tlfe living
word of God—that word which endureth for ever. It is in¬
stinct with life, the life of God, the Spirit of God : the quick¬
ening Spirit, which contains a hidden but almighty power
which mysteriously permeates every part of man's immortal
mind; bares to the quickened vision of the conscience a deep
dark pit of wickedness, where devils and diabolical passions
hold revelry. The word of God is the only almighty energy
the Scripture has revealed to us. What has God done but by
his word? I believe this is the grand and natural reason
why Christ bears this title, The Word. All things were made
by him—by the word of his power. Christ is the power of
God, as well as the wisdom of God. His very enemies felt
this godlike influence : his word was with power. This power
is as much an inherent element in God's word now as ever it
was.
And if there were as little of the wisdom of men, as little
excellency of speech or of wisdom in sermons now, as there
was in Peter's pentecostal discourse, there would be as direct
testimony of the overpowering presence of the Holy Ghost
now as then. That grand and glorious scene of Divine power
and grace was not intended by the Almighty dispenser as a
mere miracle, as an isolated act of God's spiritual energies
brought out once, as if merely to show his Church what he
could do under the preaching of the word, if he would; but
it was intended as a specimen act of revival power; a type
of a religion under the dispensation of the Holy Ghost. Its
divine identity was well described by Joel the prophet, in its
universality as to the race, and its similarity as to effect. The
Spirit, in this dispensation, was to be poured out upon all
flesh, poured out upon the Church in its fulness, leaving no¬
thing more to wait or hope for in the way of Divine influence.
All flesh here means, all conditions of the race, both as to age
36
A SEMI-CENTENNIAL DISCOURSE.
and as to social position: upon old men, and upon the sons
and daughters of such, the Spirit was to be poured out: also
upon men-servants and upon maid-servants was the Spirit to
be poured in those days; and all of them were to exhibit
effects and fruits of a common order; and so exactly did the
pentecostal revival develop these prophetic evidences, that Pe¬
ter declared the occurrences that day to be the fulfilment of the
prophecy of Joel, and the promise of his ascended Saviour.
And in attestation of this apostolic exegesis, God gave the
most signal sanction ever given to truth on earth. It was meet
that the evidence of this unction from the Holy One should
be indisputable in its effects; but it was a specimen act—a
type of a Holy Ghost revival of religion. The conversion of
Cornelius and the company of hearers invited by him to be
present on that memorable occasion, was recognized as genu¬
ine, as pentecostal, by the signs of the pentecostal work. The
circumcision—the Jews themselves, admitted that the Holy
Ghost was poured out upon the Gentiles as it had been upon
them at the beginning, and they were admitted to baptism
and Churchmembership upon this evidence. In this case the
converts spake with tongues, and praised God. This was the
only time, we think, that this miraculous evidence ever at¬
tended the outpouring of the Spirit after the day of pente-
cost; and doubtless occurred then to attest the oneness of
the Spirit upon Jew and Gentile. The power and presence
of the Holy Spirit in our ministry is all we need to bring back
the scenes of bygone years; but many of us do not have
these powerful charms. Our preaching has every other attri¬
bute of attraction but this. This, however, is the only attrac¬
tion that is powerful enough to allure people to the house of
God to hear lessons on repentance, faith, and holy obedience.
But if this power of the Spirit were manifestly with us,
awakening sinners, converting mourners, and sanctifying be¬
lievers, with such original demonstrations as proved their pen¬
tecostal identity, our old, almost deserted chapels through this
country would be crowded with interested hearers, and that
gloom which has inclined us to sing so dolefully, as if our suc¬
cessive meetings constituted only a protracted funeral, would
give place to quick and lively music, suited to such words
as these:
" My God, the spring of all my joys,
The life of my delights !"
A SEMI-CENTENNIAL DISCOURSE.
37
We must have this unction of the Holy One. We must
Wait for it in Jerusalem till it comes. It is not worth while
to go out without it. We have felt it, but not deep enough
yet: we have gone on hoping for improvement 3 but our feel¬
ings never came properly to a point. We could easily and
quietly tolerate a barren ministry 3 spend the evening and
night succeeding these cold and fruitless efforts in social fes¬
tivity at the house of a brother or sister who had not felt the
enrapturing power of the Holy Spirit for so long a time, that
the absence of this comfort has ceased to give holy disquietude j
and yet the preacher himself either sees no need of agonizing
prayer for a fresh baptism of the Holy Ghost, or seeing it, neg¬
lects to pray. Come, my copartners in this spiritual calling,
let us look about us. There is some comfort, after all, in that
dangerous adage of sinners—" Never too late to do good." In
our case it is happily true. Let us pray and never cease until
we receive a tongue of fire.
There is now lying before the eye of my mind the map of
Methodism for fifty eventful years. Upon its broad face I be¬
hold many things 5 and among these things are some which,
to use Solomon's language, are like dead flies in the pot of oint¬
ment. Dilapidated meeting-houses, not likely to be replaced
by churches worthy of the name : settlements once populous
with Methodists, now owned by a few planters, and inhabited
mainly by slaves, and they without any regular gospel privi¬
leges : ecclesiastical fields, like old corn - fields, overgrown
with briers and sedge: congregations diminishing 3 class-
meetings, prayer-meetings, and love-feasts all declining 3 and
an air of something like " don't care" spread over the face of
Zion, may be seen dotting the once fair face of this map.
And where is the clue to the secret source of this mischief?
Is it in the membership ? or is it in the ministry ? or does it
lie between both parties ? Where is it, and whence did it
arise? We all have a share in this incipient degeneracy.
The tendency of human nature in all is to laxity 3 in ministers
no less than in members 3 and in determining the question
from the stand-points from which\I have made my surveys, I am
compelled to attach much blame to the preachers. They cer¬
tainly led off in the decline of class-meetings. Circuit preachers
ceased, to a large extent, to hold class-meetings as a duty, long
before they went into such disuse by the leaders and their
38
A SEMI-CENTENNIAL DISCOURSE.
classes. We ought to have foreseen this evil. Church mem¬
bers will never outrun their pastors in duties which are ob¬
ligatory on both. Brethren, let us in this case cut off occasions
from such as desire occasion.
But we are perhaps more to blame for neglecting discipline.
The faithful exercise of discipline would have preserved class-
meeting in the Church throughout the continuance of the law
as a term of membership. The legal class-meeting was rather
the one held by the leader, than the one by the preacher.
Class-meetings, held by the preachers in the early times of
Methodism, and during all their continuance, beautifully and ad¬
vantageously substituted pastoral intercourse with the church.
And unfortunately, when class-meetings were first omitted by
the preachers, and then virtually discontinued, there was no
system of pastoral intercourse adopted whereby to substitute
class-meetings: of course we became unacquainted with the
spiritual condition of our charges, and they became uncon¬
scious aliens from us; and out of these accidents have sprung
a family of Solomon's little foxes, that spoil our vine during
the time it bears tender grapes.
But discipline has been neglected, not only in relation to
class-meetings, but in relation to every law of membership
contained in the General Rules, except those items of crime
outlawed in a special statute. I may be allowed, I hope, while
reviewing Methodism, and Methodist administration, in this
semi-centennial discourse, to ask when and where the general
rules of our Church have been enforced in their penal charac¬
ter against any one of their numerous violators ? and by whom?
A few cases for indulging in forbidden pleasures do come up
sometimes, and are gently disposed of; and I believe persons
could get out of the Church by a pertinacious obstinacy at this
point. But what I want now is to make us all ask the ques¬
tion, What moral force do the general rules of the Church
exert upon the members of my charge ? and what risk do they
run under my administration on account of their non-regard ?
0 brethren, when moral and spiritual rules and regulations
of the Church are made obsolete by the neglect of the pastoral
officer himself, where will the evil end ?
But there is a better day coming. Yes; the bright streaks
of its light are already in view of the watchmen, who, with
faces turned towards this spiritual east, have often cried with
A SEMI-CENTENNIAL DISCOURSE.
39
holy impatience, " Watchman ! what of the night?" and have
at last learned, to the joy of their hearts, that the morning
cometh.
While there are some things which to aged sentinels on the
walls of Zion indicate decline in some of the most essential
elements of Methodism, as enumerated already in this dis¬
course, there are other things, second only to the presence and
prevalence of personal piety, in which may be found the indu¬
bitable evidence of advance and improvement. Some of these
we joyfully record. There is evidence of the sort in our church
architecture : wherever new church edifices are erected, there
is evidence of increased liberality, and of higher notions of what
is due to God in these monumental offerings to the great, the
high, and the Holy One. We are no longer contented to dwell
in ceiled houses, while the house of God is in decay.
Again : there is evidence of improvement in a more liberal
support of the ministry, as also in readier mind and will to
make them comfortable in a home. But a still brighter streak
of light in regard to our future now appears above the long-
darkened horizon of our Church. We mean the growing dis¬
position on our circuits to provide a parsonage, and have for
the term of each preacher's services a settled minister, whose
time shall be the property of his spiritual flock by ministerial
support; and who, by ministerial obligation, shall be not a mere
telegraphic preacher, but a positive resident pastor; and that
whenever the preacher sent and so provided for shall decline
going to his circuit to live, and thereby fails in his pastoral
duties because he wants his people's time for his personal ac¬
commodation, he shall have no family allowance. This is the
law, and this is Methodism in her economical polity. Here¬
tofore, through a joint evil, the benefit of a resident pastorate
has been informally sold for savings; but the Church begins
to see a better way, and will adopt it. The stringent applica^
tion of this allowance law to circuit preachers, might, by some
who gained their notion of right under the miserable usages
of late years, be considered rigid and unkind. No, brethren,
it is as it ought to be. Let me remind you once more, that
the office and the obligations of the gospel ministry are with¬
out conditions—peremptory and paramount. Neither we nor
the stewards of our circuits can enter into any stipulations by
which our appropriate work can be dispensed with; nay, my
40
A SEMI-CENTENNIAL DISCOURSE.
brethren, I do not believe tbat even the neglect of the cir¬
cuit and of the circuit stewards to provide for us, as thej are
both bound to do, can cancel or change the obligations of a
preacher who voluntarily takes the care of souls upon himself.
My practice through life has been characterized by these
views. It is true that I have not usually carried my family on
my work with me, for in most of my time it was utterly im¬
practicable : there was no home provided for me, nor any ap¬
propriation for me to provide one for myself. Some of my
city stations lay a hundred miles from my family residence.
To these I went and stayed a month, went home, saw my
family, and returned between Sabbaths. When I filled a city
station three hundred miles from home, I remained on my
work three months at a time. But one says, " This is unrea¬
sonable." Well, brother, you must complain of the Saviour,
if you will complain, and not of Methodist itinerancy. This is
exactly what I believe the Saviour meant when he required
of his disciples, and, as I believe, of the disciples called to fol¬
low him as preachers, especially, to leave wife and children—
not to be divorced by law or practice—but go on in the work
of itinerant evangelizing, as if untrammelled by a family. It
was with me to marry, or to let it alone; but it was not with
me to do my duty, or to let it alone. Passing by all the rest,
according to my entries, taking the thirty-five years of my life
immediately preceding the demise of my faithful and excellent
wife, much the most important part of life, I spent thirty
of them as to time away from my family, and in my charge.
And now, my brethren of the Conference, allow me to say
what no contemporary of mine will deny, I never neglected my
regular work one hour in my life either to get home, or to re¬
main there. I never felt that I had any moral right to one
hour of time which by ministerial obligation belonged to the
Church.
Once more, upon the evidences of advance and decided im¬
provement in Church duties. In regard to the great interests of
sanctified education for our children, and the children of the
country in as far as they may be intrusted to our care, I am not
sure but that within the last twenty years we have exceeded
every other Church in the number and efficiency of our edu¬
cational establishments, many of them, both male and female
institutions, of a high and respectable grade. This timely
A SEMI-CENTENNIAL DISCOURSE.
41
movement on the part of our Church, augurs well for her fu¬
ture. The time has fully come, when, if a Church—we mean
a denomination—should cling to the dotages of the past, and
deny to education its true value, it ought to, and would, be¬
come a reproach and byword in the earth. The Methodist
Church will, as she is in duty bound to, attain to a more ele¬
vated position in the world : her weight will be more decidedly
felt, and her worth more cheerfully conceded. The moral
force of the Church in the country, with only the same
amount of piety, will be greater. Folly may dispute, but facts
have long since decided that intelligence wins the prize of hu¬
man confidence. This move in education has worked well, both
in its direct and reflex action. In its direct action it has won¬
derfully increased education itself, and multiplied the facilities
of education. In its reflex action it has unsealed the fountain
of benevolence, and instead of mere drops, that oozed along in
lazy motion, the stream has deepened and widened until its
liberal waters begin to irrigate almost every vale of life. To
one whose knowledge runs back as far as mine, it may be
allowed to say, that if it had not been for the hard and able
begging of your agents for colleges, for the American Bible
Society, and for missionary purposes—duties which led them
directly to discuss the whole question of giving away money
as a positive Christian duty, high and binding as Heaven's au¬
thority—we would have been to-day locked up in the northern
ocean of a freezing avarice. But the spell is broken : the veins
and arteries of Christian benevolence are now giving a free
circulation to views and feelings which make that strange
declaration, that "it is more blessed to give than to receive,"
an experimental fact.
And now we close; but not without deep and solemn emo¬
tions. With Methodism we have had much to do for the last
fifty years; and nothing has kept us from doing much for
Methodism but the want of endowments, and Divine destina¬
tion to that end. The will and the heart we have had all the
time. What will be the fortunes and achievements of Method¬
ism during the next fifty years, who can. tell ? Bright and on¬
ward, we hope. One thing we do know; and that is, that in
most of that time we shall have no agency in the culture of
Methodism. The sere leaves of life's autumn are too thick
and premonitory upon us to let us dream of years to come.
5
42
A SEMI-CENTENNIAL DISCOURSE.
Necessity has settled it, that even if we would be a safe and
reliable trustee of this blood-bought trust, it must pass our
hands into yours. Cherish this trust, brethren, as one dear
to God as the apple of his eye.
To Methodism as a spiritual form of religion, and as a pre¬
ferred organization of Church government and of ministerial
operation, I have given all of myself that could be made avail¬
able to it. This I do not regret; and if I could go back again
to the beginning, carry with me all my present knowledge of
what I would have to do and endure to help work Methodism
up to its present glory, and all this at eighty dollars a year,
chiefly in promises, as things were in 1805, when I travelled
my first circuit, I would enter again.
Come, brethren, and let us take the old Jerusalem blade back
to the upper chamber, and there with one accord continue in
prayer to God, until we find it furbished with pentecostal fire;
and then let us go forth and believinglv wield it as Paul did,
freed from all the artistic manipulations of self-equipped
preachers, leaving God's truth to work out its own vindication
in its own divine order, and sure as the doom of time is the
certainty of our success. Oratory, rhetoric, fancy, imagery,
poetry, philosophy, flowers of speech of every class, and all
attempts to beautify or energize the word of God, do nothing
to it, except to neutralize its native power. There are signs
of healing: let us take courage, and, as Methodist itinerant
preachers, let us work up to the Discipline; and if in any
thing we have ministered to the negligence of our people by
even a seeming negligence in ourselves, 0 let us at once close
the breach by a return to duty. I see a better day coming
only as I look in this direction.—Farewell!
A SEMI-CENTENNIAL DISCOURSE.
THE MINISTRY A SAVOR OF LIFE OR DEATH.
by dr. doddridge.
Praise to the Lord on high,
Who spreads his triumphs wide!
While Jesus' fragrant name
Is breathed on every side:
Balmy and rich the odors rise,
And fill the earth, and reach the skies.
Ten thousand dying souls
Its influence feel, and live:
Sweeter than vital air
The incense they receive.
They breathe anew, and rise and sing
Jesus, the Lord, their conquering King.
But others scorn the grace
That brings salvation nigh:
They turn away their face,
And faint, and fall, and die.
So sad a doom, ye saints, deplore,
For 0! they fall to rise no more.
Yet, wise and mighty God,
Shall all thy servants be,
In those who live or die,
A savor sweet to thee :
Supremely bright thy grace shall shine,
Guarded with flames of wrath divine.
THE AGED MINISTER'S PRAYER.
by c. wesley.
My God and Lord, thy counsel show:
What wouldst thou have thy servant do,
Before I hence depart ?
How shall I serve thy Church, and where ?
The thing, the time, the means declare,
And teach my listening heart.
Free for whate'er thy love ordains,
I offer up my life's remains,
To be for thee employed:
My little strength can little do,
Yet would I, in thy service true,
Devote it all to God.
44
A SEMI-CENTENNIAL DISCOURSE.
Wilt thou not, Lord, my offer take ?
Canst thou in helpless age forsake
The creature of thy "will ?
My strength is spent in the best cause;
Thy zealous messenger I was:
I am thy servant still.
Master, be thou my might, my mouth,
And send me forth to north or south,
To farthest east 01* west:
Be thou my Guide to worlds unknown:
Rest to my flesh I covet none,
But give my spirit rest.
My rest on earth to toil for thee,
My whole delight and business be
To minister thy word;
For thee immortal souls to win,
And make the wretched slaves of sin
The freemen of my Lord.
Witness and messenger of peace,
I only languish to decrease,
In trumpeting thy name:
I only live to preach thy death,
And publish with my latest breath
The glories of the Lamb!
THE AGED MINISTER'S PRAYER.
by c. wesley.
Lokd, I believe thy every word,
Thy every promise, true;
And lo! I wait on thee, my Lord,
Till I my strength renew.
If in this feeble flesh I may
Awhile show forth thy praise,
Jesus, support the tottering clay,
And lengthen out my days.
If such a worm as I can spread
The common Saviour's name,
Let him who raised thee from the dead
Quicken my mortal frame.
Still let me live thy blood to show,
Which purges every stain;
And gladly linger out below
A few more years in pain.
Nashville, Tenn.: Published by E. Stevenson & V. A. Owen, for the M. E. Church, South.
CHARITY SUPERIOR TO KNOWLEDGE.
% "Distottm
DELIVERED IN THE CHAPEL OF CENTENARY COLLEGE OF
LOUISIANA, AT COMMENCEMENT, JULY 27, 1851,
AND PUBLISHED BT BEQUEST OP THE
JOINT BOARD OF TRUSTEES AND VISITORS.
BY THE
REV. WM. WINANS, D.D.
Nasfjbtlle, Cenn.:
PUBLISHED BY E. STEVENSON & F. A. OWEN,
FOR THE BOOK AND TRACT SOCIETY OF THE MISSISSIPPI ANNUAL
CONFERENCE.
1857.
CHARITY SUPERIOR TO KNOWLEDGE.
"And though I understand all mysteries, and all knowledge,
and have not charity, I am nothing."—1 Cor. xiii. 2.
It was by no means the intention of the apostle, nor is it
ours, to depreciate an understanding of all mysteries and all
knowledge, any more than to underrate great attainments in
philology, the gift of prophecy, miracle-working faith, alms¬
giving, beneficence, or the martyr's devotion and fortitude.
These, each and all, considered in reference to the purposes
they are respectively fitted to accomplish, are of great value;
and, so far as they are attainable, should excite the aspirations
of every ingenuous bosom, and prompt to the most strenuous
exertions for their acquisition. In particular, we would, on
this occasion, urge the high claims which an understanding of
the mysteries and knowledge which lie within the range of our
capacity has upon our solicitude and earnest endeavor to secure
it. Without such an understanding, our dignity, our useful¬
ness, and ..our happiness will be restrained within limits
contracted in proportion to our defalcation in this particular.
It is not denied that, with very inferior attainments in this
understanding, a man whose moral feelings are rightly directed
may be respectable, useful, and happy; but we do not scruple
to say, that he whose heart is right will possess a capacity for
respectability, usefulness, and happiness, in the direct ratio
in which his understanding is cultivated and expanded.
The apostle's object was, and it is also ours, to exhibit the
very superior advantage of moral excellence over excellence
in any other accomplishment—especially in that resulting from
the most extended intellectual improvement. The sum of
(3)
4
CHARITY SUPERIOR TO KNOWLEDGE.
moral excellence is expressed by the term charity. And so
greatly more important does the apostle deem it that man
should have charity than that he should understand all mys¬
teries and all knowledge, that he considers those who boast the
latter distinction, but are destitute of the former accomplish¬
ment, as nothing—deserving no estimation. To suppose man
to understand all mysteries and all knowledge, is to put the
case of intellectual acquisition in the extreme,—a supposition
never yet realized even in case of the wisest and most learned
among men. And if, without charity, he would be nothing
who should understand all mysteries and all knowledge, what
shall be said of those who arrogate much distinction to them¬
selves for a very limited acquaintance with both the one and
the other of these objects of intellectual investigation, while
they not only have not charity, but consider any attention to
its claims wholly beneath them ? Are they not " less than
nothing, and vanity?" In treating the subject, we shall
speak,
I. Of understanding all mysteries and all knowledge;
II. Of having charity) and,
III. Of the apostle's meaning, when he declares that
11 though he did understand all mysteries and all knowledge,
if he did not have charity, he would be nothing."
I. In pursuance of the above plan, we are to speak, in the
first place, of understanding all mysteries and all knowledge.
To understand, is to have a just conception of the subject of
which the term is predicated. It is to comprehend its entire
nature, with all its relations. It does not import merely to
conjecture shrewdly, or to reason logically upon the subject,
but to perceive distinctly its exact character. How little is
understood by even the most intelligent of mankind ! How
much, of almost all subjects of human speculation, lies beyond
the clear ken of the most perspicacious investigator, or eludes
altogether the most diligent and searching scrutiny of the
most pertinacious inquirer!
It is probable, we suppose, that the apostle had in view es¬
pecially those conventional mysteries which excited so much
interest among the learned and the wise, particularly the
Egyptian, the Jewish, and the Grecian mysteries. To under¬
stand these was, in the several countries where they set up
their claims, a point of the most fervent ambition, and a mat-
CHARITY SUPERIOR TO KNOWLEDGE. 5
ter of the most exultant glorying, on the part of men of the
most distinguished intellectual ability. Initiation into these
mysteries was deemed a privilege of vast importance. Men
travelled far, submitted to many painful privations, and per¬
severed long in the most arduous mental toil, that they might
secure the advantages and the honor of such an initiation. Into
the Grecian or Eleusinian mysteries, none were permitted to
be initiated but citizens of Athens; and so important was the
privilege of initiation considered, that men who, after their
deaths, were regarded as demigods, submitted to become the
adopted citizens of that city, that they might be admitted to
an inferior degree in that initiation; for to the highest none
but native Athenians might be admitted. Restraining the
apostle's supposition to these mysteries, how strong even then
the case which he puts ! To understand all that is wrapped
up in the sacre'd hieroglyphics of Egypt, in the signs and
symbols of initiation into her mysteries, and those of Ceres at
Eleusis, and to comprehend the cabala of the Jews, the trea¬
sured dicta of her long lines of sages, scribes, and doctors,
would certainly, on ordinary principles of estimation, argue
that a man was something—something distinguished much
above the common intellectual standard. But we need not,
nor would we be authorized thus to limit the apostle's suppo¬
sition. Mysteries that excite the most restless curiosity, are
found apart from these conventional and systematized enigmas.
There is, indeed, no department of human inquiry in which
mysteries do not abound. For instance, whsft law of nature
is not a mystery, whether regarded abstractly or in its mode
of operation ? Who can tell the nature of attraction, or the
means by which it operates its stupendous ministrations in
the harmony of the solar system, and, probably, of the phys¬
ical universe ? What philosopher but will admit that these
are mysteries which he has not been able to penetrate?
What school of philosophy teaches the true doctrine in regard
to the perception of objects external to the mind which per¬
ceives them ? What physiologist pretends even to trace the
connection between a volition of the mind, through the
nerves, with the muscles, whereby an action, corresponding to
the determination of the mind, is instantaneously produced ?
Much may be learnedly said upon these subjects; but it all
amounts to no more than that the nerves and muscles are the
5*
6
CHARITY SUPERIOR TO KNOWLEDGE
instruments by which the mind accomplishes its purposes,
This mystery has its source in one still darker—-the influence
of spirit upon matter. Who was ever able to detect the
points of contact between natures so dissimilar as spirit and
matter ? The fact of reciprocal influence, on the part of these
dissimilar natures, is universally admitted by those who do
not deny the existence of the spiritual nature 5 but how the
one influences the other, who can even conjecture? And,
admitting that there is no spiritual nature involved in the
question, is the mystery any the less ? Who can even con¬
ceive of matter as endued with thought, sensibility, and con¬
science ? While volition, to be what its very name im¬
ports, must be free, that is, independent of all control, such
is the influence that motive-causes exert upon its determina¬
tions, that many philosophers have concluded that those
determinations must be the result of such influence. This
conclusion, being utterly incongruous with the nature of
volition, and utterly inconsistent with the moral accountability
of man, must be rejected. But who can show, upon a simple
analysis of mental phenomena, that it ought to be rejected?
Beattie, in his " Essay on Truth," affirmed that " every man
knew it to be false, but that no man could prove it to be so."
Religion abounds in mysteries of the profoundest kind. Think
of God, as "the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever/' as
everywhere present at every moment; as seeing all that is in
the entire universe; as " seeing the end from the beginning,"
and yet leaving contingent the conduct of moral agents.
Think of him as originating matter, not giving it form
merely; so that where nothing was, the material universe
came into being, which he fashioned, according to the counsel
of his own will, into the infinitely various shapes in which it
is now beholden with wonder and admiration. After allow¬
ing the existence of these and innumerable other mysteries,
in the Divine nature and works, which certainly are almost
universally admitted to exist, shall we reject the mystery of
the Trinity in Unity in the Godhead—a doctrine clearly re¬
vealed—only because we cannot comprehend it ? Shall we
stumble at the mystery of the Divine incarnation, in the per¬
son of Jesus Christ, only because it is a mystery which we
cannot understand ? This were as unphilosophical as it would
be profane. Many more mysteries might be specified, as
charity superior to knowledge.
7
within the scope of the apostle's supposition; but it is be¬
lieved that these are enough to show the very high estimation
in which he held that charity, without which he would have
regarded himself as nothing, though he understood all these
mysteries—not understood merely the existence of the facts
which they affirmed, but the entire nature of those facts.
For the mystery of the Trinity in Unity, for instance, is not
understood by a mere knowledge that the Godhead thus exists
—the mode of such existence is what constitutes the mystery;
and, therefore, to understand the mystery of the Trinity in
Unity, implies an understanding of the mode of such an ex¬
istence. And sq of all other mysteries : to understand them
is to have an adequate conception of their whole nature, and
of all that appertains to them.
All knowledge embraces every department of human inquiry
in which certainty is attainable. Certainty is of two kinds
—moral, and mathematical or absolute. The former rests upon
testimony—the latter is either self-evident or the result of
demonstration. These different kinds of certainty are equally
satisfactory to the mind, and equally adapted to the purposes
they are respectively intended and calculated to accomplish.
The knowledge which rests on testimony, or moral certainty,
is far more extensive than that certainty or knowledge which
results from demonstration or is self-evident. It embraces,
strictly speaking, all that is learned, whether under the teach¬
ing of others or in the exercise of our own faculties. It re¬
gards almost all we know of the earth and the heavens; of the
various inhabitants of the earth, their natures, their habitudes,
and their history; of providence, its bounties and its chastise¬
ments; of religion, its doctrines, its precepts, and its an¬
nouncements. Exceedingly cursory must be our survey of
this immense and various field. Of the structure of the earth,
geology can boast but a very superficial knowledge—too
limited, altogether, to warrant the presumptuous theories con¬
cerning its formation and its age which have been erected
upon it. Scarcely have the profoundest explorers of its secrets
been able to penetrate the mere rind of this massive globe.
How absurd, then, to pretend such a knowledge as would war¬
rant the establishment of such theories ! Much, however, that
is useful and important, is and may be known concerning the
Structure of the earth Much more still may be known in
8
CHARITY SUPERIOR TO KNOWLEDGE.
regard to its surface. By the pencil of geography, her seas,
her lakes, and her rivers, her continents, her islands, her moun¬
tains, and her plains, her empires, her kingdoms, her republics,
and her cities, are mapped and spread out before the eye of the
inquirer; so that, without leaving his study, he may survey
the face of the globe, with an accuracy and to an extent ade¬
quate to all purposes of ordinary interest. Botany has in¬
vestigated and arranged the various vegetables which spring
from the different soils and in the different climates of the eartli,
for its adornment and for the nourishment and the health of
the animals which^inhabit it; so that there is scarcely a leaf
that trembles in the breeze, a flower that spreads its beauty to
the sun, or a seed that has been matured by the influence of
the seasons, which is not known to have been provided by
Infinite Wisdom and Goodness either to relieve the sufferings
of sentient beings or to minister to them sustenance and com¬
fort. Zoology, in its various departments, has, in great mea¬
sure, accomplished what Adam performed by intuitive wisdom
or Divine inspiration, when he gave names to the various
tribes of animals, so appropriate that those names not only
continued to designate them, but, as is generally supposed, to
express their natures and their habits. From the reptile
which the unassisted eye is unable to detect, to the dragon-
like serpents of the African deserts—from the diminutive
mouse to the unwieldy elephant—from the insect, fluttering
her ephemeral hour in the summer breeze, to the mighty
condor, perched upon the lofty crags of the Andes—from the
animalcule, thousands of which find ample verge in a single
drop of liquid, to the enormous whale, whose gambols disturb
the northern seas—human science has made itself familiar
with their natures, their propensities, and their habits; has
warned man of the dangers to be apprehended, and instructed
him as to the benefits to be derived to himself from them.
Astronomy has revealed much important information con¬
cerning the heavens. Knowledge on this subject is partly
derived from testimony, and is partly the result of demonstra¬
tion. Phenomena have been collected by various observers
and at various times and places. These phenomena have been
made the bases of mathematical calculation; the results of
which have been certain knowledge. Thus have the fixed
stars and the planetary bodies been accurately distinguished
CHARITY SUPERIOR TO KNOWLEDGE.
9
from each other; and the superfices of the latter, their
weights, distances from each other and from the sun, their
periods of revolution, both annual and diurnal, and the ex¬
tent and figure of their several orbits, ascertained, with so
much accuracy as to enable those versed in the science to de¬
termine the positions they will respectively occupy at any
given future moment. Nay, so exact is the knowledge attained
on this sublime subject, that Le Verrier was able to deter¬
mine that there was a planet which never had been observed,
and in what part of the heavens its position was to be found.
Such a result could have been reached only by means of a
minute acquaintance with the circumstances of the planetary
bodies, and the influences those circumstances exert, and by
an exact calculation of thesfe influences. Thus was discovered
the necessity for the existence of such a planet as was after¬
wards found existing in the precise position indicated by the
astronomer. Not only can astronomy trace out the path and
indicate the speed of these regular navigators, which sail in
the trade-winds of the heavens, but she can also follow the
eccentric ramblings of the untamed comet, as he sails through
the mazes of celestial archipelagoes which his destiny compels
him to thread in his devious course; so that, centuries in ad¬
vance of his advent, the moment of his appearance and the
point at which his progress will become visible are definitely
declared by astronomical science. How stupendous such
knowledge! How calculated to "raise man o'er man"—to
" puff up" the unsanctified heart! How naturally do those
who possess such knowledge glory in the distinction it con¬
fers upon them! Can they be convinced that they are what
the apostle' affirms that he, without charity, would be—
NOTHING ?
But there is a knowledge far more important to man than
that which regards either the earth and its inferior inhabitants,
or the heavens, in all their magnificence — the knowledge of
mankind. This is a subject so vast and so various that it is
impossible, in a brief discourse, to do more than to bestow
upon it a mere glance. A lifetime devoted to the acquisition
of this knowledge would leave much, that might be known,
unattained; and volumes would be required to serve as the
repositories of it, when collected together under the most con¬
centrated forms of which it is susceptible.
10
CHARITY SUPERIOR TO KNOWLEDGE.
As a mere animal, man is a study of great interest. No
superior specimen of mechanism is anywhere to be found, if
any equal to it be in existence. In the forms and articula-
tions of the bones and the cartilages; in the employment and
arrangement of the muscles and the tendons; in the functions
and disposition of the glands and other secretory organs; in
short, in the whole construction of the animal frame, there is
displayed the most intimate acquaintance with mechanical
powers—the most felicitous combination of those powers for
obtaining the result contemplated, and the utmost economy,
both in regard to the powers employed, and to the space in
which they are to operate. Ease, efficiency, and harmony,
characterize the operations of this machine in all its natural
movements. Hundreds of levers simultaneously combine their
forces to perform a given action; thousands of cords, crossing
each other at every imaginable angle, draw towards the same
result; yet in all this multiplicity and complexity of move¬
ment there is no jostle, no entanglement. All is so nicely
adjusted, that the movement is as smooth and unembarrassed
as if the mechanism were of the simplest possible construc¬
tion.
Then, again, in man, as an animal, we see the distribution
of a fluid throughout the whole frame, which serves the
double purpose of impelling the mechanical powers to the re¬
quired action, and of giving the promptest notice of any de¬
rangement of the machine, or the presence of any insurmount¬
able or even hurtful obstruction to its operation. Of course,
we allude to the nervous fluid; which, whatever it be, per¬
vades the whole animal frame, and is everywhere the medium
of sensation and the excitant to action. We also see ample
provision for the conservation of the machine, and for the re¬
pair of the damages to which it is liable from the friction of
its parts in motion, or from the action of external causes.
This provision is found in the respiratory, digestive, and cir¬
culating processes. Daily, hourly, nay, every moment are
these processes going on; and for many years together they
are able to continue the machine in constant motion, without
abatement of vigor, and, much of the time, with daily in¬
creasing energy.
But man, as an animal, is more than a mere machine. Nay,
his mechanical value is wholly dependent on the presence of a
CHARITY SUPERIOR TO KNOWLEDGE.
11
principle altogether different from and superior to any me¬
chanical power or any combination of such powers—liee.
The existence of this principle and many of its phenomena
may be and are known; though its nature is among the mys¬
teries that have never yet been penetrated by the eagle-eye of
science. It is even probable that only He who is the Author
of life can understand its nature. But the supposition in our
text goes even to the extent of understanding this, among
other mysteries. The Scriptures, indeed, say that " the blood
is the life." But we suppose that by this it is intended only
that the blood is the chief instrument of maintaining and
perpetuating life. That it is such, all who know any thing of
the matter will allow. By means of the rapid and constant
circulation of this fluid throughout all parts of the system,
heat and nourishment, essential to life and its continuance,
are distributed to all parts. But the blood, though the pabu¬
lum of' life, is not itself life; as we see it, when withdrawn
from circulation in the living animal, as destitute of all the
attributes of life as is any other material substance whatever.
It were hard to set limits to the discoveries of human re¬
search ; but we greatly doubt the possibility of its ever attain¬
ing to the knowledge of what is life. Anatomy and physi¬
ology have collected vast treasures of knowledge with regard
to the animal nature of man; and yet much remains un¬
known, or at least very imperfectly understood, by those even
who are most eminently proficient in these departments of
science. The supposition we are considering is, that all in
relation to them is not only known but thoroughly understood.
IIow vast, how interesting, how valuable such knowledge
would be considered, we need not say.
The common opinion of mankind, in all ages and every¬
where, has ascribed to man a compound nature, material and
spiritual. A few profoundly metaphysical inquirers, who are
never in their element but when they are in opposition to
common opinion, have labored earnestly to repudiate the
existence of spirit, as an essentially distinct component part
of human nature. True, there are phenomena, in the opera¬
tions of that nature, utterly incongruous with every received
definition of matter, to all that is known of its qualities and
capabilities; yet who knows but that matter, refined to the
last degree and in some of its innumerable combinations, maj
12 CHARITY SUPERIOR TO KNOWLEDGE.
be capable of consciousness, sensation, reason, and moral
agency? Yes: who knows? Not he, most certainly, who,
rejecting the sober dictates of experience, reason, and revela¬
tion, follows the illusory guidance of a presumptuous philoso¬
phy, which, by close reasoning, upon very plausible data, can
bring into question the existence of both matter and spirit,
and prove that the whole universe is nothing more than a vast
assemblage of ideas or images, drawn upon no canvas and re¬
flecting no substantial existence. Such a one cannot know
that matter, in no form or possible combination, can be capa¬
ble of these functions. But it will be long, we presume, ere
the popular mind can be imbued with a doubt in regard to a
spiritual nature in man; that is, a nature distinct from and
superior to his material frame. To this higher nature are
attributed consciousness, sensation, reflection, reason, memory,
and conscience, and a host of passions, to serve as springs of
action, under the guidance of the intellectual faculties, to¬
gether with a will, or power of self-determination, whereby a
choice of course, among those indicated by the intellectual
faculties and urged by the passions, may be freely and respon¬
sibly made. Whether the attribution of these to a spiritual
nature in man be or be not just, it is, at any rate, certain that
they exist in man; and the knowledge of them, it must be
allowed, is an important branch of the science of human na¬
ture. Of these we must say a few words.
Consciousness, being restrained to what concerns the proper
existence and the internal experience of the individual of
whom it is predicated, ought first to be considered. By means
of this faculty, the mind recognizes its own existence, and
takes account of the various operations of its own faculties.
It is cognizant of all that passes in the mind, though it is
concealed from all else but the Omniscient, and, perhaps,
other purely spiritual beings who are present at the moment
of its passing. Consciousness is the great registrar of all our
thoughts and our feelings, our hopes and our fears, our joys
and our sorrows, our plans and our purposes. By this faculty
they are collected, ascertained, and handed over to memory—
the annals of our internal economy.
As consciousness takes account of all within man, so sensa¬
tion apprises him of matters without himself. The senses are
the media through which external objects communicate a
CHARITY SUPERIOR TO KNOWLEDGE. 13
knowledge of themselves to the mind, by means of sensation j
and they are the only channels of such communication. If,
as some philosophers affirm, they are unreliable, then the
acquaintance of man with matters external to himself is
utterly hopeless. If the information communicated by them
in regard to these matters be false, there can be no corrective
of the error they have propagated. But do these philosophers
charge the senses justly with reporting falsely of the external
world? We apprehend not. One of the senses may report
a matter imperfectly; and if the mind bases on this imper¬
fect report an opinion in regard to the subject of that report
in all its bearings, error will most probably be the result.
Whereas, if the mind suspend its judgment, till other senses
which have cognizance of the subject in question have ren¬
dered in their collateral report, error will be avoided, and the
senses will be seen to be faithful reporters of the objects with¬
out the mind. Thus, when the sense of sight shall report of
a tree, it can report only of the outline; and, for aught that
lies within its competency, the tree may be a perfect plane,
with a breadth equal to its actual diameter, and may be in
immediate juxtaposition with the organ of vision; but when
the subject shall have been examined and reported on by the
sense of feeling, the tree will be found to be cylindrical, and
to be at a distance from the eye. Many experiences of this
kind will enable the mind to decide, on the report of one only
of the coacting senses, upon the true character of the object
reported of. These remarks will, we think, be found to hold
good in all cases where one of the senses, while in a health¬
ful state, reports imperfectly of any matter. The correction,
or, rather, the completion of the report will be found in some
other sense, or in some other of the senses. Hence, though
it is reason which ascertains the truth in regard to external
objects, she does not do so by supplying the defects or by
correcting the errors which exist in the reports of the senses,
but by comparing those reports, and by supplying the defects
in the reports of one sense from the reports of another sense
or other senses upon the same subject. We conclude that
the senses are worthy of entire confidence.
Consciousness and sensation furnish all the materials upon
which the mind employs its energies in treasuring up know-
14 CHARITY SUPERIOR TO KNOWLEDGE.
ledge. Upon these it reflects. It compares, combines, and
analyzes them. One sensation is compared with another; and
their agreement with or incongruity to each other is noted.
Two things, alike in generic character, are compared, with
reference to a specific quality, and a conclusion is drawn from
their agreement that they belong to the same category. This
is reasoning. Thus : "All animals having four feet and no
more, are quadrupeds; but a horse is an animal which has
four feet and no more; therefore, a horse is a quadruped."
This is a familiar, say a homely instance; yet it embraces the
whole scope of reasoning, in whatever form it may be pre¬
sented. If the agreement is wanting, the conclusion is re¬
versed. Mathematical reasoning proceeds upon exactly the
same plan. Thus: " Things equal to the same thing are
equal to one another; but," etc. And so, in all reasoning, a
comparison of the known qualities of a partially known sub¬
ject with the known qualities of a subject already well known,
and conclusions drawn from their agreement or disagreement,
are the entire process.
Sensations often repeated and carefully observed, enable
the mind to determine the qualities of matter, and the laws to
which it is subject, at least so far as is necessary to the pur¬
poses of physical science. Figure, or form, is seen to belong
to matter, when existing in sufficient accumulation to he cog¬
nizable by senses so gross as those of man. Extension belongs
to it, in its minutest form of existence; as no one can conceive
of two particles of matter, how minute soever they may be,
occupying the same space at the same time; and form belongs
essentially to extension. Gravity, or weight, is also an indis¬
pensable quality of matter; as all will at once feel the absurd¬
ity of supposing the union of two particles of matter, without
greater weight in the united particles than belongs to either
separately. The absence of locomotive power belongs so es¬
sentially to matter, that, whenever it is in motion, the ques¬
tion naturally arises, in the mind of the observer, " What has
put it in motion ?" or, if the motion cease, " What has caused
it to cease its motion ?" No teaching of philosophy concerning
the vis inertia of matter is necessary to the origination of
these questions: they spring spontaneously in the minds of
even children, so clearly is it perceived that locomotive power
CHARITY SUPERIOR TO KNOWLEDGE. 15
does not belong to matter. Many other qualities of matter
are discovered to the mind through the medium of the senses
—heat, hardness, color, odor, sapidity, sonorousness, etc.
Now, philosophers, with all imaginable gravity, tell us that
these terms express sensations in the mind, and that nothing
resembling such sensations exists in matter; and they make a
vast parade of their metaphysical acuteness and accuracy, in
the important discovery—as if any sane man ever imagined
that there was a sensation of heat in the fire; of hardness in
the flint; of green, blue, red, or other color in the colored mat¬
ter; of a pleasant odor in the rose, or an unpleasant one in the
ointment of the apothecary, in which dead flies were engulfed;
of sweetness in sugar, or of bitterness in gall; of melody in
Jenny Lind's singing, or of discord in the sounds made by a
sheet-iron band 1 Are we to infer that there are no qualities
in material bodies which excite these sensations in the mind ?
Or does philosophy descend from its dignity, to quarrel with
the names given to those qualities, simply because they are
identical with the names of the sensations excited by them ?
We hold that this is mere logomachy—especially, as the philo¬
sophers themselves will as readily speak of the heat of the fire,
the sweetness of sugar, the odor of the rose, etc., as the most
unscientific clown that stands agape at the profundity of their
wisdom. All that science is concerned with, in the matter, is
the existence of the qualities themselves, and to distinguish
between the quality and the sensation excited by it—not to
determine the name of either the one or the other.
By means of sensations, repeated, collated, and compared,
man has made himself familiar with the laws of matter, so as,
to a very great extent, to become master of arts, letters, and
science. The mechanical powers have been so arranged and
combined by him as not merely to serve his domestic purposes,
but have, in connection with chemical agencies, enabled him to
traverse the ocean in vessels of immense magnitude, drawn
through the waves by a few yards of canvas properly disposed,
or impelled by the steam, collected from boiling water, di¬
rected upon a machinery constructed for the purpose. He can
ascend above the clouds, and sail sublimely, with the speed of
the air-current upon which he is embarked, through the track¬
less and chartless regions of ether. He has embodied thought,
and rendered it tangible, permanent, and transmissible; so
16
CHARITY SUPERIOR TO KNOWLEDGE.
that the remotest ages of the past and the most distant re¬
gions of the earth contribute to the stock of each man's ideas.
The humblest man who has learned letters is put into easy
communication with the sages, prophets, and lettered mon-
archs of ages long past; and their wisdom and knowledge be¬
come his rightful inheritance, on his entering into possession
of them. Friends, separated by the intervention of oceans
and continents, interchange at brief intervals those assurances
of continued affection so dear to the loving heart; while what¬
ever is useful or curious, in one hemisphere, is soon made
known to those who read, in another. Nay, by means of the
electric telegraph, thoughts are communicated with a speed
which shows the earth a laggard in her diurnal revolution;
so that a fashionable lady of New York, after having dressed
herself & la mode, in the morning, may instruct her gossip in
New Orleans in all the minutise of morning dress, in sufficient
time for the latter to make her toilet, without meriting the
character of a sluggard. The daguerrean artist, without pal¬
let, brush, or paint, secures a likeness of the subject he wishes
to represent, by simply directing the light of heaven upon it,
and reflecting that light upon the plate he has prepared to
bear the image sought to be perpetuated. The mathematician,
seated in his study, can gauge the dimensions, ascertain the
weight, measure the distance, and calculate the speed of bodies
much larger than that on whose surface he is an almost indis¬
tinguishable speck, and whose distances from the earth are so
great that they can scarcely be seen by the unassisted eye of
man.
By means of consciousness and sensation, man can, to a
great extent, understand his own intellectual and moral na¬
ture—the laws of mental operation. True it is that here,
more than anywhere else, the perspicacity of man is often at
fault. This, we are satisfied, is chiefly, if not solely, the re¬
sult of a vain attempt to reduce mental operations under the
dominion of physical laws, or, at least, of laws similar to those
which regulate physical operations. Thus, metaphysicians
seem to conceive the intervention of ideas necessary to the
perception of objects external to the mind, because matter can
act upon matter only by contact. Again, the constraining
influence of motives, in order to volition, is deemed necessary,
becaus.e matter can be put in motion only by an impulse from
CHARITY SUPERIOR TO KNOWLEDGE. 17
without itself, and can only act according to the momentum of
that impulse; Still, notwithstanding this peculiar tendency
to err in regard to his own intellectual nature, man has attained
to a vast amount of valuable knowledge upon this very inter¬
esting subject. He has, in a good degree, ascertained the'
limits within which the mind may expatiate, without necessa¬
rily wandering into the mazes of error; and he knows that
those limits define a field at once ample, various, and rich in
its returns to the diligent explorer.
But, besides physical and mental faculties, man has moral
powers, which, more than all else, elevate him in the scale of
being. He only, we believe, of all mundane creatures, has
any moral or religious sense or perception ; while he possesses
it to an extent adequate to all the duties, of both religion and
morality, which can be predicated of a being constituted as he
is, and sustaining the relations in which he is found placed.
Strictly speaking, religion regards our duties to God, and
morality those which are due from man to man and to other crea¬
tures, within the scope of his influence. The sum of religion
is devotion of mind, heart, and life to the will of God. The
sum of morality is justice, truth, and kindness towards all
within the range of our influence, whether men'or inferior
sentient creatures. By the teachings of revelation, man can
be made to know these duties, both as it respects their general
spirit, and in the details appropriate to the various relations
in which he may be placed. Moreover, in both religion and
morals is included the certain assurance of rewards or pun¬
ishments, accordingly as duty has been performed or neglected;
and the scene of both the one and the other is laid in another
state of being—subsequent to death, unmixed, changeless, and
eternal. Thus, man, considered in regard to his physical
structure, his mysterious vitality, his apprehensive organs, his
mental powers, his moral relations and responsibilities, and his
coming, eternal, retributive destiny, is a subject of most in¬
teresting investigation; and a proper knowledge of him con¬
stitutes a mass of science vast, various, and of surpassing im¬
portance; and such a perfect knowledge of man is supposed
in our text.
Man, in society, presents a vast field for the acquisition of
important knowledge. That man was designed for society, is
evident equally from his adaptedness to and his invincible pro-
18 CHARITY SUPERIOR TO KNOWLEDGE.
pensity to enter into and continue in it. The all-wise Maker's
averment in regard to him, "It is not good that the man should
be alone," is impressed in ineffaceable characters on the con¬
stitution of man's nature. Society is either domestic or polit¬
ical j either consists of families, or associations of men, united
upon conventional regulations) and much of the solicitude
which has been felt by good men in all ages, has been to dis¬
cover the regulations which would best secure the common weal
of these societies. Government is indispensable to the well-
being, nay, to the very existence of society in any form or of
any magnitude; and the great question which has occupied the
attention and exercised the talents of philanthropic sages has
been, " In what mode may it be exercised with the least sacri¬
fice of individual rights ?" Such a sacrifice, to a greater or less
extent, is inevitable, where any form of government exists.
We, the people of the United States, believe that we have
solved this important problem—with more success than any
other people, at least—in the establishment of representative
governments, controlled in their operations by written consti¬
tutions, which they may not change, and beyond whose limits
their acts are destitute of all authority; and by rendering dis¬
tinct and independent of each other, the legislative^ executive,
and judicial departments, and placing the military force of the
society under the strictest control of all these departments.
Be this as it may, the science of government is vastly impor¬
tant, and may well be considered as a part of that mass of
knowledge supposed in our text to be understood. Nor this
alone is understood, but a perfect knowledge of all that would
conduce to the well-being of society in any of its forms of
existence—in what manner, for instance, husbands and
wives, parents and children, masters and servants, rulers and
subjects, should conduct themselves towards each other, so as
to secure the greatest amount of felicity possible in these re¬
lations.
Finally, religion embodies an amount and a variety of know¬
ledge well worthy the most earnest pursuit of the highest order
of intellect; and some commentators on the Bible are inclined
to limit the apostle's meaning, in our text, to the knowledge
and mysteries in this most interesting department of human
investigation. We have considered that meaning as of broader
scope. However this may be, there can be no question that
charity superior to knowledge.
19
the mysteries and knowledge proper to religion were promi¬
nently present to the mind of the apostle, and should be so
to our minds, while we are endeavoring to understand the
text. Religion treats of God ; of the relation of man to Him,
and of the duties and responsibilities arising from that rela¬
tion. Three systems of religion have obtained currency
among men—" natural, revealed, and eclectic."
Natural religion is that system of religion which has been
formed by human reason, without any known assistance from
Divine revelation. The basis of this system, under all its
modifications, has always been, we believe, polytheism. We
recollect no instance in which unassisted reason has attained
to the sublime discovery that there is but one God. Socrates
made as near an approach to this discovery as, perhaps, any
other whose mind was not guided by the light of revelation;
and yet one of the last acts of his life was to recognize the
divinity of the healing god, Esculapius.
Revealed religion is that system "which claims to have been
communicated to man by Divine revelation. This system has
for its basis the unity of the Divine nature. It has been pre¬
sented before the world under two modifications, the Levitical
and the Christian; the former imperfect and preparatory, and
the latter perfect and permanent. They were circumstan¬
tially different, but essentially the same. These two systems
—of natural and revealed religion—differed as widely in re¬
gard to the Divine character as they did with regard to the
unity of the Divine nature. The gods of natural religion
were subject to like passions and even addicted to like vices
with men. What distinguished them from men was chiefly,
if not exclusively, simple amplification of faculties. They
were only indefinitely great men. The God of revealed reli¬
gion is wholly different: self-existent and independent, infinite
in all his attributes, he is free from weakness, from passion,
and from vice. Holiness is as properly an attribute of the
God of revelation as is power or wisdom; and this holiness is
an exact balance of all moral excellence, without any lack or
excess in any quality.
Man's relation to the Divinity, and the duties and respon¬
sibilities growing out of that relation, were also strikingly
dissimilar, in the showing of these two systems. We have
no information that natural religion took any account of a
20
CHARITY SUPERIOR TO KNOWLEDGE.
merely personal relation to God on the part of man. We
know of no simply personal religious duties that it require
of man. Its whole scope seems to have been to subserve the
interests of society. The heart might be corruption itself,
the life might be degradation, without incurring the censure
of natural religion. And the expiation of recognized faults
was easy under that system. Hume, if a sincere votary of
natural religion, spoke correctly, when he said he could feel
at ease with the gods of this religion. On the contrary,
revealed religion considers man's relation to God as chiefly
personal—as extending to his whole being. He may serve
or disobey God in thought as effectually as he can in the
most important social act which he can perform; and his
faults against his relation to the God of revealed religion
are of such malignant turpitude, that they can be expiated
only by an atonement of which unassisted reason never could
have had the faintest conception. Connected with this
atonement, as we conceive, the revelation was made of the
trinity of Persons in the unity of the Godhead. We do
not mean that this trinity of Persons was in any way depend¬
ent for its existence on the atonement for man's sin; but we
do suppose that the revelation of the Trinity was made to
man with special, perhaps exclusive reference to that atone¬
ment, and to the plan of salvation dependent on that atone¬
ment. We do not deem it necessary to be more particular in
our notice of these two systems which have been embraced
by men.
The eclectic system of religion is that which has derived,
whether avowedly or not, some of its leading doctrines from
revelation, but has not scrupled to reject, or, what amounts to
the same thing, explain away such parts of revelation as do
not commend themselves to their notions of fitness. Ger¬
man Rationalism, Anglo-Saxon Unitarianism, and Deism, we
are compelled to rank together in this category. True,
Deism discards revelation altogether, while Rationalism and
Unitarianism profess submission to its authority; but is it not
well known that the best parts of Deism—all truly good,
indeed—are derived from the Bible; and that whatever por¬
tions of revelation are found inconsistent with their creeds,
are so explained as to mean just the contrary of their obvious
import, by both Rationalists and Unitarians ? Is it not mani-
charity superior to knowledge.
21
fest that both courses tend to precisely the same issue—with
this difference, however, that that of the Rationalists and
Unitarians, being less open, is more mischievous than that of
the Deists ? A knowledge of all these systems is supposed in
our text; and, what is far more important, a knowledge of
what is right and what is wrong in each of them: in other
words, a correct knowledge of the true religion. Can this
knowledge be overrated? Add to this, the understanding
of all other mysteries and all other branches of knowledge,
and we can form some idea of the apostle's supposition in our
text. We proceed, now,
II. To show what is implied in having charity. No scrip¬
tural term, probably, has been more perverted from its proper
signification than charity. It is sometimes used synony¬
mously with almsgiving; and at other times its import is
found in an indulgent construction of the conduct and motives
of our fellow-men. Now, that neither of these applications
of this term does it any thing like justice, will be at once
apparent to any one who will read the chapter from which our
text is taken. Both almsgiving and indulgent interpretations
of our neighbor's character are, it is true, characteristics of
charity; but, then, they are not charity, any more than are
truth and justice morality. They belong to charity, as just¬
ice and truth belong to morality; but being only parts, they
should not be allowed to arrogate the honor due to charity as
a whole. The abuse of this term has, we fear, been very mis¬
chievous in its effects upon the ethics of many individuals
and even communities. Satisfied with having addicted them¬
selves to almsgiving, or to indulgent views with regard to
their neighbor, they have laid " the flattering unction to their
souls" that they have that charity to which St. Paul here
ascribes such paramount importance, and which in other
portions of Scripture is not less highly appreciated. What,
then, is charity ? It is that disposition of the mind which
will display itself in those various virtuous qualities which, in
this thirteenth chapter of the first Epistle to the Corinthians,
are represented as characteristics of charity. Not that the de¬
lineation of charity is completed by these characteristics, but
that they belong to it essentially. Charity has other and not
less important features. The question, then, recurs, What
is charity? We answer, It is the love op all mankind.
6
22
CHARITY SUPERIOR TO KNOWLEDGE.
This will appear evident from the fact that all that the apostle
here says of charity, is true of love, and that it is true of no
other passion or state of the soul. This we shall proceed
briefly to exemplify; and, ^
1. Charity suffereth long, and is hind. Long-suffering
supposes protracted hardships or protracted provocations, pro¬
ceeding from the party towards which it is exercised. It
does not suppose indifference to such hardships or provoca¬
tions : on the contrary, they are felt to the extent of suffering
on account of them. Nor does it imply the absence of all
well-directed effort to remove those hardships or provocations,
or to lessen them, as far as practicable, if they may not be
wholly removed. Long-suffering implies a patient endurance
of its cause, whether hardship or provocation, though long-
continued. See this often and strikingly exemplified in con¬
jugal and parental affection. How patiently, and for how
many years, does the wife or husband, whose hardships are
occasioned by the improvidence or extravagance of the hus¬
band or wife beloved, endure a lot of incessant toil and of
withering privation ! See, too, the endurance of that wife or
husband, under provocations from the evil habits, the disagree¬
able manners, or the perverse tempers of the collateral relative,
which to all others seem utterly intolerable. Parents, too,
exemplify our position, in the endurance, under the sustain¬
ing influence of love, of the wasteful extravagance of the
child, who squanders by handfuls the hard earnings of their
whole lives of toil, care, and economy; and who ministers
hardly aught else but provocation, in courses of life known by
him to be in direct opposition to the most sacred principles
and the most cherished wishes of his parents. And not only
does LOYE endure the hardships and provocations with long
patience, but under them, and notwithstanding their existence,
is hind toward those who have occasioned them. Kindness
does not suppose indulgence to the wrongs of the beloved
object, nor the withholding of any corrective of his faults-
nay, it implies the contrary. But it does suppose a disposition
to render any available service to the object beloved, even
during the existence of those hardships and provocations
which have proceeded from such object.
2. Charity envieth not. Envy is uneasiness at seeing those
advantages which are valued by us possessed by others; espe-
CHARITY SUPERIOR TO KNOWLEDGE.
23
cially if we are compelled to admit that they are possessed by
those others in greater measure than by ourselves. Now, was
it ever known that a husband, a wife, a father, a son, a friend,
who loved the persons to whom they stood thus related, were
rendered uneasy by the fact that the wife, the husband, the
son, the father, the friend, were rich, endowed with personal
beauty, intelligent, learned, or popular? Nay, did such ever
repine at the superior wealth, beauty, intelligence, learning,
or popularity of the loved ones ? Was it not, rather, a matter
of sincere gratification that those so dear were thus distin¬
guished by the bounty of Providence ?
3. Charity vaunteth not itself. To vaunt is to exult over
others, on account of superior advantages enjoyed by us over
them. This is the exhibition of vanity. No one who loved
another, ever exulted over the loved one on account of any
advantage, whether imaginary or real. Even the vainest cox¬
comb in existence, if by any chance he come to love aught
save himself, will except from the humiliating comparison,
which he is wont to make of others with himself, the object
beloved. As, in the above particulars, it has been seen that
charity and love are identical, so, if necessary, it might be
shown in what follows; but we deem it needless.
4. Charity is not puffed up. To vaunt our advantages is
in such bad taste, that many vain persons have too much
good sense to allow themselves to be guilty of it; but they do
without scruple indulge the feeling from which such vaunting
proceeds. In the expressive language of the apostle, they
are "puffedup;" swelled out beyond their proper dimensions;
enlarged beyond their true measure. This tumefaction is,
however, rather comparative than personal. They do not so
much feel that their advantages confer upon them intrinsic
importance, as that they enlarge their dimensions beyond the
measure of their less fortunate, though, perhaps, really more
meritorious neighbor. Charity is not thus affected by the
advantages which adventitiously belong to its subject. It sees
in the plain, the poor, the ignorant, the unknown to fame, a
brother beloved; and, laying apart the consideration of these
adventitious circumstances, appreciates the personal worth of
the parties concerned. And, notwithstanding any of these
advantages possessed by him, the man animated by charity
may arrive at the just conclusion that his less fortunate neigh-
24
CHARITY SUPERIOR TO KNOWLEDGE.
bor transcends him in worth even more than he exceeds him
in the gifts of fortune. Or, if even worth he the subject of
comparison, the charitable man who is conscious of superior
worth is not " puffed up" or swelled out by even this excel¬
lence ; for he remembers that he differs more, most probably,
in the providential facilities and gracious helps by which he
has been "led on and instructed," and by which he has been
excited and sustained in his course of moral propriety, from
his less virtuous neighbor, than he does in his moral attain¬
ments. At all events, there has been, within his conscious¬
ness, enough of neglect, of shortcoming, and of defalcation
in his course to render his being "puffed up," on a compari¬
son with others, too utterly preposterous to his own feelings
and judgment to be indulged for even a single moment.
5. Charity doth not behave itself unseemly. In the inter¬
course where charity is the dominant influence, the fortunate
do not behave themselves towards those less favored than
themselves with haughty domination, with supercilious for¬
bearance, or with contumelious kindness and patronizing as¬
sumption, but as standing on the even ground of common
humanity; while the less fortunate do not behave themselves
towards those more favored with crawling sycophancy or with
defiant moroseness; but both, animated by the same princi¬
ple, forget the difference in their circumstances, and meet as
brethren, in cordial efforts to advance each other's happiness.
Nothing could be more unseemly in man—absolutely depend¬
ent " for life, and breath, and all things," on the common
Father of all mankind—than proud assumption on account of
beauty, wealth, intelligence, or distinction; unless, perhaps,
the equally proud, defiant, moroseness of those destitute of
these advantages, towards those upon whom Providence has
seen proper to confer them.
6. Charity seekeih not her own. By this we are not to un¬
derstand that charity renders those who are animated by it
indifferent to their own interest, or to that of those who aie
dependent on them. He that doth not " provide for his own,
and specially for those of his own house, hath denied the
faith, and is worse than an infidel," says the author of our
text, in writing to Timothy; and he therefore could not mean
that charity induces a dereliction of self-interest. But it does
prevent that engrossing regard to self-interest which receives
CHARITY SUPERIOR TO KNOWLEDGE.
25
and deserves the name of selfishness. It permits not those
who are influenced by it to seek their own interest, to the ex¬
clusion of a generous concern for and earnest efforts to advance
the interests of others; and much, more does it prevent their
seeking of self-interest at the expense of the interests and
rights of others. While prudently attentive to what concerns
their own well-being, the charitable will solicitously inquire
how they may best promote that of their fellow-creatures,
and will employ their most vigorous efforts to accomplish the
plans for that purpose which their benevolence has prompted
them to adopt. In the performance of this, they permit no
desire of indulgence in ease, no allurement of sensual or
imaginative pleasure, no natural repugnance to hardship, to
inconvenience, or to the contempt or scorn of the world, to
obstruct, or even to embarrass them. They seek their own
only in common with the interests of those who are the objects
of their charity.
7. Charity is not easily provoked. The purest, meekest,
and most benevolent men—such is the perverseness of fallen
human nature—are often so maltreated, so scorned by the
proud, so deceived by the false-hearted, so maligned by the
malicious, and so misrepresented by the slanderous, as to afford
them abundant matter for provocation. Thus was Moses, the
meekest of men, outraged by those to whom he had rendered
invaluable services. Thus, too, was the Saviour, though
" holy, harmless, and undefiled," and though indefatigable in
well-doing to mankind, despised, rejected, traduced, and cruci¬
fied by those whom he came to bless and to save. Is it not
enough, if "the servant be as his master?" We may, then,
expect to meet provocation, even though entirely conscious of
not deserving it. Charity is not affirmed to be exempt from
the proper influence of these provocations. Moses was pro¬
voked. The Saviour looked upon his disingenuous adversa¬
ries "with anger." Charity, however, preserves from a
facility of taking offence. Not every thing that can be con¬
strued or surmised into an offence, is allowed to ruffle the
temper of the charitable man ; nor does he permit himself to
be aroused by slight though real affronts, nor by a first
offence, though of considerable magnitude. He is not11 easily
provoked."
8. Charity tJiinketh no evil. The existence of evil in the
26 CHARITY SUPERIOR TO KNOWLEDGE.
conduct of others may force itself upon the knowledge of the
charitable man; but suspicion of its existence, where no evi¬
dence to that effect is presented to the mind, is not only not
indulged, but, if it intrude itself or be obtruded upon the
mind, is repelled, as a wrong done to the object towards which
it is directed, and as an evil thought in the mind which har¬
bors it. How much of the coldness, the malignity, and the
discord of human society has its origin in groundless suspi¬
cion ! A merely unconsidered omission, a look, a tone, or an
entirely offenceless action, is often construed by those who are
disposed to think evil, into an intended affront, and acted
upon as such; and is made the basis of interminable quarrels
and inveterate malice, or, at least, irreconcilable estrangement,
between those who ought to be, and, but for this suspicious¬
ness of disposition, would be, cordial friends. Charity allows
of no such suspicion, but, on the contrary, admits with reluc¬
tant hesitation the clear evidence which compels a conviction
to the prejudice of a fellow-creature.
9. Charity rejoiceth not in iniquity. When the conviction
has forced itself upon the mind of the charitable man, that his
neighbor—his rival or enemy, perhaps—has dishonored him¬
self by some crooked, unjust, or degrading action, he receives
no pleasure from such conviction. He cannot rejoice that his
fellow-creature is infamous, even though his own virtue is
thrown into bolder relief by the contrast thus presented to the
public mind between his neighbor and himself, to his own
advantage. Neither desire of gain, nor ambition of distinction,
nor resentment for injuries received, can induce the charitable
man to gloat with pleasure over the infamy of one for whom,
in common with himself, the blessed Saviour purchased the
privilege of attaining to eternal glory. But,
10. Charity rejoiceth in the truth—in the virtue, the integ¬
rity, the fidelity of every fellow-creature, whatever may be the
relation in which such fellow-creature may stand to him in
whom that godlike disposition is predominant. St. John de¬
clares that he has " no greater joy than to hear that" his
" children," or disciples, " walk in the truth;" and the chari¬
table man will feel like joy at the upright, truthful walk of
every man; for every man is the object of his charity, the
brother of his heart's warm affection.
11. Charity beareth all things annoying; because it is not
CHARITY SUPERIOR TO KNOWLEDGE. 27
easily provoked—believeth and hopeth all things favorable, so
far as possible; because it thinketh no evil, and is animated
by kindness, and endureth all things that esercise patience
and fortitude; because it suffereth long.
12. Charity never faileth. Circumstances may arise, iu
the life of every man, which will render of no value every
other advantage he may possess : their use may be superseded
by other and better advantages, or they may be rendered
valueless by the incapacity of the individual who possesses
them to derive benefit from their possession. The former
supposition was true of the prophecies and tongues, which
distinguished the early days of the Christian Church, and
which were superseded by a more diffusive and equally effect¬
ive agency, in the influence of the Holy' Spirit upon the
heart, enforcing the written revelations of the New Testa¬
ment Scriptures. The latter supposition will be found often
to hold good, in regard not only to knowledge, but to all that
is esteemed good by man, excepting only charity. This regu¬
lator of our affections, this bond of society, this meetness for
and foretaste of the purity and the bliss of heaven, will, in
all circumstances, find proper scope for operation, and a capa¬
bility, on the part of those whose bosoms are warmed by its
influence, to profit by its presence. We may not amplify this
point, and we need not. The characteristics of charity, al¬
ready delineated, will render it sufficiently apparent. It
remains,
III. To speak of the apostle's meaning, when he declares
that though he did understand all mysteries and all know¬
ledge, if he did not have charity, he should be nothing. The
apostle could not have meant that, in the circumstances sup¬
posed, he should be nothing as it respected intellectual
development, and the influence which enlarged capacity and
great attainment insure to their possessor, among those with
whom he is associated; nor could he have meant that he
would be nothing, in regard to the admiration and applause
of those to whom his extraordinary attainments and vast
powers of mind should be known. In what respect, then, or
in what respects would the apostle have deemed himself
nothing, if, not having charity, he could boast unequalled
mental excellence ? Before answering this question, it may
be well to remark that there is a kind of reflective charity in
28
charity superior to knowledge.
the world, which, as far as it goes, has the effect to do awaj,
so far as merely human judgment is concerned, the nullity of
him who is without charity in fact. The courtesies, ameni-
ties, and benevolences which regard to public opinion often con¬
strains the selfish themselves to practice, though springing
from sheer pride or from motives of personal interest, go to
the credit of charity, and influence the estimation in which
the performer is held in accordance with this erroneous appre¬
ciation. We now proceed to show what we understand to be
the apostle's meaning; and,
1. We suppose he means that, with the vast extent of un¬
derstanding supposed in the text, he should, without charity,
he nothing, in so ear as the promotion oe God's glory
is concerned. The glory of God, as the Creator of man, is
best declared by the excellence of the creature he has made.
His wisdom, his power, and his benevolence may by this
means be rendered more strikingly apparent than by any sim¬
ple description of those attributes which could be made to
intelligent beings; and the glory of these attributes will be
seen not alone in their individual manifestation, but chiefly as
they harmonize in the production of some beneficial result.
Now, though wisdom and power should be conceded to the
creation of a highly intellectual being, destitute of moral
worth, it is certain that benevolence and holiness would find
no exhibition in such a creation; and, consequently, that God
is not glorified by the most brilliant display of intellectual
ability and resources, while charity is wanting to the direction
of their operation and employment. Who would honor the
mechanist who should produce the most complicated and noise¬
lessly operating machinery, which could be applied to no use¬
ful purpose, but which, on the contrary, naturally tended to
mischievous results, so far as its influence was permitted to
operate ? Who does not know that the brightest parts and the
most affluent intellectual acquisitions do not manifest the
glory of the Creator, when they are associated with impatience,
unkindness, envy, boastfulness, haughtiness, unsuitable de¬
portment, selfishness, a love of detraction, fretfulness, suspi¬
cion, and forebodings of iniquity, on the part of those upon
whom even suspicion of existing wrong has not been able to
fasten its poisonous fang 1 And yet the presence of at least
some if not of all of this brood of vipers is argued by the
charity superior to knowledge.
29
absence of charity. But is it important that man should
show forth the glory of God ? Who can question it, when it
is well known that honor is claimed by the inventor, the
author, the lawgiver, the teacher, and the parent, on account
of what they deem valuable in what has been framed and
fashioned by their skill, their care, and their effort; and that
their claim is admitted, without hesitation, to the full extent
of the worth found to exist in their several productions ?
And shall the principle not apply only in the case of Him who
alone was disinterested in the performance of his work ? Nay,
can man boast a higher destination than that of showing forth
the " praise of His glory V'
2. We suppose the apostle to have meant that without
charity he would, though understanding all mysteries and all
knowledge, be nothing as a useful member op society.
Let it be recollected that, so far as the influence vie exert
upon mankind is concerned, reflective charity will, to some
extent, produce the same effects as charity itself. These
effects will most certainly be greatly inferior in amount and
value to those which result from charity itself: still, a man
with intellectual abilities may and will be useful to society in
proportion as his conduct is in conformity to that which pro¬
ceeds from charity. But suppose an individual possessed of
the utmost intellectual abilities and attainments to act, in all
things, in opposition to the law of charity—to be quick to
take offence ; cruel, or, at best, unfeeling, in his words and
actions, towards those within the range of his influence ; envi¬
ous at the prosperous and the distinguished; boastful of his
own advantages, or, at least, puffed up by them ; haughty, if
prosperous; querulous or insolent, if unfortunate; selfish;
pleased to find causes of infamy in others; pettish; suspi¬
cious of evil where no evil is apparent, or anticipating such
evil at a future period. We say, suppose this of any man,
and can he be a useful member of society ? The productions
of his genius, the fruits of his knowledge, may benefit society
to even a great extent; but will not the moral obliquities
which he displays before that society more than coun¬
terbalance those benefits? Nay, is it not often seen that
men of great talents are pestiferous to society, by the em¬
ployment of those talents, and in proportion to the greatness
of them ? Who ever cursed society with such incalculable evils
6*
30 charity superior to knowledge.
as the great hero, whose military talents were not under the
restraints of justice; the profound philosopher, whose moral
views were perverted; or the splendid poet, whose imagina¬
tion dressed up vice in a garb to fascinate and bewitch the
unguarded heart ? By these, and in proportion to the great¬
ness of their several talents, has society been bathed in tears
and blood, wrapped in flames or draped in mourning-weeds;
has been sapped in its foundations and dislocated in its most
important articulations ; and has been poisoned in the foun¬
tains of its sentiments, its principles, and its enjoyments. So
far from being useful members of society, men so gifted and
so unprincipled must be reckoned among the greatest calami¬
ties which God has ever suffered to afflict mankind.
3. The apostle, we presume, may be understood as meaning
that, without charity, no matter what his attainments in
science, he would be nothing in point of personal respecta¬
bility. It is true that such may enjoy the misjudging admira¬
tion and applause of their contemporaries, who look only or
chiefly to the brilliance of their mental exhibitions; but when
they dare bring themselves, or when they are brought by
others to any established standard of respectability, they are
found to be not merely wanting, but to deserve contempt,
loathing, or abhorrence. In the loudest clamors of applause,
a voice that will be heard tells them that
"All praise is foreign, but of true desert—
Plays round the head, but comes not near the heart;
And more true joy Marcellus exiled feels,
Than Caesar with a senate at his heels
that if the infatuated multitude could penetrate the brilliant
Laze in which they are enveloped, and see them in their true
character, they would be the objects of hisses, instead of ap¬
plause. And in this depreciating self-estimate the wise and
good will fully concur. He who can be imposed upon by no
exterior embellishments, who estimates men by the principles
of the heart, has weighed them and pronounced them want¬
ing. Every award of value and weight is against their respec¬
tability. What right-minded intelligent being, whether in
heaven or on earth, could look without pity, contempt, 01
abhorrence, upon a lofty intelligence fainting or fretting at
every mischance; boasting or inflated on account of advan-
charity superior to knowledge.
31
tages possessed, or envious of advantages enjoyed by others;
regardless of the comfort of those upon whom he exerts an
influence, but intensely selfish in all his plans and pursuits;
rejoicing in the degradation of his fellow-men ; suspicious of
the apparently good, or expecting with pleasure their future
abasement; without reliable principle, which may be calcu¬
lated on in every future emergency ? And such are those
supposed in our text; and they must, therefore, be regarded
as nothing in point of personal respectability.
4. We presume that the apostle means that the understand¬
ing of all mysteries and all knowledge, in the absence of
charity, cannot confer happiness. This point scarcely
needs argument or exemplification; as who does not know
that enjoyment essentially depends, not on the capacity of the
understanding or the stores which it has accumulated, but on
the intrinsic character of the moral affections and habits, and
on their harmonious adjustment ? Who does not know that
the fretful, cruel, proud, envious, selfish man has in his own
bosom the elements of inappeasable strife, of irremediable
discomfort? No one source of real enjoyment is open to such
a one. He must despise the admiration that is lavished upon
him by the misconceiving multitude, who estimate him with¬
out a knowledge of or a reference to his moral character. He
knows himself worthy of no respect, and feels so well assured of
God's disapprobation as to shut his eyes, as far he can, to the
responsibility he owes to Him. The past records for him no
deed of high-souled virtue, no instance of patiently borne
affliction, no song of the comforted widow, no grateful tear of
the protected orphan. He has lived to low, sordid selfishness,
regarding others only as they have been ministrant to his
advantage. In himself alone, therefore, must he look for the
means of enjoyment; and these cannot exist in a bosom where
patience, kindness, joy in the good of others, humility and
self-sacrificing benevolence are strangers. And if such are
nothing, as respects the enjoyment op happiness, in the
present state of things, their condition can certainly be no
more favorable in that state where every enjoyment must, in
the nature of things, be purely moral and spiritual.
We now hasten to bring this already too long discourse to
a close, by a brief but earnest exhortation, not to omit the
most diligent efforts to acquire the most exact and most ex-
32
charity superior to knowledge.
tended understanding of the mysteries and knowledge which
challenge your investigation, hut to add to this, what is so
much more important, the possession of that charity which
alone can secure your attainment to the great ends or destina¬
tions of your being—the glory of God, the utility of your
existence to others, true respectability and happiness, in time
and in eternity. Charity, like science, must, if ever pos¬
sessed, be acquired by effort and by discipline. It is not
native to the human heart, any more than is a knowledge of
letters or of the laws of nature to the human mind. The
Bible and its expositors are the teachers of whom we must
learn the lessons of charity; and the discipline to which we
must submit, and which will be effective, consists in repent¬
ance for past sins, self-denial, unblenching and avowed devo¬
tion to the will of God, and believing prayer, that, through
the merits of the great atonement, the grace may be afforded
and the Spirit imparted by whose influence and aid we may
be wrought to that conformity to God in which charity will
direct all our affections, control all our passions, and impress
her own heavenly image upon our whole character. Thus
only may we secure this highest of all qualifications which
can distinguish man—this richest treasure that man can
possess.
You cannot begin this noble enterprise too soon; nor will
your most diligent application to it retard in any degree your
progress in any other laudable pursuit. Those charged with
the education and direction of the human mind cannot too
earnestly cooperate in this surpassingly important enterprise.
Allow me, then, to urge you that, before all, with all, and
above all, you " put on charity, which is the bond of pel
eectness ;" and then shall " the peace of God fule in youi
hearts." Amen.
THE
GOSPEL MINISTRY.
SUBSTANCE OF A SERMON
PREACHED BEFORE THE
MISSISSIPPI ANNUAL CONFERENCE,
AT JACKSON, LOUISIANA,
NOVEMBER 14, 1854.
BY THE KEY. WM. WINANS, D.D.
1
" Who is sufficient for these things V'—St. Paul.
PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY OF THE CONFERENCE'.
Nasljtrille, QTenti.:
PUBLISHED BY E. STEVENSON & F. A. OWEN, AGENTS,
FOR THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, SOUTH.
1857.
i*flEFACE.
jx* me iate Mississippi Annual Conference, the undersigned
■were appointed a Committee to wait on the Rev. William Winans,
D. D., and present to him the unanimous request of the Con¬
ference, that a copy of the sermon which he preached before
that body, during its session, might be delivered to the Com¬
mittee for publication. The Conference also requested the Com¬
mittee to have "two thousand five hundred copies" of that
sermon struck off for distribution among its members; and
expressed a desire to have it adopted as one of fhe Tracts to be
published by the Tract Association of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, South.
The Committee immediately opened a correspondence with
Doctor Winans, who promised, so soon as he could, to furnish a
discourse within the " outline" of that delivered extemporaneously
before the Conference; which pledge has been redeemed at a
much earlier period than could have been expected, in view of
the feeble health of its author and the indisposition of his family
We take the liberty to lay before the public an extract from a
letter accompanying the sermon, which we consider substantially
the same delivered before the Conference:
Centretole, Amite, Miss., Dec. 12,1854.
Dear Brethren :
I send you herewith ^he substance of my sermon, preached
before the Mississippi Annual Conference, at Jackson, La., Nov..
14,1854. The " outline" of that discourse is, I believe, faith
(iii)
(iv) PREFACE.
fully preserved. To fill up that outline exactly as I did in the
extemporaneous delivery before the Conference, would have been
utterly impossible. In some instances, I purposely failed to do
it. I have, for instance, in this written discourse, elaborated
arguments that were briefly stated, and extended descriptions
that were merely glanced at. One characteristic anecdote—that
in regard to Rev. M. Moore—was not introduced, I believe, in the
spoken discourse. In my own judgment, the changes of which I
am aware are not for the worse; and I submit the discourse to
you, to be disposed of as you may judge of its deserts.
Affectionately your friend and brother,
WILLIAM WINANS.
Rev. Messrs. T. C. Thornton and H. J. Harris,
Committee of Publication.
The Committee in common with their brethren of the Con¬
ference heard that sermon, and believe now as then, that it will,
if published, subserve the cause of truth and evangelical piety,
and ought to be numbered as one of our " Tracts for the Times."
We also believe that those who listened to the extemporaneous
effort of Doctor Winans, so far from being dissatisfied with those
"arguments" that are "elaborated," "descriptions" that are
" extended," or a " characteristic anecdote," will, with the Com¬
mittee, admit, that there is in the written discourse an increased
weight of argument, that affords the greater probability of exten¬
sive benefit through the circulation of this excellent sermon.
T. C. THORNTON.
H. J. HARRIS.
Sharon, Miss., Dec. 26, 1854. Committee for Publication.
THE GOSPEL MINISTRY.
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath
anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek. He hath sent me
to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim
the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our
God: to comfort aU that mourn: to appoint unto them that mourn
in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourn¬
ing ; the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness: that they might
be called Trees of Righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He
might be glorified.—Isa. lxi. 1-3.
That, in these words, the prophet personates, or speaks
in the person of Jesus Christ, is manifest from the appropria¬
tion of them to Himself, by that Divine Personage, when He
opened His ministry at "Nazareth, where He had been brought
up," as we are informed He did, in Luke iv. 16-21. This
is in perfect accordance with the whole teaching of the re¬
vealed truth of God; for, though it is true that "God gave
some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists;
and some, pastors and teachers: for the perfecting of the
saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the
body of Ohrist: till we all come, in the unity of the faith,
and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man,
unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ," it
is equally true, that all these, from the highest to the lowest,
are subordinate agencies in the great work in which they are
employed. Only as they follow His lead, as they repeat His
instruction, can they lay claim to any authority in the minis¬
try, or expect to confer any advantage by their ministration.
The greatest of all these subordinate ministers of the Gospel,
upon a survey of the work, in all its magnitude and difficulty,
exclaimed, ""Who is sufficient for these things?" "Who,
6 THE GOSPEL IVfl^ISTRY.
then, is Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas?" Jesus Christ is the
only Teacher in the Church having plenary power as such;
and He cautions his subordinates against trespassing upon
His prerogative in the matter, when He so earnestly charges
them not to call any man on earth, or to be called of any,
Master; assigning, as the sufficient reason, that "one is your
master, even Christ."
But, though Jesus Christ is, in a peculiar sense—in a
sense too high for any other—the Preacher of the Gospel,
He should be regarded, in all points in which He can be so,
as the great exemplar of all subordinate preachers of His
word. Their authority must be derived from the same source
from which His is derived, and must be attested by the same
official sanction. The indispensable qualification which fitted
Him for the work in so eminent a degree, must, in their
measure, qualify them also. The same great truths which
He proclaimed in His own right and with absolute authority,
must form the subjects of their subordinate teaching; and, to
the objects He was to accomplish, by His teaching, they must
aim in theirs.
Our purpose is to consider the text in its application to
Jesus Christ, only in so far as it sets Him before us as the
exemplar of His subordinate ministers. We intend, chiefly,
to confine ourselves to a consideration of what relates to that
subordinate ministry-The authority under which it acts—
The qualification by which it is fitted to its work—The work
in which it is employed, and the proper effects of that work—
And the ulterior purpose of the work. In pursuance of this
plan, we shall,
I. Endeavor to ascertain the authority under which men
ate preachers of the Gospel. Not all who lay claim to that
office are to be considered as having any valid title to it.
In all ages, there have been those who, though unsent, have
gone forth as the messengers of the Gospel. Without author¬
ity in their mission, it is not at all strange that they " do not
profit the people" to whom they minister. Two sources of
authority have been mainly relied upon — Ecclesiastical and
Divine. The former of these, so far as of any importance, is
important only for purposes of social order, and can confer no
proper authority for the work of the ministry. Its highest,
and, indeed, its only function is to recognize an authority
THE GOSPEL MINISTRY.
7
already conferred. No Pope, Bishop, Presbytery, or Church
has any right to confer authority to preach the Gospel; and
any assumption of such right is an arrogant invasion of the
prerogative of Christ, as the Head of the Church—as the
King in Zion. When, therefore, any Church functionaries
presume to invest a man with authority to preach the Gospel,
on any other ground than the conviction that he has been
already authorized by Jesus Christ, such functionaries not
only confer no real authority, but deceive their client into a
position of imminent peril, inflict upon the Church the mis¬
chief of a factitious appointment to office, and offer a flagrant
insult to Him who has reserved to Himself the sole right of
appointing the preachers of His own Word. Nor has there
been a more fruitful source of calamity to the Church than
the assumption of the right on the part of the Church, to
appoint preachers of the Gospel, independently of any pre¬
vious designation to that work by the Head of the Church.
Spirituality has thus been sacrificed to human ability, and the
integrity of Divine truth to the dogmas of a metaphysical
creed, elaborated by human ingenuity. The mysteries of the
Gospel have been repudiated because the " philosophy falsely
so called," taught in the Schools or Colleges, employed in
clerical manufacture, found them too recondite for its pene¬
tration. Most Churches recognize the exclusive right of
Jesus Christ to appoint to the ministry of the Gospel, by
placing the interrogatory, "Dost thou believe that thou art
inwardly moved by the Holy Ghost to take upon thee the
office of the ministry?" among those which are put to such
as are candidates for that important office. There is melan¬
choly reason, however, to believe that many Church func¬
tionaries "hold this truth in unrightousness;" or, rather,
that, while they put this interrogatory to the candidate, they
repudiate its import, as a relic of the fanaticism by which
less enlightened and less rational ages were characterized.
But all who, ex animo, subscribe to the import of this interro¬
gatory, when they say to the candidate, " Take thou authority
to preach the Gospel," mean no more than, "We recognize
thee as divinely appointed to the ministry of the Gospel, not
by this act of recognition, but by a previous and supremely
authoritative act of Him, to whom alone belongs the right of
such appointment. This act of recognition confers no au
8
THE GOSPEL MINISTRY.
thority, properly speaking.—Its whole effect is purely eccle¬
siastical—licensing the person, so recognized, to preach under
the patronage of the Church, by whose functionaries the act
of recognition was performed, but neither conferring nor
completing authority to preach. Derived from Jesus Christ,
that authority is as complete before and without the act of
recognition, as it can be after and with its sanction.
But, if the authority to preach the Gospel is conferred
exclusively by Jesus Christ, by what means does He make
the appointment, and how does He convey, to the party au¬
thorized by Him, satisfactory evidence of his appointment to
the work? We answer: 'The authority of Jesus Christ Him¬
self to preach the Gospel was conferred upon Him by the
" Spirit of the Lord God being upon Him," anointing Him
for that work.' We have already said that, in all possible
cases, Jesus Christ is to be the great exemplar of all ministers
of the Gospel; and, especially, that their authority is to be
derived from the same source with His. As, therefore, the
unction of the Holy Ghost conferred on Him the authority to
preach the Gospel, so His subordinates in the ministry must
be anointed with the Holy Ghost, in order to their being au¬
thorized. This is necessary, indispensably necessary; and,
this is all that is necessary to their having ample authority
to preach the Gospel. To suppose the contrary, is to sup¬
pose the power of Christ to confer authority in His own
Church, imperfect:—is to charge the unction of the Holy
Ghost with inadequacy to its object, or with being no more
than a solemn farce, unless, indeed, human agency complete
and give validity to its ordination. We have already ad¬
mitted that, in view of ecclesiastical order, it is important that
the authority conferred by Jesus Christ be recognized by
Church functionaries; but, we contend that that recognition
adds nothing to the authority, nor would that authority be
either invalidated or placed in suspense by the want of such
recognition. The unction of the Holy Ghost confers the
authority independently and absolutely; and, that authority
is complete, and irrepealable by any form of Church action,
or refusal to act. So Paul, when anointed to the ministry of
the Gospel by the Holy Ghost, " conferred not with flesh and
blood;" sought no authority from Peter, James, and John;
but immediately preached the Gospel, and continued to do
THE GOSPEL MINISTRY.
9
so for three years, without seeking human sanction to the
Divine authority, under which he proclaimed the Gospel of
the grace of God. No one will question the right of Jesus
Christ to reserve to Himself the exclusive authorization of
His subordinates in the ministry of the Gospel. None, surely,
can question His power to confer such authority, without the
intervention of any human agency. But, has He reserved
that right to himself? The proper question would be, "Has
He ever delegated it?" If he have not, He has, by fair con¬
sequence, reserved it to Himself. We say, then, without
fear of successful contradiction, that He has not delegated
this power to any set or description of men. The fable, of
His having transmitted authority to preach, through a succes¬
sion of ordinations, is as unfounded in Scripture, as utterly
absurd as any theory that ever found place in the imagination
of error-prone humanity.. As an economical arrangement,
such a succession, so far as should be found practicable and
consistent with the substantial interests of Christianity, must
be allowed to be the result of ecclesiastical wisdom; and it
can claim no higher origin on any reasonable grounds. But,
the history of the Church demonstrates how utterly unworthy
the Divine wisdom it would have been to have made such a
succession the channel—the only channel of conveying au¬
thority to preach through all ages. It was never—not for a
single day—such a channel of transmission—the only chan¬
nel through which authority to preach the Gospel has been
conveyed, having always been the Holy Ghost.
It may be inquired, ' How can the Holy Ghost convey to
the man whom he has anointed to preach the Gospel, the
necessary evidence of the authority so conferred upon him?'
We answer, in, the language of our Blessed Saviour, on a
kindred subject—"The wind bloweth where it listeth; and
thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it
cometh or whither it goeth—so is every one" that is set
apart by the Holy Ghost to the work of the Gospel-ministry.
He, who made the soul of man, can have no difficulty in
communicating directly with that soul, in a manner so clear
and so convincing as to leave nodoubt of the import or truth
of the communication. And if, in what concerns individual
acceptance with God, the testimony of the Spirit of God, with
the human spirit, is the ground of Christian assurance, and
10
THE GOSPEL MINISTRY.
is intelligible and trustworthy to the party concerned, what
is to binder tbe Holy Ghost, wben He commissions a man,
by His boly anointing, to preach the Gospel, from imparting
to him the most reliable evidence of that important fact?
Men, who are wanting to a due investigation of the character
and tendency of the impression made upon their minds and
hearts, may mistake, in regard to the character and cause of
that impression, so as to co^-vaer themselves "moved by tbe
Holy Ghost to preach the Gospel," when, in fact, their im¬
pression has resulted from a very different sort of influence.
But, then, they are liable to the same sort of error, in regard
to the witness of the Spirit to their acceptance with God. In
neither case, however, is the error unavoidable. They, who
carefully "examine themselves," and "try the spirit, whether
it be of God,"—who scrutinize the character of the impres¬
sion, its religious and moral influence and tendency, com¬
paring all these diligently and cautiously with the word of
God, may rationally and satisfactorily determine whether the
influence which moves them to preach, or the testimony which
assures them of Divine acceptance is from the Holy Ghost,
or from some other agency. We are aware that, in this
rationalistic age, we incur the hazard of being considered
pitiably superstitious, for entertaining these views, it being
now the fashion to affect the repudiation of any doctrine of
religion, which transcends the scope of human reasoning. It
is true, that, in other matters, men of the highest preten¬
sions -to reason are content to receive as truth what is entirely
beyond the utmost stretch of their comprehension, as is the
operation of the Holy Ghost upon the mind and heart of man.
For instance : What philosopher of them all will question the
existence and operation of gravitation and attraction in pro¬
ducing the physical phenomena of the universe; and, yet,
who of them will pretend to a knowledge of their nature, or
of the mode of their operation ? Who will venture to define
animal life; or pretend to a knowledge of the process by
which life is sustained? Nay, in the simplest and most fre¬
quently occurring phenomena of every-day life, there are
matters as utterly beyond the comprehension of the human
mind, as any mystery revealed in the Gospel.—Such are the
phenomena of voluntary motion, communication by speech,
etc. The absurdity of rejecting religious doctrine, because i
THE GOSPEL MINISTRY.
11
transcends human comprehension, while equally incompre¬
hensible doctrines, concerning the ordinary affairs of life, are
admitted to be true, is too glaring to need any effort to render
it apparent. The direct agency of the Holy Ghost, in indi¬
vidual regeneration, and in the appointment of men to the
Gospel-ministry, is clearly taught in the sacred Scriptures,
and has been matter of ample experience in the Church, in
all ages of its existence. To reject it in either case, because
the modus operandi cannot be scanned by human perspica¬
city, would argue an ignorance as profound as the arrogance
evinced by such a course is insolent. To us, it is enough to
know that, up to the close of the sacred canon, the only au¬
thorization of the Gospel ministry, accredited by the Church,
was the designation of the party, whether apostle, evangelist,
pastor, or deacon, by the Holy Ghost, to the work he was to
perform. Whatever ceremonies were employed, in the re¬
cognition of their authority, by the Church, the authority
itself was received from Jesus Christ, by the agency of the
Holy Ghost.
II. We next inquire into the QUALIFICATION, indispens¬
able in a minister of the Gospel.
We say, indispensable qualification; for, in our view, there
can be but one such qualification. Much might be said of
incidental and subsidiary qualifications) but a consideration
of these does not enter into the scope of our present design.
The qualification, of which we would treat, is that without
which man may not rightfully be a preacher of the Gospel;
and,
1. We cannot admit that any definitely determinable
amount of intellectual capacity can be regarded as such a
qualification. We have reason to believe that, in this re¬
spect, there was great diversity among the first ministers of
the Gospel) and that a like diversity has characterized that
class of men in all ages since. Nor are we prepared to admit
that the usefulness of a minister of the Gospel will be in
proportion to the amount of his intellectual capability. " The
weak things of the world," in the operation of His plan of
saving men, is often, by the Great Head of the Church, made
to " confound the mighty;" and while the eloquence of
Apollos, not unfrequently pleases the imagination of the
hearer, and leaves his heart unmoved, the unpolished and
12
THE GOSPEL MINISTRY.
unpretending simplicity of Jolin takes hold on the heart and
conscience, and brings the whole man, subdued and repenting,
to the cross of his Master. All else being equal, we doubt
not that a man of superior intellect will accomplish more, in
the ministry, than would be accomplished by one greatly his
inferior in this respect. Still, we repeat, that no definitely
determinable amount of intellectual capability is an indis¬
pensable qualification of a preacher of the Gospel. Neither,
2. Can we allow that any specific proficiency in human
learning can be properly regarded as such a qualification. We
confess to no little surprise that Churches, professing to be
guided, as well in ecclesiastical regulations as in Christian
and moral duty, should require, as preliminary to a recog¬
nition of ministerial authority, a specified knowledge of
learned languages, and a prescribed course of theological
training. Do they not know that, of some eighteen primitive
ministers of the Gospel, concerning whom we have informa¬
tion, only two can be reasonably supposed to have had any
pretention to scholarship, when they were chosen to that
office directly by Jesus Christ, or by the designation of the
Holy Ghost ? The rest, we have the authority of St. Luke
for saying, were "unlearned and ignorant men I" The main
reason for this sort of selection, assigned by the only very
learned man in the early ministry, was not peculiar to prim¬
itive times, but will remain in force, as long as a disposition
to infidelity shall continue in the world. It is that, from the
inadequacy of the ministry, in human estimation, " the ex¬
cellency of the power may be of God, and not of men."
Were all the preachers of the Gospel men of superior attain¬
ments in letters and science the presumption, that the suc¬
cess of the Gospel was the result of priestcraft and human
advantages, would be strong and prevailing. There are other
reasons which justify the wisdom of this early employment
of " unlearned and ignorant men," in the ministry of the
Gospel, and which indicate the importance of continuing to
do so, as long as the mass of mankind continue unlearned
and ignorant. It is a well known fact, that those who have
received a learned education, are not - readily understood by
the masses, even when there is nothing pedantic and little
that is technical in their style of speaking. And this is
seldom the case with recent graduates of learned Institutions,
THE GOSPEL MINISTRY.
13
whether literary or theological. At least, those masses much
more readily understand those who have arisen from among
themselves. There is an idiom—a dialect peculiar to each
class—which, though involving no radical difference, is prac¬
tically very different from that of all other classes, in the
impression it makes on the class to which it is appropriate.
Ilabits of thinking and feeling, moreover, are greatly different
in the liberal scholar and in the man from the masses; and
the congeniality of those of the latter with those of the mul¬
titude to he instructed and moved by the Gospel, gives the
unlearned preacher an advantage, which more than counter¬
balances the advantage of a learned education. One great
cause of the unparalleled influence, wielded by Napoleon Bona¬
parte, was that he rose from the ranks of the people—could
address them in their peculiar idiom—knew, and could act
directly upon their habits of thought and feeling. Besides
this, the esprit du corps, which always exercises great influence
on men in society, renders the man of the people peculiarly
effective with the people, as well in the ministry of the Gospel
as in other departments of social influence.
The proportion of learned men in the primitive ministry
of the Gospel—say one-ninth of the whole number—was,
doubtless, adequate to the demand for that description of
preachers. If it had not been so, infinite Wisdom would, no
doubt, have increased the proportion. And, we give it as
our decided persuasion that that proportion has ever been and
is now fully adequate to not merely the necessity but to the
expediency of the case. Our reasonings on this subject
might mislead us; but, we have had practical demonstration
that the conclusion at which we have arrived is reliable truth.
The Methodist ministry have, like the first apostles, been
mostly, in the beginning of their ministry, u unlearned and
ignorant men." And yet in the little more than one hun¬
dred years, in which they have been preaching the Gospel,
God has accomplished by them greatly more than by any
sect, which required its ministry to be learned. Mr. Wesley,
in the outset, as was perfectly natural, believed that classical
and theological training were indispensable to a preacher of
the Gospel. Hence, when he heard that Thomas Maxwell
was preaching the Gospel, he determined promptly to forbid
him. His mother, in whose piety and good judgment Mr.
7
14
THE GOSPEL MINISTRY.
Wesley reposed great and deserved confidence, learning hig
purpose, very earnestly and solemnly admonished him to be¬
ware what he should do; adding, " God has as certainly called
Thomas Maxwell to preach as He has you." He, thereupon,
changed his purpose, resolving himself to hear Maxwell, and
to he governed by circumstances. The result was, that he
not only sanctioned Maxwell's preaching, but adopted, as a
leading part of his system, the employment of unlearned
men, whom he regarded as anointed by the Holy Ghost to
preach the Gospel. Not only Methodism, but the world also,
has had cause to rejoice at this return to a distinguishing
usage of the primitive Church of Christ. Men have thus
been found, prepared by early habits and by congeniality of
feeling with the people, to go everywhere and preach the
Gospel appropriately to all classes of the people. The col¬
liers and other miners in England, the hovel-tenants of Ire¬
land and the ever-spreading inhabitants of the American
frontiers have, in their own style of thinking and feeling,
been taught the truths of the Gospel, and have been moved
by them to repent and turn to God.
The British Wesleyans have, to a great extent, forsaken
the course adopted by their wise founder. They unwisely
concluded that they must be like other Christian sects, in the
scholastic preparation of their candidates for the ministry.
They accordingly have their theological schools, in which
they train men, whom they believe called of God to the min¬
istry, in theological lore; and they now have, and glory in
having, a learned body of preachers. Meantime, as a conse¬
quence of this and of their having splendid churches, with
organs and pews, Ichabod is written upon the front of their
pulpits.—By their own confession, " They have ceased to be,
par excellence, the preachers of the poor." Their "glorying is
not good." They have surrendered the brightest jewel in
their "crown of rejoicing," for what they ought to have
known was, at best, of doubtful advantage. And, is there
not too much reason to believe that there is a growing predi¬
lection for the same folly, among American and even Southern,
Methodists ? True: we, in the South, are not yet prepared to
adopt theological institutions in form, and to name them so
before the Church and the world. But, are not measures
contemplated, desired and urged, by leading men among us,
THE GOSPEL MINISTRY.
15
that would incur all the evils of the system, without securing
all the advantages it may confer ?
Theological institutions accomplish their object in one of
two ways, both of which appear to us exceedingly reprehen¬
sible. They either select youths, who are deemed by those
who have superintendence in the matter, to be suitable per¬
sons of whom to make preachers of the Gospel, but who,
nevertheless, have given no evidence of their Divine vocation
to that office; or, they select young men, who have given
satisfaction, in regard to their being "moved by the Holy
Ghost" to preach the word of life; and these persons, so se¬
lected, are trained up in classical learning, if not previously
thus taught, and in a theological course. On the first suppo¬
sition, is there not abundant reason to apprehend that many
will be obtruded on the Church, as ministers of the Gospel,
whom God has not "anointed with the Holy Ghost," for that
work ? On the second supposition, God is practically notified
that He does not understand His business—that, it is true,
He has poured out His Spirit on these young men, and
anointed them to preach the Gospel; but, they are not quali¬
fied for the work—that these institutions will considerately
supply the lack, which seems to have been overlooked by
Him; and, then, they will recognize the authority He hat.
conferred upon them — hut, not till then! Thus: from three
to six years, of that brief life-time, which God Himself had
consecrated to the preaching of the Gospel, are sacrilegiously
diverted to a purpose which has no countenance from the
"Word of God. We should feel as fully justified in suspend¬
ing any law, or opposing any purpose of God, for an equal
length of time, as to thus hold back a man, whom we believed
God had bidden to "go, and preach the Gospel," that, for¬
sooth, we might supply him with qualification! Most sin¬
cerely and earnestly do we entreat that God will preserve our
Southern Methodism from theological institutions, and from
every arrangement, which, under whatever name, would have
the same deleterious tendency!
It may be tauntingly asked, " Are you, then, in favor of
having an ignorant ministry!" We answer —' By no means!'
Nor, will it result, that such will be the character of a minis¬
try, from the fact that "unlearned and ignorant men" are
admitted into it. There is no situation in which a man can
16
the gospel ministry.
bo well acquire the knowledge proper to a minister of the
Gospel, as in the frequent practice of preaching that Gospel,
combined with diligent study of the Gospel to be preached.
We would here say, that no man is fit to be a preacher, who
is not thus diligent in study. He who thus preaches and
studies, all other things being equal, will be, at the end of
the scholastic term of the student in a theological seminary,
a much abler preacher than his learned brother, and will
always retain that superiority. Though the disadvantages
in regard to study, under which early Methodist preachers, in
every country, have had to labor, have been very great, we
hazard nothing in affirming that no abler ministry of the
Gospel than the Methodist has existed, cotemporary with
them, in any Christian community. It is readily admitted
that other bodies of clergy have known more of philology, of
science, and of philosophy than they knew; but, then, a know¬
ledge of these, however desirable and important, enters sparing¬
ly into a qualification for the Gospel ministry; while an undue
attention to them, -the temptation to which, in a scholar, is
very strong, may operate deleteriously upon such qualifica¬
tion, by engrossing too much of the time and thought of the
preacher.
We have heard a graphic and deeply interesting account,
from the celebrated John Newland Maffitt, which we consi¬
der so apposite to the views we have been presenting, that
we shall give an outline of it here. An Irishman, named
Thomas Brown, was converted to God, and was called of God
to the ministry of the Gospel. But he was ignorant, not
only of classical literature, science, and philosophy, but even
of the elements of his own language—he did not know the
Alphabet. He was so strongly persuaded that it was his
duty to preach the salvation which he had experienced to
his fellow sinners, that, though discouraged and repulsed
several times, by those under whose sanction he wished to
discharge the duty, he could not be prevailed upon to relin¬
quish his purpose. He finally, after much earnest entreaty,
obtained leave to address the Irish Conference on the subject.
He began his address, by confessing his total ignorance of
letters, but claimed to have a knowledge of Jesus Christ as
his Saviour. He avowed his vocation to the ministry, and
his intense desire to engage in the work. He supposed that
THE GOSPEL MINISTRY. 17
tliere might be some position in the Conference so dark, so
abounding in wickedness, and witbal so poor, that none
of the preachers would be willing to receive their appoint¬
ment to labor in it, and begged earnestly that, if there was so
forlorn a position, he might be employed to occupy it. Such
were the strong sense, the fervent piety, the ardent love to
God and to souls, and the deep humility evinced by his ad¬
dress, that the Conference consented to try him ; and he was
assigned to a circuit, answering pretty accurately to the kind
of one he had supposed in his address. As soon as he knew
that he was employed by the Conference, he went to a book¬
seller, and procured a spelling book, a dictionary, and a gram¬
mar ; and, with these, hastened to his field of labor, where,
by mingling intense study with fervent prayer, he made such
rapid progress that, by the end of the year, when he preached
a trial sermon before the Conference, he was judged capable
of sustaining himself in an enlightened community, to which
he was accordingly appointed. In the meantime, Giod had
blessed his word in the region of darkness and poverty in
which he had labored, in the awakening and conversion of
many blood-bought immortals. And, in about an equal term
with that employed in preparing a man, under theological
training, to enter the ministry, this man, so utterly illiterate
when he commenced preaching, had effectively and usefully
served some five or six circuits, had been the instrument of
salvation to, perhaps, hundreds of souls, and had made such
progress in ministerial qualification, that he took rank among
the ablest ministers of the Conference, and was well fitted to
preach the Gospel to the most enlightened and even fasti
dious audiences. We, ourselves, have known many cases,
similar in nature to this, though none, perhaps, quite so
Rtrongly marked. Not a few of the ablest preachers in
American Methodism, have been, when admitted on trial in
our ministry, scarcely able to spell out a hymn or a chapter
in the Bible. That they were doing the work assigned them
by the Great Head of the Church, was evident from the emi
nent success of their labors from their very commencement.
While, at the same time, the rapid improvement they made,
in ministerial qualification, showed, unmistakably, that they
were at school in the very best sort of theological seminary
for making ministers of the Gospel. We cannot, therefore
2*
18
THE GOSPEL MINISTRY.
admit tliat any specific amount of literary or theological edu¬
cation, taught by man, is an indispensable qualification for
preaching the G-ospel: but,
3. We do consider the unction of the Holy Ghost such a
qualification—a qualification, without which no man, whatever
may be his natural talents or his education, is prepared for
this important work. With this qualification, we hold that
he is prepared for that work, whatever be the grade of his
intellect, or however deficient he may be in mental culture
and acquisition. For we consider it too plain a truth to he
questioned, that, if God calls a man to any work, He either
finds or renders him qualified for that work. To suppose
otherwise, is to impugn the Divine wisdom. The " unlearned
and ignorant" apostles were commanded to delay their preach¬
ing of the Gospel of their risen Saviour. But it was not
commanded them to delay that they might be qualified by
human teaching for the work, but that they might receive,
according to the Divine promise, the effusion of the Holy
Ghost; and, thus, "be endued with power from on high."
We have no intimation in the sacred volume, that God ever
did or ever will "pour out the gift of the Holy Ghost" upon
any man, with a view to a prospective ministry of the Gospel.
So far as we have any intimation on the subject, it is the in¬
tention of God that, when His Holy Spirit moves any one to
preach the Gospel, he shall immediately engage in the work.
One man said to Jesus, doubtless influenced to do so by the
Holy Ghost, "Lord! I will follow thee;" but added, from
views of his own, " Suffer me first to go and bury my father.
"But, Jesus said to him, let the dead bury their dead, hut
go thou and preach the Gospel." When Jesus, soon after
making disciples of the twelve "unlearned and ignorant men"
—fishermen, publicans, fullers, etc., ordained them to he His
apostles, and sent them forth to preach, how, think you, would
lie have received a remonstrance from them, in the spirit of
modem preparation for the ministry ? Had they said to Him,
' Master ! we are not qualified. Allow us to spend some three
years, at least, under the tuition of some approved doctor, in
acquiring literary and theological preparation for the work'—
what would probably have been his reply ? Would He not,
most probably have replied to them kindly, but reprovingly,
* It is for you to obey—it is mine to judge of the qualifica-
THE GOSPEL MINISTRY.
19
tions you need, for the work I have assigned to you. I will
he with you; and, "unlearned and ignorant" as you are, "I
will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries
shall not he ahle to gainsay or to resist."' At any rate, we
feel assured that any application of this kind, on the part of
the apostles, would have heen promptly declined by the
Saviour. They, however, had too much confidence in the
wisdom of Him, from whom they received their appointment,
to make any such application.
One of the most remarkable instances we have ever known,
of dependence on the "unction of the Holy One," as a quali-
fication to preach the Gospel, was in the case of the Rev.
Mark Moore. He affirmed that he never could preach with
any success, unless he was conscious of such an unction at the
time. We have heard him often, when he was without this
consciousness; and, on such accasions, he was wanting in
every thing requisite in an able preacher of the Gospel. His
mind was dark, his intellectual operations slow, hesitating and
inconclusive—his manner was vapid, unimpressive and tire¬
some in the extreme. There was no life, no energy, no
efficiency in his discourse. But, when, as was generally the
case, he came before an audience, assured of his heavenly
calling, few, that we have ever heard, could be compared
with him, in clearness of conception, rapidity and closeness
of connected thought, life, vigor and effectiveness of manner.
We have seen thousands entranced, overwhelmed, aroused,
kindled and carried away, by the resistless force of his in¬
spired eloquence. On one occasion, especially, at a Camp-
meeting, held at Bethel Camp-ground, we saw a congregation,
of from four to five thousand, moved, in a manner we have
never before or since witnessed, by one of his discourses, de¬
livered under the influence of a present unction of the Holy
Ghost. His discourse, on this occasion, was like the spear
of Ithuriel. At its touch, every man, in that large congre¬
gation, was made to exhibit his true relation to the religion
of the Gospel — every man but one. One poor stolid sot
seemed wholly unmoved, as "being past feeling." With
that one exception, all were moved — appropriately moved.
Those, who came to the ground thoughtless, were now absorb¬
ed in deeply interested concern : the guilty paled and trembled
with fear: the penitent was earnest in supplication for mercy;
20
the gospel ministry.
and the " saints shouted aloud for joy." The unction of the
Holy Ghost, we regard as an ample qualification for a preacher
of the Gospel—the only indispensable qualification, but by no
means excusing the preacher from studying to show himself
approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be
ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. "We proceed
dow to consider,
III. The work, to which the Holy Ghost is said, in the
text, to have anointed the Messiah, and to which all the sub¬
ordinates of the Messiah, in this office, are anointed by Him.
This work properly consists of two parts—To preach good
tidings to the meek, and the acceptable year of the Lord, to
the human race in general—and. to proclaim the day of ven¬
geance of our God. To each of these, and to the purposes
to he effected by them, we shall now invite attention. Tbe
first part of the work, committed to a minister of the Gospel,
by the unction of the Holy Ghost, is the preaching of good
tidings to the meek and the acceptable, or propitious year of
the Lord to mankind generally. That which we regard as
the first thing that demands our present consideration, is tbe
description of persons to whom good tidings are to be preached,
by the minister of the Gospel. They are here called "the
meek."—In the Gospel, where this prophetic passage is ap¬
propriated to Himself by the Messiah, their designation is
"the poor." The meaning conveyed by one appellative is,
doubtless, the meaning proper to the other. Hut, who are
the meek—the poor—to whom the good tidings are to be
joreached ? We presume, from the purpose to be accom¬
plished by the preaching, they are the poor in spirit, the
penitent for sin, the humble-minded and submissive; who
ask, in the language and spirit of the awakened, humbled
and penitent Saul of Tarsus, " Lord, what wilt thou have me
to do?"—who pray with the earnestness and humility of the
Publican, " God be merciful to me, a sinner!" The pro¬
priety of supposing that such are the persons, to whom the
good tidings are to be preached, will appear, we think, from
the effects ascribed to such preaching; and to these we shall
presently invite special attention. But, we must first inquire
what these good tidings are, which the minister of the Gospel
is to preach to the meek.
These good tidings are, in general, that" God so loved the
world, that He gave His only-begotten Son—to be a pro
the gospel ministry.
21
pitiation for the sins of the whole world"—that this Son
"tasted death for every man"—that "He bore our sins in
His own body on the tree"—that " He was wounded for our
transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities," and that, " by
His stripes, we are healed"—that " He died for our sins, and
was raised again for our justification"—that, after he had
risen from the dead, " He ascended up on high, led captivity
captive and received gifts for men, yea for the rebellious"—■
that " He ever liveth, at the right hand of the Father, to
make intercession for us j" sending down, thence, " the Com¬
forter, the Holy Ghost," who is the great and only compe¬
tent agent, in the regeneration of lapsed moral nature, and
the only reliable witness to man of pardon, adoption and ac¬
ceptance with God—that, through the agency of this Spirit,
and by virtue of the merits and intercession of the crucified,
risen and interceding Saviour, Jesus Christ, the sinner may
attain to pardon, regeneration and sanctification—may be re¬
stored to the Divine favor and image, and to the glorious and
incorruptible inheritance of a son of God. These were em¬
phatically tidings, when first announced. For who could
have conceived the possibility that a holy and just God,
grievously offended and insulted by human transgression,
would, on any consideration, receive the rebel back to favor ?
Much more strange it must seem, that He, Himself, moved
by His own love for the offender, should devise the plan of
man's restoration, and most wondrous of all, that this plan
should be based upon the surrender of His only-begotten Son,
to humiliation, ignominy, suffering and death. Is it wonder¬
ful that angels desire to look into a scheme so utterly un¬
imaginable till revealed ? These were tidings emphatically—■
news to heaven and earth, not dreamed of in the philosophy
of either. And, as they were emphatically tidings, so they
were, beyond all comparison, all human hope or imagination,
good tidings. Man, wallowing in degradation and corrup¬
tion, overwhelmed with guilt and in prospect of eternal woe,
is, by these tidings, shown a way of escape from the " horrible
pit," into which he had fallen — an expiation of the guilt,
which he had incurred; and the means of preservation from
the damnation of hell, deserved by him. Not only are these
things revealed to him, but he is kindly and with importunate
iteration urged to " lay hold upon the hope set before him,"
in the ample provision made for his salvation by Jesus Christ.
7*
22
the gospel ministry.
Goodness devised the plan of man's redemption—Goodness,
Oh, what matchless goodness! carried that plan into execu¬
tion, through humiliation, and tears, and blood, and death—■
Goodness, too, revealed that plan to man, in his outcast, for¬
lorn and hopeless condition. How good are these tidings!
But, their goodness will be more clearly seen in the eflects
produced by them, to which we now invite attention ; and,
1. The first effect to be produced, is to bind up the broken¬
hearted. Excessive grief, no matter by what means excited,
is very generally expressed by the phrase a broken heart.
The penitent, who sees himself a rebel against God, drinks
the very dregs of the cup of grief. In every aspect of his
case, there is cause of bitter sorrow. He against whom his
sins have offended is infinitely greater than the greatest of
all creatures—is infinitely better than the best—and has laid
man under the weightiest obligations, to which he could be
subjected, to render gratitude, devotion and obedience to Him.
He, therefore, finds himself inculpated in the lowest grade
of the basest and most degrading vice, of which a moral being
can be guilty—of ingratitude towards a munificent Benefactor.
"A man may sustain his infirmities; but, a wounded spirit,
who can bear?" Who can endure the goading reproaches of
his own conviction, that he has thus debased and dishonored
himself ? Who can bear the thought that he has rendered
himself an object of pity, or of scorn to the intelligent uni¬
verse ?—That all may point at him, and say, That is an
ingrate? Above these, he must rank the just appreciation
of his degradation, by that infinitely perfect Being, towards
whom his vile ingratitude has been directed. And who, with
a strong conviction of all this, but must feel inexpressible
grief, that he has thus degraded himself? But the penitent
not only sees himself thus debased and humiliated in the eyes
of all, but that he is a mischievous disturber of the order and
harmony of the moral world, on which its happiness abso¬
lutely depends. When God brought the world into existence,
and pronounced it "very good," universal order and harmony
prevailed. Every department of the great whole was not only
the scene of beauty and felicity, but, relatively to every other
department, moved on, not only innocuously, but with sub¬
sidiary influence: so that all parts ministered to the beauty
and happiness of the whole. But sin came; and " harmony
was jangled out of tune." Dislocation and opposition of
THE GOSPEL MINISTRY
23
puts prevailed. Disorder, confusion, hostility and conflict
raged. And earth, became, what it has still continued to be,—
a scene of outrage and woe. And, what heart can fail to feel
intense anguish, under a conviction of participation in so much
mischief ? Again: the penitent is convicted in his own con¬
science of rebellion against rightful sovereignty—a sovereignty
not rightful merely as being vested in one who justly claims
it, but which is exercised, in all things, upon the strictest
principles of right; and, especially, is administered for the
greatest good of the subject. Opposition to usurped authority,
especially where that authority is wielded to the oppression
of the subject, deserves not merely indulgence but praise;
but, everywhere, rebellion against rightful sovereignty, righte¬
ously administered, has ever been considered a most heinous
and detestable crime. And of such a crime the conscience
of the penitent sinner finds him guilty—a circumstance well
calculated to agonize the soul! But, the aspect of his case,
which occasions the most heart-piercing sorrow to the peni¬
tent, is the humiliation, suffering and death which his sins
occasioned to his compassionate Redeemer. The utmost enor¬
mity of sin is seen in the agonies of the Son of God as He
hangs on the cross, oppressed by the weight of a world's
transgression. The heart of the penitent, bruised by a sense
of his degradation, as an ingrate towards Divine munificence—
by a conviction of the deleterious influence his sin has exerted,
in disturbing the order and harmony and destroying the hap¬
piness of the world—by the conscious guilt of rebellion,
against the authority of his rightful and righteous Sovereign,
breaks, outright, when the consequences of his sins, in the
tragedy of Calvary, are brought home to his conviction. This
is finely expressed by the poet—
" I saw one hanging on a tree,
In agonies and blood:
Who fix'd his languid eyes on me,
As near His cross I stood.
" Sure, never, to my latest breath,
Can I forget that look—
It seem'd to charge me with His death;
Though not a word He spoke.
"My conscience felt, and own'd the guilt,
And plung'd me in despair."
Newton.
It were utterly vain to attempt a description of the grief,
24
THE GOSPEL MINISTRY.
which agonizes the bosom of the penitent, under these accu¬
mulated convictions of his delinquency and degradation. The
text, in calling him broken-hearted, expresses more than could
be expressed by the most elaborate and graphic representation
of which we are capable. We shall not, therefore, dwell fur¬
ther upon the subject.
To heal a broken heart, transcends the skill of man. All
human attempts at consolation, in cases of deeply-seated
sorrow, are always unavailing, and often fall, upon the heart
of the sufferer, as grating discords upon the ear. Shakspeare
was aware of this, when he made the Doctor, in Macbeth, to
acknowledge his utter incapability to
"Minister to a mind diseased—
Pluck from the memory a rooted sorrow—
Raze out the written troubles of the brain;
Or, with some sweet oblivious antidote,
Cleanse the stuff'd bosom of that perilous stuff,
Which weighs upon the heart."
It is true that, where guilt does not rankle in the wound,
time and favorable circumstances, the sympathy and kindness
of friends especially, may heal the lacerations of the heart,
and soothe the troubled bosom into tranquillity. But, the
presence of guilt and self-reproach will baffle all human ap¬
pliances and all the influence of time, in healing the broken
heart. But, what cannot be thus achieved, the good tidings
are intended to accomplish, and will, most certainly, accom¬
plish, if those tidings are properly received and acted upon,
by those to whom they are addressed. These tidings an¬
nounce a Physician, whose skill is fully adequate to the dif¬
ficulty of the case, and whose remedies are of infallible efficacy.
All He requires of the broken-hearted, in order to their cure,
are firm trust and confidence in His skill and in the efficacy
of His appliances, and a strict observance of His directions
He will bind up the broken heart, with the propitiation,
which He provided, when He wove the web of man's re¬
demption, and will pour into its wounds the balsam, which
exuded from the Tree of Life, when it was bruised on Calvary.
Healthful actions shall thus be restored; and the heart, thus
made whole, shall pour the tide of life and joy through the
whole moral system, renovating it into the image of the
Creator.
THE GOSPEL MINISTRY.
2: The second effect of these good tidings is the liberation
of the captive from his prison-house and Ms captivity. Our
blessed Lord says, John viii. 34, " Whosoever committeth
sin, is the servant of sin;" and the Apostle Paul asks, Rom,,
vi. 16, " Know ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves ser¬
vants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether
of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness ?" The
captivity and imprisonment, spoken of in the text, must,
therefore, be understood as the thraldom to sin. Of this
thraldom, the unawakened sinner has little, if any, conscious¬
ness. The corruptions of his heart, falling in readily with the
promptings of sin, there is no painful collision, to render him
sensible of his slavery. " He is led captive by the devil"—
the great embodiment of sin—" at his will," unresistingly, with
the persuasion of entire freedom in the course which he is
pursuing. But, when the sinner is brought to a knowledge
and sense of his true condition, he finds that the " good which
he would, he does not;" and that " the evil which he would
not, that he does." He now finds himself a captive, endun-
geoned in vile corruption ■—• fettered by evil habits, strong
as adamant — a lawful captive, having voluntarily yielded
himself a slave to sin. He would fain break forth from his
hateful prison-house; but, its stronger than brazen gates re¬
sist successfully his most vigorous efforts. His struggles en¬
tangle him more and more inextricably in the vile fetters,
which sin has fastened upon him. He would challenge his
freedom as a right; but, the law, stern in its exactions,
spreads before him the indenture, by which he has sold him¬
self under the dominion of sin, and claims that this instrument
shall be cancelled, before liberty can be obtained. In the
anguish of his soul, now utterly desperate of his own resources,
the penitent exclaims, " 0, wretched man that I am ! Who
shall deliver me ?" The good tidings, sent to the poor in
spirit, respond, in the person of Christ, to this agonizing cry,
" I, that speak in righteousness, mighty to save !" "In me
is thy help found." Such is the voice of Jesus, proclaimed
in the good tidings preached to the meek. He ransomed
these captives, by laying down His own life in their stead.
By this ransom-price, the indenture of their slavery is can¬
celled, or transferred to Him: so that He now claims them,
as bought with an adequate price. Hence, the law may no
3
26
THE GOSPEL MINISTRY.
longer assign them to the dominion of sin. Having a valid
claim on these captives, He will see to it that no power in
the universe, save that with which He Himself has endued
them — their own moral agency — shall prevent Him from
setting them free — free from the dominion of sin, of moral
corruption and of evil habit. Before His presence, the gates
of their prison-house open of their own accord. At his touch
or word, their fetters unlink and fall off. At His command,
the sentence of their captivity is reversed. "Whom the Son
shall make free, they shall be free indeed"—being transferred
to the "service of Glod," which "is perfect freedom."
3. The third effect of these good tidings is, to change the
mourning and heaviness of the penitent into beauty, joy and
praise. That the heart-broken, the prisoner and the captive
should mourn and be in heaviness, was naturally to be ex¬
pected. That this mourning and heaviness should wan the
complexion, emaciate the features and destroy all sprightliness
of expression, and, thereby, destroy the beauty of the human
countenance were inevitable. But, when the broken-hearted
was bound up and healed — when the prisoner, unfettered,
was led forth of his prison-house — and when liberty was pro¬
claimed to the captive of sin — when the dominion of sin was
exchanged for the service of Grod, and its guilt replaced by
assurance of justification, the mourner was comforted — his
sorrow was exchanged for joy, and his heaviness, under which
he had been bowed down, was cast off, as a clothing of sack
cloth, and the garment of praise was assumed in its stead.
How soon, in such circumstances, would the beauty of the
countenance be restored ! Who has not seen this effect pro¬
duced, 'almost instantaneously, by the comfort which mourners
received, when the sweet voice of the good tidings has pro¬
claimed liberty to the captives; and, when the soft, skillful
hand of the great Physician has bound up and soothed the
anguish of the broken, bleeding heart ? We have rejoiced to
witness this, in hundreds of instances. We have seen the
countenance, haggard with grief and cast down with heavi¬
ness, lighted up, in a moment, by the comfort thus imparted
to the soul. We have seen the beauty of joyous expression
instantly replace the lines of anguish and horror, which had
marred the countenance of the penitent. Thus, are not only
appointed, but actually given to them " beauty, for ashes —
THE GOSPEL MINISTRY.
27
the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for
the spirit of heaviness/' And, must their gratitude burn
silently and unseen, in their own bosoms alone ? Oh, no :
let them publish, to all around, the goodness of their Saviour!
Let them wear His praise, as a garment — as an ornamental
garment. Let them cry to all around them, " Come hither,
all ye that fear God, and I will declare unto you what He
hath done for my soul Let them " shout unto God, with
the voice of triumph," and say, " 0, Lord ! I will praise thee:
though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away,
and thou comfortest me." Shall this be censured, as inde¬
cent and disorderly ? God forbid! Nay, on the contrary,
let all encourage them to " break forth into joy, and to shout
from the tops of the mountains — for praise is comely for the
upright "—for such as, having been cast into the lowest pit,
overwhelmed with sorrow, heaviness and guilt, are brought
forth to liberty and joy, and set upright on their feet, and
established in their goings, in the way of righteousness. "A
new song is put into their mouth"—"Let them sing aloud
unto God, in the height of Zion."
4. The fourth effect intended to be produced by the preach¬
ing of these good tidings to the meek is, that they may be called
" trees of righteousness — the planting of the Lord." To be
called, in Scripture phraseology, is often of the same signifi¬
cation as to be known to be. Thus : " His name shall be called
Wonderful, Counsellor," etc. " Therefore, that holy thing,
which shall be born of thee, shall be called the Son of God."
This form of speech is too well known and too frequent in the
sacred writings to need to be insisted on farther. The mean¬
ing of this part of our text, then, we take to be, that they may
be trees of righteousness—the planting of the Lord, and
known as such. This is figurative language; but, we suppose,
there can be no difficulty in understanding the meaning of
the figure. When the Saviour " spake of making the tree good,"
his meaning was, doubtless, the same that is here intended.
That meaning is, we suppose, that man is brought, by the in¬
fluence of divine grace, into a good or righteous state in which
he may bring forth good fruit—the fruits of righteousness—
fruit unto holiness; or, plainly, that he may perform good
works acceptable to God. The whole tenor of New Testament
teaching, as well as that of our Articles of Religion, is, that
28
THE GOSPEL MINISTRY.
"the condition of man, after the fall of Adam, is such that
he cannot turn and prepare himself, by his own strength and
works, to faith and calling upon God; wherefore, we have no
power to do good works, pleasant and acceptable to God, with¬
out the grace of God by Christ preventing us, that we may
have a good will, and working with us, when we have that
good will." Hence, trees of righteousness, of the fallen race
of Adam, can be such only by the planting of the Lord.
That is, they cannot do that which is good, till they are
"created in Christ Jesus unto good works." When, there¬
fore, the preaching of good tidings to the meek is represented
as bringing them into the state in which they are to be called
" trees of righteousness—the planting of the Lord," we are to
understand that they have been converted—made new crea¬
tures— "created in Christ Jesus unto good works"—that
they are " born again "—" born again, not of corruptible seed,
but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and
abideth for ever." In this state, they may maintain a good
conscience—" a conscience void of offence, both towards God
and towards man"—may "walk before God to all pleasing."
The other branch of this first part of the work, to be per¬
formed by the preacher of the gospel, is to proclaim the
acceptable year of the Lord to mankind generally. By ac¬
ceptable year of the Lord, we are to understand a protracted
season of grace, in which it is acceptable to God for sinners
to embrace the overtures of salvation made to them in the
Gospel — a propitious season, in which God is willing, waits
and entreats of the sinner permission to be gracious to him :—
in which he exhausts every resource of warning, threatening,
entreaty, and exhortation, to bring the sinner to repentance,
and to return to himself, that " he may obtain mercy, and
find grace to help in his time of need." The effort to accom¬
plish this merciful purpose, commences with the solemn admo¬
nition, " Awake, thou that sleepest! and arise from the dead;
and Christ shall give thee light,"—announces to the sinner, in
the person of the compassionate Saviour, " Behold ! I stand
at the door and knock : if any man hear my voice, and open
the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and
he with me." It expostulates with him, in the most earnest
manner—" As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure
in the death of him that dieth. Turn ye ! turn ye ! for why
THE GOSPEL MINISTRY.
29
will ye die ? It urges the love of God, the compassion, suffer¬
ing, and death of the Son of God, as motives to engage the
sinner to repent, and to seek the salvation of his soul.—It
reminds him of the patience, the forbearance, and the long-
suffering, with which God has endured their neglect, their
opposition, and their hostility—intending, by this great "good¬
ness, to lead them to repentance," to gratitude, and to sub¬
mission— and, it warns them faithfully of the danger of
quenching the Spirit, and, of exhausting such riches of mercy
as God has invested in the enterprise of their salvation.
That the acceptable year of the Lord is to he proclaimed to
mankind generally, admits of no question, if the Scriptures
are to be understood according to their obvious signification.
The prophet Isaiah, speaking in the person of God, says
" Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth !"
Our blessed Saviour, when he sent his Apostles forth, to preach
the acceptable year of the Lord, bade them to " go into all
the world, and preach his Gospel to every creature," inform¬
ing them that "he that believeth and is baptized shall be
saved." The grounds of this are given by St. Paul, who,
speaking of God, says, " Who will have all men to be saved;"
and who declares that Jesus Christ, " by the grace of God,
tasted death for every man." To all men everywhere, there¬
fore, is the propitious season to be proclaimed. The angel,
whom St. John saw "flying through the midst of heaven,
having the everlasting Gospel to preach unto them that dwell
on the earth, and to every nation, and. kindred, and tongue,
and people" represents, we suppose, not an individual celes¬
tial being, but the Gospel ministry, diligently, zealously,
and successfully spreading abroad among all nations and in
all languages, the news of salvation through a Redeemer, and
the gracious and urgent invitations of God " to all men every¬
where," to accept that salvation while the propitious season
continues.
The second part of the work, assigned to those who are
anointed by the Holy Ghost to the ministry of the Gospel, is
to proclaim the day of vengeance of our God. This, though
far less agreeable than the other part of their work, is equally
important to man, and equally due to God. The poet has
truly said, "A God all mercy, is a God unjust." Man ought
to know that, if he permit the propitious season, of offered
30
THE GOSPEL MINISTRY.
mercy, to pass "unimproved, lie must meet and endure the
day of God's righteous indignation. He ought to know it,
that he may determine prudently. "The prudent man,"
when he "foreseeth the evil, hideth himself." The same
divine instruction, to the Apostles, which directed them to
announce that "he that believeth and is baptized shall be
saved," contains an equally strong assurance, that " he that
believeth not shall be damned." Reasonable beings might
well be expected, with " life and death thus set before them,"
to seek the former and shun the latter. At least, if they do
not, they will not only be without excuse, but they will have
no one to blame but themselves for the destiny of woe to
which they shall be assigned. God has done all he could to
save them, unless He had unmanned them, by doing violence
to their moral agency; and, this He could not do, without
abandoning ' His noblest purpose' in creation — that of mak¬
ing creatures in His own image — capable of high moral
excellence, and the happiness resulting from the performance
of moral duty. He would not, He could not, without ceasing
to be " without shadow of turning" thus reduce man to the
condition of a mere animated machine, incapable equally
of virtue and vice; for, we cannot conceive of a created
and subordinate moral being, who is capable of the former
and incapable of the latter. We have said that it was
due to God, as well as important to man, that the day of
vengeance of our God should he proclaimed by the minister of
the Gospel. It is from God that every human being is to
receive his assignment to eternal felicity or eternal woe; and,
it would dishonor God to suppose that He had permitted man
tc " work out his own damnation," without giving him warn
ing of what would be the end of the course he was pursuing.
All righteous governments make the penalty of transgression
equally public, as the law of which it is the sanction. Besides,
if the day of vengeance were not declared in connection with
the acceptable year of the Lord, God might be understood as
assuring salvation to all men, whether they should or should
not comply with the terms on which it was offered. Thus
would man be fatally deceived, and God greatly dishonored.
However painful it may be, therefore, the preacher of the
Gospel must proclaim to the world that there is coming a
day, in which "indignation and wrath, tribulation and an-
THE GOSPEL MINISTRY.
31
guish shall be upon every soul of man that doeth evil" —
that rejecteth the overtures of the Gospel. Let it be re¬
marked, that the season of mercy, the propitious time, is a
uear — a protracted season : while, the time of vengeance is
a day. Vengeance is God's strange work, reluctantly per¬
formed, delayed to the last day: so that, though "judgment
and justice are the habitation of His throne, mercy and truth
go before His face." Long and patiently, He seeks to save
— late and reluctantly, He punishes the finally impenitent.
IV. It remains to consider the ulterior purpose of the
ministry of the Gospel and its effects — That God may he
glorified.
To glorify God, should be the ever present, ever prevalent
purpose of every man, and, especially, of every one whom, by
the unction of the Holy Ghost, He hath set apart to proclaim
the Gospel to his fellow-men. To this, every other interest
should be strictly subordinated or sacrificed. Ease, wealth,
friends, health and life should be regarded and enjoyed, only
as they may be subservient to this paramount interest. By
glorifying God, we are to understand not only honoring Him
in our own appreciation of Him, but, more especially, com¬
mending him to others, by displaying the excellences of His
character — His 'wisdom, His goodness and His faithful¬
ness ;' His righteousness and His truth; His power, His holi¬
ness and His justice. All these attributes are remarkably
displayed in the preaching of good tidings to the meek, the
acceptable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our
God, to the whole human race, and in the purposes to be
accomplished by such preaching. What could, more strik¬
ingly, exhibit the wisdom and goodness of God, than the
plan of salvation, whereof the good tidings are an exhibition—
in which, without sacrificing the claims of law and justice,
the rebel, against the sovereign authority of God, may be
restored to the Divine favor, and be reinstated in the happi¬
ness forfeited by his rebellion? Or, what could more illus¬
trate the faithfulness, the righteousness and the truth, the
holiness, the justice and the power of God, than the complete
accomplishment of that plan, by the gift of His Son, "by the
agency of His Spirit and by the ministry of His Gospel ? The
result of this plan is that the dead in sin, are made alive to
God, the guilty are pardoned, the impure are cleansed, and
32
THE GOSPEL MINISTRY.
those that mourn are comforted and filled with joy — those,
who were slaves to sin, are made free, by being " created in
Christ Jesus unto good works;" and the obstinately wicked
are warned that, if they repent not, and do not receive the
Saviour, by a faith, which " worketh by love, purifying the
heart," there is no alternative, hut that they must be "de¬
stroyed, with an everlasting destruction, from the presence of
the Lord and from the glory of His power, in that day, when
He shall come to he glorified in his saints, and to be admired
of all them that believe." " God has so arranged matters, in
regard to the scheme of Redemption, its publication and its
results, that He will be glorified, let man purpose or act as
he may; but, to man himself, and particularly to the minister
of the Gospel, it is of the highest importance that he should
act, in all things, " with an eye single to the glory of God."
The highest honor, to which man can aspire, is to promote,
among his fellow-men, the manifestation of the glory of God.
None are placed in a more favorable position for this than is
the minister of the Gospel. It is strictly speaking, his high
calling; for, when he is most effectually ministering to the
salvation of his fellow-men, by his preaching, he is most suc¬
cessfully serving the purpose of Him, by whom he is called
to this great work.
How diligently, then, brethren! should we exert ourselves
to this end ! How patiently endure the hardships and priva¬
tions, incident to our sacred vocation ! Ours is a great work;
and, if we shall faithfully acquit ourselves in it, great will be
the reward. "Them, that honor me," saith God, "I will
honor." " They that turn many to righteousness, shall shine as
the stars, for ever and ever." Whatever else we may lack, may
we receive this honor; and thus shine, in the reflected glory
of our divine Master, when earth, itself, with all its glory,
shall have passed away; and when the bright sun shall bo
lost in perpetual darkness ! To God be all the glory, now and
evermore. Amen.
MINISTERIAL ABILITY:
A SERMON
DELIVERED BEFORE THE
Sflittl} Carolina Conftnittt,
ON SUNDAY EVENING, DEC. 2, 1855,
BY WILLIAM M. WIGHTMAN, D.D.,
PRESIDENT OP WOFFORD COLLEGE.
PUBLISHED BY BEQUEST OE THE CONFERENCE.
Ntosflbtlle, flTentt.:
PUBLISHED BY E. STEVENSON & F. A. OWEN, AGENTS,
FOR THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, SOUTH.
1857.
MINISTERIAL ABILITY.
" Our sufficiency is of God; who also hath made us able ministers
of the New Testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit; for the
letter killeth, but the spirit giyeth life."—2 Cor. iii. 5, 6.
The term New Testament sets the gospel dispensation in
contradistinction to the law, which was the Old Testament.
Both proceeded from Giod, the author and revealer of true reli¬
gion. The first was hut a preparatory dispensation, leading the
way to the second, revealed in the fulness of times, at the
advent of Jesus Christ. It answered its temporary purpose,
and, with its ceremonial service, it grew old and vanished away,
as the light of the stars fades and is lost on the rising of the
sun.
The New Covenant embraces an office of ministration.
What that office comprehends may be readily determined
from the nature and design of the gospel dispensation.
The ministers of the New Testament are not a priesthood.
They have no sacrifice to offer up. They wait around no altar
with sacrificial rites. They serve in no temple made awful by
the presence of bleeding victims, and mediatorial offices for
the rest of men. Nor are they a sacerdotal caste, tracing
up their connection with some priestly fountain, by genealogi¬
cal descent. The gospel knows of but one Priest, the great
High Priest of our profession—of but one sacrifice, the offer¬
ing of Christ " once for all"—of no altar but the cross—of no
temple by eminence and built by human hands: its temples
are the hearts of holy men, dwelt in hy the Holy Spirit.
The central fact of the New Testament revelation being
redemption by the sacrifice of Christ; and in that fact there
being a distinct manifestation of God's method of showing
mercy to a fallen world—pardon and renewing grace being
thus offered to all who believe—it follows that a ministry is
4
MINISTERIAL ABILITY.
necessary to proclaim the u glad tidings." In order that the
world may hear and believe, obviously there must be preachers.
And the speciality of their office consists in this very thing:
they are preachers that they may deliver a spoken, clear, em¬
phatic, living testimony, before the face of all men. Such an
office and function enters as a necessary element into the con¬
stitutional scheme and grand design of the New Covenant.
Without it, the gospel makes no progress in the world; and
Christianity, in its practical influence on mankind, varies much
according to the character, zeal, devotion, and intelligence of
its preachers.
This being so, we may observe that God has not left to the
chances of human things the origination and perpetuation of
this ministry. At first, the primitive preachers were called
directly by Christ in person. Since his ascension, it is the
office of the Holy Spirit to move men inwardly to take upon
them this ministration. A Divine call is necessary to the
authority of the ministry. Who has any right to intrude into
such an office ? to take it up as he would a learned profession ?
or, simply on the ground of ecclesiastical authorization, to
consider himself invested with the rights which belong to the
sacred office ? Who gave thee this authority ? is a fitting
challenge to all who minister in holy things. Christ has not
delegated to the Church the prerogative to call men; but only
to judge of the proofs furnished of a Divine call, and, if satisfied,
then to send out the preacher.
The sufficiency of the Christian ministry, thus appointed,
is distinctly and peremptorily of God. In several respects
may this be noticed.
1. The intellectual fitness for the work of preaching is of
the highest consequence. " Covet earnestly the best gifts."
It is not so much that learning, power of abstract thought,
keenness and subtlety of philosophic vision, strength of mas¬
culine grip in argument, or lofty sweep of imagination, are
required for this work. These rare faculties may indeed be
pressed into the service, and become valuable auxiliaries. But
I wish to observe that these, or whatever other intellectual
faculties may he brought to this ministry, cannot of themselves
render a man fit—sufficient. To preach the gospel aright,
a man must understand it. To understand it, there must be
a love of truth awakened in the soul—of the truth which even
MINISTERIAL ABILITY.
5
condemns—of the truth which casts down all lofty imagina¬
tions, and brings them into captivity to the obedience of Christ.
Now, this is the result of a direct operation of the Spirit
of truth upon the soul. Not only then is the body of
revealed truth a gift of God—which no research could have
found out apart from direct revelation—hut a clear and sound
understanding of the truth is a spiritual endowment; the
spirit of a sound mind being as distinctly a gift of God, as the
spirit of power, or of love.
But, secondly, this is made more obvious by the consideration
that the processes of experimental religion are indispensably
necessary to such a comprehension of the doctrines, motives,
influences, and sanctions of the gospel, as shall make one an able
minister of the New Testament. How shall he warn the
sinner, who has never felt the exceeding sinfulness of sin, and
found out the plague of his own heart, or had vivid discove¬
ries of the awful consequences of sin ? How shall Tie press
home upon the conscience the necessity of repentance, who
has never yet himself repented ?—or lead the awakened con¬
science, thoroughly alarmed, to the cross, directing the wan¬
dering destinies of the soul to the ground of settled peace
and stable confidence, who has not himself been pardoned ?
These are the things of the Spirit of God : the natural man
cannot discern them: they demand a spiritual vision; and
this is the result of a direct visitation of God upon the soul.
Let the preacher lose this—lose his hold upon God, and how
speedily does dimness gather over his spiritual eyesight! How
quickly does his zeal abate—his tenderness pass away—his
love for souls decline—his faith become a mere intellectual
process, instead of a living, mighty, glowing realization of eter¬
nal things ! Now, these are the special elements of character
that go into the constitution of a true, able, successful minister
of the New Testament. You see how impossible it is that an un¬
converted man should be such a minister : how impossible that
a backslidden man should succeed in such a work : how depend¬
ent we are upon God, every day, every hour, for our sufficiency !
The intellectual grasp of a giant in mind, apart from these
sources of sufficiency, is as the weakness of childhood, for the
accomplishment of the great ends of the Christian ministry.
Eloquence and learning of the highest order fail, where un¬
aided human ability attempts the task. As soon might the
8
6
MINISTERIAL ABILITY.
strains of military music wake the dead who sleep their long
sleep on some hard-fought field, on the warrior's last bed of
rest, as the words of one that^ hath a pleasant voice and can
play well on an instrument, but who has no hold on spiritual
influence, on the invisible sources of celestial power, wake the
slumbering conscfence, and rouse the sinner from his fancied
security. A special accompanying influence from the Spirit
of God is necessary to render the ministrations of the gospel
vital and effectual.
Our sufficiency, then, is obviously of God. Divine influ¬
ence must be in the word preached : must be upon the spirit
of the preacher. His mind, whatever its native breadth of
capacity, whatever its acquired fulness of knowledge, must be
in vital connection with the Source of all truth, in direct
communion with the Spirit of God, who originally gave the
word, and who now makes it " quick and powerful, sharper
than any two-edged sword, piercing to the dividing asunder of
joints and marrow." God makes us " able ministers." This
will further appear from the nature of the New Covenant.
Ministerial "ability" must be judged of from the character
of that dispensation which puts under contribution the services
of Christian ministers. What is this ? The text graphically
informs us. To perceive it fully, we must contrast it with the
Old Covenant. That was the ministration of law: it stood
mainly, and of necessity, in the letter. By minute prescrip¬
tion, Divinely authorized, it laid down a variety of external
services. These were to be scrupulously performed: ablu¬
tions, sacrifices, varied rites of worship, an imposing round of
ceremonies. The whole system was rudimental in its charac¬
ter, and not ultimate: adapted to the childhood of man's re¬
ligious nature, rather than its full development: in a word, it
worked ab extra, inwards. See how different the case is with
the New Covenant. In opposition to the former, it begins
from within, and then works outward. A deep consciousness
of sin leads to repentance: this carries the soul on to faith in
the " sacrifice once offered :" faith leads to justification and
adoption; and regeneration is the result. Holy affections are
produced in the soul; and obedience, from a sincere, renewed,
and loving heart, is the final product. This is the sum and
substance of the matter. The service of God, then, stands
not in the oldness of the letter—in forms, and rites, and out-
MINISTERIAL ABILITY.
ward tilings, done for a man, or by a man; but in tbe new¬
ness of tbe Spirit—in the renewed tempers of the heart, which
with freedom, spontaneity, the gush of devout joy, the spirit¬
uality of inward conformity to the Divine will, consecrate the
soul to God. " Tbis is the Covenant which I will make with
the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord : I will put
my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts; and
I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people."
2. The Old Covenant was the ministration of " condemna¬
tion"—of " death." It was written and engraven on the two
tables of stone. It laid down a law : it gave a rule of life :
to fail in obedience was to incur the penalties of that law;
and these penalties were death. It contained no provision of
pardon. Its language was, " Cursed is every one that eontin-
ueth not in all things which are written in the book of the
law to do them." "And the law is not of faith; but the man
that doeth them shall live in them." On the other hand, the
emphatic proclamation of the gospel was pardon for sins that
are past, through the forbearance of God : pardon for a reason :
pardon not by works or sufferings of our own, but by faith in
Christ crucified; and pardon so administered as to secure
righteousness, both on the part of the Divine government,
and also on the part of the justified sinner. Emphatically is
it the ministration of righteousness. On this pivot turns the
whole system : to this point converge all its forces : here con¬
centrate all its advantages. Its divinity shines out precisely
here. , The fulness of glory rests in effulgent beam upon this
aspect of the gospel. Other religions may build temples more
magnificent; may parade rites more gorgeous; sweep pontifi¬
cal processions more august and imposing; may boast of a
higher philosophy, more powerful eloquence, more secular
Strength and influence. None, no not one, pretends to accom¬
plish for man what his solemn and urgent wants demand:
none offers a righteousness worthy of the capabilities of his
soul: a righteousness adapted to his condition as a fallen
sinner: a righteousness piercing to the inmost core of the
moral nature: rectifying all the disordered elements of that
nature : cancelling the sense of guilt: plucking out the sting
of remorse : inclining the will to the choice of holy obedience :
turning into sweet humility the proud rebellion of the heart:
purifying the conscience: ennobling the affections: restoring
8
MINISTERIAL ABILITY.
the balance of moral forces: a righteousness which can
and does
" Control
The earthquakes of that universe, the soul:
Pervade the depths of passion: speak once more
The mighty mandate, guard of every shore,
Here shall thy waves be stayed: in grief, in pain,
The trembling poise of reason's sphere maintain."
3. The Old Testament was temporary : and, in striking con¬
trast, the New Testament is the perfected, permanent form of
the dispensational fulness of grace. The discipline of the
Law, and the appointments of the Levitical ritual, tended
necessarily, in the case of the pious Jew, to the conviction
that the character of his dispensation was only preparatory to
some higher manifestation of truth. He could not fail to see
that the "gifts and sacrifices" of the Law "could not make
him that did the service perfect as pertaining to the con¬
science ;" but the clearer his insight into the true nature of
the service of Gfod, the stronger must have been his persuasion
of the necessity of a " better covenant, established upon better
promises," and offering a more available atonement than tbe
blood of bulls and of goats. The prophetic revelation car¬
ried his mind forward still more clearly from the region of
symbol and outward prescription into a sphere of religious
influence of a more spiritual and interior character. Tbus
the system, by its own tendencies, showed its temporary na¬
ture. It served its purpose—to prepare the way for Christ;
and then it waxed old, and was ready to vanish away.
On the other hand, the gospel proclaims the real atonement
for sin made by the death of the Son of Grod. Its provisions
looked to the purification of the heart, symbolized by tbe
sacrifices and lustrations of the law. Its great promise was
the "promise of the Spirit:" the source of inward illumina¬
tion, renewal, and sanctification to all true believers. This
dispensation is final. It points to nothing in the future more
available to sinful man, for all the moral wants of his nature.
It contains no elements of decay: it anticipates no ampler
discoveries of spiritual truth: it gives no intimation of aug¬
mented blessings in store for man on his pilgrimage to
eternity : it preludes no new gospel holding in reserve clearer
credentials. Its testimony is sealed, and its sublime verities
MINISTERIAL ABILITY.
9
are so settled and fixed, that no vicissitude can affect, no time
outgrow them. In its dispensational fulness of grace and
promise, of revelation and rule, " it stretches itself out to the
utmost limit of mortal interests !" It shall endure coevally
with man. Every breath we draw, every moment we exist,
every step we take, is beneath this dispensation of grace. To
us it calls, and it shall accent the last syllable of recorded
time. Its trumpet of jubilee shall never be silenced, save by
the trumpet of judgment: its light shall never fade, but in the
embers of the last conflagration: its "joyful sound" shall
never die, except in the uproar and crash of dissolving
worlds: its " lively hope" shall only be buried in the grave
and under the wreck of the universe. All things must be
destroyed, ere it lose its power or abdicate its claim. It lasts
while the heavens and the earth last. It only ceases when
the mountain sinks, when the ocean dries, when the poles re¬
fuse to turn, when the skies shrivel up like a burning scroll,
when heaven and earth shall flee away. And even then, its dis-
pensational form alone is affected : its principles are invariable
and indestructible—are of the things which cannot be moved,
and shall extend through a more congenial medium and
worthy economy, whose sphere is the highest, whose glory is
in light, and whose consummation is " God, all in all."
This being the general character of the gospel, as contra¬
distinguished from the law, it is not surprising that St. Paul
lays such stress in the text upon the " spirit," in contrast
with " the letter." It is a vital point in the subject. As
Christianity when compared with Judaism is the spirit in oppo¬
sition to the letter, so in Christianity itself—in the Scriptures
of the New Testament—there may be observed a " letter" and
a " spirit." Christianity as an intellectual system has its
theory: it teaches certain doctrines: these may be scientifi¬
cally arranged, expressed, and sought to be understood. Its
theology may be turned into a mere philosophy—matter
for speculative inquiry—matter for system-building—matter
for keen dispute among thinkers. The interpretation of its
records may give play to the science of hermeneutics; and
the resources of profound erudition may be laid under
contribution to establish the genuineness of those records;
and the process in both cases may be nothing more than
the exercise of critical skill.
10
MINISTERIAL ABILITY.
Or; secondly, inasmuch as Christianity has its forms of reli¬
gious service, its ordinances, its ritual, especially its sacraments,
these, by a Judaizing tendency of the human mind, may be
fixed upon as subjects of special and paramount interest and
importance. Or the Church idea may develop itself—that,
namely, which invests the visible Church with a sacramental
character, as if it were in itself a depository of grace, and
possessed the privilege of spiritually quickening those admit¬
ted by sacramental ordinances to its pale. Thus it is claimed,
not merely that the Church, ministerially and instrumentally
through her custody and preaching of the word, and by per¬
petuating the apostles' testimony concerning Christ, holds an
important office in relation to human salvation—the true doc¬
trine—but, more than this, it is claimed that she has the power
to render the means of grace effectual to salvation : tha: union
with her is the primary means towards union with Christ, and
precedes instead of following the living faith which saves the soul.
Now, such views as these carry us hack to Judaism, some¬
what improved and amended, but still Judaism : an external
institute, working from without, inwards, the formative instru¬
ment of the inward life. We are brought round to the opera¬
tion of the old principles once more—a ritual worship, and a
legal or ceremonial righteousness: that is, we are still in the
region of " the letter which killeth." The spectacle is a touch¬
ing one, to see multitudes of our fellows living in the midst
of the appliances and means, the calls and motives of the
gospel, and unaffected by them all: passing from youth to
maturity, and to the sere and yellow leaf of life, busied
with the things which perish, but allowing themselves no
time to heed the things which make for their peace: alive
to the ephemeral interests and pleasures of time, but
dead to all the stupendous realities of their immortal
being. To them the gospel is hid : the god of this world hath
blinded their minds. I confess that I am still more affected
by the case of the worshippers of the letter, who, after all, fail
to see the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the
face of Jesus Christ. There have been men of various and
extensive erudition, who have spent years of hard study, and
produced folios of acute criticism, on the sacred text. They
have ransacked libraries, museums, and monasteries, in search
of ancient codices, and been at infinite pains to calculate vari-
MINISTERIAL ABILITY.
11
ous readings, and note minute discrepancies. They have
busied themselves with what one of them calls " the problem
of the criticism of the evangelical history:" just as men of
secular learning have expended similar labors on the problem
of the authorship and construction of the Homeric poems.
But in regard to how many of them are the words of Jesus
as just as reproving: "I thank thee, 0 Father, Lord of
heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the
wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes !"
Man's great business with the gospel is to find a Saviour there :
to learn how the favor of God may infallibly be obtained, and
the awful futurities of his being made happy. How deplora¬
ble is the result when Christianity becomes a mere matter of
scientific and philological speculation—-its letter scanned and
studied, measured and weighed, its living spirit unobserved,
uncaught: its saving health unfelt, its renewing influence
never sought, its true glory veiled; and these worshippers of
the letter content under the shadow of the eclipse.
For a monitory illustration of all this, I might refer to the
case of the younger Michaelis, one of the most celebrated of
modern German scholars and biblical critics. In- his Intro¬
duction to the New Testament—a monument of prodigious
learning and philological research—there is manifest a deep-
rooted antipathy to all spiritual religion. Scorning the pre¬
tensions of more illiterate Christians to a gracious influence
from the Holy Spirit, he avows it as his experience that he
never felt any special influence from the Holy Ghost during
the whole of his life. Br. Chalmers's remark on this case is
worthy of being repeated : " The most profound acquaintance
with the letter of Scripture, even though carried to its
minutest and before undiscovered niceties, is no guaranty
whatever for the respect in which we hold those great and
momentous doctrines which are accessible to all, and the pro¬
perty of all; and thus our veneration for an accomplished
philologist and critic, may invest with a most dangerous au¬
thority his contemptuous allusion to such articles of faith as
enter into the very life and substance of the New Testament."
Not less wonderful is the folly of mere formalism, when
such a system as the gospel is in our hands. "We conclude,
then," said St. Paul, at the close of one of his masterly trains
of argumentation| " that a man is justified by faith without
12
MINISTERIAL ABILITY.
the deeds of the law." That conclusion was the death-blow
to superstition, whether in its moods of terrific asceticism, or
its goodly round of ceremonial observances. Why need I
grope in the dark to find God; or carry the case to priestly
negotiation, or seek pseudo mediators, or bind myself to pain¬
ful and costly ritual observances, when the gospel scheme of
justification offers me pardon and peace, and all the attributes
of the justified state, as the result of simple faith in Christ ?
Salvation is in Him, not in them. The " letter" has an¬
swered its great purpose when it has led me into the presence
of the " Spirit which giveth life."
The ability of the Christian ministry must be judged of by
the foregoing facts and principles. The extent in which it is
subservient, in the scheme of Divine mercy, to the accom¬
plishment of the ends contemplated in the gospel, is the mea¬
sure of its ability.
He is an able minister of the New Testament, who so feels
that his dependence is on God, and his sufficiency is of God,
as to maintain a vital and constant communion with the Source
of all light and power, life and strength. This dependence
on God, this humble seeking of the promised aids of the Holy
Spirit, is indispensable to a ministry which aims at lifegiving
results. Our strength lies not in the logical force, the sym¬
metrical arrangement, the ornate illustration, the mighty, me¬
thodical march, of compact ideas, or the far-flying range of
an imagination whose pinions never droop. The deep and
powerful preaching which moves the heart of man, comes from
the heart itself—deeply moved by spiritual influence : by
vivid realizations of eternal things : by the consciousness and
sensitiveness of the moral life in full play: by the emotions
of compassion and love, born of that inner essence which lies
deeper than the rational faculty, and with the perceptions of
which the imagination does not intermeddle.
He is an able minister who carries into his preaching a
genuine and vigorous faith. Is his sufficiency of God ? Is he
positively sure that the message he delivers is the word of God ?
Has he a real hold on unseen, spiritual strength—upon the
energy of the lifegiving, renovating Spirit ? This man comes
forth prepared to find the gospel ministry, in his hands, a reme¬
dial function. He stands at an immeasurable distance above
the position of him who makes his office an organ of mere de-
MINISTERIAL ABILITY.
13
lectation to a listening audience—a Sunday recreation to
which intelligence and taste, argument and rhetoric, are
brought to furnish the banquet. Over and above the natural
fitness which earnestness and impassioned feeling on the part
of the speaker possess to move his listeners, we need not hesitate
to affirm that the preacher's faith is the grand conductor of
spiritual influence to his congregation. Let it be a loyal
faith, which cleaves to the truth and puts honor upon the car¬
dinal peculiarities of the New Testament: let it be a realizing
faith, which sees " Him who is invisible/' and feels the vivid
impression of heaven and hell: let it be an intrepid faith,
which marches with firm foot, and unfurled banners, wet with
the dews of Calvary; whose battle-word is " Christ for the
world, and the world for Christ;" which quails not in the face
of the world's greatness or beauty, its intellectual pride or
hoary sins;—and that faith becomes the vehicle of Divine power:
vivifies the gospel testimony :• opens a way for it to the hearts
of the listeners; and makes it a savor of life to them that
believe, or justifies in the sinner's own conscience, who rejects
it, the final doom.
He is an able minister who does not content himself with
the knowledge or experience of former years, but, magnifying
his office, and reading aright the signs of the world's progress,
and pondering the new developments of hostility to the truth
thrown up from the fermenting mass of modern society, seeks
an ever-fresh baptism of spiritual power: puts his mental
activities into intense action: " covets earnestly the best gifts
goes down, year by year, deeper and deeper to the foundations
of truth, both in nature and revelation: traces principles in
their remote relations : strives to obtain comprehensive views
as well as large sympathies; and thus puts himself in connec¬
tion with the age in which he lives, and keeps abreast with
the men of his time. Abreast, I repeat, and not behind:
remembering that the "wisdom of winter is the folly of
spring." This must be done, or the ministers of Christ must
be content to relinquish the hold which their office as public
teachers gives them upon the mind and public opinion of the
time and country. Their reading should be various, their re¬
flection profound. They must be men of study, as well as
observation. Whatever early advantages they may have en¬
joyed. must be improved by habits of after application; and
8*
14
MINISTERIAL ABILITY.
in the absence of special scholastic advantages, redoubled zeal
and activity should be put forth. If ignorant men should
presume to think that by their want of mental improvement
they are specially honoring the riches of the Divine grace,
you, my brethren, have only to say to them, in the pithy words
of South: " If God hath no need of our learning, he can
have still less of your ignorance." What! Is this work of
preaching your Heaven-designated vocation—the dignity of
which warranted Jay in saying, " I would rather preach the
gospel than blow the resurrection-trump!" Is the pulpit
you occupy a secret place of thunder; and the themes of re¬
demption you handle, so glorious, so gigantic, that a " Sanhe¬
drim of archangels might listen to them, uncovered of their
golden crowns V'-*—and will you not make that work the very
business and problem of your life: binding yourselves to it,
pressing into its service every energy of mind, every suscepti¬
bility of taste, every throb of consciousness ? Will you not
place it first and foremost among those thoughts which hold
court in the high places of human intellect, and seek, by every
possible accomplishment of solid reasoning, exact method, and
eloquent delivery—by industry, order, dogged perseverance,
and habitual decision of character, and especially by a spirit
of constant and fervent piety, to make full proof of your
ministry ?
There may be found, perhaps, young preachers, who have
fallen into a mistake not unfrequently observable in the walks
of literature and science: that, namely, which supposes that
preeminent distinction is the result much more of genius and
talent, than of patient painstaking and unflagging industry.
These are day-dreamers, the victims of revery and self-deceiv-
iug musings. They are to scale the heights of divine philoso¬
phy by a single leap; and set the world to wondering at their
eloquence, by the afflatus of inspired genius, caught off-hand,
from the sight of some vast crowd of listeners. They affect
magniloquent words, which cost no trouble, and an inflated
pomp of expression, which is the flimsy drapery of poor ideas.
They drink in with greedy ears the pretty flatteries of small
admirers; and are almost astonished at their own imagined
greatness. Presently they are surprised, not to say indignant,
that they are not intrusted with the first posts of responsi¬
bility; and complain that distinguished ability like theirs
MINISTERIAL ABILITY.
15
has been overlooked by Bishops and Presiding Elders. Now
let me just say here, that men of first-rate ability are too
much needed in the Methodist Church, to allow a moment's
apprehension that they will or can be overlooked. Such men
always, in our system, take the rank to which their real effi¬
ciency entitles them. It is an impossibility that masculine
strength and genuine power should be undervalued in the
practical working of our itinerancy. But it is not by any
means impossible that a man of showy but superficial parts
should be mistaken as to his own claims. The Church wants
men who, by God's blessing, have made themselves able minis¬
ters by steady intellectual labor, and by patient and systematic
application to self-appointed tasks : men who break resolutely
through the spells of self-flattery, and the slothful drivel of
day-dreams : men who know that the price of eminent ability
and distinguished usefulness is nothing less than invincible
labor, and are willing to pay that price, and summon their
energies to the work—and succeed !
I state results: before this audience it is unnecessary that
I should do more than just advert to the law by which, in
the great procedures of the spiritual life, Divine influence
goes along with, but does not supersede, the most strenuous
human effort. You, my brethren, are accustomed to trace
the working of this great law, in the more elementary pro¬
cesses of repentance, prayer, faith, in the every-day experi¬
ence of Christian life. It holds good in the highest applica¬
tions. Our sufficiency is of God, who makes us able ministers.
But this sufficiency is realized only to the extent in which we
cooperate with the Divine agency. God makes us able minis¬
ters, but this ability comes not by chance : not by the opera¬
tion of an inscrutable Divine sovereignty: not as the premium
upon an indolence which folds its arms and waits the good
pleasure of the ascended and glorified Head of the Church :
it comes as all other spiritual endowments come—by God's
blessing crowning our best exertions. And the practical rule
by which we work in the highest departments of Christian
effort, as well as in the most elementary, is to do our utmost,
just as though we had every thing to accomplish by our own
agency; and to pray, and believe, and depend on Divine aid,
just as though we had nothing to do, and the Divine agent
every thing. This is the law of the composition of forces,
16
ministerial ability.
human and Divine, no less true, no less applicable in the
spiritual world, than the law of the centripetal and centrifugal
forces in the natural.
Ministers of the South Carolina Conference : the past year
has been remarkable in our annals. It has witnessed the
death of four superannuated and two effective preachers, mem¬
bers of the Conference, besides the death of one of the
Bishops, long identified with this body as a co-laborer. We
look around, and miss the familiar faces of our departed
brethren. We mark the unusual chasm which the lapse of a
single year has' made in our ranks. Their graves admonish
us that the time both of preparation. and effective work is
short and uncertain. Could they speak to us from the azure
fields of immortality, with what thrilling emphasis would their
words of fire exhort us to diligence and faithfulness—how
would their celestial accents heighten the grandeur and urgency
of our work!
Of this group of departed ministers, there are several who
present aspects of character which justify a special mention,
and render appropriate the brief and affectionate tribute to
their memory with which I shall close the present discourse.
All that is mortal of William Capers rests beneath the
shadows of that church in which we last saw him and heard
him. In all the elements which make up an able minister of
the New Testament, he was preeminent. A deep personal
experience of Divine things lay at the foundation of his minis¬
terial character. Upon his spirit rested an " unction from the
Holy One," and he "knew whereof he affirmed." ' He had
realized the words of Christ to be " life and power;" and with
life and power he delivered those word£ to the thousands who
hung upon his eloquent lips. To preach Christ crucified was
the sole business of his long and useful life. He surrendered
to this the full strength of an acute, cultivated intellect, which
would have achieved fame and fortune in any of the secular
walks of professional life. He possessed a broad knowledge
and keen observation of the world, that had been carried over
a tolerably wide range of conditions. His diction was felici¬
tous, embracing a rich and copious flow of appropriate words,
and a delivery so chaste and finished, that the most fastidious
ear could detect no violation of the canons of good taste in
any of his discourses. His face was classical, his voice full
ministerial ability*
17
of music, and his gesticulation eminently appropriate to the
oratory of the pulpit. Grace, elegance, and refinement, pene¬
trated with force and fire, were his characteristics. He never
courted or cared for popularity, though it always attended his
steps. Long an unquestioned leader in the Conference within
the territorial limits of which he was born and died: honored
with the highest office in the gift of the Church he had served
so long and so efficiently, he went to his rest in the fulness of
years, and amid the tears of sorrowing thousands. He has
put off the harness of war in the Church militant, to wear the
crown in the Church triumphant.
James Dannelly, too, meets with us no more. Peculiar
in appearance, manner, and voice; unique in the structure of
his mind and the mould of his genius; dauntless as a lion;
bravest of the brave—his was the ministry of mighty rebuke
to popular vices. To the clerical eye, human nature usually
presents its Sunday side. We see it in its dress of decencies,
and in the demureness of conventional proprieties. Dannelly
had looked upon its week-day, darker side : had scanned its
frailties, watched its wretched perversities, and taken the
gauge of its deepest depravities. When he stood forth to
reason of "righteousness, temperance, and a judgment to
come," his was no idle pomp of words, no holiday parade of
bugle and banner and blank-cartridge. Stern, sententious,
hitting, his words blistered as they went, and his denunciations
tore with terrible effect through the ranks of Heaven-daring
sinners. His merciless scourge sounded, like th^ reverbera¬
tions of thunder, after the retreating steps of vulgar iniquity.
His sarcasm, keen as the spear of Ithuriel, pierced the bloated
mass of whitewashed hypocrisy. In the spirit of the Tish-
bite, he hewed in pieces the sophisms of the scoffer and un¬
believer, and routed the baffled priests of Baal. William
Capers was the keen, polished, Damascus blade : James Dan¬
nelly was the ponderous battle-axe. They stood, in many re¬
spects, at opposite poles, each a master in his' own sphere.
Each followed the bent of his native genius : both were needed
in the sacramental host.
I have dwelt upon the prominent trait in the mental and
moral development of Dannelly: you must not understand
that the " spirit of power" in him was antagonistic to the
IS
MINISTERIAL ABILITY.
" spirit of love." Both of these endowments are necessary to
ministerial efficiency; both proceed from the same Divine
Spirit, and exist in the higher unity of the spiritual life. The
power of rebuke was levelled, in Dannelly's case, against the
sin; while a yearning pity and love went after the sinner, that
fain would " pluck the firebrand from the flame." At times,
how touchingly tender and eloquent! We have all heard his
apologue of the old man in the tottering house, waiting for
the signal of its fall, then escaping from the tumbling ruins,
and hastening with glad and speedy steps to enter his kingly
home. Ah ! well may we apply the moral of the story to his
own case now. That mutilated body, so long the seat of aches
and pains, that earthly house of his tabernacle, lies a dark¬
ened ruin: he has entered " the house not made with hands,
eternal in the heavens."
Of the five other ministers of the Conference who have died
during the present year—all of them in the faith of Jesus, and
in sure and certain hope of life everlasting—I must ask the
liberty to make brief mention of the youngest—Harris, who
has finished his course while yet in the greenness of his young
and flourishing life. I do this because he furnishes to the
junior preachers of the Conference a fine model of an able
minister of the New Testament, although not distinguished,
as the venerable men I have just referred to, by eminent en¬
dowments, or marked peculiarities of genius. His greatness
lay in his fitness for plain, constant, hard work. He belonged
not to the kid-glove, maiden-voiced, petit maitre school of
delicate young clergymen, fastidious and nervous, and afraid
of soiling their broadcloth in a jcamp-meeting altar, and ex¬
tremely skittish on the subject of a " hard circuit." Harris,
on the contrary, was a man of all-work—good in the Sunday-
school cause, good to beg money for missions, good to preach
day or night, to many or few hearers, Sunday or week-day,
wet or dry; and 0 how good as an intercessor, to plead with
God in mighty prayer when the penitent and heart-broken
knelt around him! His zeal led him into labors beyond the
measure of his strength, manly as it was. He put his full
mental and physical energy into every sermon, as though some
intimation prophetic of &n early close to his ministry was ever
present with him. And he fell in his early prime and pro-
MINISTERIAL ABILITY.
19
mise—a martyr to Ms work, surrendering, without a sigh or
regret, life itself, to that noble cause in the service of which
alone life was felt to be valuable to him.
Come forward, ye scores and hundreds of souls who have
been brought from darkness to light, from the burden of sin
and sorrow to the knowledge of salvation and the unutterable
hope of heaven, through the instrumentality of those honored
and laborious ministers who have fallen during the present
year, and tell this congregation whether these true successors
of the apostles acted wisely and well, in leaving all to follow
Christ? Tell us whether the true Wesleyan breed of men
still survive ? Tell us whether money or politics, influence or
fame, crowns or kingdoms, are worthy to be mentioned by the
side of the true and lofty and fadeless glory which girds the
brow of a faithful and able minister of the New Testament?
You will tell it ere long, in the face of a burning heaven and
a dissolving world; when "the great white throne"—
"Rolling on •wheels of burning fire,"
makes its appearance, and the dead, small and great, stand
before God 1 In the revelations of that great day when the
Divine plan and purpose in the framing of the world shall be
made manifest; and it shall be seen that more was designed
in the fiat which created, and the power which wound up its
mighty springs, than merely to set another gem upon the
flashing brow of the firmament, and to rear another home for
an intelligent race: it shall then appear that creation was but
a magnificent platform for redemption—that as all things were
made by Christ, and for him, this earth was meant to be the
theatre of his advent when manifest in the flesh, the arena of
his humiliation and his triumphs, the monument of his power
to save to the uttermost, and the focal point of interest to the
universe. Then, too, it shall be seen that, rising in import¬
ance and moral majesty above all the investigations of men
of science, and all the proud achievements of warriors, and all
the sagacious diplomacy of statesmen, and all the bright, im¬
mortal productions of men of letters—preeminent above them
all in the heraldry of the universe, in the concentrated glory
of noble achievement and enduring result, is the ministry of
the gospel of the ever-blessed God! Then " they that be wise
shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that
turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever."
20
MINISTERIAL ABILITY.
A FISHER OF MEN.
written by c. wesley, before preaching in cornwall.
True Witness of the Father's lore,
Celestial Messenger Divine,
Come in thy Spirit from above:
The hearts which thou hath made incline
Thy faithful record to receive,
That all may hear thy voice and live.
Send forth the everlasting word,
The word of reconciling grace,
That all may know their bleeding Lord,
The freely proffered gift embrace,
Hang on the all-atoning Lamb,
And bless the sound of Jesus' name.
Jesus, thou only hast the key,
Open the great effectual door,
Extend thy line from sea to sea,
And glorify thy mercy's power:
Redeem the wretched slaves of sin,
And force thy rebels to come in.
Now to thy yoke their spirits bow,
Thy wa^y into their hearts prepare,
Be present with thy servants now,
With me, thy meanest messenger,
Who humbly at thy bidding come,
To call my fellow-exiles home.
Fisher of men ordained by thee,
0 might I catch them by thy love!
Thy love be first bestowed on me,
And while the pleasing power I prove,
My tongue shall echo to my heart,
And tell the world how good thou art.
Teach me to cast my net aright,
The gospel-net of general grace;
So shall I all to thee invite,
And draw them to their Lord's embrace,
Within thine arms of love include,
And catch a willing multitude.
0 might I every mourner cheer,
And trouble every heart of stone;
Save, under thee, the souls that hear,
Nor lose, in seeking them, my own ;
Nor basely from my calling fly,
But for thy gospel live, and die.
Nashville, Tens.: Published by E. Stevenson & F. A. Owen, for the M. E. Church, South.
SERMON
ON THE
CHRISTIAN MINISTRY;
DELIVERED BEFORE THE
luntmfcg gnnual tafmttc*,
IN WINCHESTER, KY., SEPT. 18, 1856.
BY THE
HEY. T. N. RALSTON, A.M.
Nasljmllc, £Tcitn.
PUBLISHED BY E. STEVENSON & E. A. OWEN, AGENTS,
FOR THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, SOUTH.
1857.
SERMON
on the
CHRISTIAN MINISTRY.
"Go ye into all .the "world, and preach the gospel to every creature."
■—Mabk xvi. 15.
Christianity is an institution Divine in its origin; and
all offices and ordinances legitimately belonging to it derive
their (sanction from the appointment of God. The Christian
ministry, the theme of the present discourse, is ap institution
essentially connected with the gospel system; and so far as hu¬
man instrumentality is concerned, it is one of the most indis¬
pensable and powerful levers for the accomplishing of the glo¬
rious ends which the gospel proposes. Christianity being of
Divine origin, it necessarily follows that the ministry which it
involves, as one of its prime elements and most efficient agen¬
cies, must also derive its existence, character, functions, and
prerogatives, from the appointment and revelation of God.
If the position here assumed be true—and we think it
cannot be disputed—it necessarily follows, that in the inves¬
tigation of the great questions pertaining to the subject pro¬
posed, human authority, and principles of expediency, depend¬
ent on mere human wisdom or reasoning, are not to he trusted
as guides. For all our reliable data, in relation to the Chris¬
tian ministry, whether we speak of its origin, qualifications,
duties, or prerogatives, we are entirely dependent on the
teachings of Scripture.
(3)
4
THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY.
1. Our first inquiry relates to the origin ana appointment
of the Christian ministry. Does this ministry exist as a
Divinely constituted office, pertaining to a specific class of
persons, regularly selected and consecrated, or may the du¬
ties pertaining to the ministry be performed by all Christians,
according to their respective abilities, and as circumstances
may render it convenient, irrespective of any peculiar appoint¬
ment or consecration ?
If we open the Bible to learn what have been the plans of
Jehovah on this subject, throughout all ages and dispensa¬
tions, we find a perfect uniformity of procedure. In the
patriarchal dispensation, we may see in the mysterious appear¬
ance and shrouded history of Melchizedek, a type of the
sacred character of Heaven's ordained priesthood. Abraham,
the father of the faithful, representing in his own person the
Jewish Church, did homage to the institution of Heaven, by
the payment of " tithes of all that he possessed." And
although Melchizedek more properly typified the Son of God,
in the fact of being "without father and without mother,"
that is, without genealogy in the priesthood, yet, in a broader
sense, he rose upon the patriarchal age as a light in the
wilderness, to show to the ancient people of God that Divinely
selected ministers should wait upon the altars of religion.
If we come down to the days of Moses, we find in the
person of Aaron the selected stock from whom was to descend
a race of priests to officiate, in regular succession and by
Divine appointment, at the Jewish altars, during the entire
continuance of the Mosaic economy.
The New Testament clearly shows that the Old dispensa¬
tion was typical of the New. The ceremonial law—the
priests and their functions—the temple and its services—the
altar and its sacrifices, were all shadows or adumbrations of
" good things to come." Again, not only were the priests of
the Jewish religion a distinct class, Divinely chosen and con¬
secrated, but God at the same time, and throughout the entire
dispensation, specially called and set apart select individuals
as his prophets. " Holy men of God spake as they were
moved by the Holy Ghost." These facts may bear upon the
question of the Christian ministry in two ways. First, they
snow what was God's plan under the Old Testament econ¬
omy j and; reasoning d priori, we may erect a presumptive
THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY.
5
argument to prove that such would be his plan under the
gospel. Secondly, from the typical character of the Mosaic
institution, we are authorized to expect something plainly
analogous between the type and the thing typified; hence,
on the ground of correspondence between the type and the
thing typified, we may reasonably infer, that as the ministers
of religion under the law were a peculiar class, Divinely
called and consecrated, so -they shall be under the gospel.
We have not gone to the Old Testament, or appealed to
the Mosaic dispensation, because our principal reliance for
information on this subject is upon that source. We may
go directly to the origin of the Christian institution. The
teachings of Christ and his apostles on this subject are
ample and explicit, and we appeal to the bfew Testament
revelation.
Soon after our Saviour commenced his personal ministry,
he called, ordained, and sent forth his twelve apostles, and at
another time seventy disciples, to serve as his ministers in
working miracles, and preaching the gospel in his name.
After his resurrection from the dead, he appeared unto his
chosen twelve, enlarged their commission, and commanded
them to " Go into ail the world, and preach the gospel to
every creature," assuring them of his accompanying presence,
"alway, even unto the end of the world." In carrying out
the grand commission of spreading the gospel, and establish¬
ing and organizing the Christian Church in different parts of
the world, the apostles ordained and set apart various other
individuals, as evangelists, elders, deacons, pastors, teachers,
etc., as officers to aid them in the great work of the Chris¬
tian ministry.
From the record in the Acts of the Apostles, as well as
from frequent reference to the subject in the apostolic Epis¬
tles, it is beyond controversy that these ministerial officers
were intended to be perpetual in the Church. Hence, we
are led to the conclusion that the Christian ministryaccord¬
ing to the original institution of the Church, and the inspired
teachings of Scripture, consists of a distinct class of persons,
selected and set apart as officers in the Church.
2. The next point to be considered is, the method by which
ihey are selected, and inducted into office.
From what has already been said, it is clear, that from the
6
THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY.
very commencement of true religion in the world, through all
ages and dispensations, the ministry has not only consisted of
a 'peculiar and distinct class, but they have been selected and
set apart to the work, by the agency and appointment of God.
Such was unquestionably the plan under the Mosaic economy.
When our Saviour went about the establishment of his own
everlasting kingdom, he pursued a similar course. His apos¬
tles were chosen and ordained to their work by himself. He
sent them forth, in his name and by his authority, to do his
work. When he called and commissioned, they durst not
hesitate, delay, or demur. They at once left the "dead to
bury their dead :" they abandoned their calling, whatever it
might be, for their higher vocation: they arose forthwith,
took up their cross, and went about their Master's work.
When Saul of Tarsus was arrested amid his zealous career of
persecution, and converted, and called to the ministry, he
immediately " conferred not with flesh and blood," but went
directly to his work: " Straightway he preached Christ."
His language was : "Woe is me if I preach not the gospel
"A dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me :" "Now,
then, we are embassadors for Christ:" "No man taketh this
honor to himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron
" How can they preach, except they be sent ?" Our Saviour,
in discoursing with the disciples in reference to the Christian
ministry, says, " Pray ye, therefore, the Lord of the harvest,
that he will send forth laborers into his harvest." He com¬
missions his apostles, and their successors in the ministry, to
" Go into all the world, and preach the gospel to every
creature:" promising to be with them, " alway, even unto
the end of the world."
St. Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians, speaking of the
ministry as established by Christ, says, " He gave some apos¬
tles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some pas¬
tors and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints, for the
work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,
till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the know¬
ledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the mea¬
sure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." Here we
may remark that two things are evident from the language of
the apostle. First, these apostles, prophets, evangelists, pas¬
tors, and teachers, were Divinely chosen for the work. Christ
THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY.
7
"GAVE" them. Secondly, they were consecrated as perma¬
nent officers in the Church. They were " for the work of the
ministry;" and this is no temporary work. They were " for
the perfecting of the saints, and for the edifying of the body
of Christ:" a work needed in the Church alike in all ages.
From which we learn that the selection and specific designa¬
tion of the ministers of Christ's kingdom, is a work which
God has not intrusted, primarily, to any man or set of men—
to any council, synod, conference, presbytery, or session; but
has reserved this sacred prerogative in his own hands.
3. We next speak of the qualifications of the Christian
ministry.
(1.) The first item we would name under this head is that
of a Divine call. We have already shown, in our commence¬
ment, that this call is essential to the scriptural validity of
the ministry. We now assert that it is essential to its pro¬
per exercise and due success. We will not, however, deny
that one may be inducted into this oflice by the Church
authorities, being led thereto, either through sinister motives,
or an honest misapprehension of the nature of the calling pr
of his own proper position, and be, to some extent, useful.
The dissemination of gospel truth must, in the nature of
things, be productive of good; and God may, and often does
bless his word, by whomsoever proclaimed, to the conversion
of the sinner. But unless the minister be really called of
God to this work, (and be himself truly converted, which
this call necessarily presupposes,) his ministrations must lack
those elements which are essential to extensive usefulness.
First, they cannot possess and exhibit that unaffected earnest¬
ness, that unremitting diligence, that untiring industry a.nd.per¬
severance, which a consciousness that the vows of the Almighty
are upon him is calculated to inspire. A sense of the high
responsibility, of the sublime grandeur, of the supreme and
overwhelming importance of this mission, resulting from the
conviction that it is chartered by the authority of Heaven,
is that which invests "the man of God," in his public minis¬
trations, with a majestic power and authority not his own.
It fires his heart with a "live coal from off the heavenly
altar;" it gives edge and point to his words, a gigantic firm¬
ness to his movements, and causes " the sound of his Mas¬
ter's feet to be heard behind him." It was this conscious-
8
THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY.
ness of acting under the authority, and of being es
the accompanying presence of God, which gave o e apos
ties their firm confidence, their intrepid daring, an eir
astonishing success. It was this that gave to the mar yrs the
power of triumph, in the midst of danger and. in the presence
of death. It inspired Luther with an invincibility of charac¬
ter, bidding defiance to kings and emperors, cardinals and
diets, popes and devils. It armed "Wesley with a persever¬
ance and devotion which no difficulty could thwart, no oppo¬
sition overcome. It fired the soul of Whitefield with a pathos
and an unction, before which convicted thousands melted and
fell like grass before the mower's scythe. It baptized Sum-
merfield with a heavenly atmosphere, which none could breathe
without wilting under the holy influence. It is this recollec¬
tion of the promise of Him who hath called us, "Lo! I am
with you alway, even unto the end of the world," still living
in the ministry, that is bearing the gospel to distant lands
and savage hordesj and that still, like "a pillar of fire by
night, and a pillar of cloud by day," shall lead on the armies
of our spiritual Israel to conquest after conquest, until the
crimson banner of the cross shall wave, in victorious triumph,
over a united Church and a converted world! May God
speed the day!
(2.) The next important qualification of the Christian min¬
istry to which we call attention, is an extensive and correct
knowledge of the Scriptures.
We do not urge the absolute necessity of such a degree of
biblical attainment as to be able to solve all the profound
mysteries of revelation. This, we humbly conceive, is an
attainment beyond the reach of the human intellect in this
world. No man has ever yet reached it, and perhaps, in this
life, where we can only "know in part and prophesy in part,"
no man ever shall reach that lofty pinnacle. But still, the
great facts and leading doctrines and precepts of Scripture,
and especially the plan of salvation revealed in the gospel, are
presented in a style so ample and explicit, that every account¬
able capacity, by care and attention, may readily acquire a
clear, correct, and satisfactory knowledge of the subject.
For any Christian who can read, to be destitute of this is to
give evidence of shameful negligence: for a minister' it is
unpardonable. The Scriptures are the charter of religion
THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY.
9
and the constitution of the Church. They constitute the
heavenly magazine from which our supplies are to be furnished.
The man who undertakes the practice of a worldly profession
without a competent knowledge of its principles, is denounced
as a quack or an empiric. He who undertakes to teach the gos¬
pel to others Without a competent understanding of the subject
himself, is guilty of daring presumption and arrogant folly.
No amount of science or general literature, no degree of
philosophical or classical attainment, in the minister of the
gospel, can atone for a lack of what we would term, Bible
training. This is the kind of instruction the people need.
It alone can probe the heart; arouse the conscience; rend
from the eyes the veil of ignorance; point to the cross; con¬
vert the soul. This is the kind of instruction the Church
requires. The young converts need " the sincere milk of the
word, that they may grow thereby;" the maturer Christians
need to be furnished with the bread of life from Heaven's
own storehouse. In a word, a minister of the gospel going
forth to preach, destitute of this important qualification, like
a soldier entering the field of conflict without his armor on,
must be driven back with discomfiture, at the first onset of
the enemy. But if the minister is "mighty in the Scrip¬
tures," and his gospel bow is well bent by the strong arm of
faith, it will send the arrows of truth thick and fast, to the
hearts of the king's enemies. Let but the young David
select from the gospel brook of Shiloah the smooth pebbles,
and from the shepherd's sling, propelled by the strong arm
of faith, they shall enter the head of any bold Goliath who
may defy the armies of the living God.
(3.) The next qualification which we mention as necessary
to the success of the gospel ministry is, diligence and indus-
try.
An idle, lounging minister—one who will " sit all the day
idle," because " no man hath hired him," is not recognized
in the gospel chart, and he must have derived his credentials
from some other source. Of all the callings under the hea¬
vens, none so imperiously demands our utmost diligence and
industry as this. The man whom God would thrust out into
his harvest, has no time to " tarry in all the plains." He
will have need to be "always employed." Look at the
example of the apostles. How active and how untiring in
10
THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY.
their labors! The wide world is their parish; salvation is
their theme; onward is their watchword; and success is their
reward. They go from city to city, from province to pro¬
vince, by land and by sea; they are "in journeyings often—
in perils of waters—in perils of robbers—in perils by their
own countrymen—in perils by the heathen—in perils in the
city—in perils in the wilderness—in perils in the sea—in
perils among false brethren—in weariness and painfulness—
in watchings often—in hunger and thirst—in fastings often—
in cold and nakedness." Such was their diligence and
industry, amid discouragements and trials; such was their
untiring perseverance; and success was their reward. And
such is a picture of what the minister of the gospel should
be. If God has called him, he has called him to labor for
souls. He must " study to show himself approved unto God,
a workman that needeth not to be ashamed." He must cease
not day and night to warn, to reprove, to comfort, to encour¬
age, and at all times he should endeavor to follow in the
footsteps of Him who "went about doing good."
(4.) Another qualification intimately connected with this, is
zeal and thorough devotion to God. The minister should feel
that he is given up to God and his holy cause. " The love
of Christ should constrain him." The word of God, burning
in his heart, like fire in his bones, should kindle a holy ardor,
and inspire a quenchless energy. Drinking at the same
stream, he should rise with the inspired Isaiah, when he
exclaims, " For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and
for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until the righteousness
thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a
lamp that burneth." He should be baptized into the same
spirit with St. Paul, when he exclaims, "None of these
things move me; neither count I my life dear unto myself,
so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry
which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gos¬
pel of the grace of God." The minister of the gospel should
be " a man of one workand to the interests of that one
cause he should bring to bear his whole soul and mind, and
body and energy—his time, his talents, his life, his all.
We have a few things to say in reference to the connection
of the ministry with the educational interest. On this point
we must be brief. There are two questions belonging to the
THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 11
Bubject. The first relates to theological schools proper. By
such schools we understand, institutions originated and sus¬
tained for the express purpose of preparing young men for
the ministry. On this question a radical change has taken
place in our own views within the last few years. This
change has been the result of a closer study of the Scriptures,
with special reference to the question. We now view the
whole ""scheme as a radical innovation upon the apostolic plan.
Which of the apostles organized an establishment of the
kind ? Which ot them ever wrote one word in recommenda¬
tion of it ? Where, in all the Bible, has God commanded
any such thing? To ask these questions is to answer them.
Paul instructs Timothy to "study"—"to read;" but did he
direct him to suspend his work for that purpose? Far from
it. While doing " the work of an evangelist," he was to
seek further qualifications. But the great and the radical
defect in this plan is, that it ignores or entirely repudiates
the doctrine of a Divine call to the ministry. These theolo¬
gical seminaries (technically so called) are either intended to
train young men for the ministry who are, or who are not
yet called to that work. If intended for those who are not
called to the work, then this plan usurps the prerogative of
God. It predesignates and sets apart the men who are to be
the ministers of the Church; and goes upon the presumption
that Heaven will confirm the judicious nominations. Now,
suppose it shall turn out that when these young men have
finished their collegiate course, God should not call them to
the holy ministry ? It may be as it was in the days of Sam¬
uel of old. When the young man that you train as a candi¬
date for this work is presented before the Lord, " the Lord
may not look on his countenance, or on the height of his
stature;" but may "refuse him; for man looketh on the
outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart."
"Abinadab, Shammah," and "seven more of the sons of
Jesse,"' may all be presented; and God may choose none of
these. He may yet command to send to the sheepfold for
the young David.
But it may be said that these theological schools are not
intended as a machinery for the manufacturing ot preachers;
but merely as a means of qualifying those whom God has
already called. If this position be taken, the matter is only
12
THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY.
rendered seven-fold worse. First, it admits the Divine pre¬
rogative of selecting the ministry. Secondly, it admits that
God, in the exercise of this prerogative, has made the selec¬
tion ; but it sits in judgment upon the wisdom of that choice,
and actually breaks the Divine decree ! It admits that God
has said Go, but it corrects or modifies the command, and says,
Stay. God has said to Timothy, " Go into all the world, and
preach the gospel to every creaturebut this theory says,
Go, sit in the academical shades, and learn to decline jpenna
and to conjugate tupto ; or go sit at the feet of Gamaliel, and
learn that homoousios is orthodoxy, and homoiousios is hetero¬
doxy I The calls and commands of God are not in the future
but the present tense—not in the subjunctive but the impera¬
tive mood. If God has said to Timothy, Go into my vineyard
to-day and work, who dare tell him to wait till next year, and
then he may go, Deo volente—he may go then, perhaps,
should he live so long, should he become qualified, should cir¬
cumstances all be favorable, should no more inviting enter¬
prise present itself, should he find nothing else to do I Is
this the way to "obey God rather than men?" When the
voice of God says, " Samuel, Samuel!" is this replying,
" Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth V' Is this replying,
" Here am I, send me V' If God calls me to preach now,
and I fail to respond to that call till next year, and immortal
souls perish through my neglect, at whose hands will their
blood be required ?
One of two things we must do: we must either renounce
the doctrine of a Divine call to the ministry, or we must
relinquish all idea of establishing and sustaining theological
schools for the specific purpose of training young men for the
ministry, as a human invention, and return to the apostolic
platform.
But it may be objected that we would depreciate learning,
and plead for an uneducated ministry. To this we reply, that
our position leads to no such conclusion. We would prize
learning highly; we would promote it both in the ministry and
the laity, by all means in our power; but still, we are not at
liberty to deify this goddess, and annul the ordinance of God,
that we may worship at its shrine! Our plan is to educate
all the children of the Church; let all our schools and col¬
leges be theological as well as literary seminaries; let all the
THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY.
13
boys, and all the girls too, be taught Bible theology as well as
heathen mythology; (I had like to have said instead of hea¬
then mythology, and I almost wish I had.) Let this be done,
and then, whether God shall designate as a herald of the
cross, Samuel, or Joseph, or James, or John, "loose him," at
once, "and let him go;" and "as he goes," let him
"preach;" and "as he runs," let him "read," and "study,"
and learn, and pray! and by this method, "knowledge shall
be increased," and " the world shall be turned upside down."
Let the Bible be introduced as a text-book, and its sacred
truths taught as a science, in all our schools and colleges, and
we shall have no need for theological schools proper. We
know that some are opposed to having any special religious
instruction connected with school education. But what good
reason can be given for this opposition ? In a Christian land,
in schools originated and sustained by Christian patrons, and
superintended by Christian teachers, and often by Christian
ministers, must every thing else be taught but the religion
of our fathers ? Must the fabulous legends of Homer, the
obscene pages of Horace, and the blood-stained Commentaries
of Caesar, be the every - day study of our youth; but the
annals of Moses, the epic of Job, the pastorals of David, the
sublime poems of Isaiah, the irresistible logic of Paul, the
angelic ethics of John, and the divine philosophy of Jesus—■
are these to be interdicted ? Must they be thrust aside, or
only brought incidentally to view ? Is it perfectly right to
teach heathen philosophy and pagan mythology in our schools
and colleges, but is it sacrilege to introduce Christian philo¬
sophy and theology ?
But there is another aspect in which the subjects of the
ministry and of education are connected. That the Christian
ministry should lend their influence and take the lead in
getting up and sustaining schools and colleges; that they
should superintend and foster this interest, and bestow upon
it their zealous support and patronage, we fully believe. But
can they, consistently with their calling, " leave the work of
the Lord," and sit down on the stool of a mere academic pro¬
fessorship ? When God calls a man to the_ ministry, as the
great business of his life, especially when, in his ordination
vow, he has solemnly sworn before high Heaven that he will
" devote himself wholly to the work," can he make it a mere
14
THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY.
secondary affair, while a school, a farm, a store, a shop, or a
fishing-net, shall be the principal concern ? But if it be said
that education has become one department of the appropriate
■work of the ministry—our ministers are appointed as pro¬
fessors in colleges—if this be, in sober truth, a department
of the ministerial work proper, then a minister may do this
work, and this alone, and be a proper minister of the gospel.
That is, he may, consistently with his vows, be an " unpreach-
ing prelate," or, in Bible phrase, " a dumb dog that will not
bark." We would not go so far as to intimate that the min¬
ister should never teach or work on the farm or in the shopj
that he should never participate in any calling outside of his
sacred vocation. But we do insist, that the propriety of
making a mere secular calling the main, the principal busi¬
ness of a minister's life, is more than questionable. Paul, as
a temporary relaxation, might occupy some of his odd inter¬
vals by " working with his owu hands," lest he should
become burdensome to a poor and a persecuted Church', but
what can be conceived more preposterous and absurd, than
the idea of his making that his principal business ! Had all
the interests of human learning and'philosophy pertaining to
the Roman empire been concentrated in one metropolis, and
the presidency been tendered to this " legate of the skies,"
what, think ye, would have been his reply ? Would he not
have exclaimed, "God forbid that I should glory, save in the
cross of our Lord Jesus Christ!" Look at Wesley : he wrote
books, he founded schools, he read, he studied, but his great
business was to "blow the gospel trump," and cry to all,
"Behold the Lamb of God!" Could all the able and elo¬
quent men, now immured in colleges and schools throughout
these United States, have their places filled by laymen, and
they, released from their bonds, be sent out as blazing torches
over the length and breadth of our country, " determined to
know nothing among men but Jesus Christ and him cruci¬
fied," how astonishing might be their influence ! They could
form an indomitable host, to charge upon the ramparts of
infidelity and sin, and the good they might accomplish would
be told by the battle-cry of victory on the side of the Lord,
floating upon the breeze, and swelling with gladness the hearts
of the saints!
4. We next inquire, What is implied in the work of the min-
THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY.
15
istry ? It is a maxim no less true than trite, that whatsoever
is worth doing, is worth doing well; and the very first re¬
quisite to enable us to do any thing well, is to understand
clearly and distinctly what it is we have to do. (1). The
Christian ministry is not a work of human appointment or
devising. It is neither a discovery of philosophy, nor an in¬
vention of science. It traces its paternity neither to the
edicts of kings, nor to the enactments of states; neither to
the hulls of popes, nor to the decrees of councils. It is em¬
phatically a work of God. Descending from heaven, in
principle and character, in basis and superstructure, it is
superterrestrial and Heaven-ordained. St. Paul says, "The
gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I
neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by
the revelation of Jesus Christ/' The whole system of the
gospel being Divine in origin and character, we are dependent
entirely upon the word of God for our knowledge of tbe work
of that ministry which Heaven has instituted for its propaga¬
tion and success.
We are not "sent to warfare at our own charges." We
have, it is true, a high mission—we are invested with a sub¬
lime and lofty trust; but our bill of instructions is both ample
and explicit. Our duties are Divinely prescribed, and au¬
thoritatively enjoined. The Bible is our directory—the gos¬
pel is our charter. " To the law and to the testimony" we
must go. "We are embassadors for Christ." We must
preach the preaching he bids us. Our mission is to men,
but it is from God. Our work is not to deliver essays upon
human science and philosophy, but to proclaim the message
of salvation to sinners, as we have received it of the Lord
Jesus. Not that we dare claim inspiration, direct from
Heaven, as did the apostles; but we are furnished in the New
Testament with the apostolic teachings. The mission of the
apostles was,to "teach all things whatsoever (the Saviour) had
commanded them." Ours is, to teach " all things whatsoever
(Christ and his apostles) have commanded us." Hence, our
work is a Divinely prescribed one. Its metes and boundaries
are charted upon the record. Like him of old, we may ex¬
claim, " How shall I curse whom God hath not cursed ?
Or how shall I defy whom the Lord hath not defied ? If
Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I can-
16
THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY.
not go beyond the commandment of the Lord, to do either
good or bad of mine own mind ; but what the Lord saith, that
will I speak." Our work is, to declare the great facts and
precepts of the gospel—furnishing the matter of Christian
faith, and the measure of Christian duty; and appealing to
the hopes and the fears of all men, to urge them, by the
glorious promises and the fearful threatenings of the Divine
word, to "believe on the Lord Jesus Christ," and to do "all
things whatsoever he hath commanded them." In the dis¬
charge of the high trust with which we are invested, our first
and great inquiry is, What hath God required at our hands ?
Falling in the dust at the feet of the Redeemer, we should
exclaim, with the young pupil of Gamaliel, "Lord, what wilt
thou have me to do ?" If we feel that the Divine behest re¬
quires it, we must be willing to depart instantly, though it be
to the uttermost verge of the green earth. Not conferring
with flesh and blood, if God require, we must go out into "the
hedges and the highways," or " far hence to the Gentiles."
The mountains and the plains—the hills and the valleys—
the rough places and the smooth, are all alike to the
herald of the cross, when " the love of Christ constrains him,"
and he feels that he has "a message from God" to men.
Knowing that God demands his services, he should be ready,
at once, to leave " the dead to bury their dead ;" and, casting
himself upon the altar of God, he should be ready to devote
himself fully to the great work of preaching " the unsearch¬
able riches of Christ," and holding forth the words of recon¬
ciliation, as Christ has prescribed them in his gospel.
(2.) The work of the ministry is a spiritual and a heavenly
calling. It partakes not of the elements and attributes of a
mere worldly avocation. It is radically and essentially dis¬
tinct and variant from every species of mere human pursuit
and enterprise. It relates not to the husbandry of the earth,
but to the culture of the spiritual vineyard, into which the
heavenly Husbandman hath commanded his servants to "enter
and to work." It is not a mission to "'dig in the earth and
hide our Lord's money"—to manage the farm, to drive the
plough, to sow the seed, to graze the herds, to reap the har¬
vest, and pull down the old barns and build greater, and to
" lay up much goods for many years"—this is no part of the
ministerial calling; but it is a mission to cultivate Immanu-
THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY.
17
el's fields, to break up the fallow-ground of the sinner's heart
by the ploughshare of gospel truth, to sow the good seed of the
word, that it may bring forth fruit unto holiness, and "that
the end maybe everlasting life;" to lead the spiritual flock
of the Saviour by the still waters of that river " whose streams
make glad the city of God," and cause them to lie down in
the green pastures of Divine promise; in a word, it is a mis¬
sion to thrust the gospel sickle into "the fields which are
white unto the harvest," and gather immortal souls as ripe
sheaves for the heavenly garner. Peter and Andrew must
leave their fishing-boat and nets, that they may become
" fishers of men." James and John must leave their father
Zebedee to mend their broken nets as best he can, and take
up their cross, and follow the Saviour. Matthew, the pub¬
lican, must leave his table at the receipt of custom, and
straightway become a follower of Him who called him. Luke,
the physician, is no longer to practice his nostrums upon the hu¬
man body, but he must take upon himself the " cure of souls."
Saul, the accomplished graduate and the finished architect,
has no further use for his diploma received from Gamaliel,
or his letters from the high-priest, but straightway he enters
upon his new vocation of preaching Christ. The work of the
ministry is not a mere trade or profession, by which to gain
an easy competence or acquire an honorable position; but it
is the devotion of the strength and energy of body and mind—
yea, a lifetime service to the interests of humanity and. the
cause of the Redeemer, though labor and toil, hunger and
weariness, peril and persecution, bonds and dungeons, or even
martyrdom itself, be our only earthly reward! It is not a
magnificent scheme of speculation, or of mercantile enter¬
prise, by which to amass a fortune, or to "lay up gold as the
dust, and the gold of Ophir (or California) as the stones of
the brooks;" but it is a voluntary enlistment of ourselves,
with all we have and are, in the cause of Him who " had not
where to lay his head," that we may bear the cup of consola¬
tion to the mourner, that we may "preach good tidings to the
meek, bind up the broken-hearted, proclaim liberty to the
captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are
bound," though we ourselves should be doomed in this world
to a life of extreme poverty and hardship—pilgrims and so¬
journers, as prophets and apostles have been before us, having
9*
18
THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY.
not so much, as a cottage in the "wilderness! This ministry
is not a device of worldly ambition, by which to wreathe the
brow with the green but fading laurel of fame, or to ascend
to the dizzy heights of earthly distinction and renown; but a
consecration upon the altar of G-od and of religion, though
our names on earth "be cast out as evil," and we be "es¬
teemed the filth and the offscouring of all things." It is a
Heaven-inspired resolve, by which we " count all things but
loss, for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus the
Lord." In a word, the work of the ministry relates not to
temporal and earthly, but to heavenly and eternal things.
Founded in connection with a system of heavenly revealment,
having to do with doctrines of heavenly birth and heavenly
tendency, its aims and agencies, its motives and move¬
ments, its conflicts and conquests, its arrangements and
achievements, all point upward to heaven, and forward
to eternity. It looks not at things temporal, but at things
eternal; and it " endures hardness," because "it sees Him
who is invisible."
(3.) The work of the ministry is infinitely important. Things
derive their real value and importance from the magnitude
of the interests with which they are connected, and the good
they are calculated to effect or secure. As a radical principle
connected with our subject, it should not be forgotten that
"the good that is done in the world, the Lord doeth." "Every
good and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down
from the Father of lights." Therefore, whatever good may
result from the work of the ministry, is to be attributed, not,
in any degree, to its own intrinsic and underived virtue or
excellency, but to the appointment and blessing of God.
" The excellency of the power is of God, and not of us."
In the present discourse, we assume that the gospel ministry
is the Divinely instituted means for the proclamation of the
gospel, and the delivery of the message of salvation to the
world. For aught we know, God might have selected other
agencies than he has for the revelation of his truth, and the
proclamation of the word of reconciliation to man. For
aught we dare affirm, he might have dispatched the holy
angels that stand around his throne on this sublime mission.
It is enough for us to know that he hath committed " this
treasure to earthen vessels." It hath pleased him to commis-
THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY.
19
sion for this work, "men of like passions with ourselves,"
and "by the foolishness of preaching to save them that
believe." It follows, therefore, that in the same proportion
as the gospel itself, and the salvation it proposes, are deemed
valuable and important, so, likewise, must wd appreciate the
work of the gospel ministry.
Let us look, then, at the subject-matter of this gospel
message. It comprises the whole range of the revelation of
God's will to man. How important the message! How
comprehensive and how lofty the theme! It reaches back
to the birth of creation : it tells of our origin ; of the birth
of all things around us; of the fall of man, and the promise
of a Saviour; of the history of the patriarchs, and the giv¬
ing of the law; of the captivities and the triumphs, the
various fortunes, and the remarkable history of God's chosen
people for multiplied centuries. But, above all, it unfolds the
glories of the gospel proper. It proclaims the birth of the
long-promised, the glorious Messiah, the Saviour of the
world. It traces the history of his spotless life, his astonish¬
ing miracles, and his vile rejection by the Jews. It opens
our eyes to the mighty wonders of his hands: we see the
water made wine, the lame made whole, the blind eyes
opened, the deaf ears unstopped, the sea-storm quelled, and
the dead raised to life at his bidding. It opens our ears to
the sublime doctrines that fell from his mouth; we listen to
his Sermon on the Mount, and exclaim, "Never man taught
like this man !" What pure morality, what unearthly benevo¬
lence, what heavenly wisdom distilled from his lips !
This gospel message reveals the sublime glories of the
cross. It exhibits to our view the lamblike meekness, the
mild composure, the sublime grandeur, and the godlike
firmness of the Redeemer, amid all the tragic history of his
trial, sufferings, and death! It proclaims his resurrection
from the dead, his glorious ascension to the mediatorial
throne in heaven, and the opening up and commencement of
the perfected gospel dispensation on the day of Pentecost.
But let us look at the vast interests involved, in its direct
appeal to man. It comes, as the mouthpiece of God, with a
message of love to every human soul. It comes, an embassy
from the skies, to treat with man of interests boundless as
the universe, and enduring as eternity. Thrones and seep-
20
THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY.
tres, crowns and empires, are empty baubles, compared witb
the interests here involved ! It reaches forth the olive-branch
of peace to a rebellious world. Its mission is to open to
the perishing nations of earth the fountain of eternal life.
It comes to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. It
finds the prodigal feeding on husks in a strange land, and
leads him back to his Father's house. It gives light to those
who are sitting in darkness—joy to the disconsolate—imper¬
ishable riches to the poor, and heaven to all who will seek
it. Not the perishing body—not the fictitious trappings of
honor—not the imposing charms of wealth—not the impious1
banquets of pleasure—none of these things of earth; but
the immortal soul—the eternal destiny of man—heaven and
hell, are the themes of the gospel ministry! Did the tallest
son of glory, did Michael the archangel ever fly on an
errand more sublimely important, than when he came to earth
to minister to an heir of salvation ? And yet, he was only a
co-worker with the humblest minister of the gospel that ever
dropped a tear on his Bible ! Is this the lofty dignity, the
overwhelming importance of the gospel ministry ? And hath
Heaven "counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry!"
(4.) If such be the importance, how fearful must be the
responsibility of this work ! "Well may we exclaim, "Who is
sufficient for these things?" The responsibility of the min¬
ister grows out of his relation to Him who has invested him
with the trust, the value of the thing intrusted, and the
importance of the interests involved.
Who then, we ask, has called us to this high vocation ? It
is not the dying charge of a father delivered to his son con¬
cerning his bones, amid the solemnities of the deathbed
scene. It is not a commission from the court of a king or
emperor of earth; it is a mission from the high cabinet of
Heaven—from the great God and Saviour of the world.
Shall this high honor be contemned, or this lofty trust be
betrayed? If the Saviour has so loved the world, as to
empty himself of the glory he had with the Father before the
world was, and submit to all the indignities, the insults, the
cruel mockings, and malignant taunts of the mob, with all the
agonies of the cross, what must be the responsibility of the
minister who shall falter or prove unfaithful in bearing to
men the message of pardon from his lips ? If, through the
THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY.
21
unfaithfulness of the minister, the death of Christ should
prove of none effect, even to a single soul, what must be his
responsibility ?
Look at the important interests involved in this work.
Souls immortal are exposed to the damnation of hell, and the
minister is sent to snatch them as brands from the fire.
Should he prove unfaithful, and should their destruction be
the result, " their blood will be required of his hand." How
appalling must be the hour of reckoning to the unfaithful
watchman ! The man who betrays his country, and recklessly
suffers her interests to fall into the hands of the enemy, is
justly despised as a traitor, and hanged in disgrace. But the
unfaithful watchman betrays the trust of his God; and per¬
mits the souls of men to perish through his neglect: what
retribution, therefore, should infinite justice visit upon him
at the judgment day?
There are numerous discouragements and difficulties in the
way of the gospel minister. Under the influence of these,
even good men may falter for a season. But the scenes of
the final judgment will rend the veil from our eyes, and
exhibit these matters in a far different light. Then, every
thing shall appear in its real character. Then shall we under¬
stand the insignificance of our most formidable pleas for
negligence or unfaithfulness in the high calling of the min¬
istry. Standing at the bar of God; called by the Saviour to
an account for our stewardship; witnessing the bitter wail-
ings of multitudes, perhaps, sinking down in hopeless despair,
and, with fiendlike curses, charging upon our unfaithfulness
their eternal ruin—what rocks or mountains can hide from
the face of Heaven our shame and guilt? And when the
once crucified Redeemer shall call on us to deliver up the
souls for whom he shed his blood, and for whose salvation he
commanded us to preach—should they have perished through
our neglect—to which of the now current pleas and every-day
excuses for ministerial delinquency will we then resort ?
Will Demas then plead the " love of this present world ?"
Will the poverty and distress, the hardships and labors, the
persecutions and afflictions, the scoffs of the profane, and
the frowns of false brethren—will any of these things then
be so much as named ? No, verily, the truant watchman will
then be speechless. Then shall his eyes be opened to the
22
THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY.
accursed emptiness and folly of his most cherished excuses!
Let me perish with the children of Adniah, and be swallowed
up with the inhabitants of Zeboiui; let me be driven into hell
with " the nations that forget God;" let the atheist and the
deist—the gambler and the murderer—the lewd and the pro¬
fane—the prodigal and the licentious—the thief and the
robber—the filthy and the abominable, all be my fellows and
companions amid the fearful retributions of eternity; and let
all the woes that yet linger in the cup of the Divine ven¬
geance be poured upon me, rather than should fall on my head
the withering, the burning, the damning curse of unfaithful¬
ness in the Christian ministry ! If " in the lowest deep" there
still be a lower—if in the hottest hell there still be a hotter,
that deep and that hell will be the home and the reward of
the recreant watchman! God of the watchman, save us !
One word in reference to the rewards of the ministry.
In this catalogue, the emoluments of earth are entirely
omitted; unless it be in the shape of its frowns and its scoffs,
its derisions and its persecutions, its toils and its trials, its
pains and its perils. But, as an abundant compensation for
all these, we have the comforting presence and love of God,
the fellowship of his Son, and the communion of the Holy
Spirit. The heart of the ambitious, when he reaches the
long-sought pinnacle of fame; the heart of the brave general,
when, at the head of his troops, he beholds the vanquished
foe retreating in dismay, while the shout of victory, like the
n'oise of many waters, rises and rolls along the serried lines
of his hosts—these hearts may have tasted joy; but it was
earthly, fleeting, and mingled with anguish! I have often
thought, yea, I have felt, that if ever bliss—pure and unal¬
loyed, celestial and immortal, ever-living and godlike in
character—was found on earth, it was that which thrilled the
heart of the humble herald of the cross, when, under his
feeble ministrations, he saw the tear in the eye of the peni¬
tent, the glow of rapture in the countenance of the saint, and,
standing by faith on Pisgah's top, gazed afar off upon the
glories of heaven ! .Give me one such glance of heavenly
day, one draught of such superangelic bliss, and one star in my
crown at last, and victors' wreaths and monarchs' gems I'll
trample in the dust!
We cannot now dwell upon the fulness of the minister's
THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY.
23
reward. It is laid up in heaven, beyond the reach of all the
storms and convulsions of earth. It is rest from labor and
toil; it is a blissful and eternal home: angels and archangels,
prophets and apostles, martyrs and saints, and all the Church
of the first-born, will be there to greet him ! Could we now
pierce the intervening veil, a moment's glance at the robes and
palms, the harps and crowns, the riches and the radiance, the
grandeur and the glory, the songs of joy and the shouts of
praise, would be more than we could witness and live 1 But
of all the scenes of interest and displays of rapture amid
the effulgence of the opening heavens, of what can we con¬
ceive more overwhelming, than the welcome which the hum¬
ble and faithful minister of the cross shall then receive from
his glorious Master! In the presence of all the principalities
and powers of heaven, he will " bid him entei'," and share
with him in his joys; he will lead him to the living foun¬
tains; he will show him his glory, and then say unto him,
"All this is yours, and I am yours, and you are mine for
ever!"
I have thought of a beautiful world—
Where the eye never weeps, and the heart never sighs,
Where the storm never howls, where the clouds never rise,
Where foes ne'er molest, where friends never part,
Where sorrow and grief ne'er sadden the heart.
There Paradise blooms, and the tree of life stands;
No grave e'er was dug o'er all the fair lands:
There, there you must go, if e'er you behold
The riches of heaven in grandeur unfold.
Ye servants of Christ, go work for your Lord,
And soon shall be yours that endless reward :
As stars in your crown, the souls you have won
Shall cluster as gems, outshining the sun.
CLAIMS
OF THE
GOSPEL MINISTRY
TO
A SUPPORT.
BY S. H . BROWNE
NFasPtlle, Centt.:
PUBLISHED BY E. STEVENSON & J. E. EVANS, AGENTS,
FOR THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, SOUTH.
1857.
PREFACE.
The Louisiana Conference of the M. E. Church, South, at its
eighth session, offered a prize of two hundred dollars for the best
essav upon Ministerial Support. Of five essays that were sub¬
mitted to the Committee appointed to make the adjudication,
several were deemed worthy of publication; but the prize was
unanimously awarded to the following; and the Louisiana Con¬
ference, at its ninth session, held in Franklin, La., December,
1854, instructed the Chairman of the Committee, C. G. Young,
M. D.„"to request that it may be issued as one of the publications
of the Tract Society of the M. E. Church, South.
In this essay, the author has aimed, in an impartial manner,
to show the relative claims and obligations of the ministry and
membership of the Church, particularly the M. E. Church, South.
His motive has been to know nothing between the parties, save
justice in the sight of God and in the eyes of all honest men. To
determine advisedly whether success or failure is the result of the
effort, the reader must examine for himself. Read with a desire
to know what is just, with a purpose to decide impartially, and
with a resolution to comply with the decision.
SUPPORT OF THE MINISTRY.
CHAPTER I.
THE OLAIMS OF A GOSPEL MINISTRY TO A SUPPORT.—GENERAL.
Whether the claims of a gospel ministry to a support ho
just or unjust, they deserve examination. If these claims are
just, they should be acknowledged and satisfied; if they are
unjust, they should be repudiated. The justice of these
claims must be sought in the grounds upon which they are
based. The claims are as valid as the grounds are just. This
indicates the court before which the case is to be argued. Some
might think the case would be a proper one for the court of Hu¬
manity, basing the claims on an appeal to the feelings supposed
to be possessed generally by human beings, and showing the
inhumanity of suffering ministers of the gospel to perish in
our midst, while laboring for us, that we may not perish for
ever. Others would carry it to the crowded court of Charity,
and represent the case as deserving benefaction or alms-giving,
and "beg" a support. It is proposed to have these claims
examined before the court of Justice. If they cannot be es¬
tablished here, no appeal shall be taken. The question is,
Are these claims just?
Let it be premised: 1. That the ministers of the gospel
are men of like. passions and wants with us. 2. They are
called of God to the work of the ministry. 3. They have, in
accordance with the demands of the work, given up the com¬
mon secular pursuits, from which other classes obtain a sup¬
port, that they may give themselves wholly to their vocation.
The ground of claim to a support, which no one questions
in other departments of labor, is, " The laborer is worthy of
his hire." This axiom was applied by Divine authority to the
support of the ministry. Christ's first corps of ministers went
out at his command, authorized to claim the observance of
4
CLAIMS OF
this hitherto unquestioned common law—now Divine—in
obtaining their support. It was just then : it is so now.
Christ now calls men to the ministry as he did then. He has
made no change as to the manner in which they are to be
supported. It is now as it was then, by the decision of
Christ—"The laborer is worthy of his hire." That this
provision for the ministry was not intended only for the first
who were sent out, or to close with the personal ministry of
Christ, Paul, in his first Epistle to Timothy, written thirty
years after the death of Christ, quotes the same "scripture ,"
" The laborer is worthy of his reward."
The force of this axiom, as applied to the ministry, is seen :
1. That they are, in a peculiar sense, the property of Christ,
[n obeying the command to preach, they consent to be his in
a more unqualified sense than those who, though converted,
are not called to preach. 2. In fulfilling the command of
Christ, they labor for us. They are the servants of Christ,
with regard to the authority under which they are laboring;
but the servants of men, with regard to the benefit of their
labor. "We preach not ourselves, but Christ J esus the Lord;
and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake." 3. The na¬
ture of the work which these men perform. It is a work
done for our souls—a work which is profitable to us in the
life that now is, and infinitely more so in that which is to
come. As the claims of the soul are of greater moment than
those of the body, so the work of the ministry is of far more
importance than any work which has reference to the wants
of the body. 4. The work of the ministry is set round with
sanctions of Divine authority, which are not found in any
other position in life. A minister, when called of Christ to
preach, dares not set up in competition the lucrative or hon¬
orable prospect of some other business, and choose whichever
may suit his inclination most. He must preach, or meet the
judgment due the disobedient. It is not a matter of choice,
but necessity is laid upon him ; and such are the awful sanc¬
tions which God has connected with this call and this work,
that the man feels, " Wo is me, if I preach not." These men
are in the discharge of duty to God, his Church, the world;
and, since their own salvation is involved, they are in the dis¬
charge of duty to themselves. Now, if the faithful discharge
of this duty so far removes the ministry from secular callings
THE GOSPEL MINISTRY.
5
as to deprive tit em of a support from these sources, it is clear
that they deserve to have applied to them the axiom, " The
laborer is worthy of his hire."
2. Consistency on the part of the Church requires the ac¬
knowledgment of the claims of her ministry to support. The
Church sanctions and confirms their call to preach, and sends
them out to do a work which she knows will take them out of
the usual employments for support. She holds them account¬
able at her tribunal for the performance of that work. They
are punished if they do not work. It is as little as she can
do (yet as much as is claimed) to give them a support, while
laboring for her and under her authority.
3. The analogy between the priests in the Mosaic, and the
ministers in the Christian, dispensation, in respect of support,
corroborates the claim of the latter. God had a Church then :
he has one—the same—now. He then chose certain men to
officiate in holy things. He now chooses certain men to min¬
ister in spiritual things. He then made provision for their
support by special statute. He now ordains, " that they
which preach the gospel shall live of the gospel."
The examination of this scripture with the context will
close this chapter. In 1 Cor. ix. 7-14, the claims of the
ministry to a support are presented in plain terms. While
the apostle waived his own right to a support, " lest his glo¬
rying should be made void," he taught them that he had a
right to be supported by the Church. " For who," says Paul,
" goeth a warfare at any time at his own charges ? who plant-
eth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who
feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock ? Say
I these things as a man ? or saith not the law the same also ?
For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the
mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care
for oxen ? or saith he it altogether for our sakes ? For our
sakes, no doubt, this is written : that he that plougheth should
plough in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be
partaker of his hope. If we have sown unto you spiritual
things, is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things ?
If others be partakers of this power over you, are we not
rather? Nevertheless we have not used this power; but suffer
all things, lest we should hinder the gospel of Christ. Do ye
not know that they which minister about /holy things live of
6
CLAIMS OF
the things of the temple ? and they which wait at the allar
are partakers with the altar ? Even so hath the Lord or¬
dained that they which preach the gospel should live of the
gospel." Let it he observed: 1. The right of the ministry
to be supported is not questioned. 2. It is not, in the apos¬
tle's judgment only, right that the ministry should be sup¬
ported ; but by the law, delivered in the time of Moses, it i3
written, "for our salces," " Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth
of the ox that treadeth out the corn." And as they which
ministered about holy things lived of the things of the temple,
and as they which waited at the altar were partakers with the
altar, " Even so hath the Lord ordained, that they which
preach the gospel should live of the gospel."
To make manifest the equity of the law which ordains the
support of the ministry, as illustrations, it is stated, not as
questions, but as cases so free from doubt, that, for the sake
of force, they are put, without danger of misapprehension, in
the interrogative form, " Who goeth a warfare at any time at
his own charges?" i. e., No one does it. What less could a
government do than defray the expenses of her soldiers
while fighting her battles? Again: "Who planteth a vine¬
yard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? " If the vinedresser
eat not, pray who should? " Who feedeth a flock and eateth
not of the milk of the flock ? " The shepherd has a right
which has never been questioned, save by "the wolf" and a
few other kindred spirits. These are illustrations of equity;
but it is not meant that the " living" which is given the min¬
istry is equivalent to the benefit received; for the apostle, as if
forestalling the objection of some stingy spirit, who thinks
nothing is received in exchange for his money, unless it is
something which he can see, or put in his stomach or pocket,
says, " If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great
thing if we shall reap your carnal things?"
The gospel ministry is instituted by Christ. Its claims to
a support are confirmed by ordinance of the same authority.
The ministry, and its claims to a support, are united. We
cannot, as just men, have the services of the former, without
giving the latter. "What, therefore, God hath joined tc
gether, let not man put asunder."
the gospel ministry.
7
CHAPTER II.
SPECIAL SUPPORT. THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, SOUTH.
The general claims of a gospel ministry to a support wen.
presented in tlie preceding chapter. The special claims ol
the itinerant ministry of the Methodist Episcopal Church,
South, are to be examined in the present chapter. It is not
contended that there are really <any distinct grounds of claim
to give them support, which are not involved in what has been
said; but that the peculiarities of the itinerancy are circum¬
stances which give a special force and direction to the general
grounds of claim. Itinerancy is a bold system. It is based
upon much faith in God. To work well, God must perform
a part, which the organization assigns Him. It is bold, also,
in the faith it has in the people. It assumes that the people,
without contract, will voluntarily support ministers whom they
have not tried, and with whom they are not necessarily even
acquainted, and who have been sent to them. The special
claims of the itinerant ministry to a support, will appear more
fully, if we examine briefly the peculiarities of the system.
1. The ministry do not wait to be called. The people
having waived their right to choose a minister, and the min¬
istry having given up their right to choose a charge, they
leave the decision of these points to the well-advised judg¬
ment of a third party—the bishop. The ministry hold them¬
selves in readiness for any work.
2. The system requires those who enter it to give up secu¬
lar pursuits, and, consequently, the support and gain which
might be obtained from those sources, to an extent beyond
any other system. Here is a sacrifice made at the initiation
of the itinerant, which throws him for a support upon the peo¬
ple whom he is appointed to serve.
3. Here is something, though not capable of being mea¬
sured by dollars and cents, yet something felt; i. e., disen¬
gaging from home, kindred, tried and loved friends, and all
other associations, however strong and tender, which are in¬
consistent with the changing life of an itinerant preacher.
8
CLAIMS OP
But suppose the itinerants and their families found a home
furnished and ready for their reception, on entering annually
their new fields of labor, (to which there are very many ex¬
ceptions,) the demands of the work leave the minister but
time to give his family occasional visits. He and his family
are thus as strangers to each other in a strange community.
4. Besides the unavoidable pecuniary sacrifices sustained in
the annual removals of the ministers from one place to an¬
other, they are exposed to a class of disappointments and casu¬
alties which, I trow, experience could best reveal.
5. The amount of labor performed. Some do more and
others less, and the same minister more or less this year than
last; yet the system demands labor. It is hard labor. That
it is hard, some may doubt; but an observation of facts—as
the number who have broken down in youth and manhood,
the worn-out, the supernumerary, the number, who, thinking,
as some others do, that it was an easy work, that have, after
a few years' trial, located and gone to some easier work—
ought to satisfy those who will believe without trial, that it is
a hard work.
6. The itinerants go out whithersoever it is judged best for
the good of the work in general, whether that be far or near,
to a healthy or a sickly section, to the rich or poor, to the
learned or ignorant, to white or colored; and this, too, without
any previous agreement, with those whom they are to serve,
as to a support. But does not the Discipline provide for giv¬
ing them a certain allowance ? This is more properly the rule
of settling with different ministers in proportion to their se¬
veral claims. The fixing of the amount of suppoi't for the
ministers, is the work of the stewards (laymen). The getting^
of that amount is another question—one dependent on the
voluntary contributions of the people. If the amount be
given to the minister, he is but supported. If it be not, he
suffers the deficiency; and, if appointed, returns next year, to
fare, very probably, no better; or, on account of the drafts
which the minister has made on his own resources, (if any he
had,) to supply the place of former deficiencies, he may be
forced to ask a location. Alas ! what losses to the Church on
this account! What a volume that would be which contained
an account of the struggles of the ministers of the Most High
with poverty, their dread of future want, their concern for
the gospel ministry. 9
wife and children, if they should he called away, the causes
and consequences of location; and all this, too, while labor¬
ing for a people who lived free from want themselves, and
were able to give a comfortable support to their ministers.
CHAPTER III.
WHAT IS MINISTERIAL SUPPORT?
Perhaps no small portion of the difficulty in supporting
the ministry is found in the difference of opinion as to what
answer should be given to the above question. The rich man"
had a sumptuous support: Lazarus had one at the mercy of
the dogs. What should a minister of the gospel have ? The
Bible does not answer this more definitely than to call it a
" living." But Lazarus had a living as well as the rich man.
The support of the minister should not be like the one or the
other. The support should be suited to the office. The con¬
tribution of a man is an index to the sort of living he wishes
his minister to have, to the value he sets upon the gospel, and,
generally, to the influence which the gospel has made upon
the contributor's heart. How much shall the minister have ?
The amount allowed several years ago would not do now; nor
can it be said that the amount required at present will be that
which will be required fifty years hence. Neither can the
amount consumed by some extravagant minister, nor the pit¬
tance which necessity or parsimony may induce another to
subsist upon, be adapted as an answer to the question. The
appropriation for a support, which some rich or proud church
or board may make, and the pinched-off pittance, which some
poor or stingy one may make, cannot be received as criterions.
Neither can the amount necessary for living in a certain
place, where provisions are dear, nor in one where they are
cheap, be adopted as a general rule. The amount required
for the support of a minister one year may be more or less
than will be required the next, even in the same place. The
determination of this question, and the management of this
interest, in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, is en-
10
claims op
trusted to certaiii officers, called stewards. In addition to the
last chapter, see the Discipline. The Discipline provides that
the answer to the question, " What is ministerial support W
shall he given by the Board of Stewards in each circuit and
station, respectively. Nothing more can be done by me in
answering this question, than to give a few general rules, by
which the stewards should he guided in determining the
amount for ministerial support. Let them consider : 1. The
size of the minister's family. 2. The particular—there may
be peculiar—wants of the family. 3. The cost of living in
the particular place where the minister is to reside; also, the
probable deviation from that cost by the abundance or scarcity
of supplies for the current year. The style of living which it
is expected the minister shall observe, will be sufficiently
pointed out in the appropriation. The Apostle Paul, with re¬
gard to the style of living, says, " Let him that is taught in
the word comtnunicate unto him that teacheth in all good
things."
CHAPTER IV.
OBLIGATIONS TO SUPPORT A GOSPEL MINISTRY.
The claims of the ministry to a support, general and special,
having been considered, and the circumstances to he observed
in determining what is implied in ministerial support having
been pointed out, the duty of contributing to the support of
the ministry now claims our attention. If the grounds of
claim to a support are just, consistent, and of Divine appoint¬
ment, it will be unnecessary to enlarge on the duty of contri¬
buting. The obligation to meet the claim is the natural
counterpart of the claim. If there is a claim, there is an ob¬
ligation. The two cannot be separated. If the claims of one
party are based on justice and Divine authority, the obligation
is fastened on the other by the same principle and power.
The admission of the existence of the claim, involves the
acknowledgment of the duty to satisfy the claim, And in
proportion to the validity of the claim, is the strength, of the
THE GOSPEL MINISTRY. 11
obligation. As impartial umpires, we should examine both
sides of this question deliberately, thoroughly, and in the spirit
of candor. If, then, the establishment of the claims of the
ministry to a support involves the obligation to give that sup¬
port, the argument in the whole case might, in fairness, close,
leaving nothing more to be done than to ascertain who the
persons are against whom these claims stand; for it would be
a reflection on the integrity of a man, if, after he acknow¬
ledges the justness of a claim against himself, you should
undertake to prove to him that he is in duty bound to pay
it. From the same arguments which establish the claims of
the ministry to a support, the obligation to give that support
is easily and clearly inferred. The same text of Scripture
which proves the right of the ministry to a support, proves,
also, the obligation to give that support. Neither does the
existence of the claim or the obligation depend upon the
number of texts, but the appropriateness and explicitness of
those adduced; e. g., "The laborer is worthy of his hire."
It is not necessary to show that the same text is found in
Matthew, and Paul's Epistle to Timothy, to give it force. It
would have as much authority if recorded but once, as it
would if recorded a thousand times, or as if it were the only
Divine declaration ever given to the world. The only questions
are : 1. Is it appropriate? i. e., does it belong to the subject
to which it is applied—the support of the ministry? Of this
there is no doubt. 2. Is it explicit? i. e., is the meaning
clear ? It is : " The laborer is worthy of his hire"—the min¬
ister deserves his support.
The existence of the claims, it is presumed, none will deny;
but against whom do they exist ? Against God ? angels ?
devils ? Elijah's ravens ? widow of Zarephath ? No. The
proper ones are not found yet. Against " them." Whom
do you mean? "They." Who are "they?" Well, the
claims are against "us." That will do, provided your indi¬
viduality is not absorbed in "us," or dwindled down into a
dwarf with a full-grown poor mouth. But you have been thus
circuitously catechised, as though you would evade the issue.
It is enough for you and many others to know for whom the
laborer works. That is all that is necessary for the laborer to
obtain his hire, of which he is "worthy." But there are
others who care for none of these things. They know not
12
CLAIMS OF
from choice whether the minister's home (?) is on earth, in
Paradise, or Pandemonium; whether he eats angels' food or
black-gum berries; whether his clothes wear out like theirs,
or whether he has been so lucky as to inherit an old suit, worn
by some son of Jacob in the wilderness. I have a notion to
erase the last few lines, but as that class will hardly read this
essay, you need not mind it, but just hand them over to that
brother in the Church, who so faithfully " trims" and "rakes"
the preacher. And if you should be annoyed at camp-meet¬
ing, by his shouting "glory to God for a free salvation," etc.
—not an uncommon case—just whisper in his ear " preacher"
and "money," instead of "Providence" and "mercy," and
you will be troubled as little by his " glory" as the preacher
has been by his " money."
Those for whom the ministry labor are the persons whose
duty it is to contribute for their support. This obligation
rests with greatest weight upon the membership of the church;
second, upon the attendants of church; third, upon those
benefited by the ministry.
To give this chapter its proper form, as the counterpart of
the chapter on the general claims of the ministry, I shall do
little more than enumerate the several obligations, answering
to the corresponding claims in the former.
1. The first ground of claim was that of service rendered
by the ministry. The labor being performed for us, creates
and lays on us the obligation to support the ministry.
2. As the ministry are held accountable for the perform¬
ance of their duty, laboring for us and under ecclesiastical
authority, consistency demands that we should perform our
duty to them—give them a support.
3. As the priesthood of the Church in the Jewish dispen¬
sation were supported by the people, so it is our duty, to whom
the gospel is preached, to support those who preach it.
It may be observed in this connection, that the ministry are
in the discharge of a duty to God, the Church, the world, and
themselves, which they cannot perform, unless we cooperate
with them in giving them their support, and thereby discharge
our duty in the same respects. The path of duty is plainly
marked for them and us—they to preach, and we to support
them—and serious will be the reckoning of that man who
leaves the path of duty himself, or, by neglect, obstructs the
THE GOSPEL MINISTRY.
13
path of others. The ministry can he driven as effectually
from their appropriate work to the plough or shop, by with¬
holding their support, as hy barring the doors of our churches
and dwellings against them, and, with a mob, beat them back
to their own threshold. Stop the supplies, and the work is
done. While persecution, heat, cold, sickness, misfortune,
and continued hard labor, have failed to "move" the devoted
soldier from his post, necessity, .created by the parsimony of
those whose battles they were fighting, has compelled hun¬
dreds and thousands of the veterans to turn from the "good
fight," and, with sad hearts, to take off the panoply of Heaven, ■
entangle themselves with the affairs of this life, and, with
other burdens, endure, the remainder of a dispirited life, our
censure for being worldly-minded! Their support is in our
hands, and should be given them as their due. " Who goeth
a warfare any time at his own charges ?"
4. It was shown that God hath ordained, the ministry shall
live of the gospel. Not by standing and literally preaching
food into his mouth, and clothes upon his body, but by receiv¬
ing these things from the hands of those persons to whom he
preaches.
It is to the interest of the Church to support the ministry.
The Church is the light of the world. Connected with the
existence of the Church is the knowledge of the Bible, if not
the existence of that book itself, the observance of the Sab¬
bath, the sacraments of baptism and the eucharist, the preser¬
vation of the worship of the true God, and a sound code of
morals, the preservation and appreciation of civil and religious
liberty. It is not possible for u.s, who have lived all the
while in Christendom, to form a just conception of the social
and political advantages which the world and Christendom
particularly receive from, and through, the Church of God.
It is difficult to conceive how the Church could exist without
the ministry, as much so as to conceive how a government
could exist without officers. The Church is God's own insti¬
tution. He has enacted certain laws for its government. He
calls certain men to teach and administer these laws. So far
as the existence and benefit of the Church depends on the
ministry, so far it is to the interest of the Church and all who
are benefited by it (and who is not ?) to support the ministry.
By assuming the support of the ministry, we relieve them
14
CLAIMS OP
from that care and anxiety which otherwise would unfit them
for the ministerial work. We also remove them from the
temptation to engage in secular business, by which many, it
is to be feared, have not only left the ministry, but the Church
of God, A minister cannot do efiFective work if he is " en¬
tangled with the affairs of this life." As the ministry stand,
as it were, between us and heaven, to point us out the way,
so we should stand between them and the world, to prevent
the cares of the world from rushing upon them, and thereby
disqualifying them for the great work to which Heaven has
appointed them. If we thus perform the work assigned us
by the Lord, the ministry are prepared and induced to serve
us more willingly, cheerfully, affectionately, and profitably.
Oftentimes the minister is blamed for a want of zeal, for en¬
gaging in secular work, for devoting too much of his time to
his home and family—a reproof which, in many cases, he may
deserve. But we should not censure hastily, any more than
rashly. Doubtless, if, in many cases, we knew the concern
of the minister's heart about a support for himself and family,
which our inattention has produced, we would often pity,
where we now blame.
The interests of the ministry and Church are mutual.
In giving our ministers a support, we are but working indi¬
rectly for our own good. Can we not believe that it is for our
temporal interest to support the ministry ? That degree of
temporal interest which, on the whole, is best for us, attends
an upright walk : " Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his
righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you."
" No good thing will he withhold from them that walk up¬
rightly." Do, reader, pause.one time. Does your heart
receive this as the truth of God ? While Israel was faithful
to the Lord their God, he blessed, with other interests, their
"basket and store." When they forsook him, "he cursed
their blessings." Although this is so clearly taught in the
Scriptures as a principle of the Divine government, and so
many instances of its practical manifestation are recprded,
and even our own observation tends to the same conclusion,
how culpably reluctant is the heart of even professed believers
in Christ to receive it as truth. In proportion to the growth
of grace in the heart will this truth be received. When God
is in the heart, he is believed and trusted. That temporal
the gospel ministry.
15
prosperity is connected with the discharge of duty in the very
particular now before us, i. e., the support of the ministry,
I shall prove by one precept and one example. The precept
is, " Honor the Lord with thy substance, and with the first-
fruits of all thine increase: so shall thy barns be filled with
plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine."
Prov. iii. 9,10. The example is found in Malachi, c. iii. In his
time, Israel departed grievously from God; and, as in the case
of backsliders generally, they diminished, or wholly withheld,
the minister's allowance. In this they are charged with rob¬
bing God: " Will a man rob God ? Yet ye have robbed me.
But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and
offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse; for ye have robbed'
me, even this whole nation." For this they were " cursed
with a curse." God then directs, in accordance with his law.
in providence and with their former experience, how to turn
away the curse and secure a blessing: "Bring ye all the tithes
into the storehouse, that there may be meat in my house, and
prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not
open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing,
that there shall not be room enough to receive it. And I will
rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy
the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her
fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts."
" Freely ye have received, freely give." " It is more blessed to
give than to receive."
CHAPTER Y.
SUPPORT OP THE ITINERANT MINISTRY.
In a previous chapter, the special claims of the itinerant
ministry of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, were
briefly examined. Let us present some of the corresponding
obligations to give them a support.
1. We are never without a minister, except during the time
consumed in attending the Annual Conference, and even then
the system provides for filling up the time by the local min-
16
CLAIMS OF
isters. It is uncertain, in the congregational system, what
minister they will eventually get, although there is much
boasting of " republicanism." It is uncertain when they will
get him. It is uncertain how long they will keep him, and
uncertain hoio long, after he is gone, before they get another.
2. In the Congregational system, the minister mustp/ease
the people; or he is dismissed. Thus, the system tempts the
ministry to "crouch" before these "republican" churches,
and say, " Put me, I pray thee, into one of the priests' offices,
that I may eat a piece of bread." To get his bread, he must
stay in the office: to remain in the office, he must please
those who put him in: to please them, he often displeases
Gi-od. The temptation to this is far less in our system. The
minister comes, remains, and leaves, according to the regula¬
tion of the Church, managed by the Bishop. A faithful dis¬
charge of duty is as certain to make the minister unpopular
with an easily defined class of people, as the opposite course
would secure their favor. The system is far more free from
temptation to corruption in this particular than the boasted
republican, which virtually possesses the power of putting a
minister in the pulpit who shall preach to please God or man,
according as man may choose.
3. In our system, the minister comes and labors the year
through, without a previous stipulation as to salary, leaving
the stewards, the agents of the people, to estimate the allow¬
ance for the minister's support. In the other system, the
amount to be given the minister has no little influence in
making a call effectual in bringing the minister, and in keep¬
ing him after he comes.
4. Itinerancy, connecting, as it does, poor societies with
rich ones, a sparsely populated section with one more popu¬
lous, gives, in the former case, the poor people and feeble
societies the services of the same minister who serves the rich;
*and, in the latter case, the gospel is preached in a " wilder¬
ness," where Congregationalism could not live, because there
is not a sufficient number of people to make a "congregation"
that could call loud enough to be heard !
5. The annual systematic changes which are made, give
every portion of the Church, more or less, the benefit of the
variety of talent, as well as the different kinds of talent, in
the ministry of a Conference. We have the doctrinal one
THE GOSPEL MINISTRY.
17
year, the practical the next, the experimental another, and
so on. This variety, with the novelty attending the en¬
trance of the new minister on his work, awakens an interest
which otherwise would not exist, and to which, with the bless¬
ing of God upon the minister's labors, we attribute, in a great
degree, the revivals of religion for which the Methodist
Church has been notable. Though all classes may be edified
to some extent under the preaching of a faithful minister, yet
every minister is peculiarly adapted to preach the Gospel with
greater efficiency to a certain class, than other ministers of a
different kind of talent, though the latter may be even of a
higher grade. And out of that certain class of the people,
that minister is instrumental in bringing souls to Christ and
members into the Church. A Paul, with his logical powers,
shows to the reflecting that the cross of Christ is the wisdom
of God. A son of thunder storms the fort of another com¬
pany, and leads them willingly, with shouts of victory, to be
marshalled under the ensign of Immanuel. An Apollos en¬
chants and weds to the cross many noble hearts. A John,
through love, conquers a number who had withstood all the
others.
In all that has been said concerning the special claims of
itinerancy,-the intention was to do no more than to set it forth
as an agency of great power, and of evangelical adaptation,
to comply with the command, " Go ye into all the world and
preach the gospel to every creature." Let all the glory settle
with increasing effulgence and grand enlargement around
Him to whom it is due, and who has thus far, according to
his promise, been with his militant host, and who will be with
them to the end of the world. Under the blessing of the
Head of the Church, the secret of the wonderful success of
the system is doubtless to be found in the near approach it
makes in adjusting itself to the model required for carrying
out the great Commission, to go into all the world and preach
the gospel to every creature. From the beginning, the sys¬
tem has worked well: it works well now, and will continue to
work well. Once in a while it is ascertained, by the screak¬
ing heard, that a wheel has been put in which belongs more
properly to a mill or gin, than to an evangelical locomotive.
Another one, taking up the notion that it is not in its proper
place in the machinery, runs furiously awhile forward and
10*
18
CLAIMS 01
then backward, and, finally, to blow up the whole establish'
ment, it loses its balance and drops out—that's all. The
machine runs on as though nothing had happened—even bet¬
ter. Many obstructions have been thrown in its way. Many
arrows, lances, balls, and bombs have been showered with
righteous (?) aim upon its parts, but it still goes. " Alacka-
day! How hard to stop it !" After expending the magazines
without effecting destruction, or even any serious damage, to
cover in some fashion a mortifying defeat, the enemies hoist a
white flag, rather dingy, to signify sincere peace, and eulogize
Methodism as it was, prophesy of the Methodism that is to be,
and, to save pain in the eyes, if not in the heart, ignore the
mighty Methodism that is now. These latter-day seers of the
school of Isaac Taylor, in looking in the past, see nothing
under the guidance of Heaven as great as Methodism: in
looking forward, they see something else: in looking at the
present, they see nothing, although the top and branches of
the Methodist "mustard" tree reach higher and extend far¬
ther than any other. Mr. Taylor required so much of the
world to stand on, that there was little left for him to look at.
Being unable to see through his feet, and not acclimated to
the spiritual atmosphere of Methodism, we can readily account
for the caricature which his heart, more than his eyes, has
given to the world. Methodism still lives. Its roots are
deeper, and its texture firmer and sounder now than ever be¬
fore. And when I say, Let it live, the supplication is not
addressed to its foes, for it has always lived in spite of them.
It lives as well, if not better, under their frowns than under
their smiles. But, dear brethren and friends, to you it is
said, Let it live. For it to live, our ministers must work. To
work, they must eat. " The workman is worthy of his meat."
Let us let our ministers live as God has ordained—" of the
gospel."
THE GOSPEL MINISTRY.
19
CHAPTER VI.
THE MEASURE OF THE DUTY OF CONTRIBUTING.
How much ought we, ought I, to contribute ? Who is to
decide? You. By what rule? By that which says, "As
ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to
them." Although the " goods" are yours, and the rule is
correct, and you are the man to apply it in measuring off the
portion which belongs to the minister, yet there is a possibil¬
ity of laying the rule in the wrong place. Why is it there
seems to be a general fear of giving too much, while there
seems to be little fear of giving too little ? Is it so ? Or is
it the best practicable way of hiding that selfishness which
will give an emphatic " amen," to " G-et all you can, and save
all you can but when it is said, " Give all you can," he
ties his purse-strings, and says, " Charity begins at home
and, it may be added, it continues and ends ^here it begins.
A selfish man was the author of the false adage, and selfish¬
ness—so mean that its father would not give it its own legiti¬
mate name, but stole a name from heaven—begins at home.
The Jews gave a tenth. Some observe the same proportion
in supporting the ministry : some give the same to the min¬
istry which they pay in taxes : some few give the produce of a
certain piece of ground: some give the same one year with
another : some give one year, but not the next: some give to
one minister, but not to another; some give just what is
pulled out of them : some give prayers : some do nothing at
all but scandalize the Christian name : others will put a ten-
cent piece into the hat at a public collection, and when asked
to aid in supporting the minister, will say, with ten times ten-
cents' worth of assurance, " I have thrown in"—taking good
care not to say how much. You are not urged to adopt a
liberal or charitable measure, but a just one. Let us first be
just, and then liberal. The question is, What is the measure of
the duty of contributing which justice prescribes f Let us lay
down the premises to be kept in view in deciding this ques¬
tion—made difficult only by the want of information, and the
20
CLAIMS OF
selfishness of the hiynan heart—and leave every man to an¬
swer, as a just judge between himself and his minister, what
he should give. Let him not forget, throughout the investi¬
gation, that God is an interested witness of his reasoning and
measuring: that the answer he gives will be approved or con¬
demned in the day of judgment, by Him who has said : " He
that is unfaithful in a little is unfaithful also in much ;" and
who will say, " Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least
of these, ye did it not to me."
Supposing you have surveyed the character, office, and
work of the ministry, observe, 1. The consideration which you
and yours have received and continue to receive—the services
of the ministry, the privileges of the Church, and all the
attendant»benefits. 2. The amount necessary to support the
ministry, as made known to us by the Stewards. 3. Many of
the members are poor, others are stingy, and, to prevent the
minister suffering the consequences, it will be necessary for
you to add something more to what you may regard as being
already a just amount. 4. The ability which God has given
you to support his servant, and that you are but the steward
of what is called yours, and that God requires you to give as
he hath prospered you, i. e., give as God has given you.
5. That a false balance is an abomination to the Lord—that
with what measure you mete, it shall be measured to you again
Now, although in this country, and in the Methodist Church,
you have the power to say how much you will give, and to
act accordingly—an appeal to your sense of honor as well as
of justice—yet there is an amount which you ought to give.
What is it ? Presuming you have thoroughly and impartially
considered the premises, and that you are ready to give the
answer, i. e., the amount you ought to give to the support of
the ministry, just let the minister take your place, and you
take his, with the golden rule—" Whatsoever ye would that
men should do to you, do ye even so to them"—in one hand,
and your pen in the other, and while you are the minister,
make the ["Thou, God, seest me"] figures. How much is it ?
THE GOSPEL MINISTRY.
21
CHAPTER VII.
LOCAL MINISTRY.
No- special reference to the local ministry has been made as
yet. It was believed best to reserve it for a separate chapter.
Except in certain cases, no disciplinary provision is made for
aiding in their support. The reason for this has been misap¬
prehended by some, who afe unacquainted with our economy,
and possibly thought insufficient by others. That the relative
position of the itinerant and local ministry may be manifest,
let a brief comparison be instituted, showing the points of
agreement and difference, and conclude by giving the reason
of that difference.
First. The points of agreement:
1. One has no power, by divine right, which the other has
not. The entire Christian ministry, in every section of the
Church, stands on the ground of perfect equality as to divine
right.
2. The call to preach is the same. The question whether
a man is to preach in a local or itinerant sphere, is outside of
the call to preach. He may remain local, or, if inclined, may
itinerate, provided the Quarterly and Annual Conferences judge
him fit.
Second. The points of difference :
1. The pastorate of the Church is committed to the itiner¬
ants : the local ministers are included in the flock.
2. The Annual and General Conferences are composed of
itinerants. The local ministers are not members of either:
they are, however, elected by the Annual Conference to Dea¬
cons' and Elders' orders, and have a right to appeal to the
Annual Conference from the Quarterly Conference.
3. Provision is made in the Discipline to support the itine¬
rant ministry. None is made for the local, except in certain
oases.
All these differences are of human arrangement. Although
there exists this numerous, respectable, and useful class of
ministers known as local, much more numerous than the
22
CLAIMS OF
itinerant class, and though the Discipline provides for their
license, ordination, etc., in like manner as it does for the
itinerants, yet, in the original organization of the Methodist
Church, none were placed in the premises from which the
conclusion—itinerancy—was drawn, which was to he the
controlling feature in the entire economy, but the itinerants.
The local ministry came into existence in the working of the
system, in subservience to itinerancy; and with respect to
licensing local preachers, it is done without infringing upon
the controlling constitutional principle of itinerancy. To
carry out the design of the system, it is plain to every think¬
ing mind that the support of the local ministry could not enter
into the arrangement; for this would be a drawback upon the
system, so serious as to uproot the foundation. It is hoped
that the local ministry will neither suppose that they are re¬
garded as inferior to the other class in any respects, except
such as ^re of entire human arrangement, and which they, of
choice, yield for the good of the Church; nor that it is be¬
lieved they desire any provision to be made for their support,
further than is already made, i. e., to leave them to support
themselves, giving to the Church such portion of time as is
consistent with their temporal interest. The reasonableness
of this difference, we presume, is apparent and satisfactory to
the local ministry. But that it may appeal to others, let the
first and second points of difference be waived, as they do not
fall within the design of this essay, and let it be observed:
1. That in addition to the labors—in many cases extensive
and useful—and their own contributions to the support of the
itinerancy, the local ministry do not ask for any such dis¬
ciplinary provision to be made. There are some few discon¬
tented spirits, who meet whh the disapprobation, if not the
rebuke; of the local ministry as a body.
2. The local ministry are already supported as well, if not
better, than the itinerancy, i. e., they support themselves as
well, or better, than the Church supports their itinerant
brethren. Indeed, many of the latter locate annually to get a
support.
3. The itinerants, by withdrawing from secular pursuits,
and giving their whole time to the Church, thus become, in a
stricter sense, the servants of the Church, and should be sup
ported by the Church.
THE GOSPEL MINISTRY.
23
There are already a sufficient number of causes operating
against the support of the itinerant ministry, without adding
this one, which would effectually and immediately break down
the system from one end to the other. The itinerants can
but live on what they now receive.
But shall the local ministry receive nothing ? There is no
statute against it, nor any provision for it. Instead of there
being any objection, it would be commendable for those who
have been served for years by a local minister, to give him a
substantial testimonial of his life and work as a minister.
They deserve it. There are cases where a local minister has
lived and labored for a score of years, and those for whom he
has labored have not given him so much as a Bible. The
support of the itinerancy is no .reason, with people who will
not rob Peter to pay Paul, for this disrespect to the local
ministry.
The local minister who thus serves the Church of Christ
for Christ's sake, may say, in his gratuitous labors for the
Church, " I have used none of these things, but have made
the gospel without charge, lest I should hinder the gospel of
Christ." Let the itinerant not overlook the labors, suffering,
and expense of the local minister, given in devotion to the
Church; neither let the local minister forget that, notwith¬
standing the provision which the Discipline makes for the
support of his travelling brother, he often fails to get it, and
has, in a measure, also to labor and suffer like himself for the
Church at his own cost. And let both the itinerant and
local ministry, as one, fix upon "the glory of God" as the mo¬
tive in "whatsoever" they do, which alone can preserve
harmony, and which alone can be done by the Spirit of God
dwelling in their hearts, and pointing to the "glory of God :"
and with respect to their labors, sufferings, and losses, which
they perform and endure, not for making one" or the other
greatest in the kingdom of God, but that God may be glori¬
fied, let them say, individually: " But none of these things
move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I
might finish my course with joy, and the ministry which I have
received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace
of God."
24
CLAIMS OF
CHAPTER VIII.
THE SUPERANNUATED — THE 'WIDOWS AND ORPHANS.
Resides the effective ministry, whose support we have been
considering, there is an ineffective detachment, who have
labored, but are unable to work any longer. The superannu¬
ated are either those who, though able to work, are not able
to do full work, or those who are unable to do any work—
they are " worn out." The widows and orphans are the wives
and children of those ministers "who have died in the work/'
i. e., in the itinerancy. The Discipline provides that those
preachers who have not obtained their regular allowance of
quarterage on the circuits, shall have a right to present their
deficiency along with the claims of the claimants just noticed.
As those preachers who are deficient seldom present their
claims, and seldom get much when they are presented, the
claimants may be set down as virtually embraced in the
caption.
These claimants are allowed a claim for quarterage only,
corresponding in amount to what is allowed the effective min¬
isters, their wives and children. They are allowed nothing
for table or family expense. To meet their claims, each
preacher in charge is required to take up a " conference col¬
lection" in every appointment. But the amount collected has
been so far below what was required, that the claimants have
been settled with at a discount from forty to sixty per cent.
The causes of this discount may be set down as two : 1. An
indifference among the preachers as to making the collection.
Whether this indifference be attributed to " forgetfulness," or
"press of other business," or as a consequence of concern foT
other collections, it certainly should receive the attention of
the Annual Conferences. 2. The temporal circumstances of
some of the claimants induce many to give less than they
otherwise would, and others to give nothing at all, and,
doubtless, create some hesitancy in the preacher's mind as to
pressing the collection. If a becoming discretion is not exer¬
cised by the class of claimants referred to, it is hoped the
the gospel ministry.
25
Annual Conferences will not fail to exercise the discrimination
allowed them by the last General Conference. If the Annual
Conferences attend to these two points, the claims of the
needy will be fully met every year.
How painful it is to see this afflicted detachment of the
travelling host dropped by the way, and so nearly forgotten
by both preachers and people ! Their battles are behind them,
but not their wants, nor all their sufferings. They are worn
out, or made widows and orphans, and have become poor, in
laboring for others—us—in spiritual things. Age, infirmity,
and poverty have driven them to a private if not obscure lite.
Their case suggests the proverb, " Out of sight, out of mind."
But shall it be so ? No, no. We are not presenting them as
beggars or paupers. They are the servants of the Most High,
worn out and placed in their present position by their services
to the Church. The facts that their claims are not met, and
that, if they were paid in full, they would not afford a support,
should stir our hearts and hands to do our duty. " Withhold
not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power
of thy hand to do it." " Whosoever shall give to drink unto
one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name
of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose
his reward."
CHAPTER IX.
EXCUSES.
Although the support of the ministry is so clearly a duty,
yet excuses are given—rather made and offered—for neglect
of that duty. How very anxious some persons are to obtain
an answer to the polite and humble petition, " I pray thee
have me excused." And after satisfying others that their
prayer is reasonable and should be granted, it is possible their
own consciences in a quiet hour condemn them tor not doing
their duty, and for the invalidity of their excuse. If a man
of that class were to write his excuse in legible characters,
and place it before him at his dinner-table, at his toilette, when
harvesting his crop, and counting his money, and on Sabbath,
with it on his breast, sit in front of his minister, and, while
2
28
CLAIMS OP
praying for his minister in secret, lift up his [clean] hands,
and utter to the Lord the same excusing prayer which he has
given to the steward, there would be little need of this chap¬
ter on excuses.
There is a class who pay off the preacher in a peculiar way,
i. e., by long, cheap prayers and " aniens" from those who
have never taken up the cross. They pray like a storm, and
when they get to the highest pitch of concern for the preach¬
er's welfare—"O Lord, give him souls for his hire." There
are objections to this—not to praying for the minister, but
substituting prayers for money: 1. It is disobedient. 2. It
is dishonest not to pay the laborer. 3. It is insulting to send
the laborer to one for pay who does not owe us, and to pay in
other people's souls. 4. Souls are of more value than worlds,
yet they cannot be changed into raiment, or be made into
bread. 5. The prayer is heterodoxical: there is no scripture
to authorize it. 6. It is dictatorial. There is no danger of the
Lord's failing to pay the minister, and that of the proper
substance. The Lord intends that we should give the minis¬
ter what is necessary for the living of his body. He has so
ordained. He has given us the means of doing it. What
right have we to pay off our laborer with a draft on the Lord
to be paid in other people's souls ?
Knowing the convenience with which excusemakers can act
Proteus, it is not expected that they will acknowledge the in¬
validity of their excuses. It is not so much the change of
opinion that is lacking, as the change of will. For you may
"Refute a man against his will,
He's of the same volition still "
Excuse 1. " The minister does not need it—he can live with¬
out it—he is well enough off now."
This excuse implies, 1. You know the state of the minister's
temporal affairs. 2. You know how much is necessary to
support him. 3. In your judgment—probably a purse-guard¬
ing guess—the minister is able to work for us and support
himself) and, 4. That he ought to do it. Such is the soul of
your excuse, when undressed.
2. " The minister is better off now than I am."
With respect to that part of this excuse which is not an¬
swered in the reply to the first, it may be observed : 1. You
TITE GOSPEL MINISTRY.
27
have compared your wealth- or poverty with that of the
minister, and have ascertained clearly that the minister
has more wealth or less poverty than you have. 2. The
fact that you are worth less than he is, justifies you in
giving nothing for his support, while laboring for you. On
this principle, you are under no obligation to pay a man woi th
more than you, who has wrought for you a whole year, even
in increasing your worldly gain. And all that is necessary
to outstrip your neighbors in acquiring wealth, is to hire men
to labor for you who are worth more than you. If you are
worth one thousand dollars, and your laborer is worth a thou¬
sand dollars and twenty-five cents, he deserves nothing for the
service he has rendered you.
3. "If every member would give as much as I do, the
minister would get his allowance."
Do you mean that if every one would give in proportion to
ability as you do ? Or have you counted the poor, the females,
the children, and possibly the colored members, and then
guessed at what the preacher in your judgment should live on,
and then divided the amount among the entire membership
of the society or circuit, without regard to ability, and taken
one portion yourself ? Keinember, a man is required to give
according to that which he hath, and not according to that
which he hath not. Apply this rule in your own case, and not
a different one in the case of others.
4. " Others more able than I am give nothing, and I will
give nothing."
It is admitted that such a case as you mention is discou¬
raging and disgraceful—too much so, for you to make a re¬
spectable excuse out of it; and I rather dislike to expose the
principle involved in your excuse. Let us see if this is not
it: Others will not do their duty; therefore, you will not do
yours. Certain men, for whom a laborer has wrought, not a
day, nor a week, but months, will not give him his hire; there¬
fore, he shall receive nothing for laboring for me. The reason
assigned in the excuse for not giving is a strong appeal, not
only to our sense of justice to give the minister what is due
him from us, but also to our liberality, i. e., to increase our
contributions beyond what justice requires, and thus prevent
the minister from suffering from the injustice of others. The
obligation to do our duty does not depend on the performance
28
CLAIMS OF
of duty by others. Instead of doing as they do, let us do our
duty, and endeavor to get them to do theirs. If they perform
not their duty, to their own Master they stand or fall. "Every
one of us shall give account of himself to God." Nearly allied
to this is another : -
5. " The minister should he supported hy the rich, or those
better off than I am."
While the excuse is warm, let it be moulded into English
thus : Others should pay my debts. If the "rich" pay their
part and yours too, all is well; if they do not, it is equally
well. You sleep sound in either case. It is hard to tell what
is best to do for you, as your creed is not to pay your preacher
any thing until those better off than you are pay for themselves
and you, until they are reduced in ability to a level with you;
and then, it is probable, you would have another excuse—
hope a better one. Let me point out a certain character to
you, that, when you find him, you can read this to him.
When he expects a collection to be made, from "being so
busy," " not very well," or " forgetting the appointment," he
stays at home. Or if he go, having taken a previous vow
" never to sign any paper," and having left his purse at home,
he gets back home without "involving" himself. Or if
caught, when there is no chance of getting -out without too
much shame, he will give a pistareen for a quarter, which is
his quarterage, or annualage. From his looks, you would
suppose he was both sick and sorry. You are able and bound
to do your duty. Disdain to receive the services of your min¬
ister at the expense of others, and say, with David : " I will
not take that which is thine for the Lord, nor offer burnt-
offerings without cost."
6. " The minister gets too much."
He should not do this, any more than he should get too
little. How much does he need? How much does he get?
How often has he got too much ? How much over the pro¬
per amount does he get ? Has he never got too little? What
then ? From whom does he get too much ? You ? Has he
received from you what you ought to contribute ? Probably
this declaration of yours has been made without sufficient
knowledge of the case. Are you afraid, that he will get too
much ? Admit your excuse is true : is it a valid reason for
not giving your part ? If it be so with one minister, is it so
THE GOSPEL MINISTRY.
29
with, another ? If so with one minister this year, is it so with
him next ? Was it so with him last year ? If you are cer¬
tain the minister gets too much, and if that is the reason you
do not give him any thing, consistency demands that you fol¬
low him up at the end of the year, and see without doubt that
he gets enough, though it be at your expense.
7. " I have given as much as I can."
What a pity that all do not do the same noble part! If
you have, like the poor widow, "cast in all," or, like
Zaccheus, " given the half of your goods to feed the poor,"
and proclaim a willingness to restore fourfold to any man whom
you have wronged, you have given what justice requires.
Reexamine and be certain. Place what you give by what you
retain, and, before repeating the excuse, remember very few
can sincerely use your excuse : remember that a great num¬
ber give nothing, others much less than they can: that it is
probable your minister will be deficient—you may have reason
to believe he will—unless some add to their contribution.
Inquire what you have purchased, or intend to purchase, which
is not as necessary to you as the minister's support is to him,
and remember the words of our Lord, that " it is more blessed
to give than to receive :" then, if you cannot give something
more, you may claim what few in this respect can, the plaudit,
"Well done, good and faithful servant."
8. "I am in debt."
This is a common and specious excuse. To whom are you
in debt ? Do you owe the Lord nothing ? or his ministers,
your constant servants, nothing? Your excuse implies that,
if the minister has any claims against you, your indebtedness
to others is a sufficient reason for refusing to satisfy them.
For what are you in debt ? Is it for the necessary things of
life—something as necessary as the services of the ministry ?
Or is it not for gain ? For whose benefit have you incurred
this debt ? Was it not for yours? If so, the excuse might
be a reason why you should not spend your money or extend
your credit for yourself, but not a reason for not paying your
minister. How much are you in debt ? Is it so much that
you are not able to pay it and your minister also ? Is it a
debt which you are morally bound to pay before that which
you owe the minister ? or to the repudiation of the minister's
claims ? " But I am in debt more than I can pay for several
30
CLAIMS OP
years, and I am paying interest." Is there not in this some¬
thing really wrong ? Have you made some purchase through
ambition, pride, or desire to gain, and as a consequence with¬
hold the minister's allowance, stop your religious paper, com¬
plain of having so many calls for money, say short prayers, or
none at all, and work your servants and mules as near death
as your interest will allow you ? If this is your case, are you
not in danger ? If this is not the case, is not this " debt" a
small amount in proportion to your ability ? May it not be
worth the interest as an excuse ? Aside from the moral prin¬
ciple which possibly may be involved in this " debt," and in
the accompanying excuse, do you not make this indebtedness
rather a convenient and profitable arrangement ? Is it not an
excuse for striving to attain the stakes which avarice has set up
at a distance before you ? Are you in debt because you could
not avoid it ? Could you not pay out at present, or in a short
time ? But, ah ! what would then become of your excuse ?
What would you do for a theme in your long talks with your
avaricious competitors ? and what would you do for an apology
for your greediness after the world ? Does your indebtedness
make you a poorer man ? Did you not prefer the property
for which you are in debt, to the money you owe for it ? Are
you not, in your judgment, as well if not better off "in debt,"
than you would be out of it ? Is it your sincere desire to be
out of debt ? If you were out, how long would you remain so ?
Do you wish to get out and keep out of debt ? How long has
this been your theme ? Is it not with a degree of pride that
you speak of being in debt ? Do you not often speak of it
wben there is no use for it ? Is no one in debt to you ?
Probably your assets are greater than your liabilities, and yet
you have not said a word about that. Some men, with thou¬
sands at interest, will speak of being in debt, if they owe no
more than the blacksmith's or shoemaker's account. Would
you offer this excuse for the nonpayment of the account of
your physician or teacher ? You pay them and others accounts,
which the law of the land would compel you to pay, and say
you pay your just debts, and claim thereby to be an honest
man. There being no law in this country to compel you to
aid in the support of the ministry, (there should be none,) the
payment of your minister, the justice of whose claim is sanc¬
tioned by Divine authority, is better proof of an honest man
THE GOSPEL MINISTRY.
31
at heart, than the payment of a debt which the law would
recognize as just, and which the debtor would be compelled to
pay. Was it in accordance with uprightness so to involve
yourself, (if, indeed, you have done so,) as to be unable to
give your minister his due ? This matter has been pressed
as near as it is advisable. The validity of the excuse is left
to be determined by your conscience.
9. " He is not the minister I wanted,'5 or, " I don't approve
of some things which the minister has done."
The substance of both is, you are not satisfied with the
minister. Neither in those churches which profess to have
the power of choosing their own ministers, any more than in
ours, does every church, much less every member, obtain the
minister desired. In those churches, it is very seldom the
case the members unite in calling a minister. Some are dis¬
appointed and dissatisfied. The majority may fail also, because
the minister may have a more effectual call from another
church. If he come, the dissatisfied members must endure it
just so long as the majority and minister agree. In our sys¬
tem, the same preference prevails. The minister you desired
may have been desired by several others. It is evident that
but one can be accommodated—indeed, if it be not thought
best to send him to some place where he is not sought after.
You would not say that you should have your own way in a
matter where probably half a dozen others had an equal right
with you, in a matter, too, which, by uniting with the M. E.
Church, you have agreed to leave in the hands of a third
party, the Bishop. You have not chosen the minister, nor
has the minister chosen you; but he came according to the
Well-understood economy of the Church. Is not your excuse,
on reflection, unreasonable ? Consistency would lead into an¬
other communion, or into acquiescence with the economy of
our Church. Possibly he is the minister that you need.
Those who receive and support the minister sent; seldom, if
ever, fail to be profited by his services; and if they have no
partiality for him in the beginning of the year, the close gene¬
rally finds them in love with him. If we knew what the pro¬
bable difficulties which attend the appointment of the ministers
of an Annual Conference are, and the trials which the minis¬
ter's endure in reaching their fields of labor, we certainly
would not add an additional trial, by refusing to aid in their
32
CLAIMS OF
support. It may be observed, witb respect to your disapprov¬
ing the course of the minister, that if he has done something
which would justify your refusal to aid in his support, he can
be reached by a penalty of a disciplinary and of a more manly
character, and which would give him what no man should be
denied, an opportunity to defend himself. But you would
try, condemn, and punish him privately at your own tribunal,,
without giving him a hearing, and leaving him no opportunity
to explain, or obtain redress. Would not a different course ex¬
hibit more of the Christian, and also of the man ? But you did
not say he did wrong, but that you do not approve of his
course. He is not infallible; neither do you claim to be. If
he did wrong, are you satisfied he intended it ? Whether it
were intentional or not, are you doing right in your course ?
What has he done ? There is a class—I hope you are not in
it—who strongly disapprove of the course of the minister, if
he enforces the Discipline in neglect of class-meeting, dram-
drinking, circuses, dancing, etc. And it is " horrible" if he
should sprinkle some hellfire in the cup of pleasure, on the
storehouse of the rich fool, or on the bed of adultery. The
minister is to be judged by God, so are we all.
10. " The minister is proud."
No apology is offered for his pride. If he is proud, any
other place would suit him better than the ministry. Why
do you think he is proud ? Not because he may " go finer"
than you ? Many might say the same of you. Do you think
he is proud because he has not spoken to you ? Have you
given him an opportunity? Have you spoken to him ? You
knew him and his name when he first came. Have you met
him as he came out of the pulpit or altar, and made yourself
known to him, and invited him to go home with you ? If
prior engagement or some other cause prevented him from ac¬
cepting your invitation that time, have you invited him again,
or requested him to say when he could go with you ? Or
have you, after one invitation, kept at a distance, saying, you
asked him once, and he wouldn't go, and if he go 'now he
may do so without asking, and then you take up a notion he
is proud! In this way, many get the impression that the
minister is proud. But, nine times in ten, a better acquaint¬
ance will disabuse their minds—especially at your fireside. But
if, after all, you believe him to be proud, how should he be
THE GOSPEL MINISTRY.
33
treated 1 Starve him, says the excuse-maker. Will the pre¬
scription cure ? Is it intended for the benefit of the patient,
or is it pride physicking her sister ? Would not prayer, coun¬
sel, and your example do better ? And to pave the way for a
successful approach to the minister, would it not do well to
convince the minister of your desire for his welfare, by giving
him something to live on ? If contact with the means of
support tends to augment pride, it will also induce pride. Is
there no danger in the case of others ? no danger in your own
case ? Have you ever tried the starvation recipe in your own
case ? Suppose you should cure the minister by this prescrip¬
tion—so cheap to you and so dear to him—would there be no
danger of the physician taking the same disease in a malignant
form, in addition to the existing one of injustice ? Naaman
would be healed, but G-ehazi would be leprous.
11. " I work for my living/'
That's right: " For if any will not work, neither should he
eat." You are the man. Your hard and sunburnt hands—
good sign of an honest man—are proof that you work; and,
although you are in suspicious company, I am glad to meet
with you. I like that excuse of yours. It shows that you
work, and that you live by your work. Your creed and prac¬
tice is just what every man should adopt, and is exactly what
is contended for in behalf of the minister of the gospel. He
works, and should, like you, live by his work. " The work¬
man is worthy of his meat." His work is not the same sort
as yours, yet it is work, u the work," " the work of the minis¬
try." It is a work more perplexing, responsible, important,
and—will you admit it ?—harder than yours. It is a work
performed, not immediately for himself, as yours is for your¬
self, but for others—for you, for your family and neighbors.
It is a work of greater good than yours. While you are work¬
ing for your BODY, he is working for your SOUL, and the souls
of others. And such is the demand of this work, that, if the
minister attend to it as he ought, he cannot do the sort of
work which you are doing, and, consequently, cannot obtain a
living from that source. Your excuse, then, which a little more
reflection would have induced your honesty not to make as a
•plea for not supporting the ministry, is the rule which should
prevail, and which, by Divine authority, is appointed to prevail,
in the support of the ministry. As we live, like all honest men
34
claims of
should and do live, by our worJc, so let the minister live by
bis work) for "Even so hatb the Lord ordained, that they
which preach the gospel should live of the gospel."
The Gospel Ministry, with their claims, now are left at the
tribunal of justice. May the disposition which is made of
them be approved by an enlightened conscience, and confirmed
by Eternal Justice in the day of judgment.
PLAN FOR THE SUPPORT OF THE MINISTRY.
Before giving the plan for operation, let us premise some
general rules which must be kept in view to insure success:
1. Let the ministry do their work faithfully. " The
laborer is worthy of his hire." This has no little influence
in obtaining a support. It is true that some will give nothing,
let the minister work as hard as he may, and others will give
just so much and no more. Yet there are many who will con¬
tribute to the support of the minister that works faithfully,
who otherwise would not, and others will contribute more
largely.
2. Let the people be instructed in the duty of supporting
the ministry. Expediency might require this to be done by
others rather than the ministers. Yet there is no valid reason
why the ministry should not instruct the people in this duty
as well as in any other. And those disposed to learn and
do their duty, would exhibit no more drowsiness or restless¬
ness, under a sermon of that sort, than in listening to one on
a commandment in the Decalogue.
3. As far as practicable, let the obligation to support the min¬
istry be made to rest sensibly on every member of the church.
Let each member, however poor, be taught to feel, and, ac¬
cording to ability, induced to respond to, the claim of the
minister to a support. Let the wife and each child, especially
those in the church, be represented, to their knowledge and
consent—better done personally—by the contribution of the
THE GOSPEL MINISTRY.
35
husband or father. The usual plan, the husband giving a
certain amount against his own name only, leaves the family
not to know, neither of necessity to care, whether the minister
is supported or not. Though the total contributed by a family
be the same, by being thus divided, and though the husband
or father give the wife and children the money to pay for them¬
selves out of his own pocket, yet how different is the result on
them, and how different will be their notions, feelings, and ac¬
tions respecting the support of the ministry, after the husband
or father is dead ! They are thus taught to think the minis¬
ter is theirs, his support their concern, and also to aid in that
support by their own hands. And, more than all, a habit is
formed, which will authorize the church to depend on them,
which will prevent them from forgetting, and measurably from
neglecting, the minister; and it will not be found necessary
to reason them out of a dozen flimsy excuses, to obtain their
aid in supporting the ministry. If this (the support of the
ministry) is what adults should do, should not the children
be trained to it? "Train up a child in the way he should
go" after he becomes a man, "and," such will be the strength
of habit thus formed, "when he is old, he will not depart
from )t."
4. Have the right sort of men for stewards, or have no
more than the Discipline compels us to have. The fewer of
the wrong sort the better. No plan will work well in inefficient
bands. It requires just such men as the Discipline describes:
" Let them be men of solid piety, who both know and love
the Methodist doctrine and discipline, and of good natural and
acquired abilities to transact the temporal business." The
slack, unmethodistic fashion of many stewards, not only pre¬
vents the minister from obtaining his allowance, but gives the
membership of the church a false idea of the claims of the
minister, of the duty of a steward, and of their own duty.
Let no one suppose that any thing more is meant than to show
the importance of having the right sort of men in this office :
the benefit of good ones, and the damage of bad ones.
5. It is a bad rule to put more men at any work than are
necessary to do it. There is a way of appointing a " committee"
to do what a man will do better and sooner than a committee.
Especially is this bad policy in the financial interests of the
Church. In proportion as you increase the number beyond
36
CLAIMS OP
what is necessary to do the work, you multiply the chances of
not having it done at all.
6. Define, with as much particularity as possible, the exact
limit of each member's work, as well as that of each circuit
and class steward. To know what is to be done, and who is
to do it, leaves but one more step till you arrive at the will—
how to do it. To have the work specified, and apportioned to
persons who will work at all, insures, in much probability, the
performance.
7. Begin in time. It is not meant that you should admit
that it is best to begin in time, and there stop, but begin not
to talk about beginning; but begin to work, and the work
will be measurably finished before the time that it is now gene¬
rally commenced. Who does not know the blustering, begging
failing, etc., which frequently crowds in the close of the year ?
Put off, put off, until a part of the minister's allowance is put
out of his reach, i. e., it is not collected. This is the case
year after year. There is a "fifth quarterly meeting," or
stewards' meeting, to do what should have been done at the first,
second, third, and fourth. Indeed, the stewards and people,
in many circuits, count on nothing else at the beginning of the
year than to have a stewards' meeting. Begin in time.
With these general rules—faithfulness in the ministry, in¬
struction of the people, individualizing the obligation, filling
the steward's office with proper men, no more than just enough
at a work to do it, marking the limits of each man's work, and
beginning in time—before us as a rule of conduct by which
this duty may be best observed, money collected and the
Church supported, it is proposed to adopt the following
PLAN.
1. For the Superannuated, Widows and Orphans.
1. Let the Stewards of the Annual Conference, or, which is prefer¬
able, a standing Joint Board of Finance, composed of one circuit
steward from each presiding elder's district in the Conference, and as
many members of Conference, ascertain the whole amount of claim
against them, and apportion annually the same to the several circuits
and stations in the Conference, and let' each preacher having charge
of a circuit or station, furnish his successor with the amount appor¬
tioned to his charge.
2. Let the Conference collection be taken up as early in the year a
THE GOSPEL MINISTRY.
37
practicable, and let each preacher make all necessary efforts to collect
the amount apportioned to his charge by the board.
2. Presiding Elders.
1. Let the board of district stewards be a standing board for four
years: provided, nevertheless, should any vacancy appear in the
board, let such vacancy be supplied by the Quarterly Conference.
2. Let the district steward be charged with collecting the amount
apportioned to the circuit or station where he resides.
3. Circuit and Station Preachers.
1. Let the preacher in charge of each circuit (at the close of the
conference year) fix the first appointment for his successor at the
church nearest the parsonage, (or place of boarding,) and allow him
thereafter at least one week to arrange for the year: during which
time, (the day to be fixed the preceding year by the preacher and
stewards,) let the stewards hold the first meeting at the parsonage,
or place of boarding, and let it be the duty of each steward to attend.
2. Let the board of stewards ascertain the whole claim against the
circuit, for the current year, both for quarterage and travelling ex¬
penses, as definitely as possible: then make an estimate of the family
expenses of the preacher or preachers of the circuit, including serv¬
ants' hire and house-rent, (if a house be rented.)
[If thought better, let the following be substituted for the plan
given for P. E.] :
3. Let the preacher in charge lay before the stewards at the first
meeting, besides his own, the claims of the presiding elder and junior
preacher, which can be furnished him at Conference.
4. Let the entire claim against the circuit for the current year be
apportioned to the several congregations composing the circuit.
5. Let the stewards divide the congregations composing the circuit
among themselves, and immediately inform the several congregations
in their respective divisions of the amounts they are expected to raise,
and make all necessary efforts to collect the same.
6. Let the stewards, in connection with the class stewards, open
subscription-books in each congregation, to meet the current claims.
And if the stewards deem it necessary, let them cause public collec¬
tions to be taken up for the same purpose.
7. Let the stewards so arrange the subscriptions, that they may
settle with the preachers quarterly. To do this, it will be necessary
to visit their congregations, by appointment, once a quarter.
[The author has adopted, in part, the financial plan, of the Joint
Board of Finance of the South Carolina Conference.]
It is proposed to adopt some form to be observed by those who keep
books, and to some who do business without plan and form. Let the
following be the form for the board of district stewards:
Form for the Board of District Stewards.
Estimation of the support of W. 0., Presiding Elder of X District, for the year 1854, by the
District Stewards.
jDistrict Dr. District Cr.
Quarterage,
Family Expenses,...
Travelling Expenses,
Total...........
$ cts.
1st qr.
$ cts.
2dqr.
$ cts.
3d qr.
$ cts.
4th qr.
$ cts.
Assessment of the charges in the district to meet the above allowances.
$ cts.
STEWARDS.
1
2
3
4
Stafford Circuit,
J. T. Williams,
. ' -
. • .
' " '
. >
Green Station, .
H. Jones,
Remarks.—One line across the page or book shows in the estimate the quarterage claim, and what of it is
received each quarter. So of the other items. The line " total" shows the entire claim, also the amount
received by the P. E. each quarter.
.Form of Recording Steward's Booh for Circuit.
$ cts.
P. E. Quarterage,
Famffy Expenses,....
" Travelling Expenses
P. C. Quarterage,
" Family Expenses
" Travelling Expenses
J. P. Quarterage,
" Travelling Expenses
1st qr.
$ cts.
2d qr.
$ cts.
3d qr.
$ cts.
4th qr.
I cts.
Assessments of Congregations to meet the above.
Bethel,...
Zion,
Shiloh,...
Bethany,
Zoar,.....
$ cts.
¥m. Jones,..
John Baker,
vorm of a Steward's Own Booh.
Assessment of 1st Division of Stafford Circuit, for the current year 1854, "William Jones, Steward.
o
Bethel,,
Zion,
Shiloh,.
$ cts .
1st qr.
2d qr.
3d qr.
$ cts.
$ cts.
$ cts.
Form of Class Steward's Booh.
Assessment of Bethel Congregation by the Board of Stewards, for the support of the ministry on Stafford
Circuit, for the year 1854.—Fifty dollars.
A. Hopkins,
Mary Hopkins,.
SUBSCRIPTION.
% cts.
00
00
1
2
3
1 00
. *
2 00
1 00
50
2 00
50
A correspondence between the four books will be seen readily. The plan of each is similar, and
the utility of each is apparent. The cost of the books is, separately, a trifle. The time and trouble
to keep them is less than any other, careless way. These are all matters of record, and should be
preserved. Let every one have his work, his book, and understand the plan.
THE
!ibine Assessment
SUPPORT OF THE MINISTRY.
BY THE
REV. R. ABBEY.
NasfjbiUe, Cntn.:
PUBLISHED BY E/STEVENSON & J. E. EVANS, AGENTS,
FOB THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL OHUBCH, SOOTH.
fUit.
This argument was contributed, in numbers, to the columns
of tbe Nashville Christian Advocate. Its republication was
called for by tbe following resolution of tbe Board of Mana¬
gers of tbe Tract Society of tbe Mississippi Conference in
July, 1855.
Resolved, Tbat Dr. Hamilton, tbe General Tract Secretary,
be, and be is hereby requested to have published, with tbe
advice and assistance of Dr. Summers, tbe Book Editor, in
tbe form of a tract or tract volume, for tbe use of tbe Tract
Society, a series of articles which appeared not long since in
tbe Nasbville Christian Advocate, on " The Divine Assessment
for the Support of the Ministry, over tbe signature of
11 Censor."
H. H. Montgomery, President.
J. A. Light, Secretary.
Sharon, Miss., July 25, 1855.
THE DIVINE ASSESSMENT FOR THE
SUPPORT OP THE MINISTRY.
CHAPTER I.
the scripture law.
In introducing the following pages to the reader, and in
discussing the subject set forth, it is manifestly appropriate
that the Scriptures should be in the first place brought for¬
ward, upon which the reasoning is founded. We must first
make ourselves acquainted with the law of God on the subject.
The mere opinions of men on this or any other theological
question, are but of little or no value. The law of God is the
only basis we can recognize.
If the law of God has made an assessment upon our pro¬
perty, it is binding beyond any obligations we can create in
our dealings with men. If this obligation is imposed for a
specific purpose, and if such purpose looks to the greatest
conceivable human benefits, then the importance and binding
force of the obligation rises in inconceivable degrees.
That many of us, many good people, of no small quantum
of real or supposed piety, have got into loose habits of think¬
ing and acting in reference to this subject, is the well settled
convictions of the writer. And it shall be the object of this
and the following chapters, to point out these errors for our
mutual benefit, and for the glory of God. Friends, let me
have your attention : the subject is important, the issues are
momentous.
(3)
4
THE DIYINE ASSESSMENT
And, as already intimated, the reader will pardon the in-
troduction of several passages of Scripture, which shall form
the foundation for the remarks which may follow. Let it be
particularly borne in mind, that all of us are very much prone
to forget and neglect the laws of God, especially those which
command us in reference to those delinquencies and tempta¬
tions which steal most silently and imperceptibly upon us.
Let each one remember that he himself is but a man, very
likely to err, and that error is sure to make inroads upon him,
sooner or later.
We will, then, first quote a few passages which set forth,
generally,
THE CORRUPTING TENDENCY OP PROPERTY.
Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God, in not keep¬
ing his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes,
which I command thee this day; lest when thou hast eaten
and art full, and hast built goodly houses and dwell therein;
and when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver
and thy gold are multiplied; then thy heart be lifted up, and
thou forget the Lord thy God.—Jeshurun waxed fat and
kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art
covered with fatness ; then he forsook God which made him,
and lightly esteemed the rock of his salvation. Deut. viii.
11-14; xxxii. 15.
And his name (Uzziah) spread far abroad, for he was mar¬
vellously helped till he was strong. But when he was strong,
his heart was lifted up to his destruction. 2 Chron. xxvi. 15.
In my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved. Ps.
xxx. 6.
The turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the
prosperity of fools shall destroy them.—Remove far from me
vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches : feed me
with food convenient for me, lest I be full and deny thee, and
say, Who is the Lord ? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take
the name of my God in vain. Prov. l. 32; xxx. 8.
There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun,
namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt.
Eccl. v. 15.
I spake unto thee in thy prosperity, but thou saidst, I will
not hear. Jer. xxii. 21.
FOR THE SUPPORT OF THE MINISTRY. 5
Behold this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride,
fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in
her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the
poor and the needy. And they were haughty, and com¬
mitted abomination before me; therefore, I took them away
as I saw good.—By thy great wisdom, and by thy traffic, hast
thou increased thy riches, and thy heart is lifted up because
of thy riches. Ezek. xvi. 49, 50 ; xxviii. 5.
Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you,
that a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven.
And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go
through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into
the kingdom of God. Matt. xix. 23, 24.
The cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and
the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it
becometh unfruitful. Mark iv. 19.
Having food and raiment, let us be therewith content.
But they that will be rich, fall into temptations, and a snare,
and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in
destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root
of all evil; which, while some covet after, they have erred
from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many
sorrows. But thou, 0 man of God, flee these things, and fol¬
low after righteousness. 1 Tim. vi. 8-11.
THE INSTABILITY OF ACCUMULATED PROPERTY, AND COM¬
MANDS AGAINST THE EAGER PURSUIT OF IT.
Labor not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom.—A
faithful man shall abound with blessings ; but he that maketh
haste to be rich, shall not be innocent. He that hasteth to
be rich hath an evil eye, and considereth not that poverty
shall come upon him.—Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that
which is not ? for riches certainly make themselves wings:
they fly away, as an eagle toward heaven. Prov. xxiii. 4;
xxviii. 20; xxiii. 5.
Vanity of vanities saith the Preacher: vanity of vanities,
all is vanity.—Then I looked on all the works that my hands
had wrought, and on the labor that I had labored to do; and
behold all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no
profit under the sun. Therefore, 1^ hated life, because the
work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me; foi
6
THE DIVINE ASSESSMENT
all is vanity and vexation of spirit. Yea, I hated all my labor
which I had taken under the sun; because I should leave it
unto the man that shall be after me. " And who knoweth whe¬
ther he shall be a wise man or a fool? Yet shall he have
rule over all my labor wherein I have labored, and wherein I
have showed myself wise under the sun. Eccl. i. 2; ii. 11,
17-19.
Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to
field, till there be no place that they may be placed alone in
the midst of the earth. Isa. v. 8.
THE SCRIPTURAL USE OP PROPERTY.
Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not
high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living
God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; that they do
good, and that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute,
willing to communicate, laying up in store for themselves a
good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay
hold on eternal life. 1 Tim. vi. 17-19.
For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world,
and lose his own soul ? Matt. xvi. 26.
LAWS AGAINST HOARDING AND PARSIMONY.
Cast thy bread upon the waters, for thou shalt find it after
many days. Eccl. xi. 1.
Freely ye have received, freely give. Matt. x. 8.
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.—
If, therefore, ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous
mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? Ye
cannot serve God and mammon. And the Pharisees, also,
who were covetous, heard all these things, and they derided
him. Luke xii. 34; xvi. 11, 13.
I have showed you all things, how that so laboring ye ought
to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord
Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.
Acts xx. 35.
Let us not be weary in well doing, for in due season we
shall reap, if we faint not. As we have, therefore, opportu¬
nity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who
are of the household of faith. Gal. vi. 9, 10.
FOR THE SUPPORT OF THE MINISTRY. 7
To do good and to communicate, forget not; for with such
services, God is well pleased, Heb. xiii. 16.
REWARDS OF PIOUS LIBERALITY.
Trust in the Lord and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the
land, and verily thou shalt be fed. I have been young, and
now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken,
nor his seed begging bread. He is ever merciful, and lendeth,
and his seed is blessed. Ps. xxxvii. 3, 25, 26.
Honor the Lord with thy substance, and with the first-fruits
of all thine increase. So shall thy barns be filled with plenty,
and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.—There is that
scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth
more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty. The liberal
soul shall be made fat; and he that watereth shall be watered
himself. He that withholdeth corn, the people shall curse
him ; but blessing shall be upon the head of him that selleth
it.—There is that maketh himself rich, and yet hath nothing;
there is that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches.
Prov. iii. 9; xi. 24-26; xiii. 7.
The liberal deviseth liberal things; and by liberal things
shall he stand. Isa. xxxii. 8.
Ye are cursed with a curse; for ye have robbed me, even
this whole nation. Bring ye all the tithes into the store¬
house, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me
now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you
the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, there
shall not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the
devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of
your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the
time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts. And all nations
shall call you blessed. Mai. xxx. 9—12.
Give, and it shall be given unto you : good measure, pressed
down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give
into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete
withal, it shall be measured to you again. Luke vi. 38.
This X say, He which soweth sparingly, shall reap also
sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully, shall reap also
bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth in his
heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity; for
God loveth a cheerful giver. 2 Cor. ix. 6, 7.
8
THE DIVINE ASSESSMENT
LAWS BEARING MORE DIRECTLY ON THE SUPPORT OP THE
MINISTRY.
And this stone which I have set for a pillar, shall he God's
house; and of all that thou shalt give me, I will surely give
the tenth unto thee. Gen. xxviii. 22.
And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even
of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy
unto the Lord. Lev. xxvii. 32.
And the Lord spake unto Aaron, Thou shalt have no inher¬
itance in their land, neither shalt thou have any part among
them : I am thy part and thy inheritance among the children
of Israel. And behold I have given the children of Levi all
the tenth in Israel for an inheritance, for their service which
they serve, even the service of the tabernacle of the congre¬
gation.—And ye shall eat it in every place, ye and your house¬
holds ; for it is your reward for your service in the tabernacle
of the congregation. Num. xviii. 20, 21, 31.
And that we should bring the first-fruits of our dough, and
our offerings, and the fruit of all manner of trees, of wine, and
of oil, unto the priests, to the chambers of the house of our
God; and the tithes of our ground unto the Levites, that the
same Levites might have the tithes in all the cities of our
tillage.—And I perceived that the portions of the Levites had
not been given them ; for the Levites and the singers, that
did the work, were fled every one to his field. Then con¬
tended I with the rulers, and said, Why is the house of God
forsaken ? And I gathered them together, and set them in
their place. Then brought all Judah the tithe of the corn,
and the new wine, and the oil unto the treasuries. Neh. x.
37; xiii. 10-12.
Will a man rob God ? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye
say, Wherein have we robbed thee ? In tithes and offerings.
Mai. iii. 8.
Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses,
nor scrip for your journey; neither two coats, neither shoes,
nor yet staves; for the workman is worthy of his meat.
Matt. x. 9.
And he called unto him the twelve, and began to send them
forth by two and two; and gave them power over unclean
spirits; and commanded them that they should take nothing;
FOR THE SUPPORT OF THE MINISTRY.
8
for their journey, save a staff only; no scrip, no bread, no
money in their purse; but be shod with sandals, and not put
on two coats. And he said unto them, In what place soever
ye enter into a house, there abide till ye depart from that
place. And whosoever shall not receive you, when ye depart
thence shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony
against them. Verily, I say unto you, It shall be more tolera¬
ble for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment, than for
that city. Mark vi. 7—11.
And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to
heal the sick. And he said unto them, Take nothing for
• • . ®
your journey, neither staves nor scrip, neither bread, neither
money; neither have two coats apiece.—Carry neither purse
nor scrip, nor shoes; and salute no man by the way. And
in the same house remain, eating and drinking such things as
they give; for the laborer is worthy of his hire. Luke ix. 2, 3;
x. 4, 7.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that receiveth whomso¬
ever I send, receiveth me; and he that receiveth me, re¬
ceiveth him that sent me. John xiii. 20.
Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges ? Who
planteth a vineyard and eateth not of the fruit thereof ? or
who feedeth a flock and eateth not of the milk of the flock ?
Say I these things as a man ? or saith not the law the same,
also ? If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great
thing if we shall reap your carnal things ? If others be par¬
takers of this power over you, are not we, rather ? Never¬
theless, we have not used this power; but suffer all things,
lest we should hinder the gospel of Christ. Do ye not know
that they which minister about holy things, live of the things
of the temple ? and they which wait at the altar are partakers
with the altar ? Even so hath the Lord ordained, that they
which preach the gospel should live of the gospel. 1 Cor. ix.
7,8,11-14.
Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him
that teacheth in all good things. Be not deceived : God is
not mocked; for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also
reap. Gal. vi. 6, 7.
Nor of men sought we glory, neither of you, nor yet of
others, when we might have been burdensome, as the apostles
of Christ.—And we beseech you, brethren, to know them
10
the divine assessment
which labor among you, and are over you in the Loid, and
admonish you. 1 Thes. ii. 6 ; v. 12.
For the Scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that
treadeth out the corn. And the laborer is worthy of his re¬
ward. 1 Tim. v. 18.
Without quoting extensively, I have here endeavored to
present a few texts, which bear most directly and plainly on
the several phases of the general question to be treated of in
the following chapters. They abundantly establish the law
on the subject.
CHAPTER II.
what is the support op the ministry?
That a divine assessment for the support of the gospel
ministry is made upon our property, is as clearly established
from the foregoing quotations from the word of God, as any
Christian doctrine can be established from the Bible.
In order that we be prepared, and be kept prepared, for a per¬
formance of duty in this regai'd, we are very forcibly instructed
as to the corrupting tendencies of property, when accumulated
beyond the point of mere comfortable subsistence. Subsist¬
ence is the end of property.
We are also instructed, most cogently and powerfully, with
regard to the instability of property, when possessed beyond
the actual, reasonable wants of life; and we are commanded,
at the peril of our soul's salvation, against the eager pursuit
of it.
The true, proper, lawful, and scriptural use of property is
also set forth, in terms so plain and unmistakable, that any
man may read and understand, if he will. Laws agaivst
hoarding and parsimony are as plain, positive, and determi¬
nate as the laws against falsehood and licentiousness.
The rewards of pious liberality, too, stand out in noble
and bold relief; and are intended, by our merciful Judge, to
win us away from the stealthful seductions of Satan on the
other hand. Give, and it shall be given unto you: good
measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, is the
FOR THE SUPPORT OF THE ^MINISTRY. 11
soft, soothing, affectionate promise, as well as the imperative
mandate of the Lord God Almighty.
And then, too, we have the plain, direct laws on the support
of the ministry. The laws which require the support of the
ministry are as specific, mandatory, and peremptory, as those
which enjoin prayer, repentance, or any other duty. The
support of the ministry, performed according to the spirit and
meaning of the law, is the worship of God. And the worship
of God, in any plainly prescribed manner, may not be dis¬
pensed with.
To look more particularly into this law, and apply it to the
practical details of every-day life, is the task which now lies
before the writer and the reader. May self or selfishness not be
suffered to interpose between our eyes and the truth!
God's providence consists in a number of laws, with an
efficient executive power. The end of all is—so far as any
thing out of God personally may be considered—the salvation
of man. All the laws of God's grace and providence look to
this end in as direct a manner as the nature of the case ad¬
mits.
Religion and government, parts of providence, are the great
twin aspects of human life. In order for either or both to be
healthful, they must harmonize and interwork with each other.
And in order for them to be true, they must also, each and
both, be precisely adapted to the constitution and circum¬
stances of mankind.
If we assume that Republicanism is the true form of human
government, we contend that it is the only form that is ex¬
actly adapted to the nature of man. And if we say that
Protestant Christianity is the true form of religion, we mean
thereby that it is the only religious principle which harmonizes
with man's moral make and mechanism.
Religion and government, therefore, are not only the two
great twin supporters of each other, but the co-workers in
supporting both religious and political truth. Hence, if the
ministry of the gospel is to be supported according to truth,
it must be done according to the true principles of both gov¬
ernment and religion.
Now, there are two, and only two modes of supporting the
gospel ministry: 1. By means of what is called a religious
establishment; and 2. By the voluntary principle. The error
12
THE DIVINE ASSESSMENT
of a religious establishment is, that it regards the support of
the ministry as an end: whereas, it is only the means to an
end. The most certain and efficient way of supporting the
ministry, most unquestionably, is by civil taxation.
But what have you gained by this? You have raised a
revenue. And what will ^ou do with the money? Support
a corps of ecclesiastics, build churches, and keep up a regular
discharge of official duty therein. And what good will result
from all this? Most likely, none. The probability is, that
considerable harm will result. In a country, however, where
public morals are at a very low ebb, and where, in consequence,
the people are ignorant, and given to superstition, you may,
probably, by this means, superinduce a servile reverence for
the clergy; and if the laws follow out the principle they com¬
mence with, and require of the people stated attendance upon
the ministry of the clergy, and certain obeisance to be paid to
them, you may, probably, to some extent, repress gross out¬
ward immorality. But religion will suffer.
The support of the gospel, in this way, will propagate an
order of clergy who will take the lead in refined and genteel
idleness, effeminacy, self-importance, extravagance, and world-
ly-mindedness. And the people among the higher orders will
be proud of their clergy, proud of their money, and proud of
themselves. Among the lower orders they will be dissatisfied,
resentful, wicked, and unhappy.
The distinction between the higher and lower orders of
society cannot be avoided: for this mode of supporting the
ministry will not fail to establish it. All this, however, is a
mere worldly arrangement, entirely outside of the gospel.
One of the strangest things in the establishment of Ameri¬
can liberty, was its escape from this great European error.
And whether this was the result of a wise forecast and true
friendship for religion, perhaps need not now be very critically
inquired into. It is perhaps enough for us to know, that
religion was, in the formation of our government, left to stand
upon the only true basis, the voluntary principle. It is no
new thing, however, for religion to derive great benefits from
its enemies, who, in cooperation with its friends, or otherwise,
do the gospel and the truth great service.
Dr. Baird was mistaken when he said, "The foundation of
the voluntary principle is to be sought for in the character
FOR THE SUPPORT OF THE MINISTRY. IS
and habits of the people of the United States." It is rather
to be looked for in the nature of man's constitution. The
occasion of its establishment, only, is to be looked for in these
habits and local circumstances.
The voluntary principle is part of the divine scheme. Not
that there can be no ministry or no salvation without it, but
that it works for both—is much more perfect with than with¬
out it.
Let us now, for a brief space, turn our attention to the in¬
quiry, What is the support of the ministry?
It is, perhaps, proper, that what is meant by the support
of the ministry be explained.
God governs the world and carries forward his providence
in pursuance of laws which he has previously established.
He governs the world by the laws of attraction, gravitation,
coherence, vegetable growth, animal life, etc. In the moral
world he governs according to laws equally determinate, though
not quite so palpable.
The moral laws of God, so far as we are acquainted with
them, look directly or indirectly to the salvation of the human
family. This, so far as we see, appears to be the great end
of God's moral government.
An integral portion of this great moral code has respect to
the ministry of the gospel. It prescribes that certain persons
shall, from time to time, be selected from the mass of the
world to minister the gospel to the rest. And another in¬
tegral portion of the code provides for their maintenance.
Now, in order for human happiness and final salvation to
be secured, it is of course necessary that these laws be under¬
stood and observed. If not understood, they will most likely
be violated. A child will put his fingers to the candle, not
knowing the laws of fire and of sensation.
The particular law in question is, that a minister, called of
God to preach, together with his family, shall receive, from
those to whom he ministers, his support. The workman is
worthy of his meat.
The true and scriptural doctrine of ministerial support
keeps clear of two dangerous extremes. The ministry is to
be supported, not to be disabled, either with poverty or riches.
High living and Splendid equipage violate the divine law
2
14
THE DIVINE ASSESSMENT
Large salaries, which are held out as a bait to invite and
secure showy talent and acquirement, do but degrade the min¬
istry. It is a mere worldly arrangement, outside of the Bible.
It is sometimes the case, that the minister, like the lawyeiror
the artisan, is put up to the highest bidder. The salary does
not graduate to the principle of support, but is regulated by
the wealth, pride, and worldly-mindedness of the congrega¬
tion. It is not regarded as the equivalent of the ministerial
labor performed, but as the price of worldly blandishments,
fashion, and gay decoration of the community.
Ail this is in direct violation of the divine arrangements
respecting the ministry of the gospel. It is the offshoot of
pride, gayety, and fashion. It is the tinsel and show of new
and fashionable modes of being pious. It is Churchism, the
deadliest bane of Christianity that true piety has ever been
called upon to encounter. A ministry supplied with money
beyond the point of support, beyond the equivalent of labor
performed, is not or may not be unjust or dishonest, as between
the two parties. It is, however, the same kind of an arrange¬
ment as the hiring of costly opera performers, or expensive
dancing-masters, or the keeping of a king's-fool. It is a
fashionable, worldly arrangement, which is merely baptized
by an unlawful baptism, but which has no other connection
with the Christian religion than the mere etymological rela¬
tionship which centres upon the word " Church."
Incidentally there may chance to he piety in the minister,
and perhaps some piety in the employers ; and there may be
correct theological teaching, and, upon the whole, some good
may be done. But these things come up in spite of the
irregularities in question, and not in pursuance of them.
And, on the other hand, a half-impoverished or half-sup¬
ported ministry is equally unscriptural. Here we have a
degree of niggardliness, parsimony, injustice, and spiritual
suicide, which we will endeavor to look after a while.
The doctrine of ministerial support is not, however, so ex¬
clusive that a minister may, under no circumstances, attend
to any secular business; for St. Paul labored with his own
hands, and in this way, at times, partially supported himself.
Incidental or local circumstances, such as great lack of worldly
means in the Church, a very small membership in a particular
FOR THE SUPPORT OF THE MINISTRY. 15
church, occasions of general distress arising from any cause,
or any such like stress of circumstances, may occasion excep¬
tions to the general rule; but still the divine rule is in force,
and means precisely what it says.
Common sense and common prudence will dictate that a
minister's support should be such as to enable him, and his
family, if he has one, to live not only in comfort, but in a
position of external decency which will conform, in a reason¬
able degree, to the outward circumstances of those to whom
he ministers. And all this implies that he himself must be
prudent, frugal, and economical. He has no more right to
handle lightly or spend loosely the means thus furnished, than
the others have to withhold it wholly or partially.
" Support" includes not only a house to live in, with furni¬
ture to use, food to eat, and clothes to wear, but the education
of his children. Surely the education of children is as ne¬
cessary a part of family expenses as food or clothing. That
is to say, it is presumed we have not settled down upon the
doctrine that the children of our ministers are to be brought
up in ignorance
It is a great error to suppose that a salary sufficient to cover,
with reasonable prudence, all these expenses, will be found
more difficult to raise among the congregation than a smaller
sum falling below the Scripture standard. Right here lies a
very great popular error. The common notion is, the smaller
the sum, the easier it is raised. Very far from it. We are not
undertaking to graduate ecclesiastical expenses to suit the no¬
tions or opinions of men. We are not trying to work up to a
fallible standard. We are endeavoring to work according to
infallible truth, not in opposition to it. We are endeavoring
to work up to the Bible, the divine standard, which is and
must be infallibly right and true. To work, in any depart¬
ment of God's providence, according to God's laws, is to go
easily, smoothly, and without difficulty. But to work—no
matter where, or in relation to what—contrary to God's laws,
either his laws of nature, as we call them, or his laws of
morals, or of grace, is to work to disadvantage—is to incur
unnecessary friction, difficulty, and expense.
Put the compensation of ministers down below the Scrip¬
ture standard of support, and you derange the system; for
this standard is a part of the system, and therefore necessary
16
THE DIVINE ASSESSMENT
to its well-being and well-working. Tbe machinery of Chris¬
tianity will work well or ill, as men do or do not conform their
conduct to it in all its parts. Withhold from the ministry its
scriptural support, the divine assessment, and the conse¬
quence is, a crippled, dispirited ministry, a mercenary Church,
and a worldly-minded people.
And so, if you raise the compensation of the minister quite
above the divine rule, what follows? Can piety and religious
healthfulness follow? If so, then the laws are wrongly made:
the Bible ought to be re-written, at least in this particular.
A mercenary and worldly-minded ministry, and a gay, fash¬
ionable, and graceless people, are the natural results of high
salaries and ecclesiastical extravagance.
The scheme of salvation was planned right. We cannot
better it if we try. The easiest, as well as the best way, to
work the ecclesiastical machinery is, to work it according to
its own plan, as it was intended to be worked. If any one
thing in the entire scheme requires money to be raised, the
ministry, for instance, in order to its support, then no other
thing objects to the raising of precisely this sum of money.
It is easier to raise that sum than a less amount, or to raise
none at all, if you work the machine right.
The scheme of salvation is a harmonious and not an inhar¬
monious scheme. Therefore, that which is a benefit in one
part, is and must he an advantage in all other parts. If the
ministry is so planned by divine wisdom as to require money
for its support, then the nature and hearts of the people are
so planned as to be benefited by the giving. The lack of the
money-raising will, therefore, work as great a disadvantage in*
the one direction as in the other. Hence, if you wish Chris¬
tianity to work easily, and smoothly, and profitably, you must
set the money key, as well as every other key, precisely ac¬
cording to the divine model.
for the support of the ministry.
17
CHAPTER III.
ministerial rights and obligations.
Let us now spend a few thoughts respecting the mutual
rights and obligations of minister and people.
We have seen that the laws of God by which he purposes
to save the world, require on the one hand, that certain per¬
sons he set apart for the public ministry of the word—that
it is their duty to preach; and, on the other hand, that those
who thus receive the gospel, and who till the ground, and other¬
wise provide the world's subsistence, shall share with the minis¬
ters in worldly goods to the extent of comfortable subsistence.
Then, according to the laws of God, whose of right is the
fruit or produce of all this property around us ? Does it be¬
long exclusively—the property itself and the proceeds of it—
to the persons whose names it bears respectively? Most
assuredly not. Eor men so to consider and so to use the pro¬
ceeds of their labor and their property, is as plain, as direct and
open a violation of the law of God, as men are capable of.
According to the law of God, considered by itself, apart
from the opinions and popular notions of men—if we are to
be governed by the former and not by the latter—the minis¬
ter has as much right to his support out of these profits and
proceeds as each man has respectively to his support out of
the same. Hence, it would be no more or no greater a viola¬
tion of God's law for the minister to deprive the man of his
portion, if he had by chance the power, than for the man to
withhold from the minister the portion which, by the law of
God, is assessed to him. It is a law respecting the several
rights of parties. It may be a common thing, but it is not a
light thing to transgress the laws of •God.
Mutual dependence is the law of the universe. To live
independent is to fall into ruin. This law pervades creation.
Inter-dependence is seen in every thing. _ In outer nature the
principle is acted upon universally. By it the dew-drop dis¬
plays its beauty upon the opening violet at early morn, and
by it the mountain billow heaves to the tornado. The tall
oak holds his staunch and brawny limbs against the pressure
12
18 THE DIVINE ASSESSMENT
of the storm, because the faithful earth hugs him closely at
the base. Vegetable growth and reproduction are the results
of a thousand confluent and conforming causes. Let hut one
single property of the atmosphere refuse to comply with the
general law, and animal and vegetable sickness and. death are
the results. Bach thing is dependent upon every thing.
And in the human family this law seems to have undergone
a refinement proportionate to the superiority of man over
blank, inanimate nature. The first human falsehood was vio¬
lative of this law. "Am I my brother's keeper?" Yes.
And Cain was cursed, as well because he " kept" not his
brother, as for the positive injury he did him. Every man is
his brother's keeper; and is, at the same time, himself in the
keeping of his own brethren. Every thing is held together
by the attraction of mutual dependence and influence. The
writer and his'subject, the workman and his tools, the pastor
and his flock, the tithe of the husbandman's fruits and the
necessities of the minister, God's laws and God's people, all,
all are held together by the gravitation of mutual dependence
and relation.
Truth itself, the grand focal centre of the moral universe,
could scarcely be said to possess an independent, vital princi¬
ple, if there were no things to he true. Nothing is abstract.
There is but one universe, and it is a complex universe of
dependences. And every other system, or scheme, or fact,
or principle, is but an integral system of mutual and inter¬
changeable dependency, forming, at the same time, a part
and a whole. Every thing is dependent upon the whole, and
every whole is dependent upon every thing.
This is God's law of relation. Let it not be violated! We
may as well expect to see the moon course her way in the
heavens, with her uniform exactness, without the assistance
of gravitation to hold her to the earth, as to look for the ac¬
complishment of God's i^ercy scheme, in violation of his law
of relation and dependence in this particular. The money
of the money-maker is as necessary for the salvation of the
people, as is the gentle rain of summer necessary for the
healthfulness of the earth's verdure.
God's laws are parts of God's scheme, and there is no su¬
periority of one above another. Gravitation is a law of God
—vision is a law of God—grace is a law of God. These
FOR THE SUPPORT OF THE MINISTRY. 19
laws are equally immutable, equally potent, equally impor¬
tant, in the prosecution of God's great supervisory provi¬
dence. The apple upon a tree will not gravitate to the earth
so long as it is held fast at the stem. The eye malformed, or
the atmosphere malarranged, vision cannot be performed.
Everything maybe in place buj; one—that violation frustrates
the scheme. So of God's grace. Let God's minister be de¬
prived of his legal rights, under the gospel economy, uniform¬
ly, and Christ's death were in vain.
God's revelation were vain, without both the means and
the use of the means of its publication. He said, " Go and
preach," in vain, without either providing a raven or some
other means of support. These other means he has provided ;
and there is a man, a mere man, whose breath is in his nos¬
trils, and who dares to ROB God of these means, for the mere
reason that for the present moment they chance to be in his
fist! By the blessing of that God whose rights we are now
attempting to vindicate, we will pay our respects~to that man
by and by.
If from these remarks touching the general question of
ministerial support, we come down to the practical details of
the case in every-day life, we would hastily dispatch a few words
touching the domestic circumstances of a pastor and his flock.
We recognize the principle in morals, that the obligation to
perform a specific duty is not increased by a promise to perform
such duty. Nor, on the other hand, is a claim any better
founded, or a right rendered more valid, by the admission of
the adverse party that such claim or right is well founded or
valid. The right of the Christian minister to support, must
be shown to be valid, therefore, if valid at all, by the law of
God. This has been done, for the Scriptures plainly and in-
controvertibly guarantee such right. Still, the division of
society into small integral portions, the division of the Church
of Christ, as a whole, into what the New Testament writers
call churches, viz, single congregations or bodies of Christians
Worshipping under the same ecclesiastical jurisdiction or
single specific pastorate, renders the application of this right,
on the one hand, and the duty of discharging the obligation
on the other, a question of much practical importance. To
this specification let us devote a few thoughts.
There is the minister, and there is his church or pastoral
20
THE DIVINE ASSESSMENT
charge. If it were the general duty of this minister before
to go into all the world and preach the gospel, it is now his
specific duty to preach and minister to this particular people.
The general duty has become specific by a compact with these
persons. He has now no right to labor generally elsewhere
throughout the country; but he is bound to locate his minis¬
try, for the time, in this particular place, and to this particu¬
lar people.
And a corresponding change of circumstances takes place
with the other party. Their duty to support the gospel is no
greater nor any less now than before this c'ompact was entered
into. But, to the extent of the claim to support of this par¬
ticular minister, they are now bound to give this particular
direction to so much of this gospel fund.
The contract is fairly made between the two parties, and
they mutually enter upon the fulfilment of it. It is as much
the duty of the minister to perform the service, as it is that
of the people to furnish the compensation. This specification
of the general question of ministerial support is, so far as
these particular parties are concerned, a mere contract about
money and labor. The labor, it is agreed, shall be perform¬
ed : the money, it is agreed, shall be paid.
Let the reader understand carefully. It is no more the
duty of the people to support the gospel ministry now than
before this arrangement between a pastor and congregation
took place. Neither is it any more the duty of the minister to
preach the gospel now than before. But this arrangement
changes the obligations so far as to make them specific, where¬
as before they were general.
But it is said that a divided responsibility is no responsi¬
bility; and the remark is sometimes applied to one of these
parties. That depends entirely upon the question whether
the men are honest or not. Honest men will specify and as¬
sume among themselves a divided responsibility: others are
not likely to do so.
_ Upon supposition that the minister discharges his obliga¬
tions, his right, either to "support," as we will endeavor
hereinafter to specify, or to the particular sum, immediately
attaches to the persons and property of his employers in
grcss.^ If, however, the specified sum should be greater than
" ministerial support," the excess over and above that point
TOR THE SUPPORT OP THE MINISTRY. 21
ranges beyond the specific law of the gospel, and attaches
under the civil law, as a mere civil contract.
In either case, however, his money is in the pockets of his
employers. How shall it be got out and restored to its right¬
ful owner ? This is a puzzling question. If the said em¬
ployers are willing to obey the law of the gospel, they will
take it out voluntarily, and deposit with its proper owner.
But experience proves that this is uncertain.
But it must be remembered that the law of the gospel is
the law of the land in this happy, Christian country of ours.
And the law has a maxim, that where there's a right, there's
a remedy. But the aid of Caesar never ought to be invoked
to enforce ecclesiastical obligations.
The right of the minister to his compensation is founded,
then, first, in the general right to support from the Church,
or from those persons to whom he ministers; and secondly,
in the specific undertaking in this particular case. And a
right supposes a corresponding obligation.
The ministry of a regular Church is of two kinds: First,
in regard to the persons who are members of the Church, and
secondly, those who compose, generally, the congregation.
Unconverted people do not, for the most part, regard the ob¬
ligation to support the gospel any more than they do other
such like laws of God. We must get along with them as
best we can, until we can prevail with them to believe the
truth.
But the members of the Church, though they are all under
the same obligations to God to obey all his laws, occupy a
somewhat different position, as respects their-relation to each
other and to the minister.
Each man is a member of the Church by his own choice,
and as such, he has agreed with the Church that he will do
and perform certain things, and abstain from doing certain
other things. And the Church, on its part, agrees to furnish
him spiritual assistance, religious help, protection, etc. Here
is a complete contract, binding and valid One of those
things specifically agreed upon, and which binds the Church
member, is to pay the preacher. The obligation is precisely
the same as with a schoolmaster, or any other public agent.
The obligation,, we say, is the same, though the means of en¬
forcing it may be different. He has not only promised the
22
THE DIVINE ASSESSMENT
Church that he will share fairly with them in this and other
expenses, but he has promised the preacher, personally,
either in terms or otherwise, it matters not, the same thing.
No man can be a member of the Christian Church without
sustaining these obligations.
The question of distribution is quite another matter. To
this the minister is not a party. It matters not to him how
they distribute the payment among themselves, so that he
gets his money.
But the right is not, by any means, all with the minister,
and the obligation all with the people. The doctrine trans¬
posed is quite as powerful and weighty. For the minister is
under the same pressure of obligation to discharge his duty,
that the people are to discharge theirs. The contract is mu¬
tual, and so the rights and obligations are mutual.
It is as much the right of each person that his family be
occasionally visited by the pastor, his children instructed in
religion, his family prayed for and with, as it is that of the
minister to expect and receive his compensation. And a de¬
fault on the part of the minister unquestionably releases the
corresponding obligation on the other hand, so far as that
minister is concerned.
It is a very mistaken notion, indeed, that the right of the
minister to compensation arises from his appointment to or
acceptance of that particular pastorate. The performance of
pastoral labor is the foundation of his claim. Sickness, or
such like casualty, will, of course, occasion a slight relaxa¬
tion of this rule.
The Scripture rule does by no means create a sinecure.
The laborer is worthy of his hire. Hire means compensation
for services rendered. No services, therefore, no pay: no
right to pay.
In chancery phraseology, you must do equity, before you
can demand equity.
fob the support of the ministry.
23
CHAPTER IV.
the duty of contributing to the support of the gospel
1. Its neglect deranges the Christian scheme of salvation.
We come now to notice the duty of contributing to the sup¬
port of the gospel. If we have heretofore established the
right of the ministry to support, under the grant of the gos¬
pel, we have necessarily established the corresponding propo¬
sition—the duty of the Church to furnish such support; for
the one necessarily attaches to the other. It has also been
attempted to be shown, that the furnishing of means for this
ministerial support, is a distinct part of the divine salvation-
scheme, and that a failure or derangement here, works de¬
rangement throughout the whole scheme, and, therefore cer¬
tain disadvantage to all persons concerned in it. The person,
therefore, who withholds from the Church its due, according to
divine assessment, inflicts as great loss upon himself as upon
the Church.
If we believe the truth of the gospel, we believe in the
divinity of the scheme of the gospel—that it is precisely
fitted and adjusted in all its parts, so as to work the greatest
possible amount of good in every direction. No one thing is
intended to benefit any particular thing exclusively; but each
distinct thing is calculated and intended to work mutual and
reciprocal advantage to every particular thing throughout the
entire system.
The furnishing of support for the ministry, for instance, is
not intended to benefit the receiver more than the giver, or
more than those who occupy any other position. It is in¬
tended to keep the machine in healthful operation, that every
thing connected with it may be benefited.
Suppose one man in a church refuses to work up to the
divine assessment upon his property, in furnishing support
for the ministry. To the extent of his delinquency, he de¬
ranges the scheme in this regard, and so cripples the opera¬
tions of the church. Outside of and apart from himself, he
injures the minister, cripples his ministry, sets a bad example
to others, by which he, in most cases, deprives the treasury
24
the divine assessment
of more money, indirectly, than by the direct withholding,
and works other outward disadvantages which would be te¬
dious to enumerate. But is this all the evil produced by
this act of withholding ? It is not the half. The greatest
amount of harm works back upon himself. Look into his
own heart and feelings, and see what havoc is wrought there 1
The results of such conduct lie so upon the surface of
observation, that all men know that such so-called Christians
are a sickly, wilted, drooping class, whose religion is scarcely
worth the ink and paper of which it is made. They seek to
be religious otherwise than as God has appointed. They may
as well undertake to contravene God's law of gravitation, as
his law of grace. Omnipotence has guaranteed the execution
of both.
And now, let two men in a church pursue such a course —
or five, or ten, or a hundred—and what is the consequence ?
So uniform and so certain are these consequences, in both
directions, outward and inward, that the first man you meet
can tell you as much about it as the most wise and observing.
You may as well look for warm snow, or dark sunshine, as fur
a faithful, thriving, mercenary and withholding Christian ; or
for a thriving church among influences which seek to frus¬
trate the mercy-scheme of the Almighty.
A pill of poison in the human system, is no more likely to
produce unhealthiness, than a pill of poison in the Christian
system. Let the pill be large enough, in either case, and the
patient will die.
The scheme of salvation is a law op god. It is as specific
in all its parts, and as certain in its operations, as the law of
vegetable growth, the fluidity of water, or the recurrence of
day and night by the motion of the earth. To violate it, is
to cut off its results.
2. The principle of mutual and interchangeable influence,
dependency, and advantage in the Christian system.
The Christian system, as a system, must be looked at ana¬
lytically and synthetically. The parts of the system are in¬
tegral parts. It is a hundred perfect systems, all of which
combined compose one grand or perfect system. So that no
one of the several integral systems can be made to work ad¬
vantageously, otherwise than in harmony with the one whole,
and with each part.
FOR THE SUPPORT OP THE MINISTRY. 25
Benevolence is one of these integral systems, and is, at the
same time, the compound or aggregate of several other inte¬
gral systems. Benevolence is the opposite of selfishness.
And yet benevolence will promote the same thing which self¬
ishness in vain tries to promote—viz : one's own personal good.
( Does any one ask, "Where shall I find happiness?" Let
him listen to the whispers, nay, to the thunders of Christian¬
ity, while it answers, "In the happiness of othersAnd
does he inquire, " How shall I promote my happiness 1" The
same voice answers, By promoting the happiness of others."
Selfishness is the enemy, not the friend of a man's self. It
injures its possessor more by trying to injure others, for its
own advantage, than the injury which it really inflicts upon
others. Selfishness is wrong—benevolence is right. Selfish¬
ness is against the laws of God—benevolence is with the
laws of God. The propelling paddle-wheels of selfishness
are set the wrong way. The more they work, the farther off
you get.
Property was made by God. He made it and gave it to
us in order to the salvation of our souls. Every thing he has
done to us, or in regard to us, is for our salvation. He, of
course, however, intended this property to be used by us
within the scope and purview of the Christian system, and
not exclusive of it. Within the system it ministers good—
without it, it ministers evil.
Selfishness, inside of the Christian system, is only another
name for benevolence. Selfishness, attempted to be exercised
for personal advantage, in disregard of the Christian plan, is
the selfishness of the world, against which we are animadvert¬
ing. The question is not whether one's own personal good
shall or shall not be promoted to the greatest practicable ex¬
tent ? The question is whether it shall be truly and success¬
fully promoted, according to the scheme of Christianity, or
whether the attempt to promote it shall be a failure, because
falsely prosecuted—because attempted to be prosecuted in
contravention of God's laws ?
Now, let a man attempt to promote his own personal advan¬
tage to the utmost possible extent, and let him work according
to God's directions to this end—let him work according_ to
God's laws, and not against God's laws—let him avail him¬
self of God's knowledge, if he thinks God is wiser than he •
12*
26
THE DIVINE ASSESSMENT.
and now let another man set himself to the promotion of the
happiness of others, leaving himself almost entirely out of
the question—that is, the promotion of his own personal ad¬
vantage—and let him also work according to God's plan for
this purpose, and you will find these persons both pursuing
the very same course.
God has ordained—and he has enstamped his ordination
upon the moral, mental, and physical nature of man and his
habitation—that justice, benevolence, liberal feelings and
actions, are the only promoters of our own personal good, and,
at the same time, the only promoters of mutual and reciprocal
good among the community. Man is constantly trying to
annul this ordinance, and to put himself up by pulling others
down ; and he is constantly failing.
" If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God that
giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall
be given him."
The plain, simple truth is—and we may as well listen to
and profit by it—that God has arranged the Christian plan of
salvation upon the basis of mutual dependence and influence.
No man can rise by himself; nor can any man fall entirely
by himself.
There are many ways to make money. Any fool can do
that. Numskulls oftentimes succeed best. Many make it to
their ruin. Thousands in the Church are already ruined by
money-making. God oftentimes intimates to us the estima¬
tion in which he holds money, by bestowing it, by the thou¬
sands, upon the most worthless and vicious of the race. This
is not the question.
The question is, How shall money and money-making te
turned to the best account ? God declares to us, in the most
unmistakable language, in and out of the Bible, that our
personal salvation is suspended upon the condition of our
doing all we can for the salvation of others. If the salvation
of others requires our property, within the measure of God's
assessment, we cannot be saved and withhold it. Whatever
God requires of us, the withholding of it will surely result in
loss to us.
The burdens and the blessings of Christianity are indisso-
lubly linked together. He who would have the one, must
bear the other. The man of property who seeks to get along
FOR THE SUPPORT OP THE MINISTRY. 27
in the Church and be a Christian, and sees her expenses paid
by others, or without his adequate proportion, may think he
is merely, by a little adroitness, taking advantage of the
good nature of his fellows—that no matter who pays the ex¬
penses, so they are paid—such a man may think this little
delinquency is a matter only between himself and his fellow
church-members; but God thinks differently. God says dif¬
ferently. God will act differently.
It is not enough that the Church expenses be paid. This
is not the most important question with you, reader. The
question is, How far do you share in these expenses ? In ten
thousand instances, not far enough to save your soul. God
will deal with you as you sought to deal with him. You have
the price of the pottage; but where is your birth-right ?
3. We have no right to use the money which God puts into
our hands, otherwise than as he diTects.
Every man who knows any thing of Christianity, knows
that the relation he sustains to God in respect to property, is
analogous to that of a steward to his master. God is the only
absolute proprietor of any valuable thing. We own property
as between ourselves and other men, but surely not as between
ourselves and God. This is so plain and common a principle
in Christian ethics, that we need not spend time with quota¬
tions. Our property is God's property. It has been put into
our hands by God's providence. We have acquired it, say,
by our industry, frugality, and perseverance; but all these
things are but parts of God's providence.
God's providence has produced the money and the property,
and it h£s been distributed in parcels, here and there, in un¬
equal portions, in the course of the same providence. The
several owners are owners in the subordinate sense above—as
respects the claims of each other—but all are the stewards of
God. Men have a right, therefore, to use this money and
property only as God permits.
If any man denies this principle, in the broad and absolute
manner in which we lay it down, we have no argument with
him. He is not a Christian in belief, and our object at pre¬
sent is not to attempt to prove the divine authenticity of the
Christian precepts. We take the Bible as we find it, assum¬
ing it to be true.
Now God has ordained an assessment upon this property,
28
THE DIVINE ASSESSMENT
equal to the wants of the ministry, as previously set forth.
He does not require men to give money to the ministry which
does not belong to the ministry. He requires that we pay
over to it its own. The Church is not an object of charity:
it is an institution with rights. We are discussing the rights
of the Church, not its needs. The man who regards the
Christian ministry as a very genteel and respectable system
of pauperism, has grown up to manhood to little purpose.
The ministry may be pauperized by justice, and so may a
millionaire.
The money-question presented to a person, is not, " Will
you give to the Church of your substance ?" It is, " Will
you pay over the church-money in your pocket ?" The
delinquency of which we speak, is the appropriation of
church-money to our private uses. There is a man who has
church-money in his pocket, which has been gathered to¬
gether from a dozen different sources, say from the collection-
hat, after its tour through the congregation—has he a right
to keep that money, and appropriate it to his own use ? Just
as much right as that other man, who failed to put in the dol¬
lar he ought to have put in, to keep it.
" But I have paid," says the delinquent, " as much as I
thought I ought to pay." Who. authorized you to think
about a matter upon which God has pronounced his mandate ?
Men's thinking should close where God's utterance begins.
Naaman thought that some other way was as good as God's
way; but God's prophet taught him that his thinking was
quite unnecessary.
Let every man go according to his own thinking, and we
have an end of Christianity, unless such thinking be in ac¬
cordance with God's word. The richest loafer in the Church
will tell you he thinks he has done wonders towards support¬
ing the ministry. We are far more interested in what the
Lord says on this subject, than what men choose to think.
Thousands and thousands of men among us will tell you
they think they have supported the ministry, when the car¬
pets they walk on, the carriages in which they ride, the serv¬
ants that move at their bidding, and the delicacies they in
part subsist upon, were purchased with church-money! Ah!
the rights of the Church ! Who vindicates the rights of the
Church ?
FOE THE SUPPORT OF THE MINISTRY. 29
How can a man undertake to think he has paid the Church
'its due, until he first looks into the Bible carefully, and exam¬
ines, and thereby determines what the dues of the Church
really are ? The Bible is the arbiter, reader, between the
Church and yourself, respecting this claim as to the rights of
property. God has made the law, and has written it in a
book; and all we have to do in the premises is to apply the
law so written and published. Be careful, reader, how
church-money jingles in thy pocket! It will harden thy
heart, and stiffen thy religious feelings, and blunt the impres¬
sions the gospel may have made, and stupefy thy spiritual
susceptibilities, and paralyze the quickenings of the spirit
within thee, and deaden thy hopes of heaven, and leave thy
soul incarcerated in sordid money !
There is a rich man, walking in all the high walks of social
respectability: his name is honorably mentioned, and his
social influence is considerable. A charge of fraud against
him to the amount of a thousand, ten thousand, a hundred
thousand, upon the funds of the Church, would grate harshly
upon his ear. " Why ! what I" he would reply, " I give the
Church a hundred dollars a year, besides many other1 little
incidental things not counted—I a defaulter I"
Poor mercenary delinquent! A " robber" of God ! A
delinquent at the altar! Peculation has become so common
as he has been growing rich, conscience has been so tho¬
roughly bribed, that the performance is a mere common-place !
And yet he talks gracefully about Christianity, and dreams
fondly about heaven ! What he calls his income last year,
was twentij thousand dollars. And^how much of that went
to the Church ? A hundred dollars.
The salvation of that man is impossible. Ordinarily it is
simply impossible, because it supposes the abnegation of all
the money-laws of the Bible. I will not, however, undertake
to pronounce, that extraordinary ignorance and gross stupid¬
ity of mind and conscience, might not, by possibility, admit
ot his salvation. If possible at all, it would be one case in a
thousand 1 would not be in his shoes to-day for the wealth
rf nations! _ .i_i.-i.ji
The' possession of money is one thing, but the rightim
ownership of it, or right to use it, is quite another. It you
have your neighbor's money, and refuse to pay over, he
3*
80
THE DIVINE ASSESSMENT
will send the sheriff to rectify his wrongs. But the Lord's
bailiff comes but once.
Thousands of men have grown gray in church-delinquency,
and in the end bequeath church-money, by hundreds and by
thousands, to their children after them, who oftentimes suffer
much more by the inheritance of the wrongs which gave
them the money they have no right to, than by the blight and
curses which the money itself entails.
Terrible close of a miscalled religious life! The last act
signs away the Saviour's rights, and wills them to another!
Pieces of silver ill gotten, or illegally withheld^ by which the
rights of the Saviour are invaded, have not materially changed
their character these eighteen hundred years past.
CHAPTEK Y.
DUTY OE CONTRIBUTING TO THE SUPPORT OP THE GOSPEL;
CONTINUED.
4. The scheme of Christianity contemplates the use of men
and money in the evangelization of the world.
The salvation of men upon mere prerogative is, in the
nature of the case, impracticable. Exemption from punish¬
ment would not be salvation, unless the heart, the affections,
the moral feelings, bring man's free agency into cooperation
with God's willingness to save. The brutes and the trees are
exempt from punishment* but they derive no advantage from
such exemption, because they are conscious of none.
God, in the exercise of his mercy, therefore, had something
more to do than merely to save men. It was necessary he
should so save them, as that they themselves would be practi¬
cally benefited thereby. It became necessary, therefore, that
he should approach them with motives, inducements, incen¬
tives, hopes, fears, and helps, so as to cause man to work out
his own salvation. Having previously arranged all the moral
feelings and susceptibilities of man, and all the properties and
characteristics of external nature, as well as the moral and
physical laws and connectives in regard to both, he set himself
about the task of salvation.
FOR THE SUPPORT OP THE MINISTRY. 31
One of the greatest difficulties in the way—nay, the very
greatest—was, the perversion of the principle of personal
advantage and benefit, so that man now, in his impure and
unholy condition, continually sought for happiness in the
wrong direction. This perverted principle is called selfishness.
To counteract this, or, rather, to assist man in counteracting
it, is the great design of the gospel.
God works, of course, not directly, hut through an agency.
Man is the agent, in the hands of God, in the work of salva¬
tion. Now, if man can be induced to believe that God under¬
stands the matter perfectly, and acts in good faith, then man
will inquire after the means of happiness, or self-advantage,
n5t of his own perverted feelings and prepossessions, but of
God j and he will readily work up to the plans of God, believ¬
ing that they are best, rather than follow after his own erring
and perverted notions in the premises.
There is a man who is a careless sinner. He strives only
for his own aggrandizement, in the way he thinks will best
promote it. He cares nothing for God's directions on the
subject. He lets God and his word alone, and lives for him¬
self. And thus, working in his own way, he is continually
frustrating his own designs, and unwittingly defeating his own
ends and purposes. And so, instead of getting better and
better, he is continually getting worse and worse. He is
incessantly and eagerly looking for success, but continually
suffering defeat. Now what is to be done for him ?
This is the way in which God approaches him : He brings
Christian people along side-of and around him, that they, by
their Christian practice and lives, may show him his error.
He is induced to participate in these practices, and to observe,
to some extent, the divine laws—the money-law among the
rest. An act of justice—or liberality, whichever any one
chooses to call it—excites his benevolent feelings, which
stimulate to further action. His internal emotions corre¬
spond with the external laws of grace—his benevolence stimu¬
lates his benevolence—his acts of justice excites his sense of
justice—the eyes of his selfishness open, and he sees his
error. He now discovers that justice—that is, working com¬
pletely up to God's money-law—is the best policy. Every
dollar paid out brings back a good return in some shape. He
is gainer and not loser—a God-serving and happy man.
32
THE DIVINE ASSESSMENT
God lias so arranged the Christian scheme as to require
money for its prosecution. And he has further so arranged
the scheme as to make the payment of money necessary to its
development. The payment of the money, on the one hand,
is as useful as the receipt of it, on the other. If the ministry
he benefited by the use of money—is thereby rendered more
efficient and useful to the Church—the other parts of the
scheme are correspondingly arranged, so that equal advantage
is derived, on the other hand, by this very necessity which
requires the disbursement. A man cannot be saved without
being a Christian—he cannot he a Christian without being a
benevolent man and a just man—he can neither be benevo¬
lent nor just without performing acts of benevolence and jus¬
tice. His acts of justice and benevolence, therefore—that is,
his working up to God's money-law, is absolutely necessary
for himself, no matter what becomes of the money after it
leaves his fingers. This one thing—the getting rid of the
money according to God's law—is what every man is bound
to see to for his own good. He cannot be saved without it.
Now, look at the worldly church-member, and see how he
frustrates this law, and how sadly he suffers by it.
He affects not to understand, or not to regard God's law of
salvation in all its parts. He appears to think that if some
of its enactments are attended to, others may be neglected.
Salvation, he says, comes of repentance, and faith, and holy
living—not of money. Money is too sordid—too earthly—
too base—to be moulded into an instrument of salvation.
Again, he cannot possibly see how the payment of a hundred
dollars, or a thousand, can advance his spiritual and temporal
prosperity. What virtue is there in the payment of money?
And thus, so far as he is concerned, he utterly frustrates the
plan of salvation, and then wonders why his religion is so
dead, vapid, and useless. His religion is dead because he
violates God's religion-scheme. How could it be otherwise?
We may as well violate God's mercy-scheme of salvation in
one place as another. It is the law of God, and to violate it
is certainly, to say the least of it, to miss of heaven. This
violation may as easily be effected in the Church, as in or out
of any thing else. And its violation is quite as destructive
after we have been twenty years in the Church, as twenty
days. All violation of God's law implies distrust of God.
FOR THE SUPPORT OF THE MINISTRY. 38
God says to us in his word—and this saying is abundantly
and daily exemplified in practical life—"Pay the money I
have assessed to you: this is part of the plan—the scheme
cannot go on without it; and I have also arranged that you
shall be none the loser—the very paying shall inure to your
advantage : don't frustrate one part of the scheme, or you
disrupt the whole : trust me—I will bring every thing out
right: all this is necessary: work up to my plan—don't be
afraid—I am the Lord."
But the pious man shrugs up his shoulders and says,
il Tell that to the marines. Not quite green enough to be¬
lieve all that. Beckon I know the value of money, and the
rate of interest—two per cent, a month, easy. I belong to
the Church."
And so the poor miserable man of money clings to some
loose splinters on the outside of the Church, until his finger¬
nails are well-nigh worn off, and it is difficult to tell which
glistens with most fiery brightness, the silver and gold in his
pocket, or the curses of God in his soul! ^ Belongs to the
Church !"
We have many men amongst us who seem to understand
the worthlessness and earthly character of money most theolo¬
gically, when its direction is from them to the Church; but
when its movings are towards their own pockets, it changes
its character wonderfully.
And thus it is that damnation, in the Church, has become
an article of commerce. So much money for so much ruin !
The heirs of the " pious" man of money, after he has been—
of course—sufficiently lauded and eulogized in the public obse¬
quies, gather around his tombstone and clamor for the spoils,
which are the price of his soul! •
But is the current of damnation once set a-going to stop
here ? Will such inheritors of such spoils use the money any
better than they were taught? Let any man walk as far as
the first corner of the street, and open his eyes for an answer.
What is the common course which such money takes ? Will
God's law cease its operations at this point ? or will He not
rather continue his course of providence, and thus teach the
world that He loves virtue and hates vice ?
Ah ! the current value of perdition—cent per cent is less
than many might suppose. The same money may purchase a
34
THE DIVINE ASSESSMENT
place for more than one ! The children of rich church-mem¬
bers, who grew rich in part by withholding, are the most
truly unfortunate persons amongst us. Their legacy of ruin
is two-fold—the canker of the pocket, and the canker of the
heart!
The fruits of sin usually become the instruments of punish¬
ment. Let any man who has lived to mid-life, look back and
around, and inquire after the money and the fruits of the
money which rich church-members bequeathed to their child¬
ren. In nineteen cases out of every twenty—let any man
count—the bequest was a bequest of misfortune, of pain, loss,
and sorrow. In nine cases out of ten the bequest was poverty,
immorality, infamy. These results followed immediately.
They did not even wait for a second generation.
It is beyond all question—a very large amount of the dissi¬
pation, licentiousness, disreputation, idleness, and prodi¬
gality in this country, is the fruit of property inherited by
the children of so-called pious people. And it is equally true,
that, if such descent of property were brought to the straight¬
edge of the Bible, rather than the loose and disjointed code
of a vitiated public sentiment, it would be seen that the will
of God did not accompany it.
The unrepealed enactments of God's law required that that
money, much of it, or most of it, should go to carry the gos¬
pel to the poor, at home and abroad, everywhere, in a thou¬
sand ways. But its owner resolved otherwise. Here now, is
a contest of power. Man appears for a moment, to succeed,
but God cannot be defeated. God is not mocked.
His purposes will ripen fast.
And the poor man, and his poor wife, and poor children,
made poor in any one of the hundred ways in which property
makes men poor, will, if cursed with sufficient discernment,
be compelled to suffer the further infliction of the knowledge
that their worst earthly enemy was their fond, doting, mista¬
ken, self-willed, and mercenary father, who vainly sought to
"rob God" with impunity. I appeal to truth in and facts
out of the Bible ! .
5. To withhold from the Church its due, is a violation of
our professions and solemn engagements.
FOR THE SUPPORT OF THE MINISTRY.
85
The measure of our obligations to the Church for the sup¬
port of the ministry, is a question we will look at after a while.
We are now considering the point as established, that the
Church and its ministry are justly entitled to a portion of the
money we earn; and we are supposing that that portion, or a
part of it, may be withholden, as it notoriously is, every day,
all over the country, in the Church and out of it. And this
withholding, we now suggest, is a violation of our professions
and solemn engagements.
It is true that an engagement or promise to perform a duty
does not create that duty, nor make it obligatory. The obli¬
gation existed before, or the promise was unwittingly or
improperly made, and is therefore not a promise. It is the
duty, therefore, of every man, in the Church or out of it, to
contribute to the support of the ministry when it is practica¬
ble, because the ministry is for all men.
Still, the position occupied by the church-member is some¬
what different from the man who is not. By his professions
and undertakings he at least proves that he is fully aware of
the nature of his obligations. And though it is the duty of
the man of the world to support the gospel, it is not, for that
reason, certainly, any the less the duty of the man who has
specially promised to do so to fulfil his promise.
He has promised that in every possible way he will assist
and encourage the minister in the discharge of his duty. And
now he violates this promise by throwing obstacles and dis¬
couragements in his way. Every man knows that a minister
cannot perform his duty to his congregation and the public
when his mind is harassed about his temporal wants, and the
conveniences of his family. He does not cause his pastor to
feel, as he promised, that his brethren are ready to gather
around him and bolster him against the frowns and adversities
of a graceless and selfish world.
He forfeits his obligations to the other members of ^ the
Church j for, in consequence of his non-support, the minister
is compelled partially to withdraw his labors and care from
them. At this very point, the question assumes an aspect of
fearful responsibility, which locates itself somewhere. The
Church has half a ministry—sinners are neglected—pastoral
visits are neglected—children are neglected sermons are
partially prepared—prayer-meetings have half the zest and
36
THE DIVINE ASSESSMENT
influence they should have—class-meetings are less searching
and profitable than they would be—the world is making
inroads upon the Church, and the Church grows cold and
spiritless.
Now why all this ? It is owing to the faithlessness of that
local preacher, of that steward, and of that private member.
The income of the one is ten or twenty thousand dollars a
year, and he puts the preacher off with the pitiful pittance of
a hundred dollars, and all his other church-contributions are
scarcely treble that sum. The income of another is two
thousand, and his contributions, all told, per annum, would
scarcely pay for the silk in which his wife rides to church.
The other is in thrifty business, and his payment is five or
ten dollars. The heaven of such men is not the heaven of
the Bible.
He also forfeits his promises to God. He has promised the
Lord a hundred times that he would be a faithful steward, if,
in his providence, his property should increase. And the
increase of his property has almost kept pace with his increas¬
ing faithlessness and falsifications.
He has promised that he would set a good Christian example
in the Church. And his example is parsimony, illiberality,
covetousness, niggardliness, closeness, want of interest for the
Church's prosperity, and injustice to the ministry!
A quaint and humorous old sinner we wot of, who had a
pious wife, went one day to pay her u quarterage." " Want
to pay for my wife's religion, if you please, Sir-^I am told
religion is worth nothing unless paid for." (Pity but some
of our professors had heard the same thing.)
We profess to have given up all for God and his cause.
Given up what? Given up! What have we given up?
Let us hold still a moment, and look at this matter; for here
is something we have—some of us—not thought of lately.
He that loveth father or mother more than me, is not
worthy of me. And he that loveth son or daughter more
than me, is not worthy of me. Then said Jesus to his disci¬
ples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself,
and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever shall
save his lire, shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his lity.1,
for my sake, shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he
shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul ? Then
FOR TIIE SUPPORT OF TnE MINISTRY. 37
Peter began to say unto him, Lo ! we have left all, and have
followed thee. Whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all
that he hath, he cannot be my disciple. Lo! we have left
all, and followed thee.
For whom were these Scriptures made? For the men of
this generation ? Surely there is a fault somewhere.
We profess to love God, and to feel a great interest in his
cause. Show me thy faith without thy works, and I will
show thee my faith by my works.
Actions speak louder than words.
We profess to use our money to the best advantage. But
we calculate badly sometimes. Profligacy enough to ruin a
son who is trying to get out of his teens, generally costs from
five to fifty thousand dollars; when a like sum will go far
towards Christianizing a nation. Jewelry enough to turn a
daughter's head fool wards, will cost as much—as the market
generally is—as to send the preacher's children to school a
quarter, or himself twice round his Circuit.
" Post thou renounce the Devil and all his works, the vain
pomp and glory of the world, with all covetous desires of the
same, and the carnal desires of the flesh, so that thou wilt not
follow or be led by them ?"
No, sir !
■ " Cast thy bread upon the waters, for thou shalt find it
after many days."
At the rate of about fifteen per cent, per annum.
" Freely ye have received—freely give."
Well, what is the rate, and what is the security?
"For .where your treasure is, there will your heart be
also."
Some men's hearts are easily found then, in bank hours.
" Ye cannot serve God and mammon."
Well, we intend to try it, anyhow.
" If, therefore, ye have not been faithful in the iinright-
eous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?
The merchant and the negro-trader.
" It -is more blessed to give than to receive."
That's Greek—cas't understand it.
Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation,
against the time to come, that they may lay hold on " all
they can get.
38
the divine assessment
We have, in the most solemn manner of which we are capa¬
ble, renounced covetousness in all its forms, and yEt who does
not know that covetousness is this day the great leading mas¬
ter-sin of the Church? We have given ourselves, with all
we have and all we are, to God; and yet we withhold from
God all we have, and vainly try to appropriate it to our own
personal and exclusive advantage.
CHAPTER YI.
the justice and equity oe the case.
We must now look at this subject from a point of obscva-
tion a little different from that which we have heretofore
occupied. We have endeavored to maintain the doctrine, that
if God required a man to pay money from his earnings to
support the ministry, it was, at the same time, every way an
advantage for that man to do so. Every Christian duty is
performed, not for the benefit of God, nor solely or even chiefly
for the benefit of other men, or of society; but first for our
own benefit, and secondly, for the benefit of others; because
the scheme is so linked together in its several parts, that the
good of the whole is contemplated in every provision. We
have, therefore, urged, the performance of this duty for our
own personal advantage, as well as for the healthful perform¬
ance of the system in all its parts.
We now look at the equity of the case, as between the in¬
dividual and the Church; for God has also incorporated this
principle into the scheme, as well as the others.
All that the Scriptures require in this matter is that we act
upon the principles of justice, and not injustice.
The Christian religion is not an institution separate and
distinct from the laws of social life. It is the refinement and
enforcement of those laws. It enjoins strict equity and even
justice, not in one or two particular places and relations, but
in all our several relations. Then let us look at this question
of equity as it stands between the individual professor and the
FOR THE SUPPORT OP THE MINISTRY. 89
religion, the Church and the ministry with which he stands
connected.
Look, first, at the general condition of the agricultural, the
commercial, the mechanical and laborious world we live in :
mark its elevation—its prosperity—its ability to make money
and keep the world lifelike and buoyant. To what is it chiefly
indebted for the means of this prosperity, and the opportunity
of using those means ?
To the Christian religion, most unquestionably.
To what are we indebted for our civil institutions, the pro¬
tection of our property, the security of our persons and fami¬
lies, the means and opportunities of educating our children, the
privilege of celebrating the holy day of rest, opportunities and
privilege of free intercourse with our fellow-citizens for business
or pleasure—for, in a word, all, or nearly all, that renders life
useful or desirable ?
To the Christian religion, most undoubtedly.
And as the case is with the country generally, so it is with
each individual person. Let the proposition be made to the
day-laborer, to the student, to the professional man, the farmer,
the mechanic, the merchant, the banker, the man of business
of any and every calling: What had been your profits and
earnings to-day, in the absence of the Christianity which sur¬
rounded you yesterday ?
It were a fragment of what it really is now. The labor of
a day would be paid with a dime, instead of a dollar. One
man in five hundred would possess the property of the country,
instead of its being distributed as it is. And the profits of
the people—all except the overgrown wealthy—would be a
tithe of what they now are.
It has ever been necessary, in all civilized society, and it
will so continue until the world shall become Christianized far
beyond what we have yet seen, to employ, at the public ex¬
pense—that is, at the private expense of each person—a con¬
siderable number of public officers, of various grades and"
duties, from the high jurist to the constable and turnkey.
These officers produce nothing—they live entirely off the
earnings of others; and their duties are necessary to society,
only because men are vicious and immoral. These officers are
more or less necessary, and therefore more or less numerous,
in different countries. In some places the people are taxed
40
THE DIVINE ASSESSMENT
one-twentieth, in others one-tenth, one-fifth and one-half their
earnings to support these officers. What causes this difference?
Injustice to the claims of the gospel. Invariably, where
the gospel is best supported, there political burdens are lightest.
Look at the condition of Russia, Italy, Spain, or our nearer
neighbors, Mexico and the Island of Cuba. In these coun¬
tries they have, no gospel ministry, and, for this reason, the
people pay from a foui'th to a half or more of their earnings
to the support of a public police in a variety of forms. In
proportion as men deal wisely and justly with the gospel, those
burdens are lightened.
In this country, we pay for these purposes one dollar in fifty-
of our earnings : a less proportion than is paid by any people
else on earth. The reason is, we support the gospel better
than any other people. And were we to double our payments
for the latter purpose, we would lessen the expenses of the
whole by a very large per cent. All experience shows, that
one dollar paid to the support of an evangelical gospel minis¬
try, for purposes of necessary expenses towards public safety
and morals, will go as far as ten or twenty paid to courts,
penitentiaries, alms-houses, and the like. And this is upon
the principle of the quaint old adage, that an ounce of preven¬
tion is worth a pound of cure.
Let any man pause and soberly reflect upon his real indebt¬
edness to the gospel for the property and peace he possesses.
Our civil liberties and wholesome laws are supported by the
gospel. Our very form of government could not probably
survive the extinction of Christianity a single twelvemonth.
Certain it is, that liberty without the gospel would be the
greatest and most deplorable of public calamities ever known
amongst men.
Once and only once, in the history of the world, was this
experiment fairly tried. Look at France—" beautiful France."
No country on earth was more highly endowed than she. She
thought she could do without religion, and publicly and legally
repudiated Christianity and its Rible. And what was the
result ? Public and private, and national and social discord,
confusion, anarchy, disruption, pillage, unchasteness, bloodshed
and carnage, such as never tarnished any other page of this
world's history. Human blood ran down the streets of Paris
like water. Life or property had no more security than in
FOR THE SUPPORT OF THE MINISTRY. 41
tl p, wilds of Sahara. And, what is still more strange, the
softer sex became the leaders in ferocity, barbarity, and infamy.
Murder was almost as common as any other kind of salutation.
Marriage was virtually abrogated, and chastity laughed at.
This state of things could not have continued. But for a
speedy return to Christianity, even in a much corrupted form, .
the nation itself would have suffered dismemberment, and soon
would have tumbled headlong into total disruption and revolu¬
tionary ruin.
But let us bring this question of justice and equity a little
nearer home. Let us get into the Church, and talk to the
members. Here is a man who earns a dollar and a half a
day by some kind of labor or other; if he has a family, they
are well supported—live comfortably—children go to school—
neighbors visit him, etc. This is all right, and is owing to
your industry and frugality. But were these things always so ?
No, sir. I knew you, a few years ago, when you were drunken,
lazy, and worthless. Why and how this change ? When and
where did the preacher find you ? To what did he lead aud
introduce you ? Your change of circumstances, then, is owing
to—what? Blush and answer.
That young man is indebted to the ministry of the gospel
for his employment, for his sobriety, for his respectability, and
for most or all of what he is. And what return does he make
for those valuable bestowals ?
I knew that physician when he had no practice almost, and
could scarcely get along. Now he belongs to the Church, and
" gets most all the Methodist practice/' and is doing well.
And what return does he make to the ministry for a living
thus put into his hands ? He may or may not blush while he
answers.
And now, as we seem to be making a kind of class-meeting
business of this, let us go through and examine some more of
the members, at least partially.
That lawyer makes a thousand, and that one five thousand
dollars a year from the Church, in various ways, not a ^ dollar
of which would either receive, but for his connection with the
Church. And they pay back for the support of the Church
—perhaps the sum had as well not be stated, for lawyeis don t
like to blush in class-meeting. _ _
Those persons who are in public office, are indebted to the
13
42
THE DIVINE ASSESSMENT
labors of the ministry for the moral fitness which gave the
qualification for the positions they hold, as well as, in many
cases, for the votes which placed them in office.
This merchant would have been bankrupt, or at least in a
very poor business, long since, but for the help he has re¬
ceived—mediately and indirectly, of course—from the labors of
the ministry. He, in fact—and it is no matter through what
means, or in what way, so it is but honestly done—but in fact,
he makes thousands every year off the Church, and in conse¬
quence of his relation to the Church. Not a dime of this
money would ever have felt the darkness of his pocket, but
for this very ministry about which we are speaking. And
now, since this ministry is greatly in need of money, and since
the Almighty has assessed money for its support, that more and
other men may become respectable, religious and prosperous,
has he a right to withhold the last dollar almost, and see his
donor penniless and bereft, while he rides in ease and lives in
luxury? No! The genius of Justice would grapple the
pious and mercenary delinquent by the throat and say, "Pay
me that thou owest I" Is court paid to Justice, and Equity
made to poise her scales, out of the Church; and may she be
defamed and trampled under foot, her fair name cast out as
evil, and she made to blush for very shame, within it! Maybe
the shrewd business man may succeed in the end in overreach¬
ing God, and in financiering Justice to silence—and maybe
not!
There is one man whom I ought to know better than any
other—I allude to the person who is now holding the pen
which is marking these lines. I knew him many years ago.
He was ignorant of the world—knew nothing of its difficulties
and dangers, was proud of himself, and to say the least, was
very ill prepared to pursue the path of life. I know when,
and how, and where the Church found him. But for this, it
is impossible to tell what his future course would have been.
My belief is, however, from the best lights before me, that,
but for the Church, he would long since have been in profli¬
gacy, drunkenness and ruin; and most likely in a neglected
and forgotten grave.
Those planters make from one hundred to five hundred or
a thousand bales or hogsheads, and have been in the Church
for years. I would like to see these rich men stand up and
FOR THE SUPPORT OP THE MINISTRY. 43
talk. "How much owest thou unto my Lord?" Cipher it
out. How much have you received ? And how much have
you paid? You were poor once—now you are rich. Your
annual income is twenty thousand dollars. How much did
you pay the ministers of the Lord Jesus Christ last year, for
the evangelization of this world ? One hundred dollars ; and
perhaps you yourself may be a minister of the gospel; at
at least you profess to be a Christian. And at this rate, how
long will the ministry survive, to say nothing of its prosperity ?
It will very soon starve out and become almost extinct.
^ Sir, your miserable hundred dollars—mean money at best—
given grudgingly, for it cannot be otherwise given—is a dis¬
advantage to the Church. Go home and keep your money—
the ministry will do much better without you than with you;
for, as you give, in such proportion will others give—your
" subscription," as you call it, has lessened the aggregate re¬
ceipts considerably. This is the most effectual of all possible
modes by which a man may
"damn with faint praise,"
and contract for the ministry degradation and poverty at the
price of his own ruin !
In all sincerity and fairness, then, we say, keep your money.
That hind of money inflicts disadvantage upon the Church,
and the giving of it works no sort of advantage to yourself.
For mammon's sake, then keep it. It is not the hind of 'coin
that can do the Church any good. God loveth a cheerful
giver. Yea, and God loveth a just man.
We are not indebted to the gospel in the full amount of all
we have received, directly and indirectly, through its instru¬
mentality, in the sense which requires us to pay to the Church
a full equivalent. If we were, justice would require of every
man to pay over all or nearly all he has, forthwith to the
Church. To do this, or any thing like it, would frustrate God's
providence and do the Church a great injury.
The money is placed in our hands in the course of Provi¬
dence, for us to keep, use, take care of, and increase,^ in order
that it may be disbursed, in the continuous windings and
workings of the same Providence, for the glory of God and
the good of mankind. ....
Our natural selfishness, however, is in justice compelled
44
THE DIYINE ASSESSMENT
occasionally to pause and cast up accounts with the Church
and ministry. We must look upon ourselves not only as
stewards in the service of our Master, but if selfishness causes
us to regard ourselves in the light of proprietors, we must
settle up accounts occasionally.
Now let us see : How much money have you received from
or through the instrumentality of the Church ? Set it down.
Now how much interest, or annual compensation, do you pay
the Church for the use of this money ? The reckoning in
this form must be met. Is it six per cent. ? Is it two and a
half per cent. ? Is it one per cent. ? One per cent, on ten
thousand dollars is one hundred dollars. Two per cent, on a
hundred thousand dollars is two thousand dollars. The cal¬
culations are not very difficult to make.
The same rule will apply to the man who has not a large
amount of accumulated property, but whose profession, or
calling, or business furnishes him a regular or irregular in¬
come. How much of that income belongs of right to yourself,
and how much to the Church ?
Let any man look at himself as he is, and then judge as
best he may, what he would have been without the gospel
ministry. We must judge of ourselves as we would of other
men. If you would judge rightly, place yourself out in the
foreground with others, and take your position at a distance
in front, and look at yourself in the crowd. You are about
like-other men. The farther men are from the influence of
the gospel, as a general rule, the more worthless, profligate
and unfruitful they are. This would be your condition. The
ministry found you—perhaps not very immoral, but you were
proud, unthrifty and unpromising. These plantations and
these thousands would, in all likelihood, never have been yours
but for the gospel ministry operating upon you in many ways.
For what would you change conditions, and step in a moment
into the precise situation you would occupy at this time, un¬
aided by the ministry of the gospel ? Though you are respect¬
able now, most likely you would step into a drunkard's or
profligate's grave, which has been filled and overgrown with
briers these many years—or, mayhap, into poverty and toil.
A hundred chances to one, your property would be a tithe of
what it is now.
God—the God of justice and equity—has placed this
FOR TI1E SUPPORT OP THE MINISTRY. 45
property in your hands for something. How long you will con¬
tinue to thwart his purposes and give his increase to another,
cannot now be foretold. One thing is certain—you cannot
measure arms successfully with God's providence.
0,1 love a rich man—rich in feeling—rich in principle—rich
in noble and generous deeds—rich in largeness of heart—rich
in money and plantations. But those rich men who can be shut
up safely in a quart coffee-pot, and whose homoeopathic deeds of
generosity are so infinitesimal as to tighten a man's brain to think
of them, are not worth the ink that would further write them into
notice. They have made money, and in return money has made
them. They could not assist a poor preacher, struggling with
adversity and the cares and toils of the Church, because, for¬
sooth, u I wish to purchase another tract of land." They claim
to be the sole and independent proprietors of their property,
and hold it alike against the claims of God and man ! Be¬
nevolence depends upon the rate of interest and security!
A hundred dollars grudgingly given to the Church, is not
merely a hundred dollars, as it would be ordinarily, from
another person. It is two hundred dollars. See if it is not.
In a year he can turn and twist it so as to make it yield twenty
dollars. In two years it is a hundred and forty-four; in three,
a hundred and seventy-two—and so on; so that his charities
are immense.
In all this, the Bible, the teachings of the Bible, the laws of the
Bible, are closed, sealed and bolted, lest their intrusions should
interfere with these estimates and calculations, and bestowals
and withholdings. And all this time the poor man regards him¬
self as a man of prayer and of worship. He forgets that prayer
can only reach the ear of God by passing through all the princi¬
ples and windings of every precept and doctrine in the Bible;
and that true worship must also accord with all these things.
There is no communication with God but through all these
avenues. Clog up any one, and the conference is suspended.
Those laws which enjoin paying, are as imperative and abso^
lute as those which enjoin praying, as a condition of salvation,
individual salvation is very intimately connected with the
heilthfulness of the ministry, the progress of the gospel, and
the salvation of the world. He who would save his life, shall
(„se -it. But the man who lives for God and his Church, lives
fur himself truly, and for heaven finally and surely.
46
the divine assessment
CHAPTER VII.
the measure op the duty.
The parable of the talents is a mere dictate of common
sense or moral philosophy. Where much is given much is
required. The proportion of investment is the rule of re¬
quirement.
But the extension of the principle into the doctrine of the
parable of the widow and the two mites, is sublime beyond
the reach of human conception. Unaided by revelation, the
full idea would probably never have been grasped. Here we
see the justice of philanthropy grasping covetousness by the
throat, and saying, "Pay me that thou owest." Here is the
very pith of the gospel and the key to Christianity.
The covetous man is the man who works his money figures
below the gospel standard. Within the rules of the gospel
we may possess money; but beyond these rules our money
possesses us. Our money-making, and money-using, and
money-keeping, and money-saving, inside of the rules and re¬
quirements of the gospel, are not only fair and right, but real
and true, in contradistinction to that which is false and illusive.
But in so far as we carry our finances beyond the lids of the
Bible, we are ourselves like the man who,
" Throws up his interest in both worlds,
First starved in this, then damned in that to come."
We may look around and console ourselves with the idea that
we are in a large company, but we are, nevertheless, in bad
company.
A man's life consisteth in the abundance of the things
which he possesseth. Wealth and happiness are synonymous
and convertible terms. I pay quite as much as my share
towards the support of the gospel. Surely, God is just—no
respecter of persons. Why should I be required to pay so
much more than neighbor Sypendax? The world is as wide
before him as before me. If I am worth ten times as much
as he, that is mv good luck and his fault or his misfortune.
God is no respecter of persons. What a blessing! The in-
FOR THE SUPPORT OF THE MINISTRY. 47
justice of money-holding becomes sometimes almost trulv
eloquent.
Harris says: "By unwearied diligence, the art of acquiring
money has been well-nigh brought to perfection. Nor can we
think of the thousand ways in which it is squandered and
dissipated by artificial wants and worldly compliances, without
deploring that the art of wasting it by the most expeditious
methods, should exhibit, as it does, the finish and complete¬
ness of the system."
But Dr. Harris was mistaken. Acquiring money and
spending it, do not complete the system quite. Dor then so
many would not be ruined by its inheritance.
The scheme of Christianity is a comprehensive scheme of
universal justice. Nothing infringes upon Christianity but
injustice. "According to several ability," is the perfection
of justice. Fitness, equity of distribution according to several
ability, is the rule of every thing, except when man's selfish¬
ness interposes to arrest the general harmony. The great oak
supports his immense burden, because of the corresponding
ability of his trunk. The rivulet is filled to its capacity as
full as the river or the ocean.
There is in the New Testament no absolute, specific, and
fixed measure of Christian duty. In this respect it differs
from the Old. This difference seems necessarily to result
from the enlarged and universal policy of the former. The
new economy prescribes a religion of the heart and feelings.
It addresses itself to the inner man. The Jewish economy
was a "schoolmaster." It was only intended to take the
world through the alphabet and primer. It taught positive,
specific things. The enlarged policy teaches principles and
truths. The partial policy prescribed, Thou shalt do and not
do this and that. The full policy says, "Thou shalt not think
or feel wickedly." It enters the naked and open chambers
of the soul.
In reference to the question in hand, the Old Testament
required the payment of ten per cent, upon the entire earnings.
The Christian economy requires a liberal support for the min¬
istry, And so of other Christian duties. In regard to prayer,
it required the doing of specific and definite things: now we
are required to pray always; or, in other words, to pray largely
and liberally. The Jews were required to meet for worship
48
THE DIVINE ASSESSMENT
at certain times and places*. We are required not to neglect
or forsake the assembling of ourselves together.
Christian duty is intended and calculated to have a direct
and a reverse influence. The direct influence is outward and
forward, and rests upon something beyond ourselves. The
reverse is reflex, and rests back upon ourselves.
The measure of the duty of ministerial support is illustrat¬
ed, not prescribed, in the instance of the payment of the two
mites by the poor widow. She paid "more than they all."
In what sense? In this, most assuredly: she paid a larger
proportion of her property; she paid until she felt it.
What is the payment of five or ten dollars for a large pur¬
pose of this kind, for a rich man? Nothing. But in respect
to the result of the reception of the money, it is as much a?
the same sum given by a poor man.
But why,*in the one case, is it an act of niggardliness, and
in the other of Christian liberality? Because in the one case
it is a proof and a test of benevolence, and in the other it is
not. .
How may we know any man to be benevolent? Surely, not
by his giving this or that sum, either for ministerial support
or for charity. If the giving any particular sum cost the
giver neither pains nor inconvenience—as for a rich man to give
a trifle—it is no evidence of his benevolence, or philanthropy,
or Christian liberality, for we do not know but the money will
be withheld the moment it costs the giver the least sacrifice
or privation.
How may any man know himself to be benevolent? There
is no way possible, except by acts of liberality, made until
ihey are felt as a sacrifice and personal inconvenience. The
satisfaction, therefore, which it is the peculiar province of
benevolence and liberality to impart, can only be felt as the
result of actual benevolence and liberality.
In the absence of the performance of the duty of minis¬
terial support, or of any other Christian duty of the like kind,
the man is obliged to know himself to be devoid of benev¬
olence, and, therefore, to be not a Christian. And just so in
regard to any other Christian duty. The man who does not
pray, has the strongest possible evidence that a man can have,
that he is not a Christian; and he can but feel his destitution.
The measure of this duty, then, is like unto that of most
FOR THE SUPPORT OF THE MINISTRY. 49
other Christian duties. The reason, the judgment, the good
sense of the man must regulate its precise measure. It must
he performed until it produces, in most cases, a large reflex
influence upon the heart and feelings. Prayer that costs a
person no sacrifice—that does not tax the feelings—is not the
prayer that does any good, or that complies with the law of
prayer. Humility that does not restrain the inclinations and
curb the rising of self-consequence, is not the humility en¬
joined in the Scriptures. Almsgiving that is not felt as a
giving, in proportion to the magnitude and necessities of the
case, is not the almsgiving of Christianity. Attendance upon
the ordinances of Hod's house, which the least inconvenience
suspends, is not a Christian duty. It is a mere church-going,
prompted by custom or convenience.
And just so of the particular duty in question. It must
be performed until it is felt; or, at least, an entire readiness—
a perfect willingness to feel sacrifice and privation, under the
acts of giving, or paying, must be manifested.
Let us illustrate this point a little farther, for it is deemed
of great practical importance.
There is a man who proposes to himself the duty of prayer.
He has hitherto failed in this respect to come up to the divine
requirements; and he is therefore unacquainted with both the
privation and the joys of prayer. For both these things
attach to every Christian duty. To come up to what his
judgment and conscience teach, as to the measure of this
duty, requires sacrifice, privation, and submission. These
feelings must be overcome. He must drive himself, as with
a lash, up to the point and through the performance. If he
does not overcome his natural withdrawings, and force himself
forward in opposition to himself, he has not performed the
duty. But notwithstanding this contest and victory, in the
actual performance of the duty he feels much of the reflex in¬
fluence of enjoyment and satisfaction.
As he continues the performances on the one hand and
the submission on the other, the privation, the reluctance, the
unwillingness diminishes, and the returning satisfaction in¬
creases, until the former soon dies away entirely, or measura¬
bly so, and the man now performs the duty from choice. Still,
though he takes the greater delight in those duties, the same
principle, is maintained which he has set out with. That is,
13*
50
THE DIVINE ASSESSMENT
he does not suffer himself to be impeded in the performance
of these duties, because of any objections or difficulties which
may arise from self or from the world, be they any, or be
they little or much.
In this sense, then, the man who is accustomed to duty, up
to the largest measure of Scriptural requirement, feels but
little or no cross in the performance of it. This, however, is
a point of considerable attainment in Christian experience.
This is precisely an illustration of the duty of ministerial
support, or, in fact, of any other Christian duty. Christian
duty without a cross, is no Christian duty at all.
In performing the duty of ministerial support, we must
force ourselves beyond the point of convenience, of ease, of
our dispositions and wishes. We must feel the urgings of
Glod's mandate, and pay out money until we feel it a privation
and a sacrifice.
In riper years of Christian experience, however, in per¬
forming the same, or even a greater measure of duty, the
heart and conscience may be so schooled to it, and the risings
and back influences of satisfaction may be so great, that the
cross becomes greatly lessened; or, what is the same thing,
its influence is overcome by the satisfaction we feel in the
performance. Such is the philosophy of Christian duty.
It is by this course of reasoning only, that we may sup¬
pose the sacrifices and privations of the celebrated Howard
had in them less of the balance or aggregate of sacrifice, than
those of the man who performed a hundredth part of them.
This principle ranges through the entire realm of Chris¬
tianity : from the sufferings of the Cross down to the smallest-
duty known to the system. It is the very essence or vital in¬
gredient in Christian philanthropy or benevolence. Without
a cross it is nothing. But the. cross must be overcome.
Suppose a man pays money for ministerial support—as
many Christians do—measuring their payments by considera¬
tions of this kind. Here is his soliloquy. My means are
known to be about equal to those of A, B, and C, and are
greatly superior to those of D, and E. I cannot conceal this
fact. Now, if I do not come up in my subscription pretty
near to A and B, if I come down to D or E, or below them,
it will make against me in the end. My position in the
Church will not be sustained. They'll talk hard about me.
FOR THE SUPPORT OF THE MINISTRY. 51
I'll make my ability appear as small as I can, and get off with
as little as they will regard as being respectable.
This man, whatever else he may be, is a transparent sinner.
He no more performs the Christian duty of ministerial sup¬
port than he regulates the motion of the moon. This duty
implies sacrifice—self-denial. You must give until you feel
the pressure of self-denial. Below this point, neither of
the two grand purposes of God in enjoining the duty will be
answered. It will neither supply the wants of the ministry
as to the receipt of the money, nor the wants of the soul as
to the giving of it. The several parts of the scheme are so
perfectly adjusted, that the performance of the duty fully,
precisely answers both these ends. Let it be frustrated at
one end, and you derange it at the other.
But the miserly man who doles out a few lazy, reluctant
dollars, sighing as they go, may reply that he, too, feels the
pressure of giving. Yerily he does. And the only difference
bet-ween this and the pressure above described, is this: The
one is the pressure of Christian self-denial, and the other of
niggardliness and sordid parsimony. This latter falls short
of the condition. The covetous man cannot get his hide¬
bound avarice baptized into the Church. There is a wide
difference between the cross-bearing and self-denial of Chris¬
tianity and the grudgings of covetousness, though they both,
in some sense, tax the human feelings.
The poor widow in giving the two mites, "gave more than
they all," as respects the reflex influence of duty performed
upon herself. She invested more sacrifice and self-denial,
though not so much money. And consequently her reward—
the reward which duty performed always gives—was the
greatest. God deals with every man precisely upon the prin¬
ciples of that transaction.
Christianity is a system of self-denial. Nor will it suffice
that this be recognized in a few convenient particulars. It
must enter into every duty. It is not only necessary that self-
denial be made an ingredient in every act of duty, as between
the Christian and his God, that his act may be recognized as
an act of obedience, but there are other important reasons for
this in the divine economy. God not only designs the salva¬
tion of that person, but of all the world; and the means he
is using to this great end is, in part, the acts of that man s life.
52
THE DIVINE ASSESSMENT
Every act of obedience we perform, not only facilitates our own
salvation, but in a degree the salvation of all others.
The world is disposed to forget that Christianity has a cross
in it; and what is better calculated to fix and stereotype this
unchristian principle in the minds of the multitude, than to
see the professor shun the cross and steer clear of self-denial ?
And in what particular will the cross of Christianity be likely
to enstamp its principles upon the mind of the sinner, by the
discharge of duty on the part of the Christian, so forcibly and
indelibly, as to see him pay money to the quick, for the ad¬
vancement of Christianity ? Men of the world esteem money
highly, and they suppose Christians to place a like estimate
upon it.
So plain and so natural is this principle, that it is just pre¬
cisely impossible for any man to impress those who know him,
with the belief that he is a true Christian, until he exhibits
his self-denial in the payment of money for the Church and
to advance Christianity, in a manner proportionate to what
they believe to be his means. A true test of self-denial is a
true test of Christianity. The absence of self-denial in the
entire round of Christian duty, is most assuredly the absence
of Christianity.
Can any man do more to injure the reputation of Chris¬
tianity in the world, than, while he professes its truths, to
refuse to advance its interests at the mere cost of a few dollars,
to furnish a liberal support to its ministry? Can any man
more effectually bar his own religious enjoyment or advance¬
ment, than by refusing to deny himself in the mere matter of
dollars? Can money be appropriated so advantageously, as
for the advancement of Christian truth and principles ?
Infidelity, and infidelity alone, teaches the doctrine that the
more money paid to the Church, the greater the loss : the
more we withhold, the greater the advantage. But every
voice, and every whisper, and every principle of Christianity
teaches directly the opposite. Some there are, who knowingly,
and many more unwittingly, heed and follow the false teaching,
and suffer consequent leanness and misfortune.
But the teachings of the Bible are right, viewed in any
aspect, or directed to any end.
for the support of the ministry.
53
CHAPTEB VIII.
ministers' liability to support the ministry.
There is another consideration respecting this general
question of^ ministerial support, which must not be lost sight
of, for justice and fair dealing require its presentation. The
doctrine has been, thus far, in this essay, supported, that the
just and fair expenses of the ministry are to be borne by
those to whom the gospel is ministered, according to several
ability. Thi3 ability arises from the income of each person,
or head of family, or what his income might he, or ought to
be, with frugality and industry. This income is the direct
result of labor, or the profits or increase of property. Con¬
ditioned as the people for the most part are in this country,
property forms the basis and measure of this "ability."
At least, it is the liability of property in the hands of its
respective owners, creating the obligation to support the min¬
istry, which will occupy our attention in the present chapter.
And we find that a part of this property is in the hands of
ministers themselves.
In the course of things, in one way or another, it occasion¬
ally turns out that ministers, like other men, become possess¬
ed of property in considerable amounts. Sometimes they are
rich; sometimes they are well off; sometimes they are in
comfortable or independent circumstances.
Now, nothing is more certain, more fair or legal, according
to the Bible, and according to common sense, that the posses¬
sion of property on the part of the minister, be it much or
little, does not, in the least, release the Church or the people
from their obligation to pay him his support. To relax this
rule, would throw the whole scheme into disorder—would
depart from the Bible rule, degrade the ministry, deprive the
people of the reflex benefit arising from a compliance with
the money laws of the Bible; and the assent to such a course,
on the part of any minister, would, in addition to the above-
mentioned evils, do great injustice to other ministers.
It is very apparent, on a moment's reflection, that if a min*
ister were to consent to a relaxation of this rule in his own
51
the divine assessment
case, in whole or in part, because he could get along without
support from the Church, it would tend to injure both the
Church and the ministry. It would tend to infuse into the
Church and among the people a spirit of non-payment of
regular scriptural, ecclesiastical dues. It would tend to in¬
jure other and succeeding ministers, by making their support
more difficult, and by creating a caste between dependent and
independent ministers; and would tend greatly to the injury
of the Church and people, by removing from them — either
partially or wholly—one of the divinely instituted means of
grace and instruments of salvation.
But at the same time that the minister is justly entitled to
his support, in every just view which may be taken of the
question, either in regard to his own rights and interests, the
ultimate good of the people, or the stability and healthfulness
of the Christian scheme, still, this does not answer any ques¬
tions respecting the minister's own property—whether it is or
is not justly taxable, like other property, for the support of
the ministry.
Now, if the writer is not mistaken, it sometimes happens,
and perhaps not very unfrequently, that property in the
hands of ministers, especially those in regular pastorate em¬
ployment, is considered, in some way—practically at least—
exempt from the common ecclesiastical responsibilities.
This, I hesitate not to say, is as gross a violation of the
gospel rule, as the same withholding on the part of any other
property-owner, would be. And not only is it as much a vio¬
lation of the Scriptures as any other case of withholding, but
there are peculiar reasons why it does, generally, more harm
to the Church and ministry than another similar case.
Let this chapter be dispatched with a few explanatory ob¬
servations in support of both these propositions.
First. The minister in question occupies a twofold position
or relation to the Church and to society. In the first place,
he is a minister; and, as such, he is subject to all the re¬
sponsibilities and liabilities, and entitled to all the benefits
and considerations, of a minister of the gospel. In the second
place, he is a property-owner; and, as such, there is no rea¬
son upon earth, that can for a moment be suggested, why he
is not, in like manner, in the same position, as to liability,
responsibility, or advantage, as that occupied by any other
FOR THE SUPPORT OF THE MINISTRY. 55
property-owner. His property is in the same relation to so¬
ciety, and in the same relation to his family, as the property
of any other man. It was never dreamed of for a moment,
by any one, that the property of a minister of the gospel
should not be subject to civil taxation. His property is not
ministerial property. It is he himself only, personally, that
is the minister. Neither does the Church know of his pro¬
perty in any other light than as the property of a member of
the Church. Alas ! in some instances, the Church does not,
in a very important sense, know of his property at all. It is
common property—has no more sacredness attached to it than
attaches to the property of his neighbor, and is therefore sub¬
ject to all the money laws of the Bible. This position is so
clear, that it can require no more than a suggestion.
Secondly. The withholding of property from its scriptu¬
ral subjection to support the gospel, where such withholding
is done by a minister, has peculiar disadvantages, over and
above the ordinary disadvantages connected with it.
Suppose a lay member of the Church were to withhold the
Church's rights in the same way? Every one sees in a mo¬
ment that he is a clog on the wheels. It were better for the
Church if he lived in New Zealand. And suppose the same
course to be pursued by a steward, or other officer, whose duty
it is to gather the Church-dues: he would ask for these
dues with a bad grace, when he himself is, that moment, and
every other moment, in the act of practically repudiating the
principle he is trying to enforce.
And, to rise a single step higher with the same principle,
suppose the minister himself to be guilty of the same delin¬
quency. It looks like an awkward business, indeed, to see a
steward or collector collecting Church-money from the Church
and the public, for the maintenance of a minister who him¬
self lives, every day, in the open and practical repudiation of
the very principles upon which such collections are made.
Surely this is hitching the leader to the hind end of the
wagon to pull the other way.
The minister who does not himself live up to the doctrines
he preaches, to the full extent of his recommendations, la¬
bors, to say the least of it, to considerable disadvantage. The
minister, therefore, who does nuj; himself, practically and con¬
scientiously, live up to the money laws of the gospel, in re-
56
the divine assessment
spect to the support of the ministry, as well as every other
just and proper requisition, cannot, to say the very least of
it, complain very loudly, with a very good grace, if some of
his congregation, or the whole of them, should pay him in his
own coin, or turn upon him his own principles.
This, however, would be just as wrong in them, as though
there were no delinquency in the first instance. A second
wrong doubles the evil, without in the least degree operating
as a remedy. Each man is bound to do his duty in whole,
irrespective of the faithfulness or delinquency of others.
CHAPTER IX.
pecuniary errors and misfortunes.
If the foregoing arguments he sound—if they accord with
the Bible and the truth—then there are some considerations,
respecting the fortunes and misfortunes arising from the pos¬
session of money, "which are not generally considered. Nei¬
ther time, space, nor inclination, at present, favors a gene¬
ral discussion of the uses and abuses of money; but in
so far as the question stands connected with the support of
the ministry, a few observations which are found lying upon
the surface of the subject, may not be out of place.
In the first place, there is scarcely one man in a thousand
who ever takes the time and trouble to pause and seriously
consider and calculate how money and property can be turned
to the best account—how it can be used, or directed, or man¬
aged, so as to bring out the largest amount of real, true ad¬
vantage to its possessor and his family.
If this he true, it is a most strange and wonderful feature
in the human constitution. And yet it is a fact so palpable,
that it stares every man in the face. "We never think about
money, and yet money occupies our whole thoughts. No, it
does not occupy our thoughts ; it occupies the morbid cravings
of the mind in its continual cries of " Give, give, give I" But
why ? for what purpose ? for what advantage ? to what good
FOR THE SUPPORT OE THE MINISTRY. 57
end ? these are questions which are never suffered to in¬
trude. More money, to buy more property, to make more
money, to buy more property, to make more money—is
the incessant, illogical, inconsiderate din, day in and day
out, from the opening until very near the close of life. And
then, just as the light of eternity and the gleams of reality and
sober truth begin to loom up in the distance, a forced and in¬
voluntary " 0 Lord, have mercy on me !—what a fool I have
been !" It's all over, and the man is dead !
That is a fair history of the lives of nine-tenths of the men
around us.
And that is either the most outrageous slander that was
ever perpetrated upon the human kind, or one of the most
extraordinary truths ever written. Which is it? I ask any
sober man, which is it ?
The proper me of money is a question that ought to be
soberly and philosophically inquired into. Why not? Can
any man tell why this question should never be inquired
into ? Is it not a question in the philosophy of morals, in
which we are all deeply interested ? Why has the question
never been discussed ? Is there any bar to its investigation
in the Scriptures ? Is there any thing in ethics which for¬
bids it ? And yet scarcely an essay on the subject was ever
written in human language !
I know we have occasionally read to us a homily on the
" worthlessness" of money—what sort of " trash" it is, and
how very sinful it is to have or to want it; but these lectures
have been very poorly patronized, perhaps for the reason, in
the first place, that they were not true. Money is not trash,
neither is it worthless; nor yet is it sinful to have or to make
it, in abundance. It forms a most important link in our social
economy. And a thousand times more than all this, it forms
a most important and valuable segment in the scheme of hu¬
man salvation. It is a part, and a most valuable and neces¬
sary part of God's providence. It is good, and not evil; it is
right, and not wrong. Money is a means of grace. It gives
influence, it creates power, and promotes good fortune. Look
at the good it is capable of doing. Lessen its value, and you
lessen the means of evangelizing the world. By what means
are our families supported, children educated, churches built,
ministers supported, missionaries sustained, Bibles printed,
58
THE DIVINE ASSESSMENT
newspapers and books published, commerce carried forward,
agriculture promoted, government expenses paid, and a thou¬
sand valuable enterprises kept in activity ? Turn money into
" trash," and make it the enemy of man, and you in the same
act turn society into anarchy, dissolve the Church, extinguish
Christianity, and throw the wise and merciful providence of
God into disruption and disgrace.
Money is the friend of man, the friend of religion, the
friend of the orphan, the friend of the poor, the friend of
Christianity, the friend of God. Few things, if any, in the
world, have been more misused, more abused, or more slan¬
dered. It is, however, like many other good things in the
world—it requires to be used according to truth and sound
philosophy.
Food is a friend, and not an enemy of man. And yet it
may be so used, by taking it in too small or too large quanti¬
ties, or at improper times, that it becomes an instrument of
disease or death.
Clothing, by using it too profusely, or too sparingly, may be
made to gender disease and misfortune, and even carry a per¬
son to the grave. Medicine, judiciously or injudiciously used
—that is, used according to truth, or according to error, may
be made to kill or to cure.
What is there that our eyes may see, or our hands handle,
that may not be so abused or misused as to bring forth suffer¬
ing, misfortune, or even ruin ? God in his providence places
many things in our hands, and in three different ways teaches
us how to use them so as to make them minister to our com¬
fort and advantage. In the first place, he teaches us in the
Bible how to use these things; in the second place, he teaches
us by exhibiting their relations to himself, to each other, and
to ourselves, in the system of nature around us ; and, thirdly,
he teaches us by experience—that is, by showing us repeat¬
edly, and under various circumstances, their fruits or results.
Now, place a man, blindfold, in this magazine of varieties,
and how will he get along ? And a man may as well be blind¬
fold naturally as wilfully. A man who cannot see, and a man
who will not see, will make about the same kind of headway
in the management of steam-engines, fire, powder, edge tools,
printing offices, libraries, lace shops, etc.
And this is about the kind of headway that might be ex-
FOR THE SUPPORT OP THE MINISTRY. 59
>ected, in any department of life, where blindness takes the
lead, and folly holds the helm. And hence it is the kind of
headway really made, in the control and management of
money, by most men around us, every day, in and out of the
Church. They make headway to their own ruin, and their
children after them ! They do not wisely consider the proper
use to he made of the thing. Their philosophy is the insa¬
tiate cry of—"More, more, more!" For what purpose?
" More, more, more !" How is the additional supply to be
made to minister to your good, or to the good of any one ?
And their dictionary, and their logic, and their Bible fur¬
nishes no other reply than, " More, more, more!"
But really and truly, it must be said, this is not very good
logic. And yet it is the current, popular logic of the day.
Give, give, give—more, more, more—are the six words that
make up the vocabulary, and, in the connection in which they
are stated, they make up the creed, the logic, and the
philosophy of most of the money owners of the age in which
we live!
The plain, simple truth is—and we might as well know it
as not—the truth is, money in possession—not money intrin¬
sically—but the possession and ownership of it, is of such a
nature, in connection with the moral and mental constitution
of man, that its strong tendency is to exert a false, deceiving,
corrupting, blindfolding, and vitiating influence over the heads
and hearts of men. And there are few men who, by the com¬
bined influence of mind, morals, and grace, are able, even in
some tolerable degree, to make head against this powerful
tendency. The proportion of persons thus wise and pious,
among what might, in a moderate degree, be considered men
of property, varying from moderately good-livers upward,
within the experience and observation of the writer, is one
in ten thousand of the whole mass ! I may be in error, but
this is my deliberate judgment. If any man can judge better,
let him do it. But my impression is, that in doing so, he
will base his opinions on the popular pulsation, to some ex¬
tent, rather than the written word of God. _
Bich men, however, are of considerable benefit in the world.
They uphold and carry forward the various enterprises of the
day wonderfully. But to the Church they are of precious
little use. Nay, to hell the plain truth, they a great disadvan-
60
THE DIYINE ASSESSMENT
tage. I speak of rick men generally, in and out of the
Church. There is no marked difference between them—none
worth naming. Oftentimes the Church fails by an accumula¬
tion of property in the hands of a " wicked" man, rather than
a " pious" man. The reverse, however, in a very small de¬
gree, is generally the case.
Rich men, almost universally, are a great disadvantage to
the Church, from this very simple consideration : There is a
man worth fifty thousand dollars : there is another worth a
hundred thousand; and a third worth two or three hundred
thousand. It would be disgraceful to civilization, as well as
to Christianity, to name these persons, and set down, respect¬
ively, to the name of each, the sum he annually pays to the
Church—and so we need not do it; nor would it strengthen
the argument. This is the shape in which the question must be
put: If this one hundred thousand dollars had not been ga¬
thered together into the hands of one man, it would be dis¬
tributed among, say ten, or twenty persons. Now, the ques¬
tion is, what is the proportion between the annual payment of
this hundred thousand dollar-man, and the aggregate of what
the same property would yield to the Church in the hands of
ten or twenty men ? Generally it is less than one half. Ge¬
nerally it is less than one quarter.
It is well known to be the medium men—the men who are
neither rich nor poor—who support the gospel.
Now, therefore, if men are thus unfaithful to the just re¬
quisitions of God in the unrighteous mammon, who will
commit to their trust the true riches? Ye cannot serve God
and mammon.
The reply to this is, " I know most men cannot, but I am
very sure I can."
" Honor the Lord with thy substance, and with the first-
fruits of all thine increase."
In the providence of God, one man is permitted to gather
together in his own hands the property which would be other¬
wise distributed among five or twenty, or a hundred, for wise
and benevolent purposes. But these purposes never aim at
the personal gratification of that man : they always—they
must certainly—aim at the salvation of the world. The whole
providence of God is directed, ultimately, to this great end.
FOR THE SUPPORT OF THE MINISTRY. 61
AH intermediate things and steps, of whatever hind, are
merely subsidiary to this final purpose.
Then what right has any man—merely because he can—
to gather together property, and divert it from the merciful
channels, looking to the extension of the Church and the
support of her ministry, in which God has placed it ?
"Ye are cursed with a curse, for ye have robbed me."
Malachi iii. 9.
And yet we have men among us, and in the Church, too,
who continue to hoard—continue to grow rich, richer, richer,
and live and die worth one, two, three hundred thousand
dollars, and who currently pay less money for the support of
the gospel, than for the support of their State Government!
I know we are all bound to pay a certain court, according
to taste, civility, and complaisance, to rich men ; hut I am now
writing about the trkth, in the fear of God, as I find it written
in the Book. And I say I cannot understand these things.
Other men may be able to reconcile them, but I confess my
inability. I can smooth over the matter very easily when
I merely feel the public pulse, and inquire of public taste,
but I cannot reconcile them with the Word of God.
Let any man look into the Scriptures, and read the plain
directions and imperative mandates of the Lord God Almighty
respecting the ownership and use of property, and let him
mark the promises and the threatenings attached thereto;
and then let him look at the Church. Let him look soberly
and fairly at the condition of the Church in his own town or
neighborhood—at the condition of its ministry—its publish¬
ing and missionary interests : let him observe the ministry of
the Church to the colored population of the South, the poor
of the North, and the Bed Man of the West: let him look at
the Koman Catholic population of this country and of Europe :
let him look at the condition of the Jews, of China, and the
whole East: let him, then, as well as he can, forget for the
moment, the popular opinions, views, and customs of society,
respecting the hoarding of property, and the social position of
the wealthy; and then let him again look into the Bible, and
ponder well the words of the Judge of quick and dead. And
after he has done all this, soberly and fairly, let him look at
the spectacle of a man, intelligent, well-read, and a professor
G2
the divine assessment
of the very Christianity of the Bible, living and dying worth
several hundred thousand dollars !
I have but one single thing to say, and that I desire to say
right here. Whatever may be the views or opinions of others,
I know not: I alone am responsible for what I think and say:
I cannot—cannot—I have tried—pondered—thought over the
subject In every point of light practicable—I cannot reconcile
these things. I ivouldn't die rich for any earthly considera¬
tion !
CHAPTER X.
pro rata distribution.
In the foregoing chapters we have treated chiefly of the
pecuniary relations subsisting between the Church, or congre¬
gation, or people, as a community, on the one part, and the
minister on the other. We come now to make some observa¬
tions respecting the relation between the several members of
the Church or community to each other. If it be the duty
of the whole to support their minister, and the ministry of
Christ generally, what is the duty of each one ? This brings
our remarks to a very practical bearing, for men act individu¬
ally—not collectively.
There are some general, and some particular duties that
might be, spoken of.
The more general duties are these : It is the duty of each
individual person to labor to bring about a coalition, which
will work in concert and harmony in the premises. This
coalition must be organic in the best practicable form, so
that by means of suitable leaders or officers, the object in
hand may be the more easily and certainly accomplished.
No man has a right to hold himself aloof from this movement,
with the mere promise or understanding that he will co¬
operate when the organization shall be set on foot; because, if
FOR THE SUPPORT OF THE MINISTRY. €3
one may be relieved from this duty, then all may. It is the
duty of eacb to see that the thing is done; and unless it is
properly done, no man is blameless.
The community must act together, in harmony and con¬
cert, and in such a spirit of fairness and equity among them-'
selves, that no one will be led to suppose that he is bear¬
ing any greater burden than that which fairly and properly
belongs to himself.
A plan for the proper distribution and collection of these
revenues, such as might properly be adopted by any Church,
Conference, Synod, or district of separate jurisdiction, should
be simple, plain, easy of comprehension, and easy in its prac¬
tical working. But, above all, it should be plainly and palpa¬
bly equitable in its operations.
In this country the means of supporting the gospel may be
said to be almost superabundant. The only thing lacking is,
that we make the business of paying, and of pro rata distribu¬
tion among ourselves, part of our religion. This pro rata
distribution among ourselves—this paying " according to seve¬
ral ability," in contradistinction to joint ability—is part of the
religion of the Bible, and may therefore be dispensed with on
the same terms, with the same probable or certain losses, as
any other religious duty—that of prayer, attending church,
or reading the Bible.
This doctrine of several ability is a mere following out uf
the plain indications of Providence, while it is also the doc¬
trine of common sense and simple equity. Where much is
given, much is required. To one he gave one talent; to
another three; to another five.
The difficulty in supporting the ministry arises, for the
most part, from an unwillingness of some to make a fail pro
rata distribution. In every Church we find some whu are
more liberal, religious, and honest than others; and who not
only pay their own proportion, but a part of that of otuers.
And then we find those who hang back, grieved at the bur¬
dens of duty, grieved at the high taxes and poor pay of u-od s
salvation scheme.
These persons disturb the harmony of the money laws of
the gospel, which works disturbance in the whole economy of
God's grace, and thus a crippling influence is felt throughout
64
THE DIVINE ASSESSMENT
the entire system of religion. Now, what we need in the way
of a plan of financial operations, is something that will at the
same time excite his sense of religious obligation, spur him to
equity and fair dealing, and stimulate his sense of character,
and nobility of bearing, and demeanor among men.
In this country—I mean in the South—visible, outright
parsimony is quite below par. Illiberality is, by the public
sense, regarded almost as mean and degrading as pilfering.
The public ^standard of generosity and honor is high, and
none but the noble man is regarded as a nobleman. No man
can live here without feeling this influence; and if he does
not live up to it, the stings of self-reproach and lashings of
self admonition, especially if his delinquency be known and
recognized, are far from receiving any thing like a just com¬
pensation from the rewards of avarice or the plaudits of mam¬
mon. To be niggardly and mean in this country is to be very
mean indeed. And to this few men are willing to submit.
Men who profess to be governed by the laws of the gospel
—the laws which relate either to the tithe or the offering—
are not willing to be publicly rated below par. Hence we
need a standard of par value—something which will operate
as a test of fairness, and a test of delinquency. In the ab¬
sence of any test of this kind—in the absence of any publicly
exposed gauge, by which liberality and fairness may be mea¬
sured at a glance—the really delinquent may huddle along in
the crowd without having public note made of his failings;
and being thus unapprehended, unarraigned, and unobserved,
he is unpunished. For the notice of the public eye—the re¬
cognition of his delinquency is the punishment and the cor¬
rective.
Now the question is, How can we fix a common standard of
easy recognition, which will establish the pa?- of action on the
subject in hand, below which men are seen to fall, and up to
or above which men are seen to rise; so that a man cannot,
fail to know, and know that every one else knows, the measure
of his faithfulness or his unfaithfulness ? We want a visible
test of delinquency.
We need this test of delinquency, for two reasons. First,
that the man himself may be informed distinctly of his duty,
and of the measure of it. Men will seldom fail to perform
FOR TIDE SUPPORT OF TIIE MINISTRY. 65
plain, distinct, and palpable duties, wben tbey blur over half-
performed duties which are not so plain and distinct. Second¬
ly, we need a plain test of delinquency, to be seen by others,
in order that they, by the watchful eye which they always
have over us, may silently spur us on to duty. This seems to
be a part of God's providence. Most of us—all of us—would
be more delinquent than we are, but for the watchful, tacit
supervisorship which our friends and our enemies always
exercise over us.
Now, how, where, at what point do we fix the Church-
rate liability, in a pro rata distribution of the whole amount
of money to be raised, among the several persons composing
the Church or congregation ?
Let us answer this question.
And, first, it must be conceded on all hands, that a per¬
fectly correct distribution, either according to several ability,
or in any other way, cannot be made, and need not be
looked for. All that can be looked for, is a rule that will
be certainly correct, as a general thing—that will approxi¬
mate even justice and equity near enough to meet the reason¬
able wishes of reasonable and fair men—so that every one
shall know that with certainty it is not far from exact equity.
And, again, we must be reminded of the condition of that
portion of the community who are not members of the Church.
It is very true, that they are liable, under the laws of God,
to the full extent of the liability of any other persons. They
will not, however, acknowledge their liability, or discharge
their religious obligations—neither that which requires the
paying of money for the support of the ministry, nor that
which requires the discharge of other religious duties. So
long, therefore, as they will remain in this condition, we must
get along with them as best we can. If we cannot pievail
upon them to discharge all their duty, we must get them, if
we can, to discharge a part'of it, and still hope that they may
do better. Such partial discharge of their duty, however, as
we can induce them to perform, lessens the joint obligations
of the Church members, so far as the general question before
us refers to the expenses of the particular pastorate to which
they belong. _
The question, therefore, of equitable pro rata distribution,
14
66
THE DIVINE ASSESSMENT
now before us, properly belongs only to tbe Cburcb members,
or to them and such others as are willing to acknowledge their
subserviency to the laws of G-od, after deducting from the
whole sum to be raised such amount as may be depended on
from other sources.
With these explanations, we come now to answer the
question, What is the best, fairest, easiest, and most
practicable test of delinquency, or rule of pro rata dis¬
tribution ?
Several ability is the basis divinely placed under this
question, from which we must not depart. This ability arises
in two ways. In the first place, and chiefly, it is rated ac¬
cording to the amount of property possessed by each. And,
secondly, according to other means we may have of making
money, the direct compensation for services, etc.
So far as property furnishes the ability, we have already
before us a table of pro rata distribution, to the general equity
and correctness of which we all assent, and by which we are
all voluntarily bound. I mean the civil tax-list. This dis¬
tributes the expenses of the State and County among the
several members, according to several ability, according to the
best judgment and discretion of the most discreet men we
can select.
The Legislature does not always tax all property at pre¬
cisely the same rate. Some property is not even taxed at all.
It takes into consideration the state of the country, the con¬
dition of property at the time and under the circumstances,
the profitableness of the several engagements of the several
classes of men, and then establishes a tariff, or tax-table,
which, applied to each individual case, will show his liability.
This is changed from time to time, as changes in the times
and condition of things require, so as to keep to the principle
of several ability, as near as human judgment and sound dis¬
cretion will allow. It answers the reasonable expectations of
all fair men. It is the judgment of the whole mass of men
expressed through its delegates, and is confessedly a fair,
equitable distribution.
Now, the civil government is precisely in the condition of
the ecclesiastical government, so far as this matter is concern¬
ed, with this only difference: the civil law has immediate
FOR THE SUPPORT OF THE MINISTRY. G7
compulsory process, and tlie divine penalties are reserved for
a season, to afford time and space for repentance.
There is, then, no reason — no pretence — no shadow of a
reason why the same rule should not apply, in the same way,
in both cases. The man who would complain in the one case,
and not in the other, is guilty of palpable inconsistency and
transparent unfairness. In the one case he submits, beoause
the laws will not allow him to evade or postpone the payment
of his just dues. In the other case, he does not submit, be¬
cause the sword of G-od's justice is not at once immediately
and visibly raised over him.
But Christians profess to be willing to do right, without the
intervention of a sheriff. » Then, if their professions be sin¬
cere, the support of the ministry is secure.
The exception to this general rule, and the only exception
worth noticing, is in cases of professional men and laborers,
whose income is the direct result of their services, rather than
the profits arising from property. In every Church or com¬
munity there will likely be some few cases of this sort.
And here the same moral principle is to be maintained and
carried out. The process is exceedingly simple and easily
carried out. For instance, the tax of A. is forty dollars,
and his gross income is two thousand dollars. B. is a profes¬
sional man, or mecbanic, and his income is also two thousand
dollars. Very well, then his Church-rate is as though his tax
was forty dollars, though he may have very litt^g or no taxa¬
ble property.
Adjustments with regard to these plain exceptions to the
general rule are easily made, where there is a uniform, dispo¬
sition to do so.
Church-rates are laid not upon our persons, or our names,
but upon our several ability ; not upon our joint ability, but,
in order to reach every person individually, it is placed upon
our several ability. And our ability arises from our property
or our labor.
A man worth ten thousand dollars, and who pays a hundred
dollars, is exactly in the category of the man who is worth a
hundred thousand dollars, and pays a thousand dollars a year,
so far as the property is to be considered.
The principles of pro rata distribution aie easily learned,
68
THE DIVINE ASSESSMENT.
easily understood, easily comprehended. And the only diffi¬
culties which lie in the way of their complete application and
illustration in the support of the ministry and the enlarge¬
ment and upbuilding of the Church, the glory of God, and
the salvation of the world, are those set forth very briefly in
the eighth verse of the third chapter of Malachi, and in
the eighth commandment.
Nashville, Tenn. Published by E. Stevenson & F. A. Owen, for the M. E. Church, South.
THE TJSE OE TOBACCO.
[This Essay was first published in the New Orleans Christian Ad¬
vocate. It has been revised and enlarged by the author; and the
Board of Managers of the Tract Society of the Mississippi Conference
have forwarded a request that it be published as a tract for general
circulation. Other brethren—some of them devoted to the weed—
favor the suggestion, which, considering his own views in the premises,
cannot very well be opposed by the Editor.]
The following essay is prepared as a religions duty. It is
intended for the reading of religious men, or of those religiously
inclined : they will be likely to appreciate it. It is written in
kindness and Christian love, and not in a spirit of fault-finding.
It is an humble attempt to vindicate God, and sustain the
truth. It is a sober, thoughtful man addressing sober, thought¬
ful men. And the writer expects—he thinks he has a right
to expect—the candor and sobriety in return which he offers
to others. An attempt at a laugh or a joke will not be will¬
ingly received in reply.
The writer is a professor of religion, and writes in no other
than a religious spirit. In common with his fellow-Chris¬
tians, he has solemnly dedicated himself and all he has—
life, person, health, talents, money, character, energies, feel¬
ings, habits, wishes—all, all, to the propagation of Chris¬
tianity.
The evangelization of the world is the appropriate work
and calling of the Christian. Any thing which in much or
in little tends to advance this object, a Christian man may
do. But any thing which in much or little tends to retard
that object, he may not do. This is the simple covenant,
2
THE USE OE TOBACCO.
recorded above. I do not understand bow any man can be
religious, truly and properly so, without laboring in this cause,
" so much as in him is."
The writer asks his fellow-Christians to read the whole of
his little essay, and he hopes it will be read in the spirit and
temper in which it is written. Readers will then, of course,
make such disposition of it as they choose—in the fear of
God.
The Writer believes the subject to be one of the most im¬
portant within the range of religious discussion, at the present
day, in this country.
1. Difficulty of approaching the subject.—Those who
indulge in the practice under consideration endeavor, whether
wittingly or unwittingly, to forestall discussion, to treat it
with an air of contempt, and raise themselves above the
question of its right or wrong. In this they have succeeded
in a most remarkable degree. They put pious opinions at
defiance by a forced openness and notoriety which they give to
the practice. They place themselves among and alongside
of men of acknowledged standing in the Church; as though
the standard of men could successfully countervail the prin¬
ciples of Christianity.
This false position—this grossest of all sophistries, is per¬
haps the chief reason why the practice has so long gone un-
rebuked. In truth, it is greatly difficult, because of those
things, to approach the subject in that fair and unbiased
manner which truth and justice require.
And as the sun of Christianity rises, and its light exposes to
view more and more of its principles, and brings into action
more of the moral and mental energies of man, and as its
warmth sinks deeper and deeper into the intelligence and soul
of men, the responsibility increases in the premises, with all
men. As " talents" increase, additional " improvement" is
required. A Christian gentleman will not be judged by the
same law which applies to a Christian Indian.
2. Let the ministry be kept pure.—We all know that
the Bible and the Bible alone is the rule of conduct for all
Christian people. No man is to follow a minister because he
is a minister. Yet such is the power of association and the
force of habit, that most men, perhaps all men, are con¬
siderably influenced in their condnct by what they see others do.
the use op tobacco.
3
And especially in regard to the ministers of the gospel-:
much of the conduct of the world is what it is because the
minister does so. It has long since gone into a proverb that
" actions speak louder than words.'" No minister can preach
as loud as he acts.
Hence every minister is bound to see that his example is
such as other people, young and old, ought to follow, and
suck as they will be benefited by following.
It is the same thing for a minister to go into the pulpit
and preach a sermon occasionally in favor of any custom,
practice or habit, and to exhibit that habit in his conduct out
of the pulpit.
A pure minister is the life-"blood of the Church. Impurity
or indiscretion of any kind in the ministry does vastly more
harm to the Church and to society than most persons are
aware of. It is not a very uncommon thing for a minister to
preach well, and then unpreach nearly or quite all he
preaches.
If the social and individual acts of the ministers of this
country, performed out of the pulpit, Were performed with
" fear and trembling before God," they would Weigh double,
triple, quadruple what they do now weigh in real, practical
influence.
8. Small matters.—There is great danger in estimating
the size of moral things. Moral things can only be estimated
by the results they produce. Nothing is in a moral sense,
in itself, great or small. Many things which appeared to
man the most trivial were really the corner-stones, the
starting-points of great events in the world's character and"
history. »
A mother taught her little boy that a degree of reverence
was due to the minister. She explained to him how it is,
and why it is, that the word " Reverend" is usually pre¬
fixed to the name of a minister. Every thing the minister
did was of course exactly right in the eyes of the boy. The
boy became a smoker and chewer as he entered his teens:
his excuse referred to his Reverend exemplar j and the
mother's mouth was stopped by her own teaching, which she
intended as pious teaching. And she deeply, deeply regretted
that the minister had ever been an intimate visitant in her
house. And when the boy became a man, and found a habit
4
the use oe tobacco.
fastened upon him which he despised, and heing of feeble
nerve, and, as he thought, incapable of resistance, he cursed
that minister in his heart with every removal of the quid,
and with every dollar expended to make himself, as he con¬
sidered it, a fool and a third-rate gentleman.
On this particular point a book comes looming up before
me, and demands to be written. But I must be content here
with a mere index-finger pointing to the book, and suggesting
an examination of it. We must not forget that
Tall oaks from little acorns grow.
4. " Do all to the glory of God"—First Corinthians
x. 31—is still in the Scriptures, however practically it may
be expunged by however many people. Whatsoever ye do—■
eating, drinking—whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of
God. This doctrine is as broad as the language in which it
is set forth. It is broad, plenary, patent.
It is a sin to " do" any thing that is not conscientiously
intended to glorify God. This doctrine is the more especially
applicable to such things as are done knowingly, wilfully,
and by premeditation.
How can a Christian habitually do that which he knows
and is compelled to acknowledge is not for the glory of God ?
I am not speaking about the sentiments or notions of in¬
dividual men: I am speaking about the plain, positive de¬
clarations of God, and of necessary deductions therefrom.
Do all to the glory of God is an injunction as plain, direct,
positive, and universally binding as any other command of
God given to man. There is no difference in the size of com¬
mandments.
How far, in rare cases, a Wrong prepossession, a blinded
imagination, a thoughtless infatuation, the power of custom
and the fetters of association, may in part operate as an ex¬
cuse or a palliation, is not for me to determine. No man is
responsible to me. But I read the Bible as I find it.
If tobacco can be chewed and smoked and dipped and
snuffed to the glory of God, why, be it so: if not, it is sinful.
That is a short argument, but its truth no man will attempt
to gainsay.
5. Decency'of behavior.—A minister is presumed to
be a gentleman. Nay, more, he must be a gentleman. He
THE USE OE TOBACCO.
5
must be not only what might by possibility pass loosely by
that designation, but he must be found always in the fore
rank of gentlemen. A gentleman is distinguished from other
men by his behavior.
It has already been most justly and beautifully said, that,
"As it is the part of justice never to use violence, so it is
the part of modesty never to commit offence."
Tully says, " Virtue and decency are so nearly related that
it is difficult to separate them from each other, but in our
imagination."
Addison says: "As the beauty of the body, with an
agreeable carriage, pleases the eye, and pleasure consists
in that we observe all the parts, with i certain elegance, are
proportioned to each other, so does decency of behavior,
which appears in our lives, obtain the approbation of all with
whom we converse, from the order, consistency, and mode¬
ration of our words and actions. This flows from the reve¬
rence we bear toward every good man, and to the world in
general. For to be negligent of what any one thinks of you,
does not only show you arrogant, but abandoned."
Several ministers met on the sidewalk. One of them, a
highly distinguished minister, said to another, " Step this
way—let us walk into this store." And as they walked, he
remarked, in a firm tone, "I will not, I'am determined I
will not, appear in company and associate with a minister on
the street with a cigar in his mouth."
" I commend you most heartily," was the reply; and a
conversation on cigar-smoking ministers ensued, which was
highly creditable to the ministers in question.
" Husband," said a pious lady, in time of Conference, at
whose house several ministers were staying, " do try, if you
possibly can without direct and open offence, do try to pre¬
vail upon that man, Brother , not to smoke and spit to¬
bacco juice so terribly in the parlor and about the fireplace.
Do try. I am tired : I am sick: I don't know what to do.
You know, husband, what pains I took to put the parlor in
neat order for their accommodation. I have had it cleaned
up every morning after the gentlemen have left, but I can t
keep it clean. That terrible smoke upon the curtains, and
that spitting about the fireplace! What shall I ^ do ?"
"Well, my dear, I hardly know what to do. I dislike to
14*
6
THE USE OE TOBACCO.
offend the man. He is regarded as a very prominent and
talented member of the Conference. Perhaps we bad as well
bear it. You can renovate and renew things afterward. But
I promise you this, most certainly: The next time Con¬
ference comes here, if I live, ' smokers and tobacco-chewers
excepted' is the law of my house."
A minister I wot of, considered by some a very genteel and
leading member of his Conference, was, during the sitting of
Conference, in the house of a person whom I know to be one
of the most perfect gentlemen I have ever met—a highly
respectable and pious member of the Methodist Church:
the minister was about to light his cigar, when the gentle¬
man took him by the arm : " Excuse me sir, you must really
excuse me, but we cannot allow smoking in the parlor."
The degree of mortification with which the cigar was other¬
wise disposed of did not come to my knowledge.
"Well, brother, you are highly favored this year, with one
of the best preachers."
"Yes, sir, we have certainly one of the very best in the
Conference. His sermons have never been surpassed in our
pulpit."
"And you are all highly pleased this year?"
"No, sir, not entirely. His tobacco and cigars, and cigars
and tobacco, are quite offensive to many, and abridge his use¬
fulness very materially."
" Our washerwoman," said a good sister to her husband,
" complains considerably that the linen of Brother is
very much bespattered with tobacco juice. What a pity that
so young a man, and otherwise so agreeable and genteel,
should be liable to such complaint. Do talk to him about
it in some mild and fatherly kind of way; not about the
linen, for the world, but about the tobacco. He is young,
and can and ought to quit it!"
One of the filthiest places I ever saw in my life was the
inside of a pulpit in a Methodist church, in a country town
supporting a male and female college, both of respectable
size and standing. I chanced to be present when some re¬
pairs were being made which caused the removal of the floor.
There were literally shovels-full of filth, mostly, or perhaps
I might say, entirely, old worn-out tobacco quids, deposited
there in the last ten years, by some persons, I know not whom.
THE USE OE TOBACCO.
Well, my dear," said a Methodist gentleman, to his wife,
just before Conference was to meet in their town, " we are to
take five preachers."
"And welcome—and welcome," was the reply. "And we
might, if necessary, take six or seven. But, see here, do
see Brother , and try and not have any chewers and
smokers."
" Really, it seems a hard case: somebody must take
them."
" But there are places where they chew and smoke them¬
selves, and they won't mind it. But try, husband, and not
have any sent here, if you can."
" Cigars have ris/" said a wag, in time of Conference.
"I'll put a dozen of them preachers against any twelve crack
smokers in the city."
Two Presbyterian ladies, of wealth and refinement, were
in a store, shopping. Two Methodist preachers were in the
store, one stationed in the city, and the other from a distance.
The preacher residing there came out of the store, exclaim¬
ing to me, as he met me on the sidewalk, "I'm sick ! I'm
sick ! I am disgusted ! I am disgusted ! Brother —■— is ac¬
quainted, it seems, with one of those ladies, and there he
stands talking to her and puffing smoke into their faces.
The ladies are trying to get rid of him, two of the clerks
have given him a hint, and there he stands, puffing for life.
Let us get away from here. I don't want to see the man
again."
" I thought," said a lady to her husband, " I thought you
told me that Brother was going to quit chewing. But
judging from the appearance of his chin and the corners of his
mouth, at the dinner-table, I should think you were mis¬
taken."
" Your preacher, I am told," said a minister to a steward,
" is a very able preacher, but not a first-rate pastor.
" First-rate preacher, but no great hand to visit. Nor,
to speak plainly, are his visits, as a general thing, very de¬
sirable."
" Why, what!—-why so ?"
" .Smoke, smoke, smoke ! Chew, chew, chew ! Spit, spit,
spit! wherever he goes. Very annoying, not to say disgust¬
ing, in some of our best families."
8
the use op tobacco.
The above-mentioned circumstances, with many others of
a like kind, that might be named, are all pacts that have
come under my personal knowledge within no long time past.
6. Effect op ministerial tobacconizing on the rising
generation.—That the education of the male youth of this
country is greatly and very deleteriously affected by the
smoking and chewing of ministers, is notorious. A minister
that does not carry a moral influence around him of a very
lively and moving character, and cause, in a good degree,
the habits and education of youth to conform to his habits
and practices, ought no longer to remain a minister. A
minister whose conduct does not carry a weighty influence
around and with it, is no minister at all. The sooner he
quits, the better.
I never knew a smoker or chewer, a man of any reflection,
who did not himself despise the practice, and regret, deeply
regret, his slavery to the habit; and as deeply regret the
association and example that had fastened it upon himself.
He throws back the blame on a mistaken father, a thought¬
less, careless brother, or a man whose sacred profession and
calling it was to " feed my lambs."
The boys who are growing up around us men, and who
imbibe the same habit from the same source, will of course,
I suppose, feel and speak and think in the same way.
A company of persons were sitting together, not long
since, and a Methodist preacher was puff—puff—puffing,
when a remark was made about the " fast" boys in the town.
" Yes," said the preacher, " I never saw the like. You may
frequently see the little rascals, ten, twelve, or fourteen years
old, with a cigar or a chew in their mouths, smoking and chew¬
ing. I never saw such a set of boys. What will they
come to ?"
Not long before the battle of Monterey, Gen. Taylor saw
oue of his captains who was not quite captain enough for him
in the times he anticipated, and he said to another officer,
" Take that captain out and drill him three hours a day for
six days."
Thinks I to myself, on the occasion referred to, I wish I were
an ecclesiastical Taylor. I would have that minister drilled
three hours a day for six days. If he had been a sober-
THE USE OE TOBACCO.
9
thinking, rational-minded man, I would have asked him a few
questions like the following :
Do jou esteeni it wrong for hoys to smoke cigars and chew
tohacco ? If it is wrong in boys to do such things, what is
the proper age for pious youths to commence ? Does smoking
and chewing by boys of the ages of ten to fifteen lead, or is
it likely to lead, to idleness, drinking whisky, swearing,
quarrelling, and such like conduct? Is the present state of
bad morals on the part of the boys in this town attributable,
in a good degree, to the habit of chewing and smoking? Is
the habit in question, on the part of these boys, a source of
great regret, mortification, and sorrow on the part of all pious
parents, and also of all other parents who think and act with
any sort of moral correctness toward their children ? When
these boys grow to manhood, and become fully awake to the
evil of a bad habit entailed upon them, will they he likely to
bless or curse the minister who, in all likelihood, did much
more to fasten the habit upon them than any other person ?
Considering the great power of example which the ministerial
calling gives a man, is there a person in this town—are there
any five persons in it—who have done so much to propagate
the habit of smoking and chewing upon the part of the boys
as yourself? ,
I would have liked to ask that young minister—for he is a
young man—these and some other similar questions, if I had not
seen that his conduct in the premises gave evidence of a lack
of capability on his part properly to appreciate them.
Boys of the age of ten or fifteen years are not presumed to
have the discretion, forethought, and judgment of grown-up
men. They follow carelessly, and almost instinctively, such
example as is set before them. A minister of the gospel has,
by his profession and calling, attained a position in society as
an exemplar of youth, that other men need not aspire to.
Children that are piously and morally brought up, are taught to
look to the preacher as an exemplar.
But, alas! alas ! the truth forces the acknowledgment
that this is sometimes very bad teaching!
It is by the law of the Methodist Church made the duty
of ministers, in pastoral visitings, to " pay special attention
to the children: speak to them personally and kindly," etc
10
THE USE OE TOBACCO.
But the law does not say whether he is to teach them tc
smoke or not, though it is oftentimes so construed.
7. The effect of tobacconizing on a minister's
own character and habits.—What is it that makes up
a man's character? It is the several things which he does.
Each thing which a man does is a brick or a nail in the
edifice. Incidental things are small bricks, but habitual things
are large timbers. A man is what he is, because of the things
he did yesterday and other past days of his life. There is
precisely as much difference between a chewer and smoker
and a non-chewer and smoker, as there is between chewing
and smoking and the absence of it. A man's character,
then, is to a considerable extent made of tobacco—that is,
some men's characters.
It is well known, too, that there is in society a variety of
classes of conduct, the exhibition of which serves to the ob¬
server as a thermometer to measure the character of the
person. In this way we inadvertently measure men as we
meet them on the street and in promiscuous society. In this
measurement we are almost never mistaken, even at the first
glance. No man can mistake a dandy for a gentleman at first
sight. The cut of the jib indicates the character, on the
land as well as on water. These considerations are both in¬
herent and instinctive with all men.
Now, the man who wears a " long nine," or any of its con¬
comitants or appendages, throws himself into that channel,
and the irrefragable laws of association are such that it is
impossible for him not to imbibe the character and take on
the spirit of his fellows.
"Birds of a feather flock together;"
not so much because their inclinations lead them together,
but because their flocking together, their wearing the same
livery, causes them to take on the same feather.
A minister is, therefore, by a law of nature, partially
moulded into the character of a b'hoy, because he apes him.
It matters not whether he intends to do so or not: if he does
so, the law will work its way.
^ And so, on the other hand, a grave and thoughtful air, a
dignified and genteel mien, an elevating of one's self above all
kinds of vulgarisms, a peremptory divorcement from all kinds
the use of tobacco.
11
of streeteries and loaferies, however genteel they profess to
be a being a gentleman any how, tends greatly to make a
minister of a man who wishes to be one.
These things are well known to every man, woman, and
child. And the reputation, as well as the character of min¬
isters, is graduated accordingly.
The laws of association are as imperative and certain in
their operation as the laws of gravitation.
If we see a minister—the gravest and soberest minister in
the land—a little too much at home with a certain class of
the most genteel, so-so, jolly sort of "good fellows," he is
hail-fellow-well-met with them, he instinctively imbibes their
lingo, and—"No, sir, 'bliged to you, don't,drink—but these
cigars are very foine." If he don't break off and reform, he
is certain to become a tippler, or a loafer, or both.
A minister must be a minister, or he will soon find himself
something else.
8. The effect of tobacco on the physical con¬
stitution.—No man, from Hayti to Kamtschatka, without
first putting his brains in his pocket, ever pretended to say
or to intimate that there is any thing good or in any way
beneficial in tobacco. Either in or out of Yucatan, from
Spanishdom to New Zealand, it never claimed to have a
quarter of a grain of moral, religious, social, or intellectual
good. Its properties, whatever they may be, are all on the
other side of the page.
"Doctor," said I once, to a medical friend, "you will die
from the use of tobacco, and your wife will be a widow."
" What!—what!"
"I mean precisely what I say, Doctor. It is my candid
and sober belief you will die from the use of tobacco, and
your wife will be a widow. With you, it is disuse or the
coffin."
And after a few more words, a conversation ensued in
regard to the physical effects of tobacco on men of spare
make and slender frame. We soon found that his practice
and my theory perfectly harmonized. A year afterward I
met the same gentleman, considerably improved in health:
" Do you remember," he said, " what you said to me a
year ago, at my house, about the use of tobacco ?"
" Perfectly well."
12
the use OP TOBACCO.
" It was a home-thrust. You did not know at the time
the effect it had on me. I knew all that as well as you
did. I could not but know it. Strange that I did not think
about it! I knew at the time that I should have told a pa¬
tient, in a similar condition, the same thing. I should have
died by this time, but now see how I am improved."
That many persons die from the use of tobacco, is certain.
Persons of spare make, especially, are in great danger. It is
held by the best medical opinions that the use of tobacco is
always injurious to the health, and that it superinduces death
oftentimes. The juices of the stomach, which ought to be taken
up by absorbents, is spit out of the mouth. Each salivary
discharge contains a portion of animal matter, so that.after a
while a man spits himself out of his mouth !
Tobacco, either by chewing or smoking, tends to destroy
the coats of the stomach, and thus superinduces dyspepsia
and indigestion, and prevents medicine, in case of any disease,
from having its proper effect.
Tobacco supports a very large portion of the physicians of
this country. Their testimony, when they give it, is decidedly
against it.
9. The effects of tobacconizing on a minister's
reputation and usefulness.—It directly and imme¬
diately lessens the standing of any minister somewhat in the
eyes of every person that witnesses the practice.
Ministers are held in higher estimation among themselves
universally—all other things being equal—from the non-use
of tobacco. This is universally the case.
In ordinary conversations respecting the reputation and
usefulness of ministers, nothing is more common than opinions
and sentiments with regard to the amount of depreciation oc¬
casioned by the use of tobacco in the cases where it is used.
Chewers and smokers seldom hear these remarks, but they are
made constantly, commonly just out of their hearing. So far
as I know and believe, these remarks are as common as
ordinary conversation. In regard to ministers of high stand¬
ing, who travel abroad, they seldom pass a day or even an
hour without being the subject of these remarks. Among
the ladies no kind of personal remark is more common; but
" wouldn't let him hear it for the world."
If I were a tobacconizer, I should be as ignorant of these
THE USE OP TOBACCO.
13
tilings as they are ; but I am not, and hence I have opportunity
of knowing.
A minister's usefulness depends more upon his reputation
than most persons are aware of. He may preach the best
sermons, say the best things socially or privately, but if he
he deficient in reputation, every thing passes for half its
value.
And how is a man to keep up his reputation f All direct
efforts to do so are highly dishonorable in any man. The
only way a man may sustain his reputation is by keeping his
conduct right. Let his conduct be void of offence, and the
people will take care of his reputation. But if his conduct
be regarded as faulty, he might as well try to patch the
clouds as to patch his reputation.
It appears to me a minister is obliged to do every honor¬
able thing, and refrain from every thing an honorable man
can refrain from, to give himself a reputation : not for the
sake of the reputation—this is disgraceful—but for the sake
of his usefulness; or, in other words, for the sake of the
cause of Christ.
I never heard a word said against a minister or against
any man in my life for not tobacconizing.
The minister who receives a cigar in a smoking trio is
thought the less of for it, and his sermon the next Sunday is,
in their estimation, depreciated in consequence—perhaps not
very much, but this is the inevitable tendency—while he
who refuses is appreciated on the spot for that very thing.
Take away tobacco from the ministry, and it is elevated
considerably. The whole machinery of the pulpit is invigorated
greatly.
Tobacco disgraces the pulpit. Every man not directly in¬
volved will readily agree to this. Those involved are not
allowed to vote in the case.
10. The effect of tobacconizing on a minister's
efforts to raise money.—It requires all the ingenuity
and eloquence of the best ministers to induce the people to
do in a very partial manner their duty in supporting ^ the
pecuniary requirements of the gospel in its various enterprises.
He has to remind them over and often that their money is
the Lord's money—that their ownership of it is a mere
stewardship—that they are bound by very high considerations
14
THE USE OP TOBACCO.
to support these various enterprises—that to this end worldly
superfluities must be abridged—that "save all you can and
give all you can" was not merely the doctrine of Mr. Wesley,
but that he gathered the principle from the Bible—that self-
denial is still the law of religion—that those few dimes and
dollars spent needlessly, if appropriated according to the will
of God, would hasten the evangelization of the world greatly,
and bring about the salvation of many a poor soul for whom
Christ died. He reminds them how it is, and explains to
them that the money saved from needless expenses and ap¬
propriated to the Lord's treasury will greatly benefit their own
religious enjoyment. And he appeals to them: how can a
Christian spend sums of money, large or small, for that which
is not bread, for that which does not lie precisety in the
channel of religion, while the Lord's treasury is so empty?
And all this while people well know that that very man is
engaged in a business of useless, worldly, pernicious money-
spending, which, if turned into the channel he recommends,
would fill the Lord's treasury to overflowing many times over.
The annual interest on the money would meet all his re¬
commendations and demands.
Some of the congregation or other persons to whom these
appeals are made do not, perhaps, think of these things; but
some do!
Some people think it strange that a minister of the gospel
should appropriate more money to the purchase of tobacco
than he does for the support of the gospel of the Son of
God!
These considerations greatly cripple any man's efforts to
raise money for the Church.
At the same time, a man may make a good speech and get
a good collection; but most certainly he would make a much
better speech and raise more money if he were unfettered
from these entanglements and inconsistencies.
It may be said that the preacher offers the people his
speech and not himself: that the duty of the people is to
hear and heed his speech—that they are not the supervisors
of his conduct—that his character is not now before them for
examination.
Perhaps so, and perhaps not. But this is not exactly the
question. The right or the wrong of their conduct is not now
THE tJSE OE TOBACCO.
15
under review. The fact is as I state it. People do and
will look at the character, position, and consistency of the
Lord's advocate.
11. Whisky and Tobacco.—The Church has waked up
to the evil of whisky-drinking; and it is now in all respectable
ecclesiastical circles regarded as a sin to drink Baldface,
Dexter, Schnapps, Hock, or Cordial, except in cases of direct
medical necessity.
Why is liquor so uniformly reprobated? What is the
reason for all this ? Why may we not " take a little" if we
do not get drunk ? Is the thing wrong in the absence of
drunkenness ? Where is the evil ?
All moral men whose sense of moral obligation outweighs
their sense of self-indulgence, agree that it is wrong because
of its tendency. Moderate drinking begets more drunkenness
than drunkenness does. Moderate drinking is the foundation
of all the evil, whether found in the waste of money, waste
of time, waste of habits of economy and industry, waste of
sober, thoughtful feelings, waste of social, public, or self
respect, waste of family comforts and respectability, waste of
health, waste of life, or waste of the soul. Abate moderate
drinking which "does no harm" and the rest is easily con¬
trolled.
Just so of tobacconizing. There is a rheumatic senti-
mentalism preached by those who do not or who will not
think, which teaches that those who are not dead from the
use of tobacco have done " no harm" by their chewing and
smoking and snuffing and dipping. They are " moderate."
But they do not reflect that the foundation of all tobacco¬
nizing is laid in this same u moderate" indulgence. The
" moderates" only occupy the citadel of all tobaccodom. Let
the moderate chewing and smoking and snuffing and dipping
be abated, and I will underwrite for the rest.
Whatever of harm there may be in the whole thing, it is
justly chargeable against those who indulge at all. But a
tobacconizer may ask, u How much of this whole evil under
which the Church and the nation groan is properly chargeable
to me ?" tii
That question I am not well able to answer. 1 only know
that your weight, whatever it may chance to be, moral,
mental, literary, ecclesiastical and physical, has tended, to its
16
the use of tobacco.
full capacity, to bring the thing into its present deplorable
condition. I do not know the precise amount of your in¬
dividual indebtedness in the premises, but I would not have
your indebtedness and 'my conscience, in this matter, for
the price of my right arm.
12. Who fays for the minister's tobacco ? I would
like to be allowed to repeat that question with more than
ordinary emphasis—Who pays for the minister's tobacco?
In other words, Whose labor earns the money that buys it ?
From whose brow does the sweat fall while the money is
being earned ? Some ministers are not rich. Laying aside
for the moment the question of the right of those ministers
who do not receive their support from the Church to use the
money they call theirs in the purchase of tobacco, let us look
at the case of those who are dependent on the Church for
support, and who receive their support from the Church, and
inquire, who pays for their tobacco ? This question is easily
answered. It seems almost to answer itself. The minister
must be supported. The Bible, as well as common justice,
requires it. The rule is not that any particular amount of
money is to be paid to the minister, but he is to be supported.
The amount of this " support" depends upon a variety of cir¬
cumstances—the place where he lives, the price of living, the
state of society, etc., etc. Now, suppose two ministers in
precisely the same circumstances in all respects, except that
the one uses tobacco to the amount of fifty or a hundred
dollars per year, or any other sum, the principle is the same.
They cannot, it is clear, receive each the same amount of
money and be both supported in the same way. The to-
bacconizer fails to get his support, or he is paid fifty or a
hundred dollars more than is necessary; or, in other words,
he creates a seeming necessity for support to the amount of
all his tobacco dimes and dollars, and palms off that spurious
necessity upon the Church.
The Bible does not contemplate any extra allowance for
tobacco.
13. The missionizing and the tobacconizing of the
Church.
This is a noble age ! Who is not grateful to God that he
lives in the mission age of the Church ! The hovels of the
poor, the quarters of the black man, the haunts of priest-
THE USE OE TOBACCO.
17
craft, the wilds of the West, the deserts of the East, the
abodes of idolatry, the equator and the poles, are all visited
by the missionary, and are beginning to acknowledge the
principles of the cross of Christ. Men give their money to
support the missionary, and the missionary sacrifices the en¬
dearments of home for the sake of the souls of men.
We have 300 missions, with 70,000 Church-members, and
25,000 children under religious instruction, in our Church
alone. And for this we pay annually about $160,000. Noble
deeds of noble men ! Soon these operations shall be doubled :
soon they shall be trebled : soon they shall be quadrupled.
This is a mission age, and ours is a mission Church.
This is also a tobacco age, and ours is a tobacco Church.
Well, why not speak out and acknowledge the truth at once,
if we speak at all ? Does any man object to my calling our
Church a tobacco Church'{ Then he objects to the truth
most manifestly, for its tobacco aspect is much larger than
its mission aspect.
We pay $160,000 a year for missions, and more than ten
times $160,000 a year for tobacco.
Remember we have in our Church alone about, at a
moderate calculation, 200,000 persons who tobacconize. An
average of ten dollars a piece per year is clearly below the
truth, and this will give you an ecclesiastical tobacco revenue
of one million six hundred thousand dollars per annum.
Remember that 365 dimes—a dime a day—is $36 50
Half a dime a day is $18 25
A quarter of a dollar a day is $91 25
And remember, " best" tobacco comes at a dollar or ten
bits a pound, while the meanest of " copperas-rotted" costs
from thirty to fifty cents. "Best" cigars are a dime, 1
believe, and meaner ones in proportion—I don't exactly re¬
member the price of pipes, but dipping-tobacco for ladies
stands at a high figure.
" Look ye here," said a minister in charge of an important
station the other day, and whose general finances are not
greatly at a premium—" I made quite a spec this morning 1
best tobacco I have seen in a year, and ten pounds for eleven
dollars." . .
"Now, don't do that," said one minister to another at a-
missionary meeting : "keep your ten dollars : you haven't got
18
the use of tobacco.
it to spare : let the people pay: we preachers pay more than
we are really able/'
The kind advice was not heeded, perhaps in part for the
reason that the prudent, objecting minister pays $75 a year for
tobacco and cigars, while the other pays nothing. Their re¬
spective annual missionary payments did not transpire.
The probability is that the ministers of our Church alone
pay as much money for tobacco as the whole Church pays
for missions !
14. Misapplication of the Lord's money.—The right
and pious application of the Lord's money is a primary Chris¬
tian duty. How can a Christian man misapply any of this
money ?
How much of the Lord's money does a tobaeeonizer mis¬
apply in a year ? From twenty-five to one hundred dollars !
Say an average of fifty, forty or thirty, or whatever you think
is true, counting every dime in the year.
A little arithmetic here would not be amiss, with those
who know how to cipher things out. Ten times fifty, or
twenty times fifty, or five or ten times forty, or thirty times
thirty, or ten times thirty are—how many ?
I do not pretend to be very good at ciphering, but leave
each tobaeeonizer to cipher in his own case, and God will look
over the sum and see if he does it right.
The Lord's money is religious money, Christian money,
Church money. He allows each possessor to use as much as
his bread and other necessities and conveniences require, but
he allows nothing for tobacconizing.
I do not know how much of the Lord's money is annually
chewed and smoked in the Annual Conferences, severally, of
the M. E. Church, South, by the members of the Conference,
and the local preachers connected with it. If I did know
the sum, I would put it down here; and if I were to do so, my
impression is that it would cause every pious minister who is
a tobaeeonizer to quit tobacconizing forthwith, for he would
be startled at the figures.
My belief is, however, without pretending to any thing like
accuracy, that it will amount to about from two to three
thousand dollars per Conference per annum ! How many Con¬
ferences are there? Let us see. The Discipline says twenty-three.
Well, now, twenty-three times two thousand are how
the use oe tobacco.
19
maQy • Forty-six thousand dollars! And twenty-three
times $2500 would be still more. Is it possible that tobacco¬
nizing, ly the preachers in our Church, takes out of the Lord's
money fifty or sixty thousand dollars per year ?
And still further, does it take out two or three times that
sum 1 What! what! A hundred and fifty thousand dollars
a year ?
Well! well! It is said that figures don't tell lies; but if
so, it is certain they tell some of the most remarkable truths
that ever were told.
Fifty or a hundred thousand dollars a year—and the Lord's
money at that!
If the Bible be true, and the principles of Christianity be
correct principles, then no man spends his own money for
tobacconizing.
But this is not quite all of the difficulty. Some ministers
are poor: some have families—hard work to make the ends
of the year meet. Quarterage comes slow, barely sufficient
at best. They have to call upon friends for private do¬
nations, and loans, which are understood to be nearly equal
to donations. Hard, hard work to get along—and spend
fifty, or forty, or sixty, or thirty, or seventy dollars a year for
tobacconizing I To my mind this looks badly.
I have heard of a preacher at Conference, hard run—he
borrows a little here and there—must settle up the regular
Church money somehow. He borrows from a brother who
has not a dime to spare from the necessities of his own family.
But he must have at least twenty dollars more. " What shall
I do ? I must have—where can I borrow twenty dollars ?"
And that man spent forty dollars last year for tobacco-
nizing!
Well! well! A tobacconizing minister borrowing money!
15. Self-denial.—"But I keep my body under and
bring it into subjection."—Scripture.
The doctrine of self-denial, as it is supposed to be taught
in the Bible, and as it is commonly preached in the pulpit,
if put into practice in the pulpit, would drive tobacco out of
the pulpit to-day. _ .
The reason why ministers do not quit tobacco is the very
reason why irreligious people do not become religious, viz.,
a lack of self-denial.
20
THE USE OF TOBACCO.
Tobacco bas no advocate in tbe world but the appetite, the
mouth, the flesh. The appetite clamors—the appetite clamors.
This is the only argument, this is the only reason.
This is precisely the argument of the sinner, if he would
speak out what is in him. The habit of sinning has fastened
its hands upon him, and will not let him go. And just so in
the other case. The habit of tobacconizing has fastened its
fangs upon him, and will not let him go.
In either case there is no cure beneath the heavens hut self-
denial. Put this to work, and the thing is done. A Chris¬
tian, or a person determined to he a Christian, has a way of
doing this without much trouble. He, by putting his trust
in God, gets the Saviour to do for him, or, what is nearly the
same thing, gets the Saviour to help him, with almighty help,
to do what he would otherwise be unable to do.
Then when he meets with any thing he can't do, a thing
that ought to be done—which is a common occurrence—he
turns to the lever of Omnipotence, which cannot fail, and the
thing is done.
I think the habit of tobacconizing is sometimes so fastened
upon a man that he has not power to quit it. I also think
the habit of sinning is so fastened upon a man that he cannot
quit it. Hut in either case the man and God together can
certainly effect it.
And we are told that God most certainly will give his help
in any thing that is right. Then it is a very easy and a very
simple thing to quit tobacco. What there is about the thing
that you can't do, get God to do it.
This is what I understand by self-denial. Faith and self-
denial are but twin aspects of the same great principle, viz.,
the principle of vicarious energy on the part of Omnipo¬
tence.
Now don't let the reader go off and say that I said that sin
and tobacconizing were absolutely the same. I have not said
so. I do not believe that all tobacconizers are sinners. I
believe those who make pretensions to religion, or who are
religious, are mistaken men, who fail to think soberly about
the matter, and who fail to decide the question entirely, ir¬
respective of the clamors of appetite.
But I say that sin and tobacconizing are alike in so far as
this, that the same thing will cure in either case—viz., the
the use of tobacco.
21
pure principles of faith and self-denial. There is no other
medicine for either, except quackery, this side of the cross.
16. The right and wrong.—Tobacconizing, as a practice,
is either right or wrong. If it is right, it ought to be practiced
more than it is : if wrong, it ought to be abated.
Let me ask the most inveterate tobacconizer this question :
Would it be well for this practice to prevail universally in the
Church ? If not, why not ? It would be as right in me as
in you, and as right in any one else as in me.
" Take heed to yourselves that your heart be not deceived,
and ye turn aside to serve other gods and worship them."
Deut. xi. 16.
" There is a way which seemeth right to a man, but the
end thereof are the ways of death."—Proverbs xvi. 25.
" Let no man deceive himself."—1 Corinthians iii. 18.
I believe there is no difference of opinion with regard to
the right or wrong of tobacconizing. I never knew any man
seriously attempt to defend it. Boys always commence it
stealthily. Beginners, old or young, are always ashamed of
it, until it gets a certain sort of brass soldered into it, and then
it walks out in public.
I never knew a well-regulated school, the rules of which
did not class chewing and smoking in the same category
with drinking and swearing, and which did not place them all
under the same ban of absolute prohibition. I do not believe
a minister in our Church would send his boys to a school
where chewing and smoking were allowed.
I know of no reason why it should be allowed in men and
denied in boys. Why should not boys smoke and chew?
No tobacconizer can answer this question. It ought to be
taught to boys or discountenanced in men.
There is a doctrine that teaches that it is more improper
for boys to use profane language than men : that it is more
improper in boys than in men to drink whisky, play at cards,
smoke cigars, chew tobacco, or indulge in any kind of rowdy¬
ism. I do not think so. On the contrary, tobacconizing is
right in boys if it is not wrong in men. I like to see a boy
appear manly. I like to see him talk like a man, act like a
man, be a man. I love to see a manly air and manly conduct
in boys. •
Why ought not a boy of ten or twelve to smoke and
15
22
THE USE OP TOBACCO.
chew ? I would like to have any tobacconizer state a
reason.
Nay, more. I do not know of any law of taste, general
propriety, morals, physiology, gender, or religion, which
confines tobacconizing to one sex. Custom says that ladies
must not smoke cigars or chew unpulverized tobacco. But
this rule is founded upon no reasonable thing. I can
conceive of no reason why it is any more wrong in a lady to
chew tobacco and smoke cigars than in a gentleman.
No, sir, let the ladies chew and smoke. A girl of eight
years should be taught to chew tobacco and smoke cigars.
Why not ? Can any man state a reason ? I am aware that
custom would attach more disgust to it in these cases than in
men. But the custom is wrong, unless there be a reason for
it. If we do things at all, we must do them fairly and
reasonably.
But the truth is, tobacconizing is wrong. It is wrong
intrinsically and extrinsically; it is wrong absolutely and
contingently; it is wrong mediately and immediately, directly
and indirectly; it is wrong presently and remotely; it is
wrong physically and wrong socially; it is wrong in men,
wrong in ministers, wrong in women, and wrong in children.
It is wrong in its pecuniary aspects, wrong morally, and
wrong religiously. It is wrong to smoke in churches, wrong
to chew and bedaub a pulpit. It is wrong to smoke in a
lady's face, wrong to bespittle and bedaub the hearth, fire¬
place, firebrasses, or carpet of a friend. It is wrong to spit to¬
bacco juice on a lady's dress or on a gentleman's cloak. It is wrong
to smoke in the street, in stores, houses or steamboats. It is
wrong to teach boys to smoke or to teach girls to chew to¬
bacco, either in block or powder. It is wrong in old men,
wrong in young men, wrong habitually and wrong occasionally.
It is wrong to begin, wrong to continue. It is wrong to
yourself, wrong to your family, wrong to your neighbors,
wrong to society, and wrong to the Church. It is wrong in
itself, and wrong in its relations. Tobacconizers themselves
know it is wrong, they admit it is wrong, they say it is wrong,
they feel it is wrong. It is wrong in the sight of man, and
wrong in the sight of God.
the use oe tobacco.
23
AN OLD SMOKER.
I shall take him for my text. This is rather an ugly
customer, hut it is worth the while to see if any thing can be
made of him. I judge he has been beclouding himself, and
all others in dangerous proximity, in tobacco smoke a half
century or so. Hence,
1. His perseverance is a lesson. He went into this thing
when he was a boy, and, boy and man, he has driven the
business with inflexible tenacity of purpose. He has per¬
fumed every day of the year, and almost every hour of the day;
to say nothing of a frequent evening smoke, and now and thon
a midnight smoke; besides an extra smoke for all special
occasions. Now, if a man will kindle a fire under his nose
with such invincible perseverance, and renew it with suck
steadiness of purpose, why cannot I, in nobler and better
employments, learn the blessed art of holding on and holding
out? If he sticks to puffing so tenaciously, cannot I stick to
real and important duties with at least a similar fidelity?
2. A lesson of punctuality and exactness can be learned
from the old smoker.
He must smoke at regular intervals. The cry for the in¬
dulgence rises loud and earnest. And he must meet it.
At just such an hour, and just such a moment, the operation
must be gone into. He must not be jostled out of this thing.
Exact and punctual: never man more so. Most smokers are
patterns in this matter, old ones especially.
Here is a lesson for me. Shall smoking command such
clock-work regularity and exactness, and shall not the genius,
and especially the great Christian duties of life, command at
least an equal punctuality? Old smoker! Shall I not be
your rival ? You at the pipe, and I in the path of duty ?
3. Moral courage, too, I can see labelled on that column
of smoke ! Even to begin his smoking, required serious self-
denial. His own physical nature resented, at first, the out¬
rage of the poisonous weed, and a battle had to be fought
before nature would yield to the invader. His purse, too,
had sent forth many a sigh of sorrow. And his sense of
what is becoming in a gentleman had been overborne. The
24
THE USE OF TOBACCO.
female inmates of his home have always stood across his path.
And reason and conscience have each of them often given
him a piece of their mind. But over all these hostile waves
has the ship swept on, appetite filling all her sails, and re¬
sistance unavailing.
And what obstacles, then, may I not overcome in pursuing
the path of duty ? If appetite can carry all before it, after
this fashion, cannot religious principle move steadily on, and
bear down all the opposition of a wicked world ?
Now, old smoker, you may puff away, or do any thing else
you like. I don't go a reaping on such a field often; but I
trust it is not quite in vain that I have tried to make some¬
thing out of you. Your perseverance, and punctuality, and
moral courage, suggest that I should carry the same qualities
into those quiet duties of life which lie before me as a traveller
toward eternal scenes. I'll not break your pipe, nor smash
your tobacco-box. But I will do myself the kindness of turn¬
ing you to some practical account, as I have before stated.
Nashville, Tenn.: Published by E. Stevenson 4c J. E. Evans, for the M. E. Church, South.
STRICTURES
ON
CHURCH GOVERNMENT.
BY THE
REV. R. ABBEY.
Nagfjbtlle, Coin.:
PUBLISHED BY E. STEVENSON & F. A. OWEN, AGENTS,
FOB THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHUKOH, SOUTH.
1857
tttrjofinntiflK.
There appears to be a strife among many persons, as to whose
Church is the most "free," the most "liberal," or the most "re¬
publican" or democratic, in its form of government. It seems to
be conceded by these disputants that the nearer-a Church govern¬
ment approaches a perfect democracy, the nearer it approaches
to ecclesiastical perfection.
The Baptist, for instance, claims, in behalf of his Church, that
its government is perfectly republican, or democratic—entirely
free and liberal. And he is replied to by the Methodist and
Presbyterian, that their respective Churches have governments as
free and as republican as his. And so we have quite a consump¬
tion of words on this subject, which is supposed to embody consi¬
derable denominational interest.
But all this does not seem to me to inquire into the nature,
powers, or objects of government, or the application of it to dif¬
ferent things. It seems, therefore, that they oftentimes debate
without a question, and contend without a reason.
It will be attempted in the following pages to reconcile these
apparently conflicting views, by straightening out and making
plain and smooth these tangled-up sentiments, so that the contro¬
versy may abate of itself.
In doing this, I expect to harmonize entirely with the opinions
of all fair, thinking, right-minded men of all denominations. In
temperate and furious partisans of any party cannot, probably
be accommodated with any thing to be found in this essay.
It. A.
Near Yazoo Citt, May, 1855.
(2)
STRICTURES
ON
CHURCH GOVERNMENT.
CHAPTER I.
elements of government.
/
If we wish to inquire into Church government, in order to
examine with regard to its perfection, we should first, that we
may know what we are inquiring after, take a brief and
analytical view into government itself. And here we see,
that,
First, The natural elements of government are, 1st, Legisla¬
tion, or the making of laws to which obedience is required.
2d,, Judicature, or the legal determination of questions arising
under the law, in cases of its supposed infraction. And, 3d,
Execution, or the carrying into effect the sentence thus pro¬
nounced by the judiciary.
These three things make up the sum of all governments,
human and divine. No government can exist without them.
They are the three specific things which we mean when we
say government.
Second. The different forms of government, consist in the
placing of those three elements of government, severally, in
the hands of these or those functionaries, and the modification
of them thus and so, in contradistinction to their being
placed otherwise, and their being otherwise modified.
Third. The object, use, or end of government, is various.
It all seeks, or should seek, to advance the happiness and
prosperity of all, governors and governed; but seeks only to
do this within the particular scope and purview of the nature
4
STRICTURES ON CHURCH GOVERNMENT.
and objects of the particular government. That is to say:
The government of the State seeks to promote the happiness
of the people by protecting their rights of person and pro¬
perty, by a wise and healthful national diplomacy, and by
the ordinary course of civil and criminal judicature. The
government of a Church seeks to promote the happiness of
the people by securing the best advantages for the promotion
and inculcation of religion, and the spread of Christianity.
The government of an army is for the invasion or protection
of a country; that of a school is for the advancement of
education and morals; whilst the government of a family is
for the early implantation of obedience, kindness, and good
behavior.
Fourth. The powers of different governments are, of course,
various, and correspond to the particular ends had in view by
each. A State has power to incarcerate a man in prison—
to divest him of property and invest it in another, levy
taxes, etc. A Church has power to invest a man with the
functions of a minister, to excommunicate him from the
Church, to regulate public worship, etc. An army has
power to take the lives of people without accusation or trial,
to destroy public or private property, or to appropriate it to
its own use at will: while a school has power to organize its
students into classes, prescribe their studies, etc.
Each government acts in its own particular sphere, and
by its own particular means seeks its own particular ends,
while they all observe a general harmony among themselves.
Now, the several forms of government may be as various
as one can imagine, and, indeed, much more so. They all
range somewhere between a perfect monarchy on the one
hand, and a perfect democracy on the other.
A perfect monarchy is where all the control, without any
parcelling out, inheres in one person. This, it is obvious,
cannot be carried into practice, except on a small scale, and
where the government consists of but few persons. A
perfect democracy is where all the authority is equally
distributed amongst all. This could scarcely be said to be a
government. Where no person has any preference above
another, women and children are of course equally eligible to
office, and have an equal right to vote. What is commonly
called a democracy, or more properly, perhaps, a republic, is
STRICTURES ON CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 5
where the right to control is restricted to a certain portion of
the people, say all male inhabitants over twenty-one years,
with certain other restrictions respecting residence, the pay¬
ment of public dues, etc.
Writers on political economy, for the sake of practical
convenience, usually divide governments into three general
classes: 1st. Monarchy. 2d. Aristocracy. 3d. Republic.
These general classes, however, vary in all conceivable degrees
of mixture, in practice. A monarchy is where one man rules.
An aristocracy is where a privileged class rules. And a
republic is where the right to rule is divided equally among all
those who are deemed properly eligible to office. The legal
form of a government does not however always determine
the degree of liberty enjoyed by the governed. For instance,
the government of England, which is monarchical, is more
free than the French republic was a few years ago, or
than are some of the Mexican or South American republics
now.
Strictly speaking, all governments, or almost all, are some¬
what mixed. That of England is more mixed with free
principles than the government of Russia, although they are
both, denominationally, monarchies. The several republics
of these States are by no means alike; for the right to vote
and eligibility to office are much more restricted in some
States than in others.
There is no precise line that distinguishes in all cases
between governments of different legal forms. It is apparent,
for instance, that a stringent republic is but a liberal aristo¬
cracy. There must be some restrictions as to eligibility to
office and right to vote, if you wish to avoid anarchy. These
restrictions may be, in the first place, fixed at the point that
would be by all considered very liberal republicanism. They
may then be increased and increased, abridging more and
more the principle of very free republicanism, until you
arrive at aristocracy. But there is no precise line that
sepaoates between the two forms of government.
And let us be reminded right here, that no man is
absolutely in favor of, or opposed to, any particular form of
oovernment in all cases. All men are in favor of, and opposed
to, this, that, and the other form of government for this,
that, and the other purpose. In this country, for the govern-
15*
6
STRICTURES ON CHURCH GOVERNMENT.
ment of a State, I believe all men are in favor of tbe republican
form. We apply tbe different forms of government to tbe
different kinds of government, according to expediency, and
as we think this, that, or the other form will best suit the
case and answer the end in view. Family government, I
believe, in this country is uniformly monarchical. So is that
of the plantation of negroes, or of slaves anywhere. So is
that of prisons and primary schools. Banks, railroad com¬
panies, and moneyed associations of all kinds for the promotion
of enterprise and improvement, are, I believe, uniformly
aristocratic : that is, the right to vote and to hold office is
regulated by the amount of the pecuniary interest of each.
Large schools and colleges use the aristocratic form. They
are governed by a privileged or restricted class, viz., a board
of trustees and faculty. Military government is necessarily
monarchical: sometimes it is an elective monarchy. The
government of ships, steamboats, exploring expeditions, and
the like, is always monarchical.
It is a great error to suppose that there is any thing
intrinsically wrong or oppressive in monarchy or aristocracy,
as 'forms of government. No man looks upon them in this
light. We are opposed to the abuse of the different forms
of government in their application to different things : that
is, we are opposed to applying them in any way that will work
oppression.
Hence we are opposed to aristocracy, or monarchy, in the
government of a state; to republicanism in the government
of a school, plantation, family, or an army; and to monarchy
in that of a university, bank, or railroad company.
What we mean by liberty, or freedom, in respect to the
subjects of any particular government, is this: first and
chiefly, a wholesome protection in all private and public
rights; and secondly, in some cases, and only in some cases,
a right to assist in furnishing this protection and in guarding
these rights: that is, in having a right to vote and to hold
office. It is not, however, as any one may see in a moment,
always best for all the governed to have a right to vote and to
hold office. In fact, this is never the case in any governments
except in some incidental voluntary associations of very small
magnitude. It is not the case in any regular government of
continuous existence.
STRICTURES ON CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 7
In the family there is no common right to vote or to hold
office. Here liberty consists in protection. And so of the
school, the college, and with regard to the women and
children, and a portion of the men, in all republican civil
governments.
Hence it is clearly seen that a blind adherence to any
particular form of government, to be used in all cases, would
throw society into disruption, and violate the settled prin¬
ciples of all men. One form of government is best for this
purpose, another for that, and still other and other modifica¬
tions for these, those, and the other kinds of government.
The best form of government for a state would ruin an army,
or a school, or a family. The best form for a college or a
family would afford very poor protection to the citizens of a
state. If enterprise and improvement will flourish best some¬
times by means of banks and railroad companies, governed
by governors elected by stockholders, each voting in propor¬
tion to the amount of his stock, that does not furnish any
good reason to believe that a state, or a school, or a family, or
an army, would do best governed in the same way. No
reason can be given why any two things to be governed,
should have the same form of government, unless it be that
the subjects of the government, and the end to be secured, be
the same. Why ought the government of a steamboat to be
different from that of a state, or an insurance company?
Surely there is a reason. Why should the government of
the state be different from that of the family ? Because the
things to be governed—the subjects—are dissimilar; and
because, further, the object, in either case, is dissimilar.
Then there is nothing from which we would infer that they
should be alike. As well might it be said that the best
model for a plough is also the best model for a stage-coach.
8
strictures on church government.
CHAPTER II.
of church government.
We have seen that what is called government, is the exer¬
cise of legislative, judicial, and executive functions : that is,
the making of laws, the determination of questions arising in
cases of supposed disobedience of them, and the executing of
such sentence as may be thus pronounced. This is all that
we mean by government, either divine or human.
We have seen, also, that these functions of government are
exercised in different ways: that is, when one man is the
legislature, the judiciary, and the executive, the form, that
is, this general form, is called monarchical. Where these func¬
tions, particularly the first two, are exercised by a privileged
class, above the commonalty of the governed, it is called an
aristocracy; and where most of the governed, that is, all who
within certain rules are deemed naturally or properly eligible
to office, have the right to vote for legislators, judiciary, and
executives, it is called a republic.
And that these different forms of government are used, or
applied to different governments, or different things to be
governed, according to expediency; that sometimes we use
one form and sometimes another.
And we come now to inquire what form of government a
Church ought to have, and what form it does actually, some¬
times, or mostly, have.
It would be exceedingly illogical to say that the Church
ought to be republican because the State ought to be. The
conclusion has no premise. It would be just as unreasonable
and just as good an argument to say, that the Church ought
to be monarchical because the family ought to be; or because
an army ought to be. There is, in either case, no premise to
the conclusion.
To say that the government of the Church ought to be of
any particular form because the government of something else
STRICTURES ON CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 9
ought to be, is to show that the subjects of both governments
are alike, and the end in each case is the same. If we con¬
tend that the Church ought to be republican, or that it ought
to be aristocratic, or monarchical, we must do so for some rea¬
son, or we must debate without a reason. If debates differ,
t,hey must do so upon some issue, or the argument would not
be likely to be very profitable, to say the least of it.
Then what form of government ought or must a Church
have ? This question involves two considerations. 1. What
is said in the Bible on the subject ? and, 2. What does human
experience teach ?
The Scriptures contain no directions, in much or in little,
respecting any form of government which the Church must
or ought to have. No Church government was established in
apostolic days. Jesus Christ did not establish a Church, in
the sense of setting up an external, visible organization. He
taught the principles of religion, but nothing else. As to
Church government, the apostles and disciples kept on in the
same way they had all along been accustomed to. They were
perfectly familiar with Church government before they be¬
came Christians. And neither the Saviour nor his apostles
ever intimated that there was any thing wrong in their eccle¬
siastical polity. And the fact is, it was not materially changed
in the early ages—nor in late ones, for it is not materially
changed to this day.
There are but two ideas in the Bible, or to be gathered
from it, respecting or having any bearings on the question of
form for Church government. First, it is clearly contem¬
plated in the Bible, that the Church is to be under regular
discipline and proper control. Second, the ministry as a class,
or order, separate and distinct from laymen, are, in some way,
and to some extent, to exercise functions of control in the
Church. Beyond this the Bible is silent.
The subject of Church government is never alluded to in
the Bible except in the most general terms and in the most
incidental way. Neither can any thing of much value be
gathered from the practice of the early Church. Its govern¬
ment was various. It combined aristocracy, republicanism,
and monarchy; though chiefly the two former, particularly
before the days of Constantine. The apostolic Church may
be said to have been a mixture of republicanism and aristo-
10 STRICTURES ON CHURCH GOVERNMENT.
cracj: though in the formation of new churches, their
government, for a time, must have been monarchical.
Then it is not stated in the Scriptures what form of govern¬
ment a Church must have—whether it must be entirely or
chiefly republican, or aristocratic, or monarchical. It is claimed
by some that according to the Bible, or early Church history,
or something, the Church must be episcopal. But that does
not determine its form of government. Before you can de¬
termine its form of government, you must say several other
things besides merely that it must be episcopal.
Must it be the episcopacy of monarchy, where the bishop
rules exclusively, where in him inheres the right to make
laws, to adjudicate and to execute ? Or is it the episcopacy
of aristocracy, where the bishop, and a privileged class sui-
rounding him, namely, the other ministers, legislate and adju¬
dicate and execute ? Or is it the episcopacy of republicanism,
where the episcopate is an office to which men are elected—
the body of the Church composing the legislature and form¬
ing the judiciary and appointing its executive? Or is it an
episcopacy where monarchy, aristocracy, and republicanism
are blended together ? and if so, what are to be the degrees
of admixture ?
All these questions must be answered before it can be de¬
termined what sort of episcopacy is meant. And to answer
these questions is to answer what form of Church govern¬
ment you are to have. So that if it be said or maintained
that the Church must be episcopal, that does by no means
determine what must be its form of government. Nothing is
more clear than this: that a Church may be episcopal, and
have any particular form of government a Church with a
ministry was ever known to have. When we speak of forms
of government, we must not fly off at a tangent, and begin to
talk about something else.
We learn from the Scriptures that in the Church, and com¬
posing a part of it, there is a class of persons differing from
the masses in several particulars, which is called its ministry;
and that to the ministry essentially pertains the pastoral care
of the Church. These ministers are called pastors. The term
pastor was primarily, and, strictly speaking, is now, used figura¬
tively. Literally it means a shepherd—a man whose business
it is to lead a flock of sheep about, and take care of them.
STRICTURES ON CHURCH GOVERNMENT 11
Jesus Christ himself used the term iu this figurative sense
frequently. Then the shepherd's relation to his sheep is a fit
emblem of the minister's relation to the Church.
Hence it follows unavoidably, that ministers, as a distinct
class, have some share in the government of the Church over
and ahpve that which pertains to the body of the Church.
Hence, in so far as this ingredient makes up the government
of the Church, it cannot be republican. Republicanism is
equality with regard to government. But where a class or
order of persons comes in with rights or privileges or duties,
over and above the rights and privileges of the commonalty—
where you have a privileged class in whom some govern¬
mental rights inhere, of course in so far as this principle ob¬
tains, be it much or little, it innovates the principle of pure
republicanism. Republicanism knows no class or order with
inherent privileges.
Now, what is the name of that ingredient in Church govern-'
ment which inheres in the ministry as a class, distinct from
laymen 1 The only name which lexicographers and scientific
writers on government give to this principle, is aristocracy.
Then a Christian Church must be, in part at least, aristocratic.
If any man does not like that term, I cannot help it. If he
does not know its meaning, I advise him to consult a dic¬
tionary. If the term offends his ear, then his ear is either
malformed or maleducated. Nothing can offend a healthy ear
but an idea. A wor<| cannot.
The ministry is a class, or order, in the Church, distinct
from the laity. And as such they have some governmental
rights; for government is, to some extent, essential to the
pastorate. Then a Christian Church, that is, a Church with a
Chsistian ministry, cannot be wholly republican in its govern¬
ment.
And, as above intimated, it is also absolutely necessary that
the monarchical principle be mingled, sometimes, as an ingre¬
dient in the government of a Church. The first formation of
missionary churches must be upon the monarchical principle,
if there be but one minister. If there be several, it may be
aristocratic. Churches in prisons—and there ought to be one
at least in every prison—and on separate plantations of slaves,
ought to be monarchical, or mostly so.
But suppose a Church to be purely republican in its govern-
12 STRICTURES ON CHU .CH GOVERNMENT.
merit: how must it proceed ? Republicanism consists not
merely in a right to vote, but in the right to hold office.
There may be, and there sometimes are, in republican govern¬
ments, qualifications for certain offices more stringent than
those which give a right to vote. In this country, all who
have a right to vote are not eligible to the office of President.
This, however, is a general and not a particular discrimination.
No order or class of persons in this or any other legitimate
republic are exclusively eligible to any office. If it were to
prescribe that lawyers, as such, must always have some share
in the government, or are exclusively eligible to some parti¬
cular office, then that feature would, of course, be aristocratic,
because it creates an exclusive eligibility to office. It does
not recognize a general eligibility to office.
Then, for a Church to be entirely republican in its govern¬
ment, there must be a general eligibility to office. One man,
coming within certain general qualifications, is as eligible as
another. Then how is a pastor to be created ? All are eligi¬
ble—that is, all who come within the general rules. Then
ministers, those whom Gfod has called to preach, and who are
recognized as valid ministers, are no more eligible to the pas¬
torate than any others. Then any one may be elected pastor j
and then there is no ministry as a class who are exclusively
eligible to the pastorate.
Hence, if ministers, as contradistinguished from laymen, are
exclusively eligible to the pastorate, and if pastoral charge
necessarily implies government, to some extent, then no
Christian Church can be entirely republican in its government.
And what do we learn from human experience on the sub¬
ject?
Churches have had all forms, and almost all modifications
of all forms of government ever known among men. It has
been monarchical, despotic, oligarchical, aristocratic, and
republican, or nearly so. And it has sustained a thousand
different modifications of all these forms. It has been wedded
to and mixed up with civil government. It has been con¬
nected with the government of the family, and of dynasties,
and of colonies, and military interests, and rule and conquest.
It has mingled with and had to do with every thing among
men that could be called government.
And it might be remarked, perhaps as well here as any-
STRICTURES ON CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 13
where else, that Churches have by no means prospered or
suffered in proportion as their governments have been good
or bad. Sometimes the Church has prospered greatly under
the greatest external disadvantages. And again, with many
external advantages surrounding it, it has not made spiritual
progress in an apparently corresponding degree. Something
else than government is necessary to religious prosperity,
Still, it cannot be doubted but a well-arranged and healthy
government is greatly advantageous in religious and ecclesi¬
astical prosperity.
I do not see that the Scriptures on the one hand, or human
experience on the other, furnish us with any reason why the
Church might not, generally, be republican in its government,
except in so far as the ministry, as a class, make the Scrip¬
tural innovation hereinbefore explained. I say generally,
because this form would not always be best. It would not do
in newly formed missionary stations, nor in any of those in¬
stances where the laws of the country create a social or civil
inequality between the pastor and his flock.
The Church, then, which boasts of being exclusively repub¬
lican in its government, even with the exception with regard
to the ministry already noted, cannot preach the gospel to every
creature, and exercise pastoral oversight where it preaches.
Still, nothing is conceived to be more wholesome in Church
government than republicanism, to the extent the Scriptures
and. the great mission will allow.
Since the Reformation, the government of the Church,
except the Church of England, and perhaps some others, has
been a wholesome mixture of republicanism and aristocracy.
The government of the Church of England, like that of its
State, is a mixture of monarchy, aristocracy and republicanism.
The government of the Protestant Episcopal Church in this
country has very little, if any, of the monarchical principle in
it. It is a wholesome, or, at least, a tolerably wholesome
mixture of republicanism and aristocracy. Perhaps it has a
little more of the latter than the Methodist and Presbyterian
Churches. Whether that is advantageous, or otherwise, to its
usefulness, might be difficult to determine. That question is
not under discussion.
The Methodist and Presbyterian Churches are, beyond all
question, republican in their goyernment, except in so far
14
STRICTURES ON CHURCH GOVERNMENT.
as a participation in the government by ministers, as such, in
pursuance of the rule of the Scriptures, changes that system
of polity.
The principal practical things in the government of Churches
have respect to the arrangement and investiture of the func¬
tions of ministers, their trial and excommunication, the recep¬
tion, trial, and excommunication of members, and the admin¬
istration of finances. These make up what we call govern¬
ment. In regard to these, the Church makes laws, adjudicates,
and executes them.
An instance in the inequality in spiritual and ecclesiastical
prosperity, and supposed soundness in Church government,
may be seen in the history and present condition of the
Methodist Protestant Church.
This Church grew out of the Methodist Episcopal Church,
from an avowed purpose of making it more free. It did
not, in the fancy of its founders and adherents, conform suffi¬
ciently to the civil government of the country, or to some¬
thing else.
V\re might pause here long enough to ask what kind of a
Church that would be which conformed precisely, in all things,
or as nearly as practicable, to the civil government of this, or
any other country ? If a Church government ought to be
conformed, as nearly as practicable, to American republican¬
ism, then why not do so? It could be made to follow the
prototype very closely. But who acts upon this principle ?
Who believes that the form of the government of a Church
ought to be brought as near to that of the State as practicable ?
No man believes this, because no man has so far lost his
reason as to believe that the subjects or the end of the two
governments bear any considerable similarity. Then why the
continual boasting and the continual recrimination respecting
such conformity ?
But to return. Whether the Methodist Protestant Church
did or did not succeed in bringing its government nearer to
that of the State, or to whatever model they had in view,
appears not to be a very important inquiry, since it is pretty
certain the change has resulted in no good. That the persons
who engaged in this ecclesiastical government have not ad¬
vanced evangelical piety, or extended the .Redeemer's king¬
dom, beyond what they most probably would have done if
STRICTURES ON CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 15
they had remained in the Methodist Episcopal Church, is, to
say the least of it, pretty certain.
Abstractly considered, their government cannot be regarded
as a very bad one. Certainly, the cause of this Church's ineffi¬
ciency cannot be found in any positive defects in its external
polity. Perhaps it could, with more safety, be looked for in
the fact that neither the government of the Methodist Episco¬
pal Church, nor the condition of civil affairs, nor any other
surrounding circumstances, demanded the change. Certain
it is that this Church does not seem to extend and prosper in
proportion to the evangelical soundness of its external polity
or principles of government.
It would seem that the government of the Church ought
not, or need not, be precisely modelled after that of the State,
from the further consideration, that the former proposes to
exercise no coercive power: whilst the powers of the latter
are chiefly, if not exclusively, coercive. Let any man pause,
and look slowly and carefully into what a Church government
proposes to do; and then let him examine into what a State
or civil government has to do. And he will most likely be
cured of the notion—if he has ever been governed by it—that
they must be, or ought to be, similar in their organization.
This notion has been jumped at by rapid strides, not formed
by careful investigation.
There are reasons why the government of the Church
ought to be as republican, or as popular, as the constituent
principles thereof will allow. But these reasons are not found
by regarding the civil government as its prototype.
strictures on church government.
CHAPTER III.
government of the baptist church.
In looking over the ground, and noting these popular errors
with regard to Church government, I find an anomaly in what
is called " The Baptist Church." The extent and respect¬
ability of this class of Christians, and the strange and unna¬
tural peculiarities which oftentimes attach to what is called
their government, make it necessary for me to devote to it a
separate chapter.
In searching among the Baptists after Church polity, we
are led, more strikingly than anywhere else, to observe that
the religion of Christianity—the piety of religion—the pros¬
perity of a Church, or of the kingdom of Christ, does not
depend, by any means, exclusively, or even mainly, on the
soundness of Church government. Here we have a very large
and respectable class of Christians, who, as a general thing
oftentimes, in many parts of the country, are doing consider
able good; and it might almost be said they have no govern ■
ment at all. So that it woilld be exceedingly unwise to regard
mere soundness or wisdom in Church government as the vital
cause or mainspring of piety or denominational advancement.
I will try to look calmly and impartially into whatever of
polity or government I may he able to find among the Baptist
churches. In regard to any peculiar religious tenets they
may entertain respecting the sacrament of Baptism, or any
thing else, I have nothing to say in this essay. I have no
sectarian or theological controversy with any one; but will
merely examine and explain facts as I find them.
Some of the various denominations of the gen'/al class of
Christians commonly called Baptists, certainly embody a good
degree of piety: they preach a sound gospel, t> ey administer
the ordinances of Christ, they live pious lives, i iculcate Chris¬
tian principles, and do very much in the great work of
spreading holiness, and in extending Chri/danity over the
world. They have, some of them, faithful and efficient mis-
STRICTURES ON CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 17
sionaries in almost every clime: they have schools and churches
almost all over^ the country. But this prosperity can by no
means be attributed to their ecclesiastical polity; for, as a
class of Christians, they have none.
It is improper to speak of Baptists as a denomination of
Christians, as is sometimes done: because the various Baptist
Churches in this, or any other country, have generally no
denominational alliance, or federate or common principles,
which unite them. Hence, as a class, they have no form or
principles of Church government. They have nothing of this
kind in common.
The term "Baptist" comprehends all those various classes,
sects and denominations of Christians—which are very exten¬
sive in variety, and very dissimilar in belief and practice—
which deny the rite of baptism to children, or which use the
ceremony of immersion in baptizing. But as denominations,
Churches, or individuals, they have, generally, no sort of
affinity, communion, correspondence or relationship among
themselves. Hence, no tenets or principles can be applied to
them, as Baptists, for they have nothing in common by which
they are distinguished from other Christians, other than the
exclusion of children from Church-membership, and the use
of immersion in baptism. They are of every tenet and belief
on all other questions.
We frequently have arguments and treatises on the subject
of the Church government of Baptists, and of other ecclesi¬
astical or theological tenets or peculiarities applied to them,
denominationally, as contradistinguished from other Christians.
All this is obviously erroneous. No such discussion can be
properly maintained, for the reason that nothing can be pre¬
dicated of Baptists, as such, beyond the two points above
named.
For the most part, Baptists are congregational in their
Church government—very strictly so. It must be remarked,
however, that Congregationalism cannot be called a form of
government, for it may exist in any form. As it is generally
practiced by Presbyterians, it admits of some considerable
degree of federate alliance with other Churches; but Baptists
mostly deny this principle.
The primitive Church was unquestionably congregational.
Christianity, in the form of Churches, could have begun in no
18
STRICTURES ON CHURCH GOVERNMENT.
other way. The rapid spread of Christianity in distant coun¬
tries, the isolated and distant condition of the Churches in
their geographical relation to each other, the great lack of
travelling facilities and intercommunication in these countries
generally, the opposition of civil governments and men of
influence to Christianity, and the persecutions to which the
Churches were subject, required that the government of
Churches, in minor matters at least, should he confined to
each separate congregation. Hence they are called congrega¬
tional.
But when any Church becomes so highly, so stringently
and exclusively congregational, as to admit of no official inter¬
communion in matters of government: when a congregation
assumes to govern and regulate its ecclesiastical affairs exclu¬
sively, in all things—repudiating all cooperation, or other
authority from without itself—then it assumes a very different
ground frim what is commonly called Congregationalism, and
sets up, each congregation for itself, a totally independent
Christianity.
Most of the Baptist Churches in this country claim to be
' independent of each other in the sense above described. They
claim to govern themselves and regulate their entire ecclesi¬
astical machinery, each Church or congregation for itself,
without any assistance from, or connection with, other
Churches. Then, of course, they cannot be spoken of collect¬
ively as having any particular form of government, or as
maintaining any particular religious principles, either theo¬
logical or ecclesiastical.
If each Church be totally independent of all others, in all
things, then a thousand Churches may have a thousand differ¬
ent forms of government, and a thousand different religious
creeds. If they have no alliance, then they have no bonds of
alliance ; and then, Arians, Trinitarians, Unitarians, Armini-
ans, and Calvinists have the same relation amongst each other
as Baptists have : that is, they have no official relation what¬
ever.
"The Baptist Church," then—meaning thereby all the
single congregations of Christians which call themselves Bap¬
tists—cannot, of course, be spoken of as having any Church
government which, in form, is applicable to the whole. And
if, on examination, it be found that any two of them have th^
STRICTURES ON CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 19
same form of government to-day, that urnishes no guaranty
that they will be alike to-morrowj for each one possesses,
independently, the complete powers of legislation, judicature
and execution, and exercises these powers, any day, at will.
The kind of government, which any Church has, as well as its
mode of administering such government, depends entirely
upon the predominant notions of right, or of expediency, or
ot ecclesiastical law, which, at the moment, chance to be enter¬
tained by the individual persons—half a dozen, it may be—
which compose the church. Each single congregation is an
independent Church.
It is not of course said that this is the case with all Baptist
churches. There can be no regularity. Churches in a cer¬
tain region of country, for a certain time may unite upon
certain religious tenets, or upon certain forms of government,
and affiliate with each other. The conditions of federation
may have respect to ordination, to the trial of ministers, to
missionary operations, or to any thing else. And, of course,
in so far as these matters are yielded up to the federate power,
they are not possessed by the individual church power.
All this may be done, and sometimes perhaps is done, by
Baptists. But still it is claimed in this age and in this
country to a very great extent, that Baptist churches are en¬
tirely independent of each other. Then one Baptist church
bears the same relation to another Baptist church that it
has to a Methodist or a Presbyterian church, so far as reli¬
gious creed and Church government are concerned. Each
one is a religious establishment, in all things entirely inde¬
pendent.
It cannot but be. seen that, conditioned as Christianity is in
this country—or, in fact, in any other—a Church government
where each congregation is entirely independent, must labor
under great embarrassments and disadvantages. Look a mo¬
ment at its practical working.
A member is accused of crime or immorality. The church,
that is, the congregation to which he belongs, is his legis¬
lature, his court, and his executive. He is brought forward
and tried, and expelled. He has no appeal, for the reason
that the church, being independent, can allow of no appeal to
another tribunal. He looks around, and finds that his expul¬
sion was the result of dislike or prejudice on the part of one
20 STRICTURES ON CIIURCII GOVERNMENT.
or two influential persons, or the ignorance of a few women or
youths who did not understand his case, involving much
intricacy perhaps; hut he has no redress.
Again, a member is accused of some heretical error, and a
majority-vote of a dozen or half a dozen persons, who possibly
never heard of that particular question before, decides his
case finally.
The minister himself is accused. And the congregation,
large or small, perhaps a congregation of half a dozen very
ignorant persons, sit in judgment, and rectify the theological
or ecclesiastical wrongs in question—suspend him from the
ministry, or expel him from the pale of Christianity; and that
decision, perhaps obtained by the casting vote of an ignorant
youth, is final.
It cannot hut he seen that here there is no security. No
man knows how soon his Churchmembership may be taken
from him without cause, or a minister be deprived of his
credentials without reason.
This kind of government, instead of following as closely
as may be the political government around us, departs from
it most widely, and at the very outset.
One of the chief things in our civil government, and the
great thing looked at in all governments, is the proper and
safe security given to private rights through the judiciary.
The best government is where these rights are best secured.
In any safe State government, the primary trial is never final.
The right of appeal to a higher and more impartial tribunal is
the great bulwark of liberty. This right is generally secured
in all human governments, except where children are exclu¬
sively the subjects, as in families, and primary schools. Even
on the plantation among slaves, the right of appeal is generally
available. In all aristocratic and monarchical civil govern¬
ments, the right of appeal is never denied. A man cannot he
deprived of his property, his life, or his reputation, but by
the rehearing of a higher court, better arranged for the cor¬
rection of errors than any primary court can be.
The Baptist churches in this respect form an anomaly in
human governments. There is in them a far more feeble
security of liberty and justice than is to he found in auy go¬
vernment, civil, military, social, domestic or ecclesiastical, at
present known to the writer. In truth, so far as private rights
STRICTURES ON CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 21
are concerned, which is hut another name for liberty, there
can scarcely be said to be a government. For a judiciary
with no right of appeal for the correction of errors, can scarcely
be said to be a judiciary.
What would we consider the extent of our civil liberties to
be, if our property, our lives, or our reputation, were suspended
upon, and finally disposed of, by the mere vote of a majority
of a few men, women and youths, upon the first inquiry into
the matter ? We would have less of liberty than the citizens
or subjects of any civil government on earth.
And yet such is the nature of Christianity, and such the
ability of the Church of Christ to make way along and sus¬
tain itself amidst worldly difficulties and embarrassments, that
these seemingly insurmountable objects and derangements do
not subdue the Baptist churches; but, amidst them all, they
get along and do good to the cause of Christ.
But the above-mentioned difficulties are by no means the
greatest that beset the government of this respectable phalanx
of Christianity. For, notwithstanding the summary manner
in which all judicial and other questions are decided, yet it is
also true that no question is ever finally decided. This may
at first appear contradictory, but a word or two of explanation
will make it quite plain. It is in reference to this feature in
Baptist polity that it was intimated a few pages back that they
had almost no government at all. For there can scarcely be
said to be a government where questions respecting public
polity and private rights cannot be decided finally.
This anarchical feature in the usages of this branch of
Christianity is inseparable from the entire independency of
the several churches.
Where each congregation or church is independent, there
can be, as above explained, no appeal in the adjudication of
any public or private matters. Each church has as good a
right to decide any question as any other church has. Hence
any congregation can dispose of any question, as far as id is
concerned at the time. This in these churches is the highest
and the lowest grade of any decision of any question. But
the decision of any question made to-day, does not preclude
the same church from entertaining the question again the
next week, or the next jnonth, and of deciding it differently.
It is impossible for any Church to make any rule or law that
16
22
STRICTURES ON CHURCH GOVERNMENT.
will prevent this instability of administration. The society has
at all times cognizance and jurisdiction of all questions. It can,
at any time, decide any question, by its popular vote. This
is inseparable from a perfect republic—which these churches
claim to~ be, acting without a regularly constituted judiciary,
with courts of inquiry, of investigation, and of last resort.
Suppose a member be taken up and tried in one of these
churches to-day, and he be expelled. The congregation being
entirely independent, there can be nothing to prevent the
same society—with perhaps other members present—from
reinstating him the next week, and of expelling him again
the next, and so on without limit. There can be no final
decision, because there is no tribunal of last resort. But at
the same time the expelled person has, himself, no right to a
rehearing, or the privilege of bringing forward new testimony.
His rights cease with the first decision; but the society is
still independent—as independent of him as of any thing and
every thing else.
A man applies for Church membership; and for some
cause, supposed by the persons present to be good cause at
the time,—say the ceremony of baptism was not exactly
right, or something was not exactly right, or something of
the sort—he is rejected. But the same question may be
brought up again and decided favorably to the applicant;
but he does not know how soon it may be dealt with other¬
wise. His membership in the Church can never be secured
to him, for the reason that there is no tribunal of last resort.
And just so of any other question that may arise. The
society or church is at all times at perfect liberty to entertain,
or refuse to entertain, any question. Being independent of
all other tribunals, it can decide any question; and, so far as
that church is concerned, it may or may not be a final decision,
just as the popular sentiment of that society chances to pulsate.
So there can be no security of rights, and hence no liberty.
H is, of course, not held or intimated that a republican
government, wholly independent, cannot administer justice
rightfully, and secure the rights of liberty in the best manner
possible. It is said that this can never be done in any
government—except in small monarchical governments like
families, schools, and the like—without a regularly constituted
judiciary with a high tribunal of last resort, distinct and
separate from the legislative power; and that this cannot
STRICTURES ON CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 23
be the ease where the whole republic embraces but a handful
of people.
And further, it is explained, that this is not, of course, the
case where all the members of the republic, whenever they
are convened together, have immediate jurisdiction of all
questions.
Wherever the legislature—which in Baptist churches is
all the people convened, or all who chance to be present at a
church meeting—have immediate jurisdiction of all judicial,
as well as other questions, of course there is no judiciary
distinct from and independent of the legislature.
Look at individual security with regard to judicial rights—
and all personal rights are of a judicial character—in one of
these States. The freedom men enjoy with regard to these
rights is secured in the independency of the judiciary above
the legislative power.
Look at the same thing in the Methodist Church. Here
is a regular judiciary, with a regularly graded tribunal of last
resort. This is the only security of rights, the sole bulwark
of liberty, in any government of any kind, except where
children are exclusively the subjects.
Baptist churches have no judiciary. Every thing is at the
mercy of legislative whim or caprice.
But this, still, is not the greatest difficulty. For, when any
one church decides any question, it is still perfectly com¬
petent for another church to decide the same question reversely.
So there can be no decision.
For instance, a minister, for good or bad cause, is, by
vote of his church, expelled. And the next day, the next
church, in the next neighborhood, or on the next street,
declares bim to be in good standing. The first church refuses
to reconsider, but holds on to its judgment of excommuni¬
cation. Now, according to one decision, which is final, he is
not a minister; and according to other authority, just as
high, and just as competent, he is. Now, is this man^ a
minister, or is he not! It is beyond the power of juris¬
prudence to determine. The science of jurisprudence can
determine any question that can arise within the range^ of a
regularly constituted government. But where there is no
judicial tribunal of last resort, and, consequently, no govern¬
ment, in the proper sense, it is impossible for public or private
rights to be secured.
24 STRICTURES ON CHURCH GOVERNMENT.
A person applies to a church for membership, and, for
good or had canse, he is refused. But another church
receives him. This is, in truth, not a very uncommon thing*
It could scarcely fail to happen occasionally, such is the
difference of opinion among individual persons respecting
the validity of baptism, certificates of Church membership,
and many other questions that must arise in inquiring' into
a man's right to Church membership. And so of any other
question. Any theological question,—any ecclesiastical ques¬
tion,—any question respecting the validity of a Church, a
ministry, the sacraments, or any thing else—may be sum¬
marily decided by any one congregation, at any time, consist¬
ing of four or five, or five hundred members; and, so far as
the rights of parties concerned are involved, the decision is
final ; but so far as the question itself and the views of other
persons are concerned, it can never be decided.
Let us now look a few minutes at The Baptist Church,
in general; for heretofore we have been chiefly looking at
the single, separate churches or congregations, individually.
The several churches which make up the whole Church,
as it is called, are, it must be remembered, entirely inde¬
pendent of each other. There is no legislative, or judicial,
or executive federation among them. Then it cannot be said
of the whole, that it has a government. No one, with any
sort of logical propriety, can speak of the government of the
Baptist Church. For, as a whole, it can have no common
government, because there is no federation among and between
the separate churches or separate governments.
You can speak'of the government of the several States of
this Union, because, and only because, they have all con¬
federated in a general government; surrendering to such
general government certain legislative, judicial, and executive
rights, which primarily pertained to them. And in so far
as they have surrendered these rights, they are not independ¬
ent. One of the rights the States have surrendered is,
that they will not change their governments, severally, so
as to make them any thing else than republican. Another
right surrendered is, that they will not legislate and
another, that they will not exercise jurisdiction, in'many
specified instances of great importance, which are assigned to
the general government.
Hence you can speak of the government of the States,
STRICTURES ON CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 25
severally or collectively: because, in these respects, tbey are
in the compact they have entered into in their federation.
But if these States had no federation, you could not predicate
any thing of them in common, any more than you could of
the States of Mississippi, Lower Canada, Holland, and Cuba.
They have no federate alliance, and hence their government,
laws, and administration, severally, are independent of each
other.
The several Baptist churches are not federate with each
other, but are independent. Hence, as a whole, they have
no government, whatever may be said of each separate church
in particular. And hence, to know any thing about ecclesi¬
astical government among Baptists, you must go and examine
each one in particular. Many of them are at times, or alto¬
gether, practically monarchical: others are aristocratic. But,
for the most part, they are republican or democratic. But,
as is explained above, each society being an independent
republic, without a judiciary—and being so utterly unlike any
other republics that ever existed—having no means of decid¬
ing questions finally, but every thing being constantly exposed
to popular whim or popular will—there is no security for rights,
and consequently no liberty, and hence, it might be said, no
government. "
For here is an important principle that must be remembered.
When the republican or democratic principle is carried'so far
as to destroy the regular judicial power, with a tribunal of last
resort, and also destroy or forbid the exercise of proper exe¬
cutive authority, then you have pushed it into anarchy. An¬
archy is the condition of a people where each one, without any
limit or restraint, has equal authority with any other one.
This is said to be—nay, it is claimed to be, the condition
of the Baptist churches. It is unfortunate that it is so. If
that large and respectable body of Christians had a govern¬
ment, they would, no doubt, be much more useful.
Not only have they no government, but legally they have
no ministry. In this particular, however, they constantly
violate their own avowed principles; for really they have a
valid ministry. They can have no ministry but in violation of
their principles, for this obvious reason Each church that
is, each congregation, is independent in itself and wholly
republican in its government. Then each member of the
church is not only equally entitled to vote on all questions,
2G STRICTURES ON CHURCH GOVERNMENT.
but is equally eligible to any office. There can be no privi¬
leged class, or order, who alone are eligible to office. For
this would be an innovation upon republicanism. Now it is
desired to elect a pastor. Each member is equally eligible.
Then ministers are not exclusively eligible, which must be
ths case in a Christian Church.
We see very plainly, therefore, that what they call repub¬
licanism, and liberty, is, in the first place, anarchy: be¬
cause it gives the same right to any church member, women,
or girls and boys of twelve years or less or more, to vote on
any question, or hold any office that any other member cujoys.
And secondly, upon this principle there can be no Christ¬
ian ministry; for the Christian ministry have inherent rights
pertaining to the government, and the exclusive right of be¬
ing the pastors of the people.
These are some of the awkward and entangling embarrass¬
ments these persons throw around themselves by their efforts
1o assume supposed or dreamy advantages above what is written
either in the word of God or the philosophy of government.
This Church is suffered to remain in this anomalous and
awkward condition, no doubt, from a mistaken notion with
regard to the primitive churches. They have heard that the
primitive churches were congi'egdlional—as any one may very
easily learn—but they fail to remember two other important
things with regard to these early churches.
First. They were congregational from necessity. Christ¬
ianity could commence in no other way; and, moreover, the
rapid spread of churches over large countries, oftentimes dis¬
tant from each other, the lack of facilities for intercommuni¬
cation and frequent correspondence with each other, together
with the dangers to which they were exposed, required that
their governments should be, for a time, at least, what is com¬
monly called congregational.
Second. The primitive churches were by no means so
exclusively congregational as to forbid all federative and official
communication with each other. In many matters they ad¬
ministered their affairs in a congregational manner—each con¬
gregation for itself; but in many other matters—always in
the most important matters—where it was at all practicable,
they called in the aid of other churches, or several churches
would combine in administering the affairs of one. In all
matters of any considerable moment, they conferred with
STRICTURES ON CHURCH GOVERNMENT 2}
each, other as far as possible. So that when you say they were
congregational, you must at the same time say they were con¬
federate with each other, as far as their circumstances and
condition would allow. To a considerable extent they were con¬
federate.
And the same reasonings must hold good with regard to the
religious tenets or faith of the Baptists. There can, in
this regard, be no harmony or oneness among the several
churches, because each one is independent.
It has been said in a Baptist publication, " Religious Ency¬
clopedia/' that "The following brief Declaration of Faith,
with the Church -Covenant, was recently published by the
Baptist Convention of New Hampshire, and is believed to
express, with little variation, the general sentiments of the
body in the United States." Then follows sixteen articles of
religious faith.
This may all be very true. That " Convention" may have
adopted, and no doubt did adopt, these tenets; but they were
binding on no one but the individual members of the Conven¬
tion. The several churches are independent, and therefore
each congregation adopts such tenets as it chooses at the time,
or none at all if it chooses. They may or may not chance to
be the same.
A " Convention" of Baptists can perform no legal act.
They cannot legislate, or adjudicate, or execute, in the smallest
matter. They can say what they please for themselves, but
they cannot speak for any church. They may give very
wholesome religious advice, but the churches are not repre¬
sented in such action in any federate sense, and so they may
or may not listen to what is said in a " Convention." Each
church adopts its own faith, and tenets, and rules, and polity;
and changes them from day to day at will.
Many of them are so rabidly Calvinistic that their " decrees"
amount simply to fatalism. Many of them are openly hostile
to missions of all kinds. Many of them are opposed to
Sabbath-schools—to temperance reform—to Bible societies—
others oppose all religious publications by the Church. Many
of' them openly oppose the Christian ministry. Many of them
oppose the Christian Sabbath, etc.
And as to affiliation, or denominational amity, or social
intercourse, we oftentimes find less of it in what is called the
28
strictures on church government.
Baptist Church than out of it. Among the different denom¬
inations and sects and classes of Baptists, we find, oftentimes,
more of sectarian hostility, aversion, and disaffection, than
anywhere else in all the realms of Christianity. How it is
these unfortunate dislikes and hostilities which so often sepa¬
rate between other denominations, are so frequent and abund¬
ant among Baptists, may he difficult to determine.
In fact, it is well known that among churches and Christ¬
ians which are called Baptists, are to be found every known
variety of faith and persuasion.. Hence, beyond all sort of
comparison, there is far less of real religious liberty in Bap¬
tist churches than in any other portions of Christianity. Lib¬
erty consists not in voting c^n all questions that may arise.
In judicial proceedings there is usually, in a free government,
very little of voting by the populace. Liberty consists in a
firm and steady security of rights. These rights are secured
mainly by means of a judiciary. Every judiciary must have,
at least, a court of primary examination, and a higher tribu¬
nal, differently constituted, of last resort. The judiciary is, in
all governments, the great bulwark of human freedom.
Baptist churches have no judiciary. All judicial questions
are disposed of by a kind of legislation—a mere summary pop¬
ular vote of all the members of the government who chance
to be present, men, women and children.
There can be no protection of constitutional rights, because
there is no constitution, written or otherwise. There can, in
the nature of the case, be no constitution. If any church
were, at any time, to pass a law which they would call a con¬
stitution, it could, in the nature of the case, only govern them
at that meeting, unless they chose to be governed by it at the
next. It could not be a binding constitution, because one
" church meeting" is of the same dignity and authority as
any other church meeting.
Thus we have a large number of Christian people held
together by the mere cohesive virtues and influences of Christ-
tanity, doing, many of them, considerable good to the cause
of Christ, and maintaining themselves without a judiciary,
and existing in compact without a government.
The naked, inherent power of the gospel is exhibited
here most marvellously.
REASONS FOR NOT JOINING THE
BAPTIST CHURCH.
A DIALOGUE BETWEEN A BAPTIST AND &
METHODIST.
BY THE REV. JOSEPH TRAVIS,
OP THE MEMPHIS CONFERENCE OF THE M. E. CHURCH, SOUTH.
Baptist. Good morning, Brother Methodist.
Methodist. Good morning, Neighbor Friendly.
B. I thought I saw you at our church last Sabbath, on
our sacramental occasion. How were you pleased ?
M. Your preacher, in his sermon, really pleased me. He
preached full and free salvation for all. And then he wound
up so beautifully in presenting to our view the happy meet
ing of all good Christians in heaven; and, with tears in his
eyes, exclaimed,
'' There names, and sects, and parties fall:
And Jesus Christ is all in all.
I really felt happy, and almost like shouting aloud. I was
also well pleased that he had invited Brother Faithful, a Me¬
thodist preacher, to preach immediately after him.
B. Well, Brother Methodist, this is the way to get on.
M. But, why call me Brother ?
B. Because I think you a good Christian, and expect to
meet you in heaven.
31. Why there is something very strange to me in all this.
You recollect that, at the sacrament, your preacher told us
that he was truly sorry that he could nQt invite any but the
16*
2 reasons eor not joining the baptist church.
Baptists; that were it but the Baptist table, he would have
no difficulty iu extending the invitation to Methodists and
Presbyterians, etc. ; but, as it was the Lord's table, he did
not feel authorized to give them the invitation. Yet, to-day
you call me Brother, tell me that you view me a good Chris¬
tian, and expect to meet me in heaven. Nevertheless, I was
passed by in the holy sacrament, as not being fit to partici¬
pate thereof, because it was the Lord's table, and I not being
a member of the Baptist Church. And there was also Brother
Faithful, good enough to preach Jesus and him crucified, but
not good enough to commemorate his death and sufferings.
B. Brother Methodist, I was myself truly sorry, knowing
you as well as I do, to see you sitting off yonder, and not par¬
ticipating with us. I could but exclaim to myself, 0 that
you had been immersed, and were but a member of our
Church ! And as to Brother Faithful, I would at any time as
soon hear him preach as our own preacher, and I don't know
but a little rather. I know him to be a good, conscientious,
upright man.
M. Well, Neighbor (you will have to excuse me in not
calling you Brother; for, if I am not worthy to take the
sacrament with you, I am not worthy to call you Brother,) I
am myself truly sorry that such contracted and bigoted views
are held, and acted out, by the Baptist Church. I do desire
to love, and to be in fellowship with all Christians; but if, in
very deed, they will not let me, I can only feel sorry for it,
and make my appeal to the great Head of the Church, and
tell him that these Christians forbid the communion of saints;
and that the sin thereof be not laid to my charge, nor lie at
my door.
B. Oh, my dear Brother Methodist! there is one way to
prevent all this difficulty; and that is, let you and all others
just submit to immersion by a properly authorized minister,
and join the Baptist Church, and then we shall have but
f one faith, one Lord, and one baptism;'' yea, and but one
Church on earth, which, indeed, is our object, and for which
we most sincerely pray, and hope it will yet come to pass.
M. But, my dear friend, admit that I had no particular
objection to your mode of baptism; but, suppose I had ob¬
jections to your mode of Church government, and very serious
objections to some of your doctrines as a Church, would you
REASONS FOR NOT JOINING THE BAPTIST CHURCH. 3
compel me to subscribe to that wbicb I could not in good con¬
science believe, in order to be a communicant at your sacra¬
mental board ?
B. Why I really thought that you Methodists only objected
to our going under the water!
M. We do not object to you as a Church, or to any one
else, receiving baptism, either by immersion, sprinkling, or
pouring ; let every one be fully persuaded in his own mind.
We Methodists believe that either mode is valid, so it be per¬
formed regularly, in the name of the Holy Trinity. I fear
that you Baptists lay too much stress upon immersion, making
it an essential qualification for the Lord's table, and, of course,
equally essential for an admission into heaven. And yet,
stranger still to tell, that if any one be immersed by a Methodist,
or any other Church, except your own, and unless he joins
your Church, you will not admit him to the communion.
Does not this savor of bigotry ? It is as much as to say that
none but Baptists are right, and none but your Church can
ever get to heaven. Bigotry in any Church is to me anti-
scriptural and anti-christian. Don't you recollect when Mr.
B , an Episcopalian clergyman, preached at your church, on a
sacramental occasion, that your preacher apologized to him
for not inviting him to the sacrament, when the Episcopalian
minister replied, "Sir, it needs no apology; for I could not
have received the bread and wine from your hands." This
really appeared to me like " diamond cut diamond"—both
equally bigoted, and of course both equally wrong. Did you
never read the remarks of the great and learned Mr. Hall,
Baptist preacher in England ? I read it with my own eyes,
where he says that his Baptist brethren, in refusing the Holy
Supper to other denominations of pious Christians, "are worse
than the Roman Catholics." And God forbid that I should
ever join a Church " worse than the Roman Catholics !" So,
my good friend, if for nothing else, your close communion
would ever prevent my throwing in my lot among you.
B. I~confess, Brother Methodist, you rather stagger me.
Indeed I never did fully approve of close communion; yet, as
it was a rule of our Church, I thought, for peace sake, I would
keep quiet." But your quotation from Mr. Hall, of whom I
have heard so many good and great things, rather clinches
the nail. To be " worse than a Roman Catholic," is what I
4 REASONS EOR NOT JOINING THE BAPTIST CHURCH.
cannot so well swallow. I shall try to get his works, and
show them to my brethren. Indeed I have noticed one thing;
and that is, the works of Mr. Hall have never been recom¬
mended by any of our preachers, and very seldom have they
recommended Mr. Bunyan, and I rather wonder at it. But,
have you any objection to our Church government?
M. Well, my Neighbor, as you have asked me, I am bound
to tell you, Yes. Your government is too tyrannical. I will
but instance one fact. There is Brother A., of undoubted
piety: his character is irreproachable. Since he joined your
Church, he changed his mind on some points of doctrine, and
now wishes to join the Methodist Episcopal Church. He
applies to your Church for a letter of his good standing as a
Christian. You utterly refuse him; and, if he persists in
joining the Methodists, you expel him from your Church, as
you would a drunkard or a horse-thief. If this is not tyranny
with a vengeance, I know not what is. What, my dear sir,
by joining your Church to be deprived of my rights as a free¬
man ! No. Never, never could I consent to it.
B. Why, I always thought that you Methodists had a
government altogether subversive of Democracy and Republic¬
anism ; that your bishops and preachers received and expelled
members just in accordance with their own will, altogether
independently of the Church.
M. That, Mr. Friendly, is a grievous mistake. No bishop
or preacher among us can either receive into full membership,
or expel from the Church, the poorest lay member, without
the voice of the society to which they belong. Moreover, it
is by the lay members our preachers, and even bishops, take
their origin. No bishop or preacher can issue a license to any
person to preach without the consent of the lay members.
Now, here is B., who wants license. If the lay members think
him worthy, they grant him license to exhort. He then be¬
comes a member of our Quarterly Conference, composed of
stewards and class-leaders; and, if he wants license to preach,
this body of lay members must say whether or not said license
shall be granted to him. And, if he desires to become a
travelling preacher, said body of lay members is to recom¬
mend him to the Annual Conference of Itinerants* or, if they
see proper not to recommend him, he can never become an
itinerant preacher. But, if B. is received, he may, by fidelity,
REASONS FOR NOT JOINING THE BAPTIST CHURCH. 5
holiness, and improvement of his talents, afterwards become a
bishop, by the voice of the delegated General Conference. So you
see, the highest order of ministers in our Church are depend¬
ent on the laity for their clerical existence. In addition to
this, there is C., who has been a faithful and pious member of
our Church for years. He afterwards changes his mind, and
wishes to join the Baptist. He applies to us for a letter in
relation to his good standing among us. We grant him the
letter ; but do not enter him on our Church books, " expelled,"
but, simply, "withdrawn in good standing." So with our
preachers, up to the highest order. This we consider repub¬
lican, and in keeping with our national policy. Excommuni¬
cation, or expulsion from a Christian Church, should in no
wise be executed, only upon such as have been guilty of a
crime which would necessarily exclude them from the king¬
dom of grace and glory. Now, your Church certainly does it;
and, in so doing, I must believe, acts very wrong, and in
direct opposition to republican principles.
B. Why, Brother Methodist, you really astonish me. I
had no idea that such was the government of your Church;
and did I not so well know you to be a man of truth and
honor, I should be loath to believe it; for I have been told
again and again that your Church had the most despotic
government of all others upon earth. And yet, I wondered
to see it flourish as it does, and to see so many ultra-political
Democrats joining it, as also so many lawyers, judges, and even
governors enter into it, also why it is that Congress gene¬
rally selects Methodist preachers for their chaplains. And,
indeed, the last Congress, I understand, had two Methodist
preachers, one for each house; whilst I was apprised that the
President and a large majority of Congress belonged to the
party called Democrats. I am beginning to think that there
is something rotten in Denmark. I must have been most
certainly wrongly informed. I will not as yet say designedly
so. Charity hopeth all things.
M. As I have already told you that either mode of baptism
is valid, so I now tell you that Church government may not
be essential to salvation. But, as I prefer sprinkling as a
mode of baptism, so I am compelled to prefer a republican
form of Church government to that of any other.
B. And what son or daughter of Columbia would noil" I
6 REASONS FOR NOT JOINING THE BAPTIST CHURCH.'
assure you, my dear sir, that I myself abominate an aristo¬
cracy, monarchy, or autocracy, either in Church or State.
But, Brother Methodist, have you any objections to our
doctrines ?
M. Why, my good neighbor Friendly, you know that I am
a peaceable man; and my motto ever has been, " Think,
and let think." But to you, as a dispassionate man, I may
conscientiously answer, Yes. Some time ago, one of your
brethren in Georgia was preaching, and in his sermon re¬
marked, "that it was just as possible for a dead horse to kick
a blind man's eyes out, as for a soul to fall from grace." An¬
other, in another part of the country, whilst preaching,
said, " that a soul might get converted to-day, die before mid¬
night, and, in that time, murder five men, steal five horses,
and be just as sure of heaven as if he was in it." However,
this last one was not a missionary Baptist, but a Hard Shell—
not even softened by much whiskey. I, however, understand
that you as a Church believe, " once in grace, always in
grace." Now, my good friend, I cannot subscribe to such a
doctrine. I view it a dangerous doctrine ; and also that it is
opposed to the Holy Scriptures.
B. Well, I should really love to hear you descant somewhat
on the doctrine. It has been one of my firm opinions. 1
may have been wrong; and if wrong, I do desire to be put
right. I will listen to you with delight, and endeavor to
weigh all your arguments as you go along; and I shall do so
without prejudice or prepossession.
M. Neighbor Friendly, there is some satisfaction in con¬
versing with such as you. In crossing your opinions, I do
not brush against a hornet's nest. I find myself arguing with
a cool, deliberate, and honest Christian. 0 that all Method¬
ists and Baptists were even as you are ! We would find but
little quarreling and wrangling in the churches. However,
right opinions are certainly a great auxiliary to our well-being,
both in time and in eternity. Now, in giving you my views
to-day, recollect they are all given by your request. And
hence you cannot harbor a thought that I have any design
upon you whatever in proselyting you to my Church. With
these preliminary remarks—being assured of your attention
and patience, I will proceed, First: To speak of what has
already taken place : namely, the angels in heaven, many of
REASONS FOR NOT JOINING THE BAPTIST CHURCH. 7
them have fallen, and are reserved in chains of darkness for
the judgment of the great day. And Satan himself is be¬
lieved to have been once an angel of light. Well, if angels
and glorified spirits (as free agents) may fall, and have fallen,
what guarantee have we, so less holy and pure than they, that
we shall not fall ?
Secondly: Adam and Eve fell, both pure, and spotless,
and innocent, made in the moral image of God. Says
Milton:
" So ■will fall
He and his faithless progeny: Whose fault ?
Whose but his own ? Ingrate, he had of me
All he could have ; I made him just and right,
Sufficient to have stood, though free to fall."
Ihey were also moral agents, and unhappily abused their
liberty, bringing sin and death into the world. Now, as con¬
version does not destroy our moral agency, why may not we
be liable to apostasy as well as they, they being so much more
pure than the holiest of us ?
Thirdly : The God of nature and the God of grace are one
and the same. And there appears to be a unison of prin¬
ciple alike in nature and in grace. Put an iron ball into the
fire," and make it red-hot. Now, the law of nature is, that, in
order for it to r.etain its heat, you must keep it in the fire.
Remove it out of the fire, and it will soon assume its pristine
color and coldness. So with a renewed soul converted by the
fire of the Holy Spirit: it is happy and holy; but remove it
from that hallowed fire designed to purify and thoroughly
cleanse it, and it soon becomes, as at first, wretched and
unholy. So that in grace, as well as in nature, effect
is produced by cause. And in fully understanding both,
we have to "reason from cause to effect, and from effect to
cause. But we will make an appeal to the law and testimony.
David, in addressing his son, Solomon, says: "Remem¬
ber the God of thy fathers, and serve him with a perfect
heart and willing mind. If thou, seek him, he will be found
of thee j but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for
ever." Can any thing be plainer, in order to prove the
possibility of final apostasy ? Again, read Ezekiel xviii. 24 :
" But when the righteous turneth away from his righteous¬
ness, and committeth iniquity, all his righteousness that he
8 REASONS FOR NOT JOINING THE BAPTIST CHURCH.
hath done shall not be mentioned : in his trespass that he hath
trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them
shall he die/' It won't do, to say with some, that the
prophet meant turning aWay from " self-righteousness;" for
verily it would be a godly act in all of us to do that.
Again : The Prophet Isaiah says, " Your sins have sepa¬
rated between you and your God." God could not be sepa¬
rated from them, had he never been united to them. Hence
I fully accord with that passage : " For I am persuaded,
that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor
powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height,
nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate
us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Now, mark it. St. Paul does not say that sin shall not sepa¬
rate you. Sin is not a creature. All creatures were created
by God. God never created sin. Sin is the absence of holi¬
ness, as darkness is the absence of light, or cold the absence
of heat.
"No evil can from God proceed,
'Tis only suffered, not/decreed:
As darkness comes not from the sun,
Nor mount the shades till he is gone."
Again : Did you never read the fifteenth chapter of John ?
where our Lord says, " I am the true vine, and my Father is
the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit
he taketh away ; and every branch that beareth fruit, he
purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye (that
is, all of you) are clean through the word that I have spoken
unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot
bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can
ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches.
He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth
much fruit"; for without (or severed from) me ye can do no¬
thing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch,
and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into
the fire, and they are burned." Now, you are to recollect
these branches were " clean"—no hypocrisy, no wickedness
in them. Yet, if they did not abide in Christ, they were to
be cast away, withered, yea, burned. Here is certainly
final apostasy; for every body knows that a branch that is
REASONS EOR NOT JOINING THE BAPTIST CHURCH. 9
withered, and burned to ashes, can never again be grafted
into a vine. Hence you or our blessed Lord must be wrong.
I myself must take the word of him " who spake as never man
spake." Again, St. Paul speaks of Hymeneus and Alexander,
who had made shipwreck of the faith. Here is total apostacy
again proven to us. Again, listen to St. Paul's opinion of
his own state. Says he: " But I keep under my body, and
bring it into subjection, lest that by any means, when I have
preached to others, I myself should be a castaway." Even
Paul had to watch and mortify his body to prevent his be¬
coming a castaway—that is, totally apostatizing. . St. Peter
says : " Better for them not to have known the way of righteous¬
ness than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy
commandment delivered unto them." St. Paul says : " For it
is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have
tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the
Holy Ghost, if they shall fall away, to renew them again unto
repentance, seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God
afresh, and put him to an open shame." If this does not
prove the doctrine of final apostasy, I know not what will.
It is here that language is just as plain as it can speak; and,
if we can get over such direct and positive texts as we have
just quoted, we could, with equal propriety, "call bitter
sweet, and sweet bitter," or " black white, and white black."
We have to form our ideas, and give expression to our words,
in accordance with the meaning of language, or there would
be no certain data afforded us of truthful communication with
each other. In addition to all this, listen to the language of
our blessed Lord : " He that putteth his hand to the plough,
and looketh back, is not fit for the kingdom of heaven." " He
that endureth to the end shall be saved." Becollect the man.,
out of whom the unclean spirit was cast, returning back, and
taking seven more wicked than himself, entering into his old
house, and that the last state of that man was worse than the
first. Kemember the two servants—one owing his lord a
thousand talents, and having naught to pay, his lord frankly
forgave him the whole debt. But this same person met with
one of his fellow-servants, who owed him a hundred pence:
he had not wherewithal to pay it: he begged indulgence;
but this lately forgiven servant would not yield to his en¬
treaties, but had him cast into prison. Now, when the lord
f 0 REASONS FOR NOT JOINING THE BAPTIST CHURCH.
heard of this cruel treatment by the servant whom he had
frankly forgiven, he had him called to him, rehearsed to him
his hard-hearted conduct towards his fellow-servant—he can¬
cels the late forgiveness granted to him, and orders him to
he imprisoned until he has paid the whole original amount.
Now, my dear sir, from this parable we must learn the fact
that, our continued state of forgiveness is suspended upon our
continued fidelity and perseverance in well-doing; and this is
in accordance with St. Peter, who says: "Add to your faith
virtue, to virtue knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness,
brotherly kindness, and charity;" and then remarks, "If ye
do these things, ye shall never fall"—plainly indicating that,
if they did not persevere in well-doing, they would inevitably
fall.
Again: " Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed
lest he fall." Again : " Take heed, brethren, lest there be in'
any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the
living God." We are again exhorted not "to receive the
grace of God in vain." Again : " Let us, therefore, fear lest
a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you
should seem to come short of it." We might multiply text
upon text, from the third chapter of Genesis to the end of
Revelation; going either directly or indirectly to prove the
possibility of apostasy; but, be you assured, just with the few
quoted texts glaring me in the face, and thundering their
divine peal in my ear, I never could subscribe to the human
creed of " Once in grace, always in grace." I am aware,
that by some it has been stated that these threats of apostasy
were only given to stir up God's people to greater diligence
in the divine life. But, my friend, there is something absurd
in that idea. Suppose that I was even to say to you, " Sir,
take care, and do not let that rattlesnake bite you," when,
probably, such a poisonous snake is not within five miles of
you, would you not justly charge me with worse than childish
mockery, and downright insult to your feelings, in thus try¬
ing to alarm your fears so unnecessarily; yea, so unjustly?
And what should we think of Almighty God, if this was the
fact ? Oh, I shudder at the very thought of such a blas¬
phemous conclusion ! How much better just to take God at
his word, without any effort to twist it, and to metamor¬
phose it, in accordance with our own preconceived opinions !
REASONS FOR NOT JOINING THE BAPTIST CHURCH. 11
Yea, let God be true, if even thereby every man has to be
viewed a liar. I said that from the third chapter of Genesis,
where the fall of Adam and Eve is related, to the end of Re¬
velation, we have either direct or indirect texts, going to prove
the possibility of apostasy. Yes, and I thought best to make
good my assertion. You will just please to turn to the last
chapter of the book of Revelation, and 19th verse. It thus
reads : "And if any man shall take away from the words of
the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out
of the book of life, and out of the holy city, etc." So you
see, he had a part in the book of life, and a part in the holy
city; yet, if he did so or so, contrary to the will of God, his
promised part was to be taken from him. Our names may be
even written in the book of life, but they will be expunged,
if we are not faithful until death.
But as you appear to be no wise weary or restless, I will
proceed to give you another objection which I have to this
doctrine; and that is, I view it very dangerous: hence it
ought to be laid aside. I will again introduce our unfortu¬
nate mother Eve. God had told her, that in the day she ate
the forbidden fruit, she should die. But the devil told her
she. should not die, but become as a god, or goddess, knowing
good from evil; or, in other words, told her she could not
fall from grace, or the favor of her Maker. Thus, it proved
not only dangerous to her, but ruinous to the whole human
family. It is also productive of a false security. We have
reason to believe that many have been most wretchedly de¬
ceived in reference to their conversion. In taking dreams,
and sympathetic feelings for conversion, they have settled
down upon their lees, singing a requiem of peace to them¬
selves, " I can't fall, I can't fall." We confess that it is hard
for any one to fall who is already down. And alas ! I fear
that a considerable number are in this unfortunate predica¬
ment, who never have been raised from a death of sin unto a
life of righteousness. Moreover, the doctrine is dangerous,
from the fact of inducing many to trust in a past experience
of grace, without daily feeling the love of God shed abroad in
their hearts. You recollect Mr. H wrote down his expe¬
rience ; and, whenever alarmed at any incident threatening
death, he would get his manuscript, and read it over, fully
believing that all was well, because he was once converted,
12 REASONS EOR NOT JOINING THE BAPTIST CHURCH.
and could not fall. But at a certain time, when serious ap¬
prehensions of speedy dissolution was impressed upon his
mind, he ordered his experimental manuscript to be brought
to him, when lo, and behold ! the rats had eaten it all up, and
the poor man was left destitute of either ocular or feeling
experience. The safest way is the best way. And certainly
the safest way is " to keep our lamps trimmed, and brightly
burning;" " to be pressing on to the mark of the prize of
our high calling in Christ Jesus." " Leaving the principles of
the doctrine of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying
again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of
faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms and of laying on
of hands, and of the resurrection of the dead, and of eternal
judgment." But let us " grow in grace, and in the know¬
ledge of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ"—which, no
doubt, hundreds of our good Baptist brethren are daily doing.
At a certain time there arose a friendly dispute between two
colored preachers—one a Baptist, the other a Methodist—on
this same subject, when the Baptist colored preacher remarked,
saying: " Well, buddy, I does think the best way for all of
us to do, is, to take hold, hold on, and never let go." Now,
I think that both you and I will accord with the Baptist black
man. And in so doing we shall make our calling and election
sure; for thus, being found faithful until death, we shall re¬
ceive the crown of life.
B. Indeed, Brother Methodist, I feel much at a loss how
to get round your scriptural arguments; for I am a great
stickler for "Thus saith the Lord." However, there is one
passage of Scripture that I should love to hear your opinion
concerning, namely : " For ye are dead, and your life is hid
with Christ in God."
M. I feel much at ease and liberty in conversing with such
as you, well knowing that you are a man of good sense, and
of honorable principles; and above all, I trust, of genuine
piety I will, therefore, proceed agreeably to your request.
"Ye are dead;" i. e., dead unto sin, and alive unto God—
dead to worldly pleasures, desires, and honors. "Your life
is hid with Christ in God;" %. e., Christ is your treasure; and
where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Christ
is in the bosom of the Father, and ye in Christ. According
to that text, " If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature."
REASONS EOR NOT JOINING THE BAPTIST CHURCH. 13
And hence, as you have received the Lord Jesus, so walk ye
in him. Now, this close union between Christ and the
Father, and you and Christ, is gloriously consoling. And
that no creature can separate you from Christ, and that no
man is able to pluck you out of the Father's hand, is a
heart-cheering doctrine, and one in which I must cordially,
and thankfully, and implicitly believe. But oh! remember
that whilst neither life, nor death, etc., can separate us, sin
may do it; and, as before quoted from the prophet Isaiah,
"Your sins have separated between you and your God."
And as Satan who was hid with God in heaven by trans¬
gression fell, and many others of the angels; as also Adam
and Eve, hid with God in paradise, by disobedience fell—
alas! for us, unless we watch and pray against sin, we
will be sure to fall. Oh, sin ! what hast thou not already
done? Thou didst blacken the devil: thou didst dig a
hell: thou didst thrust out of heaven many, once happy
angels : thou didst bring death and destruction upon our
globe : thou hast produced famine, pestilence, war, and blood¬
shed : thou art daily peopling the lower regions: thou art
enticing from the Church of" God immortal spirits aiming
to make their way to heaven ! How, can we plead for sin,
even the smallest particle of it ? Away with the idea that
sin tends to humble us. Just as absurd as for a man to
say that he got bled by a cold, when in truth he got bled
by a lancet for a cold. So, in tender mercy, God, by his
grace, may humble us for sins; but, verily, sin, abstractly
considered, never humbled any one. Oh, my dear neighbor,
just let us keep free from sin, and then no weapon, formed
even in hell, shall prevail against us; yea,
"A feeble saint shall win the day,
Though death and hell obstruct the way."
Thanks be unto God, that there is no necessity for our apos¬
tasy. I am a firm believer in the final perseverance of the
saints, when viewed in accordance with " Thus saith the
Lord."
B. I see that if the Bible is right, so are you. But,
Brother Methodist, one thought more. You seem to hinge
upon what is called the doctrine of Christian perfection. 1
am afraid that I shall weary out your patience; but do be so
2
14 REASONS EOR NOT JOINING THE BAPTIST CHURCH.
good as, in a few words, to giye me your opinion on that much
ridiculed doctrine.
M. With pleasure I will comply with your request j for, he
you assured, I am a full believer in that Bible doctrine. Not
that I believe we are to be as perfect as angels are in heaven,
or was Adam in paradise, previous to his fall, or that we shall
ever arrive to that perfection on earth as to render us invul¬
nerable to sin, and not liable to apostasy} for sanctification itself
does not destroy our free agency—hence, we are still free to do
or not to do, to act or not to act, to stand or to fall; or, in
other words, to persevere in well-doing, or to become weary,
and to cease in so doing. But, now to the point, in a few
words, as requested by you. What is Christian perfection ?
I answer, " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy
heart, soul, mind, and strength, and thy neighbor as thyself."
This is Bible perfection. And surely God is too good and too
wise to command us to perform impossibilities. Again, thus
saith the Lord: " Be ye perfect, as your Father which is in
heaven is perfecti. <?., in our sphere as mortals, not as
angels, or God. The comparison here may be simply illus¬
trated, by presenting to your view two unequal vessels as to
their contents. For instance, a hogshead, when full, is per¬
fectly full: also a half-pint vessel, when full, is just as per¬
fectly full as is the hogshead, though there is a vast dispro¬
portion in quantity between the two perfectly filled vessels.
Again, thus saith the Lord: " For this is the will of God,
even your sanctification." Again, thus saith the Lord : " If
we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our
sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." And if
from all unrighteousness, of course there is none left, either
to lurk within us, or to reign over us. For sin shall not have
dominion over you) for ye are not under the law, but under
grace. What, then, shall we sin because we are net under
the law, but under grace ? God forbid ! And my soul cries,
Amen. Again, thus saith the Lord: " The blood of Jesus Christ,
his Son, cleanseth us from all sin." Hence, there is no sin
left, and we become perfect Christians, being dead unto sin,
and alive unto God. We also become crucified unto the
world, and the world unto us. St. Paul must have been
a believer in the doctrine, when he prayed for his Corinthian
brethren, that God might make them perfect, that they might
REASONS FOR NOT JOINING THE BAPTIST CHURCH. ] 0
be of good comfort, that they might live in peace, and thai
the God of love and peace would be with them. And to his
Thessalonian brethren he writes, saying: " The very God of
peace sanctify yon wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit,
and soul, and body, be preserved blameless unto the coming
of our Lord Jesus Christ." I might easily multiply texts,
but I think it unnecessary. I would merely add, that this
doctrine is taught all through the Bible, from the book of
Genesis, where God commands Abraham "to walk before
him, and to be perfect," unto the Bevelation, where we have
an account of the happy multitude around the throne of God,
who had washed their robes, and made them white in the
blood of the Lamb.
B. I am satisfied. I yield the point. I dare not oppose
the blessed Bible. I have now only one request to make of
you; and that is, please don't attend our church on sacra¬
mental occasions; for, were I to look around, and see you
sitting off, as a forbidden guest, it would destroy my comforts,
and render the occasion of no benefit to me.
31. Never mind that, Brother Friendly. I do hope you
and I will ere long get around our Father's table. In heaven
there are no different sorts of tables—one for the Methodists,
and another for the Baptists, etc. There is but one table, and
one united family surrounding it, and they all together. But,
now mark it, Brother Friendly, if you are convinced that
I am right, I do not by any means wish to proselyte
you.
B. No, Brother Methodist, you gave me to understand in
the beginning that you had no such design upon me. Yet,
I cannot now say what I may ultimately do. I am, however,
glad of one thing—that I met with you this morning. I
always loved you; but I now love you better than ever. But,
as we have to part, I would just say, remember me at the
throne of grace. Farewell.
31. Farewell, my dear friend. May grace, mercy, and
peace, attend you through life; and in heaven may you and I
have a seat near to each other !
lo REASONS EOR NOT JOINING THE BAPTIST CHURCH.
THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS.
by c. wesley.
Father, Son, and Spirit, hear
Faith's effectual ferYent prayer:
Hear, and our petitions seal,
Let us now the answer feel.
Still our fellowship increase :
Knit us in the bond of peace:
Join our new-born spirits, join
Each to each, and all to thine.
Build us in one body up,
Call'd in one high calling's hope:
One the Spirit whom we claim :
One the pure baptismal flame :
One the faith, and common Lord:
One the Father lives adored,
Over, through, and in us all
God incomprehensible.
One with God, the source of bliss,
Ground of our communion this :
Life of all that live below,
Let thine emanations flow:
Bise eternal in our heart:
Thou our long-sought Eden art:
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
Be to us what Adam lost.
Nashville, Tenn.: Published bj e. Stevenson & F. A. Owen, for ihe M 12 Church, South.