BISHOP S. T. JONES, D. D.
SERMONS a™ ADDRESSES
op the i,ate
REV. BISHOP SINGLETON T. JONES, D. D„
of the
AFRICAN M. E. ZION CHURCH,
with a
MEMOIR OP HIS LIFE AND 0HARA6TER,
written by
REV. J. W. SMITH.
york, pa.:
P. ANSTADT ft SONS,
1892,
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1892, by
REV. J. W. SMITH,
In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
MEMOIR.
iii.
MEMOIR OF BISHOP SINGLETON T. JONES, D. D.
BY REV. J. W. SMITH.
When a great earthly potentate, or one distinguished
for military prowess, or remarkable civic ability, passes from
the stage of action, the whole civilized world is speedily ap¬
prised of its loss; the news is flashed over the trembling
electric wires from all the cardinal points, and the press,
with hunery avidity, seizes upon the minutest incidents of
the tragic event for the delectation of its readers.
The departed one may or may not be endowed with
the double royalty of greatness and goodness, for we all
know that these qualities are too often separable; it is suffi¬
cient that he has won the plaudits of his fellow men, thus
becoming entitled to the appellation, "great." Ah! how
often it is
"Funeral state, and ceremonial grand,
The stone-engraved sarcophagus, and then oblivion !"
It is a singular fact, yet one too well authenticated to
be cavilled at, that the passing away of the good and use¬
ful of earth is rarely thus heralded. A minister of the gos¬
pel, a missionary, or a christian writer, a philanthropist or a
reformer, makes his quietus with only the world's calm
consciousness that his work was done, and no ostentatious
display of grief is necessary.
There is an almost universally accepted belief that
when God calls one of his workers from the busy harvest
field he very soon appoints another in his place; and thus
it is that the work of the Lord does not, cannot languish.
This spirit seems so general that we are constrained to ask
if this belief be the result of a strong faith in the might of
Jehovah, or only the cold teachings of philosophic obser-
iv.
MEMOIR.
vation. If it be the former, we cannot murmur at the lack
of demonstration, which is in such striking contrast to the
trumpet peals that proclaim the demise of the sovereign,
the warrior, or the statesman ; but tod often it looks to us
like a lack of appreciation of the noble qualities once en¬
listed in the service which is now past all possibility of
performance.
These thoughts have been suggested by the simple
announcement in the newspapers a few months ago of the
death of one of the most distinguished black Bishops in the
world. His name will ever live in the recollection of the
Afro-American race; and in the hearts of the ministers
and members of the A. M. E. Zion Church it will be forever
cherished and enshrined ; and on those tablets more lasting
than flinty stone, hammered brass, or polished marble, will
be inscribed the perfect record of his true greatness.
The custom of erecting monuments and paying tribute
of respect to the memory of departed friends is as immem¬
orial as death itself. Abraham bought the cave of Machpe-
lah and fashioned and beautified it in loving sorrow for his
beloved Sarah. Barbaric nations piled uncouth stones on
high as rude, but touching memorials to commemorate the
virtues of their gifted dead. Advancing civilization builds
to heroic worth the graceful shaft that splinters in radiant
space the golden beams of light; and we pause under
Zion's drooping banner to eulogize our fallen Christian
hero, scholar, orator, debater, editor, poet and theologian,
whose familiar features shall be seen no more on earth, and
whose eloquent voice is hushed in death.
Bishop Singleton Thomas Jones, D. D., was born in
Wrightsville, Pa., March 8th, 1825. His parents were
Marylanders; his father, William H. Jones, being an East¬
ern Shoreman, and his mother, Catherine, was born and
eared in the town of Liberty. At the age of ten, Single-
MEMOIR.
v.
ton, their second child, was apprenticed to lawyer Thomas
Kelley of York, Pa., with whom he occupied the several
relations of house boy, farm boy and cart boy.
In the early part of 1839, before he had reached his
14th year, having been legally released from further ser¬
vice in his apprenticeship in consequence of a violation of
the contract, he bid farewell to home and friends and went
to Philadelphia. Adverse fortune, providentially permitted,
induced him to seek employment in other localities, and in
mid-winter of 1842, disappointed and sad, he left, on foot,
the "City of Brotherly Love" which had strongly revealed
to his mind all the bitter elements of "brotherly hate."
This abandonment, but for divine interposition, the Bishop
thought would have been the beginning of a career which
could only have ended in disaster and ultimate ruin. God,
in infinite mercy and goodness, interposed, and made the
threatening point in his history' the turning point of his
life.
With thirty-one cents in his pocket and a scanty
wardrobe bound up in an ordinary pocket-handkerchief
under his arm, as the sombre curtain of night was lower¬
ing over the face of snow-clad nature, cold and hesitating
he approached the door of an inn whose proprietor proved
to be a man of humane and generous impulses; a man
upon whom the Bishop with moistened eyes and grateful
heart-throbs has many times implored heaven's choicest
benediction. He cheerfully granted him the privilege to
rest by the good warm bar-room stove till morning; Sing¬
leton promising him 25 of the 31 cents for the coveted per¬
mission. He kindly gave this poor, friendless boy the use
of a buffalo-robe, and with this for a pillow he stretched his
weary form on one-half of it, covering with the other half,
and having prayed "Our Father, who art in heaven" with a
deeper meaning than ever before, he slept as sweetly as if
MEMOIR.
he had been occupying the bed of a prince or king. The
gray light of morning found him rested and stirring. He
was kindly tendered a warm breakfast which he could
scarcely enjoy for thinking how poorly he was prepared to
reward his sympathizing host for his kindness. You can
imagine Singleton's feelings when about to start he offered
his last pittance and the inn-keeper said, "No; as you are
seeking employment I will not charge you anything, and I
hope you may meet with success."
The rising and swelling emotions of his grateful heart
convulsed his whole frame. The tear-bedimmed eyes,
the faltering voice, the stammering and almost inaudible
words of thanks betrayed how deeply this kindness had
affected him. His friend doubtless felt himself amply paid.
His eyes may have followed the hurried steps and quiver¬
ing form of this poor boy as he sped from his presence on
that cold January morning, but none save God will ever
fully know the full force of the volcanic emotions which
stirred that boy's inmost soul as he hastened to a place of
concealment and poured out his first earnest prayer, and
made the first offer of his poor heart to God in the rear of
a huge wood-pile, just as the sun flung its golden light
on the snow-covered fields around him ; strongly foreshad¬
owing the life of purity upon which he had immediately
resolved to enter. Rising from his knees with eyes suf¬
fused with tears of real penitence, he resumed his journey
with a hopefulness and buoyancy of spirit, a confidence in
God, never before experienced by him ; and with this light
of brightening prospects and cheering anticipations, he
prosecuted the remaining part of his journey With the
sweet comforting assurrance that the Master would prosper
his way, not for anything good he had done, but, because
he had clearly indicated that he had set his love upon him.
That God should thus love him, vile and sinful as he
MEMOIR.
vii.
was, and vouchsafed his guidance and protecting care, was
to him a matter of deepest wonder. But, when in further
exemplification of that tender love, care and guidance, he
found himself in Harrisburg with three times the amount of
money which he had when he left Philadelphia, given to him
without any solicitation, by a jolly sailor whom he chanced
to meet on the way, and when on the same evening of his
arrival he was engaged to take charge of the dining-room
in the Temperance House kept by a Mr. Reese near the
capital building, his wonder ripened into amazement the
most profound. Retrospecting his whole life course, care¬
fully recounting the most remarkable events, and especially
viewing them in the light of this latest and most significant
of all its prominent incidents, he could see, brilliantly out¬
lined, the arrangements of Providence, and recognize the
hand of God managing in infinite goodness, and unerring
wisdom, all its details, with a view to his present and future
good. Impressed with these new and solemn thoughts, he
attended divine services at the Wesley Union A. M. E.
Zion Church, of which the writer is now pastor, on the fol¬
lowing Sunday evening and listened to a most rousing ser¬
mon delivered by that prince of preachers, the venerable
George Galbreath, from Malachi iv. i. The recollection
that Rev. Galbreath had officiated at his baptism when the
was about two years old, gave his words a peculiar power
and influence over his already deeply affected mind and
heart. Speaking of that evening the Bishop several times
before his death said,
"I recall, even now, after 40 years of din and bustle,
the felicitous arrangement, the cogent argumentation, the
terrific exposition of God's judgment, and the pathetic ap¬
peal to the sinner's conscience, which characterized tfye
sermon. And I recall, far more vividly, and with grateful
emotions, the fact, never to be forgotten while memory
holds its province and gratitute its place, that when the rec-
MEMOIR.
ord of that meeting is consulted in the annals of eternity,
it will be found that 'I, unworthy I' was among those who
eame to the altar to give themselves to God. During
three long, sad, and weary weeks the struggle continued;
antagonized by the mighty efforts of Satan to retain me in
his dark and damning coils, but championed by the al¬
mighty efforts of Jehovah to release me from the domina¬
tion of sin. Half despairing and half hoping of final suc¬
cess, I had come to the apparently^plausible, but manifestly
dangerous conclusion, to which so many have come—to
delay any final immediate results—to desist from urgent
and vehement effort, and pray leisurely along through life,
with the hope—almost the certainty—that I would not be
finally rejected in that case. For several nights I had failed
to attend the revival meetings, but had lost none of my
anxiety to obtain pardon, but was seeking privately at
home. A good old member of the Presbyterian Church—
one of the boarders—who had been informed by the cook
whom we called "Mother Pool," of my condition, came to
the dining room one morning while I was discharging my
duties and kindly inquired about the state of my mind, and
after manifesting deep interest for me in the new line of
life and conduct I had adopted, urged me to resume my
special public efforts in the meetings, assuring me that vic¬
tory was nigh. I listened attentively."
"Deeply moved by his tender words and solicitous
manner, I complied with his request. Willing to seek the
Lord, anywhere, Mother Pool (and for aught I know she
was as innocent and unsuspecting as myself as.to where my
future lot should be cast,) invited me to go with her to her
church. I accepted her kind invitation and went to what
was then called "Bethel Church" on Short street. The
night was a bitter cold one, in early February, 1842, and
the church was without plastering or under-pinning, and
very uncomfortable. Although I suffered greatly with cold
feet and shivering frame, I had gone there with the firm
resolution to find pardon, if it was to be found. I was not
disappointed, for about midnight God gave me a satisfying
portion which dissipated all doubt and filled me with un¬
speakable joy. Long before the sun had gilded the earth
MEMOIR.
with the light and beauty of another day, the Sun of Right¬
eousness had gilded and illumined my mind and heart
with a new and better life. I have a thousand times since
gazed into the star-bespangled vault of heaven and surveyed
with mute admiration its sparkling beauties, but never be¬
fore, nor since, did its glittering glories shine out with the
same overpowering beauty and loveliness on my new and
strong vision as they did that memorable night as I wended
my way home. I have looked out upon the landscapes cf
variegated beauty, suddenly bursting into view from the
most favorable points of observation as I have reached the
summit of some lofty mountain. I have beheld immense
valleys, far-reaching plains and extensive hill-sides decked
in faultless verdure and adorned in flowery pride, but never
did nature appear in such gorgeous attire as on the first
glad morning after my espousal to Christ Jesus." *
Singleton T. Jones was converted at the age of seven¬
teen in Harrisburg, Pa., February, 1842, and joined Wesley
Union Zion Church. He was married in the city of Alle¬
gheny, Pa., to Miss Mary Jane Talbert, November 29th,
1846, Rev. George Galbreath officiating. Her parents'
names were Edward and Jane Talbert. God blessed their
union with twelve children, namely: George Galbreath,
Chester Stevens, Ann Catherine, David Eddie, Elizabeth
Jane,' Mary Ann, Singleton Thomas, William Hayward
Bishop, Alice Williamson, Joll Robinson, Jennie Catherine
and Edward Derrussa William. All of these children are
dead except Chester Stevens, Singleton Thomas Webster,
Elizabeth Jane, Jennie Catherine and Edward Derussa Wil¬
liam.
Mrs. Bishop Jones who is of a medium height and of
a feminine grace has a face beaming with goodness. Of a
yellow complexion, she has a head covered with a luxu¬
riant growth of straight, black hair. Her features are pleas-
* The Bishop died before he completed this charming, graphic,
religious narrative.—Compiler.
X.
MEMOIR.
ing and she has quick, observing, piercing eyes. She is
very motherly and friendly in her greetings. The latch-
string on her door has always hung out for God's ministers.
She belongs to that class who remembers the injunction to
"use hospitality one to another without grudging." I Pet.
iv. 9. Many a traveller, therefore, Elisha like, has come
and gone in the Bishop's house, always sure of "a bed, and
a table, and a stool, and a candlestick." 2 Kings iv. 10.
She was her husband's companion, his confidant, his ad¬
viser, and his best friend. Indeed, in many ways Mrs. Jones
showed that she was a fit helpmeet for a man on whom the
searching light of public praise and criticism had shone for
many years. The man who makes no enemies deserves no
friends. Two of the Bishop's children, Jennie and Edward,
are promising graduates of Livingstone College. Edward
has entered the ministry. He is a ripe scholar and very
bright intellectually. The Bishop looked upon him to
keep green the reputation of the family. May the mantle
of the distinguished father fall upon the rising young son.
With Rev. John E. Price, Bishop Jones became a hod
carrier in Harrisburg, climbing the walls of massive build¬
ings, with heavy mortar and brick upon his shoulder. He
also worked on a boat on the Ohio river. He began life at
the foot of the hill. Being a young man with more than
ordinary talent and ability and well adapted to the various
capacities in which he was called upon to officiate, and the
versatility of his attainments rendering him equal to any
emergency, he was soon appointed to serve in the church as
class-leader, trustee, prayer-meeting leader, etc. Once
while he was attending a meeting with Rev. David Stevens,
he was notified that he must preach on the following Sab¬
bath. Then he had not been licensed; but always loyal
and obedient to his superior officer ne did what he could.
So ably did he preach to the surprise and delight of all,
MEMOIR.
that the Rev. George Galbreath licensed him to preach at
the ensuing Quarterly Conference held in Alleghany, Pa.,
September, 1846.
He joined the Allegheny Conference, August 23, 1849,
and was ordained a deacon July, 1850, and an elder in 1851
by Bishop Galbreath. His first circuit paid him $16 for
his year's work and $132 for the second year's work. In
regard to this increase the Bishop said : "I thought I was
doing well when I got $16 the first year; but when it in¬
creased to $132, I thought I was flying."
We are unable to give a definite, arithmetical state¬
ment, (which is far more impressive than the indefinite
rhetorical), of his entire labors as a pastor. For years he
served successfully many of the most important churches in
the Allegheny, New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore
Conferences. In "Mother Zion Church," in New York
city, he conducted, a revival which resulted in the conver¬
sion of 400 souls in five weeks. His soul rested on bibli¬
cal truth. He believed that mankind could be saved only
in the biblical way. He never once swerved from the old-
fashioned gospel as Paul and John the Baptist preached it,
as Martin Luther and John Bunyan proclaimed it, and as
John Wesley and George Whitfield declared it in their day.
He had undoubtedly heard from the lips of the great God-
Man the words, "According to your faith be it unto you,"
and so he expected great things from God, and secured
them. He had large revivals nearly every year of his pas¬
torate. He was a wide-awake member of his conference
and in constant demand for service on nearly all commit¬
tees. As a delegate he met his first general conference in
1852.
To be a bishop it is generally conceded that a minister
should possess extraordinary capacities. In this general
respect all dignitaries of all churches have an acknowledged
xii.
MEMOIR.
pre-eminence over their fellow-men. Singleton T. Jones
being a born leader, a religious stalwart, fighting on the
picket line of progress, loving his race with unalterable af¬
fection and his denomination with always increasing loyalty,
a man rich in ability, magnetism, sagacity, in popular ad¬
dress and executive grasp, rose rapidly above his brethren
as the champion of the A. M. E. Zion Church which ele¬
vated him to the Bishopric, May 31, 1868, in the General
Conference held in Metropolitan Zion Church, Washington,
D. C. On this point, Bishop J. W. Hood, D. D., the religious
encyclopaedia of Zion, says :
"The masterly reply of Bishop Jones to the eminent
Bishop Payne of the A. M. E. Church in Philadelphia in
1864 on the question of the "Episcopacy," in which he cov¬
ered himself with fame, was among the chief causes which
made him a bishop. Jones was simply an elder when he
made that speech ; but his giant intellect made him the
head and willing spokesman of Zion in this meeting to ef¬
fect organic union between the A. M. E. and A. M. E. Zion
churches. Twenty-five men from each denomination com¬
posed that meeting. Jones, with his keen-eyed common-
sense and level-headedness, talented, eloquent, forceful and
convincing as a debater, able, with a ready flow of language,
to always make a strong speech if the occasion demanded
it, was trusted as no other man in Zion was ever trusted.
When knotty questions arose in that meeting, no man of
ours was to speak anything but him. Whenever he was puz¬
zled to know what step he should take on any question he
was to move for an adjournment until he could consult his
men. He mastered the many questions which came up
without having to move for an adjournment. The discus¬
sion of the Episcopacy between Bishop Payne and elder
Jones was one of the most stubborn, able and exhaustive
that ever took place between any two colored men in this
county, and the best judges of the merits of the discussion
do not hesitate to acknowledge that Bishop Jones was the
victor in spite of the learning and skill of his accomplished
opponent. Bishop Payne then and there admitted to Elder
MEMOIR.
xiii.
Jones that Zion's episcopacy was as legal and sound as
Bethel's. That speech made him a bishop four years later.
Gur delegates did not inform him of their intentions, but
they left that great meeting after its adjournment, deter¬
mined that if no other man was elected bibhop in 1868,
Elder Jones should be looked after.
In 1868 a movement was on foot to consolidate the
white Methodist Episcopal church and the A. M. E. Zion
church. Their general conference was in session in
Chicago; ours in Washington, D. C. Bishop Jones who
was still an elder was elected as our de'egate and sent from
our general conference to Chicago to negotiate with the M.
E. church, the mother of our organization, on the subject
of affiliation and union. Bishop Hood says that a very few
ministers with the bishop's bee humming in their bonnets,
could be induced, to-day, to leave the general conference to
look after other interests of the church; that no man
ever elected to the Episcopacy in Zion seemed less interested
or put forth less effort than did Bishop Jones. It was a
case in which the office sought the man. While he was on
his way to Chicago the general conference which sent him
made him a bishop and telegraphed that fact ahead of him
to M. E. general conference. Bishop Scott appointed a
delegation of white ministers with Dr. A. M. Osbon at the
head, to go to the train and meet the newly-elected colored
Bishop. Rev. Singleton T. Jones on his .arrival was sur¬
prised when the delegation'informed him he was a "Bishop
elect" of his church. The Daily Christian Advocate of June
1, 1868, says:
"Dr. A. M. Osbon announced that the delegate from
African M. E. Zion church had arrived with his papers, and,
if necessary, desired that the Conference should take action
so that the desires of this body and that of the A. M. E.
Zion Church should be furthered. W. Reddy moved that
the delegate from that body be immediately introduced to
the conference. Carried. W. H. Ferris moved that the
xiv.
MEMOIR.
time be extended. Carried. A. M. Osbon, the Chairman
of the Committee of Reception, then came upon the plat¬
form in company with Bishop Singleton T. Jones, of the
African M. E Zion church, amid the loud cheers of the
conference and the congregation. Quick-witted, ready,
earnest, sarcastic at times, graceful and accomplished, the
Bishop spoke with such fluency, power and magnetism that
he swept everything before him. His speech was frequently
interrupted with storms of applause. He was given a seat
on the platform with the M. E. bishops."
The Chicago Republican of June I, 1868, says:
One of the most interesting incidents in connection with
the Methodist General Conference, now in session in this
city, was the speech of Bishop Jones before the Conference.
Bishop Jones is one of the bishops of the African M. E.
Zion Church, whose General Conference is now in session
in Washington city. A few days since, the General Con¬
ference in session in this city received a telegram from the
General Conference above named, asking if this General
Conference would receive a delegation from that conference,
with propositions for affiliation and union. The Chicago
Conference immediately answered, by telegraph, that such
a delegation would be received. In a few days, the delega¬
tion, in the person of Rev. Singleton T. Jones, Bishop elect
of the church he represents, arrived, and was introduced to
the Conference, and delivered his address. His speech was
one of the happiest efforts. A speaker of rare ability,
quick perception, brimming either with pathos, sarcasm or
humor, heknewwhen he hadsaid enough. His remarks elicit¬
ed the most enthusiastic applause. Mr. Jones' proposition is
that his church is ready to come into communion with the
Methodist Episcopal Church on terms of perfect equality.
It is difficult to see how the M. E. Church can refuse to
accept these colored brethren on the terms they propose.
It cannot, in conscience or reason, ask them to come in on
any other terms if it believes in the language of Bishop
Jones, that a man is a man, and a Christian is a Christian,
irrespective of the color of the skin.
A member said he had understood that the brother
who had just spoken is a bishop of the African M. E. Zion
MEMOIR.
xv.
church, and asked if this was so. The brotner who had
just spoken being requested to answer the question whether
he was a bishop, said: "I am not right certain about that,
sir. They told me just as I was coming from the cars,
that the General Conference had done that awkward thing."
(Applause.)
The general conference in Chicago agreed to make
Bishop Jones a Bishop in the great M. E. Church on con¬
dition that his denomination would follow him into the fold
of the old mother.
For twenty-two years and eleven months Bishop
Jones filled his great office with much zeal and considerable
distinction. His career as a bishop was marked by
arduous travels in nearly all the states, and by a strange
variety of experience, he used his influential position and
solid abilities especially to promote the cause of God and
Zion. He was as true to the interest of his great church as
a river to its course.
He had a successfully organific mind. The far-seeing
ability of the general conference to judge of the fitness of
meft for the rugged duties of pioneer work, quickly discov¬
ered this sparkling quality in Bishop Jones, and conse¬
quently assigned him to new and untried fields where his
unflinching courage and indomitable spirit could secure for
the church many a victory wrung from the powers of
darkness. He built the wealthy Wesley Union Zion church
in Harrisburg. He was one of the founders of the
Allegheny Conference. It was principally through his
giant efforts that the Kentucky Conference—called the
"brick church conference"—with property valued at $300,-
OOO, stands out to-day as one of the strongest conferences
in Zion. His soul beating high for conquest and victory
he crossed the wild, grand and sweeping Ohio and Miss¬
issippi rivers and planted churches, strengthened Zion's
stakes, enlarged her borders and persuaded thousands of
xvi.
MEMOIR.
souls to sit at the feet of our King. Zion is largely indebted
to Bishop Jones for the western and south-western con¬
ferences. His labors were principally bestowed in that section
of the country. The ministers and members of the Kentucky,
Missouri, Tennessee, Mississippi and Arkansas conferences
will always remember how triumphantly glorious this
distinguished prelate rode in his episcopal chariot through
their cities, towns and villages, scaling mountains, travers¬
ing valleys, threading by-paths—scarcely receiving the
most absolute nrcessities, saying nothing of the comforts
and conveniences of life—proclaiming a free salvation.
During thece times which "tried men's souls," his heart
never failed, his will stood firm, his mind was ever ready
to devise ways and means to' stem the current of adverse
surrounding. No labor was too onerous for him to perform
if the welfare of his church demanded it. In travel and
labor he was up to the Pauline standard. His was a labor of
love.
Educationally, he was without a college training. He
attended the common school in York, Pa., only three
months. After that the Bishop said the Sabbath school of
that p'ace was his primary department, his high school,
academy, college, university, in short, his Alma Mater. An
old class-leader and his son constituted the entire Faculty.
The Bible and common primer were the entire curriculum
used in his class at the time he graduated. Thirsting to
drink deeper from the wells of knowledge this studious
youth applied himself to his books at night and at odd
times here and'there. With the axe of study he cut and
cleared his own way until he not only became a splendid
English scholar, but could speak fluently French, German
and Latin.
He was a warm friend to the cause of education. Read
his educational speeches ! What a fascinating, trenchent pen
MEMOIR.
he wielded in its interests! Read his acts! Livingstone
college never had a wiser and warmer friend than Bishop
Jones. With our other Bishops he united in a self-denying
sacrifice to plant this college on a bed-rock basis. He sent
his children there and helped to support it with his money
until his death. He set his ideals for the college high and
directed his best thought to the realization of his cherished
hopes. His interest in the graduates and under-graduates
was never abated. From the very beginning of the college
he took a front rank among its earnest workers. The fol¬
lowing incident will show his friendship for the college and
the cause of education. A leading minister of the South
Carolina Zion conference objected to taxing the churches
to raise money, for Livingstone College, and objected to a
certain collection being lifted for such a purpose and there¬
fore moved to stop it. The motion was seconded, where¬
upon Bishop Jones arose with his usual dignity, cool, calm,
and, with that ready humor and sarcastic wit of which he
was master, said, "You have heard the motion and second*
All who are in favor of perpetuating ignorance in our
churches, race and ministry; who favor our taking a step
twenty years backward in continued darkness in which we
had groped for years, and who would put a period to our
onward progress which has become the wonder of the
world, will please vote 'aye.' " Not a vote was heard,
the mover not even voting for his motion. "Those opposed
will say 'no,' " was the jocular way the bishop called for the
negative. A thunderous exclamation of "noes" was heard.
Bishop Jones laughed heartily over his great victory in
putting a question. Livingstone College, and lovers of
education,will rise up and call his name blessed.
In 1870 Bishop Jones received from Avery College
the degree of Doctor of Divinity. The Bishop's speech of
thanks after this honor is a gem. Read it!
xviii.
MEMOIR.
He was elected a delegate to the Ecumenical Confer¬
ence which met in London, England, 1881. His health
did not permit him to attend. He was also a delegate to the
Centennial Conference which convened in Baltimore, Md.,
1884, and delivered a stirring address which is printed in
this book.
CHARACTERISTICS.
Intimately and personally acquainted with Bishop
Jones, I can testify to those traits of character which gave
him widespread distinction.
1. As a man, he was of an unassuming, modest, candid,
open nature. He despised a haughty, self-willed, exacting
and domineering spirit. He was forbearing, forgiving and
naturally kind. The world respects men of this stamp.
2. Socially, he was companionable. He had a sunny
disposition. How at times he brimmed with mirthfulness,
and how keen was his ready wit! Who of his acquaintances
can ever forget his mirth-provoking sallies, which it seemed
impossible to resist ? He was quite a humorist.
3. He was very benevolent. Here are his exact words to
prove this statement. "Having already donated to the
church of my choice in 1884, $6,500, with the interest
thereof, accrued during 16 years, I feel I have contributed
what I reasonably could from the little that God has given
me ; and I hope and pray that others will imitate my hum¬
ble example." No one in need ever came to the Bishop
and went away empty handed.
4. He was a poet of no mean type. Several of his poems
which are full of fire, rhythmical, musical and imaginative,
will be published in "Zion's Harp," now being com¬
piled by Rev. B. F. Wheeler.
5. He was a religions editor. He, Prof. William Howard
Day, D. D., and Rev. William H. Decker, established in
MEMOIR.
1866 Zioris Standard and Weekly Review, which was pub¬
lished in New York city. Sample copies in my possession
show it to be one of the most carefully and ably edited
papers ever produced by the Negro. His keen, journalistic
prescience, discriminating taste, led him to decide uner-
ringly what the,paper demanded. He was generally able
to horoscope the cast of religious and political events with
almost prophetic ken. He was a ready, fluent, fiery writer.
Whatever he wrote was sure to be read.
6. He is the author of "Jones' Handbook on the
Discipline of the A. M. E. Zicn Church," which furnishes a
clear exegesis of its difficult paragraphs. The book is a
precious mine to Zion ministers.
7. As a debater he was never whipped on the battle
ground. Bishop H. M. Turner, D. D., says, "in a debate,
men quailed before him like a dove before an eagle." His
sarcasm was most biting and scathing. Bishop Jones'
sarcastic laugh—his scurrilous snarl—his ferocious look—
hissledge hammer gestures—his eyes flashing fire—his frame
shaking with the vigor of his action—his stentorian voice—
will never be forgotten by those who have heard him in a
debate. He never sought a controversy. He never ran
away from one. While under an attack he sat calmly in¬
different, impervious alike to the bitterest invective and the
most cutting satire. When he arose to reply his whole
appearance changed. He seemed to be a machine out of
which he would grind his antagonist with perfect ease and
voluptuous pleasure. His reasoning powers were clear
and convincing. The only way of escaping his conclusions
in argument was to flatly deny his premises. Once his
premises were admitted, he rushed his antagonist into his
conclusions with all the force of a clear but merciless
syllogism. Then, with the zeal and fury of a lion he would
leap upon his prey, tearing him asunder with the terrible
Xx.
MEMOIR.
fangs of his words—however heated in debate, he never used
the wrong word—and in the triumph and joy which the
moment produced, he would stand with silent voice a few
seconds, while a placid smile came stealing over his manly
face. A strict adherent to facts and figures, his words were
"struck off at white heat, while the heart in the breast like
a trip hammer beat."
8. He was a theologian and pulpit orator of the first
order. At heaven's altar of fire his lips were touched. His
sentences were polished shafts. He was no theological
meteor, illuminating the religious heavens for a few min¬
utes and then suddenly disappearing in the darkness. He
was a planet of the first magnitude, shedding a clear and
steady light upon mankind, a light which yet glows upon
the religious horizon and will continue to do so for many
generations. As a preacher he was plain, practical,
evangelical, scriptural. The facts of the gospel were living
realities to him, not mere possibilities. Herein was the
secret of his successful ministry. In the pulpit he dealt
only with the old gospel truths which occupied Christ's
mind and challenged all the reverence of his apostles;
hence, he spoke as a man sent directly from God on a per¬
sonal embassy. He was accustomed to private prayer.
He knew what it was to wait upon God for holy unction
and divine power. His imagination was pure and fertile, and
he had a remarkable power of apt anecdotal illustration.
He enjoyed the happy faculty of rendering his gospel
truths strikingly lucid by illustration, contrast and com¬
parison. He could easily and gracefully step down from
the lofty atmosphere of abstract theological thought and
dialectic speculation into communion with the more rugged
and unpolished forms of the unlettered and to the lowly con¬
ceptions of positive ignorance. He followed the old plan
of homiletically dividing and subdividing his subjects; his
MEMOIR.
xxi.
skeletons, or plans, were usually very thoroughly defined,
and the parts taken up seriatim with nice precision.
9. At the time of his death he was the senior Bishop of
his denomination. As a presiding officer he was dignified
and commanding and possessed great executive ability. He
was a brilliant parliamentarian and impartial in his rulings.
His controlling desire at all times was to do even and exact
justice to all. Spite work did not enter into his appoint¬
ments.
He was faithful to his brethren in the ministry. His
love for his men was steadfast and deep-natured as the tide
of the sea. He had an anchored nature. He was clear-
grained, grain of wood polished by God's providence, and
no veneering about it. He was true. He had one face,
one smile, one word, one action for all. He hated duplicity.
You could tie to him. Out of him no one could have made
an ecclesiastical Benedict Arnold. What he said rang out
like a gold coin on the counter. He knew men better than
books. He had no patience with sycophants* hypocrites,
blatherskites. If they crossed his path he salted and pep¬
pered them from head to heels. For open foes he had
respect and admiration ; he bitterly detested a treacherous
friend. Pretended friends made his heart bleed, and tapped
in him the very fountain of life. And yet the bishop was
quick to grant forgiveness. He could not hold malice. How
often with eyes suffused with tears and a heart almost
bursting with grief did he say, "So-and-So has gone back
on me, but I am going to do the right thing by him. As
a Christian and Bishop my conscience would not allow me
to stoop to revenge. When I use my high and sacred
office to punish my enemies, then God or the general con¬
ference should disrobe me." Strange to say, that while
Bishop Jones was unmerciful in public debate in his on¬
slaught upon his opponent, in private, he would J weep like
xxii.
MEMOIR.
a child at the least sympathetic chord that might be touch¬
ed in his sympathetic nature by not only a friend but a foe.
Duty was a guiding star to him. Is it a wonder that his
friends grappled to him like links of steel ? He loved the
aged ministers for their loyalty and worth to Zion. He
could not bear to hear any one call them "old fogies." He
loved the young ministers. His anger was kindled if any
one sneered at them. He hated ministerial jealousy. He
did not believe in keeping young men down. If they
had courage, brain, religion and modesty and were pushing
rapidly to the front, he was not the Bishop to sneeringly tell
them in the words of the Scripture, "Tarry at Jericho till
your beards are grown."
SICKNESS AND DEATH.
For several years Bishop Jones has been in poor
health. It was a constant source of uneasiness to his
friends and followers. He suffered from a complication
of diseases which finally culminated in an attack of paralysis
which his enfeebled and shattered constitution was unable
to resist. Everything was done by his faithful wife and
doctors to save his life, but disease had done its fatal
work. He realized this and called his famility to his bed¬
side, saying, "Mary, my wife, I have done all I can for
the church of my choice. There are my sermons and
speeches which may be of some service to my brethren
and Christians generally. J. W. Smith will compile and
publish them in book form. The sale of them will bring
you in a little revenue. I have done all I can for my
family. Mary, my Bishops and brethren will not let you
suffer. They will look after you. Day is breaking. It is
well with my soul. My trust is set, steadfast and firm,
upon the atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ."
In the afternoon of April 18, 1891, the pale boatman
with his icy oars steered to 1019—19th St., N. W.,
MEMOIR.
xxiii.
Washington, D. C., read his warrant to the bishop and
said, "I have come for you." The bishop drew his sword
from the scabbard, advanced, and doubtless asked, "Who
art thou ? Who sent thee ? " The response was, "I am
death. For the Christians I have no sting. I have a
message for you. Jesus wants you to come home.
Having done your work well, you have sufferered long
enough. Your friends are at the pearly gate awaiting
your arrival. I am the door through which you must
enter to reach heaven." The Bishop sheathed his sword
and said, "I am ready." There was no fear. He stepped
into the life-boat which quickly plunged into the surges
of death, its swirling waves rolling over him. Jesus hushed
the tempest. The boat sailed into heaven's harbor. The
gates of pearl rolled backward on their musical hinges for
him to enter. He is home now. He came to his grave in a
full age, " like a shock of corn cometh in his season." His
death in the midst of his usefulness is an affliction to our
Church and creates a gap in our ranks which will be
difficult to fill. Zion will never see his like again.
His funeral which occurred Tuesday, April 21, at 2
p. m., in John Wesley Zion Church, Washington, D. C., was
attended by an innumerable multitude of people. Ministers
from nearly every conference in Zion were present. The
fountains of sorrow were everywhere opened. Tears were
pouring down the cheeks of aged and young. The follow¬
ing was the order of services which the Bishop arranged
before his death. Bishop J. J. Moore lined the hymn " O
where shall rest be found?" Bishop J. W. Hood read the
39th and 40th Psalms. Bishop T. H. Lomax read 1 Cor.
xv. 41-58. Bishop C. C. Pettey offered a pathetic prayer.
Bishop C. R. Harris read a lesson and announced the hymn,
"I love thy kingdom Lord." Bishop Hood read an inter¬
esting biographical sketch of Bishop Jones. Bishop J. P.
xxiv.
MEMOIR.
Thompson, his social companion, preached a tender eulo¬
gistic sermon from Job xiv. 14. He paid a glowing tribute
to the deceased. Bishop J. M. Brown, Bishop H. M. Tur¬
ner and Rev. Dr. J. H. Handy of the A. M. E. Church de¬
livered befitting remarks. Bishop Moore read a poem
which he prepared especially for the occasion. The body
was then borne to the hearse by the active pall-bearers.
The long procession moved to Harmony Cemetery where
bishop is buried.
Farewell, for a season, loved and honored bishop!
Thy memory is still as a sweet perfume to thousands who
have caught inspiration from thy lips. Thy memory will
perfume every home in the A. M. E. Zion Church. Noble
standard-bearer, once of the church militant, but now of
the church triumphant, farewell! Thou hast just left us.
We almost expect thee back. The plaintive cry of the He¬
brew king, when the chiefs of his people were stricken down*
"How are the mighty fallen?" expresses the sadness of Zion
to-day. Zion's champion, loyal, true, farewell! With voice
and pen thou didst as much as any man, dead or living, to
make Zion what she is to-day—one of the leading African
Methodist denominations in the world. Farewell, Christian
hero! Thou didst march with us, enduring hardness as a
good soldier, until thou didst receive an honorable discharge.
Thou hadst the scars of many a hard fought battle and the
dust of a weary journey on thy garments, fighting for us
Zion's trumpet will no more call thee to battle. Wringing
our hands, we are marching to the drum-beat of muffled
anguish. Lover and defender of thy race, farewell! Quick
in sympathy, thou didst denounce on the platform, in the
newspapers, with a frankness and earnestness which refused
to recognize the consequence to thyself, oppression in what¬
ever guise it appeared. Thou didst believe in the "Father¬
hood of God and the Brotherhood of Man." Editor and
MEMOIR.
XXV.
debater, farewell! Though thou didst at times hold thy
opponents over a slow fire and roast them, yet beneath thy
rugged surface there was one of the truest and warmest of
hearts. Since thou wast an honorable antagonist, never
transcending the bounds of common propriety, never hold¬
ing malice nor envy, to-day thy fragrant memory is cherished
by foe and friend alike. Pulpit orator, staunch and inflexi¬
ble defender of "the old-fashioned Gospel," farewell! What¬
ever touched the Bible touched thee. It seems but yester¬
day since we saw thee stand with flashing eyes, peculiar
gestures, burning rhetoric, sparkling humor, iridescent im-
agery, charming diction, penetrating logic, sweeping the
heartstrings of the listening multitudes.
But thy eloquence is stilled in death. Lips that yes¬
terday quivered with warmth and love and truth are now
cold and hard and dumb. Feet that were swift and beauti¬
ful upon a thousand errands of joy and of pity, are still and
helpless. Arms, strong and brawny, that fought well many
a battle for the right, lie folded, stiff and useless, across the
silent breast. The cruel grave opens its greedy mouth and
devours thy clay. Thy soul, precious soul, has winged its
way to God. We leave thy body with the angels who will
stand guard at thy tomb and keep watch over it until the
long, loud shrill blast of Gabriel's trump is heard.
Bishop Singleton T. Jones, D. D., farewell! Thou art
one of God's own mailed knights, arrayed in the panoply
of Heaven, with the girdle of truth and breastplate of right¬
eousness, the shoes of readiness, the shield of faith and the
sword of the Spirit which is the word of God. Rest in the
Master's presence ! Lay by the hope helmet for the glory
crown! Put away the sword for the palm! Take thy
place among the conquerors and white-vested elders near
the throne of God and the Lamb, and when we, thy com¬
panions, who are waiting like sentries on duty, shall hear
xxvi.
MEMOIR.
the command, "Come up higher," we, too, will board the
"old ship of Zion " and go speeding over the rippling sea
of death, fearing no evil, while Jesus, our Captain, is on deck,
and the steady hand of his own consecrated will is at the
helm; then, we hope to meet thee and all of Zion's bishops,
ministers and members. Look for us! Some day thou wilt
see Zion's army shouldering up the hills of heaven.
Departed friend, gallant leader, dear bishop, if I should
wreathe the cedars of Lebanon with the roses of Sharon
and deck thy memory with this crown of beauty, it would
but mock thy prowess and mimic the grandeur of thy earthly
career. It is only now and then that the world produces a
Wesley, a Luther, a Wellington, a Toussaint L. Overture,
a Fred Douglass, a J. C. Price, and a Singleton T. Jones.
Mason and Odd Fellow, hail! farewell! farewell !
POEM.
xxvii.
TO THE MEMORY OF BISHOP JONES, D. D.
rev. w. h. marshau.
By all people in ev'ry age
A tribute fitting has been paid
To days which tell of war's carnage,
Of victory and its parade.
But who from themes of war will turn
To write the sweetest poetry
That we may ever hear or learn
To Bishop Jones' memory?
From church to church, from state to state,
Both far and wide he went,
Bidding his lowly race to wait,
To ever pray and be content,
'Till God who knows man's ev'ry thought,
Ordered his people should be free :
For patience which our Bishop taught
We'll e'er revere his memory.
The hosts of Zion long he led,
And many soul's for Christ he won,
Taught them the "Narrow Way" to tread,
To progress when they once begun :
From pulpit and from platform, too,
He preached the Holy Trinity.
Then all who are to Zion true
Will cherish well his memory.
Of other men chant ye who will
In melody both grand and sweet,
But all who cling to freedom still
And all who Zion's name repeat
And all who with pleasure survey,
Our triumph over penury,
Come now and loving tribute pay
To Bishop Jones' memory.
HarrisburG, Pa.
CONTENTS. xxix.
CONTENTS.
Memoir, by Rev. J. W. Smith,
Poem, -
SERMONS
I. The Dereliction of the Church the Obstacle
to the Triumph of Christianity, - I
II. Christianity the Unconquerable Peace of the
Soul, - - - - 29
III. A Sumptuous Feast, - - - 42
IV. The Majesty, Glory and Invincibility of
Christ's Kingdom the Source of Joy and
Gladness to His Subjects, - 50
V. A Habitation for God, - - - 58
VI. Lessons Drawn from the Rainbow, (His
First Sermon), - - - 71
VII. Spiritual Deception, - 82
VIII. Spiritual Deception, (Concluded), - - 92
IX. Six Steps to the Throne, - - 99
X. The Institution, Character and Provisions of
the Priesthood; and a Plea for the Gos¬
pel Ministry, - 106
XI. Comparing Ourselves with the Conduct
Required of Us by the Almighty - 116
XII. The Good Samaritan, - - - 125
XIII. The Trials and Triumphs of God's Church, 135
111.
xxvii.
XXX.
CONTENTS.
XIV. God's Method of Using Good Men, - 145
XV. Christian Unity, - - - - 161
XVI. Requiescat iu Pace, - - - 166
XVII. A Mind to Work, - 171
*5CVIII. Skeletons Sermons, - - - 182
addresses.
I. Congratulatory, - - - 216
II. An Emancipation Oration, - - 222
III. The Negro: His Irrepressibility and Hope¬
fulness, - - - - 235
IV. Is Methodism Losing Its Power over the
Masses? - - - - - 251
V. A Masonic Address, - 263
VI. The Church: Its Work: Its Future Glory, 267
Golden Tributes, - 287
SERMON I.
"THE DERELICTION OF THE CHURCH THE
OBSTACLE TO THE TRIUMPH OF CHRIS¬
TIANITY."
' 'And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto
me." John xii. 32.
^ It would seem from the marginal references, no less
than from any correct view of the meaning of the text,
that it refers primarily to the lifting up of Christ Jesus
upon the cross to expiate man's guilt. And it is quite as
clear that in its full scope and bearing it refers to his ele¬
vation in his personal and official character, by the Church,
as the means of drawing mankind to his standard, since
his literal elevation, considered in itself, can never draw
mankind to him, but a proper knowledge and understand¬
ing of it. The Apostle Peter took this view of it on the
day of Pentecost, and Paul and the Apostles generally
afterwards, and we see with what rapidity men and women
were drawn to Jesus in their day, and we may infer how
little of this world would be controlled by his Satanic
Majesty to-day if this simple, earnest, and practical method
of elevation and drawing had continued. Now, as the
church is the divinely appointed instrumentality by which
this knowledge of Christ's death and its saving results are
to be communicated to the world, it follows that the failure
to accomplish the result indicated in the text, during
eighteen and three quarter centuries of effort in that di¬
rection, must either be on account of the inadequacy of
Christ to fulfill the promise or the dereliction of the Church
in the discharge of her duty.
2
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
Let us inquire as to the adequacy of Christ for the
fulfillment of the promise. We notice :
First—That the person, character and offices of the
Redeemer of the world present an attractiveness and
charm designed and abundantly sufficient to draw all men
to his standard.
First, His Person. In our reflections upon the illus¬
trious personage whom God hath set forth to be a propitia¬
tion through faith in his blood—the Saviour of the world
—we are filled with strange admiration and wonder, in
view of his peculiar fitness and adaptation to meet all the
requirements of the almost endless variety of circum¬
stances, conditions and peculiarities existing in the human
family. With a prescience of which the infinite and eternal
mind is alone capable, every possible sympathy of the
human heart receives in him instant responses ; every want,
however minute, is met in loving helpfulness ; every sigh
of sorrow finds soothing balm ; while every charm and
beauty capable of ravishing the soul is found in him in its
most sublime effulgence and superlative degree.
In personal appearance, so far as we have gathered an
account of it, he possessed the most perfect human form—
most commanding, erect and beautiful. With this sym¬
metrical and noble form he combined a fine, prominent
forehead, a keen, sparkling eye, delicate mouth and chin,
embellished with a brilliantly ruddy countenance. Added
to these, he possessed sweet, clear voice, ringing out on
the air like the vibratory sounds of the most charming in¬
strument—now piercing the conscience with its keenest
notes, now melting the heart with its mellow, soothing
strains, and now lifting the most fearful and despondent by
its inviting, elevating and reassuring tones—full of hope,
love and power. If we regard his princely gracefulness
and dignified bearing, his easy, modest and winning ges-
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
3
tures, his look of sympathy and tenderness lavished upon
the vast multitudes of the poor and unfortunate as he stood
by the seaside, on hill-top, or on whatever spot he had
chosen for the time as his rostrum ; with his wealth of
raven hair—whether of head or beard—tossed by the winds
and gleaming in the sunlight, or hanging in rich quietness
and beauty over a bosom heaving with love, or shoulders
strong to bear the heavy weight of our sins ; he may be
justly regarded the fairest among ten thousand and alto¬
gether lovely—eminently fitted in his personage, to draw
all men unto him.
Secondly—If we contemplate him in the light of
moral character; he stands forth unrivalled and alone, even
when the noblest, purest, grandest specimens of mankind,
gathered from all the ages, pass under our inspection.
Brilliant and illustrious as is this army of patriarchs, kings,
prophets, priests, apostles, martyrs and confessors ; fol¬
lowed by that embannered host, the heroes of the Reforma¬
tion, that veteran corps of great and good men, with its
rear guard made up of all the pious and the good, the
bloodwashed and pure, the sainted and the holy, from
cottage or palace—those from the humbler walks of life
where many, if not most of the brighter examples of moral
worth and excellence live and die unheralded, save by
those winged watchers, the reportorial staff, who gather
items for the ledger of eternity; or those from the higher
walks of life, who, in spite of its adverse tendencies and
allurements, have stood out boldly for God—amid all these
glittering stars, shining out in moral beauty and grandeur,
exciting the wonder and admiration of the world ; Christ
Jesus in his life of matchless moral purity eclipses them all.
The observations of astronomy have established the belief
—improbable as it may seem to us, from the limited glance
the eye is capable of sustaining as we look up to the king
4
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
of day—that spots, here and there, mar the face even of
that bright luminary. Of the untold number of suns
whose light illumines the countless planetary systems of
this vast universe, each, possibly, is marred by his spots.
Thus, moral spots—human defects—specks at least of
moral deformity, mar the beauty and brilliancy of each and
all of the illustrious examples that have just passed before
us. But Christ, our sun—viewed from whatever point of
observation, or by whatever ocular appliances, whether by
his friends or by his enemies—stands forth, after the
scrutiny of ages, as to moral character, pre-eminently
''without spot or wrinkle,"—without taint or touch—the
most perfect and sublime exhibition of moral worth and
excellency, whether in word or action, in thought, desire
or emotion—without limitation or qualification—"An
Israelite indeed in whom is no guile1'—the fitting center of
moral excellency.
Thirdly—If we contemplate him in the light of his
official functions, sustained to our fallen and degraded race,
he is characterized by equally marvelous attractions—
whether as our surety, our prophet, our priest or our King.
First—as our Surety—we see him stepping forth in
that fearfully interesting crisis in the history of the uni¬
verse, when, within sight of all created intelligence, a
rebellious world stood trembling in jeopardy. When, in
the language of a distinguished writer now with him above,
"The hill of God, the Mountain of His Majesty, revealed
flames of fire, and now smiled with momentary love, and
now again with fiery fierceness, burned ; and from behind,
the darkness of the throne, through which created vision
never saw, the living thunders in their native caves mut¬
tered the terrors of Omnipotence, and ready, seemed im¬
patient to fulfill their errand of exterminating wrath."
It was at this awful crisis, while the angel of mercy
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
5
bent before the throne in earnest pleading, held the sword
of justice back—while the assembled inhabitants of the
universe, with the recollection of the fate of revolted spirits
fresh in memory, waited in motionless, breathless anticipa¬
tion of a similar fate for mankind—while swift-winged
seraphs, who in their burning sympathy and tender solici¬
tude, had sought in vain some helpful agency for a doomed
world, returned appalled and silent, till the universal host
of celiestial spirits caught the sign, and silence reigned in
heaven—it was then that Christ, in his wondrous love and
condescension, became our surety, stipulated for the in¬
demnity of the law, the amicable settlement of the claims
of divine justice, the triumphant vindication and mainten¬
ance of the honor and dignity of the throne of universe, the
dislodgment and expulsion of his Satanic Majesty alike
from every inch of territory secured by his usurpation, and
every heart panting to return to loyalty and to God. At
this startling announcement the muttering thunders are
hushed to silence, the angered flames subside, the gloomy
clouds temporarily surrounding the throne vanish, and
silent harps wake once more, and strains of enchanting
melody, richer and grander far than even angels had heard,
float out in song, filling the vault of heaven; and the
burden of that song ran: "God is love!" That song
thrilled a universe. The vast assemblage summoned from
far off worlds to be witnesses of the scene of awful grandeur
just ended, caught up the strain, and, on homeward flight,
harped it from world to world. Earth caught the full
chorus, and over mountain and plain, through valley and
cavern, over land and sea, the sweet cadence was heard.
And deep hell listened to the vibratory sound of the melt¬
ing music, and read, aghast, the lesson of its uttef* defeat
and final overthrow.
Brethren, if we would have the world drawn to Jesus,
6
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
let us take up the heart-melting, soul-stirring and captiva¬
ting refrain and practically convince it that "God is love T
Christ, as our surety, will fully • demonstrate the truth if
he is faithfully lifted up, as such, by the Church.
Second—If we view him in his Prophetic character, as
our teacher of righteousness, he not only maintains all
those excellencies which we have already discerned in
him, but assumes still greater attractiveness. With a
subject, the importance of which may be estimated alike
by the dignity of the Teacher, and the interest and earnest¬
ness with which his instructions are imparted ;—with an
eloquence not more remarkable for its burning zeal than
for its melting, over-whelming, and all-conquering pathos
—He combines a method so lofty in its character that
angels listen with astonishment, and yet so simple that
children may comprehend his every word. Freed from all
pompous, ostentatious, or dictatorial manner, he reproves
with meekness, rebukes with mildness, and expostulates
with a gentle, kindly, winning voice, full of tender welcome
to all. No manifestation of impatience, no word of harsh
reproof, no repulsive or forbidding look, checks the ap¬
proaching footsteps, or quenches the kindling spark of
hope, of the poorest and vilest who come to learn of this
Prince of Teachers. There are institutions of learning
whose doors the children of toil and the votaries ofpoverty
may not enter; there are teachers whose professional ser¬
vices the obscure of earth may never hope to share; but
whosoever will, may avail him or herself of the professional
services of this great Teacher of Righteousness.
Thus, we see that, whether in conversation with the
doctors of the law, elucidating the most difficult problems
or shedding light upon the most intricate subjects of dis¬
putation ; or, whether teaching the humble cottagers in the
valleys, the villages, or hills of Judea; whether discoursing
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
7
to the multitudes which attended on his ministrations, on
the mount, by the sea, or in the synagogues, or impart¬
ing in gentle tones those thrillingly interesting lessons of
life and salvation at the residences of the Marys and
Marthas ; at the well of Jacob, on the road to Emmaus ;
or on the other highways and byways threaded by his
hallowed feet; whether in convincing Nicodemus of the
necessity of the new birth, or instructing the young
moralist as to the one thing lacking—the universal testi¬
mony in reference to this inimitable Teacher, is that
"never man spake like this man." And such, through all
the ages, is the testimony of all to whom Christ hath
spoken peace, whether of those on earth, or those in
heaven. How grandly, then, in his capacity of Teacher,
do we discover in him those qualities so eminently fitted to
draw all men to his standard.
Third—But, considered in His Priestly office, expiat¬
ing our guilt by a life of unexampled privation, suffering
and sorrow; terminating in- a death of inexpressible pain
and anguish, he furnishes us with additional grounds for
our love and gratitude. The blood of the countless
sacrifices offered to God, from the firstling of the flock by
Abel, to the last victim, whose blood sprinkled the Jewish
altars, only availed to check the fury of Divine wrath. It
was impossible that these should cancel sin, which alone
had awakened that wrath. Of the long line of the priest¬
hood, from Aaron to the last who officiated by the au¬
thority of Jehovah, beasts and birds of various kinds were
offered by them in sacrifice; but when our guilt and sins
were to be effectually blotted out, Christ, our Great High
Priest, becomes to us at once Priest, altar, and sacrifice,
and with his own precious blood he not only checked the
fury of divine wrath, but so completely put out the fires of
Sinai, that henceforth its thunders are hushed—its light-
8
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
nings no longer flash, and the voice of terror which made
Israel tremble with fear, melts away before the soft music
of love and mercy, sounding out from Calvary. No altar
was ever constructed of material so costly ; no sacrifice
was ever offered to God of such intrinsic value, such far-
reaching efficacy, and of such cordial acceptability. No
priest ever officiated under circumstances of such silent,
reverential awe throughout the entire universe, as when
Christ, our great High Priest, by a single offering, expiated
our guilt upon the cross.
Heaven was silent, every heart was hushed; angels
apalled and motionless, poised on their golden pinions ;
and consternation blanched the cheek of created intelli¬
gence through all the celestial regions. Changeless alone,
and beaming with ineffable brightness and glory, the
Ancient of Days, assured of final results, sat unmoved on
the throne ! Earth stood still; the sun staggered in its
fiery course, and gathering his orient beams, hid them
veiled; and darkness reigned through all the land. Hell
trembled, as on and on the battle raged, in which our
warrior Priest, single and alone, met, charge after charge,
the poisoned darts of the infernal host, led in person by his
Satanic Majesty. For three long and weary hours the
conflict raged—with all the noise and fury, the malice and
hate, the half-despairing struggle for the mastery of earth,
on the part of Satan ; and with all the meek suffering and
untold agony, supplemented by that dignified patience
underlying the assurance of final triumph, on the part of
Christ. Weak with pain and loss of blood; famished with
thirst amid the heat and dust of battle; abandoned by all
on earth but a few heroic women; and worst of all,
abandoned, for the moment, by the bright loving face of
His Father—the fit moment for triumphant victory on the
part of his foes was thought to have arrived; and the last
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
9
reserved force from the regions of darkness had been
ordered forward, and under the inspiration of a last victori¬
ous charge, the combined host of hell was hurled, in mad¬
dening fury, against the Lord our Righteousness.
A crash was heard ; the universe trembled ; and from
out the deep hush which followed, the majestic voice of
the dying Chsist announced the thrilling sentence—"It is
finished;'' Heaven heard it; and every harp and voice
re-echoed the electrifying sentence; earth caught up the
reasuring sound, and the wilderness and solitary places
were glad. The pious dead, aroused, listened to the
strange music, confirming the faith with which they had
closed their eyes in death ; and Satan's vanquished legions
caught its echo in their confused and hasty flight from
inglorious defeat, and learned once more their baffled
counsels and changeless doom. Thus did Jesus, our great
High Priest, once for all and forever satisfy the stern re¬
quirements of justice—secure eternal redemption for the
race—re-open the Elysian gates—subdue the powers of
hell—sustain triumphantly the truth, justice, wisdom, honor
and dignity of the throne of God—demonstrate the Divine
aversion to sin, and the Divine love and compassion for the
sinner. Thus, with his own priceless blood, hath he for¬
ever redeemed us from sin, death and hell; and "all men"
are made partakers of all the benefits of this act of com¬
plete, absolute and unqualified redemption, simply by be¬
lieving it and embracing it. And the testimony of angels
and saints, men and demons is, that he has justly earned
the right to stand as the grand central attraction of the
universe.
Not less important and endearing to mankind-—
Fourth—Is Christ Jesus in his relation to us as King.
Long before the conflict of which we have been speaking,
the dominion of the world had been assigned to him. His
IO
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
righteous rule, the prosperity of his kingdom, the loyalty
of his subjects, the increase of his government, its per¬
petuity and final triumph over every antagonizing element
had been the favorite theme of prophetic discourse for
ages. But, in order to its complete realization, he must
vanquish his foes, break the spell by which Satan held
controlling influence over man's affections ; arftl, having
bound the cords of that influence about his own sacred
person, and having opened the doors of the prison in which
mankind were held in diabolical servility, he must possess
the authority and exercise the power to command the
prisoners thus held, to go forth, untrammeled, and free ; to
be henceforth the willing and loyal subjects of the empire
of faith and love. The work of subjugation, as we have
seen, had been accomplished by the right arm of Messiah ;
the powers of darkness had been routed, and the right to
reign "King of kings and Lord of lords," had been secured,
not only by the promise of the Father, but doubly secured
by conquest; and, having arranged with death for the
temporary repose of his loyal subjects, and scattered a rich
perfume in the future graves of his saints ; and having as¬
sured us of his possession of all power in heaven, earth and
hell, necessary to the maintenance of his mediatorial reign;
"self-moving, he rises on the pathway of cloud," in the
sight of all Galilee, and is seen by the heavenly host
"coming from Edom with dyed garments from Bozrah,"
traveling in the greatness of his strength. And the heavens
receive him with the honors befitting the conquering hero
of eternal salvation. Thus, exalted at the right hand of
Majesty on high, he is in possession of plenary powers,
and is, therefore, fully adequate to the exercise of regal
authority over angels, men and devils. His kingly prero¬
gatives, his rightful reign, as also the purity and stability
of his government are announced by God the Father, in
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
II
these unequivocal terms: "Unto the Son he saith, Thy
throne, Oh God, is for ever and ever; the sceptre of Thy
kingdom is a righteous sceptre." If, in his stupendous un¬
dertaking to shield us from the righteous vengedfcce of in¬
sulted, defied, and repudiated justice, it became necessary
that he stand as our surety ; if, with the view of lifting us
from that state of ignorance into which sin had plunged us,
and to educate us' into a proper knowledge of our real con¬
dition, and the means of our restoration, it became essen¬
tial that he become our Teacher; and if, to render us ac¬
ceptable to God, it was necessary for Jesus to offer himself
as a sacrifice upon the cross—then, manifestly it became
equally important that he become our King—vested with
power to keep, in a state of subjection, the foes of our
spiritual liberty, and the formidable enemies of our peace
and happiness, that he should sit at the head of a vast
empire, whose dimensions should be ample for the accom¬
modation of all who should desire admission ; whose con¬
ditions of admission should be so broad and comprehensive
in their simplicity, so universal in their sweep, that no
member of the human family, no matter how degraded,
should feel the least fear or hesitancy in being cordially
welcomed to the fullest fellowship and the most unabridged
citizenship. An empire whose laws, principles and policy
should be as changeless and as enduring as the throne of
God; whose King should not only be immortal and
eternal, but also omnipresent, that he might give his
presence and supervision at one and the same time, in
every part of the empire; listening to the penitent, pardon¬
ing the sinner, justifying the believing, lifting the fallen,
cheering the faint, strengthening the weak, binding up the
broken-hearted, succoring the tempted, reclaiming the
backslider, rescuing the perishing, buoying up the flagging
spirits of the dying, vanquishing the tempter; and so fully,
12
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
effectually, so promptly and invariably, administering to
the multitudinous and varied wants of his subjects, that the
most implicit confidence could be reposed in him by all, as
a constant an# never-failing fr iend and protector. Grandly,
does Jesus meet and fulfill all these conditions, to the com¬
plete satisfaction of every one whose desire turns to him in
humble trust; thus rendering him pre-eminently the desire
and hope of all nations, the one supreme rallying point for
all weak and helpless humanity.
Should we contemplate the possibility of an inhabi¬
tant of our planet, winged for tireless flight, soaring
through space, and lighting on the confines of some
newly-created world; heralding to its listening denizens
for the first time the history of Christ's love, condescension,
suffering's and death for our salvation ; his kindly offices
and matchless power to save; the first inquiry likely to be
made after the thrilling rehearsal, would be, as to the
length of time it required to Christianize this world, the
aspect of affairs after the work had been accomplished, and
his Satanic Majesty and all evil had been vanquished; the
crowning marvel would be manifest when the sad truth
would be told them, that after a period of nearly nineteen
centuries, nearly or quite twelve-fifteenths of all the in¬
habitants of this earth, on which the God-man hungered
and thirsted, prayed and wept, toiled and preached, suffered
and died, are still on the side of the enemy of both God
and man. Surely the language of the text is no idle boast,
but is the solemn utteranee of one who, as we have seen,
possesses the motive, the will, the wisdom, power and ap¬
pliances for its full and complete fulfillment. We must
therefore, seek for the cause of this failure, not in Christ
who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly beyond our
ability to ask or receive ; but in the dereliction of the
Christian church.
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
13
To be available for the salvation of the world, Christ
must be truly and fully "lifted up"—set forth and exhibited
in all the beauty and loveliness of his character. God the
Father hath set him forth, as a Prince and Saviour, to give
repentance and to remit sin. Angels announced his incar¬
nation and birth. God the Spirit, in a personal form
recognized his Divine mission. Miracles confirmed him
as the true Messiah. Satan truly confessed him
to be "Jesus, the Son of the Most High God." Treachery,
under the gui^e of loving friendship, lifted the curtain of
this grand drama, of which the inhabitants of the universe
were spectators ; the enemies of God and his Christ, on
earth and in hell, were the principal performers in the first
grand scene. The subsequent acts in the drama, till the
final scene, are left to be performed by the Christian
Church on earth. The unfolding of the matchless beauties
and attractions of Messiah's character, so that even heaven
itself shall have brighter and more exalted views of him,
is left to the Christian Church ; and the effectual drawing
of the world to his standard hinges largely, if not mainly,
on that performance. The church is consequently charged
with the duty of rendering effectual the drawing of the
world to Christ, and is responsible for any failure to per¬
form that duty.
Let us|next suggest the methods by which Christ may
be more effectually exhibited to the world.
First—By the fuller exemplification by the Christian
Church, of his reverence for, and devotion to God. Now,
as Christ is our only complete pattern of piety, it follows
logically that the more nearly we follow his example, the
more steadily we tread in his footsteps, the more lustrious,
beautiful and captivating will be our personal example.
The first recorded utterances of this distinguished Son, is a
proclamation in advance to the world that the all-absorbing
14
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
interest to which every other was to be subordinate, in
comparison with which even that maternal tenderness and
solicitude which he so conspicuously and so lovingly ex¬
hibited even in his dying agony, was to be subordinated,
was his devotion to the interest and honor of his Father.
"Knowest thou not that I must be about my Father's busi¬
ness," was his tender but significantly earnest reply to the
inquiry of his solicitous mother, who had returned to
Jerusalem to seek the cause of his painful delay. And his
entire.subsequent life is but a demonstration of the intense
earnestness with which that sentence was spoken. On all
fitting occasions, and with a tenderness and a reverential
awe which <?eemed far more becoming an inferior than an
equal; with a solicitude for his Father's glory, on which
infidelity has founded an argument against his own divinity,
Christ sets his Father always before him. If we would so
lift up the God-man as to draw all the world to him, we
must manifest more reverence for and devotion to him and
his great cause, and less solicitude for our own personal
dignity and official honors, so that Christ may be all and
in all. That stilted loftiness miscalled dignity,- which
vaunts itself in personal swaggering and boasting, brings
no honor to God and draws no real votaries to Christ.
Second—By exemplifying his spotless purity the
Church may more effectually and more speedily subserve
its mission in drawing the world to Jesus. A certain
author has, very truthfully, remarked that purity of
character, is to mind what mind is to matter; as the latter
influences and controls matter, so the former influences and
controls mind. To be effectual for the purpose, however,
it must rise above mere profession. Never, since the or¬
ganization of Christianity, has the church laid higher claim
to apostolic purity than at present. The subject has been
most beautifully set forth in books, and elaborated in pulpit
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
'5
discourses. Large public gatherings, specially designed to
promote its interests, have been on the increase for years.
The ardent advocates of this great leading doctrine of our
holy religion have not only had the satisfaction of witness¬
ing the manifestation ot a wide-spread interest on tnis sub¬
ject, but have been substantially rewarded by. the unmis¬
takable development of some, at least, of the most brilliant
examples of a pure life. Yet the fact is painfully apparent
that, not only the great mass of professing Christians stand
aloof from this doctrine, but that many—possibly the ma¬
jority of those who profess purity—are wanting in a practi¬
cal exemplification of its vital influence and power. I am
in sympathy with the Bible standard of Christianity, in¬
cluding, as it does, the highest degree of morality. I make
no war upon the high claim to moral and spiritual purity
so extensively and so loudly professed in the Christian
church ; but I am painfully apprehensive that the very
noticeable disparity existing between the profession of it
and the practical observance of its requirements ; that the
many reprehensible acts habitually committed by many of
those who profess it, is so inconsistent with a life of purity ;
so far from drawing mankind to Christ; tends greatly to
building up infidelity, and weakening the strength and
influence of the Church. Purity, to be effectual, in draw¬
ing the world to Jesus, must be supplemented by peace,
love, mercy, justice, impartiality, righteousness—must be
real, not pretended, must be practical, not theoretical.
Third—We shall facilitate the drawing of the world to
Jesus by exemplifying His sympathy and unselfish interest
for fallen humanity.
" Peace on earth., good will to men," is the sweet re¬
frain of that angelic son to which the pious shepherds lis¬
tened with such thrilling interest, the burden of which is,
" Glory to God in highest." Such was the character of the
i6
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
gospel in its introduction, and such it has been through all
ages; and such is its meaning to-day. And the more nearly
the Church has conformed to this blessed arrangement, in
theory and in practice, the more potent has she appeared
in the exercise and success of the means by which she is
to induce all men to come to Jesus. So uniformly and so
universally is the admission, that tender regard for the race
is the unfailing outcome of Christianity, that no intelligent
professor of it is willing to be classed among misanthro¬
pists, or to be regarded as possessing less than the largest
and broadest philanthropy, not to say humanity. And yet,
what a vast field for the exercise of the commonest feeling
of humanity, to say nothing of Christian sympathy and
tenderness—stretches out on every side of the professed
Christain Church. Not only are poverty and want, ignor-'
ance, degradation, and shame in alarming abundance, to be
found in this field, but here injustice, cruelty, oppression
and wrong plead for Christian sympathy with touching
eloquence, but for the most part plead in vain.
Human beings, made in the image of God, and anima¬
ted by the common feelings of humanity, and therefore,
entitled to common rights, sympathies, and interests—men,
whose only crime, if crime it be, is that they have color and
features and peculiarities slightly varied from those of that
part of the race upon whom the ends of earth are supposed
to have come—are not only ignored, thrust aside, ostraciz¬
ed; not only cajoled out of the rights, privileges, and im¬
munities, which are their natural heritage, as they are of
all men ; but they are maimed, incarcerated, and fouly mur¬
dered, without the semblance of law or justice; and here
even the safe-guards ordinarily thrown around virtue for
its protection for other portions of the race, are torn away
as between colored and white, whether saints or sinners,
and pains and penalties visited upon honorable union;
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
*7
while a premium of complete immunity is offered in ad¬
vance to clandestine intercourse. This field of blood, thus
festering with the victims of fagitious wrong, is under the
immediate eye of the Church that is intrusted with the im¬
portant mission of drawing the world to Christ.
True, its theory, its profession is otherwise; for never
in the history of the Church have ability, learning and gen¬
ius been so thoroughly taxed as now in theorizing on the
transcendant duty and admirable fitness and adaptation for the
moral and spiritual elevation of the world, of that tender
sympathy, benevolence and love, manifested in the life,
teaching, and example of the Saviour. The religious world
teems with volumes on this subject, written in the most
glowing style, so touching, that to read them is to be affect¬
ed even to tears. Sermons, full of burning eloquence, are
being delivered on this subject by men of learning and
ability, from most every pulpit in Christendom; while songs
of singular beauty and power, set to music of the most
soul-stirring character, and sung by the Church in most
thrilling strains, abundantly attes-t how firmly the Church
believes that the exemplification of Christ's tender sym¬
pathy, interest, and love for mankind, without distinction,
is an essential and indispensable element of genuine disci-
pleship. Not more strenuously would the Church resist the
abrogation of her right to the Lord's Supper, than the de¬
nial of her claim to these characteristic marks of Christi¬
anity.
And yet, it is mournfully manifest, in view of the nu¬
merous objects of sympathy coming under her immediate
notice, uncared for and unrelieved—the almost numberless
instances of wrongs perpetrated upon weak and unprotect¬
ed humanity, through her influence or connivance—that
the vast majority of evils inflicted by man upon his fellows,
so far from receiving her open rebuke, has her silent per-
i8
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
mission, and too often her unmistakable approval. "Serv¬
ed him right," was the approving sentence of a leading relig¬
ious journal, even in Christian New York, when that tire¬
less advocate of humanity, justice, and truth—the immor¬
tal Sumner—was struck down in the United States Senate
by brute force, and lay weltering in his blood, for his devo¬
tion to mankind—and that sentence gave voice, just as simi¬
lar sentences approving wrong have since, to tens of thous¬
ands of the Christain name and profession.
Guilty herself of the most invidious distinctions, while
she eloquently proclaims that God is no respecter of per¬
sons, she secretly connives or openly approves of these crush¬
ing evils founded upon such distinctions ; loud in her pro¬
fession of a broad, comprehensive, and catholic spirit, an
abiding and ever increasing sympathy for all mankind, as
far-reaching and as radical, as liberal and as unselfish, and
as fully embracing " every man," as does the atonement
itself; she, nevertheless, practically demonstrated that, in
her sympathy and every interest for humanity, she is influen¬
ced and controlled by a narrow, 'elfish, exclusive interest
or the few, and the manifestation of a spirit of cold indif¬
ference, or cruel misanthropy towards the many ; thus prac¬
tically ignoring what she so Eloquently teaches in theory.
And thus popular evils are catered to, sanctioned or. applaud¬
ed, as interest,gain, or popularity dictate. Atheism, infidel¬
ity, skepticism, Sabbath breaking, intemperance, dancing,
and that class of evils in which she least engages, are met
by the Church, in the main, with merciless onslaught; but
prejudice, partiality,injustice, pride,exclusiveness; and such
sinful and senseless distinctions as are as fully shared by
her as by the world, pass with but little notice, except to
approve. This is by no means an over-drawn picture, but
a truthful outline of the American Church to-day. Is it
marvelous, therefore, that there should be thousands of men
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
19
and women outside the pale of the Church, whose fine,
tender, sensibilities; whose sense of impartial justice and
fair-play: whose broad, comprehensive philanthropy, com¬
pel them to regard with unutterable loathing-, with unmiti¬
gated scorn and contempt—not the Christian Church, as
such—but ah organization, called by whatever name, pro¬
fessing to imitate Christ's sympathy and unselfish interest
for humanity, which can thus wink at systematized wrong
almost everywhere? Is it strange that infidelity, under the
leadership of the eloquent Ingersolls of our times, holding
up to the eager gaze of the multitudes not only the short¬
comings, but the glaring inconsistencies and cruel wrongs
tolerated by the Church without rebuke, are counting its
annual accessions to its ranks by the thousands, till, with
brazen-faced impudence, its banners, are flaunted in the
very doors of the sanctuary, bearing the saddening inscrip¬
tion—"The Church is declining," "Christianity is a fail¬
ure," "The creeds are oppressive," " Full, free, unbridled
license is liberty? "
Is it to be wondered at, that thousands on thousands
have abandoned the services of the sanctuary, even on the
Sabbath, and spend that holy day loitering at home, read¬
ing novels or secular papers, or crowd parks, beer-gardens,
or other places of public resort, rather than listen to a gos¬
pel on Sundays, which is practically ignored every day and
hour during the week, alike by preacher and flock; rather
than witness or mingle in a performance which they have
learned to regard as simply the exhibition of religious cant?
Is is to be expected that the Church, thus fettered by a
thousand enervating appliances, not only shorn of her moral
and spiritual beauty, but so besmeared by entangling alli¬
ances with the world as to have forfeited the respect of
even the better-thinking class of worldings—is it reasonable
to expect, I repeat, that she can be influential in drawing
20
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
all men to Christ ? He who expects any such results from
the Church of to-day, fails alike to understand human na¬
ture, and to comprehend the genius of the Christian relig¬
ion.
Let no one despair, however, of the ultimate success
of the Church in the accomplishment of its mission—so to
lift the Saviour as that the world shall see and admire Him;
the Church—the mountain of the house of the Lord—shall
be established upon the tops of the mountains of pride,
selfishness, prejudice and wrong; so established that all na¬
tions shall see its transcendant beauty, excellence and fit¬
ness, as the most desirable asylum and residence on earth
for healing and for happiness, and for safety as well; that
mankind shall flow into it like the unobstructed flowing of
the majestic river; that the heaven-inspiring word "come,"
shall vibrate from heart to heart, along every line of com¬
munication, reaching every habitation, awakening human
sympathy and tenderness, arousing, once more, that grand
sentiment recognized in all its practical significance and
beauty, in the early history of the Church—"the Father¬
hood of God and the Brotherhood of Man." When the
gospel, the law of love, shall go forth out of Zion, and is
practically observed by her votaries; when every species
of injustice, cruelty and wrong shall be ignored, all invidi¬
ous distinctions and all unholy methods, all selfish exclu-
siveness and sickly sentimentality, will have been interred
in the grave of forgetfulness, from which they will know
no resurrection.
That grand event will transpire, just as certainly as
that Christ Jesus, by the grace of God, tasted death for
every man. The kingdoms of this world are to become
the kingdom of God and His Christ, despite the opposition
of Satan, and the apathy of the Church. I seek to dispar¬
age no sincere followor of Clnist, however weak and hum-
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
21
ble. Victory must eventually crown the sufferings and
death of Immanuel, and that, too, through the instrumen-
tally of His Church. What I insist on, is, that the present
want of the Church, in sympathy and unselfish interest for
humanity, hinders, for the time, this glorious consumation.
If the doctrine inculcated in our Saviour's narrative of the
action of the Priest, Levite, and good Samaritan, was de¬
signed by Him to have any practical bearing, or was intend¬
ed to exemplify Christian character—if it is not an unmean¬
ing appendage to the text with which it stands connected—
then, manifestly, any course of conduct which partakes of
that selfish indifference or neglect, exhibited in the action
or non-action of the Priest and Levite, is not only wanting
in the true elements of Christain life and conduct, but is
highly inconsistent with Christain profession. Call it what
you will—excuse it or apologize for it; bring whatever pal¬
liations your ingenuity of interest may suggest—but the
line of conduct, in any given case, which falls below that
of the good Samaritan, falls below the unalterable and un-
deviating standard of Christianity.
Startling as this sentence may seem to many, and even
to most Methodists, it is not the less true, nor am I charge¬
able with its seeming severity. A long course of error—
time-honored and systematized wrong—frequently seems
right. One of the misfortunes of our fallen nature is that
we can manufacture into right, or at least arrange into ad¬
missibility, what caters to our ease, pleasure, profit or pre¬
judice. Saul of Tarsus thought it proper to do many things
against Christianity when the advantages of popularity and
a name lay in that direction. Peter needed a heavenly vis¬
ion to cure him of his Jewish prejudices, even after three
years of tuition with Christ as preceptor.- And it would
seem necessary, even now, after hundreds of years of Bible
teaching, that the Malay, Mongolian, Indian and African,
22
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
should be let down in a vast sheet from heaven, accom¬
panied with the terrors of the Almighty's voice, in order
to teach the proud Caucasian in a way never to be forgot¬
ten that "God is no respecter of persons."
The treatment of the Indian and African in America
for a century, and the more recent experience ol the Chin¬
ese in California, may seem polite, and even commendable,
in the eyes of politicians ; but it is very evident that these
portions of the common race have not been very favorably
impressed with the love, humanity and righteousness of
that system of which they hear so much, and which is to
harmonize all the discordant elements in the human family.
If these elements are to be brought into accord through
the instrumentality of the Church—if the nations of earth
are to be made to see the beauty, fitness and adaptation of
Christ to all their wants and woes through her instrumen¬
tality, then, assuredly, that Church must awake, arise, and
shake herself from the dust of worldliness and sin, putting
on the beautiful robes of meekness, purity, unselfishness
and love so as to reflect the superior excellency of the
Christian system over all others, as to induce mankind to
abandon all other systems of religion for it.
There must be less vaunting over numerical strength
and material resources ; less exulation over what we have
done, and more humiliation on account of what Christ has
not done in us, and for us, and through us, because of our
failures, shortcomings, and sins.
A new departure on the part of the Church must
necessarily precede any general drawing of the world to
Jesus through her instrumentality.
Taking undue advantage of the ignorant on the part
of the better informed ; the trampling on the rights of the
weak by the strong; depriving the poor and defenceless of
their God-given rights, through self-love, self-conceit, or
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
23
blind cupidity; and then, animadverting upon their in¬
feriority, in consequence, or as a reason for, or justification
of such deprivations, are methods of convenient resort by
Church and State, and exercise a most soothing influence
upon the self-conscious and reprehensible misanthropy
which finds it necessary thus to palliate its crimes against
God and man. But these methods, sustained by whatever
ingenuity or pious argument, bolstered by whatever ex¬
cuses, prove nothing except that they are the legitimate
outcome of human selfishness, rather than the indications
of that spirit of "good-will toward men" which Christianity
inspires, and which is the great leading factor in the uni¬
versal establishment of "peace on earth"—a condition pre¬
cedent to that full swelling chorus of "glory to God in the
highest." If the Church of to day is to contribute, to any
considerable extent, or even remotely, toward this grand
rally of the forces of the Gentile world to the standard of
Jesus, she must rid herself of many of the popular evils
with which she is hampered, and open her eyes that she
may see, and her ears that she may hear, and her mouth
that she may plead the cause, and mitigate the woes of
suffering aad outraged humanity lying all along her path¬
way, and even at the very doors of her sanctuary. She
must not only discard all undue advantage, all double
dealing, and all semblance of unkindness herself, but she
must boldly and fearlessly lift her voice of condemnation
against whomsoever engages in any such conduct. She
must manifest the same holy horror and outspoken anim¬
adversion when some poor obscure fellow being for whom
Jesus died, is outraged or maltreated, as when some more
wealthy or distinguished citizen is molested in his rights or
interests. She must see that the extinction of the life of
some poor Lazarus is quite as important in the eye of God
as the death of Pilate, or Herod, or the most renowned of
24
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
earth. She must cultivate a sentiment, at least, among her
votaries, that shall welcome to the house of God ""anywhere
and on all occasions the sons and daughters of toil, God's
poor, neatly and plainly attired in calico or homespun, with
the same smiling and approving welcome extended to the
votaries of fashion and wealth, arrayed in the most gaudy
trappings.
This universal sympathy and unselfish interest in man¬
kind, generally, without any invidious distinction on the
part of the Church, must precede any general interest in
mankind for the Church, such as will eventuate the cen¬
tralization of all interests and all peoples to Christ. She
may make the welkin ring with the prayer, "Thy kingdom
come," her pulpits may become eloquent with the most
pathetic appeals for the universal recognition of Christ's
sovereignty ; she may sing of the purifying blood of Jesus,
and the matchless power of the Spirit to purify our hearts >"
she may congratulate herself on her versatile appliances—
vast machinery, her grand achievements ; she may meet on
this side or on the other side of the mighty waters, for self-
laudation and glorification ; but until she practically ex¬
emplifies more of those tender, inviting, and lovable quali¬
ties which endeared Christ to the fishermen of Galilee—the
Marys and Marthas of the lowly, and the humble peasantry
which gathered about him from the hill-country of Pales¬
tine—she will not only remain practically impotent, but for
every voice in favor of the enshrinement of Christ Jesus in
the hearts of men, we shall find at least a dozen who will
vote for the continuation of the reign of Satan.
Let us observe:
Fourth—That his patient, unchanging friendship and
personal sacrifice for the race, exemplified by the Church*
must contribute largely toward drawing the world to
Chsist.
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
25
"For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that
though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor,
that ye through his poverty might be rich." This passage
reminds us, that the accumulated wealth of ages was sacri¬
ficed by the Saviour for the salvation of the world. There
is no careful discrimination, as between the worthy and un¬
worthy ; no scrupulous arrangement confining the muni¬
ficence of the bounty to those whose standing and im¬
portance in society would bring back a return, even in
popular applause; no careful searching out of those whose
loyalty, kindred or friendly relationship, would give the
remotest promise of future reward; but with a bountiful
and indiscriminate hand he imparts it without stint, alike
to friend and foe, loyal and disloyal, worthy and unworthy,
rich and poor, high and low, great and small. This lavish
expenditure on the part of Christ for the restoration and
benefit of the race, constitutes a most potent factor in win¬
ning mankind to his standard. But, to be effective for the
purpose, it must be exemplified by the Church. She may
descant upon this subject with an animation that will
arouse the finest sensibilities of the human heart, and re¬
ceive the sweetest responses along every line of its sym¬
pathies ; but, unless she, herself, gives practical exemplifi¬
cation of this self-«sacrifice, in the interest of mankind, and
thereby proves her admiration of it in Christ, her pathos
and her tears will prove barren of any good results. The
moistened eye, the tremulous voice, the affecting gesticula¬
tion, the soul-stirring appeal; are very potent for momen¬
tary effect, but they are most damaging in point of sin¬
cerity, and all the more so, viewed from the eminence to
which we have just been enthused, when we learn by calm
afterthought and investigation, that hundreds, thousands,
and tens of thousands, are snugly enclosed in the coffers of
this, that, or the other branch of the Church whose minis-
26
B SHOP JONES' SERMONS.
terial representative we have just heard ; and that, so far
from the manifestation of any great amount of sympathy
for the helpless, the suffering, the widow and the orphan,
generally, by this, that or the other branch of the Church ;
this impecunious and impoverished class, of their own
communion, are but poorly cared for, if at all ; and that
pinched humanity usually receives the largest share of the
dry sympathy it gets from wealth and refinement in well-
written books and special discourses, but very little prac¬
tically.
True, charitable institutions, so-called, of various
kinds, are founded and sustained by the several branches of
the Church ; but from these, if not by the very terms of
their charters, at least practically, thousands are excluded,
either on account of color or by red tape. I might name
an institution of learning from which ministers of the gospel
are being sent to preach against all dishonesty, dissembling,
and double dealing; which was founded upon the express
condition that no one, whatever his color, should be denied
admission—whose subscription list was very largely in¬
creased because of that evpressed condition—but which,
nevertheless, has steadily excluded all colored applicants
from its benefits, though many of such in the same denomi¬
nation, and out of it, would have gladly availed themselves
of those benefits, thereby increasing their ministerial use¬
fulness : but young ministers of color, of the same church,
in the same State, county, and town in which that denomi¬
national institution is located, .are debarred simply and
solely because they are colored, and that, too, by a
denomination originally founded upon the broad principles
of the equality of man, and especially of Christians.
This is one of many instances in which—as was so
truthfully remarked by one high in position in that Church
that "the institution was being run on a transparent lie"—
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
27
yet the principle of exclusion is flaunted on the banner of
most of the distinguished denominational institutions of
learning in America to-day, and is in direct antagonism,
not only to the sympathy and unselfish interest for man¬
kind exhibited by Christ, but stultifies the professions of
the denominations which countenance, indorse, and main¬
tain this exclusiveness.
True, we hear the most emphatic disclaimers, and even
denunciations, of the color line ; and men grow eloquent
as they discuss our oneness in Christ Jesus. Yet we see
the most unmistakable evidences of the existence of this
line, not only in that social ostracism by which colored
Christians are met everywhere in the church, but even in
purchased civil rights. Though the dollar—quite as
eagerly taken from the hand of the black man as the white
—will purchase just as much of anything exposed for sale
in the market, yet who does not known that the former is
denied "before all Israel and the sun," the same unrestricted
enjoyment of that for which he pays as his white brother
fellow-traveler to the impartial tribunal of the Almighty ?
And who does not as certainly know that this heaven-con¬
demned policy receives, not only no condemnation or
rebuke from the Church, but her silent and at times her
outspoken approval. Time would fail us in any attempt to
point out the almost numberless ways in which the Church
not not only fails to sacrifice even her prejudices as against
the poor, the unfortunate, and the lowly of earth, and
notably those of the colored race ; wherein she not only
utters no voice of disapproval against palpable wrong, but
where she herself sets the discriminating example by
separate churches, not to speak of classes and pews ; sep¬
arate conferences, separate railway coaches, separate com¬
munion tables, separate graveyards ; and the hope, at least,
strongly intimated by some, that there will be separate
apartments in heaven.
28
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS
These distinctions are popularly demanded by an un¬
charitable, unfriendly, and sinful world; and the Church,
unmindful of the fact that tlie opposition to her Divne Lord
and Master was mainly attributable to his failure to cater to
popular demands; or, wishing to avoid that opposition,
not only practically indorses these popular whims, but too
often proffers inglorious leadership, rather than sacrifice her
coveted popularity.
Thus, briefly, have I named and commented on a few
of the many obstacles which retard the progress of the
Church, hinder the consummation of the object of Christ's
death, and delay the fulfillment of the glorious promise im¬
plied in my text—that the proper elevation of Christ by the
Church will finally bring the whole world to the cross.
The sincere follower of Christ, I repeat, need not despair,
gloomy as the picture may seem. The church may halt,
hesitate, and delay, and thereby defer the universal "gather¬
ing of the people" to "Shiloh but God will see that they
are gathered. Israel did not reach the promised land
promptly, but wandered forty years in the wilderness, till all
that were contumacious were consumed; then she entered,
triumphantly and gloriously. So the Christian Church is
destined to wander till all the Korahs, Dathans, and
Abirams are disposed of; then she will assume her destined
attitude, and "a nation shall be born in a day." It may not
take place till all the Mirians, with their prejudices, are
gone, and even Moses is called up into the mountain to
die—but, in any event, the Church will fulfill its glorious
Mission, and finally gain the land of promise. Our spirit¬
ual Joshua—Jesus—will, if need be, lead the host in person,
in order to consummate his grand designs.
That the Church may address herself speedily to the
removal of all that hinders the fullest accomplishment of her
grand mission on earth, and the speedy and glorious verifi¬
cation of the text, is my earnest prayer, as it must be the
petition of every sincere lover of Christ.
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
29
SERMON II.
CHRISTIANITY THE UNCONQUERABLE PEACE
OF THE SOUL.
Preached in the Supreme Court Room, Montgomery, Ala.,
Sunday, May 16, 1880, at 11 a. m., during Zion
General Conference.
"When he giveth quietness who then can make trouble?" Job
xxxiv. 29.
Nothing in the wide range of human need is so
ardently and generally desired as that state of rest, peace
and contentment which is so appropriately designated un¬
der the term "quietness." This is but another name for
happiness—the desire of all mankind; whether it be the
rude barbarian, the half civilized, or the most refined of
earth. All desire to be happy.
I. It is the central wish of the Almighty that man
should be happy. Every manifestation of the will of
Jehovah is a demonstration of his intense desire that all his
subjects should be happy. In redemption the resources of
the universe seem to have been laid under tribute, and
heaven well nigh shorn of its wealth to secure this great
boon. But at whatever cost, it has been permanently
secured, and secured to all.
II. Why is it that mankind, for the most, do not enjoy
this blessed condition ? It is, as we have shown, his most
ardent wish, and the Master's great heart's desire ; and yet
man is not happy. It arises from his failure to comprehend in
3o BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
what true happiness consists, or, from his unwillingness to
adopt the method designated by Jehovah from whom alone
it is to be obtained. Man seeks it where it cannot be found.
The miser in gold, the ambitious in fame, the hero in
martial achievements and military glory, the votary of
fashion in the plaudits of the gay and fashionable circles.
But when each and all of these have reached the altitude of
their most sanguine hopes, they find that whatever else they
may have won, they have not attained to true happiness.
They find sadly that they have been deluded by the ever-
changing but false lights of the arch-deceiver. As the un¬
suspecting child, fancying that there is a world of interest in
the beauty of the butter-fly, rushes head-long after it, all
elated with the glitter of its wings, until its little feet trip
on some fatal rock or root, and alas! the prostrate form^
often lifeless, always wounded, is picked up by parents or
friends ; so those following the alluring lights of worldly
promise and Satanic deception, finally, their feet stumble on
the dark rock of death and they sink to the abyss of woe.
Or like the innocent bird for whom the trapper has set a
fatal snare—it dances and flits, chirping gayly over the
crusted snow, encouraged by the delicious taste of a grain
of wheat here and there, till, led on to the snare, it dis¬
covers the ground covered with the delightful grain—it
rushes in not knowing it is for its life ; so mankind, allured
step by step by the devices of sin, rush on till the fatal trap
falls.
III. Presuming that some of my hearers ardently
desire to avoid these appalling results and find the quietness
which gives comfort in life, in death, in time and in eternity,
I remark that Satan cannot give you quietness. That he
can do many things for you, I am prepared to admit. I am
not among those who underestimate his power, skill and
influence, for I feel sure that he is not wanting in any of
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS 31
these. He has succeeded after the efforts of Christianity
for nearly 19 centuries to hold, at least, twelve fifteenths of
the inhabitants of this earth in his grasp. I will not reflect
on any of his children, nor attempt to belittle their Father.
He has power, skill and large influence. He can teach you
to envy, murder, lie. steal, dance, counterfeit and swear
most advantageously, so as to secure a reputation for these
accomplishments. But I insist that he cannot give you
quietness. He is a stranger to that, and must eternally re¬
main so.
If you possessed the facilities and had the courage to
urge your way to earth's remotest confine, "where day
meets with night, light and darkness and order with dis¬
order, dreadful waste and wild, where gravitation shifting
turns the other way, and toward some dark and dismal
centre downward weighs," you might, after "soaring over
unclaimed continents of desert gloom," reach the uninviting
threshold of Satan's residence, thus dest ribed by a master
mind. "Wide was the place ; as deep as wide, as ruinous
as deep, and overhead and all around, wind warred with
wind, storm howled to storm; lightning, forked lightning
crossed, and thunder loud answered thunder, muttering
sounds of sullen wrath. And far as light could pierce or
dawn descend through vaks of hopeless depth, through all
that region of unfading fire, I saw most miserable beings
walk; burning continually, yet unconsumed ; forever wast¬
ing, yet enduring, still dying perpetually, yet never dead.
Some wandered alone o'er the desert flame, and somefell and
with fierce encounter met with curses, loud and blasphemous,
which made the cheek of darkness pale; and as they
fought and cursed and gnashed their teeth and wished to
die, their hollow eyes uttered streams of woe. And "sor¬
row and repentance and despair" among them walked and
to their thirsty lips presented frequent cups of burning gal1.
32
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
And there were groans that ended not, and sighs that
always sighed ; and tears that wept and ever fell, but not
in Mercy's sight. And as I listened, I heard those miser¬
able beings curse Almighty God, curse the Lamb, curse the
earth and the resurrection morn; they seek and wish, but
vainly seek and wish, for utter death ! And to their ever¬
lasting anguish, still the thunder loud answering from
above, spoke these words, which echoing throughout the
regions of despair, solemnly fell on every ear, "Ye knew
your duty but did it not." And back again recoiled a deeper
groan. Oh ! God, what a groan was that—as if all sorrow,
pain, remorse and anguish that men and devils had ever
felt had gathered into one single pang and uttered it like
the mighty ocean—long, loud, deep, dolorous." This is a
faint, but awfully sublime, description of the haunt, the
prison of Satan. Search in your imagination—God forbid
that you should ever search it otherwise—and tell me
what there is of "quietness" there ? Where is the promised
liberty, peace, contentment, which he offers his votaries ?
You have all there is of it in the fearful description just
recited. If these are the elements of the eternal rest you
are seeking, then follow the lead of the wicked one and
your choice is assured. If "quietness" be your aim, then
abandon his leadership.
IV. I notice, next, that this World cannot give
"quietness." This is a grand old world, full of interests the
most endearing to most of us. We love it in spite of all
there is in it to annoy. Its beautiful landscapes, towering
mountains, majestic rivers, stormy old seas, verdant hill¬
sides and flowery valleys; its magnificent cities with their
teeming millions; its endearing friendships and sincere
love; its great assemblages and famous men and women;
its social fetes and its merry laugh, bewildering beauties,
enchanting music and soothing songs, with a thousand
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
33
other charming interests, render it a most desirable world.
We cling to it while we can, with amazing fondness.
" For who to dumb forgetfulness a prey,
Their pleasing, anxious being e'er resigned,
Left the warm precincts of the cheerful day,
Nor cast one longing, lingering look behind ? "
Yet, magnificent as all this appears, desirable as it is,
it cannot give you quietness. There comes a period in the
life of mankind when these grand objects lose their interest;
these variagated beauties fade; these harmonious sounds be¬
come discordant; and all the glittering glories vanish, for¬
ever! We sang in the opening hymn—
" Oh where shall rest be found,
Rest for the weary soul ?
'Twere vain the ocean's depth to sound,
Or pierce to either Pole.
The world can never give
The bliss for which we sigh,
' Tis not the whole of life to live,
Nor all of death to die.''
Saith another:—
"Joy is a fruit that will not grow
In nature's barren soil;
We've nothing here till Christ we know,
But vanity and toil."
God alone can give that quietness which satisfies the
soul, and we seek it in vain from any other source. He is
the author, proprietor and gracious dispenser of the
matchless boon. He who made the watch knows best how
to adjust its deranged parts so as to bring it into harmon¬
ious action. He who formed the heart knows best how to
deal with its deranged condition and restore it to its nor¬
mal state. Nor is it limited in quantity. He has it in ex-
haustless fulness.
34 BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
'' Its streams the whole creation reach,
So plenteous is the store,
Enough for each, enough lor all,
Enough forever more."
V. It is the consoling assurance of the text that this
quietness is a gift, not a purchase, but a gift. The Re¬
demption of which this quietness, this peace, is the earnest,
the title-deed, or pledge, was purchased by Christ, our
elder Brother, having the right of redemption—once for all.
It is not therefore a matter of purchase; therefore, the
poorest may have it. Nor is it to be secured as the result
of superior intelligence, or skill, reputation, or standing in
society; the most ignorant and the most humble may se¬
cure it without regard to nationality, race, color or clime.
The splendid apparel and gaudy trappings of mammon with
his attendant retinue is no recommendation or guarantee,
securing the blessing; but all who earnestly feel and hum¬
bly plead their need of it, through faith in Christ's merit,
and trust in His promise for immediate deliverance, shall
receive the evidence of that deliverance—" Peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ"—sweet " quietness." This
blessing is given out by God Himself. In His communi¬
cations with the inhabitants of earth all along the ages
prior to the coming of Christ, He frequently employed the
agency of angelic messengers. They brought a com¬
munication to Abraham in the Plains of Mamre; to Lot in
Sodom; to Daniel and his three companions, to Zacharias,
Joseph, Mary and to the shepherds of Bethlehem, to whom
the secret was first broken which convulsed the earth,
electrified her sister planets and thrilled the loyal universe—
the announcement of a Saviour's birth. And yet, when
God resolves to recognize an humble penitent, whose faith
warrants recognition, so solicitous, so lovingly intent is he
that there shall be no mistake made with reference to the
communication, he dispenses with the agency of dreams
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
35
and visions ; dispenses with angelic messengers, and per¬
sonally dispenses the bounty—the white stone and the new
name which none knoweth save he that receiveth it can
read it. A personal gift—quietness—made by a personal
Christ and conveyed to the soul of a personal penitent by
God, the Holy Ghost, the third Person in the Trinity—a
personal salvation. I bless God for this personal arrange¬
ment. If it were left to the partiality, favoritism, prejudice
and invidious distinctions of men, many who have shared
its rich joys, would never have shared them. If it were
left to the vote of the professed Christian Church, in its
ostracism and exclusiveness, from pulpit to sextonship, alas
for the poor and lowly; woe to those whose only misfor¬
tune, it seems, is that God permitted nature to furnish them
with a dark skin. Judging from the professedly pious acts
of the most enlightened, the most religious, and the most
scrupulous of mankind for justice, truth and righteousness,
few if any, who wear dusky faces would ever enjoy this
blessed quietness here, and none would ever share its re¬
sults in the bright world above. It is true that the grounds
pf ostracism here, and exclusion from heaven [its legitimate
sequence], have not yet extended to black, blue or grey
eyes; but, since these are not more accidental than the
color of the skin, which the Christian enlightenment and
piety of the age have branded as unfit for human associa¬
tion, and therefore unfit for heavenly company, the color of
the eyes is likly to become equal grounds of ostracism
from all participation in the joy of God's blessing here and
hereafter. But the rights, privileges and immunities, pur¬
chased at such immense cost by the Redeemer of the world
for all mankind without distinction, have not been, nor will
not be, left to be dealt out by the caprice of men as interest,
prejudice, or favoritism may dictate. But the holy, just,
righteous, loving and impartial God has reserved to himself
36
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
the distribution of indisputable title to the results of Christ's
suffering and death—" He giveth quietness." Again, I say
God be praised for this blessed arrangement.
VI. Lastly, notice the p(rfectness of this quietness.
This is indicated by the question—" Who then can make
trouble?" I would not have you to think for one moment
that those who receive this quietness are exempted from
trouble. There are a class of troubles which only begin
when God gives quietness. These troubles arise, first,
from antagonism on the part of the world. The "carnal
mind which is enmity to God" is adverse to Godliness;
hence, the irreconcilable conflict between Christianity and
the world. In view of it the poet writes—
"The soul that would to Jesus press,
Must fix this firm and sure ;
That tribulation more or less
He must and shall endure."
These troubles arise secondly, in our fleshly inclina¬
tions to worldly ease and pleasures, the war in our mem¬
bers which often subjects us to sorrows and tears and sore
conflicts. These troubles arise, thirdly, from Satan. His
relentless hate of God and righteousness ever since his
overthrow is untiring in its antagonism of every Godly in¬
terest and effort. In utter dispair of success in any direct
conflict with the throne of God, he seeks to avenge his
hatred of the authority of that throne by his efforts to blast
the hopes and prospects of every loyal subject of that
authority. For this purpose he " goeth about like a roar¬
ing lion seeking whom he may devour." The beggar who
is dependent upon the charity of the community needs but
few bolts to guard his humble possessions from robbers ;
indigent tramps present no temptation to the highwayman.
They have nothing worth stealing. But let the one or the
other fall heir to a rich legacy, and danger will threaten at
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
37
every turn; and without vigilance they will soon be de¬
prived of their all. So with the worldling, the sinner.
They possess nothing coveted by the world, the flesh and
the devil, but what is already in their joint possession; and
the partnership being mutual, there is nothing to steal
worth stealing. But the moment they become dissatisfied
with the partnership and dissolve their connection with it
and are adopted " heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus
Christ," the antagonism and trouble begin and continue
while the new relationship continues, or the heir is re¬
moved to his heritage above. Then trouble ends. The
text teaches, not that Christianity exempts its votaries from
trouble, but, that no amount of trouble which comes upon
us in consequence of our having embraced Christianity and
become loyal subjects of Christ's Kingdom, can necessarily,
deprive us of the joy, comfort and peace which we receive
on belie\ ing, and which we retain while we continue to be¬
lieve and trust God for final and complete salvation. I can¬
not strike hands with those who hold to the very conven¬
ient and indulgent doctrine of, " Once in grace always in
grace." I would be glad if I could; it would save me many
sighs, many groans, many fears and tears; but I cannot.
God hath said by the mouth of his Prophet Ezekiel, "the
righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the
day of his transgressions; as for the wickedness of the
wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he returneth
from his wickedness." Nothing seems clearer to my mind,
from this passage of scripture than that it is just as possible
for those who have received this quietness to lose it; to
forfeit all claim to its benefits, and be lost eternally, as it is
for those who were once wicked sinners to turn from their
wickedness and have it all cancelled, forgotten, and be
eternally saved. If the former is not possible, neither is
the latter. Nearly all the warnings of the New Testament
38
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
confirm this view. They are unmeaning if this view is not
correct. Why should I "watch," "pray," "take heed
lest I fall," "stand fast," if there be no danger ? Why
should my Lord and Master warn me from Heaven sixty
years after His ascension—"That which ye have already,
hold fast till 1 come,"—"hold that fast which thou hast;
let no man take thy crown?" Surely, Christ doth not un-
nescessarily alarm us, and therefore, there must be danger
of our losing our all. But, while the servants of God are
thus menaced by the powers of darkness, and notably so
because they have chosen to be the servants of God, no
amount of trouble they are called upon to endure can
nescessarily deprive them of the joy and peace which comes
of faith and trust in God. The sainted Paul gives a cor¬
rect solution to this problem in these words, "As sorrowful
yet always rejoicing ; as having nothing, yet possessing all
things." The poet exclaims in this verse—;
"Great spoils I shall win over death, hell and sin ;
In outward afflictions I shall feel Christ within."
The storm may rage without, but there is warmth,
comfortand calm inside the house. The demon of the storm
may frown on the surface and lash the waves to fury, but
in the deep below the waters rest undisturbed and placid.
Daniel spent a night in the den of lions—a most trouble¬
some place, but his quietness remained with him. His
three companions passed through a fiery furnace, another
very 'uncomfortable situation—but they were unharmed.
Paul and Silas rested comfortably with their feet in the
stocks, and sang praises to God at midnight. Peter's
prison proves to him a palace in the company of an angeL
John banished on Patmos found himself guarded by the
"Holy One." I care not where you put God's children,
you cannot make sufficient trouble to destroy their quiet¬
ness so long as they maintain their heavenly relationship.
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
39
Are they being tossed by angry wa^es of the sea? Their
heavenly Father " plants his footsteps in the sea and rides
upon the storm." Are they in consternation in prospect of
a watery grave? The softest whisper of faith will wake up
the Saviour at whose " Peace be still!" the winds will
hush and the waves subside. Are they driven from home and
friends ? God is with them. Are they banished from so¬
ciety, driven where the foot of man has never trodden ?
Even there they may see the hand of their heavenly Father
ordering the hillsides and valleys in flowery pride, or hang¬
ing the vast expanse in azure bright, and clothing the sun
in gold. They may hear his soft assuring voice saying
" Fear not, I am with thee ; be not dismayed; I am thy
God!" Does death, the king of terrors, confront them?
Will not this last of earth's troubles destroy all quietness?
I imagine I see in that dilapidated building, an humble
female; she is lying on a bed of straw in the last stage of
consumption. She was never very brilliant, but was re¬
garded by the community as being a poor, humble, unas¬
suming girl. But limited as she was in the elements of so¬
cial brilliancy, she knew enough to give her heart and life
to the Master, in exchange for which she received that
quietness which satisfied all her longings. There she lies !
Her hollow cough, sunken cheeks, glassy eyes, extended
nostrils, the cold, clammy sweat on her forehead, the rattle
in her throat, the labored breathing and heaving breast, tell
too plainly that the end is nigh. Come, now, you that
have doubts as to the durability and unconquerable nature
of this God-given quietness. Let us test in this humble,
unlearned and unpretending saint the warrantableness or
unwarrantableness of your doubts. Tread softly! She
seems lost in reverie ! Now she awakes ! Let us address
her in the language of the poet:—
40
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
" Whither go'st thou Pilgrim stranger,
Passing through this darksome vale ?
Knowest thou not 'tis full of danger,
And will not thy courage fail ? ''
Now see that glow of excitement, indicated in the
flash of her eye, and the rush of life blood to her cheek, as
she answers—
" No ; that stream hath nothing frightful,
To its brink my steps I bend ;
There to plunge will be delightful,
There my pilgrimage will end."
Do you still maintain your doubts? Then look,
again! She has sunk away! She sleeps! No; her lips
are in motion! Hark! sweetly murmuring, she repeats
the language of the dying Christian.
'' Vital spark of heavenly flame,
Quit, O quit this mortal frame.
Trembling, hoping, ling'ring, flying,
O the pain, the bliss of dying !
Cease fond nature, cease thy strife,
And let me languish into life.
Hark ! they whisper : Angels say,—
Sister spirit, come away !
—What is this absorbs me quite,—
Steals my senses, shuts my sight,—
Drowns my spirit, draws my breath ?
Tell me my soul, can this be death ? ''
So calm, so placid, so sweet. Is this the monster of
which I have heard so much, dreaded and feared so much?
Hallelujah ! I do not fear death now. Ah !—
'' The world recedes : it disappears ;
Heaven open on my eyes ; my ears
With sounds seraphic ring."
I must have passed the narrow stream, I must be go-
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
41
ing home ! I hear music above me, louder and still louder!
I see the jasper walls, the spires of the city.
"Lend, lend your wings ! I mount! I fly !
O grave, where is thy victory ?
0 death, where is thy sting ?''
As she nears the celestial city a heavenly escort sent
out by Jesus, who is ever looking out for the souls of his
blood-washed host, meets her with a hearty welcome; and
heaven's pearly gates wide opening on their golden hinges,
admit the newly arrived; the beaming face of the loving
Saviour burst upon her raptured vision.
Looking around in sweet amazement she is fully as¬
sured that the race for eternal joys has been fairly won.
As she sees the golden gate closing her in forever, she
sings.
"Glory to God, all the dangers are o'er,
1 am secure on the beautiful shore,
Glory to God, shall be my theme evermore,
Home at last! home at last!''
" When he giveth quietness who then can make trouble?
Let those who have it, hold fast till the end. You that
have it not, seek it at once. You will need it. Get it now.
May God grant that this quietness will be ours when we
come to die.
42
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
SERMON III.
A SUMPTUOUS FEAST.
Preached at the Dedication of the Metropolitan A. M. E.
Bethel Church, Washington, D. C., May 30,1885.
' 'And in this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all peo¬
ple a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees ; of fat things full
of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined. And he will destroy in
this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the
vail that is spread over all nations." Isaiah xxv. 6, 7.
No more fitting figure representative of the church of
God, its lofty position, its strength, its durability and utility,
could possibly be used than that employed in my text. It
is a mountain. It is elsewhere called the " mountain of the
Lord's house which shall be established on the tops of the
mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills." As
mountains and hills indicate authority and power, we have
here the grand promise that this mountain of the Lord's
house shall override and subject all other authority and
power. For "the law shall go forth out of Zion not from
Washington, nor any other capital, " whose talismanic in¬
fluence and power shall sway all minds and hearts." "The
word of the Lord shall go forth from Jerusalem." Without
attempting to further prove that the mountain in the scrip¬
ture is used very frequently to represent God's house, I pro¬
ceed at once to the text. I will speak of the fitness of tjie
figure or representation. The church of God is appropriate¬
ly and impressively typified under the figure of a mountain.
I. A mountain is noted for its elevation. We may now
think of its present elevation when we contemplate the grand
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
43
prospect—its coming elevation over all things, its high and lof¬
ty character; lifted up above the low plotting and schemes of
mankind ; above the vanities of life ; above parties, factions*
jarrings and strife; lifted into the arena of a pure and holy
atmosphere; so lifted up, that whoever stands there will lose
the sound of the din, the noise and the bustle of the world,
and listening to the chiming of heaven's spires and catch¬
ing the music of soft zephyrs borne to him from that bless¬
ed land, it is not only elevated, but it is elevating. More
than gold and silver, than houses and lands, than the empty
honors of life, the church of God lifts men. It is the only
factor that really lifts man—lifts him up permanently, truly;
lifts him to stay. "Exalt her," says the wise man, "and she
shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honor, when
thou dost embrace her." There is no real and permanent
promotion or elevation outside of the plain requirements that
God has set forth in his church.
II. It is fitly represented by the symbol of a mountain,
because of its strength and durability. Mountains are those
grand promontories that rise above the plain and lift their
summits high in the clouds. They are strong and durable.
The figure of durability in the phraseology, the everlasting
mountains and the perpetual hills, strikes us as a grand resem¬
blance. The mountain is strong. Its summit is fanned by
lightnings. The thunders rumble about it. The fierce
Iprnadoes sweep its sides—the storm beats upon its crest;
but when the clouds have passed away and the winds are
lulled, it stands out as boldly and as grandly as before. The
waves of the sea, aroused by the storm spirit, frowning up¬
on the deep, lash and dash themselves against its base in
thundering fury; but only to crumble into harmless drops
and bow in submission to its greatness. There it stands,
impregnable, immovable. It is not a surface affair. Erfter
its bowels, and as you turn strata after strata, it becomes
44
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
harder and harder, firmer and firmer, until you reach the
everlasting granite that forms the base of this earth, and you
raise a monument at once to the impossibility of removing
the grand old mountain. So is the church of God, firm and
strong.
" On the rock of ages founded,
What can shake her sure repose,
With salvation's walls surrounded,
She can smile at all her foes."
Infidelity has hurled its missiles and all the isms com¬
bined at it. It has battered against the church like the
wind and the storms'against the mountain, but what have
they accomplished ? Hell has launched its shafts against
its base and attempted to raze its foundation ; but it stands
all the firmer because of the shocks; all the brighter because
of the antagonism ; all the stronger because of persecutions.
God will preserve and sustain the church. We are wont in
times of war to find the high places for fortifications; and
whoever first reaches the point that commands the country
around and plants his batteries there, if they are heavy guns
and well shotted and manned, holds the situation. Well,
Jesus is a skillful general. He has planted the church be¬
hind powerful batteries, upon the summit of truth, with suf¬
ficient ammunition, and he sweeps down on the cohorts
of hell and the black cavalcade of perdition. The approach¬
es are so guarded that with canister and grape, the coming
foes are swept down, and the victory of the Cross won.
Such is the church of the living God. It is a good place
to hide— a good place for protection. It is said of the right¬
eous man, " he shall dwell on high : his place of defence
shall be the munitions of rocks; bread shall be given him ;
his water shall be sure."
III. Another representation of the mountain is its
healthy character. When disease is enervating our bodies
in the low lands ; when epidemics and miasmas are sweeping
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
45
its hundreds and thousands into graves, those who are able,
" tarry not in the plains, but flee to the mountains," where
the air is pure. No malaria, no epidemics are apt to reach
them there. The cooling waters gurgle out from the rocks
heathful and pure. The little rippling streams sparkle down
the mountain sides in their variegated beauty; the sweetest,
the purest, and the softest zephyrs gently vibrate the trees
and waft the leaves over its crest. It is a healthy location.
So is the church of God. Do you want health, moral
health, spiritual health ? Do you want to be every whit
whole? Come up into God's mountain and stay there,and
you will become sound in christian life and health. It is a
healthy location.
IV. Under the figurative representation of the moun¬
tain, in the last place that I shall notice, is its facility for
observation. Have you ever stood upon thesummitof some
lofty peak of the Alleghany mountains and looked down in
admiration and wonder? I have. It is a grand scene, pic¬
turesque and beautiful in lofty and inspiring grandeur. And
then I have stood upon old Montahalia, in western North
Carolina and trembled with wonder and amazement, as I
looked, not over, but down, upon the wide spreading coun¬
try all around. There you have a grand view of fortymiles,tak¬
ing in busy towns, beautiful landscapes and running streams.
But grander far is the prospect from the Mount of God's
church. I stand there and sing with the poet:
"The promised land from Pisgah's top,
I now exult to see,
My hope is full, O glorious hope !
Of immortality."
And as the vision of faith is increased :
1' I see a world of spirits bright,
As they take their pleasures there,
They're all arrayed in spotless white,
And conquering palms they wear."
46
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
There are grand sights from the church of God. When
faith is in lively exercise and the eyes are anointed and the
vision is strong, we can see more than by the most power¬
ful telescope that ever was invented. It is good for obser¬
vation.
V. Well, we will leave that and come to the next
point: The boundless provision that God has made in his
church. It is set forth under the figure of an extraordinari¬
ly sumptuous feast. " A feast of fat things, a feast of wines
on the lees; of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the
lees well refined." This phraseology is very happily em¬
ployed to indicate the choiceness, the daintiness and ex-
quisiteness of the viands which God spreads in his temple.
Upon this mountain wisdom has built her house, she hath
hewn out her seven pillars, killed her beasts, mingled her
wine and spreaded her table furnished with whatever grati¬
fies the passions of the immortal soul; not so much the
body, but the soul. Everything, blessed be God, that you
want; anything you need, reach over and get it. If you
want healing for the afflicted, joy for the disconsolate, hope
for the faint hearted, cheer for the dying; every thing is
there. The Holy Ghost has anticipated our necessities and
has amply supplied the feast for the soul.
i. This is not an ordinary feast, but a grand feast.
Poor men make feasts as best they can. Rich men can do
better. The president of the United States can go a little
farther. The princes of Europe can be more luxurious and
gorgeous; but they all fall far short of the grandeur, mag¬
nificence and abundant provisions of the feast of the Lord.
In this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all peo¬
ple a feast; and it is a feast compatible with his inexhausti¬
ble resources, his infinite wisdom and his inconceivable
dignity. It is just such a feast as God would make. It is
a grand feast. We can think of it, but we can not satisfac-
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
47
torily explain it. Language is too beggarly for description.
2. Suffice it to say that it is an impartial feast. I in¬
vite my friends to a feast as I may select them. You solicit
yours, it may be, from the charmed circle of social inter¬
course. You pass by many doors just as worthy of con¬
sideration as those who receive your compliments, simply
because they do not happen to be numbered among the
fashionable coterie. That is the character and composition
of feasts among men; but this God made feast is for all peo¬
ple of every clime, every class, and every color. "Ho, every
one that thirsteth, come, and he that hath no money," he
that hath tattered garments, come; he that is bloated with
alcoholic drinking, come; and letall who will, come ; wheth¬
er it be the Arabians from the jungle of India, or the Esqui¬
maux wrapped in furs amid his perpetual winters, or the
African from under the sun's burning rays, or the inhabitants
the islands of the sea, or wherever men are found, who have
been driven into the dens and caves of rocks in the dark
and stormy days, let them hear the trumpet's invitation,
sounding in their ears, come.
I see a caravan moving over the Saharian desert. The
hot simoons have swept over it. Its scanty supply of water
is exhausted. The burning sun's rays are scorching, and
here and there, one and another, exhausted, drops down in a
fainting condition. Some go on further, until all along, the
way is strewn with the famishing and the fainting. The
stronger press on. As I look, I see one coming up from a
clump of trees with a canteen which he raises up in triumph,
as he cries: "Ho! water ! water ! " The next man catches
up the cry and in the might of a grand purpose sends back
the thrilling exclamation of triumph. The next and the
next shouts until the last man catches the electrifying sound
and rushes to the fountain. Whoever first tastes of this
blessed feast is inspired to cry to every one else, Behold,
48
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
the spirit and the bride say, come. Let all that hear,
come. Let all that areathirst, come; and whosoever will, let
them come and take the water of life freely." God Almighty
let the sound go around the entire earth until all the peo¬
ple shall hear Thy word.
VI. Though I am weak and somewhat depressed by
the warmth of the weather, yet I want to notice, finally, that
the crowning glory of this feast is that God, the Spirit, will
remove from every guest the mist and the fog of spiritual
darkness; and that, taking away all blindness, he will re¬
veal the splendor and magnificence of the feast. When the
scales of ignorance are taken from the eyes the crowning
glory of the feast is observed. You do not go back as you
came. The truth is you do not go back at all. Such are
the ample facilities and such the hallowed influences that
you press forward rather than backward. Stay there in
God's mountain, like the spies of Joshua, who were com¬
manded by Rahab to remain there for three days, until the
pursuers had returned, and after that they could go on their
way. When death comes, you will be freed from further
watchful care or anxiety as to the safety of your journey.
My dear friends, this is the character of the church of
God and such are its boundless facilities. Who would not
enter it? Who does not rejoice over this appendage that
is added to that grand church ? What is true of the gen¬
eral church on earth is equally true of this church to the
extent of its ability and capacity. May God help all who
worship here to realize the glorious verity of its character
thus described.
In reflecting over the inexorable circumstances which
made African Methodism a necessity upon this continent, I
fancy I hear the rustling of wings and I seem to feel the
pressure of disembodied spirits. I behold Allen and Rush,
and the long host of prelates who have fallen asleep and
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
49
gone with them to the spirit land. They come on an im¬
portant embassy, permitted by Almighty God. May I be
allowed to reveal their message? It is this: "'Letthe right
wing and the left wing and the center of the blood washed
host that we have assisted in gathering on the earth, face
each other; and then after saluting and greeting each other
in the bonds of christian .fellowship, let them march forward
with sword sheathed in its scabbard, save the sword of the
Spirit, or the sword of love. Forming one united host, let
them face towards the south. Let them "forward march in
God's name until the wilderness and solitary places of the
South are every where made glad. And then let the grand
united armies, as they shall be armed with faith and love,
plant their batteries upon the shores of Africa. Let them
march through that dark, benighted land with the banner
of the cross unfurled above them; and when they have light¬
ed up that idolatrous continent with the blessings of a glor¬
ious gospel, let them still press forward to the strains "—
" Onward, onward, men of heaven,
Bear the gospel banner high ;
Rest not till its light is given,
Star of every pagan sky.
God Almighty help us to bring into the work what¬
ever we can in keeping with this heavenly message.
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
SERMON IV.
THE MAJESTY, GLORY AND INVINCIBILITY OF
CHRIST'S KINGDOM, THE SOURCE OF JOY
AND GLADNESS TO HIS SUBJECTS.
Preached at the dedication of the Metropolitan A. M. E.
Zion Church, Washington, D. C., December i, 1889.
l,Zion heard and was glad; and the Daughters of Judah re¬
joiced because of thy Judgments, O Lord." Psalm xcvii. 8.
The author of this Psalm, with emotions of pride and
pious enthusiasm, recounts in glowing language and most
appropriate and beautiful imagery, the brilliant success and
grand achievments of the Kingdom of Christ in its every
conflict with the powers of darkness. In the blessed assur¬
ance that " That Lord reigneth" alike over men and devils,
antagonizing all their combinations against His church, he
calls on the earth in its remotest parts to rejoice and be
glad. Since, however, his purposes and designs may be
hid from finite view by " clouds and darkness," all may
feel assured that " Righteousness and judgment are the
habitation of his throne," and that all our interests will be
fairly and justly disposed of. The assurance of these just
and equitable relations between the Lord and ourselves;-
the certainty that we shall be dealt with impartially and
that our honest endeavors shall all receive due considera¬
tion at the hands of the Almighty, is the foundation and
source of our confidence and trust. The history of Jeho¬
vah's triumphs in the defence and perpetuation of His
church, has been heard in all its reasoning and animating
BI&HOP JONES' SERMONS.
51
details by the votaries of spiritual Zion and her Daughters
throughout Judah, and in the confident anticipation of the
ultimate triumph of her just and righteous cause; gladness
and rejoicing takes the place of sadness and despondency.
God reigns.
I. We notice that in every conflict with the powers of
darkness Heaven has triumphed.
Antagonism to its righteous rule can only emanate
from Satan and his confederates. He was overmatched in
his bold attempt to usurp the authority of the Almighty
as ruler of the universe. For "the angels which kept not
their first estate," loyalty to heaven—"but left their own
habitation"—expelled from the glories of a home which was
their " own," while they chose to enjoy it in common with
others, and in loyalty to God; but which they forfeited by
their wicked thirst for power, which they could not wield
if they possessed it, except disastrously ;—God has " re¬
served them in everlasting chains under darkness unto the
judgment of the great day." If Milton is correct in his ac¬
count of this beginning of revolt against rightful authority,
fully one third of the celestial host consorted with the
arch-traitor; and so formidable was this host of rebellion,
and so fierce their conflict for the mastery, that it was not
until the Son of God mounted his triumphal chariot, and,
grasping ten thousand bolts " from behind the darkness of
the throne," rushed forward, commanding the loyal com¬
batants to stand aside, and hurled thunder bolts now on the
right wing, now on the left, and now in the centre, that the
arch-fiend and his confederates were swept over the heav¬
enly ramparts, and with linked thunderbolts, still pursuing,
they were transferred to the shoreless abyss, doomed to
"waste eternal ages in pain and woe"—as the just merit of
their bold and rash assumption.
He was foiled in Eden. When Christ Jesus as the
52
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
" seed of the woman" became our Surety and stipulated
with divine justice for the indemnity of man's breach of the
Law, and awakened anew the silent harps of Angels to the
melting and soul-stirring strain sung with a deeper mean¬
ing than ever before; the loudest, grandest, sweetest note
being " God is love," a rebellious world received the Pledge
of Redemption, and the God-man became its Redeemer.
He was baffled once more. In his deep laid scheme
to corrupt the entire race, so as to render it impossible to
secure a pure channel through which the promised seed
should come : and although the entire earth was swept by
the deluge, God preserved a pure channel in the family of
Noah, and saved that family in the Ark, because it was
" righteous in his sight," disappointing the powers of hell.
He was defeated in his diabolical purpose to retain God's
people in Egyptian bondage until every vestige of the
knowledge of the true God should be effaced from their
memory by the idolatry of that nation. Moses is strangely
preserved from slaughter, and quite as strangely from
idolatry. The Israelites are delivered ; the Egyptian army
vanquished ; Miriam and Moses sing Jehovah's triumphs;
the church is purged and taught by wilderness wanderings
and instructive trials ; the promised land is gained in spite
of the oppositions of Balaak and Balaam, the opposing
Kings, the warlike Amelakites, and the swollen banks of
the Jordan.
2. Since the grand and glorious manifestations of
wisdom, power and skill in the interest, perpetuity, preser¬
vation, management and progress of the Zion of God, con¬
stituted the theme of the joy and gladness of her votaries;
the grounds of their confidence and trust all along the ages
prior to the coming of Messiah ; not less glorious are the
evidences of His love for the church since that event.
Here, as there, we see Satan's enmity and hate again
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
S3
playing its part against the Divine purpose to give per¬
petuity, success and triumph to his church by the effort to
slay the infant Jesus through the hypocrisy and treachery of
Herod, and thus crush the chosen seed of the woman, the
Bruiser of Satan's " head," the destroyer of his power. But
how signally is he foiled in this weak attempt. Joseph's
dream reveals a simple plan of escape which baffles all the
schemes of Satan's wakefulness ; and, guided by an angelic
escort, specially detailed for the occasion, the Holy family
is well on its way to a safe retreat before the cohorts of
darkness, appointed to slaughter the Babe of Bethlehem,
had awakened from their slumber. Not that the " young
child" could not have been as certainly preserved in some
other way ; but, to demonstrate the wisdom of heaven in
making " the wrath of man to praise Him," God, at once,
relieves the fears of Joseph and Mary for their safety, and
that of their son, by giving them a safe shelter in Egypt; and
makes the escape from the murderous purpose of Satan and
his followers to contribute, unwittingly, to the fulfilment of
the prophecy—" Out of Egypt have I called my Son."
The next thing we hear is the assurance that the distin¬
guished emissary of Satan is dead; and Joseph is com¬
manded from heaven to return to Israel with his sacred
charge. Thus sings the poet,
'' The I,ord shall clear His way through all,
What'er obstructs, obstructs in vain."
Having signally failed in his efforts to destroy this in¬
fantile representative of the throne of righteousness, the
next exhibition of Satan's stratagem was the arrangement to
take advantage of the supposed weakness of the humanity
of the Son of God, when it should become exhausted by
hunger and thirst at the close of his forty days' and nights'
fast in the wilderness. The long interval from his return
to Israel to his Baptism in Jordan gave the combined wis-
54
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
dom and skill of the powers of darkness ample time and op¬
portunity to mature their plans of attack ; and the sequel
proves how wisely it was arranged. Three successive at¬
tempts, managed with great adroitness, were made by the
arch-deceiver to subject Jesus to his will, and thus unfit
him to be the Captain of our salvation. But it had beenprophe-
sied by Isaiah seven hundred years before that he should
not fail nor be discouraged in his conflict for the mastery of
earth ; and he did not in this instance ; but vanquished his
foe, scored a victory, and a host of angelic watchers in ad¬
miration of his success in this first single combat, rushed
down from heaven and "ministered unto him."
He was defeated on Calvary. Here the powers of hell
mustered every available adherent of its dark cause. It was
the last conflict, the decisive engagement. Earth and hell
combined were flushed with the prospect—the half despair¬
ing hope of final victory. To speak of it in military par¬
lance, every company, regiment, corps and division, infantry,
artillery and cavelry ; all the forces of Satan were sum¬
moned to the front to assist in this last desperate charge.
It was led in person by the arch-fiend of hell against the
Captain of our salvation, who was unaccompanied by any
guard or staff, without even an armor-bearer; with no
single instrument of warfare; solitary, alone ! The armies
of darkness were held in obeyance till Jesus had been safely
nailed to the cross. Then, when powerless to move hand
of foot, after three long hours of suffering; when God the
Father, had hid his face and heaven seemingly withdrew its
sympathy, the thundering command—"charge;" was
heard in far off regions, and the maddened legions of hell
rushed in solid phalanx and with demoniac frenzy upon
the Lord Jesus Christ. Celestial spirits, hushed and silent,
stood aghast, while " Arms on armor clashing brayed."
Like the humiliated Nazarene of old, Jesus of Nazareth had
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
55
seized the main pillars by which the throne of Satan was
upheld on earth, and like the lords of the Philistines, the
army of hell and the throne of its king were forever over¬
thrown ; the latter is seen falling swift as lightning, while
the former is hurled from the battle-field, scathed, withered,
and blasted to their dark and dismal kennel below.
Vanquished, beyond the power of personal conflict, by
the dying Christ, Satan inspires his emissaries to antago¬
nize the dead Christ, as the last expiring resort of despera¬
tion, by the silly attempt to environ his resurrection with
clouds of doubt. But here, too, the schemes of earth and
hell combined were outwitted. The circumstances attend¬
ing the resurrection so triumphantly sustained the fact of
it, that infidelity closes its mouth and dares not controvert it
So transparent and conclusive is the proof, that the feeblest
saint sings aloud—
"The rising God forsakes the tomb,
In vain the tomb forbids his rise ;
Cherubic legions guard him home,
And shout him welcome to the skies."
3. The church has heard of the ever increasing
triumphs of her Founder, Champion and King, and antici¬
pates the victory with which she shall be crowned in the
end.
I do not know whether the poet takes in the cruelty
and oppression of the Afro-Americans in the Southland
of America, or whether he included their ancestors in
Africa; but certainly the following lines are applicable to
our own country, as well as to that dark continent; and it
denotes the approach of a brighter day for both. *
I " Wake Isles of the South, your Redemption draws near,
No longer repose in the borders of gloom ;
The strength of thy chosen in love will appear,
And light shall arise on the verge of the tomb.
56
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
2 The billows that girt you, the wild waves that roar,
The zephyrs that play when the ocean storms cease,
Shall waft the sweet sound to your desolate shore,
Shall bring the glad tidings of Pardon and Peace.
3 On the islands that sit in the regions of night,
The land of despair to oblivion a prey,
The morning will open with healing and light,
The glad star of Bethlehem will brighten the day."
These lines indicate the faith of the poet in the im¬
partiality of the Almighty God in his benevolent purpose
to lift up a long neglected, meted out and trodden-down
race. Whose hands have been, and are being, stretched
out to Him for the sympathy, justice and right denied them
by nearly all on earth. The claim is that even heaven has
abandoned the negro to his fate, and that therefore, he has
nothing to hope from either earth or heaven. But faith in
God is not a privilege exclusively granted to any distinct
part of mankind, but may be, and is, bequeathed to and en¬
joyed by all portions of it. The erection by this lowly
people of such an edifice as this to the worship of God is the
blessed assurance that, however much they may have cause
to break faith with mankind, no power can drive them
from their faith in God. The foul charge that freedom to
the negro of America meant a return to the fetichism of
their ancestors in Africa, has been disproved by their mul¬
tiplication of churches, notwithstanding their poverty, en¬
forced and maintained by prejudice and hate; and by their
attendance upon religious ordinances.
They are "stretching forth their hands to God," in full
faith in the triumph of "the law" of justice, truth and
righteousness, which "shall go forth out of Zion and the
word of the Lord from (spiritual) Jerusalem" whose talis-
manic influence shall be felt by all nations, and shall anta¬
gonize all laws that are not in harmony with divine gov¬
ernment ; sweetly forcing mankind to discard all cruel,
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
57
harsh and unbrotherly methods. Then " nations shall beat
their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning
hooks, and shall learn war no more." We are waiting
patiently for the triumph of Jesus over his foes on earth, as
he has triumphed over his foes in hell; to crush out the
power of unjust, cruel and desperately wicked men, as the
text has proven, he has overmatched the schemes and
crushed out the power of devils. In our firm and unshaken
confidence in that event we already hear in the distance the
crashing of Daniel's " stone cut out of the eternal mountain"
with its irresitable rolling, finishing its last work while the
Church of Christ sings—
x "" Hark the song of Jubilee,
I,oud as mighty thunders roar,
O'er the fulness of the sea,
As it breaks upon the shore ;
2 See Jehovah's Banner furled,
• Sheathes His Sword—He speaks—"tis done ; "
And the kingdoms of this world
Are the kingdoms of His Son.
3 He shall reign from Pole to Pole,
With supreme, unbounded sway,
He shall reign till like a scroll
Yonder heavens pass away.
4 Hallelujah !—for the L,ord
God omnipotent shall reign,
Hallelujah ! let the word
Echo round the earth and main."
58
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
SERMON V.
A HABITATION FOR GOD.
Dedicatory discourse delivered in Washington Chapel, St.
Louis, Missouri., June 29th, 1879.
"He is my God, and I will prepare Him a habitation."—Exod.
xv. 2.
Such, my hearers, were, the pious utterances of a peo¬
ple which had just completed four hundred and thirty years
of degrading and inhuman servitude, in the midst of a na¬
tion of idolaters. Denied the privilege of worshiping the
God of their fathers in any public or formal manner; with¬
out any recognized spiritual leader ; compelled to witness
from year to year, during many generations, the'worship of
an almost endless variety of images, these humble people,
nevertheless, still retained a knowledge of the God of Abra¬
ham and of Isaac. The truth of God once clearly reflected
on the mind—Divinity once enshrined in the human heart
—is not easily obliterated.
During all these years, and amid all these adverse cir¬
cumstances, God had not left himself without a witness
even among these poor degraded people ; and, as Israel did
not forget God, so He did not forget Israel, but sent them
an efficient leader and a safe deliverer. After a series of the
most awful manifestations of divine power, expressive of
His righteous indignation against the cruel oppressors of
His people, in which the senseless, persistent and determin¬
ed obstinacy of rebellious man is seen on the one hand, and
the patient waiting of a merciful God on the other, omnipo¬
tent power finally, but signally, triumphed, as it will, ulti-
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
59
mately, over all combinations against the interests of His
people, however humble and obscure.
Alarmed with fear and pressed almost to desperation
by the advancing- tread of a hostile army, they appealed to
heaven for the aid which God alone could give. Nor did
they appeal in vain. With a high hand and an outstretched
arm, mysteriously, but not less triumphantly, did the Al¬
mighty deliver them. How little did the proud Egyptian
host, flushed with numerous victories wrenched from the
prowess and daring of better disciplined troops, dream of
the formidable character of the invisible army by which
they were so soon to be confronted and ingloriously defeat¬
ed, marshaled under that invincible commander—" I am
that I am ! " How little did the host of Infidelity imagine
that the night passage of the Red Sea was to furnish the
occasion, the matter and the inspiration for the first record¬
ed song to God ever sung on earth; that it should continue
to be sung by the church through all coming time, with but
slight variation, but ever increasing volume and beauty until
time itself shall vanish and the last of God's redeemed mil¬
lions, having completed the spiritual night passage of their
weary pilgrimage on earth, shall sing amid the fadeless glor¬
ies of their first glad morning around the Throne—" the
Song of Moses and the Lamb ! "
The language of the text is among the first notes of
this inspired song, and announces the purpose of a people
grateful to God for a deliverance which His almighty arm
alone could have effected, to make Him henceforth and for¬
ever the object of their esteem and love—their worship and
adoration. Mankind, with but few exceptions, universally
acknowledge their belief in the existence of a great first
cause of all created things. It is left for Atheism alone in
its singularly wild and discomforting opinion, to antagonize
this common faith. Strange, indeed, and diverse, are man's
6o
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
views and opinions in reference to His real nature and char¬
acter ; but, whatever the diversity of opinion in regard to
Him, under whatever similitudes, under whatever ceremo¬
nial forms, His favor, law and protection may be sought by
mankind; and He is, nevertheless, the object of their wor¬
ship; and, as such, is held in the highest esteem and vener¬
ation. Whether it be Moloch besmeared with the blood of
a thousand infants, or the other cruel gods of the Ammor-
ites: Rimmon or Ashtaroth, or the licentious idols of
Syria; Apis, or the other monster deities of Egypt; wheth¬
er it be Jupiter, or Olympus, or Juggernaut rolling in human
gore; Dagon of Phoenicia ; Diana of Ephesus ; or any, or
all of the Pantheistic retinue, or thirty thousand gods of
heathen mythology, it is alike true of each and all of them.
Nor can we regard this superstitious veneration of a
large portion of mankind for their imaginary gods as being
an empty, unmeaning thing—a mere professional sham.
They give practical demonstration of the reality and purity
of their esteem in the magnificence and costliness of their
temples—the brilliancy and grandeur of their ceremonies ;
the indomitable perseverance and almost super-human en¬
durance exhibited by them, even when in feeble health, or
hoary with age, to reach the shrine of their false deities.
Add to these the superstitious devotion by which mothers
are induced to sacrifice their sweet infants, wives their hus¬
bands, and husbands their wives—and each to immolate
him or herself in obedience to the imaginary behests of
these ideal beings, and you have a class of evidences so
fearfully appalling, that no one dare, for a moment, ques¬
tion or discredit the earnestness and sincerity, the intense
devotion of these infatuated worshipers. If such unques¬
tionable esteem and love are thus heartily accorded by a
part of the common race to objects, which, so far from pos¬
sessing a single God-like attribute, are even devoid of those
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
61
noble qualities which distinguish mankind from inferior
orders of being, with what veneration and awe—with what
esteem and love—may the Christian believer contemplate
Jehovah—holy, just and good, the everlasting Father
—wise, beneficent merciful; who sees, hears, wills and acts,
everywhere at the same time ; whose great heart beats in
loving sympathy with His intelligent creatures in all their
sorrows, and in all their woes, in every age and clime, under
all circumstances; while no insect moves, no sparrow falls
to the ground, which escapes His notice.
Who that makes the comparison does not look up to
the throne of unveiled Deity and, with a thrill of deepest
emotion, exultingly cry out in the language of the text—
" He is my God, and I will prepare him a habitation ? " If
we turn, retrospectively, and ascend the busy stream of life
along which we are sailing, till we mingle with the scenes
of three thousand years gone by, we shall behold the fam¬
ed city of Babylon with her massive walls, her hundred
brazen gates, her beautifully arranged thoroughfaies, her
busy marts, splendid residences, magnificent public build¬
ings, her vast multitude of inhabitants attired in the most
gaudy apparel, and reveling in all the luxuriance of an
Eastern clime.
In that portion of the city which looks toward the East,
you might see, rising in resplendent beauty, the temple of
a heathen deity. Reaching the site of the monster edifice
you look with wonder on the surprising combination of ar¬
chitectural stiength, skill and beauty which meets your
eye; the grand porchway, the ponderous pillars, the maj s-
tic dome, in fine, the entire structure is strangely bewilder¬
ing. As you follow the wake of the vast crowd approach¬
ing from every direction, and who enter with strange genu¬
flections before the mute object of their adoration, you be¬
hold a scene of dazzling splendor which baffles all descrip-
62
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
tion. There, upon a throne of ivory, sits a vast image of
pure gold, so ponderous that it would seem, if he possess¬
ed the ability to stand erect, he would demolish the fair
temple, bearing away the massive dome on his gigantic
shoulders.
You inquire of one near you, "What temple is this,
and to whose honor and worship is it dedicated ? " and you
are promptly informed that it is " the Temple of Belus,the
chief object of Babylonish worship "—that the senseless
image is the similitude of this imaginary god—and that the
whole enterprise was accomplished after years of labor, at
a cost of millions of treasure ! Such, my hearers, is the
misapplied, but genuine esteem, in which idols are held by
their mistaken worshipers; and such the beauty, magnifi¬
cence and lavishness with which they build their temples.
i. Not so numerous, indeed, but far more beautiful
and costly, are the habitations prepared by mankind for the
worship of objects other than the living God.
What untold millions, the voluntary or involuntary con¬
tributions of the poor, are devoted to idolatry ! Shall these
objects of superstitious worship be enshrined in temples so
grand, and shall not our God, the living God, be equally hon¬
ored ? Shall He who made all things, and to whom all things
belong—the silver and the gold, the massive stone and the
precious jewel—the lofty cedar and the majestic pine—the
skill of the architect and the strength of the builder—the
purple and the blue and the fine linen—shall He, I ask, be
slighted ? Under the flimsy and hypocritical pretext of econ¬
omy or poverty, shall the very resources which the Almighty
has created for the purpose be withheld or sparingly employ¬
ed, when temples are to be reared to His honor and worship,
while they are appropriated, without stint, to build temples
for the worship of idols ? To come nearer home—shall
the free and untrammeled worshippers of the true God in
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
63
this land, under the benign influences of Republican insti¬
tutions, secured to us by the direct interposition of the Al¬
mighty, and guaranteeing to all the unrestricted right to
worship under their own vine and fig-tree, where none dare
to molest or make afraid—shall we, I ask, be found hesitat¬
ing when sacrifices are to be made for the purpose of erect¬
ing suitable temples wherein to do Him honor, whose right
hand and holy arm have secured to us all these inestima¬
ble blessings, while the vassals of despotism and intoler¬
ance, however poor, contribute freely, heartily, and even
munificently, to build temples to the honor of their imagi¬
nary gods ?
The loyal Christian heart everywhere answers " No,
he is my God, and I will prepare him a habitation." He is
my strength and song, and hath also become my salva¬
tion ! " True, the high and lofty one who inhabiteth eter¬
nity is not, necessarily, worshiped in magnificent temples
alone. He stoops, condescendingly, to listen to the song
of praise, and the prayer of faith, coming up from the hum¬
blest cottage. The jailor's cell, the lion's den, the moun¬
tain's peak, the forest glen, the lonely island, unaccustomed
to the tread of human kind, have each and all in their turn,
eloquently resounded with the majestic footsteps, and echo¬
ed with the assuring voice of paternal Divinity ! Not al¬
ways—
'' From marble domes and guilded spires,
Do clouds of incense rise,
Where gifts of gold and garlands deck
The costly sacrifice.''
But sweetest aroma, lending additional fragrance to the
rich perfume of heaven itself, not infrequently wings its way
to the throne of God from the obscure dwellings of the
lowly, where poverty walks in scanty attire. It is the thrill-
ingly wondrous promise of the Being we worship that,
64
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
where two or three are met in His name, He will meet with
them—no matter where. No longer exhaustive journeys
are imposed upon the lame and halt, the enfeebled and the
faint, to reach the shrine of the God of love; but these,
and all others, may everywhere, find His temporary resting-
place, where they may freely consult the great Physic an of
souls and receive pardon, comfort and peace ; and if He tar¬
ry not with them, He will, at least, leave a blessing be¬
hind Him, abundantly ample for all their spiritual needs.
2. But while Jehovah thus stoops to meet the wants
of every condition, nothing is more susceptible of scriptural
demonstration, than, that the arrangement of the great
Head of the Church contemplated the erection and use of
suitable buildings for public worship, adapted to man's
failing physical constitution, to counteract the influence ai)d
favor of the elements, and to facilitate the preaching and
hearing of the word, which we are taught, both by Scrip¬
ture and experience to regard as the ordinary beginning of
Evangelic faith. The commendable purpose announced
in the text by the liberated Israelites, ac they beheld the
lifeless forms of their late cruel masters toss d by the angry
foam, received the approval and sanction of Jehovah, clear¬
ly indicated by the pattern given Moses in the mount.
That model was preserved in the form of the Tabernacle of
the congregation—the recognized audience chamber of the
Almighty during the wanderings of the people in the wild¬
erness. The honor of fulfilling the promise which the text
announces was accorded to Solomon ; and grandly did the
favored son of David fulfill that promise, by preparing on
a most magnificent scale, the first permanent habitation for
God ever reared by human hands. Behold," said he in a
letter to Hyram, king of Tyre, " I build a house to the
name of the Lord my God, and the house which I build is
great, for great is our God above all gods."
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
65
The completion of this magnificent edifice was the fit¬
ting echo, by their descendants, of the song of gratitude
and triumph, sung by their fathers centuries before. And
it is the proud record of this people, that, with an astonish¬
ing unanimity, the rich and poor, the aged and the young,
the stalwart and the feeble, contributed their means willing¬
ly, gladly, and abundantly towards building the house of
God. For extensive preparation, solid masonary, skillful
adjustment of parts, beauty and grandeur of the whole ;
for lavish expenditure, whether as to costly material in its
construction and finish, or in the value of sacrificial offer¬
ings at its dedication, it stood the pride of the nation and
the wonder of the world. Arrayed in royal attire, King
Solomon himself attended the dedicatory service, and de¬
voutly led his grateful subjects in that npodel invocation to
heaven in which, for himself and all Israel, in most fitting
words, he tenders the house to God. Heaven accepts the
proffer, and a cloud of glory, which,, for the time, glorious¬
ly interrupted the priestfly ceremony, indicated the presence
of the King of Kings !
In imitation of this illustrious example, Christianity
has multiplied her houses of worship. Here, thousands
have assembled to listen to the rehearsal of Jehovah's tri¬
umphs in the deliverance of His Israel of old—the mani¬
festation of his His loving kindness in resigning His Son,
tender and beloved of the Father, to shame and death in
the interest of fallen man ; to hear the " voice of love and
mercy sounding aloud from Calvary," revealing, in sweet¬
est accents, the story of the cross—the matchless conde¬
scension of the God-man from the sublime heights of the
universe, to write the history of his quenchless love in his
own precious blood. Within the sacred walls of these hab¬
itations for God, millions of souls have been charmed into
sweetest submission to Jesus—have sought and found de-
66
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
liverance from that worse than Egyptian bondage—the bon¬
dage of sin—and having continued their song of triumph
while here on earth, now sing it above. Millions, by these
same transforming influences, through the medium of the
church, are still pressing toward the blessed goal; and who
shall tell the vast number of the multitude who are yet to
be brought into the fellowship of the saints through the
same instrumentality, to swell the triumphs of the Redeem¬
er in the full chorus of heaven. May we not appropriately
say in view of her mission—Oh Zion, Happy Zion ! what
a glorious lot is thine.
3. I hope I may not be thought extravagant when I
say, as I do, that the Christian Church is not only an im¬
portant organization, but an indispensable necessity. We
may doubt, hesitate, or quibble as we may at this averment,
but it is, nevertheless, true that, while human nature re¬
mains, or human society continues to be what it is to-day,
we shall need the restraints which the Church imposes,
and the consolations and hopes which Christianity inspires.
Look, for example, at our own civilized, refined, Christian
America. With fully a hundred thousand tongues of fire
employed every Sabbath, and often during the week, pre¬
senting the claims of heaven as revealed in the Bible, urg¬
ing upon the consideration of men the awful subjects of
death, judgment, heaven, and hell—appealing to his sense
of fear, God's goodness, mercy and love—appealing to the
higher qualities of his moral nature; yet, in the sublime
language of a distinguished writer, " Satan runs loose, sin
has her will, and death enough; blood treads on the heels
of blood ; revenge in desperate mood at midnight meets
revenge ; hideous blasphemy rises up with hideous blas¬
phemy ; and lawless violence and hate armed to the teeth
with a thousand deadly weapons, even in the midst of open
day, stalk abroad over all the land.
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
67
If we would know the utility and preservative charac¬
ter of the Christian Church, let us imagine these hundred
thousand tongues of fire suddenly silenced in death; the
Bible which they hold up to the esteem and veneration of
mankind, having lost its binding force and restraining influ¬
ence, committed- to the flames. The sanctity of an oath
gone, courts of justice would be but solemn mockery, for
men would as soon swear to falsehood as to truth; restless
of the restraint which law imposes, seats of legislation
would be invaded by the mob, and legislators would be
driven thence or compelled to submit to the dictation or
imperious demands of an infuriated rabble ; artisans would
be driven from their work-shops, farmers from their plows
and laborers from their employment, by the force of ever
increasing numbers, to mingle with the mob and catch
its inspiration ; and drunkenness, rapine, and unbridled lust,
spreading a sombre pall over the land, would complete the
horrid picture. From a scene so revolting to humanity,
virtue, truth, Christianity itself, must retire; and all that
were necessary to complete the ghastly array and eventu¬
ate the reign of moral chaos, would be an invitation to his
infernal majesty to call his hell-scared legions up and assist
the semi-infernal spirits on earth to hold high carnival.
Such, in the absence of the church of God, must be the
moral state of the world. No longer the temporary home
and highway of the Zion of God ; no longer the scene of
conflict where laurels are to be gathered which shall adorn
the victorious wreath that flashes on the head of Immanuel
—the necessity for its longer continuance must cease; and
incensed Jehovah would rise from his seat, in indignant
majesty, and sweep it into nonentity ! From these fearful
results we are spared, from year to year, by the prayers
and through the influence of the church. It would seem
from these considerations that, aside from the spiritual com-
68
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
fort which it secures to to us in life, in death, in time, and in
eternity, the Church considered merely as a preservative
element, should, above all other interests, command our
love and esteem and receive our hearty, liberal and con¬
stant support. Associations for any good purpose are com¬
mendable and ought to be sustained ; but, since no organ¬
ization of merely human origin can possibly minister to the
wants and necessities of mankind so fully as the Church
which God has instituted in his infinite wisdom and good¬
ness for that special purpose, so none should be allowed to
usurp its place, or, to have precedence of the church.
4. No people may long expect or even hope to be
prosperous who habitually ignore its claims, or make them'
a matter of secondary importance. He who sows sparing¬
ly in the interest of the church, the cause of God and hu¬
manity, may expect to reap sparingly for himself; while he
that sows plenteously may expect to reap abundantly. The
drouth, the blasting and mildew which mocked the toil of
the husbandman after the return of the captive Jews from
Babylonish servitude,"producing famine and sending up a
wail of sadness and distress from the disappointed, the
hungry and the famishing, is directly charged by the Al¬
mighty to the tardy interest of the people in reference to
the house of God. It was not charged that they were idle,
given up to pleasure, or that they did not entertain pious
thoughts of the Almighty. They were industriously
building their houses, ceiling and beautifying them : they
were cultivating their fields and caring for their temporal
wants—all very commendable in any people, notably so in
a people just out of a long captivity. But their fault and
their failure was, that they neglected the house of God and
attended to other interests—continued thus to neglect, from
month to month, from year to year, until they called down
the maledictions of the Holy One upon them. "There-
BISHOP TONES' SERMONS.
69
fore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth
is stayed from her fruit," is the sharp rebuke of Jehovah
by the mouth of His prophet; and the remedy given for
all this privation and suffering, is the required fulfilment
of two short commands :—" Go up to the mountain and
bring wood, and build the house " of God, is the first great
duty enjoined; and the second is its logical counterpart, in¬
dispensably necessary to the institution and perpetuation
of the service—" Bring ye all the tithes" —not a part, but
all—" into the store house, that there may be meat in mine
house; " then comes the implied promise of reward—
u 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 re¬
ceive it." Grand and glorious promise ! how easy its con¬
ditions, and how impartial its application!
Brethren, as a part of the common race, we occupy a
very peculiar position. If it behooves any one people more
than another to seek the favor of God and secure the con¬
solations which Christianity offers; we are pre-eminently
that people. But recently emancipated from an involun¬
tary servitude far exceeding in cruel severity that, freed
from which, the Israelites sung their song of gratitude and
triumph—nominally invested with the habiliments of citi¬
zenship, while practically denied the commonest rights of
manhood—alike the butt of ridicule and the victims of
scorn—our existence, even here, in the land of our nativity,
is but little more than the merest toleration. Thus aban¬
doned by man, we should cling to the God-man ; grudged
all but a servile partisipation and enjoyment of the things
of heaven. Kindred to ancient Israel, alike by years of
unrequited toil, cruel oppression and final redemption from
bondage by Divine interposition, you have signalized your
purpose to revere his name, by the erection of this neat and
7°
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
beautiful edifice to the praise of his glory. How marvel-
ously you have succeeded. With but few to help, and but
little to give, you have been enabled, by self-denial on your
part, and by the energy and self-sacrificing devotion to the
cause of God, and the interest of the people, on the part of
your pastor, but above all through God's blessings, to ac¬
complish a work surprising to all who are familiar with the
history of your struggles in this.city, and not less surpris¬
ing to yourself.
You come to-day, let us hope, in the fullness'of Chris-,
tian meekness, to present this house to God, and in the
fulness of Christian faith that he will accept the offer. But
I beg to remind you that although the eternal, immortal,
invisible Being, condescends to fix His seat in temples
built by human hands, his preference, his delight, "is to
dwell in the hearts of his people. He fully appreciates and
accepts this offering; but, if you would cause his great lov¬
ing heart to thrill with its fullest, broadest, deepest emotion,
you must prepare for him a habitation in your hearts, for
he loves to dwell in the humble, contrite, lowly heart.
And now, may the Leader and Guide of all faithful
souls make His own glorious record here to-day, that
through all coming time He may verify His gracious prom¬
ise, " In all places where I record my name, I will come
unto thee and I will bless thee."
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
7'
SERMON VI.
LESSONS DRAWN FROM THE RAINBOW.
H[is first sermon.
"And there was a rainbow round about the throne." Revelation
: iv. 3. -
No-portion of the Bible is so fruitful in heavenly em¬
blems as the book of Revelation. They cluster and sparkle
-upon every page. They adorn every vision and glisten
from every truth which is recorded by the beloved disciple.
As though conscious that the inspired volume is about to
close, they crowd around the setting sun to receive its last
beauteous rays, and throw their splendors over the whole
heavens.
The isle of Patmos, where this panorama of gorgeous
imagery passed before the mind of St. John, presented a
striking contrast to the scenes of which it was the theatre.
It was a lonely, barren spot in the Aegean Sea; so desolate
that criminals were sent to it as a punishment. Domitian,
the tyrant, banished thither the Apostle John, thinking that
the wildness and hardships of the place would induce him
to renounce his religion. But his faith and devotion instead
of becoming weaker, kindled into a glow that pervaded his
whole being. He felt that God was with him ; that the
Holy Spirit was hovering over him; that Jesus was his
companion, and that angelic messengers were encamped
round about him.
Those rough cliffs and cragged rocks were clothed with
freshness and beauty to his eye. The ocean that begirt his
isle, spread out as the emblem of infinite love. Its roar was
7 2
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
sweet music to his ear as he recognized in it notes of that
great anthem which is constantly ascending from nature to
its God.
The heavenly scenes, however, that he witnessed, shed
over the island a bright halo of glory. As he looked up¬
ward, he beheld the whole canopy filled with images of
surpassing beauty and splendor. In the distance there ap¬
peared a throne, and one sat upon it " like unto the Son of
Man." His robes were of snowy whiteness. His counte¬
nance shone as the sun. Upon his brow rested a brilliant
crown. Around the throne was " a great multitude, that no
man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people,
and tongues, clothed with white robes, and palms in their
hands." Other scenes of equal grandeur, open one after
another, illustrating the power of the church, the progress
of Christ's kingdom, and the signal ruin of its enemies. The
" New Jerusalem " appears in the vision, with its streets of
gold, its gates of pearl, its towers and palaces and gorgeous
decorations.
But it is to a single object in this celestial panorama that
we would now direct attention, and that is " the rainbow
that was round about the throne." There is a significancy
in this into which it may be well, to inquire. Why did not
the holy apostle behold over such a throne the radiance of
brilliant stars, or the splendor of a noonday's sun ? Why
does there appear a simple rainbow?
I. It was placed there as a token that a covenant-keep¬
ing God was seated upon that throne. After Noah and his
family had witnessed the fearful ravages and escaped the
perils of the deluge, God said to him, " I do set my bow
in the cloud, and it shall be for the token of a covenant be¬
tween me and the earth ; and I will remember my covenant
and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all
flesh." In this solemn pledge we have shadowed forth the
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
73
spiritual covenant which God has entered into with his
church; a covenant that he will not flood the earth with
divine wrath, but will receive to his favor the penitent and
believing. As the ancient dispensation, under Moses, with
its rites and ceremonies, stood as the type of a new and
spiritual system, so the bow that Noah saw in the cloud
was the type of that more resplendent arch that appeared in
the vision of John. And as God has been faithful in ful¬
filling; his promise to spare the world from the disasters of
another deluge, he will be equally, faithful in fulfiling all
the precious promises which he has made to his people.
And this bow around the throne is to inspire confidence
and hope, and to give to the christian pilgrim, "afullassur¬
ance of faith " to enable him to say, " I know that my re¬
deemer liveth."
A special object of Christ's mission was to impress the
world with the truthfulness and faithfulness of Jehovah.
" In my father's house are many mansions. If it were not
so, I would have told you." Indeed, Christ is presented to
us as " the mediator of a better covenant which was estab¬
lished upon better promises." Those which were made
with Noah, Abraham and their descendants, pertained to
temporal benefits. The Israelites, if obedient to God, were
to receive distinguished earthly favors. They were to be
in a miraculous manner supplied with food, protected from
their enemies and conducted to a land overflowing with
milk and honey. The manifestations which the Deity made
of himself to them, appealed to the external senses. They
approached " a mount that might be touched, and that
burned with fire." They heard "the sound of a trumpet
and the voice of words." " But ye," who are under the
new covenant, "are come unto Mount Zion, and unto the
city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an
innummerable company of angels."
74
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
The blessings now offered are of a spiritual nature.
Instead of manna to support the body, we have precious
truths to, nourish and invigorate the soul. Instead of
waters flowing from a rock we may drink of "the pure river
of the water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the
throne of God and of the Lamb." Instead of following a
cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, a divine resplen¬
dent Being appears before us, saying, "I am the light of the
world." Instead of a mountain that might be touched—a
mountain enveloped in clouds and darkness, shaken by
peals of thunder, and rendered terrible by flashes of light¬
ning— we " are come unto Mount Zion, whose mild beau¬
ties attract every beholder, and around whose summit play
the soft beams from the sun of righteousness. Instead of a
material city, we have pointed out to us, in the far distance,
"the heavenly Jerusalem," with its sweet gardens, celestial
palaces and thrones—" a city that has foundations, whose
builder and maker is God." Instead of being confined to
the society of imperfect men, we are admitted to compan¬
ionship with angels, to " the general assembly and church
of the first born." Indeed, all that the Christian can desire
in this life, or hope for in the next, is pledged under this
new and better covenant. No language can describe, no
imagination can portray the rich blessings which it secures
to the believer. "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither
has it entered into the heart of man, the things which God
has prepared for them that love him."
How appropriate, then, that the throne of the Eternal
should be arched over with the bow of promise; that the
Christian should have before him this perpetual token, that
a covenant-keeping God holds the reins of universal domin¬
ion. How full of comfort to the saint, that the eye of faith
may rest upon that bow. No sun is there to dazzle the
vision. No storm-cloud with its rolling thunder and light-
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
75
ning flashes, overhangs the throne, to terrify those who ap¬
proach it, but a rainbow with its beautiful tints and soft
rays, attracts them, inspiring in their hearts confidence and
hope. The oppressed pilgrim may look upon it, and from
the throne he hears the words " Fear not for I am with
thee; be not dismayed, for I am thy God." Penitent prod¬
igals, weary with toil, having found the way of transgres¬
sors hard, may turn towards it with an anxious eye, and
hear the invitation, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and
are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." The dying
christian, as earthly scenes are fading from view, may be¬
hold it and exclaim, "Though I walk through the valley of
the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with
me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me."
This bow, however, does not stand alone, as a proof of
the divine faithfulness. Our pathway through life is scat¬
tered with evidences of a Heavenly Father's care. His
bounteous supply of our wants; his regard for life, in pro¬
viding food; for the intellect in furnishing knowledge; for
the taste in decorating so beautifully this globe, which is
floating us through the heavens; his providential care, in
guarding us from injury, in keeping the delicate and com¬
plicated workmanship of the human system in tune so long,
are all proofs that our future interests will be protected.
We reason justly from this life to another; from what we
see around us and experience here to what we expect in a
higher and nobler state of being. This is our school to
which we are sent to learn lessons of God's truthfulness
and love. We are here taught to have faith in our great
benefactor, and to trust him forthe blessings of another life,
because he has done so much for us in this.
II. The bow around the throne was also a token that
:he storms of human life shall ere long pass away.
After a severe tempest, during which the raging elements
76
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
have threatened to destroy every object within their reach
and the heavy crashes of thunder have appalled the stoutest
heart, we have experienced the relief afforded by the sub¬
siding of the storm, and seeing painted on retiringclouds the
bow of promise. As we looked abroad, instead of witnessing
the marks of ruin, nature has appeared clothed in its love¬
liest hues, as though to mock the fury of the tempest.
From the descending torrents it has gathered refreshment
and vigor, and even the lightning has done it a service by
purifying the atmosphere.
Thus the devout christian sees in the bow around the
throne the pledge that the trials and afflictions of life shall
soon end, and perfect serenity be his portion. He reads
inscribed upon it in golden letters the words, "There re-
maineth a rest for the people of God." But the hour for
this rest has not yet come. The benefits of trials must first
be gathered into the soul. The heart must be disciplined;
faith must be cultivated; the power of the soul's endurance
must be tested. It is not the design of God that the chris¬
tian should " be carried to the skies on flowery beds of
ease." He must "strive to enter in at the strait gate." He
must " run with patience the race set before him." He
must "fight the good fight of faith.1' All the scriptural ex¬
pressions upon this point imply the necessity of earnest ef¬
fort. The battle must be fought before the triumph is cel¬
ebrated. A great work must be accomplished in self-dis¬
cipline, in the development and growth of holy principles,
ere we are prepared for the rewards of heaven.
In all the temptations and afflictions of life, the design
of the Creator is discernable, and he has arched his throne
with a beautiful rainbow to assure his people that he will
give peace to the troubled soul. And this bow is over the
throne to indicate that it is only when the christian is near
this throne that he can enjoy perfect serenity. He must, as
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
77
it were, enter into God, dwell amid his holy attributes and
experience the fulness of his love, if he would enjoy that
peace " that passeth all understanding." That far-distant
height, storms never reach. Clouds that cast shadows upon
the earth, float beneath it. The passions and strifes of
wicked men, do not ascend to it.
'' There faith lifts up the tearless eye,
The heart with riven anguish riven;
It views the tempest passing by,
And all serene in heaven."
There is infinite wisdom displayed in thus making the
throne the seat of perfect peace ; for had we satisfying en¬
joyment here, we should become too much attached to the
world. As it now is, we are loath to leave it. Amid all
our trials and disappointments, its charms continue to fasci¬
nate us. Its cares absorb the attention. We seek its riches,
covet its applause, and depend upon its pleasures. Though
we term human life a vale of tears, we are often reluctant
to exchange it for " Mount Zion.the city of the living God."
Though friends here are sometimes false, many receive with
alarm the summons to mingle with an innumerable company
of angels, and the general assembly and church of the first
born. Though in this world the christian has tribulation,
he trembles at the thought of entering into the presence of
God, where the Psalmist assuress us "therein fulness of
joy." It is, therefore, a wise provision that so many at¬
tractions cluster around the throne. It is a great kindness
in the Supreme Father to draw away his children from the
vanities of time and fasten their attention upon the joys and
splendors of immortality.
III. The rainbow encircling the throne indicated,also,
that there is ample power to confer and perpetuate this hap¬
piness. A throne is the emblem of strength and authority.
Hence, it is not simply a Father who promises peace to the
78
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
christian, but it is a Sovereign; one " who doeth according
to his will, in the army of heaven and among the inhabi¬
tants of the earth." The resources of God's boundless em¬
pire are to be employed in executing his purposes of love.
The vast revenues that flow into his treasury are to be used
in enriching and blessing his people. Those glorious, di¬
vine attributes, that built the universe and peopled millions
of worlds that float in space are to be exercised in promoting
the happiness of the righteous. With what inexpressible
joy will the redeemed saint approach the throne and view
his rich and everlasting inheritance."
With what rapture will he gaze upon the splendid
manifestations which the Deity will make of himself in his
celestial kingdom ? It is a glorious thing, even, when the
golden beams of day flood the canopy of heaven, and forest,
mountain and river are beautiful with light; glorious, in¬
deed, when the whole creation wakes up at the summons
of the morning, as though the trumpet had sounded, and
the vast grave of night was giving back the cities and soli¬
tudes that had gone down into its recess. But in place of
a firmament lighted up with a material body, we shall have
the infinite vault converted into one brilliant manifestation
of God; the splendid coruscations of righteousness, truth
and love weaving themselves together to form the arch, and
the Deity glowing through immeasurable space, pouring
his own lustre upon every object, thus making the universe
a reflection of his own glory.
IV. The rainbow around the throne was significant in
another aspect. As the bow upon the cloud is formed by
the union of the sunlight and the shower, so this may be
said to be formed by the union of mercy and justice. As
an arch reaching to heaven, it sustains the divine govern¬
ment; and its extremes descending and resting upon the
earth, show that divine mercy extends to man. Were only
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
79
the justice of the Deity revealed, we should continually
hear the thunders of the law, and tremble before the ter¬
rors of its awful penalty. If God was only merciful, there
would be no efficiency in his government, and no stability
in his throne. But it is the mingling of the two that in¬
spires us with confidence in the divine character, and se¬
cures to the obedient subject the rich rewards of his king¬
dom.
Mercy invites us to enter heaven. Justice protects us
in our rights and privileges after we have entered. Mercy
opens the gates of the heavenly city. Justice stands at the
entrance and demands holiness of character in all those
who would see God. Were justice destroyed and the di¬
vine mercy of such a nature as to admit the whole race to
heaven, irrespective of qualifications or character, there
would be no order or happiness in God's moral kingdom.
The happiness of a sentient being is not produced by the
locality that he occupies. It flows from the inward senti¬
ments, from conduct and character. It may be enjoyed in
a higher degree in a prison than in a palace; on a solitary,
barren island than amid the luxuries and splendors of the
most brilliant court. Heaven might, indeed, be thrown
open, unconditionally, to all mankind without requiring of
any repentance, faith or love to God; but such a measure
would not secure their salvation.
The only salvation worthy of the name is that which saves
man from sin ; from that which is the cause of his misery.
Man is the victim of a moral disease and must apply for a
remedy to the great Physician. His soul, originally design¬
ed as the temple of the living God, is shattered. Its col¬
umns are broken, its walls have crumbled; its altar is over¬
thrown and its worship is suspended. It must therefore
be rebuilt and become a fit receptacle for the indwelling of
the Holy Spirit. The voice of penitential prayer must be
8o
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
heard within its walls. To the altar must be brought the
sacrifice of a contrite and a broken hear t.
No, the Bible does not teach us that justice is annihi¬
lated because\he sceptre of mercy is extended. The Deity
has not laid aside his sovereignty by becoming a Redeem¬
er. The laws proclaimed on Sinai are not annulled by the
love displayed on Calvary. Notwithstanding the ample
provisions of the scheme of redemption, man is destinedly
taught that he has duties to perform, as well as hopes to
entertain. The proclamation made to all men is "Work
out your own salvation with fear and trembling,"—"with
fear," lest ye fail of the great salvation—"with trembling,"
lest ye are startled, at last, by the utterance, " Depart, for I
never knew you."
To all we would say, (in the eloquent language of
another), "Strive; for the grasp of the destroyer is upon you,
and if ye be not wrenched away, it willpalsy and crush you.
Strive; for the foe is on the right hand, on the left hand,
before you, behind you ; and ye must be trampled under
foot if ye struggle not and strike not as those who feel
themselves bound in a death-grapple. Strive; there is a
crown to be won. The mines of the earth have not fur-
inshed its metal; and the depths of the sea hide nothing so
radiant as the jewels with which it is wreathed. Strive,
then, in the strength of your risen Lord, and not in your
own."
Ye know not how soon the Lord may come. While
the sun walks his usual path on the firmament, and the
grass is springing in our fields, and merchants are crowd¬
ing the exchange, and the avaricious counting gold, " the
sign of the Son of man " shall be seen in the heavens, and
the August throne, of fire and of cloud, be piled for judg¬
ment.
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
81
God grant that we may stand before that throne with
the consciousness of sins pardoned. May we look upon
the bow around it as one of promise to us, and under its
beauteous light may we be guided to " mansions in the
skies." Amen and Amen.
82
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
SERMON VII.
SPIRITUAL DECEPTION.
At the invitation of prominent white citizens, the following
discourse was delivered in the Court House at
Kosciusko, Miss., during the session of the
West Tennessee and Mississippi Conference
of the A. M. E. Zion Church, the night
of December the 8th, 1879.
"Be not deceived ; God is not mocked; for whatsoever a man
soweth that sliall he also reap. For lie that soweth to his flesh, shall
of the fle^b. reap corruption ; but he that soweth to the Spirit, shall
of the Spirit, reap life everlasting."—Gal. vi. 7, 8.
The doctrine of the text embraces a fearful truth,
namely, that it is possible for us to be deceived in the im¬
portant matter of our present and eternal interest with ref¬
erence to Christianity and our claim to heaven. Not that
the way of life is difficult or mysterious; not that there is
any necessity of being mistaken in reference tc it. for God
has made it so simple, so plain, and so accessible to all
that no one need be mistaken; but, because mankind is
satisfied to leave this entire matter to guessing, hoping, and
expecting, when the amplest means and facilities are at his
command to make the matter sure. Extremely careful
about the simplest and most unimportant matters of worldly
affairs, he ventures his claim to heaven and happiness upon
doubtful and uncertain grounds. Prompt to look after the
business of life, even in its minutest details, we pay little or
no attention to the more important business of eternity.
We all despise deceivers. He who deceives us in a
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
83
trivial matter meets with our most decided disapprobation
and scorn; and he who deceives us in the more important
matters of life, receives our burning, withering and scathing
rebuke, for all time. We warn our friends to shun him as
they would a viper. We say in the language of an author
—" Beware of that dog ; look, when he fonds, he bites, and
when he bites, his venom sting will rankle to the death ; be¬
ware of him ; pass not by him ; go not in his wake, for sin,
death and hell, follow in his footsteps, and all their dark min~
isters attend him"
But, if it should happen that, not in the more trivial
concerns of life, but in the most solemn and momentous
matters of our eternal interests we are our own deceivers,
all that withering scorn, burning and scathing rebuke, will
recoil with ten thousand-fold fury upon our own deathless
spirits throughout the endless ages of eternity. "Be not
deceived." But, there are those in this audience who will
say, "We have intellect, judgment, the Bible; we have
thought, reflection, reason; we have settled views in regard
to our destiny and feel that there is no necessity for
any great alarm in reference to it. We are not deceived."
Well let us see. I presume that every one in this large as¬
sembly who has crossed the line of accountability—can dis¬
tinguish between right and wrong—believes there is a God
to whom we shall all give an account of our performances
in life when He shall sit on the great white throne of judg¬
ment, not in a court held in places like the one we now oc¬
cupy, but where the inscrutable eye of an inexorable Judge
shall pierce the deepest recesses of all hearts; where no
amount of money or legal ability, no packed jurors, nor
any other consideration, save the blood and righteousness of
Christ, will avail to shield the prisoner at that bar; but where
even-handed justice will be meted out, alike to all.
They believe, moreover, in a heaven of endless joy and
»4
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
a hell of eternal misery. I care not whether they hold to
the old orthodox doctrine of a hell of quenchless fire, or
incline to the more modern view of the inconsistency of a
loving God consigning his creatures to such a place forever.
I will not stop to discuss that point. Confinement in this
court room for twenty-four hours, with drunkards, gam¬
blers, horse-thieves, cut-throats and murderers; where
blasphemy and savage encounter hold sway, would be hell
enough for me, and I doubt not, for any refined mind.
Think, then, of being eternally confined with such a hetero¬
geneous crowd gathered from all ages of the world. Tell
me, would it not be hell enough without the fire ? With
these facts in view, and the word of God before us, there is
not one of us but believes we are going to spend an etern¬
ity at God's right hand in glory. The fact that we are
seated quietly here to-night, and in our right minds, is proof
positive that such is our belief; for no human being could
endure for one moment the idea, or thought, of being eter¬
nally lost. If an angel were to descend now from glory
piercing with his heavenly form the ceiling of this room,
veiling his brilliancy so that we could endure the sight, and
should he point out any one in this audience, solemnly an¬
nouncing the dread message that God had sworn in His
righteous indignation that the person named should never
enter his rest, never mingle with the redeemed in heaven,
but should be doomed to waste eternal ages in hell, that per¬
son would leave this building a raving maniac and would
need the assistance of his or her friends. No one, I repeat,
not even the most gigantic mind, could seriously contem¬
plate such an announcement and retain a sane mind. The
poet in confirmation of this view says—
'' What, to be banished from my I^ord,
And yet forbid to die ;
To linger in eternal pain,
And death forever fly ?
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
8S
The thunder of that awful word
Would so torment my ear,
'Twould tear my soul asunder, Lord,
With most tormenting fear.
O wretched state of deep despair,
To see my God remove,
And fix my doleful station where
I must not taste His love.''
The fact of our sanity, I repeat, is all that is needed to
prove that we expect to share the joys of heaven. And,
yet, is it not painfully evident that large portions of my
congregation here have never uttered one earnest, sincere
prayer to God for pardon and mercy? Sowing to the flesh
they are vainly dreaming of reaping a harvest in glory; on
the central road rushing with almost lightning speed in the
direction of New Orleans, they are calculating and chatting
on the good time they will have in New York. On the fast
through line to hell, they dream of rest and peace in heaven;
and yet, I am asked to believe that you are not deceived.
Take another figure. It is seed-time, the husband-man
having prepared his broad acres, is sowing his seed from
which he expects to reap a harvest. Riding out to-morrow
morning you find him mid-way of the field sowing what
you suppose to be grain of some kind; and, as you are old
acquaintances, you halt by the way to exchange salutations.
As he nears you, you ask him what he is sowing, and
without any hesitancy, he tells you, sand: supposing it to
be one of those no harm lies which men so often tell jok-
ingly, but which are lies, all the same, and must be ac¬
counted for as such. You smile, and await his coming.
As he slowly turns his sower about, you cast your eyes
into the hopper to discover that he is actually sowing sand,
veritable sand! You look in on the sand and then upon
the man; and, in utter amazement, you say to him—"John,
Will, or Fred ," as the case may be, " what do you expect
86
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
to reap from this sowing?" His prompt and earnest answer
is, " Wheat." Again your eyes glance at the sand, and at
the man; and then you look about you with a wild vacant
stare, and the fact forces itself upon you that the man is in¬
sane. You need no other evidence. You go straightway
to his house and inform his wife and children that the hus¬
band and father has lost his mind. By the same principle
of reasoning you must conclude that you have taken leave
of your senses in reference to your spiritual condition and
hopes. Sowing sand, you are dreaming of wheat. "Sow¬
ing to the flesh," you are confidently hoping to reap a har¬
vest which comes alone of "sowing to the spirit." "Be
not deceived."
The apostle clearly teaches in the text that, as it is an
unerring law in nature that a man shall reap, in kind,
whatever he sows, it is also the same law in grace; that, as
the reverse of this rule, so uniform in nature, would be re¬
garded as one of her wildest freaks, and would be heralded
as an anomaly outside of any known order of things, so, its
reverse is to be regarded as utterly at variance with the un-
deviating law of God in grace; and is not, therefore, to be
expected under any circumstances. And yet, there are,
doubtless, some in my presence—some in advanced age,
trembling upon the crumbling banks of time—halting on
the verge of the grave—who have speut a life-time in sin
and folly—have never "sown to the spirit"—never hum¬
bled themselves before God—never earnestly asked his
pardoning mercy; but who, nevertheless, hope for heaven.
Are ye not deceived?
We pass on and notice, briefly, another proposition.
The sources of deception are numerous. I will speak of
three of them. First, the heart of man. This is "deceit¬
ful," saith the Lord, "above all things, and desparately
wicked ; who can know it ? " The heart is the seat of our
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
87
affections and the source of our actions—the fountain
whence thought, desire, purpose and all moral action flow.
The fountain being corrupt, it is no marvel if all the
streams flowing thence should be alike tainted. Hence,
all the faculties of mind and soul being perverted, especially
in reference to God and our best interests, it is not strange
that mankind should be liable to be deceived on this vital
point..
But secondly, Satan is another source of deception.
Said Christ to the Jews—and they were only sinners—"Ye
are of your father the Devil, for ye do his works." That
charge will apply with equal force to all sinners. They
follow his lead, do his bidding; are his constant, willing
and obedient vassals—fully under his control. Saith the
Almighty by the mouth of the Prophet Isaiah in reference
to their moral condition—" The whole head is sick; the
whole heart is faint from the sole of the foot, even unto the
crown of the head, there is no soundness in it; but wounds
and bruises and putrifying sores : they have not been closed
neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment."
Who is the Devil, and what is his character ? First,
he is " a liar from the beginning and the father of lies."
He never tells the truth except when it will suit his pur¬
poses of deception and ruin, better than a lie; then he will
quote Scripture very readily and correctly, for he is fully
posted in the Bible. He says to Jesus when he had taken
him up to the pinnacle of the Temple—" If thou be the Son
of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He will give
his angels charge concerning thee, and in their hands they
shall bear Thee up lest at any time thou dash thy foot
against a stone." Now this was all very true, but his ob¬
ject was to have Jesus do his bidding, and thereby place
Himself in the position of submitting to the devil; thus
88
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
damaging forever His Divine character and authority as
Savior and Law-giver.
His method of deception and falsehood is transparent
again. Satan takes the Savior up into an exceeding high
mountain and shows him all the kingdoms and glories of
the world, saying, " all these things will I give thee if thou
wilt fall down and worship me." What a monstrous lie.
Why he does not own the hell he occupies, but is himself a
prisoner there, "confined in everlasting chains, under dark¬
ness; till the judgment of the great day."
Milton describes a scene which is supposed to have
taken place after the recovery of Satan and his confederates
from the withering crash of their nine days fall from heaven
chased by the linked thunder-bolts of Jehovah ; wherein,
Satan having made a rallying speech full of malice and rage
against his Vanquisher, is represented as making his way
out of his confinement to do whatever of evil he could in
the universe. Nearing the gate of his dark dungeon, he
sees a huge goblin form, with a thousand heads, and as
many darting fangs, assuming a defiant and hideous atti¬
tude. And thus, the Arch-traitor began—"Who, or what
art thou, execrable and nameless shape, that durst obstruct
my way to yonder gate ? Through i I mean to pass, that
be assured, nor leave nor ask of thee." To whom the gob¬
lin form, aroused to ten thousand-fold fury, and darting
livid flame from every head, replied,—"Art thou that traitor-
angel who first broke peace in heaven and in thy treachery
drew after thee the third of heaven's stars, conspiring
against the Highest?—for which thou and they, outcast of
God, are doomed to waste eternal ages here in pain, misery
and woe? and considereth thyself an angel of light, hell-
doomed ; and breathe thou defiance here and scorn, where
I reign king, and to provoke the man, thy king and Lord?
Back! to thy punishment, false fugitive, and to thy speed
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
89
add wings, else with a whip of scorpions I pursue thy ling¬
ering, or with one stroke of this dart strange horrors seize
thee, and pangs unfelt before."
Thus, it is clear, that Satan does not own his prison,
much less the kingdoms and beauties he offered to the
Lord. He tells the truth again, when he speaks out
through the fortune-teller in the Acts of the Apostles and
makes use of her, as he does of all his vassals, to follow af¬
ter the Apostles Paul and Silas, crying out or shouting—
"These men are the servants of the most high God which
shew us the way of Salvation." A grand and glorious
truth; but the object was to associate the Apostles with
this sooth-saying trickster and thereby, succeed in bringing
about the inference that the powerful works they were per¬
forming was the result of legerdemain or trickery ; thus de¬
stroying their usefulness and neutralizing their influence
for good. Such, my hearers who are sowing to the flesh,
is the character of your Father—a character by no means
complimentary to so near a relative, but one clearly war¬
ranted by the facts of history. This arch-deceiver tried to
deceive Jesus, and it was not until he was rebuked with all
the majesty of the God-head with—"Get behind me Satan"
that he spread his dark wings, and flying over unclaimed
continents of desert gloom hied him to his dark prison in
the vortex below. If he thus presumed to mislead the
Lord of life and glory, no marval that he should attempt
and succeed in deceiving mankind.
But, Satan deceives his votaries, also, as to the nature
and character of Christianity and of christian character.
The former he represents as a gloomy, dark, and sad condi¬
tion, only second to being buried alive, while the truth is
the contrary: The wise man says—"Her ways are ways of
pleasantness and all her paths are peace." In the latter case
he is quite as faulty and unreliable. For instance, let some
9°
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
Evangelist, like Moody and Sanky, come to Kosciusko and
preach the plain, simple word of God with force and effect.
The spirit moves upon the hearts of the whole community.
Stores are closed. Business is partially suspended ; and so
deep and general the interest, that a deathly paleness is
visible in every face, and no one seems to possess the power
to speak to his fellow. The Methodist church, or some
other large place, is the scene of anxious inquiry. Souls
are seeking God here as never before. You look on these
stirring scenes and become anxious for your salvation.
And now comes the deceiver of souls with compliments.
He selects out of the mass of upright, honest, sober chris¬
tian characters here, the shabbiest, meanest and most con¬
summate hypocritical pretender in the whole neighborhood,
and sets him up as the model of all godly souls. "See,"
says he, "that fellow is the head and chief of prayer meetings,
love-feasts and pious gatherings generally. He mingles at
the communion table, is happiest in song, loudest in praise,
and is at the very top of the pot in all religious matters.
You know his character and conduct. You know you are
his superior in moral qualities, upright deportment, social
position; in short, in every thing that goes to make up real
merit." And thus, the devil elates this man's pride of mor¬
ality, of social standing and dignified importance, till the
poor diminutive victim of deception buttons his outer gar¬
ments of righteousness about his moral and spiritual de¬
formity and strides on, eyeing himself from head to foot
with feelings of lofty superiority and self-satisfaction.
Proud Naaman, the Syr'an General and leper, who be¬
came so indignant because Elisha sits in his house and
simply sends out his servant to tell him to go and wash off
his filth in Jordan, turned and went away. Yet, with his
dignity, his royal attire and gaudy trappings, he was still a
miserably foul and filthy leper. Thus, artfully, does this
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
9i
old deceiver decoy silly souls, in one way or another, till
they are lost. Thus are thirteen-fourteenths of the inhabi¬
tants of earth misled by this great destroyer of souls. Do
not under-estimate his power and influence. They are
world-wide; The strong and the feeble, the wise and the
ignorant, the powerful and the worldly great, are among
his adherants. He neither lacks strength or influence, but
is formidable for evil.
Poor silly admirers; He lead": them on toward their
own ruin by music here and dancing yonder; by a glitter¬
ing bubble and by a tinsel show. Like the crafty trapper
who leads the little bird upon the beautiful snow. See
how gleefully it leaps from one grain of wheat or rye to
another, chirping with joy as it follows the death-trail
which leads to the fatal trap. In its eagerness to reach the
tempting pile of seed which its little eyes behold, far inside
the treacherous snare, it sees no danger, till, with a last
twittering bound it enters—poor, little innocent thing—never
dreaming it is at the forfeit of its life. "Be not deceived."
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BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
SERMON VIII.
SPIRITUAL DECEPTION.
[Concluded Discourse.]
Delivered by request of the prominent white cttizens of Kos¬
ciusko, Miss., December 8th, 1879, Court House.
'' Be not deceived ; God is not mocked; for whatsoever a man
soweth that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh, shall
of the flesh, reap corruption ; but he that soweth to the Spirit, shall
of the Spirit, reap life everlasting."—Gal. vi. 7, 8.
We proceed, now, to notice, the third source of decep¬
tion misused by the sinner through the agency ot Satan—
the mercy of God. Says the Apostle Paul in Romans : "Or
despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance
and long suffering, nor knowing that the goodness of God
leadeth thee to repentance ? But after thy hardness and
impenitent heart, treasurest up unto thyself wrath against
the day of wrath, and revelation of the righteous Judgments
of God ? " Thus, you perceive, that the mercy, patience,
forebearance and long suffering of God manifested toward
the impenitent, are designed to lead him to seek the salva¬
tion of his soul. But, strange to say, he wrests this large-
heartedness; this fatherly love and mercy, to his own de¬
struction. Says Solomon—" Because sentence against an
evil work is not executed speedily, therefore, the heart of
the sons of men is fully set up in them to do evil." Because
the Almighty does not enter into judgment with him for
one offense, he presumes upon His mercy and takes license
to commit another. Because God does not strike him down
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
93
with paralysis or apoplexy and thrust him quickly into hell for
desecrating one Sabbath day, by gambling, sporting or dis¬
regarding his commandments, he takes license to go on in
that way, commending God's mercy and goodness while he
tramples both under his feet. Thus, do men rush on, and
on, presuming upon the mercy of God until mercy steps be¬
hind incensed justice, who, with his great arm, lifts his
his sword, gleaming with ultimate wrath, and lets it fall with
vengeance, and a sinner stumbles upon the dark mountain
of death and plunges among the utter lost.
We notice, lastly, and briefly, that there is no necessity
for our being deceived. True, the poet tells us that " every¬
thing here below is deceitful smiles; there is nothing true
but heaven." We bless God that heaven is true ; that there
is a sure foundation laid in Zion upon which to build our
hopes and expectations for all time and eternity. " Be¬
hold," saith the Lord, " I lay in Zion for a foundation a
stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure founda¬
tion ; he that believeth on him shall not make haste." Bogs,
mire and pitfalls confront us at every step in life and
threaten to engulf us. We tread on dangerous ground;
but God has provided a sure and permanent standing place
for all who desire it.
The figure in the above passage from Isaiah is taken from
a marsh where a soft quick-sand surface renders it necessary
for all who would pass over it safely, to not allow one foot
to remain too long in the same place, lest it sink so deep as
to baffle their efforts to extricate themselves. To succeed
you must pass over it in haste. But he who predicates his
faith upon the foundation laid in Zion ; who rests on the
meritorious blood and righteousness of the Saviour, stands
or moves on a surface firm and unyielding, and shall stand,
and after all, " stand " like the ladder which Jacob saw in
his night-vision at Bethel, reaching from earth to heaven—
94
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
its foot is on a solid resting place; its top reaches the skies.
What the poet says of the ladder is equally true of this
foundation. He says— •
" This ladder is Jesus, the glorious God-man,
Whose blood richly streaming from Calvary ran,
So free of access that all the world may get up,
And angels regard you from bottom to top.''
Yes, all may find means of escape here. The wild
Arabian from the jungles of India; the shivering Esqui¬
maux wrapped in his fur amid perpetual scenes of ice and
snow; the untutored African basking on the burning
sands under the equator ; the Red man of the forest and
the fair Caucasian may alike avail themselves of the abun¬
dant facilities which Christ has provided for their eternal
safety.
Says one—" I desire to be saved, but I am perplexed
by the diversity of religious creeds and professions." It was
but the other day, I think, that I read in a newspaper an
extract from the writings of Dickens, in which even so
learned a man and author as he, prattles about the diver¬
sity of professions and the difficulties in the way of doing
right growing out of them.
But continues my inquiring friend—" If I should ask
you what course to pursue to be saved, you would tell me
to join the Methodists." Well, in doing so I should only
give you the result of my own personal experience like
any one else who had tried any other matter and found it
to be satisfactory. I have tested it and believe it to be a
good thing; and I hope to die in that faith. Says he—" If
I inquire of my Presbyterian friend over there, he will tell
me to unite with his church. So would the Baptists, the
Catholics and all of religious professions. How will you
reconcile these differences of opinion and the fierce conflicts
resulting from them ? "
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
95
If I should stop to do so it will not help him in his
search for eternal life; nor is it important. Presuming him
to be sincere, I give him a simple creed which will settle
his main difficulty, which is, how to please God and be
saved. My creed is short, comprehensive, sure: " Let the
wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his
thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, and he will
have mercy upon him; and to our God, lor he will abun¬
dantly pardon." Having done this, and received pardon¬
ing mercy, let him follow Christ, who says—" I am the
way, the truth, and the life; follow me;" not the Metho¬
dist, the Presbyterian, the Baptist, nor any mere denomina¬
tion ; but Christ. If, like Lorenzo Dow, you take your
pilgrimage through this world doing good and exemplify¬
ing a truly Christian life, you are safe, though you should
never unite with any particular denomination.
But still you ask—" Wherewith shall I come before
the Lord, and bow myself before the high God? Shall I
come before him with burnt-offerings, with calves of a year
old ? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams or
with ten thousands of rivers of oil ? Shall I give my first-born
for my transgression ; the fruit of my body for the sins of
my soul ? " No ; " the cattle upon a thousand hills are his ;"
and if he were " hungry he would not ask thee." The in-
fint upon its mother's knee is contaminated by Adam's
transgression, and would be no acceptable offering as an
atonement for sin; for he " charges his angels with folly,
and the heavens are impure in his sight." But having pro¬
vided a Savior he justly says—"He hath shewed thee, O
man, what is good; and [now] what doth the Lord require
of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk
humbly with thy God ? " Thus, you see, we are without
excuse. The way of life is plain and simple, and no one
96
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
need be mistaken. Whoever, therefore, adopts my simple
creed, and follows Jesus to the end of life, is safe.
Let us examine for a moment the words of the Atheist.
He says—"There is no God; everything we behold came
by chance." The heavens above us—the sun, moon, and
stars ; the majestic mountain, the flower-clad valley, the
rolling sea, and the rippling streamlet; the human form so
fearfully and wonderfully made with a mind that soars, now,
to heaven, mingling with the songs of angels, now winging
its way through scenes of light and glory " on rapid pin¬
ions borne, outstripping time in long excursions, wandering
through groves unfading, and the endless avenues that
shade the landscapes of eternity, or that quietly sits amid
unsown flowers where soft zephyr spreads her wings, and
time itself is one eternal spring,"—a mind that sweeps, at
will, through the vast regions of space, mingles with all
worlds, drinking in the rich beauties which are everywhere
spread out before it; then, in an instant, descends to the
regions of darkness, and, standing at the threshold of hell,
listens to the muffled groans of the damned—all this com¬
plicated and wonderful machinery, we are told, is the re¬
sult of " chance." Admit, if you can, that the Atheist is
right in his belief. My view or persuasion to the contrary,
will make no difference, since, it cannot originate a God.
Therefore, if there is none before whom the atheist is to
stand and give an account, then there is none for me. Con¬
sequently, if he is safe, so am I. We both die alike, and
there is no accountability. But, if, on the other hand, there
is a God, which I firmly hold, I am still right, while he
sinks forever beneath his righteous displeasure. So, if he
is right, I am right; and if he is wrong, I am still right.
Then, there is the Infidel who says the prophets and
apostles were tricksters; that Jesus was an impostor; that
the Bible is a cunningly devised fable—a transparent lie;
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
97
that artful men combined to foist it on a credulous world
to create a sensation and to perpetuate their names. Well,
suppose they are right They admit that there is a God
who loves truth, justice, honesty and virtue. Christianity
includes this short creed. So, if they are right, I am right,
tor I indorse their whole creed. But, if they are wrong,
I am still right; since my believing, as I do, will not con¬
demn me, seeing that I believe all they claim as being nec¬
essary to salvation.
But, there is the Predestinarian who claims that God
has fore-ordained and predestinated—solemly decreed—
that a certain number, called the " Elect," are to be saved,
no matter what they do; and that the rest of mankind has
been passed by, or reprobated by God. And all this for
the purposes of his own glory. Suppose that this is so;
my believing and acting to the contrary will have no influ¬
ence, since it cannot change the unalterable decrees of God.
So that, if I am among the elect, it is all right; and if I am
among the reprobate, it is all the same. I cannot help it.
But, if it should happen that God has decreed that all that
seek pardon of their sins, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and persevere in well-doing to the end, shall be saved;
then, by a careful, watchful, and prayerful life I am secure,
while my predestinarian friend presumes on his safety, re¬
gardless of his conduct, and is lost. So, that, if he is right,
I am right, and if he is wrong, I am right.
There is the Universalist who claims that, as Christ
died for all, therefore, all will be saved. If that be a fact,
I am all right, for I am one of the " all " for whom Christ
died. But, if it be true that Christ died for all, and only
those will be saved who seek and find him and remain
faithful unto death; then, in that case, I am also safe, since
that is my faith. If he is mistaken, I am still safe.
Then, there is the Moralist, who says—" There is no
98
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
necessity for so much ado about religion. All that is re¬
quired is to possess a good moral character, fine moral
qualities. Pay your debts, be honest, truthful, sober, just,
kind and generous. Sympathize with suffering humanity
and relieve it as far as you are able. Regard the Sabbath.
Avoid blasphemy. Be the gentleman or the lady, and you
are safe." This is all very commendable ; but, look at the
young man who possessed a singularly beautiful moral
character. He came and inquired ot the Savior what he
lacked of being a christian. " Jesus beholding him, loved
him" for his manliness, his splendid moral qualities. Yet,
there was one thing lacking—but one— and that was the
Holy Spirit.
If morality is sufficient to save us, then the follower of
Jesus is safe ; for Christianity embraces morality. So, if
we swallow the dreed of the moralist, and, believing as we
do, that, " If any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is
none of his ; " that we must be '' born of that Spirit " in
order to enjoy the privileges of the Kingdom of God, we
go beyond this moralistic creed and add to it "Spirituality,''
and rest our satvation here. So, if he is right, we are
right, and if he is wrong, we are still right, and, therefore,
safe.
Be not deceived."
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
99
SERMON IX.
SIX STEPS TO THE THRONE.
"Moreover, the king made a great throne of ivory, and over¬
laid it with pure gold." 2 Chron. ix. 17.
The throne of Solomon was made of ivory, overlaid
with gold, and the sides were pure gold. Its foot was made
of pearls and of emeralds, intermixed with other beautiful
stones, many of which were as large as ostrich eggs. On
either side of the throne there was the representation of an
orchard of fruit trees bearing ripe and green fruit. The repre¬
sentations were composed of precious stones of various col¬
ors. In the branches and on the tops of these trees were
to be seen many kinds of birds and fowls of the most beau¬
tiful and brilliant plumage, and at times they broke forth,
and a thousand voices warbled in concert the most melo¬
dious songs. These birds and fowls, all of which were
made of precious stones of various colors, were hollow, and
they were so automatically arranged that upon touching a
secret spring, they moved and sang with every appearance
of life.
The ascent to the throne, as the context affirms, was
by six steps; on each step there were two lions made of
gold (12 in all), and as large as life. As Solomon placed
his foot on the first step all these birds and fowls spread out
their wings, making a fluttering noise.
As his foot pressed the second step all the lions expand¬
ed their claws.
As he made the third step the whole assembly of the
roo
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS,
birds, fowls and men about the throne chanted a Psalm of
praise of God.
When he pressed the fourth step voices were heard issu¬
ing from the throne and saying in concert: " Son of David
be grateful for the blessings which the Almighty hath be¬
stowed upon thee."
Upon his touching the fifth step the same words were
repeated.
On reaching the sixth step thousands of infant voices
were heard singing praises to the Lord; and as he walked
over the platform toward his seat the whole structure, with
all the beasts, birds and fowls became in motion and ceased
not to utter strange and harmonious sounds until the king
was seated.
Then upon touching a spring all the lions, birds and
fowls discharged from their mouths, upon his royal person
a showery exhalation of the most fragrant perfume, whose
odor filled the entire palace. Then most beautiful birds
descended from their concealment and placed upon his head
the crown of gold which was studded with diamonds.
Before the throne stood a column of burnished gold;
on the top of which perched a " golden dove" holding in
its beak a roll bound with silken bands. It was so con¬
structed that when the king was fairly seated it descended
immediately before him and he took from its beak the roll
and opening it, read therefrom to the assembled court of
Israel, portions of the Psalms of David.
It is said that upon the approach of any evil persons to
swear falsely, the lions would roar and frantically lash their
tails in angry mood ; that the birds and fowls would ruffle
their plumage and that the whole scene assumed such a
frightful appearance that these evil persons would be awed
into the confession of their wicked purposes.
Tradition informs us that none after Solomon could
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS. iol
use this throne; that disaster attended every attempt to
utilize it by the kings by whom it was successively captur¬
ed; that it was eventually demolished ; and that its valuable
materials were appropriated for other purposes.
Let us reverently turn fram the literal and material throne
of the literal and limited King Solomon to the mediatorial
throne of the spiritual and eternal King Solomon, the suc¬
cessful ruler of the spiritual Israel, Christ Jesus.
THE TYPE AND THE ANTITYPE COMPARED.
•
As the literal Solomon ascended to the throne by six
steps, so also did the spiritual Solomon.
His first step was his Incarnation and Birth. As the
birds and fowls spread their wings, making a fluttering noise
when Solomon's feet pressed the first step, even so angelic
wings were spread and were heard in rumbling noise by the
pious shepherds on the plains of Bethlehem.
'' Hark ! the herald angels sing,
Glory to the new born King,
Peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled.
Joyful all ye nations rise,
Join the triumphs of the skies ;
With angelic hosts proclaim,
Christ is born in Bethlehem."
His second step was His Baptism in Jordan. The lions
opened their claws in seeming recognition of Solomon's
right to ascend; and at this step of Christ the Holy Spirit
descended and sat upon Him in the shape of a dove in re¬
cognition of his divinity. The voice of God confirmed this
fact; and the powers of earth and hell were notified that
"The lion of the tribe of Judah " was assuming command
of this revolted territory, and was opening his relentless
paws with which to crush out all antagonism against his
right to reign as " King of kings and Lord of lords."
'BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
"Jesus shall reign where'er the sun
Doth his successive journeys run ;
His kingdom spread from shore to shore,
Till moon shall wax and wane no more."
His third step was his Temptation in the wilderness by
Satan, and his forty day's conflict with the powers of hell.
As the whole assembly of birds and fowls and beasts and
men chanted the praises of God when Solomon planted his
feet firmly upon the third step, so the heavenly host con¬
certed with interested creation in shouts of congratulatory
praise as the victorious Christ finally vanquished his hellish
foe in the encounter, and assured heaven and earth of com¬
plete success.
"The whole creation join in one,
To bless the sacred Name
Of Him who sits upon the throne,
And to adore the Lamb."
His fourth step was Crucifixtion and Death, the most
trying step of all. As Solomon made this step voices were
heard issuing out of the throne saying, " Son of David be
grateful for the blessings which the Almighty hath bestow¬
ed tfpon thee." Well may we imagine that as Jehovah
looked upon the tragic scenes of Gethsemane and of Calva¬
ry, he was moved to tenderest sympathy for his son and that
voices soliciting mortal's gratitude issued from his throne.
"O for this love, let rocks and hills,
Their lasting silence break;
And all harmonious human tongues,
The Savior's praises speak.
Angels assist our mighty joys;
Strike all your harps of gold,
But, when you raise your highest notes,
His love can ne'er be told.
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
His fifth step was his Resurrection, eliciting as in this
step of Solomon the same exclamations from the throne ;
for if the expiation of our guilt by his death demands our
gratitude, surely his resurrection for our justification can be
no less cause for gratefulness. " He died for our sins and
rose for our justification." Rising in volume and sweetness
at every accession to its ranks, the church with ever increas¬
ing melody will repeat these grateful songs down the ages—
'' I know that my Redeemer lives
What joy the blest assurance gives ?
He lives! he lives ! who once was dead,
He lives, my everlasting head.''
"Our Lord is risen from the dead;
Our Jesus is gone up on high;
The powers of hell are captive led,
Dragged to the portals of the sky.''
His sixth step was his Triumphant Ascension to glory.
As when Solomon gained this step a vast multitude of in¬
fant voices broke forth in songs of praise, so when Jesus step¬
ped upon this last step thousands and tens of thousands of
angels, innocent and childlike beings, sang the triumph of
Zion's victorious King: "See," they shout, " the conquering
hero comes." As his hallowed feet once more press the
platform of the throne of endless dominion after his conflict
with earth and hell, such were the demonstrations of joy
and of triumph throughout the universe that the throne of
God itself seemed to move in honor of him who so fully
merited his seat.
"Say, live forever, wondrous king !
Born to redeem, and strong to save;
Then ask the monster, where's thy sting?
And where's thy vict'ry, boasting grave?"
This great tumult (if such I may call it without irrever-
io4
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
ence) is still going on in Heaven; for John heard the hosts
of heaven singing, "Blessing, and honor, and glory, and
power be unto him that sitteth upon the throne and unto
the Lamb forever and ever." Rev. v. 13. It rises higher
and higher at every new arrival from this sin-cursed world. It
shall attain its grand climax when the last of the redeemed
and blood-washed saints shall have reached Heaven ; and
then the grand chorus shall arise from the innumerable
throng: "unto him that loved us, and washed us from our
sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests
unto God, his Father, to him be glory and dominion forever
and ever. Amen." Rev. i. 5,6.
The fragrant odors that shall be showered upon our
spiritual Solomon, filling Heaven with rich perfume, will be
the sweet incense of the saints of God congratulating him
upon their final deliverance from all future fear of, or anxie¬
ty for evil.
Then comes the coronation. I know not who, (in imi¬
tation of the two beautiful figures, which, in the coronation
of Solomon descended from their concealment to place the
crown upon his head), will be selected to crown Jesus. But
we shall see, if faithful to his requirements.
"All hail the power of Jesus name,
L,et angels prostrate fall,
Bring forth the royal diadem,
And crown him Lord of all."
will perchance be the coronation song.
Then shall follow the unfurling of the roll of sainted
privileges; and the rich inventory of those things now held
in reserve; for those who love him will finish the work
of the Messiah. Christ shall lift the curtain and the play of
eternity will commence.
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS. 105
our elevation.
We notice, finally, that our elevation to sit with him
upon his throne is by the same gradation of " six steps,"
viz :
I. Conviction of sin.
II. Repentance of sin.
III. Faith, resulting in pardon or justification.
IV. Sanctification or entire submission to God.
V. Perseverance to the end, unyielding steadfastness.
VI. Death and glorification.
[The conclusion of this most excellent and highly im¬
aginative sermon is not given. Doubtless, the Bishop was
hurried in its preparation, and contented himself with the
above analysis from which he extemporized in his well
known characteristic, breezy manner. Compiler.]
io6
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
SERMON X.
THE INSTITUTION, CHARACTER AND PROVIS¬
IONS OF THE PRIESTHOOD; AND A PLEA
FOR THE GOSPEL MINISTRY.
"Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the
gospel should live of the Gospel." i Corinthians ix. 14.
We propose to present to you the claims of the gospel
ministry. So imperfectly is the character and purpose of
the gospel ministry understood, or sought to be understood
either in the church, or out of it, so diversified and conflict¬
ing are the opinions of men in regard to it, that it seems
fitting that this subject should occasionally be set forth in
its true light. Most persons, even in the church, have a
very low estimation of the minister of the sanctuary, and
are inclined to regard him in the light of a pauper or indo¬
lent fellow of little or no importance; to be treated with any
amount of indignity or disrespect; and especially is this dis¬
regard manifested in the matter of support and sustenance.
There is, I think, much greater disposition to find fault with
the ministry than with any other class of men.
The text discloses the fact that the apostolic ministry,
pure and unselfish as it evidently was, so far from being an
exception to this general rule of condemnation, met the same
class of objectors and many of the objections in its day that
are urged with more or less persistency against their suc¬
cessors now. Strange to say, however, that the objections
urged against Paul by the designing persons who sought
to injure his influence and usefulness at Corinth, were in
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
107
direct opposition to any that would likely be urged against
him if he was serving at the altar to-day. The obiviously
wicked purpose to find fault, embarrass and injure ministers
was the same then as now.
Paul charged nothing for his ministerial services, but,
freely preached the gospel, maintaining himself by working
at his trade. This was seized upon as an objection to his
apostleship, and as evidence of his beingan impostor. Said
his enemies—All prophets and divinely commissioned men
have a right to their secular support. You claim nothing.
Is not this because of a conviction, that, never having been
divinely commissioned, you have, consequently, no right to
claim such support? Paul, well knowing that God had in¬
culcated no duty on the minds of the Israelites with more
force and clearness than that of sustaining the minister of
the sanctuary, saw at once the damaging force of this objec¬
tion to his apostolic mission and proceeded in a most mas¬
terly argument to settle the question of support, as to him¬
self, and to all others who minister at God's altar.
Of course, no objection is urged to-day against a min¬
ister serving for nothing, but, on the contrary, exception is
taken because, as it is said, too much is claimed for his
services. The minister who in these times of degeneracy
could build a fine church and serve as its pastor, free of all
charge to the worshippers, would have a numerous mem¬
bership and crowds of hearers. Such a course, however,
has neither precedent or sanction, in either Jewish or Apos¬
tolical Church; for in both the people were required to sus¬
tain by voluntary contributions all the demands of the sanc¬
tuary, and they cheerfully did so on the largest and most
magnificent scale. In order to vindicate his conduct and
silence these aspersers of his apostolic character, he opens
the entire history of the ministry, setting forth its claims,
and assuring his opponents that it was from no conviction,
to8
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
as they charged, nor from any ignorance as to his rights,
that he waived the consideration of support from the peo¬
ple, but from his love for, and sympathy with them in their
poverty, and from a desire that no blame should be attach¬
ed to him of an undue selfishness in enriching himself by
preaching. While this act of Paul is a fitting rebuke to the
avaricious ministers who preach only for gain, it affords no
argument whatever against the right of a minister to be sus¬
tained by the people; nor the slightest pretext to justify the
people whom he serves in neglecting this religiously neces¬
sary duty.
The text is the conclusion of his unanswerable argu¬
ment in favor of the rights of the ministry. From this ar¬
gument three things are clearly established :—
I. That for the moral and spiritual benefit of his peo¬
ple and the world, God instituted religious service, and
designated, and set apart, the persons by whom it was to
be conducted. Aaron, the high priest, and the entire male
population of the Tribe of "Levi, as assistants, were desig¬
nated by the Almighty in the organization of the Jewish
church as the spiritual advisers and directors of the people.
And all who have been subsequently called of God to this
work are the rightful successors of this sacred host, and are
entitled to the same dignity and considerations, the same
rights and immunities. They were set apart to their office
with a ceremony remarkable for its pomp and circumstance
and evidently designed to impress the people with the im¬
portance of their position. Among no people were the
ministry held in higher esteem than among the Jews.
II. To the persons so designated, or their successors,
being indespensably necessary to such service, and that
they might devote themselves wholly to the work, God
solemly enjoins that the amplest provisions shall not only
be made for their support, but also for their families. First,
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS. 109
as to their clothing. These were of the best material, and
most tastefully made " for glory and for beauty." These
were gorgeous in appearance, made up of gold, blue, purple
and, fine linen, with cunning workmanship. The services
of the most skillful men and women were secured to make
up these priestly garments; and numerous perfumes of the
most costly kinds were to be used by them, so that both to
sight and smell, they should be pleasant to all with whom
they came in contact. But, even decent appearance is al¬
most an impossibility with most ministers of our present
time, and the smell of perfume, even if it should be cheap
cologne, would in most cases subject a minister to severe
criticism, if not open condemnation. All these ample pro¬
visions were made for the ministers of old, by the people, with¬
out the least care or solicitude on their part.
Secondly, as to their possessions. Forty-eight cities
were appropriated to their use by the people. These cities
with their suburbs, according to Dr. Clark's computation,
contained about 53,000 acres of land of the best quality.
Allowing to each of the 8,580 priests and Levites which
served the Jewish altar a little more than six acres, these
cities were the residences of the priests and their households,
while the suburbs afforded ample room on which to graze
their cattle, and also for parks or promenades to their fam¬
ilies. How differently the arrangements for the gospel
ministry to-day. No homes or lands are appropriated for
their families; and the mere attempt to purchase a home in
which to die, and in which their families may find shelter
when he, head and support, is no more, is regarded as a
sufficient crime to bring the condemnation of the people
upon him.
What an astonishing spectacle! Civil governments
are thoughtful of their servants. Their Presidents, Kings,
Emperors and Legislators are handsomely provided for.
no
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
Hence, when the people of this nation said by their ballots
that General Grant should be their Chief Magistrate, the
White House was opened to him and his family. Every
room was magnificentlyTurnished ; and he enjoyed the bles¬
sing and comfort of a fine home and ample provision at the
expense of the American people. You and I were taxed to
maintain it. But when Jehovah calls a man to serve in a
far more important position than that of our presidents,
kings and queens, few suppose him to be entitled to any
such consideration, and fewer still, have the will to accord
it. If he receives the fiftieth part of what is paid to the
president, annually, with which to sustain himself and fami¬
ly, he is considered well paid. If by any means he denies
himself and family the comforts of life, and, from his meagre
pittance devotes a little to the purchase of a home, though
it be but a few rooms, there are to be found within the pale
of the church those, who not only discourage all extra help,
but who actually make it a pretext upon which to justify
the people in refusing to pay him the paltry sum they have
agreed to pay. They exclaim, " He is buying property.
Many of our members cannot do so. He needs no help
from us." And thus the church takes license to withhold
from the minister their just dues, simply, because they are
applying their means judiciously in the purchase of a home.
Thirdly, as to their sustenance. They were to have,
first, the firstlings of the flock of beast and fowls ; the first
fruits of corn, wheat, barley, wine, oil, and even of human
beings which were to be redeemed with such articles as
were most needed. Secondly, a part of all the spoils of
war; prisoners to be redeemed and children—with others.
Thirdly, the tenth part of all the productions of the land.
Now allowing $200 worth of produce to each person at the
time of entering the promised land, and you have the enor¬
mous sum of twelve millions of dollars for the use of the
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
in
Priesthood annually. In addition to this there were 24 different
gifts regularly made to them by the worshippers. Thus
magnificently did the God of Israel require that his minis¬
ters should be provided for. Who is so bold as to charge
Jehovah with vanity ?
If those who are so little of soul as to deny to the
gospel minister almost every comfort and begrudge him a
bare subsistence, while they lavish upon their own persons
all that fashion can create; if they will continue to hide
their stinginess behind an absurd and hypocritical profession
of fear that ministers, any more than other people, will lose
their souls if their bodies are properly provided for, then
let them retain that littleness of soul and that penuriousness
of heart; but I totally deny their claim to any sympathy
in God's great heart in this matter of ministerial degrada¬
tion. It was not any desire or purpose of the Almighty to
subject the ministry to the humiliation to which they are
subjected. So far from compelling them to bend and bow
to the whims and fanciful notions of the people in order to
secure a living, God designed to so lift them above dis¬
tressing anxiety and care as to their temporal wants, as to
enable them to maintain a dignified position, and thus de¬
vote themselves wholly and untrammelled to the important
work assigned them.
III. We are assured in the text that it is ordainedby
the Lord (Matt. x. 10 and Luke x. 7,) that the same ample
provisions shall be made for those who serve the Christian
altar, as were made for those who served the Jewish. Our
office is equally, if not more, important; for if the ministra¬
tion of condemnation was glorious, how much more so the
ministration of reconciliation. Insignificant as the office ap¬
pears to those who are ignorant of its real importance, it is
nevertheless, the hope of the world.
That its character and influence for good may be seen
112
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
to an advantage, let us suppose that the sixty thousand pul¬
pits of America are at once emptied of its ministers. The
Bible closed; the sacred oracle dumb; the solemn warnings
which rang out in tones of thunder every Sabbath, causing
the guilty to tremble, are hushed. Those stirring appeals
to men's consciences for justice, humanity and righteous¬
ness, made in the name of God, and in view of Death and
Judgment, the joys of Heaven and the pains of Hell, are no
longer heard. If these things were true, what would be the
moral condition of communities, governments and the world?
Why, it is so notorious now that with all the restraints
which a preached gospel imposes, crimes of the most astro-
cious character, are committed in open day, and are largely
on the increase. Remove these powerful restraints upon
the fiery passions of mankind, as would be the case in the
absence of a preached gospel, and the sanctity and binding
character of an oath are gone; courts of justice will become
a solemn mockery, for men would kiss the Bible to a lie as
soon as to the truth. Lawlessness and violence would stalk
abroad in your streets, and its victims in the shape of man¬
gled and ghostly corps would be seen at almost every cor¬
ner. The vaults of the banks in which you are hoarding
up your means would be opened by the same violence, and
the treasure you so much rely on would be squandered by
those who never labored to earn it. The White House would
be emptied of its inmates, and your congressmen and judi¬
cial officers would be seized and thrust from their high places
by a mob. The wheels of progress would cease to roll, and
vice, enshrined in the place of virtue, would make society
little less than moral chaos; and devastation and ruin would
complete the dark and frightful picture.
Now this sad condition of things is prevented, mainly
through the instrumentality of the ministry. I admit that
they have the co operation.and aid of good men and women,
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS. 113
but as the leaders of the church, and of moral reform, when
you have silenced them, you have made the beginning of
the end of all successful efforts toward moral renovation.
Such, briefly, is the work and its results, performed by that
despised class of men who minister at God's altar.
It seems almost incredible that a class of men who are
of so much importance to society should fail to have the
respect and confidence, the aid and support of all. And
yet, it would be folly to attempt to disguise the fact that
they are regarded with more or less indifference by .the
great majority, even of professing christians. The fact that
any one is permitted to pursue peaceably the avocations by
which they gain a livelihood is due to their influence and
efforts. How shameful that he should be constantly com¬
pelled to hear the complaint that the ministry are a lazy set
of loungers; that they ought to go to work. To labor
faithfully as a pastor is a greater strain upon the constitu¬
tion than almost any ordinary work. It will appear by a
calculation made fifteen years ago what estimation is placed
upon this most important of all interests as compared with
other and far less important interests. In 1855, it was esti¬
mated that in America there was expended, annually, for
intoxicating drinks over - $40,000,000
For cigars, tobacco and snuff - - - $ 28,000,000
For Litigation, law suits - 18,000,000
For medical attendance - 15,000,000
For the Gospel Ministry - 6,000,000
Of course these figures would be largely increased by
an estimate made to-day ; but I think it will be found that
the proportions are about the same. Thus it will be seen that
nearly three times more money is expended annually to
cure men's bodies than to save their souls. Fully three
times as much in contending before courts of justice; near¬
ly five times as much for the obnoxious weed as for the
H4
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
" Bread of Life and nearly seven times the amount for the
destroying fire-water, as for the all-saving " Water of Life."
And yet, complaint is constantly made about supporting
ministers. Most persons feel they would be doing an in¬
justice should they refuse to pay any other debt, no matter
to whom it is due. But they feel no condemnation when
they deprive the minister of his just dues. Grocery men,
butchers, bakers, shoe-makers, dress-makers and dry-goods
men must be paid. Rent and taxes must be settled ; but the
minister's dues are unimportant. He is too good to sue for
his salary. Satan and your conscience say, "cheat him. He
is only a minister." Shame ! Shame !
Let all who have any interest in this matter see that
they do their duty in supporting the ministry and thereby
enable these trumpet-blowers who watch for their souls to
discharge their duty with joy and not with grief.
Let no one suppose that I am asking for the ministry
the same extensive provisions as the Almighty required for
the Priesthood, notwithstanding, they serve to-day a far
grander purpose and are, therefore, entitled to at least the
same care. I ask not that they shall be furnished with the
most costly material in clothing, nor that their garments
shall be composed of purple, and blue, of gold and fine
linen. But I do ask that they be furnished with decent ap¬
parel in which to minister at Jehovah's altar. I ask not
that they be furnished cities to dwell in ; with six cr more
acres of land; with parks and promenades. I only ask
that they be supplied with the means, over and above their
mere living, to secure for themselves a home. Nor do I
claim that the choicest of the flock, the finest of the wheat,
the best wine and oil, nor the tenth of the productions of
the land, shall be given them ; much less the multitudinous
gifts which the Priests and Levites shared of old. But I
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
claim what is fair and reasonable, and right—that they shall
be kept above pinching want, or depressing poverty.
If you would have a pure, free and dignified ministry—
above all temptation to bribery, sustain it. If you would
lift the ministry above the necessity of pandering to wealth,
sustain it. If you would have the full results of careful
study and devout prayer, support the man of God. If you
would avoid the blush which in these times is so frequently
felt, consequent upon a polluted minister, so sustain them
that the necessity of courting the favors of the vicious in
order to get a dollar, may be entirely removed; then expect,
as you will have a right to expect, a par upright ministry.
In fine, if you would counteract that sourness which so fre¬
quently enters into the sermon of your pastor, sweeten his
temper by supplying his reasonable want. Do these things;
and you will have young men who are now following those
avocations, however sinful, which, nevertheless, gives them
a decent living, filling your pulpits. The ministry will be
more earnest, the church more prosperous; and Heaven
will smile.
'' 'Tis not a cause of small import,
The pastor's care demands;
But what might fill an angel's heart,
And fill'd a Savior's hands."
n6
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
SERMON XI.
COMPARING OURSELVES WITH THE CONDUCT
REQUIRED OF US BY THE ALMIGHTY.
"Although my house be not so with God; yet He hath made
with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure : for
this is my salvation, and all my desire, although He maketh it not to
grow. 2 Samuel xxiii. 5.
In penning this his last poem, David does what honest,
sober, thoughtful Christians not infrequently do—compares
the conditions, facts and circumstances of his own life,
position and character with the life, character and conduct
required of him by the Almighty. It is now as you per¬
ceive, a comparison between men in like circumstances and
conditions in life. It is not made with the view of ascer¬
taining how nearly or advantageously we will compare
with human standards or human requirements, but the
object sought is to determine how nearly we conform to
what God requires of us.
In our comparisons with each other we shall often find
cause for exultation. But the standard is so low that even
our superiority in life and conduct over that of our fellow-
men gives us but little to boast of; and is, at best, but a false
exultation. But when we compare ourselves with what
God requires of us ; when we draw the standard of our life,
character and conduct in the broad light of heaven, then
we are humble in the dust, and we conclude with the pious
king of Israel, that "my house, my heart, my life and my
conduct are not so with God." Such comparisons, my
hearers, are always humiliating, and for that very reason,
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
"7
always essential to our spiritual health; since "God
resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble."
ONLY ONE PURE LIFE.
First—Such humbling has filled, and doubtless will fill,
with care, anxiety and alarm the most pious. No life is so
pure as to be without stain, or at least a blur; none posi¬
tively spotless but that of Jesus. But in the light and
purity of that Being who charges the angels with folly and
in whose sight the heavens are impure, the least stain or
blur is sufficient cause for anxious fear and perplexing
alarm.
But when the numerous failures, shortcomings and
grievous departures from God, which unfortunately mar
the beauty and symmetry of the most exemplary Christian
life, loom up before us, every honest heart is humbled; and
in profound sadness we note the alarming disparity between
what we ought to be and what we are.; what we wish, hope
and are struggling to be in life, but what, nevertheless, we
must confess that in spite of all our experience and honest
endeavors, and all our profession, we have not yet attained.
"Evil and many have been the days of the years of my
life," said pious Jacob to Pharaoh in answer to the
question, "How old art thou ?" "O ! God, I am vile," is the
language of the distinguished patriarch Job, a man who, by
the testimony of the Almighty, "feared God and eschewed
evil." "Oh! wretched man that I am ; who shall deliver
me from the body of this death," is the sad wail of St. Paul.
"I have sinned against the Lord. God, thou knowest my
foolishness, and my sin is not hid from Thee," said David,
a man after God's heart, whom Nathan reproved for his
transgression in the case of Uriah.
Such, my hearers, are the sad testimonies of the most
distinguished characters of the Bible, and the experience
ix8
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
and the private, if not the public, testimonies of the most
pious of modern time:?.
And such is the experience of our own hearts and
lives to-day. The boasting we frequently hear to the con¬
trary are but boastings, such as Peter indulged in when, in
his honest claim of greater attachment to the Savior than
any or all the other Disciples, he told Jesus that though all
might forsake Him, he would not; that he would rather die
than abandon Him. And yet the precipitate abandonment
of his Lord and Master with oaths and blasphemous anger
is the sad comment upon Peter's naked boast, as the many
sudden miscarriages are upon the boastings of men and
women to-day. Honest examination will reveal to us all
the sad fact that our "house is not so with God" as we
wish it here.
ENCOURAGEMENT TO REPENT.
Second-—There is nothing in this view, saddening as it is,
to drive us into despair; but much to encourage our hope.
If we are saved at all, it will be by nothing we can do; but
by virtue of our having a part in the covenant of grace,
called here the "everlasting covenant;" that arrangement
which God has effected for our salvation, whereof we be¬
come participants through faith in Jesus, so that by virtue of
that faith we make ourselves a party to all the convenant,
conditions, privileges and blessings. *
The cardinal stipulations of this covenant are, "I will
be their God and they will be my people." Though made
and ratified thousands of years gone by, it is so arranged
that whoever repents of sin, believes on Jesus and receives
pardon, becomes so completely identified with the original
terms as to be able to say in the language of the text, "He
hath made with me an everlasting covenant."
Third—Let us notice the two features in this covenant.
First, it is "ordered in all things," or supplied in all things;
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
119
needing nothing. It is ordered, supplied, or provided in
such manner as to meet every possible want of our weak
and fallen nature. Do we need sympathy ? It is abund¬
antly provided for in that particular. Do we need pity,,
compassion and tender regard ? These are lavishly pro¬
vided for. Did you say that our frequent failures and
shortcomings require great patience ? It is so provided
in this covenant that He who saves us is patient, long-suf¬
fering; that he "shall not fail nor be discouraged;" that
he " will not break the bruised reed nor quench the smok¬
ing flax;" that he "will in no wise cast out," or send away
"those who come unto him." Praise the Lord !
Does our condition require frequent restorations,
renewals,-lifting up, holding up, reviving? It is specially
stipulated that the executor of this covenant will reclaim
the backslidden, restore the wandering, seek the lost, lift
the fallen, heal the wounded. Does our spiritual ignorance
and obscure vision require us to be directed in the way of
of safety ? It is expressly provided that He will "lead
the blind by a way they know not, and in paths they have
not known ; " that " He will make the crooked straight and
the rough way plain ; " that " He will show them the path
of life," and "guide them by His council." Do we need
comfort, the tender promptings of some kindly, 'loving,
generous and helpful agency, disolving our doubts,
silencing our fears, inditing our prayers, inspiring our con¬
fidence and reviving our hopes ? The special provisions of
the covenant embracing the offices of the Divine Spirit
have fully anticipated all our needs in this respect.
So that every imaginable or possible contingency,
embracing the entire history of the longest possible life, is
met in advance by the provisions of this covenant. Grandly,
lovingly and gloriously is it provided, or, "ordered in all
things."
12o
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
SALVATION IS SURE.
The second notable feature in this covenant is, that it
is "sure." Its conditions are answered beyond a doubt,
beyond any possible contingency, to all who are in cove¬
nant relationship—to all who believe, trust, rely on the
Lord Jesus Christ for final salvation. Just as long as we
continue in covenant relationship with Christ, our salvation
is sure. Our title to earthly inheritance, however clear at
one time, may be disturbed without either our knowledge
or consent. Some designing enemy, either by stealth or
bribery, may succeed in vitiating the record; but if our
"witness is in heaven," if "our record is on high," no
designer can penetrate those massive walls ; no adventurer
in the borrowed plumage of heaven can elude the vig¬
ilance of those heavenly tylers who keep wach at the
portals of light.
The "accuser of the brethren" may accuse us before
God day and night, but he can do no harm so long as we
keep our case in the hands of our Divine Advocate. He
will plead our cause against the insinuations of wicked men
and devils. The undivided Trinity, the angelic host, and
the "spirits of the just made perfect" are in full sympathy
with us.in our struggle for life and glory. Earth and hell
are powerless to harm us. Nothing but our voluntary re¬
linquishment of our claims to the blessings of the covenant
can work a forfeiture of those blessings ; otherwise all is
"sure."
Fourth—We come to notice that this covenant relation¬
ship which we sustain and maintain through faith in the
meritorous blood and righteousness of our crucified Christ,
constitutes the foundation and pledge of our present,
future and eternal "salvation." It depends not upon what
we can do, since our very best endeavors are little less than
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
121
blunders and failures. What we would, we do not; and
what we would not, that we do.
Our whole life-history are miscarriages, broken vows,
unfilled promises. We see and fully indorse God's claim
upon our fidelity, uprightness and purity; yet we are not
what we ought to be, nor what God requires us to be ; nor
what in our hearts we desire to be. These sad experiences
convince us most unequivocally that there is nothing in us
which will enable us to secure our salvation, except a firm
reliance in the Savior. All "our righteousness is as but
filthy rags," and we are utterly powerless for the accom¬
plishment of any good of ourselves. It is "God that
worketh in us to will and to do of His own good will and
pleasure."
The grounds of our hope of present deliverance from
the calamities which befall men as the consequences of a
sinful life, the snares and pitfalls which everywhere endanger
our pathway, and the temptations by which so many have
fallen, are not any natural endowment or any innate princi¬
ple making us different or superior to others; but by
matchless grace we were sought, found and made willing
by the Savior to share in the "everlasting covenant."
By that same boundless grace are we preserved, hour
by hour, moment by moment and day by day. We depre¬
cate our sins and shortcomings and deplore our manifold
failures and grievous departures from God. We are
abundantly convinced of the fact that but for *he grace of
God through Jesus we should be quite as miserable as those
we see all around us—victimized, overwhelmed and van¬
quished by sin under the full control and dominion of
Satan, unchecked and unrestrained.
NO GROUNDS FOR BOASTING.
There is, therefore, left to us no grounds for boasting
of our moral, physical strength, since both are equally the
122
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
result of some Divine favor. Left to himself, one sinner
would not necessarily be better than another. Sin
unrestrained in the one would lead to the same results as
sin unrestrained in the other. The accidents of birth, par¬
entage and rearing under favorable circumstances are
regarded as great factors in determining the life-character
of an individual. But I am thoroughly convinced that
they are valuable only in embellishing moral character when
aided, emphasized and crystalized by Divine grace. Without
this, the noblest birth, the most distinguished parentage and
the most careful rearing must fail to give us any claim or
title to the benefits of the everlasting covenant; and out¬
side of it the most favorable conditions are unavailing for
salvation.
SALVATION NOT MAN'S WORK.
Manifestly, then, our salvation is in no sense attributa¬
ble either to any innate proclivity toward moral goodness
on our part, or to any special advantage resulting from
parentage, birth, rearing or cultivation before the fact, nor
to any superior courage, skill or carefulness after the fact
of our induction to covenant relationship, considered
independently of the conditions of that covenant.
It is not anywhere stipulated that our covenant relations
absolve us from carefulness, watchfulness, and prayer. These
however, unavailing as the efficient or meritorious cause of
salvation, are nevertheless important and indispensable
signs of our entrance into, and continuance in, covenant
with God. "They shall call and I will answer, they shall
ask and I will give."
But, as we have already remarked that notwithstand¬
ing our watchfulness and prayer, our earnestness and care,
we are painfully convinced that our "house is not so with
God." So that our entire hope of final salvation is the
blessed assurance that we have part in the everlasting
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
123
covenant. We cling to this hope tenaciously, although
our expectation long cherished, has again and again been
disappointed. We have failed to realize what we longed
and prayed for a thousand times—full and entire deliver¬
ance from sin in thought, word, desire and action ; freedom
from all condemnation, guilt and shame, so that we shall
serve the Lord with a perfect heart, fully and entirely.
Fifth—But, "He maketh it not to grow." By some
strange, mysterious Providence, I cannot see or account
for, I am yet behind my most anxious sanguine expecta¬
tions. Sin still prevails; condemnation and doubt still hold
me in their meshes, and my peace and comfort often fail. I
weep sore'in the night and pour out my soul in sorrow and
grief to God all along life's pathway. How long, Oh,
Lord, shall it be thus ? The sentiments of the Christian
under these harrassing feelings are appropriately designated
by the Christian poet in these lines:
"In hope believing against hope,
Jesus to Thee I fly."
Hope has so often been disappointed that we are
frequently forced to despair as to its realization, and yet,
believing in the very teeth of this disappointment that final
deliverance will come, hope builds its foundation on the
very ruins of despair, and in spite of all our sad experience,
our melancholy, miscarriages, doubts and fears, we hope.
Heaven inspires that hope.
Hark ! I see a vessel tossed by the storm-spirit as it
frowns on the bosom of the deep, driven by merciless winds
for long and weary days and nights. The wrecking reefs
whereon many a valuable vessel has been dashed to frag¬
ments appear in the dim distance. Consternation and wild
dismay appal every soul on board as nearer and still nearer
the doomed vessel is driven reef-ward. Anchor after
anchor has been "let go but, as if some submerged spirit
124
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
had been specially delegated by the demon of the storm to
remove every possible fastening, every anchor drags. But
one more remains—the last hope; if it fails, all is lost. A
moment more, and the vessel strikes ! The great sheet-
anchor is dropped with a terrible surge, amid hope and
despair. Thank God ! it takes firm hold and all are safe.
So, after all our efforts to do and be what we desire,
after all our anxious care and thwarted efforts, we find our
fragile bark driving us toward hopeless despair—all our
endeavors, resolutions, and arrangements fail. Trembling
with dread and paralized with fear, we cast our hope like
an anchor, "sure and steadfast in the vail"—the meritorious
blood and righteousness of Christ—and our vessel is safe.
She will outride the storm till the life boat shall come to
release us from further alarm and danger.
"This is my salvation, and all my desire, although he
maketh it not to grow."
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
I25
SERMON XII.
THE GOOD SAMARITAN.
Delivered before the Independent Order of Good Samari¬
tans and Daughters of Samaria at Knoxville, Tenn.
"And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusa¬
lem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his
raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.
And by chance there came down a certain priest that way ; and when
he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise
a I^evite, when he was at the place, came and looked
on him, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan,
as he journeyed, came where he was ; and when he saw him, he had
compassion on him, and went to him, and bound up his wounds,
pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought
him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he
departed, he took out two pence and gave them to the host and said
unto him, Take care of him : and whatsoever thou spendest more,
when I come again, I will repay thee. Which now of these three,
thinkest thou, was neighbor unto him that fell among thieves ? And
he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him,
Go and do thou likewise." L,uke x. 30-37.
We have here briefly narrated an account of one of
those attempts which are frequently put forth by the
skeptical to bring into disrepute and ridicule the loved
doctrines of our holy religion, that they may substitute
instead their own peculiar views of right, however
erroneous.
A Lawyer—a man learned in the law—approaches the
Savior with all the seeming gravity which the subject
demands, and inquires : "Master, what shall I do to inherit
eternal life? Notwithstanding the solemnity of the question,
the sequel proves that this man, like thousands of others
126
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
since his day, was far more anxious to justify his own
course of conduct, right or wrong, than to learn what was
the good and acceptable way of the Lord. For, in
answer to the Saviour's questions, "What is written in the
law ? how readest thou ?—after answering very promptly
and very correctly by repeating the two leading command¬
ments embracing love to God and love to man, compre¬
hending Piety and Philanthropy, the soul of all true religion,
the end of the law and the aim of the Prophets—he shows
either his ignorance or his disregard of the spirit of
these commandments, or both, by asking—"Who is my
neighbor ? "
To cure at once his ignorance and narrow-minded
conceit, the Savior puts the case in the strongest possible
light, by giving either the historical facts, or the striking
Parable of the unfortunate Jew, who on his way from
Jerusalem to Jericho encountered a band of thieves, which
having stripped him of all he had, even to his raiment, and
having beaten him unmercifully, left him wounded and
bruised and half-dead on the wayside. The lawyer is
reluctantly forced to admit that whoever came to the
Succor and Salvation of this unfortunate man—whether an
acquaintance or a stranger, a fellow-countryman or a
foreigner, a former friend or foe, whether of kindred per¬
suasion or of different creed; whether clad in the sacred
vestments of the sanctuary or in the tattered garments of
the mendicant—proves himself to be neighbor to the sufferer,
the friend of humanity, and, therefore, the friend of God.
First—I remark, that extensive endowments, vast
powers of usefulness, the robes and sanction of the church
are not to be relied upon as evidences of love to God.
Nothing seems more evident than that the Savior designs to
teach us in this narration, that there is a wide contrast
between the mere forms and ceremonies of Christianity and
4 BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
127
the reality of it; the mere profession, however ostentatiously
made, however loudly claimed—and that indwelling of the
divine principle which is as certain to make its presence
and influence known and felt by all who are within reach
of that influence, as are the rays of the sun to effect bene¬
ficially every form and species of vegetable and animal
existence and life, with which they come in contact.
He presents to us the mitred Priest—the recognised
leader of a church founded in infinite tenderness and love
for mankind, by a Being who in His remarkable self-forget-
fulness and matchless devotion to the interest of those who
had fallen among thieves and even left helpless by the
wayside, excites the astonishment and challenges the ad¬
miration of the universe—this high functionary who
was to imitate the example of his divine Lord and Master
by lifting the fallen, cheering the faint and binding the
broken-hearted, by extending impartial relief to suffering
humanity in every form and in every place—this distin¬
guished representative of the High Priest of his profession
nears the scene over which angels hover in deep sympathy;
but, devoid of that tenderness of heart which weeps with
those who weep and mourns with those who mourn,
unmindful of his solemn obligations, and lost even to those
patriotic impulses which should have prompted him to come
to the relief of one of his own countrymen and creed, he
gathers his Priestly robes about him and passes by on the
other side. Doubtless we should all have been electrified
had we listened to the sermons and lectures of this divine
in temple or synagogue; our sympathies would have been
aroused in the interest of suffering humanity as he dis¬
coursed with burning eloquence on that subject, just as
they are to-day, when we listen to the touching appeals to
those sympathies from the pulpit, or read them in the
writings of distinguished men in the church, who, like this
128
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS
same priest, when practical sympathy—action and not
words are required—almost invariably pass by on the
other side.
What a vast number of poor, unfortunate beings, vic¬
tims of injustice and wrong inflicted by those whom it is
unpopular to condemn, are passed by unassisted and
uncomforted. Most of the evils which afflict mankind,
originating in man's inhumanity to man, might be effect¬
ually remedied if the Priesthood—the ministry of the
sanctuary—would take time to stop by' the wayside and
have hearts to sympathize with God's poor unfortunate
ones, who in one way or another, have fallen among
thieves, who have stripped them of rights and piivileges
common to all men in this highway of life, and left them
friendless and comfortless. These men will find time and
convenience to stop to discuss the impropriety, the crime
of plucking an ear of corn on the Sabbath day, even though
it be to meet the most pressing demands of nature ; they
can stop to defend the peculiar dogmas of their church, its
rites and ceremonies; they will find time to stop to resent
an insult, however slight, offered to some one of distinction
or wealth, and raise their hands in holy horror at an
injury inflicted upon these ; but obscure humanity, suffering
from whatever wrongs, burdened with whatever sorrows or
cares, pleading with whatever pathos, is passed by on the
the other side. Matters of mint, anis, and cummin—mere
formula in religion, are carefully looked after; but the
weightier matters of the law, justice, judgment, humanity,
mercy, are criminally neglected—passed by on the other
side.
Thus it seems clear that the highest positions, the
costliest robes and the most emphatic sanction of the
church, do not- necessarily prove the possession of
Christianity, since he who practically denies his love to
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
129
man, whatever may be his theory on that subject, ignores
thereby all claim of saving love to God.
We come next to notice the conduct of the second
personage whom the Savior brings to view in this instruc¬
tive narrative—the Levite, the attendant of the Priest, the
representative of that distinguished class in the Jewish
church which in consequence of its loyality to the divine
government and its zeal for the divine worship, were made
the guardians of sacred things, the exponents ot the law
and the teachers of the people. It might be expected if
the superior officer of the sanctuary had, like his prede¬
cessor Aaron at the foot of Mount Sinai, so far forgotten
for the time his duty to God and humanity as to patronize
this popular golden calf-worship—if he in his character of
one of the chief shepherds, had coldly passed by this
maimed and bleeding sheep of the fold, rather than provoke
popular criticisfn by stopping to give relief—this under-
shepherd, this middle-man between the Priest and the
flock, whose office and labors brought him into more im¬
mediate contact with the people, and whose feelings and
sympathies are consequently supposed to have entered
more fully into their wants, cares and burdens—it
might reasonably be expected, I repeat, that the imploring
look, and sad and touching moans of this wounded man of
Israel would have been responded to by this Levite. But he,
too, following the cruel example of his superior, passed by
on the other side.
Second—This brings me to remark, that church organ¬
izations, religious zeal, loud professions of charity, are no
proofs of Christian character. As the Priest represented the
ministry, so the Levite may be taken as the representative
of the membership, the laity of the church ; and we see in
his conduct, in this case, a striking illustration of that trite
scriptural phrase—"like Priest like people."
*3°
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
And thus we see it to-day. Leading, wealthy, influen¬
tial members of the church are not wanting in ostentatious
exhibitions of so-called charity; interests wherein pomp
and display hold full sway,are patronized with lavish muni¬
ficence, while those which involve the well-being and com¬
fort of the masses, the poor, the unfortunate, the lowly
sufferers of earth—interests which do not provoke popular
applause, are passed by on the other side. True, there are
exceptional cases, but such is the rule.
There are but few evils of a general character but
might be cured, or at least largely checked, if the power
and influence wielded by the church were marshalled
against them. But, alas! for suffering humanity, the
church, divinely appointed to hear the cries, and administer
to the wants of the fallen and forlorn, has partaken of the
popular frenzy, and the popular frenzy is to give
prostrate humanity the go-by; unless it be distin¬
guished humanity. The church which eloquently pro¬
claims a gospel which assures us that there is no
respect of person with God, emphasizes its faith in that
Gospel by practicing the most invidious distinction. In the
privileges and immunities of goverment; in the necessities
and comforts of life; in social intercourse ; in tender
sympathy; in its approach to the sacred altar of worship ;
and even in death—in all these, it leaves out the lowly and
obscure, and passes by on the other side.
Evidently church membership, religious observances
and zeal, are no warrant of eternal life.
Third—Finally, we briefly notice that human kindness,
acts of humanity impartially bestowed upon our fellowmen,
are the unmistakable outgoings of a heart imbued, influenced,
and controlled by the Divine Spirit, and are the unfailing
signs of true piety.
In the person of this Samaritan we have a man who is
BISHOP JONEV SERMONS.
on a journey, and therefore had but little time to waste on
the way. He might have easily excused himself and
silenced his conscience on this ground, and passed on ; but
he did not. In the next place this traveling Samaritan is
identified with a people who cherished the most inveterate
hatred toward the Jews, and were equally despised by them.
It was a marvel to the Samaritan woman at the well, that
Christ, being a Jew after the flesh, should be sufficiently
polite to even ask her for a drink of water. "How is it,"
said she, "that thou being a Jew askest drink of me which
am a woman of Samaria ? for the Jews and Samaritans have
no dealings." From the facts of history it is hardly possi¬
ble to conceive of any thing much lower in the scale of
humanity than the Samaritans were held by the Jews; and
as their hostility was mutual, it required no ordinary degree
of humanity, large-heartedness, and love for man, because
he is a man, to have induced this Samaritan traveler to
perform the kind offices he so generously bestows on this
unfortunate Jew.
But he was equal to the emergency. His feelings of
humanity conquer all'personal animosities, all race pride,
all religious differences, and grandly holds the mastery.
He does not plead immunity from duty on the grounds
that the Priest and the Levite, whose special duty it was to
look after this member of the Jewish church, have passed
by. He does not hesitate to ask himself the question, will
it be popular to relieve this helpless Jew, or will I gain
notoriety in so doing, or will I be criticized damagingly for
my recognition of him ; or will it in any way advance my
interest by eliciting the good opinion of the public, or the
favorable comment of the chroniclers of events, or will it
expose me to the contempt and scorn of my sect ? He does
not even stop to contemplate the possible danger to his
own life or person on this lonely road, where, at
132
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
any moment, he might meet the same Band of highwaymen
which had perpetrated this foul deed of blood. No, sir.
But, forgetful of all else, save the succor of a fellow
mortal, he approaches the ghastly form with a heart and a
purpose to relieve him. He does not stop to ask him a
number of needless questions as to his business, his politics,
his nationality, his faith and order; he does not stop to
lecture him about his tattered garments which still hung
about him, or his filthy appearance, or his want of prudent
caution, and all that. No ; he would first prove himself a
friend by kind, generous, helpful treatment; then lecture
him, if need be, when he had time and heart and strength
to hear, comprehend and appreciate a lecture. But now,
there are gaping, bleeding wounds and painful bruises to
be bound up and mollified and soothed with ointment;
strength is failing from loss of blood and from the agony
of pain; the spirits are fast sinking, and the life of a
fellow-being is trembling in the balance. To meet these,
the Samaritan at once addresses himself. He tenderly
closes the gaps, binds up the wounds, and pours on the
soothing oil; and thus he allays the pain. He next admin¬
isters a cup of wine to the parching lips of the sufferer;
this revives his sinking spirits. He then lifts him up and
sets him on his own beast, and supporting him there,
carries him to the next inn or hotel, puts him in charge of
proper attendants, orders him to be given every attention
till fully recovered, pays down part of the expenses and
promises to pay on his return, whatever additional expenses
which might have been incurred.
Such, my hearer, is the practical philanthropy which
the religion of Christ infuses into the hearts of all who possess
that religion; such is the example of our Divine Lord and
Master, and such is the Christianity of the Bible. It matters
but little what may be our creed, our office and standing,
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
>33
our gifts and qualifications, our nationality or complexion,
our church relations and religious zeal, or our claims to
piety—it matters not by what name, order, or association
we are known—if we lack this practical humanity, this
genuine philanthropy, this distinguishing mark of christian
character, we are wanting in the most essential element on
which to base our claim to eternal life.
The founders and patrons of the order which I have
the honor to address at this time "The Independent Order
of Good Samaritans and Daughters of Samaria"—doubtless
designed that the association bearing the name of the dis¬
tinguished philanthropist whom we have been considering,
should also emulate his illustrious example. Hence, your
declaration of principles commits you to the grand, enno¬
bling and God-like work of hunting up the outcast, the
degraded, and forlorn, and especially the inebriate ; to re¬
lieve and rescue them; to close up the gaps, and bind up
the wounds* which a wicked and profligate course of life
has inflicted; and by your example and precept, to pour
in the oil and wine of sympathy, material aid and spiritual
consolation; to lift them up by your personal efforts and
influence, by your united prayers and tears ; and bearing
them in the arms of love and affection, bring them to the
spiritual inn—the church of the living God—for final
healing and full restoration to society and to heaven.
See that the noble principles of your order are supple¬
mented and crystalized by the noble example of this good
Samaritan; and, while your constitutional obligation
makes it your first duty to look after each other, let the
recollection of the common brotherhood of mankind
prompt you to extend your influence and aid to all within
your reach, passing none by.
Remember your motto—"Love, Purity, Truth," exem¬
plify this beautiful and appropriate trio, by love to God
134
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
and to all mankind; by purity in principle and practice,
and by truth in all things. Love the principles, rules and
regulations of your Order; see that they are observed in all
their purity. Be true to each other, true to God, and true
to humanity—then you will be true to yourselves. Finally,
imitate, in all your intercourse with mankind, the example
of the great prototype of the Good Samaritan—Jesus
Christ—who never passes by, but st ~>ops to lift up suf¬
fering humanity in every form and in every place, and.
your organization will prove a lasting blessing.
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
135
SERMON XIII.
THE TRIALS AND TRIUMPHS OF GOD'S CHURCH.
AN ANNIVERSARY DISCOURSE.
"And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight,
why the bush is not burnt." Bxodus iii. 3.
Possibly no more appropriate and strikingly beautiful
figure could have been employed to represent the church of
God in its fierce conflicts, fiery trials and formidable oppo¬
sitions, than that contained in the text.
It appears strange to the outside world, and not less so
to many christians, that Jehovah, though unlimited in re¬
sources, in wisdom, in power and infinite in tenderness,
mercy, and love, should, nevertheless, allow his chosen fol¬
lowers, his loyal subjects, his loved ones, to pass through the
fiery furnace of affliction, sorrow and trial. But the reason
is obvious. From the moment that Lucifer, proud son of
the morning, broke peace in heaven and scattered a black
cloud of confusion in the universe, Righteousness was
destined to encounter fierce antagonism wherever satanic
influence was permitted to extend and wield its power.
War unceasing, fierce, and relentless war, was declared by
the powers of hell, against God and every loyal subject of
heaven.
Despairing of success in any personal conflict with
Jehovah, his only hope is to vanquish those who have
taken part with heaven, its loyal subject . Now it would
be an easy matter for God to so defend his people that they
would experience no conflict, no trials, whatever; but,
where would be his honor if loyalty cost no struggle, if
136
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
faithfulness cost no sacrifice ? What attachment would fol¬
lowing Christ prove, if there were no self-denial, no priva¬
tion, no suffering ? Where would be the inspiration of
" Hold the Fort, for I am coming," " Must Jesus bear the
cross alone and all the world go free," etc ? How could we
sing, " Jesus I my cross have taken, all to leave and follow
thee," if there were no cross to take ?
I. Conflict, trial, suffering, warfare—as a test of loy¬
alty, is a necessity, growing out of angelic revolt. Satan
challenges the Almighty in the case of Job. He says that
Job did not serve Him for naught; that He had enriched
him and then built a hedge about him; that no wonder he
served Him. Job had no cares, no wants, no afflictions, no
troubles. Now change this state of things and Job will
curse you to your face. What if Satan was proven to be a
liar in Job's case; yet, this standing challenge remains in
the case of every loyal subject of heaven.
Hence we discover two antagonistic armies; two flags;
two commanders, and two results—one loyalty and triumph;
one disloyalty and defeat. God is just and righteous even
with devils. Satan, the world and sin, shall have fair play
at His hands. The church, composed of his followers, must
be exposed to their schemes and plottings; so that it can be
truthfully said of all who get to heaven, that they have
" gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image and
over his mark, and over the number of his name "—that
they " came out of great tribulation and have washed their
robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb )
therefore they are before the throne of God."
I repeat, it would be very easy for the Almighty to van¬
quish the powers of earth and hell and give his people a
"walk over" to glory, but where would be the claim in
which He now glories over Satan—of loyalty in the votaries
of His kingdom ; and with which the clamor of hell is si-
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
137
lenced? Where would be the feeling of triumph on the
part of his people, of the martyrs that stood firm amid fire
and flame and death ? Where that feeling of loving trust,
which supplements all our efforts and insures re-inforcment
from beyond? Such as "Rock of Ages cleft for me,"
"Jesus lover of my soul," "Father, I stretch my hands to
thee," etc. Where would be Paul's triumphant closing song,
"I have fought a good fight," "finished my course," " kept
the faith ?" Now we see why the church is left within reach
of Satan and his emissaries. v
II. Notice the appropriateness of the representation—
A bush on fife—fittingly shadowing forth the fiery ordeal of
trial, conflict, and suffering which the church is to pass
through in all times. It is a bush, not a tree, to meet and
resist opposition. Not a shrub or flower to be fostered and
cared for as an ornament, but a bush; indicating its humble,
meek and lowly condition—capable of being trampled upon
by those who despise it, the most inferior and useless of all
plants, liable to be crushed under foot. It represents the
lowly and humble appearance of the church.
III. But the astounding anomaly is its indestructabil-
ity. The bush is not burnt. A bush with its super-abun¬
dant leaves, liable almost as paper to catch fire and almost
as quickly to be consumed; and yet, there it stands, per¬
meated and environed with flames, but still unconsumed.
Its leaves are still green, its stems and bark unparched, un-
blistered; yet, there it stands seemingly all the more life-like
and perennial, because it is wrapt in fire and flame. No
wonder Moses "turned aside" to examine into this unnat¬
ural, phenomonal scene.
And thousands have turned aside since Moses, amazed,
to see the the church of God, of which this bush was the
type or symbol, standing, unharmed, amid the fiery ordeal
of persecutions through which it has passed. The formid-
'38
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
able combinations of earth and hell, the ingenious appliances
and opposing schemes of men and devils, have left it un¬
sullied, unharmed. Its branches, twigs, leaves and humble
fruit, (like the three Hebrews in the fiery furnace) so far
from being consumed, have no smell of fire upon them. In
her entirety, she is strangely preserved in verdure and beauty
resisting all efforts to destroy her.
IV. The element of her resistence—the never-failing
or undiminishing source of her wonderful life and vitality, is
"Jehovah." "God called unto him out of the midst of the bush."
He has indeed placed the church within reach of Satan's
power and influence, as we have seen, in the case of Job;
so that we may have the honor and dignity of being
"workers with our God." He permits us to bear the lighter
end of the cross, as Jesus permitted Simon the Cyrenean or
Ethiopian ("our brother in black"); not that it could not
have been borne alone, but that in our conscious weakness
we may cherish the ennobling thought that we did what
we could in sympathy and in helpfulness The mother who
permits the child to hold the handle of the bucket, could
with far less difficulty, bring the water into the house ; but
the long drawn breath of feigned fatigue and the satisfied
look of the dear child, tell the feeling of innocent joy and
mingled pride it cherishes at the thought of having helped
mother. Thus, does heaven indulge its votaries. Satan
tempts, allures aiud wheedles; but God gives us grace for
our day and trial, restraining the power of darkness when it
is sufficient to overwhelm us.
I hear Jehovah saying:—"When thou passest through
the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers they
shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the
fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle
upon thee. For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of
Israel, thy Savior." Isa. xliii. 2. "For I, saith the Lord,
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
139
will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will bet he
glory in the midst of her." Zech. ii. 5.
V. What is true of the general church is in many im¬
portant respects true of each particular branch of it. Those
who fi^'ht the whole army will seek to crush it in detail.
The branch or division of the Christian church of which we
make a part and whose anniversary we celebrate to-night,
has in an eminent degree felt the keen points of opposition
and persecution.
New York cify planted by our fathers in 1796 "not in
wrath nor in rebellion," but in the necessities of Christian
manhood, because of the arbitrary denial or abridgment of
social and religious rights and privileges. Hence, the with¬
drawal of the colored element from old John Street white
Methodist church—three white and two colored persons—
five in all. The assertion of Christian Negro manhood, the
untrammeled enjoyment of that spiritual liberty for which
the heroic Puritan Fathers had hazarded their lives on deck
of the gallant Mayflower, impelled our fathers by the same
laudable ambition which actuated the two and a half tribes
of Israel, centuries before them, to build an altar on the
confines of the " Land of Promise," that it might not be
said to their children in after years, "Ye have no part in the
Lord."
Denied the right to share the duties and responsibili¬
ties, the honors, dignity and emoluments of the ministerial
offices ; ostracized by wicked and invidious distinction from
a free participation in the commonest rights and privileges
of church membership; branded as inferiors even in the
solemn obligations of the supper of the Lord, it was not
difficult to foresee that the time might come when their
offspring should be denied all privilege in the public wor¬
ship of the God of their fathers, unless they interposed this
timely barrier.
140
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
Hence—thanks to their pious prudence and caution—
they erected this beloved Zion as an humble monument of
their identity with the Israel of Jehovah, and as a pledge of
the right of their children to worship him throughout the
ages. In spite of opposition and prejudice, God has so
signally owned and approved their work, by guiding, de¬
fending, and prospering them and their children in it, that
no one entitled to decent respect or even decent scorn, dare
say to their children to-day—"Ye have no part in the
Lord."
The humble founders of our denomination had been
members of the first Methodist Society on the American
continent, and in testimony of their fidelity to its doctrines
and principles, received the hearty accord of the venerable
Bishop George of the parent church, as well as that of the
better thinking people of the entire Methodist communion
The separation was a peaceable and mutual arrangement;
our new society of colored worshippers having been pre¬
sided over by white Elders of the parent church for several
years after the beginning of the present century under the
name of the " Zion and Asburry Societies," in New York.
These societies were incorporated according to the
regulations of New York in 1800, and recorded in the office
of the Clerk of the city and county in Library No. 1 of
Record Incorporation of Religious Denominations, page
28, Robert Benson, clerk. I repeat that our history as the first
colored Methodist society in America, begins in 1796. This
was the first African Methodist Episcopal church of which
we have any account. In 1800 we built a church in New
York and called it "Zion," and our denomination is gener¬
ally called "Zion" out of respect to that first Church, and
also to distinguish it from our sister A. M. E. church, or>
" Bethel," as it is sometimes called ; that being the name of
its mother church under Allen.
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
Humble, honest and sincere in their purposes and ef¬
forts, they were happy in the choice and adoption of the
name of their first church, the name by which it is desig¬
nated to-day—"Zion"—the bare title of its history as a
church, and the topmost title designating it as a denomina¬
tion.
Our founders were Christopher Rush, James Varick,
William Miller and others whose ministerial careers were dis¬
tinguished for usefulness, the development of enlightened
Christianity and the progress of our blessed Zion. The la¬
bors, trials and privations of this small but courageous band of
pioneers, would, if written, furnish a history of the most thrill¬
ing interest to the ministry, and show that not without great
sacrifice and suffering have the A. M. E. Zion Church
reached the present advanced position compared with that
held by her in their day.
The spirit of ostracism which forced them from the
parent church lost none of its bitterness after the separa¬
tion. It was simply transformed into opposition, disparage-
, ment and scorn toward the humble band who had sought
an asylum of religious liberty. But, with hope within and
God overhead, through evil and good report, the fathers
pressea and pushed forward amid the fire and smoke, the
heat and dust of opposition—slavery on the one hand,
prejudice on the other, and connectional jealousy in the
front—till they fell, flag in hand, shouting, "God and Zion!"
Their sons and daughters, strong in the faith in which their
sires fell, have caught up the inspiring colors and are bear¬
ing them on to victory, Jehovah, in person, leading the
host.
Slavery, crushed under the wheels of the car of salva¬
tion ; prejudice melting away before the rising sun of social,
intellectual and religious progress; jealousy fading out in
the labratory of its own folly; recognition comes to us, at
142
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
last, from the entire Protestant world, and God, the eternal,
still leads Zion on.
Our church government is Wesleyan. Our ministry is
Itinerant. Shortly after our existence, we organized a trav¬
elling connection, taking as a model, the English Methodist
as established and maintained by John Wesley, the sainted
founder, till the day of his death. In forming our connec-
tional plan we had the assistance, endorsement and wise
counsel of the late Bishop Joshua Soule, a distinguished
prelate of the M. E. Church South, then a young man and
zealous minister of the mother church. He kindly acted as
secretary of our first several annual conferences. We also
had the fatherly advice and God-speed of the venerable
Bishop George of the parent church, and we repeat, we are,
to-day, officially and fraternally, recognized by all shades
of Protestantism in the world.
We are not foolish enough to believe that we are the
sole repositors and disseminators of the truth. We are too
wise to be gulled into the persuasion that God has vested
this high prerogative in any one sect or denomination to'
the exclusion of all others; yet in a spirit of Christian liber¬
ality, "with charity towards all and malice towards none,"
we seek to glorify God by doing good to men.
From 1820 to the present, Zion has been governed by
her own Discipline regulated by our own General, Annual
and Quarterly Conference, and presided over by our own
Bishops. For 48 years of our denominational existence we
had a limited Episcopacy in harmony with English Metho¬
dism; but, in 1868, in a spirit of accomodation and fraternal
regard, we placed ourselves in accord with the great body
of American Methodists by electing and consecrating our
Bishop for life. Those who have been elevated to the Epis¬
copal chair since our organization are Bishops Varick,
Rush, Miller, Galbreath, Bishop, Simmons, Scott, Tappan,
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
'43
Spywood, Loguen, Brooks, Ross, Clinton, Talbot, Moore,
Jones, Hood, Hilliary, Thompson, Lomax, Pettey and Har¬
ris. It is proper to add that they are all members of the
colored race, it never having be<m thought necessary to the
existence and management of the church that they should
be otherwise.
The A. M. E. Zion church continues to grow in strength
and popularity. She has to-day 3,000 itinerant preachers,
425,000 members and 1,000,000 church attendants, and
church property valued at several million dollars.
To-day we have Livingston College, second to none
in America, orelsewhere, under the sole control and manage¬
ment of colored men, enclosed in an original 50 acres of
land in the environs of Salisbury, N. C., beautifully elevated
and surrounded by most picturesque and inviting scenery ;
with permanent buildings of stately grandeur, erected at a
cost of over a hundred thousand dollars, embracing pri¬
mary, intermediate, scientific and industrial departments;
built by colored mechanics and superintended by colored
architects, and attended by nearly 250 students as bright
and as hopeful as any in the land. We have a Book Con¬
cern encouraging progress in the metropolis of the nation,
with its tributaries west and south; an ably conducted church
journal of increasing popularity and influence,- situated on
the college grounds and connected with the industrial de¬
partment. We have a Sunday School department, in Mont¬
gomery, Ala., rapidly growing into esteem and usefulness,
and sending out, monthly, thousands of copies of literature
of our own composition, and comparing favorably with the
best Sunday School literature in the country; also a Home
and Foreign Missionary Society under the sole control of
the women of our church, with all the other appliances of a
popular and progressive denomination. We have flourish¬
ing mission work in Africa under the supervision of Super-
»44
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
intendent Andrew Cartwright. God be praised.
Well may we sing—
"Triumphant Zion lift thy head,
From dust and darkness and the dead ;
Tho' humbled long awake at length
And gird thee with thy Savior's strength.
Put all thy beauteous garments on,
And let thy excellence be known ;
Decked in the robes of righteousness,
Thy glories shall the world confess.
No more shall foes unclean invade,
And fill thy hallowed walls with dread ;
No more shall hell's insulting host
Their victory and thy sorrows boa£t.
God from on high has heard thy prayer,
His hand thy ruin shall repair ;
Nor will thy watchful Monarch cease
To guard thee in eternal peace."
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
H5
SERMON XIV.
GOD'S METHOD OF USING GOOD MEN.
" And he took him aside from the multitude, and put his fingers
into his ears, and he spit, and touched his tongue ; and looking up
to heaven he sighed."—St. Mark vii. 33, 34.
I. We note the singularity of Christ's method on this
Occasion. He took him aside. When God would make
special use of men, He takes them aside that they may the
better hear and understand what he is about to entrust to
them.
When He would make Abraham the "father of the
faithful," He takes him aside in a matter involving a most
severe trial—the sacrifice of a most loving and dutiful son
—the heir of a great promise, and the child of his old age.
When He would give mankind on example of the
danger of all attempts, on the part of the creature to man¬
age the complicated affairs of the Creator, no matter how
astute the counsel followed may seem
Jacob is taken aside, and permitted to heed the advice
of an over-anxious mother, and to practice deception upon
his dim-eved and aged father; thereby wresting the birth¬
right from his own brother—that Jehovah might demon¬
strate, once for all, His abhorrence of all double-dealing
and unfair method, by the pain, anguish, and remorse, ex¬
perienced by the misguided son, the deceived father, and
the wrong-doing mother, as well as to exhibit His astound¬
ing mercy to the most treacherous, as soon as they are
made to see, acknowledge, and repent of their sins. We
have heaven's assurance in this transaction, that God takes
J46
B SHOP JONES' SERMONS.
no stock in wrong, even when committed in furtherance of
his own purposes.
When he would demonstrate to mankind the extreme
folly and futility of every effort to put down those" whom
he wills to elevate, to degrade those whom he
designs to exalt, He takes Joseph aside. And although
envied by his own brothers; hated and sold into cruel
bondage, out of which he was never expected to rise, yet,
God mysteriously sustained him, amid all the fiery trials
through which he passed, till he was finally lifted to the
second place in authority in the powerful monarchy of
Egypt; and the first place in the hearts of those whom his
forecast and care preserved from starvation during seven
years of famine. It was a strange and unexpected event,
that this scorned, hated, outcast and slave in a strange land
into which he had been forced and sold by avarice and hate
should be lifted from his humiliation, invested, unchallenged,
with the robe, crown, and sceptre of royalty, riding through
the land of his slavery, attended by an imposing retinue,
and, as he passed through city, village, and hamlet, in
royal splendor, strong-lunged heralds went before him
shouting the imperial command—"Bow the Knee." But
that was Jehovah's method with Joseph in Egypt, and with
Mordecai in Persia, both of whom were slaves in a strange
land.
If this nation of Bible readers, and professed Bible
believers, would read more carefully, and believe more im¬
plicitly, heaven's method with men and nations, if men
would take time to "read between the lines," they would
spend less time in reaching a solution of the "Negro Prob¬
lem," and more, in adjusting matters so as to make the best
of possible results; such, as God brings about, at times,
without consulting politicians, or allowing the ballot box
to decide.
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
J47
When He would make Moses the leader, lawgiver,
and deliverer of His people from bondage, He takes him
aside from the pomp and splendor of an Egyptian court to
the humble place of a shepherd, that he might instruct him
in the higher, nobler, and grander principles and policy of
the government of heaven.
When He would give us an example of patient endur¬
ance, and humble trust, under most painful disaster and
discouraging circumstances, the patriarch Job is taken
aside; stripped of his possessions, bereft of his children,
and deprived of health and comfort, that he might forever
silence the slanders of Satan that God's servants are such only
of even mainly, because Heaven blesses them with large
possessions.
He would give the world an example of the loftiest
sovereignty, the purest love, the most burning zeal, and the
most earnest devotion to the cause of God and the interests
of mankind ; coupled with singular human weakness—and
David is taken aside from the sheep-cote, that his matchless
songs might gladden and inspire the church through all
subsequent ages.
He would furnish the church and the world with an
example of overweening confidence in our fidelity and firm¬
ness, so that he might teach man how weak he is, and how
self-distrustful he ought to be, even when he feels most in¬
vincible, and he takes Peter aside by a look of melting love,
that he might, by his own sad experience, fortify his Breth¬
ren against the danger of over-confidence.
He would confer upon some son of earth the honor of
being the forerunner of His Son Jesus—an honor which an
Archangel may well have coveted—and John is chosen and
taken aside to subsist on locusts and wild honey, while be¬
ing educated for his grand work, not in a college—but in
the hill-country of Judea—that he might receive from no
143
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
less authority than Christ Himself, the high appellation of
"chief among the prophets." Thus does the Almighty take
the weak things of this world to confound the mighty.
Harvard and Yale, Princeton and Cornell, are frequently
passed by when God would have a grand work done; not
that He discards the colleges, nay, He honors them ; but
lest professors should boast, he gets along, occasionally,
without their aid. #
The church needed a glimpse of the place which Christ
has gone to prepare, in order that it might be quickened in
its flight, heavenward; and John, the divine, is taken aside
to Patmos; and when he had told us all that he dared to
tell us, of the grand sights he saw, and the strains of melt¬
ing music he heard, he would not so arouse our anxiety to
go there as to unfit us for our earthly probation and make
life a burden, but simply intimates the transcendant glory
of the heavenly state by saying—"Blessed are the dead that
die in the Lord." The church heard it and is satisfied to
wait till death. Bless the Lord, O my soul.
The christian church wanes, amid superstition and
brooding darkness, and Calvin, Luther, Wesley, and their
coadjutors, are taken aside, that they might learn the plan,
and catch the inspiration which should kindle the fires of
the Reformation. " God moves in a mysterious way."
God would prepare an asylum for the church in an
emergency, and he takes Christopher Columbus aside and
whispers into his ears the story of a "new world," where,
unhampered by King-Craft on the one hand, and Priest-
Craft on the other, the church might worship God untram-
meled—free. Hence, the successes which finally attended
and crowned the adventurer, after years of disappointment
and failure. The gallant ship Mayflower, wafted by the
winds of heaven, found its way, like a thing of life, to these
western shores; and the rousing shout of the civilized
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
149
world awakened the sleeping germs of an Empire that
should foster and disseminate the principles of Christianity,
firmly planted on Plymouth Rock, by the Puritan Fathers,
but far more firmly planted on the Rock of Eternal Ages,
centuries before. The event is fitly signalized in these
lines—
"Awake the sound of glory" &c.
'' Thy £ame Isabella or earth shall be'' &c.
"All Burope rejoicing the tidings shall be" &c.
When he would furnish the world a free government,
he takes aside the "Father of his Country," and his illus¬
trious compeers. Hence, it was with undisciplined troops
and inefficient arms, they, nevertheless, reared this grand
political structure—the model government of the world, be¬
cause heaven ordained it.
When he would rectify, beautify, and crystalize that gov¬
ernment, in the interest of liberty, justice, humanity, and
righteousness—Seward and Sumner, Stevens and Wilson,
Lincoln and Grant, and the host that stood with them on
bloody field and stormy ocean, and in the councils of the
nation, are taken aside, that the "Temple of Liberty" might
vibrate with the voices of all lands; unfettered and free!
God takes unholy and rebellious men aside, and permits
them to lift their puny arm against his purposes, that the
futility of all opposition to his arrangements may be de¬
monstrated by the signal disaster which is sure to overtake
all who antagonize them. Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzer, and
Herod are illustrious examples.
When the Negro members were despised, ostracized,
dwarfed in manhood and denied religious liberty, because
of their color and condition, and were driven from the audi¬
torium of the white Methodist churches, jerked from off
their knees in prayer, ordered insultingly into unswept gal¬
leries, made to take the Lord's Supper after the white mem-
J5°
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
bers had gone home, God, in order to show his condemna¬
tion of such unchristian persecution, and to give practical
recognition to the great truth as well as demonstrate the
fact that colored men in addition to all others have the
qualifications, "gifts and graces," requisite to their sharing
not merely the subordinate places of his church, but also
the most exalted; that we must not only be "Levites" but
"Priests" also; and to further open up afield where the
eloquent voice of the Ethiopian could be heard preaching
"free grace," takes aside the sainted Rush and Allen to
plant two of the greatest "African" churches on earth.
The uprising of the religious manhood of the Afro-Ameri¬
can resulted in the organization of the A. M. E. Church in
Philadelphia and the A. M. E. Zion Church in New York
City. Our rapid progress proves that "God is no respecter
of persons," and that he recognizes the "Fatherhood of God
and the Brotherhood of Man."
2. The method which Christ adopts in preparing men
for usefulness—Touched his tongue—that his powers of
speech may henceforth be dedicated to God.
3. Opened his ears—that he may hear Him.
4. He looked up to heaven and sighed—in Prayer—to
teach us to look to God for success. Ask—Believe—have
faith in God.
5. Be opened—All things possible to faith. God in
some way takes aside all whom He would save from afflic¬
tion, calamity, losses, crosses—finally, in Death.
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
SERMON XV.
CHRISTIAN UNITY
A Farewell Sermon to the Kentucky Conference, Preiched
in Jacob Street Tabernacle A. M. E. Zion Church,
Louisville, Ky., April 1880.
"Bndeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of
peace." I$phesiansiv. 3.
No apostolic admonition possesses deeper, broader, and
more significant meaning, or is capable of a more general
and beneficial application than that contained in the text.
Sin has not only exhibited its hostility against God in its
stubborn and defiant attitude of disobedience and opposition
to His just requirements, but it has also developed a spirit
of bitter antagonism and savage encounter between man
and his fellows.
The first important event recorded in the history of
the race after the fall is'a sad commentary upon the truth¬
fulness of this declaration. Cain, with premeditated pur¬
pose and murderous intent, invites his unoffending and
unsuspecting brother into the field, and, in open day,
coolly and without any just provocation, smites him dead
and leaves him weltering in his blood.
Thus early in the history of the human family were
our.parents summoned to look sadly on the legitimate re¬
sults of their own rash acts, and the unmistakable develop¬
ment of the malice and hate, the envy and murder which it
had produced. The cause and excuse for this beginning of
fratricides was, that God had respect to the offering of
1S2
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
Abel, and had none for that of Cain. The exercise of a
preference on the part of the Almighty toward one of His
own loyal subjects led to the commission of the first foul
murder; and how many since have been murdered in
character, reputation, good name and even deprived of life
itself simply on account of a preference?
Such is the envious character of the human heart that
if you will traduce your neighbor, acquaintance, or
associate, you excite for him pity; but commend him, speak
of his merits, his ability, his rightful claims to consideration,
and you have aroused for him, in the bosom of your
hearers, feelings of jealousy and bitter hate. David would
have had but little to fear at the hands of Saul, or any of
his sympathizers, if, after he had slain Goliath of Gath, it
had been said of him by the popular crowd, that i here was
but little valor about his ex loit; that it had been performed
in an awkward and bungling manner ; and that, after all, the
credit and glory of the achievement were mainly due to
Saul and his brave army, and not to the mere accident of this
youthful rustic, fresh from the sheepfold. But, the startling
and significant cry which rang out on the evening air, and
whose inspiring eloquence and enchanting cadence, as it
issued from the lips of the fair damsels of the land, quickened
the pulsations of every patriotic Isralite was, "Saul hath
slain his thousands but David his tens of thousands."
Not, even, with credit announced with equal sweetness
from the lips of the same fair maidens—that Saul and his
confederates had slain their"thousands"—could they brook
the announcement, truthful as they knew it was, that David
had slain his "tens of thousands."
"All this availeth me nothing," said the jealous,
wicked, envious Haman, "so long as I see Mordecai, the
Jew sitting at the king's gate." His banqueting, wineing
and dining with the king and queen, to the exclusion of
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
*53
all the other members of the royal court, the honor of the
second place in the kingdom, the rich emoluments of office
and all the glittering glories of the house of Haman were
soured—blighted to ashes—by this slight, but well-merited
mark of respect awarded to that horrible Jew.
And thus does jealous envy and secret hate, armed
with murderous weapons, stalk abroad through all the land
to-day, scheming, plotting and planning, with a view to
circumvention and destruction. It has not remained in the
field where it perpetrated its first dark design ; it has not
been content to plot its foul mischief and murder in
kings' palaces, but, restless of the ordinary walks of life, it
has lifted its slimy, serpentine folds into the very inner
courts of the visible church, and even essays, and that with
alarming success, to desecrate and pollute the sacred
oracle.
It is by no means difficult to prove that the desolating
wars, which have drenched so large a portion of the earth
in blood, have been the almost invariable fruits of envy,
jealously and hate; that ascendency to the thrones of
earth has been more numerous through treachery and
murder than by lawful claims or legitimate means. The
legitimate elements of sin are pride, selfishness, arrogance;
these lead to discord, dissention, division and bitter strife;
.then comes uncharitableness, unmercifulness, wicked con¬
spiracies, sinful plottings, envy, jealousy, hate and murder
—often bloodless, but nevertheless murder; for he who
hates his brother, under any circumstances, is charged in
the scriptures with murder, though he does not actually
shed blood. Hate cherished in the heart, fostered and
brooded over—carried to its desired end—means murder,
as its objective point,—its cherished aim. It misrepresents,
defames character, destroys reputation ; and in the language
of Shakespeare, takes that from another which we can not
>54
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
give; and is, in the eye of God, equally infamous with the
taking of life.
It needs no warrant from the scripture to prove that
many of those who are converted, justified children of God
by many infallible signs, are far from being perfectly freed
from indications of the lingerings of these offshoots of sin--the
remains of the carnal mind. Even among the devout
and holy men engaged in establishing the Christian church,
we find, at least, one example of the spirit of bitter conten¬
tion, which distracts the church, and finally leads to divis¬
ion, envy and unholy strife. Paul and Barnabas, by far the
more earnest and successful of the apostles, and, doubtless,
equally pre-eminent in piety, differed so widely and so
fiercely about a matter in which complete harmony might
reasonably have been expected, that they separated in
consequence of the sharp contention that arose between them,
long and beneficially as they had traveled and labored
together ; and, so far as we are informed, they never asso¬
ciated in their labors subsequently. Thus early in the
history of the church, and among its most distinguished
advocates, do we find the seeds of discord sown, and,
taking root to spring up, as evil seed is sure to, in envy,
strife, and division.
We could hope, for the. sake of that homogenial spirit,
that harmony of operation, which is the ornament and
beauty of christian character, as well as for the power, in¬
fluence and success of the christian church, that this
divergence of holy men of God from that path of peace and
love which appeared so prominent, so uniform and so cap¬
tivating in the early experience of the church, were left
isolated and alone in its subsequent history and progress;
that this huge malformation, marring so greatly the other¬
wise symmetrical and beautiful form of the body and
spouse of the Lord, was the single instance of its kind to
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
*55
•which infidelity could refer, or anti-christianism take
exception against the claim of the church as the repository
and dispenser of divine knowledge ; but the truth is sadly
otherwise.
The implied claim and boast of superiority in judgment;
in. aptness to teach; in clearer or more correct compre¬
hension of the word of God; in clearness of perception on
doctrinal points ; in appropriate and fitting ceremonials ; in
precise scriptural modes, and in various other less im¬
portant matters, have at one time and another, originated the
most rancorous dissentions, resulting in the most unfortu¬
nate divisions. And many a Paul and Barnabas, whose
christian intercourse had been most pleasant, whose fellow¬
ship in Jesus had been sweet, and whose labors together
in the vineyard of the Lord had been crowned with most
brilliant success, have separated, never again on earth to
be as lovingly united in a common cause as before. Add to
these the jealous envy even in the same society which
comes frequently, of the seeming preference which the
Almighty exercises by endowing one or more of his ser¬
vants with more ability, more influence and power, and by
consequence, more success than others, and which, not
infrequently, manifests itself in open or covert demon¬
strations, kindred to those by which Cain sought and finally
'succeeded in destroying his brother, and you have an in¬
ventory of the vast magazine of means with which Satan
carries on such formidable warfare against the unity,
peace, and success of the church.
From these and other considerations, the importance
and necessity of christian endeavor in the direction of the
careful and prayerful maintenance of the spirit of unity will
readily appear.
First—Let us notice briefly the principle urged,
"unity." The term signifies oneness, concord, agreement,
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
in such manner as to insure harmony, friendliness, peace.
Difference of views, opinions, doctrines and creeds are
likely to exist for an indefinite period; posssibly, and most
probably, to the end of time. Denominational diversities
arising from honest, and sincere differences of interpreta¬
tion of the word of God, seem, therefore, unavoidable;
and any serious attempt at uniformity in these respects,
much as they may appear desirable, is likely to be un-
succeesful and futile.
Uniformity in material care, and early training in
education, in literature, in lines of thought, and in all
the conditions, accidents, and circumstances which enter
into the formation and developement of mental or moral
character, must, in the nature of things, precede any
hopeful attempt at uniformity in this respect; and, as
nothing in the near future encourages the hope of a
uniformity so strange, it would seem useless for us to
waste our energies in efforts to accomplish that which
seems not only of doubtful accomplishment, but of
equally doubtful advantage or benefit.
Christian unity, as urged in the text, is not, conse¬
quently, dependent upon either the abrogation of denomi¬
national distinctions—not in themselves invidious—or
uniformity in any of those circumstances and conditions in
human development which render mankind so diverse in
their thoughts and actions ; but it accommodates itself to all
these circumstances and shades of difference, and so blends
and harmonizes them as to render each subservient and
helpful to the other, and alike beneficial to all.
Secondly—We observe that the nature of the unity, for
the maintenance of which we are urged by the Apostle to
put forth an earnest endeavor, is " Unity of Spirit'—union,
agreement, harmony of spirit; that condition of mind
wherein the sentiments, desires and affections are so
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
157
happily influenced, directed and controlled by a feeling of
friendliness and good will, that the one all-pervading all-
controlling, and predominating spirit, which disposes us to
deal prudently, friendly, kindly, and even magnanimously
with each other at all times; and under whatever real or
imaginary provocation, shall hold its ascendency over
every other feeling that would seek to antagonize it, with
its banner joyfully thrown to the breeze, floating in triumph
over all human selfishness, emblazoned with the christian
motto, "Good Will to Men." The fostering and exercise
of this spirit would prove a panacea for the effectual cure
of nearly all the maladies which enervate the church, and
shear it so fearfully of its influence and power for good.
However widely we may differ in our opinions, our
creeds, our views of church policy, our modes of adminis¬
tration ; however diversified our gifts, graces and callings in
life; whatever may be our denominational divergencies, we
may, and ought to be, firmly and harmoniously united in a
spirit of fraternal love. As in nature harmony is made up
of diversities or seeming contrarities; as in music, it
depends upon alternate chords and discords, so also, in the
christian church, infinite wisdom and goodness, by a
seeming predetermination, has diversified the elements of
usefulness in harmony with the order of things .throughout
the universe, and in loving accommodation to similar
diversities in the human family, to the end that all may
avail themsel/es of the means of salvation, and everyone
may be left without excuse. There is consequently
nothing in the dissimilarity existing among men, either as
individuals or associations, that is necessarily incompatible
with christian unity.
It may be difficult for men, influenced and blinded by
selfishness or dilated to lofty dimensions by pride and
vanity, or bending at the shrine of the common prejudices
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
of the times, to comprehend either the possibility or the
fitness of a strict observance of the divine injunction. In
view of the fact the church is composed of what seems to
t'lem a crude,heterogeneous mass,made up of all nationalities,
all complexions, all grades and conditions, they regard it as
being a most unsavory and incongruent command. And
there are those who occupy high positions in the visible
church who share, with the Apostle Peter, the same lofty
feeling of superiority, and evince the same loathing repug¬
nance, when summoned like him to a practical recognition
of the full brotherhood and unconditional equality of the
children of God; who, while theorizing with captivating
eloquence, force and beauty upon the doctrine and indis¬
pensable necessity of Christian unity, practically evince
such selfish and repulsive manners; such an unholy and
unlovable course of conduct; such harsh and uncharitable
criticisms, and such a manifest disregard for the tender
sensibilities of the brethren, as to constitute a standing
repudiation of the doctrine they teach. In vain to them is
the vessel filled with a heterogeneous mass of living
creatures let down from heaven ; in vain to them comes
the voice from the throne of the universe: "Rise, Peter,
kill and eat.'* They still insist that whatever to their re¬
fined and fastidious tastes seems "common and unclean,"
must necessarily be so, regardless alike of the judgment
and commands of heaven.
Convinced of the logical sequence of the startling con¬
clusion at which Peter arrived, they are nevertheless
wanting in the magnanimity with which he confessed his
conviction of the fact by the bold announcement, "God is
no respecter of persons" and in the earnestness and inpar-
tiality with which he subsequently maintained his position,
notwithstanding its unpopularity among his countrymen.
To this class of professors, the command in the text may
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
*59
seem neither practicable or desirable ; hut to the unselfish
and thoughtful it is not only practicable, but, aside from its
God-required observance, there is a beauty and fitness
connected with it that commends it to the favor and hearty
acceptance of all who are capable of comprehending and
appreciating the harmony of natural things and their appli¬
cation to those harmonizing influences among men, and
especially among christians, which accord with their best
interests.
The materials entering into the composition of a house
are widely dissimilar; yet the insignificant and seemingly
inferior portions of it are as essential parts of the building
as are the more conspicuous and apparently useful—each
and all contributing its share to the stability, the beauty
and utility of the dwelling. Thus, by the appropriate and
beautiful figure of the human body, the Apostle strikingly
illustrates the unity and harmony of the church under the
symbolical representation of the mystical body of Christ;
assuring us here as elsewhere that whatever diversities
exist in the church of God, exist in conformity with divine
arrangement, and for the interest and edification of the
entire body—no part is wanting, none superfluous. Just as
each member of the human body is a part of the whole, so
each member of the christian church constitutes a part of
that church.
The real or apparant inferiority of some parts as com¬
pared with others does not destroy their identity nor
supersede their usefulness; each performs its function,
however inconsiderable, and each makes its contribution to
the symmetry, harmony and beauty of the whole. So
intimately are they connected, so harmoniously are they
blended in the human system, that the loss, or even the
serious interruption of any one member, will be sensibly
felt by the entire body. So, likewise in the christian
i6o
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
church. We are all members of the same body, and
whatever affects one affects all.
True, we belong to different nationalities; we are
born in different localities, we belong to different denomi¬
nations, and worship under different forms. We differ in
color, in tastes, in conditions and circumstances in life.
We differ quite as widely in intellectual endowments ; but,
having received the same heavenly recognition, the
indwelling testimony of the Divine Spirit, we sustain per¬
fect equality before God, and any invidious distinction
made between the children of God is insulting to him, and
in the highest degree anti-christian.
There are, indeed, diversities of gifts and operations;
some possess, in a remarkable degree, the spirit of wisdom;
others the word of knowledge; others the working of
miracles; others diverse tongues; some prophesy; some
teach; and some are evangelists; some exert a wider
influence than others, and are more successful. But all
belong to the same body ; are members one of another;
are governed by the same head; are seeking the same
object — the glory of God—and therefore should seek
and maintain unity of spirit. It may be very desirable to
be the eyes, ears, or hands of the body, and we may seem
even to quarrel with our Maker because we do not occupy
what seems to us the more important positions ; and we
may become envious of our brethren, and, like Cain, seek
to injure them on account of this seeming preference exer¬
cised on the part of the Almighty. But this course will
never alter these conditions ; and so far from deriving any
permanent advantage from the adoption of a course of such
extreme folly and wickedness, it is destined to bring signal
disaster upon the heads of its perpetrators. The sad
history of Cain, of Saul and of Haman, who were con¬
spicuous in this reprehensible practice in theearly history
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
161
of the race, abundantly illustrates the truth of this aver¬
ment. And who but recalls some one or more whose per-
mature downfall and ruin was the legitimate consequence
of jealous envy? He who digs a pit for his brother is sure,
sooner or later, to fall therein himself, with equally or more
saddening results than he intended. Many a Haman has,
by divine permission, been made to suffer the penalty of his
envious gilt upon the same gallows which he had erected
for some innocent and unsuspecting Mordecai.
Proper consideration will readily convince us that
most, if not all, the causes which constitute the grounds of
envy and jealousy, resulting in discord and uncharitable-
ness toward our brethern, are matters over which, neither
they nor ourselves have any control, but are the result of
divine arrangement; and so far from causing disquietude or
alienation, they were designed to be beneficial to all. And
in the exercise of a liberal, generous spirit of christian
charity, they would prove to be a bond of perfectness—a
golden chain possessing, indeed, multiform, multifarious,
and multinominal links ; but, nevertheless, a chain uniting
in spirit every believer in Christ into one bond of peace,
harmony and love,—so strong that no power on earth
could sever it. And with the great link firmly held in the
omnipotent grasp of the head of the church, no power in
hell could seriously disturb its harmony and security.
Let us not, therefore, cherish, much less exercise, any
feeling of jealousy or envy in reference to any one; since as
the context assures us, "God hath set the members,
every one of them, in the body as it hath pleased him."
Neither let us despise any one ; since each one is part of
the whole. Let not the eye envy the ear, because of its
ability to try sounds to the exclusion of the other members.
Let not the hand despise the foot because it occupies the
lowest position ; for the ear cannot see, the hand cannot
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
hear, neither can the feet manipulate. Each serves a
desirable purpose peculiar to itself, designed of God, and
conducive to the comfort of all.
Equally absurd and senselessly wicked are those
invidious distinctions, so inimical to this unity of spirit,
founded on race, complexion, beauty, deformity or wealth;
since these are either accidental, or they are in accordance
with divine arrangement; and the variety, here as else¬
where, should be made productive of harmony and love,
rather than of discord and strife, and especially when
Christ is formed in the heart.
Thirdly—Having spoken of the importance of christian
unity, its spiritual nature, and its entire practicability, let us
briefly inquire into the method of maintaining it.
"Endeavor," is the word used in the text, which
signifies to try, to labor intensely. Nothing important is
accomplished without an effort. Let us, therefore, in view
of its beneficial results, both to ourselves and those with
whom we have intercourse, as well as the cause of" God
which will be so greatly promoted thereby, put forth an
earnest, faithful and prayerful endeavor, to maintain the
unity of spirit at all times and at whatever cost, by the cultiva¬
tion of a spirit of meekness, or that disposition which
checks the tendency to provocation in ourselves and over¬
comes the disposition to provoke others ; by lowliness of
mind, or such modest views of ourselves, our position,
attainments, ability or opinions, as excludes all pride and
arrogance, and which prompts us to regard with respectful
consideration the views, opinions and ability of others.
By long suffering, or the disposition which enables us
to bear slights, insults and injuries without fiery resentment
or a desire to revenge, but disposing us to hold the same
kind, generous and loving tenor of our way, and prompts
us to seek to confer the largest amount of good upon those
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
163
who have sought, and are seeking, to do us the greatest
harm.
By a spirit of loving forbearance predisposing us to
cast the mantle of charity over the faults and mfirmities of
our brethern from considerations of love; by forgiving one
another as we are wont to have others forgive us, we shall
find, on a careful review of our christian life, many things
for which we can with difficulty forgive ourselves. Others
doubtless find as much, or more, quite as difficult to
forgive in us. Let this mutual view of kindred offenses,
arising from similar infirmities, so humble us as to prompt
us as freely to forgive each other as we. forgive ourselves,
or hope to forgiven of the Lord. Let us frankly speak
what we conscientiously believe to be the truth in reference
to our brethren, but in such manner, and under such cir¬
cumstances, as will bring it within the category of "Speak¬
ing the truth in love."
Much that tends to acrimony and strife, leading to
discord and alienation among brethren, arises from mis¬
representation, either wilful, or the result of improper
information. In our seeming haste to publish what we
have heard, or at best know very imperfectly, we frequently
indulge—however undesignedly—in gross misrepresenta¬
tions seriously affecting each others reputation. No
possible loss, either to ourselves or the community, could
be sustained by a little delay in circulating what tends to
the injury of a brother; and delay would in many
instances, put us in possession of such facts in the case, as
would relieve the story of most, or all, of its injurious
effects.
If the time, ability and research so carefully devoted
to contentions about modes and ceremonial forms among
denominations, to misrepresentations, or insidious efforts to
inveigh character among brethren, by innuendo, by a
164
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
meaning smile, or by a manifestly false apology for one
whose name is being traduced, in which, by attempting a
lame excuse, we admit the facts contained in the slander,
although we do not believe them, and thus crystalize into
truth what we might easily have branded and silenced as a
falsehood. If the time, effort and skill thus devoted to the
interest of discord were utilized in zealous efforts to cement
more closely the ties of christian brotherhood, what a vast
amount of peace, prosperity, and success would result to
the church. Infidelity and skepticism would be disarmed
of their most formidable weapons, and Christ would be
gloriously enshrined in thousands of hearts, wherein Satan
now presides in grim majesty.
Far more time and study are employed in attempts to
belittle each other as christians and as members of the
community than is enlisted in battling with the common
enemy, or in studied, honest and prayerful endeavor to
establish the cause of Christ.
"With what measure ye mete the sarnie shall be
measured to you again," is a trite truism that should serve
to remind us that the thorn-seeds wilfully sown by us for
the goading of others to-day will be harvested and resown
to-morrow, with the vast increase which the crop will yield
to recompense us for our toil with the largest interest by
and by. The pupils before whom we recite a slander, a
misrepresentation, or any belittling or depreciating lesson
against our brother or sister to day, are carefully appro¬
priating our manner, our skill, and our tact, to unite with
their own with which to recite a similar lesson against us
to-morrow with all these damaging improvements. So
that every effort of this character is throwing dust into
the air, with the certainity that our own eyes will be
filled with it, painfully in the sequel. It is not only, there-
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
fore, an unchristian course of conduct, but a wicked and
costly folly.
Finally, if we would cultivate christian unity and love;
if we would encourage the diffident and strengthen the
weak ; if we would counteract the sourness of spirit which
leads to alienation and estrangement; if we would contri¬
bute toward that oneness of heart which signalizes all the
special and fuller manifestations of divine power and success
in the church of God, let us carefully avoid what we know
to be reprehensible, and as carefully practice what we know
is commendable. Thus shall we foster that unity and
harmony of spirit which infidelity cannot gainsay, the
world can not successfully resist; which Satan condemns
and God approves.
This will embrace whatever is true, honest, just, pure
and lovely; and, if we would faithfully and successfully serve
the cause of God, and advance the interest of Zion, let us
"think on these things."
And may God make our hearts one.
i66
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
SERMON XVI.
REQUIESCAT IN PACE.
Eulogistic services in memory of our late distinguished
senior Bishop, Joseph J. Clinton, D. D., were held in
Sherman chapel, Lebanon, Ky., Sunday evening,
July io, 1881. It was solemnly interesting
and impressive.
After the reading of a part of the fifth chapter of
Genesis and the singing of an appropriate hymn, the vener¬
able deacon D. L. Irvin led in fervent prayer. Then Bishop
Jones arose and spoke as follows:
' 'Know ye not that there is a prince and a great man fallen this
day in Israel ? " 2 Samuel, iii. 38.
To a stranger entering this chapel on this memorable
occasion, the question which this unusually solemn scene
would most likely suggest would be, "What means this
sable drapery which, with solemn neatness, shades this
altar? Why these weeds of mourning?" The response
from those informed would be, "A great man has fallen by
death, and in keeping with time honored usage, but far
more in keeping with the sadness of our hearts, we have as¬
sembled to manifest our deep regret at the loss of a distin¬
guished man, an earnest christian, a venerated Bishop and
a successful leader.
The subject of the brief eulogy which I have the honor
to deliver on this occasion, Bishop Joseph Jackson Clinton,
was born in Philadelphia, Pa., October 3rd, 1823. Reared
in the "City of Brotherly Love," he enjoyed the advantages
of tender maternal care, supplemented with a liberal edu-
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
167
cation. These advantages, combined with his remarkable
natural endowments, brought him early into prominence
and fitted him for the leadership which he ever after sus¬
tained. Embracing the christian religion at 15 years of age,
he united his fortunes with the A. M. E. Zion Church,
Wesley church, Philadelphia, Pa., in 1839, and obtained
license to preach in 1840, being then in his 17th year.
Entering the Philadelphia Conference in 1841, he dis¬
tinguished himself as an itinerant preacher and was promo¬
ted to the office of Deacon in 1844, and to that of Elder in
1846. During the 23 years of his pastorate, he proved to
be a kind and loving shepherd, a powerful preacher, and a
successful revivalist, filling most of the prominent pulpits of
Zion with great acceptablity and profit, and many of the
most important positions in Annual and General Confer¬
ences.
Recognizing his eminent fitness, his brethren assem¬
bled in General Conference, in May 1864, and by their al¬
most unanimous suffrage, with appropriate ceremony, de¬
signated and set him apart to the highest office in their gift
—Bishop of the A. M. E. Zion Church. He was assigned
to the missionary field of the Carolinas where our humble
Denominational Banner had already been unfurled, and to
wherever else in the South the way might be opened by
the march of the Union armies.
Pushing on to Washington, D. C., he obtained, through
the then Postmaster General, Hon. M. Blair, at the solicita¬
tion of the nurse in his family, the required pass and permit
from Secretary Stanton, to follow in the wake of the army
for religious purposes. Armed with these papers, but far
more effectually with the panoply of God, and with a very
liberal missionary contribution in gold, made to him by the
same nurse, Melvina Fletcher by name, a pious and devoted
member of Zion, Bishop Clinton started on his Episcopal
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
mission not knowing what might befall him, but firmly
trusting in God and the righteousness of his work. Al¬
though some of the Bishop's friends were somewhat angry
with me in consequence of. the part I took as one of the
committee in assigning him in that General Conference to
the Carolinas, time has abundantly proven the wisdom of
that assignment, just as I predicted it would.
It would have given you pain to have heard him, as I
have, rehearsing the story of the hardships and privations
through which he passed ; but the people of the entire
Zion Connection to-day, recount his heroic achievements
and grand success with no ordinary degree of pride. Dur¬
ing his ministerial life he brought into our denomination
100,000 Sabbath school scholars. As a Bishop he organ¬
ized ten annual conferences in Zion and brought in 700
itinerant preachers. Tens of thousands have been added to
Zion's strength through his bold and fearless leadership and
most of our Southren Conferences were organized by this
persevering prelate. These trying scenes of privation, ex¬
posure and toil, connected with all the other years of his min¬
isterial life, embracing in all a period of 40 years, no doubt,
hastened the close of an eventful career, bringing on the
sad crisis over which the entire denomination in whose inter¬
est he lived, and in whose service he died, mourn to-day.
On the morning of the 24th of May, 1881, after a pain¬
ful illness of a paralytic nature, he passed away in the
triumphs offaith to "the rest that remaineth for the people of
God," On the 26th of the same month, after solemn cere¬
mony and an appropriate sermon by Bishop J. P. Thomp¬
son, M. D., D. D., all that was mortal of our distinguished
friend and brother, was laid in the cold silent grave till the
resurrection day of God.
Thus, one by one, in alirming succession, are our
chief ministers passing away to their long, long home.
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
169
Loguen, Brooks, Bishop, Talbot and Clinton—five of our
Bishops—men of God, and leaders of great prominence,
have been removed from us in a very brief period. Others
of us must soon follow, how soon, the All-wise only knows.
How appropriate in this view is the language of poetry:
' 'Who next shall be called away,
My merciful Lord is it I?"
At the close of an interesting lecture, recounting his
experience in the South, to which it was my pleasure to lis¬
ten a few years ago, Bishop Clinton quoted these lines—
' 'I ask not a stone to be sculptured with verse,
I ask not that fame my merits rehearse ;
But I ask as a boon when I give up the Ghost,
That my brethren may say—"he died at his post.'"
In Bishop Moore's history of the A. M. E. Zion Church
we find this tribute to praise of the deceased Bishop—
" He was a prince in the pulpit, in power, dignity and
effectiveness. There was in his oratory the happiest result
of nature and art combined. His eloquence would some¬
times seem to be charged with divine electricity, thus wrap¬
ping in heavenly rapture his whole audience, while his
heart would seem to be charged with the fire of pathos,
stirring the most stoical. The topical was generally his
method of homiletical arrangement; in his discourses he
was concise, perspicuous, forceful and masterly; in their
rendition, his language was never wanting in chasteness—
therefore efficiency never failed to yield his efforts success."
I remember how ardently he desired and how earn¬
estly he struggled to reach the last General Conference at
Montgomery last year—1880. After a struggle with disease
he succeeded in reaching Washington, D. C., even against
the remonstrance of his family and friends, but was com¬
pelled to return with sad heart, but with Christian resigna¬
tion, never again to mingle with his brethren, nor exercise
170
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
the functions of his office. He was re-elected in the Gen¬
eral Conference by acclamation, and was declared in com¬
mon with the other Episcopal incumbents, Bishop for life;
and was voted half pay without labor, with the title of
"Senior Bishop" during his life time. Thus, we see that
God did permit his servant to "die at his post."
God grant that we all may be permitted to die in the
harness, and in the language of Wesley, to,"die welir Let
the ministry emulate his zeal, fortitude, and earnestness.
Let the laity learn to appreciate and honor those who, as
chief pastors, study their interests and labor for their good.
Let the children of the church, members of the Sabbath
school, of which Bishop Clinton was a warm supporter,
aim to gain the eminence in the church which he so justly
won ; and finally, let each and all take a new departure, work¬
ing as never before, and battle to sustain the good cause for
which Bishop Clinton fell. When about to dip his feet in
the cold, restless river of death he said to his loving family
and Zion's ministers who had gathered around him, "All is
well; I am ready for the glorious change."
' 'Servant of God, well done !
Thy glorious warfare's past;
The battle's fought, the race is won,
And thou art crown'd at last."
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
171
SERMON XVII.
A MIND TO WORK.
"The people had a mind to work." Nehemiah iv. 6.
Some have a mind to look on, others to find fault; they
had a mind to work. They worked earnestly, unitedly,
courageously, prayerfully, joyfully, successfully, with all
their heart and strength. Those were trying times, when,
after the emancipation of God's people from Babylonish
captivity, they encountered such formidable opposition in
their efforts to repair their loved city and temple, and restore
the worship of the God of their fathers, from which they
had so long been deprived in heathen lands. Whoever
seeks the right way will find his pathway beset with diffi¬
culties of no ordinary character. But he, who having once
found that way, but through negligence or carelessness has
lost it, will find obstacles and hindrances far more formid¬
able than those he first encountered, if he seeks to regain it.
Sanballat, Tobiah and Geshem, each the representative
of factions that they were ruling to their own advantage,
regardless of the advantage of the king, or the well-being of
the people, were very naturally jealous of, and therefore
opposed to, anything and everything that would in the least
interfere with their plans, or disturb them in any way. They
saw in the fair, honorable and righteous course marked out
by Nehemiah and his pious associates, the light turned on
their schemes, and the sure revelation to their ruler of their
devious ways—indeed, they saw the begining of the end of
their unjust sway; hence their fierce opposition. Though
the representatives of rival factions, each jealous of thetem-
172
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
porary advantage or success of the other, yet, each and all
could readily combine in a common cause against the right¬
eous cause of the Jews. '
Combinations against a just and righteous cause date
far down in the history of the race and arise from various
motives. The combination of revolting spirits led by the
Proto-Rebel of the universe against the order, peace and se¬
curity of the angelic host, and the entire loyal family of
God, was the first in the order of combinations for evil, and
all similar combinations share largely its motive, spirit and
purpose, because originated, directed and controlled by the
same being, enemy alike of God and man, antagonizing the
honor, majesty and glory of the one, and the happiness and
well being of the other. The motive is self-aggrandizement,
originating in self-love, strengthened by self-will, and im¬
pelled by self interest. The aim is success, by whatever
.plans, methods, influences, or cost, independent of, and in¬
different to final results—whether of weal or woe. Such
were the blind but formidably impellent forces which pre¬
cipitated the first rebellion, and each subsequent combina¬
tion against righteousness, and such the blind aims and sel¬
fish designs of this combination on the part of Sanballat,
Tobiah and Geshem, against Nehemiah and his heroic band
of God-fearing followers.
God had already given these humble people favor in
the sight of the reigningmonarch,andtheroyalproclamation
had secured them the right to return to Jerusalem, whence
they had been carried to Babylon 70 years earlier, and re¬
pair their city and temple, and restore the religious worship of
their fathers. Their opposers had doubtless heard of their
singular prosperity and success in the palmy days of their
history, "when the candle of the Lord shone bright on their
pathway, and when by his light they walked through dark¬
ness," of their singular invincibility in war, and their astonish-
BISHOP TONES' SERMONS.
*73
ing prosperity in peace, and that the "eternal God was their re¬
fuge, and underneath them were the Almighty's arms "—and
hence, their foolish alarm and senseless opposition. They
might have inferred from these facts of history that, if the
Almighty had remembered this humble people, and com¬
menced the work of restoring them to their own land, that
no obstacle could be interposed sufficiently formidable to
prevent the divine purpose, and that disaster would most
likely result to those who should attempt it. But—
"Blind unbelief is sure to err,
And scan his work in vain.''
The Egyptian host rushed on to counteract God's pur-'
pose to make good his promise to deliver Israel, 'notwith¬
standing the wonders they had witnessed in proof of that
purpose.
The deceptive policy adopted by this combination
against Nehemiah and his companions was to manifest such
an interest in the work of re-building the city and temple
as would induce Nehemiah to admit them into his councils,
and familiarize them with his plans ; giving them such ad-
1 vantages as would enable them so to circtimvent him in his
operations as to greatly hinder him, and possibly to fabri¬
cate some report to the king, which might result in an order
to discontinue the work en'irely. Hence, the many flatter¬
ing invitations to meet in the "plain of Ono,"for conference,
counsel and advice. To these invitations the man of God
sent a reply which may be sent with great profit to all who
invite God's servants to leave the work of the Master for
any purpose, however inviting, for any length of time, how¬
ever short, or for any temporary advantage, however great,
"I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down.
Why should the work cease while I leave it and come down
to you ?"
Failing in their policy of feigned friendship, they resort
*74
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
to that of discouragement; foiled in that, they inaugurate
the policy of intimidation. Thus does wickedness assail
and antagonize righteousness: First by profession of friend¬
ship ;
Second by discouraging doubts, and anticipations of
failure;
Third by noisy, boisterous threats and intimidation.
Such were the oppositions encountered by these men of
God, in the pious effort to regain their forfeited homes and
former blessedness.
Added to these schemes and plottings on the part of
outside enemies, strange to say, there were enemies inside
the camp, discouraging the work. They were not the com¬
mon people, but the "nobles of Judah," who from motives
of fear, jealousy, or treachery, were lending their influence
to this wicked combination against their own best interests,
by writing letters complimentary to its leaders and, to use
the words of a similar class in these times, "keeping them
posted," on the plans and movements of Nehemiah, and
thereby giving aid and comfort to his enemies. These were
leading men, "npbles," high up in station and authority,^
identified most intimately with all the plans and arrange¬
ments of their chief; spies in the camp of Israel, while pro¬
fessedly acting in harmony with her best interests. Few of
them actually meant to do harm. They felt themselves
closely allied to Tobiah on account of certain supposed
claims he had upon them, in fact, they had sworn fealty to
him, on the grounds of relationship, favoritism, or some
such consideration, and were actually urging his claims to
Nehemiah's clemency and confidence, and by thus playing
fast and loose between friend and foe, they were, unwittingly
but none the less certainly, hampering and hindering the
work.
We are forcibly struck with the similarity of the per-
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
175
sons, means, and methods employed, in order to hinder the
work of the Lord in the days of Nehemiah, and at present.
Every visible conflict between the church and the world
has developed its enemies inside the church, no less than
outside. And no class of opposers are more powerful for
mischief than those inside the camp, and especially, if they
occupy leading positions. Endeared to the people by many
pleasant ties, sharing, very largely, their confidence, by rea¬
son of the important trust with which they have been hon¬
ored, their counsel, example and influence, are all-powerful
for good or evil. They can inspire the people on the one
hand, or dampen their ardor, and discourage them, on the
other. There are but few, if any, earnest, faithful Nehe-
miah's of modern times, who need to have any special de¬
lineation, either as to the character or the singularly devious
ways of these enemies in the camp; having encountered
their discouraging policy and tactics in every important
contest in which they have engaged with the spiritual San-
ballats, Tobiahs and Geshems of this world for the progress
of the church of Christ.
No class of persons are more widely known, or more
heartily deprecated by the ministry, because no class can so
effectually chock the wheels of spiritual progress, as the
leading, influential members of the church, who uninten¬
tionally or otherwise, antagonize the special efforts of pas¬
tors, by giving aid and comfort to those who have no in¬
terest, whatever, in his success. It must have been exceed-
ingly painful to Nehemiah, to know that these vexatious
hindrances to the progress of the work, were being contri¬
buted to, largely, if not mainly, by the aid of men in whom
the masses confided, and whose arraignment, consequently,
would likely give offence to them, and, possibly, furnish a
pretext for a general revolt, led by, at least, the more de¬
signing of these temporizing "nobles," probably, resulting
176
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
in final disaster. With a full knowledge of their defection
and apparent treachery, he was compelled, from prudential
considerations, to endure the humiliating thought of it all,
and yet to be silent. Such are the amazing and humiliat¬
ing necessities, under like circumstances to-day. But, pa¬
tient endurance of these perplexing conditions, supple¬
mented by persevering effort, and firm trust in God, were
the unfailing precursors of final victory in the times of
Nehemiah, as they are now.
This heroic leader of God's host assures us, that the
secret of the consummation of this work in so brief a period
was not owing to any great ability in him. He modestly
declines all self-laudation—an example it might be well to
copy to-day—and attributes it to the individual and collec¬
tive interest of the people in the enterprise, and to their
persistent purpose to accomplish it. They "had a mind
to work!'
They might have relied upon the efforts of their leader,
as is too often the case now, but they supplemented earnest
leadership by patient, earnest, obedient following. They
might have relied solely cn faith in God, without using
the means whereby faith is made effectual; but they
acted upon the principle that "faith without works is dead,"
and therefore, inoperative and ineffectual in accomplishing
any work. There was rubbish to be cleared away, mortar
to be made and used, stones to be handled and adjusted to
their places on the wall; the square and plumb were to be
applied to the corners, and the level upon the entire work.
No amount of faith could have been available in carrying
on and completing this work, without the proper use of
these appliances.
But. it is not said that they had a mind to believe in
the accomplishment of the enterprise—their persistence
was good evidence of their faith in its final accomplishment.
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
Men work but tardily who doubt of final success. It is
easy to recite the most beautiful illustrations of faith in
God—it is far more difficult to find practical examples of
earnest, effectual work for his cause. These people gave
practical proof of their faith in God, by their practical work
for God.
They might have estimated their relation, age, strength
and ability, as men and women do to-day, when called to
work for God. There were, doubtless, some quite old and
infirm, some impaired by disease and unfitted for the more
laborious work. But we hear no complaint of any that ex¬
cused themselves on account of age, delicacy, or even sick¬
ness ; none that compared the amount of work they had
done or were doing, with what others had done or were do¬
ing ; none that measured their task by the task of others.
There seems to have been no one who dreaded lest he
should do more than his share; no one stood looking on,
to see if others were doing their full duty, or how the work
prospered before they engaged in it. But all were engaged
each attending to that part of the work assigned him, glad
of the honor of being thought worthy of doing something
for the upbuilding of the cause of God.
No envy, jealousy or strife sprang up among them on
account of some having been assigned to more honorable
parts of the work than others; all was thought to be alike
honorable—none inferior. If the strength of the bearers of
burdens failed, no one thought he was in the least humil¬
iated if called to their aid. If a stone was too heavy to be
handled by one or two, willing hands were found, unsolicited,
to give cheerful assistance. If one portion of the workmen
were assailed by the enemy, every man rushed to the
rescue, with a drawn sword, and a strong arm, sustained by
a brave heart, to do, and dare, and die, if need be, in de¬
fence of a common cause. There were no separate or conflict-
**8
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
ing interests; no selfish aims, but one undivided, steady pur¬
pose to complete the work, begun for the good of all. "The
people had a mind to work."
A mind to work is the secret of success. A mind to
work implies willingnesss, readiness,—means a mind properly
affected, rightly disposed, the soul enlisted, the whole per¬
son consecrated. It means the case understood, individual
responsibility recognized, and duty embraced. A mind to
work is an inspiration. The inspiration comes from con¬
tact with higher power, wider influence. The soldier is
inspired by his leader—catches his spirit. In the work of
the church the inspiration is from God. Men and women
in fellowship with God, in touch with Jesus, are inspired,
have new life breathed into them, have the spirit of Christ,
and thus a mind to work. Where this mind is present there
is persistent, constant, untiring, unceasing work, and labor
brings its own reward. Put the emphasis where it belongs,
on labor, not on reward. This same principle applies to every
work of life, to men as well as women. Men in the pro¬
fessions and trades, women in their particular spheres, have
achieved success because they had a mind to work. We
see every day failures and wrecks throughout the business
and professional world, and in housekeeping and home
maintaining, because there has been no mind to work.
Their heart was not in their labors, there was no incentive
to go on to hard work, and failure and ruin followed.
This same principle applies to the church, as its history
proves. Churches have succeeded or failed as they have
possessed or been without a mind to work. No church
can succeed unless all connected with it will give their
energies and labor for its welfare. We must have concerted
action, all working together with a will. One man having
a mind to work, is a power, a* mighty factor. He may
accomplish much, but it is in the multiplied agencies of
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS. 179
people possessed of a like mind that grander results are
achieved, and a measure of success impossible to the single
individual. To do the best possible work there must be a
union of forces. Nehemiah could not have done the work
himself, did not do it himself. "So builed we the wall," he
says. All at it, and always at it, indicates a mind to work,
and insures success. Then, too, you must have a definite
purpose in your work, "so builded we the wall;" selectsome
one thing and stick to it until it is accomplished. While there
must be no division of purpose, there must be a division of
labor, a distribution of agencies, but all working to the same
end. In the case under consideration, everybody worked ;
no class among the people was excused. Ministers and
magistrates, religious and civil authorities, merchants,
mechanics, professional men and women (Shallum's daugh¬
ters)—all were included, and all worked. No one has any
right to be too busy with the affairs of the world, to have
no time to work for the Lord. Some persons can do but
little, but he who can do but little, and does that little well,
does his whole part.
Nehemiah and his followers met many difficulties in
rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. We read in the tenth
verse there was so much rubbish that they could not build. So
are we hindered in our work because there is much rubbish.
It was always so. When Paul began to build for God, and
when the Apostles went forth as wise master builders there
lay before them in towering heaps the old Jewish rubbish,
hard to bear, heavy to lay away. The foundation was there.
We have not to lay that, that is laid and well laid. When
the Apostles encountered the wider world of the Roman
Empire they were hindered in the work by the great heap
of old Pagan rubbish, and/we, too are hindered by the
rubbish. There is much around us yet; much in us ; rub-
180 BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
bish of pride, unbelief, despondency, hindering the work of
God.
But the rubbish was not the only difficulty in their
way; they were scoffed and sneered at, so are we ; are you
building a character ? you will be lauged at. How did
Nehemiah bear it ? He lifted up that grand face, wrinkled
with age, and said, 'Hear, O God ! '
He made an appeal to Heaven, he handed his speech
upward, he put it into the hands of God to answer. It is
better that God should answer our enemies than that we
should answer them.
There was no ambitious conflict, or contention, about
leadership. All recognized Nehemiah as the fitting,
director of the entire work for the time. None sought to
antagonize him in his position ; no one critisized his plans,
or sought to disparage him by eulogizing the superior
leadership of others to the detriment or prejudice of their
present leader, nor vauntingly urged his own claims to the
position. Ambition for leadership was lost in the far more
noble ambition, for success; hence, success crowned their
efforts.
To a people thus earnestly, piously, and lovingly united
in a good cause, there can be no such thing as fail; since
these elements, combined with patient effort, are sure to
enlist that other unfailing and all conquering element of
success—Divine help.
Nothing is accomplished in the divine life without
honest, faithful effort; and no honest, faithful, persistent
effort in God's work, will be wanting of God's help. It
matters but little as to other conditions if these be present.
Self-help is the only hope and security of God-help.
"A mind to work"—not simply to talk, necessary as
talking is—not simply to suggest and plan, important as
these are; not simply a mind to pray, essential as is this
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS. 181
ordinance ofgrace supplemented by faith; but a firm purpose
practically carried out, to use earnestly and persistently,
all the means and appliances which promise success in
spiritual warfare—these are the unfailing elements of final
and glorious accomplishment. Obstacles to spiritual effort
will appear whenever and wherever spiritual effort is made.
Heed them not; for "He that observeth the wind shall not
sow, and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap."
Secret oppositions from unlooked for sources will tend
greatly to discourage; yet, these will be sure to come, but
cannot permanently hinder the work. Judas intrigued with
the enemies of Christ; but the foundation of the church is
none the less strong, and the arrangements to save a lost
world none the less complete. Work and trust God.
Not infrequently when the work of rebuilding the city
and temple of God shows encouraging signs of progress, or
is on the eve of grand success, interests of a secular char¬
acter will obtrude—pecuniary interests will force themselves
to the front, seasons of passtime, pleasure, frolic and
festivals will invite you most flatteringly to leave the scene
of the coming shower; to abandon this "set time" in which
God promises to "favor Zion," perhaps as never before, and
come down to some nice little cosy and inviting dance hall,
in the plain of some spiritual "Ono," to drink in the spirit of
the world. Give no attention to these devices of the
spiritual Sanballats, Tobiahs, and Geshems. Let them
meet if-they will; but "why should the great work cease"
while you go down to them ? Let your whole soul, mind,
and energies, he absorbed in "a mind to work."
"Work, for the night is coming,
When man's work is done."
182 BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
SKELETONS OF SERMONS.
THE DUTY OF THE PASTOR AND HIS FLOCK.
Hebrews xiii. 17.
I. To watch with solicitude for the interest of the souls
of the congregation. Watch with the view of spy¬
ing out whatever may be harmful, and warn of danger.
Watch for whatever may be beneficial and recom¬
mend it. Watch for opportunities to do good.
II. To rule—not domineeringly nor tyrannically—kindly
—justly—firmly—legally—with the law and gospel
—the whole church. No distinction on account of
of wealth, influence, or age. Govern, manage, di¬
rect.
III. His responsibility—to give an account—for faithfulness
in discharge of duty—to conscience—to brethren in
conference—to his God.
IV. The duty of the flock.
1. To obey the instruction of their pastor.
2. To submit to the discipline.
3. To avoid every thing calculated to grieve or disturb
his spirit. Delinquency in duty, coldness, dissen-
sion, reproachful conduct or unholy conversation,
want of support.
V. They should support or help,
1. In his plans of usefulness.
2. In his faithful administration of the law.
3. By their presence in the church at all times.
4. By defending his character.
5. By supplying his temporal necessities.
6. By their constant and fervent prayer for him.
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
PRAYER FOR A REVIVAL.
Habakkuk iii. 2.
I. What is a revival ? An extraordinary interest or con¬
cern for the safety of our own souls and those of our
fellow-men.
II. The means in a revival. The Spirit of God. It is not
a miracle—not a work to be carried on by God alone,
but by men and women.
III. Its necessity. It arises from man's proneness—the
Church as well—to forget God.
IV. Its beneficial results. Increase of love, union, zeal,
earnestness, prayer, love of God's people and cause,
and membership.
A DISTINGUISHED SUFFERER.
1 Peter iv. I-
I. Who is this distinguished sufferer ?
II: What was the character of his sufferings?
1. He suffered in his dignity.
2. He suffered in his body, hunger, poverty, cold, heat,
fatigue, the pangs of death.
3. He suffered mentally. The rejection by those whom he
came to save. The abandonment by his few friends
on earth, and finally, the withdrawal of his Father's
face.
4. For whom did he endure these matchless sufferings?
For "us."
THE DEATH OF THE RIGHTEOUS.
Numbers xxiii. 10.
I. Balaam may have considered the horrors of a sinner's
deathbed.
II. The sinner's destiny.
184
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
III. The closing scene of a righteous life.
IV. The future home of a righteous soul.
V. The privilege of all to die the death of the righteous.
VI. The sure way to that happy result.
PROSPERITY IN SEEKING THE LORD.
2 Chron. xxvi. 5.
I. Prosperity is desirable among all classes of mankind.
II. Those who seek the Lord have chosen the only sure
road to prosperity, permanent and lasting. Prosper¬
ity may come to us in a different way, and those
who hate God and choose their own course may
prosper for a little while, but defeat and disaster are
sure to come to all who do not seek the Lord ; or
who do not continue to seek.
III. We seek the Lord in a manner when we consult his
will in all that concerns us.
SINCERITY TESTED.
Daniel iii. 17,18.
I. The servants of God in all ages have had, and will
have, their sincerity put to the test.
II. These tests are necessary to the development and ex¬
hibition of the sterling virtues of mankind, and the
power and faithfulness of the Almighty.
III. Fidelity to righteous principle can never go unreward¬
ed nor fail of final success.
IV. These men of God were rewarded—with an approving
conscience—with the approval of God and good
men—and personal preferment.
AHAB AND ELIJAH.
1 Kings xviii. 17, 18.
I. Misfortunes of a community, people, or nation, are
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
frequently attributed to causes whose agency and in¬
fluence are no wise chargeable with such misfor¬
tune.
II. Whatever agitation, commotion or excitement may
result from the bold and fearless utterance of divine
truth, or the faithful performance of duty, tends notto
the woes but to the weal of mankind.
II. The calamities which befall the human family are the
legitimate results of a wicked departure from the
commandments of the Lord.
CHRIST A FOUNDATION STONE.
Isaiah xxviii. 16»
I. Stone—strong, durable, resisting all opposition.
II. Tried—by the devil, wicked men and by his friends.
[II. Precious—valuable to his saints, to sinners and mourn¬
ers of all ages.
[V. Sure foundation—to build on—to sustain those who
rest on him in time of trials, persecution and death.
GRATITUDE.
St. Luke xxii. 19.
I. Gratitude, a remembrance of generous, kind deeds, is
one of the noblest qualities of the human hearts.
II. Monuments commemorative of the praiseworthy deeds
of human benefactors have been reared by all civil¬
ized nations.
III. No benefactor was ever entitled to deeper gratitude
than Christ Jesus. Others benefitted their friends;
Christ his enemies. Others benefitted the few; Christ
the many. Others benefitted their equals; Christ
his inferiors. Others benefitted the body; Christ the
soul and body. Others in time ; Christ in time and
eternity.
186 BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
IV. The nature and simplicity of this monument. No iron,
marble, granite shaft, no brazen pillar nor golden
column. No skillful artificer, no scientific sculptor is
required for its erection or ornament. No one is
excluded from participating in its erection. Christ
laid the foundation.
AN EXHORTION TO REPENTANCE.
Hosea vi. 1-3.
I. The exhortion—"Come, let us return unto the Lord.
II. The encouragement—"He hath torn, and he will heal
us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us upT " Re¬
vive us—raise us up—we shall live in his sight."
III. The blessings enjoyed by those who will return—
"They shall know" Christian knowledge.
LEGIONS OF DEVILS CAST OUT.
St. Mark v. 19.
I. Satan is the source and cause of all troubles.
II. No human combination nor effort can resist or restrain
his power.
III. There is a power in the universe and within reach of
all that can control Satanic influence.
IV. Those whom Christ relieves or releases from Satanic
power will feel grateful to their Savior and will man¬
ifest that gratitude by a desire to be with him and
serve him in any and every way.
V. It is the blessed arrangement of the economy of grace
that gives employment to all.
AN ITINERANT MINISTRY.
Acts xx. 18-21.
I. The peculiar circumstances of an Itinerant Ministry,
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
187
changing, new fields and new acquaintances, new
responsiblities.
II. Their humility, earnestness, zeal, tears. God will
bless the labors of the humble. "They who sow in
tears shall reap in joy."
III. Their fidelity. Keeping nothing back, however un¬
pleasant or unpopular. Preach the whole truth,
"warn every man."
IV. The simple conditions of life and salvation must be
presented to all, faithfully.
THE WRETCHED AND FORLORN CONDITION
OF THE BACKSLIDER.
1 Sam. xxviii. 15.
I. He is " sore distressedconscious of quilt.
II. Satan takes advantage of his weak and defenceless
condition, "makes war against me!1
III. The Almighty withdraws his presence and his prayers
go unanswered, "God is departed from me, and
answereth me no more."
IV. Thus stripped of comfort, forsaken by the Lord, and
abandoned to the "wicked one," he hastens on to
destruction.
HASTE TO THE MQUNTAINS.
Joshua ii. 16.
I. History of the text. Spies sent out. Entertained by
Rahab the hostess. Sought by the authorities.
Hid in flax on the house-top. Let down by a cord
by a woman. Let us notice the spiritual illustration
of the text.—"Mountain." The Christian Church is
compared to a mountain, because a mountain is
noted,
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
1. For its lofty and elevated position.
2. For its strong and immovable character.
3. For its healthy and bracing character.
4. For its facilities for observation.
5. For its opportunities for concealment.
II. The period to hide. Youth, manhood, old age.
III. The freedom from care and vigilance after death.
Then "you may go your way."
MOSES.
Hebrews xi. 24-26.
I. The choice of Moses.
II. What he refused.
III. Why he takes this course.
IV. The wisdom of the choice.
INTEMPERANCE.
Proverbs xx. 1 ; xxiii. 21.
I. The drinking of wine for mere pleasure and pastime is
deceiving and dangerous; and, is likely to lead to
the desire for stronger drink; thus mocking all
our efforts to abstain from it when once the habit is
formed.
II. Drunkenness usually follows. This leads to gluttony,
poverty, drowsiness and slothfulness which generally
clothes the man and all depending on his labor, with
rags. It often leads to crime.
III. It bites and stings to death like the poison serpent or
venomous adder.
1. It blunts the intellect. We need this faculty.
2. It degrades our morals. We need them.
3. It steals our money. We need it. All these are
needed to enable us to catch up with the other
races. Let us take a political view of this question.
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
189
PETER WALKETH ON THE SEA.
Matthew xiv. 30, 31.
I. He has permission to come to Christ.
II. He starts.
III. He sinks.
IV. He cries for help. Christ immediately helps him.
A GREATER THAN A JONAH.
Matthew xii. 41, 42.
I. Christ greater than Jonah in his Nature, Person and
Mission. Jonah preached in Ninevah 40 days;
Christ to the Jews three years. Jonah wrought no
miracles ; Christ performed a great many of various
kinds. The Ninevites repented; the Jews refused.
AN EXHORTATION TO PRAISE GOD.
Psalms xcviii. I.
We are called upon to give the highest praise to
God. Because,
I. He hath done wonderful "miracles." He delivered us
from bondage, to men, to devils He has disap¬
pointed our enemies in all their schemes and left
. them in hopeless degradation and turned the politi¬
cal tide to minister to the elevation of the Negro.
II. He is opening the way for the exercise of all our rights
as Afro-Americans.
III. What are we doing to help forward our elevation ?
Mentally, morally, industrially, religiously.
POWER AND STRENGTH TO THE WEAK AND
FAINT.
Isaiah xl. 29, 30.
I. Youth with all its vigor makes no headway in this
spiritual conflict.
igo BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
II. Young men, strong and untiring, will utterly fail.
III. The failure of the one and the other is not necessary,
because God is able and willing to give power even
to the weak and faint, increase of strength to those
that have not might. But they must seek it and live*
for it.
IV. They that wait on the Lord, whether youth, young
men or old age, shall be renewed.
CHARACTERISTICS OF TIMOTHY.
I Timothy iv. 11-16.
I. His personal character and deportment. Moral, sober,
honest, truthful.
II. His personal habits. Clean, particular, neat, tidy, social,
generous, kind.
III. Habits of industry. Not slothful in business; not in¬
dolent nor careless; but active, vigilant, providing
for and governing his household well, so as to set an
example to the flock.
IV. His official character. Takes heed to the doctrine he
teaches, repentance, faith, conversion, justification,
purity, perseverance in godliness,
V. The object to be sought in all this. His own salvation,
the salvation of others.
LIBERALITY.
2 Kings iv. 42-44.
I. God has been pleased in the distribution of his bounty
to bestow on some of his creatures a larger portion
than on others. Temporal, intellectual and spiritual
gifts.
II. As almoners of these blessings, it is the dictate of hu¬
manity as well as the express command of God that
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
we should be unselfish, and liberally share them
with our suffering fellow-men.
III. So far from impoverishing ourselves by this generous
and liberal spirit, we shall have enough remaining
for our own purposes, and even more for the giving
to others.
THE HOLY SPIRIT.
i Thessalonians v. 19.
I. The Spirit of God, or Holy Ghost, is an indispensable
agency in our salvation.
1. It quickens us. Man is dead in sin.
2. It convinces and convicts of sin.
3. It enlightens as to our spiritual condition, and in
the doctrinal requirements of the Bible.
4. It draws to Christ.
5. It witnesses our justification and sanctification.
6. It guides us to heaven.
II. The operations o{ the Spirit are not only reliable but in¬
dispensable to our being saved or lost.
III. His blessed influence may not only be resisted, but
finally quenched, and our salvation rendered impos¬
sible. Hence, the importance of retaining this mer¬
ciful agency.
CHRIST'S WITNESSES.
I. The prophets gave witness during past centuries, of
his coming, his character, his work.
II. The heavens gave witness. A new star appeared,
passed through the sky at his birth or incarna¬
tion. The sun extinguished at his death or cru¬
cifixion.
III. The winds and seas gave witness. At his word the
furious tempest was hushed into silence; the
I92 BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
stormy billows were smothered into a calm; the
inhabitants of the deep crowded around the vessel,
filling the net of the astonished disciples.
IV. The earth gave witness. At his death it shook as
though in terrible agony. The rocks and hills
quaked and trembled. At the sound of his voice
the veil of the temple was rent, the dead awoke
and moved in their graves; at his resurrection
they bursted forth from their graves and walked
through the streets of the city of Jerusalem.
V. Death gave witness. When Jesus spoke, death
opened the gates of his dark and corrupt empire
and Lazarus came forth. Death heard his voice
and immediately yielded up the young man of
Nain and he is given back to the weeping widow
and mother.
VI. Hell gave witness. Devils confessed that he was
"Jesus, the Son of the Most High."
VII. God, the Father, gave witness at old Jordan and on
the mount of Transfiguration.
VIII. The Angels gave witness at his birth, resurrection
and ascension.
IX. The Holy Ghost gives witness at the birth of every
child of God, and at every prayer of faith in Jesus'
name.
THE FEAST.
John vii. 8.
I. Christ having instituted the feast delights to be present
to mingle with his people—to bless them.
II. His failure to be present at all times is not for any
want of interest, sympathy, love, nor for any want of
power or time.
III. It is for the want of preparation. The Jews met for
purification.
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
*93
IV. It is for the want of unity and sincerity in our devotion,
and because of discord, division and confusion.
V. To secure his presence we must seek him earnestly
and sincerely.
ABRAHAM PECULIARLY FAVORED.
Genesis xviii. 19.
I. The peculiar favor shown to Abraham. Intrusted
with the secrets of Heaven. A member of God's
private counsel.
II. The grounds of this favor and commendation of Jeho¬
vah.
1. He sought the spiritual and temporal welfare of his
household. Sunday school and Church.
2. The consequences of his course. Honor' to our¬
selves. Prosperity to our children.
BE NOT WEARY IN WELL DOING.
Galatians vi. 9.
I. What constitutes the well doing in this life ? It is not
what mankind generally suppose. Not money-get¬
ting, pleasure-seeking, honor-seeking. It is doing
that which will insure the greatest advantage and
benefit in this life, and the life to come. Serve the
Lord.
II. This particular course of life is beset with trouble, dif¬
ficulties, discouragement, toil and suffering. It is a
farming enterprise. Timber to be cut and removed.
Rubbish to be cleared away. Fences to be put up.
Ground to plow; seed to sow, if you would reap. It
is an army, race, voyage, storms, headland.
III. But more surely than the husbandman, the soldier, the
racer, or sailor, shall he succeed who unfalteringly
194
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
continues in a course of well doing. "We shall reap
if we faint not."
THE HEAVENLY COUNTRY.
Revelation xxi. 26, 27.
I. The heavenly state presented under the idea or sym¬
bol of a magnificent city, 1500 miles in circumference,
12 foundations, firm and impregnable. Walls, pro¬
tection and defence.
II. Its inhabitants; the glory and honor of nations. In de¬
sirableness it bears some resemblance to our own
country—made up of nearly or quite all nations and
kindreds, tongues and people. But there is a
marked contrast.
III. As to the government. It is not "a government of the
people, by the people, and for the people," but it is a
government of God for his people. Being of God, it
will be impartial, just, righteous—not "a white man's
government," but God's government for all.
IV. Contrast as to its citizens. The "glory and honor of
the nations." There, indeed, we shall see "the sur¬
vival of the fittest," not as man regards it, but as God
recognizes it.
THE YOUNG MAN.
Mark x. 21, 22.
I. Notice the conduct of this young man.
1. He runs.
2. He kneels.
3. His address.
4. His inquiry.
II. Individuals may possess many lovely qualities, com¬
mendable virtues, noble and generous principles, and
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
*95
may perform grand acts, without a saving interest in
Christ Jesus.
III. Aside from that love of Christ, producing a willingness
to sacrifice our dearest interest, nothing will avail for
our salvation.
OBSTINATE SINNERS.
Matthew xxiii. 37, 38.
I. God's kindness to sinners—"How often would I have
gathered thee"
II. Their obstinacy—" Ye would not."
III. The result of this obstinacy—" Your house is left unto
you desolate "—without God, Christ, salvation.
IV. Christ deplores this fatal obstinacy.
STOPPED STRIKING TOO SOON.
2 Kings xiii. 18, 19.
I. The work of man's salvation is carried on by men as
the visible and tangible agency—not angels. God
the Father devised the plan; God the Son executed
it; God the Holy Ghost reveals to us its practical
operation and aids us in working out that salvation.
Angels contribute their invisible friendly aid, but
man is the visible factor.
II. Success in this work, like in all other human achieve¬
ments, require skill, energy, courage, perseverance
and activity—all the powers of manhood.
III. Our great mistake, and sad failure, comes from the fact
that we "stop striking" too soon in the cause of God
-—half measure for God, full measure for the world
and self. We become weary at the least difficulty in
God's cause and stop.
IV. Success in God's work is sure to the persevering. No
196
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
failure. Moses. Gideon. Joshua. Nehemiah.
"Let us not be weary in well doing." "He that en-
dureth to the end, the same shall be saved."
TO EQUAL ANGELS.
Luke xx. 36.
I. Angels possess superiority over man. They were first
in creation. They witnessed the creation of worlds.
Beholding them leaping into existence, with wonder
and admiration they sang and shouted.
II. They possess superior nature to man. Their's purely
spiritual; man is of the earth. Man was made but
little lower than the angels.
III. They have a more exalted position—heaven. Excel in
strength, wisdom and beauty. But by the triumph
of Grace, Christian men and women are to become
equal to angels.
1. In sinless purity.
2. In happiness. Every want supplied ; every sorrow
gone ; every tear dried.
3. In honor and dignity.
4. Knowledge.
5. In the power and glory of an endless life.
6. In songs of joy.
LIVING WATERS.
Zechariah xiv. 8.
I. The graces of the Spirit, in its agency in saving the
the world, are appropriately set forth in the Bible
under the figurative representation of "Water."
1. For its cleansing character. One washes the outer
and the other the inner man.
2. For its refreshing and invigorating qualities. "If
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
197
any man thirst." As the hart pants for water.
"The Spirit and the Bride."
3. For its abundance.
4. For its freeness.
II. The church of Jesus Christ is the divinely appointed
channel through which this water flows. Its cere¬
monies, songs, its thoughts transmitted in books,
tracts, sermons. Its preaching and prayers.
III. The far-reaching and all-pervading power of Gospel
grace. Like water, it pervades all countries and
climes—free to all. Like water, we must drink it
or die—"in summer and winter shall it be." This
is spiritually as well as literally true.
SALVATION A GREAT WORK.
Luke xv. 10.
I. The means employed in it—a universal proclamation
by a living ministry; the aid of the divine Spirit
wooing and beseeching, the prayers of the righteous.
II. The effects produced by it, on the individual; upon the
church; upon the powers of darkness; upon the in¬
habitants of heaven.
DIVINE HELP.
Exodus xiv. 14.
I. There is in the very nature of things an irresistible and
unceasing conflict between the church and the
world.
II. The conflict is unequal, and, therefore, if the church
is to succeed she must have reinforcement from some
source beyond the confines of earth.
III. God graciously promises to give the required rein¬
forcement. "The Lord" etc. "Ho ! my comrades,
see the signal."
198
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
THE DUTY, PLEASURE AND PROFIT OF DIVINE
WORSHIP.
Psalm xcvi. 8.
I. "Come into His Court"—Blessed privilege! Not the
court of the kingly palace of an earthly monarch or
potentate, but the court of the "King of kings and
Lord of lords." No special department is design¬
ated, but all parts of the house of God. Once, only
the high priest was admitted into the most holy
place; now all may come, in adversity, in pros¬
perity.
II. "Bring an offering'—The most acceptable way to wor¬
ship God. Bring your sins, grievances, cares,
doubts, complaints, all your wants and needs. But
bring an offering, something you will miss, feel the
loss of, something to sustain God's cause. Come
not "empty handed" was the oft-repeated warning
to the Israelites under the law. An ox if you are
rich, a heifer if less rich, a sheep if less, a lamb if
less, a pigeon or dove if less, corn, wine or oil if real
poor.
THE LAME MAN HEALED.
Acts iii. 7.
I. "He took him by the right hand!' This was an unmis¬
takable indication of sincerity, earnestness, and wil¬
lingness to give aid to a destitute fellow mortal, a
proof of tender sympathy. How effectual is the firm
grasp of the right hand ! It savors of friendliness,
inspires confidence, trust, and hope of helpfulness.
II. "He lifted him up"—Did not thrust him down. Did
not discourage him but tenderly helped him. Did
not censure him. Let us lift up, not tear down.
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS. 199
III. 11 His feet and ankle bones received strengthHuman
sympathy and aid gives moral strength; moral
strength imparts or inspires physical strength and
activity.
IV. He rec&ved strength "immediatelyNo long prayer
or address. He flew into activity at once. He
"leaped up"—"stood"—-'walked" and "praised God."
VI. Where do we find him? In the "temple" among
those whose sympathy had gone out to him in lov¬
ing helpfulness.
JORDAN REPRESENTS THE STREAM OF DEATH.
Joshua iii. 15.
I. Jordan was the last obstacle encountered by Israel af¬
ter their journey through the wilderness previous to
entering Canaan. So death is the last obstacle to
be encountered by spiritual Israel previous to enter¬
ing the heavenly Canaan after passing through this
waste, howling wilderness.
II. The passage of Jordan by Israel was a most fearful
event. Its waters were swollen to alarming propor¬
tions. Its banks overflowed far and wide, present¬
ing a most frightful view. So the passage ot death
by spiritual Israel is attended with similarly fright¬
ful scenes.
III. The time of crossing was harvest—the most dangerous
season. So the harvest time spiritually; death is
the season of crossing Jordan.
IV. Canaan could not be reached by any other way.
Neither can heaven. God overcame all the obstacles
for Israel in spite of their fears, and he will for Jesus'
sake overcome ours. "On Jordan's stormy banks I
stand."
200
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
MINISTERIAL COURAGE AND ENDURANCE.
Joshua iii. 17.
Jordan had overflowed its banks, and its waters in
madness and fury swept the surrounding country and
threatened immediate death.
I. Ministerial courage. Swollen river—threatening a
watery grave; formidable opponents, muddy walk,
uninviting situation.
II. Ministerial fidelity. " And they took up the ark of the
covenant and went before the people." No demur¬
ring. No hesitancy.
III. Ministerial humility, patience and endurance. They
"stood still," meekly and patiently relying on God,
serving the people all day.
IV. These ministerial traits were rewarded by grand suc¬
cess. They saw the entire host pass safely over.
Courage, fidelity, firmness, humility and patience
in the ministry, awakens and fosters all these virtues
in.the people.
THE NEW COMMANDMENT THE TEST OF DIS-
CIPLESHIP.
John xiii. 35.
I. The position of a disciple of Christ is one of great
honor, securing great privileges here and hereafter.
II. In view of the importance of the position and the ad¬
vantages it insures, a knowledge of the true grounds
on which the claim of discipleship rests is vitally
important. The diversity of opinions as to what it
consists in—intellectual brilliancy, mind, wealth,
position, moral character, natural goodness of heart,
religious profession, creed persuasions, ordinances,
ceremonies, prayer, communion, great zeal, eloquent
sermons, fine essays, great devotion.
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
201
III. Christ seeing man's selfish tendency, even in religion,
makes the test love. Whatever, therefore, enables
mankind to overcome selfishness, and awakens
sympathy, kindness, forbearance, gentleness and
mercy, love is to be desired, sought after, and cher¬
ished, as evidence of an indwelling Christ.
IV. Its fitness as a test; men differ in endowments, social
position, taste nationalities, complexion, creeds, per¬
sonal charms, opinions, etc. Love always the same,
everywhere, at all times, and its universal exercise
will serve the best conditions to all men.
A DIVINE ADVOCATE.
1 John ii. 1.
I. An advocate supposes three things.
1. A party offending.
2. A party offended.
3. That the difficulty to be adjusted is of such a grave
character that it cannot be settled by the parties
concerned.
II. The necessity of a divine advocate. Man's rebellion
against the laws of heaven—all laws. The honor
and majesty of divine government required the vin¬
dication of these laws. Justice holds legal claims.
An offended God provides an advocate.
III. His qualifications—knowledge, skill, activity, etc. He
knows his client, the case, the law in point. He
rests his plea on his own merits—his blood, wounds,
speaks. He ever lives to intercede for us.
IV. The inducements to employ him.
1. His influence with the judge,
2. His previous success.
3. His terms.
202
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
HALTING BETWEEN TWO OPINIONS.
i Kings xviii. 21.
If there is a God—a Savior—a heaven—a hell—a dy¬
ing day—a judgment—why halt? But if not, why halt?
I. What is this halting? Hesitating, undecided. See
what has been done to influence you ! Ministers
have preached ; soared to heaven and then to hell;
pictured to you the tragic scenes of Calvary. Your
relatives and friends have died—mother—children—
wife—husband—father—sinners.
II. Why is this halting? God and Satan, heaven and
hell are contending for the prize of the soul.
III. The final result of halting—given up by the Spirit.
IV. Halt no longen The fading leaves of autumn—the
rumbling wheels of the hearse—the soft whispers of
departing friends—the muffled groans of the lost—
and other means—call upon you to decide now.
CHARACTERISTICS OF RELIGION.
James iii. 17.
I. "Pure"—like its source and author, God. It dispenses,
cultivates, and enjoins purity of motive, thought, ac¬
tion.
II. "Peaceable"-" Peace on earth," founded on "goodwill
to men."
III. "Gentle"-Not fractious, endangering all who approach,
or come in contact.
IV. "Easy to be entreated"-to yield readily to kindly soli¬
citation ; to be prevailed upon to do a favor, or to
forgive, or help in a worthy cause. Not inflexible
or inexorable.
V. "Full of mercy"-as ready to forgive as to be forgiven.
VI. "Goodfruits"-xvs>v\\s> arising from a good heart,good
motives, good wishes.
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS. 203
VII. " Without partiality"—variance, wrangling.
VIII. " Without hypocrisy"—No dissembling in all these—
no mere pretensions. Honest, real, always at home,
and at the same house, street and number.
THE CHRISTIANITY OF THE BIBLE.
Isaiah lviii. 6-8.
I. No religious observances, attended by whatever show
of piety, is acceptable to God, or can warrant his
favor and blessing, that does not include the practi¬
cal observance of the principles of justice, humanity
and love.
II. Service however costly, eulogy however eloquent, fail
to interest heaven if unaccompanied by our utmost
endeavors "to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo
the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free."
"To deal our bread to the hungry," by "bringing
the poor and the outcast into our houses"—to "feed
and clothe them " to the extent of our ability.
III. The reward of such honest service.
1. "Light," breaking forth as the morning.
2. "Health," springing forth speedily.
3. Divine guidance and protection.
THE OBJECTS OF DIVINE DISPLEASURE.
Proverbs vi. 16-19.
I. "A proud look—haughty eyes." Pride so completely
filling the mind and heart that its vanity may be seen
in the very look. Pride; too great a love for one's
self; over-rating our importance; claiming and ex¬
pecting more honor or praise than we are entitled
to; haughty, presumptuous, puffed up, full of boast-
ins:. Disdainful, contemptuous, overbearing.
204
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
II. "A lying tongue." Psalm cxx. 3-5. There are num¬
erous ways of lying.
1. Telling what we know is false.
2. Telling what we do not know to be true.
3. Telling what we have heard.
4. Suppressing part of the truth.
III. "Hands that shed innocent blood." Isa. i. 15 and
lix. 3-8. He that hateth his brother is a murderer.
IV. "A heart that deviseth wicked imaginations." Gen. vi.
Deliberately purposing and planning mischief.
WONDERFUL TESTIMONIES.
Psalm cxix. 129.
God's testimonies or witnesses or evidences of his ex¬
istence and character are wonderful.
I. In nature. Creation in its vastness, variety, grandeur
and beauty bears testimony to his wisdom, skill and
understanding. It also attests his power.
II. In providence. The management of all things—the
adaptation of all things to the comfort and well being
of his creatures, give proof of his goodness and fath¬
erly care and solicitude.
III. In grace. Here we have an unbroken chain of the
most astonishing attestations of God's love to man¬
kind. "Which things the angels," etc. "God so
loved," etc. "Herein is love manifested, or proven,
that while," etc. Here heaven, earth and hell com¬
bined in the testimony. (See evidences.)
IV. In glory. The songs of angels and of the redeemed
millions.
THE IMPORTANCE OF CHURCH UNITY.
2 Chron. v. 13, 14.
I. All human enterprises are best promoted by unity of
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
effort. House building, railroads, Brooklyn bridge,
associations, families, nations, and magnificent cities.
II. It is an indispensable element of progress in the
christian church. Uhity of the Godhead. Harmony
in heaven, throughout the universe.
III. No element without unity will insure success in the
christian church. We may have the most beautiful
temple, the most numerous and gorgeously attired
congregation, the finest singers, the most enchant¬
ing music, the most learned and brilliant pulpit ora¬
tor, they will amount to nothing without unity.
Unity in a church signalizes the presence of our
God.
IV. The way to promote unity. Avoid the elements of dis¬
cord, evil surmising, evil speaking, news-carrying.
Discord is "the work of the devil. Cultivate friend¬
liness, good will, peace. Pray for the peace of Zion.
THE PROCLAMATION OF THE GOSPEL.
Isaiah xxvii. 13.
' The proclamation of the Gospel is symbolized un¬
der the figurative representation of blowing a trumpet.
I. What is affirmed ? It " shall be blown." This im¬
plies opposition. This may arise,
1. From want of interest, or zeal, or proper devotion
in its friends, from slothfulness, timidity, selfish¬
ness, bigotry, insubordination, accommodating,
time serving popularity, or competency.
2. Direct opposition from enemies both in and out of
the church.
3. But God will select, qualify, and uphold those by
whom it is to be blown. Infidelity may oppose,
good men may die, strong men may forsake their
calling, but the work will go on.
206
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
GOD'S SERVICE.
Hag. xvii. 7-10; Mai. iii. 10.
I. God's service is the most important in which men
engage. It is reasonable, pleasant, profitable.
II. No people who neglect it can prosper long. Trouble
and disaster will result.
III. It requires special attention, care, time and money.
Carelessness, want of interest, and a refusal to aid,
are an insult to God. All the services must be kept
up; church edifice repaired and kept clean and well
ventilated. Minister must be supported, not par¬
tially, but well.
IV. All this can be properly attended to without loss, but
with gain, God will positively bless those who
labor, temporally and spiritually, for his cause.
FORGIVENESS.
Matthew xviii. 35.
I. All[stand in need of forgiveness from God, all have of¬
fended.
II. Since we are all liable to give offence to each other,
we should manifest the same patience, forbearance,
and forgiving disposition toward^ all who really
offend and truly repent.
1. As a great religious duty.
2. As a principal condition of our pardon and for¬
giveness from God.
III. The character and extent of our forgiveness.
1. God forgives when he has power to punish us.
So must we forgive.
2. God forgives universally, all men. So must we
forgive all provocations.
3. God forgives freely, willingly, sincerely. So must
we, if we expect to get to heaven,
4. The end of the unforgiving.
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS. 207
IMPORTANT PERSONAL QUESTIONS.
Genesis xlvii. 8.
This question suggests three things.
I. Thoughts of the past. How long have I lived?
Since I have known right from wrong, how have I
lived ? Respectably, it may be, not base nor vile.
Honestly it may be, so far as dealing with the world,
paying my debts, and taking no undue advantage.
But, have I been honest with my God, honest and
just to myself? Has the past been fully improved?
II. Thoughts of the present. What am I doing now ?
Am I a Christian ? Am I discharging the duties
of a Christian ? Am I living up to the light of this
enlightened day ? Am I fully abreast with these
glorious times, these grand opportunities ? If not,
why not?
III. Thoughts of the future. How long have I yet to live?
Where would I like to spend eternity? in heaven or
hell ? Towards which place is my path leading
me ?
IV. In view of my approaching end, what is the best thing
for me to do ?
PREPARE TO MEET THY GOD.
Amos iv. 12.
I. Sinners and ungodly persons have an awful account¬
ability to render to God. Knowing him, they will
■not glorify him as God. Convinced of their duty
and interest, they will not perform them.
II. We notice that the Almighty has sought in various
ways and by repeated overtures to compromise with
them, but they have various pretexts to put him off,
and they refuse a settlement.
2o8
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
III. The Lord has become wearied with our failures and
excuses, and will wait on us no longer. Prepare to
meet him in hostile attitude, or, in the way of mercy.
OUR RISEN CONQUEROR.
Revelation i. 18.
The speaker is very distinguished. None can truth¬
fully assert this language, but the Lord Jesus Christ. There
are those who may be said to have lived and died, and after
years of absence from mortal view have been seen and heard
—Moses and Elias are examples—but none have ever
spoken, or could speak, with the authority claimed in the
text.
I. Christ Jesus lives, not figuratively, but personally. Of
this the evidence is as conclusive as evidence can be.
II. Our faith, as it respects this is, therefore, well founded.
He lives to hear our prayers, to help our infirmities,
to plead our cause, to fight our battles.
III. Our hope for the future rests also on a firm basis. Christ
holds "the keys of death." Alas ! What frightful
havoc has this grim monster made! He has cut
down millions of the race, without pity or discrim¬
ination—fathers, mothers, wives, husbands, brothers,
sisters, children, loving friends—and he will, per¬
haps soon, take us. But he is powerless to hold
perpetually one of his prisoners. Christ holds the
keys of his gloomy dominion.
IV. The inevitable doom of sinners is also assured. Christ
has "the keys of hell." Satan may rage. Sinners
may boast of their strength, and defiantly rail against
God, but they shall be shut in where boasting, defy¬
ing, scofiting, tempting, misleading, laughing and
screaming shall be no more. Let them, therefore,
do their worst, for their end is nigh.
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
209
LOOK ON US.
Acts iii. 4.
Two distinguished servants of Jesus Christ wending their
way to the Temple in Jerusalem one evening at the usual
hour of worship. They see a lame man seated in a con¬
spicuous place near the temple that he might better observe,
and be observed by all that passed by, for he was a solici¬
tor of alms—a beggar. Seeing these devout men approach¬
ing, the indigent mendicant is aroused to hopeful expectancy;
and with imploring look, plaintive voice and out-stretched
hands, he asks them for alms. Peter said to him in the
language of the text—"Look on us."
He was all attention—all expectation—all cheerful
hope. If Peter and John had mistaken, for the time, the
true spirit of their calling, these three words would have
indicated the pride and vanity which so frequently char¬
acterises those who occupy their place to-day.
The "Us" and "We" are usually leftoutand"I" and "Me"
substituted. Objects of pity rather than scorn are those,
to-day, who say to the poor, the spiritually crippled of
earth, "look on us." We occupy the dignified position of
Elders in the Church. "Look on us." We do not belong
to the common stock. We are eminent among the brethren,
the distinguished superior in the ministerial ranks. "Look
on us." We are the popular preachers, learned in the letter,
correct in language, impressive in delivery, great in doc¬
trine.
"Look on us." We are great revivalists. "Look on us."
We are successful church builders and great financiers. I
have built churches at such and such a place, and paid for
them.
"Look on us." We are powerful in debate. I floor
my man every time. I carry my point. In an argument,
that fellow over there can't hold a candle side of me. I am
2IO
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
the recognized leader in conference. I wield a great in¬
fluence and the boys generally do as I say.
"Look on us." I am profoundly educated. I have
gone as far as the colleges could carry me. I am classical;
I am. I know the dead languages. Those fellows over
there who are kept to the front are a set of green-horns.
They will have to take back seats and let us men run
things. Look at my large library. I paid a large sum for
it and for my tuition. Look at my theological books. I
am no ordinary man.
"Look on us." I am a great preacher. When I get
through walking from Genesis to Revelation there is noth¬
ing left for you little pop gun fellows. I generally make it
hard for the man who follows me in preaching. I clean
up a text as I go along. I am none of your little strikers.
I'm a preacher, a "war horse," "battle axe," "a big g;un"
in the ministry. The churches are crazy after me, but I
cannot go everywhere. I am a preaching man before the
people; I am.
"Look on us." We have an utrtarnished reputation
for piety, upright deportment, gentlemanly bearing.
Thus, in one way and another, do men professedly
called to imitate the humble example of Jesus Christ and
his followers, prove by their vaunting, egotistical, boastful
and swaggering manner, their mistake as to genuine repre¬
sentatives of Jesus, as well as to the nature and character of
their mission.
But with vastly different views, and with far more com¬
mendable motives, does Peter utter these words—"Look
on us."
I. As being but men—frail, weak and erring like other
men—not superhuman—not angels—but men. Of
course, God has graciously condescended to spare
us your bodily maladies; we are able to walk
BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
211
naturally, and by the same wonderful grace, we have
learned to walk spirtually; but to God, alone, be¬
longs the glory.
II. Look on us—not as men possessed naturally of any
superior power or ability to other men. We are far
less gifted, less richly endowed than many others.
We boast of nothing in this respect. We would
have you look on us simply as ordinary men.
III. Look on us—not as though we were possessed of
wealth. We are identified with a class of men whom
God hath chosen, partly, because they are poor.
Poor in spirit and poor as to this world's good. We
are the successors of that order which God gave no
inheritance in all the lands of Palestine. He left
them in that day poor dependents on the charity of
the people.
We live in an age when the services of God's ministers
are far less appreciated than in any previous age of the
world; an age in which even professing Christians find
millions for their jffcrsonal gratification and pleasure, for
amusement, fashion, frolic and fun, but who, for the most
part, give but little for the support of God's servants, and
generally give that little grudgingly. The heads of
nations, the servants of earthly governments receive the
reward of their labor and live at ease and die with plenty,
while the servants of the divine government, or a large
majority of them, are often hard pressed for bread, and live
like beggars, die like paupers, and bequeath to their fam¬
ilies poverty and rags and the frowns of those who robbed
their fathers of their dues by 10, 25 and 50 cents, and then
censured them because they did not save something for old
age. No, these men of God were poor—"Silver and gold
have we none," says Peter. You look in vain for pecuniary
assistance. We may be of some assistance to you, if God
212 BISHOP JONES' SERMONS.
will bless our humble efforts ; otherwise, we are powerless
for any good. "Look on us"—therefore, affirmatively.
1. As humble servants of the Lord, chosen and sent by
him to minister to the spiritual needs of mankind—
the wants of God's poor. It is our special mission
here below to life, up the fallen, cheer the faint,
bind up the broken-hearted and to sympathize
with suffering humanity in all its forms and con¬
ditions.
2. Look on us—as having received of God all we
possess ; and we as freely impart it to others as
far as God permits us. Having obtained mercy,
we are merciful to all men. Having been freely
forgiven, we cannot hold malice, or harbor evil
against our brethren, but freely forgive them of all
things. Having received help in time of need, we
seek to help each other as readily, and as freely.
3. Look on us—as possessing no peculiar prerogatives
—no independent rights or privileges, but doing
whatever is commendable through faith in the
"name of the Lord." We can do nothing of
ourselves. If the eyes of the blind are to be
opened, if the lame are made to walk, if the ears
of the deaf are to be unstopped—all must be done
in the name of the Lord.
POEMS.
THOUGHTS OF HEAVEN.
COMPOSED BY BISHOP S. T. JONES, D. D.
1. Mid scenes of sorrow here,
Tempest, tossed and driven,
How sweet the thought, when life is o'er,
We'll rest with God in Heaven,
■Chorus—There'll be no sorrow there,
There'll be no sorrow there,
In heaven above, where all is love,
There'll be no sorrow there.
2. O ! what amazing bliss,
These words of Christ afford ; —
"I go to prepare a place for you,"
With the angels and with God.
3. This home of peace and love,
By Christ will be given—
Bright mansions in the realms above—
To all who strive for heaven.
4. No kingly palace here,
No princely home below,
With those upper mansions can compare,
Sweet mansions to which we'll go.
5. While through this vail of tears,
On pilgrimage we roam,
Yes, 'tis hope that brings the cheering thought,
We soon shall be at our home.
6. No scenes of parting there,
No pains, 110 grief, no fear,
No murmering sigh, no sad complaint,
Or nothing that grieves us here.
7. There, saints and angels join,
In a great united throng,
With those harps of gold, and voices sweet,
To sing a triumphant song.
POEMS.
COMING TO ZION.
by bishop s. t. jones, d. d.
from the Lord we long have strayed,
Far from long-loved Zion.
now at length, a start we've made,
Home to long-loved Zion.
Chorus :
We're thronging home, we're thronging home,
Home to long-loved Zion;
We're thronging home, we're thronging home,
Home to long-loved Zion.
2. As streams their mighty torrents pour,
Far from long-loved Zion.
So turned the Lord our hearts once more,
Home to long-loved Zion.
3. Great things the Lord has done for me,
Far from long-loved Zion.
And now the way of life I see,
Home to long-loved Zion.
4. With faces turned to Zion's hill,
Home to long-loved Zion.
Our hearts with sweetest raptures thrill,
Home to long-loved Zion.
5. We soon shall reach our Father's land,
Home in long-loved Zion.
Our feet within thy gates shall stand,
Home in long-loved Zion.
6. We soon shall reach the blissful shore,
Home in long-loved Zion.
Where sighing hearts shall sigh no more,
Home in long-loved Zion.
1. Far
But
POEMS.
7. Oh ! Sinner ! Sinner ! why delay ?
Far from long-loved Zion,
Come, seek the Saviour while you may,
Come to long-loved Zion.
8. If you refuse this gracious call,
Home to long-loved Zion—
Farewell!—farewell! I leave you all,
Far from long-loved Zion.
9. Our mingled songs we soon shall raise,
Home in long-loved Zion.
And Christ shall have unceasing praise,
Home in long-loved Zion.
2l6
BISHOP JONES' ADDRESSES.
ADDRESS I.
CONGRATULATORY.
Delivered before Avery College, Allegheny, Pa., 1870.
Members of the Faculty of Avery College, Ladies and Gen¬
tlemen :
I confess I am somewhat at a loss for words fitly to
express the feelings of my heart, in view of the highly flat¬
tering, but as I think, undeserved compliment, which I
have just received. It has been the aim of my life to en¬
deavor, in an humble way, to do whatever I could toward
benefitting my fellowmen in all the relations of this life,
with a view to their ultimate preparation and fitness to
share the benefits of that higher and better life which is to
succeed the present. Possessing but little passion for no¬
toriety, and far less" ability to obtain it, I have been con¬
tent to imitate the little meandering stream, by moving
through life softly, and without ostentation ; and so far as
any desire on my part is concerned, I should be abundantly
satisfied to continue to move thus noiselessly, through
whatever remains of my earthly career. But, confronted
as I am, at this moment, by those whose friendship and
esteem may well be coveted by the most eminent; singled
out for this special mark of distinction from among many,
who, to my mind, are in every respect far more deserving,
I should be greatly, if not reprehensibly, wanting in a
proper and just appreciation of the intelligent and exper¬
ienced judgment of the learned Faculty now before me, as
well as stoically indifferent to the wishes of my friends, if I
BISHOP JONES' ADDRESSES.
217
did not, as I now do, most cordially, though diffidently, ac¬
cept this distinguished honor.
I am filled with emotions of profound gratitude to God,
and a proper appreciation of the aid of my fellowmen, when
I review the history of the past quarter of a century. About
the beginning of that period, I took upon me the vows of
the ministry, in the society now worshipping in this build¬
ing. A year later, the Rev. Charles Avery, whose noble
charity founded this institution, but who has since gone to
his eternal reward—the Rev. David Stevens, still an hon¬
ored minister in the church of my choice, and myself,
measured and marked off the grounds now occupied by'
this building, and determined the plan of the church and
college. The building was reared, and completed; and it
was my good fortune to be present and take an humble
part in the dedicatory services. The year following, after
a most impressive discourse by the venerable Bishop Gal-
breath, long since at home with God, I was solemnly or¬
dained to the office of an Elder in the church of Christ.
After a brief service in this section I was called to the east¬
ern portion of the church, where I served in the capacity of
a pastor in the cities of Baltimore, Washington, Newark,
Philadelphia, Harrisburg and New York; the latter city
where I made the valuable acquaintance of your distin¬
guished President, Prof. H. H. Garnett. Returning to
Washington, D. C., in 1866, I was chosen, two years later,
by the General Conference, and installed into the Episco¬
pal office in the A. M. E. Zion Church on the 31st of May,
1868.
After serving two years in that capacity in the Second
Episcopal District of the church, I have come here for the
purpose of entering upon the discharge of the duties of the
office in the Fifth Episcopal District, comprising the States
218
BISHOP JONES' ADDRESSES.
of Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri and the
western portion of this State.
I repeat, I am filled with emotions of profound grati¬
tude to the Almighty, to be permitted, after 18 years of
service elsewhere, to return to this church in which I be¬
gun my ministerial career 25 years ago, bearing with me,
under the broad seal of the A. M. E. Zion Church, the title
to an office which bespeaks the confidence and esteem of'
my brethren. But, when, in addition to this mark of the
church's approval, surrounded by these glad faces, and
crowded upon by these happy reminiscences, at the very
threshold of my Episcopal term here, I am made the re¬
cipient of a distinguished title by the learned Faculty of
Avery College ; a title rarely conferred by institutions of
learning, and much more rarely upon colored men ; a title
of which I had not the remotest dream 25 years ago, nor
until very recently when informed of this kind intention,
the finest expressions of the tongue are too gross to convey
with accuracy the tender emotions of my heart/ If the oc¬
casion permitted it without impropriety, the silent tear
could more nearly trace the lines of emotion than any ut¬
terance, however touchingly eloquent.
It seems proper that I should state here as a reason
and grounds of diffidence on my part, in accepting the
honor you have bestowed upon me, as well as for the pur¬
pose of moderating your expectations, and those of others,
respecting any future intellectual effort of mine, that , my
educational advantages, except about three months in a
very ordinary common school in York, Pa., 40 years ago,
were such as were afforded by the colored Sabbath school
of that place, during those times. My Primary depart¬
ment, my High school, Academy, College, and University
—in short, my Alma Mater, was the Sunday school held in
the old meeting house wherein the colored people still wor-
*
BISHOP JONES' ADDRESSES.
219
ship in that place, and in which I had the privilege of
preaching 10 days ago. An old class leader and his son,
both of whom are dead, constituted the entire Faculty.
Of course, no educational advantage is communicated by
the title conferred on me to-day. If, therefore, my sub¬
sequent efforts, either of pulpit or pen, should be wanting
in those brilliant flashes of classic lore which so appropri¬
ately distinguish the utterances and productions of the
learned, you will attribute it to the fact that the New Teste-
ment and the common Primer, constituted the entire cur¬
riculum used by the class at the head of which I had the
honor of graduating 35 years ago. And, since you can ex¬
pect no reflex influence arising from extensive learning, in
return for the honor you have conferred, I pray you to ac¬
cept the assurance I feel, that with the fullest purpose to
rely on divine aid, I shall endeavor to prove that your
judgment was not at fault, nor your confidence misplaced,
as to the moral integrity and earnest devotion to whatever
tends to the common weal, of your humble recipient.
If you will pardon my temerity, I will ask your indul¬
gence a few moments more to say a few words in reference
to this institution. Having been on terms of intimacy, and
in frequent conversations with its illustrious founder, in
regard to it, I knew his hopes and expectations respecting
its power and usefulness in raising to a higher plane that
portion of the race whose woes he so much deprecated,
and in whose welfare he manifested such a deep interest.
I have, consequently, watched its progress with more than
ordinary concernment, and have, all along, cherished the
hop(e that Avery College might, in its beneficial results to
our people and to mankind generally, prove to be all that
its founder intended it should be—all that its liberal endow¬
ment rendered it capable of being and doing for the race.
Founded during those dark days of our history, when
220
BISHOP JONES' ADDRESSES.
slavery was rampant, and when the doors of nearly all insti¬
tutions of learning in America were guarded against the
admission of colored youths by a prejudice not less ex¬
ecrable and forbidding than was Milton's shapeless monster
which disputed Satan's passage through the gates of perdi¬
tion, Avery College has peculiar claims on our patronage.
Instances were rare 25 years ago (they are not very numer¬
ous to-day), where a single individual, however wealthy,
had sufficient goodness of heart and hopefulness in the in¬
tellectual capacity and advancement of the colored element,
either in this land or elsewhere, to found and endow a col¬
lege for the special advantage of that people. I remember
how the discouraging taunts as to the utter absurdity of
the measure were hurled in the teeth of the founder; and I
remember, too, with what commendable heroism that great
philanthropist met and overcame them all. Such brilliant
exhibitions of philanthropy deserve fitting commemoration,
and no monument, it seems to me, could be more fitting, as
none I am sure would be more gratifying to the pure spirit
of the immortal Avery—if aught on earth can please glori¬
fied spirits—than a column, composed of the names of
scores of young ladies and gentlemen, who, having received
their Diplomas here, are employing their virtues and intel¬
ligence in moulding society, and in lifting the world to
God. Fortunately, for the future hope and success of the
institution, it has at its head a gentleman whose enlightened
Christianity, eminent ability, extensive acquaintance, and
life-long-devotion to the best interests of the race, combined
with indomitable energy, and inflexibility of moral charac¬
ter, render him eminently capable of directing its affairs.
Not less fortunate for its bright future is the wise selec¬
tion of the other members of the Faculty with which he is
surrounded, and who are alike earnest in their endeavors to
render the college here a grand success.
BISHOP JONES' ADDRESSES.
221
As an earnest of this hopefulness I refer with pride to
the success of this day, and the presence here of gentlemen
of ability and commanding position, in church and State,
who so largely contribute to the interest of the hour.
May we not hope, with these surroundings, and in view of
the grand march of events which in the order of a wise
providence has brought us to the advanced position we oc¬
cupy to-day, that the final results of Avery College upon
the weal of mankind, will far exceed the most sanguine expec¬
tations of its generous Founder? That the institution may-
continue to advance in popularity and usefulness is my
devout prayer.
222
BISHOP JONES' ADDRESSES.
ADDRESS II.
AN EMANCIPATION ORATION.
Delivered in Newark, N. J., August 2, 1858, at the Celebra¬
tion of the Anniversary of the British West
India Emancipation.
Friends and Fellow Citizens :
I am not here to speak of the privations and sufferings,
the courage, and heroic bravery of the Sons of the Emerald
Isle, although that would be a theme of interesting contem¬
plation. Her own eloquent orators, untiring'advocates and
eminent historians, have ably defended her interests, and,
are, to-day, gallantly pushing and defending her claims.
Nor am I here to urge the claims of humanity in the
interest of the Chinese; not because I do not heartily
sympathize with them in all that they have been,and are suffer¬
ing so unjustly and cruelly ; for as no one can better under¬
stand the pain and agony of the serpent's sting than those
who have been bitten, so none are in better condition to
sympathize with the proscribed and ostracized, any and
everywhere, than the Negro element of this country.
However, the Chinese may, with his yellow skin,
Negro features, and foreign dialect, wash and iron his
clothes, plait his cue and adjust his wooden shoes and
loose gown, and even rush out and promenade by the side
of a white American lady, and also lead her to the
hymenial altar, without encountering, on his way home,
either the gallows, or injuries at the hands of an infuri¬
ated, hellish mob. He may open his place of business on
any of the popular thoroughfares of our large or small
BISHOP JONES' ADDRESSES.
223
cities, without let or hindrance, and receive the patronage
of the most refined—as well as the most vulgar—as a mat¬
ter of course. His convenient manifestation of hatred
towards the Negro is a sufficient' guarantee of American
sympathy. Nay, he even considers himself superior to the
outraged American Negro. His upturned nose and
haughty exclusiveness prove that he does not sympathize
with my unfortunate race in their untiring struggle against
prejudice.
I do not come to plead for the Indian ; for, sad as has
been his experience, the National Goverment has largely
ameliorated his condition ; and he enjoys enviable privileges,
outside of the elective franchise, to which many who are
inside of it, in name, axe strangers in fact.
Least of all, do I come to urge sympathy for our Ger¬
man fellow citizens. Their intelligence and cheerfulness;
their peaceable and happy domestic relations, their orderly
conduct, their industry and thrift, in every department of
progress, lifts them above mediocrity, and beyond the need
of defence.
While I do not disregard, much less ignore, the claims
of these, or any other portions of the common race, but
share with each and all the sympathies to which humanity
gives them a title, you will require no apology from me for
assuming to speak in the interest and defense of a people
whose claims, founded in common privations and suffer¬
ings, if in nothing else come nearest my heart—I mean
the Negro. I congratulate you upon the happy return of
the anniversary of the British West India Emancipation,
and I gracefully, yet modestly, acknowledge the compliment
implied in calling upon me to assist in expressing the
thoughts and seritiments natural to this occasion. We have
met to celebrate the anniversary of an event, dear to the
memory of every one whose heart is moved by the common
224
BISHOP JONES' ADDRESSES.
feelings of humanity. True, the glorious Act, which gave
liberty to 800,000 fellow-beings on the memorable first day
of August, 1834, was an Act of the British Parliament; yet,
it has everywhere been hailed by the friends of freedom,
as the dawn of a brighter day.
Americans by birth, by education, and by a common
sentiment of patriotism, we cannot but feel hopeful for the
honor, ambition, and the fame of our common country and
home. Gladly would we trace the record of this our native
land—most gladly, would we point to the single act of
generosity to our unfortunate race, on which memory
could wish to dwell if only freedom was bestowed. But,
the pen of the American historian has recorded no such act,
and we look in vain to the archives of the Nation for the
practical development of those imperishable truths, anun-
ciated in the Declaration of American Independence. Thus,
denied the natural food which renders Americans patriotic,
vigorous—deprived of those sympathies which always re¬
ceive a grateful response in the human breast, let it not be
thought strange if, touched by that inextinquishable flame
which animated the hearts of the heroes of the Revolution,
the Colored American is found paying an humble tribute
to the memory of those champions of liberty, to whose in¬
domitable courage and unceasing efforts in the British
Parliament, is to be attributed that magnanimous Act of
Great Britain, which renders the first day of August mem¬
orable to every lover of mankind.
This is a most interesting occasion. Assembled in
this leafy grove, are the offsprings of a once great and
mighty people who, during the better days of their existence,
furnished the world with many of the rarest specimens of
human greatness; and notwithstanding their unfortunate
descendants have been made to drink the cup of inhumanity
and bitter woe—despite the discouragements sufficient to
BISHOP JONES' ADDRESSES.
225
crush out every manly feeling, which we meet at every
turn in life—there is still to be heard, away in the distant
darkness, the sound of the slow but certain footsteps of an
advancing host, "terrible as an army with banners; " and
ever and anon, as the light of revelation discovers more
clearly the vanguard of this embannered host, you will be¬
hold these animating words, stretching across the cloudy
pillar which directs their way, "Princes shall yet come out
of Egypt, and Ethiopia shall stretch forth her hands to
God."
I ask this audience—I ask the American Nation—I
ask the civilized world—what is there in connection with
the history of the colored man, more than in any portion of
mankind, which should render him less an object of divine
favor? In what crime has he exceeded ? What dark and
damning deed has he perpetrated against the Almighty, for
which he ought, forever, to be crushed to the earth ?
We are told that we are an inferior race, incapable of
the same advancement in civilization, in mental develop¬
ment, in moral refinements, as other races. We repel
with merited indignity this foul charge of inferiority, and
refer those who make it to the record of impartial history
for the evidence, that, not only the arts of civilization and
refinement, but also the seven liberal arts and sciences, are
the glorious offsprings of our fore-fathers in Egypt.
But, sirs, the history of the colored man during the last
30 years has so clearly developed his astonishing capacity
to acquire a knowledge of the arts and sciences, that no
man of decent reputation in the learned world will now risk
the loss of it, by denying the fact, that the colored race
possesses in an eminent degree all the susceptability to im¬
provement possessed by any other race.
At this moment, there are to be found in America,
colored men, who are capable of filling most of the positions
2 26 BISHOP JONES' ADDRESSES.
from which they are excluded by prejudice ; and I hold
that with equal privileges and equal inducements, they will
soon demonstrate their capacity to fill any position in the
gift of this government. If to invent the most effectual plan,
systematically to degrade men, and then to brand them as
a degraded race, is evidence of magnanimity, then is the
American Nation superlatively magnanimous. Shut out
from most, if not all, the prominent institutions of learning,
excluded from the work shop, denied almost every position
of eminence and distinction, politically disfranchised,
socially degraded, religiously proscribed, what incentives
to noble aspirations have colored men ?
What to induce my people to become acquainted with
any branch of learning ? Every possible inducement is
held forth to those who have had the good fortune to wear
an exterior denominated "white," without regard to nativity
or pedigree. Public schools are erected, efficient teachers
employed,and all measures are adopted forthepurpose ofim-
parting with facility such information as is most useful. All,
with but one exception, are invited to an equal participation
in the blessings of this institution, whether they be English,
Irish, Dutch, French, Italian, Jew, Gentile, Barbarian or
Assyrian. That exception is not as to whether the parents
of the child were rich or poor, moral or immoral, religious
or irreligious, drunk or sober ; no, these are no exceptions.
But if the pare«t be black, notwithstanding they may be
virtuous, intelligent, rich; they may be of high respectabil¬
ity and moral refinement; yet, if they are black, this is an
unconditional exception. True, in order to make some
show of generosity, schools are partially provided for
colored pupils, but where do you find suitable apartments
erected by the State for the use of such schools? Separate
districts have their separate apartments for public schools.
Fine buildings are erected by the State with commodious
BISHOP JONES' ADDRESSES.
227
apartments for- the various classes, the males and the
females ; but where do you find such buildings occupied by
a colored school ? Nowhere! But, if you would find the
place designated by those wliose office it is to make selec¬
tion of a suitable one, you must look for it in some obscure,
unsuitable place, possessing few, if any, of the conveniences
of the places selected by the same persons for white schools.
Thus the very instrumentalities employed for the elevation
of the rising generation are, through prejudice to our un¬
fortunate race, so associated and employed as to force upon
us the opinion that the State seems anxious to evince its
desire to degrade, rather than to put forth its efforts to
elevate us.
The same systematic plan to degrade us operates upon
us in nearly all the honorable pursuits of life. It matters
not what our qualifications are; if we are colored, it is
enough to depiive us of all participation in the elective
franchise, that dearest right of an American. We are not
only excluded from the most honorable positions, but we
are equally excluded from the most petty offices. Thus
every noble aspiration, every ambitious feeling, every manly,
enterprising effort of the colored man is sacrificed to this
Moloch of American prejudice. Is it charitable, then, to
expect from us any greater amount of energy than we pos¬
sess, when the intelligence of this great nation, as combined
in the executive, judicial and legislative departments of the
general government,is enlisted to crush out every manly feel¬
ing—to paralyze every effort; and, if possible, to extinguish
in us the last cheering hope of attaining that eminent posi¬
tion in the scale of being, and among the nations of earth
which it is willed of God that every man should occupy ? .
While these three departments of the National Govern¬
ment rival each other in their efforts to blot out our name
and existence as a race of intelligent human beings, the
228
BISHOP JONES' ADDRESSES.
American Church, as if jealous of her share of the withering
curse of the Almighty, so frequently threatened in the sa¬
cred Bible against oppressors, has given her aid in the un¬
holy crusade against an innocent and inoffensive race of
mankind. Hence, while the Nation refuses to encourage us
in the development of our mechanical powers by rejecting
at the U. S. Patent office every plan, however useful, be¬
cause originated by a colored man, the Church refuses to
encourage us in the development of our moral powers by
closing against us the doors of her theological institutions,
her pulpits, and her communion. Every enactment of Con¬
gress which favors the oppression of the colored man read¬
ily receives the signature of the Executive, the legal force
of the Judiciary, and the solemn sanction of the American
Church.
Such is the great Democratic America, such the church,
and such the State of "the land of the free and the home of
the brave."
Strange anomaly! The Nation which boasts of its
mission to instruct the world in the great principles of
Democratic government, whose banners are seen floating
in the breeze of every clime, bearing on their broad folds
this thrilling trio, "Liberty, Humanity, Equalityshould see
Great Britain, whose oppression and aggression were so bit¬
terly assailed in the Declaration of Independence, striking
off the chains of slavery and letting the oppressed go free;
and it should behold the autocrat of Russia and the king of
Portugal energetically pushing on the glorious car of eman¬
cipation in their respective kingdoms. Yet Democratic,
Christian America, is not only refusing to loose the fetters
which bind nearly four millions of human beings, but is
seriously contemplating the re-opening of the slave trade.
Such is the irresistable hatred of the Americans against us
BISHOP JONES' ADDRESSES.
229
that every noble act of the colored man is carefully sup¬
pressed.
But it is said that the Negro is a dangerous element in
the community; that he is given to habits of intemperance,
theft, falsehood, fraud—in short, that he is the bane of hu¬
man society, contaminating all with whom he comes in
contact; and spreading moral disease and death everywhere.
But, if we should speak of the wrongs of American oppres¬
sion, we are charged with ingratitude to a nation who, it is
alleged, finding us in ignorance upon the shores of Africa,
as an act of generosity and Christian kindness, brought as
to this goodly land and instructed us in the advantages and
beauties of a Democratic government; and that we are
therefore indebted to the white man for whatever knowledge
we possess. I admit that to withhold our acknowlegement
of the good which we have received would be ungrateful
on our part; and to say that most of the evil habits with
which our enemies charge us are the unhappy conse¬
quences of their own example and teaching, is to deprive
them of the glory which they claim for having instructed
us in the rare qualities of American refinement. When the
white people charge us with all manner of crimes, we hurl
back into their teeth those trite sayings, "Look at home."
"Physician, heal thyself." "Those who live in glass houses,
must not throw stones."
Even the heroic deeds of our Fathers in the Revolu¬
tionary War call out no eulogy upon the national annivers¬
ary of American Independence. The prejudiced American
historian is too jealous and mean to say one word re¬
lative to those black soldiers who, voluntarily and lion¬
like, marched up to the cannon's mouth. Let it not be
forgotten by those who scorn association with the colored
man in times of peace, that it was thought no disgrace
when the heroes of 1776 were struggling for national ex-
230
BISHOP JONES' ADDRESSES.
istence and independence, to have colored men marching'
standing, and fighting side by side with them ; and that the
blessings of civil and religious liberty which is the proud
boast of this Nation was, in part, purchased by the blood of
colored Americans. Fellow-citizens, who does not know,
notwithstanding the silence of American History on this
subject, that more than one regiment of colored men was
enlisted, and fought in the Revolutionary Wars ? Rhode
Island, alone, furnished one regiment, of which the Hon.
Tristam Burgess of that State, in a speech in Congress in
1828 said:
"No braver men ever met the enemy in battle." Says
Gen. Eustis in his speech against slavery in 1820, "In
Rhode Island, the blacks formed an entire regiment, and
they discharged their duty with zeal and fidelity. The
gallant defense of Red Bank, in which the black regiment
bore a part, is among the proofs of their valor. In New
Hampshire, too, there were found colored men who were
willing to do service in that struggle for liberty." The
Rev. Dr. Harris, a revolutionary veteran, of that State, in a
memorable speech delivered some years ago, after speaking
of the dangerous position that his regiment was on one oc¬
casion placed in, says, "There was a regiment of blacks in the
same dangerous situation —a regiment of Negroes, fighting
for our liberty, and independence ; not a white man among
them except the officers. Had they been unfaithful, or
given way before the enemy, all would have been lost.
Three times, in succession, were they attacked with most
desperate fury by well disciplined and veteran troops,, and
three times did they successfully repel the assault, and
thus preserve an army. They fought thus, through the
war. They were brave and hardy troops." "Nor did the
colored men of Connecticut fail in the hour of danger,"
says an eminent man in reference to that colony.
BISHOP JONES' ADDRESSES.
231
During the Revolutionary war, and after the sufferings
of a protracted contest had rendered it difficult to procure
recruits for the army, the colony of Connecticut adopted
the expedient of forming a corps of colored soldiers. A
battalion of blacks was soon enlisted, and throughout the
war they conducted themselves with fidelity and efficiency.
New York was favorably represented in each of our wars
with Great Britain, as is eloquently shown in that master
oration of Doctor Clarke, delivered in the convention which
revised the constitution of the state of New York in 1821.
He then said :
"Have they, the Negroes, ever refused to do military
duty when called upon ? * * * In the war of the Revolu¬
tion they helped to fight America's battles by land and by
sea. Some of our atates were glad to turn out corps of
colored men, and to stand shoulder to shoulder with them.
On Lakes Erie and Champlain, where our fleets triumphed
over a foe superior in numbers and engines of death, they
were manned by men of color In those times it was no
sporting matter to bear arms; for those were times which
tried men's souls : and in those times those people, the
Negroes, were found as willing and as ready to volunteer
in our service as any other. They were not compelled to
go. They were not drafted. No, our pride had placed
them beyond our compulsory power. But there was no
necessity for its exercise; they were volunteers ; yea, sir,
volunteers, to defend that very country which had treated
them with insult, degradation and slavery."
Here I might cease, but duty to this subject will not
allow me to pass unnoticed in this connection the testimony
of one upon whom this Nation was proud to confer the
highest civil, as well as the highest military power known
to the constitution of this country. I refer to General
Jackson. In the hour of peril and danger, when the arms
232
BISHOP JONES' ADDRESSES.
of a foreign foe threatened the city of New Orleans with
the gloom and darkness of death, an appeal was made to
the patriotism of the free colored men of Louisiana, signed
by this then illustrious Commander-in Chief of the Ameri¬
can army. I will only call your attention to a few sentences
of that appeal:—
" Through a mistaken policy you (Negroes) have been
heretofore deprived of a participation in the glorious struggle
for national rights in which your country is engaged. You
are now called upon to defend our most inestimable bless¬
ing. As Americans, your country looks to her adopted
children with confidence for a vigorous support. Your
love of honor would cause you to despise the man who
should attempt to deceive you. In the sincerity of a soldier
and the language of truth, I address )*>u. As a distinct, in¬
dependent battallion or regiment, pursuing the path of glory
undivided, you will receive the applause and gratitude of
your countrymen."
Now, listen, while I read over the same signature the
high compliments paid to these colored troops after the bat¬
tle was fought and the victory was won. In his proclama¬
tion of December, 1814, he thus addresses the colored sol¬
diers of Louisiana:—
"To men' of color,—Soldiers ! From the shores of the
Mobile, I collected you to arms. I invited you to share in
the perils and to divide the glory of your white country¬
men. I expected much from you. I knew that you could
endure hunger, and thirst, and all the hardships of war.
But you surpassed my hopes. I have found in you, united
to these qualities, that noble enthusiasm which impels to
great deeds.
Soldiers ! The President of the United States shall be
informed of your conduct on the present occassion; and the
BISHOP JONES' ADDRESSES.
233
voice of the Representatives of the American Nation shall
applaud your valor as your General now praises your ar¬
dor. "
Such is the history of the colored American soldiers
and the valuable services they rendered to the country in
in those trying times when the invidious distinctions of
caste were lost in a common interest for our safety and our
homes; and, although they constitute no part of the patriotic
theme of American orators at the anniversaries of our Nat¬
ional Independence ; and although these thrilling facts have
been thrown aside by the American historian, as if unfit to
adorn his page, they, nevertheless, live as the standing mon¬
ument of our right to enjoy those blessings of civil and re¬
ligious liberty for which our fathers so nobly fought.
In conclusion, permit me to say to you, fellow-citizens,
do not despair! Justice and right shall yet triumph! Free¬
dom's victory shall yet be won ! The battle is to be fought
on this continent! What, though the prospect seem gloomy!
The banner of Liberty is unfurled to the winds; an invinci¬
ble host is already marshalled beneath its broad folds, and
the thundering tread of thousands more are heard, coming
up from the fastnesses of the earth to join in the glorious
conflict. My enslaved people in the Southland will yet be
free! Their pathetic prayers, like those of Israel in Egypt,
are going up every hour to God, and it is only a question
of time when with his almighty hand he will strike from
their limbs the shackles which have held them down for
more than two hundred years. Justice and liberty may
seem to sleep, but they are not dead! Slavery must vanish
from every corner of the earth. The blood-hound, bull
whip, shot gun, and slave master, must be relics of the past.
From the hilltops and valleysof the North the ringing voices
of anti-slavery men and women are heard demanding free¬
dom for the bondmen of the South. It is coming! I feel it in
234
BISHOP JONES' ADDRESSES.
the air ! Ethiopia is stretching out her hands! God is go¬
ing to shake this Nation.
In the meantime, let prudence and moderation govern
our actions. Let our aim be the elevation of our race, and
our end the glory of God; and with a firm reliance on him
whose watchful eye neither sleeps nor slumbers, let us await
the issue.
BISHOP JONES' ADDRESSES.
235
ADDRESS III.
THE NEGRO: HIS IRREPRESSIBILITY AND
HOPEFULNESS.
Annual Address Delivered at the Commencement Exercises
of Livingstone College, Salisbury, N. C.,
June 5th, 1883. .
Mr. President, Honored Members of the Faculty, Dear
Students, Ladies and Gentlemen:
Having been assigned the distinguished position of
spokesman for the hour, I desire to assure you that I am
not insensible to the honor conferred, nor to the delicate re¬
sponsibility it involves. I feel that the selection might
have been much more happy, both for the interest of the oc¬
casion, and the edification of the hearers, if it had fallen on
some one more distinguished as an orator than myself.
Having hastily thrown together a few thoughts in the midst
of Episcopal duties and responsibilities, I trust they may
meet your favor. The subject I have chosen, is the "Irre-
pressibility and Hopefulness of the Negro."
These exercises mark an event of more than ordinary
interest in the history of the church, and the progress of a
people but recently lifted by legal forms—the result of
Divine interposition—from a condition of extreme servility;
a condition so utterly subversive of every elevating impulse,
every lofty aspiration, and every inspiring hope, that it
ought not to be thought anomalous of them if no single
trace of these remained. The marvel is, that there is to be
found in the Negro any ennobling virtue, a manly instinct—
236 BISHOP JONES' ADDRESSES.
in short, any thing in common with the race, save form and
features. That we should be assembled here on such an
occasion, and for such a purpose, gives emphasis and crys-
talization to the astounding fact, that generations of unre¬
mitting and hopeless toil, supplemented by every imaginable
device, and every conceivable instrumentality, capable of
dwarfing moral sensibility, or crushing our mental capac¬
ity, and even mental possibility, have failed—signally failed
—to extinguish in the Negro those unmistakable peculiar¬
ities which mark his identity with the common race.
Every possible argument that ingenuity could invent,
has been resorted to* to prove his inferiority. The historian,
the poet, the statesmin and the orator, the theologian and
the daily chronicler of events ; the learned jurist, alike with
the artistic genius, have each and all, with a few honorable
exceptions, vied with each other, in steadily insisting upon
his utterly hopeless incapacity to rise above servility.
Nearly every pictorial representation in which he occupied
a place; whether rude caricatures of the low and vulgar, or
the more delicate productions of learning and refinement—
reiterated the popular verdict; and the forbidding look, the
harsh address, the scornful demeanor, the cruel treatment,
socially, morally, politically, and religiously, meted out so
unsparingly on almost every hand, had fastened on the
Negro the odium and contempt of nearly all mankind
for long weary years. Thus, as time rolled on, and
the individual, the community, the state, and the nation,
were acquiring wealth and independence by the unrequited
toil of the Negro bondmen, the conscience of the one and
the other was silenced as to the reprehensibility—the mon¬
strous crime of his treatment, till every civilizing and chris¬
tianizing element and influence, was made to contribute to¬
ward his discouragement and degradation. In every walk
of life the serpent of Negro hate coiled, and hissed, and
BISHOP JONES' ADDRESSES.
237
ejected his venom, till even in the distribution of the
broken body and shed blood of the Lord of life and glory,
he was taught by the church, the sacriligious dogma of his
inferiority. The highest flights of oratory, vied with the
lowest descent of scurrility to brand him " before all Israel
and the sun,", as the one conspicuous, heaven-ordained ob¬
ject of scorn and hate, to live or die, as might seem best to
all the world beside ; till finally, to deepen the damning
blot beyond all hope of eradication, the potential voice of
the most learned, the most conservative, and, presumably,
the most dignified co-ordinate branch of the most Christian
government of earth vociferated the crushing dictum, that
he had no rights that were entitled to respect.
No wonder, if under the ponderous weight of this so¬
cial, moral, intellectual and religious incubus, sufficient to
dwarf the sensibilities of any people, the Negro was well
nigh forced to a conviction that he really possessed no
greater capacity than was necessary to fithim to be a "hewer
of wood and drawer of water," to those who had so long
insisted that such was his God-decreed lot. It is the mar¬
vel of the age, that he should ever have caught a different
inspiration. But he who tempers the winds to the endur¬
ance of the shorn lamb; who manages the complications
of the universe in loving accommodation to the condition
and interests of all his intelligent creatures, and especially
the unfortunate ; vouchsafed to him, not only wonderful and
almost superhuman endurance, baffling every combination
to crush out his manhood; but also inspired him with
singular hopefulness; investing him with those inherent
qualities of songful cheerfulness, so eminently characteristic
of the Negro race ; whether in the wilds of Africa, or the
swamps of America.
And thus has he survived during the long flight of
his adversity—now venting his sorrows in homely verse,
238 BISHOP JONES' ADDRESSES.
but touching, elegant strains—and now rising from his
gloom and sadness, cheering his hope by laugh-provoking
and mirth-inspiring melody. We hear not a little of latef
deprecatory of the emotion, the fervor, the enthusiasm of
the Negro, especially in his religious experience. If men
were to take time, and think on what they say and write
on this subject, they would see that these characteristics
constitute in a large degree the life-support of this people;
but for which, they must have died out by the treatment of
the very people who now find it so very convenient to con¬
demn in them these peculiarities.
Hence, the irrepressible spirit of the Negro. He sang
out his night of bondage, and stands up to-day in the rising
glory of his unconquerable manhood—the anomaly of the
race, and the wonder of mankind. God be praised for his
preservation, and for every hopeful and redeeming charac¬
teristic he possesses to-day. To most persons unfamiliar
with the early history of the Hamitic or Cushite race, the
inflexible hold on life under singularly trying conditions by
their descendants, is entirely unaccountable. History furn¬
ishes no parallel, either to the long, persistent and systemat¬
ized effort to degrade them below the brute, or to their re¬
markable retention of manly principles in spite of that effort.
At one time the sin of Canaan—though far less flagrant
than many committed daily by thousands of children, who
notwithstanding the advantages they enjoy of clearly de¬
fined duties in this respect, are greatly wanting in proper
respect for the weaknesses and errors of parents—is magni¬
fied a thousand fold ; and learning, genius, and even Chris¬
tianity, have been laid under tribute to prove the marvelous
crime—the inhumanity and brutality of the whole Negro
race—based upon the one instance of wrong doing of a
single off-shoot; and the consequent propriety, justice and
fitness, of dooming it to perpetual vassalage. Unsatisfied
BISHOP JONES' ADDRESSES.
239
with this weak apology for nameless cruelties, he has, at
another time, been claimed to be the unmistakable lineal
descendant of the ape, the monkey, and the orang-outang;
and an apology for the inhuman treatment of which he was
the victim, was based upon his brutality. But, as the irre¬
sistible flashes of heavenly light swept away this refuge of
lies, and the truth of God overflowed these diabolical hid¬
ing places, sober, thoughtful, and unbiased minds, demand¬
ed, as the result of honest and fair investigation, an intel¬
ligent solution of the problem of his bravery, his mental
powers, his inventive genius, his magnanimity of soul—all
pronounced types of highly developed manhood—striking
illustrations of which have been so frequently exhibited by
the brighter examples of the Negro race, in spite of the
blight of ages. We have the responses to that demand,
and a demonstration of the vexed problem of his unvan-
quished greatness and inextinguishable hopefulness, in the
faithful delineations of that distinguished American histor¬
ian, Hon. George Bancroft, who, bringing to the task his
gigantic mind, advanced and ripe scholarship, his almost
boundless research and multiplied resources,—supple¬
mented by a degree of truthfulness, honesty and fairness—
heretofore almost entirely ignored in any statement regard¬
ing the Negro,—and with a magnanimity deserving of all
praise. Forcing his way through the intricate labyrinths
and misty fogs of misrepresentation founded in prejudice
and hate, he has found the distinguished progenitors of the
race,—not of the ape, monkey, or orang-outang type—not
blackened or dwarfed by the withering curse of Canaan;
but the embodiment of lofty, noble, and aggressive man -
hood. From him we learn that our fathers "were clearly
the first to lead off in the march of civilization, in the pre¬
historic ages of the world; that they founded the most
powerful, and the most ancient empires; that their litera-
240 BISHOP JONES' ADDRESSES.
ture and arts have taxed the minds of the learned for ages,
laying under perpetual tribute, the entire human family to
their genius; that they educated Moses into the wise and
successful leader and law-giver of God's people," and "en¬
abled him to furnish the world with those original elements
of law from which Blackstone and other jurists have de¬
rived their judicial knowledge "that they were the Gama¬
liel of the world, at whose feet Greece and Rome crouched
submissively and learned those lessons which formed the
basis of their subsequent greatness and glory."
Identified with a race thus distinguished in its ancestry
—noble even in its ruins, according to the testimony of
Livingstone and others, corroborated by bur own knowl¬
edge gathered in the house of bondage—it is by no means ■
strange that their disenthralled offspring should to-day pre¬
sent the grand spectacle of a people once more rising ma¬
jestically in the might of a grand purpose, if not to lead
mankind as of yore, at least, to share with it the progress,
the foundation'of which was laid by their fathers. It
needed but the opportunity, the privilege to rise, to call
forth our best efforts in the upward march; and the humble
effort of which this is the commencement, is but one of
many evidences of our appreciation of the privilege and our
earnest endeavor to improve it. Secured in his liberty,
somewhat grudgingly, amid the almost dying throes of the
Nation, the Negro is indebted for the grateful boon, partly
to the unswerving fidelity to the undying principles of
truth and righteousness, fostered and maintained for long
weary years by good and true men and women in every
section of our common country and in foreign lands;
partly to that sympathetic cord in the human heart, whose
occasional vibrations awaken kindred feelings and mutual
sympathies in spite of us—but mainly to our loving, heav¬
enly Father, God alike of the bondman and the freeman,
BISHOP JONES' ADDRESSES.
241
who in infinite wisdom, so blended the interests of both as
to make one unavoidably subservient to that of the other.
But twenty years of freedom have passed, and not¬
withstanding the shameful loss to the Negro of millions of
dollars through the treachery of the Freedman's Bank—far
better called the Freedman's Slough of Despond—seemingly
designed, with diabolical purpose, to serve as the wrecking
reef of whatever little remaining prospect may have been
left to him uncrushed by slavery; despite this saddening
disaster, enough to blast all hope, the foul taunt that the
Negro cared for nothing beyond the momentary gratifica¬
tion of present wants—uttered for years in extenuation of
wrong, is answered to-day by thousands of neat, comfort¬
able homes, and many more thousands of cultivated acres
in fee simple, acquired through his commendable industry
and management since freedom.
The indignant slander, alike insulting to the justice
and impartiality of God, and the observation and reason of
mankind, that the Negro was created a mental imbecile, an
intellectual dwarf, incapable of mental growth, incapacitated
for mental development or culture, even if history did not
brand the slander, receives a most damaging rebuke in the
singular manifestation of an insatiable thirst for knowledge,
the unparalleled industry and success in its acquirement,
and the many brilliant and hopeful examples of education,
refinement, and fitness for the social, political and business
stations of life developed among the recently emancipated
people of America.
That the millions just lifted from plantation rule are
not yet wholly freed from results due to its teachings is by
no means strange ; that they possess, in any appreciable de¬
gree, the virtues, the tastes, the manners, feelings and aspi¬
rations of the rest of mankind is the anomaly of the situa¬
tion, and is due to their singularly astounding salvability even
242
BISHOP JONES' ADDRESSES.
when confronted, as they have been for two hundred years,
by customs, by laws, by edicts and commands, inexorably
enforced by pains and penalties, as well as by potent ex¬
ample of superiority all around them, antagonizing all vir¬
tue, morality, and ennobling aspiration, fostering and teach¬
ing a surreptitious Christianity, enjoining obedience to hu¬
man mandates, to the total disregard of the mandates of
heaven !
And yet, because exceptional instances are to be found
among the victims of this degrading rule, who reflect unen¬
viable credit upon the school in which they were taught,
we have occasional vaporings from the life-long friends and
patrons of it, not in commendation of its pupils, as we might
expect, but in denunciation of its most dintinguished grad¬
uates. Not satisfied with the exhibition of these exceptional
cases; with singular affrontery—glorying in its own shame—
it claims to have done its work successfully, in corrupting
the entire race through this degrading instruction, by rep¬
resenting to the world that the emancipated Negroes are in
consequence, one seething pot of pestiferous vice and im¬
morality, without limitation or qualification—that clannish
heathenism rules the hour, and that every thing regarding
them is changed and changing from better to worse. The
answer I make, and which thoughtful candor everywhere
makes is, this condition, if true, is not the result of twenty
years of hampered, tortured and often doubtful freedom;
but the legitimate and inevitable result of two hundred
years of slavery.
But I thank God that fourteen years of extensive
travel and careful observation, in cities, towns, villages,
hamlets; in fine dwellings and rude cabins ; in highways and
by e-ways ; in swamps and bayous ; in the larger portion of
the Southern States, enables me to say, emphatically, that
it is not true. And, while I would be respectful, in view of
BISHOP JONES' ADDRESSES.
243
my position, and avoid any and every utterance capable of
being tortured into the slightest excuse for offense, never¬
theless, in the interest of humanity, justice, and truth ; in
the interest of the millions of struggling freedmen, and in
the interest of the Christian religion ; here, in this
presence, and in the presence of God and angels,
I denounce the above and kindred charges, made
orally or in writing, whether by those clothed in
the livery of heaven or in the ermine of justice, or
in whatever position in life, as an unprovoked and shameful
libel on the colored people of the Southern States; insti¬
gated by those who grudge them their liberty, and who, by
various methods, stubbornly contest their every effort to
rise, by hampering their educational facilities, discouraging
their efforts to secure homes, magnifying their petty crimes
as an excuse to send them to states prisons, so as to get
the benefit of their labor by a show of legality. Finally,
misrepresentation comes to the front, where truth fails to
produce a monster of sufficient hideousness, with the evi¬
dent purpose and design to not only discourage the hope
of the Negro, but to stem the tide of philanthropic
interest and aid coming to the rescue of Negro endeavor
from men like the Hon. Mr. Slater, Mr. Dodge, and others,
since freedom. But in spite of all these adverse circum¬
stances, the Negro continues to rise slowly, but hopefully
and grandly. If, by encouragement with its abundant
means, civilization in its present advanced state, supple¬
mented by Christianity, will now share with the unfortu¬
nate descendants of those who gave it birth, in their lauda¬
ble efforts to rise, we will not only try to forget the treatment
we have received, the consequences of which we are still
suffering, through the want of uncounted millions involun¬
tarily contributed by us to individual, State and National
aggrandizement, but by God's help we will also endeavor
244 BISHOP JONES' ADDRESSES.
to prove that we are the legitimate descendants of the
illustrious sires to whom civilization owes its origin, and
that we are still animated by the lofty and indomitable
spirit by which they were so nobly impelled. What we
need for our elevation is, not so much the special sympathy
as the special pecuniary aid of the individuals, the institu¬
tions and governments which are indebted to us for more
than what is necessary for our complete elevation. Since
we, more than all others, have suffered, we more than all
others need help. Having been made the direct and
specific objects of degradation it is but fair that we should
now be made special objects of philanthropy. If it seems
presumptuous to ask and expect direct and special appro¬
priations in our aid from the Nation, the State, the munici¬
pality, it is not presumption but historical truth to say that
each and all of these governments enacted special laws and
enforced them to degrade us. It is certainly not inconsis¬
tent with justice, humanity, or magnanimity, that they
should thus, in some measure at least,* condone their
wrongs by aiding in an effort to undo their legitimate con¬
sequences.
But, in any event, let us hope that Christian philan¬
thropy, quickened by our manly efforts to succeed, will see,
at least, that no interest designed to contribute in any way
toward it, shall lag for want of means. Already much has
been accomplished through that instrumentality, by such
whole-souled benefactors as Messrs. Peabody, Slater and
others. " I recall with mingled feelings of gratitude and
pleasure the magnanimity of that late distinguished
Christian philanthropist, the now sainted William E. Dodge,
who, in the generous impulses of his great heart, in fur¬
therance of our interests, donated just before he closed his
eyes in death, five thousand dollars toward the erection here
of a suitable building to meet the present pressing needs of
BISHOP JONES' ADDRESSES.
245
this hopeful institution. Fitting and commendable finale
of the good and great man, lending quickening influence to
his heavenward flight!
All honor to his memory, and to the kindred generos¬
ity of his worthy family, that has since given assurance that
his most sanguine wishes in reference to Dodge Hall shall
be faithfully carried out!
Let us hope that others may emulate his enviable ex-
example and that our cherished anticipations may be fully
realized. The objective point at which we aim in this and
kindred institutions, is the improvement of our condition
here in the land of our birth, to qualify our people for the
various positions which we may be required to fill and to
lift the Negro to a higher plane, socially, morally, intellect¬
ually and theologically. This is our proximate aim; re¬
motely, we aim at the loftier, grander and more compre¬
hensive object, the disenthrallment of our Fatherland. From
the area of these forty acres we hope to unite with our
brethren elsewhere in demonstrating the truth of holy
writ, that "God maketh the wrath of men to praise him,"
by gathering, amid the ruins of our house of bondage, the
elements which shall break the moral and spiritual fetters
which have forages held in far more alarming, though less
cruel vassalage, than that from which we have just been
freed, the dusky inhabitants of Africa. Already we see the
portentous signs of a glorious dawn in the thrifty and hope¬
ful little band of Christian followers organized and pastored
under the auspices of our Zion—by that earnest, devoted
and indefatigable missionary from your own North Caro¬
lina, Rev. Andrew Cartwright, the missionary prototype of
Rev. Peter Cartwright, to whose labors Methodism is so
greatly indebted for its grand success in America. Who
knows but that God, who "moves in mysterious ways his
wonders to perform," has raised him up and is sustaining
246 BISHOP JONES' ADDRESSES.
him for this special purpose that he may open the way to
the successful development of Methodism and Christian
triumph in Africa, with equal power and brilliancy ?
The redemption of that benighted land—the vexed
problem of ages—always possible in the light of earnest
and sincere Christian effort—receives additional importance,
and increased hopefulness, in view of American emancipa¬
tion, supplemented by christian education, and the eleva¬
ting and refining principles of the Gospel. Rarely has an
institution of this character embraced so many interesting
and inviting features, as Livingstone College.
The principal educational centre of a growing religious
organization—an organization founded in the necessities of
our people eighty-seven years ago, for the free and untram-
meled worship of God, ignoring all caste distinctions and
recognizing a common brotherhood. Centrally located for
the great body of the colored people ; surrounded by most
inviting and picturesque scenery; in a State remarkable for
its fertility and natural resources ; easy of approach by rail
from all points—the College presents unusual facilities and
advantages. The college of Bishops have exercised scrup¬
ulous care in the selection and designation of its officers.
Gentlemen of varied and rare capacity and public spirit,
selected from every section of the country, comprise its
board of directors ; its faculty combines a high degree of
culture, with rare natural endowments ; ardent piety, with
true devotion to the interest of the race; hopeful experience,
with enviable reputation and unyielding energy.
Citizens of North Carolina, trained for usefulness main¬
ly since freedom, the State may well be proud of her dis¬
tinguished sons, and the honor sustained by her in their
successful management of this institution. And now, in
conclusion, young ladies and gentlemen—pupils of the in¬
stitution, it is to you, and others who shall associate you
BISHOP JONES' ADDRESSES. 247
here, that we all look for the fuller realization of our ardent
hopes. I would have you keep constantly before you the
fact, that the destiny of the colored race is in your hands.
If, by your industry and care in pursuing your studies,your
persistent effort to acquire knowledge, your cultivation of
refined manners, your development of moral character, your
thoroughness in the mastery of whatever branch you may
pursue, you pass through your curriculum with credit, you
will meet the general expectation, and contribute largely
toward the favorable solution of the Negro problem, and
its ultimate success. But, if by a course of indolence or
want of care, you fail to advance or permit yourselves to
become vicious in character, laggards in your class and su¬
perficial in knowledge, you will disappoint the high hopes
and expectations of friends, confirm the predictions of your
enemies, and contribute much more largely toward retard¬
ing the progress of your people.
Aim at thoroughness; do not stop at half measures. A
certain writer has very truthfully said:
' 'A little learning is a dangerous thing,
Drink deep or taste not the Pierian spring;
For shallow draughts intoxicate the brain,
But drinking largely sobers it again.''
Recognize a constant feeling of dependence on divine
aid in all your pursuits in life.
"Without me ye can do nothing," is just as true in the
study, the profession, or in any thing you may seek to do
worth the doing, as it is in the work of the church. Avoid,
therefore, that haughty sneer at the church of God; that
criminal disregard for sacred things, which mars the digni¬
ty and blurs the character of so many of our young people
of late, who have hurriedly obtained mere smatterings of
learning. All knowledge is desirable, but none comparable,
248
BISHOP JONES' ADDRESSES.
far less superior to, the excellency of the knowledge oi
Christ the Lord. So thought tne learned Paul, centuries
ago, and so think the learned and good of to-day. "In all
thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths,"
is the trite truism of the wise Solomon. I commend it to
your daily observance through life. Be careful of your as¬
sociations, for, says a good writer, "character is mainly
moulded by the caste of the minds that surround it." Seek
pure, upright, noble associates. Finally, let no one be de¬
terred or falter in their pursuit of education, by the recent
fulminations, born of Negro hate, and induced by alarm at
his present advancement that, "to educate a Negro is to
spoil a good field hand," notwithstanding the fact that the
silly sentiment finds unmistakable, though faint echo on the
soil of North Carolina. Who voices such sentiments is be¬
low decent scorn. Ignorance, prejudice and hate must
have their say, even if as in this instance, that say ignores
the most palpable facts of history. It was once said of the
Anglo Saxon, "Buy not a Briton for he is too mean to make
a slave." If these "Britons" have been lifted from such ut¬
ter worthlessness to the lofty position they now occupy—
lifted, too, by means of education, then the Negro who was
regarded excellent material to make slaves, even while
heathens in Africa, and are still held as being " good field
hands," need not despair. Bancroft has said of our fore¬
fathers, "Their services to humanity were great. They laid
the foundation among men of unvarying law, of diligence
in the employment of time, of exactness in the division of
labor, and inculcated in an effective way, the idea of divine
justice and of immortality.
Their wisdom was the brighest and the most fruitful
that was perhaps possible in their times. Their fame was
wide-spread, and their influence on the legislation of other
lands has laid all ages under great obligations."
BISHOP JONES' ADDRESSES.
249
"The political economy of the Jews was the product of
one of their most intelligent disciples (Moses,) and the fact
that he was so, probably added greatly to his influence and
success with his own people; and all the great legislators,
philosophers and historians of Greece went to them to com¬
plete their education. In after times when the nation lost
its liberty and became the province of a distant kingdom,
they sunk the priest in the scholar, and Egypt had the
largest libraries and the most eminent philosophers in the
world. After Greece was carried, as it were, bodily to Rome,
far down into the Christian era, Alexandria was the univer¬
sity of the world.
The history of Egypt is thus entirely peculiar, being
mainly that of its own influential class. They impressed a
peaceable, generally virtuous, laborious as well as monoto¬
nous character on its history, and besides the vast monu¬
ments which the patient industry they inspired reared up,
and the names of their interminable list of Kings, there was
perhaps little to record." I place these facts of history
alongside of the jeers and scoffs of ingratitude and hate, and
say to the Negro everywhere—GO FORWARD !
' 'Give to the winds thy fears,
Hope and be undismayed ;
God hears thy sighs and counts thy tears,
God shall lift up thy head."
"Through waves and clouds and storms,
He gently clears thy way ;
Wait thou his time, so shall this night,
Soon end in joyous day."
If amid the wild ravings of chagrined and disappointed
enemies of the Negro race, you feel disquieting and dis¬
couraging fear, recall those fear-dispersing, and assuring
250
BISHOP JONES' ADDRESSES.
lines so helpful to arouse one in a good cause—
"Who is it then whose scorn I dread ?
Whose wrath or hate makes me afraid?
A man, an heir of death, a slave
To sin, a bubble on the wave.''
"Yea, let men rage since thou wilt spread
Thy shadowing wings around my head,
Since, in all care, thy tender love
Will still my sure protection prove !"
BISHOP JONES' ADDRESSES.
251
ADDRESS IV.
IS METHODISM LOSING ITS POWER OVER
THE MASSES?
Paper read before the Centennial Conference of Method¬
ism in Baltimore, Md., 1884.
Mr. President, Members of this Assemblage, Ladies and Gen¬
tlemen :
The proposition to the brief discussion of which I have
been assigned, is the following: " Is Methodism Losing
Its Power Over the Masses ? "
Nothing in connection with the interests which cluster
around this august'assemblage is more gratifying to me—
as I doubt not it is to you—than the pleasure it gives me to
be able to assume, however inadequately I may be capable
of presenting it, the negative of this proposition.
Methodism, as such, in its original design, purpose,
and genius, was specially intended to meet the wants and
needs, to subserve the best interests of the hitherto
neglected masses. The Established Church, in its wealth
and independence, its self-aggrandizement and vanity, its
strange forgetfulness, or criminal disregard of its legiti¬
mate calling, had lost sight of its mission, to administer to
the wants of the poor and needy, and had become so far
removed from them in genuine sympathy and interest as to
have imitated the reprehensible conduct of the Priest and
Levite of old, and passed them by on the other side.
But the God of all grace, whose watchful eye and
loving heart, whose infinite mind and bountiful hand are
in constant, sympathetic, and efficient exercise for the
good of all, but especially for the help of the needy of
earth; with a prescience possessed by Him alone, selected
252
BISHOP JONES' ADDRESSES.
the Wesleys and their distinguished confederates, and
specially endowed them for their work of separating and
removing the wheat trom the chaff, the real from the ideal,
the true from the false, and so simplifying the way of life and
salvation, as to bring it within the easy comprehension and
grasp of the most humble and least informed peasantry—
aiding them in the formulation of that unique system, which
its enemies were pleased to greet derisively as the " new
method." But in view of the successful revival of the
Apostolic fire, zeal, interest, and power, which signalized its
early progress, and because of the firm hold with which the
masses, besotted and blackened by sin, embraced it and
were inspired with a new life, which lifted them from the
sloughs of vice, misery and degradation—that term, oppro¬
brious as it was meant to be, was accepted by its friends
as the name by which this new power should be desig¬
nated; nor have they ever had occasion to regret the
choice.
The singularly rapid progress and brilliant achiever
ments of the system, signally owned and blessed of heaven
in the reformation of the millions which no other system
seems adapted to reach, have long since obliterated from
the term all that was opprobrious, even in the judgment
of its enemies, and left it the recognized advanced guard
of Protestantism; her banners emblazoned with a halo
of glory, the brightness and lustre of millions of stars,
plucked by her prowess from the grasp of Satan, and reflect¬
ing the light of the sun of righteousness; thus lifting
Methodism, in the reformation and christianization of the
masses, and their consequent attachment, love, and admira¬
tion of its simplicity and power, to an altitude to which
other denominations have long and earnestly aspired, but
which none of them has ever attained.
Viewed from whatever standpoint, or under whatever
BISHOP JONES' ADDRESSES.
253
aspect, Methodism seems specially and peculiarly adapted
to hold its sway over the masses.
Stripped of all superfluous appendages, divested of all
doctrinal intricacies, repudiating all class distinctions, sim¬
ple in its forms and practical in its methods, immediate and
vitalizing in its operations, and satisfying in its results, it
comes to the poor, the care-worn, and hard-pressed masses,
as comes the soft gleaming light from the not-far-distant
friendly cottage to the weary, footsore, and despondent
traveler, who has missed his way in unfamiliar regions, and
over whom unpropitious night has spread her sable mantle,
or as comes the well-manned life-boat to some shipwrecked,
famishing, and woeful mariner, with life, hope, and cheer !
First. In its social machinery Methodism exercises a
most attractive, cementing and conservative force upon
the masses. This social arrangement, utilized and carried
out in its original simplicity, creates, fosters and perpetu¬
ates a feeling of brotherhood, a community of tender inter¬
est, a bond of sympathy and a cord of affection, which
blots out all feelings of estrangement, ignores all lines of
invidious distinction and' cultivates a spirit of equality and
loving regard, which must ever touch a responsive and
harmonious chord in the hearts of the masses of God's
poor.
Segregated by distinct and unmistakable lines from
the more fortunate and favored of earth—far removed
from that degree of competency which underlies a feeling of
independence ; hard pressed, ordinarily, in life's busy strug¬
gle, for life's necessities, the masses share a common lot—
kindred needs creating and fostering kindred sympathies
and interests, mingling kindred sorrows and tears ; supple¬
mented by kindred feelings of dependence and helpfulness.
The simple, inviting and consoling doctrines of the
Bible, as taught and explained by Methodism, its homoge-
254 BISHOP JONES' ADDRESSES.
neous forms and ceremonies, sympathetically and sweetly
blending all interests, constitute the fitting source of spir¬
itual comfort which happily, lovingly and harmoniously
meet and supply all these conditions.
Secondly. A more pronounced section of this social
department is the weekly class meeting, where all meet on a
common level, to relate common cares, burdens, anxieties,
doubts, sorrows, fears, trials—a most potent and influential
means for unifying hearts, centralizing interests and so
leveling conditions as to induce each to feel the care of all.
Then the individual and collective recognition of Christ,
as the one and only object of trust—the one and only source
of unfailing helpfulness, which characterizes all the ex¬
periences of the class-room—exhibiting that great consol¬
ing truth, that we are all equals before the Lord, is another
phase of this social element in our common Methodism of
no ordinary endearment to the masses.
Nothing seems clearer, therefore, than that the class-
meeting, the* love feast (which is but another phase of it),
and the prayer-meeting—the two former being peculiarly
Methodistic—must constantly retain their attractiveness,
and maintain their power and controlling influence over
the masses, so long as these social and animating gath¬
erings continue to be purely Methodistic.
If Methodism would, therefore, continue to exert that
controlling power and influence over the masses, for which
it is so pre-eminently adapted, and in which it has so
admirably succeeded in the past—it needs only to guard
carfully its simple forms against all innovating experiments,
and its success is assured.
Thirdly. In its ecclesiastic or ministerial arrangement
and accommodation, Methodism is happily adapted to the
work of influencing the masses. Versatility—variety—is a
most pleasing and inviting element to all, and especially so
BISHOP JONES' ADDRESSES.
255
to them; while monotony—sameness—is ordinarily unsa¬
vory and tiresome. To minds trained from childhood—
thoroughly and systematically educated — the deeply
thoughtful and speculative theorist may be acceptable, and
even preferable as pastor, for many consecutive years. But
since the vast majority of mankind are not favored with
systematized mental training, and, therefore, find them¬
selves incapable of sustaining robust spiritual life and health
upon the unsubstantial food which mere speculation affords,
other methods must be sought and applied, of a more
substantial nature, if these are to be benefitted. The love
of variety combined with simplicity, seems to be char¬
acteristic of the masses. And Wesley, who was ever
quick to see and prompt to utilize such elements as were
conducive of the most beneficial results, was not long in
making this discovery, nor in utilizing its benefits, but
wisely adopted for Methodism an itinerant plan of'minis¬
terial service, which must ever remain, as it has been, and
is to-day,most acceptable to the masses, since the periodical
changes in the pastorate happily meets, not only their love
of variety, but also enables all to share, in common, the
diversity of style, ability, power, peculiarities and usefulness
of its ministry. Thus ignoring all semblance of favoritism
or class distinction as to ministerial service, since although
it is scarcely possible that any congregation will ever be
favored with the pastoral labors of the entire Methodist min¬
istry, yet the fact that there is no invidious bar, certainly
excluding any from that privilege, is a most satisfactory
and consoling one, and cannot fail to exert a salutary and
binding influence over those to whom all exclusiveness is
specially detestable. The possibility, therefore, of enjoying
the ministrations of the highest and most brilliant, as well as
the more ordinary pastor, constitutes a most adhesive factor
in Methodism, and notably so among the masses.
256 BISHOP JONES' ADDRESSES.
No element or peculiarity embraced in its polity is
more clearly demonstrative of the thoughtfulness, the wis¬
dom and discrimination of its founder in the choice of
means to ends, or illustrates more forcibly his far-seeing
sagacity in arranging for the spontaneous gathering of the
masses to its standard, than Methodistic itinerancy. The
vexed problem of its unprecedented success, its gigantic pro¬
portions, its unique history and astounding record, after a
century of humble effort, finds its solution very largely in
this fact. Nor do we see any intelligent, well-defined indi¬
cations of any general desire for a change in this strong
arm of our success. True, there are, occasionally, slight
manifestations of restlessness on this line among a class
which, with too much regard for its own special accomo¬
dation, and too little for the common weal, would prefer,
in particular instances, to extend the pastorate beyond
the limit of general success, as demonstrated by the ex¬
perience of a hundred years ; but its undimished, if not in¬
creasing popularity, still holds swaywith the masses.
Fourthly. In its hymnological department—its lyrical
genius—Methodism is pre-eminently adapted to the ac¬
commodation and attraction of the masses.
The singularly rich and captivating poetical powers of
the Wesleys, whose matchlessly thrilling lyrics constitute
the burden of the stirring old Methodist songs, interspersed
with those beautiful productions of Montgomery, Watts,
Doddridge, Steel and others, who seem to have been spe¬
cially and divinely inspired to indite those lofty, grand,
yet simple and touching melodies, abounding in doctrinal
truthfulness and poetic beauty and brilliancy, adopted by
Methodism, must ever hold a conspicuous place in the
world of song. For depth of thought, breadth of com¬
prehensiveness, and special adaptation to the alleviation of
the cares, sorrows and depressing experiences of the masses;
BISHOP JONES' ADDRESSES.
257
for the complete fullness with which almost every subject
is embraced, which is susceptible of poetic improvement,
drawn out in most fitting words and impressive sentiment,
rendered magnetic by the musical art and combination of a
century—the songs of our Zions stand unrivaled in the
history of moving, melting and' captivating spiritual song.
Appropriate in their selection, graceful in their sim¬
plicity, deeply profound in their thoughtfulness, lofty and
grand in their style, all subduing in their pathos and match¬
less in their beauty, the songs of Methodism are clearly
destined to be, in the century upon which it has just en¬
tered, what they have been in the past and what they are
to-day—the grand rallying songs of the pious masses, and
the chief source of spiritual and elevating songs to all.
Dry formality may be satisfied with the operatic ren¬
derings of the organ, flute and clarionet; but full-grown,
stalwart Methodism will continue to require, as hereto¬
fore, the thrillingly elevating and inspiring songs of the
Wesleys.
These happy combinations of doctrinal, social, min¬
isterial and lyrical power and beauty, so popular and
attractive, have served to influence and inspire the thou¬
sands who have been gathered into that denominational
fold, and are likely to remain the attractive and conserva¬
tive elements of Methodistic power and influence for all
coming time.
But if we would fully estimate the power and influ¬
ence of Methodism over the masses, we must not confine
our investigation within the purely Methodistic commu¬
nion, since much of the power and influence exerted and
maintained over them by other denominations is very
largely the result of the incorporation, by these denomi¬
nations, of appliances, in whole or in part, not originally
their own, but borrowed from Methodism.
BISHOP JONES' ADDRESSES.
The astounding success of these original creations of
the Wesleys, however objectionable at one time, have,
by their grand achievements, assumed a most respectful
and dignified character, even in the estimation of those by
whom they were once so fiercely antagonized ; so that it
has not for a long while been thought at all degrading, or
even condescending by any denomination in Christendom,
as interest and progress have suggested, to incorporate,
either wjth or without disguise, so much of Methodism as
seemed necessary or desirable to secure these ends.
The startling success of Mr. Moody, both in Europe
and America, as well as the marked progress wliich has at¬
tended the efforts of that increasing class of workers for
God, styled Evangelists, is largely, if not mainly, attributa¬
ble to the fact that these men of God, having noted the
power and influence over the masses of that plain, simple,
and direct method of presenting Christ, so peculiarly Meth-
odistic—have broken away from old denominational lines
and theological imprisonments, to find ample scope for
their zeal and compensating reward for the ostracism of
their communions in similar successes, by the same prac¬
tical methods by which Wesley and his pious helpers
aroused the dormant sensibilities of the colliers of Moor-
field, and the neglected and perishing masses elsewhere—
a century gone by.
Thus it will be seen that the machinery, originated and
put in operation by Methodism, has been appropriated,
piece by piece, and utilized outside of Methodism as an or¬
ganization, until fragmentary parts of it are to be found in
almost every direction, recognizable by the efficient work
which is being accomplished by their agency for God and
the race.
These fragmentary appliances, however reluctantly to
those who may have appropriated them, offer their contri-
BISHOP JONES' ADDRESSES.
259
butions of merit, and demand a place in the imperishable
monument which Methodism is rearing here to-day, to the
remarkable forecast, the sanctified wisdom, and genius, the
magnificent success of the immortal founder of Methodism,
as the originator of the most efficient, the most formid¬
able, the most complete and durable plan by which to in¬
terest, arouse, and gather the masses to Jesus, known
to the church and the world since the days of the Apostles.
Any estimate, therefore, which does not include these out¬
side or secondary appliances of Methodism, in their power
and influence over the masses, must necessarily fall short of
a full estimate of its power and influence over them.
But, to come to figures. That noble little band of
God-fearing persons—three white and two colored—five in
all, which formed the nucleus of American Methodism in
the old rigging loft on Manhattan Island, poor, unin-
fluential, and but little known, has, by its simple, God-
inspired methods, gathered around it millions of followers,
who bore testimony to the truth, and have been borne aloft
to their final reward, and to-day it is represented here in
America alone by nearly or quite four millions of mem¬
bers, with a following of twenty millions, who are proud of
the name of Methodist.
The old rigging loft, which was ample, both in size
and style, as the humble sanctuary for all that Methodism
could rally to its standard in that day, has been succeeded
by thousands of stately edifices, rivalling in exhibitions of
architectural skill and beauty the most magnificent edifices
of the land.
These temples are thronged by anxious thousands of all
conditions, all shades and complexions, all nationalties, all
stations in life, and as proof of its power and influence over
the masses, it finds itself compelled to erect at least three
additional church edifices every day of the three hundred
26o
BISHOP JONES' ADDRESSES.
and sixty-five days of each and every year, in order to
make room for the accommodation of the tens of thousands
that are flocking to its standard, while at least two millions
and a quarter of children, gathered into her infant fold
through the instrumentality of that other powerfully effi¬
cient creation of Methodism, the Sunday-school, consti¬
tutes the rear-guard or reserve force of this mighty host of
the Lord. One may be pardoned for the manifestation of a
little impatience, when, in the face of these facts, gathered
from carefully prepared statistics, the eye or ear catches, as
they occasionally do, the bold and unblushing averment
that Methodism is inefficient as a Christian organization
for the work of reforming, elevating, and Christianizing the
masses. Demonstrative argument, historical facts seem, in
these instances, to have lost their legitimate province, and
bold, unsubstantiated assertion rules the hour.
Younger by half a century than the youngest of the
other prominent religious organizations in America, care¬
fully collected statistics demonstrate the fact that Methodism
has largely outstripped them all in membership, in church
edifices and sittings,in the valuation of church property, in
institutions of learning, in all the elements of thrift, perma¬
nency, and progress, and in nothing more than its time-
honored, characteristic and God-blessed devotion to the
work of hunting out the poor, obscure, neglected masses,
and its singulary astonishing and inimitable success in re¬
forming and christianizing the unwashed and "uncombed
millions" wherever found.
In this, which seems to be its special, Heaven-assigned,
and God-blessed mission, Methodism concedes nothing
to any denomination on earth, but modestly invites com¬
parison ; satisfied that the result will triumphantly estab¬
lish its every claim to the position of advance column of
BISHOP JONES' ADDRESSES.
261
the militant host and the grand central rendezvous of
recruits to the army of the Lord.
Vigorous, stalwart, and with no signs of decay, encour¬
aged by the past, cheered by the present and hopeful of the
future, it seems but needless waste of time to continue the
discussion of the proposition which heads this paper, since,
at every stage of the discussion evidences accumulate,
demonstrative of the fact that, so far from losing, Meth¬
odism is evidently increasing in power and influence over
the masses.
Indeed, it would seem difficult to imagine the possi¬
bility of a different result while human society, or even
human nature, continues to be what it is to-day.
Pressed by the ceaseless and inexorable demands
which a life of unremitting toil imposes, the masses find
but little time or opportunity, and possess quite as little
relish, to become familiar with deep and abstruse questions
of theology.
Hence, the simple and almost self-demonstrable doc¬
trines of Methodism, foremost of which are that man is a
sinner and therefore needs a Savior, that Christ died for all,
and, therefore, all may come to him for "salvation, happi¬
ness and heaven," meet that class of wants in the condi¬
tion and experience of the masses which nothing else can
supply; and, therefore, cannot fail to receive their hearty
and almost unquestioning assent—their firm adhesion.
The feeling of isolation and abandonment, so peculiar
to the condition of the poor, dependent masses, and which
lends a tinge of sadness and gloom to their whole life, must,
in the nature of things, always find fitting comfort and solac¬
ing balm in those simple doctrines, supplemented by the
spiritual reassurance afforded in the stirring poetic produc¬
tions of the Wesleys, and the animating songs of the Meth¬
odist Church.
262
BISHOP JONES' ADDRESSES.
In view, therefore, of its peculiar fitness and adaptation
to the wants and interests of mankind generally, and its
special function to supply the spiritual longings of the
masses, so far as human wisdom,foresight and management
are capable, Methodism is not likely to lose its power
and influence over the masses, and I hazard but little when
I venture to predict, as I now do, that whatever new and
untried religious methods the next century may reveal, if
Methodism is maintained by the coming generations in
its simplicity and purity, its second centennial will find it
what it is to-day—the matchless instrumentality for gath¬
ering the masses to Christ.
BISHOP JONES' ADDRESSES.
263.
ADDRESS V.
A MASONIC ADDRESS.
Delivered before the H. C. Molson Lodge, No. 41 of F.
and A. Masons in 1880.
Brethren of the Mystic Tie:
I congratulate you and the friends here for giving em¬
phasis to the occasion on this the first anniversary of your
organization.
I congratulate you on your fraternization with a most
ancient and honorable institution, whose elevating princi¬
ples possibly extending further back in the history of the
world than any otner organization established by men, have
shone forth with ever increasing lustre and beauty all along
the ages; an institution which recognizes God as the Sov¬
ereign of the universe, and man as the equal of man, un¬
conditionally. It fosters, teaches and insists on unwaver¬
ing truth, inflexible justice and unswerving humanity. It
frowns down upon all invidious distinction, while encourag¬
ing proper respect for rightful authority, and it discards all
semblance of oppression or undue advantage. It is the friend
of progress, encouraging the arts and sciences.
It is the handmaid of Christianity. In its Knighthood
it has carefully guarded the Sanctuary and bowed reverently
at its altar. It has protected from wicked fury the sacred
oracle, and to signalize its devotion to its sacred precepts,
Christianity finds it the ample trestle-board containing all
its precious designs. A noble institution !
In its symbolism a pure, virtuous and peaceable ife is
264
BISHOP JONES' ADDRESSES.
most beautifully illustrated and enforced in the lamb, skin,
dove, 24-inch gauge, square, compass, gavel, plumb, level,
net-work, lily-work and others. Habits of industry and
frugality are forcibly exhibited in the bee-hive, in the rough
and smooth ashler. The necessity for a preparation for
death comes to us in the broken column; and the glory of
an immortal life in the fadeless sprig of Cassia. The in¬
scrutable wisdom of God, and the consequent necessity of
his constant fear are strikingly set forth in the All-Seeing
Eye. The kindly proffer of the safe guidance of Christ is
seen in the blazing star. The open door and free admis¬
sion into the realm of blessedness shines forth in the theo¬
logical arena. Such, my hearers, is masonry.
Grand in age, grand in principles, grand in symbolism,
it has, nevertheless, had its fierce antagonisms and fiery
conflicts and retarding influence. It has been proscribed
by governments, hampered by dynasties, and repudiated by
those who have been ignorant of its real character. But,
amid all these conflicts it has stemmed the tide and so en¬
deared itself to the craft by its very vitality that they have
clung to its every tenet with a zeal and purpose that chal¬
lenges the admiration of those who looked on, prompting
them to cast in their lot and become identified with an or¬
ganization that could grow and flourish in the face of the
most formidable opposition.
But, thanks to the commendable patience and forbearance
displayed by the craft under the severest provocations, their
loyalty to goverments, their devotion to the interests of hu¬
manity, and their enviable fidelity to the principles of the
Order, and the well-being of each other—the opposition has
mainly ceased, and in every State and Territory the Order
is respected and honored.
Again I congratulate you on your identity with an
Order so distinguished with principles so ennobling, and
BISHOP JONES' ADDRESSES.
265
hopes so cheering. I trust that the smallnessof your num¬
ber, assembled in this church this evening, is an indication
of the care you have exercised in the selection of your
members, rather than that of a want of confidence in your
integrity or love for the Order. Guard well your outer
door and no improper persons will be* likely to alarm the
inner. Be careful of your inner life. Stamo out wicked
and unholy formations within and you will be likely to ex¬
hibit a chaste, lowly and attractive outer life. Emphasize
the principles and exhibit the symbols of your Order in all
your dealings with God and man, and these will elicit far
higher encomiums than all the tinsel paraphernalia you are
able to purchase, or are capable of wearing.
Finally, my brethren, let me remind you that all the
stones of which the Temple of Solomon was composed were
cut, squared, polished, numbered, beautified and carefully
marked for the adjustment in the building before they were
brought to Jerusalem. That magnificent temple was built
without the sound of a hammer. The stones in the quarry;
the gold, silver and brass in the crucible and mould, and on
the anvil; the cedars, wood and timber on Lebanon, were
prepared before brought to Jerusalem. The people stood
as gaping monuments of unspeakable wonder as this temple
went up, like magic, without the noise of chisel, mallet or
hammer. The foundations were laid, the arches were fin¬
ished, the walls were completed; stone after stone squared
and numbered, fitting in the closest joinery—all laid silently
in their places—none too long, none too short, none too
wide, none too thick, none too angular—not one stone left
over when the temple was finished. God drew the plan,
and its execution was a complete triumph of Masonic art.
If you would compose any part of that spiritual and
glorified Temple above, you must be a practical significance
to all your mystic appliances so as to place yourselves in
266
BISHOP JONES' ADDRESSES.
perfect harmony with the plans drawn out on the spiritual
trestle-board by the Grand Master of the Universe. We
are the materials. This world is the place of preparation.
We must be cut or dug out of nature's quarry, and hewn
by the line and worked by the square. We must square
our lives and conduct by the gospel rule. We must be
polished by affliction and beautified by the blood of Jesus
which cleanseth from all sin. We must be numbered with
the people of God. We must be inspected and marked by
our Lord and Master, so that no foolish, ignorant builder
will, reject a valuable stone and fling it away into the rub¬
bish. Get ready, here, to meet thy God. No repentance
in the grave nor pardon offered to the dead. No sound of
hammer, no stroke of the trowel, no application of mortar,
though they might remedy your defects, will save you in the
eternal world. If unprepared to fit in the place intended
for you, God will reject you.
By close observance of the orders coming from the
Supreme Grand Lodge above, you will not only succeed in
this life, but you will be duly prepared when called from
labor to reward to hang up your implements and jewels in
the Memorial Arch here and sweep through the pearly gates
of the New Jerusalem, and join in the grand ceremonies
some high day in heaven when the Grand Master, the Su¬
preme Architect, shall drop the Keystone into the Royal
Arch of the Temple.
BISHOP JONES' ADDRESSES.
267
ADDRESS VI.
THE CHURCH: ITS WORK: ITS FUTURE GLORY.
Delivered in Washington, D. C., February, 1870, During
the Agitation of Organic Union Between the M.
E. Church and the A. M. E. Zion Church.
Brethren and Friends:
If we trace the record of sacred history it will be dis¬
covered that the central purpose of the Almighty in the
management of the affairs of this world is to unite the
human family into one great organization, having for its
object the accomplishment of the very best results to man¬
kind—present, future and eternal.
This organization is denominated the "Church of the
living God," and is composed of the wise, the excellent,
the good, and the virtuous, of all nations, of every age, and
of every clime. All the important events that find a record,
either in sacred or profane history, will be found to have
been intended by God to subserve the interests of his
church, or to have been controlled by him to that end, in
spite of their original intention. If, therefore, Empires have
been founded, if States have existed, if Kingdoms have
flourished, if the rapid progress of the arts and sciences
have astonished the world, the design was not simply to
minister to or to gratify man's ambition, his love of power >
or his thirst for worldly honor and glory, but, for the
higher, nobler, grander purpose of subserving the interests
of the church, and of ministering to its progress.
In proportion to the efficiency with which these great
268
BISHOP JONES' ADDRESSES.
instrumentalities have contributed toward the central pur¬
pose to which they were designed to minister, in that
proportion have they subserved the end which rendered
their existence necessary; and, as one after another has
failed to make the contribution, or, has presumptuously
placed itself across the track on which the church is
moving, God has crushed it between "the upper and the
nether millstones" of his power. Hence, Kingdoms,
Empires, Dynasties, and States, which at one time existed
in all their dazzling splendor, the wonder of their times,
have been overturned and demolished, and the places
which once knew them, now know them no more; not
because the necessity for organized government had ceased,
for these have been multiplied, and will always be necessary
as instrumentalities in lifting the world to God ; but, failing
to answer the ends for which alone they were needed, they
passed away, by the breath of the Almighty, to give place
to others, which would better harmonize in their operations
with the divine purposes.
What is true respecting kingdoms and empires, is not
less true in regard to individuals. Failing to comprehend
what may be understood and admired by the most feeble¬
minded, but, worse still, failing to comply with these plain
duties, due alike to God, and to their fellow-men, short¬
sighted and wicked men have stood up like Pharaoh to
check the onward march of the host of the Lord; but,
like Pharaoh and his proud army, their lifeless remains
have been made to serve the double purpose of inspir¬
ing the church with the most animating songs of triumph,
and to warn the Baalams and the Baalaks of every
age, of the futility and the hazard of any and every
attempt to stand in the way, or, to oppose the movements of
the Sacramental host.
But the church of God to which all the vast achieve-
BISHOP JONES' ADDRESSES.
269
ments of man and the glittering glories of empires have
been made to contribute, outlives all the changes and revo¬
lutions of earth, and still remains the imperishable monu¬
ment of its own indestructibility, and the eloquent witness
of the Almighty's care.
When the cruel and despotic power of Roman Catho¬
licism had well nigh extinguished the sacred fire kindled
through the efforts of the Apostolical Church—fire raised
to a flame by the matchless eloquence, earnestness, and
courage of that model preacher of righteousness, Paul, and
his distinguished companions; when, amid that dark and
almost impenetrable night of Zion's saJness, the enemies of
the church congratulated each other upon the total defeat
of the cause of Christ, he, who has pledged to his people
unceasing love, and almighty power, gathered the scat¬
tered fragments of a righteous seed from convent and clois¬
ter, and, under the inspired leadership of Wicklifife and
Huss, of Luther and Melancthon, of Calvin and Wesley,
and a host of reformers, gave to the church that series of
victories which paralyzed her enemies, and clothed her with
the light and glory of the Reformation.
Again, when the soil of the Old World, robbed of
its fertility by the obnoxious weeds of superstition and re¬
ligious intolerance, ceased to afford the nourishment neces¬
sary to the accomplishment of the designs of God in the
forward movement of the church, he, who ever watches over
her with most tender care and solicitude, selected this new
World as the centre of her future operations. Guided and
sustained by an invisible agency, and after battling with the
discouragements of his countrymen, and with the perils of
the ocean, Columbus and his brave companions discovered
this western world.
Breaking away from the scenes of childhood, and the
endearments of home and friends, the Puritans, thirsting for
2JO
BISHOP JONES' ADDRESSES.
religious liberty, embarked on board the gallant ship May¬
flower, and, trusting in him whom winds and waves obey,
landed safely on Plymouth Rock, the advance-guard of
Emanuel's embannered host. Kneeling upon that conse¬
crated rock which so fitly symbolized the granite founda¬
tion of truth on which the church rests, they thanked God
for safe guidance, and, in the strength of that re-baptism of
fire which followed their prayer and thanksgiving, they un¬
furled the banner of the cross, and struck boldly out in the
interest of Christ's kingdom. How valiantly they fought,
and how fully God sustained them in the conflict, the early
history of the American church must tell. The history of
that church, so full of grand events and thrilling incidents,
is but the tribute of their fidelity, and the commentary in
which the Almighty has foreshadowed his purpose to make
this land the grand centre of the future operations of his
church. The signal success of our Revolutionary Fathers
in throwing off" the hampering yoke of a foreign power, and
securing civil and religious liberty for themselves and their
posterity, receives a simple and an easy interpretation only
when viewed in the light of the divine purpose in regard to
his church. Vastly inferior to their enemies in numbers, in
munitions of war, and in military discipline, what is true of
God's ancient Israel in relation to their possession of Pales¬
tine, is equally true of our Revolutionary Fathers in rela¬
tion to their possession of this land. " They got not the
land in possession by their own sword, neither did their
own arm save them, but thy right hand and thine arm, and
the light of thy countenance, because thou hadst a favor
unto them." Hence, the remarkable display of divine good¬
ness in his fostering care, and the rapid development, and
dazzling splendor of this nation. Not with the view of
gratifying our pride, have we been thus favored, but for the.
advancement and glory of the church of God now firmly
planted in this land, never, we trust, to be uprooted.
BISHOP JONES' ADDRESSES.
271
Human bondage, so inimical to the development and
growth of the church, so destructive of its vitality, cast
its dark form across the path on which she had been travel¬
ing, and for many years, threatened her very existence.
But, when the patience of heaven had been sufficiently
taxed to convince the Nation of the utter futility of every
effort to thwart the divine purposes, God looked out from
the cloudy pillar by which he is leading his spiritual Israel,
and tfte councils of this Nation were confused, and hostile
armies rushed'to mortal combat, till, (by the same bloody
instrumentality, war, which had been employed to extend
and perpetuate slavery,) that inhuman institution was over¬
turned.
How fearfully appalling, even in retrospect, are the
ravages of what was regarded by the venerated founder of
Methodism as the "sum of all villainies!" For years, it
held inglorious, but complete domination over the Ameri¬
can church and State. It had its numerous priests, and its
professedly pious apologists, no less than its cruel lash, its
branding irons, and its fierce bloodhounds; for each and all
of these constituted a part of that anomalous and unnatural
type of christian civilization from which we have just em¬
erged. Thanks to the good and true men, to glittering
bayonets and death-dealing cannons, and (since no meaner
price could secure it) thanks to the blood which flowed,
and to the wail that touched the nation's heart—but, above
all, t hanks to the eternal God of battles—slavery is abolished,
and the church is once more free.
In yielding obedience to the ever-increasing and inex¬
orable demands of slavery, the church laid aside its beauti¬
ful garments of Christian simplicity and love, and, putting
on the many colored and many shaped dresses of hypoc¬
risy, prejudice, proscription, and hate, stood ready to do
whatever slavery required. It is true, that, even in those
272
BISHOP JONES' ADDRESSES.
degenerate times, an element was to be found in the church
representing whatever of Christian vitality remained in it,
raising their voices, and entering their solemn protest
against this shameful prostration to the behests of a cruel,
though popular institution. It is also true, that, amid the
noise and din of the fearful carnival of evil which swept
over the Nation, that voice was but feebly heard, and still
more feebly regarded.
The angry discussions, the fierce conflict of ideas,
growing out of an irreconcilable antagonism between truth
and error, between right and wrong, finally resulted in
severing the bonds of Christian fraternity, and the union
of religious organizations ; and the Moloch of human bond¬
age beheld, with grim delight, the scattered fragments of
an organization, formidable for the overthrow of his dark
Empire, and all evil, but formidable only when firmly
united.
The M. E. Church was perhaps more seriously affected
by these divisions than any other religious body in
America. Setting aside those unwarrantable .distinctions
and lifeless forms of the Established Church, the founders of
Methodism seem to have designed that its simple creed,
and practical and earnest character, should meet the wants
of those who occupy the humbler walks of life. Without
any want of interest for the spiritual comfort of the more
favored, it would seem that, more than all else, the Wesleys
designed that Methodism should afford an asylum to God's
humble poor. But, looking back over the plane on which
Methodism has moved for half a century, you still see, in
the dim distance, the sad record, which, like the petrified
form of Lot's wife, should serve to humble our pride and to
warn us of the danger of unholy alliances, telling us that
even from the communion of the Methodist Church her
children, black snd white, were driven by a merciless pro¬
scription.
BISHOP JONES' ADDRESSES.
273
It was from such intolerable proscription that the
humble founders of the A. M. E. Zion Church, which I
now represent, were compelled to withdraw. These col¬
ored men were included in the membership of the First
Methodist Society in America, the John Street Methodist
Church, of venerated memory, in the city of New York at a
very early stage of its existence, if not at its organization.
And it was not until the invidious distinctions, resulting
from the cruel and anti-Christian relationship of slavery,
had been made to rest with crushing weight upon the col¬
ored element, everywhere, in church and state, not until
even in the Methodist Church, were they shut out from all
but the most subordinate positions, not until even in the
distribution of the consecrated elements which symbolize
the body and blood of Christ in which they were taught
the sacriligious dogma of their inferiority, did our Fathers
reluctantly leave the Mother Church.
But the Church like the Nation, has at last been
aroused from its dreaming slumbers by the voice of God,
uttered in awful majesty during the fearful conflict just
ended, in which each were sought to be crushed by the
ponderous wheels of the car of the same juggernaut at
whose bloody shrine each had long worshipped, and to
whose commands each had yielded a willing obedience.
Thus awakened, the Nation arose in the glory and grand¬
eur of its power, and by the pen of the immortal Lincoln,
and the more potent voice of the people in the adoption
by Congress, and the ratification by the States of the 13th
Amendment to the Constitution, made the many headed
monster which had so long been permitted to sit a blight¬
ing incubus upon the advancement and glory of America,
bite the dust; and it was buried by an indignant Nation,
face downward, so that there might be no possible chance
of ressurrection.
274
BISHOP JONES' ADDRESSES.
The proclamation which announced the liberation of
four millions and a half of human beings, also proclaimed
liberty to more than fifty thousand ministers to take the
Gospel of Christ, and to proclaim from every pulpit through¬
out the broad land that, man is the brother of man, and that
God is the Father of us all. Having broken the yoke of
oppression, unfettered the Word of God, emancipated
Christianity, and protected the rights of all its citizens, there
remains but the single duty of investing every man beneath
the Stars and Stripes with that great shield of protection,
the right to vote and to be voted for, and the duty of the
Nation will have been performed.
To blot out those invidious distinctions, the remaining
outgrowth of the demolished institution of slavery, promi¬
nently among which is religious caste, separate church or¬
ganizations founded on color, and a thousand smaller, but
not less anti-Christian malformations—in short—to wipe
out all distinctions save those founded on virtue and vice,
is now the solemn duty of the American Christian Church.
Divorced, as she now is, from her strange and unnatural
connection with a barbarous institution; left to wield her
strong right arm in defence of humanity and justice; to
bind up the broken-hearted, to cheer the faint, and to lift
the millions of God's neglected and dispised poor to a higher
plane, hers is a brilliant prospect—a grand and holy mis¬
sion. In view of her past record, let there be no hesitancy,
much less faltering, on her part, in performing these great
duties; but, as a matter of gratitude to God, as a small re-
quittal for the many wrongs inflicted on the weak and de¬
fenceless by her permission or connivance—but above all
—as a great Christian obligation, let the American church
press forward in this her only path to honor and to glory.
By the blessing of heaven, and the indomitable energy
of its great leaders, the M. E. Church in America has
BISHOP JONES' ADDRESSES.
275
reached a position of great prominence and commanding
influence. • Great in numbers, vast in her intellectual and
material resources, without a rival in the adaptation of her
entire economy to the wants and needs of the learned and
the unlearned, the rich and the poor, she is regarded by her
more aged, but less prosperous sisters, with rather more
than Godly jealousy.
Along with great blessings, come, also, great duties
and responsibilities; the latter always being commensurate
with the former. God does nothing without a purpose.
If, therefore, he has given the M. E. Church prosperity and
increase above other portions of his great family in America,
it is that she may use the power and influence thus com¬
mitted to her, in building up the Kingdom of Christ. A
vast field now lies before that church, in the providence of
God, in which the harvest is abundantly ready for the
reapers; in administering to the spiritual wants and neces¬
sities of that hated portion of the human family identified
with me in color, and whose moral, social and religious ele¬
vation and improvement, promises such a rich reward to
that branch of the church which shall most fully and earn¬
estly engage in the good work. Constitutionally fervid,
and therefore emotional; taught by the bitter trials and ex¬
periences of over two hundred years the lesson and art of
simple reliance upon the promises of God, the recently dis¬
enthralled Afro-Americans find, in the simple but compre¬
hensive faith of the Methodist Church, a fitness, a homo-
geneousness, and a consolation, which they find no where
else. Pre-eminently the "Children of Song," they find a
natural and easy outlet to their deep and pious emotions in
the matchlessly thrilling poetry of the immortal Wesleys,
and others, so happily arranged by the church.
Thus adapted, and with more than an hundred thous¬
and colored communicants already within her pale, this
276
BISHOP JONES' ADDRESSES.
church possesses peculiar advantages, and need but open
her matronly arms, and, on the broad platform of Christian
equality, welcome to her embrace her long neglected oft
spring, to insure, not only their immediate return, but, also
the almost entire strength of this wonderful people at no
very distant day.
Encouraged by the fraternal spirit manifested by the
leading men of that church toward that wing of the Metho¬
dist family to which I have the honor to belong, and, es¬
pecially, by the legislature of the General Conference of
that church in its session of 1868, touching the interests of
her colored members, but more than all, looking to the fu¬
ture of the church and the race, the General Conference of
the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in America,
then sitting in Washington, D. C., made the proposal of
affiliation and union with the M. E. Church, the parent or¬
ganization, which was met by the General Conference of
that organization, then sitting in Chicago, in a spirit of
generous Christian regard, deeply impressing us with the
belief, that the Almighty had wrought a most wonderful
change in that church in the interest of humanity and chris¬
tian equality. I recall with pleasure, as an evidence of this
change, the warm cordiality with which, as a delegate bear¬
ing these propositions, I was received in that General Con¬
ference. And, if I rightly interpret that enthusiastic recep¬
tion, and the popular applause which greeted the progres¬
sive sentiments I uttered there; if all the usual indications
of approval known to an American audience are not to be
disregarded, or reversed in this case, then the vast majority
of the earnest and true men composing that great Christian
Council, are fully committed to the union of these two or¬
ganizations, on the only fair, honorable, and Christian basis
of absolute and unqualified equality.
If I properly comprehend the veryf courteous and
BISHOP JONES' ADDRESSES. 277
fraternal spirit with which the proceedings of the first meet-
ing of the joint-commission, charged with the important de¬
tails involved in the negotiation of this union, held in Phil¬
adelphia on the 23rd and 24th of November last, were
characterized, the near-approximation to unity in the ex¬
change of propositions in that meeting, and the free and
favorable expression in the commission, as well as the warm
and able advocacy of the rightfulness and expediency of
this union, by the most influential journals of the M. E.
Church, then the work so auspiciously commenced, is des-
tied to be crowned with success, in the harmonious unifi¬
cation of these two churches at no very distant period, un¬
less our people and ministers oppose it.
And why, I ask, should not this union take place ?
Why should not these invidious distinctions, which have
so long been permitted to mar the otherwise proud record
of the M. E. Church, be now and forever obliterated?
Presbyterians have long since recognized the Christian and
ecclesiastical equality of the colored element of that relig¬
ious body; and colored men have, again and again, pre¬
sided over the deliberations of the highest Ecclesiastical
Council in that church. Roman Catholics, with commend¬
able liberality, as well as forecast, are now educating colored
men by scores and by hundreds, for high ministerial posi¬
tions in that church, to be introduced, doubtless, in the
Southern States, and into every other field which prom¬
ises to give the most strength to Catholicism. Is Protestant¬
ism, which, professedly, so much dreads the encroachments
of this controller of governments, this annihilator of the
written word of God, this deadly foe of Republican institu¬
tions, and the adherents of every other faith but its own, so
blinded by prejudice against color that it would sooner in¬
vite or hazard a revival of the horrors of the bloody inquis¬
ition than do justice to the colored man ? Will the M. E.
278
BISHOP JONES' ADDRESSES.
Church, capable as she is of wielding such colossal strength
in the interest of Protestantism, look on with cold indiffer¬
ence, and permit Catholicism to supply, however unpalat-
ably, the raging thirst for knowledge of those who, as we
have shown, are naturally inclined to Methodism but who,
rather than remain in ignorance reluctantly accept the lib¬
eral proffers of a church with whose dogmas they have very
little sympathy ? Shall institutions of learning in the M.
E. Church, professedly established and endowed with the
view of building up the cause of Methodism on the Ameri¬
can Contenent, and elsewhere, remain but partially filled
with students, while hundreds of pious young men of color
are being deprived of the means of future usefulness in the
church and to the world for want of a theological educa¬
tion ?
* Shall the millions of dollars annually collected by
that church for the purpose of extending its blessed princi¬
ples, and to give the Gospel to the poor, be appropriated to
the unnecessary aggrandizement of the churches of the rich,
while thousands of God's poor, of the same family, are in
a state of destitution, without decent houses of worship,
without the means of educating their ministry, or even
giving them an honorable support ? These are questions,
involving the true mission and character of the M. E. Church,
and upon the answers to them, depends very largely, the
success, or the failure of that church, in accomplishing the
great work for which in the order of divine providence, she
is so eminently fitted. They will receive either a negative
or an affirmative answer in the final disposition of the sub¬
ject of union now under consideration between these two
churches.
To unite and concentrate the several parts of an army,
so as to throw its entire strength against the stronghold of
the enemy, is the wise policy of a great military leader,
BISHOP JONES' ADDRESSES.
and is the usually successful movement by which strong¬
holds are carried, which, but for such union and concen¬
tration, the enemy might successfully resist every effort of
that army, till column after column melted away, leaving
the hostile colors still floating in proud defiance from the
unsealed rampart. The union and concentration of all
the elements of Methodism in America, holding, as
they do, the same doctrines, and, for the most part, the
same forms of government, address themselves to the
reason and judgment of all; and must commend themselves
to every one who loves Methodism and desires its success.
Upon the union and concentration of these scattered forces
into one consolidated army, depends the success of the
campaign on which it has entered, and may determine, in
advance, the question whether this grand division of the
army of the cross of Christ is to eventually capture the
strongholds necessary to be carried, if it is to accomplish
its mission of glory, or, whether its flanks shall be turned,
its centre driven, and its well organized and disciplined col¬
umns crushed, one by one, until finally, the entire army is
routed, and scattered.
If the Nation, and the political machinery, which held
my people as goods and chattels yesterday, fully and prac¬
tically recognizes their equality to-day, by investing them
with all the rights of the most favored citizen, who dares to
utter the foul slander that the Church is so far behind the
political world, in all that is just, humane, and Christ-like,
that she still denies the equality of God's children?
that while the Congress of the United States, and a major¬
ity of the legislatures of the several states, including those
which inaugurated a bloody war and sacrificed thousands
of lives to perpetuate and, if possible, to eternize the mon¬
strous dogma of the inferiority of the black man, and the
consequent right to enslave him—that while tnese States
28o
BISHOP JONES'' ADDRESSES.
are addressing themselves to the humane work of elevating
the colored element—while they are electing them to pos¬
itions of honor and trust, that the Church only regards
and treats them, as " hewers of wood, and drawers of
water ? " that while the whole secular power of the Nation
is being enlisted in the direction of absorbing this, hitherto,
isolated and unfortunate element, into the body politic, the
Ecclesicatical Powers, with but limited exception, are still
hesitating, still discussing the simple question—" Is it poli¬
tic to do right ? " It is by no means strange or improbable
that there should be found in these two churches, the union
which I am now advocating, both white and colored per¬
sons who stand opposed to this blessed work. It is not
strange to find men opposed to any great progressive move¬
ment. Influenced by selfish and unworthy motives, jeal¬
ous of their honor, or fearful of their position, or unable to
take a broad and comprehensive view of the glorious future
of the Church and the race, or holding on to their petty
and senseless prejudices—blind, alike, to the purposes of
God, and to the interest of mankind, men have been, and
will ever be found, as in this case, opposing the right and
fostering the wrong. But while the Church may have due
respect for their opinions—may deplore their narrow and
selfish views—she ought not, cannot, without compromising
her interest, and hazarding her safety, heed their counsel.
Having safely brought the church through the baptism of
fire and blood from which she has just emerged, the Al¬
mighty is now saying to her from the heights of His throne
—" do right, and prosper." Will she hear the voice of
God ? Will she heed the solemn warning ?
It was not until the Nation consented to do right in
recognizing the colored man as a man, and as a brother in
arms, in permitting him to share the trials and the honors
of a soldier in the late rebellion, that the God of armies
BISHOP JONES' ADDRESSES.
281
turned the tide of battle in favor of the national arms, add¬
ing victory to victory, until the sword of the rebellion
was received by the illustrous Grant, the hero of the war,
under the memorable tree at Appomatox. We can all now
see why it was that we had our Bull Run, our Balls Bluff,
our great Bethel, and numerous other defeats; why it was
that, although our land and naval forces had been thrown
around the rebellious territory, like a great anaconda,
our army, nevertheless, melted away by the fatal flight of
rebel bullets, until a deathly paleness spread over the face
of the entire Nation, and the National Government stood in
doubt as to the future of the Republic. All these reverses,
these dark, hours of our national existence, were parts of
Jehovah's arrangement to bring this Nation to a sense of
its guilt—to teach it to do right.
It may be, that the grand victories of the church that
shall give this, and all nations of earth, to Jesus, are those
that shall follow the return of the American Church—to be
followed by the church everywhere—to the plain and sim¬
ple principles of Christianity, practiced by the Apostolic
Church ; it may be that this grand achievement is to be re¬
served for the church, when it shall fully, freely, and prac¬
tically recognize the great truth, that "God has made of
one blood all nations to dwell on the face of the earth;"
that all are, therefore, equally, brethren.
It was the Almighty Founder of the Christian Church
who, having come to lay down his life for it, devoutly
prayed that, in order to its success and final triumph, it
might be united; that its followers might be one as he and
his Father are one. It was Jesus who so well knows the
true elements of her success, who gives us, as the reason
for this earnest petition for the unity of his followers, these
thrilling words, " That the world may believe that thou
hast sent me." The unity of Christ's followers is the grand
282
BISHOP JONES' ADDRESSES.
prelude to the conversion of the world. What a motive
for union! And what a blessed comment on the signifi¬
cance and appropriateness of this prayer of the Savior is
furnished us in the series of victories, the astonishing suc¬
cesses of the Apostolic Church! No eulogy is elicited from
the world by the inimitable oratory, and the masterly elo¬
quence of St. Paul and his co-laborers in the Gospel. No
glowing tribute is paid to their numerous gifts, of prophecy,
of healing, of interpretation, and of miracles; but, even a
cold and unbelieving world beheld, with admiration and
wonder, their singular and heaven-inspired unity. "Behold!"
says the world, "how these Christians love." Their union
and fellowship were the captivating evidence of that love,
and wrung from their enemies the unwilling acknowledge¬
ment that their affections were controlled by super-natural
influence ; and, as a consequence, that their founder was not
only Man, but God. What ,was so potent to convince man¬
kind of the divinity of Christ's mission in the days of the
Apostles, is, surely, not less potent to-day.
That the Church in America, as elsewhere, may at
once address itself to this powerfully christianizing princi¬
ple, and thus hasten the victories of the cross of Christ, is
now, as it was in the days of his incarnation, the prayer of
the blessed Savior, and should be the earnest desire, the
constant effort, and the unceasing prayer, of all his true fol¬
lowers.
I can sympathize, somewhat, with those who are in¬
duced to look at this proposed union with disfavor by the
"fear of forced contact with colored people," for slavery
has not only produced between us an unnatural estrange¬
ment, but, also a senseless dread of free contact. I call it
"a senseless dread" because it will never exist to any alarm¬
ing extent while my people are in a condition of servitude.
There is not a single office in the whole domestic relation-
BISHOP JONES' ADDRESSES. 283
ship, from the cradle to the grave, which they have not, as
servants, most freely and acceptably performed for the
whites. It is only, therefore, when they are to be regarded
and treated as equals, that there arises this mock dread of
contamination as the result of contact.
But, it would seem, that a little calm reflection might
suffice to allay even these unnecessary fears. No undue
anxiety has ever been manifested on the part of Afro-Amer-
icans, generally, to intrude themselves into the company of
the whites, simply for the sake of being in their company. If
there is a seeming desire of this character, it is prompted
by the very natural and sensible wish with them, as with
all other portions of mankind, to better their condition.
The anxiety, therefore, to be in a fine railroad car, a fine
hotel, to attend a fine lecture, or to dine at a nicely covered
table, is with my oppressed but noble people, as with all
others, the choice of the better, rather than the choice of
the worse, and, as such, has nothing to do with color, but
simply deals with whatever is the better and the most desir¬
able thing. So far from proving that they are not equally
as modest as any other people, as it respects this " intrud¬
ing disposition," it only demonstrates the fact that they
are a part of the race, and in spite of the efforts of over two
hundred years to disconnect them from it, they still possess
all its peculiarities. I am urging this union, not on the
grounds of the inferiority, or the seperiority, of either party,
but on the broad grounds of " Christian Brotherhood," and
Christian equality. Let there, therefore, be no senseless
dread of the result of this union, no unnecessary fear of
forced contact on either hand.
Emancipation was long dreaded by the North under
the fearful apprehension that the emancipated slaves would
overrun every Northern State until residence, everywhere,
in those States would not only be undesirable, but, intoler-
284
BISHOP JONES' ADDRESSES.
erable. And yet, that event has taken place, not gradually,
but in a day, and lo ! there is not a single locality in the
entire North but what is, to-day, not only as desirable for
all purposes, as before that event, but, adundantly more so,
because of it. The result is that while poverty, depriva¬
tion, want, ex-rebel cruelty and proscription have ren¬
dered their stay in the South most hazardous, nevertheless,
it has been the misfortune and the complaint of very many
northern communities, pressed as they have been for hired
labor, that so few of my freed people can be induced, even by
the most tempting promises of remuneration, to come
North.
So in the event of the consummation of this union, it
may be that many of those churches, where color in the
face is such an obnoxious feature, (especially where the Al¬
mighty has permitted it to be a dark color and it is not the
result of chemical skill,) may be left to sigh for the novelty
of such a face in the congregation. I doubt not, but for
sometime to come—God grant that it may be short—that
separate places of worship will not only be desirable, but
actually necessary to free and untrammelled worship with
either party. Just liberated from the dictum of slavery, it
may require some time even for Christianity to bring back
the Church to the purity and simplicity of the Gospel of
Christ. But, if she is ever to be blessed with such purity
and simplicity, if Christianity alone is to be the test of mem¬
bership, the present is the opportune hour to prepare the
way. If, as some, not without reason, assume, that the
final results of the Ecumenical Council ostensibly convened
for the purpose of settling the dogma of Infallibility, shall
prove to have been a grand Council of War, to arrange the
programme of a bloody conflict for the overthrow of Pro¬
testantism, it eminently benefits the Evangelical Church,
everywhere, to lay aside the petty feuds which now divide
BISHOP JONES' ADDRESSES.
285
its strength, to harmonize all its differences, and to marshal
its entire strength for the day of trial.
But, even if it should please the great Head of the
Church to save us from a calamity so dire (for which I de¬
voutly pray,) still the future glory of the church depends
largely upon the union and concentration of all the ele¬
ments of Protestantism. While I am perfectly willing that
every part of that Church shall participate in the work, and
thereby share a proportional part of the honor and dignity
of the world's uplifting, I will not attempt to disguise the
deep anxiety I feel, that Methodism may, as it has abund¬
ant opportunity, share the burden of the work,-and the
glory.
Brethren, that work is before us, and it is the purpose
of Jehovah to accomplish it, if not by us, then without us,
and by those whom He will raise up to fill the places for
which we shall have proven ourselves unworthy. When
you and I shall have passed away, when the advocates and
the opponents of this great measure shall have gone to
stand before God to report the position they assumed on
the question of the unification of Christ's Church, when
the true principles of Christianity shall have permeated
every heart, and regulated every department of that Church,
when earnest and uncompromising Christian radicalism
shall have, everywhere, become as popular as it has been
unpopular, then shall Christians meet here, and everywhere,
to worship God, free from any of those invidious distinc¬
tions which have so long disgraced the Church and para¬
lyzed its efforts.
What a grand prospect, to every lover of Jesus, is the
near approach of a day so glorious! I imagine, if the
happy departed can feel any interest in what is transpiring
here below, then the sainted host, whose piety and zeal were
so brilliantly displayed in the early days of Christianity,
286
BISHOP JONES' ADDRESSES.
and of Methodism, are by no means indifferent as to the
movements now in progress touching this important sub¬
ject. With what delight—what inexpressible rapture—
must the glorified spirits of the departed Wesleys, and their
illustratious fellow-workmen in the cause of Methodism,
look down upon the pleasing prospect of the final success
of their efforts to establish a Church in which all foolish
distinctions should be ignored, and its entire strength di¬
rected toward the uplifting of the world to Christ!
Forgetting therefore, all past distinctions, let each one
of us exert whatever influence we may possess to bring
about a consummation so desirable to the living and to the
dead; satisfied, that, when the closing scene of life shall
come, and the events of Our probationary state are passing
in brief review before us, none will be more pleasing to our
thought, or more cheering to our hearts, than that which
shall reveal our hearty approval of the proposition for an
"United Church."
Then, as life's sun is setting in a cloudless sky, the
last gladdening earthly scene which will fade from view
only as the surpassing effulgence and beauty of heaven's
superior light and glory shall break upon our astonished
vision, will be the brilliant, rapidly rising, advancing Star
of an United Church.
GOLDEN TRIBUTES.
287
BISHOPS.
Bishop T. H. Lomax, D. D.: As an intellectual force,
he had no superior in the race.
Bishop J. M. Brown, D. D., D. C. L.: I knew him so
well that it seems hard to part with him now. He was a
grand man and an able divine.
Bishop H. M. Turner, D. D., LL. D.: In debate, I
have seen men quail before him like a dove before an
eagle. He was a hard hitter. His sarcasm was stinging.
I shall in the near future pronounce a fitting eulogy upon
him.
Bishop C. C. Pettey, D. D.: I admired his superior
wisdom and splendid leadership. He thought well, rea¬
soned accurately and was a positive force both in Church
and State.
Bishop J. P. Thompson, M. D., D. D.: He was my social
companion. I regarded him as the greatest man in all
respects that our church could claim. He was a leader
indeed.
Bishop J. J. Moore, D. D.: He was one of the brightest
stars in the ministerial constellation—a champion of our
manhood rights, a theologian of unusual capacity, and a
pulpit orator of almost unequalled excellence.
Bishop C. R. Harris, D. D.: Bishop Jones was a most
eloquent and convincing orator. In quickness and pene¬
tration of thought, in logical force of reasoning and in his
mastery of the weapons of satire, he stood pre-eminent
288
GOLDEN TRIBUTES.
among his compeers. He was an able defender of the
rights of his race.
Bishop A. W. Wayman, D. D.: I have known him for
years. I called to see him in his last illness. The name of
a staunch friend and an able preacher has been stricken
from the roll of living bishops. His venerable form has
disappeared from our midst. He is at rest.
Bishop D. A. Payne, D. D., LL. D.: I met him, of¬
ficially, three times in our effort to unite our respective
denominations. His thoughtfulness and shrewdness, evident
in every thing he said, placed him in my judgment in the
front rank of profound thinkers and ably qualified him to be a
leader of the race. For years the leading spirit in shaping
the important legislation of his church, a controversial
writer, quick in grasping and analyzing suggested prop¬
ositions and detecting fallacies in whatever specious guise,
he was the proper man to help effect the organic union of
the two great bodies of Negro Christians. I regret that
he died before he realized his desired wishes.
Bishop J. W. Hood, D. D.: The ablest black preacher
in America has fallen in death. He was a theologian of the
first water. Nothing flighty anywhere in his theoloy. He
was clear and orthodox. He preached what he knew and
backed it up with Scripture. Zion has lost her readiest de¬
fence. I shall miss him more than any other man, not as a
social companion, for we were never that, but as my most
rusted colleague in the interest of the church.
Bishops J. P. Campbell, D. D., LL. D., and B. W.
Arnett, D. D : Mrs. Bishop Jones, we have heard of the
death of your dearly beloved husband, the scholar, orator
and Christian gentleman. With you we deeply mourn his
loss. We have known him well for a long time as a leader
earnestly devoted to the interest of the human race, and par¬
ticularly concerned in the promotion of the educational,
GOLDEN TRIBUTES.
289
moral and religious character of his own dowri-trodden peo¬
ple. The ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ has lost a
shining light, and our sister connection, Zion A. M. E.
Church, an influential advocate, and a prominent prelate.
Bishop T. M. D. Ward, D. D.: I have known him nearly
40 years. He was a man of extraordinary power: unos¬
tentatious, simple in manners, thoughtful, eloquent and
learned. I looked upon him as one of the noblest men of
our time. The last time I heard him preach was at the
dedication of the Metropolitan Bethel Church, in Washing¬
ton, D. C. He said he was very feeble and doubted his ability
to do justice to the occasion. The audience was large. The
music, led by Mrs. Smallwood, was seraphic. God was
there. Bishop Jones in a clear, full, mellofluent voice, held
that vast audience spell-bound for one hour. It seemed to
me that he swept by the very gates of the City of God. It
was a sermon of uncommon power. In the pulpit, he was
a master of assemblies.
I loved the man because he saw our weakness as a
race and as a church, and he shouted all along the line,
"United we stand, divided we fall." It was he who 24
years ago in Washington and Philadelphia offered to our
church the olive branch of peace, the pledge of union. Up
to the last hour, he stood as the champion of an united
colored American Methodism. In the great hereafter the
union seed which hfe "sowed in tears" will produce a
glorious harvest. May his successor prove to be as useful
in his day and generation as Singleton T. Jones was
during a period which tested the fidelity and courage of
every black man on the continent of America, yes, in the
world. Peace to his memory.
MINISTERS.
Rev. R. H. Simmons: He was a great preacher and
an accomplished leader.
290
GOLDEN TRIBUTES.
Rev. I. C. Clinton, D. D.: He had scarcely an equal
in the Nation as an orator and leader of his people.
Rev. M. H. Ross: He was the ablest man that Zion
ever produced.
Rev. H. L. Simmons: He was a debater of great
courage.
Rev. G. H. Haines: He was a man of superb pulpit
qualifications.
Rev. J. W. Thomas: He was a gifted orator, a match¬
less debater.
Rev. A. B. Smyer: The church has lost an untiring
worker.
Rev. T. F. H. Blackman: He has done a great work,
and did it well.
Rev. R. J. Daniels : He was faithful to his brethren in
the ministry.
Rev. J. H. Mattocks: He was a worthy representative
of Zion and the race.
Superintendent Andrew Cartright, of Africa: He was
the lion of Zion; true to his brethren. He did not use his
office to punish men.
Rev. W. H. Chambers: He had no superior and but
one equal in this country as a rospel preacher. That was
Henry Ward Beecher.
Rev. J. S. Cowles, A. B.: He was the most convinc¬
ing and original divine for thought and conviction I ever
heard.
Rev. E. H. Curry, D. D.: As a preacher, debater,
writer and orator he was distinguished. He had few
equals.
Rev. J. M. Washington : There was only one Single¬
ton T. Jones. He was true to his God, true to his church,
true to his friends, just to his opponents. He never left his
friends in the lurch.
GOLDEN TRIBUTES.
291
Rev. J. S. Caldwell: He was an excellent disciplinarian,
a matchless debater, a sublime pulpit orator and a christian
statesman of whom any race might have felt proud.
Rev. M. G. Thomas: As a man, he was loyal to his
friends. He did not try to pull you down. As a pulpit
orator, he was charming. As a bishop he was brilliant. He
was an able Negro parliamentarian.
Rev. Jehu Holliday: A successful church governor
and able pulpit orator. Pleasing in his manner, loving and
kind to all, be was an able advocate of the "Fatherhood of
God and the Brotherhood of Man."
Rev. Jacob Thomas : He was an able minister of the
New Testament, a profound thinker, a brilliant writer, and a
ready, invincible debater, standing without a superior in any
Negro church in the world.
Rev. R. S. Rives, D. D.: He wa? one cf the ablest men
of the age. A r:pe scholar, a profound pulpit speaker; he
was unmatched in a debate. He was brotherly and liberal.
He loved his church above all things else.
Rev. J. H. White: He was in every sense a great
man. As a debater unequalled. As a race representative
he was able and faithful and fearless in the defense of God's
truth and the rights of the Afro-American.
Rev. W. J. Moore: He first attracted my attention at
the general conference in Charlotte, N. C., May, 1868, when
he made that great speech relative to the law of our church.
I saw then he was a master debater with but few equals.
Rev. Geo. E. Smith: He was the ablest pulpit orator
and debater that Zion ever had. May many yet unsaved,
by. reading his book of sermons, be led to seek salvation.
May the dead bones of this prophet, under God's power res¬
urrect sinners dead in sin.
Rev. J. M. Hill: The life of this man has many lessons
of the greatest value. He was a thorough parliamentarian
292
GOLDEN TRIBUTES.
and a brilliant preacher. He shone in dazzling splendor as
a debater. None cared to rub up against him in a debate.
Rev. J. H. McMullen : He kept himself well informed
along all lines of vital interest to his church, race or coun¬
try, which made him a great defender against injustice to
any of the above named interests.
Rev. W. H. Snowdew : He was an able writer, a match¬
less debater, a great theologian and the ablest defender of
Zion. He possessed a mind far beyond the average of his
race.
Rev. R. H. Stitt: He was a polished pulpit orator, a
splendid logician, a sarcastic debater, the powerful defender
of Zion and a safe race leader. "He was a burning and
shining light."
Rev. G. B. Walker: He was Zion's hero. He was the
most profound and eloquent pulpit orator of the race that I
ever heard. I sympathized with the man that crossed him
in a debate. In this particular, he was a giant
Rev. J. F. Paige: He was an extraordinary preacher,
plain, practical, full of rich scriptural and historical illustra¬
tions. He loved the books of Milton, Pollok and John
Bunyan.
Rev. W. H. Heard, D. D.: I regarded him as the great¬
est man on your bench of Bishops, and the equal of any
member of any bench of Bishops. The loss of such a man
would be a severe blow to any denomination.
Rev. N. J. Green, D. D.: He was one of the most elo¬
quent and best preachers and also one of the most devoted
supporters of his church I ever knew.
Rev. Samuel Sherman : I am in possession of valuable
matter concerning Bishop Jones which I will give
when you commence his second volume. I cannot do
justice to this great man in two or three sentences.
Rev. R. A. Fisher : As a preacher his eloquence was
GOLDEN TRIBUTES.
293
irresistible. As a presiding officer he mastered the art of
governing men by making them govern themselves. He
was an accomplished leader of his'church and race.
Rev. R. R. Morris, D. D.: As a bishop he possessed all
the qualifications required for the exalted office. He was
a profound theologian. He was kind, manly, true, a
lover of the race, broad and liberal, honest in his convictions.
Rev. R. H. G. Dyson, D. D.: When he was in the
spirit to preach he had but few equals. As an orator he
was fine. As a debater, he had less equals than as a preacher.
Our church has lost a great man.
Rev. Smith Claiborne: The marvel of his Ciceronian
power to electrify an audience, lay not solely in his
acquired ability, but also in the captivating melody and
sweetness of his voice.
Rev. J. H. Mauley, D. D.: In him God's ministers had
a friend and brother. He had a will that unflinchingly
withstood the criticism of opposing forces and won for
him the respect and admiration even of his opposers.
Rev. J. P. Thompson: He was a prince in Zion. His
candor and pleasantness compelled those over whom he
presided to love him. He never acted incognito with the
church, ministers or race. He was true, square.
Rev. F. A. Clinton: He was the foremost man of
the Negro Methodist pulpit. Unostentatious, child-like,
yet when aroused a terror to his adversary, a wall of ada¬
mant to the protection of his friends.
Rev. J. H. Anderson : He was masterly in intellect,
profound in thought, elegant in diction, sublime, pathetic,
eloquent, courageous, sympathetic, a giant in debate, an
able and wise executive, and a dignified prelate.
Rev. C. W. Winfield : He was one of the greatest men
of the age. Like Elijah, he is now in the blue eternities
294
GOLDEN TRIBUTES.
above, in that quiet country, where the voices of praise
are ever heard. He had few equals as a debater.
Rev. T. A. Weathington : He was possessed of great
readiness in parliamentary practice and of a genial firmness ;
therefore no strategy could disturb his balance of temper.
He ruled with courtesy, accuracy and firmness.
Rev. J. W. Alstork: For stalwart manliness, brilliant,
straightforward, solid workmanship, sound common sense
and indomitable grit, he ranked with the best race leaders.
He was the very soul of integrity and honor.
Rev. J. A. D. Bloice: The three graces—Faith, Hope,
Love—constituted his theology, and presented him as one
of the ablest theologians, debaters, and writers that ever sat
on the episcopal chair.
Prof. J. C. Price, D. D.: Bishop Jones was easily in
my opinion, the strongest and ablest writer of the race.
Emanations from his pen astonished as well as delighted
me. A truly great man has departed.
Rev. J. B. Small, D. D.: Bishop S. T. Jones, like
Plato, was truly a master. As a debater, resorbent. His
match was hard to find. As a theologian, deep and sound;
as a preacher, a Massilen of his age; as a writer, keen,
caustic, clean sweep.
Rev. G. L. Blackwell: It will require more than
another generation to produce a man, who with depth of
thought and intellectual acuteness, can upon the spur of the
moment, criticize, defend and win a cause so easily as could
Bishop Jones.
Rev. G. W. Offley, D. D.: He was one of the strong¬
est all-round men I ever met. As a pulpit orator he had
few equals, and no superior, among those whom I know.
He was particularly strong as a reasoner and debater.
Rev. B. F. Wheeler : Bishop Jones was a born leader
of men. He was a man of many strong parts. In re-
GOLDEN TRIBUTES.
295
partee he had few, if any equals. He used the king's
English to perfection. Like Daniel Webster he excelled
in the use of the strongest word in the right place. His
oratory was sweeping in its effect on an emotional or intel¬
lectual audience alike.
Rev. John E. Price: In seeking religion I never heard
a man pray like him. For three weeks he had a ready flow
of sublime language—never using repetition. I was singing
over him when he arose from the mourner's bench, con¬
verted. He was a writer, debater, theologian and orator of
the highest order.
Rev. A. J. Warner: He never went back on his
friends. He was as true as steel. If you were in trouble
and applied to him he would help you. If your case re¬
quired reproof or advice, he would rise in all his grandeur
and administer it to you. Zion only had but one Singleton
T. Jones.
Rev. F. M. Jacobs, B. D.: As an orator, writer, de¬
bater, theologian and bishop he had few equals among the
whites and none among the Negroes. He was a man with
only one side; when you knew him on one, you knew him
on all sides. He lias gained an eternal bishopric in heaven.
Rev. A. Walters, D. D.: He was the foremost Negro
preacher of his time, a peerless orator of the Ciceronian
style. Zion's interest was always safe in his hands. He was
an antagonist worthy of any man's steel. You have my
sympathy in the preparation of his book of sermons and
addresses.
Rev. E. Geo.Biddle: Under very adverse circumstances
he pressed to the front and became one of the most influen¬
tial personal factors for good in his day and generation. I
shall be glad to have his sermons and speeches in my li¬
brary. He was an erudite theologian of the first order.
Rev. J. A. Tyler: He was clear minded. A most im-
GOLDEN TRIBUTES.
partial chairman in conference; careful not to damage the
minister's families when changing them to new fields, and
positive in his decisions. But, like all other beacon lights
that have blazed from the watch-towers of the Church, he
rests now beneath the olive tree of peace.
Rev. J. E. Mason: As a debater he was clear and
lucid, keen and withering, and possessed the mental ability
to grasp distinctly a train of thought and hold it firmly in
its logical relation, while he moved the people to some spe¬
cial act of benevolence, or to earnest endeavor for the ad¬
vancement of some grand enterprise.
Rev. W. H. Goler, D. D.: I knew Bishop Jones to love
him for a decade of years. He was a magnetic, powerful,
preacher, logical and convincing in his arguments, sweep¬
ing in his oratory, great in intellect, and tender in his na¬
ture for his less fortunate fellow men. Zion has--in his
death—met with a great loss. The vacancy will be sup¬
plied, but I doubt the ability of the general conference to
soon fill his place. Bro. Smith, God g<*ant you great suc¬
cess in the preparation of his book.
Rev. A. J. Chambers, D. D.: His was the voice that
early set aflame the ambition of my youth. No frosty ani¬
madversion of his ever nipped the sprouting hope~ of young
manhood. Bishop S. T. Jones, D. D., as I knew him for a
quarter of a century, was a singularly sweet tempered man,
of an open, brave, magnanimous nature. He was Summer's
fragrance, her flowers and her calm. It was not possible to
lose heart or to abandon hope when this great man was
near. He was most radiant amid the gloom that shut out
the light to his companions.
Rev. W. B. Derrick, D. D.: I am not able to write con¬
cerning so great a man as the lamented Bishop Singleton
T. Jones, D. D. Many men speak eloquently but not wisely.
This could not be said of the lamented Bishop, for no man
GOLDEN TRIBUTES.
297
ever spoke with more sound sense, clearness of mind and
definiteness of purpose than that which marked his sermons
and addresses. He never skimmed the surface, but always
grappled fairly with the whole question at issue. He could
be truthfully styled a skillful and successful ruler, for I call
none rulers but those who rule themselves. A fiery writer,
a fearless debater, he wis a Negro pulpit orator whose ex¬
alted talents found their appropriate sphere in the eloquent
proclamation of that Gospel which he both knew and
loved.
Prof. Wm. Howard Day, D. D.: I could write a volume.
As a boy his life was a struggle for clothes and bread; he
was a Pariah of the neighborhood along the Codorus; a
shrinking victim of domestic cruelty; an outcast. As a
friend, ever firm; as a son of humanity, interested in the
Race; a scholar educated outside of schools ; as a Christian,
eccentric but earnest; as a preacher and debater, a man of
power; as a Bishop, when occasion demanded, gentle as
the Summer's zephyr, or, as occasion demanded, the ringing,
ringing trumpet-blast of the storm of the mountain fast¬
nesses. He arose out of the obscure night as the blazing
sun of the east, and at the day's fitting close, cautiously,
seriously, intelligently, lovingly, grandly, walked down the
highway of the sky, and, leaving the glory of his fame be¬
hind him, is resting forever.
EDITORS AND STATESMEN
Bishop Jones of the A. M. E. Zion Church is dead.
In him the race has lost one of its best men.—Indianapolis
World.
The race has been made poorer by the death of a dis¬
tinguished pioneer and leading man—Bishop Jones of the
A M- E. Zion Church.—Atlanta Times.
Zion Church feels greatly the loss of Bishop Jones
298
GOLDEN TRIBUTES.
who, viewed from any standpoint, was an honor to the race.
—Harrisburg Times.
Bishop Jones' death, in the midst of his usefulness, is
an affliction to the A. M. E. Zion Church.—Montgomery
Southern Review.
Bishop Jones was invincible in debate; his irony was
keen and withering against his antagonist. His speech in
Chicago before the general conference of the great M. E.
Church, in 1868, on affiliation and union, won for him a
national fame in church circles.—Athens, Tenn. Watchman.
Our children should be taught to revere his life and
work as a stimulant to moral courage and noble man and
womanhood.—The Southland.
In debate he was a tower of strength and as a satyrist,
was possibly "the greatest of them all."—The Living-stone.
Gen. T. Morris Chester: Zion has lost her most pow¬
erful pulpit divine, and the Church of God the ablest and
most earnest advocate of organic union of the African and
Methodist Churches.
Prof. S. G. Atkins: I regarded Bishop Jones, viewing
him as a writer, speaker, disputant, a high church official,
the readiest man on our Bench of Bishops, the equal of
any colored man of my acquaintance.
Any man whose life is worthy of emulation by poster¬
ity leaves behind him a monument which time cannot ob¬
literate and which is more durable than monuments of cold,
dull, expressionless marble. Such a man was Bishop Jones .
—Howard's Negro American.
In the death of Bishop S. T. Jones, another great
Negro is removed from the arena of earthly life. The
race joins his Church in mourning the loss of one so grand
in all his parts and only hopes there are other heads in
preparation for the vacancy which this sad death has made.
—Raleigh, N. C. Gazette.
GOLDEN TRIBUTES.
299
Bishop Jones could wind his opponent around the lit¬
tle finger of his reasoning pow< rs and throw him into ob¬
livion. No man could stand his withering sarcasm, and
his opponents would fly from him as a goslin would from
the pelting hail.—St. Louis Negro Problem.
Bishop S. T. Jones, D. D., of the African Methodist
Episcopal Zion Church was an extemporaneous speaker of
power, and dramatic effect, and thrilled his hearers with
his matter and his manner. He was a keen debater, hand¬
ling his opponents unmercifully.—S. C. News and Courier.
I first heard him speak before the students at Living¬
stone College, Salisbury, N. C., in 1885, and his words,
thoughtful, impressive, and replete with wisdom, enabled
me to see that he was a strong and able man and a credit
to our people and his profession.—J. Gordon Street, editor
of the Boston Republican.
Editor T. Thomas Fortune: I remember Bishop Jones,
not because of his abounding piety, thorough culture and
ready wit, but because of the sunshine of his amiable na¬
ture, which he imparted to all with whom he came in con¬
tact.
Hon. Frederick Douglas : I regret my inability to be
of service in forming an intelligent estimate of the ability
of Bishop Jones. It was never my good fortune to hear
him preach, and I never, to my present recollection, read
any of his writings. I have, however, heard him highly
commended as a powerful debater and preacher, and no
doubt justly so.
Bishop Jones has a very warm and a very highly re¬
spectable place in the hearts of all Afro-Americans. He
was not only thoughtful, but scholarly; not only genteel,
but Christian. He was liberal in respect to the work and
people of all Christian bodies. None was more anxious
than he fur the union of the two great African Methodist
3°°
GOLDEN TRIBUTES.
bodies. His death is a severe blow to all Afro-Americans ;
indeed, to all Christians. His work in behalf of the ad¬
vancement of our entire class is equaled by few men.—A.
M. E. Christian Recorder.
He was a profound and eloquent pulpit orator who had
few equals and no superior during his day, a matchless de¬
bater, and a brilliant writer whose pointed and forcible
thoughts, clothed in choicest words, will ever remain a glow¬
ing monument to his memory and an invaluable contribu¬
tion to the literature of his church and country.—A. M. E.
Zion Church Quarterly.
Bishop S. T. Jones belongs to that class of men who
made an argument for us when the question of freedom
was being agitated. There were not many of them, but
they were an all convincing evidence of what the Ne¬
gro was capable, if permitted, to improve his talents, and
exercise his rights. As a debater, speaker, and a theolog¬
ian, he had few equals. It is right and proper that his his¬
tory should be handed down to posterity.—A. M. E. Church
Review.
Bishop Singleton T. Jones of the African M. E. Zion
Church, died in Washington, April 18, after an illness of con¬
siderable duration. He was a man of great influence in
his Church and a powerful preacher, and was particularly
distinguished by his great debate in 1864 with Bishop
Payne, of the African M. E. Church, on Organic Union;
by his indictment of Bishop Hillery in 1884. He had
been 49 years in the Church, 42 years a minister, and 23
years a Bishop.—N. Y. Christian Observer.
He is a man of surpassing power and eloquence. His
sermons are brilliant with unmeasured poetry, and abound
in wit, invective, glowing rhetoric, and logic. When in
the pulpit, he throws light on the subject by the corusca¬
tions of his wit, drives home a truth by solid argument, and
GOLDEN TRIBUTES.
301
clinches it by a quotation from scripture, and his thrilling
and pointed appeal moves his audience like a shock from
an electric battery. No one sleeps under the preaching of
Bishop Jones.—Dr. William Wells Brown's History of The
Rising Son.
Bishop Singleton T. Jones, D. D., was a man of
rare native endowment. His common sense and sound
judgment always served him well; and his moral cour¬
age, based upon his deeply seated convictions and
lofty appreciation of rectitude, made him a strong and
valuable man, as well as a signally useful Church Official,
while his abiding faith in the religious and ecclesiastical
principles which he espoused, distinguished as it controlled
his life. The sentiments, the teachings, of such a versatile
writer, ready debater and brilliant Negro divine, however
presented, in -ermon, address, or otherwise, are calculated,
when duly considered, to do large and permanent good.
Especially is this true of the utterances of one, as in the
case of Bishop Jones, which are instinct with the spirit and
genius of divine truth. Permit me to bid one so thoroughly
qualified as you, in this work of Rt. Rev. S. T. Jones, my
hearty Godspeed!—Hon. John M. Langston.
A great man indeed has fallen in Israel. His great¬
ness did not consist in achievement along any particular
line, since he excelled along all lines. As a preacher he
shone out resplendently, bedimming the lustre of almost all
his compeers. As a platform orator he defied, awed, con¬
demned and crushed ; or besought, entreated, commended
and upheld in a way that won favor for the one or the
other as he desired. In debate he was invincible, his wither-
in^ sarcasm, crushing force and impassioned eloquence put¬
ting his antagonist entirely at his mercy. We have seen
and heard him at his best. We have observed him -in the
heat of debate- -lion-like—bidding defiance to everything
302
GOLDEN TRIBUTES.
and everybody. With his accustomed dignity and
characteristic courtesy, he yielded to questions only to
profit by them in annihilating his opponent. In our youth,
at Montgomery, at the General Conference in 1880, not
knowing him, we tackled him in debate. Our youth pro¬
tected us from his worst batteries. He commended our
pluck and we parted friends to remain so forever. He
could turn the tide in an instant.
Bishop HiTlery had apparently won over the General
Conference to his support in New York, in 1884, but when
Bishop Jones had finished that indictment, which makes
one shudder now as he contemplates its power, its crush¬
ing force, .its frequent outbursts of eloquence, and its
sweepinglperoration, victory changed into overwhelming
defeat. At its conclusion there was no escape. It was a
complete triumph of mind over numbers, and numbers
readily yielded to mind. We feel like saying to our de¬
parted®! eader, hail! and farewell! He fought well and
wins a crown bedecked with myriads of stars.—Hon. J. C.
Dancy, editor of The Star of Zion.
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