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UCSB LIBRARY
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THE
METHODIST ARMOR;
OR,
A POPULAR EXPOSITION
Doctrines, Peculiar Usages, and Ecclesiastical
Machinery of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, South.
By HILARY T. HUDSON., DD.,
North Carolina Conference.
Revised and Enlarged .
Nashville, Tenn.:
Publishing House of the M. E. Church, South.
J. D. Barbee, Agent.
PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR.
ISF8
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1882,
BY HILARY T. HUDSON,
in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington
TO THE
METHODISTS OF NORTH CAROLINA,
THIS VOLUME IS
Most Respectfully and Affectionately Inscribed
BY
H. T. Hudson.
PREFACE.
The design of this little book is to give a condensed view of the
prominent doctrines, peculiar usages, and polity of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, South. The Articles of Faith and the General
Rules are given also, with Scripture quotations and explanatory
notes. The book, putting into a small compass what lies scattered
in many volumes of Methodist authors, is especially intended to
meet the wants of the popular masses adhering to Methodism.
The Author.
Shelby, N. C, April. 1882.
CONTENTS.
CIUFTER
Introduction * » 8
I. Origin of Methodism in England— The First Meth-
odist Society— Rev. John Wesley, the Founder. . . 9-12
II. Origin of Methodism in America— The First Meth-
odist Society — The First Annual Conference — The 9
Organization of the Church — Historical Statement
— Validity of Methodist Ordination 12-21
III. Articles of Religion (with Scripture Quotations and
Notes) ' 21-54
[V. The General Rules (with Scripture Quotations and
Notes) 54-90
V. Prominent Doctrines of Methodism — Universal Re-
demption — Repentance — Justification Through
Faith — Regeneration — Witness of the Spirit —
Holiness, or Sanctification — The Possibility of Fi-
nal Apostasy 90-116
VI. Orders in the Methodist Ministry — Deacons — Elders
—Bishops 116-118
VII. The Mode of Baptism— Baptism of Paul— Baptism
of the Jailer — Baptism of Cornelius — Baptism of
the Three Thousand 118-126
VIII. Objections Answered — Buried with Him in Baptism
— The Baptism of Christ — John Baptizing in Jor-
dan— Bapto and Baptidzo 126-134
IX Infant Baptism — As Taught in the Old Testament —
Christ's Recognition of Infant Membership — The
Apostles Preached the Doctrine of Infant Church-
membership — Family Baptisms — The Jailer's
Family — Historical Statement — Objections 13/3-142
X. Government of the Church — General, Annual, Dis-
trict, Quarterly, and Church Conferences 1 43 14»
XI. Church Officers — In the Ministry : Bishops, Presiding
Elders, Pastors, Local Preachers — Lay Officers of
the Church: Exhorters, Class-leaders, Stewards.
Trustees, Superintendents <»f Sunday-schools 148-156
Co)
CIIAFTBB
XII.
XIII.
XIV.
XV.
XVI.
XVII.
XVIII.
XIX.
XX.
XXI.
XXII.
XXIII
XXIV.
Contents.
FAOH
I 'icu liar Usages of Methodism — Class-meetings —
The Itinerancy — Love-feast 156-162
Ministerial Support — The Divine Law on the Sup-
port of the Ministry — The Immense Benefits
Arising from the Diffusion of the Gospel — The
Cheapness of Preaching — The Ability of the
People to Pay — The Amount to be Given, etc. . 162-199
Church-membership — Who are Admitted into the
Methodist Church? — Penitent Seekers — The In-
troduction of Baptized Children into the Church
—The Duty of Joining the Church 199-223
Methodism and Sunday-schools — Origin — Eminent
Usefulness of these Schools— Statistics 223-227
Methodism and Revivals — What is a Revival? —
Benefits of Revivals — The Agencies to be Used
in Securing a Revival — The Cooperation of the
People with the Preachers — The Transcendent
Importance of Revivals — Hinderances to a Re-
vival 227-246
Methodism and Missions — The Genius of Meth-
odism is Missionary — Facts that should Stir our
Missionary Zeal — Statistics 246-252
Methodism and Education — Statistics 252-255
Acts of the General Conference to 1844: — Organiza-
tion of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South
— Bishops — Deceased Bishops — Statistics, 1882. 255-275
General Summary of Methodists 276-281
The Apostolic Features of the Methodist Church. . 281-294
The Training of Children in Christian Homes —
The Religion of Methodists Ought to be Trans-
mitted to and Reproduced in their Children —
The Family Life and Habits of Methodists 294-311
A Model Christian and a Loyal Methodist 311-319
Loyalty to Your Own Church — The Glory of Meth-
odism 319-329
Appendix: World-wide View of Methodism 330-342
INTRODUCTION.
BY REV. L. L. HENDREN, D.D.
Methodism had its birth in an age of sharp and searching contro-
versy, and, in reaching its present distinguished position among the
Protestant denominations, every inch of ground was fiercely con-
tested. Its prominent doctrines, peculiar usages, and polity, were
frequently and publicly discussed ; therefore, the multitudes had better
and more clearly defined views of the distinctive features of Method-
ism than in this age of tacit fraternity, the tendency of which is to
conventionalism. These subjects being now less frequently discussed
in a controversial way, there exists a lamentable ignorance on these
points. Many otherwise intelligent persons have not the inclination,
or, having that, have not the patience, to persevere in such a research
as would be necessary to gain the proper information. The necessity
for a book containing this in a comprehensive and condensed form
has been long and painfully felt, resulting often in a loss of members
m our Church. Other denominations have their distinctive dogmas
clearly expressed and formulated, while ours are found only in our
scholastic and theological works. The author of the book which we
now introduce to the reader, feeling this absolute necessity, has most
opportunely and successfully met this great need of the Church and
the people. He gives us a concise history of the rise and progress of
Methodism in England and America, and also of its chief instruments.
This puts the reader in possession of the proper historical information
at the very outset, enabling him to appreciate more fully the subjects
discussed. The "validity of Methodist ordination" is stated in the
simplest, clearest, and most conclusive manner, adducing facts and
testimonials which refute unanswerably the assumptions of High
churchism. The Articles of Religion, General Rules, and promi-
nent doctrines are presented in a most convenient and scriptural way
for the general reader. The brief, striking manner of bringing out
the fact that there are but two orders of the ministry by divine right
will be highly interesting and instructive. The arguments on the
mode and fit subjects of baptism are so scriptural, simple, and con-
clusive as to satisfy and convince all who are not blinded by prejil-
(7)
8 hi! rod net ion.
dice. On the subject of Church government, and peculiar usages of
Methodism, the author is unusually happy, clear, and forcible in his
explanation of the powers and functions of the several Conferences,
and the peculiar advantages of the itinerant ministry. On the suj>-
port of the ministry he takes the ground that the tenth of the in-
come is still required. lie gives cogent arguments and reasons i.n
regard to the obligation of sustaining the gospel, supported by many
strong and striking facts and illustrations. He shows the g>eat
blessings and benefits accruing to those who devise liberal things
for the temporal comfort of those who minister in holy things, which,
at the same time, contribute largely to the efficiency and usefulness o(
the ministry. He especially shows the great intellectual and spirit-
ual benefits of a well-supported and efficient clergy. The chapter on
Church-membership is a clear, sound, and scriptural statement of this
important subject. If carefully studied, it will certainly remove a
great deal of error prevalent with the masses on this question. The
people will read with pleasure and profit the Methodistic origin of
Sunday-schools and revivals, as integral parts of our Church, their
missionary spirit, and their power for good. Missions and education, as
essential elements of Methodism, have been succinctly and satisfac-
torily discussed. The treatment of the apostolic features of Meth
odism — the thorough training of children, and attaching them more
firmly to our Church — is comprehensive and conclusive. The reader
will find in this book multum in parvo — "the sincere milk," "the liv-
ing bread," and "strong meal" of Methedist doctrine and polity.
"We honestly advise every Methodist to buy, carefully read, and
study the "Methodist Armor," for its intrinsic merit, its necessity,
its compactness and cheapness. Dr. Hudson was peculiarly fortunate
in the suggestive name of his admirable little book. Incased in this
armor, with a thorough knowledge and skillful use of the weapons
furnished, the young as well as the old Methodist soldier can meet
and defeat on every field any human or Satanic foe.
L. L. Hendren.
SrAiEsviiLE, N. C, January, 1883.
THE METHODIST ARMOR.
CHAPTER I.
ORIGIN OF METHODISM IN ENGLAND.
The History of Methodism began in the year 1720.
It was Born in the University of Oxford, England.
While at college, John Wesley, Charles Wesley, and
George Whitefield, and a few others, banded them-
selves together for the purpose of intellectual and
spiritual improvement. So systematic were these
young men in their habits of religious duty that the
gayer students in derision called them
Methodists.
So the disciples of Christ were first called " Chris-
tians" at Antioch by a deriding world; yet the name
was so appropriate that they gloried in it. And since
Methodism has wrought out such a glorious history,
none of her followers are ashamed of her name.
1739. The First Methodist Society
was organized in London by Mr. Wesley. It began
with about ten persons, and soon swelled up to hun-
dreds. A great revival soon began to spread over the
British realm. It was a work of great depth and du-
ration.
" It came sweeping along like the winds which God
had let loose from his fists, swaying devout souls,
breaking down stubborn sinners, overturning hopes
built on false foundations, but quenching not the
(9)
10 The Methodist Armor.
smoking flax, nor breaking the bruised reed. It was
Heaven's bountiful gift to the silent prayer of the
world's sorrow by reason of its great sin. In tho
midst of this spiritual darkness, God raised up a
bishop, a preacher, a poet: three men the equals of
whom have probably never been seen in the world at
once since the apostolic days. The bishop was John
Wesley, the preacher was George Whitefield, the poet
was Charles Wesley. To these three men, and those
whom they gathered to their standard, did the Lord
commit the precious work of awaking the British king-
dom to a sense of God and duty, and by them he wrought
a reformation which stands alone as a spiritual re-
vival without admixture of State-craft or patronage
of parliament or king."
Methodism began with experimental religion in the
heart, and by spontaneous energies from within pro-
jected itself out into organic forms of life, such as
class-meetings, love-feasts, Conferences, the itineran-
cy, and Church polity. This is the philosophy of the
Methodist economy. It is the power of divine life
clothing itself with such organic functions as are nec-
essary to perpetuate and spread itself through the
world. In ten years the outlines of the coming
Church were already prepared. Societies were formed,
quarterly-meetings held, Annual Conferences assem-
bled, and preachers exchanged, and Methodism began
her glorious career.
Eev. John Wesley, the Founder.
The illustrious Founder of Methodism was born
June 14, 1703, in the parish of Epworth, Lincolnshire.
He was descended from a long line of able ministers.
" When God Rftts out to make a great man, he first
Origin of Methodism in England. . 11
makes a great woman." This is eminently true in
tho ease of John Wesley. His mother, Susannah
Wesley, was a woman of strong intellect, fine culture,
deap piety, and rare domestic qualities. John Wes-
ley came of good stock. His father was a preacher
before him. He entered college at the age of seven-
teen, and came out a distinguished graduate of ono
of the most famous universities of the world. His
intellectual training was of the highest order. A hap-
py and thorough conversion marked his religious expe-
rience. He says: "I felt my heart strangely warmed.
I felt I did trust in Christ alone for salvation; an as-
surance was given me that he had taken away my
sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin
and death." Before he knew what religion was theo-
logically, now he knows what it is experimentally.
From this time on he is a new man full of power and
the Holy Ghost. His intellectual faculties kindled
up into a luminous condition, and his spiritual vision
was clear and comprehensive. The enthusiasm grow-
ing out of his experience went with him, and caught
material everywhere for new flame and fervor. The
torch of Mr. Wesley's experience set the world on fire,
which has glowed and spread from that day till now.
The celestial fire which warmed his heart is the light
of the world.
John Wesley died in 1791, exclaiming, "The best of
all is — God is with ns! "
As beautiful as the summer sunset in a cloudless
sky was the death of Mr. Wesley. The sun of his
long life, beautiful in the morning of youth, radiant
at the noon of manhood, after shining almost a cent-
ury to enlighten and make fruitful the earth, went
12 The Methodist Armor.
down in full-orbed glory, gilding the world left be-
hind with the reflected splendor of its departing rays.
" I consider him as the most influential mind of the
last century, the man who will have produced the
greatest results centuries hence," said Southey. " No
man has risen in the Methodist Society equal to their
founder, John Wesley," said Dean Stanley. "A great-
er poet may arise than Homer or Milton, a greater the-
ologian than Calvin, a greater philosopher than Bacon,
a greater dramatist than any of ancient or modern
fame, a greater revivalist of the Churches than John Wes-
ley—never!" said Dr. Dobbins of the Church of En-
gland. "As Mount Everest lifts its tall head not only
above every other peak of the Himalayas, but above
the tallest peak of every other mountain in the wide
world, so John Wesley, as a revivalist and reformer,
towers not only above the other great men of Method-
ism, but above the greatest in all other Churches of
Christendom," said Dr. J. O. A. Clark. Though not a
century and a half have elapsed since he founded the
Methodist Church, yet no less than fifteen millions of
persons, including communicants and adherents to his
systems, are his followers.
CHAPTER II.
OKIGIN OF METHODISM IN AMERICA.
Tiie Methodism which swept through England as a
spreading fire over a field of dry stubble soon crossed
the Atlantic and began to glow and burn in America.
1766. The First Methodist Society.
It was organized by Philip Embury, a local preach-
er, in the city of New York. Barbara Heck, a Chris.
Origin of Methodism in America. 13
tiau woman, has the honor of being the prime mover
in the work. Embury and Barbara Heck were emi-
grants from Ireland — originally of German stock.
Robert Strawbridge, from Ireland also, organized a
Methodist society in Maryland about the same time.
These two local preachers were greatly assisted in
their work by a British officer named Captain Webb.
The first Methodist church was built in John street,
New York, 1768. The society consisted of but five
members. As green forests sleep in the tiny cup of
acorns, so grand possibilities slumbered in this mus-
tard-seed of vital religion.
1769. Richard Boardman and Joseph Pilmore, the
first itinerant preachers sent out by Mr. Wesley, ar-
rived in America; the former was stationed at John
Street Church, New York, and the latter as pastor in
Philadelphia.
1771. Francis Asbury and Richard Wright came.
The latter soon returned to England, but Mr. Asbu' y
remained, and became the most memorable and influ-
ential man in American Methodism.
1773. The First Annual Conference
was held in Philadelphia. The roll of names: Thos.
Rankin, R. Boardman, J. Pilmore, Francis Asbury,
R. Wright, George Shadford, Thomas Webb, John
King, A. Whitworth, Joseph Yearby. Thomas Ran-
kin presided. The business was simple and brief.
It consisted mainly in the agreement of the preachers
to abide by the doctrines and discipline of Mr. Wes-
ley. There were then but ten traveling preachers,
sis circuits, and eleven hundred and sixty members.
1774. Robert Williams began to form societies in
Virginia.
14 The Methodist Armor.
177G. The first circuit was organized in North Car-
olina, andffeilled the "Carolina" Circuit.
Robert Williams came from England; landed in
America, 1769. To him belongs the honor of intro-
ducing Methodism into Virginia and North Carolina.
He was a rousing preacher, and instrumental in the
salvation of many souls.
1777-78. The whole country was seething and boil-
ing over with the war-spirit of the Revolution, yet
great revivals prevailed in the south-eastern part of
Virginia and in the counties of Halifax and Warren
in North Carolina. Eighteen hundred souls were
added to the societies in one year.
1784. The Okganization of the Chuech.
The " Methodist Episcopal Church " was formally
organized at a conference of Methodist ministers
called by Thomas Coke, LL.D., an assistant of Mr.
Wesley in England, and sent over by the latter for
the purpose of consummating such organization. The
first bishops, Coke and Asbury, were elected by the
Conference (called the Christmas Conference) which
met in Baltimore, Dec. 25, 1784, and continued its
session until Jan. 2, 1785.
Historical Statement
The organization constituted it a valid Christian Church.
The associations formed by Mr. Wesley and his preach-
ers were originally called societies. They were vol-
untary associations of persons for mutual improve-
ment in experimental and vital piety. They were
etill members of the Church of England; they attended
its regular services and received the sacraments at its
altars. Mr. Wesley himself continued during life a
Origin of Methodism in America. 15
regular presbyter in that Church. The same state of
things arose in America, and continued during the
existence of the colonial government. Soon after the
close of the Revolution most of the clergymen of the
English Church, many of whom were Tories, returned
Uj England. This left the Methodist people without
sacraments. The preachers did not think themselves
authorized to administer them, and appealed to Mr.
Wesley for relief. He regarded the societies as sheep
in a wilderness without a shepherd, and felt himself
providentially called upon to provide for them proper
pastoral care. Accordingly he ordained Dr. Coke, a
presbyter of the Church of England, giving him au-
thority to exercise the office of a bishop, calling him
a superintendent, which is only another name for the
same thing. Mr. Wesley sent Dr. Coke to America,
directing him to ordain Francis Asbury to the same
episcopal office. These two were to have a general
superintendency of all the Methodist societies in Amer-
ica; they were to travel at large through the length and
breadth of the land, and were to ordain elders, whose
services were required by the exigences of the people.
Mr. Wesley prepared a form of Discipline for the
use of the Methodists, which contained the Articles
of Religion, the General Rules, a Ritual for ordina-
tion and other services of the Church. As already
stated, the preachers assembled in General Confer-
ence, received Dr. Coke in his office as bishop, and
elected Francis Asbury to the same office, in accord-
ance with Mr. Wesley's direction. The Conference
adopted the Discipline as their ecclesiastical consti-
tution, and thus became a regularly and a fully organ-
ized Christian Church.
16 The Methodist Armor.
The Methodists of America were no longer mere
societies within the pale of the English Church, but
were themselves a properly constituted gospel Church
of God. They are now " a congregation of faithful
men in which the pure word of God is preached and
the sacraments are duly administered according to
Christ's ordinance, in all those things that of neces-
sity are requisite to the same."
It is a Methodist Episcopal Church, not a Congre-
gational nor a Presbyterian Church. It is a Church
governed and superintended by bishops, who are
elected and ordained to the work of the episcopacy.
It is sometimes said that Mr. Wesley did not intend
to authorize the establishment of a Methodist Epis-
copal Church, and the proof alleged is that he called
Dr. Coke and Asbury superintendents, and rebuked
them for allowing themselves to be called bishops.
The facts are, Mr. Wesley, in the beginning of his
ministry, was a High-churchman, but the reading of
Stillingfleet's " Irenicum " cured him of that belief.
He entirely changed his views on this subject. He
said: "I still believe the episcopal form of Church-
government to agree with the practice and writings of
the apostles, but that it is prescribed in Scripture I
do not believe." He intended to give, and did give, the
episcopal form of Church-government to the Meth-
odist Church in America.
Mr. Wesley shunned the term bishop, and rebuked
Mr. Asbury for wearing it, because of the worldly
pride, pomp, and ostentation with which that word
was connected in the English Church. But the thing
intended by the term when properly applied he ap-
proved by giving the same when he ordained Coke
Origin of Methodism in America. 17
and sent liim to ordain Asbury and organize the Meth-
odist Church under the government of the episcopacy
Validity of Methjdist Ordination.
1. The presbyters, or elders, of the New Testament
exercised the power of ordination. Timothy was or-
dained by " the laying on of the hands of the presbytery"
or body of elders. (1 Tim . iv. 14.) To deny that elders
have the right to ordain is to run directly against the
expressed declaration of the Bible. Of his power to
ordain Mr. Wesley had no doubt. He says: "Lord
King's account of the primitive Church convinced me,
many years ago, that bishops and presbyters are the
same order, and consequently have the same right to
ordain. ... I have accordingly appointed Dr. Coke
and Francis Asbury to be joint superintendents; as
also Richard Whatcoat and Thomas Vasey to act as
elders among them in North America, by baptizing
and administering the Lord's Supper." In 1780, he
said: "I verily believe I have as good a right to or-
dain as to administer the Lord's Supper." Luther,
Calvin, Melanchthon, as well as Mr. Wesley, believed
in the validity of presbyterial ordination.
2. There are two ordinations, a divine and a human.
The divine is the call of God to preach the gospel.
The Saviour called and sent the apostles out to preach.
" Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel."
Their oidination was the unction of the Holy Ghost.
Human ordination recognizes the essential one of the
Holy Ghost. When you can get the two, well and
good; but if not, give us the divine, let who will have
the human. The Churches, properly enough for the
sake of order, license and ordain men to the work of
the ministry, but n i ecclesiastical authority can make
2
18 The Methodist Armor.
ministers. They only recognize the call of God. The
chief and essential ordination then is of God; and
wherever this exists it matters but little what the hu-
man ordination is. Mr. Wesley, called of God, and
eminently qualified by intellectual and spiritual en-
dowment, had, by reason of these endowments, and as
being a founder of a great Church, as much right to
ordain a ministry as any pope, patriarch, bishop, or
archbishop, that ever performed that function. The
true validity of the Methodist ministry is derived
from Mr. Wesley, who was not only a presbyter in the
English Church, but under God became an illustrious
founder of a great evangelical Church of Christ.
Richard Watson says: " The Reformed Churches held
the call of the people the only essential thing to the
validity of the ministry; and teach that ordination is
only a ceremony which renders the call the more
august and authentic. Accordingly, the Protestant
Churches of Scotland, France, Holland, Switzerland,
Germany, Poland, Hungary, Denmark, etc., have no
episcopal ordination; for Luther, Calvin, Bucer, Me-
lanchthon, and all the first reformers and founders of
these Churches, who ordained ministers among them,
were themselves presbyters, and no other." Thus it ap-
pears that all these Churches had no other ministry
than such as was ordained by the presbytery. Mr. Wat-
son goes on to say: "In opposition to episcopal ordi-
nation, they (Protestants) urge that Timothy was or
dained ' by the laying on of the hands of the presby-
tery;' that Paul and Barnabas were ordained by
certain prophets and teachers in the Church of Anti-
och, and not by bishojs presiding in that city. (Acts
xiii. 1-3.) Furthermore, it is a well-known fact that
Origin of Methodism in America. 19
presbyters in the Church of Alexandria ordained even
their own bishops for more than two hundred years
in the earliest ages of Christianity. They further ar-
gue that bishops and presbyters are in Scripture the
same," and therefore episcopal ordination means noth-
ing more than presbyterial ordination. They are but
two names for one and the same thing.
3. The theory of High-churchism affirms that the
right of ordination is derived from an episcopal ordi-
nation transmitted in an unbroken succession from
the apostles, and that without this so-called apostolic
succession there can be no Church or lawful ministry.
Consequently the Episcopalians claim to be the only
true Church.
The alleged succession is not historically true. I mean
that there has been no such unbroken succession of
ordinations in the past. Such a succession cannot be
proved; and it is morally certain that such an unbro-
ken chain never existed. The world recently saw that
the champions of popery could not even prove that
St. Peter was ever at Rome, to say nothing of his or-
dinations. The facts already mentioned, that in the
primitive Church several pastors took part in each or-
dination, and that the modern popish view of ordina-
tion was unknown, would naturally render it impossible
to trace each ordination to any one bishop or presbyter.
The Church-curate who comes with a printed list of
his ecclesiastical pedigree up to the apostles must
have wonderful confidence in the ignorance of those
whom he expects to accept his list with unquestioning
faith. Many eminent ministers and laymen of tho
English Church, who have made this subject a special
study, have confessed that the historical succession is
20 The Methodist Armor.
utterly untenable. Chillingworth said: "I am fully
persuaded that there hath been no such succession."
Lord Macaulay says : " Even if it were possible, which
assuredly it is not, to prove that the Church had the
apostolical orders in the third century, it would be im-
possible to prove that those orders were not in the
twelfth century so far lost that no ecclesiastic could
be certain of the legitimate descent of his own spir-
itual character. . . . We see no satisfactory proof that
the Church of England possesses apostolical succes-
sion."
Bishop Hoadly says: "It hath not pleased God in
his providence to keep up any proof of the least prob-
ability, or moral possibility, of a regular uninterrupted
succession; but there is a great appearance, and, hu-
manly speaking, a certainty, to the contrary, that the
succession hath often been interrupted." Dr. Com-
ber, as quoted by Mr. Bleby, says: "There is neither
truth nor certainty in the pretended succession of the
first popes." Bishop Stillingneet says: " Come we,
therefore, to Borne, and here the succession is as
muddy as the Tiber itself. . . . The succession so
much pleaded by the writers of the primitive Church
was not a succession of persons in apostolic power, but
a succession of persons in apostolic doctrine." Arch-
bishop Whately says: "There is not a minister in all
Christendom who is able to trace up, with approach to
certainty, his spiritual pedigree." John Wesley, whom
Churchmen are so fond of quoting for the benefit of
Methodists, says: "The uninterrupted succession I
know to be a fable, which no man ever did or can
prove." Let it be remembered that all these testimo-
nies are from Churchmen, whom it would naturally
Articles of Reliyion. 21
gratify to find evict mce of an unbroken succession, what-
ever might be their estimate of its value. Yet this is
the dogma on the strength of which High-churchmen
disfranchise non-episcopal Churches of their Christian
birthrights.
CHAPTER III.
AKTICLES OF RELIGION.
The Church being regularly organized and officered,
the Articles of Keligion were adopted as her standard
of faith. The Twenty-five Articles of Eeligion were
extracted by Mr. Wesley from the Thirty-nine Arti-
cles of the Church of England. We give these Arti-
cles, with Scripture quotations and such notes as tend
to explain the meaning and importance of them.
I. Of Faith in the Holy Trinity.
There is but one living and true God, everlasting,
without body or parts ; of infinite power, wisdom, and
goodness; the maker and preserver of all things, both
visible and invisible. And in unity of this Godhead,
there are three persons of one substance, power, and
eternity — the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
Proof;?. — "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord."
(Dent. vi. 4.) "Owe God and Father of all." (Eph. iv. 6.) "But
llie Lord is the true God. He is the living God." (Jer. x. 10.)
" From everlasting to everlasting thou art God." (Ps. xc. 2.) " God is
a Spirit." (John iv. 24.) "The Lord God omnipotent reigneth."
(Rev. xix. G.) "To God only wise, he glory." (Kom. xvi. 27.)
"The Lord is good to all ; and his tender mercies are over all hie
\vi irks." ( Ps. cxl v. 9. ) " There are three that bear record in heaven,
the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost." (1 John v. 7.1
Note.
The CieatN Power of God. — "In the beginning
22 Tiie Methodist Armor.
God created the heaven and the earth." The Bible
assumes the existence of God. "The architect is
simply named in the description of the building." It
is left to the reader to see the eternal cause in the stu-
pendous effect before him. There can be no effect
without an adequate cause. This is a self-evident
truth. Common sense leads men to believe that the
existence of a house implies a builder; the picture
implies a painter; a watch implies a watch-maker. So
the existence of the world, the earth, sun, moon, and
stars, implies an eternal Creator. This universe could
not have built itself; such a supposition is a bold con-
tradiction, because it implies the existence of a thing
possessed of creative powers before it did exist.
II. Of the Word, or Son of God, who was Made
Very Man.
The Son, who is the Word of the Father, the very
and eternal God, of one substance with the Father,
took man's nature in the womb of the blessed Virgin;
so that two whole and perfect natures — that is to say,
the Godhead and manhood — were joined together in
one person, never to be divided, whereof is one Christ,
very God and very man, who truly suffered, was cru-
cified, dead and buried, to reconcile his Father to us,
and to be a sacrifice, not only for original guilt, but
also for actual sins of men.
Proofs. — "There is one God, and one Mediator between God
and man, the man Christ Jesus." (1 Tim. ii. 5.) "In the begin-
ning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Worn
was (rod." (John i. 1.) "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt
among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only-begotter.
of the Father, full of grace and truth." (John i. 14.) " Forasmuch
then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also him-
se'f likewise took part of the sam« " (Heb. ii. 14.) "The Hob
Articles of Religion. 23
Gtvet shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall
overshadow thee." (Luke i. 35.)
Note.
Jesus Christ is God, being the Word, or Logos. — " In
the beginning was the Word." " For in him dwelleth
all the fullness of the Godhead, bodily." " For by him
were all things created that are in heaven, and that
are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be
thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all
tilings were created by him, and for him. He is be-
fore all things, and by him all things consist
For it pleased the Father that in him should all full-
ness dwell." (Col. i. 16-19.) If Christ created the
world, then it follows necessarily that he is older than
the world. The builder of a house must be older than
the house. His preexistence is thus established. Christ
is greater than the universe. The maker is necessarily
grander than the thing made. He is greater in ex-
tent, greater in power. His omnipresence stretches
out far beyond the outskirts of this almost immeas-
urable universe. His omnipotence is greater than all
the forces of nature. He calmed the winds that sweep
in the wild rush of the tornado; he controls the light-
ning that shivers in splinters the sturdy oak. The
earthquake, lifting a continent on its gigantic shoul-
ders, he wielded to liberate Paul and Silas from impris-
onment. He is owner of all things. Creation gives the
most valid title to all things made. " For him all things
were created." All temporal things are but as a scaffold
used to build up the great temple of salvation among
nun.
III. Of the Resurrection of Christ.
Christ did truly rise again from the dead, and took
24 The Methodist Armor.
again his body, with all things appertaining to the
perfection of man's nature, wherewith he ascended
into heaven, and there sitteth until he return to judge
all men at the last day.
Proofs. — "Go quickly and tell his disciples that he is risen from
the dead." (Matt, xxviii. 7.) "But he, whom God raised again,
saw no corruption." (Actsxiii. 37.) "To this end Christ both died,
and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and
living; for we shall all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ."
(Rom. xiv. 9, 10.) "But now is Christ risen from the dead, and
become the first-fruits of them that slept." (1 Cor. xv. 20.)
Notes.
1. The resurrection of Christ was his glorification and
the seal of his atoning work. — It demonstrated his divin-
ity. It established the truth of his own prediction,
" Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise
it again." I lay down my life, that I may take it again.
.... I have power to lay it down, and I have power
to take it again." The resurrection was the infallible
proof of his true Messiahship. For either he arose
by his own power, and if he did then he was divine,
or he was raised up by the power of the Father, and
if this be so, then God sets his seal to his work, for
God would not raise from the dead an impostor.
2. His resurrection is a pledge of the future life of his
people. — On it depended the gift of the Spirit of life,
the fruit of the ascension. The Lord rose again as
the first-fruits of them that slept. " If we be dead
with him, Ave shall also live with him." "Because I
live, ye shall live also."
3. The proofs of Christ's resurrection are abundant. —
Five times he showed himself alive on the day of his
resurrection — to Mary Magdalene, to another companv
Articles of Religion. 25
of women, to Peter, to two disciples on their way to
Enimaus, to the eleven; to St. Thomas in the prayer-
meeting; then in Galilee; to seven, and to five hun-
dred. They knew him by many infallible proofs. He
showed them the marks of his hands and feet, even
eating and drinking with his disciples, thus proving
the verity of his body. The Holy Spirit confirmed
their faith, for while Peter preached the risen Christ,
"the Holy Ghost fell on all them that heard the
word."
IV. Of the Holy Ghost.
The Holy Ghost, proceeding from the Father and
the Son, is of one substance, majesty, and glory, with
the Father and the Son, very and eternal God.
Proofs. — "Baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of
the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." (Matt, xxviii. 19.) "When he,
the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth." (John
xvi. 13.) "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, thai
we are the children of God." (Rom. viii. 16.) "The eternal Spirit.'
(Heb. ix. 14.) "Holy men of God spake as they were moved by
the Holy Ghost," (2 Pet. i. 21.)
Notes.
1. "The Christian creed receives and adores the
mystery that one essence exists in a trinity of coequal
personal subsistences, related as the Father, the Eter-
nal Son of the Father, and the Holy Ghost eternally
proceeding from the Father and Son."
2. The personality and divinity of the Holy Spirit
are set forth in the Old Testament Scriptures. As,
"Let us make man in our image; " "And the Spirit of
God moved upon the face of the waters." The Spirit
of God is creative: " The Spirit of God hath made
me. and the breath of the Almighty hath given me
2G The Methodist Armor.
life." He is no less active in providence: " My Spirit
shall not always strive with man." He is omnipres-
3nt: " Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? "
3. The Holy Ghost is a divine person, distinct from
the Father and the Son. He proceeds from the Fa-
ther and the Son, and therefore can be neither; yet he
is associated with the Father and the Son in the divine
work of creating and preserving all things. The per-
sonal pronoun he is applied to one who is another Com-
forter: "When the Comforter is come, whom I will
send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of
truth, who proceedeth from the Father, he shall tes-
tify of me."
V. The Sufficiency of the Holy Scriptures for
Salvation.
The Holy Scriptures contain all things necessary to
salvation; so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor
may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any
man, that it should be believed as an article of faith,
or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation. In
the name of the Holy Scripture, Ave do understand
those canonical books of the Old and New Testa-
ment, of whose authority was never any doubt in
the Church. The names of the canonical books are
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy,
Joshua, Judges, Ruth, The First Book of Samuel,
The Second Book of Samuel, The First Book of
Kings, The Second Book of Kings, The First Book of
Chronicles, The Second Book of Chronicles, The Book
of Ezra, The Book of Nehemiah, The Book of Esther,
The Book of Job, The Psalms, The Proverbs, Eccle-
6iastes, or the Preacher, Cantica, or Songs of Solomon,
Four Prophets the greater, Twelve Prophets the less
Articles of Religion. 27
All the books of the New Testament, as they are
commonly received, we do receive and account canon-
ical.
Proofs. — "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul,
(he testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple." (Vs.
xix. 7.) "Search the Scriptures : for in them ye think ye have eternal
life; and they are they which which testify of me." (John v. 39.)
" From a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to
make thee wise unto salvation." (2 Tim. iii. 15.) "All Scripture is
given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof,
for correction, for instruction in righteousness." (2 Tim. iii. 16.)
"And receive with meekness the ingrafted word, Avhich is able to
save your souls." (James i. 21.)
Notes.
1 . This Article teaches that the Bible is to be ap-
pealed to in the final settlement of all questions of faith
and practice. It is the rule of faith and practice.
" The Bible, the Bible is the religion of Protestants."
Bat the Catholic Church teaches that "Scripture and
tradition, and these explained by the Catholic clergy,
are the rule of faith." The bulls of popes, filling eight
volumes; the decretals, acts of councils, the acts sanc-
tum, making ninety volumes; azk unlimited mass of
unwritten traditions, which have been accumulating,
like drift-wood on a river, from the commencement of
the Christian era up to the present time— all these
cumbrous human inventions, added to the Bible, con-
stitute the Catholic rule of faith. The Council of
Trent decreed that these traditions, both written and
unwritten, are of equal authority with the Bible, and
he that denies this shall be accursed. But Meth-
odism, in common with all Protestants, teaches that
"the Holy Sen))/ 1' res contain all things necessary >o tal
nation."
28 The Methodist Armor.
2. The Romanists oppose the private reading of the
Bible as a sin. But we hold the truths of the Bible
are addressed to all, and are comprehensible by all, and
therefore the command " Search the Scriptures " is
equally binding upon all. " The Word of God is the
book of the common people; it is the workingman's
book; it is the child's book; it is the slave's book; it is
the book of every creature that is downtrodden; it is
a book that carries with it the leaven of God's soul;
it is a book that tends to make men larger, and better,
and sweeter, and that succors them all through life.
And do you suppose it is going to be lost out of the
world? When the Bible is lost out of the world, it
will be because there are no men in it who are in
trouble and need succoring, no men who are oppressed
and need release, no men who are in darkness and need
light, no men who are hungry and need food, no men
who are sinning and need mercy, no men who are lost
and need the salvation of God. Let us therefore take
the Word of God as our friend, and hold it to our
heart, and make it the man of our counsel, our guide,
the lamp to our feet, the light to our path. Use it,
as God meant it to be used, as the soul's food and
the soul's joy, and it shall be your life's rest."
VI. Of the Old Testament.
The Old Testament is not contrary to the New; tor
both in the Old and New Testament everlasting life
is offered to mankind by Christ, who is the only Me-
diator between God and man, being God and mar.
Wherefore they are not to be heard who feign that
the old fathers did look only for transitory promises.
Although the law given from God by Moses, as touch-
ing ceremonies and rites, doth not bind Christians.
Articles of Religion. 29
nor ought the civil precepts thereof of necessity to be
received in any Commonwealth, yet, notwithstanding,
no Christian whatsoever is free from the obedience of
the commandments which are called moral.
Proofs. — "Beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he ex-
pounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning him-
self. And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake
unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled,
which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in
the Psalms, concerning me." (Luke xxiv. 27, 44-45.) "Think not
that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets ; I am not come
to destroy, but to fulfill." (Matt. v. 17.)
Note.
The harmony of the Old and New Testament is clear-
ly seen in the fact that Christ and the apostles made
frequent quotations from the former. Some writer
has shown that about ninety quotations from the Old
Testament are found in the teaching of Christ. To
establish the resurrection against the Sadducees,
Christ quotes from Ex. iii. 6; to establish the primi-
tive institution of marriage, quotes from Gen. i. 27;
to answer the question as to the great commandment,
quotes from Deut. vi. 5 ; to show that David's Son was
David's Lord, from Ps. ex. 1; to preach a sermon, from
Isa. lxi. 1. Besides these, and many more, there are
references in our Lord's discourses to Jonah as a type
of the resurrection, to the brazen serpent, to the living
water and manna in the desert, to Abel, Noah, Abra-
ham, Lot, Solomon, Moses, Elijah, and Daniel. When
tempted by the devil, his great weapon of defense was,
" It is written." It is clear that Christ studied the Old
Scriptures with devoted care, and made constant use
of their truths in his teachings. "The two Testa-
30 The Methodist Armor.
ments, Old and New, like two breasts of the same
person, give the same milk." The river of salva-
tion took its rise in the mountains of Judea, and de-
scended into the plain of the gospel, and, like the
Nile, spread beauty and fertility along its deepening
and widening course.
VII. Of Original or Birth Sin.
Original sin standeth not in the following of Adam
(as the Pelagians do vainly talk), but it is the corruption
of the nature of every man that naturally is engen-
dered of the offspring of Adam, whereby man is very
far gone from original righteousness, and of his own
nature inclined to evil, and that continually.
Proofs. — "By one man sin entered into the world, and deatli by
sin; and so deatli passed upon all men, for that all have sinned."
(Rom. v. 12.) "By one man's disobedience many were made sin-
ners." (Rom. v. 19.) "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in
sin did my mother conceive me." (Ps. li. 5.) "And were by nature
the children of wrath, even as others." (Eph. ii. 3.)
Notes.
1. The doctrine of the Pelagians was that children
are born pure and innocent, and that they become cor-
rupt by outside influences, by imitating or following
evil examples, by vicious education and society.
2. " The orthodox view is that this native corruption
is derived from a sinful ancestry, in whose loss of puri-
ty their whole posterity is involved. This view repre-
sents the depravity of humun nature as coming from
the laws of natural descent, the child inheriting from
the parent a corrupt nature, prone to evil, in conse-
quence of which he runs easily into open sin. 'Adam
begat a son in his own likeness.' - (Gen. v. 3.) ' Be-
Articles of Religion. 31
hold, I was sliapen in iniquity, and in sin did my
mother conceive me.' (Ps. li. 5.) ' Prom within, out
of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts.' (Mark
vii. 21.) On these passages, and others, the doctrine
of original sin is based. There is nothing unreason-
able in this doctrine. For it is well known that men
do transmit bodily ailments and mental peculiarities
to their children. Dishonest men tend to have dis-
honest children; thieves tend to breed thieves; mur-
derers, murderers; drunkards, drunkards; insane men
propagate insanity. 'He that soweth to the flesh
shall of the flesh reap corruption.' Man, when he
comes into the world, has seeds in his very nature-
tendencies to act, and this in a particular way. Some
of these are for good; some are decidedly toward
evil. There is certainly an original sin — otherwise
there would not be universal actual sin — among chil-
dren as soon as they begin to act for themselves, and
among men of all ages and countries. My view of this
original sin is that it is very much like that tendency
toward evil which is produced by a course of wicked-
ness. Let a man go on in intemperance for a length
of time, and this creates a craving for drink. It is
Baid that when the father has been an habitual drunk-
ard the son is apt to have an inclination toward bodily
stimulants. This tendency of evil to propagate itself
is inherited from the first transgressors, and has be-
come hereditary." — Dr. McCosh.
3. The moral status of children. — "The benefits of
Christ's death are coextensive with the sin of Adam
(Rom. v. 18), hence all children dying in infancy par-
take of the free gift." " Infants are not indeed born
justified; nor are they capable of that voluntary ac-
32 The Methodist Armor.
coptaneo of the benefits of the free gift which is nec-
essary in the case of adults; but, on the other hand,
they cannot reject it, and it is by the rejection of it
that adults perish. The process by which grace is
communicated to infants is not revealed; the manner
doubtless differs from that employed toward adults.'
— Watson.
"Children are born into the world sustaining,
through the atonement, such a relation to the moral
kingdom of God as that they are proper subjects of
God's regenerating grace, and those dying in infancy
come into actual possession of all these blessings.
They may now be prepared for and admitted into the
kingdom by the grace of God. This is sufficiently
evident from our Lord's words, ' Suffer the little chil-
dren to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of
such is the kingdom of heaven.' " — Dr. Raymond.
4. How soon can we look for the conversion of our chil-
dren? — " There is absolutely no authority whatever in
Scripture for the popular notion that a certain degree
of mental and moral development is necessary before
this gift of divine life can be imparted. "We should
pray for our children that, like John the Baptist, they
may be filled with the Holy Ghost from their mother's
womb. We should expect that, like Isaiah and Jere-
miah, they will be sanctified from the cradle. How
old must a rosebud be before it receives that life that
enables it to blossom ? It may be stunted, and dwarf
and die — the blossom may never come. But the nor-
mal law of God is rosebud and blossom on every bush.
Converted! Christ says, 'Except ye be converted,
and become as little children, ye shall not enter thi?
kingdom of heaven.' We reverse his saying. Om
Articles of Religion. 33
reading to the children is, Except ye become as grown
men, and be converted. The vine need not trail on
the ground till it is ten years old, and then be trained
on the trellis. The only way to insure a good peach
is to cut back the stick that grows from the stone, and
put on a new graft. In God's kingdom the best fruit
grows from the stone. The son need not wander oft
from his father's home, spend his substance in riotous
living, and eat the husks that the swine do feed on, in
order to be acceptable to his father, and have the best
robe, and the ring, and the fatted calf. The immeas-
urable love of God gives us this infinite grace, not
because of our wanderings, but in spite of them. The
Church will never make its best progress until it gets
rid of this unscriptural idea — that the child must grow
up recreant and be converted in maturity, that it must
grow up outside the kingdom of God and be brought
in late in life. What progress should we make in
the common virtues if we were to proceed in the same
philosophy?"
VIII. Of Free-will.
The condition of man after the fall of Adam is such,
that he cannot turn and prepare himself, by his own
natural strength and works, to faith, and calling upon
God; wherefore we have no power to do good works,
pleasant and acceptable to God, without the grace
of God by Christ preventing us, that we may have a
good will, and working with us, when we have that
good will.
Proofs. — "I am the vine, ye are the branches. lie that abideth
in me, and I in him, the same bringeth fortli much fruit; for with-
out me ye can do nothing." (John xv. 5.) " For when ye were
yet withovt strength, in clue time Christ died for the ungodly."
3
34 The Methodist Armor.
(Mdin. v. 6.) "You hath he quickened, who were dead in tre»
passes and sins." (Enh. ii. 1.)
Notes.
1. The term "preventing" has here the old English
meaning of " going before and helping."
2. Man is convicted and converted by the power of
the Holy Ghost, but the will of man must cooperate
in the work. " Work out your own salvation with fear
and trembling, for it is God which worketh in you
both to will and to do of his good pleasure."
" The Divine Spirit is atmospheric, and it becomes
personal whenever any person appropriates it. The
sunlight has in it all harvests; but we do not reap a
single thing until that sunlight is appropriated by
some root, or some leaf, or some blossom, or some-
thing in the ground. The sunlight on the Sahara has
neither wheat nor corn. These are only to be had in
the field where seeds are planted, where the nature of
the seeds works with the sunlight, and where the soil
is quickened and stimulated by the heat and moisture
that go with them. The divine influence works in
men to will and to do by their nature, by their very
law of organization; and when a man becomes con-
verted, it is by both the divine influence and the exer-
cise of his own energies; that is to say, they cooper-
ate. It is a unitary, although a complex work.
" Some say that you must wait for the Spirit. Wait
for the Spirit! How long must a man lie in bed wait-
ing for the sunrise? The sun is up, and has been
up an hour, two hours, five hours. It is noonday, it
is afternoon, and the sluggard lies waiting for the sun
to bring him out! How foolish it is when you apply
it to any thing except a technically religious mutter!
Articles of Religion. 35
The Divine Spirit is like the mother s heart. It is
universal and infinite. It is the mother-soul of the
universe, with infinite power, and sweetness, and beau-
ty, and glory, shining down upon all men, good and
bad, high and low, ignorant and educated, and stimu-
lating them to be better, to be nobler, to be higher;
and what time any man accepts the influence of the
Divine Spirit, and cooperates with it, that moment the
work is done by the stimulus of God acting with the
practical energy and will of the human soul."
IX. Of the Justification of Man.
We are accounted righteous before God only for
the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, by
faith, and not for our own works or deservings: where-
fore, that we are justified by faith only, is a most whole-
some doctrine, and very full of comfort.
Proofs. — " For by grace are ye saved through faith ; and that
not of yourselves: it is the gift of God; not of works, lest any man
should boast." (Eph. ii. 8, 9.) "Therefore we conclude that a man
is justified by faith without the deeds of the law." (Rom. iii. 28.)
"Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our
Lord Jesus Christ." (Rom. v. 1.)
Notes.
1. Doctrine. — The originating cause of justification
is the free, spontaneous love of God. " God so loved
the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but
have everlasting life."
2. The meritorious ground of pardon is the atone-
ment of Jesus Christ. It is through Jesus Christ. We
are "justified by his blood." "Reconciled to God
by the death of his Son." " Christ once suffered for
sins."
36 The Methodist Armor.
3. Personal faith is the instrumental cause of justifi-
cation. It is through faith. " Being justified by faith."
Saving faith excludes works as a ground of justifica-
tion, ft is not by the merit of faith itself, but only
by faith, as that which embraces and appropriates the
merit of Christ. Faith is the hand receiving the gift
of salvation.
ResulU: First, restoration to Divine favor. "We
have peace with God." Second, adoption into the
family ot God. "If children, then heirs, heirs of
God." " Whom he justifies, them he also glorifies."
X. Of Good Works.
Althougl . good works, which are the fruits of faith,
and follow after justification, cannot put away our
sins and oivlure the severity of God's judgment; yet
are they pleasing and acceptable to God in Christ,
and spring out of a true and lively faith, insomuch
that by them a lively faith may be as evidently known
as a tree is discerned by its fruit.
Proofs. — " By the deeds of the law there shall no flesh he jus-
tified in his sight." (Horn. iii. 20.) "Not by works of righteous-
ness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us."
(Titus iii. 5.)
Notes.
L. The Bible clearly teaches that faith in Christ is
the ground of salvation, but that good works are the
measure of our reward. Saved by faith, but preserved
by good works, is the true doctrine.
2. The above Article also levels its force against the
Catholic doctrine of good works as having an atoning
merit in them. Thus it was taught that when men
made pilgrimages, went through a course of fasting,
gave donations, repeated the Credo, the Ave, the Pater
Articles of Religion. 3?
Noster, these were set down to their credit as so much
over against wrong-doing. They falsely assumed re-
ligion to be a mere business, conducted as the trans-
actions of a man's store where books of debit and credit
were kept.
3. While the Article cautions us as to the two par-
ticulars mentioned, it at the same time, in harmony
with the teaching of the Scriptures, urges the neces-
sity of maintaining good works as the evidence and
fruits of regeneration. Good works may be denned
to be right motives flowing out into right actions. Good
works are the outward expression of good feelings
Grace in the heart is the fountain, the good works are
the streams flowing from it. Love and good works
are fountain and stream. And in proportion to the
fullness of the lake of grace in the heart will be the
greatness, beauty, and fertility of the rivers of good
works flowing from it. A feeble fountain will produce
a feeble stream.
XI. Of Works of Supererogation.
Voluntary works, besides over and above God's com-
mandments, which are called works of supererogation,
cannot be taught without arrogancy and impiety. For
by them men do declare that they do not only render
unto God as much as they are bound to do, but that
they do more for his sake than of bounden duty is re-
quired: whereas Christ saith plainly, When ye have
done all that is commanded you, say, We are unprofit-
able servants.
Proofs. — " Is it any pleasure to the Almighty, that thou art right-
eous? or is it gain to him, that thou makest thy ways perfect?"
(Job xxii. 3.) "So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those
38 The Methodist Armor.
tilings which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants-,
we have done that which was our duty to do." (Luke xvii. 10.)
Note.
The error of the Catholic Church against which
this Article is directed teaches that "there is an im
mense treasure of merit, composed of the pious deeds
of the saints, which they have performed beyond what
was necessary for their own salvation, and which were
applicable to the benefit of others." But the Bible
teaches that the circle of duty takes in the entire abil-
ity of man, and therefore leaves no room for the works
of supererogation. Out of the doctrine of superero-
gation came the wicked system of selling indulgences
to commit sin, which so shocked Luther as moved him
to begin and carry on the great work of the German
Reformation.
XII. Of Sin After Justification.
Not every sin willingly committed after justification
is the sin against the Holy Ghost, and unpardonable.
Wherefore, the grant of repentance is not to be denied
to such as fall into sin after justification: after wa
have received the Holy Ghost, we may depart from
grace given, and fall into sin, and, by the grace of
God, rise again and amend our lives. And, therefore,
they are to be condemned who say they can no more
sin as long as they live here, or deny the place of for-
giveness to such as truly repent.
Proofs. — "Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your
backslidings." (Jer. iii. 22.) "If any man sin, we have an advo
eate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." (1 John ii. 1.)
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins."
(1 John i. 0.) "Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen
wid repent, and do the first works." (Rev. ii. 5.)
Articles of Religion. 39
Note.
This Article denies the dogma anciently taught by
some, that every sin committed after justification is
the sin against the Holy Ghost. The sin against the
Holy Ghost is ascribing the miraculous works of Christ
to the agency of the devil. The scribes said, "He
(Christ) hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of devils
casteth he out devils." And Christ, commenting on
this charge, says : " But he that shall blaspheme against
the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness Because
*hey said, He hath an unclean spirit.'''' This unpardona-
ble sin is that grade of wickedness and settled malig-
nity, that hardening of the heart, which is not the result
of ignorance, but of a deliberate, systematic, and perse-
vering opposition to clearly demonstrated and unmis-
takable truth. It is not a state arrived at all at once,
but is approached by a long series of Avillf ul resistances
to the known truth, and is unpardonable, not because
God withholds mercy to any truly penitent, but be-
cause all such have reached such a state of moral des-
peration that they will not ask or receive pardon on the
conditions of the gospel. The unpardonable state is
in the man, not in the unwillingness of God to forgive.
The sign of this condition is utter moral insensibility.
Wherever there is spiritual sensibility enough to make
a man fear he has committed it, it is certain proof that
re has not.
XIII. Of the Church.
The visible Cli arch of Christ is a congregation of
faithful men, in which the pure word of God is
preached, and the sacraments duly administered, ac-
cording to Christ's ordinance, in all those things that
of necessity are requisite to the same.
±U The Methodist Armor.
1'roofs. — " Unto the Church of God .... to them that arc sanc-
tified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place
call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours."
(1 Cor. i. 2.) "And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and
some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting
of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the
body of Christ." (Eph. i v. 11, 12.)
Notes.
1. The definition of a Church given in the above Ar-
ticle is broad and comprehensive. In the analysis
we have: (1) A congregation of faithful men. (2) The
recognition of the Bible, or the pure Word of God, as
the rule of faith and practice. (3) The recognition of
the living ministry to preach and expound this word.
(4) The sacraments (Baptism and the Lord's Supper)
properly administered. These are the four corner-
stones of the Church which Christ founded on the
rock — his own divine character. The definition har-
monizes perfectly with the elements found in the
apostolic Church as described in the Acts of the
Apostles; and allows all Methodists to recognize all
other denominations as being gospel Churches that
come in the scope of the above definition.
2. Denominational exclusiveness grows out of a false
definition of what a gospel Church is. To illustrate,
the Romish authority defines a Church thus: "The
company of Christians knit together by the profession
of the same faith, and communion of the same sacro
ments, under the government of lawful pastors, and
especially of the Roman bishop as the only vicar of
Christ on earth." Thus it makes the supremacy of
the Pope an essential element of a gospel Church.
Consequently, it would logically follow that tbf Cath-
Articles (>f Reliyum. 4}
olic is the only true Church. Hence Romish bigotry.
The Baptists define : "A visible Church of Christ is
a congregation of baptized (immersed) believers," etc.
This definition cuts off all Churches whose members
are not immersed. Hence their exclusiveness.
XIV. Of Purgatory.
The Romish doctrine concerning purgatory, pardon,
worshiping and adoration, as well of images as of
relics, and also invocation of saints, is a fond thing,
vainly invented, and grounded upon no warrant of
Scripture, but repugnant to the word of God.
Proofs. — "Who can forgive sins but God only?" (Mark ii. 7.)
"Thoushalt not make unto thee any graven image." (Ex. xx. 4.)
"Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou
serve." (Matt. iv. 10.)
Note.
This Article condemns a cluster of Romish errors.
The first is that of purgatory. The doctrine of the
Romish purgatory implies a second probation for cer-
tain men. But the Bible teaches that there is no sec-
ond probation after death. "In the place where the
tree falleth, there it shall be." (Eccl. xi. 3. ) " He that
is unjust, let him be unjust still ; and he which is filthy,
let him be filthy still." (Rev. xxii. 11.) "Whatso-
3ver a man soweth, that shall he also reap." We arc
cleansed from sin, not by purgatorial fires, but by th<
blood of Christ. There is not a single passage of Script-
ure, properly expounded, favoring this doctrine.
The second error is priestly absolution. God alone
exercises the right to pardon sin. " Who can forgive
Bins but God only ? " ( Mark ii. 7. )
The third error is image-worship, which is posi-
tively forbidden. "Thou shalt not make unto thee
12 The Methodist Armor.
any graven image," etc. " I fell down to worship be.
fore the feet of the angel which shewed me these
things. Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not,
for I am thy fellow -servant: .... worship God."
(Rev. xxii. 8, 9.)
The fourth error is praying to departed saints to in-
tercede in behalf of men on earth. This doctrine
makes saints sub-mediators between God and men,
whereas the Word teaches, " There is one God, and
one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ
Jesus." (1 Tim. ii. 5.)
X V. Of Speaking in the Congregation in Such a
Tongue as the People Understand.
It is a thing plainly repugnant to the Word of God,
and the custom of the primitive Church, to have pub-
lic prayer in the church, or to minister the sacraments,
in a tongue not understood by the people.
Pkoofs. — "He that speaketh in an unknown tongue, speaketh
not unto men, but unto God : for no man unrlerstandetli him. In
the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding
.... than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue." (1 Cor.
xiv. 2, 19.)
Note.
This Article justly condemns the Roman Catholic
practice of reading the service in the Latin language
to English congregations. It is " plainly repugnant
to the word of God." To conduct the public prayers
of the Church in an unknown tongue is not only con-
trary to common sense, but to the custom of the primi-
tive Church. In 202 A.D., Origen says: "The Gre-
cians pray to God in the Greek, the Romans in the
Roman, and every one in his own tongue." "The
modern practice of intoning prayers and other parts
Articles of Religion. 43
of religious worship is also unintelligible, and opposed
to reasonable service."
XVI. Op the Sacraments.
Sacraments, ordained of Christ, are not only badges
31* tokens of Christian men's profession, but rather
they are certain signs of grace, and God's good-will
toward us, by the which he doth work invisibly in us,
and doth not only quicken, but also strengthen and
confirm our faith in him.
There are two sacraments ordained of Christ our
Lord in the gospel ; that is to say, Baptism and the
Supper of the Lord.
Those five commonly called sacraments — that is to
say, confirmation, penance, orders, matrimony, and
extreme unction — are not to be counted for sacraments
of the gospel, being such as have partly grown out of
the corrupt following of the apostles; and partly are
states of life allowed in the Scriptures, but yet have
not the like nature of baptism and the Lord's Supper,
because they have not any visible sign or ceremony
ordained of God.
The sacraments were not ordained of Christ to be
gazed upon, or to be carried about; but that we should
duly use them. And in such only as worthily receive
the same they have a wholesome effect or operation;
but they that receive them unworthily purchase to them-
selves condemnation, as St. Paul saith, 1 Cor. xi. 29.
Proofs. — Christ ordained but two positive sacraments — Baptism
and the Lord's Supper. (See Matt, xxviii. 19; Matt. xxvi. 26,
1 Cor. xi. 23.)
Note.
The five sacraments of the Catholic Church are con-
tinuation, penance, orders, matrimony, and extreme
44 The Methodist Armor.
unction. Confirmation in the Roman Church is a serv-
ice by which those baptized in infancy publicly take
upon themselves the obligations of the baptismal cov-
enant, and voluntarily confirm and recognize their
Church-membership. The service in itself is proper
enough, but not such in solemn dignity as to entitle
;t to be placed in the same rank with baptism and
the Lord's Supper. The same may be said of " or-
ders," or the ordination ceremony of the ministry, and
of matrimony. Roman penance is a service by which
a penitent, having sinned and made auricular confes-
sion, the priest grants pardon for sins committed after
baptism. This so-called sacrament is founded upon
the assumption that the priest has power to forgive
sin, which Protestantism regards as blasphemous.
Extreme unction is a service consisting in anointing
with holy oil persons at the point of death, by which
sins are forgiven and grace imparted.
XVII. Of Baptism.
Baptism is not only a sign of profession and mark
of difference whereby Christians are distinguished
from others that are not baptized, but it is also a sign
of regeneration, or the new birth. The baptism of
young children is to be retained in the Church.
Proofs. — "Arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, call-
ing on the name of the Lord." (Acts xxii. 16.) "Except a man
be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the king-
dom of God." (John iii. 5.) "He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved." (Mark xvi. 16.)
Notes.
A brief argument in favor of infant baptism will be
found in another place.
Articles of Religion. 45
This Article defines baptism to be:
1. A sign of profession. It is a profession of faith
in Jesus Chnst as the Son of God. When a person
makes a profession of faith, baptism is a sign of that
profession and a pledge of loyalty to God and the
Church. It is a profession of faith in all the funda-
mental doctrines of salvation as taught by Christ.
" See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be bap-
tized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all
thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said,
I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God
and he baptized him." (Acts viii. 36.)
2. Baptism is "a mark of difference whereby Chris-
tians are distinguished from others that are not baptized."
The Jew was distinguished from the Gentile by the
significant mark or sign of circumcision. In the Chris-
tian Church, baptism in the name of the Trinity takes
the place of circumcision. By circumcision the Jew
entered into the Jewish Church; by baptism we enter
into the Christian Church.
3. "It is also a sign of regeneration" The cleansing
water is a fit sign of the cleansing power of the Holy
Ghost.
XVIII. Of the Lord's Supper.
The Supper of the Lord is not only a sign of the
love that Christians ought to have among themselves
one to another, but rather is a sacrament of our re-
demption by Christ's death; insomuch that, to such
as rightly, worthily, and with faith receive the same,
the bread which we break is a partaking of the body
of Christ; and likewise the cup of blessing is a par-
taking of the blood of Christ.
Transubstantiatior or the change of the substance
40 The Methodist Armor.
of bread and wine in the Supper of the Lord, cannot
be proved by Holy Writ, but is repugnant to the plain
words of Scripture, overthroweth the nature of a sacra-
ment, and hath given occasion to many superstitions.
The budy of Christ is given, taken, and eaten in the
Sapper only after a heavenly and spiritual manner.
And the means whereby the body of Christ is received
and eaten in the Supper is faith.
The sacrament of the Lord's Supper was not by
Christ's ordinance reserved, carried about, lifted up,
or worshiped.
Proofs. — "And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it,
and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for
you : this do in remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup after
supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which
is shed for you." (Luke xxii. 19, 20.)
Notes.
1. Names. It is called the "Lord's Supper" be-
cause it was first instituted in the evening, and at the
close of the passover supper. It is called a " sacra-
ment," which means an oath of renewed allegiance to
Christ. It is called the " eucharist," which means the
giving of thanks. "He took bread and gave thanks."
A " communion " to express Christianfellowship.
2. The import of the Supper is a commemoration. " This
do in remembrance of me." It took the place of the
passover, which commemorated the deliverance of the
Israelites from Egyptian bondage. The suffering of
Christ delivers the world from Satanic bondage. A
father once kept a canceled bond for his family to
look upon, and see how he had paid a heavy debt,
through much self-sacrifice, to make them happy. So
Christ has canceled the claim of- justice against us.
Articles of Religion. 47
" nailing it to his cross." In the Lord's Supper his
family look upon this bond.
3. Transubstantiationis a Romish absurdity. Being in
bodily person in heaven, and at the right-hand of the
throne of the Father, Christ cannot at the same time
be visibly and bodily in the hands of the priests, nor
on hundreds of altars at once. The expression " This
is my body" is a Hebraism for "This represents my
body." It is clearly a figure, as " I am the vine," " I
am the door," " I am the way," "The seven good kine
are seven years." Besides, if the bread and wine be
actually changed into the real flesh and blood of Christ,
how could these material things nourish and feed the
soul, which is a spiritual substance ? " " It is the Spirit
that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing " in feed-
ing the sord. While the Lutherans renounce the doc-
trine of trim substantiation, they affirm a (^substan-
tiation, which is akin to the real presence of the Cath-
olics. But in the light of common sense both the tran
and the con are alike contrary to truth. The true doc-
trine is, a sacrament is a holy ordinance instituted by
Christ, wherein, by sensible signs, Christ and the ben-
efits of the new covenant are represented, seeded, and ap-
plied to believers. The sacrament is to be taken after
a heavenly and spiritual manner. Its benefit depends
upon the faith of the communicant. The astronomer
does not worship the telescope, but looks through it out
and beyond to the stars in the heavens. So the bread
and wine are as a telescope through which the eye of
faith looks to Christ dying on the cross for the sins
of the world. " This do in remembrance of me."
XIX. Of Both Kinds.
The cup of the Lord is not to be denied to the lav
IS The Methodist Armor.
people, for both the parts ot the Lord's Supper, by
Christ's ordinance and commandment, ought to be
administered to all Christians alike.
Proofs. —"He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to
them (the disciples), saying, Drink ye all of it." (Matt. xxvi. 27.)
"For as often as ye (believers in common) eat this bread, and drink
this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till he tome But let a
man (the believer) examine himself, and so let him eat of that
bread, and drink of that cup." (1 Cor. xi. 2G, 28.)
Note.
Both the bread and the wine were originally admin-
istered by our Lord to the apostles, and both elements
were ordered to be given to the lay people until the
coming of Christ. The command is, Drink, all of you.
Surely Paul was not addressing the clergy when he
wrote his Epistle to the Corinthian Church, in which
he said, " Let a man examine himself, and so let him
eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.'"
This Bomish error grows out of the greater one of
tiansubstantiation. The papists teach that after the
bread and wine are changed into the flesh and blood
of Christ, he is whole and entire in either bread oi
wine, and so, whatever part the communicant may
receive, he receives the whole Christ. Therefore that
Church has decreed to give "the laity only in one kind."
And whoever does not believe with that Church, it says
" Let him be accursed,'"
XX. Of the One Oblation of Chlist Finished
upon the Cross.
The offering of Christ, once made, is that perfect
redemption, propitiation, and satisfaction, for all the
sins of the whole world, both original and actual ; and
there is none other satisfaction for sin but that alone.
Articles of Religion. 49
Wherefore the sacrifice of masses, in which it is com-
monly said that the priest doth offer Christ for the
q uick and the dead, to have remission of pain or guilt,
is a blasphemous fable, and dangerous deceit.
Proofs. — "So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of man ."
(Heb. ix. 28.) "Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead
dielh no more For in that he died, he died unto sin once."
(Rom. vi. 9, 10.) "Neither is there salvation in any other: for
there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby
we must be saved." (Acts iv. 12.) "There remaineth no more sac-
rifice for sins. (Heb. x. 26.) "After he had offered one sacrifice for
sins forever, sat down on the right-hand of God ; for by one offering
lie hath perfected forever them that are sanctified." (Heb. x. 12, 14.)
Note.
This Article condemns as a blasphemous fable the
dogma of the Catholic Church which affirms that
Christ is offered afresh for sin every time the mass
is celebrated, and teaches the Protestant doctrine that
Christ made bid one offering of himself for sin, and
that this offering is perfect, complete in every respect,
and forever final. Therefore " the Romanist sacri-
fice of the mass has no sanction, but is utterly con-
demned in the Epistle to the Hebrews."
XXI. Or the Marriage oe Ministers.
The ministers of Christ are not commanded by
God's law either to vow the estate of single life or to
abstain from marriage ; therefore it is lawful for them,
as for all other Christians, to marry at their own dis-
cretion, as they shall judge the same to serve best to
godliness.
Proofs. — The Apostle Peter was a married man. " When Jesus
was come into Peter's house, he saw his wife's mother laid, and sick
of a fever." (Matt. viii. 14.) Philip the evangelist "had foui
4
50 The Methodist Armor.
daughters, virgins, which did prophesy." (Acts xxi. 9.) Paul says
"A hisliop then must he blameless, the husband of one wife." (1 Tim.
iii. 2.) "Let the deacons he the husbands of one wife." (1 Tim. iii.
12.) "Have we not power to lead about ... a wife, as well as oth
er apostles?" (1 Cor. ix. 5.)
Note.
But the Church of Kome has commanded her min-
isters not to marry, which command they strictly
obey. And forbidding to marry is a sign of an apos-
tate church. (1 Tim . iv. 1-3.) But the Roman Church
not only forbids marriage to her clergy, but has ex-
alted the marriage of the laity to the unscriptural dig-
nity of a sacrament. What bold absurdities and gross
errors!
XXII. Of the Rites and Ceeemonies of Churches.
It is not necessary that rites and ceremonies should
in all places be the same, or exactly alike, for they
have been always different, and may be changed ac-
cording to the diversity of countries, times, and men's
manners, so that nothing be ordained against God's
word. Whosoever, through his private judgment,
willingly and purposely, doth openly break the rites
and ceremonies of the Church to which he belongs,
which are not repugnant to the word of God, and are
ordained and approved by common authority, ought
to be rebuked openly, that others may fear to do the
like, as one that offendeth against the common order
of the Church, and woundeth the consciences of weak
brethren.
Every particular Church may ordain, change, or
abolish rites and ceremonies, so that all things may
be done to edification.
Proofs. — "As free, and not using your liberty for a cloplc of
Articles of Religion. 51
maliciousness, but as the servants of God." (1 Pet. ii. 16.) "Let
every man be fully pursuaded in his own mind." (Kom. xiv. 5.)
"Let all things be done unto edification." (1 Cor. xiv. 26.) "The
kingdom of God is not meat and drink." (Rom. xiv. 17.)
Notes.
1. The doctrines and institutions of the Christian re-
ligion axe, positive and unchangeable, while her rites and
ceremonies are circumstantial. Baptism may be ad-
ministered by pouring or immersion; the elements of
the Lord's Supper may be received sitting or kneeling;
prayers may be offered in public kneeling or standing;
we may stand or sit in singing, etc.
2. This Article opposes the Catholics, who maintain
that the authority of the Church is supreme, and what-
ever rite she may ordain, though it becomes obsolete
and useless, is of supreme and endless obligation. It
teaches that whenever a ceremony becomes a hinder-
ance to the real progress of the Church, it is to be
laid aside. When new ones are needed they are to be
used. The law of expediency is to reign as to these
matters.
3. This Article also teaches that when rites and cer-
emonies are " ordained and approved " by the proper
authorities of the Church, they are not to be tampered
with by private individuals. No person is allowed,
"through his private judgment," to set them aside.
This secures uniformity of Church ceremonies.
XXIII. Of the Eulers of the United States of
America.
The President, the Congress, the General Assem-
blies, the Governors, and the Councils of State, as the
delegates of the people, are the rulers of the United
States of America, according to the division of power
0*4
The Methodist Armor,
made to thorn by the Constitution of the United States,
and by the constitution of their respective States. And
the said States are a sovereign and independent na-
tion, and ought not to be subjec 4 " to any foreign juris-
diction.
Proofs. — "Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers.
For there is no power but of God; the powers that be are ordained
of God. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil.
For lie is the minister of God to thee for good." (Rom. xiii. 1-4.)
Notes.
"As far as it respects civil affairs, we believe it the
duty of Christians, and especially all Christian minis-
ters, to be subject to the supreme authority of the
country where they may reside, and to use all lauda-
ble means to enjoin obedience to the powers that be;
and, therefore, it is expected that all our preachers
and people, who may be under any foreign govern
ment, will behave themselves as peaceable and order-
ly subjects." — Note of the Discipline.
The above Article was drawn up at the Conference
in 1784, when the Church was organized, and incor-
porated in the body of the Articles in 1786, when the
next edition of the Discipline was printed. The ex-
planatory note was appended in 1820.
XXIV. Of Christian Men's Goods.
The riches and goods of Christians are not common
as touching the right, title, and possession of the same,
as some do falsely boast. Notwithstanding, every man
ought of such things as he possesseth liberally to give
alms to the poor, according to his ability.
Proofs.— " Thou shalt not steal." (Ex. xx. 15.) Stealing im-
plies ownership of property. "Give to him that asketk thee, and
Articles of Religion. 53
from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou i way. (Matt.
v. 42.) Giving and lending necessarily imply the personal owner-
ship of property. "But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his
brother hath need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from
him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?" (1 John iii. 17.)
Notes.
1. This Article was drawn up to counteract the
teachings of the Anabaptists, who, soon after the Lu-
theran Reformation, preached " that all things ought
to be common among the faithful."
2. The instance of community of goods mentioned
in Acts ii. 44 was not such as modern communists ad •
vocate. That of the early Christians was voluntary,
local, and temporary. There was no forcible division
of property. Peter said to Ananias, "While it re-
mained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold,
was it not in thine own power? " — all of which shows
that the common fund for benevolent purposes was
made up by voluntary contributions. Besides, this
instance was not general, but confined to the church at
Jerusalem. No mention is made of any similar ar-
rangement in the further history of the Church.
XXV. Or a Christian Man's Oath.
As we confess that vain and rash swearing is for-
bidden Christian men by our Lord Jesus Christ and
James his apostle, so we judge that the Christian re-
ligion doth not prohibit but that a man may swear
when the magistrate requireth, in a cause of faith and
charity, so it be done according to the prophet's teach-
ing, in justice, judgment, and truth.
Proofs. — "And thou shall swear, The Lord livetli, in truth, in
indgment, and in righteousness." (Jer. iv. 2.) "Men verily sweat
by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to tliem an end »>'
54 The Methodist Armor.
all strife." (Heb. vi. 16.) "And Jonathan caused David to swear
again." (1 Sam. xx. 17.) " I call God for a record upon my soul."
(2 Cor. i. 23.)
Note.
Judicial oaths are believed to be lawful by all Chris-
tians, except the Anabaptists, who flourished about
the time this Article was originally drawn up, and the
Quakers, and some minor sects. " Though it be said
we shall not swear, yet I do not remember it is any-
where read that we should not receive or take an oath
from another." — St. Augustine.
CHAPTER IV.
HIE GENERAL RULES WITH SCRIPTURE QUOTATIONS
AND NOTES.
These Rules may b6 divided into three classes:
1. Those forbidding the doing of evil.
2. Those enjoining the doing of good.
3. Those enforcing the use of the means of grace.
These Rules have become a part of the constitutional
law of our Church, and are in perfect harmony with
the Scriptures, being mainly apostolic rules of prac-
tical Christianity. And being such, no person is to V>e
received into the Church who is unwilling to observe
them. It i*s hardly necessary to state that these Rules
contain no doctrinal statements, but only the funda-
mental principles relating to practical godliness.
These Rules are here arranged, classified, and num-
bered with the Bible proofs on which they are founded.
It will be seen that there is not one Rule which is net
based on Bible truth.
There is only one condition previously required of
General Rules. 55
those who desire admission into these societies, a " de-
sire to flee from the wrath to come, and to be saved
from their sins." But wherever this is really fixed in
the soul, it will be shown by its fruits. It is therefore
expected of all who continue therein, that they should
continue to evidence their desire of salvation by ob-
serving the following Bules :
The Evils and Sins to be Avoided.
Rule 1. By doing no harm, by avoiding evil of ever}
kind, especially that which is most generally practiced.
Bible. — "Abstain from all appearance of evil." (1 Thess. v. 22.)
" Be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves." (Matt.
x. 16.) "Abhor that which is evil ; cleave to that which is good."
(Rom. xii. 9.)
Note.
"Avoiding evil." You must keep at a distance from
evil; go wide of it, and thus escape its snaring temp-
tation. "Go not in the way of evil men. Avoid it;
pass not by it; turn from it." "Stand in awe, and sin
not." " Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temp-
tation." Carry not sparks of fire into a magazine of
gunpowder. Sleep not on the giddy height of seduc-
tive enticement. Pass not through a field, though it
be decked with blooming flowers, where poisonous
adders lurk. Let the beauty of harmlessness deck thy
whole life as flowers deck the garden.
Rule 2. (Must avoid) The taking of the name of God
id vain,
Bible. — " Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in
rain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name
in vain." (Ex. xx. 7.)
Note.
" Irreverence for sacred things; playing the animal
56 The Methodist Armor.
with sanctities; the degradation of that which is higher
than ordinary life, and which should lead men up from
the lower depths of experience — that is as accursed as
it would be to go through a gallery of art and slime
the noblest paintings with mud, and deface or destroy
the most magnificent marbles. No man would permit
that. The whole world would cry out against the des-
ecration of beauty in art under such circumstances.
But men think themselves justified in drawing down
the sanctities of heaven — those thoughts and feelings
which have in them inspiration and elevation — and de-
filing them; and yet, here stands this commandment
which covers the whole ground of vulgarizing things
that are high, and that are necessary to lift men up
from low associations. ' Thou shalt not take the name
of the Lord thy God in vain ' includes the whole lati-
itude and longitude of the realm of thought and feel-
ing in which there is the desecration of whatever is
sacred."
Rule 3. (Must avoid) The profaning the day of the
Lord, either by doing ordinary work therein, or by
buying or selling.
Bible. — " Remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy. Six days
shalt thou labor and do all thy work ; but the seventh day is the
Sabbath of the Lord thy God ; in it thou shalt not do any work,
thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy man-servant, nor thy
maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy
gates ; . . . . wherefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath-day and hal-
lowed it." (Ex. xx. 8-11.)
Note.
Keep the Sabbaths holy, and they will be to you
as green and refreshing oases blooming in the desert
of your earthly pilgrimage. Our Sabbaths should be
hills of light and joy in God's presence; and so, as
General Rules. 57
time rolls on, we shall go on from mountain-top to
mountain-top, till at last we catch the glory of the
shining gate, and enter into the eternal Sabbath of
perfect rest and joy. Let the Sabbath be a day of
sweet rest and warm devotion; and the sacred influ-
ences generated by attendance on public worship will
be as a river flowing down through the secular days of
the week, spreading freshness and fertility along its
course. A world without a Sabbath is a summer
without its green lap full of flowers and fruits.
Eule 4. (Must avoid) Drunkenness, or drinking spir
ituous liquors unless in cases of necessity.
Bible. — " Be not among wine-bibbers ; for tbe drunkard and glut-
ton shall come to poverty." (Prov. xxxiii. 20.) "Wine is a mock-
er, strong drink is raging ; whosoever is deceived thereby is not
wise. Look not thou upon the wine when it is red % . . . at the last
it biteth like a serpent and stingeth like an adder." (Prov. xxxiii.
31.) "Woe to him that giveth his neighbor drink, that putteth thy
bottle to him, and maketh him drunk." (Hab. ii. 5.)
Notes.
1. There are two kinds of wine mentioned in the
Bible — one, which makes men drunk, is condemned
everywhere; the other, meaning sweet wine, not in-
toxicating, is spoken of as a blessing. Keeping this
fact in view it will not be hard to reconcile the seem-
ing contradiction in the Bible where wine is some-
times condemned, and then again commended.
2. The new rule in the Discipline, enacted 1882, re-
quires our " members to abstain from the manufacture
and sale of intoxicating liquors as a beverage." It
will be seen that the Methodist Church is squarely
opposed to intemperance. It is a total abstinence
Church. The making or selling liqvnr as a beverage
58 The Methodist Armor.
is classed with the sin of drunkenness. There is good
reason for it. The making and selling have a close
connection with the evils of intemperance. The or-
igin is in making and selling. The still-houses make
the poison; the grog-shops distribute it broadly over
the land. The first is the deadly fountain, the latter
is the channel circulating the liquid poison. The pro-
duction and circulation of liquor is closely connected.
The distillers are busy in loading the Satanic battery;
the retail and wholesale dealers are busy in firing it off.
The consequence is the battle-field of life runs red
with the blood of the slain. Every still and grog-shop
is a battery of death. Think of the appalling number
of them! There are in the United States eight thou-
sand four hundred and two distilleries and breweries
(this is according to official report), and two hundred
thousand grog-shops and liquor-saloons ! And these bat-
teries, under the generalship of Satan, loaded and fired
day and night the year round, pouring bursting bombs,
grape-shot, and other missiles of death into the ranks of
our people, what wide-spread destruction is wrought!
The Cost of Intemperance. — The Presbyterian Review
gives the following statistics for the United States:
"Paid to all the ministers of the gospel, $12,000,000,'
support of criminals, $12,000,000; fees of litigation,
$35,000,000; importation of liquor, $50,000,000; sup-
port of grog-shops, $1,500,000,000. Whole cost of liq-
uor, $12,200,000,000."
Pule 5. (Must avoid) Fighting, quarreling, brawl-
ing, brother going to law with brother; returning evil
fo v evil, or railing for railing; the using many words
in buying or selling.
Bible. — "From whence come wars* at-rl fightings among you?
General Rules. 59
Come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members ?"
(James iv. 1.) " The works of the flesh are manifest, which are
these : hatred, variance, emulations, strife, seditions, heresies." (Gal.
v. 19.) " Dare any of you, ln.ving a matter against another, go to
the law before the unjust and not before the saints ?" (1 Cor. vi.
1-6.) "Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing, but con-
trariwise blessing." (1 Pet. iii. 9.) "Let your conversation be
without covetousness." (Heb. xiii. 5.) " Let your yea be yea, and'
your nay, nay, lest ye fall into condemnation." (James v. 12.)
Notes.
1. " Of all things which are to be met with here on
earth there is nothing which can give such continual,
such cutting, such useless pain as an undisciplined
temper. The touchy and sensitive temper, which
takes offense at a word; the irritable temper, which
finds offense in every thing, Avhether intended or not;
the violent temper, which breaks through all bounds
of reason when once roused ; the jealous or sullen tem-
per, which wears a cloud on the face all day, and never
utters a word of complaint; the discontented temper,
brooding over its own wrongs; the severe temper,
which always looks at the worst side of whatever is
done; the willful temper, which overrides every scru-.
pie to gratify a whim — what an amount of pain have
these caused in the hearts of men, if we could but sum
up their results ! How many a soul have they stirred
to evil impulses; how many a prayer have they stifled;
how many an emotion of true affection have they
turned to bitterness! How hard they make all duties!
How they kill the sweetest and warmest of domestic
charities! Ill-temper is a sin requiring long and care-
ful discipline." — Bishop Temple
2. A quarrel is stopped by letting the angry person
have all the quarrel to himself. A soft answer will
60 The Methodist Armor.
extinguish a quarrel as water fire. Turn away from a
querulous man as you would from the path of a roaring
lion When men carry magazines of powder in their
temper, better not let the spark of your anger fall upon
them. It is too late to avoid disaster when the explo-
sion takes place. Nothing can prevent red ruin then.
You must guard beforehand, or not at all. Watch and
pray.
Rule 6. (Must avoid) The buying or selling gooda
that have not paid the duty.
Bib].e. — "Provide things honest in the sight of all men." (Rom.
xii. 17.) "Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Cae-
sar's." (Matt. xxii. 21.) "Render therefore to all their dues."
(Rom. xiii. 7.)
Note.
To smuggle goods into a country in violation of the
revenue laws of the Government is the sin forbidden
by this rule. To buy or sell goods known to be con-
traband is considered lawless robbery. This Rule
condemns also the practice of cheating the Govern-
ment of its just taxes, or revenues laid on the manu-
facture of liquors or tobacco, or any other article.
Religion requires men to be as just to governments as
they are to individuals. As the Government gives us
the protection of liberty, life, property, and the pur-
suit of happiness, every man should obey its laws and
cheerfully pay the taxes and revenues demanded.
Rule 7. (Must avoid) The giving or taking things
on usury, i. e., unlawful interest.
Bible.— "Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? Who shall
dwell in thy holy hill? He that putteth not his money to usury,
nor taketh reward against the innocent." (Ps. xv. 1-5.) "That no
man go bevnnd and defraud bis brother." (1 T' ess. iv. 6.1
General links. 61
Note.
The Hebrew word for usury means exorbitant in-
terest. It means greediness, sharpness, rapacity,
which takes advantage of the oppressed. The prac-
tice forbidden is receiving more for the loan of money
than it is really worth, and more than the law allows.
Rule 8. (Must avoid) Uncharitable or unprofitable
conversation, particularly speaking evil of magistrates
or of ministers.
Bible. — " Let all clamor and evil-speaking be put away from you,
with all malice." (Eph. iv. 31.) " Every idle word that men speak,
they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment." (Matt. xii.
36.) "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth."
(Eph. iv. 29.) " Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and
powers, to obey magistrates ... to speak evil of no man." (Titus
iii. 1, 2.)
Notes.
Reasons for observing this Rule are:
1. It prevents much evil. " The tongue is a fire,
a world of iniquity," when not governed. Like a
swollen river whose embankments have given way,
it spreads destruction through the country. " It is
set on fire of hell," says the apostle. The Indians in
the West sometimes set the dry grass afire, and it
spreads and roars. The smoke darkens the sun. The
running flame, caught up and fanned by the wind,
circles far and wide, towering up almost mountain-
high. r Man and beast have to flee for their lives. It
is a world of fire coming from a spark. So unruly
tongues set whole neighborhoods to burn and flame
with evils.
2. The practice of tale-bearing is disgraceful. To
be known as a tale-bearer, a tattler, a gossip, a busy-
body in everybody's business, a backbiter, how mean
C2 The Methodist Armor.
and low! A backbiter reminds one of a sneaking
dog that makes the attack when your face is turned
the other way. Backbiting is a doggish trick. It
is said of Domitian that he, though a Roman emperor,
" employed his leisure hours in catching and torment-
ing flies." Such work showed meanness and cruelty
combined. And how much better are you employed
in catching up and exposing all the little dirty ru-
mors that buzz through your neighborhood?
3. It is a violation of the Golden Rule: "Whatso-
ever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even
so to them." Do you wish men to speak well of you
behind your back? Yes, of course you do. Then
speak well of your neighbors. Dr. South said that
the tale-bearer and listener ought both to be hanged —
one by the tongue, the other by the ear.
Rule 9. (Must avoid) Doing to others as we would
not they should do unto us.
Bible. — "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men
should do to you, do ye even so to them : for this is the law and the
prophets." (Matt. vii. 12.)
Note.
Whatsoever is disagreeable to thyself do not to thy
neighbor. Treat your neighbor as you would have
him treat you. Regard him as your other self. Make
his case your own, put yourself into his place; divest
yourself of that selfishness which would injure an-
other. Every man desires to be esteemed as his merit
deserves — desires his neighbor to be tender with his
reputation, not to slander his good name, not to put
harsh construction on his conduct, to be kindly dis-
posed toward him, to deal justly, honestly, truthfully
candidly with him, to be faithful as a friend and po-
General Bides. 63
lite and honorable as an acquaintance; and as you
desire such treatment from others, be sure to give it
to them. "As you would that men should do to you,
do ye even so to them." How ennobling and beau-
tiful the observance of this Golden Eule would make
the characters of men !
Kule 10. (Must avoid) Doing what we know is not
for the glory of God; as the putting on of gold and
costly apparel.
Bible. — "Whose adorning, let it not be that outward adorning
of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold or of putting on of ap-
parel." (1 Pet. iii. 3.) "I will . . . that women adorn themselves
in modest apparel, .... not with braided hair, or gold, or pearls,
or costly array." (1 Tim. ii. 8, 9.)
Note.
This Eule forbids needless extravagance in dress, and
useless and showy ornaments. The taste for the beautiful
must be carefully limited by economical and religious
considerations. The text quoted in support of the Eule
is a standing rebuke to all ostentation in dress, and
reminds every Christian woman that nothing can so
adorn a woman as a beautiful character, fruitful of
good works. Paul rebuked this extravagance of dress
in his day, and it needs to be rebuked in our day,
when we read that a certain woman wore a hundred
thousand dollars' worth of diamonds on her dress
while attending a charity ball. It is sad to see wom-
en thinking more of the glittering trinkets than a
crown of glory. You may pamper and adorn the
body with the flashing blaze of a thousand diamonds,
yet remember that this beautiful form, stripped of its
glittering jewelry, will be wrapped in a death-shroud,
nailed up in a coffin, and become fcxl for worms.
C4 The Methodist Armor.
Hale 11. (Must avoid) The taking such diversions
as cannot be used in the name of the Lord.
Bible. — " Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye sep
arate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will
receive you, and will be a father unto you, and ye shall be my sons
and daughters." (2 Cor. vi. 17, 18.) "Be not conformed to this
world." (Kom. xii. 2.) "Know ye not that the friendship of the
world is enmity with God." (James iv. 4.)
Note.
"Diversions" include those popular amusements,
such as dancing, theaters, circuses, etc., which divert
or tarn the heart away from God to be fascinated by
worldly things. Our Bishops explain the above Eule
as forbidding indulgence in the modern dance, and
attending circuses and theaters.
Dancing. — The Church stands squarely and firmly
opposed to the modern dance. Even the Eoman Cath-
olic Church says: "We consider it to be our duty to
warn our people against the fashionable dances, which
are revolting to every feeling of delicacy, and fraught
with the greatest danger to morals." Bishop Hop-
kins, of the Episcopal Church, says: "I have shown
that dancing is chargeable with waste of time, the in-
tei ruption of useful study, the indulgence of personal
vanity, and the premature incitement of the passions."
Dr. Bobinson, of the Presbyterian Church says: "It
is simply impossible that this question of indulgence
in such worldly pleasures as the theater, the masquer-
ade, the card-table, and the dance, can be a doubtful
or a debatable question." It is well known that most
of the Baptist Churches expel their members for the
continued indulgence of dancing. ■ So we see that all
General Rules. 05
these Churches stand side by side with the Methodist
Church in opposition to dancing.
Its practice lends to ruin the virtue of woman. A New
York paper says: u Three -fourths of the abandoned
girls of this city were ruined by dancing. Young
ladies allow gentlemen privileges in dancing which, '
taken under any other circumstances, would be con-
sidered improper. It requires neither brains nor good
morals to be a good dancer. As the love of dancing
increases the love of religion decreases. Parlor danc-
ing is dangerous. Tippling leads to drunkenness, and
parlor dancing leads to ungodly balls. Tippling and
parlor dancing sow to winds, and both reap the whirl-
wind. Put dancing in the crucible, apply the acids,
weigh it, and the verdict of reason, morality, and re-
ligion is, "Weighed in the balance and found want-
ing."
Its practice destroys the Christian's influence. " But
the wreck of Christian influence will be as complete
as that of character. What good can a member of
the Church, who is a participator in social dances
and a frequenter of balls, do? Is he disposed to ex-
hort, or pray, or sing, who will be disposed to hear
him? Can the Spirit of God accompany his mes-
sage? Will the wicked feel its power? Will not re-
ligion seem to them a mockery when presented, if
ever such should be the case, by such an advocate?
It cannot be otherwise. Says Dr. Wilson, in a ser-
mon to which we have already alluded, and we wish es-
pecially to call the attention of Christian young ladies
to it: 'I cannot well imagine a more speedy method of
teaching a careless young man to despise the Chris-
tian name, than for some female acquaintance whom
GO The Methodist Armor.
he lias seen at the communion-table to become his
partner in the dance. Nor is any thing probably more
usual in such a case than for those who look on qui-
etly to pass the ungracious whisper, " See that pious
dancer' why, she waltzes as if she had been accus-
tomed to it. She seems to love it as much as any of
us poor sinners. A pretty Christian, to be sure." This
is no fancy sketch; they know little of the world who
suppose it to be so; for that which Cicero did not hes-
itate to call omnium vitiorum extremum, "a vice that no
one would be guilty of till he had utterly abandoned
all virtue," and umhram luxuries, or that which "fol-
lows riot and debauchery as the shade follows the
body," I take it is now, in the middle of the nineteenth
century, well understood by unconverted men not to
consist with what ought reasonably to be looked for
in the genuine Christian character.' " — Bishop Clark.
Theaters and Circuses. Much of the argument
against dancing bears equally strong against theaters
and circuses. Plato said, "Public theaters are dan-
gerous to morality;" Aristotle, "They should be en-
tirely forbidden to young people as unsafe;" Ovid,
that they were " a grand source of corruption." Arch-
bishop Tillotson found them in England to be " a nurs-
ery of vice," and called them " the devil's chapel." To
the theater, the ball, the circus, the race-course, the
gambling - table, go all the idle, the dissipated, the
rogues, the licentious, the gluttons, the artful jades,
the immodest prudes, the worthless, the refuse, the
very atmosphere of whose associatioi is defiling and
corrupting. The whole influence of such people is to
destroy the good morals of the country. They breed
corruption as naturally as putrefying carcasses breed
General Bides. 67
vermin, and fatten on the corruption which they pro-
duce. Yet people call these things " innocent amuse-
ments;" but hell is populated with their victims. The
managers of these amusements are the devil's recruit-
ing officers, whose business is to strew the way to hell
with flowers, charm it with music, and deck it with
gorgeous pictures.
Rule 12. (Must avoid) The singing those songs or
reading those books which do not tend to the knowl-
edge or love of God.
Bible. — "Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good
manners." (1 Cor. xv. 33.) " Speaking to yourselves in psalms and
hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your hearts
to the Lord." (Eph. v. 19.) " I count all things but loss for the ex-
cellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord." (Phil. iii. 8.)
Note.
The evils of corrupt literature are very great. Dr.
Talmage says: "The assassin of Sir William Russell
declared that he got the inspiration for his crime by
reading what was then a new and popular novel, 'Jack
Sheppard.' Homer's Iliad made Alexander the war-
rior. Alexander said so. The story of Alexander
made Julius Caesar and Charles XII. both men of
blood. Have you in your pocket, or in your trunk,
or in your desk at business, a bad book, a bad picture,
a bad pamphlet? In God's name I warn you to de-
stroy it. "Why are fifty per cent, of the criminals in
the jails and penitentiaries of the United States to-
day under twenty-one years of age — many of them
under seventeen, under sixteen, under fifteen, under
fourteen, under thirteen? Walk along the corridors
of the Tombs prison in New York and look for your-
selves. Bad books, bad newspapers, bewitched them
68 The Methodist Armor.
as soon as they got out of the cradle. Beware of all
those stories which end wrong. Beware of all those
books which make the road that ends in perdition
seem to end in paradise. Do not glorify the dirk and
the pistol. Do not call the desperado brave, or the
libertine gallant. Teach our young people that if
they go down into the swamps and marshes to watch
their jacks-with-a-lantern dance on decay and rotten-
ness, they will catch malaria and death. ' O,' says
some man, ' I am a business man, and I have no time
to examine what my children read; I have no time to
inspect the books that come into my household.' If
your children were threatened with typhoid fever,
would you have time to go for the doctor? "
Rule 13. (Must avoid) Softness, or needless self-
indulgence.
Bible. — " Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man would
come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and fol-
low me." (Matt. xvi. 24.)
Note.
Self-denial is reasonable. The men of the world
practice it when seeking earthly things. Even the
brutal prize-fighter will deny himself of all effeminate
pleasures when being trained for a pugilistic combat,
or a foot-race. Military men submit to all sorts of
self-denial to win the fading laurels of earth. " Now
they do it to obtain a corruptible crown, but we an
incorruptible."
These illustrations are enough, I think, to satisfy
you that the principle of self-denial and of self-con-
trol not only is not impossible to human nature, but
is one of the commonest, one of the most universal
principles in exorcise, and that when the Christian
General Rales. G9
leligion introduces self-denial, symbolizing it by the
cross, it does not introduce a new principle, and does
not introduce a difficult one. If no man is worthy to
be a disciple of Christ unless he take up his cross,
and deny himself, and follow the Saviour, he is only
saying in regard to himself, and to the world eternal,
what this world says in regard to every man that fol-
lows it. There is no trade that does not say to every
applicant that comes to it, " If you will take up your
cross and follow me, you shall have my remunera-
tion." There is no profession that does not say to
every applicant, " If you will take up your cross, and
follow me, I will reward you." There is no pleasure,
there is no ambition, there is no cause that men pur-
sue, from the lowest to the highest in the horizon of
secular things, that does not say to every man, " Unless
you take up your cross and follow me, you shall have
none of me." Now, the Lord Jesus Christ, standing
like the angel in the sun, with the eternal world for a
background, clothed in garments white as snow, as no
fuller on earth could white them, and calling us to
honor and glory and immortality, says only in behalf
of these higher things what the whole world says of
its poor, groveling, and miserable things: "Take up
your cross, and follow me."
Eulel4. (Must avoid) Laying up treasure upon earth.
Bible. — " Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth where
moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and
steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither
moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through
nor steal ; for where your treasure is there will your heart be also."
(Matt. vi. 19-21.)
Note.
" Hoarding for one's self accompanies poverty toward
70 The Methodist Armor.
God. Not all accumulation is condenmable; Joseph
accumulated, but for others, not for himself. Not all
desire for wealth is condemnable; but the desire for
wealth above my neighbor; the eager, insatiable de-
sire; the selfish, dishonest desire; the desire which
puts wealth above honesty, benevolence, piety.
" This is illustrated by the story of King Midas. To
him was given the magic power that every thing he
touched should turn to gold. It proved a fatal gift.
The flowers lost their fragrance and bloom, and be-
came golden; the food turned to metal when it touched
his lips, and left him to hunger; finally his daughter
turned to a statue of gold when she ran to kiss him,
and the poor king cried to be rescued from the horri-
ble gift which he had besought. A glass of water, a
crust of bread, a fragrant rose, above all a loving heart, he
discovered to be worth more than all golden treasures."
The spirit of the Rule would be met if men bestowed
their charities while living.
" Let men be the living executors of their benevo-
lence. Not a few are beginning to do this. Mr. Vas-
sar, of Poughkeepsie, while living, built and saw in
operation a very noble monument of his benevolence.
He lived to enjoy it. Peter Cooper lived beyond a
score of years to have the enjoyment of a wisely dis-
posed charity from out of his large property. Late in
life, Mr. Vanderbilt founded and organized the Uni-
versity at Nashville, which is open and in full pros-
perity. Mr. Durant has built the great college for
women at Wellesley, in Massachusetts, and he lives to
see to it that his charity is wisely employed. The man
who earns money is far more apt to organize it into an
institution wisely than any set of trustees into whose
General Hales. 71
hands he can put it. It is a good thing, therefore, for
a man who means to give when he dies to consider
that he is likely to die to-morrow, and give to-day."
Rule 15. (Must avoid) Borrowing without a proba-
I >i lity of paying, or taking up goods without a proba-
bility of paying for them.
Bible. — " The wicked borroweth and payeth not again." (Ps
xxxvii. 21.) " Bender unto all their dues." (Bom. xiii. 7.) "Owe
no man any thing. Provide things honest in the sight of all men."
(Bom. xii. 17.)
Note.
The Rule forbids the incurring of pecuniary obliga-
tion when there is no reasonable ground for supposing
it can be paid. To do so is to practice a cheat, to be
guilty of fraud. Our people are to be taught that to
borrow, without a reasonable probability of paying
back, or to purchase goods without a probability of
paying for them, is to stand before the Church and
their own conscience convicted of fraud. We cannot
be too careful and conscientious in reference to bor-
rowed property, or buying goods on slender credit.
Men should be scrupulous in returning all borrowed
property. They should not allow such property to be
injured while in their possession, nor return an infe-
rior article for the one borrowed.
Good Works to be Done.
It is expected of all who continue in these societies
that they should continue to evidence their desire of
salvation:
Rule 1G. By doing good, by being in every kind
merciful after their power, as they have opportunity,
doing good of every possible sort, and, as far as pos-
sible, to all men.
72 The Methodist Armor.
Bible.—" Trust in the Lord, and do good." (Ps. xxxvh. 3.) ' To
do good and to communicate forget not." (Heb. iii. 16.) "Blessed
arc the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." (Matt. v. 7.) "To
him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin."
(James iv. 17.) "As we have opportunity, let us do good unto all
men." (Gal. vi. 10.)
NoTfls.
1. " The opportunities for doing good are continu-
ous and occasional. The continuous are those that
belong to the ordinary course and duties of the life of
the individual and of society; the occasional are those
instances of special emergencies that arise from time
to time. And all these may be generalized under the
heads of the preventive, the educational, and the re-
formatory agencies of society. That is, evil is to be
prevented, good is to be developed, and the vicious are
to be reformed. And in each of these we may class
all the good agencies of the world as workers, such
as the home, the school, the Church, the press, the
State, and all benevolent institutions, with all the
common industries of life that go to sustain each of
these."
2. Doing Good is Made a Test Question in the Bible. —
"The rich young ruler is tested by the command, ' Go,
sell that thou hast and give to the poor; ' the inquiring
lawyer by the story of the Good Samaritan, with the
added direction, 'Go, and do likewise;' Paul by the
command to preach the gospel to the Gentiles. Where
is there an instance in the New Testament in which
any man is accepted because he accepts a creed, or a
ceremony, or a covenant, or is rejected because he does
not? To every professing Christian, to every worship-
ing Church, to every revival with its hosannas, Christ
2omes seeking if haply he may find fruits. The fruit
General littles. 73
of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentle-
ness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. Does
the professing Christian, with his orthodox creed and
his water baptism — does the Church, with its sound
doctrine and its devout worship; does the revival, with
its enthusiastic hosannas — bear this kind of fruit?
The tree that bears no fruit dies, for the fruit is the
seed-protector; and in the fruit is the promise of re-
production, and so the assurance of immortality. The
unfruitful tree lives only long enough to afford a gen-
erous opportunity for it to answer the question, ' Wilt
thou bring forth fruit?' Leaves cannot save it; for
leaves do not reproduce life. The unfruitful profes-
sor dies of his own unfruitfulness. Men sometime?
ask, almost querulously, 'What have I done that J
should be condemned to death ? ' The New Testament
retorts, ' What have you done that you should be pre-
served unto life eternal ? ' Who is richer, wiser, bet-
ter, happier, for your existence? Why should any
man live who lives to no useful purpose? Cut him
down; why cumbereth he the ground? Give his va-
cant place to a better man."
Rule 17. (Doing good) To their bodies, of the abil-
ity which God giveth, by giving food to the hungry,
by clothing the naked, by visiting or helping them
that are sick or in prison.
Bible. — " Then shall the King say unto them on his right-hand,
Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you
from the foundation of the world ; for I was a hungered, and ye
gave me meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink; I was a stranger,
and ye took me in; naked, and ye clothed me; I was sick, and ye vis
itedme; I was in prison, and ye came unto me. . . . Inasmuch ae
ye have dune it unto one of the hast of these my brethren, ye hav«
done it unto me." (Matt. xxv. 31-40.)
7* The Methodist Armor.
Note.
Christians are morally obligated to administer to
the wants and necessities of the poor, the helpless, the
sick, the fatherless, the widow. The beautiful story
of the Good Samaritan strikingly illustrates the spirit
of Christian philanthropy.
" True Christian philanthropy is a self-denying serv-
ice. The Good Samaritan put the wounded man on
his own beast. He, therefore, had to walk, was de-
layed in his journey, ran the risk of assault himself.
His benevolence cost him something. We are always
trying to do good to our fellow-men without bearing
any burden ourselves. But Christ bore our burdens
and carried our sorrows; he took them on himself.
The mother carries in her own person the sins and
sorrows of her children. True Christian philanthropy
takes up its cross to follow Christ in going about do-
ing good. There is very little charity in giving cold
victuals which you cannot eat, cast-off clothing which
you cannot wear, old books for which you have no
room on your shelves, money which you will not miss
from your purse. The benevolence which costs noth-
ing is worth — what it costs. The paring from your
apple may be eagerly eaten by the pigs, but there is
no charity in giving it to them. No man shows love
for his fellow-men except he who puts himself to some
inconvenience for their sake.
" To his personal service the Good Samaritan added
a money contribution. It was not very great — about
equal to two dollars of our day. But the giver added
the pledge that whatever was necessary he would pay;
at all events, he paid something. To do good with
money to the moneyless is of all tasks of benevolence
General Rules. 75
the most difficult. How to give to poverty without in-
creasing pauperism is a perpetual and ever unsolved
problem. But he who cannot part with money to do
good to others is no follower of Him who, though he
was rich, for our sakes became poor. To give service
without money, or to give money without service-
neither of these givings is true Christian philanthropy.
Two pence personally given is worth more than twenty
given through paid agents. The love that reaches the
pocket is often deeper than that which reaches only
the heart.
The Good Samaritan had compassion, went to the
sufferer, rendered him personal service, at cost of in-
convenience to himself, and accompanied it with gift
of money." " Go thou, and do likewise."
Rule 18. (Doing good) To their souls, by instruct-
ing, reproving, or exhorting all we have any inter-
course with; trampling under foot that enthusiastic
doctrine, that "we are not to do good unless our hearts
be free to it."
Bible. — "Keprove, rebuke, exhort, with all long-suffering and
doctrine." (2 Tim. iv. 2.) " Exhort one another daily." (Heb. iii.
13.) "Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear."
(1 Tim. v. 20.) " Ye are the salt of the earth and the light of the
world." (Matt. v. 13-16.)
Notes.
1. As Christians be Instructors. — Be a teacher of di-
vine truths in the home-circle and at your Sunday-
school. Let your light shine. The candle can en-
lighten the room, the lamp the street, the light-house
the darkness of the stormy sea, the moon the night,
the sun the world. Be ye a luminous light in youi
sphere of life.
2. B&prove Sin. — The reproof of sin is a Christian
76 The Methodist Armor.
duty. When you see your neighbor living in a dan-
gerous sin, have the moral courage to rebuke him.
Would it not be cruel to see your neighbor's house on
fire, and pass on and give him no warning? Why?
Because his life is in danger. But if your neighbor
is living in a deadly sin, then his immortal soul is in
danger of hell-fire. Timely reproof may save him.
Your silence may leave him to perish in his sins. But
let your rebuke be bathed in the spirit of Christian
love. " Thou shalt rebuke thy neighbor, and not suf-
fer sin upon him."
Kule 19. By doing good, especially to them that are
of the household of faith, or groaning so to be; em-
ploying them preferably to others, buying one of an-
other, helping each other in business; and so much
the more because the world will love its :^wn, and
them only.
Bible.— "As we have opportunity let us do good unto all men,
especially unto them who are of the household of faith." (Gal. vi.
10.) " Be kindly-affectioned one to another with brotherly love ; in
honor preferring one another; distributing to the necessity of saints;
given to hospitality." (Kom. xii. 10, 13.) " If ye were of the world,
the world would love his own." (John xv. 19.)
Note.
Christian fellowship and mutual helpfulness are
two leading duties taught in the gospel.
"What is fellowship? It is more than sympathy,
although that is the core of it. It is sympathy ex-
pressed or manifested in such a way as to draw others
toward you in the bonds of brotherhood. Fellowship
is making men feel that they are fellows with you;
that they are your brethren; that they are related to
you; that they are a part of your person, as it were.
General Rides. 77
"In the New Testament the Church is considered
as a family : ' Of whom the whole family in heaven
and earth is named.' In a family, there are two in-
fluences that bind persons together. One is the com-
mon relation which all the children have to the father
and the mother, and that is a very powerful influence.
Having the same father and mother, they have the
same affection, the same obedience, the same gratitude
and love; but then there is also the personal attract-
iveness of each toward the others — the generosity of
the brother, the guilelessness and simplicity of the
sister, their mutual helpfulness — various traits in them
tend to bring members of the same family together.
So the attractiveness of each, in his own disposition
and conduct, is one of the elements of fellowship in
the family; and the other is a consciousness of a com-
mon relation to the father and the mother, whom they
love even more than they love each other.
" Now, the same rule of fellowship should exist in
the Church, and among all Churches, namely, the con-
sciousness of a common relationship to Christ, and the
attractiveness of mutually helpful, loving lives. We
are to love one another, in our own Church, and in
other Churches, because we feel that all those who
are striving to live spiritual lives are recognized by
the Lord Jesus Christ, and are dear to him ; for who-
ever is dear to Christ ought to be dear to ns, no mat-
ter how much they have attained or how little; we are
to love all men who, according to the measure of their
light and strength, are endeavoring to please Christ.
" If you are going to carry out this doctrine of fel-
lowship you must begin by being yourself lovely, and
acting in a lovely manner. Rejoice not in iniquity iv.
78 The Methodist Armor.
other people. Love them. Serve them. Whatever
yon feel of indignation and vengeance explode on prin-
ciples; but when you come to persons and Churches,
cover them with sympathy. And remember that this
doctrine can be practiced singly as well as doubly.
You can be in fellowship with men if they are not in
fellowship with you. You can rejoice in their well-
being, and love them with sincerity and truth, though
they may not requite it."
Rule 20. (Must so live) By all possible diligence and
frugality, that the gospel be not blamed.
Bible. — " Not slothful in business, fervent in spirit, serving the
Lord." (Rom. xii. 11.) "If a man provide not for his own, and
especially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and
is worse than an infidel." (1 Tim. v. 8).
Notes.
1. " In the spirit of this teaching one should meas-
ure his social duties. First, it is a part of a Christian
man's duty to make provision for his household by a
wise prudence. If a man has no means of enlarging
his possessions, if he is shut up to the necessity of
poverty, that necessity is not a virtue : it is a misfort-
une; but there may be the virtue of content and pa-
tience therein. It is surely a Christian duty in every
man who has power over natural law so to organize his
affairs as to enlarge and make more and more bounti-
ful the property foundation on which his household
siands, for property is the absolute condition of civil-
ization. In the midst of civilization, and in a religious
community, a single man may be poor, and yet in every
sense manly and useful through life; but, looking at
the race, you never can develop men and bring them
up from savage or barbarous conditions except by
General Rules. 70
those energies by which property is developed, and
by that leisure which property gives. You sharpen
men by industry : you organize the active forces of so-
ciety by commercial or mechanical law; and you gain
freedom from bondage to matter by property, which
gives men the opportunity of reflection and of refine-
ment. Property as your master is a tyrant, and mean
enough; but as your servant, it is God's noble gift;
and men are called, so soon as they assume the family
relation, to fulfill certain duties which devolve upon
them in the matter of property. These duties are,
then, for the most part, no longer optional with them."
2. Frugality is economy in small things. "Gather
up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost."
"Looking after little things, that nothing may be
lost, is one of the ways in which men learn to be care-
ful. It is one of the ways in which they are taught
that kind of sharpness which men's faculties need as
much as tools need a sharp and cutting edge. This
sharpness comes by the exercise of thoughtfulness at
the beginning of life. The wise adaptation of little to
little; the making the little more, and the more most;
the habit of wise frugality. The knowing how to turn
every thing that one touches into some economic use;
the being willing to do it; the waiting in the doing of
it until by frugality and care you are able to live more
largely."
" It is a common saying, in respect to certain peo-
ple who come among us, that they can live on what wo
throw away. It is said that a , German will support
his family on the wastes of our households. It is a
complaint which is made in business communities,
that profits are small. Men say: 'We cannot do bue
80 The Methodist Armor.
iness honestly and thrive; the Jews are taking all our
business from us.' Why is this? Are they smarter
than you are? Are they more industrious than you
are? 'O no; but they are less scrupulous; they have
no conscience.' That is not it. It does not take so
much to support them as it does to support you. They
live on less than you do, and they are willing to live
on less. They save what they get. They take care
of the fragments, and on the fragments they live; and,
so far as that is concerned, they live about as well as
you do. The difference is in the amount of care and
thought which is put into the living. They give to it
more flavor than you do. And, if you demand more
than they do, you cannot stand the competition, and
they will thrive while you will not. That is according
to a law of nature."
Rule 21. (Must live) By running with patience the
race which is set before them, denying themselves and
taking up their cross daily; submitting to bear the re-
proach of Christ, to be as the filth and offscouring of
the world, and looking that men should say all manner
of evil of them falsely for the Lord's sake.
Bible. — " Seeing we also are compassed about with so great a
cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which
doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is
set before us." (Heb. xii. 1.) " If any man will come after me, let
him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." (Matt. xvi.
24. ) " We are made as the filth of the earth, and are offscouring of
all things unto this day." (1 Cor. iv. 13.) "Blessed are ye when
men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner
of evil against you falsely, for my sake." (Matt. v. 11.)
Notes.
1. This Kule requires the culture of patience. Pa-
tience is self-control and forbearance under provoca-
General Rules. 81
tion. It bears the pressure of pain and sorrow bravely.
It is willingness to suffer till relief comes; to hold still
while under chastisement.
2. " We are to endure hardness as good soldiers. A
man may be a good soldier in the armory; he may be
a good soldier upon the green; he may be a good sol-
dier at the parade, when he is marching to dainty
music, and is gazed upon by flattering eyes ; and yet
he may not in the field be able to stand the depriva-
tions which belong to campaigning. It is one thing
to be a good soldier at home, but it is another thing
to be a good soldier in actual service, where hunger,
fatigue, all manner of hardships, are to be met cheer-
fully, and borne with manly resolution. And that
which is true of the soldier in the field is also true of
the soldier in that spiritual warfare upon which we
have all entered. It is not for us to seek religion be-
cause we want forever the titillation of joy. Our bus-
iness in life is to earn manhood and nobility; and for
the sake of these not only ought we to have patience,
but we ought to be willing to endure sorrow; we ought
to be willing to meet opposition; we ought to be will-
ing to be overtaken by poverty; we ought to be will-
ing to suffer reverses of fortune. Whatever may, in
the providence of God, be brought upon us, we ought
to accept cheerfully for the sake of that glorious vic-
tory for which we have become soldiers of the Lord
Jesus Christ."
3. " He must take up his cross daily. How many
there are of us who would like to compromise; who
would like to put all our cross-bearing into one great
heroic effort; who would like to do it once for all.
How many of us there are who would like to bear our
6
82 The Methodist Armor.
crosses by dreaming of them, reading about them, and
listening to exhortations respecting them ! How many
of us there are who bear our cross on the bed in the
morning before we get up, or sitting in our cushioned
pew in a well-warmed church, as we listen to exquisite
music or to eloquent oratory ! This is not the cross-
bearing to which Christ invites us. To take up our
cross daily is to deny ourselves at breakfast the food
which experience has proved disagrees with our diges-
tion, however pleasant it may be to our palate; it is to
go to our daily task with a cheerful spirit, though the
task be irksome and uncongenial; it is to bear others'
burdens, the burdens of their carelessness, their ig-
norance, their superstition, as Christ bears our bur-
dens, and so fulfill the law of Christ; it is to be
wounded for others' transgressions and bruised for
others' iniquities, and see others healed with our
stripes; it is to do this, not on some great occasion,
when all the world is admiring our martyrdom, but day
by day, and hour by hour, when no one knows what
cross we are bearing except ourselves and our Lord."
It is expected of all who desire to continue in these
societies that they should continue to evidence tln-ir
desire of salvation:
Rule 22. By attending upon all the ordinances of
God, such as the public worship of God.
Bible. — " One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek
after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my
life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple."
(Ps. xxvii. 4.) " Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together,
as the manner of some is." (Heb. x. 25.)
Rule 23. The ministry of the word, either read or
expounded.
General Rides. 83
Bible. — Christ instituted the ministry, and said: "Go ye there-
fore, and teach all nations, . . . teaching them to observe all things
whatsoever I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you alway,
even unto the end of the world." (Matt, xxviii. 19, 20.) "So then
faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." (Rom.
x. 17.) "But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and
continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the
work, this man shall be blessed in his deed." (James i. 25.)
Note.
Every absence from public worship, when it is
possible to be there, is a spiritual loss. True, you
may not realize a special blessing at every meeting,
still some effect, however small, will be felt. Fre-
cpient dews, though small and silent, spread beauty
and freshness over the garden herbs. And for this
reason, perhaps, David said, " I was glad when they
said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord."
Here under the pulpit light is poured upon the igno-
rant, the thunder of the word awakens the careless
sinner, the believer is fed upon the hidden manna of
the gospel. " They that wait upon the Lord shall re-
new their strength." Make it a matter of conscience,
then, to attend the public worship of the Church,
whether on week-day or Sabbath, whether the meeting
be for preaching, or the holy sacrament, or prayer-
meeting, or love-feast, or class-meeting, go, and con-
tribute your part to the general interest. Be not one
of those who " neglect the assembling of themselves
together, as the manner of some is;" who are pre-
vented by a little heat, or cold, or rain, or some other
slight, imaginary hinderance.
Eule 24. (Must not neglect) The Supper of the Lord.
BlBLE. — "And lie took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it and
gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for yo'i ■
8<A The Methodist Armor.
this do in remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup after supper,
saying, This cup is the new testament hi my blood, which is shed for
you." <Xuke xxii. 19, 20.)
Notes.
1. The duty of members to commune. It is a divinely
ordained as well as an efficient means of grace. In
the words " Take, eat, .... drink ye all of it," we
are taught that just as bread and wine — the common
food of the people in that day — nourish the living
body, supplying the daily waste of that body, and
providing material for its growth, so the believing
with the heart in Christ crucified will nourish the new
man. Oar Lord uses the word believing, with refer-
ence to spiritual life, as the equivalent of eating and
drinking, used with reference to the natural life. " I
am the bread of life; he that cometh to me shall nev-
er hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never
thirst." And so the administrator of the Lord's Sup-
per is directed to say to the communicant, " Take and
eat this «.n remembrance that Christ died for thee, and
feed on him in thy heart by faith with thanksgiving."
When <s man approaches the communion-table with a
penitent heart, confessing his sins, feeling his depend-
ence on Christ and exercising faith in his atonement,
it is reasonable and scriptural to expect that the Holy
Spirit will quicken, strengthen, and comfort.
2. The qualifications of a communicant. Many per-
sons are kept away from the Lord's Supper by wrong
views on the subject. They put the standard of wor-
thiness to commune too high. Who are fit to approach
the Lord's table? Dr. Pope, an eminent Methodist
minister in England, says: "All who profess faith
in Christ's atonement, who desire his salvation, who
General Bales. 85
are willing to keep his laws, are invited to come."
Now examine yourself by this rule. Dr. Kaymond,
another Methodist minister, says: "A credible faith
in Christ is the sole condition of membership in the
Christian Church, and, being admitted by the rile of
baptism, such a person is entitled to the commun-
ion." Dr. Armstrong, a talented Presbyterian min-
ister, says: "The conditions prescribed by Christ are
two, and only two, viz., (1) membership in the visi-
ble Church, and (2) a credible profession of personal
faith in him." Our Eitual says : "Ye that do truly and
earnestly repent of your sins, and are in love and char-
ity with your neighbors, and intend to lead a new life,
following the commandments of God, and walking
from henceforth in his holy ways, draw near with
faith, and take this holy sacrament to your comfort,
and make your humble confession to Almighty God,
meekly kneeling upon your knees." To be " in love
and charity with our neighbors," in the sense of the
Eitual, does not require that we should believe that
all who appear at the conimunion-table are good and
worthy Christians. The meaning of the invitation is,
to be truly sorry for our personal sins, to cultivate
good and charitable feelings toward others, and a
settled purpose to lead Christian lives.
3. Open communion. All the Protestant Churches
practice open communion, except the Baptists and
Associate Keformed. By open communion is meant
a joint participation of the Lord's Supper of all pro-
fessed believers in Christ. John Bunyan and Robert
Hall, of the past, and Charles Spurgeon, of the pres-
ent generation, all great lights among the English
Baptists, repudiate close communion.
St) The Methodist Annoy.
Ilule 25. (Must not neglect) Family and private
prayer.
Bible. — "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."
(Josh. xxiv. 15.) "Pour out thy fury upon the heathen that know
tliee not, and upon the families that call not on thy name." (Jer.
x. 25.) "When thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou
hast shut the door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy
Father which seeth in secret shall reward the openly." (Matt. vi. 6.)
Notes.
Prayerless families are like the Egyptian houses
on whose door-posts there was no protecting blood of
the paschal lamb. They are unsheltered by the shield
of prayer, exposed to the destroying angel. The altar of
family prayer should be erected for the benefit of the chil-
dren. "It is the molding hand that shapes our souls
for time and for eternity. Many a young man has
gone down to a premature death simply because in
his cradle, in his infancy, he was not prayed for or,
what were better still, prayed with. How often it
happens that a certain kind of morbid delicacy — so it
is called — a certain kind of false sensitiveness exists
on the part of the father and mother which prevents
their speaking of religious matters to their children!
How many mothers are in the habit of gathering their
children together to pray with them ? How many fa-
thers, on these holy Sabbath days that come one after
another throughout the year, take their little ones
upon their knees, and talk to them pleasantly and per-
suasively, and therefore eloquently, about those high-
>?i things that are to come when this world shall bo
burned up as a scroll? Brethren, it seems to me that
every child has a claim on his parents in this direc-
tion, and a right to look upon their memory with sus-
General Rules. 87
picion if they have neglected their duty. These things
ought not to be left to the Sunday-school teacher, they
ought not to be left to the teachings of the Sabbath-
da)- from the pulpit; they ought to be done in the
midst of one's own family. It is not enough to
work all the week, that you may leave many thousand
dollars to your boys and girls; it is infinitely better
for them, and infinitely more satisfactory for you, if
you start them on life's journey with that buckler and
shield through which the dart of the enemy can nev-
er find its way, and against which the steel-point of
temptation will be blunted.
" I plead, then, in the first place, with you who have
children, to see to it that they are properly prepared
to meet the exigences of life as they ought to. I tell
you the religion of one's cradle is of infinite impor-
tance, and to teach one to pray is better than to give
one money, and to teach one to trust in God is far, is
infinitely better than to urge the child's ambition to-
ward any earthly goal. It is well enough to see to
the intellectual culture of your little ones, but it is of
greater importance to them and to you that you give
them a sensible religious education." — Dr. Hepworth.
The fact has been discovered by actual experiment
that two-thirds of the children reared in praying, pious
families become members of the Church, while only
one in twelve becomes religious of those raised in prayer-
less-<families. Out of two hundred and seven praying
families come sixty ministers of the gospel, and five
hundred and thirty-nine professors of religion.
2. Scarf prayer. Our Saviour prayed much in se-
cret. If he found it necessary, who of his disciples ,
can plead exemption? Secret prayer rightly per
88 The Methodist Armor.
formed refreshes the soul as the silent dews of the
night do the grass; it gets at the hidden sources of
life. Behold that beautiful tree, swaying its green
branches in the wind, catching the glory of the sum-
mer's sun on its foliage, fragrant with bloom and
bending with golden fruit! Where is the secret of its
abundant life? In the roots, hidden in the ground,
but busy all summer pumping up the elements of life.
Secret prayer is to the Christian life what the roots
are to the tree. " Prayer is the rope up in the bel-
fry; we pull it, and it rings the bell up in heaven."
Said Mary, Queen of Scotland, " I fear John Knox's
prayers more than an army of ten thonsand men."
Prayer moves the arm that moves the world.
Rule 26. (Must not neglect) Searching the Script-
ures.
Bible. — " I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto
thy ways. I will delight myself in thy statutes; I will not forget
thy word." (Ps. cxix. 15, 16.) "Search the Scriptures; for in them
ye think ye have eternal life ; and they are they which testify of
me." (John v. 39.)
Note.
" The Bible is a rock of diamonds, a chain of pearls,
the sword of the Spirit; a chart by which the Chris-
tian sails to eternity; the map by which he daily
walks ; the sun-dial by which he sets his life ; the bal-
ances in which he weighs his action." — T. Watson.
To be read daily. The Countess of Suffolk read the
Bible over twice annually. Dr. Gouge read fifteen
chapters daily. Joshua Barnes read his Bible a hun-
dred and twenty times over. Robert Cotton read the
whole Bible through twelve times a year.
How to read it. An old man once said: "Reading
the Bible is like eating fish. When I find a difficulty
General Rules. 89
1 lay it aside, and call it a bone. Why should I choke
over a bone, when there is so much nutritious meat
for me?"
Eule 27. (Must not neglect) Fasting, or abstinence.
Bible. — "When ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad counte-
nance; . . . but thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and -wash
thy face ; that thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father
which is in secret." (Matt. vi. 16-18.)
Note.
Observe, Christ did not condemn fasting, but the
hypocritical manner of doing it. AVhen you fast—
which implies the duty of it — do not appear before
men bowed down as a bulrush, with a sad face, but
wear a cheerful smile; anoint the head, that thou ap-
pear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father. Let
your fasting be internal, not external.
The Church requires its members to fast as a means
of grace. Every Friday immediately preceding each
quarterly-meeting has usually been set apart as fast-
day in our Church. A day devoted to fasting and
prayer is a preparation for the success of these impor-
tant meetings. " It is precisely the lack of this prep-
aration and training that we suffer from. When the
greatest speed of a horse is to be tested, the trainer
does not allow him to run at will over the pasture,
nor does he simply put him on a wholesale diet. He
almost counts the straws that he gives the horse; he
cleans and sifts the oats, and gives him the very best
kinds; he measures the horse's exercise; and every
part of the horse is under the trainer's watch and care,
that lie may be in the finest condition when he puts
forth his energy in competition. And shall a man do
so much for his horse, and nothing for himself? Shall
90 The Methodist Armor.
there be no preparation, no discipline, no blanketing,
no washing, no care as to diet, no training, nothing but
going on through the linked year, Sabbath joined to Sab-
bath, taking things as they come, allowing themselves
to move about as the current sweeps them along ? Is
that the wisest method of spiritual culture?"
These are the General Rules of our societies; all
which we are taught of God to observe, even in his
written word, which is the only rule, and the suffi-
cient rule, both of our faith and practice. And all
these we know his Spirit writes on truly awakened
hearts. If there be any among us who observe them
not, who habitually break any of them, let it be known
unto them who watch over that soul, as they who must
give an account. We will admonish him of the error
of his ways : we will bear with him for a season ; but
if then he repent not, he hath no more place among
us: we have delivered our own souls.
CHAPTER V.
PROMINENT DOCTRINES OF METHODISM.
I. Univeesal Redemption.
Methodism teaches that the atonement of Christ is
unrv ersal in its extent — that it is broad enough to cover
all the sins of all the children of Adam from the be-
ginning to the end of time. It teaches that the sacri-
fice of Christ derived infinite value from the divinity
of his person, and is therefore intrinsically sufficient
to expiate the sins of the whole human race, and was
really so intended. This is Arminianism.
Calvinism teaches that " Christ died exclusively for
the elect, and purchased redemption for them alone,
Prominent Doctrines of Methodism. 91
and in no sense did lie die for the rest of the race."
" That the atonement of Christ is specific and limited,
that it is neither universal nor indefinite, but restricted
to the elect alone."
According to Calvinism, the salvation or the non-
salvation of each human being depends absolutely and
solely on the eternal, irresistible decree of God, made
"■without any foresight of faith or good works in the
creature, as conditions or causes moving him thereto."
According to this system, God has elected to eternal life
a certain, definite, unalterable number, and passed the
rest of mankind by unredeemed to perish in their sins.
Hence it teaches a partial atonement, irresistible grace,
and final perseverance as flowing out from the decrees.
Arminianism teaches that " Christ died for all men,"
for " the wdiole world," and that the salvation or non-
salvation depends not on an arbitrary decree, but upon
the willingness or unwillingness of each man to com-
ply with the gospel conditions of salvation.
1. That Jesus Christ died for all men is clearly and
expressly taught in the following scriptures:
Proofs. — " That He, by the grace of God, should taste death for
every man." (Ileb. ii. 9.) "He is the propitiation for sins ; and
not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world." (2Coj.
v. 15.) "The grace of God that bringeth salvation to all men hath
appeared." (Titus ii. 11.) "God so loved the world that he gave
bis only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not
perish, but have everlasting life." (John iii. 16.) ''That was the
true Light, which lighteth every man that cometb into the world."
(John i. 9.) "God our Saviour. . . . will have nil men to be saved."
(1 Tim. ii. 3.) "For the love of Christ constraint h us, because wo
thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead." (2 Cor. v. 14.)
Notes.
1. If Christ died for all men, then an all placed ir
02 The Methodist Armor.
a solvable condition. The sins of every man are
atoned for, a pardon for every man is purchased, and
every man is welcome to the favor of God and ever-
lasting life. It follows that a decree of reprobation,
absolutely predestinating any human being to eternal
damnation, is impossible. In harmony with the doc-
trine that Christ died for all men, the duty to believe
in him as a Saviour is enjoined upon all.
Proofs. — " He that believeth shall be saved, but he that believ-
etli not shall be damned." (Mark xvi. 16.) "He that believeth is
not condemned, but lie that believeth not is condemned already, be-
cause he hath not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of
God." (John iii. 8.)
2. In harmony with the scheme of universal redemp-
tion, gospel ministers are authorized to preach free
salvation to all men.
Proofs. — " Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to
eveiy creature." (Mark xvi. 15.) "And the Spirit and the Bride
say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that
is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life
freely." (Kev. xxii. 17.) "Come unto me all ye that labor and
are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest ; and him that cometh unt»
me, I will in no wise cast out." (Matt. xi. 28.)
3. In accord with this doctrine are many precious
promises and tender expostulations.
Proof. — "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lor.d;
though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though
they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." (Isa. i. 18.)
4. Then, men are constantly charged with the blame
of their own ruin. " For I have no pleasure in the death
of him that dieth, saith the Lord God; wherefore turn
yourselves, and live ye." (Ezek. xviii. 32.) We might
quote every chapter in the prophets to show that the
Israelites were blamed as the cavse of their own ruin.
Prominent Doctrines of Methodism. 93
But it is needless to enlarge. The whole Bible testi-
fies that men are truly the authors of their own de-
struction. God often complains that he has striven
to save men, but they would not let him. "O Jeru-
salem, Jerusalem .... how often would I have gath-
ered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her
chickens under her wings, and ye would not.'" (Matt.
xxiii. 37.) He " will have all men to be saved, and to
come unto the knowledge of the truth." (1 Tim. i. 4.)
5. Furthermore, the argument from reason is as
definite and conclusive. Does not every man's own
conscience tell him that he is the author of his own
sins, and consequently of the punishment flowing from
them? Does not conscience accuse us, holding that
we alone are to blame for them ? Thus, the testimony
of conscience sustains the Arminian doctrine. Yet
Calvinism teaches that God, " for the sake of his own
glory," created man to be lost — created pain and
stamped it with immortality — that " God did create a
race, large portions of whom, not being elected, would
go on to eternal punishment, suffering forever and
ever hopelessly— all "for his own glory." Can there
be any glory in creating and dooming millions of the
human race to perdition just for the sake of seeing
them suffer? Is there " glory " in a government over
this universe in which there is suffering without any
other end than suffering? Can there be any better
definition of Satanic malignity given than that it is a
voluntary creation of suffering merely for the sake of
suffering? Finally, the salvation of every human be-
ing is possible, or it is not possible. If it is possible,
then the possibility is based on the universality of the
atonement, for none can be <*aved outside of the atone
1)1 The Methodist Armor.
ment. If the salvation of every man is not possible,
then men are damned for not performing an impoesi-
bility, which is too monstrous for any sane man to be-
lieve. But, as Methodists, we glory in the full, free,
and universal redemption of Christ.
Christ says, "I am the Light of the world.'* The can-
dle is the light of a little room; the lamp is the light
of the street; but the sun, standing on the high arch
of the heavens says, " I am the light of the world?' He
fills the blue heavens above full of light, and clothes
the rolling seas, the earth, its hills, dales, fields, and
mountains, with the beautiful robe of radiance. Who
owns the sun? Everybody. He is made for the world.
The modest spire of grass can look up and say, " Thou
art my sun." The spreading oaks, the blooming flow-
ers, the ripening grain in a thousand fields, can look
up and say, "Yes, and he is no less our sun." The
sun shines not for the few, but for the teeming mill-
ions of earth. So Christ is the Light of the world.
" He is the Sun of righteousness." The cross is the
flaming orb of moral day, spreading impartially glo-
rious light from pole to pole. Its power changes the
winter of heathendom into the green and fruitful sum-
mer of Christian civilization.
The psalmist says: "As the heaven is high above
the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear
him." The boundless extent of heaven's blue field is
an emblem of redeeming grace. The vast circular
tent of the broad firmament incloses the whole race
of man. None can go beyond and outside of its sap-
phire walls. Wherever man may stray on the remote
frontier and far-off corners of the earth", the deep blue
heavens bend over him So the boundless blue sky
Prominent Doctrines of Methodism. 9j
of Christ's love bends oyer the human race, beaming
with the stars of promise and hope.
As there is room in the broad ocean for all the ships of
the world to float and never crowd each other, so there
is ample room in the kingdom of Christ for all men.
As all the armies of the w r orld can wash, bathe, and
cleanse themselves in the ocean, so in the red sea
of Christ's blood the world's vast population may be
purified.
" He tasted death for every man." " He gave him-
self a ransom for all." " He is a propitiation for the
sins of the whole world." That all are not saved is no
objection. It is suggested by a popular expositor
that in material nature much goodness seems w T asted.
Rain and dew descend upon flinty rocks and sterile
sands; floods of genial light come tiding down every
morning from the sun on scenes where no human foot
has trod; flowers bloom in beauty, and emit their fra-
grance; trees rise in majesty, and throw away theii
clustering fruit on spots where as yet there has never
been a man; wealth sufficient to enrich whole nations
is buried beneath the mountains and the seas, while
millions are in want; medicine for half the ills of life
is shut up in minerals and plants, while generations
die without knowing the remedy which nature has
provided. It is no objection, therefore, to the univer-
sality of the atonement that all are not benefited by
it. Its benefits one day will be universally enjoyed
There are men coming after us who shall live in these
solitary wastes, enjoy the beauty and the light which
now seems wasted, appropriate the fruits, the wealth,
the medicine, which for ages have been of no avail. It
will be even so with the death of Christ. There arc
96 The Methodist Armor.
men coming after ns that shall participate in the bless-
ings of that atonement which generations have either
ignorantly rejected or wickedly despised.
II. Eepentance.
Personal repentance toward God and faith toward
our Lord Jesus Christ are always united in the Bible.
Repentance implies a certain kind of. preexisting faith,
and faith implies a preexisting repentance. Both are
produced by the preliminary grace of the Holy Spirit,
but not perfected without the cooperation of man.
Repentance is a means and faith a condition of salva-
tion. The broken and contrite heart, a godly sorrow
of soul, a keen sense of sin, prepare the soul to accept
Christ as the only Saviour. Such a state of mind
leads to a free and candid confession of sin; and this
leads to reformation. This reformation implies two
things, viz., a turning from sin, and a serious effort at obe-
dience. The Bible commands the penitent, "Cease to do
evil, and learn to do well" Repentance is preeminently
a personal obligation. It is a duty laid upon all men.
Proofs. — " God now commandeth all men everywhere to repent."
(Acts xvii. 30.) " Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
(Matt. iii. 2.) "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the
name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive
the gift of the Holy Ghost." (Acts ii. 38.) "Let the wicked for-
sake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him re-
turn unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our
God, for he will abundantly pardon." (Isa. lv. 7.) "Repent, and
turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be
your ruin." (Ezek. xviii. 30.) " Except ye repent, ye shall all likf -
wise perish." (Luke xiii. 5.)
Notes.
1. True repentance must be thorough, forsaking all
si a. If a ship have three leaks, the stopping of two
Prominent Doctrines of Methodism. 97
of them is not sufficient; the third one left unstopped
will sink it. All must be closed up. Or, if a man have
two dangerous wounds, the curing of one is not enough.
Both must be cured. A tree, fallen upon the bosom
of a river, sways up and down on the stream, but does
not float off down stream, because it is anchored by a
hidden root reaching into the bank. So one secret sin,
not given up, will keep the soul from floating on the
stream of grace into the kingdom of life.
2. Gospel repentance makes self-sacrifice. A certain
liquor-seller showed sincere repentance by piling up
his liquor-barrels and burning them. Sins dear as
right eyes and hands must be given up.
3. True repentance asks pardon, and trusts in Christ
alone for salvation.
4. Gospel repentance leads to an open and full con-
fession of sin. " If we confess our sins, he is faithful
and just to forgive us." The benefit of confession is
illustrated in the following story: A German prince
visited the Arsenal at London, where the galleys were
kept. The commandant, as a compliment to his rank,
offered to set at liberty any slave whom he selected.
The prince went the round of the prison, and con-
versed with the prisoners. He inquired into the rea-
son of their confinement, and met only with universal
complaints of injustice, oppression, and false accusa-
tion. At last he came to one man who admitted his
imprisonment to he just-. "My lord," said he, "I have
no reason to complain. I have been a wicked, des-
perate wretch; I have often deserved to be broken
upon the wheel; and it is a mercy that I am here."
The prince selected him, saying, "This is the man
whom I wish released." The application is easy
98 The Methodist Armor.
III. Justification Through Faith.
"Justification is the divine judicial act which ajv
plies to the sinner believing in Christ the benefit of
the atonement, delivering him from the condemnation
of his sin, introducing him into a state of favor, and
treating him as a righteous person." " To be justified
is to be pardoned, and received into God's favor; into
such a state that, if we continue therein, we shall be
finally saved. " — Methodist Minutes. Justification, par-
don, forgiveness of sins, are substantially the same in
Methodist theology.
This pardon extends to all sins in the past, little and
great. "All manner of sin" is forgiven; so "there is
no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus."
The originating cause is the love of God; the merito-
rious cause is the atonement of Christ; the instrumental
cause is the personal faith of the believer.
Proofs. — " God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten
Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have ever-
lasting life." (John iii. 10.) "Christ is the end of the law for
righteousness [or justification] to every one that believeth." (Rom.
x. 4.) "Being justified by faitb, we have peace with God through
our Lord Jesus Christ." (Rom. v. 1.) " By him [Christ] all that
believe are justified from all tilings, from which they could not be
justified by the law of Moses." (Acts xiii. 39.) "T: him that work -
eth not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is
counted for righteousness [or justification]." (Rom. iv. 5.) " There-
fore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of
the law." (Rom. iii. 28.)
We must have that faith that relies on Christ as our
Substitute. A farmer was seen kneeling at a soldier's
grave, near Nashville. Some one said unto him : " Why
do you pay so much attention to this grave? Was
your son buried here?" "No," said he. "During
Prominent Doctrines of Methodism. 99
fche war my family were sick. I knew not how to leave
them. I was drafted. One of my neighbors came
over and said, 'I will go for yon; I have no family.'
He went off. He was wounded at Chicamauga. He
was carried to the hospital, and died. And, sir, I
have come a great many miles, that I might write
over his grave these words, 'He died for me.' " So Christ
was our Substitute; he died for us. He Was wounded
'for our transgressions.
" When the Son of God was made of a woman, and
made under the law, then was heard the most awful
voice that ever was heard in the universe yet: 'Awake,
O sword! against the man that is my fellow, and smite
the shepherd' — smite him! When there was a man
in the world that was Jehovah's fellow, then there was
one that could magnify the law, in smiting whom jus-
tice could obtain its demands. The sword of justice
smote him, struck him, cut him. The sword of jus-
tice had a commission to smite the Man that was Je-
hovah's fellow; it smote him in Bethlehem; it smote
all along the highway of his life, even to Calvary. On
Calvary the stroke of the sword fell heavy; the glances
of that sword then darkened the sun ; the stroke of the
sword shook the earth, shook hell ; it kept smiting and
smiting the Man that was God's fellow, till at last he
cried, 'It is finished!' Then the sword fell down at
the foot of the cross,- hushed, lulled, pacified; and it
lay there till the third hallowed morning, when it was
found changed into a scepter of mercy; and that scep-
ter of mercy has been a warning among mankind ever
since."
Without Works. — Faith without works renounces
every other dependence than the atonement. As an
J.OG The Methodist Armor.
instrument it embraces Christ, rests upon him as a
house upon a rock foundation, enters into his right-
eousness for safety, as Noah entered the ark for pro-
tection from the flood. It acknowledges the utter
impossibility of being saved by personal obedience to
the law. To become righteous in that way is forever
out of the question. It confesses past sins, present
weakness, and the impossibility of canceling past
transgressions by future obedience. Justifying faith
is then the trust of the soul in Christ as the only hope
of salvation. It is the forsaking of the sinking ship
of self -righteousness, and taking refuge in the ark of
Christ's atonement. The genuineness of this saving
faith is proved by evangelical works of righteousness
without which the state of justification cannot be re-
tained. The works of faith declare, manifest the life
and reality of saving faith. The tree of justifying
faith is known by the fruits of good works. The sub-
stance of faith will project the shadow of good works.
Hence there is a justification by faith without the
merit of works, and a justification by faith on the evi-
dence of works; but in both cases justification is based
on the grace of the atonement. "As the body without
the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also."
In conclusion, note the following particulars:
1. "Importance of Justification. — Justification is the
very king and pillar of Christianity, and an error about
justification is dangerous, like a crack in the founda-
tion. Justification by Christ is a spring of the water
of life, and to have the poison of corrupt doctrine cast
into this spring is damnable." — T. Watson.
2. It is by Faith. — "Luther sought rest for his
troubled breast in self-denial and retirement as a monk.
Prominent Doctrines of Methodism. 101
but did not find it. In 1510 he started as a delegate
for Rome, hoping to find relief from his burden there.
As he came in sight of the city, he fell on his knees,
exclaiming, ' Holy Rome, I salute thee ! ' He was
shocked at the wickedness which he found there. The
people said to him, ' If there is a hell, Rome is built
over it.' At last he turned to ascend Pilate's stair-
case upon his knees. He toiled from step to step, re-
peating prayers at every one, till a voice of thunder
seemed to cry within him, ' The just shall live by
faith!' Instantly he rose; saw the folly of his hope
of relief through works of merit. New life followed
his new light. Seven years after, he nailed his ' the-
ses ' to the doors of the Wittenburg church, and in-
augurated the Reformation." — Foster's Cyclopedia.
3. Only by the Merit of Christ. — " Some harbors have
bars of sand which lie across the entrance, and pro-
hibit the access of ships at low water. There is a bar,
not of sand, but of adamantine rock — the bar of divine
justice — which lies between the sinner and heaven.
Christ's righteousness is the high water that carries a
believing penitent over this bar and transmits him
safely to the land of eternal rest." — Salter.
4. Justification and regeneration are coincident as to
time, though distant as to nature. The first is what
God does for us in heaven — granting pardon for all
past sins; the latter is what he does in us in regen-
erating the heart. Like two streams which unite their
separate waters to form one river, justification and
regeneration are combined in the work of salvation.
IV. Regeneration.
Regeneration is the new birth: that work of the
Holy Spirit by which we experience a change of heart.
J 02 The Methodist Armor.
It is expressed in the Scripture by being born again;
by being quickened; by our partaking of the divine
nature. The efficient cause of regeneration is the Di-
vine Spirit." — R. Watson.
Proofs. — " Except a man be born again be cannot see tbe king-
dom of God." (Jobn iii. 3.) " That ye put on the new man, which
ifter God is created in righteousness and true holiness." (Eph. iv.
24.) " If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature." (2 Cor. v. 17.)
Notes.
1, Justification is the removal of guilt, while regen-
eration is the removal of the pollution of sin. Justi-
fication is an act taking place in the court of heaven,
while regeneration is a work performed by the Holy
Spirit in and upon the soul of the believer. Justification,
therefore, is objective, while regeneration is always sub-
jective. Regeneration is the birth of a new-born babe.
The infant born into the world is the man in minia-
ture. All the parts of the body, and all the faculties
of the mind, are there in embryo. So the regenerated
person is a saint in embryo. The new principles are
there, the new affections are there, the saint is there,
but in infancy. The young twig two feet high is an
oak, yet there is a vast distance between its diminu-
tive size and the full-grown oak, covering with its
wide-spreading branches an acre of ground. "The
kingdom of God is like a grain of mustard-seed, which,
when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds
that be in the earth; but when it is sown, it groiveth
up, and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth
out great branches."
2. Regeneration is More than Outward Reformation. —
" Wash me thoroughly from iniquity, and cleanse me
from my sin." Mark the thoroughness of this desire
Prominent Doctrines of Methodism. 103
Not only must sin be blotted out, but the sinner him-
self must be washed and cleansed. There must be
not merely a change of state, but a change of nature.
Not only must the debt be forgiven, but all disposition
to contract further debt must be eradicated. Outward
reformation is cutting the bird's wings, but leaving it
with the propensity to fly. It is pulling out the lion's
teeth, but not changing the lion's nature. A vicious
horse is none the better tempered because the kicking
straps prevent his dashing the carriage to pieces. Be-
generating grace, like a lump of sugar in a cup of tea,
sweetens the heart of man. It makes the tree good
to get good fruit. It purifies the fountain of the heart,
and then the practical stream of life Avill be pure.
3. The scriptural images setting forth the nature of
the new birth are many. The first is the new birth.
" So is every one that is born of the Spirit." " Chris-
tians are born of God; they are the children of God."
" That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that
which is born of the Spirit is spirit." Every thing in
generation produces its own peculiar kind. This is a
universal law. The oak is born out of the acorn; the
eagle comes out of the egg of the eagle; serpents be-
get serpents; corn produces corn; wheat generates
wheat; so fallen human beings will generate children
of impure fleshly nature. And as the child bears the
image of the parent, so those born of God bear the
image of God. They have the spirit of Christ. " To
as many as received him to them gave he power to
become the sons of God." Secondly, regeneration is
compared to a new creation. " If any man be in Christ
he is a new creature," or a new creation. lie is cre-
ated in Christ Jesus unt > good works. This spiritual
104 The Methodist Armor.
creation refers to the creation of the world at the be-
ginning. There were two stages of creation: first the
creation of matter; then the fashioning the chaotic
matter into a beautiful world of order. The latter
illustrates spiritual creation. The soul in sin is the
chaotic " earth without form and void, and darkness
upon the face of it." And as the creative Spirit moved
over the huge bulk of matter to bring light out of
darkness, beauty out of deformity, life out of death,
so must that same efficient and powerful Spirit shed
light upon the darkened understanding, fashion the
dilapidated soul into the beauty of the divine image,
and imbue it with the moving energy of spiritual life.
Thirdly, regeneration is likened to a resurrection
from a state of death. The regenerated are "those
that are alive from the dead." " You hath he quick-
ened who were dead in trespasses and sins." The re-
generated man is the same man who was dead in sin.
He has the same body, the same intellectual faculties
and personal peculiarities. The convert is the same
man, but leavened with a new spirit. Christ did not
give the blind man new eyes, but a new light to the old
ones. He did not give Lazarus a new body, but im-
parted life to the old one. The body of Christ was not
destroyed, but remained the same body, and was made
glorious by the Transfiguration; so the spiritual man
is made glorious by grace.
4. The Evidences of Regeneration.— Regeneration is
never without certain effects which evidence its ex-
istence. We have seen that the Bible describes it as
"life from the dead," and as "a new elation." All
life manifests itself. All nature seems dejid in winter.
When spring comes, we know it by the; s^ns of vege.
Prominent Doctrines of Methodism. 105
table life. The buds open in new bloom, in new foli-
age, new verdure, new fruit. The evidence of life is
abundant in all departments of nature. So in the
work of the Spirit there is new light shining upon the
mind. The Sun of righteousness pours its beams upon
the darkened soul. There is new love shed abroad in
the heart. " We know that we have passed from death
unto life, because we love the brethren." Mr. Wes-
ley said, when converted, "I felt my heart strangely
warmed" There is a new direction given to the will.
The convert will ask, " Lord, what wilt thou have me
to do?"
5. Its Necessity.— -None can go to heaven unless they
are made holy. " Except a man be born of water and
of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of
God." Purity is a necessary qualification to enjoy
heaven. If a sinner were lifted to heaven, he would
be blind to its beauties, deaf to its songs, and dead to
its joys. While malice remains in the devil's nature,
were he admitted into heaven, it would be a place of
torment. So a wicked man would meet hell in the
midst of heaven, so long as he carries within him sin,
for sin kindles the fires of hell in the soul. " The
kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in the
Holy Ghost."
V. Witness of the Spirit.
" By the witness of the Spirit I mean an inward im-
pression on the soul, whereby the Spirit of God im-
mediately and directly witnesses to my spirit that I
am a child of G6d; that Jesus Christ hath loved me
and given himself for me; that all my sins are blotted
out, and I,>pven I. am reconciled to God." — John
Wesley.
106 The Methodist Armor.
Proofs. — " The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that
we are the children of God." (Rom. viii. 1G.) "He that believeth
on the Son of God hath the witness in himself." (1 John v. 10.)
" Because ye are sons, God hath sent the Spirit of his Son into your
hearts, crying, Abba, Father." (Gal. iv. G.) " The love of God is
shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost." (Eom. v. 5.) " The
fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness,
goodness, faith, meekness, temperance." (Gal. v. 22, 23.)
Note.
Can a Man Know that he is a Christian? Method-
istic teaching answers, Yes. Mr. Wesley says: "The
soul intimately and evidently perceives when it loves,
delights, and rejoices in God, as when it loves and de-
lights in any thing. I love and delight in God, there-
fore I am a child of God." The Bible furnishes cer-
tain marks of being a Christian. First, there is the
love of God " shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy
Ghost." The believer feels, knows, is conscious that he
loves God; "therefore," he says, "I am a child of
God." Mr. Wesley says when he was converted he
"felt his heart strangely warmed." We are just as con-
scious of the warming influence of love as we are of a
fire in a room, or of the genial beams of the sun break-
ing through the clouds on a cold day, and shining
upon us. Love is likened to fire, and fire is something
that can be sensibly felt. Secondly, fraternal love is
a mark of a Christian. The believer feels that he
loves all who love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity;
therefore he concludes, " I am a child of God." " We
know that Ave have passed from death unto life, be-
cause we love the brethren.'" Brotherly love is adduced
as a proof of having passed from death to life. Again.
"He that loveth his brother abideth in the light."
" Now. there are some things that we know. When
Prominent Doctrines of Methodism. 107
a man is enraged, he knows it; and other people gen-
erally know it, tooi When a man is full of spirit, he
usually knows it. When a man has the inspiration
of ambition, and he is a fiery and energetic man, he
knows that. A man knows whether he is in distress;
he knows whether he is eager; he knows whether he
is forceful or mild. A man knows whether it is his
pleasure to do good, or whether he does it graciously.
These things are within the sphere of positive knowl-
edge. A man knows Whether he joys or whether he
sorrows. A man knows whether he loves or not; for
if he does not know that he loves, he does not love,
and he may be sure of it. There are some things that
are like fire; and what would you say of one who
should put his hand in the fire, and take it out slowly,
look at it deliberately, and say, ' On the whole, I think
it burns ? ' Men know what is evil. They know what
is good. All the recognized things within the sphere
of knowledge they know with positiveness — with all
the positiveness that is required; nor does it necessa-
rily infer conceit.
" Take notice, then, in regard to this witness, that
ight is thrown upon the method of it. We do not
have this witness borne in upon us in consequence of
any actions of our own, standing upon which we rea-
son to it ourselves. It is not the result of retrospect.
It is not from any estimate that we form of our moral
worth. The soul's spontaneous affinity for God being
disclosed in us becomes itself the evidence. Wo find
ourselves possessed of a certain enthusiasm. AVe are
lifted up, fired with an unusual experience; not a su-
perhuman experience, and yet an experience transcend-
ing all ordinary experience; and the nature of it is
108 The Methodist Armor.
that of love. It is an experience which, acting in love,
draws us by elective affinities to the great Source and
fountain of love, as well as of wisdom and power —
God ( ; and this condition of the soul which produces
filial love is the sign of God's influence upon us. It
is the witness of the Spirit."
VI. Holiness, or Sanctification.
" Sanctification is that work of God's grace by which
we are renewed after the image of God, set apart for
his service, and enabled to die unto sin and live unto
righteousness. It comprehends all the graces of knowl-
edge, faith, repentance, love, humility, zeal, and pa-
tience, and the exercise of them toward God and man."
— E. Watson.
Proofs. — " The very God of peace sanctify you wholly ; and I
pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blame-
less." (1 Thess. v. 23.) "This is the will of God, even your sanc-
tification." (1 Thess. iv. 3.) "As he who hath called you is holy, so
be ye holy in all manner of conversation." (1 Pet. i. 15.) "Who
gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and
purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." (Tit.
ii. 14.) " We are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus
Christ." (Heb. x. 10.) " Herein is our love made perfect." (1 John
iv. 17.)
Notes.
1. The Nature of Holiness. — It is the conformity of
the heart and life to the law of God. The casting out
of those inbred sins, the purification of the moral nat-
ure, and the restoration of the image of God, so that
the soul is all glorious within, having the fruit of the
Spirit — "love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness,
goodness, faith, meekness, temperance." It implies
the consecration of the whole body, the whole heart,
the whole spirit, the whole mind, property, influence,
Prominent Doctrines of Methodism. 109
family — all to the service of God. Sanctification
brings the intellect of the Christian into captivity to
Christ, so that he thinks for him; puts the love of
God in his heart, so that he is unselfish and benefi-
cent; the life of righteousness into his conscience, so
that the law of right is his rule; the life of obedience
into his will, so that it is his meat and drink to do the
will of the Father.
2. When is it Attainable? — It is a work commencing
in and carried on after conversion. It is a second bless-
ing, in harmony icith, yet separate from, and subse-
quent to, the work of conversion. There may be rare
exceptions to this statement. The Catholic Church
teaches that sanctification with some is attained after
death through the fires of purgatory. The Calvinists,
that it can be attained only in the article of death. The
Methodists maintain that it may be attained soon after
conversion and enjoyed during life. All agree, then,
that holiness — perfect love, sanctification — is absolutely
necessary as a qualification for heaven. The differ-
ence is simply in the time of its attainment. The Ar-
minian view is unquestionably correct and scriptural.
Our doctrine hereby elevates the plane of Christian
experience immeasurably higher than the other view.
The Catholic doctrine that men are sanctified in pur-
gatory is simply absurd. To send a soul to hell to
purify it, how ridiculous! Why is not the devil pu-
rified? He has been in hell long enough to be very
pure, if that be the place of purification. The Calvin-
istic theory has no scriptural foundation. There is no
virtue in the mere act of dying to sanctify the soul. .
3. That sanctification is attainable during life will
be seen: (1) Because God wills if. "For this is tin 1
1 10 The Methodist A i wor.
will of God, even your sanctification." God wills our
sanctification just as truly and sincerely as he wills the
salvation of sinners, or any other desirable thing.
There can be no higher law than the will of God. (2)
Because God commands it. " Be ye therefore perfect,
e"\ en as your Father who is in heaven is perfect." " Be
perfect " — not in knowledge or power as God, but in
love and holiness. Be perfect — not in degree as God,
but in quality, in kind. (3) Because this great blessing
is promised. " Then will I sprinkle clean water upon
you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness,
and from all your idols, will I cleanse you." (Ezek.
xxxvi. 25. ) " If we confess our sins, he is faithful and
just to forgive us our sins, and cleanse us from all un-
righteousness." (1 John i. 9.) "The very God of
peace sanctify you wholly." Does not this passage
mean entire sanctification? Do Ave have to wait till
death for this ? Then, why does the apostle pray that
your "body be preserved blameless?" (4) Because
the possessio7i of holiness is eminently desirable. Holi-
ness makes us like God. It enables us to enjoy much
of heaven while on earth. It makes us more useful.
It gives us meetness for heaven. The Methodist Church
was raised up to spread holiness over the land. For
this the precious blood of Christ streamed from the
cross. For this the Holy Spirit is sent into the world.
For this the lamp of the Bible shines. For this the
gospel is preached. For this the world stands, the
sun shines, the earth yields her increase, and judg-
ment is delayed. For this God employs the various
agencies of the Church. " For he gave some apostles,
and some prophets, and somje evangelists, and some
pastors and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints,''
Prominent Doctrines of Method/sin. Ill
4. Ho w is this Blessed State to be Attained? — (1) It
is manifest that there must be a deep and abiding
conviction of its need. No one will seek it till he
feels it to be a duty and a great blessing. Reflect
upon the reasonableness and glory of such a state.
Can any thing less than the whole heart satisfy God?
Supreme love to God is the glory of man. (2) There
must be a definite and fixed purpose to seek it per-
severingly, and by all possible means. (3) It must
be sought by entire consecration of yourself and all
you have to God. Consecrating the hands to work
for God, the feet to walk in the path of obedience,
the tongua to speak truthfully and lovingly, the ears
to hear what is good and pure, the eyes to see what
is best in men, the heart to be a vessel full of Chris-
tian love, the mind to reflect the glory of God as the
moon the light of the sun, the property possessed to
advance the cause of God. (4) It must be sought in
the exercise of implicit faith — faith steadily believing
in the ample ability, willingness, and readiness of God
to bestow sanctifying grace. Nothing is hard with'
the omnipotent God. He that, through the sun, fills
the earth with the glory of summer and the wealth of
autumn, can fill your heart with the summer of divine
grace. The ocean floats magnificent ships as easily
as the fisherman's cork; the earth carries massive
mountains as easily as mole-hills. It is as easy for
God to give sanctifying as justifying grace. Throw
yourself into the ocean of divine love, and be filled
with all the fullness of God.
VII. The Possibility of Final Apostasy.
The Statement of the Argument. — It is possible for a
person who has been truly regenerated to fall awnv
life The Methodist Armor.
from sucli a gracious state and be finally lost. This
doctrine is clearly taught in the Old Testament Script-
ures.
Proofs. — " But when the righteous turneth away from his right-
eousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the
ahominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All the
righteousness that he hath done shall not he mentioned; in his tres-
pass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in
them shall he die. . . . When a righteous man turneth away from
his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and dieth in them; for
the iniquity that he hath done, shall he die." (Ezek. xxxiii. 12-20.)
Let the reader observe: 1. The persons referred to
in this passage are truly righteous men. Mr. Edwards
concedes that a righteous man in Scripture phrase
denotes a "godly man." 2. The drift of the whole
passage shows that these righteous persons may to-
tally turn away and perish in their sins. 3. Man's
life on earth is a period of trial. He has all the en-
dowments necessary to make him a free and respon-
sible agent. In this character there is no time on
earth when he is not subject to change of moral char-
acter. As a sinner, he may repent, reform, and be-
come a good man all along the path of his probation.
There is no point along this probationary road up to
the hour of death where he may not repent and be-
lieve; or, being good, mag relapse into sin and perish.
If this be not true, then it must follow that man ceases
to be a free agent.
Second Proposition. — The possibility of total and
final apostasg is expressly declared in the New Testament.
Proofs. — " For it is impossible for those who were once enlight-
ened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers
of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word of God, and the
powers of the world to come, if they shall fall away, to renew them
Prominent Doctrines of Methodism. 113
■gain unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of
God afresh, and put him to an open shame." (Ileb. vi. 4-8.)
Let the reader observe, these persons were Chris-
tians of deep experience. 1. They were "enlightened?
2. "Tasted of the heavenly gift." This may mean the
experience of a gracious pardon. 3. "Made partakers
of the Holy Ghost." This includes the work of regen-
eration, the witness of the Holy Spirit, and his in-
dwelling influence. 4. "Tasted of the good, word of
God." This means the Christian's relish and comfort
in reading the Scriptures. 5. "Tasted of the powers of
the world to come." By this we understand the delight-
ful anticipation of heaven. Here are all the marks
and fruits of experienced Christians. But these per-
sons may fall away and finally perish. The whole
drift of the passage teaches this. The Greek scholars
agree that the term " if " is not in the original pa'ssage.
Mr. Wesley proves that it is not there, and says it
should read: "It is impossible to renew again unto
repentance those who have been once enlightened and
have turned away and renounced the Saviour — the
only refuge for sinners." The fall contemplated is
total and final. And the possibility of such a fall is
borne on the very face of the passage.
The same doctrine is taught by our Saviour.
Proof. — " I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh it away. ... I
am the vine; ye are the branches. ... If a man abide not in me, lie
is cast forth as a branch, and is withered ; and men gather them,
and cast them into the fire, and they are burned." (John xv. 1-6.)
Observe: 1. The persons here spoken of were^
branches in the vine— that is, in Christ. 2. Some of
these branches were cut off because they did not hea->
8
114 The Methodist Armor.
fruit. 3. And being severed from the vine — the only
source of life— they hopelessly died, withered, dried
up. For further proof-texts, see Luke xi. 12; Heb.
x. 26.
Third Proposition. — The possibility of final apos-
tasy appears from the repeated learnings against such
danger, and the earnest exhortations to Christian faith-
fulness.
Proofs.—" Because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou
standest by faith. Be not high-minded, but fear; for if God spared
not the natural branches, take heed, lest he also spare not thee." (Rom.
xi. 20, 21.) "Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an
evil heart of unbelie'f in departing from the living xl. But exhort
one another daily, while it is called to-day ; lest any of you be hard-
ened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we are made partakers
of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto
the end." (Heb. iii. 12-14.) "Let us therefore fear, lest, a prom-
ise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to
come short of it." (Heb. iv. 1.)
Observe: 1. All these exhortations to fear, to be dil-
igent, to put forth effort, undoubtedly imply the p>ossi-
bility of failure. It is a palpable absurdity to exhort
men to hold on to that which it is impossible for them
to lose. A Christian can or cannot fall from grace.
If he cannot fall, then the exhortation not to fall is
absurd and senseless. Suppose a man on some high
mountain is chained to a rock with iron fetters that
could not be broken; and another should stand off
shouting, "Take heed lest you fall! '" would not the ex-
hortation be ridiculous nonsense? The application
is eas3 T .
Fourth Proposition. — The possibility of falling from
grace is evident from examples contained in the Scriptures.
Proof. — "Holding faith, and a good conscience; which soidp
Prominent Doctrines of Methodism. 115
having put away, concerning faith have made shipwreck; of whom
is Ilymeneus and Alexander, whom I have delivered unto Satan,
that they may learn not to blaspheme." (1 Tim. i. 19, 20.)
Observe: 1. These persons once had faith and a
good conscience, else they could not have wrecked or
cast away what they never had. 2. They made ship-
wreck of this saving faith. 3. What is shipwrecked is
entirely lost. A wrecked vessel is totally ruined.
Angels fell from their original state of celestial holi-
ness. Our first parents fell from their original puri-
ty. Judas fell from his apostleship by transgressions.
King Saul was once a good man. " God gave him an-
other heart," but he fatally backslid, and " died for
his transgressions which he committed against the
Lord." Solomon was clearly, at one time, a saintly
man, but he evidently apostatized, and died, said Jo-
sephus, " ingloriously."
The dogma, "once in grace, always in grace," is a
very fatal error. A man gets a ticket, sits down in the
cars, folds his hands, and says to himself: "Well, I
bought my ticket, I am in the train, and now I will go
to sleep. It is the engineer's business to run the train
and watch out for danger. It is the business of the
conductor to land me safely at my journey's end. I
have nothing to do but to sleep." This is about the
way men reason who believe in final perseverance.
And anyone can see the deadening and sleep-produc-
ing influence the doctrine has upon the human heart.
But the Bible, instead of encouraging such a state,
commands us to Watch — work out your own salvation —
give all diligence to make your calling and election sure.
Hundreds of warnings stand all through the Bible
like mountains with a gloomy grandeur — stern, por-
UG The Methodist Armor.
tentous, awful, and sublime, as Mount Sinai when the
Lord descended upon it in fire, storm-clouds, and
thunders, that shook the hills of the earth, "that the
fear of God may be upon us, and that we sin not."
They sternly rebuke the folly of supposing that be-
cause God has delivered us from our former sins, we
need have no anxiety about our final salvation.
CHAPTER VI.
ORDERS IN THE METHODIST MINISTRY.
Methodism recognizes but two orders in the min-
istry — the deacon and presbyter. It also recognizes a
third office — that of bishop — which is presbyterial in
order, but episcopal in office. Methodism occupies
medium ground between prelacy on the one hand and
parity of the ministry on the other. Soman Catho-
lics and the Episcopalians believe in three orders —
those of bishop, presbyter, and deacon. Presbyte-
rians, Baptists, and Congregationalists maintain one
order only — that of the presbyter. We believe that
two orders are recognized in the Bible.
I. Deacons.
The deaconship is a subordinate grade and ordei
of the ministry. Deacons among Presbyterians and
Baptists are simply lay-officers, but among Methodists
they are a subordinate order of ministers. Methodism
here is on scriptural ground. Stephen was a deacon,
one of the first seven. He was a powerful preacher,
"being full of the Holy Ghost." When the Jews
heard his sermon which is recorded in Acts vii., "they
were cut to the heart." He was duly ordained by the
apostles. Philip was another deacon, and a preacher.
Orders in the Methodist Ministry. 117
"Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and
preached Christ unto them." (Acts viii. 5.) He had
a great levival at that place. "But when they be-
lieved Philip, preaching the things concerning the
kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they
were baptized, both men and women." "And there
was great joy in that city." Philip expounded the
Scriptures to the Ethiopian eunuch, and administered
to him the rite of baptism. The point we make is
that deacons are ministers, which is clearly proved by
the above citations of Scripture. A Methodist deacon
can perform all the ministerial functions of an elder,
except that of consecrating the elements of the Lord's
Supper.
II. Eldees.
1. Presbyter, or elder, is a higher order and office of
the ministry. It designates an order of men whose
duties are to preach, to administer the ordinances, and
watch over the Church. " The elders which are among
you I exhort, who am also an elder. Feed the flock
of God which is among you, taking the oversight
thereof." (1 Pet. v. 1, 2.)
2. Elders have authority of governing the Churches.
" Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of
double honor." (1 Tim. v. 17.) The people are ex-
horted to " obey them that have the rule over them,
and submit themselves." (Heb. xiii. 17.)
3. Elders have the power of ordination. Timothy was
ordained by "the laying on of the hands of the pres-
bytery" or body of elders. (1 Tim. iv. 14.) They
were associates of ecclesiastical authority with the
fipostles. The decrees passed at Jerusalem to regu-
late the Churches "were ordained of the apostles and
118 The Methodist Armor.
elders." (See Acts xv. 2-6, 22, 23; xvi. 4; 1 Tim. v. 17.)
As all Churches agree that the eldership is an eccle-
siastical order, it is not necessary to dwell longer on
this subject.
III. Bishops.
" Bishops are not a distinct order, but officers, elected
by the body of elders for general superintendency,
and for greater convenience in regard to ordination,
and to secure unity and greater efficiency in adminis-
tration; and this was unquestioned for hundreds of
years. Now, Methodism conforms to this primitive
arrangement." " Bishops and presbyters, or elders,
were originally the same, but as Jerome says, one of
the elders "«yas chosen as a president, and called bish-
op by way of distinction, and some of the functions
pertaining to the whole body of the presbyters — as
ordination, /or example — were committed to him, and,
like the narje, confined to him. Thus he became primus
inter pares, *irst among equals." — Bishop McTyeire.
CHAPTER VII.
THE MODE OF BAPTISM.
The essenfo al elements of baptism are —
1. It mupt be administered in the name of the Fa-
ther, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
2. It nrj~t be performed by a gospel minister. No
others e/o commissioned to baptize but ministers of
Christ.
3. Tp 3 element to be used must be water only. This
'■> Uy ''.s mentioned in the Scriptures.
\. The person baptized must be a proper subject.
^e conclude, then, that water applied in the name
The Mode oj Baptism. 119
of the Trinity, by a gospel minister to a proper candi-
date, is Christian baptism. "Go ye therefore, and teach
all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Fa-
ther, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." (Matt,
xxviii. 19.)
It will be seen from the above definition that the
mode of baptism is not one of its essential elements;
that all the essentials of baptism will be preserved
when administered by the mode of pouring, sprink-
ling, or immersion. Therefore, the Methodist Church
holds that the three modes are equally valid, but that
the weight of evidence is in favor of pouring or sprink-
ling. Pouring and sprinkling are really only one mode,
they being alike as to mode, the difference being the
freer use of water in pouring. The terms are bor-
rowed from the Bible. " / will pour out my Spirit;
and then will I sprinkle clean water upon you."
"We remarked that the weight of evidence is in favor
of pouring or sprinkling. Eeal baptism is the regen-
erating influence of the Holy Spirit in the heart.
Water baptism is the sign of this grace in the heart.
That mode which is most like the mode of the Spirit's
operation is the true one. How does the Spirit come
upon the soul? Scripture teaches us on this point.
" I will pour water upon him that is thirsty." (Isa.
xliv. 3.) " Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you,
and ye shall be clean." (Ezek. xxxvi. 25.) Thus,
when Peter was addressing the company of Corne-
lius, " the Holy Ghost fell on all them that heard,"
and " on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of
the Holy Ghost." (Acts x. 44, 47.) Then, Peter bap-
tized those on whom the Holy Spirit was poured out.
Now, as the Holy Spirit was poured upon the people
120 The Methodist Armw.
it is almost certain that Peter poured water upon them
as the most fitting mode of baptism. The sign as to
mode would be like the thing signified, and the thing
signified was poured out. Again, it is said in refer-
ence to Christ's baptism, " The heavens were opened
unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending
like a dove, and lighting upon him." When God shows
how he baptizes, the element descends upon the subject.
Bat immersion requires that the subject descend— fall
upon — the element. The mode of the Holy Ghost
baptism is pouring, applying the Spirit to the soul;
and water baptism, as a sign of this, should be poured,
so as to make the sign correspond with the thing sig-
nified. But there is no resemblance between immer-
sion, applying the candidate to water and covering
him up in it, and the pouring out the Spirit upon the
soul. The Spirit is shed upon us as rain upon the
earth.
Dr. Pope, a Wesleyan minister of England, says:
" There are many considerations which lead us to re-
gard affusion, or sprinkling, as the ordained form of
the rite. The catholic design of the gospel suggests
that the simplest and most universally practicable or-
dinance would be appointed. Again, the most impor-
tant realities, of which baptism is only the sign, are
such as sprinkling, or affusion, indicates. The blood
of the atonement was sprinkled on the people and on
the mercy-seat; and the gifts of the Holy Ghost are
generally illustrated by the pouring of water and the
anointing "
Richard Watson, in his Institutes, says: "It is sat
isfactory to discover that all attempts made to impos(
upon Christians a practice (immersion) repulsive tc
The Mode of Baptism. 121
the feeling, dangerous to the health, and offensive to
delicacy, is destitute of all scriptural authority and of
really primitive practice." Nevertheless, our Church,
believing that the " essence of the rite " consists in
applying water to the body in the name of the Trinity,
says: "Let every adult person, and the parents of
every child to be baptized, have the choice either of
immersion, sprinkling, or pouring." Dr. Raymond
says: "No Church, as such, except the Baptists, re-
quires any particular form of baptism as a sine qua
non condition of membership." So it will be seen
that Methodists are not alone in allowing the choice
of modes.
There is no command to baptize by immersion. The
duty of baptizing with water is commanded, but, like
the Lord's Supper, the mode of its administration is
left undecided by any positive precept. The follow-
ing Bible examples lead us to believe that the apos-
tles administered it by pouring or sprinkling:
I. Baptism of Paul.
"And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and put-
ting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that
appeared unto thee in the way as thou earnest, hath sent me, that thou
mightest receive thy sight, and he fdled with the Holy Ghost. And
immediately there fell from his eyes as it had heen scales; and he
received sight forthwith, and arose, and was haptized." (Acts ix.
17, 18.)
Notes.
1. Note that the rising up and baptizing are closely
connected. Dr. Armstrong says: " In the original the
language is much more definite than it appears in the
English version." On the expressions " arise and be
baptized" (literally, standing up, be baptized) and
"he arose and was baptized" (literally, standing up.
122 The Methodist Armor.
ho was baptized), Dr. J. H. Bice remarks correctly:
•'According to the idiom of the Greek language these
two words do not make two different commands, as
the English reader would suppose, when he reads
(1) ' arise,' (2) ' be baptized,' but the participle (arise,
literally standing) simply modifies the signification
of the verb, or rather is used to complete the action of
the verb; and therefore, instead of warranting the
opinion that Paul rose up, went out, and was im-
mersed, it definitely and precisely expresses his post-
ure when he received baptism."
2. " Three days had he been sunk in feebleness and
fasting, when he ' arose and was baptized,' and then
' received meat and was strengthened.' Strange that
where every movement is detailed with wonderful mi-
nuteness, no going forth in his weakness to a river
could have been mentioned. The whole air of it is
that he just stood up from his prostration in order to
be baptized while upon his feet." — Dr. Whedon.
II. Baptism of the Jailek.
"And the) spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that
weie in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night,
and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straight-
way." (Acis xvi. 32, 33.)
Notes.
1. Notice a few points in this case. The jailer and
his family were baptized at the hour of midnight in
the prison. "And he took them the same hour of the
night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he
and his, straightway.''''
2. The baptism took place in the prison. "We have the
authority of the apostles that they did not go out of
the prison. Paul refused to leave the prison privily.
The Mode of Baptism. 123
He demanded that the magistrates themselves should
take them out as publicly as they had put them in. Now,
who can believe that Paul had gone out to some river
at midnight — gone privily, secretly — and immersed
the parties and then slipped back into the prison, and
demanded a public and honorable discharge from the
prison after he had been already out? Can anyone
believe that Paul was capable of such deception as
this? The refusal of the apostles to go out privily
expressly implied that they had not been out the night
before. Their language, if they had already been out,
was based on concealment and equivocation. The
magistrates might have fairly replied: "With what
face can these men pretend that they will not go out
without formal and public dismissal, when they have
already gone out of their own accord, and are now in
prison only by voluntarily imprisoning themselves? "
No such hypocrisy can be charged against them; the
conclusion is inevitable that they had not been out of
prison-bounds.
3. Now, observe another fact: There was no tank or
cistern in the prison where immersion could be per-
formed. There is not the slightest ground for the
wild supposition that a Eoman prison was provided
with any thing like a baptistry. The public author-
ity that could thrust the innocent apostles, all bloody
with stripes, into the irons of a dark dungeon would
not likely provide baths for the comfort of their vic-
tims. The Romans were too cruel to mitigate the
sufferings of their prisoners. Besides, Philippi was
located in the very latitude of " Snowy Thrace," where
such things would not be needed. A bath or tank in
a Roman prison! As well expect to find a piano in
124 The Methodist Armor.
the wigwam of a flat-headed Indian. There was a
baptism in the prison, but most clearly it was not by
immersion. To suppose that the jailer took his wife
and family out of bed at midnight, and went in search
of a river to find some suitable place to have them
immersed, is simply absurd. Therefore, the jailer
and his family were baptized in the prison, and hence
by sprinkling or pouring, as immersion would have
been impossible under the circumstances.
III. Baptism of Cornelius.
" While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all
them which heard the word. And they of the circumcision which
believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, hecause that
on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost.
For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then
answered Peter, Can any man forbid water, that these should not
be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?
And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord.
Then prayed they him to tarry certain days." (Acts x. 44-48.)
Note.
The clear inference is that Cornelius and his house-
hold were baptized by pouring. The circumstances
prove this. " They went to no river, they are not said
to go down to any water, nor are we told that they had
a bath adapted for such a purpose in their house.
Peter's remark about forbidding water indicates that
it was to be brought to him for the purpose of admin-
istering this rite. And, above all, it should be noticed
that when the apostle saw the Holy Spirit descend-
ing upon them, he was reminded of what Christ had
said of John's baptizing with Avater. (Acts xi. 10.)
Whence this instantaneous recollection and associa-
tion of ideas, but from the fact that the mode of water
The Mode of Baptism. 125
baptism was in form the same as that of the descent of
the Holy Ghost? Had either John or Peter baptized
by dipping, the narrative and the allusion would have
been grossly inconsistent, and calculated to mislead
the most devout and clear-headed student of inspira-
tion."— Rev. W. Thorn.
IV. The Baptism of the Three Thousand.
"Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and he baptized every one
of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and
ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." " Then they that gladly
received his word were baptized ; and the same day there were added
unto them about three thousand souls." (Acts ii. 38, 41.)
Notes.
1. That they were all actually baptized on this day
is evident; and it is admitted by our opponents, who
assure us that baptism always preceded admission
into the visible Church. Now, supposing the twelve
apostles to have been engaged in this work, and sup-
posing immersion to have been the mode, it must have
been a most laborious, disagreeable, if not an imprac-
ticable undertaking to be accomplished in the courso
of five or six hours. It should be taken into the ac-
count, moreover, that at least twenty-four robing-
rooms and a dozen dipping-places must have been
obtained for the purpose. And if more agents assist-
ed, and lightened the labor of each, a proportionate
increase of both kinds of conveniences must have
been provided.
2. Now, in Jerusalem itself, there was neither a
river nor a fountain of water. Kedron was little
better than the common sewer of the city, and was
dry except during the early and latter rains. Siloam
was only a spring without the walls, not always flow
1 20 The Methodist Armor.
ing, the contents of which were sometimes sold to the
people by measure; and the pools supplied by its puny
streams were either used for washing sheep and sim-
ilar purposes, rendering them unfit for ceremonial
lustrations, or they were the property of persons not
likely to lend them for washing apostate strangers in.
The water used for domestic purposes was obtained
from the rains of heaven and preserved in household
tanks, and, of course, was guarded with the utmost
care, and used with a rigid economy — it raining there
at only two seasons of the year. It may be further
mentioned that the fountain of Siloam "is the only
place in the environs of Jerusalem where the trav-
eler can moisten his finger, quench his thirst, and rest
his head under the shadow of the cool rock, and on
two or three tufts of verdure." (Lamartine.) That
the case was precisely similar in the time of the apos-
tles may be clearly proved by reference to the writ-
ings of Josephus, their countryman and contemporary.
CHAPTER VIII.
OBJECTIONS ANSWERED.
I. Buried with Him in Baptism.
"Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Christ
wore baptized into his death? Therefore, we are buried with hiiii
by baptism into death." (Rom. vi. 3, 4; Col. ii. 12.)
Our Baptist friends falsely assume that the bap-
tism referred to here means ritual or water baptism,
whereas it clearly refers to a spiritual baptism.
"Baptized into Christ" and "baptized in the name
of Christ " are two very distinct things. The former
means to be in the spirit of Christ, to be like Christ.
Objections An steered. 127
to be in Christ as the branch is in the vine. As:
"For by one Spirit Ave are all baptized into one body;"
"For as many of you as have been baptized into
Christ, have put on Christ." These expressions mean
spiritual baptism — and not ritual or water baptism.
Wherever water baptism is meant the form of expres-
sion is, "In the name of the Father, and of the Son.
and of the Holy Ghost." And so the passage under
consideration says, "Baptized into Christ" and not in
the name of Christ.
The apostle argues that renunciation of sin is death
to sin; that as Christ died on the cross, so the old
Adam in man is crucified by renouncing sin. As
Christ was buried from the scenes of external nature
in the rock-tomb, so the Christian, in baptismal dedi-
cation, is buried from the world in Christ's body—
the Church. As Christ rose into a new life, so the
Christian rises into a new life of holiness. No ref-
erence whatever to the mode of baptism is found here.
It is the sound more than the sense that strikes our
Baptist brethren.
The Rev. W. Thorn says: "Mr. Robinson, the Bap-
tist historian, gives up the passage, justly observing
that Paul could not have referred to any thing like
an ordinary English interment, as the persons to whom
he wrote did not bury their dead, but burned them to
ashes. Other leading Baptist writers have admitted
that the original idea of burying is not the lowering
of a corpse into a grave, but casting earth upon it,
and thereby raising a barrow over it. Hence the en-
tire argument founded on these passages in favor of
dipping vanishes in a moment."
But supposing the reference had been to the en
128 The Methodist Armor.
tombing of Christ, the analogy is essentially defect-
ive. His precious body was carried into a room hewn
out of a rock, and laid upon a side bench; a stone
being rolled not upon but against the door, which
was low and small. In this process there was not
the slightest resemblance to dipping a person under
water, no more than when the body of Dorcas was
carried up-stairs and laid upon a bed. And he must
be sadly at a loss for valid evidence in aid of immer-
sion who seizes on this allusion to uphold his practice.
As a spiritual resurrection, or a rising to newness
of life, is avowedly the result of this baptism, so, un-
questionably, a spiritual interment must be supposed
to precede it. In the same connection we are said to
be crucified with Christ, and planted together in the
likeness of his death. Surely, this can refer only to
a spiritual work in the soul, and therefore the burial
cannot be consistently regarded as an exception. Mr.
Maclean, a leading Baptist, says that in consequence
of our covenant union to Christ " we are so compre-
hended in and counted one with him as to have died
in his death, been buried in his burial, and raised
again in his resurrection." Here a physical simili-
tude is quite out of the question. Indeed, the pas-
sage literally translated conveys not the least idea of
such a resemblance: "As many of us as were baptized
unto Christ Jesus were baptized unto his death; there-
fore, we are buried with him (dia) through baptism
unto death." Besides, those who regard this gracious
renovation of soul as necessarily taking place at the
font, or being the legitimate result of water baptism,
and not as effected by the Holy .Ghost, independent
of that ordinance, will find it difficult to repel the
Objections Answered. 129
charge of advocating the doctrine of baptismal re-
generation."
II. The Baptism of Christ.
"Following Christ into the water," "Going down
into the liquid grave," " Being buried with the Sav-
iour beneath Jordan's rolling waves," are clap-trap
words of much sound but of little sense. If you
.follow Christ strictly in baptism, you must wait till
you are thirty years old, for he was not baptized un-
til he had reached that age. What was the design
of Christ's baptism? Christ furnishes the answer:
"It becometh us to fulfill all righteousness." To ful-
fill righteousness is to be obedient to law. This was
not the moral law, but the law respecting the high-
priesthood. The baptism of Christ was the 'public,
formal inauguration and consecration of him to his
priestly ministry. He was just entering on the age
of thirty— the age at which the Levites began their
ministry and the rabbis their course of teaching. The
consecration of Aaron to the high-priesthood was by
trashing, anointing, and consecration. Observe how this
typical law was completely fulfilled by Christ: (1) He
was washed by baptism; (2) he was anointed by the
Holy Ghost; (3) and then consecrated to the priestly
office. Thus we see that Christ was "a High-priest;"
that he was "called of God" to this office as was Aaron;
that he was ordained and consecrated to the office of
"High -priest forevermore, that he might offer both
gifts and sacrifice for sins."
III. John Baptizing in Jordan.
1. It is believed that immersing persons in Jordau
was altogether impracticable.
130 The Methodist Armor.
The Rev. W. Thorn says: "The baptizing spot hat
been visited and minutely examined by many intelli-
gent and credible travelers, who tell us that here " th*
river Jordan is of considerable width, the water tur-
bulent, the bottom rocky, the edges of the bank ab-
rupt, and the depth about six or seven feet close tc
the shore." Volney says, " Its breadth between the twc
principal lakes, in few places, exceeds sixty or eighty
feet, but its depth is about ten or twelve." Monro says,
" The river here, at the baptizing spot, forms an an-
gle, etc.; the width of it might be thirty-five yards,
and the stream was running with the precipitous fury
of a rapid; the bank was steep, shelving off abruptly
into deep water." Thompson says, "It is exceeding
deep, even at the edge of the inner bank." Dr. Shaw
computes it " about thirty yards broad, and three yards
in depth." Chateaubriand found the Jordan to be
"six or seven feet deep- close to the shore."
2. Judging, then, from the places chosen, and the
fonts constructed for immersion by our opponents,
and indeed from the nature of the case (unless men
and women in John's time were twice as tall as at the
present day!), I contend that dipping persons in the
Jordan was altogether impracticable, and unhesitat-
ingly conclude that they were only affused, or sprink-
led, with the water of it.
3. That John's baptism was not by immersion is
clear from the vast number baptized by him. Dr.
Hibbard proves that the population of Palestine at
the time of John's ministry could not be less than
six million. Now, the Bible says: "There went out
unto him all the land of Judea, • and they of Jerusa-
lem, and all the region round ab-Mit Jordan, and were
Objections Answered. 131
all baptized of him in the river Jordan, confessing
their sins." Dr. Hibbard contends that "Jerusalem,
all Judea, and the region round about Jordan " must
mean the larger part of the population — and puts the
number baptized at three million — half of the popu-
lation. John's ministry lasted only about ten months.
He allows six hours a day and six days in the week
for baptizing, and upon this calculation shows that
John had to baptize two thousand and tiro hundred each
hour. And this calculation shows the utter impossi-
bility of it being done by immersion.
Whatever may have been the mode of John's bap-
tism, one thing is certain — that is, John's baptism was
not the Christian baptism.
1. He did not baptize in the name of the Holy
Trinity. And this is essential to Christian baptism.
"Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of
the Holy Ghost:'
2. John's baptism was not initiatory into the Church.
It did not admit them into the Old Testament Church,
since those who received it (being Jews) were already
members of that Church by circumcision. It did not
admit them into the Christian Church, since that
Church had not been established. Just before the
day of Pentecost the members of the Christian Church
numbered only "about one hundred and twenty:* Now,
of course John had baptized thousands before this,
and if his baptism had admitted them into the Chris-
tian Church, the count would have been tens of thou-
sands instead of "one hundred and twenty:* The fact
is, the Christian Church was not instituted till aftei
John's death.
132 The Methodist Armor.
3. It is rendered still more evident from the fact
that Paul re-baptized certain persons at Ephesus, who
had received John's baptism. (Acts xix. 5.)
IV. Bapto and Baptidzo.
The argument of the immersionists is: "My posi-
tion is that baptidzo always signifies to dip, never express-
ing any thing hut mode." — Dr. Carson.
The hinge on which the whole argument turns is
that the classic meaning of the terms bapto and bap-
tidzo is always but one thing — to dip, immerse. Can
this be established? No. Let us see. "Dr. Dale (a
learned divine of England) renders bapto dip fourteen
times; dye, fourteen times; imbue seven times; tem-
per, one time; stain, one time; wash, four times;
moisten, two times; wet, one time — forty-seven. Of
these forty-seven cases, as rendered by him, we have:
(1) thirty-three against fourteen for dip; (2) in no case
was there an immersion, L e., sinking." — Dr. Ditzler.
Dr. Ditzler, in his new work on Baptism, gives the
following cases:
1. Of a frog pierced and slain, Homer says: "He
fell without even looking upward, and the lake (ebap-
toto) was tinged with blood." Anybody knows that
the lake could not possibly be immersed in the blood
of a frog, but that the blood of the frog tinged the
water with a red color.
2. Hippocrates, a Greek scholar, says of a dyeing
substance: "When it drops upon garments they are
(baptetai) dyed, or stained." Here we see that immer-
sion is out of the question.
3. Aristophanes, speaking of an old comic writer,
says: "Smearing himself (baptomenos) with frog-
Objections Answered. 133
colored paint." Here the term cannot mean dip or
plunge.
4. Aristotle, speaking of a coloring substance, says:
"Being pressed, it moistens (baptei) and dyes the
hand." No immersion here.
5. Plutarch says: "Thou mayest be bathed (bap-
tized), but it is not permitted thee to go under the
water."
6. Clemens Alexandrinus says of a penitent: "He
was baptized a second time with, tears." Could a man
be immersed literally in his own tears? An utter
impossibility.
We see now, without quoting more instances, that
bapto and baptidzo do not always and uniformly mean
to dip, plunge, or immerse; and therefore the immer-
sional theory completely breaks down.
Let the reader observe the distinction between sacred
and secular meaning of words. Words change their
meaning in the course of time. In the Greek lan-
guage the word presbyter meant simply " an old man; "
in the Bible the same word means a 'preacher, old or
young. Timothy, though young in age, was a pres-
byter in the Church. In the old Greek language a
pastor meant "a keeper of sheep;" in the Bible it
signifies a man in charge of a church. Deipnon in
Greek meant a sumptuous and royal feast; in the
Bible it signifies the Lord's Supper. Ekklesia in
Greek meant a political assembly; in the Bible it is
translated a church. It follows conclusively that
if baptidzo did mean in the Greek classics to dip,
or immerse, it proves nothing unless it can be
shown that it means the same thing in the New Tes-
tament.
131 The Method id Armor.
The conclusion of the whole matter, to which wo
come, is:
1. There is nothing in the history of John's bap-
tism, nothing in the practice of the apostles, nothing
in the miscellaneous allusions to baptism in the Epis-
tles, nothing in the meaning of the word baptize, to
authorize the belief that any particular mode of baptism
is essential to the validity of this rite.
2. While it cannot be determined with absolute cer-
tainty whether sprinkling, pouring, or immersion was
the mode of baptism practiced by the apostles, im-
mersion is the least probable of the three, most inconven-
ient, and the least expressive of Holy Ghost baptism.
3. To require immersion in order to admission into
the Church is contrary to the teaching of the Bible,
and to " teach for doctrine the commandments of men."
And to exclude pious Christians from the Lord's ta-
ble because they have not been immersed is narrow-
hearted bigotry.
4. Baptism is enjoined upon all nations, and pour-
ing is adapted to all climates, but immersion is not.
How could immersion be performed in those coun-
tries where, for six months in the year, every pond,
river, and ocean is converted into solid ice?
5. Baptism by sprinkling can be performed on per-
sons who profess religion on a dying-bed, but immer-
sion cannot.
G. Baptism by pouring comports with decency and
piopriety, but does immersion?
Infant Baptism. 135
CHAPTER IX.
INFANT BAPTISM.
I. Infant Baptism as Taught in the Old
Testament.
In tracing back the history of the Jewish Church, we
find that infants were members of that Church.
1. This right of infant membership was established
when that Church was organized. " Every man-child
among you shall be circumcised." " He that is eight
days old shall be circumcised." "The uncircumcised
shall be cut off from his people."
2. The door through which children entered into
the Old Testament Church was circumcision.
3. The visible Church of God has always been the
same. The Christian Church to-day is the Old Tes-
tament Church purged from the apostate Jews. And
around this purged Old Testament Church, as a nu-
cleus, the New Testament Church was formed. John
the Baptist said of Christ: "Whose fan is in his
hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor [the
old Church], and gather his wheat [those remaining
true] into the garner."
The good olive-tree representing the Church of the
Jews was not p'lucked up and a new one planted in
its place.
Proof. — " Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou
iiearcst not the root, but the root thee. Thou wilt say then, The
branches were broken off; that I might be grafted in. Well; be-
cause of unbelief ihey were broken off, and thou standest by faith.
He not high-minded, but fear; for if God spared not the natural
Itrancheb, rake heed lest he also s;>are not thee. . . . For if thou wer*
136 The Methodist Armor.
cul out of the olive-tree which is wild hy nature, and wert graft e<i
contrary to nature into a good olive-tree; how much more shall
these, which be the natural branches, be grafted into their own
olive-tree?" (Rom. xi. 18-21, 24.)
Kemakks. — By the "good olive-tree" Paul can
mean nothing but the Jewish Church. And what
does he say about it? Was this gobd olive-tree
plucked up by the roots? No. He asserts the con-
tinuance of the good olive-tree in life and vigor. The
unbelieving Jews as worthless branches were cut off,
while the believing Gentiles are being grafted into
the fatness of the tree. But mark that the trunk of
the good old olive-tree remains the same. The in-
grafted Gentile partakes of the root and fatness of
the olive-tree. It certainly was not cut down, nor
rooted up, but is still flourishing in great beauty and
fruitfulness. But furthermore the apostle, in the
light of prophecy, foresees the restoration of the
Jews. "These," says he, "the natural branches, shall
be grafted in again — shall be grafted into their own
olive-tree." When the Jews come into the Christian
Church now existing, they will come into their own
Church. But how could this be unless the Church
be essentially the same under the old and new dis-
pensations?
4 The right of infant membership existing in the
Church has never been repeated. It stands intact to-
day. No change has occurred. No proclamation has
been made repealing the law of infant membership.
And it is a well-known fact that a law once passed
remains in force until formally repealed.
Now, as infants were members of the Jewish
Church, and as the gospel Church is but a contin-
uance of the Jewish, and no repeal of this law of
Infant Baptism. 137
infant membership having taken place, the conclu-
sion is inevitable that the right of infant membership
remains intact.
5. Circumcision, with other forms of the Jewish
Church, gave way to baptism in the Christian Church.
Baptism, like circumcision, is an initiatory rite of
admission into the visible Church. As circumcision
was the gate for the Jew and the Gentile proselyte
into the Jewish Church, so baptism is the door into
the Christian Church. Again, baptism, like circum-
cision, is a solemn dedication to God's service. Once
more, baptism, like circumcision, is a sign and seal
of God's covenant. The children of believers hold a
similar relation to the Christian Church, as the Jew-
ish children did to the Jewish Church; the former
entering the Church by baptism, the latter by cir-
cumcision.
II. Christ's Kecognition of Infant Membership
Proofs. — " Then were there brought unto him little children, that
he should put his hands on them, and pray; and the disciples re-
buked them. But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them
not, to come unto me; for of such is the kingdom of heaven. And
he laid his hands on them and departed thence." (Matt. xix. 13-15.)
"And they brought unto him also infants, that he would touch them ;
but when his disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus called
them unto him, and said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and
forbid them not; for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily, I say
unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a lit-
tle child, shall in no wise enter therein." (Luke xviii. 15-17.)
" Suffer little children to come unto me, . . . for of
such is the kingdom of God." What is the meaning oi
kingdom of God? The kingdom is sometimes used to
signify the visible Church on earth. " The kingdom
of heaven is like unto a net that was cast into the sea
133 The Methodist Armor.
and gathered of every kind." (Matt. xiii. 47.) Then
again, it is used to mean the Church of God in a state
of glory. " Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and
blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God." If we
take the first meaning, then the passage would read:
For of such is the visible Church, or, Such belong to
the Church on earth. The Church was then the Old
Testament Church. The day of Pentecost had not
come when the Christian Church came of the old
into the new. These children being the children of
Jewish parents had been introduced into that Church
by circumcision. They were then members of that
Jewish Church. Hence he says such are members of
the Church — of the kingdom of God. Or, let us take
the other meaning — that the kingdom of God means
the heavenly state. Then, it teaches that all children
are born into a salvable state. The atonement of
Christ puts them in a state of salvation. All believe
that children dying in infancy are saved. They are
then in a salvable state. If they have then the moral
state of salvation, we think it is right to give them
the sign of that state. Baptism is an outward sign
of an inner grace. You say when a man is born of
the Spirit he is in a state of salvation, and is a fit
subject for baptism. Having saving grace, the thing
signified, you give him the sign of it. That is your
reason for baptizing adults. For the same reason
we baptize children. The Bible authorizes us to
baptize all persons who are Jit subjects, be they in-
fants or adults. The moral state decides the ques-
tion of baptism, and not ages or classes of persons.
If a grown person be a fit subject, or if a child be a
fit subject, baptize him. And for this reason it is
Infant Baptism. 139
not necessary to have an express command to baptize
infants. There is no command to baptize persons
ten, twenty, fifty, or one year old. The authority is
to baptize all who are fit subjects of the kingdom,
young or old.
We are shut up to one of two conclusions — either
infants are not fit to go to heaven, or admit their fit-
ness for baptism. For if you admit their fitness for
heaven, that implies that they have saving grace, and
saving grace is universally conceded to be the ground
of baptism. We must believe then either the horrid
doctrine of infant damnation or the doctrine of in-
fant baptism.
III. The Apostles Preached the Doctrine of
Infant Church-membership.
Peter in his Pentecostal sermon expressly declared,
"The promise is unto you and your children.'" The
promise referred to is that which is contained in the
Abrahamic covenant. Never was there a better time
for Peter to declare the repeal of the law requiring
the children to be brought into the Church than this.
If that law had been repealed, now that they were
passing out of the old into the new Church, Peter,
it seems to me, would have said: "Repent and be
baptized, .... for the promise is unto you, but your
children are excluded under the new dispensation."
But he said, " The promise is unto you and your chil-
dren." Christ had commanded him before, "Feed my
lambs," and he knew what he was talking about.
IV. Family Baptisms.
Proofs. — "And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple,
of the cit3' of Thyatira, which worshiped God, heard us; whosp
140 The Methodist Armor.
heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the tilings which
were spoken of Paul. And when she was baptized, and her house-
hold, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithfirt
to the Lord, come into* my house, and abide there. And she con-
strained us." (Acts xvi. 14, 15.)
Notice, nothing is said about her family exercising
any religious duty, but it is said of her, " The Lord
opened her heart, and she attended to the things
spoken by Paul." As an adult person, she repented
and believed. And as nothing is said about her family
repenting and believing, but that they were baptized,
the inference is that her family consisted of children
too young to believe, and that they were baptized on
the faith of the mother.
The Jailer's Family.
"And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt
be saved, and thy house. And they spake unto him the word of the
Lord, and to all that were in his house. And he took them the
same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was bap-
tized, he and all his, straightway." (Acts xvi. 31-33.)
The term ''household," in the ordinary sense, in-
cludes all the children in a family. When it is said,
"Joseph nourished his father and his brethren, and
all his father's household, with bread, according to
their families" little children are included. "When
the industrious mother is described as "looking well
to the ways of her household," the term includes her
children; for it is said, "Her children rise up and
call her blessed."
Many attempts have been made to prove that there
were no children in these families, but all such at-
tempts are vain. The probabilities are against all
such reasoning. Besides these families, Paul bap-
tized "the household" of Stephanas. As households
Infant Baptism. 141
or families generally include children, we have no right
to exclude them from these mentioned in the Bible.
" Who can believe that not one infant was found in
all these families, and that Jews accustomed to the
circumcisions, and Gentiles accustomed to the lustra-
tion of infants, should not have also brought them to
baptism?" — Bencjel. "The practice of infant baptism
does not rest on inference, but on the continuity and
identity of the covenant of grace to Jew and Gentile,
the sign only of admission being altered." — Afford.
The apostolic practice was that of baptizing entire
families. That is certain. Now, if modern preachers
follow them, they will baptize entire families; and if
they go on in doing so, it is certain that they will
baptize infants, for the continued practice of bap-
tizing entire families will necessarily result in the
baptism of infants. To follow apostolic example is
to baptize entire families, and the continued practice
of baptizing entire families is to baptize infants.
Historical Statement.
"From the year 400 A.D. to 1150, no society of
men in all the period of seven hundred and fifty
years ever pretended to say that it was unlawful to
baptize infants. Irenaeus, who lived in the second
century, declares expressly that the Church learned
from the apostles to baptize children." — Watson. So
far as history afibrds any light, the baptism of chil-
dren was practiced down to the eleventh century.
About 1130, a body of Christians called Waldenses
entertained the idea that infants were incapable of
salvation, and therefore rejected infant baptism.
About 1520, the Anabaptists renewed this objection,
which the Baptists took up and stoutly maintain.
142 The Methodist Armor.
Since the Reformation of Luther, by far the greater
portion of Christians have believed and practiced the
baptism of infants. The number of Christians in the
whole world is put down by Prof. Schem at four hun-
dred and eighteen million; all of these — except about
four million belonging mainly to the Baptist Cnurch
— believe in and practice infant baptism.
Objections.
It is asked, " What is the benefit of baptism to
children?" "What does the child know about it?"
But don't you see that these objections bear just as
hard against circumcision instituted by God as
against infant baptism? What was the benefit of
circumcision to children only eight days old? What
did these infants know about it? We answer, God
saw benefit in it, else he would not have command-
ed it.
Again, the stale and standing objection is, " There
is no express command for infant baptism." But
there is a command for circumcision in the Old Tes
tament, and baptism takes the place of circumcision
But waiving this point, will you show an express
command for admitting women to the communion-
table? There is none. There is no command requir-
ing baptism as a prerequisite to the communion, yet
a certain Church acts as though there was. There
is not a remote hint — much less a command — in the
Bible authorizing the practice of close communion, yet
the very Church that objects to infant baptism be-
cause there is no express "Thus saith the Lord,"
rigidly enforces the law of close communion without
a single hint of Bible authority for so doing.
Government of the Church. 143
CHAPTER X.
GOVEENMENT OF THE CHURCH
I. The General Conference.
The supreme government of the Church is rested
in the General Conference. It is a law-making body.
It is composed of the Bishops of the whole Church,
and of ministerial and lay delegates who are elected
by the several Annual Conferences. The clerical
members of each Annual Conference elect one rep-
resentative of their number for every twenty-eight of
the whole body. An equal number of lay delegates
is then elected by the lay members.
The Business of the General Conference.
1. The election of Bishops when deemed necessary.
2. To create and readjust the boundaries of the An
nual Conferences.
3. To revise the laws and rules of the Discipline.
4. To superintend the interest of Foreign Missions.
5. To elect officers to conduct the business of the
general Publishing House.
These items embrace the leading matters of the
General Conference work. That body, however, has
full powers to make rules and regulations for the
Church, under the following restrictions: (1) They
cannot change the Articles of Religion, or the stand-
ards of doctrine; (2) cannot change certain ratio of
Annual Conference representation; (3) cannot destroy
the episcopacy; (4) cannot change the General Kule a
of the Unit3d Societies; (5) cannot destroy the privi
leges of trial as prescribed in Discipline; (fi) canno*
1A4 The Methodist Armor.
appropriate the produce of the Publishing House
otherwise than specified in Discipline. No change
can be made in reference to the subjects protected
by the Eestrictive Eules except by a majority of tiro-
thirds of the General Conference, and the concurrence
of three-fourths of the members of the several Annual
Conferences. Our Articles of Keligion and doctrinal
standards cannot be revoked or altered even by such
a large vote as the above. The General Conference
meets once in four years, its sessions lasting about
four weeks, and is presided over by the Bishops, each
one presiding in turn, a day at a time.
The lay delegates appeared for the first time in the
General Conference in 1870, the General Conference
of 1866, having recommended it, and the Annual Con-
ferences having concurred, it became a law and took
effect in 1870. The introduction of the lay element
into the General Conference puts the actual govern-
ment of the Church equally into the hands of the
laymen and the ministry. It is the only law-making
power in the Church, the Annual Conferences being
only administrative and judicial. " The General Con-
ference carries out its laws through an executive ar-
rangement consisting of the Bishops and presiding
elders. By their agency, it exercises a general su-
perintendence over the Church."
II. Annual Conferences.
I. The ministers within certain boundaries assem-
ble each year, and this meeting is called an Annual
Conference. It is composed of all the itinerant min-
isters in full connection, and of four lay delegates
(one of whom may be a local preacher) from each
Government of the Church. 145
presiding elder's district. The lay members have
equal rights with the ministerial, "to participate in
all the business of the Conference, except such as
involves ministerial character." The Bishops, by
virtue of their office, are presidents of the Annual
Conferences. In the absence of a Bishop, a presi-
dent is elected by the Conference. The Bishop pre-
siding, after careful consultation with the presiding
elders, appoints annually each minister to his field
of labor.
2. The Business of the Conference. — The principal
items of business are the following: (1) To receive
from each pastor a report of his year's work; (2) to
admit candidates for pastoral work on trial, or into
full connection; (3) to inquire into the life and ad-
ministration of each pastor; (4) to try any who may
be accused of immorality or heterodoxy; (5) to exam-
ine into the qualifications of candidates for deacon's
and elder's orders, and elect the same to such orders ;
(6) to inaugurate measures to promote the work of
missions, Sunday-schools, and education, within the
boundaries of the Conference; (7) to distribute the
collected funds for the relief of the worn-out minis-
ters, and the widows or orphans of the deceased min-
isters who died members of the Conference; (8) the
appointment of the preachers. Whatever may be the
size and number of the Conferences, they are all or-
ganized on the same plan and governed by the same
laws. There are thirty-eight Conferences in the M.
E. Church, South.
III. District Conferences.
1. A District Conference is held annually in each
presiding elder's district. It is composed of all thp
10
146 The Methodist Armor.
traveling and local preachers within the bounds of the
district, and a certain number of laymen from each
pastoral charge, which number is fixed by each An-
nual Conference. The presiding elder is the presi-
dent unless a Bishop be present.
2. The Business of this Conference.— (1) It is the duty
of this Conference to inquire respecting the spiritual
condition of each pastoral charge, and as to the attend-
ance of the people upon the ordinances and social meet-
ings of the Church; (2) to inquire respecting new
fields for establishing missions, and what existing mis-
sions ought to be raised to circuits; (3) to inquire if
the collections for Church purposes are properly at-
tended to, and as to the comfortableness of churches
and parsonages; (4) to inquire into the condition of
Sunday-schools, manner of conducting them, and adopt
suitable measures for insuring success, and also as to
the educational enterprises of the district, and take a
general oversight of all the temporal and spiritual
affairs of the district, subject to the provisions of the
Discipline; (5) to elect four lay delegates — one of
whom may be a local preacher — to the ensuing An-
nual Conference; (6) these Conferences give promi-
nence to preaching, prayer-meetings, love-feasts, and
revival exercises.
IV. The Quarterly Conference.
The Quarterly Conference is an official meeting held
four times a year, for the purpose of transacting the
business of each one of the pastoral charges. It is
composed of the pastor in charge, the local preach-
ers, exhorters, stewards, trustees, class-leaders, super-
intendents of Sunday-schools, and secretaries of the
Church Conferences. The presiding elder — in his
Government of the ChurcJu 147
absence the preacher in charge — is president of the
meeting. He also appoints the times of holding the
meetings, signs the records, and decides all questions
of law.
Its business. (1) It takes account of the temporal
and spiritual welfare of the church; (2) elects trust-
ees, stewards, superintendents of Sunday-schools; (3)
licenses persons to preach or exhort; (4) tries local
preachers when accused, and is a court of appeal to
laymen tried in the church ; (5) recommends suitable
persons to join the Annual Conference, and such local
preachers as desire deacon's or elder's orders.
The minutes of this Conference must be regularly re-
corded, signed, and preserved. All ministers of every
office and grade must first be licensed by a Quarterly
Conference. None can get into the Annual Confer-
ence, except they be recommended by it. The func-
tions of this body are organic; its work is executive
and judicial, and is closely related to the order and
prosperity of the Church. It is the great wheel mov-
ing the business machinery of each circuit, station,
and mission, and is indispensable to our system.
V. The Church Conference.
This is a meeting of each society in a pastoral charge.
The pastor is president; a secretary is elected to note
the proceedings; the roll of members is called. All the
members of the society have a right to participate in
the meeting. It is a kind of mass-meeting of that
particular church.
The object of the meeting is to lay before all the mem-
bers reports, (1) of the pastor as to the state of his
work; (2) of the class-leader; (3) of the superintend-
ent of the Sunday-school; (4) of the stewards.
118 The Methodist Armor.
The meeting further inquires into what is being
done for the relief of the poor, for the cause of mis-
sions, for the circulation of our religious literature,
and any other matter that may advance the good of
the church. The meeting " may strike off the names
of any who, on account of removal or other cause, have
been lost sight of twelve months: provided, however,
that if such member appears and claims membership,
he may be restored by a vote of the meeting."
The information given by the above reports is de-
signed to enlist the energies of the whole church in
its local work of benevolence and spiritual enterprise.
The main end of the Church Conference is to put every
member to work for the cause of Christ.
CHAPTER XI.
CHURCH OFFICERS.
In the Ministry: Bishops, Presiding Elders, Pastors,
Local Preachers.
I. Bishops.
Bishops are constituted by the election of the Gen-
eral Conference and the laying on of the hands of
three Bishops. Their duties are: (1) To preside in
the General and Annual Conferences; (2) to make the
appointments of the preachers; (3) to form the dis-
tricts, circuits, and stations; (4) to ordain Bishops, eld-
ers, and deacons; (5) to decide questions of law; (6) to
prescribe a course of study for young ministers; (7)
to change preachers in the interval of Conferences
whenever necessary; (8) to travel through the Connec-
tion at large and oversee the temporal and spiritual
welfare of the whole Church. The episcopacy of
Church Officers. 149
Methodism is not diocesan, like that of the Protest-
ant Episcopal Church, but is coextensive with the ter-
ritory of the Church at large. It differs from the
Episcopal Church, mainly, in not claiming apostolic
succession. Methodist Bishops have neither legisla-
tive nor voting power in the Conferences. They, ac-
cording to our theory, are elders as to ministerial
order, and episcopal as to the high office of general
superintendency. Our moderate episcopacy does not
claim any divine right for its existence, but affirms that
no specific form of Church polity is prescribed in the
New Testament, and therefore the Church is free to
adopt such a form as in its judgment will best pro-
mote the cause of Christ. We claim that our episco-
pacy preserves the unity of the Church, is itself a con-
nectional bond, and serves to strengthen and maintain
all other bonds by Avhich the several churches are
united in one great connectional Communion. It is
the most efficient agency in distributing ministerial
talents over the world. So far as human wisdom is
competent to judge, it is the most effective form of
Church government known among men.
The distinction between the non-Episcopal branches
of Methodism and the Episcopal is clearly marked.
Wherever Methodism has abandoned the episcopacy
and the presiding eldership, the connectional bonds
have been loosened, difficulties have arisen, and serious
losses have been sustained. " English Methodists have
failed to hold their affiliated Conference, and one after
another seeks distinct government." The non-Episco-
pal Methodist Churches, both of America and England,
have not prospered so abundantly as the Episcopal
Methodist Churches in the two countries named- The
L50 The Methodist Armor.
vast superiority in numbers of American Methodism
over that in England is attributable mainly to our epis-
copal form of government. Dr. Dixon, one of the lead-
ing Wesleyan ministers, said, "We must look to
American Methodism to find the model Church of Mr.
Wesley."
II. Presiding Elders.
The presiding elder is appointed by the Bishop,
and is put in charge of a district having from twelve
to twenty pastoral charges in it.
No class of ministers in the Methodist economy
fill a more important position than the presiding eld-
ers. This will appear when we consider:
First. Their broad field of ministerial usefulness.
They preach over the widest scope of territory, to the
largest congregations of appreciative hearers, and un-
der the most inspiring circumstances. Quarterly-
meeting occasions have always been, among Method-
ists at least, the most attractive and fruitful of good
results. There is usually the fullest attendance of
the members of the particular church where these
meetings are held, and also official brethren of other
churches. And furthermore, it is the privilege of
the presiding elders to preach to such congregations
almost every Sunday in the year. And on such oc-
casions they preach their select, most powerful and
impressive sermons. The field of ministerial useful-
ness, then, opened to the presiding elders is vastly
superior to that of other preachers. In the light of
these facts, it seems strange to hear the question
asked— as it is sometimes—" What is the use of pre-
siding elders?" If, as it is conceded cheerfully, the
pastors of stations and circuits deserve to be well pai<L
Church Officers. 151
highly esteemed, and dearly loved because of their
ministerial usefulness, then the presiding elders have
a higher claim for the same benedictions of the people.
Secondly. The official duties of the presiding elder
are many and weighty, and for the information of the
people it may be well for us to specify. The duties
of the presiding elder are: (1) To travel through his
district in order to preach and oversee the spiritual
and temporal affairs of the Church; (2) to take charge
of all the preachers in his district in the absence of the
Bishop; (3) to change, receive, and suspend preachers
in his district during the intervals of the Conferences;
(4) to hold four Quarterly Conferences in each pastoral
charge during the year; (5) to decide all questions of
law which may come up in the regular business of the
Quarterly Conference; (6) to see that every part of the
Discipline is enforced in his district, etc.; (7) if any
preacher dies, or leaves his work, the presiding elder,
as far as possible, fills his place with another; (8) he
is ex officio president of the District Conference in the
absence of the Bishop. There are some other minor
duties not mentioned, but we have specified enough
to show the importance of this office.
Thirdly. One of the most important functions of
the presiding eldership is the relation it holds to the
Bishop in making the appointments of the preachers.
Every appointment must be made with a thorough
knowledge of the qualifications of the preacher ap-
pointed and the demands of the work to which he is
appointed; and the Bishop can get such knowledge
only through the presiding elders. The presiding eld-
ers, then, must see and hear for the Bishop, and speak
for the people and the preachers, in the matter of ap-
152 The Methodist Armor.
pointments. As they have traveled through all thw
field, and watched carefully the work of each pastor
and wants of each charge, they are admirably well
prepared to represent the wants of the people and the
claims and adaptation of the preachers; so their ad-
vice becomes essential to the Bishop in order that his
appointments may be judiciously made. They are mid-
dle-men, and, like all men occupying such a position,
they are likely to be blamed, though they may have
done their best both for the people and the preachers.
There is no work so carefully and prayerfully done as
making the appointments of the preachers.
III. Pastoks.
The preacher in charge of work is one who has the
pastoral care of a station, circuit, or mission, by the
appointment of the regularly constituted authority of
the Church. He may be an elder, deacon, or an un-
ordained preacher on trial, or a local preacher em-
ployed by the presiding elder. His duties are: (1)
To preach; (2) to receive, try, and expel members con-
victed of immorality; (3) to appoint class-leaders; (4)
to see that the sacraments are duly observed; (5) to
hold quarterly-meetings in the absence of the pre-
siding elder; (6) to report to the Quarterly Conference
the general condition of his work; (7) to promote all
benevolent collections of the Church; (8) to report the
number and state of the Sunday-schools.
Pastors are represented in the Bible as having " a\i-
thority " and "rule " over the churches. " Obey them
that have the rule over you." They are to "preach
the word," to " teach, baptize, to feed the Hock." They
aie sometimes called "elders," because of their over-
Church Officers. 153
sight; called "pastors," because of their watch-care;
" ministers," because of the services rendered; " watch-
men," because of their wide-awake vigilance; " embas-
sadors," because of their authority to effect peace be-
tween God and man. The three functions of preach-
ing the word, watching over the congregation, and
ruling in the congregation by the exercising of disci-
pline, are clearly laid down in the New Testament.
The responsibility of all these rests upon the pastor.
IV. Local Peeachees.
Local preachers are constituted by the authority of
the Quarterly Conference, and are amenable to that
body. They must come before that body properly
recommended by the individual church of which they
are members. Such applicants are licensed to preach
when, on examination, the Conference is satisfied that
they have gifts, graces, and usefulness. Local or lay
preachers began with the early years of Methodism.
They have always been a powerful arm in the Method-
ist work. They support themselves by secular labor,
and preach in their neighborhood on Sundays, and
render a very valuable service to the Church. Philip
Embury, Captain Webb, and Eobert Strawbridge,
three local preachers, founded Methodism in Amer-
ica, and their successors have planted it in the new
States of the West. Throughout the entire range of
the Methodist Connection the local preachers are still
an effective and faithful body of ministerial laborers.
From their ranks comes the great army of the itiner-
ants. They usually begin as exhorters, graduate to
the local ministry, and thence into the itinerancy.
No feature of Methodism shows more practical wis-
dom than this threefold arrangement and graduation
154 The Methodist Armor.
of her ministry. The exhorter must sIioav improve-
ment before he can become a local preacher, and the
local preacher must show capacity before he can reach
the itinerant ranks.
LAY OFFICERS OF THE CHURCH.
Exhorters, Class-leaders, Stewards, Trustees, Super-
intendents of Sunday-schools.
I. Exhorters.
Al. exhorter is one licensed by the Quarterly Con-
ference to read scriptural lessons and make a practi-
cal application of their truths to the public congrega-
tion. They are not expected to select a text and preach
a regular sermon. Their service is confined to sing-
ing, prayer, and public exhortation. They are useful
laborers in our Church. Mr. Wesley permitted none
of his members to exercise even the function of an ex-
horter without license, and so it is ingrafted in our
economy that license to exhort must be given and an-
nually renewed by the Quarterly Conference, to which
body the exhorters are responsible for their official
cond act.
II. Class-leaders
are appointed by the preacher in charge. In 1771
Mr Wesley said: "That it may be more easily dis-
cei ned whether the members of our societies are work-
ing out their salvation, they are divided into little
companies called classes. A leader is appointed whose
duty it is (1) to see each person in his class once a
week, to inquire how their souls are prospering, to
advise, reprove, comfort, or exhort them; (2) to re-
port to the pastor any that are "sick or walking dis-
orderly."
Church Officers. 155
III. Stewards.
Stewards are elected by the Quarterly Conference.
Their business is ( 1 ) to attend to the financial inter-
est of the charge; (2) to advise and confer with the
pastor as to the general management of the work.
Their duties are many and weighty. First, the ques-
tion of a liberal and generous salary for the pastor
depends upon them. Second, whether the salary al-
lowed shall be paid depends almost exclusively on their
efforts in collecting the money. No other persons are
authorized to collect the estimated amount. If they
fail, the failure is remediless. Faithfulness in this
office is of the highest importance to the welfare of
the ministry and the prosperity of the Church.
IV. Trustees.
All Church property — such as meeting-houses, par-
sonages, cemeteries — held according to the Discipline,
is vested in a board of trustees, who hold it in trust
for the use of the members of the Methodist Episco-
pal Church, South. The ministers have never claimed,
nor do they hold in law, any title to such property.
Churches thus held are obliged to be opened to min-
isters duly sent by Conference. These churches are
held for the sacred purpose of divine worship, and are
to be closed against all political or secular meetings.
The trustees are elected by the Quarterly Confer-
ences, and are responsible to the same.
V. Superintendents of Sunday-schools.
The Quarterly Conference elects superintendents
of Sunday-schools on the nomination of the preacher
in charge. The office of the superintendent is one of
vast importance to the future pr< isperity of the Church.
156 The Methodist Armor.
and therefore great care should be taken to put in men
of the greatest efficiency.
CHAPTER XII.
PECULIAR USAGES OF METHODISM.
I. Class-meetings.
In order to raise money to pay a Church debt, Mr.
Wesley divided his people into classes of twelve, re-
quiring "every member to give a penny a week."
These classes, meeting weekly to contribute their pen-
nies, became also meetings of religious experience.
Thus what were at first business-meetings finally de-
veloped into class-meetings, which have become one
of the peculiar institutions of Methodism. These
meetings have been of vast benefit in building up the
spiritual manhood of Methodism. But for many
years they have been in a state of deep declension.
The signs of restoration are beginning to appear in
various parts of our Zion. It will be a happy day foi
Methodism when they are restored to their primitive
prevalence and vigor. There are sundry passages in
the Bible on which the institution of the class-meet-
ing may rest as a scriptural basis.
While we do not find class-meetings in the Bible in
the same form that Methodists hold them, still they
are substantially recognized in the word of inspira-
tion. David (in Ps. lxvi. 16) says: "Come and hear,
al L ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath
done for my soul."
1. Here we see that the godly man is anxious to im-
part to others his experience. ' " Come and hear."
This experience is related to congenial hearers. "All
Peculiar Usages of Methodism. 157
ye that fear the Lord." These were the spiritual
brethren of the psalmist. Spiritual men only com-
prehend the experience of a godly man, and are there-
fore greatly benefited by it. They are confirmed and
refreshed in their own experience. No man ever re-
lated a good experience that did not benefit others. It
falls as dew upon the grass. It often disperses the
clouds of doubts as the sun clears the skies of clouds.
Paul often told the experience of his conversion to the
edification of thousands. "Wesley's experience, where
he states, "I fdt my heart strangely wanned" has been
a lamp to the feet of thousands. The experience then
of godly men is one of the most powerful elements in
Christianity. Now, class-meetings afford a constant
opportunity for the wielding of this power.
2. Again: The man who relates his experience is
perhaps more benefited than the hearers. It makes
religion intensely a personal matter. "Come, hear
what he hath done for my soul." In this matter we
talk about ourselves without egotism. It puts a man
to thinking about the dealings of God with his soul.
It leads a man to obey the apostolic injunction, " Ex-
amine yourselves whether ye be in the faith." Self-
examination is very important. The lack of it swamped
the foolish builder spoken of in the sermon of Christ.
It shut the door against the foolish virgins. These
meetings are then especially valuable in leading per-
sons to frequent personal examinations.
3. The class -meeting promotes the spirit of fra-
ternal sympathy — the communion of saints. "I be-
lieve in the communion of saints." It is a spiritual
feast. It is a foretaste of heaven. The fragrance of
the blooming garden is not so sweet and refreshing
158 The Methodist Armor.
It is more genial than the beaming of a warm sun
after a season of cold, cloudy weather. " Behold,
how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in
unity."
4. Class-meetings accomplish great good in leading
men to a confession of their faults. There is nothing
heio like the Romish confessional. The confession
is voluntary, not enforced. Voluntary confession is
good for the health of the soul. So James thought,
"Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for
another, that ye may be healed." It leads a man to
abandon his faults, it enlists the prayers of his breth-
ren, and thus has healing and curing effects. When
the prodigal son confessed — "I have sinned" — he
arose and came to his father.
5. Class-meetings are eminently pleasing to God.
" Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to
another; and the Lord hearkened and heard it; and
a book of remembrance was written before him for
them that feared the Lord, and thought upon his
name. And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of
hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels." The
eloquent speeches of legislative halls and kingly par-
liaments may be written down by ten thousand edit-
ors of political journals, but they are not written in
the book of God; but the class-meeting talks of God's
people are. God thinks so much of these meetings as
to have angel reporters there to take down every wore 1 ,
and have it put in the celestial journals.
7. These meetings serve to kindle religious feelings.
In such a meeting the heart is drawn out in sympathy,
prayer, and desire, and thus a warmer, purer flame is
ki ndled; a fresher love toward God and man is aroused.
Peculiar Usages of Methodism. 159
When Christ held a kind of class-meeting with his dis-
ciples on their way to Emmaus, they said one to an-
other, "Did not our hearts burn within us while he
talked with us by the way? " These disciples were in
the gloom of spiritual winter, but their feelings soon
began to kindle, burn, and flame as Christ talked with
them. Their clouds were gone, the winter was over,
the life of spring began to bud and blossom — balmy
air, clear skies, and the warm Sun of righteousness
were now pouring a tide of gladness into their souls.
How many have gone to these meetings with the dark-
ness of spiritual winter upon them, and have come out
with the brightness and beauty of spring all around
them!
II. The Itinerancy.
A marked peculiarity of Methodism is the itiner-
ancy of her ministry. It is a simple and easy plan of
shifting the ministers from one field of labor to an-
other. It requires three things:
1. That the congregations give up their right to
choose their pastors.
2. That the ministers surrender their right to select
their own field of labor.
3. That the appointment be referred to a compe-
tent, impartial, untrammeled, but responsible author-
ity arranged by the law of the Church.
Both the people and ministers, however, are at lib-
erty to make known their peculiar condition, wishes,
and circumstances to the appointing power. And thus,
under this elastic system, all parties have their own
choice, when it is clear that the good of the work will
be served. While the Bishops have the sole author-
ity of making the appointments, yet they always do
160 The Methodist Armor.
so under the advice of the presiding elders. They
are eyes and ears for the Bishop and mouth for the peo-
ple and the preachers. Having traveled through all
the work, and being intimately acquainted with the
wants of the people and the peculiar qualifications of
the preachers, they rarely fail in so advising the ap-
pointing power as to secure the best disposition to be
made of the ministers. Under this system a minister
is liable to be moved after one year's service, yet he
may remain four years, if all the parties concerned
think it best; but beyond this term he cannot go.
The theory of the Methodist itinerancy is based upon
the fact that " the world is the parish" of Methodism
—that all men everywhere must be called to repent-
ance. It is based upon the great commission, "Go
ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every
creature." " Go ye," not wait until the people come
to you. In the settled ministry, the people call the
preacher; in the itinerant system, the minister seeks
the lost sheep. Jesus Christ himself was an itinerat-
ing preacher. His circuit embraced Judea, Samaria,
and Galilee. The apostles were commanded " to go
to the lost sheep of the house of Israel;" the Sev-
enty were sent forth, two and two, "into every city
and place." " Paul said to Barnabas, Let us go again,
and visit our brethren in every city where we have
preached the word of the Lord." Philip traveled
the new circuit of Samaria, which embraced Cesarea,
Gaza, Azotus, and all the cities on toward Cesarea;
and on the first round he had a great revival at Sama-
ria, and was instrumental in the conversion of the
Ethiopian eunuch in the south part of his circuit.
Peculiar Advantages of the System,— 1. It keeps all
Peculiar Usages of Methodism. 161
the churches constantly supplied with pastors. The
weak and poor churches are as regularly supplied as
rich ones. Though such churches be out of the way,
and able to pay but little, yet they always have a pas-
tor. Consequently we never nave what is so frequent-
ly found in other denominations, viz., vacant churches.
2. No effective preacher in this system is ever found
without a pastoral charge. We have no unemployed
ministers waiting, year after year, for some congre-
gation to call them. The ministerial waste of time in
other denominations in this respect is enormous. We
noticed in a paper not long since that some eight
hundred ministers of the Presbyterian Church in the
United States were without any regular pastorates.
3. It furnishes our people with a great variety of
ministerial talent. One year they have a logician to
defend the doctrines of the Church, next they have a
son of thunder to awaken and arouse the sleepers;
this year a revivalist to get the people converted, the
next an experienced disciplinarian to train them.
4. It readjusts annually the whole machinery of
pastoral relations, so as to secure the greatest effi-
ciency possible.
5. It takes out of and puts into pastoral charge min-
isters without that violence and strife which attend
the dissolution of pastoral relations in the other de-
nominations.
6. Finally, it is well known that the changes in the
settled ministry, on an average, are quite as frequent as
among the Methodists, but without the harmony and
efficiency of the itinerant system. We believe the plan
to be providential ; it has worked wonders, and we ex-
pect to adhere to it till the trump of judgment sounds*
11
102 The Methodist Armor.
III. Love-feast.
The design of the love-feast is to cultivate and ex-
ercise fraternal love and good-fellowship. It is done
by eating and drinking the simple elements of bread
and water as a beautiful evidence of the same, and
to speak together of religious experience for the pur-
pose of strengthening each other's faith and magni-
fying the goodness of the Lord. The feasts of char-
ity were held by the primitive Church very much as
Moravians and Methodists now hold them. Dr. Ne-
ander, in his Life of Christ, says, "At the agapce, or
love-feasts, all distinctions of earthly condition and
rank were to disappear in Christ." Tertulban says,
" Our supper shows its character by its name; it bears
the Greek name of love." The following scriptures
allude to it: "And they continued steadfastly in
breaking of bread, and in prayers." (Acts ii. 42.)
" Upon the first day of the week, when the disciples
came together to break bread," etc. (Acts xx. 7.)
"These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they
feast with you." (Jude 12.) The love-feast in the
Apostolic Church preceded immediately the commun-
ion of the Lord's Supper. The Discipline says, "Love-
feasts shall be held quarterly, or at such other times
as the preacher may consider expedient." They are to
be held by partaking of "a little bread and water in
token of brotherly love."
CHAPTER XIII
MINISTEKIAL SUPPORT.
The Geounds of Ministerial Support.
It is certain that God would not, and most assuredly
Ministerial Support. 163
did not, establish his Church on earth without mak-
ing ample provisions for its support and perpetuation.
In the beginning God instituted a system of tithes for
the express purpose of maintaining divine worship.
The gold and silver of earth were stored away to do this.
" The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof."
Churches cannot be built without money. Mission-
ary operations cannot be carried on without money.
The question of the world's conversion is largely one
of money. The efficiency of the ministry is largely
dependent upon a competent support.
I. The Divine Law on the Support of the
Ministry.
If we turn to this law as recorded by Moses, we
shall find it to be specific, definite, and divinely au-
thoritative. Here it is: "And all the tithe of the land,
whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the
tree, is the Lord's; it is holy unto the Lord. . . . And
concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, . . .
the tenth shall be holy unto the Lord." (Lev. xxvii.
30-32.)
This one-tenth of the annual increase is that which was
required from the beginning as the least that would meet
the requirements of God's law. This was emphatically
the Lord's tenth, and by him was wholly applied to the
support of his ministering servants in the temple.
To withhold this was to steal God's property. " Will
a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye
say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and
offerings.'" What follows? "Ye are cursed with a
curse; for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation."
This law was not repealed by the gospel dispensation,
but fully indorsed by Now Testament writers. Paul
104. The Metl tod id Armor.
says: " Do ye not know that they which minister about
holy things live of the things of the temple? and they
which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar?
Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach
the gospel should lice of the gospel." (1 Cor. ix. 13, 14.)
Thus we see that the law of the tithe is fully indorsed
by the apostle. Jesus sanctioned the great liberal-
ity of Zaccheus when he gave "half his goods," com-
mended the example of the poor widow who gave " all
her living," and said concerning the law that he "came
not to destroy, but to fulfill." The Church is the same
through all ages, and the law to support her ministers
must be the same.
"The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof;
the world and they that dwell therein." The earth is
God's great plantation, and man is his tenant, and
nothing can be more reasonable than that he should
require a tenth to support his ministers — this is his
rental money. " Now this truth is a simple and even
a self-evident one: God has made me, and I and all
my powers belong to the Maker. He has made the
earth, and stored it with all its wealth; he has created
the natural forces and laws which are used in the cre-
ation of wealth, and he has put all these at my service.
My labor is his, because I am his handiwork; becauso
I am dependent upon him for my existence; because,
therefore, my supreme allegiance is due to him; and
all that by means of my labor I get out of the earth is
his, because I am merely taking from the treasure-
house that which" he previously put there. All the
wealth which is dug out of the earth in coal, and sil-
ver, and gold, or which is gathered from its surface
in wheat and corn, and various cereals and fruits, or
Ministerial Support. 165
which is indirectly produced by changes of form,
structure, and location, by the power of steam, or by
water-power, or by the wafting winds of commerce, is
gathered from stores which he has accumulated and
made valuable by means of powers with which he has
endowed us. To take these stores and employ these
powers for our own uses and purposes is just as truly
an act of dishonest defalcation as for the clerk to take
money from his employer's till for his own pocket."
II. The Immense Benefits Arising feom the
Diffusion of the Gospel.
The gospel is worth immensely more in its tempo-
ral benefits than the money paid in building churches
and supporting ministers. Let us look at this point.
1. The Gospel Indirectly Increases Property— It in-
spires industry, sharpens the intellects orbids prodigal-
ity, all of which tend to the accumulation of property.
Educated mind finds the hidden gold, silver, coal, oil,
and utilizes the resources of nature, which lie neg-
lected by a savage people. On this continent, where
Indians lived for ages in a state of abject poverty,
Christian people have made princely fortunes. The
richest nations on earth are Christian nations. Wher-
ever a Christian church is built, it adds value to the
property surrounding it.
2. The Gospel Gives Security to Life, Property, and Lib-
erty. — The sense of sacred regard for the rights of
others has been developed by the preaching of the
gospel and organized into laws of protection. The
blood of the Cross has made man and his rights
sacred. In ancient Rome human life was trampled
upon as dust. " Prisoners taken in battle were bough!
1G6 The Methodist Armor.
up by traders, who followed the victorious army, and
sold as cattle. These prisoneis were often highly
educated men— Greeks, Gauls, Thracians, Spaniards.
The Roman emperors sported with human life. Cra-
seus crucified ten thousand prisoners at one time.
Trajan made ten thousand fight in the amphitheater
for the amusement of the people, and prolonged the
bloody feast for four months."
3. The Intellectual Benefits of the Gospel. — The com-
mon schools for the education of the masses were un-
known till the introduction of the gospel. " The earli-
est endeavors to educate all the people originated in
the Christian Church." (Johnson's Cyc.) In Greece
and Borne, education was confined to the few sons of
the noble and the rich. In the wake of the gospel,
schools for the education of the common people have
sprung up. Another fact is equally clear, namely,
the ministers of the gospel have been the leaders in
founding educational institutions. They first estab-
lished them in Europe. The oldest college in Amer-
ica — Harvard — was founded by John Harvard, a min-
ister. He gave $3,500 to start it. Yale College was
founded by eleven ministers. And it is well known
that the colleges in North Carolina owe their exist-
ence and prosperity to ministers. Of the three hun-
dred colleges in the United States, two hundred and
seventy were founded by the Christian Churches, only
thirty by State authority.
The healthiest and most luminous literature of the
world is the fruit of the gospel. It is a noted fact
that Columbus who discovered America, Galileo who
discovered the satellites of Jupiter, Newton who dis-
covered the law of gravitation, and other famous dis-
Ministerial Support. 167
coverers and inventors, were all born and educated
in countries enlightened by the gospel. The pulpit
itself is a great popular educator. It presents the
grandest and most stirring truths to arouse the pop-
ular mind to a sense of right and truth. Christ said
to his apostles, "Ye are the light of the world."
Through the press, Sunday-schools, books, and the
pulpit, the ministers of the gospel are as so many
moons catching the light from " the Sun of righteous-
ness " and reflecting it upon the people.
\. The Benefits of Christian Civilization. — Look at the
worth of the gospel in building up the comforts and
conveniences of Christian civilization. Pagan goAs-
ernments were made for the benefit of the rulers,
while the governed millions lay under the iron heel
of despots. The king was the god, while the people
were sheep fleeced by him — a cluster of grapes
crushed to fill his cup of royal gratification. Think
of Nebuchadnezzar casting the Hebrew children into
a fiery furnace because they would not obey his whim
to worship a golden image; of Herod slaughtering
" all the children that were in Bethlehem ; " of a petty
prince slaying a man to warm his feet in his blood!
What a change has come over the world! The gov-
ernment now is from the people and for the benefit
of the people.
Before the gospel came, children were supposed to
have no rights. The polished Greeks murdered de-
formed infants; the Carthagenians sacrificed theirs to
Moloch; Spartan laws compelled parents to cast their
sickly children away into deep pits; Roman law al-
lowed parents to murder their children with impunity;
China for ages has legalised the assassination of one.
108 The Methodist Armor.
third of her infant population; in East India, mothers
cast their infants into the river Ganges to feed the
crocodiles; but Christ says, "Suffer the little chil-
dren to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of
such is the kingdom of God." Behold the Sunday-
schools organized for their instruction; see how par-
ents work for them. What tenderness is exercised
toward those that are deformed, sickly, blind, or oth-
erwise unfortunate! What a change the gospel has
•wrought!
In heathen lands, when parents grow old, blind, and
helpless, their children carry them away into the woods
amd kill them. Behold how differently the old, the
blind, the poor, the insane, are treated in Christian
countries. We build costly asylums for their com-
fort. Look at your comforts in this Christian land
as compared with ancient times.
" When Christ came, there was not a palace in Pal-
estine that possessed the comforts which have be-
come necessaries in Christendom to-day. There was
not probably a glass window, certainly not a chimney;
books, none; lights to read them by at night, none.
There were few roads, almost no carriages, no banks,
no postal conveniences. There was not honesty
eaough in the world to make either banking or post-
ofiices possible. If Cicero wished to send a letter from
Home to Athens, he must find a friend or hire a special
messenger. Even so late as the present century the
Shah of Persia endeavored in vain to establish a postal
system in his empire, and could not for want of integrity
in his people. To-day there are neither banks, rail-
roads, telegraphs, nor post-offices except in Christen-
dom, or where Christians have carried them. Tax-
Ministerial Support. 169
afcion robbed the industrious of all their earnings,
leaving them not always enough even to live upon.
Famines were common. Money was hid in the ground
or concentrated in garments, jewelry, and precious
stones; no other investments were possible. Poverty
in Rome was so wide-spread that the people were
saved from starvation only by the building of great
granaries by the government and the distribution of
corn at a merely nominal price. The pagan religion
did so little for the common people that in Rome
they were excluded from public worship and denied
the use of the omens. Herds of beggars, armies of
tramps, mobs that finally made wreck of Rome her-
self, were everywhere. And wealth and culture had
no pity, only contempt, for them. " Repel a poor man
with scorn," " Fling your alms to a beggar, but avoid
all contact with him," were Roman maxims to be
found in such authors as Quintilian and Seneca. To
such a world the proclamation " One is your Father
in heaven, and all ye are brethren," was indeed glad
tidings to the poor. The post-office, the bank, the
home, are all Christian institutions. They are Christ's
gifts to man.
5. Spiritual Benefits of the Ministry. — In whatever
country Christianity has been established, it has been
done through the labors and sufferings of the preach-
ers. At first the disciples of Christ numbered but
twelve; then a hundred and twenty; then three thou-
sand were added. Thus we see that Christianity was
once but a mustard-seed. But it has grown to be a great
tree, overshadowing much of the world. Under the
healing influence of this tree of life, now whole na-
tions repose in peace. Planted in oar country, it?
170 The Methodist Armor.
fruitful boughs extend from the Atlantic to the Pa-
ciiic Ocean, from the frozen regions of the North to the
ever-blooming flowers of the South. But let us re-
member that it was planted by the hands of the
preachers — it was watered by their tears and fertilized
by their blood. That great army of Christians, num-
bering its hundreds of millions, that are the salt of
the earth and light of the world, marching on their
way to heaven to-day, were converted by the instru-
mentality of the ministers.
III. The Cheapness of Preaching.
Sometimes the people complain that the preachers
require too much money. Now, we assert that there is
no class of men of the same ability and culture who
work so cheaply as preachers.
1. "We think the ministers are equal in ability and
mental culture to any other class of men; yet, while
lawyers, doctors, and good business men average about
two thousand dollars a year, the salary of preachers
will not average more than five hundred dollars a
year. The amount paid to the lawyers of this coun-
try is put down at thirty-five million, that paid to the
ministers at seven million — a difference of twenty-
eight million.
2. Then compare the expenses of the ministry with
the injurious luxuries of the people, and what a dif-
ference! Thousands are paid for liquor, useless jew-
elry, and gaudy raiment. For every dollar this nation
spends for the ministry, it spends seventy-six dollars
for intoxicating liquors. North Carolina spends twelve
dollars for liquor where one is given for the gospel.
3. It is a sad fact that heathen spend more in keep-
Ministerial Support. 171
irig up their forms of idolatry than Christians do in
supporting their preachers. The annual cost of a
heathen temple in India is set down at four hundred
and fifty thousand dollars — a little more, perhaps,
than is paid to all the ministers in North Carolina.
The annual expenses of keeping one idol in Khun-
doba is put down at thirty thousand dollars. Dr.
Duff says that one pagan festival cost two million
dollars.
4. It is stated on good authority that the dogs cost
this nation more than the preachers. It is estimated
that the dogs cost the country sixteen million dollars,
while preachers cost only seven million dollars. Let
us hear no more nonsense about the high cost of
preaching, since it is demonstrated that there is noth-
ing in all this land so cheap as the ministry when we
consider their talents and the benefits of their preach-
ing.
IV. The Ability of the People to Pay.
That the professed followers of Christ in our day
and country possess a large share of this world's
riches is plain to the most casual observer. They
own broad acres of fertile land on which the great
staples of cotton, corn, wheat, tobacco, and fruits are
grown under the warmth of God's sun and the show-
ers of his rain. Others are engaged in the profitable
business of merchandising, mining, manufacturing,
banking, and other spheres of trade. There are en-
gineers, architects, lawyers, physicians, authors, ed-
itors, school-teachers, belonging to the Church of
Christ. Most of the immense wealth of this country
is in the hands of professed Christians. The wealth
of this country is not held by infidels. Why, then,
172 The Methodist Armor.
does the cause of the Lord languish for the waul oi
money? Why, then, do Church interests languish for
the want of money? We call attention to the follow-
ing reasons:
1. It cannot be denied that the love of money is too
prevalent among the professors of religion. There is
a grasping spirit that will not let money go to pay the
expenses of the gospel. Covetousness is the plague-
spot of the Church. It is a consuming cancer, eat-
ing up the spirit of liberality — a fatal upas-tree,
blighting all that is green around it. It is the opium
that makes the Church sleep and snore over the plain
duty of giving liberally to the cause of the Lord.
And this covetousness, this inordinate love of money,
the apostle boldly defines to be idolatry. This golden
calf, worshiped in so many families, keeps the car of
the gospel from rolling around the earth to spread
the gladness of salvation to earth's remotest bounds.
O that this money-loving spirit was rooted out of the
Church!
2. Another reason why so many Churches fail to
get the amount needed is due to the fact that they do
not reach the masses. Drops, though small in them-
selves, when combined make the mighty rivers and
flowing oceans, and oceans water the world. When
even pennies are collected from the million, they
constitute vast sums cf money. Governments have
millions of dollars in their treasuries, because they
so levy taxes and revenues as to reach all classes.
The great secret of the Bom an Catholic Church hav-
ing such vast pecuniary resources lies in the fact of
collecting pennies from the million masses. The
pecuniary resources of English Methodism are far in
Ministerial Support. 173
advance of American Methodism, because their sys-
tem reaches all the poor classes.
3. Another cause of failure is found in the use of
bad plans. The worst of all plans is:
(1) The Annual Payment Plan. — While this plan is
the worst, it is the most prevalent in our Church. It
has many bad features about it — such as forcing the
preacher to contract large debts to procure the nec-
essaries of life. It seems much heavier to the mem-
bers to pay twenty dollars at the close of the yeai
than to have paid in four or twelve installments.
The preacher loses a great deal by the collection
being put off until the last of the year. Many who
could and would have paid, if applied to in the early
part of the year, have moved away, died, become
unable, or cannot be seen when the preacher is leav-
ing.
This plan is a failure as seen in the amount it se-
cures. It allows a present and pressing duty to be
put off to the remote future. It gives time and space
to the groAvth of selfishness and covetousness. Con-
stant giving tends to abate the force of avarice, but
these annual payments nourish the besetting sin of
covetousness, which is idolatry.
(2) The Quarterly Payment Plan. — The quarterly
payment plan is a great improvement on the annual.
Assess every member of your church something and
be sure to collect one-fourth of it quarterly, and it
will revolutionize our Church finances. We have re
marked before that one of the most potent causes ot
failure lies in the fact that our system does not reach
the entire membership — it leaves out a large number,
who therefore contribute nothing.
174 The Methodist Armor.
To illustrate: South Fork Circuit has six hundred
and thirty-two members, and paid last year to the
pastor and presiding elder, $509. Let us suppose
that three hundred of these members should agree to
pay quarterly each 25 cents — that would make for the
year $300; two hundred to pay quarterly each 30
cents, $240; one hundred to pay quarterly each 50
cents, $200; twenty to pay quarterly each $1, $80;
twelve to pay quarterly each $2, $96; which would
make a total of $916, and a difference of $407 more
than was paid by the same people worked under the
old plan of annual payments.
Now, observe that in the calculation it is the many
small sums which swell the amount. Second, that it
is perfectly easy for nine-tenths of the poorest classes
to raise and pay in twenty-five cents during the space
of three months — which would be but two cents a
week.
(3) The Monthly Payment Plan. — The working of
this plan is simple and successful. To illustrate:
We will take Double Shoals Circuit. It has 700
members. It paid to the pastor and presiding elder
less than $500 last year. Let us try it on another
plan:
5 persons give eacli $2.00 monthly, . . . . $120
' .... 120
' 120
! .... 150
1 120
. . . . _309
$939
This amount is nearly double what that circuit is
in the habit of giving, and no doubt it will startle
the members when they read it; and yet by assessing
10
1.00
20
50
50
25
100
10
515 "
5
700 members.
Ministerial Support. 175
all the members according to this plan, and collect-
ing monthly, it would certainly be realized.
(4) The Weekly Payment Plan. — The plan of paying
weekly has many excellent features. This plan has
been crowned with more signal success than any
other. It secures the largest amount of money, and
is less burdensome upon individuals. This system
secures the small gifts of the congregation and swells
them into one large volume. It is much easier to
pay twenty-five cents a week than thirteen dollars
once a year. It is easier to pay a dollar every week
than fifty at one time. It is simply astonishing to
observe how fast little sums paid weekly amount to
great ones. A certain pastor says: "How much do
you think the contributions of five cents a week
amounted to in my church last year? Fifty-eight
persons gave five cents a week, and the sum total
was $153.70. Fifty persons gave ten cents each ev-
ery week, and the sum total of their offerings was
$265— two hundred and sixty-five dollars in ten-cent
pieces. Thirty-three persons gave twenty-five cents
each week, and it amounted to $437.25, and the en-
tire amount given in sums ranging from one cent to
twenty-five cents was $1,119.84. Thirty-two persons
gave fifty cents each week, and their total was $848.
Fourteen persons gave one dollar each week, and to-
gether contributed $742; while the whole amount in
sums of from one cent to one dollar a week was
83,094.14, and was given by two hundred and sixty-
two members."
Here is the weighty argument in favor of constant
and frequent paying. The serious blunder in the
old method is that the few give and not the manv
176 The Methodist Armor.
The second great blunder is the wide-stretching space
between the times of giving. The two points in the
pecuniary reformation are very plain — frequency as
to time, and universality as to the payers. Let every-
body pay, and pay quarterly, monthly, or weekly. All
at it and always at it will generate pecuniary steam
enough to shoot the gospel-car around the world in
a few years. "The successful plan, then, is the one
that secures the small gifts from many givers, at reg-
ular and frequent intervals."
V. The Amount to be Given.
The grand cause of failure is that payers pay too lit-
tle. It is a sad fact that men do not give enough who
are in the habit of giving. Hardly one man in a hun-
dred does his uhole duty as to the amount he ought to
give.
1. How much should a Christian give?
Ans. One-tenth of his income.
2. Does the Bible require the payment of one-tenth
to the Lord?
Ans, Yes. Abraham paid tithes. (Gen. xiv. 20.)
Jacob promised one-tenth of his income, and kept his
promise. (Gen. xxviii. 22.) The language of the
fourth commandment, "The seventh day is the Sab-
bath of the Lord thy God," is no more emphatic than
the law of the tithes. "All the tithe of the land,
whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the
tree, is the Lord's: it is holy unto the Lord." (Lev.
xxvii. 27.) Holy means devoted or consecrated to the
Lord. In Num. xviii. 21, he says: "I have given the
children of Levi [the priests] all the tenth in Israel
for an inheritance." This one-tenth of the- increase
is that which was required from the beginning as the
Ministerial Support. 177
least that would meet the requirement of God's law.
This is still emphatically the Lord's tenth, and by him
it was wholly assigned to the support of bis servants.
3. Was not a portion of the Jewish tithes applied
as taxes to the support of the state as well as the sup-
port of the priests ?
Ans. No. God appropriated the tithes to the sup-
port of the Levites — the priests. The government
was supported by presents, by the products of the
royal flock, by vineyards, by the spoils of conquered
nations and of merchants passing through the coun-
try, by taxes and tolls. The treasuries of the Lord's
house and the king's were distinct.
4. Was the law of tithes perpetual in Hebrew his-
tory? Was it always binding?
Ans. Abraham paid tithes, so did Jacob; so it is
fair to presume did all the patriarchs. More than a
thousand years after the death of Moses, God, through
Malachi, denounced the Jews for not paying their
tithes. They were uniformly prosperous when they
paid them, and adversity was certain when they did
not.
5. Were not the blessings promised for payment of
tithes spiritual rather than temporal?
Ans. Both temporal and spiritual. God united
them, why should we separate them ? Read the third
chapter of Malachi, perhaps the strongest in the Bi-
ble on that subject. The promises there have almost
Bole reference to temporal blessings.
C. Did our Saviour sanction the payment of tithes?
Ans. Yes. Read Matt, xxiii. 23 and Luke xi. 42.
7. But did he command that tithes be paid?
Ans. Not directly, that we know of; but he recog
12
178 The Method/ si Armor.
nized the law, commended it, and did not abrogate it.
He did not command the keeping of the Sabbath, but
neither did he abrogate the law, and we all regard it as
binding. There was no need to command the Jews ei-
ther to keep the Sabbath or to observe the law of tithes.
They did both so scrupulously, and in such detail, that,
while our Saviour commended the observance of both
laws, he reproved them for sacrificing the spirit for
the form.
8. I cannot afford to give one-tenth of my income.
Ans. How do you know? Did you ever try it? ever
know anyone who had practiced it that was not there-
by prospered, no matter how rich, no matter how poor,
no matter how small the income, no matter how large
the family? Do you think your Heavenly Father will
make an exception in your case and not keep his prom-
ise with you? Can you afford not to do it? To which
of two men would you rather lend money without se-
curity, one who observed this rule, or one who did not,
both being equally honest, equally worthy, and pos-
sessed of equal advantages and abilities ?
9. Why not practice the New Testament rule —
" Give as God has prospered you?"
Ans. Certainly. That is an Old Testament rule
also. But how much? what proportion — one -twen-
tieth, one-fifth, one-tenth, or just as you happen to
feel at the time? One-tenth of the prosperity was
God's rule then; when was it changed, and what is
the New Testament proportion?
10. Suppose I should resolve to be, and should bo,
liberal in my gifts, may I not count upon equal tempo-
ral and spiritual blessings as if I gave proportionately?
Ans. No. God's estimate of liberality may differ
Ministerial Support. 170
from yours. To which of two men would you rent
land or lend money, one promising, " I will be as liber-
al as I can afford in the matter of payment of rent or
interest, I will from time to time pay what I think is
right, but / intend to be liberal; " the other, "I will do
the best I can with what you intrust to my care, and I
will pay you a definite proportion of the income?"
Which would you honor most? Which would most
honor you? Which would serve you and your inter-
ests best? To your possible objection that there is too
much of a business air about this illustration, the reply
is that there is a wonderful amount of business in God's
dealings with us. The Bible contains very many of the
truest business maxims ever written, and God's prom-
ises apply both to our temporal and spiritual interests.
11. Should a young man just commencing to make
his own living, or a poor man with a family to support,
set apart one-tenth of the income?
Ans. Yes; and because the remaining nine-tenths
will have God's promised richer blessing, and go fur-
ther. Suppose you were asked a parallel question,
" Do you think a poor man can afford to spend every
seventh day resting, doing nothing, wasting it so far
as income is concerned?" Your answer would be—
and you would be right — that no matter what his cir-
cumstances he would be poorer, in dollars and cents,
if he worked than if he rested on the Sabbath. Be-
rn ember we are dealing in facts, not theories, and the
facts are all on one side, both as regards the spending
for our own use seventh of time and tenth of income.
12. A farmer asks, " How shall I arrive at one-tenth
of my income?"
A us. The common way with most persons is to set
lyO The Methodist Armor.
apart, harvest, market, and keep separate the proceeds
of every tenth acre or part of an acre. This is the
"one-tenth fund" from which you will draw and pay
out as you deem best. Another and, to many, an
easier way is to put into this fund one-tenth of the
proceeds of every article sold from the farm. When
this plan is adopted, a yearly estimate should be made
of the value of the products of the farm consumed by
the family, and this also should be tithed.
13. A minister asks, "Shall I tithe my income?"
Ans. Yes; upon precisely the same principle that
otheis do.
14. " Suppose my people do not pay me what they
agree? "
Ans. Tithe what you receive.
15. A physician asks, "Shall I deduct from the
tenth the value of services I gratuitously render to
the poor?"
Ans. No. It is in the line of your prof ession, a part
of your business losses or business expenses, and
probably pays you better than any form of adver-
tising known to business men.
16. When should I commence?
Ans. Now. Or, if you desire, you can make an esti-
mate of your income back to any given time, and also
what you have given for the same time. Keep a cor-
rect account to the end of the year, then close the ac-
count, and carry forward any balance.
17. Suppose I am in debt, should my debts be paid
first?
Ans. No. Your debt to God is paramount. It is
one-tenth of your weekly, monthly, or yearly income.
Pay that as it accrues, and his promised blessing will
Ministerial Support. 18]
enable you the more easily and rapidly to pay what
you owe to others.
18. Should I tithe my capital ?
Ans. No. Your capital, whether brains, or hands,
or money, or property in any form, is that out of which
you make your income. Pay the tenth of your income,
or, as the Bible has it, of the " increase."
19. How shall I keep the account?
Ans. Use a memorandum-book, or a page of any
blank-book, putting down every item you give. Add
up and look over the account frequently, in order to
keep the matter well in mind. Another and often a
better way is to have a " one-tenth box," and be scru-
pulously exact in putting into it one-tenth of the in-
come when it is received. This will be the Lord's
treasury from which you will draw to give to worthy
objects, as your judgment may dictate.
The Prosperity of Liberal Payers.
What evidence is there outside of the Bible that
all who observe this law will be prospered in tempo-
ral interests to a greater degree than if they did not?
Ans. The accumulated testimony through all ages
of those who have tried it is that it is true.
Within the last four years a circular has been sent
to more than fifteen thousand evangelical ministers
in the United States, in which occurs the following
statement and question :
" My belief is that God blesses in temporal as web
as in spiritual things the man who honors him by
setting apart a stated part of his income to his serv-
ice. I have never known an exception. Have you?"
A little pamphlet containing the same question has
1S2 The Methodist Armor.
been carefully distributed among more than five hun-
dred thousand laymen, asking if they knew of any ex-
ceptions to the rule. Hundreds, probably thousands,
of facts and experiences have been collected. A few
are inserted. So far as is known, there are no real
exceptions. Do you know of any ? If so, will you tell
youi pastor, and ask him to give the circumstances?
A large portion of the following testimonials were
published first in 1879, and were selected within a
short time largely from replies to the circular which
was then being sent to Methodist ministers. Proba-
bly a greater proportion of similar replies were re-
ceived from Presbyterian, Congregational, and Epis-
copal ministers, and a slightly less proportion from
Baptist. Similar testimonials have been received al-
most every day for years. These are published only
to emphasize and add stronger proof if possible to the
advantages of paying back to God one-tenth of our
income.
From a pastor in New Jersey: "I commenced the
practice when in a condition of deep financial embar-
rassment, and the way brightens in that direction each
step I take."
From a pastor in Michigan: "My father lived that
r ide and prospered. I have for eight years since leav-
iug the seminary, and have prospered. The wealthi-
est man in my church and community has lived by it."
From a pastor in Indiana: "One brother in my
charge made a written contract that he would give to
the Lord one-tenth of his annual income. He was
poor then; he now gives hundreds of dollars annu-
ally."
From a pastor in AVest Virginia: " During a recent
Ministerial Support. 183
pastorate in Baltimore city, I was struck with the fact
that the only business man in my church not serious-
ly affected by the hard times was the solitary individ-
ual who gave proportionately."
From a pastor in Maine : " I have known some min-
isters who have done this for many years. Such have
invariably had prosperity. The Bible doctrine and
practice are safe and true."
From a pastor in Pennsylvania: " Mr. told me
that from the day of his conversion he commenced giv-
ing one-tenth to the cause of God, and during the f ol-
lowing eleven years he gave more than he was worth
when converted, and that God prospered him so that
he was worth after the eleven years of giving ten times
more than before."
From a pastor in Ohio: " One man in my congrega-
tion has practiced this course. He was a,t one time
very prosperous, then he almost failed in business;
yet one-tenth of his gross income always found its way
into benevolent enterprises. People were astonished
at his tenacity, and now he is better off than ever. His
offerings are increasing from year to year."
From a pastor in Ohio : " I have an uncle, who, until
he decided to give systematically one-tenth of his in-
come, was in straitened circumstances. For several
years of late, giving as above, he has been greatly
prospered spiritually, and especially financially. He
is now quite independent."
From a pastor in Georgia: "An intelligent lady of
my church, on the death of her husband, adopted the
rule, and not only has she been blessed personally,
but her four daughters, and indeed all of her seven
children, seem to be the objects of Divine favor. Al'
184 The Methodist Armor.
are prospering temporally, and all save the little boy
are consistent Christians."
From a pastor in Pennsylvania: " I was in doubt for
a long time that I ought to give largely to benevolence
while I was in debt. I began to doubt, however, after
a hard and unsuccessful struggle to get out of debt,
that I should ever succeed. At length I was per-
suaded that I was ' robbing God ' to pay my credit-
ors. My wife and I consulted over the matter, and
decided to give a tenth, which we have done, and God
is prospering us beyond any previous experience."
From a pastor in Northern New York: "In a for-
mer charge I had one member who gave a tenth of
all to the Lord, and to-day he is worth forty thou-
sand dollars. When I first became acquainted with
him, twenty years ago, he was worth perhaps two
thousand dollars. He is a farmer."
From a pastor in Northern New York: "A whole-
sale merchant of my acquaintance came to this coun-
try from England when a young man, and on arriv-
ing had some three hundred dollars, which he loaned,
and worked as a journeyman tailor. He opened an
account at that time, giving one-tenth of his income
to benevolence, and has conscientiously continued
until this time, giving in the aggregate many thou-
sands of dollars. He is now distributing thousands
annually."
From a pastor in Iowa: "One of the richest and
most influential men of this State is a layman in the
M. E. Church in . He has religiously adhered
to the one-tenth plan, and great prosperity and honoi
have been his. Numerous such instances have comt
to me in my ministry."
Ministerial Support. 185
From a pastor in New Jersey: "For many years I
have adopted the plan of giving one-tenth, never go-
ing below it, and in all these years have steadily
prospered in worldly things. When rny giving was
irregular, small, and spasmodic, my temporal affairs
followed in the same line."
From a pastor in Ohio: "A gentleman of my ac-
quaintance formerly had a little wagon-shop. It was
with great difficulty that he made a living for his
family. He was called poor, and also had the repu-
tation of being close. One Sabbath, at our mission-
ary anniversary, he surprised us by giving a liberal
contribution. The wonder was, What made him do
it? It soon became known that he had resolved to
give one-tenth to the Lord. It seems from that time
he began to prosper. Business increased, opportuni-
ties opened before him. To-day he lives in one of tbje
finest houses in the city, is one of the wealthiest men
in the Church in C , and is a whole-souled,
generous Christian."
From a pastor in New York: "I have been in the
active work of a pastor thirty-seven years, and have
been an observer of the results of Christian giving,
and I have never known one case where a Christian
faithfully and uniformly gave conscientiously and
proportionately who was not highly" prospered in his
temporal affairs. These are the very men God can
trust with earthly goods."
From a pastor in Missouri : " I have been person-
ally acquainted with but two men who have made it
a rule to give unto the Lord the tenth of their in-
crease, and they were prospered exceedingly."
From a pastor in Kentucky: "Proportionate gi\
18G The Methodist Armor.
ing, as it lias passed under my observation, has been
in every instance attended with prosperity; I may
say with double prosperity. The givers have pros-
pered in worldly good, and also in spiritual life."
From a pastor in Pennsylvania: "Some time ago
I was receiving from a Christian gentleman in Phil-
adelphia certain things needed in my church. He
told me to make my own selection from the Lord's
portion; and remarked that for thirty years he had
been giving the tenth of his increase to the Lord.
He commenced business on this principle; and din-
ing all that time he has been enabled to pay one
hundred cents on the dollar, and every year has had
more and more to give back to Him from whom he
received every good and perfect gift."
From a pastor in Maryland: "I have had a great
deal to do with the finances of the Church for years,
and believe the systematic plan is the best. I know
a brother in the Church who commenced on a small
business capital, and covenanted with God (wrote his
pledge in a book) if he would prosper him he would
give one-tenth till he was worth ten thousand dollars,
and then would give one-fourth until worth twenty-
five thousand dollars, and after that give his whole
income. In 1858 and 1859 I was his pastor, and he
was then giving one-fourth. Since that time he has
become Avorth twenty-five thousand dollars, and now
gives all his income."
From a pastor in Philadelphia: " Twenty-five years
ago, when I had nothing but my salary of one hun-
dred dollars a year, as a junior traveling minister of
the Philadelphia Conference, I - adopted the plan of
devoting regularly ono-tenth of my income to char-
Ministerial Support. 187
itable and religious objects. I have adhered to the
plan. God has graciously favored me in my minis-
try and blessed me in temporal things. I have been
enabled to give away thousands, and have thousands
left."
From a pastor in New York: "I commenced giv-
ing a tenth years ago, when I found that I was
spending all my salary and it was hard to give any
thing. I have found it a great comfort and pleasure
to me ever since. One of my younger elders com-
menced the practice some years since, and no one
among us has been so prospered in business as he,
or gives so much. I know a wealthy banker, a Pres-
byterian elder, who commenced to do the same when
a young man, with little means, and now his gifts
are large."
From a pastor in Iowa: "I knew a merchant who
gave ten per cent, of his income. His business pros-
pered, and better still, he grew as a Christian, and
was one of the most devout, humble, and spiritually-
minded Christians I ever knew. If he was thanked
for a gift to some good object, his reply was, 'You
don't need to thank me, it is the Lord's money;' re-
ferring to his custom of laying aside a certain por-
tion of his profits for the Lord's work."
From a pastor in Ohio: "I have practiced giving
the tenth of my in come to the Lord for years, and
find that I give more money and give it more cheer-
fully, and I think more intelligently, than before. I
have known several who adopted this rule, and in
every case it worked well. One man who gave a
tenth, and was greatly prospered (giving one year, to
m\ knowledge, eighteen hundred dollars), was broken
1SS The Methodist Armor.
up in business by a company with which he was con-
nected; but I saw him in his adversity, and he wag
the same happy Christian man as formerly. He la-
bored to glorify God with his wealth when he had it,
and when it took wings and new away he did not
mourn over it. The last I heard the Lord was bless-
ing him again in temporal matters."
From a pastor in Indiana: "It is my judgment
that there is nothing that will so foster exact and
honest business habits in all other things as system-
atic paying to the Lord what we owe him. This, of
itself, will make for any of us many more dollars than
it costs us in tithes and offerings. Really, to be hon-
est with God is one of the most selfish things I know
of, for it comes back a hundred-fold or more every
time. I have a friend (one of the most prominent
physicians here) who pursues this plan. It is a
pleasure to see and hear him when I present any
case to him: if it commends itself, he gives freely,
and with the greatest manifest pleasure. He says
' It is not giving, only directing the gift.' He has
been greatly prospered in every respect."
From a pastor in Iowa: "Some years ago I was in
business and in debt, and, after making a covenant
with the Lord (I had not learned that God had al-
ready made a covenant with me if I would come to it)
to give him one-tenth of all my increase, I gave all
my affairs into his hands, asking him to just give or
withhold as would be most for his glory. From that
time my business increased; I had all I could attend
to, and all seemed to turn to money. In a short
time (about two years) I was out of debt. I have
kept on giving one-tenth of all I received, and havp
Ministerial Support. 189
never lacked means. I have known others who have
done this, and all have been prospered. It is not
so much the money we get, but the joy of giving!
There is no work in the vineyard of the Lord that
gives more pleasure than doing duty in this way."
From a business man in Chicago: "My grand-
father followed the plan you suggest, and his sons
after him; coming in the third generation, I follow
in their teachings. I began about eighteen years
ago, and while I have been steadily prosperous, I
have never seen the year when there was not appar-
ently some strong reason why I should not pay the
tenth that year. The habit or plan has been the in-
fluence that carried me through. I know one Chris-
tian man who was the soul of generosity, until one
year he overgave largely, and then balanced by un-
dergoing for two or three years; the result, his gifts
for ten years or longer have dwindled to a mere noth-
ing. In this, as in other matters, the good Lord
knows what we need to make character that will, in
the long run and on the broad scale, be most of a
success in satisfaction to its possessor and usefulness
to the world."
From a pastor in Central New York: "I have men
in my church who have acted upon this principle for
years. They are the largest givers, but not the rich-
est men. One of them said to me the other day that
he was always surprised to find how much he had to
give, and giving was a great pleasure. He is among
the prosperous men of my church, and no blight oi
any kind has ever rested on his family. His chil-
dren are prosperous and happy. All are grown up,
doing for themselves, and are an honor to their names'
190 The Methodist Armor.
Many men in my church are what the world calls
rich. I run my mind over all the most prominent
o£ them, but who are small givers, and I find that
ther<§ is not one of them who has not a skeleton in
his closet. I have never known a man who gave the
one-tenth, or who gave proportionately, who was not
blessed with a competency, if not great prosper-
ity. I take time to write you this because I feel if
such facts as the above can be collected and given
to the Church, they must produce a profound im-
pression."
Note. — Many of the questions and answers, and
the testimonials in the above, were taken from a
pamphlet published by a Methodist layman in Chi-
cago.
Application of the Plans.
No plan, however good, can work itself. But any
one of the plans mentioned can be easily worked.
To illustrate: Let the stewards take the church-
register, call every name, and assess every one, on
the quarterly, monthly, or weekly payment plan —
whichever one they may choose to work under — then
at a Church Conference read out these assessments,
and get each member's consent to the amount.
The next thing to be done is to apply the means
of collection. There are two ways of doing this
The first is the envelope plan. In 1873 the envelope
syst.:m of weekly contributions was introduced in the
Churches of New England, and it secured the most
satisfactory results. This system is working remark-
ably well in many Churches in . the South now. It
is very simple. Suppose a man agrees to pay thir-
teen dollars i year to be given weekly. Then every
Ministerial Supp rt. 191
Sabbath he would inclose twenty-five cents in an
envelope, and write on the back:
For Pastor — 25 cents.
Date
Name
and drop it into the collection-basket, and the treas-
urer finding the envelope would give the contributor
credit on the general subscription-book; and receiv-
ing credit for all thus given every Sabbath, the
whole amount could be easily summed up at the
close of the year.
This envelope system can be just as easily applied
to the quarterly and monthly payment plan. A man
proposes, or is assessed, to pay eight dollars a year.
Then, at each quarterly-meeting, he would inclose
two dollars in an envelope and send it to the steward,
with name, amount, and date written on the back.
The advantages of this system are many.
1. It develops the habit of giving unto the Lord
into a steady, self-acting principle. It makes giving
a spontaneous, thoughtful, cheerful duty. And "the
Lord loveth a cheerful giver," and so do men.
3. It pays the preacher his money as it becomes
due, and enables him to meet his current expenses
without being embarrassed with debts.
3. It relieves the stewards of a vast deal of un-
pleasant work.
4. It introduces the apostolic principle of foresight
in giving. " Let every one of you lay by him in store
as God hath prospered him." Look ahead, and get
ready to pay your Church dues, is what he means.
Get up the amount, and l<iy it by in store against the
time it will be called for Be thoughtful about thif
]92 The Methodist Armor.
matter. Things done without premeditation are gen-
erally badly done. Have it all arranged and ready
beforehand, then you have nothing to do but to go
to what is laid up for the Lord and pay it. A cer-
tain man was always ready to pay. Being asked how
it was that he was always so prompt, he replied: "Do
you see that safe? In that safe is a secret drawer.
The drawer is marked 'The Lord's Drawer.' Into
that drawer, at the end of each week, I put one-tenth
of all that I have made during the week, and when
called upon to pay to the cause of the Lord, I go to
that drawer and get it."
The Work of the Stewards.
The duties of the stewards are numerous and re-
sponsible. They estimate the amount to be raised;
and their estimates should always be liberal and
generous. Stewards are examples to the people as
to the spirit of liberality. Their closeness is apt to
spread the same spirit among the people. The act-
ual amount paid to the pastor depends almost ex-
clusively upon the energetic and effective efforts of
the stewards. Those who rely on spasmodic efforts
fail. Those who are patient, skillful, and persever-
ing are the ones that succeed. The steward should
remember if he fails to discharge his duties the
cause of God will inevitably suffer. No other mem-
ber of the Church feels at liberty to act in his place,
and he therefore should do his work well or resign
promptly. He should do his work heroically, yet
prudently. Let there be no shrinking back from
duty; no cowardly apologies; no cold indifference.
Giving is a means of grace to givers. No one,
Ministerial Support. 193
therefore, can be excused. It is more blessed to
give than to receive. Giving builds up the spiritual
manhood of the giver as well as pays the preacher.
Non-giving churches perish out. It is stated that
fifty years ago thirty Baptist churches in the State
of Maryland declared themselves opposed to giving,
while two alone stood in favor of it. The two
churches that cultivated the spirit of giving grew to
thousands, while the others dwindled away to only
eight persons. "He which soweth sparingly shall
reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully
shall reap also bountifully."
The steward will meet with many cold repulses
while collecting. The excuses must be met. A com-
mon one is, "I don't like the preacher." Such per-
sons should be reminded that the giving is to be
unto the Lord, not to men. The blessedness of giv-
ing is lost when the popularity of the preacher is
made the ground of giving, instead of the goodness
of the Lord. If you withhold money due the Lord,
he says, "Ye have robbed me." Another will say,
" When will this everlasting begging for money
cease? I am sick and worn out with it." The an-
swer will be easy. It will never cease. It is God's
law. While there remains the necessity for preach-
ing — while there remains an unsaved soul on earth
till the light of the gospel shall have gilded the hills
and valleys of the entire globe and wrapped the blue
seas into eternal calm — there will be a necessity for
preaching, and so a necessity for paying for it. Oth-
ers will say, " I am so poor, can give so little, that it
is no use for me to pay any thing." The answei
here is easy also The obligation to give a penny,
194 The Methotttsl Armor.
v hen one has it, rests upon the same ground as that
of giving a thousand dollars. Thu ground of obliga-
tion is the same. What does the parable of the tal-
ents teach? It teaches that the man of one talent
was held just as rigidly responsible as the man of
ten. "It is so little," said he, "that I won't try to
improve it." But his lord cast him into outer dark-
ness for the failure. Remember how the Saviour
commended the two mites of the poor widow. It is
the rills uniting that make the Nile-like river of be-
neficence. " Hard times " will be offered as an excuse
for not contributing. But the undismayed steward
can reply: "Don't begin with the Church to cut
down your expenses. Better spend less money for
jewelry and finery, foolish and sinful fashions, and
pay the Lord's demand in full. It is not very consist-
ent for a Christian to stop giving to the Church, and
then keep up all other outlays to the old standard."
Let the steward remember the responsibility of his
position, and devote his energies to his work. Paul
says, "Moreover, it is required in stewards that a
man be found faithful." Be faithful to the duties of
your office. Remember how much depends on your
activity and skill. By all means let the stewards
raise the preacher's claims by quarterly installments.
Be sure to square the account at every quarterly-
meeting.
Rhwaeds of Giving.
"Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the Lord will deliver
him in time of trouhlc. The Lord will preserve him, and keep him
alive, and he shall he hlessedupon the earth: and thou wilt not de-
liver him unto the will of his enemies. . The Lord will strengthen
him upon the hed of languishing: thou wilt make all his bed in his
sickness." (Ps. xli. 1-3.)
Ministerial Support. 195
"Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land /
and verily shalt thou be fed. (Ps. xxxvii. 3.)
"Honor the Lord with thy substance, and with the first-fruits of
all thine increase: so shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy
presses shall burst out with new wine." (Prov. iii. 9, 10.)
"There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is tbat
withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty. The lib-
eral soul shall be made fat; and he that watereth shall be watered
also himself." (Prov. xi. 24, 25.)
"And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the
afflicted soul ; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy dark-
ness be as the noonday; and the Lord shall guide thee continually,
and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones; and thou
shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose wa-
ters fail not." (Isa. lviii. 10, 11.)
" Bring ye all the tithes into the store-house, that there may be
meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord
of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you
out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not de-
stroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her
fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts." (Mai.
iii. 10, 11.)
"Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed
down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into
your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it
shall be measured to you again." (Luke vi. 38.)
"I have showed you all things, how that so laboring ye ought to
support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how
he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive." (Acts xx. 35.)
"Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him
give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.
And God is able to make all grace [the word "grace" here refers to
temporal blessings] abound toward you; that ye, always having all
sufficiency in all thi-gs, may abound to every good work." (2 Cor.
ix. 7, 8.)
These promises are conditional. We have no righi
to claim them except we comply with the conditions. If
196 The Methodist Armor.
wo meet them, we shall realize true prosperity both in
spiritual and temporal interests. The conditions and
promises go together.
If you decide to adopt Christian paying as the rule
of your life, the "pledges" sent herewith may be
found useful. "Prove the Lord now herewith."
Suggestions.
Giving, or paying — for that is the better word —
should not be spasmodic or impulsive; it should be
from principle. We should know how much we re-
ceive and how much we give, and our gifts or pay-
ments should always have a certain definite proportion
to our income.
While we may speak of giving, the thought in the
heart should be that of payment. Giving, properly
speaking, commences when the tenth has been paid.
Proportionate giving makes our Heavenly Father
a partner in all our business tranactions, and he will
most surely bless a business or occupation in which
he is recognized as a partner. By paying the one-
tenth we become partners in his work, and transmute
some portion of our little treasure into an imperish-
able possession, and we shall find it again — treasure
laid up in heaven. There may be instances in which
men, with mistaken motives, may give too much for
their temporal prosperity, but such men are never
proportionate givers.
Under the impulse of excited feeling men sometimes
give too much to one object, and the effect is to render
them unable or unwilling to consider objects equally
worthy. Such giving is not liberal; it is in fact illib-
eral, just as a man would be illiberal who should will
Ministerial Support. ]97
r]1 his property to one child, cutting off brothers and
sisters equally worthy.
God loves and will bless a cheerful giver — one who
sets apart a proportion of his income as a debt to be
paid back to the great Giver, and who is watchful to
bestow it where it will do the greatest good. If some
one should intrUst a sum of money to you, to be be-
stowed as you thought best, leaving the choice of ob-
jects to you, you would of course give the matter
thought, and use your best judgment in the selection.
So it should be in all our gifts, for while they may be
gifts to those who receive them, they are payments to
God; and his. blessing follows the cheerful giving of
what is due to him to the most worthy objects, not
forgetting that even in our giving we may be selfish,
and remembering that to be liberal we must not con-
fine our gifts to our own church or neighborhood.
Proportionate giving unites religion and business.
Those who adopt it as a rule of life struggle to make
more money that they may have a larger percentage
of income for the Master's cause. They are also
saved that absorbing spirit of worldliness that makes
shipwreck of many a promising Christian manhood.
We want to give while we Ike, with warm hands
from loving hearts. There is no pleasure in giving
with a dead man's hand; and the miser who .on his
death-bed gives largely to benevolence goes still a
miser into the presence of his Judge. We want to
dispense our charities from day to day, in small sums
if need be, not waiting for large ones, and making our
lives, like that of our Saviour, a constant benediction.
God's plan is that of constant but limited supply,
and the great need of the Church and the world is
108 The Methodist Armor.
that Christians should give constantly, regularly, and
proportionately as God prospers them. Let us give
as an act of worship, as a blessed privilege; give not
to receive the approbation of man, but the reward God
gives; give increasingly as God prospers with increas-
ing wealth, with thanks to our Heavenly Father that
he enables us to give, and for the happiness we there-
by receive as well as that we confer on others.
There is no argument for the genuineness of Chris-
tianity that men so universally respect as a Christian
giving. They care little for large or impulsive giv-
ing, as they know that enthusiasm or over-persuasion
may have had the controlling influence, but they can-
not withstand the argument of a charity which is
ceaseless in its flow, and is constantly on the watch
for right objects for its bestowal.
The all-important thought on this subject is that of
proportionate giving, or paying. Paul says to the Co-
rinthians: "Upon the first day of the week let every
one of you lay by him in store as God hath prospered
him." The plain inferences are, first, regularity—" on
the first day of the week;" and, secondly, a certain
proportionate, definite share — " as God hath prospered
him." Notice, first, that this is not an exhortation,
but a command, or order. He does not say, "Get ready,
and when I come I will preach you a sermon on char-
ity, and while under the influence of the preaching,
and while your hearts are warm with love and sym-
pathy for the poor brethren at Jerusalem, we will take
up a large collection ; " but he says, " Have every thing
in readiness, that there be no gathering when I come."
Also notice that this order is not addressed to a few,
or to the rich, but to "every one of you; " and again,
Ch in ch-membersh ip. 199
that the Epistle is directed not to the Christians at
Corinth alone, but also to " all in every place that call
upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord."
CHAPTER XIV.
CIIUEC II- MEMBERSHIP.
I. Who are Admitted Into the Methodist
Church?
Adults who have been converted. Such persons of
course who have realized a change of heart, who have
felt that their sins have been pardoned, their hearts
regenerated, and experienced the fact that " the love
of God has been shed abroad in their hearts by the
Holy Ghost given unto them," are admitted into our
Church. It has ever been characteristic of Method-
ism to insist on experimental religion. The early
Methodists preached experience, told their own expe-
rience ; and this living experience constitutes the very
salt of Methodism, and keeps it from taint and mold.
This experience gives it a vital spirit. "Life and
power " is a familiar note among our people.
Methodism is a free spirit. "Liberty" is its watch-
word — liberty from sin, from bondage, body and soul ;
liberty to pray loud or low, to speak, to use all the
gifts bestowed, whether one talent or ten, whether
among men or women; liberty for all, learned or un-
learned, rich or poor, young converts or old ones; lib-
erty to sing, whether by note or by rote, with the spirit
and with the understanding, to sing in the choir or in
the congregation — liberty for all to sing, not one in
ten only.
It is a simple spirit. Simplicity is characteristic of it;
200 The Methodist Armor.
no affectation, no pompous, mechanical, and strained
dignity.
It is an earnest spirit. Dr. Chalmers said, "Meth-
odism is Christianity in earnest."
It is a liberal spirit. Universal redemption for its
theme, "the world for its parish," "perfect love" to
God and man its animus, it cannot be otherwise than
liberal and catholic. It has often been repelled, but
it repels none who " truly and earnestly repent." It
receives as candidates even those who evince " a desire
to flee from the wrath to come, and to be saved from
their sins." It Avelcomes to communion all the mem-
bers of Christ's body.
It is a fraternal spirit. Both the life and forms of
Methodism lead directly to strong fraternization. Love
is its life, and the mutual freedom and equality in
Jesus Christ which characterize all its social meetings
and religious forms tend to centralize the sympathy
and feelings of the whole community. And it is from
this, in part, that the power of Methodism as a system
arises. Unity is power; lif e is power. They sing truly,
Our fears, our hopes, our aims are one,
Our comforts and our cares.
We share our mutual woes,
Our mutual burdens bear;
And often for each other flows
The sympathizing tear.
The class-meeting and the love-feast contribute much
to foster this fraternal spirit. "The rich and the
poor meet together; the Lord is the maker of them
all." Hence the cordial greeting, the familiar "broth-
er " and " sister " — " all one in Christ Jesus," not how-
ever, to the exclusion of "other sheep which are not
Ch urch-membersh ip. 201
of this fold." Free communion with all the body of
Christ is the token of its catholicity.
It is a happy spirit. Methodists believe in getting
happy in religion. " Rejoice evermore, pray without
ceasing, in every thing give thanks," is one of its favor
ite proof -texts. Here is one of its notes of triumph :
How happy is the pilgrim's lot !
How free from every anxious thought,
From worldly hope and fear!
This happiness in part is mine,
Already saved from low design,
From every creature love!
Take another excellent specimen strain:
While the angel choirs are crying,
Glory to the great I AM !
I with them Avill still be vying,
Glory ! glory to the Lamb !
O how precious
Is the sound of Jesus' name!
Hence "shouting" is but the legitimate expression
of the happiness within ; at least it is a legitimate off-
spring. It is not to be manufactured, and under some
circumstances should not be suppressed if the soul
would enjoy its freedom.
Now, who that has seen Methodism on its own feet,
and in its own native attire, and "dwelling under its own
vine and fig-tree," does not know that these are charac-
teristics of its spirit, its genius ? How strange, then,
that Methodists themselves should ever be ashamed
of their characteristics ! How strange that they should
seek to accommodate it to the fastidiousness of other
denominations, or to the proud conceits of the world I
They may do it, but it will be at the expense of its
202 The Methodist Armor.
power and true glory. One fact is remarkable and
significant. Generally when any special revival inter-
est appears among other denominations they are found
to have adopted more or less of our peculiarities — our
hymns and tunes, our free-salvation preaching, our
altar labor to a considerable extent, and our free so-
cial exercises; so much so that the remark is common
even among the world and others, " Why, they preach
and pray, etc., just like the Methodists." Amen! let
them do so. But, then, mark two or three things : 1.
This remark recognizes Methodism as the standard in
these things, and that is no small compliment. 2. It
shows that other denominations recognize these pe-
culiarities as the secret of success, so far as means
are concerned. 3. It rebukes the folly of Methodists
in ignoring, or discountenancing, or neglecting these
characteristics.
This spirit of Methodism appeals strongly to the
moral sensibilities of mankind, to their felt necessi-
ties, and even to the spiritual among other denomina-
tions. In trying to improve Methodism, let us not
lose sight of its genius, its spirit, remembering that
the Church is to be " a habitation of God through the
Spirit," and is to be conformed in its spirit and wor-
ship to the "pattern seen in the mount."
II. Penitent Seekees.
The Methodist Church, besides opening her doors
to adult converts, takes in also penitent seekers. The
condition for the admission of such persons is this:
" There is only one condition previously required of those
who desire admission into these societies, a 'desire to flee
from the wrath to come, and to be saved from their sins.' "
/
Church-membership. 203
This condition implies a willingness to be saved. This
willingness to be saved implies also a readiness to be
all and to do all that the gospel requires of those who
become partakers of salvation — a willingness to ac-
cept of salvation " from sin." To be willing to accept
of salvation, therefore, implies a desire to be deliv-
ered from the dominion of sin. It implies such re-
pentance as hates sin and desires purity of heart, and
a fixedness of purpose to use the means of grace pre-
scribed by the Church in order to attain actual salva-
tion. Hence, such persons coming into our Church
pledge themselves (1) to abstain from all evil; (2) to
do good of every kind; (3) to attend upon all the ordi-
nances of God. This "desire to flee from the wrath to
come, and to be saved from their sins," is a deep, mov-
ing, stirring desire "fixed in the soul." It is not a
feeble, transient desire, but such a desire as brings
forth fruit meet for repentance — a desire ripening
into repentance toward God and faith in Jesus Christ.
Repentance implies preexisting faith, and faith implies
preexisting repentance. Both are produced by the pre-
liminary grace of the Holy Spirit, to be perfected by
the willingness of man using the means of salvation.
Now, when such persons come to us desiring to be
saved, we admit them into the Church, where complete
salvation may be attained. Much has been said by
way of objection to the Methodist Church for admit-
ting such penitent seekers of religion; but we think
our practice is in harmony with scriptural teaching.
We think it may be laid down as a safe rule that the
man icfto is authorized to claim the gracious promises
of God is a fit person to join the Church. To the sin-
cere penitent, desirous "to flee from the wrath to
204 The Methodist Armor.
come, and to be saved from sin," the promises of sav-
ing grace are offered.
Proofs. — " The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken
heart, and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit." (Ps. xxxiv. 18.)
'"The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit : a broken and a contrite
heart, O God, thou wilt not despise." (Ps. li. 17.) "Thus saith the
high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy: I
dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite
and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive
the heart of the contrite ones." (Isa. lvii. 15.) "I will turn their
mourning into joy; I will comfort them, and make them rejoice from
their sorrow." ( Jer. xxxi. 13.) "Jesus began to preach, and to say,
Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." (Matt. iv. 17.)
" Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus
Christ for the remission of sins." (Acts ii. 38.) The men of Nine-
veh were saved, " because they repented at the preaching of Jonah."
Notes.
1. A purpose to be a Christian, a state of peni-
tence, a desire to be delivered from sin, were clearly
the terms of admission to the Christian Church, at
the very commencement of it. This will appear
from the following:
"From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent; for
the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And Jesus, walking by the sea
of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his
brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishers. And lie
saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.
And they straightway left their nets, and followed him. And going
on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zeb-
eilee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father,
mending their nets; and he called them. And they immediately
left the ship, and their father, and followed him." (Matt. iv.
17-22.)
Notice. — Peter, Andrew, James, and John were en-
gaged, when Christ found them, in their daily toil.
Christ commanded them to follow him. The com-
Church-membership. 205
mand was very simple. The thing to be done was
not mysterious, and there was no difficulty, in obey-
ing it. The thing was practicable. It lay in the
scope of their ability to forsake their calling and
follow him. Christ is the Head of the Church, and
they united themselves to him. There is no profes-
sion of regeneration preceding their joining them-
selves to Christ. There is no relating of their ex-
perience. There is no demand made by Christ re-
quiring them to be converted before they become his
disciples. So far as we can see, there was only a de-
sire to be saved, and " they immediately left the ship,
and their father, and followed him," in order to be
saved.
Again, Christ, in his Sermon on the Mount, says,
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the
kingdom of God." To feel poor in spirit is to feel
humble, penitent, empty of all good. Just such per-
sons as our General Rule describes. Such persons
are blessed because "theirs is the kingdom of "God."
"The kingdom of God" here means either the Church
on earth, or the Church triumphant in heaven, or the
kingdom of grace in the soul. But if the penitent
has the kingdom of grace in his soul, then he is a
fit and suitable person to become a member of the
visible Church. Such persons were admitted into
the primitive Church. Justin Martyr says of such
that "when they had given good proofs of their res-
olutions to lead a pious, religious life, and had pro-
tested their assent and consent to all the Christian
verities, they were baptized," and of course admitted
into the Church.
That true penitents may be baptized and admitted
206 The Methodist Armor.
into the Church is scriptural is clear from the fol-
lowing: "Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be
baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus
Christ for [unto] the remission of sins, and ye shall
receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." (Acts ii. 38.)
Here we see that repentance and baptism plainly
preceded the gift of the Holy Ghost, that regener-
ates the soul. These penitents were baptized and
added to the company of Christians. It must be
clear to all impartial minds that the Methodist prac-
tice of receiving penitent seekers into the bosom of
the Church, rests upon broad scriptural grounds.
When Christ called men to be his disciples, he did
not seek perfect men. He says, " Come and join my
school; be my scholar." The Church is a spiritual
school. But is a man to be kept out of school be-
cause he is ignorant? Schools are opened for illit-
erate people, not for ripe scholars. If a man desires
to be a soldier, he joins the army; and as soon as
he joins the army he is a soldier, though he is far
from being a trained veteran. He is a soldier just
as really when his name goes down on the roll, and
he goes out with awkwardness to be drilled, as after
he has been in the army ten years. Therefore, when
we find men having a spark of grace in their souls,
we encourage then to join the Church, where the
spark can be kindled to such a flame of love as il-
lumines and warms the whole man. They have
germs which, being planted in* the garden of the
Lord, may become fruitful trees.
Bishop Marvin says: "God has ordained in the
Church many efficient aids, and many means of
grace, through which the earnest penitent and more
Cliiii tfh-memberskip. 207
advanced believer are alike strengthened and helped
forward in the Christian race. The fellowship of
saints and the ordinances of religion qnicken the
spiritual perception and sensibility, and encourage
and strengthen faith. The mere fact of member-
'ship in the Church exerts a most wholesome effect
on the mind and heart." In one sense the Church
is a spiritual hospital, where sick and wounded pen-
itents may be carried for the purpose of having nurs-
ing and healing influences administered to them by
the members of the Church. Who does not see that
it is infinitely easier to work out the salvation of the
soul in the Church than out of it.
Let it be understood once for all that we do not
open our Church to sinners, to impenitent men, nor
merely to well-wishers to religion, nor to men who
are moralists, but to penitent seekers of religion.
We ask them to come in, no matter how infirm
they may be, and no matter how small their religious
experience may have been. Babes in Christ, they need
nourishing; and here is the motherhood into which
they may come. I have seen a great many persons
come in with flash and flame who went out ashes;
and I»have seen a great many persons come in like
the little germ of a plant that just breaks the ground,
without leaf or apparent power to live, and they havo
grown until the birds of the air lodged in their
branches. We do not ask persons to come in with
grandeur of attainments, but if there are any babes,
according to the understanding of Christ, who said,
" Except ye become as little children, ye shall not
enter into the kingdom of heaven," we ask them to
come in. If there are any who long to be better, whr
SJ08 The Methodist Armor.
are determined by the help of God to transform their
lives, and who are willing to be helped, to be loved,
to be borne with, to be instructed, and to be put for-
ward in the Christian life, it is our office to take them
in. We are nurses of just such children. We are
school-masters of just such scholars. They, by and
by, will be able to render unto others that very serv-
ice which they have had bestowed upon them; and
so the work will go on. We do not ask them to
come in because they have got through a supernat-
ural experience, however high* or low. We want
them provided the work of grace is begun in them.
We ask them to come in on the same ground that
we ask tender plants to step in under glass in March
when frost is in the air. They cannot afford to stay
out, they are so tender and so poor.
2. Growth in Grace. — While the Church admits pen-
itent seekers, she at the same time urges them never
to stop seeking until they feel their sins pardoned
and the love of God shed abroad in their heart.
Then she sets a very high standard of Christian
character before them, to be attained by growth in
grace. To begin well is only a starting-poirft to gc
on to perfection. To join the Church is only % step-
ping-stone to reach the full assurance of salvation.
We are exhorted to go on to a state of; entire sancti-
fication. As the sun, emerging from the horizon of
the east, rises upward to his noontide splendor, so
the path of the just is to shine more and more unto
the perfect day. As the river flows on and on to the
expanse of the great ocean, so the stream of repent-
ance flows on and on until it swells out into the full
river of sanctincation. That mustard-seed of spirit-
Church-membership. 200
ual life is to grow up into a lofty tree, among whose
branches the birds of joy are to sing. That spiritual
babe must grow up into a full stature of Christian
manhood.
3. The Means of Grace. — Remember that there are
means instituted by God which we are to observe
that we may grow in grace. So far as we know, God
always works through instruments in producing re-
sults. This is the case in nature. The beautiful
heavens and the fruitful earth are made, but they
are made by the word of his power. God enlightens
and warms the world, but it is through the instru-
mentality of the sun, moon, and stars. He imbues
the soil with the productive principle — sends clouds
to pour down rain, provides the seeds, light, and heat;
but there God leaves the matter. Man can plow the
fields, and accordingly God leaves* him to do so, or
he will have no food to sustain him. Man can sow
and cultivate, and God leaves him to do so; other-
wise he will reap no golden harvests to fill his barns.
It is the same in grace. God has established a sys-
tem of saving grace for the benefit of man. The Bi-
ble, the Sabbath, prayer, the preaching of the ever-
lasting gospel, songs, faith, the communion of the
saints — through these he conveys saving grace, as
he does light and heat through the sun, and rain
through the clouds. But upon whom? Not upon
the careless and the disobedient, but upon those who
regularly and prayerfully wait upon him in the faith-
ful use of these means. " Work out your own salva-
tion," is the great command.
It is well to begin a religious life, but something
more than beginning is necessary to secure salvation
14
210 The Method id Armor.
After a man lias laid a good foundation, he mus^ go
on to rear up and finish the superstructure of his
house. After a man has planted his crop, he must
go on to cultivate in order to insure a matured crop.
Ripeness of piety comes slowly as sweetness is
wrought into the green fruit. It does not blossom
suddenly into life. It is not a garment woven in
heaven and dropped upon the shoulders of a be-
liever. God clothes us with his own righteousness
as he clothes trees with verdure, by a process of
growth from within. It begins within and works out
into the beauty of holiness. The desire begins with-
in and goes out into holy living. "Blessed are they
which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for
they shall be filled."
The figure of "hunger and thirst after righteous-
ness" indicates an indescribable longing for it — one
that cannot be denied. You shall have this right-
eousness, says the Scripture, when you search for it
as for hid treasure. The silver is dug out of the
hills by pick and gunpowder. It is put under the
hammer and beaten into fine dust; it is put into one
furnace and melted; into a second furnace and melted
again; into a third furnace and melted again; and so
through five or six refinings, before it is ready foi
the mint or jeweler. Dreaming of godliness will no
more give you godliness than dreaming of knowledge
will give you knowledge. It is given only to him
who says: "I will work for it with a pick, and if I
cannot get it with a pick, I will use gunpowder; and
when it is once got in the crude state, I will nol
be content with that. If God puts me in the fur-
nace once, twice, thrice, I will rejoice. I will not bf
Ch urch-metnbersh ip. 211
content until lie has burned me, and burned me until
the dross is all consumed, so that I may be ready to
be his coin on earth and his crown in heaven." Did
Abraham find the road to godliness an easy one,
when he turned his back upon home, and friends,
and country, and worship, and went out to be the
first emigrant to a strange land — not to seek more
wages or better earthly conditions, but that he might
find liberty to serve God according to his own con
science? Did Moses find it easy, driven into the
wilderness, and repressing the powers that seemed to
be calling him to greater work, to be forty years a
herdsman of cattle, and for forty years a herdsman
of imbruted slaves? Did David find it easy, fleeing
from cave to cave before the huntsmen of Saul? Did
Paul find it easy, thrice beaten with rods, five times
receiving forty stripes save one, shipwrecked, stoned,
in perils oft on sea and land? Read the autobio-
graphical reminiscences of Paul in Corinthians; see
how he was put under the hammer and beaten out, and
then cast into the furnace again and again, that so
he might receive God's answer to his perpetual
prayer: "Nearer, my God, to thee; nearer to thee! "
III. The Introduction of Baptized Children
into the Church.
The Discipline says: 1. " Let the minister diligently
instruct and exhort all parents to dedicate their chil-
dren to the Lord in baptism as early as convenient.
2. Let him pay special attention to the children, speak
to them personally and kindly on experimental and
practical godliness. 3. As soon as they comprehend
tliA responsibilities involved in a public profession of
212 The Methodist Armor.
faith in Christ, and give evidence of a sincere and
earnest determination to discharge the same, see that
they be duly recognized as members of the Church agreea-
bly to the provisions of the Discipline."
Here we see that baptized children, coming to the
years of accountability and giving " evidence of a sin-
cere and earnest determination " to live as Christians,
should be taken into the Church. To admit them
into the Church is a disciplinary duty laid upon every
Methodist pastor — a duty as clearly denned as that of
taking in believing adults. And yet how generally
this duty is neglected! How few are in the Church!
Thousands of Methodist children duly baptized are
left to grow up in ignorance and wander off into for-
bidden paths. They are as fully out of the Church
as those unbaptized. They grow up in open non-mem-
bership, and are regarded as outside sinners. Who are
to blame for this? Generally, parents and pastors.
Is not something wrong among us as to this matter?
" Churches, parents, and teachers are to bring up
the children under their care in the nurture and ad-
monition of the Lord;" but to a very large extent
Christians have brought up their children in the hope
that when they shall have arrived at years of discre-
tion (which are usually supposed to be somewhere from
fifteen to twenty-one years of age) they will then
themselves become Christians. I hold that it is pos-
sible so to rear our children that they shall be con-
verted from the cradle, and grow up in the nurture
and admonition of the Lord — some without' a break,
and some subject to these normal disturbances which
come from physical causes in the readjustment of the
system at its maturity. If Christian parents and
Church-membership. 213
Christian teachers were consistent, and were in the
true faith of Christ Jesus, I believe that generations
of children might be brought up who never would
know the point at which the transition was made
They would be taught to love Christ, and to adopt the
great Christian element of character — love — and, by
it, to cast out evil, to build, and to acquire habits and
experiences, so that when they came to man's estate
it would not be through all the tanglements, beset-
ments, and soilings of an ordinary earthly experience.
They would come honorable, truthful, loving, full of
faith, full of hope, full of purity, from the cradle to
the Church. And I do not simply believe this to be
possible in rare cases. I do not believe there will ever
be a day of millennium till it is done. I do not be-
lieve there will ever be a prevalence of Christianity,
until, instead of trying to fish for the few adults that
can be brouglij; from evil into good, we learn to take
life at its beginning, and to train generations from the
first to true manhood, passing through infancy and
youth into the full development of Christian life.
Persons, we all know, are more susceptible at the
early age than at any other. Children are not supe-
rior to men in knowledge, nor in strength, nor in dis-
crimination. There are a thousand of the acquirb
ments by which a man battles with the world that
they are not superior in. But there is one all-impor-
tant principle Avhich belongs to childhood, and not to
any other time, viz., that peculiar development of the
soul by which it knows how to take hold of another,
and to borrow its light from that other.
To borrow an orchard illustration, there is but one
period of the year in which you can gra't well. Jt
214 The Methodist Armor.
may be possible to graft successfully at other times
but there is one period when you must make the trans-
fer if you would take a bud from one tree and graft
it into another and have it produce its kind and do
the best that it is capable of doing. There is but just
one season when the bark lifts easily, and the staff is
in the right condition.
There is a time, also, when the little natures bud
easily and graft easily. It is possible to graft them
at other times by extra elaboration, but more than
half of the grafts will blow out, as the saying is.
There is a period, however, in which ninety-nine out
of a hundred will stick and grow; for all the adap-
tations of the child at that time are such as to incline
it to borrow its life from another. It feeds upon an-
other instinctively. It is a little parasite. It is but
the transfer of that which is its need and instinct to
the blessed Saviour. And then it becomes a Chris-
tian child. And so, adhering to Christ by love and
by trust, and drawing its little life from Christ, it be-
gins the Christian career. And they would go on and
grow in thousands and thousands of instances, if it
were not that parents have an absurd notion that
when Christ is born into persons he is a self-register-
ing and self-taking-care-of Christ, so that they say,
" If my child is born of God, God will take care of his
own work." As if a pomologist should come in and
say, "I have put a graft into that tree, and if nature
is true to herself she will take care of that graft."
Nobody says so about trees. The man binds up the
graft so that it shall be held in its place, so that the
water shall not get in, and "so that it shall not be
blown out until it gains strength sufficient to take
Church-membership. 215
care of itself, and then he leaves it to the force of
nature.
But many people, in bringing up their children in
the nurture and admonition of the Lord, look with
great suspicion on early Christian experiences. They
are afraid of abnormal growths; they are afraid of
such material as Sunday-school libraries and biogra-
phies are made up of; they regard early conversions
as indicating disease at the root or in the body of the
tree; they do not believe in children being really
Christians because they do not see in the child that
which they would look for in a ripe Christian. But
if they would look for a babe Jesus in a little babe,
they would find that there; and if they would treat
the babe Christ as they would the babe boy or the
babe girl, and nourish it and carry it in their arms,
and rear it step by step; if they would treat it as a
little child embosomed and arm-encircled; if they
would shield it as it goes through all temptation and
all trial, they would make straighter Christians, better
branched Christians, more fruitful Christians, than
those that are made at last out of old and bad growths
by lopping away the pernicious boughs. There never
will be the ripest and most symmetrical characters in
the Church of Christ till we learn how to bring them
up from the seed in the spirit of the blessed Master.
There are many persons whose children give every
evidence of being truly Christian, but whose parents
shrink from bringing them into the fold. "Ah!" say
they, "what if they should fall away?" The shep-
herd's boy comes in and says, " The ewe has dropped
a lamb far out in the pasture, shall I bring it up to
the barn and put it inside of the yard?" "No," says
216 The Methodist Armor.
the shepherd; " let it stay out to-night, and if the wolf
does not get it, and the cold chill does not kill it, and
it lives till to-morrow and the next day, it will be worth
keeping, and you can bring it in." But if the lamb
can live in spite of the cold and wind, and without the
care of the shepherd, he does not need to bring it in
then.
There are many persons who say of the young:
"Shall they be gathered into the Church? shall we
run the risk of their bringing disgrace upon the
Church by their fall? " Which is the most important,
in the name of God, the Church or the souls of jnen
for which Christ died? The Church, looked at as the
servant of God's dear people, rises before my thought
most beautiful; but if the Church dare to take the
place of a soul of a man and make itself more precious
and nobler than the soul, the poorest and lowest and
least, I will regret it. The servant has usurped the
place of the master under such circumstances; for the
Church is God's slave, sent to take care of God's chil-
dren, and if the Church is good for any thing it is good
to take in little children and shelter them; to take in
the wayfarer and to shelter him; to take in the spirit-
ually poor and to shelter them.
Suppose that they do break down and do not get on
well in the Church. Is a hospital brought into dis-
grace because patients die there whom the doctors have
tried to cure? Is a school brought into disgrace be-
cause some dullards go in fools and come out idiots?
And shall a Church be always trying to take care of it-
self instead of taking care of that which God loves bet-
ter than any thing else— the souls of his dear children ?
Bring your little children into the Church; let Christ
Church-membership. 217
be born in tnem the hope of glory; let there be a babe
Christ in their little experiences; let them be formed
into classes. Do not leave them out with the wolf; do
not leave them until they are strong enough to go along
without a Church and then bring them in. See that
they are taken care of and nourished.
Those who have been brought into the Church young
within the circuit of my own experience have, on the
whole, with single exceptions of miscarriage here and
there, endured and come out into a true Christian life,
with far better prospects and more symmetrical disposi-
tions than those who have been brought in late in life.
One may be a Christian who is yet very far from the
beauty and symmetry and manhood of piety. We are
not to suppose that they only are Christians who are
beautiful Christians, or who are embellished with all
Christian graces. A man may be a Christian and his
Christ may be a babe; a man may be a Christian and
the Christian nature in him may yet be, as it were, in
its boyhood.
There are but two kingdoms, one of truth and good-
ness and light, the other of falsehood and selfishness
and darkness. The little children do not belong to the
kingdom of the devil till some one has rescued them
in Christ's name; they belong to Christ unless the devil
carries them off and makes them captives to* sin and
death, from which they may still be rescued by Chris-
tian chivalry. The little children are not to wait til]
they become as men before they can enter into Christ's
kingdom ; the grown men are to be converted and be-
come as little children before they can enter it. All
children are Christ's; it is the duty and the privilege
of parents not to wait with anxiety till they grow !<'
218 The Methodist Armor.
years of discretion and then hope .to convert them from
evil to him; it is their privilege to train them for him
from the cradle, to so train them that they shall always
go steadily forward, growing in grace and in the knowl-
edge of God, going on from victory to victory. In
their earliest and feeblest struggles they have Christ's
sympathy and help; in their earliest life, before the
first shoots have begun to appear above the ground,
they are his. The Sun of righteousness does not con-
fine his shining to the great trees; it shines on the
hidden seed and makes trees of them.
We have a right to hope, to pray, to expect for our
children that, like John the Baptist, they will be filled
from their mother's womb with the Holy Spirit. It is
a most dangerous error to suppose that they cannot
have the divine help and inspiration till they have
come to be old enough to comprehend its desirability
and -to ask for it. It is a most dangerous error to sup-
pose that our children must live in the wilderness till
they are old enough to seek the promised land of their
own accord. Not till the Church learns to train its
own children, not only for Christ but in Christ, from
the cradle, so that they shall always be Christ's, will
it begin to really vanquish the world. Till then it can
hope for nothing more than to make reprisals.
I believe that those of us who really believe this
should cany out our belief consistently; that we
should regard our children as members of the Church
as truly as they are citizens of the commonwealth;
that we should repudiate in stronger terms than we
are wont to do the notion that they cannot be members
of the outwairl community of "saints till they have
reached years of discretion ; that we should accustom
Ch urch-membership. 219
ourselves to regard them as members with us of the
household of faith, and should accustom them to so
regard themselves; and that we may well use the rite
of baptism as a sign of this faith that brings our chil-
dren into Christ's household with ourselves.
Baptized children, then, ought to be enrolled by name
in the register of each Church, as composing a distinct
class of candidate members, and thus be held in expect-
ancy till the time when they are to be examined, and
those that are found to meet the prescribed conditions
of the Discipline should be admitted into the full
membership of the Church.
IV. The Duty of Joining the Chuech.
i. Every one desiring to save his soul should seek a
spiritual home in some branch of the Church of God.
That this is a duty is seen from the teaching and prac-
tice of the early disciples. The converts on the day
of Pentecost immediately joined the band of disciples.
"And the same day there were added unto them about
three thousand souls." (Acts ii. 4.) Also the con-
verts in Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch were organized
into churches. Hence, it is said of the apostles:
:< They returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and
to Antioch, confirming the souls of the disciples, and
exhorting them to continue in the faith." (Acts xiv.
22. ) Within the Church thus organized are the ordi-
nances of the gospel, which are means appointed by
God to help us work out our salvation— such as spirit-
ual discipline, the communion, and the pastoral watch-
care.
2. Consider, too, the benefit of pulpit instruction.
How much light and warmth it shfds upon the world
220 The Methodist Armor.
in this way! Think of seventy thousand ministers in
the United States, men of culture and well skilled in
preaching, pouring every Sabbath streams of moral
] light and truth upon the people ! What a vast amount
of good is done! What a great help it is to sit under
the enlightening and stirring ministrations of the pul-
pit! It has pleased God to save men by preaching.
3. Then, again, in the Church is the stirring influ-
ence of sacred song. The hymn-book is a power in
the land. There can never be such a bond of union as
sweet and animating song. How often on the wings of
song our dull &ouls begin to take fire and rise heaven-
ward! How often it comes as a refreshing rain on
parched fields !
4. Furthermore, the Church generates spiritual
warmth. "It is difficult for single individuals, un-
less they be very highly endowed, to create in them-
selves fervor when alone. Now and then there is a
nature that can generate its own fire; but ordinarily
you must put stick upon stick, and spark to spark,
and flame to flame, in order to make fervor; and it
is the association of feeling, it is feeling in the multi-
tude, whose thought kindles in each individual the
highest forms of emotion. There are very few who
have the power of solitary zeal; and there are very
few who have not the power of associated zeal. The
Christian religion depended at the first, and has evei
since depended, and will to the end depend very large-
ly, on Church conditions ; for a religion whose element
is love and not awe, a religion whose very life is sweet
and pure emotion, must thrive by the social principle.
It was never meant that Christians should be solitary;
it was never meant that they shoidd feed themselves.
Church-membership. 221
It was meant that they should thrive in their combined
and associated capacities."
5. "In Church association also the feeble and igno-
rant get from the gifts of all an education which is
not possible in any other way. A Church that has a
real Christian life in it is one of the best schools to
which men can go. If, when the disciples had pro-
fessed the name of Christ, each one had made his own
house the center, and his own relatives exclusive com-
panions, there would have been hundreds and thou-
sands in the course of time who would have been
almost without instruction. But by the gathering to-
gether of the humble and lowly with those of cult-
ure and refinement in intimate association, the under
classes gained and the upper classes lost nothing."
6. Church-membership cultivates brotherly love and
mutual assistance. "As soon as the idea of brother-
hood was once introduced, as soon as men felt that
God was their Father and that Jesus Christ was their
elder brother, and that they were all brethren, and they
began to come together with that feeling, instantly
there took place a process of evolution and of educa-
tion which never can be measured, and which can
scarcely be overestimated. There is an education of
the books, and there is an education in the higher
forms in schools; but the general education which the
community receive depends largely upon the association
of men with men. It is the unconscious and general
action of the higher natures upon the intermediate or
lower that is perpetually working in society. There-
fore a Church that gathers together its members, if
there be a sweet and blessed affection flowing through
the Church, then the best lives in the Church become
222 The Methodist Armor.
instructors, and all the poorest lives, the lives of the
whole spiritual household, are pervaded by a common
religious sentiment; the gifts of all belong to each,
and the gifts of each belong to all. For general in-
struction, then, and for the development of emotive
life, it is wise for those who love the Lord Jesus Christ
to gather themselves together."
These are some of the reasons for joining the Church
that existed in the past, and will still exist to the end
of time. We invite men into Church-fellowship be-
cause it is a duty ; it is a happier life and a more use-
ful one.
Objections Met. — " Well, but," says one, " I do not
feel that I am worthy to join the Church." If you
mean by this that your unworthiness arises from liv-
ing in the commission of some sin — secret or known
— and you do not mean to abandon sin, then you are
not fit. There can be no advance made in securing
salvation, either in or out of the Church, till a man
makes up his mind to forsake evil and learn to do
well. But if you mean, as is most generally the case,
that you are not worthy because you have not reached
the standard of spiritual excellence, then our reply is
that you are like a sick man who does not feel worthy
to be cured, or a boy hanging around a school-house,
saying, "I am too ignorant to go in and become a
scholar." What is a hospital for but to cure sick men,
or school-houses for but to educate illiterate persons?
The Church is a curative institution; it is an educat-
ing institution; it is a household where spiritual babes
are to be fed and raised.
" O well," some say, " we do n't like to take upon
ourselves the duties and obligations of Church-mem'
Methodism and Sunday -schools. Il23
bersliip." There is not a duty resting on a member
of the Church that does not rest on men outside of
the Church. Moral obligations rest upon men wheth-
er they be in or out of the Church. There is not a
single duty that will be incumbent upon you when
you go into the Church that is not incumbent upon
you now. Is there any obligation greater than this:
"Thou shalt lore the Lord thy God with all thy heart and
mind and soul and strenyth, and thy neiyhbor as thy-
self." And does this royal law not become binding
till a man joins the Church? Why, its obligations
fell on you the very hour you crossed the line of
accountability. It rests upon you in or out of the
Church. The Church does not create moral obliga-
tion; it only helps us to perform the duties that God
has laid upon us.
CHAPTER XV.
METHODISM AND SUNDAY-SCHOOLS.
I. OlilGIN.
While Mr. Wesley was a missionary in Georgia, " he
established a school of forty children, which he placed
under the care of Mr. Delamotte, a man of good edu-
cation, who endeavored to blend religious instruction
with secular learning; and on Sunday afternoon Wes-
ley met them in the church before evening service,
heard the children recite their catechism, questioned
them as to what they had heard from the pulpit, en-
deavoring to fix the truth in their understanding a«
well as in their memories. This was a regular part
of his Sunday duties, and it shows that John Wesley,
in the parish of Savannah, had established a Sunday
224 The Methodist Armor.
school fifty years before Robert Raikes originated his no-
ble scheme in Gloucester, and eighty years before the
first school in America on Mr. Raikes' s plan was es-
tablished in the city of New York. Mrs. Susannah
Wesley, mother of John Wesley, had a Sunday-school
in England in 1764, seventeen years before Mr. Raikes
organized his school in 1781. In 1783, Bishop As-
bury organized a Sunday-school in Virginia.
II. .Eminent Usefulness of These Schools.
1. Think of the hundreds of thousands of children
who have been led to Christ through these schools!
General statistics show that during the past eighteen
years 285,730 converted souls have passed from the
Sunday-schools into the bosom of the M. E. Church,
North. And what is true of this Church is no doubt
true of others. Truly these schools are the nurseries
of the Church.
" Some years since a noted horticulturist took me to
see h is orchard of young peach-trees. It was a splen-
did sight — thousands of trees standing in long rows
and comprising all the rich varieties of that delicious
fruit! I said to him, 'I presume you are very care-
ful in the selection of your peach -kernels in order
to get the rarest quality of fruit?' 'No,' he replied,
we plant whatever comes to hand, and then we bud
them. Every one of these trees was budded.' This
brought to light a curious fact in horticulture. Does
the gardener wish to raise a rare and splendid fruit,
he takes a bud or sprout from a bearing tree and
grafts it. No matter how poor a variety the stock
may be upon which he grafts it, "the bud will preserve
its own identity; it will grow up and bear its own
Methodism and Sunday-schools. 225
fruit. Thus the tree will be made to bear fruit en-
tirely different from, and infinitely superior to, that
which its own nature would have produced. Oui
Sunday-school system is a system of spiritual horti-
culture; it is designed to ingraft into the young heart
the 'incorruptible seed' of the word of God. No
matter how unpromising the variety or individual, it
will take root, it will grow up, preserve its own iden-
tity, blossom in unfading beauty, send forth heavenly
odors, and ripen into immortal fruit. My brethren,
let us learn a lesson from the horticulturist. Let us
have more faith in the vitalizing and regenerating
power of that 'incorruptible seed' which it is our
business to ingraft into the mind and heart of the
child." — Bishop Clark.
2. Think, again, of the distinguished statesmen,
lawyers, physicians, merchants, mechanics, ministers,
and missionaries, who owe their eminence and useful-
ness to Sabbath-school instruction. We need to trace
the influence of these schools in quickening the whole
Church, and in opening wide and promising fields for
all Christian workers. We talk of reflex influences.
Was there ever a more striking example of it than we
have here? Christians meet to teach children; their
services are gratuitous, and they look perhaps for a
reward in heaven, but God so orders events that they
themselves are taught. Agencies and influences sur-
round them and press them in vast numbers to th<-
word of God, Avhere their intellects are filled with
divine truths, where they drink of the river of the
water of life and are refreshed, where they receive
stimulus and strength to work for the Master. Since
the introduction of the International Lessons. tliP
15
226 Tht Methodist Armor.
Sunday- school has become the greatest theological
seminary in Christendom.
3. Think of the hundreds of thousands of well-
educated and pious men and women who are engaged
every week in the careful study of God's holy word,
with the varied and abundant helps furnished by com-
mentaries, and the expositions and illustrations given
in religious periodicals and newspapers ! Consider how
their own minds are profited and enriched by these
studies, and their hearts warmed by the simultaneous
contemplation of the precious doctrines and glorious
hopes that shine from the sacred page! Before this
great theological institution — every day becoming
greater — in which God himself is the Teacher, and
over which the Holy Spirit hovers to answer the
prayer from any lips, " Open thou mine eyes, that I
may behold wondrous things out of thy law;" be-
fore this institution, with its vast array of students
hungering and thirsting after knowledge and right-
eousness, I stand filled "with admiratio'n, and with
gratitude to God. I see here a theological insti-
tute, capable of indefinite enlargement, with its doors
open to all who will come in and sit at the feet of
Jesus and learn of him.
4. As a missionary organization the Sunday-school
Las done a great work in establishing and sustaining
schools in destitute localities and in remote regions,
where it has kindled the first gospel light, and fur-
nished the means for the instruction of the ignorant
and neglected classes. Its influence has been sensibly
and extensively felt in foreign fields through its con-
tributions, its missionary bands recently so largely
increased, and (Especially in the numerous and able
Methodism and Revivals. 227
missionaries whom it has raised up and sent forth to
preach the gospel.
III. Sunday-school Statistics.
Methodist Episcopal Church, South: Schools or-
ganized, 7,226; officers and teachers, 57,867; scholars,
391,693; total, 449,560.
Methodist Episcopal Church, North: Schools or-
ganized, 19,904; officers and teachers, 212,442; schol-
ars, 1,743,735; total, 1,956,178. . .
With the latest corrections applied, the report of
the Statistical Secretary presents the Sunday-school
army of the United States and Canada thus: Total
of schools, 83,188; teachers and officers, 894,793-
scholars, 6,843,997; total of teachers and scholars,
7,738,790. Of the above, the United States have:
Schools, 77,793; teachers and officers, 853,100; schol-
ars, 6,504,054; total of teachers and scholars, 7,357,-
154. And as many more in Great Britain and other
countries.
CHAPTER XVI.
METHODISM AND KEVIVALS.
The grand feature of Methodism is a revival of
scriptural Christianity. "Revivals are no mere in-
cident of Methodism. It is itself a revival. The
entire significance of it is given in that word. Meth-
odism was not a revolution against existing ecclesi-
astical authority, nor against established doctrines,
but a revival of religion." — Bishop Marvin.
I. What is a Revival?
It is a deep spiritual interest pervading a town or a
neighborhood. It is an active, stirring excitement on
228 The Methodist Armor.
the question of personal salvation. There are three
states of men. There is the state of lukewarnmess;
the state of serious attention; then an anxious state,
saying, "What shall I do to be saved?" When this
state pervades a congregation, it is a revival of re-
ligion. The history of the Church is marked with
periods of revivals — great divine freshets, when the
rains from heaven filled the ordinary channels fuller
than they could hold, and they overflowed their banks
and spread spiritual beauty and fertility on both sides
clear down to the day of Pentecost, which was one of
the grandest revivals on record. The genuineness of
revivals is so clear and marked as to set aside the
necessity of argument. " I believe in the existence
of revivals of religion as much as I believe in any
other fact, either physical or moral." — Dr. Wayland.
While the Methodist Church is preeminently the
Church of revivals, yet nearly all the Protestant
Churches have more or less adopted the principle.
The revival Churches are the growing and spreading
Churches in our land.
II. Benefits of Revivals.
1. To Promote the Piety of the Christians. — It is a
great work to elevate the Christian character of the
members of the Church to a higher plane, a nobler
form of development. "Even if there were to be no
ingathering from the world, it is oftentimes that a
' i ef reshing grace ' (as it is called in the old-fashioned
language) in the Church is preeminently desirable,
preeminently a blessing from God, though it may
stop with the members of the Church; for our power
is not numerical, but moral — it is not so much how
Methodism and Revivals. 229
many members we have in the Church that deter-
mines its power as it is the quality of that which we
have. A church of twenty men who are eminent in
grace and goodness is a larger church, if you meas-
ure size by power, than a church of two thousand
that are living a very low, worldly form of life. So
that when men in the Church have been living in
routine Christianity without any very active develop-
ment of personal faith and the sweetness of the
Christian graces, it may oftentimes be the case that
a revival of religion will be the divine work in the
Church; and though many are not added to the
Church, the Church itself is immensely strengthened,
its power is augmented; so that while sometimes you
shall find men ambitious of a large roll of members
gathered in the community, this is not the most im-
portant part, important as it is. It is still more im-
portant that in gathering in these men those that
gather shall themselves be built up, shall themselves
be developed and made more powerful."
"A revival is the spring of religion, the renovation
of life and gladness. It is the season in which young
converts burst into existence and beautiful activity.
The Church resumes her toil and labor and care with
freshness and energy. The air all around is balmy,
and diffusing the sweetest odors. The whole land-
scape teems with living promises of abundant harvest
of righteousness and peace. It is the jubilee of holi-
ness. A genial warmth pervades and refreshens the
whole Church. Showers of 'vernal delight and joy'
descend gently and copiously. Delightful influences
are wafted by every breeze."
2. The Reclaiming of Backsliders. — One of the blessed
230 The Methodist Armor.
results of a revival is to awaken and reclaim back-
sliders. There aro hundreds and thousands in the
Church who are sunk down into a deep and fearful
state of religious declension. They are too far gone
to be recovered by the ordinary means of grace. The
only chance to lift them up from this gulf of declen-
sion is a flood of revival grace. Nothing less than the
thunder of a religious storm will wake them up and
bring them to repentance and renewed obedience. A
powerful revival will open their blind eyes and melt
their hard, marble hearts, and break the spell of sin,
and save them.
3. The Conversion of Sinners. — The immediate con-
version of sinners is the leading idea of a revival.
One of the most extraordinary elements of the gospel
is its power of suddenly transforming the souls of
men. It is the power of God unto salvation to every
one that belie veth.
"A gambler may in a moment cease to gamble,
and never again touch the instrument of deceit. A
drunkard may in one single moment come to a pur-
pose by which he shall never again touch the fatal
cup. The effects of his past misconduct will not pass
away at once, but the man has made a stand that will
affect his whole character."
"A man may be pursuing lewd courses, he may be
pursuing a dissolute life, and in one single hour he
may set the rudder so that his whole track after that
will be iipon a different line. The beginnings may
be sudden, and it is the knowledge of this fact that
there is a power by which men may be changed — not
in single instances alone, but in multitudes — that
inspires us to work in revivals of religion. We do
Methodism and Revivals. 231
not, therefore, get up a religious enthusiasm in a so-
cial form simply to enjoy ourselves and to exalt the
feeling of the Church, but we do it because in that
heat which is generated you can develop in wicked
men a newness of life which it would seem very dif-
ficult to develop under any other circumstances.
This is the language of experience and observation,
and not of theory."
Look at the first great revival that occurred on the
day of Pentecost. Three thousand hard-hearted sin-
ners were converted in one day. Who were they?
" Strangers " who had come from a distance to Jeru-
salem. No doubt but that they were men of spiritual
ignorance and wicked lives. Paul, the blood-red per-
secutor, is struck down beneath the outbursting splen-
dor of Christ's manifested presence, and transformed
into a flaming apostle. The Ethiopian eunuch, riding
in his chariot, is changed suddenly, and "went on his
way rejoicing." The publican sunk down beneath the
mountain-load of guilt, and cried, " God be merciful
to me a sinner! " The burden rolled off, light flashed
into his darkened mind, peace welled up in his heart,
and "he went down to his house justified." The
Philippian jailer is suddenly awakened to see his
sinfulness and awful danger, and then in a few mo-
ments he emerges from heathen darkness into the
glorious light and liberty of the sons of God.
" Name any specific sin in the catalogue of heinous
crimes, the forgiveness of which God has not illus-
trated in Biblical history: Noah, the inebriate; Abra-
ham, the falsifier; Moses, the son of ambition; Aaron,
the idolater; Solomon, the libertine; Manasseh, the
murderer; Peter, the swearer; David, the adulterer;
232 The Methodist Armor.
the nameless robber of Calvaria; Paul, the persecutor;
and fallen women, but represent tens of thousands
who have sung triumphantly: 'O God! I will praise
thee; for, though thou wast angry with me, thine an-
ger is turned away, and thou comf ortest me ! '
"Infidels, such as Newton, Rochester, and Charney;
veteran sinners, such as Marcus Caius Victorius; sav-
age chieftains, such as Africana; pagan monarchs,
such as Clovis and Constantine, have found Christ's
atonement ample for their salvation. Read Paul's
array of sinful classes saved from among the Corin-
thians, as he enumerates them in the sixth chapter
of his first letter to the Corinthians. "What a rich
freight of cheer comes to unsaved men on the opening
words of our text: 'All manner of sin and blasphemy
shall be forgiven unto men! ' "
4. The Conversion of Children- -Bevivals are pre-
cious seasons for bringing in the children and young
persons; and special pains should be taken to lead
them to Christ. The young are the hope of the
Church. They will be its strong pillars when the
fathers have passed away. They are soon to fill the
pulpits and pews of the Church. The glory of the
future Church will depend upon them. As the beau-
ty of spring, the glory of summer, and the fruitful-
ness of the autumn depend upon the healthy buds
and germs of the spring, so the power, excellency,
efficiency, and fruitfulness of the future Church will
depend upon the early conversion and thorough train-
ing of the children. And the Church that takes the
best care of the lambs will have the grandest flock
feeding in the green pasture of gospel grace. The
Church that transplants the most of these immortal
Methodism and Revivals. 233
scions will have the largest, most fragrant and fruit-
ful orchard. The Church that gets the most youthful
recruits, and trains and drills them well, will have the
grandest, most aggressive and effective army to con-
quer the world for Christ. It requires no prophetic
vision to see which denomination will be the greatest
Church of the future in America. It will be that
Church which is instrumental in converting the most
children, and developing them into fruitful Chris-
tians. Then, work for the conversion of the children.
Let there be no mock fear about them being too
young to be converted. There are very early con-
versions.
5. Earl)/ Conversions. — Dr. Talmage says: "It is
sometimes said that during revivals of religion great
multitudes of children and young people are brought
into the Church, and they do not know what they are
about. It has been my observation that the earlier
people come into the kingdom of God the more useful
they are."
Robert Hall, the prince of Baptist preachers, was
converted at twelve years of age. It is supposed he
knew what he was about. Matthew Henry, the com-
mentator, who did more than any man of his century
for increasing the interest in the study of the Script-
ures, was converted at eleven years of age; Isabella
Graham, immortal in the Christian Church, was con-
verted at ten years of age; Dr. Watts, whose hymns
will be sung all down the ages, was converted at nine
years of age; Jonathan Edwards, perhaps the might-
iest intellect that the American pulpit ever produced,
was converted at seven years of age. And that father
and mother take an awful responsibility when they
234: The Methodist Armor.
tell their child at seven years of age, "You are too
young to be a Christian," or, "You are too young to
connect yourself with the Church." That is a mistake
as long as eternity.
If during a revival two persons present themselves
as candidates for the Church, and the one is ten years
of age and the other is forty years of age, I will have
more confidence in the profession of religion of the
one ten years of age than the one forty years of age.
Why? The one who professes at forty years of age
has forty years of impulse in the wrong direction to
correct; the child has only ten years in the wrong di-
rection to correct. Four times ten are forty. Four
times more the religious prospect for the lad that
comes into the kingdom of God and into the Church
at ten years of age than for the man at forty.
We may add that it is stated that Bishop Asbury
was converted at thirteen, Bishop Roberts at ten, Dr.
Benson at sixteen, while Richard Baxter and Bishop
Andrew were so taught that they never knew the exact
time of their conversion.
Children are converted just as adults are converted.
The child is the father of the man. The nearer we
are to the birth, the nearer we are to the new birth.
The oldest, the wisest, has to enter the kingdom of
Christ as a child. Every child old enough to sin is
old enough to repent and believe. Then, again, how
much easier it is to get children converted than old,
hard-hearted sinners? It is easy to turn the lamb
while gentle into the pasture, but when it grows up to
be an old sheep and wanders far away upon the bleak
mountains of sin, becomes wild and shy, how difficult
the work of hunting it Tip and driving it back to tlte
Methodism and Revivals. 235
gate where it stood when a little lamb! And when
put into the fold, its bad habits render it liable to
leave the fold and go back to its old haunts. The ap-
plication is easy. The child is the gentle lamb, that
can be easily turned in through the gate of conversion
into the green pastures of the Church. The wild
sheep is the child neglected till it wanders off, con-
tracts the bad habits of drinking, swearing, unbelief,
and other sins which render his conversion difficult.
Two men have nurseries. The wise man takes up
a hundred scions while small, transplants them into a
fertile and well-prepared soil. They take root and
grow up into symmetrical trees, which flourish and
bear much fruit. He has a beautiful, fragrant, fruit-
ful orchard. The foolish man lets his scions alone.
They grow up into scraggy trees. They must be
transplanted or be destroyed. Now, he commences
the work of transplanting. They have grown old,
heavy, deeply rooted in the soil. What labor to dig
around and around, to prize and heave, in order to
get them up! Then he must work almost as hard in
digging deep holes where they are to be planted. He
must lop off many limbs and plant carefully, fertilize
•well, and then probably half of them will wither and
die after all of his hard labor. The wise man repre-
sents the preacher laboring for the conversion of the
children. The foolish man represents the preacher
who neglects the children till they grow up into hab-
its of sinfulness, and then works for their conversion.
This whole country is full of old sinners who stand as
old scrubby oaks in the forest of wickedness. Will
they ever be transplanted into the garden of the Lord
and become "trees of righteousness? " Will the mill-
236 The Methodist Armor.
ions of heathen rooted in the soil of superstition
ever be transplanted by a handful of missionaries?
This world cannot be converted by the old process of
transplanting grown trees. No, never. The Church
must begin at the cradle — must transplant the mill-
ions of the world while they are tender, growing
plants.
III. The Agencies to be Used in Secuking a
Revival.
1 . One of the most effective and reliable means is
the faithful preaching of the divine truth. It should
be adapted to produce the result desired.
(1) Such Preaching as will Convince the Judgment. — ■
" Knowing the terror of the Lord," said Paul, " we
persuade men." It was the compulsion of persua-
sion which the Saviour enjoined upon his disciples
as a means of inducing men to come in, that his
Father's house might be filled. Hence the control of
attention and the impartation of instruction, however
important of themselves, are nevertheless to be re-
garded as means to the higher end of convincing
men of spiritual truth and religious duty. As God
has implanted reasoning faculties in every mind, it
is the preacher's duty to bring Christian truth within
the action of those faculties, so that they may be en-
listed in its reception and study. To this end he
must be a lover of truth, and must illustrate its in-
fluence not only in his life, but in his modes of rea-
soning. No mental reservations must be allowed to
underlie his statements, no covert sophistries to im-
peach his candor, and no evasions to betray his lack
of confidence in the truths he assumes to utter. His
Methodism and Revivals. 237
motto must be, "Having believed, therefore do I
speak;" and in showing forth the reasons for the
faith that is in him, he will not fail to persuade
others also.
(2) The Preach in;/ should Arouse the Conscience. — It
was especially designed to reach and quicken that
silent and often silenced monitor of every breast,
which, however averse its possessor may be, seldom
fails to respond to earnest reasoning in "temper-
ance, righteousness, and a judgment to come." Pow-
erless and valueless for true religious effect are those
sermons which awaken no echoes in the chambers of
conscience; whereas the faithful word which startles
into action a dormant consciousness of guilt before
God, and confronts a careless soul with its own short-
comings and their consequences, is of priceless value
in the moral history of that soul. When the con-
science is properly aroused, it becomes an auxiliary
of untold power to aid the preacher in his further
work. It supplies the listening ear, the tender heart,
and the consenting will. Thus it is tliat through the
office of preaching God works within men "to will
and to do of his own good pleasure," and yet in per-
•fect harmony with their individual freedom of choice
and action.
(3) The Preaching should Melt the Sensibilities. — As
man embraces in his nature the most varied powers
and susceptibilities, so preaching was designed to
address and influence every faculty of his being
Intensely fallacious, therefore, is the theory of some
that preaching should only address the judgment.
That, indeed, is to be done in a manly and faithful
manner: but the more delicate task of warming the
238 The Methodist Armor.
heart and kindling the emotions is not to be left
undone. For this there is no power equal to a righi
exercise and an unaffected expression of the re-
ligious affections. How true is the classic precepi
of Horace, " Weep yourself if you would see others
weep," compared with the heart-utterances of the
Hebrew prophets and psalmist. Listen to Jeremiah
as he exclaims, " O that my head were waters and
mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day
and night for the slain of the daughter of my peo-
ple!" Also, David, when he said: "They that sow
in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and
weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come
again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him."
The preacher who cherishes or illustrates a cold,
unsympathetic nature, or whose ideas of propriety
would repress every emotion that does not freeze in
its utterance, is a poor representative of Him who
shed tears over Jerusalem, and who wept at the
grave of Lazarus. If "love is the fulfilling of the
law," and if "Christian faith works by love and puri-
fies the heart," then let no preacher of the gospel
fear or fail to cherish a consuming love for his fel-
low-men, and to imbue his messages with a warmth
of sentiment which will soften frigid hearts and melt
down the obduracy of impenitence. Well has it been
said that he who loves most will preach best.
(4) The Great End, Aim, and Result of the Preaching
shoidd be to Lead Sinners to the Saviour. — All other ele-
ments focalize in this. Hence, whether by instruc-
tion, persuasion, conviction, or entreaty, or by all
combined, the preacher must by all means strive to
save men. Hence, also, that method, or combination
Methodism and Revivals. 239
of methods, which will save most is, without question,
the best. At this point the controlling purpose of
the preacher will greatly influence the character of
his preaching. Moral and spiritual results rarely
ensue by accident. The laws of intellectual and
spiritual influence are not less positive than those
which govern matter. He that would preach the
gospel for the glory of God and the salvation of
men must study those laws and avail himself of their
power. Of all the good gifts which it is permitted
men to covet, that of winning souls is the greatest.
For the attainment of this it is the privilege of every
minister of the Lord Jesus to toil with a holy ambi-
tion and to pray with an unwavering faith, relying
upon the promised aid of the Holy Ghost. For this
he should account no labor irksome, no study hard,
no experiment profitless. For this even failures may
become to him lessons of help, and sacrifices the
source of glorious rewards. A ministry that is not
crowned with the result of soul-saving, however it
may win human applause or snuff the incense of ad-
miration, is poor indeed; whereas he that is blessed
of God, in using the appointed means of converting
sinners from the errors of their ways, enjoys a priv-
ilege that angels might covet.
2. Praying for the Unction of the Holy Ghost. — "All
revivals are the work of the Holy Spirit. They are
never manipulated into existence. When religion is
revived, God does it. Nothing can substitute the di-
vine presence and power. The 'times of refresh-
ing' are 'from the presence of the Lord.' But God
always works among men through human media, so
that while 'the power is of God,' 'itworketh mightily
240 The Methodist Armor
ill' his people." — Bishop Marvin. And as the power
of developing and carrying on a revival is the Holy
Spirit, the disciples were commanded to tarry at
Jerusalem till that power came. "Ye shall receive
power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you."
The power that leads men to Christ is not the power
of eloquence. The power of eloquence may move
and burn, but it cannot regenerate the soul of man.
The cold moonlight of human eloquence Can never
melt down the icebergs of sin. It will take the sum-
mer beams of the Holy Spirit to do that.
Neither is it the power of logic. Mere argument can-
not convert a soul. You have seen sheet-lightning how
it flashes and dazzles, but it never wields the bolt that
smites and kills. Cold logic is the mere sheet-light-
ning. It is the fire of the Holy Ghost that smites
sinners and converts their souls.
" Now, it was just exactly that mood of the higher
faculties which came to the apostles after Christ's as-
cension, when the Holy Ghost descended upon them.
It is precisely that faith which is produced upon God's
people now when the Holy Ghost descends into their
hearts. There is not an explainable personality, there
is not an explicable influence, but there is the witness,
from age to age, of thrice ten thousand in every gen-
eration, that it is best for men so to hold their souls
that they shall be filled with the divine enthusiasm —
that it is a divine enthusiasm which in the main mani-
fests itself by giving tone and electric, or magic, power
to the higher moral and spiritual sentiments in the
human soul; and it is exactly that part of the mind
which is ordinarily capable of being the most effica-
cious upon others. No man inspires faith in his fel-
Methodism and Revivals. 241
low-man who has not faith himself; no man inspires
warmth in them who has not warmth himself; no man
inspires enthusiasm in them who does not generate en-
thusiasm in his own soul. And to do this transcends
nature. In order to do this, we need to have the divine
influence exerted upon our souls. And it is for this
that the truth of the Divine Spirit is revealed. It is
distinctively peculiar. It was known among the proph-
ets uuder the old dispensation; it became the posses-
sion or right of the whole brotherhood of men under
the new dispensation; and it is possible for men to
live in such a light, in such a warmth, and so under
the stimulating influence of the Spirit of God, that
the higher part of their nature shall be constantly in
an innocuous state, warming, and lighting, and bless-
ing men. Now, in this higher condition of the nobler
faculties, more than in any other condition, we lose
the fear of men, and escape from that bias and dam-
aging influence which comes in through the love of
approbation. We love the praise of God more than
the praise of men, therefore we are lifted up above a
thousand temptations and infelicities; above the cur-
rents which blow close down to the earth — the ' land
currents,' as they are called."
In laboring for a revival, nothing is so important as
earnest, persevering, and believing prayer. There
must be private and public prayer. The preachers
and the people must pray mightily for the outpour-
ing of the Spirit. For our encouragement, we are told
by the Master " that God loves to give good gifts to
his children that ask him," more than parents love to
give bread to their children. He challenges us. He
says: "If ye ; being evil, know ! ow to give good gifts
16
212 The Methodist Armor.
mi to your children, how much, more shall your Father
which is in heaven?" That is, how much more shall
One who is not evil, who is not narrow, who is not
ignorant, who is not imperfect — how much more shall
the wisdom and goodness of the Father in heaven do
for men than the erring affection and limited wisdom
of earthly parents do for their children! God's boun-
ty is universal, unquestionable; and nothing pleases
God so much as that we should draw upon him. " It
is more blessed to give than to receive," said Christ.
He said so because he felt it. He said so because
it was true of the Eternal Father. The happiness
of God comes from this, that he is eternally pouring
out from himself. He loves to give, and rejoices to
give.
If, then, you need consolation, enlightenment, power,
enthusiasm, joy in the Holy Ghost, it is to be sought.
It is not to be purchased by labor-pains, by penalties,
or by tasks ; it is to be received. It comes as the dew
comes; it falls as the rain falls; it streams abroad as
the light streams abroad; it is that which God loves
to give, that which you need to receive, and that
which every man should seek and should take. When
the preacher is baptized with the Holy Ghost, his ser-
mon will move the people.
He will preach as though he ne'er should preach again,
And as a dying man to dying men.
IV. The Cooperation of the People with the
Preachers.
On this point, Mr. Moody has some very practical
and useful remarks. He says: " There are three class-
es in the Church. First, the formalists, who criticise.
Methodism and Bevivals. 243
Tliey say, We can have nothing to do with these evan-
gelists; we must maintain dignity and order in our
services. These are the same class of people who
cried out, ' Crucify him! crucify him! ' They resent-
ed the preaching of the Nazarene, and they objected
to his unorthodox sermons, and the crowds who fol-
lowed him about, and his ignoram disciples who were
not of the scribes and Pharisees.
"Then there are the sponges. They take all the
comfort they can get, but give out nothing. They
are going to meetings all the time, listening to ser-
mons; but you can never get them to work. They do
not teach in our Sunday-schools; they will not visit
the sick.
"The third is the class we want— the Christian
workers. All the while the minister is preaching they
are praying for the Spirit of God to carry the truth to
the hearts of sinners. After the service they are look-
ing out for some one to speak to and to make a personal
appeal. A minister who has a hundred such workers
in his congregation will revolutionize the part of the
city he works in. The trouble is not so much in get-
ting men to hear the gospel as in getting men to work.
"We hear much of those who show zeal without
knowledge, but I had a thousand times rather have
zeal without knowledge than knowledge without zeal
We must learn never to despise the weakest workers
in the Master's service. God chooses the weak things;
God uses the foolish things. We want to have the wise
and the strong, and we are not content to follow God's
plan, for God often passes over the wise. If you had
asked the men of other days who were the great men of
the time, they would not have pointed you to John Bun-
24.4. The Methodist Armor.
yan, or to Luther, to Abraham, to Enoch, or to Noah.
John Bunyan got shut up in Bedford jail, but the devil
found his match when he laid John Bunyan up there.
We never should have had the Pilgrim's Progress if
it had not been that John Bunyan had leisure in his
cell to write his wonderful dream. The millionaires
are not the workers inHhe Church ; God passes them by.
If they are converted, they are not used. God passes
them by, and takes up some poor tramp. Even Paul
said his strength lay in his great weakness.
" To arouse the Christian Church to a sense of its
duty, and to induce Christian men to go out and work
for their Master, is one of the highest missions open
to man. An anxious Church is sure to bring anxious
inquirers, but a cold and dead Church is dead for the
work of the Lord. Very few men are converted un-
der sermons; I have hardly ever met one who was.
Men are awakened under a sermon, and then is the
time for the Christian to speak, to plead, and to pray
until the anxious soul finds peace. Do not forget that
the precious, the useful work often begins when the
sermon is just over. I believe the usefulness of many
a sermon has been lost altogether by the congregation
getting up directly it was over and beginning to talk
about worldly matters. There has not been that sup-
port, that holding up of the hands of the ministry by
the Church that there ought to be and used to be."
V. The Transcendent Importance of Revivals.
"God calls us to the work of leading sinners to
Christ. Inspiration tells us that ' he who converteth
a sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul
from death and hide a multitude of sins.' God saves
Methodism and Revivals. 245
men through human agency. Men perish through
human neglect of duty. See the apostles as they toil
for souls! Over Syrian deserts, through the storms
of the sea, in pestilential climes, amid hunger and
thirst and persecution, they hurried to tell dying men
of Jesus. And multitudes, yearning for souls, have
trodden in their footsteps. Brainerd and Eliot, Lat-
imer and Baxter, Berridge and Venn, Whitefield and
Wesley — how these have talked with seraph tongues,
and labored with apostolic zeal for Christ! Were the
whole Church thus consecrated to the salvation of
men, the coming century would inaugurate that co-
lossal concert of angels at which John represents
them as leading and universal humanity thundering
the chorus : ' Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to re-
ceive honor, and glory, and blessing; and every creat-
ure which is in heaven and on earth heard I saying,
Blessing and honor and glory and power be unto him
that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, for-
ever and ever!' "
VI. HlNDEEANCES TO A EEVIVAL.
The following conclusions are the result of the
experience and observation of a very eminent reviv-
alist:
1. A revival will stop when the Church believes it
is going to stop.
2. A revival will cease when Christians consent that
it should cease.
3. A revival will cease whenever Christians become
mechanical in their attempts to promote it.
4. It will cease whenever Christians get the id >
that thf work will go on without their aid.
246 The Methodist Armor.
5. When Christians get proud of their great revival,
it will cease.
6. It will stop, when the Church gets exhausted by
labor.
7. When the Church begins to speculate about ab
stract doctrines.
8. When Christians begin to proselyte.
9. When Christians refuse to render unto the Lord
according to the benefits received.
10. When Christians grieve the Holy Spirit by ceas-
ing to depend upon it.
11. When Christians lose the spirit of brotherly
love.
12. A revival will decline and cease unless Chris-
tians are frequently reconverted.
13. It will cease when the Church ceases to de-
nounce and oppose public evils.
CHAPTER XVII.
METHODISM AND MISSIONS.
I. The Genius of Methodism is Missionary.
" The Methodist Episcopal Church is most thoroughly
committed to the cause of Christian missions. Begot-
ten herself of a most important missionary enterprise,
born and nurtured in the spirit of an intense evangel-
ism, her course for the century has been one of un-
ceasing evangelistic aggression. The records of her
earliest history bear testimony to the self-sacrificing
zeal of her preachers in pushing themselves out to
the very borders of civilization, keeping themselves
quite abreast of the most advanced tide of popula-
tion as it flowed onward, sharing joyfully the hard-
Methodism and Missions. 247
sliips of the pioneer people, if by all means they
might save some, and plant among them the institu-
tions of the gospel. The missionary work thus begun
and carried forward, under the personal supervision of
Bishop Asbury, soon grew to such proportions as to
suggest, and indeed to require, a special and formal
organization for this sort of Church work; and so,
following the clearest dictates of duty, the Mission-
ary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church was
formed. This Society, in the scope of its spirit and
purpose, proposes to be nothing more, and surely it
ought to be nothing less, than the whole Church in
missionary action. Since its organization the Church,
through her missionary operations, has spread herself
all over this land, and, overleaping its limits, has gone
to Mexico, to South America, to Africa, to Europe, to
Asia; and to-day her mission-fields girdle the globe,
and her morning doxologies to Father, Son, and Holy
Ghost keep pace with the hours and the journeys of
the sun."
II. Facts that Should Stir our Missionary Zeal
and Fire Our Hearts in the Great Work.
1. " The first fact that confronts us in connection
with this theme is, Christianity is in the minority. After
eighteen centuries of evangelizing, it is outvoted by
heathenism almost three to one. There are vast regions
yet untouched by the gospel plowshare. On this conti-
nent, where we boast the best civilization, away to the
north, natives sit in their ice caves wrapped in furs
and feeding on oil, into whose huts not one ray from
the Sun of righteousness has penetrated. A few vil-
lages have been turned into mission-stations, but the
great tribes are uncalled: Swing down through the
2-18 The MetJwdist Armor.
north-west belt, and through the great valley, and by
the coast— the mass of the people are in deep pagan-
ism. The painted warrior follows the bloody trail,
and measures his greatness by the number of his
scalps. Drop down through the vast regions of the
gulf, cross the isthmus, plunge on into the kingdoms
and republics of South America, and over this great
stretch you find a kind of religion that has lost out of
it every thing but its heathenism, and that now stands
as the mortal enemy of civilization and a bar against
the kingdom of Christ. What do we find in Africa?
Here and there a mission-house, now and then a
weary evangelist; but the millions sit in a darkness
by which their own complexion pales. . Pass over
into Asia, crowd through the millions that follow the
False Prophet, ascend the Ural Mountains, look down
upon half the human race in idolatry and lust; then
you will understand that the work is not all done."
2. "Another fact arresting attention is this, there
is universal need of salvation. The heathen, like our-
selves, need to be saved. They are lost, and need a
Saviour. We are wont to look at the physical condi-
tion of the heathen, and to exhaust our sympathies
over their low-grade comforts. This state is bad
enough to stir every heart. Think of a land like Chi-
na,, where there has not been a bridge or a road made
for twenty centuries, where there is not a spring wag-
on, nor a mile of railroad, nor a yard of telegraph in
the whole empire! think of this people living in their
cilies with the streets six feet wide and the avenues
twelve! The sewer in the streets is piled up against
the one-story buildings (they have no other, except
the government buildings), on one side of the street,
Methodism and Missions. 249
fco the very eaves; in the avenues it is ricked up in the
middle of the street ten or twelve feet high. This
rick is the accumulated filth of ten or fifteen centu-
ries. At night they water their streets with the filthy
water from their filthy homes. The stench is beyond
description. A glue-factory would be a deodorizer
in a heathen city. The terrors and torments of
their minds far exceed the perils or exposures of
their bodies. They are plagued by superstitions, and
robbed by priests, and murdered by magistrates, and
enslaved by rulers. In China they have vast, health-
ful, productive regions almost unoccupied, while the
people swarm in about the ancient centers, not dar-
ing to move away lest they offend the spirits of their
ancestors. They have great deposits of coal and
mines of the precious metals, but they dare not touch
them lest they offend the spirits of the mighty dead.
This fear has filled China with portions of stone walls,
from the Great Wall of the empire to the fragments
just long enough to enable a man to cower behind
them. These walls are theological, not political or
military. The people believe that the spirits of the
dead are blind, and that when enraged they dash at a
mortal ; if he can hide behind a wall, the spirit dashes
its head against the wall and falls down senseless;
when it recovers, it has forgotten its wrath. Thus
China is filled with walls, and the people are pursued
and tormented with perpetual fears. In India their
case is no better. Their cruel deities demand blood
as the price of peace. Infants and women and self-
sentenced men are sacrificed. The natural affections
of the heart are perverted."
3. "The great lair of Divine action makes human in.
250 The Methodist Armor.
strumentality a necessary part of the redemptive plan.
He works with us, not without us. I cannot say what
God could have done; I do not know, but I can tell
some of the things he has done. He has ordained
human agency as the way of carrying forward his
work. He never advances an inch without our coop-
eration. This is a universal law. All results in soci-
ety and life require both human and divine factors.
God loves us infinitely. I cannot think of him as out
of love. He seeks necessarily, all the time, by all pos-
sible means, to bring men out of their sins. Any let-
ting up, even for a moment, would come short of the
dictates of infinite love. The remitted effort might
have achieved success and salvation. If God could
have his way, every poor sinner on earth would be
saved before to-morrow's sun shall rise. If God could
have his way, every prison-pen in the universe would
be thrown open, and every sorrowing sinner would be
loved up into purity and peace. But in the way of
these results stand the order of human agencies and
the power of the human will. Thus God waits upon our
slow mo\ement. He is estopped from remitting his
experiments with remedial agencies by the love that
caused our creation, and he is estopped from the use
of his omnipotence by the freedom he has vouchsafed
to every moral agent. Thus the world's salvation
awaits our action.
"The salvation of the world is now reduced to a
question of money. If Christian people will so wind
the parchment of their creed about the cross as to
make a divine dollar-mark ($), God's kingdom will be
upon us in the next decade. Talk about ability ! We
have money enough, if we only had availability. The
Methodism and Missions. 251
interest on what we spent in our war would put a mis-
sionary in the field for every eight hundred heathen,
and this interest would keep them there forever. God
lacks no love; Christ has died; the Holy Ghost has
been shed forth upon us. All lands are open, all peo-
ples are inviting, all languages are mastered. The
Church has all necessary experience of personal par-
don and free grace. The old errors of fatalism are
sifted out of the faith of the Church; the gospel is
restored to its early purity; all things are now ready.
Over the gate of the future it blazes the dollar-mark,
while God says, ' By this conquer.'
" Brothers, until our treasure consecrated, the icorld is
our easy prize. I want to see all the kingdoms of the
earth given to our God, and to his Christ; and I expect
to see it done in my day, if I am permitted to work as
long in the vineyard as I desire to. If the Methodist
Church would take hold of this with the old battle-
cry, ' No matter what it costs in men and money, this
must be done! ' the world would be startled from the
sleep of the age, and nations would be born in a day,"
III. Statistics — General Creeds of the World.
The population of the world is religiously distrib-
uted in the following proportions:
Professors of Christianity 418,000,000
Buddhism 400,000,000
Mohammedanism 215,000,000
Bralmumism 175,000,000
Judaism 7,000,000
All other forms of religious belief 174,000,000
The results of missionary labors among all th*
Churches:
252 The Methodist Armor.
Communicants.
India 87,854
China 16,237
( Vylon 7,490
Uurmah 20,811
Persia 1,221
Japan '. 2,006
Sumatra, 2,420
Turkish Empire 9,132
Communicant!.
Madagascar 68,317
West Africa 25,636
South Sea Islands 55,378
Sandwich Islands 14,976
Australia and N. Zealand 2,512
American Indians 17,142
The New Hehrides 1,820
South Africa 57,840
The above figures were taken from Bishop Hurst's
" Outline of Church History."
CHAPTER XVIII.
METHODISM AND EDUCATION.
Methodism has not neglected the important work
of educating her followers. The charge that the
Methodist Church was founded in ignorance, that
uncultivated people only joined her Communion, that
illiterate ministers preached in her pulpits, has no
foundation in truth.
John Wesley, her founder, was educated at one of
the most famous institutions of learning known in
the world. He was a man of superior mental culture.
Charles Wesley, whose heaven-inspired hymns are
sang in all the Churches; John Fletcher, whose
ponderous battle-ax of logic well-nigh demolished
the iron system of Calvinism; Adam Clarke, who
was called a walking encyclopedia; Richard Watson,
whose intellectual greatness is seen in his "Theo-
logical Institutes," are all shining monuments of
educated mind. In America, the Methodist Church
can show as many well-cultured intellects as any
other denomination. Mr. Wesley early began to or-
Methodism and Education. 253
ganize schools among his people. These schools
have expanded and multiplied into colleges, theo-
logical schools, and academic institutions of every
grade. Every Methodist body in England and Amer-
ica recoguizes the duty of providing schools for the
education of the people. "Edward Everett, in his
day, said that there was no Church in the United
States so successfully engaged in the cause of edu-
cation as the Methodist Church." The Methodist
Church, North, " can point to her twenty-seven col-
leges and theological seminaries erected and endowed
at a cost of three million one hundred thousand dol-
lars; her eighty-four academies, seminaries, and fe-
male colleges, with her regiment of eight hundred
professors and teachers, and her army corps of twen-
ty-five thousand five hundred students, marching up
the highway of intelligence and virtue, and erelong
to occupy the posts of influence and power."
The Southern Methodist Almanac says: "The in-
terests of education have been greatly promoted of
late in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. The
General Conference of 1878 was not able to present a
complete list of the institutions of learning under the
care of the Church; but in the Journal of the Gen-
eral Conference is published a tabular statement of
ninety-five institutions— with their grade, location,
when founded, by whom chartered, names of presi-
dents, number and names of instructors, number of
students, value of property, volumes in library, en
dowment, and times of commencement. The Con-
ference resolved 'that we recognize the hand of a
gracious Providence in the magnificent gift which
established and endowed Vanderbilt University, and
254 The Methodist Armor.
rejoice to hear that it has already entered upon its
field of extensive and rapidly increasing usefulness.' "
Geneeal Educational Statistics.
Number of instructors and students in universities
and colleges of the United States by religious denom-
inations, as reported by United States Commissioner
of Education for 1878:
Denominations. Institutions. Instructors. Students.
Koinan Catholic 49 733 7,851
Methodist 50 499 8,930
Baptist 40 299 5,085
Presbyterian 35 335 5,088
Congregational 20 239 3,878
Lutheran 16 127 2,073
Christian 14 112 2,043
Protestant Episcopal 11 127 911
Eeformed 7 68 764
United Brethren 7 46 1,040
Friends 6 50 780
Universalist 5 62 394
Seventh Day Advent 1 15 281
Jewish 1 4 24
New Church 1 6 41
Non-sectarian 78 1,021 16,302
Not reporting 10 36 514
Additional, but not reporting _27
Grand total 378 3,759 56,035
Of the 351 colleges and universities reported the
average number of instructors for each was 10.7, and
the average number of students was 169.6.
Most of the number of non-sectarian colleges and
universities were founded under religious influence,
and include religious teachers in their board of in-
st ruction.
Over nine-tenths of all the colleges and universi-
Acts of the General Conference. 255
ties in the United States are under positive Chris-
tian supervision.
Infidelity has not sustained a single college or uni-
versity in the United States.
There is not a single flourishing State university
not under the supervision of religious instructors.
CHAPTER XIX.
Acts of the General Conference to 1844.
(Methodist Year-book.)
1784. The "Methodist Episcopal Church" was
formally organized at a Conference of the Methodist
ministers called by Thomas Coke, LL.D., an assist-
ant of Mr. Wesley in England, and sent over by the
latter for the purpose of consummating such organi-
zation. The first Bishops, Coke and Asbury, were
elected. This Conference (called the "Christmas
Conference") met in Baltimore, December 25, and
continued its session until January 2, 1785.
1787. A General Conference was called at Balti-
more in May, by Dr. Coke, at the request of Mr.
Wesley; but as the Annual Conferences had not been
consulted, and hence had not authorized it, many of
the ministers did not attend, and no official record of
its doings was preserved. Some additions, however,
were made to the Discipline, and the word " Bishop "
was substituted for " Superintendent," as applied to
Bishops Coke and Asbury. It is believed also that
the term " presiding elder " was then first applied to
superintendents of districts.
1789. In order to supply a central authority long
256 The Methodist Armor.
felt to be needed, the several Annual Conferences
concurred in the formation of a " Council," to be
composed of the Bishops and presiding elders, who
should recommend such changes as they should
unanimously agree upon, but which, before becoming
binding upon the Church, should be adopted by the
several Annual Conferences. .
1790. The "Council," referred to in the preceding
paragraph, was composed of the Bishop and of elders
elected from each district. This had been done in
order to meet objections made to their appointment
to the Council by the Bishops. The Council, how-
ever, being without power except as advisory, was
unpopular, and was substituted by a General Confer-
ence of the preachers of all the Conferences.
1792. First General Conference, held in Baltimore,
November 1. This Conference directed that the next
General Conference should meet after an interval of
four years. Though embodying, as its members be-
lieved, the full ecclesiastical authority of the Church,
the Conference bound itself by special enactment not
to change any recognized rule of Methodism except
by a two-thirds vote. The presiding elder's term of
office in any one district was limited to four years.
The Book Concern (previously opened at Philadelphia
by authority of the "Council") was formally estab-
lished by General Conference action.
1796. Second General Conference, held in Balti-
more, commencing October 20, composed of one hun-
dred and twenty members. Bishop Asbury presided
"Chartered Fund" instituted and incorporated by
Legislature of Pennsylvania. The Annual Confer-
ence boundaries first determined by General Confer-
Acts of the General Conference. 257
ence action. Number then designated, six, but the
Bishops were authorized to add a seventh.
1800. Third General Conference, held in Balti-
more, May 6-20. The previous one had been held
in the fall, but owing to the prevalence of yellow fe-
ver in 1799, the Annual Conferences had authorized
Bishop Asbury to change the time to May. Bichard
Whatcoat was elected Bishop. His competitor for
the office was Jesse Lee. The second ballot was a
tie, but on the next Whatcoat was elected. The Book
Concern was removed to New York. [John Dickins,
the Book Agent, had died of yellow fever the year
previous.] Bishop Asbury, in consequence of phys-
ical debility, sought to resign his episcopal office, but
was induced by the earnest request of the Conference
to continue in the office. The Bishops were author-
ized to ordain colored preachers. [Bichard Allen, of
Philadelphia, was the first colored preacher ordained
under this rule.]
1804. Fourth General Conference, held in Balti-
more, May 7-23. Members, one hundred and seven.
The pastoral term was limited to two consecutive
years on any one charge. Previously there had been
no limit to the episcopal prerogative, except in the
case of presiding elders. A motion to change the
General Conference into a delegated body was voted
down, but the matter was left for the Bishops to
consult the Annual Conferences during the qnadren-
nium,
1808. Fifth General Conference, held in Baltimore,
May 6-26. Members, one hundred and twenty-nine.
William McKendree elected Bishop. Bishop Coke
war, granted permission to reside in England, but not
17
258 The Method id Armor.
to exercise while there his episcopal functions. Del-
egated General Conference first provided for, the
ratio of representation to be one member for each
five of the traveling ministers. The "^Restrictive
Bules " first adopted. No one of these Eules was to
be changed without the concurrence of a majority of
all the members of the Annual Conferences (present
and voting at the Annual Conference sessions) with
a two-thirds vote of the General Conference. This re-
quirement continued until 1828, when the word " ma-
jority" was substituted by the word "three-fourths."
1812. Sixth General Conference, held in New York
City, May 1-22. This was the first delegated Confer-
ence. Members, eighty-eight. Bishop McKendree
presented a written Episcopal Address, the first pre-
sented to the General Conference. Local deacons
made eligible to elder's orders. Ordered that stew-
ards' nominations be referred by preachers to Quar-
terly Conference for confirmation or rejection; preach-
ers had hitherto appointed the stewards.
1816. Seventh General Conference, held in Balti-
more, May 1-24. One hundred and three members.
Rev. Messrs. Black and Bennett were present as fra-
ternal delegates from British Conference. " Course
of Study" for ministers provided for. Enoch George
and Robert Bichford Roberts elected Bishops. Num-
ber of Conferences increased to eleven, and Bishops
authorized to organize another. Monthly Methodist
Magazine Eatio of Annual Conference representa-
tion changed from "five" to "seven."
1820. Eighth General Conference, held at Balti-
more, May 1-27. Members, eighty-nine. John Em-
ory appointed delegate to British Conference. Im-
Acts of the General Conference. 259
proved edition of Hymn-book ordered. Missionary
Society, previously organized in New York City, was
approved. Bishop McKendree was relieved from ef-
fective labor. Bishop Soule was elected Bishop, but
declined to be ordained, and resigned the office be-
cause the Conference had adopted, as a compromise
measure, a resolution authorizing the Annual Con-
ferences to elect presiding elders. The application
of the resolution was suspended for four years, until
the question should be submitted to the Annual Con-
ferences.
1824. Ninth General Conference, held at Balti-
more, May 1-29. Members, one hundred and twen-
ty-six. Joshua Soule and Elijah Hedding elected
Bishops. Kevs. Richard Beece and John Hannah
delegates from England. The Annual Conferences
having voted against the change of rule so as to per-
mit the election of presiding elders, the provision
for such election, previously adopted, was declared
null and void.
1828. Tenth General Conference, held at Pitts-
burg, May 1-24. Members, one hundred and sev-
enty-six. Connection with the Canada Conference
substantially dissolved. William Capers elected del-
egate to England.
1832. Eleventh General Conference, held in Phila-
delphia, May 1-24. James O. Andrew and John
Emory elected Bishops.
1836. Twelfth General Conference, held at Cincin-
nati, May 1-27. Members, one hundred and flfty-
eight. Bishops Roberts, Soule, Hedding, and An-
drew presided (Bishops McKendree and Emory had
died). Dr. Wilbur Fisk appointed fraternal delegate
260 The Methodist . irmor.
to British Conference. Separate Bible Society dis-
solved, and a resolution of cooperation with Ameri-
can Bible Society adopted. Liberia Conference or-
ganized. A " resident Corresponding Secretaryship "
established. Beverly Waugh, Wilbur Fisk, and
Thomas A. Morris elected Bishops. Dr. Fisk, who
was absent in Europe at the time, declined the office
in order to remain at the Wesleyan University, of
which he was President. Authority given to Annual
Conferences to locate ministers for unacceptability.
1840. Thirteenth General Conference, held at Bal-
timore, May 1 to June 3. Members, one hundred and
forty-two. Kev. Robert Newton fraternal represent-
ative from British Conference. Bishop Soule ap-
pointed representative to British Conference, with
Bev. Thomas B. Sargent as traveling companion.
Bishop Hedding requested to attend Canada Wesley-
an Conference. Sunday-school Union reorganized.
The Organization of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, South.
1844. "The Plan of Separation" between the
Northern and Southern Methodists was agreed upon.
The General Conference met in New York on the
first of May. The feelings on the slavery question
^uite stormy. Bishop Andrew having become con-
nected with slavery by marriage, was censured by a
resolution requiring him to " desist from the exercise
of his office so long as this impediment remains."
Passed by majority of 110 to 68. There being no
possibility of reconciliation, "The Plan of Separa-
tion " was adopted by a large majority.
1845. The Convention composed of delegates from
Acts of the General Conference. 261
fourteen Southern Conferences, met in Louisville,
Ky., on the first of May. It was presided over by
Bishops Soule and Andrew. The Convention pro-
ceeded to organize "The Methodist Episcopal
Church, South," as an independent branch of Christ's
Church. The doctrines of Arminianism, the pecul-
iar usages and Discipline of Methodism, and eccle
siastical polity, remain about the same in both
Churches.
1846. The first General Conference of the Meth-
odist Episcopal Church, South, met in Petersburg,
Va., in May. William Capers and Robert Paine
elected Bishops. From this time on our General
Conference has met quadrennially. The Northern
Church refusing to divide the property of the Book
Concern in pro rata proportion, a suit was commenced
in the United States Court, which was finally decided
in favor of the Church, South. The Court decided
that the ministers of the South had vested rights in
the profits of the book establishment, and by this
decision the Church, South, held the printing estab-
lishments of Richmond, Charleston, and Nashville.
The debts due from persons residing within the
limits of the Southern Conferences, and two hundred
and seventy thousand dollars in cash, were paid to the
Methodist Episcopal Church, South.
1866. The General Conference adopted a system of
lay delegation, both in the General and Annual Con-
ferences. The probationary period of members was
abolished, and the rule on class-meetings made vol-
untary instead of being compulsory. The Methodist
Episcopal Church, South, has prosecuted its work
vigorously throughout its bounds, and its statistical
202 The Methodist Armor.
tables show a rapid and steady increase in all the
departments of Church work.
Bishops of the M. E. Church, South.
The following admirable sketches of our living
Bishops were published in Harper's Weekly, June 3,
1882:
Bishop George Foster Pierce, D.D., son of the
late venerable and distinguished Dr. Lovick Pierce, is
the senior Bishop in order of election. He was born
in Greene county, Georgia, February 3, 1811, and re-
sides near Sparta in that State. He designed in his
youth to enter the profession of law, but turned from
his studies, and in his twentieth year was admitted
into the Georgia Conference. Possessed of superior
pulpit abilities, as well as scholarly attainments, he
commanded prominence in South Carolina and Geor-
gia. He was prominent in the General Conference of
the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1844, although a
young man, in sustaining the Southern view of the
question at issue. He was also a member of the Lou-
isville Convention in 1845, and of the General Con-
ference of the Church, South, in 1846. In 1848 he was
elected President of Emory College, and held the po-
sition until 1854, when he was elevated to the episco-
pacy. He is still a royal preacher, but unable from
throat trouble to preach often. Very refined and
courtly in his manners, scholarly, and of aristocratic
carriage; tall, without being portly; gentlemanly in
dress; with piercing eyes, and a benign countenance.
The principal work from his pen is entitled "Incidents
of Western Travel." He has written much and well
on education and Church topics for the Church press.
Acts of the General Conference. 263
Bishop Hubbard Hinde Kavanaugh, D.D., was
born in Clark county, Kentucky, in 1802, and in his
boyhood received his first training as a printer. Con-
verted in his sixteenth year, five years afterward ho
was received into the Kentucky Conference, and from
that time to the present, fifty-nine years, he has been
effective. Possessing great physical endurance and
superior pulpit talents, his ministry has been one of
wonderful success both in the pastorate and episco-
pate. He has recently returned from California and
Oregon, where he spent a year, preaching with the
same power as in his younger years. In 1854 he was
elected Bishop, and was among the first to cultivate
fraternal feelings toward the Methodist Episcopal
Church. His visit to Bound Lake, Sea Cliff, and
other points in the North, in the interest of frater-
nity, was a source of satisfaction in the wide domain
of Methodism. Though eighty years of age, he is
still an untiring and successful worker, not only iri
the local Church work in and near Louisville, Ken-
tucky, his residence, but in the Church generally.
He gives but little evidence of his great age. He has
a heavy suit of black hair, silvered a little with gray;
is stalwart in frame, with a patriarchal bearing, full
habit, small, piercing eyes, and pleasant countenance.
Bishop Holland Nimmons McTyeire, D.D., was
born in Barnwell county, South Carolina, July 28,
1824, and entered the ministry of the Virginia Con-
ference in 1845; but his fine talents brought early
promotion, and he was transferred to the extreme
South, and filled important appointments in Mobile
and New Orleans. While in the latter city, the New
Orleans Christian Advocate was started by a committer
2U4 The Methodist Armor.
in 1851 — Eev. H. N. McTyeire, editor — and brought
out the first number February 10. At the General
Conference in 1854 the paper was received by that
body as one of the official Church organs, and Dr.
McTyeire was elected editor, thus making seven years
at that post. In 1858 he w«s elected editor of tho
Christian Advocate of Nashville, Tenn. In 1866 Dr.
McTyeire was elected Bishop, and has always been
devoted and prominent in that position. He received
the title of D.D. from Emory College, Georgia, and
La Grange College and other institutions have since
honored him similarly. He was chiefly instrumental
in securing the gift of one million dollars from the
late Cornelius Yanderbilt, to found Yanderbilt Uni-
versity, and the subsequent munificent gifts from Mr.
W. H. Yanderbilt. Commodore Cornelius Yander-
bilt placed it in his hands as President of the Trust,
with an elegant and permanent residence upon the
spacious grounds. The Bishop's wife is a cousin of
Mr: Vanderbilt's widow. He is naturally a leader,
quick in his movements, firm and judicious. He pos-
sesses much of the hauteur of Bishop Soule, without
his Andrew Jackson stern manners. He is the author
of the " Manual of the Discipline," and " The Duties
of Masters; " " Catechism on Bible History," prepared
for the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church in Amer-
ica, but used extensively by the Church, South; also
" Catechism on Church Government," which is now in
the Course of Study for young ministers. Bishop Mc-
Tyeire was Yice-president of the Western Section of
American Methodism of the Ecumenical Conference,
and made one of the speeches of welcome at City lload
Chapel, London, September, 1881. In person he is
Acts of the General Conference. 265
always courtly - looking, with bright eyes and dark
complexion; he has a tall and well-knit frame, with-
out being stout.
Bishop John Christian Keener, D.D., the youngest
i a the order of election, is a native of Baltimore, Mary
land, born February 7, 1819. Through the influence
of Rev. Dr. Wilbur Fisk, who was visiting his father,
the widely-known late Christian Keener, he spent
three years at Wilbraham Academy, Massachusetts,
under his care; and when Dr. Fisk became President
of Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, he
became a member of the first class, and graduated in
1835. Shortly after his graduation he was converted,
and entered mercantile life, but, abandoning his bright
secular prospects, he went South and entered the min-
istry, and was admitted into the Alabama Conference
in 1843. In a few years he was sent to New Orleans,
then especially a post of danger, and yet of honor be-
cause of its importance. He spent a score of years
in the pastorate of chief churches and presiding eld-
ership. In 1866 he was elected editor of the New Or-
leans Christian Advocate, and in 1870 was elevated to
the episcopacy. Bishop Keener is known, but not
published, as author of the "Post -oak Circuit,"
written as a prize essay on the support of the minis-
try, which appeared in 1855, and has gone beyond
the twelfth edition, and is still going; it is humorous,
pathetic, and argumentative by turns, and has done
much to aid in the support of the ministry. In per
son Bishop Keener is large and measurably stalwart,
with a genial countenance. He is a pulpit orator of
the magnetic type. He has been largely identified
with the Mexican mission-work of the Church.
206 The Methodist Armor.
Five new Bishops were elected by the General Con-
ference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South,
lately in session at Nashville, Tennessee. Of this
number, one, the Bev. Dr. Haygood, declined to be
ordained. The College of Bishops is, therefore, at
present nine in number.
Bishop Alpheus Waters Wilson, D.D., is the son
of the late Rev. Norval Wilson, a prominent ministei
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and widely known
in Maryland and Virginia. He was born in Balti-
more, Maryland, in 1834, converted in early life, and
was educated at Columbia College, Washington City,
and afterward studied with the intention of practic-
ing medicine, but abandoned the idea, and entered the
ministry in the Baltimore Conference of the Method-
ist Episcopal Church in 1853. He soon took high
rank, and commanded some of the best appointments
in Baltimore and elsewhere. His health failed, and
he read and practiced law; and when restored, he re-
entered the active ministry. He was identified with
the Baltimore Conference organized in the Method-
ist Episcopal Church, South, and became prominent
in that body, and was elected a delegate to the first
General Conference thereafter, and has been reelect-
ed three times to this highest court, which meets
quadrennially. He was at this time honored with
the degree of Doctor of Divinity. At the Genera
Conference held at Atlanta, Georgia, in 1878, he was
elected Secretary of the Board of Missions, which,
through his thorough canvass of the churches and fer-
vid appeals, has resulted in large contributions to the
cause, and the enlargement of- the foreign mission
work. His able pulpit and platform ministrations in
Acts of the General Conference 267
behalf of this cause, and rare executive abilities, have
Jed to his elevation to the higher work of the episco-
pacy. He was a delegate to the great Ecumenical
Conference at London, England, in September, 1881,
and read an able paper on "The Influence of Method-
ism on Other Denominations." He is the author of a
new work (just issued) on " Missions," which is highly-
spoken of. He has the elements of a leader, and will
make his impression in the councils of the Church and
in shaping her aggressive movements. He is of almost
medium height, compactly built without being fleshy,
and with admirable poise — a vigorous mind in a vigor-
ous body; his face is heavily bearded; he is sociable,
yet dignified, and neat in person. He was the only
one elected Bishop on the first ballot.
Bishop Linus Paekee, D.D., is a native of Rome,
New York, born in 1829, but removed to New Or-
leans, Louisiana, in his boyhood. While engaged as a
clerk in a dry goods store, he supplemented a meager
education by rising in the mornings at four o'clock to
study Latin and Greek before entering upon the duties
of business. Converted young, he entered the minis-
try in the Louisiana Conference in his twenty-first
year (1849), and after spending four years at two ap-
pointments in that State, he was sent to New Orleans,
where he has labored ever since as pastor, presiding eld-
er, and editor. A considerable portion of the past quar-
ter of a century he has been presiding elder, and editor
of the New Orleans Christian Advocate, successor to Bish-
ops McTyeire and Keener in the editorship of that
paper. He was honored by Centenary College with
the degree of Doctor of Divinity. The Advocate un-
der his editorship has risen to Connectional fame; hi?
268 The Methodist Armor.
polished editorials have won hirn journalistic renown
among cultivated people outside of the pale of the
Church. He has been elected a delegate to the Gen-
eral Conference five times, the first in 1858, when he
was quite young in the ministry. As a writer he is
clear, smooth, and forcible; as a preacher, he is ele-
gant and profound, and remarkable for bringing out
the hidden meaning of difficult texts; he is regarded
in the front rank of preachers in the South. By his
culture and scholarly attainments, deep piety, sound
judgment, modest demeanor, meekness of spirit, ami-
ability and simplicity of manners, he has won great
popularity among people and preachers. He is regard-
ed as eminently fitted to fill any position in the gift
of the Church. A man of fine presence, tall and large
frame, well filled without being unduly stout; rather
tawny skinned, with black, piercing eyes, and dig-
nified and courtly manners — the picture of vigorous
health. He was elected Bishop on the second ballot,
and ranks second in the order of election.
Bishop John Coopee Granbeey, D.D., the scholarly
Professor in Yanderbilt University, is a native of Nor-
folk, Va., born December 5, 1829. He was noted in
his boyhood and youth for his exemplary character,
and in his fifteenth year was converted. He entered
Kandolph-Macon College, and graduated with the first
honor in 1848. The same year (his twentieth) he was
received on trial in the Virginia Conference, and has
been identified with that body ever since. He soon
rose to be one of the foremost ministers in that body,
and commanded appointments to churches at Wash-
ington City, Bichmond, and Petersburg. He was also
chaplain of both Bandolph-Macon College and the
Acts of the General Conference 269
University of Virginia, the former honoring him with
M.A. and D.D. When the war began, he entered the
Confederate Army as a chaplain, and continued to
serve the army until the close of the struggle — a serv-
ice in which he fearlessly discharged his duties, and
was severely wounded in the temple, which injured
the sight of one eye, and he was taken prisoner. He
held for a time the position of superintendent of
chaplains from the Virginia Conference. In 1875 he
was elected Professor in the Theological Department
of Vanderbilt University, which position he has
adorned, and if he had not been elected to the epis-
copacy, he would have been chosen Dean, to fill the
vacancy caused by the death of Dr. Summers, because
of his varied talents and scholarly culture. He is the
author of a "Bible Dictionary," and has written much
and well for the Church press. He has been a mem-
ber of four General Conferences, and though honored
so often, he rarely speaks, but has the reputation
of being an elegant, chaste, scholarly, and eloquent
preacher. He possesses a clear, analytical mind of a
judicial cast, and is an able theologian. He is a man
of the purest character, humble in his walk, retiring,
sweet-spirited. He is of medium height, with high
forehead; good habit without being stout; well beard-
ed; eyes shaded with glasses. He was elected on the
second ballot, and is fourth in the order of election.
Bishop BoBEKT Kennon Hargrove, D.D., very un-
expectedly was elected, as he was not a member of the
General Conference, which is the only instance except
one in the history of the Church. At the first ballot
he developed strength, and at the second he only lacked
two votes of an election. There being only one h 1
270 The Methodist Armor.
elect, lie was chosen by an overwhelming majority
He was born in Pickens county, Alabama, September
17, 1829. Converted when but eleven years old, he
soon after became a student in the University of Ala-
bama, and graduated with honor. He was admitted
on trial into the Alabama Conference in 1857, and
was sent to some of the best appointments at Mobile,
Summerfield, and Greensboro, Alabama. He was
transferred, and appointed to Lexington, Ky., and
thence to the Tennessee Conference, and was appoint-
ed pastor of the McKendree Church, the seat of this
General Conference, and also presiding elder of the
Nashville and Franklin districts. At the time of his
election he was presiding elder of the Clarksville
District. For some time he was adjunct professor
in the University of Alabama, which had honored him
with A.B. and A.M. Emory College gave him D.D.
Then he was elected President of the Centenary In-
stitute, and afterward became President of the Nash-
ville Female College. He was one of the famous Cape
May Commissioners who drew up a compact between
the Methodist Episcopal Church and the Methodist
Episcopal Church, South, to regulate certain disputed
Church questions, which has given him fame in Amer-
ican Methodism. His name had been prominently
mentioned in regard to certain Connectional offices,
had he not been elected to the episcopacy. He has
been a member of three General Conferences pre-
vious to this one, and was a member of the Book
Committee and Board of Missions the past four years.
He is a man of broad culture and progressive views,
and, though not widely known in authorship, is a fine
writer. He is regarded as a strong preacher and an
Acts of the Gi neral Conference. 271
able theologian. It is believed that he has all the
elements of character to make a successful and useful
Bishop. He is of good height, large frame well filled,
pleasant countenance, with slight beard, quite gray
hair for his years, very genial, and courtly in appear-
ance.
Deceased Bishops of the M. E. Chuech, South.
Bishop Joshua Soule, D.D., was born in Maine,
1781; elected Bishop, 1821; died in Tennessee, 1867.
A grand man, whose sermons were distinguished for
great breadth of view and majesty of style, oftentimes
bearing down upon the audience like an irresistible
storm. With a masterly hand he scattered the vital
seeds of the gospel from Maine to Texas, sowing be-
side all waters.
Bishop James O. Andrew, D.D., born in Georgia,
1794; entered the South Carolina Conference, 1812;
elected Bishop, 1832; died in Mobile, Ala., March 2,
1871. "As a man he was spotless in reputation, so-
cial and genial in intercourse, and as a preacher he
was earnest, strong, and useful, grasping his subject
firmly, and often presenting his thoughts with pecul-
iar force and effect." — Bishop Paine.
Bishop William Capers, D.D., born in South Car-
olina, 1790; elected Bishop, 1846; died in South Car-
olina, 1855. " He was one of the master spirits of the
second generation of Southern Methodists; a worthy
successor of Asbury, Hull, Humphreys, and Daugh-
erty; intrepid, whole-hearted, well poised, strong ii:
influence that had been nobly won by great labors. A
very special fluency in utterance, ease of movement,
refinement and elegance of manner, and a chaste and
272 The Methodist Armor.
finished delivery, characterized his preaching." — Bish-
op Wightman.
Bishop Henry B. Bascom, D.D., born in New York,
1796; joined the Ohio Conference, 1813; elected Bish-
op, 1850; and died in September of the same year.
He presided over only one Conference before he died.
He rose from an obscure birth, and " attained to an
eminence never before reached by any preacher in
America, and was regarded as the first pulpit orator
of the world." In personal appearance he was a Dan-
iel Webster, in magnificence of oratory a Cicero, in
learning a walking cyclopedia.
Bishop John Early, D.D., born in Virginia, 1786;
entered the ministry, 1807; elected Bishop, 1854; died
in Virginia, November, 1873. He was a man famous
for business tact, for stirring energy, and fruitful
work. For over half a century he served his Church
with great fidelity.
Bishop W. M. Wightman, D.D., born in South
Carolina, 1808; joined the Conference of South Car-
olina, 1828 ; elected Bishop, 1854. Bishop Wightman
was one of the most scholarly men in the Southern
Methodist Church. He was a most excellent writer,
a magnificent preacher, and a fine presiding officer.
He died February 15, 1882.
Bishop Enoch M. Marvin, D.D., a native of Mis-
souri ; born, 1823 ; entered the Conference of Missouri,
1841; elected Bishop, 1866; died in St. Louis, Mo.,
November, 1877. A man of rare purity, richly gifted
ab a writer, and of extraordinary power as a preacher.
Bishop David S. Doggett, D.D., born in Virginia,
1810; joined the Conference of Virginia, 1829; elected
Bishop, 1866; died in Richmond, Va., 1880. A polished
Acts of the General Conference. 273
and scholarly writer, and the " golden-mouthed " ora-
tor of the Southern pulpit.
Bishop BoBEitT Paine, D.D., died October 20, 1882,
in his eighty-third year. He was born in North Car-
olina, November 12, 1799, but settled in his youth in
Tennessee. In 1818 he was admitted into the Tennes-
see Conference, and soon took rank, filling prominent
appointments until 1830, when he was elected President
of La Grange College, Alabama. There he remained
seventeen years, until the first General Conference of
the new Church, South, in 1846, when he was elevated
to the episcopacy. He had been a member of the
General Conferences of the Methodist Episcopal
Church five times, until the separation in 1844 owing
to the action against Bishop Andrew. He was chair-
man of the Committee of Nine, whose report forms a
memorable chapter in Methodist history. He was a
member of the Louisville Convention in 1845, and at
the fh 3t General Conference in 1846. He was elected
Bishop, and became the colleague of Bishops Soule
and Andrew, formerly of the Methodist Episcopal
Church. His " Life and Times of Bishop McKendree "
has proved a valuable contribution to Methodist his-
tory.
13
274
The Methodist Armor.
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276 The Methodist Armor.
CHAPTER XX.
GENERAL SUMMARY OF METHODISTS.
(Methodist Year-book.)
The following summaries have been compiled from
the latest official statistics reported by the several
branches of the great Wesleyan Methodist family.
Those of the Methodist Episcopal Church are to Jan-
uary 1, 1883, and include the official numerical returns
of the fall Conferences of 1882 and the spring Con-
ferences of 1883; those of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, South, are for 1882; those of the Canadian,
British, and affiliating Conferences are for 1883. In
two or three of the Churches the number of local
preachers is "estimated," but in each of those by
distinguished members of large observation in the
respective denominations:
I. EPISCOPAL METHODISTS IN UNITED STATES.
Itinerant Local Lay
Ministers. Preachers. Members.
Methodist Episcopal Church 12,654 12,337 1,799,593
Methodist Episcopal Chuivh, South 3,8Gt 5,892 904,248
African Methodist Episcopal Church 1,832 9,700 391,044
African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church 2,000 2,750 300,000
Colored Methodist Episcopal Church 1,016 C83 155,000
Evangelical Association 953 599 119,758
Union American Methodist Episcopal Church 112 40 3,500
United Brethren 1,257 963 159,547
Total Episcopal Methodists in United States 24,026 33,024 3,832,690
II. NON-EPISCOPAL METHODISTS IN UNITED STATES.
Methodist Protestant Church 1,358 1,010 123,054
American Wesleyan Church 267 215 23,090
Free Methodist Church 263 326 12,719
Primitive Methodist Church 27 162 3,716
Independent Methodist Church .". 25 27 5,000
Congregational Methodists 23 20,000
Total Non-Epi.-copal Medio lists in United States, 1,940 1,703 188,07 p
General Summary of Methodists. 211
III. METHODISTS IN CANADA.
Itinerant Local Lay
Ministers. Preachers. Members.
The Methodist Church of Canada 1,216 1,261 128,644
Methodist Episcopal Church of Canada 259 255 25,671
Primitive Methodist Church 89 246 8.090
Bible Christian Church - 79 197 ".398
British Methodist Episcopal Church (colored) 45 20 2,100
Total Methodists in Canada 1,688 1,979 171,903
IV. METHODISTS IN GREAT BRITAIN AND MISSIONS.
British Wesleyan Methodists in Great Britain 1,917 14,183 441,484
British Wesleyan Methodists in Missions 385 70,747
Primitive Methodists 1,147 15.982 196,480
New Connection Methodists 188 1,271 29,299
Wesleyan Reform Union 551 8,663
United Free Methodists 391 3,417 84,162
Bible Christians (including Australia) 228 1,909 28,624
Total Methodists in Great Britain and Missions... 4,807 36,762 859,411
V. WESLEYAN AFFILIATING CONFERENCES.
Irish Wosleyan Conference 239 25,050
French Wesleyan Conference 196 2,024
Australasian Conferences 449 4,480 69,392
South African 167 26,038
Total in Wesleyan Affiliating Conferences 1,051 4,480 126,504
GRAND TOTAL OF MINISTERS AND LAY MEMBERS.
Methodists in Churches of United States 25,966 34,737 4,020,672
Methodists in the Dominion of Canada 1,688 1,979 171,903
Methodists in Great Britain and Missions 4,807 36,762 859,449
Methodists in Affiliating Conferences 1,051 4,480 126,504
Grand total of Methodists and Missions in 1883 33,512 77,958 5,178,528
Note. — Total Methodist population (estimated), 25,472,370.
Comparative Statistics — United States, 1879.
Denomination*. Ministers. Members.
Methodists .* 23,888 3,506,891
Baptists 20,292 2,656,221
Presbyterians 8,301 897,598
Lutherans 2,976 808,428
Congregationalists 3,496 375,654
Protestant Episcopalians 3,147 321,3t>7
Universalists 711 37,500
Notk. — In the number of Methodist ministers here given the
local Methodist preachers are not included. The number of local
278 The Methodist Armor.
preachers in the United States is 25,498. The total number of
Methodist preachers — traveling and local — in the United States
is 48,526.
Denominational Statistics fkom the United
States Census, 1870.
n. n . M i n .*:. H . Con ere- Church Church Church
De-jcnnuafons. ^^ Ediflces . Sittings. Property.
Methodist 25,278 21,837 0,528,209 $09,854,121
Baptist 15,839 14,032 4,305,135 41,007,198
Episcopal 2,835 2,001 991,051 30,514,549
Presbyterian 7,824 0,071 2,097,244 43,305,300
Lutheran 3,032 2,776 977,332 14,917,747
Roman Catholic 4,127 3,800 1,990,514 60,985,500
Gmgregationalist 2,887 2,715 1,117,212 25,069,098
The Pre-eminent Success of Methodism.
The Methodists began to preach in this country in
1773. The Baptists began in 1639. The Presbyte-
rians began in 1703. The Congregationalists in 1648.
The Catholics, Lutherans, and Episcopalians began
with the settlement of the country. It will be seen
that the Methodist is the youngest of the Churches
mentioned. She is one hundred and seventy-seven
years younger than the Baptists, one hundred and
eighteen years younger than the Congregationalists,
sixty-three years younger than the Presbyterians;
while the Catholics, Episcopalians, and Lutherans are
as old as immigration to the American shores. Not-
withstanding this, the Methodist Church is by far
the largest in numbers. The census table shows
that she has one-third of all the Church organiza-
tions in the United States; one-third of all the
Church edifices; preachers to one-fourth of all the
Church-going population; and has built, on an aver-
age, nearly two churches per day for the last twenty
General Summary of Methodists. 279
years. The Methodist population in the United
States is estimated to be 23,440,465. " In twenty-two
of the thirty-seven States in the Union, the Method-
ist Church is first in numbers; in eleven others she
is second; in three others she is third. The Koman
Catholic Church is first in five States; the Baptist is
first in six States; and the Congregationalist is first
in four States."
It will be seen from the above tables that the Meth-
odist Church stands far in advance of all other de-
nominations in this country. She ranks first in the
number of her communicants, in the number and
capacity of her Church buildings, and in the value of
Church property, and in the amount of money col-
lected and expended for Church purposes. Let it be
understood once for all:
1. The success of Methodism did not arise from
any government aid. Methodism received no special
favors from human government. It is well known
that the Episcopalians in England, the Presbyterians
in Scotland, and the Lutherans in Germany, are sup-
ported largely by State taxes. Methodist people
there are forced to pay the ministers of these
Churches. In America, the Episcopalians and Pres-
byterians have occupied largely the leading offices in
the gift of the civil government.
2. Methodism has not grown to its enormous pro-
portions by immigration. It is well known that the
growth of the Roman Catholic Church in this coun-
try has been mainly by immigrants. The other
Churches have swelled their ranks by immigration,
while Methodism had to grow by the conversion of
native Americans.
280 The Methodist Armor.
3. Methodism lias not succeeded through superior
educational facilities. The first colleges built Jui this
country were run in the interest of other Churches.
The education of the Methodist ministers, especially
in early times, was not equal to that of other denom-
inations. The success of Methodism, then, is not
found in superior intellectual culture.
4. The success of Methodism did not arise from
the possession of great wealth and social advantages
The early Methodists were generally poor people.
One of the glories of Methodism was the fact that it
preached the gospel to the poor, obscure, neglected
people. It sought out the " uncombed million" living
in the highways and hedges.
5. Nor did it grow to greatness because the times
were propitious. The time of its origin was one of
darkness — one of infidelity — rampant immoralities.
The world was sunk in moral degradation when
Methodism began.
We must, then, find the causes of Methodist suc-
cess to be (1) the superiority of its doctrines; (2) the
efficiency of its ecclesiastical organization; (3) the
piety, earnestness, and activity of its ministers and
members; (4) and above all, the baptism of the Holy
Spirit — firing the hearts and enlightening the minds
of the preachers and people. "It is not by power,
nor by might, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord."
As the life and fruitfulness of the vine depend on
the vitalizing sap circulating through it, so does the
fruitfulness of a Church depend upon the Holy
Spirit. "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace."
As the earth is lependent on the sun for its beauty
and fruitfulness, so is the Church dependent od the
Apostolic Features. 281
light and warmth of the Holy Ghost to make it re-
joice and blossom as a rose.
CHAPTER XXI.
THE APOSTOLIC FEATURES OF THE METHODIST
CHURCH.
1. The apostolic Church was a voluntary company
or society. Men attached themselves to this by
choice, and not under force. It is said of the early
disciples, " They went to their own company." This
apostolic society soon grew to a company of thou-
sands. Like the apostolic Church, Methodism began
by forming a society for religious culture, and soon
grew to thousands.
2. The apostolic Church was a separated compa-
ny — a society to promote holiness. Its members
were called out from among the people of the world
and consecrated to the service of God. Like the
apostolic Church, the Methodists consecrated them-
selves to the service of the Lord. The leading de-
sign of Mr. Wesley's societies was to get good and
spread holiness over the land. " The king's daugh-
ter is glorious within." "As the Lord is holy, be ye
also holy."
3. The apostolic Church had its rules of govern-
ment. These were very few and simple. "When any
member of this Church became wicked, " such were
delivered unto Satan." Mr. Wesley selected these
apostolic rules of moral conduct, and formed a code
known as " The General Rules," by the observance
of which the people were required to live.
282 The Methodist Armor.
4. The members of the apostolic Church had ex-
perimental religion. They were converted by the
Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost. They lived in
the enjoyment of religion. " Then had the churches
rest throughout all Judea, and Galilee, and Samaria,
and were edified; and walking in the fear of the
Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were
multiplied." (Acts ix. 31.) Like these churches, the
Methodist Church from the beginning preached and
enjoyed experimental religion. This is a peculiar
and distinctive feature of Methodism.
5. The apostolic Church grew and " multiplied."
And has not Methodism grown from a handful to an
army of millions? And while Methodism has grown
so extensively, its doctrinal unity has not been bro-
ken. Among all its many branches its doctrinal
unity is the great trunk of these branches.
" I saw in Natal," says James Anthony Froude, " a
colossal fig-tree. It had a central stem, but I knew
not where the center was, for the branches bent to
the ground, and struck root there; and at each joint
a fresh trunk shot up erect, and threw out new
branches in turn which again arched and planted
themselves, till the single tree had become a forest;
and overhead was spread a vast dome of leaves and
fruit, which was supported on innumerable columns,
like the roof of some vast cathedral." Mr. Froude
applies this to England and her colonies; but I apply
it to Methodism. We know well enough where the
parent stem is, and the remotest branches are proud
of their ancestral roots; but the secondary growths
are enormous, and are so many that they become a
forest, and the branches have taken root in every
Apostolic Features. 283
soil and have sprung up again, till they extend over
continents and reach across seas, and the leaves of
the tree are for the healing of the nations, and mill-
ions find refreshment beneath its shade and are
feasted on its golden fruits; and, whether in the
frozen north or underneath the fiery sun of the trop-
ics, every stem and branch and leaf has a common
life and draws its strength and vigor from the same
indestructible root.
Looking at these points of spiritual resemblance,
all fair-minded men must see the apostolic features
of the Methodist Church, and that their claim of be-
ing evangelical is well founded. She bears stamped
upon her brow the mark of divine approval. It is
impossible to account for her spiritual success upon
any other theory. "We are now prepared to see the
absurdity of those Church claims which are founded
on any thing else except the piety of its members.
Fruit is the one decisive test. Christ said, " By their
fruits ye shall know them." And this test is just as
true of Churches as it is of individuals. The script-
ural soundness of a Church is to be known by its
spiritual fruits. High-sounding names are of very
little value. Not what Churches pretend to be, but
what they are, in reforming the world, must be the
standard of excellency (" That orchard may
claim superiority over every other which sends the
best apples to market, the most uniformly, no matter
whether they have a name or not. Apples are apples,
good apples are good apples, the best are the best,
and no thanks to anybody, scientific or unscientific.
The center of the universe is God, and the noblest
creature which he has created on this globe is mau.
284 The Methodist Armor.
and the highest thing which man has attained is
Christian manhood, and he that is best developed in
manhood has priority everywhere and in every thing.
And any Church that has the power of genius in it,
or the power of art in it, or the power of eloquence
in it, or any other mark of superiority in it, though
it has had an existence coextensive with the globe,
and though it has a lineage running through all time,
if it turns out a poor article of Christian manhood, is
a sham — a bogus concern. But a Church without a
lineage, though it has been ever so obscure, and
though its pretensions are the humblest, if it has
achieved the reputation of turning out the noblest
and the best men, has priority over every other
Church. And therefore men should be careful how
they claim superiority on the abstract ground that
there are links which carry them, back to the times of
the apostles. What a shame it would be for a Church
to have the links all just right, and to turn out the
poorest members! What a shame it is that such a
Church should not turn out members as good as a
Church that has not a single link, and does not know
wlrc> its Church-father or Church-grandfather is! A
Church that has great radiant natures in it; a Church
in which there are men who are willing to sacrifice
themselves for others; a Church whose members grow
larger and larger by works of benevolence; a Church
filled with great, generous souls; a Church like the
Methodist Church; a Church that has in its member-
ship good men, and makes good men, and keeps mak-
ing them all the time, and many of them. What else
do you want but that? What more authenticity do
you want than it has?")
Apostolic Features. 285
What is the end of Church organization? Why, of
course, to turn sinners into saints. To lead men to
repentance, to faith in Christ, to obedience to God's
law; to make bad men good men — to turn men from
the vanities of earth to serve the true and living God;
to lead men to holiness of heart and life, and thence
to a glorious heaven. And a Church that is doing
such a glorious work is God's Church. If there be
but one Church doing so, then there is but one
Church, but if there be a hundred Churches doing
such work, then there are a hundred gospel Churches
in the world, and the more of them the better it will
be for the world. Methodism does not claim to be
the only Church, but a Church among the many. It
claims to be one of the "seven stars in His right-
hand" to enlighten the world. It claims to be one
of the fruitful branches growing out of Christ, "the
Vine." And " herein is my Father glorified, that ye
bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples."
The general Church is one. It is the entire body
of all justified persons, adults or infants, in every
period of time, in earth or in heaven. A gospel
Church is a company of believers organized into a
society, believing a Bible creecL having its own ritual
and ecclesiastical machinery, claiming for its head
Christ, for its object the diffusion of the gospel, and
for its destiny a glorious triumph. And such is the
Methodist Episcopal Church, South.
The External Form of Church Government.
We do not claim that the external form of our
Church government is divinely prescribed. Neither
is the form of other Churches prescribed. Mr. Wes-
286 The Methodist Armor.
ley said: "It is unanswerably proved that neither
Christ nor his apostles prescribe any particular form
of Church government." The Jewish Church evi-
dently with certain modification became the Christian
Church. Christ did not command his disciples to
form a new Church. No such command can be
found. "It is true that there is not on record one
single line or word from him which prescribes a new
Church as distinct from the Jewish Church. He
lived in the Jewish Church himself. He died a
member and communicant of that Church. Nor
did his disciples understand that they were to step
out of it and fashion another one. They, all of
them, for more than twenty-five years, lived in com-
munion with the Jewish Church. Forty years after
the ascension of their Master, they still sacrificed in
the temple, and were a Christian brotherhood only as
a party in the original Jewish Church. It would
seem to be the height of historical phantasy, there-
fore, to declare that the Christian Church was out-
lined and prescribed by the Lord Jesus Christ, un-
derstood to be so by his apostles, and taught by them
to be so. A greater mistake can scarce be imagined."
We have almost an exact analogy of this in Meth-
odism. When Wesley undertook to reform the
Church of England, he did not separate his disciples
from the Established Church. They remained in it
and observed its ordinances and rules, at the same
lime holding separate meetings of their own, over and
above those of their own Church. Finally, it became
necessary for them to draw out and set up a new and
independent organization. And so the early disciples
still adhered to the temple services, though they had
Apostolic Features. 287
social and spiritual meetings of their own besides, till
the Roman army destroyed the city and the temple
with it. Then they were forced to organize some
other form, and they modeled their future organi-
zation mainly after the pattern of the synagogue.
There is no specific form of Church government to
be found anywhere in the New Testament.
"Nevertheless, there was a Church. There were
religious institutions. They were accepted. They
were implied. And the moment the apostles began
to preach outside of Judea, where there was no tem-
ple, and where there were no synagogues, they were
organized, they were officered; and there came to be
laws and methods and usages, and the apostles com •
manded them, interpreted them, and ranked them.
" Therefore, if any man say that there is no warrant
in the word of God for any Church organization, 1
think he misses the mark on one extreme as much as
the hierarch misses it on the other when he declares
that there was a specific form of organization pre-
scribed for the Christian Church. These are the ex-
tremists on the one side and on the other."
Secondly, it is recognized that there is perfect free-
dom in taking up and laying down the rites, the
usages, the forms, the customs, and the instructing
methods of the New Testament. You can make your
election among them. You can avail yourselves of
them, not according to any prescribed divinely ap-
pointed scheme, but according to the exigences and
necessities of the work which you yourselves have ip
hand; for the liberty of man, by virtue of his adhe-
sion to the Lord Jesus Christ, ie the axis of the
teaching of the New Testament
288 The Methodist Armor.
All men have the inalienable right to worship, love,
and serve God. There can be no question on this
point. This right carries with it another right — the
right of men to form themselves into an association
to improve and protect their spiritual interests. The
right to civil liberty implies the right to organize a
government to secure, perpetuate, and defend it; so
the right to worship God carries the right, on the part
of men, to organize a Church to promote that divine
service. A company, then, of godly men have the in-
alienable and inherent right to organize a Church as
a means of cultivating and propagating holiness. As
Luther and his followers had a right to organize the
Lutheran Church, as John Calvin and Knox had a
right to organize the Presbyterian Church, as Bishop
Cranmer and Henry VIII. had a right to organize the
Episcopal Church in England, and Roger Williams
and his brethren had a right to organize the Baptist
Church, so had Mr. "Wesley, Coke, and Asbury a
right to organize the Methodist Church. They all
stand precisely upon the same ground. The whole
Protestant world stands or falls together.
Thirdly, in organizing the externals of a Church
where there is no divine prescription given, men are
left free to choose that form which promises the most
good.
" Methodism, then, had a great advantage in its be-
ginning, in that it was extremely modern. Episco-
palians on the one hand and Congregationalists on the
other alike claimed to find the warrant for their char-
acteristic outer forms in those of the apostolic Church.
Presbyterians and other people - between the two ex-
tremes also anchored themselves in deductions from the
Apostolic Features. • 289
Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles of Paul. It was
the good fortune of Methodism to be a system based
only on expediency, not claiming a "divine right" for
its circuits, its annual removals, its clock-work system
of wheels within wheels, its class-leaders, and stew-
ards, and exhorters, and local preachers. It did not
go further for authority for its agencies than this,
namely, that they were needed, and that they were
useful. It was the divine right, not of precedent, but
of common sense. The whole superstructure of the
canon law went down before the military necessity of
a missionary Church. It was not asked what Paul
thought best to do in founding a Church at Philippi
or at Ephesus, but straightforwardly it was demanded
what was best for Philadelphia, and what was wisest
for Charleston; not what the elders thought best in
conference at Jerusalem, but what the delegates
thought wise in General Conference in Baltimore.
Hence the immense flexibility and mobility of this
aggressive ecclesiastical system, which thus unloaded
itself, not only of the lumber of the mediaeval cent-
uries, but of the out-of-date expedients of the apos-
tolic age as well."
The Claims of Methodism.
While we do not claim to be the only Church, we do
claim to be superior to some others in many impor-
tant particulars.
1. We claim superiority in the scriptural soundness
of our leading doctrines. There are four great doctri-
nal systems in the world — the Koman Catholic, the Cal-
vinistic, the Lutheran, and the Wesleyan. The Cath-
olic creed teaches that salvation comes through the
10
2!>0 • The Methodist Armor.
Pupal Church alone. The Calvinistic creed makes
the salvation or non-salvation of every soul to depend
on the unchangeable decree of God. The Lutheran
creed lodges tue salvation of the soul too much in the
sacraments The Methodist creed makes the salva-
tion or non-salvation of every soul depend on his will-
ingness to receive and appropriate the free grace of the
gospel offered to all men. This creed presents a doc-
trine high as the love of God and wide as the deep
wants of the human race. This ground view of Meth-
odism appeals to the common sense of mankind for
its truth, has driven Calvinism practically out of the
pulpit of Christendom, and is rapidly ascending to the
throne of universal acceptance. It preaches a free and
full salvation, justification by faith alone, carefulness
to maintain good works, the witness of the Spirit to
the believer's present acceptance, holiness of life, a
burning love for the salvation of souls, an entire reli-
ance upon the Holy Spirit as the source of spirit-
ual power; it has an open communion-table, contends
for a pure and spiritual worship, a deep and heart-
felt experience of vital religion, encourages and pro-
motes revivals as vital to the health and growth of a
Church. The vast army of Methodism has been re-
cruited mainly through its system of revivals. While
other Churches have been gathering a few members,
through family training and catechetical instruction,
Methodism has swept them in by hundreds and thou-
sands. The first method is the slow way of fishing
with hook and line, the revival method is fishing with
a net that goes far out into the waters and sweeps in
thousands at one haul.
2. Methodism claims superiority in adapting itself
Apostolic Features. 291
to the circumstances of human life. " Methodism,"
says the celebrated Dr. Talmage, " in England preach-
es in a gown; in our Eastern cities, in broadcloth; in
the West, in shirt-sleeves, if the season be appro-
priate — preaching in the house or in the fields, any-
where, it makes no difference where — preaching just as
well in one place as in another. It takes the express
train and goes across the continent, or a horse and
rides with saddle-bags across the prairie; it is at
home in the magnificent St. Paul's, New York, and is
not at all inconvenienced in a log-cabin Here
is a man fallen down in the ditch of sin and crime.
How are we going to get him out? We come up ele-
gantly appareled, and we look at him, and we say,
'What a pity it is to see a man so deep in the mud!
We wish we could get him out. Is it not awful to see
that man suffering there? Get a pry, somebody, and
help now! I wish I had on my other clothes.' While
we stand there looking at the poor man, the Methodist
comes along, and says, ' Brother, give me your hand,'
pulls him up, and sets him on the Rock of Ages."
We are told in one of the Arabian stories of a fairy
tent which a young prince brought, hidden in a wal-
nut-shell, to his father. Placed in a council cham-
ber, it grew till it encanopied the king and his minis-
try; taken into the court-yard, it filled the space till all
the household stood beneath its shade; brought into
the midst of the great plain without the city, where
the army was encamped, it spread its expansive shade
all abroad till it gave shelter to a mighty host of peo-
y)le. It had wonderful flexibility and expansiveness
And such is the expansive flexibility and adaptedness
of Methodism. It has this power of easy adaptation
292 The Methodist Armor.
to the most diversified conditions of life; it reaches
out its arms to embrace the negro in his hut, the
backwoodsman in his forest home, the scholar in his
study, and the prince in his gilded palace.
3 Methodism, more than any other denomination,
has exercised a watch-care over individual members.
To visit, from time to time, every house where there is
a Methodist member, though it may be but a servant-
girl, and to talk and pray with them, is the old ideal
of a Methodist preacher's duty, and it is yet held and
acted on in most places. The class-leader is also to
watch over the members in his charge, and "to see
every member of his class once a week" was formerly
exacted of him. This constant -watchfulness checked
incipient backslidings, recovered those who had gone
astray, and was a powerful engine for the enforcement
of discipline. The class-leaders are appointees of the
pastor, and are his deputies. Attendance upon the
class-meeting is no longer compulsory, but the watch-
fulness of the leader over his flock and his accounta-
bility to the pastor in the regular meetings of the
official board are yet great powers for the conserva-
tion of the membership. A system of intelligence is
thus established by which the pastor is enabled to
consider every member, even the most obscure, in his
individual circumstances and qualities. Methodism
is not so much an organization, but an organism in
which every part, even the remotest, is vitalized by its
connection with the whole. Of late years an effort
has been made to supply the lack of the old efficiency
of the class-meeting system by organizing the ladies of
the city congregations into societies for the purpose of
assisting the pastor in visitation and supervision.
Apostolic Feature*. 293
Methodism lias always been intensely social. Its
class-meetings were family gatherings ; its love-feasts,
and prayer - meetings, and "general class - meetings,"
were so many ever-recurring expressions of its social
life. More powerful than any oratory is the influence
of fellowship upon the masses of the people, and this
fellowship Methodism furnished and still furnishes.
In the older and less conventional days I have seen
class-meetings and love-feasts break up with what the
enthusiastic Western people called " a good old-fash-
ioned Methodist shake hands all round." No social
distinctions were tolerated then. The title of " broth-
er " and " sister," in all but universal use between
Methodists as substitutes for " Mr." and " Mrs." was
a symbol of the entire equality of brethren in the
Church.
4. Methodism claims superiority in her methods of
diffusing the gospel over the world, through the itin-
erant ministry. It is this grand agency that has en-
abled Methodism to keep up with the march of frontier
settlements, cross the Alleghanies, follow the Indian
trail beyond the Mississippi, and at length fill the far
West with the sound of its victories. In the wake of
its luminous progress have sprung up all kinds of
improvements. It has been a popular educator, civil-
izer, and refiner to the rude masses of the West. A dis-
tinguished outsider has " recognized in the Methodist
economy, as well as in the zeal, the devoted piety, and
efficiency of its ministry, one of the most powerful
elements in the religious prosperity of the United
States, as well as one of the firmest pillars of their
civil and political institutions." Bancroft, the histo-
rian, acknowledges the Methodists as "the pioneers
294 • The Methodist Armor.
of religion" in this country, and says that they have
"carried their consolations, songs, and prayers to the
farthest cabins in the wilderness." Another talented
writer has said: "Their voice went through the land
as a trumpet-call. It sounded over the heights and
depths, and filled the country with its echoes." Not
only have the banners of Methodism been planted in
all the States and Territories of the Union, from sea to
sea, but it has spread rapidly over Great Britain, its
native home, into Scotland, Ireland, to Nova Scotia
the West Indies, France, Africa, India, Germany, and
is achieving remarkable success in the Cannibal Isl-
ands of the Southern Sea. " The world is my par-
ish," said Mr. Wesley. And it seems that this proph-
ecy is about to be realized, for the bright eye of the
sun sees no longitude on the rolling earth where Meth-
odism is not working for the salvation of men. May
her future history realize the noble anticipations of
the poet Montgomery, who said : " Century expanding
after century, like circle beyond circle in broad water,
shall carry farther and farther the blessings of the
Methodist dispensation, till they have tracked every
sea and touched every shore! "
CHAPTER XXII.
1 HE TRAINING OF CHILDREN IN CHRISTIAN HOMES,
SO AS TO BRING THEM TO CHRIST AND ATTACH
THEM TO METHODISM.
(Address of Rev. Joseph Wood, in the Ecumenical Methodist Book.)
The subject limits us to the consideration of one in-
stitution for leading our children "to Christ and at-
taching them to Methodism," viz., their "training in
The Training of Children. 295
Christian homes." It is obligatory upon parents to
bring up their families " in the nurture and admoni-
tion of the Lord." The lessons imparted at the fire-
side, the spirit of Christianity pervading the house,
and the gentle courtesies and sweet attachments of
home, ought to engrave the words of God and the
gospel of his Son upon the heart and mind of every
child and every member of the household. We shall
lay down and briefly discuss several propositions:
1. The Eeligion of Methodists ought to be Trans-
mitted TO, AND EEPRODUCED IN, THEIR CHILDREN.
What is the religion of Methodists? Has it any
peculiarities — any distinctive features ? It is not sim-
ply a creed or a profession; it is life and energy, a
power in the heart controlling the center of our being.
John Wesley had to insist on a religious life. He
found the profession without the power of godliness,
and his great object was to revive vital Christianity.
We want to see Methodism, in its true import, handed
down from generation to generation. We do not de-
sire to alter its form or principles, but to diffuse its
living spirit and power. It will profit our children
but little to have the name of Methodists and to cling
to the traditions of their fathers, if they be destitute
of the great reality — the inward and spiritual change.
The kingdom of God is not "in word only, but also
in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much as-
surance."
Our subject speaks of "bringing children to Christ,"
and "attaching them to Methodism;" that is the or-
der—" to Christ," and then " to Methodism." It would
not be desirable to retain such as are alienated from
296 The Methodist Armor.
Christ Our churches have but few attractions for
the unrenewed. They lack those external elements
which are the great charm and fascination of worldly
minds. The world will love its own. Then to abide
with us, our sons and daughters must be born again,
partake of our faith, and repeat our life. If they
have no saving relation to Christ, their relation
to the Church cannot profit either them or us; to
hold in connection with it ungodly persons would
diminish the power and tarnish the glory of any
Church. A worldly and impure element is an ele-
ment of weakness and decay. To be satisfied with
airy thing less than the new birth for our members, we
should lower the standard which our fathers set up,
and surrender the object for which Methodism, by
the providence of God, was called into existence. If
we cannot persuade our young people to fulfill the
conditions of such change, and thereby pass from
death unto life, we shall not have power, and, it is
hoped, shall not desire to retain them in our Com-
munion.
Then follows the prodigiously important question,
How far are parents responsible for the regeneration
of their children? We do not believe any more in a
spiritual "birthright membership" in the Church than
we do in baptismal regeneration. All are born in sin.
Every child must be won to Christ personally, and be
renewed by the Holy Ghost, or that child remains
under the condemnation due to sin, even though its
parents are as godly as Elkanah and Hannah of old.
Is there any ground for the general belief that, what-
ever be the training, it is wholly uncertain what our
sons and daughters, in character, will become, as un-
Tlie Training of Children. 297
certain as if it were a case of lottery? The best is
hoped for them; but there is no fixed law on which a
confident expectation may be entertained. When we
know the character of the fountain, we can jiidge of
the streams. By virtue of a like sequence, may we not
determine the character of children when we have
ascertained that of parents? There is as real a con-
nection between means and ends in the spiritual econ-
omy as in the natural economy. We reap what we
sow; the harvest answereth to the seed.
In its doctrines and precepts the Bible sees the re-
ligious character of the child in that of the parent.
(Gen. xviii. 19; Deut. iv. 40; Isa. xliv. 3, 5; Ezek. xx.
5, 6; Ps. cxlvii. 13; Jer. xxxii. 39; Acts ii. 30, xvi. 31;
1 Cor. vii. 14.) The divine purpose evidently is that
from godly parents there should be a godly seed-
walking in all the ordinances and commandments of
the Lord blameless ; that as the race is a body under
Adam, the Church should be a body under Christ,
grafting its children into the living Vine, and teaching
all to know the Lord, from -the least unto the greatest.
The home teaching of the Hebrews was intended to
produce regeneration of character in the children, to
make them Jews inwardly as well as outwardly, that
they might not be "a stubborn and rebellious gener-
ation," but might "set their hope in God " and " keep
his commandments." AVhen Paul directed Christian
parents to bring up their children "in the nurture and
admonition of the Lord," the intention was not that
they should be trained to be merely Christian formal-
ists, but that they should have that kingdom of God
in the heart which is "righteousness, and peace and
joy in the Holy Ghost."
298 The Methodist ArmoV.
The practicability of this work belongs exclusively
to God. Our business is to obey his commands.
Since it is his method to regenerate children by
means of Christian nurture, it is our duty to assume
that what he contemplates can be done, and to adapt
bur machinery to the work. There is no scriptural
foundation for the theory that all children must grow
into sin before they can grow into Christ; that all ed-
ucation will produce a crop of iniquity before it can
produce a crop of holiness. So far as human instru-
mentality is concerned, it is easier to persuade the
young to decide for Christ than it is those who are
hardened in sin. The work must be attempted on a
large scale, and if Methodists can solve the problem
of transmitting vital religion from generation to gen-
eration, the ultimate triumph of Christianity will be-
come a matter of course.
The theory of the Church of England in relation to
children is no idle dream. That Church takes it for
granted that infants ought to be formally dedicated
to God by being baptized in the name of the adorable
Trinity, that this solemn rite should be followed by
careful and ample evangelical instruction — that the
instruction will, at an early age, result in personal
conversion to God; hence, at thirteen or fourteen,
children are to be examined and urged to take upon
themselves the vows made at their baptism, one of
which is that they will "keep God's holy will and
commandments, and walk in the same all the days of
their life." The order is baptism, evangelical in-
struction, and official examination. Methodists ought
to take hold of this theory and turn it into a living
reality. We do not require all the details of it, but
T/te Training of Children. 299
the general principle. We have the baptism; that is
the beginning of the plan. Instead of the godfathers
and the godmothers, the real parents are obligated to
undertake the religious instruction of the child. In
place of the confirmation and the laying on of the
bishop's hands, there must be examination, an indi-
vidual appeal to the conscience, to gain the personal
consent and formal promise of each youth to submit
to Christ, and, as a present guarantee that this prom-
ise will be fulfilled, now, at once, to join the Church
by going to some class.
In our ministry and pastoral work we must make
this duty clear to heads of households, and render
them all the assistance we can in the performance
of it. For the ignorance and neglect which pre-
vail in regard to it, ministers are largely responsible.
In our sermons we have assumed, if we have not di-
rectly taught, that young people are to live several
years to the world, and then be converted. We have
looked for our increases more from revival meetings
and the penitents' form than from the family altar;
and been more hopeful of converts from the ranks of
those who are well bronzed in iniquity, and have
passed through a kind of tragical experience in turn-
ing to God, than of those who have been trained in
the way they should go from earliest infancy; and to
whom the Christian spirit of their home has been a
process of domestic conversion, leading them into the
path of life before they had wandered in the way of
sin and death. Let the great design of baptism, and
especially its covenanting character, be duly impressed
upon parents, showing that the ordinance is part of a
great plan; that it is to be followed by suitable treat-
300 The Methodist Armor.
ment in order that the baptized may become true and
living Christians as soon as moral existence begins;
then shall we realize what Methodism most needs,
and what is enforced in the Scriptures, viz., an adult
Church which transmits vital religion to " the gener-
ation to come."
II. The Family Life and Habits of Methodists
m SHOULD BE EEGULATED WITH A VlEW .
TO THAT End.
What are the elements of a truly Christian and
Methodist training?
1. High-toned piety in the house and in the daily life
of the parents. In the family more than anywhere else
is it true that example is better than precept. It is
what parents are, rather than what they say, that will
take effect. They are the child's first gospel. He
reads them before he can tell a letter in his primer.
He imbibes the spirit of the house before he is able
to judge of the moral character of it. The atmos-
phere of many a Christian professor's house is very
unfavorable to the salvation of the young. The ma-
laria of worldliness infects the whole family. Com-
mands to be good are made a substitute for goodness.
There may be the morning and evening devotion,
strict attention to the public means of grace, wise
counsels frequently given; but a defective example
will neutralize the whole. Religion should not be a
separate subsistence occasionally introduced to serve
a purpose as masks are worn; but the very life and
soul of the family, ever-present, pervading, regulat-
ing, and sanctifying all events. Not simply sum-
moned to soothe and cheer in times of affliction and
The Training of Children. 301
adversity, but its voice blending with the merriest
moods, and shedding "sweet glories" on those mo-
ments when the loved ones meet, and affection gushing
from warm and full hearts sparkles in the gleams of
pleasant wit and humor. The homes of Methodists
ought to be the brightest and happiest out of heaven.
We have all the essential elements to make them
such; the literature, the hymns, the tunes, the devo-
tion, the social enjoyments — in fact, every thing to
render them cheerful and attractive with a living
piety.
Such homes would be nurseries for our churches—
a perpetual means of grace to the children. There
the young would grow up, like Samuel and Timothy,
a seed to serve God in their generation. The rule
would be for them to be saved at home, and not in a
preaching service or a revival meeting. Baxter says:
" I do verily believe that if parents did their duty as
they ought the word publicly preached would not be
the ordinary means of regeneration in the Church, but
only without the Church, among practical heathens
and infidels." He was greatly troubled about his own
salvation, because he could not call to mind any dis-
tinct time when he was saved, until, tracing his expe-
rience as far back as he could, he found that he had
been saved too soon to recollect the time of it. The
particular moment, if there was one, was lost in the
dim memories of childhood. The love of God had
mingled with blessings of infancy, and the way of sin
he had not known. John Wesley was awakened to a
sense of religion when a child at home, and was sc
remarkable " for the seriousness of his spirit and the
general propriety of his behavior," that "at the agr
302 The Methodist Armor.
of eight years he was admitted to the sacrament of
of the Lord's Supper." Methodism, traced up to its
fountain-head, must be regarded as the outcome of all
domestic piety, rather than of any special evangelistic
enterprise. We are more indebted to Susannah Wes-
ley than to Peter Bolder. To be like our founder our
members must begin to serve the Lord in childhood,
under the influence of parental training and example,
and continue to walk before God in holiness and right-
eousness to the very end of life.
2. The institution of suitable means in the house for the
spiritual enlightenment and regeneration of children. All
must not be left to the involuntary influence of the
life. The reading of the Scriptures with veneration
and prayer is of supreme importance, and cannot in
any house be omitted without immense loss. To read
with profit, it is necessary to have a system, and to ac-
company the reading with explanatory remarks and
occasional questions. When this cannot be done twice
a day, nor even once, as is often the case in this busy,
bustling age, in most houses if proper efforts were
made one hour a week could be set apart for it, and
something like a regular service be held. It was the
custom in Puritan households to spend the Sunday
evening in giving Bible-lessons and catechetical in-
struction to the children and the servants. This can-
not be done in Methodists' homes, because we have our
most important public service at that hour, when we
should have the whole family with us in the house of
God, But if there be a will to have it done, time will
no doubt be found for teaching the family the way of
solvation, and building them up in the most holy faith.
Should not all Methodists be urged to use their
The Training of Children. 303
Connectional catechisms in home training? Every
child and servant might have a copy, and a ques-
tion or two be asked and answers required daily,
and the whole reviewed at the weekly service. This
would furnish the young with distinctions and defini-
tions of doctrine and Christian evidences, and thus
fortify them against the errors and sophistries of the
age. If such duties were faithfully attended to in all
our homes, we should have no fear respecting the
next generation of Methodists. AVe might defy either
popery or infidelity to lead our youth astray.
The prayers of the family should be short and sim-
ple, and refer to incidents which are occurring. Sing-
ing adds much to the interest of the service, and pre-
pares the family to join more freely in the praises of
the sanctuary. No house is as it ought to be which
has not stated times not only for worship, but for con-
versation with the children, to ascertain their mind in
relation -to divine things and persuade them to decide
for Christ. Should not Methodists have a family
class-meeting weekly, when all would feel perfectly
free to ask any question relative to their circumstances,
trials, and temptations, and all be encouraged to pray
a few words, even down to the lisping little one, who
asks, "Pleathe, God, bleth little mammy — bleth utk
all for Jethuth' thake?" Besides this, it is well to
take the children apart occasionally and converse with
them in the presence of God about the soul, Jesus
Christ, the judgment to come, the glorious provision
of the gospel to make them happy forever. What con-
stitutes real worth of character, what are the elements
of true happiness, and what are the objects which life
has been given to accomplish, should be solemnly and
3U4 The Methodist Armor.
frequently explained to tliem, and the interview always
end in prayer. The great point for parents to realize
is that, as a sphere of divine influence, the family is
equal to the Church. They may regard the place of
their abode as no less holy than the sanctuary, the lit-
tle gathering at the fireside as no less sacred than the
assembly in the church or chapel, the instruction and
service on the domestic hearth as no less efficacious
for spiritual ends than the rites and observances in
the great congregation.
To train the children in regular attendance on pub-
lic worship is also a powerful means of bringing them
to Christ and attaching them to his cause. A little
fellow asked his parents to take him to church with
them, and they told him he must wait till he was older.
" Well," was his shrewd reply, " you 'd better take me
now, for when I get bigger I may not want to go."
If parents regard the worship of the sanctuary as a
pleasure, and not merely a duty, their children will
generally wish to attend, and it will not be necessary
to enforce it by an act of compulsion. But care must
bo taken not to make the Sabbath-day one of irksome
restraint and burdensome requisitions — not one that
will be regarded as an unwelcome interruption to the
amusements and pursuits of the week, but anticipated
as a day of rest and peaceful enjoyment. We much
like the idea of catechising the children on the ser-
mons they hear, as well as on the doctrines, duties,
facts, and privileges of Christianity, as taught in our
forms of catechism. We cannot but think that these
means would prevent at least the majority of young
people from forsaking the altars of God and the courts
of Zion.
The Training of Children. 305
3. The exclusion from the family circle, so far as prac-
ticable, of all pernicious and dangerous influences. We
scarcely need indicate the channels through which
these influences come. The books that are brought
into the house, the persons who visit it, the social en-
tertainments provided, and the companionships formed,
are sources of good or bad influences which enter into
the mental and moral being, and become interwoven
with the very life of children. We cannot but regard
the superabundant supply of light literature as more
or less dangerous. Young people feed upon it until
they have no appetite for any thing solid and substan-
tial. Books which deal with unreal persons and things
— with scenes, events, and characters far removed from
the facts of existence — unfit and incapacitate the mind
for the stern realities of life. It is a grievous mis-
take for those who desire to attach their families to
Methodism not to supply them with an attractive and
wholesome literature, and especially with the maga-
zines and various works issued by our Connectional
Book-rooms.
We should not, more than is absolutely necessary,
expose our children to influences hostile to Method-
ism in school, business, and social life. Too often
there is but little care as to what teachings and sur-
roundings they come under at school or business.
If there be some anxiety not to endanger their mor-
als, there is not much thought whether their Method-
ism or religion will be safe. At the most critical time
of their life th^y are placed in the midst of conditions
which can hardly fail to deaden their moral sense, and
alienate them from the Churches of their fathers. Wc
were pleased to read the earnest words spoken at the
20
300 The Methodist Armor.
Wcsleyan Conference on this point. One gentleman
stated that he knew three county magistrates, one a
Congregationalist, one a Baptist, and another a Meth-
odist; the two former sent their children to Church
schools, and all had forsaken Nonconformity. The
Methodist took care that his children were guarded
in youth, that they were kept under godly Methodist
influences, and five out of his seven children had be-
come members of the Methodist Society. Mr. Holden
said it had cost him much to educate his family in
Methodist schools, but the result was worth far more
than the expense, for his children were members of
the Church, and engaged in God's work. The sphere
of Methodism is now large and comprehends a suffi-
cient variety of rank and of profitable and honorable
employment, and our young people, as far as practi-
cable, should be kept within it, with the best examples
ever before them.
Is there not reason to fear that some are not well
instructed in regard to their friendships, and partic-
ularly the marriage union? They may set their affec-
tions on persons of doubtful religious character, and
even doubtful morality, providing those persons are
equal to them, or a degree above them, in the social
scale. There is always going to be a good match
if there is worldly respectability. This infraction of
the divine law, which allows believers to marry " only
in the Lord," is the cause of many of the sons and
daughters of our members being lost to Methodism.
In primitive times the sanction of ths Church was
required for the marriage of any of its members. In
the Conference of 1763, Mr. Wesley said: "Many of
our members have lately married unbelievers, even
The Training of Children. 307
such as were wholly una wakened; and this has been
attended with fatal consequences. Few have gained
the unbelieving wife or husband; generally they have
themselves either had a heavy cross for life or en-
tirely fallen back into the world. To put a stop to
this, let every preacher publicly enforce the apostle's
caution, 'Be ye not unequally yoked with unbeliev-
ers.' Let it be also openly declared in every place
that he who acts contrary to this will be expelled the
Society. When any such is expelled, let an exhorta-
tion be subjoined dissuading others from following
that bad example." Had not we better have some
of these good old rules reprinted in our Conference
Minutes?
4. An intelligent and conscientious attachment on the
part of parents themselves to Methodism. Is not the
want of this the cause of many failing to connect their
families permanently with our churches? It is not
enough to be Christians; we must be Methodists,
and let our children see that we regard the system
so called and distinguished as the highest form of
Christian and Church life. Seeing the value of Meth-
odism, not simply in our declared opinions, but in its
lovely effects upon our lives and conversation, they
will learn to regard it not as a human institution,
to which our partialities or our prejudices have at-
tached us, but as a divinely appointed system of re-
ligion and happiness.
That they may profit by the exercise of the Chris-
tian ministry «mong us, we must ourselves respect
the minister's holy vocation, and be painstaking to
make them understand it and respect it too. If
they but lightly esteem the messengers of God's mer
308 The Methodist Armor.
cy, they will be in danger also of rejecting the mes-
sage itself. Let parents be careful not to offend
against the ministers of the word, against the com-
mands of God, against their own souls, and against
the highest interests of their families, by uncharita-
ble or unguarded remarks about the men who hold
the most sacred and important office ever intrusted
to human beings.
Methodist parents ought to make known to their
children the distinctive principles of the several de-
nominations, that an intelligent choice may be made.
But we need not attach so much importance to those
little barriers which divide the various branches of
the great Methodist family, and which we rejoice to
see are becoming beautifully less, as to the broad
and general features of Methodism, and the advan-
tages which we are proud enough to think we have
over all other Christian denominations. * Let us often
address to our children the words of the prophet:
"Mark well, and behold with thine eyes, and hear
with thine ears, all that I say unto thee concerning
all the ordinances of the house of the Lord, and all
the laws thereof." (Ezek. xliv. 5.) Parents who train
their children on the principle that they may go to
any Church where they can feel most comfortable,
need not wonder when it seems to be most comforta-
ble for them to go nowhere. If Methodism is the
best for us, is it not likely to be the best for our
children?
To say nothing of the unseemliness of families be-
ing divided in their Church connections, is it not
most ungrateful to be careless whether or not our
sons and daughters be permanently attached to Meth-
The Training of Children. 300
odism ? Under its influence, with God's blessing, we
have obtained our spiritual illumination, our Chris-
tian peace, our gracious transformation, and the im-
mortal hope of a heavenly inheritance — indeed, all
that we hold dear. When we look at lower things,
under its shadow many have acquired manifold tem-
poral advantages. In all respects it claims their at-
tachment as an availing form of godliness, which has
the promise of the life that now is and of that which
is to come. To be indifferent to its preservation and
continued efficiency in the world, or its influence in
and upon the future character, relations, and circum-
stances of our children, would be the utmost incon-
sistency and the deepest ingratitude.
Then, how to transmit inward religion— true Meth-
odism — to "the generation to come" is the great
problem we have to solve; how to find, as Dr. Osborn
a few years ago so admirably put it, " the connecting
link between the baptismal font and the Lord's ta-
ble." For this we are persuaded we shall have to
look more to the family than we have done. We
must teach our people how to realize God's saving
grace in domestic worship and Christian nurture;
and not only in the Sunday-school and the sanctuary,
but parents and teachers, ministers and leaders, will
have to combine, that the great end may be gained.
As the late Rev. S. Jackson said, "We must be at
the children, or the millennium is a long way off."
Those who rock the cradle have the Church's, as well
as the nation's, destiny in their hands. Daniel Web-
si' t said to Thomas Jefferson, the great statesman of
America who wrote the Declaration of Independence,
" What is to be thv salvation of our nation?" After
310 The Methodist Armor.
h few moments' thought,- Jefferson replied: " This na-
tion will be saved, if saved at all, by teaching the
children to love the Saviour." Methodist churches
cannot always live solely by conquest, by conversions
from without, by a ki*id of gospel campaigning.
While they continue to make sallies and excursions
into the kingdom of darkness, they will have to learn
how to grow, and populate, and become powerful
from within. "As arrows in the hand of a mighty
man, so are children of youth." To neglect them is
to commit a great military blunder. It is to leave
our arrows to rust and become blunt and totally unfit
for use, when they ought to be collected, polished,
and sharpened for the day of battle. God says to
his faithful people, " Thou shalt see thy children's
children and peace upon Israel." The results of a
system which, by God's blessing, transmits our prin-
ciples and practices from generation to generation
will be general peace and prosperity to the end of
time. It is recorded that Cyrus, when besieging
Babylon, perceived the importance of the river on
the banks of which the city stood, as being at once
the cause of its security, by shutting out its enemies,
and the source of its internal prosperity. He there-
fore devised the plan of cutting channels for the
purpose of turning the stream of the river out of its
natural and proper course. By this means he ob-
tained an easy entrance for his troops, and doomed
the city to slow but certain decay. That illustrates
the stratagems of the devil to prevent the universal
triumphs of Christianity. It is high time to inter-
rupt his proceedings and frustrate his plans by re-
pairing and keeping up the banks of the river from
A Model Christian and a Loyal Methodist. 311
which our great stores of supply come, and that our
youth may glide onward to the city of God, at once
its defense and glory, and the source of its increase
and perpetuity.
CHAPTER XXIII.
A MODEL CHKISTIAN AND A LOYAL METHODIST.
To be a model Christian and a loyal Methodist is the
high standard set before every member of our Church.
Such a standard is possible to all. A Methodist and
a good Christian should mean one and the same thing.
A good Methodist is one who has been soundly con-
verted, one who has "the love of God shed abroad in
his heart by the Holy Ghost given unto him," one
who "loves the Lord his God with all his heart, and
with all his soul, and with all his mind, and with all
his strength, and his neighbor as himself." To be
deeply pious, holy, consecrated, is the duty and the
privilege of all our members. We say that the high-
est standard of Christian purity, of moral power, and
dignity lies within the reach of the lowest and poor-
est. The highest type of manhood is a full-hearted
Christian. The great mass of mankind cannot wear
the golden crown of wealth, nor the laurels of high
worldly honors, nor carry diplomas of a finished ed-
ucation; but they can wear the crown of Christian
love, they can have the wealth of spirituality, they
can rise to dignity in the kingdom of God. There
is nobody so ignorant, or poor, or obscure, that can-
not love his God supremely and serve his fellow-men.
It does not require genius, nor education, nor wealth,
nor high position. Spiritual goodness is within the
reach of all classes and conditions of men. To get
312 The Methodist Armor.
good and do good are the privilege and duty of all.
Such religion is the royalty of mankind, the crown,
the beauty, and glory of human life. " The fruit of
the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentle-
ness, goodness, temperance." Such is the blessed
fruit which the tree of the gospel bears.
Be useful; and in order to be useful, be really and
truly good. A beautiful disposition will make your
manners lovely and attractive. A heart sweetened
with Christian love will diffuse its fragrancy all
around, like a garden full of sweet-smelling flowers.
Keep the oil of the Holy Spirit in your heart, then
your life will be "a burning and a shining light." A
profession of religion without the Holy Spirit is a
lantern without a candle. A Church full of members
without the fire and the power of the Holy Ghost is
nothing more than a box of unlit candles, having the
latent capacity but not the power of warming and il-
luminating those around them.
The man who walks close with God, as Enoch, who
obeys his laws, who opens his heart to divine in-
fluences as the flower to the sun, who lives in com-
munion with Christ, will be ready to every good
work, and cooperate with all laboring to spread the
gospel.
Christian Activity.
Be a model in Christian work. This is a world of
work. God, Christ, the Holy Spirit, are all active
workers. The angels work. "They are ministering
spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be
heirs of salvation." The natural world works. The
trees pump up the sap, bloom, and bear fruit. The
rivers speed on in their courses, watering fruitful
A Model Christian and a Loyal Methodist. 313
fields, turning mill-wheels, and floating ships. The
winds are the great water-carriers of earth. The stars
move on in their orbits. The moon catches the radi-
ance of the set sun, and throws it back upon the dark
hills of night. The sun is a grand worker. He il-
luminates, warms, and fructifies the world. And the
command of the great Teacher rings over the earth,
"Go, work to-day in my vineyard!" We must work
for others, if we would save ourselves.
Little Talents to be Woeked
Do not evade this duty, this blessedness, by argu-
ing with yourself that you have no talent for any im-
portant usefulness. The ambition to do only signal
things may be the veriest pride of the depraved heart.
If you have only small talents — even the one talent of
the parable — use it with your might; remember it is
all your divine Master will hold you accountable for;
but remember also that it was the man who, in the
parable, neglected his one talent that was lost in the
day of reckoning. That one talent of yours, if used
aright, may place you as high in heaven as any mon-
arch who may go thither from any earthly throne.
Man of God, if thou hast but one talent, where is it?
Is it hid away in a napkin? Is it buried? Remem-
ber that the final judgment will ferret it out. Canst
thou not speak for thy Master? Canst thou not go
from house to house among thy neighbors, in his
name, teach his little ones in a Sunday-school, testify
for him in a prayer-meeting, give a pittance of thy
earnings for him? Eemember him, in the parable,
who buried his talent, and beware of his fate.
"Why stand ye here all the day idle?" Begin
314 The Methodist Armor.
something good, though it be small. The mightiest
oak in the forest grew from a small acorn. Two
grains of wheat would suffice, with proper care and
labor, to cover, in time, all the grain-bearing soil of
this planet, and transferred to other orbs, could cover
in like manner all the worlds of the heavens. " De-
spise not the day of small things. Thou art but a
small soul if thou doest so."
Personal Effort.
Whenever a man, an individual Christian, finds that
he has both time and capacity, it is his duty to follow
the Master in seeking and saving his fellow-men; and
let me say to you that the beginning of revivals of re-
ligion is like the beginning of a fire, in which you take
a single coal, it may be, %nd lay a little fuel on it, and
blow it a moment; at first it blazes a little bit, and
then blazes a little bit more, every additional stick
you put on making it more certain that the next one
will catch. Do not wait until the whole Church is
waked up before you move. If you can find any
member of it that is in sympathy with you, put your
heart and his together, and they will make a sympa-
thetic influence which may bring another in. Draw
in individuals. Look around for them; do not look
around for the Church; the Church will take care of
itself, and you should take care of yourself. Collect
two, three, four people; and the moment you thus
form a center of feeling, it begins to whirl and sweep
in others. It is not difficult for three or four persons
in a community to form a center that will begin to
draw in those that are around about them. Next, let
me say that I think there is nothing in this world that
A Model Christian and a Loyal Methodist. 315
is so sure to be successful as personal adhesion to your
fellow-men. Preaching, at best, is like artillery firing;
but when you come into close personal relations with
men and talk to them, not once or twice, not when
you happen to meet them, but often, seeking suitable
times and opportunities, and press upon them the
duty of entering absolutely upon a Christian life, and
follow it up gently and quietly, I believe that even
the most difficult cases will eventually be won over to
the higher life. I think there is no influence so pow-
erful in bringing men from darkness to light, and
•from death to life, as that of man upon man, heart
upon heart.
If every one of those in the Church who are able,
in the providence of God, to do this kind of work
would bring a single peison into the Christian life,
there would be hundreds brought in. There are many
in the community who are so thoroughly interested
in religion that all they need to induce them to en-
ter the Christian life is the opportunity. It would
require but very little to carry them over distinctly
to a knowledge of Christ. They know what the dis-
positions of Christ are, they know what the walk and
conversation of a Christian ought to be; and all they
need is to be led to say, " By the help of God, I will
enter upon a spiritual course." Nobody does more
than that in the beginning. All the rest of one's life
is the filling up, of which this is the commencement.
So it is in the power of men to carry their fellow-men
over from animalism to spirituality, and those that
are strong can take those that are weak, and, by the
impulse of their souls, lift them above matter and the
flesh. On the other hand, it is oftentimes the caso
3 [Q The Methodist Armor.
that men who are feeble are a very great help to those
who are strong. William Wirt owed his conversion
to a negro nurse. This old servant prayed for him,
and he knew it. In his pride he resisted the influ-
ence that he was conscious was acting upon him;
but by and by the power of God through her prayer
was too strong for him to withstand, and he humbled
himself, and went and asked her what he should do
to be saved. He would not go to the minister, but
he would go to the poor old negro nurse for advice.
When a ship is a little too heavily freighted, they
sometimes put under her empty casks, that buoy her
up and carry her over sand-bars; and sometimes God
blesses empty men to the buoying up of other men
who are too heavily freighted with worldly elements,
and to carrying them over the sand-bar of Christian
experience. There is use for slenderly endowed men.
Great strength, great wisdom, and great experience
all have their place; and so small endowments have
their place. Every man can do something.
Work To-day.
" Go, work to-day in my vineyard." The Christian
worker should not wait to be appointed to some spe-
cial office, and do nothing and feel no duty unless ap-
pointed to some official position. Plan your own work
and do it. The doing good is a question of TO-DAY.
" Behold, now is the accepted time." " Whatever thy
hand findeth. to do, do it with thy might." Improve
present opportunities. The Christian Union says: "A
tired mother who had been occupied all day with an
active and very troublesome boy, as she sat down in
the evening and thought of the numberless details
into which her strength had gone, said: 'After all, it
A Model Christian and a Loyal Methodist. 317
is a day toward the making of a man.' There was a
world of truth in this brief and pointed summing up
of a day's work. Nothing is so hard to overcome as
the illusion of time and distance. Thousands of lives
are wasted because they are never freed from it, and
thousands of other and faithful lives are saddened
because they too are under its spell. The woman un-
der the pressure of daily and nightly cares who feels no
inspiration from them, but continually dreams of great-
er services and nobler occupations in some other place
and at some other time, is surely missing the secret of
the deepest living, and is thirsting with the water of life
flowing freshly about her. The man who chafes un-
der his present burden, and scorns his place and work
as small and mean compared with the thing he would
do, is every day widening the breach between his ideal
and his possible achievements. Every great work grows
out of endless and toilsome details. The historian is
years in the dim seclusion of libraries before he gives
the world a new chapter in its life; the great orator
works far into sleepless nights before he stands on
the platform, with his fingers on the keys of human
passion and sentiment; the writer denies himself even
rational pleasures through laborious years, that he
may enrich his thought by contact with the world's
thought and put the eloquence of simplicity into his
style. Grappling with small difficulties is the only
training which fits one for dealing with great prob-
lems; faithful performance of small duties the only
preparation for grand services; patience, fidelity, and
steadfastness to-day the only seed that will make to-
morrow golden with harvests of fame or usefulness.
The boy who to-day is doing his ' chores ' well and
318 The Methodist Armor.
cheerfully is in training for the cares of empire; the
mother who is to-day giving strength, time, and wealth
of affection to her children, in the seclusion of her
home, is making the whole world richer by her ob-
scure ministry — is very possibly shaping the charac-
ters that are to shape the destiny of the age, and is
surely building in the only material which defies de-
cay, survives death, and declares its architecture in
the fadeless light of eternity. After all has been said
about the work of the artist, the poet, and the think-
er, it is the mother who stands nearest God in crea-
tive power."
Eesults.
" Work, O man, while the day lasteth! The ancient
painter said that he painted for eternity. The hum-
blest worker in this world is working for eternity,
whether he thinketh of it or not. There is something
grand in the heroism of the great worker. No mind
but that of God can tell the full result of his agency
in the universe. It may go on in its unforeseen con-
sequences forever and forever. Good men, martyred
ages ago for their good works on the earth, are still
extant, leading on the human race. Omnia vincit la-
bor — 'Labor overcomes all things.' St. Paul was nev-
er more alive and powerful on the earth than he is at
this hour. Galileo, Newton, Bacon, are still living an
ever-widening life. Luther, Calvin, and Wesley have
only begun their lives. Death has not power over
them: they still live and labor in the spirit among
mon, are still exerting influence upon the interests
of the world. But these are great examples; let them
not discourage humble workers. Do what thy hand
findeth to do, and thou shalt do well, and the divine
Loyalty to Your Oun Church. 319
Master will see that thy labor shall not be in vain.
If you turn one soul to righteousness you shall achieve
a greater deed than the creation of a world — than the
creation of a material universe. You, the anxious
mother, training your little household flock, may be
preparing a choir for heaven; you, the plodding, ill-
paid school-teacher, may be preparing constellations
for the eternal skies; you, the village pastor, may be
leading up a circle to encompass the throne of God;
you, the sufferer, apparently laid aside from all ac-
tivity to languish on a sick-bed, even you may be
ministering by patient endurance the highest lessons
to all around you; and you who know not what to do,
who sometimes think that God has not found you to
be worthy or fitted for any good activity, even you may
bear in mind Milton's wise saying, ' They also serve
who only stand and wait.' The humblest lot in life
may thus be consecrated. Every life should have an
aim, and it should be as high as heaven." — Christian
Labor, by Dr. Abel Stevens.
CHAPTER XXIV.
LOYALTY TO YOUR OWN CHUKCH.
The fact that you are a member of the Methodist
Church implies that you prefer her doctrines, govern-
ment, and usages to those of any other Church. In the
bosom of this Church you get your spiritual food, and
within her borders lies the field of your usefulness;
she is your spiritual mother, and claims you as a loyal
and dutiful son. By voluntary vows you have obli-
gated yourself to be faithful to all her interests. In
320 The Methodist Armor.
her communion your family and kindred live; in
lier communion perhaps a mother or father died, and
passed away to the better world. Your Church has
a splendid history in the past, a present influential
prominence among other gospel Churches, and gold-
en prospects for future usefulness. Let the follow-
ing beautiful lines express your love and devotion:
Beyond my highest joys
I prize her heavenly ways ;
Her sweet communion, solemn vows,
Her hymns of love and praise.
For her my tears shall fall,
For her my prayers ascend,
To her my cares and toils be given,
Till toils and cares shall end.
This membership entitles you to the sacred ordi-
nances of Christ's Church, to the spiritual benefits of
pastoral care, and all the means of grace to fit and pre-
pare you for heaven. You see, then, that it is an ex-
alted privilege to be associated with the people of
God. You are hereby introduced into the royal fami-
ly of God — a family composed of patriarchs and proph-
ets, "all of whom resemble the children of a king."
Being a member of this royal family, it is expected
that you walk and be worthy of this high vocation, that
you seek in all laudable ways to promote the prosper-
ity of the Church, cheerfully sharing her burdens, and
cooperating harmoniously with all her movements.
If a Church has the right to live at all, it has the
right of living on the highest plane of prosperit} r .
The faith that carries us into a Church ought to lead
us to consecrate ourselves to' promote its welfare.
The highest stamp of Christianity, therefore, is alto-
Loyalty to Your Own Church. 321
getlier consistent with the warmest denominational
zeal and activity. If " Methodism is Christianity in
earnest," then to be devoted to Methodism is to be
consecrated to Christianity. Supreme loyalty to one's
Charch does not imply, by any means, sectarian nar-
rowness. A decided preference for your own homo
is rot to be construed into any dislike toward your
neigh}, it's home. The consecration of a man to his
store, LVrm, trade, or profession is not to be taken as
any heoiility toward anybody else's business. The
fact is, ihe hope of evangelizing the world lies in the
Method iyt being devoted to his Church, the Baptist
to his Church, the Presbyterian to his Church, and
so with o hers. Good-will toward all others, but su-
preme loj alty to your own Church, is the true prin-
ciple. A fault of too many Methodists is that false
kind of liberalism which patronizes the interests of
others, to the neglect and pecuniary damage of its
own. Let us now proceed to show:
1. Loyal y to the Methodist Church requires her
members t » send their children to her schools. Mr.
Wesley en phasized " the duty of the Church to
maintain schools which are Christian in their charac-
ter and influence." This implies the duty of the
Church to project, organize, and establish academies,
colleges, and universities. But if it is the duty of
the Methodis; Church to establish such schools at the
expense of hc^vy outlays of money and men as teach-
ers, then a corresponding duty rests upon Methodist
people to patronize these schools. This is perfectly
clear. The obligation is mutual; because the estab-
lishment of the schools is a complete failure without
the pah'onage of the people. And when Methodists
21
322 The Methodist Annor.
turn aside from tlie educational institutions of their
own Church, and send their children to the schools
of other Churches, they plainly betray disloyalty to
tlie Church of their own adoption.
2. Loyalty requires you to worship in the Method-
ist Church in preference to others. There may be
another Church nearer than yours, more attractive —
with better singing and preaching — yet loyalty re-
quires you to attend the services of your own Church.
You have joined this Church, taken the vow to attend
her ordinances — her doctrines, songs, prayers, all are
best calculated to edify, to bless, and to nourish the
spiritual life of your soul. Your seat should always be
filled in your own church. Your duty requires it, and
your pastor expects it. It is all right and proper to
attend services in other churches when your own is
closed. But to divide up your attendance, running to
this or that church while yours is open, breaks the
force of your denominational loyalty, mars the beauty
of your example,- diminishes the influence of your own
Church in that community. What would you think of
a man who neglects his own family and runs around
to attend to the business .of other people? The sol-
dier that is worth any thing stands at his own post of
duty, marches under his own flag, and fights in his
Ovvn company; but the soldier who deserts his com-
pany, and spends his time running around hither and
thither, is a dead failure. The application is easy.
3. Loyalty requires you to send your children to the
Sunday-school of your own Church. It is a lamenta-
ble fact that many Methodists are sending their chil-
dren to Sunday-schools of other Churches; that too
while schools are open in their own Church.. The
Loyalty to Your Own Church. 323
result is that Methodism loses many of her children.
Owing to this neglect, many children have left the
Methodist persuasion— the sons of Methodist parents
are seen in other pulpits, their daughters forming
centers of influence in other Churches. And so thou-
sands of our children slip out of our hands into other
communions. But if all Methodist parents would
send their children to our schools, where they could
be properly taught the soundness of our doctrines,
the wisdom of our discipline, and utility of our gov-
ernment, their attachment to Methodism would re-
main strong and unbroken. The children of our
members belong to us as rightfully as the lambs of
a flock to the shepherd who owns and feeds the flock.
Take the children away from any Church and its hope
of future prosperity is gone. That orchard, however
fruitful it may be now, is doomed to utter extinction
whose soions are plucked and planted in another.
That farm is doomed to barrenness whose seed-corn
is borne away. And what seed-corn is to the harvest
of the field, children are to the future prosperity of
your Church. To send your children, then, to other
Sunday-schools is to sap the very foundation of your
Church.
4. A loyal Methodist will patronize Methodist lit-
erature. Every member of the Church should avail
himself of whatever makes him wise and useful.
Every good Methodist ought to have the Discipline of
his Church. It contains not only a brief statement
of the doctrine, but the General Rules, the Ritual,
the temporal economy, and much other matter neces-
sary for Methodists to know. A knowledge of the
Discipline is indispensable to a member of the Meth-
324 The Methodist Armor.
odist Church. The Methodist Hymn-book is also a
necessity. A Bible, a Discipline, and a Hymn-book
are to be possessed and well used by every Method-
ist. And hundreds of other valuable books, such as
Clarke's Commentary, Watson's Theological Insti-
tutes, Wesley's Sermons, Fletcher's Checks, etc.,
should be found in the libraries of Methodists.
Nothing costing no more is so valuable as good
books. Franklin says: "When a boy I read a little
book entitled 'Essays to Do Good,' by Cotton Mather.
It was tattered and torn, and several leaves were
missing, but the remainder gave me such a turn of
thinking as to have an influence on my conduct
through life; and if I have been a useful citizen, the
public owes all the advantage to that little book."
Books suggest ideas and produce thoughts, and living
thoughts revolutionize nations. Buy good books and
read them. One half hour devoted each day to read-
ing will conduct you through the Bible — the largest
and best book — in less than a year; it will acquaint
you with one good work on theology, one on philoso-
phy, one on geology, and others on history, biogra-
phy, and travels, besides much miscellaneous reading,
in the same brief period; if continued from year to
year, it will secure to you all the requisite qualifica-
tions for all the ordinary requirements of business,
religious, and social life.
Every Methodist should take a religious journal
representing the views of his Church. It is the poor
man's library, the rich man's monitor, the honest
counselor of the young, the companion of the aged,
the consoler of the troubled, the comforter of the sor-
rowing, the recorder of blessed spiritual births, and
Loyalty to Your Own Church. 325
still more blessed spiritual deaths. It is the defender
of the doctrines of the Church, and of the Holy Bible
as God's word, the preacher of glad tidings, and the
encyclopedia of vital and saving truth.
The Gloey of Methodism
METHODISM AS SEEN BY OTHERS.
(From the Christian Union, 1873.)
When that eccentric Pennsylvania-Dutch Method-
ist preacher, Jacob Gruber, was once badgering a
Catholic priest, the latter twitted him with the youth-
fulness of Methodism. "Your Church," he said, " is
not yet a hundred years old, while ours, according to
Protestant count, is at least fifteen hundred years old."
" Fifteen hundred years old! " exclaimed the other, in
broken English. " Why, that 's the reason she 's so
blind!" The retort was worth as much perhaps as
the argument, but we have revived the story to say
that Methodism can no longer be accused of lacking
the age of a century. The Methodist Church has now
three times kept a hundredth anniversary. In 1839
there was the famous centenary in England and Amer-
ica of Wesley's first Conference; in 1866, the hundreth
year after the founding of Methodism in New York
was made the occasion of liberal contributions to
Church objects; and now we have just had in Phila-
delphia the celebration of the hundreth anniversary
of the meeting of the first Conference in this coun-
try — the starting-point of organized Methodism in
America.
Considering what Methodism has come to be in
one century of growth, we are not surprised that the
denomination should indulge in self-gratulation . A
320 The Methodist Armor.
hundred years is a short period in the life of a great
religious movement. A centennial is like the first re-
turn of a baby's birthday — it is the beginning of reck-
onings. And when the youngest of religious denom-
inations finds that in its first hundred years it has
outstripped all its fellows with the odds against it, a lit-
tle bit of rejoicing, and even of exultation, is natural
enough. It will be strange indeed if Methodists do not
yet find another hundreth anniversary to celebrate.
Numerical increase is by no means the only crite-
rion by which the success of a religious movement is
to be judged, nor is it the chief; but it is one element
of success, and in the order of time it is the first ele-
ment. In religious work, as in every thing else, the
hare must be caught before it can possibly be cooked.
And in this light we may see what an opportunity the
Methodist Church has made for its second century.
With more communicants than any other religious
body in America, the influence which it may exert
upon the religious life and intellectual progress of
the nation is simply incalculable.
But the true glory of the first century of Method-
ism in America lies not in the three million of ad-
herents attracted to its standard so much as in what it
has done for them. Early Methodism, with its zealous
preachers, its vehement oratory, its pathetic melodies,
its unconventional services, its democratic social meet-
ings, boldly laid hold upon the working masses of the
country. It hesitated not to go to those who were at
the bottom of society as regards wealth, culture, and
morals. It is the glory of Methodism that her early
converts were largely from the poor and the illiterate,
and not rarely from the wicked. Out of this mate-
Loyalty to Your Own Church. 327
rial the earnest type of Christianity propagated by
Methodism has made intelligent Christian citizens.
Let the magnificent educational enterprises of the de-
nomination and the general culture of its members
bear witness to the zeal and success with which Meth-
odism has lifted up the crude masses of people con-
verted by the preaching of her tireless evangelists.
It is the bad taste of some Methodist people to try to
hide the illiteracy and poverty of the first generation
of those reached by Methodist preaching. But the
Church has no such laurels on her head as the glory
of having labored for the lowly in the first instance,
and the glory of having elevated them by her labors.
The secrets of the success of early Methodist preach-
ing are open secrets, albeit there is little likelihood
that any other body will practice the arts by which
this denomination won its commanding position. A
ministry that was sent and not called, that had no
abiding-place, that literally left houses and homes
and lands, that in most cases sacrificed even the
ties of family, was a ministry to conquer the world
with. Ambitions they could hardly have; there was
nothing to choose. In every age of the world the suc-
cessful propagandists have been noted for singleness
of purpose, and entire singleness of purpose was the
prominent characteristic of the itinerants whom As-
bury annually redistributed throughout the country.
The oratory of such men could not but have the high-
est elements of effectiveness — intense earnestness and
perfect sincerity. Their disinterested lives commend-
ed them to every man's conscience, their isolation and
separation from local entanglements gave them au-
thority. Their chivalrous devotion to their work wan
328 The Methodist Armor.
contagious. They were the knights-errant or! our
modern days, seeking, like those who sat by Arthur's
table round, to bring in the "rude beginnings of a
better time." Doing battle against every sort of mor-
al wrong, living in poverty and celibacy, and carry-
ing with them everywhere a noble religious psalmody,
they were the knights-errant, the mendicant friars,
and the minne-singers of Protestantism.
It is vain to regret that the Methodism of to-day
is different. It could not but be different. A mature
man cannot have the elasticity of youth. The Meth-
odist Church of to-day has set before her a task very
different from that which was laid upon that little
Conference in Philadelphia in 1773. They had only
to throw themselves upon the enemy at every point.
There were no complications. They had no baggage-
train to protect, no communications to keep open.
The Methodist Church is now in possession. She
must guard as well as attack, develop as well as plant.
To every religious movement there comes the blade,
the stalk, the ear. The development of each period
is different from that of all others. It is not for the
Methodist Church of the future to attempt to do
over again the work of the past, but to build wisely
upon the foundations already laid.
Such a past ought to be an inspiration. To have
furnished the world the most fearless, self-denying,
and devoted ministry of modern times, to have pro-
d need the most compact organization of Protestantism,
to have developed the finest congregational singing in
the world, to have won the poor, the unlearned, and
the wicked to the gospel, to have set the noblest exam-
ple of fervor and freedom in worship and of zeal and
Loyalty to Your Own Church. 329
self-denial in life, and to have grown to be the largest
of American Protestant bodies, is enough to make one
century glorious. But if the higher and more diffi-
cult work set before the Methodist Church of our day-
shall be performed in the same spirit, and with like
success, the second century of Methodism in America
may outshine the first.
APPENDIX.
World-wide View of Methodism
METHODISM IN THE UNITED STATES.
( Methodist Year-book.)
STATISTICAL SUMMARIES OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH
(NORTH).
July 1, 1882.
1882. 1881. Increase.
Number of Annual Conferences 99 96 3
Number of missions (not included in Conf's). 13 16 d.3
Number of bishops 11 12 ri.l
Number of itinerant preachers 12,552 12,142 410
Numberof local preachers 12,106 12,323 d.217
Total number of preachers 24,658 24,465 193
Lay members on probation 172,468 164,538 7,930
Lay members in full connection 1,551,952 1,553,029 d.1,077
Total lay members 1,724,420 1,717,567 6,853
Total ministers and members 1,736,983 1,729,722 7,261
Numberof churches 17,935 17,056 279
Number of parsonages 6,150 5,877 273
Value of churches $66,405,568 163,700,774 82,704,794
Value of parsonages $ 9,021,034 $ 8,710,297 $ 310,737
Total value of churches and parsonages $75,426,602 $72,411,071 $3,015,531
Number of Sunday-schools 20,894 21,100 d.206
Number of S.S. officers and teachers 222,863 219,262 3,601
Number of Sunday-school scholars 1,608,836 1,592,062 16,774
Number of officers, teachers, and scholars... 1,831,699 1,811,324 20,375
Deaths of ministers during the year 174 147 27
Deaths of lay members during the year 22,970 21,671 1,299
Total deaths during the year 23,144 21,818 1,326
Number of presiding elders 446 445 1
Number of mission superintendents 13 16 d.3
Numberof pastoral charges left to be suppl'd. 1,692
Numberof local preachers stat'n'd as pastors 1,593
Average number of deaths per week 445
Average number of deaths per day 63
Average weekly net increase of ministers 8
Number of adult baptisms during the year ending July 1, 1881 51,067
Number of infant baptisms during the year 55,70?
Total number of baptisms 106,77c
i'330)
World-wide View of Methodism. 331
Average number of baptisms per week 2,053
Average number of new Sunday-schools organized per week 4
Average number of new churches dedicated each week 5
Average number of new parsonages per week 5
ANNUAL CONFERENCE COLLECTIONS.
Foe Year Ending July 1, 1882.
Collected. Inciease.
For Conference claimants $161,280 816,202 47
For Parent Missionary Society 594,452 72,658 30
For Woman's Foreign Missionary Society 99,012 13,921 87
For Board of Church Extension 101,266 13,273 35
For Tract Society 14,763 1,604 24
For Sunday-school Union 16,272 d.2,673 33
For Freedmen's Aid Society 49,051 4,126 39
For Educational Fund '. 40,254 d.4,843 31
For American Bible Society 27,507 506 93
Total $1,103,857 $214,777 91
The above sums embrace only the Connectional col-
lections reported at the Annual Conference sessions,
and not the totals contributed by the whole Church for the
several causes during the year. Four of the societies
named above (Parent Missionary Society, "Woman's
Foreign Missionary Society, Board of Church Exten-
sion, and Board of Education) report for the year
ending in 1881, receipts, additional to the above, amount-
ing to $201,493.41. Adding this to the total sum re-
ported to the Conference sessions gives a grand total
of $1,305,350.41.
METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHUKCH, SOUTH.
{General Minutes, 1SS3.)
SUMMARY OF STATISTICS.
Traveling preachers
Superannuated preachers
Local preachers
W.iitc members
Colored members
Indian members
Total preachers and members
Infants baptized
188.).
1882.
Increase
3,863
3,730
127
313
309
4
3,736
5,869
23
888,094
861.244
2C,.S.J'J
1,265
1,030
225
4,783
5,111
28
904,248
877,290
U6,049
20,232
27.205
2.0J1
332 The Methodist Armor.
1883. 1882. Increase.
Adults baptized 43,994 38,832 5,161
Simday-sehools 9,875 9,649 226
Sunday-school teachers 65,574 65,198 376
Sunday-school scholars 509,934 483,426 26,508
Collections for Conference claimants $ 87,146 07 9 81,432 82 $ 5,713 25
Collections for Missions 227,640 38 207,759 06 19,88132
CONNECTIONAL OFFICEES OP THE METHODIST
EPISCOPAL CHUECH, SOUTH.
BISHOPS.
H. H. Kavanaugh, residence, Louisville, Ky.
George F. Pierce, residence, Sparta, Ga.
H. N. McTyeire, residence, Nashville, Tenn.
John C. Keener, residence, New Orleans, La.
A. W. Wilson, residence, Baltimore, Md.
Linus Parker, residence, New Orleans, La.
J. C. Granbery, residence, Kichmond, Va.
E. K. Hargrove, residence, Nashville, Tenn.
Missionary Secretary, E. A. Young, D.D., Nashville, Tenn.
Treasurer of Board of Missions, D. C. Kelley, D.D., Nashville,
Tenn.
Book Agent, J. B. McFerrin, D.D., Nashville, Tenn.
Editor of Sunday-school Publications, W. G. E. Cunnyngham,
D.D. ; Assistant, J. A. Lyons, Nashville, Tenn.
Editor of Nashville Christian Advocate, O. P. Fitzgerald, D.D.,
Nashville, Tenn.
Book Editor, W. P. Harrison, D.D., Nashville, Tenn.
Secretary of Church Extension, D. Morton, D.D., Louisville, Ky.
AMEEICAN BEANCHES OF METHODISM.
While the growth of Methodism has been rapid and
constant, yet there has been internal dissatisfaction
enough to produce several secessions and separations.
The first secession took place in 1792. The leader was
James O'Kelly; the Church was called the "Repub-
lican Methodist Church," afterward called the " Chris-
tian Church." The cause of the secession was dissat-
isfaction with the appointments of the Bishop. It
World-wide View of Methodism. 333
reduced the ministry to an equality of authority, and
elected all of its officers by the popular vote. It was
largely a failure.
African M. E. Bethel Chukch. — It began in 1792,
but was not fully organized till 1816. The cause of
its organization was to get rid of a mixed congrega-
tion in public worship. It is Methodist Episcopal in
every thing, except it rejects the office of presiding
elder. It reports 9 bishops, and 321,004 members.
They have a publishing house in Philadelphia, pub-
lish a weekly paper, and support a college in Ohio.
United Brethken Church. — It was founded by P.
W. Otterbein, a useful preacher, at Baltimore. The
first Conference, composed of 13 ministers and lay-
men, was held in 1800. In 1882 it had 5 bishops, 47
Annual Conferences, 2,196 ministers, 159,547 lay mem-
bers, and 150,141 Sunday-school scholars.
The Evangelical Association. — Organized by
Eev. Jacob Albright in 1800, in Eastern Pennsyl-
vania. This Church reports 21 Annual Conferences,
893 itinerant ministers, 585 local preachers, 112,197
lay members.
Union Methodist Episcopal Church.— Founded
in Wilmington, Delaware, in 1813. It was composed
of colored members who seceded from the Methodist
Episcopal Church. Its present strength is 5 Confer-
ences, 121 preachers, and about 2,600 lay members.
African M. E. Zion Church. — Organized in New
York in 1819, by colored members who withdrew from
the Methodist Episcopal Church. It reports 7 bish-
ops, 1,500 itinerant preachers, 2,600 local preachers,
and about 300,000 lay members.
Methodist Protestant Church. — Organized in
331 The Methodist Armor.
Baltimore, 1830. Its doctrines and usages same as
Episcopal Methodists, the difference being in Church
government. They reject presiding elders and bish-
ops. Each Annual Conference elects its president for
the year, who, together with a chosen committee, makes
the appointments of the preachers. It reports 1,314
traveling ministers, 925 local preachers, 121,716 lay
members.
Eree Methodists. — Chiefly in Western New York,
Illinois, and Michigan. They report about 90 preach-
ers and 14,000 members.
Colored Methodist Episcopal Church. — Organ-
ized since the late war, under the direction of the M.
E. Church, South. It reports 125,000 members.
American "Wesleyans. — Organized in the State of
New York in 1842. They took high ground against
slavery. They discard all bishops and presiding
elders, supplying their places by presidents of Con-
ferences, stationary committees, and chairmen of dis-
tricts. Doctrinally they are Methodistic. Number
about 26,000.
Congregational Methodists. — They are Method-
ist in doctrine and usage, but are Congregational in
Church government; number only about 20,000 mem-
bers.
Independent Methodists. — Organized 1819 by a
Mr. Stilwell, who became dissatisfied with the Church
order and appointments. It reports 2,574 members.
DENOMINATIONAL STATISTICS OF UNITED STATES.
Total Methodists in United States 4,020,672
Methodist population in United States . . . -. 18,345,000
Methodist members in the world , 5,178,528
Methodist population in the world 25,345,545
World-wide View of Methodism. 335
Regular Baptists 2,102,085
Free-will Baptists 75,685
Anti-Mission Baptists 40,000
Six Principles Baptists 2,000
The German Baptists 100,000
The Seventh-day Baptists 7,446
Total Baptists in United States _, 2,394,742
Baptists in the world 2,914,214
Presbyterian Church 600,605
Southern Presbyterians 127,017
United Presbyterians 84,573
Cumberland Presbyterians 111,855
Reformed Synod Presbyterians 10,093
General Synod Presbyterians 5,750
Associated Reformed Presbyterians 6,740
Total Presbyterians in United States 916,489
Protestant Episcopal Church 344,888
Reformed Episcopal Church 10,000
Dutch Reformed Church 80,156
German Reformed Church 147,788
Church of the United Brethren 155,437
Shakers 6,000
Unitarians 30,905
Universalists . . 37,965
Christian Connection 57,000
Church of God 30,000
Congregationalists 387,619
Campbellites 563,928
Evangelical Association 107,732
Evangelical Synod of the West 40,000
Friends, or Quakers 70,000
Lutherans 800,189
Menonites 50,000
Moravians 16,223
Swedenborgians 19,000
Roman Catholic population 6,143,000
Total Mormon population 110,377
Total population of the Jews 500,000
336
The Methodist Armor.
THE PKESENT STATUS OF ENGLISH METHODISM.
The original tree of Methodism, the seed of which
was planted by Mr. Wesley in 1739, has grown up to
be a wide-spreading and life-giving and fruitful tiee
of living Christianity. This original Church is called
the "Wesleyan Methodist Church."
Statistics of Wesleyan Methodism.
(Methodist Year-book, 1880.)
Dis-
tricts .
Great Britain 34
France 1
Germany 1
Italy 2
Spain and Portugal 1
1
1
1
Malta
South Ceylon
North Ceylon
Madras District, India 1
Mysore District 1
Calcutta District 1
Lucknow and Benares District 1
Canton District, China 1
Wuchang District, China 1
South Africa 7
Western Africa 3
West Indies 7
Cir-
cuits.
721
7
25
38
5
1
44
27
31
16
6
5
4
3
111
53
72
Min-
isters.
40
27
22
15
8
C
10
.8
114
45
108
Lay Proba-
Members. tioners.
370,678 25,824
1311
2,117
1,374
336
100
2,154
857
682
560
143
64
179
174
18,288
13,647
46,082 J
Minister;
and
Members.
404,416
10,636 97,908
Total 05 1,169 2,393 463,466 36,460 502,319
Sunday-schools in Great Britain 6,376
Sunday-school teachers and officers 119,911
Sunday-school scholars 787,143
Volumes in libraries 744,293
Expenses of Sunday-schools f 332,870
Wesleyan day-schools 851
Scholars in day-schools 179,900
Expenses of Wesleyan day-schools $1,088,645
World-wide View of Method ism. 337
The British Conference collections in 1879 for Con-
uoctional Funds reached the following totals:
For Foreign Missions % 675,701
For Home Missions and Contingent Fund 172,724
For Theological Institutions 49,921
For School Fund 45 946
For General Education 42,292
For Children's Fund 132,500
For Worn-out Ministers' Fund 116,194
For General Chapel Fund 49,007
Total in 1879 for Connectional Fund $1,284,285
Raised in 1879 to relieve Church debts § 213,275
Paid in 1879 for new church-edifices §1,916,220
The above is exclusive of the sum raised directly
for pastors' salaries and for Thanksgiving Fund.
Thanksgiving Fund. — This great special Connection-
al offering was planned in 1878, and duly reported to
the Conference in 1879. At first it was proposed to
raise the sum of $1,000,000. This was soon raised to
81,200,000; later, to $1,500,000; and still later, fixed
by the Conference at $1,575,000! On November 17,
1880, the subscriptions to the Fund had already
reached the magnificent sum of $1,465,096!
m
THE ENGLISH BRANCHES— OFFSHOOTS FROM THE
PARENT METHODIST STOCK.
Welsh Calvinistic Methodist.— This branch first
originated in Wales, about the time the Wesleys be-
gan to attract attention in England. Among all the
secessions in the history of Methodism, this is tho
only one that ever occurred on doctrinal grounds. Their
Church government is Wesleyan. They number about
119,809 members.
22
'338 The Methodist Armor.
Methodist New Connection. — Organized in 1797.
The cause of its organization was to give more free
dom to ministers in administering the sacraments. A
few brethren had previously been selected by Mr.
Wesley, who were authorized to administer the sacra-
ments. The same right was claimed by others, and
Alexander Kilhoni became the leader of a party which
culminated in a new organization. They retain all the
doctrines and usages of the Wesleyan Church, and its
general polity. They have not grown very much, hav-
ing only about 30^853 members.
The Pkimitive Methodist Church. — This was or-
ganized in 1810. The immediate cause of its organ-
ization was the expulsion of some preachers for in-
subordination in their mode of conducting meetings
While very earnest Christians, they refused to submit
to the prescribed order of the Wesleyan Church.
They preserve all the outlines of Methodist doctrine,
and, like the early M ethoclists, they labor successfully
among the poorer classes. Present membership is
182,691, and over 300,000 Sunday-school scholars.
The Bible Christians. — Organized in 1815, under
the leadership of William O'Brien. Having been
rebuked for various extravagances in his methods of
holding religious meetings, he withdrew and organized
a new Church. Its membership is 53,450.
Wesleyan Protestant Methodists. — This body
separated from the British Conference in 1827, pro-
testing against organs in churches, and what they
called too much ministerial power. Their success is
small.
The United Methodist Churches of England.—
Organized in 1857. Present membership is 79,477.
World-wide View of Methodism. 339
A GENERAL VIEW OF METHODISM IN OTHER LANDS.
Methodism in Austkalasia. — The first Methodist
mission was opened in Australasia in 1815. A Gen-
eral Conference was organized in 1875. Methodism
has in that country now 423 traveling ministers, 3,763
local preachers, 65,905 lay members, an adherent pop-
ulation of 331,882 persons. Sunday-school scholars,
134,183.
Methodism in France* — Societies first formed in
•1790. A French Conference organized in 1852. The
working force 'of Methodism in that country now is
29 traveling ministers, 92 local preachers, 16 evangel-
ists, Sunday-school scholars 2,552, adherents 10,622.
Methodism in Sweden.— The Methodist Episcopal
Church began its work in that country in 1854. It
has there 61 native traveling preachers, 75 local
preachers, 7,824 lay members, 6,436 Sunday-school
scholars.
Methodism in Norway.— The Methodist Episcopal
Church began to organize in this country in 1876. It
reports now 27 circuits, 32 preachers, 2,997 lay mem-
bers, 2,285 Sunday-school scholars.
Methodism in Germany. — The first Methodist so-
ciety organized in 1830. The Methodist Episcopal
Church commenced its work there in 1849. That
Church reports as having in that country 69 traveling
ministers, 59 local preachers, 11,812 lay members,
18,716 Sunday-school scholars. The English Wesley-
ans have in Germany 25 pastoral charges, and 2,117
lay members.
Methodism in Denmark. — The first mission estab-
lished in 1858. There are now in that country 4 min-
isters, 712 lay members, 696 Sundiy-school scholars.
310 The Methodist Armor.
Methodism in Italy. — Methodism first introduced
in 1852. Methodist Episcopal Church began there in
1872; the Wesleyans in 1879. There were in Italy in
1879 48 Methodist preachers, 2,932 lay members, 44
churches, two of which are in Home, and three in
Naples.
Methodism in India. — The British Wesleyans
opened a mission in Ceylon in 1813, and in India
proper in 1817. Wesleyan statistics are, 112 preach-
ers, 10,636 lay members. The Methodist Episcopal
Church planted missions in India 1856. That Church
has now 2 Annual Conferences, 6 districts, 46 preach-
ers, 4,687 lay members, 38 churches, 7,097 Sunday-
school scholars.
Methodism in Japan. — The Methodist Episcopal
Church organized a mission in Japan in 1873. Sta-
tistics: 8 missionaries, 5 assistant missionaries, 40
native helpers, 5 lady missionaries, with 5 native
assistants, 620 lay members, 773 Sunday-school schol-
ars. The Methodist Church in Canada has also a
prosperous mission in Japan.
Methodism in China.— The Methodist Episcopal
Church began missionary work in China in 1847. The
Methodist Episcopal Church, South, opened missions
here in 1848, the British Wesleyans in 1852, the Meth-
odist New Connection in 1872.- Statistics: In 1879
the Methodist Episcopal Church reported 3 missions
(viz., Foochow, Central China, and North China), with
25 American missionaries and 12 assistants, 86 native
preachers, 12 Bible-women, 2,370 lay memters and
probationers, 266 baptized children, 25 day-schools
with 370 pupils, 53 Sunday-schools with 907 pupils,
59 chapels and 18 parsonages valued at $54,901. In
World-wide View of Methodism. 341
1880 the British Wesleyan Church* reported 2 districts
(Canton and Wuchang) and 6 circuits with 19 preach-
ers and 353 full members. 'The Methodist Episcopal
Church, South, reports 24 preachers, 126 members,
383 Sunday-school scholars, and 33 teachers.
Methodism in Africa. — The British Wesley ans seat
their first missionaries to Sierra Leone in 1811, and to
South Africa in 1814. In 1880 the Minutes of that
Church reported a total of 7 districts, 111 circuits, 114
preachers, and 31,935 full members. The Methodist
Episcopal Church organized its work in Liberia in
1833. The Liberia Conference returns of 1879 show
4 districts, 18 preachers, 47 local preachers, 2,110 lay
members, 29 churches and 3 parsonages valued at
$22,925, 30 Sunday-schools with 221 teachers and 1,560
scholars. The United Methodist Free Churches have
also a flourishing mission work in Africa, but the re-
cent statistics are not in hand.
Methodism in Mexico. — Under the appointment of
the Methodist Episcopal Church, the Bev. Dr. William
Butler organized the mission work in the City of Mex-
ico in the spring of 1873. In the same year the Meth-
odist Episcopal Church, South, entered the same field,
the early work being supervised by Bishop Keener.
In 1879 the Methodist Episcopal statistical summaries
were as follows: 6 missionaries, 6 assistant missiona-
ries, 4 missionaries of Women's Foreign Missionary
Society assisted by 4 Bible-women, 12 missionary
teachers, 13 Mexican preachers, 544 lay members, 70
pupils of orphan school, 24 day-school teachers, with
473 scholars, 33 Sunday-school teachers with 479
scholars, 7 theological students, 5 churches owned by
the mission, 14 other preaching-halls, 5 parsonages.
342 The Met hod id Armor.
value of Church-property $94,400, collections during
the year $4,253. The Methodist Episcopal Church,
South, reports 65 preachers, 1,419 members, 830 Sun-
day-school scholars.
Methodism in South America. — The first Method-
ist Church was planted in Buenos Ayres, in 1835, by
Rev. F. E. Pitts. There are now three principal mis-
sions, viz. : at Buenos Ayres, Montevideo, and Rosario.
The latest summaries show 3 missionaries and 3 as-
sistants, 6 missionaries sent by the Women's Foreign
Missionary Society. There were also 3 native preach-
ers and 6 local preachers, 693 lay members, 3 churches
and 1 parsonage valued at $61,000, 12 Sunday-schools
with 58 officers and teachers and 770 scholars. In
1879 the Rev. William Taylor visited the western coast
of South America, and opened schools and missions
in several of the principal towns in Peru and Chili,
and a year later repeated this work in Brazil. The
Methodist Episcopal Church, South, has 8 preachers,
113 members, 120 Sunday-school scholars, 20 teachers.
Methodism in Canada. — In 1828 the Methodist
Episcopal Church in Canada organized in a separate
jurisdiction from the Church in the United States.
The Canada Wesleyan Conference in 1833 changed its
polity and became affiliated with the British Wesleyan
Conference. In 1874, by a union of the Wesleyan and
New Connection Conferences with the Wesleyan Con-
ference of Eastern British America, the Methodist
Church of Canada was organized. The statistics of
1880 show 6 Annual Conferences with a total of 1,182
traveling ministers, 861 circuits, 122,627 lay members,
;1,486 pi'eaching-places.
UCSB LIBRARY
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